Chiaki gives the dish on Japan as she experiences it first hand. Followed by a discussion on art in anime with regards to CG versus traditional art.
Reviews: Eve no Jikan, Princess Tutu, One Outs, School Days, and Demon City Shinjuku
Have you ever been thinking to yourself how much fun it would be to watch anime with others who are equally addicted? Well we’re here to assure you that it not only is fun but also to give you tips on how to start your own anime club!
Reviews: Mushishi, Kara no Kyoukai and Piano no Mori
Impressions: Higurashi no naku koro ni Rei
Firstly, thank you Vic Mignogna for helping out the Anime Addicts! We have a line-up of important news, like a Dragon Ball MMORPG, and Eureka 7 in theatres. Then a discussion on fanfictions and dubbing with our friend Hatake. Following this, Chiaki is leaving for the “mothership”, as Valentine lovingly puts it, Japan! She gives the run-down of things to know before you go.
Reviews: Big Windup, Baccano! and Welcome to the NHK
Impressions:Basquache and Taishou Yakyuu Musume
Welcome to the signups for the A.A.A. Podcast Anime Character Battle 3!
You can Enter the Contest by Signing up on Bracketmaker.com and clicking the link below:
A.A.A. Podcast Character Battle #3!!!
Entering the contest takes only minutes and is 100% TOTALLY FREE!!! I encourage you to get your friends involved so we can make this contest extra fun this year! Click on the link on either the top of the bottom of this post, go to the page and click “Predict It!”. If you need to make an account on BracketMaker, it is free, safe and easy! Please join us and help us make this fun! In the past we have had 30-40 entries. I want there to be many more this year!
***If you have any questions about this contest, how it was created, or the entry process, please PM Mitsugi on our forum.***
This is a 64 day, single elimination tournament where anime characters from the 1990’s and 2000’s, will battle it out to represent their respective decades to determine which decade is superior in anime history. These characters were nominated by our forum members, over the past weeks, and tournament seeding was determined based on voting frequency. Characters who received a greater number of nominations, received stronger seeding.
Also, to throw in an extra element of fun, 2 forum members and 2 podcast hosts have been entered into the contest as the 16th seeds. These forum members are Guts Matrix and Canadaman. The Podcast Hosts are Chiaki and Roukou. Congratulations!
The matches will begin as a poll on the main websites top page. There will be one poll per day, starting on January 7th, until the event is concluded. Website visitors will vote in the poll for their favorite character, the character with the most votes moves on. The character with less votes is eliminated. There will be pictures included on the poll to show the characters involved. Last time we did this, Chiaki made all the pictures and they were quite nice.
These matches will be predicted by YOU, in your quest to be the winner of this contest. Predictions are done in the style of the NCAA March Madness Men’s Basketball Tournament and points are awarded for correct predictions. The person with the highest point total at the end of the tournament wins the contest.
Points are awarded as follow:
Round 1 = 1 point
Round 2 = 2 points
Round 3 = 4 points
Round 4 = 8 points
Round 5 = 16 points
Round 6 = 32 points
What do you get if you win the contest? How about a 1000 piece anime puzzle, unopened, purchased in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan, by Mitsugi and Chiaki. We selected it, with love, for you.
Here are the relevant dates of the contest:
Relevant Dates:
Signup Deadline: January 5th, 2011
Tournament Start: January 7th, 2012
Tournament End: March, 9th, 2012
You can Enter the Contest by Signing up on Bracketmaker.com and clicking the link below:
A.A.A. Podcast Character Battle #3!!!
Alternate Titles: Super Robot Wars: Original Generation – The Animation, 超級機器人大戰O.G.
Original Japanese Release Date: May 2005
Episode Length/Run-time: 3 Episodes
Summary:
A new model of super robot has come out and everyone’s excitement suddenly turns to fear and chaos as these new robots become the enemy and start attacking everyone and everything around their inaugural celebration. Upon thwarting the enemy there was a mysterious lack of casualties. The ATX and SRX teams must discover the reasoning behind the attack and what happened to their friends.
