Category: Anime/Manga

Singapore Toy Game & Comic Convention 2011

I made a trip down to the 2011 Singapore Toy Game & Comic Convention (STGCC) which is an annual event for all geeks to gather under one roof to do all things geeky. Oddly, for an event which is probably inspired by the famous San Diego Comic Con, the localised version seems more like an anime cosplay event instead.

The whole event hall was hardly packed on a Sunday afternoon and there is definitely a need to gather more shops and organisations to be more involved in future conventions.

Let me break down the catergories for you :

Toys – There are quite a few booths for this but nothing more than stuff that you can see on a Sunday afternoon at the Chinasquare flea market…and in fact there are MORE stalls selling toys there.

That being said, it is really great to see Hong Kong’s Hot Toys setting up a booth and displaying their awesome collection which some are available for pre-order.  The sight of Bespin Luke Skywalker really made me wanna whip out my credit card and buy  it…although it’s really cool for me to see the Christopher Reeves Superman which is coming out at the end of the year…which I’ve pre-ordered.  heh heh heh…

Games – The big boy of this category would definitely go to Nintendo’s 3DS booth which offered attendees some hands-on with the new console.  Unfortunately though, that is pretty much it.  The other stuff that can be grouped under this category are some anime card game and some Tamiya toy car thingy.  I know. WTF right?

Comics – WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE GODAMM COMICS?!?

This is the most disappointing aspect of it.  The only comics I do see are from Planerds (which is from Harris) and Kinokouniya did something, although I can’t remember what now.  And this dude who sells vintage comics really gets my thumbs up.  This is what comics cons should have. Comic fucking books!

Best of the Rest –

Singpost somehow managed to tie-in with something relevant.  Marvel comic stamps! OMG, I liked the idea, but too bad, I don’t really keep stamps. Cool idea though.

Popcornpop  – this is one of my fav shops in Singapore. They sell lots of posters and Japanese small sheet posters which usually have some alternative but cooler designs.  Located at the Esplanade. Go check them out.

Overall, it could really do much much better, but lets be honest…10 years ago, we do not even have anything close to this, so I guess 1/10 of a comic con is better than no con at all.  I just wish though, they could combine all these different ones (like the anime convention and..dunno what ) as ONE.  Its pretty boring to see the same booths two different conventions and all that cosplayers really need to brush up and do something out of the box.

Took some pics though.  Enjoy! 🙂

Scott Pilgrim Vs the World Video Mashup

I really really really loved the soundtrack.  The movie, I think is pretty good.

But the track from t his mashup which samples both is mind-blasting-ly awesome! (yes, I made up a word)

SCOTT PILGRIM - Fight! (1-Year Anniversary Video Remix)

As good as the video editing was, it was the track that really stood out for me.  The sampling of Eye of the Tiger, You gotta fight for your right (to party), Cheryl Cole(!!!) Fight for this love into Metric’s  “Black Sheep” is pretty much genius and totally sold it for me.

Ironically, I wish the track were a little shorter and tighter by dropping some of the repeated dialogue, which would make this even more awesome, but kudos to Osymyso, who’s remix is very much like a 85 hit combo move in my opinion.

Original Source : http://vimeo.com/27292220

Thundercats Episode 03 – Minute-by-Minute Impressions and Thoughts

When am I going to meet a hot pirate queen?!

So I was quite impressed with the first 2 episodes as well, as described in golliz’s post. A lot of people have also been raising the point that Avatar’s success is a watershed moment similar to that of B:TAS and Thundercats is the first western series to start reflecting the impact on design and conceptualization. I can’t say for certain how much of an effect (if any) that has and how long this halo effect will linger over the American animation industry. I see some styling in the art that could possibly be attributed to it, but the writing and character designs don’t strike me as particularly Avatar-ish. Heck, to be brutally honest I think the only really clear Avatarism was the blessed decision to leave Snarf as a Momo-esque gremlin clone instead, to the relief of everyone sane over the age of 10. As much as I would I like to say B:TAS completely changed animation in the West, the truth is that for a good long while after it arrived it was still the Timmverse carrying the banner of a more sophiscated palette all by its lonesome, if you discount the odd unusual offering such as Gargoyles. In fact, I don’t think there was much of an effect until Avatar arrived. So colour me a skeptic until I see more concrete evidence (or more episodes!) that there will be knockon improvement in quality for art and writing for the next 5, 10 years. Or none.

As for the opening pair of of eps, there were some truly weird oddities, like the Naruto-style clerics, and there was some less-than-impressive CG for an important scene, but in a general sense, the animation, staging and set pieces were pleasant surprises. The first THUNDERCATS HO! moment with Lion-O and the Sword of Omens was truly a mark-out moment for me. So let’s roll onto episode three, running commentary style and see how things go.

