I hope that everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July. We’ll resume normal posting after the extended holiday.

Sidenote: Yay Nanoha DVDs. The White Devil is finally coming to the states.

So the plan was to go see Kung Fu Panda as everyone has been telling me how great it was. I get to the theater and the showing I was planning on seeing was sold out. And it’s been out for three weeks? I was stunned. As I held up the line trying to decide on waiting an hour for the next showing or going home, the nice cashier guy suggested that maybe I’d like to go see Wall-E instead. Well it was Sunday and I was bored so I figured why not? Boy am I glad he made that suggestion.

Summary:
Wall-E is the story of Wall-E (obviously). He’s a small little robot who bears more than a passing resemblance to E.T. or Johnny 5 of Short Circuit fame. From what we can gather, he’s been basically alone on Earth for several hundred years. Turns out that the planet was overly commercialized by Buy N’ Large, a Wal-Mart type corporation that seemed to own just about everything. Somewhere down the line, consumption just got totally out of control to the point where there was so much garbage that BNL decided to ship humans off in spaceships while they created robots to clean up the mess.

Enter our unassuming hero as what appears to be the final, functioning Wall-E (Waste Allocation Lift Loader - Earth Class) left. He still goes about his job diligently with his only friend being a rather spunky cockroach who is basically the dog from I Am Legend. All these years of desolation seems to have done something to Wall-E. While he still performs his duties without fail, he’s also developed a bit of a quirk as he enjoys finding certain pieces of trash that catches his eye and collects them for himself. He also seems to have taken a liking to musicals as he frequently watches an old tape of Hello Dolly as well as listening to recordings of the songs while out doing his job. But it’s by watching these tapes that he realizes something. He’s alone. And while his job and his little “pet” is nice, all he really wants is a companion.

Of course, his wish is granted as one day a giant spaceship shows up and delivers a strange package. Another robot by the name of EVE. She’s modern, sleek, and sexy compared to Wall-E’s humble appearance but despite their obvious differences, Wall-E’s determined to make friends with this new visitor. His attempts don’t go quite as planned as EVE proves to be more dangerous that appearances would allow, but he slowly but surely makes progress.

He eventually gets her back to his place (smooth moves, pal) and shows EVE his treasures. After a few clumsy attempts at dancing, something really catches EVE’s eye and a sudden visit eventually turns into an adventure as Wall-E eventually ends up leaving the desolate landscape of Earth for the reaches of space and the search for a friend turns into a struggle for the future of the planet.

Thoughts:
I’ve seen a lot of talk about Wall-E since it came out. Many people proclaim it’s Oscar caliber and deserves a place in the big show for the biggest prize of Best Picture, a spot not seen for an animated feature since Beauty and the Beast. Others claim that while the movie is visually stunning, the film is overly preachy and incredibly heavy-handed with its message as the liberal Hollywood elite once again tries to force-feed their agenda to an unsuspecting viewing audience.

I won’t take either side of that debate. Because the heart of this movie belongs with Wall-E. There hasn’t been a more lovable character on the movie screen in who knows how long. And while there is a message to be learned with the movie (and an obvious one at that), that’s all secondary to Wall-E and hopefully for the viewer as well. Wall-E wants one thing and one thing only. A friend. And he’ll do anything it takes to prove that to her, even if it means traveling to the stars themselves.

For me, any flaws about the overbearing message or lack of a long, involved story is washed away as the little robot that could earnestly makes his way through the film and slowly changes the lives of everything and everyone he meets. An amazing feat for an overgrown trash compactor who can’t even really talk. It’s simply incredible the amount of emotion that little Wall-E and eventually his co-star EVE can convey on the screen. They’ll make you laugh, gasp, cheer, and cry by the end of the film.

With all the loud summer blockbusters, overly kinetic anime, and deep, convoluted video games out there, the things that Pixar has managed to do with a “block” and an “egg” are nothing short of miraculous as they come off as more “human” than most anything I’ve seen in a long time. You want to see a comedy, romance, or sci-fi epic this summer? Do yourself a favor and check out Wall-E. If not for me, for the little guy himself. He deserves it.

BONUS: If you go check out Wall-E, do yourself another favor and make sure you get there on time. Pixar has a habit of showing short cartoons before their main features and Wall-E is no exception. The name of this one is “Presto” and features a magician, his magic hat, and a white rabbit that wants nothing more than a carrot. It’s HILARIOUS and makes me long for the days of the old Tex Avery cartoons that we so easily neglect these days. Don’t miss a second of it.

