Dear Aniplex...

I first just want to thank you for serving in us American Otaku, and slowly bringing anime back to its prominence overseas. You are on the top of the list of distributors who shows real interest in your fans, like many you want these fans to go from casual watchers; catching the latest release online to casual buyers of your and other companies titles.

I'm very much stoked that you guys and Funimation are putting your faith in the new Toonami line-up, airing titles like Sword Art Online, and coming next spring; Blue Exorcist. Not to mention you've followed after Viz and have released english subtitled versions of your titles on Hulu and Crunchyroll. (This is how I was able to watch Magi and Madoka Magica this past summer) However one of the big titles I knew you guys had under your sleeves, was the re-release of Gurren Lagann, which some assumed was lost when Bandai Entertainment folded.

There's alot to like about you Aniplex, really I mean it; but there's a good reason why all the titles I've bought have come from Funimation... the pricing. The prices for some of your DVD sets are just ridiculous, we're talking 70 dollars and up for a new release. What? are the cases covered in small strands of gold or something? I could get the all the Season DVDs of Breaking Bad for much less. So until you lower the prices or until I find a job, I guess the only way for me to watch anything you guys distribute in the west is online or on Toonami.

Sincerely,
Most broke Otaku 

My Thoughts on: Kendrick Lamar's verse on "Control"

Let me put this out before it becomes an irrelevant matter, but first "Oh my God, did you hear what Kendrick Lamar said on Control yet? You haven't? well here it is! Listen so we can all complain about it!" 


Heard it yet?

Yeah Big Sean got murked on his own song.

Wait what am I talking about again?

Oh yeah Kendrick's Verse... What was that again?

"I'm usually homeboys with the same n----s i'm rhymin with/ But this is hip-hop and them n----s should know what time it is/ And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale/ Pusha T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Drake/ Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller/ I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you n----s/ Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you n----s/ They don't wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you n---as." 

Now I may not make this apparent on this blog, but right now K-dot has been one of my favorite rappers since 2012. He's one of the few reasons why I started to have more faith in Hip-Hop nowadays. (sad but true) He's one of the few rappers that doesn't talk about the money in his pocket or how much his watch cost, he focuses on his struggle, the struggles of others, self improvement, movement, things a lot of rappers today can't speak on cause they don't wanna rock the Status Quo. Though now he's managed to carve out a bit of mainstream appeal, he still keep true to his origins. 

K-dots verse on "Control" may not be the best verse he's ever wrote, but since the single dropped it has become the only thing people talk about. Why so? because we are all wondering the same thing: "Why did he say that?" When I mean we I don't mean rappers or artists (The good ones have excepted the challenge), I mean "we" the fans, the consumers.

That's real Hip Hop! Its not just here to make Twerk music; its not just here to swoo females with breaks of singing inbetween, and its not here to throw catchphrases and memes: it's here to make a statement. Kendrick is using his verse to challenge his competition to come stronger than what they have coming out with. Most of us look at it as an approaching war against K-dot, I look at it as a friendly spar of wits and styles between heavy-hitters in the game. If someone wants to diss Kendrick let him, if someone wants to outdo Kendrick go right a head, cause really all the verse is saying is "Do Better or I will Do better!" And quite frankly the true cause death of any thing in this world is Stagnation.

Here's what most of the rap game thinks

Sources:

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1712240/kendrick-lamar-big-sean-control.jhtml

My Thoughts on: 90's Nostalgia

Ahh! the 90's, the clothes, the hair, the shows, the movies, the era that most of my friends and family members were born in... boy does that get annoying real quick. Now I'm not talking so much about the fashion or culture; oh no, I love 90's fashion & I love how it's is coming back into popularity in the 2010's. I like how some women go out and get long braids a la Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice. I like that snap-backs are now the most dominant head gear for African American males, a big difference from when dudes would only rock fitted with du-rags. I'm loving the fact that Afroscentricity is slowly coming back, (despite the current state of hip hop) young black people becoming more conscious and more vocal on black issues and black culture as problems still continue to arise.

