Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 15, 2010 in Animation
I’m not sure what short this footage is from but it shows a recreated animation meeting at Disney for the 1955 film The Lady and the Tramp. While the meeting itself is clearly staged for the camera it gives a very good insight into the classic Disney animation process from that era where music was integral to the production (I also had no idea that Peggy Lee actually wrote lyrics for Disney!). By the way notice that the scoreboards all have animation peg holes on the bottom of the paper: Read more…
Sadly Futurama fanboys (and fangurls) unlucky enough to not be at Comic Con will miss out on an opportunity to take home the plus version of Nibbler in Shiny Jumpsuit. Although the good news for us stay at home fans that this is the first item in an entire line of Futurama plush dolls which I hope are equally as cute. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 14, 2010 in Animation
Right now Old Spice is doing a brilliant job feeding the narcism of the blogosphere — however it made yearn for a more simple time in my life when a splash of Old Spice was that mystery product in dad’s medicine cabinet. This made me do a bit of research and I came across the wonderful animated spot shown above from 1957. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 11, 2010 in Animation
Before Robotech there was Voltron which was the ultimate Japanese robot show about robots that came together: The series featured smaller robots that came together to form a larger robot, and the show itself was create by editing two anime series together (Beast King Go-Lion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV). Incubot is honoring this old school show with a Voltron Nekobot Flash Drive which will hold two gigs of storage and features a blazing sword. Read more…
Back in the mid-80’s, Hokuto no Ken — or as we’ve come to know it, Fist of the North Star — was a huge hit in Japan. It eventually produced a number of games, a few of which were localized after being heavily modified for US audiences, an OVA and a sequel. It actually blew my mind when I found out that my copy of Black Belt for the Sega Master System was actually a butchered version of the second Hakuto no Ken title. Thankfully, the games have come a long way since then.
Gundam Café in Akihabara opened back in April and is a living shrine of all things Gundam. Shy of traveling to Japan this amazing photo essay by kozika gives you a feeling of what it’s like to hang out there, order dessert, buy some goodies and yes even visit the loo: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 29, 2010 in Animation
Having been President of the Star Blazers Fan Club I’m still envious to this day the attention that’s lavished on Mobile Suit Gundam. This cover of Monthly Gundam Ace which goes on sale on July 26th is crammed with all sorts of goodies: Firstly you’ve got the celebration of the 15th anniversary of Mobile Fighter G Gundam but then you’ve got those cool Gundam collector’s cards and a story on Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 28, 2010 in Animation
Shown above is an ever so cute promotional illustration from the film Welcome to the Space Show in which five kids save the life of an alien space creature who happens to look like a cute doggie. The August issue of the Japanese publication Dengeki Daioh has an entire booklet on the show: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 28, 2010 in Animation
This latest trailer has quite a bit more detail than the previous one, and what’s interesting is that the special effects seem pretty darn good (which isn’t always the case with Japanese live action science fiction films). I should also note that the Star Blazers fanboy within me is very happy that they’re staying so true to the original concept. Read more…
These are screenshots from the upcoming K-ON! videogame Tea Time After School and Live which will be released at the end of September in japan for the PSP by Sega. The game will feature the K-ON! characters as 3D models playing popular songs after school — and there will also be a special bonus sticker book as well. Read more…
It’s so rare for me to come across wearable Otaku-oriented clothing. I use the term wearable in that I’ve seen more than my fair share of lounge shirts plastered with gaudy designs — be it the choice of the color or the anime inspired prints themselves. These jeans, however, are hardly an eye-sore. With the words of Monkey D. Luffy gracing your rear-end, you too can aspire to rule the high seas and collect the ultimate treasure — that is, if you can manage to fit in them. Read more…
I don’t want to brag but back in the day before all the new kids (who are no longer kids) discovered Ranma ½ I already knew who Rumiko Takahashi was because I had already fallen in love with Urusei Yatsura — which by the way I always felt was a much more humorous series. So when I set my eyes on this amazing sculpture of Lum needless to say I was quite smitten. I’m also impressed with the fact that this model comes in one version with green hair and another with magenta hair. This collectable figurine of Lum is designed by the ever so talented Bome who is a Japanese sculptor whose primary focus is the ladies of anime. Read more…
This is a sneak preview of the new series The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! which is coming to PBS Kids in September. The show isn’t based on the original Dr. Seuss books but an education series of books that feature the cat explaining life, the universe and everything to kids. What I like about this show is that the animation studio did a nice job of staying true to the designs of the cat in the books.
