Had a lot of fun this weekend when I returned as a guest on the Beta Male Experience podcast, alongside host Corey and the ever-entertaining Ed Sizemore. In the first half of the show you can hear us discussing the movies we’ve seen recently, before moving on to talk about my new book Paintwork. It’s a fairly spoiler-free chat, where I answer the guys’ questions and go into quite a bit of detail about the ideas, influences and technology behind the stories. Well worth a listen, even if I say so myself. Plus Ed and Corey are always great value – go check it out now.

BME Podcast Episode 55 – Sit On My Lap with Paintwork

BME Podcast on iTunes

Paintwork is out now – you can get Kindle versions from Amazon US and Amazon UK, and versions for all other popular e-readers (including iPad and Nook) at Smashwords. Print versions will be available soon – check back for details.

A couple of quick anime related updates – last month Zac and Justin were kind enough to invite me back on to ANNcast, where you can hear me twittering on about Doctor Who, scifi movies and techno. Oh, and we do spend some time talking about anime as well. I think.

Also over at ANN, last month saw me back in the saddle for the Spring Season Preview. Have a wander over there and see what I thought about some of the new shows, there’s more than a couple that are worth checking out.

It’s just a few days before Christmas and you think you’ve got it all under control. Food shopping is done, presents are all bought and wrapped.

Or at least so you thought. Turns out you forgot someone. A work colleague. An aunty you just found out is coming to visit. The wife. The inconsiderate bastards have turned up with a present for you, and you’ve got nothing to give them in return. Plus they’re diabetic tea-totalers, so the usual chocolate and/or booze option is out of the window. In other words: you’re screwed.

Thankfully, I have the answer for you: Chi’s Sweet Home by Konami Kanata.

“What?” I hear you say. “Have you finally lost your judgmental, drug-addled limey mind? Is it so full of tea and crumpets that sense can no longer penetrate? I have read about you on the internets, and it appears the stories are true. You expect me to give my poor unsuspecting boss/aunty/spouse some of your mind-rotting, big-eyed manga filth!? And at Christmas to boot!”

Yes. Yes I do. But let me be clear: while Chi’s Sweet Home does indeed feature big-eyes, they belong to an adorable kitten. And who likes kittens? EVERYBODY. Everybody, that is, apart from soulless monsters that should be shunned at this time of the year anyway. And as far as filth is concerned there is little here, unless you include the contents of a litter tray, which does play a fairly prominent role in the first volume.

Running since 2004, Chi’s sweet home is the adorable story of a small kitten that becomes separated from his mother and taken in by a typically Japanese family. A huge hit in Japan it spawned two anime series and a vast amount of merchandise, most of which my partner seemingly bought when we visited Tokyo back in 2008. So I was thrilled when Vertical snapped up the rights to an English translation earlier this year, and review copies of the first volumes turned up on my doorstop – a feeling that lasted fleetingly before my aforementioned partner snatched them out of hands.

Having now regained them, I can confirm my initial suspicions were true – Chi’s Sweet Home is a perfectly formed series of short and sweet books, with appeal way beyond the scope of the ‘traditional’ manga fan. Told from the perspective of the eponymous kitty, it presents situations that all cat owners will be all too familiar with in a refreshing and light-hearted way. In fact it does this so efficiently that, by giving you a view into internal cat-logic, it almost doubles as a kitten care manual. But most importantly it’s a huge truckload of beautifully presented fun, and the perfect stocking filler for anyone with a love of cats, regardless of whether they’ve ever picked up a comic book before.

And while we are on the subject of Vertical books and Christmas gifts, some of you may remember my review earlier in the year of the first volume of Twin Spica. Since then I’ve caught up with the second and third volumes, but rather than writing reviews you can hear me rambling on about them over on Ed Sizemore’s Manga Out Loud podcast alongside a veritable A-List of panelists. In brief I’m still enjoying the series, despite it seemingly shifting its emphasis away from science fiction to concentrate on more mundane shoujo (manga aimed at teenage girls) drama. It’s a great last minute gift for the gutsy teen-girl in your life, though with a little bit of shower-scene and beach costume fanservice seemingly shoe-horned in to remind you it originally ran in a seinen magazine, it’s also the perfect gift for the otaku man-child in your life too.

Season’s greetings.

This blog is not actually dead, it has just been hibernating.

This year has been pretty mental for me, on a personal level. Work life has been hectic, and a series of real life tragedies have left me and my better half exhausted. Add to that the fact that I’ve been trying to get some other projects off the ground (more of that to come soon) and it has sadly meant that this site has been neglected. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been completely static.

I’m sure most of you are aware of the tragic news earlier this year of the passing of anime director Satoshi Kon. I was hugely honored to be asked to contribute to Anime News Network’s week-long retrospective of his works, for which I wrote this piece on his darkly comedic classic Tokyo Godfathers. It was a tough but fun article to write, and something I’m very proud of, and the fact it was published on the day my partner lost her father to the same cancer that took Kon’s life made it a strangely poignant event for me.

