Warning: This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Watching all 47 episodes, it does change the game late in the series. As originally thought, it seemed like the show would adjust over time from seeing (the infamous scene of) Bright Noa with a Chicken on his head, to the final fight between Glemy Toto’s Zeon and Haman Karn’s Neo Zeon: that is what exactly happens.

The first 30 episodes of ZZ Gundam deals with Judau getting acquainted with the Argama crew after being apprehended by Captain Bright for attempting to steal the Zeta Gundam mobile suit to sell as scrap for cash to support him and his sister, Lina. His friends Iino, Beecha, Mondo, and Elle also become a part of the crew, being close friends with Judau (and helping him in the first place). Judau has a hard time accepting them, but he has no choice when Shangri-la is under attack by colony tycoon, Gemon Bajack (“Gammon” “Blackjack”…really?) with the help of Mashymre Cello (…”Marshmallow?”) of Neo Zeon.

I'm so envious of Emaly... But Bright, What About Mirai?!

Of course, familiar characters return from the first Gundam and the previous series, Zeta: Hayato Kobayashi makes a reappearance as a member of the Karaba group after learning that Zeon forces are planning to drop a colony on earth in Dublin, Ireland, “to make a point”. Fa Yuiry and Kamille Bidan from Zeta return later on after their earlier appearance at the beginning of Double Zeta, but they are reduced to being stand-ins once again.

After the events in Dublin, the Argama crew return to the La Vie En Rose to upgrade their warship to the Nahael Argama, which looks a lot better than the original Argama—and more like the original White Base that Captain Bright commanded during the One Year War. Before things are taken to the next level (in story), Bright suddenly disappears from the story when he saves Shinta and Qum (Zeta clones of Kika and Letz from 0079) from floating in space, leaving the captain duties to Emaly and… Beecha, respectfully.

Mashymre Cello: No Longer the wacky Haman fanatic we know and love.

Mashymre Cello, the Haman Karn fanatic who is seen as comedic in the earlier episodes, eventually becomes brainwashed into a Cyber Newtype (“mass produced” Newtypes): makes you wish he was his normal self, even if he was annoying. Most of show’s story is watching Lina get kidnapped again and again by Glemy for [inexplicable] political reasons, then saved by Judau repeatedly until-things go too far (re-worded to avoid actual spoilers). Glemy eventually fades from the spotlight for a moment, showing the ideological rivalry between Judau and Haman. Ah, good ole Universal Century.

Glemy orders Puru Two to finish off Judau, but she *wants* to refuse...

Then there’s the introduction of Elpeo Puru, an artificial human made solely for the intent of war using the Quebely mobile suit-but it appears that she’s a failed attempt at being a weapon of mass destruction with her admiration for Judau and disobeying Glemy. Enter Puru Two: a clone of Puru One and the Puru that should have been, along with an improved model of the Quebely, the Quin Mantha. Like with Mashymre, Puru Two is another disappointing character whose original personality drove you up the wall, but you end up feeling sorry for them, wishing they were back to their “Oh, STFU, will ya!?” selves.

Neo Zeon's Chara Soon... plotting on the side of the AEUG?

A few more disappointments with ZZ Gundam is the sudden absence of Captain Bright (IMHO)-but this is no long a problem when he reappears along with another character (or two) we did not expect to see since the end of Zeta Gundam. Hint: this character of the Earth Federation Force, had a huge role towards the end of the One Year War, and is a “distant” relative of another popular character from 0079 and Zeta.

It was saddening to me… romance-wise, because, well.. one is a reason that involves spoilers: pay close attention to Bright when he meets Emaly on the La Vie En Rose… all the way to the end (Hey! I can’t help it, being a Bright fangirl. ^_^). Also adding the fact that the show ended so suddenly without an all-out “let’s do this!” attitude from the One Year War. Lastly, it appeared to bring out the worse of the characters who were once badass (i.e.: Yazan from Zeta Gundam) into clowns. But it finally puts an end to the war between two factions of the same family that didn’t see eye-to-eye.

The slap (from Judau) to end all slaps of the Zeta era

I did enjoy watching ZZ Gundam, but it could have been better with the ending. I still hope that Bandai will release this show on Region 1 DVD or Blu-ray (even better). The humor is not all that bad as it will get better later on under Zeta laws. If you’re a fan who is choosy of what they want in their Gundam (or any anime series), I suggest giving it another try, especially if you’re like me and want more Universal Century Gundam after 5+ years of waiting patiently.

Rating:

The biggest hit in recent years is Axis Powers Hetalia (aka Hetalia: Axis Powers and Hetalia: World Series). Maybe not the biggest hit-second… maybe fifth hit biggest you see fanart and 100+ cosplayers dressed as characters from the series. But it may vary depending on the fan’s preference. You might not have watched the show before, but seeing a character with a hair antennae that’s not Edward Elric’s is spot on.

Axis Powers Hetalia is a World History Comedy anime-a rare sub-genre for such a show. It started off as a webcomic then into a manga series by Hidekaz Himaruya and was turned into an anime series you see before your eyes. As most of the title implies, the main character of APH is Italy, a shy young man with a passion for Pasta(aaaa!) and wine who dreams of becoming a powerful country, following in the footsteps of grandfather Rome.

He looks up to Germany, the leader of the “Axis Powers” group who has to put up with Italy to the point of insanity in every episode. Germany is not all that mean: he’s a tsundere-type character like we see in many anime series. There’s also Japan, who is also a stereotype of a young Japanese man who has a soft side for reading manga and is shy around others and keeps to himself.

Russia, a 'yandere' (opposite of 'tsundere') character, shows his soft side, for now...

The other main cast are America, China, France, England, and Russia. Like the “Hetalia” group, America are allies with said countries (like in real life situation). In several, (or dozens) of episodes, America’s group is seen ambushing the camp of Germany, Italy, and Japan on a beach. There are over 35 characters and counting in Axis Powers Hetalia. The characters are often seen poking fun at their own qualities, such as America’s obsession with hamburgers, recklessly declaring that he’s the “leader of the world”, and his sibling rivalry with England. The many of the arcs are based on actual world events: World Wars I & II, the Revolutionary War, and the G-8 Summit, for example.

