Is this thing on?

So you may have noticed that I haven't looked at this blog for a little over three years, keeping my web input mainly to movie reviews at Examiner and now my own separate blog, along with video game news and reviews at We Got This Covered.  Most new drawings go on my Tumblr as well.

While that content won't be changing destinations, I think I'm ready to start writing here again.  I'll definitely post links to future animations I do, which will include both new WarioWare Tooned episodes and an original series called Spacious.  I may try and do occasional YouTube reviews and Let's Plays as well.  I also recently did this short clip for fun, recreating a funny moment from a favorite podcast.

Looking forward to sharing more in-depth opinions and creations soon!

Back with a vengeance and a look at summer superhero films

Time to get off my ass and update this blog again. It's been almost exactly a year since the last update. I have a new computer, I'm hard at work on the first WarioWare Tooned episode since 2007, and I've got gigs reviewing movies at examiner.com and games at wegotthiscovered.com to boot. I also finished up a winter retail job, and am about to make a big effort to start some sort of media internship. Wish me luck.

Being the geek I am, and with the types of posts I've made before, you're probably expecting something about cartoons, games, or film. And you're getting the last one. I'm going to give my pre-release thoughts on the three big superhero movies opening this summer, two in particular are the big finales to some established franchises and have been hyped up for years.

Let's get the smallest one (relatively speaking) out of the way: The controversial Spider-Man reboot. You know what? I'm looking forward to this. I definitely enjoyed Sam Raimi's original trilogy (I'll even defend the third one, which I genuinely enjoyed for the most part), but their camp factor is undeniable. This looks to be a more Christopher Nolan-y take on the story, and I welcome the change. Also happy on their choice for the lead with Andrew Garfield - I liked him in The Social Network, and he looks the part way more than Tobey Maguire ever did. At the same time, I do hope that Spider-Man makes the occasional joke in the midst of battle like he did in the comics and cartoons to balance things out, and that bit in the car in the latest trailer has me crossing my fingers in that regard. I do wonder how they'll make certain elements (The spider bite, Uncle Ben's death) seem fresh, but I think this could be pretty cool and will walk in optimistic, unless it's another Green Lantern on Rotten Tomatoes.

Oh, was there another Marvel movie I forgot about? I'm kidding, of course - the movies themselves have been hyping this one up. To run down the list of the films whose characters will be making the big teamup and my thoughts:

Iron Man is the best. No contest. If it wasn't for a certain Dark Knight, it would be my favorite superhero movie. Everything about it just worked. The Hulk reboot had its fans, but it's the single one of all these I just didn't like, due to a generally uninteresting plot and cast. Iron Man 2 was a definite letdown when compared to the original, but I still enjoyed it. Thor was surprisingly fun and funny when it needed to be, and I liked the more fantasy-oriented take it had compared to everything else. Captain America was one of the biggest surprises of last year for me. It still didn't match Iron Man, but every time I see it, I like it more and more - and I really liked it to begin with!

So what do I want out of this movie? More than anything, I want each character to have their own meaningful plot going on. Bruce Banner is easy to guess - he'll still be trying to control his transformation. Judging by the end of his movie (My full review here), Thor will likely have found a way back to Earth to spend some quality time with Jane (That's the Natalie Portman character for those who don't remember - Wonder if she'll make a cameo) and be sidetracked by Loki's return, and the other two are the ones I'm curious about. I think what I want out of this film the most character-wise is to see Captain America adjusting to waking up in modern times. There are already hints of a sequel to his original flick flying about, but I really don't want that - his story has a huge opportunity to be wrapped up perfectly here, and not stretched out to sustain an entire film on its own. So where is Tony Stark going to fit in? I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have his own real subplot, because being unfamiliar with the comics, I'm hard-pressed to think of what other problems he could face, personal or otherwise. Obviously, Iron Man 3 has already been confirmed, but I'm really wondering what they're going to use after two films and this thrown in as well.

