Trivia that matter
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.
Here’s a (huge: 1.6 megabyte) graphic of science fiction history. The “Japanamation explosion” needs a lot more detail and thought — Sailor Moon is included, but not Serial Experiments Lain or Cowboy Bebop? Yeah, right.
(Via A Momentary Taste of Being.)
Today’s been another bang-your-head-against-the-wall day, so here’s some silly stuff.
A hitherto unknown Miss Marple mystery is scheduled to be published. It is allegedly the only Agatha Christie novel in which the murders are unsolved at the end of the book.
Today is Ash Wednesday, which different denominations observe in various ways. From the same authority: this is the only explanation for the USA’s anthem I’ve come across that makes any sense.
If Ayumu should misplace his masou shoujo chainsaw, here’s another one he could use. (Via Dustbury.)
It works for Kuragehime, too. (From Better Book Titles.)
Another Japanese innovation: Rent-a-Friend.
If magical girls don’t breed true, than it would be pointless to try to domesticate them
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A few miscellaneous links:
H.P. Lovecraft’s favorite words. I expected “eldritch” to score higher.
The 2011 edition of the Arts and Faith Top 100 films of all time includes three anime: Spirited Away, Grave of the Fireflies and Paprika.
Things are heating up in Hawaii. (Webcam here.)
Increased activity at Kilauea in Hawaii has led to a new fissure erupting. More pictures here.
Update: There’s now a webcam.
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.)
Numerous bloggers are writing about the histories of their interest in anime. I did that myself a few years ago. The next year, I wrote about becoming increasingly burnt-out. Since then, my interest has waxed and waned. I’m currently relatively enthusiastic, largely because Madoka is potentially a classic. However, I don’t think I will ever again be as absorbed in the form as I was in the days of Haruhi and Haruhi and Yuko and Yuko.
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.
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.)
Dennou Coil is finally available — if you have an iToy. I don’t.
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Watching Fractale is becoming more and more of a chore. Are Enri’s antics supposed to be funny? I’m not laughing.
Yamakan thinks anime today is in bad shape. His solution is to ape Miyazaki. I’m reminded of the Pre-Raphaelites, who sought to revitalize art by returning to their notion of the middle ages. Their paintings make for pretty calendars, but they aren’t exactly great art.
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Here’s a bit of computer animation involving quilting and Celtic music:
Now let’s see some quilting using Penrose tiles, ideally with a klezmer soundtrack.
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No.
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The five best toys of all time.
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Bonus link: John C. Wright has discovered the origin of steampunk.
Suwanose-jima in the Ryukyu islands south of Kyushu is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. There’s a webcam on the island (the last listing in the box to the right), but usually it’s impossible to make out anything beyond a small orange glow just below the center of the image. This morning, however, visibility is was briefly good.
Incidentally, Sakura-jima, jealous of all the attention that Shinmoe-dake/Kirishima has received, has ramped up its activity. There’s a good chance you won’t have to wait long to see a substantial vulcanian eruption on a webcam during daylight hours, and if you’re lucky, you might catch some incandescence at night. ((For a better nightime view, try the fourth listing from the bottom of the right-hand box here.))
Update (2/28/11): After a week of good viewing, the camera image is back to the usual murk. I’d like to send someone there with a bottle of Windex.
Update II: And now the camera is gone.
A week ago, it was -17°F in Wichita, colder than Fairbanks. Today, it was 78°. The range is not quite as extreme as some locations in Oklahoma, but it’s worth noting.
Which series will first be licensed for region one DVD: Fractale, Mahou Shoujo Madoka?Magica or Rio – Rainbow Gate!? (Haven’t been watching Rio? Neither have I, but Wonderduck has. You can share his pain here, here, here, here and here.)
Update: And the winner is Fractale. I suppose I should be glad it wasn’t Rio, but bleah.
(Via Steven.)
Life has been insanely busy, and I don’t know when I’ll have time to catch up with Zombie and Level E or collect my thoughts about Madoka. Until then, here are a couple of links.
Jonathan Tappan writes about Buddhism, particularly as it figures in anime.
Don’t ever let anyone try to embarrass you because of your taste for anime. Whatever you’re watching, it isn’t as pointless as the movie eat, pray, love:
This is an alien story told in an alien language with alien grammar of an alien culture of which I know little and understand less.
(Via Professor Mondo.)
Bonus link: TWWK takes a brief look at Shusaku Endo’s Silence.
Who are the most frightening girls in the poll at right? You can vote for up to three. The top five will advance to the final round, where they will face the winners of the first round, Lucy/Nyuu (Elfen Lied), Shion Sonozaki (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni), Chloe (Noir), Enma Ai (Hell Girl) and Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya).
It was warmer in Fairbanks, Alaska than in Wichita when I headed out to work this morning. Has Al Gore been in the area?
So I finally peeled the shrink-wrap off Gurren Lagann and put the first disc in the drive to see if it really is the greatest achievement of mankind since the invention of distilled spirits. The DVD player refused to play it. I took a close look at the disc, above, and I was not happy. One of the other discs in the set also has noticeable delamination, but it doesn’t extend into the data area.
Fortunately, Mac the Ripper was able to read enough of the disc to make a playable copy. Several hours later, I am wondering whether Kamina is the manliest of men, or the greatest of jackasses. Or both.
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:
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.
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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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.)
