Jessica Renslow- Linguistic Wizard of Studiopolis Inc.
In the past several years, Anime has turned into a massive television industry, rapidly becoming one of the most popular forms of entertainment. All of this is due to the work of companies such as ADV and Viz, which search out new Anime and prepare it for release in the states. But with all of the hustle and bustle, flashy shows and star voice actors, it’s easy to forget about the people who make it possible for us to experience these new sights and sounds: the translators. On a daily basis, these linguistic wizards take what would be incomprehensible to many of us and transform it into media for the masses.

Jessica Renslow is one of these skilled translators, working as a "Resident Translator/Production Coordinator" for Studiopolis Inc., which works with Viz, TV Tokyo, Shonen Jump, Cartoon Network, Disney, and other animation and Manga companies. Born on Thanksgiving Day, 1980, in Gary, Indiana, she now lives in North Hollywood. "I live in a predominantly Latin neighborhood in North Hollywood, CA. It’s good practice for my Spanish!" An avid traveler, she has driven cross-country six times in the last year, in addition to a number of excursions to Europe and Asia, one of which found her living and working in the town of Pippu on Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan, from 2003 to 2006.

Read the full article on ThingsAsian.

Until Next Time...
11:39 PM PST Permalink |

Brother From Another Planet- Indie Sci-Fi With A Comic-Book Feel
As enamored of animation as I am, every once in a while, I stray from my colorful, well-drawn world and check out what's good in live-action. Unfortunately, I am of the belief that many of the new movies that are coming out are generally lacking in quality, so I turn to the random old movies that come my way. This time, it was a pick of my mother's: an extremely low-budget indie sci-fi flick called Brother From Another Planet.

The Brother, of course, is actually an alien from some distant planet, having crash-landed in the best place possible for him. See, when you look like a black human, Harlem is THE place to hide out from whatever inter-planetary foes you might have chasing you. The Brother fits the bill perfectly. He had no ability to speak, but he did have a number of other interesting and useful abilities- First, he could feel emotions connected to items. This leads to a number of odd revelations, such as the "Death Seat" in the bar that he ends up hanging out at a lot. The next is his ability to fix... ANYTHING. No matter what it is, he can fix it, be it electronics, video games, or even his own severed leg.

Much of the charm of this movie comes from how The Brother interacts with people. Without the ability to speak, it would seem as if he would lose a large part of his people skills, but it actually works to his advantage, as his inability to interrupt a conversation seems to be more of a catalyst than an impediment. Another interesting facet was the original point of the movie. The writer and director, John Sayles, intended for the movie to be about someone who looks like they fit in, but is actually completely lost. And what better place to do that than Harlem?

Brother From Another Planet may not be based on a comic book, but it definitely gives off that vibe when you watch it. I suggest it as a good watch for anyone that is into odd, off-beat cult sci-fi classics. Until Next Time...
02:57 PM PST Permalink |

Ratatouille- Disney For Grownups
With all of the especially good animation coming out of Japan, it's easy to forget that the States are home to a large number of skilled animators. And most of these animators work for Pixar, the company that does the animation for the latest generation of CG-animated Disney Movies. Ever since the massive hit that was Toy Story, Pixar has been producing such excellent pieces of animation as Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and the latest in the line, Ratatouille. While primarily oriented for children, the movies that have been produced in recent years have begun to transcend the juvenile nature of the "Disney Movie" and come into their own as full-fledged movies for the people.

Patton Oswalt voices Remy, a rat living in the countryside of France... until his love for gourmet food and cooking gets him and his clan booted from their home, and into the underside of Paris- the home of gourmet cuisine. Upon arrival, however, he finds that the former restaurant and home of his cooking idol, Gusteau, has fallen into ruin. Formerly a five-star restaurant, it was heavily critiqued by Anton Ego, a highly influential food critic and nemesis of any chef that wants to be popular in Paris. The end result? Gusteau's was demoted to a three-star restaurant, and Gusteau himself lost heart and died. Now, just a couple of years after the tragic events, a new chef has arrived at Gusteau's, and while his skills may be sub-par, his determination combined with Remy's culinary ability and know-how may be able to save Gusteau's after all.

