Daicon IV

Incidentially, while I'm talking about Hideaki Anno, I might as well share (with who?) this neat thing I found on YouTube:

Daicon IV:



This animated short aired at the 22nd annual Japan SF Convension (Nihon SF Taikai), 1983, and showcased the talents of the 20-something Anno as one of the animation directors. From what I've read, it's something to do with the disarray in which Japan found itself post-WWII, and how its culture was rebuilt by the otaku, or something. Which is, if you ask me, bollocks (as they say across the pond). I think this short is also indicative of the beginning of the proliferation of the damned moe fetishism that runs rampant in modern Japanese animation.

But looking past that, I have to say that it's a stunning piece of animation (especially considering it was made in '83), and a finer tribute to cross-Pacific pop culture you'll never see. (I'm just jazzed to see Superman and Batman in an anime).

Plus it's got a damn catchy tune.