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Celebrating Father’s Day With Giant Robo: The Different Faces Of The Word “Father”

Shance — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:48:41 +0000

Giant Robo has always fascinated me even after I watched it for so many times. The first viewing gave me what it had to offer at face value, and I couldn’t find fault in it. The second one was critical for me, because I got an even more powerful experience especially watching its climactic scenes. I watched it less at that point to get the plot, but as a person who began to feel for the characters on the show. The third viewing, which I did today, had a specific purpose: To do justice for all the father figures that played a great part on the show.

Please pardon the spoilers that will follow for anyone who hasn’t watched, or plans to watch, Giant Robo: The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Giant Robo

Robo was built by Kusama Daisuke, the deceased father of protagonist Kusama Daisaku. Although it was not the intended purpose, Robo embodied everything that Daisuke wasn’t able to do for Daisaku. It protected Daisaku from harm when Daisaku was being attacked by one of Big Fire’s robots. It helped Daisaku defend the Earth from the evil Big Fire organization. It even risked itself being destroyed multiple times, just for Daisaku. It was as if the robot had Daisuke’s soul, a clear reason for Robo’s “selfless love” for Daisaku.

Taisou

Though his relations with Daisaku is somewhat ambiguous, it’s certain that he cares for the boy. He phases in and out of being a father figure and a brother figure, to the point where he even gets his wife, Youshi, to care for Daisaku. Taisou does not only see the importance of being with, and protecting, Daisaku. Rather, he simply sees a boy with a tragic past. A boy whose past robbed him of his father. A boy who yearns for a father, a mentor, a family. Taisou and Youshi was fortunately there to fill in, even if they only showcased their affection to Daisaku for but a brief moment.

Oh, and he’s voiced by Emperor Wakamoto. ANYONE would want him as a father.

Franken Von Vogler

Cue in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore – “Una Furtiva Lagrima” .

I have to really hand this one to the guy: Franken Von Vogler is the ultimate father in Giant Robo. He loved his children, and he wants them to have a future ahead of them. He selflessly devoted himself into creating the future he sought, even at the expense of his colleagues, his reputation, and himself. Though it was regrettable that his actions caused his family to deteriorate, he never lacked any qualities of a father to Emmanuel, to Farmelle, and to the beautiful night he created for the world.

Our fathers have many different faces, many different ways to show affection to the people who love them. We need not count the ways (including those given in this post) to prove that they are one of the most important people in our lives. It’s only obvious that we give due credit to all the loving dads in the world.

Happy Father’s Day, daddies.

Alert!: Otaku In The Workplace!

Shance — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:16:27 +0000

Busy Sanae is busy, so get your eyes off that pantyshot and get on to reading.

I think I’ve explained this well enough: I am currently employed. It’s just me doing my job, taking care of stuff, doing what I need to do. Then suddenly, a colleague approaches my table, asks me to lend an ear, and whispers: “Do you have a copy of the last Initial D episode on your flash drive right now?”

*headdesk*

I now introduce to you people one of the interesting things that can happen to a working otaku: Hobby Acknowledgement. The eventful scenario where the workplace finds out you’re otaku, and suddenly starts to do something about it, either positively or negatively. Now, I’m not asking people to read this for future reference, nor should they shun their identities as otaku because of it. I’m just stating how it could happen, and what may happen afterward. It happened in a positive way for me, so you won’t hear me talking something bad about this kind of scenario.

The first contact happens when normal people (this includes those who know anything about anime, games, or manga, no matter how small) spot something that is clearly otaku on you. This doesn’t matter how discreet you are with it (if you are attempting to hide it in any way). T-shirt designs you wear, the contents of your wallet, the wallpaper on your cellphone, and even the songs you sing (especially those from oldschool titles that get shown on your local TV channel). If they notice anything about it one bit, consider your otaku personal space invaded.

But being an otaku shouldn’t be as shameful as a potential nopan shot, should it?

