Monday February 28, 2005

Pink Zaku... it exists!	Arthur is such a blockhead

Episode 19 of Gundam SEED Destiny was an all-plot episode, featuring a few surprizes and a few moments of comic relief. Overall it wasn't that great an episode, but it did serve to move along the plot quite a bit. Specifically we learn more about the chairman's real intentions (or at least we can speculate more about them), and the whole Lunamaria and Meyrin sister fight for Athrun's attention has reached an all time high. As well Mia and her pink zaku are introduced along with a new ZAFT pilot who's in FAITH. Of course the most talked about scene in the episode was the Rey and Gilbert (the chairman) scene. You'll have to watch the episode to see what I'm talking about.

Meanwhile I've advanced up to episode 7 of Uta~Kata. The series is progressing along finely, and it has finally broken out of the exact same mold for each episode. Basically Ichika has access to the powers of 12 djinns from the very first episode. Since this is a 12-episode series, you can pretty much tell that it's a 'djinn-of-the-week' kind of thing. Unfortunately all the powers so far have been relatively benign, that is until episode 7. Things are changing quickly and hopefully this will get better as it goes along. Although the overall plot seems relatively weak so far (with such completely unoriginal episodes as 'going to the beach', 'seeing fireworks', and 'test of courage in the woods') the character development has been quite strong in this series. It definately has progressed very different from Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu no Koto and in fact this has what I think more of an injection of 'real life' then most anime. It just seems like this series really has a lot of jerks, the kind of jerks you'd find in real life, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for the show.

Finally I've been following my yearly February tradition (although a bit late this year) of watching and re-watching Love Hina. I'm at episode 4 right now... damn what a great series. I can't get over how great the story, direction and characters are in this anime, especially in the beginning episodes before it gets bogged down by filler episodes later in the series.

Today's link of the day: Silly flash game with anime-ish characters

Friday February 25, 2005

I started watching a pretty new series called Uta~Kata. It premiered in October 2004, so it's relatively new. I first heard about this while reading a review on JASCII which is a great monthly anime blog that reviews only the first episode of each new series out there. Apperently the exact same director, character designer and script writer as Kiddy Grade worked on this show. In fact any one of the characters in Uta~Kata would look at home in Kiddy Grade, although they are distinct enough to be different from Eclair, Luminaire and company.

So far I've really enjoyed this light-hearted series. The plot focuses on a young 2nd year high school student named Ichika, who's on her summer vacation. While cleaning up a room in her school on the day before the summer begins, she looks into an old and broken mirror only to see not her reflection, but someone else altogether. The girl in the reflection comes out into the world, and quickly becomes Ichika's companion for the summer. Meanwhile along with this magical girl Manatsu, Ichika also recieves magical powers which she can access only a dozen times. These magical powers really aren't all that great or powerful, but do prove for some nifty transformation sequences. Meanwhile following along the Kiddy Grade path, Uta~Kata has plenty of well-placed fan service. It also features great music, and a particularily memorable opening and ending song. Actually if it wasn't for the obvious fanservice, this series would be like Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto (aka Someday's Dreamers). The story is of course different, but just the light-hearted style of the anime, how slow and overall happy it seems just reminds me of that other show. Overall, I'm looking forward to finishing this 12-episode series.

Manatsu (left) and Ichika (right)	Ichika transforms (fanservice included)
She's the mysterious know-it-all woman who watches over our heroine	Read the subs... yes there is too much fanservice (observe the cameltoe!)

Thursday February 24, 2005

After two months I've finally managed to finished watching Genshiken. What an absolute gem of a series this was, even if it did feel like it was slowing down near the end. Still the ending was very fitting for the type of show it was, and leaves the door wide open for a second season, although because of it's very specific target audience I doubt that will happen. Still I hear the manga is fairly successful and has a lot more story to go yet, so here's to hoping! I'll have a review out by tomorrow hopefully.

In other news I saw episodes 17 and 18 of Mai-HiME. The writing in this show is seriously picking up it seems. While previous episodes made you question why the characters would act the way they do (wait a sec the Earth is under attack by crazy monsters and yet everyone still goes to school on time and ready to learn?), episodes 17 and 18 firmly ground this show into reality again. The characters act like any other normal rational human being would act under the circumstances, and now the shit is finally hitting the fan. This show is really picking up with what appears to be a battle royale to the end. I'm looking forward to seeing how this show ends.

