I was reading in Newsweek that 88 is the white supremacist online handle equivalent of Heil Hitler for some reason that I really don't care to know about. That pissed me off since as you can read my username for most things ends in 88. Stupid fascists ruin everything.

Anywho, I decided to vent in a single paragraph in a blog post, cause when I vent I blog and when I blog I blog my interests. Now that that's done its Trailer Park time. I had a couple trailers lying around (some new, some old) and I figured I'd post about it. The point of which is to examine new and old trailers and see how they impact expectations. Lets get to it.

Long Promos:


Eureka seveN: Pocket Full of Rainbows

Summary: Pocket Full of Rainbows is a really weird title.
I've only seen a bit of Eureka seveN on TV, but after watching this trailer I really grew to like the Japanese seiyuu better than the American voice cast. The music on this trailer is powerful and emotional and matches the strong voice acting. This music just really goes well with this kind of series. What I like is the fact that they aren't focusing on the mech suits with this trailer. For a mech anime, we only see the actual suit in about a 1/4 of the trailer. The rest is really focused on the relationship between Renton and Eureka which makes it kind of sweet. That being said, the story is still kinda weird with Imagi and surfboarding robots. Thankfully the focus isn't really on that in the trailer and Bones does their typical great animation.


Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas

Summary: Change isn't always good.
Saint Seiya is a Japanese show that has been around forever. Its similar to Ronin Warriors and came out around the same time. Its received numerous movies and spinoffs and even video games. So after saying all that, this trailer is the first time I've ever really looked at the series. That being said its trying to put a new coat of paint on an iconic series which just doesn't have enough radical change to be interesting, like in the case of Casshern Sins. It seems like its just evolved the models in slight ways from Saint Seiya to make them look more like every other anime that we've seen over the past few years. It doesn't work and makes a trailer with people who punch pegasus while wearing giant armor seem bland. The music is pretty cheesy, and dare I say fantastic. I can't wait for an AMV with the older anime to be used with this song. This show is only going to be direct-to-dvd so that might explain some of the animation decisions, but I was hoping for something with as far stretching a lineage to have some kind of hook.


First Squad: The Moment of Truth

Summary: Great
Like Production I.G. (Eden of the East) people should pay attention to Studio 4°C (Tekkon Kinkreet). They don't always make the best anime, but its always something new and interesting. First Squad is something new and interesting. The communist backdrop opens up a new perspective as most Americans and Japanese never really hear that side of the war. This trailer is action packed with monks fighting busty twins that oddly remind me of Juli and Juni of Street Fighter Alpha 3 fame. That's most likely the Street Fighter 4 media blitz coming out of me. I like the way the music opens, but it seems to be too overpowering when we get to the hallway. Thankfully it alleviates with trumpets. It's a good trailer and makes me really interested in if they can translate it into a solid film because right now its just a really cool AMV.


Hatsukoi Limited

Summary: They forgot to put money into the trailer budget.
Have you ever seen a trailer for a Visual Novel. This is what they look like. They throw the general concept of the game at you and introduce the seiyuu and the characters they play. The only difference is that visual novels throw a million more things in the trailer to make you more interested. Somebody forgot that anime trailers should first have animation followed by story. If it weren't for the mangaka being famous, I wouldn't have even payed attention to the trailer. Its boring and even the translators for it did a lame job.


Toward the Terra: Type Blue the Origin

Summary: Its not a real trailer. I think.
Not in the traditional sense at least. This was a special bit of bonus material added on to the dvd. Its really more of a summary than a trailer, but its in trailer form and it only summarizes the beginning like trailers do. This was used to give more focus on the setting of Toward the Terra. It both works and doesn't. If I had owned the dvd, this would have been a part of the film that I'd have glossed over like most bonus features. It also makes it that they didn't have to cut for TV restrictions. So we get a well done trailer with strong audio and presentation, but we'd never have seen it without purchasing the dvd. Overall, the story is your standard super human persecution stories. Its just presented so over the top that its really fun to watch.


Touhou Project: Musou Kakyou

Summary: Holy crap this is fanmade.
Touhou Project is a set of Bullet Hell Shmups from Team Shanghai Alice. They've gotten alot of fanmade stuff (doujinshi, youtube vids, games, hentai) but this is another level. This was created by Maikaze, a group set to making music and anime for sale at Comiket and other doujin markets. The audio is really good and brings up the animation which is simple with non moving backdrops. I don't know how well the show is animated based on this, but its interesting to see how fan projects have been growing.

Short Promos:

Pocket Monsters

Summary: Gotta Catch 'em All!
This was the original trailer for the pilot of Pokemon. Looking back its interesting that in the beginning this show practically has Satoshi's seiyuu scream at you to tune in for the premiere. As much flak as Pokemon gets these days its reached a somewhat iconic stature. Yes its a mediocre show that once caused hundreds of kids in Japan to have seizures, but looking back its one of the few gaming shows that has ever crossed into the mainstream. Captain N and Mario only lasted a season and Sonic was the only show to really ever do well enough. This trailer was the beginning of a new generation of kids getting into anime.