July 18, 2017
Random Anime Pictures #130: From The Screen To The Page...
-Hibike! Euphonium the Movie
The good folks over at Yen Press recently released the original light novel for Hibike! Euphonium, translated of course. Since that was probably my favorite anime series in years, of course I eagerly picked it up... I wanted to see how it differed and how it stayed the same from the material I knew. And the result?
It's not as good as the anime. And no, I'm sure there isn't any "first come first served" bias going on here... KyoAni just did a better job with the source material than the source material did. For example, let's use what I think was the best sequence from the anime, the mountain scene with Kumiko and Reina. Much of the dialogue is the same, and a lot of the details as well (Reina's white dress, or her ankles getting rubbed raw). However, in the novel they don't take their instruments and thus the duet on the mountaintop doesn't occur. That simply amazed me. In another big difference, the "secondary leads," Hazuki and Sapphire, get almost no character development. Also, and most painful to yours truly, Asuka's personality is more obviously a facade and her nasty side is more evident. The wacky part of her that made her an instant fan favorite is almost totally missing.
But the obvious difference is the music. For a story about a concert band, there's a total lack of music involved with the book. Which is natural of course... a book is words on paper, and the author isn't talented enough to overcome that handicap in comparison to the anime. Please understand, the book is still quite entertaining and well worth the small amount of time it'll take you to read it.
But you'll be hearing the music from the series in your head when you do.
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Hmm. If nothing else, this proves that when the KyoAni writers are on their game, they're some of the best storytellers working in the animated medium today.
Posted by: GreyDuck at July 19, 2017 07:43 AM (rKFiU)
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Reminds me of how disappointing the
Angelic Layer manga was. All the best material was invented for the anime.
-j
Posted by: J Greely at July 19, 2017 11:06 AM (tgyIO)
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One of the best anime series I've ever seen is Android Announcer Maico 2010, based on the manga Maico 2010. The anime is about a robot ai that is procured by a radio station as a cheap alternative to hiring a live dj (just go with it). Along the way, she learns about love, life, and death; along with dealing with some absurd comedy.
The manga is about Maico, a sex doll that her created wanted to be as human as possible rather than simply for sex. Maico rescues her "sister" sex droid Rei from evil controllers, after which the two become a crime-fighting sex doll duo called "Cherry Bombs". As Wikipedia puts it: "The anime version differs from the manga, with less sexual themes, and
no crime fighting involved. Also, there is no mention of her being a
sexdroid, and Rei is never introduced."
Posted by: Ben at July 19, 2017 08:53 PM (S4UJw)
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Haven't thought about Android Ana Maico in years. That was a fun little series.
Popotan is similar. The anime was delightful, the game they took it from was garbage.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at July 20, 2017 12:17 AM (2yngH)
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June 25, 2017
Random Anime Pictures #129: While We're Waiting...
Over at Reddit today, I was involved in a little slice of funny. The Original Poster (OP) put up a very cute picture of a sugar glider in a box of fruit snacks. Of course, this being Reddit we're talking about here, someone berated OP for being "cruel to this rodent" for the sake of electronic approval points. Which is where I came in:
OP: "This isn't a rodent it's a sugar glider which is a marsupial. Also it's a joke people!"
ME:
-Rio Rainbow Gate, Ep07
Today... today was a good day.
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That wonderful moment when you have exactly the right anime screencap for the occasion...
Posted by: GreyDuck at June 26, 2017 07:36 AM (rKFiU)
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May 21, 2017
Random Anime Picture# 128: Ridiculous School Outfit
Even from a medium where over-the-top school uniforms are the norm, this has got to take the cake:
-Roku de Nashi Majutsu KÅshi to Akashic Records, Ep01
Seriously? Come on, Japan... really? The best and oldest magic academy in the most powerful country in the world, magically, and they dress their female students in that? Forget about the practicality or lack thereof of a uniform like that, how in the world could the school expect the male students to concentrate?
Unlikely uniforms aside, there's not much new to this show. Which doesn't mean it's not entertaining, because I'm enjoying it a lot. It's just that we've seen it before. It's a relatively pretty series when it gets the chance to be, but again, nothing earth-shattering. It's one of those titles that will be forgotten shortly after the last episode airs. It will serve its purpose, selling light novels, and that's all it'll be. There's no shame in not being an awesome, awe-inspiring, game-changing series... most of them aren't. Still, I like it.
I'm not sure why. I'll have to keep watching to figure it out.
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Pretty mystifying.... Definitely merits further investigation and careful analysis.
But that's not a combat arena, is it? *shudder*
Posted by: Mauser at May 21, 2017 03:12 PM (m1WSx)
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Eh. Seeing as how this season is mostly leaving me cold, I might as well give this a shot.
