Shikabane-Hime: Aka or (Corpse Princess: Red) is the latest series from the venerable animation studio Gainax. That fact alone guaranteed big exposure but doomed it in the eyes of many anime fans because is wasn’t the second coming of Gurren Lagann. As much as I love Gurren Lagann and hope Gainax revisits the universe, I didn’t want them to rehash over and over the same type of show – I wanted something different and this was different.

Final Series Score: 10.5/12 Strong A
Rewatchablity: med
Pros: above average animation was used to create a creepy atmosphere around the show, takes the time to show how a normal high school student becomes the hero of the series, monsters where diverse with very different back stories and powers, main characters are likable and given sufficient depth to feel realistic in their roles
Cons: story lacked focus at the beginning, fight scenes were underwhelming for a Gainax show

Awards given to this show by this blog

• #4 in Top 5 Anime of Fall Season 2008

Story

Oori is a fairly typical high school student. He was orphaned at a very young age and was raised by a young monk, Keisei, who Oori thinks of as an older brother. One night, Oori is awakened by a ghostly cat and told to visit the temple. He goes and by doing so, Oori’s life will be forever changed. He’ll discover the existence of evil creatures known as Corpses and about the people that fight them, monks like Keisei and undead helpers known as Corpse Princesses. From this night on, his life slowly becomes more entwined in this shadowy world till living a normal life will become impossible.

Thoughts and impressions

Watching Shikabane Hime, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Ga:Rei – Zero. Both deal with the events that cause the main character to become the hero of the show. Where they differ is Ga:Rei tells us at the very beginning of it’s intentions; whereas, Shikabane Hime doesn’t make this apparent till much later in the show. It was a big gamble by the animators of Ga:Rei to start the series like they did but it was very successful and it allowed the viewers to focus on the characters and events at a much greater level then the viewers of Shikabane Hime. As a result, the plot felt of Shikabane Hime was very muddled at the beginning with no clear direction. The viewers, including myself, wanted to know why so much time was being spent on Oori when the fights that Keisei and his Corpse Princess, Makina, got into was much more interesting.

It eventually became clear what they were working towards and from that point, it was possible to fully enjoy the show and in hindsight, the way in which the story unfolded was one of this show’s praiseworthy attributes. One of the problems I have with how some shounen type shows are structured is the normal character asked to save the world is often anything but normal. In this show, we watch how the hero is slowly (and always logically) pulled to the position where he will have to step in and become the hero.

I tried to temper my expectations of this show, telling myself that this was not the same type of show as Gurren Lagann, and I was largely successful except for one area. I was still somewhat disappointed that the action scenes did not excite like Gainax action scenes normally do. There was nothing really wrong with them, as far as I could tell, and the fights where satisfying but somehow they just didn’t quite feel the same. Certainly an area for improvement but something that this show did that I don’t remember Gainax really ever doing was how the animation created a creepy atmosphere around itself. Very helpful to a show like this.

Overall, I think this is a very solid show with much to offer the viewer and one I would recommend to people looking for more of a plot and character driven action show. The second season is currently airing and while it started off weak with a strong dose of stupid fan service, it’s starting to get interesting again. And I almost forgot to mention that the voice actors for both Oori and Makina were first timers and sounded a little off at the beginning but improved greatly over the course of the show.

Essential Information

• 13 episodes
• genre: supernatural, action
• animation studio: Gainax
• director: Masahiko Murata
• OP: “Beautiful fighter” by angela
• ED: “My story” by angela
• Seiyuus of note: Keiji Fujiwara, Nana Akiyama, Tatsuya Hosome, Yui Horie

Posted in anime, series review

This delightful slice-of-life show is a “sequel” but the only thing it shares with the first season is the general world setting – I don’t believe there’s even any cameos of the first season cast. Therefore calling this the second season is a bit of a misnomer and shouldn’t stop a potential viewer from starting with this series.

Final Series Score: 11.5/12 Near Perfect
Rewatchablity: med - high
Pros: likable cast of characters, interesting world that the show takes place in, unique uses of magic keep the show feeling new, great OP/ED and background music, masterful job of creating the perfect slice-of-life feel, good job done by the seiyuus
Cons: Twist towards the end was a little too abrupt, animation style takes getting used too

Awards given to this show by this blog

• Strongest Female Character for 2008
• Runner-up for Best Slice-of-Life for 2008
• Runner-up for Best Ending Song for 2008
• Best Music Soundtrack for 2008
• Ranked #9 in Overall Top 10 Anime of 2008

Story

The world of Someday’s Dreamers resembles our own except magic exists and the government regulates the use of magic. Sora, an empathic and outgoing young woman, has inherited her deceased father’s great skill in magic and wants nothing more then to become a licensed magic user. Doing so will force her to leave her rural home to attend magic school in Tokyo. Along the way, as you might expect from a slice-of-life show, she’ll meet new friends, discover the unique joys of living in a city, and learn that even magic has it’s limitations.

Thoughts and impressions

In my personal experience, a very good slice-of-life show produces a unique effect (something like a soothing, mellow, warm feeling) that no other type of show can replicate. It’s one of the reasons that I like that type of show and it’s also a useful means to test if a certain slice-of-life show is good or not. In the case of Someday’s Dreamers season 2, I can say that it passed with flying colors with almost every single episode giving me that feeling.

Watching the first season right before this season aired made me worry that the plot of both seasons would be similar and I’d grow bored of the repetition. This turned out to be a baseless worry because there was only very minimal overlap in plot development. One of the overriding issues of the first season – the main character losing all faith in the ability for magic to be a positive thing – barely showed up in this season. And the issue that drove the second season (even if we didn’t figure what that was until late in the series) was completely absent from the first season.

