Seeing as everyone expects Speed Racer to be a box office disaster and the movie is getting terrible reviews, the power that be have allowed Yahoo to show the first seven minutes of the movie in hopes of getting people interested in seeing the other 17/18ths. I think it looks pretty good, myself, but then I also enjoy shooting LSD directly into my retinas, and this seems like an equivalent experience.
By Rob Bricken
No job is perfect. But if you're on the pit crew of the fabulous Speed Racer racing team, helping him, uh...race...in his...races...you'd think things might not be too terrible. Not so, as Topless Robot has obtained a copy of an employee complaint form from earlier this year. Looks like there are plenty of demons off the wheels as well as on them.
Alternately, it's also like getting sugar poured in your eyes, as adorable versions of the entire cast of DBZ dance for your mind-shattering pleasure. Warning—whatever song this is will haunt your brain for the rest of the day at the bare minimum. (Via Koibito)
Since Hellsing is still one of the most popular anime in the U.S.—after only a 13 episode series from 5+ years ago and a new OVA series that only barely got released before Geneon bought it—I'm surprised there's not been more Hellsing product being made. Organic Hobby's doing their part with this clunkily named Hellsing Collection Figure – Search & Destroy (Vol. 2) Reverse Cross (Arucard) and Bayonet (Anderson) two-figure set for $25. The 5-inch figures are due out in July, so you'll almost certainly be able to get this before a new volume of Hellsing Ultimate makes it over.
I'm super excited about today, because there are two hidden gems among the shit-pile of anime and other crap. Yay!
• The 4400: The Fourth Season
It's like the X-Men, but on USA. Not a judgment, just an observation.
• Naruto Uncut Boxset Vol. 7
I believe this set has the death of the Hokage and Naruto first training with Jiraiya, which means these weren't bad episodes, all truth be told. Enjoy it before VIZ starts releasing those fillers.
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Admittedly, this is hardly the best MST3K episode out there (for which we can eternally blame the studios). But it's been out of print for quite a while, and now I don't have to pay $100 for on eBay!
• Lucky Star Vol. 1
If you liked Haruhi Suzumiya, you've already been salivating about buying this and the massive amount of goodies in this limited edition. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just move on.
• The Secret of the Sword
It's the He-Man and She-Ra movie! This thing rocked my world when I was young, not only because Adora was super, super hot. Here's how insane I am—even though I totally own the She-Ra best of 2-DVD set, which has this complete movie on it, I'm buying this one just because it has Secret of the Sword packaging, and I'd prefer that on my DVD shelf. Yep.
• Legend of Bravestarr: The Movie
Did you ever want to know BraveStarr's origin? Well, then this is the movie for you. I'd make fun of you, but I just bought a second copy of the She-Ra movie and thus have no room to talk.
• Kinky Cannibal Double Feature: Cannibal Doctor & Dinner For Two
I just know these are terrible soft-core films (since they star Misty Mundae, queen of terrible soft-core films), but I couldn't resist typing Kinky Cannibal Double Feature.
Comic Book Movie has a look at the official U.S. movie poster for the live-action Dragonball movie.
CAN YOU FEEL THE EXCITEMENT? I can't, because I'm busy drinking scotch in a fetal position under my desk, sobbing uncontrollably.
There are very few movies on DVD I want to own at the point, and only one that isn't actually out: Kill Bill. Sure, there's the two separate bare bones version, but I refused to waste my money on those when a special edition will eventually be coming.
Of course, I've been waiting three years for that special edition DVD, but Uma Thurman finally justified my wait and gave me some good news to boot—Tarantino has ordered another Kill Bill anime sequence, to be used as an intermission for an upcoming special DVD, according to Thurman. She told MTV:
“Right now he’s putting the two films together with an intermission with an added anime sequence he had already written,” she said of the ongoing saga of Beatrix Kiddo. “So additional stories are in there, in animation.”
Astute nerds might remember that Tarantino said he had two anime ideas for more Bill, one being about the Bride, and one about Bill. Thurman says she's recorded no lines for the anime, meaning it looks like we get Bill. Hell, I'm just happy I'll finally be able to get the DVD.
Remember Marvel's Mangaverse, the Kia Asamiya X-Men run, or any of the other times Marvel has tried to siphon off some of the huge manga audience for it's American superhero books? Yes? No? Doesn't matter, because none of those ideas worked. Well, Marvel has had the same idea yet again, and this time time they're going to make Del Rey do it.
