This film looks like fun! ROBO☆ROCK (formerly titled Long Armed Monkeys) will be coming out November 23rd in Japan. The film follows the adventures of Masaru, an odd-job-man who has given up his dream to become a rock singer and Nirasawa, a fanatic who is convinced that a giant robot will save the world. This will be the first live action film for GDH K.K. which is an anime studio in Japan which has worked on Afro Samurai, Pumpkin Scissors, and Full Metal Panic!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 9, 2007 in Star Wars
The above Star Wars poster (click on to view at full size) does a wonderful job of showing off the entire series in one photomontage. I’m quite impressed with the fanboy who did this this, it’s wall worthy in my book!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 9, 2007 in Star Trek
The one thing that confuses me about this report is that Spock’s mom (Amanda Grayson, shown above played by Jane Wyatt) was human not a vulcan. Although Winona would make a cute vulcan (although she’ll have to work on he logic thing):
“Star Trek is beaming up Winona Ryder. Paramount Pictures and director JJ Abrams have set Ryder to play the Vulcan mother of a young Spock (Zachary Quinto). Scripted by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the film revolves around the Starfleet Academy days of the crew of the Starship Enterprise. Chris Pine has been set to play Capt. Kirk, Simon Pegg will play Scotty, Karl Urban is Dr. McCoy and Eric Bana will play the villain, Nero.”
…by the way for my money the BEST vulcan actress was Kirstie Alley as Lt. Saavik in the Wrath of Khan. Man I’ll never understand why they won’t let Nicholas Meyer touch Star Trek again!
Snarky Update: Variety revised the story to state that Spock’s mom will be human. Although on second thought I do think that Winona would look cute with the pointy ears…
Shown above is the Transformers Trans-Portable PC which is learning laptop aimed at kids. So ou can play with a robot while having it teach you about math, spelling, logic and memory games. It also features real-time English to Spanish Translation of select words and instructions (take that Lou Dobbs!).
“Kadokawa Pictures USA, Inc. and Bandai Entertainment Inc., announced today that it will be releasing the anime series Lucky Star in North America in 2008. The announcement was made in a unique way – a surprise trailer at the beginning of Vol. 4 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which was just released.
Lucky Star is a 24 episode television series from Kyoto Animation, the same anime production company that created the anime series for Haruhi. Lucky Star’s main character is Konata Izumi, a lazy high school girl who isn’t interested in anything besides anime and video games. The series is described as the ultimate “otaku anime,” — it pays tribute to anime culture and other series with in-jokes and hilarious references.
“Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have made an offer to Mike Newell to direct “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” a live-action feature based on the videogame. Newell, who last ventured into franchise fare with “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” met execs at the studio to discuss the project this week, and negotiations are expected to begin shortly.”
Shown above is the Hello Kitty ATM which allows you to save money. The kitty ATM also comes with a kitty credit card that alows you to take money out of the cute little kitty cash machine.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2007 in Japanese TV
Aragaki Yui stars in the above athletic themed Pocky commercial. Of course I like her previous Pocky commercial better (because it has an electro clash beat that much more easy to dance along with):
“Astronomers have announced the discovery of a fifth planet circling 55 Cancri, a star beyond our solar system. The star now holds the record for number of confirmed extrasolar planets orbiting in a planetary system.
55 Cancri is located 41 light-years away in the constellation Cancer and has nearly the same mass and age as our sun. It is easily visible with binoculars. Researchers discovered the fifth planet using the Doppler technique, in which a planet’s gravitational tug is detected by the wobble it produces in the parent star. NASA and the National Science Foundation funded the research.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 6, 2007 in Comic Books
ComicMix is very much worth checking out if you’re a comic book fanboy, the site features free issues of full comic books that you can read online. I was quite impressed with the ease-of-use of the interface with the site (a sample of which is shown above) which allows you to navigate a comic without having to open Adobe Acrobat. I also liked the fact that the first wave of comic books that they’re showing are quite diverse in subject matter and style, a good example of this is Munden’s Bar #2 which featured some nice artwork by Marc Hempel. Also their comic book news coverage is worth checking out too…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 6, 2007 in Animation
Death Note is cute, but I’ve been missing watching the latest and greatest of Bleach every week on the Cartoon Network. Yeah I know I can catch up on YouTube, but there’s something nice about seeing the animation on my tv set. By the way shown above is the Kurosaki Ichigo DX Plush Doll which was originally distributed for UFO catcher game machines in Japanese arcades as a prize item.
