Author Archives: Dustin

About Dustin

Dustin (aka Stilts) enjoys playing and yelling at video games, especially RPGs. He also likes super robot shows... the more outrageous the plot, the better!

Bakacast – Kirino is a Jerk

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In this unusually awkward episode of Bakacast, I reveal my intimate knowledge of lesbian faeries, and the entire Bakacast crew learns the secrets of baby-making.

On the review front, we’re dumbfounded by OreImo, learn that it’s not a good idea to eat lunch while watching Panty & Stocking, randomly riff on Iron Man’s adventure IN SPAAAAACE!, and celebrate Star Driver‘s fabulousness. Also, by popular demand, I gave Bakuman another chance; though I’m guessing fans of the show will wish I didn’t.

We cover:

  • OreImo #5
  • Panty & Stocking #5
  • Otome Youkai Zakuro #5
  • Iron Man #5
  • Star Driver #5
  • Squid Girl #4
  • Bakuman #2 & 3

[OP is Super Driver, ED is Tomare!, both by Cristina Vee. This post is brought to you by me listening to Queen on loop, and viewers like you.]

Bakacast – Shark Armageddon

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Did you know that the ghost shark is the ninja’s ancient nemesis? It’s true! Jon is back to educate us on this historic myth and more on this week’s episode of Bakacast. I’ve finally resigned myself to the fact that these things are going to be well over an hour for the rest of the season, which I guess means we’ve finally joined the ranks of every other anime podcast. That sound you hear is my tears falling upon the altar of conformity.

That other sound you hear is from the future where every podcast listener breaks my fingers for not liking Squid Girl. Yes, I realize I have a problem! My heart is broken, and the only cure is the power of love.

In this episode, we ramble… er, talk about:

  • OreImo #4
  • Panty & Stocking #4
  • Otome Youkai Zakuro #4
  • Samurai Girls #4
  • Iron Man #4
  • Squid Girl #3
  • Star Driver #4

Oh, and to anyone who clicked on that YouTube link? Good luck getting the song out of your head. Muahahahaha!

[Album Art Source]

East Meets West Part 1: What can Superman learn from Japan?

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I’ve made it clear before that I like it when artists try mixing two cultural styles to create something new and interesting. Though that’s partly because I love artistic experimentation, there’s a practical reason, too.  I’ve noticed there are certain things America is better at than Japan, and vice versa; and both countries have pursued ideas the other hasn’t. In this three-part series, I’ll analyze what I think are each country’s artistic advantages: why they’re good and what the other country can learn from them.

For this inaugural entry, my focus is on comic books. To make my comparisons easier to parse, “comics” will refer to American comic books and “manga” will refer to Japanese comic books.

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Bakacast – Turning Japanese

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In this unusually long episode of Bakacast (no longer called “Briefs,” for obvious reasons), we bring back Twitter questions with hilarious results. For example we talk about which anime character we’d like turn into (hence our use of the classic weaboo anthem “Turning Japanese” as the intro song), genderbending, and the awesomeness that is Picard. These answers and more await, if you can manage to get through the first hour and a half!

Besides the mountain of anime we review, we also take a look at the stats Crunchyroll released recently and discuss what surprised us, what didn’t, and what trends we’d like to see in the future.

Anime covered in this episode:

  • OreImo #3
  • Panty & Stocking #3
  • Iron Man #3
  • Samurai Girls #3
  • Squid Girl #1 & 2
  • Star Driver #2 & 3
  • Otome Youkai Zakuro #2 & 3

So yeah, we’re jam-packed with content, which I hope makes up for Our Glorious Leader Jon’s absence and the long wait.

Roundtable: Remembering Golden Sun

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In 2001, Nintendo released Golden Sun, an RPG made by Camelot Software Planning for the Gameboy Advance. It took both critics and gamers by storm, quickly earning a devoted fanbase. Its 2003 sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, met with similar praise and solidified the series as one of the best on the GBA and a must-have for RPG fans. However, it’s cliffhanger ending also left fans clamoring for a third game. Their hopes were met with little more than teases.

Finally, at E3 2009, Golden Sun DS–now titled Golden Sun: Dark Dawn–was revealed. As the resident Golden Sun fanatics, SilentAki and I can’t wait for its North American release, which is just a little over a month away. Since both of us recently replayed the first two games, we decided to meet on Skype to discuss what made Golden Sun such a great series. So if you want to join us on our trip through nostalgia lane or simply learn what all the fuss is about, follow us after the break.

But be warned: there are SPOILERS ahead!