The girl of the week is the moetastic Tamaki Kawazoe from Bamboo Blade. Nigh invincible in kendo and also an otaku fangirl to boot, Tama is indeed an odd girl. Watch out though because she can quite literally kick your butt in the blink of an eye. Hope you enjoy this week’s picture gallery.

NSFW
NSFW

I’ve been in a huge writing funk lately, so here’s some filler to let the readers get to know me better through my musical taste. I’ll only include the most played vocal tracks on this list, since I don’t expect anyone to care about OST and instrumental music. So do any of your favorite anime songs show up here? No? Well go complain somewhere else.

1. Lia - Tori no Uta
2. Eufonius - Megumeru ~Cuckool Mix 2007~
3. Elisa - Euphoric Field (Japanese Version)
4. Yoko Takahashi - Yoake Umarekuru Shoujo
5. Kalafina - Oblivious
6. Aira Yuki - Colorless Wind
7. Natsumi Yanase - Sora no Yume
8. Eiko Shimamiya - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
9. Eufonius - Megumeru (Original)
10. Kanako Ito - Kimi to Yozora to Sakamichi to
11. Lia - Yakusoku
12. Nana Mizuki - Innocent Starter
13. Eiko Shimamiya - Naraku no Hana
14. Kotoko - Re-sublimity
15. Kotoko - Agony
16. Riya - Ten Thousand Miracles (Clannad Image Vocal Album)
17. Betta Flash - Erinyes
18. Ceui - Mellow Melody
19. Mami Kawada - Joint
20. Ayana - Last Regrets (Full Chorus Version)

Shiki Ryogi returns to kick more ass in Kara no Kyoukai: Satsujin Kosatsu (Murder Speculation), Part 1. The story goes back in time to explore the origin of the strange relationship between Shiki and Mikiya. This movie is basically all exposition with tons of back story crammed into it.

Summary:
Part one of Murder Speculation takes the plot back to April of 1995, beginning its tale with the first meeting between Shiki and Mikiya in high school. The story proper picks up in August. Mikiya is the first and only person to approach the reclusive Shiki Ryogi and becomes her only friend. It is around this time that a string of brutal murders begins with each new one more horrifying than the last. Shiki seemingly has some sort of connection to the murders.

Meanwhile, Shiki continues to warm up to Mikiya. Out of the blue one day, Shiki invites Mikiya to meet her at a shopping mall. Mikiya obliges and is shocked when he is greeted by a very out-of-character Shiki. She later explains her two distinct split personalities to Mikiya; There’s the normal reserved, girly Shiki that he knows, and SHIKI (denoted with a different kanji) who is the impulsive male personality present today.

In January of the next year, Shiki begins to isolate herself from everyone around her. Both of her personalities tell Mikiya to stay away for his own sake, but he refuses to listen. With each murder, Mikiya discovers that the clues increasingly point to Shiki as the culprit. On February 3rd, he finally sees Shiki standing before a fresh corpse with his own eyes.

Shiki confronts Mikiya and asks why he didn’t report seeing her at the murder site. Mikiya simply tells her that he didn’t actually witness the murder itself and that he still believes in her. Afterwards, Shiki tries to ignore Mikiya completely, but he starts camping by her house every night to affirm his faith in her innocence. She gives him one final warning to stay away but he pays no heed.

That evening Shiki attacks Mikiya in the bamboo forest by her house. She eventually pins down the frantic Mikiya but cannot kill him. This part of the story ends inconclusively and we are taken to June of 1998 where Mikiya visits a comatose Shiki at the hospital which shortly leads to the events of the next movie, Remaining Sense of Pain.

Thoughts:
This installment felt like watching three episodes of .hack//Sign and Higurashi mashed together. It has the drawn out dialogue and imagery of .hack intertwined with a Higurashi-esque serial murder mystery plot (Yes I know Kara no Kyoukai is older than Higurashi. The Higurashi reference is just for comparison). Murder Speculation was interesting if slow paced; Some parts were more dragged out than necessary. Don’t be disappointed, all you action aficionados out there, because Remaining Sense of Pain looks to have more slicing and dicing goodness.

You’ll also appreciate the next movie more with the bits of information revealed so far in Murder Speculation. In other words, don’t even think about skipping this because it’s still required viewing. Murder Speculation was enjoyable enough but didn’t shine as brightly as Overlooking View.

