Over at Chizumatic, there's this:
Elfen Lied begins with a bang, all right. Only difference is that the "bang" leaves behind lots of guts, blood, and gore. Elfen Lied is almost a slasher feature, given how much violence there is and how explicitly the violence is presented, or so I've been told. It's a good thing they created it digitally, because the bill for red paint would have bankrupted them.

The "bang" it begins with is Lucy's escape from the laboratory where she and the other diclonius's (read "demons") were being studied. To escape, she killed all the guards, by cutting them into pieces. Ick... (I've seen screen caps, and you don't want to.)

Elfen Lied is a mixed bag. It is, as Steven says, extremely violent and very graphic in that violence. It makes Hellsing (either version) look like Azumanga Daioh, actually.

But, for all that, I found it to be incredibly absorbing, and I don't usually groove on shows of that style. What ultimately makes it work is the dichotomy of the Lucy/Nyu character... one side is an awesomely powerful creature that thinks nothing of, say, tearing the head off an innocent secretary then using her pens as head-shotting missiles, using her 'arms'. The other side of her is a sweet, caring, brain-addled cutie who can only say 'nyu.' Yes, I know, it sounds awful, but it hooked me.

Look, there's no easier way for me to describe the show's violence level than to tell a story from the Duck U. Anime Club. The Club receives monthly screener DVDs from ADVocates, the ADV club group, and one month had the first episode of EL on it. Nobody having heard of the show, we sat down to run it.

ADV throws up a black screen over nudity and extreme violence on their screener DVDs, and the FIRST EIGHT MINUTES were nothing more than black screen and subtitles (except for brief flashes of non-graphic animation).

Best darn OP ever, though. Bar none. EVER.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 05:18 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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1 Lucy/Nyu sounds like Pai from 3x3 Eyes. Only more so.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 17, 2006 05:21 PM (xyVrU)

2 You're not wrong, Pixy. In fact, now that it's been mentioned, I don't know why I didn't notice the similarity before...

It bears repeating: Best. OP. EVAR.

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 17, 2006 05:33 PM (YadGF)

3 I'll agree with you that EL is 'incredibly absorbing'. This was the first series I watched that hadn't been already released, so I had to wait a couple of months between disks. The waiting drove me nuts - I wanted to know where it was going now. I still consider it one of my favorites and rewatch it from time to time.

I'll almost agree with you that the OP is the best. I still rank 'Lain' higher, just because of the awesome BoA tune...

Posted by: astro at December 17, 2006 06:08 PM (FyzEs)

4 According to Wikipedia, Lucy kills 23 staff and guards in the first 10 minutes of the first episode. And she kills all of them by tearing them apart.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 18, 2006 10:07 AM (+rSRq)

5 I loved the intro sequence's song and the visuals go along nicely. It's one of the few series whose opening sequences I don't mind sitting through (the others being GITS: SAC season 1 and 2).

Posted by: Cineris at December 18, 2006 01:34 PM (6xvdl)

6 Wow.

One has to wonder, given that policy, why Elfen Lied was put on the screener DVD in the first place.

...then again, I can certainly see that working to get someone interested in the series, so perhaps it does make sense after all.

Posted by: Aaron Nowack at December 18, 2006 01:39 PM (hW9mq)

7 But, for all that, I found it to be incredibly absorbing, and I don't usually groove on shows of that style. What ultimately makes it work is the dichotomy of the Lucy/Nyu character... one side is an awesomely powerful creature that thinks nothing of, say, tearing the head off an innocent secretary then using her pens as head-shotting missiles, using her 'arms'. The other side of her is a sweet, caring, brain-addled cutie who can only say 'nyu.' Yes, I know, it sounds awful, but it hooked me.

Exactly my feelings. The show as a whole is also like that, containing the well-known bloodbaths but also some of the most touching scenes I've seen in any anime.

The OP song and animation are both beautiful (I was actually introduced to the show via the OST), but the ED also bears mentioning. Mainly because it's so ridiculously out of place in a show like this--you see Lucy commit some unspeakable act of violence to end an episode, and then it's "BABY I WANNA BE YOUR GIRL". So delightfully warped...

Oh, and Wikipedia is wrong. She doesn't kill them all by dismemberment. There's the ballpoint-pen-through-the-head guy, and the one who had his heart ripped from his chest. ;-)

Posted by: Andrew F. at December 18, 2006 01:58 PM (/TVYf)

8 I'm seriously considering a post of screencaps from the first 8 minutes, showing the various methods of death.

Andrew, the ED song is completely wrong for the show, and I love it, too. Actually, most of the staff of the Duck U. Bookstore like it, as well... even the ones that don't watch anime. It's just catchy as all heck.

