YMCK – Starlight:
Daicon IV video (haven’t I posted this before?) – a legend in itself:
The opening of the Densha Otoko J-drama references this:
Category Archives: anime
Decepticons x Lucky Star
Evangelion 1:0 – You Are (Not) Alone
“At last my arm is complete again!”
I enjoyed the new animation in the Evangelion movie — Evangelion 1:0 – You Are (Not) Alone — and let myself indulge in a bit of nostalgia for those memories of when I first watched the original Evangelion series. And I was glad to have the chance to introduce a seminal anime work to the Other Half.
As I recall them, many scenes from the original series were kept – seeing Eva-01’s launch sequence again nearly brought tears to my eyes – but the movie is mostly new animation, particularly after Ramiel turns up.
Of the Angels, Ramiel was one of the most boring (pun intended), being a large floating blue octahedron. As an example of what computer technology had enabled since 1994, Ramiel is now constantly changes forms when firing its Beam o’ Glowy Death(TM). In addition, the old mechanical drill bit from the series has been replaced by a swirling corkscrew that morphs from Ramiel’s bottom apex.
The new movie animation looks better, but then again I’ve only seen the original TV series with its washed-out look so Anno etc could’ve reused Renewal footage for all I know :p
But the whole movie looks consistently new. Contrast with the visually jarring mix of old (1984-6) and new (2005-6) animation in the Zeta Gundam: A New Translation movies.
(Incidentally why didn’t those come here? Bandai/Sunrise wanted too much money for screening fees?)
Some deliberate discrepancies mysteries:
– The numbering of the Angels has changed. Sachiel, the first angel to appear in the series, is the 3rd Angel, but in the movie he’s identified as the 4th.
– Lilith is wearing a mask like Sachiel’s face in the movie, but in the series she has one with seven eyes on it.
– The entire moon sequence at the end of the movie. There’s another Lilith-like being?!?
Was hoping to watch the trailer for the second movie at the end, and was disappointed that the preview seems to have been cut from the prints at both the Cathay and at Cineleisure. Odd.
Thankfully, the Net provides. Watch the trailer here. (More mysteries!)
The movie brochure didn’t make it here either. None of the merchandise did. As expected 
“Perfect Blue” re-released
Been ages, huh?
Perfect Blue has a special place in my movie and anime-loving heart, so it’s some comfort to know that Satoshi Kon’s first directorial feature has been re-released on Feb 29th on DVD and Blu-Ray, with new cover art (see left)
But strange – doesn’t look like they’ve retouched any of the animation. Not much info on the site either.
Everyone loves Evangelion
(found at JapanSugoi)
Animation Nation 2007: 23 Nov – 1 Dec
Tickets on sale now. The festival is in its fourth year, and the lineup just gets better (thanks to the hard work of Dave and his team!). But you can judge for yourself:
Animation Nation 2007 is proudly presented by Singapore Film Society, with the generous support of the Media Development Authority of Singapore. Part of the Asia Media Festival. Featuring 80 films from more than 30 countries, showcasing the possibilities of animation and the best the animation world has to offer.
With seminars and workshops helmed by world renowned animators such as DreamWorks animators Kyle Jefferson and Cameron Hood, former Disney Animator Nancy Beiman, Kompin Kemgumnird, Auchara Kikanjanas and Sonny Liew.
Highlights include
– Tekkon Kinkreet, from the producers of the Animatrix
– Khan Kluay, an award-winning Thai animation by Kompin Kemgumnird
– Documentaries on the creative process – The Pixar Story and Moebius Redux
– Oscar winner The Danish Poet
– My Love by Aleksandr Petrov
– SIGGRAPH winner Ark
– Katsuhiro Otomo’s Freedom Project
– The Best of Ottawa 2007Venue – National Museum of Singapore, library@esplanade and *scape
For details of ticketing and schedule of screenings, seminars and workshops, please visit
http://www.sfs.org.sg/animation/an2007/index.html
Yamamura Koji
I’d like to see Yamamura’s latest animated short — an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Country Doctor.
Anti-whaling video for Greenpeace
Atama Yama — about a miser who has a cherry tree grow out of his head
Ievan Polka x Vocaloid2
First you wonder: “What the heck is this?” You listen to the whole thing, then click the play button because you can’t quite believe what you’re hearing and seeing. Then play it again. And gradually, imperceptibly, you find that you can’t pull yourself away…
Everything you need to know about the context behind that clip, you can find in the links in the description sidebar on YouTube.
Vocaloid 2; Value from Efficiency; User-Generated Content distribution
I’m still impressed with the abilities of the Vocaloid 2 software (found via Boing Boing). Put in a melody and lyrics, and the software generates singing.
It sounds pretty good. Try this sample:
The opera sequence from Final Fantasy 6 — one of the most touching sequences from the best RPG I’ve ever played.
Watching this brought back good memories of the experience playing the game, and that’s partly what makes Vocaloid memorable for me.
The singing isn’t perfect — one comment remarked that the singer sounded like she’d a cold — but this is a technological factor. As coding gets better, so will the voices. But it may not matter — most people are willing to accept less-than-ideal quality media in certain contexts, compression codecs affect sound quality, and when you’re listening to music in a subway train, bus or car you can’t tell anyway.
—
The value of Vocaloid lies in how it flows with the trend for more user-generated content. It fits in nicely with existing distribution chains for user-generated content. Make a song with Vocaloid, overlay on a video file and upload to YouTube.
(Does it still make sense to call UGC a “trend”? Isn’t it already here and a part of our lived experiences?)
—
I’m also struck by how YouTube has become a music player although it began as a video-sharing site. This serendipitous use has been driven by the sheer ease of use and easy availability via laptops and widespread broadband.
Compare this with how people rarely used CD-based gaming consoles like the Playstation to play music. Clearly it was silly to turn on the player and a TV set to play music when it was much more efficient to use a CD player. Even a Discman with speakers plugged in was a preferable alternative.
So functionality is nice, but if it’s not efficient relative to current alternatives the functionality won’t add much value to the user.
—
Although Vocaloid is aimed at otaku, there must be similar groups that would buy such software.
Let’s consider characteristics of the otaku audience — predominantly teenagers, tech-savvy, relatively affluent and of course, a little obsessive.
Hmm… has anyone tried packaging Vocaloid for Christian rock fans?
Past Anime Present
– The first Rebuild of Evangelion movie opened over the weekend. Reviews in English at Heisei Democracy.
– The creators of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei love to parody old TV programmes:
writing without rhythm 