The aspect of Someday’s Dreamers that most of the anime blogosphere spent talking about was the animation style which was a mix of photo-realistic backgrounds and simple character designs. It definitely was a unique look and, while I would have liked the characters to have had a more detailed design, it did grow on me. The thought even came to me that this design choice was intentional because it helped reinforce the idea that the characters lived in the world and not that the world was a prop for the characters. What surprised me was the fervor of some people’s hatred towards the animation style and their attempts to prove it was cheap and inferior. If animators never experimented, then anime as an art would never evolve and improve in quality. Besides, a show should be judged on it’s content and not if it has the latest animation bells-and-whistles.

Because of my policy of not revealing major plot points and endings, I can’t really discuss what I mean by saying the twist in the show towards the end was too abrupt. In hindsight, it’s a twist that’s plausible and I’m not saying it shouldn’t have happened but a few hints earlier in the series would have helped.

If you’re a slice-of-life fan and haven’t watched this series then I’d definitely recommend watching it. If you don’t like slice-of-life shows then this one probably isn’t for you but I’d still recommend watching an episode or two to see if you like the characters and the use of magic.

Essential Information

• 12 episodes
• genre: slice-of-life
• animation studio: Hal Film Maker
• director: Osamu Kobayashi
• OP: “fly away” by THYME
• ED: “Kawaita Hana” by micc
• Seiyuus of note: Kana Hanazawa, Marina Inoue, Tomoaki Maeno, Daisuke Namikawa, Fuyuka Oura

Posted in anime, series review

When I came up with my grading scale, I was attempting to strike a good balance between having a system that accurately reflected the different levels of quality and a system that was overly complex. After a year of using this scale, I’m better able to recognize differences in quality and score accordingly. I’m still not a cynical reviewer that loves to hate everything but I am giving out fewer perfect scores. Recently, I realized that my grading scale needs a few tweaks to simplify it as well as add a few more possible scores.

One problem was that I actually had two different 1-12 scales that I used. For episodes of anime I just a scale that included 12+, 12++, and 12+++ but for complete works like a series review I did not have these levels. Another problem that would occur when doing a series review was I sometimes had a show that didn’t fit in one of my whole number ratings but, instead, belonged midway between two numbers.

The needed revision came to me today and it’s outlined as followed.

The scale is still out of 12 but it shall be divided as such:

• 12/12 Perfect
• 11.5/12 Nearly Perfect
• 11/12 A+
• 10.5/12 Strong A
• 10/12 A
• 9/12 A-
• 8/12 B+
• 7/12 B
• 6/12 B-
• 5/12 C+
• 4/12 C
• 3/12 D
• 2/12 F
• 1/12 Epic Fail

For anime series reviews and other completed reviewed works, the only difference is now it’s possible to get an 11.5 and 10.5. I’ve gone back and adjusted the series review scores to reflect these new choices. One such move, for example, was Library War moved from 11/12 up to 11.5/12 to better reflect how much I loved it, despite the problems in the plot believability department.

For the episode review scores, the version 1 scores get mapped to version 2 scores like this: 12+++ → 12, 12++ → 11.5, 12+ → 11, 12 → 10.5, 11 → 10, 10 → 9, 9 → 8, 8 → 7, 7 → 6, 6 → 5, 5 → 4, 4 → 3, 3 → 2, 2 → 1. Taking a couple of examples from my recent weekly anime review:

Clannad S.2, episode 19 – 12++/12 becomes 11.5/12 Near Perfect
Michiko to Hatchin, episode 18 – 12+/12 becomes 11/12 A+
Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 7 – 11/12 A+ becomes 10/12 A
Asu no Yoichi, episode 7 – 9/12 A- becomes 8/12 B+

Generally, individual episodes will score higher then my overall opinion of the show. This is due to the lesser demands on a single episode to be good as opposed to the greater demands on the entire series to be good. For example, a certain series might get docked points in the series review because it lacked necessary character development but the individual episodes where funny and thusly earning good marks.

Modifiers

For completed works reviewed, a second measure will be included with the score and it will measure the level of Rewatchablity. This is separate from the score because a title could get a perfect score but there’s little desire to ever rewatch it or a show is no where near perfect but gets rewatched frequently. Shows that rank at least a medium would probably be worth buying in DVD form since at this level, it’s almost guarenteed that it’ll get watched more then once.

(None)
(very low)
(low)
(low – med)
(medium)
(med – high)
(high)
(very high)

One of the intanibles that was included previously in my first impression scores was how well the first episode got me interesting in watching the rest of the series. As of now, I’m going to separate that out and, using the same levels from my rewatchability score, rate how well the show hooks me into watching the rest of series. This will be the show’s initial Anticipation Level.

New Layout

Recent repeat visitors, no doubt, realized that I switched the theme for The Null Set. I was tired of the last theme for several months but couldn’t find a theme that WordPress offered that I liked. About a week ago, they introduced a new theme choice that seemed to offer many of the improvements I was looking for as well as including cool options like being able to change the background color so I switched.

I didn’t want to fish for complements so I didn’t say anything; however, I was hoping for some feedback on the change but to date, I haven’t gotten any. Since I decided to tweak my grading scale, I figured I could slip in a small part asking for feedback about the recent theme change. So, how do you like the new theme? Any gripes about how the sidebar is now ordered? Is there something I missed in converting the theme?

Posted in meta/office keeping

Confession time before I continue. I love to watch shows that take place in other time periods and one of my favorite time periods is 19^th century England. I don’t really know why but it leads to watching shows that probably wouldn’t be nearly as interesting if they took place today. For example, I’ve watch A&E’s excellent Pride and Prejudice miniseries at least 5 times now and could be convinced to watch it many more times. I say all this because Earl and Fairy takes place in 19^th century England and this will put a positive spin on the show that other people might not have.

