Category Archives: anime

When You Have Free Time, You Can Either Watch Anime or You Can

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You heard the lady.

My Friend the Nattou

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Following a Sunday where I delighted myself with a traditional Irish breakfast (blood pudding is delicious), I spent Labor Day with friends at the New Jersey Japanese-based Mall known as Mitsuwa. The last time I was there was over a year ago, and I looked to relive some of that experience, particularly when it came to my dining experience. I knew before I even went that I had to get the Nattou Set, otherwise known as a traditional Japanese breakfast. And just as the idea of a pudding made of blood turns some off, so does the sticky stringy fermented soybean dish known as nattou.

I am well aware of the fact that nattou is easily purchasable in New York City, but I tend to not buy it these days as a courtesy to others. I owe a lot to nattou, as it was the key food in keeping me healthy and keeping my wallet fat while I studied in Japan. It is perhaps as important to my time in Japan as my bicycle and Ogiue (Ogiue riding a bike while eating nattou?) The traditional nattou-based breakfast is a combination of rice, nattou, and raw egg. Each bite was a combination of satisfaction, strong-yet-pleasant flavor, and nostalgia.

It is delicious, if you’re me. A friend of mine who accompanied me to Mitsuwa knew of my affinity for nattou, and so he decided to try it for the first time. One whiff and he decided to hand it over to me. I was happy to oblige.

As an aside, I thought of purchasing some manga or something while I was there, and I had my eye on a volume of the original Japanese Kino’s Journey light novel. I then realized that, having seen the anime, I already knew much of the story and decided to hold off on it, at least for now. Oh, but Volume 7 of La Sommeliere is out. I’m only up to volume 3, so I can’t jump the gun just yet. Sadly I couldn’t find Patrick Macias’ “Otaku in USA,” though I’m sure Kinokuniya or something has it. No worries there.

The Right Way to Do “VS” Arguments

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Who would win in a fight, Kenshiro or Golgo 13?

Lina Inverse or KOS-MOS?

Toilet Paper or a Snickers Bar?

I love this sort of argument generally, but it’s generally considered in very poor taste by large parts of fandoms, tired of seeing them. It is considered a useless endeavor, be it in the “unstoppable force vs immovable object” sense, or just being futile and biased based on favoritism by the people arguing. , but there is a wrong way to do it, as stated, and there is a right way to do it, which begins with realizing its uselessness is not a problem at all.

At the end of the first Phoenix Wright game, and this is the point where those of you who haven’t played should turn back in case you don’t want to get spoiled, the message given is that in a court of law the prosecution and defense aren’t working against each other but with each other to arrive at the truth. This is what you should be doing with VS arguments, except that there’s clearly no actual truth. You may want to reach for it, but the goal is not to grind the other person underneath your forum avatar’s heel. The real goal instead is to build upon each other’s arguments and logic and to challenge each other’s opinions in order to promote critical thinking, even if it’s all in jest.

There’s never really a loser in VS arguments, and that’s the fun of it. Work on opposite sides, but work together, just as Phoenix and Edgeworth* do.

*Substitute their Japanese names if you so feel inclined.

A Villain’s Guide to Defeating Giant Robots: Gurren-Lagann

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Welcome to the first entry in a series designed to help enterprising villains deal with the constant threat of giant robots. Their abilities are often unpredictable and logic-defying, and it may even seem that the mecha you’re facing is absolutely invincible.

It will never be an easy fight, but I’m here to show you that no giant robot is completely invincible. There is no guaranteed plan of attack, but what I will provide you is the foundation upon which you can formulate plans to eliminate them.

Keep in mind that this information is fairly extensive. For those villains who wish to remain surprised while viewing recordings of their heroic exploits, I advise you read with caution.

Continue reading →

801-chan Eliminated: Behold My Might, For I Have None Who Can Oppose Me

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There are reports that Kyoto Animation has dropped Tonari no 801-chan but no one is really sure why.

No one, except for me.

I told you that I wouldn’t let any lesser fujoshi usurp her throne, and now you see my power. I hope, as you read your latest volume of Nodame Cantabile, that you are trembling, knowing that Ogiue Maniax is not just a name, but a power source capable of destroying anime in their infancy with but a single gesture.

(In all seriousness, I’m kind of sad this happened. I was looking forward to what KyoAni could have been accomplished.)

(Maybe they’ll go the Xam’d PS3 downloadables route.)