Del Rey will co-publish manga-style versions of Wolverine (that's Wolvie above) and the X-Men in 2009, in manga format and all that. No Japanese artists will be used or harmed in the making of these books. And yet again, the regular comics fans won't buy them because they'd rather just buy the regular comics, and manga fans won't buy them because they'd rather buy popular manga. Although I do appreciate that the X-Men artist has drawn the Beast exactly like Totoro.
There are more pics of Kitty Pride (looking like Yuffie from FFVII), Iceman (bishonen) and Nightcrawer (furry bishonen) and some Wolverine characters I've never heard of here.
Meet Astro Boy. He might have put on a few since you last saw him.
I have no words, so you only get quotes from Mainichi:
In a collaboration with decorated illustrator Lily Franky, Tezuka Productions has produced a version of Astro Boy (known as "Mighty Atom" in Japan) with fleshy jowls and a belly that wouldn't look out of place on Japan's other icons, sumo wrestlers.
Tezuka Productions insiders are calling the fat hero the "AvoCali Style" Astro Boy, taking the name from U.S.-created sushi dishes avocado-maki and California rolls. "Once upon a time, Americans never ate raw fish, but now they really want to find a delicious sushi," Shimizu says. "In the same way, we want the collaboration that led to 'AvoCali (Astro Boy)' to take the character worldwide. There's no future for Tezuka Productions surviving on Tezuka works alone."
I would like to have been in the Tezuka Production conference room for that meeting. Mainly so I could have beaten them all with baseball bats.
The big anime news from NYCC is that Ganiax's much anticipated anime Gurren Lagann will finally be coming to America, just not by the company that licensed it. ADV announced the giant robot series at last year's Anime Expo, but took all mention of the series off its site in January, causing anime fans to freak out. Eventually, ADV returned all the titles except Gurren Lagann to the site, and told fans they the company had all intentions of releasing the series.
Clearly either ADV was lying to anime fans, or themselves, because Bandai Entertainment announced they had the license to the show at NYCC. There's no word about when it's coming, but since Bandai seems pretty stable, I think it'll probably make it. As for why ADV lost the license, I have two theories—they've jumped the gun on announcing a few titles (the recent Full Metal Panic series being one of them), and they might not have ever 100% locked down the deal with Gainax. the second theory is that they are beset with money problems (new money problems, not the old money problems fixed by the Sojitx loan from a few years ago) and could no longer pay the Japanese piper the price-per-episode.
I'm told Gurren Lagann is like a long-form FLCL, which is one of my favorite. I'm looking forward to checking it out if someone sends it to me for free.
Whether you give a shit about anime in general or anime video games in specific—and I'm betting many of you do not—I highly recommend you watch the above video, because it is outstanding.Thanks to this trailer, I'm ready to call this trailer for the PS3's Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm the best anime video game of all time, because it seriously looks like you're playing the cartoon (maybe slightly better), although I feel like a douchebag for typing it (and the lighting is absolutely amazing). It's enough to make on forget that one episode of Naruto is centered almost entirely on him peeing on people.
Uh...wow. I keep trying to keep a level head about the Gotham Knight anime, with the high probability of problems between the American writers and Japanese directors, the more-than-occasional artsy goofiness of anime "auteurs," and the usual soulless cash-in status of these types of things, but man, Gotham Knight looks good. It's made me release some kind of liquid in my pants, although I'm not sure which. I'll update you later.
Pity the poor Incredible Hulk movie for having the bad luck to release its movie poster the same day as the above trailer:
While I'm so exited to see the Hulk's back (because that way the front is saved for the movie! I wonder what he could possibly look like?!) it really just looks like the Hulk is going to sit down and get a mopey Ed Norton trapped between his enormous ass cheeks.
It's already been a big morning for anime fans; Variety says that DreamWorks has grabbed the rights to make a 3-D, live-action adaptation of Masamune Shirow and Production I.G's Ghost in the Shell movie. There are a few interesting facts in the article:
• DreamWorks got the rights thanks to Steven Spielberg, who calls Ghost "one of [his] favorite stories"
• Avi Arad, the guy who made all the good Marvel movies happen (and a couple of the bad ones) will co-produce
• Jamie Moss, who did the script for Street Kings, will write, and since I have no desire to watch Street Kings, I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing
So Spielberg is not producing, although it should be pointed out that even if he did, that would be no guarantee of quality (cough *Transformers* cough). And I think we can safely say that the U.S. version will not have a nude woman jumping off a building.
