Happy New Year everyone!
Let’s hope the next decade will bring you your desires. For me, that’s going over to Japan, whether it be a holiday, working or living (hopefully the living and working go together) and learning the language. My desire for the next year, twenty-ten, is to pass Year 12 and get done with schooling.
Oh, of course I cannot wait to see Disappearance.
What’s your desire for the coming decade and year? Comment me below.
Thanks to RC for the picture ^^
Having discovered the wonderful talents of Mamoru Hosoda last year with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki wo Kakeru Shojo or ‘Tokikake’ as the fans call it), I really was eagerly anticipating his next film. In hindsight,my expectations may have been a little too high. Summer Wars is certainly not TokiKake, but is enjoyable in itself and every bit as imaginative.
The story, as I’d understood it before watching the movie, centers on a math nerd who gets the unexpected opportunity to accompany the prettiest girl in school to a family get-together, on the false pretence that he is her boyfriend. However, the plans are thrown into disarray when he inadvertently becomes involved in a plot to bring down OZ, the ‘internet’ (or some amalgamation of the internet/Second Life/the biggest social network ever) of this world.
I was expecting something a bit more straightforward from there, but the movie surprised me by taking far more unexpected turns. As the story progresses, the film interestingly accentuates the very traditional aspects of Japanese family life (particularly a large matriarchal family such as the Jinnouchi’s) but also the hyper-real online world of OZ. This incongruous mix seems to be what Hosoda was going for, with the peculiar avatars mixing with the realistic blend of gaming, business and communication that takes place in the online world, but facilitates our real world activities, from healthcare to travel. The details really make this — I particularly liked how the many characters in the story interacted through OZ via a variety of devices, from mobile phones to laptops and DS consoles.
But at the film’s heart is the matriarchal character of Grandma Jinnouchi and her emphasis on communication and community. That’s what matters, not the medium used to facilitate it. At a time when many naysayers are condemning new social networks as isolating, it’s refreshing to see a film emphasising how, even in an online environment, community can flourish. And it acknowledges that such communication networks are here to stay and likely to be integrated into our everyday lives (while also acknowledging some of the dangers that come with an ultra-connected society).
I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the themes explored, even if, as I say, the incongruity meant the various plot elements didn’t quite blend for me (it got a little cheesy at the end for me). I also felt that some narrative threads and characters were a little underdeveloped (always likely to be a problem with such a large cast of characters, compared to TokiKake, which focused on just three main protagonists).
Nevertheless, I did enjoy Summer Wars and its beautiful animation and imagination themselves make this worth experiencing.
Someone help me here, because I feel like a lost puppy that just stepped in a puddle of blood. I’ve heard all sorts of raves about Kara no Kyoukai. I liked the idea of doing a seven-part movie series to tell an extended story. Screenshots and stuff that I’ve seen looked good. Sounded like a decent little anime.
The I watched the first movie and it was utter crap.
I’ll grant Kara no Kyoukai this: it’s pretty. I like the grimy look that’s conveyed in a lot of the backgrounds and details. And that shot of the puppy trailing blood as if it was mud was a great little flourish of style. Other than these style points, though, my experience watching the first movie was nothing short of painful. I had to stop the movie halfway through and force myself to come back to it the next day. If I was watching this in a movie theater, I’d likely walk out sneak into another movie. It was an excruciating experience.
The movie was dialogue-heavy. This isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. The problem is that the dialogue is of the “we think we’re being profound but we’re really talking out of our asses” variety. Much is said about suicide and weakness and stuff, but it’s all a bunch of prattling that repeats the same point over and over again. I guess this would be OK if there was some sort of debate or discourse going on, and these points were repeated because two characters shared different opinions on the subject, but that’s not the case. We get a character droning on and on about how suicide is like running away, then they throw a bunch of idiotic allusions to floating vs. flying into the mix.
It was these allusions that pissed me off the most since they don’t make one bit of sense. Maybe it’s the fault of the translation and something was lost when conveying the concept in English, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that saying “are you flying or are you just floating” and expecting us to find it profound is a fucking stupid concept. The scriptwriters may think they’ve come across some great metaphor or whatever, but all they’ve done is script some awful dialogue that made me embarrassed to watch it. There’s plenty of ways to discuss the concept of suicide. All the writers succeeded at conveying is their inability to write clever dialogue.
They came close to having this work when the dude tells the story about the butterfly and the dragonfly, and how the butterfly chose to fly and died because it couldn’t fly as fast as the dragonfly. Then again, the other character compared “floating” to giving up and dying and “flying” to succeeding in life, so the dude’s story outright contradicts this comparison. Maybe that was the intent, because the dude admits he’s a weak person, but I’m chalking it up to moronic inconsistency.
If the faux-intellectual dialogue was the movie’s only problem, I could ignore it and try to enjoy the bits that are good. I was hoping the action scenes would be well-executed. Unfortunately they’re largely anticlimactic.
There’s a cool scene where the main girl has her arm manipulated by the ghost girl that’s making people commit suicide. She’s forced to cut her own arm off in order to save her life, since the arm is trying to choke her and throw her off the side of the building. I was thinking that this was pretty damn cool. Seeing someone slice off their own appendage mid-fight to save their life, then continue fighting after the fact, is damn awesome.
