Category: Amish Otaku

All the stuff I published when I ran a nerd blog

Amish Otaku, Comics, Manga, Viz

Stan Lee’s Ultimo in Sept. Shonen Jump

The ultimate East meets West collaboration is finally coming to our shores in the form of Ultimo. This is the product of Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man and the X-Men, and Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of Shaman King.

So what’s this Ultimo story about anyway? From the Viz website:

“High above Farmless City, citizens are stunned by the sudden appearance of two floating figures. Are they human boys, monolithic robots, or something much more strange? As the battle ensues between them, destruction and devastation falls on the hapless city. One figure is Vice, and seems to be as evil as his name implies. The other is Ultimo, intent on trying to stop Vice from wreaking more havoc. ” Continue reading “Stan Lee’s Ultimo in Sept. Shonen Jump”

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Amish Otaku, Anime, FUNimation

Funimation Airing Episodes on YouTube

Some of you may have already heard about the new Funimation channel that’s popped up on YouTube but it’s news to me so I’m sharing it with you.

As of August 4th they will be showcasing four of their shows on YouTube. Currently in Funimation’s weekly lineup are episodes five through eight of Blue Gender, Kiddy Grade, Peach Girl, and Slayers. Continue reading “Funimation Airing Episodes on YouTube”

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Amish Otaku, Manga, Viz

Review: Sanctuary, Vol 1

If your perception of manga is based solely on the types of titles you find on the shelves of your local chain bookstore you’re missing the whole picture. Contrary to the abundance of yaoi, shojo and shonen comics on the shelves, there’s actually a large subset of manga that tells stories of a darker, more ominous nature.

Sho Fumimura’s and Ryoichi Ikegami’s Sanctuary is just such a comic. This isn’t something for the Strawberry Marshmallow or Naruto crowd. Sanctuary is a manga made strictly for adults. Don’t expect a hentai but don’t expect Fumimura-san or Ikegami-san to pull any punches either.

The story follows the lives of a young yakuza named Akira Hojo and a young politician named Chiaki Asami. After surviving the killing fields of Cambodia the two escaped to Thailand and eventually to Japan. Their plan is to transform Japan from the ground up on two different sides of the law. Hojo works to change society through the underworld life of a mobster while Asami works his change through the established channels of the Diet. Continue reading “Review: Sanctuary, Vol 1”

Daniel Allen
Amish Otaku, DS, Nintendo, Video Games

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Long title for a game with a long review)

Guest Post

Sitting here in a hair salon just South of Boston, it occurs to me that, up to now, I’ve written about PC games, console games, and game modifications…But have left the subject of portable games woefully underrepresented.In recognition of this fact, I feel that it’s time to break my silence on the subject and bring my – admittedly slight – experience to bear on you: my adoring public.In fact, I’m so committed to the idea, I’m typing this with my thumbs on my recently-purchased LG Voyager phone.

So PSP, DS, GBA, Game Gear, Gameboy…Consider this my penance to the portable gaming world, as anybody who has “typed” anything of significant length with their thumbs can attest.

Continue reading “Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Long title for a game with a long review)”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, DC, Features, Movies

Bat-mania: Batman: Year One

Guest Post

“A richly thrilling crime saga,” concludes Rotten Tomatoes about The Dark Knight.

The truth, no doubt but where did the noir-ish Batman come from? Certainly there were some elements in Batman: The Dailies 1943-1946, which I reviewed a few months back, but from the start, Batman was always a detective and lacking superpowers he has to use cunning, as well as a smattering of clever gadgets, to get the best of the villains. Well, the answer to that lies in the dark, dank and moody Batman: Year One. From the onset is raining and depicts the arrival of Chicago native Lieutenant James Gordon, who is praying that his wife, Barbara, is not pregnant and that they will not have to enduring raising a child in crime infested Gotham.

Let us step back for a moment. Chester Gould, creator of Dick Tracy, the noir-strip that had a significant influence on Batman, always unofficially set Tracy in Chicago, where he lived and the Windy City was Gotham in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

Year One, like Tracy, is about crime. Gotham is dirty up and down, from prostitution, gangs and drugs in the Eastern End to up and down the police force, even as high as Commissioner Gillian Loeb who brings Gordon in because of his ability to keep the media away from his mishaps while on duty. The Commissioner is dirty and sees this is as an invaluable asset.

Continue reading “Bat-mania: Batman: Year One”

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Amish Otaku, DC, Features, Movies

Bat-mania: Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star Batman Hi

Guest Post Anyone remember when Chucks aka Converse All-Star sneakers were worn only by nerds and you could routinely find them on the clearance racks? I do and though this was about ten years ago, sometimes my biggest concern then would be whether or not they’d even be around at all. These days I hardly even wear Chucks anymore, instead favoring their yuppie summertime cousins, … Continue reading Bat-mania: Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star Batman Hi

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Amish Otaku, Video Games

America’s Army in Violation of International Law?

