I've had some pretty strange jobs in my day. I've performed marriage ceremonies AND been a magician's assistant (not at the same time, unfortunately). All the odd jobs I've had in my day pale in comparison to some of the fascinating things I witnessed as a projectionist, however. In my three year stint at my college's film center, I was able to smoke a cigarette with Kevin Bacon, meet one of New York City's top-ranking Freemasons, join the President of Tahiti in a prayer for his nation the day after there had been an attempt on his life, have Errol Morris complement my skills with Digibeta, lead an eyepatch-wearing Sandra Oh down our darkened backstage area, assemble and screen an original 16mm print of King Kong, and....ohmygoditotallymethanson.

And that's just the normal shit.

The stories that I am about to share with you constitute some of the strangest events I witnessed during my tenure on the staff. They are scary, bizarre, sad, and funny. And they are all 100% true.

The first panel I attended at Comic Con was a lecture on shinigami called Dead Like Us: Shinigami, Death, and Japanese Culture. These spirits are an amalgamation of many different religious and supernatural influences from around the world coalescing into a very unique form of spiritual character. I jotted down as many notes as I could and did a bit more research, and here are some basics for any of you out there who want to see what the world of ghosts and spirits are like for our friends on the other side of the Pacific.

A little about what I know: my knowledge of anime and Japanese culture is a little shaky. My pre-research knowledge of Japanese art and culture stems from a) classes on World religions, b) Miyazakis films, and c) a class on Asian Theatre. Theres also anything that Staub, Spraynard, the rest of the Nerd Blerp team, and my friend Sensei Jeff (whos been trying to get me to watch Death Note for like a year now) has informed me. What Im trying to say is, I know some things, but Im no expert. But I have a healthy desire to learn, so heres some of my knowledge that Ive discovered and will pass on to you, our awesome readers.

Legend of Legendary Heroes: Episode 2

Sorry for the hiatus fellow ani-nerds. No excuses. More ANIME!

Alright, so episode 2 - what's going on? Backstory! After one episode this anime jumps back in time before Sion Astal was king, and before Ryner Lute was Roland's greatest mage.

Similar to the first episode, this one is strikingly average (I might go as far to say combat was sub-par). Instead of seeing each blow dealt, there is a lot of implied fighting, aka, you see someone swing a sword as colors swirl around behind them, and a few seconds later you see the damage. C'mon fellas! Let's see some actual swordplay here!

The actual casting of magic still seems pretty cool. There are some chants which are spoken before a spell can be cast, followed by a name. We have no idea what these names are, or what these chants are, or for that matter what distinguishes a spells power.

That being said, my biggest gripe about this anime is that they don't explain any of the cool shit we want them to explain! I understand back story and character development is important, but get on with the magic guys! We don't just wanna see shit blow up. We wanna know HOW it's blown up!

The backstory itself is pretty interesting. Sion is a badass noble, and Ryner is Shikimaru, from Naruto, reborn. For those of you who don't know our good friend Shikimaru, he believes that anything other than laying on the grass, napping, is a nuisance. Oh good ol' lethargy. How we love thee.

I'm going to make a prediction about the third episode. Sion walks into a trap, Ryner saves him by using his Alpha Stigma (sharingan hacks), and they become friends. Done.

RATING: 3 (black-haired devils) out of 5

The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Episode 1

Putting aside the silly name of this anime, LoLH is a perfectly mediocre.

Before I get into the particulars of this episode, let me give you some background. LoLH tells the story of medieval-esque nations on the brink of war. There are swords, nobles, and magic. Exposition done. Now let's get right on to it.

The first scene of this episode is awesome. The main character, Ryner Lute is confronted by a force of six or seven soldiers from a neighboring nation. Being accused of espionage and realizing that his death will come swiftly in the form of fireballs being flung at his face, he activates a magical eye technique that allows him to analyze the type of spell, its range, and properly prepare his counter-attack. It's a lot of fun to watch.

Too bad the fun ended similarly to my Friday nights: over in 15 seconds, and never heard from again.

The rest of the episode is filled with somewhat exciting action, with somewhat intriguing dialogue, and somewhat entertaining characters. As it stands now, LoLH can get much better, much worse, or stay exactly the same.

Rating: 2.5 (Legends regarding legendary heroes) out of 5.

Occult Academy: Episode 2

So, with the anime season well underway, Occult Academy sets its sights on developing itself into an anime with staying power. Does it have what it takes?

Eh.

• What originally blossomed as high hopes were soon laid to rest. Do you wanna know what this show is? ATerminator rip-off.

