momentum for february
Objects in motion tend to stay in motion, and objects at rest tend to stay at rest unless an outside force acts upon them. Or if Bob Ross paints them.
Gaining Kirilicious Mo’
Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
I’m enjoying Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Shaft toned down the general gaussian randomness but added directly modulated randomless. In other words, there’s less random sight gags but more random gags about the situation on hand. Episode 4 was great just for the overall “drawn away from the main point” storyline. That’s the whole premise behind my whole blog! What do you think “Derailed by Darry” means?
Of course, the best storyline wasn’t the main “drawn away from the main point” nor Chiri nor the “Hey, finally a situation that normal people would feel despair over” but Kiri’s swimsuit modeling. The way she was trying to seduce Pink Supervisor’s little brother… wow. I’m beginning to think that Zoku is bordering genius. It’s either that or the Stockholm Syndrome setting in. In any case, Kiri can derail my blog anyday.
Gaining Maria-chi Mo’
Hayate the Combat Butler
Hayate‘s down to its last few episodes, and it’s been really impressive lately. The Maria-heavy storylines and the move away from the ridiculous butler battles have definitely helped. Hayate functions best when Hayate is in the typical overwhelmed Ben Stiller mode while Nagi, Maria, Izumi, Hinagiku, and others cause the chaos round him. Along with Keroro Gunso, Hayate was a great go-to anime watching option for when I felt like watching something, but didn’t have anything I really wanted to watch on hand.
(And, remember, Maria is a young 17.)
(Seems like a lot of hate for Lucky Star these days from other anime studios. Shaft took a swing with Bob Ross’ help… which does bring up a “Wait, hun, do they even get PBS in Japan?!” question… and Maria even took one with a “Only useless people talk about how to eat choco coronets.” Rightfully or wrongfully, Lucky Star definitely is the Larry Hughes of anime.)
Losing Catan Mo’
Spice and Wolf
Spice and Wolf is the most disappointing series that I’ve watched recently. It’s just not living up to what it could have been. I’m not sure where exactly did it fall apart, but the anime is too slow, not enough trading happens, and the animation is terrible. Right now, it’s falling apart in the worst way: it’s not good enough to be completely salvageable, yet it’s not unintentionally bad enough to gain train wreck status. Worse yet, Horo~n fanservice just keeps pulling me in. Now I know what Kallen felt like working for Zero. I feel like Kyoto needs to remake this one in four years with Akira and Taniguchi reprising their roles for “Spicy Channel.”
Gaining Broken Readership Mo’
Minami-ke ~Okawari~
I am terrified to check my inbox because of Minami-ke ~Okawari~. That has got to be a first.
Losing Fastball Mo’
You Are Under Arrest Full Throttle
Love to see Strike Man go up against Tomoyo. Oh wait, they’re both pitchers… nevermind. Tomoyo vs. Natsumi? Mmmm… who would you place a bet on?
Irregardless, You’re Under Arrest Full Throttle is keeping Clannad company in another way… like being one of the only other anime currently airing in 4:3.
(I’ve actually been able to teach a few friends about the cat and mouse game pitchers and batters play using Wii Sports. My job is done if they can get through watching Ookiku while developing a huge urge to punch Mihashi in the face.)
Gaining Nipple Piercing Mo’
Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne seems like any other meme soup detective series (see Darker Than Black; Loki Ragnarok), except its OVA format allows it to be a bit grittier. I felt like this was want Darker Than Black should have been. The violence and sexuality is just pushed up another level, and, yes, in keeping with the “drawn away from the main point,” it’s hard to follow the plot when the main character seems to run around topless a lot.
One thing that I have to note is that the first episode was just an epic showcase of seiyuu talent. The main (topless) character, Rin, is voiced by Mamiko Noto. Shockingly, she’s not using her standard Hecate/Enma Ai/Yakumo/Nodaka voice and actually sounds like a mature woman. Her assistant, Mimi, is voiced by Rie Kugimiya. Predictably, she is using her wrathful loli voice. So it was really weird when Rin started molest– wait, am I giving away too much of the plot? And one of the villains, the one who pierced every part of Rin’s body including a chain for her– wait, am I giving away too much of the plot? Anyway, the villain is voiced by Rie Tanaka in her Tomoe voice. Just a fantastic cast.
