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Quote of the night
2007-04-13 05:58:00
Don has already said what I was thinking... This show is somewhat like Azumanga Diaoh, but only if you top it with icing, cover it in powdered sugar, and lace it with crack... My head is hurting... I can't wait till the next episode!
More About: The N , Night , Quote

Is Google suggesting something?
2007-04-12 07:44:00
I wonder why it would ask that? :) Caught that while I was messing around with Opera in Windows XP running in a virtual machine.
More About: Google , Methi , Sting , Something , Thing

Lucky Star Opening Piece
2007-04-12 06:19:00
I don't have much info yet on this anime but the OP definitely has my attention: read more
More About: Open , Opening , Star , Lucky Star , Lucky

Asatte no Houkou - Initial Impressions
2007-04-09 07:02:00
After watching the first five episodes of Asatte no Houkou, I found that this 12-episode series had really caught my attention at the end of the first episode and held it up through the fifth episode. Like most anime slice-of-life series, this series has a "hook" to make the series more interesting than simply watching the lives of a few people. Asatte no Houkou's hook happens at the end of the end of the first episode; an episode that's admittedly dull the first time you watch it. read more
More About: Press , Sion , Impressions , Impress , Impression

Claymore - Episode 1 Impressions
2007-04-05 06:12:00
Just released on fansubs, I decided to give first episode of Claymore a try. The setting seems to be the standard medieval world, where yoma (demons) terrorize the people and are able to disguise themselves as human. The beings termed the Claymore by the humans are the only ones that can detect and defeat yoma, mainly because they are themselves half-human and half-yoma. They are also always women with silver irises. When fighting a yoma, the Claymore's eyes turn to a gold color and have cat-like pupils. The first episode introduces us to one such Claymore who was requested to come in to defeat a yoma that is hiding in a town inhabited by Raki, a young teen. read more
More About: Episode , Press , Piso , More

Genius Party releasing in Summer 2007
2007-04-01 22:13:00
Genius Part y has been a series of shorts from Studio 4°C that I've been waiting for nearly a year now. Here's some information about the release:7 animated shorts coming from Studio 4°CVol. 1 release date : Summer 2007 (Japan) ...7 Directors - 7 Shorts :#1 GENIUS PARTY - Atsuko Fukushima#2 Space-Time Wars - Shoji Kawamori#3 Death Take Four - Shinji Kimura#4 Doorbell - Yoji Fukuyama#5 LIMIT CYCLE - Hideki Futamura#6 Dream Machine - Masaaki Yuasa#7 BABY BLUE - Shinichiro Watanabehttp://www.genius-party.jp/ And Here's the third trailer: read more
More About: Asin , Sing

Newer Anime Ending Theme Dance + Old NES Game =
2007-03-31 16:27:00
... Probably looks something like this: (Direct link to YouTube page)I thought the music being remade in that style was a really nice touch too.
More About: Dance , Anime , Game , Ending , Theme

Kirin, slice of life, canibalistic pigs, oh my!
2007-03-28 00:19:00
There's quite a bit that I've been meaning to write about, but I just haven't had the energy to just write even when I had the time. For example, I've been meaning to do an analysis on Anime News Networks interview with Fuyumi Ono for some time now. I've also finished the official English translation of Ono's The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadows several days back, and was itching to write about that one too; I'll probably end up combining my thoughts in those in one big post later. Also, I got up to episode 5 of Asatte no Houkou, and want to note some stuff down here before continuing, but for some reason, I can't just sit down and write it. Rather frustrating, as I'm now writing this at work, when I should be coding! Well, it is the end of the day, and I'm about to head out to get some dinner before coming back to work on this current project... So, instead of watching more of Asatte no Houkou, I've started on a series that I've ...
More About: Life , Bali , List , Pigs , Cani

Nick's Anime Wishlist, 2007
2007-03-24 01:33:00
Normally, I don't have many anticipated up-and-coming anime that I'm waiting for. I seem to have more of a wait-and-see attitude, and often will wait until others of watched and discussed the anime before I start watching. As it is, I already have quite a backlog of anime waiting to be watched. I find that this serves me well, and it's rare that I watch an anime that disappoints me. But sometimes, based on previous experiences with certain creators or an intriguing concept, I'll find myself looking forward to several animes, like right now. There's a number of anime, mostly films, coming out of Japan that I am keeping an eye out for. read more
More About: Anime , List , Wish , Nick , Wishlist