Ratatouille isn't nearly as much of a kid movie as the previous works were. The differences come in the way that the story is laid out. In every other movie, there's a clear villain- Sid in Toy Story, Darla in Finding Nemo, but none really in Ratatouille. Sure, there's the restaurant owner, as well as Anton Ego, the one that started it all, but they don't really bring the punch that other villains do. And it's not about some grand quest- it's about someone trying to do what they love, by any means necessary.

An excellent movie, Ratatouille deserves to be up there with the other Pixar classics. Until Next Time...
10:49 PM PST Permalink |

Tokyo Godfathers- A Misfit Family On The Streets Of Tokyo
One of the biggest hurdles that animated movies have to clear is the juvenile atmosphere that is surrounds animation. It's easy to assume that members of the animated genre will share the same kind of youthful style as Disney Animation or the work of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. However, every once in a while, there's a movie that shows how animation can portray the darker, rougher side of life that is so rarely shown. This excellent, charming work by Satoshi Kon is one animated film not to be passed up.

Tokyo Godfathers follows the adventures of three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo- Gin, a former bicycle racer; Hana, a transvestite; and Miyuki, a teenage runaway. While searching for various discarded goods that they could use, they come across an abandoned infant in a dumpster. Being homeless, with no plans for Christmas, they decide that instead of returning the child to the police, they will venture out into the city in search of the infant's parents. Along the way, each of them come to terms with the events that led to their life on the streets. The way that the three interact with each other and with the world shows them that they aren't alone in the world, and that they still have each other no matter how things turn out.

The biggest thing that this movie has going for it is how well the characters are portrayed, both in the style of animation, and in their personalities. The three seem like such an odd pairing, and each one has their own quirks that make them special. It's rare that a movie exceeds my expectations for it, but this one certainly did. An excellent movie, Tokyo Godfathers is great fun for both children and adults alike. Until Next Time...
02:27 PM PST Permalink |

Ninja Warrior- Only In Japan
Twice a year, one hundred devoted (or just plain crazy) competitors arrive at the legendary Mount Midoriyama to partake in an epic struggle against the obstacle course known as Sasuke, or Ninja Warrior. Many are removed by the brutal obstacles that lie in their path to the glory of the summit, but every competition brings new hope, new competitors, and new obstacles to victory. The rules are simple- pass through the obstacle course from hell in the alloted time, without touching the water below or going out of bounds. However, the course is anything but simple- it is an endurance run that tests every single aspect of human fitness, and is continually being refined to provide more and more of a challenge to the would-be Ninja Warriors.

The climb to the summit takes place in four stages. Normally, 85-90 people are eliminated in the first stage, and few make it to the third. Only a select few find themselves at the base of the final climb, and only two people have ever made it to the top of this most brutal course. Competitors range from the absolutely absurd to the athletically perfect, and there are a great deal of returning competitors that have proven themselves time and time again in the battle for victory.

Kazuhiko Akiyama- The first man to reach the top of Mount Midoriyama and be crowned as Ninja Warrior at the fourth competition. Since then, he has met with defeat at every competition afterwards, and has retired formally after the 17th competition.

Makoto Nagano- A 35-year old fisherman, and the second person to finish the Ninja Warrior course, during the 17th competition. He spends 300 days a year on his ship, and he uses that time to train extensively for the next round of Ninja Warrior.

Shingo Yamamoto- A 32-year old gas station manager, and the only person to have competed in every single iteration of Ninja Warrior's course, having made it to the final stage three times.

Kasumi Yamada- Known as Mr. Ninja Warrior, this man has competed in almost all of the episodes of Ninja Warrior, despite his continued claims of retirement. He even went so far as to alienate his family to have one more shot at Mt. Midoriyama.

Always an excellent watch, Ninja Warrior is shown on G4 in the US daily in one-hour segments. Until Next Time...
04:47 PM PST Permalink |

Going For The Gold- The Tae Kwon Do Tourney at UC Davis
As you may or may not know, I have been taking Tae Kwon Do for over ten years. I'm on the verge of getting my Black Belt, but I was missing one very important aspect of my training- The experience of attending a tournament. So on Saturday, at the early hour of 7:30, I made the long drive over to U.C. Davis, where the tournament was being held. Arriving just before 9:00, I settled myself and got ready for the experience.

