Something about the duality of anime, 2010 edition.

On this day last year I started blogging and entered into the fan community in an entirely new way. Those of you who saw that first post might remember the picture I took of a Zaku II and Miyuki that I used as a representation of the variety of my tastes in anime, to which the opening image here is referring. It’s been an incredibly fun and rewarding year, and now I’m taking a moment to think back on it, on what it’s shown me as a blogger, and on all the friends and readers who have made it all worth it. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year already.

Initial goals

When I made that first post I set down four goals for myself as I joined the THAT team:

-Regular content: I promise to be timely in my updates of the show(s) I have chosen to cover.

For the most part I think I’ve managed to meet this. While I’ve had occasional delays due to school or travel or scheduling conflicts, I’ve tried to get out episodics fairly quickly after the episode’s subs were released. Though there have been issues with the subs for Sora no Manimani and House of Five Leaves that caused me to have to wait a fair amount of time after the episodes originally aired in Japan. For retroblogging I’ve mostly kept to my post every Wednesday schedule. While this is the easiest goal to meet, and while I’ll never be the speediest with posts, I’m fairly satisfied here.

-Occasional editorials or thoughts on different aspects of anime and the anime community as I experience it.

I’ve done the occasional editorial or special feature in line with this statement, and as I’ve gone on in time as a blogger I’ve found myself getting more ideas for editorials than when I started. Maybe this is why the bloggers who have been around the longest tend to be editorial writers? Maybe it’s something that comes with time? But my main focus remains, and I suspect will always be, episodic entries.

-Developing my own style with your input.

Initially I modeled my posts a lot after Crusader’s, since he’s kind of my blogging role model, heh. Though I broke up the captioned images with a running recap-commentary, and that has remained the core of my episodic writing style. I realize that I write fairly lengthy posts compared to many bloggers out there, and while I’ve tried to reign in my wordiness somewhat, I’ve come to accept that taking lots of text and images to describe and comment on anime is just a part of how I write. Part of that might come from the way I speak, where I like to be precise and supply the full context of whatever I’m talking about (and writing about), part of it might just be the way that I like to explore what I write about. But after worrying about it for a time and still having a words per post average that dwarfs the other bloggers here, I’ve made my peace with it.

Of note on this goal is that I will be attempting to give some other post formats a go with Amagami SS, trying a different one for each arc. Hoping that works out.

-Have fun and try new things.

I’ve certainly had a lot of fun blogging. But not only in the writing. Getting to know readers and other bloggers through comments, other blogs, Twitter, and other interactions has brought me into the online fan community in a way that I scarcely imagined back when all I did was lurk on THAT. And it’s let me try new things like writing collaboratively with Crusader on Kimi ni Todoke as well as the faux-intelligence report intros for that series. Or when I contacted several veteran writers to ask for their advice to new bloggers. I’ve also done a favorite moments post (a result of a comments discussion with Scamp), some historical and military looks at anime series, carved a Sawako jack-o-lantern for Kimi ni Todoke, made a favorite ships post of which I intend to make a sequel, been inspired to get back into astronomy by Sora no Manimani, as well as many other fun episodic and editorial posts. It’s been a blast and I can’t thank the readers, my THAT comrades, and other readers enough for the experience.

They had me put my hand to this metal plate and state my name when I joined THAT, not sure what that was all about…

Being part of THAT

Also during the last year THAT completed our arduous and difficult move from Animeblogger.net to our own hosting. It was not easy, and I did not possess the technical skills to meaningfully contribute, but I do have something of a sense of accomplishment from helping to coordinate those who did. Crusader set up the purchasing and found the hosting service for us, and Kabitzin helped us greatly with the technical side as well as with the site redesign. But when even his considerable skills were not enough I had to bring in a friend of mine and she was finally able to slay the demons that existed during the transfer of our content to the new site.

I also brought the call for new writers to my comrades, and together with Impz we sorted through the plethora of wonderful candidates to make the tough choices required before bringing onboard our three newest members. Impz and I disagree a fair bit on meta/site-building things, but those differences of opinion definitely helped us in the end and he’s a great boss and Green Haired Trap Emperor to have. Even if he tried to pimp me to the internet community as a tsundere trap for a while there. (What is this?! I don’t even-) And in bringing in new writers I could officially start to feel old as I’m nowhere near the newest writer on here now. I’ll never be the newbie THAT writer again, feels bad man sadfrog.jpg. It still feels weird to think of myself as a semi-veteran blogger now.

The numbers

Anime blogged to completion: 5 series (Sora no Manimani, SDF Macross, Kimi ni Todoke, Now and Then Here and There, House of Five Leaves), 2 OVAs (Macross Zero, Macross Plus), 1 movie (Macross: Do You Remember Love?)

