Temporal Paralysis

When you realize that all that tireless following of a show, only to expect that the show did a one, big “F*** YOU!” in a form of sloppy, clichéd and haphazard manner to ending a story (or, to put it quaintly, guaranteed a sequel), what more can you take the insult anymore?

Well, Autumn 2009’s Kämpfer just gave me that middle finger sign.

(Video courtesy of seihaorg2)

The amount of dreg that was put into this one segment, cannot justify the many facepalms, sighs and flamethrowers I want to throw at this series. Others take it in their slide; this guy had it enough.

In fact, I’d just post up an Adepta Sororitas with a flamethrower to burn this to Warp.

If there was a speech I like to say, it’d be, “F*** you, animation studios! And that goes to all the new anime series pending to air or planning for review. Give me back to pre-2007 quality shows or I will instantaneously label all new anime shows as ’sucks.’ All hail all the old anime shows, for they are truly evergreen and can snuff out at the new shows!”

Tags: Anime, autumn 2009, kampfer, WTFH?!

Yesterday (November 14, 2009) a horde of otaku decided to congregate together and march towards Cathay Cineleisure to watch Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance. Yours truly self-invited himself to the event – because I knew the event was planned since late last July – in the anticipation of Anime Festival Asia 2009, due in 6 days’ time.

As for me, the trip to Cathay Cineleisure is also an adventure in itself. The old adage said, “It’s not the destination that mattered, it’s the journey that counts.” I finally found my impetus to attend AFA’09, knowing that the event might be more terrible than last year’s. (Looking at you, Cheetah!)

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Tags: afa '09, apec summit 2009 singapore, evangelion 2.0: you can (not) advance, street photography

Today, I like to talk about Bakemonogatari.

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Tags: bakemonogatari

I watched Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou (or I preferably call it “Well Understood Modern-Day Magic“) up to Episode 2. The idea of using computer programs to write so-called “Codes” (euphemism for “magic”) to control electronic/electrical stuffs is uniquely amusing to the point that I decided to take a stab at watching this show. Unfortunately, a few things pop out of this show:

1. The art direction is average.
2. Story line is average.
3. Character development is average.

That sums up the whole idea about Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou. To be honest, this is just another show on the sidelines, considering the plethora of other better shows being shown in Japan.

Tags: yoku wakaru gendai mahou

Hmm, incoherent musings, as MrMayat would say.

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I was looking up on Anime Nano one day, and chanced upon tj_han’s article. He wrote a very long piece of non-pictorial article about sustainability, and I took the chance to reply in kind. For the first time, though, I wrote something that’s very long and somewhat intellectual on a blog that’s largely anime-based. Funny how my brain works.

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With thanks to shia of The Bonkurasu Brigade, an event to complement the STCC: A Certain Magical Event (A.C.M.E.), hosted by KKnM in conjunction with their annual CharaFest. I’m very interested to see how the local doujin artists fare (as seen here) so I might be heading down to take a look. Also, I’ve not spend a single dime on anime goods since… Mein Gott! I don’t even know when was the last time, either!

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I took the chance to watch Canaan for its three episodes. My conclusion is: either the ditz-who-shares-a-similar-name-with-a-porn-actress will turn a Holy Jesus Christ on the show (i.e. she dies and saves everyone) or Canaan becomes a Ryougi Shiki ex Machina. I dunno, the show gave me that Eden of the East vibe — in reverse: instead of Maki, we get Mino. Instead of obscure Western films, I get diatribes about “the philosophy of photography.” It also has a bit of sexual deviancy (in EoTE, you got that Johnny-mutilator; here, you have a girl that shoots at Cummings with her airsoft gun, and he likes it).

It’s a good show, mind you. It keeps you on the suspense. It doesn’t bore me like the rest of the anime summer season line-ups (only because I’ve yet to complete my backlog), there’s plenty of Nasu niceness. It’s a bit of a stretch whether this is a transcedental anime show – if only because I dig girls with guns (yet I find myself cringing at Gunslinger Girls) – because Canaan is the pit-stop for me, a resting place for me to venture out into the city called “2009 Anime Summer Season.”

Tags: bonkurasu brigade, canaan, charafest, riuva

After being freed from my shackles that is National Service (because of the goddamned IPPT requirements — I hate being in PES B), a year has gone down. With only Macross Frontier and Code Geass R2 being my staple of shows for 2008, I decided to cold-start my anime passion by watching the series for Winter 2008/2009. As in, becoming that omnipresent guy in front of his computer… “watching” anime shows… as legally as possible.