Review:
This anime delivers on its title, it has a lot of super robot wars. Wasting no time, as it shouldn’t being only 3 episodes long they quickly establish the world and characters with a few scenes and simple dialogue and move right into the initial attack. The fight scenes are pretty sweet, despite some of the characters corny lines and jokes to”lighten the mood.”
The mystery about the new robots is just enough to keep you, as the viewer, engaged in them. At the end of the first episode a rather graphic image of a naked woman suspended painfully with clips throughout her body in a strange fluid drops out and you learn of the perhaps sinister ODE system.
One thing I really have to tip my hat to in this OAV is how they give the information about the world and characters. Its on a need to know basis which works well. In three episodes they don’t have time to elaborate on everything or go into every last little thing and they don’t. They also don’t make the common mistake of bombarding you upfront with all the information either, which works well.
The animation is nothing impressive, given the animation look and style I actually thought it was about 5 years older than what it was. Now that’s not all bad, I like the look of the old style, but for 2005 its lacking in a few scenes I think, particularly the action scenes. The music is decent, nothing astounding either but they seemed to have a fair amount of pieces for such a short series and it fits the mood and fight scenes well to create the mood. Plus, the opening is pretty good!
Overall, for three episodes they do a good job of packing a story with some suspense and desperation along with some good action scenes in there. It wont change your life and the originality is nothing astounding, but I would say it’d be a good way for someone who isn’t sure about the mech genre to try things on and see if they like it. The time investment to enjoyment for this series I’d say is pretty high. Overall it is is pleasantly average series.
[starrater]
Episode Reviewed In: Episode 99
Alternate Titles: My Ordinary Life
Original Japanese Release Date: Apr 2011
Episode Length/Run-time: 24 Episodes (with Specials)
Summary:
Random things happen in a seemingly “normal” school setting through a series of vignettes.
Review:
A quote from Jim Rome comes to mind about this anime, “I get it, it’s just not funny.”
The whole premise of Nichijou relies on the random nature of its absurdities. Don’t look for any kind of plot or development here, you won’t find it. One moment they’ll be in class, the next they pull out an AK47 and start shooting. People are depicted randomly with cat ears, there is a robot, and odd tangents that serve as little than extended “jokes” run rampant. Like having a whole 30 seconds devoted to finding a gun in a book, then moving on and never mentioning it again. And I get it that some of these are representational of relationships with people, emotions, or the nature of the person. That it is supposed to be a humorous representation. But, that being said, just because I get it I didn’t get any amusement out of it.
All the jokes fell so flat I was extraordinarily bored through the whole show. I did find it better than shows like A-Channel, simply because the cast was broader and flushed out better with more amusing relationships and personalities. But it was only slightly better and nowhere near the level of shows like Azumanga Daioh which really illustrate how to do this genre and do it well. And sure, I get it, humor is subjective, but just for fun I looked around the web and the sea of “blah” opinions of the show says a lot.
One praise I can give it is that for its random spells the creators do a good job of shifting the art style, character designs, and music in a way that fits the antics but still seems to go with the overall theme of the show. I liked the regular style of the show a lot too, I will admit. It’s animated with a surprising amount of detail in a deceptively simple pastel style.
Overall, I think anime in this random genre people should just give up. It’s way too easy to fall flat. Sure there were some amusing moments but out of 12 hours of content I’d sure hope there would be, statically speaking. It’d be a talent to be almost that awful. I feel this anime would’ve been much better suited as just 12 episodes, or, even better, an OVA. Pack the good ones in with the awesome animation and leave it at that.
I’m a little annoyed at myself for not writing something sooner, but now I have time so I will crank out 2 or 3 entries and save the others for the coming days. Here I’m going to talk about one of the longest running anime out there and one that definitely should get more airplay, Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It spans a 110 episodes in the main series, two movies, and two side stories(one with 52 episodes). Its based on the series novels by Yoshiki Tanaka of the same name and has a cult following. So let’s a explore the extremely complex world of LOGH.
