Boys are Weird, in Anime and Real Life

I now find myself captivated by shojo/slice-of-life shows, in stark contrast with my usual sci-fi fare (I blame both my job at GoBoiano and the influence of my senpai, FushigiNaKuniNo). This fall 2012 season presents audiences with two new shows, Say "I Love You" and My Little Monster, which roughly fall into this ambiguous pool of mass-mediated, Japanese female coming-of-age anime I'm indulging in. There's a few obvious themes that run throughout, chiefly that these are love stories. Then there's the fact that the men in these two shows are flat-out crazy. Is this how women view us men? Is this how we view ourselves?

 

My Little Monster Copyright Brain's Base, Robico.  Say  "I Love You" Copyright ZEXCH, Kanae Hazuki.

Magi as the New Madoka?

Today I watched the first three episodes of Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, a new series from A-1 Pictures. Coincidentally (or maybe not) Aniplex was responsible for the innovative Madoka Magica series as well. Now, the obvious connection these series share is their focus on children with magical powers. In and of itself, this isn't unique, but we're talking about A-1 Pictures here, a studio that continually churns out mega-hits (Madoka; Sword Art Online.) Does Magi have what it takes to become a mega-hit as well?

 

Fall 2012 - A Quarter of the Way In!

Hey everyone, this is Elijah Lee. I've been keeping up with almost all of the new anime this fall, and for the most part, this season has been insanely good. Here's some of the better shows to look out for:

From the New World is easily my favorite. It's a bizarre post-apocalyptic science-fiction fantasy that transcends almost all genre expectations. There's the prerequisite school children, but the setting is 1000 years in the future, and everyone has psychokinetic power. Having superpowers isn't to be taken for granted, because 1000 years prior there were very few psi-powered people running around. From the New World has only recently revealed some of what transpires during those years and how it relates to the show's present-day society. The animation and music help establish a genuinely eerie mood, while the narrative's well-paced revelations manage to entertain week after week.  

An Update... sort of.

There's some massive changes in store for the blog. Stay tuned...

A First Look at Neon Alley

Several weeks ago VIZ Media released its new 24/7 anime channel platform, Neon Alley, for the PlayStation 3. Since then, VIZ has diligently spread news of its most recent enterprise; it was a large part of their New York Comic Con agenda. I was recently given the opportunity to try out Neon Alley for myself, and even got to interview Brian Ige, VP of Animation at VIZ Media, regarding what seems to be an exceptional service thus far:

My New York Comic Con

The past few days have been some of the most fun times of my life. I honestly think that reporting on conventions can be a life's pursuit of mine. I was happier than I can recall in recent memory. Goboiano.com features most of my reportings thus far, and I'll likely add more as the week progresses. I met a lot of great people in the anime biz and I hope to extend my social networks to bigger, more influential persons in the future. Here's a glimpse into NYCC!

I'm that tiny speck who's not holding up his Paragon Lost poster; it was rolled up in a tube and I didn't feel like taking it out.

There's me and anime culture titan Danny Choo. He is one funny guy; I even uploaded a Youtube clip of him doing a Gollum impression.

He even signed my press pass!

Here's my picture with Masakazu Ishiguro, manga-ka behind Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru. He drew that picture live at the panel and then signed my name on it. I wish he were smiling in that picture we're in...

There's good ol' Justin Rojas, Senior Social Media Manager at FUNimation. He's a really cool guy. Meeting him was a pleaseure.

Oh man, I wish I had gotten Kimberly Brook's autograph: she's the voice of Ashley Williams in Mass Effect.

On the far left in the green hat is Omar Dogan, my favorite artist at UDON. His work is phenomenal.

I even got Omar Dogan to sign "To Nelson" on to my Wonder Momo poster!

That's all for now. I may post some more NYCC action onto the blog real soon. Stay tuned!

NYCC 2012 - MASS EFFECT: PARAGON LOST

* Published October 14, 2012: http://www.goboiano.com/test/newDB/read-more-news.php?id=703

At 8:00PM Saturday night during New York Comic Con 2012, Funimation aired the yet to be released Mass Effect: Paragon Lost in its entirety. I managed to get a front row seat to this highly anticipated anime installment in the now expansive Mass Effect franchise. While I was too busy enjoying the film to worry about taking pictures and the like, below follows a brief synopsis of my impressions.

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost. Property of Bioware, Production I.G.

SWORD ART ONLINE: EPISODE 14

Dear Sword Art Online Staff,

Hello, my name is Elijah Lee and I am ten years old. I have been watching your show ever since the summer, even though my parents tell me that the show will probably rot my brains because it sucks. But I always told them that the light novels are so great and super-fantastic, and that they were not giving your show a chance! Now that I've seen episode 14, I really do think Sword Art Online is the best show ever made, even better than that boring Cowboy Bebop or Gurren Lagann or Madoka, or any of the other stuff boring grown-ups like so much. Now I'm going to explain to you why I think this episode is the best I've ever seen. Ready? Okay, let's go!

Sword Art Online. Copyright - Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures.

New York Comicon 2012

Hello everyone, I've got some great news: through my job at GoBoiano, I've managed to get a 4 day press badge to NYCC! For those of you who don't know, New York Comicon is like the less famous San Diego Comicon or Anime Expo. Yeah, American comic book franchises and Japanese ones are mashed together for four days out of the year. Celebrities from comic books and manga and anime all appear. I'll be at many of the anime panels; I'll also get a first look at Mass Effect: Paragon Lost before it is released on DVD. I'll be sure to post many pics and let everyone know what goes down.

- Elijah Lee