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Bakacast – My Little Sister Isn’t On This Podcast

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Don’t be alarmed by our avant-garde intro! Do not attempt to adjust your iPod! We control the vertical and the horizontal! We will take you on a journey to–

Okay, not really. We just wanted to have a little fun, possibly at the expense of our audience’s sanity.

Anyway, we finish up our first impressions of the new season’s anime on this episode: the longest one in Bakacast history! Which means that, yes, we don’t get around to Twitter questions for the second week in a row. But we do squeeze in a discussion about ANN’s suspiciously vague reporting on their OreImo simulcast gaffe, we cover a lot of anime:

We didn’t get around to Star Driver (not everyone was able to fit it into their viewing schedule), but rest assured that we’ll still be covering it.

[Music used in this episode is “Voyager Theme Chipmix” by ko0x.]

Bakacast Briefs – Robots! Robots! Robots!

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[IMPORTANT NOTE: If you downloaded this episode any time before October 10, 2:00 PM (PST), you got the version that has intermittent stretches of silence for the first half of the episode. This problem has been fixed and the original file was replaced.]

That’s right, folks! Welcome to the second season of Bakacast Briefs! Sorry this podcast was once again late; a combination of bad timing and technical difficulties delayed its release.

Since this is the first week of the fall season, we’ve got a lot of shows to cover, so we skip the news and Twitter questions to fit it all in a reasonable amount of time. All in all, we review:

This list (and the following week’s) will probably decrease substantially after a couple more episodes as we decide which shows to stick with and which ones to drop. That said, we hope it won’t be nearly as narrow as our coverage for the previous season.

And speaking of last season, we’d like to know what you think of Bakacast Briefs so far. What do you think are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? What aren’t we doing that we should be doing? Feel free to give us any constructive criticism you may have.

[Music used in this episode is “Illegal Soundwaves” by Apricorn.]

Review: Iron Man 1

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Talk to the hand.

If you read my introduction to Iron Man, you might have noticed that I’m kind of a big fan. Couple my love of the comic-book Tony Stark with my desperate need to see something good after the disappointment of last season, and you get some fairly high expectations that Madhouse needed to live up to. Thankfully, that’s exactly what they did, but not quite in the ways I expected.

Instead of retelling Iron Man’s origin story, the first episode introduces us to Tony Stark when he’s a well-established superhero. Stark wants to build one of his famous arc reactors in Japan, which he claims will give the country unlimited, free energy. The Japanese public, however, is skeptical. Since the arc reactor is what powers Stark’s Iron Man armor, who’s to say he’s not trying to build an absurdly powerful weapon under the guise of philanthropy? So, Stark–the stereotypical wealthy American who revels in excess and the occasional vice–is forced to figure out how to get the Japanese to like him while trying to dodge the tough questions and charm the pants off of a spunky reporter named Nanami Ota.

And then the Iron Man Dio, Stark’s prototype for a mass-production armor, somehow goes out of control and starts blasting the landscape. All in all, not the best day he’s ever had.

It is, however, a darn good episode, and I’ll explain why after the jump.

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Bakacast Briefs – Pokemon Fatigue

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Yes, I know, this episode is really late. If it’s any consolation, I realize I’ve brought dishonor upon my family’s name and have already pretended to commit seppuku. It was quite dramatic and believable, I can assure you.

Anyway, we start this week’s podcast lamenting the lack of any significant innovation in the Pokemon franchise (the fan-made Pokemon chart we talk about can be found here) and getting very excited about Madhouse’s Redline. After that, we review the last episode of Highschool of the Dead (there was much rejoicing) and the second-to-last episode Occult Academy. Then, because it’s so much fun, we answer your Twitter questions. So, if you want to hear Glen and I create surrealist narratives and find out why Larry is secretly an anime philanthropist, this is the episode for you!

This week’s podcast covers:

  • Highschool of the Dead #12
  • Occult Academy #12

[Music used in this episode is “A Charming Spell” by Splashdown.]

What You Should Know About Iron Man

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With the first episode of Madhouse’s Iron Man on the horizon, some of you might be wondering, “What’s the big deal?” And I understand. Comics–with their high issue counts, many crossovers, and daunting pool of titles–can be tough to get into. I was once like you until I took the plunge. But now I’ve been buying comics every week for two years, and have acquired much knowledge of their characters. I pass this on to you, dear reader, so you may understand my excitement. Because, to be frank, Tony Stark is awesome.

Consider this a newbie’s guide to the life of Iron Man: everything you need to know (and more) before you watch Madhouse’s anime adaptation.

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