Category: Whatever

My Saturday feeling

An early appearance of the leek in anime (Keroro Gunsou, episode 4a (2004)). This antedates “leekspin” by two years.

The anime I’m interested in is generally very different from the shows I used to watch on Saturday mornings many years ago. Serial Experiments Lain, for instance, has nothing in common with, say, Yogi Bear beyond being animated. ((Unless you count Lain’s pyjamas.)) Sometimes I’m in the mood for something silly and trivial, though, which brings me to my next list:

Anime like Saturday morning cartoons

Ramen Fighter Miki
Animal Yokocho
Galaxy Angel A and Z
Keroro Gunsou
The Adventures of Mini-Goddess

All of these consist of short episodes with no long-term narrative once all the main characters have been introduced. (Galaxy Angel makes no pretense of continuity at all.) They’re generally okay for kids. They are best taken in small doses; trying to marathon any of them results in indigestion. None of them approach the level of the best of Chuck Jones or Tex Avery, but they all compare favorably with the typical Hanna-Barbera offering. (The writing in Animal Yokocho approaches Moose and Squirrel level.)

Bonus list: Outstanding anime battles

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, episode ten (broadcast order) — one of the very few alleged “crowning moments of awesome” that actually is just that.

Denno Coil, episode four — defines “pwned,” except that the term will be obsolete slang in Isako’s day.

Seirei no Moribito, episode three — one of the rare conventional battle scenes that holds my attention …

… because, in general, fight scenes bore me. That’s why this list has only three items. I could add the fifth episode of Crest of the Stars and the last third of Banner to make five, but I think I’ll leave it at three.

Let’s see …

… If I counted correctly, there are three groups subbing Clannad –After Story–, Chaos;Head, Shikabane Hime and Ga-Rei Zero. Four are working on Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka and Tytania, five on Yozokura Quartet, six on Toradora! and eight on Tales of the Abyss. But apparently no one cares about the rest of Macademi Wasshoi.

*****

Let’s test this new poll thingy WordPress plugin.

The score so far, and dorks and damsels

Thumbs tentatively up:
Kannagi — Hoping that Hideyuki Kurata writes consistently well this time.
To Aru Majutsu no Index

Thumbs emphatically down:
Hakushaku to Yousei (Earl and Fairy) — There’s a vast literature about the collision of the human and faerie realms, from “Tam Lin” to Jonathan Strange. This promises to be the one of the lamest examples.
Kuroshitsuji — It could have been a decent horror series, but the stupid comedy kills it.

Decision pending second episode:
Macademi Wasshoi
Kurozuka — This could be spellbinding, or it could be a bloody mess. ((Kurozuka features the protean Romi Paku in yet another role completely unlike anything else I’ve seen her in, as usual. I would never have guessed that Nayuta, O-Ise, Haraken and Kuromitsu were all voiced by the same actress if I hadn’t looked at the cast lists.))
Chaos;Head — The usual description is Welcome to the N.H.K. as done by Satoshi Kon, and that’s about right. It could be a good creepy show if it doesn’t fall apart. It also could degenerate into a bloody mess.

Waiting for subs:
Mouryou no Hako — currently downloading
Michiko to Hatchin

Thus far this fall, nothing has gripped me like the first episode of Denno Coil.

Update: Okay, so I watched an episode of Hyakko. It may be comedy gold, but I didn’t smile once.

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I almost never see movies in theaters. The last one was Persepolis (recommended) back in February. This is partly because it’s a blasted nuisance for me to get to the cinema and back, but mainly because few films that do make it to Wichita look even slightly interesting. Nevertheless, there are some out there that I would like to see. For instance, Astropia. Faintheart is another. Will they play in Wichita? I doubt it.

$230,000

Nick did a little research into the production costs of several movies. If his figures are accurate, what’s astonishing is not how much Princess Mononoke cost but how little Five Centimeters Per Second and Perfect Blue did.

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Since Amaenaideyo!! has been licensed, I dropped it from the poll at right. It makes little difference; it only received one vote of the seventy-one cast so far.

Brief notes

I shot about 1,500 frames of dance last night, and it’s going to take a few evenings to go through all the pictures, selecting and editing the best. That and some projects for work mean that I will continue to be scarce here. I’ll be back eventually, but don’t hold your breath.

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I watched the first episodes of a few recent shows. Surprisingly, most didn’t stink and might be worth a second look. Let’s see ….

Macademi Wasshoi — It’s energetic and entertaining, but I would enjoy it more if the characters looked older: neotenous faces and fanservice is a distasteful combination. If future episodes emphasize humor over fanservice, I might continue with it. By the way, I’m not convinced that we actually have a dog-girl here. Her tail doesn’t wag properly. ((If you want a true dog-girl, albeit without the tail, see O-Nui in Oh! Edo Rocket.))

