Have you guys heard Dengue Fever? I hadn’t until my fellow PiQ editor Kevs caught something about them on NPR. While I loves me some This American Life and All Things Considered (yes, I am old and white), I was under the impression that their musical selections were exclusively of the 15 century Viennese or 19th century Oklahoman variety. Not so, as Dengue Fever are surely the best psychedelic Cambodian band around. Check out “Tiger Phone Card” and tell me you’re not hooked for life. I’ve been listening to their new album Venus on Earth pretty much constantly for the past month, and then lo and behold, my favorite radio show played them last week! I had planned on taking credit for their mounting mainstream success by writing a column about them for a future issue (which I will still likely do), but it looks like they’re doing just fine without me. In any case, if you’ll be doing yourself a favor by checking out their new album or catching them on their current tour (I’ll be seeing them at the Orange Show in Houston).

Back in the first (zeroth?) episode of our exciting, world-beating podcast, we mentioned offhandedly that we were giving away a free copy of Bandai Visual USA’s Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise to anyone smart and sassy enough to listen to the entire thing. It turns out that PiQ’s readers are smarter than sassier than the audience of any other media outlet on earth, including even smartandsassy.com (if it existed).

We received many replies (none of which wanted the HD DVD version, oddly enough, wonder why), and at random we picked a winner, who turns out to be Mr. Jeff Jensen of Midvale, UT. Jeff, expect to receive it in the mail soon, and thanks to everyone else who sent in their comments and suggestions.

The next episode of the PiQ Podcast is coming sooooooooooooon!

From the local paper

At school, she hid manga novels inside her science textbook until a teacher busted her for reading them in class. But at home, she’s free to peruse them over and over, like holy texts, and to supplement them with the animated versions on YouTube.

By watching the original cartoons with English subtitles, she’s picked up a little Japanese — erudition that she generously shares with her brother. Last week, with a Sharpie marker, she wrote “Baka” on his forehead.

“It means ‘idiot,’ ” she explained.

Because it was in Japanese, the language of manga, he thought it was cool.

Read the whole article. I dunno, maybe this is the sort of thing that happens when you name your daughter Mojo.

Ladies and gentlemen, here’s a look at the premiere issue of PiQ! Since our subscribers have already started receiving their copies and stores will be putting out issues in the next week, we thought now would be the perfect time to share with everyone all the stuff we’ve packed into this issue. That would include anime, movies, TV shows, comics, games, blood, sweat, tears and lots o’ love.

More specifically, our cover story is all about Appleseed Ex Machina and includes some exclusive access to producer John Woo as he discusses his involvement with the project. It’s a pretty good read and if you’re looking forward to catching this on DVD soon, you won’t want to miss our take on it.

(more…)

…they suck me back in.

Seriously, though, as one of the more inveterate, irredeemable nerds around here, I was thinking about what it was that got me back into anime. See, back when I lived in the Japanese countryside (everybody should do the JET Program) I sort of had to keep my nerdhood on the down-low, lest people think I was even weirder than I already was.

And by the time I returned to the friendly shores of the United States, I had nearly forgotten that I was supposed to be an anime nerd. However, there were three anime series that, like carefully-placed shape-charges, blasted away the thin glazing of “normalcy” I had so carefully constructed, leaving my abiding otaku nature bare for all to see.

“What were they?” You undoubtedly clamor to know what animated entertainment could possibly be so potent as to override my ever-present desire to appear normal to my peers! Steady, friends, and I shall tell you. In order I viewed them:

• Planetes. Oh, Planetes. This show had the bad luck to be coming out right around the same time Fullmetal Alchemist was hitting it big, and even if it hadn’t been overshadowed by the huge hit that was FMA, its hard SF trappings and corporate politics arc plot aren’t exactly guarantors of mainstream success. But oh, readers, how it hit me! Its realistic sense of international politics along with its intense personal drama and lovingly detailed depiction of life in orbit seemed tailor-made to demand my attention. I nearly blew a translation deadline thanks to Planetes — and I’d do it all over again.
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I’m always irritated when I see Haruhi dismissively referred to as a “fan favorite.” Yeah, it’s a fan favorite — because it’s completely brilliant. The writing fairly crackles with wit, the voice performances (in both Japanese and English!) are spot-on, and the animation and art direction never misses a step. And despite all its critical distance, the cool eye with which it regards common anime themes, it manages, in the end, to be remarkably affecting and moving. Kyon is a personal hero of mine.
• Genshiken. Manga artist Kio Shimoku’s depiction of life in a college anime club is rightfully acclaimed as pitch-perfect, and the anime version doesn’t break the tradition. With perfect casting choices for all the voices, a ridiculously catchy opening theme, and a warm (yet unflinching) depiction of the otaku life and the weirdos who lead it, Genshiken is probably the greatest of the recent glut of anime-about-anime-fans. It even approaches the heights of Otaku no Video, and that’s saying something.

So — did you ever drop out of a fandom, only to be sucked back in? What did the trick?