Nope. Not only does the fight end right there, but the arm wasn’t even a real arm? Apparently the main girl has some sort of cybernetic marionette arm, and it was this arm that she sliced off. So she wasn’t really sacrificing anything to save her ass, she was just cutting off an expendable and replaceable part to save the whole. The fact that she didn’t lose anything in the process of severing her arm ruins any sort of cool factor that comes from that act. It isn’t cool if you cut off your arm if you can just sew it back on later and have it be better than ever. She didn’t make a sacrifice, she just snagged a power-up icon by losing part of her health bar.
To reinforce how painful this movie was: I had to stop writing this review after the last paragraph and force myself to come back and finish.
Anyway, I got my hopes up when the final action scene began. When the main girl threw off her coat and drew her knife, I was hoping the movie would salvage itself with an impressive finale. Nope, Kyoukai managed to screw up here by having the main villain be the most passive-aggressive villain of all time. The ghosts, or whatever they are, of the girls that committed suicide and the girl who made them commit suicide just float around and allow the main girl to kill them with her knife. Guess Lovecraft was right, ” even death can die.” A few of them try to float away, but none of them actually fight back. There’s no sign of the powers that were used to make the main girl’s cyberarm turn against her. The main ghost makes an attempt to pull a Jedi mind trick on the main girl, but A) this doesn’t happen until all of the other ghosts have died and B) it doesn’t work because the main girl spouts something vague about having no feelings. Whatever. The scene is well-animated, even if it resorts to fabricated shaky-cam crap, but all of that animation talent is wasted on a scene that has no dramatic or visceral impact.
This has to be the most anticlimactic ending to a movie since those awful Lord of the Rings movies. Guess that makes sense, since Kyoukai and LotR are both novel series translated into “epic” movie serials.
In the end, the first movie in the Kyoukai series is a muddled, contradictory (in all th wrong ways), meaningless piece of tripe. I should have predicted this, since it’s by the Type Moon guys. Never liked any of their other stuff, so I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.
To anyone that’s seen the rest of these movies: Does the series improve in any way? Is there anyone else out there that loathed the first movie but found that the rest of the movies were improvements? Is this a case of the first movie acting as little more than a teaser and we get to the “meat” in the next movie? I can accept those answers. It likely won’t change my opinion of the first movie, but at least I’ll know that the series improves with time.
Or is this one of those things where the only way you can enjoy it is if you’ve read whatever manga/novel/whatever it’s based upon? I really hate that kind of crap. A movie/anime/whatever should stand on its own strengths. I’m cool with supplementary stuff, side stories, and all that jazz, but if I have to read the orignal novel to have any sort of inkling of the plot or characterization or to even derive any sort of basic enjoyment out of an anime, that anime has failed utterly. Umineko may be based on some visual novel, but I was still able to follow it’s ridiculous dream logic and enjoy it. Baccano and Haruhi are based on light novels, and both excise details, but they rank as my favorite anime series from this decade because they’re able to take the concepts from the novels and build and improve upon them. If it turns out that familiarity with the original stories is necessary to enjoy Kyoukai, it’s crap.
But yeah, this is a shame. I love the imagery conjured by its subtitle: Garden of Sinners. I hope the series actually plays off of that subtitle.
I have about 30 odd new manga but without content I guess I will just skip the queue and just bring my readers’ attention to a particular one which I just got today.
I believe no further introduction is required
Anyway… YES!!! Its finally out! This was one of the manga which I would never have thought would be translated and yet I have it in my possession. But just in case there really is someone who have not seen or read this manga/anime, well its time google became your best friend.
I would really recommend this to anyone who do not mind mild ecchi (I think) and some pseudo-incest, since they are not blood related but are brothers and sisters.
I do not wish to give any spoilers any further but I would say that its much better than your normal harem. *ahem*. Anyway next up I hope for My Balls to be translated… I guess I can slowly wait for it then…
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“What happened to 2005″ you ask? 2005, in terms of anime, sucked ass. That year gave us the 00’s worst anime series, Eureka Seven (Yeah, I know I’ll get flack for that, but that’s how I feel.). The only worthwhile series I saw that year was Speed Grapher, and my love of that anime has more to do with the fact that it played out like an anime version of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut than anything else. I kind of enjoyed Pani Poni Dash, but in retrospect it feels more like a dry run for the far superior Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (You’ll see that on my 2007 list.). I missed out on Mushishi, which I hear is good, but other than that the year was rife with mediocrity at best.
In comparison, 2006 feels as if God looked down upon the world and said “Sorry, my bad about last year being so crappy. Here’s a bunch of awesome anime to make up for me being such a fucking idiot.”
Many of the “also-rans” from 2006 would easily be “honorable mentions” or even “best of’s” if they aired in other years, particularly Ouran, Coyote Ragtime, and Red Garden. And Bartender has one of the best anime theme songs I’ve ever heard. But they have the “misfortune” of airing during what’s easily the best year of anime ever.
Honorable Mentions
Black Lagoon
Along with Kusanagi and Batou, the relationship between Rock and Revy is one of my favorites amongst anime characters. The scene early in the first season where they light up cigarettes in the back of a taxi is one of the most subtly romantic moments I’ve ever seen in an anime. That scene says more about their feelings towards one another than any number of inner monologues, shy glances, and any other bullshit that you get from your typical “romance” anime. The fact that this scene comes from an homage to action movies says a lot about the (lack of) quality in romance/relationship anime.
