Last week at Toy Fair, I got to wander through Square Enix’s booth of delights. I’d be hard to pick a favorite figure, since there were so many cool ones–they even had plenty of jewelry on display!–but by far the cutest thing I saw was this 10-inch Kingdom Hearts figure of Sora. Will I save up that $129.99 in time for its release this summer? Probably not, but maybe someone else in the office will get one that I can enjoy from afar!

Who else watched the 81st Academy Awards a couple days ago? I thought I had done a pretty good job of keeping up with movies this year, but by my count, I’ve only seen 4 of the films nominated (The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire, and Waltz with Bashir). However, one movie I definitely want to check out sometime soon is Kato Kunio’s La Maison en Petits Cubes, if for no other reason than that his acceptance speech was great (”domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!” — whether that’s a nod to his production company, Robot Communications, Inc., or simply a catchy Japanese phrase that he knew Americans would get, it was well played.).

Also, I just want to say that I can’t believe some of the things I’ve been reading on the Wizard message boards about the Oscars. EDIT: I was in the middle of writing a scathing, ranting rebuttal to all the people bickering over there, but then I came to my senses and realized it was futile. So never mind. I just want to say, did any of you see Slumdog Millionaire? I have to say, it was the best movie I’ve seen in a LONG time. In fact, it was the first movie I’ve gone to the theater to see more than once since Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill duo came out when I was a frosh in college. Seriously, guys, give some of these small, outside-Hollywood flicks a fair shot. You won’t be sorry.

—Matt

So apparently there’s already a script for a second Dragon Ball live-action movie that could get put into production if the first one is successful. I’d be more terrified if I thought the first one was going to do well at all. Does anyone expect this thing to make bank? I’ll be really surprised if it does, but I guess I shouldn’t overestimate America’s taste. I mean, Mall Cop was #1 for two weeks or so. What’s that say?

But my confession is this: I don’t think ANY live-action DB movie would have been goofy and I think those who do are kidding themselves. Seriously, guys, Dragon Ball is really goofy. I understand that the cheesiness and the jokes about the ultra-long fights are part of the charm, and that’s fine. Sailor Moon is probably just as cheesy, and that was my gateway anime. But still—very goofy, and I don’t think any live-action movie could make that goofiness work without looking dumb. The movie that did get made just happens to look extra dumb.

I feel for the fans, though. Just looking at the trailer has gotta hurt. If you have to see what it’s really like, I recommend paying to see a better movie and poking your head into a DB theater on the way out.

-Angela

Is Anime Insider being sold at newsstands in Tokyo? Really??

Actually, I don’t know. This pic was actually taken at Kinokuniya, a Japanese-language book seller across the street from Bryant Park in New York City (they also have a location at the Palisades Mall in West Nyack, NY, right down the street from our office!) It’s pretty awesome that we’re given a place among the all the other magazines published in anime’s native tongue.

ーマット

In other news, a friend sent me flowers today! Just to make me smile. That totally makes me the most popular person in the office until tomorrow. Boo yah.

-Angela

This Game Boy has got some stories, let me tell ya. He has seen some things, man. Things you wouldn’t even freakin’ believe, man.

So anyway… after Comic Con I came across this display at the Nintendo World Store at Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan. This smashed-up original model Game Boy belonged to an American soldier who fought in the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91. When his position was bombed by enemy Iraqi forces, his barracks—and everything inside—went up in flames. When the fire was put out, he found that his Game Boy was still there and, despite the exterior casing being burnt to oblivion, still functioned, and it even works now, nearly two decades later. (This mad lo-fi cell-phone-camera pic can’t really do it justice, but the little screen still had a game of Tetris going on.) Still, all these years later, I doubt my Nintendo DS would be able to handle getting dropped from a table, much less bombed…

-Matt

The fourth annual New York Comic Con took place this past weekend, and the AI crew attended. It’s an easy one for us since we only have to drive less than an hour to get there.

I didn’t have to do too much—Summer took care of most of the business-y stuff on Friday while Matt and I were back at the office. She even got word on all of FUNimation’s secret acquisitions for the next year! (Not really.) (ACTUALLY SHE DID.) (Nah, I’m just messing with you.) (OR MAYBE NOT.)

It looked like a pretty good show. I had a blast joining Summer on Saturday for the Comics for Anime Fans/Anime for Comic Fans panel we ran, and the really enthusiastic audience made up for the technical issues. I didn’t buy much, just a few comics—every dollar I spent was one I couldn’t spend in Japan next month, so I was relatively frugal. I did really enjoy seeing the demo for the Ghostbusters game. Man, that looks awesome. I definitely want to get it, but I’ll have to ponder whether I want it for my PS2 or the Wii. Either way, I’ll remember not to cross the streams.

-Angela

I found this on Boing Boing earlier, and it is brilliant. Surely most of you have seen the famous Engrish.com, a funny website dedicated to Japanese pop culture’s apparent fascination with using our language for decorative purposes (as opposed to its actual meaning) and the hilarious (to native speakers) results that ensue.

Now, an artist named Mz. Kat has taken a novel approach to re-imagining these nonsensical slogans. She has selected her favorite uses of Engrish and redesigned them in the style of old-fashioned children’s story books. You can check out her growing collection on Flickr, which include images of her works and the original Japanese designs that inspired them.

-Matt

That’s the Doctor and Donna Noble (of Dr. Who, for you silly people who clearly need to watch more sci-fi) and they appear to be peering at me in concern. Maybe the TARDIS will land in the middle of the office and they’ll rush out to berate me if I get lazy.

Actually, that would be really cool.

-Angela

You might not have heard about it, but a volcano erupted close to Tokyo yesterday, and it got me thinking. For a country with 108 active volcanos, why aren’t there more volcano references in anime? I mean, there’s not even a volcano in Volcano High.

Sure, there are one or two, but it’s still like if every person in Los Angeles decided to make a movie but only a few of them ever showed a traffic jam.