Fujoshi O'Clock: Premiere Edition

What time is it? It's . . . Fujoshi O'Clock, the new weekly feature at Nagareboshi Review, when I bring to you the latest fujoshi-related news and reviews and various shiny BL-flavored things. Why? Because rotten girls need love too!

This week on Fujoshi O'Clock:

• The Yaoi Review, one of the best resources for yaoi news, is closing down this year - because the maintainer has a new job as Viz's editor of their BL department! So it's actually good news disguised as bad news - especially if you are excited about Viz's yaoi market as much as I am.
• Starting tomorrow, Digital Manga Publishing is having a manga giveaway on Twitter; they'll be randomly selecting people who give feedback on their favorite manga on Twitter using certain hashtags. I'm sure a lot of BL material will be given out tomorrow and in the months to come.
• Speaking of DMP, they've added three new BL titles to their print schedule: Devil's Infirmary; Ambiguous Relationship; Gentlemen's Agreement Between A Rabbit & A Wolf. They've also updated their release schedule with some new volumes, some hotly anticipated - Tyrant and Finder, especially. (Hat tip to Boys' Luv.com)

Reviews:

• Connie at Slightly Biased Manga reviews Shimada Nimosaku's How To Seduce A Vampire and is not impressed.
• Jamie at Kuriousity reviews Narise Konohara and Nanao Saikawa's light novel Cold Fever, the third in a series, and laments the OOP status of one of the series' books.
• ふう子 at Hazukashii Kedo makes the case for BL manga-ka Hoshino Lily and argues against the belief that Lily's works are generic or lesser.

PR: VIZ Media Sweeps NY Times Manga Best Seller List!

YU-GI-OH! GX © 2005 by Kazuki Takahashi, Naoyuki Kageyama/SHUEISHA Inc. © K. Takahashi © NAS/TV TOKYO

Goodness gracious, look at that! Good for you, VIZ! Especially loving all the love that Blue Exorcist is getting; it certainly deserves it! ♥

VIZ MEDIA DOMINATES THE LATEST NEW YORK TIMES MANGA BESTSELLER LIST

Newest YU-GI-OH! GX Volume Takes #1 Spot And Is Complemented By Other Top Manga Properties Including BLUE EXORCIST, BLEACH, BAKUMAN｡, BLACK BIRD, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, NARUTO And More!

San Francisco, CA, August 30, 2011 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, has announced that its titles swept the latest Top 10 on the New York Times Manga Bestseller list for the week of August 20^th.

The top selling VIZ Media manga (graphic novel) titles included:

1.           YU-GI-OH! GX Vol. 7

2.           BLUE EXORCIST Vol. 3

3.           BAKUMAN｡ Vol. 6

4.           BLEACH 3-In-1 Edition Vol. 2

5.           FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST 3-In-1 Edition Vol. 2

6.           AI ORE! Vol. 2

7.           SAKURA HIME: THE LEGEND OF PRINCESS SAKURA Vol. 2

8.           BLACK BIRD Vol. 5

9.           NARUTO Vol. 48

10.        NARUTO 3-In-1 Edition Vol. 1

The New York Times Bestseller lists are an expanded version of those appearing in the September 4, 2011 print edition of the Book Review, reflecting sales for the week ending August 20, 2011. Rankings reflect weekly sales for books sold in both print and electronic formats.

“It’s very exciting to see such a varied array of VIZ Media titles sweep the latest New York Times Top 10 manga bestseller list,” says Leyla Aker, Vice President, Publishing. “Cornerstone properties like the top placing YU-GI-OH! GX, as well as NARUTO, BLEACH, and FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, continue to resonate with legions of fans and our new 3-In-1 omnibus manga collections have also proved a big hit with readers. We’re also very happy to see several shojo properties like AI ORE, SAKURA HIME, and BLACK BIRD perform so well. We look forward to readers continuing to look to VIZ Media for the best in both print and digital manga!”

For more information on VIZ Media manga titles, please visit: www.VIZ.com.

AMV Of The Week: Skittles

This week’s AMV is rather famous isn’t it? It’s also the second Haruhi Suzumiya-related AMV in a row – whoops? Still, thanks to a kind YT user reuploading Koop’s crowning AMV achievement, I can share this stellar Haruhi fan vid with all of you, containing some of the best and most creative editing/effects I’ve seen yet.

AMV: Skittles

Author: Koopiskeva
Music: “Candy Pop” by Heartsdales featuring SOUL'D OUT
Warnings: Slight spoilers for the first season of Melancholy. Has a lot of fast clips and some Haruhi-grade risqué fan service, and quite a bit of Haruhi-on-Mikuru action.