I like going to Late 80's-90's themed parties and you have guys and girls dressed up like Run DMC, Aaliayah (Sic), Fresh-Prince Era Will Smith and other dominant trendsetters of the 90's. I like hearing those 90's nostalgic beats, that you see people like J.Cole or Tyga use in their productions. I don't hate that the culture is coming back, but it gets annoying quick when some people become incredibly nostalgic when it comes to the 90's.

I can admit that there were a lot of things in the 90's that were better, (especially since we all lived in a post 9/11 world) but to say things like "Life was so much better in the 90s!" is a bit of a trip. First off if you weren't 16 or older in the 90's I don't think you should be saying things like that. I was a kid during that decade, a kid who had no idea about the first Iraqi war (A.K.A. Operation Desert Storm), the "first" World Trade Center bombings in 1993, The "War on Drugs" that carried over from the previous decade. I even had no idea who Tupac Shakur or The Notrious B.I.G was until I was about 14 years old. I was just a kid watching his favorite Disney movies. Even crazier, I had no who people like Howard Ashman was, let alone the fact that he died from a disease during an epidemic I had no idea even existed until the early 2000s. Truth is; life in the 90s was just as bad as life in the 2010s.

But like I said before, there were a lot of things the decade had that you rarely see anymore in 2010s, and alot of those things don't come from the technology or stuff that we had, but the strong relationships and connections we formed.

Cellphones were luxury items that only the wealthy had, it was a giant bulky behemoth that costed just as much on a contract as a smartphone off contract. (and God bless you if you had to text with that thing) You didn't see any 5 year old kid with Nextel phones, texting friends, going on Facebook, and playing Angry Birds. Systems like the Super Nintendo or the Sega Genesis lacked the ability to play online (As the internet was still fairly new then) so kids would have to run to their friend's houses to play multi-player games like NBA Jam or Street Fighter. Most homes had at least 2 TVs in their and one PC that had to be shared between all members of the family. As a results families grew closer to one another, and formed unbreakable bonds that have survived the test of time. People in general communicated much more better with each other, mostly due to the fact that verbal communication was the only the way we had to express ourselves and our thoughts.

To say that the 90s was better is, without a doubt; a partially true statement for me. Not for the technology, (seriously) nor the TV shows, or even the movies. But its the fact that we communicated face-to-face, voice-to-voice, modes of communication that were more to the heart than the modes most people currently used. Its rare to see a young person these days who prefers calling over texting, who would rather meet a person face-to-face than to just "add" him/her on Facebook, who socializes with people she doesn't know, rather than a friend via text messaging. We call it the new way of communication; but the generations before us (even those in our own age group) look at us in disapproval of our social awkwardness and the methods that cradle it. Maybe its more of that human interaction that we need; not just in the workplace, but between people in schools, universities, at home, in churches, anywhere. When you really think about it, its not the stuff or the events that made the 90's memorable; but the personal memories & relationships we made that makes the nostalgia all that powerful.

So you wanna condemn George Zimmerman?

"George Zimmerman's acquittal is all the proof people need to believe that there is no justice in this country."

That's something alot of people feel is the utmost truth about the verdict of the Trayvon Martin Case, let alone the American Justice system. But take into consideration the following murders that took place within the city of Boston, all of which happened within the last year.

Sharrice Perkins, Kristen Lartey, Genevieve Philip

On the night of August 14th, 4 Dorchester women unexpectedly caught in shooting. Three of these women did not make it to the next day. Sharrice Perkins, Kristen Lartey died that night & Genevive Philip passed at Boston Medical. The other person; whose name has not been released is released, has survived with only a gunshot to the leg. This horrid case collectively titled "The Harlem St Murders" was reported as as a "likey gang-related" murder, no one has been charged or has been reported to be charged. All 4 women were 22 years old.

Sources:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/08/14/violence/4ZuwrRy3RF5XBXQv9NWEoJ/story.html

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/08/16/boston-police-commissioner-harlem-street-triple-slaying-was-gang-related/WsY264siQ3JLygXltJrhkM/story.html

Rashad Drogba

On August 15th 2012 (the following day after the previous shootings) , Rashad A.K.A "Rizzy" Drogba was brutally stabbed to death leaving an MBTA Bus in Roxbury. Drogba and another unidentified male were involved in an heated argument that took place on the bus, once the bus reached its destination the unidentified male then approached Drogba and stabbed him in the neck. Despite all efforts by the Boston Police Department to try and gather information no arrests or developments have been made in the case. He was only 25 years old.

