Otaku no Podcast » review

Otaku Call to Action: Help us raise our search rankings and stuff

Donald Burr — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:13:19 +0000

OK, it’s time once again for me to implore you, our listeners, to help us ~~take over the world, bwahahaahha!!!~~ improve our search rankings, get better publicity for the podcast, and make me very very happy in the process. It’s very simple to do, will only take you about 5 minutes tops, and is 100% free.

Review us in iTunes

Every time I look at our podcast page in iTunes, I get rather depressed because of the distinct lack of ratings/reviews. If you could rate the show, that would make me really happy, and would also increase our search rankings in iTunes. You don’t need to write a full-blown review; just a “star” rating is sufficient. (And I’m not even going to ask for a 5-star rating. Please be honest; I respect your honesty.) All you need is a free iTunes account

Remember that we actually have three podcast feeds: the main (combined video and audio) feed, as well as the audio-only and video-only feeds. If you can rate/review all three of them, fantastic! But if you can’t/don’t want to/are too lazy to rate all three feeds, then at the very least, please rate the main feed.

Main feed (combined video and audio)
Audio-only feed
Video-only feed

Review our app

The same applies whenever I look at the page for our app on the App Store. If you could rate and/or review the app, that would be great too, and would increase our search rankings, blah blah blah. You’ll need a free iTunes account, but you also will need to download the app (it’s free) before you can rate it.

Otaku no Podcast app page on the iOS App Store

Link to us from your blog/website

One of the factors that Google takes into account when determining search results is the number of other sites that link to you. So, if you have a blog or website, why not put a link to Otaku no Podcast somewhere on it? Either link to the main site (otakunopodcast.com), or if you have a particular episode or blog post or whatever that’s your favorite, link to that.

Give us some YouTube lovin’

By this, we mean subscribing to our YouTube channel (it’s free) and “liking” and/or commenting on our various videos.

Friend us on Facebook

“Liking” our Otaku no Podcast Facebook page helps as well.

And finally…

Fill out our listener survey

OK, this one isn’t about increasing our search ranking; this one is to help me keep this show afloat financially speaking. Listener surveys such as this are used by ad agencies to help determine where to place their advertising. As you are no doubt aware we have begun to receive sponsorship opportunities, and I am really working on making them as unobtrusive and interesting as possible. One way this helps is if advertisers have accurate information on the types of people who listen to this show; that way we get more relevant ads sent to us.

Note that you will never be tracked or identified individually, only in aggregate (i.e. as a sample group). The survey is being handled by our content distribution service RawVoice. If you are concerned, please read their privacy statement. I think it’s pretty clear cut.

If you are able to help out at all with any of this, you have my deepest and undying thanks. With your help, my ~~evil minions~~ fellow listeners, I shall soon be able to ~~take over the universe!!!~~ increase our visibility on the Internets.

Secret Santa Project Review: Twin Spica

Donald Burr — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 06:50:58 +0000

On January 28, 1986, a stunned America watched helplessly as the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after liftoff. I was a grade school student at the time, and I remember that this disaster hit us particularly hard due to the presence of Christa McAuliffe, the first member of the Teacher in Space Project, on the Challenger crew. It took years for the American space program – and the American nation – to recover, and some might argue that even today it still hasn’t fully returned to its pre-Challenger level of vitality.

I couldn’t help but think of this tragic event as I watched the opening moments of Twin Spica, an anime based on the seinen manga written and illustrated by Kou Yaginuma. It tells the story of a near-future Japan entering the space race with its first manned mission, Shishigou (Lion), which ends in disaster when the rocket’s booster catches fire shortly after launch.

In addition to the loss of the astronauts, the accident caused a great many civilian casualties, as the debris from the destroyed rocket crashed into the town of Yuigahama, causing much devastation and loss of life among the townsfolk. The effects of this are still being felt even five years after the disaster, where our story begins, as the city is still undergoing reconstruction, the townsfolk are still dealing with the loss of friends and loved ones, and the space program has undergone many public inquiries and setbacks.

