Kawaii!

Posted on April 16, 2007 by Ubu Roi

Don’s shutting down Beware the Kawaii and replacing it with The Kawaii Menace, although he’s having a little, er, issue, with the host and a rocky start. I’ll wait to see what he does before changing the links in the sidebar.

Because of the change-over, his thoughts on the new season are split between the two blogs, but so far, we seem to be in a fair amount of agreement about the new season. He’s sampled far more than I have, thus far, and I’ll be putting a post up later with my thoughts on what I’ve seen. (Nagasarete, Lucky Star, El Cazador, Hayate. DL but not viewed: Romeo X Juliet.)

The most intriguing post he’s had recently (YMMV) is on his old site, and it came from here. The full posting is quite interesting, and I recommend reading through it, but this part caught my eye:

You may call it the Rational Western Mind at work: on top of research, English-speaking fans like to take a body of details and develop theories of how these details are connected. After gathering the who, when, what, where and how, English-speaking fans want to know the why. I must say – although I frequent Japanese and Chinese fandoms as well, the most interesting analysis I have ever read all come from English-speaking fans.

No, really?

Edit: And the comments are even more interesting.

Posted in Fandom, Random Nonsense | 1 Comment

Bored with WOW?

Posted on April 16, 2007 by Ubu Roi

I must be. I pulled out Divergence Eve last night, just before going to bed.

Just to watch the OP and ED’s; all four of them. It still irks me that I can’t find the 2nd ED anywhere, even retail. Seems I’m not alone. Robert’s got the 2nd OP, but I’m not sure what the other song is that they’re calling the “Divergence Eve Theme;” the 1st OP? Or is it “Pump Up,” the first ED, which Gendou.com has?

After taking a look through the various animé soundtracks available in the U.S. I am beginning to think the music industry here could take lessons on overpricing their junk. OMG, Cowboy Bebop. (Let’s just say that the “fansub rules” I developed to support the producers of the animé I enjoy does not apply to the domestic music industry, whose products I neither support nor enjoy. And the animé music industry is on really shaky ground.)

Planning on an order soon, but I’m not sure what to add to it.

Coyote Ragtime Show DVD 1
Shana, DVD 3 & 4
FMP: TSR DVD 4 (out May 1)
GITS: SAC collection

That will clear some obligations and finish TSR. Then for late May/early June, I can pick up

Shana DVD 5
Melancholy DVD 1
????

I’m soliciting suggestions for the rest, including “obligation buys” that I’ve overlooked.

Update: well, dangit, AnimeNation is having a “40% off everything by ADV” sale. I’d rather browse that, than look at the news right now. So I will.

Update 2: Ok, I’ve put in not one, but two orders; one to Anime Nation, and the other to Robert’s Corner Store.

From Anime Nation:
Coyote Ragtime Show DVD 1
Shana DVD 3

From Robert:
Shana DVD 4
GITS: SAC collection
FMP:TSR DVD 4

I’m taking advantage of their relative strengths here; Anime Nation had the slightly superior sale, but little of what I wanted, whereas Robert had everything I wanted, and he’s never disappointed me on a pre-order. Unlike some other companies I could name. Grrrrrr.

The fact that they’ve both adopted PayPay checkout is icing on the cake.

Update 3: (taken from the comments below) They both shipped on 4/17! I thought FMP:TSR wasn’t going to be out until 5/1. Kewlies.

Posted in Fandom | 14 Comments

A New Approach to Fighting Teen Pregnancy?

Posted on April 16, 2007 by Ubu Roi

Instapundit, in linking to a discussion on pre-marital sex, notes this in the comments of the original article:

In the comments, this observation: “I found that belonging to Math Club was an effective deterrent to teenage sex.”

Don’t teach abstinence, teach math!

Posted in Random Nonsense | 2 Comments

Fear the Japanese Navy

Posted on April 15, 2007 by Ubu Roi

Brickmuppet has the find of the week.

Disturbing.

I don’t think we’re going to be able to count on them for much help…. unless the U.S. Navy decides to put on West Side Story or something…then we could call on them.

