Anime & tokusatsu from my childhood

Youtube is a great place to find old anime clips. These ones are some of them that I watched when I was a kid. It's funny when my friends and I here were discussing what we're watching on TV when we were kids. Many of them mentioned Mr. Rogers. As for me, I was like "who is Mr. Rogers? I was watching Goggle V and Kamen Rider Black." LOL.

Gyavan (1982): (my first tokusatsu show. Gyavan is still the coolest! We were always amazed how awesome his dragon robot was)


Goggle V (1982): (my first Super Sentai show. Yup, everybody around my age from my country know what Goggle V is, everybody)


Go-shogun (1981):


God-Sigma (1980): (man, I really loved this anime's songs when I was a kid)


Thunderbid 2086/Technovoyager (1982): (Probably my first exposure to dubbed anime without realizing it. I knew it was Japanese in origin, but didn't realize the dub. I never even watch the original Japanese one. The OP of the dubbed seems cooler, thankfully they still use the Japanese music minus the vocals)
Thunderbird 2086:

Technovoyager:


And of course, my first exposure to Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Black (1987). I didn't even know that it was Kamen Rider. LOL.


Some of my friends always ask why I keep watching those "power rangers" shows, referring to Japanese Super Sentai (no, I swear I won't watch any more crappy Power Rangers crap). Well, looking at the shows above, I can see why I still like tokusatsu shows. Plus, now I'm aware that tokusatsu shows are entertaining all ages, if you know what I mean. :)

Myself Yourself

Currently watching Myself; Yourself anime series. Another reason why I like anime. They can be funny, cute, yet touching and sad at the same time, reflecting real emotions.

Of course, fansub FTW! ^_^

Penny Arcade @ Sakuracon 2008

Here's an audio recording of the Q&A session with Penny Arcade at Sakuracon 2008

Edit: imeem doesn't seem to allow streaming the full content, even though it's original content. It assumes everything is copyrighted material. That sux. Anybody have any idea for a free audio streaming service, drop a comment. Youtube only allow 10 minutes max (this Q&A is an hour + long). I tried google video, but for some reason it failed.

2nd edit: imeem now apparently allows the full length to be streamed. Enjoy. :)

My Sakura-con 2008 Youtube videos

Sakura-con 2008 impression

*sigh Youtube is still logging me out. Oh well, I'll start my impression of Sakura-con 2008.

This is my first time attending a convention like this. Overall, it was awesome! It's amazing how many people came. What's even more amazing is the dedication of the otakus in the US, and the amazing cosplay costumes.

1st day: I pre-registered, so going to pick up my badge on the first day was pretty quick and the line wasn't bad at all. Opening ceremony was okay, but it was running late, thus delaying other panels/events too. Ali Project Panel was so so. The questions were not great, but it's fun seeing the drag queens. They're hilarious. Next to Penny Arcade Q&A session. I love their comics, but never see them in person. It's great to finally see them. The questions were so so, but it's great to hear their favorite things (mostly video games). Alas, I was expecting more info on their upcoming game, other than “It's done.” Lastly Scandal autograph session. No raffle tickets, contrary to the poster posted outside. Line was long, and it went over the specified time, but I got my autographs and picture. =)

2nd day: Missed the Scandal panel. =( Went to a workshop about making a website. Disappointed. Knowing that many anime fans are students where money is not in abundance, I was hoping the workshop will show tools that are freeware and/or open-source. First thing I saw when I walked in was Dreamweaver on the screen. Sure enough, the next recommendation is Photoshop, another expensive program, overkill for simply resizing pictures. Adobe's programs are the industry's standard, but Dreamweaver is like $400. When asked about alternative programs, the answer was notepad. Well, at least he mentioned a hosting/blogging service called theotaku.com. Nothing is mentioned about Apple's iWeb, free website builder softwares, free picture editors (picasa, paint.net, GIMP), various free hosting services by yahoo and google, blogger.com, etc. I dunno, it seems that the workshop opportunity was wasted. Next was ketchup mania/Ali Project concert. Very long line, and it was running very late. The concert itself was great! Next was the cosplay contest. As shown in my video, the line was even longer! The skits were okay. Some were funny, but others were only so so. There were quite a few audio glitches. I liked the Hanakimi skit with Bambino reference, though I had a feeling not many people were familiar with those doramas. Had to leave early due to snow. Oh, dubbed shin-chan sux.

3rd day: I came on the 3rd day only to attend the second Slants/Scandal concert. The line was much shorter. The room was not even half-filled. The concert was great, and the floor was really shaking!

Rants:
-This is an anime convention. Although I don't mind the crossover with comics (Penny Arcade) and games (Microsoft research was there having their own room!), I don't see the point of vendors selling Chinese movies. Nothing against Chinese movies, but I don't see the correlation between that and anime, other than Hong Kong making a lot of anime bootleg DVDs.
-The staff need to at least learn to pronounce Japanese properly, especially if they're the announcer (“How do you say Clannad?” Oh please).
-Another reminder to myself that US dubbing sux. (shin-chan, xxxholic).

Things to do for next year:
-Buy a digicam with at least 10x optical zoom and support for SDHC for taking pictures in concerts, and taking videos. My Canon SD700IS with 4x optical zoom without SDHC support (max SD card I could use is 2GB) just didn't cut it.
-Pay more attention to the schedule. I didn't realize there was a para para panel until a couple minutes ago! =(
-Maybe do a cosplay too! =D

Funny stuff: The guy selling yaoi doujins was hilarious! He's shouting “Boys on boys action” and “It's orgasmic!” Good thing Jack Thompson wasn't here. LOL

Sakuracon 2008

君が主で執事が俺で

君が主で執事が俺で (They Are My Noble Masters), another hilarious anime that I'm watching. A story that revolves around Ren Uesugi becoming a butler for the Kuonji family and their mischiefs. What is really hilarious in this anime is the amount of parodies of other anime, tokusatsu, and manga series. It's really funny and entertaining, especially for anime fans. There are references to G Fighter Gundam (both the seiyuu for Ren and Colonel are Domon and Master Asia respectively), Nodame Cantabile (Ren's seiyuu is also the seiyuu of Chiaki in Nodame Cantabile anime), Kamen Rider 555, Kamen Rider Black, Kamen Rider Den-O, Death Note, etc. Currently on fansub. Plus the unending ecchi-ness everywhere. Definitely a fun anime!

Bamboo Blade

I've been following this anime lately. Very funny. It's a story about Kendo and high school life. Usually, most sports anime are interesting in the beginning, but then stuck in an endless loop of boring and extended matches against yet another stronger opponent. I had a similar feeling when starting Bamboo Blade, but the story and characters are just too cute to pass, especially the innocent Tama-chan. And to think the whole story started because their teacher was so short sighted, putting up a competition for the sake of eating sushi. Simply hilarious.

And of course, a scene like this is quite commonplace: