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Haruhi Suzumiya-chan: DVD Promo
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 21, 2009 in Animation
This promo for the upcoming The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-chan looks like it contains a few scenes that haven’t been seen before. Volume 1 goes on sale on Friday May 29th for 5040 yen. The first run will include a special soundtrack CD and other otaku goodies. Reprise of the Robo-Girls: A Brief History of Virtual Idols
Virtual idols have been around longer than you think — shown above is a magazine cover featuring Kyoko Date from 1996. In this article Nick Kent gives us his insights: The interesting “real” Robo-Girl in the pop culture room is Hatsune Miku, who really is software: She’s a second generation Windows voice synthesis software released in 2007 that anyone can buy at mainstream Japanese software retailer for around $150. With a slightly difficult user interface software one can program her to sing anything in a voice that’s now not far out of place on the pop charts. The Vocaloid technology was created by Yamaha and then licensed to developers, namely Crypton who developed the character and voice. Read more… Moon Trailer: Close Encounters of the Personal Kind
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 20, 2009 in Cinema
I already like what little I’ve seen of this film in the trailer, there are a few nice homages to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien which make the fanboy in me quite happy. So far very little is up on their website although the film will be out in New York and LA on June 12th. Here’s a description which gives you the basics: Read more… Skippy Explains Star Wars
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 20, 2009 in Star Wars
Invasion of the Robo-Girls: J-Pop Cyber Sounding Singers
Posted by Guest Author on Apr 20, 2009 in Japanese TV, Tech
In this article pop culture pundit Nick Kent gives us his insights into the growing trend of J-Pop singers who want to sound cyber: I’ve been noticing a mini-trend in Japanese pop music lately consisting of pretty female singers singing with android sounding vocals rather than natural sounding ones. I can’t help but to think Cher’s 1998 hit single “Believe” makes her the Borg Queen of this phenomenon: Read more… Vintage Video Arcade Gum from the 80s
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 19, 2009 in Videogames
I’ve always associated Topps with their amazing baseball cards but I had no idea that they ever did anything this clever: In 1983 they had a series of “Video Arcade Gum” which came in individual boxes that were shaped like (you guessed it) video arcade games! I’m surprised that this product never took off because I don’t remember seeing it back in the day. The games they featured included Donkey Kong, Q*bert, Zaxxon, Frogger and Centipede. The quality of these package designs looks great: Read more… The Star Trek XI Press Conference in Berlin: To Boldly Promote Where No Producer has Gone Before…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 18, 2009 in Star Trek
I haven’t seen this film yet, but I know one thing for certain: J.J. Abrams really knows how to promote a film! I’ve now seen him pushing this film every where from Australia to Wired magazine — and I like the fact that he’s not taking his audience for granted. He seems to understand that this isn’t just about making a film, but rescuing a franchise that could fade away. Of course at the end of the day this film has to be damn good, but the amount of work I see him doing is a good indication. Read more… Sit Down, Shut Up — Sucks Ass!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 18, 2009 in Animation
Domo is Dead: Long Live On-Chan Nendoroid!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 17, 2009 in Japanese TV
Time was not too long ago that Domo was the coolest thing not just for me — but for any self respecting hipster, creative professional or occasional otaku. But alas our favorite razor toothed character who was all but unknown in Japan conquered mainstream America, before you know it every damn yabbo could pick up a t-shirt at Walmart. But fear not as I have discovered a worthy mascot replacement: On-Chan Nendoroid (shown above) was created in 1997 to represent the Hokkaido Television Broadcasting Co. and he sports a pet monster called Guchi. So if you want to be the first kid on your block to own your very own Nendoroid this figurine can be ordered from National Console Support, Inc. By the way here’s Nendoroid in action: Read more… Is Cable News Twittering Past the Graveyard? A Little Birdie Told Me…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 17, 2009 in Tech
On November 22, 1963 along with President Kennedy newspapers received their first fatal wound and they’ve been slowly fading ever since. Most people learned of the assassination of JFK via their TV set or radio — and ever since then newspapers have broken less-and-less news each year. Smugly watching this death march has been broadcast and later cable television news. At a certain point the money, power and glamour shifted from print to the small screen and along with that came a certain sense of hubris that we see today. Read more… |
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