Meri Kurisumasu メリークリスマス

"In recent years, thanks to the marketing prowess of the folks at Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Christmas Chicken Dinner has become quite popular. Many Japanese even make reservations for their "Christmas Chicken" ahead of time. People line up at their outlets to pick up their orders. As a result of KFC's brilliant advertising campaign, most Japanese now believe that Westerners celebrate Christmas with a chicken dinner instead of the more common ham or turkey."

"The Japanese celebrate Christmas Eve by eating a 'Christmas Cake' which the father of the family purchases on his way home from work (or his wife does in the case where he has to work on Christmas Eve). Stores all over carry versions of this Christmas cake and drop the price of it drastically on December 25th in order to sell everything out by the 26th. This has resulted in a rather interesting expression in which young girls are referred to as a 'Christmas cakes': marriageable until their 25th birthday and requiring heavy discounts to get married after their 25th birthdays."

 "The Christmas season comes during the month of the year-end parties. Company groups, hobby groups, sports groups, etc. often book a section of a restaurant to have drinking parties, known as 'bonenkai' [forget the old year parties]. This phenomena leads to streets, subways, and trains full of people in varied states of intoxication during this season.
Christmas lighting and displays are often up at the end of October and this year many stores have displays featuring Teddy Bears. There is also a trend developing for make-it-yourself presents.
The New Year's holidays, which constitute the main holiday season for the Japanese, come closer to the American-European idea of assembling family and friends. Christmas seems to be closer to the Western concept of St.Valentine's Day. "

 Excerpt from:
 http://tanutech.com/japan/jxmas.html

Three new shows have been added to the new Toonami line up. That makes a huge line up of all the best anime and cartoons out there. 13 different shows run from 9:00 pm to 5:30am starting every Saturday night!

New on the List:

Tenchi Muyo! GXP

A very clumsy high school student Seina Yamata lives with his parent in japan , while taking a bike ride he encounters a space ship crashing into a lake that knocks him out. He awakens to find the pilot of the ship and ends up (unfortunately) signing up for the Galaxy Police .

Sym-Bionic Titan

Sym-Bionic Titan is a new cartoon about two teenagers  facing your typical high school issues .....oh yeah they also happen to be able to form into a giant robot to fight aliens. Lots of martial arts and fighting , reminiscent of Samurai Jack  characters.

Thunder Cats

Thunder Thunder Thun.....hack...hair ball.....This version of the thunder cat has some amazing art, the characters are re imagined and look great while holding very true to the classic version. The story line is basically the same with a few minor adjustments on the story and some elaboration on how things came to be the way they are in Thundera.

Toonami has knock this one out of the park! Now ....I just have figure out how to stay awake till 5:30am!

PEELANDER-Z

Wow, my good friend Kim sent me some awsome shots of  PEELANDER-Z, the Japanese Action Comic Punk Band, performing at the Cider House in Knoxville, TN. Thanks Kim!

"At its live shows, Peelander–Z guarantees intense audience participation and a chance to exercise. You’ll see the band in colorful costumes reminiscent of Japanese anime, though they describe their outfits as their skin. You’ll also see The Red Squid, human bowling and all around insanity. A Peelander–Z performance is a rare occasion for the entire family to rock out and have a great time."http://peelander-z.com

Happy Halloween

Hello Boils and Ghouls,

Since today is "All Hallows' Eve" I'd like to share one of my favorite vampire tales with you. I'm sure you have watched the Vampire Hunter D series but if you haven't read the books you're missing out on a treat.

My favorite is "Demon Deathchase". D comes to America and is hired by a wealthy man to save his daughter from the Dark  Lord Meierlink ( a very powerful vampire). It is up to D to track the Lord Meierlink down and save the girl. D is quite the match for the Dark Lord and follows his trail of destruction to find that the Dark Lord has in cased himself and the girl in a impenetrable tomb just before sunrise. D must battle the Dark Lords minions, Werewolves and vampire alike to save the girl. But he is not the only on on the job. A band of tough siblings known as the Marcus family are fighting to collect the reward for saving the rich old mans daughter and won't let anyone stand in there way , including D.

