アニ・ノート

Konata, Lucky Star ep.11

Where did I see this before?

Update: Wonderduck explains what the reference actually was for, just in case anyone is retentive enough to care.

As I mentioned before the movable engine going through the heat shield is a huge safety concern. However, there’s plenty of smaller oddities as well.

For one thing, pilot position is wrong. Here’s the whiteboard sketch:

A better view would be to turn it so the acceleration line is vertical:

Note that they did all the tricks with the engine especially in order to keep the acceleration vector pointing in the same direction at all flight modes. But the correct body position for the pilot to withstand 8G is with knees just a bit below the head:

Another odd thing I noticed was the location of the RCS thrusters in the nose. The Mangosteen is so damn small, that it’s simply impossible. Even far bigger capsules group thrusters near their fuel tanks. Here’s an example of SpaceX Dragon:

I went to a screening for Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo Sumaseba, 耳をすませば) in the San Francisco public library, supported by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco. The event was anchored by Gilles Poitras. Unfortunately, San Francisco organized some unholy hybrid of a frea market and a farmer’s market in the square in front of the library, so streets were closed off and parking was full. I sat in traffic jams, parked for $25, and ended being late. I saw probably 3/4 of the film.

I didn’t have my pencil on me, so no notes. The overall impression is rather positive, it’s on the border of “buy DVD”. The movie is a love story, nothing less, nothing more. It is recognizeably Ghibly and Miyazaki, but different enough in details. Maybe it’s because, uniquely for Ghibly, the movie is based on a manga. Or perhaps because Miyazaki only wrote the screenplay and Yoshifumi Kondou directed. There’s no war, so the trademark Miyazaki’s hatred of all things military does not get a chance to annoy me.

Liked: Yes (not my bag, but certainly a high quality work.)
Rewatch: Possibly.

When Owen linked me, he chose the “Tandem Crew” entry.

On reflection, the entry made very little sense, because it wasn’t in its context. When I wrote it, the blog wasn’t listed yet and thus not read by anyone. The real pencil note which stated it read “Stellvia === Vandread”.

I did not mean that Stellvia was a remake of Vandread. Their stories are not very similar [^1]. But I meant to note that they a) both are examples of mecha-as-a-backdrop shows and b) made to the equivalent level of quality.

Steven Den Beste summed the mecha question thus:

I’ve now seen at least ten series which featured mechas and I was only really enthusiastic about one of them. Most of them I found to be a complete waste of time; several I didn’t even bother to finish watching. The problem is that the writers, and presumably the fans they’re writing for, are entranced by the idea of the mechas, and concentrate on the gee-whiz equipment instead of such basics as plot, characterization, and human warmth. That also applies to things like steampunk, or fascination with dirigibles. Generally, when the gizmos are viewed by the writers and artists as particularly nifty, everything else tends to get shortchanged. It’s theoretically possible that there could be a good series like this, and in fact I’ve seen a couple which I liked, but the odds are tremendously against any particular one being any good, and it’s a risk I choose not to take, since I do not have infinite time or infinite money.

When seen from this angle, Stellvia is an attempt to tell a character story with heroic action, which happens to have mecha in it somewhere. To illustrate, the Stellvia’s fanbase does not obsess with Keity’s combat loadout (unlike Gundam’s fans). Vandread takes the same route.

I saw Vandread basically because of Steven, after I’ve seen Stellvia. It wasn’t just the review, but the general advocacy too. And about halfway into the show I scribbed the “Stellvia === Vandread” note. They were leaving a similarly sized emotional imprint. Both let secondary characters flourish within reason. Both had protagonists which were a bit irritating (Hibiki with his pseudo-macho, Shipon with her tears). Both were drawn well and directed well. Both have a mid-series climax.

There was a number of dissimilarities, too, but they somehow compensated each other for the comparison. For example, the worst part of Vandread, long term [^2], is the bickering in the kitchen, sick bay, etc. The worst part of Stellvia, long term, was watching Shipon’s breakdowns. Vandread has a tight plot which explains everything, and Stellvia doesn’t, but you have to use Steven’s powers for retcon to uncover it. So for me, Stellvia makes more sense. Not that either of them was in any way realistic anyway.

