Elin's Journal

It's the time of year when everyone starts making lists of their favorite things of that year- this year, I started tracking all the books and manga I read and movies/TV shows I watched, so I can finally make fancy pronouncements on the internets as well! My taste in manga is kind of all over the map, so your mileage may vary. I do firmly believe all of these are worth a shot, though. (In other words, they're worth spending money on, unless they happen to be in a genre you absolutely despise, and even then, I stand by the idea that they are Good.)

This also could be long (and has links), so here is what I liked the most, in a handy LJ cut:
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Yeah, I know there aren't really any reviews or much else written for each one, but it's late and I can't think of anything to say other than "these're good, you oughta try'em if you like manga!". After selling manga and comics all day at the DayJob, I find I'm pretty much unable to articulate a coherent opinion on much. Words are hard and stuff.

Research for the August San Antonio Animation Society meeting theme, which is Saiyuki aka Journey to the West. ^_^ (jameshanrahan had better come to this one! Heh!) Thus, here follows a list of links for clips, trailers and openings of TV shows and films based on this classic of Chinese literature. I wanted to put them in chronological order, but that's difficult since so many of the Chinese TV show versions are hard to place.

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Unable to find: The Fire Ball (2005), or the Go Nagai animation that had a female version of Son Goku. (Capcom based Son-Son on this character- but I can find no reference to her anywhere online.) This list is probably far from complete.

Just like the title says: in chronological order (of publication, not of air date), here are the openings (and clips and endings, sometimes) for anime (and TV shows and movies) based on manga that appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump and Monthly Shonen Jump. Mostly posting for denshousha for the upcoming SAAS anime meeting this month.

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Finally finished this! I edited in the Monthly Shonen Jump series as well; debated for a long time whether I should include Ultra Jump, but finally decided against it. Enjoy!

This is mostly being posted for the benefit of denshousha, so we can get the SAAS meeting planned for this month. But hey, I thought other people might want to see these rare clips also. Watch and enjoy, opening credits for almost all the magical girl anime shows since 1966, in order by year. In the cut, because the list is HUGE.

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I lean towards liking the stuff from the mid-1990's and earlier when it comes to magical girl shows, but I'm always pleased when I find something newer that's good. Princess Tutu is delightfully surreal and pretty, and no wonder I like it since it's by the guy who made Ojamajo Doremi which I also love. I'm a fan of the Sugar Sugar Rune manga, so will likely try the anime also. Bewitched Agnes sounds completely bonkers (wiki link), and gives nods in the title to the show that started the whole magical girl craze in Japan in the first place: Bewitched. Yes, the Elizabeth Montgomery show! We can blame the magical girlfriend genre of anime on the other American export: I Dream of Jeannie. But that's a whole other post!

The Phoenix, a 1982 TV show that I watched when I was about 11. I *loved* this show, but whenever I've mentioned it to people, they've gone "whatever, you made that up, you're crazy!" No one else has ever remembered it! And with good reason, since it apparently aired for ONE MONTH. XD Trust me to like a show that died an instant death.

Look, it's the opening!



Yeah, it was pretty much 100% Egyptian alien cheese with a side of goofy, but come on, I was 11.

Now, if I could just find the opening for Wizards and Warriors from 1983, I'd be in nostalgia heaven.

My fellow editrix, the delightful tiredfairy, has written an excellent set of quick guidelines for surviving San Diego Comic Con. You can read it here.

This was done in response to the L.A. Times' absolutely pathetic "Girl's Guide to Comic-Con" article, which basically imparts no useful information, unless you are hoping to stalk male celebrities. Because, you know, that's the only reason women go to Comic-Con. It's not to get comics, toys, art books, anime goods, trading cards, autographs, video game premiums or free geek swag from all the major producers of such. They also don't go to the con to work booths, do the portfolio rounds, or network to find jobs in the industries. Oh, heck no. Women only go to Comic-Con if they are DRAGGED THERE by the men in their lives, DUH! But hooray! Now they can ogle hotties while they wait for their bearded compatriots to get out of the Hasbro Exclusives line, instead of having to stand there all bored and stuff.

