Where’s the J!-ENT Radio Podcast?

Hi everyone! Everyone’s been asking if we have podfaded (stop producing podcasts and drift towards obscurity of nothingness). The answer is no but at the same time, I think it’s time for another break until we get things all situated again.

Ever since I moved from my G4 Mac (which did a lot of my audio and video production) to a newer Mac (which has more power but not connected to my home studio hardware), it just seems a bit backwards to use my G4 again, especially since it’s not as fast as my new Mac. So, yeah the motivation kind of waned. Especially since one episode took hours to edit. But I think I should try recording without a mixer from the newer Mac and see how it turns out.

But bare with us, we should have a new episode soon. For now, here are some oldies from J!-ENT Radio past. Enjoy!

Episode 229 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about returning after a five month hiatus.

Episode 228 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - This episode of the J! features a Christmas episode.

Episode 227 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - This episode of the J! features a J!-ENT 4-for-4, Voltus V minute, KNDY talks about Jam Session on the Nintendo DS and a interview with music entertainment promoter Jeff Lee and much more.

Episode 223 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about J!-ENT past clips

Episode 222 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about J-Rock Revolution

Episode 221 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about NANA

Episode 220 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Goromi-Chan

Episode 218 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Cuppie Rumne

Episode 216 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Maria Gadget Radio

Episode 206 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about the Real World Anime 1994

Episode 202 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Avatar: The Last Airbender

Episode 199 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one before the PMX Concert and Stephanie Yanez

Episode 197 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about the voyeur episode

Episode 182 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about the HYDE Concert

Episode 181 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about anime and video game translator Shoko Ono

Episode 179 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Fuji Sankei Biru

Episode 173 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about ELSON live in concert

Episode 172 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift

Episode 168 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about cosplay

Episode 159 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Chef Martin Yan

Episode 157 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Mia Crowe

Episode 101 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about celebrating the 10th Anniversay of “Long Vacation”

Episode 100 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Romantic Interlude

Episode 96 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Rex Navarrete

Episode 93 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about PMX 2005

Episode 76 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about e: trinity

Episode 70 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about the making of J!-ENT Radio

Episode 69 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The about partying like it’s 1994 with Go Nagai and Akemi Takada

Episode 68 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Jason Tobin

Episode 65 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about Odaiba

Episode 50 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about the special 50th Episode

Episode 45 - J!-ENT RADIO PODCAST - The one about the World of Anime

Tags: J-ENT Radio Podcast

[off-the-hook] “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” finale

The cast of “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” - photo courtesy and linked from Mary Greenawalt’s Facebook page (Mary was the cute redhead on the show)

Last night was the finale of ABC’s “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” and I found the shows to be quite interesting, embarrassing but overall entertaining for its run but was curious how this 2-hour finale would play off.

The finale featured the final four as Meaghan Cooper of Texas, Bilenda Madison of North Carolina, Donnell Pitman of Illinois and Justin Wood of Alabama competed in individually in elimination matches.

I found the first challenge interesting as the contestants had to go to the streets of Tokyo and have to accomplish missions.

With the group not knowing how to speak Japanese, they had to have people draw a moustache on their face, kiss them on the cheek, have someone wear a statue of liberty outfit, get a business card from a business owner and have three people do the wave. Meaghan used her charm and came in first, Donnell at second and it was a race between Justin and Bilenda who can return to the studio in time and take 3rd. Justin managed to come in with Bilenda a minute or two afterwards. Bilenda eliminated.

The second challenge was actually very enjoyable to watch as the trio now had to compete in an elimination match by wearing a sumo outfit (sponge) and lay in water and go through obstacles and wring out the water which falls into a bucket. The person with the most water would win.

Because of the suits taking in so much water, the person would have to carry 40-50 pounds on them and you can tell how it took a physical toll on the contestants but with Donnell being the most athletic, he won with ease. Meaghan came up short and was eliminated.

It was now down to the final two: Donnell vs. Justin and the following day, the two had an interesting Japanese welcome with people asking for their autographs and holding fans with their faces and receiving a certificate from a politician.

But the finale competition featured Donnell and Justin competing in an obstacle course that featured elements of past challenges. Justin led most of the game but each became even when they had to climb a sticky wall. Donnell looked to be on top and to win until he fell back down, Justin surged back on top and won the game.

Justin takes back $250,000 and Donnell, he goes back home with nothing.

