I have been watching the 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu) rebroadcast for months now. I did watch from the beginning, but I was a little late jumping into it, but needless to say… months. Oh yes, there were the hard times, such as the whole エンドレスエイト (“Endless Eight”) thing (which took 8 weeks to finish). I thought it was fantastic art, if not entertainment, and will go down in history. And there were the good times, such as reliving all the old episodes and the making of the Mikuru video (especially the talking cat).

And now, they have announced 涼宮ハルヒの消失 (Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu), oft translated as The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya (yes, it is a real word). Which will be a movie released Spring of 2010:

(YouTube link)

A movie? Dang, I had a hard enough time getting a hold of the らき☆すた (“Lucky Star”) OVA, which I just saw recently. I’m the kind of guy who likes finding the raw videos put up shortly after broadcast on SayMove (a ghetto, piratey NicoDou).

However, after seeing the らき☆すた OVA, I realized my annoyance with the series, which was way too long for something without a story, had faded over the months and I truly enjoyed the little revisit. Especially 初音ミク (Hatsune Miku) type かがみ.

So, really, spring isn’t that far away. The けいおん！(“K-ON!”) OVA will be here in January, and then it will be Spring before I know it. Who knows, maybe I can save up enough to go see it on opening day. Time to start planning my trip now.

Technorati Tags: anime, Haruhi, kyoani, kyoto animation, movie, otaku, ova, Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya, 涼宮ハルヒの消失

I mean, if you had a girlfriend who hated otaku, which would you choose? Give up being an otaku? Go to the sea of trees? Or break up with the girl?

Lyrics after the jump.

アニメ見ないとなんにも　　　出来ないわけじゃないよ
初めて出来た彼女が　　　　「オタクは嫌い」と話してた
そりゃデートとかしてみたもんね　　だけどあまり楽しくない
君がオタク趣味なら秋葉も　　デートでいけたのに
一緒にいるときは　　一般人を装うけれど
やっと部屋に辿り着いた　　僕はすぐにアニメを見ていた
キモオタを嫌う君の　　気持ちは分からないけど
いつもより作画が良い　　画質に少し拘ってるよ
もし君に一つだけ　　わがままを言えるのなら
「もうオタなんてやめる」なんて　　言わないよ絶対！
保管用の同人が　　全て棚から消えた
沢山買ったアニソンも　僕の留守中に捨てられてた
オタクらしく生きる為に　　別れを決めた僕は
他の誰から見ても一番　　大バカ野朗だろう
あんなにいっぱいの　　キャラのフィギュアを集めて
無駄な物に囲まれて　　暮らすのも幸せだと知った
密林屋のオススメが　　メールで届いてるうちは
買うかどうか迷っている　　初回特典が心配だから
二人で行けなかった　　コミケは今度出会える
君の知らない誰かと　　楽しんでくるから
本当に本当に　　アニメが大好きだったから
「もうオタなんて辞める」なんて　　言わないよ絶対！

Technorati Tags: オタク, ヲタク, Makihara Noriyuki, music, nicovideo, otaku, parody, recog, singing, 之槇原敬

The basics of the show I’m sure are widely known and not really worth mentioning. I watched it in broadcast order (“Kyon Order”) and thoroughly enjoyed the series. I think みくる (Mikuru) is a manifestation of 80-90’s cyberpunk future アニメ characters. ナガト (Nagato) is pretty much レイ (Rei) from Evangelion. I could totally relate to Kyon, but what red-blooded man wouldn’t? I laughed, I cried, and a good time was had by all.

Then I thought about it. It has really be 5 whole years since I saw any アニメ at all. Well, stray 宮崎 (Miyazaki) films aside. Oh, and starring in that one. But really, I used to watch tons of it in high school and college. Once I moved to Japan, I watched Initial D because I lived in 群馬 (Gunma). But soon enough, I stopped watching it all together. Why would I stop watching アニメ once getting to Japan?! Seems counter-intuitive.

But really, it makes perfect sense. My group of friends changed. I had friends in the states who enjoyed アニメ, and after watching something, I had people I could talk to about it. When I moved to Japan, my friends were more interested in sports and cars and music and alcohol… It wasn’t really your アニメ watching crowd. So even if I did watch something, no one could relate.

