In the annals of anime, there are few series as influential, groundbreaking, divisive, and controversial as Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Although it starts out on a fairly straightforward note, with many of the standard tropes of the “big robot” genre, Evangelion becomes increasingly obtuse, ultimately emerging as a blend of intense mecha combat, psychology, apocryphal strands of Christianity and Kabbalism, teenage angst and alienation, and apocalypse that is as confusing as it is arresting.

As a result, the series has attained so much status that it’s virtually impossible for any “serious” anime title with even a smidgen of big robots and “mature” themes to not be labeled “Evangelion-esque” (I’m looking in your general direction, RahXephon).

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• For many years, Tokoy’s Akihabara district has been the Mecca of otaku-dom, with its countless computer, electronics, anime, and manga stores. But according to Patrick Macias, recent development and government programs have resulted in Akihabara becoming increasingly generic and commercialized, pushing out the otaku population that made it what it was. Via
• Eric revisits Spiritual Warfare, and early Christian video game for the Nintendo: I have converted thugs, skateboarders, homosexuals, and Hare Krishna members. I have done it with grapes, pomegranates,  apples and bananas. I have blasted what I can only assume are union workers with vials of the wrath of God. I have cleaned up a slum where every single person is either a gangster or a wino stumbling around holding a beer bottle. I have used spirit points to buy God’s wrath to call down on the heathen, and anointing oil to heal my wounds (ironically without an elder in sight). This is ridiculous. Even the bible questions scattered throughout the game are simplistic and often taken out of context. Wikipedia has more on the game.
• As if there haven’t been enough versions of Neon Genesis Evangelion released over the years, here’s one more: Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum: Perfect Collection. This collects all of the remastered “Platinum” releases, as well as the special features, and packages everything in a tin package.
• Wired interviews Ridley Scott concerning Blade Runner and upcoming “Ultimate Collector’s Edition” (which I blogged about earlier). Man, I can’t wait to see Scott’s new cut, which screen at the New York Film Festival yesterday. GreenCine Daily has some coverage.
• Paul Nethercott, who spoke at Cornerstone on the topic of Japanese culture and specifically the hikikomori phenomenon, wonders about Japanese pop culture’s popularity in the West, and what that means for missions in Japan: The current popularity of Japanese pop culture in the West may be the catalyst for a new surge of young people coming to Japan as missionaries. These young people are ‘connecting’ with Japan via anime, manga, and J-pop. They tend to be bright, creative, media savvy, unconventional, and many aren’t interested in raising support; some young adults who fit this profile are already showing up in Japan. And, there are signs that many more will follow.
• The wife and I have been dying to see the third season of Battlestar Galactica, but no DVD announcement has been forthcoming. And now there’s another spin-off series entitled “Battlestar Galactica: Razor” that’s starting up this week. Sigh… Via

I recently finished up the website for Hahn Dental Clinic, a South Dakota-based dental practice. So far, the response has been really positive, from both the client and other designers that have seen the site.

Even cooler, the site is currently featured on the homepage of Light On Dark, a design gallery devoted to “well designed & coded web sites with light text on a dark background” (more info here). This is actually the first time I’ve submitted a site that I’ve worked on to any design gallery, so it’s doubly exciting.

There are times when I’ll come across an article and, as a web developer, find myself saying “Amen brother, preach it.” SEOmoz’s “How to Ruin a Web Design - The Design Curve” is one such article. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run into the exact same scenario it outlines, on both professional and freelance projects.

Here’s an excerpt:

As a professional web designer I’ve noticed a consistent trend in the majority of the projects I’ve worked on: The more time that is spent dissecting, analyzing, and critiquing a design by the wrong kinds of people the worse that design gets. The same trend applies to the number of people involved in the design process.

It’s funny because it’s true. That’s also why it’s sad.

I saw Viva Voce perform a couple of years ago at Lincoln’s own Knickerbockers (my review). Sure, most of the hip kids in Lincoln went to see the Pixies that night, but personally, I think the rest of us got the better deal. The husband/wife duo of Kevin and Anita Robinson delivered an absolutely scorching set that was highlighted by Anita’s amazing guitar skills.

Since then, the duo has gone on to much acclaim, which has led to tours and collaborations with the likes of Built To Spill, Death Cab For Cutie, Spoon, and The Shins.

For those of you wondering what the hubbub is all about, and missed them the first time around, two of the duo’s earlier albums—2003’s Lovers, Lead The Way! and 2004’s The Heat Can Melt Your Brain (my personal fave)—are being reissued as a double-disc set, complete with live performances, demos, and other bonus goodies. Here’s the complete breakdown:

Lovers, Lead The Way! Tracklist

1. Fashionably Lonely
2. One In Every Crowd
3. Red D-Lish
4. Wrecking Ball
5. That’s Right,‘Watch Out!
6. Birds On The Wing
7. N Luv W/ U
8. Brightest Part Of Everyone
9. Yr Epic Heart
10. Best Thing Ever (Maybe Not)
11. The Tiger & How We Tamed It
12. Perpetual No
13. Salsalito
14. Someplace Worth Being
15. Let’s Bend Light

The Heat Can Melt Your Brain Tracklist

1. Alive With Pleasure
2. Lesson No.1
3. Business Casual
4. The Lucky Ones
5. High Highs
6. Daylight
7. The Center Of The Universe
8. Free Nude Celebs
9. Mixtape = Love
10. They Never Really Wake Up

Bonus Tracks

1. Paper Doll (unreleased)
2. Wrecking Ball (Tunng Remix)
3. Lesson No.1 (original demo)
4. Red D-Lish (live)
5. Fashionably Lonely (live)
6. Wrecking Ball (live)
7. Doo-Wap Death Trap (unreleased)
8. Tonight You Belong To Me (live)

The reissues will be released October 9, 2007 on Viva Voce’s own record label, Amore!Phonics.

