Yamatologic

Josh Levs is one Bad Apple

In case you haven’t seen CNN recently (good for you), you may not know about Josh Levs. This guy essentially broadcasts his favorite youtube videos on CNN. It’s the kinda thing that my mom will call me over for and say, “Did you see this video?” Inevitably, it is something we’ve all seen months ago.

In short, I hardly ever paid him the time of day. Sure, he’d he’d occasionally talk about some cool think on some Japanese show like ナニコレ珍百景 (which filled the void left by トリビアの泉’s cancellation) and I’d get phone calls to explain what Japan is thinking, but again, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. But now… there is this:

(YouTube, CNN)

To give you some background, no one knows how the shadow Bad Apple animation was made. We know it was inspired by the silhouette iPod ads, but it has never been revealed how it was done. Theories of MMD usage and motion capture abound, but in the end, it is still a mystery.

Recently, a photography student then made a fantastic stop motion animation as a project out of printed frames of Bad Apple:

(YouTube)

Now, Mr. Levs here, he says about the photo project video, and I quote, “This is how they made it.”

Oh man. Seriously? He thinks that this is the making of BadApple??? He is correct about Bad Apple being #1 for weeks and weeks, but does that mean this guy has a NicoDou account?! If he got it though my service, I sincerely apologize to the world for this. But, if he can get a NicoDou account, can he at least take two seconds to do some fact checking with a friend who can read Japanese? Hell, CNN, please hire someone bilingual as your Japanese “viral” video guy (as a side note, the phrase viral video makes me want to puke chunks, much like a bad apple might).

Anyway, this guy went from an annoyance on a channel I never watch to #1 on NicoDou.

Of course, there are people who think he isn’t stupid, but rather is performing a 釣り (tsuri) the likes of which the world has never seen. I really would love to believe that, but I really think he just has no idea what the fuck he is talking about.

Technorati Tags: animation, バカ, ⑨, Bad Apple, Cirno News Network, CNN, 釣り, Josh Levs, NicoNicoDouga, photography, stop motion, touhou, tsuri, viral videos, 東方

Rockleetist conquers the Nicodou

ダブルラリアット (Dabururariatto) is a NicoDou classic. YouTube user rockleetist made an English version and put it up on NicoDou recently. It rocketed up the charts and is the first time I’ve seen so many comments in English on NicoDou.

In any case, if any of my readers are worried about trying to break into NicoNicoDouga, this is a fantastic way to do it.

Technorati Tags: ダブルラリアット, Double Lariat, english, gaijin, gaikokujin, Megurine Luka, music, NicoDou, NicoNicoDouga, rockleetist, vocaloid, youtube

Happy Hot Year

The Shuzo madness continues into the new year. Shuzo’s theme for this year is できる! Or “CAN DO!” in English:

We also made a new Shuzo video:

(English subbed version on YouTube)

The #1 video a few days ago was the 七色の松岡動画 (Nana-iro no Matsuoka Douga) which is a massive Shuzo themed MAD of 七色のニコニコ動画. Not only is the video freaking amazing, but our video was included! Check us out at around 8:14.

In addition to this, the Hot Knows anime version has been uploaded!!! This was very anticipated after the preview came out. The release date came and went, but now it is here! I love how the animator references the inspirational comments people put on the preview video after the deadline passed.

Looks like this will be a hot year!

Technorati Tags: anime, ハルヒ, God knows..., Haruhi, Hot, Hot Knows, kaiguys, Matsuoka Shuzo, Shuzo Matsuoka, Tennis, 松岡, 松岡修造, 海外ズ, 京都, 修造

K-ON! Season 2!

K-ON! season 2 has been announced!!! My friend sent me an email saying “Check the K-ON! official site!!!” And there it is. Season 2 is confirmed!

This is fantastic. K-ON! was pretty much the highlight of 2009. Although second seasons are fairly rare for any Japanese story based television show in general, Kyoto Animation has done second seasons before, so it’s not all that unexpected. But not exactly expected either!

I’m super happy. NicoNicoDouga is abuzz as well:

Technorati Tags: anime, けいおん, けいおん！, club, japanese high school girls, K-ON!, keion, music, second season

2009 Kohaku Red and White Music Festival Preview

The 60th annual 紅白 (Kohaku) is coming in just a few days! I have assembled all of the songs that have been confirmed on the official website so you can review any ones you may not know and enjoy them during the actual show. They are embedded in a playlist above.

