Here is a link to an interesting Lain site, Thought Experiments Lain. It has spoilers galore, and a good explanation of the computer, literary and historical references in the anime. Don't visit the site unless youve seen Lain in its entierty and are trying to make some sense of it.
Here's a link to my little' 'ol Lain Gallery. With plenty of pretty pictures for you to look at.
I was also at otakon, but I went to the bandai panel instead of Lain. Got an interview with the guys for atanime.com too. (eep, shameless self promotion!) BTW, did anyone else who was there think that BOA's Performace at otakon was sub-par?
Personally, I loved this anime and found it intriguing. Yes, I do think it is VERY pretencious, but that just part of the experience. When doing an anime like this, its impossible to avoid it. Eva was amazingly pretencious too. Lain is currently my favorite set of anime dvds, and if you havnt seen it yet, I honestly reccomend checking it out.
I think its on disc 2, Lain's uber-computer has a greenish-bubbly-liquid that she uses for coolant. Yet another example of anime showing future technology.. er.. okay, so at least 1 example ^^;
This has always bugged me. Anime is not a genre, it is a medium, and like in any medium, there is good anime and bad anime. Much anime is poorly scripted pure fanservice trite (ie dragonball, battle athletes, love hina, etc) but on the other end of the spectrum are the compelling stories, and intellectual and emotional challenges (ie. evangelion, lain, grave of the fireflies)
Just as there are quality hollywood films and crap hollywood films, so to is with anime. I know several otaku fanboys that will buy any anime that comes off the shelf.. Ive become more picky in my age and have tried to thin out some of the crap.
The previous poster called all anime "pure fantasy," which I find considerably odd due to the numbers of anime based on true stories. You go watch grave of the fireflies without tearing up, yes its based on a true story, and you can come back to me about anime being pure fantasy. (and besides, pure fantasy isnt a -bad- thing.) Correct me if im wrong, but hasnt fantasy been part of being a geek for decades? I miss those 7+ hour long dungeons and dragons binges we used to go on.
[Otaku Mode Off]
oh well, while im posting check out atanime.com, an anime mag I write for.
oh yeah, I wonder why slashdot didnt post about george lucas being in negotiation w/ anime companies in japan? cant seem to find the link now. bah.
I hate to sound like the "total otaku," But americanization of anime is generally viewed as a "problem." Most of the people know that anime is from japan, and it wouldnt kill them to pick up some of the japanese culture when viewing their work.
I'm Definatly not saying that direct literal translations are a requirement. The "Tastes like water" translated to "Tastes like dog piss" line in mononoke is a good example of proper translation. However, I am a rather large fan of linear notes and it wouldnt kill the viewers to learn about the concept of something as basic as a sensei or sempai.
That said, feel free to smack me for being otaku-ish.
Im pretty sure there newest series isnt karekano.. karekano has been finished for a while:)
heres a cut-paste from animeondvd.com
50 point font: rumor (05:48 PM EST): Regular reader "Ferricide" wrote in today with some secondhand news. According to a friend who is good friends with someone at Gainax, volumes 2 - 6 of FLCL will contain English subtitles. This is essentially an experiment for them, and if it proves well for them, they'll do this with future releases. I personally find this to be a very good thing and I honestly think it will have a very minimal impact on the domestic region 1 market. Very few people, even with the allure of English subtitles, are willing to shell out 50$+ for one OVA episode, or 30 minutes of animation. The people who will do this are the ones who were doing it previously for things that didn't have subtitles. There will be more people who will join them on these titles, but the overall impact I believe will be minimal. That said, I truly hope this trend continues and that those who are interested in seeing it continue head over to the Gainax site, load up that English section, and send them a polite email telling them they've got your business. Besides, how many of us will then pick up something like FLCL domestically as well? I'm snaring the R2 discs and will pick up the eventual R1 release when it gets acquired. Anime fans are suckers I tell ya!
First off I'd like to lay down a little known fact about the anime biz.
Dubs sell more. Far more. Most of the US based anime companies revenue comes from dubbed vhs tapes that people buy on a whim. I.E. "Wow this looks cool ill think ill buy it." The devoted anime fans who buy an entire series of subtitled tapes make up a fraction of the market, and a large percentage of these people have already moved exlusively to dvd. Although many people argue that if they carried more subtitled tapes they would sell more.. but this is a cyclical argument.. and i would wager that most people are too lazy to want to read their tapes. (dubs suck btw)
Subtitled anime on dvd is a good thing for the consumer and for the anime companies. Im not sure here, but i think its cheaper to mass produce dvds then it is to produce vhs. The only people this is going to hurt are the small comic/anime shops where most of there revenue comes from tape sales. These stores cannot compete with Online DVD sellers So they usually dont carry dvds. This sucks for a good number of my friends as this move is likely to destroy their livelyhood. (I warned them that this was coming...)
