Be Mindful of Your Surroundings: Dennou Coil

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In 2007, Dennou Coil hit the anime scene and blew everyone (who watched it) away. Touting one of the most impressive production staffs in recent history, Dennou Coil went on to win numerous awards, even one that was not exclusive to anime. If you want a very basic idea of Dennou Coil and its level of quality, keep in mind that it won some of these awards alongside Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann. Dennou Coil however is nothing like Gurren-Lagann, general excellence aside.

In the world of Dennou Coil, the latest craze among kids are these special glasses which let them see a nearly both the real world and cyberspace mapped 1:1. This isn’t a Digital World that whisks you far, far away, this is simply a digital world. If there’s a garbage can in the real world, there will be on in the cyber world exactly where the real one would be, though for the safety of everyone it doesn’t work the other way around. “Dennou” literally means “Electric Brain,” and is one way of saying “computer” in Japanese.

The story focuses on two girls both named Yuuko, who each get nicknames based on the spelling of their names in Japanese and their basic personalities. Okonogi Yuuko, nicknamed Yasako for her gentle personality, is an elementary school girl who inherited her cyber-glasses from her grandfather, a man who was central to the development of the glasses. At the start of Dennou Coil, she has just recently moved from her home town to Daikoku City where her grandmother lives. Amasawa Yuuko, nicknamed Isako for her confidence and bravery, is a girl the same age as Yasako. In an environment where mischievous kids with a little bit of know-how in manipulating the virtual landscape call themselves hackers, Isako is known as a “programmer,” someone with intimate knowledge of the cyber world far exceeding the norm.

Daikoku City is a playground of sorts for those who wear the glasses, as kids compete with each other to find shiny, crude digital stones known as metabugs, which translate directly into currency in the virtual world, which translate into tool such as laser beam attacks and steel walls with which kids can participate in general shenanigans. Keeping them on their toes is a very robust and merciless anti-virus program named “Satchii” that will attack anything that doesn’t belong, which includes the illegal add-ons most kids are equipped with in Daikoku City.

Dennou Coil was produced by Madhouse, one of the oldest Japanese animation studios and responsible for an incredible range of works such as Ace o Nerae!, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Kaiba. The project is headed by Iso Mitsuo, a key animator for Giant Robo OVA and FLCL who is the head writer, director, and original creator of Dennou Coil. Animators include Honda Takeshi and Inoue Toshiyuki, both of whom have worked on Kon Satoshi’s movies such as Millennium Actress and Perfect Blue.

To say the least, Dennou Coil is a very impressive show.  The show’s themes and general feel are always changing, always keeping you on your toes. Sometimes it’s about kids having fun in a world meant for kids. Sometimes it’s about exploring the mysteries of the virtual world and outrunning Satchii. At one point, Dennou Coil turns into survival horror. And the amazing thing is, it all makes sense given the world of Dennou Coil. It is consistent without being predictable, and varied without losing focus. As I watched Dennou Coil from start to finish, I had one thought sitting strong in my head. “Ah, so this is what it’s like to have a show planned out from start to finish.”

You have shows which are described as “a little bit of everything,” but Dennou Coil, to paraphrase Chef  Boyardee, Jr., is “a lot of bit of everything.” It evokes a sense of discovery and wonder in the little things in life that I really enjoy in shows. The world of Dennou Coil is deep and robust, and the more academic anime fan could probably write multiple theses on some of the ideas present in Dennou Coil. The show’s major plot lines get stronger and stronger as the series progresses, and does so in a way where you can notice that they’ve been building up to the climax. Single-episode stories are also present, and they range from the silly to the heart-felt. Even the recap episode is entertaining as it takes place from the perspective of a character who normally doesn’t get to speak much. The storytelling is subtle without being excessively obtuse. Vital information is explained only as far as you need to know. The animation is amazing, with quality that is almost unheard of for a television series, especially in recent years. A great number of the staff members have extensive experience as animators and it shows, from the way characters interact with the environment to the way they express themselves to the world of Dennou Coil itself runs on a day-to-day basis. And the characters in Dennou Coil are among the best I’ve ever seen.  In terms of visual design and personality, the characters are distinct without being shallow, and the character  development in this show is on another level entirely. They learn and grow, they laugh and cry, the emotions that run through them all feel incredibly genuine, a “realistic virtual world” in a very different sense.

I have not re-watched Dennou Coil since finishing it, but I definitely know that it’s the kind of show that can be viewed repeatedly. Dennou Coil has a lot of depth from its animation quality to its writing, from its world to its characters, but that depth and sophistication has no high entry barriers. You can enjoy the show at any level, as it will reward you no matter what.

