March 26, 2012

Ducks In Anime: We Must Repeat

Not all that long ago, I said that I hadn't watched a single episode of Nisemonogatari.  That has now changed, and I've watched up to Ep04.  And found a better image of the duckie!

SHAFT draws the best duckies.  Hands down.

Much like Bakemonogatari, this show's predecessor, there's an awful lot of talking going on and not much of it makes a whole heckuvalotta sense.  Stylistically, it's the show of the year.  Content-wise?  Maybe not so good.  Still, it's got a duckie... that's gotta count for something.

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March 14, 2012

Ducks In Anime: Wamphyri


-Nisemonogatari Ep04
I haven't watched one episode of this show yet.  I just jumped into the middle of Episode 04, realized the scene I was watching was taking place in a bathroom, and waited.  I knew SHAFT, being SHAFT, couldn't resist adding a duck into the scene.


For a second, I thought that they had slipped Yuno's duckie into the show... both HidaSketch and this one are by SHAFT, after all... but no, it's a different duck altogether.  Pity they missed that opportunity, I think.

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January 12, 2012

Ducks In Anime: Yarrrrrrr!


-Bodacious Space Pirates, Ep01

I'm... not sure about this show.  On the one hand, everything seems to be perfect.  The characters are believable, or at least they're as believable as a show like this ever gets, the artwork is quite appealing, the animation is acceptable, there seems to be plenty of room for both humor and drama, and there's a bodacious space pirate rubber duckie.  Oh, and "Bodacious Space Pirates" would be a great name for a band.  Like I said, perfect.

Bodacious Space Pirate Waitress
On the other hand, everything seems to be perfect, and that scares me.  This could go so very very wrong... which would actually be pretty fun.  I find that I'm quite looking forward to Ep02.

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November 16, 2011

Canards dans l'animation: Je ne parle pas francais


-Wakfu, S02E14
Now that, my friends, is one smug looking duckie.  As one would expect from a floating convenient censorship device.  Not that he doesn't have reason to be smug...

...after all, rubber duckies get to hang out in bathtubs with teh hawt chix0rs. 

Yes, he has a reason to be smug.

Interesting show, this Wakfu.  Or, more correctly, interestingly animated show.  From what wikipedia says, it's all Flash-based, yet it's much better than any Flash cartoon coming out of the US.  To be honest, if I didn't know better I'd say it's animated the same way as any anime, just with a more cartoony look.  A look that fits the tone of the series, I might add... though since I've only seen the one episode, I'm hardly an expert on the thing.  A fun way to spend 20 minutes, though.

(tip o' le chapeau to Mauser for the pointer!)

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November 12, 2011

Ducks In Anime:


-Hidamari Sketch x SP Ep02

I'm a firm believer in the magic of rubber duckies.  Really, there's nothing a rubber duckie can't improve.  I'm glad the folks at SHAFT agree with me, at least as far as HidaSketch goes. 

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November 06, 2011

Ducks In Anime: Yuno What It Is


-Hidamari Sketch x SP Ep01
It's been a long time since we last got to hang with the gang from the Hidamari Apartments.  The arrival of the first of two Specials for the third series has fixed that, however, and with a vengeance! 

L to R: Nori, Nazuna, Yuno, Miyako, Hiro, Sae
The first half, where the six girls visit an art museum, is pretty much a perfect HidaSketch episode.  There's humor, kindness, fun... just a group of six different personalities doing things together.  If this doesn't sound like a great way to spend fifteen minutes, then the HidaSketch franchise is not for you.  Those of you who are fans of the show are probably scrambling for the torrent sites right now.  The second half, where the girls (minus Hiro and Sae, who are studying for college exams) visit an indoor swimming pool, isn't quite as heartwarming.  Point in fact, there's a lot of fanservice. 

Not that there's anything wrong with that... quite the contrary!  It just felt a little... wrong for HidaSketch.  As a visual exercise though, it was plenty good.  The Special ends with the sleepover from Vol 5 of the manga, where Yuno falls asleep as soon as it starts.  It's a little rushed, but still fun.