(Note: I will be considering watching Kannagi in my plan-to-watch list, because everybody is raging love of it. I’ve already blogged about the two series I’m watching via a local channel. However, Skip Beat! is in serious contention of being dropped. Convince me otherwise, please.)

Maria†Holic

I side with Wakaranai on typing the bloody cross for namesake (FYI you can shortcut it by typing Alt + 0134 on your numeric keypad). Anyway, lots of people are madly blogging it. A premise of finding an eternal yuri partner, a trap in an all girls school, sharp-tongue maid… it has all the feelings of an instantaneous win. Viewers are already drawing into the series like mad, just by its premise. Surprisingly, though, Kanoko is mysteriously charming (her naïve ways are sadly misguided, though). Already I’m liking this.

It must be said that the voice actors were the same ones from the So Long, Mr. Despair (さよなら絶望先生); Shinbo, the bald guy, is also at the helm. SHAFT delivers that final nail on an anime viewer’s head to draw them to this series. Instantaneous win.

Asu no Yoichi

The other comedy show I’m following this season. Although it’s more of a lighthearted fare compared to the above series (I’ve no idea whether this is an original anime franchise, or is based on another material), the story is decent and fanservice are tastefully done. Also, the “fish-out-of-the-water” antics is something I’ve not yet seen for some time (not that there were other shows of similar premises in 2008). With a bushido-minded lanky guy trying to adjust to urban life and subsequently running away from the police… fair enough.

I’m still quite unsure of this one, but I’ll probably be riding on this one for all its run. It is lighthearted, and the voice actors/actresses are well-known for other famous series, so it’s worth taking a potshot at this.

Rideback

This is an interesting premise: give the lead character a crisis, said character goes through it, finds another hobby to pursue on, and rides back to stardom… While the story is somewhat predictable (if it follows an Air Gear pattern), there seems to be what I call a critic’s pick in the anime blogging circle.

Opening sequence credits is done in English, an ode to an ever-growing international anime audience. MELL is singing the OP (although honestly I don’t consider it as a plus). The character designs seemed a bit familiar, and after putting in some thought, I realized — through a good significant other of mine — that the designs are similar to that of Initial D. No wonder.

And, Nana Mizuki is in this. (¬.¬) Go figure.

I’m thinking… I’ll go with the flow with this one.

Black God (黒神): The Animation

I realized that Kuribayashi Minami and Yousei Teikoku are doing the OP and ED, respectively, for the show. WIN! Of course, a good song does not a good anime make.

The show premised on a manga of the same name. Basically, it’s like The One — you know, where Jet Li acted in —. This is also a case of “anime adaptation not following the manga,” as how this guy puts it. I’m probably be heading off to read the manga somewhere else, just to see the vast difference between the two.

Seriously, why does this image reminds me of a certain popular anime series that resulted in one voice actress flying all the way here to just sing?

White Album

Ok, before we get started on this: first and foremost, I do not watch because of Nana Mizuki.

Second: there seems to be pictures floating around the Internets of… lolis. Whenever I turned up searching on some imageboards, lolis are abound. What the… I might as well take this for a ride, too.

Third:  ???

Fourth: I’m just gonna watch this for fun.

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I think this is all I need for this season. I realized that there are also backlogs of anime shows from 2008 that I have not caught up yet. Much to do, and also, I need to watch back all the DVDs I left unwatched. Ugh. Keeping up with the Takamuras is not an easy job for a contemporary anime fan/blogger.

Tags: Anime, asu no yoichi, maria+holic, rideback, white album

Unlike the various famous otaku in Singapore, yours truly isn’t the kind of anime/manga fan that fits the bill of a Japan-centric otaku. I mostly buy DVDs whenever the series is available for consumption, and it takes about one to three years to get them, depending on the speed and the mood of the distributors. (Sony, HURRY UP WITH MY DVDS!)

(The thing about anime/manga fans, is that there’s a whole lot of subdivisions within: those that follow strictly the Japanese market, and then there are those that follow by their local distributors.)

Enclosed after the break, is my pathetic collection of both anime and manga DVDs and a newly-created animelist.net account with the listing up for all to see. (It’s still a work in progress; I’m still trying to figure out what other shows I may have watched in my lifetime.) Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Anime, aria the animation, azumanga daioh, blood: the last vampire, daiso comic book covers, dvd collection, full metal panic, full metal panic: the second raid, genshiken, gundam wing, highschool of the dead, ikkitousen, martian successor nadeisco, minikiku to utsukushii sekai, noir, planetes