FRIDAY ACE: “The Twenty-Second” Edition – Week of 1/20/08

Before we go on, here’s last year’s theme to the occasion to which this edition of Friday ACE is dedicated.

As of this Sunday, I will be 22 years old. 22 years of walking this troubled planet and it’s convention wastelands and making it back in one piece to blow out the candles on the cake. I’ll be out of town celebrating the festivities with a friend of mine but even though there’s the promise of seeing Rambo on opening day, I still wish I could do what this guy did for his movie trailer.

This is Sakichi Sato. You may recognize him as Charlie Brown in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Others know him as the screenwriter for Gozu and Ichi The Killer and for directing Tokyo Zombie.

Anyways, click the pic to see the Greatest Movie Trailer of 2008 which consists of him being surrounded by cameras and screaming the synopsis of his forthcoming anthology film, “Sonna Mucha Na!!” (lit. That’s So Stupid!!). I can only dream of being able to get away with that for an R5 Central promo.

Anyways, it’ll be slightly shorter than usual as I’m preparing for transit to said vacation but nevertheless, here is this week’s Friday ACE!

–Kamen Rider Den-O has finally wrapped up (My full thoughts on this being reserved for Episodes 50 and 51 of R5 Central), Kamen Rider Kiva is only two days away from making its premiere and the fandom is already bracing themselves for fangasms. In the meantime, here’s a snippet from the press conference:

Expect a full write up when I get the chance 😛

–Kotaku linked to a list of 5 Amazing Game Inspired Music Videos but posted one that was all but left out. Here for your viewing pleasure, DJ Shadow’s “This Time (I’m Gonna Try It My Way)”

-Ever wonder what would happen if you mixed Garfield and Final Fantasy.

Neither did I.

–Remember that Haruhi statue outside that game shop? Somebody looked up her skirt. (Possibly NSFW)

–So somebody posted a screenshot of Random Japanese in Resident Evil Extinction

Here’s what it really means according to Kotaku.com:

Note that the Kanji has absolutely nothing to do with “Tokyo Metro” or “Zatoichi Square”. It looked like they picked random characters out: 夜空雪風 “Night, sky, snow, wind” and 考楽火月星 “Thought, music, fire, moon, star.” If it was Tokyo Metro it would be written 東京地下鉄 or 東京メトロ. I’m not sure about Zatoichi Square, because it doesn’t actually exist. But there’s a series of films called Zatoichi (座頭市), a blind swordsman. So I guess it might be called 座頭市ズスクウェア.

Maybe I wasn’t the only one that noticed it. But anyway, I found it hilarious, it’s as if they didn’t expect people who know Japanese to watch it. Idiots. Or maybe it’s some post-apocalyptic Tokyo where all the characters are changed and don’t make sense anymore. Congratulations, Paul W. S. Anderson and his team!

Real smooth there guys. You made Hyper Williams look good for a second. Then we sobered up.

–X Japan Reunion Concert. Need I say more?

X Japan will perform in the Tokyo Dome, which is among the largest arenas in Japan, on March 28 and 30. Those dates had been previously reported in the Japanese press. “X Japan Kōgeki Saikai 2008 I.V. ~Hametsu ni Mukatte” (“X Japan’s Attack Resumes 2008 I.V.: Heading Towards Destruction”) will be X Japan’s first full-length concert since it performed at the same locale on December 31, 1997, and the first since the death of guitarist Hideto “Hide” Matsumoto on May 2, 1998. The four surviving members — Toshimitsu “Toshi” Deyama, Yoshiki, Tomoaki “Pata” Ishizuka, and Hiroshi “Heath” Morie — will all return for both nights, which have been titled “Night of Destruction” and “Night of Creation.”

In the words of Keith, BUEEEEEEEEEEENO!

-And finally, as a final number to go out on, I kept my promise made in Justice ACE and finally made my own rendition of Kumikyoku (Musical Suite) [Nico Nico Douga]. Ladies and gents, I present to you…KUMIKYOKU [NICO NICO DOUGA] VER Gaijinder!!!!

And now, the newsbits
–So Much For Playing Lineage II (Gamespot)
–Ken Watanabe is a Vampire (Tokyograph)
–A Look At The Japanese Grindhouse Set That’s Got Me Drooling
–Three Cheers For The Hong Kong Pirates (Kaiju Shakedown)
–God Loves, Naruto Kills (ANN)

That’s it for this special edition of Friday ACE. And now, a guy playing a Vegetable Trumpet