Book Off 20% Off Sale

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For those of you who like manga at extra-affordable prices and live near a Book Off, you should know that Book Off is having a sale now until the end of February. They’re taking 20% off anything that doesn’t already cost $1.00, and this is on top of the already low prices that Book off gets due to having primarily used merchandise.

I myself picked up two volumes of La Sommelière and two volumes of Nazo no Kanojo X. Don’t worry though, Book Off also has English-translated manga for sale too.

The New York store is selling the third Gloizer-X box set for only $162. If that doesn’t get you out of your seat, I don’t know what will!

Less than 1 Week Until New York Comic Con

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Let’s see what fun surprises are in store for us.

Not really much in the way of anime-relevant guests but for comics in general the guest list is astounding. You have Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Brian Michael Bendis, ART SPIEGELMAN, Gabe and Tycho, and Marv Wolfman and George Perez, among many others. And I hear the Ravedactyl artist’s alley table is gonna be back this year. Let’s hope the man himself also makes an appearance!

Panels and screenings are a bit more anime/manga-relevant but still kind of hilarious. “Turning A Bestselling Series into Manga: A Dark-Hunter Journey.” Well, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt for now.

There’s the Live Action Yatterman movie which I feel needs some watching.

The Fujoshi Files 8: Nidou Kaneru

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Name: Nidou, Kaneru (二道かねる)
Alias: Kaneru　(かねる)
Relationship Status: Single
Origin: Doujin Work

Information:
Nidou Kaneru is a young office assistant who draws doujinshi on the side and dreams of entering the world of professional manga. What Nidou lacks in talent, she makes up for with enthusiasm. Nidou Kaneru is very enthusiastic.

Originally not a fan of male/male relationships, she is convinced to start drawing yaoi by fellow doujin artist Tsuyuri aka Pantsuko. Although she is unable to sell even a single copy at first, Nidou does gain a degree over success over time. However, whenever she entertains the notion of quitting her dayjob to draw full time, her friends are quick to remind her of the merits of steady employment.

Nidou tends to act in a manner not quite befitting her age, and is patronized by everyone from higher-ups at work to elementary school students. Her main rival is the money-loving doujin artist Osana Najimi, and her best friend is her peace-loving teddy bear Aeolus.

Fujoshi Level:
Although Nidou Kaneru starts off drawing guy-on-guy doujinshi at the recommendation of another, it does not make her any less authentic as a fujoshi. After her artistic transformation, Nidou is unable to see two men together without thinking of the possibilities, whether it be two men who actually hate each other or even brothers.

I Sound Like a Giant Dork

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Catch me and the fine folks at Super Fanicom real-time-podcasting episode 2 of Madhouse’s very great new show Rideback.

Even if you don’t listen to the podcast, go watch the damn show. Seriously.

Reminder that Shounen Jump’s Special Anime Streaming is About to End

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I’m here to remind everyone that January 31st, 2009 is the last day you can see the three  exclusive Shounen Jump anime specials airing on their official website.

I already wrote a review for their Dragon Ball special, so check it out.

The One Piece special is an isolated episode, but it’s the fun and wonder you’ve grown to expect out of One Piece. Even if you’ve never actually seen One Piece before it’ll be all right as long as you’re not afraid of spoilers, as the Straw Hat Pirate crew is pretty far along by this point.

This is Letter Bee’s first anime, and it’s really nice to look at. Kind of atypical for a shounen jump series, Letter Bee feels a little more subdued than expected, which I can only call a good thing.

I’d write longer reviews but I realized that by the time I wrote them, it’d be already too late.

So go forth, young anime fan!

The Etymology of J9 Robot Names

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J9, Merciless J9. Maybe you’ve heard of them, maybe you haven’t. But they’ve got some pretty interesting giant robots with interesting names like Braiger, Baxinger, and Sasuraiger, and you might be interested in how they got these names.

The Brai in Braiger (ブライガー) refers to the Japanese word burai (無頼), which means “villainy.” The members of J9 are scoundrels of sorts.

The Baxin in Baxinger (バクシンガー) refers to two words: bakushin (驀進) meaning “dash” as in to “dash forward,” and bakushin (幕臣) meaning “vassal,” which explains the medieval era-inspired fashion sense of J9II. It might also refer to bakushin (爆心), meaning “center of an explosion.”

Finally, the  Sasurai in Sasuraiger (サスライガー) refers to sasurai (流離), or “wandering,” which is exactly what J9III does.

Hope this has been helpful for those of you who’ve wondered about this, i.e. all two of you.