Final Series Score: 8/12 B+
Rewatchablity: low - med
Pros: fun cast of characters, well-done character interactions, charming time period and setting that’s somewhat unique in anime and showcased reasonably well here, good work done by voice actors
Cons: the early plot was overly rushed and overall wasn’t taken seriously, animation was only serviceable for the show, not enough was done with Lydia’s ability to see spirits

Awards given to this show by this blog

• Best Non-Human Character for Fall Season 2008
• Best Male Seiyuu for Hikaru Midorikawa as Edgar for Fall Season 2008

Story

Lydia has the ability to see spirits and uses this ability to work as a ‘Fairy Doctor’ – a person that helps people with spirit problems. In an increasing modern England, though, more and more people believe spirits don’t exist and thus Lydia doesn’t have much work.

On a boat trip to London she gets kidnapped but is saved by a mysterious stranger named Edgar. He requires her services to prove his claim of being the rightful heir to the title of Blue Knight Earl. She is reluctant to help Edgar even though he’s handsome, cultured, and suave because there’s a chance he’s a murderer from America and most likely not the rightful heir (the heir should be able to see spirits). And even if she doesn’t want to help, she might not have a choice because she’ll need someone’s protection against the group that tried to kidnap her.

Thoughts and impressions

The first thing that anyone who’s planning on watching this series has to take into account is Earl & Fairy can’t be taken seriously. If you do, you will dislike this show; instead watch it to enjoy the characters and how they interact with each other. At it’s best the plot is full of more holes then Swiss cheese and at it’s worst (episode 4) it’s so compressed and nonsensical that I almost stopped watching the show entirely. I did force myself to continue watching but with a decreased emphasis on the plot and an increased emphasis on the characters and within a couple of episodes I was back to enjoying this show. In the show’s defense, it was obvious that the relative small episode count forced the animators to move things along so they could get to of the later source material.

It is entirely possible to like this show just for the characters and how they interact with each other. The major characters include Lydia: a likeable, independent, head-strong woman who alternates between liking and despising Edgar. Her employer, Edgar, who oozes charm and does appear to sincerely like Lydia but his long history of being an impulsive lady’s man frequently means he does something that makes Lydia angry. Edgar’s butler and bodyguard is serious, reserved, and not human – the green glowing eye gives that away – he also looks good in a dress as we find out in one episode. Lydia has a pet cat that can talk, walk on it’s two back feet, and loves to drink alcohol and eat. She also has a shape changing spirit that decides that he wants to marry her and take her to live with him in fairy world.

Other then the plot, the only thing that really disappointed me was how Lydia’s ability to see spirits wasn’t used much by the series. In this aspect, I can compare this show to Natsume Yuujinchou or Kamichu because the main characters share the same type of ability. In Natsume and Kamichu, we see many spirits inhabiting the world, even if they’re just in the background but this isn’t the case in this show. The only time that Lydia’s ability to see spirits seems to come up is at convenient plot points which is a shame because so much could be done with this ability.

In conclusion, because the plot is handled so poorly, this show gets relegated to the status of “Enjoyable Fluff”. I’d recommend giving Earl and Fairy a watch for people looking for a show with good characters and interesting relationships or for someone wanting something a bit different in either setting and/or time period or someone that’s tired of the standard anime character types and clichés. And just remember, don’t let the really horrible episode 4 stop you watching the rest of the show; the rest of the show is okay.

Essential Information

• 12 episodes
• genre: fantasy, shoujo, romance
• animation studio: Artland
• director: Koichiro Sohtome
• OP: “FEELING” by AciD FLavoR
• ED: “my fairy” by Hikaru Midorikawa
• Seiyuus of note: Hikaru Midorikawa, Nana Mizuki, Tomokazu Sugita, Hiro Yuuki, Takehito Koyasu, Hiroshi Kamiya

Posted in anime, series review

Looking over my scores this week; I realized something, we’re already halfway through the winter season. It won’t be long before spring is upon us, both in anime and in weather. In my neck of the woods, spring is getting ready to start: a few of our crocuses have already broken dormancy, I killed two spiders in the basement today, and my mom spotted a returning robin a couple of days ago.

The scores:

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 7 – 12+/12

Hetalia Axis Powers, episode 4 – 10/12 A

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 16 – 12/12
Michiko to Hatchin, episode 17 – 12+/12
Michiko to Hatchin, episode 18 – 12+/12

Rideback, episode 6 – 12+/12

Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 7 – 11/12 A+

Sora o Kakeru Shoujo, episode 7 – 9/12 A-

Toradora!, episode 20 – 12+/12

Clannad S.2, episode 19 – 12++/12

Munto TV, episode 5 – 10/12 A

Maria+Holic, episode 7 – 9/12 A-

Asu no Yoichi, episode 7 – 9/12 A-

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 20 – 12/12

Chrome Shelled Regios, episode 6 – 10/12 A

Shikabane Hime: Kuro, episode 4 – 11/12 A+
Shikabane Hime: Kuro, episode 5 – 10/12 A

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Michiko to Hatchin – The plot’s heating up now that we’re reaching the final episodes

Down – none

Thoughts and Highlights

There’s been many reasons to like Michiko to Hatchin so far but watching this batch of episodes made me realize that character development is yet another reason. It’s been slow and somewhat hidden by the action of the series but it’s been there and it’s felt natural. For example, when Hatchin goes to great lengths to cheer up Michiko in episode 18, it feels like something she’d do at this point for Michiko but as little as 5 or 6 episodes ago, I don’t think she’d do it. There’s still a bunch of things that still need to be revealed about the show included exactly why the guy keeps running away from Michiko and Hatchin and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.

