Anime World Order

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It’s time, it’s time, it’s…GERALD TIME! The extra drawn-out Show 54 continues as a result of Daryl’s moving, so this week is Gerald’s review of Black Lion by the almighty Go Nagai. Egged on by Daryl’s solo recordings last week, Gerald follows suit.

Introduction (00:00 – 12:00)

In hoping to keep the pain to a minimum Gerald decided to read one viewer email. To talk about Kinokuniya Books, Gerald went to it in San Francisco about ten years ago and still has the exact manga anthology that he bought there sitting next to him. WHY? Well, because insanity is endemic in anime fandom and no other reason. Gerald also comments on the lack of anime music on iTunes and is STILL pissed off that the few songs he bought with free promotional iTunes money are lost to him forever in the world of iTunes Digital Rights Management. Also, Gerald reveals a big secret about himself in that he actually enjoys the Kingdom Hearts games, although, like the listener who wrote in, he’s not an “SUPER CRAZY INSANE FANFIC/FANART/YAOI Fan” and just enjoys them enough to borrow them. Also, as far as we know, there is no place to find all of Cyborg 009 in complete subtitled format and the closest thing to it is an Australian release of the very good dub, GOD DAMMIT SONY, YOU CAN’T STOP FUCKING UP CAN YOU!? He ends the letter segment with a commentary by R5 Central’s Mike Dent on the many times he’s been mentioned on the show.

News (12:01 – 17:54)

In the sexiest opening to the news that we’ve ever done (and also the most obscure ever, does anyone know where that strange MIDI track comes from?) Gerald talks about the recent death of one of the most recognizable composers in anime, Kentaro Haneda, with accompanying sexy music. The questionably unbiased AnimeTV is going to be shown on Comcast Cable. Of course, a video podcast, featuring a bunch of employees of Bang Zoom Entertainment, reviewing work by Bang Zoom Entertainment is, of course, going to be totally unbiased RIGHT!? Also, big surprise, there’s going to be a new Gundam TV series named Mobile Suit Gundam 00, which will be incredibly popular but will still be awful because the worst director working in anime is at the helm, Seiji Mizushima. A man who absolutely thinks he’s some sort of comedian when he’s not funny at all. No, the same joke for 52 episodes is NOT funny! It’s also being written by Yousuke Kuroda who is the most up and down writer in anime with the ability to write such amazing shows like Battle Athletes Victory, Magical Project S (probably the best Tenchi related thing done), and Ring ni Kakero, but then turns it all round to write utter shit like Please Teacher!, Panzar Dragoon (Gerald watched this show with an ADV voice actress who was embarrassed to find out later that what she was watching was something ADV put out).

Review: Black Lion (17:55 – 38:23)

Gerald came into Black Lion completely by accident when Clarissa got it free in the mail with a purchase from ADV’s website and Gerald traded for the Kenshin OAVs. Gerald is extremely glad he did so as Black Lion is quite possibly the best hour of insanity and destruction ever produced delivered like only Go Nagai can produce! The is the only show featuring cyborg ninjas/samurai, plasma bombs, time machines, fire bombs, stabbing, head crushing, missile shooting, fire spitting, beheading, head chopping (yes they are distinct), and Oda Nobunaga! What more could you possibly want! Screenshots to follow possibly.

Closing (38:24 – 39:23)

Next week, we’re not entirely sure, but it might be the all Clarissa episode, maybe, maybe not, we’ll see. Perhaps we’ll be back to the regular show, only time will tell.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:07:53 — 31.1MB)

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Please don’t let this be your first impression of this podcast. Please? Show 54 continues with Daryl’s advance review of 009-1…but due to technical difficulties and the onset of madness, Daryl decided to record the remaining segments…BY HIMSELF. As such, this is probably the single worst segment of AWO ever.

