Snow White

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:28:30 GMT

I haven't actually managed to see 5D's 13 yet, stupid crappy internet, but I saw 14 last night!

Yusei is drop dead sexy when fixing his motorbike and anyone who says otherwise is a lying liar who lies. :P

New female character! Who is a Witch, apparently, and seems very cool thus far. Will she play cards? Will she ride a motorbike? Will she talk to another woman???

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:39:26 GMT

Can these motorcycle duels get any crazier? This time they're duelling while falling down an elevator shaft for like five minutes! And then land with barely a bump!

Good for heroic Saiga, kicking Ushio right in the face, but he's probably going to end up in the detention centre with a tracker now. D: But perhaps he'll be able to hang out with those other guys Yusei befriended, whose names I can't remember right now.

The Yusei-torture continues. He really would make such a good hurt/comfort victim.

But still. What's that female characters test? The one that says a movie/TV show should have 1) at least two female characters, who 2) talk to each other at some point, 3) about something other than men. Congratulations, 5D's. 12 episodes in and you may have managed to get past point 1.

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:44:14 GMT

I've been kind of ignoring LJ for a good long while now, so let's see if I can get back into the swing of it.

What's caught my eye lately? First of all, the Gakuen Heaven Musical. It's old news now, I guess, and I hear the tickets sold out in like a day. I'm happy to see a musical where the subtext may well become text! Nevertheless, I feel the old rivalry stirring within me again. Why couldn't it have been an Angel's Feather musical? That would've been glorious.

According to Okazu, the yuri blog, there is now a word for works that 'smell of BL' - Kyo Kara Maoh and the like I guess - 'Nioi-Kei'. I've been looking for a word like this so I will now use it as much as possible.

I've been watching Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's lately, and I kind of love it. The main character, Yusei, might as well be called Woobie McWooberson. Barely an episode goes by where he's not getting tortured in some way, sometimes with his shirt off. Plus he's got this amazingly shippy ex-friendship-rivalry with the other major character, Jack Atlas (although Jack's been a jerk thus far so I don't yet ship it myself). And they play holographic card games on motorbikes. It's fabulous.

Early on, there was a kid character, Rally, in a dress with rather pretty long hair who I thought was a girl, but it seems (and I still am not entirely sure if it's true, even if he does use 'ore') that he's a boy. And I'm all for gender ambiguity, but one thing that's bugging me is that thus far (11 episodes in) there's only been one woman with a speaking role. And she doesn't even play card games, let alone ride a motorbike. The opening credits suggest that a few more women may be forthcoming (unless they're also traps) but it's starting to annoy me.

Tokyopop's bringing out the Maruma novels!!!

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:09:29 GMT

YES!

I thought they were bound to come eventually, but it was taking such a long time. And from what I've seen, Tokyopop's way better than DMP at novel translations, so they should be actually readable too!

I'm so happy!

Gurren-Lagann and Bandai Entertainment

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:51:35 GMT

Wow.

So Bandai Entertainment will now be releasing Gurren-Lagann instead of ADV. While I'm glad that it's been rescued, I'm still a bit disappointed for a couple of reasons.

First, I really like ADV's dubs and I was looking forward to seeing this one. I have no idea what Bandai's dubs are usually like, but I hope it'll be good.

Second, it's really starting to seem like ADV no longer has Keroro Gunsou. All of their titles came back after disapperaring except GL and KG. If GL's gone, it seems likely to me that KG is as well. I guess it could be rescued, I certainly hope it will be, but it's still disappointing.

Well, at least now I can look forward to seeing GL in English sometime soon.

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:33:51 GMT

Oh geez, I just checked and today's Gurren-Lagann event only has 80 tickets available. You know what? I think I'm just going to stay home. No crowds for me today.

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:59:04 GMT

And Seirei no Moribito will be on Cartoon Network? Unexpected but well deserved.

At the Tokyo Anime Fair

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:55:40 GMT

The Tokyo Anime Fair starts at 10. I arrived at 8:45, thinking that I should be able to get in at a decent time. No such luck. I ended up standing around in what seemed to be the most freezing place possible until 10:45. There were two Gurren-Lagann talk show events I wanted to go to, but each of them had only 100 tickets, and they had all gone by the time I got in. I did, however, get to see 'Haru da! Drill da! Gurren-Lagann Matsuri!' which was in a much bigger area. They had most off the cast announcing the upcoming movie (which, if I remember correctly, will be out in September), and then Nakagawa Shoko came out to sing Sora-iro Days, Happily Ever After, and another song I didn't recognise. I think it really was live too, not just a recording like the last time I saw her performance. Nia's actress didn't get all flustered today, but maybe that's because no one had much of an opportunity to talk (it was only half an hour long).

I could probably have hung around the GL booth to see the talk show, but it was seriously crowded, and at that point I was sick of standing around and gave up on it. There's one more event tomorrow - if I get there early enough, maybe I'll get a ticket. Or maybe I won't bother. I don't know yet.

