Category Archives: anime

Ninja Consultants, TM Revolution

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Whooooooo.

Inazuma Initial Impressions, Spring 2008

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Soul Eater:

Seems decent enough. I like the art style though some of the continuity between scenes seems a little off. The thing that stands out most to me is that the main heroine’s voice actor is very inexperienced, and according to Anime News Network she has no other roles. If I do continue to watch, it might just be to see how she progresses as a voice actor throughout the series.

Macross Frontier:

Looks like they’re trying to make this anniversary count. It’s said that every Macross show is purposely designed with a different theme and feel in mind, and though the first episodes draw some parallels to earlier Macross anime, it’ll be interesting to see what happens.

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki:

Brash, arrogant loli catgirl for a primary heroine. Yeah… I’m not sure if I’ll be sticking with this one.

Genshiken Karaoke in Akihabara

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Or should I say, “Genchoken.”

To celebrate the Genchoken CD release (Genchoken being the bi-weekly radio show which accompanied the broadcast of Genshiken 2), otaku will be able to briefly live, Genshiken style, at Karaoke Pasela in Akihabara.

There, customers will have access to a karaoke room with a Genshiken-themed decor and sing to their hearts’ content. And to make it as authentic as possible, the only songs allowed will be from things that exist in Genshiken, e.g. Kujibiki Unbalance and Ramen Angel Pretty Menma. They will also be playing the actual Genchoken CD as well.

To top it all off, if you’ve bought the Genchoken CD and you sing Kujian/Menma songs in the Genshiken room, then you can enter a drawing to win some autographed swag from the cast of Genshiken.

Existence of specific Ogiue-themed merchandise unknown at this time.

The True Appeal of Izumi Konata

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Konata is a surprisingly good character. There’s something very endearing about her and for a long time (since I finished watching Lucky Star), I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but now I know.

I’ve heard from numerous people that they think Konata’s popularity is because she has the same tastes as and acts like a male otaku. That’s not necessarily off the mark, but it’s a little too simplistic. The actual appeal of Konata is not simply that she’s an otaku, but that she’s an otaku who’s not afraid to show that side of herself in public.

I think there’s a fear within everyone (but particularly relevant to dorks) that if they reveal too much of themselves that people will think less of them. They will either believe they cannot make any friends, or that their friends will stop being so friendly. Konata stands in the face of all that. Where most of dvd-and-figure-buying comrades falter, Konata is able to confidently declare to her “commoner” friends that yes, she loves Haruhi, yes, she goes to Comic Market, and yes, she is indeed an otaku.

Combined with some of Konata’s more poignant scenes, such as the Hirano Aya concert or some of her conversations with her dad, Konata shows that she’s not just an impossible ideal for otaku, but that it’s possible to both feel weak and strong at the same time.

Konata, one might say, is the opposite of Ogiue. However, unlike, say, Kohsaka from Genshiken, Konata doesn’t appear to be too perfect. Sure, she’s athletic, sure she’s friendly and outspoken, but in the end she is still genuine to her own interests, still has her own doubts and insecurities, and really isn’t that much different from the otaku from which she is derived.

Oh boy. You have sold me now.

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The last Godannar DVD arrived today, completing my collection, and by last I mean the first volume with box as I purchased volumes 2-7 earlier in a nice deal.

Inside the box was an ad for Gravion Zwei, which is a few years old by now, but it certainly caught my eye. Below is the ad’s text, reproduced for your enjoyment.

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EFFEMINATE HEROES! GIANT FIGHTING ROBOTS! GRAVITY-DEFYING BREASTS!

Hold on to your feather duster! With a legion of perky maids and more FAN SERVICE than you can shake a stick* at, Gravion Zwei has all the action, comedy and MADCAP ADVENTURE you’ve been looking for!

*No, not that stick!

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…

…Really? I mean, really?

I’m no opponent of fanservice (I bought all of Godannar after all), but damn ADV, are you trying to make people too embarrassed to show your DVDs in their homes? I mean, unless it’s full-on pornographic anime you could at least use some restraint, some clever lines which sum up the show in a reasonably tasteful manner.

The Immortal Who Watches Animation

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I am troubled when people deride an animation for being too “old” without considering its other merits, and I think it’s a matter of broader perspective.

While we can look at older animation from our perspective today and see how far we’ve come be it 2d or 3d, don’t forget that today will become yesterday and years down the line the industry will have progressed even further technically and technologically, as well as in the realm of ideas (I hope). It feels kind of odd to think that all this fancy stuff going on today may even become laughable in the future, but as I think about it more I begin to wonder if the technical stops becoming a factor as more and more time passes. That is to say, if I were immortal and could watch hundreds of years of animation go by, I think after a while I would stop caring about realism or the pursuit of realism. Realism is just an example and it could be anything.

