tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9779168318976254312024-03-05T20:27:20.428-05:00Saturday Morning CartoonsGrab a bowl of Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch and call dibs on the bean-bag chair! It's always Saturday morning in this little piece of the blog-o-rama.Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-49398406953561514522016-06-17T11:53:00.002-05:002016-06-17T11:53:13.553-05:00Greetings from the other side of teen-age!Wow, it's been a couple of years since I posted last! In the interim, Gus, my loveable son, has grown to be an ebullient boy of 14 and is obsessed with video games. That does not mean he has no time for animation; his tastes have been a little more particular of late. I think this is maturity setting in, where you get a little picky about what narratives you waste your time on. Of course, he loves anything to do with RoosterTeeth and his career aspiration is to be part of their collective. Hopefully, by the time he's ready to make a splash on the yootoob, he'll have way better technology to use and RoosterTeeth will be partnering with him (!) instead of vice-versa. A mother's hope? If you are part of the Addams Family, perhaps.<br />
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Also, in the last two years, our family has acquired 5 cats - two sets of litter mates and a Manx named Clyde. Herding cats was not a career aspiration for myself, and I seem to be an idiot when it comes to cleaning up after them. Puke, poop, pee - it's like having TWO Baby Gus's to clean and feed, instead of just the one (getting him to eat is no problem these days, getting him to clean is completely another matter, however). And if you saw what my house looks like after 2 years of 5 cats you would wonder why I'm even taking the time now to blog about cartoons. I know there are people who are real cat ladies/gentlemen, and I don't care how well you think of yourself as a housekeeper, there is no keeping up with 5 cats without help! But, now that I think of it, I could definitely start a business that helps people clean up animal poop on their property. If I could make enough money to be worth the grossness I'd totally hit that.<br />
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What????! This blog has been going since 2006????! That means Gus was...4 years old(!) when I started Saturday Morning Cartoons on Blogger. Have to look back on first posts, but here's a shortlist of what G-dawg is watching now:<br />
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Red vs. Blue, already in its 14th season, is part of a new aesthetic of independent narratives, hosted by the tech and game-saavy beings at Rooster Teeth. <a href="http://roosterteeth.com/show/rwby">RWBY</a> is also part of this new wave, and is an original production, meaning it began as a group project and not something other-directed, like by a corporation!<br />
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Dang, so caught up in online projects I can't even finish one, dinky blog post on my most-neglected blog!Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-1821023254921073092013-07-30T17:49:00.001-05:002013-07-30T18:00:07.850-05:00Adventure Time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGF-Fm7gP3E-9J1O96PX69W74WcRON2Zmg0pkb0ufmqZ6hE6tt9CKKCfTa0D02BY-2TdM1tchACmLgcVIf6UOX_H0x28v55Xbh7yxzxsI-G7uc3vUDLlwT9JDnqBWzyy4OfD_SBOQtmJo/s1600/adventuretime3cover4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGF-Fm7gP3E-9J1O96PX69W74WcRON2Zmg0pkb0ufmqZ6hE6tt9CKKCfTa0D02BY-2TdM1tchACmLgcVIf6UOX_H0x28v55Xbh7yxzxsI-G7uc3vUDLlwT9JDnqBWzyy4OfD_SBOQtmJo/s320/adventuretime3cover4.jpeg" width="210" /></a></div>
While DS is at camp and the Old Man is driving down to Tampa to see Black Sabbath, I'm left home pondering the existence of the animated universe. Not to say I don't mind being alone - I'm on vacation and being on vacation from everything and everyone is pretty crucial, I'm realizing. While I ache for my family, I also know that I need this time to myself. 'Nuf said.<br />
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It's about time I finally got around to writing about <i>Adventure Time</i>. I realize that, as DS grows up, our tastes will diverge but for right now I feel somewhat vindicated for putting my foot down about watching vapid cartoons that had no redeeming quality (if you want a short list of those cartoons, message me - I'm not going to be judged for my opinions of what passes for children-oriented animated fare). Even as I've recounted in the past that I've made some bad parenting decisions, I still feel at least like I steered the debate to "why is this cartoon valuable to watch?" rather than "you can only watch cartoons I deem to be okay." But out of it comes an appreciation of animation that is entertaining and trying at least to say something. <i>Adventure Time</i> is one of those cartoons.<br />
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But while it's entertaining, <i>Adventure Time</i> is also pretty dark. It's one of those cartoons that I saw a couple of minutes of and decided it was ground-breaking enough in its content that it would make up for the simplistic artistic style. But the simplistic style is also a mask; the latest episodes tell more of the back story behind Ice King and Marceline, and the story of the world that became the Land of Ooo - I would write about the specific episode, but why rehash a <a href="http://www.indiewire.com/article/television/why-adventure-time-is-the-best-sci-fi-show-on-tv-right-now">good summary already</a> with my own confused, theoretical take - and the story is pretty harrowing, but with the stylized character design, it seems less heinous, somehow. <br />
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If one were to look at the more recent dystopian worlds, they usually involve some kind of huge catastrophic upheavel; in <i>Hunger Games</i>, it appears to be the punishment of proles who dared war against the rich; in Adventure Time, it is the apocalyptic nature of the world inhabited by Ice King and Marceline a millenium ago. So, is Ooo, then, a utopia? No way! Dystopia does not beget utopia, it only begets more of the same. It negates itself, which is why Ooo is so non-descript (how many candy kingdoms have we seen rise and fall, my friends?) - Princess Bubblegum and the rest of the inhabitants of Ooo are mutants, facsimiles of humans, anthropomorphized objects that recall a past that is so far removed from the present as to not really exist at all. This is the woo-hoo point where conspiracy theories dwell; DS watched the series <i>Bravest Warriors</i> and apparently there is a similarity to Finn in two of the characters so Finn is their offspring. I don't understand! But I just started watching <i>Bravest Warriors</i> - so far not as good as <i>Adventure Time</i> but I'm willing to give it a chance. <br />
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Anyway, so what? It is not unheard of for a writer to string together different parts of the same universe and call the thing a narrative. It would not surprise me that <i>Adventure Time's</i> creator, Pendleton Ward, has super-seriously thought the narrative through; it's just a matter of whether he can keep the show on the air long enough to unfold more of the story.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Swiped the photo for this post from <a href="http://comicsalliance.com/adventure-time-3-covers-art/">Comics Alliance</a> and their lovely selection of AT covers.</span><br />
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<br />Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-69635870333971920642013-06-07T14:54:00.002-05:002013-06-07T14:58:56.908-05:00Of Bronies and Summer Vacation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZgAtgcDmaZEmOwmVVTdvlq1rTjPD2wcjxj5AUNaLHepe6N3oZQrCCfxa-HV7tprXYuG7Ah-CbvcpnTmke7rxdCjHI5-D6NxpveF5jH3dFaBCw3IjWb58pOfJRaH92lWhcdOZaqg_my1I/s1600/bronies_contest_image_large_by_mafon-d4jw2kp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZgAtgcDmaZEmOwmVVTdvlq1rTjPD2wcjxj5AUNaLHepe6N3oZQrCCfxa-HV7tprXYuG7Ah-CbvcpnTmke7rxdCjHI5-D6NxpveF5jH3dFaBCw3IjWb58pOfJRaH92lWhcdOZaqg_my1I/s320/bronies_contest_image_large_by_mafon-d4jw2kp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
