Wonderduck's Pond

April 09, 2008

Bamboo Blade Ganbatte!

^{I feel the same way, Tama-chan.}

So Bamboo Blade has come to an end. I'll admit to being kinda bummed about that.

Truthfully, and I'm going to have scorn heaped upon me for saying this, the adventures of Tama-chan and the gang have been the ones I've most eagerly awaited each week. More than Kimikiss, more than Rosario+Vampire (easily more!), more than Spicy Wolf... and dare I say, maybe even more than Clannad?

Please don't get me wrong, BB is hardly high art... more like high Fred, Art's younger, less talented, brother. In some ways, in fact, the show is kinda cheesy at times, sappy at others. The character designs, particularly Dan-kun and his egg-shaped cranium, take a little getting used to. The plot is nothing you haven't seen in a gazillion sports movies and anime before; the only difference is that our heroes are swinging kendo blades instead of baseball bats.

But yet...

It's the characters that make any show, of course, and Tama, Kirino, Miya-Miya, Saya and Satori are a fun group to watch. Yuji and Dan are just sorta... eh. But, darn it, by the end of the series, I actually liked all of them.

Sure, the plot is hackneyed and cliche-ridden. Granted. I don't care.
Sure, the art isn't the greatest. Granted. I don't care.
Sure, there are better shows out there. Granted. I don't care.
Bamboo Blade was some of the most fun I've had watching anime in a couple-three years, easy. Here's hoping for a second season!

^{...and more BLADE BRAVER!}

Posted by: Wonderduck at 12:20 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 260 words, total size 3 kb.

March 12, 2008

O RLY?

Astro claims to have 'defined' Kyoto Animation over at his place.

Uh, okay, Astro, whatever you say...

...but I think there's some people who just might disagree with you...

...yep, all that's missing is the snow, all right...

...maybe, just maybe, his assessment is a leeeeeetle bit off, neh?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:31 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 51 words, total size 1 kb.

March 09, 2008

ARIA, Undines and Promotions.

The world of ARIA is a lush and expansive one, with three series worth of anime (ARIA the Animation, 13 episodes; ARIA the Natural, 26 episodes and one OVA, "Arietta", and ARIA the Origination, currently on ep8 of 13), and two separate manga (Aqua and Aria) to draw details from (please note that this post draws only from the anime)

The setting for ARIA is the city of Neo-Venezia, nearly a brick-for-brick copy of the Italian city of Venice (which has been abandoned, finally slipping under the water of the Adriatic sea; whether this is because of eco-disaster or natural subsidence of the city is unknown), located on what was called Mars, now Aqua after extensive terraforming. Like the original, Neo-Venezia is waterbound, with canals replacing streets. As one would expect, the gondolieri of Venice made the trek to Aqua as well. The profession underwent a sea change (pardon the pun) in Neo-Venezia, however.

Now called Undines, the gondolieri of Neo-Venezia are exclusively female. A mix of tour guide and limo driver, Undines might almost be considered the 'rock stars' of Neo-Venezia, with magazines devoted to them, and the best being known city-wide and beyond, with their fame seemingly reaching to 'Manhome', as Earth is now called.

The Undines are well-organized, with their own guild of sorts, the Gondolier's Association. The 'gondolier concession', if you will, is run by three companies: Orange Planet (the largest, whose uniforms are lined with yellow), Himeya (the oldest, red), and Aria Company (the company followed in the show, blue).

There may be at least two other companies in Neo-Venezia as well (whose uniform colors are green and purple, respectively), but other than a brief moment in one episode, they exist 'off-stage', if you will.

Given all this, there are a few things that have bothered me (slightly) about the world of the Undines:
more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:55 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 1668 words, total size 11 kb.

1 I think Aria works so well because we never need to worry about the details. The world of Aria generally isn't so irrational that we can't believe that there could be a logical explanation for the fact that we never actually see money change hands in the series until episode 4 of Origination. It's probably better this way, given the one thing I've seen that completely threw me out of the suspension of disbelief regarding the series is the forced explanation of how the Gnomes maintain an Earth-normal gravity on Mars in Aria the Natural. If they did provide us with an explanation, we'd probably end up with some hokey Star Trek utopian economic system.

Most of the questions I've wanted answers to are details about the backstory of the characters, rather than the world itself. What made Akari so enthralled that she decided to leave home to travel to Aqua and be an Undine? Does Alice have family on Aqua, and what is her school life like? What was Akira's reaction to Alicia getting accepted into Aria company, and why didn't Alicia try to join her friend at Himeya? Can we get any of Athena's backstory before she met Alicia and Akira? What's Aika's family like?

