Category Archives: anime

Genchoken CD on sale

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A compilation of the Genchoken radio show is now on sale, for anyone who understands Japanese and sadly missed this wonderful radio show starring Mizuhashi Kaori (Ogiue), and Hiyama Nobuyuki (Madarame).

For those who aren’t familiar with Genchoken, it was a bi-weekly radio show starring the aforementioned two voice actors, as they tackled various topics regarding otaku. Guests included fellow voice actors from Genshiken, some of the original voices upon which the Vocaloid characters are based on, and a BL manga author. Genchoken stands for Gendai Chokaku Bunka Kenkyuukai, in other words, “The Society for the Study of Modern Aural Culture”

It’s also where I got to hear, “Yoiko no minna san…Ogiue Chika-sensei desu.”

Ogiue Chika-sensei.

Attention spans and anime

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We’ve all heard it before, I think: Anime fans and people in general have smaller attention spans nowadays. In American movies, individual scenes are significantly shorter than what they were 20-30 years ago.

I have to wonder, how much of an impact has this had on anime? Aside from the aged look of the artwork, is this a possible reason why older shows tend to be neglected? I haven’t bothered with a stopwatch, but just how long or short are individual scenes in theatrical anime films, anyway?

Please tell me, oh anime fans, what do you think of your own attention span, and how it may or may not affect the anime you choose to watch or keep watching.

The Ogiues who never were

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Mizuhashi Kaori landed the role of Ogiue and for that we are all grateful.

Landing the role, however, means that she had to have beaten out other voice actors.

So I have to wonder, who else tried out for the part of Ogiue? Who could have been the voice of Fujoshi Omega?

Sadly this mystery will probably never be solved.

Pain of the heart: 5cm per second

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I went to see 5cm per Second at the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

There will be spoilers, but I don’t want to explain the plot too much because I’m not sure if I can do it justice, and a part of me just doesn’t want to because the movie is painful.

Yes, painful.

The genuine feelings of yesterday betrayed by distance and time, it’s somewhat difficult to reflect upon. The scene that hit me hardest was part 3, when you first find out that Akari is married, and then in what is essentially a music montage you see as she slowly separates from Takaki, with the final blow being her as an adult walking closely to the man we assume she is going to marry.  It’s like I could feel Takaki’s pain but so much more because he never saw that directly.

And then I realized, that it’s already too late for me to have experienced these feelings in my school days. I am pained because I have never had the opportunity to feel this pain.

It makes me want to re-evaluate my life.

Because he asked so nicely: Help a guy fulfill his anime-themed Master’s Thesis

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In my previous post, I got a comment from a guy named Dirk, who said,

“Hi, my name is Dirk, I live in Brussels, Europe, and I am doing a research to get my degree in psychological studies. I am in my last year at the “Université Libre de Bruxelles” ( U.L.B.). My research is about the look we people bring upon Japanese animation, depending on the culture we live in.

To be able to do this study, I will need the help of people and anime sites out of Europe, so I can compare these populations. I am asking you here if it would be possible for me to add a link on your site, where people will be linked to a site (in English) were they will see an extract of a Japanese animation, and then they will be asked to respond to a questionnaire. Do you think this could be possible? If “yes”, how should this link look like (for instance, what size should it have?)

I already got like 140 European responses, but only like 8 Asian ones, which is close, but not quiet enough for a research…;o) I hope you can help me to improve this :o)

If you want to have a look at the website, the address is : http://www.toba.lu/memoire”

So here it is. I’m all for people researching anime and trying to find out real information about it, and this post is to give it a little more visibility.

Go, take the poll. Let us find out more about the anime fandom.

The dance of moe

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I believe that the appeal of moe is derived from the viewer and not the product. The basis of moe is in a person’s own feelings of doubt, insecurity, and empathy. Not necessarily that they are full of doubt and insecurity, but rather that they are very aware of its power.

Moe does not always address these feelings head on, but it frequently refers to them in its characters. Even the strongest characters are somehow weak, and weakness is okay for not only the characters, but also the viewers, is the message I believe moe gives.

I don’t think moe is the complete removal of reality and the real world because even the most simplistic of moe addresses the inner feelings of people, and emotions are a world that to any person are more real than the world surrounding them.

Popularity on the internet vs Popularity at cons

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I’m always caught a little off guard by the disparity between popular anime on the internet and at conventions. Shows I thought would garner more cosplay, Gurren-Lagann, Rozen Maiden, among others, are always on the backburner compared to the stalwarts such as Naruto and Bleach. I mean, it’s obvious why, with Naruto and Bleach being enormously popular, but back at Otakon 2007 one series that surprised me with its popularity was Ouran High School Host Club.  Is it because the manga was released here? Did the fansubs just manage to reach an audience which normally wouldn’t have bothered too much with it?

I’m a fan of Ouran myself (Fujioka is the superior Haruhi), but I wonder if there’s a way for me to truly sense the pulse of the anime fandom.

I’d probably have a lucrative job if I could.

New Slayers!

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So the anime which I consider to be THE gateway anime is getting a new tv series, and this makes me quite glad. I’ve seen almost every incarnation of Slayers so far, so I’ll be looking to keep up my track record.

My first hope is that they finally introduce Dynast Grausherra and Deep-Sea Dolphin properly into the Slayers anime universe.

My second hope is that the series is called Slayers Boxer, and that the crew will get some kind of airship.

Nena Trinity may get all the love, but here’s a real woman

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You’re a spineless, pale
pathetic lot
And you haven’t got a clue
Somehow I’ll make a man
out of you

(I know exactly how you feel, Patrick!)

Lena Sayers Love Fest: My-Otome 0 ~S.ifr~ OVA 1

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It is no small secret that the character designer of the HiME series, Hisayuki Hirokazu, loves loves loves the character of Lena Sayers. She is like his personal mascot, equivalent to how the creator of Shaman King feels about Kyouyama Anna.

So watching S.ifr OVA 1 and seeing just how much detail and emphasis has been put on making her as awesome as possible leads me to believe that he’s having a lot of influence on this particular series.

My-Otome 0 ~S.ifr~ is a prequel to My-Otome detailing the adventures of Lena Sayers Yumemiya, mother of Otome heroine Arika. There’s a few surprises, mainly that Lena is using an activation gem completely different from the one we’re familiar with. We also get to see the previous owner of the gem that Sara Gallagher uses in Otome proper. The animation is quite good, the character designs are strong and sexy, and it’s pretty much everything you’d expect from the HiME series at this point, only with tons of Lena love being poured in.

The other adjective I would use to describe it is “Boobariffic.” Lena has quite a pair of assistants, and it’s easy to see why Arika herself developed so much between Otome and Otome Zwei.

Genetics.