アニ・ノート

Meanwhile on TwitX

2023-09-03T00:00:00-06:00

Why could you not tell you loved me back when it mattered? Baka.

A better Kumoko trailer

2020-12-24T00:00:00-07:00

Months passed since the disaster of trailer for Kumoko was shown, and the creators made the second approach. They completely reworked the character design, and IMHO improved it dramatically. Kumoko seems more like herself now. Unfortunately, it's still a 3D show, but I suppose it's no use to draw that particular line after Knights of Sidonia.

Kumoko trailer is revolting

2020-02-17T00:00:00-07:00

Manga is quite enjoyable with its gripping action, but the trailer is disgusting with the RWBY level 3D and Kumoko's snout. Perhaps this is what fans of Star Wars felt when they saw Jar-jar.

Honzuki no Gekokujou S1

2020-02-13T00:00:00-07:00

Ascendance of a Bookworm is something I reconsidered primarily thanks to comment board at Brickmuppet's. The heroine of the manga was absolutely insufferable though being self-centered. However, with Muppet vouching for the anime, I gave it a good try, and indeed, they wrote out the character flaws that ruined everything. Now, she keeps the eye on the prize, but not at the expense of her family.

Evirus ran out of interest at the split-season, but I think I'll watch more.

Canceling of Ishizoku Reviewers

2020-02-10T00:00:00-07:00

When Funimation dropped Interspecies Reviweers after 3 episodes, it was funny. Remember how Seven Seas dropped Kodomo no Jikan? Good times. Yet again licensing something without any idea what they licensed, the industry is at its best as usual. But now that Tokyo MX dropped the broadcast (and literally replaced it with a Nice Boat again), it may be time to become concerned. If other channels follow suit, it's possible for the budget situation at the studio to become precarious enough not to support the completion on OVAs.

That said, I'm wondering if it's all going according to plan. I dropped the manga very early on, when it became clear that it's running out of its premise. Perhaps it's actually better for the anime to get canceled altogether before collapsing upon itself.

Ubu versus Crunchyroll

2020-01-16T00:00:00-07:00

Almost exactly 10 years ago, we were discussing how, for all their bluster about the right of fist look, Funimation tended to license garbage. But that was in 2009. Today, the 2019 is over and Ubu finds out that things have changed:

So, I’ve been really kind of blah about anime lately. I finally figured out why… After I gave up bittorrenting, I’ve only been watching via Crunchyroll. I’m sorry to say, CR sucks.

Bluntly, there’s too many options, what with Netflix, Hulu, and most of all, Funimation in the mix now. CR is being left with the dregs; not totally bottom-feeding, but damn close to it. [...]

So I decided to look at a Funi sub again, and I just finished watching the first episode of Astra: Lost in Space. Oh hell yes. [...]

Whoo, boy. Well, I can see where Ubu comes from. Machikado Mazoku is not on Crunchy either.

Machikado Mazoku

2019-12-30T00:00:00-07:00

I was re-watching Machikado Mazoku recently, thanks to my wife who agreed to watch "an anime about the girl with horns". It really is a fun series, suitable for all ages. The art is great, characters are great, what else is there to wish for?

I'm familiar with the manga, and stuff goes real in there very quickly after the anime arc. But we're spared of all that in the series, as well as waffling and dragging of the story.

Liked: Yes
Rewatch: Yes

Shirobako S2 is announced

2019-09-12T00:00:00-06:00

The second coming of Shirobako is such a major news that I was unable to live without a blog anymore and restored it, using Pelican. Thank heavens I never had comments enabled. Anyway, that being major news is not necessarily good news. The impact of the original was so great that I do not think it's possible to capture the lightning in the bottle again. But we shall see, of course.

Animeblogger.net is shutting down

2019-07-19T00:00:00-06:00

This blog is going to go away at the end of the month. The management offered a free redirect from the old domain, but I'm not sure if I will be in position to take them upon it.

Slime ends

2019-05-15T00:00:00-06:00

Or as it was called, Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken. It was a solid production, but in the same time a disappointment for manga readers. There was seemingly no dramatic tension, even in major fights. I think the only time I was interested in the story was when our slime had to fight Milim, who clearly was unbeatable (by the time I watched the anime, I forgot how the fight went down in the manga).

Liked: It was allright
Rewatch: Nope

P.S. Now I'm worried for an anime adaptation of Tensei Shitara Ken deshita. I actually re-read it once in a while. On the other hand, a poor adaptation does not take the manga away from the readers. It only robs the watchers and incurs opportunity costs on the studios.