The characters are named after the country they represent, but they have real names as well: America->Alfred, Germany->Ludwig, Russia->Ivan, etc. APH is also popular with female fans, thanks to a 80% cast of males. It is sometimes referred as a Moe series for females, especially where many Shounen-ai references are made through most of the series.

A serious scene between America and England during the Revolutionary War.

Each episode of Hetalia is 5 minutes long, so it’s really easy to get into if you’re curious or just want a quick series to get into. But there’s a word of warning: it can be hard to watch as the first several episodes run too fast, but it will all make sense soon enough.

An important fact about Axis Powers Hetalia is that it was supposed to air on TV, but due to controversy of the character Korea in the series, it’s being streamed online instead. (However, thanks to observations from fans, it seems Korea makes a very, very brief appearance in an episode. Although Korea’s role is more frequent in the manga.)

After listening to recommendations from fans, I am now a Hetalia convert; being a series review and not a “first impression” review, I also recommend checking it out (and to support it you local *legal* streaming website)! With it still on the air and my catching up to the aired episodes in one week, it would be a while before I would have written a final review. ^^

Speaking of streaming online, Axis Powers Hetalia can be watched on FUNimation, YouTube*, and Hulu* (*account required to watch due to TV-MA rating).

Rating:

I’ve mention many times on Twitter and on this blog… but failed at the right time to write about it due to neglecting the blog earlier in the year. But as we catch up with the events from that part of 2010, I would like to talk about my role of being a Guest Contributor on BBAMAJAM.org.

Officially launched in February, the website of the Boogie BAM Anime Jam club based in Chattanooga, TN, is the home of news, con reports, reviews of Anime, Manga, Video Games, J-Dramas, the original webcomic, “Oh My Otaku!”, opinions, and so much more from BBAMAJAM’s resident writers.

The writing team is made up of ProdigalNick (President of BBAMAJAM), Zippy (host of Tokyo Tower FM and Vice President of BBAMAJAM), Erica, Noodle, and Phantom Dark. Guest writers of Thom, The Cay (co-host of Tokyo Tower and Konoha Corner), and myself–the club secretary, also contribute to BBAMAJAM.org’s growing library of content.

A few examples of content BBAMAJAM.org has to offer is a review of Le Portrait De Petit Cossette from Thom, The Cay’s interview with LittleKuriboh of Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series, and Zippy and ProdigalNick’s recap of (Swi)MTAC.

There is also my own contributions to the website, such as reviews on Mobile Suit Gundam and Metal Gear Online for the PS3, and a couple of personal stories on my life in Vana’diel moving to Eorzea and what it’s like being an Otaku culture blogger.

The BBAMAJAM is also dedicated in bringing you convention reports from various conventions in Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, and Alabama, including the recent PersaCon convention in Decatur attended by Zippy the convention weekend.

BBAMAJAM is also working with GaijinUSA and Sukoshi Con in Birmingham, AL, the latest arrival in the tread of One-Day conventions in the Southeast US. If you register for VIP membership on the Eventbrite page, a percentage goes to helping out the club!

Let’s give BBAMAJAM.org a warm welcome to the family! Please do stop by and leave comments! And don’t forget to subscribe! ^_^

The official first episode of the podcast edition of CEN.TAKU.ME is out! In this episode, a podcast version of “Anime at Large” is discussed. What anime series has been “captured” by myself and put in my collection (jail), and an oldie, but a really a new game: Dragon Ball Online.

Show Notes

Anime at Large
The concept of the “Anime at Large” series of posts is explained, and in the two years of the series, I go over the series I’ve finally caught thanks to special perks and the evolution of (legal) online streams.

• Check out the “Anime at Large” archives!

Dragon Ball Online [Impressions]

Talked about two years ago on the blog, the online Dragonball game everyone has been waiting for… maybe. The first Dragonball MMORPG, Dragon Ball Online was released in South Korea mid-Spring 2010. It has yet to see the light of day in North America—including Japan.

• Check out the preview of Dragon Ball Online from the archives!
• Dragon Ball Online Official Website (in Korean)
• Dragon Ball Online Community: Website | Game Description

Ni-Ongaku Spotlight
The first attempt of a music segment on the podcast. Ni-Ongaku (J-Music) Spotlight features music from independent Japanese artists (I could just play Anime music, but we’ll play it (pod)safe for now. Besides, J-Indies are awesome! ^_^)

• Artist: SUNS TO FAST
• Song: “Collection Agent”
• SUNS TO FAST’s Website (in Japanese)
• Muzie.co.jp Page (in Japanese)

July 17th marks the third year anniversary of CEN.TAKU.ME! It was the day the website launched for the very first time after a few years of sticking around LiveJournal and Blogger for my writing needs and carefully mapping out plans for my next website. It was also the beginning of becoming a full-time Anime blogger after my return from Vana’diel and Azeroth, settling down doing what I love the most.

In 2007, I came up with the name “CEN.TAKU.ME” as a merger of my other blogs, including the short lived NA.KI.ME Anime blog in 2006. “The Center of Otaku, Anime, and Games”, or Center of Otakudom and Anime as gaming can be defined as a sub-interest in Otaku culture and the fact that I cannot bring myself to play Final Fantasy XI or World of Warcraft anymore. ^^

The first year of CEN.TAKU.ME consisted of my continuing journey through Azeroth as a Level 70 Blood Elf Warlock on the NA Stormreaver and WarHammer servers. But the enjoyment playing WoW wore off; it was time to get down to the real business at hand.

The later part of 2007 saw more posts focusing on Anime reviews and culture from a personal perspective. There were a few posts here and there about Azeroth, but it came to an end when I couldn’t find the time to play—until Wrath of the Lich King was released. It was then that I created a Tumblr blog, Wrath of the Nak(ichi) just for WoW related posts.

No more WoW: it was time to move on to creating a full fledged Otaku and Anime culture blog, picking up where I left off from the NA.KI.ME blog.

The second year of CEN.TAKU.ME went by quietly, but this makes up for it. There are a few plans in store for the third year of the blog. Instead of griping about the cons of the community, it’s time to enjoy it.

