I wanted to try and keep non anime related posts to a minimum but after seeing this I really wanted to post a few things. This can also apply to anime DVDs as well so the same principal applies. Now days when a high profile game is released there is nearly always a “limited edition” version that is sold alongside it for extra money, but you get a few extras along with the game. Usually this involves a DVD you never watch, a CD with audio you hardly ever listen to and some other trinkets. It has always felt a bit flat for me when looking at this. They never offer any reason to fork out the extra money. Thankfully they are trying to rectify that with games such as Farcry 2 that are starting to pick up on the whole “limited edition means more bonuses with the game” However largely the western world is failing at this. They consider the above mentioned DVD and CD that come with the game enough reason to charge sometimes $30 or more than the game alone.

Then you go places such as japan or korea. They laugh at the idea of simple limited editions. Not only that but i’m pretty sure they understand that if you make said LEs really limited (sometimes in the 1000’s, sometimes in the 10,000’s) and add excessive extras that they will sell at an insane rate regardless of the price. This is where the DJ Max series comes in. They have just announced a LE version of the new game DJ Max Portable Black Square. Not only is this excessiveness in it’s pure form, but it is REALLY limited. We’re talking only 1500 made here. This is what i’m talking about… more…

In a rather unexpected move, the monthly manga ComicREX has announced that due to “Health Issues” of the author, Eri Takenashi,  Kannagi will no longer be published until further notice. Although due to the timing this happened one must call the whole thing into question as to if this is a real reason or not. In case you don’t know what i’m talking about here is a quick run down.

In the last chapter of the Kannagi manga, an ex-boyfriend is introduced. Nagi’s ex-boyfriend. This sparked massive outrage from otaku in japan who over-reacted in a way i’ve never heard of before. Why? Because of the very slight possiblity that Nagi and this ex-boyfriend have had sex, and thus Nagi would no longer be a virgin and “pure”. They burned and destroyed their Kannagi manga collections, they canceled orders on Nagi related products and all sorts of crazy things.

So as you see, having this rather handy health problem happen at this time would be a good way to bow out of the series since obviously whatever the author was planning to do with the new character, has backfired in a way unlike i’ve seen before. Regardless of everything i’ve said though and while I don’t follow the Kannagi manga myself, I wish Eri a speedy recovery and hope she can get back to doing this series.

So this is a new show that started about 2 months ago and i’ve seen a lot of people saying how boring it is or bland it seems. I’m not sure if they are watching the same show I am or wether or not that years of SNL has destroyed their humor sensor because this show is damn good. I think of it as a mix between Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star without all the otaku refrences and Ichigo Mashimaro (mainly because of 1 character who i’ll talk about soon). So here is my sort of rundown on the show and  thoughts about the latest episode, which is #8. At least the latest subbed one. more…

Ok now while this isn’t anime related I really wanted to post this as i’m sure these bands aren’t as known as they should be. Dir En Grey and Versaillies. I’ve been listening to these guys for awhile now and i’ve been meaning to make a post about them. Chances are if you like anime, you have also taken a liking to the music played during the show be it OPs or EDs. On top of that you may also have started getting into other forms of japanese music. This is where these 2 bands come in. If you’re a fan of metal then you really should listen to them.

Dir En Grey

They are what I would call a heavy metal band but they could be classed as many things, including Visual Kei which they originaly belonged to before toning down their look a bit. They have 1 of the best music videos i’ve seen in awhile and by best I mean most twisted and disturbing even over throwing Marilyn Manson. Lets talk about the singer a bit. The singer in a band is argueably the most important person. He has to sing and people have to like his voice, he has to find a way to connect to the crowd and get their attention. This guy seems to have gone to the same showmanship school as Manson did as he has gathered some fame beyond just being a singer. according to Wikipedia… more…

This really could work out. Letter Bee (Tegami Bachi) the manga has already been licensed by Viz and the special short has been shown earlier in the Shounen Jump road tour in Japan. This new anime adaptation is not official yet, but it’s likely.

You can watch the Letter Bee special mentioned above here. It is sub-titled already, but you will need to download the special Shounen Jump player to watch. After that hit watch and then open/save. You may want wait a bit before playing the file.

Letter Bee has been compared to D.Gray-Man and there are some similarities, but this series is really styled well and the characters are more likable, though. There are five volumes of the manga published in Japan, so there will be enough material for at least a good season (or two). Just hope it does not go so long as D.Gray-Man. The voice acting is very pleasent in the special, even Lag’s.

Cool points are scored by Lag’s name, his gun (which clearly looks like it was meant to be much longer), and the abuse of various shades of purple with blue colors.

Yes we have all seen the horrid photos of when cosplaying, which is dressing up to match an anime or game character, goes wrong and results in an image burned into your brain you can’t forget. It’s always a very traumatic event when you see a 150kg Misty or ugly-as-sin Konata. Not to point any fingers but these generally tend to be american people and end up looking like this

However that said, I thought it would be a pleasant change to see what happens when both american, and japanese cosplay succeeds…

Oh and please correct me if any of the characters names I use are wrong, i’m doing my best to remember them all since its 2am right now. Oh and also i’ll update this again tomorrow since imageshack is being annoying and won’t let me edit this with more photos i’ve found. Buu

EDIT – Ok so it’s the next morning and like I said, i’m going to update this with some more awesome cosplay i’ve managed to find.

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