Azumanga Daioh, the Abridged Series An Episodic Review

                                       Azumanga Daioh, the Abridged Series

                                                     An Episodic Review

                                                                  by

                                                                     Jay Agan

      This is a short (5 eps), sweet (Each less than 5 minutes.) little parody that got more than a few laffs out of me. Azumanga Daioh screams Parody Me! & there are more than a ton of them on You Tube. This has to be one of the best.

      1. Day One- We're introduced to the main characters. High points:

      Chiyo: "I'm supposed to tell you I'm a prodigy student but lying makes me feel bad inside."

      We find Osakas' original nick-name was Xanax at her old school because of episodic reactions. Tomo promises her quite a hazing in the next ep.

      Tomo: "Kill ya tomorrow newbie!"

      Osaka: "The more things change, ..... the more they suck!"

      2. Initiation- Osaka tries to concentrate on avoiding "that hyperactive girl" but is distracted by the posterior of a male student at the blackboard ("Oooo! Osaka likeee!"). Tomo & the others finally latch onto her &: Cafeteria food (Barf!), motor skills (fail), chugging (More barf!), & the old standby, beatings.

      Sakaki: "Oh! You guys started without me. Thanks a friggin' lot!"

      Osaka: "If it makes you feel any better, they haven't broken my spirit! My chest plate maybe ..... but not my spirit!"

      Yomi: "I admit. I thought you'd lose conciousness or start crying like a baby ..... like the ten year old."

      Osaka realizes they did it out of love & "..... for everything you've done to me, I promise ..... REVENGE!"

      3. Spending Time Wasted- Chiyo explains her wealth comes from a school tax exemption. Yukari starts a fire at school so she can leave work early & get drunk.

      Minamo: "..... stop dancing in front of children like that. It's disgraceful!"

      Chiyo: "You can start pole dancing for all I care. Just let me go back to my old school!"

      4. Master Plan- Chiyo attempts to drown Yukari. The kids find out Kimura's a pedo & plot to land him in jail but he "buys them off".

      Chiyo: "I'm sure glad I'm not you girls. There's no way he'd be interested in someone my age ..... right?" (Just goes to show, being a genius doesn't necessarily mean you're smart!)

      Tomo: "Yomi, you've compromised our safety for the next three years. But this ice cream is pretty good."

      Yomi: "Yeah. I'd say it was an even trade."

      5. Excursion- Instead of going to Sea World, the teachers decide to accompany the kids to Chiyos' summer home instead. Chiyos' little monologue on how she spends her wealth & spare time is a hoot & and a half.

      Yukari: "Who wants to ride with their favorite teacher?"

      Osaka: "The scent of death is on this car ..... It's fresh!"

      Osaka: "She tries to play on a Game Boy! While drivin'!"

      There are too many more yucks n' chuckles in this last ep so I'll leave them to you to experience.

      Chiyo: "Osaka tried to kill me with a firecracker! I wanna go home!"

                                        Article copyright © 3-31-2011 Jay Agan

Episode 1: Azumanga Daioh the Abridged Series here.

Azumanga Daioh, Too ..... Much ..... Cute here.

Where Are They Now? The Kids of Azumanga Daioh here.

Go to Main Page here.

DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

This article (only) may be copied in whole or in part. Please cite proper credit & backlink.

Humor In the Eye of the Non-Beholder

                                        Humor In the Eye of the Non-Beholder

                                                                   by

                                                                      Jay Agan

      I don't like "happy" people. Not only are they "happy" but they want you to be "happy" too. "Happy" for no particular reason. You've met them.

      "C'mon! Smile!" They say.

      "Why?" You answer.

      "Because!"

      "Because what?"

      "Just because!"

      Irrational. If there's no cause then there's no because.

      "Do you know it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile?" A favorite mantra of theirs. Your not smiling doesn't necessarily mean you're frowning. They mistake a relaxed face as a frown. Then again, they mistake a lot of things for unhappiness.

      Ayn Rand stated to the effect that happiness is the positive emotion recieved through achieving something from following your own values. You have to be happy for a reason. Happiness for no reason is irrational, corrupt, chaotic. I worked in an institution for several years & encountered a lot of smiling, "happy" people.

