Fullmetal Alchemist Is Back

I got all annoyed whilst searching YouTube for Fullmetal Alchemist AMVs. See, my favorite manga/anime also happens to be one of, if not the, favorite manga/anime of every person with horrible taste in music. Every time I look for FMA AMVs, I come up with dozens, maybe even hundreds, of clips involving metal bands that clearly failed remedial spelling (replacing a C with a K does not make you cool or clever, except maybe if you're a cat because cats can't spell).

(To my hipster friends: you might think this point of reference is incredibly dated, but if you listen to KROQ, than you know that, ten years after the fact, it is still a very real thing.)

Okay, back to the point, I was getting all angsty about the dearth of FMA AMVs that I could stomach when I came across the clip posted at the top of this entry. It may be two years old, but it's new to me and incredibly fun. AMV creator xShigurex matched up the Elric brothers and friends with "Un Lapin," a super-cute number from ye-ye girl turned children's music artist Chantal Goya (she starred in Godard's film Masculin Feminin). Then she drew the series' characters chibi style and mixed in some actual FMA footage.

All this is to say that Fullmetal Alchemist is coming back for a third season. The good people at The Anime Blog posted a teaser and, although I can't understand a lick of Japanese, it looks like it's going to be something special.

Related: "The Anime Collective: Baka Deshi Productions"

More Craftiness from ALA

I found out about RosaleenDhu at Anime LA and had a chance to speak with the creator, although there wasn't enough room in the piece to include a quote from her. Her plush scarves are super cute and she does them in BJD sizes too! The orange one, I was told, is loosely based on a character from Fruits Basket, which I have yet to see even though a friend of mine tells me I should. Anyhow, if you're looking for a warm scarf with a kawaii edge, check out her etsy page.

Anime Los Angeles

By the second day of Anime Los Angeles, it was clear that the angle for my LA Weekly coverage had to be the amount of incredibly talented, young artists are emerging from the convention scene. In some ways, it reminds me of the goth and klub kid scenes of the mid-1990s, the creativity knows no boundaries. In terms of fashion, clothing isn't determined by gender and the more fantastical (and impractical, by the standards of our unfortunately casual society) the outfit, the better.

The dresses above were created by Megan Amo. The hat are by her sister Cecilia. I loved the steampunk elements in top Lolita look (the mechanical clock parts and the use of brown and cream). The model, Michele McArthy launched her accessory line Cute Land at the convention. It consists of little clay candy and cakes that you can wear on your fingers or in your hair. Since I wasn't photographing the event, I forgot to get some pictures of her table (bad, Liz).



I loved the back of Jonelle Abitong's samurai princess dress. If I didn't hate my upper arms and fear leaving the house without a bra, I would wear this to M/R/X. It's so cool.

Oh, and the dolls were amazing too. Check out this unicorn boy.



And these are pretty amazing too.

Cosplay!

In late November, I went to Otaku Society, which is the annual event where Malediction Society goes cosplay. You can read about it over at The Anime Blog. I also suggest checking out the photo album on LA Dead.

By the way, the cosplayer above represents Gurren Lagann. It's an extremely popular series right now.

I got the available Gurren Lagann DVDs for Carlos for Christmas upon the recommendation of Dan at Anime Plus, who has never let me down. So far, Carlos, whose opinion you should always trust, says it's great. Based on the one episode I saw, I must concur.

Space Cowboys

Forgot to post this earlier (well, if you're on my MySpace, Facebook or Twitter lists, then, I did already post it), but here's my top five Space Cowboys for the LA Weekly.

I came up with the idea after this on-again, off-again debate in my head concerning Firefly and Cowboy Bebop, which I think both series were airing their first US television runs at around the same time. Regardless, that's why Mal and Spike are one and two on the list. Han Solo was a pretty obvious choice and Vash the Stampede had to be on the list as well because Trigun is a great series. Outland I found on a Netflix search and rented it because it's High Noon in space and stars Sean Connery. It's quite an underrated film and the score, particularly for the strip club scenes, is fantastic. I want a copy.

The day the story came out was also the day that Keanu Reeves announced his intentions to play Spike in the Cowboy Bebop film. Anime chatboards are ablaze! I shall say now, though, that I have no opinion on Mr. Reeves as Mr. Spiegel. I'll wait until there is a finished product.

Blogging for Others

Today I guest blogged over at the Anime Blog, covering this weekend's MikomiCon event at CSUN.

Also from today's files, I covered Friday night's Man Man extravaganza for the LA Weekly.

Razorake Podcast

Last month, I recorded a podcast for Razorcake. Now you can download it.

And, if you haven't done so already, don't forget to read my piece on Anime Music Videos for the LA Weekly.

To combine both bits of media, here's an Einsturzende Neubauten AMV I found on YouTube.

Anime Music Videos in the LA Weekly

I started working on the idea of this story last year.  I spent at least an hour a day watching clips on YouTube.  Then I started going to cons, found some people whose work I absolutely adored and took it from there.  Thank you to everyone who took the time out to be interviewed for the story.  I really appreciate your help.

Allergy Anime Eyes

I saw this link about contacts that give the effect of anime eyes on Boing Boing today.  And when I read about the new hot item from Japan, I thought, I totally have to get a pair.

Then I remembered that I have anime eyes, a 100% freakishly natural set to go with my penchant for flat-ironed hair, miniskirts and really big shoes.