So here's the deal: in the year 2012 there is an alien apocalypse because some occult shit happens at the occult academy (go figure). The survivors start resistance and find a way to send someone back in time. That person has to stop the future from happening. Oh, and he also has telekenetic powers, sort of.

The thing that sucks about this anime is that there are no characters you really sympathize with. In Ookami-san, you love Ryoko and Ryoshi! In this anime, you don't care about any of them. The time traveler is a pansy. The girl is a douche. You don't really learn about any of the characters in any meaningful way.

Lame

Rating: 2 (if there was a noun for demanding character development, then please place that here) out of 5.

Ookami-san and the Seven Companions: Episode 2

Ookami-san and the Seven Companions has really taken me by surprise. Two episodes in and I am gitty with excitement to see the rest of the series. So let's get right on into it. How did the second episode compare to the first?

I loved it. For a romantic-comedy/action anime, Ookami does a pretty nice job of balance and pacing. The sentiments shared in episode two are incredibly endearing and really puts your heart in a great place. Remember your first love? Kudos toOokamifor helping you re-live what it was like to really fall for someone.

/begin rant OMG JAPANESE AKITAS ARE ADORABLE I WANT ONE RIGHT NOW AND I WANT TO PLAY WITH THEM AND PET THEM AND NAME THEM ELIZABETH AND FRANCOISE!/end rant

Combat has picked up a little in this episode. Ryoushi acts a sniper using an arm-mounted slingshot protecting the back of Ryouko as she boxes her way through the enemy lines equipped with taser-mounted neko-boxing gloves. It's pretty fantastic.

The second episode introduces us to some plot lines that, I imagine, will be the driving force for the shows protagonist, Ryouko. It makes you curious as to what exactly is going on in this town, but it's nothing too thrilling at the moment.

As well, we are introduced to some of the other characters in Ookami, including two members of the Otogi club who, to the one of the member's chagrin, just bone each other nonstop.

Good episode. Keep up the good work!

Rating: 4 (OMG JAPANESE AKITAS I WANT ONE) out of 5.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a story of two brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric trying to get their bodies back to the way they were before a horrible accident while attempting to perform human transmutation with Alchemy. They slowly begin to get sucked in to a much more elaborate and exciting story which I will not begin to go into detail about because I want you to find out on your own.

Ookami-san and the Seven Companions: Episode 1

Let's change the pace a little. We've been dealing with mythical creatures (a walrus), and zombies a lot lately. What about good ol' fashion high school loving, mafia style? That's what Ookami is, more or less.

I'll explain things in a simple fashion. There's a club at a high school that takes requests from students. In return for completing these requests, the students are then in debt to the club. Basically, it's the mafia. There is NOTHING wrong with that.

The story focuses around Ryoko, the female strong-arm for the club, and renown boxer. She carries around a pair of neko-boxing gloves. They are adorable. When she punches people, the imprints of the cat's faces are embedded in her enemy's body. It's so adorable.

Then there is Ryoshi, ascopophobic romantic who has fallen for Ryoko.....he's afraid of people staring at him. He confesses his love for her and joins the Otogi club (the mafia).

This show is actually amusing to watch! I'm not a huge romantic comedy guy, but there is a decent amount of adorableness going on in this show. I found myself bored at some points, but laughing out loud at others.

If you dig the romantic-comedy/action anime genre then please watch this show! You'll get exactly what you expect and then some.

Please watch all the way through after the credits. This episode does a great spoof on the Cinderella story. You won't regret it.

Rating: 4 (leaping summersault kicks to the face) out of 5

Bonus points if anyone guesses what the a walrus reference is from.

High School of the Dead: Episode 1

The new animes just keep on rolling in. Today I got a chance to watch the highly anticpated High School of the Dead. How does it stack up to Occult Academy?

Ok, where to begin. I was unimpressed. This was actually painful to watch. What would you do if you saw teachers from your high school devouring each other? You'd obviously run to the one girl you love, tell her and your best friend that you all are leaving the school, and not warn anyone else about the brutal cannibalistic rampage ensuing outside right? Zombies are taken too god damn lightly in this anime. THEY ARE ZOMBIES:

• -DON'T WALK UP NEXT TO THEM.
• -DON'T ATTEMPT TO PUT ONE IN A SLEEPER HOLD.
• -DO NOT HOVER OVER YOUR BOYFRIEND AFTER HE IS BITTEN COUGHING UP DISEASE RIDDEN ZOMBIE BLOOD.

