September 8th, 2008
AdvCSS for dummies Part 2: Making a new anime list in 15 minutes
Any anime list maker can tell you, that you will be spending most of your time finding images and using your artistic skills to make headers and other pieces for your list. That is where the most fun is going to be. The anime list is just your canvas of your artistic expression. So im here to alleviate the supposed 'easy' part.
For this excercise, we will be using my MAL Cascading Style Sheet #8: C.C. anime list ^_^
/////STEP1: Image Verification/////
Before even thinking about posting your images, first you need to make sure you have the met the minimum dimension requirements to keep your list from looking nice.
Minimum Requirements:
Background image - 800 x 600
Header image - 20x600
Recommended Requirements:
Background image - 1920 x 1024
Header image - between 20 x 600 and 200 x 600
/////STEP 2: Uploading images to image host/////
Once the selected images are verified upload them to your photobucket (or equivalent). I keep all my list images in a separate folder for easy access.
For this tutorial we will be using the following items:
Side note: just use a stock photo and crop out c.c. add some custom downloaded text with it and you have a simple yet very nice anime header :)
/////STEP3: Applying the images to the list/////
Don't be intimidated! It's a very easy and painless task. First, we'll start with the image background for the whole list.
Now we are going to look at the Header section, i'll only show you one header but its exactly the same with all 5 header traits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~This is how the body and header area should look like ~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Don't look unless you think you're completely finished ~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Or unless youre completely stumped ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/////STEP 4: Verifying how it looks/////
If you noticed... all we did was adjust the background position and image in the body section and adjusted the height and added the image in the Header section. If you did the background and at least the currently watching header, it should look like this:
i know you see what i see... the list is overlapping our beautiful C.C. and KALLEN! This can not be tolerated. If you have not done so already, go ahead and finish the other images to their corresponding headers. Once you have put them all on, we can go ahead and proceed to the next step....
/////STEP5: Moving the List/////
if you dont like that grid look on you're anime list this would be a good time to remove it. Just delete anything that says border in .td1 and .td2. On the contrary, if you like it and want to experiment it, this would also be a good time to play with the border colors and thickness. Check AdvCSS for Dummies part 1 or the bottom of the CSS for notations about borders.
For all intents and purposes, I'm going to remove the border to just avoid confusion.
If you have read anything in the manipulation and creation section in my last entry, you should at least have a good understanding about how things move in CSS format. All that is going to apply to this next table, including the background position information....
This is your bread and butter of the anime list, once you master movement, you can master most other things in list making fairly easily. Without my help, i want you to make the list move from its current position to the left of the girls to the point of at least staying clear from the girls faces AND I want that huge gap between the top black bar and currently watching header cut in HALF.
when you thinik you're done or COMPLETELY stuck click the spoiler tag to verify.
For this excercise, we will be using my MAL Cascading Style Sheet #8: C.C. anime list ^_^
From: 
To: 
To: 
/////STEP1: Image Verification/////
Before even thinking about posting your images, first you need to make sure you have the met the minimum dimension requirements to keep your list from looking nice.
Minimum Requirements:
Recommended Requirements:
/////STEP 2: Uploading images to image host/////
Once the selected images are verified upload them to your photobucket (or equivalent). I keep all my list images in a separate folder for easy access.
For this tutorial we will be using the following items:
Side note: just use a stock photo and crop out c.c. add some custom downloaded text with it and you have a simple yet very nice anime header :)
/////STEP3: Applying the images to the list/////
Don't be intimidated! It's a very easy and painless task. First, we'll start with the image background for the whole list.
Now we are going to look at the Header section, i'll only show you one header but its exactly the same with all 5 header traits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~This is how the body and header area should look like ~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Don't look unless you think you're completely finished ~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Or unless youre completely stumped ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/////STEP 4: Verifying how it looks/////
If you noticed... all we did was adjust the background position and image in the body section and adjusted the height and added the image in the Header section. If you did the background and at least the currently watching header, it should look like this:
i know you see what i see... the list is overlapping our beautiful C.C. and KALLEN! This can not be tolerated. If you have not done so already, go ahead and finish the other images to their corresponding headers. Once you have put them all on, we can go ahead and proceed to the next step....
/////STEP5: Moving the List/////
if you dont like that grid look on you're anime list this would be a good time to remove it. Just delete anything that says border in .td1 and .td2. On the contrary, if you like it and want to experiment it, this would also be a good time to play with the border colors and thickness. Check AdvCSS for Dummies part 1 or the bottom of the CSS for notations about borders.
For all intents and purposes, I'm going to remove the border to just avoid confusion.
