‘Jake and the Dynamo’ Book Launch!

The long-awaited day has arrived. Book one of the Jake and the Dynamo saga, The Wattage of Justice, the first American light novel from Superversive Press, is now available.

Here’s the link.

And here’s the book trailer:

The Kindle version is currently available. The paperback will come available within a few days.

This book features:

  • Revised text
  • New chapter
  • Full-color illustrations by Roffles Lowell
  • Bonus short story, “Eye of Fire: From the Casefiles of the Ragamuffin”

Read about it on the Superversive Blog, where Ben Zwycky describes the novel as a “gloriously over-the-top satire.”

And visit my new Amazon author’s page.

TheQuartering on #HighGuardianSpice

Wokey McWokerson

 

Now, to be up front about everything, I don’t know who this guy is. By his own admission, he doesn’t know a whole lot about anime. Nonetheless, I find his analysis of Crunchyroll’s trainwreck of a promotion for its new, original animated series to be largely insightful.

One of his lines here I absolutely love: “That’s what your whole career has been about? I thought you were an animator.”

Some of those opposing Crunchyroll’s project are, I think, wrong-headed. For example, I follow the account @animeoutsiders on Twitter; they claim to have insider knowledge (which they may or may not actually have) of Crunchyroll, and accuse the company of doing something ingenuous by creating its own animation studio and producing original animation, rather than throwing money at Japanese studios.

Continue reading “TheQuartering on #HighGuardianSpice”

Like, Dude …

I just saw a promotional video for Jake and the Dynamo. I can’t show you yet, but believe me, you’ll see it as soon as I can.

It is awesomesauce!

How to Spot an SJW Marvel Story

I have heard a lot second-hand about Diversity and Comics. I haven’t paid close attention to him simply because American superhero comics aren’t my bag. In this particular video, he gets into the mechanics of how to write a good story, and why political correctness hampers that.

I see now why this guy is popular (and why he is hated so much by some writers and illustrators at Marvel). He really understands how stories work, and his criticisms are calm, incisive, and fair.

History of Magical Girl Anime, Part 15

Haven’t done one of these for a while. This is yet another video from SourcererZZ’s well-made series on the history of magical girl anime. His presentation remains impressively disinterested and scholarly, though his thick accent also remains hard to understand, so I recommend turning on the closed captions, which, though somewhat messed up, are nonetheless helpful.

He goes here through the years 2007 and 2008, discussing series such as Kamichama Karin and Shugo Chara! (which I’ve discussed at length). I hesitated to post this, mostly because he also discusses Moetan, a grossly mishandled educational series that’s sort of like Dora the Explorer … for perverts. But as I said, SourcererZZ is professional in his presentation, so I decided to share anyway.

Although he for the most part simply summarizes the series he discusses, at the beginning of this video, he talks about how Getsumen to Heiki Mina, which had its origin as a fictitious anime referenced in the television drama Densha Otoko, which you may know better under the title of Train Man. Basically, it’s a case of a fake series being made real, somewhat like Kujibiki Unbalance.

Wonder Woman?

Previously, I was not even slightly interested in the Wonder Woman movie, but I trust James Rolfe.

More Girl Metal

In continuing to look at Japanese girl metal bands, I just found Doll$Boxx. This has the same gimmick as the others, a cutesy look with harsh music.

In this music video, they poke fun at otaku.

Giant Robot Battle Scheduled for August

In other news, Suidoboshi Heavy Industries and MegaBots, Inc., have finally scheduled their mecha battle for some time in August, as reported in The Nerdist.

In case you didn’t know, both of these companies, the former from Japan and the latter from the USA, built giant robots as hugely expensive toys, the KURATAS and Mark II, respectively. MegaBots challenged Suidoboshi to a giant robot fight quite some time ago. I saw the original MegaBots challenge and Suidoboshi’s somewhat muted acceptance thereof back in 2015, but hadn’t heard anything since.

In the beginning, the Mk. II looked likely to take the KURATAS apart, as it was created to be a hulking beast, whereas the KURATAS was more of a rich kid’s toy. Both companies, however, have apparently upgraded their machines. MegaBots has released video of their new but incomplete Mk. III picking up and tearing apart cars, whereas Suidoboshi has kept its upgrades to the KURATAS a secret.

Both these machines are designed to be piloted, but I hope, for the fight, they set it up so the pilots are not actually inside, since they’re hinting of weapons like chainsaws and drills.

It’s Back!

Happy White Day

Art taken from the Anime Art Museum.

We can’t go full weeb unless we mention White Day. Japan has retooled the Christian holiday of St. Valentine’s Day into a day on which women give chocolate to men instead of the other way around. In 1978, Japan’s National Confectionary Industry Association created White Day as a day for men to reciprocate.

It is a tradition that you’re supposed to give three times as much on White Day as you got on Valentine’s Day. So be sure to do something nice for your magical girl today.

I might have a story about Jake giving candy to Dana … but I’m doing my taxes instead.

So, anyway, happy White Day. This holiday, I should note, is not only celebrated in Japan, but also in South Korea, though their tradition is different. Instead of having boys give girls candy, they lock students in a school and make them fight monsters and kill one another.