Series dropped: 1 (Inuyasha Kanketsuhen due to time issues resulting from taking over primary role on Kimi ni Todoke. Figured I’d go with the newer series, as much as I do love Inuyasha.)

Total posts: 123.

Total comments: 1750.

Total word count: 489,164.

Average words per post: 3977.

Do I get to be a grizzled veteran now?

A final word

Now I’m hoping that I’m not sounding like I’m congratulating myself with this post. It’s pretty easy to meet your goals when you set them fairly vague and low like I have, hehe. But this is meant to reflect on the past year and hopefully have some value in understanding how this blogger has thought about that year. And for a final word, I guess now that I’m a year-old blogger I’ll venture to put out there my little bit of wisdom that I’ve hopefully accumulated from a year of blogging and interacting with more senior bloggers.

-Fun first: to paraphrase Party Hard, “do what you like, and like what you do.” Don’t pay a moment’s notice to thinking about blogging what’s popular just because it is. Cover the show or topics that you enjoy and the rest will follow. Forget over-coverage of a series, or conversely, that the show you like one season isn’t the talk of the intarwebs. (Man I should know, I blogged House of Five Leaves!) Keep your writing clear and readable, but use the format that you have the most fun with. Pierce the heavens with your drill, put your guns on, and blog how you want!

-Respond to all your comments: engaging with and getting to know readers and other bloggers is one of the most satisfying parts of blogging, and by keeping up the conversation you’ll have better exchanges of ideas, more recurring commenters, and make friends with other bloggers out there. Obvious exceptions for comments that are too short or obviously don’t warrant responses like a final word on a matter.

-The veterans won’t bite: I was really nervous at first when I applied to THAT and when I first started trading comments and tweets with some of the big name bloggers, but really there was no need to. They’re all quite friendly and willing to talk to you, so don’t hesitate to interact with them. Get to know them a little bit and you might have a post or series or project that you’ll both want to collaborate on.

-Everyone makes technical mistakes at first, don’t be discouraged: dear god, did I ever. My first two or three posts had the html link from images on my photobucket account. Since my posting experience beforehand consisted only of a friends-locked livejournal I never thought about traffic and bandwidth limits on my Photobucket account. Oops! And then I started uploading all .png files, which slowed the loading time of my posts. Oops again! But luckily my fellow bloggers and commenters pointed these mistakes out and told me how to fix them. Do your best to avoid mistakes, but don’t worry too much about them.

YAY! Maya’s back!! In short, this epi was all kinds of Win. And all kinds of . And . And LOL. And @_@. And . And T__T. And EH?! Observe…

Episode Summary:

The Vice Principal [hitherto referred to as V.P. for my sanity, as comrade Mysty might say] informs Uchida that Maya and Kozue are officially missing. Uchida is suitably gobsmacked. Then, in a less serious tone, the V.P. quickly suggests that they both look for the two girls together. Uchida is suitably quick at suggesting that they split-up. As Uchida legs it out of there, the shady guy appears and asks V.P. what the point of seducing Uchida would be, but V.P. is apparently falling (or at least trying to fall) in love with the green suited bumbler. Meanwhile, the green suited bumbler heads down into the town and is both surprised and touched at the spectacle of everybody banding together and searching for the girls. He is then positively delighted to bump into Mikaze, who suggests that they look for the girls in her car. Uchida is then suitably less delighted.

Soon, after asking some questions and following some leads, the two end up at the Amato Shrine in Minakamiyama and, following an I-think-I-saw-someone-worth-following hunch by the surprisingly eagle-eyed Mikaze, they end up going inside the shrine, tripping, and discovering a secret tunnel. In which Uchida reluctantly enters and swiftly gets very impressively lost. All this time, J.K. with his dowsing rods, accompanied by a nonchalant Smile with a bloody big spanner, are on the school grounds searching for Maya. Before J.K.’s rods lead them off to exit stage right. Also, at pretty much the same time, V.P., for some reason, seems to be writing a trashy romance novel inspired by her favourite green suited teacher.

Welcome back.

Back to the caves, and Uchida is randomly reunited with the very Principal that they have all been searching for [Woohoo!]. She, of course, gives him all kinds of hell and they eventually discover another inner chamber with a very big and important looking sparkly tree and Maya waxes mythical on said tree. In short, it must be Nostradamus’ Key. Uchida then takes a pic on his trusty gizmo. In short, it is not Nostradamus’ Key. Then all hell breaks loose as Uchida’s footing literally breaks loose and he falls in a frikkin enormous pile of crap. As if things could not get any worse for the Time Agent, Maya gives him even more hell for being stinky as well as useless, before the bat-winged and red-eyed beasty that was chasing Maya in the last epi is suddenly upon the both of them. They seem to get away, only to walk right into the lair/ nest thingy of the beasty – or ‘Mothman’ – as Maya explains, while demanding that the Time Agent finally flex his Time Agent prowess. Before Uchida admits that his story was all lies and that he was just a Z-list, semi-supernatural-powered-celebrity-turned-bum who’d been captured and forced into going back in time by the Mysterious Men.