It’s these sorts of characterization moments that elevate Black Lagoon. Much like Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, and other similar series, Black Lagoon allows the characters’ actions and attitudes develop the characters. While we get a handful of flashbacks in the series, Black Lagoon doesn’t rely upon those sorts of narrative crutches that are over-utilized in anime. We learn more about Rock and the other characters by the way they react to situations, the way they behave, how they talk, and other elements that are worked into the overall plot. We don’t get a long string of details from a character’s past we get brief glimpses that say just as much, if not more, about the character than any expository scene would ever reveal. We see Dutch wiring money to an unknown account in another country. Is he sending money to relatives? Is he doing this mercenary business to help people he loves? Or is he just setting aside money so that when this little group inevitably breaks apart he can quietly escape and live off his plundered goods? It’s situations like that which make for interesting characterization.
Another key element to Black Lagoon’s success is time period. There’s several hints that the series takes place in the early 90’s. There’s a reference to a new Dracula movie coming out, and Coppola’s Dracula came out in 1992. Pretty sure the picture of the magazine that talks about this Dracula movie looks a lot like Gary Oldman’s version of Drac. The time period is important because the early 90’s were the last few years of the dominance of the sort of the action movies of which Black Lagoon is an homage. Stallone, Willis, and Schwarzenegger were still big box office draws and their breed of action movie was still favored by the public. This was before the likes of The Matrix, super hero movies, and Michael Bay flicks (Armageddon, etc) “ruined” this breed of movie. Placing Black Lagoon during the very time period where the Die Hard series, John Woo’s blood operas, and other big time action movies were still very relevant in the public eye is a brilliant stroke. It almost makes Black Lagoon nostalgic for this era, wishing we could go back to a “simpler” time when gunplay was about badasses shooting up shit and getting off on getting bloodied up.
Even when Black Lagoon allows modern tropes to seep into the mix, the series does this to subvert those tropes rather than celebrate them. Roberta is a perfect example of this. She appears to be a quiet, demure, subservient “maid” character. She’s polite has the whole glasses-girl thing going. She play up to several otaku fetishes. Then she turns around and goes El Mariachi on a group of South American thugs. Her umbrella, a device a cute girl will use to hide her face, is turned into a shotgun. It’s no longer a prop for someone’s moe fetish, it’s become a dealer of cold-blooded death. Her Rei Ayanami-like persona is subverted as well when her emotionless motions morph into something reminiscent of a T-1000 from Terminator 2. Even Rock can’t help but remark about how she seems to be like a character from a movie. Everything that would be a stereotype that would allure a certain facet of fandom is turned into an action movie stereotype, and in the process those otaku tropes are completely subverted, much to the pleasure of an action-loving fan such as myself.
All of this, coupled with numerous action scenes that would be beautifully executed in a normal live action movie, makes Black Lagoon one of the smartest action shows of all time. In that regard it’s the Die Hard of anime. That’s a very lofty comment as far as I’m concerned.
Welcome to the NHK
Welcome to the NHK is a perfect companion piece to Genshiken. Both series deal with the idea of “fandom,” but while Genshiken is a love letter to the positive aspects of being a fan, NHK deals with the negative aspects and the downward spiral one can be faced with when fandom and its associated vices become the sole focal point of one’s life.
Granted, Satou has mental problems from the get-go. He secludes himself from the world and becomes a hikikomori long before the fandom aspect seeps into his life, but it’s his introduction to the world of anime, games, and the like that sends him further into the abyss. It’s the willingness of NHK to confront these problems that makes it infinitely more interesting than the glut of “slice of life” anime series that focus upon fandom that have littered this decade.
While NHK is ultimately a tale of redemption, that redemption is decidedly bittersweet. Satou and Misaki, the girl who tries to “save” Satou, are both troubled individuals. Satou is essentially a paranoid schizophrenic and Misaki has intense problems with her home life. Neither one of them is particularly well in the head.
Satou needs her because she’s the only woman in his life that is “attainable.” His former classmate is married and he can’t bring himself to have an affair with her, and any other woman belongs to the very world that he believes is a part of the NHK ”conspiracy.” Even though he believes that Misaki is a part of this conspiracy as well, he has actual contact with her. She’s an enemy that he can see and touch and hear, and in his mind that’s as close as he’ll ever come to an ideal woman: an enemy that’s there at his side rather than lurking in the shadows.
Misaki needs Satou because he’s the lone person she’s met that’s “below” her. She’s lived a life where she’s never had control. Her parents were a mess, her mother committed suicide, her classmates mock her and ostracize her, and her relatives are borderline cultists who want to dominate every aspect of her life. With Satou she’s found the one person that she can control, and this is a feeling that she refuses to let go of regardless of how many times he may yell at her and insult her. Satou may be abusive, but she’s ultimately in control of the relationship. That position of power is what she’s wanted all of her life and she won’t give it up.
And in this they make a perfect couple. They’re in a mutually parasitic relationship, each of them leaching off of the other to maintain some semblance of sanity in a world that has rejected both of them.