Awesome series , you gotta read this .....hey you can watch TV all the time! Read a little ... its good for you. 

Happy Halloween,
DJ

Macross Plus

Macross Plus was a anime series released in the US in the 90's.  I got a hold of an old VHS Copy and watched the third installation of the series.

The story is basically a cross between "Top Gun" and 'Terminator"! Isamu Dyson and Zentradei Bowman are rival star craft pilots in rolled in a test program called "Super Nova" located on the planet " Eden".  One test flight leaves Dyson injured but it is played off as an accident by the curators of the project.

The Government organized program turns out to have another agenda besides testing star fighters, A programs called Sharon Apple becomes self aware and threatens the lives of whoever it encounters.


This series is really interesting , the plot was a little hard to follow since I started on part three. I think i got the gist of it though.

Later Days,
DJ

Fanboy Con = Awsome

Just came back for the a exciting day at comic con, usally today is a work daky but I decied to take this sunday off to check out the "Fanboy Con" in Knoxville.
Now In the pas I have exprest my distast for crappy con's and how every con I've been to latley .....has been terrible.

I have abolustly no complaint about Fanboy , It was awsome ! I arrive at the con about an half hour early and actually beat the crowd, I took that time to chat with some major anime fans at the door and wile we were talking Rodney Hall ( a cast member of the walking dead) came out to smoke a cig and I got a one on one with him, aparently Rodney lived in Knoxville for a few years and told me about a new movie he had been working on.

As the comic con open I imediantly head for the artist booth, It alot of fun to ask them how they got started doing art, some artist are just plain ol natural talet , some atttend art schools and some find there own technique . There were alot of great artis and they were all happy to speak with me .

Special shout out to :

Fantastic Story line : Bottomtownpress.com

The talented Amanda Rachels: inversepress.com

Comic Expert : Shawn Harbin: bsx22studiows.com

The Amazing Scott West: Alternacomics.com


After chatting with the artist, I got to check out the vendors at the show , There were tons of toys, memorabilia and collectibles at the con. I was impressed.

There was also Q&A session with the Celebrates, I listened to on set Star Wars stories from Stephen Costantino and Billy D. Williams' son. And how Micheal Berry Man started his acting career.
There is no mistake these guys are talented

Jason David Frank was at the con signing autographs , I didn't make it to the booth but I did attend his martial art class ! We went through striking and kicking drills as well as some martial arts work out techniques. About half way through the class I saw a man dressed in black watching us train....It was Adrian Paul ( Highlander TV Series) !

Later I went to Adrian's booth and spoke with him about martial arts, He got really excited when I mention martial arts and we talked for about 15 minutes about kung-fu, Adrian told me he had been trained in Shaolin Gung-Fu and a norther style of kung fu called Hung-gar. He showed me a few pointers on kung-fu's method of  blocking and punching. This guy isn't just an actor that portrays a martial artist , he is really into it.

Fanboy Con was a blast, I met tons of great fans and actors, if this con comes to your town you have to visit !  Grade A Comic con wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Later Days,
DJ

Press Play to watch a video of the show...sorry about the angle I'll edit the video later =)

Summer Wars

Hello,

I got my hands on a copy of  "Summer Wars" this week , I heard it got a anime award and thought I'd review it .

The movie is very well done with lots of action,comedy and touching moments in the story line.

The story is about a high school student (Kenji Koiso) and a young girl's (Natsuki Shinohara) who visit a family reunion for Natsukis granmother's birthday. Natsuski tricks Kenji  into accompanying her along to the reunion, she then talks him into pretending he is her fiance.

Kenji receives a code on his phone and uses his talented mathematical skills to solve the random problem. When he breaks the code it sets of an international computer virus that threatens life as we know it .

Things really turn for the worse for Natsuki's family. Kenji is arrested for committing a crime that to his knowledge he inadvertently committed. However, some how Kenji, Natsuki and her family pull together to save the world from a virus driven missile setting course for a nuclear power plant.

