Nerd Tutorial Podcast

Ep 13: Conventions and Cosplay

Topic: Conventions / Cosplay

An Anime convention is rolling in to town. We though it prudent to show my mom what it’s all about. Join us as we talk about Conventions and one of my favorite hobbies, Cosplay!

Tutorial:

Conventions

Two major types:
Industry – Put on by or for the purpose of the industry to promote their products, More about selling you on something or getting you hyped for it.
Fan – Put on primarily by fans or major groups to celebrate/support the products, more about getting people together who are all interested in a product.

Not mutually exclusive, there are Industry that have elements of Fan Conventions, while Fan conventions have elements of Industry.

Anime is an example of Fan convention with Industry there to help promote the convention.
Video Game is an Example of Industry convention that will certainly have Lots of Fans, and some fan aspects to it.

Things you find at a convention:
Exhibition Halls
• Common at all Major Conventions but differ depending on the type of convention
o Industry is more about selling you on products for the future or right then. For Example: Video Game convention is about getting you hyped to buy video games.
o Fan is more about commerce of good from that industry/product. For Example: limited edition items that might be difficult or hard to get, more independent shops/booths
Promenade/Lobby
• Generally outside the Exhibition Hall
• General Gathering Place
• No badge required
Panel Rooms
• Scheduled Panels for people wanting to learn more about topics
• Often place to find celebrities, notable figures, and debates on topics around the convention
Game Room
• More common at Fan Conventions
• Console Gaming, Sometimes Arcade, Sometimes Board Games
Viewing Rooms
• More Common at Fan Conventions
• Place to watch clips from shows or episodes from a show. More common in Anime Conventions
• Industry promoted Viewing Rooms exist for some companies to show up their own merchandise

 

Cosplay

The Act of dressing and inhabiting a character from Movie, TV Series, Book, comic book, Video Game, Anime, Manga, or Music Band.
Always Popular amongst conventions
A portmanteau of the words costume play
People who Cosplay = Cosplayer

Costumes:
Two major types of Costumes
• Retail Costumes = Buying a costume off the rack from store
• Handmade Costumes = Making a majority of your costume, or someone hand making your costume
All Costumes are a mix, as rarely do handmade costumes not take advantage of some store bought items, as most retail Costumes still might require some assembly or create special pieces for it

Props
Some Costumes might have a prop: Sword, gun, Staff, box, stuffed doll, puppet
Check Local Con’s Prop Policy
Peace-Bonding = Con approving a prop

Presentation:
Most cosplay try to present themselves as the character when in front of others. Some are striving for accuracy, some are just walking around in a costume.
Pose/action = Every cosplay should have a default or practice pose for picture taking

Professional Cosplayers
Some Cosplay for industry or for companies to promote the product. It is a viable way of making a living.

Interaction:
1) Always ask permission to interact with a Cosplayer, whether taking a picture, saying “hi”, or wanting to touch, hug, or act with a Cosplayer; someone might have a reason to say ‘No’ and deserve the chance to say such.
2) A Cosplayer is inhabiting a character, they are not that character. Therefore, you can not presume they know everything about a character or will react the same as the character would.
3) Cosplay =/= Consent. Harrassment is never okay. Just because someone is dress scantily does not mean they are asking for indecent interactions. Cons take this very serious.
4) Do not monopolize cosplayer’s time. If you have a question or want to discuss something, ask if it’s okay, as some people may not always want the conversations.
5) Don’t linger. Some people are super sensitive to other people watching them. Try to be considerate of those Cosplaying
6) Ask for Handles. If you take a picture and going to post it online, you might want link back to the original cosplayer. If someone has a handle online through twitter, instagram, etc, don’t be afraid to ask.

 

Things you can Find a Convention:
Rare Merchandise (Con exclusives)
Meet people with similar interest
Common meeting ground for internet Friends
Meet Celebrities, industry professionals
See Cosplayers
Learn New stuff about your favorite topics

Common Etiquette of Conventions
1. Be Kind/Nice. We’re all here to enjoy the con.
2. Always ask permission. Never assume something will be alright, everyone’s standards are different
3. Cosplay =/= Consent
4. Always read con rules before purchasing a Ticket
5. Avoid lingering in aisles, makes it difficult for people pass through
a. Don’t take pictures in the aisles, move to a more open space
6. If you have children, set good rules for what to do if you get separated and keep a good eye on them
7. Come Bathed, we all have to hang out with one another, no one want to smell you
8. Take a Break if you Need it, Return to your hotel/car if you’re tired or hungry