Posted in Random Nonsense | 4 Comments

Lucky Star

Posted on April 13, 2007 by Ubu Roi

So is it a “poor man’s Azumanga” or “animé meets Seinfeld?” Is it yet another smash from KyoAni, or their first major stumble. Is it a bomb, or ‘da bomb?’

Damifino. It was cute, and the OP is almost up there with Hare Hare Yukai (the music wasn’t as good, IMHO). The lyrics are nonsensical outtakes from trivial conversations — I haven’t heard this much randomness since Don McLean’s American Pie. Or Chet. (Now that’s getting obscure and showing my age.)

It’s completely random; one of the things I found faintly humorous is that the writers know a silly conversation about how to eat certain foods that goes on and on and on isn’t entertaining, but they do it anyway. I’ve heard it said that “a good writer knows when they can break the rules” and I guess the same thing applies here.

I just don’t know if they can make a series out of such a concept. Time will tell

Posted in Random Nonsense | 7 Comments

The Conquest Continues

Posted on April 13, 2007 by Ubu Roi

Muahahaha. Gotta strike when the opportunity presents itself.

# Blade-mun Says:
April 10th, 2007 at 4:29:09 PM

I am currently rooting for Heroic Age and Hirahita. The main charecter for Hirahita has got to be one of the more Kawaii charecters I’ve seen. Its giving off Strawberry Panic vibes too, which is not a bad thing. And Heroic Age has the best animation I’ve seen since Black Lagoon. That makes me happy enough since Sci-fi’s are pre-req’d to have bad plots. ^^.

# ubu Says:
April 11th, 2007 at 8:52:17 AM

>>Blade-Mun: That makes me happy enough since Sci-fi’s are pre-req’d to have bad plots.

I know you’re joking, but two words: Divergence Eve.

Also, Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles, which is really the 2nd half of the same series.

Ignore the bazonga-sized breasts, disregard the DVD covers. And hold on for the ride of your life. Some further comments here.

# Xellos-_^ Says:
April 11th, 2007 at 4:21:55 PM

>>>I know you’re joking, but two words: Divergence Eve.

I 2nd divergence eve, best hardcore scifi anime in the last 5 years. I swear sometimes you need a phd to understand so of the physics they talk about in the show.


# Blade-mun Says:
April 12th, 2007 at 6:32:09 PM

Yeah I was joking, that day I was more in a sarcastic mood so no LoL or smileys. Never heard of divergence eve, I am a bit shamed -_-;. I will go hunt it down or at least reseach it a bit.

Heh. We shall overcome!

Posted in Random Nonsense | 4 Comments

Reflections

Posted on April 11, 2007 by Ubu Roi

Something possessed me to go back and watch the first DVD of Maburaho again today. I wanted something silly and light, and it fit the bill. Having watched a lot more animé since I first saw it, (and a lot of it was junk in the last season or so), I am just amazed at how good this series is. It’s imaginative, funny, sexy, offbeat, and has a top-notch haremette in Kuriko Kazetsubaki. (I can’t believe I left her out of my Dream Team Harem.) Yuna isn’t anything to sneer at, and while I may never have warmed to Rin, she wasn’t that bad. Yes, this was one kick-ass harem animé.

For two episodes.

Then it made a huge blunder, that was, unfortunately, a harbinger of the collapse to follow. The writers couldn’t come up with a good reason, so they had Kazuki use his magic needlessly. The next episode tried to regain the momentum, but then the Doctor did something equally stupid, which put potentially the whole school, and specifically Kazuki and the haremettes at risk. Contrived situations became the norm, and I’m told, after Kazuki dies (which ought to be pretty obvious it’s coming by the foreboding music and the 3rd time he uses his magic), the show loses any sense of momentum it might have had. Yuna turns into a jealous bitch and forfeits any fan sympathy due to the Childhood Marriage Promise.

Fortunately, I bought only the first DVD. The original review, ported over from Houblog without the pictures, is here. I recommend the version with pictures, unless your work environment has a problem with panties and garters.

Posted in Bitching, Random Nonsense | 5 Comments