An eyecatch from Kuuchuu Buranko, a.k.a. Die seltsamen Methoden des Dr. Irabu, or Trapeze.
(I’ve been watching a lot of Kenji Nakamura lately.)
Category: Current viewing
Episode two
In the pastel future depicted by Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, a.k.a. Humanity Has Declined, we can expect plucked, headless, scheming chickens
“Dosuloli”
The Japanese have a word for it. (But do the Japanese have a word for “missing nose”?)
I had some unexpected free time this weekend, which gave me an opportunity to watch some first episodes. While nothing I saw astonished me, there are a few shows this summer that might be worth following.
Dog Days 2 (I’m sorry, but Dog Days’ just looks stupid) started off well, and it might be the most entertaining series of the summer if it doesn’t lose its way. It looks like the anime staff has something better in mind for Becky other than having her hang around Shinku and get in the way. Now if only the designers could find something more fitting for someone of Leonmitchelli’s status to wear than jean cut-offs —
— and if only they would drop the Most Common Special Attacks and general boinginess. The first Dog Days was a very good children’s show that I can’t recommend for children because of the frequent, irrelevant fanservice. It looks like season two will be the same.
Joshiraku is probably hysterically funny if you know Japanese and can catch all the puns. Monolingual Americans could use some footnotes. Even so, enough of the gags survive translation to make it watchable.
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita combines the twilight of humanity theme of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou with the nightmarish nonsense of Hare & Guu in deadpan fashion. It will be a long time before I want to look at a another loaf of bread. If I watch the next episode, I might not be able to eat chicken ever again. Dare I risk it?
Moyashimon Returns looks to be much like the first season: seriously quirky characters, lectures on fermentation, an elegant gothic lolita, and cute microbes. It’s missing Polysics, though.
All of these — even Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, despite the risks — I’ll watch at least one more episode of. I also saw Campione, Sword Art Online, and Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate, which impressed me less. I might watch more of the first two, but “yaoi sticks” disqualify the last from further consideration.
First look, last look
I recently sampled some of the winter and spring anime series. A few are watchable, but there’s no Dennou Coil or Madoka Magica among them. Mouretsu Pirates remains the only one I can unhesitatingly recommend, and I classify it as “light entertainment,” albeit an unusually well-executed example.
*****
I picked up the first disc of the original, quarter-century-old Saint Seiya to fill out an order in one of RightStuf’s 25-for-$100 sales. I made it though the first episode. The armor was pretty and the hair impressive, but the story was pure dumb shounen. Has the franchise improved any over the years? Nope. This is as far as I got in Saint Seiya Omega:
Jack London could not be reached for comment.
*****
I launched the first episode of the new, upgraded version of Nyarko-san to see if it was any better than the abysmal Flash shorts inflicted upon us two years ago. Within five minutes, the male lead stuck a fork into the wrist of the cute crawling chaos. The hell with it.
*****
I’ve been curious about a card game that occasionally turns up in such anime as Animal Yokocho, where it is called “100 poets.” Exactly how it played is not clear there or anywhere else I’ve seen it. It turns out to be uta-garuta, one of the many forms of karuta — sort of a literary hybrid of slapjack and concentration. A hundred cards bearing the last two lines of short poems are laid out on the playing surface. Someone reads cards from a second set bearing the complete poems, and each player tries to be the first to find the card bearing the ending lines of the poem being read.
It might be a pleasant diversion to devise an English-language version of the game, if someone hasn’t already done so. Variations come to mind — silly limericks for children, other limericks for adults, lyrics from the Great American Songbook, etc.
Competitive karuta is the gimmick of Chihayafuru, yet another damned series about quirky high school students. Unfortunately, I didn’t last long enough to see any card action. The josei art style didn’t appeal to me and none of the characters caught my interest. Jonathan watched the entire show and liked it quite a bit, so I might give it a second chance.
*****
I did make it all the way through the first episode of Ozma, which apparently has nothing to do with L. Frank Baum. As with Saint Seiya Omega, the character designs are appealingly old-style. So is everything else, except not quite so appealing. It’s set in a wasteland Earth, where competing quasi-military groups are interested in a Mysterious Woman. Giant whales swim deep in the desert sands; one of the commanders relies on tarot cards; there’s lots of shouting and shooting; I’m starting to lose interest. Maybe I’ll watch more. Maybe I won’t.
*****
The first episode of Polar Bear Cafe focused on a lazy panda’s less-than-wholehearted attempts to find a job. I generally don’t find slackers amusing, and I didn’t find it particularly funny. I believe the next episode concerns a penguin with money problems. I’ll see how that is and then decide whether to keep watching. If Polar Bear Cafe does turn out to be worthwhile, it will be valuable as a show for youngsters as well as adults.
*****
Sengoku Collection is another series in which Japanese historical figures are reimagined as pretty, busty young women. It looks like it’s going be mostly silliness and mild fanservice. If it maintains its tone and doesn’t get stupid, it might stay on my watch list.
