Japan Prime Minister's new budget includes Manga Provisions!

President Barack Obama is not the only world leader focusing on new strategies to renew his nation's economy, deploying new strategies for raising revenue. Prime Minister Aso Taro today revealed his new ¥15.4 trillion plan for revitalising Japan's stuggling economy. The two leaders have some common themes in their approach such as reduction of dependency on carbon, provisions for retirement and health care, reform of the private financial sector and stimulus packages for their nation's citizens.

Prime Minister Aso also announced plans for heavy investment in Japan's "soft power" businesses such as anime, manga and fashion! The Prime Minister recognises the increasing popularity and power of these businesses, especially in the overseas markets. His plan calls for the creation of 500,000 new jobs in these businesses/arts over the next 12 years in hopes of tripling or quadrupling their revenue-generation.

This is awesome news for anime/manga addicts everywhere including Aso-san himself who is a self-proclaimed enthusiast. To think that the hobby interests of so many people like me are going to help rebuild Japan's economy is totally kool! It's wonderful in fact. Perhaps this will even help to increase the Prime Minister's diminished approval rating; he's already gained a few points in my book. Way to go Aso-san, keep up the good work!

Sources:
AFP News
jiji.com
Japan Today

***Please Note that I shopped this image for dramatic effect. I am definitely NOT poking fun at Prime Minister Aso, I think he's kool! But... this pic is entertaining, is it not?

Hollywood Anime/Game Rape - Updated List

The Hollywood rape of Japanese Anime, classic Film and Video Games seems to be more than just a passing fancy. In fact, the trend is quickly picking up momentum into a sickening pace. It seems like an industry that is completely devoid of original ideas has found a whole new world of "inspiration," and intends to continue down this disgusting path of systematic Americanisation of classic Japanese entertainment and art and casting these monstrosities with crap Hollywood actors that make me want to wretch.

Here is an updated list of what's in store or has recently been produced:

Anime and Film

• Death Note
  
• Ghost in the Shell
  
• The Seven Samurai
  
• Akira
  
• Speed Racer
  
• Cowboy Bebop
  
• Ninja Scroll
  
• Full Metal Panic
  
• Dragonball
  
• Sailor Moon

Video Games

• Metal Gear Solid
  
• Shadow of the Colossus
  
• Street Fighter
  
• Tekken

All hope is lost.

Wormgear's Anime Pick - Kino's Journey

I just recently started watching the series, キノの旅 (Kino no Tabi / "Kino's Journey") after my wife picked it up randomly during our shopping spree at the recent Best Buy 50% off anime sale. Since neither of us had ever heard of the series before, we had no idea what to expect. Much to our surprise and excitement, Kino no Tabi is spectacular.

The focus is upon a young traveler named Kino キノ and her companion, a talking motorcycle named エルメス Hermes. Visually, the anime is quite stunning with wonderful artwork and outstanding colour. The stories come to life through the duo's dedication to a life of exploration in which they move from country to country learning what they can of the new lands they encounter and the people and cultures within them. Each visit is based on the principle that the two must stay just long enough to give meaning to their stay but also just short enough that they have no chance of becoming involved with the individual countrymen and their ways.

For viewers of Kino no Tabi, the magic begins almost immediately when we easily become involved with the lives of Kino and Hermes and share with them the experiences of each new country they visit. Each episode is somewhat of a complete story that can stand alone but which obviously exists as an element of the greater theme of the series. Each story is abundant with rich visual and cerebral imagery that paints a complex, insightful perspective on humanity. The interaction of Kino and Hermes with the world around them is a microcosmic portrayal of the vivid beauty, excitement and delight that life brings to us, as well as the dark and sometimes frightening tragedy, brutality and loneliness that inevitably ensues. The traveler's tales of Kino and Hermes are fantastic illustrations of the human condition that are both absorbing and humbling.

The anime is based on 時雨沢恵一 (Shigusawa Keiichi)'s manga of the same name, is produced under the direction of 中村 隆太郎 (Nakamura Ryūtarō) by studios A.C.G.T and Genco, and was originally run in Japan during 2003. With a total of only 13 episodes and a short-story format, this might be a great choice for readers who lack the time to devote to regular viewing. Kino's Journey has something very special that gives heart and soul to the story. Highly Recommended!

