Do Not Disturb Any Further

Spring 2011 anime chart

The latest chart showing upcoming anime for spring 2011 is out.

Must-watch for this season: Deadman Wonderland; Sket Dance; the Onigamiden movie, which has a beautiful trailer.

Unexpected must-watch that I searched for because of its funny name: Spelunker Sensei. As Super Tiny Cart says, "Spelunker is a Teacher, and his anime looks fantastic". Sensei is voiced by Ginpachi Sensei himself. Check out the hilarious opening:

 

Likely: Tiger & Bunny; X-Men; xxxHolic Rou, which wraps up the messy xxxHolic/Tsubasa saga but which I already know wraps it up poorly.

Waiting for reviews: Ao no Exorcist; Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi (gotta read the manga first, but the seiyuu are promising); Honto ni Atta! Reibai-Sensei, whose humor may elevate it above high-school-age fantasies I usually avoid; C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control, which has quite the interesting-looking premise; Toriko, which looks promisingly silly.

Leery about: Steins;Gate, another complicated, inexplicably semicoloned title from the same studio that presented the poorly plotted waste of a good premise Chaos;HEAd.

Doubtless amazing but outside my genre preferences: Hanasaku Iroha, whose screen shots show some beautiful art already.

Definitely won't watch: Dog Days, which is already being brutally panned in reviews.

Not even if you paid me: Sengoku Otome - Momoiro Paradox, which gender-bends famous Sengoku Jidai figures into scantily clad, busty teens.

The best news of all is that Gintama is back, which gives me an excellent excuse to re-watch all of the previous episodes. And I finally got my greedy paws on Shinyaku Benizakura-Hen (sadly, only a low-res verion for now).

As always, thanks, Chartfag!

Winter 2010-2011 anime chart

Upcoming anime. Must-watch: The Cthulhu-themed Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Mr. Lovecraft, Gosick, Beelzebub, and the Mirai Nikki "pilot" OAV. Hmmm, lots of supernatural themes this season... Holding out for reviews: Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? and Level E. Avoiding: Infinite Stratos. I highly doubt that the anime will delve into the complex gender and age issues that would make that story interesting to me.

Thanks, chartfag!

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Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Mr. Lovecraft

Highly recommended: Durarara!!

Dual exclamation points and all.

Durarara!!, from the gang who brought us the also highly recommended Baccano, is about a dullahan working as a courier in modern-day Ikebukuro in Tokyo while seeking her stolen head.

The head games are epic, up there with Death Note and Code Geass.

The animation is superb, especially the magnificently accurate representations of Ikebukuro. (Those Brain's Base guys do good work.)

And the music! As epic as the head games! Things I was particularly impressed with:

• The use of celtic-influenced themes in honor of Irish Celty
• Action themes that were fitted to the length and pacing of the action scenes (unlike in, say, certain shounen anime where there's a predefined set of themes that are inserted full-length into action scenes even if they're a little too soon or run a little too long; it's doubtless one of the benefits of only making a single season)

There's a delicious heap of in-jokes. Books and anime and manga and Tokyo and otaku and... Like the main character's password for the network site is baccano. And when we first meet the most obvious otaku characters, they're carrying a standee of Holo from Spice and Wolf; later, they offer to torture a guy using methods from whichever manga he chooses.

And the bad guy is ambitiously, delightedly psychopathic. I'm impressed.

I seriously wanna hang out with the people that create these characters. They're twisted in all the good ways.

Every anime opening ever made

Montage fun with tropes. I. Will. Not. Go through this frame by frame to try to identify every single series I can figure out. Dammit.

 

Oh, hells yeah: Gintama returns

In April 2011. I'm hella excited. To celebrate:

Some Sougo antics:

 

A tribute to Hijikata:

 

The trials and tribulations of Madao:

And of course, the beloved Kinpachi Ginpachi Sensei:

 

Highly recommended: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

So the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime series was excellent and one of the very few series that I will recommend in both Japanese and English. Once the manga wrapped up, they made the anime again, this time called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. And it's freakin' amazing.

It's a must-watch. Definitely.

It's beautiful, layered, complex. And very tightly paced, notably more so than the first series -- not entirely surprising. Having never read the manga, though, I didn't realize how the first anime meandered a bit. The tight pacing moves the story along fast and hard, and it's a great ride.

Also like in the first series, Brotherhood has some damn good music. The score itself is excellent and often unnoticeably subtle. (That's a compliment.) And the opening and closing themes are well chosen. I'm particularly fond of "Hologram" from Nico Touches the Walls and "Uso" from Sid.

