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Honey and Clover
Anime DVD Review by Carolyn Whu
Subtle, ordinary, beautiful, and absolutely, heart wrenching. I have no other words to describe Chika Umino's Honey and Clover.
It is the American Beauty of college life. It is the simple dance of a plastic bag in the wind; sad that it has no control of its own fate but elated because it has been given a whole new life other than holding groceries to and from a car's trunk. It is one of the shortest words ever uttered, "Hi", that will tilt the axis on which the world turns. The bat of an eye, stronger than the word of any king or queen, can kill a man. The happiness of someone just sitting next to you for 10 seconds will overcome the years of suffering that they put you through. And then you are wondering during the next few years of suffering, if those 10 seconds were worth it. Read More...
Ponyo
Anime DVD Review by Brian Cirulnick
I couldn't wait for the DVD to hit American shores so I just jumped the gun to start my review by seeing the release in an honest to goodness movie theater! Chances are you've already seen it, since the buzz on the internet is big, and let's face it, there's a zillion places to download from these days.
Ponyo is big news for a number of reasons. First of all Miyazaki is supposed to be retired. Secondly, ... dammit, it's MIYAZAKI !!!!!! The man who can do no wrong, the midas-touch of anime, has he ever made a flick we didn't think was well-above average, dare we say genius in every respect? Read More...
Pani Poni Dash
Anime DVD Review by Carolyn Whu
Azumanga Daioh passed the baton to Lucky Star and now Lucky Star is passing the baton to Pani Poni Dash. It's got the cavity cute and inane humor of Lucky Star and the crazy storyline of Azumanga Daioh. How can you not like it?
It starts off simply with aliens from outer space observing a normal human subject from Earth: an 11 year old genius that has recently become a teacher to high school students. What?!? Like any normal 11 year old kid, Rebecca "Becky" Miyamoto has a walking talking depressed but not suicidal stuffed bunny, Mesousa, which wakes her up every day and goes with her to school. What?!? Of course, once she arrives at school, she gets picked on by the students because she is different. Ahhh, yes, finally something that is normal. There is a giant cat that thinks it's a god that warms up the sodas in the vending machine that Mesousa buys from. I knew it! There had to be a reason why sodas come out warm sometimes. Read More...
Romeo X Juliet
Anime DVD Review by Lawrence Sufrin
Romeo and the other Montagues had better watch out. Juliet is armed and considered dangerous. They slaughtered her clan in a bloody coup for control of Neo Verona. She's not taking this lying down.
If you're expecting the Shakespeare play in Romeo X Juliet, then you've got another think coming. In this anime series, the Montagues have taken over the fantastic, floating city of Neo Verona. They have all but wiped out the ruling Capulet clan. Juliet is one of the few Capulets left, and she wants revenge. Sheís gone all "Princess Knight" on everyone. Under the guise of a boy named "Odin", she has also taken the sword, and fights for justice as the masked "Red Whirlwind". Read More...
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I'd think at this point almost everyone knows about the lucky cat of Japan which always features a paw waving in the air at you — this Lucky Cat Tea Pot takes the concept one neko step further by adding some functionality or novelty depending upon your perspective. Available from our friends at Jbox.com.
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Domo the Manga
Manga Review
by Brian Cirulnick
There's sort of been an underground cult of Domo for many years now, but it appears that Domo is becoming mainstream. Domo is now everywhere, and this fun, harmless, approved for all ages Domo manga is yet another log on the fire that is the merchandising of a character that resembles a fudge brownie with arms, legs and a wide-open maw full of teeth.
Read More...
Shoujo Art Studio
How to Draw Manga Book Review by Brian Cirulnick
The coolest concept for budding manga artists ever! This book really *is* an art studio, because the included CD-ROM contains just about everything you need to get started making your own manga (you'll need to supply a computer and Adobe Photoshop).
The first half of the book is a step-by-step introduction to working in the digital medium, using Photoshop techniques, filters, layers and so forth. The second half of the book is a catalog of what's on the disk. Read More...
The Manga Guide to Electricity
Manga Book Review
by Brian Cirulnick
Of all the things in this smart-cell-phone-enabled, twitterized, facebook'ed, blogged, mobile-computing, anime-watching world, nothing, *NOTHING* is more important than electricity. It literally runs everything you use to get through a normal day. Wouldn't it be nice if you knew *something* about this precious resource, as we move towards clean, green, renewable sources of energy and the world looks toward carbon-nanotube ultra-capacitors or hydrogen fuel cells as battery replacements? Read More...
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