Category: Anime, Manga, Etc

TsuShiMaMiRe will be performing at Anime Central this year. Upon hearing one of their tracks on their MySpace site, my wife pronounced them as “annoying”. I, however, like their sound and am looking forward to taking my oldest daughter and son along with me to see them perform. And I won’t have to feel guilty about not taking the wife! Hee hee. Actually, she’s a real jewel at these conventions because I can usually just do what I want while she has fun with the younger kids doing other things. Last year, I took the older kids with me to see the Pillows and we all had a good time, so I’m hoping to have some more good fun with them this year. My oldest has developed a taste for alternative rock, so she’ll probably go for TsuShiMaMiRe. I can’t wait!

Perusing the manga section of my favorite Borders, I’ve noticed two or three self-avowed yaoi titles on the shelves! While there are already warning stickers on the shelves that some manga may contain mature content, I’m still a bit surprised that the conservative elements in the U.S. that rail against any and all things that even hint of sex have not discovered this! I guess they must be busy with other matters right now… In any case, I’m a bit curious, so I may check some of these out later. On an unrelated note, there’s also a large case of tarot cards near the Bibles!

Soyokaze no Yukue is the opening song of a Japanese adult dating sim game called X-Change 2 (nsfw!). It’s a very catchy and upbeat tune whose lyrics I’ve been looking for for quite some time. I finally decided to accept the challenge of transliterating the song myself. My Japanese skill is minimal at best, but this should be good enough to sing the song. If I ever finish a decent translation, I’ll post that too. Enjoy! BTW, the game is pretty good too. 😉

Soyokaze no Yukue

X-Change 2 Opening Song
Performed by I’ve
Vocals: Aki
Lyrics and Composition: Kazuya Takase

transliterated by blueZhift
March 2006

Mabushii natsu no hizashi ga mado tata itara
Tonireta yume no kakerana tsumadaryuo

Sone zo ne mo ichido tadooteku yubisaki wa joto
Dake yunai de hitotsu ni natte yuku kara

Kira kira toka ga yeku anata no hitori ni
Dakusau no omoide wo tsukuteku
Soyokaze ni nosetai jinai no seshiuna
Yura yura shite ima watashi no omoi

Tookute demo furinagara waratteru hanataba
Tsuni teku kino no onna ka gedo nana underuyo

Urito sonna ga kaze no kao ni ya
Utsunuita watashi no kokoro no
Naka yuuturi michite yuku yo

Kara kau anata nekoo anata no ena wo
Dakusau no omoide wo mokosu kara

Arozo nani kazanaata futari no mirai
Doki doki shinata aruite yuku yo

Kira kira toka ga yeku anata no hitori ni
Dakusau no omoide wo tsukuteku

Arozo nani kazanaata futari no mirai
Doki doki shinata aruite yuku yo

Here are a couple of pieces from my favorite little prolific artists. Click the images to see more of their work.

Today, March 3rd, is Hina Matsuri (ひなまつり), the Japanese Doll Festival. Last year I forgot all about it, but this year I put it on my calendar and I’m looking forward to some family activities that celebrate girls, who comprise half of our family! We’re gonna get out all of the American Girl dolls and watch Kiki’s Delivery Service and maybe one of the Card Captor Sakura movies. Sushi will be on the menu tonight and sake for me, hee hee! Next year maybe I’ll get or make some kimonos for those dolls.

I am not the target demographic of shoujo manga! You will not pass me on the street and even suspect that I have 12 volumes of Fruits Basket on my bookshelf, am a huge CLAMP fan, and have just fallen in love with Kare Kano. No, you’re more likely to clutch your purse more tightly, than think that I’m into any of that… So it feels a little embarassing to whip out Kare Kano for a quick read at McDonalds. Most people around don’t have a clue as to what it is, but the often soft girlish covers are definitely not on the books that I would be expected to be reading.

But I make no apologies! I like what I like and I don’t care that I’m too old, or the wrong gender or ethnicity to be liking these things. That just doesn’t matter to me, especially if it gets in the way of having fun. There are a lot of good things in this life and I refuse to let artificial barriers get in the way of enjoying them. And I’ve always loved a good story and great characters I can care about, whether they are flying in starships from star to star or working up the courage to confess their love in high school. Story is what it’s all about.

Nothing like coding at work to the beat of para para remixed anime tunes blasting from the iPod. I bought the Anipara Club Para Para Dance No. 1 album by the I Love You! Project on iTunes several weeks ago, but hadn’t really made it a part of my daily rotation until today. This stuff is addictive!