      Unlike most Randroids, if I'm feeling good for no reason I'm not going to hit the brakes & try to find a reason for it. I'll go with it. A little spontaneous irrationality can be fun. But to "consciously" drum up causless "happiness"? To feel good on command? Ridiculous! Reminds me of that Huckleberry Hound cartoon where as Robin Hood he exhorts his not so merry men to "Yuck it up!". They in turn go "Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!".

      Those who insist on irrationally feeling good are the most unhappy of all. They aren't out to find happiness as much as they are looking for unhappiness to cure. If they can't find it they'll make it up.

      Here's a fer instance. I was a cashier at an unmentionable merchandising chain (Not Wal-Mart by the way.) & met/collided with all sorts of people. As this place had a pharmacy this included some of the over/under medicated.

      So I'm bantering with a customer about "Murphys Laws of Combat" (A set of bogus "rules" based on Murphys Law: If anything can go wrong, it will. At the worst possible moment.). A form of "black humor" (Laughing/contempt for death is a positive thing.) that's brought more than a chuckle or two to many (Friendly fire isn't, incoming has right of way, if the enemy is in range so are you, etc.).

      While I'm checking the fellow out, the woman next in line couldn't help but hear & interjected, "Oooooooo! How negative! We should concentrate of positive things!"

      How does one explain "black humor" (Or humor for that matter.) to a fanatic like that? How do you present anything as positive to one bound & determined to find negativity wherever/whenever, & if not find it, make it up? You can't.

      In their quest to stamp out unhappiness they have become the very evil they fight. These humorless trolls see misery wherever they go wether it's there or not. In doing so they grasp at a causeless, artificial state of levity to counter the unhappiness, real or imagined, they have found & must drum it up constantly. In going after the devil, the devil has got them.

                                        Article copyright © 3-29-2011 Jay Agan

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"Trials" of a Voice Actor, Part II

                                        
                                          "Trials" of a Voice Actor, Part II

                                                                 by

                                                                    Jay Agan

     It was March '09. The end year/new year "slump" is over & activity in the voice over field was going to pick up. Already had three "gigs" under my belt & was confident things would "look up". Little was I to know the polititians on both sides of the aisle, had the recession "cemented in" for a good long while to come (My agency later informed me the economy was the reason why things slowed down. It was also the reason they dropped me over a year later.). A conversation with my voice teacher (She also owns a studio.) revealed that this field is "a leading economic indicator" and is one of the first hit. I guess a lot of peoples' dreams have been put on hold.

     So I get this call from the agency. I was to "get ready" as someone from a nationwide car insurance company heard my demo & liked it. Nothing definite but I was on the list of choices for a radio spot or two. All right!

     Two days later, another call. They settled on someone else. Those are the breaks. You can imagine my disappointment.

     It wouldn't have been so bad had they settled on someone with a better voice .....

     Yeah. Ego plays a part.
                                           
                                          Article copyright © 3-27-2011 Jay Agan

"Trials" of a Voice Actor, Pt I here.

Go to Main Page here.

The Sexual Harassment of Haruhi Suzumiya or Now I Get It!



She'll never leave that poor kid alone. Mikuru may be moe' but Haruhi is
Moe Howard! Credit: Noizi Ito, Kyoto Animation


                                  The Sexual Harassment of Haruhi Suzumiya

                                                                   or

                                                           Now I Get It!

                                                                   by

                                                                      Jay Agan

      Perhaps I'm a bit slow on the uptake. Heck, sometimes it takes a looong time before I figure something out.



As the song goes: She's got the whooooole world ..... in her hand. Somehow,
 this does NOT reassure me. Credit: Noizi Ito, Kyoto Animation


      A few months ago I wrote a three part article The Head Trip of Haruhi Suzumiya. In the first part I mentioned how taken aback I was over some scenes in episodes 01, 02 & 03. I still hold to the same reservations but now I more fully understand as to what it's about.
     
