The Fujoshi Files 3: Houshakuji Renge

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Name: Houshakuji, Renge (宝積寺れんげ)
Alias: Renge-sama (れんげ様)
Relationship Status: Single
Origin: Ouran High School Host Club

Information:
Houshakuji Renge is the manager for the Host Club of Ouran High School. She is obsessed with visual novels and moe, and often blurs the line between fantasy and reality. The most notable example occurs during her first appearance at Ouran High School, where she assumes Host Club member Ootori Kyouya to be her fiancee due to a physical resemblance to her favorite visual novel character. She also begins to fancy newest member Fujioka Haruhi, until Haruhi is revealed to actually be a girl in drag and not just an effeminate boy.

Renge loves to cosplay and can often be seen in various stylish outfits, chief among them being a cosplay of Kisaragi Quon in bikini from the anime RahXephon. Outside of school, Renge can be seen hosting a live Sentai performance at a local mall for kids, partially to entertain, partially as an excuse to wear another cute outfit.

Renge is often heard before being seen. When the situation is right, a shrill laughter can be heard over the grinding gears of a high-powered motor, signaling her arrival.

Fujoshi Level:
The biggest indicator of Renge’s fujocity is the fact that, in a school where the Host Club exists, where almost every girl has a burning desire for guy on guy action, Renge is their queen and leader, and the one whom all the girls look up to in order to gain deeper insight into what it means to be a lover of boys’ love. In that respect, Renge is unassailable.

It’s over 400: Pokemon Diamond & Pearl: Dialga vs Palkia vs Darkrai

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So the 10th Pokemon movie is about

VS

VS

This is the first Pokemon movie for the Diamond and Pearl series, which brings the total number of known Pokemon to almost 500.

Dialga is called the “Time-ruling Pokemon” and Palkia the “Space-ruling Pokemon.”  Normally they’re never supposed to meet, so when they encounter each other in a dimensional rift, they naturally end up fighting one other.  Their powers are so tremendous that it affects our dimension as well, though in such a way that is unfathomable to humans.  Darkrai is another powerful Pokemon who lives in the city Satoshi and friends travel to, and its defining trait is that it induces nightmares in any being it meets.  The people blame Darkrai for their problems, but it turns out Darkrai is actually trying to save the city, and thanks to everyone, the city is saved from being forever disintegrated by space and time destroying one another.  In the end, the most important lesson is understanding one another.

It’s everything you’d expect out of a Pokemon movie.  I’ve seen every single one prior to it, and I’d rank it somewhere in the same placing as the 9th movie, Pokemon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea Manaphy.  I still consider the first movie to be the best one, though I know I can’t exactly fairly judge this movie because I’m not quite into Pokemon the way I was back when I first saw Mewtwo Strikes Back.  Still, I feel like Dialga vs Palkia vs Darkria did not have quite as much substance as Mewtwo Strikes Back, or even something like Lord of the “Unknown” Tower.  Still, I have no doubts any kid who is a Pokemon fan would enjoy this movie, and more often than not, it is quite well-animated.

It also features Lickilicky (Japanese name Beroberuto), one of my favorite Pokemon of the new generation, so it wins points for that.

Vote for Raoh

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Seriously, do it.  Viral is decent but he’s no Raoh.  Raoh, who is the End of Century Conqueror.  Raoh, who decides that in order to bring peace to the land he must rule over it and its endless hordes of mohawked goons so that he can control them.  Raoh, the demon who eats demons.  And Raoh, the character so manly, he launches his life force into the heavens by himself, rather than needing a proper funeral to do so.

Genshiken Novel Pre-Order impossible?

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Having checked with Amazon Japan, Asahiya, and Kinokuniya, it seems that it is not possible to pre-order the book before the January 23rd release date.  The only option is to order it afterwards, which seems kind of odd to me.

Well, there’s no special deluxe edition either so there’s no chance of missing out on it, so waiting till after the 23rd doesn’t seem so bad.

I am late: Densha Otoko

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So after having passively avoided much of Densha Otoko’s tv drama for the longest time (I was even IN Japan while it was airing and still hardly saw any of it), I finally sat down and plowed through the main Densha Otoko story (I have yet to touch the special episodes).

Densha Otoko is based off of the allegedly true story of an otaku on the 2channel messageboard who manages to save a girl from a drunk on the train (hence the title “Train Man”), and afterwards begins to ask the messageboard for advice on how to woo the girl, who he refers to as “Hermes.”  Eventually, thanks to the genuine and heartfelt advice he receives from his fellow posters, he is able to win the girl over and start dating her.  The TV drama uses this same basic idea, but dramatizes it further (of course), giving faces and personalities to the various anonymous voices, and showing much more of the Densha Otoko’s life.

