The Otakon schedule got posted last Thursday & I discussed it that night with Kate (Narutaki) & Alain (Hisui) of the Reverse Thieves. There was some crackling and then other noise from my microphone due to interference, likely from my cellphone (and aliens?!)

I tried to do my best to salvage those parts in post-production but you’ll have to deal with my cyborg echo voice for much of it. Thank goodness my East Coast friends recorded their own end, preventing it from sounding worse, but don’t listen to this with the volume way up.

The Reverse Thieves also posted their tentative schedule so check that out either in addition to, or in substitution of, this podcast episode.

Opening: “Shoot You Down” by APB [Free Music Archive]

[00:50] Introduction

[02:05] Starting the schedule talk

[04:35] CLAMP was at Anime Expo 2006 (Anime Cons)

[06:25] Otakon autograph policy for this year

[08:20] Voice actor tip: the correct way to pronounce Vic’s last name (min-yah-nah).

(interim music is Spoilers reveal from Double Dare – source)

[10:45] The panels the Reverse Thieves want to attend

[14:40] We all want to see Welcome to the Space Show.

[14:58] I cut out my loud static for the listeners’ sake.

(interim sound is a letter falling into place from Scrabble – source “in puzzle”)

[16:09] Resuming the podcast after the audio attack

[18:15] Ed Sizemore’s & Alex Leavitt’s panel times DID change! Ed’s “Anime Journalism” panel is now at 12pm-1pm Friday while Alex’s “Anime Intros and Endings” panel is at 3:30-4:30pm Friday.

[19:30] Kate lists off their Friday “likely”s for fan panels

[23:58] Dave Cabrera of ANN’s Astro Toy and Colony Drop gets mentioned for the mahjong panel he’s doing with Carl (SDS) of Ogiue Maniax, “Riichi: Japanese Mahjong, Anime, and You”, at 9:30-10:30am Friday morning.

[24:14] Kate says “Yeah, right” to me being interested in the game in Saki and suggests Akagi as a better series for mahjong display. (Though “lesbians with shiny thighs” could be a good catchphrase…)

[25:04] Vertical and Ed Chavez’s separation of business & casual. Also mentioned Lychee Light Club announced during Comic-Con.

[29:05] Aniplex panel mention leads to general industry panel anecdote (FUNimation & free goods)

[35:30] I now have to go to “Bad, Anime, Bad!!” for a particular reason.

[36:50] I geeked out a bit about game shows re: Anime Press Your Luck

[40:10] My cyborg voice returns…

[42:30] HOT TIP: Visit the information booth for updates on schedule changes!

[45:33] Saturday begins with Alex’s noitaminA panel.

[49:13] Yuji Mitsuya and Anpanman

[54:41] Alain mentions Blue Flames while we’re talking about the “Feminism, Fandom, and Fanservice” panel.

[57:00] HOT TIP: You can possibly skip the first 45 minutes of RAINBOW with Hiroshi Koujina Q&A if you’ve already seen episodes 1 & 2 online. Koujina also directed Kiba and Grenadier so ask about those if you’re too disturbed by the prison story.

[59:55] Kate makes me feel bad about liking Highschool of the Dead.

[1:04:17] Apparently, 30% of Vocaloid song sales on iTunes are from users outside Japan. Followup: distribution company KarenT says 51.2% of iTunes sales from Japan and 40.9% from America. [@krnerdnews: 1, 2]

[1:04:49] Another game show: Anime Name Your Tune

[1:07:35] Actually, this went up the day before the convention started, not a week before. “Dubs That Time Forgot” has almost the last timeslot of the convention! Funimation once had shows on Gaia.

[1:12:19] Oh yes, concerts! Home Made Kazoku, Yoshida Brothers, and Masquerade halftime appearance by Yoshiki and Sugiko. Also: pondering the gender of kanon.

[1:16:57] Tips for first time Otakon attendees like myself (and breaking news that kanon is a dude)

[1:24:47] Ending: “Suihei Leibe ~Mahou no Jumon~” by Kakki & Ash Potato (Element Hunters ending)

In this podcast episode recorded on April 22nd, I talked with Evan Krell (@bakatanuki) of Insert-Disc about some spring season anime with diversions into SigIKKI manga and Digimon toward the end.

Just a warning: I tried to reduce the background noise (it kind of worked) and Evan’s voice is louder than mine.

Show Notes:

[0:00] Opening: “liquid jazz” by General Fuzz [source]

[0:55] Introduction & prefacing the episode

[2:27] We kick it off with GIANT KILLING…

[13:02] …and continue with the Shinbo-directed Arakawa under the Bridge.

[23:30] I was impressed that I liked Angel Beats and we both try to speculate about their “afterlife” world.

