Anime World Order Show # 44 - Unrelenting Optimism and Happiness with Joe Vecchio

After over a week, our blog access has been restored! This week, the theme is unbridled optimism in the face of adversity, so who better to have on as a guest than veteran anime fan and Corn Pone Flicks personality Joe Vecchio. Daryl reviews Studio 4C's 2004 theatrical film Mind Game, Gerald weighs in with his thoughts on Vertical Inc's release of the Osamu Tezuka manga Ode to Kirihito, and Clarissa feels all warm and fuzzy inside as she shares with us her thoughts on ADV's manga release of Yotsuba&!

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Introduction (0:00 - 31:38)
We talk to Joe about how he first discovered anime and manga as well as his experience in Japan circa the 1980s, as well as his other fandom experiences such as conventions and clubs, such as JACO and the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization. The more we hear about the C/FO, the more we realize that the "fantasy" really meant [WORD OMITTED IN AN ATTEMPT TO ENSURE THOSE "PEOPLE" DON'T FIND OUR SITE VIA GOOGLE SEARCHES] all along. In the emails, one guy is quite upset that we said mean things about Kanon. We read his pro-Kanon counterargument in its entirety. What are our favorite comedy anime/manga? Note that Daryl's assessment was off the mark, as UY encodes are quite readily available indeed. Also, Gerald's recommendation for Akitaro Daichi just shows how much he secretly loves Fruits Basket after all.

Let's News! (31:38 - 1:07:52)
The upcoming Super Robot Taisen W title for the DS which is set for a Japanese release in March is going to include Go Lion! And also Detonator Orgun. If it weren't for the fact that US anime companies are playa haters (that means they despise the beach--The More You Know), we'd swear they were catering to the US audience. You know, the twenty people or so who bought the GBA titles (not because only 20 people care about the series, but they only printed 20 copies of both games...total). A new Dr. Slump movie's in the works, and the American Anime Awards is um...yeah. Listen to our piece on it, then read this interview. Also, vote for Apocalypse Zero as the best manga, because it is. And even though we're over three weeks late to talking about it, Animecons.com has put up their list of the largest anime cons in North America for 2006. Want to know if there's anime cons in your area or what date a con's happening? Check that site. Also, who's scarier: Apollo Smile (best known nowadays as being Ulala from Space Channel 5) or Danger Girl? Okay fine, so that isn't news, but eventually we just start talking about...stuff.

Promo: Anime and Television in Toronto (35:46 - 36:20)
While we doubt that they're really the Internet's first anime and television podcast, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt. The dread spectre of moe has infected Canuckistan, and so you can find out all about their maid cafe excursions and thoughts on Kanon. What day shall we listen to such a podcast? Hmm, I think maybe, perhaps..."ATTO DAY"! See what I did there? Huh? You see it? Huh? See it? SEE IT?

Promo: Blood, Crack, and Anime (1:07:52 - 1:08:44)
Taking a cue from the Mike Dent school of podcasting, this promo is done entirely by an unintelligible robot voice. Anyway, due to overwhelming schoolwork (we know the feeling), these guys probably won't have new episodes until February. Still, there's the old episodes. Man, everyone has more promos than we do...

Review: Mind Game (1:08:44 - 1:35:05)
Daryl, being a fan of Studio 4C, feels obligated to inform the world that yes, this movie exists. For you see, despite receiving lots of critical praise and having a Region 2 DVD release with proper English subtitles on it, nobody in America has bothered to license it for release. They're too busy releasing stuff like Sousei no Aquarion instead or whatever. It wasn't until starting this podcast that Daryl realized how good a year 2004 was for anime, and Mind Game is certainly one to be added to the list. Download links for Mind Game are actually not that hard to come by, so it's probably not necessary to link one here.

• Benjamin Ettinger's most excellent Mind Game-related blog posts
• Also from Ben: a list of winners of the Noburo Ofuji award - notice that there are years in which the award is not given; this is because nothing considered worthy enough to win came out that year, though I think the 2005 award went to a Production IG short entitled Tough Guy! which probably never got fansubbed by anyone
• Myspace page for The Boredoms

Promo: R5 Central (1:35:05 - 1:36:34)
It just dawned on us that the promo to episode ratio for R5 Central is slightly greater than 1:2. Notice the complete and total lack of a joke to this, despite it being what it is. It was after hearing this that Daryl realized that Mike really should be featured in American Otaku People Retsuden.

Review: Ode to Kirihito (manga) (1:36:34 - 1:54:32)
In what has got to be the best deal for manga currently available, Gerald reviews this 832 page tale from Osamu Tezuka, available from Vertical Inc who also released the English-language edition of Buddha. This costs $25 (or about $15 if you buy it from Amazon), and on top of that it's a really interesting medical-based thriller...and then some. Vertical's next major manga release is going to be Towards the Terra. Here's hoping we can actually FIND that one in order to do a review of it once it's out; Clarissa still can't find Kirihito in local stores, and Daryl had to order it online.

Promo: Dave and Joel's Fast Karate for the Gentleman (1:54:32 - 1:55:38)
That Azumanga Daioh background music was deemed to be highly appropriate for ushering in the next segment. Still, you should listen to this show anyway because they destroyed Koi Kaze with a flaming baseball bat and made a video.

Review: Yotsuba&! (manga) (1:55:38 - 2:18:08)
Clarissa reviews the first three volumes of this manga by Azumanga Daioh creator Kiyohiko Azuma. This is good, because Daryl cannot pronounce "Yotsuba." Somehow, despite running in a manga full of creepy artificially cute pedobait, both Azumanga Daioh and Yotsuba&! are like, actually good. If only we'd get more volumes of it released in English so that we wouldn't have to download quite as many scans. Then again, it's not like Azumanga Daioh was the gigantic seller it should have been, given the perceived size (and definite loudness) of its Internet following.

Closing (2:18:08 - 2:26:25)
Hey! Hey! Want to be famous...IN JAPAN? Are YOU the number one otaku on the block? Patrick "As Seen on Television" Macias is writing a followup book to Otaku in USA, and he wants to hear from anyone who believes they are truly Legendary Otaku. In other words, not people like any of the three of us. We're far too casual. We mean the devoted. The ones who mean serious business. Actually, we could probably just choose anyone from Florida, provided they're not too crazy. Wait, never mind. Daryl nominates R5 Central.

Next week, Daryl attempts to make up for his lack of comics reviews by reviewing two titles by the founder of gekiga, Yoshihiro Tatsumi: The Push Man and Other Stories as well as Abandon the Old in Tokyo, available from Drawn and Quarterly. Gerald's finally finished watching Voltes V, which is the followup to Combattler V. Clarissa wanted to review that one but it got stolen from her, so in retaliation she's stealing one from Gerald by reviewing Black Lagoon, the show that teaches the valuable lesson of "if you shoot enough people, then nobody will notice how crappy your tattoo is."

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