:anime: Blacks and Head Shots in Anime (Part 3)

<--To Part 2 | To Part 4-->

(Note: As mentioned 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 #3

Title: Gungrave
[Official Site - English]

Character: Bear Walken



Episode: 23

Description: One of the top executives in the mafia group known as Millennion. An enforcer and absolutely loyal to its leader, Big Daddy, "The Family", and the "Code of Iron". Tall, solemn, imposing figure respected by everyone in the organization. Average black skin tone; Gray beard, black, short, swept-back hair. Always wears a pair of shades and a suit, except at home, where he is normally seen wearing a kimono in his Japanese-styled abode (follows a strict samurai-esque edict). Dotes heavily on his only daughter, who he raised alone after her mother (presumably of Japanese descent) died when she was younger.

Background: Brandon and Harry, the two central figures in the series, are street punks and childhood friends that find themselves in deep water after Harry crosses paths with the wrong people, including a rival gang and its leader's dangerous hitman brother. With three of their friends already dead, along with the uncle of a female friend of Brandon's, Maria, the two come close to losing their own lives until Bear appears to avenge the life of Maria's slain relative, who was an old friend of his boss, Big Daddy, that he had recently visited on his behalf. After the incident, Brandon and Harry go on an angry tear through the city and become one of its most feared forces. Harry, however, begins to feel restricted by its confines and wishes to expand elsewhere, leaving Brandon to take care of Maria.

:anime: Blacks and Head Shots in Anime (Part 2)

<--To Part 1 | To Part 3-->

(Note: As noted in the first post, 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 #2

Title: Blood+
[Official Site - Japanese, English; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Crackle, YouTube]

Character: James



Episode: 47

Description: One of Diva's Chevaliers, apparently her favorite. Rather generic-looking "black person" design: low-cut black hair, basic facial features and build. Noticeable, large pink lips.

Background: The heroine of the story, Saya, has reluctantly taken on the task of aiding the secret organization Red Shield in dispatching the world of Chiropterans--beastly, vampiric creatures that prey on humans. Part-Chiropteran herself, Saya is also in search of the twin sister, Diva, that she never knew. However, she is at the center of the atrocities and has loyal servants named "Chevaliers" to protect her. These individuals were once human, but after being given some of her blood, now possess the abilities of a Chiropteran: from super-strength and -speed and immortality, to the ability of turning into super-powerful versions of the creatures themselves (similarly, Saya's blood contains the same properties, as she has her own Chevalier, named Hagi). Among Diva's five protectors is the stoic, by-the-books James, a U.S. military officer who is fiercely devoted to the one they call "Mother", who she seems to care for him the most.

:boxing: Duel in JerryDome:: Pacquiao vs Clottey

I'm still hard at work on the special Black History Month series that I just started this Wednesday, so pardon as I make this boxing preview brief and to the point:

P4P king Manny Pacquiao meets the tough Joshua Clottey inside Jerry Jones' massive shrine to sports, Cowboys Stadium, in Dallas tonight (home of my favorite football team ;) ). Since the Mayweather fight predictably fell apart and due to both the Pacman's camp still wanting to fight in March and to Jones failed desire to host the pre-failed PBF showdown, the replacement match-up is taking place in Texas. Clottey's not exactly Mayweather and thus the mainstream media does not care about it and they have instantly label him as a pushover of sorts, given his lack of name recognition.

:anime: Blacks and Head Shots in Anime (Part 1)

This was originally slated to be posted in mid- to late-February for Black History Month, but the past Winter Olympics and fine-tuning pushed its start to March. Parts 2 and beyond will be published every other day.

I have been an avid fan of anime for nearly fifteen years and have watched some 370+ works along the way. As much as I have enjoyed it and so much of its stories and artistry all this time, I could not help but notice a very strange, if not disturbing, trend concerning the deaths of black (or at the very least, "dark-skinned") characters.

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Global Shinkai Day

Today marks the beginning of Global Shinkai Day, an online weekend festival celebrating the works of anime auteur Makoto Shinkai. The commemoration first started last year at this same time by fan site Cherry Blossoms Falling and Crunchyroll, who streamed his first three major works for free. It became a substantial hit and makes it return tonight at 5 PM PST (8 PM EST). Once again, they will be available for free viewing until 8 PM PST (8 PM EST) Sunday. All of the features will be available in Japanese with English subtitles, though a dubbed version of 5 centimeters per second will also be present. [Correction: Scratch that, the dub was initially present, but was taken off a few hours later without any given reason.]

HardDoor's Winter Olympic Wrap-Up! '10

"A funny thing happened on the way to the forum..."