So, I'm all about Bronies right now. What? Why? You may be asking yourself. Well, after much careful consideration I've decided to out my son on this blog as a Brony. The other day I asked a colleague of mine if he was a brony and he mumbled something about never doing anything resembling broniism (I made up a word!), and I blurted out, "my son is a brony and I don't know how to support him!"<br />
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It's true. Last week he started watching <i>My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic</i>, and I've been watching along with him because I'm vaguely aware that MLPFiM is a thing. He's hooked, man. It's been fun to watch and I can totally see why it's garnered a much older demographic than intended. It's also, in my mind, a recent example of cartoons that stand on their own, and aren't just vehicles to sell toys.<br />
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DJ struggles with his new-found status as brony, but I think that, ultimately, he will understand that it is not that the fact that the show is geared towards 6 year-old girls that attracts him to it, but rather that it's an inventive, ever-evolving narrative that seems to round-out the mythos of the MLPs.<br />
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This is the beginning of his summer vacation so I hope to post more about the awful, awful dreck we'll be watching, along with some good stuff (fingers-crossed). Have a great summer, everyone!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Swiped the top photo from <a href="http://www.beansproutmarketingpr.com/blog/2012/12/14/bronies-who-knew/">Beasprout Marketing and PR</a>, and the bottom photo from <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/">ubuntuforums.org</a> - And, because I couldn't resist, a youtube of the original theme song for MLP.</span><br />
<a href="http://www.beansproutmarketingpr.com/blog/2012/12/14/bronies-who-knew/"></a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="158" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QP_rIAkb_v8" width="210"></iframe>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-21934947848885499672013-04-19T15:23:00.000-05:002013-04-19T15:24:51.006-05:00Angsty Bleach and the 11-year-old brain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I spoke about a year ago on <a href="http://saturdaymorningcartoons.blogspot.com/2012/04/what-are-you-watching-mommy.html">watching the last episode of <i>Bleach</i></a> and my son walking in on the last couple of minutes and going, "what's that?" I had never watched <i>Bleach</i> around him or encouraged him to watch it, mostly because I thought he should be a little older. Well, this year he started watching Bleach and I figured it's good fuel for pre-teen angst (he's almost 11, now) so I let him watch it. He inhaled about 4 seasons of it before he just suddenly stopped and I think it's because the show becomes a slog during the Hueco Mundo arc, which just seems to go on an on. He simply got bored with it, like any 11-year old would. Something to be said for being a die-hard fan to endure the endless fillers and alternative storylines, which were the bane of any regular Bleach viewer (yours truly included).<br />
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Now he's watching <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codename:_Kids_Next_Door"><i>Codename: Kids Next Door</i></a> with the same relish as he did with <i>Bleach</i> or <i>Scooby-Doo</i>. Just have to chalk it up to him being 11 and the content not being very heavy. I'm kind of glad he didn't go for the angsty <i>Bleach</i> arcs; let him be a kid for a little longer.<br />
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Got the image from <a href="http://porn1315.deviantart.com/art/Bleach-KND-Style-44872213">Porn1315's page on Deviant Art</a>.Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-70097159059387873352012-04-12T03:15:00.000-05:002012-04-12T03:15:02.515-05:00"What are you watching, Mommy?"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHC5EHtMyutgoaAPB4IHHwWeYsSBD8TcSTHxpNKvrwnImRhB1yajjZwGCdT0Eda3lHXoO8d3xFqOprvFVG0wakYAnCH5LTHnNt7UFG6c3z8CFIqM3OFeEat26Na_b5MYFt0pYv2OSKJWaM/s1600/bleach-gintama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHC5EHtMyutgoaAPB4IHHwWeYsSBD8TcSTHxpNKvrwnImRhB1yajjZwGCdT0Eda3lHXoO8d3xFqOprvFVG0wakYAnCH5LTHnNt7UFG6c3z8CFIqM3OFeEat26Na_b5MYFt0pYv2OSKJWaM/s320/bleach-gintama.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The last episode of <i>Bleach</i>. Never thought I'd see the end of this anime, for realz. I started watching it via Netflix in 2008 or so. I never even considered introducing it to DJ because it's really for older teens, and as far as I know he didn't seem interested, anyway, but the night before last I was watching the very last episode, was halfway through and DJ walks in and says, "what's that?" I explained and he decided to watch the last episode. I said, "are you sure you want to start with the last episode? Don't you want to see the earlier stuff first?" But he was all whatever so, whatever. He hasn't been clamoring to watch any more of it, probably testament to how boring the final season was. Oh well, it's something he'll probably get into in a few years.<br />
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The show we've been watching avidly, though, and this is one of those Bad Parenting Anime Moments, is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin_Tama"><i>Gintama</i></a>, based on the manga by Hideaki Sorachi. It's a gag manga, and the anime follows the manga pretty faithfully. I like how it takes place in an alternative Edo (the continual return to Edo in Japanese media has been an interest of mine), where aliens come to earth and take a liking to Japan and so they settle there. The samurai fight back but are overpowered by the alien technology, and now samurai have been discredited and restricted from having real swords. So Gintama, a former freedom fighter against the aliens, is an odd jobs samurai who is helped by an alien girl named Kagura and a student samurai, Shinpachi. DJ is still wrapping his head around the aliens in Japan and the fact that Kagura is an alien yet Gintama is okay with her, but he loves the overall story. <br />
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The show's for older teens and adults, kind of like <i>Bleach</i>, and there is actually more adult situational stuff than I'm comfortable with. But I can't help it, it is a funny show and even though some of the humor is geared towards 10 year-old minds, it's not something 10 year-olds should probably watch. Maybe I'm being too much of a prude, but that's kind of a moot point, anyway.Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-80294146723101815162012-02-19T08:22:00.000-05:002012-02-19T08:22:48.241-05:00Liberty's Kids on NetflixIf I haven't mentioned this before, Liberty's Kids is now streaming on Netflix. DJ is going through the oeuvre as we speak, it's Sunday morning, and bacon and eggs are on the way. Life is good.Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-19879882830884371122012-01-02T09:09:00.000-05:002012-04-26T03:56:42.652-05:00Happy New Year from SMC<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXNdopU9l6pdBi9ri76SHuXNLP6HtaKFB5TgdG-gM9VqMYS6jNYPj2vwHEdbXond7_YjjV5N1hA-8VwvZroBCrURl12Uh4oB5Hskhek4gHmAbnytJyYv7SoGEruPv51PrKvDGNe4In-uw/s1600/keroro-platoon-sgt-frog-keroro-gunso-5075483-1024-768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXNdopU9l6pdBi9ri76SHuXNLP6HtaKFB5TgdG-gM9VqMYS6jNYPj2vwHEdbXond7_YjjV5N1hA-8VwvZroBCrURl12Uh4oB5Hskhek4gHmAbnytJyYv7SoGEruPv51PrKvDGNe4In-uw/s320/keroro-platoon-sgt-frog-keroro-gunso-5075483-1024-768.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, we have been watching this, too</td></tr>