I  like the concept of OZ and how every one is connect the the world online. There are tons of Characters in the movie with awesome dramatic art scenes and epic battles. I recomend puchasing this movie.

Later days,
DJ

Adventure Con Knoxville TN

He all,

I just checked out the adventure con in Knoxville , I was pretty cool. There were only a few vendors at the con but there was a good selection of anime, movies, and comics. There were were a handful of artist at the show : Graphic artist, Illustrators and Movie prop makers. Also of course , the highlight of the show was the celebrities. The Con is going tomorrow as well .

I don't think ill go back sunday, the price for admission is a little pricey considering the event is not very big. Really 20 minutes and you have seen it all.

That said, I'm glad I got to check it out!

Speacial Props too :
Christopher Conner (the awesome horror story writer) for speaking with me at the con.
Rodney Hall - (The Walking Dead ) your seriously scary and good luck on your new movie!
The Booth Brothers (Spooked Chiller Syfy) for the great leads on some ghost hunting spots

and for an awsome cause!..

 oh yeah and I got a new lead on a Anime Con comming up.
Thanks Yamacon team!:

Yama-Con

December 8, 2012 at 10:00 AM

Smoky Mountain Convention Center

Smoky Mountain Convention Center - 4010 Parkway - Pigeon Forge, TN 3786

Later Days,

DJ

Fan Boy Expo in Knoxville TN !

Guest Stars :

Kelly Hu
Lady Death Strike (X-Men)

Adrian Paul
Duncan Mcleod (Highlander)

Jason David Frank
The White Ranger (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)

And tons more celebrities , Wrestlers, and Artists! This is gonna be awesome!......Um Adrian, could you please sign my Katana?

5 Old School Points for Lodoss War!

Hey all you anime fans,

I was looking over some vintage anime and found the "Lodoss War" series.
The setting is in medieval times (Europe) and there's plenty of castles,fire breathing dragons, noble knights, enchanted elves, and dark wizards to boot. And of course, its all created in that old school anime flavor.

The story is about a group of warriors engaged in combat that find them selves allied with each other to fight a dark wizard and his evil forces.

Really cool series , I really like the characters and the dragons are are wonderfully nasty looking! Best to watch in Japanese w/ English subtitles.

I''ve been told that "Lodoss War" was not a good series and that it wasn't worth watching buy some viewers but this series is seriously under-rated in my opinion, I give it a 5 out of 5 .......... don't take my word for it check it out!

Later Days,

DJ

Heros Never Die

Hey all you anime fans out there, just want to make you aware of the new Batman "The Dark Knight Returns" that's coming out soon. I checked out the local Movie store and there is no eta on it yet but the preview is awesome.
So it looks like batman is grey haired and little wrinkly but he's still dawning the cape and cowl to whoop some @#$! And Oh ya robin is a nerdy chick..er.. I think.  .
Batman my be old but has a knack for finding new and strange criminals to terrorize,also Looks like some criminals his past (like Two face) are joining the fun as well.
Anyway if you liked the animated Batman "Year one" this is right up your (dark criminal infested Gotham city) alley.

Later days,
DJ

Friends Dont Let Friends Buy Anime at Target

Email Sent to Target Corporate Headquarters:

This afternoon around 2:00 pm I found a box set I previously had been  searching for at other retail stores  "Batman The Animated Series Volume One". I had purchased the Third Volume set of the series at Walmart previously for  Approx. $15 Dollars.

I Looked for an Associate at the Target Electronics department. I ask the Associate if Target did price matching and he claimed that Target did and that I would need a printed ad to show proof of the Items price from another store.

Target is located very close to a
Walmart, so I walked to Walmart and requested a printed ad of  "Batman The Animated Series Volume One" as proof to show Target that Walmart is selling the Box set for a lesser amount.

I Walked back to Target and took the box set of "Batman The Animated Series Volume One" to customer service". I showed  the associate at customer service the ad and the box set. I explained that I would like to purchase the box set for the amount shown on the ad ($20).  The Associate explained that she could not do the price match because the ad was not in color.