The story is set in the far off time of the 35th century in which humanity has migrated out into the galaxy and terraformed thousands of worlds. For the past 150 years, two large star empires, the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance, have been at war without either side being able to gain the upper hand for very long. The story features two main characters from each side, Reinhard von Musel from the Galactic Empire, a brilliant strategist who is often looked down on by other officers because he is the brother of one the Kaiser’s concubines, and Wang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance, kind of a guy caught in the law of unintended consequences as he never wanted to a strategist and just wanted to be a military historian. The story follows the lead up to a new war between the two powers, its eventually end, the aftermath and the manipulation of the conflict by Phezzan,a neutral third power, and the shadowy and very creep Earth Cult, which is bend on having all humanity return to the nuclear war ravaged Earth.
There are several notable things about LOGH and enduring themes at play in the series. The entire franchise is either an original video animation or a film. There has never been a official English language version, sub or dub, released anywhere, but there are fansubs out there. LOGH has almost no female characters in the main cast, especially in the Empire as it appears that there is not one single women in the Empire armed forces, and because of that fact this show is often called a huge yaoi fest which is true to some extent I guess lol. Commercialization of the series is very minimal outside of VHS\DVD\Blue ray releases and only a few model kits exist. Huge battles of tens of thousands of ships are the norm and something not seen in many series. The series has a massive cast with hundreds of named characters and the show helps keep track of them all by displacing the names when the characters appear on screen. This is a ultra violent series, maybe because it started in the 1980’s, but it none the less keeps on keeping on as evidence by the numerous close quarters combat battles and death scenes during ship to ship battles. A discussion of which system of government is better, either a autocratic monarchy or a democracy, is the central theme. The merit of a person is a persistence theme as Reinhard struggles against the familial connection system of the Empire to gain the power he seeks to save his sister and overthrow the Goldenbaum dynasty. Reinhard also recruits a lot of talented castoffs throughout the series, who for one reason or another angered the establishment. Personal ambition or lack there of enters a lot into the series and the consequences it has for a person and the people around them.
I really love this show, it just maybe the best space opera out there for its complex characters and very socially and politically conscience story lines. I would recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of shows with political plots in them, like Code Geass for example, or anyone that is a fan of a show with good characters and good character development.
Cheers,
Devil_Survivor
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: Apr 2011
Episode Length/Run-time: 12 Episodes
Summary:
Tooru who has just entered the same high school as her best best and childhood friend Run, who is now a second year, and Run’s friends Yuuko & Nagi in their daily lives.
Review:
I feel like this anime is supposed to be really funny, or, at least, a little funny. But the problem remains I found myself SO bored watching it. The characters are the normal funny formula, the young one, the bookish one, the ditz, the well-meaning screw-up, perhaps I’m jaded but it all just falls flat. The slice-of-life doesn’t really help either, because there’s no real conflict, or overarching plot, or real antagonist, just random stuff happening one thing after another. For example, there is an entire episode about sneaking into the school at night, and not even for a fun reason, they just forgot something. I had foolishly thought that there may be some semblance of a story or at least relationship building throughout the show, given the relationships at the beginning and the cute girl crush one of them had, but that was foolish thinking. The love just serves as a plot device to have one girl be all protective and have some slapstick humor as she punches people who get too close away. The style of the show is nothing to write home about either. Everything looks chili, even the adults are done in a very simplistic style… Though I suppose on the bright side they don’t look the same age as their students, so thats a pro for the show. But they have things like montages during stupid little songs, the budget is too low for a montage I tell you! Animate everything! I suppose this is one of those anime that you just have to be into to want to watch. If this is the kind of stuff you like, random acts of girl/Moe cuteness with little else than this really delivers. I suppose its not too Moe that non-Moe fans will not upchuck after a minute, but its still pretty solid Moe stuff left to right, up to down. The biggest thing I enjoyed personally was the opening, its a good song and good animation, otherwise I found myself dragging my bored feet through this show.
