Looking for an in-depth look inside the anime industry? Want to know what goes on behind the scenes of dubbing companies? Want to know the secrets of anime? Then look no further than Animaze, a brilliant anime documentary series that is free to stream online.
Animaze features an interesting inside look at the anime industry, with several interviews with industry experts and big players in anime. The documentary was shot of several years with a lot of interesting discussion and food-for-thought to be had.
Madman has openly endorsed the documentary series, which actually features Madman employee, Sly, in an interview regarding the Australian anime industry.
You can find the documentary series free to stream at the Animaze website.
Following the announcement of the Rurouni Kenshin anime remake, it’s become increasingly evident that a full-blown revival of the franchise.
Just today, it has been announced that a live-action film adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s samurai epic has been green-lit and slated for a 2012 release. But that is not all, the producers of the upcoming live-action film plan to make the film into a trilogy or quadrilogy.
Rurouni Kenshin follows the story of Himura Kenshin, the titular Wandering Samurai with a dark past, as he travels through Meiji Period Japan offering services such as protection and aid to atone for his past sins.
As more details on the revival of the epic samurai franchise come to light, stay tuned and keep your blades sharp.
Genre: Animation/Kids Produced by: Cartoon Network Running Time: 291 minutes Available for purchase at: Madman Online Store ($24.95)
Overview
Sometimes when I revisit shows from my childhood, I sit there and think to myself, “What were you thinking?” Some cartoons had terrible voice-acting, even more had unengaging storylines, but the truth is that most were just made in terrible taste.
Johnny Bravo Season One is a bit like cheese – it smells disgusting, but it tastes better with age. When I first picked up the DVD, I literally stopped for a moment and thought, “Do I want to watch this? Wasn’t he a chauvinistic pig? Won’t I just realise how much he objectified women? [insert more rants about gender stereotypes here]”. As I watched it though, I realised that while the show is below-par in relation to other Cartoon Network shows of the same era, it tastes far better on my filmic taste buds than it did ten years ago.
Plot
Johnny Bravo is a blonde, egotistical, dim-witted man who lives in Aron City with his mother, Bunny Bravo. His life revolves around combing his hair, hitting on women, flexing, hitting on more women, flexing some more, and striking various poses to show off his muscles. Each episode of Johnny Bravo Season One involves Johnny and a woman; be it through helping the ‘damsel in distress’ (which is used lightly, because the women in this series are often very strong and Johnny only thinks they’re in distress), doing things to impress women, or trying to find beautiful women, Bravo is always doing his part to impress the other gender.
The village most guys can only dream of.
The storyline often features impossible plots (such as Johnny attempting to seduce Amazonian women, or a werewolf woman who will offer Johnny a great time only if he can deal with her in her wolf state), but overall the series holds far more realism than other Cartoon Network shows of the era – think Cow and Chicken, who spawned from human parents. Many of the plot lines could actually happen in real life; however, the stories are far more entertaining to adults than they would be to children. As a child, you search for imaginative storylines that transport you to another world. In Johnny Bravo, it’s pretty much the same world we currently live in, but with a few minor tweaks. In fact, when I watched Johnny Bravo Season One, it just seemed like an average night out clubbing where an egomaniacal man hit on me. The fact that adults can watch it and relate more than kids is a worry, but like I said before, it’s in much better taste when I can actually understand what it means when an Amazonian woman tries to use Johnny as a virgin sacrifice and he yells out “But I’m not a – “ before being dropped in the volcano.
Aside from general storyline, the constant women-chasing episodes can become quite repetitive. Thankfully, Johnny sometimes has things to do besides hit on women: he drinks too much of a muscle-building product and becomes fat, he explores different jobs to pay for his mum’s Mother’s Day present, and babysits a boy with godlike superpowers. One thing that is refreshing to see is that Johnny Bravo Season One doesn’t have the backup segment like Dexter’s Lab or Cow and Chicken did – it’s far more enjoyable to have three episodes of Bravo goodness.
