Questor’s First Summer Sizzle!

Summer of 2001 was greeted by Questor Magazine’s Scorching-Hot April Issue. Loaded with articles and tantalizing summer images, the issue welcomes a summer pinoy otakus would never forget.

First off, EIC Bambi reminded people of how being a fan of a cosplayer in an anime event can be such as dangerous (and annoying) thing. Apparently, someone from the December Cosplay Event was hounded with calls from people who wanted to be friends. It was a nice thing at first but anything beyond it became disconcerting. And then the good name of Questor was thrown into the frenzy when someone tried to use the name to get in touch with the cosplayer. Talk about obsession!

The first big article in the issue was a look at the culture that has spread like wildfire during the 80’s and 90’s: Sentai and Tokusatsu. A good example of this would be Bioman and Shaider which were big back in its heyday (at least in this country). As bonus, they added a summary of the five final episodes of Bioman.

Neon Genesis Evangelion was put on the spotlight, divulging the truth behind one of the most butchered series in the history of anime in the Philippines. Snippets of some anime with religious references were also dished out.

To celebrate the season, Questor printed out a six-page spread with anime summer images. A bevy of beauty (and some hunks – like maybe 3 pictures with male characters – coz y’know Questor is made of mostly guys).

Regular articles Film Loop gave out three reviews on the (then new) Inuyasha anime; On Deck featured a one-of-a-kind TCG – Ani-Mayhem; Anime Dudette put the limelight on Faye Valentine of Cowboy Bebop; Audio Files reviewed Put3ska’s album (with a Top 10 Worst Anime Pick-Up Line somewhere on the page); Thought Balloons featured the different mangas of Records of Lodoss War; @nime paved way to the magazine’s own (and then new) website: http://www.anime-club.com/questor/; and Watashi-tachi introduced Visual Artist John Michael T. Lu.

Fight! put Yusuke (Yu Yu Hakusho), Son Goku (Dragon Ball) and Ryu (Street Fighter) in a three-way duel and the manga pages of the magazine was given to Mazinger Z.

Lastly, the Doujin Drawing Board recognized the great work of Magic Knight Rayearth fan Aileen Mapanao.

Summer of 2001 sure was hot, but thanks to Questor magazine it became a season that local otakus would love to look forward to.

*****JHAJR*****

July Birthday Celebrants

Usher in the rainy days with anime’s July birthday celebrants!

Here’s a little game to test your anime character knowledge. Name the anime birthday celebrants in the calendar and the anime they come out of and see how well you know your anime.

Need help? Don’t worry. Below is the list of names and anime. And if you want more anime birthdays, click the following url: http://www.geocities.com/sumirechan/bday_index.html It has an extended list of anime birthday celebrants, plus game characters, Japanese voice actors and actresses, and anime directors / creators.

*****JHAJR*****

Wish granted!

For all I know it had been a plan all along; it had been in the lineup; it had been in their minds (when I say “them”, I mean the execs). Pero ano nga bang pinagsasasabi ko?

Well, I’m talking about the airing of one anime I wish our local channels have shown noon pa. Noon pa kasi dapat ito lumabas at na-enjoy ng mga pinoy otakus.

I’m talking about The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. At next week, ipapalabas na ito – finally! – sa TV 5.

I was very excited for the young otakus na hindi pa ito naririnig despite the advance technology that we have. Coz it’s not like a decade ago kung saan naghihintay na lang tayo ng anime na ipapalabas dito. Now, we have the internet and (though very, very shameful) DVD piracy to see anime straight from its source country. In a way, hindi na tayo nahuhuli sa mga bagong palabas. Pero sadyang merong mga nahuhuli sa mga bagong anime. After all, hindi naman lahat tayo ay may-access o pera to have access to anime.

Kaya naman malaking bagay ang pagpapalabas ng Haruhi locally. Siguro, kahanay ito ng Code Geass sa kasikatan and thus deserves to be recognized by local otakus.

Now, bakit naman ako natutuwa at ganun na lang ang title ng isinulat kong ‘to?