Now, after they find out, they’ll start to ask you a lot about your otaku way of life, usually breaking the ice with something that goes “You watch anime/read manga, right?”, or something like it. Those who are open about their hobbies will say yes, while those who aren’t will say no. Then, they would start to pepper you with references from anime or manga they know. It would then become a repeat process, as long as they see something that defines you as an otaku. No matter how rock-hard your resolve in denying, it will come for you. Think you won’t spill the beans once you get drunk in a team-building party? Think again.

Now, after the hard part of accepting that they know, comes the harder part of keeping yourself together. Eventually, you’ll have normal people asking you to let your inner self come out, again and again and again. But you’ve accepted that fact, right? Now you’ll have to accept the fact they will now ask your opinion of the latest material they’re having, or a copy of it if they don’t (guys with Intarwebs bluff their way out of this by saying they bought it off a shop or a friend). They will also pester you by asking from what anime or manga did your cellphone wallpaper come from, or what show or book will be good for their personal tastes. And yes, I need not say they’ll definitely ask for porn, did I? Oh, I think I did.

Openly talking about it with co-workers over a bottle of liquor: Not really a bad idea. You can talk about stuff, learn from each other (they learn about otakudom, you learn and understand how otakudom is perceived by normal people), reach a compromise, etc.

Now, this isn’t technically the next step. It’s rather an opportunity of “recruit” people to the cause of otakudom: You literally ask them if they want more. Wallpapers, downloadables, songs, episodes, chapters, whore yourself out. You basically become a slave to pleasing your colleagues hoping they’ll understand the passion you have, and ultimately, convert them into loving the passion the same way you love yours. They’ll ask you for more titles, they check your opinion regarding a show they’re watching, they’ll listen to what you have to say about what you both read or watched at the same time. It’s that feeling of acceptance that makes you forget that they can either accept you more, or shun you and label you simply as a nerd who doesn’t want sunlight. But hey, you can at least try, right? Good luck on that.

I’m still on my first few months at work.There’s still a lot of room for things to happen, but right now, it’s serving me my daily meal of lulz.

Not that I’m making fun of normal people…

The Calling of the Impoverished Otaku

Shance — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:35:21 +0000

Palette and Reimu Burger: Probably the the best description of my current situation.

They say the devil makes work for idle hands. I don’t know if that’s true. But if it means doing too much work, I might just believe it.

People, I now give you my grand excuse for my almost three-month absence: Work. Yes. Work. Work, work, work, work, work. Nothing for me to explain, that’s everything there is to, but sure, I’ll elaborate further. In an attempt to differentiate my preferences on work, I decided to take an opportunity to live the employed life. Day in, day out, working our asses for our well-earned paycheck. Just like freelancing, only it literally turns you into a walking corpse devoid of life, time, sleep, energy, and whatever else there is to deprive from you.

Some of us are still naive on what the professional world is like and how it can affect our otaku way of life, probably because A.) they’re still schooling, B.) they are currently unemployed (this includes people who stopped schooling and those who suck their parents’ butts just so they can live off of them), or C.) they don’t care, refuse to grow up and force themselves into a static state of denial. Now, I’m not saying that people should take the world head on like most of us who already did. It’s the other way round: The world took us head on, and most of us were taken by surprise.

To tell the truth, this scenario’s been repeatedly emphasized on certain media already, so we shouldn’t be surprised. In one chapter of the Genshiken manga, the senior members (Madarame, Kugiyama, and Tanaka) bade the club goodbye as they graduated. Tanaka sacrificed his location just to be able to work and fund his cosplaying endeavors, much to the chagrin of Ohno. Kugiyama simply got work, and left the club. Madarame, on the other hand, refused to leave the clubroom behind by getting work near the campus grounds. It’s the perfect example for this kind of scenario, where hardcore fans suddenly got cut off their way of life and were forced to compromise in order to keep up the pace.

