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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Here’s a photo of myself with Dawn of the Dead and Devils’ Rejects actor Ken Foree, taken shortly after we inverviewed him for the website at Gen Con Indy a few years back. I think co-editor Mazinga has a similar photo of himself. Click on picture to enlarge.

I don’t know what’s funnier, the spot-on stupid incredulity of his ‘marks’ or the way he ‘mysteriously’ gazes into the camera with each trick. Note: don’t let the kids listen unless you wanna hear a lot of questions about the ‘F-Bomb’.

I haven’t seen Kung Fu Panda myself (apologies to Mini-Musashi – I’ll get you covered when the DVD comes out), but this piece at the Los Angeles Times (China had to import ‘Kung Fu Panda’) is a pretty interesting look at the cultural differences between the film’s American roots and its’ Chinese inspiration. A lot of it boils down to [...]

ADV just announced a bunch of shows available via Anime Network’s Video On Demand service. There’s some good stuff in here, including Boogiepop Phantom and the U.S. debut of the Gravitation OVA. ‘Read more…’ for the press release.

Okay, just for the record, I actually like eel. A little rubbery, but other than that it pretty much tastes like fish (which is what it is, when you get right down to it). But I don’t know if I’d be cracking open a case of Surging Eel anytime soon. Some things were clearly not meant to crossbreed, and soft [...]