The Thought Corner

Manga4life interviewed by avid blog reader and web-spider, Ron Paradue.

2011-12-13T17:17:00.000-08:00

Ron Paradue – “Hello Manga4life, as well as the number of readers who may find themselves on Manga4life's “Thought Corner” blog. Today I've asked Manga4life if he would be open to answer some questions about both himself and his personal piece of the internet that he's created known by many as “Thought Corner”. In my experience with “Thought Corner”, the author posts articles about various anime programs he's watched, comic books he's read, video games he's played, as well as personal experiences with products and media that shed some light on certain aspects of pop culture and everything in between. I personally came across his blog back around November of last year when I was doing a search for reviews of an anime series called Claymore and I found Manga4life's review that he posted some month previous to my discovery of his blog. I read it, then I followed through and read a number of his other entry's and found that I really was enjoying what I was reading, finally after about 4 months of no new articles I decided to approach Manga4life about why he's been so quiet. I thought I'd begin with a pretty simple question, and that question would be.....why? Why did you move forward with the creation of “Thought Corner”, and what did you hope to accomplish from running a blog?”

Manga4life – “Before I answer the question, allow me to thank you for checking out The Thought Corner and thank you to all who may be reading this interview via the blog itself. You always wondering who's reading when you see that you've gained a large number of readers, aside from the core “group” from the Twitter-space I had no idea that people who I've never associated with previously were checking out the site. But to answer your question, I think a huge reason as to why I created The Thought Corner was because I wanted a place where I could talk about things in depth without having my post become just another sea of words in a thread on some messageboard out there. I wanted to write about the things I enjoy, and in some cases hate, and I wanted to write the kind of blogs that I enjoy reading. See, so many people write for the masses and think that they're proving some kind of point or that they've gained some kind of fan base or something that they forget to have fun writing their piece and enjoy themselves. I write the kind of things that I enjoy so later on when I go back and read an entry again I can relive the emotion of whatever it was that I had written about, whether it be bad or good. I've never claimed to be a “writer”, I certainly am not the best blogger on the internet and I'm certainly not trying to become something I'm not. I write for me. I write for people who enjoy accessible content that can be read and enjoyed, I want people to smile when they're done reading one of my entries not because it was a well written piece worthy of an award, but instead because they can feel what I was feeling when those thoughts came out. It's simple, I write for me.”

Ron Paradue - “So you write editorials based on personal experience and taste? Or do you write blogs as a way to promote something?”

Manga4life - “I have nothing to promote, so I write as a way to archive my thoughts on something, I just toss it up on the blog for others to see. When I did have something to promote it all fell apart, I lost touch with a great creative talent and I lost interest in a project I was working on and trying to get up off the ground. You know why that happened? It's because I was trying to sell others on idea's I had instead of kicking back with a beer and getting my thoughts down about a certain subject.”

Ron Paradue - “Fair enough, fair enough. So, “Thought Corner” is entering into it's 2nd year on the internet and has garnered some attention by comic book companies, can you tell us about that?”

Manga4life - “Sure. I did a blog a year or so back about some new comics that were coming out from a publisher called BOOM Studios, it was a partnership between them and Stan Lee that revolved around a trio of comics that were on their way to retail. I wrote the piece and dropped a link to it on my Twitter page, that link was forwarded by BOOM Studios and made available to everyone who followed them on Twitter and on Facebook and before long the blog enjoyed over 3,000 visitors in a 72 hour period. It was pretty surreal. The second instance was very similar, I wrote a piece about comic book publishers who deserved more readers and this time a publisher called Dynamite Entertainment did the same thing BOOM did. The blog post ended up on their Twitter and someone e-mailed me and told me a portion of it ended up in the letter column of one of their comics, I personally haven't seen it but the blog enjoyed a few thousand more views over a pretty short period of time. I also gained about 30 or 40 new followers on Twitter, most of which I don't think follow me anymore, haha.”

Ron Paradue – “That's pretty interesting how a simple blog post could reach so many readers thanks to a simple re-tweet, or a mention on a social media website. That must have been nice to see publishers who you were supporting turn around and support you in exchange. How did it feel, personally?”

Manga4life - “Like I said before, I don't care that thousands of people were reading the entries unless they left the blog with the feeling that they've enjoyed what they read.”

Ron Paradue - “Okay, so, you're obviously one of many blogs on the internet based around things such as animation, comics, gaming, media, and other aspects, but I have to know something. Do you consider other blog sites competition, at all? Like say there is another blog site out there that posts reviews, editorials, and other things based around similar topics, do you read those sites or do you think of them as competition and a threat to your readership? Also, what are some of the “other” blogs out there that handle similar stories?”

Manga4life - “It's like this: We are all blogging, writing, creating, and discussing topics that we love and enjoy. I personally see the other blogs out there as helping to get the word out that great content is out there and it's up to us, the consumer, to go and enjoy it. It could be a video game, or a television show, or a movie, or something in print, it doesn't really matter what it is because we're all bringing the information to a broader audience and I think we just want to write stories that we believe in and get the word out there that good media is available to those who want to use it. Do I see them as competition to my blog, not at all because most of us are just writing to write, not to outdo each other or to destroy the credibility of our respective blogs. Writing is an art, expression is an art, you don't have to be completely good at it more so than you have to spill out what it is your thinking about and hope someone else feels it too. If they don't, no big deal. As for other blogs on the internet-space that I associate myself with and/or read on a weekly basis? Well, The Real Scratch Pad comes to mind, as does a blog called Thoughtnami by a guy named Jeff, those are both great sites that offer content that is fun and enjoyable to read.”

Ron Paradue - “I'm familiar with one (TRSP), not the other. Can you tell me a bit about Scratch Pad and Thoughtnami and the folks that host them?”

Manga4life - “Sure. Thoughtnami is hosted by a guy named Jeff, he's a long time animation fan and seems really big into the old WB stuff as well as keeping viewers focused on great action programming. His original vision of Thoughtnami which was a part of his X-Bridge website has been long dead, though he may disagree, but he's up and running on Tumblr and he can be found on Twitter. I know The X-Bridge is still around and last year he was working on a weekly serial project, but that's since been shelved for whatever reason. Jeff's great guy, a good friend, and someone you can converse with who actually understands things, people forget how hard it is to find good people to discuss things with these days. The Real Scratch Pad is hosted by several people who have banded together via Twitter, most of which could be found on various animation forums as well as Facebook. These guys are pretty cool, I've known most of them since I hit Twitter back in early 2010 and we've all maintained contact and get along with eachother (for the most part).”

Ron Paradue - “For the most part?”

Manga4life - “Yeah, for the most part. Most of those guys I really enjoy talking to, there is one....maybe two....who I guess I haven't really bought into, but as a whole they've got a good team over there. I won't go into the member who I don't think too highly of, but as a whole they've got a great cast and I'm always popping in to see what's new. The main problem I have with TRSP is that they have multiple guys who have various levels of ego's, which can sometimes clash when they podcast. Also, I believe some members have their hearts invested into The Real Scratch Pad project while others wear it like a sweater and toss it in the closet in favor of something more enjoyable. That isn't right. One thing I like about them is that they go beyond writing blog posts, they also have a couple of podcasts that they do and they've branched into a couple of different catagories that really has given them their identity. Funny story, before The Real Scratch Pad existed they were known as The Comic Book Panel, and I was a member really early on while moonlighting as owner of The Thought Corner. I've even filled in with a couple of guest posts on The Real Scratch Pad when members couldn't make their deadlines, it's been a while since I've done that though, they seem to be more focused on audio content than print these days anyhow.”

Ron Paradue - “Moving along to other things now. Tell me, where do you see “Thought Corner” in a couple of years, or even next year, and what would you say is the best thing you've even done and a regret that you have about the blog?”

Manga4life - “There is so much I want to do. Seriously. I just don't have the time to do it. I'll continue to write blogs, I have a handful all set and ready to launch come the beginning of the year and I have some themed months I plan to celebrate eventually. But mainly I just want to bring content to readers who want a place where they can come and read something someone wrote who feels something for that certain topic, something real. I don't know where The Thought Corner will be in 2 or 3 years, but I do know that 2012 promises to be a pretty big year for the site and I may even introduce a new site mascot. Hehe. As for my biggest regret with the blog, well, it would be the falling out I had with a guy named Jason who was writing a book called "The Tale" which was to be promoted and released by my publishing company, Cozy Cabin Publishing. The fallout led me to abandon a project I was working on called "Cavendar" and before you knew it all I had left was blank pages and nothing to write. I may still take that project off the shelf someday, but all in all I was excited to release his book first to see how the company would do with it, when there was nothing to release I gave up on it. I still own the company, but I don't plan on doing anything with it besides publish posts here on the Thought Corner Blog. That would be my biggest regret, especially how it all went down.”

Ron Paradue - “What's with that little mascot guy anyway? But seriously, I'm sorry that happened to the company, but like you said earlier, you didn't want to push a product more so than you wanted others to feel your feelings through your posts. So maybe it's for the better?”

Manga4life - “He's just the face of the site, nothing more. There is no hidden meaning behind him and there is no back story or anything, he's just a character that people can see when they log on who can serve as your tour guide, or something like that. People have asked me about him before, I just tell them he's my best friend and they tend to leave it alone. As for the book deal, yeah, it's for the better. I'd just assume never talk about it again, or at least not for a long time.”

Ron Paradue - “Well, that's all I got for now. I appreciate the time you took to sit down and discuss some things with me, Manga4life, your thoughts are valued and I look forward to seeing what “Thought Corner” has in store for 2012!”

Manga4life - “Thanks for having me, Ron. It's been a pleasure and thanks for dropping in and reading The Thought Corner blog, you're support is much appreciated.”

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Manga4life reviews "Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings".

2011-08-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

This review is something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while now but I just never got around to doing it until now, I’m a bit upset at myself because of it because I feel this series deserved it’s own review on The Thought Corner and the time has finally come for it to be added.

Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings holds a special place in my heart for anime, it was one of the first series I actually sat down and watched in subbed format all the way through (I hate subbed anime) and it really resonated with me because of the intense action and the likable characters. Basara is based off of a video game franchise but you would never know it, the story doesn’t really fit the mold of a video game and aside from the intense action, which reminded me a lot of Dynasty Warriors, I would have never known that this series was based off of a game unless I wasn’t a part of this large community we call the internet. Ever since finishing the series in it’s dubbed format multiple times over, I couldn’t help but to feel that this series was another great title that kind of flew underneath the radar but the more and more I research online it appears as if it has a strong cult following. I was surprised to see this because at first it seemed like nobody was talking about it and then I started noticing people on Twitter and multiple anime forums on the web discussing the series and giving it positive reviews, that made me very happy to see because I am a big fan of Sengoku Basara and was pulling for it to do well. Luckily for me and for many others, there is a sequel to the series that has been subbed in Japan and streamed in the U.S via FUNimation and the company plans on dubbing and releasing it in the U.S sometime down the road and as of this writing there is also a movie and OVA in the works. [Insert happy face here.]

As for the series itself, it revolves around different factions that have been at war with each other but find they share a common enemy and and decide to team up against a dark lord named, Oda, who has unleashed his will upon the land. Before this takes place we get to see some pretty awesome action between the two main characters, Date Masamune and Yukimura, as they battle each other for supremacy, as well as an intense clash between their respective armies. So basically, if you enjoy intense action, a fun but simple story, awesome characters, and unlikely/likely team-up’s then you will probably really like Sengoku Basara. As the stoy progresses along you get to meet some fun characters, such as Oda’s sister, and leaders of other clans, who all have their hands in the plot, including a hilarious leader who is killed by Oda in a scene where you see exactly what the dark lord is all about.

Like I had mentioned before, this series is based on a video game in Japan, so going into it I was a little iffy because I’ve seen animation based on video games in the past, and while some may have been fun, it usually turns out fairy "bleh". Luckily this series turned out to be a delight and the story was much more than just some all too familiar plot that bogs down many video games of today, it only took the first episode to prove to me that Basara was much more than just a cartoon adaption of a video game and that it had legs to stand up as a solid production.

Now it's time to tackle the fun stuff, you know.....animation, sound effects, music, storyline, and the overall production value of Sengoku Basara as an anime series to see if it stacks up. First thing I'll cover will be the music and sound effects of the show, something I felt Basara kind of lacked when compared to other anime being produced today. The sound effects are your standard fare of swords clashing and horses dashing, so there wasn't really anything wrong with the show when it comes to that kind of stuff, my main complaint is the lack of a good soundtrack. Aside from the opening theme in Sengoki Basara there is a complete void of any truly likable tunes coming out of this show, seriously, almost nothing about the soundtrack is noteworthy at all. It struck me as kind of odd because with all the great action and intrigue you would figure that they would have cooked up an awesome OST to accompany these scenes, but instead we get fairly generic music that ranges from decent to utterly forgettable. Thankfully, the production crew made up for it with pretty awesome animation that really helped to make this series easy on the eyes. I really enjoyed the character designs and the flow of the artwork throughout this series and aside from a few snags toward the beginning of the show, I'd put this up against most of the high quality anime being produced today. This show really shined in top down camera angles that showcased a massive melee, a lot of shows tend to lose quality when featuring multiple characters on the screen at one time, but for the most part Sengoku Basara was able to keep everything nice and clean. Which made me very happy during huge brawl es and clan warfare.

As I've mentioned previously in the review, the story and plot line is fairly basic but handled in a way that made the show extremely fun to watch, it doesn't stray too far from the core tale and the way the writers handled it made it very easy to follow. The way many of the characters were handled, Oda in particular, really helped to bring out their true essence and made them seem larger than life and important to the overall scope of the series. I know a lot of shows are good at doing this, but I find it important when handling certain types of characters, especially villains, and they handled Oda perfectly and it made me fall in love with the character to the point to where he's become one of my favorite villains in all of animation. He's a true badass, probably one of the coolest badasses in all of animation (in my opinion). All of these things help to make the series fun to watch, which is the most important thing when sitting down to watch a series that you've yet to see yet. Sengoku Basara is 13 episodes, so it's short, but in it's 13 episodes there is a lot of fun to be had and I'd say that if anime with massive fight scenes is up your alley that you could easily finish this series over the course of a day off or two. The whole thing just flows nicely, episodes fly by very quickly, and the whole thing felt like it was over in a snap, that's the mark of a good anime series, if you ask me. I invite those who've read this review to check it out for themselves and get back to me on Twitter, or one of the many forums I frequent on the web, to let me know what you thought of it, I'm guessing that if you give the show a try you may just come out happy that you did.

Good day to you.

Art & Animation - 8.5/10
Music & Sound Effects - 6.5/10
Story & Writing - 8.5/10
Fun - 8.5/10
Overall - 8.0/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

my Atari 2600 tribute, and my experiences with this classic console.

2011-07-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

Recently I sat down and wrote a blog focusing on my history and experiences with the Super NES and how I felt the machine fit into the history of video game consoles and it’s legacy, today I am doing the same but this time we are taking the time machine back to the late 70’s and early 80’s to focus on the Atari VCS (2600).

For me, the Atari 2600 was the first video game system I had ever owned, it introduced me to video games and my experiences with the ol’ 2600 are some of the most fond memories I have with video games throughout my entire life. There was truly nothing like it. Despite it’s limitations in graphical power, it’s standard one or two sounds at a time audio capabilities, and it’s one button controller, the Atari 2600 has managed to build quite an army for it during it’s run on store shelves and the retro gaming community still love and praise Atari’s machine some 30+ years after it’s release. And why not? The games are still some of the best that’s ever been produced and just because it’s not modern does not mean it’s not good. I was too young to remember when I first received my Atari but I do remember having it as early as age 3, so I’m guessing I got it around 1983 or so, right around the time that the video game market actually crashed in the United States. I had a decent collection of games by the time 1985 rolled around as well as a sweet little carrying case to keep all the carts in, I also remember having a small computer that played 2600 games as well that was aside from my standard wood grain console but I can’t seem to remember what that machine was, though I think it was a computer of some sorts. Anyhow, some of the games I remember playing as a young kid were Pac-Man, E.T, Defender, Dragonfire, Megamania, Atlantis, Space Invaders, Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle, and a boxing game that I’ve never seen since. And no, it wasn’t the classic black/white overhead view boxing game that everyone knows and loves, it may have been Real Sports Boxing but I’ll have to research that. Funny enough, despite media critics and many gamers thoughts and opinions of Pac-Man and E.T for the Atari 2600 I grew up loving those games and they still rank among some of my favorite games of all-time, I have so many memories of playing those games with friends and neighbors as a child and the fun I had with them will no doubt stay with me forever. I know the histories of those games and I know that Pac-Man isn’t anything like the arcade version and that E.T was rushed to store shelves to meet a Christmas deadline, but I don’t care because those games have supplied me with so much joy that I’ll never be able to look at them in the same view as everybody else. Sorry, I like what I like.

I remember having my Atari up until around 1987 or so because (I don’t remember why) I brought the console outside to show a friend one evening and forgot to bring it back indoors, that night it rained cats and dogs and when I brought the system back indoors to play some games it didn’t turn on. Because of that I spent the next year or so without a video game system of my own and had to rely on playing the 2600 and the NES at other peoples houses. During the time I had my original Atari I would say that Pac-Man, E.T, Megamania, and Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle had the biggest effect on me, those 4 games were just plain awesome and remind me of my very early childhood, those are the games that make me think about this specific video game system the most even though later in life I would bond myself to a whole new group of games for the 2600 that would rival these 4 games for some of my favorites. Well, it wasn’t long until I had an NES and my parents felt that there was no need in owning an Atari machine anymore. Especially since Atari had already upgraded the 2600 with the 5200 and 7800, plus Nintendo had the most popular system on the market at the time with the nicest looking games, so the ol’ VCS was out and the flashy Nintendo Entertainment System was in.

It took about 7 years but I eventually got the bug to own an Atari 2600 again, this time in 1994, and I wanted it so bad that I didn’t want to wait to buy one at the local flea market on the weekend (it was mid-week) so I called some local places in the phone book looking for collector shops that may have had one on hand. One guy had some in his store and gave me directions on how to get there, this store was a couple of towns away and it shared space with a used furniture store and I remember thinking about how weird that was when I entered. But the real surprise was that the guy who owned the shop was a guy who worked at the same flea market I didn’t want to wait to go to, he had a small stand there where he peddled vintage toys, games, non-sports cards, and other collectibles. Well, I picked up the 2600 from him along with 5 titles, those games were Cosmic Arc, Ice Hockey, Atlantis, Video Pinball, and E.T. Cosmic Arc and Ice Hockey would become some of my favorite games for the system, I remember my buddy “Stelfo” would come over and we would always 1up each other on our Cosmic Arc scores and he also grew to love Ice Hockey as well. I’ll tell you this, despite Ice Hockey being an Atari game and having limited graphics and sound with not even enough juice to have more than 4 players on the screen at once, I’d say it was and still is my favorite hockey game of all-time. These games were just so damn fun to play, Ice Hockey was a 2on2 game that had no time limit and you had to hit a certain score to beat the other team (I think it was 7), Cosmic Arc on the other hand was a game that revolved around shooting flying asteroids and picking up aliens. Both games are absolutely stellar and have found their way into my heart as games that I think about when I reminisce about the VCS, the other games I received on that day are games I have owned previously and my memories with them grew as well.

For whatever reason, I sold my Atari and all of it’s games to the flea market less than 6 months later, I don’t remember why I did it but I did nonetheless and I wouldn’t own a 2600 again until around December of 1996 when me and my friend Billy were adding games and systems to our game room, which became an obsession of ours in 1996 as we spent every red cent we had on systems and games to add the the massive collection we had assembled. At that time I didn’t focus much time on the 2600 even though we had about 40+ games for it, Billy and I were so wrapped up in other consoles we had as well as certain games that took up a deep amount of concentration that we just didn’t have a lot of time for Atari’s console. When the game room finally split up in the summer of 1997 the Atari and it’s games were sold and I have not owned a VCS since, except in ROM/emulator format on my computer/tablet/phone, of course.

Aside from the memories I have of playing the Atari 2600, I have a ton of memories of the machine and it’s games that go beyond the hands on experience. I remember classic commercials as a kid that centered around the VCS, such as the E.T Christmas commercial that aired in 1983 as well as seeing games and systems in stores like Sears when I was a kid. For what it’s worth, that E.T Christmas commercial still ranks as one of my favorite commercials of all time and remains one of my first true memories of television as a whole, I was really young when that commercial hit the airwaves and didn’t retain a lot of information back then so the fact that it sticks out is really special to me. I don’t know why but little things like that make sentimental memories for me, like the time I visited a toy store when I was 4 years old and I remember a guy buying 2 or 3 Atari games at one time, I remember his kid being all excited about it and I really wanted to get one but my mother said “no”. I also used to get random catalogs in the mail when I was a kid that featured random 2600 games and accessories, I have no idea what the company was that was putting out these catalogs but I don’t think it was through Atari themselves. Either way, I used to love getting these and I remember being so young that I couldn’t even read the catalogs so I would look at the game box covers and the random screen shots that were in the catalog and pick and choose which titles I wanted to ask for when it was time to get a new game. Those memories are so classic to me and I’ll always remember them for as long as I live.

Well, that’s about it from me when it comes to Atari’s VCS, I just wanted to pop in here and discuss some of my favorite memories about Atari’s classic gaming console as well as talk about some of it’s amazing successes during it’s time on store shelves. How successful was it, you ask? Well, back in the late 70’s and early 80’s the VCS was the dominant gaming console on store shelves and sold millions upon millions in the U.S and around the world, and at one point Atari was actually listed as the company with the fasted rising growth in the history of the United States, but that was soon demolished by several technology companies that exploded onto the scene in the 80’s. Games such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids, and other classics have sold in excess of 5-7 million carts and set the stage for major blockbuster video games that would come later, thats 2X-3X more than some of the "smash hits" of today aside from a certain few titls. The 2600 proved to be so popular that Atari even re-released the machine in the late 80’s as the “Atari 2600 Jr.” at a cheap price to try to take advantage of Nintendo’s success in bringing video games back to the mainstream, the 2600 Jr. wasn’t a smashing success but enough units were sold that Atari profited from it’s re-release. No matter what today’s gamers may think about Atari’s VCS or what jaded retro gamers may believe about Atari’s hand in crashing the gaming market in 1983/1984, Atari put video gaming on the map with the 2600 and if it wasn’t for that little wood grain box with metal knobs we may have never been introduced to the flashy games everybody knows and loves today.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

My tribute to the SNES + personal experiences.

