I just discovered that the new Kino no Tabi movie, The Beautiful World: Byouki no Kuni — For You, due out this Saturday, is directed by Ryutaro Nakamura and written by Chiaki J. Konaka. Nakamura directed the original anime series, and he and Konaka were members of the team that made Serial Experiments Lain. This sounds promising, and I’m curious to see it. (The earlier Kino movie, Life Goes On, was done by a different crew and is inferior to the TV series.)
Category: Uncategorized
Indifferent star
I watched the second episode of Lucky Star. It was a little better than the first, but I’m still underwhelmed. I’ve never seen Seinfeld, so I don’t know how valid that comparison is, but it’s clearly inferior to Azumanga Daioh. AD gave us four memorable characters — Chiyo, Osaka, Sakaki and Yomi (six if you count Tomo and Yukari, but I’d like to forget them) — but Lucky Star features only one of any interest, Konata. One good character would be sufficient if the jokes were funny, and maybe they are, but for me they never rise above mildly amusing. Perhaps this is actually a brilliant show and I’m revealing one of my blind spots, but I probably won’t bother watching any more.
The Crimson Whirlwind
Classic Shakespearean wit
Romeo x Juliet may well be the most insane adaptation of Shakespeare ever made. I’d love to show this to an English literature class; it is so utterly wrong that anyone familiar with the play will be gasping for breath from laughing. I could list some of the more bizarre innovations and infelicities, but I don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun. Watch it and see if you can keep from snorting.
*****
I probably won’t post much for the rest of the week. Barry the flutist, Richard the bodhran player and I will be celebrating Shakespeare’s Birthday with English country dances and other old tunes this Saturday, and I need to practice. If you’re in the Wichita area, you can hear us at the Delano Book Company at 811 W. Douglas between 11 a.m. and noon.
My long-lost sister?
I’m back
Whew.
*****
I had planned to sneer at Koutetsu Sangokushi this evening, but it’s late and I’m tired. I’ll just note that it uses many of the same motifs as Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, from the red star to the mysterious, powerful talisman, and makes them stupid. Imagine BKI as a bad video game adaptation and you’ll be close. (I think it really was deliberately modeled on BKI; there are too many parallels to be coincidental.) Koutetsu Sangokushi‘s only virtue is that it illustrates by contrast just how well-done BKI is.
Today’s controversy
Let’s see if I can make a poll.
Welcome
(I suppose I ought to say “Irrashaimase,” but I speak English.) This weblog is the successor to beware the kawaii, and I’ll continue to write about anime and related subjects here. When I’m more comfortable with WordPress I’ll play around with the formatting, but for now this theme (“Barthelme”) is satisfactory.
I’ve got the Askimet and Bad Behavior 2 plugins activated. Let’s see if I get any spam comments. (Let’s see if I get any comments.) I would appreciate it if someone would try out the comment process. If there are problems, I’d rather find out sooner than later. If you can’t leave a comment, please write me at tancos at tancos dot net. Thank you.
Update: I am informed that the first theme didn’t work on smaller monitors, so I changed to a narrower one.
Showmanship
I see that this video is making the rounds again:
It’s being called one of the “Worst Recruitings Ads Ever”. I’m not so sure of that. To macho American eyes, the dancing sailors look ridiculous. However, these ads are for a Japanese audience, to whom military defense and entertainment apparently are a natural combination, if anime is any evidence. Sakura Wars, for instance, combines steampunk mecha with Takarazuka musicals, and in Idol Defense Force Hummingbird, the air force is a branch of the music industry. In this context, this commercial makes perfect sense.