The trend in podcasting is continuing all right. We now see podcasts even for anime - something I would say is podcastable, but not one I would expect to see many podcasts for. But here they are:

1) anime.mikomi.org’s What’s New in Anime Fansubs Show
- At 10 podcasts so far, with each podcast introducing a recent fansub (e.g. Mai-Otome, Blood+).

2) World of Anime Podcast
- I would say they have done about 20+ podcasts (a series of podcasts + specials).
- In general, podcasts are primarily related to anime news, with each episode including some sort of Top 10 in anime sales and/or rentals for that week as well.
- Has quite a bit of unnecessary (non-anime) extras though

3) I Like Anime Podcast
- At episode 10 at the moment, with podcasts concerning a variety of entertainment topics (anime included).
- Specifically, podcasts contain reviews and news on manga, anime, hentai, books, games, and movies.

So, what did I miss? I’m pretty sure this is not extensive.

anime, podcasts

Anyone watches boys’ love (BL) type anime? I guess the more popular and well-known term for what I am talking about is shounen-ai, but it has rather different connotations actually. Read about the various definitions here.

For those who do, here is a popular forum to discuss and download such anime, whether through BT, free file hosts or even direct downloads. As a warning, the forum also links to yaoi anime, so for those not inclined towards such anime…

1) Aarinfantasy: The Yaoi Collection
- Requires registration

anime, shounen-ai, yaoi, boys’ love, downloads, forum

Today, AnimeNation’s Ask John column answers an oft-asked question: How many Americans prefer dubbed anime? John answers that “…based on my observations as an employee of an anime specialty retailer and as a habitual industry observer, I have no doubts whatsoever that the American anime watching population predominantly prefers anime dubbed into English…”

Truthfully, from my experience in anime forums, I thought most would prefer subbed anime. Dubs, in my honest opinion, are generally extremely bad - devoid of the original emotion put in by the Japanese voice actors.

What do you guys think?

anime, subbed, dubbed

Does anyone use paid anime download sites? It is actually quite an interesting question, given the number of free anime download sources available all over the net, from the ubiquitous Bittorrent to the much-loved free HTTP download sites.

From what I see, the primary benefit from paid anime download sites should be convenience. Paid anime download sites should be a one-stop archive for anime fansubs, with proper categorisation and fast servers.

Based on the response of members of various anime forums I visit, there are two paid anime services that would actually be value for money. They are:

1) National Anime [http://national-anime.com]
- huge collection
- fast speeds
- ‘industry’-standard monthly fees at US$ 5 per month

2) Anime FTP [http://danimeftp.com]
- huge collection
- fast speeds
- FTP only
- very friendly and helpful administrator who fulfills requests for J/K Dramas or anime fansubs very quickly
- US$6 per month

Anyway, that’s what I hear. I might be tempted to try one of these if free anime download sites start disappearing, but not at the moment.

anime, animation, paid, downloads

Arghh, I just cannot resist these kind of anime series. Here, I am referring to series that focus on the growth of an already tensai (genius) main character, e.g. Prince of Tennis, or those that have initially pathetic main characters that somehow contain ridiculous levels of potential, e.g. Bleach.

Akagi, a mahjong-based anime, is a mixture of both. Our main character, Akagi Shigeru, is the ultimate daredevil - a genius when it comes down to risk-taking endeavours. But when it comes down to Mahjong, he is a total newbie.

That’s where the series starts. The first episode is the description of Akagi’s entering of the yakuza-sponsored Mahjong world. Narration is primarily done by another character (which I thought was the main character at first), XXX, who is down on his luck and is about to be killed unless he happens to win.

Then comes Akagi, who has just survived a “chicken” game (I’ll leave it to you to find out what this means if you don’t already know). With the police hot on his trails, Akagi is spotted by XXX, who believes that Akagi has all the necessary qualities to win at Mahjong. With 5 minutes worth of Mahjong rules, Akagi begins playing. Right after that, the police barge in and we are treated to what is probably going to be the type of situations that will occur throughout the series - a super risky situation that Akagi handles like a pro.

Interestingly, the art in Akagi is rather different from the norm. See the screenshots for yourselves. In any case, based on this episode, I’ll most probably be watching the next one.

anime, animation, mahjong, akagi

So, here comes a Christmas-themed anime, subbed just on time for the Christmas season. Actually, it came out quite some time ago, but only today did I find myself ready to watch it.

Well, the OAV features a boy who has never had a proper Christmas due to parents who work far away, leaving him with only his grandmother. Ironically, he is named Santa by his parents. But on one fine Christmas Eve, Santa Claus appears. No, not the old one, but Santa Claus Mai - one of the many in the Santa Claus family. From then on, we are treated to wierd comedy.

While the first few and last few minutes of this episode give an impression of an anime with a serious side, the remaining 15+ minutes will teach you otherwise. Just watch for a Santa Claus that summons fish and a boy that goes from sad to happy in an hour. Add in the fact that Mai changes from a flat-chested school girl to a mature and voluptuous Santa Claus when somebody believes in her, and we have something I suggest watching only if you have spare time. [Edit: This was probably an exagerration]

anime, animation, christmas, itsudatte my santa

I don’t think that I have posted about Nekodownloads.com yet, so here we go:

Speed: Quite Fast
Content: Large (30+ series)
Note: Substantial number of pop-ups, but not as bad as GetItFido.com

Contains a good number of series found no where else, so have a happy time leeching.
(more…)

Hmm, always knew that Slam Dunk was too realistic to be true. Just joking. But nevertheless, according to Anime News Network, it appears that Slam Dunk creator Takehiko Inoue plagiarised NBA photographs (and not just one or two either). To see the comparisons between the manga art and actual NBA photographs straight away, you can go here.

The similarities are definitely too close for the allegations of plagiarism to be false. Too bad I don’t understand Japanese because the text in the site that displays the comparison is in Japanese. But the similarities in the pictures are self-evident. See it yourself.