Reading by the fire.

I consider myself to be lucky to live in a house with a fireplace. I mean a proper fireplace too, not one of those electric or gas burning posers, I'm talking about a wood burning, smoke going out the chimney fireplace. So when winter comes around it's nice to get a fire going and relax with some literature. Not conventional of course, and if you've been paying attention you've already figured out I was reading comics by the fire.

Nice and relaxing evening at home reading comics with the warmth of the fireplace going and enjoying a tasty lasagna. And now, I am treated to another awesome piece of media, my favorite movie is on TV, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Of course I can watch it anytime I so choose since I own the DVD, but it's nice to catch it on TV.

So the point of this post? It's the little things, especially when added up, that make for some of the best days, or nights, in life.

Back in the Day - Bubblegum Crisis 11/28/2009.

Back in the Day - Bubblegum Crisis

There’s a hurricane tonight, and it’s named the Knight Sabers.

There’s a hurricane tonight, and it’s named the Knight Sabers. Bubblegum Crisis is as well known for it’s music as it’s cyberpunk setting. With songs like “Konya wa Hurricane,” “Mr. Dandy” and “Mad Machine” to name a few, Bubblegum Crisis has one of the strongest soundtracks of any anime of it’s day. Taking in consideration the 8 episode albums, and ignoring the vocal albums, that is a 1:1 ratio of music albums to anime. Clearly music plays a major role in Bubblegum Crisis. The style of the music is easily identifiable as being from the 80’s., so it should come as no surprise that Bubblegum Crisis rolled out in 1987. An interesting note about the music is that it is possibly inspired by the music of the 1984 cult classic, Streets of Fire. On the downside to sharing common ground with Streets of Fire is that like Streets of Fire, Bubblegum Crisis suffered from poor sales, in Japan that is. So what was intended to be a 13 episode series got cut down to an 8 episode OAV. In the US however it became an instant hit with fans.

Set in 2032 Mega Tokyo, that’s been rebuilt after being destroyed (the city of Tokyo is abused more than a red-headed step child), once again by an earthquake, it now has to deal with Boomers that go haywire. Boomers are androids that were built by the Genom Corp. after the destruction of Tokyo to help rebuild the city. Genom Corp. is a major corporation that has it’s hands in just about everything and is a seemingly necessary evil. And it is just as evil as you think. It lives up to it’s world domination seeking goal putting out deadlier and deadlier boomers. The police can’t seem to handle the situation, and it’s specially created AD Police force isn’t doing that great of a job at combating the boomers either. That’s where the Knight Sabers come in. They are the swift justice that Tokyo needs to be able to sleep safely at night.

Four beautiful women kicking boomer ass in form fitting hard suits. What’s not to like about strong women getting the job done? You have Nene the pink haired cutie, Linna the black haired fitness trainer, Priss the brown haired rocker and finally the Knight Sabers’ leader, Sylia the blue haired lingerie store owner. Sylia started the Knight Sabers using research and data her father left her after his death while working on boomers. It’s unclear how the Knight Sabers came together but story has never been Bubblegum Crisis’ strong point. You learn very quickly that Priss is somewhat the lead character in the series thanks to the opening of the first episode with Priss singing “Konya wa Hurricane” along with her band, The Replicants. The other Sabers get about equal screen time and dialogue, but Priss is without a doubt the main focus. She’s the lone hothead type that gets the others fueled and fired up when it’s time to finally take action.

Looking closely, Bubblegum Crisis has some references to the legendary cyberpunk work, Blade Runner. Mostly seen in the boomers, they appear human but are completely cybernetic robots. They are somewhat organic as well, with them spilling what looks to me like some kind of hydraulic fluid that symbolizes blood whenever they are severely damaged. Other references are the first opening with it’s over view of future Tokyo and the rising music score, the name of Priss’ band, The Replicants and the questioning of what makes one human. Without a doubt Bubblegum Crisis is cyberpunk in every way. From the dystopian future to the mega corporation running things to the technologic advancements. It has a very dark and gritty feel to it that matches what you would expect from the cyberpunk genre.

Over the span of the series’ run the animation changed. Early on it was what was typical of Japanese animation of the time, heavy on the details with fewer frames. As it went on though the details were lessened and more frames were added, and so it became more fluid and smoother. Since Bubblegum Crisis’ production ran from 1987 to 1991 it makes for a great example of how Japanese animation changed from the 80’s to the 90’s. You will see the difference, it’s quite clear. The first 3 episodes are more detailed and seem a bit darker and grittier. Episode 4 is where you will start to see the change. The coloring was also affect as the series went on. The colors used were a little brighter and happier. It’s still got that cyberpunk feel of course, but it’s lessened towards the end.