As for how to watch the actual show, check your local Japanese television channel’s listing. In Japan, it will be on NHK, BShi, BS2, and ラジオ第１ (Radio #1). In LA, channel 18.2 is broadcasting it New Year’s Eve at 18:45 (6:45pm) local time. If you don’t have a local Japanese channel, keep an eye on d-addicts or watch Keyhole TV at 10:15 UTC on Dec. 31st.

If you don’t have time for all those, here is ヒャダイン (Hyadain) sang a little of all these songs in 6 minutes! Hyadain is awesome since he sings both male and female parts. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: 紅白, 紅白歌合戦, enka, japanese music, jpop, kohaku, kohaku utagassen, music, new year, New Year's, NHK, utagassen, 歌合戦

Mario Hardcore

Nekoshowgun drew these amazing paintings of Mario Bros. characters. They are harder core than the center of a super massive diamond. I think the one of Luigi is my favorite.

They are available for download as a big ass zip file (nearly 14MB).

This guy has also done Anpanman characters is his characteristic style. Imagine all cartoons done in Street Fighter IV style…

Technorati Tags: art, hardcore, mario, street fighter iv

Gomen ne no Hi

Did you know that Dec. 10th is 「ごめんねの日」 (gomen ne no hi)? So while you watch the beautiful women of 謝り美人 (Ayamari Bijin), think about what you need to repent for!

I have a feeling this has to be connected to the 美人時計…

Technorati Tags: Ayamari Bijin, bijin, 美人, 謝り美人, gomen, gomen nasai, gomen ne, Japanese girls, sorry

Dreams Crushed, Dreams Realized

So, I heard a rumor that the K-ON! songs were so popular that they would probably be included in this year’s 紅白 (kouhaku), the end of the year Japanese music show that has been a tradition for millions. It broadcasts outside of Japan, so check your local listings (generally on the local Japanese channel).

I was all hyped up to see K-ON! songs covered or just done by the voice actresses. But it was not to be. The line up for 紅白 was announced and I don’t see anything that indicates any K-ON! happening.

Crushed!

Then I found out that SCANDAL, who you may recognize from Japan Nite 2008 fame, the high school girl rock band in 制服, did a cover of Don’t Say Lazy:

And the voice actresses are doing a live event on December 30th in Yokohama. See the public site for more details. Here is the TV spot:

Dreams come true! While I can’t go to the Yokohama event, I will be happy to know there will probably be videos.

Why do I love K-ON! so damn much?!?!

In other news, Perfume is going to be on 紅白 again this year. I’m guessing One Room Disco will be their song, since it is the only song I ever heard from them this whole year. Last year’s performance was kind of weak, so I’m not holding my breath on this one.

Technorati Tags: けいおん！, concert, high school, Japanese girls, japanese high school girls, K-ON!, keion, kohaku, live, music, perfume, Scandal, seifuku

Love Mouse

This is a brilliant independent anime by Shinsaku Hidaka. It is about a mouse who falls in love with a particular roll of cheese.

In addition to just being a freaking brilliant story, the fact that the speech is machine translated and voiced in English makes me want to jump with joy. I wish I talked like that. “Pasture? I don’t eat these kinds, of things. My stomach accepts only the cheese.”

It may be a little long at nearly 14 minutes, but very much worth the watch.

Technorati Tags: animation, anime, butter, cheese, cow, english, indie, indie anime, indy, Japanese, machine translation, machine voice acting, mouse, subtitles

Happy Birthday Shuzo!

(YouTube Link)
November 6th is 松岡修造 (Matsuoka Shuzo)’s birthday! So me and my friend Render made this video to celebrate. As the day progresses, I’ll be posting some of the other festivities after the jump!

Happy Birthday! You taught us to never give up. For that, we are eternally grateful. イキイキするぞ！

Read more »

Technorati Tags: やってみた, birthday, 誕生祭, 誕生日, foreigners, gaijin, Matsuoka Shuzo, Tennis, 外国人, 外人, 松岡修造