Ep 12: Marvel's Avengers: Endgame

Topic: Marvel's Avengers: Endgame

 

We took a week off to watch the New Movie, and decided we wanted to wait a little bit to give our thoughts.  After a long 3 hour movie, it was worth it, but so much to cover!  This Episode contains quite a bit of Spoilers

 

Spoilers to Follow

Tutorial:

Major Cast
• Tony Stark / Iron Man(Robert Downey Jr.)
• Steve Rogers / Captain AmeriCaptain America (Chris Evans)
• Bruce Banner / Hulk (Mark Ruffalo)
• Thor (Chris Hemsworth)
• Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow: (Scarlett Johansson)
• Clint Barton / Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner)
• James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine (Don Cheadle)
• Scott Lang / Ant-Man (Paul Rudd)
• Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel (Brie Larson)
• Nebula (Karen Gillan)
• Rocket (Bradley Cooper)
• Virginia "Pepper" Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow)
• Thanos (Josh Brolin)

Lots of Supporting

Pulls from all over the Marvel MCU, save for TV shows.

For those needing a Primer before going in to the movie, we recommend the following Video:

The COMPLETE MCU Recap | CRAM IT (Avengers: Endgame Edition)

Ep 11: Mecha Anime Review

 

Topic:  Mecha Anime Review

 

Last week we discussed Mecha Anime, the difference between a Super/Giant Robot series and a Real Robot series.  This week, we have two shows that are indicative of both genre of Mecha Anime, so lets see which one liked the most!

StarDriver

 

Premise:

Tells the story of three high school students who safe guard the world from dangerous alien mecha from escaping in to our time.  Set on fictional island of Southern Cross Island, the island is home to powerful mechanical creatures called Cybodies that have been hidden away and protected by four Maidens of the island.  Once one of the Maiden’s seals is broken, it allows those with marks, or masks, to pilot these Cybodies in what’s known as Zero Time, a realm where only they can exist.  If all four Maiden’s seals are broken, they’ll allow the Cybodies to exit from Zero Time and then take over the world.  Stopping them is Takuto and his mysterious Tauburn Cybody, which holds back the Glittering Crux Brigade from succeeding in their plans.

 

Phases

Depending on how many maiden seals are broken, allows for piloting of Cybodies and magical abilities:

• Phase 1: No maiden seals broken, limited access to magical powers like healing, illusions, mind control, etc
• Phase 2: One Maiden seal broken, access to Cybodies via piloting system in Zero Time
• Phase 3: Two Maiden Seal Broken, Only those with marks/masks can pilot Cybodies directly via mecha
• Phase 4: Three Maiden Seals broken, gives access to godlike powers, but pilots become trapped in Zero Time is cybodies are destroyed, release of King Cybody Samekh
• Phase 5: Cybodies gain access to our world

 

Main Characters

Takuto Tsunashi  (Red Hair)

• Pilots Tauburn
  • Unique as their Tauburn acts like Phase 3 machines and always stays more powerful than other Cybodies
  • Dual wields Star Swords
• Cheerful, Energetic, Optimistic, Pure Hearted
• “Galactic Bishounen” or “Galactic Pretty Boy”

 

Wako Agemaki (Short Yellow Hair)

• South Maiden
• Relatively Innocent, teasing
• Fully Aware of her status as a Maiden when she’s a child
• Engaged to Sugata as family tradition

 

Sugata Shindo (Blue hair)

• Cool, Intelligent, Reserved
• Rivalry with Takuto
• Pilots King Cybody Samekh
• Joins Glittering Crux Brigade at one point

 

Each Cybody/Mark is named after a letter in the Phoenician alphabet, which multiple modern Semetic abjads are derived from, notably Hebrew and Aramaic.

 

Reasons to enjoy the show:

Weird, even among anime

A good story, no intentional allegories or meaning

Good directing

Great sound track

 

Gundam Unicorn

Premise:

Set in 0096 UC(Universal Century), story tell of Banagher Links, a young Anaheim Electrics student who accidentally gets involved with Audrey Burne in her attempt to receive the Laplace Box.  The Laplace Box holds the key to spacenoid freedom and eventual succession of humanity; but forces from the Federation aim to keep the box hidden in order to safe guard their own power. Aided is the Unicorn Gundam, a normal looking machine until a potential Newtype appears, allowing it to transform and open its armor to reveal its Gundam form. 

