Category Archives: Fandom

Hypothetical Live-Action Sailor Moon: Megan Fox as Mars?

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I was trolling Danbooru earlier, and discovered the above image while searching for pics of Sailor Mars. It got me thinking about the possibility of a live-action Sailor Moon film. Hollywood has already indulged us with Dragonball and Astro Boy movies, so why not Sailor Moon?

“But Jon!” you exclaim. “There’s already been a live-action Sailor Moon production!” Okay, true. There was a TV show called Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. However, I don’t think it lived up to the series’ potential. First of all, the actresses they chose weren’t exactly Sailor Senshi material. Because of the miniskirts Senshi wear, any actress playing them needs a pretty nice set of legs. But these girls… well, let’s just say they should stick to daytime soap operas. The cheesy costume design certainly didn’t help matters. Second, Sailor Moon is an ACTION series. To really bring the Senshi’s battle against evil to life, you need more than a limited television budget. I mean, Mars fires a freaking crossbow made of fire! Just think how epic that would look if ILM animated it.

More after the break.

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Type A vs. Type B Otaku: A False Choice

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The infamous Type Fantasy otaku.

A few days ago, Penny Arcade’s Tycho described the Kinect vs. Move debate as a “media-driven false choice.” Hell, I would probably characterize the whole goddamned console war that way. While thinking about this pointless gaming rivalry, I’ve come to realize that the anime fandom has it’s own false choice: the infamous Type A vs. Type B otaku classification. Seemingly based on Japanese blood type fortune telling, this classification has lead to widespread debate and flaming among otaku, along with the predictable cries of extremism. “Moe is the cancer that’s killing anime! Oldfags are pretentious elitists! The evil critics are trying to destroy the shows I enjoy!” So on and so forth.

But does this classification have any purpose beyond a flame war weapon? Does it offer any real insight into otaku mentality? In my opinion, the answer is a vehement NO. Our society loves labeling and categorizing other people, because it makes it easier for us to judge them without getting to know them first. “I don’t want to associate with that man! I’ve heard he’s GAY! You know how they are!” The problem is, people’s attitudes and opinions are complex. Herding them into neat little categories for our mental convenience is just a form of self deception. The same applies to the Type A vs. Type B debate.

Read why these oversimplifications are total BS after the break.

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Moe Beyond Anime: The Masked Alien Lover

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As I stated in my “Four Laws of Moe” article, moe is a concept that is intrinsically linked to anime. The very term conjures up images of giggling Japanese schoolgirls, meganekko, and other archetypes found solely in Japanese media. But is it possible for moe to exist outside of anime? The feelings of paternal protectiveness which define this meme are not restrained by cultural boundaries, so why does moe itself have to be exclusively Japanese?

I’d like you to meet somebody. The masked female alien in the picture above is named Tali’Zorah nar Rayya. She is a character from BioWare’s Mass Effect series of space opera RPGs. As a Quarian, Tali’s hypersensitive immune system forces her to constantly remain inside her environment suit, protected from the infectious hazards of the outside world. Even a few seconds of exposure could be fatal. Throughout Mass Effect 1 and 2, you never to see her face… only the cold, hard steel of her mask.

Despite this, I still think she’s moe. Find out why after the break.

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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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Otaku Debate: The Most Popular Fall Anime

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Last week, Crunchyroll released a ranking of its streaming fall anime, based on their popularity. It contained a few interesting surprises.

  1. The World God Only Knows
  2. Otome Youkai Zakuro
  3. Sora no Otoshimono: Forte
  4. Super Robot Taisen OG: The Inspector
  5. Fortune Arterial
  6. Squid Girl
  7. Yumeiro Pâtissière SP Professional
  8. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
  9. Tegami Bachi Reverse
  10. Tantei Opera Milky Holmes

The World God Only Knows and Sora no Otoshimono topping the charts was pretty much expected, but seeing Super Robot Wars and Otome Youkai Zakuro ranked so highly definitely makes me scratch my head. Panty & Stocking‘s is low rating is also puzzling… perhaps more people were repulsed by it’s unique comedy than I thought. Based on the Twitter buzz I’ve been reading over the last few weeks, I had assumed the most popular shows of this season were OreImo and Squid Girl, but this list is making me rethink those assumptions.

Now I’m curious about which shows are popular among our readers. Which of the new anime do you love? Which do you hate? Does Squid Girl warm your heart? Does Panty & Stocking make you vomit? Are you just as confused by Star Driver as I am? Let me know by voting for your favorite show in the poll below, then give us your unrestrained, honest opinion in the comments!