I requested a manager and a second employee appeared from customer service. The first associate told the second associate that I had an ad and would like to do a price match.

The second associate explain to me that  the ad I had was not valid because it had to be a current sales paper ad.
I asked to see the store policy and after a lot of searching he produced a small booklet with the policy information about price matching.

After reviewing the policy ,I explained that The ad I had was given to me by Walmart and that it was a "current and full ad" and there was no details in the policy that said that it had to be a Sunday paper (weakly) ad , and that I would still like to speak to a manager . 

After some time, a Manager showed up and told me his name was Mike and ask what he could do to help me.  I told him my problem and explained that the issue had not been resolved to my satisfaction.

With out any review of the ad, he explained that he would not do a price match because it was store policy.

I told him that if the issue was not resolved I would terminate my customer relationship with Target. Mike (again, With out any review of the ad) explained that he would not do a price match because it was store policy.

I am sending this message to whom it may concern, to let Target know how poor its customer service is at Turkey Creek and to say that I was mistreated.

Thank you,

(Anonymous)


Targets Reply:

''Dear (Anonymous),



Thanks for taking the time to share your comments with us. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience caused.


Hearing about your experience is very important to us, and I've shared your comments with our Store Operations team. While this may not benefit you today, your feedback helps us make our stores, merchandise and services better for every guest.


We always welcome your comments. If you ever have questions about our products or services please call our Target Guest Relations team at 800-440-0680.


We look forward to serving you again soon at Target.

 Sincerely,

Target Guest Relations''

INFINITE RYVIUS

In the future it is possible to explore our entire galaxy, however a solar flare produces an immense pressure called Gaduld that greatly limits space travel.

The anime series "Infinite Ryvius" is about  the turmoils of Young Space Cadets who train in an outer space facility in the year 2225.

Basically , the adults aboard the "Liva Delta" (training facility) are killed leaving the Teen Cadets to save the facility and there own lives.

There is also a twist to the whole storyline that involves a strange extra-terrestrial girl.

Really cool anime !

later days,
DJ

FLAG

Flag is an anime series about civil war told through a Photographers lens.
The story is set in a small country in Asia on the brink of Civil War.
The people of the country long for peace, However gorilla warfare attacks against the Government and "UN" escalate far beyond expectations. The aggressor is a group known as the Gelut that wield a mass amount of fire power and rocket firing Robots. 

FLAG has some awesome graphics, and an excellent story line. Check it out !

Toonami's Lucky 7s

Toonami will have new line up this week, They will be starting 2 awesome anime series classics from the beginning to end!

Make sure to check out Samurai 7, this is an old favorite of mine , the anime is based on the unlikely union of Ronin Samurai depicted in Akira Kurasawa's 1940's movie "7 Samurai".

Samurai 7 is a truly legendary anime and an awesome tribute to Akira Kurasawa ! Toonami will start the series Aug. 19th 2012 at 12:30am on Cartoon Network. Oh wait.... that's right now see ya!

 and......

Eureka Seven, aka Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven

Eureka 7 will also be introduced in the Toonami Line up at 2:30.
There are some really awsome characters,super robots, space battles etc.

Although the storyline is a bit complicated, you'll see what I mean. 

2 More Anime Cons Comin your way !

FANDOM CON

Pensacola, FL

October 27-28, 2012

And 

Momo Con

Atlanta, GA

March 8-10th, 2013

Support Heidi at welovefine.com

Heidi from  (www.electricabyss.com) gave me a heads up on a really awsome t-shirt design she created!

 If you like heidi's design support her by voting at:

 https://www.welovefine.com/vote.php?id_contest=17&id_submit=5086 )

Anime ASE FLOP

Hey all,

I really enjoy covering these Anime events but (for me) I gotta say ASE was a definite FAIL.
Sad to say, on the on the third day of the con, everyone was over it !
I didn't think It was worth the reduced Sunday price ($15) or even the $5 dollars for parking for that matter.
Come on ASE were not Made O' Money....besides we spent it all on our Cosplay Gear.