• Why, it's yet another awesome Iron Man clip, this one from Nickelodeon. Seriously, is there a bad scene in this flick at all? (Via FilmDrunk)
• There's a new, longer Speed Racer trailer at the seizure-inducing Speed Racer website, which I can't embed. Seriously, don't try to watch it if you've got epilepsy, because it will freak your shit out.
• There's a scene in the upcoming Dark Knight movie where Heath Ledger appears in a Batman costume in a body bag. People thought it was going to get cut, as it's creepy, but it's not. This is apparently news. (Via Comic Book Movie)
• The doomed Justice League movie still can't find a place to film. With Australia not playing nice with the tax breaks, now the production might move to New Zealand, Canada or even New York City. (Via Action-Figure)
• BONUS: This isn't comic movie-related, but since nerds have a certain interest in Megan Fox after she starred in the Transformers movie, you'll probably want to know that she'll be topless in her next film, Jennifer's Body. I predict $113 million opening box office, easy. (Via First Showing and the love of God)
I'd long suspected the entire nation of Japan was pure bat-shit crazy; the recent reinterpretation of the bible in manga form (starring Jesus as a hot chick) certainly put them on the edge of sanity. Now, the Japanese are giving an anime to J-pop rocker Gackt's dog, Ener. Here's Gackt (one of those disturbingly pretty men Japan seems to specialize in:
Here's his dog, as he will appear in the anime:
The anime will be called Ener's Big Adventure, and man, it is no longer too early to start drinking. (Via A Geek By Any Other Name)
Apparently, a manga with Shaman King's Hiroyuki Takei isn't enough for Stan Lee. Newtype magazine (the still-running Japanese one, not the defunct American one) has reported that Stan is part of an upcoming anime, unpleasantly called Hero Man," which will be animated by Studio Bones of Fullmetal Alchemist fame. I'll let ANN summarize it for me, as I'm lazy:
The story will center on a boy named Joey who discovers a toy robot near the west coast of the United States. Then, the toy becomes Hero Man, a giant robot that Joey pilots against evil threats.
Hmm. So it's a Japanese giant robot cartoon set in America with American tropes? That could be brilliant, but it's likely 90% more likely to be totally lame. Sorry, Stan, but at least you're still awesome:
Oh man. Little did I know when I woke up this morning that yet another example of Japan's ability to take any subject matter, and represent it with large-breasts girls. May I introduce to the new manga series Let's Bible?
See the blonde girl on the left? Yeah, that's Jesus. He's back...as a she. The boy on the right is a fisherman who desperately wants to have sex with her (and manages to cop a feel at one point). If you read the scanlation of the manga here, you can also meet some kind of demonic Mexican and another hot girl, wearing a goth outfit, who might be Judas. Did I mention the boy wants to have sex with Jesus?
The whole thing has blown my mind. Seriously, making fun of Wilford Brimley's "diabeetus" doesn't seem nearly so damning. (Via Newsarama's Blog)
The live-action Dragonball movie had made me a liar. Sure, less than 24 hours I said that I would no longer be shocked at the film. And yet, here's a picture of Justin Chatwin's stunt double in Goku gear (meaning this is exactly how Goku looks, minus the facial features) and Emily Rossum as Bulma (with her stunt double as well). And I'm shocked at how fucking goofy it all is. Actually, I think Chatwin's stunt double's look of fear, confusion and nausea sums it all up pretty well. Oh, you can visit Infotaku to see a few more shots of the film, although I should warn you as one whose read all the DB/DBZ manga and see all the episodes, I recognized nothing. (Via Infotaku through Kotaku)
CBR noted that special effect whiz Edward French just put up a pic of Buffy and Angel's James Masters outfitted as Piccolo for the upcoming Dragonball movie on his personal website. That's it above, with the obscuring starburst all French's, for fear of being destroyed by Fox. You might note that Marsters is wearing some kind of black leather outfit, and doesn't particularly look like this:
Which is what Piccolo actually looks like in DBZ.
Ahem.