Anime News Network holds an interview with Fuyumi Ono, author of The Twelve
2007-03-18 23:09:00
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview /2007-03-18/fuyumi-ono-author-of-the-twel ve-kingdoms I haven't read all the way through it yet, and I'm still shaking with excitement. Here's a teaser that should make waves, though: read more
More About: News , Inter , Anime , Work , Network

5000 mark
2007-03-16 17:30:00
Some time yesterday, I had hit the 5000 visitor mark. Now, that would be humbling in itself, but when I started this weblogging thing in October 2006, I never thought I would be linked to and quoted on blogs and forums of several different languages. Not that I'd be able to read what they're saying; I have a hard enough time with English... ;) Truthfully, I'm more amazed that people are actually reading what I write... read more
More About: Mark

Cat Soup - Nyatta loses his arm
2007-03-15 03:57:00
I was reading fledgling otaku's "Mostly Harmless" entry on Haibane.info and the following phrase, for some reason, brought up this scene from Cat Soup in my admittedly warped mind: read more
More About: Atta

The Twelve Kingdoms - Initial observations
2007-03-14 05:50:00
I was originally going to wait until I get an afternoon where I'm not so tired, but I was reading through chapter 3 of The Twelve King dom s: Sea of Shadow when I stumbled on a passage in there that made me get up an immediately want to post on it. I've actually already read the fan-translation of this book a while ago, but I never really read it carefully since it was on screen rather than the book form that I'd prefer to read novels in. But first, my initial observations and impressions (warning, spoilers of the anime version ahead, too!). read more
More About: The Twelve Kingdoms , Observations

Not following the bandwagon.
2007-03-13 04:24:00
Yup, forging my own path. I'll jump off my own cliff, thank you very much! ;) read more
More About: Band , Following , Wing , Wagon , The Band

Jinto's ego
2007-03-12 03:17:00
I've been reading alot more books these days. I guess that's a good thing, even if these novels are actually official translations of Japanese books of which the anime adaptations rank among my favorites. Some of the stuff I've been reading lately include the Berserk graphic novel, The Twelve Kingdom novel (which I have more to say about in another post), and I'm awaiting for the next Kino no Tabi book scheduled to be released in June. But what I want to mention was some things I've observed in Crest of the Stars 2: A Modest War. read more

"We have your preorder"
2007-03-09 19:45:00
That's what I heard this morning from an unexpected phone call from the local Barnes & Noble bookstore. But when I heard what they were holding for me, it seemed that nothing else mattered at the time. I know what you're thinking, "What the heck are you talking about, Nick?" I'm talking about this book, which is sitting on the desk right next to me: read more
More About: Your , Have , Order , Preorder

Byousoku 5 Cm Review by Daike
2007-03-05 14:54:00
That lucky dog Daike from the Makoto Shinkai Fan Web was to be able to watch the premiere of Byousoku 5 Centimeter at the Cinema Rise theater in Tokyo, Japan. He is nice enough to write a review of the film for us Engish foreigners who won't be able to see this highly anticipated film from Makoto Shinkai for some time. read more
More About: Review , View

MKV (H.264 codec) to AVI (XviD codec) conversion
2007-03-04 01:23:00
As I promised earlier, I will post about how to convert an MKV container file with an H.264 encoded video and AC-3 encoded audio to an AVI container file with an XviD encoded video and, optionally, 2-channel MP3 encoded audio. The MKV format makes a very good distibuting format, with the ability to have multiple audio streams and multiple subtitling streams, combined with the H.264 codec for high quality video. Unfortuntely, if you're like me, you have a DVD player that isn't able to play such files but can play XviD or DivX encoded video in AVI files (like my OPPO OPDV971H Player ) hooked up to a big-screen and an home theater audio system, but would wish to watch (or invite others to watch) that greatest and latest video that you've found on the internet, that's only available as an MKV file! (I may have some errors in here. Feel free to comment to help with details or ask questions) read more
More About: Codec , Code , Sion , Conversion , Xvid

Small discoveries
2007-03-03 12:19:02
In the last few days, I had found that my favorite animation studio, Studio 4?, had created a series of animated shorts (mainly demos and music videos) called Amazing Nuts, and fansubs of a couple of shorts from it called "Kung Fu Love" and "Global Astroliner" were released. Now, I'll talk about those two shorts in another entry later, but right now, I had used them in a short test. This test was to see if an OPPO OPDV971H upscaling DVD player with the most recent firmware install will pass through a 6-channel AC-3 audio track in an AVI file though an optical cable to a Pioneer VSX-D710S receiver. In short, it works! read more
More About: Small , Cover , Over , Mall , Disco

