Chucks Anime Shrine

#MoeMonday 11/9/09

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:43:10 PST

The #MM trend for us anime fans is #MoeMonday. To continue the trend of showing off moe images on Monday, here is this image of the week, a very moe image of Miku Hatsune. Her Nendoroid figure is actually coming out again and I'll more than likely nab a few for the store and I think I better keep one for myself this time ^^;;

Romeo X Juliet

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:01:13 PST

A few days back I finally got to see the entire Romeo X Juliet series and all the hype was indeed true...and then some. I won't create a story-detailed review since god knows there are a ton of them already since the series came out in 2007 and I don't want to give away anything either if you haven't seen this. This anime is something that becomes a wonderful experience for those who chose not to read up on anything beforehand. Romeo X Juliet, wonderfully animated by Gonzo and obviously taken from William Shakespeare's play is exactly what it states it is, an anime adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
I have of course read the original play and chances are many of you have since it's the bragging child of any artsy, fartsy European-enthusiast thespian teacher; which there are alot of in our public schools here.

At first glance, one might think it's very detached from the original story but make no haste in that assumption; before you watch this, think of it as the events that inspired Shakespeare to write the play and that will make this gem all the more sweeter. Shakespeare being a character in the story itself is a cleaver little twist in which makes my prior sentence true...plus he's a damn funny character with the others poking fun at his plays that have too much art and little substance (something I've told my English teachers ad nauseam).

All 24 episodes are stunning in story, art (duh, it's anime), and execution. Throughout it your emotions pour out to the characters and the hatred of royalty and elite society I most definitely felt but in both a truly artistic way and very anime-styled way, you see the very human force that undermines both classes of people in Neo Verona and toward the end, we see hidden forces that overshadow all that was going on in the first place. It won't be till the very end that you feel the whole emotional brunt of this stunning anime, so watch all the way till the end. The Lena Park version of "You Raise Me Up" will indefinably bring tears to even the most unwavered hearts and FUNimation with their voice talent did a stunning English dub that also can't go unrecognized.

Romeo X Juliet has made me an anime fan all over again and I'll go as far as saying that this will probably be remembered as the best anime series of the decade.

Check out the opening and ending below and be sure to support Gonzo and FUNimation by buying the box sets of this; trust me, you will not be disappointed. (I might be able to supply the box sets through my store for the x-mas season)

For more info on the music of Romeo X Juilet, check out my post on anime.fm.

Romeo X Juliet Opening

First Ending Sequence

#FanServiceFriday 11/6/09

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:00:06 PST

#FanServiceFriday is the twitter #FF trend for us anime fans. To continue the trend, here's this week's (Akikan) image.

Anime Store Feed

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:05:00 PST

As some of you may know, I own an anime store and its an anime store run with an OsCommerce back-end. OsCommerce is frankly a do-it-yourself kind of set up. One rather important thing it originally didn't have was an rss feed for people to keep track of the newest figures, figure pre-orders and other anime products that get placed in the store. RSS feeds are obviously much better in automating the updates and making it easier for you guys to see if anything changes on a daily basis without having to go to the store's main page everyday (though I of course wouldn't mind that either ^_-). I took away the rather useless amazon product links that (sometimes) linked to my items on amazon.com to now have this feed. I also put it up on the new anime.fm page. OsCommerce does have a bunch of programmers that post up useful add-ons but as usual, I had to completely re-code the supposedly working add-ons to match my site -_- So lots of time was actually put into what should have been a quick deal.

Anyways, be sure to subscribe to it to keep up to date. You never know what figures, etc I might have up for pre-order or order ^_^

Ar Tonelico 3

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:04:27 PST

Excited to find out yesterday about Ar Tonelico 3. In case you aren't familiar with the Ar Tonelico series, think of them as a mix between a dating sim and an RPG with similar dynamics to Valkyrie Profile. At the same time the art work is amazing thus making it an anime fan's dream. Hardcore gamers might not have been too fond of the previous installments due to the large amounts of dialog (with very cute 2D girls), and old-school in-game graphics, but so far the series has delivered and the 3rd installment looks to be even better. This one is a leap ahead with cell shaded 3D graphics and looks to utilize more Action RPG commands. I'd expect it to eat up 70+ hours of my time like Ar Tonelico 2 has done (which I still need to finish). Like many good things coming from Japan soon, it won't hit stores in Japan till January and thus won't be in the states till spring or so. Right now...it's just a great piece of eye candy for us.

Dragon Ball Headphones

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:55:54 PST

Here's an interesting piece of electronics I saw over at mile-stone.jp. Looks like in January or February we can get our hands on some Dragon Ball head phones, yep add headphones to the array of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z items that are out there. Based on the page, they will go for about 3440 yen or roughly $40-$45. Unless I really get started on some of that voice-over work, I probably will keep using my small ear-bud headphones.