Most individuals who buy subtitled anime are also the kind who want the best quality and are more likely to have a dvd player. I made the move to DVD a while back and i havnt been disappointed with the quality of anime titles available. Ill put the obligitory link to animeondvd.com here.
This shouldnt suprise anyone, and is a good thing for me as a devoted anime fan and someone commited to dvd.
btw, im pretty sure that none of the anime companies are members of the MPAA.. maybe pioneer.
On a region-encoding note.. Gianax, the company that made Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gunbuster is now releasing their newest series on dvd in japan w/ english subtitles. Wonder what that could mean?:)
Im currently writing dvd reviews for atanime.com and a few buddies and myself run #animeondvd efnet, so stop by if you feel like talking.
Okay fine, no oscars for web movies. That shouldnt suprise any of us. The acadamy has a vested intrest in keeping thier form of distribution alive. They dont give oscars to tv movies.. even the good ones.
So whats the answer? The internet film community (atomfilms et al.) should form their own academy and make their own awards glorifying themselves much like the academy does. Problem solved, everyone happy. Yay ^_^
Obscure? How about armor hunter mellowlink.. but thats really -really- obscure and you probably wont find it:)
Try Maze Mega burst space, Cowboy bebop, catnapped, iria.. and if you get the chance pick up Uretsi yatsura movie 2 beautiful dreamer. Or you could wait for karekano, the new series by hideaki anno, the guy who did evangelion.
The evangelion movies will be coming out soon, and there is so much "depth" and "deep meaning" in that thing that you can study it for years and come up with a dozen different interpretation. Its extremely pretencious. Alot of people claim that it was made to piss off the fans, as the movie is more cryptic then the rest of the series combined. But its great eyecandy and fun to think about:)
3.I feel the girl characters are stronger. Just to bring Lain in, the girl is practically fucking catatonic and only ever says a badly dubbed "...Eh?? Mmm?" to anything anyone says to her. The girl from Ghost in a shell was pretty cool, tho, must admit, but not as cool as akima.
Your kidding, right? Lain is a terrible example of a strong anime character (as she is the exact opposite.) Its your own fault for watching a terrible dub and using this anime. There are plenty of Anime w/ extremely strong female characters, look at Iria, Cowboy bebop, Berzerk!!, Maze.. hell i could list half a dozen others...
Sounds to me like you havnt seen alot of anime ^_^
Currently I find it hard to beleive Napster eats into profit mainly because its just a search engine, it's not a media format or a playback device. It's just not all that interesting a tool.
Napsters got a little crappy mp3 player in the program itself. I think it relies on MS Mediaplayer but im not sure. I know alot of people who only use napster for mp3s. They dont even know what winamp is. For these people to be able to listen to their music they think they have to log onto napster, killing my bandwidth and generally frustrating me.:/
These guys are putting together a space mission on a personal budget w/o any government involvement. Is there a possibility of an open source space program? I imagine something like that would be somewhat succesful.
Have an open forum for discussion of ideas. Different entries for modules and designs. And heres the kicker. Run it on contributions.
If its succesful, all the data gathered is made freely available under whatever liscense you prefer. Maybe have free use of the module too.
I propose an open source spy-cam so i can spy on natalie portman.
They arnt called bongs until someone actually puts pot in them and smokes it.
I've also read about several local gvts raiding head shops and seizing all their cool heady shit. Usually its 'cuz they find the owner w/ something illegal and use it as an excuse to raid the whole place and break stuff. Most of the time its on the command of some puritan christian coalition type gvt official who has been brainwashed by the war on drugs. No really, marijuana should stay illegal.. just because it helps people who live in constant pain isnt a reason to even explore its possibilities for medical use. And when we do find out it has medical uses, we are going to totally ignore all the research.
Today the government finally enacted its "Jail the Techies" subclause of the DMCA. As a result, the entire IT staff of the nation is being herded into small trains and taken to "techie camps" where they will wait to face trial.
Uh.. yeah:)
I think the most funny thing about this is that if it was fully enforced, the majority of Tech staff would be jailed. And the wonderful new profitable economic boom we are going through would fall.
Is there any possibility of counter-suing MS for breaking the Kerberos agreement? I've been wondering when this flurry of anti-MS cases that people have been predicting is going to show up. There are several buisnesses that could have a solid case against MS at this point.
