I guess it must be pretty obvious by now that I’m not exactly what you’d call – if such a thing even exists – a ‘typical’ anime fan. I don’t refer to myself as an otaku. I hate J-Pop. Mainly due to being a 35 year-old heterosexual man, both Yaoi and Shojo anime holds no more interest for me than an episode of Ugly Betty or Gossip Girl. I don’t collect figures of little girls with their pantsu showing – although I do have a few Gundams, Labors and Totoros lying around the house. Fanservice at the very least bores me, and at worst makes me uncomfortable. I despise, rather than lust after, Asuka from Evangelion. And perhaps most shockingly, until this last weekend, I’d never been to an anime con before.

Not that I’m totally new to the con experience. Many, many years ago I used to go to comic and roleplaying shows, and the last time I was at Excel – the venue for London Expo – I was actually working on a stall running demos as part of my past career as a video games producer. But this was still the first anime-fan orientated event I’d been too, and it was hard to deny the feelings of being an outsider. A friend of mine had forewarned me that it felt a little like gatecrashing your little brother’s party, and despite not having any younger siblings within a few minutes of being there I understood exactly what he meant.

London Expo isn’t purely an anime and manga based event – it also covers ‘genre TV’, comics and video games, but it was clear from just glancing at the hour long queues outside that London’s teenage otaku massive was out in force. Adorned in Naruto headbands and Haruhi wigs, and fueled by Pocky and anxious hormones, they had made their way to Docklands – London’s already decaying shrine to 1980’s capitalism, served by the world’s most rickety futuristic train system – searching for a side order of social acceptance along with their discounted manga. And before they even entered it was clear they were going to find it; there was already a buzz in the air, teenage-geek awkwardness giving way to unbridled enthusiasm as they nervously grasped their ‘free hugs’ signs and shouted out character names to make it clear that they recognised each others cosplay outfits.

As I stood outside the entrance, watching the milling crowds and smoking one last cigarette before I entered, my friend’s comments became even clearer in my mind, and I understood fully what he was getting at. I am old. Many of the kids here had been probably been coming to Docklands for years, and the already dated looking monuments to a now forgotten economic-futurism that towered around us must seem like ancient structures to them. I, on the other hand, can actually remember when all of this was fields. Well, patches of green and some pretty run down looking docks at least. But despite the gulf between my age and that of the majority of the attendees, I still didn’t feel completely alienated. Even though our tastes in anime may very well be out of sync, there was no denying I could feel a certain bond with them – at the very least, I could recognise my own past teen awkwardness, and feel slightly more then a little envy for their innocent enthusiasm.

Skipping the sweaty queues courtesy of a press pass, the main hall was slightly smaller than I’d expected, and suitably crowded. Fighting against the masses to get around didn’t take the edge off the enjoyment – it might not be Akihabara, but it’s hard for any anime fan to not enjoying nosing around stalls full of manga, DVDs, toys, phone pendants, Ghibli plushies and Gundam kits. Despite this I nearly came away empty handed, until I stumbled across the Ilex stall and not just Helen McCarthy’s new book The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga but also the author herself. Helen is one of the few writers on anime to deserve the title of ‘legend’, having written some of the most exhaustive reference books on the subject, and it was great to be able to spend some time chatting to her in person after previously only via the ‘net. She’s not just knowledgeable but charming with it, and made me determined to finally make it to some of upcoming her screenings at the Barbican – details of which she let slip to me, but for now I am sworn to secrecy.

Reading reports of US anime cons always leaves me envious of one thing above all – discussion panels. The idea of being able to interact with other anime bloggers and even to see and hear Japanese creators talking about their work is extremely exciting to me, but sadly was one area where London Expo was lacking. Despite the apparent interests of the majority of the crowd, there was only one anime related panel on the day I attended – an appearance from Masahiko Minami and Masahiro Andō of Studio Bones.

On paper seeing these two speak was an exciting prospect, and my main motivation for getting to Expo, but the reality was slightly disappointing. Marred by sound problems and running behind schedule the panel lasted just 20 minutes, and was focused entirely on promoting the extremely delayed UK release of Ando’s movie Sword of the Stranger – despite promises that there would be footage from their work on the upcoming Halo Legends project. In fact, the highlight of the panel for me was when a member of the audience asked a question about the as yet unreleased in the UK Eureka 7 movie, only for Minami-san to respond with “Have you seen it yet?” The questioner’s response of “no comment” met with much laughter from the Japanese guests as well as the floor, thankfully. At least they recognise the situation UK anime fans are in, and have got a sense of humour about it.

