Chances are, if you care anything at all about the anime “business,” the first name you’ll hear when it comes to animation studios is Studio Ghibli (or more than likely, studio head Hayao Miyazaki).  Probably just a step below that Japanimation juggernaut lies Gainax, my favorite animation studio, and creators of hits such as Fooly Cooly, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt, and Neon Genesis Evangelion.  Gainax started in the early 80′s under the title “Daicon Film,” and was started by a small group of otaku enthusiasts.  Daicon Film’s first ventures into animation included a set of amateur fan-films entitled Daicon III and IV, in which a young girl battles Godzilla, a Gundam, and a Darth Vader, the Starship Enterprise, an Alien, among others.  These were shown at various conventions and fan gatherings to help promote the new studio’s later official ventures.

Gainax proper began working on anime films and shows in the late 1980′s, starting with the little-known Wings of the Honnêamise.  Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water aired in 1990, based on a concept handed down to Hideaki Anno by Hayao Miyazaki.  It is partially inspired by the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.  Due to its initial popularity, more episodes were ordered by NHK (the Japanese equivalent of PBS), causing problems with Gainax’s schedules and putting them under heavy work loads.

Working mostly on OVAs and smaller works such as Otaku no Video, Gainax would not return to television until 1995′s Neon Genesis Evangelion.  Hoping to make a much bigger impact than Nadia, which was successful, but a mess from a production standpoint, and a show that the team had limited creative control over, Gainax aimed to take the typical giant robot show and turn it on its head.  Unfortunately, more of the same problems rose with the production of the show, being both its greatest flaw and saving grace.  Essentially bankrupt, Gainax was at first unable to meet its initial goals of completing Evangelion, reducing the final two episodes of the series to essentially nothing more than storyboards.  However, a rousing commercial success from sales of merchandising and extreme critical acclaim allowed them to finish the show with 1997′s End of Evangelion movie.  Lesser known shoujo love story His and Her Circumstances came next for the studio.  Often touted as a “vacation” for the team after Evangelion’s horrid production period and overall dreary tone, the studio went on to work on the decidedly goofy Fooly Cooly, an OVA series composed of six episodes that was made in 2000.

After helping with the Cowboy Bebop movie, and teaming up with Shaft for both This Ugly Yet Beautiful World and He Is My Master, 2007 introduced the world to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.  Known for its energetic, manly appeal and bigger-than-life characters, Gurren Lagann was an instant hit.  Breathing new life into the super robot genre, it went on to spawn two new movies and a myriad of merchandise.  Much of the same team went on to work on 2011′s Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Gainax’s song to American animation and raunchy humor.

Some of Gainax’s most notable members include:

1. Hideaki Anno is Gainax’s most known member, and directed Gunbuster, Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water, and Neon Genesis Evangelion.  First major accomplishments include working as an animator for Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicca and the Valley of the Wind, being tasked to animate the difficult God Warriors from the movie, as well as animating for Macross, Urusei Yatsura, and Grave of the Fireflies.  A “(self-proclaimed) prodigal son” of Hayao Miyazaki, his original attempts at directing a series ended up largely failures, brought on by executive meddling and strict time and resource constraints from the struggling new studio.

2. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto.  Mostly known as a character designer and animation supervisor/director for a myriad of Gainax’s most notable entries, Evangelion, Fooly Cooly, and Nadia, as well as anime such as .hack//Sign, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, and the video game Chrono Cross.

3. Hiroyuki Yamaga.  Director of Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, a critically-acclaimed, but commercially unsuccessful anime film, as well as Gainax’s first official work.  He also directed Mahoromatic in a joint venture with Shaft, and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi.

4. Hiroyuki Imaishi.  Mostly known for his efforts in later Gainax works, he began his career working on Evangelion, and has since become one of the biggest key animators in the business, helping to animate and storyboard Gainax works Fooly Cooly, His and Her Circumstances, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, among others.  He was also the head Director for Gurren Lagann and Panty and Stocking before his departure in 2011.  Non-Gainax works include storyboarding and key animation for Fullmetal Alchemist, Hellsing, Shaman King, and dozens of others.

Trivia:

1. Gainax has won the Animage Grand Prix four times, for Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water (1990), Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995 and 1996), and End of Evangelion (1997).

2. Gainax comes from an old Japanese word meaning “giant.”

3. Many members of Gainax are fans of famous Western media, and especially cartoons, as shown in the various cameos of Daicon III-IV,  as well as Fooly Cooly and Panty and Stocking’s “South Park” moments.  Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants can be seen in Viral’s cockpit in an episode of Gurren Lagann.

