MetaFilter posts tagged with anime

Mascots.

lemuring — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 03:07:09 -0800

Everyone needs professionally-trained Mascots. Especially Princesses. (Wait for the 2 min. mark) For more on the needs of princesses:

Vegetable Seppuku

From 0 to 15 Nonillion Meters in 490 Seconds

tarpin — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 22:31:54 -0800

A scale parade of robots, star ships, space stations and pan-universal super beings.

Is that in the rules?

Artw — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:45:53 -0800

Each event has a different theme, revolving around a past era. Previously, Steam Garden did a Meiji-themed party — a fascinating time when Japan was opening its doors to the West, and fusing Victorian fashion with traditional kimonos and obis. This time, the code word was Celtic Fantasy. Luke describes it as “a blend of industry, fantasy, and epic adventure set to a soundtrack of exciting tribal and Celtic music.” - Japanese Steampunk, complete with bagpipes, medieval food, fire dancers and wood elves.

OK. 3, 2, 1. Let's Jam!

zarq — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:02:17 -0800

The year is 2071. Humanity has spread across the solar system and the Space Police have reinstated the bounty system of the Old West: catch wanted fugitives alive, deliver them to the cops and get paid. Cowboy Bebop chronicles the adventures (and misadventures) of a group of bounty hunters as they try to catch bad guys and make a living. Background * Wikipedia * Bebop was the very first anime to air on Adult Swim, starting on the very same night that the network itself premiered in August 2001. * TV Tropes: The Bebop's crew faces dangerous criminals, occasional starvation, a particularly disgusting refrigerator, and their own dark pasts over the course of the 26-episode series. One of the defining thematic choices the show makes is that everything has a rich backstory, but almost nothing is explained in full; the stories are concerned with the problems in the present, so in many cases, only an implied history is given. The other half of Cowboy Bebop is its sound. Bebop also thrives on its soundtrack, composed by Yoko Kanno, which is almost entirely jazz music, with a few tracks even defying categorization — and some of the music was actually improvised to finished footage at the moment it was recorded. The show's soundtrack is not an afterthought, it is central to the experience, and many scenes are related solely through visuals and music, eschewing dialogue entirely.
The Episodes 1: Asteroid Blues 2: Stray Dog Strut 3: Honkey Tonk Women 4: Gateway Shuffle 5: Ballad of Fallen Angels 6: Sympathy for the Devil 7: Heavy Metal Queen 8: Waltz for Venus 9: Jamming with Edward 10: Ganymede Elegy 11: Toys in the Attic 12: Jupiter Jazz, Part 1 13: Jupiter Jazz, Part 2 14: Bohemian Rhapsody 15: My Funny Valentine 16: Black Dog Serenade 17: Mushroom Samba 18: Speak Like a Child 19: Wild Horses 20: Pierrot Le Fou 21: Boogie Woogie Feng Shui 22: Cowboy Funk Movie: Cowboy Bebop: Knocking on Heaven's Door (Lands chronologically between Episodes 22 and 23. This is a playlist of multiple videos of the full, English-dubbed movie. However, the entire thing is backwards -- likely to avoid it being flagged by YouTube copyright protection. The movie has also been uploaded dubbed in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and in the original Japanese.) 23: Brain Scratch 24: Hard Luck Woman 25: The Real Folk Blues, Part 1 26: The Real Folk Blues, Part 2 The Music Soundtrack Playlist Background Interviews * Wendee Lee (Faye Valentine) * Sean Akins of Cartoon Network * Jet - No Ordinary Dad * Spike - A Complex Soul * Faye - Intellectual Vixen * Ed - Resident Eccentric Previously on MeFi 2008: Cowboy Reeves: The Movie 2010: A glimpse of Seba Jun, aka Nujabes: 1974-2010 2011: Thus did Man become the Architect of his own demise... 2012: Sakamichi no Apollon from the Cowboy Bebop team Samurai Champloo Cowboy Bebop Director Shinichirō Watanabe's next major project was Samurai Champloo, which also aired on Adult Swim. In this series, he shifted from a musical theme of jazz to hip-hop. Wikipedia: "...the show was set during a fictional version of Japan in the Edo period with an anachronistic, predominantly hip-hop, setting. It follows Mugen, an impudent and freedom-loving vagrant swordsman; Jin, a cool-headed and stoical ronin; and Fuu, a brave young girl who asks them to accompany her in her quest across Japan to find the 'samurai who smells of sunflowers'."
The series is also available to view for free on YouTube to the US and Canada only, through Funimation's Channel. However, because it is violent, contains a few curses and shows a little nudity, login at YouTube is required. Also, Funimation began by uploading dubbed episodes, and then at episode 5 for some reason, they reverted to episodes with the original Japanese-language track, subtitled in English. The Episodes Dubbed Episodes 1: Tempestuous Temperaments 2: Redeye Reprisal 3: Hellhounds for Hire, Part 1 4: Hellhounds for Hire, Part 2 Subtitled Episodes 5: Artistic Anarchy 6: Stranger Searching 7: A Risky Racket 8: The Art of Altercation 9: Beatbox Bandits 10: Lethal Lunacy 11: Gamblers and Gallantry 12: The Disorder Diaries 13: Misguided Miscreants, Part 1 14: Misguided Miscreants, Part 2 15: Bogus Booty 16: Lullabies of the Lost, Verse 1 17: Lullabies of the Lost, Verse 2 18: War of the Words 19: Unholy Union 20: Elegy of Entrapment, Verse 1 21: Elegy of Entrapment, Verse 2 22: Cosmic Collisions 23: Baseball Blues 24: Evanescent Encounter, Part 1 25: Evanescent Encounter, Part 2 26: Evanescent Encounter, Part 3 All episodes are also available on Hulu, subtitled. The Music * Samurai Champloo Soundtrack Playlist