Characters
The main character in the series, Johnny Bravo, sounds exactly like his name: a guy who thinks that he is god’s gift to the world. He’s loosely based on Elvis with his slick blonde hair, his sunglasses, and his voice; however, while Elvis romanced women, I don’t think he romanced them quite as much as Johnny. Johnny’s escapades are crazy, and his own belief in himself and others’ perceptions of him are quite deluded – but that’s just a massive part of why the series is enjoyable. We all love to watch guys (who think they are a ladies man) get shot down, and it’s even better when they do it with the terrible pick-up lines and attempts that Johnny does. I suppose there is also a positivity to be found in Johnny’s spirit (in spite of his oversized ego); no matter how many times he gets shot down, he never loses faith in women or says anything bad about them. If you watch straight episodes of Johnny Bravo though, he can get very irritating and repetitive.
Under all that muscle is a guy who has…well, more muscle.
In fact, all of the characters seem to lack depth and all got on my nerves at points. All seem to be so heavily based on stereotypes that they just become a walking cliché. Suzy, the girl next door, can be sweet, but really she is like every other child – cute until she wants something, and then she just becomes whiny and a bother. Carl is a nerdy oddball who everyone would run away from if he was on public transport, and Bunny Bravo is a typical mother when the series begins, but becomes more eccentric as the season progresses. Come to think of it, most Cartoon Network characters aren’t developed as the episodes are designed to be standalone, but in Johnny Bravo Season One’ s case it’ very noticeable.
Audio and Visual
Visually, the animation is exactly the same as it is in other Cartoon Network classics: minimalistic, yet appealing. Johnny’s appearance is probably the most commendable aspect: the parody of Elvis’ image shows at least some intelligence on the part of the creators. Children may or may not understand it, but it’s a clever play on a traditionally recognisable figure which makes for an interesting image on screen. Johnny’s constant flexing is also entertaining as hell – if someone made a drinking game for every time Johnny Bravo flexed, everyone would be passed out before the end of the first episode. I would have to say everything else is generic, but it makes perfect sense: if the animation formula ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it.
Bright colours, nice shades, and an awesome voice.
Going back to Johnny’s flexing for a second: I’d have to say the noises that accompany it are truly what makes his flexing as funny as it is. In Johnny Bravo, it’s the sound which makes the series good rather than average. The voice acting for Johnny is a classic example of the sound injecting the visual with life: Jeff Bennett’s voice was so good that I half-expect him to look just like his character in real life. The sound effects also contribute wonderfully and drive the narrative further, with the noises for Johnny’s running (or for Johnny getting rejected by a woman) adding to the overall effect of the story.
DVD Extras
Unfortunately, this DVD does not come with any extras; however, I am aware Madman often releases special features with later seasons (they did this for Courage the Cowardly Dog). I’m not sure if it really would have made a difference if Johnny Bravo Season One had been released with extras – I probably wouldn’t have watched them anyway as I’m already too “Johnny-ed” out as it is.
Final Comments
Overall, Johnny Bravo Season One is a show that grows better as you grow older – as long as you can overlook the egotistical side of Bravo that many could deem immature. Like cheese, age has worked in its favour; however, like that old chunk of blue cheese you spread on crackers, the show is only good in moderation (I would even go as far to say small doses). It can get repetitive and the characters may be flat, but in the end it’s a good, solid dose of the old school Cartoon Network shows we all know and love.
EB Games Expo 2011 will be getting it’s fair share of cosplay goodness with Cosplay Evolved, a cosplay contest brought to you by Madman Entertainment.
So all you crazy folk who love to dress up in costumes and play, head over to the EB Games Expo site and register for the competition by submitting a 60 second cosplay skit and keep your fingers crossed you make it into the finals.
Prizes include EB Games vouchers and Madman vouchers with the grand prize being a whopping $3000 EB Games Voucher.
Entries close on the 15th of September, 2011, so don’t hesitate cosplayers nation-wide, get cosplaying!
The EB Games Expo will be held on the 15th and 16th of October at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, to check out the contest and all the other happenings of the expo.
Today the official website for the upcoming Clamp Festival Tokyo 2011 has gone online, complete with event details and more.
The Clamp Festival celebrates the titular mangaka group Clamp and their incredibly popular catalogue of works. Fans in attendance will be able to attend live concerts, stage plays, seiyuu discussion panels and even live anime dub recordings, plus much more!
The line up of guests include many stars of Clamp anime, such as; Nana Mizuki, Naomi Tamura, Yui Makino, Ai Nakajima and many more.
The event will take place on 24th of September, 2011, in the Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo. Tickets will sell for 7,350 yen, with an added incentive of a free volume of Clamp manga to all who purchase a ticket to the event.
