アニ・ノート

Impz posted an updated summary of the animeblogging history, and included Ani-nouto thus:

In search of Number Nine, Ani Nouto, Drastic my Anime Blog, Furu Anime Panikku, Ogiue Maniax, That’s Not Kanon, Mega Megane Moe and Far away no where are editorial blogs having a strong view on things and brings a somewhat “journalistic” culture into our blogosphere.

I think he missed an opportunity to observe that Ani-nouto is not an editorial blog as such, but rather a parasitic blog, like a worm in our intestines. Its mere existance is a testament to the size of animeblogging, from which Ani-nouto derives its feed. Remove the other blogs, and it is reduced to fairly ordinary hating of beloved cultural icons (which the likes of Lolikitsune do better anyway).

Cameron’s post reminded me to check on the progress of VIZ’s theater project, which I mentioned previously. They’re still at it:

The nation’s first J-Pop mall is in the works in San Francisco, created by Japanese film distributor Viz Pictures, and will feature a Japanese-only film theater, bookstore, café and fashion boutiques with the U.S.’s first boutique for Gothic Lolita fashion.

The article has a few more tidbits, like this:

Manga is a particularly growing segment; the Japanese comics for all ages increased in sales by 10 percent in 2007, reaching $220 million. Nearly 1,500 titles were estimated to have been released in 2007.

Can this figure be right? It’s difficult to imagine, even together with OEL titles.

Daniel’s piece picqued my interest in part because I liked the 08th despite all the mayhem (I never liked the idea of watching protagonists struggle and lose, a-la Silmarillion, Das Boot and so on). And he delivers. Here’s a taste:

The 08th is, however, a war story, and a love story. I think the word ’story’ must be stressed: this show’s realism is much-touted, yet in truth I’ve never found it especially realistic (if that is the right question to ask in the first place). It can be gritty and convincing, yes, but there’s also something operatic about The 08th MS Team, a sense of convenience and arrangement which at times makes it feel like a vision.

Too true. But then, it’s Gundam.

What’s not to like? // The last episode, that’s what. Sinking to a homily on the subject of naming is simply gauche. It’s especially gauche at the end of a series which managed, most of the time, to convey its messages without shouting.

I simply consider the ep.12 never made. I deny its existence; it’s the only way to appreciate The 08th, IMHO. The pandering of the last frame scene [+] is just as disgusting as Geneon’s pandering in Kamichu’s DVD booklet.

More good stuff is at the link. There was also a reference to this blog, but I swear that I started writing this entry before I knew it was in there.

[+] The way Aina had to sit back was amazingly womanly, so I appreciate the skill that went into the scene, but it’s still a pandering.

Calaggie was rushing into Scott’s camp of Lucky Star appreciation and added the following tidbit, no doubt useful to establish credibility:

I simply have no intention of watching Azumanga ever again because I’ll see the jokes and their setups coming from a mile away and thus would be wasting my time.

I’ve seen Azumanga more than 25 times, but I suppose the above was a timely reminder to do it again.

Apropos the Funi thing (noticed by Astro), here’s what AoDers were saying (although they talked about mostly in the context of The Strongest Disciple Kenichi, not the Il Teatrino):

<UEHacker> Once again, Funi should stop licensing stuff and release what they have first
<DarkSong> man, why is funi liescencing crap now. ;P
<DarkSong> didn’t they learn from ADV?
<ROFLCOPTER|Outlaw_Sp> maybe they’re trying to improve relationships with certain companies?

If I knew anything about Funi’s announcements, these would’ve been my sentiments, especially about ADV. Anyone wants to bet that when the garbage they are licensing bombs, Funi is going to blame “illegal downloaders”? Which is too bad for them. My money belong to Bandai Ent. these days. I don’t remember when was the last time I bought 3 titles in a row from the same company, but my short queue opens with Rocket Girls, Lucky Star, Gurren Lagann.