Natsuki worried	The president worried
Fight!	Yes the shit has hit the fan

Today's link of the day: Newtype Japan's March 2005 top anime rankings! Mai-HiME in 4th, GS in 3rd, Fafner in 2nd and GSD in 1st

Wednesday February 23, 2005

Been a while since I had the time to update this! Technically it's Wednesday but really I like to think of it as Tuesday night. Still here's the first update in a few days:

Gundam SEED: Destiny episode 18 came out this past weekend and I managed to catch it earlier on Tuesday. As predicted, this was yet another 'action' episode (with the next one being a 'plot' episode), although nothing much exciting really happened. Some stuff was destroyed, some cool moves were done, but overall a pretty boring episode. The only few highlights of the episode included: Rey finally having more than 1 line (he says 'yah' and 'rey launching!'), a particularily violent execution scene at the end (with the kind of violence that involves no mecha/explosions), and of course... the 'fake' Cagalli.

Allow me to explain. At this point in the original Gundam SEED, we were treated to a 'desert' story arc lasting for a bunch of episodes. We were re-introduced to Cagalli whom we saw in the very first episode. We see Cagalli as part of a resistance group driving a jeep. Similarily we see the new girl (Athrun refers to her as 'Miss Conille') driving a jeep as a member of the resistance in the desert. Here's some pictures comparing the two:

Miss Conille, hair pulled back looking mad	Cagalli hair pulled back looking mad
Miss Conille driving a jeep	Cagalli in a jeep

Today's link of the day: Silly site with a bunch of torrents, but most notably with GSD parody subs. Check out the GSD ep 17 3 min short (first news item on page as of right now)

Friday February 18, 2005

I finally finished Kurau Phantom Memory! The last episode wasn't really what I expected. I mean it wasn't wacky or horribly bad or anything, it just wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Still the entire series was my favorite series that aired in only 2004 (did not have episodes in 2003 or 2005). It was an awesome show and I'm glad I saw it. I wrote up a full review here:

Review of Kurau Phantom Memory

In other news I saw Gundam Seed Destiny episode 17. Following the Gundam Seed Destiny trend of plot-battle-plot-battle-... this was a plot episode, which means the next episode will be a battle episode. Nothing too surprizing happened in episode 17, although Lacus' reaction at the very beginning of the episode to Mia's singing was... pricess. Otherwise the episode just confirmed a lot of things which were not as concretely laid out before in terms of plot.

Today's link of the day: Kurau Phantom Memory, official site

Tuesday February 15, 2005

Okay so I saw episode 4 of Starship Operators last night, and I can't help but feel that the guys who made this show are big Star Trek fans. Either that or it's the biggest coincidence of all time. Cause I don't want to spoil the plot, here's what I'm talking about in invisible writing (highlight to read it):

So in the episode the kids are up against the Kingdom's newest and most powerful 'stealth ship'. Basically the ship can't be tracked because it's almost invisible. So what method do they use at first? Tracking the ship by seeing if stars are being blotted out as the ship moves! That's exactly from Star Trek 3 (the movie) when Captain Kirk tracks the Klingon Bird of Prey using the background starlight flickering. And then what do they do next? Well since that didn't work, they decide to fire off a bunch of torpedos to 'light up' the background in order to find the stealth ship. That's EXACTLY what Data did in the 2-parter Star Trek TNG episode where the Romulans are trying to install Lursa and B'hator as the new Klingon leaders instead of Galron. Stupid SO, ripping off stuff.

I also managed to watch the next episode of SunaBouzu. This silly show just doesn't stop reminding me of Trigun. But since it's made by Gonzo, there's actually no hint at all of any deeper plot (and I have doubts as to whether a deeper plot will actually exist), and so far the entire series has been quite episodic. Still it's quite fun, although the animation really isn't up to par with other Gonzo shows. It's not bad, but just not Gonzo-good.

In case you were wondering, the plot centers around a mercenary named SunaBouzu. It's set in a futuristic dystopia where the entire world is one big desert. SunaBouzu is an infamous gunfighter, but deep inside he's just a really horny kid who keeps getting tricked by cute girls. Still he really is the best gunfighter out there and as such he's a gun for hire and takes on a different job each episode.

Today's link of the day: Apperently this FaFner 'yaoi' picture of Soushi and Kazuki was on the cover of Japanese Newtype. P.S., I didn't know that Xebec was part of Production I.G. (or at least they share websites!)

Monday February 14, 2005

It's Valentine's Day... did you get your Giri choco today?