In breaking news, the internet movement Anonymous has announced they will no longer be involved in hacking and DDOS attacks as they’ve been known to do, but now will act as a political organization known as the ‘AnonParty’ and now have the numbers they need to reach their goals through legal means, and that they wish to gain the general public’s support. This move is certainly most unexpected, but its nice to see they plan to no longer hack their way to achieve their ideals, I’m sure PSN users will be happy about this!
Below is a transcript of the press release, and the video provided by Anonymous themselves.
The Announcement of the AnonParty Press Release
But now Anonymous is entering a new stage in its evolution. We are transitioning from attacking the system from the outside to restructuring it from the inside. There are people from all political parties that support Internet freedom and civil rights. Although these people support our goals, they were averse to the tactics we used to advance them. Today, we are founding an Anonymous-affiliated political party. Our representatives will advocate for the internet and civil rights overlooked by other political parties of the world. We will do so legally, for the benefit of all people.
We will not hack websites. We will not use DDOS attacks. Although these methods were effective in turning the media’s attention to civil rights violations when our numbers were small, and we had limited options, we now have the numbers to make a difference legally. We can now attain the support of the general public.
This political organization will begin a legitimate movement. Anonymous is now open to a wider variety of people, not just hackers and tech-savvy people on the Internet. All those who support Internet freedoms and individual rights will join our ranks.
When we become a political force, we will have a legitimate impact on public policy. We will span across more than just governments. We will be directly involved in the political process, while fighting the corrupt practices that pervade it, and will use it to support individual freedoms.
There will be a day when Anonymous will no longer have to wear masks to support freedom. On that day we will have won. The formation of this party brings us one step closer to seeing that day.
Awesomenauts is a platform/side-scrolling shoot em’ up inspired by those Saturday-morning cartoons from the 80′s for the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade from dtp entertainment AG and Ronimo Games. The game debuted at E3, and you can watch the trailer here. Oh yeah, and its gonna have one hell of a soundtrack! Today the first playable character has been announced: Froggy G. Froggy is a gangsta pimp, who just so happens to be a frog. What caught my attention is his humorous bio which will make any lover of hip-hop laugh. So who is Forggy G? This is all you need to know:
The amphibious B.I.G., also known as Nate Frogg or Froggy G, comes straight out of the marsh pond ghetto’s of planet Ribit IV. Growing up in the baddest part of town, struggle and incarceration surrounded Froggy from an early age. Taking part in his first swim-by shoot out as a tadpole, Froggy seemed destined for a life of crime and prison. After a bloody gang war with the neighbouring Toad-unit posse ended in a 5 year jail sentence, Froggy G vowed to end his gangsta ways. Instead, Froggy G started earning his keep as a beatboxing street dancer and rapper, hoping to be picked up by a major record label. Unfortunately, his tracks, titled “Pond Pimpin’”, “Froggin’ dirty” and “Motherfrogger bounce!” didn’t earn him much. In order to make some money, and then make some mo’, Froggy G became a hired gun. Combining his shoot-out experiences with lethal watery dance-moves and beatboxing techniques, Froggy G now spins and dashes across intergalactic battlefields.
-dtp entertainment AG and Ronimo Games press release.
Along with this, a trailer introducing the character has been released as well, with Froggy yelling catch phrases such as “Grandmaster Splash in tha house!”, “Can’t Touch This!” and “Pimpin!” With additional Awesomenauts will be revealed in new episodes of the Awesomenauts Spotlight within the next few weeks, its pretty safe to say that Awesomenauts is shaping up to be quite an Awesome game!
Have you spent countless hours playing Call of Duty only to have others tell you you’re wasting your time? Well here is a chance to prove them and anyone else in the world who thinks simiarly wrong! Last week it was announced that there will be an inaugural ‘Call of Duty XP’ event in Los Angels on September 1-3 2011. As a result, Activision are holding a qualifying event to send a team of 4 talented Australian gamers to participate in this incredible global event, where countries will battle for the prize pool worth $1million!
Who: Any competitive Call of Duty players over the age of 18 (in teams of 4 people)
Why: To represent Australia in the world’s biggest Call of Duty competition!
What: 32 teams will battle it out in single elimination rounds playing Call of Duty Black Ops in ‘Search and Destroy’ mode (with pre-determined load-out, for details see below) on the maps ‘Havana’ and ‘Summit’. The competition will be held on Xbox 360.