Sources:
http://quadeershakur.blogspot.com/2012/08/man-stabbed-and-killed-in-front-of.html

So where am I going with this?

I'm not suggesting that people should be not be mad about the verdict or that our system is not broken. It is broken, its severely broken; but if this trial is your first realization of this fact then let me be the SOB to welcome you to Black Culture. It still astounds me to this day that we still stay quiet about Black on Black violence, yet we expect the law to be carried out to the fullest with White on Black crimes. We're mad that Zimmerman got off on murder charges for a killing a young boy, but were's the anger for the murderers that took the 4 lives above? If you wanna hate and condemn Zimmerman for taking the life of black person, please condemn the hundreds of other people (black, white, etc.) who have done the same thing.

My Thoughts on: The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman Case

First let me give all my condolences to the Martin Family & Friends; I cannot even imagine what they've have been through before and after this trial. But know that Trayvon's story will be one that is forever etched in our minds, as he is etched in their hearts.

Everyone to some degree has been following the Trayvon Martin case, in which George Zimmerman was just acquitted on all charges. And while I would like to go on about the verdict and how there's no justice in our country, I don't really feel all that angry about the verdict. The attorney's did what they could for their respective parties and the world as an audience. Both had to not only defend their clients, but also had to "entertain" nearly 6 Billion people in the process as it was recorded for broadcast around the world. (How many court cases in a year get that type of treatment? Not a lot right)

I'm not so much upset with this verdict, but I'm for the most part disappointed by it. Here lies a young black male who just stepped out to get an ordinary Arizona Ice Tea and a pack of skittles; two items that would not only be the last thing he would ever bought, but the rallying cry of young people everywhere; claiming his innocence. Trayvon's story is a sad one, mostly because its a story that has been told time and time again. A story about young black men who just went to the corner store/barber shop/etc. only to have life ripped away from him in the back of police cruiser or behind the barrel of a gun. Its stories like this, that we hear all the time through various mediums and despite the attention, Trayvon's Case is no exception. So why do I feel so disappointed by the verdict? Because it once again strips the life out of another young man based on the context of his skin. 

Trayvon, was accused of being a hoodlum & a troublemaker in the area where the crime happened; was shot and killed because one person truly believed that he was up to no good. And the court, and America as well feels he should walk free because he was "Standing his Ground to those effin punks." And what is an "effin Punk?" What does one look like? Did Trayvon fit the description of an "effin Punk?" Are people like Trayvon generally considered "effin Punks?" As a black male am I an "effin Punk?" Its questions like these that black males since for years law enforcement has been arresting us and throwing them into the prison systems at alarming rates. Even people like me, that have no criminal record whatsoever, can be subject to arrest one day should we "fit the description." But since we live in a world where people distrust the government, people are more likely to take matters into their own hands. Accusations and actions similar to the one Zimmerman took could happen more often to a new set of black youths trying to survive; now with the title "effin Punk" branded on their heads.

 I don't know Trayvon Martin, neither do I know any of the hundreds of black boys who could not walk among us today; but their stories and struggles is one I've heard before and one I might continue to hear as I get older. As someone who will become a parent one day, it frightens me that I might have a child whose life could be ended so tragically because of one single dispute. This saga cannot end here! we have to keep pushing! Not just for Trayvon, but for all the black youths... born and unborn!

RIP Trayvon Martin

1995-2012

My Thoughts on: Current State of Anime

Big colored eyes, 

Crazily designed hair, 

Accentuated features, 

This is the type of stuff I live for! It pretty much comes to no surprise; but if you are still wondering, I'm a big fan of anime. I grew up on the Toonami block watching heavyweights like Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing & Yu Yu Hakusho. (My personal favorite)

As I got older I graduated to the adult swim line-up where shows like Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Code Geass quickly grabbed my attention. Going into college I started watching old school stuff like the original Mobile Suit Gundam, and the much loved/hated Neon Genesis Evangelion that still remains a staple of the medium to this day. Being a big fan of anime in this day and age does lead me to ask myself alot of questions bout the direction its going. The most pressing question for me: "Is anime now even worth caring about?"