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 18, 2006 02:02 PM (0Co69)

9 Sounds like it's just as out-of-place as the ED for Divergence Eve.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 18, 2006 03:26 PM (+rSRq)

10 Elfen Lied was a high stakes effort. To their credit, they kept alot of different plates spinning for quite some time ( horror, ecchi, harem, coming of age romance). Unfortunately, the whole thing came crashing down at the end. It was quite a wild ride while it lasted, though.

Posted by: Mark Brinton at December 18, 2006 06:07 PM (8dVqy)

11 ... and EL has the best OP. I was left speechless.

Posted by: Mark Brinton at December 18, 2006 06:23 PM (8dVqy)

12 It's a good thing you liked it. I posted something on my blog a zillion years back about how EL had a good song (which I translated and annotated, since the munchkins weren't doing it), but that I had no intention of ever watching the show. I know my violence limits, among other things.

And people keep sending me emails to tell me how bad I am for not watching their show! Or for having an opinion about what I'll probably like and what I won't!

*snicker* 'Cause no anime fan ever has opinions or tastes of her own....

Posted by: Maureen at December 21, 2006 11:39 AM (Ct5LW)

13 RE: EL's OP. Yes, it's quite good. But I think the OP for the Hakkenden is still one of the best in all of anime. The series is from 1990. I've seen a lot of anime since, and I can honestly say I've never seen an OP that comes close to comparing.

Too bad the anime itself was mediocre at best.

For some reason I have the entire series on LD. Some of which are still unopened. Heh.

As Steven often says -- everyone's entitled to their opinion. But if you want to see a *real* OP ...

Kidding, kidding.

Posted by: bkw at December 27, 2006 06:52 PM (KhFAm)

14 Hmmm. Just went back and watched the OPs to Hakkenden and Elfen Lied, to make sure I remembered them correctly.

My memory of Hakkenden may be slightly rose colored; it's a little dated, but (imo) still generally superior to the typical j-pop soundtracks. One of the things that I like the most is that it is pretty evocative of the series itself.

This is where I think the OP for Elfen Lied falls down a bit -- I would argue that it fits the tragic aspects of the anime, but misses all the other facets that make up the series. The OP doesn't give you a clue as to what to expect, except that it all very likely ends in tears ...

But anyway.

Posted by: bkw at December 27, 2006 07:17 PM (h/KQ9)

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SDB: "If Ron Karenga can do it, so can I. The newly-formed Otaku religion celebrates Anime Day on December 25. It's a jenn-you-wine traditional Japanese holiday (that I just made up) which otaku celebrate by putting up life-sized cardboard cutouts of Sailor Moon. We demand that Usagi be placed next to Rabbi Bogomilsky's menorah, and if they won't do that then we'll sue."

Let's think about this. Pikachu, Sakura and Chiyo-chan would be in attendance as prophets, kawaii be their names. Various mecha would have to serve as angels, and the Space Battleship Yamato playing the role of the Ark.

Communion would be given in the form of Pocky and caffinated drinks.

I think Steven's onto something here!

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1 I like Sailor Moon! It's my favorite anime. We should celebrate this!!!

Posted by: Rob at December 11, 2006 07:12 PM (wMSNf)

2 You can go much worse than Serena... ah I beg your pardon... Usagi. And she is iconic.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 11, 2006 07:53 PM (9imyF)

3 Then I've just lived the ultimate "Anime Day" sacrilege. I ordered 3 DVD sets through the Amazon marketplace and all were bootleg! Is that like getting a lump of coal in your stocking? What kind of "bad karma" do I have to deserve this?

Posted by: madmike at December 11, 2006 08:01 PM (P1mII)

4 Count me in!!!

Posted by: Sir Sefirot at December 12, 2006 12:27 AM (UnABp)

5 That's all well and good, but I'm making popcorn and bringing a chair for when the debate gets to defining the Otaku Virgin Mary.

Posted by: Will at December 12, 2006 03:41 AM (SOx9v)

6 I nominate Rosette Christopher from Chrno Crusade for the Otaku Virgin Mary. It isn't exactly right, but she's probably as close as it will get.

Posted by: astro at December 12, 2006 07:58 AM (FyzEs)

7 The ones you speak of are false prophets, and those who follow them shall be cast into the fiery pit of dub-only edited-for-TV anime. The forces of Haruhiism will not be denied; we demand our own display separate from the otaku blasphemers.

There is no god but Haruhi, and Kyon is her prophet.

Posted by: Andrew F. at December 12, 2006 11:26 AM (tPdFK)

8 > Pocky and caffinated drinks

Heretic!! It's Pocky and Pocari Sweat!!

Posted by: Anon at December 12, 2006 11:48 AM (+qnHA)

9 Otaku Virgin Mary: well, I don't know about the virgin bit, but the Abh can not only provide Immaculate Conception, but Immaculate Gestation! (top that, Yahweh!

