Gundam vs. Gundam
This video of two Gundam robots slugging it out is from the recent 2009 International Robot Exhibition. I like how the decapitated Gundam continues to dance after defeat…
Monster Waste: A Retro Anime Public Service Announcement
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 24, 2009 in Animation, Japanese TV
I’m not sure of the date of this public service announcement, but my guess is that it’s from the 70s. This animated announcement by the japan Advertising Council warns about the dangers of wasting food. To an older generation (represented by the old man) who went through World War II food shortages weren’t theoretical — so it felt to be important to pass these values onto the next generation.
The Secret Surprise in Doraemon Gum
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 22, 2009 in Design, Hobbies and Collections
We’ve all grown up with the Bazooka Joe gimmick: Half the fun of opening the single package of gun was to read the comic tucked inside. And of course the Cracker Jacks version is to give you a secret surprise inside the box — a technique that cereal companies turned into a fine art (not to forget McDonald’s Happy Meals as well). However today I leaned a twist on this old marketing hook thanks to an imported Japanese pack of Doraemon gum. Upon opening my gum I discovered that each individual wrapper had a unique design based on the well known anime cat: Read more…
SMAP Starring as Gatchaman
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 20, 2009 in Animation, Japanese TV
It’s amazing what you can discover on YouTube sometimes: The above commercial for NTT is from the year 2000 and features the J-Pop band SMAP as Gatchaman! Of course Gatchaman is known to use old school anime fans as Battle of the Planets which played a key role in introducing Americans to sci fi ninjas. There were four commercials in total and below is a fully animated spot which looks amazing: Read more…
Kaneda’s Bike Will Light Up the Eyes of Retro Anime Fans
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 20, 2009 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
It’s amazing to me to think that Akira is now over 20 years ago: So if you want to celebrate old school Neo-Tokyo the folks at Sideshow have produced a Kaneda’s Bike Die-Cast 1/6 Scale Replica. Although this is no average mecha replica as this model features LEDs which light up. In addition to the lights this set of wheels features sound effects, the headlights move up and down and you can remove the exterior panels: Read more…
Why Don’t Anime Fandubs Exist?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 19, 2009 in Animation
What you’re looking at above is an example of the “good old days of anime” which weren’t so good. When it came out Captain Future wasn’t so bad in terms of quality, but the dubbing here is amateurish to say the least. This wasn’t so unusual in the early days of anime as small companies would blow everything they had to acquire the rights to a show — only to realize that they had little budget to do a proper dub. Read more…
Bleach: The Third Musical!
The third Bleach musical will take start on January 15th, 2010 and tour three cities in Japan: Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo. What makes this show interesting is that it features some of the voice actors from the series. Tickets are 6600 yen and go on sale November 15th. Here’s the official flyer for the show: Read more…
A Devo Inspired Anime Damsel
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 13, 2009 in Comic Books
This illustration by manga artist Hisashi Eguchi got my attention right away as the Christmas attired anime lady is sporting a vintage Devo cap. The drawing was created for a flyer promoting a Christmas concert in Japan which features the the musician Naoki Yamamoto (who is also works in the anime industry) and the hardcore band Surorana. Here is the illustration at full size (just click on the drawing): Read more…
Lucky Star Net Idol Maestro
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 12, 2009 in Animation, Videogames
This is latest video promo for the Lucky Star Net Idol Meister game for the PSP. This music focused game will be released on December 23rd, with a follow up additional song in January 2010. My personal preference would be to see a second OVA coming out, but in my book there’s no such thing as a disappointing Lucky Star release of any kind. Here is pervious promo which gives you an idea of the game play of this title: Read more…
Why Can’t Hollywood Compete with Japanese Giant Robots?
Yes I know James Cameron will make a billion dollars with Avatar. But you know what Cameron will never know how to do? Create a damn high quality giant robot that kids will want to buy thirty years from now! Shown above is the reason why: The Avatar AMP Suit (shown above) looks like a left over prop from the film Aliens: Read more…
I Wish Shinichirō Watanabe Would Do Another Major Anime Series
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 6, 2009 in Animation
The good news? Blu-ray for Samurai Champloo will be out on December 15, 2009. The bad news? What the hell ever happened to Shinichirō Watanabe! I realize that having been behind two great anime shows is pretty good for one lifetime, but damn it I’d like to see the guy do one more big thing. I’m not saying that he’s a slacker in fact Watanabe is the associate producer on the 2011 Cowboy Bebop film. But instead of seeing him revisit the past I’d love to see something new.