First off: spending years as a fan, it’s time that I level up. For the third year, I plan on using my press status to conduct interviews with members of the Anime industry: fellow Anibloggers, podcasters, and voice actors… maybe the CEO of an licensing company! ^_^

Secondly, this is a perfect opportunity to begin The CEN.TAKU.ME Podcast, which is now listed on the iTunes Store. It is the beginning of the “CTM” brand expansion.

Thirdly – and very importantly, I am going to focus more on reviews, convention reports, and a monthly look at my fandom life through the new CEN.TAKU.ME Journal series. I’ve realized that several of my recent posts are filled with rants about my past run-ins with rabid fans. I also feel that I may (advanced warning: or would) have offended some innocent people with the things I said that I really didn’t mean: when I’m ranting about one thing, my grammar suffers along with it. And if I offended anyone, I apologize. If you there’s something wrong with the post, feel free to speak up! ^_^

But that does not mean the blog will be clear of rant posts in the future. It’s what makes a blog a blog when you have something you want to get off your chest. Although I will only post them only when various conditions are met; I’ll reward myself and post it when I really, really, really want to say something.

And lastly, a complete overhaul of the blog is underway. The Sherbet News theme worked then, but it looks out of date. With the release of WordPress 3.0, it will be easier maintaining many of the elements (post thumbnails, tagging, etc) that originally relied on plugins that are now a part of the platform.

One more thing: I’ve have compiled a list of my favorite posts from the past three years. Relive the memories or indulge in what the blog has to offer.

The later part of the year will including perfecting AniBroad to work the way I want it to work. Plans include adding blog categories, a RSS aggregator, and customized user profiles.

Other plans include something I have talked about for years, adding additional authors to the blog to turn CEN.TAKU.ME into a team blog: it will truly be the Center of Otaku culture! There are so many ideas in store that I have yet to reveal, but those will be kept a secret for the next month.

Thank you all for reading CEN.TAKU.ME and your continuing support! Here’s to another three years! ^_^

(Image via Danbooru; Warning: Contains NSFW Content)

With the eve of the third anniversary of CEN.TAKU.ME, this is a perfect opportunity to travel back to the first year of the blog to the third year. Let’s take a look back at several of my favorite posts from around the blog(/gosphere).

This is also a part of the 7 Links Project from Darren Rowse of Problogger.net.

1. My First Post: DVD vs. Manga

After moving all of my old posts from my BlogSpot blogs, I needed to add ones that were worth reading, letting the world know I recently moved into my new home. Though it’s only small talk about buying DVDs and Manga on sale and which ones were more affordable.

2. My Favorite Written Post: U.C. 2010: The Return of Gundam

With a few months left in 2009, news of a brand new series from my favorite franchise was in the works for 2010: Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. After speculating if the franchise will be the way it was during the days of Gundam Wing on Toonami in 2010, I was just about correct.

3. Most Discussed Post: McDonald’s Mega Mac: Talk About an Epic Hamburger

The first viral post for the blog. After reading an earlier issue of Otaku USA, I couldn’t help but show this to others: the biggest Big Mac in the world(?)!

4. “I Wish I Wrote That”: How Communities Will Save the American Anime Industry

Fellow Japan and Otaku culture blogger Xorsyst wrote a guest blog for Ningin in 2008 for their 8 Days of Anime with partnership of the New York Anime Festival. It’s about how communicans* could help the Anime industry survive-and two years later, it seems to be working! (Thank you, Crunchyroll!) It’s also a thought of how Anime communities can work together to help each other out individually.

(*An unintentional typo, but I’d thought I leave it in there since it sounded neat. ^^)

5. Most Helpful Post: 7 Blogging (Media and Gaming) Tools of the Trade

A foray into a writing list posts as I provided readers and (would-be) bloggers the tools I use to help out around the site.

6. Best in (Post) Title: Interesting Find: Homemade Sushi

A post for JapanSoc’s February 2009 Japan Blog Matsuri featuring “Foreign Foods”. I choose this as a favorite post title because it demonstrates of how effective simple post titles can be when writing posts-and the most important of all that Sushi can be made in your very own home! This also would have been my choice for “My Favorite Written Post”, but I can only choose one. Orz…

7. Most Underrated Post: Underrated Anime Characters

Underrated characters calls… for an underrated post. I published this after finding myself obsessed with Mobile Suit Gundam again since 2003. There is one character I fell in love with who is underrated in the series, but the post itself was buried with better charac-err, stories…

If you have 7 of your favorite posts, all bloggers are welcome to join in. Check out Darren’s post on the 7 Link Challenge.

After being asked, asking around, and contemplating, I’ve decided to branch out to the audio world. Well, here it is! The pilot episode of the official CEN.TAKU.ME Podcast! Be warned: this is my first attempt at recording an original podcast, so please bear with me. D;

Show Notes

In the pilot episode of the podcast, I, Sanjo-chan, introduce myself to the podcast world. I explain how I got this far into blogging, how “CEN.TAKU.ME” was created, and how I became an Anime fan one decade ago.

I apologize if I sounds like I’m speaking too fast. I plan on getting better as the show goes along! 私わがんばってよ！

There’s not much to hear, but I’m testing the podcast waves to see how things turn out. If I remember correctly, the actual first episode in in the works! The next episode should be better than this as there will be a solid topic to talk about. ^^

Also, I also want to get this to iTunes soon when the feed “kicks in” to optimize for FeedBurner… ^^;

Show Related Links:
Otakast Radio Interview with Sanjo-chan
A Glance at Geek Podcasting

For new listeners: check out the blog!
For blog readers, subscribe here!

Atlanta’s Momocon is teaming up with the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention (MTAC) of Nashville, with a helping hand from our local JAMPcon for a cosplay photoshoot at Coolidge Park in Chattanooga, TN.

A part of Momocon on Tour festivities, the photoshoot is a way to kill time between the south’s biggest (and very young) conventions throughout the year. The photoshoot in Chattanooga is just the beginning of a wave of Anime themed events in the city.

Bring your best cosplay! The event is free to everyone. It begins at 9 AM and ends at 12 PM (Noon). It is only being done it in the morning to avoid the heat and crowds, so be sure to get there on time! Directions = Get at the aforementioned link!

