Posts tagged Anime/Manga
Old Anime Watcher
Dec 6th
I just finished watching Tenkuu no Escaflowne again, who knows how many times I’ve watched it now? It’s such a great series. I feel like my dad saying it, but seriously… do they even make them like that anymore?
My interest in anime has waned over the years. When I first started watching (about ten or so years ago), my favorite titles were Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon, Fushigi Yuugi, and other shoujo and bishounen titles. Back then, acquiring anime wasn’t so easy as it is now, and it seemed like I loved every title I came across. I remember driving forty minutes to see Mononoke Hime, and begging my mom to take my friend and I to see Escaflowne: The Movie.
Then I started getting into the classics; all of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies, Cowboy Bebop, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. I’ve watched quite a few titles, but it seems like it is harder for me to like new anime that I come across these days. I loved Azumanga Daioh!, Fruits Basket started good but the manga was better, same for Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou. Berserk freaked me out, Trigun made me laugh, so did Full Metal Panic! and its sequels, and Fullmetal Alchemist made me cry (I still haven’t gotten around to watching the remake). InuYasha dragged, as did its predecessor Ranma 1/2 (both based on manga from the same author).
Samurai Champloo revived my interest in the genre. It was a great series, but I wouldn’t have expected anything less from the creators of Cowboy Bebop. I started watching Naruto, but it keeps dragging on and on. One of the things I originally liked about anime was that the creators had a storyline in mind, they animated it, then ended it. It wasn’t like the American TV shows I was used to, that seemed to go on and on until the powers that be decided they were no longer profitable and ended the series unsatisfactorily. Naruto reminds me of that kind of mentality, so I’ve kind of given up on it.
If I watch anime these days, it tends to be movies, probably because they require less time to be invested in. Unlike when i was a teenager and in college, I don’t have hours and hours of free time anymore to watch anime in. I loved The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Gake no Ue no Ponyo. I’ve seen all of Miyazaki’s films and most of Studio Ghibli’s as well, I wish there were more for me to watch. It seems like those are the only ones I like any more.
Any suggestions for a jaded anime fan?
Hollywood, Amoeba Music, Scientology and Chicken and Waffles!
Sep 1st
One great thing about living close to a big city is being able to easily visit the awesome stores they have there. Yesterday I drove to Hollywood with my sister, brother, and a few of his friends to hit up Amoeba Music. The place was completely awesome! They have a HUGE selection of new and used CDs and records, from a WIDE variety of genres and artists. And that’s just the first floor! The second floor has a pretty decent selection of new and used DVDs.
I dug in immediately, looking for CDs from my favorite artists that were hard to find at the places I usually buy CDs, like Target and Best Buy. I ended up finding several CDs from artists like The Magnetic Fields, Leonard Cohen, Meiko, Priscilla Ahn, Eric Hutchinson, and many, many more. I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s pretty hard to find a CD in stores if it was released more than 6-12 months ago, or it’s not on the Billboard charts. I know what you’re thinking, why not buy online? I do buy online; that’s why I already had Meiko’s album before I saw it at Amoeba. But sometimes the added taxes and shipping costs increase the cost of the CD above what I’m willing to pay. And Amoeba has a LOT of used CDs, which lowers the cost even more. I ended up walking away with The Magnetic Field’s The Wayard Bus/Distant Plastic Trees, Leonard Cohen’s Various Positions, and a tribute to Leonard Cohen, I’m Your Fan, which includes performances by The Pixies, REM, and Nick Cave, to name a few. I also got a couple of Miyazaki DVD’s I’ve been meaning to pick up, but haven’t because for some reason, they cost quite a bit more than regular DVDs. Anyway, they were Whisper of the Heart, which I rented on NetFlix recently and loved, and The Cat Returns, which I downloaded and watched quite a while ago.
