Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 19, 2009 in Animation
Clockwork is a short animated film that stars a cute robot girl named Hina. Being a caffeine addict the idea of robot making a morning brew caught my attention right away, but I have to say that the design of the robot is great and the animator did a great job of picking a refreshing soundtrack for this sweet little short. Here are some wonderful photos of Hina: Read more…
If you take the J train over the Williamsburg Bridge, get off at Kosciusko Street and walk a few blocks west, you’ll come to a storefront that looks like it’s home to a going out of business sale, with benches and various other effluvia out on the sidewalk. Inside is a bar and club called Goodbye Blue Monday that’s most definitely in business: the place is decorated not unlike Pee-wee’s playhouse or the home of some mad collector of antique TV sets, mountains of action figures and bizarro furniture (the rocking chair made out of two motorcycle gas tanks was pretty impressive). Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 17, 2009 in Animation
Why bother to put Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs into theaters when it can go straight to cable? The first film was average but had some decent moments, but this latest one looks like it has freezer burn. There seems to be some sort of Land of the Lost plot going on in this “film” — and I bet that they scripted that before they knew the rebooted Land of the Lost would bomb. You know it’s been about fourteen years since Pixar released Toy Story and yet the other studios still seem to be playing catch up…
Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike (テイルズ オブ ヴェスペリア) is interesting is that it’s a prequel to the videogame Tales of Vesperia, but the twist is that instead of being a game it’s going to be an animated feature film. The film is due out in October this year and is being produced by Production I.G. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 15, 2009 in Animation
Up until this point I’ve guessed that everybody has seen photos of the full scale Gundam model in Japan which was created for the 30th anniversary of the show. But what I don’t think many folks have seen is a video of this amazing wonder, which gives you a much better feeling for the impressive scale of this wonder. Read more…
If you came of age in the era of Pokémon prepare to feel like an old timer: Every generation has their entry level show which introduces them to the world of anime and the current hot show with the elementary school set is Bakugan Battle Brawlers (爆丸バトルブローラーズ ). With Bakugan there have already been over 50 episodes of the anime series aired in both Japan and North America with and additional 55 millions toys sold last year. So it’s no surprise that a videogame had to come out of this: Shown above is the trailer for the upcoming Bakugan game which is due out later this year for the Wii and DS. Read more…
Dr. Tezuka: He's smiling in this photo, but I don't think he would be pleased with this game.
I could be wrong: Astro Boy may just turn out the be the very best animated film of 2009. But sadly everything I’ve seen makes me think otherwise — and this teaser trailer for the videogame based on the film is the latest example. It just looks like they a sprite of Astro Boy and chucked him into some pre-existing generic 3D game engine. There no charm that one might associate with the cute boy robot of yore, just tons of things that seem to need to be beaten up for no reason at all. I’ll never guess why the estate of Tezuka didn’t insist on creative control, it’s as if the crown anime jewels of Japan have been turned into cheap throw away trinkets. Well with any luck this won’t kill the franchise for more than a decade or so…
This is the Japanese promotional video for the PokéWalker — which is a virtual Pokémon pet of sorts. The PokéWalker is developed by Creatures Inc. which is a toy subsidiary of Nintendo. From what I can gather the toy also includes a pedometer for exercise oriented fanboys. By the way notice how the spokeslady is sporting a belt whose belt buckle mimics the industrial design of the PokéWalker: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 8, 2009 in Animation
On June 9th, 1934 Donald Duck made his debut in the Disney short The Wise Little Hen. His original character design (seen above) wasn’t quite the foil that he would evolve to be in later cartoons — although all the essential elements are there from his trademark voice to his sailor suit: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 6, 2009 in Animation
I have to say that I’m slightly disappointed with this trailer. This film was the result of a lawsuit that allowed producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki to make a new Yamato film. And frankly there’s nothing wrong with that, but a key ingredient that’s missing here is Leiji Matsumoto who directed the first film and gave really gave the franchise its soul. When that soul is missing you get the above trailer: A slow moving collection of pretty spaceships sporting a tired CGI look (and frankly that Blue Noah reference at the start is just adding insult to injury): Read more…
In the great tradition of Marvel vs. Capcom comes Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars! Old school anime fans will be very familiar with Tatsunoko as the animation studio behind Battle of the Planets, which was a watered down version of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. Other Tatsunoko properties featured in this game are characters from beloved classics like Tekkaman and Yatterman and more recent titles like Karas. And of course on the Capcom side you can pick from characters from Street Fighter and Mega Man. This title has already come out in Japan, but I’m very pleased to see that they’ll be bringing it over to North America for the Wii. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 4, 2009 in Animation
This is the latest collection of TV ads for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and I have to say that while I have no clue if the films have any sort of plot you get a sense that if you’re in it for the eye candy that you won’t be disappointed: Read more…
You go to anime con after anime con and you always see the same thing: Many cosplay artists try so hard to pull off the Suzumiya Haruhi look and so many fail. The sailor outfit part is pretty easy, but the secret to Haruhi success is that her hair has to look just right with the bow perfectly in place. By the way bows are a hard fashion accessory to pull off, the last time I saw it done well was when Madonna was doing it in the mid-80s. But fret not! As of August of this year for a small budget anybody can now purchase an authentic Suzumiya Haruhi Cosplay Wig for about $30.