But to get to this pathetically happy ending we have to witness Satou trudge through the depths of many hells. We watch him squander his last dollar buying anime paraphernalia. We see him venture into the world of doujin games, only to embarrass himself and his best friend in the process. We see him lose himself to online RPGs, where he develops a relationship not with the person behind his adventuring companion but the character herself. We watch as he nearly looses what little assets he possesses to a pyramid scheme. Satou loses every remaining link to reality as the series progresses. His best friend moves away to join the family business. His former classmate and former crush finds happiness in her marriage. Another former classmate who could have become a friend lures him into a borderline illegal business scheme in order to exploit him.
Many of his downfalls have their roots in fandom. He becomes obsessive with anime and games, but while he immerses himself in these worlds he looses sight of everything else around him. He’s obsessive about the details of creating the “perfect” game girl, but he can’t even push himself to write a basic script for a video game with his friend. He deludes himself into believing there’s money to be made selling imaginary goods in a MMORPG and deludes himself into believing that the relationship he has with a catgirl pixel is anything more than basic infatuation.
His experiences with fandom make his already fragile grasp on reality all the weaker. While many anime series will poke fun of the obsessive otaku type, they never address the side of that stereotype that’s ugly and dangerous. While only a handful of fans reach the level that Satou reaches, it’s a reality that’s never faced in any other series. For that NHK gets a lot of props.
Best of the Year
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
I deliberately used the second season’s opening. I dig it more than the first season’s.
The first episode of Melancholy, the one depicting their film for the cultural festival or whatever it was, is the single greatest episode of an anime series ever. There’s a few episodes that rank pretty close (Ballad of Fallen Angels from Cowboy Bebop, the first episode of the latest Mazinger series, the episode of Revolutionary Girl Utena where Nanami literally turns into a cow), but none of them are quite as all-encompassing as The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina.
The episode works on two levels. First, it does a brilliant job of essentially telling the entire story behind the series A) in one episode and B) without revealing to first-time viewers that they’re essentially having numerous plot elements spoiled long before some of them will become relevant. Not only does the episode reveal that Mikuru’s a time traveler, Itsuki’s an esper, and Yuki’s an alien, it reveals that there’s an undercurrent of animosity and distrust between the three of them that isn’t outright revealed until late in the second season. There’s also various tidbits tossed in, like the disparity between the cheesy special effects and the “realistic” effects Itsuki uses at the end of the movie and the talking cat. All of these seemingly insignificant points hint at things not being quite “normal” despite the seemingly average (if a bit quirky) high school setting.
But all of this hinting at things to come would be irrelevant if the episode aired chronologically, since by that time we’d know what’s going on and all of these oddball moments would be far too obvious to have any real meaning. Therefore, this episodes meaning is enhanced due to where it’s placed in viewing order. By having the movie air first, a definite sense of “what the hell is going on here” is built up in viewers. Despite the complaints that have been levied at the “tv order” during and after the fact, that feeling of “what’s this all about” created a desire in viewers to want to continue watching. Once people see this oddball student movie, complete with inept editing and camera angles, they want to know what this series is about. It’s a perfect hook to lure viewers in, regardless of any fan bitching that may occur.
It’s this sense of mystery that makes the first season of Melancholy interesting. By airing episodes out-of-order, there’s a deliberate disconnect between what the viewers know and what the viewers are watching. Bits of information are revealed to the audience in such a manner that makes dramatic sense, rather than chronological sense. Chronologically, the series “climaxes” with episode six, with the remaining episodes acting as a rather long denoeument and resulting in a lackluster finale.
By shuffling the order of the episodes, Melancholy creates tension both in the story and in the viewers. The story is building to a climax throughout the entire series, and with the way the episodes are laid out we actually get two episodes that work in conjecture as separate climaxes. The final episode, where Kyon rescues the world from one of Haruhi’s closed spaces, is an obvious conclusion, but the episode at the cultural festival where Haruhi and Yuki join the band and Kyon finds himself seeing a side of Haruhi he’d never seen before acts as a separate climax. Rescuing the world is a dramatic, narrative finish, but Kyon’s revelation is an emotional climax. By airing both episodes in relative proximity to one another, the series manages a finale with far more impact than the chronological order would allow.
The fact that the tv order created such a rabid fan following is proof that audiences don’t really care about narrative cohesiveness as much as they claim. Much is said about the chronological order making more sense, but if that’s the case would the tv version have created such a large fanbase? There’s something to be said about “how” a story is told is just as important as “what” the story is telling. Melancholy is proof that the “how” can entrance an audience just as much as the “what.”
Then again, the “how” can also turn fans off when it doesn’t quite pan out. The second season of Melancholy,which fills in several chronological holes that I felt didn’t really need to be filed in, attempted to pull a similar stunt with the narrative. While the episodes were aired chronologically, with new episodes airing when they’d appear in the timeline, we got the whole Endless Eight debacle.
I use the word “debacle” not because I think it was a bad move, but because the fanbase made an uproar. The series took a simple short story about time repeating itself during the last two weeks of summer vacation and turned it into Groundhog Day. The main problem with this is that it lasted eight episodes. The idea makes perfect sense. Endless Eight, eight episodes. BAM!
I rather like the concept. How else does one create a sense of repetition and ennui due to repeating a sequence of events over and over again except by having the viewers experience that repetition first-hand. The problem is that, despite the episodes acknowledging the fact that there were discrepancies in many of the “repeats,” we never really see these discrepancies. Yuki claims that there were times where they never went to the summer festival, times where they had different jobs, and other differences. Yet we see the same events in each episode, with only a change of costume and with each episode emphasizing certain events in different ways.