Then of course, there's Yuno's duckie.  How I've missed seeing it every week!  Well, there's still one more Special to go, and then the fourth season with air (date still TBA, last I checked).  Plenty of duckie still to come, and I for one wouldn't have it any other way.

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October 15, 2011

A Dark Duck In Anime Has Seven Lives


-Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi ep12

To be honest, after having watched ep12 of ITnKU (or "A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives"), I have no idea what the show's title means.  What I do know is that a) almost everybody in the show can use magic, 2) almost everybody in the show has the hots for the protagonist, and III) the female lead has hair that's longer than she is tall.  And of course, the final episode of the season takes place as a bath house.

The duck on the left wears a bow tie.  Bow ties are cool.
To say that this show isn't my cup of hair meat tea would be an understatement.  The only worthwhile thing about the last episode were the ducks.  To be fair to the show, the ducks are great.  They're obviously cousins of Yuno's Duck from HidaSketch, and made an obvious throwaway episode worth watching.  Even if it was with the volume down (half the cast has voices that sound like fingernails on a blackboard) and the subtitles off (I'm dumb enough already to have to have braincells killed by the script).

I gather the show is based on a successful series of light novels.  Hopefully they're better than the one episode of the anime I just watched.  But hey, ducks!

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September 14, 2011

Sugar. Spice. And Everything Nice. These Were The Ingreedients Chosen To Create The Perfect Ducks In Anime.


-Powerpuff Girls Z, Ep21

The original Powerpuff Girls was an intelligent, engaging, entertaining and funny romp of a show, one that never failed to make me laugh at its aimed-at-adults humor.  The Japanese, seeing it as homage to Super-Sentai style anime, thought it would be a good idea to remake it in their own unique way.  Thus was born Powerpuff Girls ZIt was a magical girl show, with three normal little girls becoming "Hyper Blossom," "Rolling Bubbles" and "Powered Buttercup."  It was also turned into a kids show.  In short, it was everything the original was not... in particular, it was not funny or clever in the least.  But it did have a rubber duck in one episode.  In fact, the rubber duck was even the main "villain" of Ep21 "Quack Quack Attack".  Given life by the "black light" that created monsters, the duck eventually grew to enormous size.

Left: Steven's worst nightmare.  Right: PPG fans' worst nightmare.
The duckie wound up accidentally terrorizing the city of Townsville as it tried to find its owner, which it loved very much.  All it wanted to do is be reunited with the little boy that dropped it one day.  Eventually it was, it returned to normal duckie size, and all was right with the world.  The End.

But hey: rubber duckie.  That's the only worthwhile thing to come out of PPGZ, right there.

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September 03, 2011

Ducks In Anime: Don't Call It A Comeback

The bad thing about hunting for rubber ducks in anime is that you can go for months without ever seeing one.  Even shows where a rubber duckie would make the most sense, like one taking place in an onsen, will inexplicably skip the duckie... and yes Hanasaku Iroha, I'm very disappointed in you. 

And then from out of nowhere, in a show you'd never expect to include anything as light-hearted as a duckie, you get rewarded.

-Blood-C, ep08
I mildly enjoyed the first few episodes of Blood-C, but not really enough to keep up with it.  I wasn't a fan of the first two installments (Blood: The Last Vampire, Blood+) and the addition of CLAMP to the team for C did nothing to keep me enthralled.  I found myself wondering just exactly why Saya would do her hair like that, which is probably not what the creators intended.  Then came the censoring of the fight scenes in later episodes, and I just gave up.  But something told me to download this episode today... maybe it was a mystical link I have with duckies, maybe it was fate, maybe it was Doki's preview picture, I don't know.  But there, in the middle of an dark, dark anime about a schoolgirl with a sword killing the bad things that go chomp in the night (and in the day, for that matter)... is a duck.

A nice duckie, too.  Good sized, big eyes, floats well, an all-around attractive duckie.