Finnish Fan Foments Flash Friday Fun

Monsieur Caution — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:04:08 -0800

Hapuriainen makes dress ups / character creators: Disney Girls dress up; Pokémon Trainer creator; Naruto character creator; W.I.T.C.H. Guardians maker; and 64 others. Full list:

See also: Hapuriainen's tutorial on how to create dress ups in Flash. Note: These may be useful as character designers for tabletop RPGs: Pokémon Jr.; Cute and Fuzzy Cockfighting Seizure Monsters and other BESM settings; Open Versatile Anime; HeartQuest (including Musical Mistresses, Steel Roses, and Livin' on a Dream); Witch Girls Adventures; a game of Breaking the Ice or Shooting the Moon focusing on anime-style characters; or a game of Primetime Adventures about the voice actors for the characters you create. See also the several forum-based Naruto RPGs. Previously: Paper Doll Heaven; dress-up & paper dolls; and FFF.

Not available in blue

MartinWisse — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:09:38 -0800

How Mercedes Benz sells cars in Japan: anime car chases against legendary food trucks (slyt).

Little Witch Academia is the best way to spend half an hour

The Devil Tesla — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:00:41 -0800

Little Witch Academia is an accessible and gorgeous original anime about students learning magic and believing in yourself, available offically on YouTube. The project is by Trigger, a recently formed animation studio, and was created through the Young Animator Training Project, a program funded by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs to provide on the job training oppertunities for young Japanese animators in the interest of preventing the outsorucing of this kind of work.

Kittybus!

Artw — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:23:00 -0800

The Real Catbuses of Japan

Blinking lights convey so much filler

Taft — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:07:44 -0800

Futuristic User Interfaces in video games, animes, and movies.

Kamehameha!

Athanassiel — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:49:52 -0800

Kotaku has an article about the latest Japanese schoolgirl trend: fake martial arts attacks à la Dragon Ball. The spoofed Kamehameha attacks aren't new, but the ubiquity of mobile phone cameras makes for some hilarious shots. Previously on Kotaku.

Toren Smith, 1960-2013

Sokka shot first — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 07:10:00 -0800

I had discovered the Animage comics version of Nausicaa, which provided my entry into the world of Japanese comics--a world which was to cause me to devote my life to bringing it to all English-speaking people.