Maybe they are waiting for the anti-trust suit to finish, but that is going to take years.
Cherry Poptart has as much right to be on the shelf as batman.
Most comic store owners have the sensibility to keep adult titles behind the desk. And to those that don't, its up to parents to deny their children access to these stores. So good for the CBLDF for supporting cherry poptart and her coke-snorting dick-sucking activities:)
Ah wonderful. Can Bleem get any more vague on this.
Bleem for PC is hailed due to its ability to generate higher res graphics and more detail. (Like the flies buzzing in Dino Crisis) I wonder if this could be done on the dreamcast too. Could be a pretty neat reason to buy bleem. To play through your old games again, but with a little more detail then before.
Check this bad boy out. If youve got a few grand to throw around.. its the ultimate. Heres a bit from the features.
The Arcadium is the revolutionary new Arcade Machine Gaming System for both the Home and Commercial Markets. It incorporates the classic-style Arcade cabinet design with modern-day computer technology to deliver the most entertaining gaming system available today. Engineered by a team of hard-core computer gamers, the Arcadium System offers the most ergonomic design of player controls, optimum Intel PC-based computer components that deliver the highest levels of gaming performance, and all of the other features of a real Arcade Machine to bring back the look and feel of the Classic Arcade Machines. But it doesn't end there... With it's PC computer engine, the Arcadium system also allows for a broad range of other gaming capabilities -- it supports virtually any PC game that utilizes the PC keyboard and/or mouse - as well as providing room for expansion for future games.
Actually 42 was just a number he thought of at random. Ive read interviews where he answered this question. All significant references are entirely coincidental.
Slashdot Mirror
actually, those were all from memory/bookmarks. and yes, im being a karma whore.
perhaps i should give myself a -1 redundant for linking to the site in the article itself.
blah. oops, teach me to ignore the other links on the articles from now on ^^;;
okay...
Here is a link to an interesting Lain site, Thought Experiments Lain. It has spoilers galore, and a good explanation of the computer, literary and historical references in the anime. Don't visit the site unless youve seen Lain in its entierty and are trying to make some sense of it.
Here's a link to my little' 'ol Lain Gallery. With plenty of pretty pictures for you to look at.
I was also at otakon, but I went to the bandai panel instead of Lain. Got an interview with the guys for atanime.com too. (eep, shameless self promotion!) BTW, did anyone else who was there think that BOA's Performace at otakon was sub-par?
Anipike has plenty of links for other stuff.
Personally, I loved this anime and found it intriguing. Yes, I do think it is VERY pretencious, but that just part of the experience. When doing an anime like this, its impossible to avoid it. Eva was amazingly pretencious too. Lain is currently my favorite set of anime dvds, and if you havnt seen it yet, I honestly reccomend checking it out.
Okay, Im done..
I think its on disc 2, Lain's uber-computer has a greenish-bubbly-liquid that she uses for coolant. Yet another example of anime showing future technology.. er.. okay, so at least 1 example ^^;
hrm.. okay..
[Otaku Mode On]
This has always bugged me. Anime is not a genre, it is a medium, and like in any medium, there is good anime and bad anime. Much anime is poorly scripted pure fanservice trite (ie dragonball, battle athletes, love hina, etc) but on the other end of the spectrum are the compelling stories, and intellectual and emotional challenges (ie. evangelion, lain, grave of the fireflies)
Just as there are quality hollywood films and crap hollywood films, so to is with anime. I know several otaku fanboys that will buy any anime that comes off the shelf.. Ive become more picky in my age and have tried to thin out some of the crap.
The previous poster called all anime "pure fantasy," which I find considerably odd due to the numbers of anime based on true stories. You go watch grave of the fireflies without tearing up, yes its based on a true story, and you can come back to me about anime being pure fantasy. (and besides, pure fantasy isnt a -bad- thing.) Correct me if im wrong, but hasnt fantasy been part of being a geek for decades? I miss those 7+ hour long dungeons and dragons binges we used to go on.
[Otaku Mode Off]
oh well, while im posting check out atanime.com, an anime mag I write for.
oh yeah, I wonder why slashdot didnt post about george lucas being in negotiation w/ anime companies in japan? cant seem to find the link now. bah.
I hate to sound like the "total otaku," But americanization of anime is generally viewed as a "problem." Most of the people know that anime is from japan, and it wouldnt kill them to pick up some of the japanese culture when viewing their work.