(WorldEnd: This Title Should Be Banned By International Convention For Being Overlong is probably my "favorite" so far, but that's in a purely relative-to-the-rest way. Granblue Game Tie-In is nice enough but also super-generic, animation style notwithstanding. I'm giving Re:Creators a whirl over on the Amazon service and we'll see how that goes.)
Those are
ridiculous outfits, seriously though.
Posted by: GreyDuck at May 21, 2017 03:23 PM (rKFiU)
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Mauser, I said there was not much new in this show, didn't I?
Posted by: Wonderduck at May 21, 2017 04:51 PM (dnQ6B)
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I'm starting to build a list of anime cliche's I could live without. I think Arena Combat will be added next.
Posted by: Mauser at May 21, 2017 09:20 PM (m1WSx)
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Little Witch Academia, people! It's an absolute joy.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at May 22, 2017 03:55 AM (2yngH)
Posted by: Wonderduck at May 22, 2017 07:42 AM (dnQ6B)
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I understand your objections to those early episodes, but, without spoiling anything, let's just say that the writers knew what they were doing when they put that stuff in. It gets better, and watching it get better is a lot of fun.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at May 22, 2017 06:41 PM (2yngH)
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I really don't want to spoil anything for you, because it's so good. The episode where Akko spoilers her spoiler and has to jump in after it, or the one where she has to rescue Sucy by spoiler into spoiler, or the one where she teams up with Constanze (the wrench witch from the second movie) to build a spoiler and the damn thing actually
works!
This show is amazing. Most fun I've had with an anime series in years.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at May 22, 2017 06:49 PM (2yngH)
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March 05, 2017
Random Anime Picture# 127: Just For The Record
-Interviews With Monster Girls, Ep09
Still the best thing airing this season, and an early contender for Anime of the Year. It has yet to put a single foot wrong, and I can't imagine how it would given where the story stands. Just a marvelously fun series.
And when the character I expected to be the weakest of the bunch is the one that's quickly becoming the MVP? That's just a bonus. Really, you need to be watching this.
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This and
Miss Kobayashi haven't failed to put a smile on my face yet. I'm going to deeply mourn the ending of the Winter '17 season at this rate.
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 06, 2017 08:40 AM (rKFiU)
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February 11, 2017
Random Anime Picture# 126: Cheesecake Too!
-Hatsukoi Limited, ED
There are days when you plan and scheme and get everything you need to accomplish done. And then there are days like today, where I got nothing done at all except sleep, and not even much of that. The plan was to finish up the requested "Why A Duck?" post. Instead, I did bupkis, and you get this post.
I mean, there are worse things that could have happened, I suppose. It's just not what the plan was. A lot of that going around, I think.
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That's a well-drawn set o' gams, gotta be said.
I've been re-watching
Mouretsu Pirates and for a show without much actual overt fanservice, they still love drawing schoolgirls' legs. (Barring spacesuits, the only thing most of the girls end up wearing is some kind of skirt or another...)
That's not a complaint. Let's be clear on this.
Posted by: GreyDuck at February 12, 2017 12:12 AM (rKFiU)
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It happens to the best of us! Some days just don't go as planned, and that's okay. Maybe tomorrow will be more productive. In the meantime, rest is important too. Don't be too hard on yourself for taking a break. You'll get back on track soon!
Huntersville North Carolina Real Estate
Posted by: NCrealtor at April 25, 2024 03:48 PM (VsGGQ)
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February 01, 2017
Random Anime Picture #125: Cheesecake!
-Seiren, Ep02 ED
Why? What, when did I start needing a reason to post cheesecake?
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Posted by: J Greely at February 02, 2017 09:33 AM (tgyIO)
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If she turns yandere, then we might have a problem here.
Posted by: cxt217 at February 03, 2017 11:22 PM (7eErN)
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September 22, 2016
Random Anime Picture #124: Reflections
-ARIA the Natural, Ep12
On the whole, today had to be listed in the "horrible" category. But it's amazing how just one episode of
ARIA is enough to take the edge off. It didn't fix anything, it doesn't make things better... but it was enough to remind me that things aren't totally terrible. And I guess that's enough, isn't it?
Akari Mizunashi, mad scientist.
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September 08, 2016
Random Anime Picture #123: Obsolete
-ReLife, Ep06
The year was 1994 and Our Hero was working at the Big Blue Electronics Retailer in the music department. One day, the department head asked if I'd like to spend a day in Chicago with her at a training day. Well, heck, why not? I'll get paid for it after all, and probably get a lunch out of the deal to boot. As we drove in the next day, I asked what the training was on. "Sony is releasing something new that we're going to be carrying. Some new music format." Oh swell, another one. I quickly changed my tune when the training started, for the format we were talking about was the MiniDisc.