 

Main Characters

Banagher Links

• Pilots the RX-01 Unicorn Gundam
  • Biometric linked to Banagher
  • Considered the Key to the Laplace Box, tests pilot if they are worthy to receive box
  • Unique that it starts standard looking and reveals its Gundam nature
  • Entire Frame is build of Pyscho-Frame, allowing pilot to move the Gundam without inputs
  • NT-D = Newtype Destoryer system, designed to release limiters
• Good person at heart, trying to do the right thing
• Pulled between not wanting the Gundam or Fighting, but learns that life doesn’t allow us to choose so we must make do with what happens to us and make something good out of it
• In Love, or Need to protect, Audrey

 

Audrey Burne, (Mineva Lao Zabi)

• Grand-daughter and last surviving of the Zabi Family, leaders of the Principality of Zeon.
• Pacifist in Nature, Noble, Upright, and Honorable
• Used the name Audrey to hide Identity from others, illusion to Audrey Hepburn
• Considered a Princess by Spacenoids/Zeon
• Not interested in leading/adoption the Zeonic movement or leadership, acts to bring peace and true to all.
• Wants the Box so that Spacenoids will have a right to evolve and be a part of the Federation, thus bringing everyone together.

 

Full Frontal

• Char Anology, “Second Coming of the Red Comit”, thought to be Char Anzable himself
• In reality, a genetically altered Cyber Newtype copy of Char.
• Pilots MSN-06S Sinanju
  • Used as test bed for Gundam Unicorn
  • Red in color
• Gifted Pilot, Charismatic Leader
• Intends to use power of Laplace Box to weaken Federation and allow Spacenoids to self govern, forcing the Earth Sphere to be subservient to Spacenoids instead.

 

Laplace Box?

Laplace Box is a closely guarded secret by the Vist Family/Foundation, which allows them to have unfettered power within the Federation due to its contents.  Members of the family use it to pull strings and control government officials within Federation.  Senior Members of Vist Family plan to reveal the box the world, but want to ensure it’s given to some who will use the box for noble purposes.  Gundam Unicorn is designed to test someone.

 

Great Example of traditional Gundam Story

No side is perfect/right

Everyone has an agenda

Starts in Space, heads to Earth, returns to Space

Great analogs for Char and Amuro Ray

Helps if you know previous series, not necessary to enjoy

Good character development

Ep 10: Mecha Anime Tutorial

Topic: Mecha Anime

This week, Mom is out on Vacation, traveling the world as usual.  So we Invited my Little Brother to join us.  When asked what he wanted to learn about, Mecha Anime was what he said.  So here we go.  A primer on Mecha Anime!

 

Tutorial:

Mecha Anime:

Any anime/manga/media where robots exist within a show, and are important to the story being told.

Robot = Mech/Mecha

 

Two Major Sub-Categories:

• Super/Giant Robo/Robot
• Real Robot

 

History:

70s – Rise of Super/Giant Robot Series

Mecha shows easier to handle because you don’t need to draw faces.  Easier to produce in 70s.  Shows largely not about war/conflicts between humans.

Mazinger Z (1972)

• Dr Hell and Dr. Kabuto find ancient robots buried underground. Hell decides to use the robots to control the world, while Dr. Kabuto escapes and builds Mazinger Z before being killed by “half Man, Half woman” Baron Ashura.  Robot is passed on his grandson Kouji Kabuto, who fights against Doctor Hell.

Spin Offs

• Great Mazinger (1974)
• UFO Robot Grendizer (1977)
• Mazinkaiser (2002)

Getter Robo (1974)

• Three jets become one Super Robo, but can reconfigure in to three different modes

Daikū Maryū Gaiking (1976)

• Dinosaur like base ship where the head takes off and transforms in to Super Robo Gaiking

 

Super/Giant Robot Series

• Robots are unique, one of kind, un-replaceable
• Fantastical/Squishy in tech/creation
• Heroic in Nature
• Stories are usually involve the Robots more as a major element of the show than a tool
• Magical/Mystical/Extraterrestrial/Super Science in Nature
• Lend themselves to Monster of the Week / non-serialized
• Became stagnant toward end of 80s

 

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)

Also known as (Gundam 0079)

• During the Universal Century, Human have created colonies in space, but there is unease as spacenoids feel that the Earth Federation won’t allow equal representation, thus Spacenoid rally around the Principality of Zeon and declare their freedom from Earth Federation, starting the “One Year War”. Zeon has mobile suits, which are a ‘HUGE’ tactical advantage. Earth Federation Create the White Base and goes to pick up the new RX-78 Gundam, but Zeon is in tow and attacks the colony, killing most civilians and Federation crew.  Amuro Ray becomes pilot for Gundam and the White Base launches out to defend against Zeon on their way home to Earth.