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Haha, the last time I posted was last July, so fast-forward to January 2012 and Happy New Year! Will update soon with what DS and I have been watching - right now he's going through a Speed Racer redux, and it's been fun to go through the episodes we have on DVD. Not so crazy about Scooby-Doo anymore, which is sad in one sense but I think there'll always be a soft spot in his heart for those meddlin' kids and their dog. His advancing age (he's almost 10) makes me think he's ready to handle <a href="http://saturdaymorningcartoons.blogspot.com/2007/11/hang-your-head-in-shame-gatchaman.html">Gatchaman</a> so thinking about changing back to the 1-DVD-at-a-time plan with Netflix and go through the ouvre again - I think I'm ready to go back and tackle these, as well, now that I have a bit more Japanese subtext under my belt.Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-83897116207869441272011-07-15T18:50:00.000-05:002011-07-15T18:50:40.600-05:00Sket Dance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJBGQFFgpgU-H7bCoH_kiwRyZdrKn6euEegSrsumSdPGeANTAo_PvVLXqIIOcRAQQp__YyuXSZW_WW5r3DHwm2njerbfU468aGp_z4VH-KEsoLUaOQRFL7fs83HiXUTlOZCvkpDqVfPry/s1600/sket-dance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJBGQFFgpgU-H7bCoH_kiwRyZdrKn6euEegSrsumSdPGeANTAo_PvVLXqIIOcRAQQp__YyuXSZW_WW5r3DHwm2njerbfU468aGp_z4VH-KEsoLUaOQRFL7fs83HiXUTlOZCvkpDqVfPry/s320/sket-dance.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>Was going to post tonight about the new Citizens Co-op that opened up in town this week, in my least-neglected blog <a href="http://theaccidentalenvironmentalist.blogspot.com/">The Accidental Environmentalist</a>, but decided instead to bring news of a favorite anime I've been watching, the adaptation of the manga <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sket_Dance">Sket Dance</a>. It's really very funny and I'm surprised it isn't more popular. I always think that this is because it is something specifically geared towards my age-group (old enough to know better than to get sucked into anime and manga), but maybe it's just that this is an anime that doesn't really have a niche audience. I think the manga is probably pretty popular and I'm resisting reading it until I've watched all the episodes. <br />
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Perhaps the reason why I like it, besides being really funny, and perhaps also the reason why it isn't as popular is it is really a narrative about, and hommage to, manga and otaku. There seems to be a growing snobbery in fan communities about "otaku pandering" and I don't really understand where it comes from; it's probably the awareness of a sub-genre of late that dotes on otakus in the storylines and perhaps that is seen as breaking the fourth wall, or something. I see it as just what it is, a sub-genre of narratives that talks about something that a whole, small segment of the manga and anime fan base are aware of and the rest of the population who enjoys this media is not as educated about. I happen to be in this last category, so I like storylines about otaku and enjoy it as part of the broader narratives that play into manga and their anime adaptations, or original anime works that create subtle subplots that take this fan community into account. I have no examples so please don't ask me - yes, you have correctly guessed that I generally talk out of my ass on my blogs and welcome. <br />
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Sket Dance constantly breaks the fourth wall of otaku pandering by affectionately calling up each formulaic meme in manga and Japanese culture throwing it out there for laffs. And that's okay. It's funny and endearing for those reasons, as well as the well-developed world of Sket Dance characters. It's one of those stories where I want to get a Sket Dance wrist band but realize I am too old to sport this stuff anymore.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Got the image from <a href="http://www.cipherninja.net/anime/sket-dance">Cypherninja</a></i></span>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-83186521862953863432011-05-08T20:13:00.001-05:002011-05-08T20:14:56.088-05:00Tiger & Bunny: Not just for Japanese audiences?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEKeClHLNznqEmj2ZD_S88KLBTHtvX94sw5BvTNU7q4_gxKyO7AyAmQU8fBt6eVGwjA6ArH9Yl9nIYtt0E_oWJyJMhshI53hK_IfId-pX018q_nHfXxa2oOfk0uQSnbtU44caVih-4vMD/s1600/tigerandbunny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEKeClHLNznqEmj2ZD_S88KLBTHtvX94sw5BvTNU7q4_gxKyO7AyAmQU8fBt6eVGwjA6ArH9Yl9nIYtt0E_oWJyJMhshI53hK_IfId-pX018q_nHfXxa2oOfk0uQSnbtU44caVih-4vMD/s320/tigerandbunny.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiger and Bunny, in that order</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I was a little miffed when I re-read a couple of the reviews the ANN critics do for their quarterly anime reviews about the new offering for spring from Sunrise, <i>Tiger & Bunny</i> - while it is mostly well-liked, two of the reviewers chose to assume that this is being marketed to Western audiences. I don't know if Europeans do this, but American anime viewers have a hard time comprehending that not every animation that comes across their tables is going to be made <i>especially for them</i>. Now, I've been guilty of this myself in the past, but it's mostly my personal store of ego that causes me to think that certain animes are made <i>just for me</i>. With westerners it's just a given that a foreign animation is somehow being marketed to them.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rES4hWkNJBYytEV0qFhsKRteIhS85PgEUTbjPr2dKUmiItfyaJBYedV_CbR5wNwxW0RdwfobydGP2J39hBFzuaYeuCeTgLdPXA9iJ8UnRWgUeEBVbvZUzM8dJ8Ha3Ae5EP2b8WUqQJeX/s1600/wildtiger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rES4hWkNJBYytEV0qFhsKRteIhS85PgEUTbjPr2dKUmiItfyaJBYedV_CbR5wNwxW0RdwfobydGP2J39hBFzuaYeuCeTgLdPXA9iJ8UnRWgUeEBVbvZUzM8dJ8Ha3Ae5EP2b8WUqQJeX/s320/wildtiger.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild Tiger gets the SoftBank logo. Fail!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><i>Tiger & Bunny</i> is apparently one of these, because it focuses on Western-style superheroes. In Sternbild, a massive, two (three?) story metropolis in the not-to-distant future, some humans have been born with a mutation that gives them superpowers. Called Nex, these mutants have been co-opted by multi-national conglomerates and their crime-fighting has become prime entertainment for the denizens of Sternbild in the form of HeroTV, a reality program/game show where superheroes vie for points to see who comes out as the top superhero by the end of the season. Name brands pasted on their battle suits and uniforms like Nascar drivers, the heroes are largely rivals for top place, except for the newly-formed team, Wild Tiger and Barnaby Brooks, Jr., who Tiger immediately nicknames "Bunny."<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKyqmn05WlDZIwEUWy0DLv7AZKblW3Fu0qIs-z1KxGPWeAT2Bi93X-61uI-N3Khy4UEwkyMwUKePyrRtTuqM65Stredix8Ym5FwgN2iCkdRlZKHOWlsE-1GIdIP805_B0HD2khOxiiI9v/s1600/barnabybunny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKyqmn05WlDZIwEUWy0DLv7AZKblW3Fu0qIs-z1KxGPWeAT2Bi93X-61uI-N3Khy4UEwkyMwUKePyrRtTuqM65Stredix8Ym5FwgN2iCkdRlZKHOWlsE-1GIdIP805_B0HD2khOxiiI9v/s320/barnabybunny.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bunny gets the Bandai acct., obvs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The first of its kind on HeroTV, the team is a novelty; in reality, Tiger and Bunny do not get along and Barnaby is continuously embarrassed by his team mate, Wild Tiger, an Over-the-Traditional-Age superhero who has been dropped by his former sponsors because he causes too much collateral damage to buildings and state vehicles in his pursuit of bad guys. Tiger wants to save the citizens of Sternbild at all costs; Barnaby just wants the fame and recognition of being a super hero. Reduced to side-kick status, Wild Tiger continues to believe that being a super hero is more than just getting points for arresting the bad guy first. Barnaby is so focused on status that he will not even hide his real identity, something of a taboo for traditionally-minded superheroes; Bunny distinguishes himself as part of a new breed of super hero, more idol than citizen-saver.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JNMdeRDAeooG_K0qJCIeg-zhrx5qUf1lyIhR4zAg7wuvSRYsCFhNoWZ7Sz6ujp1SdmtyBjbBMxyi5_jTkACoYRCz7uEXpAsFcfozbRSujCHppG8iBUJpZbT09WoLa-04Zj-Kn2hYWZqA/s1600/pepsinexzero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JNMdeRDAeooG_K0qJCIeg-zhrx5qUf1lyIhR4zAg7wuvSRYsCFhNoWZ7Sz6ujp1SdmtyBjbBMxyi5_jTkACoYRCz7uEXpAsFcfozbRSujCHppG8iBUJpZbT09WoLa-04Zj-Kn2hYWZqA/s320/pepsinexzero.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue Rose: Idol AND superhero, tough combo!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