Best episode of the week was episode 19 of Clannad. Once again there were many tear inducing scenes, though most of these were happy scenes this time, as well as happy scenes as Ushio and Tomoya settle into their new life together. I thought the baseball scene, at the beginning, was Akki’s way to symbolically hand over the responsibility of raising Ushio back to Tomoya. Also, thinking back to the last time we saw them play baseball together, I took the ease in which Tomoya hit Akki’s pitch as a statement of how mature Tomoya has gotten.

Speaking of Akki, he often is shown acting immature but the scene where he tells Sanae that it’s finally okay to cry over Nagisa showed that can he’s a good husband. I was of the opinion that Tomoya was a bad father for making Sanae and Akki raise Ushio for 5 years but thinking about it now, maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. Tomoya lost his wife but Sanae and Akki lost their daughter and raising Ushio did help them get through the worst of the pain. I’m really anxious to see how the rest of the series will play out; I’m pretty sure that Tomoya gets a wish from the glowing orb and I wonder if Kyou’s return in the next episode will play into the wish.

What is it about reformed villains that I love so much? The last time I watched a show that had a villain become good was Gurren Lagann and the character Viral became my favorite of the show. This short arc in To Aru Majutsu no Index featured a villain from just a few episodes ago that became the hero and this was, by far and away, the best arc of the series so far. I hope he can come back soon. Looking at the preview and how it appears several new characters will be introduced seems to point to a second season in the future and thus no sort of plot resolution for this season.

Another good episode of Rideback. I was partially right with my guess several weeks ago that Rin’s rowdy brother will be the reason that gets her involved with the terrorists; he wasn’t the first reason but his actions will be the confirming reason that will get her involved. This episode is a good display of why it’s important to follow current events. The GGP run government needed some pretext to bring in Ridebacks for the purposes of security and a rampage by a group of Ridebacks would be the perfect thing. The idiot that was the leader should have realized no one would just give him 4 Ridebacks without a reason and the consequences of his group’s actions will be just what the GGP wanted him to do. I thought for a moment that Rin might be able to defy the military again and get her and her brother to safety but the GGP simply had too much at their disposal. I’m assuming some sort of prison break will happen next episode because I can’t imagine the government allowing either Rin or her brother to go free again.

And now a few short thoughts:

• Shikabane Hime: Kuro has toned down the fan service but it feels like too much time is being spent on getting Oori and Makina ready to fight.
• Once again Maria+Holic shows why Mariya needs to be onscreen often – the show isn’t nearly as good when he’s not.
• I’m still waiting for Hetalia to get offensive. I did have a very good laugh when Japan made models of the U-boat and created 12 different color versions to sell – very stereotypical of what you see in Japan.
• I enjoyed the two part episode from Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou partially because it showed how much Nyanko-sensei and Natsume have changed so far. Nyanko actually had the Book of Friends in his possession and still endeavored to save Natsume and when Natsume temporarily lost his ability to see spirits, he was visibly depressed by this.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review

You probably didn’t know today is “Christmas in February” because it’s a holiday my family made up 11 years ago.

It started when we decided to have a Christmas-style dinner and serve up the rest of the Christmas cookies that were left over from Christmas and had been sitting in the freezer. As things normally go, we slowly increased what we did for Christmas in February - we got a small 2 foot artificial tree and started decorating it then my parents started buying a small, inexpensive gift for us all. Last year, my mom found a cute artificial 5 ft tree so the little tree got replaced with a bigger one and the $5 dollar gifts have now gotten to be $15 dollar gifts.

One of the nice things about Christmas in February is that we get to pick when in February we want to celebrate it - this year, it’s the last Sunday of the month but next year might be the second Tuesday of the month. Another nice thing is that it gives the dreary month of February a holiday that’s fun. Also, since it’s not the official Christmas, it has all the nice parts of the holiday without any of the stress.

And some more Christmas themed anime pictures:

Posted in anime, general anime interst, other news

I am not a huge fan of the horror genre, especially when it attempts to gross the viewer out. I do enjoy seeing when the characters of a series or movie have their minds messed with, which probably explains why I think The Ring is my favorite horror movie. I figured I’d give Chaos;Head a chance since it was from Madhouse and maybe I could find an anime that could mess with my mind.

Final Series Score: 9/12 A-
Rewatchablity: low
Pros: story remains compelling till the end, does a good job of keeping the viewer guessing as to what’s really happening and what will happen, unique premise helped the show remain interesting
Cons: lackluster animation and very ugly school uniforms, the harem elements intrude on the story at times but never to the point of interfering with it, the ending is a bit of a let down, characters are not very deep nor do they develop much throughout the show

Awards given to this show by this blog

• Best Character Ability / Power for Fall Season 2008
• Best Story for Fall Season 2008
• Runner-up for Best Ending Song for Fall Season 2008

Story

Taku is an otaku nerd living in a converted shipping crate with only a tenuous hold on reality. A series of gruesome murders starts occurring in the area that he lives and it appears that he’s somehow connected these murders.

Thoughts and impressions

Chaos;Head tries to combine a harem type show with a psychological horror show and it’s about as successful as what’s humanly possible. The back story of the show is done in such a way that the harem elements don’t stick out really badly and at times these elements actually help the story along. I’m not a huge fan of harem shows so I was worried this would swamp the horror part of the show but it never did.

The psychological horror side was quite well done throughout the series and is the big draw to the series. It kept the viewer guessing what was actually going on and where the show was heading till the very end. I particularly enjoyed the fact that Taku was an unreliable narrator because as we watched the events unfold we were never quite sure that if what we saw was what really happened or just a figment of Taku’s insanity. I did think the ending was a bit of let down but that might be more from not having any more mysteries then the actual ending.

