Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

I was invited to join zer0/0ne on a media press release of Kurogane no Linebarrels in Singapore, involving the collaboration between GONZO and Cathay Cinemas. When initially asked about it, I honestly thought it would be a mere screening of a trailer and reading words off a press release printout. Therefore, I was really quite surprised to see what was actually in store for me.

The ‘refreshments’ part lightened me up as I had headed over on an empty stomach

The preview promptly started with a trailer which has been considerately localised for the press in English. I totally forgot what the English dialogue was saying in the trailer because I was trying really hard not to gawk at the Engrish. With the trailer aside, episode 1 of Kurogane no Linebarrels started screening. The press wasn’t allowed to take pictures of the first episode so I’ll try to recall as much details as possible for any reader here who’s curious enough to read on.

a) The episode started with a twisted bottle encasing a white flower. A lily perhaps?
b) No OP ED were shown as of yet.
c) It looked like Fafner, if not, SEED
d) Protagonist Kouichi is a total wuss who is under the impression that wusses are just people with innate powers awaiting to be awakened
e) A few pew-pews took out some sort of satellite defences
f) Kouichi has a Saiaku Osananajimi Sexist no dan, childhood friend circle for those who have no idea who I’m kidding.
g) Kouichi likes osananajimi girl Risako, but the osananajimi male dude is always around to prevent him from having his way with Risako
h) Kouichi suffers from a serious case of escapism and inferiority complex
i) Kouichi gives in to bullies and buys curry bread, but got pwned by a Linebarrel that fell from the sky
j) Somehow he didn’t die, but Noto Mamiko tells him otherwise. I mean, Kizaki Emi. You know, the nude girl in the trailer.
k) By dying, Kouichi has become a Factor and can pilot the Linebarrel. Applying the SEED coordinator effect, he immediately was able to take control and fought off 3 terrorist ARMAs. I have no idea why the mechas are called ARMAs (though I suspect it’s a word play on Armour?) but by this time, the show has started to feel like FMP.
l) The head of the terrorist group is Lelouche
m) There is an anti-terrorist organisation called Mithr…, no I mean JUDA
n) Oh yeah, and apparently Kouichi has turned into Heman after he died.
o) The friend beside me claims the fighting isn’t as good as it was in the manga
p) The director directed Pokemon
q) Pokemon…
r) Pokemon?
s) Pokemon!
t) Team JUDA is flying off again!

In any case, episode 1 ended with Kouichi exclaiming loudly that he now owns the world and is ready to instill his sense of justice on all sentient beings, only to have Noto tell him he’s dead. I was rather disappointed that there wasn’t any ED for show, but I guess watching it 2 months before everyone else is quite awesome by itself.

The personnel from Cathay brought us around the place, explaining how the collaboration works. Basically, Cathay has set aside space in their Cineleisure branch for some entertainment rooms, with entertainment being LAN gaming, Xbox 360 and GONZO’s anime. The rooms work like karaoke lounges, except that instead of paying for rooms to sing in, customers pay to use the rooms for playing games and watching the newest anime.

Shake has been sealed

AMD. Smart choice indeed.

Uniquely designed lounge doors

The rooms should be a cool palce to hang out, save those who have claustrophobia

Before I continue, I would like to make a complaint. While photographing the place, I was using the lens indicated by our very own RIUVA boss tjhan. His apparently expensive and awesome new lens was recommended by RIUVA’s tsubaki, and allegedly works very well with pros. The moment I tried it, my bullshit detector started whirring. The lens has a superbly tiny angle of view and takes in very little light, contradicting what tjhan has claimed in his previous post. There was NO way you could take a picture of the entire room with that lens, especially when the tiny corridor had absolutely no space for anyone to shift backwards for a larger angle of view. Not to mention that there was NO zoom. Tsubaki maybe thinks zooming is for noobs and that the real pros can use that wretched piece of lens in wedding ceremonies. What bull! Anyone who’s attended weddings would know that photographers have no space to back off at all, thus using such a lens would only lead to a huge picture of the bride’s boobs and a six feet placement under a pool of shit. As such, most of the crucial photos I took turned out either blur or overexposed or just not wide enough an angle view. Things were resolved when I switched back to the default Canon lens. tjhan’s new lens final say: Fun to play with aperture and effects during figurine shootouts, but never for use in journalism.

Continuing with the report, Cathay spokeperson claims that the screening of episode 1 in Singapore is the first outside Japan. I thought otherwise. In any case, it was also mentioned that the anime room lounge concept would be copied over to their Dhoby Ghaut branch in the future and would be targeted at the adult audience. By that, I mean that alcoholic drinks would be served at the new branch. GONZO International Sales and Development Vice President Satoshi Banno also mentioned that there could be a possibility that Singapore’s Cathay E2Max might even get to obtain the subbed anime before it’s even aired in Japan. Well, that’d be nice I guess.

It would seem that more content will be heading to the anime lounge very soon, but all it has now is a Xbox 360, Burst Angel, and a couple of gaming computers in each room. Let’s see what would happen in a few month’s time. Personally I find the concept a very awesome idea, and I really wouldn’t mind paying to clear my weekly backlogs the, you know, legitimate way. However, it ultimately depends on how much each room package would cost and whether they can secure more of the newest anime episodes instead of solely hosting GONZO’s titles. Afterall, nothing beats watching anime at your own free time and leisure. The final product must be able to convince the homehugging otakus to leave their house and have their fix with money. From what I have observed so far in the local scene, that’s more difficult than getting an otaku a girlfriend. I applaud GONZO for trying all means possible to adapt to the new age of consumers, so hopefully this would work out.

E2Max

Read 0ne’s writeup over here.

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