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I’m a big fan of Pink Floyd. Their unique blend of cool psychedelic rock opera type sound and insightful, philosophical lyrics really appeals to me. Sadly I’ve never made it to one of their legendary live shows, and, being a child of the 80s, I missed them during their heyday; but was able to discover them thanks to classic rock (yay KTYD!).
I’m also a big fan of classic 8-bit video gaming, but unlike Pink Floyd, I was there during its heyday. When my friends got their Atari 2600s, I was always finding excuses to go over to their houses for a visit, and eventually my parents got me one of my own (although sadly it wasn’t the “cool guy” 2600 but the janky Sears Tele-Games clone. Still, it played Atari 2600 cartridges so it was OK.) Of course I also witnessed firsthand the Great Video Game Crash of ’83. (I even owned a few of the craptacular titles that, thanks to market saturation, caused the crash.) When the Nintendo Entertainment System revitalized the industry several years later, I didn’t get one (by then I’d moved onto my true love – computers!), but many of my friends did, again prompting me to invent clever excuses to go over and invade their homes. Many of the NES staples remain my favorites to this very day, and thankfully I can play them thanks to the magic of emulation. Yay!
Who would’ve thought that there would be some way of combining those two? (hey! you got your chocolate in my peanut butter…) Well, this is exactly what one fan, video game programmer Brad Smith, did. And thus was born MOON8. He describes it as something that Pink Floyd might have created had they written The Dark Side of the Moon for the NES instead of a rock band. And I have to say: it works. If you’re even remotely familiar with Dark Side, you’ll recognize it right away. Amazing how legitimate, recognizable art can be created even with the limited hardware capabilities of something like the NES.
So go download it today. It’s available in both MP3 and FLAC format. And, for you experimental types, he has even made the FamiTracker source files available, so you can tweak/remix/whatever to your heart’s content. (He does request that if you make your own modifications, that you send them to him).
Looking for some new anime to buy and watch? Do you need to find that “one more disk” to complete that box set you’ve been working on collecting for the last 5 years? (gotta catch ’em all…) Are you bummed that you didn’t make it back to the dealers room on the last day of con to buy that series you really had your eye on? Maybe you’re into manga, and are looking to buy some of that as well?
We here at Otaku no Podcast are proud to present our latest enhancement to the already super crowded and confusing Otaku no Podcast website, that aims to help you do all of the above, and more. Introducing the all-new Otaku no Podcast AnimeFinder™ (patent pending), a handy dandy widget thingie that harnesses the awesome technology and inventory of Amazon.com, quite possibly Earth’s biggest online store, to connect you with the item(s) you seek, and allows you to buy them. Amazon has a truly mind-boggling selection of goods, from anime DVDs (even those newfangled Blu-ray thingies), soundtracks, manga, character goods, artbooks, and all manner of other stuff that’d make any otaku drool with envy. Their prices are often fairly competitive too (and let’s face it, if you live in some hick town without any good anime stores, any port in a storm, right?) and they ship practically anywhere, at fairly decent rates to boot. And, oh yeah, if you buy through us, we get a small cut of the proceeds. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, and the money helps keep the lights on and the bits flowing. Which, of course, is much appreciated.
Pro tip – you can use this to search for and buy things other than anime. So the next time you need some new shiny bit of computer equipment, or if you suddenly have the strong urge to completely upgrade your home theater system, keep that in mind, eh? 😉
Us gaijin anime/manga/Japanese culture fans are presented with a problem, in that these works are typically written with the Japanese in mind. In other words, they are written in the Japanese language. And, I don’t know about you, but as far as languages are concerned, I probably know more Klingon than I do Japanese. (Qapla’!)
Now, this usually isn’t a problem where anime and manga are concerned, because (with any luck) your work of choice has already been (or soon will be) licensed and translated into your language of choice. But what about Japanese websites? How are you supposed to read about the latest and greatest anime, or what your favorite mangaka is up to these days? Or read the latest scintillating tales of Japanese life or insights into Japanese culture provided by your favorite random Japanese blogger? Or even navigate the wild and wonderful world of popular otaku hangouts like Nico Nico Douga or 2ch?
