the eqsuisite art of the samurai sword

now this is web design… go check out samuraichamploo.com, the absurdly cool flash site for the new show from shinichiro watanabe, aka the guy who made cowboy bebop so damn cool.

it’s a hip-hop flavored samurai show. just started on adult swim a few weeks ago, catch it saturday nights at 11:30 or later, or repeat on thursday.

they’re also playing ghost in the shell: stand alone complex mon-wed nights, but i can’t imagine the dub is any good. might be. champloo has a high quality dub like bebop did. actually, mugen, the spike-esque character in champloo, is voiced by the same guy as the american spike. it works though.

you can also check out paranoia agent, which is a fucked up mystery from the guy who did perfect blue. it’s also good but it’s no fun. kind of a wierd combination.

i got the dvd of the blame! animation for $20 off ebay. it’s not bad, but it’s not good either. what there is is well done, but there’s only seven 3-5 minute episodes, and nothing happens in four of them. they adapt a few sequences from the manga, but they also mix elements from various scenes. it has the right flavor, but it’s wierd. of this was the pilot of a full series i’d be all over it. there’s a great theme music over the end credits, vaguely dr who-ish, that i like, and the animation is a weird mix of cheap and high-end. good sound design and voice work. all the makings of a quality show, or a movie, but instead it’s just 37 minutes, probably counting the credits.

in other news, wordpress is pretty keen but i’d really love to know why the fuck i can’t close a link in any of my god-damned posts.