Other things of interest I saw included posters for 'Highlander the Movie'. I never saw the original series, but I've heard of it, and I would never have expected an anime version. And I've got to say, I thought the character designs were kind of ugly. There were also ads for Vampire Knight, which was notable because they actually had a man in cosplay handing out flyers. There were Yoko cosplayers around the GL booth too, of course, as well as a Simon, who was a woman. I wonder why the Simon cosplayers are always women? And why can't we have a Kamina? He'd be bound to get a lot of attention!

Seirei no Moribito: rescued!

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:51:46 GMT

The Seirei no Moribito anime will be released by Media Blasters. Yay! I adore the show and can't wait to get it. I also read somewhere that the novels are being released in English, though I'm not sure when.

PS, anyone going to TAF, want to text me?

Discworld adaptions

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:47:50 GMT

I just finished watching the TV adaption of the Colour of Magic. It was as good as it could have been, in my opinion. I still say it was a mistake to choose those particular books to adapt. But it was good fun, and it was lovely to see Ankh-Morpork brought to life again, and Jeremy Irons as the Patrician was brilliant.

I was speculating about what book they'll adapt next. I still reckon the best choices would be Guards Guards, Witches Abroad or Maskerade. Possibly Mort, or maybe, at the least, Equal Rights. But no - according to this, it will be Going Postal, of all things. They do keep doing what I don't expect. Going Postal is a better choice than the Colour of Magic, at least, and I'll love seeing Adora Belle Dearheart on the screen. There'll be a lot more of the Patrician, too! I wonder how they'll manage with the golems, though.

Rozen Maiden is restarting!

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:27:56 GMT

YES.

I didn't expect to see it again - I thought it had gone the way of X. I hope there'll be a proper conclusion this time!

Worldwide anime streaming!

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 02:41:03 GMT

A couple of companies are going to put English-subtitled anime on Youtube and some other sites, right after it airs in Japan. For free. Worldwide (except for Japan, but I can't really complain about that. Does Youtube even have region-blocking? I've never noticed it). The press releases are here and here. I hope that this trend continues!

New BL novels

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:43:43 GMT

Dark Walker?

Sweet!

I actually don't know how good it is, but I know that it's fantasy BL with illustrations of black-winged boys by Hirotaka Kisaragi. I am so there.

Gurren-Lagann movie

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:20:26 GMT

More Gurren-Lagann! Hurrah!

ADV says: 'Theatrical Version of Gurren Lagann Pre-Announced'.

I wonder if it will be a continuation or a re-telling? Either way, can't wait to see it!

Anime I've been watching

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:38:32 GMT

I've been rewatching Utena lately. I'm in the middle of the Black Rose arc now, and I think I've figured out one of the things that makes Toga bother me more than Saionji.

Bad and embarrassing things happen to Saionji a lot. He loses to Utena several times, gets turned into Chu-Chu, and gets kicked out of school, to name just a few. Toga, on the other hand, never loses his dignity. Sure, he rolls around with his shirt open and boxes a kangaroo, but he still thinks he's tremendously impressive and so does everyone around him. They're both pretty awful people, but Saionji gets his comeuppance all the time, and Toga never does, which is unsatisfying for me as a viewer.

ETA: And Wakaba's childhood friend, the Onion Prince guy? A total Nice Guy. I mean, he pines away for Wakaba for ages, but doesn't actually say anything to her, instead hitting on her best friend. And when he realizes she's into someone else, he goes on about how she's always going for the bad boys, but eventually she'll come crawling back to him, and demands, "Why am I not good enough???" And Mikage tells him he's too good to be a duelist? WTAF?

I've also been rewatching Air. I still have big issues with the way Key deals with parenting and adults in general.

Minagi's arc was really painful to watch, what with the abandoning father and the doctor who knows what's going on and does nothing about it. Thank goodness it was short. And I hate Misuzu's faily father, and am putting off watching the episode I'm up to because I don't want to see him failing up the place. So I was thinking to myself, 'Why do I like this show again?' when I got up to the Kanna arc and remembered. Kanna/Ryuya/Uraha OT3 4-Eva. ;_;

New Ribbon no Kishi

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:13:54 GMT

When I saw the headline: Sapphire: Princess Knight Revives 1st Tezuka Shōjo Work I was delighted, because I've always had a soft spot for that series. Plus I assumed it was going to be a new anime. Turns out it's a manga, and the sample picture is awful. That's not the Sapphire I know! Franz doesn't look great either. I can only hope the story's good.

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:53:14 GMT

This should make some people happy: Antique Bakery will be adapted into an anime. I've never read it myself, but I've heard that it's very good, and I'll certainly watch the anime.

Meanwhile, I had a very strange and creepy nightmare last night, which especially sucked because I'd gone to bed late and had trouble sleeping the night before. I dreamed that I woke up, and had a couple of big, cylindrical gelpack sort of things taped to my leg. I pulled them off and looked at my computer clock, which said that it was 7:00 meaning I was going to be late for work, which freaked me out, but then it started flashing into different numbers. So I thought, oh there's just something wrong with the computer, and checked my cellphone clock. Which also said that I was late for work and then started flashing random numbers. And then the power cord came to life and jumped at me, at which point I woke up.