Now, I don’t think I need to explain this: Everyone will eventually meet the situation wherein you must compromise your hobbies for the sake of supporting it, as well as yourself. The Genshiken seniors got their call, they heeded it, and it turned out just fine. Some of the people in blogosphere got their call, heeded it, and they’re still around (half of them, that is). My time came in, I heeded the call, and what the heck, chaos turned everything into alphabet soup with numbers in it. But lookey lookey, I’m still here.

My hands are still being forced to work for the devil, though, and I think we’re pretty obvious on the target of its evildoing.

A Rememory

Shance — Wed, 05 May 2010 14:41:23 +0000

Me, Mascots, a Flying Shrine Maiden, and More Than Three Years of Blogging.

It’s been a while. After all I’ve been through during the past three months, I’m back. There are many things I would like to discuss, but right now, I must do something very special for this day.

Three years. For three years, Rainbowsphere has been up and running, always there, never leaving. Technically I can’t even say it’s exactly three years since this blog has been up and running even before it was moved to Randall’s lovely domain. But unquestionably, it’s always here. And I’m proud of it, because it has always been a relaxing place for everyone to chat, chill out, discuss and debate on some things, and ultimately, have fun.

Again, I would like to give my thanks to all the people who’ve been there throughout all these years. First, to Randall for hosting me. Second, to my Dasaku neighbors, both new and old (I miss you Sasa. Really, I do). Third, to the filaniblogger community that’s always there, otaku-related or whatnot (ghostlightning, you’ll always be the first to come to mind). And last but not the least, to the guys who visited the site, discussed the topics, kept their cool, had their fun. There’s too many to mention, so many memories to reminisce, so much thanks to be given, and all I can do is cramp it all into this short, oh-too-sentimental blog revival post. But really, guys, I can’t thank all enough for putting up on me.

They said blogs have an average lifespan of a mere two years. I say we prove it wrong.

Me and Summer Wars: Rage Against The Machine

Shance — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:17:12 +0000

Deus Ex Machina

Let’s face it: Human beings of today cannot live without technology. It’s everywhere, from cellphones, to desktops and laptops, to the most critical of operations like national security, international relations, and even weapons of mass destruction. But we’re not stopping there. We’re never stopping there. The addicting allure of technology would only make us yearn more for its benefits. It’s not surprising to predict that in the near future, everything will be done in just a simple push of the button. But before you say Google is great, let me ask you this: Is it really okay?

Let’s look at the example given in Summer Wars: OZ. It’s the ideal world that substitutes everything we have in reality. From sports, to games, to legal transactions. Everything can be done anytime, anywhere. No long queues, no shortage of consumable content, no end to features that it can offer. Convenient, right? Then Love Machine comes in, takes over OZ, and uses this convenience to do its playful bidding. If not for the Jinnouchis and Koiso Kenji, it could’ve plunged the world into chaos.

Since time immemorial, humans have depended too much on science. They think that anything that has to do with science is fine and righteous because of its son, technology. Science doesn’t betray humanity’s faith and materialism like religion does, and most of the time it delivers the desired results. Even the weapons of war and mass destruction were given “consideration” on their creation. To kill an opposing few to save the many, it’s fine and righteous, right? Therefore we should make weapons for this cause!

But what if science suddenly betrays us? What if science suddenly turns its back on us? What if science suddenly tries to destroy us using the very technology that both science and humanity developed?

A good example of Science + Humanity = Technology FAIL. Then again, what about our mecha?

Humanity then started to fear science and technology. They thought that once they use them, they can never be stopped. They feared that science would give technology sentience. They feared science would suddenly generate an irreversible error through means and usage of technology. They feared that science would set off doomsday and genocide, and that there’s no reset code to stop it. Humanity tries to refrain itself from its desires, but the temptation defeats them. It’s like a dog owner and his dog, where the dog bites the owner, and the owner, instead of killing the dog, would beat it, put a tighter leash on it, and still have it around. If we were briefed on what happened to Love Machine after Summer Wars, this could be the case. The US Government would make a public apology, “destroy” Love Machine, and then make a more lethal but obedient version of it. What happens after, I don’t want to know. More like I’m scared on the capabilities of the program way too much to even imagine what happens after the aftermath. If the plot and events of the movie failed on the way they effectively restricted the dangerous possibilities the concept of the technology, it would screw everything up. And I mean everything.