And then I remembered that I have a phobia of sticking things in my eyes and I can't even wear liner on my lower lid because the orbs will produce a deluge of itchy, allergy eye tears.

So the contacts probably won't happen.  But they're really cool.

It Begins with Fullmetal Alchemist

AMV Fullmetal Alchemist + "Requiem for a Dream" (created by netslums)

Adult Swim has brought back Fullmetal Alchemist to its weeknight post-midnight anime lineup. I humbly suggest that you check out this anime series. It's on at 12:30 and 3:30 a.m. PST.

Fullmetal Alchemist is the show that made me an anime fangirl. Sure, I watched Voltron as a child and Cowboy Bebop and Spirited Away as an adult, but I didn't get truly hooked on the genre until about two years ago. I was in grad school and maintained a schedule that involved staying up until 3 a.m. reading media criticism while watching Adult Swim and then switching over to Conan O'Brien after Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Once, though, I didn't switch channels.
"Mother" was airing. Despite being the third episode of Fullmetal Alchemist , is the piece that gives the audience the background on the story. I struck by the horrible sadness of the storyline and the teary-voiced characters and couldn't pull myself away from the television set. From that moment forward, I was addicted to the saga of the Elric brothers.

Fullmetal Alchemist is a fantasy anime with steampunk leanings. It's set in a parallel world just prior to the onset of World War I. In this alternate version of early-20th century earth, alchemy goes far beyond trying to turn mere metal into gold. Edward and Alphonse Elric, the protagonists of the story, are the sons of a famed alchemist who split when the boys were quite young. Several years later, their mother died. The grief-stricken brothers (who are only 11 and 10 at the time) had dabbled in alchemy all their lives and decided to use the ancient art to bring their mother back from the dead. The problem with this, though, is the first law of alchemy-- equivalent exchange, which maintains that in order to get something, you have to give up something of equal or greater value. In the case of the Elric brothers, this almost meant Alphonse's life, and the only reason why that was spared was because Edward, the elder brother, gave up two limbs in order to attach Al's soul to a suit of armor. I should note, though, that Al is not the fullmetal alchemist, even though he is literally composed entirely of metal. The term is actually from a Japanese slang word that means something along the lines of stubborn, which Edward certainly is. (Edward also has a metal arm and a metal leg.)

After the brothers' misfortune, they become State Alchemists, essentially military figures, so that they can further their study of alchemy and hopefully regain their former bodies. As State Alchemists, the two travel across their world and become embroiled in a series of situations that cause them to rethink their views on alchemy. Most of the situations are tied together in a web of government intrigue involving various aspects of alchemy and its practitioners. It's a show filled with suspense and as Fullmetal Alchemist progresses, the series gets darker and themes of abuse of power in both a political and spiritual sense grow more apparent.

Fullmetal Alchemist is an extremely popular anime. You can probably tell that just by searching through the AMVs (anime music videos) on YouTube and realizing that most of the songs used were probably selected by teenagers. And if you ever talk to an anime fan, it's fairly likely (at least in my experience) that Fullmetal Alchemist will come up in conversation, perhaps even more likely than mentions of mega-popular shows Naruto and Bleach.

Since discovering Fullmetal Alchemist, I've become something bordering on an anime nerd. Hell, I went to my first con in January and I have an Al keychain hanging from my Birkin-esque bag, so I probably jumped right over that line into fangirldom.

The Ruler of the Cave

Last Christmas, Carlos gave me a boxed set of the anime series Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. I began watching the first DVD shortly after opening the gift and then proceeded to park my ass on the couch as I watched all 24 episodes over a period of three, maybe four, days. I could have watched it in one sitting, it was that addictive, but forced myself to prolong the gratitude of seeing the fates of the Morcerfs, Villeforts and, of course, the Count, unfold.

If you have read The Count of Monte Cristo, then you will be familiar with many of the characters and the essential plot. However, Gankutsuou only uses the Alexandre Dumas classic as the glue to hold together the saga. From what I have been told (as I have not read the original work, at least not yet), many of the plot points differ.

Gankutsuou (which translates to "Ruler of the Cave," a title used for the Japanese translation of the Dumas book) is set in 5053, but despite the sci-fi elements the setting would entail, much of the old world conventions remain in place. There is an emphasis on the characters' social standing, with the children of prominent families betrothed to the children of other prominent families (e.g. Vicomte Albert de Morcerf and Eguenie de Danglars). And that age-old question of whether one should marry for status (Valentine de Villefort and Baron Franz d'Epinay) or for love (Valentine and Maximilien Morrel) still exists in an age where people holiday in space.

Visually, Gankutsuou plays up on the retrofuturist elements. The costumes, which were designed by Anna Sui, are a mixture of 19th century fashion and late-1960s/early-1970s European jet set style and are patterned in metallic and iridescent prints that change form with each of the characters' movements. Similar digital animation texturing techniques are used with the scenery, which is a mix of traditional European and beyond-space age settings. Even the series' music helps capture the dichotomy present in Gankutsuou, with Jean-Jacques Burnel (the Stranglers) channeling Jacques Brel in the opening theme and many classical artists throughout the work while cyberockin' it during the closing credits.

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, was released on DVD in the US by Geneon, which also licensed such excellent titles as Appleseed, Paranoia Agent and Samurai Champloo. It was directed by Mahiro Maeda, whose directing credits include The Animatrix and whose animation has also appeared in Kill Bill, Samurai Champloo and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Gankutsuou Wikipedia entry (with an excellent character list and episode guide)
Gankutsuou DVD page