Skip to about 3:36 for the Death Note question if you wanna skip the stuff about his upcoming Me and Orson Welles movie.

Well what can I say?  I had posted about him being a fan of the series before, but I didn’t think there would ever be anything legit concerning his involvement with a Hollywood version.  One has to wonder if he was only approached due to the fanbase’s constant Kira/Light comparisons via online photoshopped pics and such.  I can’t lie: I’d think it’d turn out pretty awesome if they actually made a new DN movie with Zac in it.  How often do you get an actor who actually loves the subject matter AND looks like a clone of the original character?

And now I’m giggling at the thought of Zac Efron showing up at Anime Expo or Otakon.

Coming in as only the second video game inductee (Atari being the first), the Nintendo Game Boy joins into the U.S. National Toy Hall of Fame with 44 other toys.  I think the Game Boy (including the GB color and all its other incarnations) are well deserving of this award as it pretty much launched the second most successful game franchise of all time, Pokemon.  I still have my grape Game Boy Color along with the link cable that was necessary to trade Pokemon between consoles.  Yeah that’s right youngins, we didn’t have wi-fi.  I should still have my original Game Boy at home somewhere, but I haven’t seen it in a couple of years.

And I thought it’d be neat to list some of the anime series that have had games in the Game Boy franchise (and no, the DS isn’t part of the Game Boy family):

Game Boy

Akazukin ChaCha

Captain Tsubasa

Marmalade Boy

Sailor Moon

Saint Seiya

Wedding Peach

Game Boy Color

Bikkuriman World

Card Captor Sakura

Cyborg Kuro-chan

Dragonball Z  (Legendary Super Warriors)

Fighting Foodons/Martial Arts Cooking Legend Bistro Recipe

Hamtaro (Ham-Hams Unite)

Love Hina (Pocket, Party)

Game Boy Advance

Angelic Layer

Card Captor Sakura

Captain Tsubasa

Chobits

Crayon Shin-chan

Digimon (Battle Spirit I & II)

Dragonball  (Advanced Adventure)

Dragonball GT  (Transformation)

Dragonball Z (Buu’s Fury, Collectible Card Game, Supersonic Warriors, Taiketsu, The Legacy of Goku I & II)

Full Metal Alchemist (Stray Rondo, Sonata of Memory)

Futari wa Pretty Cure (Max Heart)

Hamtaro (Ham-Ham Heartbreak, Rainbow Rescue, Ham-Ham Games)

Love Hina (Advance)

Mahou Sensei Negima

Maya the Bee

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch

Naruto (Konoha Senki, RPG: Uketsugareshi Hi no Ishi, Ninja Council I & II)

One Piece

Shaman King

Stellvia of the Universe

Tokyo Mew Mew

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Reshef of Destruction, The Sacred Cards)

Zatch Bell (Electric Arena)

Zoids

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Image via HARU: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=6936091 & http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=6932164

Wat.

It’s kind of amazing to me that this blog is still truckin’ along, albeit with sparse posts lately.  I started Expo Expo on one of those bored whims where you feel like letting your thoughts out for the world to see, and expected it to go to the blogging graveyard along with my old LJ and Geocities accounts.  But I really enjoy this blog and it’s cool to see that more visitors are checking it out.  I hope to upgrade the look and subject matter of Expo Expo over time, and I hope you’ll continue to check in on posts that you find interesting!

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Image by 真柴屋: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=6810241

Man, I never expected there to be such a jump in my workload between my second and third year of college.  I’ve still been keeping up with a bunch of the fall season shows; I’ve just been too lazy tired to blog about it.  There aren’t too many shows that have wowed me (as expected) but the ones that did are worth watching.

Winter Sonata

Okay, I’m just going to get this out of the way.  I don’t think I’ve been this turned off from a series since Binbou Shimai Monogatari, and it was totally unexpected.  The preview art that I saw looked good, the romantic plot sounded nice and the opening train animation kind of reminded me of 5 Centimeters per Second.  Oh, how wrong could I have been.