So is overdependence to technology really okay? I don’t think so.

Me and Summer Wars: Respect Your Elders, Or Else Grandma Sakae Will Get You

Shance — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:19:28 +0000

The most badass grandma deserves only the most badass image from the most badass wallpaper.

I never was a fan of Summer Wars before. More like I shunned it until my reemergence from hiatus. Everyone around me was going “Go watch Summer Wars!”, “You need to watch Summer Wars!” everytime, everywhere. Now I know why, and I think I should thank them.

Summer Wars is so great, you can’t summarize the movie in a single post, let alone try to combine all the important factors of the movie in one article. There’s never a dull moment, each minute has its own meaning, and the characters are oh-so-dramatic on their roles. And since we’re on the topic of characters, let me properly introduce you to the most badass grandmother in all of anime movies: Jinnouchi Sakae.

Fiancé Foresight

Grandma Sakae actually amazed me with her skill on this one. She simply asked Koiso Kenji if he’s willing to give his life for her grandchild, Shinohara Natsuki. When the lad answered yes, she gave her approval, and never took it back even after all that’s happened. She already knew that Kenji was the right man for Natsuki BY THAT SIMPLE QUESTION, and she was right on the money. Why? Because Koiso Kenji, the math prodigy, the social recluse, the son of an ordinary salaryman, saved both the virtual world and the real world. It’s as if Grandma Sakae knew what’s going to happen!

My Friend, The Naginata

Grandma Sakae is also knowledgeable in the art of fighting. She’s a renowned daughter of a warrior clan, she beats up people half a century ago, and she doesn’t rust one bit. So when that cowardly thief came to Grandma’s birthday pre-celebration to rub her the wrong way, she grabbed a naginata and nearly sliced him in half. Now, I wouldn’t say anything on Jinnouchi Wabisuke’s part, but really, how cool a grandma is that?

Ninety Year-Old Ownage

Ever after all these years, Grandma Sakae knows her moves, her connections, exercising her powers when you least expect it. During the virtual chaos caused by Love Machine’s rampage, she used her connections to personally contact high-ranking people, and told them to fight back and restore peace and order. She fought and defeated an A.I WITH JUST PHONE CALLS. It was a constant reminder that there’s always something that can outmatch technology, and that it shouldn’t take too much to make a stand.

A Forgiving Heart

But under all that badass ownage, a grandmother will always be a loving, caring person to her grandkids, no matter the circumstance. Grandma Sakae never hesitated to offer Wabisuke something to eat even after a decade of separation. She doesn’t see anything wrong with accepting a bastard for a grandson, even if they aren’t connected by blood. True, she can hate him all her life, and the same goes for him, but she’s content that even if she dies, the love she has for dear little Wabisuke will never be extinguished.

There are many more things that I want to say, and I don’t know if the movie has given Grandma Sakae the due respect that she needs. But in my heart, she’ll be, and always be, the greatest grandma in all of anime movie history. She lived her life to the fullest, she loves her family to the point of giving her life to keep it together, and she simply kicks ass.

If the laws of nature allowed it, I would love to have her as my Obaa-chan.

The Ennui Of The Slavery Against The Countdown To Freedom

Shance — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:42:19 +0000

Ugh…

I have one more week of work before I take my much-anticipated leave. I know I shouldn’t complain when I’m about to savor some benefit from my toil, but the following days passed by with RAEG, frustration, procrastination, sarcasm, irony, and lulz.

Not that anyone can help it, but stress relief is hard to find even with its many forms. Not even the Internet can save me. As if all the time in the world was concentrated in a single spot that it draws attention, absorbs it, and drains all of it altogether not leaving a single bit of it to chance. And time always finds its way to do things it wants to the point where it’s passing by when you know it’s stopped, even for a moment. Now everyone’s dumping all the work at me on this final week, and they seem happy about it.