UPDATE: Hung says:

There’s been some criticism of Funimation’s license choice recently. I guess if they have money for ludicrous marketing payola (in the form of lollipops) they have money for ludicrous licenses.

Actually, exactly this kind of strange exhuberance is what was questioned.

UPDATE: Cameron Probert comments. Indeed, perhaps I was too quick to put my spin on the news. Still, I cannot agree with him completely, e.g. I don’t think that Haruhi flopped, because it sold way above the most, although about a half of mainstream titles. We cannot declare anything south of One Piece a flop. There’s the question of the cost, of course. It’s like the Speed Racer: second only to Iron Man, and still a flop, how comes? Unfortunately, I do not have any numbers on the production costs. So perhaps Haruhi flopped, in financial terms. I don’t know. Does Cameron? I should read him more.

LUPUS @ THAT:

It seems there’s still some confusion about what Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk’s OP means. Is it a hint as to the real nature of the world: are they all actually just playing an MMORPG? I think that’s a brilliant idea, but unfortunately I’ve decided that it’s nothing more than a gimmick.

He then parses names, which was nice and informational, but IMHO does not conclusively debunk the notion of the OP showing us something interesting. I have to say though, it is unlikely.

Kamichu had a similar OP, too, only they inserted staff instead of cast. The screencap above refers to Taraku Uon, character designer. And as far as I can tell, the OP did not contain any Easter Eggs or explanations.

The idea seemed simple enough: play the game, learn kanji. And it went pretty well for a while. But when I hit level 3, I realized that it’s completely unworkable. The problem is, I need to take the material in small dozes, to allow kanji to get digested. But KanKen only has 10 levels for 10,000 kanji… and the distribution is progressive. I don’t know how many were at the level 1, I knew most of them. Level 2 was about 80 kanji: a shade harder. Level 3 went for 230 kanji thus far. By level 5 I’ll have to take 800 in one go.

I’m starting to think that I made a mistake; should have gone with Kakitori-kun.

There was a lot of usual profanity at the post, but:

Yeah, I liked Lucky Star. No, I won’t concede on the points made in my landmark Lucky Star post. They still stand. Just, Lucky Star turned out to be enjoyable. The comedy was decent and the slice of life aspect — while I won’t agree 100% with Owen on the count — was present and pleasant. Kyoto Animation is still a gaggle of prostitutes, Ayu is still an impossibility, Haruhi is still total shit. And I won’t apologize.

Does this mean he’s going to buy DVDs?

I don’t want to call it “food porn”, and unfortunately, “foodservice” means something else, so here we just have food. Nothing quite as intricate as food in Azumanga, but nice nonetheless. We start with perhaps not the best drawing ever, but the one to represent something special:

Dual: Shark fin soup, by Mitsuki II. She is amazing, and so is the soup.

A collection of traditional meals follows.

ef (this is probably Miyako’s handiwork).

Figure 17 (half-eaten).

Fate/stay night: Not the best screencap, unfortunately. By Sakura.

Manabi Straight Special: Very strange fish with cross-cuts.

Shingu: Although most of the show features simplified animation, someone certainly put care into this.

Shuffle: Note the plating excess. By Kaede.

Dual: Getting westernized a bit.

Now, a couple of variety items.

Myself;Yourself: Some oddball salad.

Sketchbook: Udon, it looks like (possibly the super-spicy one).

UPDATE: Forgot a couple more images prepared elsewhere.

Unknown (if anyone recognizes this, please e-mail me).

Ai yori Aoshi: The first supper by Aoi for Kaoru.

OMO plans a panel at Otakon and he needs help.

I think it’s a great idea, although it’s on the wrong coast for me. C.C. Yoshi made noises about getting together at Fanime, which is in San Jose on the weekend 5/23-5/26. I wasn’t going to go to Fanime this year, what with the move and all, but if a specific date and place paints, I’ll think about it.