[starrater]
Otakon 2011
Episode 94: (Right Click and “Save Target As” to Download)
[mp3player width=177 height=20 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml file=https://www.aaapodcast.com/aaapodcast_episode94.mp3]
– Opening –
Opening Song:
Sekai wa Odoru Yo from the anime Kimi to Ikoku Meiro no Croisee by the artist Youmou to Ohana
New Forum Members:
Awesomesauce, lord_zarfax, foshizzel, akachan_00, Mad_hash, Grim-Noir, t’akyoura77, incomparablemrwu, paul + brandy, Yupa, Pro Golfer Saru, Darkwave1062, walboro, purplecarp, yingchun, boss coffee, dreyzok, gundamwing2k11, jannypan, xanatos gambit, bhatnagar.ashish001, zerofate, jh226, alleybell
Trivia
Week Winner: Apocalipse369
Happy Birthday To:
YellowBarron, BoringKittens (32), Kapwan (26), elvenbladerogue (24), BravoGangUS (19), Mitsugi!(26), geekzy (46), ateseusesque (44)
The A.A.A. Mailbag
Submitted by: Z-Comix
Question:
So recently I was Checking out the prices for tickets to Otakon 2011
since I live a Metro ride’s distance from the Baltimore Convention
Center. I the price of tickets was already biting into my personal
money, but then I factored in the price of a hotel, travel expenses,
food and poket money for cool stuff I might wanna get at the Con, the
price became much larger that I had first percieved. With cons being
out of state, and real-life to attend to like jobs and bills how do
you guys save/budget you money and time for Cons? Thanks, and hope you
guy have a good rest of the show!
A.A.A. Fantasy Football
Learn More here
Otakon Contest Winner
Andrea H
“I can’t just name one thing amazing about Otakon, because everything about it is awesome! You can literally do EVERYTHING here! Gaming, going to panels, dancing, concerts, and meeting your favorite voice actors are just some of the things that make you love to be there :)”
– Main Topic –
Otakon 2011!!
– News Break –
– Impressions –
Blood-C – Mitsugi
R-15 – Roukou
Mawaru Penguindrum – Chiaki
Blade – Roukou
– News Break –
– Reviews –
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya – Collective
Trigun: Badlands Rumble – Collective
– Closing –
Closing Song:
“Koko kara Hajimaru Monogatari” from the anime Ikoku Meiro no Croisse by the artist Nao Tōyama
Episode Reviewed In: Episode 92
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: Jan 2011
Episode Length/Run-time: 24 Episodes
Summary:
Kazuya Kujo has recently transferred as an international student to a school in the fictional European country of Saubure, located between France, Switzerland and Italy. Here he meets a mysterious girl who has been given the nickname of the Golden Fairy. She lives confined to the library on school, loves sweets, and is bored easily, always requiring a puzzle to solve. As mysteries begin to surround Kujo he becomes central to Victorique’s entertainment, and perhaps more. Their relationship evolves in the changing setting of a pre-World War 2 Europe still steeped in mystery, fantasy, and old lore.
Review:
Gosick starts out looking like a murder mystery type anime. Where Victorique is a Sherlock Holms type character, solving mysteries with almost nothing to go on and an astounding success rate and Kujo is her bumbling, yet helpful and well-meaning Watson. For someone who is a fan of this genre it serves to disappoint, because for one they don’t really give you enough clues to figure out what’s going on yourself, and two, it’s not really about the mysteries. The murders and mysterious happenings serve to illuminate the larger plot and evolve the relationship between Kujo and Victorique. The trouble-finding Kujo is just what Victorique is looking for and it evolves the unlikely friendship.
As mentioned, the mysteries serve to bring out the story. What you think will just be a string of one random mystery after the next evolves into a grater story in which the characters backgrounds are thoroughly fleshed out and a rich world is built. There are a few instances where they spend some time doing things that could likely be cut but you are so smitten with the characters that this is completely forgivable as it just serves as another step in elaborating relationships.
The story really begins to pick up as they begin to explain some of the lore in the world. There is an overarching struggle between science and magic and often times you wonder what is real and what is fiction. For example, one of the main things they begin to elude to is the “gray wolves” specifically around Victorique’s past. The gray wolves are linked back to Sabure’s ancient history and by my interpretation are known for their intelligence.
There are a lot of things like this throughout the show that leaves the viewer up for interpenetration. Don’t be fooled by the gothic lolita/moe ness surrounding Victorique. This is a surprisingly deep show dealing with a lot of mature content. The animation is good and the music is solid. Something I HIGHLY recommend.