http://www.animenano.com/ An anime blog aggregator and community. en-us True to my word, I went ahead and watched the first episode of Baccano off of metalsnakezero’s suggestion. Keep these recommendations coming! The episode has the amusing title “The Vice President Doesn’t Say Anything About the Possibility of Him Being the Main Character” which is about long enough to be the name of a Fall-Out Boy song. As with most of these shows, so far, I found my expectations continually confounded every time I thought I’d pegged the tone of the show. The jazzy opening theme starts with a caper by Bonnie and Clyde-style couple pulling off a heist dressed as a pumpkinhead and pirate (or was it a witch? It went be so fast). I figure I’m in store for a modern version of LUPINE III, which was certainly welcome as I thoroughly enjoyed CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO when I first saw it as a teenager. Then, of course, and I suppose I really shouldn’t be surprised, things get really meta. By “meta”, I mean meta-fictional, which is a narrative sub-genre that either has characters jumping into what they see as fictional story or conceitedly pointing out that they, themselves, are in a fictional story. There are plenty of examples of this in Western popculture. PLEASANTVILLE, LAST ACTION HERO, THE NEVERENDING STORY… even Deadpool and Bugs Bunny’s tendency to talk to the audience are examples of metafiction. In this case, the metafiction manifests in framing sequences of a dialogue between the titular Vice President and a precocious junior reporter. They're discussing who the main character in this story could be. I’ve found it’s always been impossible to judge whether an actor speaking in another language is any good at his performance but, in this case, there seemed to be a higher level of… expressiveness in the voice acting. The Vice President, in particular, was FEELING his role. There’s fantasy upon fantasy in this series, and it was a bit of a trip to see Japanese immortals with dyed hair running around my hometown of Chicago (or was it actually New York? It wasn’t entirely clear.) To me, it felt like some bizarre fever dream I might experience after history class followed by a watching of, I don’t know, Darker Than Black. If the imagination of the English is perpetually stuck in the era of the Tudor Dynasty and Chinese’s forever caught in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms era, than Chicagoans’ minds are always in the 30s Prohibition period this series is set in. Sadly, Al Capone is probably the closest equivalent we have to Ben Franklin in Philly. Anyway, I’m intrigued to see where this geographically, chronically and metafictionally-twisted opus will go. I might check out episode two once I get through some more pilots online, so keep those recommendations coming because I WILL watch them! I CHALLENGE you to! -- Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Comics and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia Comics.   Watch out for the HYBRID BASTARDS! hardcover collection this March - - available for pre-order now on Amazon.com . Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0000 http://www.animevice.com/news/what-the-f-did-i-just-watch-baccano-episode-1/3967/ Heya, I doubt you remember it, but a little more than a year ago I posted on the first two episodes of Haibane Renmei and did a little special on it's DVD bonus features. I actually watched 4 eps at the time, but my intent wasn't episodic blogging and I hadn't found anything in eps 3 and 4 to post about. Well, I'm making another rewatch attempt now, and I guess the year break was worthwhile since I've seen Inglourious Basterds in that time, and I found a little something to post about~ Though I will say, rewatching this is very difficult, because I did not remember the animation sucking so hard and I just got done rewatching Baccano, so I might stop and watch something else to ween myself down from that excellent-animation high. I digress. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:17:42 -0000 http://fuzakenna.com/2010/03/11/haibane-renmei-ep-3-kuu-can-think-like-a-jew-in-nazi-occupied-france/ Ryohgo Narita, the author of Baccano and Durarara, actually has 5 different series written but only one other book looks [...] Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:24:13 -0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thecartdriver/~3/c_pA7Kle2oc/ Oh this episode had been so much fun! There's so much more to love aside from Shizuo in this episode~[ CHARACTER OF THE EPISODE ]There had been so many things to say about the character spotlight in this episode that I had to make a separate entry just for Shizu-chan because there's already so much to say in just adoring him. Haha!I love it that even if this series has different narrators (at least in its earlier episodes), the flow is still the same, and the narrating style is still in-character. I love it that the staff still aims to be creative even on parts that are often being neglected such as the narrating style.Anywayz, back to Shizuo, he's actually a nice guy who wants peace and quiet in his life but unfortunately for him he's easy to piss off and he couldn't control it. But it doesn't seem that he doesn't stay angry at someone for too long (except for you-know-who xD) and he calms down as quickly as he gets angry. He's such a loving person . . . no wonder he also has a number of people close to him. Daaaw~ I guess only an evil psychopath such as Izaya could is capable of hating this guy. Bwahahaha![ THE CELEBRITY ]One of the most important persons to Shizuo is none other than his younger brother: Kasuka. What happened to their parents, I dunno. But they seem to be really close that they're together so often.Kasuka became a popular celebrity. The debut movie was crack. Haha! It's actually quite a surprise that he became an actor because he always wears an emotionless face. I don't see him showing different emotions other than the combat mode on the clip of his debut movie. It would be more belivable if he was just a famous model . . . but hhhmmm, it's still cool that this emotionless guy can actually do great acting. Hehe.But now that Kasuka's so famous, he became so busy that he had less time with his brother. It was so cute to see Shizuo missing his brother. I think Kasuka had felt the same~[ TOM-SAN ]I just realized that Tom's the only guy who calls Shizuo with a "-chan" without Shizuo getting angry at him. So Tom's permitted to treat Shizuo like a kid? Hahaha! It's funny to see it that way because of their current ages.So like Kasuka, Tom appears to be one of the most important persons to Shizuo. He goes facepalm but he doesn't seem to hate Shizuo when he does . . . damages. Hehe. And hhhmm . . . it looks like he's the type who is calm when scolding Shizuo that Shizuo apologizes instead of getting angry at him. People that can handle Shizuo sure are incredible....It was so nice of Tom to give Shizuo a job after Izaya ruined everything. Looks like Shizuo can still act childish and immature sometimes that he needs an older brother figure. Hehe.[ SELTY~ ]Then I guess Selty is the older sister figure to him. I doubt she had ever made him mad. She's very very very very nice. Just talking to her calms Shizuo down. It's her aura. Wahehehe.So how she was introduced to Shizuo was somethign casual. And Shinra had blurted out the fact that Selty was lookin for her head. Shizuo didn't seem to be the type to freak out on supernatural things.I giggled when Selty got mad at Shinra when he teased her. She punched him when he was teasing her for meeting some guy and she squished him when he wants to say that she's gonna be his future . . . hahahahahah! Selty, you have such an amusing fanboy~[ ADORABLE WEIRDO ]LITTLE SHINRA IS SO SQUISHABLE!!!!!!!!!!! xDThe weirdo has been interested in unnatural things. We know he's so into Selty, then I guess it's no surprise that he became interested in Shizuo as well. He was so fascinated and he had made a lot of theories . . . but Shizuo didn't give a damn. All Shizuo knew was that he's just getting stronger. Hehe.It's amusing to watch Shinra still trying to experiment on Shizuo even until they grew up. Shizuo of course rejects him but they still hang out together. I think Shizuo considers Shinra as noisy and idiotic, but he doesn't push him away. Shizuo isn't mean to people who are fond of him =PBut hhhhmmm . . . Shinra's interest on abnormal individuals seem to have no bounderies . . . . because he had become acquainted to the evil psycho as well:[ EVIL BASTARD ]Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~Oh gosh, high school rebel that doesn't even want to wear the school uniform? Or perhaps it's because he thinks that he looks hotter in black? Hahahaha!Izaya didn't only dislike Shizuo . . . he did whatever he can to not only piss him off but also mess up his life. It was really really cruel of him to even thank and pay the guy who accidentally hit Shizuo with a car. He was like encouraging the dude to continue that "noble" act. No wonder Shizuo hates him. They both want to kill each other; but Izaya doesn't just want to kill him . . .but make his life miserable as well.Of course, if he's a character in real life, he's absolutely despicable. But since he's a fictional character . . . .and twisted fictional characters are delightfully crazy . . . I still love him!!! Hahahahahha![ FORMER RAIRA TRIO ]Currently we have Mikado, Kida, and Anri. But the former trio seems to be Shizuo, Izaya, and Shinra. And hhhmm . . . the former trio seems to be a crazier combination compare to the current one. It's not even harmonious, hahaha!Shinra was epic enough to get along with these two extremes, who turn out to hate each other to bits. And Shinra sure is something to manage to put this two in close quarters and even under one roof, without getting himself killed. Haha!Shizuo sees Shinra as some idiot but I think he does consider him as a friend. Izaya, on the other hand, ....I doubt that psycho has true concerns for anybody (in other words, I doubt he has cared for anyone like a true friend). But him and Shinra had been close enough that Izaya hangs out at his place, even if he was just there to boss Shinra around (nail cleaning service, haha!). I find it amazing that Shinra dares to call Izaya an asshole . . . and Izaya just goes "butthurt", hahaha!Whether Izaya does see Shinra as a friend or not, and even if Shizuo and Izaya are like oil and water, this trio can actually be together as long as Shinra's there in the middle. Shinra's certainly incredibly for being able to handle these two. (Though it's pretty creepy that he actually SMILES during the times when these two try to kill each other) Don't underestimate mad doctors!!!! Hehe~[ THEY ARE SO MEANT TO BE ]Now on these two . . . they are so special. They are Romeo and Juliet in an opposite way, because instead of love at first sight, it was hate at first sight xD Haha!These two are so like kids. One of them always running after the other. For some reason, as long as they're in the same city, there will always be chances of Shizuo spotting Izaya like he has some sort of Izaya radar. Come on, Ikebukuro can't be that small for these two to come across each other that often. All their encounters can't be just "coincidences". It's destiny. Whether it's romance or hatred or what, they're so mean tot be. Bwahahahaha!Back to the Romeo and Juliet stuff . . . I remember Romeo calling out Juliet's name so freakin' often . . . and just how freakin' often have we been hearng Shizuo go "IIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!' Bwahahhaahahaha!Oh I freakin' love these two. Their chemistry's so . . .INSANE!!! Hahahaha![ HORSIE LOVE ]Okayz, more crack. As if I wouldn't miss this part! It's so adorable~ *loves horses* Yay for petting horsies~[ PROMOTING MILK ]This is the second time we see characters drinking milk. Hahahaha! Our main characters love 'em~ If the other episodes show main characters drinking milk as well, no doubt about it anymore! DRRR!!'s promoting the healthiness in drinking milk. Haha![ NATURAL HAIR ]Ah, something I am so relieved to see in this series that a lot of anime tend to neglect: the Asian Natural hair color. Japanese people aren't born blonde, or redhead, or nor will they ever have blue or pink hair! Asians go either black or dark brown. If their color is something else, then there's a simple explanation for it: hair dye. Like in real life.Shizuo's awesome in either of his hair colors. Kida dyed his hair too, and the same goes for the anime original girl. I'm so relieved that Izaya didn't think of doing the same. He really looks better in black. Black is his color. But it's amusing to see him in pink though (yay for 2nd dvd cover!)[ DEBT COLLECTING IS TOUGH ]Okayz, some serious stuff. I can't blame Shizuo for being pissed off at those he's collecting debt from. They're a bunch of buttheads. First we have this guy wasting his money on a slut yet he still claims it was for love. Oh if she loved him then he doesn't need such money to be with her. And then there are kids who care nothing about the world as they focus their time on video games. They're a bunch of rude brats too. So uesless to society.It's sad that many people who have a lot of debts in real life are usually this miserable. Not all people who have a lot of debts just borrow money for leisure, but there are more that do . . . and it really must've been fun to kick their ass . . . or in Shizuo's case . . . just throw them in the air! Hahahaha![ NEXT EPISODE ]It looks like many of the main cast will be in next episode, YAY!And I love the Walker + Erika dancing~ I hope they're canon. THey're so like Baccano's Isaac and Miria (they had a poster in episode 7. I forgot which part), except that they're less stupid and more creepy. Hehe~It looks like it's gonna be fun and serious at the same time. Angry Shinra . . . ooooo . . . first time we see him go like that in the anime! Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:37:12 -0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hyper-parfait/~3/-S6ecYrM_9Y/durarara-episode-7.html Truth be told, Dance In the Vampire Bund is the only show I am watching week to week right now… Not because its amazing, but because I have a lot of other stuff to do. And since my next to posts will undoubtedly be series reviews of Baccano! and Ergo Proxy (which my last [...] Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:29:44 -0000 http://oballer.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/dance-in-the-vampire-bund-grade-at-the-half/ Durarara!! is just like Baccano! “Well duh,” you might say, “Thanks for the tautology.” I know the same guy, Narita Ryohgo, wrote both series of novels, but that’s the thing — does he have the taste and talent to write just one type of story?The dilemma reminds me of Guy Ritchie. In fact, Narita’s style [...] Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:44:30 -0000 http://moesucks.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/some-thoughts-on-durarara/ Well I was reading a post by RebirthOfSword and I felt that I should investigate further. Well, instead of investigating I just watched the first episode and became completely hooked by the AWESOME OP, which is a mix of the OP from Bebop and Snatch. Oh, I’ll be nice and embed [...] Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:18:17 -0000 http://oballer.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/baccano-first-impressionsthis-show-is-so-cool/ A good Baccano!-esque title for this episode would be “Shizuo Heiwajima Bends And Smashes Things, But Hates Violence”, but DRRR!! doesn’t use episode title that are as long as... Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:19:30 -0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DeliciousChocoSyrupyWafflesBlog/~3/lIARj7yVH8M/ It's so difficult to think clearly while watching this episode . . . . I spent so much time laughing. Bwahahahaha!!! It's so hilarious! It's the funniest episode so far. Hahahahaha![ BACCANO ]I SAW CLAIRE!!!!!!!! MY LIFE IS COMPLETE!!! LOLzAH, the DVD cover with Maiza and Czes was also there. I think I saw Cencoroll . . . . Jigoku Shoujo . . . .I don't remember the others.Back to Baccano, looks like the password featured in this episode is "baccano". The staff loves their previous masterpiece. Well, they really should because it's a masterpiece. Hehe.[ DOLLARS ]So this episode has revealed to us some of the actual Dollars members and how they're recruited. I am curious how the leader had chosen his/her members. It's like he/she had picked the right people. The four of them look harmless but they turn out to be capable of surprising things! Haha!Oh my god . . . the part of them rejoicing and singing when they figured out where their friend is . . . . EPIC! Hahahahhahahahah!!!!!!!!! And it is important that Dollars has an "S" in the end. LOLz~[ ERIKA and WALKER ]I had been wondering why they often carry bags . . . I thought they're just otaku stuff . . .who would've thought they'd be carrying torture materials as well . . .Hahhahah!!!GO GO OTAKU CHARACTERS WITH EXPERTISE IN TORTURING!!!! Hahahahahhaa!!!!!!! It was so amusing that they made their victim pick among manga for his method of torturing. Hahahha!The one they caught gave in in spilling information thanks to these two. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THEM!Oh they're so crack. They can relate anything otaku-related on anything in life and in the events that happen to them. They had even spotted a younger brother fairy type. Hahaha!Oh yeah, they were given a message of a "kid breaking a bin". They were horrified on their wrong assumption . . . the kidnapping was true . . .but Walker seemed more horrified that a china bowl was broken instead of a bin. Bwahehehhe . . . I love the joke![ WHY KAZTANO IS SPECIAL ]When Togasu was being depressed over losing Kaztano . . . I felt it was so fake (as in, drama queen fake). And then later it seemed so serious, and he even went to the point that he needs Kaztano greatly (he says he can't live without the guy! WHUTOMG!!!!). The rest took him seriously. SO I thought it was indeed gravely serious. That Kaztano guy might be more than what he seemed.But after learning that the reason why Kaztano is very important to him was because he sells him tickets closest to his goddess . . . . oh my god I laughed so hard. Hahhahahahahah!!!!!!! YES!! TO WORSHIPPERS!!! GETTING CLOSE TICKETS IS SACRED!!! Bwahahahahhahahaha!!!!!!!!And for Kyohei to actually see that seiously as well . .. Hahahahha! With his looks and orderly attitude, he appears to be the most serious and sensible among the four . . . .but seeing him joining the "morning routines" . . . .wahahahhahaha . . . .I don't get why the hell he got called Dotachin though. But we're given a hint that Izaya's the one who started that nickname.