Well, kasi months back, nagsulat ako ng article dito about why TMOHS should be aired locally. I really believed that it would gather a lot of fans and push the channel who airs it to much popularity. At ngayon na ipapalabas na nga siya sa TV 5, well, kudos to the station and thank god na dito ito ipapalabas (nakakatakot kasi na baka i-butcher ng ibang station ang pagpapalabas nito).

Alam mo yung pakiramdam na dahil sa iyo kaya nangyari ang isang bagay? Well, kung ano man ang naging dahilan ng pagpapalabas ng TMOHS, feeling ko isa ako sa mga naging dahilan dahil sa isinulat ko. Pero that’s just me. Hayaan nyo na at pagbigyan ang katopakan ko…

Here’s the link to my article on why The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya should air locally.

Again, kudos to TV 5 for this big show called The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and thank you for being the station to air it! More power to TV 5!

*****

Times are hard and I’m becoming really busy. May panahon na hindi ako nakakapagsulat ng article for a week. But I try my very best. Pakiramdam ko kasi ngayon, hindi na lang basta libangan ang blogzine na ‘to. Nagiging seryoso na talaga ito kapag nagiging tight ang schedule ko…

Thank you sa mga nag-ko-comment (kahit pasaway na comment) at sa mga nagki-click dito kahit paano (out of curiosity man o hindi). I can’t believe I’m on my 9th month. Pero lalo namang di ako makapaniwala sa position ko sa TopBlogs.ph. Can’t wait to reach my 1-year anniv. Pwera usog!

*****JHAJR*****

Ain’t your ordinary blackbook

Write a name and wait for forty minutes. Then no matter where in this world the bearer of the name is, death will surely come to him. This is the premise for one of the darkest, most exhiliratingly fast-paced suspense anime to date.

Death Note is the first story to come out of the mind and hands of Tsugumi Ohba. Following the story of Light Yagami and his twisted quest for world peace, Death Note has become one of the most popular anime to come out of Japan. With a plot that would keep any viewer on the edge of his seat, this one-of-a-kind anime delivers as sharp as the certainty of dying. Scared? Don’t be. This is just animation.

Now, GMA 7 has announced early this year about the airing of this deadly fine anime. So what’s with the long wait? Could it be because…

1. The (particular) local channel is busy making their version of foreign shows?
2. The (particular) local channel is busy running old anime again and again?
3. The (particular) local channel is busy re-creating old movie titles into soap operas?
4. The (particular) local channel is busy airing tons of commercials? Or
5. All of the above? Duh!

So until then, Light and the rest of the Death Note cast will have to endure waiting. But they can only stay waiting for quite some time. For then, the unthinkable might happen. So as precautionary measure, we are listing down 5 good reasons why Death Note should be given its due airtime soon.

Ryuk would run out of apples

Now if you’ve seen Ryuk, you’d understand when we tell you that he gets weirder whenever he has no apple to eat. He once compared apples to sex, so we think it can really drive him crazy to be without sex – ere, apples – whenever he wants one. And you wouldn’t want to know what this Shinigami could do if he ever gets pissed. He could start a war with some simple notebooks that he could steal from other beings like him and drop on earth to be picked up by unknowing humans.

L, Near and Mello might team up to get Kira

The master and his successor would definitely be able to capture Kira with their combined intelligence. Now that would drive the story shorter.

Kira could wipe off more people

Now this would end up with the reason above. With Kira on a rampage, the three detectives would be forced to team up and destroy Kira, shortening the series to half the munber of its original episodes.

Misa could grace the covers of men’s magazines

Hey, wait, this isn’t a bad thing! Once bored, Misa (being the brat that she is – but what a sweet brat!) could be the next cover of top men’s magazines out there. But then, with her being so popular, no one in the entire Death Note cast would want to be outshone. This could start a huge conflict between casts. They all might end up dead with the Shinigamis being the ones to survive. Rem on FHM?! Oh god, no!

And lastly…

The Death Note might run out of pages

Hey, it’s a long wait for the entire cast. So what to do? Well, they’ve got a pen and some paper. They could draw on it or write some poetry or a novel. Or maybe make some origami figures or fly a paper plane. Anything to take away the boredom. Or they might team up and deliberately do the task of writing criminal names on the notebook by themselves. Yes, it could be beneficial but what would become of the series then, huh? No more notebook means no more Death Note anime to show.