If you have read anything in the manipulation and creation section in my last entry, you should at least have a good understanding about how things move in CSS format. All that is going to apply to this next table, including the background position information....
This is your bread and butter of the anime list, once you master movement, you can master most other things in list making fairly easily. Without my help, i want you to make the list move from its current position to the left of the girls to the point of at least staying clear from the girls faces AND I want that huge gap between the top black bar and currently watching header cut in HALF.
when you thinik you're done or COMPLETELY stuck click the spoiler tag to verify.
Posted by Ranivus | Sep 8, 2008 3:13 PM | 13 comments
AdvCSS for dummies Part 1: Getting Started
If you're new or ever wanted to try making a cool list design like all those power users on mal (like me ^_^) feel free to go to this website and copy pasta your blank starter sheet today!
HERE!
Some people are going, oh awesome! I got this awesome sheet, but what do i do with it? Don't worry we've all been there at least once! Well before you jump right into coding your first anime list, you need to gather all the ingredients required.
We will be using the aforementioned products throughout the series. Feel free to use your own types of programs just as along as they perform the previously explained tasks. For website info and more products proceed to the spoiler below. Unfortunately i cant provide help on how to use any of the programs, but hopefully you have enough knowledge to operate all of the above or you will start to have problems the CSS before you even start. Part 3 will breakdown all the generic information for you.
/////Free sites and programs/////
DONT BE AFRAID TO TEST THINGS OUT! the worse that will happen would be a blank screen, your computer wont blow up ;) Also there are some things that are just self explanatory. But if you still get stumped or lost feel free to ask me any questions. Mind you, I'm not the GREATEST at this css stuff myself so you'll probably get a 50% chance of success if you ask me any questions :) But i'll definitely do my best to answer them regardless.
not that im endorsing stealing sources off other users, but seeing how other people use source codes are the best way (for me anyway) to understand how each command works with each other.
But if you're REALLY REALLY stumped, feel free to use my anime/manga list as a source. I wouldn't want to copy paste my source to yours though as it WILL cause problems that beginners cant possibly fix without ample knowledge.
But for those who are pretty knowledgeable feel free to reference the notes below.
///Advanced CSS Quick Reference///
visit: Talon's Blog for more advanced techniques
HERE!
Some people are going, oh awesome! I got this awesome sheet, but what do i do with it? Don't worry we've all been there at least once! Well before you jump right into coding your first anime list, you need to gather all the ingredients required.
- Image source (website, scans etc)
- Imaging Program (Photoshop CS2)
- Image Hosting site (Photobucket)
- Color Wheel generator (colorcombos.com)
- Font Tester (fonttester.com)
- Calculator (any kind will do)
- Good CSS references/notes (CSS for dummies)
We will be using the aforementioned products throughout the series. Feel free to use your own types of programs just as along as they perform the previously explained tasks. For website info and more products proceed to the spoiler below. Unfortunately i cant provide help on how to use any of the programs, but hopefully you have enough knowledge to operate all of the above or you will start to have problems the CSS before you even start. Part 3 will breakdown all the generic information for you.
/////Free sites and programs/////
DONT BE AFRAID TO TEST THINGS OUT! the worse that will happen would be a blank screen, your computer wont blow up ;) Also there are some things that are just self explanatory. But if you still get stumped or lost feel free to ask me any questions. Mind you, I'm not the GREATEST at this css stuff myself so you'll probably get a 50% chance of success if you ask me any questions :) But i'll definitely do my best to answer them regardless.
not that im endorsing stealing sources off other users, but seeing how other people use source codes are the best way (for me anyway) to understand how each command works with each other.
But if you're REALLY REALLY stumped, feel free to use my anime/manga list as a source. I wouldn't want to copy paste my source to yours though as it WILL cause problems that beginners cant possibly fix without ample knowledge.
But for those who are pretty knowledgeable feel free to reference the notes below.
///Advanced CSS Quick Reference///
visit: Talon's Blog for more advanced techniques
Posted by Ranivus | Sep 8, 2008 3:24 AM | 9 comments
July 20th, 2008
Why do watch fillers that you hate?
Anime Relations: Naruto, One Piece, Meitantei Conan, Bleach, Gintama, D.Gray-man, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Doraemon (1979)
...Isn't that kind of like eating the food you don't like? Just because it's surrounded by delicious tasty treats around it, doesn't mean you HAVE to eat that portion on your plate that you completely disgust.
Same way goes for anime fillers... I'm trying to make a decent conversation in anime discussions and all i see are impatient human beings that are very ungrateful so see that their continuously running show runs on a side story every summer. WHY every summer? Why do normal television shows only stick reruns or unimportant shows during the summer? They're the exact same reason, because people actually GO OUTSIDE and enjoy their summer vacation... ergo ratings/money/viewers are reduced in the summer. It's a proven fact thats been going on way before most of you were even born.
