Man I hate this map.

Being far down in one corner close to the end of the world, it's hard to get anywhere (read Japan) easily and coupled with the enormous distances we have to travel to reach the shrines of anime and manga in Asia and America, you could say that we're pretty far away from the fun. Or are we? Luckily, a group of entrepreneurs over here decided to set up an entertainment expo down in Christchurch. The first year it came last year, like many first-time expos, there wasn't much to see (read Nothing) and we browsed through everything (read Failcakes) in the morning and still had time to celebrate a friend's birthday party which was awesome (starting with an O) in comparison. More photos after the jump.

written by astrobunny \\

I'm suffering from writer's strike now, so I'll post a nice big poster for you guys to ogle over. If there is anything to ogle over that is...

written by astrobunny \\

I've always been a fan of good music, and good music usually means alternative music to me. Most of the time, pop music is really cool and okay to listen to, but it gets dry and sickening after a while and prompts me to go around searching for other better and more creative forms of music. I didn't have to go far however, back in 2005 I discovered a techno band from Sapporo that created some wonderful music, and they associated themselves with cute-sounding voices and anime, which made them all the more appealing to me. This band, is... well you guess it. IOSYS.

written by astrobunny \\

The Japanese people have talent for making people go WTF. I know I'm late but this seriously boggled my mind for sometime, but I finally got it. Maybe CLANNAD bread was made because one of the main characters in CLANNAD sells bread! But why in a can? Is it easier to label this way?

written by astrobunny \\

I've been surrounded by Touhou fans who jump in once in a while talking about Touhou stuff or showing me some Touhou pictures and doujin and decided maybe I should join the fun. So, I obtained a copy of Imperishable night from my intelligence network and tried it out. It was quite a pretty game. A lot of digital artwork and effects really caught my eye. The first things I noticed were that it was full of girls drawn with a style you usually see in childrens' books. Also, the game doesn't use the mouse. The only keys available are the arrow keys and Z and X.

written by astrobunny \\

All this while we've been treated to lots of soft and fluffy light anime like Lucky Star and Clannad that have lots of cute large-eyed girls and very unrealistic plots full of light comedy and the usual storyline we all know and love. Once in a while however, some really heavy and dark stuff comes around and has carves a lasting impression on us. Such anime like Full Metal Alchemist, Jigoku Shoujo and Death Note have been notable for their clean, yet strong thrills and emotion. Mnemosyne moves up a step further, bringing to us some of the things our grandparents hate most about Hollywood movies: The sex and violence. Well, I must say this show is NOT for young kids, but I must also say, kudos Xebec, they have done it this time.

written by astrobunny \\

Lately there has been a trend of Japanese studios turning anime into Live-action shows. Are people finally deciding to come back to earth and to real life? Is this the death of anime as we know it? Or is it the beginning of a large series of very very sucky shows that plagued hollywood before it rose to becoming the most effective propaganda center of all time.

While Japan prepares to air the show on their IMAX screens, you can watch the trailer here

written by astrobunny \\

Looks like another crazy anime has just come out. Kyouran Kazoku Nikki means the Diaries of the Mad Family, and the show has really lived up to its name since the first episode. It all starts off with this catgirl running around town in an Oliver Twist-esqe rampage of food collection, but starts to get random once this girl reveals who she really is. She meets Ouka Midarezaki (which contains the character 乱, which means mayhem or chaos) who appears to be a member of some random shadowy organization involved with finding stuff like UFOs or supernatural stuffs (Haruhi's dream). It turns out that a family has been organized to track down the child of a once great monster to kill it, and Ouka is bound to be the man of the house. ** there may be spoilers in this post **

written by astrobunny \\

Apparently a new phenomenon is rocking the interweb. Some Swedish techno song has just infiltrated the hearts and minds of all those creative otaku out there and directed them into producing music videos depicting anime characters in compromising positions holding their hands up like cats ears and shaking their butt like never before. If you don't know what I mean, check out the video up there (which I think is the best of all the vids). And if you really need more examples, I've collected a handful of youtube vids for you to further your education. (Small pipes beware)

written by astrobunny \\

After missing the last 5 minutes of the last episode as a result of a big big ***********************, I was shocked to see this. I can't believe I missed the most important part!!! Argh! As if not having enough time to troll around and look out for the spring season's new anime is enough, I have to suffer the torment of missing something in the middle! This is unacceptable! - is what I thought until I was overcome by Nagisa's extreme dereness that gave me a moe explosion. I'm not one to simply go boom from dereness but Nagisa has always been very popular with me.

Also from this episode, I never knew how strong Mei was. I must admit, if the bread tasted like shattered glass, I would never have the strength to go further and flatter the maker on how good it is with a straight face. This must be one of those qualities you lose when you grow up. I also never knew how good she was at doing business. By exploiting the fact that Nagisa is cute... she took this:

... and turned it to this...

... and made this...

A true creator indeed. In other news, I have also learned from this anime that when your imagination runs wild, try and hit the brakes hard, because the next two pictures should be taken with a bit of salt. I mean, I never knew Okazaki had such a vivid imagination... It actually felt like it was right... but I really find that disgusting. Like, worse than Akiko jam and Akio bread.

The picture above was the gheyest scene ever. Like, literally. I didn't want to take the picture after this one because it was disgusting beyond words. I mean, I cannot imagine anyone wearing boxers with a big heart on them. And I don't even want to imagine two shops selling a pair of them. *goes off to puke. Ugh... Kyoani, what have you done? Those were the most rotten scenes ever! >_<" It must be punishment for not following the series faithfully enough. Though, this episode has one saving grace:

I'm sure they'll make a lovely couple.

written by astrobunny \\