That all said, I personally also tend to put great emphasis on watching an animation with knowledge of the context in which it was produced and shown, because many achievements made by animations have to be viewed through the lens of society or history. It’s the other side of the coin perhaps, that while I can argue against people not watching an anime because it’s old, I can’t argue against people watching it for that very same reason.

Well Holy Crap: Eureka Seven Movie Announced

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Anime News Network reports that Eureka Seven has been greenlit for a new movie to come out whenever.

This is, of course, very very good news. There’s no real word on what the story’s going to be like or about, but I have complete faith  in BONES.

This is perfect timing too, as I finally received my last Eureka Seven DVD, and as a result also finished reading Gravity Boys and Lifting Girl.

Review of that pending.

First is the Worst, Second is the Best: Tower of Druaga and GONZO’s Digital Distribution

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GONZO has thrown down the gauntlets and has enlisted the help of real live fansubber(s) to distribute its anime to the English-literate world with near-synchronized-with-Japanese-television releases of its new show, Tower of Druaga. As such, there are two important things to talk about: the possible benefits and consequences of this new distribution method, and the content of the show itself.

While GONZO would not exactly be my first choice as the pioneer company (such as Geneon), I applaud GONZO for doing this, though I think they should excise Crunchy Roll like a nasty boil. It’s not the kind of site that I think any animation studio should be associated with, and it may come back to bite them in the ass. As for the actual distribution method of Official Subs on Youtube and Other Places, I feel that even if I personally do not buy the show, I have been exposed to the series enough to begin making a decision, and that is very important to me as a consumer and as a fan. The other thing is that I really have no motivation to pursue higher quality fansubs when I am being provided episodes, translated, straight from the studio much faster than any speedsubber can manage. I don’t know how much of a loss GONZO is taking on this, but if their goal was to beat out the fansubbers, they’ve done so rather effectively. On top of that, the subs are actually quite good, and do not suffer at all from our fears of Engrish.

The actual show is surprisingly entertaining, as nothing in the show seems to quite make sense a la Haruhi Episode 1. While I suspect there’s going to be some shenanigans regarding what’s fantasy and what’s reality, the real highlight of this first episode is how terribly contrived the main character Gil’s idea of an epic tale is. It points out the main flaw in a lot of this sort of entertainment, as well as the fact that D&D games do not translate well to actually compelling stories because everyone will want their limelight in a D&D game, while in a story there should only be one protagonist at a time. It makes me wonder if GONZO is somehow also poking fun at itself and its reputation for plots which fall apart due to contradictions and hasty decisions.

Stand-alone Genshiken OVAs DVD BOX Set on Sale

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The official Genshiken anime website has announced that they’re releasing the Genshiken OVAs (which introduced Ogiue to the anime) as a stand-alone box separate from the anime series Kujibiki <3 Unbalance for which they were originally OVAs. This is for the Japanese market. Whether or not America plans to release a stand-alone as well is unknown.

The R2 DVD Box will cost ￥6300 for 3 episodes, or approximately $62.00. It will come with an 8-page booklet, among other goods.

They are also re-releasing the 1st Genshiken series in a similar release.

Both will go on sale June 25th, 2008.

The Causes and Effects of Closely-Released English Manga?

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While looking in the bookstore the other day, I saw that the English version of Mousou Shoujo Otakukei (otherwise known in the US as “Fujoshi Rumi”) had its second volume out.

Then I noticed that the Japanese release of Mousou Shoujo Otaku-kei is only up to Volume 3, though obviously the story has progressed further at this point in the actual Comic High.

I wonder then, just how often is this happening nowadays? How often is the English release of a manga only 1-2 volumes off from the Japanese release? It seems like a really weird position to be in, though in many ways beneficial.

This also brings up another question: How many manga these days are being licensed within only 1-2 years of the original Japanese release? Doesn’t it seem a little too soon? Not to knock Mousou Shoujo, but it never seemed like the HOTTEST NEW THING straight from Japan, though I have to admit that it’s gotten better.

This also makes me wonder if part of the reason manga does well where anime DVDs don’t is that, in some cases, the releases aren’t that far off so people don’t miss out on too much?

Actually, it’s probably because you can immediately look at a manga in the store to gauge whether or not it’s worth buying on a per volume basis, while DVDs have no such luxury, as even netflix has to be an active decision rather than just “browsing for anime.”