Category: Japanese

First Look: Anime Winter 2014 – Final

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

First Look: Anime Winter 2014 – Part 1
First Look: Anime Winter 2014 – Part 2

Warning: At least one of the videos contained within this article is not suitable for children.

Thank you all for reading my reviews for the winter 2014 seaon. It took alot of typing and many hours of viewing but in the end it was all fun. Perhaps next season I will have the articles published earlier. I hope to read your comments whether you agree with me or not. But for now enjoy the article. And you can bet your last box of Pocky there will be a spring 2014 article.

D-Fragments
D-Frag!
Diifuragu
ディーふらぐ！

D-FragThe Plot: Kazama Kenji is known as a juvenile delinquent but even with this reputation in mind, the high school’s Game Development Club are desperate to recruit anyone just to keep their club status including Kazama.
The Good: There are some chuckle moments throughout the first episode.
The Bad: The chuckle moments are few. The comedy style feels forced and it is one that doesn’t appeal to me. And after watching the first episode there really isn’t enough to convince me to watch a second episode.
The Ugly: Student body vice president Ataru wanting to catch the female president’s spit. Ick and creepy at the same time.
The Verdict: The first episode feels like there is nothing to drive the show into a position to be a serious contender this season. This series is running on empty.

2 out of 5

Continue reading “First Look: Anime Winter 2014 – Final”

Sentai Filmworks Acquires Nobunaga The Fool!

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

NobunagaTheFoolSentaiSentai Filmworks, one of the fastest growing Japanese animation distribution companies in North America, announced yesterday they have acquired Nobunaga the Fool. Nobunaga is a 24 episode sci-fi fantasy produced by Satelight (AKB0048, Bodacious Space Pirates) with direction by Eiichi Sato (Slayers Next, AD Police) and character designs by Yone Kazuki (Hakuoki, Hiiro no Kakera).

The synopsis from Sentai Filmworks’ press release:

It was once said that time and tide will wait for no man, but that was before the legendary heroine Jeanne d’Arc had a vision of a Deliverer – a champion who could save the future of the planets connected by the Dragon Stream. Now the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance as, at the order of King Arthur and in the company of Leonardo da Vinci, Jeanne travels from the West to the East in search of their long awaited savior. But will Nobunaga Oda be the kind of man they are expecting? Or will history’s greatest heroes find themselves choosing not a liberator, but a destroyer? Or is Nobunaga’s role that of the Fool from a deck of Tarot, the wild card whose purpose is to invoke change, at whatever cost? Expect the unexpected as super-technology and giant robots collide with samurai warriors and a pantheon of characters drawn from across history wage the ultimate battle against the forces of Chaos in NOBUNAGA THE FOOL!

This latest acquisition is one of five by Sentai. The other anime announced this past week were Magical Warfare, Super Sonico: The Animation, Wizard Barristers and Sakura Trick.


 
 
 

ALA 2014 Cosplay

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

Another Animé Los Angeles has come to an end and for those of us who didn’t make it, we missed out on something special. Perhaps next year those who didn’t make it can attend and step out in true Otaku style, by cosplaying.

Take a look at three different videos from ALA 2014. Perhaps you can spot yourself.


 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
You can pre-register for Animé Los Angeles 2015 by clicking here.

Sources: mammoru5254, MLZ Studios and ChillyWillyTube.

Hiroshi Nagahama Announced For Sakura-Con 2014!

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

SakuraThe Pacific Northwest’s largest anime convention, Sakura-Con, will have as their guest, director and designer Hiroshi Nagahama.

Nagahama is making a return to Sakura-Con’s beautiful host city of Seattle. Nagahama was a guest for three years in a row from 2002 – 2004 and he was more recently seen at Sakura-Con 2008.

NagahamaNagahama’s design work spans such titles as the TV series Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997), Samurai Deeper Kyo (2002) and on Ryousuke Takahashi’s 1993 OVA series The Cockpit.

Nagahama’s directing credits include chief director on the TV series Jubei-Chan: The Counterattack of Siberia Yagyu (2004), director of Mushi-Shi (2005), Flowers of Evil (2013) and the Kiss rock band inspired OVA series Detroit Metal City (2008).

For tickets or information, you can visit the official Sakura-Con 2014 website here.

First Look: Anime Winter 2014 – Part 2

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

First Look: Anime Winter 2014 – Part 1

Buddy Complex
バディ・コンプレックス

BuddyComplexPlot: Watase Aoba is like many high schoolers in the present day; he is good at basketball and he has exceptional friends. But a returning student named Yumihara reveals he is destined for greater things in a future where the world is locked in war.

The Good: There wasn’t much to go by in the first episode. The series fed me tidbits of what was to come but and there was enough to keep me hungry for more. Give me mechs, give me a hero and I’ll be the biggest fan you ever saw. And yes, there is even hints of a possible romance with a schoolmate. Yes, some guys watch romances. Although we don’t tell you, we watch chick flicks, but for us it’s called anime.

The Bad: A few of the character designs are too similar. So close were they that I confused the main character with a side character.

The Ugly: This series is looking good because I couldn’t find (yet) anything wrong with it.

The Verdict: This is my type of series. I’m looking forward to episode 2.

4.5 out of 5


Continue reading “First Look: Anime Winter 2014 – Part 2”

Patlabor: The Future of Mechs is Here

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

The Next Generation -Patlabor- official trailer is online and fans will be pleased to know that the production company, Tohokushinsha Film Corporation, is not only offering a feature-length film but also a live action theatrical series. Thirteen episodes (episodes 1-12 and episode 0) will be broken up up into a seven part saga.

Part one of the series will make its debut on April 5, 2014 at the Shinjuku Piccadilly cinema in Tokyo Prefecture as well as several other theatres throughout Japan. The 100-minute feature film, written and directed by Mamoru Oshii, will be shown during Japan’s Golden Week (between the end of April and the beginning of May) in 2015.
Continue reading “Patlabor: The Future of Mechs is Here”