[ IZAYA-KUN and SHIZU-CHAN ]This is a comedy episode . . .a comical DRRR!! episode is not complete without scenes of Shizu-chan and Izaya-kun!!!! Hahahahahahhaha!!!!!!!!It was awesome that Izaya lucky missed that huge thing. It was cute that he starts running when he has realized that Shizu-chan found him. It was hilarious when Shizu-chan started chasing the running Izaya-kun. They're like a couple of stooges. Bwahahahahha!!!!!!!!Oh yeah . . . . evil manipulator has said something adorably crack again in this episode: "SUSHI LOVE~ I like fatty tuna"BWAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!Ohmygod . . .the way he said it . .. . ohmygod . . . with his character it's freakin' hilarious . . . . but with that line and voicing and his face . . . .I'd want him for a sushi commercial and I'll eat sushi even if I don't eat sushi and I don't like anything fatty. Bwahahhahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!So Izaya was there for the discount. I think he's already filthy rich . . . . but it's so cute that he's still into sales and discounts. Hahahaha!Anywayz, back to the duo, they have this sort of connection with Selty again. Izaya spots her heading for the wrong direction; while it's Shizuo who tells her that she's going the wrong way and points her to the right direction.[ SHINRA and SELTY ]OH THESE TWO!!!!SELTY'S WATCHING AN ALIEN VIDEO!!!!!!! WAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!!!!!AND OH SHINRA!!!! He has mistaken in handing the grocery list to Selty instead of the plate number. Bwahahahahaah!!!!!!!! Shinra's reaction when he realized it was sooooo cute~And oooo . . . we see Shinra in the bath inside. No . . .I'm not a perverted fan over sexy mad doctors. . .. I'm not . . . .I'm not I say . . . .AND NO THAT'S NOT A DROOL!!!!!!! xD Hahahahhahaha!!!!!!!BUT HE'S SINGING THAT HE'S SPRAKLING NEKID!!!!! BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!And hhhmmm . . .. Dotachin knows Shinra, eh? Ah, if I remember correctly they're of the same age. Anywayz, even without knowing that, it gives a hint that Shinra's connected to Dollars. Hehe.[ SIMON and the TRIO ]Though for a comical episode, I find it odd for Kida not to do something exceptionally hilarious . . . but at least he was there. His presence is comedy enough. LOLzAnri is being worried if her friend got kidnapped . . . . then Mikado continues the topic unintentionally (cute that he got scolded by Kida for it~ They weren't talking. It's just the look. IT'S BEST FRIEND SIXTH SENSE!) and Simon even had to make the topic even worse. hahaha!!! I guess the other sushi shop makes him sad so much that he accuses it for selling human sushi??? Poor guy having wild imaginations .. . . hehehe[ HUMAN EXPERIMENTS ]So there's this rumor about humans that won't be noticed to be kidnapped for experiments. It's creepy to think if these things still happen until today. If they want victims, there's so many to choose among the homeless. *remembers a serial murder case episode that is somewhat like that* Frightening . . . .And it appears that this group also has The Head. I've been seeing theories that the head was transferred to the head of Seiji's girlfriend. But since the head is still there, the mystery now for me is why there's a neck cut. Hmmmmm . . . .So anywyaz, the one on the top who's handling such a business is none other than Seiji's sister:[ NAMIE ]SHE HAS FINALLY SHOWN UP!!! HOOOORAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!Well, I don't like her type of work. But she is this beautiful evil goddess with a creepy obsession on her little brother (It's so obvious with the way she says Seiji's name and on how she spoils him!)She is the evil like Izaya. She's my favorite female character in fact. And yeah, I ship her with my favorite guy in the series. They haven't interacted yet, but they're VERY shippable. They make a crazy couple if ever they'll really be one, but oh those two together are so awesome together. Hahahahah![ NEXT EPISODE ]SHIZU-CHAN'S TURN???? YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!AND WE'LL BE SEEING THOSE TWO IN THEIR HIGH SCHOOL DAYS!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!AND THEY ARE HAVING AN ACTUAL BATTLE!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YOUNG SHINRA'S ALSO THERE!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Waaaaahhh . . . . .I wanna see this soon *_* Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:23:39 -0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hyper-parfait/~3/L6CdHaL5dUY/durarara-episode-6.html better than vending machine to the face. The Reason I gave up Baccano was that there were too many characters and the none linear story.     Thank goodness Durarara has a linear story line.    I know there is a beginning and I know we are moving to some good mysteries.    This is the most engaging part of [...] Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:16:36 -0000 http://animediet.net/uncategorized/durarara-2-6