I’m back! Probably no one noticed I was gone (I was busy moving to another city…and next time, I am hiring professional movers, no matter how much it costs!) but I have a slew of reviews to type up and get posted. Until then, you guys will have to be content with this heartwarming story about librarians purchasing manga to attract young readers!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92998234

I am friends with at least two librarians (and there may be more…in disguise!); they are always asking me what the kids are reading these days so they can stock up for their libraries. Of course I tell them the truth: Berserk, Tenjho Tenge, MPD Psycho, Sundome…

Man, China - you really need to take a breather. What with all your Obsessive Compulsive precautions to ensure a *perfect* Summer Games, and now you’re throwing a temper tantrum because the Koreans get a preemptive look-see at your opening ceremonies? Do you really think anyone who purchased tickets to attend the Games, is participating, or planning on watching from home is gonna skip the full-blown spectacle because of some crappy online clip? Give yourself some credit and relax.

Authorities acted quickly to control the damage. The video — which features floating dancers, thousands of synchronized martial artists, and giant blue whales — was yanked from YouTube by mid-morning on Thursday and entirely blocked in China.

The Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) was furious, saying that the filming was unauthorized.

“We are disappointed and frustrated with the broadcast by SBS,” Beijing Olympics committee spokesman Sun Weide said at a press conference today.

There’s no way in hell I’ll make it to the 65th annual Venice Film Festival, but I sure wish I could. Three of the four selections from Asia this year hail from Japan, and all three of those look like winners. Takeshi ‘Beat’ Kitano’s Achillies and the Tortoise, Hayao Miazaki’s Ponyo in the Cliff by the Sea, and Mamoru Oshii’s alt-universe dogfighting epic The Sky Crawlers.

Sounds like quite a lineup to me. And because I’m that kind of a guy, here are trailers for all three..

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Variety Asia reports that Chinese film distributor Mei Ah, which dumped wads of cash into John Woo’s historical foray Battle for Red Cliff, has suffered stunning financial losses in the last year, going from +$2.8 million to - $10.7 million as of March, 2008.

Much of the financial damage was done by a revaluation of convertible loan notes, but by other measures too the company slipped.

Revenue fell 25% to HK$103 million ($13.2 million) and net profits after exceptional items was down from HK$17.1 million ($2.2 million) to HK$2.96 million ($380,000.)

Although Mei Ah is an investor in “Red Cliff” and recent “Empress and the Warriors” it described the film market for Hong Kong movies as “relatively stagnant.” Piracy is eating into its video business. “Following the increasing popularity of copyright infringement behavior the business of sale and distribution of video discs has become difficult, it said.

Oh. My. God. I was joking with friends the other night at dinner that I had offered up Johnny Depp as a suitable actor to fill the role of Spike Spiegel in the upcoming Cowboy Bebop live-action film, and one of them quipped ‘Yeah, well they’ll probably nab Keanu Reeves…’

Well, guess what…

FirstShowing.net is reporting a pretty unsubstantiated, but no less disturbing, rumor that Mr. Reeves has been on the short list for the role for eight months. Hmmm…I don’t hate Keanu Reeves and in all fairness Spike Spiegel utters less than three sentences of dialogue in the average episode of CB, so maybe he’s not such a bad choice.

Japanese ad agency Dentsu, which owns Geneon Entertainment (formerly Pioneer Entertainment / Rondo Robe), has opened a West Coast bureau with an eye towards creating US-based anime. It’s first project is to bring the anime Deltora Quest to the U.S.

Branded as DCI Los Angeles, the group will seek to capitalize on the increasing popularity of what’s called anime in the U.S. DCI will distribute and license the programming, as well as produce it.

Yuma Sakata, senior vice president for DCI-LA, said the company will look to bring together programming expertise in the U.S. with top-notch anime talent from Japan.

“Working with Western partners in pre-production and then production teams in Japan for animation, we can create content that will appeal to a wider audience,” he said.

