Current viewing – Page 3

Last impressions

Perhaps it’s because I’m in a sour mood, but nearly everything I’ve sampled recently has bored or annoyed me.

• Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera — A Go Nagai creation with a high-gloss finish: juvenile humor, mild smuttiness, a manic pace and no subtlety whatsoever. High school sophomores will love it.

• Hanasaku Iroha — One narrative motif I loathe is the protagonist making a spectacularly bad initial impression on her new associates at the beginning of the story. Hanasaku Iroha might actually be a good show, but I couldn’t make it through the first episode. Update: It’s just as well I didn’t. Yeesh.

• Tiger and Bunny — The first half of the first episode was fun, but then my interest flagged. The premise does have some satirical potential, and I might give it a second chance when I’m less grouchy.

• Dog Days — I wish I could like this — there are dog-girls and cat-girls, all very cute, no one gets killed, and the hero actually does have some genuine ability — but it just hasn’t caught my interest. Perhaps I haven’t played enough video games.

• Tetsuko no Tabi — A show about train otaku for train otaku from several years ago. Someone decided to sub it. Why?

• The Epic of Zektbach — A female warrior in a land where women bare their midriffs wields a sword that makes her invincible. There is a downside to using the sword, and all ends badly. The creators tried to make the story a parable about science and technology by flashing numbers, chemical diagrams and mathematical formulae on the screen whenever the sword is drawn. It doesn’t work.

It looks like C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control is the only spring show worth watching, and that’s assuming that Nakamura focuses on telling a story rather than editorializing.

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If Osaka was your favorite character in Azumanga Daioh, and if you thought the New Year’s Dream episode was one of the highlights, you might enjoy Nichijou, a.k.a. My Ordinary Life. The first episode was vastly better than the dull preview, and the series might be worth watching. Nonsense is hard to do well for long, though. I’m crossing my fingers, but I fear that after a few episodes the creators’ invention will flag, the sketches will lengthen and drag, and the show will become as dumb and boring as the preview.

Clockwork

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, episode ten: I can’t think of anything to say except “wow.”

One translation nit-pick: “Puella magi” != “mahou shoujo,” and I refuse to use the term. It should be either “magica” or “maga.” “Puella magi” means something like “girl of the wizard.” I suppose you could describe Kyubey’s victims as such, but I don’t think that’s what Urobuchi and Shinbo had in mind.

Rewriting history

The opening credits of the third Keroro Gunsou movie, Keroro vs. Keroro: The Great Sky Battle de arimasu!, recapitulate the opening episodes of the TV series. It shows Natsumi walloping Giroro with a bookbag. However, in episode four, she defeats him with a leek. Why the change? Are the writers afraid that viewers will confuse her with Hatsune Miku? (Update: I rewatched the fourth episode, and she does use a bookbag as well as a leek. Never mind.)

Continue reading “Rewriting history”

Is there fried chicken on Mars?

I don’t know, but you can get a burger on the Moon.

I thought I’d look at a few minutes of Welcome to the Space Show, the recent movie from director Koji Masunari and writer Hideyuki Kurata (the team responsible for Read or Die and Kamichu), before facing the day’s disasters. I ended up watching the whole thing.

Five youngsters rescue an injured dog near a crop circle. The dog reveals himself to be an alien botanist named Pochi, and he treats the kids to a trip to the moon. Things go awry, of course, and the quintet travels with Pochi through the galaxy pursued by interstellar criminals before they can finally return home.

It’s not a great movie, certainly not in the same class as Summer Wars — the more I think about the last quarter, the less sense it makes — but it is an entertaining adventure movie for kids, tolerable for adults.

Screen captures are below the fold. It’s remarkable how similar life in space is to life on earth.

Continue reading “Is there fried chicken on Mars?”

Meh

I got half-way through the sixth episode of Fractale tonight and said the hell with it. Take away the Ghibliesque veneer, and what’s left is a ho-hum dystopia with annoying inhabitants. I’m mildly interested in learning just what exactly Nessa is, but not enough so to endure six more episodes of Clain, Sunda, Phryne and Enri.

