The Fun of Collaborative Top 10 Lists

Posted on by

Or Top 20, 50, 100, etc.

Anime and manga are full of these things. There’s lists in Shounen Jump series ranking the popularity of their characters. There’s Saimoe, which is essentially one giant list. Every forum in every language devotes some time to getting together to compile a list of most (and occasionally least) favorites. I like looking at these things, but it’s not just to see how high my favorites place, though I’m always pleased to see them do well. The real point of looking at lists is to observe any trends that may be happening, even if it’s trends simply among a very vocal minority.

You can infer all sorts of information from ranking lists. Take a look at the Top Anime list on My Anime List. It says a lot about the people who bother to participate in My Anime List. Gurren-Lagann right now enjoys the #1 spot with a lot of people having viewed it. When you remember that not only was it well-regarded during its fansub days but that it also recently finished airing on Sci-Fi Network it makes a lot of sense. By comparison, when you look at the high ranking from Legend of the Galactic Heroes in contrast with its relatively low number of viewers, you know it has a loyal fanbase. Those who bother to watch it at all come away astounded. When a very old work or character places high on a list, you know that something is up and this one is probably going to be fondly remembered for a long time.

The real fun though is from the inherent drama that comes from trying to make lists. There’s always tons of passionate arguing as people defend their characters with sweat and tears. Even if you don’t look at the arguments which precede or follow the list, the list iself is like a condensed summary of all the debate and hair-pulling that may have happened.

Dragonball: Evolution Trailer is More Disappointing the Second Time Around

Posted on by

Let’s face it, the Dragonball: Evolution trailer is exactly what we thought it would look like when he saw the words “Dragonball” and “Hollywood” together. That darkish color scheme, that voiceover, that trying-hard-to-be-cool-and-relevant feeling, it’s all there just as it was there in our minds. No one should be surprised. Disappointed yes, but not surprised.

When I first watched the trailer I wasn’t paying full attention and there was a scene where a vehicle transforms. Originally I heard Goku say, “Boom,” and I thought, “Hey that’s a pretty clever reference to those comical clouds of smoke that said “BOMB” in big block letters whenever anyone used a Capsule Corp. Capsule in the original material.” Maybe there was an inkling of hope after all.

But no, he actually said, “Cool.”

I’m still gonna go see the movie anyway.

And then hope that James Marsters manages to pull a good performance out of it, like Raul Julia as M. Bison.

A Never-Ending Journey

Posted on by

JLPT2 Damage Report

Posted on by

A day late, but what’s over is over and I can take as long as I want to reflect.

Keep in mind that I’m not allowed to talk about the actual content of the test or else my score is invalidated, and it wouldn’t be that hard for someone to find this blog and go “Hmmmmm…” especially because I have that “jlpt” category. I’ll have to respect the Japan Society’s wishes.

I don’t actually know how well I performed, but I was able to finish each section with time to spare and that’s certainly a leg up from the practice test I took a few weeks back. Taking the practice test (which is just the exam from 2007) helped a lot, as it showed me where I needed to manage my time better and what I needed to study more.

I feel pretty good about it, but I can’t make any guarantees, and we won’t find out our scores until March.

For those of you who took the JLPT with me, I hope you all did your best. Regardless of whatever score you’ll achieve, I’m sure you all managed to learn a lot.

As an aside, looking at the JLPT1 Success rates on Wikipedia is kind of frightening. Because you look at the number of people who passed and it’s “33%.”

Then you realize that it’s 33% pass rate for people… IN JAPAN.

Yeaaahhh I don’t think I’m aiming for that any time soon.

Headfuns

Posted on by

Just Looks Pretty Tough, me

Posted on by

Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2 in a few hours.

Total test time is 2 and a half hours, with breaks it comes out to more like 3 or 4.

It seems to be as much a test of endurance as it is knowledge.

I know I’m not the only one taking the JLPT at its various levels, so let’s do this thing.

Unless your Time Zone is way ahead of mine and you’ve already done this thing.

Helpful tip for when you AAAAAAAA

Posted on by

This is the kanji meaning extreme, pole, utmost, that sort of thing. The on reading is pronounced “kyoku” or “goku” depending, but I was having trouble remembering the kun reading. Then I figured out a very useful way of memorizing it.

Kun reading: Kiwami (極み)

I AM MORE THAN MECHA, MY DARLING

Posted on by

People know I like giant robot anime, but at the same time I like to think that my taste in anime is pretty diverse, as is my collection of actual anime DVDs. I’m proud to say I like mecha and super robots, but I don’t like being pegged as solely a fan of giant robots.

Then I passed by a row of anime dvds in my room (there’s other DVDs elsewhere) and I noticed Godannar, Gravion, Tetsujin 28, Eureka Seven, and Infinite Ryvius all lined up next to each other.

At my feet right now are the Gurren-Lagann LE box 1 and Zambot 3, too.

I don’t know if this is actually a lot, but it’s just this feeling that if I were in a tv show or something I would be all, “You cannot simply place me into this narrow category you call ‘mecha fans’ dear,” but then my own room would betray me.

And somehow they wouldn’t notice all the Genshiken DVDs stacked up next to each other. Alas.

Ah so

Posted on by

In my quest to finds clips online that aren’t anime to help with my listening comprehension, I found out that Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso aka Rozen Aso has his own Nico Nico Douga channel. What better way to practice than with the man, the legend?

So I say, but actually the most I got out of this was learning a new phrase: マスゴミ (masugomi)

マスコミ (Mass Communication, masukomi) + ゴミ (Garbage, gomi) = マスゴミ (Mass Garbage) or something along the lines of useless politics, etc. talk.

It’s a useful phrase.

Thin-line Fashionable

Posted on by