This is not the only Momocon photoshoot: one was recently held in Atlanta at Rhodes Hall in June with partnership from the ATL’s first and longest running anime convention, Anime Weekend Atlanta. In case you missed it, check out the photo sets on Momocon’s Flickr group, courtesy of Flickrer LaMenta3 (photo credit).

A few years ago, I posted one of the very first entries that had to do with state of the Anime fandom on the Internet between 2003 to 2004. It was about my membership on an anime forum that still exists today–I think it does in some form or another…

The original post was entitled, Naive Closet Otaku-parts 1 and 2, which I thought fit the topic as everyone I mentioned fit the stereotype of an kid anime fan who thinks they know everything about the culture from fansubs and has never been to Japan, cussing off others for favoring a show that the “cool” people don’t like simply because “it’s too kid-y”, like Pokemon for example…

In the original post, I did not make note of the forum’s name at all, not even a hint. But I’m feeling adventurous: it’s time to reveal at least a little hint of the forum’s name and the members: if I were to reveal exactly who they were, it might stir up some drama…but I just do not want to credit these people for their “efforts”.

“WTF?!”

Being around several anime forums and attending conventions, spending a few hundred dollars on this and that in the process, I have run into awesome, informative anime fans. But there’s the group of fans that really bug me the most: the ones who hang out on the Internet behind anonymity. The true Otaku (the original use of the word in thought, that is).

I originally called them “closet otaku”: the ones who never see the light of day, spending most of their free time on *chan boards calling people names for being a Pokemon fan or watching English dubbed Anime at all.

It was back in May of 2003 when I decided to join an anime forum, called for the sake of this post: “A.N.”.

Being young, I was a bit shy about joining forums at all, hearing about very bad people living online (wishing I believed that as I write this), but as long as I kept secret about my confidential information, it was OK… Going by the old saying: “look before you leap”, I decided to join after visiting the forums for a couple of weeks.

Going by my old alias, “K”, I signed up and introduced myself in the “Introduction Forum”. Within minutes, I was welcomed by the friendly forum dwellers. A couple of months passed getting to know *most* of the members and what they liked, I got my first avatar after reaching 20 post counts in the first week: it was Edward from Cowboy Bebop! I also made new friends and joined a couple of interest and series-based clubs on the forum.

The first time I would have a problem with anyone was when I made a joke about Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop in a club for “Lovers of Bishounen”…

Saying a line of the theme song from the movie Shaft in connection the the Cowboy Bebop universe was very offensive to Ms. “B” that she responded by saying “WTF?!”. This was when the saying was very new on teh interwebs. It was in the most unflattering tone. She was one of the first people I met that defined the attitude of a rabid fangirl.

Alright, maybe it was a stupid joke. But since it was a dying club, I had to bring life back into it somehow. It worked…but not the way I had intended it.

The Seiyuu Freak

Shinichiro Miki. Um... yay?

I took a closer look at what makes B tick: not only being a hardcore Yaoi fangirl, she’s a big fan of Heat Guy J. Not a very good show, in my opinion; when the series aired on MTV2 later that year, I did watched a few episodes to see if there was anything good out of it. It did not make any kind of sense other than the character designs, which totally turned me off… I could have watched more episodes, but I saw enough of what I wanted to see.

In addition to her rude behavior, she’s also a mega Seiyuu fan. Or: “It’s Seiyuu! Not ‘Japanese Voice Actors!!’ RAAAGE!!!” She also had a fan club on the forum for Seiyuu in all of awesome Nippon.

Being a HGJ fan, B is madly in love with the Seiyuu of the character Shun Aurora, Shinichiro Miki: he also voices Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Kojiro (James) in Pokemon, Yohji Kudo in Weiss Kurez (another one of B’s favorite shows), and hundreds more spanning a decade and a half.

There’s nothing wrong with being in love with your favorite Seiyuu, Voice Actor, J-Idol, or whatever… It’s just that when he happens to be a star in the Boys Love (BL) scene, it’s kind of creepy to be seeing her asking for movies with him in a public forum, and off-topic, nonetheless…

To make matters worse, B was a fan of Gackt. When you put Gackt in the same category of a rabid Yaoi, Seiyuu loving, 7,000+ post fangirl, you just can’t help but wonder… (No offense. I’m just not a big fan of him… Sorry!)

Tuxedo Moderator

What an odd pairing...

Several months passed with no additional “incidents” with other members, or so it seemed. Whilst browsing around in the forums, there was one member I noticed who appeared from a distance to be just another fanboy. Wait… he was a fanboy.

Mr. “S” would troll around the Gundam and Mecha anime related forums, as well as the Technical (Computer) Help forums in his spare time. He’s also obsessed with Harry Potter and Sailor Moon. What does Harry Potter and Sailor Moon have in common with this guy? This character from SM: Mamoru Chiba.

Mamoru has nothing to do with Harry Potter, true. But if you look at the pictures of Harry and everyone’s favorite Tuxedo Mask, they look the same… I wonder why. Is it because a charming man in a tuxedo doesn’t bold well with a wizard with a troubled past? But Tuxedo Mask isn’t anything like S is. You could say he’s a disgrace to Sailor Moon fans… Let’s continue.

With 6,000+ post counts and being the popular member of the forums, S was very informative that he would eventually become a moderator, winning other members over. And it happened: just like that. He was a moderator in just a few months after I joined A.N..

He didn’t even seem interested in being a moderator until a few months later. At the time, I didn’t think anything was wrong of him: I simply said “congratulations!” and moved on.

So I thought: “Great! We have a new moderator to guard the forums in case anyone breaks the rules!”, like B was doing…

A few months in after S was promoted moderator, terrible things started to happen. He posted in every thread in the forums–writing every single post in the “General Forum” rules thread. Not that they were witty and informative, but they were actually a bit irritating. Bossy. For example: in the Gaming Forums (for Word Association/Finish the Sentence threads), he reminded members that the forum was “not a chat room” and could face the banhammer if they broke the rule.

Ever since Mr. S made note of the rule, the “chat” posts were minimized–to a point where the entire sub-forum could have been deleted or merged for inactivity.

He also made additional rules for the Feedback Forum. The heart and soul of the whole community. Everyday before S became a mod, everyone would leave feedbacks and report bugs with the forum.