"Bakunyū" Hyper-Battle Ikki Tōsen

This young lady's name is Chou'un Shiryuu (趙雲 子龍), and she joined my collection a few months ago. She's from Ikkitōsen (一騎当千), Watanabe Takashi's (渡部 高志) anime series, loosely based on the the manga by Shiozaki Yūji (雄二 塩崎). Unfortunately I am not familiar with the manga or the anime, although I would really like to be, considering the series is famous for its ecchi situations and battles fought by girls in short skirts!

The inspiration for the story is a Chinese historical novel that was named one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, called "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," written by Luo Guanzhong. The modern manga and anime versions are quite different from the 14th century originals, of course, but I am quite confident that they must be extremely fun and entertaining. ^^

The anime series first aired in Japan back in 2003 and has subsequently completed 2 more seasons finally ending this past August with a grand total of 37 episodes. I'm definitely adding the series to my must-watch anime list, but in the meantime, I liked this character figure the moment I saw her and just had to have her. She made the long journey to my Chicago condominium courtesy of the Kid Nemo Company.

Musashi on the big screen!

Fantastic news everyone!!! This is so amazing! Work is starting on a new anime film-- about Miyomoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵)!! Yes! One of my heroes and the main character of my favourite manga series (Vagabond) is coming to theatres in anime form! The title of the film will be Miyamoto Musashi: Sōken ni Haseru Yume (Musashi Miyamoto: The Dream of Riding with Two Swords) and it will be released next summer!

Just when you might be wondering how this news could this news possibly get any better-- now I get to tell you that it's going to be a Production I.G. film, directed by mastermind Oshii Mamoru (押井守)-- director of Kôkaku Kidôtai (Ghost in the Shell)! Yessss! Working with Oshii is animation director Nakazawa Kazuto (中澤 一登) who worked on the incredible animation and artwork of Ghost in the Shell, Blood+ and Evangelion! This means it is going to be amazing and will most likely be one of the best samurai anime ever released!

This is the best news I've heard since I got married 3 weeks ago! I can hardly wait until next summer!

Black Lagoon The Second Barrage, Episode One

My regular readers might remember how much loved watching Black Lagoon (ブラックラグーン) earlier this year; mainly because it's amazing! Finally, Black Lagoon The Second Barrage (season 2) was released in the US! I picked up the volume 1 DVD over the weekend and watched episode 1. I'm a little bit late again, though-- volume 2 was released 20 days ago. After seeing how The Second Barrage started out, I am really excited about season 2 of this series! It looks like it's going to every bit as exciting and spellbinding as the first season. The Black Lagoon Committee did it again! Excellent! I would highly recommend adding these awesome DVDs to your collection while you can, they are well worth the purchase; and I expect they will become rare before too long.

Hell Girl, Episode One

The very popular anime series, Jigoku Shōjo (地獄少女) known as "Hell Girl" in the US, premiered on IFC (Independent Film Channel) last night. The series is a collection short stories with a common theme: Vengeance! The stories' main character is a young girl called Ai who can be summoned by anyone who's excessively tormented or abused by others and wants to seek revenge. People contact Ai through a website called the Jigoku Tsūshin (地獄通信), or "Hell Correspondence." The website can only be accessed at midnight and contains only a title page with a text-box where the name of the user's tormentor is entered. After contacting the Jigoku Tsūshin, the user enters into a pact with Ai by accepting a straw doll with a string tied around its neck. When the decision to proceed is made, the thread is removed and the contract is sealed; the user is soon avenged! How is vengeance delivered? The tormentors and abusers are dragged away to hell for all eternity, and the user is freed from their unbearable anguish. There is, of course, a price for Ai's service. When it comes time for the user's own death, he or she too must spend eternity in hell.

Jigoku Shōjo is directed by Ōmori Takahiro (大森貴弘) and written by Kanemaki Ken'ichi (金巻兼一). The series first aired on 04-Oct-2005 on Animax, Tokyo MX, MBS and is now preparing to go into its third season in Japan. (Wow -- the U.S. is three years behind Japan). The first episode made a really good impression on me and I look forward to following this series to see where it goes. It seems to me that the stories could really be very interesting and exciting as the fine details of each new character and their contracts with Ai are revealed. I will definitely keep watching-- this is a perfect series to jump in and out of; be sure to check it out!

Click here for the official English Language website on Funimation's webhost.

Seirei No Moribito - Instant Classic?