Damn fuckers…

So, how does this post help? Stress relief? Somehow, yeah. To be able to let the world know I’M HEEEEEEEERE, DAMMIT! I’M WORKING MY ASS OFF LIKE ATLAS CARRYING THIS STUPID INSIPID WORLD! I know, it’s annoying and it doesn’t help to complain. But complaining is one of the things I do by the habit, and I somehow find comfort in doing so. Sounds annoying, no? Bet it is, not that it concerns you.

But let’s leave it at that for now. At least I get a bit of stress relief on this post. When my leave takes effect, let’s see how their sorry little asses go fuck their shits by doing my share of work, swearing and telling themselves, “Godfuckingdammit, we could’ve dumped more work on the bitch…”. And by the time I get back to work, I’ll expect fewer people who know me, or a running petition to get me kicked out of my cubicle.

Sweet shit.

Site Revamp!

Shance — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 07:58:06 +0000

Your site just got a new haircut.

So yeah, with the help of mellow_bunny, Rakkun, and Ryan, we pulled this uber great theme out of something meh, to something AUSUM. I think my CSS Mastery has been upped a level. Applause, applause!

Widgets and other controls are moved down on the bottom of the page (scroll down, scroll dooooown), while the pages are moved into slides just below the header (now scroll back up, back uuuuup) to give good emphasis, which is by the way, BEEYOOTIFOOLY animated. We had qualms on setting borders, but hey, it worked somehow. I just got annoyed that the Links standalone widget can’t do shit on uber long blogrolls, so I had to make a page for it.

Anyways, until I learn how to tinker more on the slides with mellow’s help, I’ll be taking down Noe’s Corner in the meantime. Bitch deserves rest, too. Also, the site is still on the test run process, so if you find any errors or such, please do notify via a comment on this post. Thanks!

/i/’d

Shance — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:35:13 +0000

Divine punishment.

Hayguys! I actually got /i/’d today!

Well, nothing to be proud of. I might be wrong anyway. Someone just screwed the site while I was away, removing the background and throwing all sense of resolution out of the window. Nothing short of annoying, but interesting. Only shows a lot of people are mad at me now in every way. Isn’t it sad, Komacchin? NOT! Hahaha!

But hey, seriously, it was a bit fun and annoying. Knowing you have to repair some fucked up shit is bad, trying to remember it by is good. Actually, I find it a bit amusing, knowing people could pull tricks of this capacity and then go away scot free. Regarding the matter, I don’t see any reason as to why they’d do that other than the fact they actually visit the site and meddle with it. That means they’re my fans! They love me even though they really don’t, and they won’t just admit it because the former and the latter statements are facts that are proved either ways! Isn’t that just sweet!

Then again, I just might be experiencing that rumored stuff about the latest WordPress getting loopholes and shit. I dunno. Fuck it all. What do we get on running this shit if we don’t even get good service for something that vastly open sourced? Then again, why do I even bother asking.

Slowblogging: Sloth Is Not A Sin

Shance — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:06:22 +0000

Somehow, I’m compelled to do something about Owen’s say on slowblogging. No, no, I’m not trying to find an excuse on why I’m getting crappy as the days go by, nor am I trying to convince you that I’m doing slowblogging. I feel bad about it already, so don’t nail it too much. And on that account, I just want to say that we have our own paces, and respect comes first for bloggers, whether it be for yourself or for others. At least that goes for me.

OH LOOK, SHANCE’S TRYING TO PROVE A POINT WITH HIS/HER/ITS/OHFORGETITITSAFUCKINGTRANSVESTITEANYWAY TONGUE ON A NOSTRIL! HAHAHAHAHA!

