Trivia that matter
I got impatient and downloaded a raw of Mouretsu Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace. It looks beautiful, and the story moves briskly along. What that story is, though, I only vaguely understand. Will someone please license this for North America, or, failing that, fansub it?
There are a few screencaps below the fold. Steven has a bunch more here, though my favorite image from the movie is here.
Some years back I read Novala Takemoto’s Shimotsuma Story, published in English as Kamikaze Girls. I wrote about it here. I finally watched the movie based on the book this evening. Some of the humor was overly broad, and there were some gratuitous crudities early on, but overall this movie about a very odd couple was watchable and often very funny. Kyoko Fukuda and Anna Tsuchiya were plausible as Momoko the lolita and Ichiko the yanki. The story was necessarily simplified, but it was generally true to what I remember of the book.
There are more screen captures beneath the fold. Click the pictures to see the details of Momoko’s garb.
Kenji Nakamura‘s Kuuchuu Buranko is finally available to American viewers. If you thought Gatchaman Crowds was trippy, make an appointment to see Dr. Irabu.
Those following Madan no Ou to Vanadis might find a map of its world useful. I found a couple at a wiki devoted to the show. (I tweaked the contrast of the first to improve readability.)
Advice to cartographers: Legibility trumps stylishness. Pseudo-black letter might look pretty on the page, but it’s a pain to interpret. Please stick to plain fonts such as Helvetica or Times Roman.
“Pirate” beats “ninja” easily, and “samurai,” too.
(Illustration from Amagi Brilliant Park, episode seven. Chart from Google Ngram Viewer.)
(From episode six of Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu.)
Good question.
I’ve never been that interested in yachting, but I could change my mind. (Via Steven.)
I’ve never any interest in football, European or American. Perhaps I’ve missed out. (Via the Brickmuppet.)
Perhaps not. (Via the Borderline Boy.)
It’s time to order next year’s calendars. I found a number of possibilites here, notably Girls und Panzer and Hozuki no Reitetsu. Others of note include Cardcaptor Sakura, World Conquest Zvezda Plot, Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Natsume Yujincho‘s Nyanko and the third Madoka Magica movie.
There’s plenty else there — lots of cheesecake, hundred of dogs, Mt. Fuji, Naruto and similar franchises, all the usual stuff. There are also curiosities like the Karel Capek calendar, which is about tea, not robots or newts; the lifestyles disease prevention calendar; and, the maritime self-defense force calendars, both male and female.
More curious costumes here.
(Via Eve Tushnet.)
*****
Madan no Ou to Vanadis is doing a lot of things right and is probably the best show currently airing. Nevertheless, there are still mistakes, such as the use of swords in an era of plate armor.
It’s Halloween today, right? Time to get the bag of chocolate out of the freezer.
There’s a fine line between spooky and silly, as Frëd illustrates in this footnote to American history.
*****
There’s a lot of anime suitable for Halloween, from the many iterations of Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro (including in particular Hakaba Kitaro) to Soul Eater and Hozuki no Reitetsu. If I had to pick just one, though, it would be Kenji Nakamura’s Mononoke. Here’s one of the two-episode stories:
The entire show is on YouTube, but it’s available for such a reasonable price that there’s no excuse not to buy your own copy of this probable classic. ((I don’t declare anything a “classic” until it’s at least ten years old, and Mononoke is from anime’s year of wonder, 2007.))
*****
*****
If you’re looking for a proper Halloween post, Isegoria has a bunch of them.
Memo to those watching Madan no Ou to Vanadis: Jusuchin has saved me the trouble of stitching together full-length portraits of the new war maidens. I have to say that, while I don’t mind tasteful fanservice, Sophia’s attributes are well past the point of diminishing returns.
The moment I lost interest in Yuki Yuna wa Yusha de Aru, a pale pastel imitation of Madoka Magica.
There are a number of other current shows I’m not watching, which I may or may not discuss when I have more time. Until then, here’s a safety video from Air New Zealand.
(Via Bayou Renaissance Man.)
In addition to the usual nendoroids, figmas, keychains and the like, I expect that there will also be Madan no Ou to Vanadis chess sets available soon.
As of episode three, Vanadis looks to be the keeper of the fall season.
“Is She U.N. Owen?” is probably the best-known piece of music from the vast Touhou Project, ((except possibly for “Bad Apple“)) and you can find innumerable versions in every style, from orchestral to nightcore, on YouTube. I stumbled across the one above recently while looking for something else.
Another version of the tune, impressive yet ridiculous.
Incidentally, “U.N. Owen” is not “Death Waltz.” This is “Death Waltz:”
Update: Yet another version of “U.N. Owen,” this one by Floating Cloud.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VpNvGNRlFaE
For those of you who believe that no show is complete without chibis, there is a brief ONA supplement to Madan no Ou to Vanadis out there.
Pixy invoked Haibane Renmei in his post on PuPiPo. Pete also was impressed. I’ve watched the series of fifteen four-minute episodes twice now, and I’ll probably watch it again. I’m not going to discuss it in any detail; it suffices to note that it is funny and poignant, and that there are indeed parallels with the tale of the charcoal feathers. Instead, here are some screencaps.