Everyday.

With S around, it turned into virtually every year: S would rename or lock threads that didn’t follow the rules, though they did in the first place. The Feedback Forum was turned into a ghost town.

That’s not all the horrible things he did. He even deleted legitimate posts in threads. I was even a victim of his New World Order. S removed a post of mine that hinted that if other people besides the TC’s (Topic Creator) request for a forum for an Anime series, it would eventually happen. Maybe it was because I was “imitating” a moderator and trying to kiss up to become one… Only that I was simply trying to help!?

I wasn’t the only one with missing posts: during Christmas of 2003, A.N. Forums had an Anime Wishlist giveaway for the holidays. Another member (who was one of the nicer members) replied to a post answering someone’s question–that was posted earlier in the thread by another moderator–and quoted by non-mods, in the thread for the contest that was legitimate. When the poster asked why her post was deleted, another mod (a forum vet who no one had problems with at the time) reminded her that she was “being off-topic”.

Otaking? That’s a laugh…

'Hahaha! What a bunch of losers! Oh, wait...'

Months after setting foot on A.N., I decided to create a club of my favorite anime series, Dragonball. Clubs were all the rage on the forum. At the time, my club was based on a forum that already existed in the Series forum. There was no rule on having a club forum when there was already one for it at all. Of course, that came to an end when Mr. S ruined everything, announcing that Anime series-related clubs can’t be created if they have one created by A.N. admins.

The Dragonball club came to an end after a year and a half when it was mysteriously deleted. It was a pretty good run for a series that ended a couple of years before the club’s creation, with 30 members, along with an RP game which was very fun. But the whole situation was complete bull$%#: one of the requirements for having a club is that it must be very active, which it was. After a month of no activity, it would be deleted. There was little activity in the club at the end of its first year of existence, with a post that was made a few days before its deletion–and it wasn’t even a full month.

Was it because I had a image linked in a thread on Bojack Unbound from another site that was not on their servers?

Or…

Was it all because I tried to hobnob with the moderators when I suggested–along with 10 other members quoting another member on a thread, that they should have brought an Anime DVD from A.N. forum’s “sponsors” instead of the other store when the TC didn’t get a fair price, deleting my only post out of all the other suggestions?!

I wonder if S had anything to do with it…

After finding the club was gone, I immediately left the forums without saying goodbye or confronting the admins about it. There was a likely chance of getting banned just for addressing a simple problem (without using vulgarity, of course) that could make members and other mods happier.

It was already too late: most of the loyal members, that followed the rules, had already left. Maybe they had a real-life job that was more important than an anime forum, or they just didn’t like the things that S was doing. At one point of his moderating career, the average active (currently online) members dipped from the usual 300 to 110.

Before Mr. S became a moderator, the amount of members that were active on a weeknight averaged at 250: there was a time where it nearly hit the 350-400 mark. I wished I took screenshots: I know that just stating numbers without visual proof like this means nothing, but visiting another anime forum with similar amount of members (5,000~), with nicer people, and 7-8 moderators (excluding one power abuser) would have at least have have a similar amount of members online.

Others Want to Have Fun

A while after S was promoted, a few members who seemed like they could have been banned for irresponsible behavior attempted to kiss up to the other mods. One in particular was named Mr. “C”. Everything C posted seemed to borderline on prejudice… and not just on other Anime fans. Either that, or he was just another troll. But that should have been enough for an account suspension. C also had an astronomical post count of 5,000+, and seemed to be a fan of this sport.

Instead of people like C and B getting warned or banned, the good members (like myself) would get talked down on like we were little kids, while the actual kids ran around breaking the rules and abusing their status. A few months before I left A.N. forums, C made a suggestion: to make a separate forum just for member birthdays. A lot of members would wish another member Happy Birthday in the General Discussion forum when the day came. The suggestion C made…happened. Pretty much on just his word alone, despite protests from others.

There were no more Birthday threads in the General forum, but within the Birthday Threads forum within the General section. This made the Birthday experience of members less meaningful. And if a member’s birthday was on a Friday, it would get deleted on the following Sunday: the rule (written by S) was that the thread would get removed a week from when the thread was posted.

This was no way to take control of a forum. I fully understand that every Administrator or Moderator of any kind of site has the right to edit or delete anything they find off-topic or inappropriate, but it was happening way too often… more like for personal gain…

Instead of attempting to feel better about himself, Mr. S could have at least warned or stepped in on a few posters that have responded to me (or anyone else) in a bizarre manner:

This was such a long time ago that I do not remember the exact responses, but only the gist of them. Please bear with me.

From B in the “Describe a Bishie with One Line” Thread in the Bishie Lovers club (as mentioned above):

K (me): Spike Spiegel: Because he’s a bad mother– ’shut your mouth!’ ‘I was only talking about Spike!’ ‘I can dig it.’
B: “WTF?! What are you talking about? He didn’t do anything…”
From a supporting member: “Case in point: my ship works when I kick it.”
K: “I was only joking… -_-”
B: “You’re ruining the game… -_-”

The New Year’s Resolution Thread:

K: “What are your plans for the New Year?”
Member A: “That’s funny. I could have sworn I’ve saw this thread a few pages back…”*

*The original thread, where the last reply was a week old, I did not see until later due to me being away from the forum, dedicated to things that really mattered…

A Thread on “Horribly Animated (non-Anime) Shows”:

K: “What is the worse animated show on TV you’ve ever seen?”*
Member B: “No, no, no! That’s a 3D animated show. Think of shows like Ed, Edd, and Eddy or The Simpsons.”

*The show I mentioned was actually a 3D animated series (that was canceled anyway), but I do not remember the name of it.

Here’s another incident where I made the mistake of asking if SD Gundam: Superior Defender was coming back. The thread was filled with trolling and whining on the subject, along with a post from S simply saying “I certainly hope not”. One person did manage to answer my question: at one point, it was suppose to air again with new episodes, but it was eventually canceled (then there’s the new SD Gundam series Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors airing in Japan). I don’t care for it anymore, but they didn’t have to act so insecure about it…

Now What?

It didn't have to be this way... Blasted Antis!

