FanExpo is Finished and so am I!

Like I had said in my previous post, I was sick, but I still went to FanExpo for all 3 days anyway. I kept to myself most of the time, didn't talk much, didn't bother to show anyone my artwork, and didn't really hang out with anyone before or afterwards. Despite that I was able to connect with a few old friends, tchat a little with some artists, and take part in some very cool panels. There were obstacles, but it was still a successful convention.

Highlights included:
- Voice Actors. Saw a panel with Veronica Taylor (Ash from Pokemon, April from Ninja Turtles), who was very nice, and another panel with Sean Schemmel (Goku from the Texas dub of DBZ), who is a very crazy and entertaining guy.

- Japanese Artists. Yasuhiro Nightow (Trigun), Daisuke Moriyama (Chrono Crusade), and Suzumi Atsushi (Venus Versus Virus) were there and had an decent discussion panel that wasn't nearly long enough. They also took part in a sketch-off with Toronto's own Alvin Lee of UDON's Street Fighter comic. They each drew one of the other artist's characters and the resulting artwork was incredible!

- Star Wars Guests. Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett) and Daniel Logan (young Boba Fett) had a panel together that was definitely worth seeing. Temuera even sang and danced Polynesian style for us.

- REBOOT! Reboot was certainly on people's minds in a big way, what with the recent possibility of it coming back somehow. Creator Gavin Blair was there, and there was a huge amount of fan interest in the property, so things are looking really good! Speaking of looking good, check this out:



ReBoot cosplay. That's so cool.


So, I saw some things, I bought some stuff, I had a good time, but I was still sick, and by the end of the weekend I was in a real bad way. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more had I not been sick, but all things considered I had a good time.

Shawn Allison! I'm bloggin' you out, boy! You officially fail at meeting people at conventions! This injustice will not stand. Prepare yourself.

Anyway, I'm still not feeling so good, so that's enough from me for now.

Sayonara.

Fan Expo: Will I Go?

So, Fan Expo Canada is happening this weekend. I was looking forward to it, but I suddenly got really sick. How the hell do I get sick in August? I don't know. At first I just thought it was allergies, but now I'm not so sure.

I don't know what my plans are going to end up being. Maybe nothing will change and I'll be there the whole time like I planned. So maybe I won't be there all 3 days. I'll just have to play it by ear. This sucks.

Guess I'll just see ya if I see ya.

Sayonara.

Mega Marvel Movie Marathon.

This week I took a day to watch all of the Direct to Video Marvel Animated Features in a row. There have been 4 released thus far. Ultimate Avengers & Ultimate Avengers 2, The Invincible Iron Man, and the newest one, Doctor Strange. which was just released this week. I'd like to speak at length about each of them and do some reviews, but I think I'll save that for another time. I'll say for now that Doctor Strange is, in my opinion, really awesome, and one of the best DTVs I've ever seen.

It seems like a lot of really interesting things have been going on in the animated DTV market nowadays. Of course, it's not a secret that Return of the Joker is one of my most favorite movies ever, but that was sort of a rare case at the time it was released, and it nearly got its legs cut off until the fans were able to persuade WB to release the uncut version. Since then we've had, among other things, 2 animated Hellboy movies which are definitely not simply for a children's audience. DC is getting into the act in a more serious way too, with some animated adaptations of actual comics book story arcs. Superman; Doomsday comes out this fall, and Justice League: New Frontier is on the way after that. Marvel has Avengers Reborn and a Hulk movie on tap as well. The anime market certainly seems to have helped open people up to buying brand new, original animated material on DVD.

It's great to see that the Powers That Be are putting forth some effort into making these movies appeal to older and more sophisticated viewers, since they are not bound to the same rules as a TV series. There is always room for improvement, but so far so good. I'm excited to see what the future holds. How about an animated Ghost Rider movie? How about Blade? How about Ghost Rider VS. Blade? How about Green Lantern? How about a DTV Ninja Turtles movie based on certain comic book issues that would never be made into a TV show? I know that if I was going to be a grunt in the animation biz, the DTV market is the sort of thing I would be most interested in working on, because that's where the exciting and edgy stuff is really happening.

There's a lot of potential for decent releases. I'm hoping for some more kick-ass movies to come out!

Sayonara.

Uuchu no Umi wa Ore no Umi.

Some people say that anime should not be made into live action movies. While there is a lot of potential for things to go wrong, I don't completely agree with that statment. In the right hands, anime can be the basis for a really awesome film. And here's an amazing little video, made by some Spanish-speaking fans, that proves it.



Oh my God. I freaked out when I saw this. I want this to be a real movie so bad. This just looks awesome. Unfortunately, this is only a fan produced trailer, and no actual movie exists.

Captain Harlock is one of the all time classic anime characters, and one of the coolest characters of ever. This story is absolutely prime territory for a live action movie, in any language. If such a thing were ever to happen, with Harlock or any other famous character, I can only hope that it is done with the same quality and attention to detail as this clip.

There have been several live action movies based on anime released in Japan, with mixed results as you'd expect. As far as Hollywood goes, Speed Racer comes out next year, so maybe that'll be the start of a trend.

Sayonara.

I Almost Maybe died!

Well, perhaps I exaggerate. But perhaps not.

This past week I sat down to a steak dinner, cut a small piece, and almost immediately started choking on it. And by choking I don't mean a slight cough, I really mean not being able to breath for a little while. The small piece of food didn't come out, and it eventually and painfully slid it's way down my throat. I was pretty sick for the rest of the day, and I still haven't fully recovered. It guess it was quite the shock on my body and I'm feeling really tired because of it, and I haven't really been able to eat that much since then. Something isn't feeling right and I'm wondering if maybe there is a problem inside that caused me to choke in the first place.

Anyway, as bad as it is I can't say that it bothers me. By this point I'm just so used to being derailed like this that I don't care all that much anymore.

The true shame of it is that I never did get to eat that steak!

Sayonara.