      I originally thought it had to do with some kind of wierd Japanese sexual humor. I now see they were nothing more than satiric pokes at the anime trope known as moe'. It's nothing more than the title characters' way (Being the pushy, inconsiderate ASS she can be.) of pointing out some of the Mikuru characters' moe' aspects. In this case, cute, tiny, and uh ..... generous secondary female characteristics. Still, it could have been handled differently (Being as I'm from Ohio & not ohayo, I like my women real & of legal age.).



One can only guess as to the incident that would get this bunch into a line up.
One good guess as to whose fault it is. Hint: It's not that of the pairs on either
end. Credit: Noizi Ito, Kyoto Animation

      
      While Mikuru is moe', Haruhi is definitely Moe Howard.

                                                  Article copyright © 3-24-2011 Jay Agan
     
      Here are some Haruhi goodies I found on You Tube:

      While our anime marketers usually leave the opening/closing numbers alone, it seems the Russians like to re-dub them in their own language.

      Here's the Russian version of God Knows.

      Here's a couple unrelated ones for the opening/closing of the second season. Quite funny as seemingly no editing was needed. They just "fell in" on their own.

      K-On! is one of those girly little animes I know absolutely nothing about. As a child of the Cold War, if anyone told me 20 years ago I'd be chuckling over something to do with the Soviet anthem, I'd have told him he was nuts!

      Here's an Azumanga one you've probably seen before.


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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

This article (only) may be copied in whole or in part. Please cite proper credit & backlink.

"Trials" of a Voice Actor Part 1

                                         "Trials" of a Voice Actor Part 1

                                                             by

                                                                Jay Agan

      So I get home after work , 12:30 AM on an early Friday morning in October 2008 & find my agent's left a message on my answering machine: Be in Louisville, Kentucky, 10 AM Monday to do a radio spot for some restaraunt. Pays 200 bucks (Travel expenses negotiable.)

      Let's see. About a 500 mile round trip in a car past voting age, maybe get reimbursed for gas & be back in time for work later that day. For 200 bucks (Less the agents' 20% thus 160.). Uh ..... yeah.

      Called the agent the "next" day & turned it down. Just starting out & couldn't afford such "popularity" (This is how you get a reputation for being "difficult" when you don't mean to.). Next agent I get, I'm stipulating nothing outside central Ohio.

                                        Article copyright © 3-22-2011 Jay Agan

"Trials" of a Voice Actor Part 2 here.

Go to Main Page here.

Worlds' First Cosplayer

Mister Monster, Dr. Acula, the poormans'
Vincent Price. Whatever you called him, he
was Uncle Forry to me.

                                             
                                               Worlds' First Cosplayer

                                                              by

                                                                  Jay Agan

      The vast majority of anime fans have probably never heard of Forrest J Ackerman. Yet he had more of an indirect influence on anime fandom than most realize.

      Writer, literary agent, actor, collector, punster, promoter of the fantastic in film & in print. Superfan. As editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland he was a great influence in my formative years. Every month I would get an education in the cinematic worlds of horror, sci-fi, fantasy & mystery.Though the magazine was somewhat juvenile in nature (So was Mr. Ackerman!), it nonetheless took one behind the camera & intro-d you to the people & methods of the "magic" that made these movies great. Many big names in Hollywood & around the world were inspired by this man & his magazine to enter the industry. It is safe to say the world of western cinema would not be the same today if not for this man.

      Forrest Ackerman may also have been the initiator of the field of cosplay.

      At the first World Science Fiction Convention (1939) in New York City, he showed up in costume (See photo below.). This caused quite a stir, so much so, that the 1940 con had several more people so attired. Cosplay went from there to what we see today at anime & sci-fi cons the world over.

Forry cosplaying at the 1st World Science
Fiction Con in New York City, 1939.

      There is more to this story however. Though it's mentioned from time to time its' implications aren't considered & should be.

      Mr. Ackerman was not the only one in costume at the con in '39. Accompanying him was Myrtle R. Douglas, the designer of the costumes they wore (She was attired as a character from Things To Come.). That's right! Forrest J Ackerman was the first sci-fi geek/"otaku" to show up at a convention with a ..... GIRLFRIEND! (Until "recently", how many otakus, anime or otherwise, have even HAD girlfriends?) THAT, my friends, is what is called HISTORY!