2011-07-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, man, it feels like just yesterday when I first got one underneath my Christmas tree back in 1993 along with Super Mario World. I had wanted either a SNES or a Genesis for a while leading up to getting one but since I was so in love with Nintendo’s characters I settled on begging for the SNES though I would eventually get a Genesis some years later. When the system first came out back in late 1991 I didn’t really care all the much because I was still going strong with my original NES and there were tons and tons of games available for the NES at the time with more and more coming out and it took Nintendo a good amount of time to get some good SNES titles on store shelves. It really wasn’t until mid 1992 when I first noticed that a lot of people I knew started getting SNES systems for themselves though those people still seemed to be playing their NES’s as well, so I didn’t complain about not having a SNES quite yet. When I first got bit by the SNES bug was shortly after my friend “Stelfo” got a Sega Genesis for Christmas back in 1992, I saw the graphical difference between the NES games and the Genesis games and the way that Sega’s console handled wrestling and sports titles, but it was funny because even though Stelfo had WWF Super Wrestlemania for his Genesis he would still come over and play Wrestlemania Challenge for my NES. I guess graphics can’t make up for fun-factor, hence why a lot of retro games are a lot more fun than today’s offerings.

Anyhow, I picked up either a GamePro or a Nintendo Power (I forget which) back in the spring of 1993 and remember seeing some awesome looking games for the SNES and after having tried a couple SNES games at different toy stores and a friends house or two I was completely sold that it was the video game system I had wanted. Unfortunately I was told I couldn’t have one until Christmas time, bummer. It was okay though because I was still smitten with my NES and I had a solid 15-20 games for it and still played them all quite often, especially 2-player games with my friends when they came over. Well, after many months worth of waiting (it was painful back then) Christmas was finally here and I received my SNES along with Super Mario World, a game which would be my only game for quite some time, but it was okay because I preferred not to overload myself with too many games at once so I can bond with them. Thankfully I lived not to far from a couple video rental stores and I was able to rent games to see which ones I really wanted to buy, all the while I was still playing my NES quite often but I was only a few months away from selling it along with all the games I had to the local flea market. Sadly, I can’t remember the games I had acquired in order and I don’t even remember all the games I had for the SNES, I do remember one day my father (R.I.P) came home with Mortal Kombat for me in January of 1994 and just about a month after that I saved up some money from shoveling snow in the neighborhood to buy NBA Jam shortly after it was released, but I’m sure I had a couple of games in between owning those two. As time went by I remember getting bored of those games after having played them for months and months on end and I remember really wanting WWF Royal Rumble, which my local flea market had for about $20, so one summer day me and Stelfo walked a couple of miles to the flea market to purchase it. Once we had it we walked back to my apartment and for some reason unhooked my SNES and brought it down the street to my fathers house to go play the game there, to this day I still have no idea as to why we did that but it turned out to be a weird yet fond memory that I will keep with me forever. We must have spent hours playing that game and WWF Royal Rumble became something of a personal favorite of mine, Stelfo even decided to walk halfway across the city one day (no money for the bus?) just to come over and play it with me, that’s the kind of effect certain games had on us when we were younger, it really was something special that today’s crop of games don’t supply me with.

A few more games would come over the next several months but oddly enough my time with the SNES wasn’t that long and I eventually sold it off in the fall of 1994, less than a year after having received it for Christmas. Man, my parents must have been pissed at me for that and I remember getting a Genesis for Christmas of 1994 even though I wanted the Atari Jaguar at the time (yep, THAT Jaguar). That means the time I had with the SNES was less than a year, December of 1993-October 1994, it felt like I had it a lot longer than that though but I guess not. I remember kind of wishing I hadn’t sold off the SNES when in late 1995 a slew of games were coming out for it that I really wanted, I remember going to a Sears store which was right across the street from my school to play Killer Instinct and Yoshi’s Island a few times a week before class, but I didn’t have the SNES anymore and was back playing an NES that I had purchased over the summer. I wouldn’t own a Super Nintendo again until April of 1996 when my friend Billy (R.I.P) brought one over from his house and left it at my place while we turned my room into the ultimate game room, we literally spent every red cent we had on video games and the systems to play them on and had built a collection like I’ve never seen before (a separate blog is needed to explain it). That experience was one of the greatest in my entire life and I can’t wait until I can get that written so my readers can read what the game room was all about. Anyway, we had built up a large collection of SNES games (about 40) and I spent a little bit of time with a lot of them but during that time there are 4 games specifically that I really bonded with, Eye of the Beholder, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Brain Lord, and Saturday Night Slam Masters, all 4 of those games still mean something to me to this day. Once mid 1997 rolled around I had moved and the game room was no more but I still had the SNES and was still actively buying games for it even though I had other gaming systems at the time that required my attention. Around this time I was enthralled with Super Mario RPG and side-scrolling beat em’ up’s like Final Fight, but sadly my time with the SNES was soon coming to a close and by the end of 1997 I sold it off along with all the game I had to a Funcoland/Gamestop knowing that I was soon going to be getting a Nintendo 64.

In 1999 and 2000 I really got into downloading emulators and roms on my computer (I’ve owned most of these games in the past so I don’t feel bad) and was reintroduced to the SNES once again but playing the games on the computer was difficult because I didn’t have a gamepad and was using the keyboard to control the games and the experience was lackluster. I don’t know why I just didn’t go out and buy a gamepad back then, but I have one now and I’ve been actively playing the SNES on both my laptop and my Android based tablet and I’m loving the experience, I’m getting re-acquainted to many games that I once loved as well as discovering new games for system that I’ve never had the joy of playing before (teehee) and I’m really enjoying myself while doing it. Sure, the memories I’ve had with the SNES could never be re-created but I have those stored in my head and I’ll always remember the fun and joy the SNES had brought me and those around me, it’s become a part of me that will live on forever and I’m glad I still am in contact with most of the friends I’ve had back then to discuss and share these memories we’ve shared with. The SNES did very well for itself during its lifespan, at first things were a bit rocky for the system due to the Genesis releasing games at a rapid pace as well as gaining praise due to it’s sports titles and more “grown up” feel, the SNES was slow in getting games to store shelves at first and people were still buying games for the NES in 1991 and 1992. Once games like Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy II & III, and the Breath of Fire series hit store shelves both the media and the consumers quickly began to notice that the SNES was a great system for games involving depth and storytelling, RPG’s soon gained a lot of steam and became a staple in the U.S market despite struggling previously. The two games that seemed to help the most in putting the SNES over the Genesis in sales were Donkey Kong Country and Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario World 2, these games proved that the SNES outmatched the Genesis in graphical power and sound quality and became smash hits for Nintendo’s console that put the final nail in the coffin of the 16-bit war, Nintendo had won and the SNES went out with a bang.

As for the SNES itself, I wouldn’t call it my favorite video game system ever but I would certainly put it within the top 5, the memories I have of playing games such as Super Mario World and Mortal Kombat on it will live forever and I still love to crank open classic issues of GamePro, EGM, and Game Informer to see screen shots and read reviews of games that have graced the platform. Thank you Nintendo for the easy transition from the NES to the SNES, I’ll always cherish the times I’ve had with the console, though my time with it was short it was still full of classic moments that will live on forever.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Manga4life reviews "Chrome Shelled Regios"

2011-07-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

Chrome Shelled Regios. What can I say? Some loved it, some hated it, and some found it to be mildly entertaining, I guess I enjoyed it enough to say that I liked it but the strength of this series was more about the likable characters more so than the plot. Today I’m going to write a review of an anime series called Chrome Shelled Regios and it isn’t going to be easy, I find it to be hard for me to write about a show that has such interesting characters and such a basic and somewhat uninspired plot, but here it is and I hope you enjoy.

I first saw this show in subbed format which is strange for me since I usually always hold out for the English dub, but something about this show dragged me in during it’s original run back in mid 2009 and I’m glad that I got a chance to get acquainted with it back then because it really doesn’t look like a show that I would be interested in buying on DVD. I was greeted by a program that offered some of the most likable characters I’ve seen in a series that wasn’t long running and I was drawn in by the relationships and bonds that formed so early on between the members of the cast, characters such as Felli, Layfon, and Nina really shined throughout the duration of this show and I felt like I bonded with Felli the most. Before we get too much into the characters I figured I would tackle the basic plot of Chrome Shelled Regios first, it’s a fairly basic plot but in many ways it worked and I liked the things they were able to do with the show, this is no grand opus by any stretch of the imagination but it was certainly a program that I would recommend to those looking to fill a void or take a chance on something that they normally wouldn’t watch. The story introduces us to Layfon Alsief, a young man with a troubled past, as he enters into school as a new student. He meets up with Nina, Felli and some of the other members of the 17th Platoon and after a series of events finds himself becoming a member of the squad, although reluctantly due to his other activities such as a part-time job. As the series progresses the Platoon meets other Platoon’s on the field of friendly school battle and Nina spends most of her time training and throwing hissy fits over how poorly her team stands up against other squads, to add to that Felli finds that she has a crush on Layfon and tries early on to get close to him although he usually remains distant from the rest of the team due to his low-key demeanor. As the teams in the different Platoon’s find themselves fighting among each other and competing for school glory the weird town/orb thing that they all live in finds itself in a time of trouble as monsters and visitors from the outside find their way in to cause trouble.

This show started off very entertaining for me because of the great animation and the fun characters but unfortunately after the first 12-13 episodes the story begins to drag a little bit and the show loses some of it’s fun appeal up until the final 4 episodes or so. Toward the finale of the series things pick up quite a bit and the plot begins to thicken as does the action, everything starts to make sense and the show ends with a bit of glory which was really nice to see. All in all I would say I enjoyed what I saw out of Chrome Shelled Regios and like I said before, I definitely recommend it to those looking to keep up with what’s new and for those looking to fill a void in between something they’ve just finished and something they really want to see that may not be released on DVD yet. With all of that out of they way it’s now time for me to discuss some of the production values of Chrome Shelled Regios, something I really enjoy doing since it helps with the overall enjoyment of the series.

First off I’d like to talk about the animation within this series and how good it actually is, seriously, the character designs were well done and everything is nice and fluid with the animation and I’d say it’s on par with some of the better drawn shows out there. I didn’t see any major flaws in the art production except that there was too many classic anime cliches` such as facial changes and sweat drops above the head, that and once in a while I noticed a slight drop in animation quality during group shots, but that’s all par for the course in any animated program.
The music and sound effects used in Chrome Shelled Regios were fine, nothing overly exciting or too catchy but everything that can be heard throughout the series was good and some tunes helped out with the atmosphere of certain situations the characters were in and whatnot. I wouldn’t exactly run out and buy the OST or anything but that’s just a personal opinion more than anything, still, you may find yourself humming the main theme every now and again or maybe quoting some of the saying from the characters, such as “restoration!”.

The storytelling in this series was fine, as was the writing, but I wouldn't put it up there with something like Claymore or Casshern Sins or anything like that, instead I would say that the writers told a pretty fun story that probably won't stand the test of time like some other spectacular anime out there. But instead, the story will certainly entertain those who have chosen to give the series a chance for a simple viewing or two, but again, you may just watch this series and fall absolutely in love with it, it all relies on what kind of anime you enjoy. Personally, I watched this series all the way through a few times now and I'll probably revisit it after 5 years or so just to see how it's held up, I enjoyed it and you'll see just how much in the ratings below, but I do wish that the story didn't drag so much toward the middle-end and I feel it hindered the plot more than anything else. Anyhow, I think if you give Chrome Shelled Regios a shot that you'll be pleasantly surprised and I really hope that those who read this blog entry will try it out for themselves because the characters are fun, the story was interesting, and the overall package is good enough to hang with a lot of the anime that's being released today. CSR is certainly competitive and should provide the viewer with at least one or two moments that they will remember and reference sometime down the road, if not then at least you got to meet Felli, she's quite the intriguing character if I do say so myself. "Restoration!"

Art & Animation - 8.5/10
Music & Sound Effects - 8.0/10
Story & Writing - 7.5/10
Fun - 7.5/10
Overall - 7.5/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Spotlight on Dynamite's "Warlord of Mars", a true epic.

2011-06-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Thinking outside of the box is an uncommon thing when it comes to comic books, everybody seems so wrapped up in spandex clad superheroes and mutants to the point where so many fantastic comics go unnoticed and unread. It’s sad. Today I wanted to discuss some of these non-superhero based comics in an attempt to get the word out there that Marvel and DC are not the only two publishers in the industry putting out good comics and consumers within the industry need to understand that. This entry into The Thought Corner is going to focus on a series by Dynamite Entertainment called Warlord of Mars and the reasons as to why this is one of the best comics currently on store shelves, strap yourselves in because there is a lot to talk about.

First things first, I’m sure many people are wondering what the heck Warlord of Mars is all about and why I’m posting a blog revolving around this title specifically because lets face it, there are tons of fantastic comics out there that are not put out by the “big two”. I chose this title because of the effect that it’s had on me, it’s an unconventional story based off a series of public domain books that are now long out of print but with a twist on the story and original elements added to craft this tale of a man known as John Carter. The basic plot of it all is that this man, John Carter, and his friend get into a tussle inside of a bar in Virginia way back in the day when people traveled by horse back, they kill a few important people and are hunted down where they eventually kill John’s friend. Without revealing much of the story lets just say that John finds himself on Mars where he is captured and imprisoned by a barbaric race known as Tharks, not liking how he and other members of their race are being treated he kills one of the Tharks in front of the high council and is given the rank of “chieftain” among them. Even though he is one of the clans chieftains, John is still considered a prisoner and does not have complete freedom to do what he wants so he has no choice but to serve the Tharks as a leader and accept the fact that he is their captive, it’s really interesting to see how limited he is knowing that they could kill him at anytime and someone else would just take over his rank. As the story progresses John meets a princess of another part of the planet by the name of Dejah Thoris, who is not cast in the mold of an alien and looks human with a slight red tint to her skin. They become friends and their feelings for each other grow, the problem is that Dejah is held captive by the Tharks because their clan is at odds with her homeland and the capture of her puts the Tharks in a good position within this argument between the two parties. While this is happening, John grows close to one of the Tharks thanks to her kind demeanor as well as an animal that has been appointed to him, they plan an escape and decide to take Dejah along with them. Soon after they agree on the escape plan they take off like thieves in the night only to be hunted down by the Tharks and separated from each other which is where the story is as of this writing.

There really is a lot more to the story that I don’t want to discuss here because it would give too much away, I just wanted to go over the basic plot of the book and talk about some of the characters, if you do decide to read it then prepare to shed a tear at the story revolving one of the Tharks, Tars Tarkas, and his estranged daughter. It’s very tragic. Another scene that gets to me is when John Carter reveals his love for Dejah and then an issue or two later we find out that she may be forced to marry within an enemy faction to prevent a long standing war between them and her kingdom, the look on Carter’s face was that of confusion and sadness.
The book as a whole is very story driven with lots of important moments shared between all the core characters, some issues are more action heavy than others but it all comes together to create one awesome story and I can see why the book is selling extremely well. Warlord of Mars usually finds itself within the top 150 (out of top 300) comics ordered each month which is very good for a small press publisher considering that Marvel/DC combined publish an average of about 290 comics every month. The online buzz for Warlord of Mars has been favorable too with many comic book forums having dedicated threads centered around discussion for the book and there is even a movie in the works, though the movie is not connected to Dynamite or the comics published by Dynamite. The series has sold so well for Dynamite Entertainment that they have even started publishing a spinoff series for Dejah Thoris and are currently working on another spinoff called Fall of Barsoom, which will be based on ancient tales that have taken place within the same continuity. The fact that this book is doing so well proves that there is a market for non-superhero titles in comics, it’s just up to the bigger publisher to realize this and publish more books that think outside of the box, but I’m not holding my breath on that because superheroes are still the big thing in comics and that isn’t going to change anytime soon.

One thing I wanted to touch upon was the production of Warlord of Mars and just how good it actually is, especially the covers which is the first thing people are going to notice when they see the books. The series has a host of different cover each month since Dynamite loves playing the variant game so much, but there are two cover artists that have really left their mark on me with this series and those artists are Joe Jusko and J. Scott Campbell. Jusko’s covers are heroic, detailed, and incredibly painted to the point where I would actually put him on par with someone like Alex Ross, the covers Jusko has been putting out for this book are absolutely some of the best covers I’ve ever seen. Period. Joe’s portrayal of John Carter and Dejah Thoris have fans talking, they are so enthralled by his artwork that collectively they have all but named Joe the definitive Warlord of Mars cover artist, and I can’t blame them one bit since the work he’s done has been simply impressive. J. Scott Campbell on the other hand usually does not make use of John Carter on his covers and tends to stick to sexy poses for Dejah Thoris which have been a true delight to look at. Campbell’s covers are some of the sexiest I’ve ever seen for a comic book that can be purchased without having a black bag covering it and he has really drawn the fans in and made Dejah Thoris one of the most physically appealing women in all of comics.

Aside from excellent covers the interior art in Warlord of Wars is pretty darn good as well, I have read a lot of mixed reviews for this series and it's mind boggling to me because I don't know exactly what it is that people are actually looking for. The interiors pencils are on par with just about any other book on store shelves and I really enjoy the depictions of John Carter and the rest of the cast and I feel that the inks and coloring within the book are exceptionally done as well. The same goes with the writing, the script for the series is clever and intriguing and I find myself looking forward to each issue because of the way each book ends with a cliffhanger coupled with an interesting turn within the story that I feel I must follow, that is the mark of a good writer. If you're looking for a comic book that rejects the norm and paves the way for a fun adventure with interesting and unique characters than Warlord of Mars is certainly for you, I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and readers and until Dynamite gives me a reason I will continuing supporting it through word of mouth and through my wallet.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ, CBR, and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Memoirs of a Star Wars figure collector.

2011-06-08T11:06:00.001-07:00

Since the early part of the 00’s I’ve been an on again off again Star Wars figure collector, it’s a hobby that I hold in high regard as one of the funnest hobbies I’ve ever had. A big part of the fun had to do with a close friend of mine, known as Stelfo64 (for identity protection), was a fellow collector as well and we would go on many adventures all across our great state in search of Star Wars figures to add to our collection. Another thing that added to the fun of collecting was that usually the figures would come out a month or so before the movies did and it gave us more fuel to be pumped up about the upcoming films and often times the toys would have clues to certain things within the movies that would make you rattle your brain in an attempt to figure it all out before you actually see the movie in theaters. 2002-2006 was a grand time to be a Star Wars collector, hundreds and hundreds of figures were being released and product from Episode 1 was still being found on store shelves, it seemed like everywhere you went there was something Star Wars related staring you straight in the face and the mania certainly added to the excitement of seeing the movies when they came out. Back in those days I was an opener, I would seek out figures and open them up for display purposes and pose them on book shelves in various stances and battle scenes, but by 2004 I was strictly a mint on card (MOC) collector and luckily much of the Episode 2 stuff I hard purchased previously was still available on store shelves, so like a man possessed I went back and bought it all again. For the stuff I couldn’t find again in stores I used eBay, BriansToys.com, and BigBadToyStore.com, so I always had an avenue to add to my collection and had spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars to ensure my collection was “impressive…..most impressive” (yikes!).

Thinking back on the great times I had as a collector I often think about the memories of me and Stelfo64 scouring Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Toys R’ Us, Toy Works, and various other stores over the course of a day as we tried to find everything we could, often times just trying to find 1 figure would cause us to go crazy and put some serious miles on the old car. One day in particular I remember driving all over the state, we would hit up a series of stores in one part of the state and then drive 40 minutes to an hour down to another part of the state and do it again just so we could travel another 30+ minutes out of the way to visit another group of stores and so on. It was a lot of driving but I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. I even remember him running out of cash because he purchased so many figures, that one day alone he must have bought 20-25+, so he would call up his credit card company to see how much money he had on his cards so he could buy even more. Was it a sickness? Possibly, but he would do these kinds of things with comic books and vintage video games as well, we called it “pulling a Stelfo” and whenever he was in the mood to add to his collection it was always a fun time had by all. Heck, I remember one time we went into a comic book store and we were looking around and I decided to grab a few books off of the new arrivals shelf and when I turned around he had a giant stack of about 20-30 comics in his hands and we had only been there about 5 minutes at best. That day he ended up purchasing over 120 comics, a giant comic box, and a bunch of protective supplies such as bags and boards. It was insane, fun but insane.

Some other great memories I’ve had as a Star Wars figure collector came around the time that Revenge of the Sith was coming out, the ROTS figures were everywhere and I remember store hopping to find all the latest figures and often times I would bump into the same people who were doing the same thing. A few different times I would see someone scouring the Star Wars figures at Wal-Mart and then I would grab what I needed and then bump into him at Toys R’ Us, and then once again at Target mere moments later, it was really interesting. Sometimes I would get into conversations with these people and we would discuss the different aspects of collecting and how we display our collections and whatnot, it was really engaging and I miss that about being a collector. The worst part about it was the re-sellers who would often be visiting stores in search of the rare figures that they could make the most money on from eBay, more than a few times I would visit a store and see someone searching pegs for a rare find, often they would try to block you from going near a peg they haven’t searched yet to the point where they would even scowl at you to come back when they were done. I would often laugh and barrel my way through and have even ticked one or two re-sellers off when I located a figure that they’ve been searching for, one time to the point where the guy tried to order me to give it to him because he was there first claiming it was his right. Yeah, needless to say I was the one who left with the rare find and not him.

One thing I started doing in an effort to find rare figures and early releases was joining a popular Star Wars collectors forum, much of the forums were broken up by state and people would post findings and availabilities they’ve come across within the forums along with pictures and locations to tip off the serious collectors. More than a few times I was able to use this information to hunt down something I really needed, I just feel sorry for the young children who want to go to the store and grab a Yoda or Darth Vader figure and show up to find pegs filled with Battle Droids because all the hardcore collectors have blown threw the stores like a tornado in the south.