[35:06] We both liked House of Five Leaves and Evan reminded me that the manga has chapters up on SIGIKKI’s website. [Watch on Hulu, YouTube or FUNimation]

[39:55] The Tatami Galaxy (aka Yojo-han Shinwa Taikei) had just premiered that day so we only talked about the first episode. [Watch on Hulu, YouTube or FUNimation]

[44:47] Evan briefly talks about Hakuoki.

[45:30] I tell Evan about HEROMAN [Crunchyroll] and Evan brings up something Stan Lee-related from The Big Bang Theory.

[49:00] I describe RAINBOW as “kind of brutal” but still good.

[50:42] I lament Night Raid‘s lack of subs and Evan’s mention of Yutori-chan causes me to talk about 5-minute series like Higepiyo – Evan’s watching Dogtato-kun and explains Damekko Dobutsu to me (other short-form shows).

[54:15] Maid-Sama just wasn’t my style and Evan wonders how many people might have been fooled that it’s shoujo.

[58:12] Two weeks later, I’m still reluctant to continue past Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou‘s first episode. [Watch on Crunchyroll or Anime Network]

[1:00:17] I lay out the different characters in WORKING!! Evan mentions that the Reverse Thieves initially liked it in their Spring Guide and then Narutaki dropped it after episode 2.

[1:04:15] I struggle a bit in explaining why I liked B Gata H Kei.

[1:06:28] I haven’t begun K-ON!‘s and Big Windup‘s second seasons because I haven’t seen the first seasons and Evan brings up that he won’t be continuing with Hime Chen!, a boring magical girl show. I relate a bit about BOST TV and the shows it had such as Keitai Shoujo, Strike Witches, and The Tower of Druaga as well as GONZO’s reputation.

[1:11:44] Evan is watching True Mazinger and I touch on my lack of getting into mecha, then comment a bit on Wedding Peach, Element Hunters and Natsu no Arashi! along with my intention to watch Durarara!!

[1:21:50] Evan expands on SigIKKI with Saturn Apartments and I bring up Kingyo Used Books, Children of the Sea, and Afterschool Charisma.

[1:27:25] I try to promote Insert-Disc and I bring up Evan’s article on Mamoru Hosoda’s Our War Game, which takes us into talking about Digimon in America and then other FoxKids shows. (While editing this episode, I discovered a YouTube playlist of Digi-Bowl clips.)

[1:35:09] Signing off and giving Twitter handles

[1:36:10] Ending: “summer” by General Fuzz [Free Music Archive]

I talked with researcher Alex Leavitt (@alexleavitt) last weekend about academic pursuits, his upcoming panels (including one at PAX East), East Coast vs. West Coast cons, and the movie Summer Wars (I think we managed to not spoil it).

I also decided to start calling the podcast a “Chat Show” because they’ve all been interview-focused so far. In editing this episode, I inserted some interstitial music to cover up a few awkward transitions. Let me know if you like the splitting of different sections (and, more importantly, if the levels are okay!)

SHOW NOTES:
[00:00] Intro: “Heat” by Explode Into Colors [Free Music Archive]

[00:44] Introduction and condolences for not being as prompt with the episode as I should have.

[01:30] I ask him about his academic involvement in such things as the Web Ecology Project and the Masters & Ph.D. process, along with the motivations behind pursuing post-graduate degrees.

[09:05] Media citations related to Chatroulette study including an appearance on WGBH’s Greater Boston.

[13:00] Ian Condry’s talk at Harvard and the post-talk conversation between Alex and wildarmsheero (who was a previous guest).

[21:03] Alex’s PAX East panel, “Memes, Microcultures, and 2D Chicks: Our Future in the Otaku Gamer”, was Saturday Mar. 27 at 1:30pm. (PAX East schedule). I’m sorry the episode went up after the panel had happened but I hope he puts a recording or something up afterward. The topic diverged into conventions on the east & west coasts.

[29:20] Alex has eight panels scheduled at Anime Boston including two different ones starting at 1:30am.

[32:10] I mentioned a talk planned at PCA/ACA, “From Narrative to Character: Transmedia, Emotional Economies, and the Success of Neon Genesis Evangelion”, which it will be a shorter version of an Anime Boston panel (or rather the AB panel will be the expanded version). I mentioned different manga versions of Evangelion including this Shinji-as-a-detective series.

[39:40] Interstitial: “Time Bonus” by Lawrence Power [Free Music Archive]

[40:20] We talk about the Summer Wars screening at MIT where director Mamoru Hosoda took Q&A afterward & Alex will post that audio sometime in the future. He made note that SW and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time are “very, very different movies” – a point he reminded me about later when I tried to compare my feelings about both.