Eherm, even though I feel like skipping some stuff on the DOES.NOT.COMPUTE part (seriously, the topic’s so fucking used like a condom already), it does relate to the topic at hand in a way. Why? Owen explains how episodic blogging works and how the disparity between two generally similar but distinguishably different pieces of media can divide the otaku populace. It can go to lengths like difference in post content, and furthermore, the kind of media in question. If I watched Toradora (yeah, Mike, BITCH MOAR) and told people how the story went, specific bit by every specific bit, would they read it? Now, if I watched Toradora (BITCH MOAR) and told them WHAT I FELT about how the story went, would they read it? Would they like it if I based it on raws, or would it be better to use subs? That hit me in the head as I read on, and it didn’t fail to make me think of my own standing. I own a blog, after all. BOOMHEADSHOT.

I’m guilty of being someone who has a short strain of thought. That explains how the EPIC FAIL happened. I think of one thing, then move on to another thing, which ends up with me thinking a lot of things and not being able to accomplish anything of the things I thought. To somewhat suffice the lack of activity, I write short posts to let people know that I’m still alive and I did not slit my wrists and bleed to death while being emo about the how and why of Writer’s Block. That’s how Randomsphere was born, and I think I’m not sure if I should be happy about it.

But do we really need Owen to point out some of the things we ourselves should already know? I’m not one to speak for the blogging specifics since editorial and episodic-wise, I haven’t delved deep enough. If I do, then there’s no way people would tl;dr you even if you had a wall of text like it can reach the stratosphere (unless we’re talking about trolls and other anon types, then those aren’t that much worth noting), nor would they shun your oh-so-informative posts that have a half-life of around a few hours. See, that’s why there’s INNOVATION: It makes old stuff better by adding a few perks on it. That’s how commodity companies have been tricking us. That’s how we get fooled by what we see and not get what we expect after buying it. Innovation is up for grabs, but making it work is the real problem.

It’s either you’re in control of your stuff, or the stuff’s in control of you.

Think about it: Newspaper. It’s everybody’s piece of paperwork done daily to keep you up to date with whatever is happening in the world. Every single scoop, every single gossip, every single news of varying genre, immediately done with a write-up for publication the next day. Now, let’s go to the other side: Book. A one-time masterpiece. It tells you of one thing, and one thing only. It may have different topics, but these topics are subdivided into different sections, and are still what makes up a whole of a subject. Apply to blogs and blog types, and you get what I mean.

That’s where the words “knowledge in depth” kick in, and that’s a must to achieve. Words are the only basis we’ll ever have to prove anything when it comes to blogging. Expression is something that needs proof and reason, even though proof and reason is something that does not need expression, basically because their very existence can express themselves. This gives proof that even a few words can make a ripple so big it would resonate in the depths of the blogging neighborhood. Not that saying “It sucks, but it’s good, really!” would make any bit of a sense, but it’s how you justify it. Professional experience on the subject is a plus. But all in all, even these can’t make up a fact that you yourself may have sucked, even though you may not know or admit it. And I wouldn’t tackle some “multitasking” blogs out there that do the episodic and editorial stuff both at the same time, only to prove to themselves that they’re trying hard enough not fail, which is what they are doing.

Isn’t that a valid reason to pull out of the episodic blogging battle royale and just settle with something simply exquisite as your own opinion? Because I’m seriously trying to convince myself that there’s a way to do it without simply being such an attention whore that posts everytime they see some kind of development on material, be it big or small. Transition of material absorption shows its difference here. Episodic blogging lets readers absorb the information and let them perceive the events. Editorial blogging lets the writer absorb the information, and relays his/her perception of the events to the reader. Though we’re catering to a variety of readers out there, it’s still important for you to be able to discern your style of writing. It depends on that whether you’re good, bad, or just… there. I’m putting a note on that for myself.

TAKE IT EASY! I can’t agree any better.

Then, would I say that the crisis at hand applies to me as well? Probably, yeah. I’m still new compared to the other guys like Mike, Kurogane, Owen, and Lelangir. I still have a lot to work on if I want to make my stand known. Oh, and aside from Owen, I’d love to also give some credit to the last guy on the list. Lelangir’s your one crazy internet phenomenon, and he’s one reason out of many that I’m still around. Cheers to you, boss.