Omonomono

June 3, 2013

The Garden of Rainy-day Sinners

By omo

It took me 3 tries for Hoshi o ou Kodomo, so if it takes 3 times for Kotonoha no Niwa then at least I can do that in nearly a third of the time. It’s at least gorgeous enough to warrant watching it three times.

But yes, I’m still not sure how to react to the film. My initial feelings are both somewhat moved and yet slightly enraged at the odd composition of the romantic relationship. It all came together in a way that just felt a little wrong. It doesn’t, thankfully, take away the underlying emotions and the way The Garden of Words wraps around you and moves you.

I think you really have to go into this show without knowing what it is. The revelation later on int he film is a little disruptive and even if you’re a big fan of indie Japanese cinema you might not quite have it all planned out. And if you’re not, then this is probably not the kind of anime you expect.

It is the kind of anime Shinkai fans expect however. Visually it is beautiful. Tokyo has never been this gorgeous. Short of flooding this post with caps let’s just say that the Blu-ray can’t come to my house soon enough. [Especially since it’s in an order with the Festiv@l of Winter blargh, which means it’ll probably get here when I’m not home @ AX.]

So many rainy sunshine cuts, so few rainbows. It’s not Shinkai to do rainbows, I guess.

Leave a comment | posted in Kotonoha no Niwa, Modern Visual Culture

June 1, 2013

All I’ve Got Are Stinking MADs

By omo

Convention season is also remembrance season. Spring is, for me, always a time to get excited. It’s when I fell in love with things like Sakura Taisen and Tsukihime and other nonsense that I can only look on fondly as memories, plastic figures, and a lost seashore of words as grounded sand by the passage of time on the internets.

I was just in the mood. And maybe you are too, to remember a couple old MADs that accompanied my recent fandom: Love Plus and the Idolm@ster. Or maybe they’re new to you?

It’s weird, because they do mark the points when I my tastes decided to change. In the Love Plus case, though, I was already playing the game around launch so maybe it was already too late.

I would like to thank the guy, who made the MAD, that made me first pay it any attention:

You can catch it at its original location on Nico (man, 2008 was not all that long ago). A high-resolution version can be found here.Â And, there’s sex bomb, a follow up.

The great thing about this video is that it doesn’t take much to understand what’s going on. The song is catchy, and it’s in English. The humor translates well without any meddling. It even has that iM@S feel within the concept–a gang of entertainers, being entertaining by being themselves. Sure, it’s still full of in-jokes, but that just adds to the flavor, not a requirement to get it.Â The follow up video is the same, too.

Less I could say about this pretty neat video featuring Love Plus (the original) and Nene the virtual girlfriend. I think it speaks for itself. And it doesn’t take an in joke to explain much anything. Familiarity with Love Plus just makes this video more striking.

You can find it on Nico andÂ Vimeo. Only half a million views since 2010, this is pretty obscure relatively lol.

3 comments | posted in Bishoujo Gaming, Idolmaster, Love Plus

May 30, 2013

Mikasa Goodman

By omo

This guy thinks Mikasa AckermanÂ is a good girl. I’m not so sure. But while I was listening to that gaggle of voice actors sing along to the intense audio trope of a song the other day it dawned on me: Mikasa is played by Yui Ishikawa, who is in my mind, just Princess DNAra. A quick look on ANN says that MikasaÂ Ackerman is her second lead role for animation voice-overs. That’s a long time, relatively, in between. It’s also another incredible opportunity, to play a big role in a big show.

The thing is, Princess DhianeilaÂ is also a “good girl.” In fact she is supposedly the literary parallel of some Greek mythological ideal for human goodness. I mean it in the “in contrast with, say, Gundam’s Relena or Lacus” but a force of nature pushing humanity into the next evolutionary level of existence, to join up with our space brothers and sisters; to chase after that mythical ancient race of gods or Qs or Precursors or whatever. In essence, DNAra is That Newtype. It’s about superhuman feats for an age where only such things can propel us forward, to overcome the other giants of the world.

It’s not too different, in that sense, from Shingeki no Titan. So what makes Mikasa Ackerman, and her muscle density? Or her voice actress? I have no freaking clue. It’s just yet another row in the database, where we bloggers run join queries and create nonsense for our entertainment. Ours and yours, hopefully.

And while sure, Mikasa, like Princess Dhianeila, are good girls, they’re also symbols in a way where a sense of flawlessness crusts over their humanity, their weaknesses. In my mind that is a great thing but it’s also not my cup of tea. In other words, I prefer girls who are more, shall we say, human.

2 comments | posted in Modern Visual Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop, Shingeki no Kyojin, The Heoric Age

May 28, 2013

Animazement 2013 Wrap: Kaku no Hana

By omo

There are a few big things I want to note but also some small details here and here. So the result is more aimless rambling from a sleep-deprived mind. Business as usual.

The Big Picture

This is my first true con of the year. Anime Boston’s new date this year did have some impact in the sense that it deprived Animazement some more dealers and a weaker dealer room presence. It also made it impossible for me to go to AB. AZ itself is possibly the same size asÂ last year, I can’t really get a good grasp, but I didn’t think it got bigger. I think this year is generally feeling slightly less…good? Which is all to say, a down Animazement is still better than most cons out there.

4 comments | posted in Aku no Hana, Conventions and Concerts

May 25, 2013

Animazement 2013 Day 0, 1

By omo

Poole Con 2013 was delicious as usual.

Megumi and Keiko Han are adorbs. Nakatani DAIOH. Spash is a splash as usual. Nagahama wanted Aku no Hana to be something that you know from knowing, not because it sits in a sorted bin of what you know. Not quite like a man who cosplays half robot and half Naruto? Â It’s complicated.

Keiko and Megumi

Masako is grandma Masako more like. Yuko Minaguchi is gracious and has pretty okay English at least. I gave her a joke that she can’t quite play off of, oh well.

The rest of the old people brigade are pretty cool as usual. Nakao and Furukawa are stylish, good deal. Maruyama is frank and got his usual thing going.

And I can actually beat Go My Way on Taiko no Tatsujin 10, given this is like the first time I’m doing this thing. I had a lot of fun, free play etc.

Dear sleep awaits.

Leave a comment | posted in Conventions and Concerts