Artbook Review: Arina Tanemura Collection - The Art of Full Moon

Arina Tanemura Collection - The Art of Full Moon

Author: Arina Tanemura

Viz Media/Shoujo Beat

68 pages

A collection of Arina Tanemura's art for the hit series Full Moon wo Sagoshite, as well as art from Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, Short-Tempered Melancholic, and I-O-N.

First off, despite the title of the book, a good 1/4^th of the illustrations inside are not Full Moon; a good number of those are Time Stranger Kyoko related. Still, the illustrations that have been included in this collection are bloody gorgeous, as is the standard for Tanemura’s works. Even if you don’t like her stories, you have to admit her artwork is above the par for her field. Several of her color spreads literally took my breath away at first glimpse.

Only a few of them were below the typical skill set of Tanemura, and she even admits it, but I suppose they were included for completion’s sake. Having said that, beauty is in the eye of the beholder; some of Tanemura’s favorites probably wouldn’t rank high on my personal list. Of course, everything is different when you are not the one who created it but just the person who sees it after the fact. Some of these pieces took almost two whole days to complete. Some of them almost got lost right before deadline. Many of them involved little artistic quirks of Tanemura’s design that I’ve never heard of any other manga-ka doing before; she is truly an innovator among artists.

It’s a little hard to read Tanemura’s commentary on her art, since she’s so tough on herself – to a point where ‘modesty’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. It seems she doesn’t believe she’s a good artist and spends a bit of time over critiquing herself; the rare moments she sounds proud of her work, she quickly backpedals with another bit of tacked-on modesty. I know there’s a manga-ka subculture that involves artists downplaying their own talents on a regular basis, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be on display so much in a manga-ka’s art book, which is meant to be a testament to their craft.

While going through the art book, it reminded me that I really like what works of Tanemura I’ve read, which is Full Moon, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, and Mistress Fortune. I’ve not read Time Stranger Kyoko or I-O-N but the art is intriguing enough that I’ll definitely be checking them out in the next month or so. The fact that an art book can spur me to read a series when not much can is pretty amazing – so, like this book. It’s a quick but pretty read, and gives a good look into the headspace of a relatively famous manga-ka; any early era Tanemura fan worth their salt should have this in their collection. 

Manga Review: Shugo Chara! GN 11

Shugo Chara! volume 11

Author: Peach-Pit

Kodansha Comics

176 pages

The Road To The Future. As graduation approaches, Amu's guardians, Ran, Miki, and Su disappear. Led by Diamond, Amu takes a journey on the road of stars to find her missing guardians. Will Amu find her guardians or will she find more than she could have ever expected?

Spoiler notice: Spoilers for the series so far are in this volume. Read with caution! The rest of the volume after the jump.

License Line: Ground Control To Major Tom

For this week's License Line, I'm looking at one of the many licenses that were lost during the closure of Tokyopop; funny enough, this series already finished publishing under Tokyopop's care but as of now, the license is up in the air. Will anyone pick up a series completed by another publisher? Will these books just simply go out of print and disappear into thin air? I surely hope not - especially if that includes quality titles like this one, about the beauty of space and the junk we find in it. Yes, this week I'm arguing for the case of Makoto Yukimura's acclaimed manga series Planetes (プラネテス) that spans four volumes and won the Seiun Award for best science-fiction series in 2002.

Planetes takes place in a far-off future where the space program has proved successful and living beyond the Earth is not just a dream but a reality. Naturally, as more of the human race takes to the sky, they leave behind in the stars more and more of their trash – space debris that can harm space stations and satellites if not dealt with as soon as possible. Enter the trash collectors of the final frontier, whose job is to either salvage or burn what debris they find on their travels to make space safer and cleaner for everyone else. The series follows the lives aboard the debris collecting space ship known as the Toy Box:  loudmouth engineer Hachi; sweet and driven Tanabe; the brash chain smoker Fee; the quiet Russian, Yuri.

Hands down, Planetes is one of the best manga I’ve ever read, inside and outside of the science-fiction genre. It is a manga with heart and humor that examines the human condition while also providing a refreshingly realistic take on how mankind will evolve after civilization begins truly dominating the stars. All of the social and political problems that have plagued the Earth have leaked out into space, and so has the one problem that has plagued people for millennia: where do I belong? This conflict especially affects our main protagonist, Hachi, whose relationship with outer space is at best complicated. Not only it is a deep, involving manga but it is a gorgeously drawn one too; the spacecrafts and various technologies seen throughout the series were clearly researched extensively beforehand.

