When I first came across this spot for the GunBuster Pachinko Machine I assumed that it dated from the 80s when the show first came out — but it seems that it’s part of a larger promotion that allows retro anime fans to watch the cult series online for free at this website! Aim for the Top! Gunbuster (トップをねらえ!) was quite a success for Gainax in the early days and the studio would go on to make other hits like Evangelion, FLCL and Mahoromatic to name a few. GunBuster was very typical of the shows from that era and featured giant robots, oversized insectoid space aliens and four lovely ladies who wear hot pink short shorts which match the new pachinko machine: Read more…
I was pleasantly surprised to come across this Alfin Statue from Crusher Joe because I was convinced that I must be one of a handful of anime fanboys who still remember that amazing film. Yet sadly while most fans today know about Gundam or Yamato very few fans even know about Crusher Joe (クラッシャージョウ). So here’s why the film was important and worth getting your hands on: Read more…
As every Evangelion fan knows Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley and their friends all go to the Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School which requires blue and white school uniforms with a cute sassy red bow! Well now fangurls who want to take a cosplay shortcut can now sport the official Evangelion Trantrip School Uniform which also includes matching socks (I love those little details). Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 4, 2010 in Animation
As an adult I appreciate Hanna-Barbera, but frankly it was my childhood dislike of limited animation that drove me to admire anime. So I was pretty amused to stumble across the above the above clip of Secret Squirrel from 2 Stupid Dogs with a Japanese soundtrack, and much to my amazement I realized that because I couldn’t understand what was being said that the entire clip seemed cooler somehow. Now the funny thing is that the Japanese voices are clearly being used to a comic effect, however they seem much more downplayed when put next to the original American voice acting which sounds much more over-the-top: Read more…
This collection of Phone cases were issued to celebrate the tenth anniversary of One Piece. The first set of three features Monkey D. Luffy Wanted, Chopper Pink, and a Chopper Black version: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 25, 2010 in Animation
Leiji Matsumoto was born on this day in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in 1938 — and he went on to dominate anime in the 70s much to the delight of a generation of fanboys including yours truly. He got his start in 1953 drawing romantic shōjo manga for girls and although he disliked this genre you can see the influence it would play in the many strong (but rail thin) female characters which would be featured in his work for years to come. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 24, 2010 in Animation
FUNimation is bringing out Slayers Revolution on DVD in March and what’s funny about watching this clip is that even with the slickness of current anime productions there’s something so 90s about this series. Although what I might be picking up here is that Slayers has this wonderful sense of humor that you don’t see in anime too often in the age of Death Note. Yes you’ve got all of the typical wizards and demons, but there’s something so snarky about this franchise which makes it endearing. Here’s the original opening titles from the show which hold up pretty well (despite the poor resolution of this clip): Read more…
I was given an opportunity to play with the new iPhone app Fullmetal Alchemist: State Alchemy Exam and enjoyed having an anime themed game at my fingertips. Now if you’re a serious gamer you might be let down with this app, but if you’re a fanboy (or fangurl) looking for an entertaining casual game then State Alchemy Exam is worth checking out. Exam is the key word here as this is a trivia quiz app which tests your knowledge of Fullmetal Alchemist with physics and chemistry thrown in for fun: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2010 in Animation, Fandom
The year is 1985 and anime fandom is buzzed about new shows like Macross: This amazing video shows a cosplay competition from this long gone pre-internet era when fans traded VHS tapes from Japan. Keep in mind that if you had an anime gathering of any sort back then even having a hundred fans show up was nothing short of astounding.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 14, 2010 in Animation
I’ll be honest: I’m not quite sure what the functionality of this Pikachu USB Computer Companion actually does. Although one might divine that if you’re any sort of self respecting Pokémon fan that you’ll need this office toy: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 11, 2010 in Animation
Recently many anime reviewers were letdown that FUNimation dropped Big Windup season two — but frankly I was surprised that they picked it up in the first place. At first one is tempted to shrug it off and say that anime fans aren’t into sports, but clearly the popularity of Prince of Tennis proves that wrong. So what’s the real reason? This may come as a shock but baseball as a sport is endangered in the United States, and sadly that’s because most of Gen Y just doesn’t care about it as a pastime. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 8, 2010 in Animation
26 episodes of the The White Whale of Mu (ムーの白鯨) were produced by TMS in 1980 — I suspect the water theme from this vintage anime sci fi series owed a great deal to Space Battleship Yamato. Thanks to Matsumoto putting retro hardware like sailing ships (Captain Harlock) and trains (Galaxy Express 999) was all the rage, so why not Moby Dick? So it looks like TMS which produced the show is now putting out a restored version for retro anime fans (you can look on amazon.co.jp to buy it): Read more…
