I've no particular plans for the weekend, but a lot of options.
The only thing I do have to do is clean my bedsit and do a bunch of ironing. Otherwise I can do whatever.
There's certainly some scanning to do--newtype et al turned up at the beginning of the week, plus there's all the artbooks that need seeing to, as always. It never ends, scanning. I mean only the other day I was trawling through otaku.co.uk looking for new artbooks and I found about a dozen or so I'd like--I've not even cleared the 15 or so that I've got debound and waiting to go and I'm already planning my next purchases :/.
In the old days I would have just bought them there and then, but I think I'm learning a bit more discipline. Chopping up your credit cards has that effect on you using them :/.
Loads of anime to watch too, especially with the new season rapidly approaching. I think there's something like a dozen shows from this last season that I need to peruse--that's a good few hours there and would tie up well with the scanning.
Plus there's also all the anime I've bought. I really need to get into those piles so I can get e-baying again and generate some more 'bonus cash'.
Then there's all these reviews I've got written. I've got about 7 reviews stacked up and ready to go. By my reckoning that should take trismugistus.com the best part of the way to christmas alone.
Then there's my old scans - I should process them, get scan-city.org on track, as it's a total waste of money having it sat there doing nothing at all :/.
Plus on that front I think I might have caught a bit of a walling bug again--I've certainly got a good few projects in mind. My big stickler on walling has actually been vectoring. After that blog a while back where I was saying I really love it, the flip-side is I'm a bit of a perfectionist, which means it takes me bloody ages to finish a vector.
Which reminds me, I've been thinking about getting photoshop cs3. Well, actually I've been thinking about getting the full adobe "image product", which means photoshop, illustrate (which is for doing proper vectors) and some other programs. It's the best part of £1,000, though :/.
Plus I should finish off the Company of Heroes expansion. I should really tackle some more games, actually. Again, partly so I can e-bay some of them, but also because the chrimbalo season is approaching and there's quite a few new games I have on pre-order. Plus of course gaming is fun :).
Friday, 19 September 2008
Thursday, 18 September 2008
collected volumes
I've been getting rather annoyed recently with the western anime companies.
The reason is that they keep putting out "collected volumes" almost immediately after releasing the last of the individual volumes. And guess what--the collected volumes are of course a lot cheaper than the individual volumes. I mean, they are different--the collected volumes are often thin packs and so have only one cover and no inserts, etc, but it's such a total pain in the arse.
The collected versions hack the resale potential of the individual volumes. I mean, if I buy 6 disks for £14 that's £84. Maybe you'd hope to resell at a third, so that's £28. Well if there's a collected set that's only £30 or so, then that's never going to happen, is it? You'll be lucky to clear £15, which is barely the cost of one disk.
I mean, collected volumes have always been a bit annoying for that affect, but they at least used to give it a year-or-so. Now, you can have just received the last volume and you can already buy the collected version. It gives you no opportunity to resell at a decent price.
But it actually looks like it's going in a good direction. Quite a few series are just being released in collected format to begin with--sometimes as half collections, with "part 1" and then "part 2" of a season. This is obviously a total win situation for us consumers. The collected volumes do represent excellent value for money and of course even if they're re-released as a complete collection the resale isn't so horribly impacted.
The reason is that they keep putting out "collected volumes" almost immediately after releasing the last of the individual volumes. And guess what--the collected volumes are of course a lot cheaper than the individual volumes. I mean, they are different--the collected volumes are often thin packs and so have only one cover and no inserts, etc, but it's such a total pain in the arse.
The collected versions hack the resale potential of the individual volumes. I mean, if I buy 6 disks for £14 that's £84. Maybe you'd hope to resell at a third, so that's £28. Well if there's a collected set that's only £30 or so, then that's never going to happen, is it? You'll be lucky to clear £15, which is barely the cost of one disk.
I mean, collected volumes have always been a bit annoying for that affect, but they at least used to give it a year-or-so. Now, you can have just received the last volume and you can already buy the collected version. It gives you no opportunity to resell at a decent price.
