Ikkitousen: Great Guardians!
This might be one of the greatest moments EVER here at The Pond...
Yes!!!
The third of the Ikkitousen series is scheduled to hit the airwaves this summer, but a preview clip on DVD was recently released in Japan. Thenceforth, it made its way to way to the 'net, and from there, to my computer.
And now, to you!
MY Mou-chan? Clumsy? Oh, h*ll no!
From the looks of it, it'll be picking up pretty much from where Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny ended, though Mou-chan and Hakufu were working in a cosplay cafe at that time.
There's not much else you can tell from the preview, but it's entertaining to watch all the same!
F1 UPDATE!: Spain 2008!
It wasn't a question of who would win, but which cars would survive... and was one driver uninjured? Lets get to the updatin'!
*LUCK AND ENGINEERING: Those are the only things that kept Heikki Kovaleininninninnie from being smeared across the inside of his cockpit after his front-left wheel rim failed at 160mph (a stone trapped between the rubber and the wheel is expected to be the reason for the failure). His McLaren wound up burying itself into a tire barrier up to the front of the driver's compartment, completely destroying the nose and actually opening the 'bathtub'.
Despite the violence of the accident, Heikki escaped with only a concussion and some bruising to his elbows and knees. He's being kept in hospital overnight for observation, but it seems likely that he'll be allowed to drive in the GP of Turkey two weeks hence.
* THE KIMI & PHIL SHOW: Ferrari ran away with this one, Massa getting past HWMNBN in the first turn, and the race was over. It was just a question of who would be third. Only two safety cars, one of which lasted 10 minutes, artificially kept Hamilton within spitting distance of the Ferraris. Nope, this was a total blowout, and McLaren has got to be runnin' scared now.
* DRIVER OF THE RACE: Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari. He beat back any challenge his teammate tried to put together, drove a nearly flawless race, and delivered a little lost boy back to his parents to boot. Throw in the evil glint he had in his eye when it came time to spray the champagne and King Juan Carlos of Spain was slow getting off the podium, and it was nearly the perfect performance. If he had been able to seduce a grid girl in Parc Ferme, then it could have been better.
* TEAM OF THE RACE: Ferrari. 1-3 on the grid, 1-2 on the podium, fast lap, two flawless drives, and never even close to being challenged? Yeah, that's a good race.
* MOVE OF THE RACE: Late in the race, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld was struggling back up the charts after suffering a 10sec. stop-and-go penalty for refueling before the pit lane had been opened during the Heikki Safety Car. After fighting with Giancarlo Fisichella's Farce India for five or six laps, the BMW driver forced Fisi into a small bobble coming out of the final turn. This was enough for Grizzly Nick to close up behind, getting a good tow from the other car. He blew the metaphorical doors off the Italian, then pinned him to the outside where there was nothing he could do to defend his line. Heidfeld then quickly pulled away. While it was only for 9th place (and no points), it was still the class of the passing for the day.
* MOOOOOO-OOOOVE OF THE RACE: Sometimes, even the best racers in the world act like cattle on the ranch. The Mooo-otR was created just for them. This race, there were two worthy candidates. The first goes to Rubens Barrichello, who managed to knock his front wing off... in the pit lane without hitting anybody! He then had to drive an entire lap with the wing jammed tightly into his suspension.
The second goes to Timo Glock, who decided that he really needed to be right where David Coulthard's Chin was, implanting his nose into the rear of the Red Bull for no good reason that anybody could see. Bravo and Moo! to both our winners.
3
I too was glad to see Hekki out of the car and conscious. It was a gut-wrenching impact and I was left with that really bad pit-of-the-stomach feeling which was intensified when the Spanish media didn't give us even a glimpse of what was going on at the crash site.
Posted by: madmike at April 28, 2008 09:53 AM (o+iiH)
4
It's an indication of just how damned good the safety equipment has gotten. Twenty years ago a crash like that would have killed the driver instantly.
5
Seven years ago, Dale Earnhardt was killed when he crashed into a wall at Daytona. He wasn't wearing a HANS device.
Heikki was, and he also had the advantage of crashing into a tire barrier... but according to McLaren, the telemetry indicates that may not have helped much in this case, because he still suffered a 26g impact that lasted for an astounding 100ms.
Yeowtch!
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 28, 2008 06:38 PM (AW3EJ)
F1 Quals: SPAIN '08!
