You may remember that recently I watched the pile of catgirl droppings known as Dokuro-chan. This experience, which left me wanting to claw my eyes out and left my eyes begging to be clawed out, scarred my anime-lovin' soul, leaving it a small, flinty cinder.

Then my friend The Librarian came over for Anime Night. After a pleasant hour of dinner 'n' conversation, we decided to pop open the 19-disc MegaStack of CardCaptor Sakura, and watched the first five episodes.

My soul is restored. I'll talk more about it down the line, after I've seen more than 1/14th of the series (70 episodes!), but so far there's been absolutely nothing about the show I can complain about... even the unintentional comedy is pure gold (though that might just be because of the shared sense of humor The Librarian and I have:

"...and they all die."
"The End."

You have NO idea how funny that exchange can be when it's well-timed, though that's hardly what I'm talking about when I say 'unintentional comedy'. I'm talking more about things like Tomoyo filming upskirt shots on Sakura as they're crawling through the Kinomoto house, though knowing CLAMP they knew exactly what they were doing).

Anyway... Boooooo, Dokuro-chan.

Hooooooray, Cardcaptor Sakura!!!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:48 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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"20061017.1535 We can skip Dokuro-chan (unless we're stupid, like Ubu Roi) and love Haibane Renmei and get the best of both worlds."

UPDATE: AAAAGH! AAAAGH! Yes, I meant Wonderduck, not Ubu Roi! AAAAGH!!! I'm the stupid one for botching up a joke like that! AAAAGH!"

I may be stupid, Steven, but at least I don't set up an easy joke and then pee it straight down my leg. *heh* more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:47 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Right, I admit that I said, after viewing the OP, that watching this show was "too horrible to contemplate."

But I watched it anyway.

That's about the worst thing I've ever inflicted on myself. My GOD, that was awful. Horrible. Terrible. EVIL.

As Steven DenBeste puts it, "I'm not nearly afraid enough of the Japanese."

I'm not even going to get into details. If I can sandpaper that chunk of memory out of my brain, I will. With a powersander.

Learn from my mistake: DO NOT WATCH THIS SHOW. EVER.

Eiken is better than this. And that made me want to pour battery acid in my eyes, then into my eyesockets after my eyes burned out.

Dokuro-chan is worse than that.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:17 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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An AMV, like any anime, is subjective. What I like may not be what you like. However, the AMV that is being given the Wonderduck Greatest AMV of ALL TIME! award is one of those rare things that everybody I've shown it to has liked (maybe 40 different people), and has a huge rating at AMV.org.

Friends, allow me to introduce the AMV of all AMVs: Odorikuruu.

I've seen many, many, MANY AMVs. Odorikuruu has been on my hard-drive for close to four years and was one of the first ones I ever saw... even though it wasn't on The Org for some time (back then, I used KazaaLite). To this day, I can click on the viddy at any time and just lose myself for four minutes in complete mindcandy. It's got a catchy tune ("Mamboleo" by Elissa), uses clips from 34 different anime (though some get a total screentime of one second), and is very tightly edited. It's very much a shame that the creator, Aokakesu, stopped making AMVs after this... or, at least, making them and listing them at The Org.

No, this isn't the 'Citizen Kane' of AMVs... but it may be 'The General' of them, and that's at least as good.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:12 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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My friend The Librarian sent me an e-mail today.

The e-mail contained a link. THIS link.

Click only if you won't miss your sanity.

Go ahead, I'll wait. When you're done, click below: more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:35 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I've been an anime fan for a long time. The first shows I ever made a deliberate attempt to watch were, in order, Ranma 1/2, Oh! My Goddess, the original OAV version, and All-Purpose Catgirl Nuku-Nuku.

I was introduced to these shows, and others, by Mike, a fellow worker at the local hobby shop. He knew them all, nearly HAD them all, and wasn't afraid to tell you about them at the drop of a hat (coincidentally, just what does that mean? Is there some odd place where hat-dropping is considered a common signal?).

But even before those heady days of the early-to-mid-1990s anime scene, there was anime... and I was exposed to it quite early.

No, not Astro Boy. That would have been too easy. No, sometime around 1972 or '73, I was exposed to a show entitled PRINCE PLANET.

I honestly don't remember much about the show -- it WAS 30-some-odd-years ago, remember, and I was but a wee duckling -- but I remember "the medallion on his chest." (click that for the intro song!) I remember the color changing from black to white as his energy supply drained, I remember that it had the letter "P" on it, and I def'n'ly remember his war cry: "Peeeeeeeeeeee-KAPOW!"