I mean no ones forcing a gun to your head to watch these shows. As for me, I either don't watch them or i save them for a later date. There's 1000's of good anime programs you could be catching up on during the summer season. To be honest, fillers are A LOT better than watching a RERUN of last season, like most American shows do during the summer. I mean, would you rather have them not even make the fillers and just keep a void in between the Spring and Fall season? If your answer is yes then why just not watch it then ...seriously >_<
On the other hand, though the more 'vocal' majority that likes to announce to the world their hatred toward a filler episode or it doesn't even have to be a filler, they just like to post "this episode sucks" and go on with their lives. I mean why even bother wasting your time posting it if it's not even going to be a constructive criticism? I don't know about you all but It's kind of annoying to see how people judge things without even building a proper argument. Just the mob mentality of "I'm right" attitude... kind of arrogant and disrespectful to the other people who DO enjoy watching and discussing certain topics.
...then again this is the internet and all things =/= serious business :P
Posted by Ranivus | Jul 20, 2008 9:38 PM | 2 comments
September 18th, 2007
Anime Review - Lucky Star
Anime Relations: Lucky☆Star
Its MOETASTIC!
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life, Parody
Lucky star is one of those unique Comedy anime that comes aroundvery rarely. It manages to put a comedic twist to normal everyday occurances, and many pop culutre references. The entire show is not your typical slice of life high school comedy anime, rather its show structure follows more of a western style of comedy, a 'sitcom' to be exact. Instead of having a direct storyline most anime viewers are used to it makes fun of everyday observations. If you had to put a storyline to this show it would most likely be: "A group of high school children trying to make it all the way through high school." And with that, the creators just opened up a whole can of worms they could work with... By the way, with such a broad plot is how most western sitcoms can list 5-10 seasons without it getting old (the good ones anyway). Mind you thats the only connection this show has with a western sitcom. All the jokes are pure japanese pop culture and common occurances. Because everyone knows pop culture and daily observastions are the best source of comedy with a few sly remarks and parodies to spice it up.
I have noticed many people bash the beginning episodes of the show but i found them equally entertaining as the rest of them. It really depends on what the viewer does in their own daily lives is what truly makes this show funny. Somone who doesnt eat curry/rice or grilled meat sticks for dinner with their family wont understand a joke about it. OR noone would laugh at konata playing "Hare Hare" on an arcade Taiko Drum Master. Or your just lame all together and dont find everyday things funny (i reccomend a shrink because that might be a complex). But with all the jokes and references and moe in this show you're bound to literally laugh out loud at all they throw at you! They've thoguht of everything for this show. Multi-episode expanding storyline (Lucky Channel), different moe types, anime parodies, comic conventions, computer jokes, MMO jokes, perverted fathers, i could boast on forever, but i got an anime to review :P
Art and animation of the show is your typical comedy anime fair. Simple characters, simple backgrounds, and simple static objects. But they manage to take "simple" to a whole new level. First, the characters are only shown from the waist up for about 80% of the entire show. Thats to set the cuteness and proportion of the whole show. You'll even get so used to them like that you'll most likely get a wierd feeling when you see them from head to toe (aside from the opening credits). But the characters are drawn very simplistic and the coloring for each looks like it doesnt exeed 12 different colors each for the most part. As for the backbackgrounds they look like they've been freehanded followed by watercolor paint. The light watercolors do compliment the overall enviroment of the show. Also the scene change sequences, just a whole watercolor mural, are fairly well done. If youre really REALLY into the show you'll be able to spot little cameo appearances of certain anime and manga items and characters. But the worst part of the artwork are the static objects like filled in people. They're typically just blue silhouettes most often not moving.
Apart from the artistic value, The sound is your standard comedy sound efects from light hearted piano songs, to bing bangs and bongs, they're all there and accounted for. Music is mostly absent from the show aside from helping out certain jokes. what sets them apart tho is most of the referenced songs (mainly at the end credits) belong to other anime not related to the show. That itself turns into a fun little game of name that tune.
You will definitely notice the lack of background music in the show but with such a powerful seiyu cast, one could understand that they didnt want to distract from the well executed voice acting. Of course most people will notice Aya Hirano and maybe even Minori Chihara. Its hard to believe that most of the main characters are voiced by relatively newcomers. Which also helps seperate Lucky Star from sounding the same as all the other school anime out there. And believe me they do have a unique sound that you cant experience anwywhere else (well as of September 18, 2007 ^_^). As nice little treat, enjoy Kagami's singing voice by the way (see if you can spot it).
