Yes, I’m watching Gurren Lagann on the side, and I just finished episode 16. Damn, this is hands down the absolute best flashback episode I’ve ever seen – as well as the best Gurren Lagann episode for me so far.
Tag: Otaku (Page 9 of 12)
Heck yeah! In an age where tonnes of love-coms just flip up and morph into slut-shows in a matter of episodes, who would have guessed that we’d find something this season that is the exact reverse! This show certainly wasn’t on my radar – I figured that if a show about maids and butlers can turn out to be the drunk-party of uncensored nonsense that it is, I certainly didn’t want to imagine what a show outright about sex would end up being. But now that I have been cajoled into giving it a shot, I’m surprised. We may actually have a sweet and juicy love-com on our hands here underneath that thin layer of brittle slut-show wrapper.
A few things about the show so far that’s cool:
- The main protagonist is a girl. This has two important benefits. Firstly its actually somewhat fresh to watch an echhi show from a girl perspective. It’s also a plus that Yamada is really quite cute, funny… and does not have 55% of her body mass focused on her upper torso. Secondly, it conveniently and thankfully leaves out the old “clumsy protagonist falls face-first onto hot tsundere’s crotch” thing. We really, really need to move on from those ;)
- The male lead (I’m assuming he’s the male lead) actually earns a liking from me. No completely stupid or gratingly insensitive brat that only redeems himself with occasional demonstrations of GAR. This guy is… really quite sensitive. And unlike most annoying male leads who stick out like sore thumbs, this guy actually seems to try his best to blend and not stand out. He’s a gentleman too. *stamp of approval*
- The show is really kind of amusing. In the good sense that it’s jokes are actually funny. It’s also thankfully modest despite it’s adult themes. You don’t know how relieved I was to discover no outright and unadulterated nudity. I used to think that I’m pretty fanservice tolerant, but some of the recent shows are starting to freak me out.
The best part of it is that this show isn’t really about sex. That’s just the comedic device – where all the jokes come out of. It also helps to underscore Yamada’s eccentricity – and that’s about it. All that ever gets talked about in the show is Yamada’s perverse dream, but as you watch the plot unfold and observe the way the characters behave, it soon becomes quite clear. This show is about adolescent confusion and tight and mushy feelings. And that’s a love-com in its native element.
Oh did I mention having Yukari Tamura, Mamiko Noto and Kana Hanazawa on board?
Sold :)
Yes I’m still alive. Shocking but true :) So I’m presently in the midst of exploiting a precious gap in the deadline-queue to frantically put together a Google Summer of Code proposal for Plasma, so expect a wildly euphoric or drippingly dejected post on that in some weeks. It’s the typical rough time near the end of the semester now, but I thought I should at least come and do the token anisong of the season post, taking the opportunity to also pen some random thoughts about the winter season in general :)
Quite frankly winter has been a rather weak season for me, though I suspect my genre preferences may have something to do with it. Sora no Woto and even Hanamaru didn’t quite do it for me after awhile, though BakaTest manages to more or less keep up the entertainment, largely through shamelessly shipping Yuuji and Shouko :P Star show Durarara remained good, but it’s just the kind of show that’s a little heavy on the digestion, leaving me occasionally so starved for lighter entertainment that I ended up rummaging through some old titles and watching episodes of – of all things – Bamboo Blade.
Music-wise, though, winter has been pretty good. Railgun’s new pieces were expectedly decent stuff. Sora no Woto’s songs, too, managed to grow on me, somewhat in contrast with the show itself. In the end though it is the Durarara songs that somehow captured the flag of my heart this season. There’s something about the way the songs blend into the telling of the story, melodically and lyrically, that gives the songs a uniquely Durarara sound. The video sequences that played alongside each were certainly no let down either.
Oddly, if you had asked me to take a pick at the beginning of the season, I would have showered my favor on the OP – “Uragiri no Yuuyake” – without a second thought. Now at the end of the season though, I find myself liking “Trust Me” a good bit better. I’m not sure exactly how the change of heart happened, but it likely has to do with how beautifully “Trust Me” drew the curtains on many of the episodes up to this point. To me it has truly become a defining part of the Durarara experience and it probably won’t ever quite feel right to come away from a Durarara episode without first leaning back and absently rolling “Trust Me”s affectionate lyrics over the taste buds of my mind.
Anyway, so here I present you my chosen Anisong of the Season: The ED to Durarara!! – “Trust Me”. As usual, hit the jump for a pic, Romaji lyrics and translations. And hit F8 to play the song while it’s up. Enjoy!
So Railgun’s finale manages to be a pretty darn good blast of a ride – but also, simultaneously and rather oddly, a little bit of a tragedy. The final episodes managed to deliver quite well on the emotional tension, intrigue, and of course the sheer electricity one would expect of the finale of a show like Railgun. Absolutely a thrilling ride, but at the very end of it, casting our sights back over the entirety of the series, one cannot help but feel like we’ve been here before, that significant parts of the adventure we just went through bore unmistakable echoes of the series’ midpoint. I had been very happy to learn that level upper wasn’t the end, and in my opinion the episodes that followed it really weren’t bad at all. They were just nothing more, you didn’t feel like they really added value to the series – especially when a sizable chunk of them is spent on side characters who, though interesting, really didn’t matter too much when we got back to the grander scheme of things around the time of the finale. Outshining level-upper is a formidable task that the finale expectedly fumbled at, and as much as I am thankful for Railgun’s continued presence throughout this relatively dry winter season, a small part of me cannot help wishing, for it’s own sake, that Railgun had gracefully drawn the curtains in the wake of episode 12.
