So you know fifth position. Very good. However, if your dancers are to do convincing pirouettes, they need to spot.
About Piggyback Rideback: if there is more ballet, I might follow it. However, if it’s just politics and mecha, forget it.
Author: Don
Quiz answers
Here are the answers for the album cover quiz. Click on the thumbnails to see the entire cover.
Pop quiz
After looking through this album cover quiz, I knew I had to put together my own. Here are portions of 51 covers from the age of vinyl. See how many you can identify. Most are progressive rock and British folk, but there are classics from other genres as well. Many were fairly well-known in their day; others may be challenges to identify. I’ll be astonished if anyone ((other than Steven)) gets them all. I’ll post the answers in a day or two.
Let’s waste some more time
I found an application that makes jigsaw puzzles from files on my computer and exports them as java applets. Eventually I’ll figure out how to embed them in my web pages. Until then, here are a couple made from screen captures that you can download and play with:
Update: I think I have the embedding working. I’m putting the picture from Rocket Girls that I filched from Steven below the fold because it is so large that it screws up the layout.
Update II: It works in Camino, but not in Safari or Firefox — you can see the puzzle, but you can’t manipulate the pieces. Grrr. I’ll have to find another solution. Until then, here’s the .jar file: Rocket girls.
Update III: My video site is now a a video and jigsaw puzzle site.
Not fun anymore
The tenth episode of Macademi Wasshoi is more of the same, with the students and faculty of the magical academy running amok while rescuing Takuto and the girls from a trio of formidable bandits. Then, about twenty-minutes into the episode, it suddenly gets very serious, and Anyone Can Die. The eleventh episode continues in the same grim vein, and there’s another death (or two, depending on how you count). It soon turns out that they’re Not Quite Dead, but now the story veers off in another unfunny direction, borrowing a motif from the final episode of Petite Princess Yucie and the forty-sixth episode of Cardcaptor Sakura. Hitherto, Macademi Wasshoi was a farce with occasional thoughtful moments. Now it’s a drama, with Sakuma and the girls as annoying comic relief.
The episode ends happily with a restoration of the status quo, but the fun has leaked out. The final episode, in which the girls try to get a Christmas present for Takuto, might have been enjoyable earlier in the series, but following the eleventh episode, it seems off-key.
So, do I recommend Macademi Wasshoi? Yes, with reservations. It’s funny and inventive overall, but it’s also frequently off-color with abundant fanservice. If it sounds like something you would like, I recommend watching the tenth and eleventh episodes last.
Update: Steven liked the eleventh episode a lot. There is a lot going on there and a lot more that’s hinted at, as Steven points out, but the shifts in tone are too jarring for me.
Memo to Himatsubushi
Laplace, not Laplus. (From Macademi Wasshoi #11, about which I’ll complain later.)
Is it …
The Kawaii Menace at a glance
Made with Wordle.
Goodbye, 2008
… and good riddance. It was a crummy year, and I generally had other things than anime on my mind. Consequently, there won’t be any Kawaii Menace awards for 2008; I haven’t watched enough to choose the year’s best idiot or worst computer rendering. Instead, I’ll borrow a meme from Mark and Amy to review the year at The Kawaii Menace:
The gist…Retrieve and share the first sentence [or two, or three] of the first blog post of each of the twelve months of (r.i.p.) 2008.
January: In the recent Kino no Tabi movie, The Land of Sickness — For You, Kino visits a country that seems mostly deserted.
February: I’ve been studying yet another treatise on father-daughter dynamics, Petite Princess Yucie.
March: Yeah, it’s been quiet around here. I haven’t seen much anime lately, and what I have watched have been mostly old favorites, such as the first disc of Haibane Renmei last night.
April: When I read that BOST is offering DRM-free downloads of their shows, I figured I ought to check it out. So I registered and purchased the minimum quantity of BOST “points” (a disorienting process: the PayPal page was initially specific to Japan, but I live in Kansas, not Kansai).
May: The good news: Not only can I walk (albeit slowly, and with a cane), but as of today I can ride my bike again.
June: How Obama can win:
Hey, McCain has been ignoring the catgirl vote throughout the primaries, I say Obama should take advantage of this. As a matter of fact, a strong anti-tentacle monster platform would bring in both the catgirls and the Lolis.
July: I’ve been doing my bit to support legal anime downloads by keeping up with Strike Witches at BOST.
August: I just watched the first five minutes of Strike Witches #5, and the hell with it.
September: Sailor fuku … American style.
October: The “Touhou Project” is a family of shooting games. According to what I’ve read, they are mostly the work of one person, “ZUN,” who, as “Team Shanghai Alice,” writes the code, draws the art and composes the music. They are noteworthy for their complex bullet patterns and large casts of pretty girls.
November: Sailor Moon has her own orchid, a distinction she shares with Dracula and Kim Il Sung.
December: If you were planning to tour Venice this week, you might want to cancel your trip and visit Neo Venezia instead.
New poll
Which is the most overrated anime series? The candidates are drawn from the responses I’ve seen to this meme.