I was beginning the special I had planned for February when I remembered all the sudden that the Olympics were starting soon. Being the massive Olympics fan that I am, any time spent watch television was spent watching the events in Vancouver, which admittedly interfered with my plans. Turning around to watch things happen while typing was a little taxing and took up time at first, but luckily I found a way to get my computer's TV tuner card to be read again and was able to watch and type on the same screen at the same time. Overall, everything is going quite well with it, but due to its length, it appears that I'll be changing its release format to be more multi-part than I initially thought...

The XXI Winter Olympiad in Vancouver started on a somber note with the passing of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili at the controversial Whistler Sliding Center, who died during a training run when he slid off the course dubbed "the fastest in the world" and collided with a steel pillar. Though the tragedy weighed on the minds of many, the Games became one of the best and most memorable in some time, both Winter and Summer--in spite of the fluctuating weather. And thus we begin the now-traditional post-Olympic review...

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Gundam's 30th Anniversary Celebration

February marks a big one for the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, leaving little wonder as to why it is this month's anime pick (well, I'm also a big Gundam fan...). Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Bandai and Sunrise are going (almost) all out with its Gundam programming via three big names in anime digital distribution--YouTube (AnimeChannel, BandaiChannel's YT portal), Crunchyroll, and Anime News Network--to hype the February 20th Japanese debut of Mobile Suit Gundam UC (Unicorn), the centerpiece of their commemoration (available on Blu-ray via Amazon on March 12).

So...We Talk Again...

This month will prove to be a busy month for HardDoor, but also a very special one in many ways. I'll be working hard on a particular topic that I have been saving specifically for this month ever since I started the blog, and because of that, a few "sacrifices" will need to be made to accommodate this.

As such, the winter anime preview will be truncated to a basic listing and a few brief thoughts for each title (though I will still give the usual links, such as to free legal streaming). I'm still unsure of what I will do with the boxing edition, though I would really rather not drop it for the season.

The past two months have seen two free/low-cost anime picks and February will continue that unintended trend thanks to the streaming of a certain mega-franchise celebrating its 30th anniversary. It was originally going to be about the commemorating anime, but it will now include a few of its peers as well, most likely across two posts. And speaking of free anime (and back to "sacrifices"), some may have noticed the few, slight changes made to the Directory, including the recent section addition. It's definitely not the last and some big ones lay ahead over the course of this month and the ones to come--and maybe some outside it as well.

For a good while, I have had trouble with time and access restraints, but now I'm in a good spot and have switched things up a little, as evident with the consecutive posts for the last couple of days. All things considered, I'll probably start posting the "Decade's Best" lists next month ("Anime" is largely done, "Boxing" needs a little more cross-checking) and some other nuggets of joy. See y'all soon!

--HD

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Independant Shorts!

It should probably come as little surprise given the first Directory update that this month's anime picks happen to be two short works both done primarily by one single person. Such is the case with Kousuke Sugimoto's "the TV show" and Hiroyasu "Tete" Ishida's YouTube Video Awards Japan-winning "Fumiko's Confession". Watching both of these videos, along with Makoto Shinkai's Voices of a Distant Star and Atsuya Uki's recent Cencoroll in the past, you really do appreciate and awe at the talent, creativity, and execution they display in constructing their personal creations (Ishida did have some assistance with the backgrounds, 3D graphics, and in-between animation, but still handled every aspect of the animation production himself). I already went into detail about both shorts in the Directory and the Update information- and opinion-wise, so won't repeat things here, but I will still give a little quip about each below. The videos are less than 3-1/2 minutes long, so please do give them a look, as well as both artist's YouTube channels.

:anime: Free Anime Directory Update! ::For 01.28.10::

It's sort of a rarity to have two Directory updates in a single month, but this is a big one. Ever since I got an iPod touch last April--enjoying all of its app and video goodness--I have been debating as to whether to have a section dedicated to apps for the player in the Directory. There have been a few anime-focused programs out there, but the "stealthy" release of Crunchyroll's own app finally pushed me to go ahead with it. It may not be the Internet in the traditional, PC-sense, but it still requires it and is just as viable and important a venue as the use of a computer (I'm certainly a testament of that). It is also made all the more relevant with the big movement towards smartphones and other Net-enabled mobile devices, even with yesterday's reveal of the Giant iPo--umm, iPad (though this section's intro had that announcement beat by about a week, so take that, Apple!).

Those without an iPhone or iPod touch, sorry, but this new addition only covers apps available on those devices. However, as I have noted in the Directory, you may want still utilize it as a reference for ones that might be available on yours. Lastly, the just-added Nippon Animation Theater has been moved to the "Off Sites" section, since the videos have unfortunately been region-restricted, and I've included an anime title that I forgot to include in the earlier Update--and it's a doozy. ;)


-:..not the end of change...:-

--HD