The new home for Dynamite In The Brain is DYNAMITEINTHEBRAIN.COM

We’ve a new episode up there today, talking all the best anime of 2011 and what we are looking forward to in 2012.

Plus Anthony reveals which anime character he most indentifies with…

Also, in case you missed it over the holidays, can I recommend our Xmas Special. We review anime related Xmas songs, and even if I do say so myself, it’s the best thing we’ve recorded for the show so far.

No need to change your podcast feeds as it is using the same feedburner RSS address. And it’s still on iTunes.

And as soon as I’ve sorted out some sort of cross posting plugin, the podcast should start reappearing here too.

Furthermore, I have some actual honest to goodness classic Awesome Engine style posts coming later in the week. Possibly a new installment in my ever popular “What Anime Really Looked Like” series of posts too.

It’s going to be a busy year so let us tie 2012 to the train tracks and run it over with Awesome Engine and Dynamite In The Brain.

Panel Beating is going to be a series of posts about notes and thoughts on convention panels I’m working on. 

I’m working on a panel for Ayacon about the relationship between wrestling and anime/manga. Looking at the two BIG peaks of joshi pro-wrestling, namely the Beauty Pair and the Crush Gals, I was curious in how that was reflected in girls anime of the time. Particularly given that I knew two series with wrestling influences (Cutie Honey, Pretty Cure) come from eras when joshi wasn’t that big a success.

Going back to the TV Asahi top anime survey of 2005, there aren’t any Magical Girl shows from those peak periods. The top Magical Girl anime from that list were:

1) Sailor Moon 1992-1997

2) Sally The Witch 1966-1968, 1989-1991

3) Pretty Cure 2004-

4) Magical DoReMi 1999-2003

5) Cutie Honey 1973-1974, 1997-1998

6) Card Captor Sakura 1998-2000

7) Majokko Megu-chan 1974-1975

8) Himitsu Akko-chan 1969-1970, 1988-89, 1998-99 

There were two obvious omissions that surprised me from that survey – Magical Princess Minky Momo (1982-83, 1991-92) and Creamy Mami (1983-84). Both did show up in the accompanying web poll though. 

Are there other shows pre-2005 that are worth mentioning in terms of popularity (ignoring all the post-Sailor Moon deconstrutions from Sailor Moon alumni like Utena, Princess Tutu, Pretear etc).

I’m particularly interested in any popular shows from 76-79 and 84-89 where fighting bad guys was the focus as opposed to age-shift wish fulfilment. Was there any need for this sort of story when girls were getting that story, in the flesh, from All Japan Women?  

What post 2005 additions would you expect to show up a survey around 2015? As much as it has the current fan fervour around it, Puella Magi Madoka Magica strikes me as less likely to be fondly remembered en masse as Shugo Chara. 

Here’s how I remember it:

• Durarara Donuts & Coffee Ad
• Golgo 13 Caffeine Pills Ad
• Murphy’s Irish Stout Ad
• Durarara G Fantasy Ad
• Lupin III Esso Ad
• Durarara Pocky Ad
• Giant Robo Fitz Ad
• Masahiro Chono 2012 Blu Ray Ad
• Kabutoborg x 300 Trailer
• Kabutoborg x Evangelion Trailer
• Chargeman Ken 20th Century Fox Opening
• Oishinbo MAD
• Gurren Lagann x Cutey Honey OP
• Neuro x Guu DX OP
• VuVu ChaCha OP
• Cat GONG
• Kawaii Jenny x Jason Statham Ad
• Lupin OP Paint Shop Version
• TV Funhouse George Clooney/Speed Racer
• Takayuki Hamada Animator AMV
• Chargeman Ken Fan Animation
• Ranma x Sexy Commando OP
• Transport for London Music Video
• Broken Wear
• Alpaca Bebop
• Hotchpotch Station Queen Sketch
• Hetalia x Bacanno OP
• Pokemon x Naruto OP
• Backyard version of WWE
• Yu-Gi-Oh MAD
• Evangelion / K-On Crossover
• Stefania Rotolo Live Goldrake Theme
• Durarara x Kyouran Kazoku Nikki OP
• Evangelion vs GI Joe vs Transformers
• Final Fantasy MAD
• Jumbo Tsuruta Mario Sketch
• Golgo 13 vs. MGS
• Golden Eggs x K-On OP
• TV Funhouse – Kobayashi
• Toshiyuki Inoue Animator AMV
• Big Fire Haruhi Dance
• Sengoku Basara x Giant Robo OP
• F1 x Sexy Commando OP
• U900 – Twist and Shout
• My Boyfriend Is The President
• Idolmaster x Ante Up

The biggest walk out was during Ante Up. Anime fans not liking rap music? What a surprise! Of course I’ve often found the opposite to be true in that rap fans will frequently like anime. From my point of view the Transport for London was the best video, as the open mouthed expressions of bewilderment on the audience’s faces was a cruel delight for me.

Are you at Amecon? Do you want a break from the rain and walking ridiculous distances between non-descript academic buildings? Then come to MADstravaganza, tonight, at 8pm, in the Dorothy Hodgkin building’s Lecture Theatre 1 (the main theatre opposite the main entrance).

FEATURING:

CHARGEMAN KEN | KABUTO BORG VxV | DURARARA | GURREN LAGANN | NEURO | HETALIA | BUBU CHACHA | FINAL FANTASY | SUPER MARIO BROS | METAL GEAR SOLID | KAWAII JENNY | K-ON | LUPIN III | GIANT ROBO | SEXY COMMANDO | RANMA 1/2 | SPEED RACER | KAIJI | COWBOY BEBOP | BACANNO | POKEMON | NARUTO | EVANGELION | YU-GI-OH | GRENDIZER | IDOL MASTER | GOLGO 13

Seriously, what else are you going to do?

This one missed out from being included due to an annoying glitch in the video.

AMECON
Saturday 14th August
8pm in Hodgkin LT1

What should you expect?

This? On a loop for 2 hours?

No! Of course not! There’s only one way to find out what the MADstravaganza holds for YOU and that is to be at AMECON! On Saturday 14th August! At 8pm! In Hodgkin LT1!

The review of the decade is on hold for a bit as I’m suffering from vertigo. However if I’m back on track by the weekend, I will be starting the other half of the project – namely declaring what was BEST. Can’t quite decide if I should go with individual posts or a traffic baiting “Top 10″ post (actually probably Top 20 or 30).

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Also we’ll learn why this man is about to make the worst life choice of any Go Nagai character.

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Talking of Go Nagai – this interview with the man himself on Egypt Today is really good. Interesting questions and some lengthy, insightful answers

What was I saying about shows influenced by UK telefantasy? Wikipedia mentions this showing owing a little to James Bond, but there’s more than a little of The Persuaders to it too. Jack Hofner and Rowe Rickenbacker, the show’s heroes, can be seen as equivalents to Lord Brett Sinclair and Danny Wilde of the Roger Moore/Tony Curtis vehicle. I dismissed it at the time, but watching the opening again now, I think I might be tempted to check it out if I can find it cheap. Which may be tricky as it’s out of print following the Geneon USA closure. On the other hand it was so overlooked, there may be loads of DVDs clogging warehouses unsold…

I wrote about Kinnikuman and this sequel here.

Following Prince of Tennis in the schedule was this other hit show from the pages of Shonen Jump. The tale of a young boy learning the game of Go from the ghost of a Heian era Go instructor to the Emperor.

I wrote about it here.

Here’s an old BBC report on the boom caused by the manga and anime: