Friday, April 30, 2010

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Nodame Cantabile

Nodame Cantabile

Official Site: Japanese
Additional Links: ANN Entry
Video [Free]: English Dubbed

As I have been churning away on the Black History Month special, I've had to push back many things on HardDoor, from boxing previews to the revamp of the Free Anime Directory. The monthly "Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick" has, of course, been one of them, but I can't just let April slip past without giving up one pick, so here is this month's very belated, quite-to-the-last-minute anime pick: Nodame Cantabile!

That's right! No need for the eyedrops, NC really is available, and dubbed in English, no less. Yet, it's pretty odd that the introduction of one of the highest rated titles in the last decade gets nary a mention anywhere. Sony's Crackle video site hosts the "international version" of it (English dub for overseas market), which I was not aware of until someone made a passing mention of it in an unrelated ANN forum thread. Regardless, it isn't an indication of a coming DVD release in North America, but it's at least great to have an opportunity to watch the much-beloved tale of two pianists who fall in love.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

:anime: Blacks and Head Shots in Anime (Part 4)

<--To Part 3 | Part 5-->

(Note: As before, because these cases not only involve the death(s) of a particular character(s), but can also delve deep into a show's storyline, naturally spoilers will be involved. Also, most of the titles covered are either for older teen or mature audiences.)

Case #4

Title: 3-D Magical Play
[Official Site - Japanese]

Character: Coffee/Cofy (Spelt as "Cofy" in the credits, but as "Coffee" in the subtitles. Because of the connection between names and food items in Magical Play, I will be sticking with "Coffee" for this piece.)



Episode: 1 (single-episode OVA)

Description: Mayor of Dance Valley and self-proclaimed "master of magic and dance." Heavy-set; wears tight, form-fitting green spandex, small white high-heels; wears a large round pendant around her neck and other forms of golden jewelry. Small, thin lips with silvery gloss. Tall, white box-cut hair with a purple-highlighted top. Overall appearance looks to be fashioned in an Afro-Caribbean flavor (introduction shimmying included) with an '80s-'90s flare. Likes to do a lot of dance moves and singing and combine magical attacks with them. Additionally, her musical cues bare resemblance to late '80s, early '90s dance and hip-hop beats. Has three stick figure-like attendants who dance along with her and act as her personal chair together.

Background: Padudu is a young girl looking to make a name for herself as a "Magical Girl" and win a tournament that will allow her to go to Earth and make it big there. She soon finds herself in jail, however, after being suspected of carrying magical weapons, which are illegal in the town she floated through (Magical Girls included). In Dance Valley's jail, she meets an older female Magical Warrior named Nonononn, who tries to discourage her from the path she's following, and is approached by the mayor, Coffee, who makes a flashy entrance and berates the two. After Nonononn insults the land's Queen (with whom she has shares a sordid history with), an angered Coffee decides to up her execution date to that night and invites the whole town to it. At the "party," she issues a challenge that if her "sister" could be defeated, she would be let free. The catch? The green Padudu would be fighting in place of the veteran, with both of their fates on the line.

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

:anime: Exclusive Interview with Famed Mangaka "Musashi-oh"

Wait...what now? April Fool's Day has already passed?! Dang it!!

Just...just forget it.

*goes back to work on special*

Saturday, April 03, 2010

:boxing: The Big One:: Hopkins vs Jones II (Or "The Fight I Stopped Caring About")

Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, Jr., two of boxing's most storied technicians, finally meet in a long-awaited rematch to their bout nearly twenty years ago, where a shipshape Jones decisioned a pre-prime B-Hop unanimously. And now, come Saturday night, they meet once more in what could be one of the final matches in both men's storied careers. But, I don't really care.