Category: Classics

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Anime World Order Show # 72 – Have Another Lead Enema

Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:22:16 — 65.1MB)

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With Anime Weekend Atlanta mere DAYS away, we managed to get this one edited in between the time spent scrambling to get our panels all put together. Clarissa’s reviewing the BL manga Dog Style, Gerald reviews the terrible wannabe cyberpunk OAV Burn Up! which unfortunately got multiple sequels, and Daryl reviews the awesome non-wannabe cyberpunk OAV Cyber City Oedo 808 which unfortunately got no sequels at all.

Full show notes with pictures and stuff to be posted later. Maybe.

Introduction (0:00 – 29:58)
After lamenting our inability to play children’s videogames, we answer a voicemail about “real giant robot shows,” which slightly confuses us. Hopefully we answered the question. We also read an email about our experience with seeing anime in theaters, which isn’t all that much. For those curious, here’s the IMDB page for the 2006 Danish animated movie “Princess.” Since this was recorded, we did actually get a copy of this movie, and you have our assurances that although there are some moments in it with live-action, it’s not another Rock-a-Doodle. We wrap things up with a quick overview of all the panels we’ll be doing at Anime Weekend Atlanta 2008. Spread the word!

Let’s News! (29:58 – 54:44)
So there was this MSNBC article about anime that has the Internet in a buzz right now, and rather than just say what everyone everywhere’s already said, we decided to interview TV’s Patrick Macias, who was [mis]quoted in the article, to get to the bottom of how it came about, what got misrepresented, and even what it got right. The audio quality on this segment isn’t very good, we know. We blame Patrick for pounding on the table constantly. Just like we blame him for everything. Here’s “The Incredibly Strange Mutant Creatures who Rule the Universe of Alienated Japanese Zombie Computer Nerds (Otaku to You),” the article we mentioned from the March/April 1993 issue of Wired (the first issue) as being where the “otaku = techno-geek” notion came about. Though as Lawrence Eng astutely notes in the comments, it is preceded by this December 1990 article entitled “I’m Alone But Not Lonely: Japanese Otaku-Kids colonize the Realm of Information and Media, A Tale of Sex and Crime from a Faraway Place.”

Review: Dog Style (54:44 – 1:13:10)
Mara from the Providence Anime Conference sent us a voicemail in response to the podcast from “the 25th, which was yesterday.” What that actually means is that it’s a voicemail in response to the podcast from July 25th, which was not yesterday. In fact, it was the podcast from July 25th, 2007. We just forgot to play the message. For a year. PAC’s actually happening in about two weeks, so we figured this was the absolute latest time to actually put this thing into the show. Mara sincerely hopes the con doesn’t end up being nothing but sleaze and porn, so it’s only natural that we relay that sentiment right before Clarissa reviews one of Modoru Motoni’s BL manga offerings. Like Poison Cherry Drive, Dog Style was released by Media Blasters through their Kitty Media label. So far Volume 1 and Volume 2 are out, with the third volume to be released in the future. This review’s a little short, so if you want more Clarissa, check out the latest episode of Destroy All Podcasts DX where they reviewed Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack. Granted, it should have been Daryl on this one as he’s the one who’s seen the movie the most times, but Jeremy really wanted a girl on the show. Does that make Jeremy the John McCain of anime podcasting? We’re pretty sure the answer is yes.

Review: Burn Up! (1:13:10 – 1:36:05)
Gerald plunges into the depths of the “the world should’ve forgotten about this” pit to bring us this 1991 OAV that was somehow so popular in the US, we got three followups made to it. And two of those were TV series. In our entire lives, we have never seen anyone who genuinely LIKES Burn Up!, so it is a complete mystery as to how this came about. Pay special attention to the dub of this one, as it was one of the first dubs made by AD Vision, as they were known at the time. Don’t worry: we’ve got sound bites! Due to some level balance mishaps, Clarissa’s audio on this portion is much lower than everyone else’s, but you should still be able to hear her if you BELIEVE IN THE FUTURE:

Promo: OSMcast (1:36:05 – 1:36:52)
Five months this podcast has been out and they have not one, not two, but THREE serviceable promos? And we’ve been around what, almost three years now and we still have the one crummy one? CURSE YOU, REED RICHARDS! [shakes fist] At least, we assume he’s to blame as this is run by a fantastic four! True to the name, this show’s about everything “awesome,” and then some. I say “and then some” since they did episodes about Smash Brothers Brawl, Rock Band, and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. Also, Indy IV. Still, give them a shot since their show actually comes out each week. Whatta concept!