I have to admit that I was pulling for Donnell because throughout the whole series, he was the one that kept saying he needed the money. Especially to pay off debt and in the end, he came up short. No consolation prize for #2 (which you see a lot in reality TV competitive shows in the US). So, that was a bit sad but competitively, Justin managed to get through that difficult wall and eventually winning the competition.

But how did I feel about the overall show?

Of course, if you watched many Japanese game shows, at first you are stoked to find out it would be shown on a major network in the US which was great. And that the competitors had no idea where they were going and that they would be in Japan was quite fun and to see how they would embrace the culture. So, I hope that ratings and viewers enjoyed it.

But on the other hand, for those who follow Japanese entertainment know there is no “Majide” in Japan. The people in the background, sometimes a lot of recurring people and I often wondered if these people were hired as actors to be in the background or were these legit people watching and behaving that way in the show?

Because that welcoming event for the final-two just screamed “fake” to me. Granted, the event made the two feel like champs and probably loosened them up for competition that day.

But nevertheless, the concept was fun and I enjoyed it. Again, I know some of our staff here at J!-ENT found it utterly embarrassing but I think through this show, it was good for people to see some aspects of Japanese culture through the teams that won and lost.

Overall, I was fine with it but the ending showing the loser and the sad music that would accompany them leaving was just creepy at times.

What about a second season?

Many G4 fans know the host of “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” Rome Kanda as TV host Kei Kato from “Unbeatable Banzuke” and because of that Rome has told a fellow fan that he’s communicated with a fellow fan saying that he would love to see a second season and the fan has since created a fansite for Kanda/Kato.

But if there is a second season, yeah… I’ll watch it. A lot more potential and things learned the first time around, would be interested to see if Arthur Smith, Kent weed, David Sidebotham, Karsten Bartholin and Tim Crescenti can get ABC execs to do a second season.

If you want to check out the show, visit abc.com and watch it online.

Tags: I survived a Japanese Game Show, Rome Kanda

[OFF-THE-HOOK] Thee Out Mods, wish you the best in Japan

Thee Out Mods in San Francisco - Photo by Angelo Delos Reyes (J!-ENT)

Thee Out Mods in Los Angeles - Photo by Nergene Arquelada (J!-ENT)

If there is one group that we have a lot of live photos taken by both our photographers Angelo Delos Reyes from performances in the Bay Area and Nergene Arquelada for performances in Los Angeles, it’s of the group Thee Out Mods.

The group announced on their MySpace page that they are returning back home to Japan after residing in Los Angeles for several years.

The group definitely picked up some steam performing throughout California and generated a good-sized fan base.

We wish the band the best and definitely look forward to their performances in the US.

Tags: Angelo Delos Reyes, J-ENT, Nergene Arquelada, Thee Out mods

[OFF-THE-HOOK] Technical problems between host and AT&T

Hi everyone,

There has been a major technical problem within the past few days between our host and AT&T which prevents people who have an account with AT&T (sbcglobal, sbcyahoo, etc.) to open up any iPower hosted websites.

With J!-ENT being hosted on iPower, there are technical problems that iPower and AT&T are currently trying to work on currently at this moment.

According to iPower, if you are NOT on AT&T, you should be able to access the site quite fine but if you are, you will not be able too at this time being.

So, hopefully this will be fixed soon.

kndy

(who can’t access the site through his AT&T account and must use Verizon EVDO)

No tag for this post.

[JAPAN] Upcoming Parties: Int’l Pizza Party July 19 (Sat.) & Nishi Shinjuku Party July 26 (Sat.)

Here are the upcoming parties and events in Tokyo. We’ll an International Pizza Party this Saturday in Roppongi with Italian food on the menu followed by a carvery buffet the following week at Nishi Shinjuku.

We’re expecting roughly 150 people for each Saturday party. Please make your reservations by Friday for the lower price to help us prepare the food. If you have any questions about the events below e-mail me or tel. 03-3281-4303 or 090-1847-5075.