I'm officially through being shocked by the Dragonball movie's wild deviation from the original. But I do wonder what's under the starburst. Think Marsters' head is actually green with little antennae under there, or does he just have a big 'FUCK YOU' written on his forehead in magic marker?
Guys, I'm not even kidding. I know this is a Hot Wheels set. I know it's based on the Speed Racer movie. But I saw it at Target this weekend, so I know it's out, and frankly, I'd be both lying and doing you a disservice if I told you there was a cooler toy that you could buy. This race track sending cars flying into the air, has an awesome quadruple criss-cross for crashes, it accelerates the cars on its own...I honestly don't know if Hot Wheels ever needs to make another toy, that's how awesome it is. I defy you to play with this, at any age, and not have fun. Buy one for every child in your life, boy or girl, and buy one for yourself as well.
I know all us nerds love Stan Lee, and rightly so. But you have to admit, since the '90s, the guy's been a bit of a non-starter. All his DC comics and cartoon shows have been like lame Stan Lee rip-offs from his glory days of co-creating Spider-man and the X-Men and such. So when I heard Stan the Man was going to make a manga with Shaman King's Hiroyuki Takei for Japan, I was intrigued but not hopeful. But a pic of the manga's characters has surfaced, and I'm now just intrigued:
The manga will be titled Karakuridōji Ultimo. ANN says:
The story of Ultimo revolves around two figures — Vice and Ultimo — who appear in the skies above Farmless City. Their super-powered clashes bring destruction upon the city and raises the questions of their origins and aims.
I'm having a hard time seeing this as another pale copy of his earlier work, although I wonder how much is actually Stan and how much is Takei ignoring the translations of an old, rambling American man and doing whatever the hell he wants. At any rate, it's worth a look—and an excuse to post this pic of Stan again:
Have a great weekend, kids!
U.S. anime convention Otakon is doing what no con has done for about 25 years—getting its own anime made for the show. The last time this happened, it was 1984 or so in Japan, when the Daicon sci-fi convention (which, being in Japan, included a great deal of anime) had a bunch of crazy kids make the above video, set to E.L.O.'s song "Twilight;" those crazy kids would grow up to form studio Gainax. Otakon, meanwhile, has hired Madhouse and the director of xxxHolic to make the 90-second short, which will feature Otakon's generic anime-esque mascots. I'm genuinely impressed! And amused, since while Otakon (run by and for fans) has enough money to order their own anime, real U.S. anime companies are losing money had over fist. Wacky! (Via ANN)
I saw Ultraviolet on opening day, as a fan of Milla Jovovich in ridiculous outfits, as well as entertainingly dumb yet stylish action flicks. When I exited the theater 90 minutes later, sobbing, stupider and my body covered in the vile fecal matter sprayed by the film, I was willing to admit that Ultraviolet was too dumb to be entertaining, the action sequences were dumb, and that the director was almost certainly brain-dead for allowing such an abomination to come to pass. And I assumed I was done with it.
But no, as there's going to be an Ultraviolet anime movie, subtitled Code 044. I hate everyone involved in this, including the generally excellent Studio Madhouse. I curse the heavens for allowing such a thing to happen, but clearly there's no one up there who cares.
ANN says that Media Blasters has licensed the anime series Seirei no Moribito, a TV series notable mostly for 1) being done by Production I.G., and 2) for being licensed by Geneon Entertainment USA before the company collapsed like a soufflé last year. This is the first of Geneon's licenses to be "saved" by another company, and probably not the last. I'm guessing most anime fans will expect the floodgates to be opened and Hellsing Ultimate, Black Lagoon and the rest to be licensed shortly; while that may be the case, I kind of doubt it. Maybe since Geneon helped produce Moribito, they could more easily free it from the licensing hell that surrounds the defunct-in-all-but-name company, but who knows? I guess we'll see over the next few months.
Well, according to a set of Thai Acuvue contact ads. (Via Sparkplugged)
I was looking for some kind of video to make an easy first post of the day, so I could go ahead and make some coffee, but I accidentally watched this, and now I'm scared and confused and there's a weird metal taste in my mouth and I kind of want McDonald's. Suffice to say, it's no way to start the day. (Via TV in Japan)
I'll be the first to admit that Dragonball and Dragonball Z is not holy scripture, and could stand to be tweaked to become more broadly appealing to mass audiences. But what the hell is this green pit of goo, snapped by someone calling himself Troy Mustang (*sigh*) and shown on Slashfilm? "Not sure what the set involves"? Me either, pal, and I've read all 42 volumes of the manga, which has a total of zero goo pits in it, green or otherwise. Why even call the movie Dragonball if the only similarity to the original is that it has a main character named Goku? Why not just re-release No Country For Old Men with the title of Dragonball instead? It just can't be more ridiculous.
