August 31, 2017

Random Anime Pictures #134: Ah! An Adventurous Abecedarian Abruptly Approaches.

-ARIA the Avvenire, Ep02

There are people out there who don't like ARIA.  I get that.  I don't understand it, but I get it.  They probably think it's too slow, or that nothing happens.  And they're right... and wrong at the same time, as anybody who's watched the franchise can tell you.

But one almost universally held opinion is that Kozue Amano sure does draw 'em purty.  And singularly so at that: you won't find any other characters that look like the ones from ARIA.  This is a good thing.

Usually.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:35 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 101 words, total size 1 kb.

August 25, 2017

Random Anime Pictures #133: Best Laid Plans

I had a fantastic idea for a post involving one of the last scenes from New Game!, I'd been working it over in my brain all day at work, had it nailed down perfectly.  You would have gotten a look inside the brain of Wonderduck while connecting it together with the show.  I think it would have been a really good post.  


And then I got home, watched the scene again... and realized it had absolutely nothing to do with what I had been thinking.  Total fail, and there's no way I could twist it to fit.  So here's a picture that fully fits my mood.
It's the weekend, at least.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:07 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 118 words, total size 1 kb.

August 12, 2017

Random Anime Pictures #132: That Was Surprising

-New Game!, Ep02
We've all had one of those series... you expect nothing from it, and you get pleasantly surprised.  Well, New Game! is one of those.  "New girl starts working at small video game company, hijinks ensue" is not exactly either the most original concept, nor the most promising.  Yet for whatever reason, there's actually something good coming out of this.

The animation is nothing overly special, true, we've met all these characters before in dozens of other shows (not literally, but you know what I mean), and the plot is "main character perseveres and gets stronger".  It may be "New Game!" but it's really "Old Retread."  And yet, I'm amazed to discover that I LIKE this show... a lot.

It's got just the right balance of seriousness to humor (maybe 1:50, but it's there), and as of episode five there's not even a hint of acrimony between any of the characters.  These people are likable goofballs that are also professionals, putting in a ton of work and effort into making the newest entry in a video game series.  While we're not exactly witnessing people coding and boring stuff like that, we do get to peek behind the curtain, so to speak.  I'm sure it's dumbed down and not really like what we're seeing... it's anime, after all... but it's being handled better than anybody could have really expected.

That is not how you sword. 
The purple-haired one is the main character, and honestly she's kinda the worst part of the series.  She falls into the "earnest try-hard" camp, and is kind of annoying at times, at least to me.  Fortunately, she's surrounded by other, more interesting, characters at all times.

Let's see... from left to right we've got: Quiet Geek, Earnest Try-Hard, Clothes Horse, Genki Girl (all four of whom work in the same pod), The Legend (she's the original character creator for the video game series), and The Level-Headed One (the Art Director for the game).  The first three are artists for the game, Genki does motion work, and the other two... well, their jobs are obvious enough.  The two older women actually have depth to their characters, too.  The other four, eh, not so much.

There hasn't been any laugh-out-loud moments as of yet, but a good smile or chuckle is common enough.  None of this should be taken as me saying that this is a GOOD series that I wholeheartedly recommend, just an entertaining one.  Sometimes, that's enough.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:22 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 420 words, total size 3 kb.

August 05, 2017

Random Anime Pictures #131: Hi! My Name Is...

Makoto Shinkai.  It wouldn't be overly controversial to say that he's the best known anime movie director not named "Miyazaki" today.  His films have all been successful, thought-provoking, and a little sad.  To a certain subset of people, though, the wild popularity is a little confusing.  His films have all been good, but have left me a little cold.  It may be a cultural thing, I don't know.  Except for "She and her Cat," that one worked with  me on almost every level.  One thing nobody will debate is that, going all the way back to his earliest works, Shinkai's films have been beautiful.


His newest film, Your Name (Kimi no na wa), pushes the bar even higher.  It's absolutely the best looking piece of animation of any type that I've ever seen.  I'm sure a lot of it has to do with progress in the use of CG, but my lord it's beautiful.

Even something as simple as a sliding door and the border of a tatami mat is given the full treatment... a simple, throwaway shot that lasts a second looks better than anything that's come before it.

And the story.  The story.  Holy crepe on a stick... but no matter how good it is, if you don't like the characters, the story doesn't work.  And, unlike the way Shinkai's earlier films sat with me, Your Name hits just all the right notes.  

I refuse to say any spoilers, not even about the plot.  If you haven't seen it already, go watch it immediately... and go in blind.  I intentionally avoided reviews and comment threads about it, and I'm very glad I did.  And you will be, too.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:33 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 288 words, total size 2 kb.

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