And if Kyon is the prophet, does that make Itsuki/Mikurur/Nagato the three wise men^Hpersons? After all, they are the first to recognize the new-born god...(they followed signs to her that no one else could see, too!)

Posted by: Intrope at December 12, 2006 01:43 PM (GljWn)

10 If you guys are looking for an anime virgin, wouldn't that be Chi from Chobits?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 12, 2006 02:13 PM (+rSRq)

11 We don't need weak analogies with Christianity here, so no virgins. Usagi works just fine, it's a respected symbol hailing to us from the dark ages of 1-episode per VHS tape, when true devotees had to walk miles barefoot to get those tapes... Haruris may come and go, true symbols stay the test of time.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 12, 2006 03:11 PM (9imyF)

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Recently, The Pond got it's first visit from an anime-hating troll. While I generally prefer to starve trolls to death and then jump up and down on their corpses, since this is MY VERY OWN first troll, I wanted to say a few words.

Dear Troll...
Thank you for the comment you left during your recent visit to The Pond. While it was poorly written and hard to understand, it certainly showed that you are either a terribly prejudiced, perhaps racist, person, or maybe just a profoundly ignorant one, with a taste for censorship to boot.
While I have only a handful of regular readers, and losing any reader is something small bloggers hate, I'd prefer it if you never bring yourself to my Pond ever again. In conclusion:

Have a swell day,
-Wonderduck

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SDB muses:

Tomorrow UPS will deliver my latest DVD order, and I'll get to watch yet another incarnation of Yamato in anime. It will, at least, be a bit more realistic. Or maybe not. They're not going to lift it into space, but a 13 year old girl is going to single-handedly lift it from the depths and move it back to a Japanese port.

Now I'm curious: when the girl/god in question raises the Yamato, will it be in one piece, or will it be in historically accurate shape (i.e., in two chunks, with the main turrets out of their barbettes)?

Considering that it's a god doing the raising, she can probably repair the damage while she's at it. Maybe a new coat of paint. Buff out the dings...

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Y'see, this is where Real Life gets in the way of Fun. The Librarian had a serious problem at The Library today, and had to cancel out.

She said something about having "Shhhhhhh Elbow," an occupational hazard for Librarians worldwide.

(actually, it's much more prosaic than that; an unscheduled visit from The Librarian's Mother, also known as "The Evil One." Please note that that's a term of endearment. I'm not entirely sure where it comes from, as The Librarian's Mother is a very cool person.)

So I have to try and control my lust to watch more CCS for another week. Well, I've got plenty of fansubs to catch up with. Kanon 2006, the reimaged Negima!?, Crescent Love, Death Note (which The Librarian has at The Library in manga form, and talked me into d/l'g for her... which, of course, sucked me in), and Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru, which Ubu's rantings convinced me to give a shot.

I've also realized that somewhere down the line, I somehow got the first episode of Kasimasi: Girl Meets Girl, which seems to be a perfect candidate for a "First Episode Review" soon...

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I was on animesuki.com the other day, hoping that the new episode of Kanon 2006 had been posted, when I saw a listing for the first ep of a new show called 009-1. After a quick read-up on it, I decided "hey, what the heck, why not?" more...

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So, due to the Thanksgiving holiday, The Librarian and I decided to move Anime Night to Wednesday... that way, we could get together earlier than normal and I could buy us dinner (Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza... yum!) for once. Usually, she brings dinner, and I provide everything else, but that makes me feel guilty.

Anyway, after great food and conversation, we broke out the remains of PockyPalooza II: Electric Boogaloo, settled into our usual seats, and fired up the DVD player. This week's episodes mostly DIDN'T center on Sakura, oddly enough. Ep22, "Sakura and her Kind Father", centers on her father (duh); Ep23, "Sakura, Tomoyo, and Wonderful Songs", hits Tomoyo (and has the cutest outfit for Kero-Chan yet); Ep25 was "Sakura and Another Sakura", which leans on her brother and The Mirror card heavy, and Ep26 introduces a new character with "Sakura and the Wonderful Teacher". The only episode that really centered on Sakura was 24, "Sakura's Little Adventure."

Episode 22 might be my favorite so far. The relationship between Sakura, her father, and her brother really does seem to be 'perfect.' They're all completely devoted to each other, and not in a sappy way, either. In this world of video games and iPod earbuds blocking out reality, it was really refreshing.

But as is usual when The Librarian and I get togther, our senses of humor heterodyned and we just started riffing on the show. For example, bet you didn't know that Sakura's father is sleeping with his 'Research Assistant', did you? Or that The Mirror is simply Tomoyo's greatest fantasy come true?

Really, we're spending more time having fun with the show than watching it. We'd probably drive serious fans crazy.