Posted by: Civilis at March 10, 2008 07:44 PM (ODZ3Q)

2 You definitely get the impression that Mars and Neo-Venezia are a backwater in human civilization, if you will. Plenty of customers comment on it - even though there's plenty of SF-ish stuff around Neo-Venezia, there's absolutely -nothing- like it back on Earth.

So, possible explanations...

- It's SF: The technology available to all the future folk means that money isn't a particularly big worry. You can get material goods for nothing, or so close to nothing that it's not a concern. Money's chief use, then, would be for services, and not just "to have services performed" but "to have a human perform those services". The charge is for the undine, not for the ride, as it were. That would also explain why the undines take so much care in training and comportment - they ARE their product, not so much a monopoly as a brand name, if you will.

This would explain the loose view of money - you don't ever really need it, except as a call on someone else's time and effort, since everything really could be done by machinery if you wanted to do it that way. So people are free to do things like set up unusual roadside stands near seldom-visited Japanese-style temples, or create wonderful open-air baths out of the wreckage of an abandoned house, or what have you; the money's not a means of supporting yourself as much as it is a marker of appreciation from those who use the service you provide.

Only problem is, that doesn't adequately explain the salamanders and gnomes, who are clearly providing a public service; they aren't short on cash, so somehow they're getting money, which implies a system of taxation.

There is, however, NO incentive to efficiency (at least, not in N-V!) Lots of things are done in ways that can be described as "charming", where if the cost of providing the service were subject to profit motive, you'd see something more advanced or at least less idiosyncratic. (Seriously, you set up a planet-wide system of tunnels and moving super-dense balls to generate stronger gravity, and you let it be run by a short guy bangin' away on an organ keyboard?)

- It's the boonies: Partly the above, but N-V is way behind Earth in development. Could just be that all that Earth business means that everyone in N-V is the local equivalent of wealthy, in a tourist-town sort of way; visiting Earth tourists don't mind dropping the local equivalent of a year's room and board for a day's tour guide. The oligopoly sets the prices, so competition doesn't drive them down. N-V gets its goods from even more impoverished (relatively speaking) and less-picturesque areas of Aqua without a tourism business.

- The rat race is thataway, silly: N-V is a town full of romantics, after all. It's entirely possible that it's just full of people who don't honestly give a damn about high-tech gewgaws, attracts such people (Akari), and anyone who wants "the better life" and the attendant stuff just emigrates.

Posted by: AvatarADV at March 12, 2008 01:38 AM (LMDdY)

This is going to sound horrible, but what episode is the "superdense balls and keyboard" one??? I don't remember ANYTHING like that, not even during the episode when Aika visited Al to show off her hairstyle.

I'm wondering if I missed an episode somewhere!

Posted by: Wonderduck at March 12, 2008 07:03 AM (DcSb+)

4 The anime is very faithful to the 3 volume Aria manga (ADV). The manga does not stray into technical discussions on the economy.

Posted by: conrad6 at March 12, 2008 10:10 AM (TBk3U)

5 It's in the manga somewhere, Duck. Can't remember if it's in Aria or Aqua, and most of that is buried in my rolling library at the moment. If I recall correctly, that was the one with Al and his grandfather; there was a quickie explanation of what it was they were doing.

Posted by: AvatarADV at March 12, 2008 01:45 PM (LMDdY)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

March 01, 2008

One Last "...Angel" Post.

I almost wish I hadn't checked this.

The VCAs have a new feature this year, showing where each nominee ranked in the voting in each category.

"...Angel" was the best of the non-finalists in the "Best First Video" category.

UPDATE: No it wasn't, at least not because of this list. It's in alphabetical order by video name; of course, I was looking at the name of the creator instead. Thanks to Andrew F. for pointing that out. Guess I just wanted it to be true so much that I just didn't research it enough.

SO close, OH so close... congrats to OneLastKiss123, though. Really good video, there.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 12:28 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 111 words, total size 1 kb.

February 29, 2008

Anime Night: We Like Pie

So The Librarian had a work-related event this evening that wouldn't place her at The Pond until 830p... a little late for us to follow our usual routine. Instead, we decided that we'd do dinner instead.

Well, more correctly, I'D do dinner. She did pie. Specifically, a slice of pie, then an appetizer, then another slice of pie. For the record, I had a slice of pie as well.

^{Plate wreck!!!}

And a good time was had by all us. Anime came up for about five minutes ("Gunslinger Girl? Henrietta? Violin case upside the head? How could you not remember that? It was only last Friday!"), the rest of the time was spent being seventeen years old again.

Did you know that KC (of KC and the Sunshine Band) had a brother that invented fried chicken? They called him KFC (I should be congratulated for not spewing pie over The Librarian after that... and for not attempting to scoop her brains out with a spoon).