Gundam = White Devil

• V-fin helmet
• Samurai look/motif

Recurring themes

• Start in space, head to Earth, return to space to end
• Space Mobile Suits = 1 eye/ mono eye
• Earth/Federation Mobile Suits = glass visor for eyes
• Major Base to launch From, usually white in color
• Char Aznable – Villain, recurring theme of villain in Mask

Initially not popular, canceled at 39 of 45 episodes.  Rebroadcast as trilogy of movies in 1983

Gunpla = Gundam Model Kits

Spin offs:

Universal Century                                           

• Zeta (1985)                                                        
• ZZ (1986)                                                             
• 0083(1991)
• Victory (1993)                                                   
• 08 MS Team (1996)                                         
• Unicorn (2010)                                                 
• Thunderbolt (2015)                                       

Unique Series/Era/Centuries

• G Gundam (1994)
• Gundam Wing (1995)
• Gundam X (1996)
• Turn-a-Gundam (1999)
• Gundam Seed (2002)
• Gundam 00 (2007)
• Gundam Age (2011)
• Gundam IBO (2015)

 

Real Robot Series

• Mecha are realist/conventional in nature, albeit with unique power sources/futuristic weapons
• Tend to be government/organization led
• Possible to Replace within reason/mass produced
• Tools of the universe
• Often stories about War or major conflicts
• Lend themselves toward long, serialized shows

Super Sentai (1975)

• Known in the west as Power Rangers
• Basically Live Action Super Robo Series

 

 80s – Rise of Real Robots

Real Robot Series become mainstream as audiences begin to get tired of Formulaic Super Robot series. Many young adults were looking for more mature/serious mecha anime, allowing for Real Robot genre to take over.

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982)

• Many Spin Offs

Armored Troopers Votoms (1983)

Volton (1984)

• US TV show incorporating footage of Golion and Dairugger

Transformers (1984)

• Lots of Spin Offs

Bubblegum Crisis (1987)

• Largely Females in Exo-skeleton Suits

Patlabor (1988)

• Mecha Cops

Gunbuster (1988)

• From Makers of Evangelion

 

 90 – Mecha Revolution

Real Robot / Gundam make big push in 90s, but lots of mech shows still show competition.  Lots of themes / traditions come out of 90s that are still seen largely today.  Very experimental.

 Brave Series (1990s)

• King of Braves GaoGaiGar (1997)

 Tekkaman Blade (1992)

• In the West as Technoman

 Magic Knight Rayearth (1994)

• Magical Girl / Super Robot Series

 Evangelion (1995)

• Mix of Real/Super Series
• Largely a deconstruction of Mecha Series
• Lots of largely psychological topics
• Genre Defining!

 Martian Successor Nadesico (1996)

 Vision of Escaflowne (1996)

• Lots of Female fans
• Largely Fantasy

 The Big O (1999)

 

2000s – Mecha Renaissance 

With introduction Digital Art/Inking, Anime become less expensive to produce, allowing more varied series to become introduced.  Varying art styles allow more trial and expressiveness.  Great Shows, Great stories, great characters

Sakura Wars (2000)

VanDread (2000)

RahXephon (2002)

• Similar to Eva in themes

 Diebuster (2004)

• Sequel to Gunbuster

 Aquarion (2005)

 Eureka Seven (2005)

• Skateboarding/snowboarding in the Sky Mecha

 Code Geass (2006)

• Mechs are only about 15-18 feet tall
• Largely move around on wheels
• Fun Mix of Mystical elements and Real Robot series
• Great cast/show
• One of the Greatest non-Gundam Real Robot series

 Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)

• From makers of Evangelion
• Very silly
• Creators would split to become Studio Trigger
• One of the Greatest modern Super Robot

 

 2010 – Decline of Mecha

Mecha Shows are more difficult to get going, with lots of shows almost never finding an audience. 

Landscape of Anime may have changed; seasonal anime dominates, where mecha tends to like longer /epic running series.  Also, many shows about conflicts aren’t as popular because we(Sic:Japan) aren’t really seeing or being influenced by war.  Mecha using more CG(Computer Graphics) to make mecha in shows, but don’t look good in an animated/2D Landscape. 

