Linkblog: Sakuga and Spiderman

Apologies for the lack of posting. I have been really busy in real life, and should continue to be for another week or so. By next month, we'll be back on track. Till then, LINKBLOG!


Anime
Sakuga: also known as the cool part of your anime. This year's Anime Central convention had a panel on the subject called "That Scene Was Awesome: Japan's Iron Animators," now viewable online. [Crunchyroll]

Cheap otaku rejoice - Eden of the East Movie 1: The King of Eden is now streaming on Netflix, as well as the original series. [Netflix]

Manga
Kaoru Mori drawing a page of A Bride's Story. Oh my god. [Comic Natalie]

First T-pop license rescue: Vertical, of all people, to publish the GTO prequel and sequel, with the original series in the works for a potential reissue. [ANN]

Blogging
Erica Friedman on Revolutionary Girl Utena [Okazu]

And speaking of Okazu, Kate Dacey has a review of Rica 'tte Kanji!? [Manga Critic]

Fun
Ei-ei-ei-WOW! It's SUPAIIDAMAN! [Marvel]

More Linkblog: Daicon

Believe it or not, these two short films mark GAINAX's anime debut. They were created for the japanese sci-fi convention Daicon; the radish in III is a Daikon radish, get it? Daicon IV is the obvious masterpiece of the two, with eye-popping animation and mountains of inspired in-jokes. As Justin Sevakis says in his Buried Treasure column, "In this short five minutes, the entire essence of anime and its appeal can be found. For an otaku, it feels like you're seeing God." The two shorts have never had an official home video release due to numerous copyright infringements, namely the use of the Electric Light Orchestra song Twilight, but is easily tracked down on the interwebs. Note that I do not in any way support fansubs, but since this is the only way to watch this anime, I'll make an exception.

Linkblog: Hideaki Anno Teaches Grade School

 As every single reader of this blog better darn well know by know, I love Evangelion, and appreciate the work of Hideaki Anno. One day, while surfing the net, I came across this old NHK special, in which Anno, shortly after leaving the anime industry and at the height of his depression, teaches a Grade 6 class the basics of animation. One may chuckle at the thought, yet the special gives a surprising level of new insight into this important creative figure. A worthwhile watch for whomever enjoys Eva.

(note: this is the beginning of a series of GAINAX-themed link blogs building up to the official english release of Evangelion 2.22. My review of this movie will probably be about a month late do to some preoccupation at the time of release, so take this as an apology)