With the uniqe sound comes the "unique" (or not so unique) character types associated with each seiyu. Of course the center of attraction is Konata Izumi, then followed by stern voiced Kagami Hiragii and her timid cute voiced Tsukasa, and the one who never gets enough air time (probably because of her Moe-ness and clumsynes) is Miyuki. Theres also ALOT more characters but you'll have to watch it to see them all ^_^ Speaking of characters you'll actually end up seeing all of them fairly regurlarly. Either supporting cast or main cast. By the end of the show, you'll get the feeling that not one person recieved more time than another. They even cheat by using one person voice a few dozen filler characters!! Even the extra characters get more than enough airtime to fully acknowledge them as important parts of the anime.
Just like Haruhi no Yuutsu of last year, this show is covered with loads of extra otaku goodness. Including a net radio program, promotions in magazines, character cd's, and they're finally starting to crank out the figures. Anyways theres so many things to enhance your enjoyment of this show other than the show itself. With so many charachters to choose, youre bound to have 2 or 3 favorites that you'd want to collect.
As for the anime itself, the enjoyment factor is through the roof in my opinion. The comedy aspect of this show covers so many angles and hits so many things perfectly its hard not to give a perfect score. I find it very hard for somone to hate this anime. That is, if you dont like japanese pop cultre, anime references and funny common occurences. If youre that type then why are you watching anime? ^_^
Also, if you dont like western style sitcoms where the end of every episode will always leave the same way they started, this is definitely not for you. If youre looking for a deep romantic comedy of sorts then try love com or something. Or some high schoolers kicking each others ass, try ikkitousen. BUT if you're willing to give up about 20 minutes of your time for pure entertainment, WATCH THIS SHOW!
Second Opinion
Dmodwc (10/10)
this show will be an absolute blast.
mistress_reebi (6/10)
it's boring and leads nowhere.
Faust721 (8/10)
I believe this show is one of those shows where it is a hit or miss.
Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 24
Time of Competion: 161 Days
Vintage: 2007-04-08
Opening Theme:
"Motteke! Sailor Fuku (もってけ！セーラーふく)" by Aya Hirano, Emiri Katou, Kaori Fukuhara & Aya Endo
Lucky star is one of those unique Comedy anime that comes aroundvery rarely. It manages to put a comedic twist to normal everyday occurances, and many pop culutre references. The entire show is not your typical slice of life high school comedy anime, rather its show structure follows more of a western style of comedy, a 'sitcom' to be exact. Instead of having a direct storyline most anime viewers are used to it makes fun of everyday observations. If you had to put a storyline to this show it would most likely be: "A group of high school children trying to make it all the way through high school." And with that, the creators just opened up a whole can of worms they could work with... By the way, with such a broad plot is how most western sitcoms can list 5-10 seasons without it getting old (the good ones anyway). Mind you thats the only connection this show has with a western sitcom. All the jokes are pure japanese pop culture and common occurances. Because everyone knows pop culture and daily observastions are the best source of comedy with a few sly remarks and parodies to spice it up.
I have noticed many people bash the beginning episodes of the show but i found them equally entertaining as the rest of them. It really depends on what the viewer does in their own daily lives is what truly makes this show funny. Somone who doesnt eat curry/rice or grilled meat sticks for dinner with their family wont understand a joke about it. OR noone would laugh at konata playing "Hare Hare" on an arcade Taiko Drum Master. Or your just lame all together and dont find everyday things funny (i reccomend a shrink because that might be a complex). But with all the jokes and references and moe in this show you're bound to literally laugh out loud at all they throw at you! They've thoguht of everything for this show. Multi-episode expanding storyline (Lucky Channel), different moe types, anime parodies, comic conventions, computer jokes, MMO jokes, perverted fathers, i could boast on forever, but i got an anime to review :P
Art and animation of the show is your typical comedy anime fair. Simple characters, simple backgrounds, and simple static objects. But they manage to take "simple" to a whole new level. First, the characters are only shown from the waist up for about 80% of the entire show. Thats to set the cuteness and proportion of the whole show. You'll even get so used to them like that you'll most likely get a wierd feeling when you see them from head to toe (aside from the opening credits). But the characters are drawn very simplistic and the coloring for each looks like it doesnt exeed 12 different colors each for the most part. As for the backbackgrounds they look like they've been freehanded followed by watercolor paint. The light watercolors do compliment the overall enviroment of the show. Also the scene change sequences, just a whole watercolor mural, are fairly well done. If youre really REALLY into the show you'll be able to spot little cameo appearances of certain anime and manga items and characters. But the worst part of the artwork are the static objects like filled in people. They're typically just blue silhouettes most often not moving.