As I said earlier the series was cut short. So, it ends abruptly with no real end or conclusion. It’s not a huge opening, but you will be left wanting to know how it finishes. There was something of a sequel to the series, Bubblegum Crash, a 3 episode OAV. Yet, it was done by a different production company, so the character designs are different and it doesn’t really pick up where Crisis left off. There’s also Bubblegum Crisis 2040, a 26 episode TV series. It doesn’t have anything to do with the original as well. The only comics of the series are those that Dark Horse did and a few others. Bubblegum Crisis was intended as an animation to begin with, there is no manga it was based off. So we are left with the 8 short episodes of the original and two series that follow it that has no relation other than being the same material.

Originally released in the US by Animeigo on single episode VHS tapes in 1994, and later 3 episode VHS tapes. In 1998 it was released onto DVD by M2K, Animeigo still responsible for the subtitling. It was easily one of the earliest anime DVD releases. It has since been re-released solely by Animeigo in a re-mastered box set that is a huge improvement over the original DVD release by M2K in every way. It is still available from Animeigo and I highly suggest you add it to your collection while it is still available. Even though Bubblegum Crisis lacks good story (mostly in the early episodes) it makes up for it with plenty of great action and stunning music. This is an anime classic that most fans should not miss.

Comic Day 11/26/2009.

Was a heavier week than I was expecting, had to toss four books back into the folder. Wondering what the folder is? Well, it's where the comics on my pull list go. Don't know what a pull list is? It's the list of comics that get pulled off the shelves and put in the folder. The point is to make sure you get your copy/ies of the comic/s you want without worry of it/them selling out. For those of you that already knew that, you are obviously on the right page of the internet for the time being.

First off, the Lantern rings. Today completes (with the addition of green (finally!) and red rings) the DC promotion of Lantern rings they had running with their Blackest Night storyline. Nerdy, check. Gaudy, check. Still totally cool and awesome, damn right check. Sure, you have to be a comic geek to be jealous over these cheap, plastic rings, but you know you want them. Of course if you would actually wear them, any one of them, in public, you are too geeky and deserve the humility you have coming your way (especially if you'd wear more than one at any one time) Keep that in the privacy of your home and do NOT take pictures or video of such a thing. Or have you forgotten what happened to the Star Wars kid? That poor, fat, silly and unfortunate moron.

So.... on to the the actual comics.

Batwoman Detective Comics #859
Justice Society of America #33
Blackest Night: Justice League of America #39
Blackest Night #5 of 8
Blackest Night: Teen Titans #77

Uncanny X-Men #517
New Mutants #7
Dark Wolverine #80
Incredible Hercules #138
Amazing Spider-Man #613
Web of Spider-Man #2

Avengers The Initiative #30
Secret Warriors #10
Fantastic Four #573
Ms. Marvel #47
New Avengers #59
Invincible Iron Man #20
Hulk #17

What the world? Spidey is the everyman this week. Two books of his own and popping up in 3 others (Incredible. Hercules, Ms. Marvel & New Avengers). And people whine about Wolverine being in too many books. Granted he is, but do you blame Marvel? He sells. It's like feminists complaining about sexism in advertisement. What do they expect? It sells. But yeah, Spidey is all over the place like a frat boy driving home from the party. Really now, doesn't he have enough on his plate as is? Oh wait that's right, they love tossing him next to the hot women folk (doesn't explain the Herc cover though) and then ruining the rest of his life, give and take, literally it seems for Parker.

Oh well, once again, he sells, so smart move on Marvel's part. Now that I'm on the subject of what sells, that reminds me of something I started to notice at the beginning of this year, the price hike in comics. At first it wasn't a big deal, an extra dollar on this book, an extra dollar on that book. No big deal, they are extras and one shots and mini series. Now come the end of the year nearly half the books I buy are that extra dollar. And they are normal, continuous series too. For the past few years the base price of comics has been $2.99 a piece. With almost half now coming in at $3.99, that extra dollar is really starting to kick my ass. Not only that, but every so often something that is $4.99 pops up, to which I gladly say "no thanks, too rich for my blood."