Yeah, we can be like that once in a while. In this case, it lasted about three hours; it ended with a game of tic-tac-toe in the parking lot (see, it was snowing, and we were the last people out, so we had this really clean flat space...) and brushing snow off our cars (and doing everything we could to dump the snow on the other's car).

So NOIR is on hold until next week, but we had more fun than a barrel of superballs anyway. It ain't always about anime, folks... just most of the time.

^{(thanks to DbD for the picture... I flat-out stole it.)}

Posted by: Wonderduck at 12:45 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 277 words, total size 2 kb.

February 24, 2008

Ani-nouto's my Hero!

Pete found it!

Here's my framed douga from Azumanga Daioh:

...and here's the screenshot from Ep20:

Thanks, Pete!!!

UPDATE: It's confirmed! Look for the shot at 17:44 of ep20.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 05:13 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 32 words, total size 1 kb.

February 21, 2008

Anime Night: It's not called "No Ear".

Last week's Anime Night was canceled, as The Librarian was attending a convention (those librarian conventions seem to be quite the wild times... who knew all the things you could do with whipped cream?). THIS week's Anime Night was nearly D.O.A. due to ickness (on both of our parts, actually), but we soldiered forth and jumped into disc 2 of NOIR.

And then The Librarian fell asleep. Her cold really knocked her for a loop, and in her defense, it was warm in The Pond, and the Official Afghan made her feel snug, and the Official Wingchair is really comfy... and she dozed off. Restraining my first impulse (Sharpie Marker Eyebrows FTW!), I instead paused the show and cleaned up the dinner dishes.

When she woke up a few minutes later ("What time is it?"), I couldn't let Impulse #2 go by ("930pm..." Please note, it was 715pm).

"But what about the anime," I hear you yelling...

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:52 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 517 words, total size 7 kb.

1 Anime cats don't look like right, don't act right, don't sound right.

It's not just cats, either--it's almost as if anime artists have never been around any furry animal, but have only seen them in books.

I'd love to see a show where the animators spent some time observing actual cats or dogs, and made them act right and look right.

Not even human-animal mixes work right. For instance, Inuyasha doesn't act like a dog very much or very often, only a minor tic now and then. They missed a huge payoff by not having Kagome discover that she could get him to roll over by rubbing his tummy, then make his leg thump by scratching his ribs.

In the otherwise well-drawn Spice and Wolf, when Horo pets her tail, she strokes it tip to base; that is, against the natural lay of the fur. This does not ruffle the fur at all. I've never seen any furry critter do that, except to expose a specific spot of skin, which is then closely inspected for fleas and ferociously nibbled at. It'd be great to see Horo do that.

There's a show about a cat-girl cop (title mercifully forgotten, she had four ears, two human and two cat) whose most significant cat behavior was to go chasing after the bouncing shells in a firefight. That was amusing once or twice, but they never did anything else with it, and it got old.

Oh gods, I'm seeing an adorable little cat-girl loli curled up in a big cardboard box, chin exposed for scritching, or with her tail curled over her eyes....

Hollywood movies don't get cat behavior or sounds right,either. Disturbed cats never, in my experience, make that MGRROUW! squalling you always hear--they just disappear as quickly and quietly as they can. You have to actually step on them to get the noise. I believe that there must be a standard cat screech that the Foley guys splice in whenever a cat appears, like the Wilhelm scream.

I've never seen a movie-cat jump three feet straight up when startled, either. That'd be a great cat-girl effect. I'd also love to see a recently transformed cat-girl try to dive under a cabinet she's now too big to fit under, or jump up a table that can no longer hold her....

No movie or anime I know of has ever shown a cat defending its household by stalking and disemboweling the dangerous paper towel monster. I'm thinking of that cat-girl cop again, only grappling with a real bad-guy....

I'd also like to see a cat being petted by someone who knows that cat well enough to scritch it in the right spots, which can make cats do all sorts of amusing things--make weird faces and strange noises, nibble on another hand held in front of them, or do that rapid-fire scratching thing with the back leg.

The gods only know what an accurately animated duck would be like.

Posted by: refugee at February 23, 2008 09:58 PM (8hipT)

Refugee, while she's not a catgirl, Makoto (the fox-girl) in the remake of Kanon does jump when startled (and winds up clinging to the door of a fridge).

As far as a correctly-animated duck goes, it'd be awesome.

Posted by: Wonderduck at February 23, 2008 11:38 PM (UdB9M)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

February 18, 2008

2008 VCAs Finals Lists Announced!

Over at The Org, the 2008 VCAs have moved to the Final Round. In the category of Best First Video, "...Angel" did not make it, unfortunately.

