旋風小飛俠 AKA Science Ninja Team Gatchaman AKA 科学忍者隊 AKA Battle of the Planets AKA Eagle Riders AKA G-Force

A walk down memory lane, why, yes. With my earlier entry, I posed the question, Gatchaman anyone? Problem connecting that name? How about Battle of the Planets? Indeed. How about Battle of the Planets, of which under this title, the series was recently remolded and relaunched as a comic book series released by Top Cow, which with the help of Alex Ross rekindled many forgotten collective memories. Interestingly enough, I remembered them all too well enough (despite being close to five or six years old back then) but under a different name, 旋風小飛俠 (a Taiwan representation). One definite contributing factor for my uncharacteristically great memory would be the fact that the number two guy 大明 AKA Joe Asakura AKA Jason AKA Dirk Daring AKA Joe Thax AKA Joe the Condor (too many version, too many AKAs) was revealed to be a Robot (or Cyborg or Android or something along that line) in the episode right before the finale and sacrifice himself to save the team in the grand finale. This might sound inconsequential but it is indeed my first encounter with Death for a major character. Probably the Powers That Be in the company shared my sentiments to this second fiddle character which is why during the advert they made in 2000 to promote Japan's Telcom Giant, NTT, they got the Japan top sensation boyband, SMAP, to portray the five team members respectively (yeah, even the girl) and with the most famous Takuya Kimura as 大明. Check out the ad by the way, courtesy of good ol' youtube.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

Tatsunoko? Like myself, I'm pretty sure many a regular gamer will find themselves stumped by the name but however, if you happened to also be a longtime hardcore Anime freak (and when I mean "longtime hardcore", I meant being one ever since the 80s), then you probably stands a good chance knowing what it is. Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. (株式会社竜の子プロダクション or 株式会社タツノコプロダクション ,Kabushiki gaisha Tatsunoko Purodakushon?), often shortened to Tatsunoko Pro. (竜の子プロ or タツノコプロ ,Tatsunoko Puro?), is a Japanese animation company founded in 1962 by acclaimed anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida along with his brothers Kenji and Toyoharu (Toyoharu adopted the pen name Ippei Kuri to distinguish himself from his brothers). Enough rambling. A look at its portfolio of Anime series speaks best. Okay, Gatchaman anyone? Problem connecting that name? How about Battle of the Planets? For those not so nostalgic, you might be aware of the recent Anime series, "Casshern Sins", a remake of 1973's Neo-Human Casshern (新造人間キャシャーン ,Shinzō Ningen Kyashān?), which incidentally was adapted into a movie in 2004. But either way, you must have heard of Karas, a brilliant groundbreaking sixth part animation produced to commemorate the company's 40th anniversary of anime production. (The titular character's dark origin kicks the collective asses of all the billionaire orphan's clones out there) Well, it seems that Capcom are indeed getting a little carried away with their "Versus" series of crossover games as the latest title in their long-running crossover series, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes, turned out to be a genuine genre crossover. Available at Arcades and Wii exclusive, platform-wise, this can be quite a monster to market given its source material's longstanding (albeit diverse)credentials. Apparently, Capcom USA is working to resolve Tatsunoko's licensing issues outside of Japan in order for an international release.

Fear(s) Of The Dark

One of the numerous outstanding animation films amongst other selection in the upcoming Animation Nation 2008, featuring the impeccable Charles Burns helming one of the five stories in this anthology film. A brief synopsis from the official site. Different black-and-white animation techniques tell several scary stories. There's a story of a teenage boy who meets the wrong girl. Another tale deals with a small community where people disappear and are never seen again. Then there's the narrative of a little Japanese girl who suffers from horrible nightmares followed by a tale where a man doesn't get the rest he hoped for in an old not-so-abandoned house. These stories are connected by the story about a man with a devilish smile and four enormous dogs from hell and by a woman's monologue about her fears.

Hairy Tale

From the collective minds behind Samurai Champloo, XXX-holic, Innocence (just to name a few) and produced by Production IG, this must be the ultimate TV commercial for a shampoo.

PacNet Wins.

From the Straits Times. ANIME distributer Odex has lost a court bid to force Pacific Internet to reveal names of subscribers who allegedly downloaded pirated versions of the Japanese cartoons. The Subordinate Court handed down its decision in chambers on Thursday and no details were made public. Pacific Internet (PacNet), which opposed the Odex action, would only say that it 'respects the rights of intellectual property owners and at the same time, also believes in protecting the privacy of all our subscribers'. The Straits Times understands one reason for District Judge Ernest Lau's decision is that he believes Odex was not the right party to make the application, despite having the go-ahead to prosecute on the behalf of the Japanese anime studios. Odex is demanding the names of up to 1000 PacNet downloaders. A company spokesman said it will consult the rights owners before making its next move but it was likely to appeal. It has 14 days to do so. The ruling on Thursday came as a surprise given that Odex had successfully obtained Court orders to get SingNet and StarHub to reveal names of their downloaders. Different judges ruled on those cases, and both internet service providers declined to say what arguments they presented in court. In light of the PacNet decision, a StarHub spokesman said on Thursday that it's 'assessing our options ...given the different decisions rendered by the court'. But the deadline for lodging an appeal has expired for StarHub and SingTel. I bet they will.

Rage Against ODEX

Amidst the chaos of the, now infamous, Odex's case against the anime download community, brain juice has been squeezed, as creativity live fast before it dies hard... Here's one of the design in the T-shirt campaign done in the spirit of Singapore anime community...

Paprika

Despite the similarities the plot shared with "The Cell" (and in actuality, tons of other much inferior productions), Satoshi Kon's latest animated film feature, "Paprika", is not to be missed. By the by, the fabulous Susumu Hirasawa, who did a kickass job on "Paranoia Agent", is on hand for the music chores as well. A cool looking poster won't hurt, of course.

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

Gankutsuou Opening Theme - The Count Of Monte Cristo One exceptionally well-done opening, what with the delicate fusion of the melancholic background music, and the excellent mildly dark visual images, just the right materials for one of the best anime of last year. Anyway, the soundtracks also packs some of the best anime scores ever, which was mentioned in an earlier entry.

My ZENith Moment - Currently Listening

my frazy music, movies and books