I instantly fell in love with the beast. Magneto-optical data storage, anywhere from 74 to 80 minutes of re-recordable digital-quality music? Be still my beating heart! The more I heard, the more I liked it, and I learned everything there was to know about them that day. They were, to me, flawless. Except for a few tiny little problems. And by "tiny little", I mean "gargantuan monster".
The first was the price. There were two player/recorders available, one home-based, the other portable, and both were ridiculously expensive. I mean, when you could buy three or four CD players for the same cost as the home unit, you know there's a problem. The second was the size. The home unit was normal, well able to fit in a home stereo system, but the portable? It was
very heavy, to the point that most of the people that bought them just used them at home because... well, it wasn't going to threaten the walkman/discman for portability, y'know? The final and quite possibly worst problem was available media. Only a few record labels were supporting the format; when we received our first shipment of pre-recorded MDs, they took up maybe two feet of display space... and that was a sizable percentage of all the MDs ever released. Meanwhile, CDs and cassettes took up dozens upon dozens of yards of space, with music of any sort you'd care to think of. Audiophiles
loved the thing, though. We had one guy who bought just about every classical MD we carried, and more besides, for example. Here's the thing: he was pretty much the only customer we had for the thing. And at that, we were still one of the top-selling MD stores in the central region of the country.
Eventually we stopped carrying MiniDiscs. Sadly, it wasn't until the new century that the format started to get attention... just in time for MP3 players and the new thing called the iPod to appear on the market. Still, Sony kept supporting the thing until 2011, when they finally stopped selling it altogether. It's still a brilliant piece of kit, though... I wish I had one. Alas, while that training class did give away a few portable units, I didn't get one. I still have the Sony messenger bag, though! Yes, 22 years later, it found a new life... as a case for my laptop.
Yes, if there was ever a piece of equipment that was just flat-out unlucky, it was the MiniDisc. Sadly.
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Entercom had a couple of MD rigs and a stack of carts for it. They ended up in my care eventually, back when I thought I would do audio-type-stuff as a hobby at home.
When the latest surprise-move happened last year, all of that went by the wayside. C'est la vie.
Posted by: GreyDuck at September 09, 2016 07:34 AM (rKFiU)
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I should see what my portable is worth on eBay. I gather there are still people recording live concerts with them.
-j
Posted by: J Greely at September 09, 2016 10:11 AM (ZlYZd)
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Being Sony, I'd be surprised if it didn't have some kind of DRM/Copy-protection built into it.
Posted by: Mauser at September 09, 2016 06:52 PM (5Ktpu)
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Mauser, it did. Pre-recorded stuff could be copied once, the copy not at all. Things recorded onto blank media from a non-MD source was totally DRM-free, however.
Posted by: Wonderduck at September 09, 2016 09:04 PM (vZvpB)
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August 18, 2016
Random Anime Picture #122: This Is Fine, Too.
-Re:Zero, Ep06
Why am I watching
Re:Zero? Sure, the plot is intriguing, the hero is actually coping with his predicament, what we know of the world is solid enough, and the surrounding characters range from "that's a thing" to "top knotch."
But let's face it: the twin maids Rem and Ram should be arrested for grand theft, for they've bloody well stolen the show for me, for reasons that should be obvious. Does that make me shallow? I can't claim to care.
Because, I mean,
damn.
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Japanese picture sites (and Twitter) basically are exploding at the seams with fanart and illustrations for Rem. And now you know why.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at August 18, 2016 09:31 PM (XOPVE)
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Which one is Rem?
(This is like trying to tell Ram and Rom apart in Hyperdimension Neptune. One of them has longer hair but I can never remember which. It gets worse when they transform; they look exactly identical except that the colors in their costumes and their hair are exactly complementary.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at August 19, 2016 12:53 AM (+rSRq)
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Rem is blue, Ram is red.
Posted by: Wonderduck at August 19, 2016 07:29 AM (vZvpB)
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Rem is blue, Ram is red.
So
that's why my computer stopped working when I installed more memory...
Posted by: Siergen at August 19, 2016 02:05 PM (De/yN)
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Rem's chest is noticeably larger than Ram's.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at August 19, 2016 06:46 PM (XOPVE)
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Rem is blue,
Ram is red,
Got them confused,
Now my laptop is dead.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at August 22, 2016 08:23 PM (2yngH)
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August 11, 2016
Random Anime Picture #121: It's A Cat. No, Seriously.
