Link of the Day [1.10.12]
If you live in LA or in CA or anywhere in the Pacific time zone, I would try to make some time to catch as much if not all of this Studio Ghibli slate of anime playing on a big screen.
Link of the Day [1.04.12]
The new year brought some terrible news on the US anime front. Bandai, a US anime and manga publisher, had halted production on new anime and manga for the US market. They would still sell out the last of their inventory, but they would not be bringing anything new to the US from Japan. This may mean the end to legal access to kami-sama, Haruhi, anime if and when Kyoto Animation decides to produce the next season. It most certainly means that season two of K-ON! won't be coming out from them, and means that the K-ON! movie may never reach the shores of America legally. I am sad. After reading today's link, a review of the K-ON! movie, I so want to watch it. Maybe, some other US distributor would snap up the rights to this franchise and deliver for us Mugi-Mio-Yui-Azu-Ristsu fans a sweet Christmas present next year.http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/k-on/the-movie
Six Geese A-laying
Most every anime featuring high school romance is going to have it’s Christmas episode. Hatsukoi Limited is no different. It’s title is “Before it Snows” (雪が降り出すその前に) I just wanted to copy and paste that. You see I needed an anime to tell us all about Christmas in Japan from the schoolboy’s perspective. I would’ve chosen my favorite anime, but settled on Hatsukoi Limited because it sorta has a theme we could attach to it for today.
The set up for the anime is that these girls and these boys have crushes on each other and they either need to acknowledge the crush or be crushed by rejection. It’s a short, simple, complicated manga turned by Kawashita-sensei that you should read about its plot at wikipedia. Anyhow, the Christmas episode has the gang planning a Christmas party. Three girls and three boys each crushing on someone are to attend and they’ll exchange gifts. The day arrives and two girls and two boys have bailed out for various reasons leaving the more antagonist couple alone. They don’t know if they like each other; they just know that the other is really, super annoying. They argue then get into a snowball fight which clears their heads enough to acknowledge that each has a good point to them; they’re steadily falling in love. They exchange presents and each finds that they got what they had wanted.
The Christmas theme for today is koi. Love not familial or brotherly, but passion. We should feel it all year long, but it is more acute around this time because of the sharing and
The second Christmas theme for today is “tsudere goodness.” Assertive, combative, confrontational at first given way to gentle, warm-hearted, loving that’s a Christmas present I can’t wait for.
The third Christmas theme is grade S zettai ryouiki. That’s the star on the treetop and the ribbon on the gift. Waiting for it is worthwhile.
Tea Time w/ Erica Sendo
Here’s nendoroid number 40+, Erica Sendo from the Japanese eroge, Fortune Arterial. I think she’s a vampire, but here she is having a cup of tea. I’m wishing Mugi-chan was serving us, but that nendoroid would have to come out later.
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko Banner
I like visiting sites of the animes I watch, because of the gewgaws and bibelots that they have for your blog. Here’s another one from the current anime, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko. Your guess is as good as mine. Got to catch ’em all.
Ano Hana Banner
Just throwing this up here as place holder to remind you (or rather me) that this is a really good anime…
Ritsu!
Bought the first season first disc DVD of K-ON! Was also looking for the Blu-Ray. The dub is driving me crazy because the girls of Sakuragaoka High School are all sounding the same. I think the voice actress for Yui isn’t working, but the one that doesn’t work is Ritsu. Her voice actress isn’t lively enough. Can they get better? Maybe, but there ain’t nothing like the original Japanese voice actresses. Now, I am dreading Azusa’s English voice actress.
Meanwhile, this is a good chance to post another picture of my K-ON! nendoroid petites. Here’s an interesting shot. Perhaps I can do these professionally.
Spring Anime 2011
Trying to figure out which of these two shows are the best ones this season:
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, easily shortened to AnoHana, or Hanasaku Iroha. One’s with moe girls and the other one has moe girls, too.
What say you? Anything good this season?
Link of the Day [4.28.11]
"Tetsuo!""KANEDA!"*bong* *bong**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*So goes my imagination of Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo's sci-fi manga masterpiece, as I read through Jason Thompson's overview of it at ANN. I saw the anime years ago what the U now calls the Cosford Cinema. Big as life on the big screen with all that chaos of Neo-Tokyo, it was an amazing experience and came to epitomizes anime when I was a young buck. But today's link gives you a reading of the manga that didn't make it very much into the anime. So there was more to it? Yeah, I would guess so, because the anime at times is confusing.I do have few issues of the original US run of the "comic." They are pretty cool issues with a very distinct cover design. I should scan a few as the issues signify that this is not a kid's book: this is AWESOME!And still, "Tetsuo!" rings in my ears…http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/house-of-1000-manga/2011-04-28
Appleseed XIII
Appleseed was my favorite manga back in the day when you could only buy manga from a comic book store. It’s had a couple of adaptations: an OVA in the 80s and those CG ones in the last few years. Here’s another version. Supposedly it will stay true to the manga. I don’t know. Plus I’m not feeling this animation style. CG? Can’t they just do it the old fashioned way? Regardless, I’m looking forward to it, because of the landmates.