Still and all, even making it into the Semifinals is pretty good stuff... and a lot better than I had hoped back in May. Not that I made the video to win awards or anything, but it's only natural to want people to recognize your geniusness, right? "I just don't want it to suck" was what I said before, and I'm proud to say that I met that goal and then some.

For everybody that voted for "...Angel", I say thank you very much! Your support was wonderful to see... and means a lot.

If you've no idea what I'm talking about, here's the video:

Posted by: Wonderduck at 12:39 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 136 words, total size 1 kb.

February 12, 2008

I'm Pandering Again. Still. Whatever.

Just a reminder that there's just a few more days left to vote for "...Angel" in the 2008 VCAs Best First Video category over at AMV.org. You got it into the semifinals, now help it into the finals!

It'll make me happier than a loaf of rye bread...

^{(voting ends Feb 17th)}

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 57 words, total size 1 kb.

February 10, 2008

Anime Night: "Turn The Plant"

After a couple of weeks where life and illness got in the way, Anime Night resumed this past Thursday when The Librarian, bearing food from Panda Express, dropped by The Pond. If you remember, we had finished Kanon '06 about a month ago, and attempted to begin Uta~kata the last time we'd met.

That last Anime Night, however, met with disaster when Uta~kata turned out to be one of those series that causes revulsion and disgust in ducks (anti-anadatae folks, take note) and DVD players alike. In fact, it proved to be the final nail in the coffin of The Pond's main DVD player, a seven-year old Samsung DVD/VCR combo (please note that the VCR portion still works fine). Unfortunately, the backup DVD player, an inexpensive Coby, didn't like the homemade disc much, either. By this time, it was too late to start anything new, so we watched a couple episodes of CardCaptor Sakura (still as good as it was way back when) and called it a night.

So this put us at the start of a new series. By our unofficial 'rules', The Librarian and I switch back and forth on choosing what show to watch; I had chosen Kanon '06, so it was her turn. Uta~kata was technically her choice, but the FAIL that had occurred was my fault, so it was still her turn. She had narrowed her picks down to three titles. Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu!, Azumanga Daioh, and Noir.

Any of these series would have been a-okay with me, with AzuDaioh of course being my favorite anime of all time. After dinner, her decision was made:

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:30 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 691 words, total size 7 kb.

1 Kirika does that twice in Noir. (One's the garden party. Let's see if you can remember the other one.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 10, 2008 11:53 PM (+rSRq)

Sorry: three times.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 10, 2008 11:55 PM (+rSRq)

3 It's been quite a while since I watched this, but from what I recall it's a very serious show with no lighter moments or comic relief to speak of. That's not a bad thing at all, but I can imagine the urge to make wisecracks is very strong when watching it with someone else, since you're not getting any laughs out of the show itself.

You mentioned the lack of blood, which was probably my biggest annoyance with the show. Yeah, I get that they didn't want to exaggerate or over-emphasize the violence, but I thought it was pretty well established that when people get shot, they bleed, dammit.

Posted by: Andrew F. at February 11, 2008 12:38 AM (JI1Qq)

4 Andrew, there was an interview I read with the director of Noir where he said that he made a specific decision to not have any blood in the show (except for one specific time), because the mass body counts would then detract from the story.

Consider the case of Elfen Lied, where the blood is all anybody talks about, ignoring the rather good storyline in the process, and it becomes clear that he made the right decision. After all, Kirika and Mirelle's bodycount is pretty darn high (I think the rooftop scene, for example, outpaces EL's opening, as far as corpses go). Could you imagine the "death by glasses" scene with blood? Eesh.

Steven, I know two of the fork scenes: the one pictured above (where she actually uses forks twice, though only one is shown), and

So I'm stumped on Fork 3. In my defense, the last time I watched this show was back in 2005, when I was ill and didn't realize it, leading up to The Incident.

Now that I think of it, that's where I first heard about EL... because I was in the hospital the night the Duck U. Anime Club was to meet, and I didn't bring Noir with me to work that morning. The Club wound up watching ADV screener discs that meeting, and EL was the feature on the newest.

Posted by: Wonderduck at February 11, 2008 12:57 AM (AW3EJ)

5 It's been a long time since I saw it, too, and yes you got all three.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 11, 2008 01:46 AM (+rSRq)

6 I understand and sympathize with the director's intent, but the lack of blood itself became a distraction when I watched the show. I'm not looking for Elfen Lied levels of blood, or even Gunslinger Girl levels. Just enough to avoid breaking immersion, as it were.

It's funny, though, that I get hung up on stuff like that, yet can watch something like Full Metal Panic without caring a whit for verisimilitude.

Posted by: Andrew F. at February 11, 2008 06:50 PM (JI1Qq)

7 "Weapon!"
"Umm...."
"Two!"

It wasn't enough to make me keep watching El Cazador, but I did love that scene.

