What You Should Know About Iron Man

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.

Continue reading

Bakacast Briefs – Dude, Where’s My Zombie?

iTunes Direct Download | RSS

Jon was feeling sick and Chris was out of town, so it’s just Glen, Larry, Jeagle and me on this episode of Bakacast Briefs. Glen and I do most of the talking during the first half, where we review Break Blade, a suprisingly zombie-free episode of HOTD and Occult Academy. Then we turn the podcast over to Larry and Jeagle so they can talk about what is basically the finale of K-ON!!. We end the show with Twitter questions and uncontrollable laughter, just like a cheesy 80s sitcom. Far out!

This episode covers:

  • Break Blade #2
  • Highschool of the Dead #11
  • Occult Academy #11
  • K-ON!! #24

A list of our Bakacast Affiliates can be found here. Be sure to check out their blogs!

[Music used in this episode is “Game Boy Rock” by Wizwars.]

Project Haruhi’s Fall Anime Preview, Part 1

You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

We are Project Haruhi. We are not one, but many.

That’s right! Contrary to popular belief, this website actually has several different authors writing for us. And we’re not just a bunch of emotionless clones, either… we each have unique opinions and aesthetic preferences. Despite what some of our readers believe, we’re not all grumpy moe-hating oldfags or fanservice-bashing puritans. Our tastes are as diverse as the colors of the rainbow.

To help emphasize that fact, I’ve asked each of our authors to write up their own short fall anime preview, detailing which shows they’re interested in and why. The first four of these previews are in this post; the rest will come tomorrow. Hopefully, this should give you a good idea of what to expect in our upcoming episode reviews and podcasts. Maybe our opinions will help you decide which shows you want to watch as well. So read on below the break, and let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

Note: Before reading this, it might be a good idea to check out Random Curiosity’s preview. It has descriptions and trailers for each of the shows we’ll be talking about, and is generally an excellent resource for keeping track of the new fall season anime.

[OP image by bbmbbf]

Continue reading

Bakacast Briefs – May The Quartz Be With You

iTunes Direct Download | RSS

Despite the allure of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, I managed to get this podcast out in a somewhat timely fashion. See? Sometimes miracles really do happen.

Anyway, in this episode we skip the news in favor of two extra reviews: Chris and Larry talk about Working!!,and everyone debates the strengths and weaknesses of Broken Blade (or Break Blade, if you want to be a title purist). We keep our griping about Highschool of the Dead to a bare (Haha! Get it?) minimum so we can quickly move on to more interesting things. Like how awesome it would be to live like a Pokemon trainer.

Anime covered in this episode:

  • Working!! (entire series)
  • Broken Blade #1
  • Highschool of the Dead #10
  • Occult Academy #10
  • K-ON!! #22 and #23

A list of our Bakacast Affiliates can be found here. Be sure to check out their blogs!

[Music used in this episode is “Broken Machine” by Trace Dragon XVI K.]

Bakacast Briefs – Metroid Rage

iTunes Direct Download | RSS

The last Metroid in in captivity… but the fanboys are not at peace.

On this week’s Bakacast, we delve into the world of video games and examine how the new Wii game Metroid: Other M completely destroys Samus Aran’s character. Since both Dustin and I are pretty big Metroid fans, there’s plenty of hilariously impotent fanboy rage thrown around. After that, we get around to our usual anime reviews, wherein we address whether or not protagonists such as HotD’s Takashi should have sex. Finally, we answer some decidedly serious Twitter questions as best we can.

  • Highschool of the Dead #9
  • Occult Academy #9
  • K-ON!! 22 (We didn’t review this because Jeagle was absent. Hopefully we’ll get to it next week.)

A list of our Bakacast Affiliates can be found here. Be sure to check out their blogs!

Opening music is “Menu Theme” from Metroid Prime. Ending music is “Samus’ Lonely Waltz” by blackguitar.