The series attempted to address this by using different art styles and imagery in each episode. I personally liked this, but I understand that these minute differences didn’t win over most fans. Only someone who really cares about the craft of animation is going to get into this stuff. Most fans are concerned with the narrative and characterization, so this sort of thing is going to turn them off. I can understand that, but I don’t agree with that assessment.
In the end, I’d have to call Endless Eight a bold failure. It tried to do something different and pretty much fell on its face. At the same time, I’d rather see a series strike out while wildly swinging, mainly because it was trying. And that’s Melancholy’s ultimate strength. The series is trying to do new things with a storyline that, honestly, isn’t all that interesting when viewed from a conventional standpoint. Had Melancholy been aired in a typical fashion, I doubt I’d have liked it nearly as much as I do. Without the narrative flourishes, it’s just a slightly better than average school anime with a few quirks to barely distinguish it from the pack.
Also-Rans
Ouran High School Host Club, Bartender, Coyote Ragtime Show, Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, Le Chevalier D’Eon, Flag, Nerima Daikon Brothers, Red Garden
Witchblade was a show that grew as it went on. It started out unintentionally hilarious with over top fanservice that was punctuated with the phallic-like monster that attacked in thrusting manner but somewhere the ridiculousness subsided and it concentrated on its strength – its exploration of the relationship of mother and child. The most obvious and powerful (though it did serve to be annoying at times) was the bond between Masane and Rihoko but we (breaking out the second person for some reason) also saw it in different situations with Father and his inability to accept his own mother to Maria wanting a mother to love her to Reina’s awkward but ultimately touching attempts to care for Rihoko. By the end the show managed to reach a poignant conclusion even as the what would happen was revealed episodes before the end. This actually served to make what was to happen seem even more fucked up so much so that I was almost rooting for a Mai-hime like reset ending – that was the strength of Masane and Rihoko’s relationship.
It wasn’t the prettiest show nor the ugliest and the action scenes were fairly forgettable and as I mentioned before the I-weapon character designs were crappy (though it did remind me of GaoGaiGar especially when that ugly fat guy turned into a monster), the cloneblade designs were kinda hit or miss for me and it turns out cup size had nothing to do with power levels as Shiori soon found out. In the end I would recommend this series especially if your expectations are low you’ll likely come away pleasantly surprised. It also helps if you like Uno Makoto’s character designs and huge breasts don’t make you physically ill though I didn’t think there was that much fan service .
I guess I should also mention I know next to nothing about the original American comic but it seems that it shares very little with it other than the name and Witchblade costume.
I picked up Madman’s R4 complete collection of the show new for about $40. It comes in a case the size of a normal single release but they’ve managed to fit 6 discs in it. The only slightly annoying this is that if you are on disc 2,4 and 6 you have to remove the disc above it as they stacked it on top to save space. As expected you miss on out on the original disc art though it does come with all the disc extras in tact.
On episode 38 of Cross Game, Kitamura takes Akane to Kabuki-za, a famous kabuki theater in Ginza.
And this is a photo I took while strolling through Ginza. I thought about watching a performance just to tell Jessica, who is really into theater, about it. Unfortunately I ended up forgetting about it the second time I went to the district. Probably one of the most expensive places on Earth, Ginza’s main streets is where you can find all of the most glamorous shops of the planet. I only entered the Mac Store located there, but ended up not buying anything. My favorite part of Ginza was the Tsukiji Fish Market. By far, the best sushi I have ever eaten in my life.
Since when was this a Rozen Maiden crossover show? Not only do we have Suigintou lookalikes, but we also get Shiori turning out to be a doll?
11eyes stood out for turning out to be more than the average harem and mystery alternative world where nothing seems to make a lot of sense. Well, the latter is still applicable towards the end with the rushed explanations in this last episode. The fact that this episode was treated as if episode 11 had never even occurred is a huge letdown for the ending. Lets screw the awesome crazy end from last week where everything is obliterated and turn it into a long “precognition” for Kakeru for a “what if I ran to save Yuka?”. Last week was an awesome episode, this week.. not so much.
Instead, Kakeru takes the vision as a cue to try to kill himself.
Defeating Liselotte just seemed too simple this week. Last week she was perfectly capable of holding off Avaritia, Superbia, Abraxas and Shiori and yet they seemed a bit more on level this week? Sure, she did have an extra fragment from Yuka, but that can’t have made too much difference surely? The fighting in the series has been decent, but the first half of the series was disappointing. The Black Knights all fell way too easily, that is until they came up against Superbia.
The show was very formulaic up until around episode 8:
Turn to half beast thing to protect the one she loves. Too bad he's already fallen for a crazy yandere.
Mizusu’s transformation with the blade was kind of cool, but Kakeru’s little monologue that followed was long and unnecessary. Although it followed with the overall “守ってあげる” (I’ll protect you) theme, coupled together with the lengthy explanation of Abraxas and the parallel worlds; the pace was completely stop-start.
What I didn't understand is why Yuka had to be stripped down to her underwear. Fanservice?
The ending sequence was mediocre. Everyone is resurrected and happy ever after in another world and the Red Night just a distant memory in the past. It reminds me of a game where you saved and decided to take one path, only to find it was a BAD END and reverting your save file to choose a better end.