4. Following the extreme financial success of Evangelion, Gainax president Takeshi Sawamura was jailed for tax evasion, failing to pay 560 Million Yen in taxes from Evangelion properties.

5. Gainax has inspired two well-known tropes, the Gainax Bounce for being the studio known for animating moving breasts, and the Gainax Ending for a sudden, sometimes unexpected change in pace, mood, or overall feel near the end of their shows.

Christmas is a familiar, but decidedly different holiday for the Japanese, at least when compared to Western values.  As any anime/manga will be willing to tell you, the Japanese love festivals.  They have them at schools, at holidays, and just about for any reason they can think of.  For that reason, working Christmas into their schedule was hardly a problem, even if the holiday carries a more religious connotation here than there.  So here’s a list (in no particular order) of some of the more memorable Christmas-related scenes from Japan.

1.  Hayate the Combat Butler – Santa’s Kind of a Jerk

I’ve only seen a few episodes of this anime, but this scene very early in the first episode stuck with me.  Hayate, a young man who has to work to pay off his good-for-nothing parent’s constant debts, is recalling a conversation he once had with Santa Claus.  (I am not sure if this actually happened, or was part of some adolescent fantasy, but anyway…)  During this short exchange, Santa gives him some advice to work hard to find his own dreams, which sounds like rather sagely advice from old Saint Nick.  However, one part of this conversation makes him seem a bit… well… different.  When Hayate asks why it is that he never seems to receive presents for Christmas, Santa explains in a very calm manner…

2. CLANNAD: After Story – Christmas at the Furukawa Bakery

One of my favorites, CLANNAD is a drama-comedy that deals with the aspect of family.  To explain everything that leads up to this would be a bit hectic, as it’s very late into the second season.  Simply put, the main character, Tomoya, due to his own family problems, has found a new family in the Furukawa’s, made of Sanae (mother), Akio (father), and Nagisa (daugher and Tomoya’s love interest).  It is also Nagisa’s twentieth birthday, which means she can drink according to Japanese law, a fact that her father is very proud of.  When Nagisa goes a little overboard (not that it takes much…), things become a little hectic.  A funny, and a bit heartwarming take on the traditional “family during the Holidays” scene.

3. Toradora – Teddy Santa

Toradora is a high-school romantic comedy that I found overall pretty enjoyable, though incredibly slow at points.  One of the best scenes is also one of the biggest turning point in the love-triangle (er, I guess square… it’s complicated) involving most of the main cast.  It also happens right around Christmas, which is a time for lovers more in the East than it is in America.  When female-lead Taiga Aisaka is feeling particularly down after a Christmas party at the school, it is up to Teddy Santa (male-lead Ryuuji) to bring up her spirits.  In the end, this may cause more problems than it actually fixed, though…

4. The Dissappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya – A Very SOS-Brigade Christmas

While very little of this movie actually has to do with Christmas (it’s just around the corner virtually the entire movie), the cold, wintery vibe makes it feel very much like a Holiday movie.  Haruhi gets it in her head to have an SOS-Brigade Christmas party, and of course this means a new – *ahem* – outfit for Mikuru.  Will Kyon finally get a normal Christmas this year?  Watch and see, if you’re interested,

If you have any other good Christmas-themed anime scenes, feel free to post about them in the comments!

As an early adopter, do I regret getting the Vita? Yes and no.  Yes, because I felt like I could have used that money in some other capacity, especially considering Uncharted and Gravity Rush are both free now as part of the instant game collection (for PS+ subscribers). No, because I really like the system and what I have gotten out of it. I missed out on the PSP; mainly because I wanted to (Read: didn’t want to pay money for it), but there were a lot of games I wanted to play. The PS Vita allows me to do that and that’s one of the reasons I really enjoy it.  The PSP games play solidly and are pretty cheap (with most games being at or under $14.99). Now that the system has been updated to play PS1 games it’s even better for those of you who want to take Xenogears on the go.

You could say that the Vita was produced with the aging gamer in mind; however, developments in mobile gaming have moved toward bite sized games with our phones as primary mobile gaming devices.  This means that the Vita not only has to contend for pocket space, but also market share.  What does this mean for the Vita’s full length and full priced games? Well it means that less people are going to be interested in finding time to sit down and playing these longer games, never mind the notion of buying and carrying around another device.  Why carry two devices, when you can carry one and still get your fix? Luckily, I haven’t grown up and I still wear baggy pants with deep pockets.  If nothing else you can use it as an excuse to try and bring back the wicked awesome creature known as the fanny pack.

