I desperately needed some cheering up this evening. So here are some things that cheered me up when I saw them in the July issues of Hobby Japan and Dengeki Hobby.

( Warning: Very image heavy behind the cut. But worth it if you like awesome things THAT ARE AWESOME. )

I really need to make another Haruhi scans dump. I have such a backlog piled up, it's not even funny.

I saw Speed Racer this weekend. About an hour into it I wanted to kill myself. I had a migraine for like 48 hours afterward. That movie was not only bad, but apparently it was also bad for my health. For the record, the only other movie that ever gave me a massive pounding migraine was Peter Jackson's King Kong. I didn't like that movie either. And it wasn't because of the migraine, which didn't settle in until about thirty minutes after the end credits rolled, but because it was just. plain. bad.

Now, here's an annoyance of mine. Over and over again, I see reviews calling Speed Racer a "live-action cartoon." And calling it the first of its kind. "The closest thing I've ever seen to a live-action cartoon," blah blah blah.

Clearly these plebes are incredibly fortunate sadly misinformed, because the title of the closest thing I've ever seen to a live-action cartoon is won, hands-down ( by.... )

Via Mangablog:

This.

Apparently it's PR for Final Crisis that was sent to some bloggers... including, for some baffling reason, Mangablog. (Edit: Or maybe Brigid re-posted it from scans_daily, I'm not sure.)

Tell me, what's wrong with his picture?

( I'll start. )

Edit: The rest of Grant Morrison's Japanese superheroes. Yeah wow holy shit. Where to even begin? First there's this gem:

Japan has embraced every aspect of the superhero culture, chewed it up, spliced it together, and incorporated the result into its own hyper-accelerated pop media landscape.

1. Same as the quote that I deconstructed behind the cut. Wow.

2. Obviously "the superhero culture" means exclusively American comics, since all of the superheroes listed are "hilariously" derivative of American superheroes.

And again with the assuming that "superhero culture" is foreign to Japan to begin with. Hint: Cutie Honey is older than Wolverine. She also rocked the boob window for years before Power Girl was even created.

3. "Hyper-accelerated pop media landscape"? Seriously? From a country that produces more iyashikei and slice-of-life anime per quarter than it does science-fiction or giant robot shows? Really?! Oh no, that's not a dumbass stereotype of Japan at all.

Western motifs are chopped up, collided and spliced with manga fetish wear, Sailor Moon meets Batman, Mecha-Wonder-Woman, Lolita Undertaker Zatanna girls.

What in the world is manga fetish wear?!

And again with the only listing American superheroes as examples of "superheroes" in the first place.

Let's [...] take a look at the original Japanese superhero team.

AW HELL NO. Okay, granted, the leader of the "original Japanese superhero team" is an Ultraman rip-off homage, so at least we're finally getting some recognition of iconic Japanese superheroes. But then he's immediately followed by a Silver Surfer, a Human Torch, an Aquaman, and then (thankfully) a Patlabor homage. Look, I'm not just saying that these are Silver Surfer/Human Torch rip-offs, it's actually stated in Morrison's notes. With the exception of the Ultraman dude and the Patlabor thing, I suppose we're left to believe, then, that "the original Japanese superhero team" is almost completely derivative of American superheroes because of course the Japanese don't have enough superhero icons of their own! At least, not in the fictional DC universe they don't. Nope, this whole "superhero" thing is something that they had to "co-opt" from Americans.

And I'm not even touching the parts of the descriptions that read "just like Pokemon!" and "just like the emo boys in Akira!". Ugh.

Finally, there's this jaw-dropping shit. I cannot even touch that. I'm not even going to try. Luckily Filby already analyzed it six ways to Sunday, so you can go read that post.

Wow. Grant Morrison, is this how you research another culture before you portray it in your works? Suddenly I'm starting to feel nervous about your Mahabharata project. Very, very nervous.

Edited to add: One more link of interest, The Sooz versus a hyperventilating Morrison fangirl. Popcorn is on the house. Also, arionhunter schools you on Japanese superhero aesthetics. Morrison got so much wrong, it's not even funny.

Edit on June 20th OMG I know BUT: THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT. Grant Morrison, are you taking notes?