Anime Roundup

Yes, it's finally time for another Anime Roundup! Hisashiburi ("it's been a while"). But even though the last roundup was back in January (and was just for one show, Attack on Titan), I have been mostly keeping up with my requisite viewing of anime, in between all the Ahsoka and Ladybug stuff. Besides the new seasons of Ultraman, Mushoku Tensei, and Demon Slayer, here are some of the other shows I have consumed/am consuming:

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

This is another entry in the subgenre of "middle-aged guy dies and then wakes up as someone or something else in a parallel, D&D-type universe" type of portal fantasy, along the lines of the aforementioned Mushoku Tensei and Uncle From Another World (both of which I talked about in an Anime Roundup post from last December). In this one, our hero is reincarnated as a small, gelatinous blob that would ordinarily be at the bottom of the totem pole of creatures in his new home, but instead he's able, through a combination of lucky breaks and his own wits, to accumulate so many skills and abilities that he eventually turns into a borderline-overpowered entity who oversees an entire country. It starts off a little slow but eventually picks up speed and, like other similar shows, has all the things I enjoy (action, magic, drama, comedy, romance).

Kimi No Todoke

This is a gentle and wistful coming-of-age romantic comedy about a shy teenage girl who is teased and shunned by classmates - because she looks like the character from the Japanese horror film The Ring - until one day a popular ikemen ("hot guy") classmate talks to and befriends her, causing her life to change. There's also a live-action adaptation that I watched more-or-less concurrently (always a fun experience) and, despite the fact that it ended up in a place that you could - spoiler alert - basically expect, I've heard there will be a new season coming in 2024. I will be there.

KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!

Yet another "main character dies and is revived in another world" portal fantasy! But this one puts its own twists on it, like making the protagonist a teenager rather than middle-aged, and instead of gaining new powers, he takes the entity (in this case, an absent-minded goddess) who was responsible for his reincarnation along with him into the new world. I had been wanting to check it out for a while, but for some strange reason all the places I could find it in only had it in dub, and as you know if you've been keeping up with these roundup posts, I am a subtitle-only snob. Then it finally showed up on Hulu with subs, and I was like, yatta (yay)! But then to my dismay, I soon discovered that after the first couple of minutes of each episode, the subtitles started to lag behind the actual dialogue, making for a very disorienting viewing experience (my tourist-level Japanese-language skills were of little help). At first I thought this might be a one-episode issue, but no, it's ALL OF THEM. Naze ("why"), Hulu, naze??

My Happy Marriage

A romantic drama where people have supernatural abilities in an otherwise realistic 19th-century setting? Yes, please. It's about a young woman who, because she was born without powers, is treated with contempt and forced to be a servant in her own house by her abusive stepmother. Things seem to get worse when she's arranged to be married off to a military commander who is rumored to be basically a jerk. Turns out, though, that he's actually a pretty cool dude (not to mention an ikemen), and her life starts to look up...until more stuff goes down, as it tends to do. Full of satisfying emotional beats, this was one of those shows that made me say "man, this is SO GOOD" aloud several times to my TV over the course of its twelve episodes.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

I swear, manga and anime creators are geniuses at coming up with fun and interesting premises. Like this one. Yes, it's about a zombie apocalypse, but instead of mourning the loss of civilization, the young adult main character welcomes it with cheerful enthusiasm, as it frees him from the drudgery of his boring office job and allows him the opportunity to enjoy life and do the (wholesome) things he's always wanted to do (hence, "Bucket List of the Dead"). As you might imagine, this idea practically writes itself. There is a live-action movie adaptation that Netflix dropped around the same time, but since the anime episodes are being released weekly (biweekly? randomly?) I haven't watched the movie yet, since I don't want to know how the story ends. Manga readers, don't tell me what happens!

4-D Is Here!

Now that every track on Second Player Score's latest release 4-D has been launched, it's time to reveal the official entire album, complete with cover art!

It features the main characters of the underlying story, Wynn and their fourth-dimensional companion Gogo. As for the story itself, some of the details have changed over time, but the main plot (inspired by things like Pokemon and Avatar: The Last Airbender) is essentially the same: four kids become involved in a high-stakes scavenger hunt to retrieve powerful objects from the fourth spatial dimension in order to make their dreams come true... but, of course, nothing is as it seems.

The tie-in novella that was originally planned has been put on the shelf for now, but the associated card game is still in production. And we also have concepts and ideas for a possible TV show adaptation. In the meantime, you can check out the rest of the album's artwork and order a CD copy of it (do people still listen to CDs? Of course they do!) at this link.