Last night the second episode of Serei no Moribito aired on Adult Swim, and so far I am liking it so much! The stories take place in ancient Japan, contain captivating, historically-relevant plots and are set amidst a visual feast of *beautifully* drawn characters and scenery. That's a great recipe for a truly wonderful anime series in my opinion. I already know I am going to love keeping up with this story and will never want to miss a single episode. My regular readers all know about how I was/am obsessed with Death Note, and how I cannot get enough of Code Geass, but this series really has something special, it seems. It's an instant classic I think.

Seirei no Moribito comes to Adult Swim!!

Good news!! Adult Swim has a new show to take over the time slot of my beloved, most favourite anime series Death Note which ended here in the U.S. on 05-July. Seirei no Moribito (精霊の守り人 - "Guardian of the Spirit") will begin on 24-Aug!
Seirei no Moribito, which first aired on NHK on 07-Apr-07, is based on Uehashi Nahoko's (上橋菜穂子) series of fantasy novels called Moribito (守り人 - "Guardian"), which won the Iwaya Sazanami literature award in 2002. The anime is based on the first in this series, and is directed by the incredible Kamiyama Kenji (神山健治) who directed the Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) anime series and also worked on Blood: The Last Vampire (ブラッド ザ ラスト ヴァンパイア).

Plot (courtesy of wikipedia): Balsa the spearwoman is a wandering warrior, who takes on the task of saving lives in atonement for a past sin. On her journey, she happens to save a prince and is tasked with becoming his bodyguard. And he is going to need one, for his own father, the emperor, wants him dead.

I really don't know much about these stories, but I am certainly looking forward to seeing something new! It's coming one month from now-- don't miss out!

Death Note-- the conclusion

This past Saturday night, the final episode of Death Note aired on Adult Swim. Since I had not been paying attention to the schedule, I didn't realise the end was so near. I wanted to believe that the story was simply starting to take new turn and develop into a new plot scheme. I was shocked when I saw the ending and I must say that the way the story ended left me feeling both relieved and also sad. That being said, there can be no argument that the story finished in the most appropriate way-- Ryuk (リューク), the shinigami who started the whole story, ended the story. The conclusion provided a fantastic sense of closure, leaving nothing open-ended.

The fantastic story aside, I am still left with a feeling of emptiness. I fully understand, now, how obsessed with Death Note I really am! For the past year, I have spent Sunday through Friday looking forward to the next episode, very anxiously waiting to see what would happen next. I wonder-- what will I do now? It's certainly NOT the case that I do not enjoy the other anime that I currently watch every Saturday-- I am on the 8th episode of Code Geass and I am really into it. Death Note really is my most favourite story ever, though, and I will really miss it. I think I will have to go back to the manga and finish reading it. Maybe I can finally see the movie without being concerned about spoilers.

As of yet, it looks like Adult Swim doesn't have anything to fill Death Note's time slot, so they are going back to an earlier episode from the middle of the story. Strange, but that's typical for Adult Swim. It's better than them playing more episodes of that idiotic show, Frisky Dingo or something worse like Harvey Birdman.

Oba Tsugumi (大場 つぐみ) and Obata Takeshi (小畑 健 )-- you are *awesome*! Well done, and thank you. Domo arigatō gozaimasu!

"Memories of Nobody" is totally kick-ass!

I just came back from seeing Bleach: "Memories of Nobody." First impression-- WOW! This is an excellent movie! I had such a great time!!

First of all, the U.S. showing of the film starts off with an introduction by Viz Media in which the voice actors, editors and production crew give a tour of Viz and explain the details of how their manga and anime films are translated for western audiences. This was a pretty kool way to build up our appetites for the main feature.

Then we get to the movie, which is absolutely amazing. The story is extremely well-written and very exciting-- packed full of action, feeling and well-placed comedy. There are a number of things that made the movie so excellent (besides Matsumoto Rangiku's (松本 乱菊) huge boobs). Some unique plots and character developments are particularly thrilling for fans of the Bleach series-- most notably: an astoundingly-strong team cohesiveness amongst Soul Society Squad Members, a demonstration of Rukia's awesome and relatively unseen Soul Reaper abilities and some uplifting Kuchiki (朽木) sibling camaraderie between Byakuya (白哉) and Rukia (ルキア)!

Finally, what made seeing this great film even more enjoyable was seeing it on a big screen with an audience of other anime fans who were just as enthusiastic about the movie as I was-- something I've never experienced before tonight. I am very glad I went to see it.

