-Servant x Service ED

Some people out there might call this cheating.  Since I run this darn blog and I get to set the rules however I see fit, to those people I say "Pbpbppbpbbbbbbbbthhhtttthhhhhh."

Posted by: Wonderduck at 07:28 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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...apparently has less of a budget than anticipated.

Needs more of the Goofy Cute.  But there IS a duck...

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-Non Non Biyori, Ep01 ED

Over at some place or another, a conversation took place concerning "shows that were like ARIA."  The general consensus was that, other than YKK, there really aren't any shows like ARIA.  That led to me trotting out my theory that the two shows take place in the same universe, but that's not the point of this little missive right now.  One series that got a lot of support as feeling like ARIA without being anything like it was Non Non Biyori.  I'll be honest, I knew absolutely nothing about the series other than the name, so what the heck, let's give it a shot.  After watching the first two episodes, I've come to some general conclusions.

First, that's one darn handsome duck.  Second, neh, it's closer in feel to Sketchbook than to ARIA, which is no bad thing in my opinion.  Short version of story: Fifth-grader from Tokyo moves to tiny village out in the boonies, joins school that has four other students: 1st, 7th, 8th, and 9th graders.  They're all in the same classroom.  Hijinks occur languidly. 

Third, come for Renge-chan playing the recorder, stay for the scenery porn.  Everywhere you look, scenery porn.  Languid scenery porn, to be sure, but there nonetheless.  Should you watch it?  Heck, I dunno... I've only seen two episodes and it's kinda been hit-and-miss for me.  Languid scenery porn is nice and all, but something approximating a story would be useful once in a while.

Still... rubber duck in the credits.  A+ for effort.

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-Shokugeki no Soma, Ep07

Over the years, I have encountered many rubber ducks in episodes of anime, and this is good.  I approve of this trend wholeheartedly.  One thing that I do not countenance, however, is the use of rubber duckies as projectiles.  Bath toys of any sort should never be thrown at others... it could hurt the duckie! 

This occurred in Rio: Rainbow Gate! and Kanon '06 as well... no more!  No more, I say!

Darn humans, always messing it up for the rest of us.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:44 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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-One Punch Man, Ep01
I've never been happier for green water ever.  The hype was ridiculous over OPM leading up to this season, and every ounce of me wanted to just ignore it.  After all, fighting anime ain't my gig except for Ikkitousen, and the fighting isn't the reason I watch that franchise.  However, I saw too many reviews suggesting that there was more to the show than just stupid over-the-top fighting, so I gave it a watch.  Good thing, too... it's funny as all get-out.  The main character has Superman's Dilemma...  no, not how does he have sex... but what happens when you're so strong that nothing at all can threaten you, and you can defeat anything literally with one punch?  If you're like our hero, you get bored.  You fight mostly because you're annoyed by the beings that ruin the roof of your apartment instead of using the door, or because they destroyed the grocery store that's most convenient for you.  You literally dream of a challenge that will cause you to actually have to work for a victory.

Instead, to you everything is a mook.  And you are empty inside.

But your rubber duckie loves you.  Because that's how rubber duckies do.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:37 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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-Shokugeki no Soma, Ep10
I'm still only here for the duck, but there was an amusing joke involving it this episode.  You'll want to click "more" to see what it is, as some might consider the scene NSFW.

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:56 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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-Shokugeki no Soma, Ep04
Click "more" for... the rest of the story!

more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:46 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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-Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid, Ep02
It's not grabbing me the way A's or StrikerS did, but at least so far ViVid has been harmless.  I was exchanging e-mails with Ben after last week's episode, and he thought it strange that there weren't a lot of fansub choices available for the series. 

I think it's because the Nanoha franchise is kinda old nowadays.  The last non-movie installment, StrikerS, came out eight years ago to quite a bit of disdain amongst fans (though it's my favorite), and that's really a long time in the anime business.  People who are anime fans now like as not have never experienced the Nanoha thingy.  The two movies are graphically upgraded retellings of the first two seasons, which is great, but... y'know?  There just isn't the excitement behind the franchise anymore.

But it's got a duck, and that makes it okay with me.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:06 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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-Yuri Kuma Arashi, Ep02

Awful, awful, so awful.  Visually great, a very unique art style, but the show itself can't decide if it wants to pander or be highbrow artsy-fartsy.  Or both.  I was actually shocked when I discovered that it wasn't a Noitamina show... it's got the same feel as a lot of those.

Please note that I do not consider this a good thing.  There have been 50 Noitamina series, and of those, I've only finished two: Library Wars and Ano Hana. 

So anyway, yeah, give Lesbian Bear Storm a miss.  Nice duck, though.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 12:03 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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-Tokyo ESP Ep02

So this magic penguin burps up flying gold fish that activate mutant powers in people when they fly into them.  That, in a nutshell, is the premise of Tokyo ESP.  Of course, there are people who use their new-found powers for Bad Things... and a perishingly few that decide to become the X-Men.  Well, no, not really, but kinda.  Hijinks occur, but they're of the "only mildly interesting" type.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have watched the show if it wasn't for the appearance of the Monochrome Schoolgirls in Ep01... I kept hoping they'd come back.