This is just a nightmare. PLEASE, someone, tell me that the quals results were just a cruel, sick practical joke?
Bad enough that Ferrari is on pole. Bad enough that they're also 3rd on the grid. But in the name of St. Fangio the Quick, does HWMNBN have to be the one in between them??? It's like someone's been reading this website and chose the result that'd make me feel the worst... not only because of the drivers at the top of the grid, but the two at the back: SuperAguri's Ant Davidson and Takuma Sato. The way the team acted after they were relegated, I'm not even sure they'll start the race on Sunday.
The results:
Pos
Driver
Team
Q1
Q2
Q3
Laps
1
Kimi Räikkönen
Ferrari
1:20.701
1:20.784
1:21.813
17
2
HWMNBN
Renault
1:21.347
1:20.804
1:21.904
18
3
Felipe Massa
Ferrari
1:21.528
1:20.584
1:22.058
16
4
Robert Kubica
BMW Sauber
1:21.423
1:20.597
1:22.065
13
5
Lewis Hamilton
McLaren-Mercedes
1:21.366
1:20.825
1:22.096
14
6
Heikki Kovalainen
McLaren-Mercedes
1:21.430
1:20.817
1:22.231
15
7
Mark Webber
Red Bull-Renault
1:21.494
1:20.984
1:22.429
19
8
Jarno Trulli
Toyota
1:21.158
1:20.907
1:22.529
19
9
Nick Heidfeld
BMW Sauber
1:21.466
1:20.815
1:22.542
20
10
Nelson Piquet, Jr
Renault
1:21.409
1:20.894
1:22.699
18
11
Rubens Barrichello
Honda
1:21.548
1:21.049
12
12
Kaz Nakajima
Williams-Toyota
1:21.690
1:21.117
15
13
Jenson Button
Honda
1:21.757
1:21.211
12
14
Timo Glock
Toyota
1:21.427
1:21.230
16
15
Nico Rosberg
Williams-Toyota
1:21.472
1:21.349
15
16
SeaBass
STR-Ferrari
1:21.540
1:21.724
15
17
David Coulthard's Chin
Red Bull-Renault
1:21.810
6
18
Sebastian Vettel
STR-Ferrari
1:22.108
10
19
Giancarlo Fisichella
Force India-Ferrari
1:22.516
11
20
Adrian Sutil
Force India-Ferrari
1:23.224
8
21
Ant Davidson
Super Aguri-Honda
1:23.318
9
22
Takuma Sato
Super Aguri-Honda
1:23.496
9
Kubica's proved that BMW is a legit force to be reckoned with. McLaren has got to be panicking a little bit, since at no time this weekend have they been even close to hanging with Ferrari.
In truth, HWMNBN probably has about five laps worth of fuel onboard, because there's no way the Renault is really that fast; look where his teammate ended up.
The biggest disappointment of the day, though, has got to be Farce India. On Friday, they were looking quite fast, and to only be .1 second ahead of the SuperAguri has got to be something of a blow to their morale. No, I didn't expect them to be in Q3 or anything, but it wasn't going to surprise me to see them in Q2.
Finally, the Hondas will be running the handlebars in the race, but not the wavy rear wing. On, off, on, off... make up your frickin' mind, will ya?!?
So, looks like an interesting race tomorrow, though Ferrari's the odds-on favorite for a runaway, that's for sure. See ya with the F1 UPDATE!
SuperAguri is on the track for P1! UPDATED!
SuperAguri is participating in Friday Practice session 1! This is good news, as Honda had given them a deadline of Prac1 to get a financing deal done, or they'd have their engines pulled.
Takuma Sato took his car onto the track a couple of minutes into the session.
That live timing and scoring system on formula1.com is pretty darn spiffy, y'know that? Oh, sure, it meant that I had to stay up until 3am Pond time to find out if my favorite team still existed, but it's a small price to pay.
It's now 311am, and Ant Davidson has started practicing, too.
Now, the big question is, will they be in P2? If they are, you can pretty much guarantee they'll be racing for real come Sunday. If not, no chance at all.
However, this little duck won't be awake for it. I'm going to bed right now.
UPDATE: Indeed, SuperAguri did take the track for P2 as well. While they couldn't get a deal done to provide them with funding, Honda realized that since the team is already in Spain, they may as well fund them for one last race and use the SA cars as testers, so as to get the race data from the engines for their own team's use.