Star Driver (2010)

• Light Hearted, Fun Super Robot

 Aldnoah.Zero (2014)

• Good first season, ultimately disappointing

 Robot Girls Z (2014)

• Parody on Mazinger Z and various spinoffs

 Captain Earth (2014)

 Darling in the Franxx (2018)

• Interesting beginning, ultimately Disappointing

 

Review Material

Gundam Unicorn 0096 (Either on Crunchyroll or Netflix)

Star Driver (Crunchyroll)

 

Ep 9: Shazam Review

Topic: Shazam (2019)

We talked about Captain Marvel a few weeks back: how the name Captain Marvel existed originally as a DC owned character, then found it's way in to the hands of Marvel after DC sued Fawcett Comics over the character rights/originality.  The character came back to the DC fold once purchased, and become Shazam, since Marvel owned the License to the name a that point.  Well a super hero movie happened, and we went to watch it.  

 

 

Tutorial:

 

History

Shazam originally known as Captain Marvel.

More popular than Superman.

DC Sued Faucett Comics over rights for the character

Eventually bought by DC and re-christened as Shazam.

 

Billy Batson(10), orphan

Meets a wizard after escaping bullies on a subway.

Wizard gives him the powers of Shazam = Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury

 

Marvel Family

Captain Marvel Jr.

Mary Marvel

Marvel Triplets: Fat Marvel, Tall Marvel, Hillbilly Marvel

Doctor Sivana – similar to Lex Luger, stereo typical Super Science bad guy.

  

Review:

Rock Originally signed to play Black Atom, mortal foe to Shazam, very similar power.

 

Cast:

Asher Angel (Billy Batson)

Zachary Levi (Shazam)

                Like how distant Billy is, and how naïve Shazam is.

Djimon Hounsou (Shazam Wizard) (Guardian of the Galaxy)

                Wish I could have seen more of him.

Jack Dylan Grazer (Freddy Freeman) Blue

                Quite good at being annoying.

Faithe Herman (Darla Dudley) Purple

Grace Fulton (Mary Bromfield) Red

Ian Chen (Eugene Choi) Gray

Jovan Armanda (Pedro Peña) Green

 

Mark Strong (Dr. Thaddeus Sivana)

                Wish to see him in roles other than bad guy for once…

 

Notes:

Fawcett School – Fawcett comics

Mister Mind – Super intelligent Caterpillar

Very innocent feeling movie.

Like act 3 better than first two acts.

Way too Front loaded with origins.

Mark Strong plays a bad guy well. Little too much story for him though?

 

Ep:8 Pro-Wrestling Review

Topic:  Pro-Wrestling in Review

Last week we discussed the history and a tutorial of Pro-Wrestling, and more specifically the history of the WWE, and how it go to here.  Well, this last week, we watched some Matched from Wrestlemania 35, and my mom has some thoughts, and I've got some explaining to do.  Spoiler, she liked some of them.

For those interested, WWE offers a 1 Month Free trial for their WWE Network: which host all their Pay-Per-View events, Lots of historical wrestling shows and matches, newer episodes of Raw and Smackdown a few weeks later, and some original material, along with some of my favorite material, behind the scenes.  If you want to review Wrestlemania with us, we recommend visiting WWE.com to learn more about getting access to the WWE Network.

For all matches, under the match title is the time stamp, so you can quickly navigate to each match.

Review:

Rock Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin - Wrestlemania 15

Mom Stumble across this match. 
Very Classic Match
First of Three different meetings
Very classic Atitude Era match

 

Kofi vs Daniel Bryan - 23:45min Long
2:09:00 

Meant to be an underdog story
Daniel Bryan has made an eco-friendly championship and running everyone down for being not eco-friendly
Kofi had an amazing few months beforehand but kept getting screwed for title opportunities
Kofi has been around for 11+ years and this is was his first championship opertunity
New Day Stable: Power of positivity / Goofy
Free-bird Tag team Rule

 

Women's Tag Team – 10:45min Long
1:48:00

Bayley(San Jose native) and Sasha Banks first ever tag-team champions
Nia Jax and Tamina are Big Samoan women, want vengeance for last PPV
Natalya and Beth Phoenix(Retired wrestler) are fighting for honor
IIconics are friends, pair are somewhat comedic, ala Edge and Christian
Very busy match
IIconics swoop in for championship