Some exceedingly slim pickings this week.
• Frisky Dingo Season 1
The cream of today's crop.
• The Mist
I'm told this is quite watchabe, actually.
• Sliders: The Fourth Season
Yes, really.
• Tripping The Rift: The Movie
Please just buy porn.
• Painkiller Jane
Based on the Event Comic. That should tell you all you need to know.
• The Upright Citizens Brigade: Asssscat!
With Will Arnett and Amy Poehler!
• xxxHolic Vol. 1
I swear to god, any of you anime fans give me grief over my spelling of "xxxHolic" and I'll tan your hides but good.
• Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors Vol. 1
Here's your state of the U.S. anime industry—pre-orders for xxxHolic (#54 on Amazon, after a WWE Triple H video) are just barely ahead of Jayce (#57).
You don't have to be an anime fan or a One Piece fan to enjoy the awesomeness of this statue of an insane, clearly gay man wearing a swan-themed ballerina outfit (but it certainly helps). He's Mr. 2 Bon Clay, part of Megahouse's exquisite Portrait of Pirates One Piece line, runs $50, stands about 8-inches tall, and will be difficult to explain owning to just about anybody. His If you were wondering if you could take the swan heads off his back and put them on his feet, thus replicating his deadly ballet-fu combat techniques, the answer is yes! You can buy him here.
Well, finally. After 14 years, manga artist Hiroaki Samura has relented and let his rather awesome supernatural samurai comic get animated, which will ensure him a rather significant pile of yen. Released in America by Dark Horse, Blade of the Immortal is about a samurai named Manji, who must kill 1000 bad men before he's allowed to die; it's beautifully drawn, incredibly violent, and generally pretty awesome.
The bad news is that Blade will be animated by Bee Train, who's not exactly the top shelf of anime studios, if you know what I mean. At least the music will be done by someone other than Yuki Kajiura, who's been composing the same damn song for all of her series.
At some point over the weekend, Japan unveiled a three-meter-tall Gundam statue, set outside Kami-Igusa Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line in Tokyo's Suginami-ku, near perennial Gundam animator studio Sunrise. Suginami actually houses a load of anime studios (it's often called "anime town," actually) but obviously, Gundam holds a special place in the Japanese heart; Mainichi says 2400 residents signed a petition to get the statue built. My favorite part is this quote from the mayor:
"We want the area to develop through this, just like a youth riding on Gundam," Suginami-ku Mayor Hiroshi Yamada said at the unveiling ceremony.
I assume that means Suginami-ku will first be a sniveling, irksome teenage boy who cries and whines a lot, but who will eventually become a fine pilot after learning about the realities of war. Good for Suginami.
The anime industry is, in a word, the shitter. There are tons of fans, but few people buying anime DVDs—the others are watching fansubs. It's killing the anime industry both in America (R.I.P., Geneon) and Japan. The Japanese industry, like the American music industry, has been trying to ignore the problem, mainly by closing its eyes real tight and singing so it can't hear, to about the same success. The American companies are aware of the problem, but don't want to spend their dwindling funds suing kids.
Okay, that's the 411 for those not following the scene. Now GDH—better known to anime fans as the anime studio Gonzo, and probably the most internationally minded, forward-thinking company in the business—is actually trying to do something about it. The company is going to make two new anime series available on YouTube, Crunchyroll.com and BOST at the same time the shows air in Japan. Both series—The Tower of Druaga (pictured) and BLASSREITER—will be free, streaming, and in Japanese with English subtitles; more interestingly, no U.S. companies seem to be involved. I assume GDH will be getting some kind of ad revenue for letting these site air the shows, which will be a marked improvement over the zero dollars they get with fansubs.
This is huge, mostly because now that one Japanese company has taken the plunge, and the rest of the scaredy-cat Japanese anime industry could (and should) follow. It's also huge because as of today, the American anime industry isn't particularly needed. Sure, there will always be some fans who prefer DVDs over watching shows on their computer—I'm one of them—but clearly, there's not too many of them, certainly not enough to justify all the companies currently existing. Sorry 'bout your luck.