Overall the series wasn’t bad, but it had many qualities that didn’t make it perfect. I can only assume the game was better and that they didn’t have enough time to animate everything. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable and Liselotte (Niina Ayano) is awesome.
7.5/10
According to ANN and the 11eyes website, an OVA has been scheduled for release with the Blu-ray DVD on June 25th, 2010. It says that it’ll have different content to that of the TV anime, though presumably that just means a different path in the eroge being adapted?
ffeQuoted:
According to Anime!Anime!, Shinkai Makoto appeared in an Animate concert of his image album “Promise”. He revealed draft concept of his new work. He said it will be the longest full scale anime movie he’s ever made and the main character is a cheerful girl, who plays an active part of the story. “We have been depicting the process of parting from a beloved person for the last ten years. Now we are trying to take one step ahead of it. If we get separated from our loves, how can we overcome the situation and what awaits after that? We tackle the question through the vivid girl character”.
According to Shinkai’s web diary, he set to work on the new movie last May mainly with the staff of 5 Centimeters per Second.
Sources:
Anime!Anime!
Shinkai’s web diary
OMG! I’m already so excited about it! It sounds kind of like a sequel to Byousoku, though I’m sure when I watch it, it’ll feel like a totally new story in itself. With his excellent writing and directing skills, surreal plots relating to humans interaction and emotions, and top-notch animation quality, I’m looking forward to another masterpiece by one of the greatest anime directors ever.
Caters for everyone, loli and up...
Anime is a strange thing, I think we can all say that, it has it’s highs (Haruhi, Bakemonogatari) and it’s low (Haruhi [Endless Eight]), yet this Anime falls directly into the middle, it’s average, it and it’s sequel are as average as they come.
The Onegaiverse is average, yet so strange, with a half-alien, half-human teacher, ‘blackouts’ and twins that might be triplets but aren’t, this is the oddest average Anime there is.
And that’s why it’s awesome.
Both Onegai Teacher! and Onegai Twins! (Please Teacher! and Please Twins!) are two of my favourite shows. Why you ask? Even when I said it was so average? It’s because it is. Most Anime is very ‘out-there’ and weird, which is good, but sometimes you need a good average show to cool off with after hours of Dragon Ball Z.
Don’t get me wrong, but the averageness of this is what makes it great.
More after the normal jump…
As much as I like agreeing with myself, the averageness is low in the first series, it’s more Sci-Fi than average -
Random Troll: Then why’d you say it was?
- because I was counting both as a whole, and the averageness of the Twins series outweights the Sci-Fi of the Teacher series, and I did watch Twins first, then I watch Teacher when I brought it on DVD.
That comes into my next point, the Onegai Saga is the first series I brought on DVD fully (yes I know that’s bad, but hey, check out my other post for details), so it holds a special place in my heart because of that. The two DVD’s are awesome, I watched them on my HD TV (first Anime to do so) and believe you me, it looked amazing.
So please, go out and buy this, because it is awesome and average.
Todays ‘thing’ of the day is this picture, taken by I:
All mine!
These are my DVDs, taken not an hour ago, these are so special to me!
Yeah, yeah, I KNOW that everyone has seen this already (this is what I get for living in this time zone, by the time that I get home everything is done and over with already…)
Well, it certainly LOOKS good, and the whole bit with blood on Yuki’s glasses and Kyou on the ground looked particularly detailed (bloodthirsty, remember?). It’s a bit sad that I won’t be able to enjoy the story as much (since I already read the novels and spoiled myself), but I can’t wait for more fluffy Yuki goodness~ (yes, she’s not often fluffy, but she’s all deredere in this bit, and it’s adorable)
Just when I thought that I have finally encountered a rival I don’t greatly dislike in a romance plot, Kurumi has to go spoil her impression on me. Following in the footsteps of the last episode, Sawako remains oblivious to Kurumi’s attempted maneuvers to separate her and Kazehaya and it is still as hilarious as ever to see it annoy the heck out of Kurumi. I love how Sawako is not wishy-washy about her feelings for Kazehaya (though she still doesn’t understand the feeling yet), and directly tells Kurumi that she can’t help her because Kazehaya is special to her too.
I like how Kurumi always calls Sawako by her real name instead of the offensive nickname, considering its origins, and was just about to fall in love with her character before she tries to push Sawako into Ryu’s direction. I seriously hope she doesn’t succeed, or else I would hate her forever. On the pro side, it might make Kazehaya jealous enough to realise his feelings for Sawako, since he is already slightly unhappy about Ryu calling Sawako by her given name.
PS: Sawako scores an upgrade in her “good luck charm” level! Will she ever reach the status of a kami-sama?! XD
Dammit, not another Naruto post
This is really more for my own purpose of remembering, but my brother and I were watching the Naruto episode where Kakashi is carrying Naruto back to Konoha after his fight with Sasuke. Naruto asked where Sasuke was. As Kakashi was pausing my brother and I, at the same time, said “Up your butt, and around the corner.”
Good times, good times…
Sigh it’s almost over guys. Come to think of it, the entire “plot” was that Haruka was gonna become an idol and Yuuto finally grew some balls when he realized he’d be separated from her. Blah, what a genious story. The rest of the show was the Melancholy of Ayase Yuuto (and his harem). I don’t know what episode 12 is gonna be about, but they better fucking kiss already, I think we deserve that for sitting through 12 episodes of this garbage. 