Posted by: Griffin at February 13, 2008 07:41 AM (txua7)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

February 04, 2008

"...Angel" Moves On!

The semifinals lists for the 2008 VCAs are out over at The Org, and "...Angel" made the cut!

There were 89 first videos in the nomination round, and the list has been whittled down to 20... but only five will move from the semifinals to the finals.

Way back when, in an e-mail exchange with Jeff Lawson, I mentioned to him that I just wanted to get a few votes in the VCAs. Now that it's made it to the Semis, though, I find that I really want to make it to the Finals.

It wouldn't've made it as far as it has, though, without you folks. Thank you so much... now lets go to the finals!!!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:41 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 120 words, total size 1 kb.

January 26, 2008

It's Time For The VCAs!

Over at AMV.org, the 2007 Viewers Choice Award contest has begun. If you're a member of The Org, this is the best way to find all the great AMVs you might have missed during the year (I can count the number of amvs I've downloaded this year on two hands)... if you're not a member, you should become one, just because it's free and you get to d/l all you want.

The contest is in the 'nominations' phase (basically Round 1), where all qualifying videos are put to a general vote... the top vote getters move on to the actual contest itself.

Of course, yours truly has an entry in the VCAs this year:

I'd particularly like to get a few votes in the "Best First Video" category, maybe make it into the contest itself. I don't expect to win, but weirder things have happened.

If you liked "...Angel", pop over and give it a vote, won't you? Heck, even if you DIDN'T like it...

Yes, I'm begging for your vote. Guilty.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:10 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 177 words, total size 1 kb.

1 I don't have much to do with AMV.org nowadays, owing to the fact they keep demanding money from me (well, that and the fact I'm not really into the AMV scene anymore). I gave them a $100 donation years ago (aren't I generous), and they took it upon themselves to make it a yearly obligation. Every time I log in, there's a message telling me I owe them $500, and it grows by $100 each year. The check's in the mail, guys.

Anyway, this apparently disqualifies me from ever participating in the VCAs, but it looks like I can at least make nominations. Which I have.

Posted by: Jeff Lawson at January 26, 2008 06:39 PM (VgF1Y)

2 Nomination submitted. Any AMV that reminds me of how much I enjoyed Kanon deserves kudos.

Also, the shot you used for background of your "title card" above (and also incorporated into the video) sends shivers down my spine.

Posted by: Andrew F. at January 26, 2008 07:15 PM (sUicM)

3 Thirded. Doesn't hurt that you worked in both of the two scenes from this show that I cite when anyone asks me why I worship at the KyoAni altar of Art (the marble and the tear).

Posted by: ubu at January 27, 2008 12:24 AM (0Ojad)

Thank you, everybody!

Posted by: Wonderduck at January 27, 2008 12:34 AM (UdB9M)

5 I spent some time over there looking at other videos in various categories.

Most AMV makers are, I'm afraid, drooling idiots. (And I say this in full recognition that I can't make AMVs at all.) I wish this wasn't true, because when AMVs work, at all, they can be very moving, or lots of fun.

Yours has good music, good selection of clips consistent with the song, and of course you choose good material.

You get my vote.

Posted by: refugee at January 31, 2008 06:57 PM (8hipT)

Thank you very much, Refugee. On the whole, I agree with your assessment re: AMV makers. Anybody can take a Limp Bizkit song and throw clips from DBZ at it and make a music video... and it'll be just like a gazillion other AMVs out there (I exaggerate, but only slightly; there's currently 1335 Linkinball Z AMVs listed in The Org's database).

I'd like to think that "...Angel" is somewhat better than that.

Posted by: Wonderduck at January 31, 2008 09:57 PM (UdB9M)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

January 19, 2008

Zipang!

^{(warning: graphics-heavy post ahead)}Dear Son...
I know you're too young to understand this letter, but I wanted to write you so you might know what your father did while he was away from home all the time.

You see, I was an able crewman in the JMSDF. I served to protect Japan against... well, not much, really, since we weren't at war, but I still did an honorable job on board the JMSDF's newest ship, the Mirai. Here's a picture of her at sea:

Beautiful, isn't she? Lovely detailing in that photo. Anyway, the Mirai is a modified Kongo -class destroyer, which is a modification of the US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class ship.

Our first mission was to be a joint exercise with a US Navy task force, but along the way something strange happened...
more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:51 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 1150 words, total size 9 kb.

1 Interesting... How many episodes does this letter from the Pacific cover?

Posted by: Will at January 20, 2008 10:52 AM (P2D1U)

It's a Geneon title, but all of it is out now. However, Geneon has ceased all wholesale shipments, so stock-in-hand at retailers is all there is.