—————————————-

First the Skinny (full details below)

—————————————-
Jul 19 (Sat) Roppongi Int’l Friendship Party 6:30-9:00 at Roppongi Quest (Y3,000/Y3,500)
Jul 20 (Sun) Speed Dating, Roppongi Quest, 6:00-9:00 (Y3,500)
Jul 20 (Sun) Okutama Hike & SWIMMING!（Y500)
—————————————-
Jul 26 (Sat) Int’l Friendship Party 6:30-9:30, Nishi Shinjuku Hotel (Y3,000/Y3,500)
—————————————-
Aug 1 (Fri) After 30’s Int’l Singles Party at YLS 7:30-10:30 (Y2,500)
Aug 2 (Sat.) BBQ Party in Kitanomaru Park 3:00-6:00pm (Y3,000/Y3,500)
Aug 2 (Sat) Speed Dating, Roppongi Quest, 6:00-9:00 (Y3,500)
—————————————-
Aug 9 (Sat) Global Village Int’l Friendship Sushi Party 6:30-9:30, Omotesando Polygon (Y3,000/Y3,500)

Full announcement with the details:

—————————————-

Roppongi International Friendship Party on July 19 (Sat.) from 6:30-9:00pm Assuie Bar Quest! We’re going “Italian” this month with a pizza-buffet with hot pizzas directly from the oven at Quest + a ragu pasta and the usual full buffet items, green salad, veggies, breads, apple pies, etc. and ice-cold beer, wine, cocktails & soft drinks. Great music at an exciting nightclub and a great int’l crowd (100-150 people). The party will run from 6:30-9:30 (with cash bar from 9:00 as we do not need to leave the room and guests may stay) Y3,000 w/res. by e-mail by Friday evening (Y3,500 directly).

—————————————-

Tokyo Speed Dating on July 20 (SUN.) from 6:00 to 9:15pm and Aug. 2(Sat) from 6:00 to 9:15pm at Quest in Roppongi. Have you tried it yet? Meet 15-25 people in a series low-pressure five-minute dates. Manage your time and money efficiently by short-listing dates for your next nights out on the town. Generous hors’ d’oeuvres and one drink included, Y3,500. Reservations recommended to assure a seat but walk ins okay on a standby basis. Tel. 03-3281-4303, tokyospeeddating(at)yahoo.com, www.tokyospeeddating.com

Okutama Hike & SWIMMING! 7/20 (Sun)（Y500 Participation Fee) (Bring your own beverages and lunch box)(Average Course)　The hike will be Okutama Station - Oonara Ridge - Tama River (Swimming) - Hatonosu Station. The hiking time is about 3 hours. Please don’t forget to have your rucksack and exercise or tracking shoes to avoid injury. Wearing sandals is not permitted. As we will go swimming after the hike, please bring a swimsuit, change of clothes and a towel !

—————————————-

Tokyo International Friendship Party on Jul. 26 (Sat.) from 6:30 to 9:30 at the Nishi Shinjuku Hotel with roast beef & roast pork carvery, shepherd’s pie, veggies, breads, cheeses, apple pies + a large cake from Kyle’s Good Finds Bakery. Ice-cold beer, wine, cocktails, soft drinks, etc. A great place for Japanese and foreigners to meet under the stars on rooftop terrace or in the elegant banquet room with full up close panoramic view of the Shinjuku Skyline. Tokyo’s best international party bar none! (Bar closes at 9:00, must exit room before 9:30pm.) Y3,000 with e-mail reservation by Friday before the party, Y3,500 going directly without reservation.

—————————————-

After 30s or Divorced Singles Party on Aug. 1 (Fri.) from 7:30-10:30 at YLS in B2 of Yaesuguchi Kaikan. Meet international singles with a 70’s and 80’s groove in a quaint and cozy atmosphere. Y2,500 with all drinks and light food included. (bar closes at 10:15).

—————————————-

BBQ Party in Kitanomaru Park (behind Budokan at Kudanshita Station) Aug. 2 (Sat.) 3:00-6:00p.m. American-style barbecued spare ribs, beef, chicken, etc., potato salad, veggies, breads, cheeses + alpha, beer, wine, etc. in a beautiful Japanese garden-style setting with breathtaking scenes. From Kudanshita Station walk past Budokan and enter the park. The party will be held at the top of the main pond in the center of the park. In the event of rain we will use one of the roofed picnic areas in the park. (Note: The “menu” will be barbecue but prepared outside and brought in as use of fire is not allowed in the park) Y3,000 with reservation by Fri. (Y3,500 directly).

—————————————-

Global Village International Friendship Sushi Party on Aug. 9 (Sat.) from 6:30 to 9:30 at Omotesando/Harajuku. It’s East meets West with 1,000-piece Sushi buffet at Western-style cocktail party at stylish venue Polygon (behind the Oriental Bazaar on Omotesando). Nonstop ice cold beer, wine, cocktails, soft drinks + sushi buffet, green salad, veggies, cheeses, breads, and pies for dessert. (Bar closes at 9:00, must exit room before 9:30pm.) Y3,000 with e-mail reservation by Friday before the party, Y3,500 going directly without reservation.