It’s not like mobile games are horrible.  In fact many of them look great and play really well. You can’t argue with the general sub $5 price tags either.  However, for me those games are generally fairly limited and don’t have much on the 3DS or Vita.  I have several of the Vita games including: Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, Assassin’s Creed: Liberation, and Persona 4: Golden. I’ve played many more of them via Gamefly.  The ‘problem’ with the Vita games is that they are somewhat demanding in terms of time, especially compared to bite-sized mobile games like Angry Birds and Jetpack Joyride.

Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily.  For me, I play my Vita when I go on long trips and when I’m at a place where I know I’ll have extended periods of downtime.  Sometimes I feel like there is too much content to finish in a reasonable time, especially since they have trophy support.  I’ve heard people say that they don’t mind when a game on their phone sucks, but if they paid $40 for a game and it sucks they’d lose their shit.  That’s fair, but just like consoles I still look for information on my games before I buy them.  The last time I didn’t I ended up with Mugen Souls 2 and an upset wallet.  It sits on my shelf as a constant reminder of my failure. For all of the games I’ve picked up for the Vita, there has been at least 10 or more hours of content for solidly built games.  That’s normal for consoles and awesome for a handheld console.  With that much gameplay, I personally don’t feel ripped off at the price of full releases.

If you’re looking to buy games whether shorter indie games or full releases from the digital store, you can utilize the rating system built into the PSN as well as the demos and game trailers.  If in doubt, do more research.  I haven’t played many of the digital releases, but I found Escape Plan to be worth my $15. It’s a great puzzle game that really shows off the gimmicky aspects of the Vita.

Many people complain about the comfort of the system and the battery life.  I haven’t had a problem with the battery life.  I generally only play in hour increments depending on the game, but the battery did last for a series of flights from Memphis, Tennessee to Delhi, India without charging.  Again, I played in hour increments between passing out, movies, and whining about being bored.  The way I deal with the shape of the device is by having bought a dual-shock-controller-shaped protector for it for $15.  It makes the system much more holdable and pulls those pesky triggers back into firing position.  It won’t protect the already solidly built system from a fall (watch the drop videos for it), but it does make it very comfortable to hold for extended gaming sessions.

Is the Vita worth the ~$250 entry point? That’s up to you.  It works well for me and I can understand reasons for concern given the expensive entry point and general lack of third party support.  If you are on the fence about it I recommend you do some research on it.  If you don’t have one yet and want to get one I recommend the Assassin’s Creed: Liberation bundle (which comes with a 4 GB memory card, the game, and a special white Vita) and paying $17.99 for three months of PlayStation Plus (if you don’t already subscribe on the PS3).  With PS+ you can get the instant game collection don’t have to worry about buying more than one game right away.

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A lot of people attack various gaming franchises for doing the same thing over and over again. Lots of people focus on Nintendo, and especially Mario, even though I find that hilarious since Mario’s gaming resume has included platformer, puzzle, sports, RPG, and, well, just about everything that isn’t first-person-shooter. The Pokemon games have, more than most gaming franchises in my opinion, held onto the same standard quite strictly, just refining them more and more with each passing generation. And I don’t want to hear any of that, “But generation one was the best,” bullcrap, either.  Click the image below if you want to know how utterly broken those games were.

Even the people who just liked the aesthetics of Generation 1 (in other words, claim the Pokemon were better designed), are ignoring such brilliant designs as “stick another head or two on the evolution of a Pokemon” design that they did not once, or twice, but THREE TIMES with Magneton, Dugtrio, and Dodrio, or the amazing concepts such as Exeggcute and Exeggutor, which is “collection of eggs ordered from least-to-most cracked which evolves into a coconut tree with eggs instead of coconuts.” Clearly Generation one was flawless. Personally I feel that Generation II was the best, but all of them have their ups and downs.

But as I was saying before, Pokemon has stayed virtually the same every generation. Generation II added two new types and reorganized the typing tree so that certain types (psychic) weren’t crazy overpowered, as well as adding new holdable items, while Generation III created Natures to boost certain desirable stats, while lowering others, as well as special passive abilities for each Pokemon. Each generation adds a few more Pokemon, also, but mostly it’s all the same. You got a team of six guys, with one or two types. They each get four different moves. You use the moves strategically until all the opponent’s guys are dead.