Really, this is all going to come down to the character interaction if they want this to work - and honestly, I think that for all the action we know it'll have, this could be where the movie truly shines. The idea of two egotistical wiseasses of different manners like Stark and Thor going off on each other could be hilarious, and after remarking what a good job Cap's film did of making him a likable everyman, I want to see his patriotic ideals conflict with those two's brash nature. Bruce Banner I could care less about - he was boring to me in his own movie, and while I have nothing against Edward Norton or new guy Mark Ruffalo, I don't think an actor change will make him more interesting. Maybe he's more fleshed-out in the comics, but I have a feeling he's really going to be upstaged by the other three (or in Hulk mode for most of the action anyway). I honestly know nothing about Black Widow or Hawkeye, so I don't expect either of them to blow me away personality-wise. And finally, I really hope they give Sam Jackson's Nick Fury something substantial to do - he's basically been a walking Avengers teaser in all his brief appearances, but I hope he gets to show some personality or badassness here.

I think that at worst, the movie will be good the same way Iron Man 2 was. I feel like there's been too much pressure and buildup for them to royally screw it up, and seeing how solid the track record has been, how much people seem to love director Joss Whedon, and how cool the trailers have been looking, I think it's gonna be a great ride. And as controversial as this may sound (And I know it won't happen), I'd like to see them close the book on these characters after this - all the movies have had little references and teases at this, so it feels like a natural point to end. But seeing how Thor 2 and Iron Man 3 are apparently in pre-production, and Captain America 2 sounds like it's not too far off, that will not be the case.

Okay, let's get to the elephant in the room:

No doubt about it - this is gonna be the big one. The anticipation and excitement surrounding this is just enormous - and why shouldn't it be? Batman Begins was great, and I am not ashamed to say that The Dark Knight would probably make my all-time top 5 favorite films. Nobody was prepared for the level that Christopher Nolan would take with the second chapter, and every little thing about it just worked. I have no qualms calling it a masterpiece of filmmaking. Nearly four years later, the pressure on Nolan and his cast and crew must have been enormous filming this thing, and a lot is still shrouded in secrecy. We don't know what Bane's agenda is, we don't quite know how Catwoman will tie into the plot, and in my opinion, the biggest question of all: Is Bruce Wayne going to walk away from this at the end?

Nolan has publicly said he always intended these movies to be a trilogy with a definite start, middle, and end, and I feel that any ending with Batman alive or still in action would still feel pretty open. And I don't want that, because chances are Warner Bros. will try and continue this story with or without Nolan and company's involvement. Chances are it wouldn't be the same. And here's the biggest thing about this idea in my mind: I do cry at movies sometimes. The ending to last year's Warrior got me a little misty-eyed. Where The Wild Things Are left me sniffing. And Big Fish always leaves me bawling. If Nolan and co. do end this movie with the death of Batman - and if they do it just right - it could be catapulted into one of the best endings of all time for me. And really, it's still going to be hard to top this.

I must be entirely truthful and admit that the one thing that is leaving me a little worried about this time around is the amount of characters apparently being crammed in. My reason for concern here stems from none other than Nolan's last film, Inception. Now before anyone gets mad, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I thought Inception was great. I loved its originality, visuals, and action. But I couldn't help but feel let down in terms of its character development. The main character of Cobb (DiCaprio for those who can't remember) was the only one who got fleshed out at all, and though I certainly enjoyed his tragic backstory as it was gradually revealed, I was left wishing that the others got at least some sort of similar treatment. Can you tell me anything about Joseph Gordon Levitt and Tom Hardy's characters? Or even their names? Dark Knight had meaning and soul to all of its characters in some regard - we got a better idea of why Bruce Wayne dons his cape, the utter insanity and lack of goals Joker had, and the tragedy of Harvey Dent's rise and fall. Hell, even Rachel, easily the most hated character in Begins, managed to pack an emotional punch in the end - Four years later, I STILL remember the unified gasp in my theater when she went boom. I really do hope that the same dynamics return for this, at least for the central characters from the comic. I want to know what Bane is trying to do, I don't want him to be an anarchist that just reminds people of Joker, I want to see more of Catwoman's goals in robbing or whatever she ends up doing, and I want to know Bruce's reason for apparently retiring Batman and then coming back.

At worst, this movie's not going to be as good as either previous entry. At best, it could somehow match Dark Knight. My guess is that it's going to land in-between both entries in terms of personal preference. I don't know if they can catch the lightning in the bottle that was Dark Knight a second time, but it looks like they're trying, and dammit, I'm gonna be there opening day, and I hope I'm blown away again.