There were various little things that I enjoyed about this show that others might or might not like. One was the female private investigator because the voice actor, Kujira, was the same woman that did many of the background roles in Lucky Star (for example, the convention in episode 12). I love that voice, and wish she’d do more roles. Another was the ending song. It wasn’t because of the heavy amount of English used because it actually sounded like English but whoever wrote the English lyrics was not a native speaker and the lyrics only kinda make sense. Yes, I find the oddest things funny.

I would recommend giving this show a watch to someone looking for a psychological or suspense anime but with the caveat that it does have it’s flaws and if you have a low tolerance of harem elements, then you might want to look for something else – maybe try Paranoia Agent.

Essential Information

• 12 episodes
• genre: harem, suspense-horror, supernatural
• animation studio: Madhouse
• director: Takaaki Ishiyama
• OP: “F.D.D.” by Kanako Ito
• ED: “Super Special” by Seira Kagami
• Seiyuus of note: Eri Kitamura, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Akira Ishida, Daisuke Ono, Hitomi Nabatame

Here’s the ending:

Posted in anime, series review, youtube

For most anime that’s based off of something, I am unaware of the original source material beforehand. In Kannagi’s case, I had read the first 10 chapters of the manga before I knew it was going to be made into an anime. So will this help or hinder my enjoyment of the series or will it be a moot question in the end?

Final Series Score: 8/12 B+
Rewatchablity: very low
Pros: Good production values, at times it was funny, had a very good ending song, sometimes it could be as good as it’s potential was
Cons: Tried too hard to be too many things, gratuitous fan service added to “improve” on the source material, character development was lacking and thus the characters either felt cliché or mere sketches of characters, would introduce characters or plot lines for no apparent reason and would often forget about them later

Awards given to this show by this blog

• none

Story

Our main character, Jin, is a typical high schooler except for his strong spiritual sense. As a young boy he saw the local land god. For his art project he decides to carve a statue out of a hunk of wood to match how he remembers her. Turns out this hunk of wood comes from the sacred tree at the temple of local land god (they were demolishing the temple area to build a sub-division or something) and when he finishes his carving – it turns into a human body that enshrines the local land god. The land god, Nagi, decides to live with Jin and continue her work purifying the land.

Thoughts and impressions

I think reading the manga beforehand initially hindered my enjoyment but in the end, it didn’t matter because I would have realized the faults of this show anyways.

I was looking forward to this show for two reasons, The first was the very minimal amount of fan service in the manga. This told me that the Kannagi manga wanted to make it on it’s story and characters and not through the use of fan service. Always a good sign. The second was the director of Kannagi was going to be the guy that lost his job directing after episode 4 of Lucky Star. I figured he’d take everything he learned while at KyoAni and having reflected on why he was unsuccessful with Lucky Star make sure the first job after Lucky Star would be success. And when I rewatched Lucky Star, I realized the first 5-6 episodes where much better the second time around now that I knew the characters.

The first episode of Kannagi started and the only significant difference from the source material was inserted fan service scenes. Likewise in the next couple episodes, the only thing that was added to the show was fan service scenes. I couldn’t help but wonder how the director decided that the best way to improve a show was by adding fan service. I wonder if he’s ever watched Spirited Away and thought to himself that he could improve upon it using a similar approach.

And it wasn’t just gratuitous fan service, it was detrimental to the story. For example, in episode 2, a scene was added where Jin is seen sniffing the bedding that Nagi used the previous night and later on Jin is shown answering the door holding Nagi’s panties. Later that same day (and only a few minutes later in real time) we’re shown a scene where a pair of baby kittens have died from starvation because the mother cat was killed in traffic. Jin realizes when he sees the dead mother cat that the babies are in danger so he rushes home only to see Nagi absorb their dead bodies into her own. It should have been a very touching scene but how are we to take it seriously when the show is trying it’s best to be a mindless fan service show. It can’t have it both ways.

Another problem I had was how the show introduced Nagi as having to purify the land by killing impurities but after the first few episodes nothing is done with this fact for the next seven or eight episodes. Nor is anything done about the father’s request to Jin about getting another god, Zange, removed from his daughter’s body. The show leaves us hanging on that issue totally. Instead the show tries to turn itself into a slice-of-life comedy and shows that KyoAni did the right thing by canning the director from Lucky Star because he’s still not ready to be a director.

The show did have some redeeming qualities. It was funny every now and again and it had good production values but after watching A-1 do Birdy over the summer – I knew they would make the show look good. The show was at it’s best when it was more serious and thus I finally started getting into the show towards the end when it veered into more serious territory. If the ending had happened around the midway point and had condensed the boring fluff into only a couple of episodes at the beginning, it might have turned out to be a better show.

I really can’t recommend this to anyone. If you’re looking for comedic shows about goddesses living with humans then I’d suggest the vastly superior Oh! My Goddess. If you want a slice-of-life show about Japanese gods check out Kamichu instead. If you want a show dealing with Japanese gods that has comedy, drama, and good characters check out Wagaya no Oinari-sama.

Essential Information

• 13 episodes
• genre: harem, comedy, supernatural
• animation studio: A-1 Pictures
• director: Yutaka Yamamoto
• OP: “motto Hade ni ne!” by Haruka Tomatsu
• ED: “Musuhi no Toki” by Haruka Tomatsu
• Seiyuus of note: Haruka Tomatsu, Hiro Shimono, Kana Hanazawa, Mai Nakahara, Miyuki Sawashiro, Tetsuya Kakihara

Here’s the opening and ending songs together:

Posted in anime, series review

In the rush at the end of the fall season and the start of the winter season, I just couldn’t find the time to write up several series reviews of shows I had finished. In this time before I start getting the spring preview ready and working on the winter season awards, I’m going try to get to some of these done. The first is the gory action anime Kurozuka from Madhouse.