-Amanchu, Ep03
I've come to the conclusion that, despite all the talent and skill she has at drawing everything else ever, Kozue Amano simply can
not draw a cat to save her life. Well, that's okay. She gave us
ARIA, so she gets a huge free pass in my book.
Really. It's a cat.
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Okay, sure, whatever, I'm still telling everyone to avoid making any contracts with either of them, not even in order to acquire magical-girl-type powers...
Posted by: GreyDuck at August 12, 2016 07:26 AM (rKFiU)
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The cat in the first image looks more like an AIBO than any of the cats readily available for comparison.
Reminds me of walking into a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kingman, Arizona sometime in maybe the late 90s.
On the door was a poster that seemed to depict a cartoon pig. I puzzled over this and an unfamiliar word in large type in one of the fun-oriented fonts. I came up with the hypothesis that the word was a Japanese-English hybrid for "pork man" and must be a tie-in for some kind of sausage biscuit they were introducing.
Somewhat later, piecing together more evidence, I learned the word meant "pocket monsters," and the creature depicted was called Pikachu and was to be caught but not eaten.
It struck me as an unsuccessful promotion overall. It was a bit ahead of the US Pokémon-card craze, for starters. The unintentionally ridiculous spectacle of an animated Colonel Sanders on TV, talking about it in some Nuyorican or Angeleno voiceover artist's idea of a Southern accent, probably didn't help. If memory serves, they gave it up before long.
Posted by: Ad absurdum per aspera at August 13, 2016 08:13 AM (470Py)
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I encountered this
link to the Japanese after-action report for the battle of Midway this morning. I assume you've seen it before, but just in case, I thought I'd pass it on. If nothing else, some of your other readers might see it and be interested.
Posted by: David at August 14, 2016 11:08 AM (YHSti)
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July 14, 2016
Random Anime Picture #120: Pbpbpbppbpbpbpbpbpbttttthhhhhhhhhh!
-ReLife, Ep06
Review inbound once I finish the series, but initial reaction is "I did not expect this to be
that good." Because I did
not expect
ReLife to be
this good at all.
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Episode 6? Either this was a really long week (rather than just feeling that way) or they've decided to try targeting the Netflix binge-watcher audience. Either way, this is one of the shows I had on my shortlist to try this season.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at July 16, 2016 03:37 AM (2yngH)
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Re: the above picture. Is that a guy or a girl?
Posted by: Ben at July 16, 2016 12:45 PM (VPo/J)
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Ben, it never even occurred to me to doubt that it's girl. Why would you think otherwise?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at July 16, 2016 02:51 PM (+rSRq)
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Pixy, in a fit of either brilliance or stupidity, Lumpyroll decided to release
ReLife all at once, instead of one episode per week. It's quite available on the usual Yarrrrrr! sites, too.
Ben, it is very girl. The goings-on in the next scene confirm it without a shadow of a doubt.
Posted by: Wonderduck at July 16, 2016 05:23 PM (Hdexn)
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Steven, something about the face. It just screamed "trap" to me.
Posted by: Ben at July 17, 2016 03:26 PM (01ZWs)
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Having watched the whole thing (perfect fare for a wintry Sunday afternoon) it
is pretty good, but big warning: It doesn't so much end as stop. And they've covered about 80% of the available material, so there's not likely to be a second season until at least 2018.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at July 18, 2016 07:03 AM (2yngH)
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Crunchy didn't release everything in a batch for free users. The 13 is scheduled to come online in September.
BTW, I'm not a big fan of An. She jokes too much. Reminds me of Setsuna from
Shingu. But she does not have the excuse that Setsuna enjoys. It is tolerable, I saw worse - like Iroha in
Oregairu (SNAFU). But eh...
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at July 21, 2016 05:57 PM (XOPVE)
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Pete, I didn't say anything about free users, did I?
Posted by: Wonderduck at July 22, 2016 07:38 AM (Hdexn)
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One pleasant surprise about
ReLIFE was how much and where exactly they chose to deviate from the manga. We are dealing with a competent adaptation here, folks. Possibly at the level of 2006
Kanon.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at July 25, 2016 07:04 PM (XOPVE)
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July 12, 2016
Random Anime Picture #119: Dark Mistress Of The Kitchen
-Shokugeki no Soma, S2E02
The second season of everybody's favorite semi-orgasmic fighting anime based on
Iron Chef is in full swing, and while the hat-tip to
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure may not have been to everybody's tastes (like mine), it's hard to deny the appeal of Mirror Universe Megumi. Seriously, I hate this art style:
Ew.
