Ninja vs Penguin

Ninja April 7th, 2009

Chris Scarborough’s work is simultaneously beautiful and grotesque. More than just bits of anthropomorphism and Japanese pop-culture, Chris bends reality with lovely graphite drawings of mushroom clouds and flexible, porcelain-skinned characters. His digitally altered photograph portraits of family and friends feature anime proportions (not surprising, he loves Akira) and explore similar themes of idealized cuteness and perfection.

Chris Scarborough is a Nashville native who received his BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2000. His work has been featured in ArtPapers, The Red Clay Survery, New American Paintings, Texas National, and the Kentucky National among others.

Chris is currently in a group show at the Copro Nason Gallery (running until April 25, 2009). He also has an upcoming May solo show at the Curator’s Office in Washington D.C.

Related link
+ See more of Chris Scarborough’s work at his website

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Tags: Anime, Chris Scarborough, Copro Nason Gallery, Curator's Office, drawing, Graphite, Photography, Savannah College of Art and Design

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Ninja September 23rd, 2008

This year’s New York Anime Festival will be held at The Jacob Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan this weekend (Friday September 26th – Sunday the 28th). The Festival will showcase the best of cosplay, video games, live-action Japanese cinema, fashion, food, and the cultural treasures that gave birth to Japanese pop culture.

When
September 26-28, 2008.
Friday – 12 PM to 10 PM
Saturday – 10 AM to 10 PM
Sunday – 10 AM to 4 PM

NYAF’s Exhibition Hall closes at 6 PM on Friday and Saturday, but panels and screenings continue to 10.

Where
The New York Anime Festival is held at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan. The Javits Center is located at 655 West 34th Street. See our Travel page for directions and information about New York City’s buses and subways.

Admission
Weekend tickets are $55, Friday tickets are $35, Saturday tickets are $40, and Sunday tickets are $35. You can purchase tickets here.

For more information and guest list, check out the NY Anime Festival web site.

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Tags: Anime, New York, NY Anime Festival

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Penguin September 3rd, 2008

Rating: 4/4 stars

I remember the first time I saw Neon Genesis Evangelion. I was in Taiwan with my cousin. My cousin bought a VHS and was disappointed when he discovered it was pirated, but we watched it anyway. It wouldn’t be until much later that I would learn I had just watched End of Evangelion. And it was like nothing I had seen before. I wouldn’t know it was Evangelion until years later when it finally made its way to the states on the antique that is VHS.

When I finally saw the entire series, I was blown away.

Over the years, I’ve done marathon viewings of the series. Sure, there were episodes that didn’t do much for the overall narrative. And then there was the original episode 26.

Now, Gainax has gone back to what put it on the map and gives us a glorious retelling of the story.

For the most part, the movie is almost a shot for shot reproduction of the first 6 episodes of the series. There are a few places where enhancements are obvious. Such as when they first reveal Unit 01 in all its glory, ceremoniously being released from its various restraints. But for the most part, they blend almost seamlessly into the film. If I weren’t so familiar with the series, I’d be hard pressed to identify the new sequences.

The movie is gorgeous. I actually went back and watched it again just so I can absorb the beautiful shot composition, lighting, and color. I could easily follow the story without knowing a lick of Japanese. The cinematics are breath taking.

If you’re an Eva fan, it’s definitely worth your attention. If you like anime, you have to watch what changed the game forever.

- Penguin

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Tags: 4 stars, Anime, Evangelion, Movie reviews

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Penguin April 15th, 2008

io9 reports that Steven Spielberg will direct Ghost in the Shell based on a script by Jamie Moss. io9 seems to think that Spielberg will do a bad job. But we’ve seen that he’s capable of gritty. Just look at Minority Report. And if nothing else, Spielberg is a great director and a great story teller. I have full confidence in him.

Thanks to Ray for the link.

Update: Steven Spielberg is NOT attached to direct. The director was only instrumental in helping Dreamworks acquire the rights to produce the 3D live action movie.

” ‘Ghost in the Shell’ is one of my favorite stories,” Spielberg said. “It’s a genre that has arrived, and we enthusiastically welcome it to DreamWorks.”
…
Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul of Seaside Entertainment are attached to produce and brought the project to the studio.

-Variety

-Penguin

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Tags: Anime, Ghost in the Shell, Jamie Moss, Steven Spielberg

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Penguin April 10th, 2008

This past Sunday, we started brainstorming ideas for an action movie. It’s going to be an adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s “The Butter Battle Book”. We got some great ideas and there’s a really strong vision for it. Last night, I finished an early draft of the overall plot and structure. I need to go over it and make sure everything makes sense, then I can start on the actual script.

It’s going to be like a live action anime, over the top, gritty, but not too serious.

Should be lots of fun.

-Penguin

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Tags: Anime, BSD, Dr. Seuss, Structure

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Ninja December 4th, 2007

The NY anime festival is going on from December 7–9 at the Jacob Javits Center. You can check out the program listing here. And you can purchase tickets here.

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Penguin November 16th, 2007

I watched Kanye West’s video for “Stronger” and was struck by how much Akira imagery was in it. Several weeks ago, I had a dream (literally) that Akira was made into a live action movie. When I told Ninja, she scoffed at me, saying that it would be crazy. Of course, if I were to do it, I would write an adaptation based on the manga and not the anime.

If you’re familiar with Akira, you can skip this paragraph. Akira was a seminal work of anime. Even today, the visuals and story hold up, almost 20 years later. It’s about a teenage boy, Tetsuo, who gets telekinetic powers through government experimentation and what happens when he unleashes those powers on the city. The last 20 minutes or so involves Tetsuo losing control of his powers and begins to grow and expand. If you’ve seen the Trapperkeeper episode of South Park, that’s where the reference comes from.

It was this last scene that would be extremely difficult to shoot. CG has come far enough that it would be possible to render it, that’s not the issue. Conceptually, it may be too difficult for American audiences to wrap their heads around. With that said, since South Park did it, one can argue that America is ready.

After watching Kanye’s video, it got me wondering if it was really possible. Sure, some of the CG in his video was a little weak, but the core idea is there. Hey, if they can make Dragonball Z into live action or Evangelion, why not Akira?

Here’s more cool Daft Punk user videos:

Daft Body

Daft Hands

-Penguin

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Tags: Akira, Anime

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Ninja November 16th, 2007

Evangelion is one of my favorite animes. ^__^ I wonder if these bento boxes taste as good as they look?

Pen Pen looks so cute + tasty!

via alafista

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Penguin November 7th, 2007

Rating: 2/4 stars

Tekkonkinkreet is an anime about two boys, Black and White, who run a small ghetto. They eventually fight yakuza and other stuff.
Part of the draw is that these boys seem to have super powers. They can jump really high or do other crazy things. But they’re not the only ones with these powers.

The animation is a mix of beautifully detailed backdrops and rough sketchy character animation. This contrast works, giving the anime a very distinct style. Some of the best animation occurs in White’s dreams. These dreams are made of watercolor and morph and transform fluidly.

The plot is kind of thin and there aren’t really any heady themes like you would find in most anime. This is not to say it’s bad. But for the most part, you’re just sitting there waiting for something to happen and when it does, you kind of want it to mean something.

-Penguin

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Tags: 2 stars, Animation, Anime

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