All my anime posts are really long, and I'm sorry. I'm very much that guy.
I've not seen any of Gurren Lagann—what with its North American DVD shenanigans—but I'm told it's the best mecha show in years, a claim I'm willing to believe, since it's directed by the same guy who made FLCL. I have played with the Revoltech toys, which are shockingly poseable and well-sculpted, whether they be of mecha or dames. So I find Organic Hobby's Revoltech Gurren Lagann figure pretty keen, with drill and sunglasses/boomerang blade accessories, a few hands, and 54 (!) points of articulation. There's another pic after the jump.
I'm exceedingly jealous of Japanator for 1) finding this first and 2) using the name "DeathBob NotePants." Still, watching SpongeBob murder those he deems guilty is a fantastically fine way to start Monday morning.
That...that's just too wrong. Even for Japan. (Via Japanator)
The Sun is reporting that Britney Spears' new video for "Break the Ice" will be animated. Why the hell do you care, you ask? Well, because many of the several billion news sites that picked up the news have used the phrase "Britney goes anime," and I can't tell if they've done legitimate research and a real Japanese studio has done the work or if the press is just tossing around the term willy-nilly.
I'll admit I'm stumped; the pic above looks like it could be anime—note the lower-lidless eyes and lack of nostrils—but it's also mediocre enough that it could be a reasonably good imitation. But this picture...
...seems to point to an actual Japanese studio. The character design looks familiar, but I'm having trouble placing it. I welcome all help from the peanut gallery.
Oh—of course, it goes with out saying that the reason the Britney's video was animated at all is because Britney herself was too crazy/fat/retarded to star in a live-action one.
I had no idea it'd turn out to me video day here at Topless Robot, but when the videos are of things like another Gotham Knight anime trailer, I doubt you guys mind. And since the video has a bit of footage of Scarecrow, Killer Croc and what I believe is Man-Bat, it's far more interesting than the new pics of The Dark Knight which have shown up today, since those are just of Batman riding a motorcycle. Incidentally, this video comes from the new official Gotham Knight site, which...uh...has the video and nothing else. But still, enjoy.
Okay, this French fan-made video has one problem—Gohan hadn't donned his Great Saiyaman disguise during the Android Saga (yes, I know what I'm talking about, I watch DBZ, fuck off) but I'll forgive them, because the Great Saiyaman is awesome, as is this video. What sucks about this (and the other awesome DBZ fan movie from a little while ago) is that it proves that it's possible to make a decent DBZ movie, which the the shit stain Fox is making down in Mexico won't be. Sigh. (Via Japanator)
Remember how awesome that Iron Man trailer was a week or two ago? Here's a new international trailer for the Wachowski's Speed Racer movie, and it is, somehow, shockingly, just about as awesome. I'm not sure how the movie will do in America, but I expect every man, woman and child in Japan to buy a ticket. Maybe two.
Organic Hobby sent over this pic of its upcoming Motoko Kusanagi PVC figure from the anime Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, specifically 2nd Gig. Not much to say other than it'll be available in May for $85, and she has a much nicer ass than I do. Oh, and that she's a futuristic police officer, and this is her most reasonable reasonable crime-fighting uniform, since most of the others include corsets and thigh-high stockings.
In the show Death Note, a kid finds a notebook that kills anyone whose name he writes in the book. It's a pretty good series, currently airing on Adult Swim. In Japan, several kids got into trouble for creating their own Death Notes—which is to say, buying black notes book and writing "Death Note" in English, in white, on the cover—and writing down names of classmates and teachers.
As per usual, America is a bit behind. A kid in a Hartsville, South Carolina, middle school was caught with his homemade Death Note, and everyone has freaked the fuck out. As per ANN, Hartsville Middle School principal Chris Rogers sez:
Regardless of the origin of the book, we take the situation very seriously. The safety of our school family is always our top priority. We treat situations like this the same as if a student called in a bomb threat or brought a weapon to school. While there may not be any serious intent to do anyone harm, we cannot and will not take that chance with our students. We will take all steps necessary to ensure our students' well-being.
Really? You're treating a Mead notebook like it were a gun? Well, that's quite ridiculous, unless these students are particularly prone to paper cuts. Seriously, someone should just smack the kid, then the princ