Toren Smith, a brilliant editor and translator and one of Japanese comics' first and greatest advocates in the English-speaking world, is dead. Anglophone otaku the world over have Smith and the manga import company he founded, Studio Proteus, to thank for much of the existence of their hobby. In addition to his instrumentality in bringing titles like Akira, Domu, Oh My Goddess, and Blade of the Immortal to the English-speaking world, Smith and Studio Proteus translated much of Science Fiction legend Masamune Shirow's oeuvre into English, starting with Appleseed and continuing with Dominion, Ghost in the Shell, and Orion. Over the course of his career he became involved with über-nerd animation studio Gainax, who immortalized him in Gunbuster as "Smith Toren," a robot pilot aboard the Exelion. Of Studio Proteus's legendary and unimpeachable translation of Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Smith said:

Above all, Tom, Dana and myself all agreed that despite all the hard work we were doing, we wanted our work to be totally invisible to the readers. We hoped that, when we were done, the English-language readers would never notice the translation, the sound effects or the lettering--they would simply read and enjoy this incredible story without ever thinking about the fact that it was translated from another language.

Captain Harlock: "The sea of space is my sea"

filthy light thief — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 20:30:26 -0800

"Few characters are as memorable as he: tall, black-cloaked, face scarred, eyepatch over his right eye, and ever-ready with his saber-rifle. He is the epitome of Leiji (Reiji) Matsumoto's male hero, an SF version of the wild-West lone gunslinger." The Space Pirate Captain Harlock is coming back in a new CG movie, a decade since his escapades were last animated, and back with Toei Animation, who first brought his one-eyed scowl to the small screen 35 years ago. If this is all news to you, read on for more of the mysterious man who fight's for no one's sake. Who is this Captain Harlock? The name may sound German, but in an interview, Akira "Leiji" Matsumoto outlined the origin of the character: the character was originally an English pirate who called himself "Captain Kingston," yet he received secret orders from the Queen of Spain to search for Napoleon's treasure. Mind you, Matsumoto was a kid at this time, and the later name "Harlock" came from "hārokku," a little made-up word that he would chant while he walked home from school. This rough creation first showed up in Matsumoto's first paid job creating manga, which followed from a contest he entered. At age 15, Mitsubachi no bôken (the adventures of a bee) was published by Manga Shônen, and somewhere in that publication, Harlock appeared in 1953. But it would be another 24 years until he was the star of his own universe. In 1977, Space Pirate Captain Harlock was first published as a manga, and would run for five volumes. The next year, the story was released as an animated series by Toei, and had a run of 42 episodes, setting Harlock, "a man of passion and activity" against "a corrupt and complacent government." This series is now available on Hulu and Crunchy Roll, but this is relatively recent. Before that, there were various distribution schemes, including a Robotech-like Frankenstein's monster of a show, creating a 65-episode show from Space Pirate Captain Harlock and another Matsumoto creation, Queen Millennia, which had its own 42 episodes, plus a full movie. [See: fansubbed Episode 1] Next came the movie Arcadia of My Youth, which told of the origins of Harlock, in a time where aliens have invade Earth and Harlock's crew battle against the oppression of the Illumidus. [In parts on DailyMotion: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4] Later in 1982, the movie was followed up with a 22 episode series, Arcadia of My Youth: Endless Orbit SSX, with Harlock and his crew exiled from Earth. The series somewhat segues into Galaxy Express 999 and the original Harlock series, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, except that there are some significant contradictions between the series. [YT: English fansubs of ep 1 part 1, part 2; ep 2 part 1, part 2] There was a US comic adaptation of Captain Harlock that tried to connect these series, but is considered by some to be non-canonical. It wasn't until the late 1990s that Harlock returned, in an as-of-yet incomplete adaptation of Das Rheingold, titled Harlock Saga. In manga form, there will eventually be 9 volumes, though only 8 are available in Japanese and translated to French, and fewer available in English. Bandai Visual produced 6 episodes in 1999, and US Manga Corps did a less than stellar job translating the series that wasn't even that interesting to begin with. With that, you might not suffer that much by seeing the episodes dubbed in French. [On DailyMotion: episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4, episode 5, and episode 6] (Space Pirate) Captain Herlock - The Endless Odyssey (yes, Herlock, the spelling of the captain's name changes a bit from translation to translation) finds Earth in a pretty good place, until an ancient civilization that used to rule the universe wants to regain its control. Enter Harlock/Herlock, for 13 episodes of adventures. [Fansubs on Rutube: ep 1, ep 2, ep 3, ep 4, ep 5, ep 6, ep7, ep 8, ep 9, ep 10, ep 11, ep 12, and ep 13] This was the last we saw of the true Harlock, until the teasers and trailers for the forth-coming CG music, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.... In the nebulous world(s) of Captain Harlock, there were a few spin-offs, some with tenuous relationships to the original space pirate. Gun Frontier wasn't a dramatic space opera, but rather a series of comedic western stories, with Harlock and Tochiro Oyama swapping roles of lead and side-kick (or maybe it's a western version of the Space Pirate. The manga came out in the early 1970s, and was turned into a 13 episode anime series in 2002. [The series is on Hulu] There was also the Galaxy Express 999, a rather epic 21 volume manga, and later 113 episode series [on Crunchy Roll, and a few on Hulu] and three subsequent movies (Bonjour Galaxy Express 999 [YT playlist, English subs], Adieu Galaxy Express 999 [review part 1, part 2], and Eternal Fantasy [unsubbed]). Then there was the relatively short manga and series [YT, English subbed, split in parts], Queen Emeraldas, focusing on the privateer Emeraldas, and her ship, Queen Emeraldas. So, you're generally up to speed with Captain Harlock, and you might realize there were a few ... conflicts. You're looking for continuity in the Harlock Universe. Here's the short version: forget it.