We discovered that the Clow Cards have realized that someone's hunting them... and they ain't happy 'bout it. Things are gonna get nasty, I think. Heck, The Mirror already tried to kill Toya by making him walk off a cliff (successfully... I mean, "successfully walk off a cliff," not "successfully killed Toya." Toya can be pretty dumb at times.). I'm wondering what the cost to Sakura will be in the end...

Gotta keep giving this show huge approval ratings. I'm even going to say that it's BETTER than my favorite show, Azumanga Daioh... but it's not going to move AzuDai out of that slot. But it'll be 2nd with a bullet, that's for sure.

Anyway, after the episodes were over for the night, The Librarian and I wound up discussing the Holiday season, and how much we don't much like it... while standing in the kitchen, for some reason. Oddly, we both said that we don't like the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year stretch, and it's not because we worked retail and hated the incessant crowds and evil customers...

(Digression: we've both either had books thrown at us, or have been in charge when something like that happened. We both ran mall bookstores for the same chain, which is how we became friends... it's been five or six years since she worked for them, four or five for me, but we stayed close. End Digression.)

...except I think, for both of us, at least some of our dislike comes from that. Not all, but there's a sliver of deep, deep hatred for people because of our experiences in retail.

Did I mention Sakura had bunny ears in one episode?

(image from the AMV "Lollipops, Sunshine, and rrrRRRrrr" by Dokidoki. A must watch if you're a CCS fan!)

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Another Tuesday night, another visit from The Librarian, another Anime Night at The Pond. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, all is right with the world.

To finish up with PockyPalooza II: Electric Boogaloo, we dug into the three remaining boxes of Pocky: Strawberry Chunk, Almond Crunch, and the famously named Men's Pocky.

The Strawberry Chunk supposedly was the basic strawberry pocky, with little pieces of chocolate buried in it. As I'm not a fan of artificial strawberry flavoring, this was my least favorite of the three. The Librarian, though, dug it like strawberry was going out of style. One thumb up, one wingtip down. Not awful, but not great.

The Almond Crunch looked like a small stick coated with sharp rocks and chocolate. Fortunately, the taste was much better than the look: pretty much like a peanut M&M on a cookie. One thumb up, one wingtip up. Pretty tasty, I'd order it in the future.

Finally, the long awaited Men's Pocky. Surprise #1: each pack of sticks was actually HEAVY. Lots of pocky in each one, and each stick is about twice the diameter of a normal biscuitstick. The flavor? Honestly, it tastes about the same as a regular chocopocky. It's supposed to be bittersweet; it seems in the Japanese culture, men aren't supposed to go for sweet flavors, so Glico made this. Maybe it was just me, but it really wasn't any different than the stuff in the red boxes. One thumb, one wingtip up, but a slight bit of disappointment in there.

Onto Cardcaptor Sakura! We made it through another five episodes, bringing us to ep21. The long-dreaded Lei Meilin has appeared, and boy, Steven, you weren't whistlin' dixie about her. I will say that her Death Stares at Sakura have been pretty funny, though. So far, the series doesn't really have an 'evil' character, but she's up there on the "annoying and despised" scale... somewhere around "Michael Schumacher", just above "Shinji", just below "Pikachu" and "Satan."

The unintentional comedy was almost absent, though. Oh, we made our usual little jokes (Sakura is lying on her bed, arms above her head, Kero-chan floating above her. The Bondage jokes came fast and furious...), but really there wasn't that much to poke fun at. Darn. :-)

Truthfully, the five episodes this night were the most disappointing so far. Really GOOD, but not as flat-out entertaining as in the past. The "scary test of courage" episode had a couple of nice sight gags (and I WANT a pair of glasses that go opaque and shine when I'm being naughty!!!), but otherwise was pretty 'meh.' The Summer Festival almost had Sakura confess to Yukino, but that fell through... and the Glow Card might be the most pointless of the bunch. Holiday Homework had a moment where I was sure Sakura was on LSD.

(As an aside, The Librarian was seriously vexed by the portrayal of librarians in this episode. "What sort of librarian says 'the book is somewhere in the library?' That's just wrong. And where are the librarian's heads? Literally! They cut them off with the top of the frame, or they're turned away from the camera, or..." She stopped there, looking ready to kill. Rule #1: Don't Screw With A Librarian.)

And then Meilin arrived. Moment of the night #1: when The Fight card kicked her into the next timezone. Moment of the night #2: when Meilin sprained her ankle during the marathon and faceplanted into the street. Pure comedy gold.

One final note. I've not mentioned one highpoint of the show, and that's the sound effects being used for comedy. Meilin gives Sakura a deathstare, Sakura recoils in fear... and there's the sound of a rubber duck. One of Sakura's friends bounces a beach-ball off someone's head, and you get a 'boing' and a clattering crash sound. It's hard to explain with words, but if you watch the series, pay attention to the sounds. It's enough to make me and The Librarian laugh out loud at times.

