This is shocking! Completely and utterly shocking! I still can’t believe it, but it’s true. As far as I am concerned, this is just the greatest news in all of human history!

You see, people would often ask me what my favorite anime is. Now, I have a lot of favorites, so I usually will just say whichever series I happen to be into the most at the time. But I would do this knowing that if I were to say the name of the one series that ranks above all others in my mind, I would receive a blank stare of confusion. My all time favorite anime is a series that is mostly obscure to the general North American anime fan population, but those who truly know their stuff herald this show as the greatest robot series ever created. My exposure to this show comes from badly translated bootlegs I bought from a Singapore based eBay seller, but even through all the broken English in the subtitles I could see how awesome this series really is.

And yet, dispite how great it is, most people would never know about it because it’s almost 10 years old and has never been officially released outside of Asia. Most of the fans have resolved themselves to how this series would never see a legitimate release in North America. And that is what makes this news so bloody hard to believe! But thanks to Media Blasters, the same company that is bringing us Voltron, it is happening!

Finally, one of the the most awesome animated series of all time has been licensed for distribution in English!

GAOGAIGAR!!!!!!

That’s right, according to Anime on DVD, King of Braves: GaoGaiGar is coming to R1 DVD this August!

Never heard of GaoGaiGar? Let me explain. It’s an incredible show with hotblooded heroes, gigantic robots, and lots of ass kicking! It’s a return to the roots of anime, without any of the angsty pretty boy nonsense that has plagued the medium for so long. This is a show where the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and the volume is turned all the way up. Don’t believe me? Just watch this and you’ll see what I mean.

This show is so awesome, and I can’t wait for legitimate copies to finally be available on the shelves. Then, when people ask what my favorite anime is, I can proudly exclaim that it’s GaoGaiGar, the greatest robot series ever created!

FINAL FUSION!

Sayonara.

Ok, this is going to sound crazy, but I had this really weird dream recently. It was pretty vivid, and the imagery seemed very realistic. To the best of my recollection, this is how it went.

I was in a Toys R Us store, looking at stuff that I would want to buy. I have had this sort of toy store dream many times, going all the way back to when I was a kid. Usually the store is full of items that either are no longer available to buy anymore, or items that do not even exist in reality. It’s like a paradise for kids and collectors! With this sort of dream I am always left in a state of disappointment once I realize that none of it is real and I do not actually get to keep everything I see. However, in this particular dream, things worked out a lot differently.

This Toys R Us I was in wasn’t laid out like they are nowadays. It was more like they used to be before the business was renovated. There were long, tall, wide aisles full of action figures. For some reason, likely based on my experiences at a Toys R Us that I used to frequent before it closed down, I could judge from the look of the wall and ceiling that I was in the discount aisle. Score, cheap toys!

There in this discount aisle are some Ninja Turtles figures, and I notice that there is a variation on a certain figure. One figure had some orange colouration on it, while another figure of the same character had the orange replaced by yellow. I distinctly remember holding these two figures up against each other to compare. I had the feeling in this dream that I should be saving money, but since the prices on these figures were good, I bought some anyway. Then I had the feeling that if I was spending a little bit of money, then I might as well spend some more!

So, I looked at the Star Wars figures, located just further up the aisle. The packaging of these figures was very different than what they are really like. It was more along the lines of the vintage Star Wars toys, with large, full colour images of each individual character covering the entire card backing. The figures themselves looked about as detailed as the more modern Star Wars lines. But there was one figure that stood out, and I had to have it. It was Darth Vader, but he had a blue lightsaber instead of red! Woah! What is the story behind that? I can only imagine it being some sort of wild alternate reality where anything is possible. So I had to take that home with me too, and with it I grabbed several more Star Wars figures that were hanging from the same peg. For some reason it was understood to me in this dream that they were not very expensive either.

Well, since I was spending money on all of this stuff, I guess I figured that I might as well buy some more. So I spotted these white, rectangular boxes on a shelf underneath the action figure pegs. I don’t even pause to look at what they are, but for some reason I decide that I’m buying 3 of them. I stick the stack of toys under my arm and go to pay for them. But when I finally get around to looking at these mysterious items, I discover from the side of the packaging that they are sports figures! What did I buy these for? I have no interest in that sort of thing! And to top it all off, two of the three are exactly the same. How could I be so careless? I wonder what I should do with them, and take them out of the plastic shopping bag to get a closer look, only to discover a shocking plot twist.

Despite the packaging, the clear window in the front would reveal that the contents of these boxes were actually not sports figures at all.

They were…. POKEMON!

It is at this point in the dream that I realize that none of this has happened, that I am asleep, and that I probably should be waking up soon. I then feel a soothing sense of relief, because I know that I did not actually spend any of that money, which I had planned to spend for real at TransformersCon this month.

I guess this is what happens when just about everywhere you live and work is covered with action figures. That’s what it’s like for me, and I’ve always enjoyed that. But now, I wonder…

What does it all mean?!

Sayonara.

I had an amazing time at the Ad Astra convention this Saturday. I was only there for a day, but a lot of stuff happened. I’m not going to write a full report for this, so I’ll try my best to collect all my thoughts right here.

This is a very “grown up” convention, for lack of a better term. I love going to comic book and anime cons, but let’s face it, there are a lot of obnoxious little brats there, of all ages, that sully the experience. Ad Astra isn’t like that. It’s lower-key, and everyone is there to have a good time without being annoying.

I saw this Alien vs. Predator fan film called “S.E.E.D.” Not bad for something done by amateur film makers. Really impressive costumes.

Pan told me, out of the blue, that I would be eaten by a shark. I replied that the shark would not continue beyond one failed attempt at a bite. No one was impressed.

They had an anime room there and I saw 4 episodes of Sailor Moon uncut. Hey, this show is actually pretty good! The edited version that DiC produced all those years ago really did the series a disservice.

All of the stage ninjas and masquerade crew worked really hard and I think we delivered a great show. Nothing really went wrong, and there were some incredible costumes. Some of the highlights included 2 Boba Fetts and 1 random Mandelorian Bounty Hunter, a Ghostbuster, Shaak Ti, a Back to the Future skit, and my favorite, Listerine: Action Hero.

We had a ninja pizza party after our duties were concluded. Gordon Rose even came by and joined us. It was fun and we were very noisy. Because this was a special occasion, I succumbed to peer pressure and drank a BAWLS. Just one bottle was likely the most caffeine I had ever consumed in my entire life, and I was feeling it afterwards with a bit of a buzz. I got home very late and was quite tired, but couldn’t sleep. So I watched Revenge of the Sith again. All told I stayed awake for more than 24 hours. Wasn’t really planning on doing that. Oh well.

2 girls grabbed me by the arms and dragged me onto the dance floor. The reality of this situation was slightly less exciting than this brief synopses would imply, but I don’t care because it sounds good. Heh heh.

The best part of the whole show for me was just being able to hang out with friends and people I know from conventions that I don’t get to see very often. I really do honestly think that I am a lucky guy. It was an awesome convention and I had a great time, so thanks go out to everyone who made that happen!

Sayonara.