I'm Definatly not saying that direct literal translations are a requirement. The "Tastes like water" translated to "Tastes like dog piss" line in mononoke is a good example of proper translation. However, I am a rather large fan of linear notes and it wouldnt kill the viewers to learn about the concept of something as basic as a sensei or sempai.
That said, feel free to smack me for being otaku-ish.
Im pretty sure there newest series isnt karekano.. karekano has been finished for a while :)
heres a cut-paste from animeondvd.com
50 point font: rumor (05:48 PM EST): Regular reader "Ferricide" wrote in today with some secondhand news. According to a friend who is good friends with someone at Gainax, volumes 2 - 6 of FLCL will contain English subtitles. This is essentially an experiment for them, and if it proves well for them, they'll do this with future releases. I personally find this to be a very good thing and I honestly think it will have a very minimal impact on the domestic region 1 market. Very few people, even with the allure of English subtitles, are willing to shell out 50$+ for one OVA episode, or 30 minutes of animation. The people who will do this are the ones who were doing it previously for things that didn't have subtitles. There will be more people who will join them on these titles, but the overall impact I believe will be minimal. That said, I truly hope this trend continues and that those who are interested in seeing it continue head over to the Gainax site, load up that English section, and send them a polite email telling them they've got your business. Besides, how many of us will then pick up something like FLCL domestically as well? I'm snaring the R2 discs and will pick up the eventual R1 release when it gets acquired. Anime fans are suckers I tell ya!
I dont think FLCL is karekano...
erk.. some self corrections ^_^
revenue should be sales.
They sell alot more vhs tapes.. but make more revenue from dvds..
er ya.. shoulda clicked preview, not submit. ^_^;
Ive known this was coming for a while.
:)
First off I'd like to lay down a little known fact about the anime biz.
Dubs sell more. Far more. Most of the US based anime companies revenue comes from dubbed vhs tapes that people buy on a whim. I.E. "Wow this looks cool ill think ill buy it." The devoted anime fans who buy an entire series of subtitled tapes make up a fraction of the market, and a large percentage of these people have already moved exlusively to dvd. Although many people argue that if they carried more subtitled tapes they would sell more.. but this is a cyclical argument.. and i would wager that most people are too lazy to want to read their tapes. (dubs suck btw)
Subtitled anime on dvd is a good thing for the consumer and for the anime companies. Im not sure here, but i think its cheaper to mass produce dvds then it is to produce vhs. The only people this is going to hurt are the small comic/anime shops where most of there revenue comes from tape sales. These stores cannot compete with Online DVD sellers So they usually dont carry dvds. This sucks for a good number of my friends as this move is likely to destroy their livelyhood. (I warned them that this was coming...)
Most individuals who buy subtitled anime are also the kind who want the best quality and are more likely to have a dvd player. I made the move to DVD a while back and i havnt been disappointed with the quality of anime titles available. Ill put the obligitory link to animeondvd.com here.
This shouldnt suprise anyone, and is a good thing for me as a devoted anime fan and someone commited to dvd.
btw, im pretty sure that none of the anime companies are members of the MPAA.. maybe pioneer.
On a region-encoding note.. Gianax, the company that made Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gunbuster is now releasing their newest series on dvd in japan w/ english subtitles. Wonder what that could mean?
Im currently writing dvd reviews for atanime.com and a few buddies and myself run #animeondvd efnet, so stop by if you feel like talking.
genome@home ?
NT
Okay fine, no oscars for web movies. That shouldnt suprise any of us. The acadamy has a vested intrest in keeping thier form of distribution alive. They dont give oscars to tv movies.. even the good ones.
So whats the answer? The internet film community (atomfilms et al.) should form their own academy and make their own awards glorifying themselves much like the academy does. Problem solved, everyone happy. Yay ^_^
check out nausicaa.net for great miyazaki-type information.
Obscure? How about armor hunter mellowlink.. but thats really -really- obscure and you probably wont find it :)
:)
Try Maze Mega burst space, Cowboy bebop, catnapped, iria.. and if you get the chance pick up Uretsi yatsura movie 2 beautiful dreamer. Or you could wait for karekano, the new series by hideaki anno, the guy who did evangelion.
The evangelion movies will be coming out soon, and there is so much "depth" and "deep meaning" in that thing that you can study it for years and come up with a dozen different interpretation. Its extremely pretencious. Alot of people claim that it was made to piss off the fans, as the movie is more cryptic then the rest of the series combined. But its great eyecandy and fun to think about
3.I feel the girl characters are stronger. Just to bring Lain in, the girl is practically fucking catatonic and only ever says a badly dubbed "...Eh?? Mmm?" to anything anyone says to her. The girl from Ghost in a shell was pretty cool, tho, must admit, but not as cool as akima.
