When I first heard about The Anime Network I was pretty psyched. A whole network just for anime? I guess it could happen. I mean there’s G4, the network for video games (which I must say is kind of trippy to watch).

But now more details are being released and I’m getting a little disappointed with what I am hearing. First, one thing we knew about the network was that it is owned by ADV. I had hoped that despite the ownership they would have shows from a number of different companies. At least initially this doesn’t seem to be so. They are all titles that are owned by ADV. Which is fine, because I like a lot of the shows, but it definitely seems to be targetted towards a certain demographic. And I’ve also seen most of the shows they will have on. In fact, I own the ones from ADV that I’m even interested in seeing. It will also mean that if other companies want their shows on TV they will have to either work something out with someplace like toon network, or start their own anime network. Who thinks there’s enough of an audience for two 24 hour anime networks?

The next issue is that it appears it will be only available via Video on Demand. As far as I can tell this is a fairly new type of service that is not available in lots of places. It is similar to Pay-per-View, but not quite the same. You will be able to call up a menu and say ‘I want to watch Gasaraki’. And then you will be able to watch Gasaraki, even being able to pause it and stuff like that. Nice technology, but I know my digital cable service doesn’t offer it. So even if they wanted to show it they would have to start offering a whole new service they aren’t currently. I would have much rather seen them have a regular cable network like Starz or Encore, but targetted towards anime. Then they’d have a much larger potential audience (I’m pretty sure the number of cable customers interested in anime is much larger than the number of digital cable customers with video on demand that are interested in anime).

So, where I was once happy, I’m now pretty unenthused. Maybe they’ll surprise me somehow, but for now I’m not really that jazzed about it (especially since I don’t have any chance of even getting it at this point in time). Oh yeah, and there was one other thing. Initial word is that they are showing ‘uncut’ dubs.

Oh, and here’s a list of the shows that they are offering:

Well, this doesn’t really belong here, seeing as how this is supposed to be an anime blog, but no one’s using this for anything else and Trek has been a big source for both american and japanese culture, so what the heck, I’ll give my impressions on Nemesis.

First of all, there’s the obligatory joke: Staaarrrrsssssfleeeeeet (If you don’t get it, go play the Resident Evil game of the same subtitle).

More seriously though, the movie did some things right and some things wrong. It’s good to see Riker finally getting out from under Picard’s umbrella. It’s bad to see that some of the Trek cast have aged rather ungracefully. It’s especially bad to see that Data seems to have reverted to uber-scientist mode, spewing huge words and techno-jargon that’s completely unnecessary. What happened to all the progress he made in humanity? He’s NEVER talked this stereotypically during any movie or TV show. On the good side for him, he finally managed to pull a Spock, completing the parallel between the two (I won’t say what kind of Spock he pulled out of spoiler reasons, but if you’ve seen this movie, let’s just say you know what the next movie’s gonna be called).

Also on the good side is the parallel between Picard and Data and both of their nemesis… nemesii… nemesises… what’s the plural of nemesis? (that reminds me, if you haven’t seen Mystery Men, do so now, it’s a great super-hero parody that doesn’t get enough credit) Anyway, whatever it is, it’s good. Picard takes the relationship with his nemesis a bit too seriously, but that’s excusable since without that there wouldn’t be a movie.

Now for some bad. The bad science is in full force (even worse than Voyager usually is… do the movies always have to have even worse science than the shows?). That wouldn’t be so bad alone, but it violates VERY important Trek lore about cloaking devices: namely, that you can’t use both a cloaking device and shields and weapons at the same time (well, to be honest, ocasionally they’ll figure out how to use weapons and a cloak at the same time, but only in prototype ships and they sure can’t get shields to work too). This is IMPORTANT! Without that restriction, the Romulans would have trashed the Federation centuries ago! Not to mention the fact that it invalidates dozens of episodes and several previous movies where that most important of restrictions is a key point.

Oh, and let’s not forget the fighting. Besides several obviously tacked-on fight scenes (several of which were rather boring)… why has the Enterprise lost the ability to quarantine enemies in internal force fields? I don’t get it. And why was Picard’s strategy of ramming the Enterprise into the enemy a surprise? Oh, sorry, I spoiled it for you… get over it! He’s used that thing as a battering ram in half his movies and tries to do it at least once every season of the show. I mean, really, when his ship gets beaten down and he’s out of options, EVERY captain uses ramming speed. It’s a sci-fi tradition, and I can’t think of a single captain who hasn’t done it several times.

I won’t bother talking about the silliness of the Romulan politics. Bad politics is kind of a given, right along with bad science.

In conclusion, Nemesis is a pretty good sci-fi movie with great effects that’s a bit over-fond of using them. It steers clear of the most obvious cliches but fails to do anything really incredible. The plot and moral conflict is good and interesting, but not interesting enough to carry the movie. In short, the plot is a great hook, but when you leave the theatre you’ll be talking about how cool that ship looked and how great the space battle was, not how interesting the story was.

I once said that the reason I was so critical of Star Trek is that it is supposed to be the pinnacle of science fiction, and I expect it to live up to that standard. The response was that Star Trek IS the pinnacle of science fiction. Upon consideration, I’ve realized that it’s true. Now I just wish that pinnacle was higher: I feel like we’ve been flying sci-fi at half mast for the past eight years (more or less when Voyager premiered).

Yay! The Grinch is on TV. This is probably my favorite christmas show. With Rudolph being the second favorite.

Rudyard Kipling. “He wrapped himself in quotations- as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of Emperors.” [Quotes of the Day]

From over on Boing Boing, offered with no extra comment:

Your genitals as refrigerator magnets. The Match-Your-Snatch and Clone-Your-Bone kits contain everything you need to make a colorful plastic casting of your (or a loved one’s) reproductive organs. Link (Via Die Puny Humans)
[Boing Boing Blog]

Radio Free Blogistan reports that Robyn Hitchcock “daydreams as this week’s celebrity guest diary at Slate.” Very very cool. It is a shame it’ll only be for a week.

Those wacky Media Lab people. The Agoraphone is one of the more funky things I’ve seen out of there.

AgoraPhone is a free, uncensored, and easily accessed communication place. The word agora is a Greek word referring to an open air gathering place where citizens come together to discuss critical, as well as not so critical, issues.

Combining increasingly popular mediated communication allowances with old school public interaction, the first installation of AgoraPhone consists of a phone number that can be dialed from anywhere, and a communication sculpture installed as an element of urban architecture. From any touch-tone phone anywhere, people can call AgoraPhone’s number and be connected to the public place.

They’ve got some examples of people’s experiences with it. I think the stuff about kids interacting with it was the coolest one. Now I wanna call it, but I’m not sure what to say. Maybe I’ll just call once or twice a day and say “HI MY NAME IS BRAK”.

[Link found via Boing Boing Blog]

Paul Fix. “The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.” [Quotes of the Day]

the japanese may be weird, but that’s why i wuv em so much =^_^=
were else can i get breast scarves, the latest fashion craze, (and
trends come and go _fast_ in japan) along with pocky, takoyaki,
sushi, jpop, and cute ^^

because it is all about the CUTE! 😀

having watched kare kano dvd 2, let me just say…
Yukino-chan, you rock!!!!! XD XD

I found this over on my friends page on LiveJournal.

There are many other Happy Bunny Stickers to choose from too. I may have to pick some of these up. I can’t decide between the one above and ‘You Smell Like Butt’. The Just Plain Mean stickers are pretty cool too.