With the panel finished, that was nothing more to do than to have one last wander round, grab some noodles and then head back into town to start the long trip home. Despite my early reservations I had a good time, and more importantly perhaps was able to see others having an even better one. At some point I was going to call this post ‘Fear and Loathing in Docklands’, but that’s not only too much of a cliche these days, it’s also not fair. ‘Fear and Respect’ might have been more apt. I might be too old and miserable to be in their gang, but the UK anime teenage massive has my support. They should enjoy it while they can, and more power to them. Now where did I put my hair-gel and that Naruto headband?

Related posts:

1. Anime 3000 Podcast – Digital Distribution
2. Manga is bad for your health
3. Manga and Anime at the Royal Academy of Arts

Following on from the popularity of last week’s Parappa and Street Fighter in just 15 pixels, I thought i’d better share this. Alaskan Military School have been at it again, this time cramming a whole bunch of classic games into just 15 pixels and four minutes – all to celebrate Gamecity kicking off today.

Question is – how many can you name?

Related posts:

1. Parappa and Street Fighter in just 15 pixels
2. Buy some sexy old technology
3. Homegrown: UK anime and manga talent

Last week I had the pleasure of being invited onto the Anime 3000 Panel podcast – alongside Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network and Chase Wang from anime streaming site Crunchyroll – to discuss digital distribution. It was a great chat, and a lot of fun, so many thanks to host Sean Williams for having me on. If you want to check what me and the other guys had to say – or just laugh at my hilarious British accent – then hit the link below.

• Listen to Anime 3000 Panel – S02E07 – Digital Distribution

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2. Eden of the East trailer, Oasis to provide music
3. Jon Stewart is a genius

More information on Mamoru Oshii’s upcoming live-action flick Assault Girls have emerged, this time via the film’s official Japanese language website. Finally we have a clue to what is going on in that crazy trailer showing girls-with-guns fighting sand-whales, and it’s pretty damn exciting. Based on Google Translate and my most trusted of Japan based operatives Fernando Ramos it seems that the film is set in the same world as Oshii’s sublime live-action movie Avalon – that is to say it appears to be set around another massively multiplayer, virtual reality video game. In fact, the text seems to be suggesting it’s a new, or different, version of the game from the earlier film, known as ‘Avalon (f)’.

This is the google translation of the first few paragraphs of the story page on the site:

Virtual space “Avalon (f)> already there, that mimics the desert wilderness after thermonuclear war =” Desert 22 “monsters that haunt the” Sunakujira “aims to show his players —— Gray , Lucifer, kernel, and Yeager. Three men and one woman, in their arms “Sunakujira” a flock of whale. Next we had the players and make a kill during the war, Yeager is possessed for a chance to pet one of them was gobbled up, stuck in the kill. That time, three other people before the end of the target is very big in this field = “Madarasunakujira” that was on the scene. That, prior to its overwhelming strength, they are forced to retreat …

Return to base in the crater of a volcano, Gray settle the battle outcome. Terminating target “Madarasunakujira” but missed, Gray is not a bad score. And such for her master had said the game cold. “You can knock down levels of the target can not be terminated,” “Look at other players and formed a party if” and.

Well, make of that what you will. If you have elite Japanese skills and can provide a better translation then PLEASE give me a shout. I was already pretty excited about Assault Girls based on what I’d seen already, but the idea that it may be a continuation of one of my favourite sci-fi movies of the last decade is just thrilling. As always, more info when I get it.

UPDATE: See below for the first two Assault Girl shorts – the first taken from Oshii’s own Shin-Onna Tachiguishi Retsuden, and the second from Kiru ~ Kill – a movie made from climatic fight scenes from non-exist films by various directors – of which Oshii was one. Plus get this: Twitch are reporting that during a press conference in Shibuya today to promote the release of the full-length film that Oshii announced that Hollywood had already approached him about a US remake. Wow. Lets hope the his head doesn’t get too big for that dope hipster hat of his.