      Hats off to ya Forry! You were one of the people who made my life a little more fun & interesting than it otherwise would have been. Though you were a staunch atheist while among us, it is my sincere hope that you have been (And still are.) pleasantly surprised. God bless you sir!

                                Article copyright © 3-17-2011 Jay Agan

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

This article (only) may be copied in whole or in part. Please cite proper credit & backlink.

Something On a Saturday Afternoon

                                       Something On a Saturday Afternoon

                                                                by

                                                                    Jay Agan

      As stated in previous articles, our local TV stations didn't have horror/sci-fi flicks on in the afternoons. This was something reserved for after 11:30 PM & on weekends at that. I suspect this was because of central Ohio being a conservative area & the stations didn't want to offend "bible belt" sensibilities.

      We kids weren't allowed to stay up past 11 PM so any chance of watching such kool stuff was less than minimal. Other kids were allowed to on weekends & I always felt left out in discussions at school or on the bus. All that great stuff they got to see on Chiller Theater (Ch 10, WBNS) & all I could do was ask annoying questions.

      This was "torture" to me & my only resort was in reading about these great movies that were out of reach. By the late 60s it got so I was very knowlegable of these flicks years before I got to see any of them. Thanks to Famous Monsters of Filmland & other sources, I was the "scarey" movie expert at school.

      One "bright spot" occured in those "wilderness" years on a mid-Saturday afternoon in '63. After a short session of comic book reading (There was no such thing as "graphic novels" or manga back then. I can't use that word. Sounds like some kind of fruit or veg.), I head downstairs to the fridge. I notice younger brother watching something on TV: An "army guy" (Oh boy! A war movie!) letting a babe pass through a roadblock to snap pictures of a devastated town. I sat down for a look-see.

      After a while we're introduced to a couple of scientists growing way oversized fruits & vegs using radioactive substances. It was starting to get interesting.

      The military allows babe reporter & nerd boys to examine the devastation again. When the giant grasshopper came over the wreckage & gizorped one of the whiz kids (Played by Ed Extra.) I was hooked! Hey! Some science fiction! All right!

      It later developes the grasshoppers were the inadvertant result of the plant experiments & the swarm is moving on Chicago. The flick: Beginning of the End.

"Uh, Peggie. Have you ever been inside a Turkish prison? Uh,
..... have you ever been in a crummy movie?" Peter Graves
& Peggie Castle in Beginning of the End. Credit: Republic

     
      It's not a very good film. A Bert I. Gordon hack job from 1957. The story is typical 50s schlock with laughable special effects. The kind of sloppy science fantasy you'd expect to find of that era.

      Yet. To a thrill starved "monster kid" as I was, this was a piece of HEAVEN!

      I didn't feel so left out at school that following Monday.

                                     Article copyright © 3-15-2011 Jay Agan

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

This article (only) may be copied in whole or in part. Please cite proper credit & backlink.

Japan Quake Relief

                                                    Japan Quake Relief

      Here are a couple of link lists for those wishing to aid Japan in her time of need.

      1. ExpoExpo

      2. Yahoo

      Go to Main Page here.

First Quake

Disclaimer: Though the following article has a "punchline" it is not meant to belittle or trivialize the situation the people of Japan are going through right now. My heart goes out to them & I hope I myself never have to experience what they are facing. Please remember the victims in your prayers. It's because of this I was reminded of  "incidents" of my own having to do with earthquakes.

                                                              
                                                       First Quake

                                                               by

                                                                  Jay Agan

      An Ohio Saturday afternoon in a Spring of the late 70s & there I am in my Mt. Vernon, apartment watching a flick on ch 10 (WBNS). The fight scene is raging & I'm skarfing a Coke when the house shakes a little. Funny. No truck went by. In fact it was dead quiet outside. Wasn't much of a shake but it felt ..... strange.

      Thirty seconds later it happens again. Now I was sure it wasn't something normal. Earthquake? Couldn't be positive as I had never experienced one before. I get up & dash out of the subdivided house & take a quick look up & down the street. Everything normal. Nothing out of the ordinary.