Keiichi's sister Megumi is introduced	Keiichi's sister Megumi is introduced to... Belldandy

Episode 6 of Ah! My Goddess introduces us to Keiichi's sister Megumi. This series is moving at a very slow speed. It almost seems as if it's planning to basically run on forever like Kenshin or Ranma 1/2. Still the slow pace is a refreshing change from most romantic comedy animes which try and stuff as many onsen (hot springs) episodes into one series as much as possible! One thing I don't get is why Keiichi is so mad that his sister is around. Unlike the typical anime little sister, Megumi is actually pretty nice and helpful and mindful of Keiichi and his relationship with Belldandy. She seems like a great sister overall, but yet he has the typical 'oh no it's my bratty little sister' that you'd get from any other anime where a bratty little sister is introduced to the story.

Rui is introduced as Aoba's rival in Jinki: Extreme

Episode 3 of Jinki: Extreme introduces us to the 'robot-girl' of the series Rui. Robot girls may also be classified as 'Rei-clones' (from Neon Genesis Evangelion). Either way she's your typical robot girl. No expression, same type of emotionless and cynical voice, and generally no personality whatsoever in an attempt to create a 'mysterious' personality.

Today's link of the day: Silly Japanese fansite with a bunch of Gundam SEED/GS Destiny flash movies. I particularily like the one on the top left corner (http://www.geocities.jp/kenkoudaa/page100.html). Although I don't speak or read Japanese here's what the plot from what I got from a post on the animesuki.com forums: (highlight to read) After successively stealing girlfriends Lacus, Cagali and Lunamaria from Athrun, Athrun decides to battle Kira to the death. He self-destructs Aegis in his attempt to kill Kira. After the explosion, he thinks to himself 'at least I still have Mia (or Meer as some call her) Campbell' (the Lacus wannabe-clone-girl in GS:Destiny). Meanwhile Kira wakes up and is saved by Mia/Meer (notice the star-shaped hairbroach instead of the Lacus 2-line broach). The flash ends as Kira realises who's just saved him and he flashes a devious smile.

Saturday February 12, 2005

Shinon rocks!

After a very long wait, Lunar finally released episode 3 of Starship Operators. This series continues it's buildup of intrigue and continues to show promise, but I'm starting to think that there's just some things which are just wrong about this show which won't go away no matter how much time I give it. During the episode there's a small brush of death with an incident with a solar flare outside while the maintanence crew is trying to repair the hull of the ship. Either way, there's a character that ends up surviving the flare without a scratch even though he was outside, but only AFTER everyone tries very hard to evacuate. Did they misread the flare? Or did he just miraculous survive? No explaination given. Just more examples of sloppy writing on behalf of the writers of the show.

I'm finally about to start episode 22 (out of 24 episodes) of Kurau Phantom Memory. The ending is building up to be a great one, I just really, really hope it ends well. My fingers are crossed!

Finally Lunar finally released the next two episodes of SunaBouzu, and the next episode of Jinki: Extend is out too. Finally I can catch up on some new shows. They seem to be a bit slow lately.

Today's link of the day: Apperently there's a rumour that a live-action Last EXILE might be in the works? Sounds awesome!

Wednesday February 9, 2005

Take that Shinn!

So I finally saw Gundam SEED: Destiny episode 16. And well there's a hilarious bitchslap at the end. Other than that the episode was pretty thin on plot and the fighting wasn't really that great either unless you're a fanboy/fangirl.

(From Kurau Phantom Memory) What is thy bidding my master?

(And now the original...) What is thy bidding my master?

(And Kurau again...) Dolph nooooooo!!!

Meanwhile I'm slowly but surely nearing the end of Kurau Phantom Memory. I'm finally caught up to exactly where I was before the last 2 month wait for the last few episodes. Let's see where this takes us. I just really, really hope it ends good and doesn't pull a 'Wolf's Rain'.

Today's link of the day: Look how much the opening to Jinki: Extend is like that of the original Mobile Suit Gundam!

Sunday February 6, 2005

Keiichi has an automatic rifle in his closet!

I love how Belldandy is knitting while Keiichi is eating the dinner she cooked for him, oh those wacky Japanese.

So I saw the next episode of Ah! My Goddess TV. Not much happened at all this episode. Actually I get the feeling that this is going to be a really long series. And if it isn't then I get the feeling that absolutely nothing will happen in this series because it's been stretching the plot to the maximum so far! Still considering most 'romatic comedy' anime these days would have had the obligatory 'onsen episode' or 'school festival' episode already it's refreshing that this (thanks to the manga) is quite original in it's execution!