Now that I’m back in America, I have started reconnecting with old friends. But more than that, I’ve become a huge ニコニコ動画 (NicoNicoDouga) fan. It’s different than being an アニメ fan, since ニコニコ動画 already has people who you can talk to about the videos built in and in real time. And also, those people are the kind of people who watch アニメ.

So, I am back in the community. Next series I will be watching is らき☆すた (“Luck Star”).

Just have to keep my mouth shut about アニメ when talking to the wife! Wish me luck.

Technorati Tags: anime, おたく, アニメ, キョン, ニコニコ動画, ハルヒ, ヲタク, coming of age, community, gunma, life, NicoDou, NicoNicoDouga, otaku, reflections, wife, 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱

Founder of 2cahnnel, target of many lawsuits Hiroyuki Nishimura (photo by Joichi Ito)

This news broke on Saturday, so we missed the scoop, but we wanted to make sure that we opened up a thread for comment (or drunken cats. Y’know, whatever) while Jeshii is unavailable.

Apparently Hiroyuki Nishimura left a one-sentance message on his blog, dated January 2nd that he had sold 2channel. Later reports indicate a small company named Packet Monster, based in Singapore.

Packet Monster, really? There’s a lot of speculation about this heretofore-unheard-of company, and I mean, with all those little characters that come out of the bowels of 2ch, (not a poket, but a packet, mind. This is the internet we’re talking about), one’s got to wonder whether thall this speculation about supposed legal bullet-dodging for Nishimura-san  has any credence.

Okay, kids. Discuss. And the people behind Yamatologic.com or any websites associated with it assume no responsibility for any crime and mayhem purpotrated by any of its readers at any time, for any reason, amen.

Oh, and here’s the link to the Japan Times article.

Technorati Tags: 2channel, bbs, hiroyuki, hiroyuki nishimura, otaku

【ニコニコ動画】First Love(雌豚ver.)

雌豚 (Mebuta) brings us this rendition of 宇多田ヒカル’s First Love. This one changes the lyrics to reflect the otaku mood of the season.

This was last year’s sensation, but it has the same sort of idea… Christmas is canceled!

【ニコニコ動画】【初音ミク】Lonely X'mas!【クリスマス（笑）】

Lonely X'mas! Need I say more? Don’t be thrown off by that first frame, it leads up to a fantastic 釣り. But, it does make it marginally less than safe for work…

And last, 初音ミク (Hatsune Miku) has to go work on Christmas! But at least she is working with Santa Claus! This song is much cuter and less bitter than the previous ones.

With all that, my favorite Christmas song is Lennon’s Happy Christmas (War Is Over). But, I just found a HI-STANDARD version that is making me quiver with cheer.

[UPDATE]

【ニコニコ動画】【はっぱ隊】クリスマス・イブYATTA!【山下達郎】
Wow, this mix of クリスマス・イブ and YATTA! is also utterly fantastic!
[/UPDATE]

Happy Christmas everyone. 浮かれやがってｗｗｗ

Technorati Tags: クリスマス, クリスマス・イブ, メリクリ, ヲタク, bitter, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas music, 釣り, 雌豚, First Love, Hatsune Miku, lonely, Mebuta, Merikuri, mrkr, music, nicovideo, otaku, Utada Hikaru, X'mas, X-mas, yatta, 初音ミク, 宇多田ヒカル

This is an excellent case study. So, if you didn’t put your GoldenEye N64 cartridge in all the way and played, the characters (and any model really) would just go crazy. Think human static, limbs flailing in all directions.

Then, someone did a MAD video of it to the song “Promise” by 広瀬香美 (Hirose Koumi).

THEN, someone just did a 2ちゃん cat instead of the models.

THEN, someone made 初音ミク do it.

THEN, someone drew it with a 東方プロジェクト character.

THEN, someone danced it for REAL.

…and then someone mixed it with 吉幾三…

And this blog post fulfills the life cycle. It can now die.

Technorati Tags: ぐるぐる, オタク, ゲッダン, bug, crazy, error, evolution, Get down, goldeneye, Hatsune Miku, Hirose Koumi, human static, IKZO, Internet, lol, n64, nicovideo, otaku, project shrine maiden, promise, 初音ミク, 広瀬香美, 東方

It was put on by the 痛G magazine and well documented in the videos above.

