well, I didn’t like it one bit. I didn’t write summary since I skipped through most of it. I still took some screenshots, just in case if you are interested. For me, I will probably never touch this series ever again. [...]
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A good Friday afternoon to everybody out there. Anybody watching the World Cup matches today? Not me since I'm at work now ＿|￣|○ Anyways, it's been one of those weeks for me -- zero energy, haven't felt like doing much of anything beside going to work and coming home, then watching stuff and just being lazy in general. Not good timing with the rush of new shows starting (^^;) Actually sleep decently last night so I've got a bit more motivation to get things done today, though ;) The new season got underway yesterday and continues on tomorrow with even more shows starting. Here's Saturday's lineup of new shows that I'll be watching: Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z - 7:00 (Friday, 6pm Eastern) Otogi Juushi Akazukin - 9:00 (Friday, 8pm Eastern) Mamotte! Lollipop - 26:00 (Saturday, 12pm Eastern) Tsuyokiss - 26:05 (Saturday, 12:05pm Eastern). You can watch the OP here ...too many for one day, really ＿|￣|○ As usual, I can't guarantee I'll write something about all of those, but we'll see.Yoake mae yori ruri-iro na - Crescent Love - Site Open ..and if I could access it I might be able to say more here ＿|￣|○ It's based on the game by August (some of you might remember them as the company that did Hanihani).. Ah, there it goes... rather slow at the moment. Ahem... Story, Cast/Staff and Character Info on there now. Only cast listed for now is Feena@Hitomi Nabatame, the animation will be handled by Daume. It's scheduled to air on BS-i this Fall. Japan: Anime's Highs and Lows (Next Generation) Next Generation's Japanese correspondant comments on the current state of anime as he sees it, then connects it to Japanese gaming in general -- and he doesn't like it. I'll quote a bit here to give you a taste. The first paragraph:"I'd like to say that the sea of Japanese pop-culture contains a few glimmering pearls that manage to never wash up on Western shores. I'd like to tell you that modern Japanese entertainment consists of more than the tacky "idol" singers in brightly-colored clothes who dance and kind of sing in front of audiences of obsessed middle-aged men. I'd like to tell you that animated pornography starring girls and monsters in the Japanese style is actually being made by some other country as something of a practical joke." And another quote:"All we see, now, are wacky, tacky, tired animated shows about large-breasted, pink-haired schoolgirls squealing and punching and blasting psychic powers. (I'm not referencing any particular series, by the way, just a generalization.) If you consider Japanese pop culture "wacky" or "crazy" or even "zany" -- it's not your fault. It's just because no one's really trying." The writer seems to prefer what you could say are more "literary", or "high" forms of entertainment, so it's not surprising he holds this view. It's true that there are plenty of shows and games like the kind sweepingly generalized in the above quotes, but just about any form of popular entertainment just about anywhere in the world has parts that appeal to what could be called the "lower" desires of its audience in this view. Like the writer, I do enjoy the works of "high" culture like the films made by Studio Ghibli, or Shigesato Itoi's Mother series of games, but I neither expect nor desire everything to be that way. I watch anime to have fun and enjoy myself, that's all. Sure, some of the things I watch (and might enjoy as a guilty pleasure) fall into the writer's stereotype of anime, but there are plenty that don't. And while they might not exactly have "literary" aspirations, some shows might have themes that even the writer would approve of -- ARIA's message to find wonder in the small, everyday things in life, for example... It's just very frustrating to me to have to explain why the the picture of anime presented in the media (often times much like the quotes above) isn't entirely accurate. ..and that's enough about that for now ;)
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A Word From Some Jabroni I was able to clear several series from my regular viewing roster this week, and I am so estatic about that I can't describe the feeling in human terms. Not only do I have a ever increasingly pathetic ADSL data cap and the looming Summer season that will stretch it to laughable proportions to worry about, over in America (y'know, that place without Pocky) midseason
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The Tsuyokiss official website has been updated to include what I am guessing is a 15 second WMV downloadable and a quicktime streamable trailer. I say I am guessing because Japan is hammering the server so bad that even the images are dead. I will link you guys to it, and keep you updated. And if [...]