Wine Is in Her Blood: La Sommelière Volume 3

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The central theme of La Sommelière is that wines are capable of carrying special meanings for people from all walks of life, with very different levels of experience with wine. Volume 3 exemplifies this theme even more than in previous volumes. In this volume, the wine-tasting men are separated from the boys, L’espoir gets a new chef, old men get a new lease on life, and apprentice Sommelière Itsuki Cana learns that her father Itsuki Kouchi, whom she’s never met, was once infamously known among Japanese wine enthusiasts as the “Swindler.”

When the assistant of Japan’s #1 wine critic Minoshima Ryouichi visits L’espoir with revenge in mind, he instead is tricked into believing a bottle of Lieu-Dit Clos de Mont-Rachet is a real Montrachet. Shocked that he could fail despite all his time spent with Minoshima, Minoshima explains that the key to the deception was that the wine was served late. Chardonnay, more than even other white wines, is influenced heavily by small changes in temperature, and the increased dryness that resulted from a slightly warmer bottle of Clos de Mont-Rachet was able to fool his inexperienced taste buds. Minoshima then fires the assistant and kicks him out of the car. For Minoshima, fine wine is like fine art, and to be strung into a petty squabble over wine diminishes everyone involved.

In one instance, Cana comes across a self-proclaimed “genius chef” named Mizushima Kazuki who laments that not only is all wine terrible but that the people of Japan are unable to appreciate his cooking. Cana reprimands him, and gives him a glass of vintage 2000 Domaine Carneros Le Rêve, a California wine which won the title of “Best Sparkling Wine in America.” The flavor of apples, lychee, and carneros, a unique combination indicative of the diversity of America, shows Mizushima that perhaps the fault lie not with his patrons being unable to appreciate his cuisine, but rather with Mizushima being unable to understand the tastes of his customers. Grateful, Mizushima ends up being L’espoir’s new chef when their old one quits.

In another instance, Cana serves two decades-long business partners a 2004 Müller-Thurgau, a Japanese white wine from Hokkaido. The two men are shocked that a Japanese wine could be so delicious. Cana goes on to explain that the history of the wine was similar to their history as business partners.  The Müller-Thurgau vineyard began in 1975 with the goal of creating a respectable Japanese white wine. However, Hokkaido’s climate is unsuitable for making wine, and a general trend at the time towards red wine and away from white made it even more difficult. Despite these disadvantages, the Müller-Thurgau persevered and found success, much like them.

Finally, in the case of Cana’s father, an old friend of his named Saeki (a rich, wide-eyed, elderly man introduced in Volume 1) explains  to Cana that the reason he was known as the “Swindler” was because Kouichi was notorious for passing off cheap wines as valuable ones. To reinforce his point, Saeki shows Cana the wines that her father left behind as a legacy,  all of them inexpensive French wines such as Chateau Tour Des Gendres Bergerac Rouge. However, Cana immediately realizes that her father wasn’t trying to deceive people, he was trying leave behind the message that all wines have their place in the world. This point is made stronger by the fact that despite Saeki’s own extensive collection, these simple wines are nowhere present except in Kouichi’s box.

Wine plays a very significant role in La Sommelière. It dictates the pacing of the narrative, and educates while simultaneously enhancing the story and drama. The story now has two underlying plots: Cana’s pursuit of the mysterious benefactor John Smith, and the history of her father Itsuki Kouichi. The artwork continues to be very appropriate given the subject matter, and the conventional panel layouts lead the viewer’s eyes well. Everything works together to just make it a pleasant reading experience. Whether you read just one chapter or all of them, La Sommelière is the kind of story that lets you take in as much as you want.

Oh!! That’s a New Year

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Move Over, Music

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There was a time when I would download any and every anime song I could find, and scour P2P programs to find the most obscure songs possible, but at some point I fell off that wagon. Maybe it was that eventually songs became so easy to find that downloading individual songs made way for downloading entire soundtracks, and the fear that music would eat up hard drive space left me hesitant to just grab them all willy-nilly.

What ended up happening was that I felt there were giant holes in my song collection, and after a few years of this I decided yesterday that I should start to make up for it. So there I went getting songs old and new, trying to make up for lost time, and feeling out of place with people who download music like they drink water and don’t really have to think about it. It’s also then that I noticed something: silence. The funny thing about this silence is that once upon a time I’d have anime music playing whenever I was at the computer. It was a constant of my internet and anime experience, with Hayashibara Megumi never far away in the song list. What changed? It can’t be that I got tired of it, as I bring my mp3 player everywhere I go. At some point though, j-pop made way for the click-clacking of the keyboard. It sort of reminds me of a change I went through in regards to what I liked to draw on. Before college, I hated using sketchbooks but in college it became all that I used to the point that I even took class notes in sketchbooks.

I’m sure it’s all tied together. Most likely, the more new music I wanted to get, the more music I had, and thus the more I had to simply listen to, but I feel like I can’t really explain why the change occurred.