As an avid ニコ動 fan, I recognized way more than I care to admit. I am also blown away by this new 痛車 thing. I mean, we’ve all seen the silly ricers who take themselves seriously with their goofy ass mods. But, there is no semblance of seriousness left. It is frankly… refreshing.

Some of the ニコ動 comments for this video are worried that once the foreign press gets a hold of it, they will be all like “OMG, Japan is like, teh weird.” But I say, let your freak flag fly!

In case you can’t get enough, check out おた☆すけ for more pictures.

Technorati Tags: anime, automotive, cars, 痛車, games, Hatsune Miku, itasha, manga, NicoNicoDouga, nicovideo, otaku, otaku cars, otaku my ride, pimp my ride, 初音ミク

Once again, Miko shows us he awesome vocal skills. I love this song already. Now, if I can just figure out how to order it from the US… Hmmmm…

Technorati Tags: anime, チルノ, チルノのパーフェクトさんすう教室, ⑨, chiruno, Cirno, Cirno's Perfect Math Class, fan video, flash, games, iosys, music, nicovideo, otaku, touhou, video, video games, 東方

The Norton Fighter!

Oh man… Japanese marketing at its best.

しょこたん (Shokotan, Realname 中川翔子, Nakagawa Shoko) is known throughout the JP world as the most prolific blogger ever. Apparently, that’s how she rose to fame in the Akiba crowd, posting numerous times throughout the day.

Anyway, Norton Antivirus now has her and Norton Fighter (some sort of ultraman/power ranger-like hero) as their image characters. It’s so obviously targeted at the otaku crowd, it’s not even funny. On the website, there is even a “live” video from her room. It’s actually really, really weird videos of her and the Norton Fighter interacting… very strange.

And some obligatory videos:

In this one, she is listening to some disembodied voice talk about the benefits of new norton:

And then this one is like an interview about here computer experiences:

I admit it. She’s cute and her casual speaking is all too appealing, but I’m still not installing Norton! ><;

Technorati Tags: Akiba, Akihabara, anti-virus, アキバ, blogs, 秋葉原, girls, hero, Japanese girls, models, norton, otaku, technology, video

Basically, there is a compilation of popular NicoNico Music called ニコニコ動画流星群 (niko niko douga ryuuseigun, NicoNicoDouga Meteor Shower), as it is a blast of popular songs on ニコ動 in quick succession:

There are a few versions:

1. The original:

2. With VOCALOID lyrics:

3. Orchestrated:

4. With the original songs remixed:

5. Like above but more chaotic:

6. Ronald McDonald style:

And below (after the jump) I have compiled a list of (almost) every one of these songs in order! Title linked to ニコニコ動画 and YouTube embeds. Enjoy!

00. 時報 -- This would be a whole ‘nother blog post trying to explain these. Basically, sometimes you get the time when watching ニコニコ動画 (NicoNicoDouga).

01. Star Rise -- The ending theme to バンブーブレード　(Bamboo Blade).

02. 寝・逃・げでリセット！ -- a song from the anime らき☆すた (Lucky Star).

03.　ハナマル☆センセイション -- The ending theme to こどものじかん (kodomo no jikan)

04. caramelldansen -- Best explained over at Tokyo Mango…

05. カービィのグルメレース -- Did you know there are lyrics to that Kirby song (besides “drop it like it’s hot”)?

06. nowhere -- a song from the anime Madlax.

07. チーターマン -- Apparently a rap someone came up for the Cheetah Men II game theme.

08. Ievan Polkka -- I’ve already posted this one, but hell, I love it so much, here it is again.

09. バラライカ -- I won’t pretend to say I understand what this is all about…

10. 男女 -- A single by an artist called 太郎 (Tarou) released in late 2006. In early 2008, this nicovideo revived the song from obscurity!

11. モンタギュー家とキャピュレット家 -- A movement from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” that was in a SoftBank commercial.

12. “I’m lovin’ it!” Do I really need to explain this one?