But go. Read the real Geek Girl's Guide. Important info in there! She ain't kidding about the shoes. Or the bananas.

veltonkyle uploaded a low-res version to YouTube, so here it is.



Yes, indeed, a parody of the Daicon 4 animation, with A-Kon cosplay. I see so many old friends in this video, it gives me a strong sense of natsukashii every time I watch it over again. ^_^ Credits at the end, naturally.

It's fun to watch it back to back with the Daicon 4 animation! Kyle really nailed it, I think.

Anyway, enjoy!

(In other things, I officially have the Con Crud. Dammit!)

I didn't hate it. I actually liked a lot of it, because I am an obsessive compulsive type who revels in the details. (The shoes were all 1985 style shoes! Except for one time!) Other parts, not so much. (No spoilers here...)

Watchmen the graphic novel was a big thing back in the day. When I was a teenager in the 1980's, reading Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants and ElfQuest, there were four "underground" comics that just blew me away with their style, story-telling and vision. These four comics were, in order of favorite-ness:
1. Love & Rockets
2. Camelot 3000
3. Time2 (by Howard Chaykin- I guess it could also be called Time Squared)
4. Watchmen

Yeah, two of those comics are from DC Comics, so hardly "underground" material. And I don't want any lip over Camelot 3000, since I loved that damn thing and read the hell out of it. (And I covet the fancy hardcover we have at the comic store with extra bonus pages...)

These were the comics that made me go "wow, comics can be about ANYTHING!". It wasn't until I first worked in a comic store that I read Arkham Asylum or The Dark Knight Returns, so those weren't really influences. But those four? Awesome. I still love re-reading them, though I haven't seen a copy of Time Squared since the 80's. (It was recommended to me by Sassy magazine, so you know it was very hip!) Despite some of my issues with Watchmen in terms of how it affected the future path of the industry (sharing blame with Miller's Dark Knight), as a complete work on its own, it's still pretty amazing. The level of detail is just insane. The "easter eggs" throughout the book are legion. It was the first intelligent superhero comic that wasn't just about punching. And honestly, half the people who read it don't really "get" it. (Hur hur hur, Rorschach is so badass! Yeah! Uh, no...)

Now, if only my movie-going experience hadn't been tainted by the stupid chattering hordes of people who couldn't shut the hell up and who also decided to psychologically scar their toddlers by bringing them to the movie. People really are incredibly dumb sometimes. You'd think an R rating would have maybe sent the message that this wasn't going to be like Fantastic Four or something... still, it comforted me to know that the kids were getting quite an education in both the old ultra-violence *and* sex! Ah, excellent parenting, people of San Antonio!

Bonus fangirl squee: Wolverine movie trailer! Hells yeah! And Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth? Awesome! I can't wait to see that! My inner thirteen year old will probably never get over her crush on Wolverine.

After the movie, we had to book on home to finish up the laundry for this week. And suarez has to practice for his comedy contest he's in on Monday. In other things, Daylight Savings Time is already screwing me up. I hate losing an hour of sleep!

EDIT: Even more bonus fangirl squee, but of a fashionable nature: Audrey Tatou is starring in a biopic of Coco Chanel! I AM SO THERE!

Here is the list of titles that I observed being purchased by girls/women for their own enjoyment at the comic store I work at for last week. As always, stuff women were purchasing for boyfriends/sons/husbands is not included.
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Fewer DVDs this time, more comics. Still interesting data, though I have no idea what to do with it. I think the whole vague idea of proving that there's no predictable way to say "women only buy this kind of thing, period!" has pretty much been done. I mean, the stuff the women buy in the store I work at has been all over the map- and often they buy things (and are quite passionate about said things!) that are aimed squarely at a male audience. They also seem to like to buy sexy stuff- and not just yaoi, I mean sexy stuff with hot chicks in tiny outfits. It happens all the time. (It seems to be fairly prevalent in anime fandom as well, shows that are packed to the gills with sexy girls get rented by women all the time.) I'll probably keep logging this stuff though, just because I am a little OCD.

In other stuff, there's been no time for LJ posting between day job work, Radio work and my favorite, house work. Alas!