We saw Delinquent Megumi briefly in S1, though to be honest I don't remember the context, but I DO remember both laughing and being intrigued by this less-than-wholesome version of our favorite co-main character. And by "intrigued," I mean "grr stampa-stampa!"
I repeat: grr stampa-stampa!
All of which is to say, yup, nothing has changed from last season. If you watched the first season of
SnS and liked it, you've got no reason to avoid this one. However, if you didn't like
SnS, there's probably something wrong with you and you should get that looked at by a doctor... but you'll continue to not like this season. Though you'll dislike it half as much, since reportedly there's only going to be 12 episodes this time around.
But how could you dislike this? You'd just be evil and cruel. Remember: she even has a rubber duckie.
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Hmm. I might give it another go if things get quiet again. When the first season was airing I bounced off the show pretty thoroughly before even reaching the first eyecatch, so... Hmm.
Posted by: GreyDuck at July 13, 2016 07:36 AM (rKFiU)
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GD, I only went into it because I had heard there was a rubber duckie. Suddenly I had watched half the series and was trying to figure out how to work out my busy schedule to watch the other half in one go.
It's REALLY good.
Posted by: Wonderduck at July 13, 2016 07:45 AM (Hdexn)
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Well, you didn't lead me astray on SxS (which I ended up really digging), so.
Into the queue it goes!
Posted by: GreyDuck at July 13, 2016 07:08 PM (rKFiU)
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May 22, 2016
Random Anime Picture #118: Quick, Henry, the Flit!
-Strike Witches: Victory Arrow, OVA#03
I don't know when or where I first heard of Flit. I assume it was in
The Calculus Affair, one of the best Tintin stories around. I wouldn't have known what it was, y'know, but I would have instinctively accepted it and moved on. "Spray Flit, bugs die." The perfect example of this unswerving acceptance of anything Tintin said as true was in... um...
The Red Sea Sharks, I think. At one point, Tintin describes a fighter plane as a "Mosquito." I just assumed that was a nickname for
all fighter planes (I was very young when I learned to read using Tintin...).
As it turned out, Tintin was referring to a
very particular aircraft, the DeHavilland Mosquito, but I didn't know that. To this day, I still think of fighter planes as "mosquitoes", though only to myself.
FLIT! Right, right. Back to that. I didn't really know what Flit was, just that it killed bugs. That sprayer ("a flit gun") though... that's iconic. I wonder what Tintin would think of
Strike Witches? And suddenly I feel this desperate need for a crossover...
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According to Wikipedia, Dr. Seuss drew the "Quick Henry, the Flit" ad campaign before he became famous for children's books.
Posted by: Mauser at May 22, 2016 10:50 PM (5Ktpu)
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May 13, 2016
Random Anime Picture #117: Skydiving
-ARIA the Avvenire OVA 2
Man, reentry when you're wearing a full-length dress has got to be an iron-clad beeyotch, that's all I've gotta say.
Akari's unfortunate experience with lithobraking had some serious consequences for Aqua. Nuclear winter just can't compare to the horror that is Undine Winter. Mars will never be the same... again.
Okay, yes, I'm joking. It's
ARIA, you think something bad happened? There were three series, an OVA, multiple picture dramas, the manga, and of course the
Avvenire, and I can't think of a single negative thing that occurred in any of them. When the closest I can come is the retirement of Aria Company's original Black Gondola, you know it's a cheerful series. Unless you count my picture of
Grandma as a retired Kancolle shipgirl, that is.
Just go watch. If you're a fan of
ARIA, you've already seen it, of course, but watch it again. It's worth it, if only for the effort the animators put into Akari's long plummet.
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April 25, 2016
Random Anime Picture #116: The End Of Cinderella Girls
I did
not expect them to be eaten by mini-Godzilla.
-iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, Ep04
I am of the opinion that I'm missing something with this show, perhaps even more than with the original
Idolmaster series. Kinda like how
Kantai Collection is filled with references that only make sense if you've played the game, I'm guessing that I'm only getting half the story here. Maybe someone who's actually played it can pipe up... I think I remember seeing that The Man Called Author played it... and tell me if that's really the case.
Maybe he can also explain why Anastasia isn't the main character in the show.
Because, ye gods and little fishies, she's certainly
my most popular. She's no
Chihaya, of whom I even have a figma, but she ain't far behind.
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That monster is from Tenchi Muyo GXP; it tries to eat Seina at one point.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 26, 2016 09:45 AM (+rSRq)
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The monster from TMGXP is pink and has no dorsal ridges. It does have a bow however. It's also real; this one is a costume.
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 26, 2016 05:19 PM (XQ5ac)
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Millenium Era Godzilla suit. Shadowed eyes; sleek, rounded nose with nostrils at the front; prominent spines high on the back; and predominantly green instead of grey, blue or black.