There shall be no schizophrenic doubling back here. I'm here to tell you that any exercise in trying to fit all the Harlock stories under one umbrella is rather like trying to fit all the penguins in Antarctica under one umbrella, which is to say 1. futile, and 2. pointless.

Or, it's all part of Matsumoto's plan.

Matsumoto stated in an interview that he thinks of the universe as a sphere, or a ball, where time overlaps. He regards the past as the distant future — which is to say that if you keep going forward eventually you'll come back to the beginning again, meeting your deceased friends along the way. It's a lovely concept, and it goes a long way towards explaining the worlds he has created, and the world that Harlock lives in.

However it runs, all roads lead to Harlock (source: Animerica Magazine July 1996 Volume 4, Issue 7). Even Danzig was a fan, telling Narduar that his look is not based on Captain Harlock, but he did make his own Space Pirate shirt, as seen on the cover of Walk Among Us, and later Rob Zombie was seen sporting Harlock's skull and crossed bones. Not much is known about the forthcoming Captain Harlock movie, except budgeted at $30 million, the most expensive ever in Toei Animation, a vague Fall 2013 release date for Japan, and a few of the people slated to be involved. The 45 second teaser trailer is the first official public clip, though clips from a 2010 pilot were shown first at Tokyo's International Anime Fair in 2010, which has a strict no photo policy. A 3:22 long camera recorded trailer clip was posted online in 2010, which might have been (one of) the clip(s) shown at early previews. Leiji Matsumoto's official Japanese website is dated, and the most recent Harlock press release from Toei Animation is from 2010, so the future of Harlock is fairly vague at the moment. Until then, there are volumes of manga and hours of anime, plus the TV Tropes page for Captain Harlock

The stuff of fairy tales

jbickers — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 06:35:50 -0800

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is the first major video game to be developed by the legendary animation house Studio Ghibli (previously). Reviews are mostly ecstatic, with praise for its music and graphics. And Brainy Gamer speculates that, like Zelda and The Elder Scrolls before it, the game will be remembered because of its connection to the "perilous realm" that J.R.R. Tolkien described.

Retrofuturist 80s Synthwave

Doleful Creature — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:12:12 -0800

Lazerhawk - Redline [SLYT]

Short Short Story

thermonuclear.jive.turkey — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:22:48 -0800

Manga artist Wisut Ponnimit has created a series of short animated vingettes that are sure to enthrall viewers (links are to the right). To get started, here's Back to Me (grab those tissues) , Morning, and Present. Prepare to say "awww".

Ghost in the Shell Arise in 2013

gen — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:27:22 -0800

Ghost in the Shell Arise 「攻殻機動隊ARISE」 (AnimeNewsNetwork) is the newest anime tv series based on Shirow Masmune's cyberpunk manga which debuted in 1989. The new GITS Arise TV show is produced by legendary Japanese anime studio Production I. G. which has produced all of the Ghost in the Shell animated movies and tv series. Fans of Major Motoko Kusanagi and Public Security Section 9 have been eagerly awaiting news of new developments since 2006.