I wonder: how would you go about making an American version? I’d probably pick characters from the Revolutionary War; the scars from the Civil War still haven’t healed. What kind of anime girl would George Washington be? Or Thomas Jefferson, or Aaron Burr? Where would you put them, and when?
*****
I watched the first two episodes of Inu x Boku Secret Service. An aloof, unfriendly girl with purple eyes moves into an apartment house for certain unusual individuals. There she finds, to her displeasure, that she has acquired an aggressively obsequious bishie bodyguard with mismatched eyes. The show poses the question: why would a multi-tailed fox want to be a dog? Also, is the dog a loyal golden retriever or a manipulative cocker spaniel? ((I generally prefer the company of dogs to that of people, but I’m not fond of cocker spaniels. I’ve been bitten more often by them than by any other breed of dog.)) I expect the underlying story to be the unspoken struggle for dominance between the girl and her bodyguard. As long as the series maintains its light touch and doesn’t devolve into kinkiness, I’ll probably watch more.
Pirate power makeup!
Galactic Corridor West-37
Shingu had the Cat’s Eye Nebula; Mouretsu Pirates has V838 Monocerotis.
Real life keeps getting in the way, but I make time every Saturday to watch Mouretsu Pirates. So what if the premise is unlikely and that there numerous minor details to nitpick? As long as the characters are interesting and the story is good, I don’t care that miniskirts aren’t suited to zero gravity. I think the pacing is fine. Tatsuo Sato knows exactly what he is doing. Constant action is boring. I’d rather get to know the characters and situation before the battles start. I enjoy spending time with Marika, and I look forward to 20 more weekends with her and her crew.
I enjoy the soundtrack, too, and I hope it’s licensed. I apparently am in the minority on this point, but I even like the opening theme, despite the singers. It would be much better with a less cluttered arrangement — ideally, just drums, bass and Marty Friedman — and a singer who can properly belt out the tune. Can Bruce Dickinson sing Japanese?
Sato makes anime that is more complex than it at first seems and which ultimately mostly makes sense, e.g., Shingu. There’s already much speculation on the history of piracy and related matters in Marika’s universe at Steven’s place.
Just wondering: One of the spaceships is called the “Odette II.” Will there be an “Odile”?
Update: Here’s the “sailing” theme.
Update II: Steven calls the tune “Odette II.” You can download a clean version from his site.
Downright bodacious
I watched the first episode of Mouretsu Pirates twice in two days. The last series I did that for was Madoka a year ago. Pirates has a lot in its favor, including:
Space pirates.
A meganekko with a hime haircut and a sailor suit.
A bunny, a ducky and a pink bobblehead pig.
An absence of in-your-face fanservice. ((No surprise, given that Sato’s Shingu featured an outstanding example of anti-fanservice.))
There are a few negatives, e.g., green lipstick, skinny ties and really bad haircuts.
The positives greatly outweigh the negatives, and Mouretsu Pirates looks like, at the very least, a fun show. With Sato at the helm, there’s a good chance that the series will be a satisfyingly complex story and not just an excuse to put pirate hats on pretty girls.
*****
A bit of music:
It’s not just for humans.
If French is the language of love, what is German the language of?
(The latter via John C. Wright.)
*****
2011 is over. Good riddance. It was a thoroughly crummy year for me, ((2011 was a good year for volcanoes.)) and I am not going to compile any retrospective posts. If you want to know about the year in anime, see Ubu’s recaps here and here.
Cardcaptor Derpy
(Here’s a side-by-side comparison with the CCS opening.)
Is the Brony universe the American counterpart of Touhou doujin culture? Perhaps. However, the main attraction of Touhou for me is the music, and I have yet to hear the MLP equivalent of “Lunatic Princess” or “U.N. Owen Was Her.”
I found time to watch the first two episodes of Mawaru Penguindrum, and, well, I’m not at all surprised that its mastermind was earlier responsible for Utena. It starts off as a shameless tearjerker. By the end of the second episode it’s deep in WTF territory. It’s currently getting high praise around the otakusphere, but I’m skeptical that it’s better than Madoka, as some claim. I suppose I’ll have to watch the rest of it and see.
For no good reason, I downloaded a curiosity called “Ravex in Tezuka World.” I should have bailed out when I saw this
but I foolishly watched the whole thing. The planet of Reearth, whose denizens are escapees from Osamu Tezuka’s various works, is threatened by Dark Silence. However, the cheesy dance music of the Ravex trio saves the day, with some assistance from an altered Astroboy.
Not even Prince Princess Queen Sapphire can save this mess.
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.
Helvetica Standard
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.)
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.
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.
*****
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.
[collapse]
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.
*****
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.
*****
Just wondering: was there some sort of big sports event this past weekend? The “Stuporbowl,” I think somebody called it.
*****
*****
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.))
*****
Today’s Sailor Moon crossover:
*****
Perhaps relevant to the neverending fansub debate:
(Via the other Steven.)
*****
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.
*****
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.