Posted by: Ben at April 26, 2016 06:37 PM (S4UJw)
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You're right; I wasn't remembering correctly.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 26, 2016 10:53 PM (+rSRq)
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I think I mentioned this elsewhere, but my high school crush had a hair like that. It is called "ash blonde" and is actually exceedingly rare among Russians. Oddly enough, I've never seen one in America. It does turn a bit yellow with age though. I have no idea how Japanese creators came to associate that color with Russians, like e.g. Freza of
J2. I guess it's slightly more like Russians than Americans. At least it's not one of anime hair colors.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at April 27, 2016 12:45 PM (RmiS4)
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I agree, she is rather pleasant in aspect....
Posted by: Mauser at April 28, 2016 05:32 PM (5Ktpu)
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It's understandable to feel like you're missing something when diving into a show like "The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls," especially if it's based on a game with a rich backstory. Like "Kantai Collection," there might be nuances and references that only players of the game would fully grasp. It's always interesting to hear insights from someone who's experienced both the game and the anime to see how they complement each other. Hopefully, someone like The Man Called Author can shed some light on whether the game enriches the viewing experience.
Huntersville North Carolina Real Estate
Posted by: NCrealtor at April 25, 2024 03:44 PM (VsGGQ)
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April 20, 2016
Random Anime Picture #115: Oh Dear
-Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls, Ep02
I've always had a weird thing with the iDOLM@STER franchise. I don't dislike it, but I've never been particularly impressed by any of the shows I've seen... or any of the "idol builder"-based shows, really. Then again I've also never played the games, but from what I've seen/read about them, I could see myself getting caught up in the whole rigamarole.
One thing I appreciate about the shows are the way they get the "backstage" parts right. Performers, particularly first-timers, get the jitters while the tech crew goes about their jobs with a staid professionalism, unnoticed and only rarely appreciated. Not that I'm bitter or anything about that detail.
Maybe it'll keep my interest. Maybe not. We'll see.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
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Good luck. This season's a total dry spell for me. (Technically I have Sailor Moon Crystal in my CR queue, but that's for Vyx and I to watch together and she hasn't expressed any interest. So.)
Sigh. I don't want to suspend my subscription(s) but dammit.
Posted by: GreyDuck at April 21, 2016 07:01 AM (rKFiU)
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March 25, 2016
Random Anime Picture #114: Bleeeeeeeeeh!
-
Konosuba, Ep03
So over at
Ubu's place, and might I say that it's mighty good to see him blogginatin' with some frequency again, he was talking about this oddball show called, and I quote, "Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!"
As that's quite the mouthful, some bright spark shortened it to "Konosuba" and we'll leave it at that. Anyway, it's a sendup of the old "dead useless guy is brought back to life in another world to save it from The Evil" plot. In this case, dead useless guy is still useless, and the
harem party he forms around him are ridiculously powerful... and totally useless.
Like the
paladin Crusader that's so clumsy that she literally cannot hit anything offensively. She does, however make a great wall. Good thing she's a masochist. Or the wizard who is strong enough to cast the most powerful offensive spell, "Explosion." Except when she does, it uses all of her power for the entire day... can't even stand up afterwards. Oh, did I mention that it's the
only spell she knows? Terrible against a single enemy... not bad against hordes of flying cabbages, however.
Why would you think I'd joke about something like that?
Then there's the Goddess. I mean that literally: she's an actual Goddess. She's great at using holy water for healing purposes, and for being eaten by giant toads, but otherwise? Dumb as a box of hair, and totally incompetent.
Then there's the lass up at the top of this post, Chris the Thief. She actually appears to be useful. We meet her at the beginning of Ep03, then the flying cabbages come and she disappears. Totally gone, and nobody seems to notice or care.
It's managed to keep my attention through three episodes... so there's that, I suppose. It's not high art, but it's okay.
Yes, praising with faint damns, I know.
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I found KonoSuba to be the best of the winter season, in no small part because of how it plays with the tropes of the 'trap in another world.' It is much more amusing and entertaining than, say, Grimgar.
Posted by: cxt217 at March 26, 2016 08:20 AM (I/l1o)
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I had nothing I wanted to watch this season until Ubu wrote about it. I pulled down the 10 episodes that were available and I'm starting on them.
Then out of sheer masochism, I pulled down the prequel to Muv-luv Alternative, and just in the first episode... The stupid... it burns! (I never posted the review I wrote, aside from timeliness issues, after re-reading it, it made no sense, even with liberal doses of sarcasm.)