Seth Rollins vs Brock Lesnar – 7min Long
0:13:00

Seth won Royal Rumble
Brock Lesnar is champion, but rarely shows up on TV and rarely defends title
Fans want championship back on TV regularly
Paul Heyman is Brock’s mouth Piece

 

Bobby Lashely vs Finn Balor – 15min Long
4:29:00

Intercontinental championship is a Work Horse championship, often seen as great matches on way to world championship
Bobby Lashely is very big. Finn is small
Finn has alternate character call the Demon where he spray paints his body.
One of the coolest wrestling entrances

 

Women's Main Event – 21:30min Long
4:45:00

Becky Lynch won Royal Rumble, Annual event to decide who will headline Wrestlemania
Becky Lynch known as “The Man”, similar vein to Stone Cold Steve Austin
Charlotte placed in match with Ronda Rousy because she’s a better/bigger name
Becky has to fight to get in to main event, has bad leg in between
Ronda Rousy just wants to fight Becky as she knows it will be a good main event
Charlotte win’s Smackdown Women’s championship, making match winner takes all.
Becky wins with some confusion at finish.

Ep 7: Pro-Wrestling Tutorial

Topic: Professional Wrestling, AKA, WWE 

After doing something a bit girly the last few episodes, I figured something manly was in order. This week we talk about Professional Wrestling on way to WrestleMania on April 7th. We'll watch some of the matches from the event and give you a brief review of what my Mom thought of it all.  Spoilers, I probably will enjoy it.

Wrestling is Not Fake, wrestling is scripted

Terms / Ideas:

• Kayfabe (Wrestling Illusion, wrestlers as their Characters in public)
• Shoot (Unscripted event in wrestling, not expected)
• Rules of Wrestling (Pin Fall, Submission, Count Out, Disqualification, etc)
• Tag Teams
• Finishers
• Characters/Gimmicks
• Lucha Libre (Masks are sacred)
• Stories
• Championship belts

History

Has existed since before 19^th century.

 

Golden Age (40s/50s)

Becoming a staple outside of circuses and side-shows

Territory System

NWA (National Wrestling Alliance)

• Lou Thesz
• Gorgeous George
• Bruno Sammartino
• Verne Gagne

 

Silver Age (60s-70s)

Modern TV begins showing wrestling (local Only)

 

Beginning of the WWF (80s)

Vincent James McMahon sells Capitol Wrestling Corporation> Worldwide Wrestling Federation > World Wrestling Federation to his Son Vincent Kennedy McMahon

Coined wrestling product as “Sports Entertainment”

Poached Wrestlers from other promotions because it had National TV Shows, thus bigger appeal

Creation of Wrestlemania, annual show that culminates lots of stories in WWF

• Hulk Hogan
• "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
• Bobby "The Brain" Heenan (manager)
• Andre the Giant
• Iron Sheik
• Randy Savage

 

Early 90s

Jim Crockett controls major interest in NWA and begins consolidating territories/promotions for his own promotion.

Unable to complete with WWF, Jim Crockett sells his promotion/interest to Ted Turner to create WCW(World Championship Wrestling)

WWF Sees drug scandal due to steroids, gets out of it just barely.

WWF introduces Monday Night Show (Monday Night Raw)

• Sargent Slaughter
• Bret Hart
• Yokozuna
• Shawn Michaels
• Diesel
• Razor Ramon
• Ric Flair
• Undertaker

 

 

Monday Night Wars (Mid-late 90s)

WCW makes push to fight openly with WWF by having competing Monday Night Programming

WCW gets older, name brand wrestlers to complete with WWF

• Hulk Hogan
• Ric Flair
• Randy Savage
• Kevin Nash (Formally Diesel)
• Scott Hall (Formally Razor Ramon)

WCW Begins beating WWF in ratings with mature/aggressive story lines

• NWO(New World Order)

WWF Pushes new starts and begins making bigger names out of younger talent

WWF Begins pushing more mature story lines and moving away from Characters

NWO and older wrestlers have monopoly on top positions in company, many younger wrestlers leave for WWF

• The Rock
• Stone Cold Steve Austin
• Mankind
• Big Show
• Triple H

 

Attitude Era (Late 90s to 2001)

WWF Continues beat WCW and absorbing wrestlers other Promotions

WWF beats WCW with more diverse talent, WWF Buys WCW and ECW(Extreme Championship Wrestling)