Both the Disney and Apple fanboy in me fell in love with this Snow White MacBook laptop skin decal that I spotted on Etsy. To me an appreciation of old school Disney is what sets the casual fans apart from the real connoisseurs, and if you love the medium you’ve got to worship Snow White for the landmark film that it was.
It’s hard for me to believe that Lilo & Stitch came out eight years ago! What’s also interesting is that the film and related goodies like videogames are still quite popular in Japan. Show above is the Stitch HQ 3-Way Furisu Blanket which is quite kawaii! And at under $30 makes for a cheap cosplay outfit — although the catch is that since the blanket is on the small size it may only benefit young and somewhat short con goers. Read more…
Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature has been a pretty handy tool since it launched. Users could slog through entire seasons of Law and Order, classic flicks like Harold and Maude and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and certain sets of niche genre films, all at the click of a button.
But recently Netflix added a batch of titles to its library that transformed Watch Instantly into THE place for kids who watched a lot of cartoons in the ’90s (not including anime, which makes up the vast majority of Netflix’s “Anime & Animation” section). Read more…
Some of you may know Danny Choo, he’s a pretty popular guy among otakus and fanboys alike. As such, I tend to share many of the same passions, such as Japanese anime and figures. Recently he uploaded these amazing photos to his flickr account, showing off some fantastic anime papercraft. I especially loved the Asuka he posted, as it actually looks better than some of the low-end PVC statues I’ve seen floating around. Pretty crazy considering it’s just paper. Check out his flickr stream if you want to see some more. Read more…
I recently came a across a nice series of fan videos by GoldenJellyBean on YouTube which included a few well done tutorials on creating crochet anime and videogame characters. Here’s a nice one on creating a Totoro: Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 19, 2010 in Animation, Tech
Why is it that Japan gets all the cool phones? I’m serious. Sure we all have our Blackberries and our iPhones, but none of those come with model Gundams, or high resolution cameras. Well, Softbank’s upcoming Gundam Cellphone 945SH G certainly does. In addition to being a Sharp 945SH with a built in OLED display, and 12.1 mega pixel anti-shake autofocus camera — yes, their phones have better cameras than ours — the limited edition phone will be packaged along with a model RX-78-2 Gundam and charger stand. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 17, 2010 in Animation
Above: Lady Gaga conquers Japan — love her or hate her, you can’t ignore somebody who has a hit.
I just read yet another blog entry on how illegal fan subtitled shows are killing anime, which I think misses the point. Anime is yet another branch of the entertainment business, and despite how much we fans pride ourselves on how different we are the cruel fact is that the only thing that really matters at the end of the day is that only the hits count. Now some economists will all harp about “the long tail” effect, but the harsh reality is that show business is a popularity contest (just like high school). And even in an industry that has been worse hit by piracy like the music industry you still have the likes of a Lady Gaga who is pulling in the moolah — and is thus a success. Read more…
This beautifully crafted One Piece human/reindeer hybrid figurine is from a Japanese company called Plex. I’m particularly impressed with the high level of detail of the paint job shown in the photos, it shows a nice level of craftsmanship. The cast of the manga is being released one at a time and Tony Tony Chopper who is shown here is set to come out in June. Read more…
I don’t want to date myself too badly, but I had the pleasure of seeing Macross before it was Robotech and the one thing that I loved about the show right away was the mecha design. And apparently I’m not the only one who felt that way — shown here is a Lego recreation of the Valkyrie VF-1S by the talented Eric Druon who goes by the name BaronSat. His Robotech as Lego tribute gallery is here — and his beautiful website is here. I personally think that it’s amazing that a fictional fighter robot which was designed by the talented folks at Studio Nue in 1982 would inspire someone to tackle this tribute 28 years later — which is all the more amazing considering that the show was originally set in the futuristic year of 2009. Read more…
