Friday, November 30, 2012

:anime: The Lights Are On Neon Alley

(Source: Edited from Official Site (background image))

In The Beginning…

About two years ago, Google released a product named "Google TV", a set-top box-like device/platform which integrated itself in between one's set-top cable/satellite box and HDTV. It enabled people to access the Internet and streaming content, such as that from Google's own YouTube, on their HDTVs, while giving them access to their cable/satellite service at the same time. The instant my eyes laid upon the article I read, my mind began to race with ideas. The notion of having an anime-based network as already been realized by two entities--The Anime Network and FUNimation Channel--but neither have a great deal of exposure over the airwaves, though they have fared better via cable video-on-demand (VOD) and even more so on streaming sites, such as the aforementioned two. It is not an easy venture to grab a spot on a cable or satellite system, particularly as a niche one with a smaller viewer base than most. A streaming site can offer more flexibility, control, and security, but it lacks the type of access one can achieve by being "just a click away", nor does it possess the greater comfort and larger screen size one can enjoy on a television screen, especially when it comes to HD content.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Ristorante Paradiso


Ristorante Paradiso

Official Site: English
Additional Links: ANN Entry, MAL Entry
Video: YouTube

Two years ago, a confluence of thoughts led me towards dedicating November 2010 as "Impromptu Natsume Ono Appreciation Month". This was, as you can guess, a sudden event, so it was perhaps only appropriate that the title I wanted as its centerpiece and that month's Pick--Ristorante Paradiso--was, all the sudden, gone from Crunchyroll when I went to write about!. This was before I was aware that titles could disappear from CR (something I wish the site would make more apparent for affected shows; a listing would), but even so, it was pulled rather surreptitiously.