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Joe Taku on ANN's Azumanga "Discussion"
2003-09-26 12:01:14
Time for another Joe Taku rant. This time, the rant concerns a little discussion that appears on the Anime News Network. You can read the discussion here: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature.php?id=159. The discussion starts out decent, with the people talking about the stability of .hack and Pioneer’s decision to not license the newer Tenchi anime titles in the USA. However, it is the final topic that things become very ugly. The topic: Azumanga Daioh.
Basically, the entire discussion of Azumanga Daioh is nothing more than a lynching of the series, with one person comparing it to watching paint dry. While I understand that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, I, along with a few people who responded on the ANN forums, were very much insulted with what was said. Not only was there no person to provide a counterpoint that supports Azumanga, but also the “discussion” ends up giving a wrong idea of what the show is like (i.e. two people comments make it appear as if Azumanga is a show filled with breast jokes, although the only episodes that I remember having them are episodes 1 and 4). While the main person behind the discussion will make changes for the next discussion after the negative criticism that was given by the fans, that doesn’t change the past. Because of this “mob beating”, a few people will question checking out one of the best anime titles of last year while others will question the opinions of ANN.
On the positive side, one of the people in the discussion does clear up a comment he made that made controversy earlier. In that comment, he felt that most of Azumanga’s fans were really old men with lolicon issues. However, he does clear up that he knows some Azumanga fans who aren’t like that. That’s smart because I’m a fan of Azumanga not because it has a lot of girls in it, but because it’s one of the funniest anime titles ever created. Besides, when it comes to my favorite character in ther series, Chiyo-chan, I find her more as a person that I would like to have as a niece.
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Slots Trip
2003-08-19 18:25:15
I just got back from my first trip to a slot machines casino.
The trip to a casino with slots is a monthly trip for a seniors lunch group at my local church. This month, my father and I decided to go along as well to see what it's like.
The casino (Midway Slots in Deleware) was a moderate-sized place with a lot of slot machines ranging from a nickel to a dollar. The place also has a bar and a buffet restaurant, although I personally prefer the buffet at my nearby Golden Corral over the casino's buffet.
For my first trip to the casino, I somewhat held back by playing only the nickel games and not going for the maximum bets. Still, it was a fun time. I also got a card which gives me points for playing the machines, which would come in handy whenever I go the casino again.
In conclusion, I definitely would like to go on another casino trip, with me probably playing a few quarter slots machines along with the usual nickel machines. -
Post-Otakon Report
2003-08-16 21:25:23
Here's what I've been up to since Otakon:
-Since I had a lot of money left from Otakon (I ended up spending less than I expected), I decided to buy a couple of non-anime box sets at Wal-Mart on Monday, leaving me with enough to buy Soul Calibur II and something else (I'm most likely going to save the non-Soul Calibur money for a future purchase).
-With Otakon over, I've been busy downloading some videos from the convention (and a few that Mr. Oni showed me while waiting for the AMV panel Saturday morning).
-I'm been busy fighting a cold since Tuesday. I'm not sure if it's the same cold that my younger brother or mother had before the con or if I caught the bug while at Otakon (most likely caught it at Otakon, since I was in great shape at the con). One thing's for sure, it's better that I got the cold after Otakon than before.
-Considering my condition and the fact that I'm not interested in it now that Otakon's over, I may skip going to my church's bull roast tomorrow. However, I still plan on going on a casino trip on Tuesday. -
Otakon 2K3 Report
2003-08-11 21:52:42
After a day of recouperating from the con, here's my comments about Otakon:
Friday: I got to the convention center around 10:30, but didn't get to the convention until around 11:00 as I was waiting to see the status on the hotel room my club was staying in. Arriving at the con, I got in line for the dealers' room and, for my first run in the room, I got most of the stuff on my "must buy" list. One complaint though: Otakon needs some improvement when it comes to selling the official Otakon merchandise (it took me an hour just to see a t-shirt). After glancing in the art room and walking around a little bit, I returned to the hotel to get the key to my room, bring my stuff to the room, and take a shower. After the shower, I returned to the convention. After taking some cosplay pictures, I then have some dinner at Burger King, then returned to the convention center for MAT3K. While this year's MAT3K wasn't as good as last year (face it, it's going to be tough to top Attack of the Supermonsters when it comes to awfulness), it was still an enjoyable film. I then checked out the AMV contest. While I felt the romance category was weak this year, there were a lot of good videos in the action, upbeat, and comedy categories. When the contest ended, I checked out the final minutes of "Kentucky Fried Anime", then returned to the hotel room for the night.
Saturday: After getting some doughnuts at the hotel's store, I arrived to the convention and waited for the AMV panel by watching some AMV's with MrOni. The panel was like the usual AMV panels, with the questions on the business and the distributions of CD's. After the panel, I checked the dealers' room again, then I went to see the Saturday showing of the AMV contest. Following the contest, I met up with a person that I've been communicating with via e-mail (he's a fanfic writer whose works I'm a fan of) and attended the ADV panel. I left the panel early to get in line for the Cosplay contest. This year's contest was somewhat unorganized this year, specifically how they had problems when it came to the fashion show and the announcement of the winners. I left the contest while the costume winners were being announced, and met up again with the guy I was with at the ADV panel for the Game Show, which was hilarious this year (DEATH BY SINGING THE SAILOR MOON THEME 128 TIMES!!!). After the game show ended, my e-mail bud and I went to see This is Otakudom. When that was over, I said goodbye to him and returned to my hotel room.
Sunday: Not much on Sunday, although I did buy the Lupin III: Legend of Mamo DVD and Wario Ware video game. -
Otakon Thursday Pre-Reg Comments
2003-08-07 22:17:41
I'm back from Otakon's Thursday night pre-reg badge pick-up. Here's my comments about it:
When I got in line around 10 'til 7, it was already circling around the building, with the line turning another corner a few minutes later. However, the long line wasn't a problem, as it was probably expected. Instead, the problem involved my parents (who dropped me off) trying to find a parking space. Basically, my parents had a hard time finding a parking space for a van in Baltimore, even though I saw a few above ground spaces to park the van at, which was very frustrating for a person who usually car pools to Otakon with with a member of the anime club who drives a truck.
Back to the line: despite the long line and the need for something to drink, the wait was okay, with no rain falling while in line and a cool breeze providing some relief to the humidity. I got my badge and registration pack around 8:30ish. As for which badge design I got here's a hint: the anime is one of the titles on my top 5 anime list (with is somewhat challenging since two of the titles are among the badge designs this year).
Finally, two disappointments about the line:
1. There wasn't as many badge pick-up booths as expected, as I was expecting around 40 booths for the pre-reg.
2. Unlike last year, there was no Pioneer DVD sampler this year, although I have a feeling that it will be given out at the dealers' room.
While tonight's pre-reg badge pick-up was somewhat rough, I do keep in mind that with that done, I don't need to worry about getting a badge tomorrow morning.
JOURNAL: TnAdct1 (Joseph Klemm)
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