But it actually looks like it's going in a good direction. Quite a few series are just being released in collected format to begin with--sometimes as half collections, with "part 1" and then "part 2" of a season. This is obviously a total win situation for us consumers. The collected volumes do represent excellent value for money and of course even if they're re-released as a complete collection the resale isn't so horribly impacted.
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
manga, manga everywhere
I'm a big fan of manga.
Manga are Japanese comic books, if you're not in the know. Manga is accepted in Japan in a way that comics aren't in the west, so it's basically okay to read manga over there, and it's very popular.
In fact, it's so popular that vast quantities of it are churned out every week. The format is different to American comics, where individual books have fairly small page counts and are published on their own. Manga comes out in huge collected volumes, with up to a dozen independent stories running at the same time in each of these books.
The books are themed, of course. So they may be aimed at young men (shounen) or young girls (shoujo). But, to some extent, the content within that varies. I mean, there are constraints, obviously, but it doesn't mean the mag that carries naruto is all about ninjas, although most its series are action oriented.
The schedules of manga can be quite punishing as I understand it--they're monthly or weekly. The weekly ones have fewer pages, but both schedules mean greater output is required from the artist than in the west, which is why they have assistants. The assistants take on similar roles to inkers and colourists (manga is black and white, so they use screen tone--probably digitally nowadays) in the west.
They also put out what are called tankobon, which are collected volumes of the particular series. These are what get translated and put out by the western companies, like Viz, Tokyopop or Dark Horse.
Anyway, the problem with these for me is that the companies are often playing catch-up when they first start putting out a series. So in Japan, the Tankobon basically might come out every six-months, or nine-months, or yearly or whatever. But for the western versions they almost never pick them up at the beginning.
Partly, or course, that's because manga in the west is still relatively knew, and with all that output in Japan you might license a series that's already git 17 tankobon out. That means you've a huge "backlog" of stuff to put out.
So they pump it out--one every other month isn't uncommon for the hit series. That can make it a pretty expensive undertaking for me.
It also means that at some point they will catch up with the Japanese manga. So, unless the series has already finished there comes a point where they suddenly change to a six/nine/twelve-month release schedule, which is then really frustrating.
What this means is that you end up with the weird situation where on my manga list I have around 20 series 'on the go'; but on my anime list I never have more than 3 or 4.
Manga are Japanese comic books, if you're not in the know. Manga is accepted in Japan in a way that comics aren't in the west, so it's basically okay to read manga over there, and it's very popular.
In fact, it's so popular that vast quantities of it are churned out every week. The format is different to American comics, where individual books have fairly small page counts and are published on their own. Manga comes out in huge collected volumes, with up to a dozen independent stories running at the same time in each of these books.
The books are themed, of course. So they may be aimed at young men (shounen) or young girls (shoujo). But, to some extent, the content within that varies. I mean, there are constraints, obviously, but it doesn't mean the mag that carries naruto is all about ninjas, although most its series are action oriented.
The schedules of manga can be quite punishing as I understand it--they're monthly or weekly. The weekly ones have fewer pages, but both schedules mean greater output is required from the artist than in the west, which is why they have assistants. The assistants take on similar roles to inkers and colourists (manga is black and white, so they use screen tone--probably digitally nowadays) in the west.
They also put out what are called tankobon, which are collected volumes of the particular series. These are what get translated and put out by the western companies, like Viz, Tokyopop or Dark Horse.
Anyway, the problem with these for me is that the companies are often playing catch-up when they first start putting out a series. So in Japan, the Tankobon basically might come out every six-months, or nine-months, or yearly or whatever. But for the western versions they almost never pick them up at the beginning.
Partly, or course, that's because manga in the west is still relatively knew, and with all that output in Japan you might license a series that's already git 17 tankobon out. That means you've a huge "backlog" of stuff to put out.
So they pump it out--one every other month isn't uncommon for the hit series. That can make it a pretty expensive undertaking for me.
It also means that at some point they will catch up with the Japanese manga. So, unless the series has already finished there comes a point where they suddenly change to a six/nine/twelve-month release schedule, which is then really frustrating.