Murder Speculation Part 1 gets 8/10 from me.

We proudly kick off our weekly spotlight on random girls from anime and manga with Galaxy Angel’s super cute Milfeulle Sakuraba. Even though this week is a moe girl, moe is not the focus of this feature. Regardless of that statement, it’s inevitable that many moe girls will show up here. So without further ado, more pictures after the jump.

Here’s my short list of manga that I’d like to see get anime adaptations. I don’t feel like writing an exposition for this article, so just click the jump to see my picks.

Enchanter
The archetypal fanservice action show, Enchanter stands to be a decent show. My enthusiasm for Enchanter isn’t too high, but it certainly has enough content for a full season at the very least. Also, Eukanaria is hot.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel
Hey, remember when Gundam shows used to be good? That can be hard to remember since the last good one, Turn A Gundam, aired such a long ago. The franchise desperately needs to return to the UC timeline, and Ecole du Ciel is the perfect candidate.

Still in publication with ten volumes, Ecole du Ciel follows the exploits of a young genetically enhanced newtype, Asuna Elmarit, from her humble beginnings at the training academy through the events of the Zeta timeline. Chances are low that this will ever get animated, because Ecole probably won’t get the same ratings as the recent Gundam crap.

Muhyo and Rouji’s Bureau of Investigation
It’s only a matter of time until this gets animated, since many recent Jump titles have gotten their own anime; The only question is when it’ll happen. At 18 volumes, Muhyo could easily be a 52 episode series with some filler to stretch out the run.

My Balls
This borderline ecchi/hentai manga is good material for a hentai OVA. Basically the main character, Kohta, has the queen of hell sealed into his balls. He must refrain from “releasing” for an entire month or else the world will be destroyed. You can probably guess that the queen’s servants are going to do everything they can to free her. With massive amounts of ecchi, the premise is ridiculous but strangely entertaining.

Over Rev
Think Initial D with girls and you get Over Rev. Currently ongoing with 31 volumes, I don’t see why Over Rev doesn’t have an anime yet. Like Initial D, even anime fans that usually aren’t into racing can get into this series. The demographic for this kind of show is definitely there.

Pretty Face
Delinquent guy likes girl. Girl secretly likes guy. Guy becomes a girl. If that isn’t enough to capture your interest then check your pulse. You may be dead. This manga is genuinely funny and has enough material for a 24-26 episode run. I really want to see Pretty Face get an anime.

The World That Only God Knows
Keima Katsuragi is the self-proclaimed god of bishoujo games; He knows everything there is to know about dating sims. His world is flipped upside down when the demon, Elsie, enlists his help and binds him to a contract to help her catch evil spirits. Now he must apply his game knowledge to capture the hearts of real girls, which subsequently forces out the evil spirits hiding in the girls’ hearts, thus allowing Elsie to capture them.

I have to thank Meu for introducing this manga to me because it’s awesome. It’ll probably be a year or two before this relatively new manga has enough content to be animated. I predict there’s a high chance for this to get an adaptation.

I’m sure the otakusphere would have swept this easy category in epic fashion, only to be utterly owned in everything else. If you’re too lazy to click the link, I’ll copypasta the questions after the jump.

$400 question:
This anime show didn’t start on TV; its characters were first part of Nintendo’s “Pocket Monsters”.

$2000 question:
One of the highest-grossing films in Japanese history is the anime film about this title 14th c. princess.

Cast off figures seem to be all the rage these days. Otaku just love being able to strip their favorite girls down to their skivvies… or less. Sure it sounds nice on paper, but casting off isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. For all purpose and intent, this short article will cover true cast off where the clothes actually have to be taken off the figure mold.

First is the issue of rubbing. Two pieces of painted PVC rubbing together is only a recipe for disaster, and it’s usually the skin tone parts that lose the battle against dark colored clothing.

Next, how often are you going to do it? Figures aren’t toys and are strictly for display. As mentioned above, you run the risk of nicking the paint every time you cast off. Let’s also be honest here. It’s generally not safe to show a cast off figure to non-otaku friends… Especially girls.

To conclude, is the extra cost worth it to you? The average normal figure is about 4800 yen. The average cast off figure starts at 6000 yen and is liable to increase depending on the number of extra parts. That’s a lot extra for something that’s never been necessary to me.

All photos are from Hobby Search.