Tokyo International Anime Fair 2010: Snapshots from the Show
Linda Yau was very kind to share these snapshots with us straight from the floor of the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2010: Read more…
Don’t Trust Google With Your Data (or Anyone Else)
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 28, 2010 in Tech
I was never given a warning, so I was upset to suddenly try and log into my YouTube account to see that it had been deactivated. Of course I have my theories: I used the account to post many clips for this blog featuring everything from movie trailers to Japanese commercials. So I suspect that the copyright gods might not have been on my side. Although in the past when that was the case YouTube would do anything from yanking the video, to removing the soundtrack to keeping the video and inserting ads. Of course this is just a guess, I was never sent an email so I don’t know. Read more…
The Cutest Little Black Rock Shooter
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 27, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
With the anime series set to launch in April the folks behind the Nendoroids have decided to introduce a Nendoroid Black Rock Shooter. Sculpted by master craftsman Abe Masato this Nendoroid features extra hair parts based upon the illustrations of HUKE. Here’s a preview of the anime series to give you a taste of the show: Read more…
Kenichi Matsuyama: The Dainty Side of Death Note
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 27, 2010 in Animation
It took me a while to recognize the actor gazing into the mirror on the cover of Cookie issue #5. After a bat I realized that it was none other than Kenichi Matsuyama who is best known for playing the character L in the live action Death Note films in addition to being a voice actor in the animated series. The mirror concept in this cover reminds me a great deal of the amazing 80s music video Take On Me which was directed by Steve Barron: Read more…
Can Apple’s Genius Be Duplicated?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 27, 2010 in Tech
In this video Nathan Shedroff talks about the fact that other companies can’t quite “copy and paste” what Apple does well without hiring a Steve Jobs. Apparently Apple uses a “genius design” approach which allows them to produce trailblazing products. I’d say that Nathan is tapping into something larger: Frankly what makes Steve Jobs unique is that unlike so many CEOs he has a genuine respect for creativity and a true empathy for his audience. To me that places him in the same company as a Walt Disney or the head of a fashion or music label. The key ingredient isn’t so much an approach but an ability to cultivate the creativity of a company. So maybe it’s not so much the process itself, but rather having a new role model for CEOs.
Tiny Titans and the Cute Crisis of Infinite Toddlers
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 26, 2010 in Comic Books
I have to admit that I’m enjoying the kids titles that DC and Marvel have been putting out over their grownup titles for two reasons: First the kids titles aren’t afraid to play with the typical superhero styles that we’ve all have seen too often — the illustrations are always fun and never take themselves too seriously. Secondly these books always contain a certain amount of fanservice to make us kids who never grew up want to buy them. The cover of Tiny Titans #29 which is illustrated by Art Baltazar is a good example of what I like to see in this genre.
A Timeless Leiji Matsumoto Timepiece
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 26, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
If you grew up on Star Blazers, Galaxy Expresss 999 and Captain Harlock you may want to think of sporting the Leiji Matsumoto Romantic Collection Watch on your wrist. I have to say that this beautiful timepiece really captures the look of Matsumoto mecha — it looks like a spare widget from the bridge of the Yamato or the Arcadia. Of course you may need to be a rocket scientist to actually read the watch as it features “quadrants have been demarcated with lines along with more minute lines which delineate the seconds”: Read more…
A Highly Animated Anime Conversation with Helen McCarthy
I was recently very privileged to be part of an Anime 3000 podcast with legendary anime author Helen McCarthy who has written so many vital reference books like The Anime Encyclopedia (with Jonathan Clements) and Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. Also on the podcast were Tim Maughan and of course Sean Russell who’s really done a great job creating a podcast with the who’s who of anime. The conversation covers everything from Yona Yona Penguin to iPads and is also available on iTunes. Read more…
Cthulhu Craves Carnivorous Delights
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 24, 2010 in Hobbies and Collections, Pulp Fiction
At over $200 this Nightmares of H.P. Lovecraft Dagon Statue is not for the casual fan looking for a bit of Cthulhu decoration for the library. Although looking at statues like this takes away the joy of H.P. Lovecraft for me — you see I was lucky enough to read a dusty old copy of At the Mountains of Madness and what I love about the style of writing is that it’s so packed with detail that your mind paints its own pictures. So seeing a Cthulhu hanging out in your living room takes away a bit of magic from those mountains of madness.