What this means is that you end up with the weird situation where on my manga list I have around 20 series 'on the go'; but on my anime list I never have more than 3 or 4.
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
I just can't figure it
I'd never really been in to figures.
Figures (or figurines if you prefer) are sort of like half-way between dolls and models. A doll has moveable parts and is pretty much meant for playing with. A model has to be assembled, but once finished is more for decorative purposes.
A figurine doesn't have moveable parts and you don't assemble it. It's pre-moulded plastic and is assembled and painted at the factory. They're basically only for looking at.
Which is pretty much why I'd never been into them. I make models (well, I used to--I haven't done any actual modelling in years) and used to get dolls when I was a kid (well, actually, technically they're called action figures (Star Wars toys, basically) but really they're virtually the same thing--dolls for boys). But that whole "you just look at them" thing about figurines didn't really appeal.
I say didn't because I have loads of them now.
I dunno what it was that kick-started it. I think it was partly because I love Ugetsu Hakua's artwork so much, and especially his designs for BakuTen, that I wanted to get a couple of the figures. They were pretty cheap as well, I seem to remember.
Then it just sort of snowballed. I got those first figures from United Publications, but one of the sites I use the most (and would highly recommend), cd-japan, has a big section of its site devoted to figures. They also send out newsletters each week with all the pre-order figures and I dunno, I liked the BakuTen ones so much I just sort of bought more.
I like them all and I don't regret any of the purchases, but some of them are pretty expensive. Obviously, importing from Japan isn't cheap as such anyway, but some of the figures can be the best part of £100. That's a lot of money for something that you just sit and look at :/.
Anyway, I mention this because my latest purchase turned up last week--Ringo Noyamano from Air Gear dressed as the "Masked Hentai"--and it kinda occurred to me that this figure has sort of stepped past that line of displaying the figures and looking at them. What she's wearing is beyond "skimpy" and into pornographic (hence 'Masked Hentai' :/) so where can I put it that it wouldn't raise more than a few eyebrows?
Not that I specifically care what other people think about me, it's more to save them the embarrassment of seeing it :/.
Figures (or figurines if you prefer) are sort of like half-way between dolls and models. A doll has moveable parts and is pretty much meant for playing with. A model has to be assembled, but once finished is more for decorative purposes.
A figurine doesn't have moveable parts and you don't assemble it. It's pre-moulded plastic and is assembled and painted at the factory. They're basically only for looking at.
Which is pretty much why I'd never been into them. I make models (well, I used to--I haven't done any actual modelling in years) and used to get dolls when I was a kid (well, actually, technically they're called action figures (Star Wars toys, basically) but really they're virtually the same thing--dolls for boys). But that whole "you just look at them" thing about figurines didn't really appeal.
I say didn't because I have loads of them now.
I dunno what it was that kick-started it. I think it was partly because I love Ugetsu Hakua's artwork so much, and especially his designs for BakuTen, that I wanted to get a couple of the figures. They were pretty cheap as well, I seem to remember.
Then it just sort of snowballed. I got those first figures from United Publications, but one of the sites I use the most (and would highly recommend), cd-japan, has a big section of its site devoted to figures. They also send out newsletters each week with all the pre-order figures and I dunno, I liked the BakuTen ones so much I just sort of bought more.
I like them all and I don't regret any of the purchases, but some of them are pretty expensive. Obviously, importing from Japan isn't cheap as such anyway, but some of the figures can be the best part of £100. That's a lot of money for something that you just sit and look at :/.
Anyway, I mention this because my latest purchase turned up last week--Ringo Noyamano from Air Gear dressed as the "Masked Hentai"--and it kinda occurred to me that this figure has sort of stepped past that line of displaying the figures and looking at them. What she's wearing is beyond "skimpy" and into pornographic (hence 'Masked Hentai' :/) so where can I put it that it wouldn't raise more than a few eyebrows?
Not that I specifically care what other people think about me, it's more to save them the embarrassment of seeing it :/.
Monday, 15 September 2008
row, row, fight da powah!
So the big plan for the w/end was to do lots of scanning, and for once things pretty much went as planned.