If there is one thing that is a definite trend among modern video games it is the modding scene, and the older and simpler the game, the easier to understand the mechanics, and the more it gets modded. Look at the modding community for Minecraft, a game that could probably run on an N64, if not for the size of the worlds. Due to the simplicity of the setup, hundreds of people have modded in additional machines and items to make the game more interesting. Fans also recently recreated the classic “Half-Life” with modern-day graphics in a mod called “Black Mesa.” As gaming evolves and becomes more complicated, earlier, or less complicated games can be enhanced by an amateur modding scene. Pokemon has been treated in a similar manner in two decidedly different ways by its fanbase.

Pokemon Online is, simply put, a Pokemon Battle Simulator. Forgoing all the “slower” aspects of the normal games, in this game you just choose your Pokemon, levels, moves, etc. and battle people in a chatroom. Almost everything in the game is made by its creators to be technically legal according to the games that the simulator is based on, but has additional rulings and things known as tiers. Placing specific Pokemon into ratings according to how powerful each one is and a few other factors, each tier has its own specific powerhouses and strategies based on what is available to them. In the “Ubers” tier, almost anything goes, and you can expect to see the best of the best such as Mewtwo, Arceus, and a few unexpected Pokemon such as Blaziken. Below that is Overused, where most of the lesser Legendary Pokemon and some of the more powerful normal Pokemon lie. Underused, Neverused, and the Little Cup are the other tiers, and you can also change the generation you are battling under, limiting the Pokemon and strategies. There’s a lot of possibilities, but Pokemon Online is definitely for the more hardcore player. If you look at Snorlax as “that fat Pokemon,” and not “excellent RestTalker, and slow, but bulky physical sweeper,” then this game probably isn’t for you.

PokeMMO is just that – a Pokemon MMO. Literally playing off of a rom of Pokemon FireRed for the Gameboy Advance, but connected with a server like a typical multiplayer game, you can play through the Kanto region just like in the classics. This time, however, hundreds of other trainers are walking around in that same space. This game isn’t nearly as polished as the former (mostly because it’s still in beta). Many moves are incomplete or broken, the Elite Four is not yet implemented, nor are the Sevii Islands and related post-game content, along with breeding and Legendaries, but everything is quickly coming together. According to the team working on the game, further regions, and the related Pokemon will eventually be implemented, but everything will take some time. For those who want a more authentic Pokemon experience, however, this is the game. You actually level and raise these Pokemon, rather than picking them pre-made from a system. While I have mostly done everything I care to in this game for now, I plan on coming back once breeding has been implemented, since I’ll actually be able to raise Pokemon effectively rather than aimlessly hoping that I capture something with the right Nature and Values.

With such a simple system and worldwide popularity, Pokemon was an obvious choice for people to build upon online. With all of these additions to the main series being created by the fanbase, I question what lies in the future of the main series. In a lot of ways, Pokemon is being taken over by the people who play the games, rather than the creators, if that hasn’t already happened.

I’m currently working on a paper about cyber terrorism and trying to recuperate from Thanksgiving, so this week I’m doing something a little different. Below is a written interview with Whomp! comics creator Ronnie Filyaw.  I first encountered Whomp! the day of the interview with Up Up Down Down.  I was looking through their back catalog again when I noticed the Whomp! banner and thought it looked interesting.  I found myself working through Whomp!’s back log of greatness when I should have been preparing more questions and doing more research.  (To be fair, I thought I was already prepared enough, but I managed to lose all of my notes along the way. Despite that minor (read: large) set back, I plowed through the interview like a stumbling champ.)

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How did you get into doing web comics? Have you always wanted be a writer/artist of a web comic?

I’ve always liked to draw, and I always liked being the funny guy. Also, cartoons were a big part of my life as a kid and teen. Since animation is infinitely difficult and time-consuming for an individual, comics were the next best thing. As a youngster, I enjoyed Garfield and Dilbert a lot, but my real inspiration for comics as a medium was Penny Arcade.

How old were you when you started Whomp!? What were you doing before comics?

I was 27 I believe. Shortly before my 28^th birthday. Before comics, I was an IT guy. I’ve always been much better at computers than drawing, but I am not fond of fixing computers.

How did you come up with the title, Whomp!?

I wanted the comic to emanate a high-energy, actiony feel, and for the name to reflect that as well. “Whomp!” is a great onomatopoeia used in comics, and was also a word used in the cartoon “Recess” meaning “bad” which was a slightly conscious decision to make it the first self-deprecating joke of the comic.

What are your influences on your humor, art, and writing?

My original influences for Whomp! in particular were KC Green and Spongebob Squarepants. They helped me find my voice. I pushed away from them as direct influences as soon as I could, however. I found my own voice, and I try to keep it as purely original as possible (which is a bit unreasonable considering every decision we make is from external influence and experience, and most stories are clever rearrangements of other stories, whether we realize it or not.)

