It's a four day week this week, because it's Easter this weekend.
It feels weird when Easter is so early. Especially this year when we're getting a somewhat delayed spring.
Anyway, I can't really be arsed to post mush today, so this is it.
Except to say that I'm also taking next Tuesday off, so next week will be a 3 day week for me as well!
And in a couple of weeks it's my birthday and I'm taking the week off. It's a veritable cavalcade of holiday!
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
animu catch-up pt2
Here's the continuation of the mini reviews from yesterday.
This is also useful for me as there was no DVD rental this weekend and I didn't watch any films at all, so I don't have a review for you. I'm pretty sure that due to the timings I'm not going to have a DVD rental over Easter either, which is actually a bit rubbish, as it's the ideal time to watch a film.
Omamori Himari
See, one of the problems with being me and writing these reviews is that my tastes are kinda broad.
How to explain that better?
Basically, what I mean is that while I really like the flagship shows, I also really like some of the trashier ones too. So, while I love things like Eva and BeBop and Eden of the East or the Ghibli output - things that really show off the power and the strength of anime, stuff I'd happily sit anyone down in front of or that I watch and go "oh yeah - that's why I love anime!" - I also love things like fan service strewn harem shows.
If you hadn't guessed, that's exactly what Omamori is. And I'd say it's a pretty good example of the breed, although given how extreme fan service has become in recent years (shows like Kanokon are borderline hentai), this is actually more 'innocent', if that's the right word. But it works.
Chu-Bra!!
Now here's a tough one. Especially given what I was saying above about harem shows.
See, this is a show about underwear.
More specifically, it's a show about young girls wearing underwear.
And there's a line there somewhere. See, one of the difficulties with anime is that pretty much all female characters that aren't 'grandma' types always look a lot younger than they actually are. It's part of the style - the simpler lines and flatter shading just tends to make them look younger.
So it's easy to watch something like Chu-Bra and think the girls are very young. They're not, they're age appropriate to be starting to become interested in more adult lingerie, but only just.
So that's fine as it goes, but the other issue is the intent. If this was a show aimed at girls of a similar age, possibly aimed at providing them with genuine advice about how to wear correctly fitting underwear, then you could kinda understand that.
But it isn't. This is clearly a show aimed at men. And you can easily tell that because of the lascivious camera shots and the way the show is framed.
And that's where the problem with me being honest about liking a "broad range of stuff" comes in, because I actually found I quite liked the show. See, the thing is that although it's clearly got ecchi things on its mind, it does also have the genuinely good advice in it too and, what makes it a good show, is that the characters and the story are quite well done.
Of course, I'm sure that won't stop all those who have a more prudish take on things decrying the show, and in a way they have a point. You could easily have done the exact same stuff without the fanservuce and it would have been just as good.
Hanamaru Kindergarten
Hmm. I have to admit I wasn't sure what to make of this.
Basically, it's a show about a guy who goes to work at a Kindergarten. As in a lot of countries, teaching is a profession dominated by women, especially teaching younger children, so this is an unusual job.
The basic idea of the series is somewhere along the lines of a slice of life comedy. It basically works, although I have to admit a bit of an issue with how it portrays Kindergarten. It's a rose-tinted view of the world, to say the least.
I think overall it basically won me over.
Kaito Reinya
This was another oddity. Stylistically, Kaito looked a lot like a kids show, but a lot of the gags and content is distinctly adult.
It didn't really work for me, I have to say - the stylistic thing really jarred for me. I don't think it help that they were very short episodes as well, as it never really felt like it got anywhere before the credits were rolling.
This is also useful for me as there was no DVD rental this weekend and I didn't watch any films at all, so I don't have a review for you. I'm pretty sure that due to the timings I'm not going to have a DVD rental over Easter either, which is actually a bit rubbish, as it's the ideal time to watch a film.
Omamori Himari
See, one of the problems with being me and writing these reviews is that my tastes are kinda broad.