There's a great article in this month's Anime Fringe about Ah! My Goddess TV. I urge you to check it out if you don't know too much about the world of Ah! My Goddess.

In other news, I just found out today something really great. Apperently they're going to make a live-action Aeon Flux movie staring Charlize Theron! For those who've never heard of Aeon Flux, it was an 'American anime' which aired on MTV, made a few years ago by a guy named Peter Chung. It's about a crazy apocalyptic future world, and super agent Aeon Flux. It's quite weird, and only had a handful of episodes, but strangely entertaining. It had a variety of action scenes which reminded me somewhat of the Ghost in the Shell action scenes, but then again not because it was ridiculously gory. A live-action movie sounds awesome though! Here's a link to more information:

Info on live-action Aeon Flux

Oh yeah... the Superbowl was boring this year, what a horrible game.

Saturday February 5, 2005

Wow it's been quite a while since I updated. I haven't had the chance to see too much anime the past few days but here are some interesting highlights from the past few days:

Here's some Mai-HiME pics:

Mikoto in a Bjork inspired costume	Bjork at the Academy Awards a few years back

After 15 episode of alluding, here's some lesbianism!

Mikoto backpack?

Mai-HiME's episode 16 provided a whole lot of stuff to look at. On the surface, the episode was nothing more than a filler episode with the HiMEs going to karoke and singing their hearts out. But deeper in we see a few things. First of all, ever since the first episode the long awaited lesbianism of this series finally comes out... well sort of. Some of the girls were drunk and started coming onto the other ones, but hey it's something right? Seriously though, the final story arc seems to have been laid out at the very end of the episode. The last story arc ended rather suddenly, and really they never explained how Mai suddenly returned so quickly and why she was late for class the following day. Everyone just accepts it. I was almost thinking that perhaps Mai was replaced by an evil clone, but from the rest of the episode it doesn't seem like it. The rest of this series seems to be turning into a large tournament battle. I hope it turns out a bit better than Flame of Recca.

In other news I saw the next episode of Samurai Champloo, episode 17. Apperently this was the last episode aired in 2004, and aired way back in September. The new episodes (aka Season 2) started coming out only a few weeks ago. No wonder the subs stopped! Still the series is getting a bit more serious now, and I'm looking forward to what happens next.

Finally Kurau Phantom Memory doesn't stop to amaze me. I just finished episode 12 (for the second time). I've noticed a few things this time around, mainly that Kurau doesn't actually kill anyone. I assumed people were killed when I watched it the first time, but now I realize she's pretty caring even for GPO government agent 'goons'. Meanwhile the series has already used 5 different locations in just 12 episodes. Yet it doesn't feel to fast at all, but in fact the elements of a really great chase story have set in, mixed with some of the best character interaction in an anime that I've seen in a long time. I'm really hoping this turns out well and doesn't pull a Wolf's Rain and suck it up at the end.

Here's some fun Gundam SEED Destiny pictures for you all:

It's the Archangel! No wait it's the SDF-1! No wait...

It's the GSD Power Rangers Megazoid!

Tuesday February 1, 2005

Another new month, which means the archives are now updated with some of last month's stuff.

In other news, I'm up to episode 16 now for Samurai Champloo. It appears that the real plot behind Samurai Champloo is finally showing after 16 episodes. In case you don't know, Samurai Champloo is set in 17th century Japan. A young girl named Fuu (Ayako Kawasumi) recruits the help of two samurai without masters Jin and Mugen to aid her in her quest to search for the long-lost 'Samurai who smells of sunflowers'. Jin and Mugen meanwhile are probably the two strongest samurai around and can basically kill anyone that comes in their way... except for eachother. As part of their deal with Fuu (who saves their lives in the first episode) they agree travel with her in her quest and hold off trying to kill eachother (to prove which of the two is stronger) until they are finished.

With the exception of the first episode, the first 15 episodes of Samurai Champloo have really just been single or double-episode story arcs which haven't really added anything at all to the overall plot. Finally in the 16th episode it seems the main plot starts to show. The anime has been absolutely wonderful so far though besides that. The animation is definately one of the best of the year, and the fighting scenes are some of the best ever done. As for the way the show is presented, there's only one word that can describe it... style. The director Watanabe Shinichiro who also directed Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop definately adds a lot of style to this show. Everything from Mugen being like a modern day gangsta, to the various people in 17th century Japan who seem to rap, to the use of colloquial terms including some Engrish borrowed terms, this is definately not your normal samurai show. Still it's incredibly well done, and I hope the story turns out to be very good.

Pre-February 2005

Please see the archives.