The Twelve Months, Lolo the Penguin, and other Soviet winter animation.

Nomyte — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 11:25:50 -0800

Today is, of course, December 31st, the new year's eve. And tomorrow will be December 32nd, the day after — December 33rd, and so on, until someone brings me a basket of blooming snowdrops. The Twelve Months (Soyuzmultfilm, 1956) is a classic of Soviet animation that is often televised around the turn of the year. Based on a play by Samuil Marshak (doodle), a founding figure in Soviet children's literature, it tells the tale of a meek peasant girl, her cruel stepmother, a brave old soldier, a fickle and lazy child queen, her schoolmaster, an impossible demand, and the twelve months themselves personified.

Двенадцать месяцев (~55 min.) — Here it is, in all its Soviet glory. Without subtitles.

What, you don't understand Russian? Never fear, because in 1980 Toei Animation^(TVT) released a remake. Called 『森は生きている』 (The Woods Are Alive!), it remains largely faithful to the original material, although Toei's trademark filler (junk food for low income earners) stretches it out to 90 minutes.

『森は生きている』 (English dub) — 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Actually, that's not entirely correct. You can watch the Soviet original capably dubbed into German with parallel Russian text. And, apparently, it's been presented as a stage play in Japanese. And you can listen to the "tale of the twelve months" (『十二月物語』) in Japanese on a 45 RPM record from 1956. (There's also a Russian live-action film, but I'm not sure you'd be interested.) But let's talk about Lolo. The penguin. In the mid-80s, Soyuzmultfilm partnered with Lifework Corporation (JP) and several other production companies to tell the story of a young Adélie penguin's life in Antarctica, his struggle for survival, and escape from captivity on a poacher's boat. The film debuted on January 1st, 1986, in the USSR, and appeared as a three-part OVA in Japan in 1988.

Приключения пингвиненка Лоло (78 min.) — "The Adventures of Little Penguin Lolo," Russian, no subtitles.

The film was localized for American family audiences by Utah-based Feature Films for Families, which changed all the names, removed all scenes of violence, completely rewrote the narration, and added a new synthesizer score with several song numbers. The result can be seen on YouTube:

The Adventures of Scamper the Penguin (76 min.) — edited for an all-ages audience. Music and songs by Bullets.

Luckily, there is a version of the original on YouTube with subtitles in hilarious broken English: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 In Japan, the cartoon was reasonably titled 『小さなペンギンロロの冒険』, but no clips seem to be available. I guess it's not very well-known. But if you still want more Soviet winter holiday animation, here are in no particular order:

«Ну, погоди!» short #8 (the New Year's Eve one) — No subtitles necessary, but it might help to know who Ded Moroz and Snegurochka are.
«Дед Мороз и серый волк» (1978, 17 min.) — Subtitled in English. The big bad wolf steals Ded Moroz's toys. Swift retribution follows. The same actor provides the voice of this wolf and the one in Nu, Pogodi!
«Снеговик-почтовик» (1955, 18 min.) — No subtitles. Some children make a snowman and send him on a quest to find Ded Moroz and obtain a suitable tree. The snowman overcomes dangers untold and hardships unnumbered.
«Новогодняя ночь» (1948, 10 min.) — No subtitles, and it's all in verse. The young and enthusiastic New Year demands that Ded Moroz provide young Muscovites with a tree with golden pine cones. Ded Moroz must bargain with the Leshy, a woodland spirit, for the festive tree. The Leshy's magical wonders pale in the light of the wonders of Soviet technology.
«Когда зажигаются елки» (1950, 20 min.) — No subtitles. A brother and sister are rehearsing their musical number, but the boy can't get over his stage fright without a present from Ded Moroz. Alas, Ded Moroz loses their presents, and Bunny and Teddy have to find their way to the children with Snegurochka's help. Scored by Khachaturian's nephew.
«Дед Мороз и лето» (1969, 19 min.) — No subtitles. Ded Moroz is kind of old and doddering and has to hitchhike to deliver toys. He is driven to distraction by hearing about this "summer" thing and sets out to experience it for himself with the help of some screaming children.
«Серебряное копытце» (1977, 10 min.) — Subtitled in English. Not strictly speaking a story about the New Year, but I wanted you to see and hear it anyway. Based on a well-known tale by folklorist Pavel Bazhov (some pretty illustrations).