Losing Enma Ai Mo’
Shigofumi
I’m losing interest in Shigofumi. It’s pretty much Jigoku Shoujo. What’s been bugging me about this series that is all the high school uniforms look the same. I think it would be awesome if Fumika would deliver a letter to K1 Maebara…
Gaining Train Wreck Mo’
Gundam 00
Like a cocoon turning a caterpillar to a butterfly, the Throne arc is slowly turning Gundam 00 from decent political / giant mecha opera to full train wreck mode. I’m convinced that the choice to cast the wrathful loli as a Gundam Meister was what tipped things over the edge. Speaking of the wrathful loli…
Gaining Melonpan Mo’
Shakugan no Shana II
Since I gave up blogging Shakugan no Shana II, it’s been strangely more enjoyable. I like being able to just marathon out a batch of episodes, and the flow works much better than just watching weekly. I think Gundam 00 might be similar, only if Gundam 00 had Tieria-tan instead of Shana-tan. But Shana-tan is pantheon worthy. Especially after debuting her melon-flavored bread dance.
(Rie Kugimiya has major roles in no less than five of the shows in this post. I’m trying to think of what other roles she could have gotten… she’d make a perfect Fuko, I think. Definitely replace Ayahi Takagaki as Crazy Chicken Girl. Maybe even Mako-cakes.)
Losing Stabby Mo’
True Tears
I hated the end of True Tears 7 and beginning of 8 where the Chef Girl kisses Shinichiro, and then never heard from since. It’s a Kimikiss trademark move. Manufacture some drama at the end of an episode, and then totally forget about it or sweep it under the rug within the first 3 minutes of the next one. It’s a cliffhanger for the sake of cliffhanging.
With that said, I can’t believe the “I’m going to impress the Crazy Chicken Girl by drawing a picture book” sub-angle. Is this something guys commonly do, and I just didn’t get a memo? Renji-kun and Shiratori both did it, and now Shinichiro is writing a book based off of Raigomaru. Unless the book contains the lines like “dip each piece of chicken in the batter and deep fry about 5 minutes at 375 degrees” or “as Raigomaru watched, Simon responded to Yoko’s kiss by gently caressing her thigh,” I’m not interested.
Losing DS Crushing Mo’
Bamboo Blade
Bamboo Blade‘s the best sports anime on right now, and it’s not even close. Despite the semi-traditional formula, all the characters are likable. The girls are fantastic (especially Miya-Miya and Sayoko’s DS-crushing ass), but the guys are interesting as well. Dan-kun is the manliest man in anime right now ever since Hosaka decided against having any more traditional Hosaka fantasies, and Yuji would be huge upgrade over Shinichiro much like Derek Fisher over Smush Parker. The arc where the team– gasp– actually loses was fantastic as it showcases very simply that winning isn’t everything. Unfortunately, I just can’t picture this series with an ending… it really needs another season, and, right now, it’s not kicking it up a notch for the final few episodes.
Gaining Hato-nee Mo’
They Are My Noble Masters
There’s a lot of random in-jokes for They Are My Noble Masters. The whole Yume Note parody was a great example in that you had to know what seiyuu voiced which character to fully appreciate it. But the animation for the Death Note potato chip chomping bit was light years better than the rest of the episode. That’s a problem.
(Hato-nee’s by far the most interesting character. She just blows away the three sisters and the other meido. Gotta love her major personality shifts… she’s like Haruka without prozac.)
Gaining Tearful Mo’
Clannad
There’s no series on with as much momentum as Clannad. Kyou and Tomoyo just pushed the series to another level. I do wonder that despite delicious thigh meat, Kyoto has been really skimpy with the fanservice. I mean, from Fumoffu through Haruhi Suzumiya, the underwear were flying around. Not counting the all-you-can-eat DFC fest that was Lucky Star, last time Kyoto showed some skin was Kanon 1. (Probably doesn’t help that Kanon took place in the snow, but lack of beach and/or hot springs episodes for Kanon and Clannad makes me weep like Horo~n not getting apples.)
