Fan Service

Why I Don’t Hate It
by Bolt Vanderhuge

Recently there seems to be some push back against fan service from within the fandom. I’ve been accused of that myself, from the “elitist” angle rather than the “objectifying women” angle. The thing is most people seem to forget that boobs aren’t the only form of fan service. As the name suggests, it’s really anything that’s there only for the service of the fans. Whether that’s a long flyby sequence of some space ship that earns a movie a well-deserved nickname for its slow pacing, giant robots showing off how awesome they look before, during and after they punch each other, of some nice, long hard objects continually shooting their loads, it’s all fan service, as long as it’s only really there just for its own sake.

Saga of Tanya the Evil

What’d you think I meant?

Continue reading

⑨th Street Crossing – Part I

Inspired by the Otakon theme that wasn’t, a chapter in the life…

Chapter 1: Fumes

A whiff of burned jet fuel faintly wafted down the arrivals lane as the early afternoon sun blasted through the clouds and off of every blinding glass and concrete surface at Dulles. Finding a cab to cut across the huge gap into the city involved entirely too much ducking back and forth into one dead end after another, half in the chilly building and half out among the deafening vehicles and uncomfortable summer heat. Finally the correct cutaway appeared ahead; the taxi dispatcher winced at the phrasebook and cut-up words, simply pointing out the door to the line of waiting cars.

Seong-mi went over the plan again and again. The mission had a certain utility, but it would never have been condoned, even a few years ago. A young married couple on honeymoon was certainly a believable story. It also had the advantage of being technically true. Still, any plan that piled on complications nearer to the deadline was likely to cause unwanted questions when it inevitably failed.

Continue reading

The Expanding World of Indie Hentai

Image

OTAKON 2017 Panel Overview

by Gristle McThornbody

This was MW’s first foray into the anime conventions in the Eastern Time Zone, and indeed the East Coast/Mid-Atlantic. Otakon 2017 allowed us to see new faces, familiar Touhou faces, and see how the east-coast otaku stack up to the rest the country. Much like otaku are connected with each other through a common interest, it is quite a similar parallel to the worldly connections that international trade allows for in our modern time.

We live in a time of great innovation and trade. Globalism allows far-flung countries to trade commodities and even services in manners we couldn’t think of even 10 years ago. Our world is connected like it has never been, allowing us access to an untold number of products. Otakon 2017 would become another channel for an overseas group to sell their wares to foreigners.

Enter the fine folks from DLsite.com, a website that lets users publish independent H-Games. With the same straight-ahead delivery as a Toyota investors meeting, we were sold on the latest and greatest in hentai trends. Continue reading