Posted by: Mauser at March 27, 2016 12:27 PM (5Ktpu)
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Chris was a good character. I wish she'd been in more of the show, but she was too competent to add to the party. Although, by the last episode, there's signs that the party might be gelling due to the MC figuring out ways to use them. This is probably a good thing; if they remained totally incompetent, the joke would get stale. Assuming they can stay out of prison for that last little bit of lesse`-majeste
Don't know if you caught the update, but a second season is in the works.
Posted by: ubu at March 30, 2016 09:46 AM (SlLGE)
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March 13, 2016
Random Anime Picture #114: Forgotten, Or Outgrown?
-Love Hina, Ep01
So what happened to
Love Hina, anyway? It went from ridiculously popular to viewed with some vague distaste by a large segment of the community, on those rare occasions its mentioned at all. Heck, it was even one of the first series available via digital fansub.
It's goofy, it's fun, it's got plenty of fanservice, but at its core its a romance between two people that are perfect for each other, but can't quite admit it to themselves yet. While I think the manga is better than the anime, I enjoy them both.
So why the dislike for the series? Is it the violence perpetrated upon the main character? Do people think the animation hasn't aged well? Or is it just too goofy anymore? It's a classic series, though nobody will put it on any best-of-all-time lists. It's a heckuva romp, though.
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I wasn't a huge fan of the anime, but my copies of the manga are fairly well worn, I've read them from start to finish at least three times over the years, and I can't begin to count how many times I've re-read just the last four books.
Posted by: David at March 14, 2016 03:24 AM (+TPAa)
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For all the anime I was watching back then, somehow this show didn't really ping on my radar. Hmm. No idea.
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 14, 2016 07:24 AM (rKFiU)
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For me it just went on too long. When you already know the ending, finding new ways to drag it out just got annoying.
Posted by: Ben at March 14, 2016 07:44 AM (S4UJw)
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Part of it is that it got upstaged by Negima, which was vastly better in every way.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 14, 2016 09:30 AM (+rSRq)
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I disagree with both your assertions, Steven. The first
Negima series came out
five full years after
Love Hina, which hardly makes it a competitor.
Secondly, calling it "vastly better in every way" is pretty much nonsense. If it had been, I wouldn't have stopped watching, hm? There are enough similarities that
Negima should have hooked me... and it didn't. The whole "10-year old main character being looked at as a love interest" thing is enough squick, thanks.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 14, 2016 04:57 PM (KiM/Y)
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What happened there was that Akamatsu was tired of doing harem stories, but the magazine insisted he do another. So he deliberately created something that looked like a harem but which totally subverted the genre. Of course it was squick -- he deliberately made it squick.
And then, over time, he converted it into what he really wanted to do: action adventure. And as ratings went up, the magazine let him -- and that's when Negima really hit its stride.
The first couple of years of Negima wasn't really very good -- and Akamatsu himself knew it. He was still running under the iron dictum from the magazine that he do another harem story.
But once he broke free from that, Negima became better than Love Hina in pretty much every way. For one thing it actually had a story to tell, which Love Hina didn't really AFAIK. As you yourself said, it was always obvious which girl was going to be the one in Love Hina.
But in Negima we had the story of what was going on with Negi's dad, and there was the entire Magical World arc. Plus a lot of the characters, particularly several of the girls in Negi's class, were fleshed out nicely as characters and not just as massively eccentric haremettes.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 14, 2016 05:46 PM (+rSRq)
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I experienced this very reaction the last time I tried to read through the series again. I got about halfway through and just realized I no longer had the patience to deal with another 7 volumes of "never mind if there's a plausible explanation, Keitaro's a pervert so let's hit him." The fact that he does tend to bring at least a measure of that on himself doesn't help so much as it makes
me want to hit him too, for being such a dope he can't remember to knock on a bedroom door after the
nth time. Even animals learn not to stick their noses where it hurts.
Love Hina just runs way too long and leans way too hard on the Idiot Plot button. I still have some lingering fondness for Akamatsu lurking in a cockle or two, so maybe someday soon I'll give
Negima a further look...once I can figure out the whole Negima/Negima!/Negima?!/Negima!?#@^$% titling thing.
Posted by: Tagmec at March 15, 2016 09:43 PM (e5ntq)
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Don't bother with either full length anime. "Negima!" is based on the earliest part of the manga, when it was still a harem show and was lousy. "Negima!?" is a loose adaptation which borrows the characters but doesn't even remotely try to stick to the canon.
There were some OVAs which did stay true to the manga but they come out of later parts of the story, so jumping into them early will just confuse you.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 16, 2016 09:55 AM (+rSRq)
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Those OVA's are the best part. Unfortunately they're not good as stand-alone stories, and they don't tell a continuous story, but jump around instead. The exception is Yue's, where she's amnesiac and enrolled into the Magic World's magic school. It's self-contained, and really good. The one immediately before it requires some knowledge of the manga/story, but is also very good, at least in the latter half.
