Anime Fansubs, Part VII

Posted on August 26, 2006 by Ubu Roi

Ok, today, lets take Inukami (literally, “dog-god”). Preferably someplace far away, because I found it to be quite aggravating. I had some expectations for it after seeing Riuva’s review, but this show just didn’t cut it. There’s simply no there, there. If you’d rather watch this series with no foreknowledge, beware, because I’m going to get into spoilers. Except they’re not really spoilers, because as of ep.11, not a damn thing has really happened, except Youko is getting along with Kouda’s ten inukami, and everyone despises Keita as a pervert when they aren’t appreciating him for his better qualities. Yawn. The opening song and animation advertises an action-adventure with magical girls, romance, and maybe a little fanservice. Perhaps it would be a nice show — if that’s what they had made. What the viewer gets is nothing like that.

Youko, from the opening credits. Lots of action scenes of her or Keita laying down rightous butt-kicking, or looking somberly at the moon.
Our first sight of Youko in the show itself. Isn’t she just the cutest thing?
And they seem to get along just grandly. Forget it. After about two more minutes of teasing, it’s going right downhill.

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Co-incidental Oddities

Posted on August 25, 2006 by Ubu Roi

Two of the several animé fansubs I’ve downloaded recently are Inukami and Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan. (The latter translates as “Beat-to-Death-Angel Dokuro-chan” and it’s about that bad after the first couple of episodes). What caught my attention was that Dokuro-chan sounded really cute, and that I liked Hikari, the theme song to Inukami. After some thought, I decided that the lyrics were nicely romantic at the start, but the tune, while above average for the medium, wasn’t that great. It was the soft voice that I liked, so I checked out who the singer was. Lo and behold, the singer of Hikari (and voice of Yoko/Youko), Horie Yui, was also the voice of Dokuro-chan. I kept reading, and it turns out she’s got a very long resumé some of which I recognized.

Have checked out but not bought or seen:
Ayu Tsukimiya in “Kanon” (video game, special, and both series)
Bottle Fairy (TV) : Theme Song Performance (ED) (eps 7 – 9, 13), Theme Song Performance (OP), VA of Sarara.
Love Hina as Naru Narusegawa in all versions; OAV Theme Song Performance; X’mas Special – Silent Eve Theme Song Performance (ED)
Negima! Theme Song Performance (OP3, OP8, ED4) and VA of Makie Sasaki
Immortal Grand Prix (TV 2) as Fantine Valgeon (actually, I’ve seen parts on CN).

Stuff I really liked:
Sister Princess : Theme Song Performance (OP) & VA for Sakuya (she was the clothes-horse that kept coming on to Wataru.)
Mars Daybreak as Megumi Higashibara (the kid psychic).

And that’s just a fraction of her listings. She was even a minor character in a Cowboy Bebop episode.

I had really liked the OP for Sister Princess; it was one of the best things about the show. She’s definitely someone to watch (or listen to, I suppose). I’m bumping Negima! up from a “maybe one day” to a “perhaps soon” just on her basis. I need to find out if her character’s minor, or has enough screen time amongst the 30 girls in that show.

And yeah, she’s cute.

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I Know I’m Slacking…

Posted on August 24, 2006 by Ubu Roi

The last few weeks, I’ve been off my stride, and not producing much for either Houblog or blogHOUSTON. At first, I thought it was just work wearing me down, but lately, I have realized that I’m not sleeping well at all, and am extremely lethargic. Worse, when looking back at some of my older articles, I found myself thinking, “I wrote that? It’s good-well reasoned, covers all the bases, has smoother transitions — that was me?” I look at my recent stuff and I see disjointed thinking, abrupt transitions, and large gaps in logic chains. I’ve got two incomplete articles pending, and I need to write several more. White’s trying to overthrow Prop.2, and the Housing department needs digging out with a backhoe, but I can barely budge myself to fix supper when I get home. I don’t know what to make of it.

I’m struggling at work — rather unmotivated, getting things done only because I’d hate myself for not getting them done, but I don’t really feel any enthusiasm for it.

