A fan blog devoted to my reviews of recent Anime that I have had the pleasure of viewing, mostly via Netflix rentals. Some limited coverage of Manga, and even more limited coverage of Western animation.
Most of the recurring and prominent members of Fairy Tail. (From left to right: Mirajane, Elfman, Plue, Makarov, Gray, Lucy, Happy, Natsu, Loke and Cana) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So I'm finally caught up with all of the available Fairy Tail episodes dubbed into English that are currently available on the FUNimation website. I've also seen the Fairy Tail movie about the Phoenix Princess, which seems to take place some time *after* the current arc, if only because Fairy Tail has its grand Guild Hall back in the middle of downtown Magnolia again in the movie instead of the more humble, makeshift one on the outskirts of town when they enter the grand magic competition. We know also that the story of the film takes place *after* the death of Lucy's father.
I thoroughly love Fairy Tail, and a big part of why that is so is the incredible music in the series. It's a solid Celtic Rock soundtrack and other more traditional Celtic forms as well. For a taste, here is an incredible cover version by a budding violinist on YouTube that all my readers should go check out and support/promote. This is an amazing rendition:
She does other anime & videogame related work as well. This is seriously cool stuff.
The cast of Neon Genesis Evangelion as depicted on the Japanese "Genesis" (volume) 14 LD and VHS cover. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Apparently I'm late to the party, but this came out last year. The creators of this music video are also intimately connected to such projects as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, et. al., and those influences are readily apparent to those familiar with those shows.
The superficial interpretation floating around the interwebz by non-anime fans is that this is a cautionary moral slam of otaku culture and a warning of falling prey to its excesses, etc. Even some anime fans are suggesting this interpretation. I am here to humbly submit this view is...incorrect.
To my eyes, this music video was made BY otaku, FOR otaku, and is a deliberately OVER-THE-TOP satire of the critiques of anime/manga otaku culture by hostile outsiders; it is the anime-manga 21st century equivalent of riffing on such hysterical reactionary views found in early films like Reefer Madness. It plays with popular anime tropes and is nightmarishly hilarious, on purpose. I could not stop laughing my ass off watching this music video, but it's because I'm an avid anime fan and the actual intended audience for this. This is a middle finger to all the grouchy old Miyazakis bitching about otakus. It takes all the hysterical, hostile reactions to anime/manga otaku life and condenses it into one provocative music video that is totally played for laughs. If you don't get that, the joke's totally on you. Is it lewd? F*ck yes it's lewd. But it's also hysterically funny.
It is NOT the simple moralistic scolding tale that so many superficial reviewers are saying it is. Reality check: if an otaku already has a hot girlfriend like the ostensible protagonist in this video, he's not going to abandon that girlfriend for his anime waifu. It just doesn't happen. The reason some otaku get so obsessed with their 2D anime waifus is they are sh*t out of luck when it comes to finding a real girlfriend to love them who shares their weird interests. Some people's "real lives" suck, simply put, and there's nothing wrong with using anime & manga for a little escapist fun, to get away from the drudgery, boredom, or even downright awfulness of their real lives. I freely admit there have been times where I cared much more deeply about the lives of fictional anime characters than I did about many of the human beings in my workplace or my social circles at the time, especially early on in the heavy growth phase of my fandom, circa 2008-09, when I watched some form of anime nearly every day each evening.
This music video is a private message from otaku, to otaku, told with a nod & a wink and a laugh. As usual, the rest of the world just doesn't "get it". *Sigh*
English: Monty Oum at the Penny Arcade Expo East 2010 in Boston, MA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is pretty much a straight up narration of the press release posted to the Rooster Teeth website a few days ago, with original intro and outro narration written by yours truly. Here I press Emma (UK) and Grace (Australia) into service to do the narration, in response to RT's call to "do something creative" to honor Monty's untimely passing at age 33. This one's for you, Monty.
Fuji MS 100/1000 Cross Processed LC-A+RL A trip up to the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek for a showing of "Everyting is Terrible- The Movie". The Sunset on the way in. My Double Exposure Tips Part I My Double Exposure Tips Part II (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It's a bit late, but here's the rest of the schedule, narrated. Love, Chunibuyo and other Delusions was really damn awesome.
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Prede's Anime Reviews The purpose of this blog is to review anime movies, TV series, and OVAs which aren’t well known, but should be! So it tends to focus on the old shows everyone forgot about, shows no one ever heard of, the new stuff no one seems to watch, old classics which don’t get enough attention, and anything weird. Reviews tend to be positive because we're not going to dig up some old forgotten anime that will bore you to sleep. We tend to get a kick out of watching shows that are a little off the beaten path, a little strange, but you can’t help but love them. From time to time we do review things that get us excited about this medium, even if everyone else knows about it. But main point for this blog is to hopefully point you into the direction of some old gems, that need more love. As Justin Sevakis once famously said “Anime tastes better when you have to work for it.”.
LostLink, wrong way to Japan! Amusings from the UK and Deconstructive Criticism of Japanese Visual Culture. (in other words, a Brit anime blog)
Most of the recurring and prominent members of Fairy Tail. (From left to right: Mirajane, Elfman, Plue, Makarov, Gray, Lucy, Happy, Natsu, Loke and Cana) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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