Famous Manga artists in run for Western comic book award

Rumiko Takahashi and Hayao Miyazaki nominated for Eisner comic book award

Eisner awards

In the world of comic books the Eisner Award is a crowning achievement and is described as the Oscars of comic books by San Diego comic-con officials. It began dishing out awards to comic book creators of distinction in various categories in 1988. Eisner officials have announced their three automatic inductees for the year. Irwin Hasen (The Flash), Sheldon Moldoff (Batman, Green Lantern), and Orrin C. Evans (All Negro Comics) the first all African American produced comic. The Eisner Award judges have also picked 14 nominees for voters from the comic book industry to vote for. Four nominees will be inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame this summer.What caught my eye is that two very famous Mangaka (Japanese comic book artist) grace this years list of nominees.

A short retrospective on D&D and Podcast review.

Nerd Pokers Podcast official cover art

Me and Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons was not something I ever played in my youth, but it conjures a rich collection of memories. My brothers and some of my friends older siblings played it. I was always curious about it. The first thing I think of is those ornate pewter figurines that were always off limits to me. Touch and die was the general warning. But I couldn't help myself. I had colorful toys with articulated limbs. Toys like wolverine with his pop out claws or my Robotech bioroid fighter. Despite this I still snuck a peak when it was safe. The pewter figures had an allure. They seemed to tell a story and even when unpainted they were rich with character. Perhaps it was the Tolkien in my blood that drew me to high fantasy relics. Who can say. I knew there was some sort of game you played. I wanted to try it, but I was too young and I never got the chance.

Recently I've been toying around with the idea of trying out some board games to see what I was missing all those years ago. D&D once again popped into my head.  I wanted to know what a real D&D game was like first hand. So naturally I had someone else do it for me... While I listened in of course. I turned to the Nerd Poker Podcast. The podcast description reads: Each week, under dark of night, a group of warriors lead by Brian Posehn gather to play Dungeons & Dragons, and you're invited to attend!

Godzilla celebrates 60 years

Godzilla celebrates 60 years in Japan with a look back at all the classics, whilst Hollywood looks forward to its own reboot in May.

Nora Inu film review

Lets kick of the blog with a classic Japanese "film" review by famed director Akira Kurasawa.

Nora Inu (U.S. Title: Stray Dog) Police suspense drama and mystery. Warning there will be some general plot spoilers.

Plot

Nora Inu tells the story of detective Murakami "Toshiro Mifune." Tired and exhausted from a stakeout the previous night, he loses his pistol to a pickpocket on a hot crowded bus in post war Tokyo. He sets off trying to track it down, when his pistol is suspected to have been involved in a crime. 1 of 7 bullets is used. Now the frantic detective Murakami has to find the assailant and get back his gun before the remaining 6 bullets are used.