Also over the past months ANN have published my reviews of Welcome to the Space Show and Mamoru Oshii’s Musashi: Dream of the Last Samurai, both flawed but still interesting movies that are worth checking out.

Words not enough for you? Then thanks to the magical nature of the internets you can hear my voice too. Back in August Scott Spaziani was kind enough to invite me back onto his podcast “Otaku in Review” along with my good friend Ed Sizemore of Manga Worth Reading. The topic was genre, and the result of putting me and Ed together is that we will ramble on about our love of science fiction until someone stops us. like the two old geezers we truly are. Actually, It was a pretty fascinating discussion, covering more than just manga and anime, and well worth a listen. For something a bit briefer and more lighthearted check out my “20 Questions” interview with Sean Russell over at Anime 3000. Warning: my contain the most offensive curse word known to science.

And finally, something a little different. After a break of about 12 years I’ve got back into one of my old obsessions: DJing. Check out some of my mixes over on Soundcloud under my Shinohara Heavy Industries moniker.

So that’s what has been happening over the last few months of apparent inactivity – but keep an eye on this site, as hopefully it should be springing back into life on a more regular basis – I’ve got some interesting anime and manga reviews lined up for the next few weeks, so don’t go far.

No, I haven’t completely forgotten about this site – I’ve just been busy elsewhere. For a start, Anime News Network have just published my review of new Madhouse movie Redline. I suggest you get over there and check it out – I wasn’t exaggerating when I said it is one of the most exhilarating and exciting anime works I’ve seen in a very long time. As of writing Redline hasn’t had a public screening in Japan as far as I know, so I was very lucky to catch it in London at the beginning of the month. However a new teaser trailer dropped today, promising it would be out in ‘Fall 2010′. But out where? Interestingly an identical trailer was put out, with the same release date but in French. Is this a hint at a simultaneous worldwide release?

For even more on Redline, check out this weeks ANNcast, where you can also hear me chatting away about the state and history of anime fandom here and the UK, as well as my experiences using Twitter. I must say a huge thanks to Zac and Justin for having me on – it was a blast – as well as to everyone that sent in questions.

Also a blast was the Anime 3000 podcast recorded earlier in the month that focused on one of my biggest obsessions: Mamoru Oshii. Not only great fun but highly informative for me, as I was alongside two great Oshii experts and good friends of mine; Brian Ruh (author of the fantastic book Stray Dog of Anime: The Films of Mamoru Oshii) and Fernando Ramos (Japan based operative that wrote the review of Oshii’s Assault Girls for this site last year). It’s another great and essential listen, essential whether you’re a die-hard fan or just discovering the great man’s works for the first time.

Links:

• ANN Redline Review
• ANNcast – Manic Maughan-day
• Anime 3000 Panel – S03E04 – The Wonderful World of Mamoru Oshii

This weekend I was thrilled to be invited back on to the Anime 3000 podcast, this time alongside some pretty heavyweight guests. Joining me on the panel was Michael Pinto – a good friend of mine and head honcho of Fanboy.com and Anime.com and Helen McCarthy, who really should need no introduction. A key player in anime’s introduction to the UK and author of some fantastic books on the likes of Miyazaki and Tezuka, she really is a a living legend and a charming and fascinating person to talk to. It was a great opportunity for the rest of us (including host Sean Russell) to pick her brain about a number of issues, and share our own thoughts on everything from digital publishing to moe fandom. Hit the link below to check it out.

• Listen to A3K Panel: S03E02 – A Conversation with Helen McCarthy

A few days ago Scott Spaziani kindly invited me on to the first episode of his Otaku in Review podcast to discuss the best, worst and most overlooked anime shows of 2009 – something I’m really grateful to him for, not just because it was a lot of fun but because it also got me out of having to write one of those ‘review of the year’ posts. Yeah, I know. I’m a lazy bastard.

Also on the show was my good mate and occasional sparring partner Jon Ingoglia of Janaiblog and Chuck Gaffney of Chuck’s Anime Shrine. So if you want to hear what (a pretty hungover) me and the other guys picked as our high and low-lights of 2009 hit the link below. Oh, and Happy New Year.

• Listen to Otaku in Review Podcast: 2009 Year in Review

Last week I had the pleasure of being invited onto the Anime 3000 Panel podcast – alongside Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network and Chase Wang from anime streaming site Crunchyroll – to discuss digital distribution. It was a great chat, and a lot of fun, so many thanks to host Sean Williams for having me on. If you want to check what me and the other guys had to say – or just laugh at my hilarious British accent – then hit the link below.

• Listen to Anime 3000 Panel – S02E07 – Digital Distribution