Ubisoft

According to Michael B. Reagan at www.TruthOut.org the ACLU has published a report that finds that the United States Army is in violation of the UN Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

Basically the Optional Protocol says that militaries are not allowed to recruit to or deploy anyone under the age of 17. The US senate ratified the Optional Protocol in late 2002.

Mr. Reagan’s article is kind of long-winded and tedious but it does make a good point. That is the Army and the game’s developers intentionally toned down the violence in the game to achieve a T for Teen rating from the ESRB and put it in the hands of more people, specifically younger people, even more specifically boys aged 13 and up. Continue reading “America’s Army in Violation of International Law?”

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Amish Otaku, DS, Nintendo, Video Games

Review: Mega Man Starforce 2 Zerker X Ninja/Saurian

 

Capcom

Mega Man Starforce 2 Zerker X Ninja is the first new Mega Man game I’ve played since I rented Mega Man X for my SNES many years ago. That means I never played any of the sequels to X or played any of the portable versions. That also means I never heard of the alternate Mega Man time line where instead of robot technology reaching ascendancy, network technology took the developmental lead. This is the setup for the Battle Network series of games released for the Game Boy.

Two hundred years after the events in those games take place – in the year 220X – a new hero will take up the moniker of Mega Man. His name is Geo Stellar and that, not the fact that he’s in fifth grade, should be your first hint that the story in this game is going to be directed squarely at a preteen demographic. In fact almost every character, location and plot point in this game has the intellectual complexity of an arithmetic test using only one digit numbers presented in a true/false fashion.

Continue reading “Review: Mega Man Starforce 2 Zerker X Ninja/Saurian”
Daniel Allen
Amish Otaku, Comics, DC, Features, Movies

Bat-mania: The Dark Knight IMAX Experience

Why So Serious?
Warner Bros

Guest Post

I’m sitting here on my lunch break eating store brand beef ravioli which, from my understanding is genuine hardboiled noir cop food. Canned and cheap, it even resembles chili very nicely when served up in a two quart bowl. Having been up since 5AM and it is now 4:50PM. I am only halfway through my shift which means plenty of black organic high test will be flowing and I don’t mean sweet crude, but coffee, another staple of the noir detective’s diet.

Over nine hours earlier, I was riding in the back of a Chrysler 300C, a bold shouldered, elegant and luxurious muscle saloon. Since my $5000 Subaru was having brake issues I was in no room to argue being escorted in style in this high speed boulevardier. Factory dressed in Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl with tasteful chrome accents, the vehicle has enough accentuation to differentiate it from the numerous lesser 300 models, many of which do not possess the 340HP Hemi motor.

Intimidating style. Power. Purposeful handling. Luxury. Excellent view from the front or the back seat. This seems like the kind of car Bruce Wayne would get carted around in or not hesitate twice to man handle by the big fat wheel if he were nowhere near as filthy rich. But it is a start and is one of the finest automobiles I have ever ridden in and I felt a little, but not much, like Wayne in riding in the commodious rear seat. After all, one of the recent comic book Batmobile’s had featured a big 300-like chrome grill.

There we have it. With my lunch, I had my Lt Jim Gordon diet and with my ride to the IMAX to see The Dark Knight, the closest semblance to the Bruce Wayne fantasy that I may ever see. Our showing was at 9AM and thankfully I bought tickets last Wednesday since all subsequent showings were sold out.

Continue reading “Bat-mania: The Dark Knight IMAX Experience”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Dark Horse, Movies

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Dark Horse

While I was a fan of the first Hellboy movie I never followed the comic or delved into the animated shows. Going into Hellboy II I was relieved that I didn’t need to rely on the canon to follow the story or make the connections.

If you’ve seen the first movie the first 30 minutes of the film will be a bit tedious. You don’t need to see the first movie to follow the story but the character introductions in the movie are a bit awkward, especially so if you’ve seen the first film.

The film opens in the past, after the end of World War II. Hellboy is still a juvenile (portrayed by a very annoying child actor) and his adopted father is reading him the legend of the Golden Army as a bed time story.

Many generations ago the humans and the fair races lived in relative peace until the greed in the heart of humanity overwhelmed them and they set out to purge the world of the supernatural. Upon a brutal defeat at the hands of the humans, King Balor of the elves is approached by a master smith of the goblins who proposes to build the king seventy times seventy (4900) golden automatons to aid their war against humanity. Continue reading “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”

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