So SuperAguri gets another stretch of time to obtain funding. It doesn't look good for the little team that started out driving the 2002 Arrows chassis. Damn shame; last year looked so promising.
The only real interesting thing to come out of P2 was Heikki Kovelaeinnienninnie's McLaren coughing and dying, and Lewis Hamilton only being 11th on the timesheet. One can assume they were working on race setup and fuel runs, but it's still not a pleasant thought for the team.
Oh, and Honda IS running the handlebars in the race, AND a new rear wing to boot:
1
I can't imagine what they're thinking. They've also got those silly horns next to the air scoop? What is it they think they're going to achieve with them?
2
The horns at least have a track record; McLaren's been pretty good since they debuted them a few years ago. I figure they're used to steer air in a particular way over the rear wing.
I wonder if the wavy rear wing is an attempt to get more surface area in the same space (note: the FIA mandates how wide a wing can be)? Doesn't seem like this one would make a huge difference, but one could imagine how it can be done...
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 25, 2008 11:43 PM (AW3EJ)
Before I scrolled down far enough to see your caption on the BMW picture, my reaction was "Man, those look dangerous!"
I can't figure out what it is that Honda is trying to achieve with that new one. It looks like it will lift the front wheels, which is Not A Good Thing. Less traction for steering? Eek!
4
I bet they're trying to control turbulence vortices with them, aren't they? And that's also what the two lower ones in the front are for, too, right?
Good lord... They better be getting a substantial improvement in overall Cd downstream for the extra costs those rabbit ears are going to add. Those are giving you extra form, friction, and interference drag while degrading downforce. Sometimes it looks like they just throw s#$t at the wall and see what sticks.
Steven are you referring to the two arms coming out of the bottom of the nose? I think those are what actually hold the front wing up.
I'm guessing those other little dealies on the top of the wing are telemetry pitot tubes.
Posted by: Will at April 24, 2008 06:31 PM (WnBa/)
7
The lower ones are part of the assembly attaching the front wing to the nose, yep. I assume they're aerodynamically effective, too, but their main purpose is to keep the wing on.
The black items sticking out from the left and right of the nosecone are FIA-designed, approved and mandated camera pods, or at least one of them is. Every F1 car has mounting spots for them. The usual arrangement is one camera pod and one pod with no camera. The car has to be designed to run with them attached, obviously, and since every team has to have them, there's no penalty or advantage to having/not having them mounted. In fact, I've seen, once or twice, a car (usually a Renault) with only one mounted. I have no idea how that doesn't affect the aero, but they know what they're doing.
On the front wing itself, the items directly below the "h" on the left and the "a" on the right aren't telemetry antennae at all. They're adjustable... call them clips, I guess... that keep the wings a set distance apart, so as to prevent them from being termed "movable aero devices," which are no-nos in the FIA rulebook. They're adjustable so the teams can widen or lessen the gap between the two wing planes as needed.
You might notice the black oval right on the tip of the nose? Believe it or not, that's a hole, and it's the only cooling system the driver has in a F1 car (some teams, like McLaren, have two holes in or around the nose: one for the driver, and one for the Electronic Control Unit; it depends on where the ECU is mounted on the car).
I haven't the faintest idea what Honda is driving at with the handlebars. It sure LOOKS like they'd help the car get airborne, but Honda has one of the better aero teams in F1 (which makes last year's debacle so suprising), so again, I assume they know what they're doing...
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 24, 2008 10:39 PM (AW3EJ)
And in 1968, in a hospital somewhere in Chicago, me.
At this moment, let us spare a moment's sympathy for my mother. I was a big baby, pushing 10 lbs... and I was over a month late, originally scheduled for St. Patrick's Day. Thanks, Momzerduck!
So today, I turn 40. Nobody is more surprised than me.
F1 on SPEED!
The vacation is over for the teams, and the racing is back on! This weekend is the Grand Prix of Spain, and SPEED will be there for us... thankfully! Unfortunately, there's no replays of ANY sort for this race, so either you tape it or you wake up early. Your choice.
Friday, April 25th brings us LIVE coverage of the 2nd Practice from 7a to 830a. The biggest question on the lips of the F1 Circus is "will SuperAguri participate?" They've been having financial problems all season, and Honda is refusing to sink any more cash into the team (pure spite, I tell ya!). At one time, a buyer for the team had been found, but for reasons unknown at this time, the sale fell through. While reports are saying that the team is in Catalunya, there's still some question as to whether they'll make it onto the track. Cross your fingers, Pond readers!
