Everybody loves fanart .. when it’s good. Fortunately, for anime fans there are hordes of Japanese fans out there with the talented and dedication to bring us some great art of our favourite characters, pairings and persuasions. The relatively new online service Pixiv has been a really great resource for artists to share their creations and for fans to enjoy them, but not all western fans have the patience to navigate the Japanese and create an account there or the time to sift through it. With these posts I’ll attempt to post my picks for all the anime/manga I’m interested in weekly. Hopefully someone might find this useful or enjoyable!
Note: Gathering these images I’m of coursed bias towards my favourite characters and moe persuasions, but if anyone would like me to keep a look out for a specific character, pairing or theme (if it’s for one of the things I’m watching), just ask!
Not a bad week for fanart. The artists are starting to turn up their efforts on So-ra-no-wo-to, generating some lovely fanboy imagery. On the fangirl side of things .. well, they’re as rabid as ever for Durarara. Durarara!!! already has over 7700 fanarts on pixiv. Interestingly, they seem to be getting more and more yaoi-oriented. There are more DRRR!! pics than ever but it’s actually harder to find ones I like! There are still almost no Chu-bra pics ;_;
I made a comparison in an earlier review between this series and Pulp Fiction, and now I’m glad to say that Durarara has found its own, unique style of storytelling, and it’s an enjoyable one. We’re now five episodes in and there is no clear sign of a solid plot direction. If this were a more conventional anime most people would be crying ‘boring!’ by now. But, fortunately Durarara has its own rythmn, one that’s unclear but undeniably sophisticated. Instead of pulling the audience along on a linear journey, Durarara seems to be building its story from all directions. I think this episode best exemplifies this style of storytelling because as the world of Ikebukurou is expanded with the new introductions and snippets of exposition each week, it also becomes more dense, more intertwined with tensions, rivalries and all-out conflict between the many players of the city. The way the show juggles focus from one character to the next and seems to throw in new additions all the time may seem haphazard, but because this episode started drawing more connections and adding depth as well as breadth to the story, it made me think it is gaining a kind of momentum. If you consider that with most anime (or any stories in general) you wait until it builds up and eventually explodes into a climax, then it’s more like we’re waiting for an implosion with Durarara – when the relative peace of the city will crumble under the stress of all the convoluted conflicts.
I heard some people comment that this episode wasn’t as good as last week’s, but I’m not sure what the general consensus is on it. I’d love to hear what others thought about it because, personally, I really enjoyed it. As I described above, it really gave me hope that the show is going to get bigger and better as it goes on. I also enjoyed it a lot because it finally fixed some of its flaws: namely, the lack of a single strong and identifiable protagonist. Through Kida’s inner narration, his character is fleshed out to an incredible degree, making him much more believable, likeable and giving him much more stock as a struggling hero in the grey world of Ikebukurou street culture. We discover he has a dark past, leaving at least one victim in his trail, but it’s now clear that he’s one of the least self-involved characters of the whole cast, struggling with a sense of atonement and his self-appointed role as guardian of Mikado. This newfound depth and sympathy in his character is especially fascinating given his shallow and impenetrably cheerful outer personality. I think his narration, which betrays his true inner dialogue as much more attuned and intelligent than his façade, was the most interesting of all the narrations yet. The reason I really like this episode is because it managed to give Kida a good amount of focus without seeming too episodic.
I don’t think anyone was left out this week, and it even had time to introduce some interesting new players, such as the reporter investigating Ikebukurou or the Sadako-type slasher. More than in any previous episode you got the sense that Ikebukurou was a living, breathing world, complete with legends, iconic figures and warring factions. The investigator’s questions definitely helped in that, especially because they bought out some more information on the dollars gang and the color gangs. And it isn’t even like Kida was the only one to get character development. Anri, the single biggest feminine presence in the series, got a bit of time in the splotlight when Mikado and Kida pry into her history with Yagiri. She’s definitely a cute and shy kind of girl, which is nice to balance out all the testosterone flung about in this show. But I would like to see her show a bit more zest! Mikado even got a character-building moment when he lectures Anri! His balls are growing a tiny bit every week!