Sigh.... I'm still pissed over that abortion of a series ending, and refuse to read UO because of it.
Posted by: ubu at March 17, 2016 07:51 AM (SlLGE)
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March 05, 2016
Random Anime Picture #113: The Smile That Sank A Thousand Abyssals
-Kantai Collection, Ep12
Because everybody needs more Mutsu in their lives.
To be fair, however: if Mutsu hadn't've been there to keep my morale up during the Kancolle writeups...
...Kirishima would have done quite nicely. Just sayin'.
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KanColle, the anime, was made up of pretty and interesting characters (mostly) doing absolutely ridiculous things. It was fun to look at, anyway.
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 06, 2016 10:19 AM (rKFiU)
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The whole "Ships as girls" mecha-musume concept just didn't work for me for this show. It was handled slightly better for Arpeggio of Blue Steel, however, IMHO.
They never gave us any hints about what the Fog were, where they came from, or why they were doing what they were doing, so that wasn't any good. But the ships with Mental Models worked for me, especially since they were quite varied, and kept changing the more contact they had with humans.
And I liked their version of Kirishima (a teddy bear) better. This Kirishima is just another big-busted lady pretty much indistinguishable from all the others.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 06, 2016 12:45 PM (+rSRq)
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The whole point of KanColle is the character design. While I was hoping the anime would add more story than it did, it certainly translated the ship girls faithfully and beautifully. Everybody can find their own favorite. I'm partial to Nagato, Kongo and Haruna, myself.
Posted by: Ben at March 06, 2016 02:27 PM (VtwaX)
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Just like Fate/Stay, the real fun is seeing what fans do with the characters. There's a ton of 'em, they've got just enough personality to hook something onto, and the plot is thin enough that you don't have to worry about "well, when in the war is this happening?"
I've seen anything from detailed technical explanations of what the ships used to be and how they fought, to Northern Princess used as a kind of mittened Yotsuba, to character studies dealing with alcoholism, to cries de couer from game-players who've had things go wrong one (hundred) too many times. Abyssals show up to attack the base, to infiltrate and impersonate people, or just to hit the ice cream shop. The German ships show up and hilarity ensues. The marriage system is, of course, a popular topic. So is Akagi's appetite...
And of course there's a billion tons of porn, par for the course.
I've even seen a few that tried to explain, why Kancolle? Putting together an explanation that explains abyssals, ship girls, fairies, the compass, and all that ain't easy.
Posted by: Avatar at March 06, 2016 03:23 PM (v29Tn)
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The only plausible explanation for something like this is The Rule of Cool, and the Rule of Sexy.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 06, 2016 05:44 PM (+rSRq)
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March 03, 2016
Random Anime Picture #112: SPAAAAAAAAAACE!
-Planetes Ep01
Because even in the future, astronauts wear diapers. And top hats.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
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There's an anime question for you, Wonderduck: what did you think of the ending of Planetes?
Posted by: Ben at March 04, 2016 08:52 AM (DRaH+)
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Oh, that one's
easy!
I dunno.
I've never seen the series before, I finished the first three episodes last night. I saw a list recently of the "10 best older anime" or some such (2004 is old? groan!), and it was right near the top. I figured, hey, why not? And here I am.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 04, 2016 08:45 PM (KiM/Y)
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In that case, I look forward to your views, and I will refrain from spoilers!
Posted by: Ben at March 04, 2016 09:10 PM (DRaH+)
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I don't watch nearly as much anime as you, but I think Planetes is my personal favorite of all the series I've watched. Of course, I'm predisposed to like it because I love hard sci-fi, so your mileage may vary.
Posted by: flatdarkmars at March 05, 2016 08:49 AM (Ykyrg)
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And that's what makes horse races. I watched about five episodes of the series and dropped it, because it just wasn't doing anything for me.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 06, 2016 12:06 AM (+rSRq)
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I watched Planetes when it was airing (I may even have been participating in and/or running the forum back then) and I liked it well enough but wandered away before the ending. Like many shows, it's on my "if I'm ever bored enough to go through the backlog of all the things I should re-watch some day" list.
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 06, 2016 10:15 AM (rKFiU)
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It's a fascinating series. Starting around ep 9, they make small changes to the OP, reflecting what the viewer now knows; the ED has a gradual change as well, but that mainly serves to highlight a subtle series-long joke.
Posted by: HC at March 07, 2016 02:24 PM (SVE9e)
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