But I never knew where it had come from. I didn't remember the name of the show, so I could never really look it up (or, more correctly, I didn't know that I needed to look it up). Today, however, I was googling something else at the Duck U. Bookstore, and there it was.

And, amazingly, when I loaded up the "theme song" link... I REMEMBERED THE SONG! Within a line or two, I was singing along and grinning like a goofball. 30 years or more have gone by since I last heard it, but no problem at all.

What really surprises me is that there are episodes on YouTube! I think I know what I'm doing during my lunchbreak tomorrow...

(UPDATE: Yeesh! It's a wonder I ever watched cartoons again!!!)

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:06 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Ex-lurker Madmike wanted to know what anime series would be good for a beginner. Fair question, and the rampaging hordes did a fine job of answering it.

This post, however, is NOT about what would shows be good for a neophyte otaku.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm the staff advisor for the Duck U. Anime Club. Between the club prez and m'self, we have to decide what series the club will watch that week/month/semester... and most of our club members are in the same boat as Madmike: interested, but inexperienced in the ways of anime.

So, instead of what would be GOOD for him (and the club) to watch, this post will cover some series that'd be smart to avoid like the plague for a while! After the jump, the (incomplete) list: more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:24 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Well, almost.

As you might remember, the new school year has begun at Duck U. That's part of the reason for sparse posting as of late: it's christmas at the Bookstore. We do nigh on 75% of our year's business over a month's time (roughly); the first two weeks of each semester, which is where we are firmly located at the moment.

But the return of the ducklings to the U. also means that the Duck U. Anime Club is beginning to creak back to life. Being the Staff Advisor has some perks to it, namely I don't have to do too much work other than designing the weekly poster (which I enjoy to no end) and being the final arbiter of what will or won't be watched in a semester ('are you kidding?' to Eiken, 'no' to Elfen Lied, 'yes, if we can get the rights' to Hellsing, 'yes' to Noir, as examples from last year).

The hardest part is, without a doubt, getting the viewing rights. Other people have complaints about ADV, mostly stemming from their 'sitting on the release rights' to various anime series. As a club, however, we consider them the model for what an anime distributor should be.

We've NEVER had a problem with them when it comes to viewing rights. Heck, they've been flat-out eager to let us watch their shows! They know that the club is an advertisement for whatever series we want to watch; if we're not given viewing rights, we can't watch, and are therefore much less likely to buy.

As a club, we've mostly given up on Bandai or Geneon released shows, simply because they've never, EVER, returned our calls or e-mails. EVER.

People say that ADV actively antagonizes their fanbase. I can honestly say that I've never seen it.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:47 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Look, I'm willing to watch just about any piece of anime thats out there. Heck, I even liked Ikkitousen.

But THIS... this... THING... is just too horrible to contemplate.

And that's just the OP!

Some of the lyrics from the OP:

Club-To-Death Angel, spraying blood everywhere, Dokuro-chan! / Club-to-Death Angel, she makes you bleed from the heart, Dokuro-chan! / I'll step on you, tie you up, beat you up... ...but that's just how I express my love!"

OMFG.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:05 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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SDB fast-forwarded through the last episode of Azumanga Daioh.

I've watched it five or six times, and cried every single time.

Sappy nostalga... gets me every time.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:59 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Official Overseas Reader Flotsky asked me to elucidate more about what I was watching, Anime-wise. And so I shall!

I'm watching (or intend to watch) a few different shows right now, actually. All of them are either currently running in Japan or their first run has come to an end. Yes, AnimeSuki is my friend (thanks to the Pixynator for bringing such a useful place to the public attention).

By now, anybody who's browsed teh intarwebs for anime talk has certainly heard about The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Heck, I've even posted about it once before. The series has come to an end (14 episodes), and I'm finally going to get around to watching the whole thing. I've seen the first four broadcast eps, and it definitely has my attention. One reason I've waited on it, though, is the way it's been shown. Y'see, Haruhi has been aired in a VERY odd way... seemingly out of order. You watch two episodes, then in the third you've got three new characters, and they refer to things that already happened, but we haven't seen yet. So I waited for the whole thing to become available, in case it was thought better to watch it in chronological, as opposed to broadcast, order. It's been suggested that I should both... so I prolly will (the chronological order is mentioned in the previews for the next episode, by the way).

