By TheBigN

Now I knew about Hidamari Sketch × ☆☆☆ when it came out, and I’m eagerly waiting for it to debut soon, which makes it good that I currently have the x365 specials to tide me over, and the fourth volume of the manga coming out soon. But hearing that the show has been licensed in the US puts a lot more pep into my step. Of course I’ll be buying it when it comes out this January (who do you think I am?), so now I’ll just be waiting with bated breath a little more. Thanks, ADV Fil- errr…  Sentai Filmworks! errr… Section 9 23!

Now I’m  thinking this might be one reason why a certain someone started blogging again(suuuuure…). Maybe I should finish up those x365 posts soon. 

And this is not that bad, though it might leave bad memories for some.

Wasshoi! \o/

By TheBigN

So, following Stripey’s lead, I’ll list my top 5 favorite anime at this moment:

1. Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight
2. Haibane Renmei
3. Kino’s Journey
4. Aria The Origination
5. Hidamari Sketch

I find it’s more fun to find out what others think compared to my own opinion  in cases like these (un”my”ased opinion and all that), so if you care, what do you think this list says about me? What do you think this list doesn’t say about me that would still be true, if this question makes sense?

Miyako's Journey

No, Alexander Nevsky does not return as a magical girl

First Squad: the Moment of Truth is a Russian-written Studio 4C production.

Nazi sorcerors conjure the Teutonic Knights, bringing them back from the dead to reprise “the battle on the ice” in the service of Hitler’s push to the east, and Soviet Intelligence’s Psychic Squad (their most valued remaining agent: 17-year-old Nadya) scrambles to thwart their plan applying the immortal principles of Dialectical Immaterialism.

The film is presented as a quasi-documentary, alternating animated story flashbacks with interviews of live-action talking heads presenting Russian and German veterans, psychologists, and historians all talking about “The moment of truth” portrayed in the film.

No Heroine of the People is complete without her samurai sword nor her Young Pioneer bandana

All the dialogue is in Russian (except for some of the German veterans), all the animated dialogue (including the Germans) is in Russian.

It’s a good deal better-than-B-movie, but not really first quality — it’s not up to Studio 4C’s high standards (though it would do a lesser studio proud). The acting is a bit wooden, the film is exposition heavy (the talking heads are okay, but also the animated actors spend a good deal of time bringing one another up to speed — Nadya is blessed with shell-concussion-induced amnesia). I thought the action scenes were quite good, and there were several individual scenes that were outstanding (Nadya’s vision among the soldiers at the front; the climactic moment).

Newsreel footage

At one point Nadya’s comrades go on an amusement-park-ride through her subconscious.  This must have looked great as the staff conferred over the storyboards, but it comes off a bit cheesy in the actual film. Nadya’s own visit to the theater of the subconscious is much more successful.

There's plenty of room left for a sequel

Update (9 Oct):
Somehow, I missed this review by PSGels, who also liked it.

After years of having the book on my shelf (and having a scanlation on my hard-drive), I finally read Hayao Miyazaki’s Shuna no tabi (Shuna’s Journey).

Shuna is the prototype for many Miyazaki heroes and heroines

It is the tale of a the prince of a small impoverished country. One day a traveller appears, and, dying, tells the story of a rich grain that grows in a land far to the West. In the weeks that follow, Shuna can think of nothing else but finding this grain and returning with it to benefit his people.

...and images from this early story found their way into Miyazaki's later films

...or into Goro Miyazaki's Wizard of Earthsea

As Shuna travels west, he encounters different people in a desperate world — full of slave-traders and cannibals.

Ashitaka, er Shuna, encounters a strange old man who tells him of gods in the West

Shuna encounters a proud slave-girl, and cannot bear to see her enslaved. He frees her and her sister, they flee, parting company at the border to the land of the gods, with a promise to meet again in the North.

Shuna climbs down into the “land of the gods”, and steals the grain, fleeing in desperation, forced to abandon both his gun and his knife. He wanders in the wilderness, until Yakkul catches his scent on the wind, and rushes off with Thea to find him, mute, and mad.

It is a fine, melancholy story, inspired by a Tibetan folk-tale. This picture-book format is a good one for Miyazaki. It’s something of a shame that he hasn’t used it more.