Instead, I watched some more of Gurren Lagann. One indication of how busy I’ve been lately is that I started it earlier this month and am currently barely past the midpoint. It’s a completely absurd, over-the-top show with ridiculous mecha, bellowing macho men, macho women and no respect for the laws of physics, and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything so exhilarating.

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Sometimes it’s not easy to call your attacks:

(From Level E.)

Miscellany

Which of the fansub groups working on Madoka produces the most accurate translations? I watch the first sub available of each episode so I can see it before the otakusphere is rife with spoilers, but for rewatches I want to view the one that best catches the shades of meaning in the dialogue.

Steven has an interesting hypothesis about Madoka:

Spoiler

Madoka was a mahou shoujo before, and a really good one. But she was utterly miserable, having lost her family and nearly everyone she loved to the witches. Homura was her last remaining friend, and decided to become a mahou shoujo so she could use her wish to make Madoka happy.

Homura’s wish was to give Madoka back the life she had lost, the family and friends and places that were gone. And that’s why Madoka’s life is a bit surreal, with the strange house and the school built of glass walls and everything seeming just a bit off. It is real, in a sense, but it was created by Homura’s wish.

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At this point it is very clear that Madoka is a horror story involving children, closer to Bokurano than Sailor Moon. It’s an interesting exercise to watch the opening and note the misdirections and outright lies.

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Since Funimation is streaming Fractale, I am not downloading the fansubs. This has been frustrating. How many more times will the broadcast be delayed? Will I live long enough to see the final episode? Similarly, I am not downloading Kore wa Zombie desu ka?, Level E or Gosick since they are on Crunchyroll. This has also been frustrating. I get very tired of playback stopping every 45 seconds while the buffer reloads.

This illustrates two reasons why streaming is the least desirable way of making anime available. I really do want the videos on my computer or on DVD so they will always be readily available, regardless of the whims of the licensors or the vagaries of internet traffic.

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Just wondering: was there some sort of big sports event this past weekend? The “Stuporbowl,” I think somebody called it.

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Gotta catch ’em all.

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Humor and horror are closely related, as anyone who has read Saki or followed Akiyuki Shinbo’s career knows. Or who follows politics. Both are responses to the perception that something isn’t quite right. Consequently, abrupt shifts in tone from comic to horrific to WTF? in shows like Kore wa Zombie desu ka? or Level E rarely bother me. Both series remain on my watch list.

Gosick, however, I am dropping. Victorique is too abrasive to be sympathetic, even if she is literally a prisoner of the library, and the perpetually flustered Kujo is not a good foil for her. The mysteries aren’t interesting enough to compensate for the lack of chemistry between the characters. ((It’s a bad sign when I know the solution to a “locked room” mystery before the writer finishes presenting the problem.))

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Today’s Sailor Moon crossover:

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Perhaps relevant to the neverending fansub debate:

(Via the other Steven.)

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Anthony Sacramone, formerly Martin Luther’s assistant, is starting a new religion:

1. We believe that Pantu Baba, the Vile, the Irascible, the Arbitrary, eternal and almighty god of all that is was or ever shall be, has created all things in a fit of pique. Which explains Detroit. And Comcast.

It does make more sense than Scientology.

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This post is brought to you by the letter “I.”

(Via Zontar the Enormous.)

Six

Ubu is currently following eight shows. My tastes are different than his, and there are only six that have caught my interest this winter. Still, that’s noteworthy. During all of 2010, there were only four series that I watched more than two episodes of. Even in 2007, the best year ever for anime (Dennou Coil, Oh! Edo Rocket, Seirei no Moribito, Mononoke, Baccano!, plus an odd little thing called Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann), I don’t think I ever had more than four series on my watch list at any given time.

Here’s what I’ve seen at least three episodes of, in order of interest:

Mahou Shoujo Madoka?Magica — Beware the kawaii. Seriously.