How these two misfit team members begin to find a middle ground is part of the formulaic fun of <i>Tiger & Bunny</i>, but there are so many character stories yet to be told of the other heroes in this animation and that, too, is also the fun of seeing how this anime will develop. Episode 5, where most of the screen shots for this post originate, begins to build on the central theme of the relationship between Tiger and Bunny, but we also begin to see glimpses of the other characters, such as Blue Rose, who is torn between a singing career and using her superpowers for good. As at least one of the reviewers on ANN noted, Fire Emblem is the token gay character - and why the gay character in Japanese animes has to be both a drag queen and black is still somewhat beyond me, although I have a couple of theories. The fact that he owns his own company and therefore is a free agent in the superhero game is a nice touch, however. <br />
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One last thing I'll note that the reviewers didn't is the weird gleam in everyone's eyes - it's distinctive but makes everyone look glassy-eyed like they're sick, or something.Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-82814604470603611992011-04-12T07:32:00.001-05:002011-06-06T14:17:56.723-05:00Tetsuko no Tabi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqbFE36qK6CJLGebMqucI13QmTiOwhQb-1Ry3yAU7igbPCKAzgWbqFbSF-qbZ2r-5ChDRjsaXy3jZqNLx87jN-aalwu4vaPGnt_j5xxpnMHGsqKSYhyGUGmMRlg6RS0Wui5th3vbHoo1M/s1600/Tetsuko_no_Tabi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqbFE36qK6CJLGebMqucI13QmTiOwhQb-1Ry3yAU7igbPCKAzgWbqFbSF-qbZ2r-5ChDRjsaXy3jZqNLx87jN-aalwu4vaPGnt_j5xxpnMHGsqKSYhyGUGmMRlg6RS0Wui5th3vbHoo1M/s1600/Tetsuko_no_Tabi.jpg" /></a></div>I like this anime more than I thought I would; maybe I just have a softspot for storylines about otaku. It is a clever way of talking obsessively about trains while scraping together some semblance of self-respect for not clinging to otaku-ness; this is at least the thinking of the little-known mangaka who follows the train otaku and her friend (who she realizes too late is also a train otaku). She rides haplessly along with the other two, led by the main otaku (I'm feeling very lazy right now and so am not looking up character names - please excuse my slackyness). After watching two episodes I can understand why there are train otakus in Japan - their railway system is really expansive and really neat.<br />
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I wonder what <a href="http://saturdaymorningcartoons.blogspot.com/2010/11/real-kuragehime-post.html">Banba</a> would think about this story?Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-24185500773893649032011-04-09T23:55:00.002-05:002011-04-12T06:56:13.118-05:00X-Men Anime: But is Wolverine hot?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7PRp1pxn8w5PHYg9GbwPNjlC6L1wgrjGvZVSNaeEekTHWxBYViT3RWthpZJ0yHQqMROQNlp14-xe97oCQhDgnoPE-TfG_m1vHDdUbx8Q8m3ZfD7j4yQQuZY13Ymhih6MSlwVWxEKVhHSs/s1600/X-Men-Anime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7PRp1pxn8w5PHYg9GbwPNjlC6L1wgrjGvZVSNaeEekTHWxBYViT3RWthpZJ0yHQqMROQNlp14-xe97oCQhDgnoPE-TfG_m1vHDdUbx8Q8m3ZfD7j4yQQuZY13Ymhih6MSlwVWxEKVhHSs/s200/X-Men-Anime.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The answer is, "no." Wolverine is not hot in this Madhouse retread of the X-Men franchise. Cyclops is the tragic hottie in this one, unfortunately - unfortunate because he is the most boring of the X-Men and so goes the anime itself.<br />
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Putting aside character design, the series is just "meh" so far - this is the original reason why I started concentrating on Japanese manga and anime; I had to make a break with the US-style superhero graphic novels. Now, for some reason, my western heritage is following me by having these tired superhero memes recreated <i>ad nauseum</i> by Japanese production houses. They apparently all take place in Japan - I started watching the Wolverine one that came out a short time ago, and quit after the second ep - yawn. At least Wolverine was hot in that version. But, even the Japanese cannot make tired old Marvel properties breathe with youthful life. I'll give X-Men another episode to make me reel and keep me hooked, but I'm not expecting much.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Got the picture of not-so-hot Wolverine from <a href="http://furiousfanboys.com/2011/02/first-look-at-marvels-x-men-anime/">Furious Fanboys</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Update 4/12/11:</b> Watched ep 2 last night and liked the crazy robots and the horribly mutilated young mutant was gross but interesting; my interest level has gone up a little, but I'm also starting to find the classic superhero hyperdrama a little annoying, as well.</span> </span>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-36158583206596412262011-03-23T13:32:00.005-05:002011-04-11T16:15:15.702-05:00Pokemon PSA<object height="255" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9YfWR438wkg?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9YfWR438wkg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="255"></embed></object><br />
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"If you only have one type of Pokemon, that's racist."Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-12736596364607555562011-03-09T06:59:00.000-05:002011-03-09T06:59:00.668-05:00Star Trek: The Animated Series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYL0OR2Zx2Ioa8txVpLKrs0jZTaGurvcvPp5MsJVDS2viTV3PncTXXH-vc5sK6c5HVGEvCTW34tjnyfdp0kiMhfiYniRQaKScmxLCaE0tjVlQ9qfyd0m5KF8QxAi3uFGiO5rUDtsYabFdd/s1600/cast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYL0OR2Zx2Ioa8txVpLKrs0jZTaGurvcvPp5MsJVDS2viTV3PncTXXH-vc5sK6c5HVGEvCTW34tjnyfdp0kiMhfiYniRQaKScmxLCaE0tjVlQ9qfyd0m5KF8QxAi3uFGiO5rUDtsYabFdd/s1600/cast.jpg" /></a></div>There are two types of fanbeings - those who gravitate towards <i>Star Wars</i>, and those who gravitate towards <i>Star Trek</i>. Of course, it's not as cut and dry as all that, and I'm rather fond of both narratives; I just find Star Trek more...accessible. Somehow it's always on my teevee when I am in front of it. It's hard to explain.<br />
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Anyway, so I thought it would be a lark to put Star Trek: The Animation into the Netflix cue, just to see if DJ would cotton to it. We just finished watching the first disc of a 4-part set and I'm thinking, this is going to be one of the sets of cartoons I end up collecting.<br />
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DJ really, really likes it - it's almost exactly like TOS but it's somehow more simple. Part of it is the fact that it's only a half-hour so they're bite-size for 8-year-old attention spans. At the same time, it is really, really well-written, and most of the original peeps from TOS are doing the voices!<br />
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It's actually pretty awesome in that TOS kind of way - it's ultra serious with some strange Roddenberry Liberal agenda and unintentionally hilarious at all the right moments. Like I said, it is basically the Star Trek universe on a child's scale. This is one of those cartoons that I seriously missed the boat on when I was a kid - according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Animated_Series">Wikipedia</a>, it was on TV from 1973-1974 - I think at that time I was probably watching Speed Buggy or Scrappy Doo or some crap.<br />