      I go back in & click on the radio. Within minutes WMVO had the scoop. A couple of tremors hit over a several county area including Knox County.

      A couple days later I'm talking to youngest brother about it & he related the same thing. His two dogs also got to howling a little after.

      My second quake was when I was with the parents in New Jersey while attending tech school in '85. It's about 5 AM Saturday morning when I hear what sounds like a freight train then a slight lurch to the house. Then neighborhood dogs get to barking & howling for a minute or two. "Musta been an earthquake." & I go back to sleep.

      Later that day it's off to the movies. I pass Computer Processing Institute on Rt 4 in Paramus where I attended school, & I notice quite a few cars in the lot. On a Saturday? I didn't think much of it & continued on. At the theater there was a long wait as tickets were being "processed" by hand. The computers were down due to the quake. I figured that was why there were so many cars at the school. This was confirmed there Monday.



Steve Reeves in Hercules Unchained. It was about at this
point in the film when the quake hit. I swear, it's true!
Credit: Warner Bros.


      Oh. The movie I was watching when I experienced my first quake? Hercules Unchained starring Steve Reeves. Honest! Go figure.

                                      Article copyright © 3-12-2011 Jay Agan


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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

This article (only) may be copied in whole or in part. Please be sure to cite proper credit & backlink.

Yet Another Wot Coulda Been Anime

Claude Rains in Battle of the Worlds. Kinda looks like an
anime character doesn't he? Photo credit in article below.

                                    
                                      Yet Another Wot Coulda Been Anime
                                                          
                                                                  by

                                                                      Jay Agan

      Battle of the Worlds (Il Pianeta Degli Uomini Spenti) 1961- One of veteran actor Claude Rains last films & he carries it well.

      A rogue planetoid takes up orbit around our sphere, playing hobb with the Earths crust & weather patterns. It turns out to be a colossal programmed spacecraft (The "Outsider") with a now dead species inside. The technophobic math genius, Professor Benson (Rains), finds a clever way to defeat the aliens robotic saucer fleet (Using "music" composed of electronic tonalities. Play it loud!) & leads an exploration party to examine the interior of the expired, pilotless, "death star".

      If this would ever be made into an anime, it would be cool if they could retain Rains' likeness & voicetrack (If not there's always Crispin Freeman.) With that voice & thick glasses, he looks & sounds like an anime character (The full size photo from above can be found at Monster Movie Music blog.)
 
      There actually is an "anime connection" with this Italian made film. It sounds as if Peter Fernandez did more than one of the voices in the English language dub.

      Have not been able to find a really decent "print" on disc & have had to settle on the example found in the Millcreek Entertainment Sci-Fi Classics pack of 50 public domain movies.

                                      Article copyright © 3-10-2011 Jay Agan

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

This article may be copied in whole or in part. Please cite proper credit & backlink.

The Drexel North, A Place On High Street

                                  The Drexel North, A Place On High Street

                                                                by

                                                                    Jay Agan
    
      The Drexel North (Originally the Beechwold Theater then later the Camelot North.) was a "neighborhood" theater (One big screen.) that specialized in "alternative" films. Lesser knowns, foriegn, indies, etc.

      I was somewhat apprehensive in initially attending. The usual crowd was not what one would call normal. Pancake makeup, eyeshadow/lipstick all the colors of the rainbow, spandex stockings, sheer mini-skirts, tight, TIGHT, leather jeans ..... And that was just the guys! OK, I exaggerate. However, they weren't the types you'd find at your local multiplex. In spite of their strange appearance, I've found the crowds at the Drexel North to be the most well behaved of audiences I've ever encountered. They were there to SEE the movies!

      And such movies. Thanks to the Otani Film Fest I got to take in Seven Samurai & many another Kurosawa flick. Rands' We The Living. Various animation collections. Citizen Kane on the big screen! Even miscelaeneous "B" actioners from other countries. Akira rekindled a more than passing interest in anime.

      I'll always fondly remember the 1990 24 hour Sci-Fi marathon. Couldn't sleep after that one. I was up 36 hours straight!