What are some of the challenges you face when writing and drawing a comic?

The drawing of a comic is merely time and pressure. I always draw the best I can, and I improve a little day by day. It’s not stressful except when I can’t figure out why my hand is being stupid. The most stress comes from trying to be funny and original three times a week. It’s very easy to laugh at your own joke, then draw it and think you’re done. What usually happens for me is I laugh at my joke, draw it in storyboard form, then realize “Wait, this isn’t funny…” and commence to writing more strips. By the end of a writing session, I pick what I think is the best one and hope the readers agree. (However by the end of any writing session, my brain is twisted into so many knots, I don’t know what’s funny anymore.)

Your art has definitely improved. Why did you opt out on using Kirby dots?

It was tedious trying to make them look right when scaled down to 72DPI for the web. Often patterns would appear in them that I didn’t like. I could have fixed this by making my own screentone sheets that work for every occasion, but it made more sense to just stop trying to emulate newspapers/comic books and embrace the high quality of computers and modern print.

Where do you get your inspiration for your main characters and your side characters?  How much are you and comic Ronnie alike? What are some differences and similarities?

Motivation Dude was invented as a need for someone to make Ronnie do things. Left to his own devices, Ronnie would be lazy and never do anything. In fact, M Dude first appears in a comic when I hadn’t drawn a webcomic in weeks due to a marathon of Nintendo DS Castlevania games. He’s imaginary, but somehow he pushes me to work on a schedule.

Agrias is based on other people around me. She’s no one in particular, but I can use her when I don’t want to use the names/image of real people in my life for the benefit of those people. This often makes her seem more vanilla because she’s the most realistic character.

Everyone on the side is just someone who has popped into my head at some point who I thought would be fun to make a comic about. None of them have anything resembling thought-out back stories or character arcs. They’re just fun one-offs I can sometimes get back to.

Cartoon Ronnie is much more open about his fears/fury than I am. He and I share similar likes/dislikes, but I try to be much more quiet, and I’m much more shy when it comes to any interaction with strangers. He also likes K-On way more than I do. It’s an okay show, but it’s really made for lonely guys, and while I’m often a lonely guy, I’m not a regular consumer of lonely-guy media.

How much of Whomp!’s content is based on real life? Do you really have that strong of a fascination with Sailor Moon/anime in general? If so, what are some of your favorite anime?

Sailor Moon was a HUGE influence on my original inspiration to draw. I would get up at 5AM to watch it every weekday morning. I would record it on VHS tapes and pause them so I could draw the characters. I couldn’t really place it at the time, but I knew there was something different about Sailor Moon when compared to other shows of the time. Heck, one guy died really gruesomely! On a kid’s show! You didn’t see much of that until Dragon Ball Z came along.

While I haven’t been watching much anime lately, I do really love the medium. My favorite shows are all slice-of-life comedies with sadness kept to a minimum. Azumanga Daioh, Toradora!, Lovely Complex, The Gokusen, and really a lot of other high school comedies fall into this category. Nichijou is my most recent favorite, despite the absurd moments that normally scare me away.

Reading through your earlier comics, most of them are one off jokes. When did you decide to make Ronnie the main character? What influences played into that decision? What was your original plan for Whomp!?

The comic evolves in a way I don’t get to choose, so Ronnie became the main character probably out of my own narcissism. It was a natural transition. Whomp! was supposed to be all one-off jokes with different characters, and rarely a strong connection between them so they each be enjoyed on their own. But the comic has decided else-wise! It’s a living entity I hope some day to wrangle and break like a wild mustang so that I may exploit its sweet comedic juices properly.

Will we ever see Rumpy or The Interminable Supercentenarian again?

Maybe! If the comic chooses, that is. I try to do things with them from time to time, but if I can’t make a joke work, it goes in the trash or the “maybe” pile which may as well be the trash.

How long does it usually take for you to produce a strip? Would you mind cluing us into your process?

2 hours minimum of writing for each strip. If I get lucky, I get a good comic in 15 minutes. If I don’t get lucky, I’ve gone 2 hours without a good strip. More than 2 hours of straight writing tangle my brain, so there’s no use in doing more.

Drawing usually takes 3-4 hours. Sometimes up to 6 if I’m not concentrated enough. I do an extremely rough storyboard sketch in the writing phase. Then I do “pencils” which is the main sketch stage. Then I ink my final lines, color and clean up. It’s all done digitally with a Wacom tablet. I recommend the Bamboo for the beginner. I do not recommend any other brand. Trust me, I’ve tried them all.