As a Kodansha title, Planetes will likely find no home at any American-based manga publisher like Yen or Vertical.  Considering the success such space titles like Twin Spica are having with North American readers, I’m sure Kodansha Comics’ US-based enterprise could see the merits of bringing back this gorgeous acclaimed series – and at four volumes total, it wouldn’t be an expensive series to revive either. Several Tokyopop titles have already been saved by Kodansha and like-minded publishers; why shouldn’t Planetes be next?

AMV Of The Week: She's Just Oblivious

This week’s AMV is a tribute to one of the most well-known anime characters in recent years – Haruhi Suzumiya.  While one of the most popular protagonists, she is also one of the most mysterious and strange, which probably only adds to her appeal. I’ve found an AMV perfectly tuned to her abstract personality and I’m sure many Haruhi Suzumiya fans will agree that the song is very fitting.

AMV: She’s Just Oblivious

Author: silvermoon377
Music: “Sharada” by Skye Sweetnam
Warnings: Slight spoilers for the first season of Melancholy.

Panels 101: How To Not Run A Panel

I'm no expert on anime conventions - I've only been attending them since 2009 - but I've seen (and ran) enough panels to know when one is tanking hard and when one is succeeding greatly. Thanks to some of my less than stellar panel experiences at this year's Natsucon in Illinois, I've been inspired to write a list of things panelists should do and mostly definitely should not do if they want their panel to succeed. Some points might be kind of obvious to panel veterans, but you'd be surprise how the obvious things can simply pass by a panelist's attention and wreck the whole thing.

1. Decide your topic. It has to be one that you can discuss comfortably for an hour or more and that fits within the theme of the convention. In other words, don't bring your epic zombies versus vampires panel to a romantic lit convention. Also, make sure your idea is unique and not being done by another panelist; it will always confuse me that there were two cosplay basics panels in one weekend at Natsucon. Was that really necessary? This is the time where you should decide if you are going solo or bringing in a wingman; con chairs like to know ahead of time if a panel will be run by multiple people.

Read the rest of my pointers for planning and running a panel after the jump!

Manga Review: Nodame Cantabile GN 1

Nodame Cantabile volume 1

Author: Tomoko Ninomiya

Del Rey Manga

208 pages

The son of a famous pianist, music student Shinichi Chiaki dreams of studying abroad and becoming a conductor like his mentor. Unfortunately, his fear of flying grounds his lofty plans! As he watches other classmates achieve what he has always wanted, Shinichi wonders if he should quit music altogether. Then one day he meets fellow student Megumi Noda, also known as Nodame. This oddball girl cannot cook, clean, or even read a music score, but she can play the piano in incomparable Cantabile style. And she teaches Chiaki something that he has forgotten: to enjoy his music, no matter where he is.


Read my review of this musical manga after the jump!

AMV Of The Week: Meteor Shower

This week’s AMV is one that debuted at the AMV contest in this year’s Natsucon. Amid all of the entries, this one stood out the most to me: it had the best editing, best use of music and footage, and highlighted one of my favorite anime pairings (Amu/Ikuto from the series Shugo Chara). I also had the pleasure of not only sitting behind the AMV maker during the contest but talking to her on Facebook afterwords; it's obvious that she is someone who loves making AMVs and it shows in her finished work.

AMV: Meteor Shower

Author: spyrogirl11
Music: “Meteor Shower” by Owl City
Warnings: N/A

Natsucon 2011

theseventhl's photostream on Flickr.

Here are my photos from this year's Natsucon! Including pictures of - le gasp - myself, as Battler Ushiromiya and the Sixth Doctor. Enjoy!

NatsuCon 2011: The Wrap-Up Post

So, my first go around with NatsuCon has ended and although I only attended two days' worth of events, I can confidently report on my experiences this past weekend. I had come into this anime con with lowered expectations - most people who talked to me did not have a good time the years before - and ended up enjoying myself immensely, with some caveats of course. So, it's time to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of NatsuCon 2011 and answer the most important question of all: was it worth it?

Below I'll discuss the most important parts of NatsuCon: registration; gaming; vendors and artists; panels; events. Not guests, because I didn't really go to any guest panels or interact with them at all during the convention. Note that I am coming from the perspective of someone who has been going to cons since 2009 and have worked at anime cons that same amount of time. I have an understanding of how anime conventions work from the inside out and this colors my experiences at other conventions, including NatsuCon. Let's just say it was interesting to be at an anime con I wasn't also working at!