Introduction (0:00 – 21:47)
Feedback time! Dane from Anime Pacific left a comment on this very blog you’re reading now regarding our bonus discussion on bootlegs. Since he lives in Hong Kong where a lot of the bootleggers are/were located, he’s got some insight. First time emailer Tim wants to know about James Bond influences in anime, and Daryl deliberately avoids mentioning Licensed By Royalty even though Jonathan Klein once said over IRC to give it more than one episode. Still, he dubbed the thing, so there’s no telling what tricks are up his sleeve. Future show guest Ryan Gavigan writes to let us know the connection between anime fandom and the Chicago Cubs (other than “they’re full of LOSERS! HAW HAW HAW HAW!”), and a 33 year-old geezer named Jeffrey has had his interest in Japanese cartoons rekindled thanks to us. And what’s the deal with these kids today, with their hair and their clothes and their rock and roll music? He wanted suggestions for space opera anime which we hadn’t already mentioned in the first 30 shows, and Daryl totally flaked.

Let’s News! (21:47 – 33:25)
In lieu of Gerald’s presence, Daryl presents the vital anime news of the week in a calm, objective fashion while discussing their greater ramifications. A small comicbook publisher named Seven Seas Entertainment was planning on publishing a lolicon manga in the US, but it got canceled. It’s been a crazy week as far as these issues go, what with the Adam Hughes statue hubbub and the quasi-porn cover to Heroes for Hire (aka a crappy comic nobody reads because it’s the Marvel equivalent to Birds of Prey), and this was just the icing on the cake. Do you suppose these tiny companies that release lots of those manga-inspired comicbooks actually benefit from all the negative publicity that results when those outside of the anime/manga/comics circles find out about some of the stuff they’re putting out? Did “Yaoi Press” (which, once again, does not actually release manga) benefit from all that Wal-Mart craziness? Daryl doubts that whole “no such thing as bad publicity” thing, but he already made the Don Imus reference somewhere else.

For years people have considered the feasibility of holding an anime convention for older fans, but the Providence Anime Conference (so yeah, it’s not technically a “con”) is the first to actually give it a shot. It’s an event solely for those over the age of 21. But despite the basic outlines stated in the FAQ, will this really be different from an ordinary anime con? I mean, it’s not like every single Narutard we know isn’t already over 21 anyway. And even though they say it won’t be awash in pornography, isn’t there a very good chance that’s what the dealers and artists are going to load up on? No clue. Could be awesome, could be wretched; we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out. It’s not for a whole year anyway.

Promo: R5 Central (33:25 – 34:43)
Daryl has heard several episodes of R5 Central and has played several of the promos. Therefore, he was more than capable of making his very own promo for the show. Bet you can’t distinguish it from the genuine article. Mike, eternally grateful, retaliates with this, the opening to the 1960s live-action 009-1:

Review: 009-1 (34:44 – 1:00:14)
For the record: Shotaro Ishi[no]mori did indeed create “Power Rangers” with the super sentai series Himitsu Sentai Goranger from 1975. Anyway. The problem with “girls with guns” of recent years is the unnecessary loli-bait, and so it is that in order to create a floating beacon of light amidst the turmoil and darkness (“fight, Corn Dog 7! Last ditch bid for freedom!”), anime has had to reach back to a manga from 40 years ago in order to restore balance to the world. The “Dave and Joel Show Notes 2.0” style shall suffice for the rest of this, since Dave’s dream is to have a girl with wide hips (and therefore, mad badonkadonk) beat him up, sleep with him, and then kill him, not necessarily in that order. Sorry Dave, but as wonderful as Black Lagoon may be, Revy is sporting one of the most hideous tattoos ever conceived. Neck/shoulder/arm? That’s an instant downgrade from “hot chick” to “Mike Tyson’s face.” Dear humanity: stop getting tattoos. They all look crappy and only make you look uglier. Daryl Surat, Arbiter of Taste, has spoken.

This review is about:

James Bond references

Headshots

Biometrics

The 1960s

Yumiko Shaku’s main claim to fame is as a [photo]gravure model, which probably means that to land this voice acting gig she had to let this dude, the producer, have sex with her. Actually, that’s probably how they select most voice actresses for roles.