Freezing
[starrater]
chiaki
About chiaki
Posts by Chiaki Tachibana:
Madoka Magica
[starrater]
Episode 182 – The Most Disappointing Anime
Have you ever been watching an anime and a few episodes in found out that it has been disappointing you the entire time? Nothing is worse! We talk about some of the most disappointing anime we have ever watched, for a variety of reasons.
10. Un-Go – I watched this anime expecting it to be some great mystery. Everyone spoke highly of the original creator and it was in an era when we had GoSick, which was amazing, and other mystery based anime and this fell so flat.
9. Initial D 5th Stage – After the long break between the 4th and 5th stage (9 year gap) and with the 4th stage being so great, there was a lot of anticipation for both me and for other anime fans to which I spoke about the subject. However, stage 5 really lacks the style and effect that the 4th stage had. The 5th stage focuses heavily on racing but does a poor job of making the races interesting (epic) and does an even worse job of building up the hype for the race. The show probably needs to have a few less races and a few more episodes to build up the anticipation. Also, the quality of the animation and art dropped quite a bit.
8. The Sacred Blacksmith – The concept was a love-letter to fantasy fans. Girl decides to become a knight, on a quest to defend her home, a handsome and aloof blacksmith for her to have come around, and a magic sword in the midst of turmoil. Too bad they decided they’d rather turn it into tropes and shit.
7. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – Here is an example of disappointment in that the anime feels like it’s finished after the first five episodes and then keeps going.
6. Umineko no Naku Koro Ni – It’s not quite fair when you have to live up to something like Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, but that’s the bed these people made and they had to sleep in it with Umineko. It’s not an overly horrible series but let’s face it, when you go into it with a Higurashi mindset and come out with… this, it’s disappointing to say the least.
5. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya – Okay, yeah, we’ve hated on it. But let’s admit it after the show being genuinely good and previous additions being okay at best this movie is the longest anime disappointment of all time just by the fact that they took a good show centered around a quirky main character and thought it’d still hold up if they gave her no screen time.
4. Kite Liberator – After the entertaining, fast paced, and action packed show Kite, people were excited to have a followup. (Also, apparently deserving of a Hollywood movie). There was quite a gap in between the 2 animes (10 years). Kite Liberator lacked the style, the pacing and the interest that the first anime had.
3. Wolverine – at least following this steaming pile of crap Marvel and Madhouse did their homework and made improvements so that by the time we got to X-Men we were working with something actually interesting. But this show was so awful in so many ways when it didn’t have to be if it just held up to it’s source material a little better. It’s really disappointing when you’re handed something good only to see it shat on.
2. (TIE) Blood C – The Blood franchise is long-running and well known for keeping up a certain standard of “good” let’s say. But Blood C throws all previous formulas out the window for boredom piled onto boredom. The gore is hardly there (save for the last episode) and the other elements of the blood franchise? Forget about it.
2. (TIE) Gundam AGE – I think the Gundam community generally agrees with this assessment. Gundam AGE was a very disappoint series mostly because of the potential that I had to be quite good. The series had many things about it that people liked, including Flit Asuno and Commander Grodek, which were two badass characters that people enjoyed. Also, I think the design and concept of the Gundam AGE-1 was fairly well received. This show dropped the ball with the 3rd arc, Kio’s portion of the anime. The anime became soft and bitch like with both its ending and with the personality of the 3rd main character Kio Asuno.
1. Ponyo – We usually expect the best of the best from Miyazaki, so when he puts out a work that is even an above average anime, we are disppointed. Ponyo is maybe the weakest of all the Miyazaki movies. It has a totally unoriginal story, an unbelievable romance, a story that feels trivial, and an annoying main character in Ponyo. The movie was successful financially, due to the Miyazaki name, but in our hearts, Ponyo is a movie that is lackluster even beyond Howl’s Moving Castle.
Reviews: Kotonoha no Niwa
Kotonoha no Niwa
Alternate Title: Garden of Words
[starrater]
Genshiken
Genshiken (Season 1)
Palm Studio
Dir. Takashi Ikehata (ep. dir. for Girls und Panzer, Strawberry Marshmallow, Inuyasha)
Wri. Michiko Yokote (5 ep. only) (Ah! My Goddess: The Movie, Rurouni Kenshin, Red Data Girl)
Mus. Masanori Takumi (Claymore, Koi Kaze, Witchblade)
SUMMARY
Genshiken follows the story of university freshman Kanji Sasahara. After perusing the various booths at the annual club rush, Sasahara settles on the club known as “gendai ni okeru shikaku wo chuushin to shita bunka no kenkyuu,” or rather “The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture.” This turns out to be an all encompassing otaku club, which is exactly what he wanted. Manga, anime, video games, cosplay, plastic models; you name it, Genshiken has its geeky toes dipped in it.