      Sadly, the Drexel North is now a gym, its operations having been moved to Grandview. Studio 35 (On Indianola avenue.) seems to have taken its place in function in the area. Maybe I should check that one out.

                                  Article copyright © 3-8-2011 Jay Agan

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Fun "Facts" About Vincent Price & The Last Man On Earth

Disclaimer: The proceeding is not meant to defame or belittle anyone. The people mentioned are among the many artists who made my life a little more interesting/bearable & I have nothing but affection towards them. This is satire & all in fun. Please take this in the spirit in which it is given.
                                        

Vincent Price deals with the neighbors in
The Last Man On Earth. Credit: MGM, AIP

                                         
                      Fun "Facts" About Vincent Price & The Last Man On Earth
                                                                                   
                                                              by

                                                                  Jay Agan

      Many of you have run across examples of MGMs' Midnite Movies DVDs. Single or double feature, they have a lot of those wonderful schlock vehicles we enjoyed in our younger days. One I have is a double bill with AIPs' Panic In Year Zero & The Last Man On Earth.

      On the back of the case are "fun facts" relating to the discs' contents. Only one is listed in regard to The Last Man On Earth & it is totally wrong. Here are a few other "fun facts" starting with a correction.

      1. In spite of what it says on the back cover, LMOE actually was filmed in Los Angeles (The exact setting from Richard Mathesons' I Am Legend on which the film is based.) It was edited to look as if it was filmed in Rome, Italy as part of a goverment psyop by an unspecified agency.

      2. The Principle interior/exterior scenes of the title characters' house were filmed at the Prices' Benedict Canyon home. The Prices were that messy. They actually did have their windows boarded up as disgruntled neighbors (Fed up with the eyesore, not to mention the noise!) would often throw rocks at the house.

      3. The actors, playing the vampire hoard outside, were the Prices' neighbors. When told they would not be shot at (This time!) while trashing the place, they offered to do it for free. That's not acting. They really WERE out to get him!

      4. The scenes of the creatures trashing the '56 Chevy wagon (Vince drove older cars due to lower insurance costs.) were shot when the family was out of town. A furious Price was reimbursed with the '58 Ford wagon seen later in the film.

      5. Richard Matheson (Who also wrote the screenplay.) insisted he be credited under a ficticious name. In the "special features" section of the disc, he said he "wasn't happy" with the finished picture. Actually he "wasn't happy" that Price was in the film. He felt Wally Cox to be a better choice.

                                "Fun Facts" About Vincent Price Himself

      1. His real name was Hobart Daubenmier.

      2. He wore lifts. He actually stood 5'3", not 6'4".

      3. All his books were ghost written by an obscure hack named Logan Swanson.

      4. William Castle often remarked that whenever he felt "down in the dumps" he would think about Vincent Price. "Then I wouldn't feel so bad about myself!"

      5. Soon after taking Price on as their fine art spokesman & purchasing agent, Sears Roebuck & Co. regretted the decision. It was years before they finally unloaded the last of all those Elvis on velvet paintings & pictures of poker playing dogs.

      6. Neighbor Roddy McDowell preferred the Prices visit his home & not he theirs which he dreaded. He said the bathroom looked "unhealthy". The diminutive actor had an obsessive fear of falling in.

      Geez. I hope none of this ends up on the Internet Movie Database!

      Another Disclaimer: Again, this is all in fun & just for laffs. Please don't hurt me!

                                     Article copyright © 3-6-2011 Jay Agan

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

This article (only) may be copied in whole or in part. Please cite proper credit & backlink.

Summer Wars: An Anime For All Seasons



The gang's all here n' lookin' fer a fight!
Credit: Madhouse, Warner Bros, Funimation


                                  Summer Wars: An Anime For All Seasons

                                                               by

                                                                  Jay Agan

      On the way home from visiting the folks I stopped at the Best Buy on Polaris Parkway. Nothing in the movies section caught my eye so I gave the anime shelves a look see (Hmmm. Chrono Crusade? Naww. Nuns without guns are scarey enough!). Finding nothing there either, I got to getting. On the way out I passed the New Releases rack & saw the last two copies of Summer Wars on the bottom shelf (Hey! I heard of that one!) & snapped up a copy. I've now viewed it twice this week & have enjoyed every minute.