Saturday, April 26th, from
; font-weight: bold;">7a to 830a, brings us the Quals session, plausibly LIVE. Ferrari and McLaren are looking to teach those upstarts from BMW-Sauber that they ain't part of the big boys yet. BMW wants to solidify their toehold, and Renault and Williams are just dreaming of the front row. Will SuperAguri make the grid? Will a RedBull car fall apart when someone leans on them? Whither Canada?
Then, finally, Sunday, April 27th brings us the Grand Prix of Spain LIVE from
; font-weight: bold;">630a to 9a. Will the abrasive asphalt of the Circuit de Catalunya help the grip while burning the tires off the rims? Or will we have cars slipping and sliding again due to the lack of traction control? Either way, the tires are going to be screaming... I wonder if there'll be any frontrunners on a three-stop strategy? My guess is no, but I've been (very) wrong before.
All times, of course, are Pond Central. Add one for the east coast, subtract two for the Pacific (though they've got a different schedule anyway), and subtract seven hours (and add a day) for Wake Island...
Clannad's End, or "Can I Get A Light Cue?"
It took me nearly two weeks to swallow down the trepidation and watch the last two episodes of Clannad. I knew that ep22 would finally show us Nagisa's play, and that filled me with dread... because, underneath everything that I've become over the years, there's still a part of me that wishes I could have followed my dream and become a lighting designer for the theatre.
Like the "Old Man", I had to let that dream go, though not for the same reasons.
In fact, recently Clannad had been punching some very touchy buttons in me, for reasons that will become clear later this week. It took some serious effort for me to finally open up ZoomPlayer and run the final eps.
So imagine my surprise when I found myself doing something I hadn't done in a long time...
1
Have you gotten around to watching Princess Tutu? I thought you must have, given the whole duck thing, but a google check doesn't seem to answer my question one way or the other. It really is the neatest thing possible given the rather baleful possibilities of its peculiar combination of ballet, dance-fighting, and metafiction.
Posted by: Mitch H. at April 21, 2008 09:26 AM (jwKxK)
Mitch, I haven't. No opportunity, I'm afraid. The first time I tried to watch the series, I declared it "too frickin' weird for me" after one episode, and didn't bother to do anything else with it.
Now that I've become too frickin' weird m'self, I want to give it another shot.
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 21, 2008 04:53 PM (DcSb+)
And that, ladies and gentlemen and ducks, is the 2000th comment here at The Pond, according to the little counter down on the right sidebar.
Holy mackerel. This duck is amazed. Thanks to Steven for the comment, and to everybody who's taken the time to speak their minds about my lack of one. Without y'all, The Pond would be nothing more than an empty water-filled hole in the ground with one weird, anime- and F1-obsessed waterfowl talking to himself in it.
Which is a very surreal mental picture, if you think about it...
Hmmm.
I'm finding myself at a loss of what to blog about. Nothing is particularly jumping out at me right now. Sure, there's a race coming up, but that's NEXT weekend. There's a big event in my life coming up, but that's NEXT week. Now? I'm not even motivated enough to watch the last two episodes of Clannad (and then Toei's movie version).
So lemme hear from ya! Gimme some ideas, 'cause I'm fresh out.
I Like Big Ducks In Anime And I Cannot Lie... -Soul Eater, ep01
Surprisingly fun show, I must admit. Just make sure you get the "Latenight Edition" or the "Uncut" version... or you'll miss out on half the fun. I've been trying to figure out where I've seen this animation style before, though, and it's right on the tip of my tongue (ducks have tongues?).
Thanks to Don over at The Kawaii Menace for bringing my attention to this appearance of Ducks In Anime!
UPDATE: No sooner did I type that did the show with a similar animation style jump to mind... Re:Cutie Honey! Maybe a little bit of Dead Leaves thrown in, too.
Chiyo-chan Gets A Facelift.
So I wake up this morning, brush my teeth, get a morning beverage, settle in front of Chiyo-chan (my smart and wonderful computer), and hit the power button on the 19" CRT.
Nothing. Oh, it degausses itself, but nothing else happens, except for making this frightening "click. click. click. click. click." noise.
