Thursday, March 29, 2012

Astro Bus

Let's turn back the clock and go all the way back to the year 2009 for some pictures of a bus decorated to advertise the November 5th release of the Astro Boy movie in Singapore. Glad someone was able to capture these images, as I didn't see anything like it at the time. I guess you could call this a promotional vehicle!


Astro Boy Bus by ~tintinspartan on deviantART


Astroboy Flying Over Taxis by ~tintinspartan on deviantART


Astroboy Soaring To The Roads by ~tintinspartan on deviantART

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Crime and Punishment and Tezuka

Check out David Merill's classic anime blog Let's Anime for a great article about the rare English language edition of Osamu Tezuka's manga adaption of Crime and Punishment.

I mean, where else are you going to find a write up on Russian Literature turned into Japanese manga turned into a tool to learn English?

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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Black Jack 21, Uncut 80's Astro Boy Now Streaming on Viki

A great new way to watch Tezuka anime has recently appeared, and it's all 100% free and legal!

Viki, a website with international video entertainment, authorized for streaming with crowd sourced subtitles, is now offering the the complete 80's Astro Boy series, the Black Jack anime, and the sequel series, Black Jack 21.

The 80's Astro Boy has been legally streaming in other forms before, but what makes this special is that this is the Japanese release rather than the English dub. All 52 episodes are accounted for, including he original versions of the first and second episode, which were edited and combined into one episode for the English language broadcast. So, this may be the first time some of you have seen the full origin of Atlas! This was absent from the region 1 DVD release. I haven't gone through it all, but I imagine other episodes may have scenes missing from the English version. These episodes even feature the original Japanese title cards.



Unfortunately, due to the nature of crowd sourced translations, there are some mistakes in the subtitles. One embarrassing instance has the famous villain character call himself "Skank" instead of "Skunk". However, by registering for an account, one gains access to a subtitle editor, and so the translation can be continuously improved upon by the users watching it.

This is one of the bigger developments in Astro-Fandom for quite awhile! Plus, we get Black Jack 21, which has never been streamed with English subtitles before. This is very exciting stuff, and it bodes well for future releases of more Tezuka shows and other classic anime.

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Sunday, March 11, 2012

Ganbare Japan!!!

One year ago, Japan was struck with a series of natural disasters, but in the wake of these terrible events, a powerful spirit of perseverance and support had emerged. This artwork is my small tribute to that great inspirational spirit.


GANBARE!!! by *ninjatron on deviantART

I wanted to draw something that focused on the unbreakable will and positive outlook that has been exhibited in the months since the disasters. Two of the anime world's most popular and positive characters, Goku and Astro Boy, give the thumbs up to show that inspirational, never give up, can-do attitude.

Please continue to support Japan!

Continue reading "Ganbare Japan!!!"...