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May 25, 2011

Ducks In Anime: It's Been Too Long

It's been a while since there was a true Ducks In Anime sighting.  The brief view of a duck in Rio Rainbow Gate! doesn't really count, and before that the last one was in an eyecatch for (urgh) KissXsis.  You have to go back to the first episode of Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka, in early January, for the last real D.I.A.  Sometimes we'll go through this kind of lull where there is nary a rubber duckie to be found, even though there are plenty of scenes where one would be appropriate (yes, Hanasaku Iroha ep04, I'm looking at you...).  But then the darkness will turn to light, and lo a duckie will appear to great rejoicing.  Like this one:

-Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi, ep02
It's not even from a series I'm watching (get with the program, Hanasaku Iroha!); it took a pointer from Big Papa Pixy himself to bring it to my attention.  But oh, it was worth it...

more...

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March 19, 2011

RRG! Loves Me

I knew it would happen.  I could simply feel that it was going to happen.  I knew it was only a matter of time.  Lord knows I deserve it for watching this show.  And the Production Staff rewarded me for my devotion and forbearance.

-Rio Rainbow Gate, ep11

Oh heck yes.

This episode falls into the "Epically STUPID!" category, so it might take longer than normal to create the writeup.  But there was a duck, so it's a fair trade.

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January 29, 2011

Ducks In Anime: Lucky!



No, I didn't actually watch the show.  I was over at Doki Fansubs, one of the really good groups out there, and saw the above.  So of course I downloaded the three episode torrent to figure out which one it came from, and voila!  A lucky Ducks In Anime post!

Why, what did you think I was talking about?

(does anybody really wear their hair like that?)

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January 11, 2011

Ducks In Anime: My Necromancer Can't Be This Cute


-Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka, ep01

Okay, let's see if I've gotten this straight... our hero is dead, murdered by a serial killer.  He was brought back from the dead by a loli necromancer (necrololi?  Lolimancer?), as seen above.  The two of them are joined by a magical-girl-in-training who uses not a wand but a magical chainsaw... a pink magical chainsaw.  She loses her powers after fighting a giant bear in a school uniform.  Later, the magicless girl and the zombie schoolboy face off against a giant crayfish... and the zombie winds up having to crossdress in her magical girl outfit to defeat it.  Do I have that right? 

I do?

I'll admit that I was greatly amused... finally, a show I might actually watch this season.

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November 21, 2010

Nuppiyo Returns To Ducks In Anime!


-Fortune Arterial, ep05
Of course, it isn't really Nuppiyo at all... just a human in a costume.

Okay, a vampire in a costume.  A vampire with balance issues in a Nuppiyo costume.  At the end of a three-legged race.  But, hey!  Nuppiyo!

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November 13, 2010

You Don't Mess With The Ducks In Anime


-Fortune Arterial, ep03

That Nuppiyo, he's a baaaaad mother-(shut yo mouth!)

Hey, I'm just talkin' 'bout Nuppiyo (we can dig it!)

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November 08, 2010

Ducks In Anime Can Be Found In The Strangest Places

The world has changed.  Tokyo, and by extension all of Japan, has suffered a major ecological disaster.  Much of the city is underwater, and anything not submerged has been seriously damaged.  Floating above this flooded city a small ship, maybe the size of a fishing vessel or tugboat, is slowly making it's way from one location to another.  A young woman, wondering if she could see through the floodwaters and see sunken houses below, leans over the side of the vessel.  As she strains for a better view, something unexpected begins to float by.

-Witchblade, ep01

Noticing that one of the rubber duckies has gotten separated from the rest of the duckie family, she leans over to guide it in the right direction... by splashing the water nearby.

As the small ship heads to its destination, we see it shrink away into the distance.  The rubber duckie family, again complete, travels onward. 

Where the duckies are headed or where they came from, we never discover, but it doesn't matter.  What matters is that, even in this ruined city, rubber duckies exist and thrive.  There is hope for the world.

To be honest, the story of the rubber duckies would probably have been better than that of the Witchblade anime, a hideously violent and pointless show.  Not entirely its fault; it's not like the source material (which has no rubber duckies) was particularly good to begin with.

(hat-tip to gerberette for pointing me in the direction of the duckies!)

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November 04, 2010

Yuno's Duckie: An Appreciation


Some three years ago, the series Hidamari Sketch debuted on Japanese satellite station BS-i.  The show followed the lives of four students, Yuno, Miyako, Sae and Hiro, all of whom are attending Yamabuki Art High School.  As a prototypical "slice-of-life" show, there's not much in the way of plot other than that of going through life with your friends.  In the third series, Hidamari Sketch Hoshimittsu,  two new characters, Nazuna and Nori, joined the cast and quickly became part of the family.