Sadly, after about 5 years of hard work building my Star Wars figures collection it was maliciously given away by an ex-fiance` back in 2007 who saw fit to decide what to do with my belongings and suddenly everything I've spent my hard earned money on throughout the years was gone. I was very up but since it happened during an off period of collecting for me I wans't too devistated since my sights were set on collecting comic books as well as Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings action figures, but that giant hole in my heart was left unsatisfied as I knew that someday I would want to collect Star Wars once again. After the collection was gone I actually made it a point not to watch the saga or involve myself with much of anything to do with Star Wars because I knew my love for collecting would return and I would have to start over from scratch, finally last week the bug has bit me once again and I took to the stores in hunt of current figures as well as small collectors shops and the internet for figures that I've had before that I wanted again. I have a long way to go before my collection is anything like it once was, but it's something that I want to do and I feel like it's something that I have to do if I'm ever to get over what was done to my previous collection and move forward with filling the void that was left in it's place.

I've already jumped back into the fray with a couple very successful hauls last week which consisted of 9 Saga Legends figures as well as 4 Vintage Collection figures I've gathered from a Wal-Mart and Toys R' Us, I've also put an order into BigBadToyStore.com for some old Power of the Force 2 figures and have located 3 small collectors shops in my area that have a decent selection of figures from the early 2000's. I can't wait to make my next haul and I'm hoping that when the Star Wars films are re-released in theaters starting in 2012 that the mania will be as high as ever and the collectors will be out in droves which will in turn help to create the next chapter of memories in my Star Wars collecting memoirs.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ, CBR, and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Remembering "Sovereign Seven" by Chris Claremont, Dwayne Turner, & Ron Lim.

2011-05-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

Back in early 1995 comic book collecting was a whirlwind for me, there was so many fun books on the shelves each week that I was spending every red cent I had on titles such as anything X-Men, anything Spider-Man, anything Batman and other popular comics that a little gem by one of the industries greatest creators almost flew underneath my radar. That creator was the incredible Chris Claremont of X-Men fame and the book was a team comic called “Sovereign Seven” (S7), a series that turned me from a comic book collector that would buy anything that was popular to a comic book collector who actually sought out books that went unnoticed by the general “funny book” buying population.

I was somewhat new to buying X-Men comics in early 1995, I was building my X-Men collection from scratch and a huge chunk of the stuff I was buying was stuff that Chris Claremont was writing. I fell so totally in love with what he was doing on X-Men and other X-Men related titles that when I found out he was coming out with a team book under the DC banner I just knew I had to be a part of it, but unless I picked up my comic book store’s monthly newsletter I wouldn’t have even known that Sovereign Seven existed since I didn’t pay much attention to DC at the time aside from Batman. There they were on the front cover, all 7 members in an epic pose that ended up gracing the cover of their first issue, the title said “coming in June” and since it was May I was pumped up knowing that the book was only a month away. Man, those were the days, back then I used to get so jacked when there was a comic book coming out that I wanted to get my hands on, I still get excited when something tickles my fancy but it isn’t nearly the feeling I would get back in those days. After a long month of waiting I was finally able to get my hands on the first issue of Sovereign Seven, I don’t know what it was about that first issue but I felt like I had struck gold and treated that comic as if it were made of the most delicate of materials. I was simply ecstatic and after reading S7, I felt like I was a part of something special and read the publication from cover to cover about a thousand times, and while everyone in the world was reading X-Men books and everyone who wasn’t reading those were reading whatever the hot Image team books were, I was reading S7 and I felt like I was reading the best team book on the stands. It wasn’t though, in fact, not many people read Sovereign Seven and aside from it’s first 6 issues or so the title had a hard time competing and usually found itself toward the lower half of the top 100 monthly comics, which by today's standards would make the book a runaway hit. Critics found the story to be too confusing and many others considered the book to be a poor man’s X-Men title by a creator who wished he was still working on the merry mutants but wasn’t, but I didn’t care what everyone else was saying because I loved it and that’s all that mattered to me.

Sovereign Seven did achieve something that has never been achieved in comics before, it was the first comic book to ever be a creator owned title that took place within the core DC continuity. Not only that, but it was the first creator owned book to actually take a well known DC owned character and placed them within the book as a permanent member of the cast. That was unheard of back in those days (still is) and never has a group of characters interacted with company owned properties within the pages of a book that was not self published, so if anything I guess both Claremont and the S7 creative team had that going for them. As for the plot of the book? Well, the story in itself was an interesting one, 7 individuals were taken from their dying worlds to form a team while they are repeatedly chased by something they only knew as being called “The Rapture”. While they waited for The Rapture to strike they often dealt with a wide array of enemies ranging from classic DC super-villains to the evil mother of the groups leader, and even a shape shifter who took control of one of the members early in the series who revealed to have not been who they thought she was some 10 issues later. Those who enjoyed the series hoped for Sovereign Seven to take off with popularity and spawn an action figure line, multiple spin-off comics, cartoons, movies, and other such media like X-Men had enjoyed over at Marvel, but unfortunately it was not meant to be. S7 as a series lasted only 36 issues and a couple different annuals before it was cancelled by DC due to poor sales toward the end of it’s run, which I felt was a shame since the title really seemed to be getting very interesting around issue #30 with a storyline that was leading into the Sovereigns coming face to face with The Rapture. In the final issue of s7 titled “The Final Victory”, the Sovereigns faced off against the very enemy that they’ve feared since the beginning and landed the definite victory, it was a shame because the final issue felt rushed and the victory seemed forced, it turned out that way most likely because the creative team probably found out about the series cancellation and wanted to have the series end with an end to the story. So with no time left on the clock they tossed a story together as a way to give the fans a certain ending and they creatively came up with a way to make it so the series had no real connection to the real DC continuity, which personally ticked me off as a fan of the book. The final few pages revealed that the team and their adventures were nothing more than a dream shared between the two owners of the Crossroads Inn, an inn that the Sovereign’s worked for in the story. And just like that, the series was finished.

Despite Sovereign Seven’s highs and lows I stuck by the book for all 3 years of it’s publication and loved every minute of it, I must have read through the entire 36 issues more than a dozen times and I felt like I really got to know the characters and bonded with them, something I have a hard time with these days (especially with Marvel/DC). Oddly enough, S7’s cancellation started an unusual turn of events that eventually saw me leave comic book collecting for a little while, it wasn’t long and it didn’t happen right away but I was done from around late 1998-early 2000 before I picked up another comic from the stands. I felt like a small piece of me had died when S7 was cancelled and for the next several months I tried to confide in X-Men titles and the “Heroes Return” storyline from Marvel to soften the blow, as well as books from DC and Image but nothing could fill the void left by Sovereign Seven’s cancellation. I honestly can’t say why I felt so attached to this comic, I’ve read 100 team books that told a better story and had better artwork but there was just something special about S7 that stuck with me and I guess I have no choice but to chalk it up to one of those weird things that a person just can’t explain, sort of like falling in love or something to that effect. Regardless of everything I’ve said I would urge comic book fans who enjoy reading team books to check out Sovereign Seven, it’s a fun comic that was a first of it’s kind with the whole creator owned storyline behind it and it’s definitely an interesting piece of comic book history, or DC history at the very least. Heck, mycomicshop.com has the entire series for about $1.10 per issue in NM condition with issues dropping below the $.90 mark if you don’t mind scuffs, prices like that are very generous and make the comic worth checking out if you haven’t already. Well, I guess it’s time to bring this blog post to an end, I just want to take this time to thank Chris Claremont, Dwayne Turner, Ron Lim, and the rest of the awesome Sovereign Seven creative team for making this series one of my favorite all-time comic books and for giving me something to look forward to every month for 3 whole years of my life. You guys eternally rock.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ, CBR, and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

The XboX 360 and why it's superior over the Playstation 3.

2011-05-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

So, lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the video game industry and especially about the XboX 360/PS3 and which system is better. I know I have a lot of online friends who have an Xbox 360, and some of you even have both, but there are the few of you out there who have just the PS3 and I know a lot of the comments I’ve made on Twitter and elsewhere online has angered some of you. I just wanted to create this entry for The Thought Corner to justify my position as to why I think, more like know, the XboX 360 is superior to the PS3.

To start things off I just want to solidify the fact that I’ve had plenty of experience playing the PS3, so when people are reading this I don’t want them to think that I’m some XboX 360 fan boy who refuses to give anything other than my system of choice a fighting chance. If that happens to be what your thinking then allow me to hand you a huge slice of humble pie and go into detail about my experiences with the PS3 and why I‘ve come to the conclusion that I‘m writing about on this blog.

My experiences with the PS3 date back to mid-2008 when I got a chance to sit down and play it for the first time (stores aside) at a friends house, he is huge into fighting games and he tossed in one of the popular fighting games of the year (Soul Caliber, maybe?) and we fired up quite a few rounds of butt kicking action. The unbalanced controller made it difficult for me to get used to, something I’ve always hated about Playstation controllers, and I had a hard time learning combo’s and special moves as I played through all the different rounds we played. I’ve felt this way about the PS3’s controller when I played it at a Best Buy and then a Wal-Mart months before trying it at my buddies house and I’ve never been sold on the side by side dual analog joysticks, it’s just unnatural feeling and not ergonomic enough.
After I tried my hand at fighting games he went ahead and threw in a racing game, I think it was Midnight Club or something along those lines, it certainly wasn’t my cup of tea but it was okay for a racing game and I was actually able to beat him in a couple of races so my adrenaline was pumping and we moved onto COD4: Modern Warfare. I was impressed with Modern Warfare, the game had amazing graphics and the game play was solid as a rock, but it came down to the controller being the bane of the situation and my hands were quickly cramping up. It was time to move onto something else so we played a few different games that were apparently PS3 exclusives and I was excited to see what these games were all about, but unfortunately nothing held my interest and everything was lackluster at best.

The 2nd time I really got to sit down and play the PS3 was when my girlfriends brother received one for Christmas in 2009, shortly after I had made the decision to purchase an XboX 360. I came over to pick her up so we could go shopping but she woke up late and still needed to show and get ready to go, her brother was playing the most recent John Madden football game and asked if I wanted to play with him, I agreed and we played Madden for a little while. The game was certainly nothing special and when we were done with Madden he wanted to know if I wanted to play a shooting game called “Haze” which, for a long time, was a PS3 exclusive. I had time to kill so he put it on and we played for about a half an hour before my girlfriend was ready to get going, the game was terrible, when I was playing Haze I couldn’t get into what was going on and the controls were so jerky that it created such a huge distraction that I eventually had to put the controller down and stop playing.

Since then I spent some time playing the PS3 inside of random stores such as GameStop, Toys R’ Us, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart, usually trying out whatever games they have on display to draw the customer into buying that specific game and/or system and some of the games were enjoyable while most weren’t. I did make one final attempt at playing the PS3 at the person’s house where I got acquainted to it the first time and my experience is usually always the same, decent game coupled with a terrible controller or unenjoyable game coupled with a terrible controller, either way there was nothing that grabbed me in and convinced me that the PS3 was the way to go and the systems controller deserves the negative press that it gets.

Now, from here on out I’m going to compare the two systems in a series of categories and explain why the Xbox 360 is by far and away the better of the two consoles, some of the categories are going to include online play, hardware, software, content and other aspects of the systems that help to make Microsoft’s machine the king of the hill to the serious gamer. The first category I’m going to discuss is the hardware aspects of the machines and the differences between them.

Hardware

When comparing the hardware of these two machines it’s hard to fault the PS3 for it’s power and inclusion of a blu-ray DVD player, Sony’s machine is clearly packing more power than Microsoft’s and for the few and the proud who actually buy blu-ray DVD’s they have a nice option to watch them on the PS3 instead of purchasing a separate machine to view them on. Also, the fact that you can use any SATA hard drive for the systems memory source is a plus because if you hunt hard enough you could get a new drive for under $40 on sale in many retail outlets, the XboX 360’s hard drive is much more expensive. But that’s basically where the PS3’s praise comes to an end. Unfortunately for Sony the system itself was originally large and bulky compared to the XboX 360 and featured an ugly design and an extremely high price point for what you were actually getting, the controller for the PS3 has been lambasted by almost every reviewer on the web and in print due to it having a “L1/L2” scheme and not including a trigger like on the XboX 360. This coupled with the fact that the controller isn’t very comfortable or ergonomic due to having the two analog joysticks sitting right next to eachother on an even level didn’t help Sony’s cause either, meanwhile the XboX 360‘s controller has the analog sticks at a “10&2“ style position so it feels more natural and molds to your hands better. In fact, I’ve never spoken to someone who owned both systems who preferred the design of the PS3 and it’s controller to the XboX 360’s, so because of the reasons listed above I would give the edge to Microsoft by a huge margin, though I do admit that the power of the PS3 and the blu-ray player are really nice.

Online Play & Content

These days one of the biggest and most important aspects of gaming is the online play, another huge reason as to why the XboX 360 is superior to the PS3. I’ve played both systems online and the 360 certainly offered a smoother and more rich gaming experience when playing against others over the web, and of all the reviews and editorials I’ve read that helped me toward my decision to purchase the XboX 360 I’ve yet to come across a writing that has disagreed with me. Sure, the PS3’s online service is free and you get an included web browser when you purchase a PS3, but the gaming experience isn’t nearly that of the XboX’s and for the monthly fee you are given something that is a lot more polished and accessible. Heck, up until recently you couldn’t even use the PS3’s online content due to a major hack that had the Playstation Network down for almost a month, oh and there was the little issue where credit card numbers for those who have their PS3‘s online were stolen and owners have been getting fraudulent charges in their statements, so yeah, security is a huge plus for Microsoft as well. Also, it’s been great getting a lot of downloadable content available to XboX 360 owners first, usually it’s only by a few days to a whole week but for the most part I’ve been noticing a lot of IGN articles where they mention that DLC has been hitting XboX Live (XBL) first before the Playstation Network (PSN) users have access to it (though this isn‘t always the case). And last but not least would be the XboX Live Arcade itself which offers a deeper library of downloadable games and other fun activities, lot’s of which are media based, and a richer experience when it comes to finding downloads you want and grabbing them.

Games

One big thing that draws people to a certain gaming system is the games themselves, so software companies are paid big bucks to develop exclusive titles for consoles to attract people into buying their hardware, both XboX 360 and PS3 have a sufficient amount of exclusive games but only one system can reign supreme. Games are often a matter of taste with the player who’s purchasing these titles, certain players like certain things while other players may prefer something different, so this part of my editorial is all up to you: the consumer. But judging by overall sales of the exclusive titles to each console I would say that the XboX 360 has won the battle of the exclusives (PC excluded) with games like the RPG’s Fable II and Fable III which enjoyed high sales figures and praise from review publications and web sites such as IGN, Gamespot, Gametrailers, GameInformer, and Joystiq. Other exclusive games to note would include the Gears of War franchise which had taken off like wildfire and landed stellar reviews from almost ever publication in the industry, and of course Halo 3 and Halo Reach which were met with amazing reviews and massive sales. Also, Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 were both huge hits for the XboX 360 and helped to draw in fans with it’s zombie killing action, the L4D series has enjoyed huge success with the critics which has rolled over into high sales figures for the franchise and for Microsoft‘s console as well. To be fair, the PS3 does have it’s share of exclusive titles that are available for it, some have been met with critical success as well, but the general public has spoken and the XboX 360 defeats Sony’s machine when it comes to exclusives. And also, of the 7 or 8 exclusive titles for the PS3 I’ve played I think I was only floored with excitement for maybe 2 of them, that’s not exactly something that got me excited to go out and plunk down my hard earned cash on a Playstation. Games aside, one huge win for the 360 would be the fact that the controller was basically created with first person shooter’s (FPS) in mind, the developers aligned the analog sticks perfectly for playing FPS games and instead of an “L1/L2” system they gave the players triggers at the top of the controller’s for a better shooting experience which makes FPS gaming a lot more enjoyable on the XboX. Huge win indeed.

When it comes to picking a video game system it’s very much a “to each their own” kind of thing, but in this case one is clearly better than the other and there really is not much argument toward the contrary. But again, I don’t fault people for owning a Playstation 3, the PS2 was a juggernaught of a system and had more exclusives and big titles than anyone in that generation of gaming and consumers didn’t know that Sony was going to stumble and not release anything worthy of playing for almost 2 years after it’s launch. It’s not the players fault, it’s the company’s fault and they are a distant 3rd in the console race for the first time in it’s history because of 3 key ingredients: High price point, not enough games for too long, and lackluster online experience compared to the XboX 360. Had Sony came out swinging right out of the gate upon the PS3’s release then it may have been another story, heck, Sony picked up the slack around 2009 and all the way through 2011 and started releasing some big titles and just as it seemed that it was more of a 3 horse race instead of 2 horse and a pony, their network gets hacked. Players were left without being able to download content or play their games online and Sony has opened themselves up for a massive class action law suit thanks to many PSN subscribers having their credit card information stolen from them. It’s hard to believe but the future of Sony in the video game market looks somewhat bleak at the time of this writing and after almost 15 years of running strong within the video game industry we could be looking at an entirely different market without them.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Manga4life reviews Corpse Princess!

2011-04-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody, it’s Manga4life and today I've decided to write a review, in fact, I've decided I would review a series that kind of flew underneath the radar with a lot of anime fans, not because it wasn’t a good series or anything but more or less because it wasn’t heavily promoted and wasn’t overly popular over in it’s native country of Japan. The series I plan to review today is called Corpse Princess and it’s interesting story and fun characters make this one worth watching if you’re a fan of chicks with guns and enjoy a little bit of mystic flow in your plot line.

The story of Corpse Princess is simple, it revolves around a couple of dead girls called Shikabane, who have to kill 108 other corpses in order to get into heaven, to do this they are given semi-automatic weapons as well as mentored referred to as contracted monks. Most of the series is spent following Ouri as he builds relationships with the good Shikabane while trying to be a normal high school boy in the process, he’s basically forced to come along on adventures with his brother Keisei and his bonded Shikabane Makina as they try to reach the 108 corps limit that they need to obtain. When Keisei meets his doom toward the middle of the series Ouri finds himself in the position of having to become a contracted Monk in his place, the story basically shifts toward the relationship Ouri builds with Makina as they battle off enemies that they’ve created throughout the series. Again, nothing too special but fun nonetheless, there is a sense of mysticism as well as macabre in Corpse Princess and it’s actually a very enjoyable series to watch if you’re into that sort of thing, I wouldn’t watch this series more than the couple of times that I did but I’m glad I gave it a shot and I think those who are reading this should do so as well. Even though this show wouldn’t make my top 20 favorite anime’s of all time or anything like that I would still label the show as something that should be watched by the casual and hardcore anime fan alike, it’s very entertaining and offers a little something for everyone and has a voice over cast that you‘ve heard (and loved) in the past. The flowing plot lines mixed with the way the characters build their relationships is what really made this series worth watching in my opinion, the scene where Makina bids her final goodbye to Keisei is probably one of the most powerful moments in an anime that I’ve seen (although overdone a bit) and it goes to show you how important everyone has become to each other both pre-story and throughout the show.

One thing that has kind of bothered me for some reason is that leading up to the release of this show on DVD, FUNimation didn’t really put any major promotion behind it and there was basically no buzz for this show’s release whatsoever, I came across the first 4 episodes on FUNi’s video player by accident and decided to watch them and that’s how I learned of this series. I really feel as if FUNi has missed the boat on Corpse Princess, the show has a small and loyal fan following and I really think that FUNi could have garnered a larger audience for Corpse Princess had they put a little mustard behind the program months before it’s release, heck, I never saw any kind of ad’s in Otaku magazines or on anime related websites or anything related to the medium. It was basically a breech birth.

Now it’s time for one of my favorite things to do and that’s to analyze the production values of this series and to go over where I felt the show hit or missed in it’s animation and sound department, first things first, I think I’ll start with the animation side of things. First of all, the animation in Corpse Princess is good but I felt the attention to detail was kind of weak and some of the character animations came off as a little strange at times but overall I would say that the series had solid artwork to it and the character designs were well done, other than that there was nothing really special to boast about and I would say it’s animated fine for what it is. Don’t go into this series expecting a landmark in the animation industry because you will come out disappointed, but it worked for the kind of story they wanted to tell and the dark overtones to the art helped to set up certain scenes wonderfully, it most certainly wasn’t a dud but I would say that Corpse Princess was a stud when it comes to how the series looks as a whole.

One plus side to this series is that it was voiced wonderfully for the English cast, sure there was a scene or two that was overdone and I wouldn’t say that it ranks as one of the best voices anime’s of all time, but the voice over cast did a great job lending their voices to the characters and many of the voices you hear are people who’ve you certainly have heard in other show in the past. On top of the voice overs being done nicely, the sound effects were superb as well with everything sounding pretty nice and background sounds coming off fairly realistically, it wasn’t perfect but it did the series justice and I would say that the audio was one of the stronger points of the show. The music was done pretty good too but nothing really remember able came out of it so it’s hard to say that it will leave a lasting impression on you because it probably wont. Still, the music that was used was actually pretty good and alongside the sound effects it definitely helped out with the general feeling and mood of the program, but again, you probably won’t be humming any of the tunes like you would with music from other anime series in the past.

And now it’s time for me to rank the shows based on the same grading system I’ve used since my first review, this is one of my favorite things to do when reviewing a certain series and I feel like I’m fair in my judgement and I hope that my friends and readers agree. As for Corpse Princess, it’s certainly worth a viewing if you haven’t seen it before but I wouldn’t say that it’s a series you will watch over and over again, maybe twice at best like I did, but it’s deserving of your eyes and the eyes of others and it would have achieved that had FUNi promoted it a little better than they did

Art & Animation - 7.0/10
Music & Sound Effects - 8.0/10
Story & Writing - 7.5/10
Fun - 7.5/10
Overall - 7.5/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

New project for Cozy Cabin/The Thought Corner!

2011-03-18T06:14:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody, this is Manga4life with some pretty interesting and exciting news about The Thought Corner blog and a new project that I'm in the middle of planning out that will be pretty damn epic in my opinion. As many who know me from Twitter have learned recently, I am planning to write a book based around World of Warcraft and my favorite character that I've been playing a lot of as of late, it's something I've been planning for about a week now and the other day I announced it on my Twitter account and today I'm posting an official press release for those who don't follow me on there or know me from elsewhere on the web. Now, I to clear something up right off the bat, since I don't own any stake in World of Warcraft or have the publishing rights to any content pertaining to the game and/or it's property then I cannot officially publish or distribute any material centered around the license for profit, so instead I plan to release chapters free of charge right here on The Thought Corner blog! So even though this is not a true publication of Cozy Cabin Publishing it will still be available for the 30,000+ people who have visited this blog or the 120+ people who view this blog on a daily basis, it's my pleasure to supply the friends and readers of this site with fun and exciting reading material on a monthly basis and this project will no doubt be any different.