So there you have it. I've been meaning to write this post for a long, long time, and seeing how close we're getting to these three, the time felt right. Hopefully I'll find other stuff to post about in the meantime. Thanks for reading.

Back from the dead

So I'm not dead. I just haven't updated this blog or put out new cartoons or drawings for some time.

Why? Because real life happened. That's really all that needs to be said. Thankfully, I'm settling back into a routine and, as as soon as my usual laptop is fixed (I'm typing this from a relative's computer), I'll be back to work on Wario and Spacious.

In the meantime, if you were ever interested in the show Dragon Hunters I mentioned long ago, the whole series is now streaming on Netflix, available in a torrent floating around (Not linking that, but it should be easy to find), and someone is putting every episode up on Youtube, so you really have no excuse to give it a shot now if you're even slightly intrigued.

Also, of the last three movies I saw, Rango was really good, Mars Needs Moms was surprisingly decent, and Battle: Los Angeles was painfully dull. I'll be putting up more reviews at http://www.examiner.com/user-behonkiss in the future.

Rock Revolution- What's the point?

We already have Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band for the complete virtual band experience, but Konami's trying to hop on the bandwagon with a crappy-looking knockoff that has no master tracks. Their E3 presentation did absolutely nothing to convince people of the game's merit (Watch to the end):



On a positive note, it was very smart of Activision to make the Rock Band instruments compatible with World Tour. Now I can pick up both.

Hey Activision, Stop Playing Copycat

To recap things: The company Harmonix developed Guitar Hero 1 and 2. Activision published them. MTV bought Harmonix away from Activision. Now Neversoft and Vicarious Visions develop Guitar Hero. Through EA, Harmonix made Rock Band, an expansion on the GH formula that added drums, bass and vocal playstyles.

Guitar Hero 4, or rather Guitar Hero: World Tour was recently announced, with the press release stating, "For the first time, guitar players can also play bass, play drums and sing vocals!"

Um.

It also seems that the controllers for each game may be incompatible with the other. In other word, you'd have to pay almost $400 if you wanted to play two songlist's worth of what is essentially the same game.

I have no plans to get World Tour but do plan to get Rock Band and its announced sequel. The only positive announcement has been Activision announcing the "Create-A-Song" feature for World Tour, giving players a music-making application and letting them upload their creations online for all to play. If Activision wants Guitar Hero to stay a viable property, they need to do more like this, and add unique and creative features that Rock Band didn't beat to the punch.

Kung Fu Panda, Number One Super Guy

When I saw the trailer for Kung Fu Panda in the theater, I rolled my eyes. I turned to my sister next to me (She's 11) and said it looked like crap. She agreed wholeheartedly. In fact, it becamse a running gag between us over the next couple of months, ie, "Kung Fu Panda, MOVIE OF THE YEAR!" every time we saw a mention of it. And then it came out, and people started to go crazy over it. So we went and ate our words.

This is a good movie. The humor doesn't have any soon-to-be-dated pop culture references that I caught, there's some good elements to the story (A villain with a REASON for his ambitions?!), and a surprisingly authentic Asian look to the whole thing. The action sequences make the movie. The most stunning scene to me involves a prison escape, and all I'll say about the craziest shot is that it involves lots and lots of arrows. There are also some neat looking 2D sequences at the beginning and end, the former of which is super-stylized and could hold a movie on its own.

I'd actually recommend this not just to cartoon fans and kids but fans of martial arts films, because they got the Crouching Tiger-style fighting down pat. The only real bad news about the film's success is that Stephen Katzenberg is hoping to make not one, or two, but FIVE sequels. I smell some crap headed our way if they try to rush these out.

User-made content: The next step in rhythm games?

Let's do a review.

Stepmania is a still-thriving Dance Dance Revolution PC clone, with the ability for users to take their own MP3s and make custom levels based around them. Osu! does the same with the Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents playstyle, and Frets on Fire with Guitar Hero.

On the professional side, Phase, from Harmonix (the same people who brought us Guitar Hero and Rock Band) automatically analyzes your songs to make a game that is essentially a simplified version of their premier series for your iPod. Beats does the same for the PSP. As does Audiosurf for the PC.

Combine this with dozens of amateur Flash games, and it becomes obvious that music games supplied by the input of the masses is getting big. And the next big step may come with Rock Band, as a Harmonix rep has mentioned that they are interested in a similar system being released for the game at some point.