The jump in price wouldn't bother me so much if they just slipped in it little by little (some of you just thought of a dirty reference, I don't blame you, but you know who you are and you're perverts, no biggie I thought of it too as I typed it out). An extra quarter here another 50 cents there and it would've been at least a little easier on the wallet. Yet, I still buy those 3.99 books. I also have started to cut back on what I buy and I'm a little pickier now, even if it doesn't show. I'm hoping this pricing bites the publishers (Mostly Marvel and then DC) in the ass sooner or later, preferably sooner. Granted with Disney owning Marvel that may not be likely. Here's to hoping though, we all know how well that works.

Finally, picked up a few more Christmas gifts for myself again. I'm finding it to be a nice way to guarantee I have a nice Christmas. Before you say, "well that's selfish," yes it is, but I am not forgetting my family and friends. They will get awesome gifts too. So yeah, grabbed the TMNT movie box set on BD, You're Under Arrest: Fast & Furious vol. 1 and Berserk vol. 28. If you don't know what TMNT stands for, get the fuck out of here, now. No really, what is wrong with you if you don't know what TMNT is? Granted you might be some lame 8 year old that talks smack when playing Halo. I don't care if you can toss a sticky from across the map and make me ask if it's a blue fuzzy spider (give yourself a pat on the back if you get that reference), it's no excuse for not knowing about TMNT.

Back in the Day - Gunsmith Cats 11/19/2009.

OK, so first an explanation of what this is. A few months back there was talk of columns being a possible new addition to Anime-Planet. There was first a thread to gauge interest in the idea. Thanks to that, there was then a thread for column submissions. While there was plenty of talk about people wanting to do columns there was not much action. Only a few people submitted something and it basically fell through (for now I hope). So this is going to be the place for that column instead. I really enjoyed writing the submission and this is a way for me to continue to write the column. Keep in mind, this is not a review kind of thing. It's just a simple look at anime that is overlooked or unknown to anime fans because of it's age or rarity or for what ever reason really, and to give them a small spotlight to let fans know about them.

So here we go, I hope you enjoy it and it gets you interested in the anime I talk about for Back in the Day.

Pretty girls, smoking guns and fast cars. That, in a nut shell, is Gunsmith Cats.

Pretty girls, smoking guns and fast cars. That, in a nut shell, is Gunsmith Cats. But this 1995 anime of the manga by the same name is more than the brain-not-included summer blockbuster that it sounds like. It could have easily turned into such a thing if it was not for Kenichi Sonoda’s attention to detail. From the cars to the guns, while there is some questionable possibility to how they are used, thanks to Sonoda’s OCD level of detail there’s also a hint of plausibility. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Great guns and cars are only 2/3 of the equation. It’s also thanks to the wonderful characters of Gunsmith Cats that makes it such an awesome series. And our two heroines, the gun crazy car nut Irene “Rally” Vincent and her explosives loving, pretzel in bed partner “Minnie” May Hopkins, are nothing short of amazing. Both in the skills they possess and the luck that follows them. Whether it be good or bad they find a way out of the messes they end up in while trying to run a simple gun shop in Chicago.

The opening of Gunsmith Cats is easily one of my personal favorites. The song, the direction and the style all add to the flavor of the series. The song itself, “Gunsmith Cats Theme” by Peter Erskine, sounds like the opening to a 70’s buddy cop TV show but with the style of the 80‘s. As for the direction and style that is partially thanks to it being a popular style of opening animation during the day. But it plays it’s part and does so quite well in my opinion. With a quick jazz feel & rushing upbeat of the music and the bright colors & scenes of monochrome effects it quickly gets you ready for what is going to be a hell of a ride.

Starting with episode 1, “Neutral Zone,” Rally and May end up getting blackmailed into working for the ATF by William Collins, an agent of the Chicago Dept. of the A.T.F., for running their gun shop without the proper license. They are tasked with helping the A.T.F. with what seems like a simple gun running operation lead by a small time criminal. But, once you get into the grit of episode 2, “Swing High!,” it goes a bit higher up than your typical dumb crook. It also gets much more dangerous with the ex-KGB Russian beauty, Natasha Radinov. Then finally in episode 3, “High Speed Edge,” you learn who has really been pulling the strings this whole time, and wouldn‘t you know it, the guy was pushing for more gun control. Admittedly it’s a classic cliché plot, but I think it does a decent job of telling it and in how it unfolds. Along the way there’s plenty of action, from the multiple life or death shoot outs to the interstate high speed car chase to May letting the explosives fly at every chance she gets.