Review: Cyber City Oedo 808 (1:36:52 – 2:18:36)
Daryl tried to shorten this review. Really, he did. But he didn’t have it in him to make this one single segment shorter than your typical entire episode of Fast Karate for the Gentleman, especially not where Yoshiaki Kawajiri is concerned. But unlike all the previous Kawajiri-related AWO segments, this one’s not actually a scene-by-scene description of what happens in it. In fact, it might just be Kawajiri’s best work, which is why it’s odd that hardly anybody ever remembers it. Not even us, until we did the review! That is a damn crime for which we should be locked up in orbital space prison for three centuries, but fortunately we’re all out on parole doing podcasts in exchange for reduced time. For every minute of edited podcast we release, we get time off our sentences. Now you know why the episodes run so long!

This is Shunsuke Sengoku. That’s a jitte he’s holding. I don’t remember if you could pick up jitte in the Neo-Geo side-scrolling beat-em-up that was also named Sengoku, where ninja and cowboys fought side by side. I played a lot of Shogun: Total War back in the day, and so I know the word “sengoku” refers to “the country at war” when all those daimyo were fighting over control of Japan. We need a sequel to that game.
This is his gun. You mean to tell me they can make TWO TV shows out of Burn Up!, but nothing for Cyber City Oedo? This is already all the premise one needs!
This is Gabimaru Rikiya, but nobody ever calls him that in the show itself. He’s just “Goggles” or “Go-gl” or what have you. In addition to being a cyber hacker, he’s also a former boxer. Or at least I assume that since he decides the best way to defeat evil robots is to PUNCH THEM.
Put your peen away: THAT’S A DUDE. Merrill Yanagawa aka Benten does not ride a space motorbike and have a chain wrapped around his chest, but he wields MONOFILAMENT WIRE~! which automatically makes him the best character. On second thought, take your peen back out.
For a cop, you sure don’t know much; those are Cyberjunkies! Oh wait, this isn’t the Streamline dub of 8 Man After. This is a fine representation of what the cyber criminals look like. Notice the Hokuto no Ken thug motif present throughout this cartoon. Further proof of its quality, I tell you.
Wait a second, is that…Donna Troy?!
Nothing better exhibits Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s unmatched talent for character and fashion design than this Brigitte Nielsen lookalike, but giving the Shoryuken to the robot won out for being the embedded image in the MP3.
There is no “witty” caption I can offer to this picture of a cyborg sabertoothed tiger chargin’ his laser. Either you instantly want to see this anime or you do not.

Amazon has a few copies of the DVD left in their zShops. If you’re wondering why they never wore those uniforms they’re sporting on the cover ever again after the first episode, it’s because Kawajiri decided they looked stupid after all.

Closing (2:18:36 – 2:22:15)
The next episode of AWO hopefully shouldn’t take TOO long since after AWA we’re just about done as far as anime con season goes. Gerald’s going to be reviewing the Witchblade anime, and despite having bought every volume of this series as FUNimation released it, he was able to mentally block out the Gonzo logo that’s on all the packaging and is displayed at the start of each disc. Perhaps he was looking at something else! Daryl’s reviewing the 3-part OAV Strait Jacket, soon to be released by Manga Video, and Clarissa’s reviewing the highly infectious Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture, which for incomprehensible reasons has been licensed by absolutely nobody. It’s all about bacteria, so see you next “decultured”!

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Anime World Order Show # 71 – Depression, Suicide, and Vanilla Ice

Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:23:19 — 65.6MB)

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The remainder of Show 71 is quite lengthy, but let it tide you over for a while since we’ve got conventions coming up. Gerald reviews Nobody’s Boy Remi, Clarissa reviews the anime version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Daryl finally covers Part 3 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Here’s the segment timecodes because this one runs pretty long.