Bocchi begins

2019-04-30T00:00:00-06:00

Japanese sure love their emotional anxiety stories. Some are immensely popular, yet fail to interest... I'm looking at you, Komi-san. Fortunately, Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu takes a sunshine approach. Imagine, if you will, a Watamote, where the main character is not a disgusting turd of a person, but rather the opposite, only shy.

Another thing they do often is a naming convention with a joke or a theme. Remember the Princess Latifa, Kayne West, et al in Amagi Brilliant Park? Bocchi turns it up to 11, baking everyone's characteristics right in. The code is very straightforward and is within the powers of low-level weebs, so it's quite fun to consider. Not all of them are as obvious as Hitori-Bocchi though. For example, Kai's last name Yawara, which makes her "yawarakai" — soft, tender, possibly gentle-mannered and open-minded about people. However, is her approach to Bocchi not that of tough love? Hmm!

Production values are outstanding, to a surprising degree.

2013 cut our ranks like scythe

2019-04-16T00:00:00-06:00

Behold, a short and incomplete lit of anime blogs that stopped posting in 2013 - and their authors were kind enough to keep up 6 years later.

Ramblings of DarkMirage: mostly known for his feature reviews, such as RaX.
Unmei Kaihen
Calamitious Intent
One Minite Of Dusk
BasuGasuBakuhatsu: Hung is still around, but I'm afraid to tell him that his comments became overflowing with spam. What if he decides that it's easier to shutter the whole thing?
Ultimo Spalpeen
The Animanachronism: This guy was amazing.

Faust is back

2019-04-16T00:00:00-06:00

He's back with a review of Yuru Camp, and on a new domain. Le sigh. These day, I cannot muster a good outrage about that. Not after Omo lost his DB, and Nobar switched domains (and lost the DB).

Real quick

2019-03-28T00:00:00-06:00

Been busy recently. Well, that, and scanlations.

Yama no Susume S3: not as amazing as S2. In S2, they had a lot of growth and stepped beyond the boundaries of CGDCT. I don't remember the last time when an anime protagonist fail as hard as Aoi did, and then live through it. But the S3 is just hop and skip, eating cake and buying mountaineering equipment.

New Game S2: Man that thing was good. Some people still know how to make a great adaptation. A new character for S2, Momo, is my favourite (not pictured). Yagami and the MC (pictured) made for the interplay at the level of Kamina and Simon.

Yuru Camp: I was prepared not to like it as much as Yama no Susume S3, but the decline in the latter's tension, as well as Nadesico not being a debacle of retard moe and/or annoying brat, leveled them out. In fact, I think this may be better. Not as good as YnS S2, but a good series. The cracks in the Rin's facade of perfection were shown quite nicely.

CKS on Slime

2019-03-14T00:00:00-06:00

Not much to add to this:

Above all, Slime is a cheerful, good-hearted show that is out to make us smile. If you want conflict and challenged characters and so on, this is not for you; it's all about Rimuru solving a succession of problems and running over a succession of obstacles as they build a home and make friends with people and various great character interactions go on. The show fundamentally likes pretty much everyone, and almost every enemy gets a chance at redemption. In an ocean of grim shows where terrible things happen to people and certain sorts of characters are walking cliches that are used only as the butt of jokes, Slime is a breath of fresh air.

Slime is not flawless, and in a certain way it's boring. But I always enjoyed it and it reliably brought a smile to my face when I watched a new episode.

I have to admit that I was watching it too, even after suspension. I think that, in the genre of the heartful action, I would prefer something like Dog Days S1, or Gundam Build Fighters S1. But the Slime will do.

Top 5 of mecha anime

2019-03-06T00:00:00-07:00

Scott (apparently no relation to Scott Von Schilling) of Mechanical posted a little mecha top-5: FMP, Geass, Gurren-Lagann, Escaflowne, Gundam 00/Gundam: IBO. Each generation has its own heroes, I suppose. Still, I think we can do better without going full Let's Anime.

Gurren-Lagann: This is one entry that Scott selected appropriately. It is a masterpiece. That said, my relationship with it changed with years. Before, I thought the post-timeskip was too edgy, with the trumped-up chargers and death row, people die when they are killed, and all that. But now, it's all I rewatch. The pre-timeskip story seems a little too... shounen? For the lack of a better moniker.