Since the early ‘00s, there has been word of a live-action remake of the acclaimed Katsuhiro Otomo anime, Akira. Released originally in 1988, it really helped break anime into North American culture. Based on a 2,000 page graphic novel, known in Japan as manga, this was such a task to condense such an immense manga into a two hour movie. Here is the trailer for the recently released Blu Ray version so you can get an idea of what the movie it like.
For the past few years, I have heard about a remake of this phenomenal film and have drooled over it. Leonardo DiCaprio was originally going to produce the project for Warner Bros. and it was going to based on the manga and not the anime. This was good because as good as the film is, the story is a little convoluted and in need of a new script. This movie was supposed to be “epic” because it was going to have two parts, each covering three of the six manga volumes. The budget was expected to be about $300 million dollars which would put it on par with James Cameron’s Avatar, which cost at least $250 million to make.
Now here is the problem. As of 2008, the first film was supposed to come out in the Summer of 2009, which sadly, it did not. So what’s the problem? Well, the movie was going to be directed by Ruairi Robinson, who directed a few shorts, one of which was nominated for a Oscar for animation. As of right now, Ruairi Robinson is off the project according to Bloody Disgusting and the movie is “dead as a doornail”. Also, Warner Bros. lost a bidding war in 2008 and lost the rights to the movie. This saddens me greatly.
As a fan of the original anime, I was very excited to see this film come to fruition. But the higher-ups seem to be in bidding wars and trying to find directors who will take on the roll. Rumors say that Zack Snyder, who directed 300, has been approached, but he declined. So looks like in may be another few years before we see anything develop with a remake, in which I have to reply with…TETSUO!
Naruto Shippuden episode 139
Darker Than Black Gemini of the Meteor episode 10
Nyan Koi episode 11
Kimi ni Todoke episode 10
11 Eyes episode 10
Hey folks! just finish watching a few Anime and since this week episodes were more on talking then fighting. So didn’t consider in taking any snapshots, sorry about that… maybe next week there are a few? lets hope so.
Other then that, finish watching a few Korean dramas and Taiwan dramas as well…
more after the break
IRIS
IRIS episode 17 and 18, wow this Kdrama is really awesome! Too bad the drama is going to end sooner or later, links to watch this Kdrama at DramaCrazy.
Smile, You
as for Smile, You. SAD can’t wait for the next episode of Smile, You. This Kdrama seriously makes you guys want for more… Links for this Kdrama at ViiKii.
Creating Destiny
been watching a new Kdrama called, Creating Destiny. So far so good hahas, this drama is almost alike to Smile, You. Total of 37 episodes so you guys can slowly watch. Links for this drama at ViiKii as well.
K.O. 3an guo
as for K.O. 3an Guo, boring… just as I thought this week would be nice. Judging by the preview was wrong after all, the drama just can’t stop dragging. OMG but I still will wait for the most exciting part to be out! Just bare with this drama a little bit longer…
Alright that’s all for now, be back with Kpop news later on…
Cya
Youko Sanri’s 『B Gata H Kei / Ｂ型Ｈ系』 a comedy, ecchi, seinen genre is getting an Anime Adaptation.
The 4-panel manga has been confirmed to get an anime adaptation and will be premiering this coming Spring 2010.
Serialized in the Weekly Young Jump Magazine since 2004.
Plot:
It’s about a high school girl, who is always having pervert fancies. One day, she falls in love with a plain-looking boy and tries to date with him.
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Yey!!! may custom header na ang site!!! di nman adiks sa Persona noh?
Anyways, courtesy and thanks to Chiara/chiarskee/chiarcy/echoserang frog/dakilang pasaway/(?????, wla nang maisip…) for the scrumdiddlyumptious header!!!
P.S. Sana magkaroon na ng NA Release ang P3P. I want to have it… 
Mari Wakatake has been living with her Grandmother for the past 5 years after a tragedy caused the loss of her home, friends and family, as well as her memories. Fearing for her future, her Grandmother admits her into Kaihou Academy, for her to make friends, instead of home studying. Although reluctant to go, she does and meets Hagino Sekonji. At first appearance, this girl appears like a normal student but inside her lies a deep secret that relates to the tragedy of 5 years ago.- animenewsnetwork
I don’t know the Manga to this but I think the Anime would be probably a nice edition AFTER you read the Manga. At least that’s what it feels like.
You start with the end of the war and get the story told in a flashback but you have know idea what this is all about. In the beginning it seems like a “normal student story” but then it gets more and more into the scifi aspect, which is for my taste not enough explained. For example why especially earth and what happens between the end of the flashback and the present time. Why did it take that long to end the war?
But the story itself is very interesting, especially since it’s so rich with secondary characters and their story. On the human site alone you have the homeroom teacher, the head of the dormitory, Michiko, “the fangirls”, Akane & her father.
A word to “the fangirls”, I call them that because those three are fangirling ALL THE TIME about Hagino. But there is one scene in episode 12 I think when a lot of the girls (not the 3 fangirls) are really fangirling about Akane, who is in that great knight-outfit (I like that one too! But I liked her from the first time she appears ♥ )
The Aliens have great technology, very good looking :p And so cool, I mean dolphin-jumps? *giggle* Besides that Tsubael, Shivariel, Azanael – all interesting, even though the end was a bit predictable. But I love that Hagino doesn’t find out the truth.