Read all the juicy details of this weekend after the jump!

NatsuCon 2011: Day 3

. . . did not happen, since unforeseen circumstances and the Days Inn kicking everyone out at noon had me going home without even stepping foot in the convention center that day. Whoops.

The proper wrap-up post will be up in a couple of hours at least!

NatsuCon 2011: Day 2

This will be short, as I have a headache that is killing my ability to function for long periods of time.

Saw all the things! Took lots of cosplay photos! Nearly lost my Doctor Who amaguri - but luckily found it again thanks to the lost & found. Went to many panels, more than yesterday, and actually played around in the game room. Below are some of the panels I went to:

Sailor Moon: I'm biased since I know the people who ran the panel but it was very much fun. It helps to run a panel that is topical, since the manga is being re-released in the next couple of months as well as the first English publication of Sailor V's manga. The room was packed and everyone had fun in the discussion as well as the slideshow and trivia game.

Vocaloid: Phew, that was packed. But well hosted. Although the pack of jackasses behind me who thought they were funny, trolling the whole time, could have easily left five minutes into it and nothing of value would have been lost. Saw a lot of cool Vocaloid stuff, including some idols I had never heard of before.

Tenchi Muyo!: Actually only caught the last part of this panel but this guy was so funny and charismatic, it deserves special mention anyway. Learned how expansive the Tenchi universe truly is, and even left the room with an anime title to watch in the near future. This guy really knew how to use a powerpoint as an aid, not as his sole presentation, and everyone loved it.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see my cosplay be recognized by so many congoers, especially since I was dressed as the Sixth Doctor today. Quite a few Whovians showed up today! I have now seen two separate TARDISes so far this week, as well as many Doctors (mainly 4, 10, and 11) and one Harold Saxon.

Having said that, day 2 of Natsucon is over, and the siren call of bedtime has claimed me for good. Night, readers, and see you for the wrap-up post tomorrow!

NatsuCon 2011: Day 1

Nagareboshi Reviews this weekend is at Natsucon for three days of anime fan goodness. Here is the post for day one! Note: all photographs taken will be uploaded Monday afternoon. Sorry! Just makes more sense to post them all in one go.

Day 1: I'll skip the details about how I got to the convention center and whatnot and get to the juicy bits. First of all, not to automatically slag off on Natsucon, but the line was ridiculous. Mainly because they decided to use computers for registration - three computers for a god awful amount of people. The line moved at a snail's pace. Notice to the two anime conventions I work for: keep paper registration forever! They would have needed an entire room full of computers to make it worthwhile - not three.

After that, it was time to wander about the convention center looking at all the odds and ends. And what odds and ends there were! Much much much cosplayers about: Madoka; Durarara!!; Soul Eater; Kingdom Hearts; even Companion Cube showed up! And apparently my Battler Ushiromiya was not the soul Umineko No Naku Koro Ni costume around - but sadly I did not meet my George today. Ah, cruel fate.

Read the rest of the post after the jump.

Guest Review: Clannad ~After Story~ Part 2

Clannad ~After Story~ DVD Collection 1
Studio: Kyoto Animation, Key
Sentai Filmworks
325 minutes/2 discs

Once again, guest blogger Gaosalad aka Jeremy is here with another awesome review, this time the second half of Clannad ~After Story~! Don't forget to comment here and tell him what a great job he's doing - and visit his blog as well!

The second set of the After Story line is more or less life in fast forward. So many important events speed by making it really hard to decipher what direction this show is trying to go. The show also has a bad case of bipolar disorder. One minute it will be perfect and peppy and the next it is depressing as suicidal. Despite this, I still gave the second season a shot, and in what quickly became a chore, I found myself writing a follow up review. So let's take a plunge into Clannad After Story part two.

Manga Review: One Piece GN 57

One Piece volume 57

Author: Eiichiro Oda

Viz Media/Shonen Jump

208 pages

Summit Battle: All-out war has broken out between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy. Whitebeard’s crew is said to be the most powerful in the New World, but they’ll have their hands full against the Navy Admirals and the remaining Warlords of the Sea. Meanwhile, can Luffy reach Navy headquarters in time to save his brother Ace?

Spoiler warning: Review contains some spoilers for the events of volume 57 of One Piece.