Bakacast Briefs – Chupacabra Attack!

iTunes Direct Download | RSS

On this episode of Bakacast Briefs, we take an trip to Bizarro World, where the only show that manages to impress us is Highschool of the Dead. Of course, it doesn’t impress for any good reasons, but still. Weird, huh?

Anyway, in addition to the reviews, we briefly discuss a minor controversy concerning an ad for an Arizona sushi bar and answer some very strange Twitter questions from our faithful listeners.

The shows we talk about, as usual, are:

  • Highschool of the Dead #8 (sadly, the infamous supersonic boob scene video was taken down off YouTube)
  • Occult Academy #8
  • K-ON!! #21

[Music used in this episode is “S U P E R S C A R Y” by The Kiffness.]

Bakacast Briefs – Revenge of the Bookworms

iTunes Direct Download | RSS

We’ve got a new co-host this week!  We call him Glen, but you might better know him as Nagato, a long-lost friend and one of the original founding members of Project Haruhi. With him by our side, we start off by discussing Oxford’s hilarious and misdirected attempts to understand anime culture. After that, Chris gets all nostalgic about his very first manga, Love Hina. Finally, we move on to this week’s anime reviews.

WARNING! If you are the kind of fan who blindly worships any anime he enjoys, you might want to go elsewhere. We don’t hesitate to criticize these shows in the snarkiest fashion possible, which means a certain degree of intelligent and critical thought is required to fully appreciate our reviews. If you’re going to accuse us of being haters or trolls merely because we didn’t like one of your favorite shows, just don’t bother. I’m sure a site like Sankaku Complex or 4chan would be more amicable to your tastes.

[Music used in this episode is “Let’s Go to Tokyo” by J. Arthur Keenes.]

Bakacast Briefs – Bang Bang! Boobies!

iTunesDirect Download | RSS

Have we mentioned breasts yet? We have? Okay, just making sure. It seems like a pretty good way to get a bunch of listeners.

Anyway, we start of this week’s podcast by talking about the most popular anime and video game names Japanese parents give their kids. Though we each had different favorites, we all agreed that it would be super awkward to name your daughter after a character you own a wallscroll of.

After that, we take on:

There’s no Sengoku Basara 2 review today, because I’m an idiot and forgot to watch the most recent episode. GO ME!

[The music used in this episode is “TV Games” by The Kiffness.]

Bakacast Briefs – Put Ya Guns On!

iTunesDirect Download | RSS

ARE YOU READY GUYS?

Now that I’m back from my vacation, I can finally inject some much-needed silliness (and bromance) into the podcast with Sengoku Basara 2. There’s no news for this week, so you might notice that all that pent up discussion energy causes us to GET SERIOUS about…well…every show we talk about. So if you decide to listen, I hope you like arguments about world-building theory. Otherwise, you’ll need LOTS OF LUCK to make it through.

We take on:

You may notice I’m more forgiving of HotD #5 in the podcast than I am in my review. Funny how time makes the heart hate stronger, isn’t it?

Anyway, we like hearing from you, so feel free to leave a comment or two. Just don’t get SO CRAZY that the mods have to BREAK IT UP.

…okay, I’m done now.

[The opening and ending music is “Boy Walks Girl to Work and is Followed by a Ghost” by .hnz]

Bakacast Briefs – OneManga’s Doom

First off, sorry for the lateness of this Bakacast episode. Since Dustin is on vacation this week, I got to try my hand at editing the podcast, and it took friggin’ FOREVER. On the plus side, I did get to pick the theme music this time around…

Anyways, this episode features a greatly expanded cast. Although Dustin is absent, I brought in Konata (aka Jeagle) and Shamisen (aka Larry) to fill his place. That means you’re getting twice as many bakas for the same low price!

As always, you can download it directly, subscribe to our RSS feed, or let iTunes do all the work for you.

We start off with a discussion about the demise of One Manga, as well as the new Seven Seas licenses. Then, after drooling over recently-announced sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, we get into reviewing this week’s new anime.

And that’s pretty much it. See y’all next week!