The Boss of Singing Firemen
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 24, 2010 in Japanese TV
Boss is one of my favorite canned coffee beverages so this Japanese advert caught my attention right away. What I find interesting about this spot is that as the camera pulls out I was expecting to see some sort of visual explanation as to why the singing fireman was wrapped up in his hose — but alas with a zen like quality that answer is never given. Read more…
Apple vs. Predator: It’s About Prior Art
What do you get when you put Steve Jobs together with a bunch of sci fi shows and movies? I’m not 100% sure but they’re all in the above video from Kelvington’s Parody Channel. By the way it’s amazing to think how much science fiction impacts the world of tech…
The Return of the Revenge of the House of the Bride of the Son of the Daughter of Tom Stathes’ Cartoon Carnival
Posted by Joe Strike on Mar 24, 2010 in Animation
Tom Stathes’ latest Cartoon Carnival, number five to be exact, was presented at a storefront venue known as Vaudeville Park, and hosted by Cinebeasts, a local film society. Not only were the cartoons time-warp material; the twenty-somethings who’d organized the evening were dressed for the occasion in bowties, bowler hats and suspenders, a pianist was playing Fats Waller tunes, the SRO audience consisted of everyone from college kids to retirees, and never mind the open bar – they were handing out free popcorn! Read more…
A Heavenly Shrine Priestess Figurine from Inuyasha
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 23, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
Kikyo was cuter. Much cuter! It’s hard for me to believe it but to many anime fans Inuyasha is thought of as old school anime at this point — the show went on the air almost ten years ago in October of 2000. So for me it was a pleasant surprise to see this wonderful figurine of Kikyo which is produced by the BOME modeling house. From what I can gather from my source article is that this figurine first came out in 2009 as a limited edition but will be re-issued in June. Read more…
The Death Star Watermelon: The Pitfalls of the Dark Side
This creative Star Wars themed fruit carving dates back to last year, but it’s still a classic to me! To me the Death Star is a symbol of just how iconic that Star Wars has become over the last few decades — there have been references to the superweapon in every show from the Powerpuff Girls to the anime series Crayon Shin Chan. Read more…
You Know Your Girlfriend Really Loves You When Your Co-Workers are Animals
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 22, 2010 in Japanese TV
You know you’re watching a Japanese commercial when a workaholic’s girlfriend stops by with a spot of tea and doesn’t seem to notice anything that’s slightly odd about the fact that your two co-workers are in fact a cat and a goose. Credit for this fun spot belongs to Aflac in Japan: Read more…
Mighty Samson: Mauling the Many Mutants of N’Yark
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 22, 2010 in Comic Books
So many of the post-apocalyptic films from Mad Max to Escape from New York all owe a little something to Mighty Samson which was a comic book series published by Gold Key Comics back in 1964. The team of Otto Binder (writing) and Frank Thorne (illustration) created their vision of N’Yark which was one corner of planet Earth devastated by a nuclear war. The series lasted until 1982 and the faded into obscurity so I’m glad to see that starting in June Dark Horse will be releasing Mighty Samson Archives Volume 1. The first volume features the first seven comics from the series — here are some covers and interior pages from that era to give you a taste the mutants that roam the former streets of the big apple: Read more…
CBGB the Comic Book: Exploiting the Corpse of a Punk Rock Mecca
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 21, 2010 in Comic Books
A panel from this unreleased comic book series proclaims that CBGB “isn’t some stupid slogan on a t-shirt” however sadly the now owners of the brand have turned it into that. Once upon a time in the 70s CBGB was the club on the lower east side of New York City where punk rock really started (ha ha not England). Yet sadly a few years ago their rents went up, and by 2006 they closed their doors and then about a year later the owner Hilly Kristal died. Since then the brand has been turned into a cartoon and put onto anything, which now includes a comic book. This isn’t a shock as we live in a world of capitalism but punk rock should stand for the sprit of do it yourself, and this soon to be schlocked out comic misses the point entirely: Read more…