How to explain that better?
Basically, what I mean is that while I really like the flagship shows, I also really like some of the trashier ones too. So, while I love things like Eva and BeBop and Eden of the East or the Ghibli output - things that really show off the power and the strength of anime, stuff I'd happily sit anyone down in front of or that I watch and go "oh yeah - that's why I love anime!" - I also love things like fan service strewn harem shows.
If you hadn't guessed, that's exactly what Omamori is. And I'd say it's a pretty good example of the breed, although given how extreme fan service has become in recent years (shows like Kanokon are borderline hentai), this is actually more 'innocent', if that's the right word. But it works.
Chu-Bra!!
Now here's a tough one. Especially given what I was saying above about harem shows.
See, this is a show about underwear.
More specifically, it's a show about young girls wearing underwear.
And there's a line there somewhere. See, one of the difficulties with anime is that pretty much all female characters that aren't 'grandma' types always look a lot younger than they actually are. It's part of the style - the simpler lines and flatter shading just tends to make them look younger.
So it's easy to watch something like Chu-Bra and think the girls are very young. They're not, they're age appropriate to be starting to become interested in more adult lingerie, but only just.
So that's fine as it goes, but the other issue is the intent. If this was a show aimed at girls of a similar age, possibly aimed at providing them with genuine advice about how to wear correctly fitting underwear, then you could kinda understand that.
But it isn't. This is clearly a show aimed at men. And you can easily tell that because of the lascivious camera shots and the way the show is framed.
And that's where the problem with me being honest about liking a "broad range of stuff" comes in, because I actually found I quite liked the show. See, the thing is that although it's clearly got ecchi things on its mind, it does also have the genuinely good advice in it too and, what makes it a good show, is that the characters and the story are quite well done.
Of course, I'm sure that won't stop all those who have a more prudish take on things decrying the show, and in a way they have a point. You could easily have done the exact same stuff without the fanservuce and it would have been just as good.
Hanamaru Kindergarten
Hmm. I have to admit I wasn't sure what to make of this.
Basically, it's a show about a guy who goes to work at a Kindergarten. As in a lot of countries, teaching is a profession dominated by women, especially teaching younger children, so this is an unusual job.
The basic idea of the series is somewhere along the lines of a slice of life comedy. It basically works, although I have to admit a bit of an issue with how it portrays Kindergarten. It's a rose-tinted view of the world, to say the least.
I think overall it basically won me over.
Kaito Reinya
This was another oddity. Stylistically, Kaito looked a lot like a kids show, but a lot of the gags and content is distinctly adult.
It didn't really work for me, I have to say - the stylistic thing really jarred for me. I don't think it help that they were very short episodes as well, as it never really felt like it got anywhere before the credits were rolling.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
animu catch-up pt1
So, as mentioned yesterday, I did quite a lot of scanning over the weekend and while I was ill, so I've sampled quite a lot of stuff via fansub, and that means mini-reviews!
So-Ra-No-Wo-To
Apparently, this show is a part of a drive by TV Tokyo to produce more original anime. A lot of anime have always been adapted from manga, but nowadays a lot of anime are also adapted from light novels and games. I guess the idea was therefore to move away from this sort of thing and do something a bit different.
Now to be totally truthful, So Ra doesn't quite hit total originality in the couple of episodes I sampled. The problem is that the characters are dangerously close to those moe stereotypes that everyone bemoans. It also doesn't help that it appears to have the same character designer who was used for K-ON, which is a really rather moe show.
However, I've heard the series gets surprisingly dark and engaging later on, although that wasn't much in evidence in what I watched. However, truth be told I don't have too many problems with moe and this was sufficiently engaging in its first couple of eps (and beautifully animated) that I enjoyed it anyway.
Yurumates
This is a slice of life job, and like many a slice of life it seems to follow the fortunes of students who are re-taking their university entrance exams. However, saying that, this has so little in it about studying and taking exams that it's not actually really about anything.