Fractale — The best show Miyazaki’s done in years.

Kore wa Zombie desu ka — Magical girls, chainsaws, vampire ninjas, dancing chibis….

I expect that I will watch each of these to the end, and they will go on my to-buy list when they are licensed if they end as well as they began.

Level E — Alien bishies are jerks, and baseball is the key to interstellar amity. (Bonus points for an opening theme that rocks hard, sung by a singer who sounds like a grown woman, not a little girl.)

Yumekui Merry — Don’t hide that magical midriff under a waitress uniform, please. Oh, and what happened to the cats?

Gosick — What is in that pipe?

If Level E becomes stupid or obnoxious, I’ll drop it. If Yumekui Merry degenerates into a monster-of-the-week show, I’ll drop it. If Victorique doesn’t learn a modicum of tact (“Ho. Ho. Ho. Ho. Ho,” indeed) , I’ll drop Gosick. But for now, I’ll watch at least one more episode of each.

Noteworthy also is that Funimation and Crunchyroll are streaming four of these. I’d strongly prefer download-to-own, but I am glad nevertheless that I don’t have to break international copyright law to watch them.

Butterflies and chainsaws

Merry's eyes: leftovers from Katanagatari?

I might follow up to five shows this winter, the most in years. In order of interest, they are:

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Fractale
Kore wa Zombie desu ka
Yumekui Merry
Gosick

Random notes:

• Do lepidoptera frighten the Japanese? When I see flocks of butterflies in anime, it’s usually a prelude to danger or horror, e.g., the blue butterflies in Paprika. Butterfly motifs seem to be one of the signals of a witch’s presense in Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica.

• Visually, Madoka is the most eccentric show since Trapeze, combining Shaftesque art and animation with architecture from Unhappy Hipsters and monsters from RatherGood.com.

• The first clue for me that Madoka might be darker than most magical girl shows was the announcement that Yuki Kajiura was doing the soundtrack. I recently put together a two-hour program of music by Yoko Kanno and Kajiura. I was impressed once again by the width of Kanno’s range; she can do anything, from intensely dramatic to cute and silly. However, Kajiura’s music, good though her pieces are taken individually, eventually all sounds pretty much the same: cool, minor-key, introverted, a little exotic, a little strange. ((I was surprised that Kajiura placed first in zzeroparticle’s recent anime composer poll. She’s good, but not that good.)) When a show fits her abilities, the results can be very effective, e.g., Noir. Madoka thus far is another good match for her.

• How dark will Madoka be? Possibly very dark, indeed. The silliness in the opening, I suspect, is a deliberate bait-and-switch. Update: Really, really, really dark.

• Discussions of Fractale so far have mentioned such works as Dennou Coil, Ghost in the Shell, The Matrix, The Naked Sun, etc. I’ll add one more: the trio looking for Phryne reminded me of the duo in Brazil who wore the caps with very long bills.

• I can understand the Fractale committee’s frustration with fansubs, but their action means that people outside Japan now have the choice of a) hoping that it will soon be licensed and available for a reasonable price; b) breaking the law; or, c) joining twelve-step programs to overcome their anime addictions. I really do want to play by the rules, but the case of Dennou Coil indicates that I can no longer expect that all first-rate anime will licensed during my lifetime.

• A frightening thought: boys will cosplay as Ayumu as he was garbed at the end of the first episode of Kore wa Zombie desu ka, and pink chainsaws will be the most annoying props since Wolfwood’s cross.

Avert your eyes: one of the characters in Yumekui Merry (shudder) smokes.

Cheerio

Variations on a theme in Katanagatari.

Continue reading “Cheerio”

Recent arrivals

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Astropia was picked up by an American distributer earlier this year. My copy arrived a few days ago, and the story of a minor Icelandic celebrity who is assimilated into RPG culture was as enjoyable as I remembered. Now, would a region 1 distributer please license Faintheart, which is only available as a region 2 PAL disc?