First off, Winter Sonata’s animation covers the full spectrum.  Sometimes it can be beautiful; other times it’s wonky as hell.  It looks like they’re using Flash animation or something like it, but it’s not being used well.  Maybe I could have overlooked that if it weren’t for the plot.  I was expecting a dramatic love story, but Winter Sonata is using every romance tactic in the book.  Flashbacks, hospitals, chance meetings, love triangles, fights and this is all just in the first episode.  Maybe all of this is easier to digest in its original live action form, but all I had to do was read the Wikipedia storyline to pass.  If there’s one thing I HATE in any form of TV, film or literature, it’s (highlight for spoiler) amnesia.  TOTAL copout for a good plot, and it only extends the series because the main characters pretty much have to fall in love twice.  I stopped watching Hana Yori Dango because of that crap.  Anyhow, there are good qualities to Winter Sonata.  They’re using the same cast from the Korean drama, which should be a treat for long-time fans.  And I’m sure anyone who’s a fan of soap operas will eat this plot up.

Kobato.

Very cute and bubbly, but lacks the action that other CLAMP series like CCS or xxxHolic had.  I think that the plot gets deeper the further you get into the manga, so I’m hoping we’ll get past Kobato’s naivety soon in the anime.  I like seeing all the different cameos from other CLAMP series (which makes me wish they’d do a CLAMP in Wonderland that was more than just a music video).  But they’re really using the Kobato anime as a chance to animate the Wish series in the way that they never did in the past, so that’s cool.  Maybe it’ll inspire them to start Legal Drug up again!  Hahahaha!  ….orz

Oh, and is it me or does Kobato’s hair resemble an epic mullet?  I mean it’s cute, but it’s weird how her short hair is so divided from the long hair.

Maaya Sakamoto belts out another hit opening song with “Magic Number”, but I have to say that Megumi Nakajima’s “Jellyfish’s Confession” is the single that I’m waiting on pins and needles for the full version.  Wtf @ a December 9th release.

Armed Librarians: The Book of Bantorra

This series takes a more fantasy-based take on library warfare than Toshokan Sensou did.  I like the different types of weaponry, but the character development has a loooong way to go.  The villains are totally one-dimensional; I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up tying a maiden to some railroad tracks.  The Director’s know-it-all personality is pretty annoying, plus the fact that there’s no way her boobs could actually stay in a shirt like that, but I’ll let it slide since she’s a good fighter.  I think my biggest pet peeve was the typical fucking Ali Project opening song.  I know for a FACT that they are capable of singing vocals that don’t resemble a child hitting random piano keys, but they continue to disappoint me time after time.

There was one thing that surprised me, mostly because of the season preview summaries (highlight for maja spoilers):  I had NO idea that Colio was going to die within the first arc.  The way that Volken tried to save him in the first episode made me believe that they’d end up with some kind of bromance later.  Really it was kind of disappointing because Shiron was an interesting character and I would have liked for that storyline to have lasted longer.  But she was kind of shitty at preventing his death, wasn’t she? (end spoilers)

Inuyasha: The Final Act

I’m impressed that Inuyasha is one of the stronger contenders quality-wise for this season.  I guess they’ll be pulling out all the stops since it’s the last arc, and Sunrise has nothing better to showcase until the Gundam 00 movie comes out.  As an old fan, it’s nice to get back into the series and it’s still kind of a new experience for me since I first saw the show when it premiered in English on Cartoon Network.  It’s odd to hear Sango calling Miroku something like “honored priest” in Japanese instead of his name, especially given how lecherous he is.  I don’t really have any complaints about this version, but I guess I’m just along for the ride and not expecting anything ~deep~.

The Sacred Blacksmith

Sword action with a hint of romance every now and then.  I like Aria’s ability to transform and I hope that Cecily will get strong enough that she doesn’t need Luke to save her all the time.  I don’t know why she still wants a katana when she has a freakin’ demon sword that can shoot out gusts of wind.  The scenes where Lisa and Luke make swords are pretty cool, and I like how they animated Lisa’s eye movements.  It kind of reminds me of a robot’s eye instead of a real one.  Luke’s right eye is also odd, and I’m assuming that it’s fake.