Invasion Storyline allows WCW and ECW wrestlers to show up and get signed for WWF

Introduction of more Hardcore/dangerous stunts (Tables, Ladders, & Chairs Match / Hell in a Cell)

Introduction of Second TV show (Smackdown)

• Chris Jericho
• Eddie Gurerro
• Chris Benoit
• Edge & Christian
• Hardy Boys
• Dudley Boys

 

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) (2002-2007)

WWF loses court fight with World Wildlife Fund over name, changes to WWE (Get the F Out, Campain)

WWE Fully integrates WCW and ECW wrestlers, but too many wrestlers

Brand Split: Different wrestlers for each show, Raw & Smackdown

Also known as Ruthless Aggression Era

• Randy Orton
• Batista (Drax)
• Kurt Angle
• Brock Lesnar
• Rob Van Dam
• Rey Mysterio
• Booker T
• John Cena

 

Chris Benoit Murder Suicide

Horrible Murder of his Wife and Son

Nearly Killed Pro-Wrestling in the west

WWE Institutes # of new policies in light of the events

• Wellness Policy to curb drug use
• Elimination of Chair Shots to Head
• Concussion studying and prevention/recuperation
• Lack if blood of TV
• Tone down of language and storylines to be less aggressive
• PG Rating for TV programming moving forward

 

PG Era (Late 2000 to now)

WWE’s Switch to more family friendly affair brought children and more revenue to Wrestling

Brand Split comes to an end in 2011, begins again in 2016

Introduction of WWE Performance Center to train wrestlers, Creation of NXT (Developmental Brand)

Women’s Revolution

Other Promotions fill gap of Territory system

• Ring of Honor
• Impact/TNA (Total Non-stop Action)
• New Japan Pro Wrestling (IWGP: International Wrestling Gran Prix)
• Pro Wrestling Guerilla
• Too many to Count

 

Review:

Wrestlemania 35

 

More information:

WWE.Com

Wrestler (Movie)

Ep 6: My Little Pony Review / Fandom

Topic: My Little Pony Review / Fandom

 

Previously, we did a tutorial on My Little Pony and the more recent incarnation of the series, Friendship Is Magic. Now, My Little Pony isn't actually nerdy; it's down right mainstream if you think about it.  But I wanted to use this topic, something Most people are generally aware of to discuss and get to Fandom, in particular the culture of the Brony, along with discussing some aspects of Fandom media, including Fanfics, FanArt, FanVideo, and Fan-media as a whole.

 

Review Material

Netflix

• Season 1:
  • Episodes 1 & 2
  • Episode 6
  • Episode 13
  • Episode 25

 

Bronies?

Started on 4chan, derivative of 2chan in Japan. 

• 4chan is a semi-popular, underground hub for discussion on various topics of media, from memes, to shows, and often random and bizarre fandoms and interest. Often blamed for mobilizing though pranks, coordinating attacks on other websites; trolling comes from this website often.

Initially criticized by Amid Amidi(Animation news website) for being a toy-centric cartoon with major talent behind it in frost.  The essay created a backlash as more people started looking in to it, and soon pony related media/memes were so dominate on the website that they had to ban any threads.

 

Originally Liked Ironically, later loved because of the characters, stories, and honesty in the show.

 

Bronies are unique amongst fandom as most fandoms are exclusive those in the know, while Bronies appear to be mostly inclusive, wanting more people inside, despite the weird or unusual.

 

Possible reasons for bronies?

• Brony Studies
• "so much cynicism and negativity out there in so many [other] shows" while the show "has such a positive message"

 

Equestria Daily, major MLP:FIM fandom website.

 

 

Fanfics, Fan-Art, Fan-Animations, Fan Music

 

First major fanfics were about Star Terk

Similar Japanese dōjinshi, Japanese made comics using other characters/settings that are copyright.

Terms:

• Mary Sue: author insert or wish fulfillment,
• Shipping: setting two character up together that may or may not naturally get together romantically
• Slash Fiction: Primarily romantic/sexual relationships between men. Femslash, for women.
• Smut: Primarily Explicit/pornographic writings, see Hentai
• Crossover/fusion: when blending two different settings/casts/franchises.

Not explicitly illegal, more or less agreed that so long as you aren’t making money off of it, you’re okay.

Some authors/creators okay with it, not all though.

Most famous fanfic: 50 Shades of Gray, fanfic of Twilight series.

