Monthly Archives: January 2007

January 10, 2007

Meta-Talk: My Little Social Science Experiment in Picking the Best Anime Character

By omo

When people say “harem” in this context–our context–they have this preconception in their mind. I presume if I said “Megatokyo” a different set of preconceptions would pop up in their minds… Perhaps my love for Nayuki was the fatal flaw in all of that, as years spent modding a LOL internet forum can do to you…

Alas, I am not writing from my grave (yet), so I decided to put my Saimoe 2006 thoughts into practice. It’s really just an somewhat-annual competition me and a couple hundred other people do, even if maybe 20-30% of us actually contribute in vigor. Yep, we’re doing an anime character competition. You can read about it in this thread.

Vigor is really what makes it the best, that said. It’s a lot of hard work. Even so, I think the hardest part is to “trust” someone you don’t know. I think overall my problem was still one of trust. It isn’t that I distrust anyone, but I just don’t know if things will work out like how I want it, if other people would “behave” in the way I think they should, and even if the way I think they should behave is really the way to go. I love giving people the liberty to make it ‘better’ but I’m not sure what I think is ‘better’ is what they think is ‘better,’ and so forth.

For one, the real problem is trying to be complicated without a concise goal. What am I trying to achieve? What are they trying to achieve? I think even in an unhappy, constrained context (Saimoe 2006 is such an example), people can be happy as long as they can do what they want with the characters that they love.

And so I think this will work, because any nomination system where people can ultimately nominate characters they love will work.

And after thinking about it, a forum community is still an absolute necessity for something like this to work. You need some kind of persistence, yet coupled with a fast turn-around time. A blog community could work, but it means bloggers have to “get into it.” I don’t know about you, but I think I’m too whimsical about the use of my own soapbox to be too serious about it. In other words, it’s not centralized enough for my liking. It made sense, too, because 2ch is very much a forum community at its heart.

But hey. It could work. Maybe give it another year we could have a real English-language Saimoe.

5 comments | posted in Blogging, Modern Visual Culture

January 8, 2007

Rescue Angel

By omo

So Frothing Frost Fansubbers (I :wub: them) released a “fansub” which is kind of a feasibility/pitch video that came omake on one of the Rescue Wings DVD releases.

I thought to myself after watching it, “Man, ONLY IF.” Granted if Rescue Wings was about a woman pilot making in a male-dominated field of military aviation it would’ve come across as cliché, at least a little. Somehow I am glad the show still went on as we know it, but it would have been a lot more fun, and just maybe take off that “this is a paid commercial by the Japanese SDF recruitment department” edge a little.

Heck, it would have been the most countercultural and un-Mamiko role Mamiko could’ve played!

Or not.

5 comments | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Yomigaeru Sora Rescue Wings

January 6, 2007

All Hail The Queen of Upskirt Loli: Yuuma

By omo

Two-thousand and six was only a few days ago and I’m already regretting not making a bigger splash about Renkin 3-kyuu Magical Pokaan as something that everyone should watch.

The problem here is pretty simple. To illustrate it let’s go way back. As many of you may know, Full Metal Panic Fumoffu is possibly one of the most popular Kyoto Animation works ever. Forget about the SOS-Dan; this is really the show that made or broke the studio, and I think most of us would agree that this is a masterful comedy that is true to the source. Yet when people talk about the best anime ever they all just say the same old tired things, and no one would ever say Fumoffu as their favorite, or maybe even the top 3.

There’s just no respect for the sketch comedy format. Seriously. It is as if the average anime fan has no sense of humor or something.

Well…not that I want to test that thesis, but for real, Magical Pokaan is the kind of show that makes me want to laugh and proclaim that this is the best anime of the year…until I realize just how naughty this thing is, and quickly shut my mouth.

Indeed, Magical Pokaan mixes the most innocent cute fodder with the most sinister gutter thinking in a tense package of gothloli-loli and LOLOLOLOLOLy. It hurts to watch because some of its gags are just so funny, and it hurts to watch it because it’s so wrong. It treasures the archetypes and pandering, yet at the same time it uses idealism as a laser and asks, “Do you expect me to talk?”