Registration: Register via email to [email protected] in teams of 4 (4 players on one email) including name, address, phone, email, DOB for each team member and most importantly, TEAM NAME. Please note that this event is ‘first in, first served’ and once all 32 teams have been secured no additional players will be accepted. Teams will be notified via return email if they are successful. If there are any teams that forfeit prior to the start of the event, the next teams on the list will be contacted regarding registration.
Prize: As if participating in such a huge event wasn’t enough, the victorious team will win an all expenses paid trip to LA to compete in the COD XP event. The prize includes flights, accommodation, transfers, meals and entry into the tournament. The winning team MUST be available to attend the event between August 31 and September 4.
It wouldn’t be a game without rules. So here is the break down of some important rules for the tournament:
General Rules: The tournament will consist of 32 teams of 4. Competitors will play on independent screens with headphones. The tournament will be held as a single elimiation format.
General Game Settings: Hardcore Mode and Headshots Only will be disabled. Allow Killcam, Allow Sprint, and Friendly Fire will all beenabled. Max Health and Health Regen will be set to normal settings. There will be No Killstreaks and No Perks. Spectating will be team only and custom classes will be used and are outlined below.
Match Settings: The match type will be Search and Destory with a time limit per round of 1.5 minutes. Bomber timer will be 45 seconds, plant time will be 5 seconds and defuse time will be 5 seconds. Multi Bomb is disabled and round switch will occur every round. Players will only be given ONE life and round limit will be 4. The first to win 4 rounds wins the match with overtime at 3 all.
Players will be able to choose from the following 10 primary weapons:
MP5K
Skorpion
Uzi
Spectre
M16
M14
Ak47
Commando
Stakeout
L96A1
The Pre Determined Load out is as follows:
Secondary weapon: M1911;
Grenade: Frag;
Tactical: Smoke/Willy Pete;
Equipment: None;
Perks: None.
Maps: Maps will change per round featuring:
Round 1: Havana
Round 2: Summit
Quarter Finals: Havana
Semi-Finals: Summit
Finals: Both Havana and Summit
Make sure you register and show the world Austrlaian gamers have what it takes.
After much fanfare from Sony about the introduction of comics to the Playstation Store and PSP, it appears that the addition of digital comics did little for Sony’s profit margin. After the digital comic book update of today (which includes Batman Beyond, Transformers, Ender’s Game, B.C. collections and a Suicide Girl comic) there will no longer be any more new comics coming to the store. However, “The Digital Comics Team will continue to work on bringing the comic service to other Sony devices.”
The digital comic book media type has always seemed promising. But, the difficulties associated with reading and looking at artwork on small screens have always been hard to surmount. What are your thoughts on the announcement? Are you disappointed that you can longer build your collection of comics on a portable Playstation device? If your looking for more info, go the Playstation Blog. If you want a different digital comic book distributor, try Graphic.ly.
As of today, Sega’s free-to-play fast-paced adventure game, Spiral Knights, has grown to one million player accounts world wide. With its official launch in April, and joining the Steam distribution service in June, it’s impressive to see so many people joining up in such a short time. I am glad to say that I myself have contribute to the one million fans and look forward to the updated content which Sega and Three Rings have accounced to honour the momentous occasion.
The development team is nothing short of extatic in this huge achievement. “During development, we hoped Spiral Knights’ classic action, handcrafted art, and co-operative nature would appeal to gamers of all stripes, and reaching this milestone is confirmation of our vision for the game,” said Daniel James, CEO of Three Rings. “Seeing a million eager knights forging ahead into the Clockworks, building guilds and our game community, is gratifying for our entire team.” The team at Sega and Three Rings can be sure to see a million more players in the near future.
From today, Spiral Knights’ can explore the latest dungeon located deep within the Clockworks, Ironclaw Munitions Factory. Gremlin enginners have recenlt banneded together to develop a weapon of incredible power know only has Project Roarmulus. Uniting together, Spiral Knights will need to set on a harrowing quest through the complex’s destructive devices in order to put an end to this horrible project. To help the Knights on their way there are a number of new weapons, including the Polaris and Supernova guns to help ensure success. Don’t fret if you were not one of the first million, there are sure to be another million members joining in the future, one of which can be you.
Spiral Knights is free to play for both Mac and Windows. You can find more information at the offical website or at Steam. Be sure to check it out.