In other words, get those MP3s, check these programs out, and have fun making your own levels.

Genius Party

The fairly new (It's been out in Japan for a few months) anime anthology Genius Party made its US premiere at the Kennedy Center a few hours ago, and I was lucky enough to be there. Shinichiro Watanabe (AKA director of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and the detective segment of The Animatrix), who directed the last segment, showed up and talked about the film before the screening, with the help of a translator. I grinned like crazy when, instead of exiting the room, he went and sat down three seats next to me and watched with the rest of us.

Genius Party is a treat. It is a great display of creativity and variety, in the vein of classics like Robot Carnival. I have a feeling that whenever the U.S. is able to get a widespread look at it (either through limited release or a DVD), it will be quite popular. Now for a look at each short and my thoughts:


Genius Party (Intro Short)
An abstract and engaging short. A field full of head-shaped rocks, many glowing hearts, and an odd-looking bird at the beginning make up a barely cohesive story, but the visuals and music are compelling, getting more and more intense as it goes on.



Shanghai Dragon
A shy, bullied little boy finds solace in chalk doodling on the walls and floors, and everything changes when he discovers an odd glowing pen that makes everything he draws a reality. But this is not an unexplained mystical object- it's a secret weapon developed by a far-off alien planet at war, and it must be recovered before the enemy gets it first.

This is definitely one of the better shorts. It is engaging, gorgeous, funny, and fast-paced, with some amazing action sequences and clever visuals. The ending, though, feels a little abrupt.



Deathtic 4
The only short done in 3D CGI, and the visual style is perfect for it. In a bizarre gothic world of zombies and odd creatures that feels like the lovechild of Tim Burton and Jhonen Vasquez, a zombie boy leaves for school only to be shocked by a frog falling out of the sky- not just any frog, but one that's actually alive. He discovers a team of three misfits who know of a way to return the frog to its own world, and they set out on a wacky ride in a shopping cart while chased by small red policemen who talk through cans that make cow noises and ride tricycles. (No joke.)

A definite favorite, the visual design is excellent and the overall short very engaging and funny, despite a few fart jokes. If the characters were ever to be merchandised, Hot Topic would be all over them.


Door Bell
The middle of the road short, both in order and quality. A young Japanese man inexplicably has a double come out of him, who begins to take over his life by somehow causing him to vanish from sight and sound for his family and friends. Eventually, he is still able to contact her girlfriend, and heads to her in hopes that the double will not beat him there.

After the craziness of the previous shorts, this one is down to earth despite the odd story. There's nothing that stands out about it, but it's an entertaining diversion and a fun watch overall. Not so much...


Limit Cycle
A guy who seems to be a living hologram stands still and looks around as random people and computerized images dance around him, while monolouging endlessly about God, the soul, technology, and other stuff. There is no true plot to the short.

This is junk. There is not much to gain from the dialogue, which is more pretentious than insightful, and the image rush soon becomes repetitive. It's a real chore to sit through, but thankfully it's the only stinker in the bunch.


Happy Machine
Though also abstract and with very little plot, Happy Machine avoids the problems of Limit Cycle and focuses on visual wonders and little else. A baby is inexplicably in a room where he is nursed by a robot made of monitors displaying a live action girl, but that breaks down, and the room soon falls apart. The baby finds himself in a bizarre world, sparse and stylized. He curiously explores the world, making friends with creatures and discovering new and exciting things.

Entertaining and endearing, the baby is both animated and voiced in a very appealing manner, and you grow to care for the creatures he befriends as well. Though the animation style is simplistic, a lot of emotion is brought out of it, not to mention a creature walk straight out of a 1920s 'rubber hose' cartoon. The ending is ambiguous, but not in a sense that will make the viewer feel cheated and abruptly cut off.


Baby Blue
Feeling ambitious, a male student decides to skip school and invites a friend who is a girl to wander about the city for the day. They screw up a subway trip and have to get home the long way, and some interesting events happen that result in both their return home and a last conversation that reveals a bit more of their personal lives and feelings for each other.