The plot of this story will follow the adventures of Cavendar (my character in WoW) and his growing up in Darnassus after learning that the city has been demolished by Thrall and his horde of orc's in an attempt to kill Malfurion Stormrage and Tyrande Whisperwind to take control of the Night Elf race, when Cavendar learns that much of his dear family has been slaughtered in the brawl he decides to train as a warrior in Darnassus so that he can acquire the tools possible to get revenge for what happened to his relatives. As Cavendar sets off on his quest he finds that it may not be nearly as easy as it seems and that the original goal he had set for himself has quickly become a distant memory thanks to the rising evil of the Black Dragon Flight and their obsession with destroying Azeroth as a whole. Sound exciting? Well, I guess we'll see in due time, wont we?! I've already mapped out the timeline for the story as well as chosen some key characters from WoW's deep lore to compliment the main characters that I've actually created from scratch, other key figures in the book will be real players in the game from my guild, The Grandmaster Gods. Once the first chapter is edited and complete I will post it up right here for everyone to see, this may take a week or two since I want to carefully craft this tale with razor like precision so I can't make any true promises as to when it will be ready to post, but it will be worth it my friend. Trust me.

See you in Azeroth guys, and as always: Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride!

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Remembering "Hitman" by Garth Ennis & John McCrea

2011-03-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

For comic book fans, once in a while a title comes along that maybe doesn’t find the mainstream success of an X-Men or Batman but yet it finds a home near the top of your personal read list due to it’s fantastic writing or likable characters. Today I’m going to write about a series that has done just that for me, today I am going to write an article about a comic called “Hitman” by Garth Ennis and John McCrea.

“Hitman” told the story of a gun for hire named Tommy Monaghan who had meta-human superpowers and lived in Gotham City alongside some of the best known heroes and worst feared villains of DC Comics, in that city people would go to Tommy to kill a wide array of individuals (both super powered and not) and if the price was right he would gladly oblige. Doing hits on people was his job but Tommy was most certainly not a one dimensional character who spent his entire 60 issue series knocking off scum to get rich, Monaghan was a true to life average guy who had a girlfriend, best friend, and people who cared deeply about him, most of which all hung out in a downtown dive called Noonan’s. Throughout the series Tommy found himself coming face to face with multiple iconic DC characters, some of the interaction between them was actually quite hilarious, other dealings were downright serious, but it was nice to see a character like his to be accepted into the DC universe at a time when superheroes were the extreme focus of DC, not an average looking guy in a jacket flashing a gun. Some of the funniest moments within this book were the ones that took place between the characters that hung around Noonan’s Bar, one scene that comes to mind had Kyle Raynor being told by an intoxicated local bar fly that he wouldn’t amount to much as a superhero because the JLA only accepted original members, and don’t get me started on a wannabe hero that went by the name of “Dog Welder” who was absolutely knee slapping in his pathetic attempt at an outfit.

Garth Ennis' hilarious shots at superheroes made for some fantastic comedy in Hitman and his treatment of the characters in this series as it pertains to their relationships with eachother was handled perfectly, especially both early on and then later in the story when we were treated to some of with most breathtaking scenes of friends departed. One thing I do have to say is that some of the best characters in this series were without a doubt the supporting cast with my absolute favorite being a guy named Pat, a childhood friend of Tommy’s in which he had plans to move out of Gotham with once he had saved up enough cash. Pat was unfortunately tortured and left in a pool of his own blood in his own bathtub by one of Monaghan’s rivals, when Tommy discovered his best friend clinging on to dear life he found that he had no choice but to put his friend out of his misery but putting a bullet into his head himself. It was tragic and remains one of the most powerful scenes I’ve ever read in comic books to this day.

It's been a long time but I remember the first time I purchased a Hitman comic book. It happened to be issue #3 and it was on the new arrivals shelf at my local comic shop, I can't explain why but something tickled my fancy and told me I should buy it, I just had the feeling as if I should really see what this title was all about, I picked it up and thumbed through it and thought it looked cool so I added it to my overgrowing stack of books. After the decision was made, I looked around for the first 2 issues of the series but couldn‘t find them anywhere so I focused on finding the rest of my weekly purchases and moved along. I don’t know why but for some reason this particular visit to the comic book shop sticks out alongside other important comic book visits I’ve made throughout my lifetime, I probably remember it so well because I didn’t think much was going to come out of Hitman but yet I gave it a shot and I also made a couple other important pick up’s that day as well, including a 6 card set of metallic Star Wars trading cards that came in a tin holder. Anyhow, when I got home to organize my new purchases I made sure to read Hitman in my first sitting and instantly I began to fall in love with Tommy, Natt, Pat, Tiegel, Noonan and the rest of the cast, their characters were just written so awesome and I was instantly hooked thanks to the fun storytelling of Garth and the simple but fantastic art by John McCrea. McCrea's art was nothing to write home about by any means, it was simple and didn't really offer much in the way of detail or pazzaz, but it fit Hitman perfectly and I couldn't imagine anyone else illustrating the series but him. I really felt that John's art was so crucial to the book that for the few issues they had a fill-in artist take over the pencils for John that it threw everything off and those particular issues just didn't feel right to me.

Ever since I picked up that 3rd issue I made sure to pick up Hitman each and every month afterwards for as long as I could, sadly though, I stopped buying the book somewhere in the middle of it’s 60 issue run due to me losing interest in the story and other comics that were being published at the time were too much of a necessity to continue along with Hitman. Since those day's I’ve recently gone back and grabbed every issue that DC ever published of this series to ensure that I had the complete story, it's something I've always wanted to do and it's something I’m sure glad that I did, this title was too important to just let fade away into a sea of comic book obscurity and for the rest of my collecting days Hitman will continue to have a spot in this comic guru's collection.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Retro Gaming: "A thing of the past, or something of the future" by thedarkuniter

2011-02-20T20:46:00.000-08:00

{NOTE: I would like to thank thedarkuniter of the FUNimation forums for his contribution to The Thought Corner with this short but sweet blog post}

The Odyssey, the Atari 2600, the Intelevision, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Sega Genesis.....these systems and many more reminds part of retro gaming history yet people are continuing to play these retro goodies. Is it the innovation, is it the creativity, or could it be nostalgia from early childhood? The first system I've ever played was the original Nintendo Entertainment System or NES for short. I was only 3 years old when I've started to play it thanks to my grandma. The game was Super Mario Bros. Of course when you're younger, you don't really care much on the graphics however you do remember how much fun the game was. When someone mentions retro gaming to younger people, usually they'll laugh, say that current gaming have better advancements and better graphics. Why is it that way? Is it suddenly cool to bash older games? With each passing generation, advancements happens in gaming whether its better graphics, better gameplay or better resolution. However, does it render the games from the past generation useless. Just as recently as last Saturday while doing my job, taking out the trash, I've spotted 3 SNES games ( Mortal Kombat, Super Mario World, and Bulls vs Blazers) and 6 NES games ( P.O.W: Prisoners of War, Sesame Street ABC, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, WWF Wrestlemania, Double Dragon and T&C Surf Designs). I asked myself, "well, why would they them away in the trash. They could at least sold them at a vintage gaming store or pawn shop." Me, being the gamer I am, decided to keep them. Upon looking at the carts, a lot of memories are bought up again.

When I bought the carts inside my job after I've found them, many people are in awe of what I've discovered and then they begin discussing older games such as Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog and how they've grew up playing those games. A thought occur to me: retro gaming does have a future. Despite all odds with current technology, most people would come back to their favorite games and continue to play them. One prime example is Street Fighter 2. The game is as old as me however, people continue to play it. And with the advert of clone systems, people can now play NES, SNES or Genesis on one system and relive those memories. Also retro gaming tends to be a lot cheaper than newer titles thus people lend towards cheaper games especially in the current recession we have. So the question is retro gaming truly gone or is it just only beginning a new future for many generations to come?

~ thedarkuniter (FUNimation Forums)

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Classic Gaming: Now you're playing with power!

2011-02-16T08:14:00.000-08:00

Since it’s “Retro Month” here at The Thought Corner I figured I would tackle a topic that is loved by millions of people all around the world, this topic is about something that everyone knows and loves and thanks to companies who never let their roots dry out it’s something we will probably never see die, I’m talking about retro gaming and ladies & gentlemen: “Now you’re playing with power!”.

Retro gaming remains huge to this day, if you search the web you will find hundreds of web sites and dozens of forums dedicated to the hobby and if you are familiar with downloading games via the current generation of hardware then you will see hundreds of classic titles available from the market, it’s a passion that just won’t die and personally, I’m glad it never will. Retro gaming is such a big hit because so many people grew up with classic systems like the Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, Colecovision, Intellivision and the Sega Master System, all of which combine for an outstanding 3,000+ games to discover and enjoy, and today’s gamers are finding classics for the first time and are finding out why the medium has become so popular by experiencing the classics first hand. It’s a hobby that has grown rapidly over the past 10+ years, and even though I could spend forever going on and on about systems of days past I’ve decided that I’m going to put a primary focus on the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES for short, due to it‘s historical significance and mark it‘s left on the industry that is still felt today. The history of the NES goes way back to mid 1983 when Japan released the console as the Famicom and began gaining popularity with it‘s then arcade like quality, the system was a success and Nintendo knew that they wanted to find a home for their system in the United States but at the time the U.S was going through a video game backlash which has become known as “the crash”. The crash was caused due to high price points for games that lacked quality, Intelivision was all but insignificant by the end of 1983, as was the Colecovision, Atari’s VCS (2600) was spending millions of dollars on licenses that never went anywhere and they were being blasted by critics and fans for the lack of quality titles being released. Before long the gaming industry was in complete shambles and on the brink of death, there was no market for Nintendo‘s machine and had they tried to release it at that period of time then the face of gaming in the U.S would have most likely been different because Nintendo would have failed. Instead, the big “N” waited patiently until the sting of the crash subsided and people were over what had happened in 1983/1984, the company began releasing more and more arcade games at the time despite the fact that the arcade business was collapsing under itself as well, it was just a way to get their name out there as a viable video game company and to see if the games resonated with arcade goers.

In 1985 Nintendo decided to market it’s video game system to retail partners but instead of calling it a video gaming machine they made sure to refer to it as a interactive home device, as if it was something high end that you would find in a home next to a VCR or a stereo system, but unfortunately Nintendo was having trouble finding retail partners and the project was almost dead before it was given life. In a last ditch effort to find a market for the NES in the United States the President of Nintendo of America, Minoru Arakawa, offered retailers in New York and Los Angelas a deal that they couldn’t refuse. Basically, he told retailers that he would send in a team of people to the stores to assemble displays for the Nintendo Entertainment System and that he would supply the television monitors that would display the games for the customers, the inventory would be delivered by Nintendo themselves and any remaining systems that were not sold would be purchased back by Nintendo as a “thank you” for giving the company a chance. A deal like this was a no brainer for retailers, even though they were skeptical to carry any kind of video games thanks to the “crash” of a couple years back they had nothing to lose and found themselves in a win-win situation. As Minoru Arakawa had suspected, the NES did will in it's limited release and it was time for Nintendo to launch the machine throughout the entire country, before long the NES had captured the hearts of family's from coast to coast thanks to the pack-in game called Super Mario Bros, a side scrolling platformer that featured the legendary Mario & Luigi combination.

Nintendo began releasing other arcade hits for the NES in 1985 and 1986, some of which were their own titles and others being ports of previous arcade hits, but 1987 was the true breakout year for the console due to a slew of quality games hitting store shelves, one of which being The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo aggressively signed third party publishers during this period to create games for the NES and by Christmas of 1988 the company had over 150 games on store shelves and have already established successful franchises with their Mario Bros and Zelda games, Nintendo was in full domination mode and the company was steamrolling Sega's Master System and Atari's 7800 Pro System, outselling the latter by a ratio of 5/1. Sales were strong for the next couple of years and Nintendo had sold million upon millions of systems thanks to an army of software publishers who were churning out hit after hit for the NES, but 1990 brought the video gaming world the best selling non-pack in game of all-time, that game was Super Mario Bros 3 and Nintendo had gone on to achieve the impossible. The video game crash of the early 80's was all but forgotten and Nintendo had become the gold standard for video game excellence all over the world, a survey in 1990 proved that when millions of kids in the United States recognized Mario more so than they did Micky Mouse (Disney's cultural Icon). Nintendo's core characters were everywhere and merchandise like t-shirts, sticker books, action figures, lunch boxes, and posters were found all over major retail outlets, Nintendo had created an empire and played a major role in bringing video games into the mainstream which almost rivaled the popularity of television and movies, if it wasn't for that single promise by Arakawa to his retail partners then video games may not be enjoying the success that they do today.

As the 90's rolled along and Sega released their 16-bit Genesis, Nintendo knew that they had to upgrade their hardware to compete since Sega was quickly gaining market share and actually surpassed Nintendo in late 1991 (Nintendo would come back in 1993), the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) was born and support for the 8-bit wonder was beginning to dwindle down. As the SNES began to gain popularity and big games were being released in 1993, Nintendo decided to re-release the NES with a different design and with different controllers, eventually the original NES would see it's last true non-homebrew game released in Q2 of 1994 and about a year later the Nintendo Entertainment System was officially discontinued. To this day the NES remains one of the most influential and sought out video game systems for retro enthusiasts all around the world, it's roots are so strong that franchises that were created for the console back in the 80's are still going strong today and Nintendo continues to find ways to bring their classic games to the mass market through their online markets for both the Wii and DS systems. With support like that, how can one argue that retro gaming would ever die? Simple, it wont.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Spotlight on retro toys: WWF LJN & M.U.S.C.L.E!

2011-02-06T08:20:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, Manga4life here to bring you another exciting blog as “Retro Month” continues here at The Thought Corner, today we will be taking a look at some of the great (and weird) wrestling based toys that the 80’s had to offer. Well, more specifically we will be taking a look at two specific toy lines that dominated much of the 80’s for me, these particular toy lines were some of my favorite while growing up and it’s my pleasure to write an article covering the classic WWF LJN action figure line and the M.U.S.C.L.E (Millions of Unusual Creatures Lurking Everywhere) series of mini galactic wrestling toys.

If you grew up in the 80’s then you have a clear idea of what toys I am talking about here, these two toy lines rank among the most popular of the 80’s alongside the He-Man, TMNT, Thundercats, Transformers, GI Joe, and Ghostbusters action figures and their legacy still lives on today due to collectors all over the world still showing interest in collecting and completing these sets. First off, I think I’ll cover the WWF line of action figures since they have such a high demand with today's hardcore vintage toy collectors and because I used to love these things so damn much, as do most fans who grew up with the WWF back in the 80’s. It’s funny, there isn’t really much “action’ to be had with these figures due to the fact that they were 8 inch rubber sculpts designed with one pose in mind and hardly any movement unless you pulled really hard, doing this could cause the figure to bend and become stretched which usually rendered the toy useless in the end. The LJN line of WWF toys were really a strange beast in the fact that the figures themselves were very large and weight close to a pound each, they had no movement and came with limited accessories, basically LJN placed a huge rubber action figure on a backing card that looked like a wrestling ring and packaged them with a mini-poster and kids all over the country ate them up in droves. I guess LJN and Vince McMahon knew what they were doing back in 1985 when the line first debuted, sales were strong and the first series was officially a hit which led to the toy makers releasing a new series of characters every few months or so, before you knew it almost every major wrestler in the WWF roster was available on store shelves and Vinny Mac was realizing his dream of making the World Wrestling Federation a world-wide phenomenon. Soon after the standard line of figures became a hit LJN would release other toys based on WWF wrestlers at the time too, they began selling mini versions of the 8 inch figures that featured bendable wires inside the sculpts so you could pose them and stretch the superstars into wrestling holds, soon after that they released a line of thumb wrestlers as well as a home video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, other novelties would follow.

WWF merchandise was running wild and a lot of it was based off of the success of the original 8 inch rubber toy line and how well they were received by the consumer, but as the 80’s moved along the relationship between JLN and the WWF was coming to an end and Vince would soon sign a deal with Hasbro in 1990 to launch a new set of action figures and other merchandise. The last series of 8 inch WWF LJN toys were released in mid 1989 and to this day remain the rarest and most valuable that the company has produced. They were released in Canada first and featured some of the newer stars the WWF had acquired over the most recent year (1988-1989), soon after they were released in Canada LJN released them in limited quantity in the United States with no fanfare behind the launch and only those who were looking for them were able to hunt them down, these days the figures in the last wave of toys can go for upwards to $500 per figure if the packaging is still in good condition. Personally, I would probably rank these toys as some of my favorite that I had back in the 80’s as a child, my memories of going to the store and picking out a new wrestler was certainly a highlight of my younger years and I’ll always remember playing with these big rubberized grapplers fondly.

Now it’s time to fondly remember a very unique line of toys that graced us with it‘s presence some 25 years ago, these tiny little pink/flesh colored action figures could be found in mass quantity almost everywhere you went during the 1980’s and if you still live in the same place as you did in your childhood you probably are still finding them stuck in vents and small crevices throughout your household. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about M.U.S.C.L.E, the toy line that fused intergalactic wrestling with creatures from outer space!

One very unique thing about this line of toys is the way that they were packaged in retail, you could purchase a 4 pack of assorted M.U.S.C.L.E men, a 10 pack “trashcan”, a 28 pack box, a mini arena playset, or a championship belt which turned into a wrestling ring and storage center. Soon after the success of M.U.S.C.L.E in the United States they decided to re-released these guys in multiple colors, some were evn exclusive to the wrestling ring playset, but it was just another way to get kids interested in the product and it worked like a charm. Kids everywhere had M.U.S.C.L.E figures and there were so many available that there was always a reason to check the racks to see if you can spot someone who you haven’t gotten yet, it was always tough to complete the collection because they always came in multi-packs and the selection was assorted so you couldn’t just go out and purchase a single M.U.S.C.L.E man for lets say, $.99 or so. Still, everywhere you went there was a display of these little wonders and the sales of the toys were so strong that it led to a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System as well as a board game, not to long after these hit store shelves other merchandise was spotted bearing the brand’s image and for 3 or 4 years the M.U.S.C.L.E line was a huge success in the United States. The idea for this brand was originally born in Japan through a series of manga called Kinnikuman, after the manga became a success a line of toys called Kinkeshi was released and soon the popularity traveled from Japan to America, what’s even more impressive is that some 13+ years later a cartoon called Ultimate Muscle was released and dubbed to air on a Saturday morning cartoon block by 4Kids. Now that’s longevity! Over the years quite a few of the figures within the line have become quite rare, one or two even fetching over $25 a piece on eBay, but usually you can complete an entire set (236) of these classic figures for about $50-$60 through online auctions, there are lots of collectors still out there and vintage toy collections have a big market so there will always be M.U.S.C.L.E’s floating around online and throughout flea markets throughout the United States.

Well guys, that's all I've got for you today, please continue to follow The Thought Corner throughout the month of Februrary for more exciting articles and other goodies pertaining to classic material from the 80's! As always, reach for the stars and enjoy the ride guys!

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Classic cartoon intros: We will never forget.

2011-02-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

One thing that comes to mind when I think "retro" is the opening themes and intros to some of my favorite cartoons of the 80's, they don't quite do them nearly as good these days as they used to back in the 80's and some of these classic themes have lived on through the years and have spawned quite a following with the internet crowd. So, I figured it would be kind of cool to add some of these to my post today to help ring in Retro Month here at The Thought Corner, this should spark some nostalgia for the older crowd and be a new experience for those who may be on the younger side, if you are younger than about 20 this should be a nice preview of what you were missing by virtue of not being born yet..., you young whippersnappers. I'm not going to overload this post full of too many videos, instead I'm going to pick intros from some of my favorite retro shows that have themes that will keep your head nodding during the video, so kick back and relax folks because it's time to go RETRO!

The above video is the intro and opening theme to one of the biggest cartoons of the 80's called He-Man & The Masters of the Universe, the show was extremely popular with children despite it's limited animation (thank you Filmation)and it spawned a massively successful toy long that actually propelled adults and television groups to see this show as nothing more than a 30 minute toy infomercial to promote Mattel's action figures. Still, the show was a smashing success and He-Man became an iconic character, the show even made a comeback in 2002 and sparked a new series of toys and even a slew of comic books, though it's success would never rival that of it's 80's origins.

Ah yes, the catchy intro and theme to the 80's smash hit, Thundercats. Much like He-Man % The Masters of the Universe, Thundercats spawned a popular toy line and other such novelties and became a huge hit among children, the show was almost perfect if not for the annoying lesson that they tried to teach you at the end of the episode, something He-Man also tried to do as well when the show came to a close.

The intro to Alvin & The Chipmunks is one of the most catchy cartoon songs of the 80's and the show was pretty damn awesome too. It featured Alvin and the gang getting into adventures and other such mischief and they also did little music videos segments to some of the biggest pop songs in the 80's, it was an interesting mix of story and music that was a nice re-introduction to the group after being absent since the 60's cartoon titled The Alvin Show.

Inspector Gadget was an interesting show about an idiot police detective and his niece Penny and her dog Brain, the plot basically revolved around the detective screwing up an investigation and his niece having to come to the rescue and solve the case for him without his knowledge. Inspector Gadget wasn't one of my all-time favorites or anything but the theme did rock the party, it's catchy tune has been used in everything from television promo's to modern day rap music and I'm sure we will see it pop back up somewhere in the near future.

The Ghostbusters theme was actually a hit song by Ray Parker Jr. back in the 80's that was used in the soundtrack to the live action movie and in the intro to the animated television series. Like He-Man, Thundercats and TMNT, The *Real* Ghostbusters spawned a line of action figures that were very popular with kids as well as other merchandise such as video games and clothing, The Ghostbusters were a huge hit and their theme song ranks as one of the best of the 80's.

The Super Mario Brothers Super Show was an interesting mix of live action segments and cartoon segments that featured the WWF's Captain Lou Albano as Mario, the show mainly took place from the Mario Brothers plumbing headquarters and the duo often interacted with celebrities and often found themselves in quirky situations which would lead into a cartoon feature. One thing that was fun about the show is that Monday-Friday the cartoons revolved around the Mario Brothers and then every Friday they would air a cartoon based on The Legend of Zelda, it always gave fans of the show something to look forward to.

