—Chuck Jones
(Via Professor Mondo.)
There’s quite a bit of McCay available online.
Category: Art and screen captures
Who needs Gundam?
Mysteries of anime, and the answers
Where are the lights in the Leijiverse? There are always at least two catch lights in each character’s eyes in Ozma, and usually three or four. Yet, as far as I know, there is still only one sun in the sky.
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Here are the answers to yesterday’s questions.
It’s a trap! Or is it?
Newtype is the largest of the magazines in Richard’s box, both in number of pages and in physical dimensions. The pages are too wide to fit entirely in the scanner, and many of the best pictures are two-page spreads. It may take me a while to figure out the most efficient way to handle them. Until then, here are a handful of 1990 Newtype scans with a couple of puzzles.
RG Veda, again. Guess the sex of Ashura, the youngster in white, without looking it up. This is a CLAMP project, so don’t assume anything.
Rule 5
I’ve been blogging for nearly nine years — the anniversary of the launch of my first weblog is a week from Saturday — and I long ago realized that I’ll never get a million hits in a year, or ever. I am not interested in blogwhoring, I’m too contemptuous of politicians to care about their blather and posturing, and I dislike making unnecessary enemies.
One thing I can do, though, is post pictures of pretty girls. Conveniently, Richard’s anime magazines are a rich source of such. Here’s another batch of scans. These are from two editions of a “New Video Magazine,” one from 1986 and the other from 1991. Both are similar in format to Vversion, which I looked at previously, so this time I’m focusing mostly on the cheesecake.
The many flavors of cheesecake
To save you the trouble of clicking repeatedly on the lower left corner of Steven’s header, I’ve collected 915 of the images and assembled them into a convenient slide show.
The singer is Mayumi Kojima. She’s probably best-known in the anime world for “Poltergeist,” the memorable opening theme of the otherwise disappointing Ghost Hound.
A screenful of Madoka
Crunchyroll began streaming Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica today, so I watched the first episode during lunch. I was curious to see how it looked at 1080. I took several screencaps; click on them to see them full-size. They look nice, but they’re not razor-sharp. I would guess that the video was upscaled from 720. (The monitor screen is 1920 x 1200, hence the letterboxing. (The images from Madoka’s dream were letterboxed to begin with.))
More screencaps below the fold.
Two pictures, and one more
Legumes
(A moment from Karigurashi no Arrietty.)
The seven faces of Kyubey, and other matters
I recently upgraded my installation of Filter Forge. Here are some variations on a theme:
Continue reading “The seven faces of Kyubey, and other matters”
The little samurai
One Saturday afternoon back before the last ice age, when I was very young, my then-girlfriend Gloria and I walked to the town theatre and watched a Japanese movie called Magic Boy. It was exciting, colorful, fantastic in every sense. It made all the Disney movies I had seen seem like pablum. I thought it was the greatest movie ever made, and I wanted to go to Japan and learn magic.
Some months later, I watched Forbidden Planet, and that was the greatest movie ever made. As the centuries passed, I gradually forgot about Magic Boy.
Several years ago, when I discovered anime by way of Princess Mononoke, I recalled that I had seen some Japanese animation back in prehistoric times. I did a little research and determined that film was Shonen Sarutobi Sasuke, which was the first anime to get a theatrical release in the USA. Although it’s apparently still under license, it’s not available in any form in region one that I’ve been able to find. I’ve periodically checked for torrents, but I never found a live one until a week ago.
Sasuke and his older sister live in the Japanese countryside with monkeys, deer, squirrels and bears. One day he encounters a giant salamander, who turns out to be an evil witch intent on causing as much suffering as possible. Sasuke resolves to defeat her, and leaves his home to learn magic. After taunting the leader of a group of bandits and meeting the witch again, he learns martial arts and magic from an old hermit living high on a steep mountain. Meanwhile, the bandits burn and pillage a town, and the lord of the region takes an interest in Sasuke’s sister. There are plenty of swordfights and magical battles, and good eventually triumphs over evil.
So, is it indeed the greatest movie ever made? Maybe, if you’re seven years old. Better than Disney? I haven’t seen anything from the Mouse in centuries so I can’t really say, but in terms of production values, probably not. Is it worth watching? Yes. Beyond its historical significance, it’s a simple but entertaining story told in a straightforward manner with energy and humor.