[44:10] We begin talking about the film itself. Here are some written reviews of Summer Wars: Tim Maughan, Mark Schilling (The Japan Times), Justin Sevakis (ANN), Todd Brown (Twitch).

[52:15] I bring up that the film has been screened in a number of places and asked Alex if it would appeal to American audiences similar to Miyazaki films. Alex said there’s a problem comparing current Miyazaki to his older films. The phrase “the next Miyazaki” gets played down in reference to Hosoda and also to Makoto Shinkai.

[58:55] In a last bit about Summer Wars, I point out the baseball parallel storyline and make a failed attempt to link that to the baseball appearances in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Alex thinks that baseball is just such a cultural institution in Japan and I mention a few Japanese players who made it big in the US.

[1:01:58] Interstitial: “Third Challenger” by Lawrence Power [Free Music Archive]

[1:02:36] I end on sort of a lame question about something I noticed on Alex’s resume.

[1:06:04] Ending: “Speedway at Night” by Lawrence Power [Free Music Archive]

The podcast is back for 2010! The first new episode in ten months is a interview-focused conversation with Evan Minto (@VamptVo), editor-in-chief/webmaster of Ani-Gamers. It started off as an interview (and stayed that way in many parts) but it lost structure toward the end, though that looseness was fun as well.

I intended to post this over the weekend – I had said Thursday/Friday during the recording – but then my main computer began to have trouble booting up. Thankfully, I had finished the core editing and was able to upload it using my backup computer. It’s not as completely polished as I would like but it should be good enough to listen to.

SHOW NOTES:

[00:13] Music: “Harlem Clip” by Gustav Ruppke

[00:47] Introducing Evan. I stumble while trying to explain why I asked him on.

[02:46] I ask about Genericon (Feb. 12th-14th) and Evan’s studies at RPI. He’s double majoring in Computer Science and in Electronic Media, Arts, and Communication (EMAC).

[08:59] We then talked about the equipment used for recording the Ani-Gamers podcast…

- Samson COU1 microphone [Amazon]
- Zoom H2 [Amazon]

[13:20] … the editing process…

[17:34] … accepting promos…

[20:45] … breaking into the anime/manga/otaku podcast community…

[23:07] … and show notes.

- Ani-Gamers #24 about Sword and the Stranger
- Debut episode of The Speakeasy, the Reverse Thieves’ new monthly podcast

[28:00] The final focused topic was the Ani-Gamers website and its contributors.

[29:41] I find out how long the posting queue is.

[32:00] I move onto the contributors, who choose their own subjects to write about on the website.

- Elliot’s review of Excel Saga manga vol. 1-20
- Collection of Ani-Gamers’ 2009 Staff Picks

[35:05] Our discussion slides into the subject of review copies: I betray my meekness in asking for them, Evan states his policy of recommending his reviewers give away their review copies and buy their own afterward.

- That Cartoon Network show I couldn’t remember was Storm Hawks.
- I did remember about Lux-Pain, which I need to return to and finish.
- These two reviews of King of RPGs vol. 1 came from the same physical copy.

[52:05] False ending (or “bonus” content?), where we briefly talk again about promos and then other podcasts.

- The Geekbox (it’s about geek stuff including games, film, TV & comics)
- Fast Karate (listened to this episode – it was pretty good)

[59:05] Music: “Kyoto Melody” by Orquestra Popular De Paio Pires

Omake: dub sample from Wild Cardz

(The music in this podcast was used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.)

Music:
Opening: “A-LOAN” composed by Hiroyuki Sawano (Zombie-Loan OST)
Ending: “Cinema” performed by Picasso (Maison Ikkoku 2nd ending) [link]

Show Notes:
lelangir’s first blog post (April 28, 2008)
thoughts on the blogging tradition part 1 (read all 5 parts here)
I think either this or this was what I was referring to regarding semiotics
lelangir’s “Call of Arms” re: music posts
wildarmsheero’s post which I quote from
His post about Clannad and the psychology of time
the Penny Arcade! strip lelangir referred to (has some language)
IKnight’s review of Mechademia Vol 1

anitations | lelangir’s anime music blog | lelangir on Twitter

The Toy Fusion table at SacAnime

As I mentioned in a SacAnime post in January, I recorded a few interviews and a couple panels using a recently purchased portable recorder. I finally got my act together and combined them into one long podcast episode. Don’t worry, time markers are in the show notes below.

UPDATE 3/7 6AM PST: The first upload of this episode included panels being cut off near the end due to screw-ups when I converted the original WMA recordings into an editable format. A fixed, more full-featured version has since been uploaded.

Show Notes
(0:00 – 0:45) “Koi no Jumon wa Papa-PiPu-Pa”, sung by Yuko Ogura (School Rumble ED B-side)

(0:45 – 3:32) Introduction, where I forget to say my own name.