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Oh well, back to work. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Got the crew pic from <a href="http://epguides.com/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries/">epguides.com</a></span>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-50768296051786271362011-01-30T00:06:00.003-05:002011-03-23T13:37:30.279-05:00Mahou Shoujo Modoka★Magica<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQ_vN8VBDDdM6G5ufgJEtoXdA3Q-KsaW4H2pusetUPk8wL9nvcXb9Kp-i3nuTD_uP8CotUAJehkT0Q0ERqcTl5VWqefAyZi5Xvjbu4rffp6KSIc5Nv2RiJ0NiQPgO8PhUyqx3Ef9My36X/s1600/MahouShoujoMadokaMagica225_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQ_vN8VBDDdM6G5ufgJEtoXdA3Q-KsaW4H2pusetUPk8wL9nvcXb9Kp-i3nuTD_uP8CotUAJehkT0Q0ERqcTl5VWqefAyZi5Xvjbu4rffp6KSIc5Nv2RiJ0NiQPgO8PhUyqx3Ef9My36X/s320/MahouShoujoMadokaMagica225_thumb.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Mami, Rifles dropping from her skirt?! Now that's Magic!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">As I've become a bit jaded in my second go-around with anime as an adult, I never considered myself someone who would like anime from the Magical Girl category, but I've taken a shine to Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica. Who'd a thunk?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The thing I like about it is that it pretty much destroys my preconceptions about magical girl stories, and seems to be a bit dark. I also like the alternate-reality sequences where the magical girls reach the core of the delusion (a newly-forming witch) that is causing people to off themselves in various ways (jumping from buildings, releasing toxic gases in a closed room), and these sequences are especially well done with a lot of stop-action-like animation using photographic-like images. It's hard to tell what technique the animators are using because things have really opened up with CG-integrated anime. Does this mean a more serious move towards CG is planned and will this put the already depressed Japanese economy further in the dumps by replacing animators with CG-generators? Not sure, but this technique is very interesting and engaging in realizing an alternate reality from the usual anime world we see. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The dark part of the storyline is that the girls who are selected to become magical girls by this stuffed-animal looking magical dog (rabbit?) is, on the outset, a pretty sweet deal; in exchange for becoming a magical girl and fighting witches you get any wish you want fulfilled. But the cost is too great in more ways than one, and this agonizing sub plot of what and how the two main storyline characters want to wish for and make their decision to become magical girls is interesting and unexpected. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">If you don't want to take my word for it, here is a youtube video of a very (enthusiastic?) drunk young man, probably broadcasting from the inner sanctum of his dorm room at uni, narrating the preview from episode 3. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mFbURzDgBhE" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="440"></iframe></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Got the picture of Mami from </span><a href="http://www.due2life.net/tag/mahou-shoujo-madoka%E2%98%85magica/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Due2Life</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> blog.</span></div>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-45997729941972912322010-12-25T21:57:00.000-05:002010-12-25T21:57:26.716-05:00Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru (Yet the Town Turns)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOug_j_m4cYKQHFwtQR_k728-KLmT6i6qwVROn44K1B1GX3CQiEfkNIB8VrU808cw_D8-Yl3PpE5yz_SGLEhoVv-lrGEZE2ctUxXcOT1zJdjM_pPJsb5gc8qs8qSlQ0Rt4JOtyncirCW74/s1600/soredemo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOug_j_m4cYKQHFwtQR_k728-KLmT6i6qwVROn44K1B1GX3CQiEfkNIB8VrU808cw_D8-Yl3PpE5yz_SGLEhoVv-lrGEZE2ctUxXcOT1zJdjM_pPJsb5gc8qs8qSlQ0Rt4JOtyncirCW74/s320/soredemo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Just finished watching the anime adapation of this manga by Ishiguro Masakazu, about a young girl growing up in a small neighborhood who's kind of ditzy and loves mystery novels and gets into trouble a lot. She works at a Maid cafe with her friend Tatsuno, and it is really just a slice of life story that is sweet and funny and the anime adaptation does it justice. I didn't think I'd like it but became an avid fan after one episode and it just ended after 12 episodes and I am so sad :(Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-8906175789977754572010-12-24T10:22:00.000-05:002010-12-24T10:22:00.733-05:00Update on Yahoo Answers QuestionI think that's it - I got 6 answers to my question - here is a screen shot:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf8SKRbpvBy7JPrOBjIIwFM5MTCrkAFaT2cBdvia8J6buTXZwXJ2QK3Z2ywS8pjb0gBlACs7WUnH-GQduNMDndAVZe5GxVOaJ197qzGYms1bUwd0ahmghUplrXtPOBrJo9r1Nt4D-BStYR/s1600/yahoofinaltally.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf8SKRbpvBy7JPrOBjIIwFM5MTCrkAFaT2cBdvia8J6buTXZwXJ2QK3Z2ywS8pjb0gBlACs7WUnH-GQduNMDndAVZe5GxVOaJ197qzGYms1bUwd0ahmghUplrXtPOBrJo9r1Nt4D-BStYR/s1600/yahoofinaltally.jpg" /></a></div>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-87733424238700460332010-12-19T11:06:00.000-05:002010-12-19T11:06:23.256-05:00Yahoo! Answers question about anime vs. American cartoons<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgai5EtviB-jP-q3UyhdaMR66hzPyMQYCqyh_So6dFkekwmKnN5fKqcWB5RDxx2_0VAUtuCgcIqO-6IhRHSOEZ9Tb8wzTef87PTTH9Z6HegelR-co41YTV6vTGzjXLvFDJG9iY9BwCkT6Gv/s1600/yahooav.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgai5EtviB-jP-q3UyhdaMR66hzPyMQYCqyh_So6dFkekwmKnN5fKqcWB5RDxx2_0VAUtuCgcIqO-6IhRHSOEZ9Tb8wzTef87PTTH9Z6HegelR-co41YTV6vTGzjXLvFDJG9iY9BwCkT6Gv/s320/yahooav.jpg" width="205" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Yahoo! Avatar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Because I need to do grading I have decided to procrastinate by posting the <a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiBMLlvBZC1afC3i3m.r78Lsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20101219055832AAoB8Wj">following question</a> on Yahoo! Answers:<br />
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<h1 class="subject">What American cartoons do Japanese people like?</h1><div class="content">I'm a longtime fan of anime but I never hear about the American cartoons Japanese people like to watch - or do they like American cartoons at all? Can anybody help me answer this?</div><div class="content"> </div><div class="content">Haha, can you tell I C&P'd this from the website? So, here are some of the answers I've gotten so far (there are four days to get answers to this question):</div><div class="content"> </div><div class="content"> </div><div class="content">1. Avatar the Last Airbender.</div><div class="content"> </div><div class="content"><div class="content">2. Hello Kitty to the highest degree.</div><h3 class="reference">Source(s):</h3><div class="reference">one of my friends is japanese.</div><div class="reference"> </div><div class="reference"><div class="content">3. I heard they really like Scooby-Doo (for some odd reason)</div> </div><div class="reference">4. The original Tom and Jerry cartoons, as well as The Pink Panther's original shorts translate well overseas because there is no soundtrack to translate since the title characters remain silent through most of their adventures.<br />
And while I can't say why The Pink Panther remains silent, Tom and Jerry never spoke in the originals because William Hanna and Joseph Barbera could never agree on what they should sound like. </div><div class="reference"> </div>I am totally dubious of answers 1 & 2, and answer 4 doesn't really answer the question and seems almost like speculation. I like answer #3 the best just because it has a S-D reference and S-D is awesome so why wouldn't people around the world love Scooby-Doo?</div><div class="content"><br />
</div><div class="content">If you've got some spurious information on this question, feel free to post on the Yahoo link, <a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiBMLlvBZC1afC3i3m.r78Lsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20101219055832AAoB8Wj">here</a>. I've had this question rolling around for awhile and watching Total Drama Island with DJ made me finally decide to pose this question to the Internets.</div><div class="content"> </div>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-6458571759253409012010-12-19T09:36:00.000-05:002010-12-19T09:36:24.378-05:00Total Drama Island<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnTa3tKondiRmu30M-PAyzMFTM_9yonFSgKScmHAVCjgHL02EpHPAryu3TRfB17C9aZT2f8joZb9DDVAjxLrMAiW-Hixt5l2gncSF-vAgEVXdgx0LD7JSVJt_XcE9BW5ifmTzmPYxM7XeP/s1600/total-drama-wrestling-total-drama-island-14936533-1000-847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnTa3tKondiRmu30M-PAyzMFTM_9yonFSgKScmHAVCjgHL02EpHPAryu3TRfB17C9aZT2f8joZb9DDVAjxLrMAiW-Hixt5l2gncSF-vAgEVXdgx0LD7JSVJt_XcE9BW5ifmTzmPYxM7XeP/s320/total-drama-wrestling-total-drama-island-14936533-1000-847.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Just bought my son the complete first season of Total Drama Island from iTunes - 35-bucks!!! Gaaa. Did I do this because I am a super-duper mom? NO! It is because I am a sick mom who needed to lie on the couch and watch Total Drama Island episodes while dozing and/or coughing.<br />