Another recent arrival is Loituma’s Things of Beauty, which includes the “Ievan Polka.” It might sound vaguely familiar.

[audio:http://tancos.net/audio/10 Ievan Polkka (Ieva’s Polka).mp3]

Princesses and rotten girls

When you see something like this:

You know what’s going to happen.

Continue reading “Princesses and rotten girls”

Captain Broccoli and Ms. Doom

In case you can’t understand the actors, the shows mentioned are Otome Youkai Zakuro, Squid Girl, Tamayura and Mahou Tsukai Sally. Also, it’s difficult hear the difference between “Miss” and “Ms.,” much to Ms. Doom’s annoyance.

If the embedded video above doesn’t work, you can watch it here.

Let’s play

Steven declared that he couldn’t stop laughing after the second episode of Asobi ni Iku Yo (spoilers), so I checked it out. There’s more fan service than I like, and it’s a bit too off-color to generally recommend, but otherwise it’s been fun. It looks like the story is will be pleasantly convoluted, with nearly every character representing various competing secret organizations, and I’m certainly not going to object if one of the central characters is a sweet, playful and competent catgirl.

If the series gets stupid or devolves into mere fanservice, I’ll drop it. However, this is one of the very few recent shows that have caught my interest, and I have hopes that the crew can maintain a high level of complicated absurdity through the remaining eleven episodes.

How much sense Asobi ni Iku Yo ultimately makes might depend on the translators. Compare these two versions of a moment in the second episode. Eris, the ~~adolescent fantasy~~ alien catgirl, is speaking to her human captor, who has the scent of dog on him.

Ayako & SubDESU:

Team Zebraman:

Update: Here’s the clip in question. Would someone who understands Japanese please explain what exactly Eris says?

[flowplayer src=’http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/Asobi_ni_Iku_Yo!-clip.mp4′ width=600 height=340]

The previews for the third episode suggest that the Ayako/SubDESU version is more accurate. Note the entity in the lower right corner of this screen capture:

A thought: so far, no weapon has presented any real threat to Eris. What would happen if an enemy were to roll a ball of yarn in front of her at a critical moment?

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Steven also enjoyed Battle Programmer SHIRASE. Unfortunately, scarywater.net is defunct, and many older torrents are no longer available. Grr.

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Want a catgirl of your own? Visit the catgirl generator:

This brave catgirl has slitted, red eyes. She has neck-length, luxurious, curly, brown hair worn in an impractacal style. Her skin is pale, and she has brown fur with orange patches on her ears and tail. She has a voluptuous build. Her ears are alert. Her fashion preferences are best described as “as little as possible.” When she talks, she tends to use a lot of big words – and know exactly what they mean. (sic)

You can find many more generators here and here. (Does the world really need a “Bishotron“?)

Two words about The Secret of Kells

See it.

Artsy types

The script to Shoka won the grand prize in the Animax competition in 2008. I’m not sure why. While the gimmick of using calligraphy and other arts as the basis of magical combat lends itself well to animation, the story and the characters are of scant interest. Still, the piece is worth seeing for the art, particularly if you’re sick of moeblobs with insectoid faces. Screen captures are below the fold.

I also recently watched Haiyoru! Nyaru Ani and Ranma – Akumu Shunminko. The former — a series of short moe-meets-Lovecraft animations — might sound like a brilliantly insane idea, but I don’t recommend it unless you think stabbing a little girl ((She’s actually Nyarlathotep, but she still looks and acts like a silly little girl.)) in the hand with a fork is funny. The latter is part of a celebration of Rumiko Takahashi’s work. It prominently features Happosai, and demonstrates why he has done so well in the current poll. I can’t recommend it either, even if it is the first new Ranma episode in years.

Update: Here’s the right way to make Cthulhu cute.