Have you watched the whole thing? Do you recommend it? Buying the whole series would cost $189. Is it worth it?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 20, 2008 11:32 AM (+rSRq)

Chris Beveridge's scores for the seven: B+, B+, B+, B+, B+, A, A-

That certainly sounds promising.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 20, 2008 11:33 AM (+rSRq)

Pretty much the entire series, Will. I thought about doing an actual review of the show, but the whole "ship/letter" thing with the Sky Girls review was too tasty to ignore.

It's not a bad series, but there's some pretty heavy-handed polemics in it, and way too many cliches to ignore. Throw in the way the animation quality nosedives in the last third (except for the CG stuff, like the Mirai, the whole fight with the Wasp, etc), and it's hard to give a positive recommendation. When the XO is the main character, the camera is focussed on him, and you can't figure out who you're looking at because the animators have forgotten how to draw him, you know you've got a problem.

Call it a solid "C" grade, and I could live with that.

If you're a Pacific War otaku, like me, you'll see some other technical problems as well... like, the Wasp using a anachronistic camo scheme, or the Kaga having a deck full of planes when it was attacked, but that's really just extreme nitpicking.

Posted by: Wonderduck at January 20, 2008 11:36 AM (UdB9M)

Steven, I would NOT recommend it at that price. I'd respectfully disagree with Mr Beveridge's ratings... if there was a thinpak at $40, I'd jump on it, but at $190, I don't think so.

Of course, I still have to watch the last two episodes, too, so I suppose it's possible it could pull the greatest ending ever out of it's proverbial arse, but I'm not hopeful.

Posted by: Wonderduck at January 20, 2008 11:40 AM (UdB9M)

Please note that when the series is concentrating on the military hardware is when it's at it's best, and the battle against the Wasp spans the last two DVDs (the two that Beveridge gave "A"s to). Those three or four episodes are probably the best of the show (though still awfully formulaic), and I'd agree with him on those grades.

Unfortunately, the rest of the series is... lukewarm, with moments.

Actually, with some work, those four episodes would make a helluva OVA...

Posted by: Wonderduck at January 20, 2008 11:44 AM (UdB9M)

7 That twist-wing airplane isn't anything I recognize. Something they created, or is it real?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 20, 2008 01:41 PM (+rSRq)

It's the only piece of true 'fantasy' hardware in the show, Steven. It's pretty much a cross between an Osprey and an Apache: a two-seat attack VTOL plane that can fold and fit in a helo hanger.

The Mirai also carries a Seahawk, fwiw.

Posted by: Wonderduck at January 20, 2008 03:49 PM (UdB9M)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

January 13, 2008

How To Make Subs Unreadable.

I've been eagerly awaiting the second season of Gunslinger Girl since it was announced a few months back. I really enjoyed the first series, and seeing more of those characters was going to be the high-point of the winter anime schedule for me.

A few days ago, I noticed that the RAW for the first episode was available; when the fansub came out today, I was really enthused.

This evening, I settled into my chair, started up ZoomPlayer, cued up the show...

...and lasted two minutes before I closed the episode.

Look, I appreciate all the effort that goes into making a fansub. You need a translator, a typesetter, a proofreader, and probably a few other things that I don't know about, but most of all, you have to really enjoy doing it since all that effort ain't gonna earn you anything. I respect that, and I've never ripped a fansub group for doing what is basically volunteer work.

But for the luvva pete, AEN, how could you think that this was acceptable?

^{Please note that all I've done is adjust the size of the picture to fit The Pond's formatting.}

^{This actually made the subtitles easier to read.}

Oh, and the translation notes for "Nii-san"? Just a guess here, but I'm thinking that those people who are d/l'g anime fansubs in the first place already know what words/phrases like that mean.

I'm sure you can say that I'm only ripping on AEN because these problems have shown up in a show that I've been looking forward to, but I have to wonder if they even looked at what they were doing. When I did my AMV, I had the good sense to have other people look at it before I made it generally available. They found mistakes I hadn't noticed, made suggestions on how to tighten it up, and ithat made the thing better than it was before. Quality Control is an important part of any project, folks.

I hate to say this, but even if they're the only group that winds up fansubbing the show, I won't be watching; those subtitles are just bad.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:52 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 361 words, total size 2 kb.

December 27, 2007

Anime... um... Afternoon!

The Librarian and I are both on vacation this week, so instead of getting together this evening as we normally would, we decided to do an afternoon Anime Night.

In some ways, this was a lot better than our normal routine, as we got right into the watching and watched a whoppin' seven episodes of Kanon 2006, instead of the usual three. And which seven, you might wonder? Episodes 9 through 15, also known as the end of the Makoto arc and the entire Mai arc.