Final Series Score: 11/12 A+
Rewatchablity: low-med
Pros: stylish and slick animation, knows it’s an action title and doesn’t bog itself down with needless story and exposition, interesting setting, well done action scenes, recap and previews were done as Noh theather which was unique and cool
Cons: The story is very disjointed at the beginning, making it very difficult to figure out what’s happening; the very ending (last 7 minutes or so) is profoundly confusing because it creates a huge list of questions about the show and what really is going on

Awards given to this show by this blog

• Best Action Anime for 2008
• Best Animation for 2008

Story

Around a thousand years ago, in feudal Japan, the brother of the Emperor is fleeing for his life and happens to find a cottage in the deep woods. The young and attractive woman living there allows him to stay on the condition that he never enters the room in the back of the cottage. The guy slowly falls deeply in love with the mysterious woman, for if he wasn’t deeply in love – then what he finds in the back room should have terrified him. Instead, he allows her to initiate him into the same dark secret and this starts a love affair between the two that will last over a thousand years.

Thoughts and impressions

Most of the time, for a show to be liked by me it needs good character development and an interesting story but sometimes a series can come along and skip these items (or have a very minimal amount) and still succeed. Kurozuka is one such title. For most of the series, we are as clueless as the main character as to what’s going on. The thing we and the main character latch onto is the need to find Kuromitsu, his beloved, because she must know what’s going on. Nor during this time do the characters show any sort of character development, they’re too busy fighting for their lives. Yet, this show remained riveting from start to finish.

Another thing that sets this show apart is how bloody and gory it is, which might turn some people off. I didn’t feel it was gratuitous for what the show was but they certainly didn’t shy away from showing these scenes. I was just really glad they didn’t use censoring like we’ve seen in other shows like Nabari no Ou because it’s a cheap tactic to try to up DVD sales and it hurts the show artistically.

I wanted to give Kurozuka a perfect score and if the only problem I had with it was the disjointed first couple of episodes it might have earned a perfect 12 but the ending really bugged me. It was almost like they wanted to give themselves an out that would allow a sequel to be made. To accomplish this though, they had to make the viewer question much of what they have learned about the show over the past 11 ½ episodes. It let the show end on a sour note and was completely unnecessary – they could have just ended it with him waking up once again on the hilltop.

I’d definitely recommend this title to anyone looking for a well-produced action anime or just looking for something different to watch with the caveat that it is violent and bloody.

Essential Information

• 12 episodes
• genre: Action
• animation studio: Madhouse
• director: Tetsuro Araki
• OP: “Systematic People” by Wagdug Futuristic Unity featuring Maximum The Hormone
• ED: “Hanarebanare” by Shigi
• Seiyuus of note: Mamoru Miyano, Romi Paku, Toshiko Fujita, Miyu Irino, Kazuhiko Inoue, Houko Kuwashima

Posted in anime, series review

I’m sorry for the relatively short weekly review, I’m not really feeling up to writing right now. I’m not about to quit my blog or anything like that, I had a death in the family. Since my weekly anime review is weekly, I still wanted to write it but this will probably be the only thing I write for a few days.

The scores:

Birdy the Mighty Decode 2, episode 4 – 12+/12

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 5 – 12+/12
Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 6 – 12+/12

Hetalia Axis Powers, episode 3 – 10/12 A

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 15 – 12/12

Rideback, episode 4 – 12++/12
Rideback, episode 5 – 12/12

Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 6 – 10/12 A

Sora o Kakeru Shoujo, episode 6 – 10/12 A

Toradora!, episode 19 – 12+++/12

Clannad S.2, episode 18 – 12+++/12

Munto TV, episode 4 – 10/12 A

Maria+Holic, episode 6 – 12/12

Asu no Yoichi, episode 6 – 10/12 A

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 19 – 11/12 A+

Kemono no Soja Erin, episode 2 – 8/12 B+

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Rideback – Hello!! This show just got very interesting.

Down – Minami-Ke: Okaeri – I’ve noticed a slow downward spiral after the first couple of episodes, nothing major yet but it’s starting to get troublesome.

Thoughts and Highlights

I’ve been thinking about Rideback a bunch since watching episodes 4 and 5. Up to the start of episode 4, it felt like it could be a somewhat conventional sports anime. We would see the former ballerina learn through Rideback racing how to recapture what she lost from the injury that made her quit. Sure it took place in a world where a shadowy organization runs the world but that fact didn’t seem to really intrude much on normal society. What happens in episode 4 is sudden, jarring, and shatters what the show is and when we put the pieces back together – it’s a totally different show now. I think this was done on purpose by the creators; they wanted to show how a single event can change the entire direction of a person’s life. I’m really excited to see where the rest of the series goes now.

Once again, when I’m trying to decide what was the best episode of the week, I have to make a tough choice between Toradora and Clannad. Both where absolutely marvelous and the more I think about it, the harder it is to pick one so I’m going to call it a tie. With Toradora, I knew to expect disappointments for Ryuuji and Taiga because the teacher kept saying that they will be rewarded for all their effort in making the Christmas party a success and I was mostly right. Ryuuji obviously didn’t get the ending he was hoping for with Minorin but Taiga definitely got a better Christmas then she was hoping for. I wonder if Taiga is now going to pursue Ryuuji or will she realize her friendship with Minorin is the reason for Minorin’s rejection and feel guilty. On the flip side, the episode of Clannad was a much more positive one – though just as emotional. We learned that Tomoya’s hate for his Dad lead him to forget all the good things his father did for Tomoya while growing up and that Tomoya’s been a worse dad then his father. This realization by Tomoya, along with Ushio’s innate cuteness, allowed Tomoya’s heart to be mended and has given him the strength to forgive his father, act as Ushio’s father and allowed him to remember his relationship with Nagisa in a good way. The scene at the end where he’s talking to Ushio about Nagisa was so incredibly touching and heartfelt.