Overall it was a great episode because it had all the strengths of Durarara crammed into one colourful and detail-packed episode. There was the usual playful approach to chronology and narration as well as some really great pieces of animation. Sure, not a lot really significant happened, but there’s enough vitality in the show just exploring the cast and culture of the city! For now, anyway!
● My respect for Kida has grown dramatically after this episode (not that I didn’t want to be his bro before). I really loved the way he interrupted hentai-sensei’s advances on a vulnerable Anri. I thought he handled it in a very Kida kind of way. It’s a great example of his sly confidence, especially the way he pwned the teacher by saying he’ll be spreading the rumours. He sure is a useful guy to have around.
✘ The music is still too repetitive and awkwardly used at times.
✔ The slasher-girl was really well done. I didn’t expect the slasher murmurings from the first few episodes to manifest into something like this! A psycho girl who looks like a cross between Komori Kiri from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Sadako from the Ring and whose nighttime hobby involves brandishing a sword and committing violent maimings in the dark corners of the city. I’m intrigued to see where her story leads. She’s a match for Celty! I have to add that the animation of her was really impressive. A nice, creepy visual!
● Who’s the strongest of Ikebukurou? Wow, with all the super-strength characters running around now I’m almost tempted to draw up a power-level chart! Who would be at the top kana? kana? My money would be on Simon.
I’m not sure how many blog-goers are also interested in the other big medium of anime fandom, the podcast. To be honest, I’ve never had a lot of fondness for them myself. That may or may not be due to a series of bad experiences hearing hosts of some of the most popular and prolific podcasts grossly misreporting and mispronouncing everything they can get their dirty hands on. I think there’s also a trend for podcasters to be more on the casual-fan side of the fence. You know, the dub-loving, DVD-exclusivists whose knowledge of the anime industry basically ends at the US border.
But a friend of mine (Sibnova) has recently started up his own podcast (S.A.R.C.A.S.M Podcast), and the work and dedication he’s put into it has been pretty impressive. I can see now that although I identify more with the anime blogosphere, there are equally hardcore and passionate anime fans out there in the podcasting domain. So when he suggested I appear on his show the other week I eagerly got on board. What followed was a pretty lengthy, sometimes vague but always fun discussion on a whole range of anime topics. The vague theme of this show was characterising notable studios, so we talked about Bones, SHAFT, Kyoto Animation, Brains Base, et cetera. But we also dropped the play at times and got onto beats like panty-shot censorship, the Western ‘anime club’ model, stupid anime titles, and so on..
It was really enjoyable to do and I think the podcast episode came out pretty well. We were both quite well-spoken and articulate (at least for blathering anime fans at 1 in the morning). It was an enjoyable conversation. I put the link to the podcast below, which is hosted on Sibnova’s website. With the exception of a short intro and outro, the whole podcast is our discussion.
So, if you generally like the podcasting format, or you have to face an arduous bus/train journey in the near future, give this a listen!
It’s been a long time since the era of Mai HiME but even now the show’s spirit lives on in the hearts of the fans! I know, because I’me one of those fans. Mai HiME was one of those rare series that everybody watched and which generated heated discussion, devout shippers and a storm of fanboyism. It has special meaning for me because it was the first TV anime series I watched fansubbed. But I don’t know if that same spirit lives on in the hearts of its producers…
Just recently, the Mai HiME Blu-Ray boxset was released in Japan and with it came a promising bonus. It was announced quite some time ago that the release would sport a short newly animated extra, and screencaps were put on the web that showed it would be some kind of beach-themed thing. Well, it was, so at the very least I can’t complain about a last bit of fanservice from the awesome HiME characters (especially Natsuki!), but it was still pretty damn disappointing. I’m not really sure what I expected, but most of the extras for the individual volumes of Mai Otome were more interesting than this. Looking at the screencaps of this thing is probably more entertaining than watching it because you don’t have to endure the cringe-worthy attempts at humour. Mai HiME never was very good at comedy, was it? I seem to recall its beach episode being among the worst of the series. But even if it’s not very exciting this extra is our last glimpse of these characters in action and it does prove just how timeless they are. After a few seconds I felt like I was right back in the middle of HiME; I still remember all the characters personality traits, flaws and gimmicks!