Also on my watch-list is a show that I never thought I'd like: Ouran High School Host Club. Shojo-like series have always been a big turnoff for me... the animes that have prettyboys with overt homosexual overtones and (as SDB calls it) 'pointy chins' has never done it for me. And while this show certainly has some of that (and EVERY character has a chin you could use as a spear), there's something about it that makes me keep coming back. Perhaps it's that the main character is actually female, dressed as a guy... but I'd like to think I'm not THAT shallow! There's a definite sense of dry humor running through the show that meets my fancy, and as long as you can get past the character designs (chins that would be at home in a dartboard), it's pretty nice to look at, visually. I've watched three of the six I've d/l'd, but there are more than that available... I haven't checked if it's a 13 or a 26 ep show, but at the pace it's currently going, I'd guess 26. Plot so far: poor girl (dressed like a guy) attends rich high school, stumbles into odd gigolo-like club, breaks expensive vase, and is forced into joining the club... as a 'host', which makes her one of the most lusted-after guys in the school. Cue hijinks!

More after the jump: more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Over at Chizumatic:

Also while I was at the store, I got the latest Harry Potter DVD, a copy of "Curse of the WereRabbit", and, well, a complete boxed set in thinpaks of, ahem, ... Azumanga Daioh.

My work here is done.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...so sayeth the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

"Duh" sayeth Wonderduck.

I suppose one might consider this a problem. One could pretty much consider ANYTHING a problem, if one works at it.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Okay, commentor HC asked for more AMV suggestions, but this time 'single-source', or using just one anime. Go ahead, twist my arm... *OW!* Geez, you take me so seriously sometimes...

This list isn't organized by preference, just alphabetically, by the way, but they're all amongst what I would call my 'favorites'. Some are technological marvels, some could have been made with two VCRs... but they all resonate with me as 'awfully darn good.'

We start... below the fold! more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Over at Pixy's, there's been a discussion about AMVs recently. Now, for those who aren't complete otaku (and I mean that in the nicest way... after all, I'M an otaku), AMV is an acronym for "Anime Music Video." I've found them a great gateway drug for anime; the first meeting of a semester for the Duck U. Anime Club is always AMV Night. We usually schedule that first meeting to be in the commons area of the Student Union, too, so people who'd never even THINK about coming to an Anime Club meeting will be exposed. Pretty pictures + good music = PROFIT!

Anyway, since I've got nigh on 450 AMVs on my computer, and have seen probably four times that many, I'd like to think I've seen some really good ones (and some really bad ones). Below the fold, take a gander at some of my favorites! All links lead to the AMV.org webpage for the video... free to download, if you're a member (and it's free to join)! more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:49 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I can't resist...

2 or more people seriously contending for the affections of one (1 point for each serious contender): 2, Asuka and Rei.
...who trickle in (1): 1, Asuka doesn't appear until a quarter of the series is over.
...who aren't human (1 for each): 1, Rei is part-Angel.
...who have special powers (1 for each): 1, what ELSE would you call what happens to Rei in End of Evangelion?
Dorky hero (1): 1, Yep.
...who has a unique power (1): 0, driving an EVA not unique.
Klutzy heroine (1): 0.
...who has a unique power (1): 0.
Love expressed as violence (1): 1... not Love Hina levels, but...
Obvious choice (1): 1. Asuka.
Women with exaggerated figures (1): 0.
Jiggle (1): 1, Misato.
Panty flashes (1): 1, though Rei isn't really wearing them at the time...
Ecchi (1): 0.
Joshikousei (1): 1, uh-huh!
Meido-san (1): 0
Accidental exposure (1): 1, yep!
Accidental groping (1): 1, also yep!
Swimsuits at the beach (1): 0, nuh-uh.
Bathing and yukatas in a bathhouse (1): 1, yeppers.
Kimonos at a summer festival or cultural festival (1): 0.
Girl's locker room (1): 0, not the way you mean, no.
Cosplay (1): 0, no-o-o.
Romances among secondary characters (1): 1, Misato/Kaji.
Meganekko (1): 1, Ritsuko Akagi
Annoying relatives (1): 1, Gendo, the Angels...
Meddlers (friends or family) (1): 1, Gendo.
No romantic resolution at the end (1): 1. Nothing.

There you have it... with 19 points, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a wacky romantic comedy!!!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:04 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 I don't remember any bathhouse. On the other hand, there is a locker room scene where we get to watch Rei changing clothes.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 21, 2006 09:17 AM (+rSRq)

2 Well, I counted the hot springs scene in the Magma Diver episode at the bathhouse.

This whole POST is a stretch, so why not?