This week’s episode of Maria+holic was the best so far and little surprise – it happened to be the most air time that Maria has gotten so far. The addition of Maria’s sister adds a very interesting dynamic to the show. The main character has been wishing that Maria was an actual girl and now that possibility is a reality. It finally felt like the show was reaching it’s potential; I hope Maria+holic can continue at this leavel.

And finally, some thoughts in short:

• Birdy and Natsume continue to impress
• Index continues to talk to much, flub it’s potential, and remain mildly interesting
• Munto leaves me feeling good but wishing it would explain itself better
• Hetalia has it’s most coherent and best episode so far – I’m still waiting to see something that’s actually offensive.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review

Over the weekend, I decided to look for photoshop tutorials that would increase my relatively lackluster abilities. I found several that were helpful and as a result, I ended up with a new banner and a desktop wallpaper. I also learned several very handy commands that I didn’t know photoshop had. The wallpaper is the the picture above, click to get the full size. It’s sized 1280 x 1024 and I did it myself (though I mostly followed a tutorial ).

I really hate to see my Nagisa banner go. She’s by far and away my favorite Key girl and one of my favorite characters of all time. I had intended to keep the Nagisa banner up until the end of Clannad but after making the new banner, I couldn’t wait to put that one up.

And finally, I put up a new poll question as you can see to the right. This one will probably stay up till the end of the winter season when I plan to run another “Favorite Character of Toradora” poll and see if the results differ from the last one that I ran at the half-way point.

Posted in anime, meta/office keeping, SF wallpaper

Well, the image is not really from the manga, but I just put the title as ‘Coloured Manga’ for consistency’s sake.

Lineart by OukaSakazaki

Hair may be somewhat messy but I quite like how this one turned out. And the background is simple yet again…

Heya all. Here is the weekly update with all the releases; this time we have finished two more projects: Votoms in its remastered version and we released also the movie, Vampire Hunter D in G_P flavor (great video quality encoded from the R2J DVD, AC3 sound, english soft styled and unstyled subs, etc.).

So here are all the episodes done:

• Vampire Hunter D movie -> Torrent Link
• Tekkaman Blade episode 27
• GaoGaiGar episode 30
• Votoms (Remastered) episodes 50, 51 & 52 (end) -> Torrent Link

Hope you’ll like all these projects.

Enjoy.

Regards.

- The_Soulforged

“See ya folks!”

I had planned on reviewing every edition of Asimov’s this year but it turned out that I only got to the January edition. So, what I’ll do is give a quick review of the year before moving onto my Reader’s Choice Award ballot.

There are 3 different length categories: (NA) - novella, (NT) - novelette, (SS) - short story. Novellas are the longest and can run around 50 pages and short stories are the shortest and can be at most several pages.

Best Stories in Asimov’s

January

• (NT) Alastair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders by Mike Resnick
• (NT) The Beautiful and Damned By F.Scott Fitzgerald by Tanith Lee
• (SS) Unlikely by Will McInTosh

February

• (SS) From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled by Michael Swanwick
• (NT) The Ray-Gun: A Love Story by James Alan Gardner

March

• (NT) Following the Pharmers by Brian Stableford
• (NT) Master of the Road to Nowhere by Carol Emshwiller

April / May

• (NT) Memory Dog by Kathleen Ann Goonan
• (NA) The Room of Lost Souls by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

June

• (NA) Hob Carpet by Ian R. MacLeod

July

• (NT) Vinegar Peace, Or, The Wrong-Way Used Orphanage by Michael Bishop
• (SS) 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss by Kij Johnson

August

• (NT) Divining Light by Ted Kosmatka

September

• (SS) Horse Racing by Mary Rosenblum
• (NT) Midnight Blue by Will McInTosh

October / November

• (NA) Truth by Robert Reed

December

• (NA) The Flowers of Nicosia by David Ira Cleary

First off, I want to congratulate Sheila Williams, the editor, for another strong year of Asimov’s.

I continue to be amazed how a mere $32.97 a year gives me so much. It truly is one of the best ratios of entertainment / cost that can be found with at least 100 pages (200 for double issues) of fiction per issue. The stories listed above were the best of the best from Asimov’s this year - the stories that I’ll remember and talk about for years to come. I didn’t include the stories that were only excellent and above average because that would have made the list too long.

And let’s not forget the columns that are in Asimov’s. My favorites are the Editorial column that’s written Sheila Williams and the Reflections column by Robert Silverberg. Both Sheila Williams and Robert Silverberg have been lifelong fans of science fiction and this love pervades their columns. Even when many of Sheila’s columns deal with meta things like reporting on the results of the Reader’s Choice Award, what she’s looks for when buying a story, and why Asimov’s physical dimensions were slightly changed – She can still slip in interesting story. Like how for awhile Asimov’s had the same dimensions as the TV Guide magazine so it could be printed on the same presses as the TV Guide. On the other hand Robert Silverberg has free rein to talk about anything and he does. The topics he covered ranged from the high-tech toilets of Japan to how humanity is rapidly running out of certain elements like Gallium to talking about a story written in 1946 that actually predicted the home computer, the internet, and how society would become dependent on the computer.

The most memorable column, however, was written by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Among other things that she talked about was research she had done about America in the year 1969. That year, if you remember, was the year that American astronauts became the first people to land on the moon. During that same year there were over 3000 bombs that were detonated in America – mainly by domestic terrorists – so many that it was no longer national news when one went off. She also found that in the United States alone there were 37 airline hijackings during the same year. My brain has trouble even imagining what it must have been like to live through that and still be able to pull off the something so ambitious as a Moon landing.