—————————————-

If you are using Yahoo, Hotmail or similar e-mail accounts, please take a moment to add this address to your address book so you can be sure to receive the announcement in your in box rather than the bulk mail folder, which sometimes delete messages quickly or automatically.

—————————————-

Party Discounts: TMA (www.tma-marriage.com) has long sponsored our events by offering it’s members a 30-33% discount (usually Y1,000) as a privilege of paid membership. Join TMA and receive the discount at all parties you attend all year long.

—————————————-

For further details, maps, etc. for these events, please see www.kokusaika.org.

Regards,

John

No tag for this post.

[OFF-THE-HOOK] A video from a party for Nagai Go and Takada Akemi

Hey everyone,

Here is a video from a party from Anime America 1994 for Nagai Go and Takada Akemi. The party was held by Fresno’s Otaku Generation club and CF/O. The video was from my friend George Greene and I know that many people never saw this video but myself and a few people who were at the party.

I remember going to this party, being excited about the guests coming over and for an hour or more we just kicked back, watched AMV’s and ate cheese and luncheon meat and drunk a lot of soda…hehe… But this was a special night for me to meet these two. Hope you enjoy it and may post more interviews and J!-ENT coverage from the past up on YouTube

I apologize for the choppy video but a good insight for anime and manga fans of Nagai-san or Takada-san’s work.

As for Takada-san, she was the first person I interviewed for J!-ENT (or to be specific, the NT2099 BBS back then).

But anyway, a rare video that I hope you enjoy!

Tags: Akemi Takada, Anime America, CF/O, Go Nagai, Nagai Go, Otaku Generation, Takada Akemi

[OFF-THE-HOOK] The war against Japanese music piracy

Since the beginning of J!-ENT and the early Japanese music mailing list or forums nearly 20 years ago, the debate on Japanese music piracy has always been a hot topic amongst music listeners.

Back in the early 90’s, on TCP’s JPOP Mailing List (the first major English Japanese music mailing list), the debate was focused solely on those who purchased CD’s that came from Asia.

Purchasing the latest Japanese album from a store like Kinokuniya, UC Irvine’s Bookstore or a Japanese store that sold Japanese music would cost fans around $40 but at the same time, you can head to Chinatown in San Francisco or purchase it from a anime con (years before conventions started issuing their “no bootleg” policy).

You would find these albums cheap and they would contain not just the album but several CD singles of that artist or band included in those albums. But the debates would rage from those who said that you support the artist and the industry in hopes for distribution in that country, while others argued…I’m just a student, I can’t afford $40 for one album.

Arguments from fans back then were similar to what was going on with anime fans who were pushing for people to purchase their anime to jump start a small but growing anime industry in the US, Japanese music fans wanted to see distribution in their country. So, many of these fans were vocal to not purchase these albums.

In 1998, there was a boom of Japanese music MP3 sites. Downloads were broken in up pieces for music and MP3’s or people just connected to someone’s college dorm room via FTP and downloaded the music.

During that time, it was my first time meeting lawyers from Japan who were in the US and studying about piracy and what was being done in the US. It was also during a time when the focus was solely on Japanese video stores who were renting out videos of Japanese television shows which led to “Hobankyo” (Hoso Bangumi Chosakuken Hogo Kyogikai).

According to groinkcaps.com: Hobankyo is an entity, representing all the Japanese television networks, motion picture producers, Japanese anime manufacturers, screenwriters and record companies. Hobankyo enforces intellectual property laws outside of Japan, such as copyright laws, regarding Japanese entertainment. Together with other law enforcement agencies around the world, they crack down on organizations - mostly video stores - that illegally distribute Japanese entertainment content protected by Hobankyo. For-sale and rental items come under Hobankyo. To be legal, stores must obtain licenses from Hobankyo for all items that are protected by Hobankyo. Hobankyo then issues a holographic decal that is placed on the item. Television-related members of Hobankyo include: TBS, NHK, TV Asahi, Fuji Television (Fuji TV), and TV Tokyo.

And thus led to these stores having to identify themselves as working with Hobankyou by placing their sticker on their videos, having to pay a fee on each video tape rented and those who defied Hobankyou, what happened was that these companies were either busted or what many stores ended up doing, they no longer offered video rentals at their store or simply closed down.

