June 08, 2008
Not one of mine...found on the interwebz....
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....And then there are the triple-backflipping ninja-Viking deathcars, covered with spikes, that try to mug Our Hero with their hidden weapons systems. And there are ninjas. And a monkey.
High praise indeed.
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May 22, 2008
There is some interesting discussion in his comments. Go ahead and comment over there.
Update: Colder still (via)
Sad girl in snow is a screen cap from Kanon...obtained via the default source for all sad girl in snow needs.
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May 19, 2008
After the stellar first two seasons I had highly anticipated this. Good points:
About the hottest "companion" ever. Freema Agyeman give a superb performance as Martha Jones, a savvy, and gorgeous med student who joins the Dr. on his trips through time and space. Martha is sharp as a tack, a fast learner and quite level headed.
Daleks...screeching and killing (while screeching).
The cat dude in the traffic jam...and his family.
Several interesting stories with neat ideas, great effects and superb pacing.
Bad points:
Most of those stories were saddled with tedious subplots ripped from the headlines of...er...ABC afterschool specials.
Not enough Daleks screeching (and killing while screeching).
The 'Docktah' is not just PC, but seems to be channeling Leon Kass at times.
Pig people...which go a long way to cancel out Daleks....
The Doctor comes off as even more of a pompous, callous ass...
...and he keeps pining for Rose (a previous companion).
****************************************************
I did not see "Blink" as it refused to play on my computer.
Very uneven season, most disappointing were the Dalek episodes, (which was a very interesting concept muddled by silly, unnecessary subplots, pig-people and a high pitched squeaky voice) and the season finale, which started off absolutely superb, built fantastically and petered out with a Gainax ending of sorts.
Nevertheless it was, still enjoyable, though it is by far the weakest of the 3 I've seen thus far. I hope this trend doesn't continue.
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Via Wonderduck
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May 15, 2008
A fangirl relaxes with a good book.
OK...a book....
A cat...blogging...
Blogging more than me right now actually.
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May 11, 2008
More importantly, at the end of said post he reveals that Welcome to the NHK volume 4 is not just a forlorn hope to be cruelly dashed...but an actual tangible item available for purchase! He has spoileriffic video to prove it!
Wo0t!!
This black comedy is tasteless, merciless, and sadistically cruel to its target audience. It is also one of the better character shows in recent years.The neurotic ensemble is very well realized and several of the characters are actually quite poignant.
One thing that is remarkable about this series is the dub. I'm more tolerant of dubs than many fans as I often am doing other things while the TV is on, however this, hands down, one is one of the best I have ever heard for a TV show. Only Black Lagoon had voice acting and direction this good.
As to volume 3, it was excellent and the ending left me really fearful of the possibility that #4 would never ship due to ADV's recent issues.
( Being slow, I did not realize what was up until she tossed the cellphone.)
Anyway, I highly recommend this show.
Please avail yourself of spoiler tags in the comments.
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April 11, 2008
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April is one of the big premiere months for anime TV shows (January, July,
and October are the other 3). and this year is a doozy! Over 30 anime
shows begin this month. The first few fansubs are trickling out, and, as
expected, the harem shows are first. Still, I'll try to give some brief
reviews of first episodes as I watch them.
Browsing the "calendar" section over at anidb.net, I find the following:
8 sequel/returning shows: Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's; Kyou Kara Maou! 3rd series;
3XHolic Kei; Blue Dragon: The Seven Dragons of the Sky; Da Capo II Second Season; Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion R2; Neo Angelique Abyss; and Hidamari Sketch x 365.
4 shows for children/families: Net Ghost Pipopa (Pokemon-esque); Onegai My Melody Kirara (Hello Kitty-esque); Uchi no 3 Shimai (family comedy); Chi's Sweet Home (something about a kitten); plus two more from the sequel list
(Yu-Gi-Oh and Blue Dragon). This sort of answers Ken's question to me from a couple of months ago regarding whether the little kids have any cartoons to watch over there. Surely there must be some other kids' shows on thatstarted earlier. A quick glance at AniDB's "schedule" section shows me that, yes the little kids are alright: They've got plenty of shows that
don't involve panty shots, improbable cleavage and bloody carnage. It
seems they're still watching Chibi Maruko-chan, Doraemon, Pokemon, GeGeGe no Kitaro, Sgt. Frog, Crayon Shin-chan, and Pretty Cure plus shows about
cute little ninja, or talking food or something. they got it covered.