Even with all that said, though, the finale was one heck of a ride.
Okay, I know this is three weeks late (and that I should be doing my homework). You confused guys can have your Hideyoshi. Where do I go to sign up as a Shouko fan?
Episode 8 was pretty great and really sweet, even hitting on poignant at times. I know it’s in all likelihood only a one-episode affair. Sue me. Seeing Shouko so radiantly happy was completely enchanting. Seeing her so uncharacteristically broken and vulnerable was positively excruciating. And Yuuji tearing down hell with those two bastards was GAR. I was so fired up I could have roared him along.
We needs moar Shouko. This episode is so much better than the “desperate Eva” episode that came after it.
*Gasp* It’s friday! A friday where I have just dealt with a bunch of deadlines, and happen to have no classes! Well there’re a bunch more deadlines impatiently waiting for me in the coming week and I am very much aware that not starting on them right now may very well cost me my life, but – it’s blog now or never! So if after this I am never heard of ever again, remember: I did it for j00!! :)
Yknow, I’d really like this to be on wallpaper, with the petals animated..
Anyway, I had watched – and wanted to blog – this episode for a good long time now. While it doesn’t look like it’ll come up to anything really extraordinary, this show is nonetheless proving to be pretty darn great fun, with it’s neat combination of conversation, personality, swords and romance. Anyway, so here goes nothing. Hope this one doesn’t end up taking as long as my last post on Katanagatari…
Panic!! Panic NAOOO!!!!! D: D: D:
I’m just giddy now. I can’t breathe. I can’t believe it took me till now to find out! The show’s apparently been in the theatres for a week now, and damn, I must say Singaporean theatres impress me. At this rate we might even be able to hope for an eventual taste of cinematic Disappearance, whenever the hell that one gets out.
Damn, I have to go and watch this! I have to go and watch this! The mere memory of the film alone is giving me stinging rushes of excitement. Somehow, somehow, I gotta worm my way around my work-mountain and create a slot for this absolute Koikoi!! goodness. Ahhh~ I can hardly sit still. Anyone in the vicinity wanna strive to go see this with me??
Obligatory trailer:
And finally for the uninitiated, Fact 1 : Summer Wars is a Japanese animated film. Fact 2 : Summer Wars is synonymous with Koikoi!, and that is synonymous with extreme awesome. And that translates simply to – you absolutely don’t want to miss it.
How to sucker Jason into taking an instant, completely unobjective liking to a new character?
- Submissive character that awakens Uiharu’s Onee-san instincts [Check!]
- An entire episode dedicated to her hanging out with the gang [Check!]
- Interaction dynamics that induces Saten-Uiharu flashbacks [Check!]
- Getting tangled up with Uiharu on yukata strap, requiring Saten-rescue [Bonus point Check!]
All these are undoubtedly great qualities for inducing my favor, but of course what really lets Haruue-san take the cake is…
- Voiced by Kana Hanazawa… [Woo hoo Check!]
- …doing what Noto Mamiko did with Kotomi! [Check nano!!]
:) Aaaaand it looks like we’re off to a good start for the final arc! I must admit that all those talk about this being anime original has gotten me on my toes, but I’m pleased to say that this was a great starting episode that I really enjoyed. Actually I almost always find myself enjoying this show whenever the focus is kept on the main four (okay I think I’d be happy to also include Haruue after this episode). Anyway hopefully the quality keeps up!
And man, now that I’m finally “anime-enabled” again, what a backlog have I mustered! Incredibly late as this post is, Railgun is currently my most ‘up-to-date’ seasonal show. Tough times nano :(
Whew! Been bogged down with work thanks to my making the age-old mistake of overpopulating my todo list just because it’s holidays. I gotta remember that my work efficiency actually decreases during Chinese New Year due to all the customary hometown visiting and what not. And then there’s that insane, unspeakably hot weather.
So anyway, while I sort through my own stuff and strive to deal with the remaining work (as well as squish the backlogs that have taken the opportunity to pull a full-fledged resurrection), here is an anisong for you in the meantime!
Kannagi’s Musuhi no Toki had been somewhat overshadowed during the show’s broadcast by the really catchy OP as well as the general hilarity and win-barrage that defined the series, but I think it is really quite the lovely, soothing song. It can be nice to listen to songs like these every now and then, to sort of slow us down a little, and perhaps increase our relish for life :)
So! Without further ado, here is Musuhi no Toki, ED to Kannagi, and, as I just found out, performed by Haruka Tomatsu herself! As always, hit F8 to play the song while it’s up, and hit the jump for a pic, lyrics, and translations. Enjoy!
(EDIT: For the uninitiated, Ubunchu is a free-licensed manga series thematically centered around Ubuntu Linux, and this is a review of the fourth chapter of said series cum my musings on the viability of free licenses when applied to artwork. I apologize if I have previously confused anyone by leaving out this introduction :( )
(EDIT: I can’t believe I forgot the link to the manga again!! You can find every translated chapter of the free-licensed Ubuntu-oriented manga here)
With every chapter so far thematically alluding to one Ubuntu / free software related idea or another, Ubunchu is starting to feel somewhat like a documentary. Reminds me of one of those “Manga guide to Databases” things. And that’s not a bad thing by the way :P
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