Does anime really rot your mind? Or am I not well? Sometimes I think I need a keeper. Maybe a cute little dog-girl.

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“Metal Tub Catch”

Posted on August 14, 2006 by Ubu Roi

Steven and Shamus have been discussing washpans to the head. In animé it’s like the proverbial pie in the face, and usually happens when someone is too full of themselves. I misremembered some of the details of this scene, but it is still the funniest washpan gag I’ve seen yet.

“Contest #500: Metal Tub Catch”

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What’s Wrong With This Picture? (Animé Fansubs, Part VI)

Posted on August 13, 2006 by Ubu Roi

This is one of the first shots in my latest fansub download: Coyote Ragtime Show. Federal Investigator Angelica Barnes is enjoying a meal before her shuttle lands on the planet Sandvil. But there’s something very wrong here. Can you spot it? (I did, the instant I saw it, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.)

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Breaking News: World Created, God Rests on Seventh Day

Posted on August 12, 2006 by Ubu Roi

Not that I’m trying to suggest that KPRC-2 is, you know, a bit behind the times with their headlines, but they’ve just now noticed that people who play online games don’t always play characters of the same sex as themselves.

If they keep this up, they might start challenging the Houston Chronicle for timely news and editorials.

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This is Not A Meme

Posted on August 10, 2006 by Ubu Roi

Nope. Not a meme. Unh-uh. I just happened to feel like doing a list of my own.

Anyway, that’s my story. and I’m sticking to it.

  1. One book that changed your life: One? One? Crap. Pick anything by Robert A. Heinlein. To narrow it down: Stranger in a Strange Land. Time Enough for Love. Glory Road. Starship Troopers. Those are the four books that shaped my tender little teenaged mind. Even if I didn’t understand everything in them the first time, I did later.
  2. One book that you’ve read more than once: See above. Although the record is probably held by the Lord of the Rings Trilogy… I lost track around the 13th or 14th re-read.
  3. One book you’d want on a desert island: How To Get Off Desert Islands For Dummies.
  4. One book that made you laugh: Well, of course Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy. Too ordinary an answer, but none else come to mind right now, aside from the sequel to The Mouse that Roared. What was it, The Mouse That Flew to the Moon? Or maybe any of the last ten or so Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler. I don’t think laughter was what he was aiming for, but it’s what I had. What a formula.
  5. One book that made you cry. Podkayne of Mars. God, that book had me depressed for two solid weeks. I have never re-read it, and have no desire to.
  6. One book that you wish had been written: The 2005 List of Winning Lottery Numbers, 2006-2010. One copy only, please.
  7. One book that you wish had never been written: Ethel the Aardvark Goes Quantity Surveying. Ok, seriously? The Chronicles of the Elders of Zion. That might not be exactly right — I can’t remember, but it’s that damned zionist conspiricy book the Tsar had written to help keep the lid on Russia by stirring up anti-Jewish sentiment. That p.o.s. keeps cropping up in one way or another as so-called “historical evidence.” If history is not true, what can we learn from it? Anyone that deliberately fucks up real history for his or her own purposes deserves to be shot. In the knee. (I’d say in the hands, but with voice-activated software, it’s not enough.)
  8. One book you’re currently reading: Well, if you mean currently as in “not finished”, amazingly my answer is the same as Shamus’ answer for #9: Baroque Cycle.  Except I’ll never finish it becasue it’s the most boring book I have ever been facinated by. Yes, I knowthat’s a contradiction. But that was exactly my reaction. The style, the characters, the world, all were facinating and incredibly well-written. I felt like I was right there with all those famous scientists of yore, making their discoveries alongside them. But nothing was happening. Well, unless you count history. Lots of that happening. Just very slowly and in tiny, incremental bits, the way it does in reality.  Booooorinnnnnnng.
  9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Guaranteed Plan to Make Ubu Roi Filthy Rich Without Any Effort. Unfortunately, no one has written it yet.
  10. Tag 5 people: I don’t think I’ve read that book, so I will pass on commenting about it.
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