Flash forward ten years later and now there are bit torrent sites, LiveJournal/blog sites that are featuring illegal MP3’s much more that it’s become so bad to the point that if you type an artist and their song on google, the top 3 searches is to download the full CD single or album from a blog site.

The hardwork that fans have put into supporting a Japanese music and even anime distribution in North America has evidently been hurt by piracy.

There is no need to get into the anime industry, since there are so many blogs of what is currently happening (and a really good editorial by Justin Sevakis from Anime New Network).

But going back to the music, when Sony Music Japan had their US distribution company Tofu Records, I remember several years ago that the albums that were released in the US, they were then being put on bit torrent sites and Sony’s legal department had to get involved. Unfortunately, Tofu Records ceased operation in Jan. 2007. Actually, a correction on the official term I was told… “on hiatus” as the company was looking into digital distribution.

Avex Entertainment Inc. also tried. Back in 2003, the company was selling albums at anime retailers and at anime cons and what a great time it was to purchase $40 albums for $12-$15. But yet, people were still pirating the music despite the low price in the US. So, now Avex and various Japanese music labels have since added artists from their catalogue onto iTunes. In fact, now, many companies have added their music to iTunes, JapanFiles.com, HearMusic.com, MySpace.com and various legal distribution platforms.

And with songs offered at .99 cents, unfortunately, people continue to upload the albums on blog sites, message boards and bit torrent knowing that they are being offered legally elsewhere.

Unknown to these sites, since 2006-2007, there has been cataloging of activity on these sites. I have seen for myself, the various PDF’s of user activity and the albums, CD singles and DVD’s uploaded or linked from various sites.

In fact, back in 2007, there was the first Japanese music conference before A-Kon in Dallas, Texas which several members of the Japanese music and even a few from the anime industry took part in and discussed how piracy affected their industry.

This past Spring, at the Tokyo Anime Fair, Japan’s Foreign Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a symposium on intellectual property of anime, manga and various content.

Several weeks ago, JapanFiles.com made a step to discourage people from pirating their music that are featured on their website (please check this article from japanator.com) for details.

What may seem that its focused on a smaller group on LiveJournal is actually quite significant because it goes beyond just a single community on Live Journal, it has now led to various labels now searching blogs and web forums for illegal content that is easily distributed.

Label representatives and the legal department have joined various forums and various bit torrent sites to catalogue every upload.

As of early this morning, a representative of a major Japanese music label said that they will be taking a stand on illegal downloads on Asian music on various community and blog sites. In fact, in the message, in caps “STOP ILLEGAL DOWNLOADS!!!”

The fact that these labels are moving towards digital distribution and seeing how their music are so easily linked on a search engine and seeing nearly every album, CD single and even the DVD releases of the artists or bands so easily accessible has now captured the attention of not just the music labels and their legal departments but from JASRAC, RIAJ and other entities.

Unfortunately, as much as some communities or forums have tried to avoid problems by having members-only sites, there are people who just frankly share these files in public. And as for those passworded, members only sites…they’ve already been infiltrated by reps in the industry.

So, why am I writing this? It’s because this has been going on for so long that everyone knows someone who downloads a file, knows people from different countries who have no distribution of Asian music in their country who rely on illegal MP3’s and then puts it on a blog for others to download and frankly, it’s become far too common and easily accessible for people to obtain them that things are going to change.

Too many years have past with many people thinking that because there has been a lack of action outside of Japan towards these sites that the Japanese music industry is not going to do anything about it.

But things are going to change. It’s inevitable. And I know it’s not a year later, action will be happening soon.

And those who are uploading these files, you may want to reconsider what’s happening. This is no longer a situation that focuses on one company protecting their artists or bands copyrights, but it has drawn the attention of these major companies and from the pages and pages of illegal music on the torrent sites to the long lists of what people are offering, they are going to take action.

I’ve reviewed the comments on DIGG and the various blog sites in regards to the JapanFiles.com situation but unfortunately, arguments such as “this band said they don’t mind if we download their files illegally”, “we are teenagers and we can’t afford to purchase the music” or “the fans are what helped make these bands or labels big in this country, they should be respectful for us for providing access to these downloads to get the word out about their music”. And I know these people made these comments with good-intent but truthfully, these arguments are not going to fly in court or with these labels or these corporate entities.