What do you do when not working on Whomp!? What are your hobbies?

I play video games, but I have weird tastes (Harvest Moon is an example. Surprisingly however, I dislike most anime-style games.) I also read manga, but it doesn’t take very long to get caught up. Sometimes I like to search out new manga.

Sometimes I enjoy classic movies I’ve never seen. It’s fun seeing which ones people love because of nostalgia, and which ones are legitimate masterpieces.

What are some things that most of your readers don’t know about you?

I’m 6’2” tall, and not very spherical. I’m sorry! I’m also very timid and quiet and polite around people I don’t know very well.

I like diet sodas. I switched to them when I was 12, and I would be even fatter if I drank proper soda.

What, if anything, has changed about you since starting Whomp!?
I work harder. It has made me a much more diligent worker. Also, I’m a lot happier than before I started. It has also given me the ability to self-critique my art and writing, which no one ever told me that it is a skill you can learn. Most people who think they can do this probably can’t. You have to be torn down and then rise to the challenge of becoming a better artist/writer. Only then will you find what it means to learn from your mistakes.

What’s your favorite Whomp! comic? Why?

The one where Ronnie returns the necklace Mei gave him. It just popped into my head, and I felt like it was absolutely perfect. Not because Ronnie finally won, but just because it had so many elements of my ideal strip that came together like a hurricane. It resolved a storyline, it had a callback to a relevant comic, and even though Ronnie won in the end, there was still a little thing that harmed him in the way the comic is wont to do. I didn’t doubt it the whole time I was drawing it, and when I was done, a lot of people liked it. It was a level of perfection I wish I could achieve with every comic.

Do you read other web comics? What are they?

Not really! I am extremely familiar with most of the big players, but webcomics are just not something I invest my time in. I’m like a vegetarian working in a meat packing plant. This particular vegetarian isn’t morally opposed to the meat, it’s just their thing. Then they go home and eat anime or something? Yeah! Analogies!

Are you working on any other projects?

Nothing at the moment. Whomp! takes a lot of my brain power (and will power). I’m always working on side things and thinking of new comics I want to draw, but I’ve not taken significant steps towards that goal. I want to do lots of different things, probably more than my brain can handle.

What are your plans and hopes for Whomp! and will it have an ending?

Whomp! has an ending already written! However, my hope to continue the comic for a long time, so the ending will not be seen anywhere in the near future. I also hope it stays relevant and relatively fresh for as long as it’s going, because my biggest fear is becoming bland and not even realizing it.

Finally, would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?

Horses can feel love. Ducks think everything is bread. I will teach the horses to love me. Together we will do battle with BigDuck. Many fine miniature steeds will be lost, but-

Wait, I wonder if you can train a duck-sized duck to ride a duck-sized horse. This changes everything.

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I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.

If you want to read of the amazing Ronnie Filyaw’s awesome comics check here. Remember, if you like his stuff be sure to support him by buying volume 1 and 2 of his works. If you add $5 to your order he’ll do a personal sketch for you.

You can follow him on Twitter @RonnieFilyaw

If you would like to read more about Ronnie check out Up Up Down Down’s great interview here.

For more interviews and articles be sure to check back and follow us @teamasunder

Most people who aren’t into the deeper aspects of anime usually think of a few specific stereotypes when it comes to the art form  If they’re knowledgeable enough to realize it’s not just another word for “cartoons,” they may jump to something that was mega-popular enough in the western hemisphere to jump into “mainstream,” such as Pokemon was in the mid-nineties. As TV Tropes.org will be happy to explain here, if they frequent porn sites, their only main interaction with anime is through ads for hentai, making them think it’s nothing more than animated porn. Some think only Miyazaki stuff, others liken it to girly shows, while even more think about shows like Dragon Ball Z – full of buff, manly men with energy waves and destructo-spheres and enough testosterone to knock many adolescents straight through puberty in record time.

Shonen (which literally means “few years,” but more specifically refers to the Japanese term for boys aged 10 to 16/18) is, I will admit, my second favorite anime demographic. The other demographics are kodomo (children), shoujo (young female), josei (adult female), and seinen (adult male). Shonen as a set of fiction for an age group isn’t in any way inherently flawed – people from different age groups are going to have different interests, and dividing them according to age helps to keep appropriate content among children, and to keep specific interests sorted is a good thing. My third favorite anime is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, which is incredibly shonen, and decidedly an action show, even though I insist it denies most of the conventions of the typical narrative. A decent percentage (though still a minority) of shonen isn’t even action. ToraDora is a very good shonen romance, Love Hina covers a more fanservice-heavy romantic comedy setup, Death Note is a great example of psychological mind-games, and even Fullmetal Alchemist, which has more disturbing and mature content than most Seinen is considered Shonen. This, unfortunately, isn’t what sells.

