Author: Don

Zombie Sue and Vampire Maris

A friend mentioned that he was curious about The Supergal, or Maris the Chojo, so I found it for him. I made the mistake of watching it myself, and I can authoritatively state that its obscurity is well-deserved, even if it based on a Rumiko Takahashi story. Unless you think that female wrestling is the apogee of civilized entertainment, skip it. Watch Project A-ko again instead. However, it does give me an opportunity to post a picture within a spoiler tag for Ubu.

Spoiler

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Slayers Tolerable

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

“… we could hear the universe inhaling …”

Occasionally reviews are worth reading.

Transmission of music data at rates faster than the speed of light seemed convenient, until I realized I was hearing the music before I actually wanted to play it. Apparently Denon forgot how accustomed most of us are to unidirectional time and the general laws of physics. I tried to get used to this effect but hearing songs play before I even realized I was in the mood for them just really screwed up my preconceptions of choice and free will. I’m still having a major existential hangover.

Would not purchase again.

(Via Peeve Farm.)

Call for nominations

It’s about time for a new poll. So … who is the worst character in anime? I don’t mean who is the most evil — a good villain can be a pleasure to watch and is essential for some kinds of stories ((The loathsome Dolores Umbridge is perhaps the most memorable character in the entire Harry Potter franchise.)) — but, rather, who is the most poorly-conceived, unnecessary or pointlessly irritating? Who provides unfunny comic relief, pathological angst or repulsive fanservice? Who spoils every scene he’s in? List your nominations in the comments. You can nominate more than one, but please don’t get carried away.

Some possibilities:

Rei Hino/Sailor Mars (Sailor Moon) — She may be the best-looking of the Sailor Senshi and a magical miko, but she is also quarrelsome and obnoxious.

Tomo Takino (Azumanga Daioh) — AD should have been a great show. Unfortunately, there are a couple of problems. One is the insufferable Tomo.

NB (Tenchi Muyo GXP) — Never was comic relief so tedious. Or so unnecessary. Without Nabeshin’s self-insertion, TMGXP would be a solid four stars out of five; with him, the most I can give is three.

Barashishou (Rozen Maiden Traümend) — It’s obvious early on that she’s not a proper Rozen Maiden: ((Yeah, that’s a spoiler, but I don’t care. The show is a waste of time.)) there is no personality behind the smirk.

“Ms.” Aki (Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi) — I really, really don’t want to see middle-aged transvestites. Uninteresting footnote: Aki is voiced by the same voice actor as

Kimura (Azumanga Daioh) — I’ll just quote Steven from his legendary lost review of AD: “Someone please shoot him.”

Friday linkdump

The website for Satoshi Kon’s current project is active. Yume-Miru Kikai looks like a significant departure from Kon’s previous work, at least visually, and unlike Paranoia Agent and Paprika, this “future folklore story” might be suitable for all ages.

An appreciation of the background art of Oh! Edo Rocket.

For anyone who’s ever said “Huh?” at a renaissance faire.

If you’re in the Minneapolis area, you can catch a performance of “A Christmas Carol” in Klingon. (Via Maureen the Suburban Banshee.)

A three-dimensional Mandelbrot set? (also via Maureen.)

Bored with caricaturing Roman Catholicism, manga artists have discovered the Eastern Orthodox.

An old interview with the late John Sladek I came across recently. Sladek, discoverer of the thirteenth sign of the zodiac (Arachne, May 13 to June 9), ((For the morbidly curious, my own sign is “No parking — violators will be towed at owner expense.”)) was one of the last century’s best satirists and is of my favorite writers.

Meep.

Thinking about large numbers.

Keep an eye on those ducks:

[audio:http://tancos.net/audio/02 Thus Quacked Zarathustra.mp3]

Public service announcement: the complete Dirty Pair TV is out there, subtitled, if you know where to look.

Moving in stereo

Cross your eyes to view this in 3D
Cross your eyes to view this in 3D

Here’s a collection of Japanese stereograms from from the late 19th and early 20th century. Most of them can be viewed by the usual “parallel” method — which is easier to do than to explain — but there is a set of contact prints here that you can see in 3D by crossing your eyes. You can also see if the animated .gifs here work for you; I just find them annoying. Here’s a large collection of the photographer’s work.

(Via Lynn.)

Delayed sensation

Last spring I planted a packet of cosmos seeds of the old “Sensation” variety. According to the packet, the plants start blooming in midsummer and get about four feet tall, which tallies with my memories of the plants in the family garden years ago. However, summer came and went, and the plants showed no sign of flowers. Instead, they just grew and grew. The ones that didn’t flop over are all five to six feet tall now. Finally, in October, they began to bloom. Here are a few pictures I took this afternoon.

Continue reading “Delayed sensation”