My sister got a few CDs, the Hits of Erasure, ABBA Gold, and the Sex and the City Soundtrack. She joked as we were driving home, listening to her CDs, that she was turning my car into a gay club, haha. :)
After Amoeba, we waited outside for the rest of the party to be done shopping and I noticed that we could see the Church of Scientology’s location on Hollywood Blvd from a distance. It kinda creeped me out. It creeped me out even further when one of the guys in the party mentioned that the Scientology created CCHR headquarters, or Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights, was down the street just a little ways and they wanted to visit it out of morbid curiosity because inside there is a “museum” on psychiatry. We were all curious, so we decided to check it out. Turns out the museum is called “Psychiatry: An Industry of Death” and the “museum” was every bit as creepy as it sounds. It felt like I was walking into the Museum of Tolerance, a Holocaust museum, also in Los Angeles. It had all these exhibits showing the history of psychiatry, including of course shock treatment and lobotomy. CCHR blames the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust on psychiatry. It also had an exhibit with pictures of different celebrities and little descriptions underneath the pictures blaming psychiatry for their deaths. There was also a section that showed statistics on psychiatrists; supposedly more psychiatrists than physicians commit suicide, get divorces, etc. They also showed a big wall with pictures of psychiatrists behind bars for being convicted of various crimes, ranging from a hit-and-run fatality to rape and sexual assault of patients. And of course, there was a room blaming psychiatry for the Columbine school shootings and various other school shootings. All in all, it was quite disturbing and I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Chris and his friends were irritated and angry about the museum, quick to point out the flaws of logic in the exhibits, but Teresa and I just wanted to leave.
Afterward we walked to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles off of Gower and Sunset. It was so good! I was suspicious about the pairing of fried Chicken and waffles, but my suspicions were put to rest after that visit, haha.
Anyway, that was my Sunday and even with the scary Scientology excursion, it was really fun. I wish I had my camera. :)
Anime Expo 2008
Jul 11th
Last weekend I attended Anime Expo 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I have to say, it was a LOT better than last year from my limited exposure. This is my 8th year in a row attending (first time at LA Convention Center), and the location is a much better fit for the size that Anime Expo has grown to, which is around 45,000 people. The past couple of years I have only gone to the Exhibitor Halls, but even just walking through the convention this year I found the mood to be much more pleasant and jovial, where in years past walking through I could sense the frustration and unhappiness of the other attendees, many of whom paid $50 and above to be there all weekend dealing with the disorganization of the staff.
Last year there were lots of lines everywhere I looked, and this year I didn’t see any, even when I showed up Monday morning to the At-Con registration. I heard that the SPJA hired a professional staffing company to train their staff and volunteers this year. If they did, it showed. Everything felt a lot better organized and not so chaotic. Trying to cram 40,000 people into the Long Beach Convention Center last year was a big mistake; I think the SPJA finally realized that AX has outgrown that venue. And since the Shriners have booked up the Anaheim Convention Center for the forseeable future, I have a feeling the LACC may become AX’s permanent home. I thought it was a lot better than the ACC though, there are a lot more vendors in the Convention Center itself for food, etc, which the ACC doesn’t have and there aren’t too many eating facilities within walking distance of the ACC.
Anyway, that’s my opinion of the Convention. :) Usually I go to the convention to get my hands on random cute things that I probably could find online, but don’t want to pay tax and shipping for. I also go for the manga, usually targeting the “buy 4 get one free” or “$8 manga” offers that many booths have. Normally I avoid DVDs because they are easy to find at my local Fry’s or Best Buy, and the deals usually aren’t that great, but this year I spent most of my money on DVDs. The goods:
Ranma 1/2 DVD seasons 1,3 & 4 (we bought Season 2 at Best Buy recently, they didn’t have season 1)
Azumanga Daioh DVD Complete Series
Fruits Basket manga volumes 19 & 20
KareKano manga volumes 15-21 (which completes the series!! The ending was so touching and precious!)
3 boxes of Pocky (a con staple), 2 chocolate and one coconut flavor for Mike
1 “Jiji” plushie from Kiki’s Delivery Service
1 “Kodama” plushie from Princess Mononoke
1 “Kakashi” neckstrap from Naruto for Mike
1 “Kakashi” cell charm from Naruto for Mike
1 Naruto keychain for Mike
Domo-kun magnet sheet (6 on the sheet!)
1 Zodiac year of the Ox cell charm
I was pretty happy with my goods this year :) See you there next year!