This is easily in the top-10 must-watch anime list, maybe even the top 5. Check it out. English, Japanese, on mute with subtitles -- doesn't matter. Just watch it.

 

Delightful: video for "Gr8 Story" by SuG

"Gr8 Story" (one of the endings from Reborn) is the first SuG video I've watched. It's eye-stabbingly bright but cute as hell. Enjoy!

 

 

Better than expected & beautiful: Highschool of the Dead

So now that Highschool of the Dead finished up, I just had to check it out. Zombies, after all. I was very pleasantly suprised to find it beautifully animated, consistently paced, and all-around entertaining. (Directed by the same guy who did Death Note, which was also beautiful, and animated by Madhouse, an excellent studio who also put out the incomparable Monster, which I can't recommend highly enough.)

The main detractor was the ubiquitous use of bouncy, bubbly breasts and panty shots displaying plumply filled undies and gleaming buttocks -- all the more apparent when half of our heroes' nakama is made up of high-school girls in stereotypical sailor outfits sporting stunning zettai ryouiki styles and who also have reality-bending proportions.

They managed not to overdo the romance angle, which was a relief. And the milling zombies each had a unique face, something not often managed even in live-action zombie movies.

And having Hiyama Nobuyuki, one of my favorite seiyuu, doing the voice of the otaku gun freak, gave me a little extra giggle.

If you like zombie or post-apocalyptic stuff and you can enjoy or block out the boobs and panty shots, check it out.

 

Sweet new Bleach opening from Sid

Update 12 November 2010: And yes, it's gone from YouTube already. Here's a local copy to download; damn if I can get local embedding to work right now.

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New song from Sid called "Ranbu no Melody" is the latest Bleach opening. Not officially released yet. Enthusiastic, if grammatically challenged, sub available. I'll upload it myself if it gets deleted from YouTube. Enjoy!

 

More Gintama fun: The Path of Takasugi

A casually illustrated fan video highlighting the troubled life of one Takasugi Shinsuke.

 

Getting my Gintama fix

I'm missing Gintama, so I hunted up a Katsura fix.

Also hosted locally since YouTube vids keep being deleted.

 

Oh noes: Reborn anime ended

I'm still mourning the hiatus of the Gintama anime, and now the Katekyo Hitman Reborn anime series has ended. This leaves only Bleach and Naruto as ongoing series I watch.

One Piece, the only other likely current weekly-show candidate, was (surprisingly) a total snoozer after a 60-episode trial run, so that one's no longer an option.

While it's nice not to be anxious for that weekly anime fix, I will miss it. Mukuro Rokudo and his delicious voice most of all.

 

Missing more geek fun: Tokyo Game Show

Maybe one day I'll get to the Tokyo Game Show. Meantime, I'll just have to check out videos of other attendees, like this collection of cosplayers.

Note: Turn down the volume before you watch this. The background "music" is atrocious.

 

Fall 2010 anime chart

And here's the chart showing anime scheduled for fall 2010. Psychic Detective Yakumo looks promising. The Togainu no Chi anime is a must-watch, even if it will likely omit the smut. I hope the new Tegami Bachi is as beautiful as the first season. The images for Omae Umasou da na somehow manage to make a Tyrranosaurus look skeezy, so I'll be skipping that one. And Star Driver Kagayaki no Takuto has potential via studio Bones, although I'll probably wait for reviews before I try it. The remainder of the series do not excite me.

 

Missing Comic-Con again

Speaking of Comic-Con, I'm once again devastated that I can't afford to go. So I'll torment myself by reviewing what I'm missing. Not going to surf the shopping reports just yet. I think I'll cry.

Yoshitaka Amano was there! I have a huge stack of his art books, even the rare Japanese limited editions. Not sure if he was doing signings for books people brought with them, but man, I would've tried.

Capcom debuted the upcoming Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes game and the Nintendo DS Okamiden game, a follow-up of the gorgeous Okami.

Robert Rodriguez talked Sin City 2.

Bruce Campbell showed up in his usual Tommy Bahama shirt to talk Burn Notice. That silvery hair looks good on him!

Seth MacFarlane doing live Family Guy stuff was doubtless hysterical.

Ryan Reynolds, who is both hilarious and deliciously buff lately, showed up to talk about the Green Lantern movie.

Harrison freakin' Ford. In handcuffs.

And Joss! Just Joss!

Unexpectedly catchy: remix of Kabuto's "Ninja Info Cards"

Update 9 July 2010: For reasons unknown, the video I originally linked to has been set to "private". If I can't see it, you probably can't either. Here's a downloadable version, which is stored in a different place.

