When it comes to anime, I am more of a mech-style anime viewer. My favorite series is Robotech, followed closely by Starblazers, Voltron, and Transformers. Truth be told, I was not really a fan of the original Thundercats cartoon that aired in the 1980s — but the newly animated 2011 version of the Thundercats is simply some of the best cartoon storytelling I have ever been privileged to experience. The first nine episodes that aired earlier this year were riveting and wonderfully crafted, and they kept me acutely interested. This series has shown that in 2011 cartoons can indeed be for the entire family. The best part is, after a short hiatus, Thundercats resumes its Friday evening Cartoon Network run on November 4th. I highly suggest you “toon” in and catch this amazing series.
Voltron is a recipe for a geek-gasm. Start with a mysterious oppressed planet, uncover five ancient transforming robot lions, insert young, highly-trained warrior pilots, add a galactic monstrous evil villain empire bent on universal domination, sprinkle in glamorous royalty, knead in hilarious dialogue, mix in magical spirits, cook it under the heat of a life-or-death confrontation of good versus evil, and top it off with a giant robot that defends the universe against other giant robots. Originally aired in 1984, Voltron rapidly rose to the top of the ratings in its after-school time slot and arguably became one of the most successful cartoons to date. With talk of a new live-action Voltron movie on the horizon and a revamped Voltron cartoon series set to air on Nicktoons June 16, 2011, I thought that the time was right to give GWCers the low down on the 1984 cartoon. If you’ve never experienced Voltron, and the thought of five magical robot lions who link together to form one mighty magical robot warrior and defender of the universe turns your space knobs — you should give Voltron a try. Perhaps you’re one of the fortunate and have seen all 124 episodes of the original Voltron series and all you require is a refresher. Either way, I suggest you get comfortable and turn on your space communicators to receive and enjoy the basics of Voltron: Defender of The Universe!
The Andromeda Galaxy as seen by Terry Hancock from Michigan (with permission)
Andromeda. Few words immediately bring forth imagery of science fiction, fantasy and real-life astronomy to me like Andromeda does. Andromeda is our heavens, Andromeda is in our history, Andromeda is in our music and literature, Andromeda is in our oceans and Andromeda is in our science fiction and fantasy. I’ll admit I am less knowledgeable about Andromedas than I am about Enterprises (see my 20 Favorite Ships Called Enterprises post), but several Andromedas are also at the root of my geekdom. Recently I decided to take some time and run through the Andromedas that I’m aware of. I’m confident that there are additional Andromedas of relevance out there. If you know of one, please let me know in the comments section below because I would greatly appreciate and enjoy learning about it. In the meantime, please sit back and allow me to take you through my tour of the Andromedas.
As I write this blog entry, 2010 is coming to a close and New Year’s is right around the corner. After enjoying Tron: Legacy last week with family and friends, I started to wonder what will be the holiday movie blockbuster next year. From there it was a short trip to wonder what the entire year’s worth of movies would be that interest me. So the list that follows is exactly that: dates and names of movies that I’m looking forward to in 2011 and beyond. Of course the dates get a little more fuzzy the farther out it is, so take them with a grain of salt. If I’ve missed any, please be sure to let us know in comments. If you’re interested in some in particular, let us know that, too! Here’s hoping that 2011 will be a great movie year!
Our own Mr. Lister, Sir — great forum name, BTW — discovered today that Hulu added the complete Robotech: Macross Saga to their full-episode lineup. That’s great news for any of you who (like me) haven’t seen all of it and don’t have the cash to go out and buy all the DVDs.
I first saw Macross Saga when it aired in spurts on the local PBS channel about the time I was in early high school. Since the episodes didn’t air in order — and I was unlikely to catch ‘em in order even when they did — my initial Macross experience felt like jumping into a deep lake to learn to swim. Each episode brought new characters, new story, and new cultural differences I completely failed to get.