#MoeMonday 11/2/09

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:00:16 PST

The #MM trend for us anime fans is #MoeMonday. To continue the trend of showing off moe images on Monday, here is this image of the week, the girls of K-on. They are making us here in NY wish it would be summer again soon -_-

#FanServiceFriday 10/30/09

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:15:20 PDT

#FanServiceFriday is the twitter #FF trend for us anime fans. To continue the trend, here's this week's image. This one is moe too ^_^

(sorry for posting this a bit early before ^^;;)

Michelle Phan: Sailor Moon Cosplay Makeup

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:31:00 PDT

Many of you probably know Michelle Phan. For those who don't, she's a famous youtuber who also is an avid gamer and a big anime fan. Her typical videos consist of makeup and skin care tips and in a video she posted about four days prior to this post, make-up and cosplay tips for those want to look like a very well done Sailor Moon.

Check out her video below...and be sure to subscribe ^_^

(A little bit of info, (and sorta shameless plug ^^;) Danielle and I actually do have a store through the makeup/skincare company, Artistry that you can ask us for help on as well as purchase of material for any of your cosplay needs. You can also support Michelle Phan and her sponsors, IQQU or just use what you are accustomed too ^^)

#MoeMonday

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:11:49 PDT

Here's another Twitter trend for anime fans you guys to maybe start up. There is #MusicMonday but for us...I'd say we start #MoeMonday. Like #FanServiceFriday where we tweet and post fan service pictures on Fridays, Moe Monday is for those cute Moe images in anime we love so much ^_^ Here's an image of Lucky Star's Tsukasa Hiiragi to get things started.

K-ON! Akiyama Mio Original Costume Ver. [Movic]

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:35:27 PDT

Just saw this wonderful Mio figure posted for reserve from one of my store's wholesalers mile-stone.jp Looks like it will be coming out in Japan some time in January.
For me in the states...probably later -_- but we'll see.

I will post to the store the instant I can officially reserve her for US sales

She's a 1/8th scale figure and will retail for 7140 JPY (~$85)

Big thanks to eyeonasia for most of the pics.

#FanServiceFriday

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:56:27 PDT

For those who use Twitter, a common Friday post the trend called Follow Friday or #ff to show off people on twitter we think are cool and deserve following. I thought up of an anime equivalent called #FanServiceFriday. It's a way for us to post moments in anime when either a bad anime tries to redeem itself or a good anime adds that icing on the cake. Those nosebleed-worthy moments are part of the anime culture and I say we should get this trend started ^_^

(Note: I'll keep my fan service posts only on a PG-13 or less level as for PR reasons and to keep my twitter and other accounts safe from being banned ^^;;

Also, I wish I could take credit for this but about 6 days ago the first notion of #FanServiceFriday on twitter was by user @alainchristian. Also, the anime blog moggling.com every Friday has a Fan Service Friday post (like the picture above))

My twitter name is @princetrunks btw ^^

Rogue Bishoujo Figure: Long Coat Version

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:16:50 PDT

Kotobukiya is making something special for Rogue fans. Just when you thought the Shunya Yamashita Rogue was really cool, they go and make a limited edition one. This version, the "Long Coat PX Exclusive" will be limited to just 1000 figures made. Personally, I'm just fine with the regular version but for fans that might miss out on this hot selling figure, this could be your chance. Don't expect a Pre-Christmas release though, since she's scheduled for an official US release in late January -_-

I will be stocking some for the store, so you can pre-order her here or just email me that you want to reserve one.

I hope to see more figures done with Koto and Yamashita soon.

Anime Pic of the Day 10/13/09: Tifa Fan Art

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:59:55 PDT

Here's a classic Tifa Fan art from years ago. Not sure of the artist to this day sadly, would love to give him/her credit for this picture. This picture has a special meaning since it was this image and a picture of Trunks that were the first images to grace this site back in March of 2002. Tifa has always been my favorite anime/videogame girl and will continue to be but of course I have other favorites.

Otaku USA

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:09:35 PDT

Today I came home to a great surprise. Got a free copy of the December 2009 issue of Otaku USA Magazine. Why did I get a free copy? Well, that's because you'll find us in the magazine ^_^.

Ok well, not exactly a story on us (yet), but on page 117 you will see a banner for this site and the store. Very exciting and this issue of Otaku USA has lots of good stuff, particularly about Clamp (duh) and all the series Clamp is responsible for like the recent Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and who can't forget Card Captor Sakura and Chobits? Just browsing through I saw a very cool article too on the beginnings of anime with stuff that would make Gigantor look new.