Any other HiME fans out there dissappointed? I guess it depends what you expected, but they actually promoted this extra so I thought it would be a little (or a lot) more substantial). As a major ShizNat fanboy, I probably would have been appeased with a little action between these two XD!
The marketing machine pulling the strings behind the new anime series, So-ra-no-wo-to, has taken its next step towards merchandising domination with the release of a PSP game. While many would have preferred something a little more daring an experimental from the first Anime-no-Chikara project, I guess it was good thinking on the part of A-1 Pictures to try enthral the usual moe-otaku crowd with its cast of cute young maidens, and its light-weight, slice-of-life style. The game will be released this Spring and the basic story revolves around the girls having to form a 5-piece band for some town celebration or something. They’ll have to learn new instruments and become good enoughh for the task. Well, it sounds even more like K-ON than the anime! I’m not interested in playing the game personally, but I am interested in the screencaps, which are much more suggestive in the yuri side of things, and much less subtle in the moe/fanservice department..
Kanata being clingy and a cute pillowfight! I’d love to see the pillow-fight in the actual anime!
Oh god.. that screencap on the right is so moe I think I might die right here and now. Noel with cat-ears in bed with Kureha? That’s such an awesome idea I don’t even care if there’s not a good reason for it! (ﾟ▽ﾟ*)萌え♥
05: 「山踏ミ・世界ノ果テ
- Mountain Climbing - The End of the World」
Rating:
Once again, the most glaring observation to be found in this episode of So-ra-no-wo-to is that there is no major, or even minor, plot progression or character development. The series continues to meander after 5 episodes. We’re almost at the halfway mark and it’s as insistent on being a slice-of-life show as ever. I mean, there are a lot of things pointing toward some serious shit going down toward the end of the series, but my suspicion is that it’ll be as close to the end as possible. The good news is that, despite going nowhere, this was a more enjoyable episode than the last few. Thanks to some pretty impressive production qualities and episode direction, the show seemed to have more energy and vitality to it than ever before. Sure the characters still remain pretty shallow (especially the younger girls focused on here), but at least this episode was upbeat and well-paced enough to avoid them coming off as boring. This week’s premise pits the three lower-ranked girls (Kanata, Kureha, Noel) against the laws of physics with a mission-cum-fieldtrip that has them lugging large loads of gear up and around mountains.
This allows for some cute interactions between these three, which we hadn’t seen nearly enough of up till this point, including some pretty amusing bickering and a playful water-fight in a stream. It was interesting seeing how well the girls handled the challenges of their mission, from the physical demand to Rio-induced problems like a missing compass, but more interesting was the scenery they visited. We got a look at a mysterious surveillance device from the future-past which is apparently one of a number of such devices that are guarding the city. The device was instantly intriguing to someone like me who loves futuristic and alien-esque technology, and it actually made me rethink my position on the backstory behind this world (again). But the best view came at the end of their tiring journey when they were rewarded with a panorama of the ominous ‘No-Man’s-Land’, a fallout-3-style wasteland where the remnants of modern buildings can be seen. Some things still don’t add up, but I still love the rich backdrop So-ra-no-wo-to paints for us. Speaking of good views, there was also the much-anticipated fanservice scene where the girls all bathe together in a natural hot spring. The sexyness was greatly diminished by the towel-wearing cockblockery that so pervades TV-Tokyo anime. Don’t be shy, girls!
Well, on the whole this was a bouncy and surprisingly fun episode that was greatly benefitted by some lovely animation (the movement of the characters almost seemed Kamichu!-level at times) and an effective episode director who managed to keep things interesting visually and in terms of pace. I still don’t think it’s at the level of the second episode, but I found it more entertaining than the last two have been.
♥ My God! The almighty cuteness of Kureha this episode was heart-stealing as well as show-stealing! Okay, maybe I’m going too far. It’s not like she’s a moe superstar on the level of Biri-biri, Nagi-sama, etc. maybe she seems so damned cute simply because she’s put beside other characters who either don’t interest me or a boring. I think Kureha easily has the most personality of the group, and it definitely showed this episode. Her seiyuu, Kitamura Eri, is nothing short of perfect for the role and I think Kureha’s design is really adorable. /fanboy explosion.
