Category: Japanese

Wind up Geek’s Cool Japan: Gundam Snowboarding

Team GP Logo 1The island of Japan was hit with heavy snowfall this year and that would normally have downsides. But if you’re either a member of Team GP (Gundam Performance) or a fan of their group, heavy snowfall isn’t all bad. Team GP is a group of Gundam cosplayers who take their cosplaying to new heights. And when I mean heights, I mean carried away from the convention floor and dropped somewhere above sea level on the snow-covered slopes.

Their specialty is snowboarding and one can say they’re a little more adept at it than some people. Team GP not only has a following they have their own stickers, armbands and revolving character key chains too.

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4oERb-w5vw&w=560&h=315%5D
You can learn more about Team GP by following their twitter @nama_gundam.

Source(s): Twitter account @nama_gundam, Vintage Anime Fans Facebook group, and Kotaku.

Video Source(s): Kinetic Renzo.

The Next Power Ranger: Neko Râmen Taishô Movie Review

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By James Shaw (The Windup Geek)
and Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

E: The enjoyment of eating ramen noodles will vary per individual, and before I can say James and I went to another Japanese restaurant, we instead decided to check out one of his fond classics. I’m more tempted to say Kamen Rider than Neko Ramen Taishō ( 猫ラーメン) given all the live action Japanese superhero television shows I have seen. Neko Ramen seems no different than watching Sesame Street when there’s a puppet as the protagonist.

I have to ask: Is this film supposed to be about food? Give me the movie Tampopo to watch instead.

J: Let’s face it, our main character is made of foam rubber, but is soft and cuddly. William Thomas Jefferson III is a failure in his father’s eyes who would like nothing better than for his son to follow in his footsteps as a cat idol. But hawking moist cat food isn’t on the menu for William. Fallen from grace he tries his hand at odd jobs meeting dismal failure with each. At his wit’s end, he is rescued by a Ramen noodle chef with few words and plenty of wisdom for our cat to consume.

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A Historical Analysis & Review into The Empire of Corpses

The_Empire_of_Corpses

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

*Screened at the 2016 Victoria Film Festival
*Spoiler Alert

The idea of having zombies shambling about in a steampunk world as slaves is a great concept to play with in the Japanese animated movie The Empire of Corpses. When technology made advanced leaps thanks to the success of Charles Babbage (the grandfather of computing) building the analytical engine, Victor Frankenstein reanimating a mix of dead body parts (he’s a real figure in this fictional world) and Duncan MacDougall discovering the deceased loses “21 grams” of mass (their soul) upon death, science fiction author Satoshi Itō (伊藤 聡) aka Project Itoh crafted a dystopian Victorian world-embracing death instead of fearing it.

In our historical understanding of this past, the preoccupation with the dead was because mortality rates were high; many loved ones passed before their time or in wars from afar. Séances were common because many people from around the British Commonwealth wanted to communicate with the deceased for many a reason. To talk to them again offered closure. These details might have been addressed on a deeper level in the novel but in the animated film, a fair bit of this age’s spiritualist practices are not as deeply explored. What’s exhumed is surface level.

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Wind up Geek’s Cool Japan: Akihabara Tech Nerds & the Psycho-Pass Dominator

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

PsychoPass2Have you ever watched Production I.G‘s hit anime series Psycho-Pass and wanted to own a Dominator? How easy would it be to analyze your friends’ crime coefficient level whenever they get too close to your anime collection? In March 2016, Cerevo, Inc. can’t help you with that, but they can give you something cool to add to your collection. Cerevo, an Internet connected consumer electronics developer and creator located in the Akihabara district, is releasing a replica of the Dominator. They are calling this their first smart toy. Advanced orders were taken by the company at Japan’s Wonder Festival. The Dominator is slated for a March, 2016 release after the original release of winter, 2015 was scrapped. Consumers who ordered the Dominator at Wonder Festival will be lucky enough to receive the smart toy before it hits store shelves.

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Wind up Geek’s Cool Japan: Ghost In the Shell Cyber Security Awareness Campaign

At different train stations especially at one of the busiest stations, Shibuya, there are large advertisements featuring the characters of the animated series Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Photo by ケネディ

Right now in Japan, there is a special campaign from February 1st to March 18th to promote cyber security awareness. The campaign is promoted through the Government of Japan and the Japan Network Security Association (JNSA), with cooperation from manga publishing company Kodansha. At different train stations especially at one of the busiest stations, Shibuya, there are large advertisements featuring the characters of the animated series Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

To coincide with this campaign, a special manga has been made available through the JNSA called Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Human-Error-Traps. There are two different options available for people to acquire the manga and these options are all through JNSA’s official website.

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Earth, Wind & Fire Founder & Gatchaman Music Producer, Maurice White, Dies

White’s work in Earth, Wind & Fire will be honoured posthumously at the Grammy Awards where the band will be given a Lifetime Achievement Award during the Ceremony’s February 15th broadcast.

Maurice White Concert Footage
Bruce W. Talamon, ©1980

ARRMaurice White — the founder of soul group Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF) and music producer for the three-part 1994 Gatchaman OVA series — has died. White’s brother Verdine posted earlier today on EWF’s official Facebook:

“My brother, hero and best friend Maurice White passed away peacefully last night in his sleep. While the world has lost another great musician and legend, our family asks that our privacy is respected as we start what will be a very difficult and life changing transition in our lives. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.”

White died in his sleep in Los Angeles, California on Thursday morning and he was 74. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1992 but his condition got worse over the last year

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