Ever since the first episode there has been another member of the group.  Yuno's rubber duckie has appeared in all but two or three episodes in the series' 44-episode run.  HidaDuck has no lines, and doesn't quack even once, but a careful watcher of the show will realize just how important it is to the main character, Yuno.  When she moves into the Hidamari Apartments, the first thing that she unpacks is HidaDuck.  At one point, she's locked out of her apartment for five days.  When she finally gets back in, she immediately apologizes to HidaDuck for leaving it alone in the dark for so long.  I've said in the past that Yuno is "one of us," a collector who truly understands the joy of ducks. 

But why is HidaDuck so special?  To be sure, it's a cute rubber duckie, but no cuter than quite a few of the members of my Flock.  It's particularly well-detailed, with distinct feathers on the wingtips and tail, but that's actually becoming more and more the norm amongst full-sized duckies these days.  That it floats, and floats well, is a nice feature but again, not one that's particularly different (though sadly, quite a few rubber duckies these days float poorly or not at all). 

There are some aspects of HidaDuck that are uncommon, however.  The eyes are quite large, bigger than those of most of the ducks in my collection.  The opened bill isn't as common as one might think, particularly when you realize that the two halves are long and unsupported (almost all of my duckies with an open bill have much shorter halves at a shallower angle, and a "tongue" in-between).  That's a good look for a duckie. 

But all of that is nothing more than an attempt to quantify something unquantifiable, namely the appeal of Yuno's Duckie.  Perhaps it's the fact that SHAFT has put so much care into making it consistent from episode to episode (though there was one time that they failed miserably).  It seems pretty clear to me that they must be drawing from a real, physical, rubber duckie as a model.  Maybe it's that Yuno obviously gets a lot of enjoyment from HidaDuck; she certainly talks to it as if it's listening, after all.  Maybe it's because it's far and away the most visible rubber duckie in anime, and perhaps on all of television, Ernie's not withstanding. 

Or perhaps it's just that HidaDuck is a cute duckie.  Really, what more reason does one need?  A cute duckie is enough on it's own.

I'll admit that I tried to e-mail SHAFT to inquire about the availability of a HidaDuck, but I can't find an address on their webpage to do so.  I refuse to give up, though.

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October 25, 2010

Ducks In Anime: A Good Day

Despite having a four-day weekend, here at Pond Central it's been something of a meh.  I'm dealing with a bad coldflucoughthing that just won't go completely away, and have been tired all the bloody time.  Other things are going on as well, leading to just one big "meh" of a weekend.

Until today.  Today began with an epic Formula 1 race, segued into an exciting (if exasperating) Bears game, and then...

-Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu Special #1

Any day with a new HidaSketch is a good day, particularly when it's a story that isn't in the four manga volumes that have been released here!  Or, at least the main story hasn't.

The secondary story is the Natsune flashback from the end of Volume 4, the one that Ume Aoki couldn't do in 4koma style.

And of course, there's the duckie.  It wouldn't be an episode of HidaSketch without the duckie.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I WANT THIS DUCKIE.

*ahem*

It's been a good day.

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October 15, 2010

You've Got Ducks In Anime!


-Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, ep02

First there was Uiharu's desktop app thingy, now there's an e-mail program.  It's only a matter of time until we get DuckOS...

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August 08, 2010

Ducks In Anime Has Returned!

For the first time since March 31st, 2010, we have a Ducks In Anime sighting!

-Amagami SS, ep06
I knew I liked Kaoru better than Morishima...

A closer look at the duckie reveals something important...

...I HAVE THIS DUCK

To be sure, it's not an exact match, but the biggest difference can be put down to the anime style of drawing eyes... even the duckies have big ones!  For the first time, I can honestly say that I possess a Duck in Anime!  It came from Wal-Mart, if you're wondering.  Part of a matching set of four, each in a different color (blue, pink and green), only a dollar each.  They're from Infantino.

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