HappinessCharge Precure! episode 10 blew my mind.

By TheBigN

I’ve been enjoying the silly earnestness of HappinessCharge PreCure! in general. It’s not a show that will be winning much praise compared to its fellow compatriots anytime soon, from what I’ve seen others say (it’s only my second Precure I’m following, at that), but many concepts (Precure across the world, powers as your imagination takes you from what I’ve seen Cure Lovely do, etc.) are interesting to poke at, and I hope the show does that in its own time. The animation has been pretty consistent (not great, but no major problems for me) for the show as well, so it threw me for a loop at what happened with episode 10, with images like this:

Seven Years Lucky, Seven Years Strong, I Guess.

By TheBigN

This post, with an interesting look at Acchi Kochi, GJ-Bu (which was a guilty pleasure for me as I watched it – felt so dirty with the constant ‘good-natured’ teasing of Kyouya) and Servant x Service also happened to link to a post I wrote some years back about how I’ve been bothered at how “slice of life” has been appropriated in describing shows. And I’m still bothered at what I think is a misuse of the concept, but it helps that I’ve heard the term used in those troublesome ways less than before. Besides that, it’s a good look at back at where I’ve been. You know, when I still had more free time than I have now and better  Internet to watch anime compared to now. I’m still trying though, as I’ve caught up to the silly clothing times of Kill La Kill, catching up to Adventurers living in the Database at Log Horizon, and trying to meet up with the continuation of Saki: The Nationals to see Hisa work out her own little bouts of nervousness to go back to being her awesome self. And dm00 picks up the slack by watching all of the shows that I want to see, but don’t have the time to (For serious).

And I’ve still gotten out to enjoy anime-related things outside of my home, from continuing to go to cons to experience things (Otakon 2013 was awesome for a variety of reasons, with Piano Me awesomely taking the cake) to watching the third Madoka Magica movie (my thoughts are that the ending makes sense given what we know about the characters. But still, DAMN YOU UROBUCHI!!!!  I should have known better!). I’m hoping the trend continues in a couple of days, weather permitting, by visiting Katsucon for fun.

Seven years spontaneously writing on this blog is a long time in plenty of ways, but I don’t feel like I’ve matured in a lot of ways since I’ve let the blog slip while concentrating on other important things (ones that others would say matter more). Maybe I guess that’s why I don’t feel the age quite as much this year. Like always, I’ll attempt to drop some posts here and there throughout this coming year, and I’m hoping dm00 and others would be willing to drop some thoughts of their own here as well about anime. It’s a good time of flux.

So yay, seven year anniversary!

And she’s as dazzling as ever. Picture by NAKBE: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=34378927

Anime Secret Santa 2013: Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth

By TheBigN

“It takes a while to get used to.” – Clarisse, on many things the characters face in this show.

The first thing I thought about the show after the first episode was that Yune was a pretty brave person. The main character of Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth, her story begins in Paris, France in the 19th century after what seems to be tagging along with a French traveller, Oscar Claudel, in his journey from Japan in order to help out at his grandson’s ironwork shop. Why this happens, how it happens, and what Yune aimed to do weren’t being listed, and barely glossed over during the course of the show (other than Yune’s helping out seemed to be more like being a maid than anything else), because that apparently is not the point. Rather, our goal is to see Yune, and Oscar’s grandson Claude, try to start to make sense of different cultures (Yune’s Nagasaki heritage vs Claude’s middle-class upbringing in a turn of the century France) as she does what apparently amounts to a homestay at that point in time.  One of the things that was endearing to me about her was her willingness to go full throttle with trying to understand a new culture and a new country. Things noticed include initially finding out how much she prepared for this trip in the first episode language-wise, or her struggles later on in trying to become tolerant of some idiosyncratic food (lol cheese) to help prepare meals for her housemates better.  As someone who’s fairly hesitant to abruptly change things, as well as someone only having been outside of his country once years before with family in tow, Yune’s courage was impressive.

And adorable. Her courage was adorable.

Indulging this Anime Blog Carnival: On Cheap Tricks

By TheBigN

To be honest, this is the first time in a while that I’ve been a part of something like this survey-mutual linkage sort of thingy, and it helps that this topic is something I’ve talked about before. To wit:

1. What is one CHEAP TRICK that you can’t stand or have problems with? CHEAP TRICK implies some method or element that is used towards some effect or end, whether explicitly or just in your head. It also implies that it worked on you at least once before you got wise of it. 