-DON'T BE A PUSSY.

These are basic instructions for what NOT to do when dealing with zombies. They even make mention to zombie-esque movies in the universe of HotD! No one in the high school should have even gotten infected! This is dumb. You're dumb HotD. You're lucky you have zombies, or I'd stop watching you immediately.

If you like zombies, you may still get angry watching the first episode of this anime. All in all, it wasn't awful, but, cmon....if you're gonna do zombies, do them right. I had such high hopes for you HotD.....

Rating: 2 (absolutely retarded high schoolers) out of 5.

P.S. - There are gigantic jiggling breasts and random panty shots spread throughout the episode. Tits and ass will only act as a panacea for so long....

• 
• Cosplay Spotlight:
  
• David Strange

Cosplay Spotlight is designed to illuminate the world of cosplay for the unitiated, by sitting down and talking to those who eat, sleep, and breath cosplay each and every day. For our second Cosplay Spotlight interview, we sat down and chatted with a man who refers to himself as David Strange.

NDBP: So first off I'd like to thank you for taking time out of your day to talk to us at Nerd Blerp. So what name do you go by when you cosplay?

David Strange: David Strange.

NDBP: Mind if I ask how you came up with that name?

David Strange: The name came from me feeling as if I was stranger than my friends, and I feel surounded by these odd events and people.

NDBP: Did you have this name before you started cosplaying?

David Strange: No I didn't as a matter of fact. The name just came to me a few months ago.

NDBP: That's pretty interesting. So what is it that draws you to cosplay?

David Strange: What draws me to it, is the fact that you can become someone or, in most cases, something other that youself.

NDBP: And for you, what entity best lets you becomes someone, or something, other than yourself?

David Strange: The Crow is the entity that best displays that.

NDBP: Why is that?

David Strange: It comes from a connetion from when I was younger. The first time I saw the movie was when I was 5, and I was hooked from that point on.

NDBP: Did you make your crow outfit yourself?

• David Strange: Yes, everything except applying the make up.

• NDBP: Who does that for you?

David Strange: A friend of mine who does make up in all forms.

NDBP: Ah, very nice. So do you have any particularly memorable cosplaying experiences, good or bad?

David Strange: Yes, it happened during the 3rd design of the make up. I was walking with a friend of mine home. She came over to apply it for me and I kept it on while walking. The reaction of the pepole on the street was the greatest thing ever. They were all freaked out, and I even heard one guy say What the fuck?

NDBP: That's pretty awesome. Reminds me of the guy who dressed up as the merchant from Resident Evil 4 and walked around the local grocery store (FOUND HERE). People were very confused. So being a cosplayer, besides the Crow, what other inspirations do you have, whether it be comic books, manga, anime, movies, etc.?

David Strange: I'm planing to do The Joker this Halloween, and the funny part is that I started planning this out last Halloween.

NDBP: Well it's its never too early to start. So what are some of your favorite movies, comic books, shows?

David Strange: Wow That is a bit of a long list:The Crow, Star Wars, Crank, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Leon The Professional, Say Anything..., Reservior dogs, Indiana Jones, The Godfather, The Dark Knight, Man on Fire, Oldboy, Hard Boiled, The Killer,The Tick, Buffy, Angel, M*A*S*H, Cowboy Bebop, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Spiderman, Superman: The Animated Series, The Dresden Files, Ugly Betty, Miami Vice, Batman: The Animated Series, The Facts of Life. As for comic books, the main are John Constanteen: Hellbazer, The Punisher, Sin City, and I might be one of the few people that likes All Star Batman Robin.

NDBP: Quite a lengthy list. How often do you cosplay? Where do you usually go to cosplay?

David Strange: Halloween, (and) Parties.

NDBP: So besides comics, movies, and tv, do you have any other hobbies you partake in?

David Strange: I act, draw, I, (pauses) somewhat write.

NDBP: What kind of work do you write?

David Strange: I guess you could call it personal blogs.

NDBP: So do you have any words of advice for new cosplayers, or any final comments about cosplay itself?

David Strange: It would have to be go all out and get completely into it. Don't be afraid of what the outside world thinks about it.

NDBP: Well I'd like to thank you for your time. This is been an eye opening experience, especially for someone who has never cosplayed before. I hope the Joker outfit goes well for this coming Halloween.

David Strange: You're welcome and thanks.

If you or a loved one is involved with cosplay, and you'd like to share their story, pleaes feel free to send me an email at: spraynard@nerdblerp.com