Probably the most catchy and famous cartoon theme song of the 80's was from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, oddly enough I couldn't find the original intro on eBay without the theme song being altered because it was changed for international viewing. Seriously, I scanned eBay for 20 minutes trying to find this video and theme but to no luck. Anyhow, TMNT was one of the biggest and most successful franchises in cartoon history and spawned everything from toys, games, clothing, trading cards and lunchboxes, it even made a successful comeback in 2003 with a show that would spawn seasons for the next several years. The original series aired for 8+ years and the turtles themselves have been the stars of a trilogy of movies that came out in the early 90's as well as a CGI movie that was released in the mid-2000's. Now that's "Turtle Power!".

Well, that's it for now. Basically I just wanted to showcase a small handful of the cartoon intros that helped to make my 80's cartoon watching experience a joy to be a part of, there are tons more that I could post on here but then you'd be watching and reading for quite some time, so consider this just a small taste of what it was like to love cartoons in the 80's. Just so everyone knows, I'm not glorifying the 1980's as the best time to be a fan of cartoons or anything like that, the 70's and 90's both offered fantastic shows with themes that are just as memorable to those who watched them, this Retro Month that I'm bringing to you is just a trip down memory lane for myself and a large part of my "memory lane" is comprised of shows and products of the 80's. I just wanted to get that out of the way for those who may be reading this and thinking that I hate all animation that didn't come out in my childhood, those who know me from the various forums I'm a part of know that I'm a fan of all kinds of animation and from various decades (including current day). So, with that said, I truly hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane and if your discovering these shows for the first time then allow me to thank you for checking out these videos, I have a lot more fun stuff planned for this month and I sincerely hope that you stick with The Thought Corner for the entire month of fun, joy and retro.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Welcome to "Retro Month" at The Thought Corner!

2011-02-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hey there Thought Corner readers and welcome to a new month and a new concept that should be pretty exciting to those who are into classic cartoons, toys, video games and comic books from the late 70’s, 80’s, and early 90’s, today kicks off Retro Month here at the blog and this is our generic “welcome” post to formally introduce the idea behind everything that will follow. Enjoying it? No? Well, you will, you can trust me on that one.

I’ve had a few people ask me this recently as to why I was dedicating an entire month to classic stuff from my childhood, my simple answer to the question was that I wanted to do it all within a week but with the amount of content I had in store for my readers I wouldn’t have enough time to create and post everything within that allotted amount of time, so one month to revisit my roots was much more practical. Over the course of the month of February I will be posting everything from classic pictures, vintage gaming videos, awesome cartoon intro’s, fun facts, interesting memos, cool commercials and a whole lot of insight, so please, kick back and relax because it’s going to be one hell of a retro-ride down memory lane for some and a burst of “what the hell?” for others. For me, it’s all a part of my childhood and what made being a kid in the 80’s so damn fun, the memories I have of these days of yonder will live with me for a lifetime and in a way I would say that many of the things I loved back then have helped to mold me into the person I am today. Scary isn’t it? Or maybe partly pathetic? Well, I guess you had to be there to understand just how special of a time period it was to be a kid back in the 80’s, or even the early 90’s when retro was beginning to die out and the modern age of everything was quickly taking over, either way I’m confident that this month here at The Thought Corner will give fans of all ages a bit of a nostalgia boost that I feel sometimes we all need.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

An overview of the BOOM Studios/Stan Lee universe (video)!

2011-01-30T07:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome Thought Corner readers to a short video of me flipping through the pages of the new BOOM Studios comic book line by Stan Lee and various creators, I basically just wanted to post a video to showcase the quality that these books possess and to give a little outline of what I have thought of these comics so far. As many of you who follow me on Twitter know, I have been passionate about this line of books from the beginning and I've really jumped into this project head first and I haven't looked back since, this line of comics has been a real delight for me and I would recommend them to anyone who loves superheroes and/or a good old fashioned story about heroes & villains. These comics may not be geared toward everybody's interests but it's most certainly for those who love superheroes, if you grew up on Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and Captain America then these comics are most certainly for you, if you're more into gothic style comics or book with a more NC-17 feel to them then I would probably avoid, but still, the stories that have been told so far have been phenomenal and the artwork has been stellar. But Marvel/DC/Image fans, take it from me, give these books a chance and I'm more than certain that you will be happy you did, it's time for some fresh faces on the stands and the road to comic book recovery is going through BOOM Studios as we speak.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Nostalgia versus Reality by Stelfo64

2011-01-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

(NOTE: Today we have a treat, this is a guest post by a good friend of mine known as Stelfo64, it mainly covers his view of old versus new mentallity and The Thought Corner would like to thank him for his contribution.)

While surfing the web the other day I came across IGN's top 100 Animated Series and it reminded me of a problem I have when trying to choose my #1 of anything. The dilemma I always have when trying to choose my #1 is how do I compare an animated series, video game, tv show, or anything else of today to others from years past. The fact is that despite what our grandparents say most things are made “better” now than they were then. Technology has advanced, more content is available, and in the case of most everything mentioned more mature themes are represented. When asked for your favorite from the categories mentioned above most of us will often look to our younger days and pick something from the past.

I ask myself is this really the case, is Zelda really a better game than God of War or should Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles really be ranked higher than a series like FMA that is obviously much more entertaining as an adult. One way of going about it is that each of these things is often geared towards a certain age group and should be compared to things geared towards the same demographic now. The problem with that logic is that I do not watch shows or play games today made for 8 year olds because they don’t have anything for me. Another way to look at it is to only compare things of one time period to things from that same time period. This is a system often used in sports when inducting people into the hall of fame; they compare that person’s numbers to that of others during his or her era. Seems logical, however I am always going to ask myself what is my favorite of all time regardless of the time period?!?! So what wins out is it nostalgia or is it what is more entertaining to me now? It is always a tough choice because I am penalizing each one for different reasons.

I penalize the new stuff for not having as big of an impact on me or for having spent less time with it. The problem there is that I had more time to watch these shows, and play these games at a younger age and most everything has a more profound impact when you are younger. On the other side I penalize the things of yesterday for not holding up today or just being too childish in comparison to the more mature themes of today’s entertainment. So in this journey for #1 what is it that wins out for me? At the end of it all when things get close and I ask myself which is better it always comes down to what would I rather watch or play now. I know this is biased because no one watches shows that were made for 8 year olds in the 80’s now and enjoys them the way they did then. This is just my way of doing things, and as is the case with any list it is all subjective.

One thing that I like to mention to those who choose nostalgia is to remember our choices were slim back then. I was born in 1981 and up until I was about 10 years old didn’t have cable. This meant that there was maybe a maximum of 10-12 channels for me to watch and often times some channels would show the same content (where I grew up channel 7 & 10 were the same and 5 & 12 were as well). The same thing applies for video games and movies, things were just much less accessible and there were far less of them so were they really that great or were they just the best of what was available at the time. That being said there are games like Zelda, and shows like Cowboy Bebop that hold up like an old friend, you’ve enjoyed them in the past and you get just as much enjoyment seeing them today as you did then. There are also the show’s like He-Man and games like Dragon Warrior that are like Ex-Girlfriends, sure I enjoyed the time I had with them but if it were up to me I never want to see them again. I have found that there are a lot more Ex-Girlfriends that I’d rather not see than old friends that I still enjoy being around.

~ Stelfo64

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Manga4life's "Eden of the East" review.

2011-01-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

Well, it’s a new year here at The Thought Corner and it’s time to kick things off right here in 2011, so to start the year off with a bang I’m going to review an anime series called Eden of the East. Do enjoy.

When I first saw the trailer for Eden of the East for the first time last summer I didn’t think that this was going to be a very good anime, it looked boring and it didn’t appear as if it offered much in the way of action, which is something I enjoy when I watch anime. I half heartedly watched the series in October and didn’t think much of it because I honestly wasn’t paying too much attention to the story and all that was going on, all I got from it is that there was a guy with a special cell phone and he was trying to make the world a better place. Great, not my cup of tea. Then, last month I was searching for something to watch after having finished off another anime series and I couldn’t make up my mind as to what I wanted to dedicate myself to, so after thinking about it I decided to give Eden of the East another viewing since it was a short series (11 episodes), I then decided to plunk down and watch it again for the lack of anything better to do. Boy am I glad I did. This time I paid full attention to the story and went into the show not expecting to be a part of something action packed and thrilling, because of this I found myself to be drawn in by the two main characters (Akira and Saki) and the way they melded with each other which captured me into really getting into their friendship and the way they interacted with each other within the story. Speaking of the story, it’s actually quite good! Without giving away too much, the plot basically revolves around Akira, the main character, who is unknowingly and unwillingly entered into a contest with 11 other people who’s main goal is to make the world a better place by using their cell phones to spend a large sum of money on their efforts, these people are called Selecao.

As the story unfolds we learn that Akira has previously erased his memory for some unknown reason and during the series he tries hard to gain back anything that he has forgotten. As he pieces everything together along with trying to cope with being a Selecao he’s helped out by a girl named Saki, who is a 21 year old college student who he meets while she is visiting Washington DC, during the course of the show they grow to be close friends and both have a general caring for each other, she and her friends try their hardest to help Akira along with his goals as the plot progresses. Later on in the series things begin to get serious, Akira runs into a couple of his fellow Selecao who have devised a plan to unleash a flurry of bombs upon Japan and it’s up to him, and him alone, to use his cell phone and allowed yen wisely to try to stop what could become a deadly situation for thousands of citizens.

As with all of my reviews, I'd like to take a look at the production side of things for a moment, mainly the music in the series along with the animation and the overall quality of how the behind the scenes crew crafted this anime. Let's start with the sound and music of Eden of the East, not that it was a huge feather in the cap of this series or anything, but it was pretty enjoyable and I felt the English dub was done really well, nothing from the music side of things really stuck out though and sometimes this series suffered due to the lack of appropriate music to set the mood for certain scenes. Overall I would say that the audio strengths in Eden of the East would reside with the voice overs and the sound effects used, again, nothing really screamed out at me or anything but all in all I would say that it was done fairly well not to complain a whole lot about it. Visual wise, it's kind of on the same boat with the audio, this series featured good animation that helped to portray the story but nothing really grabbed me and made me want to bow down and sacrifice myself to the animation gods, it mainly did what it needed to do and that is all you can really ask these days. Don't get me wrong, it isn't like the animation in Eden of the East was bad or anything, it was quite good, but it wasn't anything that you haven't seen already if you catch my drift.

People are probably wondering if Eden of the East is a fun series to watch, people want to know if they should go out and spend their hard earned money on a series that has under 20 episodes even though the price is right around that of a 26 episode boxed set. You want to know my answer? Yes. It's a fun series that's full of fun characters mixed with a little of what you already know and love about anime, depending on what kind of story you enjoy when picking out and watching anime you could end up liking this series a lot more than I did or you may think that this show was an epic failure, it's hard to judge based upon what kind of program this ended up being. I enjoyed it, I'd recommend it to those looking for a fun drama anime, but if Shonen is your thing or if you need constant action then this is definately not for you, it's riviting at times, but not action packed by any means. Eden of the East is a "Enter at your own risk" scenario if you ask me, but remember, sometimes the world of the unkown can be an exciting trip and something to remember. Stay real and do enjoy!

Art & Animation - 8.0/10
Music & Sound Effects - 7.5/10
Story & Writing - 7.75/10
Fun - 8.0/10
Overall - 7.75/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

"The Tale" - Chapter 1 ©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

2011-01-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

{Limited Release Post}

This was a limited release post containing the first chapter of Jason Withstead's epic novel, "The Tale", it was only up for about 10 hours and available for a limited view time only as a special attraction for readers of this blog. To keep interest high, we will be releasing the next two chapters over the course of the next few weeks which will lead into the book being available for sale this summer from your friends at Cozy Cabin Publishing, so make sure to keep checking back here on The Thought Corner for more updates.

Thank you for your interest,
Manga4life
*Owner of Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC and The Thought Corner

Official Press Release: The Thought Corner introduces "Cozy Cabin Publishing".

2011-01-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

Hello one, hello all, this is Manga4life and today I bring some pretty exciting news to friends & readers of The Thought Corner. Last month I sat down and mapped out plans to create my own publishing company, mainly because I love to write but also because I love to read the writings of others and I wanted to involve myself by finding writers who wanted to submit stories that would find readers through both my blog and through print. The first thing I did was write down a few different names that would be a perfect fit for my new company, the problem was that none of the names felt right and I didn't want the company to have a generic name that held no meaning, so I then tried to think about a place where I would feel comfortable to sit down and write for hours on end. I pictured in my head a deep wooded area with a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, nestled within those woods I thought of a classic style log cabin and how cozy it would be to sit down at a small desk and write something to the sound of fire crackling and nothing else. Then shortly after that I pictured a nice spring day in the same wooded setting, within the same cabin I saw myself sitting down at the same desk but this time there was no fire, instead I could hear the sound of a baseball game being called by an elderly man coming through the speaker of an old transitor radio, meanwhile I focused on my piece of writing the window wide open and the sound of birds being heard outdoors. It all clicked and soon after that "Cozy Cabin Publishing" was born.

I've submitted a patent claim to the United States patent office for Cozy Cabin Publishing and I've put aside some capitol for print and other supplies, things have really come to fruition quickly and a Facebook page, Twitter account and official website will be coming in the upcoming months for promotion purposes. Yep, my publishing company is now alive and on top of it all I've found my first piece of talent. Who you ask? Well, a young man named Jason Withstead (Withstead85@yahoo.com) who noticed my previous Twitter posts regarding Cozy Cabin Publishing felt compelled to contact me regarding doing some light publishing, I was delighted and we've spoke on numerous occassions and came up with a few ideas and before you know it he was on board. Jason has sent me a rough draft of a story he has been working on for over 2 years that he is in the process of finishing the final draft, the title of his project is "The Tale", and starting in March some of the book will be published on The Thought Corner blog with the full story being printed and available for sale sometime in July 2011.

Well, that's it for now ladies and gentlemen, hopefully you guys are all as excited as I am about this new venture and I hope you all take the time to check out the blog as well as my twitter every now and again for updates regarding new material and new releases from Cozy Cabin Publishing. Until then, stay on top of your game and enjoy life.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Happy Holidays from The Thought Corner!

2010-12-07T17:50:00.000-08:00

Well, It’s that special time of year again and The Thought Corner just wanted to take this time to wish all of our readers and friends a very Happy Holidays, hopefully Santa brings you everything you’ve wanted this year and hopefully you will get to spend some much deserved time with friends and family. Personally, I love this time of year, everything from the madness at the malls, the holiday specials airing on television, the smells, the music, the atmosphere and the memories of holidays that have long past, it’s all so much fun for me and I hope that you all let Christmas time be a fun and exciting time for you as well.

With that said, there will be no more blog updates until the beginning of the year, I plan to come back refocused in 2011 and I’ll be bringing you more reviews, opinions, insight and other wacky ramblings from a dark corner of my inner self that I like to call “The Thought Corner”, so please don’t hesitate to keep visiting and as always, do enjoy.

Happy Holidays everybody!

Manga4life's "Casshern Sins" review!

2010-11-21T07:11:00.000-08:00

Hello one, hello all, my name is Manga4life and today I am writing a review of an anime that has struck something of a morbid chord with it’s viewers, this anime has desolate written all over it due to it’s lack of life and it’s feeling of empty space. Today I am going to review Casshern Sins, so strap yourself in Thought Corner readers and enjoy.

Casshern Sins is a series that I have heard about through multiple forums on the web that are dedicated to anime, but since it wasn’t dubbed at the time I really had no interest of checking it out even though I felt the plot behind it was kind of neat, plus when I first saw the trailer for the show I thought it wasn’t going to be my cup of tea due to the limited animation and the design of the main character (Casshern). Boy was I wrong. Once I began watching Casshern Sins it didn’t take long until I was dragged in by just how deep the story was, basically, Casshern is roaming a world that has been struck by the “ruin” and everything is either dead, dying or falling apart, as he makes his way through he runs into multiple robots who are looking to eat him because they feel it’s the only way to stop the ruin from affecting them, but of course once they engage Casshern in battle they are easily destroyed because of his skills as a fighting machine. There is a lot of fighting in this series but I felt it does not take away from the storyline whatsoever, in fact, the fighting often leads to situations where the plot thickens and new characters are introduced while everything begins to take a left turn when the blinker in signaling right. It’s really quite intense at times.

One thing I loved about this series was the supporting cast and how they interacted with the main character and the roles that they took on for themselves, especially Ringo and Ohji, a little robotic girl and her caretaker who follow Casshern throughout his travels and build quite a bond with him along the way, but my favorite supporting character in the series was a female named Sophita, the “Angel of Ruin“. Sophita loved to fight, she loved to fight so much that she couldn’t be happy unless she was engaged in endless battle, in fact, she even tried to kill Casshern because she felt she loved him so much that the only way to express her love for him was to end his life through an avenue that would make her feel happy inside. It was actually quite genius to see unfold before your eyes and the episode she appeared in was really touching, when you get around to watching this series I would recommend keeping an eye out for her as I felt it was one of the best episodes in the entire series. As Casshern makes his way through the world he runs into countless robots that he ends up killing, multiple sad characters that you just want to reach out to and offer a lending hand to, and even a human who kind of puts things into perspective for Casshern to ready him for what could (and would) become quite a journey. If there is any strength to this series at all it would definitely be within the interactions and the relationships built between Casshern and the characters he meets along the way.

Now it's time to discuss the production side of Casshern Sins and whether or not the technical aspects of the series hit a crushing home run like the creative side of it did, first off I think we will discuss the animation within the series and if it stands beside some of the current anime on the market that it's up against. The answer to that would be no. Okay, Casshern Sins is nicely animated and the fight scenes are pretty fluid, but the overall look of the series kind of makes me think that it was animated in the mid to late 90's or something, either that or the animators were trying to make some kind of an artistic statement, either way it's not up to par with other achievements in anime animation that have come out over the past couple of years. With that said, the animation was pretty good and it was probably drawn in a way to make the characters seem as desolate as the world they inhabit, I actually quite liked it regardless of it's limitations and whatnot, I did feel that the character designs were done really good as well. One huge strength that this series has going for it is in it's music, from start to finish the OST in Casshern Sins was absolutely brilliant and the theme used to help bring the story too a close at the end most of the episodes still haunt me and I find myself whistling it from time to time, this anime has one of the best musical scores of any piece of animation I've ever seen (and that's saying a lot). Look up a song called "A Path" from this show and you will see what I'm talking about.

Anyhow, it's just about time to bring this review to an end and to list my usual rating system below, but before I go I just want to say how fun it was to sit down and watch this series, it's really left a long lasting impression on me and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to become engrossed inside of a special anime that will most likely leave you with the same impression that it left me. It's an extremely fun, if not immensely sad series that really deserves to be seen by those who are looking for a wildly touching, yet satisfying anime to sink their teeth into, give it a shot and you may just feel the same way that I do about Casshern Sins.

Art & Animation - 7.0/10
Music & Sound Effects - 9.0/10
Story & Writing - 9.0/10
Fun - 9.0/10
Overall - 9.0/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

A quick look at some BOOM Studios & Atlas Comics titles.

2010-11-08T08:02:00.000-08:00

I've been talking a lot lately on various messageboards and on Twitter about BOOM Studios and the publishers huge new title called "Soldier Zero" and about the return of Atlas Comics and their first two books called "Phoenix" and "The Grim Ghost", I finally had a chance to shoot some video of me flipping through the first issues and I uploaded it to YouTube (above) for the world to see. Soldier Zero was the best of the three books I'm discussing in the video but all of the books shown in the clip were really fun to read and featured amazing pencils by the artists who worked on them, I honestly would recommend any of these comics to fans who love the medium. Sometime next month when the rest of the BOOM Studios superhero universe is finally on store shelves I will shoot a short video of me flipping through "The Traveler" and "Starborn" so everyone can see first hand what is quickly becoming the most anticipated line of comic books in years.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Making video games fun again.

2010-11-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

I’m glad I approached modern video games the way that I had in this current generation of home consoles, I really feel like I screwed up the last generation by over buying and under enjoying games and I felt like I was rushing through games so that I could start playing whatever the “next big thing” was. To me, that is absolutely no way to enjoy a video game. When I was a kid and the NES was ruling the video game market I only was able to receive video games on special occasions like on my birthday, on Christmas, or for accomplishing special feats like finishing the school year or doing something special for my parents, I didn’t have money to go out and purchase a new video game every week or every other week. Because of this, video games became a special thing and I had to spend long periods of time with each individual game until I got a new one, this allowed me to grow an emotional connection to those games and they soon became a part of me and a part of my normal daily routine, some games I had even played and beaten over a dozen times. Fast forward to the end of the PS1/N64 era and the beginning of the GCN/PS3/XboX era, I was purchasing dozens of games during the calendar year, I had so many games on my plate to play between 2002-2005 that I didn’t even touch half of the stuff I had purchased and the games I did play I never truly enjoyed because I was in the mind frame of moving on to the next game so I could give them all a little play. I was way over my head and ended up only beating a few key games while hardly playing others, there was no emotional attachment to anything I was playing at the time and for the first time in my life I was not enjoying video games.

I literally had nothing left in the tank to care for the games I had, or at least it was nothing like I had with the NES/SNES and even the PS1/N64, now this does not mean that there was no good games being released at the time, I was just emotionally spent when it came to the medium and I over saturated myself with product that I had no time for. At one point in 2004, I had both a Gamecube and an XboX hooked up at the house and in one single day I bought 3 games for each system, I have no idea what I was thinking when I did this, but I did it anyway and of those 6 games I bought I think I only played 2 of them. It was sad. I had sold off and traded away a number of games I had between 2005-2006 (most of which unopened) and at some point in 2007 I ended up selling off my Gamecube and my XboX along with almost 50 games for about $400, a year before that I had given away my GBA and sold my DS with a bunch of games via eBay.