2 shoujou school romances: Itazura no Kiss and Special A.
7 scifi war/adventure shows: Allison to Lillia (orphanage pals hunt for
treasure while a war rages around them; Real Drive (more VR hijinks from
Masamune Shirow); Crystal Blaze (near(?) future private eye); Library Wars
(hi, Barb!); Blassreiter (mecha vs. demons); Kaiba (can something be retro
and avant garde at the same time?); and Macross Frontier, of course.
9 contemporary action shows: Kurenai; Zettai Karen Children (trio of
powerful ten-year-old epsers work for government agency; maybe should be
in the kids' section); Soul Eater (shinigami school action; so last year);
Nabari no Ou (ninja action); Vampire Knight (shoujou vampire romance with guns); Monochrome Factor (Perfectly Ordinary Japanese Teenager chosen to fight shadow demons); Himitsu: the Revelation; Golgo 13 (...); Daughter of 20-Faces (teen girl is daughter of master criminal; based on an Edogawa Rampo character).
2 period action shows; Mugen no Juunin (ronin cursed with immortality
can't die until he slays 1000 evil men); Amatsuki (modern teen trapped in
virtual Edo).
What's left? A few magic girlfriend/harem show love comedies: To-Love-Ru
(alien princess); Kanokon (fox-girl); and Wagaya no Oinara-sama (another
fox-girl; are they this year's shinigami?). Kyouran Kazoku Nikki might fit
here, too. Need more info. Jonjou Romantica is a shounen ai series. Moving
along now... Druaga no To: the Aegis of Uruk is a fantasy adventure/comedy
(not sure about the comedy part; art looks serious; hoping for the best).
Which brings us finally to: Kamen no Maid Guy. Yep, Kamen no Maid Guy. A Perfectly Ordinary Japanese Teenager discovers she's going to inherit a
fortune when she turns 18. In the meantime, she's been assigned a pair of
bodyguard/maids (and I quote): "Fubuki, a young and beautiful maid, and
Kogarashi, a big burly maid guy with a mask." So there you have it.
Plus: Lupin III: Green Vs. Red TV special. Good times.
Any thoughts, sirs and ladies?
T
OK Kamen No Maid Guy is just.....is that not a butler? No! He's in a maid outfit....WTF? I...I....ahem.
I've seen Macross Frontiers' pilot episode and it was remarkably good, indeed better than it should have been. Though there was little more than set-up it certainly has potential to be more than mechaphelia (and it provides ample doses of that). The characters introduced thus far are interesting and a couple were quite likable. The original Macross, despite its near dystopic setting, and the brutal intervention of combats random scythe, always had a surprisingly optimistic feel to it. This story, set on a massive interstellar colony ship has many of the same elements of the first on a grander scale. I look forward to this. It appears that it may be a high budget flagship show that marketing didn't focus group to death.
Looking at the OPs a few things stand out. Onegai My Melody Kirara has a duck in the opening credits and the action show Crystal Blaze has a girl in a duck suit in it. That is important to some people.
Crystal Blaze looks like it could be really interesting if it isn't obtuse, pretentious and boring.... but there is no way of determining that except by watching it. Kurenai; Zettai Karen Children looks really cute and might be enjoyable. It certainly has potential anyway. Druaga no To: the Aegis of Uruk is described as a comedy but looks to be an utterly straight D&D campaign...this could be quite good if it is simply deadpan, but again there is little to go on but hope.
The one that appeals to me actually is, oddly enough, Soul Eater, yes it is very last year, yes they are throwing in every trope they can including a naked (were?)catgirl, but the opening credits look delightfully manic and it appears that they are having fun with this silly show. I'm going to watch this one sometime this summer.
Lots of stuff....very little of it for me, but I imagine that a 38 year old single male American is not the target audience for these shows.
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April 04, 2008
Here are some clips....
I'm pleasantly surprised that the film got made, but even more surprised to have found these .gifs on....er....4-chan of all places.
more...
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March 29, 2008
I hold in my sweaty little palms volume 3 of Welcome to the NHK!