Oh and if anyone’s bored, the Wikipedia article for this series looks like a hot mess.  Bolded words all over the damn place.

Kimi ni Todoke

This series does two things to me:  It brings out the fuzzy side of me that loves cutesy romantic tales… and it makes me say “FML” everytime I remember that no one I knew in high school (let alone myself) had a boyfriend/girlfriend who was remarkably perfect and nice and awesome like Kazehaya.  I mean, DAMN, I’d be almost willing to go through the shitty life that Sawako/Sadako has lived to get a guy like that.  (Keyword is almost.)  Sawako’s naivety kind of bothers me, but it’s balanced by her friends’ personalities.  I’ll admit that I thought that Yano and Yoshida would be Peach Girl-level villains who would thwart Sawako’s every move, but they’re freakin’ awesome buddies!  My initial prejudice is probably what Karuho Shiina, the mangaka, was aiming to touch upon with this series.  It’s a simple old saying: You can’t judge a book by its cover.

Production I.G. does a great job with the art and animation, and I have to admit that I thought J.C. Staff was in charge since they tend to be the pastel art king.

Sasameki Koto

If Kimi ni Todoke is an example of a potentially perfect couple, Sasameki Koto would be the story of “orz”.  This is the time old situation of loving someone even though that person’s not interested in you at all.  But this is with lesbians!  Unfortunately I can relate more with Sumi than Sawako.  It’s kind of weird to go from Aoi Hana’s Fumi to this show’s Sumi who both are tall with long hair and glasses.  I still think that Aoi Hana’s depiction of lesbians is more realistic than Sasameki Koto, but I think this show is going more for the comedic side of things.  Sumi has epic SD expressions and I can’t help but laugh when she gets pissed off at Kazama’s plots to find a girlfriend.  And Akemiya… he just about had me falling out of my chair, laughing for days at his “big reveal”.

Still there are some moments that are surprisingly touching: Kazama’s rejection, Sumi being told that she’s not Kazama’s “type” and the big kiss scene were nice scenes that brought the plot back to realistic relationship issues that people deal with all the time.

The single for the OP and ED is out, and I absolutely love it.  It’s by Natsumi Kiyoura who did the opening song for the first season of Spice and Wolf.

Aoi Bungaku

I have nothing but pure admiration for this series.  THIS is what I had thought Bakemonogatari would be like: more serious, creepy and thought-provoking.  Aoi Bungaku is going to be comprised of several different historical short stories, with the first arc being No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai.  I was really impressed by the quick background info on Dazai that they gave via a real life narrator before the start of Episode 4.  It’s really creepy how close Youzo (the main character) and Dazai were alike, but I guess it’s like the saying “Art imitates life”.

The art, animation AND music are so good…  It just sends me to my happy place, that’s all I can say.  You have to experience it to really get it.  When it comes to delivering quality anime, Madhouse does the job right time and time again.  After this arc, I’m really looking forward to Hell Screen and The Spider’s Thread because I just read those stories by Akutagawa last year.  I wish Rashomon could have made it into the selection, especially since it doesn’t seem like there’s an animated adaptation of it (even though Rashomon is probably the most known of Akutagawa’s stories).

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Top image by 真柴屋: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=6865926

Oh, I didn’t know hipsters had harems.  Well, maybe Dov Charney does, but his comparison would be more like:

Oh god, I’ve been letting Expo Expo dust over. D:  All the series that aren’t continuing on into the fall season are over now,  and I think Summer ‘09 was one of the better seasons for a large quantity of quality shows, which is in stark contrast with the “meh”-ness of the current fall shows.  Spoilers ahead obviously…

Season Favorites

CANAAN -  The final episode was a big WAT to me, and I’m glad that they kept the animation quality up high to the very end.  I think I was hoping that Maria would have a bigger emotional transformation than she did, but I guess Cannan was the one who needed it the most.  This show gets a “Best Well-Rounded Cast” award from me.  Alphard was one of the most dynamic characters I’ve ever watched and Maaya Sakamoto provided an A+ performance (as she always does).   It’s always welcoming to see a villain who’s more complicated than just killing people out of insanity or rage.