Watanabe described Baby Blue before the movie with a single phrase, "Genius Party is a feast, and you can consider Baby Blue the dessert."The final segment stands out in that it is the only completely down-to-earth segment in a movie dominated by the fantastic, but this does not have an effect on its quality. Character and vehicle animation is very nice, the voice acting is great, and Watanabe's directing style shines through. My only real gripe with the film is that it feels like it saves all of the character development until the end, but it still manages to have a touching final scene.


Overall, I highly recommend seeing Genius Party whenever you get the chance. It is not limited to anime fans in terms of enjoyment, as it also can appeal to arthouse film fans, artists in general, and probably stoners. Go see it.

Sony Defense Force- One of the greatest comedy blogs ever

I don't think there's anyone who visits Sony Defense Force and not think it's run by Sony themselves. And if it actually isn't, then it's by someone hilariously insane. An example of their stuff that makes the rounds on various sites:

Overall, to say Mario Galaxy is a disaster is an understatement. If you’re an easily amused child with a hard-on for nostalgia, pick up Mario Galaxy. Otherwise, if you’re an intelligent gamer that is interested in a real videogame experience, pick up a Playstation 3 and have a turn at Uncharted, easily this year’s best.

Short Circuit 2: The Comedy Series

I've never even seen the Short Circuit movies, though I've seen enough bits and pieces to get the idea, and yet this absolutely cracks me up. A lot of foul language is ahead.

The single goriest movie ever?

If someone knows of anything more gruesome and gory than the anime Genocyber (not in a disgusting way like some ridiculous form of porn), I'd like to see it. Obviously, this video is for mature audiences only.

Podcasts worth your time (If you're a geek)

The Greatest Movie EVER!- Gooberzilla and Co. have fun discussing various cult films, B-movies, and anything that can fit the podcast's title, along with some earning the title of Worst Movie EVER. Good for anyone who enjoys popcorn-type flicks.

Movies You Should See- A bunch of Brits who know their movies discuss their favorite movies, both recent and old. They are very well educated in their knowledge of the medium, so that any type of movie lover can enjoy them.

Scene Unseen- A podcast reviewing recent movies, with a twist: One cohost sees the movie, while the other doesn't. This works very well.

Channel Frederator- Very well-known, and for good reason. A showcase for indie animators to show their stuff, and there is tons of quality and creativity to find.

Play Value- A videocast that has similar vibes of Icons on G4, except much more professional and informative. Great info on the history of the video game industry.

Anime World Order- I haven't been into anime much lately, but this is still a great show. The three cohosts often review older and/or more obscure things, which makes for much better entertainment than "HERES WHAT HAPPND IN BLEACH TODAY GUYS". They are also very, very funny.

Fast Karate for the Gentlemen- Also anime, but not as devoted- these guys often talk about why they hate the title, also discuss gaming just as much, and basically sit around going off on crazy tangents that are fun to listen to, regardless of your interests.

Worst Movie Ever!- The polar opposite of Greatest Movie EVER- kind of. They do have a tradition where they discuss a bad movie in the later parts of each show, but the first parts are reviews of newer movies and discussion on industry news.

Beautiful Katamari: A haiku

Best music in the
series, yet most guys hate it.
I have crappy taste.

Baby steps across the room...baby steps out the door...

Two noteworthy for me things have happened in the past two weeks. The first is that I've made money and shared some of my art. Namely, a simple Chupacabra sculpture that a guy replacing my windows really liked. The second is that I've gotten involved in a real animation production a group of fellow college students are working on, one that will actually qualify for a resume spot and portfolio. Basically, it's an environmental short about littering and contaminating animal habitats that also has Teddy Roosevelt in it for whatever reason. I'm currently doing ink and paint, with a very talented roommate of mine doing some of the sketches. (Hopefully I can find a site with some of his drawings sometime.)

Regarding games, it's a real shame that Donkey Kong Baarrel Blast has turned out so horribly. I was hoping for a decent DK game or Mario Kart substitute for the Wii, but it's total crap. Hopefully something along the lines of the Country trilogy or Jungle Beat will come out in time, just like how I'm still waiting for a Rayman game that's an actual action-adventure with fantasy elements. (NERD RAGE GRR)

And a word of warning: Don't try Dragon Blade for the Wii. I rented it out of curiousity, and it's the worst game I've played for the system so far. The developers set out to make a God of War-type game, but everything is so half-hearted and unpolished that it feels like an indie student project.

