Earlier this month, I completed the first season of K-On! after getting Sentai’s DVD re-release set. The last episode in that collection dealt with Houkago Tea Time (the main girls’ band) being invited to perform at a live house on New Year’s Eve with a few other bands. On Saturday night, I went to a live show at Witch Room in midtown Sacramento featuring three bands – local group Desario, Tennis System and headliner Be Forest from Italy – and thought back to that episode while I was there. Continue reading
Category: Anime
Fall 2014 Watching Update After About A Month
For the first real post on this blog’s current iteration, here’s an overall “what I’ve been watching from the new anime season” update similar to what I’ve done a couple times in the past.
Currently Watching
Gugure! Kokkuri-san (3 episodes): I didn’t know much of the show when it started but it made me laugh with its first episode and continues to have good moments as the Japanese kami characters fight over Kohina.
Hi-sCool! SeHa Girls (3 episodes): I liked both seasons of gdgd Fairies so I’m not surprised I’m watching this week-to-week, though I feel like the main attraction for many viewers – the console girls’ interactions inside Sega video games – has so far been delayed to the latter halves of two-parters with the first halves mainly being occupied with gdgd-style conversations among the three Hard Girls. Those conversational parts do have some funny moments in them so they’re not a total hindrance to the show.
I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying (4 episodes): There always seems to be at least one 3-to-5-minute series per season that I end up following and this one about a ordinary wife and her otaku husband goes by quickly. There are some sweet parts sprinkled in with the typical otaku-skewering jokes.
Parasyte (3 episodes): If you can get past the screaming OP each week, there’s a pretty good action show that doesn’t hold back much in terms of showing blood and has its protagonist (slowly) becoming more assertive.
Shirobako (2 episodes): This animation about animation production was one I hoped would be good and so far, I like the behind-the-scenes work and conflicts that it’s laying out. It’s got a bunch of terminology but that comes with the focus of the show – just like if I were watching a medical drama, I’d expect there to be some jargon to make the dialogue sound more natural.
Tribe Cool Crew (4 episodes): This Sunrise show about dancing is goofy enough for me to keep with it. Haneru’s straightforwardness has gotten a bit tiresome but the rest of the main cast keeps it fresh and Haneru in check. I don’t know how long this series will last but I’m hoping the climax doesn’t end up being the crew performing at a Jay-El concert or something easily predictable at this point.
Dropped
Denki-Gai no Honya-san (1 1/2 episodes): Soon after seeing the above frame at the start of the staff’s shopping district competition in episode 2, I stopped watching the show. I liked some of the characters and from what I heard on Twitter, episode 3 isn’t as bad as 2 was. However, I feel like I’m already watching a good amount for the amount of time I have so if I were to revisit it, it’d probably have to be after it’s finished airing.
Haven’t Tried Yet
Magic Kaito 1412: As someone somewhat familiar with Detective Conan, I figured I would give this prequel spinoff a shot but had technicial issue while playing the first episode (which I had to download since it’s not being simulcast by anyone) so I gave up for the time being.
Any of the FUNimation simulcasts: Nothing has really attracted me from their lot this season based on their premises, whether it’s the twintails one, the sequel to a series I barely started (Psycho-Pass), fantasy-action stuff (Garo & Rage of Bahamut), or the rest. I’ve heard good things about the last two I mentioned so I may try both later on.
[Archived Post] Bonus Endings
This blog post was recovered using The Internet Archive and has been backdated as part of its republication.
Remember FedEx’s 2005 Super Bowl commercial? You know, the one that gave a list of the ten things a great Super Bowl ad has? Well, after watching that ad last year, I’ve been on the lookout of bonus endings and I get excited whenever I find one. I’ve seen them in anime but also movies like X-Men 3 and even TV shows, like My Name Is Earl (though Earl’s happens while the credits roll on the bottom half of the screen).
Instances I’ve seen from the world of anime include Detective Conan, Tenshi na Konamaiki, Bleach, GitS: SAC and most recently Pani Poni Dash. Detective Conan usually has a light comedy bit similar to the “everybody laughing freeze frame” from cop shows like CHiPs. Tenshi na Konamaiki does the same except it’s shorter (30 secs-1 min). Pani Poni’s bonus ending is really short, only 10-15 seconds, but still time enough for a good visual parody.
Bleach (since episode 54) has had a mini-series called Shinigami Zukan Golden, which consists of 30-second humorous shorts that relate to the main storyline. Finally, both seasons of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex had the Tachikoma Days shorts, which had a continuing storyline following those sentient four-legged tank robots from the not so distant fictional future.
The common thread that ties these together is that they all intend to leave the audience laughing and having a good experience. They also give Japanese viewers something for sitting through the credits and not changing the channel. But, of course, the show’s fans would wait for the preview since they anxiously want to know what might happen next week.
In conclusion, omake is always good.
[Archived Post] “Original” Series
This blog post was recovered using The Internet Archive and has been backdated as part of its republication.
“While [Satoshi] Kon has built a career out of pushing beyond the boundaries of anime, he worries about the industry overall, suggesting that anime is currently caught in a vicious circle. One limiting factor is the fact that many creators are anime fans themselves, so they tend to make new works along the lines of something they’ve seen and liked. ‘That’s part of the problem,’ Kon says. ‘The other half of it is the fans. It’s probably an overstatement to say that all they want is stuff they’ve seen before, but it certainly seems to be the case. I don’t necessarily think they’re to blame for feeling that way, but I also don’t think it’s asking too much for people on the production side to start working toward getting the fans to watch other things. There are other stories out there to tell.’ Kon also believes that the tradition of adapting popular manga into anime is unhealthy for the industry; he feels that animation ultimately ends up as less of a creative force than manga. ‘We need to start demanding shows that were conceived as animation from the start. It sounds kind of overblown to say it like this, but this needs to start with the animation industry.’” [from Newtype USA interview, November 2004] Continue reading