Oddly enough, while the flashing numbers and killer power cord were more obviously scary, it was the gelpack thing that creeped me out the most. I mean, how the heck did my subconscious even come up with that?

Gurren-Lagann figures

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 04:43:03 GMT

I want these figures! Especially the Kamina one, of course. I'll have to be careful not to miss out when they get released!

The door is open

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 04:36:44 GMT

Is something happening with the Dionaea House story? Baruch's blog was recently updated with some very creepy posts. Through that, I found this blog, in which a deliveryman takes a package to the House. Baruch's first post has been deleted, but it can still be read as a comment in Jenny Levin's blog (after all the spam).

I don't know if these are by the original author, or if they're just people roleplaying. Baruch is creepy and fascinating, but the deliveryman doesn't quite ring true for me. He seems to be just reiterating what all the earlier blogs said the house was like. I hope it's real, and we get some more information about the creation of the house - loreenmathers had some interesting things to say about who designed it, but that one hasn't been updated in years.

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:20:49 GMT

Gah, I had a bad dream last night and then couldn't sleep, so I'm really tired today. Yep, definitely not going out. Not going far, anyway, I might want to wander in the snow a bit!

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 11:01:48 GMT

There's two dojinshi events on tomorrow that I was thinking about going to: a Gurren-Lagann event and a Kyo Kara Maoh event. But it was really cold today, and work's been tiring me out so much, I don't think I can be bothered. Sigh. Stupid winter. I wish spring would hurry up.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:49:14 GMT

I'm watching a variety show at the moment, and a little while ago they had on this pop duo called e2. They're both men, and they were wearing these frilly pink and baby blue shirts, and were doing these boppy dance moves, and I believe the song was actually called 'Doobeedoo.' The two (male) presenters looked absolutely gobsmacked while they were watching the performance. But really, change their gender and they would have been no different from your typical Morning Musume-style female idol. Would the presenters have been so surprised to see women acting like that? If not, why shouldn't men act the same?

Anyway, I want to see more of e2 now. They looked like they were having lots of fun and weren't taking themselves too seriously. Good silly fun!

It's still early, but I should be in bed. These early morning starts are killing me, and I have to do it for another month. I'll probably try out the evening shift after that. But I hate staying up late too. Argh, why can't I have a balance?

OMG, the pink e2 guy just got covered in flour! Oh no, they've done it to Blue too! They seem to be taking it quite well. I hope their frilly shirts survive!

Rambling thoughts on fansubs

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:37:24 GMT

ADV has finally commented on the disappearing anime situation. They're not actually saying very much, but at least we're not at the 'We're closing down forever!' point just yet.

According to commenters on ANN and AoD, the US anime industry is in trouble. A lot of the blame is being placed on fansubbers. I'm sure they're a big problem, though I wonder if getting rid of fansubs would actually cause people to buy more, rather than just watch less. A number of companies are responding by putting their anime online, on iTunes and the like (though that doesn't do me much good as I'm not American, as I've grumbled about in the past). It would help them even more if they could release such downloadable episodes shortly after they aired in Japan - though of course that would probably be extremely difficult to work out with the Japanese companies.

Some fansubbers will stop as soon as a license is announced, in order to support the industry, but that doesn't keep people from downloading what they've already completed, even after the official ones have been released, and even if the official translations are vastly superior (KKM fandom, I'm looking at you. Though admittedly that's not a good example any more given Geneon's current situation). And a lot of popular series will continue to be fansubbed even after a license. It's natural for people to want to see the show as soon as possible - goodness knows I feel that way.

I've been wondering if it might be better, for those fan translation groups who want to support the industry, to simply put a script up online after an episode's aired rather than actually subbing it. People could read along after downloading the raw. That way, they see it and find out what happens, but it won't be as convenient as watching a subtitled episode, which would be an incentive to buy the real thing. I don't see why fansubs have to be so high-quality either - plenty of people are watching low-quality stuff on Youtube and the like, so can't the industry-friendly groups release similar low-quality downloads to encourage people to buy the high-quality official DVD/download?

Of course, downloading the raws is still illegal, but I doubt it can be stopped unless the Japanese companies start putting their shows online (and in fact, didn't Romeo x Juliet do that? So maybe that will eventually happen).

I dunno, maybe I'm completely wrong. In the end, I don't know much about the business. This is just something that I've been wondering about over the past few days.

Warning, warning

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:24:02 GMT

EEEK

Please don't be dead, ADV! Especially when you're about to release Keroro Gunso and Gurren Lagann!

I really hope they're just having a website glitch or something.

Drill-frogs

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:29:45 GMT

So I've been missing Keroro Gunso quite a bit lately (I'm just not getting out of bed in time), but I caught the next episode preview today, and it appears to involve drills, and Keroro quoted 'Drill wa otoko no tamashii da!' (which is from Gurren-Lagann). Clearly I must not miss it next week.