The book was written in the early 80s — around the same time as Miyazaki was starting work on Nausicaa. You can see echoes of Nausicaa in the landscapes and costumes, but you’ll also see echos of Shuna in many of Studio Ghibli’s works — images from this book could have been used to storyboard bits of both Princess Mononoke and Wizard of Earthsea.

With ISBN-10: 4196695108 or ISBN-13: 978-4196695103, it’s available from
from Amazon.co.jp, and is well worth adding to your collection, especially since it costs a mere 470 Yen. The images reproduced here are taken from the “Scum Scans” scanlation. This, and other scanlations are readily found using a search engine.

Watch Aquatic Language now!

Time of Eve comes to an end (at least a temporary one) with a double-length broadcast centering not on Rikuo, Sammy, nor Nagi, but on Rikuo’s robot-averse friend Masaki.

Masaki finds THX in the Time of Eve cafe

There have been hints that something like this was coming — notably in “Nameless” when we caught a brief glimpse of THX (“Tex”) standing in the shadows of Masaki’s home.  (You all know where the initials THX come from, don’t you?)

Many of the episodes of this wonderful series have captured the spirit of Asimov’s original robot stories in wrestling with surprising implications of Asimov’s iconic Three Laws of Robotics.  It’s like math, really, the way so much lovely complexity arises from the interplay of three simple axioms.  This episode is no different.  Indeed, this episode is Asimov’s laws triumphant.

This sweet little series deserves to be placed among the best animated science fiction, with the way it tangles with the implications of androids, and the way it succeeds in packing an emotional punch.  Is there a Hugo for animated shorts?

Best actor of the year

This simple figure conveys a surprising amount of emotion with its gestures

We learn a great deal more about the time of the Time of Eve, with tantalyzing hints dropped about Nagi’s past and why she created the Time of Eve — but not enough.  The episode ends with a plethora of hints that we can look forward to more, and I certainly will — more in the world of Time of Eve or any other endeavor Yasuhiro Yoshiura and his Studio Rikka chooses to pursue.

Come back soon, Nagi.

So, as this current anime season in Japan comes to a close, there have been a large amount of series that I’ve been watching that have been damn enjoyable. The interestingly epic combo (Bakemonogatari with SHAFT x NISIOISIN), the action-packed adventure (CANAAN), the juggernaut from last season ( Saki, hell yeah), the emotional investment (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, despite the writing/pacing problems at the end), the sequel (Spice of Wolf II), one of the typical “TheBigN would watch this, wouldn’t he?” shows (Aoi Hana), the guilty pleasures (Juuden-chan), and so on. And while most of these shows are great, my favorite anime of the season has been Taishou Yakyuu Musume, probably because I just enjoy seeing a group of girls try hard, be earnest and have fun. Or at least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

I don't think Koume believes me.

The premise of the show (like “Idolm@ster Baseball” as others would put it) was something that held a little bit of my interest as a show to check out for fun. I’d like to say that the show had me at the great opening musical number by Koume about the magical powers of a school uniform. But what really hooked me into the show was the rational for forming such a team. I’ve seen the defying the “girls should just Fate/Stay in the kitchen” stereotype a lot in anime as a reason for doing things, but seeing the determination in proving status quo-ers wrong coupled with the characters having a general interest in baseball despite not knowing the first thing about it was fun to see. From building their own field to basic training, to constant reminders about how the team is and where it has to go, the team is earnest about what they want to do. And luckily, the show is also earnest about its humor, as the team building leads to some very silly situations which normally wouldn’t be associated with baseball (delinquency, domestic partnerships, theate- oh wait) that some or all of the members get into every so often .

It’s hard to me to find a character that I don’t like in this show, though some stand out to me more than others (of course, your mileage may vary). Koume is an entertaining lead with her hardworking ethic, her adaptability and her responses in tending to get caught up in situations not of her own making. Her partnership with Akiko is fun to watch as the latter can be pretty headstrong and a little selfish drama queen in trying to achieve whatever goals she has in mind (she was the one with the idea of making a baseball club in the first place), though she usually means well. I always enjoy the strategists in anime (though I suck at being one myself), and Noe (yay Kana Ueda) is no exception as she’s constantly tweaking the rest of the team and thinking about how to maximize the team’s potential, though the plans don’t necessarily work out. And my favorite of the group, Tamaki (voiced by the same Ryou Hirohashi who was the more inferior namesake in Bamboo Blade. Yes I went there.), is the no-nonsense enforcer of the team who’s always willing to call someone out when they screw up, or ask the tough questions that need asking (or so I think in my mind).  But others, such as Koume’s parents/co-worker, or the misguided suitor on the rival team, and even the “traditional” principal at the girls high school are fun to watch in their own way.