After I found my club removed, that was the end of A.N. for me. The only thing left for me to do was to find another forum where the moderators didn’t feel helpless because they didn’t want others to become popular in a sensible way.

That was the last time I participated on an anime forum with the exception of Gaia Online Hongfire. It was my next alternative to A.N.: when I introduced myself–and explained to them what happened, they greeted me with open arms (including a HF member who said he was banned on A.N. after he didn’t log in for a few weeks). Sadly, I could not keep up with all the topics; after leaving A.N., I started playing MMORPGs, losing touch with the “outside” world, leading up to me launching CEN.TAKU.ME a few years later.

While I’m finding myself no longer participating on forums where its members are identified with *just* an avatar of Tuxedo Mask or abstract non-sense, I’ve found forums of Anime conventions more friendlier: because everyone is human.

Just think: while it seems fun to flame someone for being a fan of Dragonball Z (“kiddie” Anime) over Chobits (“adult” Anime) on A.N., it’s not on anime convention forums. True story: that happened to me once just for stating the very same scenario. I got flamed for it from a kid… then he was flamed back by the adult members of the Anime Central forums.

I was very, very disappointed of the behavior of the people of A.N. who were promoted to prevent their own disruption of the forums. It was a shame that the very first anime forum I’ve ever joined was turned into a game of reputation. Maybe that’s why some fans fear Anime clubs, as talked about on ANN’s Answerman, but I digress. But the bright side is that I did get some good out of the experience: I made a lot friends, and I discovered more Anime series (Love Hina and Great Teacher Onizuka) that expanded my knowledge of anime.

The moral of this story: don’t promote a fanboy just because he has a ridiculous post count and has nothing better to do but bury everyone’s opinion. Oh… did I mention that S had a post count of 12,000+ out of all the members of A.N. before I left?

In the fourth issue of “The CEN.TAKU.ME Journal”, there are a few celebrations in store for the month July. A favorite website of mine is turning a year older, too many video games to list, and the lack of dragons.

1. The 3rd Birthday

It’s not just about the long-awaited third sequel to Square-Enix’s Parasite Eve coming soon to the PSP, The 3rd Birthday. But in July, CEN.TAKU.ME turns three years old! On July 17th, I started CEN.TAKU.ME as the offspring of my old MMORPG blogs and the former NA.KI.ME Anime Blog started in 2006. Today, the CEN.TAKU.ME is still flowing strong through the veins of the Otaku blogosphere!

For the next year, there are a lot of plans in store, but let’s see what happens in the next two weeks!

2. E3



The Electronic Entertainment Expo has come and gone. We saw a lot of awesome games and new gaming systems such as the Nintendo 3DS and the Xbox 360 Slim, and new interactive peripherals Kinetic (Xbox 360) and the Playstation Move. But it’s all about the games: Metal Gear Rising, Time Crisis: Razing Storm, Twisted Metal, and Final Fantasy XIV.

My favorite E3 2010 game is Metal Gear Rising. It takes place after Metal Gear Solid 2 and before Metal Gear Solid 4, but I’m still a little saddened that there nothing more revealed. Gotta give props to Kojima Productions for keeping details under wraps for an amazing series! ^_^

3. Dragon Boxes



I’m addicted to Dragonball Z… again. I’ve managed to collect all three of the Dragon Boxes that have been released. I’m still waiting word on a fourth set, which is set for release around September… Come on, FUNimation! As of writing, Anime Expo is a day away today (/cry), so maybe we’ll hear some news about the remaining sets, like an earlier release date.

In related news: Episode 86 is the Worst. Episode. Ever. in the Best. Series, Ever! #dodgespoliers

(P.S.: Has anyone noticed a theme of numeric proportions in this edition of the journal? )

After a year of development, AniBroad is officially online! Making sure everything is in working order before it’s open to everyone, the site is under “soft launch” phase. It means that there’s still plenty of work to do in the future in terms of features, but it’s also limited to a number of users during the course of testing. Plus, any bugs found can be fixed with cooperation! (Also, early adopters of AniBroad can benefit from site traffic before more features are added!)

Everything should work for basic operation of the site. Once the site is “live”, everyone who didn’t make it in time for the first wave of invites will be able to make accounts and submit their Anime, Japan and Otaku culture related blog to be listed in the directory. They will also be able to edit their passwords and change email addresses in case they want to go a different pace.

If you have a related blog but unsure if it fits on AniBroad, feel free to submit it and we’ll take a look at the site!

Once the blog has been approved, users will be able to edit their blog information—except for a few things, due to security reasons (from the spammers point of view). But if something really needs to be changed, contacting the administrators will take care of it as soon as possible. Everything else is self explanatory once visitors get the hang of it.

I made a Release Notes page on the latest news on AniBroad’s development. It’s also where you can request a password to try it out. To access the registration page, the password is needed. After registering using your very own account information, you do not need to use the password again. I know it’s inconvenient, but it’s a way to keep things from going awry. Of course, it’s in “beta” after all. ^^

Ah, Dragonball Kai. I have not forgotten about this series as it was one of the highly anticipated series of Spring 2009 along with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood that is soon to be concluded. I checked out a few episodes to see if it’s worth the trip down memory lane. I said to myself that it wasn’t worth the hype since I knew what was going to happen… just that it is going to be 100-ish episodes shorter.

Now that FUNimation is releasing Dragonball Kai (or Z Kai to avoid confusion of it being an entirely new series), I decided to give it another chance-more so that I recently won a copy of Dragonball Z Kai Part One on Blu-ray from the guys at Con-News.com (Thanks x9,000!!). In Japan, they are at the beginning of the Android Saga, one of my favorite arcs in the series. In the US, it is currently airing on Nicktoons TV and the Vegeta Saga just wrapped up (that’s only 15 episodes, folks!).

Just like Spring ’09’s favorite FMA: Brotherhood, Dragonball Kai is a complete remastered version of the original Dragonball Z in High Definition: keep in mind that this is not a new series. Not only is it remastered, but as mentioned, it is shorter than the original 291 episode run from 1989 to 1995, with original cast of Dragonball Z reprising their roles as well. In the first episode, there is an introduction that was never seen before (but not new) in the original of the origin of Son Goku: the destruction of Planet Vegeta, Bardock, and Freeza; in 1989, all we see is a space capsule heading to earth in the very first shot after the opening song.