Crepe. Dead monitor. Well, I DID only pay $99 for it at Big Blue Box four years ago, I think that's decent enough value... but no matter what value I got out of it, it was still dead, and I was still without a working monitor.
Fast-forward to now. Chiyo-chan is now connected to a 19" HP widescreen LCD... specifically, the w1907.
Oh. My.
I have to play with it some more, get the brightness/contrast levels to my liking (out of the box, it was bright enough to give me a headache), but this thing was a revelation.
Then I hooked it up to the computer via the included DVI cable.
Imagine all your life, you've been driving a miserable 4-cyl Yugo. Then someone hands you the keys to a McLaren F1 supercar...
When I built my new computer last fall, all I had around was the 19" CRT hooked up to my primary surfing/anime machine and the old 14" CRT that came with my very first computer. What I ended up doing was rigging the new PC up in a dual-monitir configuration with the 14" CRT and an ancient console television (I didn't want to pull the 19 off the other machine). That worked ok for a while, but when I got my Christmas bonus, I went out and bought one of these.
I wish I'd waited a couple months, because the model that replaced that one has HDMI connectivity, meaning I could use it for HDTV as well. It's possible to adapt HDMI to DVI-D, but I don't know if the monitor I have can process the HD signal from my cable box. I'd hate to spend the money on an adapter and HDMI cable only to find out it won't work.
Posted by: Will at April 15, 2008 10:24 AM (WnBa/)
2
Will, my final two choices were the HP and the 19" version of your monitor.
In the end, the HP had a slightly better picture to my eyes, so I went with it. If I hadn't've seen the Samsung and the HP right next to each other, though, I probably would have gone with the Samsung. It certainly blew the other 19" widescreens on display out of the water.
I'll say this, though: if I had twice as much money to spend, I'd have gotten the same monitor you did (or the newer version of it). I was really impressed by the Samsung line, and on the whole, their monitors were less expensive than the HPs (mine was $20 more than the 19" Samsung).
Actually, maybe I wouldn't've gotten the same one you did... there's something wrong with having a monitor (24") that's bigger than your TV (23").
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 16, 2008 12:58 AM (AW3EJ)
I've had a lot of luck with HP monitors. The 14" monitor I mentioned is an HP from 1998. Not many CRTs that size supported 1024x768 resolution at the time. This one did, and it's still bright and sharp (if a little dirty at the moment).
I have a couple old tube TV's in the 27" range, but one is an old console from the late 70's and the other has somehow activated its own V-chip. Now if anything rated over PG comes on, it blocks me. (The original remote did not come with a numerical keypad, and it won't let me key in the factory override PIN from my universal remote for some stupid reason) Neither accepts anything more advanced than RF for input. Getting one hooked up to the computer was an adventure.
Posted by: Will at April 16, 2008 11:27 AM (WnBa/)
1
Yes, you are certainly going to hell for this.
It says a lot when even I feel offended by this and feel the need to defend Makoto from this violation.
I'm sorry I badmouthed Kanon. At its worst, though, it never deserved this. Please don't rape it any more...
Posted by: astro at April 13, 2008 10:39 PM (DSm6K)
Yuri's Night: A Surprising Fact
Tonight is Yuri's Night, the annual celebration of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human in space. It's amazing to think that we've been going into space for 47 years now. Astronauts, Cosmonauts, Taikonauts, those of other countries, and those of us who have ever dreamed of traveling into the "final frontier", should all raise a toast (vodka and Tang?) to Gagarin, the first of a select few.
But did you know that, during the run of NASA's Space Shuttle program, there have only been 830 crewmembers for all flights (including people who have been on multiple missions)? A VERY exclusive group, considering the population of our planet. Fewer than 500 individuals overall have gone into space. A tiny amount of people from 37 different countries have "slipped the surly bonds of earth and touched the sky."
Now here's the Surprising Fact I mentioned in the title of this post:
Only 734 people* have ever driven in a Formula 1 race. Fewer than the number of Space Shuttle crew. Not that much more than the total number of people who have made it into space.
Who knew?
*That number includes individuals who drove in the Indianapolis 500 from 1950-1960, when it was considered part of the GP series.
Basic plot: Our Heroine is the best and the brightest. Except for one guy who's better at everything. Hijinks ensue.
Sounds fairly lame, but at least episode one was good enough for me to decide to keep watching.