Chinese Folk Art Steampunk Robots
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 20, 2010 in Science
This amazing video shows Mr. Woo a folk artist from China who builds beautiful homemade robots from scratch. What’s even more amazing is that he has no formal engineering training, in other words he a very talented hobbyist with a passion for robotics. By the way my favorite part of the video occurs at 3:40 when a robot stars walking by with a rickshaw. Found via the very talented Angel Wardriver. Read more…
Silverlight Success: Riding on Apple or Google?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 20, 2010 in Tech
In the wake of the Flash is doomed movement I’ve noticed quite a few Microsoft developers who are rooting for Silverlight. Silverlight has two amazing advantages going for it: Firstly Microsoft loves their developers more so than any other company that I’ve ever seen — and then add to that it will become a key tool for making apps for Windows mobile devices. But there’s one major catch to this which is that smart mobile is now dominated by Apple and Google, and that there’s a good chance that they won’t let Silverlight onto their platform. Read more…
A Kitty Kitchen Must for a Spice Girl
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 20, 2010 in Hobbies and Collections
Yes technically this is the Hello Kitty Kitchen Spice Rack however judging by the icons kitty has a bit of a sweet tooth as there are clearly symbols for cupcakes, coffee and jam! My guess is that you should put in sprinkles into the cupcake canister, hazelnut into the coffee canister (or maybe sugar?) and I still haven’t figured out why you’d have a strawberry jam icon in a spice rack. All in all there are eight containers — two of which come pre-filled with salt and pepper. Bien manger manquez chat!
Megamind: A Menial Mental Achievement from Dreamworks
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 19, 2010 in Animation
Dreamworks has a very solid business plan: Churn out as many second rate Pixar looking films as you can. Megamind perfectly embodies this tired formula by having well known comedy stars do the voiceovers to poorly done 3D animation that looks like everything else you’ve already seen before, and then add a soundtrack of songs that were all hits from twenty plus years ago. The irony of this is that I love Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt and Tina Fey — but while two of them are A+ comedy actors none of them are talented voice actors. And things like that which tell you that Dreamworks really has no respect for the art of animation. Read more…
Domokun Travels Back in Time to Give Birth to Modern Japan
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 19, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
Domokun has many adventures — and for this set of goodies he’s joined the cast of the Japanese costume drama show Ryomaden. The story is based upon the life of Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本 龍馬) who lived in the 19th Century and played a key role in keeping Japan united while allowing for the creation of a modern government which will allow it to avoid be colonized by foreign powers. Ryōma was very much in love with technology, so I think he’d love the idea of westerners learning about his life story via the internet (although I’m not sure how he’d feel about Domo). Read more…
Tim Burton’s MoMA Nightmare
I haven’t been to NYC’s Museum of Modern Art since their admission price hit a serious $20. (Sure you can get info free Friday evenings courtesy of Target – if you don’t mind standing on line for two hours.) I take that back; I’ve been there once or twice since, but gratis, wearing my fedora with the ‘PRESS’ pass tucked in the brim. Read more…
Touched by Romantic Retro Anime
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 18, 2010 in Animation, Japanese TV
Touch is a manga that ran in Japan from 1981 until 1986 in Weekly Shone Sunday, along with Urusei Yatsura it was on of the most popular comics in that magazine during the early 80s. The manga which became an anime series in 1985 was a combination of baseball with romanic comedy. What’s cool about this commercial is that you can see the wide range of merchandise the show inspired — from a musical album to a “Happy Bag” of goodies that was sold through the Japanese drug store chain Lawson. I love the added touch of having the two characters from the show standing outside an anime version of the drugstore in the last shot. Read more…