As a geek from the 80s I take it as my personal vindication that the Care Bears aren’t enjoying the resurgence that’s being seen with Transformers right now (of course a major Hollywood film didn’t hurt either). This Trypticon Transforming Laser Mouse is made by Takara and available for pre-order at bigbadtoystore. This USB mouse works with both Windows and Mac, but frankly my bet is that if you’re a real fanboy (or fangurl) that you won’t want to take it out of the packaging for fear of ruining the collectibility value. Read more…
Posted by John Martone on May 31, 2009 in Animation
Plot: In a world where Japan is spiraling out of control, an enigmatic and powerful man gives twelve Japanese citizens 100 million dollars to spend on “saving” Japan. Using the network he lays out for them, they have merely to issue the command, and it is done. Our protagonist, one of these twelve, begins the story stark naked in front the White House, holding a gun. Its at this moment he loses all of his memories, and must begin to unravel the mystery of who he was, and if that will affect who he wants to become. Read more…
Posted by John Martone on May 28, 2009 in Animation
As most fans of the series will tell you, there’s just something magical about Gunbuster. Also known as Aim for the Ace!,Gunbuster was a six episode OVA released by the mostly unknown Gainax in 1988. The show also marked the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, who’d go on to create other fascinating shows like Evangelion. True to that form, Gunbuster is also a series where the robots and monsters are merely the pretense to show kids growing up/dealing with their problems. Among them, is Jung Freud, my favorite Soviet. Read more…
Posted by John Martone on May 28, 2009 in Animation
This video, by the Japanese group of artists Rinpa Eshidan is one of the coolest things I’ve come across this week! Rinpa Eshidan, which is loosely defined as “To bring people together, art crew,” is a collaborative art effort that I am entirely too enamoured with. Focused on making art for the sake of creating, not the sake of preserving, the group has managed to come up with some amazing projects. This one, for example, is a time lapse video of them, in public, painting on the same wall for a week. Using each completed painting as a springboard to the next, the results are mesmerizing to say the least. Here are some photos of them in action: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 26, 2009 in Animation
If Pixar did a toilet training video it would look like this! The clip above is from some NHK kids video show in Japan, the subject matter is strictly bathroom humor as you can see. I think the cutest thing about this video are the flying rolls of toilet paper who seem to be playing a bugle.
What makes this pair of Full Metal Alchemist Coin Banks so interesting is that when you put a coin in, it will trigger a cute low resolution digital animation on the front panel. One coin bank features Edward Elric while the other is themed with Roy Mustang. Here’s a full description: Read more…
This ultra-moe fan video from Japan combines footage from the anime series K-ON! with a soundtrack from an old Kirby video game. I hate to admit it, but once I started watching this loop I couldn’t stop (there’s something so addictive about videogame soundtracks). By the way for comparison here’s the original beats from Kirby’s Dreamland 3 for the SNES from 1997: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 21, 2009 in Animation
This amazing fan made video from Japan recreates the opening titles to The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi using the cast of Lucky Star. I’m quite blown away by the quality of this!
This nifty looking Transforming USB Flash Memory Device is due to come out in September. Designed by Takara this robot lion will hold 2 gigs of your digital files including your collection of screenshots from the original 80s cartoon. Read more…