13. The Last Wolf Suite -- a BGM song from るろうに剣心 (Rurouni Kenshin)

14. クリアまでは眠らない -- “Can’t Sleep ’til I beat it!” One of the two awesome Team猫かん (Team nekokan) rock songs about MegaMan.

15. 未来への咆哮 -- “Scream to the Future”, an opening from the anime マブラヴ (MuvLuv)

16. エアーマンが倒せない -- “Can’t Beat Airman” The other awesome MegaMan song. So brilliant.

17.　メルト -- An original 初音ミク song.

18. だんご大家族 -- “Big Family Dango” An ending theme from the anime Clannad.

19. 風の憧憬 -- Known as “Wind Scene” in English, this is a song from Chrono Trigger.

20. 雪、無音、窓辺にて。 -- A song from the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

21. you -- a song from the game ひぐらしのなく頃に解 (higurashi no naku koro ni kai)

22. 魔理沙は大変なものを盗んでいきました -- a popular flash video made by IOSYS (featured previously).

23. U.N.オーエンは彼女なのか？ -- Originally from the game 東方紅魔郷, this one has been remixed so much! My favorite is the Ronald McDonald one.

24. お嫁にしなさいっ！ -- Another IOSYS production. “Make me your wife!” @_@ Very cute though.

25. ロックマン2 ワイリーステージ1/おっくせんまん/思い出は億千万 -- Another hard one to explain in complete. The short version is that this the Dr. Wily Stage 1 song from MegaMan 2. The long version is that X Japan did a cover, and then someone did the linked video, and… I dunno. When culture gets remixed so much like this, it is awesome and really hard to follow! XD

26. After Dark -- (Åh) När Ni Tar Saken I Egna Händer -- Another one where I’m fairly confused about, but everyone calls it オナニー. Oh, nani?

27. ハレ晴レユカイ -- That dance song from Haruhi, probably popular enough for you to have already heard of it. There’s even a MegaMan version.

28. God knows… -- Another song from Haruhi.

29. JOINT -- The opening from the anime 灼眼のシャナII (Shakugan no Shana II)

30. 解読不能 -- another anime song from コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ （CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion).

32. パーフェクトスター・パーフェクトスタイル -- A perfume song!!! This is the version with the Idol Master characters.

33. 患部で止まってすぐ溶ける～狂気の優曇華院 -- Another IOSYS creation.

34. Help me ERINNNNNN!! -- Another IOSYS creation. From the CD Flowering ERINNNNNN!! Seems to have a lot of stuff going on related to it.

35. 千年幻想郷　～ History of the Moon -- from the game 東方永夜抄.

36. Little Busters! -- opening theme to the game of the same title.

37. 1000％SPARKING! -- From an anime called ネギま！？ (negima!?)

38-39. Some songs from the Prince of Tennis musical

40. エージェント夜を往く -- From THE IDOLM@STER game.

41. ネイティブフェイス -- from the game 東方風神録

42. true my heart -- Opening from the game Nursery Rhyme, here is the VOCALOID version.

43. ケロ⑨Destiny -- Another IOSYS production.

44. YATTA! -- You know this one if you have been alive sometime in the last decade. I’m actually in this video if you know where to look.

45. みくみくにしてあげる♪ -- An original 初音ミク song by ika.

46. レッツゴー！陰陽師 -- a song from the game 「新豪血寺一族 －煩悩解放－」

47. Air on the G String (nice boat)

You can now go to 電刃 without feeling too much like a 外人 (gaijin). I hope you enjoyed going through all these songs as much as I did. XD

Update: Here is a YouTube playlist of all the songs!

Technorati Tags: anime, ニコニコ動画, ニコニコ動画流星群, Bamboo Blade, Cheetah Man, Chrono Trigger, Clannad, 男女, Dance Party, Danjo, DENPA, Haruhi, Haruhi Suzumiya, Hatsune Miku, Idol Master, Ievan Polkka, Internet, iosys, Kenshin, Kirby, Kodomo no Jikan, Lucky Star, Madlax, Mega Man, Meteor Shower, music, MuvLuv, NicoNicoDouga, nicovideo, otaku, perfume, Prince of Tennis, Prokofiev, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Uma Dance, video, vocaloid, 初音ミク, 東方, 東方系