REVIEW
It’s not the prettiest thing to come out of the industry, but as a character piece, it doesn’t really need to be. The most visual impressive sequences are that of the imaginary-at-the-time anime “Kujibiki Unbalance,” which is a favorite among Genshiken’s members. The show has a nice visual style that isn’t too overblown. It really feels like it could make an easy and natural transition to the live-action medium.
For what one could certainly call an “otaku” show, the pandering and fan service is almost non-existent. The largely episodic stories feel all at once like an introspective on otaku culture and a celebration of what sets it apart and brings its participants together. In as much as the the Jackass franchise isn’t really about pranks and stunts but rather about camaraderie and friendship, so is Genshiken. To examine what brings people together is to examine people themselves, and Genshiken does this quite lovingly.
Like I mentioned before, the show is very episodic. Relationships progress serially, but events are mostly unconnected episode-to-episode. This works well for the different corners of fandom that the show attempts to tackle with each installment, but does little to encourage the viewer to watch more. I often felt satisfied watching a single episode and doing something else for awhile. It’s very pleasant viewing experience, but not terribly engaging.
The music is cute and never inappropriate, but doesn’t set itself apart in any particular way. The opening theme, however, has become one of my favorite anime openings of all time.
At the core of this show’s success are its characters. Truly loving portraits of believable archetypes among otaku – not terribly flattering, but never mean-spirited. Just honest, perhaps. Among the characters is a woman unlike any I had seen in anime prior to watching Genshiken, nor have I seen since. Her name is Saki Kasukabe (played with deft cynicism by Satsuki Yukino). She’s a smoking, drinking, fiercely independent upperclassman who starts dating Genshiken’s resident pretty-boy game wizard Makoto Kousaka, a choice she has no qualms about admitting were for his looks alone. She has no interest in anything otaku related and struggles for much of the series trying to understand why this hobby is so important to her boyfriend and his club mates. It’s a relationship that never feels forced or unearned, but rather real and unflinching; two people sitting in a room discussing whether they’re going to have sex later – one of them playing a video game, the other smoking a cigarette. If anything negative could be said about their relationship, its that Kousaka never does much of anything but play games, while Kasukabe is constantly trying to figure him and this whole “otaku” thing out. Kasukabe eventually comes around, but she’s never meant to be the syphon for a quote-unquote “normal” audience. A series like The Big Bang Theory never seems to be on the side of the outcasts. For a show that’s told from the perspective of geeks, the brunt of its humor is at the expense of those giving us perspective. The “normies” in the show provide the audience with a relatable escape from all the sci-fi references and indignant, glasses-pushing, academic one-upsmanship. Genshiken deserves huge points for making Kasukabe exactly what she is to the rest of the characters: an outsider.
All things considered, Genshiken is something special that we doesn’t get enough of these days. It’s a nice, well-meaning, thematically consistent piece about camaraderie on the outskirts of pop culture. Recommended to anyone who has ever called themselves a geek or any variation thereof.
4 glasses pushes out of 5.