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TDI is not really a show I should let the kid watch - it's for just a little bit older set (although, he's almost a 'tween' so he's in that gray area already). He learns so much from the <strike>monsters</strike> older kids at after school, though, so it's getting harder to police what he does and doesn't know about the outer world.<br />
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Anyway, this is one of those shows I talked about in an <a href="http://saturdaymorningcartoons.blogspot.com/2010/11/kuragehime-jellyfish-princess-and.html">earlier post</a> that DJ started watching and I caught on to it and liked it as well. I can attest to the fact that, for the most part, DJ has some pretty good taste in what cartoons he likes to watch. I was even skeptical, early on in his choosings, about some of them - like, "Sonic the Hedgehog? Seriously?" And then I'd get all into it and then he'd move on. The student has surpassed the master. <br />
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TDI is a really fun show in that era of American cartoons that has some continuity and plot progression.<br />
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DJ wants to play catch so I'll update later. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">DJ picked this pic for the post - it comes from <a href="http://www.fanpop.com/spots/total-drama-island/links/14936533">jadore_renard via fanpop</a></span>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-85493964989955044102010-12-01T09:09:00.001-05:002011-06-25T04:05:38.312-05:00Sick DayDarling son is home sick this morning and, for some reason, last night he decided to drag out our Speed Racer DVD's and re-watch the eps we have. When he was little, his very first observation about Speed was that, "he looks like a girl." But, you have to admit, he does some pretty kick-ass stuff, and his dad knows Judo.<br />
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Here's a <a href="http://saturdaymorningcartoons.blogspot.com/2006/12/speed-racer-redux.html">link to the first post about Speed Racer</a> from 2006(!), and here's one that has <a href="http://saturdaymorningcartoons.blogspot.com/2006/12/mach-go-go-go-speed-racer.html">a youtube of the Japanese version of the theme song</a>.Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-7082943059204516332010-11-19T05:40:00.002-05:002011-05-05T14:05:29.781-05:00The Real Kuragehime Post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaE7kl58FmzrJWS9K25zN8LYpt7aEWpwpm8aBLq9myD8IzIntsIfCvJi-IjjPSx_IjqE_ZiRkWlVOuRcyHoKLwEKxVA1Ha9ZHqQ6zxfvR0vtJv0qzP8ptZHoFHl0b4DZAP-Yyn5jFTEoup/s1600/kuragehimeedit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaE7kl58FmzrJWS9K25zN8LYpt7aEWpwpm8aBLq9myD8IzIntsIfCvJi-IjjPSx_IjqE_ZiRkWlVOuRcyHoKLwEKxVA1Ha9ZHqQ6zxfvR0vtJv0qzP8ptZHoFHl0b4DZAP-Yyn5jFTEoup/s400/kuragehimeedit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Dang, I didn't save the notes I had from the last post, after I started jotting down a few points I wanted to make about Kuragehime and then realized I'd yammered on too long about what my son and I have been up to, lately. Well, no matter - I've thought enough about what I wanted to say.<br />
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Okay, here's a brief summary: Tsukimi is an 18 year-old girl who moves from the southern part of Japan to Tokyo at the invitation of a group of women otaku to come live at their apartment building; Tsukimi's hope is to find work as an illustrator. Her specialty is drawing jellyfish which comes out of her otaku devotion to jellyfish, a fascination that began with her (now dead) mother introducing her to jellyfish by taking her to see an exhibit at an aquarium. Her mother points out that one of the jellyfish has a beautiful train like a wedding dress, and she will one day make Tsukuki such a dress. The promise is never fulfilled as Tsukimi's mother dies prematurely from cancer. Her comfortable, sheltered life as one of the Aman (nuns) in the retro apartment building they all live in is shaken up when she meets a cross-dressing young man named Kuranosuke. HIJINX!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWWVfwyG_PnxLxncMFe5yQlPwUokuSpu8d97T_tTf8fTHRla7MOUQNVz-6BeWrnzocaNPq8TIzxUC-84G7Cq-3a-zd3g7wlGD4a1g_s6sJeREfeti7IwL8azzhbEpnkXgVkLzwttV6JbA/s1600/Kuragehime-kuragehime-16494113-550-735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWWVfwyG_PnxLxncMFe5yQlPwUokuSpu8d97T_tTf8fTHRla7MOUQNVz-6BeWrnzocaNPq8TIzxUC-84G7Cq-3a-zd3g7wlGD4a1g_s6sJeREfeti7IwL8azzhbEpnkXgVkLzwttV6JbA/s320/Kuragehime-kuragehime-16494113-550-735.jpg" width="239" /></a><br />
The thing I like about this anime is that it has a slice-of-life feel, but it's a slice-of-life about the otaku world. I don't know much about trends in anime and manga right now, but I see that there is somewhat of a current running toward otaku-themed storylines, and this one is quite well-done. It is sensitive and sympathetic to its subjects so that you immediately like these very strange women and the main protagonist from the get-go.<br />
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I also like it because it gives me some glimpse into the fact that otakus aren't just confined to anime and manga; in Kuragehime, the women who live together are only tangentially connected to the manga world through their assistance to Juon Mejiro, a nocturnal mangaka who lives in their building and is a popular BL (boy's love) artist; the Aman help her ink her drawings so that she makes her publication deadlines. Otherwise, each of the Aman have a different proclivity; Mayaya is devoted to the Records of Three Kingdoms; Chieko is passionate about Japanese clothing and is a master kimono maker for dolls (her mother is also incidentally an otaku who pursues the Korean actor Bae Yong Joon; Banba knows everything about trains and the train system in Japan; Jiji is devoted to older men (i.e. actor Takeo Chii) and butler cafes.<br />
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I guess my third reason for liking this anime is that, quite possibly, I relate to these people very strongly. I don't know if anyone has made comparisons between Japanese otaku and fanboys/girls in the US; I fall somewhat into the latter category, but I'm too lazy to be deemed a true fangirl by any stretch. My husband is a rock nerd, and we haven't yet determined what kind of nerd our son will be, but a nerd he will most likely be with us as his parents. <br />
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The appearance of the cross-dressing Kuranosuke, while it is central to the storyline, is not as fascinating to me as the background details of the show; Kuranosuke helps Tsukimi save a jellyfish from dying because it has been put in a tank with an incompatible jellyfish, and this is how their strange friendship begins. But Tsukimi and, by extension, the Aman's interaction with the outside world is the real interesting point; they live in a well-kept, older apartment building (Kuranosuke calls it "retro," which probably means it is post-WWII), and because they have an invitation-only policy they have kept out the majority of people who may not be sympathetic to their proclivities. They call themselves nuns because no men are allowed into their isolated little world; men are not needed because the love of their individual passions sustains them. Kuranosuke has figured this out, and so he is becoming a constant fixture, dressed as a woman, even though he is not careful about his immersion into being a woman, constantly using the male "ore" instead of the female "atai" (a common deception that is often the unraveling in gender-bender stories when it is not adhered to), much to Tsukimi's dismay. She is nonplussed by his insistence on being her friend even though she (and the rest of the Aman) have consistently tried to dissuade him from this course, because he is a "fashionable" and therefore not suited to their lifestyle, which is decidedly the opposite of fashionable.<br />