Over the w/end I'd estimate I did 150 scans. But here's the thing - I didn't scan any artbooks, as such. Obviously, the first thing I scanned was the new megami, but instead of then tackling artbooks I polished a few related things I needed to do.
One of them was scanning anime and manga covers. I do this partly because I sell a lot of things off on e-bay, but also, I like to use them as pics for my reviews over at trigsmugistus.com. There were quite a few to do. Over the last few weeks I've written reviews of Ai Yori Aoshi, GUNxSWORD, Witchblade, Girls Bravo (manga), Eiken (manga) and Genshiken (manga) and they all needs pics to accompany them, which meant scanning all the covers.
The other thing I scanned was megami deluxe 10. Megami deluxe is an odd mag - it's six-monthly and collects together all the posters in megami over the preceding months, plus a few things from animedia. So you're getting stuff you've already got and they're smaller, but they're also cleaner (i.e. there are no folds).
It's a huge undertaking scanning wise--there were around 80 pages to scan, so you can see why I didn't get any artbooks done as well.
Anyway, some long sessions scanning mean I've also been watching fansubs:
Row, row, fight da powah! indeed.
Over the w/end I'd estimate I did 150 scans. But here's the thing - I didn't scan any artbooks, as such. Obviously, the first thing I scanned was the new megami, but instead of then tackling artbooks I polished a few related things I needed to do.
One of them was scanning anime and manga covers. I do this partly because I sell a lot of things off on e-bay, but also, I like to use them as pics for my reviews over at trigsmugistus.com. There were quite a few to do. Over the last few weeks I've written reviews of Ai Yori Aoshi, GUNxSWORD, Witchblade, Girls Bravo (manga), Eiken (manga) and Genshiken (manga) and they all needs pics to accompany them, which meant scanning all the covers.
The other thing I scanned was megami deluxe 10. Megami deluxe is an odd mag - it's six-monthly and collects together all the posters in megami over the preceding months, plus a few things from animedia. So you're getting stuff you've already got and they're smaller, but they're also cleaner (i.e. there are no folds).
It's a huge undertaking scanning wise--there were around 80 pages to scan, so you can see why I didn't get any artbooks done as well.
Anyway, some long sessions scanning mean I've also been watching fansubs:
- Ikkitousen: Great Guardians - fairly good. Watch the 2nd ep (the fansubs seem to end there due to licensing) and it seems to continue being fairly decent. The decision to go with an original story seems to work better that when they're adapting the manga.
- Chocolate Underground - okay. I think this is a kid's show, actually, as it seems to have educational stuff in it about where chocolate is from, etc. It was fairly decent, but not hugely engaging.
- Chiko, Heiress of the Phantom Thief (Nijuu Mensou no Musume) - okay. I was only able to watch one episode of this, presumably due to licensing stuff, and it was also subbed in Italian (No, I don't speak Italian) :/. From what I saw it seemed okay, but as I say I couldn't really understand the dialogue, although the basics of what was happening were fairly clear.
- Gosenzosama Banbanzai! - this was awful. It's a really old show that happened to get some fansubs, but it was really poor. The problem was that the characters tended to stand still babbling on about crap for ten minutes at a time. And I really do mean ten minute stretches of them just standing there jabbering away and me falling asleep.
- Soul Eater - fairly good. I'd read somewhere this was just an animu version of Harry Potter. Now, I can't claim to be hugely familiar with Harry, having only seen the movies, but it didn't really seem that way to me. Overall, I'd probably buy it, tbh--some very funny stuff and the animation was really lovely.
- Slayers Revolution - good. More slayers, basically. Tonally it's the same stuff, character designs are unchanged. Voice actors seem different, but then I'm more used to the English dub actors, tbh. If you like other slayers stuff, you'll like this; and since I do, I did :).
- Penguin no Mondai - not very good, sorta. When I watched the first episode I initially thought I'd stumbled across a hidden gem. But after that first episode and an initial novelty factor, it really annoyed me. I think this might also have been a kids show, but what I do know is it's actually computer animation (it's filtered to make it look flat) and it didn't really look right.
Row, row, fight da powah! indeed.
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