Geek of Oz

So, maybe it's not really anime but it is certainly something that anime fans would be interested in. Madman have announced that they have secured a distribution deal with Hasbro Studios meaning that we will have a local release of Transformers: Prime in June this year. Last week on a Qantas flight I managed to watch 2 episodes of Transformers: Prime and I've gotta say, I'm excited for more!  Check out the full press release after the jump!

Based upon the series of novels and manga of the same name by Tow Ubukata, Mardock Scramble ( マルドゥック・スクランブル ), is a journey back in time to the halcyon days of my very own anime fandom. The gritty dystopian cyberpunk stylings are reminiscent of titles like Cyber City Oedo 808 , Ergo Proxy and the ultimate in cyberpunk adventure, Shirow Masamune's Ghost in the Shell . From the get go I knew that this was going to be a wicked ride.

Creators of inward singing, face shredding Beezlebub slayers, the greatest band of all time... the D are back. If 2012 marks the end of the world you can be damn well sure that it will be due to a master exploder related incident at the hands of JB and KG. In case you missed any of that, Jack Black and Kyle Gass return to our ear holes as Tenacious D in their new studio album, Rize of the Fenix. Long time compadre, Dave Grohl of Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone age fame also returns as drummer on the new album which is due for release in Australia on May 11th. Check out  hilarious promo clip and title track from the album after the jump!

In his last few films, director David Cronenberg has explored themes such as the nature of violence, the morality of deception and the mechanics of middle American lifestyles. These themes have been at times confronting and thought provoking. In 2005’s A History of Violence we saw how violence has defined a nation and that at our core we can be primitive beings. In 2007 Cronenberg presented Eastern Promises, which dealt largely with Russian organised crime families and depicted how we can deceive ourselves and those we claim to love. A Danger Method sees Cronenberg examine sexual relationships and the genesis of psychoanalysis through a unique take on the biographic film genre. A film which tackles indulgence, adultery and forbidden pleasure is clearly too delicious for David Cronenberg to miss out on but sadly it falls just short of the mark.

I must admit that the "harem" genre has never really struck a cord with me. Maybe it's the female servitude or ludicrously overt doses of fan service, but for some reason I absolutely adored Heaven's Lost Property. "Tomoki's life was normal until a wish-granting angelic android named Ikaros fell from the sky and started calling him master! Of course, thanks to his raging teenage hormones, most of Tomoki's wishes have something to do with panties. And that makes things pretty complicated, because one simple wish can lead to a rampaging robot made out of frilly undergarments or turn bloomers into bombs capable of blowing up entire neighborhoods!  If Tomoki doesn't learn to control his impulses around Ikaros and be more careful with his wishes, the chaos will only get crazier. Luckily, even with such a dirty mind, Tomoki's heart is in the right place. His hands, however, are a completely different story."

Apparently every person in the world has already read The Hunger Games series written by Suzanne Collins and so they weren’t surprised when it was announced that the popular novels would be turned into a Hollywood blockbuster. I have not read the novels and knew little of the film heading into it, I hadn’t even seen the trailer which has been pretty hard to avoid. I loved this film for the simple reason that it was bold in its ideas and executed precisely. The Hunger Games should be a new bench mark in how books are adapted to films, they may be excellent novels in their own right but when a book is converted to film it has to obey the rules of cinema, otherwise it won’t be entertaining or engaging and The Hunger Games is exactly that. The Hunger Games is the story of a futuristic America which has been turned into thirteen districts, which consist of twelve rural/industry districts and a capitol which is a hive of flamboyant costumes and advanced technology. Approximately seven...

The anime voice over industry is a pretty tight one and many of the same names tend to pop up a fair bit. One such name is Todd Haberkorn, the voice of Takumi Nishijo in Chaos Head , , Italy in Hetalia , Android 19 in Dragon Ball Kai and Death the Kid and Natsu Dragneel in two of my new favourite new series Soul Eater and Fairy Tail. So, how did this man of mystery make it into the industry? How does he approach the role of a fire breathing wizard and what life changing event will occur if he makes it to 100 episodes? All of these questions and more will be answered after the jump!