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Did I ever mention that I was in a movie? :)

About five years ago, during the true twilight of my anime/manga days, I was interviewed by a ‘will-one-day-be-famous’ film student at the last anime convention I ever attended (More on this in my original Otaku Unite post).

This gentleman was making a documentary on the American anime/manga fandom. The history behind it…the passion beneath it; Why we do what we do, and who do we dress up as when we do it. He called it Otaku Unite.

I was more than happy to give my help with this endeavor. While I wished this gentlemen the best of luck, I didn’t think much would come of it. Most movies don’t see the light of day outside of their creator’s own dreams and ye ole editing room.

Wrong I was…quite wrong. :)

After numerous showings at various anime conventions and even the Philly film festival, Otaku Unite has found itself at your local store…on DVD. Just look for it in the Anime section (if they have one) and you can watch yours truly getting the last word in on the film (among other things). ^_^

(I’m only in it for about 20 seconds total or so, but I’ll take what I can get ^_-)

(I just wish there was a way to digitally remove me rubbing my nose so much @_@)

Congrats Eric & the Otaku Unite team!

When I started my current job, I referred to my whole anime/manga/AniPike experience as my former life. The man had officially retired from the whole shebang. Get the tailor in here to measure me for my plaid golf pants and dust off the old shuffleboard set.

Even though my new friends accepted what I said, I always got the feeling that they never fully understood what I meant. It’s mostly my fault…I haven’t often gone into what I experienced to any full extent. Most couldn’t relate…and those that could probably wouldn’t fully believe it. How many people can relate to having people ask for your autograph, having companies suck up to you, and having zealous fans fawn all over you just because of some website. Sometimes you just have to be there to truly appreciate it.

Interestingly enough, what I can now provide for them is a more general view of what being part of the American anime fandom was all about. Enter Otaku Unite!, quite possibly the best documentary to date on the whole anime otaku experience here in the states. After years of working the convention circuit, this gem has finally gotten the treatment it deserves…it will be released on DVD by Central Park Media! (Congrats Eric!)

If you ever wanted to know what all the fuss was about regarding anime and manga (from a die-hard fan point of view), this is what you’ve been looking for…

(And I’m not just saying that because I have the last word in the movie…^_^)

Just a little reminder for all the Miyazaki deprived people out there…Tuesday, February 22nd is your wake up call!

Head to your local Best Buy, Wal Mart, Target, KMart, Roscoe’s Chicken and DVDs and purchase the latest salvo from the greatest modern animator, Hayao Miyazaki!

(The man behind the Oscar winning Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro & Castle in the Sky).

Two of Miyazaki’s most famous films (as well as another great film from his Studio Ghibli) are being released in the states for the first time (on multilingual, subtitled and dubbed DVDs)

• Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Even More Info)
  (Was his most famous film for a very long time…Nausicaa is the icon for the post!)
• Porco Rosso (Even More Info)
  (Miyazaki’s pigs can fly…”I’d rather be a pig than a fascist”)
• The Cat Returns (Even More Info)
  (Same cat from the popular Whisper of the Heart)

And never fear…there’s even more Miyazaki more to come this year!

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the very few animators that has kept me interested in the anime game for so long. Regardless of what popular crap was being produced in bulk or how burnt out I felt about anime in general, I could always count on a Studio Ghibli film to slap me across the temple…”This is why you’re still in it”.

There was always a certain joy…certain magic…certain intelligence…certain power…to all of the studio’s films. Let it reach you once…you know you’ll never starve for animation again. :)

For those who’ve seen any of the following: Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Grave of the Fireflies and Castle of Cagliostro…the magic is about to return to the states.

Fortunately, America will get another large dose of Miyazaki in 2005:

• With “Howl’s Moving Castle” breaking box office records currently in Japan (even better than the Oscar winning Spirited Away), there’s almost no doubt that we’ll see the film here in the states before the end of the year.
  (For those who recognize the title, yes, it is based on the Diana Wynne Jones book of the same name)
• Two of Miyazaki’s most famous films are being released in the states for the first time in February (on multilingual, subtitled and dubbed DVDs)
  • Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Even More Info)
    (Was his most famous film for a very long time….)
  • Porco Rosso (Even More Info)
    (”I’d rather be a pig than a fascist”)

The true joy of animation in the world today comes from Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli. Even the genius people at Pixar watch Miyazaki films from time to time whenever they need inspiration.

<Public_Education_Announcement>
If you’re interested in finding out more about Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli in English, there’s only one place to go: Nausicaa.Net!
</Public_Education_Announcement>

On the ’bout freakin’ time’ tip of life: JudoGirl.Com is officially online. ^_^ It felt so good to finally to finish up the refit of my Yawara! website. It still needs a little diversity in ’side images’ here and there, but otherwise I’m very pleased with it. It’s also my first ‘Netscape 4 can kiss my ass’ site. The site was made almost strictly with cascading style sheets in mind, so IE4+ and Netscape 6 show the site as I intended. The site is almost exactly the same in Netscape 4…however the fonts don’t show up with their properly listed font styles.

Yes, I know how to fix it. I’m the king of making Netscape/IE compatible pages. I just don’t care to do so in this case. I know how it looks in both browsers and I’m content with both. With more that 85% of my viewers coming in with MSIE, I officially don’t give a shit anymore. Especially since Netscape 6 is out and shows it just fine. This isn’t a policy I hold on a professional level…but as long as I’m the client, I’m gon’ hav’ sum fun wit it.
^_^

Check it out anime and judo enthusiasts: JudoGirl.Com!
Let me know what you think!