Your kidding, right? Lain is a terrible example of a strong anime character (as she is the exact opposite.) Its your own fault for watching a terrible dub and using this anime. There are plenty of Anime w/ extremely strong female characters, look at Iria, Cowboy bebop, Berzerk!!, Maze.. hell i could list half a dozen others...
Sounds to me like you havnt seen alot of anime ^_^
I wrote a Review of Lain for atanime.com. Its a nice mag. Good reviews, nice layout, and hey I write for them :)
Currently I find it hard to beleive Napster eats into profit mainly because its just a search engine, it's not a media format or a playback device. It's just not all that interesting a tool.
:/
Napsters got a little crappy mp3 player in the program itself. I think it relies on MS Mediaplayer but im not sure. I know alot of people who only use napster for mp3s. They dont even know what winamp is. For these people to be able to listen to their music they think they have to log onto napster, killing my bandwidth and generally frustrating me.
These guys are putting together a space mission on a personal budget w/o any government involvement. Is there a possibility of an open source space program? I imagine something like that would be somewhat succesful.
Have an open forum for discussion of ideas.
Different entries for modules and designs.
And heres the kicker. Run it on contributions.
If its succesful, all the data gathered is made freely available under whatever liscense you prefer. Maybe have free use of the module too.
I propose an open source spy-cam so i can spy on natalie portman.
Water pipes, not bongs. :)
They arnt called bongs until someone actually puts pot in them and smokes it.
I've also read about several local gvts raiding head shops and seizing all their cool heady shit. Usually its 'cuz they find the owner w/ something illegal and use it as an excuse to raid the whole place and break stuff. Most of the time its on the command of some puritan christian coalition type gvt official who has been brainwashed by the war on drugs. No really, marijuana should stay illegal.. just because it helps people who live in constant pain isnt a reason to even explore its possibilities for medical use. And when we do find out it has medical uses, we are going to totally ignore all the research.
Maybe i should move to canada...
Today the government finally enacted its "Jail the Techies" subclause of the DMCA. As a result, the entire IT staff of the nation is being herded into small trains and taken to "techie camps" where they will wait to face trial.
:)
:(
Uh.. yeah
I think the most funny thing about this is that if it was fully enforced, the majority of Tech staff would be jailed. And the wonderful new profitable economic boom we are going through would fall.
I learned to share in kindergarten
Is there any possibility of counter-suing MS for breaking the Kerberos agreement? I've been wondering when this flurry of anti-MS cases that people have been predicting is going to show up. There are several buisnesses that could have a solid case against MS at this point.
Maybe they are waiting for the anti-trust suit to finish, but that is going to take years.
If it was open source then......
Cherry Poptart has as much right to be on the shelf as batman.
:)
Most comic store owners have the sensibility to keep adult titles behind the desk. And to those that don't, its up to parents to deny their children access to these stores. So good for the CBLDF for supporting cherry poptart and her coke-snorting dick-sucking activities
Ah wonderful. Can Bleem get any more vague on this.
Bleem for PC is hailed due to its ability to generate higher res graphics and more detail. (Like the flies buzzing in Dino Crisis) I wonder if this could be done on the dreamcast too. Could be a pretty neat reason to buy bleem. To play through your old games again, but with a little more detail then before.
I wonder how wip3out would look. Or xenogears.
Hot Rod is for wussies! :)
Check this bad boy out. If youve got a few grand to throw around.. its the ultimate. Heres a bit from the features.
The Arcadium is the revolutionary new Arcade Machine Gaming System for both the Home and Commercial Markets. It incorporates the classic-style Arcade cabinet design with modern-day computer technology to deliver the most entertaining gaming system available today. Engineered by a team of hard-core computer gamers, the Arcadium System offers the most ergonomic design of player controls, optimum Intel PC-based computer components that deliver the highest levels of gaming performance, and all of the other features of a real Arcade Machine to bring back the look and feel of the Classic Arcade Machines. But it doesn't end there... With it's PC computer engine, the Arcadium system also allows for a broad range of other gaming capabilities -- it supports virtually any PC game that utilizes the PC keyboard and/or mouse - as well as providing room for expansion for future games.
but dont forget this
Price: $5999.00 US*
Yikes. But its the best.
Actually 42 was just a number he thought of at random. Ive read interviews where he answered this question. All significant references are entirely coincidental.