If you’re a DBZ fanatic as I am, you know where the first few episodes lead to: Raditz’s Arrival, Goku and Piccolo vs. Raditz, training to fight Vegeta and Nappa, and the epic Goku vs. Vegeta fight. In Kai, the encounter with Raditz takes three episodes compared to five in 1989. In fact, the entire Vegeta arc in ‘89 took 36 episodes compared to 17 in Kai: this took out a huge chunk of filler episodes involving Gohan after the Raditz fight.

In other words: it’s an abridged version of Dragonball Z for people that despised anything relating to the series as it’s nothing but a shouting match. Airing on Nicktoons, it’s also a chance for younger fans to experience the excitement as their older brother and/or sister watched on Toonami 10 years ago. Watching the Dragon Boxes, it’s easy to see what was removed or simplified: power-ups, unnecessary drama, repetitive speeches of why this or that happened, etc. Being a remastered series for HD, some scenes are replaced that were too muddled from Z. I noticed slight difference in the picture on the Blu-ray from the TV version, but I think the series speaks for itself when they mean “remastered”!

We won't have to ask ourselves if we were drinking acid when Vegeta had brown hair and armor anymore.

Back in the day, Dragonball Z had a total of 2 OP and 2 ED themes: “CHA-LA-HEAD-CHA-LA”, “WE GOTTA POWER”, “Zenkai Power!”, and “We Were Angels”, respectively. As of Dragonball Kai, Episode 61, the opening is Dragon Sou, with the newest ED theme “Kokoro no Hane” by AKB48. Thanks to current on-going series like, One Piece, Bleach and Naruto, we may see more music choices later in the series. With the exception of the opening theme, while it’s the same song, the animation changes reflecting a certain point of the series: Vegeta Saga = Goku vs. Vegeta; Trunks/Android Saga = Z Fighters vs. Androids #17 and #18.

I would stick to the original Dragonball Z, but if you’re like me and have a any interest in Kai at all, it can be fun to see what was changed from the original: and it’s a plus if you have the Blu-ray version (and we don’t have to see the awful Garlic Jr. filler, yay!). Like Z, going up to the Android Saga, it picks up steam.

As to whether if Dragonball Kai is worth watching: if you had trouble understanding the plot under all the screaming, plot holes, and glowing, shiny aliens, then this is the chance to watch the series once more before writing it off as a “kiddie” Anime (if you’re curious about the editing on Nicktoons, yeah… It’s butchered a bit).

Rating:

During a round of watching YouTube videos for hours on end one night, I found this one video where the cast of characters looked eerily familiar. Now, you’ve probably heard the story of how Mobile Suit Gundam got to where it is today (Reader: “About 9,000 times”). When Gundam aired in 1979, it was canceled and cut short of it’s promised near 50 episode run.

Let’s say that the characters are real actors and they struggled to find jobs to pay the bills after the series ended… They needed any job they could find (not any kind of job… *cough*). Well, the show you’re about to see could have been the show where Char, Amuro, and Sayla were reunited-and had to speak a different language.

The show is called Space Black Knight. It’s a complete ripoff of Mobile Suit Gundam. According to “legend”, it’s a Korean made animation series made in the same era as Gundam. Instead of using mobile suits, elements from American cartoons are incorporated in the show…

But let’s pretend that Space Black Knight never happened. For now, we’ll cringe at seeing how the original cast of MSG did outside the show as if it were a wacky, predictable sitcom.

In Space Black Knight, Char gets to reprise his role, but uses black instead of red...

Sayla is in the show as well!

Kycillia has a cameo appearance as well, but with different color clothing as well. And she went blond.

Char takes off his mask. Wait a minute... Amuro?!

Here's a character that we've haven't seen before, maybe Katz's long lost cousin?

Another closeup of Amuro... stealing the spotlight from Cas--er, Char.

Bizarro Dozle. Was he that desperate he painted himself green with leftover Big Zam paint?

It seemed that whoever this character is was reserved for Bright, but he thought the role was too small. At least he avoids getting beaten up by Bizarro Dozle...

Dozle challenges Charmuro to a rematch. To save money, they decided to just do the fight with whiplashes instead of mobile suits.

Instead of importing Mobile Suit Gundam directly and localizing it for Korean audiences, they decided to create their own show from scratch using the same characters (read: bootleg). This was common during the 70’s and 80’s as the South Korean government banned imports of Japanese entertainment from entering the country (back when Japanese/Korean relations were tense). Thus creating this “copied” version, removing all the good stuff.

On the bright side, sales of the original Gundam series (in the correct country) encouraged more Gundam series to be made, so everybody got their jobs back, except for a few characters in ZZ Gundam.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

After watching an episode of The Simpsons a while ago, something about this particular episode annoyed me. So I did a little research find out more about the episode from Season 7, “Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie”.

For anyone not familiar with the episode or haven’t watched the show at all (it also means spoilers!), the episode is about Homer applying to voice a new character for the Itchy and Scratchy show, Poochie. When the episode of I&S aired, there were a lot of mixed feelings about the show-mostly involving Poochie as his role didn’t make any sense… Some of us, being Anime fans, can relate to that!

In the episode, a character who is known in The Simpsons universe simply as “The Comic Book Guy”, gave his opinion of the Poochie introduction episode. In this case, I mean argument. He thought “it was the Worst. Episode. Ever.“!

But I found out something hilarious-something I didn’t get ages ago when I was younger. The Comic Book Guy’s catchphrase, “Worst. Episode. Ever.” was inspired by the rants of a hardcore Simpsons fan on alt.tv.simpsons via Usenet dating back to 1992…

Here is a snippet of a post on alt.tv.simpsons from a fan disgusted about the episode, “Itchy & Scratchy, the Movie”.