It seems most people are divided among old school & new school otaku; old school fans praising old animes for their meaningful stories and creative ideas, and new school fans pretty much in love with how cute the characters look and act. But there's also another problem to consider, an over saturation of the market in the numbers of series that get produced. Even for someone like me, there is way too many animes out there to really devote a day to watching. Though most of these animes are barley spared thanks to certain circumstances in the writing process, (Taken from an already existing source) shows within the slice of life/harem genre usually suffer from using the one or more of the same tropes in every series.

For example in most harem shows; where multiple partners will compete for the affection of another, its usually common for to have two of the partners fight about which one will win the affection of the other partner. (Think Ryoko vs Ayeka from Tenchi Muyo!)

Some Slice of Life animes centered around schools have episodes that take place during various school activities such as school festivals or enterance exams. Though they're usually fun it tends to repeat the same old stuff we've seen hundreds times over and done way better before, and yet oddly enough there's not alot of protest from either generation. Old school otakus do make some comments that despite a better budget to create more fluid animation and an extremely cute (or "Moe" as Otaku call it) character designs, the anime that's airing now is very generic and unimaginative.

Many folks have expounded on the state of anime as it is today; such people like Youtuber ForneverWorld, and That Guy With the Glasses' Bennett the Sage who have shared some of their feelings as I am right now. I don't have a problem with old or new anime, I have my own opinion on certain series regardless of its appeal to fans. But I do want to see something new from the industry, something revolutionary; much in the same vein as Akira or Ghost in the Shell. I wish to one day see something so mind-changing, so foundation shattering, that it will change the way all people (anime fan or not) perceive the medium in a new light.

God so help me live to see that day!

Credits:
The First Picture is from a Blogpost from AstroNerdBoy Check out his blog by clicking the link below.
http://astronerdboy.blogspot.com/

Second Picture: http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/075/e/e/toonami_2012_and_beyond_by_marcotte-d5y825k.png

Third Picture: http://www.angelfire.com/anime5/beckywi0/ryokoaeka2.jpg

Fourth Picture: http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww132/Fayrra/Akira_3_p262-p263.jpg

My Thoughts on: The Xbox One and Consoles In-general

So E3 happened, big news came out, Sony and Microsoft made there bids into the 8th Generation with the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. When you pile up all the announcements of features and upcoming games it comes to no surprise that the PS4 reveal trampled over the one for the Xbox One. But besides simple mindless console fandom, what's the real reason why more people are hesitant to buy the Xbox One?

One issue consumers would like cleared up concerns the built-in Kinect camera that NEVER shuts off. Its always on, always functioning, and apparently is being used by companies and or the government. Think about it! even if you were to pass the room where the Xbox One is, once that Kinect detects that you're in the room its on and on for good. While that's a big concern, it's not as huge as the announcement as Microsoft's plan to remove used games or swapping games. They have announced a system that declares that once you buy a fresh copy of a game for your console it can only be registered and played on your console. It cannot by traded (or swapped at an exorbitant price) with someone else to play on that person's console. So just keep that in mind... Anytime you want a new Xbox One game you have to buy a new Xbox One game. (And at 60 dollars per game that's something most of us aren't willing to do)

Its moves like this where companies lose me as a consumer; I mean you get a console with the most pointless peripheral ever, built in to the console, it never shuts off and it sends all of you're data to advertisers, the government, or God-knows anybody else. A tracking system that will make sure you play your Xbox One game on your Xbox One console. And then you wanna us as consumers to pay 500 dollars and then some on some Privacy-Defying, Game-controlling console. (No thanks) Microsoft is making all the mistakes Apple is making; and should hope that their consumers are just as blissfully ignorant. For everyone else though; everyone's eyes, ears, & money is on the internet ready, user friendly PlayStation 4.