[starrater]
Episode 181 – The Best Anime Years Between 1990-1997
1998-2002
1998-2002: is the best 4 year period but the best single year that I like is (1998-1999;
1998: Berserk(second half), Bubblegum Crisis 2040, Cowboy Bebop, Cardcaptor, Outlaw Star, Trigun, Initial D, Lain, His and Her Circumstances (first half)
1999: Crest of the Stars, Rurouni Kenshin OVA, NTHT, Millennium Actress, His and Her Circumstances(second Half) , GTO (first half), The Big O (And of course, Reign the conquerer)
2000: GTO (second half), Banner of the Stars, Hajime no Ippo, Now and Then Here and There (Last quarter)
2001: Banner of the Stars, Captain Tsubasa, Hellsing, Noir
2002: Azumanga Daioh, Chobits, Full Metal Panic, Full Moon wo Sagashite, GITS:SAC, .hack//sign, Haibane Renmei, Naruto, The Twelve Kingdoms, Witch Hunter Robin, RahXephon,
Best Anime Years between 1990 and 1997
1990
Nadia: Secret of Blue Water
1991
City Hunter
Getter Robo Go
Only Yesterday
Silent Mobius
1992
Crayon Shin-Chan
Sailor Moon
Yu Yu Hakusho
Tekkaman Blade
Porco Rosso
1993
Irresponsible Captain Taylor
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
Ninja Scroll
Patlabor 2
Macross II
DBZ: History of Trunks
1994
Blue Seed
Captain Tsubasa
Macross 7
Magic Knight Rayearth
Marmalade Boy
Pom Poko
1995
Fushigi Yuugi
H2 (manga)
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
Ghost in the Shell
Memories
Whisper of the Heart
Macross 7
Macross Plus
1996
Boys Over Flowers
Cased Closed Detective Konan
Martian Successor Nadesico
Rurouni Kenshin
Slayers
Vision of Escaflowne
1997
Flame of Recca
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Pokemon
Slayers (con’t…)
Princess Mononoke
Perfect Blue
Reviews: Genshiken
Nekomonogatari: Kuro
Alternate Titles: Nekomonogatari: Black
Plot:
A second prologue to the overall Bakemonogatari series the story takes place between the original Bakemonogatari and Kizumonogatari. Black is told from the perspective of Araragi-kun, our mostly-immortal, vampire-related, protagonist. He owes his life to the seemingly perfect and perpetually put-together class president Hanekawa Tsubasa. The world continues to be full of “oddities” or supernatural beings which tamper with humans at will. Hanekawa has become charmed by a white cat during the golden week holiday and begins violently attacking people to relieve her built-up stress.
Production:
Staff ~
The staff is almost entirely different from the original series Bakemonogatari, but the new staff did an excellent job of blending the best elements from the two previous seasons.
The chief director for Neko is Akiyuki Simbo who has a large number directorial credits to his name. He was the director for Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha, Dance in the Vampire Bund, Kizumonogatari – following this OVA, and Arakawa Under the Bridge, to name a few.
Naturally with a strong history behind it, the staff worked to be top-knotch.
Animation ~
Studio SHAFT continues to do an amazing job on the animation. Not only is it stylistic, smooth, and generally flawless, but it retains all the charms of the previous series such as striking landscapes, minimalist images, camera zooms, word splash screens, and stark color contrasts.
Visually Nekomonogatari is astounding just like any other installment in the franchise.
Music ~
The music is repetitive and that’s the largest flaw I find with it. However, with the sharp pacing of the dialogue the repetition adds a necessary and creative monotony to the drill of the character’s voice that works with the feeling of the series. What is there is quite well done.
Review:
The dialogue remains the star of the show. The anime continues to channel it’s dark flares here and there with random acts of violence or a commentary that catches you off guard with the level of it’s morbidity. But this show is not, and has never been, an action show. The dialogue is sharp, quick, and delivered impeccably. It is the entire driving force of the show and if a well-delivered monologue gets your gears going then this show will have you zero-to-sixty in the first few minutes. However, if you’re a less-is-more person in the talking department than this show will likely prove more frustration than pleasure.
As a prologue, the barrier to entry to the franchise is low. You don’t even need the series to the prologue. A short (well done of course) narration at the beginning sums up important points introduced in the first series such as oddities and who these characters are. They don’t bog you down with information either which for a first-time viewer should allow the show to be a pleasurable watch. Of course, that being said if you were a fan of the original series but not a super fan I wouldn’t place this in the “must see” category to get an insight that you have to have for the overall story. To be honest I never much cared for Hanekawa and while this arc helped me do so I would’ve been fine without it.
Nisemonogatari was a take it or leave it for fans and this series I feel Neko was a step back in the right direction for the overall franchise. It does not live up to the original glory the series had, but that may be something that simply cannot be done as the original had been so ground-breaking. One thing I have trouble deciding if it’s a fault, or somehow a glorious thing that works with the presentation of this series is the level of fan-service. It’s relatively high and normally I would ream a show for walking around a cat girl in lingerie for the sake of it. But, one of the things about this show is an element of sexuality and sexual repression. That has been there since the very beginning. They approach it a bit unlike general fan-service, or at least that’s how it feels. So somehow you’re willing to forgive it a little more. Yes, some is just not forgivable, but it doesn’t strike me as horrific as it would with other things where it exists solely as fan-service and little else.
I do praise the story for it’s directness. Other characters are very much kept to a supporting role, and in a four episode OVA this would be necessary to maintain the integrity of a more simple story-line and get it done well.
Overall, this anime is a watch I think, it has it’s flaws but the Monogatari franchise delivers once again. Four white cats out of five black ones.