Pachira then would hold up a sign that says “No Mister Bond, I expect you to GIVE ME BLOOD.”

Here’s one to the best gag anime that I’ve seen in recent years. Hopefully it will be well matched in 2007.

Leave a comment | posted in Magipoka, Modern Visual Culture

January 3, 2007

Animelo 2006 on DVD = Animelol

By omo

So these babies came in the mail. LOL only means that it reminded me I already downloaded the DVD ISOs before new years. Time to watch!

Just for your information, if you didn’t know: I am a HUGE Masami Okui fan. I’m not even going to say why because I can’t bear to see my fanboy inner flesh sprawled out for no reason. By extension, I really dig JAM Project as well as some of Makkun’s (her fan nickname) collaborations. Makkun is also a very prolific anime musician, and over time she worked with a lot of different other musicians who have attachments with the anime scene. Chihiro Yonekura (and ROR/S), Minami Kuribayashi and Yoko Ishida are just a few.

But 2005-06 mark the years of Nana Mizuki’s biggest splash yet. She’s a pop cultural flag for the Densha Otoko generation, so it’s not a surprise to see her headlining this giant concert that is Animelo 2006. Animelo is this annual thing, for a couple years now, that the JAM Project folks have been throwing. It’s a lot of fun. And 2006 is their biggest show yet with the first time release of the show on DVD.

If you want to know how the show was, this is a much better read. For the sake of not reinventing the wheel I’ll just get the nitpickery regarding the DVD release out of the way and put in my two cents.

The DVDs, released by King Record (volume I) and Victor (volume II) are produced pretty much together. The design, art, the poster insert that you can put together for a full-size poster, and video production sync so they’re likely to be from the same production team. The release, however, are from two different labels. It’s no surprise because there are a bunch of different labels represented by the artists themselves, not even including our Suzumiya Haruhi trio: Aya Hirano, Yuko Goto and Minori Chihara. Their sole performance, Hare Hare Yukai, didn’t make the cut. Boo.

Other than that, all the acts seems to be on the discs. The DVDs also come with a behind the scene snippet, showing the day when all the performers arrived early in the morning, snippets of the rehearsal, people relaxing in the back room, people getting pumped before heading out to the stage, and stuff behind the scene during the massive roll call at the end. The featurette ends with individual post-concert interviews, each group telling us how Animelo 2006 was for them. The behind the scene bonus is on both DVD, and it’s exactly the same!

The DVDs divide the show up by gender, sort of. Naozumi Takahashi‘s two songs went with the male medley on Victor’s disc (along with JAM Project’s songs, and Ali Project). Kuribayashi’s taunting outfit along with the very cute Aiko Kayo landed with the female medley on King Record’s disc. The division is begging someone to come along and rearrange it to the concert’s proper order.

Ah well, onward with the impressions.

I’m honestly shocked: this would be my first time watching ALI PROJECT live, and she (Arika Takarano)’s definitely a looker. And I mean it in a high class model kind of way–she’s got the built and she takes care of her face. I suppose that’s a must if you’re going to look good on camera prancing around in that hardcore gothloli getup. The goth drag queens as backup dancer was neat, and I have a hard time saying no to Rozen Maiden Traumend OP.

And it took me years to realize Chiaki Ishikawa is the other half of See-Saw. Or rather, it just didn’t stick when I read her name back when Kajiura was hitting the popular waves here. I even have a copy their old CD…well, she does have curly hair now. I like her songs, naturally–they’re crowd pleasers as See-Saw’s new stuff tend to be.

But I should’ve known, Ishikawa actually wrote and compose entirely the OP to Simoun, which she performed on stage. When I first read of Animelo’s content, this didn’t even register. Who would’ve known what that meant six months later? Savage Genius also performed Simoun’s ED at Animelo 2006, and … yeap.

