By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
The official Yamato 2202 website was updated today with new designs of characters for the upcoming Yamato 2202 series, a sequel to Space Battleship Yamato 2199 which premiered in 2012.
Continue reading “Yamato 2202 Website Updates with New Character and Mechanical Designs!”
By James “I am Lame” Robert Shaw
(The Wind up Geek)
Matsumoto Hitoshi brings a little bit of what you fancy to Amazon Prime Japan this fall. Starting November 30th, Matsumoto, (one half of internationally known comedy duo Downtown), will host Documental, a 4 part series akin to the duo’s No laughing Batsu New Year specials. In Documental, ten hand-picked Japanese entertainers will be given the chance at winning a grand prize of ¥10,000,000. Under Matsumoto’s watchful eye each entertainer must endure 6 hours of no laughing as they are subjected to a comedy barrage by other contestants or else be forced out from the competition.
The Trailer identifies entertainers Daisuke Miyagawa (Oh! Father) and Jimmy Ōnishi (No Laughing High-School batsu) as two of the 10 entertainers involved in this production. The show resembles that of an American reality program (like Big Brother) but it still retains that Japanese game show feels as indicated by Matsumoto’s grip on the control box that holds both a red button (stop) and a blue button (start). It appears the use of a yellow card comes into play during this program. The yellow card is used in sports when indicating a penalty and could be used for the same reason here. If so a red card would mean elimination for any one of the ten entertainers.
Documental will stream every Wednesday starting November 30, 2016 on Amazon Prime Japan.
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
There is one aspect of the mentality of how Pokémon GO gamers (those who insist they do not want to spend money to buy coins in the game) play that I do not fully understand. While I get the idea behind driving to a new part of town to see what’s there to capture / find nesting grounds of other pocket monsters, when return trips are needed, that’s because the pickings are very good. Both are good reasons for investment in fuel (and less about time) well spent.
As for heading out to find out-of-the-way Poké Gyms to take down and power up for their respective teams is just odd. To drive around half the city to find such places costs more money in gas than money invested in the game just for a paltry 100 coin limit per day — especially if those gyms get taken down within 20 hours instead of sit for a few days. When the odds of those places being able to last for weeks, if not days, are variable for each location, is the time spent searching for them in a medium-sized town even worth it?
Continue reading “Ed’s Pokemon GO Journals — The Cost of Gas vs Free Coins Debate”
By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
Tsukino-Con, the little Victoria convention that could, is growing at a steady rate and may have its unique place among the larger conventions of the Pacific Northwest. The handlers of Tsukino, which rose in February 2010 from the ashes of the seven-year run that was Kei-Kon, have taken few risks.
Those behind Tsukino have adhered to the formula of having their con grow at its own rate rather than take on bigger cons in a head-to-head (Sakura-Con and Emerald City Comicon). Tsukino’s list of past guests is an impressive one, especially for a con of it’s size. Names of Sarah Anne Williams (Gakusen Toshi Asterisk, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica), Tracey Moore (Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon), Josh Grelle (Akagami no Shirayuki-hime, Date A Live), J. Michael Tatum (Baccano!, Heroic Age), Terri Doty (Seikoku no Dragonar, Joukamachi no Dandelion), and Kensho Ono (Aldnoah Zero, Pokemon XY&Z) have appeared previously.
Continue reading “[Victoria, BC] Anime & Cosplay Convention, Tsukino-Con, Expanding for 2017”
By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
In the latest group of photos published by Oricon Style from the filming of Gaki no Tsukai’s No Laughing Science Laboratory batsu, one of those photos will be of interest to fans of the 1985 feature film Back to the Future starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson. With each batsu Hiroshi Fujiwara (藤原 寛), former manager of comedy team Downtown (Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada), appears in costume (sometimes dressed as a woman) and acts as guide for the five comics, Matsumoto, Hamada, Endō Shōzō, Tanaka Naoki and Hōsei Tsukitei.
Continue reading “New Gaki no Tsukai Batsu Special Photos Reveal Homage to ‘Back to the Future!’”
By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
The cast of Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!! (ダウンタウンのガキの使いやあらへんで!!) will be producing yet another No Laughing Batsu (punishment) game. Now confirmed after a sighting of this year’s bus (every year a bus is used to transport the cast to their ultimate destination). With owarai (Japanese comedy) duo Downtown (Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada), comedian Hōsei Tsukitei (formerly known as Hōsei Yamasaki), and second owarai duo Cocorico (Endō Shōzō and Tanaka Naoki) going on to other projects outside the Gaki no Tsukai series, rumors of the specials coming to an end have circulated for the past 3 years. Also the age of the oldest cast members (both were 52 at the last batsu) would make continuing on with specials that reward the contestants who break out laughing with physical punishment, harder with every new special. It was believed last year’s No Laughing Detective Agency was the final batsu after an end credits roll gave a nostalgic look at previous batsus.
Continue reading “Gaki no Tsukai New Year’s No Laughing Batsu Special Returns to Japanese TV!”
