Anime Vice News Feed

Japanese X-men sure are Japanese

John_Martone — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Sure, we've given you plenty of things to watch today, but... As a huge fan of 90's X-Men: The Animated Series, I was tickled pink when Rob over at Topless Robot featured this. The Japanese opening to the English series, and whoa, it sure does look a little different. I really, really like the vibe (obviously,) but I'll leave the cute observations to Rob though.

Things to note:

• Magento apparently in charge of the Brood
• Jean Grey, Storm and Jubillee's powers boiled down to doing Kamehamehas
• Cable and Gambit fighting random mecha
• An awesome shot of Rogue, Storm and Professor X looking like the world's biggest pimp
• Beast pulling a Hulk move
• Wolverine and Omega Red flying through the air

Oh yeah, and the song is pretty awful.

The Daily Drill: Gurren Lagann Episode 01

John_Martone — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0800

Yes, it seems our mystery was too complex for many of you, and that the news of Gurren Lagann screening on Vice is a total surprise.

if you haven't seen Gurren Lagann, then prepare yourselves for something amazing. So ruggedly manly and awesome that your muscles will grow muscles that grow muscles, all from just watching the show.

If you have seen the show before, I have two words for you... com' on! Don't act like you'd mind watching it again. Like you wouldn't enjoy sharing in the experiences of watching so and so do something something.

I thought so... So without further ado GURREN LAGANN.

UpBeat: Skip Beat! Episode 2 of 25

gia — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:00:00 -0800

Need to Catch Up?

Skip Beat! episode 1

Today's Episode

Yesterday we watched Kyoko come to the unpleasant realization that no matter how hard she works, she's not so much a Cinderella whose prince is just waiting to make it big before he pampers her, as she is a Dorothy who needs to figure out how to make her own way. But man, the girl's got some gumption now that she's pissed! Still, revenge is a pretty interesting reason to get into show business-- certainly a change from the usual fame and fortune.

BeeTV: Tegami Bachi episode 6

gia — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:00:00 -0800

Need to Catch Up?

Today's Episode

Remember how I mentioned last week that Lag seemed to be a bit of a pushover? Well, episode 5 definitely cinched THAT conclusion. I feel for Nelli and all, but damn, she's being kind of a bitch, don't you think? I'm also pretty curious about the Letter Bee who's working in Dead End Town, Largo Lloyd, since he seems to know Nelli's Jiggy Pepper.

Also, can I just say? What a name. Jiggy Pepper. Will Smith woud be thrilled, I'm sure.

Without further ado, here's episode 6!

Utada Hikaru to Tour the World on a Magic Carpet

GodLen — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0800

Super singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru ’s official website has just let loose on the world that she will be attending a concert tour around America and the UK. This is, of course, not her first time in America, seeing as she now has an American album, and perhaps it is important to note that she was actually born in New York City. She possess Japan’s bestselling album ever with about 8 million copies sold, which for the record was her “First Love” album. Though you might remember her by her famous Kingdom Hearts songs that she is so well known for. Here are the concert dates and locations.

January 15 Honolulu, HI
January 19 Los Angeles, CA
January 21 Seattle, WA
January 24 San Francisco, CA
January 30 Las Vegas, NV
February 2 Chicago, IL
February 5 Boston, MA
February 8 New York, NY
February 12 London, UK

Who’s going?

Endless Frontier Exceed PV

GodLen — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0800

Yes, everyone’s favorite Nintendo DS anime RPG with enough swords, guns, and boobs to make any otaku happy is getting a sequel, named Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier Exceed. This is an offshoot of the Super Robot Wars franchise, but vastly different than it’s previous incarnations. Instead of being a strategy game with robots from different anime, this is a turn-based RPG that has smaller, people-sized robots. Though robots are not the main characters, they play more of a side line role in this game.

We have some new characters in this game, including the Kenshiro inspired super robot Ialdabaoth. The last game was released in America thanks to Atlus’s help; hopefully the second one will get the same treatment. More action, more boob bounce, more robots? Count me in!

Final Fantasy XIII Release Date Set: March 9

John_Martone — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Remember that Friday teaser we were talking about before? Well, they did end up announcing the North American and European release date, but no it's not today, tomorrow, or any day prior to March 9th... because that's when the game comes out.

Created by OnePlusYou

Well, what do you all think? Can you wait that long? Oh, and since we've been talking about it, congrats on the passable release date Europe.

Prelude to a Teaser

John_Martone — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:00:00 -0800

So we all know by now that two shows are going to replace the one we had before.

1) Skip-beat: Which started today
2) ???: Which starts tomorrow.

Isn't it about time we told you what number 2 was?
Hint: It is nothing like Skip-beat.

Totally not a spoiler. Don't click this expecting me to say what the new show is.

Trailer for Dante's Inferno is Hellish

John_Martone — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0800

Whoa... So you all may have heard of the Dante's Inferno game that EA is putting out. Granted, I'm not that excited about it, but they sure seem bent on promoting it in wacky ways. One of the considerably cool ones seems to be via an animated movie, featured above. Gia covered its announcement back in March, and Production I.G. has noted their involvement in the project, but I was expecting this.

