Straight and Traditional

Straight to Business.

I was hoping to make a grand opening in this post by saying an epic comment such as, not many things blow me away. But I know by saying something like that I will not only be lying as it doesn't take make much to blow me away, such as Trueblood at the moment (figuratively and literally), but I would also be over shadowed by the epicness that is the post below. I think my co-writer has raised the bar. So instead of doing something radically different in response, I'm going back to our traditional ways and giving some Anime News and finally some music! Yes that's right, you'll be glad to know that I'm skipping the boring part that is my life and diving right into things. And you thought you got away from my music.

That thing you might call Music.

So I'm going to kill you all firstly by getting to my music, as I know as always we have all missed it. Yes, finally, and to your joy, after many months of listening to some normal music, or at least music I could be proud to say I listened to, I finally fell back to old habits when I came across a cover of a "classic" of mine, "Haruka Kanata", which people may know from the famous Japanese band Asian Kung-fu Generation. Its probably sacrilege to say this, but I'm on my way to hell anyway, the cover for me seemed an improvement (ok guys, out of all the songs Asian Kung-fu Generation have done, this is the worst sung). You can get the cover on iTunes from the new Japanese band Gothic Dolls, sadly though, I think thats the only song that they do good on (and that's saying a lot from me).

Time of Eve.

It was intended that the discussion of Time of Eve be left to the podcast, as it was mentioned in the first episode, but... we all know what happened to that (I think). Anyway, its been a while now and after many months 5 episodes have been released, all of which can be seen where else but Crunchyroll. It has to be one of those animes you just have to watch. With some of the most beautifulest combination of animation and CGI and a story that carries its own philosophical and moral debate, this is one of the best anime around at the moment. I'm not going to delve into much the storyline, but the setting is based in the near future (and despite the anime itself being hesitant as to where on Earth this story takes place, it defiantly takes place in Japan, I don't think the lovely guys in Germany use chop sticks). While its fun to make a joke about this, it certainly serves its purpose that this story could take place anywhere, with androids just having been made available to the consumer and robots already having been implemented for nothing but labor, their place in society is seen as little more than servants. However one cafe is changing all of that. The anime certainly throws a lot of question towards a future implication of the rights of artificial life and probably more so towards today's current conflict between individualism and society.

Crap from the Internet.

Ok, so maybe I've gotten a little too serious, but let me throw some crap into the works now and lighten things up as it has been a while since I've done anything for The Crap from the Internet section. This itself is amazing in it own right seeming as I come across so many stuff while surfing the net (because it's really big you know). The one place that I find myself always checking out at the moment is Fallout 3 Nexus. If your a big fan of Fallout 3, which I'm an addict of at the moment (and having withdrawal symptoms from, just thought I would just share that with you) you'll find a lot of mods here that will improve the experience guaranteed. And because the site allows modders to upload their own works, its updated pretty much everyday. Of course quality is sometimes an issue, 9 times out of 10 I find something of real interest (ok I admit, its the only things at the moment keeping my addictions at bay without playing the game). So ending this post, I thought I would put some funny things I found and you know their going to be funny because I found them (cough). That's right they are Akamaru Certified . Well until next time folks!

She She She's A Bombshell
Mastermind 4
If you know what I mean

Part One: God and Revolution

Home: Its here.
Today I received an unexpected call that was beyond having a call from god himself. While I wont praise Major Shepard who called me today by implying that he is better than the all mighty himself, I will say that the news he brought of Home Open Beta Release for tomorrow was, in a few words, a godsend. Yes people, amongst the many delays that seemed to push the release date of Home until the next Ice Age, December 11th will forever be remembered as the date that Home Open Beta was released around the world. OK, so maybe I'm slightly over exaggerating, though for many PS3 fan boys out there, this has been a key date they've been waiting for. I can say in all fairness, similar to how India was once the gem in the crown of the British Empire, Home is that of the PS3's, which in it's towering glory can claim to have over any other next-gen console. (I thank you all for letting me blind you with the brightness of my holy praise of Home's coming.) Full Article Here.

Gackt, Maybe He's God?
Though bringing myself to reality, a lot has happened since the trip to Manchester in September (was it that long ago!?). From breaking my wife (i.e. Ipod, what else did you think I was implying?), moving to uni, getting a HD TV, the end of Code Geass's Second Season to finally watching Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle (I know, do not even start). But why would I bore you all with that when I know what we are all waiting to know about is what I've listened to! I can proudly say though, maybe what I've been listening to lately is not so, how should I put it, "interesting". Actually on reviewing that I'm not going to hold any promisises. So, after listening to 4 albums by Gackt I can finally say that he is truly talented (Lust for Blood ¦ Vanillia ). Ok, aside from the initial response of "Oh my god, he looks like a woman" part, this guy (let me emphasise this) is one of the few talented singers out there. Unlike most artists these days, his singing voice is all real, while his lyrics are written by himself. Its actually amazing some of the stuff he sings. I mean who would of thought that this, great translation by !SuperCat, is what Gackt was singing in that "interesting" music video for Vanilla (I certainly didnt when I posted it on Facebook, honest).

The Special Part: The Future of Anime and Fansubs.
So after my last annoucement about Dattebayo to soon finish subbing Naruto, with Crunchyroll to be a replacement for the latest Naruto to be found, I thought It would be a good idea to take my magnifying glass, smoking pipe and rename myself Sherlock Holmes and discover what this place was about. I did. And. It was the best thing I had done since deleting my Facebook account after posting those lyrics (joke, but I did delete my account). In short, Crunchyroll is another website that has sprung up in YouTube's fame, though unlike other such sites, Cruchyroll is a preview of a changing anime industry after the Anime Revolution. During the early 90's, before the time of broadband Internet, fans of anime looking for subbing had to receive the such in VHS format. Though fans were limited to a small selection of anime that made it through translation, not to mention depleting the little remains of their disposable income from their expense. While this situation has picked up with better variety, I assure you all the price has not. It is no wounder that fans turn to fansub groups for their supply of anime. While fansubs originally emerged from the days before broadband, it wasn't until the Internet really picked up that fansub groups revolutionized the anime world. Now many of us are use to having subs of our favorite anime a day or less after their air on TV for free. Yet the anime industry was missing out. I'm sure many of us have either read in an article or by word the problem of the TV as a declining format for watching video. But it has only been since YouTube and the progress of the Internet that a solution has arisen for companies. Instead of fighting the change ahead, many have now chosen to go along with the flow with their own view services on the internet. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that Cruchyroll or other of the like will be the main means where broadcasting and licensed publishers will present their shows or movies. By doing so the corporations eliminate the expense of distributing DVDs, allowing for faster and wider distribution of their productions and importantly putting them in direct competition with fansub groups. In other words, the corporations have setup shop next door on the high street, offering all the same services as the fansub groups, but only better in quality of subs and video. But, there is one huge difference and this is why, while fansub groups will now begin to decline, they will never die. And again the issue is the price. While technically illegal, fansubs will always offer free subs of anime, while the corporations will ask for a price. This is a pivtial difference. Though maybe its only a mater of time that this fee will be removed, where the revenue will instead be gained from advertisement. At the moment Cruchyroll offers the best of both worlds. But not only that, it combines features from those famous social sites making Crunchyroll in my eyes, probably better than Youtube. I highly recomend it to anyone to find out new anime as I have so done: Kuroshitsuji and Time of Eve.

But thats all for me until the second part of the special post.