Apart from the artistic value, The sound is your standard comedy sound efects from light hearted piano songs, to bing bangs and bongs, they're all there and accounted for. Music is mostly absent from the show aside from helping out certain jokes. what sets them apart tho is most of the referenced songs (mainly at the end credits) belong to other anime not related to the show. That itself turns into a fun little game of name that tune.
You will definitely notice the lack of background music in the show but with such a powerful seiyu cast, one could understand that they didnt want to distract from the well executed voice acting. Of course most people will notice Aya Hirano and maybe even Minori Chihara. Its hard to believe that most of the main characters are voiced by relatively newcomers. Which also helps seperate Lucky Star from sounding the same as all the other school anime out there. And believe me they do have a unique sound that you cant experience anwywhere else (well as of September 18, 2007 ^_^). As nice little treat, enjoy Kagami's singing voice by the way (see if you can spot it).
With the uniqe sound comes the "unique" (or not so unique) character types associated with each seiyu. Of course the center of attraction is Konata Izumi, then followed by stern voiced Kagami Hiragii and her timid cute voiced Tsukasa, and the one who never gets enough air time (probably because of her Moe-ness and clumsynes) is Miyuki. Theres also ALOT more characters but you'll have to watch it to see them all ^_^ Speaking of characters you'll actually end up seeing all of them fairly regurlarly. Either supporting cast or main cast. By the end of the show, you'll get the feeling that not one person recieved more time than another. They even cheat by using one person voice a few dozen filler characters!! Even the extra characters get more than enough airtime to fully acknowledge them as important parts of the anime.
Just like Haruhi no Yuutsu of last year, this show is covered with loads of extra otaku goodness. Including a net radio program, promotions in magazines, character cd's, and they're finally starting to crank out the figures. Anyways theres so many things to enhance your enjoyment of this show other than the show itself. With so many charachters to choose, youre bound to have 2 or 3 favorites that you'd want to collect.
As for the anime itself, the enjoyment factor is through the roof in my opinion. The comedy aspect of this show covers so many angles and hits so many things perfectly its hard not to give a perfect score. I find it very hard for somone to hate this anime. That is, if you dont like japanese pop cultre, anime references and funny common occurences. If youre that type then why are you watching anime? ^_^
Also, if you dont like western style sitcoms where the end of every episode will always leave the same way they started, this is definitely not for you. If youre looking for a deep romantic comedy of sorts then try love com or something. Or some high schoolers kicking each others ass, try ikkitousen. BUT if you're willing to give up about 20 minutes of your time for pure entertainment, WATCH THIS SHOW!
Slice of life comedy at its best!!
I dare you to find a better one!!
9/10
I dare you to find a better one!!
9/10
Second Opinion
Dmodwc (10/10)
this show will be an absolute blast.
mistress_reebi (6/10)
it's boring and leads nowhere.
Faust721 (8/10)
I believe this show is one of those shows where it is a hit or miss.
Posted by Ranivus | Sep 18, 2007 4:36 AM | 4 comments
August 25th, 2007
Anime Review - Excel Saga
Anime Relations: Heppoko Jikken Animation Excel♥Saga
Anime Spoofs and slapstick comedy? No wai!!!
Excel Saga is a pure slapstick anime made to do nothing but try to produce a comedy satire of EVERY anime genre made. It actually does a pretty good job making fun of them all. They cover the gamut of "spoofs" from music-themed, to space-themed, to cute-themed, to even Pockemonster-themed anime ^_^ A great way to enjoy this is to watch alot of the popular anime and pop movies (ie rambo and scarface) first so you can actually recognize what specific shows they are spoofing. The entire fact that they're just spoofing anime creates a very weak story line. But they do manage to keep a story to keep it all together, albeit full of holes and non seriousness. Even the city is generalized as F city in F precture.
The story mainly follows 2 main characters as they're "trying to take over the world" for a company called ACROSS, i forgot what the acronym stood for. The two girls, Excel and Hyatt, all work under a man called Ilpalazzo who just sits on his char and never moves off of it (heh another spoof). The great thing about the two main characters is that they're complete polar opposites of each other. Excel, is your typical over excentric and stupidly ignorant girl, and Hyatt, is very under excentric and is actually pretty smart. The great thing about hyatt is that she is show unexcentric that the creators made her an Anemic, constantly passing out and coughing blood. Its funny in a sense that they are Literally different from each other. They're not the only characters in the show tho. There are at least a good dozen characters that keep reappearing but always displayed in different situations. My favorite side characters were Ropponmatsu and Pedro. Any anime that has at least one hispanic immagrant in the show gets points in my book (and Pedro gets his good share of air time)^_^ Also all their names are hilarious they're either named after creators, or a play on names like Hyatt, and Pad (short for padded bra).