Posted by: Wonderduck at May 21, 2006 09:31 AM (wZLWV)

3 Heheheh... I almost wrote SDB to ask him to run the numbers on this as a lark.

I'd give Shinji a point for unique power, on the basis that he's the only one who can activate "Yui SMASH" mode, even if he doesn't have any real control over it. Asuka doesn't get that ability until 5 minutes too late.

Swimsuits at the beach: does the indoor pool count (thermodynamics)?

Girl's locker room: Yes, Ep. 9. Somehow Kensuke managed to get some shots of the girls' locker room while they are changing, it's shown in the pictures that they're selling of Asuka.

You could pump up the score even more by throwing in Mana... thank you for not doing that, though.

Posted by: Big D at May 21, 2006 02:14 PM (8EZDw)

4 Mana, she's from the "Girl of Steel" game, right? I've not seen that, though I know it exists.

You're right about the photos, but I'm not sure they meet the strict criteria that SDB put down... I had forgotten about them, I'll admit.

Heh... "YUI SMASH" mode. :-)

Posted by: Wonderduck at May 21, 2006 04:46 PM (y6n8O)

5 Yes, she is. It's not much of a game; mostly just a short story with a handful of puzzles and only one real branching decision point (that only controls the ending). It's been fanslated, as it will almost certainly never see the light of day over here.

Mana is loved by a small following and loathed by just about everybody else. She's portrayed as being "perfect and kind" to Shinji, while lying to him about everything about herself. Mostly she works as a foil to infuriate Asuka with her attempts to get close to Shinji.

Posted by: Big D at May 22, 2006 01:55 AM (8EZDw)

6 From what I remember, she's supposed to be an agent for SEELE, designed to spy on assassinate/whatever Shinji... whether or not that's true, I can't say.

Posted by: Wonderduck at May 22, 2006 05:19 AM (+rGmJ)

7 Nope [spoilers]

She "works" for a military organization similar to the JSSDF. She and a few other teenagers were basically kidnapped and pressed into service to pilot giant robots. Said military organization believes that after the Angels are all destroyed, man will go back to fighting man and they want to be ready for the wars (yeah, they're in for a surprise).

She's in Tokyo-3 specifically to spy on the kids and learn how Evas work, but she and her friends want to escape. She spends most of the game trying to get close to Shinji while Asuka fumes visibly in the background. Through a bunch of plot points that make little or no sense once you think about them, Mana is captured by the JSSDF and used as bait to lure out the last of her friends who has escaped with a robot. NERV sits by and watches, until the shooting starts, and then deploys Evas to take down everybody. Shinji winds up fighting the robot to save Mana, but after a chase, disembarks to discover that the pilot is Mana's friend (possibly boyfriend). Then, a JSSDF bomber appears overhead, and Asuka drags him into her entry plug before it nukes the place.

Nothing remains of the robot other than a puddle of slag. Mana is apparently dead, although Shinji entertains some hope that they had some sort of escape capsule.

Here you get to choose the ending. You can have Mana show back up and tease Shinji, or Shinji hunt down Mana with Kaji's help. Either one ends with Mana's promise to come back later. Or, you can ignore her altogether and just choose Asuka; it's not exactly an open romance, but Shinji would have to be even blinder than in canon to miss her feelings.

Posted by: Big D at May 22, 2006 06:00 AM (8EZDw)

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Steven made up a points-chart for romantic comedies in anime. I pretty much agree with it, though maybe he should have included "has annoying animal mascot" on his list. Anywho, just for giggles, I decided to run Love Hina through the wringer, figuring it'd come out on top by a long sight.

Nope, just 20 points. (editor's note: originally, this read 22. I have no idea where I got that result from, unless I give Love Hina Again more credit than it deserves...)

And yes, Steven, I know you didn't do it because you dislike the show.

(Update: Steven's actual points list, and Love Hina's points after the jump) more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 05:33 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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If you've read just about any anime blog recently, you've seen someone writing about this show called "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya."

Apart from the odd title, what is it that makes this show stand out from the rest, that makes it the breakout series of the year, even though it's still running over in Japan, and the last episode won't air for another month or so? What's making people hit bittorrent in quantities that would make your head spin (I saw 3000+ seeders the day episode 7 was released to the world via AFK fansubs)?

HER. She's odd. VERY odd. As in "there's something not quite right about her" odd, but you can't figure out what it is. But you want to find out, very, very badly.

And it's worth the trouble. The show is very well done. I've not been able to watch all seven available episodes yet, what with the goings-on at the Duck U. Bookstore, but what I HAVE seen confirms that.

Oddly, I've noticed that the shows I've liked the most (Azumanga Daioh, Noir) are the ones that I've had problems with at the beginning. I read the reviews of Azumanga Daioh, watched the first two episodes, and said "what's the big deal?" It took me a month or so to start watching it again, and then I got it.