That said, it was still a good seven hours until I actually got to compete. First, there was the forms competition, where people showed off their various forms, including the traditional forms, weapons forms, synchronized forms, and and just general exhibition forms. After that, there was lunch, and the sparring began. However, this tournament was a largely youth-oriented tournament, and as such, it was thronged with students of all ages, just waiting for the chance to beat the tar out of one another. There were eight rings, and since I was in division 51, I had to wait a good long while for my chance to fight.

I've been training hard for about a month in preparation for this tournament, going to three classes a week to increase my skill, speed, and technique. And it paid off. When my division finally came up, I was ready. And I don't think that the fight could have gone any better for me. I was in an almost trance-like state, where I knew exactly what my opponent was going to do, even before he knew. For the majority of the fight, every time my opponent attacked, I'd place myself exactly where he didn't want me to go, and answer his aggression with a well-placed strike to the torso or head. At the end of the second 90-second round, I knew that I had done it.

I returned home, worn-out but victorious, with a gold medal hanging around my neck. Not bad for a first try, eh? Now it's back to working for the black belt that I've been training for so long to get. And who knows. Maybe I'll come back next year, to try for a repeat performance of this year's events.

Until Next Time...
02:57 PM PST Permalink |

Berserk- A Violent Dream... And A Letdown.
My Netflix queue has been a touch sparse recently, so I've been looking for new stuff to watch. On that note, I was told that Berserk was a good series, and I decided to grab it from Netflix. The end result? A cryptic, bloody show that is absorbing, powerful, and an excellent watch... up until the end, where it fell completely apart. The worst kind of show is the one that can't hold itself together long enough to have a strong finish.

The show is laid out rather similarly to Gungrave in that it starts out with some cryptic and incredibly powerful fighter with some kind of vendetta against a figure of power. It then goes into a flashback about how the two started out as friends until a single event tore the two apart. In this case, the main character is Gutts, a fighter of incredible strength and little finesse, who finds himself indebted to Griffith, the leader of a local mercenary band known as the Band of the Hawk. Over time, through the leadership of Griffith and the strength of Gutts, the Band of the Hawk becomes the definitive arm of the Midland army, gaining unprecedented status. That's... where it kinda falls apart. I won't spoil it, but it gets to a point, then just stops. No real ending, just a vague cutoff leaving the viewer confused and, in my case, rather angry.

The worst part is that I wanted to give this show a VERY good review. The part of the show where Gutts is in the Band of the Hawk is an amazing show. However, it fell apart near the end so badly that I can't actually recommend this show. The manga is probably better, but I'm not sure I'll have the chance to compare the two.

As I said, I need new stuff to watch. Therefore, if anyone has any suggestions for me, drop me a line via e-mail. Until Next Time...
03:23 PM PST Permalink |

Pokemon Diamond (and Pearl)- Expanding The Ranks Yet Again
It happened again. A new generation of Game Boy, a new generation of Pokemon Game. Red/Blue/Yellow for the original Game Boy, Gold/Silver/Crystal for the Game Boy Color, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald for the Game Boy Advance, and finally, Diamond and Pearl for the DS. And with each new game, the number of Pokemon swells greatly. From the original 151 of RBY, to the 251 of GSC, to RSE's 386, and finally to a whopping four hundred and ninety-three Pokemon in Diamond and Pearl. Of course, that's just what makes it such an appealing game. In my eyes, Pokemon's appeal stems from the fact that it's like an RPG where you get to make a six-man team from close to five hundred different characters (maybe around 200-250 when you factor in evolutions), and each character is highly customizable, so that you have complete control over your team.

When it comes to plot, Pokemon games really fall short. Then again, the plot has been the same for close to a decade, so it's obvious that the guys at Game Freak found what works and stuck with it. Basically, you play a teenager that's about ready to get out into the world. After being supplied with a brand-spanking new Pokemon from the newest in the line of arboreally named Professors (Oak, Elm, Birch, and in the latest incarnation, Rowan), you decide that it's time to get out in the world. This means that it's time to grab a Pokeball, catch a team, and journey across the world in pursuit of Badges, new Pokemon, and finally a seat in the Pokemon League. Of course, you've always got your Rival, who strives to always create a better team than you (and fails). Along the way, you accidentally (or on purpose) thwart the plans of a new malevolent organization striving to enslave Pokemon for whatever evil ends they pursue. Then, once you're done, you just run around leveling up, catching newer, more rare Pokemon, until you get bored of it.