The art and animation is typical pre-2000 style artwork. Its all kind of lame in my opinion, but they do show their artistic variety in how they have to draw drastically different enviroments with every episode. Drawing so many enviroments for a two season anime cant be an easy task but they have to be pretty to catch my eye. So the art isnt its strong point. And even the sound in the anime isnt all that ear catching as well. I watched a few subbed and a few dubbed but they both have their good and bad points as well. Japanese Excel is more of a cute overly excentric voice whereas the Dubbed Excel is more of a grainy voiced tomboy who seems more insisting than excentric. Two completely different emotions but the jokes are still pretty much come off the same. The music is forgetable, although you'll laugh at the ED a few times it gets annoying after the 3-4th time listening to it. The op is a little catchy and its a nice touch to have hyatt cough during her singing.
The best part of the anime is the line excectuion or the script. The use of the word "Shock" and the running joke of her eating her dog among all the other hundreds of jokes makes this show stand out so much. The simplistic lines flow very well with the simple artwork and characters. They even go far as copying charcters from from digi charat, to fist of the northstar, to shinesman (you'll think its power rangers but its really a spoof off of Shinesman), really show the voice range and artistic range albeit a little simple.
This show does have its high points but its also with its downsides. If youre really into anime comedy, then this would be a good pickup, but even if youre not into the comedy genre it still would not be a bad pickup since there is the possibility of you seeing one of your favorite "classic" anime or genre get spoofed. Youll see jokes coming from lolicon to androids, to assassin jokes, you'll see alittle of everything here. It's definitely a different style of comedy and Nabeshin's comedy style transfers very well to his other work, Nerima Daikon Brothers. Oh btw...
Second Opinion
BlueYoshi (9/10)
I enjoyed most of the episodes. Some of them were pointless really, but overall i never stopped laughing
Circa: 1999-10-07 to 2000-03-30
Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Opening Theme:
"Ai (Chuuseishin)" by Excel Girls
Ending Theme:
#1: "Menchi Aishou no Bolero" by Excel Girls (eps 1-25)
#2: "Menchi Aishou no Bolero (Gyakuna)" by Excel Girls (ep 26)
Excel Saga is a pure slapstick anime made to do nothing but try to produce a comedy satire of EVERY anime genre made. It actually does a pretty good job making fun of them all. They cover the gamut of "spoofs" from music-themed, to space-themed, to cute-themed, to even Pockemonster-themed anime ^_^ A great way to enjoy this is to watch alot of the popular anime and pop movies (ie rambo and scarface) first so you can actually recognize what specific shows they are spoofing. The entire fact that they're just spoofing anime creates a very weak story line. But they do manage to keep a story to keep it all together, albeit full of holes and non seriousness. Even the city is generalized as F city in F precture.
The story mainly follows 2 main characters as they're "trying to take over the world" for a company called ACROSS, i forgot what the acronym stood for. The two girls, Excel and Hyatt, all work under a man called Ilpalazzo who just sits on his char and never moves off of it (heh another spoof). The great thing about the two main characters is that they're complete polar opposites of each other. Excel, is your typical over excentric and stupidly ignorant girl, and Hyatt, is very under excentric and is actually pretty smart. The great thing about hyatt is that she is show unexcentric that the creators made her an Anemic, constantly passing out and coughing blood. Its funny in a sense that they are Literally different from each other. They're not the only characters in the show tho. There are at least a good dozen characters that keep reappearing but always displayed in different situations. My favorite side characters were Ropponmatsu and Pedro. Any anime that has at least one hispanic immagrant in the show gets points in my book (and Pedro gets his good share of air time)^_^ Also all their names are hilarious they're either named after creators, or a play on names like Hyatt, and Pad (short for padded bra).
The art and animation is typical pre-2000 style artwork. Its all kind of lame in my opinion, but they do show their artistic variety in how they have to draw drastically different enviroments with every episode. Drawing so many enviroments for a two season anime cant be an easy task but they have to be pretty to catch my eye. So the art isnt its strong point. And even the sound in the anime isnt all that ear catching as well. I watched a few subbed and a few dubbed but they both have their good and bad points as well. Japanese Excel is more of a cute overly excentric voice whereas the Dubbed Excel is more of a grainy voiced tomboy who seems more insisting than excentric. Two completely different emotions but the jokes are still pretty much come off the same. The music is forgetable, although you'll laugh at the ED a few times it gets annoying after the 3-4th time listening to it. The op is a little catchy and its a nice touch to have hyatt cough during her singing.