Definitely feel like Kyoto should give us a Tomoyo After OVA just to compensate for the five episodes of “Dozo! Have a starfish.”
32 Responses to “momentum for february”
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I *was* wondering about what your general reaction was to the rather abrupt change in tone of Shana, going from the emo of the previous 12 episode back to its semi-action seinen roots from 13 onwards. Especially with Yuuji getting upgraded from ‘slightly useless’ to killing Tomogara on his own PLUS using Blutsauger without breaking a sweat. Major foreshadowing there…
Pfft, Tomoyo After. Blah. Pardon me if I don’t see the attraction to Tomoyo (this ain’t connected to me being an actual girl, mind you), or Kyou. Thank you, I’d take normal, unexciting Nagisa, as she’s probably the type of person I’d love to be friends with.
As for Bamboo Blade, still have to catch up on this one, but really enjoyed what I’ve seen so far… But isn’t the manga still ongoing?
“Dozo! Have a starfish.  Ahh, Gha! Dont leave off with that. Its like a dangerous poison or something these days.
“What’s been bugging me about this series that is all the high school uniforms look the same.”
Its because they almost all head to the same school. Its only one area that Fumika delievers to….
I have to say except for the famous line in Jigoku Shoujo, Shigofumi has been so much better than Jigoku Shoujo ever was, the characters have some relation with Fumika, she has a mysterious history and she has some emotions… the list could go on but I don’t think you should give up on it just yet.
I completely agree with everything else though, and yes Starfish = poison in my dictionary now.
Wasn’t it Pink Supervisor’s nephew? And he (Majiru) shouted out that line about the pointlessness of choco-coronets.
Maria the maid would never say something like that.. although she might think it.
i don’t see anything wrong with impressing the crazy chicken girl with a photo book.I really wish could draw and use it as a leverage to impress the cute DOTA gamer chix0r at the local internet cafe.
And the rejection of the chef girl, at least it he did it immediately and did not go “whoa, do not know what to do, ill screw around with this girl then make up my mind at the last episode”
Well I beg to differ that True Tears took a Kimi-Kiss Route if they did not only would we hear of it again, but the male lead would have jumped off a perfectly good relationship for a mere kiss on the fore head. Chef Girl was already doomed from the outset, while you might want some dorama to accompany her defeat, it was what I call short, brutal, and final. No glory, no teary eyed appeal for sympathy. Aiko got her just deserts for stringing along her supposed boyfriend. There would be no swan song for her efforts and rightfully so. Had the doormat entertained the idea of banging his best friend’s girl friend he would be no better than Makoto. Though that probably was your nefarious goal, was it not? ;)
As far as picture books go its a far more economical way to get girls than ponying up the money for that grand gesture of love that involves some sort of over priced colored mineral. After all why go through all of those hard earned dollars for dates when playing “in your eyes” with a cheap ass boom box will suffice? As for the end of Raigomaru’s picture Book, have you not heard? The most nefarious and evil sis-con tanuki in all of the blogosphere stole into the chicken coop and ate him…I hear that the tanuki used 11 herbs and spices to flavor his victim, t’was a bad if delicious end.
Aye so the e-mail blitz has left you terrified, but not sufficiently broken. Clearly Haesslich and rob have failed as the lack of Mako-cakes implies. Fujioka? What were you thinking? Fujioka is not amazing.
Lastly let’s be reasonable about this, a Tomoya After OVA would require resources better suited for Haruhi-sama’s Second Coming. I’d settle for starfish girl in a blender or crushed into ground meat by a heavy panzer. You can at least get away with violence on TV even with black blood, but certainly not the kind of action that would befit the OVA you are looking for. Besides I want a public apology as a warning against future starfish girl knock offs.
The next ep (which Jason hasn’t mentioned) has many elements to break Jason. And his fear is apparently new… pity. He obviously needs more “I don’t care anymore, just shoot me. There’s no way there’s a…” shots from Minami-ke.