After sticking to classics from the NES, SNES, 3DO, N64 and PS1 for the better part of almost 3 years I finally got bitten by the current console bug and I decided that I was going to go ahead and pick out a modern day video game machine. Being a huge Nintendo supporter over the years I naturally began to research the Wii first but I was unimpressed at the games that I read about and I didn't like the idea of having to move around and being active when I play my video games. I also didn't like the controller for the Wii and I didn't like the fact that online multiplayer was basicly non-existent on the system since it was something I was wanting to get into since I ignored the whole XBL experience on the original XboX, sadly the Wii just wasn't for me. I checked out the XboX 360 next and I was instantly attracted to the amount of games available for the system as well as the fact that XBL is considered the gold standard for online multiplayer gaming, I also liked the controller and I loved the fact that you could download cool multiplayer classics from the XBL Arcade. I was basically sold on the 360 but I decided to research the PS3 just to see what Sony had to offer, but from everything I was reading I was left unimpressed and the XboX 360 ended up being my console of choice.

I had one goal in mind when approaching this generation of gaming, the goal was simple, I did not want to get in over my head like I did with the previous generation of gaming and I really wanted to form a bond with my video games once again like I had when I was a child. I wanted to build fond memories that would stay with me for a lifetime like with many memories I have of playing classic games from years ago, I was determined to make it happen and I wasn't going to let an over crowded market mold me into a gamer who spends all their spare cash on video games like I did earlier in the decade. In short, I was not going to over purchase product just because there is a "big release" on the horizon. When I purchased my XboX 360 in November of 2009 it came with 2 games, Lego Batman and Pure, and I pretty much played those two games for the next month until Christmas when I received NBA 2K10 and Ben 10: Vilgax Attacks, basically I made it an absolute point to put a huge focus on these games and focus on playing through each one multiple times and unlocking all of the achievements before I purchased any other games. Because of this I have built a relationship with these games and I still play them to this day (a year later), at one point in March I had purchased COD: Modern Warfare 2 for myself and I put all my time into beating the game and playing it online against other players online, ultimately with the help of Lego Batman and MW2 I have finally once again found that fun feeling while playing video games once again. Lego Batman is an absolute blast to play, it has became one of my favorite games of the past several years and I am so glad that I have put the time into beating it multiple times and unlocking all of the achievements, it's truly become my modern day "Super Mario" (if that makes any sense at all).

I can say that it's been about 7 months since I've purchased my last game and I have been able to put a focus on all of my games for the XboX 360 without over purchasing or spending myself into oblivion with too many titles to play, I have slowly but surly began to build memories with the XboX 360 and because of that I am really enjoying this generations gaming cycle. I'm sure I'll get a couple of new games for Christmas and when I do I will make sure to really put a focus on them much like I have with the games I currently have now, it's like I'm reliving the 80's and early 90's through the 360 but only with more in depth games and flashy graphics. The end result is that I've found a way to make video games fun once again, and at the end of the day that's all I ever really wanted out of my interactive entertainment.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Stan Lee makes a "BOOM!" on the comic book industry.

2010-10-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

I remember reading on the web earlier in the year that "Stan is back!", I began to wonder what the viral campaign was all about and I figured that he was going to be doing something within comics but I wasn't sure as to what he had planned, that was until I logged onto BOOM Studio's website a month back and I saw a video on the homepage of Stan Lee discussing his new superheroes. Immediately I was interested in what I was seeing and I finally got what the whole "Stan is back!" ad campaign was all about, he is indeed back and he's bringing a new stable of heroes and villains along for the ride. The basic story here is that Stan Lee is overseeing the creative process a new universe of characters that is launching through BOOM Studios starting in October of 2010, he's not exactly writing the books but he is going to be the final say when it comes to scripts and art, much like Alex Ross' venture with the Project Superpowers line of books through Dynamite Entertainment. BOOM Studios has made a huge dent into the comic book market over the past couple of years with a children's line of comics based around Jim Henson's Muppet franchise and Disney properties and Mark Waid (CEO) has made the news with his fantastic writing on a title called "Irredeemable" which is an industry award winner and on shelves monthly, this venture into superhero comics and a partnership with Stan Lee can only strengthen their market share and maybe even push them in the direction of obtaining the coveted #3 position down the road behind powerhouse publishers Marvel and DC.

The line is going to start out with three titles and both Stan Lee and Mark Waid have teased about more coming down the road, the first three titles look like they are going to be really good and appear to have some originality to them, below I will share some pictures as well as give a quick plot synopsis of each character.

The first title to launch from this new line of comics is a book called "Soldier Zero", it's a story about a wheelchair bound war veteran who comes into contact with an alien weapon that fuses itself to him and gives the man a wide array of powers. From here on out he's hunted by a variety monsters, aliens, people and entities from both his world as well as other mysterious worlds, he then takes an oath to protect Earth from these threats and to use his powers for the better of mankind. The character design for Soldier Zero is kind of cool, I like the alien-like hands and I love the story about being fused with a war veteran, I'm going to be keeping up with this book and I think it could find success for BOOM and Stan Lee.

"The Traveler" is a book about a hero who can travel through time, the problem is that he does not know how he received these powers and he has no idea of his own origin so he goes on a quest to get some answers and to fend off any enemies that stand in his way. This book is the most interesting of the three launch titles and I really love the character design for the books hero, I think this could turn out to be a sleeper hit for BOOM and I wouldn't be surprised if this title becomes the most popular of the initial three books released.

The story behind this book is that the main character is a prince from an alien empire and he is the key to the survival of the entire universe, but of course being of such power draws out some of the baddest villains of all and he has to cope with that as he learns to use his powers to defend the universe. Of all three of the titles this book is the one I'm least looking forward to (but still very excited) and of all three of the core characters I found that Starborn's look is not on par with Soldier Zero and The Traveler, but he still looks cool enough and I'm sure the book will be perfectly fine.

I think that with heavy hitters like Mark Waid and Stan Lee behind this project and the fact that BOOM as a publisher has turned a lot of heads already that this line of comics is built for success, but then again I have seen many strong publishers fall under the weight of their own ego in the past. One thing is for sure, it sure will be interesting to follow BOOM and their superhero venture from start 'till...well, I'll just say "until", I don't want to jinx this new venture before it even gets off the ground yet, lol. To close things out I just want to urge those who may be on the fence to give these new books a try, let's expand our reading material and check out something that isn't published by Marvel or DC for a change, there is a whole new world of comic books being published and this is a big part of the future, I can feel it in my heart. Whether Stan Lee or BOOM Studios crack a home run or hit a dribbler to first base, I know that I for one will be there on the morning that the first title comes out and I will be as excited as I've ever been to purchase a new comic book.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Manga4life's Berserk (anime) review!

2010-10-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

Hello there Thought Corner readers, this is Mang4life checking in and today I figured it would be fun to write a review of a very fun and interesting anime series called “Berserk”. Berserk is a story of devotion, leadership, war, death and love, this series draws out many different emotions while watching it and you will most likely range from being thrilled to feeling sad while the tale of a man and his sword unfolds before your very eyes. Things start off with a traveler who goes by the name of “Guts”, while minding his business the man is attacked by a member of a group who call themselves “Band of the Hawk” and is forced into battle, after easily winning the fight Guts is then challenged by the groups leader (Griffith) under the rules of if he was to lose the fight that he would have to join the group and serve as a member. Guts loses the fight and joins Griffith in his conquest to defeat as many armies as possible, soon after he joins the group a series of events leads to Griffith being knighted by the kingdom and eventually captured as a hostage, meanwhile while this is happening Guts finds himself falling in love with Casca, a member of the Hawks who is hopelessly devoted to Griffith and one day wishes to take her place by his side. Eventually Guts and Casca would become the leaders of the Band of the Hawk and set off on a mission to find and free their fearless leader, but when they finally are able to get the job done they discover that things are worse than they thought and then all hell breaks loose, literally. The story was really good and the relationships with the characters really stood out as being strong and well written, but the high point of the series would definitely go to the action sequences, the action was intense and very hard hitting which led to inspirational fight scenes early on and toward the middle-end of the series.

My only real complaint with the story is that toward the end of the series things started to get weird, especially the final two episodes where all these weird monsters began trying to capture and eat everyone in the Band of the Hawk, I didn’t see why it had to turn all demonic like that and why they couldn’t have come up with a better scenario to end the series, but in the end I enjoyed what I saw and other than a couple of random tidbits (I’ll discuss them later) I was really satisfied with the series. One of the best parts of this series was the progression of Guts and Casca’s love affair, you could see it coming a mile away but it took a while for everything to come to a boil, there were little instances where you saw a possible spark and then nothing would happen until later in the series when they finally lay it all out on the table to each other, it was well written and really enjoyable to watch progress and it took your mind off of the fact that Berserk in an action anime.

The animation in Berserk was really good for it's time when it was released in the mid-90s but when you watch the series today you can't help but to feel that it comes off as a little bit dated, but it doesn't distract you from enjoying the anime it just makes it feel like your taking in a piece of history, after completing the series I felt the animation was overall pretty good and worked well with the style of story they were trying to tell. The music on the otherhand was nothing special, nor was the english dubbed voices or the sound effects used, they all came across as low budget and it was kind of annoying at times because the voiceover came across as cheesy and the music didn't really drag you into the scene as much as other anime programs out there. It wasn't like I would avoid the series because of the weak audio, but it definitely was not one of the high points of Berserk and I wouldn't try to sell someone on the series based on it's music or dubbing. I may try to rewatch this series in it's native Japanese audio and see what I think, I've been told by many people that Berserk was far better in Japanese than it was in English so It's worth giving it a shot, I just hate subtitles and I find that it distracts me from taking in the full experience of battle scenes and scenes that are emotional between characters. Despite the flaws that this series has I did really enjoy it and I would reccomend it to anyone who is looking for an anime that has a lot of action, a great story and a nice little love triangle, check it out for yourselves and let me know what you think!

Art & Animation - 7.5/10
Music & Sound Effects - 5.0/10
Story & Writing - 8.0/10
Fun - 8.0/10
Overall - 7.75/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

There's more out there besides Marvel & DC.

2010-09-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

Something has been bothering me for quite some time. I have been reading comic books for over 20 years and have been a serious collector for over 17, I have read comics from basically every major comic book publisher who has ever printed a comic and I have read comics from publishers that you would not even know about unless someone told you about them, the thing that has been bothering me for so long is that small press publishers can‘t seem to break into the mainstream because comic book fans won‘t let them. Yes, you read that right, comic book fans won’t let small press publishers get a foot into the door and grow to become a big-time publisher. You’re probably wondering what the hell I am talking about, you’re probably thinking I am crazy, but the reason why small press publishers cannot break through and are closing up shop left and right is because today’s comic book fans are too wrapped up in the mediocre and substandard comics being put out by comic book giants Marvel and DC and refuse to accept the fact that their comics have become flat and don’t want to give small press a chance.

Today’s comic buyer would rather plunk down hundreds of dollars on some company wide crossover event that ties into every major book in the publishers line and spawns countless mini-series based on whatever huge event Marvel or DC has come up with next only to find out that the ending was not nearly as earth shattering as it had promised to be or that some characters history has been re-written and the past 30 years of his/her existence has been eliminated in favor of changing the norm. I’m flippin’ sick of it. I’m sorry, but today’s “big two” make sure that you have to go out and purchase titles that you never had any interest in just to be able to see the big picture of whatever kind of a story they are trying to tell, they come up with a huge event and they make sure to weave it into every title on the shelf in order to try to boost their sales and drag readers into a book that they have never needed to read before but they have no choice now if they want to know what happens in the story, it's not fair and I refuse to take part in it.

Now, I want to make it clear with my readers that I do still read comics from Marvel and DC but I stick to the core characters and I don’t let a storyline trick me into buying something I don’t want or need, by doing this I find myself with extra cash in my pocket which allows me to check out other publishers who may be putting out quality books that are trying to find an audience. I’ll give you an example, I read The Avengers, New Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man, I don’t read any of the other six Avengers titles on the shelves and I don’t purchase any of the other 8 different Spider-Man books and mini-series that litter the new release racks week in and week out, most of that stuff falls by the wayside and ends up being irrelevant while the core books are the ones that stick to actual Marvel continuity anyway, so I don’t waste the time or money into something that won’t effect the core “616” anyhow unless it’s by a great creator and is said to have a fantastic story by those who have read them. Now, with a billion comics put out monthly by Marvel and DC there are sure to be some gems in the bunch (and there are) but I’ve seen first hand fan boys who will purchase anything with a Marvel or DC logo slapped on the cover because they think that that’s what comics books are and it has to be good if it’s put out by the “big two”, meanwhile good comics are sitting on the racks and are being ignored because comic book fans are ignorant (and too stupid) to give them a try.

Now, I know that as of this writing things are still messed up in the United States, unemployment is still very high and jobs aren’t paying a whole lot these days so I can’t fully blame someone for not trying something new when it comes to the economy rearing it’s ugly head, but when they see one of their books tapering off and becoming stale then they should use that opportunity to possibly try out something new, especially if a specific title goes a few months within a lackluster state. I think I’ll take this time to point out a few key companies and a few amazing titles that are currently sitting on store shelves that are well worth putting a few dollars into, some of which may excite you and others may not but at least there is something else out there for today's comic book fan who has waken up and smelled the coffee only to notice that what they are reading may have lost it’s spunk quite some time ago.

One thing I have been really interested in and enjoying as of late has been Jim Shooter's revival of many classic Gold Key/Valiant characters that have been out of print for quite some time, it started with Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom and Magnus: Robot Fighter and over the next few months we will see The Mighty Samson and Turok: Son of Stone released into the line as well. Honestly, both of the kickoff books have been really action packed and very character driven so far and and I'm excited to see what becomes of these (new to me) characters in the near future, I wouldn't mind seeing even more characters brought into the line by other creators as well, there is always room for more when something has been this enjoyable. It's funny because I never cared for these characters back in the early days of my comic book collecting and nothing about them was appealing to me in the least, but when I found out that they were being revived and with new story lines and re-imagined for a new audience I figured I would give them a shot, I'm so glad that I did because it's been a delightful ride so far.

Dynamite Entertainment puts out quite a few fantastic comics every month that people should be reading, first and foremost is the revival of tons of golden age characters in a series called Project: Superpowers, this line of comics is probably the next best thing to a start of a brand new universe of superheroes being superheroes and villains being villains, the huge success of this line has been headed by legendary cover artist Alex Ross and series scribe Jim Krueger. Another huge line that Dynamite puts out each and every month is the Green Hornet books, the core title is written by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Jay & Silent Bob) and the "Year One" series which is currently crafted by Matt Wagner, both books are worthy reads as are the Kato titles that round out the series of books in the Green Hornet line. Other fantastic titles put out monthly by this amazing publisher are Red Sonja, The Last Phantom, Robert Jordan:Wheel of Time and the upcoming Kirby: Genesis, there is also a slew of already established properties Dynamite publishes monthly like RoboCop, Vampirella, The Expendables, Buck Rodgers, The Lone Ranger and Zorro. With a publisher like Dynamite Entertainment there really is something for everybody and it seems like they are acquiring new licenses and properties all the time, I smell a future #3 in the industry if they keep up this trend of quality comics.

Image Comics isn't exactly a "small press" company and they certainly are not a new comer to the party, but as of the past few years the publisher has been putting out many high quality comic books that deserve a much larger readership, one of those books is a title called Dynamo 5 which is one of the best team books on the market and has been for the better part of 4 years now. The company's flagship title (sorta) is a book called Invincible and be warned, this series is not ashamed to be a superhero comic, instead I would say that it loves that fact that it's a superhero comic and it does not shy away from delivering a deep storyline and nice visuals in the process. Image Comics prints many other fun and interesting titles that deserve a moment or two to be in the limelight, books such as The Walking Dead, Haunt, Guardians of the Globe and Noble Causes are all worthy reads and even books like Savage Dragon and Spawn are still very much in print and still in the limelight, Image Comics has a little something for everyone and a wide range of top tier creative talent helping to keep them in the current #3 slot behind Marvel and DC.

Well, that's it from me for now, I just wanted to put it out there that comic books do not begin and end with only 2 company's and that there are alternatives out there to the mediocre swamp that has become Marvel and DC. Seriously folks, there are plenty of choices out there and lot's of quality titles to chose from, I urge you to take the chance on any of the books or publishers mentioned above and to get back to me on how you felt about these comics and what you plan to do in the future as a collector. My ear is open :)

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Manga you should be reading: Ultimo

2010-09-17T07:23:00.000-07:00

As many well know, I am a huge fan of Japanese manga and I enjoy discovering and reading new manga when I grow tiresome of the run of the mill popular titles that are so often promoted and discussed by the rabid internet crowd. Don't get me wrong though, I love Naruto and Bleach as much as everyone else who reads them weekly, but sometimes it's nice to stray from the mainstream and check out something that is starting from the ground up, sometimes I seek out such stories and other times they just kind of fall into my lap, this time it certainly fell into my lap. Well, earlier this year through the pages of Shonen Jump (USA) I discovered a new manga series called "Ultimo" and I was immediately attracted to it because of the name I saw attached to the title, the name was Stan Lee, the legendary creator of many of Marvel's biggest and most popular superheroes. I thought to myself, "Holy cow, Stan Lee is involving himself in manga now, this is interesting.....I think I'll give it a shot.", and so I did. Another aspect of the comic that also attracted me to it was the art and I felt it was better and more detailed than any other series in that month's Shonen Jump, the pencils were crisp and the characters had a really good look to them so I was excited to dive in and see what Ultimo was all about.

The story starts out in medieval times with a man named Dunstan (who looks a lot like Stan Lee) traveling along a lonely road with two boxes in tow both containing a pair of what originally looked to be dolls, but these were no ordinary dolls, they were mechanical boys who were created with the embodiment of good and evil stored inside of them. Dunstan is eventually hijacked by a rouge group of bandits who demand who know what is inside the two boxes he is carrying with him, Dunstan refuses to let them see what is inside of the crates but after much warning and pleading by the traveling man he finally agrees to open the boxes for the bandits, not too long after that Ultimo (good) and his brother Vice (evil) are awaken and then all hell breaks loose. Cut to present day Japan and the main bandit, Yamato, is actually nothing more than a normal run of the mill guy who has a life and personal problems of his own and has no idea that he exists in another timeline as a ring leader for a bunch of theives and bandits. One day while minding his own business Yamato was walking by an old antique shop and spots Ultimo in the window, when he notices the doll he begins to feel as if he has seen it before, this would be the lead in to Yamato finding out more and more about his alternate identity, it's also the beginning of the ultimate battle between what is right and what is wrong, the classic clash of good versus evil.

The story is written exceptionally well and the art is very smooth and attractive, and I enjoyed the first two volumes so much that it kind of bothers me that nobody is really discussing this manga and that there is not much of a buzz (if any at all) about Stan Lee entering into manga after creating such classic American comic book characters and helping to popularize comics as a world wide medium. If you enjoy Japanese manga or comic books in general than you should definitely give this title a shot, it takes the basic formula of good versus evil and it mixes it up into an enjoyable story that almost anyone can get into, both children and adults alike. I just want to be clear about something here, this article is not meant to be a review of the series or anything along those lines, I'm more or less trying to bring awareness to an amazing manga series that has yet to really get off the ground and since most of my internet friends and followers are "Otaku's" I figured that this would be the best possible way to get the word out that Ultimo is a fantastic series and should be given a try. The main selling point of this title would of course be the fact that Stan Lee is attached to it and that the interior art is breathtaking for a Japanese manga, but the true gem lies in the storytelling and the character of Yamato who has become somewhat of a sleeper favorite of mine, I for one plan on reading this series until it's end. The first two volumes are on store shelves right now and new chapters appear inside of Shonen Jump every month or two, so there is plenty of opportunity to check out this title and pass a judgement on it for yourself, I certainly hope that you do.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

In a state of "WoW" and loving every minute of it!

2010-09-07T05:53:00.000-07:00

I have been somewhat quiet as of late when it comes to places I usually like to haunt (Toonzone, FUNi, Twitter) and some of it has to do with the busy work schedule I've had over the past week or so, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that I am once again playing World of Warcraft, better known to some as "WoW". For those who are unfamiliar with WoW, it's an MMORPG with a vast community of over 12 million players and it takes place in a world that is forever changing and evolving, seriously, things happen within the world and it creates a ripple that can be felt server wide at times and things that your character does can have a profound impact on others throughout the game. It's really quite neat how they were able to fit so much content and so much realism into the game, the entire landscape of the game really does feel like a living world from the things that happen to the NPC's, the player characters and even right down to the economy (auction house) and other aspects, it's as if it's become a second life to many players because of the ammount of time you need to put into the game to enjoy the benefits of it. I've been playing WoW a lot as of late, mainly because when I came back to the game (I used to play last year) I had to start from scratch because I forgot my old log in information and I had to create a brand new character (Night Elf - Warrior), leveling him up and running dungeons with other players has been a high priority to get him to the levels he needs to be at for when the new expansion comes out this fall/winter, I'm so excited about it yet I'm somewhat bummed because the world of Azeroth as players have known it for 6+ years is going to be completely transformed for the Cataclysm that is approaching.

A lot of people out there may be curious about WoW and why so many people play it, I've even talked to a friend of mine who say's that it may not be his cup of tea, all I can say is that if you're curious about it then you should give it a try because it's deeper and more complex than any other RPG or MMORPG on the market and the joys of raiding with other members cannot be explained until you have actually done it. Other than doing dungeon raids and running quests to level up my character, one of my favorite things to do as a member of the Alliance is to march into a Horde town or city with 10-20 of my close guild members and lay waste to all of the important NPC's because it takes a while for them to respawn and it leaves some Horde players with a bitter taste in their mouths, then if we get around to it we take out of the the players characters too, that's always a blast. Other fun things to do in the game is to up your profession and your talents, the game features many different professions that allow you to craft items or make potions to sell or use within the game, talents such as fishing and cooking become very important and the higher your skills are the better you can help out yourself and others in your group. In one short sentence, you will probably never get bored of playing World of Warcraft because there is just so much damn stuff to do.

Anyhow, I didn't really have anything in mind with this post other than to explain where I have been and what I have been up to as of late (this is not a review) but I ended up talking about WoW and some of the fun things that you can do in the game and why other people should play it, LoL, it's as if I'm a religious freak and I'm pushing the bible onto people or something. Sorry about that. Anyhow, I'm still on TZ, FUNi and Twitter so feel free to say hello if you want, I'm not going anywhere or anything, I'm just dedicating a lot of time to World of Warcraft at the moment and probably will be for quite some time to come. "For the Alliance!"

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Farewell Chowder, you will be missed.