[poll id=”19″]

Invader Zim’s Creator Approves of Panty & Stocking

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Everybody has been comparing Gainax’s crazy new show Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt to the seminal classics of American animation, including Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack and Invader Zim. Well, it seems even the delightfully twisted mind behind the latter, Jhonen Vasquez, has taken notice of the show… in particular the animal sidekick Chuck, who bears a startling resemblance to Zim’s robotic sidekick GIR. Here’s what Jhonen had to say.

Well, here’s that Gainax show that took GIR out of the whorehouse he was working in and gave him a new job!  It’s nice seeing him get some work, but I gotta say it’s a bit on the simple side for my tastes, what with the fart and sh*t jokes, but the ending is pretty ridiculous, and Gainax produces some of the only Japanese animation I can stand without wishing I was the drinking type, so I’m looking forward to more.

Read more…

Looks like Gainax has hit the sweet spot with Panty & Stocking. But is all this hype really justified? I’ll examine this issue in more detail when I review the first episode. Look for it to go live sometime tomorrow.

As for Jhonen… well, he may not be the drinking type, but I bet a few episodes of Hanamaru Kindergarten would land him in the emergency room with alcohol poisoning pretty quick.

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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Otaku Debate: Finding an Anime Girlfriend

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Last week’s debate indicated a fairly split opinion on the quality of the summer anime season. 59% of you said it was either average or horrible, whereas 31% liked it. 12% didn’t even bother watching any shows from this season at all. Based on these results, it think it’s safe to say the summer season received a somewhat negative reception from our readers.

As many of you have already seen, my room is decked out in all manner of otaku merchandise. Upon seeing those photos, one of my friends remarked, “Now that’s the kind of room guaranteed to repel girls. If she doesn’t turn tail and run after seeing that, she’s a keeper!”

That got me thinking. Are girls really turned off by such overt displays of nerdiness, as my friend claimed? The dream of any otaku (or any nerd, for that matter) is to find a significant other who shares their interests. I’m sure we’ve all fantasized about that perfect girl or guy who’s both cute and into K-ON!. The question is, can we turn that fantasy into reality? Is it really viable to meet an anime girlfriend or boyfriend? What would be the best method for finding otaku romance? Or are we all doomed to spend our lives alone, crying ourselves to sleep every night while hugging our catgirl body pillows? That, dear readers, is what this week’s debate is about. Cast your vote in the poll below, and share your thoughts in the comment section!

[poll id=”18″]

Otaku Debate: Did the Summer Anime Season Suck?

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Surprisingly, last week’s debate didn’t generate the knee-jerk negative reaction towards obesity that I expected. Most of the poll respondents said they preferred their girls anywhere from “meaty” to “slightly chubby,” which could be considered average weight for most people. It’s nice to see our readers have rejected the “thin = sexy” message of pop culture and formed more realistic standards of beauty!

This week’s topic is a bit of a painful one for me. In my humble opinion, this anime season has been a total letdown. Most of the shows, such as Seitokai Yakuindomo and Ookami-san, were just too bland to be worthwhile… and the few that showed promise, like Occult Academy and Highschool of the Dead, turned out to be total duds. The only show that’s marginally entertaining at this point is Mitsudomoe, but the very risque humor makes it appealing to only a small subset of otaku.

Now, I don’t think this means anime is doomed or anything silly like that. We’ve had bad seasons before, particularly in the early nineties after the last economic crash. Still, that doesn’t make it any less depressing to slog through such mediocrity. Has this season left you in a similar state of despair? Or do you think that I’m being overly negative? Are there any anime this season you did enjoy, or are you taking refuge in old classics like Dirty Pair and Gundam while this storm blows over? Vote in the poll below, and share your thoughts in the comment section!

(Just FYI: I consider K-ON!! to be a spring season show, so it doesn’t figure into this debate.)

[poll id=”17″]

Otaku Debate: Can Fat Girls Be Sexy?

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You cannot unsee this.

Last week’s sexy hair poll was so popular, I decided to make a weekly poll-oriented debate column. Welcome to the inaugural edition of Otaku Debate! Here, we will discuss the hard-hitting issues facing the otaku community today, while oogling as many sexy ladies as we can. Let’s begin!

When I posted this image to Twitter last night, I was surprised when many of my followers expressing support for fat fetishism. Quite a few people thought that pictures such as this one (VERY NSFW) and the one above were sexy, often repeating the catchphrase “Big girls need love too.” This got me thinking… last week’s poll seemed to indicate a certain sense of conformity with regard to hairstyle preferences, with twintails and waist-length hair being the most popular. Are there a significant number of otaku who go against the norm and enjoy a nice, fat anime girl? Or is this particular fetish relegated to fringe status, supported by a small but vocal minority? Vote in the poll below, then let me know your thoughts on the matter in the comments!

[poll id=”16″]