SDF Macross: The only Macross worth your time, even with how long it is, and how much of a stupid broad Minmay is.

Martian Successor Nadesico: I never rewatch it, but I thought it was surprisingly good.

RahXephon: Better than EVA.

Gundam 08th MS Team: If you only watch one Gundam, make it this one — not the kids' stuff like 00 and Wing.

Now that was a real Top-5! In addition, here are runners up with honorable mentions:

Gundam Build Fighters: If you only watch two Gundams, make sure this one is the second one. It's the Gundamest of all Gundams, a thrill end-to-end.

Dai-Guard: I adore this, but I admit: it's not on the same shelf as TTGL and RaX.

Patlabor OAV: Way to ruin the series by giving it no ending.

Vandread: The only good series by GONZO. It had its moments. My favourite is Barnett.

Stellvia: Tatsuo Sato was still pretty good in it, although not as good as in Shingu and MSN.

Kights of Sidonia: It is 3D, but... not too bad.

Darling in the FranXX: I haven't completed it yet.

Scanlations are out of control

2019-03-04T00:00:00-07:00

Yet another night when I'm reading manga instead of watching anime. I really don't have an excuse: the easy availability of scanlations is what enables this. I follow 281 titles (of 355) on the site I'm using currently.

UPDATE by Omo:

I barely read any manga these days – I’m too busy crying over dead idol groups to read anything.

So, about the piracy. Would I read this much if I could afford it? But wait a minute, before we try to answer, consider this: I certainly could watch this much on ad-supported streaming or TV. Why a more expensive media can supply these hours of entertainment, and the less expensive media can not? If Comico weren't total dicks who constantly deactivate my account because of sheer incompetence, we could find out.

Haters: 2 - Author: 0

2019-01-14T00:00:00-07:00

Since my tastes run contrary to the mainstream often, I tend to fall into the hipster trap, where if eveone say that something is bad, I expect it to be good. But obviously it's a logical fallacy, and I'm getting it with two big titles: Slime (Reincardated As) and Demon Lord (How Not To Summon). Both are based on LN and produced quality spin-off manga.

In case of the Slime it is just as boring as everyone is saying. It drags mercilessly through the story. The only good thing was the matter-of-fact personality of Rimuru, the protagonist. Also, all the plotting connections are inherited from the LN, and thus quite craftily done. In other source, plot advancements, like the craftsmen whom you need become exiled right when you need them, might be seen as a little too convenient, but in Slime thing have proper casual relationships. Would be nice to read it, I suspect. Watching though... I'm having trouble. {Update: Don't misunderstand, it's not bad. Shizu's death was well done. But the story is somehow not dramatic? Maybe I'm just spoiled.}

For the Demon Lord, I asked Ana-sempai about it, and she mostly complained about groping. Honestly, I thought she was reading too much Tumblr. Then I watched a few episodes, and oh boy. In the manga, if the hero wakes up and finds himself spreading over one of his slave girls, it's a visual gag for 2 frames. In the anime, it's the main attraction that crowds out the other aspects. In addition, I just can't get used to the appearance of the characters. The only two normal-looking people are Diablo himself and Rem. Seira is a walking chest. Ceres is ugly big time. The bunny guildmaster looks just wrong, with the brown tail. Although I saw Alicia in previews only, she already seemed badly done. The mangaka captured her stern beauty and tortured personality perfectly. But whoever did the character designs did not. Perhaps the LN illustrations are to blame.

Oh well. Here's a splash from ED that has nothing to do with the anime itself:

John on American Otaku

2019-01-10T00:00:00-07:00

Welp:

The default Japanese image of an otaku is the opposite of outgoing, active, and youthful. Yet particularly in America, especially in the two-thousand-teens, anime has taken on the image that watching anime makes one cool. The entire point of the “Stay Crunchy” ad is to illustrate the idea that immersing in anime makes viewers popular, trendy, special.

I have to ask though, is Japan is ripe for the change as well. At work, I have to interact with the Japanese, and the number of anime watchers and gamers are higher than in U.S., if anything. They are not particularly asocial. One iM@S P among them has 3 kids.

Conception

2018-12-17T00:00:00-07:00

Why am I watching this trash? It's even made by GONZO, and didn't I have a strict no-GONZO policy? The basic answer is, I tend to want to switch off recently.