Same thing with Haruhi. Episode 1 (which is actually episode zero, or episode pi, or something like that) BLOWS... unless you watch it all the way through. Then you realize JUST how good it really was. Trust me: watch it, even though you might want to drive pencils into your eyes. It'll be all right.

I'm being vague here, I know. It's kind of hard to talk about the show without dealing spoilers left and right. It's safe to say that she's only interested in aliens, espers, time travellers and sliders. Woe betide you if you aren't one of the above and you try to talk to her... and god help us all if you ARE one of them.

Try the show. Just... watch. There's not much more that I can say. Become a convert to Haruhism.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 05:32 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I've finished watching Narue, and while I still stand by my earlier statement ("It's fluff, but entertaining fluff"), it had some suprisingly deep moments in there.

Amongst other serious topics, the show covers:

* Time dilation as one approaches the speed of light
* Political terrorism
* Divorce, remarrying, and the effect it has on the children
* The death of a parent
* "Latchkey Kid Syndrome"
* Mixed marriage
* Cosplay

...but understand! At no time does it whack you upside the head with serious moralizing or preaching. Instead, Narue works these topics (and more) into the plotlines almost without notice, and you enjoy it the whole time. There is almost no angst to speak of, and other than episode 6 ("The Mind-Controlling Robot Episode"), no instances of "mistaken situation leading to lover's spat".

The artwork is crisp, clean, bright, and remarkably consistant from episode to episode. I noticed only one moment where character appearance wandered from the baseline (in the final episode, natch).

My complaints are few. A promising character, Kazuo (our hero)'s sister, disappears after the one episode she was in. Too much time is spent with the trio of harpies, a/k/a Narue's classmates, before they disappear as well. The dub is particularly grating, even moreso than normal.

My main feeling about the show is that it is innocent. Even the fanservice (and yep, there is some) is innocent. The characters are HAPPY! Sure, there are some glum times (particularly the subplot about the 'latchkey kid'), but even they aren't all that bad. The series ends on a slightly dark note, but that's dispelled by the final few minutes.

If you're into angst, things exploding, violence, mecha or things of that ilk, avoid this show like the plague. However, if you're into a really good show that actually will make you smile (something that's perishingly rare in anime these days), this one is for you.

Innocent. Happy. FUN. I give this one four stars out of five, and a hearty recommendation, particularly because it's inexpensive!

(Update 5/19/06: Welcome Chizumatic readers!)

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Right, as you all know, PockyPalooza 2006 was last Friday. My friend, The Librarian, came over to The Pond and after a dinner of Chinese carryout, we popped in World of Narue and began our assault on the stack of pocky. Our assessment of each type follows:

*Purple Sweet Mousse (or Mouse as it's listed on the receipt): By far the least favorite of the assembled masses. The odor was off-putting, the texture odd, and the flavor may as well have BEEN Purple Sweet Mouse... lets draw a veil over this one and move on.

*Mont Blanc Decorer: Why they just didn't call it "mocha" and get it over with is beyond me, it'd probably sell better. Smells like coffee, tastes like coffee... I can understand why the Official Overseas Reader thinks it's great for dunking. The Librarian liked this one more than myself, as I'm not a coffee fan.

*Winter Special: The Pocky version of Hershey's 'Special Dark' chocolate... in other words, mmm-MMM! Nummymuffincoocolbutter! Like normal chocolate pocky but a little more bitter, and with a thicker coating than the norm.

*Peach & Strawberry Decorer: Another strong smeller. This is not a selling point unless you like the smell of chemicals. The peach flavor is barely discernable. The decorating stripes are a nice look, though.

*White Chocolate Decorer: ...for Teh Winn! White chocolate with white chocolate decorating stripes, perfect texture, great taste, though a little bit unnatural. #2 on my list of the "Pocky I Want To Eat Again."

*Custard Fondu Mousse: #1 on my list of "Pocky I Want To Eat Again." Soft sweet coating, tasted like I was eating vanilla pudding on a cookie. Wow, this was good stuff!

*Choco Mousse: Also really good. Same as above, except chocolate pudding on a cookie.

The winner of PockyPalooza 2006, as voted upon by the Duck and The Librarian: White Chocolate Decorer by a nose!

(Note: the Caplico Cone Sticks were not judged to be worthy of the contest. They weren't awful, particularly if you like the taste of ice-cream cones without the ice cream, but I'm not going to buy them again.)

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:52 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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