Two wingtips waaaaaaaaaaaaay up for CCS. I just hope that, when the show inevitably turns serious, they don't get too far away from what's made it good: Sakura, and an underlying sense of humor that shows that the show doesn't take itself too seriously.

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Over at Ubu Roi's place, a commentor shows a report that the next Haruhi Suzumiya series is coming out in Fall 2007, instead of 2008 as expected.

(note: there is no WAY I could let "Haruhi II: The Wrath of Kyon" sit in someone else's comments without my making it into a post... even a short one like this. I think it's just too good! Um... is that all right, Haruhi?

...phew.)

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Recently spotted over at Chizumatic:

"Look, Pixy Misa just ordered Ikki Tousen. Girls High isn't as bad as that. (It can't possibly be.)"

Yes, it can. MUCH worse.

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SDB, in a comment, wanted an update on where The Librarian and I stand in relation to CardCaptor Sakura after the last PockyPalooza. I think I can dredge up enough motivation to cover that!

We're now four full DVDs into the show, and there's still no end to the fun it's bringing us (which is a good thing... four DVDs finished means there's still 14 DVDs left to go!), both intentionally and unintentionally. This really is shaping up to be an amazing show, quality-wise. The animation has been top-shelf. The story, though 'monster-of-the-week', hasn't been dull... the Clow Cards have all been interesting enough to keep our attention. While I don't think CCS will supplant Azumanga Daioh as my favorite anime of all-time, it's going to be right up there.

But Oh! That unintentional humor will kill us yet. Episode 16, "Sakura and the Rainbow of Memories," which was one of the first NOT to feature the hunt for a Clow Card, had us in unintentional humor hell. Short (EPISODE SPOILER) version of the story: Sakura, her family, and Yuuki take a weekend vacation to a country house, Sakura meets her great-grandfather who lives in a house down the road. Sounds simple enough, right? Except she doesn't know it's her great-grandfather, because nobody ever tells her... including GGF himself! He just misses his granddaughter, Sakura's mother. (END SPOILER).

But, since WE don't know that until the end of the episode, the story is a little creepy in our era of Amber Alerts and "cyber-predators," and for once we're not talking about Tomoyo... well, yes, her too, but she's only in one scene (and it's one of the creepier ones for her so far).

The old man asks Sakura, amongst other things, to play in his dead granddaughter's room, play tennis with him, have tea (who made that?), and dress up in some old clothes... all the while, The Librarian and I couldn't help but make jokes about "Sakura disappearing, never to be seen again," or "the amazingly realistic female dolls (ahem) in the closet... and the crawlspace... hanging from a rope in the ceiling...", and so forth. Good times, good times.

Tomoyo couldn't come along on the trip... band practice or some such thing... and since her mother is gone "on a business trip," she's all alone. So what does she do? Bow-chicka-bow-bowwww, she's watching some of the Sakura videos she's shot on her projection screen TV. In the dark. Alone.

Oh-kayyyyyyyy.

But it turns out that her mother ISN'T on a business trip. Remember when I asked who made the tea? Turns out that it was Tomoyo's mother! She's at the Creepy Old Guy's house, too... makes sense, since Sakura's mom and she were bestest friends, she'd undoubtably stay in touch, right? So she stole away from her own daughter to serve Sakura (she even says so at the end of the episode)!

Nice mom... that whole family is seriously screwed up, y'know that?!?!

Good times, good times.

The Elephant Throwing Contest in e13 was pretty good (and Li Shaoran proved he can be an awful dick when he wants to be. This time, though, he did it to a Clow Card, not to Sakura, so that's okay)... and e15 saw Kero-Chan and Sakura have a lover's spat... actually, two or three.

But cross-dressing Toya in a production of Cinderella had The Librarian and I near tears in e14. We also see signs that there's more to Toya and Yukito's friendship than just being friends. My god, three quarters of the characters in this show are gay, lesbian, or stalkers!

Man, it's fun!

Seriously. Go watch this series. Now.

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Kanon 2006. The remake of the legendary, much beloved if not worshipped, game turned anime. The original series was a half-season show, made on a limited budget (from all I've read; I've never seen it, despite having d/l'd the first six episodes. Wound up deleting them unwatched). The 2006 remake, which just had the 5th episode air in Japan, is a full 26-episode series, with a BIG budget. KyoAni, the production company that made The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, is doing this show as well, and it's amazingly beautiful. Some are saying that the plot is too slow, but I'm finding it to be just right. The atmosphere is lovely (welcome to my favorite season: winter!), and the music is the same. Voice acting is superb, and so far there's little I can complain about overall.

Negima?!. Where Kanon 2006 is a remake of a series that aired in 1999, this is a remake of a show that aired... in 2005? I haven't seen the original, so I've nothing to compare the remake to, other than some AMVs I've watched. The animation looks better to my eye. Enjoyed the first three episodes, but the main story seems to start with ep4, which hasn't come out on fansub yet.