I think I said Aiko Kayo is cute. She really is. And it’s not the frail kind of cute that the SOS-Dan trio seem to be. I think Kageyama cracked a joke on Matsumoto over it.

Minami Kuribayashi definitely wins the provocative dress award, even giving Takarano’s oddish gothloli thigh+cat-o-nine-whip a good run. Her white dress during the medley part is very nice.

Nana Mizuki has legs. But I am always happy with that Eternal Blaze going.

I think the real highlight of the show for me is the 9-man raid full of SKILL! You got the JAM Project folks plus Yoko Ishida, Chihiro Yonekura, and Minami Kuribayashi. I think Fukuyama spent more time on the DVD screaming than saying decipherable words. It doesn’t help that I’ve done group karaoke over that stuff before. It really is hella fun.

Runner up would be Kuribayashi and Makkun’s duet for Mask. I always like that song.

It’s a ton of fun. The DVD reproduction is just a fraction of its total energy, but even then it’s one (or two) of the most enjoyable concert DVDs I’ve had the chance to watch. If you’re a person into anime pop, this is hard to pass up. At 4800 yen a piece I snagged both during the holiday season when it was 20% off from Amazon Japan (ftw!). Even with fast shipping I spent less than $85, overall.

Totally worth it, worth beyond its impressive song list and guests.

Continue reading

Leave a comment | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Rozen Maiden, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop, Simoun

January 1, 2007

How to Bukkake the Moon – Tsukihime Edition

By omo

Maybe Onegai Twins is just a tribute to Tsukihime? The drama between Kohaku/Hisui and Akiha, and the drama between Arc and Ciel… It’s just so memorable.

Onegai Twins (DMP version)

Kinoko Nasu’s popular smash hit is a tour de force in a lot of ways. It’s sort of like eating a burger the proper way, and you’re not sure if your body agrees with some of the burger’s content.

But having said that, I downed the game in its entirety over the course of a week. It was a lot of fun and somehow I gotten to like Shiki a lot. I think, in all things, having some kind of significant attachment to the main character really helps the reader. It is probably the best thing about Tsukihime. (And probably the largest flaw with Shingetsutan Tsukihime.)

But starting out the new year about a porn game, sadly, is not how I’d like it. And as much as some of us may deny the erotic aspect of the game (in honest), Arc is still pretty hot. Perhaps my biggest complaint of the game, then, is that there’s just way too much pornographic material in the story. And I think a lot of it is excessive. It’s to the degree that after I was through with my second major ero scene I was holding down the fast forward button. Come to think of it, nearly all of the ero scenes were excessive and can be either simply cut, or worked around with the same effect. To be honest there were only a couple more enticing in-game scenes than the 6 different faces of Hisui, and that sort of stuff is just more amusing and morally sensible. In other words, I was just skipping 80% or more of the erotic content just fine, and to me they’re just excessive baggage of the genre norm for these kinds of games. Boooooring. Honestly I’d rather be more bothered if the porn part of the game was better, and as much as it may be something that I initially expected, I was pretty quick to resign to a more morally sound position.
What is more disturbing than the tender loving care Shiki Tohno dispenses to his nonlinear harem is the psychotic violence described in Tsukihime. It didn’t agree with me, but I see why it’s there and the point it makes. It’s pretty interesting because as much as it’s easy to bring about disturbing, snuff-like violence, it’s another to do so by making you feel it. Doubly so with just words. Tsukihime has little visual violence, and those moments aren’t the ones I’m talking about. I’m partly impressed but also kind of put off because a lot of it is not exactly directly related to the story it tries to tell, either.

I think the primary Tsukihime schtick is basking us with ambiance and then it paints our minds with careful, concise statements about whatever Kinoko Nasu wants to talk about. As a result a huge amount of the story is dedicated to painting that ambiance. it’s like drowning your resin kit with a sea of primer, only to put three dots on it with your paintbrush. Mmm, hairless naked figurines? It’s not the most masterful in the execution, but it isn’t terrible. A little blunt, but it gets the point across well. Well, it’s really blunt. For example:

The torrent breaks through.