And, hey, it's the second time there's been a sloth in anime. That's gotta count for something, right? (Bonus Trivia Question: what was the FIRST time? Extra Special Bonus Trivia Question: what's the link between the two, other than being sloths?)
UPDATE: Jeff Lawson guessed "the sloth in CardCaptor Sakura", which is the right answer! See the comments below for the link betwixt them! ANOTHER UPDATE:
From CardCaptor Sakura, ep 13 ("Sakura and the Elephant's Test of Strength")
1
I watched that first episode as well. I'm definitely getting Ouran vibes, with the good parts of Kare Kano thrown in for good measure, and that's enough to keep me watching. I just don't know that there's enough plot in the characters for this to go 13 episodes. And what's with the limbs on the character designs?
Posted by: Civilis at April 10, 2008 06:46 AM (42+KW)
2
I had a problem with the arms n' legs to start with, but it slowly went away. Ouran had long limbs too, but this is xxxHolic-level.
No guess on the sloth questions, Civ? I'm disappointed!
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 10, 2008 07:27 AM (AW3EJ)
3
Picked up the first volume of the manga for the plane trip yesterday. (Turned out to be a good thing - four hour delay! Got in at midnight local...) Definitely gave me a Karekano taste, which isn't a bad thing.
One comment I have... in the manga, the author burns two or three pages every chapter re-introducing everything. The stock character descriptions, the "this is Special A", the "they're in the Paradise on Campus" thing, whole nine yards. You'll occasionally see that sort of thing when a manga gets picked up for a teaser run, and then the author re-introduces everything when it gets picked up regularly, but this is the first time I've seen it happen six, seven times in a row!
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at April 10, 2008 10:34 AM (d2LNE)
4
Can't say that I remember any sloths in anime. If I had to guess I'd say Mononoke Hime - I seem to recall a veritable Noah's Ark of animals in that one.
Posted by: astro at April 10, 2008 06:40 PM (DSm6K)
5
I don't think that's it. If I had to make a wager on a series having a sloth in it, my guess would be "Excel Saga". Wasn't there a sloth in the "Jungle guerrilla" episode?
6
There was a sloth featured briefly in an episode of Cardcaptor
Sakura. The only link I can think of, really, is that they're
both shoujo series... which leads me to believe you're thinking of a
different series than CCS.
Posted by: Jeff Lawson at April 11, 2008 06:44 PM (6ti30)
Jeff, the sloth in CCS is right! The link is that both that sloth and the one in Special A are referred to as "fast sloths."
The CCS sloth is one of those "100kph sloths", or so says the guy who is a habitual stretcher-of-the-truth. The sloth in the picture is "really fast, unlike most sloths."
Okay, so it's a tenuous link, but it's still there!
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 11, 2008 08:39 PM (UdB9M)
8
That's the Zoo episode, isn't it? Where Sakura defeats "Power" in the tug-of-war, with a bit of help from Shaoran?
13
Well the evil supervillains of Specter were being given hyper advanced technology by an Alien benefactor.
Complicating matters was the fact that the alien was insane and the villain team was not wrapped too tight either. (They liked to dress up as...well...supervillains). This combination of magic level tech and mental defficiency resulted in a giant 400 foot tall mammoth, a missile firing sea anemone the size of a skyscraper and a flying turtle the size of an aircraft carrier amongst other atrocities against common sense.
All of these engendering blasphemies were taken out by a well, trained if gaudily dressed commando team. Gatachaman is rather more realistic than it gets credit for.
Posted by: Ken Talton at April 12, 2008 10:12 PM (PJ3O0)
One of the things that was nice about that episode of CCS was when the elephant joined Sakura in the tug-of-war. They left it nicely ambiguous whether the elephant was doing it just because it had been taught to do it, or whether it realized that Sakura had saved it and was helping her out of gratitude and friendship.
But I really felt sorry for Power afterwards. Sitting there, she just looked so crestfallen and pitiable. I wanted to give her a big hug and let her cry herself out.
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!
I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but what on earth happened in that last scene?
Who was Rin talking to? Was it someone we've seen before, and I just didn't remember? Was it supposed to look like Tama-chan's mother? Was it her mother? I must have missed something...
Anyway. An enjoyable show all around.
Posted by: Will at April 09, 2008 01:13 PM (WnBa/)
3
My immediate thought was "Another Challenger Approaches...." I suspect that, if we look at the manga, that's another Rin-level character.