And if that all weren’t enough, Viva Voce will also be bringing their lovely noises to the masses by way of a short tour later this year. Here are the dates:

10/26 - Atlanta, GA - Center Stage
10/27 - Myrtle Beach, NC - House of Blues
10/28 - Raleigh, NC - Disco Rodeo
10/29 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11/06 - New Brunswick, NJ - State Theater NJ
11/09 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
11/15 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theater
11/16 - Champaign, IL - Assembly Hall @ Univ. of Illinois
11/17 - Omaha, NE - Kiewit Fitness Center

Suffice to say, November 17 will be a very special day.

If you have no idea what Viva Voce sound like, head on over to their MySpace page and find out what you’ve been missing all these years.

Photo by Alicia J. Rose.

This one completely slipped under my radar: Norwegian avant-jazz collective Supersilent have released their first studio album in five years, entitled—not surprisingly—8.

I picked up their last LP—2003’s 6—after reading a very favorable review in Pitchfork. It was a challenging work, to say the least, but I ended up surprised and intrigued by the group’s beautiful (if demanding) improvisational nature.

8 is available from Rune Grammofon. Unfortunately, the only sound clips I can find are some short ones courtesy of MusicOnline and BoomKat—but somehow, I doubt you can get a good feel for Supersilent’s music in just 30 seconds or so.

Today, Amazon unveiled their long-awaited challenge to iTunes’ dominance as the premier music download service: Amazon MP3.

After a quick perusal, I’m pretty impressed with Amazon’s public beta, and it sure looks like it could be the first on-line music store to finally give iTunes a run for its money. Sure, Amazon MP3 only has two million songs for sale (as opposed to iTunes’ six million), but those songs are cheaper (individual songs are as low 89 cents and MP3 albums are as cheap as $4.99). And best of all, Amazon’s MP3s are free of any pesky DRM crap, meaning that they can play on any MP3 player and on any operating system.

You do have to install a special MP3 downloader (it’s required for album purchases), but that strikes me as a relatively minor quibble. The reviews are coming in and they’re all pretty positive. All told, this looks like a fantastic service, much better than any of the other iTunes alternatives out there. And hopefully, this will encourage more studios to realize that DRM doesn’t do anyone any good.

On a related note, Amazon has also redesigned their website. After playing around with it a bit, I like it. It feels simpler and more streamlined, incorporating all of the functionality that folks have come to expect in a newer, more efficient way. Note: it looks like Amazon hasn’t completely rolled out the new design, so you might not see it, or you might see it on some computers but not on others.

One of the greatest things about the Cornerstone Festival is hanging out with all manner of cool and interesting folks from all over the world, and this year’s festival was no different.

Part of that was due to my status as a speaker this year: folks naturally come up to you after seminars and screenings with questions and additional thoughts. However, I also got a chance to meet up again with some familiar faces, as well as several of the other speakers from Imaginarium and Flickerings, such as Mike Hertenstein (the man behind Flickerings) and Paul Nethercott (a missionary in Japan who is working with the hikikomori there).

John Morehead (no relation) is another. Unfortunately, I was only able to make it to one of his sessions—a Q&A session with several missionaries on how the Church needs to adapt its message to reach fringe groups and whatnot. (The other session of his, on role-playing games, was sort of nixed due to the post-film discussion for Darkon).

John recently sent me the URL for his blog TheoFantastique, and while I’ve only had a small amount of time to make my way through it, it’s already shot to the top of my reading list. TheoFantastique is, as the subtitle suggests, “a blog devoted to the enjoyment and exploration of the imagination and creativity as expressed through science fiction, fantasy, and horror.” However, these aren’t just fanboy rants and raves. Rather, John gets serious about his pop culture… real serious.

Not only will you find academic explorations on topics ranging from depictions of Satan in cinema (including a review of a book by Nikolas Schreck, son-in-law of Church Of Satan founder Anton LaVey) to the exploration of horror in video games, but you’ll find interviews interviews with folks like comic artist Richard Moore (creator of Far West and Boneyard) and Arnold Kunert (who was involved with Ray Harryhausen’s classic films).

John’s also a fan of anime, as this recent interview with Bill Ellis—an associate professor of English and American Studies at Penn State—shows. The interview is very fascinating, and delves into the increasing popularity of anime in America as well as the spiritual underpinnings of the artform—underpinnings that many Americans are ignorant of, but once understood, can add a whole new level of detail to titles like Haibane Renmei and Hellsing.

All in all, a highly recommended blog to bookmark/subscribe to—especially if you’re like me, a Christian who is heavily interested in the various permutations of pop culture and takes such things seriously, but is often frustrated by the rest of the Church’s reactions to such things.

In addition to TheoFantastique, John is also part of the Neighboring Faiths Project (which seeks to find effective ways of communicating the Gospel to other religions and alternative spiritualities such as neo-paganism) and has written several books such as Encountering New Religious Movements (which won a Christianity Today Book Award in 2005).