● Speaking of Kureha, her apparent crush on the visiting army dude, whatever his name was (he’s an able-bodied man so obviously an unimportant member of this military), was really surprising. Here I was thinking she had the yuri-yuri thing going on with her Rio-sempai♥ mode, but now it seems like she just goes for anyone of senior rank. Maybe she just has her sights set on a promotion … No, don’t taint the sweet innocence of Kureha-chan!
✘ So this military’s training regime can seemingly be summed up as ‘long periods of idle relaxation followed by a task of intense physical demand’. Maybe if they spent more time exercising and less time practicing music, they’d be a little bit more believable!
✔ I really loved the scene where the girls were trying to stand up with their massive packs on. It might look kind of silly to carry a pack you can’t even stand up with but considering the small size of these girls and the pretty large burden of a cross-country army pack it’s pretty damn believable. I remember my boss telling me a story about a girl who was in the army with him who simply couldn’t get up again if she fell over carrying the requisite load in training.
✘ Lucky they bought towels. They’ve been watching too much Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
● The Kanji flashing up on the surveillance device got me thinking a bit again on the history of this world. So it’s set in Spain with a pretty clear rural European culture and aesthetic going on, yet we keep coming across artifacts that are clearly Japanese. If the global catastrophe that reset the world X years ago was a world-war, I wonder what Japan’s involvement was. Maybe Japan had launched a big campaign of conquest and expanded to/occupied all the way out to areas of Europe. That seems a little hard to believe, but who can say what the future might bring. Or maybe Japan was allied with this area of Europe and had a significant presence here to help defend it?
● Preview for the next episode: http://www.sorawoto.com/theater/yokoku05.html The title of the episode is ‘Kanata`s Day Off - Hairdressing’. The title makes it sound awful but the preview makes it look awesome. It seems to feature a 50s mobster cosplay/theme. My guess is that they uncover a bunch of oldworld clothes/items.
The latest issues of Megami and Nyantype are out for the month, featuring news, articles and previews for moe/bishoujo anime and games. Nyantype got plenty of attention this time because of its feature on Strike Witches season 2, providing a rough airdate, information on the next season, as well as an interesting Q&A with the director and character designer. But the real core of both magazines rests with the array of alluring posters for moe/bishoujo anime otaku, and that’s just as true this month. Nyantype and Megami are in direct competition with each other, so it’s interesting to see how compare each release (although a lot of otaku seem to be buying both). Nyantype has definitely been lifting their game since the first issue, but I think this month shows that Megami still reigns supreme, with superior art quality.
Click on the images to get high-quality scans at moe.imouto.org.
One of the first things I noticed about the new issues is that they feature slightly more last-season stuff than they usually would at this point. This is probably due to the noticeable shortage of anime this season. But that suits me because it resulted in my favourite poster of the month, the sexy image featuring Yin and Suou bathing together. The art in that one is suprisingly good. The rest of my highlights are pictures below. The Chu-Bra one is really cute, and I also love the yuri-yuri poster of Aka-chan and Chizuru in a naked embrace. I adore Aka-chan and I think the alluded yuri between them is really sweet! But, damn, that is a terrible Dance in the Vampire Bund poster. I’d rather a blown-up screencap! Close your cape, Mina!
Not as many well-drawn posters in this issue when put against Megami. A good example would be to compare the two Mai-HiME ones. Nyantype’s looks much simpler in art style. In fact, almost all of these posters are inferior IMO. Compare the DtB ones. Unless you’re a massive Yin fan you’ll concede that the Megami one is a lot more erotic and less interesting. The same applied to the Seitokai no Izhizon, although I guess I can’t complain about getting naked Aka-chan! One advantage Nyantype has is a So-ra-no-wo-to poster. It might not be the best poster ever, but at least it’s something, and Kureha’s cuteness alone make sit worthwhile. The Chu-bra one is also very good, arguably better. The biggest winner, though, is the Railgun poster. I’m not to keen on the Railgun anime anymore but Kuroko and Misaka dressed up as maids is impossible to resist!
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