The Paramount War arc reaches an astonishing peak as the sea surrounding Ace’s execution becomes jam packed with ships of pirates and Navy folk alike, along with the Warlords and their lackeys, in a knock-out overwhelming battle that threatens to out shadow Ace’s own predicaments and reshape the current age of pirates as we know it. Meanwhile, somewhere in the background, Luffy is still fighting to reach his brother and hopefully save his life. In short, it’s a pretty big deal. This volume is non-stop battles of epic proportions among dozens of major players in the war on the water and if there is one thing you can not accuse this 57^th book of is being uneventful, not at all.

Read the rest of the review after the jump!

License Line: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Crisis

What is License Line? Put simply, it's a bi-weekly feature on Nagareboshi Reviews in which yours truly posts about a certain anime/manga series that truly, desperately needs to be licensed and put on my shelves ASAP - from the obscure but well-deserving manga to the stream worthy but not yet DVD licensed anime.

For the third edition of License Line, I’d like to focus on a possible license rescue that maybe a handful of people might be aware of. It’s a charming supernatural manga about a young boy who discovered a strange new world in his new neighborhood, and it’s publishing life was cut short by the infamous ADV Manga, who so far has made no exterior plans on bringing it back. 

Its name is Tengai Retrogical (天外レトロジカル) and from the first chapter, it stole my heart away with its charm and cast of characters. I'm sure that it will do the same to you - well, if you can find a copy if it, that is. Its current out-of-print status makes it awfully hard to find in bookstores; I was only lucky enough to get my own used copy thanks to a bookseller in the dealer's room at the first Bishiecon.

AMV Of The Week: Mad World

This week’s AMV is . . . a day late, yes, but also the swan song for Nagareboshi Review’s week dedicated to the anime series Gunslinger Girl. It’s been fun but it’s time to say goodbye to our girls at the Agency and move on to different things. But don’t worry! This doesn’t mean I won’t post about GG later, just not with the same frequency as before. Here, our last Gunslinger Girl week post, is an AMV that underlines the true nature of this emotionally stirring series, set to a song that just seems perfectly tailored to this story.

AMV: Mad World 

Author: icharus15
Music: “Mad World” by Gary Jules; originally sung by Tears For Fears
Warnings: Spoilers for the first season of Gunslinger Girl; contains various moments of violence, shooting, and bloodshed.

NatsuCon 2011 Roll Call!

So, next weekend Nagareboshi Reviews will be at NatsuCon, an anime convention situated in Collinsville, IL. It runs August 11th to the 14th and will have lots of events and guests, including voice actors Eric Vale and Chris Cason - America/Canada and Holy Roman Empire from Hetalia. Hoping to get both of them to autograph the mini Hetalia pillow I have. Who knows?

And of course, there shall be cosplay! I will be cosplaying two out of three days - Battler Ushiromiya on Friday and the Sixth Doctor on Saturday. Yeah, I don't really cosplay female characters at all, probably because I'm still holding out for a Beatrice The Golden Witch costume in the near future. But I'll be taking pictures!

So, if you are going to NatsuCon, please leave a comment! Which should be so much simpler with the new comment system. Don't forget to tell us what costumes you'll be wearing if you are a cosplayer!

Anime Review: Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino OVA

Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino: The OVA
Studio: Artland
FUNimation Entertainment
48 minutes/1 disc

Spoiler warning: For both parts of Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino.

The girls of the Social Welfare Agency are no ordinary children. They are the grizzly remains of human wreckage pieced back together with cybernetic implants and trained to kill by the government. The oldest, Triela, pursues her targets with a ferocious enthusiasm - unwilling to settle for less than total annihilation.

Her mirror in this bloody stalemate is Pinocchio, a shell of a boy raised as an assassin by the FRF - a terrorist faction at war with the SWA. Cold and cruelly efficient, he wields sharpened steel as though it were his own hand. Once human, these shattered souls have become murderous machines with only vague recollections of what it meant to be real - and a brutal compulsion to be the last killer standing.

Gunslinger Girl: The Misinterpretation of 'Lolicon'

 Lolicon, also romanised as lolikon or rorikon, is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex". In Japan, the term describes an attraction to underage girls (whether prepubescent, pubescent, or post-pubescent) or an individual with such an attraction. It is also commonly used when referring to lolicon manga or lolicon anime, a genre of manga and anime wherein childlike female characters are often depicted in an erotic manner, in an art style reminiscent of the shōjo manga (girls' comics) style. (Source: Wikipedia)

I have seen people who, in the process of criticizing the Gunslinger Girl series, call it certified lolicon material. Now, this is not to say that anyone who talks less than sweetly about GG are wrong; I can see plainly why people would have issues with the fratello relationships and the basic set-up of the Agency as well as seeing these young girls turn into assassins just to live. But calling it lolicon? It does not seem based in much factual evidence beyond a rather shallow reading of the series.