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The development of this story then seems self-determined; inevitably, Kuranosuke will transform all of the Aman into "proper" women. This is what annoys me the most about this storyline; each of the women are wonderful and fascinating in their own right, and somehow a cross-dressing college student needs to be involved in recreating them in the mold of appropriate female behavior. This is already starting to happen by episode 5; it began with Tsukimi's final transformation in episode four, which culminates in a heart-touching scene between Tsukimi and Kuranosuke's brother, Shū, at an aquarium.<br />
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However, now they've got to get serious and "dress for battle," Kuranosuke tells the Aman, because their retro apartment building is being eyed for demolition and reconstruction as a high-rise hotel. As Kuranosuke has deemed them all to be NEETS (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), they would be in trouble if their apartment building closed down; their nunnery would be broken up and cheap apartments are hard to come by in Tokyo. At the end of Episode 5, he is beginning to remake them into contemporary ideals of womanhood; Amaya is remade in the mode of Nicole Richie and Banba, because of her untameable afro, has it concealed under a straight, blond, page-boy wig. Kuranosuke hopes that, by this transformation, the Aman will be taken more seriously as they protest the sale and demolition of their home; it should be noted that Chieko's mother, the owner of the building, has just decided to sell it so she can pursue her interest in Korean language studies.<br />
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This also brings up the meme I've been aware of in other manga about the reconstruction of Tokyo; like many gentrification projects in cities around the world, manga storylines have consistently portrayed this tearing down and reconstruction. The one that immediately comes to mind is Takashi Shiina's <i>Ghost Sweeper Mikami</i>; Mikami is an exorcist who makes money (lots and lots of money) banishing spirits who still inhabit sites that are slated for demolition or are already in the reconstruction process. In this sense, then, Kuragehime can be viewed within this meme of new taking over the old; if the Aman are forced to leave their home, their way of life may very well come to an end, like the spirits of old buildings. Their proclivities represent a rather old-fashioned passion for older things and the natural world, things that modern Tokyo will not abide by in its quest to reshape itself as a modern-world metropolis. Like the spirits that Mikami exorcises from old buildings, the Aman are also an endangered species within the modern world. Another instance where this is apparent is in Takahashi Rumiko's <i>Inuyasha</i>; the intersection between ancient folklore and the modern world is a constant theme. The main characters, Kagome and Inuyasha, travel back and forth between two worlds, the ancient past and the modern present; occasionally, this line is blurred when artifacts or spirits are loosed upon the modern; in the ancient it is a common occurrence, but in the modern this is not as often seen, and final battles in the modern world in <i>Inuyasha</i> usually take place at construction sites.<br />
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Edit 5.5.11: Added photo of Kuragehime characters from anime, which I got from <a href="http://amalicchan.blogspot.com/2011/02/ole-ole-ba-da-da-matsuken-samba.html">Amal x icchan</a>, a really cool blog that I think I'll add to a blogroll that I haven't made yet. The piece this is connected to has a good description of the anime, and some "fun facts" as well as the ED for the anime and a photo the building the Amars home is based on. The characters in the photo are from top left to right: Kuranosuke, Shu, Amaya, Jiji, Tsukimi, Banba, Chieko, ClaraMistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-28755528320941187472010-11-12T10:12:00.000-05:002010-11-12T10:12:27.721-05:00Kuragehime (Jellyfish Princess) and Belated Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3YmYJjqerxrRBTBcRSdFJuff9TRjTlovBWwd4evJMurvpeO9EDr4rpG8mnD13j41gsCxzK8VyR_VVLND0yrQ0NrsffObOUzAy8-cX_2J643H9_yRfxqIJNLHIQ13ch1vhJ5HiWgKWrI5/s1600/kuragehime022.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3YmYJjqerxrRBTBcRSdFJuff9TRjTlovBWwd4evJMurvpeO9EDr4rpG8mnD13j41gsCxzK8VyR_VVLND0yrQ0NrsffObOUzAy8-cX_2J643H9_yRfxqIJNLHIQ13ch1vhJ5HiWgKWrI5/s1600/kuragehime022.png" /></a></div>So, let's see...the last time I posted to SMC I was remarking on the death of Walter Cronkite, the voice of Benjamin Franklin on DIC's "Liberty's Kids" - I have actually been talking about this show in one of my graduate seminars this semester. Yes, my professor thinks I'm a complete doof, now, because so far I've expressed my love of "1776, the Musical," my preference for Hall of Presidents at Disney World over real presidential history, and now my comment that one of the themes of Liberty's Kids is about the obstacles of slaves and freed black people (my seminar with this professor is looking at Antebellum slave narratives). I think if he knew about this blog he would be rather dismayed that he had provided me with a letter of recommendation for graduate school.<br />
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Anyway, so I'm finishing my second year of grad school and then...? The economy is so bad I'm not really sure what my next move is; I just know that I'm not continuing in the PhD program because I cannot continue teaching freshman English for $7.80 an hour. Well, actually, I could keep doing that, but not teaching AND writing a dissertation for eleventy years. <br />
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My son is still watching Scooby-Doo; he doesn't like the newest addition to the canon, however; It's something that Cartoon Network came out with recently (he watches cable at the G-rents'). Not having seen it, his resistance to it tells me that it either has too much real supernatural stuff going on, or it's somehow grittier than the other incarnations. Wait, let me look for it...It's called <a href="http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/scoobydoomysteryinc/index.html">Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated</a> (this link will take you to the CN page for the show) - it looks pretty standard issue, so I'll have to watch an ep and see if I can figure out this SD anomaly with my boy. He's watching a lot of CN's other offerings for kids (and the Total Drama series, even though it's for a somewhat older crowd); Scooby-Doo has become a sort of mental comfort food for him, like the old Popeye and Looney Tunes cartoons were for me. <br />
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I started this blog when my son was still little, as a way to write about my experience with reacquainting myself with the old cartoons I watched as a child, especially now that I was introducing these works to my son. Now he's moved on to the stuff he likes but he still has an appreciation for the old Fleischer stuff and that makes me happy. <br />
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So, I'll sit with him and watch the stuff he likes, and for the most part it's stuff I can reasonably tolerate, like Johnny Test; while it's not stuff I would go out of my way to watch on my own, I'm still appreciative that I get a chance to sample what the hip youngs are watching these days.<br />
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Anyway, so that's as much of an update I can reasonably give without getting completely boring, so I'll just move onto the next subject, which is also somewhat of an update. While my son has been blazing his own path of cartoon experience, I'm continuing down this rabbit hole of anime (and now manga) that I started up when introducing my son to some of the old anime that I watched (when it was still called Japanimation). After I went through all of the old stuff I watched, I started looking at stuff I had never really watched but was from the same time period (and had not entered the U.S. market in any translatable way), then I moved onto new stuff. I think the first recent anime I started watching was Bleach, and it's been all downhill from there. <br />