2010-08-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

They say that all good things must eventually come to an end, and unfortunately on August 7th 2010 Cartoon Network aired the final episode of Chowder, a phenomenal comedy series that the network gave up on long before it's final broadcast. It's a shame, the show was primed to be the next big thing on CN and many people felt as if this show was going to break down the barrier of the network's inability to create something that would compete with SpongeBob Squarepants as their franchise show that was going to rake in millions of viewers on a weekly basis and sell tons of DVD's and merchandise, unfortunately for Cartoon Network the show began to decline in ratings about a year or so after it's debut and instead of getting behind the show to try to fix the problem, CN decided it would be better if they forgot it existed. The show would begin to receive minimal promotion leading into the summer of 2009 and eventually reruns of new episodes would become scarce, much of this could have been due to the network trying to promote their new live action projects over their animated shows in an attempt to get them off the ground but Chowder would more than feel the backlash of the new live action movement on Cartoon Network. Eventually the show was officially cancelled and the remaining shows would be spread throughout the next year in premiers while the cast and crew would all move on to other projects, unless you were a member of the animation community on the web then you wouldn't have even known the cancellation happened because there was still 20+ episodes of the show left to air when the program was shown the door. But instead of dwelling on the death of the show, I think it's time that we recognize the life of the show and just how good Chowder actually was.

Above everything else Chowder as a television show is hilarious, everything from the names of the food that they would cook, the way that the main characters interacted with each other (especially Chowder and Shnitnzel), the inappropriate fart jokes and the over the top 4th wall bashing the show was just crammed with humor and it worked so well with the kind of story that the creators wanted to tell. Personally, I loved how Chowder himself couldn't get anything right, he would constantly screw things up by forgetting things or eating something he shouldn't have and Mung or Shnitzel would usually suffer the brunt of the consequences, it was genius how the shows creators brought it all together the way that they did and I can see why so many people loved this series so much. That's right, people did watch the program, the ratings for the show were pretty strong throughout most of it's run which led people to wonder why the network would give up on the show so soon without having a proper reason to do so, it's not like the ratings were in the toilet, most weeks the show would pull in between a 1.7 and a 2.0 which is considered to be pretty good for it's time slot. The ratings for Chowder were pretty much on par with most of the other comedy shows that CN aired at the time (Flapjack, Johnny Test) and CN's weekly comedy block "HAr HAr ThArsday's" was the shows home for a solid chunk of it's run and usually it would air in the first slot within the block which was 8pm EST. Ratings aside, much of the internet animation community enjoyed this series and praised it week in and week out on various forums throughout the web as well as Facebook and Twitter, tons of people all over the world were embracing Chowder and it wasn't just children, it was adults too. It's void will definitely be felt by those who frequent Cartoon Network on a weekly basis, especially on Monday nights, it's become such a big part of CN's weekly programming schedule that to envision the network without the show seems somewhat unfathomable, but thankfully as of this writing the show is still being aired almost daily in reruns. At least Chowder still lives on in some form, but you can't help but to wonder for how long.

As I mentioned earlier, the creators of the show have all moved on to do other projects now, but I would like to take this time to thank them for supplying myself (and many others) with a series that has given us some fantastic memories and a whole lot of laughs, and come to think about it, laughter is a rare thing these days when it comes to shows that are supposed to be"comedies" and I feel that Chowder succeeded in genuinly making people laugh. So once again, thank you to G.H Greenblatt and company for bringing to life such a fantastic group of characters and for making animation fans laugh, if only for a short period of time.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Manga4life's "Trigun" review.

2010-08-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hello readers, it's M4L back at it again with a review of an anime series loved and respected by almost everyone who has taken the time to watch it, today I am going to review the infamous "Trigun".

Trigun is often credited alongside Cowboy Bebop as being one of the few anime series that helped the medium find a mature audience in Japan as well as the United States, anime fans were hitting retail outlets pretty hard to get their hands on DVD releases of the series which eventually led Trigun to be aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in 2003. A big reason as to why fans were seeking out Trigun so forcefully was because of it's mature plot and style of storytelling which was a lot different from the Saturday morning "toyetic" anime shows that were being aired at the time, people knew Trigun was different and mature anime fans wanted to experience a show that they could dive into for a change. The plot itself is centered around a slick gunman by the name of Vash the Stampede, who inadvertently causes damage almost everywhere he goes thanks to being hunted because of a huge bounty on his head, and two insurance agency employees (Meryl & Millie) who follow him around in an attempt to minimize the damage he causes. Throughout Vash's travels he tries his hardest to save lives through non-lethal force, but people usually end up dying or getting seriously hurt in the process, eventually Vash meets up with a smooth talking Priest named Nicholas Wolfwood who joins up with him on his travels for a majority of the series. One running gag throughout the series is that most of the damage caused by Vash isn't really by his own hands, often times throughout the series he will be confronted by bounty hunters who want to kill Vash in order to receive the "Sixty-Billion double dollars" prize on his head, then soon after the fight is finished and the town is damaged, Meryl and Millie will usually give him an ear full about how their insurance company cannot keep paying for damages that he has caused and that Vash needs to be more careful. A lot of people, myself included, found hilarity in the way the insurance girls would nag Vash throughout the series, it definitely helped to add a fun element that threaded itself throughout a mostly serious plot.

Overall I felt the story of Trigun was pretty strong, there were some times both early in the series and later on toward the end that I felt the story dragged a little bit, most of the good stuff was somewhere between episodes 10-18, but overall the series had a decent flow to it and a solid plot. The characters in the series were interesting and fun to follow, especially the supporting cast of Meryl, Millie and Wolfwood, by the end of the series I felt that Wolfwood had become my favorite character in the series. I think a big part of why the Priest became my favorite character was the mysterious feel that surrounded him and the way he viewed the act of murder versus Vash's take on the subject, it dragged me in and made him shine in my eyes. As a whole I felt that Meryl and Millie were just around for comic relief, they don't really do a whole lot besides complain and get in Vash's way, but they added a 3rd dimension to the series that was much needed because I didn't feel Vash's character was strong enough to lead the series all by himself without a little help from an interesting supporting cast, both the girls and Nicholas Wolfwood helped to fit that bill nicely. Vash himself suffers from a strange case of trying to come across as badass and hilarious at the same time, he has a cool character but sometimes the shift in his personality was just a bit much to take and I felt it took away from what was going on in the situations he would find himself in, but in hindsight I feel that the characters in this series were written pretty well and were definitely fun to keep up with, I know others will share a different opinion on them (especially Vash) but I just wanted to note what I felt as I progressed through the show.

The music in this series does not really have the heavy recognition of something like a Cowboy Bebop or anything like that, but I found the themes used for the opening and ending credits were done really well and helped to give the show a nice little identity, music used throughout the series for storytelling purposes were pretty good and made for nice atmospheric moments, though I wouldn't put the background music on par with the best of the best. I wouldn't even put Trigun at the top of the anime ladder for it's music or anything, but I definitely think that the series could boast it's original soundtrack as one of it's strong points if it wanted to, the OST has a nice flow to it and realy is worth listening to despite being somewhat flat at times. I really felt that one of Trigun's strongest assets is it's sound effects and voice overs, I felt like the dubbing cast was very strong and the voice actors that were used helped to make the characters stand out and really made them enjoyable in my opinion. Also, the sound effects throughout Trigun with stuff such as guns shooting, explosions, animals, liquid being poured, people walking and doors closing sounded fantastic and the SFX crew should be rewarded for doing such a fine job with creating a nice atmosphere for the series, this is something that a lot of animated programs lacked back in the late 90's but Trigun handled them well. And last but not least I wanted to mention the art and animation in Trigun, I thought the series was animated pretty well, the characters looked great and the art was fairly smooth, but there were some moments that I felt the animation was handled poorly and was a little weak, especially when there was a lot going on at one time, but as a whole the series boasts some pretty good animation and was definitely above the curve for the time of it's release (1997/1998). That's it for now folks, I will go ahead and rate the key catagories using the same rating table I have used with all my other reviews in the past. Peace & Love and as always, do enjoy...

Art & Animation - 8.75/10
Music & Sound Effects - 8.5/10
Story & Writing - 7.0/10
Fun - 7.75/10
Overall - 7.75/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

70 years of Bugs Bunny

2010-07-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

Today (7/27/10) marks the 70th anniversary of the first ever animated short featuring the legendary Bugs Bunny. Created by Tex Avery and Produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, "A Wild Hare" is considered by many animation historians to be the first appearance of the famous bunny that in 2002 TV Guide would go on to call the most important cartoon character ever created, it's also noted for being the first short to give Elmer Fudd his notable voice and distinct look, though it was not Fudd's first appearance in a cartoon. Some would argue the claim that "A Wild Hare" is the first appearance of Bugs Bunny because of a piece of footage from 1938 titled "Porky's Hare Hunt" which features an unnamed rabbit that bears strong resemblance to what would become Bugs, as well as many characteristics and mannerisms that could construed people to think that the two were indeed one in the same. Many changes were made to the prototype rabbit for "A Wild Hare" and characteristics such as his trademark look and voice going forward would be based off of this appearance, it's also the first short to have the famous rabbit mutter his trademark saying, "What's up Doc?".

The first Bugs Bunny animated short would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award alongside the first ever prototype of a Tom & Jerry short, though both would lose out to a piece of animation called "The Milky Way", which was an MGM release. In an odd move for it's time, "A Wild Hare" was even turned into a radio broadcast which was loosely adapted on the animated short and was aired in 1941 on a show hosted by a famous comedian named Al Pierce, this kind of thing was not the norm in the 40's and was actually followed up with an interview by the shorts producer, Leon Schlesinger. The now famous short would eventually be one of many classic shorts that would be reissued through Merrie Melodies for what would become Warner Brothers
Cartoons in 1944.

Bugs Bunny was officially a hit, more and more animated shorts would be made using the character and by the time it was all said and done Bugs had gone on to star in a total of 163 Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons during the original production. Throughout the next few decades many animators would play around with Bugs Bunny's design and add a few things that would modernize the character, some have grown to love the changes while others hated it, but as the animation industry evolved it was necessary to keep Bugs relevant to new potential viewers. Things such as bigger front teeth, fatter cheeks and a more upright standing posture would be added to give Bugs the look that people know today, but also his voice would change multiple times throughout the years all while keeping his beloved sarcasm and classic catch phrases. Personally, I would like to thank those who have voiced this character over the past 70 years, so my admiration and respect goes out to Mel Blanc, Jeff Bergman, Greg Burson, Billy West, Joe Alaskey, Sam Vincent and Noel Blanc, you have all played a part in the success of quite possibly the greatest character in animation history. Over the years some of these great men have passed away, but their contribution to the Bugs Bunny character will continue to live on in our minds and hearts forever. I would like to say the same for the producers and the animators who are resonsible for the character to see the light of day, animation is a true team effort and all of the men involved in Bugs Bunny's rise to the top deserve a round of applause.

Animation aside, I wanted to discuss some of the cool feats within pop culture that everyone's favorite hare has achieved, some of them quite big, some of them rather small, but all of them adding to the legacy of Tex Avery's classic cartoon character. Getting away from animation for a bit, Bugs Bunny once starred in a number of comic books that were produced throughout the years from various comic book companies, most notably by Gold Key Publishing where the character enjoyed a run of 133 issues. Dell Publishing also released a number of comics based on the legendary Rabbit, 58 issues were published as well as multiple one-shot specials bearing the likeness of the world's most famous rabbit. One tidbit of information that may surprise some people is that Bugs Bunny is one of the first two cartoon characters to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the other famous character alongside Bugs Bunny would be Disney's Micky Mouse. Another fun fact for the readers of this blog would be that Bugs Bunny was the first ever cartoon character to be featured on a U.S stamp, and believe it or not, the stamp currently stands as the 7th most purchased stamp in United States history. Pretty neat, huh? The rascally rabbit has also seen parts in over 14 different video games throughout the years spanning many different consoles, most of which he was a playable character embarking on missions, while in others of which he was just making a small cameo. Going back to animation for a moment, Bugs Bunny is also an Academy Award winner for a short titled, "Knighty Knight Bugs" (1958), and was nominated on 2 other occasions for "A Wild Hare" (1940) and "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" (1941).

Well, that's about it. To be honest, there isn't much more I can say about the legendary Bugs Bunny that I haven't said already, I just wanted to celebrate his 70th Birthday with a short blog touching upon his evolution as well as some of his achievements throughout the 70 years the world has known the character. The great thing about Bugs is that his greatness isn't nearly over yet, there is even more to come from Warner Brothers and I think we will continue to see Bugs Bunny throughout many different media outlets for years to come. To bring this post to an end I would like to thank the voice actors, producers, animators and everyone else responsible who have helped to bring this classic character to life, without these great individuals we may have never been treated to such an amazing piece of history.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Meet Victor Von Monstaire: The new Thought Corner mascot!

2010-07-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I posted something on my Twitter account talking about how I was in search of a mascot to represent my Thought Corner blog, I have literally looked at a billion different options and I have tooled around with a billion different images and I have finally come up with the image you see above this writing. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you, Victor Von Monstaire. I felt that he would be a great mascot for my blog because of his presence, there is something about the way he smiles alongside with the fact that he is wearing a tuxedo that propelled me to make the decision to give him the job, hopefully the readers of my blog will approve of him and I hope that he add's a new and enjoyable flavor to what I do around here.

This tidbit of news isn't meant to be a full blog post, I just wanted to post a small announcement so I'm going to shut up now and not take up anymore of your time, but please let me know on my Twitter account what you think of the new mascot, I'd love to hear it.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Manga4life's "Cowboy Bebop" review

2010-07-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

Hello animation fans, it's your old buddy M4L signing in and today I'm here to do a review of Cowboy Bebop, that's right, the Cowboy Bebop. If you are a veteran of anime you have seen it, if you are new to anime then you have heard about it, either way you know what Cowboy Bebop is and most likely know what it has done for non-toyetic anime the world over.

In the late 90's when anime was being geared toward children in the United States and shows like Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z were ruling the Saturday morning cartoon airwaves bringing in millions upon millions of dollars worth of revenue there was not much in the way of anime that older teens and adults could sink their teeth into, then came along two series that would change the landscape of how anime was viewed and how anime would be marketed. One of the two series I am talking about is Cowboy Bebop, the other would be the infamous Trigun. The story that was told in Cowboy Bebop was much more mature and violent that the stories that were being told in toyetic anime that was dominating television, the plot revolved around a group of bounty hunters that cruised around space waiting for jobs to come their way, often times the story had the main characters (Spike and Jet) trying to apprehend somebody or even killing them, there were also multiple alcohol and drug references throughout the series which made it nearly impossible to get the show aired on U.S television until Cartoon Network placed it on their Adult Swim block in 2001. Still, that didn't stop people from purchasing the DVD's to get their fix of this series that was unlike anything else being aired at the time, people were even trying to find streams of the show on the internet back when online streaming was a virginal way of finding entertainment. The bottom line is that people wanted to watch Cowboy Bebop and they were willing to spend a lot of money or a lot of time to do it.

As the story of the show progresses they pick up a couple new crew mates on their ship, the first of which was Faye, a troublesome gambler who joins the crew uninvited and likes to come and go as the pleases, the other character being a young girl named Edward, who is an orphan who turned out to be a great computer hacker. Faye's character became a personal favorite of mine throughout the series, her stark attitude, sheer sexiness and underlying innocent side helped her to really hit home with me and there were multiple times throughout the series where I couldn't help but to feel sorry for her, especially in the episode "Speak like a Child" where the crew comes across and old tape of her when she was a teenager. The series featured multiple moments of sheer emotion that helped the characters in the series connect with it's viewers, one episode in particular had Jet meeting up with an old flame who he always kept close to his heart but after a set of extraordinary circumstances he was forced to let go for good, another instance would be in the final episode where Spike watches the woman he loves (Julia) get shot and killed just feet away from him. It's events and storytelling such as this that helped to set Cowboy Bebop apart from any other series that was being aired or that was available at the time.

Now it's time to talk about the technical aspects of Cowboy Bebop for a moment. First I want to start off with the animation in this series, I for one found it to be top notch for it's time period, sure a lot of anime series that are out now destroy the animation in Cowboy Bebop but this series aired in Japan back in the late 90's which means it was probably animated sometime in 1997, so with that in mind the artwork and animation is exceptionally good. The music behind Cowboy Bebop has really garnered a lot of attention, it's opening theme "Tank" is used throughout multiple different venues for sports and other major events and it's ending theme "Real Folk Blues" is considered to be one of the best ending themes in anime history by fans of the medium. I've often read people commenting that they have both seen and heard Cowboy Bebop, reading something like that is a great testament to the music in the series, but it's also a great testament to the sound effects and audio used throughout the series as well. While watching this series it's pretty easy for me to say that you will have a lot of fun getting involved with the recurring storyline as well as the hilarity of some of the stuff that takes place both on the ship and off, give it a try if you have yet to board the Bebop already and let me know what you think, my ear is always open.

Art & Animation - 8.75/10
Music & Sound Effects - 9.0/10
Story & Writing - 9.0/10
Fun - 8.75/10
Overall - 9.0/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Block Party #1 - Remembering Toonami

2010-07-12T10:06:00.000-07:00

Once every so often something comes around and sparks a revolution, today I am going to discuss one such revolution that has brought so much joy to so many and helped to popularize a medium in the United States. Today I am going to discuss Toonami.

Now before I go into everything and begin talking about how great of a block Toonami was, I just want to remind people that Toonami was not an anime block as so many folks out there would like to believe. Instead, I want to remind people that Toonami was an action cartoon block that aired it's share of animation that did not originate in Japan. Often times I read posts by members of various forums that claim Toonami was a straight up anime block that helped to popularize the medium in the United States, then I scratch my head because they seem to have forgotten that Toonami aired a ton of cartoons that did not come over from Japan. While Toonami did have a big hand in the huge anime boom that went down in the late 90's and early 00's, I do want people to remember that shows such as Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Johnny Quest, Teen Titans, Space Ghost, Superfriends, Batman Beyond, Ben 10, GI: Joe, The Batman and other pieces of animation that came from other countries aired on the block alongside their favorite anime series. A lot of people tend to forget that because they have become blinded by a farce that Cartoon Network has a grudge against anime and wanted to kill off Toonami as a way to slap anime fans in the face, which is of course ridiculous.

Toonami took to the air in March of 1997 and was originally hosted by Moltar (of Space Ghost fame) who was featured in many of the block's bumpers flipping switches and pushing buttons to play the cartoons that would air, the block was immediately recognizable because it didn't look like anything that was airing at the time on Cartoon Network and it played nothing but action oriented cartoons that were primarily aimed toward boys. Toonami soon became destination television for those looking for a solid helping of action shows, but things really started to come to a boil when TOM was brought in as the host of the block sometime in 1999 and the entire landscape of Toonami changed when little shorts were created and a storyline was put into place through segments that would air in between the cartoons.

The producers of Toonami really tried hard to give people a special packaging that would eventually become as important as the shows themselves to many of it's fans, fun entry's like the Total Immersion Events (TIE's) became a big thing and story lines such as "Intruder" and "Lockdown" helped to flesh out a lot of the blocks characters, things like this is what made Toonami unlike anything on television. Throughout the years different hosts have come and gone, characters like TOM2, TOM3 and TOM4 would go on to sit in the commanders chair and it always seemed like a special event whenever a new host was brought into the picture, after doing some research on the web I have found out that many of the blocks fans preferred TOM2 and TOM3 the most while TOM4 seemed to be the the unanimous least favorite.

Throughout the years Toonami has enjoyed many different time slots while on Cartoon Network, it's most popular and beloved time was when it aired between 4:00-7:00pm on weekday afternoons, a lot of people also enjoyed what was known as the "Midnight Run" when in 1999/2000 Cartoon Network aired Toonami at midnight daily. Fans of the block were outraged when Cartoon Network moved the block to Saturday nights between 7:00pm-11:pm where it stayed until it's cancellation, many felt that when this happened that it would only be a matter of time until it was cancelled but Toonami sat in the Saturday night slot for a solid 4 1/2 years before it all came to an end.

One major accomplishment that Toonami achieved was helping anime to "boom" in the United States, toyetic anime's were doing well on Kid's WB at the time and fans who were a little older wanted something that they could enjoy as well, Toonami delivered. A lot of great anime shows began to air on the block and the industry soon began to grow like wildfire because of shows like DBZ, Naruto, Powerpuff Girls, One Piece, Gundam, Outlaw Star, Rurouni Kenshin, YuYu Hakusho and many others, it was a great time to be an anime fan in the United States (and all over the world) because there was such a selection to be had on television as well as home video and DVD release. If Toonami should be remembered for anything it would be that it was a fantastic action cartoon block and that it helped to popularize anime in America, it literally had a massive hand in sparking a revolution that went strong for quite some time.

Toonami's look and feel changed here and there throughout the years, things such as the wraparounds, bumpers, music and logo's would phase in and out and the schedule was always evolving but the same great taste always remained and that what made people come back week in and week out. Unfortunately, in September of 2008, after over 11 years on television Toonami aired it's final broadcast and signed off for the last time. Fans were outraged that Cartoon Network would cancel their longest running block and the network would suffer an immediate backlash that would see many Toonami fans giving up on the channel for the final time believing that CN executives hated anime and were doing this out of spite. As of this writing Cartoon Network has still yet to recover a good chunk of those fans.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Anime fans - You do it to yourself. Stop pirating!

2010-07-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

Today I have decided to tackle an issue that has haunted both anime licensing companies and true anime fans alike, today I am going to plead to the internet community to stop pirating anime. Now, I know this may come across as hypocritical coming from me because I am a moderator of a very active forum that promotes illegal comsumption of anime, while I do support the messageboard and it's members, I DO NOT support the act of illegally downloading or streaming copywrighted material. I want to start off by saying that often times I read posts on various messageboards about how someone is upset that a certain anime series or movie has yet to be dubbed and is not available in the United States, one of the biggest reasons for this is that there are numerous websites online that offer illegal streaming and downloading of both previously licensed anime and fansubbed anime that has yet to be picked up by a U.S company. Often times people will resort to logging on to these websites to watch their favorite series and by doing this they are slowly killing major distributers of anime in the United States because they are not reciving any money or profit from these websites who offer this service. When fans decide to do this instead of checking to see if it's on a website that is legally streaming the anime it makes it so that companies like FUNImation, Viz Media and Bandai can't reach out and spend the money to dub the series and bring it to the U.S for distribution, and therefore the fans who spend their hard earned money on DVD's and other merchandise are left with a limited supply of new anime being licensed each year. It isn't fair to the anime companies and it isn't fair to the fans who support them, so if you're reading this blog and you're currently downloading or streaming anime illegally, I ask you to please stop. There are alternate ways to watch anime besides visiting sites that are hosting these shows and hurting the industry.

