Blog Archives
Otaku in Review Podcast – K-ON! Special
This week we invited Jake and Kyonkun from Jake’s Anime Blog to come on and discuss the phenomenon that has taken Japan by storm… K-ON! We discuss the anime, the recently announced movie, the newly released PSP game, and the huge fandom surrounding them.
We also discuss Occult Academy and give our final impressions (it’s at the end, with a spoiler warning, so don’t worry). In the news… Angel Beats! gets another epilogue – yay or nay? Touhou Project FINALLY gets an anime (what the hell took so long?). Visual novel company minori has partnered with the fan-translation group No Name Losers and MangaGamer to bring their titles overseas. Finally, did you get your Toradora! and Persona Trinity Soul replacement discs yet? If not, fill out the form!
MangaGamer to Distribute minori Visual Novels in English
MangaGamer, the company known for distributing Japanese visual novels in English, has announced a partnership with minori, creator of the ef series as well as various other visual novel games. In an interesting turn of events, minori has enlisted the help of fan-translation group No Name Losers, a group that they had previously sent a cease-and-desist notice to. Since then, NNL and minori have been in negotiations with each other in an effort to make NNL’s translation official. Looks like things finally worked out!
Since this is now to be an official product, several changes will be made to NNL’s translation. While the “to comply with Western laws” statement is sure to raise some eyebrows, details have yet to be released as to what specifically is being changed.
Personally, I applaud this move. It’s nice to see minori putting the fansub team to use rather than threatening them. Sending threatening letters would only hurt the company’s image, and legal action isn’t always the best route to take. This is a great way for minori to make their games accessible to the English-speaking community, which in the longrun will (hopefully) result in more sales. If you’re a fan of the ef series, be sure to pick up this title when it is released, and support this partnership!
Otaku in Review Podcast – Bankruptcy is Bad, Toradora is Good
...especially when Taiga gets angry.
This week we cover general news and goings on. Scott Pilgrim, also known as “that awesome movie that every geek except me has seen,” is apparently awesome (And I really want to see it). Some awesome (or creepy, depending on how you look at it) news in the field of 2D love as we discuss Love Plus + and its use of augmented reality barcodes (whatever that means). Hatsune Miku is jumping overseas with her first U.S. “concert” that of course is on the opposite side of the country.
Drama’s a-brewing with FUNimation again, with what they did with the second ED sequence to My Bride is a Mermaid. Urban Vision might not be doing so hot, or maybe they’re just restructuring as they say? MangaGamer’s having troubles with Koihime Musou, but you should still buy it. NIS America details their upcoming releases of Toradora!, Persona: Trinity Soul, Pandora Hearts, and some generic foxgirl deity show. And the best news of all, MITSUDOMOE SEASON 2! (Scott was not amused by my enthusiasm).
Not all the news was good though, as two companies in Japan recently filed for bankruptcy. Hear our thoughts on this week’s episode.
Visual Novel Review: Kira Kira
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to start your own band? The good times, the fame, and the hardships you’d go through with your friends? Would it strengthen your friendships or pull them apart? And in the end, would it all be worth it? In Kira Kira, you can get a taste of what it’s like. With an array of routes to choose from each involving different characters and some deep emotional moments, this visual novel is a lot more than what it appears to be. You may even be tempted to label it as trash simply because of its romantic elements – but that would be a shame, because that would be disregarding the story as a whole, and a huge disrespect to its creators.
Kira Kira follows the story of Shikanosuke Maejima, a student attending Oubi Academy in Tokyo. Shikanosuke is a mediocre student with no real aspirations in life – he just wants to get through high school. Three of his female friends, Kirari, Chie, and Sarina, are members of the Second Literature Club. Due to lack of interest, the club is set to be dissolved at the end of the school year. In an effort to save the club, the three girls and Shikanosuke decide to put on a live rock performance at the school’s cultural festival. Through the help of Murakami, a close friend, the group is introduced to punk music and they decide that is the sound that they want to go for. The band members set out to learn their instruments while simultaneously learning the history of punk music and the true meaning of “punk.”
The ConBlog: Otakon 2010
Every summer, close to 30,000 otaku gather in Baltimore’s inner harbor area to attend the largest anime convention on the US east coast: Otakon. This year’s “Convention of Otaku Generation” took place from July 30 to August 1. In what turned out to be one of my favorite Otakons thus far, this year’s exhibition sported some awesome panels and special events that made the weekend lots of fun. Without further ado, let’s get to the rundown of what I attended…
Janai
Antz
OtakuAnthony
jaysteevee
vtine
matty
machineslife
Nyanman