Do try Phantom Hourglass, though. I didn't care much for it at first, but a little while in it really takes off. There are nice uses of both the two screens and the stylus, and sidequests like treasure hunting are very addicting. I wish they hadn't incorporated repetitive stealth bits, though.

Also, a solemn farewell to Bobobo. I don't have any reason to watch Toonami for now.

Hey Nintendo, keep doing this

In fact, Sony and Microsoft should take notes as well.

Nintendo's just released the Nintendo 64 game Sin & Punishment on the Virtual Console. The point? This game has never been released out of Japan before, despite having all-English dialogue and no reliance on text for playing it.

This has opened up the long talked about possibility of putting untranslated and unreleased titles on the Virtual Console. Mother 3 and Star Fox 2, perhaps?

So that's what dehydration feels like.

It's not pleasant.

I made some big mistakes today. First, I skipped breakfast. Soon after, I decided to go out for a bike ride in the 90-degree weather without water. I proceeded to bike uphil for half an hour, saw a yard sale, and went in to check it out. 3 minutes later, my sight grew dim, my body went numb, I fell down, and the next minute was a blur of muddled memories as my body began to be wracked by aches and nausea. I was fortunate enough to be seen by the friendly couple running the sale, who proceeded to sit me down on their stairs in the shade, rest, and get some water.

For the next 5 minutes, the pain continued, as I drifted between consciousness and half-consciousness, a feeling difficult to describe due to it being so rare for me. I was telling them thank you and that I would probably be fine in a moment, but on the inside I was terrified- Having never experienced severe dehydration or heatstroke, I was honestly worried I could be dying or affected by this somehow. Eventually the pain subsided, I was able to rest peacefully, and a relative was called to drive me home.

This was a scary experience, due to my inexperience and how out of nowhere it was. I owe a lot to the couple, and things have returned to normal very quickly. From now on, I will be sure to eat all three of the day's major meals, avoid nonstop uphill bike rides, and bring water on especially hot days. Anybody who doesn't do those regularly should take note.

Sorry that I didn't talk about cartoon or some geeky topic this time. This was just something that I'll probably recall vividly for some time.

Joining the Buy Zack & Wiki Campaign!

When I first heard about Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbados' Treasure for the Wii, I was intrigued by the idea of a point and click adventure made ground up for the system. After seeing this video, I've gotten very excited. One of the big selling points of the game is playing it as a group and figuring puzzles out together, which is much easier to do around a TV than a computer monitor. The colorful and appealing art style will also help grab different people.

If you're dying for a new adventure game or something to play on the Wii in October, look into this. At least give it a rental.

The madness of Otakon, Pt. 1

Funny thing: my trip to Otakon was totally last-minute. I ran into a friend at the beginning of the school year (Year-round scheduling), and while catching up, she briefly mentioned going to it. I don't keep track of cons, didn't know it was so soon and so close, and wanted to try something new. It's only the second con I've ever been to (First was Katsucon '05, working at the booth for the store I was working for at the time), so I was still a novice to how everything worked.

Highlights:

-I don't know if I'd call the registration line a highlight, but it was memorable. The length was crazy: Across the street connecting the buildings, a huge loop in the opposite direction of the entrance then back, and hot weather with many people in thick suits. Some people were crafty enough to sell water. I spotted many memorable costumes, best of all a guy in full Spartan warrior gear walking down the middle of the loop for pictures. I got one, but like the others, it still needs to get developed.

-Many incredibly huge and creepy/handicapped-looking people. A guy behind me at one panel seemed to have four chins, and there were several points where I literally gagged while walking past certain people and catching a whiff of them.

-I spent a lot of the day walking around, trying to figure the layout of the building and where everything was. It was very confusing trying to get to the dealer's room, and it wasn't open immediately, resulting in long lines at the start.

-The dealer's room seemed decent, but there was a lot of identical merchandise at various places. I ending up getting Bobobo, Genshiken and Harlock DVDs, I Feel Sick, a Golgo 13 manga, a Mario mushroom phone strap, and best of all, a Robot Carnival cel, which inspired me to go make a topic about it. I ended up visiting a booth solely devoted to doujin, which had a section that was allegedly tradition shonen-based stuff. I looked at the first three, almost immediately found a topless Winry on a cover, and left.

