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Penguin Truth’s TOP TEN ANIME LISTS (PRIMER)

It’s been years since I began writing for Otaku Revolution, and some of you regular readers (all two of you) may still be in the dark as to what taste in anime I have. So, though it’s an often-changing element of my anime fandom, I’ve decided to make a list of my favorite anime, ranking them for all to see, and justifying my choices.

When people make top ten lists of their favorite anime, they tend to make the same mistake. That is, they group together TV series, OVAs, and movies. A TV series and a movie are two different beasts. You wouldn’t lump together live-action TV series with live-action movies, would you? Would you even lump together American or other Western animated productions together, TV shows with movies? Of course not. But for anime, somehow this tends to be the way we do things. Well, I, for one, refuse. read more

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Lupin III: Blood Seal ~ Eternal Mermaid Review

 "Blood Seal ~ Eternal Mermaid"

Synopsis:  When Lupin steals a jewel called the "Mermaid’s Scale", he discovers it’s a fake. The real jewel, another one, and a person with an immortal body turn out to be keys to the treasure of the Yaobikuni. Wanting to prevent a dangerous arms dealer from taking the prize, Lupin and the gang decide to get to it first. However, they’ll have to deal with a dangerous assassin, the police force, and a fickle Fujiko. In the end, who’ll obtain the ancient treasure? A thief or a merchant of death?    Comments:

With Discotek releasing the original Lupin III TV series later this year (expect reviews), I was chomping at the bit to do something Lupin-related for Otaku Revolution. Luckily, there was a recently aired television special to watch and review! Even more fortunate, it was a pretty damn good one!

This was the first really fun ride for Lupin in a long while. The past few specials have been pretty terrible, especially the last one, The Last Job, wherein the running joke was Lupin being bitten on the ass by a ninja dog. This time around there were all the classic trademarks of Lupin: A heist, some chases, a secret treasure, a henchmen for Goemon to battle. Only the execution was really quite good. There were elements of past Lupin features like Plot of the Fuma Clan and Stolen Lupin, but with its own unique twists and turns. read more

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Audio: English: My Favorite English VAs in Anime


With the Audio:English series, PenguinTruth takes a critical look at the English
dubs which grace some of anime’s most defining series in North America.

As somebody with a critical eye on anime English dubs, I’m often at odds with a reputation for "hating" dubs and dub voice actors. But the truth is, there are plenty of very talented voice actors working in English dubs of anime. I’m fond of quite a few of them and have definite favorites. I’ve even been able to rank them in their own "tiers". But let’s put tier rankings aside, because this is just a list of the dub VAs I like the most. I’ve also listed the roles I like them in the most. read more

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Three Episodes In – Bodacious Space Pirates

Bodacious Space Pirates is a new anime series for 2012 which tells the story of Mariko Kato, heir to the pirate ship Bentenmaru following the death of her father, the ship’s captain. Bodacious Space Pirates is written by Yūichi Sasamoto (co-writer of Venus Wars), directed by Tatsuo Satō (Stellvia, Martian Successor Nadesico), and animated by Satelight Inc. (Macross Frontier, Hellsing Ultimate). It’s already been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks.

Note – Most folks, including the subbing groups, are referring to the series as Mouretsu Space Pirates, the name of the light novel series this anime is based off of. Mouretsu, as it turns out, means miniskirt. Every other source, from ANN to Wikipedia and even the series logo, show the series is actually called Bodacious Space Pirates. read more

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Gundam AGE Episode 14 Review

 Episode 14, "A Flash of Sorrow"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: The battle at Ambat continues. The Diva begins to take on damage. Flit is attacked by Desil in his black MS. Suddenly a pink MS interrupts them. Yurin has been physically forced to pilot it, with her unable to break free. Desil struggles to fight two mobile suits. As Desil closes in for the kill, Yurin’s MS gets between them and her MS is impaled. Her MS explodes. Enraged, Flit attacks Desil’s mobile suit with ferocity, disabling it. Flit changes the Gundam parts from Spallow to Titus and charges the enemy base, opening a hanger door. The Diva parks in the hanger and the crew arm themselves for close combat.    Comments:   Yurin dies? Huge shock! Never saw that coming.    Actually, aside from the predictability, Yurin’s death was handled pretty well. It was interesting that the MS she was in was basically just using her and she was little more than a battery for it as it worked via X-Rounder resonance. This way not only is she forced to work for the enemy, but she’s physically forced to. Though if this was the case, why couldn’t her MS simply be remote controlled via Desil’s own MS? Or does it work better with an additional X-Rounder? Anyway, the vision of Flit and Yurin interacting in the woods just before her MS explodes was a little touching, to be honest.    So I guess at the last moment she was able to take control of her MS? It’s not quite clear.    I’m trying to decide which 0079 battle this is more like, Solomon or A Bao Qu. On the one hand, by the end of the episode, a new secret weapon that looks like the Big Zam is being activated. On the other, this feels more final than Solomon and the Diva crew is about to engage in close combat with guns, much like A Bao Qu. It’s probably a little of both, because I’m guessing fighting the new MS/MA (?) will be a significant portion of the next episode. Is the pilot the guy in the mask, unmasked?   Who’s the blue-haired kid that looks a bit like Desil?   The action was pretty good in this episode, especially when Flit became enraged at Yurin’s death and totally dominated Desil’s black MS. If the next episode can continue that level of awesomeness, this show might just turn around after all.     Overall Score:

4.5 out of 5

 
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Layman’s Gunpla Guide – Paint References

As I mentioned over here, I’ve started to test all of my paints on cheap plastic spoons to get the feel for a colour before applying it to a kit. Instead of just hogging them for myself, I’ve decided to share them here. Granted, there’s no better experience then testing out the colours yourself. The true colour of the paints will vary from the photos due to fluctuating camera settings and even the setup of your own monitor.

Note – The shade of these colors may change based on usage, especially the underlying base coat. All of these paint samples done straight on top of white plastic spoons. Unless otherwise stated there no primer or topcoat has been used. You can read more on how primer effects paint colours here. read more

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Layman’s Gunpla Guide – Sampling Paints

I’d just like to speak briefly about an easy and cost effective way to test your paints.

Traditionally, I would test my paint by spraying some on an unused action base, paper, or leftover runner. Since then, I’ve found that a better way to go about it is to test on some disposable white plastic spoons.

One can usually find 100 count packs of these disposable utensils at the local grocer for less than $5. They provide a nice consistent colour and surface to test upon. (Note – Make sure your spoon’s surface is clean before painting, sometimes there’s dust and other material floating around in the shipping container) If you’re interested in establishing a collection, you can write the paint’s information on the stem for later reference.  You can pull them out at a later date to compare and contrast paints you’ve already tested when planning a colour scheme. read more

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PG Zaku II ver. Reprise – Update 01

Long ago, in the depths of 2008, I built a Perfect Grade Char’s Zaku II. It was horrible. A travesty of all things great. A concoction of orange peel’d gloss and stickers. Thus, 2012 being the end of the world, the only proper thing to do would be to light it on fire and sing a sad song in remembrance. Or I could cover it in awesome.


Click to Enlarge | On Flickr

Yeah, I’ll do go with the awesome option instead. Okay, maybe I’m being a bit presumptuous of myself. read more

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