Read the rest of the post and join the discussion after the jump!

Gunslinger Girl: The Weapon and Her Handler

Spoiler warning: Major spoilers for the first season.

“What would happen if you loved someone? Loved them with all your heart like you never thought you could? But you realized one day that they would never ever feel that way for you?” – Henrietta, Gunslinger Girl episode 1.11 “Febbre Alta (High Fever)”.

From the moment a young girl, abandoned by society and left to die, is taken in by the Social Welfare Agency and given a new life, there is no other person more important in her life than her handler, an older male trained to make a weapon out of her. The brother to her sister, they form a fratello team that work together hand-in-hand to cut down anti-state activity and stop terrorist attacks while they are still just attempts, all in the cloak of secrecy lest the Italian people see who is really protecting their national security. Wait – an older man and a younger girl? Let’s discuss.

Anime Review: Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino

Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino: The Complete Series
Studio: Artland
FUNimation Entertainment
325 minutes/2 discs

Spoiler warning: For both seasons of Gunslinger Girl.

The girls of the Social Welfare Agency are no ordinary children. They are the grizzly remains of human wreckage pieced back together with cybernetic implants and trained to kill by the government. The oldest, Triela, pursues her targets with a ferocious enthusiasm - unwilling to settle for less than total annihilation. Her mirror in this bloody stalemate is Pinocchio, a shell of a boy raised as an assassin by the FRF - a terrorist faction at war with the SWA. Cold and cruelly efficient, he wields sharpened steel as though it were his own hand. Once human, these shattered souls have become murderous machines with only vague recollections of what it meant to be real - and a brutal compulsion to be the last killer standing.

Gunslinger Girl Week: A Brief Intro

Since I started this blog, the notion of doing 'themed weeks' - seven days of posting mostly about one series - has greatly appealed to me. Ergo, for the next seven days, most of the posts on Nagareboshi Reviews will be about one series, an anime series of heartbreaking human drama: Gunslinger Girl. This anime, based on the manga of the same name by Yu Aida, is a very absorbing series about young girls made into weapons and the agency that turns them into these killing agents. It is dark, it is violent, and it is the subject of Nagareboshi Reviews' first themed week. But I assure you, it's gonna be totally awesome.

So if you haven't seen even the first season and want to stay spoiler free until then, avoid the rest of this post. For those who know the story, read on after the jump!

8/01: Yaoi Day!

What Is Yaoi Day? Put simply, it’s a day to celebrate the boys’ love genre of anime and manga that is enjoyed by fujoshi and fundanshi all around the world. That’s it!

Why 8/01? It’s a pun on ‘yaoi’ itself. To quote the always superb Yaoi Review:

“Another term for yaoi is 801. "801" can be read as "yaoi" in the following form: the "short" reading of the number 8 is "ya", 0 can be read as "o" – a western influence without doubt, while the short reading for 1 is "i" (see Japanese wordplay). For example, an Internet manga called Tonari no 801-chan, about an otaku guy who dates a fujoshi, has been adapted into a serialized shojo manga and a live-action film. 801-chan, the mascot of a Japanese shopping centre, is used in the manga.” 

Explains why 801 Media is named what it is, non? Thus, Yaoi Day falls on day ‘801’ of the year! Read on after the jump for more about Yaoi Day.

AMV Of The Week: Waka Laka

This week’s AMV is due to the combined efforts of two AMV creators – Aquiline Studios, who created the original video, and Fuck Ghibli, who put some very creative subtitles on it that goes beyond simply subbing a video. As in, pop-up cats singing the lyrics! Waka laka! This Azumanga Daioh AMV will make your head spin and put a song in your heart – a very infectious hard-to-shake earworm of a song that you will be humming for days afterwards.

(The first person to say “But Saaaaarah, we had an Azumanga Daioh vid laaaast weeeeek” gets slapped in the face with a fish.)

AMV: Waka Laka For Osaka (Subtitled)
Author:  Scintilla/Aquiline Studios; subtitles by FuckGhibli
Music:  “Waka Laka (E=mc² Mix)” by Jenny Rom vs. Zippers 
Warnings: Lots of flashing lights/colors and pop-up cats and spinning lyrics and Stepmania style arrows flying across the screen and other seizure-inducing special effects.