[starrater]
Episode 180 – The Geekiest Places in Japan
The culture, the sights, the places of historical significance to the world, they’re all in Japan. Sure, they’re worth seeing, and likely on your list. But if you’re coming to Japan they are likely not the number 1 spot of things you want to see. Those are likely filled by your fandom. Here is a list put together of the geekiest places in Japan.
Place | Location | Notes |
Ghibli Museum | Mitaka, Tokyo (Approx 1hr from the city proper) | The museum is a must-see for Ghibli and animation lovers alike. It features an exclusive theater, and a cafe. |
Akihabara | Akihabara, Tokyo | Possibly the Mecha of all Geekdom, one stroll down main street Akiba with anime billboards and maids handing out maid cafe flyers and cosplay promotions. Regular visitors call it Akiba. |
Nakano Broadway | Nakano, Tokyo | Often referred to as the new Akiba, Nakano Broadway is a large indoor shopping center chock-full stores selling manga, DVDs, figures, cosplay, model kits, and every manner of otaku related goods you can imagine. |
Good Smile Cafe | Akihabara, Tokyo | A cafe put on by the good smile company, a general anime themed cafe where you can eat surrounded by anime |
Gundam Cafe | Akihabara, Tokyo | There’s also a gundam cafe by the gundam statue but this being the original is much more worth it as they actually have full food and drink service, oh and don’t miss the bathroom! |
Life-Sized Gundam | Odaiba, Tokyo | On a timer to move this life-sized gundam will make you lust for the not-so-distant-future of traversing the stars |
Madoka Cafe | Akihabara, Tokyo | Akiba strikes again, for all the times you want to eat Kyube shaped rice in curry. |
Gigantor Statue | Shin-Nagata Station, Kobe | For those of you old-school/mech fans, this is something that will bring the nostalgia of the originals back and being Japan’s other life-sized mech it’s worth seeing. |
Tiger and Bunny Cafe | Tokyo | |
Kyoto International Manga Museum | Kyoto, Kyoto | While you’re seeing all the historical sights and sounds of Kyoto why not take a stop at the International Manga Museum? They have over 50,000 publications from the 1970s to today. |
Namja Town, Sunshine City | Ikebukuro, Tokyo | Namja Town is an indoor theme park created by Namco games. Currently under renovation it will re-open July 11th with secions dedicated to One Piece, Dragon Ball and Naruto. |
Osamu Tezuka Museum | Takarazuka, Hyogo | Much like the Ghibli Museum but Tezuka themed this museum is multi-floored with a small theater and gift shop. It boasts life-sized statues of famous Tezuka Characters and original sketches. |
Mizuki Shigeru Museum | Sakaiminato, Tottori | Another “original” man of anime and creator of Gegege no Kitaro. The street leading up to the museum is lined with touchable bronze statues of famous characters and gift shops selling the same type of fare. |
Luida’s Bar | Roppongi, Tokyo | A Dragon Quest themed cafe. DQ music plays constantly, and the decor looks like a medieval tavern with DQ figures and weapon replicas adorning the walls. Menu items include slime-shaped steamed buns and a grilled chicken breast branded with the royal crest from the game series. |
8bit Cafe | Shinjuku, Tokyo | A standard cafe with a twist. Chiptune music plays, and classic game systems and character figures occupy every corner. |
Muteki Mario | Shinjuku, Tokyo | Muteki Mario, which translates as “invincible Mario” is like the 8bit cafe on steroids. First of all, it bills itself as a “shot bar,” which translates as “a place where you can get tore up from the floor up.” The theme is admittedly more focused on the Mario franchise, but the great vibe and decor makes this place a cut above the rest. |
Bandai Museum | Tsugagun, Tochigi | A toy museum divided into five unique areas: Japan Toy Museum for old Japanese toys, World Toy Museum for international toys, Edison Museum for world innovations, Hobby Museum for models and DIY projects, and Play Area for a hands-on experience. |
Reviews: Nekomonogatari
Episode 179 – AnimeSOLS.com and News
The AAAPodcast sits down with Sam Pinansky from AnimeSOLS, www.animesols.com, to discuss the project and crowd funding goals to help get old under-appreciated anime to the States and Canada. Along with some other anime related news.
Reviews: Ginga e Kickoff (Full) and Bakuman Final Season
Impressions: Karneval
Bakuman. 3
Score for the overall series ended up at a 4, but the third season sits at a 5.
[starrater]