Of course, the pedigree is pretty high, bringing together the minds behind Samurai Champloo, Ghost in the Shell, and other more "artistic" features.

The trailer promises an an animated epic and for once I think the term fits perfectly. Good job Manga Entertainment, I'm marking February 2010 on my calender.

How Can Cosplay be This Good Thursdays

GodLen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0800

Yes, it’s still Thursdays, so there is still time for some incredible cosplay in your non-cosplay lives. Tonight I have some sexy cosplay, among non-sexy, but interesting, cosplay. Seeing all this amazing cosplay makes me want to cosplay myself, but the thing is it’s hard to be that good without putting lots and lots of time into it. So my heart goes out to these people who sacrifice trillion of hours in time to entertain us all.

My new waifu

Best Neji I've seen

Wallflower to Receive TV Drama

GodLen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Kodansha’s Bessatsu Friend magazine will announce on friday that Tomoko Hayakawa’s The Wallflower will be getting a television drama series in January next year. If you haven’t watched the anime, or read the manga, now is the time to follow the story of the pretty boy rangers who help make a wallflower into a social flower. I have not read the manga, nor watched the anime, but I have a pretty good idea on how this drama is going to play out. Is this something to look forward to, or something to pass off? I don’t know, if there aren’t any giant robots in it, my attention must go elsewhere.

[Via ANN ]

UpBeat: Skip Beat! Episode 1 of 25

gia — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0800

Welcome, my friends, to our newest streaming series, Skip Beat! .

Now, I'm sure a few of our more manly readers are sitting there thinking, "wtf? What's this girly shoujo series sitting on my screen? She doesn't look very moe at all!" Well, guys, let me tell you that this not-so-moe girl is a badass in her own right-- not the sword-swinging or mech-piloting kind, but the kind who learns to take no prisoners and give it her all! (You'll find that this is a theme for us right now.)

And if that doesn't convince you, then here's a fanboy tidbit that might help: the heroine is voiced by Marina Inoue , who also plays Yoko , Alicia , and Chiri Kitsu . Now, sit down and watch!

Second Shot: Riff On/Rip Off

gia — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:00:00 -0800

Ahh, Jeff over at Giant Bomb is so lucky. He has never watched, read, or played anything Harry Potter-related (intentionally, I gather), so when books, movies, and/or video games riff on (or rip off) Harry Potter, it looks cool and original to him. (Except when it doesn't.) Oh hey look, a soccer game that takes place at a remarkably cool-looking academy for kids with a unique specialty!

Meanwhile, over at Comic Vine, I am proud to say that I actually have read one of the five things on inferiorego's top 5 stories of 2009 (DC version, and I presume I should tack a "so far" on there): Unwritten, which you can think of sort of as Venture Brothers meets Harry Potter. A young man named Tommy Taylor has the same name as his father's Potter-esque fictional hero, and then his father disappears, leaving him with various anger issues and little more to do with his life than try to survive off the fame of said books. But then the villain from his father's story suddenly appears in his very real life...interesting stuff.

I haven't read the rest of them, though, so I'll leave that to you guys.

At Vice I'm proud to say we just launched our first new video feature, 3-Minute Expert , and this week we talk about facefaults. I've got a nice little list of topics to talk over on the show, but definitely hit me up via PM with your other suggestions!

For those looking for something a little bit more hard news-y, how about a new production company in Hollywood devoted primarily to adapting Japanese franchises ?

Meet Your 3-Minute Expert! This Week: Facefaults

gia — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0800

Welcome to the first of several new video features here on Vice! Today's new feature is called "3-Minute Expert," and the basic idea of the feature-- which I also go over in the video, if you'd like to skip over the boring text and go straight to the video --is that I'll go just a bit in-depth on a topic of interest to you, the readers, so that you can be an expert in less than three minutes (or at least fluent enough to carry on a conversation).

This week's topic is a slapstick oldie: the facefault. Watch on as we explore a bit of the history and some of anime's best facefaults!

A few thank yous are due here: first to Ana for her awesome first video for Vice, and to Brandon Godfrey , Kitonlove , and TimeTrax for their lovely background photos.

If you guys want to submit a question or topic suggestion , send me a private message and I'll add it to our potential to-do list!

2nd and a 1/2 shot: Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer!!!

John_Martone — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0800

Second Shot is usually Gia's thing, but I petitioned to have some time here. Over on the Vine side of things, GMan recently reviewed the amazing Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer . He briefly mentioned it on last weeks squadcast, and I was intrigued. While I leave the reviewing to GMan, I thought this was way to eccentric and awesome to be passed up.

I mean, come on, Pinocchio lies and breaks off wooden nose to use it as a stake. How awesome is that?

Plus, a considerable amount of his observations (black and white with a 10 dollar price point, but longer length and no ads) are pretty much right up the manga readers alley.