I know many of you miss NewType being in the states but Otaku USA is probably the biggest anime magazine in the country with over 300,000 subscribers and can be found at many news stations and even at Walmarts. Been trying to get an ad together for them for some time now and hopefully this won't be the last time our banner is in there as well as hopes of being in there in an article. I am responsible for a BusinessWeek article so it's only a matter of time ^_^

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood English Cast

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:08:53 PDT

Just got a message from FUNimation that they got the English voice dubbing cast together for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. As of two days ago I finally got the chance to sit down and watch the series on the FUNimation youtube channel and I have to say...the series looks awesome! Here's the list as per FUNi:

Edward Elric - Vic Mignogna
Alphonse Elric - Maxey Whitehead
Roy Mustang - Travis Willingham
Winry Rockbell - Caitlin Glass
Lust - Laura Bailey
Gluttony - Chris Cason
Maes Hughes - Sonny Strait
Scar - J Michael Tatum
Fuhrer King Bradley - Ed Blaylock
Riza Hawkeye - Colleen Clinkenbeard
Louis Armstrong - Christopher Sabat
Isaac McDougal - Bryan Massey
Envy - Wendy Powell
Jean Havoc / ADR Director - Mike McFarland

The names in red are the new voice actors and you cn see that Scar and Alphonse are new actors and the main role of Edward Elric is yet again being done by Vic Mignogna. Met Vic once and he's actually very friendly to the fans and cosplays at conventions...he's not short though like Edward ^^;

For those who somehow haven't heard of this new FMA series. It's a remake of the series that goes more to the manga than the original series did.

Mirai Suenaga Anime

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:07:51 PDT

Dannychoo.com's Mascot Mirai Suenaga is getting an anime based on her and her sisters! Called "Mirai no Mirai", the anime looks like it will be beautifully done by the artist K L. No set time yet on it's release date but I'm adding it to my watch list for sure. Big congrats to Danny Choo yet again for having his site mascot not only have a figure coming out based on her...but an anime too ^o^ Damn Danny, me and other fans out there I'm sure would love the same for their sites and own characters. Once again, thanks for blazing the trail (and making all of us all the more jealous ^^;)

Check Danny's post about it here.

Inuyasha: The Final Act is LIVE!

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:44:23 PDT

Inuyasha the Final Act JUST got live on Hulu.com! The first episode is called Naraku's Heart. Inuyasha is officially back guys!

Watch it below or check it out on Hulu

Bleach Figures

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:00:01 PDT

Alpha Omega just announced for pre-order these very great looking Bleach figures. The Neriel one of course catches the eyes ^^;; It's of course Neriel in her (nose-bleed worthy) transformed state. The second figure, looking just as true to the series is the Sarugaki Hiyori figure (shown below). They retail for about $70-$80USD and will be out in the land of the rising sun by some time in February. I haven't got word from my suppliers AAAanim e.com and yesanime.com about the US release for my store but I'm more than likely going to reserve a few for any of you to get your hands on. Chances are though..it will take till around March or so before they get here to the states -_-

Tifa Cosplay

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:29:17 PDT

Here's a little surprise for you all, my loyal readers. Thanks to the Cosprints.com, may I present you all with professional photos of my fiancee, Danielle cosplaying as Advent Children Tifa. Since she's part Japanese, she holds a decent look to Tifa in my opinion (and definitely Yuna too ^^) These were taken at the New York Anime Fest this past weekend. I might even change the cosplay image on the front page to her now ^_^

(glad to have my site back after yesterday's shut down ^^;;)
Here's a video she put up too ^^

Cencoroll

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:23:38 PDT

This past weekend the anime movie, Cencoroll was premiered at the NY Anime Festival. Though I was there, due to the insane crowding of the event in general, it was hopeless to even try to stand in there -_-. I didn't mind this too much though since seeing such chaos shows that there is still and will always be life in the anime industry.

The movie is the brain-child of Atsuya Uki who does the daunting task (yet what we all kinda want to do) of writing, designing, directing, and animating most of the anime. It's based off his manga, Amon Game and many like to compare it to a mix of Evangalion and FLCL. What makes this anime rather unique, (besides the whole controlling a flying beast from inside it) is that it's an independent film that is gaining wonderful popularity, accolades and very soon....great profit. Recently even CNN was showing how anime animators are all giving the "starving artist" image with low wages, long hours and seemingly pointless projects by their employers; employers with big names (and big pockets) like Toei and others. Cencoroll seems to show what we see when passion and heart go into an animation with money not trumping those ideals and the good old ideal I hold very dearly...not being owned by a boss.