Gunsmith Cats takes place in Chicago, IL. And for an anime that takes place in America, a locale that the Japanese typically stereotype the hell out of, they actually did their homework on this one. Even though it’s such a short anime they took the time, money and effort to go to Chicago and visit many different places to accurately portray the city and law enforcement. Well, to a point, but then again it is TV so to speak, so of course a bit of artistic license is going to be taken. Yet, if you watch the credits at the end of each episode, take a look at the Special Thanks section. There you will see a list of places that were researched. A few of these would be the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois Gun Works, Police Station 3501 and a Training Academy. The accuracy can be seen from the background paintings to the sound effects. How could the sound effects be so special you ask? Simple, they took the opportunity while being in the US to record the guns that each character used and applied those recording to each gun specifically. This is much more than can be said for other anime that is either based in the US or just visiting it in a single episode or two.

Unfortunately, because of the short nature of OAVs we don’t get to see any of the characters really delved into. It’s a quick wham-bam-thank you-ma’am adventure that leaves you wanting more. Thankfully there is more, as long as you aren’t allergic to reading. The Gunsmith Cats manga runs for 8 volumes of 75 chapters. It was later revisited by Sonoda with Gunsmith Cats Burst that ran for 5 volumes of 51 chapters. The manga is where the series really shines. Through it you get the character development that is lacking in the anime as well as an edgier style. While in the anime Rally is 19 years old and May is 18, May is actually 17. No big deal, until you learn that May was once a prostitute. That’s one example of how the story is more hard knock than the anime. As for visuals, you’ll see quite a few pair of exposed headlights, but they don’t pop up just to be there. Granted, I’m sure the loli lovers would love to get their hands on little May. Thankfully, a few years back Dark Horse Comics decided to re-release the series in it’s original right to left format unedited. They did so with 4 omnibus volumes of the original series and have just recently released the 4th volume of Burst. They are still easily available from your preferred choice of manga retailers. I highly suggest you pick them up if you enjoyed the anime.

While the anime is a short OAV, 3 half-hour long episodes, it will easily keep you entertained until the final end credits. Not only from it’s action but the story itself. I admit it isn’t perfect and does fall prey to it’s share of clichés. But don’t let that stop you from watching this little gem from the mid 90’s. It easily makes up for it in it’s originality in anime amongst a sea of mecha, school girls and space drama. Sadly, the DVD, Gunsmith Cats Bulletproof from ADV, has gone out of print. It should be known that the DVD release puts all 3 episodes together into a movie. No worries, it is uncut and unedited otherwise. There are copies of it still out there though. Search around and I’m sure you will be able to find it. Just beware of sellers looking to make an extra buck from it being OOP.

Comic Day 11/18/2009.

Was a medium week for comics I'd say. Also did a little Christmas shopping for myself while I was at it. First, let's run down the comics and go from there.

Jesus Hates Zombies Vol. 3 - Come on, you know that cover is awesome. Look at it, it's Jesus, Lincoln and the frickin' General Lee, don't act like you aren't interested in what happens inside the book.

We Kill Monsters #5 of 6
Tales of the TMNT #64
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 - Reprint, in color celebrating the 25th Ann. of the Turtles.
Gold Digger #112
War Machine #11
Thuderbolts #138
Dark Avengers #11
Mighty Avengers #31

Deadpool Merc with a Mouth #5
Wolverine Origins #42
Wolverine Weapon X #7
X-Men Legacy #229
Incredible Hulk #604
Punisher #11
Amazing Spider-Man #612
Amazing Spider-Man: Dark Reign The List One Shot

Can't wait to read Punisher. This whole Franken Castle story line is going to be interesting for a while. If you don't know what is going on with the Punisher I suggest you skip the next sentence or so, becuse it is quite the spoiler. Well, are you going to skip ahead or do you already know about the juicy, bloody and dismembered death of Frank Castle? If you don't, you do now. That right, Frank got in a bit of a tussle with Daken, Wolverine's son, and while he did hurt the kid quite nicely, Daken paid him back doubly so. Unlike Daken though, Frank Castle doesn't have a healing factor, so the limbs he loses don't grow back. He lost each and every one of them, and then he literally lost his head. Seems like a fitting end for the Punisher, but of course nobody, or only a very small select few (Gwen Stacy comes to mind), stay dead in comics. So, Frank makes his come back as a pieced together man just like Frankenstein. Except with guns, guns and more guns, oh and a little death sprinkled in for good measure I'm sure. For however long this goes on for, if nothing else it should be an interesting read.