You know I see so many Star Wars and Star Trek themed toys I get burned out after a while, so it was with delight that I discovered this Space: 1999 themed goodie! Shown above is the Space 1999 Alpha Moonbase Deluxe Eagle Gift Set which features three diecast metal Space 1999 vehicles: Laboratory Eagle with Booster Rockets, Alpha Moon Buggy and Alpha Laser Tank. But best yet they also include an Eagle Launch platform (bonus fanboy points for me):
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 4, 2007 in Animation
I’d love to see this show get translated into English, even if it’s just a fansub on YouTube! Being a Yamato fanboy it would be nice to see an interview with Leiji Matsumoto:
“The local government of Tokyo’s Nerima-ku, the birthplace of Japanese animation, started broadcasting its own anime-themed cable TV program this month, with a first run lasting until next spring. “Neritan Anime Works” will be aired via cable service J:COM Tokyo three times a day on weekdays, and twice a day on weekends. Program content will be updated every two weeks until its 12th and final installment.
Nerima-ku’s roster of anime kingpins includes the Toei Animation Company, their forerunners Toei Doga — producer of Japan’s first color animated feature film, “Hakujaden” — and the late Osamu Tezuka, Nerima resident and creator of Japan’s first animated TV serial “Astro Boy.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 4, 2007 in Star Wars
Shown above is the Lightsaber MP3 Player which is available here in either two or four gigs of storage, and a built-in FM radio too! Of course for me I’ll always prefer my iPod:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 3, 2007 in Star Wars
The Jedi Academy in New York is starting to get HUGE press! It was recently featured on ABC World News segment which had this great quote from Taryn Fireside, a student at the academy:
“My favorite thing about New York Jedi is not nerds trying to best each other. It’s about nerds trying to better each other. And make life better through the dorkiness that make them great!”
“Ganguro gyaru, young women known for their deep tans, panda-like make-up and bright fashions are fusing with once bitter enemy “Gothic Lolitas” in their Goth garb and little girl look to create a new fashion mode in trendier parts of Tokyo, according to Weekly Playboy (11/5). “There were three rules that made up the definition of a gyaru: a tanned face, flamboyant make-up and hair dyed in the lightest color possible,” Kyoko, the girl once dubbed the Empress of (gyaru haven) Shibuya, tells Weekly Playboy. “Anyway, you’ve got to look as flashy as possible. Scary if need be, which gives you the mental strength that’s part of being a gyaru.”
Gothic Lolitas, however, have deeper, darker roots. “What defines a Gothic Lolita is the color black. Black can’t be dyed any darker than it already is,” author and self-professed Gothic Lolita Karin Amemiya tells the weekly. “The Goth look comes from Europe in the Middle Ages and its supposed to give its proponents a regal air.”Ada, a journalist who specializes in Tokyo teen girls’ culture, notes that the gyaru and Goths haven’t always been as receptive to each other as they appear to be now.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 2, 2007 in Animation
Shown above is a clip from a Japanese Documentary on Star Blazers, NOT Space Cruiser Yamato but the American translation! It’s funny for me to see the American version with Japanese subtitles.
Just looking at that short clip I can see why I loved the series – within the first few minutes you find out that Wildstar is a little bit complex because his brother was killed off before the show started. I realize that in Anime today that’s a throw away device, but way back when in the 70s the most complex plots in animation were unmaking Scooby Doo villans. To me that’s just one reason why this series was revolutionary.
Credit for Star Blazers being seen by Americans should go to Claude S. Hill who was behind distribution of the show from the 70s and the 80s. Sadly Mr. Hill passed away in 2005, but it was because of him at an entire generation of fans got to discover anime for the first time. Claude Hill was very much a kid at heart which is why he got into the business, in addition to Star Blazers he also distributed a number of other shows including Rocket Robin Hood and the Steve Krantz Marvel Comics cartoons from the 60s. In addition to the above Claude Hill gave me first break as a graphic designer and was also just a real good guy (one of the rare ones in the business), so I miss him a great deal…
So you’re a fanboy who is:
– A huge Mobile Suit Gundam fan
– Glued to your computer all day
– …and the air around you is polluted
Well you’re in luck: The Gundam USB Ionizer Air Freshener is your dream come true! While it’s not as a cool as some of the robots from the show the ionizer is based on the design of the “White Base” from the show. The ionizer is will come out next month from Banpresto, and you can read about it here (warning: link leads to an acrobat file which is in Japanese).
It’s always Hello Kitty themed goodies when I surf the net! I ask you where is the Badtz-Maru laptop?! Shown above is the Hello Kitty Swarovski PC by NEC, which also comes with a matching USB flash drive and meow-mouse.
by 
when I surf the net! I ask you where is the