Category Archives: Modern Visual Culture

July 18, 2007

Convention of the まっすぐ GO!! Generation

By omo

Next time I blog I’ll be in Baltimore attending Otakon. The Baltimore Convention Center does not have free wifi despite a city-wide initiative. However, some of the surrounding areas do. In any event I will blog from the hotel room at the very minimum.

I pray that the mid-summer Baltimore weather will beat upon us no worse than that is necessary, and I can find time both to relax and to be excited about life, universe, and everything. It’s not just to celebrate anime with friends and share a good time, but in a conscious way to deepen my relationship with God in a familiar but shockingly strange environment, in preparation for the thing that have yet to come.

As the “straight ahead-Go” generation that we are, I think that anime fans are some of the best types that 21st century geekdom has to offer. In some ways this means that some external forces may take advantage of us more so and we’ll cause problems with our straightforward mannerisms, but on the flip side it also shows some degree of tenacity that the long-time fans possess. In any case, rain or shine, we will be there and entertaining our favorite guests at this anime convention. If you are going, I pray that you too will do it share this enthusiasm at this mutual geeking-out.

1 comment | posted in Conventions and Concerts, Manabi Straight, Modern Visual Culture, Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei

July 16, 2007

E: The Dempa Letter

By omo

Aika

Code-E is a lot of fun. Studio Deen gives that very classic feel to a lot of the shows they produce. With this crew it almost reminded me of the typical TV anime back in the 90s with both mundane but interesting female leads and equally mundane but more traditional male ones. Sort of like You’re Under Arrest. Sort of like summer.

I am not sure what I should be expecting from Code-E, however. It has that big-budget ROD feel but at the same time it doesn’t feel that way? Maybe I’m just distracted by the OP and the brassy show of a BGM track. Unfortunately, the jury is still in session for Code-E, because this is exactly the kind of show that traditionally gets mishandled and wrangled by poor pacing. I hope they start kicking ass sooner than later. Just because it’s dempa anime doesn’t mean it has to suck, right?

Otakon draws nigh. So does the final stretch of my cramming. Aiee. But I still managed to catch up on sleep, Potemayo, and a bit of Claymore. It’s not helping that the freight train of pre-con anticipation sounds its steam horn, leaving me to brace myself with the anticipatory regret that I’ve just spent a lot of time for very little gain, and said time is really running out. Ah well, I’ll get to see this poor sod again, and many of my online acquaintances. East Side~

2 comments | posted in Code-E, Conventions and Concerts, English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Modern Visual Culture

July 10, 2007

Sweet Aftertaste: A Brief Rundown of Sorts

By omo

When the episode ends with putting a smile on your face, I think that’s a good thing.

11/11 always makes me smile

Of course, sometimes it’s just a cheating cheap trick that’s doing the smirking for you. (Hello wawawa wait I forgot what show I’m mocking?) Gurren Lagann’s rather-epic end to the first 13 episodes is a good example of how to do it so honestly, on the other hand. But still, you aren’t sure if you are smiling because you know we’re going into a recap episode and jump forward in time (yay non-loli NonoNia), or because you’re still on the well-animated euphoria of good old battle robot…goodness.

On the flip side there’s this さよなら絶望先生 sort of smile. Shinbo’s show generally does that for me, although lately he’s doing it with a twist. Hidamari Sketch had those sublime and Azumanga Daioh-like moments; Negima mixes adolescent romance with some pretty cool otaku tropes, plus a bit of that Nanoha battle feel to it. But with Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei he goes back to super-overloading the basics of a simple manga adaptation to create a lot of joy for, at least, some of us. I know it’s not the sort of show everyone will enjoy, but like Soul Taker, Shinbo manages to transform a rather mundane thing into something very unique and it doesn’t terribly suck!

Sort of like Sky Girls TV, actually. Although I think, like Yin, I might have to use my fingers for that one.

On a completely unrelated subject, this is pretty cool–and you won’t see it in a street racing anime:

RX-8

5 comments | posted in Darker than Black, Hidamari Sketch, Modern Visual Culture, Negima!?, Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

July 6, 2007

An Entertaining Uninstall Redux

By omo

Flowers for Ishikawa

Chiaki Ishikawa at AX explains a lot about Uninstall. And how Simoun’s production was full of girls.

Yea, some guy booted the audio from her show. To save you the trouble of having people yell into your ears by listening to that hour-long thing, here are some tidbits:

1. As an anisong singer (she explained what that was) she really got into it through Kajiura’s collab in Gundam Seed. Their partnership had a deep impact on her, it seems. She has been doing solo only a year or two.

2. Speaking of anisong singing, she wrote Uninstall in a way that people (in Japan) will recognize that it is an anisong. So, naturally, Ishikawa sang “a ni song, a ni song.” HAHAHAHA. You go girl. Only a song’s writer can mock the song’s fan the best? Oh, oops, I’m suppose to keep this secret! (Isn’t this on the internet already? But I bet not a recording of her singing just that…)

3. Which songs? Annaniisshodattanoni, Kimigaitamonogatari, Yasashiiyoake (she soloed), Uninstall, Utsukushiikerebasoredeii, Kimiwabokuniniteiru, and Obsession. Ugh @ Obsession. I hate this song. Well, I think she sang it better here than on the CD at the least…

4. She doesn’t do many lives at all. (Ugh)

5. I can use a picture of her costume? LOL.

Speaking of Uninstall, though, there’s also Ishikawa’s blog and it talks about that a bit (under 7/3). Among other things. For someone who saw the first Gundam series when she was little (I guess this is heading 6?), she’s a champ for toughing it out on this AX trip…and wow, that’d also make her someone who was inspired (well, maybe subconsciously) by it and ended up working on the franchise, even if probably unintentionally. It’s all up there.

6 comments | posted in Conventions and Concerts, Modern Visual Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop, Simoun

July 4, 2007

Lost and Finding Nodame

By omo

Yep, I’m sort of lost.

It’s not that I don’t know what shows to watch, but I think I might have to take a break to regain my drive to care. The new summer shows are popping up now, so maybe I’ll find a show that will motivate me.

But even before I do that, watching the end to Nodame gave me enough boost to keep going? Maybe it’s the lovely soundtrack to the show. Beethoven > most pop music, sadly still.

For a show about people getting over their memories, it was a cute and entertaining adventure with all the internalizations clearly depicted but kept quiet in favor of Nodame’s repeating antics. Like Honey & Clover, Nodame also lift in whole some of the manga schtiks to good effects. The end result was not just a mere-falling-in-love with the characters, but also getting caught up to its pace and the style of humor.

That said, the show is not a masterpiece unlike some of the music it played. There were some pacing issues and the rough spots but it was simple and I think the staff was veteran enough to dice this up despite some limitations. It ran knowing where it is going, and it took strong and steady strides.

In retrospect, Nodame was the kind of show that really anchored my viewing habits. It’s like a drug–a weekly dose to keep you sane…or insane. It doesn’t get me excited, and it isn’t really experimental or out there that I have to worry about what I’m getting each week. On the other hand it’s something you can count on to entertain, and you know how much it’ll make you laugh or make you feel sentimental about your own youth.

Ahh. I feel like those old geezers in H&C again.

Leave a comment | posted in Honey And Clover, Modern Visual Culture, Nodame Cantabile