Never did.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 06:40 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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-GYO Tokyo Fish Attack

Here's the plot of GYO Tokyo Fish Attack, near as I can tell from the German language dub I watched on youtube (note: I do not speak German).  Something something something fish with metal legs something something kill and infect something something shark punches through door something something something circus something something human centipede.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:16 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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-G-On Riders Ep01

Remember when anime could be really stupid without being nitpicked to death?  I do.  I miss those days.  They brought us shows like G-On Riders.  How can that be bad?  Nowadays, there's no chance in hell that it could be made, let alone broadcast.  A pity, that.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:06 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I hear you now, gentle reader: "The greatest AMV ever?  That's quite the claim, Wonderduck."  To which I reply, "who are you and how did you get in here?"

Nevertheless, I stand by my assertion.  Reader haunter103 called my attention to his AMV, entitled "Good Clean Fun", and asked if I had seen it.  I had not, so I decided to take a look at it.  Here it is...


By the time it was over, there were tears running down my face.  Tears of joy, and, surprisingly, tears of pride as well.  For there, listed at the end of the credits sequence, is Wonderduck's Pond, specifically the "Ducks In Anime" category.

Thank you, haunter103.  Thank you for letting me be a small part of your accomplishment.  It's a good video, and I'd think so even if I didn't love rubber ducks.  However, the ducks just push it into the "godlike" category.

That was fun as all get-out!

UPDATE: If you've stopped by due to Robert's weekly newsletter, hi, hello and welcome!  Hope you enjoy haunter103's video, and while you're here, why not take a look at the rest of The Pond?  Since you're probably an anime fan, you might particularly enjoy the "Anime Writeups" category, where I do episode-by-episode recaps of entire series... usually, at least.  Currently Kantai Collection is the show under the microscope, but Ga-Rei Zero, Rio Rainbow Gate!, Vividred Operation, High School of the Dead, and others have had the dubious pleasure of being a target.  Or, of course, you can cock an eye at the Ducks in Anime category, too, because... well, because ducks, that's why.  Or anything else that meets your fancy, too, feel free to look around!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 12:47 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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-Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Ep07
During my recent enforced vacation from the internet, I decided to give Arpeggio of Blue Steel another try.  If you don't know, the show is about humanity's fight against "The Fleet of Fog," robot aliens that model themselves after warships from WWII.  Their computer systems take the form of young women... that's cruiser Takao on the left, and main character submarine I-401 on the right.

I have some reservations about this show.  I'll get into them in detail in a different post, but suffice to say that I was pretty unhappy with the overall package.  But it's got a duck.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:09 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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-Sabagebu!, Ep06

I've been meaning to watch this show about schoolgirls shooting each other with pellet guns and apparently being jerks to one another, but haven't gotten around to it yet.  Then Brickmuppet told me there was a scene with a high duck/person ratio and here we are.  That's a very nice amount of ducks, though the frogs do detract from the overall atmosphere somewhat.  Still, 10 ducks is a very nice number indeed.

Cute ducks, too.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:50 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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-HaNaYaMaTa, Ep11

Late last week, I get an e-mail from my brother in feathers GreyDuck, alerting me to a ducks in anime sighting.  The show, he said, is about a style of Japanese dancing.  Oh.  Whee.  Still and all, I went looking for the ducks in the episode he said, and a very weird thing happened.

I couldn't find it.  Huh.  He said it was in a bath scene, maybe he meant Ep10, which takes place in a hot springs/bathhouse?  Bemused, I downloaded that episode and started to watch.  No duck, but another very weird thing happened by the time I reached the end.

I was leaking manly tears of manly joy.  Confused (but manfully joyful), I went on and watched Ep11... and oh, there the duck is.  Two of them, actually!  No tears for that episode, so I went back and watched Ep10 again, just for the helluvit.  If you're in the mood for an emotional event, go watch it yourself.  It's dumb, sure, but in a good way.  In a sports story, the bench player just came up with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth... and the winning run scores on a wild pitch.

Anyway, I liked it, and there's two ducks.  So there you go, what more could you ask for?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:56 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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-Tokyo ESP, Ep03
Here's what we've learned so far:
1) The penguin is named Peggy.
2) Peggy is a Magellanic penguin.  This is not specifically said, but it's described as native to South America, and it likes to nest in the cracks and openings in cliffs.  Combined with its apparent size and coloring, that pretty much narrows it down.  Oh, it could be a Humboldt penguin, which even makes sense since there was an escape from the Tokyo Zoo in 2012 that evaded recapture for close to three months, but the coloration around the eyes is wrong.
3) Peggy is a superhero.  No, seriously.
4) Peggy, like all people of good taste, has a rubber duck.

I've said it before, but there's been a dearth of ducks in anime of late.  Quite annoying, that.  Get with it, Production Staffs!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:12 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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-Najica Blitz Tactics, Ep05
I had to go back to a series that aired in 2001 to find this.  C'mon Japan, you're letting me down here!

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-Girls und Panzer OVA

Okay, okay, so it's a DUKW in anime.  So sue me!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:15 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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-WATAMOTE!, Ep01

Okay, yes, WATAMOTE! is a horribly realistic look at the seamy underside of high school life, the side only those unpopular kids ever get to see.  Yes, it's sort of depressing how accurate it is, and how much I identify with the main character even after 27 years.  All of these things are true.

But it's got a duck wearing a headset.  A cute duck, too.  And that makes it all okay with me.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:46 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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