The drama is very, very cheesy, but I could feel tears welling up in my eyes at certain points while watching.  It can be a very moving show, and it taps into people’s common desire to not be alone.   It also shows that relationships can transcend common societal barriers.  Hermes is a beautiful woman from upper class society, while Densha Otoko is an awkward otaku who is barely a salaryman, and yet they manage to find each other and fall in love.  Everyone but Densha himself is anonymous on the thread to which Densha posts, but together they realize that they have all become true friends with Densha and each other, united by the desire to see someone so earnest and honest fulfill his dream.

The Densha Otoko phenomenon actually caused a brief period where girls tried to get otaku boyfriends, having become enamored with the idea of the hopeless dork with a heart of gold.  After having watched Densha Otoko, I can see why this would be the case.   The sad fact is that a lot of otaku you meet are actually just selfish people with horrible personalities, just like any other group in society, but I can ignore it for now.  At its core, it’s not about the improbability of an otaku finding love, but about looking to the person inside.

The History of Fujoshi at Otaku Champloo

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Khursten of Otaku Champloo has recently begun posting articles on the history of fujoshi and their relationship with Shounen Jump.  It’s a fascinating read, and as someone who has no interest in yaoi beyond academic and historical purposes (as well as certain characters within anime and manga who happen to be into it) I feel a little more enlightened.

Intro

Captain Tsubasa

Remember that Ogiue is very much a Shounen Jump fujoshi with her preference for titles such as Saint Seiya and Scram Dunk.

Friends are wonderful

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This actually occurred a few days ago, bu thanks to the generous efforts of kransom and his recent trip to Japan, I will finally obtain the limited edition Genshiken volume 6 (with school swimsuit Renko cosplay Ogiue) INCLUDING the official Project G doujinshi.

With this, my Genshiken manga collection is complete. Thank you, sir.

Well actually no, I still need to get REGULAR edition Volume 9, as well as the upcoming light novel.

And possibly the Del Rey version as well if I want to be truly hardcore.

Please make it happen

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I propose that whenever anyone speaks about Gundam 00, particularly in real life, they should call it “Gundam Ooooooh.”

Gundam 00, Season 1, Episodes 1-13

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I have finally gotten around to watching Gundam 00, and now at the end of part 1 of season 1 (episodes 1-13), I find myself with a series which manages to be culturally relevant and captures the spirit of Gundam without actually trying.

I am aware of the fact that the director of Gundam 00, Mizushima Seiji, has said that he’s never seen a Gundam series before, and that this was an intentional decision by the staff to get some fresh ideas into Gundam. I know there are some disagreements among fans about this, but you know who else never saw any Gundam before directing his first Gundam series? Tomino Yoshiyuki, that’s who.

A technicality yes, but the point is that Tomino, like Mizushima, did not approach his directorial role from the position of a mecha fan or a fan of the conventions of giant robot series. The result is a pleasing series which tries its best to show that even in this fictional world of hot girls and suave (mentally damaged) men, that world peace is not so easy to achieve.

When viewing Gundam 00, I feel as if I’m looking at a very elaborate jigsaw puzzle. There are many parts to it, and eventually it will form a greater whole, but I can’t see where exactly everything will fit into place. It’s pretty interesting slowly watching the plot and world unfold. Everything and every character is given prominence in the series, and to continue my jigsaw puzzle analogy, the main gundam pilots, the Gundam Meisters, are like the corner pieces. They are only more important in their role of being a helpful start, but the true main characters are everyone else, from the politicians to the other pilots to the civilians. Gundam 00 is a series which asks the viewer to see a bigger picture.

Now, Celestial Being’s goal of eliminating warfare is something we’ve seen before in Gundam series, especially when this goal is being carried out by a series of bishounen. One main difference from its predecessors though is that their idealism is not the reality of the show. Celestial Being acknowledges the sheer logistical difficulty of trying to prevent war via giant mobile death platforms, and sees that an ideal is just an ideal no matter how hard they fight towards it. Sacrifices must be taken, concessions must be made, it isn’t all rainbows and flowers and they know it. Even the “Relena” of this series, Marina Ismail, acknowledges this from the very start.

As I said in my Votoms part 1 review, I am at the point where the plot will truly begin. Congratulations Gundam 00, I am proud to call you a Gundam series.

PS: I laughed my ass off when I saw the sudden arrival of Future Kato.

How to tell that Ogiue really likes Sasahara

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I think this is somewhat common knowledge among Genshiken, but I’ll put it down here for archival purposes or something.

Ogiue is really affected by her relationship with Sasahara, and the biggest indicator of this is her eyes. If you compare Ogiue prior to dating Sasahara and Ogiue during her relationship with him, you’ll notice that she has a glimmer in her eyes that she didn’t have previously, not even during junior high.

Shiawase ni~

PS: This of course doesn’t quite apply to Genshiken 2 anime, because the way her eyes are drawn are different, and have a lower shine similar to Osaka.