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Contrary to popular belief, I don’t actually dislike tsundere characters. My main problem is that I think that tsundere characters can often make it easy for lazy hack writers to toss in a subplot and a character development arc, both of which are generally regarded as “good” things to have in a story, but [...]
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Peorth! Yea, yea, I just watched episode 7 of Aa! Megami-sama: Sorezore no Tsubasa. And I finally get to see the lovely Peorth again after a 5 year hiatus from the movie (I hear people laughing, well screw ya!, lol). I think my interest in her after the movie was mainly because of the sheer boredom of constantly only seeing Bell-chan, Urd and Skuld in the animated series. And she's sorta hot, I guess. ^^ Anyway, her appearance coincides with a chapter somewhere late in the manga (60+? Can't be bothered to look) when Keiichi accidentally calls her. Didn't expect her to be so 'crazy' after her role as Yggdrasil's administrator thingy in the movie. Sakuma Rei must have drunk too much happy juice before the recording. =) And just for the heck of it, I've posted some pictures of her latest appearance.Watching this episode also made me think some. Anyone who watches feel there's nothing but same old stuff in the Ah! My Goddess series? I mean, I guess it was supposed to be a romance-type anime, and it also coincides with the manga, but Keiichi and Belldandy were basically 'together' by episode 7-8 of the FIRST season. Their little dates and hardly entertaining problems with their senpais can only hold a series together for so long. And their relationship is so much like Belldandy being a doormat for the great Keiichi to wipe his feet on. She's a goddess, for crying out loud.And for such a 'straight-arrow, knows nothing but goddess work' type of goddess, you'd expect her to take abit longer before she realizes she loves this very,very normal human. It's so carved in stone that even plays on some jealousy can only last one episode ala episode 5. Now with Peorth, she's just arrived and it's already showing. You can't have a love story without a rival, but in this case, it's really not possible. I don't expect a tsundere personality from Bell, but not selling yourself so cheaply may be the best way to put it.Which brings me to the little matter of tsunderes. What's this I read everywhere about tsundere-bashing? I'll personally visit you guys out there when I have the time. And drum it into you that you MUST love tsunderes! Belldandy has made me see the light. A suitable girlfriend is only one that shouts back at you, occasionally punches you and drags you around on the floor for good measure, before finally realizing that, god forbid, she actually likes you! Naru, Motoko, Meryl Stryfe, Eri, Tohsaka Rin, and even Haruhi are all great girlfriend material. Haha.Seriously, a tsundere plays with man's primal desire (lol) and fetish (I guess) of taming a wild, yet beautiful girl/woman/anything of the opposite sex, err...yea. Hate it or love it, they are here to stay. Especially with Tsuyokiss...oooh, I can't wait for Tsuyokiss. Cower in fear before Tsuyokiss, you tsundere-haters! =D>>> AnimaniaTags: Animation, Anime, Japanese Animation, Manga, Ah! My Goddess, Peorth, Tsundere, Tenjou
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As Tsuyokiss prepares to launch, I can not help but wonder just why the character archetype "tsundere" is such a popular one (to inspire "a Tsundere TV animator, it surely must be). While characters who can be said to conform partly to the tsundere style have been favourites of mine (Eri, Suzuka, Suiseiseki, Rika, Rin…), [...]
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In today's update: get your hikky on with the official site launch of the NHK ni Youkoso anime, watch a Binbou Shimai Monogatari trailer, take a gander at some Tsuyokisu anime screenshots, preview the latest from Makoto Shinkai's Comix Wave, ogle a bevy of new Taraku Uon character designs, discreetly peruse a week's-worth of ero scoops, marvel at Wild West mizugi Navy-san, lose your wallet to Natsumi's swimsuit cold-cast, and check out them band-aids!
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