The version I found is dubbed in three languages. The English soundtrack sounds at times like it was recorded underwater. The story and characters are uncomplicated enough that you can watch with the Japanese soundtrack without getting too lost, and the music is better, too.
Improving on Disney
Too cute not to share. (Via Pixy.)
Bonus silliness:
How many historians does it take to change a lightbulb? (Via Dustbury.)
Wonder Woman’s unimpressive new togs:
Ugh. This is vastly superior, even if WW looks like a trap.
Update: John C. Wright weighs in, sorta (profusely illustrated).
Update II: The boots must be red.
Clockwork
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, episode ten: I can’t think of anything to say except “wow.”
One translation nit-pick: “Puella magi” != “mahou shoujo,” and I refuse to use the term. It should be either “magica” or “maga.” “Puella magi” means something like “girl of the wizard.” I suppose you could describe Kyubey’s victims as such, but I don’t think that’s what Urobuchi and Shinbo had in mind.
Rewriting history
The opening credits of the third Keroro Gunsou movie, Keroro vs. Keroro: The Great Sky Battle de arimasu!, recapitulate the opening episodes of the TV series. It shows Natsumi walloping Giroro with a bookbag. However, in episode four, she defeats him with a leek. Why the change? Are the writers afraid that viewers will confuse her with Hatsune Miku? (Update: I rewatched the fourth episode, and she does use a bookbag as well as a leek. Never mind.)
Is there fried chicken on Mars?
I don’t know, but you can get a burger on the Moon.
I thought I’d look at a few minutes of Welcome to the Space Show, the recent movie from director Koji Masunari and writer Hideyuki Kurata (the team responsible for Read or Die and Kamichu), before facing the day’s disasters. I ended up watching the whole thing.
Five youngsters rescue an injured dog near a crop circle. The dog reveals himself to be an alien botanist named Pochi, and he treats the kids to a trip to the moon. Things go awry, of course, and the quintet travels with Pochi through the galaxy pursued by interstellar criminals before they can finally return home.
It’s not a great movie, certainly not in the same class as Summer Wars — the more I think about the last quarter, the less sense it makes — but it is an entertaining adventure movie for kids, tolerable for adults.
Screen captures are below the fold. It’s remarkable how similar life in space is to life on earth.
Meh
I got half-way through the sixth episode of Fractale tonight and said the hell with it. Take away the Ghibliesque veneer, and what’s left is a ho-hum dystopia with annoying inhabitants. I’m mildly interested in learning just what exactly Nessa is, but not enough so to endure six more episodes of Clain, Sunda, Phryne and Enri.
Instead, I watched some more of Gurren Lagann. One indication of how busy I’ve been lately is that I started it earlier this month and am currently barely past the midpoint. It’s a completely absurd, over-the-top show with ridiculous mecha, bellowing macho men, macho women and no respect for the laws of physics, and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything so exhilarating.
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Sometimes it’s not easy to call your attacks:
(From Level E.)
Cheerio
Princesses and rotten girls
When you see something like this:
You know what’s going to happen.
Unexpected artist
A cover for G.K. Chesterton’s The Napoleon of Notting Hill, drawn by Hayao Miyazaki.
(From here, via Ben Hatke. Hatke, by the way, is the creator of Zita the Space Girl.)
Bonus: Here’s Daniel Mitsui’s rendition of a Japanese St. George.
Very miscellaneous
Words versus image. (From episode six of Asobi ni Iku Yo.)
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Courtesy of ANN, it is now possible to watch the unclassifiable anime Oh! Edo Rocket online.
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Attention designers: Note the third special category for Costume-Con 29‘s Future Fashion Folio:
REDESIGN YOUR FAVORITE ANIME CHARACTER ($100 in cash prizes sponsored by Karen Dick): You know what your favorite characters wear in that anime you love, but what do YOU think they should wear when they’re out of uniform (or when they get drafted into the military), or on that special date, or going to that themed costume party? Extra points for believably recasting anime characters in Broadway musicals to suit the theme of the convention.
You don’t need to be any kind of an expert costumer or an artist to enter designs, nor do you need to be able to sew. You don’t even need to plan to attend Costume-Con (I won’t be there — New Jersey is a bit out of bicycle range).
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Sushi and spaghetti; or, to be is not to be: a comparison of Asian spirituality and Christianity. (Via First Things.)
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(From Dr. Boli’s Celebrated Magazine.)
This has absolutely nothing to do with the otakusphere, right?