Some alternative methods of watching anime free and legally would be to visit websites such as VizAnime.com, Crunchyroll.com, Hulu.com, 4Kids.com, FUNImation.com, Bandai.com, AnimeNetwork.com and other legal streaming sites out there, you could also buy your anime through retailers such as Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart and F.Y.E, plus there are multiple online retailers like Rightstuf.com and Amazon.com that offer a massive selections of anime and for reasonable prices. Even more ways to watch anime for fairly cheap would be to purchase episodes through iTunes or Zune Marketplace, you can also get many different series through Netflicks and other mail away rental services, some of which will even let you stream your picks from their website if you are a member. There is still a ton of anime being aired on television in the United States as well, networks like Cartoon Network, Nicktoons, Disney XD, SyFy and The CW air anime throughout the week and offer everything from toyetic anime to adult oriented anime that airs later at night, so there is definitely something for everyone. With all of these different options to check out some of your favorite classics or to find a new series I really don't see why seeking out anime illegally is such a popular method, I understand that money can be tight and all, especially with the way the economy has been in recent years, but with the ammount of ways you can legally check out anime on the web I can't justify people wanting to screw over the licensing companies that helped to bring these titles to you in the first place.

If you are reading this and still plan to illegally seek out anime on the web when you're through then shame on you, it's people like you that caused Viz Media to layoff a ton of employees in 2010, it's people like you that is the reason why the United States does not air much in the way of anime anymore, and lastly it's people like you that are the reason why people are having a hard time finding something new to sink their teeth into. The more you illegally stream and download your anime, the less new anime gets licensed, dubbed and released in the U.S, it's that simple. Thank you so much for ruining it for everyone else, in the end of the day you can watch anime a million times over and you still will never be a true anime fan no matter what you do until you plunk down your own hard earned cash to support the medium. Period.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

The Garfield Show - Who would have thought?

2010-07-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

The Garfield Show. What can I say? To be honest, I can say a lot, but the first and most important thing I'm going to say about this show is that I find it to be exceptionally good and one of the better shows currently airing on Cartoon Network. The only problem with this show is that it's stuck in rerun hell at the moment until the second season finally airs, but that isn't a problem with the actual show itself, it's a problem with the network and how they are running a 26 episode season multiple times throughout the course of a month. That's right, this show airs multiple times during a programming day which means that if you really tried hard, you could probably watch the entire season at least two times over the course of a 30 day period. That isn't good for the show, eventually viewers are going to see it so many times that they are going to forget just how good the show actually is because they will grow sick of it. Other than that one gripe the show is really quite fun to watch, something I was not expecting because of the CGI animation it was rumored to have (something I'm not too fond of), but it eventually grew on me and now I couldn't imagine this show animated any other way. Another reason I was a little weary of a new Garfield show is because I was such a big fan of Garfield & Friends and didn't think anything Garfield related could come close to touching it's brilliant legacy. And honestly, based off of the multiple CGI and live action movies based on the character throughout the years, could you blame me? The CGI animation in this show ended up great and is handled really well, the characters look a lot like their 2D counterparts and I felt the animators did a great job on capturing the classic feel of the neighborhood (where a lot of the story happen).

The Garfield Show tells short 12-15 minute stories of Garfield and Odie getting into many enjoyable adventures, some of which include other fun characters like Nermal, Squeak and even a rouge home cleaning unit that goes haywire and almost destroys their home by being too aggressive. The episodes themselves are written really well, but even though the show is considered to be a comedy I wouldn't exactly say that it's overly funny, it's more or less comes across as clever with slight humerous overtones. Don't let the fact that it isn't knee slapping hilarious turn you away though, the show is very well written and is produced by Jim Davis so you know it's going to have that classic Garfield feel to it. In other words, if you love Garfield then it's pretty safe to say that you will like the show. The point of this specific blog was not to dive too deep into the show and get into detail about every aspect of it, instead, the point is to let people know that if they are not watching The Garfield Show that they are missing something really different on television. I have talked to many people that have passed on this show because they don't think Garfield should have been animated using CGI and that it's ruining the characters legacy by not sticking to animation in the traditional sense. Those people are wrong. Remember, never judge a book by it's cover, I know it's a cliche` thing to say but it's true, and just like a book it's what's on the inside that counts. In my opinion, both on the inside and out, The Garfield Show is a beautiful thing.

I'm not going to give the show a review rating yet like I do with many of the other shows I review on my blog, mainly because only one season has been aired in the U.S and I try to wait until a series is completed before I go ahead and give it a full review, so instead I will just once again reiterate that this show is delightful and worth watching if you are looking for something fun or if you are a fan of Garfield and want to relive those Garfield & Friends moments through a new series.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Farewell to the Noods, it's been a pleasure.

2010-06-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Back in 2008 Cartoon Network wanted to do a rebrand and were looking for something that would make their network stand out and give them an identity through their programming bumpers, they looked to a company called Capacity to come up with their new look and it was not too soon after that the Noods, as they have become known as, were born. They started off with a very simple design, they were solid colored little characters that resembled bowling pins with arms and they ran around the screen doing a multitude of different activities that included skateboarding, running, jumping, fighting, throwing and playing jokes on each other. It was genius. Eventually they began making Noods that resembled different characters from shows that currently ran on Cartoon Network and the characters began interacting with each other in skits that had a fun atmosphere to them, in my personal opinion it made the network feel special. Soon after the new look debuted I found myself watching my favorite shows and being excited for a commercial break so I could see which Nood bumper they were going to air next or if they were going to air a brand new one, it was exciting to me and it was a small part of what made Cartoon Network so special. Come the autumn and winter seasons the network incorporated the Noods into their special holiday bumpers for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2008 (reusing them in 2009), it helped to keep the rebrand fresh and a lot of the hardcore CN fans were delighted with the segments as some of them were cute and had comedic value.

Soon after the Noods arrived on television, CN/Capacity began creating special Noods that would represent different areas of the network to further enhance special programming. A special blue Nood appeared on CN's Har Har Tharsday's comedy block, a golden Nood with a crown often referred to as "King Nood" or "The King" was the mascot for their Friday night action blocked called You Are Here, and a special Nood was created for CN's Saturday night movie portion called Action Flicks that looked like a tough guy sporting a leather jacket and a tooth pick.

After a while other representations of the Noods were created to freshen things up after a long period of not having updated bumpers, these spots were live action and featured large, non-animated Noods being painted, muddied, cleaned, covered in confetti and being photographed by live people. While they were generally liked, they didn't receive the same kind of love and admiration given to their animated counterparts but the Nood look was still largely in effect on Cartoon Network, in fact the only part of the network that still featured an animated Nood was You Are Here which still had "The King" as it's host.

A lot of people figured that once the live action Nood bumpers hit the air that CN was biding their time while they ready themselves for their official rebrand (rumored to happen in 2010) and they were right. In May of 2010 the official rebrand took to the air and the Noods were officially gone from Cartoon Network, I was personally sad to see them go but from what I had gathered I think most of the CN faithful were ready for a new look and feel to debut on their beloved network. Would I have dumped the Noods after only 2 years on the network? Probably not. I most likely would have freshened things up with new bumps and found a way to keep them around for at least 1 more year, that way consistancy would have been apparent, but CN seems like they want to constantly be moving forward and are often debuting a new look for their network. No big deal, the 2010 rebrand has been pretty enjoyable and the shows have pretty much remain the same, so all in all I'm pretty happy.

I've come to terms with the fact that rebrands happen, and in CN's case they will probably continue to happen often, but the Noods will always live on in both my heart and the hearts of many of the networks fans as a small, but fun piece of Cartoon Network's long and storied history.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Me flipping through some of the issues of Marvel's new "Heroic Age" comic books. Enjoy!

2010-06-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of months back I promised everyone that I was going to make a quick video of myself flipping through some of the new "Heroic Age" comics that Marvel has been putting out over the course of the past month as part of their new direction in storytelling. Well, here it is. Most of the artwork has been pretty good under the Heroic Age banner and the writing has been pretty much superb, some titles I am not a big fan of such as Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts but if your a fan of those characters then I can pretty much bet on you loving what Marvel is doing with them as of late. Books such as Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers and Vengence of Moon Knight have been very enjoyable and are worthy reads if your into the whole superhero thing (which I am), so if you are not reading these titles already then I would try to hunt them down as soon as possible before they become harder and harder to find.

Thats all for now!

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Comic Book stores, one of life's greatest joys.

2010-05-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

What is it you like most about walking into your favorite comic book store? Is it the cool stuff you see scattered all over the store that you wish you had the cash to buy? Is it the smell of fresh comic books that have been recently opened and set on the shelves mixed with the smell of the back issue bins? Is it the great characters that grace the walls and the windows that draw dorks of all ages into the store to spend their hard earned money? Well, for me it is probably a mix of all the reasons I have just mentioned. Honestly, the hard truth is that I love comic book stores and I love spending time inside of them even if I don't plan on buying anything, however I usually always like to pick up at least one comic as gratitude for the store being in business in this day and age. I'll tell you something, back in the 80's and the 90's there were tons of places where you could buy comics, hobby shops seemed to be everywhere and there was always a good comic book store in every town I visited, but these days the medium is a mere husk of what it once was and these kinds of places have become a rare breed since then. It's sad. Comic book stores aren't for everyone though, but for me, there is a certain feeling I get when I have a pocket full of cash and a couple of hours to spend and I am always on the hunt to complete a collection or to pick up something new, so large comic book stores with loads of back issue bins are where I feel at home the most. As a hardcore collector it's all about the thrill of the hunt for me, I try to avoid ordering comics online unless I absolutely cannot find what I'm looking for anywhere but I usually will travel quite far just to find a specific issue of something I am hunting, I also tend to avoid having a pull list with my core store of choice, I enjoy scanning the new arrivals rack to find exactly what it is I'm after, I guess I love the feeling I get when I find it and have the latest issue of what I'm reading in my hands. It's a great feeling as a hobbyist.

When I was a kid the feeling of going to the comic book store was a feeling of wonder and excitement, these days I still get excited but since I know what I'm after I always have a mix of emotions because even though I'm excited, I'm also nervous that the store won't have what I need, it's all a part of being a collector I suppose. See, when I was a kid I didn't really have a game plan as to what I was going to buy, I would walk around and my mom or dad would give me $5 and tell me to buy whatever I wanted so I immediately went for the Batman or Spider-Man comic that had the coolest cover or sometimes I would buy a Superman comic because I knew he was the biggest hero of them all. That was the innocence of reading comics as a kid, I didn't care what issue I had as long as it featured classic characters and had a lot of fighting in it, and I didn't care about buying more comics from the series because I was far from a completionist back then and just having a comic book with Spider-Man on the cover was good enough for me. As an adult you care more about completing a story, finishing a set of series or owning certain key issues to make your collection stronger, so visiting the comic book store as an adult definitely has a different feeling than when you go to one as a child but it still offers thrills and excitement non the less. Just different.

I will probably never stop collecting a reading comic books, I really feel as if it's in my blood and I since have been collecting off and on since around 1988 I don't see any reason to stop now, heck, I see people who are probably 20-30 years older than me buying comics when I visit the stores so I can see that they feel the same way. I remember more than a few times I went to a special "invitation only" 1/2 off event at one certain comic book shop and for every teenager in the store I would say there was 3 or 4 folks in their 30's and 40's with check off sheets of comics they needed, one guy actually had 2 long boxes filled from front to back full of titles he was buying right then and there. That's some serious collecting! These people take their comic books seriously and their collections seriously and I find that the older I get the more serious of a collector I become, I just don't want to lose the fun of it all so once in a while I slow it down and focus on having fun and being care free about my comic books, trust me, it helps with the psyche of being a fan of the medium. Well, I don't really know what the point of this post was, I just kind of wanted to discuss comic books for a moment and talk about some fond memories I have of visiting hobby stores and being a fan of comics as a whole, I'm sure you all have some great experiences with visiting stores near you so feel free to let me know of any that you want to share, but I guess I'm going to wrap this up for now.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Manga4life's "Hellsing" review.

2010-05-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

Hello there, I'm Manga4life and today I am going to be doing a review of "Hellsing", an anime series loved by many fans of the medium and one of the most revered vampire-esq series of the past 10 years. To kick things off I'll talk a little bit about the story, it starts off with a member of the Hellsing Organization named Alucard who meets a girl named Seras who was a member of the police force but soon became a member of Hellsing after allowing Alucard to become her master vampire. From there the Hellsing Organization gave Seras and her team a bunch of missions that seemed to drag on and on and sooner than later I stopped caring what they were after and I found myself waiting impatiently for the ending credits. Story wise Hellsing started off really promising but after a few episodes I began to get kind of bored with the dialog which went from fun and interesting to boring and predictable, the action was also sparse too and that caused 20 minute episodes to feel like they were well over an hour. I was kind of bummed out toward the end because a lot of people gave this series rave reviews and I was really excited to grab a cup and drink it's kool-aid, but what I find to be boring and bland many out there may find exciting and full of flavor, so check the series out for yourself and feel free to let me know what you think.

Even though the story was a little dull for my taste there were many things about Hellsing that I enjoyed, one of those things was the sound effects, they were excellent and really gave the anime a really gloomy and dark feel. Everything from gunshots to the sounds of the characters walking were very well done and little things like that made the dull story bearable while watching through it. The music throughout the series was enjoyable as well, nothing too top notch here but the score helped to set the mood and some of the tracks are download worthy (such as the opening theme), but I wouldn't run out and buy the soundtrack or anything, however it is worth noting for a job well done. One major selling point of this series is the character of Alucard, he has become iconic in the anime world and a lot of fans of Hellsing love his style of character, myself included, but other than himself no other character really stood out as being someone who could anchor this series and draw in fans. That alone is one reason I didn't connect with this series as so many others have, I usually enjoy many focal characters who are enjoyable and have some substance to them.

As far as the animation in Hellsing goes I do want to say that it's very well drawn and the animation is very good, it's dark and eerie at times and it definitely gives off the creepy look that the creative team was shooting for (being a vampire tale and all) so great job to the artists and animators who worked on this series. With all that was said about Hellsing, it's now time for me to tally up the scoring on my usual 1-10 rating scale, so without taking up anymore of your time....

Art & Animation - 8.75/10
Music & Sound Effects - 9.0/10
Story & Writing - 6.0/10
Fun - 6.0/10
Overall - 6.5/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Manga4life's "Claymore" review.

2010-04-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

Claymore. What can I say? This anime has been one of the most enjoyable and fun series I have ever watched and has left an impression on me that very few animated works have achieved. I'm going to start this review off with the story of Claymore and what you can look forward to seeing in this anime, but before reading on please keep in mind that this is just my feelings on this series and many may agree or disagree depending upon their personal taste so please don't take my word for it, go and watch it. The story kicks off with an angry monster called a "Yoma" wreaking havoc in a small village and killing many of it's residence, the town folk hired what they call a "Claymore" (Clare) to come and kill the Yoma before it kills off everyone in the village and through this event she becomes introduced to Raki, a young boy who's family was killed by the monster she is hunting. Raki begins to grow attatched to Clare and begs to come along with her on her journey as her cook, Clare agrees and the two begin to get closer and closer as the series progresses, eventually though they do end up becoming seperated only to find eachother once again toward the end of the story.

Throughout Clare's adventures she finds herself at odd's with the same organization that she serves and eventually falls into a group of girls who are beginning to see the twisted reality that the Claymore organization stands for and they make a pact to keep their motoves to themselves and to stick together, the group is targeted by the higher up's and are given a series of job's to kill some of the most powerful Yoma's in the world as punishment. These ultra powerful Yoma are referred to as "Eaters" or "Awakened Beings" and are the most dangerous of all Yoma, throughout the 26 episodes of Claymore you will see many Awakened Beings and some of the battle scenes that take place with these monsters are really some of the best and most exciting fight's I have seen in an anime, it's pretty spectacular in my opinion and I'm sure you will enjoy them too. One fight in particular that was really impressivee takes place between a group of Claymore's and a giant Yoma who is controlled by a young girl who is an ultra powerful Awakened Being but has not taken on the form yet, it was really impressive and very long so keep an eye out for that one. I would say that this is one of the rare anime series out there that takes it's action and story and blends it into a perfect mix and balances it out nicely throughout it's entire run, my hat's off to the creators for that and I wish more anime could achieve this.

The art in this series is a real strong point for me, I felt that the character designs were very well done and the animation was very fluid and looks good on my 47 inch television, so I have no complaints there. The music was also very well done, many of the tunes you hear in this anime either fit the scenes really good or makes the scenes all the more epic, so the composers really deserve some major credit in making a fantastic score that brings vital atmospheric moments to light over Claymore's 26 episodes. As a whole there really isn't many things about this series that aren't good, though I have heard some complaints about the blood and the way it sprays out of the injured as if a fire department unleashed their hoses on a 5 alarm fire, I have also heard people complain that the anime strays from the manga after a certain point. I think these complaints are kind of petty in some ways, blood does not always have to be realistic for crying out loud, especially in a fantasy setting, and not all anime series have to follow it's manga through and through, I believe that there is always room for changes and improvement and I like having multiple ways of looking at things. I don't think changing the story in an anime from it's original manga form is a major issue, it gives us alternative storytelling and it makes some anime worth watching, what would be the point in watching a series that is identical to it's manga which you have already read 2 or 3 times over? None.

Art & Animation - 9.0/10
Music & Sound Effects - 9.0/10
Story & Writing - 9.0/10
Fun - 9.0/10
Overall - 9.0/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and JD.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

Marvel set to enter a new age of comics.

2010-04-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

This spring Marvel Comics plans to roll out a new direction within it's universe, the company believes that it's time to get back to the basics and let their heroes be heroes once again and to put an end to the "dark" times that have plagued their comics for the past 5+ years. It's about damn time in my opinion. I can't tell you how long it's been since I have picked up a comic book and felt like I was being treated to something special, I feel as if the heroes that inhabit both the Marvel Universe and the DC Universe have been really beaten down by the creative teams over the past decade and it's affected the storytelling and the way that we view the characters as fans. Remember when it used to be something special to see Spider-Man show up to save the day from a dastardly villain trying to pull off a major crime? Or how about the feeling you would get when someone would point to the sky and Superman would be flying by and you knew that whatever the horrible situation was that ol' Superman was not going to let it happen? Do you get those classic feelings of iconic heroes doing what they do best anymore? Yeah....neither do I.

Marvel claims that their heroes will be "super" once again, apparently we are going to see a rebirth of the Marvel Universe that is going to be written in a way that both long-term fans of the books will not feel alienated and new readers will be able to dive right in and not feel out of place. This is all fine and dandy, but you know it's not going to be a perfect slice, something will either spill over and new fans will wonder what is going on or they will leave something out of the overall picture that the long time fan will become enraged about, it's inevitable and it's something that always happens whenever you hit the all important "reset button" as a creative talent. Another thing that some fans may not realize is that Marvel is not just doing this with it's Avengers like originally thought, but over the course of the spring/summer it's going to affect pretty much all of the core characters, I found this out through reading solicitations for June and July where they mention that (insert title here) has arrived in the "Heroic Age". Not only is this new age of comics going to affect the core universe, but eventually it's going to make it's way to the X-Men titles and Marvel even plans to release a slew of new series that fit the "Heroic Age" such as a new monthly series called "Spider-Man & Wolverine", a teenage team book called "Young Allies" and a solo ongoing title based on Hawkeye.

That's all I have to say about Marvel's new direction for now, I'm excited about it and I will be posting a blog once the titles hit the shelves next month and I may even add a video of me flipping through the pages to show off the art and some of the cool covers that we may see with the new initiative. Until then, make mine.....MANGA!

**Manga4life**

The blog is up, now to introduce myself!

2010-04-02T08:29:00.001-07:00

Hello there,

My name is Manga4life (sometimes AnimeOtaku1) and I am a huge fan of lot's of different things, primarily Japanese anime and manga. I also enjoy playing video games, reading comic books and collecting trading cards based on my favorite animated shows, I guess I am just a big kid at heart even though I'm in my late 20's but there is nothing wrong with that (or so I've convinced myself). I decided a few months back that I was going to create a blog, I know people who have blogs and they do some pretty cool stuff with them so I figured I could be doing the same thing, it took me like 4 months to get around to doing it but here it is and I'm ready to begin laying my thoughts and opinions down for the world to see. I have been getting more and more into the internet forums/messegeboard thing, for years I stayed on one solitary board and then became a moderator there but after a while I realized that my interests were better served elsewhere so I joined a forum called Toon Zone and another one called Just Dub's and I am really enjoying my stay on both sites, they even made me a moderator on the latter. How cool is that!?

I didn't realize how many people out there love to watch cartoons, I'm serious, Toon Zone is filled with tons of teens, twenty-something, and even thirty-somethings who enjoy watching cartoons whether it be anime or traditional run of the mill animation so I feel like I fit right in because everyone there....is just like me! Same thing goes for Just Dub's, there are tons of people who prefer dubbed anime to subbed anime and for the most part the members there are fantastic, I have even been adopted into someting called the "Anime Mafia" which is a group comprised of the best posters on the board, a true honor indeed. I am also looking for a forum out there that focuses on strickly manga discussion and one that focuses on trading card game discussion, so far I have yet to find a place I want to settle into, though I have been thinking of joining the ANN forums for the manga discussion. Anyway, I plan on researching a little more and I'm bound to find something eventually, maybe someone knows of a private group looking for members or something along those lines?

Recently I have been bitted by the Twitter bug, I know a lot of people from the forums I have joined have accounts there so I joined and as of this writing I have 3 followers.....yes, 3 followers. I expect my followers to increase as I add "hashtag's" to my posts and I'm sure some of the people I follow will eventually follow me back, so I guess I just have to give it time. It's been a blast so far though and I can see how some people can get as addicted to it as they have, there is lot's to like afterall. My Twitter is located at www.Twitter.com/Manga4life but I also added something to my blog that shows a few of my most recent Tweets at the top of the page, so if you drop by here you can see some of whats going on in my world (if anyone even cares, lol).

Thats it for now, I appreciate it to those who decided to drop by and check out my ramblings!

**Manga4life**