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Shinkai Collection
Anime DVD Review by Brian Cirulnick
 Makoto Shinkai is being hailed in Japan as "The Next Miyazaki". Those are some pretty big shoes to fill, but be aware this man is a super-talent, taking the anime world by storm by creating his first film BY HIMSELF. That's right, there was no unseen staff of anonymous animators toiling away in the night to create Voices of a Distant Star, it was just this one guy doing all the work (amazing how much you can get away with computers these days), and yet, the results were as high-quality as anything coming out of even the best studios of Japan.
This twin DVD set includes the 30-minute short "Voices of a Distant Star" (reviewed earlier here) as well as the feature length film "The Place Promised in our Early Days" (The DVD set is also *loaded* with extras). Read More...
Shadow Star Narutaru
Anime DVD Review by Carolyn Whu
If you are looking for an anime that concentrates on its characters and draws you in with its overall eerie and disconcerting story; this is it. Based on a popular manga series by Mohiro Kitoh, Shadow Star is a slow-moving but compelling story about Tamai Shiina's adventures with a new friend she had met while visiting her grandparents.
 Her new friend, Hoshimaru, is an alien called a "Dragon's Child" and seems to attract friends and foes that have dragon's children of their own to Shiina. Despite the bright and cheery nature of Shiina, the anime series is dark and twisted on the whole. Shiina and Hoshimaru seem very innocent and upbeat but Shiina comes from a broken home that she must contend with, and despite Hoshimaru's soft, squishy, benign looking exterior, you get a feeling that he has an ulterior motive that he isnít telling anyone about. Read More...
Otaku Unite!
Anime DVD Review by Brian Cirulnick
 Otaku are die-hard anime fans, you probably know that already. What you may not know; unless you've been to a decent-sized anime convention, is just how many people dress up in the crazy costumes, do all kinds of funky stuff and generally make anime "a way of life" rather than "just a hobby". This documentary film by Eric Bresler celebrates the Otaku who have taken their anime to heart, often so much so that you might be scared of these people! But seriously, it's these fans that make anime the phenomenon it is, and have helped push it into the mainstream of America. Read More...
The Fuccon vol.0
Meet the Fuccons
Anime DVD Review by Brian Cirulnick
 It's like an SNL skit that has gone horribly, horribly wrong. "The Fuccons" are the Japanese take on our own culture of bad ethnic stereotypes and for once, it's us Americans who are the butt of the jokes. "Can you take it as well as you dish it out?" appears to be what it is asking us.
Just as The Simpsons got their start as vignettes during The Tracy Ullman Show, The Fuccons started life as a series of skits for the late night Japanese TV show "Vermillion Pleasure Night", and since then has blossomed into their own cult-hit with a second DVD of more involved antics (and a third DVD will be released later this month). They are the typical American family inexplicably living in Japan, except that they are played by plastic mannequins, and dressed in 30's garb. It's sort of like "Tom Goes To The Mayor", but 3-D. Read More...
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Robo Pet
Anime Toy Review by Brian Cirulnick
 Welcome to the future, where we all have robotic pets and no longer have to care for the real thing! We still prefer the fuzzy kind that you have to walk, but, for those of you allergic or living in a small apartment, this is a pretty good replacement.
Made by the same talented team of robotics engineers that created the RoboSapien, this 'version 2.0' robotic dog is more playful, more responsive, more lifelike and ultimately, more fun to play with.
Read More...
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Cheeky Angel
Manga Review by Brian Cirulnick
Although it sounds like the name to a porno film, what it really is, is the best gender-bender comedy since Ranma 1/2. Megumi Amatsuka, a rough and tumble nine-year-old boy (and martial arts enthusiast), always dreamed of becoming the "manliest man on earth." Upon receiving a book of magic from a sorcerer whom he saved from a group of local thugs, Megumi summons a genie in order to make a wish. But due to a sick twist of fate, the genie turns out to be one with a hearing disorder, and Megumi winds up being the "womanliest woman on earth"! Read More...
Below: An illustration from Cheeky Angel.
Origami with Dollar Bills: Another Way to Impress People with Your Money!
Book Review by Brian Cirulnick
Firstly; at 6 bucks, this book is cheap — and with the money you save on the book and *NOT* buying origami paper, you can instead use those extra dollars to fold and make come entertaining origami. You don't have to look any further than your wallet to find crafting materials, because dollar bills themselves become all the materials you need to create some clever projects. Read More...
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Steamboy BGM
Anime Soundtrack Review by Brian Cirulnick
Not your typical anime soundtrack, as for starters, it's American artists scoring a Japanese production with composer Steve Jablonsky leading the way. Jablonsky makes his debut as a main composer and he does so with brilliance, creating a gorgeous theme that he works into the score as often as possible. The music is awesome, capturing the flavor of each sequence from the film, along with quite a few fast-paced driving themes (We were particularly enamored with "The Chase" and "Raid By The Airship" as being the highlights). Read More...
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Mitsuhisa Ishikawa Exclusive Interview
One of our favorite anime podcasts has some cool new content! The Anime Pulse podcast exclusively recorded a lecture and question & answer session by the president of Production I.G, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa. The recording as a special episode along with the transcript is at:
Anime Pulse Mitsuhisa Interview
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