Queen’s Blade Season 2 Ep. 01 First Impressions!

I was surprised by this unexpected broadcast and took me off guard. Queen’s Blade Season 2, Episode 1 was released and I was unaware of it…I feel really bad!!!…Well, not really…I have been pretty busy and I am not sure if I can blog this because right now, headphones are banned in my job, so you can figure out the rest!

Basically the girls are back and They are inside Gainos! We see quite some flashbacks to remind us the events that happened last season. If you were afraid your favorite girl is missing from last season, chances are you will have good luck for this one.

[View with PicLens]

 

I am quite excited to see the girls back and I noticed some improvement on the animation and new characters as well.

Toggle Visibility to see Nyx eating something! “NSFW content”!

Just looking at Nix on this episode reminds us that Queen’s Blade has just one foot on the Hentai Zone and the other in Ecchi land…barely!….
NO opening for this week and the ED seems to be Safe for Work. No songs for the intro and outro as well.

I will take some time to take a look at this episode tonight, away from the office. Pity that there will be no new Haruhi episodes on Thursdays, but guess Queen’s Blade Season 2 will replace her slot for a while in this blog…and it will be very entertaining!

Anime Parade for the 2016 Tokyo Olympic Games!

In an unusual, not to say “desperate” way to call some attention, Japanese anime and pop culture heroes show their support for Tokyo’s Olympic 2016 bid in a parade held in Omotesando.

Many at Japan Today, the source for the photo find the idea a little bit ridiculous and predictable. There are some interesting comments about this like:

I might support the Olympic movement if Kamen Rider Den-O was involved, but they only managed to get Kabuto and Faiz.

Woefully inadequate, and entirely predictable.

As the message on the truck implies, Tokyo is going all out to win the Special Olympics.

I know who each of those characters are and that’s still less embarrassing than the fact that they’re using them to bid for the Olympics.

childish thinking ! ! this is the best idea they got ? use toys as a last resort ?

Personally, I think this characters can attract the anime fans attention, but I wonder if the Olympic committee in charge of choosing the place for the 2016 games knows them…

For fun, can you name the characters in the parade?

Source: Andy Laver, Japan Today

Disney-Marvel-Pixar Hybrids!

As you may already know, Disney bought Marvel and it is also owner of Pixar. The news of this transaction sent ripples across the fanbase and reactions jumped all together. A friend sent me a tip about a website full of Disney – Marvel – Pixar “what if” hybrids gallery and it was hilarious to see the different “crossovers” of this three companies characters. Just take a look at this samples. Link to the gallery follows next.

The Fantastic Freaks Four!

I really like the idea of a “uncute” Mickey!

Steroids…UP!

OMG?! Please no!

We just hope this “characters” remains as an idea made just by fans to mock at this transaction and not an “official” product by the three giants of the industry. For more hilarious stuff, visit the source.

Godzilla’s Blu-Ray!

No, Godzilla does not have Blu-Rays on its eyes…but the following news can be exciting for the Monster fans!

The 2004 theatrical reissue of the original 1954 Japanese version of “Gojira,” which washed up on U.S. shores two years later in re-edited form as “Godzilla, King of the Monsters,” gave American audiences lots to rethink about the monster-movie classic.

With the restoration of 40 minutes of footage deleted for its stateside release and partially replaced with 20 minutes of new scenes built around the insertion of American actor Raymond Burr, as reporter Steve Martin, the movie and its antinuclear theme come through more powerfully, even though Gojira remains an actor in a rubbery suit stomping his way through miniaturized Japanese cities and villages.

The original “Gojira” comes to Blu-ray disc this week in a new high-definition transfer accompanied by an illuminating audio commentary and two entertaining featurettes that also were included with a deluxe DVD set released in 2007. The visual quality is generally crisp and strikingly clear, although nighttime scenes are still somewhat dicey in this low-budget black-and-white film.

Lifelong Godzilla fans Steve Ryfle (author of “Japan’s Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of Godzilla”) and Ed Godziszewski (“The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Godzilla”) offer boatloads of insight into the background of “Gojira” director Ishiro Honda, who had witnessed first-hand the destruction inflicted by the American atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. They note that Honda’s message in “Gojira” wasn’t specifically anti-U.S., but unequivocally antinuclear, Gojira representing the unknown horrors that can be unleashed with the use of technology that humankind doesn’t fully understand.

They also point out that  U.S. studio officials who re-edited it — to make it more palatable for American audiences of the ’50s — always stated that there was no political agenda behind their choices of what to trim to make way for their added scenes. Yet, they consistently eliminated scenes in which the subject of H-bomb testing is debated by Japanese politicians, scientists, military officials and citizens. Separate mini-documentaries by Godziszewski about the development of the Gojira story and the creation of the suit used in the movie include intriguing details such as the Disney-like story boarding said to be a first in Japanese cinema.

Because those featurettes have been available previously, the biggest advantage in the Blu-ray edition may be the hi-res sound. From Gojira’s signature metallic roar to the ultra-low-register notes of the contrabass clarinet used in the musical theme that anticipates each of his destructive appearances, the audio track is all the more visceral through a good home sound system.

Even 55 years down the road, there’s still nothing quite like the roar of Gojira.

Source: Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times

Never got a chance to watch the original Godzilla so this can be a good time to get a Blu-Ray player now…