The story focuses on young Asumi Kamogawa, whose mother received grave injuries during the Shishigou accident, causing her to fall into a coma and eventually die. One day she meets a strange man wearing a lion mask, who soon reveals himself to be a ghost and calls himself Lion-san. They strike up a friendship, and he comforts Asumi during these troubled times. We learn soon that he is the spirit of one of the Shishigou astronauts, and as their friendship deepens, he begins to tell her stories of space. It is these stories combined with a desire to revisit her mother’s spirit, which Asumi believes has turned into a star in space, that make Asumi decide she wants to become an astronaut. Flash forward several years. Asumi has graduated middle school and is preparing to take high school entrance exams. Meanwhile, the Japanese government, continuing their recovery from the disaster, forms the Tokyo Space Academy, a vocational school dedicated to training a new generation of students in the space sciences. The anime follows Asumi and the new friends she makes at the academy as they struggle towards their goal of graduating from the space academy. The series takes its name from the binary star Spica, Asumi’s favorite star.

The story is well written and very approachable. Even though it’s billed as a seinen (mainly targeted at a middle-aged male audience) I think it’s approachable from almost any age or gender. It’s deep and complex but not overly so. The characters are believable (with the possible exception of Lion-san, that is). Asumi, as the main heroine as it were, is neither one of those passive damsel-in-distress types, nor is she one of those superwomen who can take anything without so much as breaking a nail. She, like the rest of us, has her dreams, her worries, and her flaws. The same goes for the rest of the characters. There are no age-inappropriate moments either (no ecchi, etc.). It’s a very emotional, heartfelt story that will have you feeling every nuance of the characters’ lives, from the exhilaration of success to the terrible sadness and loss from the devastation caused by the Shishigou disaster. I really felt that I got to know the characters this way, even the ancillary ones. The story also gets high marks for technical accuracy. It contains quite a few references to actual events in space exploration history. For example, the harmonica that Lion-san is seen playing is a Hohner Little Lady, one of the first instruments to fly in space. Also, the nickname Asumi is given by one of her classmates, Seagull, is the callsign used by the first female astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova.

The artwork and animation is about average – nothing to write home about, but not too bad either. The characters and environments are drawn in rather muted colors and there is a general lack of detail in the scenes, their clothing, etc., which some might find appealing and others not. It’s rather reminiscent of a early to mid 90s Studio Ghibli release. One thing that did irritate me somewhat is the way Asumi was drawn, with rosy red cheeks. I’m not sure why it bugged me so; I just kept having this sensation of “that looks… wrong.” She is the only character drawn in this manner, and honestly she would’ve looked just fine without those rosy cheeks.

Music and sound is also “meh.” It mostly consists of slow lyrical guitar, piano, and/or harmonica pieces, and the occasional orchestral interlude when something particularly dramatic happens. In other words, it’s okay, but again nothing to write home about. I found the opening theme, “Venus Say” by the J-pop group Buzy, to be an odd choice however; this fast-paced poppy tune seemed rather out of place with the other slower paced music, and the general slow pace of the series as a whole. Voice acting is on the whole well done.

The show is, as I mentioned before, slowly paced. You won’t like this show if you’re an action junkie. There aren’t any explosions or giant space battles or giant robots either. (Well, aside from the explosion of the Shishigou rocket that is) Again, not for the action junkie. And if you’re expecting lots of cool space action — space stations, EVA walks, that sort of thing — you’ll be sorely disappointed. This ain’t no Planetes or Moonlight Mile. Although it’s much less gritty, and a great deal more optimistic than either of those series, which is a plus.

I also got rather irritated by the story recaps placed at the beginning of every episode. (“Hi! I’m Asumi Kamogawa, and I want to be a rocket driver when I grow up!”) These shorts were very cute but repetitive and annoying. I felt like I was being beaten over the head repeatedly with a steel bar wrapped in a layer of feather pillows.