I’ve been watching the Boondocks since it premiered on Adult Swim in the fall, and for the most part the shows have been good. The use of the "n-word" may be excessive depending on your point of view. I heard that a fair amount growing up, but not nearly as much as on the show. In all fairness though, I heard the word spread over the course of an entire day rather than compressed into a 20 minute block.

Now there is word that a Boondocks movie and video game are in the works. Now a movie I can understand. But given the nature of the comic strip and the animated series, it’s hard to imagine what would make a good video game. The only thing that comes to mind for comparison are the mostly bad games based on the Simpsons. I just don’t see a series that takes on more serious issues making a good, marketable video game. The only thing that makes sense would be some kind of Grand Theft Auto clone. Now that could be edgey and funny, especially with a good story. I’d love the chance to bust a few caps in Uncle Ruckus’ ass!

American newspapers are planning to carry manga-style comics early next year. Without getting into a big fight over what constitutes manga, this is more evidence of the popularity of manga in the U.S. now and the need for newspapers to avoid extinction as their average reader age has reached 53 an continues to rise.

The real question is not whether or not the Japanese manga influenced American creations are manga or not. The real question is whether the very vocal conservative body of Americans will allow the kind of different, often deep or dark stories that characterize a lot of manga, to live in U.S. newspapers. One of the things I love about manga is wide breadth of subject matter and styles. Anything can be in manga, from big eyed, super cute, magical girls, to hardcore, kick-ass, gonna be the greatest high school teacher ever, thugs! Can Middle America handle this? And don’t get me started on shonen ai!

I can’t wait to see how this all turns out. If they carry good stories that fans of manga will appreciate, then they will see daily paper sales go up. If they water things down then they could actually crater sales by not only losing the manga fans, but also losing readers outraged than they are carrying manga style comics in the first place. So it’s actually a big risk, but given that the alternative is eventual extinction, it may be worth it. Heck, I may pick up some papers myself.

It’s official, the Boondocks is OTH, off the hook! I’ve watched the first episode twice and laughed my head off both times. It really reminded me of some of the best of Sanford and Son with its use of vulgar/common language addressing sensitive subjects. But clearly the Boondocks has a far more militant tone than Sanford and Son would have been allowed if that were the aim of the series. So really any similarities between the two series are mostly superficial. The Boondocks has a lot more going on under the hood than Sanford and Son (or Family Guy for that matter) and the first episode out is good sign of things to come. I only wonder if it will get too hot even for Adult Swim to continue showing. Afterall, we don’t want the white people to riot! Nothing a little cheese couldn’t handle though, maybe some gouda.. 🙂

Best line: I’m gonna find me a white man and lie to him right now! –Granddad

First I am very happy to have survived the weekend at what will likely be my very last Reactor convention. I don’t want to be mean, but things just did not come together at all. The hotel was way too small and things were almost totally disorganized with main events starting anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour or more late. This disorganization, coupled with an over emphasis on smoking, drinking, and sex (in a distinctly child-unfriendly environment) lead to one of the worst arguments my wife and I have ever had.

We got over the fight and I already knew Reactor wasn’t likely to be very kid friendly anyway. But the level of the excesses was not something I was prepared for. And the fact that there was not a discount registration for children under 12, I think kept a lot of families away, which from what I saw was probably a good thing. Putting on a con for mature audiences only is not a bad thing, but putting one on poorly is!

Click here for more Reactor Rants.

Okay, this falls under the heading of too much time on my hands, or more likely, goofing off when there’s work to be done. Hey you kids! Brush your own teeth!

One of my favorite strips, the Boondocks by Aaron McGruder, is coming to Adult Swim next month (November 6). I’d heard that it was originally to be on Fox, but I guess it was just too hot for them to handle. I remember the days when Fox used to be an edgey, scrappy new network. I guess those days are long over.

It’ll be interesting to me to see what adding the Boondocks does to Adult Swim’s viewer demographic. If what I saw at this year’s Otakon is any indication, there are already a significant portion of young African Americans who are into anime which means they probably watch Adult Swim. The Boondocks is not anime, but following the adventures of two black kids relocated to a distant suburban neighborhood, it probably will appeal to young black audiences. If it does well enough, maybe Fox will pick it up much like they brought back Family Guy after its phenomenal success on Adult Swim.

In the meantime, the marketing has begun! Here’s a picture of a billboard in downtown Chicago.