But let's be honest, console & game companies have been wanting to do this for a while. They see the money they could be making from advertisements or from not buying used games, and say "Hey we could make money from that!" One of the big de-factos about both PS4 & XB1 is that neither console is backwards compatible. While that's a drawback to both consoles lets me just clear something up

• Gamecube wasn't backwards compatible with N64 games or earlier nintendo games
• Dreamcast didn't play Sega Saturn Games
• The 360 and PS3 compatibility only worked for a few Xbox/PS2 & PS1 games

Backwards compatiblity is not that much of a loss, and compared to what we've been hammered with its might be the least of our problems. But what do you think? Are you still Team Xbox? or are you team PlayStation? Or do you feel like there's any difference? Let me hear from you in the comment section.

Team Xbox

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xboxone/meet-xbox-one

Team PlayStation   

http://us.playstation.com/ps4/

Here's the link to the article

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/xbox-one-features-create-privacy-concerns-20130613

My Thoughts on: Dragonball Z Battle of the Gods

I kinda don't wanna sound like the whiny fanboy that is constantly waiting for the newest installment to an old childhood series, but for this movie its kinda warranted. "Dragonball Z Battle of the Gods" has been that one movie billions of people on my Facebook news feed have been anticipating for about a year now, (Not that  have billions of Facebook friends mind you) but the overwhelming amount of talk centered around this flick has brought about a standard, yet legitimate question asked by most Anime fans in the US... "When will we get it?"

If it where just another anime movie, released by Toei on their own, it unfortunately will be released in less than 2 years despite the series' fandom here in the west. So it means more years of waiting for the film to be released by Funimation (unless watched by other means in Japanese). But here lies the problem, A. Its not just another anime movie, its a Dragonball Z movie. This is a movie that will fill the pockets of any company who invests in it. B. Toei did not release this movie on their own; infact it was also produced by 20th Century Fox. (An American Film company) So my question today is simple... With one of America's biggest film studios, a great film reception, and great number of fans in the west when will we get to see this film?

I can kinda see Toei being part of the reason as to why they don't want to release it in he west, they don't think it would bring in a decent profit abroad since the DVDs for their other products don't sell as much. (Heads up Toei: Every studio is feeling it) Fox; on the other hand; probably wants to have this film released in the west because they believe that the US fans of DBZ will eat up anything that has Goku attatched to it. (Mind you this is also the studio that would release Dragonball: Evolution and we all know how that went) So the film may be in a gray area in terms of a US release. Toei will be the reason why we got it so late while Fox will be the reason we got it at all.

But fear not DBZ faithful, according to an article by Tokyo Otaku Mode, 20th Century Fox is planning to negotiate a July/August release in other unspecified countries. Should the negotiations go well and the release happens its a possibility that the US might see a release sometime around next Spring. Till then all you have are pretty pictures and some cool trailers

Here is the Original Article 

http://otakumode.com/news/51977396d096922358001d12/TOM-Interviews-20th-Century-Fox-Regarding-International-Release-of-ldquo-Dragon-Ball-Z-Battle-of-Gods-rdquo?utm_source=tom&utm_medium=facebook&utm_term=NEWS&utm_campaign=article2013060112&utm_content=direct&tom_cohort=article2013060112&tom_landing=facebook

The following trademarks (the "Marks") are owned by TOEI ANIMATION CO., LTD. of 3-2-17 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104, JAPAN and licensed by FUNIMATION PRODUCTIONS, LTD. of 6851 N.E. Loop 820, #247, Fort Worth, TX 76180:
DRAGON BALL®, DRAGON BALL Z®, YAMCHA®, GOKU®, KRILLIN®, TRUNKS®, FRIEZA®, VEGETA®, GOHAN® and DRAGONBALL GT™ , SUPER SAIYAN™ , GINYU™ , DBZ™, CELL™, PICCOLO™, GOTEN™, GOGETA™, VEGITO™, MAJIN BUU™, MR. BUU™, GREAT SAIYAMAN™, ANDROID 16™, ANDROID 17™, ANDROID 18™, and ANDROID 19™

TOEI ANIMATION CO., LTD. of 3-2-17 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104, Japan, is the owner of the exclusive copyrights in those animated English language television and home video series (and each program thereof) entitled "DRAGON BALL", "DRAGON BALL Z" and "DRAGON BALL GT", including the music and soundtracks thereof.