Graphite to Newcastle — Shangri-la 4

by dm00

Kuniko (from the Shangri-la novel) disapproves of fanboy-science

Someday, someone will make science fiction in which economics is the science.  I don’t think this is that day.

Shangri-la: not the Green Robin Hoods you think

by dm00

Image from http://forums.megatokyo.com/index.php?showtopic=1733198&view=findpost&p=4890805

TJ writes in defense of Shangri-la (pay close attention, especially, to Trapmind’s comments on reading Science Fiction).

Ani-nouto replies, but seems to think the show’s environmental and political message is trite and straightforward, and seems to shrug the series off as a result.

I think the politics has the potential of being one of the best parts of the series, and currently poses one of its more interesting puzzles.

The show may turn your expectations on their head.

Maria Holic- Pander Spectacular or/and Something Mo(r)e?

 

By Nomad (Needs more Bookshelves) Otto

 

So, I’ve been rather busy with Grad School recently, blah blah. I’ll save you the Fred-isms, and start moving towards the point. Anyway, Shinbo makes a lot of crazy stuff, most of which I really like. Recently, he’s just been the director on MariaHolic, another moe-focused comedy-romance set at a school. But there’s always the twist, and, in this case, it’s that it’s set in an all-girls catholic school, and the main character is female, as are all of the potential love interests.  Obviously, it’s intended to appeal to people with a certain purient interest.   You could probably make a show off of less of the humor, less of the weird Shinbo-ism, and well, less plot (zing, Marmite!). The question is if there’s anything to be gained from Maria Holic other than the indulgence of that particular interest and a couple of cheap laughs?

 

Nomad Prepares to Bare it All

Studio 4C’s “Junk Town”

by dm00

The other day I came across a 15-minute film, Junk Town (Japanese title: Garakuta no machi), from Studio 4C. It’s so obscure, it doesn’t seem to have an animenewsnetwork encyclopedia entry, yet.  It’s directed by Nobutaka Ito (wo worked on Kemonozume, Kimagure Robot, and was animation director on several of the later episodes of Samurai Champloo). It’s available on the Deep Imagination DVD.

Stylistically, it looks a bit like Tekkonkinkreet or the Studio-4C contribution to Gotham Knight, as well as some of the music videos that Studio-4C has created.

The villain?

A wolf loves pork — further excursions in “anime”

by dm00

It’s Japanese.  It’s animated.  Anime!  It could use more Horo, perhaps.

One of the reasons I love animation (of which anime is one form), it the inventiveness of the creators.  This film is an example of that.

In Other Random Useless News…

I found this random K-On! MAD that I’m sure that everyone else has seen already, but I still think it’s neat:

It’s funny to see this done from just one episode of the show at that time, but lol creativity I guess. I wish there was more on the animeblogging end regarding the show, myself included. Superficial comparisons to other shows and saying Mio is a tsundere are still sorta annoying (can someone please tell me how she’s a tsundere. Please.), but I do like how recently posts seem more level then at the start. Not as much “so moe I died” or “moe sucks GTFO” posts on either side, which is great.

The Things K-On! Can Influence…

By TheBigN

So while looking at the slew of K-On! pics that have cropped up from the show’s start, I managed to come across this one:

 

ろんりくうぐんっ！by 目下

Which I think is awesome. Why?

Brief Thoughts On K-On! 1

By TheBigN

Well, it was an alright first episode of K-On!. Things I liked the most about it:

Who would refuse that pitch?