Crescent Love. Ooboo Roy's been ripping this show pretty hard (and as I went over there to get the link, I see that he's posted something covering two of the three shows I'm talking about here... I'll read it after I'm done posting this). It's generally getting reviews ranging from 'eh' to 'blech.' Me, I'm enjoying it. There's nothing NEW in it: stranger-in-a-strange-land Moon Princess visits Earth, where she homestays with Our Hero, His Younger Sister, and His Older Sister (WHOOPS! This originally said "mom." Thanks for pointing out the correct relationship, Ubu!) . The Childhood Friend is in there, too, as the Rival Love Interest. Throw into blender. Frappe'. Cliche' for days, right? Right. But sometimes a cliche' is what you WANT.

Look at the first two shows on this list: Kanon 2006 and Negima?! are both drama shows, with a smidge of humor. The other show I'm watching, Welcome to the NHK! is black humor, about a hikikomori (and once I catch up on it, I'll be writing it up).

Crescent Love is, like World of Narue, fluff. The girls are cute, the plot (such as it is) is inoffensive, and the humor is light. So what if the show is 'uncool'? I'm enjoying it, probably more than the other shows I've talked about in this post, simply because it IS fluff.

Besides, I wake up like this, too:

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I've put the photos from PockyPalooza II: Electric Boogaloo in the "extended entry," because having it on the front page breaks the formatting of The Pond... so clickyclicky to see 'em! more...

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After a light dinner of some fettucini alfredo, The Librarian and I began to roll Cardcaptor Sakura and opened the first box of Japanese nibblies.

We started with the box of "Pine Cream Pocky", nicely decorated in yellow and a pineapple. The pocky itself was a yellowish color that had a very nice whiff of pine. Not pineapple, pine. Which is swell, who doesn't like pine fragrance, but it's not encouraging when it's supposed to be pineapple. The flavor was... different. Almost, but not entirely unlike, pineapple. The box also suggests that there's bits of chocolate included, but in our humble opinions, the box lies! The fact that more than three quarters of the pockysticks remain in the box should tell you our opinion of Pine Cream Pocky.

After we hit the eyecatch of the episode entitled "Sakura, Tomoyo and a Mansion," we moved on to the "Wheat Milk Pocky." It's much like the regular chocolate pocky, but with a crunchier biscuit stick, milk chocolate, and an odd hint of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Tasty enough, but not particularly awe-inspiring or anything. The box is pretty, though, with a painting of a wheat farm on the front. The considered opinion of the two judges? Meh... not bad, but we'd rather have the original-style Chocolate Pocky.

Then the nightmare began. The Librarian had been entranced by the box of Cheese Pretz all night, with it's cover photo of small pieces of rye bread liberally covered with melted cheese. The sticks are shorter than Pocky, but look the same. The flavor, though... *shudder* All salt and something inexplicable... maybe anchovies, or something like that... The aftertaste has a similar flavor to some US snackfoods, like those little 'snackables' that have Ritz crackers and what I like to call "cheez", but it comes from the back of the throat in a very unpleasant manner. Our opinion? RUN SCREAMING.

Hoping for something, ANYTHING, to get the memory of the horror out of our minds, we tore into the Poare Choco Custard. Poare, as mentioned before, is a "reverse Pocky," where the stick is hollow, and filled with the stuff that's usally on the outside of a pockystick. The biscuit was a little sweeter than the usual, and the 'choco custard' filling was soft and creamy. The box was quickly emptied, and recieved the highest honor we could impart: "Is there any more?" Even the box is pretty, with three sticks of Poare on a white background. Plain, but effective.

With our enthusiasm for the project restored, we opened the box of Salad Pretz. Alas, prior research had revealed that it wouldn't taste like salad at all, but was designed to accompany salad. In this, we figure it would be a success. Again, very salty, but the taste isn't bad at all. Similar to Gardetto's-brand snackfood, to be honest. The amount of salt used on these things, though, would be enough to melt the polar icecaps. The packaging is nothing special, however, just a picture of the food on a green and white background, with the title in red. Functional. The opinion? Not bad, could be a nice alternative to chips or pretzels.

By this time, though, we were rapidly running out of time and available stomach space, but being the brave researchers that we are, dedicated to the improvement of the world's intellects, we soldiered on and opened up the box of Pocky G. This is completely different from any other Pocky, with a crunchier CHOCOLATE biscuit, and a stronger chocolate covering. As the very 'art deco' box (white, with a big black capital 'G' centered, transfixed by a single pockystick) proclaims, it's "hard & rich". If this had been opened earlier in the night, there's no doubt the box would have been emptied. As it was, however, we only managed to get through one of the two packs (the 2nd pack was consumed with this author's dinner tonight). Just a smidge behind the Poare in the night's rankings, but only because the Poare was something completely different. Good stuff, this G!