-The Steve Blum line was a disaster. I got there a half hour early, sat in front of the door, was told that it was moved to another area, got in the closest line, was told 10 minutes later that it was for Vic Mignogna, moved into the real line, stood there for 20 minutes with very little movement, and a rep finally came out and said that everyone who hadn't got a reservation ticket had to leave. Some of this was my fault, but they could have tried to say that sooner. I heard that he might come back tomorrow, though.

-The Michael Sinterniklaas made up for that in spades. Due to traffic, he was 15 minutes late, but he felt so bad that he decided to make it up to the crowd by throwing change and pins into the crowd, and offering us to come up and get some of his gum. The guy was an absolute riot- Very friendly, enthusiastic, and funny. He had many funny stories and info about his time in the industry (Including the time when he first entered the VA business, and got a warning from his boss that he'd be stuck voicing hentai if he did badly). There was naturally a lot of Venture Bros. talk, along with two girls dressed as Triana and Dr. Girlfriend. The most memorable quote had to be him talking about times where he had to read a line without knowing the context of it in the script: "Grab hold of that shiny metal ding-dong!" This got a huge laugh, and when the time came for autographs, I had him sign my Venture Bros. Season 2 set with that, and a regular signature on Season 1. I also caught the second half of Stephanie Sheh's Q&A because I didn't have much else to do (She was under the alias of Jennifer Sekiguchi for some reason, probably union-related), and while I'm not a big watcher of most of the things she's involved in, she had some neat stories and answers, and belched into the mic in the middle of a question.

-One oddly funny event did happen to me in the Steve Blum line. The guy next to me was dressed as a Bleach character, and as we struck up a chat, he showed me some pretty bad Jhonen Vasquez ripoff stick figure comics he did (One of them was almost completely a copy of the toilet bit from Squee), and showed me a picture of Orihime he had Stephanie Sheh sign. What was the memorable moment of this whole talk was what he told me he said to her: "Orihime is a goddess, and you're the one who gives her life." Maybe the other way around, but still just as weird. (If you ever read this, sorry, guy. You were cool otherwise)

-Geneon's screening room showed the first four episodes of Dragon Hunters, covered in a previous blog entry. The bad news is that it was the rather lousy first episode, and it was the only one I could see before Sinterniklaas' panel started. I ended up leaving early, and I only hope the viewers stuck it out to the better episodes (And didn't get pissed that it wasn't anime).

-All sorts of crazy cosplay. I got a Kodak instant camera and won't be able to see everything for a while, but I remember a Spartan warrior, a female Prince of All Cosmos, several guys dressed as V, many, many Kingdom Hearts characters, SO I HERE YOU LIEK MUDKIPS, a 'Ph3r-bot' made entirely of cardboard, and a terrifying blue moogle complete with snout, which is going straight into my nightmares and leads into this.

Courtesy of HedgeHodge from Something Awful:


I couldn't think of anything clever, so I simply said to him, "So, you're a gay furry?" He looked at me, but didn't respond.

Looking forward to Day 2. Hoping I'll see some of you guys and the friend who told me about the con.

So.

Out of both nostalgic interest and boredom, I watched Ferngully for the first time in 15 years. I had never had strong feelings one way or the other about it as a kid, and now, I find the backgrounds and some of the soundtrack to be nice, but everything else rather blah. One thing struck me, however: It's one of the most opinionated and ridiculously preachy movies ever, animated or otherwise.

If you haven't seen the movie, the rainforest (LAST rainforest? The hell?) is portrayed as a mystical utopian wonderland with lush vegetation, crystal clear rivers, and magic all around. And then the villains- Two dumpy, stupid lumberjacks using A GIANT MACHINE OF DOOM to cut trees, and some evil spirit of destruction who's basically a living glob of oily goo- come in. The lumberjacks aren't really given the clearest of intentions aside from, "cut down absolutely everything and leave desolation behind". Forgive me for arguing, but I don't think the industry works that way- they're a bit more selective about what to cut down and try not to destroy everything willy-nilly. Don't get me wrong, this has been proven to be harmful in the long run, but they try to be careful about it.