Right Stuf's ADV sale
2007-03-03 12:19:02
It looks like The Right Stuf International is having quite a sale on ADV titles until March 11. The deal is 10 ADV titles for $50 or 25 ADV titles for $100. Quite a tempting offer, that is. My bank account is screaming in protest...
More About: Sale

Makoto Shinkai's Byousoku 5 cm - Episode 1: Okasho (Extract of Cherry Bloss
2007-02-28 00:18:01
Warning: Extreme fanboy gushing ahead! The following is the initial review for the first episode of Makoto Shinkai 's Byousoku 5 Centimeters that I wrote on AnimeNfo with images inserted and some minor changes and edits to fit a more permanent format, as I will update the review on AnimeNfo when I see the rest of the movie. I'll most likely do a complete review of the full movie on this site. On with the review! read more
More About: Episode , Cher , Piso , Loss

Recent additions to the collection
2007-02-26 06:16:02
I'll have quite a bit to keep me busy for a bit.  After I get through the current backlog of anime I have...
More About: Cent , Recent , Coll , The Collection

Anime Night
2007-02-26 06:16:02
Well, the pic was of a test run of playing the Byousoku 5 cm episode on my roommate's 42" TV. My DVD player hooked up to it (OPPO OPDV97IH) can play XviD and DivX files, so it was a matter of converting the original WMV file to uncompressed AVI, inserting hard subs into the video, and encoding it with XviD. read more
More About: Anime , Night

Enthralled
2007-02-26 06:16:02
I just watched the first episode of Makoto Shinkai's Byousoku 5 Centimeter. Well, actually, the stream. Ok, ok, a torrent of the stream. A raw torrent of the stream. Truthfully, I had stumbled onto this entry about it... read more

Anime Night
2007-02-25 18:15:02
Well, the pic was of a test run of playing the Byousoku 5 cm episode on my roommate's 42" TV. My DVD player hooked up to it (OPPO OPDV97IH) can play XviD and DivX files, so it was a matter of converting the original WMV file to uncompressed AVI, inserting hard subs into the video, and encoding it with XviD. read more
More About: Anime , Night

Recent additions to the collection
2007-02-24 18:14:02
I'll have quite a bit to keep me busy for a bit.  After I get through the current backlog of anime I have...
More About: Cent , Recent , Coll , The Collection

Byousoku 5cm First Episode Stream
2007-02-21 06:12:02
Not that it would do me much good, but it looks like the first episode of this movie will be offered online for streaming. According to MSFW: Byousoku 5cm Official Site (Yahoo! Japan) says they will release the 1st episode for Yahoo! Premium members and Yahoo! BB members by streaming... The streaming is distributed only for 3 days: from February 16 12:00PM to 19 12:00PM (Japan Standard Time: UTC+9:00). read more
More About: Episode , Piso , Stream , First

Enthralled
2007-02-19 18:10:01
I just watched the first episode of Makoto Shinkai's Byousoki 5 Centimeter. Well, actually, the stream. Ok, ok, a torrent of the stream. A raw torrent of the stream. Truthfully, I had stumbled onto this entry about it... read more

Recently Purchased Media
2007-02-19 18:10:01
I have the following purchases inbound to me: Revolutionary Girl Utena - The Rose Collection/The Movie Boxed Set (Anime) Berserk, Vol. 1 (Manga) Seikai: Crest of the Stars 2: A Modest War (Seikai Trilogy) (Novel) Steamboy/Memories (Anime) I have the following on pre-order: The Twelve Kingdoms 1 (Novel) Kino No Tabi 2: Book Two of the Beautiful World (Novel) I also have Full Moon Volumes 2-4 DVDs waiting to ship with Kino No Tabi. read more
More About: Media , Cent , Recent , Chase , Purchase

Explanation of the Word "Mushi"
2007-02-18 06:08:01
Iwa ni Hana has an excellent explanation of the word mushi. This really helps with understanding the already excellent series Mush ishi, as the words "bug" or "insect" really don't capture the real meaning. read more
More About: Word , Nation , Plan