And more pocky reviews coming down the line, as there's still a ton of flavors sitting on the table to go through! Pictures to follow, as soon as I reduce them... and figure out how to upload 'em!

I think our costumes were pretty good, actually...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 07:20 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Halloween. A time for candy and costumes... and the Librarian and the Wonderduck will NOT disappoint!

Stay tuned for writeups on the Pocky... and COSTUMES!

UPDATE: We made it through about half the Pocky flavors. Writeups and pictures will be available probably 11/1/06.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...everybody's favorite incredibly cute anime series, Bottle Fairy.

And who better to do it than the legendary AMV creator Dokidoki?

Here lies HELLo FAIRY.

Steven, if you ever watch an AMV, make this be the one. Hey, it's got Max Headroom in it, how can it be bad?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:48 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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1 Part of the problem is that I am very leery of P2P programs. I don't understand how they work in detail, for instance. I know that while I'm using one of them, I'm hosting uploads as well as doing downloads, but I don't know what controls just what someone else gets from me. Does it mean my disk is wide open for plunder? The one I was using (which I got from Pixy Misa back when) didn't tell me.

I also know that P2P programs are a really good way to get your computer infected with all kinds of marvelous malware.

And in any case, music videos collectively and AMV's in specific just don't do anything for me. It really doesn't interest me at all; there just isn't any spark when I watch them.

Sorry.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at October 29, 2006 06:47 PM (+rSRq)

2 I know you're not much interested in AMVs... we exchanged e-mails regarding that a year or so go. *shrug*

For what it's worth, AMV.org isn't P2P, they do straight download from their servers ('local download', they call it). Which is what makes it such a great thing: no virii of any sort.

Also FWIW, I've used P2Ps for a few years now, and have yet to catch any ickware, virii, whatever. As far as HDs open to plunder, you tell the program what directories are open to be d/l'd from, and that's all it'll look at... in theory. I've seen no sign of that being untrue, but I'm no software expert.

Practice safe surf.

Posted by: Wonderduck at October 29, 2006 06:55 PM (fEnUg)

3 I use P2P a lot. I'm one of those people that "file sharing afficionados" hate. I installed the software and set it so I can download but that it is never to share anything from my machine (ever)! I've never been good at sharing... ask my sister. I believe in the virtue of selfishness! And yes, unless you're running some kind of anti-virus/adware/malware software on your machine... P2P is a wonderful way to catch all kinds of stuff. It's the casual sex of the computer world.

Posted by: madmike at October 30, 2006 01:05 PM (P1mII)

4 SDB's reservations about P2P reminded me of this news story from a few months back.

Having previously dealt with malware-infested computers as part of my job, I'm pretty wary of P2P networking software myself. The only exceptions I make are for BitTorrent (which doesn't really count as a P2P network) and Winny (which has raws of obscure shows and other stuff you can't get anywhere else).

Posted by: Andrew F. at October 30, 2006 04:07 PM (zkbOu)

5 Andrew, could you explain why BitTorrent doesn't count as a P2P? Is it because of the 'distributed' nature of the downloads?

Posted by: Wonderduck at October 30, 2006 05:30 PM (0Co69)

6 BitTorrent is P2P but isn't a P2P network. Every file shared using BitTorrent is basically its own standalone network. That's why I like it. While I'm downloading file X, I'm sharing that file. When I stop BitTorrent, I'm not sharing anything at all. On that basis, it's no more dangerous than FTP.

Meanwhile, I seem to have lost the login for the AMV account I created after I lost the login for my AMV account when all my computers died at once.

Meh.

And I even donated money, so double meh.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at October 31, 2006 02:13 AM (sWLEp)

7 If I could get him to watch just two, it would be CCS/Silent Lucidity and AL/When Angels Deserve to Die (and I'd have a DVD in the mail tomorrow if he'd let me .

And yeah, AMV.org is its own host. Some of the videos linked there are stored offsite, but it makes it pretty clear where you're d/ling from. It's one of the greatest inventions since sliced bread--and has gotten me into at least a half dozen series that I would never have watched otherwise.

Posted by: Big D at October 31, 2006 12:16 PM (2wI5S)

8 Uh, Pixy just about covered it.

The only thing I'd add is that it's almost impossible for a single malicious individual to effectively distribute a virus using BT. Most P2P viruses spread by making themselves available for P2P download from the victim's PC, as with the Antinny virus mentioned in that article. They have the potential to spread exponentially--if a machine infects n other machines, each of those could itself infect n others, et cetera ad infinitum. With BitTorrent, however, there's still only one torrent no matter how many machines get infected, the survival of which depends on the willingness of victims to actively continue sharing the file that infected them.

Posted by: Andrew F. at October 31, 2006 12:29 PM (zkbOu)

9 "...it would be CCS/Silent Lucidity..."