What we have seen in recent years in the anime industry is equivalent to what we see with the video game industry with a word I've said for years before it was a norm... "shovel-ware". "Shovel-ware" in the video game industry is when a big company gets a hold of a popular license and without knowing the spirit of both the industry and the license, thinks that pumping a quick game that has that license will yield the most profits, since everyone will gather to that popular name. Wonder why in God's name there are Barbie games or why most games based on movies are generally terrible? (Wonder why Dragon Ball Evolution was just an insult to all who care for anime?) Anime got great popular internationally at the beginning of the century and some studios have fallen into that trap of pumping out "shovel-ware" (example: fillers)

To see something like Cencoroll, an independent project, come to the limelight and be aided by leaders in the industry like Aniplex, it's very refreshing and makes anyone looking to make their own anime have great hope. Many of us fans of anime are into it because we were inspired by the art and culture and in no other industry do you see the fans do their best to participate, mimic and hopefully surpass their role models.

Check out the trailer to Cencoroll below.

Hyakka Ryoran: Hattori Hanzo Alter Figure

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:11:48 PDT

Update(10/17/09): Hattori Hanzo was announced for official US distribution.

Got her up for pre-order here.

Here's another figure I'm putting on my "Must Buy 0_0" list. From the series Hyakka Ryoran, aka "Samurai Girls" comes this recently announced figure of Hattori Hanzo. She won't be in till around March in Japan (April or later in the states -_-) but this figure is on my watch list for sure. If I can nab a few for my store, you'll see here up there. She retails for about 9240 yen or about $105 USD, is made by Alter and is a 1/8th scale, so roughly 220mm.

My God don't go anywhere near her if she spins...that'll be instant death

MOFILM Fan Ad Competition (Contest Winners Shown)

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:54:45 PDT

(update:)
Here are the winners of this contest:

First place winner: "stop ignoring your skin" by Jeff Gill

Second place runner up: "Busy Life Healthy Skin" by Adam Montoya

Third place runner up: "Vaseline" by Alexandria Jackson

Are you an aspiring movie maker? I know many of us anime fans are if AMVs are any hint of it. Well, got some cool news to share to you from my friends over at RocketXL and MOFILM.
Some of you might know about the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival that's in October. MOFILM and Vaseline want you to possibly win a trip to the Film Festival as well as get a hold of $10,000. Here's the details:

"Vaseline MEN has forged an exciting partnership with MOFILM, a pioneer in sourcing user-generated content, for the "Make an Ad" Competition which offers aspiring filmmakers the chance to submit a film by October 5 for the chance to win these amazing prizes:

- 1st Place prize is US $10,000 and a trip for two people to attend this year's London Film Festival, including airfare and lodging! - 2nd Prize: US $500 - 3rd Prize: US $500

Vaseline has created a creative brief around its Vaseline MEN Fast Absorbing Body & Face lotion that it is uniquely designed to fortify men's skin to make it stronger and more resilient, in just :15 seconds a day. Interested participants can download the creative brief, already available, at the MOFILM website http://www.mofilm.com/competitions/lff2009/terms to create a 90-second advertisement on the brief and upload it to the MOFILM website before the closing date of October 5.

The competition is open to anyone over the age of 16, with awards and prizes to be selected by a brand representatives and a distinguished group of independent judges.

You can also follow @MOFILMvaseline on Twitter for updates from Vaseline MEN and can tweet any questions about the brief or program directly to the brand."

Check this out guys. Who knows, your clip might be the one to win..just don't do the AMV route and put copyrighted material ^^;;

Inuyasha: The Final Act (updated)

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:02:58 PDT

(Update 10/3/09): The first episode airs very soon on Hulu.com! Check the trailer below. The instant it goes up, I'll get it here on the site ^_^

Great news for Inuyasha fans! Soon there finally will be closure to the anime series! The 26 episode sequel series called Inuyasha: The Final Act will be airing in Japan starting October 3rd. The story continues where the last series ended and will complete the story remaining in 21 manga volumes. Viz of course will be buying the rights here in the US, not sure if Cartoon Network will drop the ball again and miss out on yet another big series, but at least we'll see it finally come to a conclusion. Hopefully I'll resurrect my old Inyasha section into the new format of my site by then ^^;; This is also great info for those who have been bugging me about the supposed OVA that was to happen. This I'm pretty sure is what it has evolved into.

More news can be read at Anime News Network

(still wondering why I'm getting the cold shoulder from @ANNZac there. I throw traffic their way; probably pissed since my site sometimes gets better SEO than they do -_-)

New York Anime Fest 2009 (Updated)

noreply@blogger.com (princetrunks) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:24:08 PDT

Well, the 2009 NY Anime Fest has come to a close. Had a great time. Going to post up some cool stuff in the days to come, including a surprise for the front page of the site ^^ You can check the Flickr feed I used while there. Tried to make it as live as possible but the darn iPhone's battery power kept things at a minimum. As for best cosplay of the event (other than my fiancee being Tifa)...check out this sick, sick Bumble Bee costume.

See NYAF pictures at the official group here.