Sure, there are computer-based tools such as Google Translate, and they do the job… sort of… often producing something barely recognizable as some wacked-out form of English that a febrile 5-year-old would write. (But they’re usually pretty funny. Try it sometime.) Maybe barely good enough to get the gist of what the website was trying to say, if that. Also, some of these tools make a real mess of a website’s HTML code, turning a normally pretty and functional website into a jumble of nasty. And on particularly complex websites, they may not even work at all.
So what is a poor linguistically-challenged otaku foreigner to do?
Enter Rikai Browser, a free (yes, you read correctly, FREE!) browser for the iPad. Based on the same WebKit engine that powers the iPad’s native Safari browser, Rikai adds a special twist: when browsing a Japanese website, simply long-press on a word or kanji character, tap the “Rikai” button (“Rikai” is Japanese for “understand” – aha!), and the program will instantly display its English translation. It also remembers your search history and what pages you saw them on, making study and review a snap. (Yet another example of why you, the otaku, should get excited about devices such as the iPad.)
If you own an iPhone or iPod touch, and are trying to learn Japanese, you might also want to check out their Japanese Flash app. (It’ll work on the iPad as well.) This “flash card” style app makes it easy and fun to learn your Japanese words and phrases. Unfortunately this one is not free, but at $6.99 isn’t horribly expensive, and might be worth it to you if you’re struggling with your Japanese studies.
Not yet part of the iCollective? (Resistance is futile…) No problem, as long as you use the Firefox web browser, thanks to the almost as cool (and equally as free) Rikaichan Firefox plugin. Install this bad boy and soon you too will be translating Japanese characters like nobody’s business, by just hovering your cursor over the word/characters you would like to have translated. This tool, as well as the Firefox browser it runs on, is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
And before you Google Chrome users pull out your pitchforks and boiling oil, calm down, we’ve got something for you too – Rikaikun is essentially a port of the aforementioned Rikaichain to the Google Chrome plugin architecture, and works on any OS that Chrome runs on (namely Windows, Mac and Linux). Like Rikaichain, simply hover over the word/characters in question and up will pop a translation.
These tools are by no means perfect, but still, until someone invents the Universal Translator (or we discover that Babel Fish do in fact exist), these are certainly helpful tools that any otaku worth his or her salt should have in their linguistic toolbox.
If you live in or near a city of reasonable size, odds are that it has a fairly sizable Japanese-American population, and that it would have some form of Japantown. Perhaps it’s nothing more than a collection of several Japanese or Asian markets or restaurants along a particular city block, or perhaps it’s a huge section of town completely devoted to Japanese-American businesses. Some of the more famous are San Francisco’s and San Jose’s Japantowns (San Francisco’s being one of my favorites), and Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo (which I still haven’t made it to, despite the frequent protestation of one of my co-hosts). Whatever your town has, though, it should be your sworn duty as otaku to visit such a place. Because you will find all manner of things that will interest you there — anime and related goods (Japan Video and Media remains one of my favorite stores to find this kind of thing, and I make it a point to stop in whenever I’m in the area); Jpop, Jrock, and other Japanese music; Japanese household goods; cultural items (decoration, bonsai, etc.); clothing (get your cosplay on!); and, most importantly, FOOD!!! It’s the next best thing to visiting Japan, and is a hell of a lot cheaper (maybe…)
The TJX crew recently visited Markham, Ontario‘s J-Town (map) and shot this nifty little video in which they sample such delicacies as yakitori (one of my favorites), Mitsuya Cider “ALL ZERO,”onigiri (I have fond memories of these – during our Japan trip in 2004, most nights we’d pick up a pair of these at a konbini and they’d serve as our breakfast the next morning); and “korokke,” or croquettes.
Be warned tho – watching this is gonna make you hungry! (A trip to your local Japantown should take care of that though!)
Nico Nico Douga is a sort of Japanese YouTube, and is one of the most popular video sharing sites in Japan. It’s a hotbed of otaku-related video sharing activity, and you can often find fun fan-made anime- or video game-related video content on it. (There’s tons of other weird, wild and wacky Japan-related video content on there as well, of course.) One unique feature that NND has over other similar sites is that when a user comments on a video, rather than the comments appearing as one long list below the video, comments are instead overlaid directly on top of the video, and furthermore can be synced to a particular time in the video. The whole effect is rather akin to VH1’s Pop Up Videos.