The best part of the anime is the line excectuion or the script. The use of the word "Shock" and the running joke of her eating her dog among all the other hundreds of jokes makes this show stand out so much. The simplistic lines flow very well with the simple artwork and characters. They even go far as copying charcters from from digi charat, to fist of the northstar, to shinesman (you'll think its power rangers but its really a spoof off of Shinesman), really show the voice range and artistic range albeit a little simple.
This show does have its high points but its also with its downsides. If youre really into anime comedy, then this would be a good pickup, but even if youre not into the comedy genre it still would not be a bad pickup since there is the possibility of you seeing one of your favorite "classic" anime or genre get spoofed. Youll see jokes coming from lolicon to androids, to assassin jokes, you'll see alittle of everything here. It's definitely a different style of comedy and Nabeshin's comedy style transfers very well to his other work, Nerima Daikon Brothers. Oh btw...
...Anime is not for most people but you'll enjoy the ending ^_^
6/10
6/10
Second Opinion
BlueYoshi (9/10)
I enjoyed most of the episodes. Some of them were pointless really, but overall i never stopped laughing
Posted by Ranivus | Aug 25, 2007 6:15 PM | 2 comments
Anime Review - Ichigo Mashimaro
Anime Relations: Ichigo Mashimaro, Ichigo Mashimaro OVA
...Cute *~* so much cute.
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Ichigo Mashmiaro is another slice of life anime set around the life of four Elementary School friends and a sister. All the girls are neighbors to each other and love hanging out at Chi-chan's house. Just like kyo no go no ni there really isnt a story to be heard of all the stories are typically solved in one episode. But unlike that show, there is no ecchi to be heard of whatsoever. Theres no ecchi but there are LOADS of fanservice in this show. You can tell just by watching the first episode. Its even more frequent in the ova's. Also, the power word for this show is CUTE. I cant emphasize this enough... CUTE is allover.
Each character doesnt really have a storyline to follow but they DO have certain "roles" to play to make this anime so very unique and UBER kawaii. In a nutshell, Miu takes pleasure to annoy everyone, Matsuri enjoys reading, Ana and Chika are constantly studying, and Chika's sister, Nobue, is constantly trying to find a job. For some reason the chemistry between all of them really make for a unique experience. Their character traits sound so standard for a slice of life comedy but the way its executed is far better than most anime. Every minute you'll be going "aww" or "AWWWWWW" and even "omfg how CUTE!" Thats mainly in part by the way the girls react to each other and feed off each others actions/reactions.
The voice acting is top notch for what its worth... all the girls all have their cute tendancies intact and their voices are just to gaddamn cute *_* Their singing the credits is even good too. Speaking of singing, theres no music whatsoever during the show. Just the seiyu and the enviromental sound effects, with a fair dose of japanese comedy sounds. Anything ranging from a jet flying over head, wind blowing past a weather vane, to taiko drums, recorders, and other miscellaneous sounds. They're all very well executed, alot better than most anime. But i think absence of the music is just a plan to emphasise how cute the girls are in their "tranquil" and "innocent" enviroments. it does work very well to set off that cute aura that surrounds the entire show.
When i said the power word for this show was "CUTE" the art and animation shows that in spades. First of all you'll notice the color scheme consists of only pastel spring colors. Even the dark colors like black and brown have that pastel touch to it. Theres so much color that some might even be drowned in pastel. The enviroment art is half part of how they show how great their cute theme is executed. Every thing from the Chika's simple bedroom layout with the pink bed sheets and sunflower yellow wall, to the dirty laundry stacked in the laundry basket filled so high sleeves are pouring out the side, down to the different individual lunches ALL the kids in the classroom are eating with their little milk jugs. They even seem to enjoy their art so much that there is quite a few still life shots when they're showing time is passing. This just shows how much time and effort they put into setting the mood and enviroment for their viewers.
The character artwork are in a whole nother level than any other anime you've seen. Not only do they draw individual background characters with sheer detail and cuteness, but they somehow manage to give the main characters dozens of different costumes to wear. Theres so many, i wouldnt be surprised if there were over 100 costume designs for the girls. Anyone who can think of over 100 different CUTE costumes for the girls to wear definitely has too much cute on the brain. You can even tell that their designs are all influenced by fashion.. with the thigh high stockings with a skirt and even have 3 piece tops tshirt under tanktop and a coat, all the clothing is not only cute but highly fashionable as well. Aside from the clothing, the character themsselves are detailed as any high value anime should be...
Everything about this show seems to mold together extremely well. When it seems like theres a school comedy or 4 every season, Ichigo Mashimaro surely sticks itself out far above the rest. Its a school anime that if you like it, you'll definitely remember it long after your finished. But if youre not into all that cute loli stuff then by all means, avoid this like the plague. But this is by far one of the best loli anime i've ever seen. Too bad im not really into the cute loli anime.