Or you could search YouTube for "ninja info cards" and "kaj". That way, you can enjoy the original plus a passel of related vids that are also quite entertaining.

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Original post:

After spending a pleasantly absurd amount of time poring over various abridged series on YouTube, I came across a link from one of the Naruto abridged series that took me to a fun and silly song about Kabuto's "Ninja Info Cards". It's totally stuck in my head, and now it can be stuck in yours too. Musical memes FTW!

Summer 2010 anime chart

Hells, yeah! High School of the Dead! Sengoku Basara!

Sadness: Dattebayo no longer fan-subbing Bleach 'cuz it's licensed now

Crunchyroll finally got around to licensing Bleach for U.S. streaming, which prompted long-time fan-subbers extraordinaire Dattebayo to stop subbing it, as they've done for other licensed series. Dattebayo consistently provided creative subs that captured the spirit of both the anime and the manga, and they weren't restricted by official TV networks' censor-happy translations. I'll miss their distinctive tone. (Not enough to stop watching Bleach, even if I do have to get it via Crunchyroll when I could complain for a good half-hour about Crunchyroll's inadequate support for paying members, which cost them my continued financial support, but still...)

Thanks for all of the hard work, Dattebayo!

"Let's Bible" puts Jesus on the short bus

And no, it doesn't make any more sense in context. Gotta love it when symbolism that heavy is imported from (and to, and back again) another culture. But it's damn funny when it's deconstructed by Read Right to Left.

I'm not labeling this entry as Philosophy & Religion because, well... yeah.

 

As described by InventorSpot:

The Devil comes from way down there... in, er, Mexico??

Maybe trying to sing along to music isn't the quickest way to pick up Japanese words...

Update 23 July 2010: Another vanished video.
--------------

So you probably already know that I watch a lot of anime. And from that, I get introduced to lots of really cool music. But between the fact that at least half of the lyrics are fan-subbed by ear and the other fact that pop and rock singers in any language don't exactly use pristine pronunciation and traditional grammar, I often end up "learning" fantastically incorrect lyrics.

Just try to decipher and sing along to these without practice:

Maximum the Hormone "Zetsubou Billy", from Death Note. (And for fun, search YouTube for misheard lyrics to this song. It's funny as all hell.)

Orange Range "Asterisk", from Bleach (I've seen no fewer than 4 different fan-sub versions featuring misheard lyrics).

[removed]

Aqua Timez "Velonica", also from Bleach.

And then there's Miyavi, who somehow slurs both his Engrish and Japanese, but it's utterly forgivable because he just looks like he's having such a damn good time just making music. Check out the dancing in the "Wonderful World" video. Everyone in the group moves to the beat, which is almost unseen in groups that don't have synchronized routines as part of their schtick. Looks like much fun.

Video fun: Mell's "Red Fraction" set to Black Lagoon video

I was hella pleased with the Black Lagoon anime, both seasons. And its opening song, "Red Fraction" by Mell, mixes rock and techno with not-too-shabby Engrish.

Enjoy the sing-along video and marvel at Revy's biceps and fightin' grin.

And when you get the chance, watch the anime. Doesn't matter what language. It rocks.

Gantz, Berserk, and Escaflowne abridged

Since I'm not likely to get around to watching the actual anime versions of Gantz, Berserk, and The Vision of Escaflowne, what with plenty of more recent series still to be watched, I spent a few entertaining hours watching the abridged versions. Highly recommended, including the commentaries.

Gantz Abridged

Berserk Abridged 

Vision of Escaflowne Abridged

And don't miss out on other fun abridged series:

Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden

Yu-Gi-Oh

Dragonball Z

Pokemon

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Sailor Moon

D.Gray-Man

Are you ready, guys? Put ya guns on!

Update 23 July 2010: Another vanished video.
--------------

Yay, gratuitous English! The anime of Sengoku Basara rocks hard in word, song, and deed. I'm thrilled all to hell that there's gonna be a second season.

Have some music and video fun.

Opening animation set to Abingdon Boys School "Jap", now with synchronized dancing samurai!

[removed]

Say my name, Yukimura! Oyakata-sama! Yukimura!! Oyakata-sama!! Yukimura!!! Oyakata-sama!!!

Opening for Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes game, with Abingdon Boys School's "Blade Chord".

Hey, it's that voice: Kurosaki Ichigo is provoking Hijikata Toshiro, while Naruto's dad watches.

And there's a trailer out for the new Sengoku Basara 3 game, with an opening song by T.M. Revolution: the genius behind Abingdon. I think Team Basara likes his work.