I dunno, this just felt too much like lots of other shows to really grab my attention. Also, like a lot of those shows, there's a hell of a lot of cultural stuff that isn't obvious and there were no "translation notes" to explain.
Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts
Baka is the first of two shows that Funimation have picked up from this season.
The premise of it is rather bizarre. Basically, the school our hero attends operates a system where you take an initial entrance exam and your grade on that test then defines what grade of classroom you get. So students getting A grades get the best facilities, whereas our hero, who's not clever, ends up in class F where they get rubbish facilities.
As if this wasn't odd enough, the students can then battle each other, using avatars whose strength is governed by their test scores, in order to try to switch classrooms with those above them.
As I say, it's really rather bizarre, but it also kinda works. I guess the best way to think about it is that it's only nominally set in school, and really it's an action/comedy series (with a hint of pokemon).
Dance in the Vampire Bund
This is the second show Funimation has picked up.
I wasn't expecting to like this. I've been suffering a bit of Vampire overload, and the title isn't some clever play or anything - the show is genuinely about Vampires. Also, the images I'd seen suggested the main vampire was a loli and loli does nothing for me at all.
However, watching the first couple of eps, I actually quite enjoyed them. I have to say, though, that (and I know this is quite the thing for me to say), the fan service seems both unnecessary and inappropriate. And that's not just the loli-centric stuff. There's one bit with a busty Vampire who basically stands up, and we get a shot of her boobs bouncing about with wild abandon.
Which is all fine and good, except it's during a really dramatic action moment, so it's distracting, and it's animated in a very unrealistic way, when the feel the show generally seems to be trying to give is more a realistic one.
Ookami-kakushi
I didn't really like this show, though.
I dunno - I think the problem was it was a bit ham-fisted. It's one of those mystery/occult/horror shows and it kinda laid things on thick. You could almost see great big question marks hanging in the air when something 'mysterious' happened.
Also, there's a bit where one of the girls latches onto the hero, and there's absolutely no explanation for this. They literally meet for the first time and she throws herself at him and proceeds to basically confess her undying love for him.
I mean, okay in a harem, but in a dark, mystery horror type job? It just comes across as weird.
And I think I'll cut it off there - more tomorrow!
So-Ra-No-Wo-To
Apparently, this show is a part of a drive by TV Tokyo to produce more original anime. A lot of anime have always been adapted from manga, but nowadays a lot of anime are also adapted from light novels and games. I guess the idea was therefore to move away from this sort of thing and do something a bit different.
Now to be totally truthful, So Ra doesn't quite hit total originality in the couple of episodes I sampled. The problem is that the characters are dangerously close to those moe stereotypes that everyone bemoans. It also doesn't help that it appears to have the same character designer who was used for K-ON, which is a really rather moe show.
However, I've heard the series gets surprisingly dark and engaging later on, although that wasn't much in evidence in what I watched. However, truth be told I don't have too many problems with moe and this was sufficiently engaging in its first couple of eps (and beautifully animated) that I enjoyed it anyway.
Yurumates
This is a slice of life job, and like many a slice of life it seems to follow the fortunes of students who are re-taking their university entrance exams. However, saying that, this has so little in it about studying and taking exams that it's not actually really about anything.
I dunno, this just felt too much like lots of other shows to really grab my attention. Also, like a lot of those shows, there's a hell of a lot of cultural stuff that isn't obvious and there were no "translation notes" to explain.
Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts
Baka is the first of two shows that Funimation have picked up from this season.
The premise of it is rather bizarre. Basically, the school our hero attends operates a system where you take an initial entrance exam and your grade on that test then defines what grade of classroom you get. So students getting A grades get the best facilities, whereas our hero, who's not clever, ends up in class F where they get rubbish facilities.