 

PMV (Pony Music Video)

Similar to an AMV (Anime Music Video)

 

 

BronyCon

Set in New York/New Jersey.  Fan created convention to promote fandom. Likely to end after 2019.

 

Merchandise:

Figurines

Dvds

Blind Bags

Stuffed Animals

Clothing

Lots of Fan Created stuff

 

Discussed items:

Fanfiction.net

Equestria Daily 

PMV - Pony Polka  

Ep 5: My Little Pony Tutorial

 Ep 5: My Little Pony Tutorial

Topic: My Little Pony

 

This week we discuss the history of My Little Pony and the most current incarnation, "Friendship is Magic", en-route to a future discussion on 'Bronies' and why an older demographic fell in love with a show about colorful horses meant for a younger, female audience. 

 

History:

 

1981 My Pretty Pony

• 10 inch tall, very large by comparison
• Didn’t sell very well

 

1982 – 1992 My Little Pony (Gen 1)

• More iconic version from the 80s/90s
• Smaller
• First incarnation of symbol on backside/cutie mark.
• Animated series in 1986 & 1987, various movies
• Very collectable

 

1997 – 1999 (Gen 2)

• Slimmer, turning heads
• Not as popular in west, popular in Europe

 

2003 – 2009 (Gen 3)

• A re-launch
• Childish, aimed as a much younger audience
• Many of the hallmarks from 1986/1987 animation

 

2010+ Friendship is Magic

• Created by Lauren Faust
• Desire for more complex/in-depth characters, Adventurous settings
• Stories resolve around friendship/relations, with some adventurous/action elements

 

Characters

• “Mane Six Ponies”
  • Twilight Sparkle (Purple Unicorn, Magical Bookworm)
    • Spike (Pet Dragon)
  • Rainbow Dash (Blue Pegasus, Rebellious Tomboy)
  • Rarity (White Unicorn, Glamorous/Fashion)
    • Sweetie Bell (Little Sister)
  • Fluttershy (Pale Yellow Pegasus, Shy/timid)
  • Pinkie Pie (Pink Earth Pony, hyperactive/social)
  • Applejack (Orange Earth Pony, hard working Tomboy)
    • Apple Bloom(Little Sister)
    • Scootaloo (Friend)
  • Princess Celestia (White Alicorn, unicorn + Wings) & Sister Princess Luna (Black Alicorn)
  • 200+ minor background characters
  • Derpy (Fan favorite Grey Pegasus, named such for an accident with her eyes)

 

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls

• Spin off from “Friendship is Magic”
• All characters are humans, but colored like original counterparts
• Takes place in a Highschool
• Meant for older girls, while original for younger

 

Review Material

Netflix or The Hub

Season 1:

Episodes 1 & 2

Episode 6

Episode 13

Episode 25

 

 

Ep 4: Captain Marvel Review

Episode 4: Captain Marvel Review

Topic: Captain Marvel 

 

Last week, we discussed the various incarnations of Captain Marvel in Comic Books in anticipation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie coming out in Theaters. We're back to discuss the movie with spoilers, but Spoiler, we liked it! Please check out Episode 3 for more information on Captain Marvel various incarnations and Carol Danvers's long history in Comics.

 

Review

 Spoilers Ahead (What is a Spoiler)

 

Released on International Women’s Day, 3/8/2019

 

Cast

• Carol Danvers / Vers / Captain Marvel – Brie Larson
• Nick Fury – Samuel L Jackson
• Talos / Keller – Ben Mendelsohn (Skrull)
• Korath – Djimon Hounsou
• Ronan the Accuser – Lee Pace
• Supreme Intelligence & Mar-vell/Dr. Wendy Lawson - Annette Bening
• Yon-Rogg - Jude Law

 

Thoughts:

• Lots of Kree, both Blue and Pink variation.  Wonder if Kree is a title/organization alignment or race of creatures. 
• Yondu – Kree 
• Carol Danvers being so Loyal doesn’t appear human. 
• Surprised by Skrull narrative 
• Not really happy about the Avenger’s Endgame appearance/Mid-credit.  Would have liked to see her with Shorter Hair. 
• Binary Form? Origin different than original 
• Names! 
• The Cat (Goose), We Love Him!
• Nick Fury loss eye(Kinda of disappointing)

 

What Next?

• Avenger’s Endgame 
• Future Movies? 
• Place in the MCU?

 

Review:

• Watch Movie when it comes out.
• Amazon Prime for Comicbook barrowing
• Comixology (Lots of comics/manga)