To the managers of AKB48, and all relevant record labels,

To you, I hold most, if not all of the blame.  It’s you who asked a poor innocent 13 year old girl into signing such an immoral and inhumane lifelong contract that completely forbids any form of a love life, threatening humiliation and demotion should the contract be breached. It is also you to blame for not only allowing a culture of stalking and creepy obsession to take hold around the band, but also encourage it, turning autograph sessions into disgusting pseudo dates, and feeding into the fantasies of lonely men that if they pay enough, their favourite star can be theirs. What you are doing in the name of profit is completely without moral, and without any slight shred of human decency. What you have done, and what you continue to do is causing permanent damage to the poor girls that you procure like cattle, and to the Japanese public that you look down upon and think of as fools.

Damned right you should feel ashamed of yourselves right now, what you’ve forced poor Minami Minegishi to do is so depraved, and so downright evil that not only is your national media looking at you with disgust, but the entire world. Your reputation is in shatters, and nothing short of a full public apology and massive company wide  reform into how you treat your stars will be able to change that.

To the obsessive fans, that believe Minami should not be allowed to love and is deserving of her punishment,

To you, I say grow up. These are human beings, with their own dreams and ambitions, likes and dislikes, and are equally as capable of love as you or I. They are not your personal playthings, and you do not have a time share on any of their hymens just because you got an autographed picture of you hugging your favourite.

I am so sorry that for a moment, your fantasy was ruined and you had to face cold hard reality. The cold hard reality that in fact, your precious idols have a life outside of the fantasy they are made to construct for you. That they do not know or care who you are, and that they would find your creepy advances repulsive. You are a fan. Nothing more. If you’re so desperate for companionship, just date like a normal human being.

To Minami, and any other member from AKB48 and it’s spinoffs who have suffered similar treatment,

Stop apologising, you did nothing wrong. You don’t owe your fans anywhere near as much as you think you do, and you certainly shouldn’t let their sick fantasies get in the way of letting you have a normal life.

I’d keep the haircut though. It looks cool, in a Evey Hammond sort of way.

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I’m sure all of you have gone through this some point in your lives. You tell someone that your interests include watching Anime, or reading Manga. and they turn around with a sour look on their face and say “you mean those Japanese porn cartoons?”

“How dare someone be so ignorant about my hobby? Anime isn’t like that at all!” You cry, and you’re right. Studios like Ghilbi and Gainax have been doing what Disney and the like should have been for nearly a decade now, as well as classic guff that puts these CG films to shame. But do you know who’s fault it is for spreading this stereotype? Well, there certainly isn’t some evil overly dramatic organisation out to discredit the medium, and Joe public really doesn’t care enough to bring about this negative stereotype on purpose. The real source of the problem is none other than the perverted little community itself.

Now, before you leave an angry comment below and close this tab, let me tell you a little story. Once upon a time, a young woman was looking around her university campus on freshers week, looking for clubs and societies to join. She goes across to the Anime society and notices they have a TV set up showing some off. Right away, she is confronted with, and I quote, a “naked pubeless woman flying through space asleep and helpless looking”

I imagine it looked something like this.

It’s a true story too. I’m not going to name them in case I discredit a hopefully good I don’t quite know how on earth they thought that showing full blown Hentai would be a good idea, but it has pushed back the progress of the industry about 15 years. It harkens back to the days when the Daily Mail discovered what Anime is, and did their best to get it all banned as Violent Tentacle porn in the early 90′s, only it’s our fault for flaunting it in public, showing the whole world what perverts we all must be.

Get your act together people. When presenting anime to the public, we have a responsibility to show the medium in best a manner as possible, rather than putting people off, rather than making us all look like a bunch of snivveling nerds jacking off to cartoons. We’re so much more than this, and we can do better.

Amazon, has pulled various explicit Yaoi titles from their Kindle store, and while authors are happy to censor their works so the can be inspected for any man bits, this has sparked a storm of controversy in the Yaoi community, who are accusing the retail giant of homophobia. However, despite pulling boys from the kindle store, Amazon have no problem keeping other highly erotic literature on the store, so long as it involves wholesome hetrosexual loving. Amazon are also accused of holding a double standard- yanking titles from the kindle store, but still selling them in physical format.

A full list of what titles have been removed, and which ones have returned castrated, can be found here.

Revealed last december, Namco Bandai has released a trinity of trailers for their new game, The Reminiscences of Haruhi Suzumiya. Set during Disappearance’s alternate reality, the player controls Kyon, making important decisions that effect the Haruhi universe with many “what if?” scenarios. The game itself is a visual novel, a genre unique to japan that lets you control what the player says and thinks through a interface not unlike a Bioware epic. This allows for a multitude of different endings, begging for mutiple playthroughs.
The downside to this however, is that the game will most likely never see a realease outside of Japan, and unless a fan translation comes along, the only option for us is to import the game overseas, and enrol in Japanese classes. Not for the faint of heart, I’m sure you can agree.
Such a shame too, because the game boasts quite a unique game save sharing facility between PSP and PS3 versions, so that diehard haruhi maniacs can continue woooing their favourite Haruhi girl, even on the loo.

MVM, the anime distributor that got hit hard by the bad economy, has recently risen from the grave to deliver all sorts of anime goodness to the living. Among these titles, is the Rozen Maiden Series 1 & 2 Collection. With a low price tag of £29.99, this is a great deal for those who haven’t had the chance to watch the series before. For those out of the loop, Rozen Maiden follows the tale of Sakurada Jun, a young lad who shut himself away from the world, after some extreme bullying from his classmates, only to find himself in possession, or the possession of, a living doll named Shinku.