Flow "Sign" = possible best Naruto opening ever

Update 23 July 2010: Some of the vids are no longer available. And I didn't download them all when they were available, so I can't re-post them here. Sigh.

--------------

Flow's "Sign", used as the 6th opening for Naruto Shippuuden, may just be the best Naruto opening song ever, accompanied by arguably the best Naruto opening animation ever.

Check out these various presentations of it. The animation of the Jiraiya and Itachi fights is freakin' gorgeous.

And enjoy the technical and vocal skills of the artist: They are damn good.

Naruto Shippuuden opening with karaoke Japanese lyrics and Italian fansubs

"Sign" PV

[removed]

"Sign" lyrics only

[removed]

Naruto opening with karaoke lyrics backwards (!)

Backwards version with English lyrics overlaid (best HQ version I've come across so far, even if it is reversed)

[removed]

Karaoke "Sign" with easy-to-follow vertical scrolling lyrics

[removed]

Handy chart of the latest anime for spring 2010

I need one of these for Every. Season. Ever.

Gintama anime hiatus = small tragedy

Oh, noes! The Gintama anime has caught up with the manga after 4 years. Rather than a year of filler, the anime is on hiatus until there's enough new manga material to create more. (And given the quirky nature of the series, no filler is a very good thing.)

I love Gintama, and I'm gonna miss getting my weekly fix of ball and butt jokes, absurd pop-culture references, and better music (both the openings/endings and the show's themes) than just about any anime out there.

The movie of the Benizakura arc (the first truly serious arc of the anime) opens this month in Japan, and I'm hoping that it will be out on DVD within a few months so I can see it too.

In celebration of 201+ episodes of kick-ass samurai silliness, here's some of the Gintama fun and music.

Benizakura movie trailer

Does "Shura"

Ambiance "Mr. Raindrop"

Does "Donten" to Bleach images from "Diamond Dust Rebellion"

Captain Straydum "Fuusen Gamu"

And my favorite running gag, Katsura reminding people what his name is

Ambiguous character alignment

As always, TV Tropes provides much entertainment in its exploration of character alignment. An amusing percentage of the discussion has been dedicated to pointing out that alignment is an ambiguous, sometimes poorly defined categorization.

While reading the alignment articles, I decided that I was Chaotic Good. However, since I'm now disappointed in myself, I may just aim more for Chaotic Neutral in the future. Or at least in the future in video games. I have standards to hold myself to, after all. (Is it possible for one to read about these sorts of things and not try to categorize oneself to bypass this whole problem?)

The ambiguous definition of alignment allows for situation-appropriate adjustments, especially for long-running characters who would become stale if they always stuck firmly to one alignment.

Like Batman.

This image explores some of Batman's variations in alignment over the years.

New single "Solanin" from Asian Kung-Fu Generation

Asian Kung-Fu Generation has released another new single, called "Solanin". It's going to be one of the theme songs for the upcoming Solanin movie. The AKFG forums report:

The title is from a song that one of the characters writes, which makes it "sky person", but it's also a play on words. Meiko's family send her loads of vegetables. Just after she reads the lyrics in the scene from the trailer, one of the characters freaks out about how a potato has grown those shoots out. "Solanine", pronounced the same way, is a toxic chemical in raw potatoes.

The lyrics that Gotoh sings in the song are also straight from the manga. He didn't write them.

Check out the subtitled PV now!

Maybe I'll actually try watching this "One Piece" thing

Update 30 March 2010: And predictably, the really cool video has been removed from YouTube. Had to change the link. Lemme know if this one dies too.

So, the art in the manga One Piece: I don't find it very attractive, despite it having a storyline and setting that appeal to me. I just keep comparing it to the Bleach or Naruto or Gintama or Reborn art, and I head for the more proportional, prettier ones every time.

But I followed a few links and ended up at this delicious video highlighting the action in the One Piece anime. And it's waaaaay less ugly or more attractive or whatever than I expected. So now I may just have to check out the One Piece anime and see if it's just the unmoving manga stills that did nothing to excite me.

There's over 400 episodes of One Piece anime, so wish me luck that it's good stuff for me, because I love those shonen anime marathons. (Is there anything published in Weekly Shonen Jump that I don't like? Hmmm...)

Sweet! New album from Abingdon Boys School

Abingdon Boys School just released their second album, Abingdon Road.

ABS rocks in any language. I usually dislike singers who use lots of vibrato, but for reasons I haven't figured out, it doesn't bug me when ABS's lead singer Takanori Nishikawa (a.k.a. T.M.Revolution) does it. YMMV.

You may recognize Strength from Soul Eater, or Jap (video below) and Blade Chord from Sengoku Basara.

Check it out!