Kannagi — There’s an opportunity for easy but effective parody and satire if this divine Galatea continues to learn about the modern world from television. Otherwise, the series looks to be mildly amusing and bland. Update: Hideyuki Kurata is responsible for the script. Expect wildly erratic writing.

To Aru Matjutsu no Index — Promising, and that’s about all I can say at this point.

Detroit Metal City — Cute premise, but romangst and death metal are unlikely to wear well. Pass. (I would like to see the live-action movie, though.)

Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo — “Sexy adult women in anime.” ’nuff said.

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A few links:

Pixy recently posted some of his collection of openings and endings. N.B.: Dokuro-chan is not recommended.

Neojaponisme. (Via Eve Tushnet.)

Japanese matchbox art, ca. 1920-1950. (Via Lynn.)

*****

I didn’t recognize the reference, but a bit of searching did turn up this:

Bewitched: I got four kings.
Bothered: I got five — all hearts.
Bemildred: One a’ you is mus’ be cheatin’, ’cause I never had no kings of hearts in no deck of mine.

We interrupt the regularly scheduled program for a bit of reality

(I just got an email from a friend checking to see how I am, and I thought I ought to make an announcement here in case anyone else is wondering.)

The remains of Tropical Storm Lowell (an east Pacific storm that nobody paid much attention to) dropped ten inches of rain in the Wichita area yesterday. Several of the rivers in the region are well above flood stage. Fortunately for me, none of the flooding is near my neighborhood, even though the Little Arkansas River loops around it.

My principal, selfish concern with the flooding is to what extent it will interfere with the Walnut Valley Festival next weekend. The spot where I normally camp is currently under at least ten feet of water. (If I do go this year, I’ll be day-tripping. Even if the Walnut River is back within its banks in time, the mud will be deep and gooey in the campgrounds.)

carpcamp.jpg

Carp Camp, September 13, 2008. (Photo from The Winfield Courier.)
Here’s what it looked like a year ago. (Link fixed.)

In other news, the word is that Ubu rode out Ike in good shape. It will probably be some time before he has power again and can resume blogging.
Update: Ubu’s back.

A good idiot is hard to find

My principal viewing the past few days has been the second season of Rocky and Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle. I wonder: has anime produced any magnificent idiots who stand comparison with Bill Scott’s immortal trio: Bullwinkle, George and Dudley Do-Right? We’ll probably never see the equal of the first, who is one of three great comic characters of the 20th century. ((The other two are Groucho Marx and Ignatius Reilly.)) But there have been some estimable nitwits in anime, which brings me to my next list.

Outstanding idiots

1. Tamaki Suou (Ouran High School Host Club)
2. Excel Excel (Excel Saga)
3. Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent (Baccano!) (Yeah, that’s two characters, but I think of them as a single unit.)
4. Bantaro Sanbonmatsu (Jubei-chan: Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch)
5. Kankuro Nishiyama (Ramen Fighter Miki)

Notes:

• While I haven’t found a Japanese counterpart to Bill Scott, who was a writer and producer as well as a voice actor, ((Scott wrote all the “moose and squirrel” scripts, which episodes demonstrate that good writing can redeem crummy animation.)) Kotono Mitsuishi does have two major nitwits in her resumé, Excel and Usagi Tsukino.

• How many people watch Project A-ko for C-ko? How much Tomo Takino can you stand? It is not easy to create a stupid character who is nevertheless consistently entertaining, let alone sympathetic.

• Osaka is not an idiot. She just thinks very different.

• An idiot can be a ditz, but the terms are not synonyms. Yurika Misumaru and the early versions of Mihoshi Kuramitsu are ditzes of the highest order but not idiots.

More lists

Worst anime reviews

Charles Solomon sweeps places one through four with his comments on Divergence Eve, Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles, Haibane Renmei and Someday’s Dreamers at amazon.com.

I haven’t found anyone else with Solomon’s combination of arrogance and superficiality, but this review of Noir‘s first disc is lame enough for fifth place.

*****

Favorite final episodes

Presented without comment, to avoid spoilers.

1. Haibane Renmei
2. Jubei-chan: Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch
3. Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles
4. Someday’s Dreamers
5. Noir

*****

Favorite first episodes

1. Haibane Renmei
2. Cardcaptor Sakura
3. Denno Coil
4. Angelic Layer
5. Excel Saga

Update: Steven has posted his favorite last and first episodes.
Update II: Civilis posts his.