As if this wasn't odd enough, the students can then battle each other, using avatars whose strength is governed by their test scores, in order to try to switch classrooms with those above them.
As I say, it's really rather bizarre, but it also kinda works. I guess the best way to think about it is that it's only nominally set in school, and really it's an action/comedy series (with a hint of pokemon).
Dance in the Vampire Bund
This is the second show Funimation has picked up.
I wasn't expecting to like this. I've been suffering a bit of Vampire overload, and the title isn't some clever play or anything - the show is genuinely about Vampires. Also, the images I'd seen suggested the main vampire was a loli and loli does nothing for me at all.
However, watching the first couple of eps, I actually quite enjoyed them. I have to say, though, that (and I know this is quite the thing for me to say), the fan service seems both unnecessary and inappropriate. And that's not just the loli-centric stuff. There's one bit with a busty Vampire who basically stands up, and we get a shot of her boobs bouncing about with wild abandon.
Which is all fine and good, except it's during a really dramatic action moment, so it's distracting, and it's animated in a very unrealistic way, when the feel the show generally seems to be trying to give is more a realistic one.
Ookami-kakushi
I didn't really like this show, though.
I dunno - I think the problem was it was a bit ham-fisted. It's one of those mystery/occult/horror shows and it kinda laid things on thick. You could almost see great big question marks hanging in the air when something 'mysterious' happened.
Also, there's a bit where one of the girls latches onto the hero, and there's absolutely no explanation for this. They literally meet for the first time and she throws herself at him and proceeds to basically confess her undying love for him.
I mean, okay in a harem, but in a dark, mystery horror type job? It just comes across as weird.
And I think I'll cut it off there - more tomorrow!
Monday, 29 March 2010
diseased
So having caught man flu sometime the previous weekend, it got progressively worse as the week went on.
By Wednesday I was in quite a state, and so when I woke up on Thursday and things were even worse, I decided I wasn't going to come into work. And that's why the bloggage stopped.
And this was genuine not feeling well, not skiving off. I practically spent all of Thursday morning sleeping, only really 'getting up' at lunch time. Even then, the best I could manage was watching telly stuff I'd recorded on my PVR.
Friday was 'touch and go' - I could probably have braved it into work, but I was far from being well. It was probably on a par with Wednesday, where I was in, but I achieved very little and felt awful.
It was a slightly more productive day, in the sense that I did quite a lot of scanning and watched quite a lot of anime. I'll do some posts about the shows I watched later, but the main thing was the scanning. I've now managed to finish scanning all of the megami and nyan type magazines.
Well, until more turn up, but I was really quite pleased with this. I've also not totally gone off scanning, although I will admit I put my scanner away. However, Easter is looming large next weekend and it's fully my intention to do a load more scanning then too.
So although I'm not going to pretend I'm still a long way off, hopefully it won't take me as long to get caught up as I'd feared.
By Wednesday I was in quite a state, and so when I woke up on Thursday and things were even worse, I decided I wasn't going to come into work. And that's why the bloggage stopped.
And this was genuine not feeling well, not skiving off. I practically spent all of Thursday morning sleeping, only really 'getting up' at lunch time. Even then, the best I could manage was watching telly stuff I'd recorded on my PVR.
Friday was 'touch and go' - I could probably have braved it into work, but I was far from being well. It was probably on a par with Wednesday, where I was in, but I achieved very little and felt awful.
It was a slightly more productive day, in the sense that I did quite a lot of scanning and watched quite a lot of anime. I'll do some posts about the shows I watched later, but the main thing was the scanning. I've now managed to finish scanning all of the megami and nyan type magazines.
Well, until more turn up, but I was really quite pleased with this. I've also not totally gone off scanning, although I will admit I put my scanner away. However, Easter is looming large next weekend and it's fully my intention to do a load more scanning then too.
So although I'm not going to pretend I'm still a long way off, hopefully it won't take me as long to get caught up as I'd feared.
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