Dancing Maids with Stars In Their Eyes

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

AniRevoWhat does two out of synch dancing maids, Totoro in sandals and a confused man mean? It means the start of Anime Revolution 2014 is mere months away and they’re hoping you’ll be smitten by this Youtube video promotion.

To be honest the video has its charm. The maids are some of those who’ll be serving con-goers at the yearly maid cafe during AnimeRev. Acording to the video description “…our maid team will serve you food, decorate them, cast a spell, play games with you, and do performances for you!”

The maids are cute to say the least (at my age, I can no longer say the word “attractive” when concerning women so young). And the fact that they took part in uniforms that provided little warmth from our West Coast spring weather, tells me alot about their determination. My guess is the service at this year’s con will be top notch. And don’t fret over the poor person in the Totoro costume. If the weather was a bit chilly, he’s nice and toasty warm (blue toes notwithstanding).

The funny part of this vid comes at 1:03 when a man (perhaps a student) walks out from the left of the screen, looks at what is happening on the stairwell and then quickly leaves. Comedy gold perhaps with the potential to go viral. I’ll just wait and see.

For now I am extremely excited to be attending my first Anime Revolution convention. And I look forward to the excitement of being among anime fans as I was at Tsukino Con months earlier and the 1995 Anime Expo. [I wonder if James will ever explain his 20 year gap? I’ve done at least 6 times the amount he has. –Ed.]

I hope to see you all there.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0-ZghUtVhM&w=560&h=315%5D 

To register for Anime Revolution 2014, you can visit their official website here.

Vancouver’s Geek Community has two huge fandom parties on April 19th!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Fan Expo Vancouver has two after parties taking place on Saturday night, April 19th, each starting at the same time, at 9pm. The official FEV party will take place at Vistas 360 at the top of the Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel, with a bar and perhaps some catering, but very little information have been released about this show. Updates will occur as Otaku no Culture receives them.

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Hurrah for British Family Theatre!

By James Robert Shaw (TheWind up Geek)

JeevesLondon
Photo by Uli Weber.

If you haven’t yet seen the Olivier Awards on ITV tonight, then read no further. But to many of you brave souls who have, I say, “Then read on!”

The 2014 Olivier Awards, so named after one of the UK’s greatest actors of the 20th century, Laurence Olivier, was hosted at Convent Garden’s famed Royal Opera House in Central London.

The who’s who of UK television, film and theatre graced the red carpet with thousands of fans lined up to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars. Be they Dame Judi Dench, Arthur Darvill, Martin Freeman, Hayley Atwell or Beverley Knight, a few were fortunate to even get autographs. Some were fortunate to have autographs signed by Tom Hiddleston.

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More Posters for How to Train Your Dragon 2!

Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Just when fans think all the posters have been released for How to Train Your Dragon 2, the official Facebook page for DreamWork’s series has unveiled yet another one. This time, Hiccup’s mother, Valka, is featured with her dragon, Cloudjumper. These two share an even closer symbiotic relationship that Hiccup does not quite yet have with his dragon, Toothless.

Now that time is edging closer to this film’s release, will there be more surprises? Even Gobber the Great has his own pet dragon by the name of Grump. To collect these posters will not be an easy task when not every movie theatre across North America will give away / release their posters to fans to have. If any readers have suggestions on how to obtain them, we at Otaku no Culture welcome tips.

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Now that nearly everyone has been featured, Will Stoick the Vast get his own movie poster to round out the family? Most likely yes, and he better reunite with Thornado and his spunky newts. People who have followed the series will know this dragon may well be the last of his kind and he has taken to become a surrogate mother to three little Thunderdrums. When considering the invasion of Drago the Dragon Hunter will need everyone to have their dragon, everyone needs to be on top of their game, and be the best of friends with their dragon.

From the sounds of things, this family will become the Dragon Masters, the title of the third part of the television series.

A complete run-down of all the posters released to date can be found here.

Going to Rio for Carnival is better than seeing Rio 2

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Rio 2 Poster (2)

The city of Rio is best known for its carnival and the revelers of this six-day party can certainly live it up. It’s such a shame the movie Rio 2, a tale about a domesticated blue macaw learning how to live life freely, cannot live up to the same name and previous hype. It tries — especially with all its high-spirited musical numbers — but it fails when the concepts it tries to extol on are far too formulaic.

Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) has a happy life with Jewel (Anne Hathaway) in the city. But when their owners Linda (Leslie Mann) and Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) discover a flock of their kind deep in the jungles of the Amazon, they decide to track the humans down and find that life is not as golden. Jewel’s father, Eduardo (Andy Garcia) does not take an immediate liking to Blu, and with even more enemies to come, just which antagonist becomes important is muddled in a quagmire of who wants to climb up the ladder of being an alpha male. The story may be too complex for a young mind to handle and even for an adult, they may ask why is the message of saving Earth’s rain forests not engrained better in this film.

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Thoughts on the Third New Trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Poster

If the third new trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2 is any indication, Hiccup is going to have his hands full with one big reunion taking place. Not only will he find his mother, Valka, who somehow became missing over the years (instead of going on a quest, that the novels by Cressida Cowell said), but also an old enemy may also return if it is to tie-in with the television series.

Alvin the Treacherous made peace with Berk and if he makes a brief appearance in the film, that would be wonderful. It’s unlikely Hiccup’s immediate and adopted family will be enough to thwart the coming invasion. Not even his mom’s dragon army may prove enough.

Also, Dagur the Deranged must return somehow, perhaps as an associate of Drago, who leads an army of Dragon Hunters. Dagur was last seen in the television series humiliating defeat and heard vowing he will come back. Could the two be related? The names are similar enough to make this hypothesis.

And as the trailer indicates, Drago has an army and in order for Hiccup to defeat them, he will no doubt need to have his entire family — not just dragons — united to keep the peace in Berk. That will no doubt pave way for him to become king next, whether he likes it or not.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFly-k-OK2w%5D