So I found Gaijin…

On Youtube, wasn’t that hard to find really but I didn’t want to leave my post all broken up for you guys. I’m still keeping that review up anyways, the video being on youtube does not change my mind, in fact if I were to review now I might deduct points for this lack of respect for their own animation. I checked out their site, no real news as to why they took down the Gaijin site, even they are linking to youtube. Probably just for cheaper video hosting, but that seems a little unprofessional to me.

Not much else to report, I finished one of 4 exams today, 2 tomorrow then one last one Wednesday morning. Hopefully will get together a better routine for the site maybe some exclusive features you know for the sake of making this site worth more than my petty word. Of course Metal Gear Solid 4 did score 10 on IGN and Gamespot so I might be busy playing that and World of Warcraft… In terms of Flash, if your bored and already seen Gaijin stick to the links to the right of the page, Newgrounds (beware of NSFW content) and my personal favourite FlashTV. Sadly though, FlashTV seems like a beta and incomplete. Never really brought this up before but now is a good time as any, FlashTV has the best quality Flash on the net yet it does not do itself any favours with its semi unfriendly user interface. I can’t link to individual Flash on the site because its all embedded. Minor blip though for lots of top quality entertainment. So check those sites in the mean time, peace.

The Greatest Story Never Told 4!

The results are in and the winner is The Tired City for best movie. A slightly more artistic approach from a Flash artist, and more serious. I found it to be a nice breather from the general Flash movies out there. It is a Chinese short about the corporate world and how demanding and depressing it is/has become.

I personally liked Hold the Line and The Druffs. Of course those two were funny and that completely depletes my point about The Tired City. Check out all of the 2007 submissions here.

It is a shame that Adam Phillip’s latest Brackenwood animation was not finished on time to be submitted to the competition. His work is always getting better, and Waterlollies is no exception.

JCB Music Video

Every now and then there comes these quant animated shorts on the internet that don’t have to be violent or funny to entertain us, sometimes it is just nice to have a unique animation.

The animated JCB Music Video is a neat little animation to the song JCB. It has a rough sketch style with the webpage fitting the lined paper background that adds atmosphere to the animation, and the song itself somewhat fits the animation style.

If your feeling like watching something a little slow paced or just like these kinds of touchy animations, then this is perfect for that. I give it an 8/10 for great quality of animation and music. Worth checking out for sure.

-P.G

Calico Monkey

Now I’d like to present to you all, my current favourite Internet Animated series, Calico Monkey. It’s a hilarious series about a dog named Sparky who runs a pet store, with a really unique twist. Animals and humans are reversed, and the pet store’s live stock consists of people of all professions and personalities.

I’d have to say the concept itself is enough to entice users to watch, but with a complementary unique art and animation style it really is quite the toon. The site itself is a blog of the animator Will Reinhardt who not only animates but also makes posts of advice about animation with Flash and recently he has switched over to BoomToons and is somewhat of a spokes person for them. He also posts about professional animation and his thoughts on the business, and its fun to post your own comments and share your thoughts with him as I have in his post on the Emmys.

The episodes are in chronilogical order and the start from where the previous episode left off, which is nice. I’ve tried some Flash animation myself and I have real respect for Will’s work over at www.calicomonkey.com, his series and this fun short about a robot with emotions “Emotibot & the Butterfly” are top quality Flash and you’ll find yourself checking his blog every day. I give his series Calico Monkey a 9/10!

-P.G

Gaijin Tail of a Warrior

Flash animations about cute animals using kung-fu are quite popular. Good ones are also hard to come by (unless viewing FlashTV). Gaijin The Tail of a Warrior is an amazing, and I say amazing as in blow your mind amazing, animated series about a Raccoon who wanders the land aimlessly until the Rabbit Army takes over the land.

When the Rabbit Army confronts Gaijin, an epic battle of good versus evil ensumes. Gaijin is cool, calm and collected when it comes to fighting because he is always sure he will win. Using taunts to provoke the enemy he tricks them into a battle they cannot win. And when he is clearly out-matched by a much larger enemy, he uses his wit to defeat it.

Click to Enlarge Picture.

The actual files to watch the episodes are in quicktime format, even though they are obviously created in Flash. The animation quality is superb and professional. The sound recording is flawless with excellent voice acting that does not sound too cheesy. There is not really anything to complain about accept the same problems with Teddi, there have been no new epsiodes or significant updates in over a year. The episodes are like trailers but not like Teddi, these have some kind of story in them rather then straight to the action. For having a bad viewing method Gaijin loses points, but for having a slightly more compelling plot then Teddi; they both tie, I give Gaijin an 8/10

-P.G

Tedi

The day I watched this animation, I thought that it was the best Flash I have ever seen! Tedi is a Flash series about a teddy bear named Tedi who fights an assortment of animals with Kung Fu. The graphics are splendid and the animation is up to professional standards with what I believe all frame by frame (could be tweens, but they are used very well, thus are not noticable). Sadly the site has not been updated since 2004! There are 3 animations, most of them are demo reals for Flash TV however the animation and choreography of the fighting is marvelous! Tedi is deffinitly worth checking out if your looking for some great entertainment to pass half an hour.

 Click to enlarge picture.

There are some comics and mini games exclusive to the site (most of the content is exclusive) but again, the developers have not even posted any news since 2004. The developers are Floating Pear Productions which is a very professional animation studio from Rhode Island, it seems that Tedi is not on top of their to-do list as they must have professional works for TV in the process. Tedi is short but amazing, and sadly do not expect any new content any time soon, so for that Tedi gets an 8/10.

-P.G