And THAT is why I'm pretty sure we'll see another series. Hopefully soon!
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 09, 2008 06:10 PM (AW3EJ)
4
Apparently that's the case, and the anime has apparently caught up to where the manga currently is, or so I hear. Anyway easily one of the most satisfying shows that I've watched in a while, and I hope that more come in the future. :3
"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."
Why should you be scorned? The people who do scorn should check it out. It's fun stuff.
Posted by: TheBigN at April 11, 2008 02:52 PM (KeskY)
Bahrainian Wrapup
On the ITV broadcast of the Bahrainian Grand Prix, broadcaster Martin Brundle mentioned that Lewis Hamilton was in "the last place he wants to be", moments before he plowed into the back of HWMNBN's Renault. Immediately following the accident, he said that HWMNBN "surely must have lifted (off the gas pedal)." The speed of the impact coming out of the turn was such that it DID look suspicious, to be fair.
He later semi-recanted his accusation by adding that they had to wait for the Renault telemetry before a serious accusation could be made, but his partner, Mark Blundell, was not so reticent, flat-out accusing HWMNBN of brake-checking Hamilton's McLaren. HWMNBN has a history of doing just that, so it's not completely out of the question.
Well, the telemetry was released to Autosport Magazine today, and they confirm that HWMNBN did NOT lift off, nor did he tap the brakes. Surprisingly, McLaren agreed with that assessment today as well. They said that Hamilton's 'bridge wing' over the nose failed just before the accident, giving him an unexpected burst of speed (loss of downforce = extra speed). As I happen to have a copy of the ITV broadcast on my computer, I went back and watched said accident very, very slowly, and saw this:
Sure enough. In the video, that piece on the left can actually be seen flapping up and down. In case you're wondering, as the car comes through the turn, the light and shadow changes across the nose, and that gap isn't an optical illusion.
That's a closeup of the above shot. It really isn't there... and it's visible for a few seconds just before the nose is destroyed on the rear of HWMNBN's car. This one is nobody's fault.
We're still not taking the MOOOOO-OOOVE of the Race away from Lewis, though.
In other F1 news, Max Mosley is completely self-destructing. It seems that after being told by the Crown Prince of Bahrain that he was not welcome, Mosley called Darth Bernie and went on a tirade, hurling epithets about the Gulf Kingdom in a very loud voice.
Sitting next to Bernie Ecclestone at the time? The Crown Prince of Bahrain. Who heard every single word.
Oops.
Mosley has claimed that he has a number of backers in the F1 paddock, people that will support him when it comes right down to it... but not one single team, sponsor, or driver has said a single thing, except AGAINST Mosley.
Further, some of the member organizations of the FIA have begun to call for his head. The largest of the FIA's constituent organizations, surprisingly, is the American Auto Association (the AAA)... and on Monday, they asked Mosley to step down.
Mosley's defense is that the British tabloid that started this whole mess invaded his privacy, and legal proceedings are being started against them for exactly that reason... but I'm reminded of the Stepneygate sentencing against McLaren, where the FIA's final statement says "The World Council's only concern is whether that
list is accurate and truthful. We are not concerned with whether there
are issues over how that is obtained. Unless there is evidence that it
is forged or inaccurate, we will take it on its face value."
F1 UPDATE!: Bahrain 2008!
It was a special day for one team, a dominant day for another, and a disaster for a third, but it's always a great day for F1 UPDATE! Let's get to the race!
*NOT AS GOOD AS WE HOPED...: We at F1 UPDATE! thought that this was going to be a "helluva race" after Quals. Well... not so much. Felipe Massa blew a wheel-spinning Robert Kubica off the line when the lights went out, and the race was over. Then it just became a question of which Ferrari would win, and by how much.