Standard action shonen is the most consistently-well selling type of manga. For reasons I don’t understand, shonen anime don’t tend to sell quite as well comparatively. My specific problems with this is that most of these stories are incredibly trite, cliche, and uninspired, following, the exact same scenarios and ideas as its predecessors.

Almost all action shonen employ two die-hard themes: fighting and friendship. Fights in action shonen are a technical splendor, that I will admit. It’s hard not to get pumped during the fireworks-like display of an average Naruto fight, for instance. But on an intellectual level so much of this falls short. A fight in these shows works less as a major turning point for a character and more about showing off a new ability or move. When a new obstacle needs overcoming, a new technique is learned, or is otherwise overcome through the power of will or friendship. If said technique is “Forbidden,” it accentuates an idea of depth and darkness, while not actually giving any substance. This is why shonen heroes have super-powered evil sides (Naruto’s Kyuubi and rage, Super Saiyans and a lack of emotion, Hollow Ichigo, among others), in a sense “playing” off the idea of dark tones and giving the younger of the audience a feeling of being more mature than the story necessarily is. This is shonen, however, and no matter how close this entity or persona comes to taking them over, the main character will persevere, regain control, and not commit any atrocities (intentionally or otherwise) by the time they become their normal selves. A full release of these powers could create a problem far worse than anything the villains could cook up, but it never happens. It is substanceless. Worse, it is substancelessness that is exemplified through a fighting form that only makes sense insomuch as the audience is willing to accept it. How big, fiery, and explosive can I make my “Daihihatsu” technique? The answer: as big as the author needs to make it work. If it’s going to stretch believeability in any way, then throw in a new form, or a cheesy realization for increased willpower. When any and all concepts and limitations of reality are thrown out for the sake of making a more impressive display, every single conflict in the show can be summed up in one single phrase…

My biggest beef with shonen is probably its popularity, and that’s because it is the go-to demographic that most represents the rest of anime. Having largely grown out of anything even remotely resembling the Shonen Big Three, and moved on to the Seinen demographic in recent years, I’m always hoping that others who have only stuck with the Toonami model would give other, more adult-oriented series a try, regardless of whether it’s action or not. As for action shonen… I’ll take Girlchan In Paradise over what’s popular any day.

As I don’t watch football very often, I never really had incentive to watch The League.  However, I started watching it on a whim to see how Nick Kroll and Jon Lajoie acted on the show.  I ended up loving the whole cast and now have a crush on Katie Aselton.  For those that don’t know, The League is about a group of friends that have their own fantasy football league.  The thing that I like about the show most is the chemistry of the cast.  It’s hilarious, the semi-scripted snaps feel like legit digs at one another and the show rewards you for remembering earlier season’s in-jokes.  Everyone is hilarious in their own way.  Unfortunately, after watching three seasons of the show I started to absorb Ruxin’s personality, who is both full of himself and perhaps the biggest asshole on the show.  Both of which are problems of the ego I always try to keep in check (believe it or not).  On the plus side, it led to a hilarious-for me- night at IHOP.  I can’t recommend this show enough.  You don’t have to have any knowledge of football or fantasy football (I’m still not sure how it works) to enjoy the great situations, conversations, and characters. The show also proves that paint ball episodes of any show will always be awesome.

I think this clip sums up the show nicely. If you like it you’ll like the rest of the show:

Season 3 of Louie is perhaps my favorite.  I would say that Louie C.K. has perhaps had difficulty figuring out exactly what the show is.  Don’t get me wrong, the show has been great.  The first season felt akin to a skit show that didn’t feel that far removed content wise from Lucky Louie, almost a sequel.  The second season felt like an intimate view into Louie’s mind.  The first season had elements of that, but the second season felt very depressing.  As season 3 treads on, it basically becomes an episodic indie film.  It’s interesting to see things play out and also to see those great moments Louie has really stretch out and shift into the next random event.  Also, I really love the music in this show, it’s alway incredibly moving and really drives the tone of the show.  We won’t be getting a season of Louie in 2013, but if that means that the next season will be as interesting as season 3 I’ll be happy to patiently wait.

