As American pop culture has traditionally sparked Japan interest, it should surprise no one that comic legend Stan Lee has turned his pen toward the land of the rising sun. Trying to find a new breed of "True Believers," Heroman is Lee's second work published/animated for Japan. Heroman — the name should say it all.
Drenched it hot dogs and American Flags, Heroman is a walking (though non-offensive) stereotype of Americana, wrapped up in classic (silver age) superhero tropes. Let me spell it out for you. Protagonist "Joey Jones" lives in the super average/large/suburban anytown of "Center City." Read More...
The anime series Kaleido Star appears to be squarely aimed at girls, aged 7 to 15. That said; it is thoroughly enjoyable regardless of your age or gender.
The hero of the story, Sora, a young and talented acrobat from Japan, leaves her friends and family and moves to California to audition for a role in Kaleido Stage, a kind of Cirque-Du-Soleil acrobatic ballet troupe that performs regularly in their own special arena (that also has dormitories for the performers).
This coming-of-age story follows her adventures, but there's more to her being a performer than just doing acrobatics. She's helped along the way by a spirit in the form of a talking doll, and through her trials and tribulations she eventually gains some friends, but overall it's a rough road for her. Read More...
Fanservice. Anyone who has been around the animated block knows that even the most erudite shows aren't immune to the impossible body shapes and compromising positions. Of course, there's a inverse where even the most fanservice laden work aren't immune to the occasional plot or enjoyable nuances. We'll be the first to admit to some guilty pleasures, but Demon King Daimao is, in fact, funny.
Abandoned as a baby, protagonist Atuko Sai grew up in a monastery, and devoted himself to a life of service. Upon coming of age, he left for the Costant Academy for Magick Arts, where he hopes to further his goals of becoming the magic Pope. Yep, Sai is so selfless that he wants to become his magical based religion's version of the Pope. All of this is to pursue his objectives of bringing sunshine, happiness, and kittens to the world. Read More...
You know that insane level of paranoia you feel when watching Le Femme Nikita or (to a lesser extent) Alias? Where you don't know who you can trust, and every moment could be your last, and there's no one, absolutely no one you can turn to for help?
That's essentially the main driving force behind Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom, a stunningly good anime interpretation of Phantom of Inferno, a visual novel game available for the PS2 and Xbox360 in Japan (with limited distribution here in the US). Read More...
Animation Movie Praxinoscope Animation *whatsis?* ... A Praxinoscope? In this digital day and age it's hard to believe that we started out with such crude beginings and that once upon a time, how a "moving picture" worked was a complete mystery. Have you ever heard of the term "Persistence Of Vision"? Ever played with a flipbook animation? Do you know what a zoetrope is? Ha, bet I got you now. Go ahead, I'll wait while you look it all up on Wikipedia.
If you have even the slighest interest in animation beyond what you can make in Flash, you owe it to yourself to rediscover the history of animation and what was invented to make a "moving picture" before we had software with bones do all the work for us. Draw images one by one and project them on your wall with this fun project. You will learn about animation and have a pretty good time.