Continue reading “Artsy types”

The Birds, Part Two

I’ve downloaded a number of first episodes from the fall and winter seasons, but I have yet to make it more than half-way through any of them. Some might actually be worth watching, e.g., Durarara, but I’m just not in the mood right now. I sent off an order for some older titles yesterday — the Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex, Moonphase and Black Heaven boxed sets (and a set of El Hazard playing cards) — but those are likely to remain in their shrink wrap for a while. I have things other than anime on my mind, and if I do pop a DVD into the drive, it more likely will be an old favorite like Shingu than anything new.

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A couple of silly links:

Another example of silhouette animation, this one recounting the avian terror in Clerkenwell.

If you play Dungeons and Dragons, stay out of prison in Wisconsin.

Slayers Tolerable

Naga, left, and the other fashion designer from the third episode.

A friend found that he had two copies of Slayers Excellent, so he gave me one (thank you, Richard). It’s set earlier than the TV series, before Lina meets Gourry, Zelgadis et al. Instead of them, we have Naga the Serpent (approximately .8 Rushunas). How much you enjoy Slayers Excellent depends on how much of Naga you can stand. She’s every bit as stupid as Gourry, but unlike the dense but admirable swordsman, she’s a narcissist with no compensating virtues. It’s a good question whether she’s more dangerous as an enemy or an ally. She sorely tries the patience of Lina and the audience, and she might be a candidate for the next poll.

Naga aside, the three episodes of Slayers Excellent are mostly decent farces ((The ending of the second episode is a bit indecent.)) in which Lina faces a vampire, escorts a spoiled rich girl on a journey, and gets caught in a fashion feud that escalates faster than a flame war. The last episode is a showcase for Aya Hisakawa as the deranged defender of tradition.

I ran a few tests, and I can report that, contrary to rumor, Naga’s laugh will not peel paint. Possibly, if you play it repeatedly at a high volume on a good sound system, it might soften the surface layer of a painted object, but if you have furniture to refinish, a chemical stripper will work far more efficiently and present fewer health hazards.

Wednesday miscellany

Over at Steven’s place, people are listing their five favorite animes and speculating on what their choices say about them. Here’s mine:

1. Haibane Renmei
2. Serial Experiments Lain
3. Denno Coil
4. Cardcaptor Sakura
5. Shingu

Let’s see: I like science-fiction and fantasy, complicated stories that ultimately do make sense, well-developed and engaging characters, and background music that’s interesting in its own right. (Update: And also stuff that’s out of print or unlicensed. Of these five series, only the last is currently available in the USA.)

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Another list I recently came across: The Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time. Yeah, right.

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I’ve watched the first two episodes of Kuuchuu Buranko, or Trapeze. It’s worth seeing for the visual novelties, but the stories themselves aren’t as interesting as the art.

I may also continue watching Aoi Bungaku, of which I’ve seen the first episode, part one of “No Longer Human.” Cheery stuff, this. I am curious to see how well the crew handles “Hell Screen.”

Jonathan gave Kobato a tentative thumbs-up, and it is CLAMP, so I’ll take a look. Otherwise, the rest of the current season doesn’t interest me.

Useless heroine

Recently I spotted something called Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: Missing 99 OVA on AnimeSuki. It was written and directed by one Seiji Okuda, who has worked in various capacities on anime ranging from Ponyo to Dream Hunter Rem, so I thought I’d check it out. Well, sometimes there is a good reason why an old show remains obscure.

Samy, after transformation and armored. Note characteristic expression.

It’s the same kind of story as Leda — The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko: an apparently ordinary girl is transported to a fantasy world, where she allegedly has great powers. Unlike Yohko, however, Samy, as herself, never learns how to use her powers and just stands around uselessly as others fight to protect her. Her little non-magical dog is a more effective combatant than she is. The conceptual framework is a melange of Buddhist mythology, the Old Testament and Big Bang physics. It perhaps make a little more sense than RahXephon ultimately does, but that’s not saying much. With a more competent protagonist, Samy might have been watchable, but as it is, it’s a waste of time. I can’t even recommend it for fanservice.

Some guys apparently like their girls wimpy.

More views like this, and a few more inches in the right place, would have improved the show.