(3:41 – 6:43) Toy Fusion interview in dealer’s hall

(6:51 – 11:53) Rebecca Hicks interview in dealer’s hall (Little Vampires; Lunasea Studios)

(12:01 – 1:07:59) Tom Kane panel (IMDB); my favorite part was about Invasion Iowa. The occasional noise at the beginning is me trying to look through the program guide and moving the recorder around.

(1:08:07 – 2:01:08) Full Metal Alchemist panel with Vic Migogna, Travis Willingham, and Laura Bailey. I inserted Vic’s introduction from this panel during this episode’s introduction because I couldn’t be bothered to pronounce his name correctly.

(2:01:08 – 2:02:14) Sendoff

(2:02:11 – 2:03:12) “Water Forest”, composed by Yoko Kanno (Darker Than Black BGM)

Transitions:
clipped from “Jumbo Camera ni Donto Koi!” (Welcome to the NHK OST)

Feel free to leave feedback/suggestions in the comments or through an e-mail to podcast [at] nigorimasen [dawt] com.

I talked yesterday afternoon with wildarmsheero of Mistakes of Youth about his webcomic, Gundam, that ANN-Kite Liberator thing (link), lolicon, and other subjects. By the way, I should have said “swing” instead of “jazz” or “bebop” in describing Oh! Edo Rocket‘s soundtrack.

WARNING: there are some instances of cursing in this episode from myself and my guest.

Music:
“Naked Story”, performed by Garnet Crow (Secret of Cerulean Sand opening)
“Umi Yori Mo Fukaku”, sung by Etsuko Sai (G Gundam 1st ending)

Feel free to leave feedback in the comments or send an e-mail to podcast [at] nigorimasen [dawt] com.

I’m sorry if you can hear faint static – when I tried to use noise removal, the speech sounded like we were underwater so I ended up not tweaking it that way. Also, I’m also experimenting with podPress because I want to get download estimates; the former streaming interface will show up if you click “Play Now” below. Enjoy!

[RSS] Subscribe by adding the feed to your favorite podcatcher.

Music
Opening: “Bucchigiri ni shite ageru” sung by Kagamine Rin (used in RenAi Blogger’s opening)
Ending: Caramelldansen Mashup with Aniki Wrestling [YouTube link]

Show Notes:
RenAi Blogger Released (Ex-Fansubber Hitorigoto)
Final Thoughts on RenAi Blogger (Ex-Fansubber Hitorigoto)
Yakiniku JuJu goes up in flames (Ex-Fansubber Hitorigoto)
Mumbling Kitsune: Otakon 2008: The Good, The Bad and the Costumed (Mania.com)
Pigs, Corn, and…Anime? Anime Iowa 2008 (Mania.com)
Official Otakon Apology for Artists’ Alley Debacle
Mumbling Kitsune: Comedy AMVs Need Serious Work (Mania.com)
T.H.A.T. Fall 2008 Anime Preview (T.H.A.T. Anime Blog)
JP’s What I Was Forced To Watch This Week posts (Minaide! Hazukashii…)
Hung’s Impressions of Soul Eater (BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog)
Shino’s Paachi

Leave feedback in the comments or email to podcast [at] nigorimasen [dot] com. Next week (if I create one) will be a solo episode and will likely be shorter than usual but I won’t guarantee anything.

Music
Opening: “The Clear Blue Sky”, sung by Aki Misawa (from Sound Online’s The Clear Blue Sky)
Ending: “Tabibito”, sung by Ikeda Ayako (B-side from Dennou Coil single)

The first episode of the Nigorimasen! Blogcast was recorded last night with IcyStorm of Minimum Tempo fame as my guest. There was actually some more interesting stuff after the main recording, like magazine subscriptions and rhythm games, so I also crafted a ‘mega’ version that is twenty minutes longer. P.S. I apologize in advance for laughing into my headset mic.

Show notes:
- we began talking about AX a bit (it’s dakimakura, not daimakura – my bad)
- I try to explain Mave-chan (which transitions into discussing the Lucky Star dub & pack-in extras)
- we changed topics to digital anime sales (iTunes, PSN, et al.)
- PLUG: MT is looking for writers! (I also promise to submit some articles.)
- my impressions of playing Naruto: ROAN
- I ask to have Aria explained to me
- I later try to pitch Kiba to Icy
- Mega Version: yet another slipup by me – Donkey Konga and Taito no Tatsujin don’t have lyrics but rather kuchi shoga.

Music:
Opening: “Punctured”, performed by Electric Eel Shock
Ending (standard): “You are the only one”, sung by Kotono Mitsuishi [lyrics]
Ending (mega): “Boin VS Boin” from Gurren Lagann BEST SOUND