*APPLY HAND TO THROAT, SQUEEZE.: That must have been the McLaren race plan for Lewis Hamilton. First he nearly stalled the car at the start and lost 10 places, then he crunched into HWMNBN, lost his nose, and suddenly it wasn't a question of "can he win," it was "can he get points," then finally "can he finish in the top half?" The answer in all cases was "nope." We at F1 UPDATE! are on record as thinking that Hamilton may be weak driving in traffic, and Bahrain has done nothing to change those thoughts.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Felipe Massa, Ferrari. With two DNFs in the first two races, and rumors of HWMNBN being considered to take his seat next year, Massa desperately needed a good race, if only to get the rabid Italian press off his back. He got it. He got past Kubica before the first turn, then drove a nearly flawless race the rest of the way. The only bobble was a quick on-and-off around the halfway mark as he was about to put a lap on a Farce India. This was even his first win from a position other than pole... all in all, a pretty good race for Felipe Massa.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: Ferrari finished 1-2, but they don't get this designation today, if only because they're expected to finish 1-2. Besides, I suspect that even they would (in private, quietly, where nobody else could hear them) admit that BMW-Sauber deserves the award today. Kubica was pole sitter, finished third and is fourth in the Driver's Championship, Nick Heidfeld was 4th, had the fast lap of the race (for the second race in a row) (Koveleininninnie deep-sixed that at the end of the race), and is now second in the Driver's Championship. But more importantly, the team is now leading the Constructor's Championship for the first time ever. Yep, they may not quite be in position to compete for a win just yet, but they are definitely for real.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: The best place to pass on the Bahrain circuit is turn one. Generally, the best way to do it is to get to the inside of your target and outbrake him. You saw that exact thing occur a number of times today, as a matter of fact. On lap 4, however, Robert Kubica was trying to hold off Kimi Raikkonen for second place and it looked to all of us here at F1 UPDATE! that he'd managed it. He had the inside line closed off solid, and the speed difference between the Ferrari and the BMW isn't so great that Kimi could get past before the turn. Kimi then surprised us, the announcers, Robert Kubica, and Mrs Edna Snodgrass of Llanberis, Wales (who wasn't even watching) by going to the outside of Kubica's BMW... and making it stick. He then managed to keep Kubica from repassing by raw power. A skillful pass, and one well-deserving of the MOTR.
*MOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE: Even the best racers in the world have moments where they chew their cud and lumber around the circuit. For those entertaining incidents, the Mooooo-ooove was created. Today's winner is actually two seperate incidents from the same man: Lewis Hamilton. First, he had the worst start in the history of mankind, dropping 10 places in the blink of an eye, when he managed to nearly stall his McLaren. A brisk walking pace would have passed him, quite honestly. That's bad enough, but on Lap 2, while trying to recover from his atrocious start, he was all over the back of HWMNBN. The Renault was heavy with fuel, and couldn't accelerate as quickly out of a turn as the McLaren. Hamilton neglected to consider this fact, and the result?
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have liftoff!!!
A lost nose and the resulting pitstop put Hamilton nearly 1:10 behind the leaders, and his day was done. Well done, lad... here's your Mooooo-ooove!
I was glad to see Masa get the victory, since I'd hate to see any opportunity for HWMNBN to move to Ferrari. He would be totally insufferable then. (As oppposed to only partially insufferable now.)
I can't wait til the first Polish Victory Lap.
And how embarrassing for Mad Max to be told by the Crown Prince that he was not welcome in his country. Naughty boy.
Posted by: Mallory at April 06, 2008 03:19 PM (WJ2qy)
2
Hamilton doesn't seem to be doing anything like as well this year. Difference in cars? Bad luck? Sophomore jinx?
3
Too early to tell, Steven. He's got 14 points in the Driver's Championship, good for a tie for third (with Kovaleinnininnie and Kubica). Last year, he had 22 after three races.
Basically the difference can be chalked up to scoring zero points in this race, which was entirely his own fault. He certainly didn't look bad in the first race...
So, maybe it IS a sophomore jinx. If so, Kovaleinnininnie (also in his second year) is showing that it's not bothering him at all, which makes me wonder (again) if Hamilton is the amazing prodigy we thought him last year. Hm... there's a post in there somewhere.
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 07, 2008 02:16 AM (AW3EJ)
4
IIRC, the fastest lap belongs to Kovalainen, which pulled it off for no good reason at the end of the race when he wasn't near anyone, the showoff.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at April 07, 2008 12:06 PM (qNSKg)
5
Yah, I found that out just as I was about to leave for work this morning and didn't have time to make the edit. It should be fixed now.
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 07, 2008 06:19 PM (UdB9M)
6
Please, please, please... as much as I've loved Ferrari since I was about 12 years old... I'd have to give them up if they put HWMNBN in the car. Not to mention... the Old Man would have hated him!
Posted by: madmike at April 09, 2008 10:24 AM (EKWWC)