Just finished Baccano. One of the better shows of the year! I may have to rewatch the first couple of episodes to better piece the chronology puzzle together. The shaggy dog epilogue 70 years later in 2001 (which I believe one of the later novels is set in) still makes me chuckle thinking about it. It’s not often you see anime handle magical realism this well, let alone in a non-Japanese period setting.
Blue Drop started strongly for me but it’s losing my interest quickly. I looked ahead at forum posts on future episodes and it looks like people are still wondering when/if the pace will pick up four episodes ahead of me, so it may be time to abandon ship.
Shakugan no Shana 2 plodded for 7 episodes, forgetting that it was an action-fantasy series and trotted out a by the numbers school romantic comedy formula for most of this first quarter of the series. Such failure. Episode 8 starts a recounting by Margery Daw of her earlier career as a Flame Haze in late 1930’s New York, which is an improvement but still feels like the show is avoiding actually advancing the story forward in the slightest. All of the energy and vitality of the original series just seems to be gone lately, and largely it seems to have forgotten what made it unique and interesting. I continue to hold out hoping for it to get back into gear, but Nanoha Strikers has left me a lot less patient with shows that are padded out this season (and Nanoha wasn’t as badly padded as this has been so far).
I’ve started to finally watch the old 1988 OVA Super Robot series Zeorymer, and it’s good fun Hirano Toshiki cheese, with a classic Iczer-One-ish soundtrack and feel, too. Looking forward to the next episodes!
The second episode of Rental Magica left me really flat (the directing just really turned me off), so I’m abandoning that one. I hope Night Wizard episode 2 is more entertaining. Bamboo Blade and Kaiji are both great so far, still. I'm also enjoying Moyashimon so far for reasons I'm not sure of. From earlier, Heroic Age’s subs (excluding the awful ones done earlier by the notorious Your Mom fansub group) dried up early on, and while the first episodes were quite fun, it was starting to feel a bit dopey where the subs left off, so I haven’t looked out for more. Terra E looked promising, especially as I enjoyed the manga and the original 80’s film, but I thought the storytelling was too drawn out and the directing was not really compelling. I think they tried too hard to “update” and adapt the series rather than get caught up in the retro-appeal of a classic SF yarn with espers. Perhaps the staff of Cyborg 009 would have handled it better.
I decided after the third episode to drop Ghost Hound. The show is interesting, but just not clicking for me, and I feel like I’m putting more effort in to watch it than what it’s giving back is worth, and as a result, watching it feels like a draining experience. Close, but not quite my thing.
I also dropped Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, at least for now. Episode 2 was rather off-putting and the first episode wasn't so great either. I'm still prepared to believe the story gets interesting later if if moves in a different direction, but the formula as set up for now just doesn't grab me. If you want a comedic student/demonic avatar detective and monster-of-the-week mashup, though, by all means check it out.
The Code Geass spoof in the latest Hayate no Gotoku was brilliant, can’t wait for the next episode!
Finished watching Gurren Lagaan last night. Well, actually, I might go back and rewatch some of the episodes at the latter part of the first arc that I only skimmed through.
What it boils down to is that the first arc was okay, probably a lot better if you never saw shows like Wataru and Lamune and KO Century Beast and the like. I could have done with less cartooniness, especially on the robots. But other than a couple of mis-steps like the infamous episode 4, it's decent enough as shounen fare, with some great lines and some memorable scenes.
The second arc, on the other hand, is the stuff of legends and tall tales, especially the latter. The whole show by then feels like Gainax spinning a super-robot-meets-Matsumoto yarn over a campfire or on the playground, and the ultimate conclusion is, well, beyond description, hyper-galactic in scale and pure gutsiness. Gurren Lagaan is now the Paul Bunyan of anime, I'd say.
Great stuff. Cosmically great, epic, physics-defying, over the top, macho, ridiculously absurd and unbeatable, with increasingly bigger and more drill attacks than Freud could shake a...you know... at. It's the same kind of campy, cheesy joy one gets watching the Flash Gordon movie and then some.
