Super Special Awesome related materials

I'm working through all the stuff I have to say about this week's articles, which is a tremendous amount. In the meantime, I thought I'd share something I've been enjoying over the past year that's somewhat related to what we read. "Yugioh: The Abridged Series" is a fan-made parody of the Yugioh series that's entirely edited, written and voiced by one British man. I'd never actually seen Yugioh before a friend showed me the parody, but it's a fairly generic series, so it's easy enough to catch on to what's he's making fun of. There are also a ton of amusing pop culture references, and the fact that one guy does all the voice acting (quite well, I might add) is extra humorous. It's also really quotable; I'm pretty sure I don't talk to some of my friends anymore, but rather just quote this series at each other.

Anyway, if you need a study break, I'd recommend you check it out for some laughs: www.yugiohtheabridgedseries.com. It's also an interesting study in copyright issues, as the creator's videos were pulled from Youtube many times by the company that produced the English-language dub of the series.

Ito's article on Yugioh also mentioned doujinshi, or fan comics produced by adult fans who are amateur artists, or sometimes even professionals working under pseudonyms; the content ranges from G-rated parodies to extremely explicit. It's an interesting industry in that's a legal gray area that's become a staple of fan culture and is generally accepted by companies in Japan; it's also an industry that is largely populated by female fans and artists. Here's an example of the kind of product Ito is talking about that I found on a website that sells doujinshi.