You may have noticed that it took me a couple of days to recover from Comic-Con this year. I’m blaming it entirely on the fact that after leaving a giant mass of over a hundred thousand comic/movie/game/anime nerds…only to head to Texas to spend time with a small, huddled mass of them instead. Talk about poor planning!

But never fear, there’s plenty for you to read while I continue to catch up with my e-mails, google alerts, RSS feeds, and– oh yes –my sleep.

1. Gurren Lagann Love - ANN has a spiffy interview with TTGL producer Yasuhiro Takeda, my personal favorite Gainax employee/co-founder Hiroyuki Yamaga, mech designer/animation director Yoh Yoshinari, and character assistant director Masahiko Otsuka. They didn’t really ask any fun questions– it’s more about story structure and the like –but it’s always fun to read the Gainax guys going on about stuff. So check that out here.

2. For The Nerd With LOTS Of Time To Spare - Boston University law student Joshua M. Daniels wrote a 36-page paper on the extensive alteration of shows like One Piece by companies like 4Kids, which he suggests violates the “moral rights” of the original creator (which you may recall from that whole TOKYOPOP pact thing). He moves on to argue that fans have an interest as strong or perhaps even stronger than the original creator’s in maintaining the integrity of the work, and that fansubbing may be a justifiable form of market correction.

Now, obviously in the case of One Piece the FUNimation version is available, uncut and whatnot, and as for everything else, well, most anime isn’t heavily altered when released in the US anymore, even if it appears on TV. So, it’s not really an argument that would be valid for most anime– if it’s valid to begin with. Still, it’s definitely an interesting read for anyone interested in the (very) in-depth legality of some current issues– from the point of view of someone with some actual legal training.

3. I Wasn’t The Only One Getting Free Stuff At Comic-Con - NPR has an article about librarians scoring free manga for their libraries at Comic-Con, as well as other comic books. The article includes some words from Eva Volin, a comics fan and librarian who was also one of the judges for this year’s Eisner awards.

4. Your Series Rec Of The Week - Animanachronism has a nice article up about Hoi-Hoi-san, an OVA and manga franchise about an otaku toy who becomes a cockroach-slaughtering robot at night. It’s a really cute show and a nice write-up– read it, then watch the OVA.

5. Required YouTubing - JapanProbe’s got a video about life in a Tokyo shantytown that’s a great watch, especially if you want to know some of the truth behind the occasionally romanticized shantytowns that appear in anime.

Keep busy, kids!

So over the weekend I was busy finishing and posting the fall preview, making and tweaking the new layout (you like?), not to mention being dragged off on a spontaneous Seattle trip, attending a family picnic, and doing other unrelated work.

Anyway, my point is that I didn’t get to go through my RSS feeds and Google Alerts pretty much all weekend, and I am FINALLY getting through them all. So here’s the catchup.

Those of you not familiar with the manga or the one-episode 2004 OVA of Hoihoi-san should do yourselves a favor and find it, because it’s getting a TV anime. The series is about a cute little toy called Hoihoi-san who, at night, becomes a vicious (and badass) killer of cockroaches…for the sake of protecting her master, of course. ♥

Also, a follow-up o: it looks like the reason I couldn’t find this Sensei no Chonmage series has to do with the fact that Moon Phase had the title and subtitle reversed? Also, because I suck, I translated the name rather poorly (damn you, jdict!): it should be more like Warring States-era Student’s Diary: Sensei’s Topknot.