Making lists

I got a new toy and I wanted to play with it, so I though I’d record a podcast. Hours of babbling and editing later, it became clear that, although my face is made for radio, my voice isn’t. I think I’ll stick to the written (or typed) word for now.

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I haven’t watched much anime recently. Let’s see …. the Bakeneko (“Goblin Cat”) arc of Ayakashi — Samurai Horror Tales is a prelude to last year’s Mononoke and of a piece with it. I didn’t see any of the Olympic coverage; instead, I watched the first disc of the Battle Athletes OVA. It was okay, but I don’t know if I’ll watch the rest. I’m not even going to mention Strike Witches. What I most enjoyed watching was not anime at all (though some parts were animated): The Work of Michel Gondry.

Instead, I’ve been compiling little lists. Here’s the first in a series.

Five shows I would particularly like to see licensed for region one

1. Denno Coil: The best series since Haibane Renmei. It’s something like Serial Experiments Lain as retold by Hayao Miyazaki, with affinities to Haibane Renmei, and with an outstanding soundtrack. I expect that it will eventually be licensed, but it might take a while. Those holding the rights undoubtedly realize that they have something special and are probably holding out for more money than any region one company wants to invest at this time.

2. Oh! Edo Rocket: An unclassifiable show — sometimes utterly silly, sometimes dead serious. It straddles many genres: drama, farce, science fiction, horror, parody, action, fantasy, even musical at one point. Whimsical though it is, there is a real story under the arbitrariness. The soundtrack is of interest both to swing aficionados and to intellectual property lawyers. I’ve posted several excerpts emphasizing the series’ silly aspects on my video site: here, here and here. Because the series doesn’t fit neatly in any category, I figure that its chances of being licensed are slim.

3. Dirty Pair TV: Well, duh.

4. Animal Yokocho: A kid’s show that will please adults with a taste for absurdity. Many Japanese are fascinated by Lewis Carroll, and “Wonderland” episodes are common in anime, but usually they don’t catch the essence of Carroll’s insane but logical universe. Although Animal Yokocho never explicitly alludes to the Alice in Wonderland books, it is truer to Carroll’s spirit than anything else I’ve seen in anime. ((If you mention lolicons, I will delete your comment.)) It’s one of the very few shows that I would like to see with a good dub, but I don’t expect that it will ever be licensed.

5. Mind Game: One bizarre movie by Masaaki Yuasa, the man responsible for Kaiba and Kemonozume. A nebbish dies ignominiously, meets God and returns to earth, where he takes charge of his life. Things get strange, and they get stranger. I posted a couple of vividly contrasting excerpts on my video site illustrating just how eccentric Yuasa’a vision is. I figure the movie’s chances of being licensed fall between negligible and non-existent.

Arrrrgh, etc.

I heard yesterday that one of the great progressive rock bands, Gryphon, has reunited to record a new album and perhaps give some concerts after disbanding more than thirty years ago. I just did a little searching to verify that. While the main Gryphon fansite does announce their reunion, their MySpace page states that it’s been suspended. Grrr.

Here’s an example of the sort of music I’d been hoping to hear more of, their “Glastonbury Carol”:

[mp3]http://tancos.net/audio/GlastonburyCarol.mp3[/mp3]

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If you have things to do and have absolutely no time to spare, don’t click here. (My best so far is 466 528 576 pounds of fish, plus logs, boots and cell phones.) (Via Dale.)

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Kids, be your favorite martyr for Halloween. (Via large furry animals.)

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Warmth. (Via a small furry animal.)

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To put the Democratic convention in perspective, read Dave Barry. His coverage begins here.

Anime makeover

Ever wondered how well Mikuru fills out the styles in her home century? Or what Mizuho would look like in clothing appropriate to his alleged gender? Or how a mahou shoujo would look as a mecha pilot, or vice versa? Here’s an opportunity to speculate, and perhaps to see your notions realized. The Future Fashion Folio for Costume Con 27 is open for submissions. Note the second of the special categories:

2. REDESIGN YOUR FAVORITE ANIME CHARACTER (sponsored by Karen Dick): You know what your favorite characters wear in that anime you love, but what do YOU think they should wear when they’re out of uniform (or when they get drafted into the military), or on that special  date, or going to that themed costume party?

If your design is selected for the folio, a costumer might make the outfit and model it in a fashion show at Costume Con. You don’t need to be a good artist or an expert costume designer; I’m neither, and one of my designs was included in last year’s folio.

If you should happen to be in the Baltimore area next May and you have any interest in costuming, the Con is worth attending. It’s devoted to all kinds of costuming, not just anime cosplay. There are pictures from Costume Con 25 here.