The heck with strategy, it’s time for some fisticuffs!

Gentei Janken finally comes to an end, but not without a few twists.

(For some reason this screenshot just makes me laugh uncontrollably.)
Read the rest of this entry »

Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb internet.

It’s all over. The end is nigh.

Third Impact, Haruhimageddon, Heaven’s Gate, the Anti-Spiral Apocalypse, the Wrath of the Ohmu, the Coming of Akira – call it whatever you want, but the message is clear.

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and anime is dead. Read the rest of this entry »

Amidst all the furor over Japan’s newly implemented policy of fingerprinting every foreigner entering or leaving the country, as I was reading through the various comments on different blogs and news sites there was one particular type of reaction that stood out to me.

Many people were making comments like “That’s too bad, I was thinking of taking a vacation to Japan, but now with all these things I’m hearing, maybe I should stay away.”

Now certainly, Japan is not the magical land of rainbows and ponies and gumdrop smiles that your average weeaboo imagines it to be. In fact, sometimes it looks pretty bad. But at the same time, it’s also not all doom and gloom, racism and xenophobia, which is the impression that many people seem to be getting from all of the recent negative press.

So let me just reiterate a very important point:

Japan is still a wonderful place to visit.

Japan is a beautiful country with a rich culture and heritage and some of the kindest, most hospitable people I have ever met. It has some of the most breathtaking sights, most delicious cuisine, and best entertainment anywhere. It is also arguably the safest countries in the world to travel in.

Matsumoto Castle

Yes, if you are not Japanese you will generally be treated differently. This doesn’t necessarily mean in a derogatory way, however. On the contrary, the Japanese generally go to extraordinary lengths to be accommodating to guests in their country. Read the rest of this entry »

Minami-ke’s Kana-chan apparently thinks that she is boss.

And certainly, in addition to frequently bending Chiaki to her will, she seems to have the show’s male cast pretty well under her thumb.

What she does not realize, however, is that someone else has already laid claim to that title:

NO ME

As a matter of fact, SUNTORY BOSS is actually the real boss. And not just the usual garden variety “hit their weak point three times” kind of boss, either. He’s the boss of them all, and apparently has been since 1992.

Sorry Kana, looks like you lose this one. Read the rest of this entry »

Every year Hiatus Disease claims the lives of thousands of blogs. In fact, it is the leading cause of blog mortality worldwide.

It can quickly turn fatal if left untreated, and thus should be taken extremely seriously. If you or someone you know may be suffering from Hiatus Disease, don’t wait. Seek professional help immediately.

Fortunately, Hiatus Disease is almost always treatable if diagnosed in time, and the long term impairment effects are usually minimal. Even if you have not contracted Hiatus Disease, you may still be at risk. Learn about the symptoms and take the short quiz below to find out whether you should be concerned.

This young girl is currently battling against the ravages of Hiatus Disease. Don’t let yourself end up like this. Read the rest of this entry »

Haruka-neesan is amazing! Oops wait, wrong show…

But wow, Moyashimon’s Haruka couldn’t possibly be more different from the eldest of the three Minami sisters. Fortunately it still makes for great entertainment.

In episode 3 she goes into full femdom mode and lays the smack down on Misato and Kawahama.

Also, this week’s Moyashimon equation was partly inspired by Jesus159159159’s comment on our first Moyashimon post. Thanks! Read the rest of this entry »

ZAA PAY-PAAAH!*

In gambling, even the best laid plans can go awry.

Fortunately it seems as though Kaiji is pretty good at thinking on his feet.

* Kudos if you get that reference.

What I enjoy about this series is that even though there are multiple twists and turns you never really feel gypped. When a counter-strategy arises it actually has a logical progression – the Rock vs. Paper buyout for example.

Thankfully Fukomoto is categorically not M. Night Shyamalan and doesn’t resort to pulling crazy twists out of his ass in order to move the plot along.

But if he did the story would go something like this:

“And then Kaiji realizes the strategy was only in his mind and wakes up in the bathroom of despair with only five minutes left on the clock!” Read the rest of this entry »

Kurae! Final attack, Dai-Zidane Headbutt-o!

After escaping from the Ship of Hope, Kaiji will go on to pursue a promising career as a:

A. French Soccer Player
B. Motivational Speaker
C. Hood Ornament Salesman
D. Mullet Model Read the rest of this entry »

Moyashimon episode 2.

Thanks to Xerox for this week’s Moyashimon equation. It was inspired by her description of the bacteria:

“…aren’t they just adorable? They’re like tiny, tiny marshmallows, don’t you just feel their squishy plumpness when Sawaki plucks them out of the air?”

Yes, they are indeed adorable and plump. Adorable and plump bacteria. Yes.

Since Guff and I have been occupied with other endeavors over the last couple of weeks, we’re going to try and catch up this week with our episode reviews somewhat. Among other things, you can look forward to more Kaiji as well as our thoughts on Masamune Shirow’s Ghost Hound.

But before that, of course, Moyashimooooooon~! Read the rest of this entry »

That’s right, in addition to all our other benefits, we now offer full RSS feeds.

Guff’s busy working on a film, so I’ve taken advantage of the down time to do some Epic housecleaning. As you may have noticed, there have been a number of minor changes across the site.

I’ve received several requests for full articles in our RSS, as well as requests to be able to subscribe to comments, so both of those features are now available. I’ve finally gotten around to updating our blogroll, as well, which now includes the obligatory witty (or not) comments in the alt text.

If you run across anything broken while browsing the site, please let me know.