Spinning. Spinning. Spinning spinning the world is spinning.

Sun and moon. Female and lion. Angel and pollution. Colliding uphill paths. Broken hourglass. Upwards falling sand. Shattered window and a door without a handle. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness.

* * *

I’m getting crushed.

Melting wall. Solvable meaning. Self who can explain. Smoothness of changable permeability. Transitioning time. Observation life and execution function. A pinky-less hand. Headless eyes. Rolling carpet. Once. Twice. Three Times. 777 cages. Burst balloon. Unfulfillable promise. Unprotectable law. Death contract. Poison and honey. Red and afterbirth. Murcury lamp and bug light. Light refracting to countless dimensions. Swimming fish, singing at the ocean bottom. Tools, tools, tools. Towards endlessly reproducing stars without meaning, without will. Better than wishes. Another only me. Unraveling deep sea. Contradictory that appears from microscopic organisms. Detailed view of a quark. Rejection of everything. Formless form. An embryo within a hearse. I curse and celebrate their existence.

* * *

“What, is this—-”

Cessation is disregard. The bleeding earth. Trade your blood for poison and you will attain immortality. Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose. Your splendor will not last forever. The way to reach Lohan’s temple, eat this bread. Spreading defilement. The April that’s farther than May, the reversal of limbs, awaken in the shrine of balance beyond the dual serpent and scorpion. The skin of rotten fruit. Burned puppet of celluloid. The cannabis of Legion. Grinding and friction. Sun and Moon. Colliding uphill paths. Female and lions. Broken hourglass. Spiraling clouds. I am unparalleled. Upwards falling sand. Eight years ago. Killed. Killed. Killed. Killed.Killed. Killed. Killed. Killed.Killed. You. Killed!

One thing Tsukihime does, like many other complex, multi-pathing kinetic/visual novels, (well) is having a couple major story lines and then fill those out with character story lines, each filling in the gap the other missed. What makes Tsukihime marvelous in this aspect is that its two main stories “near side of the moon” and “far side of the moon” complemented each other very well. I sort of think that the “far side of the moon” was really a story about Kohaku, but they realized how it’s very useful by forcing her story to be unlocked last, it gives Hisui and Akiha’s stories much more “oomph.” It’s a bit of a cheat, I guess, but it’s to good effect. Well, I suppose “well” is kind of relative too, given the fairly lean connection between the major story lines.

I shouldn’t play favorites, but it’s so fun to do it with this game–pretty much everyone’s story are fairly good. One personal favorite part about Tsukihime was that the whole Arcueid-cide aspect came about very well. In fact I think overall Arc’s story is probably my favorite because it is a hair’s breadth away from invoking a Jesus allegory with a straight face. An allegory in the line of Aslan in C.S. Lewis’ famous book about a wardrobe. And it’s subtly wonderful in that how the story BEGINS with it. It’s probably not a common way to look at this story, but I think it pans out in full.

There was a lot of thought that went into Tsukihime, I get the feeling. If a visual novel is the paradigm of excess in a text-narrative world, then Tsukihime loaded this visual novel up with a lot of excessive text, true to the nature of the medium. Excess in words, in feelings, in the relationships and what’s unnecessary but yet so vital to the entire experience. What’s more, it carries the weight, look and feel of a doujin production. It’s a game not for the squirmish, but if you’re adventurous and open minded, this is one hella of a ride.

Flawed, but not fatal; highly recommended.

For reference, I played the game using my copy of Tsukihime from Tsukibako, and used the ONScripter adaptation in English from Mirror Moon. Make sure you use the latest version! The translation, as a post script, is adequate but leaves a lot to be desired; but don’t let that turn you away from this landmark piece of gaming history. For post-post script, a shoutout to chendo and a certain friend in Japan who made this experience possible.

Leave a comment | posted in Bishoujo Gaming, Tsukihime