You’d think I’d hate it, right? Wrong! There’s something truly magic about struggling to understand, reaching into whatever well you’ve got of sci-fi history and culture to get a grip on what you’re watching. I loved it right from the start — even though I still don’t grasp the whole story. Macross also represented one of the few opportunities available in those pre-zillion-cable-channel (and most importantly pre-internet) days to see something culturally different.
Greetings all — Operator here…
Found some anime goodness that caught my eye. I’ll give you a hint: one has armor and the other has claws. Peep out the trailers after the jump.
Anime can be a tough nut to crack. Tightly clung to favorites are defended to a degree that can make newcomers both confused and more than a little turned off by the level of zest fanatics of a particular series will engage newbie’s with. Harsh criticism is also abundant and quick to be heaped upon anything not resembling a particular person’s cadre of favorite works. Keeping that in mind I can say that Appleseed Ex Machina will change the way modern anime is done and turn traditionalists off at the same time. No joke.
Traditional Japanese cell animation is what many anime fans have come to expect in a serious film style piece. However the newest Appleseed blows right by it with some of the most stunning and inventive uses for 3D I’ve witnessed yet. The heavy use of Toon Shading – which is just a form of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make CGI look like hand drawings – gives the universe and characters a great deal of life they wouldn’t normally have. Coupled with the superior textures and beautiful movement it’s hard to fathom other producers not opting for the style in the coming years.
Shinji Aramaki who is responsible for the look of top line anime like Wolf’s Rain, and Robotech and John Woo who has some of the best slow-mo and fight style in the movie business make an odd but very potent team. You can see Woo’s influence in some of the “stunts” and camera angles and the very Woo signature-like bullet casings hitting the ground. And of course Aramaki is largely considered the father of modern mecha so the giant robots are nothing short of spectacularly detailed.
Ex Machina also sports a first rate story and the entire film (yes I’m calling it that) has a flavor and vibe all its own that will grab you from the word go. It takes a second or two to adjust to how much is really going down on the screen but what you see when looking at this work is the future of anime. Even if you don’t like it – one day the pages of artistic history will mark it as significant.
Oh yeah I almost forgot, check it out if you get the chance.
Sean was kind enough to bring over some of his complete Gundam Wing collection tonight to give me a chance to check it out. Since he grabbed the wrong box and ended up with the second box set instead of the first, we chose this episode as my introduction. It required a bit of explanation, but as most of the episode is a flashback to earlier episodes, it provides a good bit of back story.
My first take: I’m going to like this series a lot. I love the fact that so much happens in such a short time in each episode, and hey — freakin’ big robot powered suits!
One question for all you anime gurus out there: why does every episode of anime always end with a song and a young, female character doing kid-like things that don’t actually take place in the series? (I’m not complaining — just wondering.)
Episode Guide [TV.com]
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing [Wikipedia]
Ajinbayo “Siku” Akinsuku is receiving a lot of press lately for his interpretation of the Bible in Japanise manga form. But there’s nothing like hearing about the project from its creator. If you’ve got a minute — thirteen minutes, actually — check out NPR’s interview with Siku himself.
Author Gives Bible A Twist Of Manga [NPR Religion]
The Manga Bible [Creator's Site]
I originally saw bits and pieces of the Macross series in the 80s on PBS, but back in those pre-DVR days I never caught enough of it to really understand what was going on. Thankfully Sean was cool enough to bring over a portion of his massive Robotech DVD collection and give me a shot of actually seeing the series in order.
So last night I got my first look at the beginning: episode one — Booby Trap.
Yes, it’s a bit talky — it is anime, after all — and Minmei is a little dopey this early on. But Jason’s on track, saying pretty much exactly what I (or Sean) would say in the same situation. And best of all, I’m finally understanding (at least a little bit) what’s going on in Robotech and why.
At any rate, I’m having a great time checking it out, and would highly recommend it to anyone else who missed out on some (or all) of it the first time ’round back in the day.
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