Over 9000, nothing...
Finally finished Nanoha Strikers subtitled. With full (albeit sometimes sloppy) translation rather than my spotty Japanese knowledge, it was much improved. Overall, the series was okay, just drawn out in places. It gets points for trying to explore new territory as a post-mahou shoujo, military SF-fantasy anime, more or less, and portraying the kids grown up and working as adults. It loses points for losing the pacing of the first two series, and the tired mad scientist cliché, even if it is an appropriate follow-up to the story of Precia Testarossa. Lackluster TV animation, getting fixed in the DVD version, didn’t help things either. Still, good times. I’ll be content with this as the final chapter of Nanoha. Another series would be okay if they can return to the energy that the original two had, but otherwise could spell trouble.
The second episode of Ghost Hound was a bit better…and creepier…than the first one, but I’m still not really sure about it. One more will determine it for me, I think. Probably dropping it though.
The trailer for the new Macross F series (http://macross.co.jp/?id=special,2007111001 ) looks really promising to me. It’s got some good people working on it this time, and the visuals look very Macross Plus-ish (complete with California-inspired locations, meh), though I like a couple of the character designs I saw in there more than the Mac+ ones).
Clannad is *excellent* so far, with a lot of character. The start is played for even more laughs than Kanon was, and it has more of a high school comedy/drama vibe than the harem-ish feel of the start of Air and Kanon. A few hints have been dropped about some of the underlying mysteries, and some darker hints here and there, such as Tomoya’s estranged relationship with his widowed and apparently once-abusive father. The first active mystery is around the rather strange character Fuko, deliberately teasing the Kanon-familiar viewer into inferring an Ayu-like explanation for her setup, which Tomoya pretty quickly dismisses right off, suggesting two alternate hypotheses that are more likely instead. It’s interesting that the show is already exploring her mystery right at the outset. If, as has been hinted, this series is multi-arc like Air was, then it may be necessary to blow through the light-hearted setup rapidly in order to get to the meat of the storyline.
Also on a lighter note, Hayate no Gotoku is a real blast, a bizarrely well-matched mix of mainstream anime comedy with otaku-nudging in-jokes of all levels of obscurity. The Nabeshin episode was pure crack as expected, though somehow he managed to slip in some fun character development along the way.
The fansub of Baccano! is getting close to the end. Quite a whirlwind of a series, I’m impressed that a magical realism show mostly set on a transcontinental train trip in 30’s America could be so damn good. Mafia, gangs, thieves, vigilantes, immortals, alchemists, demons, and more!
Genshiken 2 is outstanding. High production quality and fresh writing with new work from the original creator, exploring the characters far more intimately than before. Yes, it’s still damn funny. The portrayal of Ogiue’s yaoi fantasies in episode 5 about the guys in the club has to be seen to be believed.
Shakugan no Shana 2 is really starting to piss me off, on the other hand. I really hate when a sequel series takes advantage of a fanbase created by good material and a solid cast turns around and goes brain-dead. 5 episodes in and the series still flounders about, doing its best imitation of a bad harem anime rather than returning to the intense seinen action and drama of the original series other than two sequences that just felt hacked together. The opening and the past series all indicate that the good stuff is still on its way, but I’m really frustrated with shows that pull this kind of crap. Out of devotion to the original characters, I’ll stick this out a bit longer, but it’s getting really close to being dropped or put on indefinite hold. ;(
I don’t normally talk much about manga in my blogs, but I’ll put a big shout out for Tokyo Pop’s release of the first volume of Kozue Amano’s prequel to her Aria series—Aqua--in English. The art is outstanding and the story is a real treat. One can hope the Aria manga, which ADV dumped after lackluster sales of the first 3 volumes, will get renewed in turn…
Not listed previously in my fall season impressions was the new Genshiken series. The new opening (http://youtube.com/watch?v=L1JFcG2ESXc ) has to be seen to be believed...a full on Gundam parody animated by no less than Satoshi Urushibara. Madarame makes a great Char… The show’s being handled by an all-new staff and they’re doing a great job with it. I’m pretty excited as this series should get to some of my favorite scenes from the manga, which is among my top five favorite manga titles currently. Painfully funny stuff.