Introduction (0:00 – 28:32)
In lieu of reading emails, Daryl gives his convention report on the 2008 Florida Supercon. Photos to possibly be added here soon, but in the meantime, here’s over a thousand for you to look at. Witness THE TRUTH of the convention that Daryl wasn’t mentally prepared to confront. One word: W-rock. [That’s short for “wizard rock.” You know, garage bands that sing songs about Harry Potter. There’s LOTS OF THEM NOW.]

Promo: R5 Central (28:32 – 29:15)
The Otakon-bound Mike Dent managed to post an interview with Mark Musashi, tokusatsu fan soon to be seen on Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight. Mike fails to spend the entirety of this 2-part interview talking about the fact that Mark did motion capture for God Hand and Thunderbolt Volgin in Metal Gear Solid 3. He better watch out for errant bolts of lightning from God as punishment. Kuwabara, kuwabara…

Review: Nobody’s Boy Remi (29:15 – 56:50)
Gerald takes on this TMS’ 1977 attempt to recreate Nippon Animation’s success with the World Masterpiece Theater series brought to us by Osamu Dezaki and Akio Sugino. It’s an anime adaptation of Hector Malot’s novel Sans Famille, and it’s so depressing and features sufficient quantities of child suffering that it bears the Official Justin Sevakis Seal of Approval (Tm). Note that this series was remade in the 90s as Nobody’s Girl Remi, but we won’t talk about that because that one was terrible enough that it got canceled halfway through. In fact, while we’re at it let’s pretend that recent World Masterpiece Theater production Les Misérables doesn’t exist either. Not like we watched that. But we saw a picture of the helpless little moe girl they decided to make it about instead, and figured that was enough.

Promo: Robotronic Dynamite (56:50 – 57:53)
We have yet to play Ninja Gaiden 2 beyond the demo, but word on the street is that we should wait for it to drop to about half price anyway. Anyway, this podcast features Otaku USA’s own Joseph Luster and his merry band of merry men as they talk about movies, videogames, and stuff. In the latest episode, they all seem to have gone to the San Diego Comic-Con, so if you can’t get enough of people talking about Watchmen this is the show for you. For the record, Watchmen is BO-RING no matter what the rest of the world claims, and don’t you fucking tell me I didn’t get it or link me to that goddamned annotations site. Nobody in Watchmen matters besides Rorschach anyway. Oh, you can try to claim otherwise, but you’ll have to deny the 90s happened on account that everyone wanted their heroes to be like Rorschach (and DKR Batman). Good luck with THAT.

Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Superman Legend (57:53 – 1:33:00)
Clarissa proves once and for all that the Japanese can screw up American properties with equal if not greater efficiency than we can screw up theirs! Whether or not this iteration of the Ninja Turtles is superior to the version that EE “Doc” Finnegan is working on will be judged by history. OR HISTORIANS. Fair warning: Hironobu Kageyama probably will not be performing the theme song to this one as part of his Otakon set. Maybe “review” up there should go in quotation marks, because we really don’t want you to watch this. Under any circumstances. So don’t watch it.

Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 3 (1:33:00 – 2:17:48)
TJ calls in to let us know that he greatly enjoyed Kaiji upon hearing our review of it, and so can you! Daryl put this one off for a year, but he finally broke down and decided to reread through, rewatch, and replay Part 3 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, more commonly known as “the greatest part of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.” This is the big one that all the swingin’ cats know about; a tale of Stands, really big belts, and members of the United States Senate being treated with the respect they deserve. The obscene running length would suggest this review should have just been released as its own podcast, but accessibility was never our trump card. Daryl stopped his own heart about 8 times during the editing of this, and his heart is still stopping every so often even though it’s done now. Maybe it’s just heartburn. He’s got a problem, but if you listen to this review in full, yo you’ll solve it.

Closing (2:17:48 – 2:23:18)
Show 72 may be a while, so consider yourselves FORTUNATE that Show 71 is as long as it is, because you’ll have plenty of time to listen to it all. Preferably not while you’re grinding levels in World of Warcraft! Next time, Daryl’s back in the Madhouse as he reviews Cyber City Oedo, Clarissa reviews the BL title Dog Style (shockingly, Yasuomi Umetsu is not involved), and Gerald’s administering the lead enemas with Burn Up! In the interim we might post a few bonuses since this week and next week we’re caught up in anime conventions and preparations for same. See you at Otakon!