Tnankfully, the preview for Ep 9 promises that. ;)
“Dozo! Have a starfish.â€
Yea, they focused too much on Fuuko..
5 episodes..too much…
I won’t mind if they made 10 (or more) episodes of Kyou/Tomoyo..
… I’m sorry, what? I was too busy staring at my hikkikomori waifu…
Now at episode 20, I’ve even stronger urge to call Kimikiss as The Melancholy of Kimikiss Girls (and Guys). Though I still like the show my overall impression seems to oscillate with each episode. Characters wallow in their angst bit too much and Mao’s fluttering doesn’t play out naturally enough.
But TAMNM is a much harder nut to crack. The animation’s simply terrible and I feel there’s too much non sequiturs and lame plot elements. However they still manage to pull off good humor about the essence of being a butler and situational comedy. Guess I’ll have to keep watching and facepalming.
While they have flicked the serious switch in Shana II, there’s no getting free of trainwreck status. Having to sit through 13 episodes of dross before getting to better stuff is inexcusable. The new OP’s very good, but that’s no suprise seeing KOTOKO’s name there.
ZSZS is awesome. I liked the first season quite a lot too, but this could be even more awesome. Too early to say yet though, with them having managed to translate only four episodes.
I have ranted quite enough about Clannad already, I don’t think I need to add anything to that at this point. But the less said about Gundam the better. Although it has been deconstructing itself, I think we can point at Thrones’ appearance and say, “and THIS is where Gundam 00 jumped the shark!” While it is still a decent show and still better than GSD, it definitely has caught the Sunrise.
A post of Jason with Sunrise and Trainwreck in it. Isn’t the time when the internet warriors jump in?
>> Wasn’t it Pink Supervisor’s nephew? And he (Majiru) shouted out that line about the pointlessness of choco-coronets.
Yeah, I got the two confused. Maria had some other bakery-related rant.
>> Thank you, I’d take normal, unexciting Nagisa, as she’s probably the type of person I’d love to be friends with.
Friends? What is this? Gundam 00? It’s a visual novel! Illicit relations! In the words of Danny Bonaduce, sex so sweaty and loud, you’d think you cracked the foundation of the house (or gym storage shed). I have no idea, but every city I’ve lived in, Danny Bonaduce has worked as a morning drive radio host. At least he’s back in rehab now so I won’t stumble onto him while waiting for Jim Rome to come back after another 10 minute commercial break.
>> I really wish could draw and use it as a leverage to impress the cute DOTA gamer chix0r at the local internet cafe.
Not sure if she’ll be impressed with that. Usually talking and being attentive is good enough. But… DOTA? Ewwww.
>> … I’m sorry, what? I was too busy staring at my hikkikomori waifu…
Yep… these are my readers.
The guy in the Spice and Wolf picture seriously looked like Lelouch there. I almost thought it was one of the drafts of the character design, since CLAMP did consider giving Lelouch white hair at one point.
Your Minami-ke pic is from Persona??? Couldn’t find a decent broken Minami character pic? I don’t know why that bugs me, but it does. Meh, I’ll just go re-watch the last half of ZSZS 4…
In my opinion, Shigofumi just keeps getting better and better. While the stand alone stories are hit and miss (though the conversations between Fumika and her staff are always gold), the main story about Fumika just keeps snaking its way along, answering questions but also asking new ones, all the while, the characters are geniune. Good voice acting too. The colours and other effects fit in perfectly as well.
I also found out that Natsuka is actually Chika when she let out a nice “Onee-chan” in ep 7. Her older sister is voiced by Fumiko Orikasa, take that for what you will.
I must be the only person who actually liked the Fuuko storyline.
At least it’d make a great April1 site joke.
“Derailed by Dozo!”
…Kyoto should give us a Tomoyo After OVA…
Only if it follows the storyline from the game, exactly.