Special thanks to Brian Ruh, author of the excellent book Stray Dog of Anime: The Films of Mamoru Oshii, for the tip off on this one.

Related posts:

1. Oshii’s Assault Girls (2009): teaser trailer
2. Oshii speaks, reveals details of new live action movie
3. Oshii ditching guns for katanas?

OK – the second non-anime/manga related post today, but when my good friend David Surman showed me this today I just couldn’t resist sharing. David is heavily involved in organising Nottingham based games-fest Gamecity, and – well, I’ll let him explain it himself:

This year we commissioned design collective the Alaskan Military School to produce an animation package to communicate the ethos of the event. We recently launched a series of viral spots that are the first part of this collection of new work.

They each take one of our favourite games at GameCity HQ and translate them into a 15 pixel grid. It’s Hyper pixel minimalism! We realised that you can communicate the essence of great, iconic games with minimal visual information. I think this approach echoes the values of the festival, to take a sideways look at games, and foster a creative space.

Too cool. But what about the festival itself? Don’t worry, David has more words for you:

GameCity is a lot of things, but most of all it’s an ongoing project to find out what a videogame festival could be.

Unlike a lot of videogame events, it’s not really a place to come and play them – we’d rather do that at home on the sofa. But if you do love videogames, you’re going to find lots here to enjoy. We’d like to think that there’s something at GameCity for anyone who’s interested in interesting things.

Get over to the Gamecity website to learn more

Related posts:

1. GameCity Squared: The 15-Pixel Megamix
2. Homegrown: UK anime and manga talent
3. Buy some sexy old technology

Not strictly anime I know – but the marketing people think you guys might be interested in seeing this, and I can see why. Shane Acker and Tim Burton’s dark looking CGI movie 9 opens here in the UK on October 28th, and below you can catch the trailer in HD. A post apocalyptic Pinocchio-style tale of sentient rag-dolls, it kind of reminds me of Takashi Nakamura’s (Akira, Nausicaa) A Tree of Palme at first glance. Worth checking out.

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1. Sky Crawlers (2008): Teaser trailer
2. Classic anime blog: ‘Let’s Anime’
3. Everybody loves Ghost in the Shell

Someone is killing robots. Not just any robots either; apparently someone is hunting down and killing the world’s most powerful and famous robots. And this is a problem for Inspector Gesicht of Europol, not just because he’s been put in charge of tracking down the killer, but because the list of victims so far suggests he might be a target himself.

At first glance this mystery is the heart of Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto – a modern retelling of a popular story arc from manga god Osamu Tezuka’s most famous creation Astro Boy – but in many ways the detective story is just a framework for the author to explore a multitude of themes. Just as Tezuka used Astro Boy to present ideas of difference, prejudice and social exclusion to a young audience, here Urasawa (assisted by Takashi Nagasaki and supervised by Tezuka’s son Macoto) does the same – but with the knowledge that he is talking to an older, more mature audience. The result is something not only a little darker but perhaps subtler – the world Gesicht and his other characters inhabit is less black and white, the lines between robot and human more blurred. At some point in the past robots have attained sentience, and subsequently equality with their human creators, but this is still no utopia – prejudice and discrimination lurk below the surface. Anti robot sentiments are confused further by the fact that many of these sentient machines – including Gesicht himself – are near indistinguishable from humans, while others such as the beloved celebrity Mont Blanc – the killer’s first victim – are almost stereotypically robotic in their appearance. It’s an interesting take on a science fiction meme that has been made commonplace from Blade Runner, A.I. and a hundred novels; that while we see the human-like Gesicht treated with some suspicion, there is a very public, widespread outpouring of grief for the loss of the mechanical looking Mont Blanc. It is almost as though Urasawa is commenting on racial stereotypes and the media, and how often we are more open to accept public figures that fit with our preconceived ideas.