I a learning that a large demographic of those who are providing uploads of these files just kids or people who have not even started their careers yet and are still going to school. The truth is, a lot of them have seen others do it and now they do it. Again, this has been going on so long (ten years now) that there have been no ramifications and many figure, it’s ok and that the reason why nothing has happened is that the industry doesn’t care. There is also a misunderstanding logic that because if a band says that they don’t care, all bands feel the same way. Not all bands think this way. And regardless of what bands or artists may feel, it’s their label that shoulders the burden of profit of an artist. Afterall, it’s a business and they need to make money. And a lot of these labels, A&R and managers were so unaware of how bad the music and video piracy  outside of Japan was until now and now are prepared to take action.

For those who want to battle against the industry, that’s their prerogative but for those who were uploading large volume of music or DVD video illegally for the sake of fandom and doing it because of their passion for the music, you may want to just stop because it’s not worth the battle.

Tags: avex entertainment, Hobankyo, j-pop, Japanese music, JapanFiles.com, piracy, Tofu Records

[OFF-THE-HOOK][YouTube] One more time, One More Chance

Since reviewing the Shinkai Makoto film “5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND”, the film has really left a long impression within me. Of course, for many people, there has been that time where one has liked/loved someone but things worked out much differently than expected.

But if anything, may it be a Japanese drama or an anime, there have been only a few instances where a song really makes a deep impact and just tugs in your heart and just realizing how awesome the song is and how it really made the moment of that series or film.

I remember hearing “True Love” and how the song was used in the drama “Asunaro Hakusho” or even “Love Story wa Totsuzen ni” for Tokyo Love Story and most recently “One More Time, One More Chance” by Yamazaki Masayoshi.

Anyway, here are youtube videos for those nostalgic for those series moments.

5 CENTIMETERS, PER SECOND (One More Time, One More Chance by Yamazaki Masayoshi)

TOKYO LOVE STORY (”Love Story wa Totsuzen ni” by Oda Kazumasa)

Asunaro Hakusho (”True Love” by Fujii Fumiya)

Aishiteiru to itte Kure (LOVE LOVE LOVE by Dreams Come True)

Beautiful Life (Konya Tsuki no Mieru Oka ni by B’z)

LOVE GENERATION (Shiawase na Ketsumatsu by Eiichi Otaki)

DISCLAIMER: youtube videos are courtesy of youtube.com and are not on J!-ENT servers

Tags: Fujii Fumiya, Fumiya Fujii, Kazumasa Oda, Love Story wa Totsuzen ni, Masayoshi Yamazaki, Oda Kazumasa, one more chance, One more time, Tokyo Love Story, True Love, Yamazaki Masayoshi

OTAKU UNITE! (a J!-ENT DVD REVIEW)

“An informative and enjoyable documentary that does a good job covering anime fandom via the earlier anime convention years to the present, cosplay and English dub voice actors. Director Eric Bressler did fans a great service by interviewing important names who contributed so much to promoting anime in America and where so many could have gone have-assed, very smart in his interview selections and also covering the different ranges of otakuness!”

DVD INFORMATION:

DVD TITLE: OTAKU UNITE

DURATION: Approx. 70 minutes

DVD INFORMATION: COLOR/NTSC / English and Japanese audio, Dolby Digital Stereo

CATALOG #: CPMD 2514

COMPANY: Central Park Media

RATING: All

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

STAFF INFORMATION:

DIRECTOR: Eric Bresler

DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Charles Smith III, Kelly Cain

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: John O’Donnel

PRODUCER OF DVD: Stephanie Shalofsk

CAST: Steve Bennett, Carl Macek, Johnny Otaku, Fred Patten, Frederik Schodt, Scott Frazier and Dave Merrill

Explore the world of otaku, the devoted fans of Japanese animation. Since the introduction of Speed Racer to the U.S., these men, women and children hav built a community based on their common love for this uniquely imaginative medium. Through conventions, fan clubs, online forums and more, they have expanded out of otaku fandom into a highly popular cultural phenomenon. “Otaku Unite!” is the first documentary to follow the evolution of its phenomenon from its humble beginnings as a few isolated fan groups to its current stage as a major influence of pop culture today.

I’ve heard of this documentary for years and as much as we have covered the anime scene since 1993 with our anime BBS (neo-tokyo 2099 and where J!-ENT was born), I’ve grown a bit crotchety to the point of only taking so much of otaku fanboys and fangirls that even our interest in covering the anime scene on J!-ENT has fluctuated like a rollercoaster in its highs and lows.

But as I see the anime and even manga industry really taking a severe hit right now in North America, even us old timers do not want to see the bubble burst and realize that we really need to support the industry.