The better Tamaki.

As to the original premise, I wouldn’t mind if the rest of the show is basically the “girls do random things & baseball” that has been presented. But it will be interesting see if other questions other than the main ones that can come to mind are answered, like what would baseball mean to the girls when all is said and done. Of course if you want to think about it, the underlying idea and setting of the show given the time period could be considered to be more complex and provide better questions, with a Japan starting to really feel out it’s on identity as things become more Westernized, the gender roles that come with the period and even now, and all that jazz. But it’s background info to just seeing an all-girl baseball team trying to learn how to play the game, and play it well enough to prove some other people wrong. I think.

With some wacky hijinks and character building thrown in as well, it leads to one of my favorite shows of the year, even if the concept and execution has been done before better by others. Taishou Yakyuu Musume is a show that’s easy to digest and enjoy, with enough charm, heart and pluck to win its way into my heart. I just hope there’s more to come, if by season’s end, the source light novels haven’t been exhausted just yet.

They'll do what they can. By nomal: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=5858432

A commenter over at Jason’s place pointed this out.

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, episode 7, about 10:02

If the above doesn’t come out as an animated gif, try here.

Text slowed down a bit:

What. outta money after moving to a new office?!
Gotta cut corners to make a profit. huh!?
Your production costs are the same but other companies are selling a lot better!
You really can’t pull this off at the same time as Ghostory, can you!
The pictures aren’t moving! You can’t even call this animation!
The anime industry’s collapsing!

Update: And, two seconds into the much-maligned episode 10 of Bakemonogatari:

Bakemonogatariapology

Or maybe that should be “Araraginko”.

In the maligned episode 10 of Bakemonogatari, at about 7:57 in the episode, Mushishi fans can hear that familiar three chord descent on the piano, interweaved with a jazzy tune (Mushishi meets Brubeck’s Time Out), as they’re ascending the steps to the shrine once more.

I'd already been thinking that Araragi's one-eyed look reminded me of Ginko

Oshinbo may have the mushi-mastery, but Araragi is the one who keeps trying to solve people’s supernaturally-induced problems.

Happy 09/09/09.

Because every day is repost day.

No doubt, Cirno.

And if people are wondering “is this (aka The Strongest) what it takes to get TheBigN to post?”, well, yeah.

More should come though.

I hope.

Posting at 9:09PM right now.

(Updated 9 Sep 2009, see below.)

Bakemonogatari 9 started and I thought I’d stumbled on a lost episode of Mushishi

I walked ten thousand miles, ten thousand miles to see you...

(sometimes that’s an animated gif of the opening few seconds of the episode, if not, here’s a link to something that might work better.)

This episode (the first of the Nadeko Snake arc) was a visual feast — from the bamboo as Araragi and Suruga climb to the shrine…

And every gasp of breath I grabbed at just to find you....

I climbed up every hill to get to you, I wondered ancient lands to hold just you.

…to the bibliophile-pandering bookstore porn

Bookstore porn

Until we discover that Koyomi still has some vampire left in him, since he doesn’t cast a reflection in the glossy floor:

Oh baby, lay some literature on me.

It’s a busy time (as hinted at by the frequency of posts), but there’s always time for Bakemonogatari. Shinbou visuals plus Nisioisin’s playful otaku-fest dialogue leads to some of the best anime in quite a while.

Update (8 Sep 2009): the jury is still out about this image:

Stylized beauty or crude collage?

I think the use of color and light here is wonderful.  The composition of the image — the way the curve of the stairs and the light on the right draw your eye to the two figures (and the countless steps beyond them) is nicely done.  But the bamboo are strips of litmus paper with chalk marks!  This is okay stylishness on the left — where the bamboo ends are concealed in grass, but on the right, the bamboo just ends (though the glowing light distracted me in an artistic sleight of hand, so I didn’t notice it until it was pointed out to me).  The color composition of this image really appeals to me, but I really wish I hadn’t noticed the bottoms of the bamboo on the right.