So to the (particular) local channel, please air Death Note sooner than what you’ve planned. Put a smile on our otakus’ faces with the sight of death from this great anime series.

*****JHAJR*****

Remember those Celestial Scouts?

Once upon a time there was a cat that can talk. No, this isn’t Puss in Boots. The cat had a band-aid on her forhead and was laughed at by a group of kids.

Then, there came a princess. Well, she wasn’t aware of her immense status yet. But as soon as she helps the poor cat, her first step to find out the truth about herself began.

Thus started her mission to punish wrongdoers in the name of…the moon.

It was no doubt that Sailormoon was one of the most popular anime in Japan. And since its first airing locally in this country, that truth was felt by Filipinos.

Sailormoon rivaled the popularity of shonen titles like Yu Yu Hakusho, Slam Dunk, and Dragonball Z which were also exteremely watched at the time.

Hmmm…now why was that?

In Japan, Sailormoon was the first shoujo manga (and anime) that placed the heroines in tougher, more life-threatening situations and serious plots such as world destruction. Here in the Philippines where not a lot of shoujo anime have been shown prior to Sailormoon, it was taken as more like an action-filled show featuring female characters (as opposed to the other titles mentioned above).

Regardless of the weekly repetitive episodes (monster of the week theme), its popularity did not wane. Children gathered in front of the television week after week, seeing the development of Sailormoon and the gathering of the other Sailor Scouts. Grown ups probably watched it for the variety of scantily clad girls.

Sailormoon had the elements of both shoujo and shonen titles, which pretty much explains why it has become so popular. Every episode is packed with good laughs, fun action, and good lessonsof friendship and love.

But perhaps the best thing about the local version of this wonderful series was the voice acting. There is no denying that Filipino dubbing anime is as good as the original Japanese version and the local version of Sailormoon was no exception. Usagi’s voice was perfect and sounded immature; Amy’s sounded calm and kind; Rei’s had the strength and temper; Makoto’s voice showed toughness; and Minako’s was cheery and flirty.

In this country, Sailormon was one of the few animes of the 90’s. Or at least until we learned that those Literature stories ran by a local channel back then were actually animes as well. Yet it was definitely one of those few intended for teens.

Sailormoon ran here from mid 90’s to early 00’s and surprisingly by only one station (ABC 5). Perhaps it was a testament to the anime’s strength which was not seen in other titles at the time (as most were shown with complete episodes after transferring to a different channel).

Now, with the emergence of Japanese live-action adaptations in this country, when will the Sailormoon live-action make its way to our shores?

*****JHAJR*****

An Anime Pandemic!

News Alert!

Forget SARS and EBOLA. Heck, forget A H1N1. There is a new form of virus rising and pushing its way to unsuspecting victims. And it’s a gazillion times deadlier!

Its scientific name: Shinobus Deadliei Spontaniei Moritus.

Commonly called the Morita Virus, it originated in the Japanese islands at an unnamed apartment. The virus was reported to have spread initially inside an unnamed Art School.

The Morita Virus has been known to make victims experience terrifying sensations leading to incessant vomiting and cursing. This virus has also caused major dizziness leading to delusions. Some victims have also been known to manifest extreme anger and irritation upon contact with the virus.

As of date, four students and one instructor were the most infected victims of this virus. Their names are yet to be disclosed.

Recently, it was discovered that the virus has crossed the Pacific and have reached the United States, with the most recent infection spreading in a Hollywood film studio.

Unfortunately, according to scientists, it seems this virus is strong enough to be destroyed that easily. It can easily adapt to its environment although most studies show it actually influences its environment more than adapt to it.

How to keep safe from the Morita virus?

The solution isn’t as easy as it seems. Honey and a four-leaf clover had been learned to drive away the virus. Spread it on your bread and eat them whenever you get the chance.

Remember, the Morita virus is toxic if not completely life-threatening. This virus attacks when least expected. Keep healthy and safe.

This is a public service announcement from the animeHOLIC Medical Society.

*****JHAJR*****