For me, I suppose the reason why I wanted to check this DVD out is because I know a lot of people interviewed and featured on this documentary from the past with my involvement through a BBS, the anime cons or even now as a consultant.

Reasons why I didn’t want to see this documentary, is that people who know me, know that I have very little patience for certain otaku. Even moreso for otaku that produces their lingering body funk that epitomizes stank at a hallway at an anime convention. Gross!

Of course, this DVD is not about complaining of otakus, it’s celebration of otaku and anime culture.

The DVD is the first documentary about anime fandom and I have to give director Eric Bressler some props for his coverage of the fandom but most of all, the most important thing of a documentary, doing the research and getting the people on camera. So, I’m happy that everything worked out because he managed to capture major key people for this documentary.

I suppose when watching this, I took the approach of putting myself in the shoes of an anime fan. To cover otaku anime fandom, you would have to cover so many different types of otaku at these conventions and they managed to do it well. And although I have never met Mr. Bresler and I’m not sure if he’s an otaku or more of a filmmaker.

But for the people he had to cover, I don’t know if I could do what he and the staff had to do and covering various types of otaku.

Of course, I cringe when I see men crossplaying and in Sailor Moon outfits. Nothing scares me to see a hairy, overweight man sporting a dress or some female outfit but I realize that some people find that entertaining. So, I digress.

But let’s take a moment to go outside of the fandom and talk about those involved in the promotion of anime in the US.

One of the well-known promoters of anime in the US especially in the earlier years are interviewed on this documentary and for me, it was a blast in the past to see these folks who I have not seen for many, many years.

Fred Patten, known for his written work, working for Streamline Pictures and the founding Cartoon/Fantasy Organization (C/FO) and his work in the sci-fi fandom scene (and of course, he’s contributed much more than that).

Carl Macek. Wow! This man has been at the top and been at the bottom in terms of his attention by anime fans. He has received so many praises and even death threats (mainly because of his splicing of three episodes to create “Robotech”) and I could imagine how the mid-90’s was a tumultuous time for him. But in the end, Macek has meant well and his goal was to bring Japanese animation to American television and he succeeded. Not just that but he has been involved in bringing so much anime to the US that he’s such an important figurehead that I’m glad he was covered and to hear him talk about that crazy time in his past.

Trish Ledoux, another important person who helped popularize anime in the US. Similar to Carl, she also was a person that had attracted positive and negative attention by the anime fandom. As the former editor-in-chief of Animerica and her involvement with Viz, back then both she and Carl would have anti-posters at anime conventions and for her, the criticism against her was mainly fans reacting to Viz making a presence in America and taking the first step to stop fansub groups from covering their properties This was never featured on this DVD but just needed to add that little bit. I’m glad that Eric Bresler covered her more as an anime industry historian but there is so much, similar to Carl Macek that could have been touched upon in terms of her involvement in the industry.

Mike Tatsugawa (known primarily now as the head guy of Pacific Media Expo or PMX). Mike was the fanboy involved with the huge Cal Berkeley anime club, printing fan translations of anime through their books and for creating the anime convention “AnimeCon 1991″ which later became known as the huge anime convention Anime Expo. Not sure how old the interview with him was done, since he has no involvement with Anime Expo and he’s wearing an AX2000 shirt but he has contributed a lot in making anime mainstream in the US. But also another figurehead that has been mired in anime fandom controversy.

Seeing Steve Bennett, of course, having him on this documentary is a must. Having known Steve for a long time and eventually meeting the family, I’m happy that Bresler chose to positively focus on Steve Bennett, the artist and con guest who has probably attended nearly every mid-size to large anime convention across the US. The footage was during a tumultuous time for Bennett’s Studio I.C. or Studio Iron Cat, so nevertheless, it was good to see him upbeat and featured numerous times throughout the documentary.

Even to see artist Robert DeJesus, who also has had his foot grounded in the earlier anime cons back then especially with his wedding at an anime con. Really good footage of his marriage at Otakon 1999. It’s so cool to see how well he has done over the years.

I remember when he was just starting out and at night at an anime con, playing video games with the guy. The last video game match I had with Robert was a game 3DO “Sailor Moon Super S” fighting game at Anime America. Nevertheless, I’ve seen him several time and he’s a good guy and his contribution to manga-style work by an American for over 15 years now, is always noted.