Is Funimation Less Fun in the UK?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 6, 2009 in Animation
I just finished reading a very scathing review of what Funimation is or rather what it isn’t doing for UK fans. The blog in question is Tiamat’s Manga Reviews and the first thing I can tell is the blogger in question loves anime — however as someone who also understands the pro side of the world I thought I’d address a few things that otaku may not always understand. So here’s my point-by-point insights on Tiamat’s critique: Read more…
One Piece: Ever So Cutely Deformed by PansonWorks
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2009 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
PansonWorks from Japan has created a line of One Piece air-deformed (and super cuter) figurines. PansonWorks is best known for a hip collection of character designs known as Robin and his 100 Friends. The One Piece figurines go on pre-sale on December 14th. Here’s the rest of the collection: Read more…
Cyborg 009: December ’09 is Your Last Chance to Celebrate 009
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2009 in Animation, Comic Books
The December issue of HyperHobby magazine has a special treat for old school anime fanboys: A special supplement cover that features Cyborg 009! For those of you who may not know it Cyborg 009 started as a manga in 1964, there was an anime film in 1966 and a series in 1968 but the 1979 anime series really put the show on the map. Here’s the black-and-white intro from the first series, which still hold up pretty well: Read more…
A New Documentary Film Celebrates Horror Manga Artist Kazuo Umezu
Kazuo Umezu (楳図 かずお) is the the godfather of the Japanese horror manga genre. A new film has been released in Japan which profiles the author/artist who got his start in 1962 and is still active. Umezu is best known for such works as The Drifting Classroom, Makoto-chan and Reptilia. The Drifting Classroom was turned into a live action film in 1987. Here are some samples of his wonderfully gothic work: Read more…
Introducing the the New Windows 7 Anime Spokesmodel
While looking at the coverage of the launch of Windows 7 in the Akihabara district of of Tokyo when I came across the coolest feature of the new operating system: The unofficial Windows 7 anime spokesmodel! This moe character design features a girl with dark blue hair who sports a clover symbol which is made up of the official Windows colors: Read more…
Soul Eater: Not the Freshest But it Will Fill You Up
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 20, 2009 in Animation
On the surface Soul Eater looks amazing, in fact the animation in this clip is very well constructed. Yet for me it feels like the studio isn’t taking any chances or trying anything new: For starters the plot is pretty much Bleach and the character designs remind me a great deal of One Piece with just a dash of Jamie Hewlett thrown in for fun. The show looks entertaining yet it’s evolutionary not revolutionary in terms of the field. Frankly is it just me or is the character of Black Star very similar to the character 2-D from the Gorillaz? Read more…
Anime Fandom: The City of Amnesia
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 20, 2009 in Fandom
As an old time anime fanboy one of the greatest pleasures I take is in seeing just how far anime fandom has come in the United States from the 70s when it first started. Back then anime fans would meet up at local clubs or science fiction conventions and if 100 people showed up you were blown away. So when I look around at cons today I love the fact that there might be 100 fans standing in line waiting to get badges at a convention. But one thing breaks my heart: The fact that those who killed themselves with little reward to help popularize the medium can too easily be forgotten. Read more…
Tomorrow’s Joe: A Statuette Celebrates a Heavyweight Champion Anime Series
Back in the day my friend Ardith Carlton (who now lives in Japan) would keep telling us about this amazing anime series called Tomorrow’s Joe (あしたのジョ) which she claimed at the time was one of THE best anime series of all time. Of course none of us believed her because the subject matter in the show was boxing and this being the 80s our obsessions at the time were giant robots and cool looking spaceships and of course Joe offered none of that. Little did we know what a cool series that we were missing out on! Ashita no Jō is now seen as one of the heavyweights of its genre. And in celebration of the series Kaitendoh is releasing a huge 1/6th scale collectable statuette which will come out in December: Read more…
This Tokidoki Soccer Ball is a Real Kicker
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 13, 2009 in Hobbies and Collections
To celebrate the European Soccer Championships the Italian anime inspired brand Tokidoki collaborated with sporting goods maker Mikasa to create this limited edition soccer ball. Only 1,000 have been manufactured worldwide and they look quite playful: Read more…
Usavich Themed Automobile on the Streets of Japan
I always love how in japan they’re willing to go that extra mile to promote a anime series in some special way! In this case the show Usavich (ウサビッチ) which features computer animated rabbits on MTV Japan was featured on an automobile: Read more…
Space Battleship Yamato Live Action Film Website Launches
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 6, 2009 in Animation
If you grew up loving Star Blazers the good news is that the website for the live action Space Battleship Yamato film is now live! The bad news? There’s very little detail on this film on the website at all. There’s a listing of the crew which stars Takuya Kimura, a launch date of December 2010 and a tiny visual of the Yamato stuck in the mud: Read more…
Char Aznable’s Spicy Curry Noodles
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 6, 2009 in Animation
Mobile Suit Gundam fanboys can now enjoy Char Aznable’s Spicy Curry Noodles from Nissin Foods which features a special reusable glass cup which features the infamous red Zaku suit. The instant soup is also colored red and features spicy and red peppers contrasted with just a hint of cheddar cheese flavor. Nissin is also selling refill sets, although my guess is that most Gundam fans won’t dare open the package. Here are some other shots of the product: Read more…
Gigantor: 6 Full Scale Videos of a 60 Foot Tall Robot
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 6, 2009 in Animation
Weighing in at about 50 tons and costing $1.5 million dollars the now famous Gigantor (原寸大鉄人28号) statute is the hit of Kobe, Japan. I figured at this point that everyone has seen all the photos of this 60 foot tall wonder, however some amazing videos are just starting to flood YouTube. Here are some of the coolest that I’ve come across so far that can give you a sense of scale: Read more…