      Summer Wars, from the three guys who created The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, is a roller coaster combo of Disney, Wargames, & Casino Royale. What starts off as a delightful animated romance comedy morphs into an even more delightful cyber-terror armageddon.

      Time: The near future. Most of the worlds' population is "plugged" into "The Land of Oz" (No ToTo. Not THAT one!). A humungous social networking "realm" of business, communication, & gaming taking up most of the internet. Sorta-kinda a Yahoo cum Facebook on steroids & habaneros.

      A hostile artificial intelligence, code named Love Machine, is slipped into this cyber world by the U.S. Army for testing & immediately gets out of control. With its ability to hijack accounts/avatars of VIPs the world over, it accesses the military & civilian infrastructures of whole nations, causing chaos across the globe.

      It's up to the various protagonists to put a stop to what amounts to be a cyber-war waged by the runaway AI. With various ingenious methods, technological & otherwise, the seemingly invincible AI is countered then lured into a wagering match (It has a "thing" for games.) of Koi-koi (An involved game using Hanafuda cards), using the millions of stolen accounts/avatars as "chips". With control of the net wrested from the monster, it decides in a fit of pique, to drop a several ton satellite on the estate where its' opposition is coming from.

      The "backdrop" to the story is the PROLIFIC Jinnouchi clan. A former warrior caste family with many members as entrepreneurial professionals, emergency service & military personnel. Into their midst is dropped Kenji Koiso, a shy math genius/computer whiz "dragooned" into posing as the fiance of "the most popular girl in school", Notsuki Shinohara (Her mother is a Jinnouchi.).

      Kenji is tricked into "solving" & originally implicated in giving the 2056 digit security algorithm  for Oz to "Love Machine" but is later cleared. Then the fun starts.

      With Kenji, various members of the Jinnouchi clan fall on their familys' history & pool their resources to battle the menace. How they do it will have you rivetted & marvelling at their intelligence & drive to excel in conquering a seemingly unstoppable enemy (Granny Sakae uses her influence & a rotary phone!).

      Get this film. Watch this film. (You will) Enjoy this film!

      Go fish! ..... er ..... uh ..... Koi! Koi!
                                              
                                       Article copyright © 3-3-2011 Jay Agan

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To Grandmothers' House We Go Pt 2

                                    To Grandmothers' House We Go Pt 2

                                                                 by

                                                                    Jay Agan

      Thanksgiving at the grandparents in Elmira, NY was an annual ritual I always looked forward to. TV wise it was great as they had cable bringing in those NYC stations with all the kool movies & cartoons we couldn't see in central Ohio.

      Thanksgiving Day in New York City is known as "Gorilla Thursday". That's because WOR (Now WWOR) ch 9, would show King Kong, Son of Kong, & Mighty Joe Young back to back. WPIX ch 11, would show March of the Wooden Soldiers/Babes In Toyland (Laurel & Hardy) earlier in the week. In later years, WNEW ch 5 (I think.) would counter attack with some Godzilla flicks.

      One "memorable" Thanksgiving became something of a nightmare. I was going to be punished for some bogus infraction (I don't remember what it was, so it had to be bogus!). The punishment: Wash the dishes after the holiday meal. 30+ people! By myself. Dishwashers were an ultra-rare luxury in the 60s. Guess who DIDN'T have one!

      This wouldn't have bothered me so much except for one thing: Ch 5 was airing Creature From the Black Lagoon! Such perfect timing! Home video was nonexistant in the 60s, so you kiddies can stop thinking about how dumb I was for not DVRing it. Howzabout VHS? you ask. Yeah, right. We're talkin' the vacuum tube era, pal!

      There I was. A deprived "dyed in the wool" monster-kid missing out on his first chance of seeing one of the iconic Universal monsters of all time. And happening only a few feet away from where I was slaving away at those stupid dishes. Man! Wotta gyp!

      I eventually got over it ..... maybe.

                                        Article copyright © 3-1-2011 Jay Agan

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

This article can be copied in whole or in part. Please cite proper credit & provide backlink.