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2011 was an outstanding year, and for me personally the best single event during it was my excursion with a good friend to the UK. I couldn’t possibly list in detail all the things we did and saw, because it was non-stop and overwhelming. So instead I am going to post a few of the more memorable photos.

Doctor Who Experience entrance
Doctor Who Experience entrance
Daleks
Daleks
Tower of London at night
Tower of London at night
Tower of London Bridge
Tower of London Bridge
Trafalgar Square at night
Trafalgar Square at night

There is some amazing music coming out of Japan, and I thought it was time to share a few more of my favorite tracks. The first one is the 5th single from One OK Rock, called Answer Is Near, it was uploaded by the band and it rocks. The second one is The Plasticzoom’s Witch, which was both directed and uploaded by Yu Wakatsuki, and it rocks. The third track is a live version of the Asian Kung Fu Generation song Re-Write, and it rocks. Are we noticing a pattern here? If you go to the YouTube page each of those videos came from, you will find more tracks by the same artist.

The one movie of note this week is In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds, a followup to a surprisingly good direct to DVD first video. The first one had a decent amount of star power, this one has Dolph Lundgren as the modern day time traveling protagonist who ends up in a medieval war against evil sorcerers. I think I can do better dragon CGI on my home computer, but other than that this one looks like fun.

In TV we also have a single entry this week: The Nine Lives of Chloe King Volume 1. This one aired on ABC Family, and involves a high school girl who gets killed in the first episode, unleashing her superpowers. This series is a lot like watching a high school remake of Charmed, and they accurately hit their target audience of 13 to 17 year old girls; the appeal outside of that demographic is limited. You can watch full episodes on their official web site (linked above) if you want to see if this one might be for you.

Anime is where this weeks releases come into there own, with several new programs, and a number of old favorites being re-released in more cost effective packaging. To start,
Fairy Tail – Combo Pack Part 2 is the next installment about the most dangerous team in the Wizards Guild, sometimes as dangerous to themselves as to the demons they go up against, and definitely as good at generating collateral damage on the surrounding terrain and inhabitants as Dirty Pair ever was.

Himawari Too!! – Complete Collection likewise continues the story of the student kunoichi (female ninja’s, or perhaps ninjette’s, in English) as they go up against alien invasions, bubblegum maniacs, and evil broccoli. This one is just a tad surreal, more than a little bit silly, and a whole lot of fun. It is not my place to tell you about Viper GTS, the third new release for the week; if you know what it is and want a copy, you no doubt know where to find it.

The bargain editions in more cost effective packages I mentioned, the [S.A.V.E.] (for Super Amazing Value Editions) set, we have Heroic Age – The Complete Series, the Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor – The Complete Series, and D.Gray-man Season 1. If you shop around, you can pick any one of them up for less than $20.