However, the DS adds a new facet to this- Wi-Fi internet play. Previously, if you wanted to Poke-battle, you had to find someone else that had a compatible version of the game, and then hope that yours were a match for them. Now, you can trade over the internet, battle over the internet, or even just chat with the DS's built-in microphone. With this, it's easy to make just the team that you want, and use it to play in a way that was usually very difficult with the other games.

It's pretty obvious that the Pokemon games aren't going to stop being popular any time soon. I just hope that Game Freak manages to keep adding better and better stuff to them, so that each game adds something new for the series. Until Next Time...
02:49 PM PDT Permalink |

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney- OBJECTION!
Yes, with the DS comes probably one of the best games I've ever played- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney- And Justice For All. A rather unorthodox game, in almost every aspect, Phoenix Wright- Ace Attorney isn't your same old video game. Like many other cutting-edge DS games, Phoenix Wright uses the touchscreen of the DS to create a game that tests your mental acuity rather than your reflexes and your aggression.

You play as Phoenix Wright, an attorney that fights for his clients to secure a complete acquittal for crimes that they obviously didn't do. Furthermore, your investigation and your crime-fighting techniques come into play when you eventually catch the real murderer behind every scheme, plot, and foiled framing.

The way the game is played is rather interesting. Like many contemporary court dramas on TV, the attorneys always seem to have to do all the investigative work. As such, each case is split into two parts. The first phase is the investigative phase, where you have to examine all the areas for possible clues, evidence, and to meet all the players involved in the case. After you find all of the evidence you need (or can possibly find), you move on to the courtroom. Here, the prosecution brings up a witness, who makes their statement. Using everything at your disposal, including evidence, knowledge, and the witness' own statements, you have to poke holes in their statements and show that their evidence may not really be as incriminating as it seems.

The cases are intriguing, the characters are interesting, and the mysteries are well-built. A logic-based caper for the DS, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is one of the best new games for the DS. Until Next Time...
03:22 PM PDT Permalink |

FF7: Voices Of The Lifestream- An Epic Musical Undertaking
Final Fantasy VII- Voices of the Lifestream- OCRemixes

As an avid fan of Final Fantasy, I was always of the belief that Final Fantasy 7 held the best music of the entire series. From the rock styled Those Who Fight Further, to the more mellow tracks such as the Cosmo Canyon Theme, to darker and brooding tracks, to the epic One Winged Angel, I was completely enthralled by the music of Final Fantasy 7. This is why I was so intrigued when my friend told me about this project.

OverClocked Remixes has been remixing video game music for a very long time now. Their latest project, Voices of the Lifestream, has taken the combined efforts of forty-two remixers, producing forty-five tracks and over three hours of music. A six-month endeavor, VotL was released on the 14th of September, and is grouped into four distinct albums, each based on one of the spin-offs of the game: Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, Advent Children, and Last Order.

As much music as there is, I am both surprised and quite happy to say that there was not a single piece in the entire set that disappointed me, which is excellent. The first test for me was their remix of One Winged Angel. The talents of seven different remixers combined to create Black Wing Metamorphosis, three minutes of amazing work. I figured that if they could do right by the One Winged Angel, I had nothing to worry about.

I heartily recommend this compilation to my readers. An amazing piece of work by all involved, Voices of the Lifestream is sure to please. Until Next Time...
03:26 PM PDT Permalink |

I Never Thought It Would Come To This...
It's happened. For all my whining and moaning, I've become... hooked on watching Bleach.

Yes, I know. I raised such a stink to my friends about how I would never watch it, how it always angered me so intensely, but it finally took hold of me. See, [adult swim] just started their newest lineup. However, to do this, they RESTARTED INUYASHA. This meant that it was going back to all the episodes I'd already seen, and that meant I couldn't watch it anymore. Deprived of my source of overhyped cliched anime, I found myself tuning in to Bleach. And you know, it's not nearly as bad as I made it out to be.