My favorite thing about this Mobile Suit Gundam toy commercial? The fact that it shows all of those Bandai employees dressed in in uniforms from the show: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 6, 2010 in Videogames
This is a cute promotional video for Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles 2G game which will be out on the PSP. This battlefield simulation game is based on Valkyria Chronicles which came out for the PlayStation3 back in 2008 — although I think setting the game on a portable platform makes the anime aspect of this title even cuter. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 4, 2010 in Animation
2010 is now here and the season of top manga and anime lists is now over! Most of these lists are on the fanboy quest to figure out the most important anime series of the last few years. And to me this isn’t a trivial quest: Looking back allows us as critics to pick out the overlooked titles that deserve a second chance, and by contrast to acknowledge the fads that have faded. In fact it always interesting to me how an amazing film or television show can receive lackluster box office receipts or poor ratings, only to be recognized in retrospect as important. And thus I submit to you that the most important anime show of the last five years was Bakugan Battle Brawlers. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 1, 2010 in Animation
At long last Bandai is bringing out The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The dubbing here is pretty professional, but I’ve got to admit that I always get a little bit let down when I hear the voice acting go from Japanese to English. However i do have to say that I’ve been impressed with the fanservice friendly low budget videos that Bandai has been putting out to push the show to American otaku: Read more…
The good news: Hollywood won’t ruin this film! The bad news: There isn’t a very strong tradition in Japan for making live action science fiction films. Mind you I’m not saying that this can’t be done, but the odds are against you. So given that I’ve got to say as an ancient Star Blazers fans that this trailer has me much more excited than the animated film that came out this year, which to be fair got better review than I expected. Here’s a screen-by-screen breakdown of my thoughts: Read more…
This latest episode of Weekly Toro Station (週刊トロ・ステーション) takes a look at the Lucky Star Net Idol Meister game that’s coming out in January. I love how both cats are dressed as characters from the series in their sailor girl outfits.
To celebrate the year of the tiger you can order this swanky limited edition Lum lucky charm. Although if you’re a die hard hard Urusei Yatsura fan you’re going to need a bit more than luck to buy this limited edition lucky charm as this goodie will set you back 80,000 yen plus shipping (and orders are due by December 28th): Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 23, 2009 in Animation
I personally blame Gia Manry for the American popularity of Spice and Wolf — oh I’m sure other fans were into the show, but the first time I heard about it was when she did a review of the light novel back in the day. Without me realizing it somehow Gia had planted the seed and now every where I turn that’s all that anime fans seem to be talking about. Well now Gia can claim victory as Funimation has capitulated to wolf fandom and released the first season on DVD…
Just when I had thought that I had seen every Mobile Suit Gundam goodie along comes another trinket to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the classic anime series. In this case we’ve got a collection of ballpoint pens that are shaped like the various weapons the mecha suits carry into battle, and at $11 the set is pretty cheap in terms of collectables: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 16, 2009 in Animation
This is a promo for the upcoming anime series Omamori Himari (おまもりひまり) which is due out in January 2010: It’s your typical boy meets supernatural samurai catgirl type of story. Now I know that this type of show always appeals to the fanboys, and is a sure fire break-even proposition from a marketing/merchandising point of view — but over the long run it doesn’t bring any new fans to anime. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 14, 2009 in Animation
This commercial is from a month ago and who knows when this concert took place — but according to this advert the DVD for Lucky☆Star in it for you from the Budokan will be released on December 25th and will be available through kyotoanimation.shop-pro.jp. The video is 118 minutes long and features Dolby stereo so you can sing along with the voice actors, although the light sticks that the audience members have are not included.
Shown above is an NTT ad for the Docomo for PC service which features Tetsujin 28-go, which is lovingly known to American fans as Gigantor. I love how while the two giant robots are destroying Tokyo the Docomo PC user is still spellbound by his nifty software…
When I first came across this spot for the GunBuster Pachinko Machine I assumed that it dated from the 80s when the show first came out — but it seems that it’s part of a larger promotion that allows retro anime fans to watch the cult series online for free at this website! Aim for the Top! Gunbuster (トップをねらえ!) was quite a success for Gainax in the early days and the studio would go on to make other hits like Evangelion, FLCL and Mahoromatic to name a few. GunBuster was very typical of the shows from that era and featured giant robots, oversized insectoid space aliens and four lovely ladies who wear hot pink short shorts which match the new pachinko machine: Read more… 