Hold My Beer In Progress

Preproduction on Hold My Beer has officially begun! I mean, we already had a script, storyboards, a few actors, and a couple of locations lined up, but now that we've been approved for the grant from the Vancouver Culture, Arts and Heritage Commission (as mentioned in this previous post), activity is ramping up.

This past weekend, we did our first filmed chemistry read with two of our cast members, Karen Krejcha and Kevin Coy, both of whom knocked it out of the park! So now we'll be working to fill out the rest of our cast (which is kind of the priority, since if we don't have a cast, we don't have a film) while juggling any number of other items on the to-do list. Ah, the joys of indie filmmaking...

Also, tomorrow Second Player Score will be dropping the final track off our latest album 4-D, titled "Everything's Fine." It's a mellow, acoustic (with ukulele!) song meant to evoke images of sitting around a campfire during the denouement chapter of the story, where the heroes are licking their wounds and celebrating their victory over the bad guys. Here are the lyrics:

Things will always change and they will never, ever be the same

But well, hey, that's okay

Didn't really like them anyway

Beaten up and broken down from playing all your games

Bottom line, I won't whine

As long as there's a sun still left to shine

'Cause everything's fine

Take a breath, and calm yourself

Stay focused on the now

Like they say, come what may

Get a little better every day

Don't you worry, just relax and it will all work out somehow

So unwind, clear your mind

And wait for life to send some kind of sign

'Cause everything's fine

Check it out on all the usual streaming platforms!

I Was A Production Assistant On A Film Set!

For the past three days, I had the privilege and pleasure of being a Production Assistant on the set of a brilliant documentary-in-progress called Our Mr. Matsura. Directed by my good friend and awesome independent filmmaker Beth Harrington, it tells the story of a photographer named Frank Matsura who journeyed from Japan to live in rural Washington state in the early 1900s.

Beth was kind enough to let me join the production during the time it spent filming in Seattle, where I had the opportunity to learn and observe the ins-and-outs of filmmaking while performing typical Production Assistant duties like watching equipment (a job apparently called "Fire Watch" in show biz language), moving equipment, driving crew members around, and picking up lunch. Locations included a store called Vintage Posters, Photographs, Postcards and Ephemera, the Lake View Cemetery (where Bruce and Brandon Lee are buried!), and the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington (pictured above).

Big thanks to Beth and the incredible, gracious crew (Nora, Kevin, Asia, Caitlin, and Jordan) for being patient with me and answering my questions. I learned a lot and had a great time while (hopefully) lending a helping hand. All in all, it was a terrific experience and an invaluable education as I attempt to level up my filmmaking skills in preparation for Hold My Beer.

Oh, and tomorrow, my band/multimedia production team Second Player Score will be dropping the second-to-last track off our latest album 4-D. It's an anime-theme-song-inspired, six-minute-plus epic affair titled "Battle Royale" that, in the grand concept album scheme of things, is about the climactic final confrontation between the heroes and the villain, but can also apply to any fight you have in real life (which is hopefully not as violent as the one in our story). Here are the lyrics:

I lost the war before I even began

This whole charade was just a part of your plan

You only wanted someone else you could blame

Well now I've gone and changed the rules of the game

And you won't take me down tonight

'Cause all you have is selfish spite

So yes, I guess it's finally come down to this

And no, you won't be someone that I will miss

'Cause only one of us will stand in the end

My lone regret is that I called you my friend

And you won't take me down tonight

'Cause all you have is selfish spite

And I will take you down tonight

'Cause we both know that I am right

And you won't take me down tonight

'Cause all you have is selfish spite

And I will take you down tonight

'Cause we both know that I am right

I don't care

And I swear

To mend the broken little pieces of my heart

Check it out on all the usual streaming platforms!

More New Music Tomorrow: Divide and Conquer

If you've been following this blog for the past five weeks, you know that my band and multimedia production team Second Player Score has been dropping a new track off our latest album 4-D every Friday. The first four were from the "Summer Suite" (4-D is divided into four seasonal suites), while the next four, which began last week, are from the "Spring Suite" (graphic below).

Tomorrow's new song is "Divide and Conquer," which is a song about, well, dividing and conquering. You see, 4-D, like all our albums, tells a complete story while still having lyrics that are relatable to everyday life, and "Divide and Conquer" is told from the Big Bad's point of view near the beginning of the final act right before the climactic fight with the heroes. This song is probably the album's least relatable one (unless you are an evil supervillain), but it's still a rocking, energetic track that is perfect for a good shout-along (fun fact: it used to be slower tempo-wise and didn't really work until our drummer Kyle, inspired by an Offspring song, suggested that we play it a lot faster). Or, I don't know, maybe you can relate to it, read the lyrics and judge for yourself:

And now that we're at the final battle

They come together like herding cattle

Since when they gather, they drive you bonkers

You'd so much rather divide and conquer

Hey!