The final thing I wanted to mention before moving to my picks was that I got my name mentioned in the September Asimov’s. Sheila Williams used my comment summing the 2007 year of Asimov’s in her Editorial column about the 2008 Reader’s Choice Awards. Seeing my name in print like that was really, really cool and makes me want to try to become a published author.

2009 Reader’s Award Ballot

Novella

1. Truth by Robert Reed
2. The Room of Lost Souls by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
3. Hob Carpet by Ian R. MacLeod

One of the certitudes in reading short form science fiction is that a Robert Reed story is always good, sometimes great, and occasionally sublime. Truth falls into the sublime category. Set a few years in the future, it recasts (as only science fiction can) current events in a totally different light. It gripped the reader from the start and held us on the edge of our seats to the very ending. It was also supremely imaginative and thought-provoking as great science fiction should be.

Truth squeaks past the sole story that takes place in space, Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The Room of Lost Souls. The story takes place in the far future where humanity has colonized the universe and has had time to learn and forget many technologies. This makes wreck diving popular because some fantastic technology might be hiding on a long abandoned star ship. One such technology is perfect stealth which is what drives the events around this story and an early story set in the same universe. Rusch has a talent at creating characters that feel like real people and making the reader care about what happens to them. I hope that Rusch will revisit this interesting universe in the near future.

Novelette

1. Memory Dog by Kathleen Ann Goonan
2. Divining Light by Ted Kosmatka
3. The Beautiful and Damned By F.Scott Fitzgerald by Tanith Lee

Much like Truth, Kathleen Ann Goonan’s Memory Dog takes place in a near future that feels plausible and connected to our world. It examines one person’s extreme feeling of loss and regret and how it personally drives him to insanity but also gives humanity the chance to start acting sane. This one packs a emotionally wallop as well as featuring some great technology.

In any other year, Divining Light by Ted Kosmatka would probably have easily win this award but it had to come out this year. That doesn’t detract from the fact that this story was one of the few times that reading or watching something has produced a feeling of vertigo in me. It was further unsettling when I went online and found that much of the quantum mechanics used in this story was true and the fictional parts are only fictional because no one has tested to see if their true or not. From a story standpoint, I picked Memory Dog over this story because of slightly better characterization among the characters.

Short Story

1. From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled by Michael Swanwick
2. 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss by Kij Johnson
3. Unlikely by Will McInTosh

I’ve been enjoying Michael Swanwick’s well crafted stories for a long time now and his latest, From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled, is no different. The story is told by an AI inhabiting a space suit and takes place on an alien planet where a delegation of humans look to trade with the inhabiting alien race. The story is well written with good characterization and the aliens felt realistically alien and it’s all the more amazing that Swanwick was able to do this in such a short story.

The other two stories: 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss and Unlikely, are more lighthearted but still very well written. 26 Monkeys is about a traveling circus act that involves 26 monkeys and a bathtub that has some sort of portal attached to it that allows the monkeys to disappear at the end of their performance. And Unlikely is a story about how injuries and accidents are decreased within a community when a certain guy and girl are in close proximity with each other. Is it fate or is it a statistical anomaly? Many of Asimov’s stories are serious, melancholy or downright depressing and it’s stories like these two that help balance it out the reading experience.

Poem

1. Classic of Science Fiction: “The Cold Equations” by Jack O’Brien
2. Where Seelie Shop by Greg Beatty
3. Return of Zombie Teen Angst by Mike Allen

I’m not a good judge of what makes a good poem but all three that I picked, I remember reading even months later so I figure that means they’re the good ones.

Cover

1. March
2. December
3. January

One of the weakest elements of Asimov’s is the covers. Most of them make me think that they were done 50 years ago – hardly the image a SF magazine should have. Sometimes there’s a decent cover like the second and third pick but only very rarely is there a good cover like my top pick. I’ve often thought that they should run a contest looking new cover art and it would target college art students and art professionals just starting out who would love the chance to get their work shown nationally and even internationally.

Posted in Asimov's SF Magazine, general anime interst, science fiction, SF awards

Sturgeon’s Law would dictate that only 10% of AMVs are actually good enough to be worth defending. That’s a bit too pessimistic for me but I definitely think the vast majority are merely decent (including the AMV I made and is currently being blocked by Youtube). However, in the right hands, the anime music video has the potential to be very entertaining and artistically beautiful. The problem is finding them so I thought I’d share some of my recent favorites.

Twilight by Koopiskeva

This video totally and completely blew me away. Along with great editing and a good song to match the video, the real stand-out was the use of live action footage. Koop was able to take the characters from Kanon, stick them into the physical world and make it look like they belong. The effect enhances the emotional impact of the events that transpired in the show.

Running Man by Nostromo

One of my favorite AMV creators is Nostromo because his videos feature truly divine editing, beautiful animation and a song to match. His latest, Running Man, is no different.

A Little Retrospect

I love the concept of this video – a look back at AMVs that show how they have been evolving both in complexity and subjects used. I only recognize about 35% of the videos used and mainly just the most recent ones but it’s still interesting. I also like how it’s framed so we know exactly what we’re watching.

Just for a Day by Funky-kun

U2’s Beautiful Day has probably been used countless times as AMV material but this is one of the best uses of the song. Great editing and matching the animation to the lyrics of the song.

Lovestruck Radiance by Kisanzi

A great example of matching a song to a show and then making a well-done AMV using the two.

The Harassment of Kyon by MysteriousRyder

This is a straight comedy AMV with a good idea behind it – taking Itsuki’s somewhat creepy behavior in Haruhi to the next level. This is done with the perfect song and imaginative editing.

Posted in anime, general anime interst, youtube