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Tengen Toppen Gurren Lagann has been on and off my radar for a while now. It’s been hyped by many as one of the best super robot series ever, on par with Gunbuster and others. Personally, I have to question the experience of the people billing it as such—for an oldschool fan like myself, the series is far too derivative during the first arc (opening: http://youtube.com/watch?v=7yCSHwQt1go ) of stuff I’ve seen before for it to hold my interest, as much as I’d like it to. The setting is kind of like a reversal of KO Century Beast, where in this case it’s the humans being oppressed by the beast-men rather than the other way around. The cartoony “Ganmen” robots which are designed with emotive faces as their torsos evoke the designs of the old Wataru shounen series along with hints of Lamune&40 (the original series, not the later incarnations), not to mention the various Yuusha series, maybe plus a hint of Gaiking. The character Kamina is directly parallel to Roy Fokker’s role in Macross and Daigouji Gai in Nadesico, the manly senpai who dies too early. I can’t place the abandoned naïve princess, but I’m sure I’ve seen that somewhere too. Undoubtedly, this is actually the point of the series, much like Gunbuster, sticking to Gainax’s Daicon roots of parodying/paying homage to what has gone before. But it’s a bit too trite, too shounen, and too, too, too cartoony with the robot action for me to really sink my teeth into it other than a few choice scenes and some inspired testosterone-pumped dialogue.
However, the second arc may be what changes everything (opening: http://youtube.com/watch?v=y_q4TEqw8Ew ). Set seven years later, the latter arc’s look and production style was given a total overhaul, and presents itself more like a classic robot series rather than the goofy cartoony stuff of the first arc. The later setting is of course yet another trope borrowed from shows like Layzner (which similarly much improved in the second arc), Nadesico, not to mention sequel series such as Zeta Gundam, and a lot of familiar clichés and motifs are instantly recognizable to seasoned fans. But with a new, uncartoony enemy, mass-produced mecha, older characters, and far more polished backdrop and character art, the second arc appear to have the kind of stuff that appeals to me that I found lacking in the first 15 episodes. So I’m still on the fence for this show. What I’ve seen and heard about the progression of the series from this point on suggest that it might still find a place in my heart before it is over…otherwise I guess I’m just getting too damn old for this kind of stuff…
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I’ve ranted about it before, but I have to say it really bugs me lately to see what I believe is a misinterpretation of the term “moe” of late. More and more, the term is getting hijacked to refer just to series focused on cute girls, either of the harem variety or the loli one, or both. Personally, I think this is outrageous for a number of reasons. First of all, “moe” as I encountered the term in Japan and among Japanese fans is not something limited by gender or genre. A lot of people say “moe” is a concept that doesn’t translate easily into English, and this is the source of much of the confusion. In actuality, there *is* an English word very close in meaning to “moe”, and that is simply “charm”. A character that is moe is a character that has charm, and their moe attributes are those charm points that make them stand out. As such, moe has nothing to do with either sexuality or a lack thereof, despite some dubious interepretations of it to mean one or the other. Moe is an attribute completely independent of both. It is the raw appeal of a character that lends itself well to the anime and manga mediums (although “three-dimensionals”—real people--can be moe in some instances as well), and can be attributes that appeal to either male or female fans. A moe character can come from any show or manga and can be any age, gender, an even be not remotely human in some cases.
The other reason this mislabeling is aggravating is because a number of shows can be brushed off as “moe” without ever looking “under the hood” or even considering the fact that they might be more than what they appear to be on the surface. True, there’s a lot of really bad harem and loli shows out there, but a fan that ignores, for example, the AIR series for this reason will be missing the chance to see a remarkable seinen spiritual journey of tragedy, loss, and Kafkaesque transformation. It could get worse over time, too—imagine for example if someone later brushed off Yokohama Shopping Log as a “series about moe android girls”.