I had just about given up on this given ADV's recent troubles but tonight I look forward to being as offended and appalled by this merciless expose' of dysfunctional otakuism and others at the fringes of society as I was in the first two volumes.
This show is merciless, but strangely touching and funny as hell...
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March 10, 2008
This weekend I drove up to Maryland to see some friends and watch some of the new anime.
A few notes
Ghost Hound...
...has already been commented on by Don and Astro. It seems that it is going to concern a group of school kids dealing with the supernatural. Moody, dark and subtly atmospheric, the first episode starts quite slow but becomes very intriguing as it progresses. By the end we all found it quite fascinating. I only saw episode one, but I'm quite eager to see more. The series has a feel reminiscent of Hammer film or British telephantasy from the 70's or 80s.. No actual horror occurs in the episode though some is hinted at via flashback. This one looks good. The only downside was that we only had episode one.
The soundtrack is quite good too...
Rosary and Glompire Vampire...
...has been commented upon by lots of people. It is actually an interesting high school romance/sitcom, but its likable protagonists, and good characterizations are somewhat undercut by the copious, over the top fan service.
Young hero gets sent to a new school. Unfortunately he discovers that an awful bureaucratic mistake has been made.
The school has 3 main problems.
1:It is a school for monsters...man eating shape shifting monsters of various types. (Our hero is not a monster)
2: The "bus" only comes once in a blue moon.
3: The uniforms are an outlandish shade of teal that go with nothing....unless someone has, say, pink hair.
Fortunately he befriends a young vampire who is quite impressed both by his general decency and the fact that he is full of fresh human blood (a rare commodity at the school). She agrees to keep his secret and, it turns out has a few of her own. His other lucky break is that everyone is required by school rules to maintain human form. This is quite hard for many of them, but our hero is likely going to get an "A" in Maintaining Human Visage 101....if he lives long enough.
Spice and Wolf
Pagan wolf goddess is released from the village field to which she was bound and takes up in a bale of wheat (!?) in the possession of a medieval trader in the land of Psudohistorieurope....As paganism is on the wane, the Goddess, (whose human form is, unsurprisingly, a teenage human girl with wolf ears and a tail)....asks the trader to take her to the far north.
Our unlikely team go from town to town trading pelts for apples and apples for wheat and....generally give the audience a lesson in barter level economics.
Update: HEH...Very dry show....but strangely engaging.
They are my Noble Masters
In order to escape an abusive father Ren Uesugi and his sister Mihato run away from home. They end up camping out in the city and Ren ends up saving a wealthy heiress. Taken to the mansion where she lives for a thank you dinner they try to get hired as servants, and, after getting into a fight with the wait staff, are allowed one week in which to prove themselves.
Mad scientist-lolis, maids, combat butlers, and various other horrors await our brother and sister team.
I laughed.
One funny thing about this obvious Hayate clone, they are quite aware they are the "other butler show"....and mock themselves for it.
Minami-ke Okawari
Pleasant, understated and somewhat odd slice of life show concerning three sisters who live alone. Wonderduck will love it. It made Don uneasy.
The show is fan service free...but still ruthlessly mocks the censors....
In other news Astro is not actually gone, he is blogging elsewhere..update your bookmarks!
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March 04, 2008
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March 01, 2008
More on this basket of win here and here.
Its available in the US here.
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February 22, 2008
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February 18, 2008
May 22nd!
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February 06, 2008
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February 04, 2008
It rises!!
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December 26, 2007
Strike Witches is going to be a full series!
w00t!
Flying, cyborg, magical. catgirls...
For those who are ignorant of this astounding accomplishment, well, this was a brief advertisement for a line of toys that is considered by reliable authorities to be the 22nd most baffling in the world...
The 8 1/2 minute commercial was a cornucopia of combat kawaii...
That said I must agree with Don's ambivilance.
The little add is sublime in both its pacing and its ridiculousness...
I'm not sure 8 episodes of exposition will help.
I am sure that I'm going to watch it.
In an entirely different vein is this fan-work that just utterly rocks....
Via Colleen Doran, behold Robin...the Movie!
Awesome awesome bit of fanfic...with a better premise than half the actual Batman movies.
UPDATE: Here is the creators website
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December 24, 2007
John C. Wright has stumbled on a shocking fact and carried it to its logical conclusion.
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