As I said, at the start of this post, I did some Christmas shopping for myself. Picked up the 2 volumes of Berserk I ordered last week, 29 & 31, George Carlins new book, Last Words, Weird AL's Essential album, Lynyrd Skynyrd's God & Guns album and Dethklok's Death Album II. No pictures of any of those items as they have been put away until Dec. 25th. I also ordered Berserk volume 28 when I picked up the books and I'll put it away too once I get it.

In other news I picked up Assassin's Creed II yesterday. Didn't get around to playing it till this morning before I headed out to the comic shop. It feels like the first game with the climbing and such. Combat so far feels better and smoother, but I have yet to really use any weapons as I have only had about an hour and a half of play time so far. Later tonight I hope to get around to killing some people. Huh, that sounds a lot more morbid than it really is, especially if you take it out of context. Or it sounds like a very interesting night to have, depends on who you kill I think. Anyways, once I get some real playtime on the game I'll be able to see if they fixed the repetitiveness of the first game and if there's any new features and all. Ah, so many games to play this time of year. Feels like an insurmountable task sometimes, but you play what you can, when can and hope you make good gaming choices for the holiday season. Right now I'm hoping Assassin's Creed II is a good break from Forza 3. Forza 3 has been a good and fun game so far but I feel like a break is needed from it for a few or else I might get burned out on it. I've noticed myself racing less and just playing around with different cars more and more in the past few days.

If nothing else I can go back and try Uncharted 2 on Crushing. It's a PS3 selling game for sure in my opinion. Uncharted 2 is a great game and is one of those you don't want to miss out on. Best storytelling I've seen in a game so far. It's a fun experience, really feels like a great movie that you play. As for multiplayer, well I've had a bit of fun with it, but not too much. Granted I haven't really gotten into that part of the game too much. Since I finally picked up a PS3 headset a few weeks ago I think I should get back to the multiplayer and really try my best not to suck.

Oh, so for a while I've been meaning to buy a nose hair trimmer. Now, before you go all "eww, that's gross" think about how gross it is to not do anything about the situation. Yeah, I've got hair that nearly runs down to my butt and I've got enough facial hair to make a bald man wish he had as much on the top of his head, but I do not care to walk around like a 70 year old monkey man. For the past few months it's been something that has been bothering me. Today I am no longer bothered by nasal fur. All I have to say is, the nose trimmer is a fricken godsend. My nose now feels really clean and free. Also, while gross to think about, yet completely true, boogers have less to hang onto inside my nose. And on that note, I'm out of here until next time.

Comic Day 11/11/2009.

Another light week.

Deadpool #17
Cable #20
X-Force #21
Dark X-Men #1 of 5
X-Men Forever #11

Batman #693
Punisher Max #1
Black Panther #10
DareDevil #502
Amazing Spider-Man #611

Some good stuff in this weeks haul. Deadpool for one and Spider-Man has been solid for some time now. Doesn't hurt that Deadpool shows up in that too this week. A couple of X-titles as well and Punisher Max looks like it's going to rock.

Since it was a light week I decided to go to Branes & Noble and take a look around. I am now happy to say that my search for a volume 1 of Akira is over. Looks as if Kodansha publishing is reprinting the old Dark Horse volumes and Barnes had it in stock. Now if I can just get my hands on a volume 3. Also in stock was volume 30 of Berserk, snagged it too while I was at it. While I was at it I had the clerk order volumes 29, 31 and 32 of Berserk. NOw that I have gotten home it look like I need to have them order 28 as well next week.

Comic Day 11/04/2009 (4 days late).

OK, so it seems I'm making this comic day thing a habit to be late.

Captain America: Reborn #4 of 5
Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #4 of 6
Deadpool Team-up #899
Assault on New Olympus #1
Amazing Spider-Man #610

Son of Hulk #16
Psylocke #1 of 4
X-Men Origins: Iceman #1
Astonishing X-Men #32
Wolverine Weapon X #6

Gears of War #10
Halo Helljumper #4 of 5
Ignition City #5
Gen 13 #32
Gold Digger #111
Gold Digger Annual #15
Gold Digger Swimsuit #18
Blackest Night #4 of 8