So, there we have it. I gradually became enthralled with the “Stellvia === Vandread” meme and plug it unconsciously, and well past it “sell by” date, which is how the “Tandem Crews” came about.

I saw the first 3 episodes on the first DVD of Black Lagoon, and had no desire to see the rest at all. It’s completely mindless. Also, it’s not very Japanese (sort of like Witch Hunter Robin).

One notable thing about Black Lagoon is the so-called “production values”. I feel like I never saw any series quite so beautiful and skillfuly crafted. Certainly, there was Porco Rosso, but that’s not series. It’s truly outstanding. Some 3D still boils through, for example the gunship’s nose. But the characters were done in exquisite detail.

Liked: No
Rewatch: No

TheBigN resurfaced today with a summary for Kamichu. It’s quite long and attempts to build some interesting comparisons, to which I don’t have anything to add. But I’d like to pick on this:

And while off sometimes, you couldn’t really have major complaints about the animation, art, and music.

Actually, I totally can. Animation was bad in a number of sequences. I have a few screenshots from the Christmas episode where it looks like concept art inked with a bucket fill tool. He says “sometimes”, but I think the low quality spots were in fact rather common. And even when high-line-count and properly inked, it still failed sometimes (real “sometimes” now though). For example, in the transfer episode, the welcome back sequence was outsourced to someone who blew the art. Not only the welcoming party didn’t adhere to the standard, the art was simply ugly. The instances of excellent art and animation happened, but overall, Kamichu is an uneven work.

What can I say. I’m weak. I am rewatching Manabi Straight again. But I solemnly swear not to do episodic blogging… Or… Maybe just a little bit? What the heck, who am I kidding! Prepare for Manabi flood.

JUST AN SCHOOL GIRLS WITH HAPPY DAYS COME UP SMILING IN EVERYDAY LIFE

The screenshot is from the end-of-the-episode sequence. The “POWERFUL x HAPPY” is just too cute for me to handle. And the irony of it, when applied to Taka-chan… I’m melting.

I saw 4 eps. of Parallel Dual: Visions, or whatever its name is, by accident. Seems like mindless fluff, but if I get a chance to see more, I probably will.

The animation sometimes reminds me of the old Tenchi OVA.

At other times, not so much.

Also, it looks like these people parody or copy Evangelion, I’m not sure which.

For some reason, I always feel cheated when a character jumps into a mech and starts kicking major ass (Hellooo, Hibiki! Hellooo, Kamina!). At least Shipon had to work for it. Even thinking rationally, fidelity [^1] of the show gets injured. Need to ask Astro some time how much it took. Not sure if it is The Most Annoying Trope Ever, but it sure is close, and is annoyingly common in anime. Oh well. Dual never pretended to be a masterpiece.

^1: In communication studies it is said that a narrative has to have high fidelity and coherence to be persuasive. Fidelity is a measure of how well the story matches the world experienced by the audience. Coherence is a measure of internal contradiction (well, the inverse of it), e.g. Vandread’s plot is coherent but not “realistic”.

Hidamari Sketch and Manabi Straight aired in the same season. Many expected them to compete head-to-head, but the two turned out nothing alike. Manabi has a great plot, larger than life characters, and UFOtable. Hidamari has… Yashinoya-sensei, if that even counts.

So after 3 episodes, my main problem with Hidamari is how limp and pathetic it is. Mind, so says the man who loves Azumanga to death. I am even following that blatant pandering vessel Lucky*Star. 4-koma adaptations do not have to be so weak.

I made two observations in my previous entry about Dual: its Evangelion references and the visual similarity to Tenchi. Now it turns out that just about everyone comments on the EVA part (AD2225 wrote it on the same day, even). As for Tenchi, Owen drew my attention to the fact that Masaki Kahishima is the creator of both. I have to say, Dual and Tenchi are a bit more distinguishable than Stellvia and Gravion.