First off, there are so many similarities that it's not even funny. Ichigo and Inuyasha fight so similarly that they might as well be the same person. All they do is bust out a huge oversized sword and hack away, hoping to win, and then pulling it out at the last minute. Honestly, I still think Bleach is an awful show. It's just not as bad as I painted it to be. Here's to hoping that it at least gets a little better.

Until Next Time...
03:06 PM PDT Permalink |

The Nintendo DS- Twice The Fun
The era of the Game Boy Advance is failing. I decided not to actually buy any of the full consoles, as I have neither the time nor the space for them, but I've always liked the Nintendo Game Boy series. So when my Game Boy Advance SP's backlight went out, I decided it was time for a change. And so, last week, I purchased a brand new black Nintendo DS Lite, along with a couple games for it- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney- And Justice For All, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, New Super Mario Brothers, and of course, Pokemon Diamond. I was intrigued by the two-screen design, as well as the touchscreen idea, and am glad to say that the whole thing has certainly proven itself to deliver.

The biggest feature of the Nintendo DS is the ability to use the bottom screen as a Touch Screen to input commands and the like. However, many games make excellent use of the dual screens to enrich the gameplay. For example, in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, the bottom screen is where all the action happens, while the top screen shows either stats on yourself and the enemies or the castle map, both of which prove incredibly useful. in Pokemon Diamond, the top screen shows all the action, while the bottom screen either shows useful stats, such as a running tally of how many steps you've taken, the HP stats on your Pokemon, the time, or even a calculator, while in battle, the bottom screen is used for issuing commands. Phoenix Wright- Ace Attorney is even completely controlled by the touch screen, so you never actually have to push a button.

The DS is coming out with a great deal more puzzle-based games and logic-based games, rather than the traditional action games and RPGs that are prevalent. The Brain Age games and Big Brain Academy are examples of the brain-training logic games that are coming out, and Phoenix Wright is an excellent lesson in deductive reasoning, research, logic, and comprehension of information. And there are still the staple games that made them famous- Final Fantasy 3 is out, as well as two new Castlevania games. It also features a beefed-up remake of Super Mario Brothers, as well as the next incarnation of the Legend of Zelda series. All in all, it looks like a great deal of excellent games are coming out for the DS, and now, I'm ready for them.

I'm always looking for new stuff to watch, so if you have any ideas for me, feel free to hit me up. My email is willraus@sbcglobal.net, and my AOL Instant Messenger is xXWillRausXx. I'd love to hear from you. Until Next Time...
03:26 PM PDT Permalink |

Real Bout High School- Mired in Mediocrity
I usually am pretty good at picking out Anime that is going to be decent. However, every once in a while, I fall flat. This was one of those times. At one instance of Fanime, I was browsing around, and managed to catch an episode of this show, which seemed to be pretty good. I was rather amused, and decided that at some point I had to watch the whole thing. Unfortunately, the rest of the show didn't hold up nearly as well as the small portion I had previously seen.

Real Bout High School plays out like Tenjho Tenge Lite... if you decide that by lite, you mean light on humor, interesting characters, and meaningful plotlines. The show centers around Ryoko Mitsurugi, the "popular girl" at Daimon High School, a school where everything is settled by a good old-fashioned brawl. Ryoko is the reigning champion of what is called the K-Fight, or a general tournament for deciding conflicts at the school. K-Fights can apparently happen anywhere, at any time, for any reason, and Ryoko's day is mired in pointless, heavily one-sided brawls. However, this changes when she receives some legendary artifact called the Fuma Stone, which somehow allows her to be teleported to some magic parallel universe, gain superpowers, and fight demons. (Yeah, I was confused too.) Along the way, she apparently meets up with Shizuma Kusanagi, a wannabe badass with some flashy techniques, and Keichiro Nagumo, the legendary creator of Daimon High's K-Fight system, and actual veritable badass. Somehow, they end up stuck in a conflict with demons, evil gun-toting agents in black suits, and of course, each other. Meanwhile, there's some feud between Ryoko and one of her classmates over some kind of love interest over the head of their Kendo Club, Tatsuya, which never actually goes anywhere. Then, all of a sudden, there's a huge climactic battle, and the show's over. None of our questions are answered. Loose ends are left untied. The show... is over.