While the website is in Japanese, it isn’t really that difficult to find and view videos. (“see shiny looking video thumbnail? click on it.”) Registering for the site is another matter entirely, and unless you have a fairly good grasp of the Japanese writing system, you’re out of luck. Until now, that is. This excellent video from the folks over at Ichiro-Style (a site that I honestly hadn’t heard of until today) shows you the step-by-step procedure for registering, including translations of all the prompts. Wonderful!
So why not head over to Nico Nico Douga today and try it out for yourself? Registration is free (there are paid Premium accounts that give you certain unknown added benefits, but registering for one of those requires a Japanese credit card). All you need is a working e-mail address where you can receive the validation e-mail. Of course, if you’re afraid of spam or whatnot, you don’t have to use your regular e-mail address; you can always set up a free Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, or heck, even a Hotmail account.
The anime and manga (and related) industries have always had an uneasy relationship with fansubbers — the people that take their works and release fan-made translations of them in non-Japanese languages. While technically illegal, most companies have traditionally turned a blind eye toward these groups, realizing that their actions help spread the popularity of their product. Some companies have even openly acknowledged (but not necessarily gave their support to) the efforts of fansubbers; for example, in the promotional video for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kadokawa and Bandai specifically thanked fansub watchers and asked them to purchase the official release. Unfortunately, as of late, there are an increasing number of companies that have gone the opposite route, decrying and vilifying the fansub community, actively monitoring the activities of fansubbers and people who download fansubs and sending them takedown notices. Some have even gone so far as to take legal action against fansubbers. We talked at great length about this in a recent episode of the podcast.
Well, one company has taken a rather unique and (IMHO) refreshing approach to the matter — actually working with the pirates!!! (Shocking, I know.) Minori, the Japanese visual novel company famous for such titles as Wind – A Breath of Heart and Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two (both of which have been adapted into rather successful anime franchises), discovered that the fansub group No Name Losers (NNL) was working on an unauthorized translation of Ef. Like most tales, this one started with them sending out a cease and desist letter. But unlike most C&D’s, Minori added an interesting little “extra” at the end of theirs:
If you wish to obtain an official license from us, handle the ratings issue, follow our requested procedures and sell and/or distribute [our software] within English-speaking circles, then there is the possibility of your visiting our office and discussing with us a license agreement. We would look forward to people following the proper procedure for getting things done.
Well, it must have worked, because on July 14, Minori posted the following on their website:
Starting on July 14, 2010, we at minori have started constructive negotiations with the people at NO NAME LOSERS. We don’t know what will result from this, but we would like to report our results to everyone in the not-too-distant future. For now, please wait for the time being. Thanks.
They apparently sent a proposal to NNL on July 17, with a response deadline of July 21; however, NNL sent their response ahead of the deadline.
Unfortunately, as one report points out, it’s highly unlikely that NNL could come up with the money to pay the (no doubt large) licensing fee; however, it’s still encouraging to see a company that is willing to sit down with “the little guy” instead of squashing him under their bootheels. Really, both sides here deserve a lot of credit; Minori, for being willing to face their sworn enemies and work with them, instead of taking the usual knee-jerk legal action; and NNL, for being willing to sit down with “The Man(TM)” and work things out, instead of being idiots and mouthing off at them. (They also took their website down and have apparently ceased distributing their fan translation, in compliance with the C&D letter.)
Here’s hoping that other companies sit up and take notice!
NOTE: This is a 2-part episode. Be sure and download both parts! (In particular, most iTunes installations are set to only download the latest episode if it detects more than one new episode is available.)
Here at long last is our Anime Expo 2010 review episode of doom. I bring you but a small sampling of the news that came out of the convention, as well as our famous Panel Discussions of Doom(TM) where we talked about AX, what we liked, what we didn’t like, and our thoughts on the event. We’ve also got an interview with Ejen Chuang of Cosplay in America who recently put out an awesome cosplay photography book. And, as always, we bring you the freshest, coolest anime picks.
NOTE: This is a 2-part episode. Be sure and download both parts! (In particular, most iTunes installations are set to only download the latest episode if it detects more than one new episode is available.)
Here at long last is our Anime Expo 2010 review episode of doom. I bring you but a small sampling of the news that came out of the convention, as well as our famous Panel Discussions of Doom(TM) where we talked about AX, what we liked, what we didn’t like, and our thoughts on the event. We’ve also got an interview with Ejen Chuang of Cosplay in America who recently put out an awesome cosplay photography book. And, as always, we bring you the freshest, coolest anime picks.
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