Second Opinion
dollie_mixtures (9/10)
"If you appreciate the innocent, stress-free and, dare I say again, CUTE things in life, you most likely will love this series, I certainly did. Otherwise, you may find the cuteness tooth-rottingly sweet."
it_aint_eazy (10/10)
"nobue wins at life..."
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 12
Vintage: 2005-03-09
Opening Theme:"Ichigo Complete" by Saeko Chiba, Fumiko Orikasa, Ayako Kawasumi and Mamiko Noto Ending Theme:"Classmate" by Fumiko Orikasa
Ichigo Mashmiaro is another slice of life anime set around the life of four Elementary School friends and a sister. All the girls are neighbors to each other and love hanging out at Chi-chan's house. Just like kyo no go no ni there really isnt a story to be heard of all the stories are typically solved in one episode. But unlike that show, there is no ecchi to be heard of whatsoever. Theres no ecchi but there are LOADS of fanservice in this show. You can tell just by watching the first episode. Its even more frequent in the ova's. Also, the power word for this show is CUTE. I cant emphasize this enough... CUTE is allover.
Each character doesnt really have a storyline to follow but they DO have certain "roles" to play to make this anime so very unique and UBER kawaii. In a nutshell, Miu takes pleasure to annoy everyone, Matsuri enjoys reading, Ana and Chika are constantly studying, and Chika's sister, Nobue, is constantly trying to find a job. For some reason the chemistry between all of them really make for a unique experience. Their character traits sound so standard for a slice of life comedy but the way its executed is far better than most anime. Every minute you'll be going "aww" or "AWWWWWW" and even "omfg how CUTE!" Thats mainly in part by the way the girls react to each other and feed off each others actions/reactions.
The voice acting is top notch for what its worth... all the girls all have their cute tendancies intact and their voices are just to gaddamn cute *_* Their singing the credits is even good too. Speaking of singing, theres no music whatsoever during the show. Just the seiyu and the enviromental sound effects, with a fair dose of japanese comedy sounds. Anything ranging from a jet flying over head, wind blowing past a weather vane, to taiko drums, recorders, and other miscellaneous sounds. They're all very well executed, alot better than most anime. But i think absence of the music is just a plan to emphasise how cute the girls are in their "tranquil" and "innocent" enviroments. it does work very well to set off that cute aura that surrounds the entire show.
When i said the power word for this show was "CUTE" the art and animation shows that in spades. First of all you'll notice the color scheme consists of only pastel spring colors. Even the dark colors like black and brown have that pastel touch to it. Theres so much color that some might even be drowned in pastel. The enviroment art is half part of how they show how great their cute theme is executed. Every thing from the Chika's simple bedroom layout with the pink bed sheets and sunflower yellow wall, to the dirty laundry stacked in the laundry basket filled so high sleeves are pouring out the side, down to the different individual lunches ALL the kids in the classroom are eating with their little milk jugs. They even seem to enjoy their art so much that there is quite a few still life shots when they're showing time is passing. This just shows how much time and effort they put into setting the mood and enviroment for their viewers.
The character artwork are in a whole nother level than any other anime you've seen. Not only do they draw individual background characters with sheer detail and cuteness, but they somehow manage to give the main characters dozens of different costumes to wear. Theres so many, i wouldnt be surprised if there were over 100 costume designs for the girls. Anyone who can think of over 100 different CUTE costumes for the girls to wear definitely has too much cute on the brain. You can even tell that their designs are all influenced by fashion.. with the thigh high stockings with a skirt and even have 3 piece tops tshirt under tanktop and a coat, all the clothing is not only cute but highly fashionable as well. Aside from the clothing, the character themsselves are detailed as any high value anime should be...
Everything about this show seems to mold together extremely well. When it seems like theres a school comedy or 4 every season, Ichigo Mashimaro surely sticks itself out far above the rest. Its a school anime that if you like it, you'll definitely remember it long after your finished. But if youre not into all that cute loli stuff then by all means, avoid this like the plague. But this is by far one of the best loli anime i've ever seen. Too bad im not really into the cute loli anime.
Beware! Cute lolis are everywhere!
8/10
8/10
Second Opinion
dollie_mixtures (9/10)
"If you appreciate the innocent, stress-free and, dare I say again, CUTE things in life, you most likely will love this series, I certainly did. Otherwise, you may find the cuteness tooth-rottingly sweet."
it_aint_eazy (10/10)
"nobue wins at life..."
Posted by Ranivus | Aug 25, 2007 2:12 AM | 0 comments