At first glance, the show is so stunningly girly that I was wondering what possessed me to get it in the first place. However, despite the overwhelming feminine vibe that the show puts off, there's a couple heaping helpings of gratuitous violence, pointless fanservice, and scantily clad women. Honestly, I don't even know what the target audience was for it, only that it didn't seem to be aimed at me. Furthermore, the show was confusing. Not mysterious, but confusing. There's a point at which unexplained mysteries become random plotlines that lead nowhere. There are references to random characters that we are never introduced to, Keichiro Nagumo randomly appearing from time to time, and an epic villain that appears three episodes before the end for about fifteen minutes, then is vanquished by our heroes. The show was amusing at times, but spotty at best, downright confusing at worst, and obviously trying too hard.

I really wanted to like it, but it never managed to hold my interest. Ah well... better luck next time. I've got Berserk coming, and it seems pretty awesome at first glance. I'm always looking for new stuff to watch, so if you have any ideas for me, feel free to hit me up. My email is willraus@sbcglobal.net, and my AOL Instant Messenger is xXWillRausXx. I'd love to hear from you. Until Next Time...
03:47 PM PDT Permalink |

Everything Old Is New Again- Rewatching Some Old Favorites
Every once in a while, I just get the feeling that I need to go back and watch some of the things that I haven't seen in a while, and this is one of those times. Now that I have a decked-out room that I can watch DVDs on, I've started watching my old Anime a lot more during my spare time. Combine this with the rather meager offerings on Adult Swim, and I've been able to go back to a lot of cool stuff that I'd forgotten about.

Steel Angel Kurumi- I've said it before, and I'll say it again- SAK is honestly one of the funniest shows that I have ever seen, and no matter how many times I watch it, it never gets old. From the naive exuberance of Kurumi, to the shy, wishful Saki, and especially bitter, profane Karinka, Steel Angel Kurumi always proves itself to be an awesome watch, no matter how many times I see it.

Noir- On the inside, Noir is an excellent tale of reconciling past filled with disaster and tragedy- on the outside, however, Noir is a brutal, violence-filled look at two assassins trying to find out their place in the world. With compelling characters, amazing action, and a body count above 400, Noir is a great, if oft overlooked show.

Elfen Lied- Like Noir, Elfen Lied is a show that uses violence en masse to propel a tale of self-examination and forgiveness. However, unlike Noir, the show isn't all about the violent aspect. It's about inter-personal relations, and how to build a new life after an old one has been destroyed.

Cowboy Bebop- A show for the ages, Cowboy Bebop is one of the few shows I know that can truly be classified as a "classic." A funky fusion of jaszz beats, western-style plotlines, and intergalactic bounty hunting, Cowboy Bebop is easily one of the best Anime I've ever seen, if not one of the best period.

And last, but certainly not least...

Inuyasha- WHY CAN'T I STOP WATCHING YOU! I'll say this- Inuyasha is basically an animated soap opera, except a bit more violent. It's cliched, it's repetitive, it's sappy to an extreme, and it somehow never stops being entertaining. Well into its eighth (!!) season, Inuyasha still holds strong. I think the only reason I watch it is so that I can see how it ends and finally, FINALLY, put the darn thing behind me.

I'm always looking for new stuff to watch, so if you have any ideas for me, feel free to hit me up. My email is willraus@sbcglobal.net, and my AOL Instant Messenger is xXWillRausXx. I'd love to hear from you. Until Next Time...
03:09 PM PDT Permalink |

Errant Netflix- A Bump In The Movie Line
As I've mentioned in many of my other blog entries, Netflix is probably the greatest invention of the internet since eBay. I use Netflix to get all the anime that I've ever wanted to watch. Right now, the current show I'm viewing is Real Bout High School, which I had always been interested in since I read the first volume of the manga. I watched the first two volumes, and was notified that I had volume 3 waiting for me. However, when I got home, my arrival was nowhere to be found.

Turns out that my mother's viewing of Northern Exposure provided the interference. She managed to place one of her discs of Northern Exposure into the envelope of my Real Bout High School, sending the two back together. The end result? I only have volume 4 right now, meaning I don't have the middle volume. Unfortunately, that means it'll be a little longer before I can review it, so bear with me.

Until Next Time...
03:35 PM PDT Permalink |