Most of all, though, the series’ ending left me rather disappointed and wanting for more. When the series ended in 2004, only 30 chapters of the manga were written. As a result the ending was, in my opinion, rather weak and ambiguous, and left me generally unsatisfied. In particular, we learn very little of some of the characters’ back stories, especially the enigmatic and interesting Marika Ukita. (The manga ended just this year.)

Even with all of these deficiencies, Twin Spica is still a very well done series, with its main strength being the characters and how they interact with each other and work together. If this intrigues you, you can check it out yourself by downloading the fansubs. Vertical announced at their New York Anime Festival 2009 panel that it has licensed the Twin Spica manga for a “summer 2010″ release date (you can pre-order it now from Amazon.com; they are showing a release date of May 4, 2010). There is also a Japanese live action adaptation that was broadcast Summer 2009.

Story: ★★★★☆

Characters: ★★★★★

Animation/Artwork: ★★★½☆

Music ★★★½☆

Overall: ★★★★☆

Otaku no Podcast will be participating in the Anime Secret Santa project

Donald Burr — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:58:38 +0000

Remember the Anime Secret Santa project that the folks over at Reverse Thieves cooked up? Well I’ve got good news – Otaku no Podcast will be participating! Look for our Anime Secret Santa review to hit both blog and podcast shortly after Christmas. This should be interesting – and fun! Related posts: The Reverse Thieves announce the 2011 Anime Secret Santa project! Here’s an opportunity to review anime – Secret Santa style! It’s Secret Santa time once again!

J-List is a peaceful island of Japanese pop culture for you

Here’s an opportunity to review anime – Secret Santa style!

Donald Burr — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:54:57 +0000

This comes by way of a tweet from the cool guys over at Tokyo Tower WAWL, who pointed us to a post over at the Reverse Thieves blog with a rather cool and unique idea for a group anime review writing project. (Sorry if this doesn’t match up to my usually scintillating level of writing prowess, it’s past midnight and we’ve had a long day of sightseeing around the greater Las Vegas Nevada area. In other words, I’m dead tired.)

Basically the idea is this: get together a whole bunch of anime fans with blogs/websites, have them throw the names of a bunch of anime series into a hat (in this case, the hat is the anime community website MyAnimeList), and have everybody review a random anime series from that hat – Secret Santa style.

Not familiar with this whole Secret Santa thing? C’mon, I’m sure you’ve heard of it, it’s probably been used as a plot device in at least one or two Christmas-themed anime episodes that you’ve probably seen. Okay fine, I’ll explain it anyway. Basically it’s a fairly common custom in Western countries, where a group of friends, family members, coworkers, etc. randomly choose a person from among the group to buy a gift for, and they give that gift to them in secret. (Starting to sound familiar to you? Thought so…)

Anyway, here’s the skinny: sign up for a MyAnimeList account (they’re free), and fill it with the anime that you have seen, then email your name, blog/website url, and link to your MyAnimeList page to the folks at Reverse Thieves. Once all entries are in, they will then randomly pair people together, at which point you get to review one of the animes on their list, and they get to review one of the ones on your list.

Their reasoning behind why they are doing this is threefold: mixing up what you watch and review on your blog, getting other people to watch things you feel deserve more attention, and facilitating a way to interact with other bloggers thus creating possibilities for cross blog readership, also it fosters an environment to try other cross blog experiments. Also, they hope to encourage reviewers to be more willing to step outside of their “comfort zones” and try out series that they may not normally be into – which is always a good thing if you ask me.

Again, more details can be found on the Reverse Thieves blog post about this project.

Better hurry tho – you only have until November 8th to get your entries in!

Of course, I will be participating, so keep an eye on the Otaku no Podcast site to see which series I end up reviewing. This should be… interesting! (And fun!)

PC dating-sim games @ J-List