Having recently gone through the experience of being invited to (and not attending) my 20-year High School reunion, I thought back on some of my teenage tormentors and - after realizing that most of them were probably overweight middle-managers with half of their hair left - I started thinking that 20 years probably changed them every bit as it did me.

…and then I read about the ball-sucking twats that decided that harassing a bunch of anime fans at this year’s Metrocon was a good time. I think one of these groups wasn’t acting their age, and it wasn’t the group dressed up as cartoon characters.

Attendees at Metrocon — Florida’s largest anime convention held inside the convention center as people were attempting to fly unflyable homemade vehicles — were repeatedly harassed by crowds of rowdy flugtaggers who made catcalls at young girls and tried slipping cameras up their skirts. The Red Bull fans shouted “freak” and “fag”at participants, ruined artwork and spilled beer on costumes, said Allison Rexrode, who attended the event for the sixth year in a row.

The convention is normally a family-friendly celebration of Japanese culture where fans can come dressed in homemade costumes, participate in skits and contests and meet fellow anime-lovers.

“It was completely different (this year),” Allison said. “It was a constant hassle… a constant influx of people coming in and out, and there was no way to control it.”

The convention center double-booked the Red Bull and Metrocon events, assuming Flugtaggers would stay outside on the Riverwalk while Metrocon carried on inside. But security was unprepared for the number of people and the amount of drunken stupidity.

I was just discussing this with a friend of mine the other night: every single cosplay competition I’ve ever attended, some middle-age monkeynutz guy (normally overweight, always bearded) feels compelled to show up in a Sailor Moon costume. I would try to wrap my head around the psychology behind this, but the old Nietzsche dictum “Battle not with monsters, lest you become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss. also gazes into you.” keeps me from approaching too close.

Stare into the abyss, my friends…

Residents of Washimiya, Japan have watched in horror as throngs of Lucky Star cosplayers, almost entirely men, have flocked to the town as a pilgrimage to Washinomiya Shrine, which figures prominently in the anime series. Of course, being an enterprising lot, the town is now capitalizing on their newfound fame, and are selling a wide variety of Lucky Star-themed trinkets and goods.

The Wall Street Journal (no doubt securing the mantle so recently vacated by the Mainichi Daily News as a prime purveyor of Japanese perversity) reports on the phenomenon. God Help Us All.

Lucky Star’s main characters are all female. “For us, this is a holy site,” declared a young man named Shigeki Ito, strolling through the shrine one recent weekend in a wig of blue tresses, a red-and-white schoolgirl uniform and dark knee socks. The 20-something Tokyo office worker said dressing up as Konata, Lucky Star’s easygoing main character, is “part of the experience.” Accompanying him as Miyuki was friend Takashi Tanno, his pink wig slightly askew.

The unlikely attention lavished on this small town shows Japan’s sometimes over-the-top obsession with anime, a style of animation that often features big-eyed characters delving into grown-up themes. Anime is one of Japan’s hottest industries, expanding into blockbuster films, videogames, plastic figurines and fan fiction.

Afroninja: Destiny ? I’m so there. The fellow behind the infamous YouTube clip (seen below) was recently interviewed by WIRED…seems he’s spun his 15-minutes of internet fame into a full-length film. Craptacular, perhaps - but he did convince legendary blaxploitation film legend Jim Kelly to appear. So it can’t be all bad.

Right?

The AP reports that another knife-wielding lunatic went batshit crazy, wounding 7 commuters at a train station in Hiratsuka, Japan. I’m still waiting with baited breath for an ‘otaku’ reference to crop up somewhere in connection to the spree…

The woman attempted to cut her wrist with an army knife at a shopping mall Monday night near the train station in Hiratsuka, 43 miles southwest of Tokyo, but someone bumped into her and she became angry, said police official Hidetoshi Yukitake.

“She was screaming as she was slashing people at random,” Yukitake said.

None of the seven men stabbed were seriously injured, he said.

The woman was arrested at the scene after being overpowered by onlookers.

“She said she was frustrated. She was also angry at her father,” Yukitake said.