That’s where Liang-Qi comes in!  Oh my, where do I start?  The yakuza-like tirade on Maria?  Her pop idol love song she belt out while firing helicopter missles at Canaan?  Her final encounter with Alphard?  They were all gems.  And I can’t forget Yun-Yun.  I thought they were going to pull some twist in which she’d suddenly have supernatural powers like the others, but it was kind of refreshing to see her save Maria with her own strength.  (Although maybe her superpower is the uncanny ability to survive.  I know I sure as hell wouldn’t be able to save someone from an exploding train and then walk halfway across the desert.)

The saddest and biggest twist was probably Hakko’s fate.  It’s painful to see someone who always got the worst situations forced on them even though they’re a good person.  I guess her end could count as a bittersweet “good” end, because she’s finally able to be with the person she loves and will never accidentaly hurt anyone again.

I think the only thing I would have wanted to know more about was the 3rd “Canaan” that went up in flames with the enemy compound.

Spice and Wolf II – YESSSSS, couple confirmed!  The plot toyed with viewers till the very end, but Lawrence finally confessed his love for Horo and kissed her.  I really thought they would just leave it hanging and expect all the flirting between them to confirm their relationship.  This season was certainly more about the action, though the economics were certainly still there.  Horo’s breakdown was chilling, and Abe was downright deceitful.  My only complaint is that we never actually got to see Horo’s homeland, but will they still continue there now that Horo’s staying with Lawrence?

Umi Monogatari – Just as I thought, this was pretty much the Wiseman arc of Sailor Moon, lol.  Urin grew to a teenage level just like Rini/Chibi-usa did and was saved by the ~power of love~ in the same way too.  Still I don’t feel like this was a cheap knockoff story, mainly because of Kanon’s surly attitude and Marin’s transformation from a one-trick Mary Sue character.  The show’s music is also one of my favorites from this season, and I’m hoping they’ll release a soundtrack at some point.  Oh and I’m going to just assume Kanon is bisexual until otherwise proven false.

Shangri-La – This show was kind of all over the place, but the overall plot was interesting and unlike most other series.  I was SO disappointed how easily Mikuni fell into Ryoko’s evil takeover plan, but I guess I should just chalk it up to childhood naivety.  Ghost Mi-ko was AWESOME and Ghost Hiruko was adorable.  One big issue with this show is that their main character, Kuniko, just ended up so one-dimensional.  All she does is try to save the day and be full throttle while doing so.  Learning that’s she’s a clone wasn’t surprising because she never really acted like a normal person to begin with.  Other bad subplots included lack of info on Digma Zero and his relationship with Karin, Takehiko’s spiral into self-destruction, and why Kusanagi even needed to be in this show.  I mean seriously, all he really did was whine, change sides, lose his dagger and possibly have a crush on Kuniko.

Aoi Hana – How is that an anime show can portray lesbians in a more natural way than most mainstream TV shows?  Yeah this was set up in a typical all-girls school setting, but this show (and manga series) wasn’t made to showcase hot girls making out so that guys can drool over it.  This featured real emotions, acceptances and rejections.  Fumi struggles accepting who she is, letting others know about her, and grows personally in a way that I’m sure other girls have.

The opening song done by Kuuki Koudan really fit the show’s personality, and I only wish that they had used more songs done by her after listening to her regular self-titled album.   The only bummer with Aoi Hana is that it’s over just as things are getting good in the manga, so I suggest you continue reading it!

G.A. Geijutsuka Art Design Class – I still haven’t finished this because Ayako was releasing subs at Slowpoke levels of speed, but it never fails to make me laugh.  The girls really would be uninteresting on their own, but their personalities complement each other well.

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The So So Endings

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – What were the creators thinking when they had Mirai go off the deep end?  You don’t hallucinate people to that extent without needing some serious psychiatric evaluation afterwards.  It was also doubtful that Mari wouldn’t have spoken more to Mirai about Yuuki’s death since Mirai was acting all cheerful and crap.  I really didn’t think they were going to kill him off, but I guess that one of the most realistic effects of an earthquake.  You don’t get spared because of how nice you are or how young you are.  I’ll admit that I got a little teary-eyed when Mirai and her family broke down in the hospital.