In other words, my favorite stretch of the entire show. I wrote about the Mai arc back in February, and everything I mentioned there still apply: I laughed, I cried, I yelled, and I cheered... well, not out loud, but you get the point.

What makes this all the better is that The Librarian is as taken with the show as I was. Oh, she's denying it, but she's quite hooked... why else would she be looking for Kanon AMVs in her spare time? Okay, she was making fun of the end of Makoto's story ("awoo... awooooo... awoo? Awoooooo."), but I did too, back when I first saw it (as an aside, the seiyuu for Makoto, Mayumi Iizuka, must have thought she had died and gone to heaven when she realized that she was going to be paid three times over for, essentially, making puppy-dog noises. A hit videogame, a successful anime adaptation, and then the smash remake? It's like a license to print money!).

It's gratifying to watch The Librarian enjoy the series so much, honestly. I mean, I'm a fan, and Jeff's a fan, and Ubu's a fan, but they're also anime bloggers. The Librarian is more of a casual fan, I think (even if she created an anime/manga club at her Library)... it almost seems like redemption of a sort for me. We both enjoyed CardCaptor Sakura, and liked World of Narue, but Kanon's got her locked on the screen, hard. Even if she did call me a sap.

As an aside, Mai's awfully cute with those bunny ears:

UPDATE: I would be remiss if I didn't mention that The Librarian brought me a tin of Christmas cookies today... it appears that I'm permanently on her mother (aka "The Evil One", for reasons that aren't clear to me)'s cookie list! T'anks, Librarian! T'anks, Librarian's Mom!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:58 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 397 words, total size 3 kb.

December 26, 2007

THERE IS A SANTA!!!

Via Don comes news that all our Otaku Day Wishes have been answered:

There's going to be a STRIKE WITCHES series!

I'll never doubt that there's an Otaku Santa again!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:53 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 34 words, total size 1 kb.

December 24, 2007

Happy Otaku Day!

It was in the year 40 ATA (After Tetsuwan Atomu) that the long-lost religious holiday of Otaku Day was rediscovered. Celebrations were joyous, if a bit strained (with schisms forming almost immediately, mostly around alternative veneration of one Haruhi Suzumiya).

With this year's Otaku Day rapidly approaching, I would be remiss if I didn't return to those heady days of last year.

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 186 words, total size 2 kb.

December 09, 2007

Anime Night @ The Pond

So The Librarian came over this past Thursday night to renew our more-or-less weekly tradition of eating Chinese food (well, Panda Express. Their orange chicken is one of the Perfect Foods, along with rye bread and Chicago-style deep dish pizza), discussing work, nibbling on Pocky, and watching anime.

As you may remember, last time we finished up Elfen Lied. Earlier this week, I had sent her a list of shows I had available (around 100, on DVD or fansub). She reminded me, however, that she had chosen EL, and that it was my turn to pick.

Oh. Hm.

See, here's the thing. The Librarian and I have maybe slightly different tastes in anime, so choosing a series is always a little adventuresome. Fortunately, though, I've known her for nigh on ten years, so in some things I've got a good concept of what she likes (I don't think I'd be able to choose a wallpaper for her, though).

So after browsing the web for a bit, I made a decision.

Thursday night rolled around, and after orange chicken, I provided her with a bottle of strawberry ramune, offered pocky, turned down the lights, and looked out the window as the DVD player spooled up...
more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 01:33 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 435 words, total size 3 kb.

November 28, 2007

Anime Night: Elfen Lied Ends

So the Librarian and I got together tonight to finish up Elfen Lied. As brutal as the violence is, and it is very brutal, and as gratuitous as the nudity is, and it's very gratuitous, it can still be a incredibly beautiful show to watch.

Case in point:

Lucy, the character responsible for the highest bodycount in short-season history, and who had been imprisoned and treated like a lab rat for the past eight years, has

This one shot, maybe three seconds long, makes the entire anime worth the price of admission for me.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 12:25 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 100 words, total size 1 kb.

November 25, 2007

What's Wonderduck Watching (fall edition)?

So we're a few weeks into the new season, and enough time has passed for a watcher to have decided on what's made the cut and what... well, hasn't. That can only mean one thing: another installment of "What's Wonderduck Watching?"

Click below for the whole scoop! Warning: quite a few screenshots, so dialup users, click and go make a sandwich or something.

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:45 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 989 words, total size 8 kb.

Take a look at a couple episodes of Mokke. I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but the best I can come up with is Miyazaki on a TV timetable/budget, with a little sense of humor thrown in for good measure. It has a Ghibli look to it, and it's centered around a lot of Japanese myths/superstitions come to life.

Mao-neesan is awesome, but she's shown some early signs of jealousy over the lack of attention from Kouichi now that he's got a woman.

ef looks like it has the potential for more angst than a Geo-Front full of Reis, but it's too damned pretty to give up (and Shaft's visual hold-overs from Zetsubou Sensei add a bit of spice here and there).