A fine video... takes itself a little too seriously, but a fine video nevertheless.

Posted by: Wonderduck at October 31, 2006 04:21 PM (Eodj2)

10 Yeah, Pixy is right. BitTorrent is different. HOWEVER, you still can get in trouble if you use a malicious client. For that reason I only use the mainline and Azureus. Mainline allows me to run downloads disconnected, with all computers shut down for the night except the server where btdownload runs. And you can rebuild them from the source if you want.

Andrew got a point too. Since the checksums are stored in the central tracker and are reasonably strong, it's not possible to modify contents of a torrent. But I'm not completely sure that it's impossible to spread viruses over torrents. The key component is some kind of torrent publication service. Virus authors would need to incorporate postings to TorrentReactor or TokyoToshokan or something. I thought about possible attack vectors a bit, but they do not come out universal enough.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at November 03, 2006 02:38 AM (9imyF)

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Here's the lineup of Glico products (and one Meiji product) for PockyPalooza II: Electric Boogaloo on Halloween (UPS willing... the order from Robert's is scheduled to arrive Halloween morning at the Duck U. Bookstore):

Pocky G
Men's Pocky
Almond Crush Pocky
Coconut Chocolate Pocky
Custard Fondu Mousse Pocky
Wheat Milk Chocolate Pocky
Pineapple Cream Pocky
Mild Chocolate Mousse Pocky
Strawberry Bits & Chocolate Pocky
Choco Custard Poare (A 'backwards Pocky', where the coating is on the INSIDE of the 'biscuit')
Caramel/Cocoa Pretz
Salad Pretz
Cheese Pretz
Meiji Chocobaby

Thanks to Vaucaunson's Duck for the Pretz, the Chocobaby, and the Coconut, Men's and Almond Crush Pocky!

Though I'm concerned about the Salad Pretz...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:02 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 What? No pork? Porky Pocky! YUM

Posted by: Librarian at October 28, 2006 10:29 AM (aTcoe)

2 Ladies and Gentlemen, The Librarian has visited!!!

Posted by: Wonderduck at October 28, 2006 10:31 AM (vFS/o)

3 Dude, I think I'm lost, and uhm, what's with the ducks?

Posted by: librarian at October 28, 2006 11:13 AM (aTcoe)

4 Dudette, they just moved in on their own. They don't even pay rent or anything.

Posted by: Wonderduck at October 28, 2006 03:49 PM (GIL7z)

5 So how was the salad pretz, anyway?

Posted by: Vaucanson's duck at October 30, 2006 07:03 AM (oplPK)

6 Dunno yet, Vauc! PockyPalooza II:Electric Boogaloo is on Tuesday.

And yes, it's been hard keeping myself from ripping into the stuff you sent!

The Chocobaby has been opened, I'll admit... not bad, for little not-quite-chocolate stuff.

Posted by: Wonderduck at October 30, 2006 10:31 AM (jnjCa)

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Thanks to the good graces of Vaucanson's Duck, who lives within walking distance of Little Tokyo in San Francisco, the next Anime Night will see the return of Pockypalooza.

Though, technically, it should probably be called Glicopalooza, since there will also be tastings of three different styles of Pretz, and something called Chocobaby, which looks like chocolate-covered tictacs.

I'm considering placing an order with Robert, as well, just to make it a full-fledged event.

Thanks, Vauc!!!

UPDATE: Order placed, PockyPalooza II: Electric Boogaloo is a GO!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So The Librarian and I are through 10 episodes of CCS now, and we're even MORE amused by the show than we had been. Again, I'm entirely sure that CLAMP knows exactly what they were doing, but here's some thoughts we've come up with regarding the show:

*Li is a preteen transsexual Hannibal Lechter-wannabe. "*long stare* A sharp blow right at the base of the neck, and OMIGODOMIGODOMIGODTHERE'SYUUKI OMIGODICOULDJUSTDIEOMIGOD..."

*(after Sakura swallows an entire loaf of bread in one bite) "She's going to be popular in a few years..."

*"DON'T hit pause. Just don't. Let it go." "But..." "Just don't."

*"So Tomoyo has a rubber AND catgirl fetish. Kinkyyyyyyy... yet strangely arousing."

*"Whoa. WOOD got back."

*...and WAAAAAAY too many times to note: "Bow-chikka-bow-bow!"

Seriously, seriously funny stuff, even if CLAMP didn't mean it... but they did. This is a great, GREAT show.

Yes, we're laughing at it, but it's more 'laughing WITH it,' because there's no doubt CLAMP intended this. It's a wonderful story, WONDERFUL characters (except Li Shioran... so far, I really don't much like him) but so far the best part is the (non-existant?) subtext.

If you've seen CCS, you know what I'm talking about.
If you haven't seen this yet, why not?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:12 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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