Pandora Hearts – This show was good overall, but I’m just not a fan of anime-original endings.  This show would have done better with more episodes and a different style of animation.

Taishou Yakyuu Musume – A lot was smushed into twelve episodes and I would have liked to have seen more character development.  The midnight baseball bandit episode was a waste of time.

Saki – Again, a good show but one that was very predictable.  “Oh no, Saki is losing!  Oh snap, she pulled out a ridiculous unrealistic move!  She wins!”  Rinse and repeat.  Bamboo Blade spoiled me to this kind of format.

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Shows on the Backburner

Kanamemo – I’ll get back to this when my lesbian pedo watching levels get low again.

Bakemonogatari – I know what you’re thinking; “How could you diss one of this season’s favorites among viewers?!”  Maybe it’s because I went into this show thinking it’d be more about scary stories than “How to Build a Supernatural Harem”.  I’m still curious to see what happens with Hanekawa’s mysterious situation, so I’m sure I’ll get back to it over winter break.

Guin Saga – Just haven’t been in the mood for it, especially since I know it won’t even get through 20% of the novel material by the end.

Needless – Same as Kanamemo; gotta get my fanservice levels down to a low level first.

07 Ghost – Incoming anime-only ending and I just kinda fell off the boat with this one.

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Umineko no Naku Koro ni isn’t in here since it’s still going on, but it’d be in the so-so section for that shitty second arc.  Princess Lover’s just not worth talking about.

Should I assume this person’s car fails to start up unless you kick it for five minutes?

After six years, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles is finally coming to an end.  The final chapter #232 will be published at the end of September with additional color pages. This sudden finale surprises me since there seems to be a lot of character storylines to wrap up.  Hopefully it won’t finish in a “LOL CLAMP” open-ended conclusion for FWR and the X vampires, but in the very least there should be a pretty concrete ending for Sakura, Syaoran, Fye and Kurogane.  I can’t say I’m terribly excited for the last chapter, because so much of the past couple chapters has been nothing but big swirly magic attacks, explosions and sound effects.  It seems a little cheap to hold off on FWR’s backstory since it’s the catalyst for this series AND xxxHolic.

If you would have bet me that xxxHolic would outlast TRC, I’d have never believed you.  It seemed like CLAMP was always giving xxxHolic the shaft with lengthy publication breaks and fewer anime episodes.  Now it’s slated for an extra OVA and a separate manga series titled xxxHolic: Cage is apparently in the works.

Preview pages of chapter 186 depict Doumeki, Watanuki, Maru and Moro in Yuuko’s house, and that several years have passed since the previous chapter (which surprises me given the current plot and Doumeki’s egg decision that he has to make.  Does he make the wrong one? Or perhaps he doesn’t use the egg at all?)  To be honest, I can’t tell if xxxHolic: Cage is supposed to be this timeskip version of the main series or a completely separate sequel.  I’d loooove if xxxHolic: Cage turns out to be a full-blown manga series, but I’m betting that it’ll be more like a post-series wrap up to show how the characters have moved on since the ending.  The Hana-Kimi manga’s final chapter is a good example of that kind of format.

At the same time, I have to recall CLAMP’s promise to continue the Legal Drug manga, which has several direct crossovers with the xxxHolic world.  xxxHolic: Cage and Legal Drug could end up having the same dynamic that TRC had with xxxHolic.

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Info via: http://chibiyuuto.livejournal.com/267112.html & http://community.livejournal.com/clamp_now/529243.html

Oh snap, crackle and pop.  All this time I’ve been worried that Fumi would have a usual “Fumi-chan’s so quick to cry” moment and run back into Sugimoto’s arms the second she decided to come back.  Instead she gave Sugimoto an emotional ass-whooping that couldn’t have sliced deeper.  You could tell that Sugimoto never expected Fumi to reject her, since Fumi’s generally a passive person.  This almost made me feel sorry for Sugimoto, but that’s what happens when you take someone for granted.  I wouldn’t be against them getting back together as long as Sugimoto works her ass off to make it up to Fumi.