…The bad thing about things like this is that I used to disagree with parents who didn’t let their children watch the Simpsons – I no longer disagree with them…Star Trek…Now, the Simpsons have done it, and they didn’t do it any better than anyone else. Should have left it alone, and come up with something original…

…This episode was an appeal to the lowest common denominator. It exploited cliches instead of exposing them. It twisted character traits in order to go after laughs. It relied on gimmicks that got a laugh in the past. It became a parody of itself. I repeat, this was by far the worst episode ever…

The entire episode made sense to me, so to speak. Skimming through it, it’s all “rant, rant, rant”. It’s a typical case of fanboy banter from almost 20 years ago, and on the Internet of all places before the days of Twitter! But let’s move forward to 2010, with something that happened on this blog earlier in 2009.

In 2008, I wrote a post about the then criticized Dragonball Z Remastered “Widescreen” DVD Boxsets. After one year of no comments, the post finally received it’s first comment… one from a Mr. “Crosstopher”. Wait, I take back the “comment”… but rather, blog post he posted.

…First off – with wide screen, FUNimation did not simply block off a random area of the screen and say there, its a widescreen product. The original animation cells were drawn in the same same as most other animes…there is more area than can fit on the screen with any type of croppng for presentation. You are still gaining screen area on the sides even though you are losing a small amount on the top and bottom, those scenes can be viewed either way. I’ve watched a lot of both wide and full screen versions and you don’t lose much either way….

…I’m not going to argue with you about the audio tracks but any redubbing process is going to carry through holes, even subbing will have some given errors. If you ever want to get the closest to original experience possible you have to watch something in the original language…

…Most of the other comments you made are fairly minor details, I see your point and I understand that its something that you’re looking for in a DBZ set but most of these are pretty minor if you are really looking to pick up a copy of the DBZ series….I mean why be concerned about what ever figures or whatever are coming with the your DVD when you are buying a DVD to watch the show anyways….that’s just marketing anyways…

Hmm… I wonder if it’s the same I&STM guy? But where he said “you stated minor details”, they weren’t really meant to be taken seriously in the first place. And if you read his original comment, at the end when he says “be a little easier on FUNi next time”, I didn’t say anything that harsh about FUNimation, but pretty much what several fans in the right mind was saying (as well as “photographic evidence” of the cropping).

My post on the matter was really just a rant within itself; that I agreed with what everyone was saying, as a proud DBZ fan. For the sake of the blog as well, I was just trying to create some conversation… and it worked. I will admit that my writing was very amateurish reading it now (*shudders*). Although I can go back and fix what I said, I still stand by my words.

It’s just that I find this particular comment interesting and definitely different from the comments I’ve received in the past that would contain vulgarity (and I thank him for not being out of line. To Crosstopher, if you’re reading this, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way). Not to mention that it’s a little similar to the Usenet post. But when he mentioned I gave “minor details” on the Spanish version of CHA-LA-HEAD-CHA-LA, I was a little hurt. Merely a wishful thinking statement. FUNimation could have included every foreign language version of the song on the DVDs like they almost did for the movies, since the show has that big of a fan base around the world… But then again, licensing issues.

Of course, that was a couple of years ago… But the post and everything else could be null and voided now that FUNimation released the first three parts of the Dragon Box collection. Now that I have a couple of copies of my own, I am very satisfied of what should have been released on the original season sets, which I almost invested in when the prices of the sets were coming down in price.

As for the theme song, I’m not the only one who wants a strange mixture of audio selections. With the upcoming release of the second Dragon Box set, user Micheal S. B. on Amazon.com wonders if there will ever be a release featuring Japanese voices with the American soundtrack. (In the minds of Anti-Falcouner fans, hell has to freeze over… again?)

What this has to do with The Simpsons is that the fact he went this far to defend the “widescreen” sets in a similar fashion as the Usenet poster on Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie. I don’t feel so bad about it: there’s a little Comic Book Guy in all of us, whether being an American comic book fan or a manga Otaku… We can make mistakes, too! Now that I think about it, the Dragon Boxes are intended for “hardcore” fans. The season sets that some of us hated so much? For casuals… not to offend anyone, but I’d rather have my Dragonball Z in fullscreen, with the English dub (in my opinion, anyway) and the Japanese music track.

It would be nice to have the Spanish version to make the US Dragon Box stand out from the Japanese Dragon Box. And the part where he claims I was being harsh on FUNimation? Again, I don’t wish to mean any harm to the company. They did release something of the Dragon Boxes after releasing all 9 seasons the first time, right? In fact, I thank them over 9000 (pun sort of intended) times for doing so! It is obvious they are doing their best to meet the demands of fans of a 20 year old series.

Things to do this summer: 1) travel to Costa Rica to start my own espionage team, 2) star in a reality show, and 3) mourn the loss of a beloved series featuring a certain pipsqueak alchemist.

1. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker



June 8th marks the North American release of the fifth installment (or so the claim goes) in the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Peace Walker for the PSP. It’s the third game in the the 2004 Snake Eater story for the PS2, following the Solid Snake’s “father”, Naked Snake, now known as just Big Boss.

Peace Walker takes place during the 1970’s in Costa Rica and after Portable Ops (a game that took ages for me to find) focusing the “Les Enfants Terribles” project, introducing the FOXHOUND special forces. And for after-story activities, you can grab Big Boss and go on a Monster Hunter adventure with a few more players, or in CO-OP mode against other players ala Metal Gear Online.

2. BBAMAJAM’s Next Top Artist



To add to the excitement of our BBAMAJAM club meetings, artists Jaziel and Shouyume had an awesome idea: an original made-for-YouTube reality show: BBAMAJAM’s Next Top Artist! For four weeks, members (including myself) scrambled to draw fanart for the competition.

The final 3 contestants appeared at JAMPcon, where the winner went home victorious! To prevent further spoilers, I won’t say anything until the actual series is uploaded. Until then, here is a teaser for the show via Zippy on YouTube:



www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPMjn5QPLVw

3. The End of Fullmetal Alchemist



While Lost is (FINALLY) off the air and won’t be missed due to it’s amazing storyline, this month marks the end of… possibly the best damn Anime series in 10 years (*holds back tears*). Announced by Hiromu Arakawa herself, Fullmetal Alchemist is officially coming to an end. It will also coincide with the conclusion of the Brotherhood anime that also ends this month.

The manga is still being released in the US, starting with Volume 23 in July. Thank goodness to my procrastinating, I still have 5 volumes to catch up on. Maybe I should hold off longer to read them or I’ll go into severe withdrawal…