Otaku 5-0 Season 5: Episode 14

Episode 89 out of 100

Aloha everybody!

First off, I would like to make an apology to all our fans. At the start of this episode, I announce that this will be the penultimate episode this season. However, during our post-recording discussion, I was reminded that there are actually two more episodes remaining in the season. On one hand, it means that you can look forward to more entertainment-based discussion from us here at Otaku 5-0, but on the other it makes me look like a doofus. But I can live with that.

Secondly, let me announce the results of our polls started at the end of last week's episode, with The Walking Dead registering universal praise. However, while Michael Myers is the fan favorite to win in a head-to-head with Leatherface, a majority of voters still said that such a confrontation would end up in a draw.

Well, that's about it for now. Please sit back and enjoy the fruit of our labors.

Mahalo,
~Totoro (Otaku 5-0 Executive Producer)



Click here to download episode.

Show Notes
Otaku 5-0: Episode 5.14

Recording Date: November 8, 2010
Running Time: 88 minutes

Co-Moderators
Mr. A (Assistant Podcast Executive Producer)
Gypsy (Guest Contributor)

Panelists
Totoro (Otaku 5-0 Executive Producer)
Jupiter (Podcast Executive Producer)
Maka (Assistant Video Executive Producer)
Jam (Contributor-at-Large)
Peeps (Guest Contributor)

Format
1. Opening Bit: Gypsy's Pokedex

2. Lead-in (Mr. A, Gypsy)

3. Pick/Fail of the Week

4. Otaku 5-0's Review of... The Walking Dead

5 A Serious Conversation About... The Upcoming HEXXP Convention

6. Best Monster Movie Moment Ever!

7. Lead-out (Mr. A)

Musical Notes
-Post-Disclaimer Theme: "Gato's Theme" from Chrono Trigger
-Opening Theme: "Kefka's Theme" from Final Fantasy VI
-Interstitial Clips: "I'll Do It Right!" from Naruto, "Pre-Title" from His & Her Circumstances, "Frog's Theme" from Chrono Trigger
-Ending Theme: "Breach of Contract" from Ah! My Goddess

Coming Soon...
Our next audio podcast episode!

Feedback is always accepted here at Otaku 5-0. Please send us an e-mail to us at otaku50podcast@gmail.com OR post on our message boards OR post a comment on this blog!

Mr. A's review of.....The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimention

The Story

Dr. Buckaroo Banzai, neurosurgeon, physicist, and underground rock star, has just successfully tested his new rocket car which is powered by an "Oscillation Overthruster." However this wondrous news attracts the attention of the Red Lectroids, a group of evil renegade aliens who have been on Earth for almost fifty years.
Aided by members of the Black Lectroids, the peace-loving enemies of the Red Lectroids, and Banzai's own think-tank/rockin' back-up band The Hong Kong Cavaliers, Buckaroo must race against the clock to stop Lord John Whorfin and the rest of the Red Lectroids from escaping Earth with the Oscillation Overthruster or risk starting a nuclear holocaust.
Can Buckaroo solve the mystery of Yoyodyne Propulsion System? And who is Penny Priddy and why does she resemble Buckaroo's late wife? With the entire world at stake, the only one who can save us all is Buckaroo Banzai!

The Review
This film hasn't exactly aged well as evident by the 80's fashion, music, and overall style. However, if you want 80's camp, this is the freakin' jackpot! Both Peter Weller and John Lithgow are awesome as Buckaroo and Whorfin respectively and the overall storyline is actually pretty cool. It does get a little convoluted at times, but you'll get the gist of it. The music is great and the pacing is solid. It does however lack some emotional involvement on the part of the characters, but that can be overlooked for the most part.

The Verdict
This movie is straight fun. Between the musical number, the gun fights, and the chase scenes, Buckaroo Banzai won't disappoint as long as you have an open mind. Check it out on Netflix or if your local Redbox has it then shell out the $2 for it.

7/10

Jaa mata,
Mr. A
(Executive Producer, Blue Blaze Irregular)

Mr. A's review of.....Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Thought I'd bring you something different than just another movie review.

The Story
While trying to escape from a mech slave ship, Monkey, a rugged loner and the game's hero, runs into a young girl named Trip. After making a break for it, Monkey soon discovers that Trip isn't exactly another young slave girl when she fits a high-tech slave headband into him. Trip's demands are simple: help her return to her village and she won't detonate the device and fry your brain.
Given no choice, Monkey must now help Trip get back home, but standing between them and it is a post-apocalyptic New York and hundreds of angry mechs left behind from a bygone era who all want to find the nearest human and rip their face off. With super-strength, high-tech weaponry, and survival know-how, our two heroes set off into in epic journey to the west.