The confusion of usage isn’t limited to westerners, though (unlike terms such as "hentai" and even "anime" itself*). Part of the problem is that since moe is an ambiguous term, a number of high profile Japanese artists have weighed in with their own personal definitions that are often picked to fly in the face of what others say. One famous artist linked moe directly to a maternal, non-sexual feeling, while another artist talks about it in completely erotic terms. It’s these sorts of contradictions that have helped spread the impression that there is something shady about moe in itself, which is understandable given the number of erotic materials that have been published in Japan to also have moe appeal, with moe even in their title at times. But make no mistake, moe should be considered independently of this trend. Note that many of the past winners of the International Saimoe (“ultimate moe”) Competition have been characters from non-erotic contexts, such as Nadja Applefield, Kinomoto Sakura, and Furude Rika (not that this will stop fan-made doujinshi to the contrary, of course). In the male Saimoe competition (less known to western fans), for that matter, one year's winner was apparently Sai from Hikaru no Go...
*"Hentai" in Japanese refers to a perverted person, not erotica, and mixing the two in Japan will probably at best get you laughed at. "Anime" in Japanese refers to 2D animated works of any nationality, so American cartoons such as Disney stuff are "anime" in Japan as well, although interestingly, "Wallace and Gromit" is not generally considered "anime" by Japanese people I've talked with, being 3D claymation.
Hum. I watched Ghost Hound last night and was pretty disappointed so far. The directing style is clearly in the same style as Lain, which is nice, but the pacing just crawled. I understand they were trying to evoke the main character's narcoleptic, dreaming, out-of-body point of view, and the sound effects and animation were quite remarkable at times, but the lack of musical score and slow pacing just made the episode feel twice as long as it really was. I wouldn't have stuck the whole thing out even if I hadn't known who the staff were an understood the series' enormous potential. As it is, I'm probably going to give it one more episode to see if it can regain my interest, but this is switching to a *Tentatively Dropping* now.
Sunday shows
(Started October 7th)
Prism Ark (opening: http://youtube.com/watch?v=UozzfONeFic ): meh. It looked nice with some good character designs and an interesting setting, but the directing in episode 1 was pretty bad, and the preview of the next episode seems to indicate the story is going less the exciting action-fantasy direction and more the tired comedy hijinks route. Ah well. *Tenatively dropped.*
Rental Magica (opening: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9sNOMmUCdsU ): Started off kind of promising, contemporary action-fantasy. *Tentatively following*
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (opening: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Or17QKYRkog ): Ick. I can't believe the Destiny haters are pimping this one as a welcome change for Gundam. Directing sucked, the setup is uninteresting, and I was bored halfway through the first episode. *Dropped.*
Maplestory (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuJW4Ysg8mE ): turned off immediately by the character designs. *Do not expect to watch.*
Jyuushin Enbu (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VcNcYQ1dxQ )- Hero Tales: This one is probably too shounen for my taste, waiting for a fansub to see what it's like. *Undecided*
Minami-ke (opening:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFD-PVIbDyc ): I already was into the manga, but the anime really kicked it up a notch and is finding a lot of fans. The younger two sisters seem to really behave more realistically like siblings than in a lot of similar comedies I've seen. *Following.*
(Started October 13th)
Shion no Ou (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoopcMvlY1E&NR=1 ): this one caught me totally unprepared. Yes, it's about shougi, but it's also about a mute girl and the mystery behind the murder of her parents. The character art is nice and the characters are interesting so this one is a keeper. *Following.*
Monday shows
(Started October 1st)
Sketchbook ~full color'S~ (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eskg3HyOwN0 ): Haven't watched yet. Heard it's kind of bland, but I like the character art I've seen. Awaiting fansub. *Tentatively following.*
Bamboo Blade (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvOZOcLoVWo ): Another one that caught me off guard. I totally expected this Kenpou comedy to majorly suck, instead it was really fresh and quite entertaining. *Following.*
Tuesday shows
(Started October 2nd)
Myself; Yourself (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8BNicztngs ): On the fence, probably will drop. Setting was nice, some of the characters were good, but looks like will develop into a typical romantic comedy, and probably lose my interest soon. *Tentatively following.*
Blue Drop ~Tenshi-tachi no Gikyoku~ (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CqB0vzz-Ow ): One of the new ones I'm more excited about so far. Need to see more episodes to get a full handle of it, but looks to be a series with a yuri subplot, aliens, and a Yamato-esque space battleship. Directing in the first episode was excellent, though apparently some thought it too slow. *Following.*
Suteki Tantei Labyrinth (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9deLIToM8fA): Meh. Detective story blah blah kaitou blah blah *Dropped*.