Last we left our power trio they were escaping from Mumm-Ra’s clutches after GandalfJaga bought them some time. With Lion-O getting his Bambi Moment, the plot markers are set for a HOT BLOOD HERO’S JOURNEY. So, without further ado, let’s start….

—–§—–

0:05 HO! It’s still the old theme….just very short and remixed

2:15 Anakin? That you?

2:35 Team 7 exiting Minas Tirith

3:35 “I’m not anti-children, I’m anti-brat”

3:40 SERIOUSLY? They’re doing a nyaaaaan~? Is this simulcasting in Japan?

4:10 AHHHHHH New Zealand

5:00 “Pffft…we don’t need no stinkin’ food when I’m 15min from getting my plot epiphany”

5:15 HOW THE HELL DID THEY MISS THAT ARCH? They’re effin’ cats!

5:40 Someone tell the production crew about the viscosity of sand/silt

6:15 Where the hell’s that accent from? Scotland? India?

6:30 NO PARROT. I AM DISAPPOINT

6:50 This is so Dark Sun….the show is really wearing its influences in a bloody obvious fashion

7:20 CORNELIUS TUNA. And damn, the wiki redirects too

7:25 You know it’s not going to happen, but why did they have to dangle that in front of us! Sheesh

7:40 Ah right the perennial favorite of Japanese animation

7:45 MOBY DICK (TENTACLES). Make your best Khan the Catfish joke.

7:50 OK, the Nebuchadnezzar now? What next, a map leading to water tattooed on someone’s back?

8:35 Someone is probably writing a Cheetara/sea kaiju fanfic as we speak

9:05 “Yes, Ishmael, grab a spare harpoon and let’s go fishin’!”

9:15 They’re bitin…….I need two palms to cover my face right now

10:05 Area cleaning comes AFTER the puke

10:50 Heavy-handed male bonding. At least, I hope Tunaface is male

11:45 This cook knows the value of foie gras

13:20 I suspect we’ll be getting a lot of sibling rivalry moments. Just wait till they start hitting on that piece of tail

14:10 What’s all that talk about mystical tech? No one is surprised by the Millennium Falcon turrets?!

16:45 CREW OVERBOARD

17:00 Half expecting a Jaws ripoff here, considering how many “influences” (ahem) there are throughout this ep

17:25 KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN TEH CATFISH

17:50 AHAB OVERBOARD

18:15 They can’t shut their gobs either for feasting or talking it seems

18:35 SQUISHIE SHAI HULUD IS BREAKING FAST

18:55 Who didn’t see THAT coming

19:00 THE LISAN AL GAIB HAS MADE IT RAIN, PWAISE BE!

19:35 Now I’m getting a bit of the World Destruction vibe here

19:50 PITCH THEM OVERBOARD. PLEASE.

21:10 Finally, now that we’re done with the capsule cliche character development nicely tied up in 1 ep, plot development!

—–§—–

Man, considering the grimdark evident in the season opener, this was not the kind of episode I would choose to do as a followup, whether in tone or plot. Not only was it a very silly parody of everyone’s favorite whale hunt, the extremely heavy handed treatment of Lion-O’s cliche descent into the “Dark Side” was followed by an all too cliche resolution. That in itself may or not be a big issue, but having handed Lion-O his epiphany on a platter with almost zero contribution from his party members certainly is one. It didn’t help that the two brats’s antics completely destroyed what little gravitas the plot treatment delivered. The whole thing just felt like characterization by numbers, and having ticked the checkbox, the episode then concluded sheepishly with a giant plot marker, as if to tell the audience, “Hey! Here’s what really important that will have bearing on the main plot thread!”

If we go back to that contentious topic of Avatar comparison again, this is a vastly different third episode compared to the Southern Air Temple. There’s a more steady and subtle buildup of the downer elements of Aang’s mindset in Avatar, cumulating in The Storm, 12 episodes in the show where the protagonist finally achieves his clarity of mind after exorcizing his inner demons. In contrast, the first three episodes of the new Thundercats just seems to highlight the fact that the great season opener seems more like a Lodoss-style hook to get the audience interested in the show first. I hope I’m being too cynical, but it’s not like anime in Japan isn’t notorious for starting with a bang first, followed by a disappointing mid-season crawl. Or perhaps I’m just overthinking all this, and THIS SHOW JUST NEEDS ITS PANTHRO. Just sayin’.

All in all, moderately groansworthy and quite a climbdown from the first pair of episodes. I’m still generally hopeful for the show, but I might have to scale down my expectations a tad. The art also seemed to take a minor hit, which doesn’t bode too well for the rest of the show. Hopefully it’s just an aberrant blip.