The Review
Let's go with the good first. Visually, this game is stunning. Everything is so bright and vibrant that it makes you almost with the world would destroy itself just so it could look like it does in this game.
The voice talent is fantastic. Andy Serkis does a great job as Monkey, though the "Brooklyn" style accent can get a little grating at times.
The game's combat is a bit repetitive and the free-running portions can be a little twitchy. Walking around can also be a tad difficult due to the camera catching weird angles.

The Verdict
Though this game is rather short (about 8-10 hours), it is a very rewarding experience. I would advise that if you want to pick this up you should wait for the price to drop (around Christmas maybe?). Overall, I'll be playing this game again and possibly for a third time. Unfortunately, I need to return Enslaved to the Red Box tonight so I won't be playing it again for a while.

8/10

That's about it for now. I know the review was kind of short, but there really wasn't any more I could say about it. GO BUY THIS GAME!!!

Jaa mata,
Mr. A
(executive producer)

Otaku 5-0 Season 5: Episode 13

Episode 88 out of 100

Aloha everybody!

First off, I would like to thank our fans for participating in our two polls. In no apparent surprise, Classic=style Horror clobbered Modern-style horror with a 9-2 score, while Vampires sucked the life out of Werewolves, 7-1. Please participate in the new polls in the left-hand sidebar!

We at Otaku 5-0 hope that all of our fans had a safe and happy Halloween. As you recuperate from a long weekend, please sit back and enjoy the fruit of our labors as we present to you a Post-Halloween episode of our podcast!

Mahalo,
~Totoro (Otaku 5-0 Executive Producer)



Click here to download episode.

Show Notes
Otaku 5-0: Episode 5.13

Recording Date: November 1, 2010
Running Time: 88 minutes

Moderator
Mr. A (Assistant Podcast Executive Producer)

Panelists
Totoro (Otaku 5-0 Executive Producer)
Maka (Assistant Video Executive Producer)
Gypsy (Guest Contributor)

Format
1. Lead-in (Mr. A)

2. Pick/Fail of the Week (including Halloween exploits/observations)

3. Duel to the Death: Michael Myers vs. Leatherface

4. Favorite & Least Favorite... Halloween Candy

5. Lead-out (Mr. A)

Musical Notes
-Post-Disclaimer Theme: "Gato's Theme" from Chrono Trigger
-Opening Theme: "Kefka's Theme" from Final Fantasy VI
-Interstitial Clips: "I'll Do It Right!' from Naruto, "Pre-Title" from His & Her Circumstances
-Ending Theme: "Breach of Contract" from Ah! My Goddess

Coming Soon...
Our next audio podcast episode!

Feedback is always accepted here at Otaku 5-0. Please send us an e-mail to us at otaku50podcast@gmail.com OR post on our message boards OR post a comment on this blog!

Mr. A's review of.....Wild Zero

The Story
Rock 'n' Roll slacker Ace doesn't have a whole lot of things going for him. He can't play guitar, his motorcycle is a piece of crap, and he just got the ever-loving heck knocked out of him at a Guitar Wolf show. On the up side though, Ace just became rock 'n' roll blood-brothers with Guitar Wolf's front man (oddly enough, named Guitar Wolf) and he's also met a rather adorable girl named Tobio.
Ahh, young love.
BUT LOOK OUT!!! Aliens have decided to stop by and take over the planet! And the best way to do that is to start turning people into flesh-craving zombies!
Will Ace and the members of Guitar Wolf be able to save the day? Who is the mysterious Tobio? And why does fire shoot out of EVERYTHING?

The Review
First off, this film was made for around $50,000 US so forgiveness is a must. The acting is average overall, though there are a few moments when Endo Masashi (Ace) shows that he's actually got some kind of acting chops. The soundtrack is epic if you like the whole "Jet Rock 'n' Roll" style (think old-school punk rock, just louder), but is just random nail-curling noise if you don't. The action is over the top and comical, which actually makes the film better. Camera work is so-so, not brilliant, but no where near as bad as Tetsuo.

The Verdict
With a crap script, a dedicated crew, and an "I don't give a sh*t" attitude, Wild Zero is actually a pretty fun movie. If you're a fan of zombie movies then by all means give this one a shot. If you're looking for story lines that make any lick of sense, stay far, far away from this. I personally will watch this one again from time to time.

