OtaKrew hits some new shows on Monday Night Forum

So, the OtaKrew is getting around to watching some new shows at Monday Night Forum.


With the fansub pimp, Cyphr, and I being BIG fans of Fullmetal Alchemist, the new FMA show was an obvious pick-up for Forum. "FMA: Broherhood" is, basically, a retelling of the FMA story but this time around it follows the manga much more closely than the first FMA anime did. Sure, the first FMA followed the manga up until it caught up to (and passed) the manga. Then the series did what most anime put in similar circumstances will do, make up new storylines. Gotta say that I am really digging this one, though, as we finally get to see new characters Lin and Mai (two of my favorites). Cannot wait until we get introduced to Major General Armstrong. (le sigh)We are currently on season two of this series and the OtaKrew are pleased...If you have a chance at picking this up on a fansub, I suggest you check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Another long-awaited (for me, anyway) series is "Inu Yasha: The Final Act".
MILD SPOILER ALERT

This anime is finishing up the story from manga number 36 through to the end of the story at manga 56. What is cool is that it picked up right were the first anime left off and, as someone who has been reading Inu Yasha religiously, I am very happy that what I have seen so far. Gotta love the fact that Sesshomaru is, currently, getting a lot of airtime as he has shown up in all three of the episodes that have been shown. Sadly, one of my favorite characters died in the second episode. Honestly, it brought a tear to my eye when I read first read it in the manga and I did get a little sniffy watching it on TV too.

And then there is "Tokyo Magnitude 8.0".
MILD SPOILER ALERT!!!

Wow. What a fantastic show this was. I say was because we have already seen all 11 episodes of this show and we (the OtaKrew) came away VERY impressed.

The setting is based on the prediction that Tokyo will be hit by a 7.0 magnitude (or higher) earthquake in the next 30 years. The story follows two young kids (Mirai and her little brother Yuki) who are caught up in an 8.0 magnatude earthquake in Tokyo and are trying to get back home.

Mirai and Yuki meet up with a young woman, Mari, who assists them in making their way through the devastated city.

Don't want to give anything away but, if any of us saw this show by ourselves, we would have cried like babies at the end. Think "Grave of the Fireflies" sad...

Anywho, after all this talk of sad (but good) anime, I need something to make me happy to finish off this post....I know....how about my favorite WWE diva....

MELINA!!!


DECULTURE!!!

I'm addicted to Protoculture....

So, I decided to go down memory lane today and I pulled out my DVD of "Macross: Do You Remember Love?". Man, I forgot how much I absolutely LOVE that movie. It's, easily, one of my favorite anime movies of all time.

I remember when I first "discovered" the movie and how it really grabbed me with the music, designs (both mecha and characters) and the revamped storyline.

I really, really need to get an R2 version of the movie. As it is, I have a VHS copy of it and a really good fansub. Not to mention my..ahem..Hong Kong "imported" DVD.

For people who really know me, I am something of a collector. So, when it comes to my toy collection, I'm seriously thinking about selling anything and everything that isn't Macross/Robotech-related. I mean, really, I can't collect everything anymore and my love for Macross/Robotech is pretty strong.

I really love the Yamato Macross toy line. The picture above is of my beloved VF-11B from Macross Plus.

While I know that there are a lot of issues with this particular toy, I just really love the mecha, itself.

Just recently, I found out on the Macross World forums that Yamato is going to release the VF-11C from Macross 7. What an absolutely beautiful mech this is.My 11B is a 1/72 scale while the 11C is a 1/60 scale. I think that I am going to have to buy two of these.

Of course, there is the YF-19 that I covet as well.

Easily one of the most popular Valks in the Macross Universe. Right up there with the VF-1S (Skull Leader, baby!!!)

I really want one of these...

The above toys are something new from the good folks at Yamato, the GN-U Dou. This line is pretty much Yamato's answer to the Revoltechs. The only thing is that they are a little bit bigger but also a little bit more expensive than the Revoltechs.


When I go to cons, I frequent the dealer's room looking for Macross-related merchandise. So, along with the toys, I also keep an eye out for artbooks as I have a pretty sizable collection. The Macross artbooks that I have picked up over the years happen to be some of the best (and most difficult to find) artbooks that I own.

This artbook showcases the beautiful art from Haruhiko Mikimoto and happens to be one of my favorites.

The artbooks below, I found at Anime Wasabi in 2008. They had an AWESOME dealer's room that year but I was a little disappointed with the con as a whole this year, though. No new artbook purchases for me.

With the popularity of Macross Frontier, all kinds of things have come out in the last year or so that are Macross-y. One of those things is the "Macross Ace" magazine.

This magazine is pretty darn cool as it is brought to us by the good folks at Kadokawa and it specializes in Macross-related manga, light novels, music, games and toys. (Right up my alley!!!) One of the things that I am looking forward to is the "Super Dimension Fortress MACROSS- The First" manga being serialized inside. It is, basically, a retelling of the original Macross story done up with art from the amazing Mikimoto. This cover is of issue 002 which came out in June. The third issue comes out in November.

Gotta start getting this mag!!!

Let's do some cosplayin'

You know I love cosplay, right? What's better than a little Macross-themed cosplay...

FIRE BOMBER!!!

What this world needs more of is....Minmay cosplay....
DECULTURE!!!