Alone you know they won't last much longer

And joining forces will make 'em stronger

To kick their britches from here to Yonkers

You're gonna have to divide and conquer

Hey!

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Check it out on all the usual streaming platforms!

Things Are Happening

Exciting times!

First of all, remember the film project tentatively titled Hold My Beer? In the last status update post about it back in April, I mentioned that I was working on an application for a grant from the Vancouver Culture, Arts and Heritage Commission that would help fund the project. Well, on Tuesday, it was announced that the grant has been awarded! (it's going to Autism Empowerment, who is coproducing the film with my band/multimedia production team Second Player Score). So now, we can move full speed ahead, which means you'll be seeing a lot more status update posts. In the meantime, Second Player Score has been developing our filmmaking chops by creating a music video for "Daily Grind," the song mentioned in this previous post (the picture above shows one of the sets of the video, complete with green screen).

Second, the secret recording project that I talked about in this post has been unveiled! It's called "Welcome to Punky's MixTape," and it's the new theme song for the internet variety show "Punky's MixTape" on Twitch. We've been good friends with the show and its host/creator, Punky Bruiser, for a number of years now (you may recall us having a virtual launch party on the show back in February 2021, and also playing Dungeons & Dragons as a fundraiser for Autism Empowerment a month after that), and we are honored to now be the official soundtrack for their opening credits. You can check out the song and its awesome accompanying footage on YouTube at this link, and be sure to tune in to Punky's Mixtape every Wednesday on Twitch at 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern.

And finally, tomorrow another track off of Second Player Score's new album 4-D will be released! It's from the album's Spring Suite, it's called "Fourth Quarter Comeback," and it's about...well, it's basically about what it says in the title. Also, it features guest backing vocals from Dan's wife Molly and Kyle's daughter Fallon. We wrote it with the idea that it would make a good anthem for high school football games across the country. Here are the lyrics:

Let's see those rally caps go on

We'll seize this chance before it's gone

Stay calm I know we got this now

It's not too late to show them how

We're never giving up

We're never giving in

We're never gonna stop

Not until the end

You know there's still a lot of time

And fortune can turn on a dime

It isn't over 'til it's done

And then we'll see just who has won

We're never giving up

We're never giving in

We're never gonna stop

Not until the end

Check it out on all the usual streaming platforms!

Volume Nine Status Update

That's right, I said Volume Nine!

In this previous post from last month recapping the Volume Seven launch party, I said something along the lines of Volumes Eight and Nine possibly being short story anthologies featuring "bonus fan material" that would fill in gaps from the main series. Also, in this other previous post from January, I said that I was considering taking a break, maybe even a very long one, before writing any more Joel-related material.

As it turned out, I did not take a break. Not a long one, anyway. Instead, I ended up writing the first draft of a 9,000-word (approximately 36 pages) short story told from Felicity's point of view that fleshes out some events of Volume Seven. You don't have to know what happens in this story to enjoy and understand Volume Seven, but I think that for those who have finished Seven, you would find this bonus material to be interesting and entertaining (I hope). And since it is related to Volume Seven, it will probably, eventually find its way into Volume Nine, which, as the "ultraviolet book," will expand on the story contained in the "violet book," i.e., Volume Seven. Hope that all made nerdy sense.

Anyway, with that done, I will put it away for a while before starting work on revisions (at which point I'm sure it will expand to probably around 10-11,000 words), and in the meantime, I'll turn my attention back to other projects...or, I might work on an idea I had for Volume Eight, which, as the "infrared book," will expand on the stories contained in the "red book," i.e., Volume One. We shall see.

Speaking of other projects, tomorrow will bring the launch of another new track off Second Player Score's new album, 4-D! This one is called "This Won't Be So Easy After All," which is basically a warning not to underestimate your opponents (like when the Mariners played the Royals recently). Here are the lyrics:

Thought I had it in the bag

But I suppose it was too soon to brag

Because the moment that I felt so smart

Was when it all began to fall apart

I tried to walk before I knew how to crawl

I tried to run but then I hit the wall

I could've won if I hadn't dropped the ball

Guess this won't be so easy after all

Feeling overconfident

I underestimated your intent

I overlooked the things that you can do

So now I've bitten more than I can chew

I tried to walk before I knew how to crawl

I tried to run but then I hit the wall

I could've won if I hadn't dropped the ball

Guess this won't be so easy after all

Assuming this would be a snap

You wandered right into my trap

Expecting just a piece of cake

You found out what it would really take

You tried to walk before you knew how to crawl

You tried to run but then you hit the wall

You had my number, I won't return your call

Guess this won't be so easy after all

Check it out on all the usual streaming platforms!