One thing's for sure-- it is not necessary to be a fan of the Bleach manga/anime series to enjoy this excellent movie. The story is unique and specific to the movie and the great story allows the characters to stand on their own without previous knowledge of their history. That being said-- you have one more day! Go out and see it-- you won't be sorry!! Check out the Viz Media official movie website to find out where you can see it!

Wormgear's Late Anime Pick

If you weren't paying attention like me, you may have missed a really exciting and well-made anime series last year called Black Lagoon (ブラックラグーン). Created by Hiroe Rei (広江 礼威), the series was first exposed to the public at the 2006 Tokyo International Anime Fair and was aired on networks across Japan a few months later, eventually inspiring the local fans to purchase over 3 million copies. In 2007, the English-language translations started making their way to the States.

The stories are creative, well written, and rich with action-packed, often violent gun-blazing adventures intertwined with exciting sub-plots and complex character-development. At the focus of the series is the Lagoon Company, a rogue group of half-pirate, half-mercenary social misfits based in Thailand who operate primarily from their PT boat. The group's primary objective is survival, which is facilitated by meeting the business needs of dangerous clients and drawing upon the support of shady contacts. The Lagoon Company has four members: Dutch, Bennie, Revy and Rock. Their very diverse backgrounds provide each with something unique to contribute to their missions and different ways to learn from each other.

This amazing anime series has been a fantastic new discovery for me, and I highly recommend this extremely kool first-season 3-DVD set. Fans of my favourite series, Death Note, may also appreciate the fact that Rock's character is played by the English-language voice actor Brad Swaile, who is also the voice of Yagami Light. Black Lagoon is available from Geneon in both English and Japanese with subtitles-- check it out!!

The Black Lagoon official website is here: http://www.blacklagooncompany.com

26-April: The Knightmares Begin!!

On 26-Apr-08, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (pronounced Code Gee S) comes to the U.S. in its stateside premiere on Adult Swim!! Code Geass won the award for Best TV Anime Series at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair and is highly acclaimed by viewers everywhere. This comes as exciting news since the final episode of the awesome Blood+ series aired last Saturday night-- 22-Mar (Wormgear is sad). :-(

Let's just hope Adult Swim doesn't F*%k this up and decide to stop airing it mid-series to play more stupid crap like Harvey Birdman or Frisky Dingo.

Be sure to tune in to Cartoon Network and watch! I am really excited about this one as it should be excellent.

Adult Swim F's Up Saturday Night!

For several years, Saturday Night has been the primary motivation for owning a television set. Saturday Night on Cartoon Network is "Anime Night" featuring back-to-back airings of the best in Animated TV Series from Japan, starting with CN's "Toonami" line-up and moving on into the shows presented by their evening entertainment host, Adult Swim. I have always been a big fan, and have been continuously impressed and delighted by their choices of programming. Sadly, after all this time, however, Adult Swim has decided to ruin Saturday Night.

The horribly disappointing news came to me in the form of an almost-insulting advertisement boasting "a Saturday Night that 'doesn't suck.'" It was the first time I ever found myself feeling discontented and put-off by Adult Swim programming. The new program line-up will feature episodes of Harvey Birdman, Venture Brothers, and Frisky Dingo immediately after the CN Toonami shows. Harvey Birdman, Venture Brothers, and Frisky Dingo on Saturday Night? Hmmm.... Frankly, *THIS* sounds like a Saturday that sucks, especially when one considers that first of all, these programs are shite, and secondly that our favourite programs are now going to be aired considerably later.

What's worst of all is the fact that including these three ridiculous shows in the Saturday Night Line-up has caused long-time favourties Full Metal Alchemist and Samurai Champloo to get bumped off the Saturday Night lineup completely. This is in fact saddening since Samurai Champloo is clearly one of the finest and most encaptivating Anime series ever produced, especially in comparison to those former three.

I don't know what the hell these guys are thinking. I am certainly not alone in my disappointment having read through the posts on the adult swim website forums. I hope they realise the huge mistake they've made and reconsider this terrible decision. God help them if they even think about messing with the best Animated series ever-- Death Note.

My new obsession - Death Note

Death Note is currently my absolute favourite Manga and Anime story. It's an amazing, compelling and addictive story written by Tsugumi Obha and published by Shonen Jump. It's the story of what happens when the world of the living collides with the gods of death, bestowing great power onto a teenage genius. The anime is currently being aired during Cartoon Network's Saturday Night lineup at 22:30 Central Time.