But it’s not just the human’s that are finding this new co-existence difficult, the robots themselves at times seem to be struggling with how they fit into this brave new world. We see Gesicht having to deal with not only the pressures of his own marriage, but also the effects the murders are having on the robot families of the victims. When he goes to have dinner with the gladiatorial celebrity robot Brando and his huge family of children he appears bowled over by their charm and warmth, but his reaction also seems tinged with something that could either be regret or alienation. Similarly, when he meets Atom – the Japanese child-robot that is based upon Astro Boy himself – he seems confused and slightly shocked that that the machine is exhibiting such wide-eyed innocence and childlike fascination for the world around him, especially when Atom himself seems incapable of explaining where these emotions came from. “Well, after pretending all the time,” the boy robot says, “I eventually really got it.” And in many ways this seems to be the core theme of Pluto – that why should robots, created by man to be superior to him in many aspects of form and function, with heightened strength and senses and the ability to edit and share their memories – experience reality on the same level as us? Why should they have to conform to our cultural and societal ideals and practices? With these questions asked Urasawa gives them an even deeper significance, with Gesicht, Atom and the other characters coming to represent our own, very human, everyday concerns about conformity and our roles in society. It’s done with an elegance and subtle sophistication in just these first two volumes that it leaves other works – perhaps most notably Neon Genesis Evangelion – stumbling around in their own philosophical mess, and marks Urasawa as a true master of science fiction writing.

Not that he stops there. The story is told in the shadow of the recently ended 39th Middle East War – a thinly veiled satire on real world conflicts (Urasawa substitutes ‘Robots of Mass Destruction’ for ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ as a reason for invasion), that has left those robots that fought in it even more confused about their role and purpose. While their Asimov-like programming is meant to stop them from harming humans, there’s no restrictions on killing other robots, a contradiction that has left the machine veterans even more confused as to whether they are really excepted into human society, and whether to imitate or reject the lifestyles and hypocritical values of their creators. This is highlighted best in the story of North#2, a powerful war-robot that attempts to put his past behind him by becoming a butler for a famous composer whose work he admires – going as far as to always wear a cloak to cover his terrifying, weapon-encrusted form. He yearns to learn from his new master, who at first refuses to accept a killing machine can truly comprehend music, and it’s a story of acceptance, guilt and self-loathing that Urasawa delivers with devastating emotional effect that makes the book essential reading almost on it’s own.

I realise that I’ve not talked much about the art in this review – as fascinated as I have become by the thematic ideas the story flaunts so effortlessly – and this is a little unfair. The books are gorgeous throughout, with Urasawa creating a unique and brave style that combines the realistic with the stylised, 1950s Tezuka view of the future. This is Astro Boy post Bladerunner; never quite dark enough to be cyberpunk or shiny enough to be The Jetsons, but somewhere solid and believable in the middle. Even at times when the classical, toy-like robot designs seem at first to jar against the deeper subject matter you later realise this is all part of Urasawa’s plan to make you confront his philosophical themes head on, and you can’t help but feel that no other artists could have done the narrative justice.

Just recently I gushed enthusiasm over Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, and I’m conscious that I have just done the same over Pluto. Both, based on these first volumes, are masterpieces – the former for it’s accessibility and effortless, enticing story telling and the later for it’s mature, refreshingly unique philosophical take on a classic science fiction idea. Again I can’t recommend enough reading either, just as I can’t wait to get my hands on the further installments of both. An unmissable experience.

Review copies supplied by Viz Media.

Related posts:

1. 20th Century Boys Volumes 1 & 2 – Naoki Urasawa (2009): Review
2. Black Jack Volume 5 – Osamu Tezuka (2009): Review
3. Basquash! 1 – 5 (2009): Review

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED. Winners will be notified shortly by email – so good luck!

Last week I had a brief look at Madhouse’s Devil May Cry anime series based on the popular PlayStation game franchise – and time permitting I’ll still be taking a more in depth look over the next couple of weeks – but my first impressions were pretty strong. It’s a dark and brooding show art-wise, that still manages to maintain a sense of humour while packing in all the stylish demon killing and violent bloodshed of the original games. It might not break any new ground in terms of originality or innovative storytelling, but that’s not really the point. Big guns and even bigger swords – that’s the point.

But why take my word for it – at least four of you are going to get a chance to see it for yourselves. I’ve teamed up with the generous people over at Manga Entertainment UK, who have kindly given me two copies of the DVD set and two copies of the Blu-ray set to give away. That’s right – the complete series could be yours for absolutely free. All you have to do is email me with the answer to this question:

In the original game series, what was the name of Dante’s twin brother?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED. Winners will be notified shortly by email – so good luck!