I didn't get to go Friday and Saturday and I did hear from some of the guest at the con that the Rave was really awesome. When I showed up There was no one in site , almost all the vendors had left and there were no celebs....dang! Better luck next year

Although,
I did meet a lot of great Otakus and "up and coming" artist that really made the trip worth while.

Special Thanks to all the anime fans out there who spoke with me at the con :

Check out some crazy anime inspired cooking with Flap Jack on:

http://www.youtube.com/user/MegaSoupCosplay

 Find some great art work on Becca's Blog:
Nattosoup.blogspot.com

Great Art , Stories and Finger Puppets! : 
Electricabyss.com

If any one had a great time at the Con let me know, post a comment!

Up Coming Anime Events!

Toonami is Back!

I'm really excited to see that Cartoon Network has a new Toonami! Every Saturday night you can "Toon" in to watch your favorite adult swim show with two new additions that are pretty awesome.

Casshern-Sins

Casshern-Sins is an action packed story about a Post-apocalyptic Earth. Robots become self aware and turn the world into a waste land . Humans are all but extinct and the Being to blame is Casshern ,a being that is not quite robot not quite human but all badass! Casshern is hunted by robots and humans alike as he searches his past and tries to find out who or what he is.
The artwork is old school and the storyline is intriguing. If you're not familiar with the Casshern-Sins series its a must see!

Deadman Wonderland

Dudes Fighting with there own blood...Whaaa...Cool!
 
Deadman Wonderland is a messed up world where prisoners who are sentenced to death and are forced to participate in battles where they use a special power called "Branches of Sin" (The power to use blood as a weapon) in massive carnival like prison.

Ganta is a young boy convicted of killing his school mates and is sentenced to death. It is discovered that he has the "Branches of Sin" power and is forced to fight battles called  "Carnival Corpse" in prison. Ganta must not lose, for you see the victor gets to live and the loser is ....err.....Scrapped for parts.
Lots of great Characters,Really Cool, Really sadistic and of course ...really bloody!  Check it  out.

Cool Anime T-Shirt's! Thanks Aardvark!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheAardvark

Two Awesome Anime Cons in Tennesse! 2012

http://www.animeblastchattanooga.com/

 AND

ASE 

Pelli Con 2012 Knoxville Tennessee

As me and Sam approached Pellissipii State Community College's Pelli Con 2012 there was nothing in sight that indicated " Anime Convention ".
We stepped in the building to find only 2 venders. As I scratched my head I wondered if we had missed something or arrived on the wrong date. This was not the case.
Sam and I wondered down he maze like fourier until we stumble into some a really cool Cosplay group. They informed us  the action was upstairs.
As we entered the dark room, I realized that this was not a convention. Strangely enough , A group of young locals called "Surge" sat in front of a large TV screen watching old Toonami Cartoons on the computer .
Surge is a sy-fy, anime and entertainment fan group that meets at the college every Wednesday. The guy at the head of the class room in front of the class room said  that Pelli Con was a series of  potpourri Conferences with  the tech savey, Indy game code generates and Otaku's.
Although this was the strangest Con I'd ever been too, I did meet some awesome locals who were hard core anime fans! They all were having a great time just interacting with one another.  Even if though the event wasn't very exciting.

In defense of PelliCon 2012, this is just the second year they have held it and there was (almost) no advertising for the event!

P.s.
I hope see Pellicon will grow bigger and better every year!

 Knoxville Otaku's are the best!

It really shows there some great anime fan's out there, Just give em a place to play!

Peace,
DJ

 The truth hurts but you can learn from your mistakes....anyone up for MWF3

 Im soo gittin that tatooo!

 K -Town Otaku's R The Best!

 Japanese Fashion!

Alright were here!.......Where the %^$%'s the Con?

 UH..Hellooooo... Echo...Echo......Echo....

  Militarily speaking, it is only fair to say that Cobra Commander is a world-class buffoon .....He's standing beside me isn't he?

                                      Ha,Ha,Ha!  Now there's nothing you can do to save him G-I Joes!

 WTF!

The peace sign is out dated! Try this one for Ghost Busters 4