Posted by: Will at November 26, 2007 12:17 AM (E3UGR)

Will, I've only gotten through... (checks) ...episode four or five of Kimikiss. I actually thought I had written something along the lines of "...and she's not (through episode 4) interested in the male leads...", but guess I missed it.

*groan* More shows? That's already six up above, and that doesn't even count ones that are leftovers from LAST season (Sky Girls, for example, or Idolm@ster Xenoglossia, both of which I still need to finish).

Heck, I was happy to be able to watch the last DVD of Haruhi this weekend...

Posted by: Wonderduck at November 26, 2007 12:53 AM (dGuAN)

Well, I don't mean to make it sound too serious at this point. She's just made some very recognizable facial expressions in a couple scenes now that Kouichi has a woman to draw his attention.

Sky Girls just never grabbed me in the old OVA. I'm just glad the final episode of Xenoglossia finally came out. It was looking pretty dire there for a while. And lets not even get into the subject of a.f.k dropping off the face of the earth before finishing Zetsubou Sensei.

If I include SZS, I'm up to date on 10 shows right now (I put the long weekend to good use).

ef, Ninomiya-kun, Gundam 00, Hayate, Kimikiss, Minami-ke, Mokke, SZS, Shana 2, Sketchbook.

Actually, I was really naughty and grabbed a fansub of Gurren Lagann and watched through the whole thing as well. Gainax did a fantastic job on that show. I'll be damned sure to grab it on DVD. I think Steven would have to call it the five-bladded-razor of evolving/upgrading mecha.

Posted by: Will at November 26, 2007 01:39 AM (E3UGR)

4 I like Aria (a lot), Kimikiss, and Minami-ke, but my pick of the season has to be Moyashimon. Oryzae-tan FTW!

Oh, and as Will said, Mokke is worth a look.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at November 26, 2007 09:29 AM (PiXy!)

5 After being turned on to anime by reading posts here at the pond, I have progressed to my first attempt at fansubs. I'm loving Minami-Ke. I've only seen the first two, but have downloaded all eps and am looking forward to more. I've also been watching Ninomiya-kun, which after five eps is fun, but not as good as Minami-Ke... and still hasn't revealed a story line! After reading weekly episodic reviews at other anime sites, I decided I'd download a few different series and give them three episodes to hook me. So I selected Bamboo Blade, Blue Drop, Clannad, Ef~A Tale Of Memories, KimiKiss~Pure Rouge~ and Sketchbook~Full Color'S~ (per Wonderduck's glowing recommendations). I'm only one episode in to most of them (still haven't seen any of KimiKiss or Sketchbook) and after that one episode, Blue Drop has come out on top, with Bamboo Blade a close second!

Posted by: madmike at November 26, 2007 10:09 AM (qQeku)

6 I have an otaku blogchild? COOL!

Mike, I dropped Blue Drop after two episodes, m'self... just wasn't for me at that time. EF I've not looked at (look! Eyepatch girl FTW!) beyond the very odd "special" that was on a'suki this morning.

F1 and Anime: two great tastes that... um... well, are completely dissimilar, and don't work well together. That's The Pond for ya!

Posted by: Wonderduck at November 26, 2007 05:43 PM (AW3EJ)

7 You gotta have something to keep you entertained during the F1 off-season, don't you?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at November 27, 2007 03:06 AM (+rSRq)

8 Yup... The Duck and SDB have fueled my new anime interest with clever blogging. You guys are a bad influence! After reading the posts above I added Mokke to my list. First three eps. just finished downloading. Now I've just got to find time to watch it all! The only ones I''ve been avoiding are the series that seem to be "second season" (or more... like Gundam). As I'll have missed all the history/backstory.

Posted by: madmike at November 27, 2007 08:58 AM (qQeku)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

103kb generated in CPU 0.106, elapsed 0.2015 seconds.
58 queries taking 0.1829 seconds, 321 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.

Search Thingy

Monthly Traffic

Pages: 47433
Files: 9775
Bytes: 997.6M
CPU Time: 32:09
Queries: 1450204

Content

Posts: 3867
Comments: 14411

Feeds

April 09, 2008

March 12, 2008

March 09, 2008

March 01, 2008

February 29, 2008

February 24, 2008

February 21, 2008

February 18, 2008

February 12, 2008

February 10, 2008

February 04, 2008

January 26, 2008

January 19, 2008

January 13, 2008

December 27, 2007

December 26, 2007

December 24, 2007

December 09, 2007

November 28, 2007

November 25, 2007

Search Thingy

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Blogroll

Monthly Traffic

Content

Feeds