Poorly executed emotional manipulation. Already explained here, but to say it again, it’s not a problem for me if I know my emotions are being milked, as long as I can generally care for these characters/moments that I’m told to by the show; I’m fairly lax with that. But if I start getting annoyed by various aspects, like how heavy-handed some shows can be with this (I’m looking at you, AIR) or if there’s bad writing/setup, it turns me off from thoroughly enjoying a show.

2. What is one CHEAP TRICK that still gets you every time? For example, maybe some sad girls in the snow make you tear up no matter how lame you think the actual story is. Or maybe there’s that one voice actor or artist on board that makes a product a must-watch/read/play for you, regardless of the overall quality.

Luckily, any work in which I hear her voice has not sucked for me, but anything Miyukichi is something that will get me to watch above other things. Nothing else about the show has to matter in that sense. Similar things tend to happen if you tell me that, say, Yuki Kajiura does the music for a show. Though I wouldn’t call them cheap tricks, but rather “selling points” for me. :3

3.  What was one scene in an anime/manga/game/novel/etc. that conveyed it’s emotion so strongly that your own feelings were caught up in it? Grief, relief, joy, depression, fear, or of course rage. Note that this is different from your reaction to something outside of the in-story emotional content, like raging at a terribly written plot development or BEST GIRL not getting her deserved ending, unless the characters themselves express the same emotion.

*SPOILER ALERT?*

One that comes to mind for me is (surprisingly?) when Subaru loses it in episode 17 of Nanoha StrikerS after finding her sister unexpectedly looking pretty much near beaten to death by the Combat Cyborgs. The series up until that point didn’t really hit home for me, but it built up some things well, such as the relationship between the Nakajima sisters. That I also felt the same rage that Subaru did at that moment helped make that “wham” episode a big one, especially when coupled with the devastation of Riot Force Six and a critical kidnapping, among other things. It definitely make me look forward to the rest of the series, at that time.

4. BONUS QUESTION: Thanksgiving Times (optional) – What’s one thing you’re thankful for this year/season/week/day/moment?

Always thankful that I’m still alive, that all my immediate family is alive, that all my friends are alive at this point in time, and so on. For something more materialistic, I’m grateful that I’m able to still find some time to watch some anime this year, no matter how little.

As for people to tag, my comrade dm_7 and (of course?) laundry detergent omo would me tagging targets here, but it doesn’t bother me too much here if they don’t do so.

The Anime Music Tournament 2013 Semifinal “Analysis”

By TheBigN

Well… we made it. By “making it”, meaning me jumping off the ship to avoid sounding like a old man telling young people to get off my musical lawn. I’ve been… displeased to say the least with how the bracket has gone (not taken into consideration my torched bracket in the omochallenge, but that has been spilled milk for a while now). Partly because it makes me feel like I don’t know what music is nowadays. When you have people saying things like “instrumentals/English songs shouldn’t be involved in this competition”, it makes me shake my head. I guess my definition of “anime music” is a lot looser than most people; if someone said this was an “Anison” contest, than maybe I’d understand.

So I’ve been refraining to comment on the past couple of rounds because of this feeling, but since we’re running into the final four, I feel like I need to at least provide a sense of closure to myself (or at least not feeling like I just quit on this project). In going from 256 songs to 4, there’s been a lot of ruminating on what songs mean for people. I still don’t feel like I’ve got that yet, but I’ll try somewhat.

The Anime Music Tournament 2013 Bracket Alpha &Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo Round 2 “Analysis”

By TheBigN

We move into the second round, where some of the competitors have been weeded out, the rounds and time between them are shorter, and we start to get a little tired of some of the songs already presented. The five polls have already been set up, and I’ll try to get to them as fast as I can, starting with the first two brackets here.

The Anime Music Tournament 2013 Bracket Pedro – Round 1 – Polls 1-8 “Analysis”

By TheBigN

We get a nice “YEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!” here compared to the bracket namesake’s trademark “NOOOOOOOOOO!” as we come to the last bracket of the first round, with the second set of polls close to finishing, the first set already completed. Sixteen more songs to randomly and shoddily pontificate about, in what’s been an intriguing, and sometimes confusing, tournament so far. Many takeaways to come later.

The Anime Music Tournament 2013 Bracket Osaka – Round 1 – Polls 1-8 “Analysis”

By TheBigN

Like the post from the Naota bracket, I post here with one half of brackets completed, and the other half close to finishing. As were nearing the end of the first round, hopefully things will become a little easier to work on. As for now, here’s some more interesting pieces to listen to.