Enjoy, and best of luck in the new year.

Cosplays with Color

griphus — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 07:52:04 -0800

Cosplaying While Black

AKIRA Fan Builds Kaneda’s Motorcycle and Rides for Charity

Blazecock Pileon — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 18:40:20 -0800

AKIRA Fan Builds Kaneda’s Motorcycle and Rides for Charity

Franz Kafka anime "Doctor, let me die"

stbalbach — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 23:47:46 -0800

Franz Kafka's hallucinatory A Country Doctor anime by Kōji Yamamura. The original text is very short.

...and I'll form THE HEAD!

Strange Interlude — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 17:19:36 -0800

The pinnacle of convention cosplay has finally been achieved: The five-person assembling Voltron costume. (sideways phonecam video)

"Try to keep your delusions in check"

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:40:58 -0800

Chuunibyou (中二病), or "Middle-school 2nd Year Syndrome", is "a colloquial and rather derisive term in Japan which describes a person at the age of fourteen would either act like a know-it-all adult, or thinks they have special powers no one else has." First mentioned by radio host Hikaru Ijuin in 1999, over time three types of chuunibyou were identified:

DQN (DQN系, dokyun kei) Pretends to be anti-social or acts like a delinquent when in fact he or she is not or cannot become like either one. Tells made up stories about gang fights or crimes, or boasts and pretends to know about that subculture. "DQN" is slang for "antisocial person" or "annoying delinquent". Subcultural/Hipster (サブカル系, SubCul kei) Prefers non-mainstream or minor trends and establishes themselves as being special. People of this type do not really love the subculture itself but rather strive to obtain the "cool" factor by not having the same interests as others. Evil Eye (邪気眼系, Jyakigan kei) Admires mystical powers and thinks that he or she has a hidden power within them as well. It is this trait that they create an alias specifically for said power. This is also known as the delusional type.

While the third type is considered one of the more fringe examples of chuunibyou, a new anime series, Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai!, takes a kinder approach to the type:

There is an element of fantasy and even delusions involved with Chuunibyou, with people pretending to be wizards or even thinking that they have special powers. As a term then it describes a fascinating element of life where the imagination has a powerful hold on people, a time where you are still children but wish to grow up and be adults. ... As a series it seems to be looking at that period in life when you are both still a child, while also being told by society to grow up and start to make those decisions that will affect your life after school.

As the two main characters - a former and a current "Evil Eye" type - face impending adulthood, their fantasy worlds still prove quite powerful.

They Check In, But They Never Leave

23 — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:03:45 -0800

Gokicha, a four-panel manga about the troubled life of a cute cockroach girl, has received an anime adaptation. The first episode features newspapers, cats, and human kindness.

Isn't this the library?

filthy light thief — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 13:15:02 -0800

Yomiko Readman is a librarian with amazing paper-manipulating abilities who works for a secret division of the British library, when she isn't a substitute schoolteacher. The division, run by the ancient Mr. Gentleman, is in charge of collecting and monitoring rare books throughout the world. And that's where the trouble starts. The R.O.D. world started with the first of 12 novels in 2000, followed by a manga series and then a three episode OVA (original video animation, usually short direct-to-video series). Each format covers different stories, with the OVA being the most dramatic, opening with a seemingly magical samurai attacking the White House. The samurai is an artificial human clone (or I-Jin in R.O.D.) of Hiraga Gennai, Edo-era samurai, pharmacologist, writer and inventor, showing off a greatly improved electrostatic generator. There are two more episodes in the OVA, then two further spin-offs: Read or Dream manga, which follows the three unrelated young ladies who can manipulate paper and work together in the Paper Sisters Detective Company; and the 26 episodes of R.O.D the TV, a series about three actual sisters with the power to control paper. If you're a bit confused about the appearance of characters in the different continuities, Wikipedia has a good breakdown of characters, with short biographies. Then there's the Read or Die Wiki, which has a lot of good information, but isn't organized all that well, and went dormant a few years ago.

Or, the ethics of popular culture

subdee — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 07:54:11 -0800

Sub-Cultural Darwinism: Some Thoughts on the Rise and Fall of Fandoms