Night Wizard (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sZUPO96kis ): Holding until I find a better fansub... the first two subbers I found were pretty lame. Looks like it could be a pretty good fantasy series, though. On hold for now. *Tenatively following.*
Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItYIdAz6sTA ): I'm withholding judgement until I see more. I don't normally care for detective-type stories, but I have heard that the focus of the manga moves away from that and gets into some really interesting territory, and that the story they chose for episode one was the worst in the manga so far. I like the characters, so for now. *Tenatively following.*
Wednesday shows
(Started October 3rd)
Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir_gUszRqVs ): Harem-ish fluff, no substance, pass. *Dropped.*
Dragonaut - The Resonance (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgSNEejH_-c ) : Bland action SF/fantasy. *Dropped.*
(Started October 10th)
Kodomo no Jikan (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYNbdxyjq5s ): the infamous series is out at last. The question is, is it in as bad taste as said to be by most? Based on the opening and previews, probably yes... *Tentatively dropping.*
Thursday shows
(Started October 4th)
Clannad (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3bVrKEmf8g ): If you don't understand yet why stories by Key should be seen, perhaps you should read the brief plot description (with spoilers) for their short-story visual novella, Planetarian (which I bought and played the translation patch for promptly after reading this): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetarian . Now do this kind of great storytelling (although minus the SF setting) as a full-length novel. Then get the best animation studio in Japan to animate it, and two others like it. The result? Kyoto Animation's AIR, Kanon, and now Clannad. To say I have high expectations for Clannad would be a gross understatement. The characters are wonderful so far. *Absolutely following.*
(Started October 11th)
Moyasimon (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahU-mkc_zSA ): An anime about a guy that can see microbes. *Undetermined.*
(Started October 18th)
Ghost Hound (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bA1PEEZEyw ): Supernatural action contemporary fantasy created by Masamune Shirow , overseen by Chiaki Konaka, directed by Ryutaro Nakamura--the director of Lain--and animated by Production IG and most of the staff of Ghost in the Shell? Sign me up. Haven't watched yet, but fully anticipate this to be a "must-must have". *Tentatively following.*
Saturday shows (apparently no anime airs on Friday?)
(Started October 6th)
Shugo Chara! (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA1F0lWpDkU ): Meh. Great character designs, animation, and texturing. Blah Nakayoshi shoujo action-heroine plot a la Tokyo Mew Mew and Pretty Cure. I wanted to like it, but passing. *Dropped.*
ef - a tale of memories (ending: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeyiUQPf53o ): Promising start, though I find some parts a bit drawn out and one voice a bit grating. Shinbou Akiyuki and SHAFT do their surreal directing magic, and so far it's actually working for me. We'll see if it keeps it up or not. *Tentatively following.*
Kimi-kiss ~ pure rouge (opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhUo6MhO9wM ) : Also a promising start. Fairly typical romantic comedy, but I like the characters and set-up, the show makes me really like it so far. Not really a harem title so much so far, despite the opening. *Tentatively following.*