Enjadening

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At some point, it seem likes most anime reviewers begin to lose passion for their work, provided they had any in the first place. Though we may say something along the lines of, “Why do it in the first place if you no longer like it,” they say that one of the reasons they lose that passion is because they are constantly forced to wade through shows they dislike. They cannot choose the anime they review, and so with every disappointing show they become more and more bitter towards anime. That ocean that once seemed so wide turns out to be polluted.

At least, that’s what I think might be happening.

Aside from a few exceptions, I haven’t really tried to talk about anime on here that don’t really interest me. I mean, it’s difficult to talk about things you find boring, right? And anime reviewers have to do it, be it hell or high school romantic comedy.

In that case, what if I did start reviewing things outside of my interests?

I don’t know if I’ll actually do this. While I have a strong love of anime and manga, to put it to the test like this may be asking too much of me. If I go in, I may come out a different person. I’d like to think there’s interesting lessons to be learned in any anime, good, bad, or decidedly mediocre, but how many will it take before I break, if I do at all?

Most likely, if I do decide to begin this self-experiment, I won’t say specifically which reviews are part of it. That would be up to the readers to determine.

Neo Humans and Steel Cyborgs

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Tatsunoko Pro’s latest adaptation of Shinzo Ningen Casshern, Casshern Sins, has Furuya Tohru playing the titular character. Furuya is not the original actor form the 70s despite his long history in anime, but luckily,he has experience playing the role of a man turned into a cyborg to fight an evil force: Koutetsu Jeeg.

The similarities don’t end there! Each show poses a vital question during its opening.

Casshern: “If Casshern won’t do it, who will?”

Jeeg: “If I stop (BAN BABAN) , then who will do it? (BAN BABAN)”

Clearly this role was made for the man.

Just like “fat guy in Paprika.”

The Best Reason to Go to New York Anime Festival that isn’t Tanaka Rie

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Pierre Bernard will be a guest. Bring your Bubblegum Crisis DVDs and posters, ladies and gentlemen.

And the worst reason?

I’LL SHAKUGAN YOUR SHANA. I’LL MASTER YOUR MOSQUITON. I’LL TELL NO JOKES WHATSOEVER.

Ugh.

The Most Difficult Question

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“What anime/manga would you recommend?”

At some point this went from being a fairly simple question to being an incredibly complex one that leaves me puzzled for long periods of time. As I absorbed more and more shows and comics into my being, as I began to expose myself to more and more types of fans and non-fans, the number of variables just kept increasing.

How long has this person been watching anime, if at all? What titles do I think are good? Out of those, which do I think the person asking me would like? What non-anime genres is he or she already into? How open is he or she to new genres? Different visual styles? How familiar is the person with digital downloads, bittorent, etc?

I know in a previous post that I recommended Slayers, but that is more of a generalist approach. The difficulty arises when I try to tailor my response to that individual. Everyone is unique, and I can’t rely on my own taste to sell a show to another.

An equally difficult question is “Which shows do you like?”

How familiar is this person with anime? If I say a title, will they understand what it is? How open are they to explanation?

And it’s not like I’ll lie or anything. I just prefer to pick an answer that will most accurately describe what I like in anime as efficiently as possible to the person in particular who’s askng.

Or I can just say “Rose of Versailles” and see what happens.

The Empty Storefront: The Rickety Path Towards Purchasing Anime

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A boy passes by a storefront window, when something catches his eye. He desperately wants it, but knows his parents won’t just buy it for him, and his birthday is many months away. But the boy has a plan, a plan he has thought up entirely on his own. He will save money little by little however he can. He will make small sacrifices. He does not need candy EVERY week. Little by little he accumulates bits of change until finally his effort is rewarded and he can confidently walk into that store, put the money on the counter, and walk out at least a little happier.

…Except that the store is all sold out and the chances of them getting more are now slim to none.

Purchasing Anime DVDs these days feels like a race against time. There might be a series you really want to own, but you are unable purchase it as soon as it hits store shelves, be they real or virtual. And yet, if you don’t purchase it now, it might be on your hands that this DVD did not sell well. Worse yet, if the 1st DVD doesn’t sell well, or the 2nd or the 3rd, there’s a chance the rest of a series may never see the light of day.

I don’t fault the anime companies in particular for removing titles or lowering circulation rates. They are businesses, after all. At the same time, I feel like it almost penalizes those fans of anime who do not have immediately disposable income. It puts the pressure on fans to support ther series they love, but they must do so in a limited time window.

It’s a problem.