Sooo, all in all a good anime – won’t become my favourite but I may watch it again some time. I just wished they’d done 24 episodes so you hadn’t had to move that quickly in the end. Besides where are sweet yuri moments? They were still in the grey area even though it is said to be yuri.
Well, this episode begins with Lag renting Gauche’s old room from Sylvette, and we see that Sylvette has her hands full with getting Niche to do things like brush her teeth. Later, Lag thanks Sylvette for letting him rent the room, and Sylvette makes Lag promise that as long has he’s living here he’ll come home. Then Sylvette makes Lag and Niche her brother’s favorite dish, and it tastes just like that crappy soup Gauche fed him in the first episodes.
Later, Lag is saved from having to eat more of Sylvette’s food by a knock on the front door; Aria Link has stopped by for Lag’s first work day. Aria gives Lag a bag and tells him to hurry up and change. Outside, we see Lag reappear in a Letter Bee uniform with both Aria and Sylvette waiting on him. Sylvette hands Lag her brother’s old gun and lunch for him and Niche, as Lag departs with Aria we see that Sylvette has tears in her eyes.
Lag asks Aria where she’s taking them, and she tells them they’ll know when they arrive. During the ride, Lag finds out that Aria knows about Lag being a letter, and Aria finds out that Lag knows her because he was shot by Gauche.
They finally arrive at an elevated part of the road where Lag and Niche are given a spectacular view of Amberground’s artificial sun. Aria tells them that this is the Hill of Prayer, the place where you can feel closest to the sun. Aria goes on to tell them that Amberground was founded by the Empress who rules over the country and whom we worship, and this hill is a holy place where we pray to the Empress under the light. Lag asks Aria why she brought them here, and she says that Gauche loved this place since we were little.
She tells them that she and Gauche would come here every day and pray for their safety until twelve years ago on day 311, called “The day of Flicker”, on that day Gauche lost a precious part of his heart. Lag asks what happened. On that day, while Gauche was on the hill, his mother went into labor and was in a very bad way, and Aria was sent to get him. As Aria was running up the hill the sun went out and only starlight was visible, Aria watched as a government airship crashed from the sky. When Aria reached Gauche the sun was back on but Gauche was in a trance/daze talking about the sun flickering on and off.
Well, when Aria and Gauche return, Gauche’s mother is dead but his infant sister is born. Gauche grabs his sister and names her Sylvette shocking everyone around him. They ask him if he’s giving his sister the same name as his dead mother. It seems that Gauche has lost all memories of/feelings for his mother. Gauche promises to always be there for his sister, and he notices that something is wrong with her legs.
Lags asks if the Flicker caused this, and Aria says the government announced that it was doing an adjustment/examination of the sun that day and they claim the airship crash was unrelated. Lag asks if that’s true, and Aria says that’s what the government claims and she doesn’t know. Aria gives Lag a bit of advice telling him that if you get to close to the sun darkness will grow in your heart, and that’s what it means to aim for the Head Bee position.
Just then, Conner runs up to Lag and Aria and tells them that Zazie ran into trouble with a whole lot of Gaichuu and is requesting backup, Aria tells Lag to get going. Lag thanks Aria for the word of warning as he heads off, and he also tells Aria that he was also born on The Day of Flicker.
Well, Lag arrives on the scene to help Zazie and he has to learn to control is Shindan energy levels. Lag and Niche work as a team with Zazie and his dingo to take care of the Gaichuu, and after the battle is over he joins Zazie and Conner for a snack from Lag’s canteen, oh no it’s Sylvette’s nasty soup. Well, that’s all for this episode.
Well, after watching this episode the mysteries only deepen and the connection between Gauche, Sylvette, Lag, and Lag’s mother only grow stronger. I sure wasn’t expecting to find out that Lag was born on the same day as Sylvette, and I sure as hell wasn’t expecting that to be the day that Gauche’s mother died and the sun flickered. It’s really going to be interesting to figure out why the Day of Flicker took from Gauche his memories of his mother, Sylvette the use of her legs, Gauche’s and Sylvette’s mother’s life, while giving Lag an spirit amber eye. Also, this episode raises the question of why Gauche had to work hard at becoming a Bee if his family already lived on the “good” side of the river, doesn’t being a citizen have its bennies.
Also, it was quite funny finding out the source of Gauche’s poor taste in soup, of course he’s goanna love his sister’s soup even if it tastes like shit. For me, Niche continues to be one of the best characters in the whole damn series, and for god sakes can Lag go more than a day without crying his eyes out.
“Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no crying! THERE’S NO CRYING IN SHONEN ANIME!”
All I can say is that it’s going to be an interesting ride watching Lag getting to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the artificial sun and finding out if/how Amberground’s government is corrupt. Another interesting note was Aria warning Lag about getting to close to the sun, and getting darkness inside your heart. Her comments to Lag raise an interesting parallel between Gauche’s actions in attempting to become Head Bee and the myth of Icarus, and did he like Icarus fly to close to the sun?
Question; did the creators use Saaya Irie as Sylvette’s body model, both are twelve?