The first series loosely follows the plot of the original manga, where after meeting Shinku, Jun discovers that he has become involved in a deadly conflict between the doll and her sisters, as they all strive to earn the affection of their creator.
The series does a good job of mixing slice of life comedy with (slightly) more serious shonen action. And despite his irritating attitude, you eventually feel sympathetic of Jun’s situation. As the series progresses, you get to meet some of the most colourful characters in anime in recent years. Although some feel tacked on and unnessesary, some really do shine- Suiseiseki in particular, with her bipolar personality and the now famous quirks in the way she speaks.
In all, the first season is a unique take on the rise of the hero, in a mix of slice of life and shonen action that can entertain people of any taste.

The second season builds on this formula, rewriting the story and cast of the original to cast the illusion of a fresh experience, whilst staying true to the Rozen Maiden canon. New dolls and people enter the series, whilst others are killed off to provide a much needed sense of drama that was somewhat lacking before, upping the tone of the series to give it a much darker feel. The plot focuses more on the dolls this time around, letting Jun’s life take a backseat for the more action orientated battles between the sisters. This isn’t bad exactly, as once again it’s the dolls who steal the show and deliver the best performances.

Two new characters unique to the anime also feature also feature prominently in this season- Barasuishou who is the mysterious 7th doll who serves as the main villain, and Enju, the equally mysterious doll maker who teaches Jun the cruelty of the world of dolls, where anything less than absolute perfection is crushed into dust.

In all, Rozen Maiden is a series that anyone can enjoy. Whether it be for the emotional drama, action sequences, or even victorian fashion, there is something for everyone. Although it can feel a tad formulaic at times, the series keeps things fresh enough for you to still stay hooked. And at the low price of £29.99, you’d have to be mad to miss out on this.

Here is an amazing mockup for a Shadow of the Colossus anime by artist MetalHanzo, based from the classic PS2 game, which is soon to get a HD reboot alongside its older brother, ICO.
I can imagine now, as a silent anime with acts, musics and sceneries to convey the story, and minimum dialogue.
Unfortunately, 99% of the anime industry in Japan right now is more concerned with underage girls, incest, and panties….nothing good could possibly from a SOTC anime with this mentality. There are about 3~4 anime studios maximum who would actually allow SOTC to maintain its dignity.
Oh well, on can always dream…

Satoshi Tajiri, creator of the worldwide phenomenon Pokemon, is rumoured to have passed away following the recent tsunami’s that have rocked the island nation of japan. Twitter has been flooded with uncomfirmed reports that Satoshi has passed away, after becoming a victim to the disaster.

Despite this, Maritus News is claiming Tajiri is alive and well after having merely fainted. The story says that he resides in Tokyo, and was not a victim of the flood. That said, it’s very likely the rumor is false, however it’s still no confirmation. No statement has been issued by Tajiri, Gamefreak, or his family as of yet.

Again, I urge everyone to please donate generously to the Red Cross to help provide aid for those caught in the devastation. Every Dollar, Pound, Yen, Euro, or whatever currency you use helps.

This morning, our kind friend the Pacific ocean decided that it felt rather uncomfortable in it’s current state, and decided to shift a bit. We can’t really blame the ocean for this- it does have to put up with an awful lot of stuff in it’s life, and does all this without moving an inch.
Unfortunately, this shift for a more comfortable position caused a 8.9 earthquake 25 miles underwater, just 250km away from Japan’s coastline. This caused unbelievable amounts of damage, obliterating most of Japan’s infrastructure.
So, here are my suggestions for those caught in this disaster, or those back at home who have friends and family out there.

For those stuck out there (or live there, I’m not judging): Stay in big open spaces, Most parks are offering food and shelter. A full list of shelters can be found here.
Also, stock up on other food and essentials. Most convenience stores and suchlike have been sold out, but vending machines offer their contents for free during states of emergency. Also, many restaurants are also offering food.

If you need to contact anybody, Bic Camera are offering free mobile phone batteries to people. Just head to your nearest store to stock up.
Also, I believe NHK TV are doing a phone in to contact those stranded somewhere without cellular reception. This could be used both ways too, so if you’re stranded, find a working phone and call in that way to let folks back home know you are okay. Folks at home can tune in to NHK via this link here.

My heart goes out to all those out there caught up in the chaos. I sincerely hope that you get out of this all right. Just remember to keep your chin up, and keep in mind that eventually all this will blow over. ^_^

Special thanks for Danny Choo for the images I pinched, (sorry), and for the advice he’s been giving out via Twiter, @DannyChoo. I tip my hat to you, sir.

The confirmed characters in this X-men anime adaption are Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Beast and Professor X.
Trailer below:

Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator for the UK, has given Turner the licence for Adult Swim in the UK.

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to what form Adult Swim will take in the UK however, with Turner insisting it will be for mobile services only:

New broadcast regulation requires a license for linear services on any platform, and this new Ofcom license relates to our existing mobile TV services on Sky Mobile and Orange , rather than any new broadcast channel.  The Adult Swim mobile channel is comprised of a 60 minute content block, which is refreshed weekly, and showcases a range of some the best Adult Swim content to watch on the go.

This may be a red herring however, as TCLS form only deals with television/radio in a linear form and excludes on demand and mobile television which is something else entirely. Turner were granted a NEW license and it was not renewed, it was granted the same time as Chellomedia were granted with their CBS HD channels.