Also, had a blast watching an old friend, Helen McCarthy, featured on this documentary. She has done so much for promoting anime in the UK (and the founder of one of my favorite anime magazines back then “Anime UK”) and was surprised to see her on this documentary and also very proud that Bresler featured her.

Then you have other important figureheads such as Frederik Schodt, Carl Gustav Horn, Scott Frazier (pre-Jan Scott-Frazier) and many others. It was good to see interviews from staff from various anime cons throughout the country especially covering niche cons such as Yaoi Con. And last, also he cosplay scene and an interesting individual named Jonny Otaku who has scenes in the documentary that showcase the kind of otaku that you either like or dislike. Imagine if Bresler featured Man-Faye? Then again, I rather not.

There is a lot of older anime coverage and found it cool to see Bresler interview the voice actors from “Speed Racer”. That was cool to see!

So, all in all, the documentary was entertaining. I did find it a bit strange that before the documentary started, there was footage shown for “Kaiju Big Battel” which is a parody of professional wrestling entertainment and something I have no passion for. Not sure why it came up before the documentary, this should have been in the special features section or something.

VIDEO:

Video was actually done pretty well. Shot digitally and edited well. Footage was clean on most of his footage and footage contributed to him by old school anime fans of anime convention past are of course outdated but still serve the purpose of showing the audience how things were then.

SOUND:

Audio was good and clear. Although some musical choices for the documentary I questioned a little but all in all, I’m glad to see that Audrey Kimura of Benten gave permission for music usage in the documentary.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

As for special features, you get manga and anime trailers courtesy of what was released by Central Park Media at the time

All in all, on an informative and nostalgic trip to anime convention past and interviewing the major players at the time was what my main interest was on this DVD and I give Eric Bresler a thumbs up for doing his research.

If anything, I am still looking for a documentary that shows the positive and negative aspects of anime fandom, the conventions and so forth. “OTAKU UNITE!” is a very positive documentary showcasing the various levels of fandom and the people who contributed in making anime popular in the US.

But along comes the positivity, to get from point A to point B, there were a lot of things that had to happen. From the beginning of anime fandom, the anime con wars between Anime Expo and Anime America (suprised to not hear Anime America’s name brought up on the DVD), although I’m glad to hear Carl Macek talk about that past, would love to have heard more from Trish Ledoux on the challenges that Viz faced in getting into the market back then and also the introduction of Animerica (which although it’s not around like it was once before, the publication will be noted for helping contribute to the popularity of the anime at its time). I would love to have heard Scott Frazier (or Jan Scott-Frazier) discuss the challenges of an American working for Japanese anime companies.

Of course, with cosplayers and you had Jonny Otaku talk about his feelings of anime masquerade’s being rigged. The sad truth is that this has happened and there have been major scandals that affected anime conventions and cosplayers.

There is so much out there that I wish could be covered in a documentary but for what Eric Bressler and team were able to cover on their documentary, you still get one hell of an informative piece of work. A lot of interviews, a lot of research and showing things positively, you can’t go wrong.

So, if Eric Bresler and the folks at Movies of My Dreams Productions consider a second documentary and a DVD release, that would be cool!

So, “OTAKU UNITE!” is definitely an informative and nostalgic trip through anime fandom and anime convention past and I think fans who truly enjoy anime and its history will truly enjoy this documentary. It’s worth checking out!

+ Bresler did his homework and covered some major figureheads who contributed to the growth of anime in the US

+ Well-researched and ability to obtain classic anime convention footage was great to see!

+ A good balance of coverage of anime fandom in a variety of levels

- May be a bit too-dated for people who are expecting something modern

- If you have a disdain towards otaku (and I mean those that are in the far end of spectrum of otaku geekiness), you will cringe at certain parts of the documentary

Tags: Movies of My Dreams Productions, OTAKU UNITE!

[OFF-THE-HOOK] The World Ends With You soundtrack available on iTunes

I really love the Nintendo DS game “Subarashiki Kono Sekai” aka (The World Ends With You) by Square Enix. I feel like I should have beaten the game months ago but part of me wants to get 100 percent and just prolonging the game experience and I find myself listening to the Japanese version of “Someday” (one of the CD’s you can purchase from a music store in Shibuya within the game) over and over.

I was perusing iTunes and what do you know, the soundtrack is on both US and Japanese iTunes. Cool!

The soundtrack features a lot of cool music and definitely one of the coolest, stylish games to be released in the US.

Tags: Subarashiki Kono Sekai, The World Ends With You

Next Page »