Also, the rainforest is not a utopia. The South Park guys' opinion is the polar opposite of Ferngully- they have an episode where it's portrayed as a hellhole of snakes, giant bugs, and cannibals. I don't base my life around these guys' opinions and am against quite a few of them (No proof of global warming exists at all? Michael Jackson was framed?), they raise some points. The rainforest is not a good place for a person to live in, but it is an ecosystem important for many species.

This got me thinking about other things TV and movies seem to want us to believe are the absolute truth. Here are some of them:

All lawyers are evil, money-hungry liars. These guys do a lot of good for people, and almost all of them are honest and hard-working. At least we have Harvey Birdman and Phoenix Wright.

Parents are stupid. This is especially evident in children's entertainment. It really would be nice to see stuff more often with parents who have at least the same intelligence as their children, as stuff like The Incredibles shows that it adds some good dynamics and dialogue.

All gay men are fruity, girly sissies and all lesbians are fat, ugly and butch. Huh?

And now for something you've never heard about

If you're someone who's actually kept an eye on this blog, I'm both surprised and a bit thankful. Sorry I've been neglecting it as of late, but I've got plenty of stuff to talk about now.

The show I'm about to discuss is something I'd be willing to bet money you've never heard of if you're American. However, it's apparently pretty popular in Germany, Arabic countries and France (Its country of origin), and possibly Canada. Not sure. In the U.S, however, it has never really gotten a chance.

The show goes by the name of Dragon Hunters (Les Chasseurs de Dragons originally), and is a fantasy-adventure mix. Taking place in a world made of numerous floating islands (Think Skyland, only good), it usually focuses on a team of three: Lian Chu, the muscle, Gwizdo, the diminuitive negotiator, and Hector, a tamed dragon and assistant. The world they live in has dragons of many varieties scattered throughout it, and they are a common problem for people trying to make a living. Our heroes go about looking for bounties and people in peril, slay the dragon/s, and collect their reward (Sometimes- the show reminds me of Cowboy Bebop in that the guys rarely manage to get cash for their efforts.) The three take up residence as tenants at The Snoring Dragon Inn, a restaurant and lodge run by a portly brunehilde-type named Jennyline and her young daughter Zaza.

One thing notable about this show, and one of its greatest strengths, is the character of Gwizdo. Whoever translated the scripts to English (As well as Rick Jones, his voice actor) did a great job. The guy is a total penny-pincher, coward, and sneak- but it's all pulled off in a way that makes him funny. His dialogue is very natural and often funny- there are very few times where he does stuff that seems out of character. The other two hunters have their merits. Lian Chu, despite being a hulking warrior, spends most of his time knitting and playing with Zaza, and Hector spends a lot of time panicking and speaking pidgin English.

This show has some nice backgrounds. The concept of floating islands is one that I've always liked, and this show does them nicely. They're of all shapes and sizes, and while most of them only serve as scenery, they do a good job of giving the show some atmosphere. When the hunters are on land, the landscapes look very nice and appealing as well.

What keeps me from heralding the show as a true gem is the side characters. The leads are designed and voiced very nicely, but I can't say the same for most of the others- they often look ugly or simply unappealing (Is this a French thing? No offense.), and while the French version might be another story, most of the English actors used for them are awful- apparently the dubbers felt that the main characters should be the only real priority, as they're well-voiced.

Also, this is not a show where you're guaranteed good writing with every episode- there are many well-done ones, but there are also some total duds. Plus, the show has a tendency to do the completely awful "lame joke that everyone laughs at for 30 seconds fade out okay" shtick that wasn't funny when it started in the 70s and isn't funny now.


The reason I'm willing to bet that American cartoon fans haven't heard of this is because Cartoon Network, being the trainwreck they are today, totally botched their plans for it. Originally, they showed it for about a month on Saturday mornings in early 2006 with no promotion other than a 5-second bit in a single commercial for the block it was in, and it was unceremoniously pulled after that, randomly put in months later, than pulled again after two weeks. Whether it was because of ratings or the network just didn't like the show, I'm not sure. But maybe if they had actually made people more aware of its existence, and maybe put it on a prominent block like Toonami or Miguzi, it would be a different story. As it is, the only way Americans can watch the show now is CN's online on-demand service, which will require a PC located in the U.S.

So go give this show a try, as you've got nothing to lose. If you like what you see, Geneon has released a couple of DVDs in all of North America that can easily be obtained through online retailers. Give it a chance- broadcasters certainly haven't.