The one thing I dislike about Mnemonsyne’s seiyuu list is they use Hiyama Nobuyuki in a role that isn’t suited for him. Nobuyuki should be voicing roles that showcase his awesome yelling voice (see Madarame, Viral, etc.), not some subdued “I don’t know who I am!” guy.
I love how I’m browsing Derailed during class.
And I love how, scrolling through the ZSBS images at the top of the page, I totally derailed someone from answering a question.
What Kyoto should do, is put out the next Haruhi series and force Tanigawa to publish book 10 already! I must know who the Slider is and what is going on with the Sasaki crew and I think a year of waiting is enough.
Also, if you must do a pic of a Fujioka to represent all the broken people in/watching Minami-ke, you should go with the one of Fujioka’s face after he saw heaven in ep 1.
I’m surprised you weren’t upset by the opportunity to use a two-piece swimsuit on Maria on Hayate 45, because I’m pissed we only got a one-piece (unless it was only the top or only the bottom).
And how does Ookiku freakin’ end, anyway?! Central Anime is holding up on that last episode!
Where did the picture of Bob Ross painting Konata come from? It seems to obscure to be fanart and to US PBS to be Japanese….
>>And how does Ookiku freakin’ end, anyway?! Central Anime is holding up on that last episode!
An Anonymous told me that the last Oofuri DVD comes out “in a few days” and Central Anime will sub the last two eps when that comes out.
“(Hato-nee’s by far the most interesting character. She just blows away the three sisters and the other meido. Gotta love her major personality shifts… she’s like Haruka without prozac.)”
ZOMG! She’s winking one eye, smiling, and rapping her knuckles on her head! She must be yet another temporal variant of Mikuru/Imouto-chan!
Dan~ said:
“Where did the picture of Bob Ross painting Konata come from? It seems to obscure to be fanart and to US PBS to be Japanese….”
ZSZS episode 7, complete with mahou shoujo OP (starring loli Chiri, Kafuka, Meru, and…I think Harumi—can’t tell from the grainy TouTube post) and “Zetsubou Channel”. Much trippiness.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to find a wallpaper-worthy version of either of those Kiri pictures.
>> Your Minami-ke pic is from Persona???
I am terrified of all things Minami-ke right now. I feel like one of those batters who don’t shave when they’re on a hot hitting streak. I feel best not to disrupt the equilibrium. BTW, I originally was going to use an image of Potemayo.
>> Where did the picture of Bob Ross painting Konata come from?
ZSZS.
>> I love how I’m browsing Derailed during class. And I love how, scrolling through the ZSBS images at the top of the page, I totally derailed someone from answering a question.
I really hope you’re not in grade school…
I am terrified of all things Minami-ke right now. I feel like one of those batters who don’t shave when they’re on a hot hitting streak. I feel best not to disrupt the equilibrium. BTW, I originally was going to use an image of Potemayo.
Haruka. SWIMSUIT. Mako-chan, swimsuit. Touma, swimsuit. Hayami-senpai with swimsuit and Natsuki voice. Maki in a swimsuit. Hosaka, swimsuit. Atsuko, swimsuit. Keiko, swimsuit.
Swimsuit.
Well, that blockquote sure didn’t work…
The S&M girl from “They Are My Noble Masters” and Binkan from “Dokuro-Chan” need there own series together. Add in Louise whipping Saito while accidentally fingering him in the butt and you’ve got a winner.
God, the mind reels.
Why are all my comments labelled “awaiting moderation?”
>>The S&M girl from “They Are My Noble Masters†and Binkan from “Dokuro-Chan†need there own series together.
I was thinking more along the lines of a variety hour with Binkan Salaryman, Blade Braver, Sensei and Ninomiya-kun, and Magical Destroy. It would rock a lot of socks off.
>>Dan-kun is the manliest man in anime right now
He’s apparently pimping all over the world. So awesome.
*quote*It’s a visual novel! Illicit relations! In the words of Danny Bonaduce, sex so sweaty and loud, you’d think you cracked the foundation of the house (or gym storage shed).*end quote*
I could be wrong having played neither game, but I thought that Clannad was non-porn (at least the first release was). Kannon on the other hand…