I’m only half way through the final season of Weeds.  I like how it’s going so far.  Since I haven’t watched all of it, I can’t really say too much about it.  One thing I can say for sure it is that I’m glad they decided to end the show at season 8.  Seasons 6 and 7 were rough when compared to first half of the show.  They always tie up nicely, but I kept feeling like the show was flopping around in the water trying not to drown.  I feel like the final season has turned a lot of its previous problems around and has managed to make the main cast likeable again.  Because the show has been over for a little while now, I probably won’t do an update or anything like that. Not unless it ends on such a great high note that it will make me want to sit down and shit out an article about the ups and downs of the show.

Sword Art Online is one of the few shows that I actively look forward to each week.  I began watching it on a whim and never looked back.  It’s a show about a gamer, in the not so distant future where people can virtually go into games via VR equipment called NerveGear, who is forced to adapt and learn to be a team player in the face of death. Unlike /.hack, the show moves through different games, each representing an ark, and really offers interesting insight into gaming philosophy and relationships.  The show begins with the debut of a new MMORPG and tons of users login and begin their journey.  The game is a skill based RPG with no magic that forces players to find a dungeon with the level boss.  Once the level boss is defeated they can move on to the next level, which serves as a new environment to explore. The problem is that the users cannot log out and if they die in the game, they die in real life. The only way to save those who survive is to finish the 100 levels of the game.  What’s great about this show is the fact that they spend a lot of time exploring concepts such as meaning of life, soloing, guilds, guild maintenance, loyalty, and marriage in gaming.  The story, art, and dialogue are all really great.  The action is sweet if scarce. The show is ongoing and being simulcast on Crunchy Roll.  I won’t spend any more time talking about it in this article.  Just know that it’s really great and that I’ll definitely write more about it in the future. 

I hope I didn’t waste your time reading this article as much as I feel like I wasted time this weekend just watching TV, doing research, and playing a butt-ton of spider solitaire.

Finally, make sure you check out Marvel Now and Jon Ronson’s “Lost at Sea”.

I’ll leave you with another attempt to sell you on The League:

Unlike most people playing games on Youtube, Game Grumps has a lot going for it. The excellent commentary and synergy between the two co-hosts adds a whole lot to the experience. Egoraptor and JonTron discuss the games that they play, either seriously in a manner similar to Ego’s Sequelitis videos, or by just pointing out the games various eccentricities. They can take the simplest aspects of a game, from the expressions, lines, or animations from various NPCs and craft some hilarious commentary on it. JonTron is the king of overexaggeration, and his sudden bursts of outrage at a sudden loss or what he believes to be bad game design is gold. The best of these are summarized in fan-created “Game Grumps Animated” segments, which take the audio from various episodes, and depict the events in cartoon form, either from the host’s perspective on the couch, or by personifying them as characters in the game. Some of my favorite examples include:

Depending on whether they are playing a terrible game (being Grump), or an actually good or passable game (Not So Grump), you’re kind of getting two different experiences. Kirby, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Link to the Past, Aladdin, and Pokemon Emerald are pleasant experiences for the viewer and the players, even if the hosts don’t always agree with every aspect of the game, such as calling NSMB bland and homogenized (but still fun), or debating endlessly on whether or not Ocarina of Time was better. When they are playing a bad game, such as Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), or Super Mario Land, they’re usually trashing it and every aspect about it, and ensuring everybody just how bad the game is. Sonic, I would argue, is actually one of their best games to play, simply because they have so much material to deal with between the glitches, awful, stilted gameplay, and overall cheesiness of the story. Each time they finally manage to defeat a boss or stage, it feels like a real accomplishment because the game is so messy that it actually works against you most of the time.  Having said that… I sometimes feel that for two people who owe so much of their popularity to video games, they’re a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to figuring things out if they’re not familiar with them.  (I kept screaming in my head, “ATTACK HIM WHEN HE’S THROWING BOXES, YOU IDIOTS!” when they were having trouble with Silver the Hedgehog in Sonic 2006.)

In a very short time, the Game Grumps channel has garnered a lot of interest, and for good reason. These two are some of the most hilarious commentators and provide interesting views on games and their design. Their first Super Smash Bros. Brawl video got on the front page of Youtube when it first aired, showing how far these two can go with this channel. Game Grumps updates daily (usually two ten-minute-or-so episodes a day it seems), and can often surprise you with unexpected games you may have never even heard of. I look forward to what they have in store for the future.

If you enjoyed our interview with RoQ’y be sure to check out his music here. If you like his stuff, then be sure to catch him on tour. He’s a great artist and an all around good dude.

You can find him on twitter at @RoQyTyRaiD and be sure to friend him on Facebook!

For more interviews be sure to check back here every week and follow me on Twitter @teamasunder.