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Results of the previous poll: Nanoha Takamachi has the best mahou shoujo costume, according to 28% of the visitors here who voted. This is a bit surprising, because hers is the one with the longest skirt. It’s probably because the first season of Lyrical Nanoha was recently released in region one, and Nanoha is currently the most prominent magical girl. ((Unfortunately, I found the show unwatchable. I stuck it out for four episodes and realized that if I saw that transformation one more time, I would throw up.)) The balletic Princesses Tutu and Kraehe followed Nanoha with 17% and 10%. Others who received votes were Jubei-chan, Kaitou Jeanne, Cure Black, Sailor Moon (both classic and eternal), Sailor Star Healer, Cure White, Pixy Misa and Mew Ichigo. Pretty Sammy and Wedding Peach received no votes.
Miscellany
My sister sent me a link to an “identify the album” quiz. The page is no longer maintained — the link to the answers returns a 404 — and at least one of the identifications is wrong, but you might find it amusing anyway.
The above is one of my favorite covers, though the album, a collection of medieval dances, is too obscure to be fair game for such a quiz. Here it is in higher resolution.
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Is there a superhero in your neighborhood? Check the registry. (Via Ken the Brickmuppet.)
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Introducing Edward, the Veggie-Vampire.
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(Via John Salmon.)
Finally
What I saw of Hare & Guu left me indifferent, but this ending is an outstanding production number. It’s my pick for the best anime ending, at least for today.
[flv width=”640″ height=”480″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/GuuDlxEd.flv[/flv]
Jungle wa itsumo Hale nochi Guu Deluxe, “Fun Fun and Shout” by Sister Mayo.
You can see the videos in full size at my video weblog, and you can compare my list with Astro’s.
Almost there
Number two. Astro and I have very different tastes, but we agree on this one:
[flv width=”720″ height=”480″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/Maromi.flv[/flv]
Paranoia Agent, “Shiroi Oka – Maromi no Theme” by Susumu Hirasawa.
Merry Christmas, everyone, and I hope you didn’t get Maromi plushies among your presents.
Now see if you can guess what number one is. Go on, I dare you. I will be astonished if anyone comes close.
At the midpoint
Number three:
[flv width=”640″ height=”480″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/ExcelEnd.flv[/flv]
Excel Saga, “Menchi Aishou no Bolero” by Excel Girls. I’m not posting the clean version because the words matter, and because some who frequent this corner of the otakusphere might recognize one of the names in the credits.
Counting them down #2
Number four on my list of best endings:
[flv width=”704″ height=”400″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/dennocoilending.flv[/flv]
Denno Coil, “Sora no Kakera (????; A Fragment of the Sky)” by Ayako Ikeda. (The karaoke is annoying; I hope this is licensed soon so I can post a clean ending.)
Counting them down
Number five on my list of best endings:
[flv width=”704″ height=”400″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/oedo-ending2.flv[/flv]
Oh! Edo Rocket, second ending, “I Got Rhythm” by Natural High.
[flv width=”704″ height=”400″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/oedo-ending1.flv[/flv]
I like both endings, so here’s the first as well: “100 miles~Niji o Oikakete” by Santara.
Advisory
I’m going to be away from the computer for a few days. Like Pete, I’m taking Moribito with me, though in my case it’s the book.
My picks for the top five anime endings should appear one a day. As you will discover, my taste is very different from Astro’s, but there is one we both chose. I don’t have time to write commentary on my picks tonight; perhaps when I get back.
Memo to the staff at ANN
When you’re burned out, do something else. You’re not doing anyone a favor by going through the motions. By the time Zac Bertschy quit his “Answerman” job, my sympathies were with the Flakes of the Week. Justin Sevakis’ review of The Sky Crawlers tells me more about Sevakis’ life than about Oshii’s movie. (Sevakis might want to look up the word “obtuse.”)
About reviews: that someone paid for a review doesn’t mean that it’s insightful, and length does not imply profundity. If you want to find what’s worth your time, you can do just as well surfing at random through the otakusphere as at ANN.
Counting down to the count down
I had planned to spend some time this evening rambling on about anime endings, but I’m dead tired. Instead, here are a couple of honorable mentions, plus an extra. The countdown begins tomorrow.
While it was introducing the characters, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei was fine absurd humor. Later episodes were hit and miss, with misses predominating. (Macademi Wasshoi seems to be following a similar pattern.) The ending is pleasantly nightmarish.
[flv width=”704″ height=”396″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/szs ending.flv[/flv]
The first few episode of Tweeny Witches left me cold, though I may give the series a second chance when I have time. The ending, with broomstick surfing, flying jalopy and Strauss, embodies all the fun that was missing from the show.
[flv width=”704″ height=”396″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/TweenyWitches.flv[/flv]
If this had been the actual ending for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, it would have been number one on my list. The real ending, which is pretty good as anime endings go, is nevertheless frustrating to watch: I want to see all the steps.
[flv width=”704″ height=”396″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/HareHareYukai.flv[/flv]
You can see the videos at their full width at my video page.