7/10

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go shout "ROCK 'N' ROLL!!!" while riding my freaked-out motorcycle.

Jaa mata,
Mr. A
(Executive producer, rock 'n' roller)

Mr. A's review of....Tetsuo: The Iron Man

The Story
While driving though an industrial district somewhere in Tokyo, a middle-aged salary-man and his over-sexed girlfriend accidentally run over a strange man who (unknown to them) enjoys shoving pieces of metal into random open wounds. Trying to cover up this near-homicide, the salary-man's girlfriend convinces him to dump the body in the neighboring wooded areas.
Thinking that this particular nightmare is over, the salary-man goes back to his normal life of eating breakfast alone, riding the train to work, and boning his crazy-looking girlfriend.
That is until he discovers random pieces of metal growing out of his face. Drawn into a psychedelic world of insane dreams and murder, the salary-man must eventually do combat with the Metal Fetishist, the man whom he had hit with his car. What is the Fetishist's ultimate plan and can the salary-man stop it before he's totally consumed by metal?

The Review
I know I said in the last podcast that I didn't want to watch this film, but after all the hype and the third one probably hitting shores some time soon (the third also being the only one in the series that really piqued my interest), I figured I'd give it a shot. Probably not the best idea I've ever had...
The cinematography,while a great style to cover up the fact that this thing was shot for a dime, is almost unwatchable. The acting isn't all that great, but I suppose that in a film where most of the "acting" is yelling and freaking out there isn't much to hope for.
The plot is almost non-existent and whatever fragments you can pull out are usually bat-sh*t crazy anyway. It's almost like Tsukamoto Shinya (writer, producer, director, and Metal Fetishist) choked down a hand-full of pharmaceuticals before writing this script.

The Verdict
I can't honestly recommend this film to anyone, mostly because I can't see anyone I know actually liking it. I watched this with fellow podcaster Zyconis and within the first fifteen minutes he said "F*ck this" and started playing Minecraft.
If you're not a fan of art-house films or anything even REMOTELY close to those type of things, STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THIS FILM!!!! It's a headache on celluloid with almost no redeeming qualities!
ALTHOUGH I do understand why people like this film. It's unique, trippy, and the last fight between the salary-man and the Fetishist is oddly cool. That being said, if you got a bottle of aspirin (or a bottle of Jack) and you want to experience something new, go ahead and give it a shot. It clocks in at a little over an hour so even if you don't like it you won't suffer horribly long.

??/10
I can't even give this thing a number...

Now here's hoping that Tetsuo: The Bullet Man isn't as bad as everyone says it is...I won't hold my breath though.

Jaa mata,
Mr. A
(Executive Producer, Tetsuo in training)

Otaku 5-0 Season 5: Episode 12

Episode 87 out of 100

Aloha everybody!

On this week's episode of Otaku 5-0, we continue our Halloween-inspired topic discussion with new installments of Great Debate & Defender (and please voice your opinion by participating in both our polls currently in the left-hand sidebar!)

Additionally, we have our first PRE-RECORDED opening bit with a fresh installment of, "Manga Minute", recorded by Zell (Contributor-at-Large) before he left on his naval deployment.

So sit back, relax and enjoy the fruit of our labors!

Mahalo,
~Totoro (Otaku 5-0 Executive Producer)



Click here to download episode.

Show Notes
Otaku 5-0: Episode 5.12

Recording Date: October 25, 2010
Running Time: 106 minutes

Panelists
Totoro (Otaku 5-0 Executive Producer)
Mr. A (Assistant Podcast Executive Producer)
Maka (Assistant Video Executive Producer)
Jam (Contributor-at-Large)

Format
1. Opening Bit: Manga Minute (Zell)

2. Lead-in (Mr. A)

3. Pick/Fail of the Week

4. The Top 3... Scary Movies

5. Great Debate: Werewolves or Vampires?

6. Defender: Classic-style Horror films or Modern-style Horror films?

7. Lead-out (Mr. A)

Musical Notes
-Post-Disclaimer Theme: "Gato's Theme" from Chrono Trigger
-Opening Theme: "Kefka's Theme" from Final Fantasy VI
-Interstitial Clips: "Pre-Title" from His & Her Circumstances, "Frog's Theme" from Chrono Trigger, "I'll Do It Right!" from Naruto
-Ending Theme: "Breach of Contract" from Ah! My Goddess

Coming Soon...
Our next audio podcast episode!

Feedback is always accepted here at Otaku 5-0. Please send us an e-mail to us at otaku50podcast@gmail.com OR post on our message boards OR post a comment on this blog!