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Does my obsession with Japanese animation make me otaku? Haha, no - I've actually tried to engage otaku in online forums and was immediately tossed out, so either my online social skills are really, really bad or I just haven't gotten "it" (whatever "it" is). I realized recently, however, that I've watched so much anime in the past couple of years that I'm getting a little jaded and can now start looking at the different offerings with a more critical eye. So, I won't automatically obsessively watch a series if I don't like it or find it too ecchi or fan-servicey. I guess that's a good thing?<br />
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One show I've started watching that deserves some mention is Kuragehime, and I'll continue with those thoughts in another post - I've already eaten through way too much time on this one meandering post. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Swiped the picture from <a href="http://psgels.blogsome.com/2010/10/28/kuragehime-02/">Star Crossed Anime Blog</a></span>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-29617563168576633092009-07-24T17:52:00.005-05:002009-07-24T18:11:00.838-05:00Walter Cronkite, the voice of Benjamin Franklin, has died<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5ZXdN4xLv5VucIqQtqsxvDjAZd4G9VTc1qnDSM-9ZZwDP6O7-kODsInsdOI-7ZPsPjEEIRdQhBdRkSxlNex7T37acrOmzrXbZT1isJsKBIrifEy4pyTivU-RyA0I9mx_Sk1iiIF7x_HK/s1600-h/arch_who_bfranklin_lg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5ZXdN4xLv5VucIqQtqsxvDjAZd4G9VTc1qnDSM-9ZZwDP6O7-kODsInsdOI-7ZPsPjEEIRdQhBdRkSxlNex7T37acrOmzrXbZT1isJsKBIrifEy4pyTivU-RyA0I9mx_Sk1iiIF7x_HK/s400/arch_who_bfranklin_lg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362166836845407234" border="0" /></a>This is old news, now -- the media just got through its grieving process with days and days of retrospectives on Mr. Cronkite. Sure, we all know him as the voice of reason during the cold war, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and JFK, and the Vietnam War, to name just a few of his many achievements. But no one, anywhere, honored him for one of his most recent achievements, as the voice of Ben Franklin on <span style="font-style: italic;">Liberty's Kids</span>. Wait, I'm wrong, there was a NYT blog post about Mr. Cronkite's passing, and <a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/cbs-to-devote-early-show-to-cronkite/#comment-175965">a commenter mentions this fact</a>. No where else, though, says boo about it. We have lost a great voice of the cartoon world, folks, and no other cartoon blogs made mention of this fact! So, I guess it comes down to this lazy blogger of an oft-neglected cartoon blog to honor the man and the voice, of Benjamin Franklin.<br /><br />Goodbye Mr. Cronkite, you brought this great sage from our earliest times as a nation to the forefront of what, inarguably, has to be one of the best shows about the American Revolution.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Got the image from <a href="http://www.libertyskids.com/arch_who_bfranklin.html">DIC's Liberty's Kids archive</a></span>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-53722664221914313792009-07-24T17:35:00.005-05:002009-07-24T17:51:57.461-05:00Jonny Quest<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigc_W9L0HCD8nEsXoYWUgYY-llSZJkp9Tz5ONXH57MdCWpbEhbddkJTxQiEWW3HAzrbtmkyj035lH771IPQOwpP255w4KkKA0gAbR_LlOag-3BX6EUc1_SLPuH5CSDIG_MB_Z-AKawtV4t/s1600-h/Jonny-Quest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigc_W9L0HCD8nEsXoYWUgYY-llSZJkp9Tz5ONXH57MdCWpbEhbddkJTxQiEWW3HAzrbtmkyj035lH771IPQOwpP255w4KkKA0gAbR_LlOag-3BX6EUc1_SLPuH5CSDIG_MB_Z-AKawtV4t/s400/Jonny-Quest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362161040643097282" border="0" /></a>Our family has become the proud owners of many, many SMC box sets, the most prized of which is the complete Jonny Quest DVD set. My husband thinks of JQ as a "two-fisted kids' show," and to many of our age-peers it is one of the most popular. Our son is finally at the age where he really, really enjoys it, now, so the past week has been JQ central. I cannot get the theme song out of my head, though, as cool as it is.<br /><br />As we went through the canon, however, I became acutely aware of how much a product of the cold-war sixties JQ really is, complete with ugly racial stereotypes. And Hadji, sigh -- how many kids of Eastern Indian origin ended up with the nickname "Hadji" in trying to fit in with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood? I know of at least one from my childhood. A "Hadji" was also a handball term, for when the handball would suddenly fly straight up in the air when it hit an uneven seam of the paved court.<br /><br />Anyway, if you are thinking of introducing your child to this otherwise great show, be prepared to have many, many "teaching moments" about stereotypes and living in this crazy melting pot we call America.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Swiped the picture of the DVD set from <a href="http://www.cartoon-secrets.com/Jonny-Quest.php">Cartoon Secrets</a></span>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-68358494485961238782009-03-16T09:21:00.005-05:002009-03-16T12:00:15.182-05:00Liberty's Kids on DVD<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5256748"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWON1TUMkkguoJFGECEvtJPPB3_idYkMkbgcbabx_3QAl4WdZYQ1J4QMw6NVuaw5dvdOdR1ueeAqN4tzptkaoMSx5du_2XprVfI0dCO2DRrOlvxg7ekfTZ2_Vv1zpP9KeXpMwPUPYjntQ/s320/shoutlk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313831147093734226" border="0" /></a>I've ranted on and off since starting this blog about all the good things about Liberty's Kids (it provides an entertaining and somewhat accurate story of the events and personalities surrounding the Revolutionary War) and all the bad things (its distribution has been miserly and dysfunctional at best). Awhile back on a post I did ("<a href="http://saturdaymorningcartoons.blogspot.com/2007/09/and-another-thing-about-libertys-kids.html">And Another Thing About Liberty's Kids</a>"), some kind commenter said that Liberty's Kids would be coming out on DVD last October and the set would sell for around 60-dollars. This, after I ranted about it selling for $500.00 through some educational distribution site.<br /><br />Anyhow, it's all good -- the fam just finished watching disc 1 of the Liberty's Kids 6-disc set, which is distributed by <a href="http://www.shoutfactory.com/">Shout! Factory</a>. We're getting them from Netflix, just to see if it'll be worth buying the set. So far, so good -- there were 7 episodes on the first disc and they were all in order, a far cry from the doofy collections that came out in 2005, with only 3 random episodes on each ("The Boston Tea Party: The Movie," "Give Me Liberty," and "The First Fourth of July"). DJ is loving watching them all in order, and it seems like we might be getting the set, after all.<br /><br />Okay, my only complaint, and it is a teeny-tiny complaint -- because, don't get me wrong, I am soooo, so happy that Liberty's Kids is finally in a boxed set put together by people who actually know what they're doing -- my only complaint, even after the joy and rapture of this event, is that I thought that maybe the episodes should have been kept intact, as they were shown on TV. Meaning, that the original fillers between the stories ("Continental Cartoons," "Ben Franklin's Newsbytes") should have been left as they were. As it stands now, they are lumped in their categories on the special features menu, and it is rather boring to watch them all at once because they fly by so quickly and have the same format. It was probably a decision that was made on whether or not to keep the story flow or the TV format, which had more of a variety-type appeal.<br /><br />Anyway, that is a small, small complaint next to the major positive that is this collection, so...YAY!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Swiped the cover art pic for the new collection from <a href="http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5256748">Shout! Factory's site</a></span>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-977916831897625431.post-69642213556566314262008-11-15T20:30:00.001-05:002008-11-15T20:30:31.097-05:00Asterisk -- Orange Range<div>Even on Grooveshark...</div><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/48f3f305ad1283e4/491f77b5af47d445/48f3f3053cbe0b4e/fe0ad49c/widget.js"></script>Mistressmybaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040035582367431567noreply@blogger.com0