Related posts:

1. Art: Girls, Guns and Clouds
2. UK Anime Releases – October 2009
3. First episodes round up: Soul Eater, Kurozuka, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Nodame Cantabile

Long time readers will be familar with the work of local Bristol artist Rory Doona, whose anime and graf inspired work I’ve had great pleasure in showing on the site in the past. Well, today Rory dropped me an email about his latest project:

The series is titled descriptively “Girls, Guns and Clouds” which pretty much sums up the subject matter. Certainly my love for Japanese character design shines through again but the focus on many of the images is to hint at a wider story and world behind each image.

I think you’ll agree they’re breathtaking – more info on how you can own some of these prints when I have it.

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2. Homegrown: UK anime and manga talent
3. NEW Summer Manga From TOKYOPOP! promo artwork

There’s been a lot of bad news and vibes around the US anime industry recently – with some rather major players taking a hit – but for once here in the UK things seem to be ticking over quite happily. Sure we might be a few months behind our American cousins, but judging by the amount of screeners and press releases that have been jamming up my mailbox over the last month it looks like the UK distributor’s schedules show no easing up at the moment. It’s certainly more than I can review in detail before they hit shops, so in the first of what will be a regular feature here’s a run down of stuff that’s due to drop next month – keep an eye on the site over the next few weeks for more in-depth analysis of the pick of the crop.

Ghost in the Shell 2.0

UK release date: 26th October

The big one next month – the UK finally gets it’s hands on the controversial visually over-hauled version of Oshii’s 1995 cyberpunk classic. The DVD screener I was sent had no extras on it, so I’ll hold off until I get my Bluray copy before commenting on the UK release any further – but I will say that the transfer looked great, though I’m still not sure it is enough to dispel my reservations about the changes I raised when reviewing the Japanese Bluray back in January. Stay tuned though, as well as for my imminent look at the Innocence Bluray release. Now, where’s Sky Crawlers?

X The Series – Volume 1

UK release date: 5th October

The other big UK release this October, and long-overdue, is the 2001 TV series based on CLAMP’s legendary demographic defying manga X. It’s been years since I watched the 1996 anime movie based on the same franchise, but i might have to go and grab the DVD of the shelf again, as from first glance the series seems to outstrip that production in terms of visual brilliance – a rare and unusual achievement for a TV show. It certainly captures the manga’s unique (at the time, at least) blend of ornate shōjo visuals and seinen violence, and as such will be one I’ll be examining in much more detail over the coming weeks when I’ve had time to sit down and spend some quality time with it.

Devil May Cry – Complete Series

UK release date: 19th October

My only previous encounter with the Devil May Cry franchise was the first game on the PlayStation 2 several years ago – the stylish, violent, gothic brawler now spawning an anime series that seems to be…erm, a stylish, violent, gothic brawler. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – at first glance Madhouse seem to have hit the nail on the head when it comes to catching the spirit of the game – this is over-stylised, action-packed slightly emo looking exploitation anime at it’s most colourful. I’m interested in how it’ll look on Bluray, and hopefully I’ll it will be fun for the same reasons I enjoyed the game – just minus the occasionally tedious jumping puzzles. Check back next week for a full review.

Claymore – Volumes 5 & 6

UK release date: 12th October

I have to admit, Claymore is one of those shows I probably should have seen but never got round to it. Another Madhouse production, like Devil May Cry it’s yet more stylised violence and demon slaying, but clearly with a little more going on under the hood plot-wise. Certainly coming in at Volume 5 made it a bit hard to follow, but that’s probably a good sign, and the frenetic, over the top sword fights seem like fun. I particularly enjoyed the deep, washed out palette and the soundtrack that seemed to mix up metal riffs, drum and bass breaks and, erm, free-form jazz drumming. Yeah, really.

Bleach – Series 4, Part 1
Naruto Unleashed – Series 7, Part 2

UK release date: 26th October

Ahh, Bleach and Naruto, with your hyperactive but angst-ridden, teen samurai’s and bratty ninjas, will your stories never end? Will your protagonists ever finally come-of age? I’m no fan of either colossal franchise, but then I’m hardly the target demographic – and if you are a fan, then you’ve probably got both these new collections marked in your school planner already. So enjoy. Who the hell am I – some miserable old geezer – telling you what you should be watching anyway? Yeah, like, whatever.

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1. COMPETITION: Win Devil May Cry on DVD and Blu-ray
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