The concept of the show is this: the protagonist is transferred to another world, where he has to seduce 12 maidens and sire 12 children. Said children then fight some monsters or other, in order to save the world. Children are clearly not human, but they are mostly antropomorphic little freaks. They pop up without any pregnacy or childbirth, as soon as very sex-like "Love Ritual" is concluded. Their mothers do not have any kind of special attachment to them, off-loading them into a boarding facility (see the screencap). GONZO's depravity is such, that these little freaks have rather normal personalities of human children, but in an attempt to smooth it over they don't suffer from combat injuries, either to bodies or to minds.

To add the insult to the injury, maidens are a low-rent bunch, with crudely developed personalities. The hero is the most relatable of them all, in that he generally goes with the flow, while trying to keep a facade of respectability.

I realize that I am not in position to complain about GONZO brushing aside all the oppression of the world's end, the nature of love, the morality of children soldiers, and the humanity of the characters in general for the sake of pumping out game-style courtship episodes, because I was somewhat unhappy with SukaSuka being too real. I'm sorry, allright?

The Otome Game Villainess

2018-11-12T00:00:00-07:00

I almost do not watch anime recently, but when Otome Geimu no Hametsu Flag etc. etc. comes out, I'll give it a try for sure (the failure of Rimuru the Slime notwithstanding). The manga is that good.

Elon Musk is discovering anime

2018-10-27T00:00:00-06:00

The rocket mogul has taken to Twitter with expressions of love of anime that left heathens shocked. What's particularly interesting about it, we're talking about a guy who's in with the Hollywood so much that he even got a cameo in Iron Man 2. And yet he's not a snob enough to dismiss anime. Honestly, I'm a little jealous. The feeling of discovering something this amazing is incomparable, and he's doing it right now.

The Black Healer as the pinnacle of Chick Isekai

2018-10-07T00:00:00-06:00

In our days, when Rimuru the Slime anime succeeds Death March and Dorei Majutsu on air, the traditional isekai is well established. Everyone loves frolicking in a slave harem. However, it's not the only defined form of isekai. Its antagonist is, for the lack of a better term, the chick isekai. Its properties are basically a girl who BAMFs, like in the days of 12K, but instead of conquering everything, she sells potions, or works as a healer, in a world full of bishies. Some instances of it are downright weak and/or formulaic, but not always. I think the Black Healer is my favourite at present. I expect the adaptations of chick isekai to pour in as soon as the standard isekai jumps the shark.

Honestly, I'm a little concerned. I heard that even Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken was not well received, and there's basically no better source material. Never underestimate the ability of anime creators to screw it all up. But we'll see.

Meow-Meow Japanese History

2018-10-06T00:00:00-06:00

Also known by its original name of Neko-neko Nihonshi, the cat thing is a delight. Although, truth to be told, I'm not entirely sure about some of the characters, most are quite recognizeable. Shinsegumi commanders, for example, or Ryoma Saotome. The episode of Sei Shounagon is my most favourite, with the narrative of her breaking with the establishment told to perfection (I have never read The Pillow Book, mind).

The OP and ED from the 1st season were phenomenal.

Wokashii!

FranXX begins

2018-07-20T00:00:00-06:00

Initially, [Darling in the] FranXX came on my radar because everyone latched on the supposed sexual innuendo (even Evirus). Later, Faust came strongly in favor, although on Smug.Loli instead of his own blog:

Do you like Trigger's Darling in the FranXX? Their early work was a little too cartoonish for my tastes, but when Darling in the FranXX came out in 2018, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole show has a clear, straight plot, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the episodes a big boost. They've been compared to Gainax, but I think Trigger has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor.

But what really pulled me over was the 4koma, which provided enough spoilers.

I think the largest feature of the early FranXX is its eclecticity, to the extent that it's difficult to identify any new element at all. Now, I was long on the record being okay with anime re-hashing and hopefully refining its tropes. But usually there's something... a key element. Not here. FranXX deliberately goes all out to make disturbing and fun show without bothering with a token inventiveness. And it may be better off by focusing on implementation.

Now, the setup itself is not all that amazing. I mean, sure, children soldiers. We saw that before, just off the top of my head in Stellvia, Shingu, Shingeki no Kyoujin, YuYuYu. Stellvia combined it with the lovebird crew. The level of the disturbing is about SukaSuka (which also featured wasteland with islands and the absurd monsters). But details were great. One thing that struck me in the opener episode was how the mecha and architeture design were used to impart a sense of large scale.