Maya is not amused. However, she soon discovers Kozue in a nearby oozing cocoon and promptly goes about rescuing her. And waking up the rest of the sleeping/ hatching beasties Mothmen. Uchida then runs away. Things look pretty bleak for our current favourite tsundere and her currently comatose friend, until our current favourite strongman arrives throwing around his bloody big spanner to TAKE CARE OF IT, not unlike the style of a past favourite vending-machine-throwing bartender, I might add. The episode draws to a close with the Scooby gang intact, not least of all a certain cowardly Time Agent, who Maya can barely look at, let alone give him the usual hell. In fact, she gives him worse, in a concise, but ouchy kind of way. As they rest of the gang leave him behind, Mikaze suddenly turns up and Uchida promptly takes the credit for the whole thing. The final scene is of the shady guy reporting to the V.P., who is closing the book in which she’s been writing, that the caves have been sealed. She acknowledges his good work and adds that Maya is a whole heap of trouble.

Thoughts:

Now THAT’s more like it. After the semi-snail-paced epi last week, I’m glad we didn’t see too much of Ms Cute Waitress (at least not in moe mode) after she unintentionally showed Uchida how to do his job. In contrast, I can’t really fault the pacing of this epi, I think I just enjoyed pretty much all of it, especially after Maya returned, of course. However, before I fangirl over Maya, I will add that Uchida suddenly got a whole lotta interesting. Yes, interesting. I know most of us probably wanted to conduct various experimental forms torture on his useless, cowardly arse in this episode, but I must admit to noticing a few more faces in his ‘many face of’ repertoire, plus the fact his unreliable-narrator-ness was confirmed with such panache in this epi actually does make me want to see and learn more of him. While I’m holding a bloody big spanner of my own to hit him with, of course.

Back to Maya. Yes, she returned in this epi, of course – and what a return it was! Not only did we see here in all her tsundere arse-kicking, cross-bow shooting, giving-them-hell glory, but she actually didn’t physically hit Uchida that much. Instead, the insult-reaction comedy ping-pong was fabulously fast-paced and literally made me LOL all the way through that middle section. Plus, the bits that were interspersed with J.K. and Smile I thought were incorporated seamlessly and worked well too.

So, as I’ve mentioned and implied so far, this episode was sort of Scooby-Doo-esque in terms of structure and comedy. However, the key shifts in tone and mood were certainly stark. Namely, the big (partial) reveal about Uchida being a big fat liar. The parts where his real story flipped around the previous ‘cool’ version were still funny, of course, but the glimpse we saw of the dystopian future ravaged by destruction and poverty with a destitute and desperate Uchida sitting alone in the middle of it was certainly a sharp contrast to anything in which I could have imagined him. Clearly, there’s a real tragedy in his past that we’re yet to hear about, which would explain that turned away face and the unseen tear he shed at the beginning of the last epi. A face that I’d actually liked to have seen, but might have made me a bit teary too if I had.

Of all the things to pull out of the bag…

However, none of this, of course, excuses what Uchida did to Maya and Kozue. Or, rather, didn’t do. Even Maya’s reaction after hearing the real story (‘…You can’t use any psychic powers and you get lost in caves. You’re a worthless time agent. And you stink.’ Ouch!) was no less ouchy than what he deserved. And it was nothing compared to that look she gave him at the end and the way she simply uttered that one word. To be honest, I can’t tell if that was the most p***ed-off I’ve seen her yet, or just hurt. Both, I assume. Shame daddy’s book only contains protection spells as opposed to hexes and curses, eh? Needless to say, Uchida’s subsequent and sudden credit-taking before Mikaze was actually pretty creepy to me for, some reason. I mean, rather than just being out of order, he came across as being almost schizophrenic, instead of the loser-but-nice-guy-underneath thing I thought he had going on. Hmmm…

Finally, some words on some of the randomness. Notably, J.K. and his keyboard of doom. Kind of reminded me of Arakawa, too. In short, and unlike that bloody big spanner, I certainly didn’t see that one coming. Though, speaking of that spanner, Smile is fast becoming my favourite strongman of the season. At least there’s someone man enough in this anime. Plus, he also gets bonus points for coming the closest to filling the void left by the frikkin awesomeness that is Shizuo.

May the throwing of overly large heavy objects continue!

Part two of Maid Latte-on-the-beach presents: melons, teeth brushing, yawns, blushes, GARs, bikinis, balls, kyaa kyaa!s and fireworks. Let the games begin!

Episode Summary:

Back home: Suzuna is still eating watermelons. Back at the beach house: Misaki, shortly joined by Usui, brush their teeth together the morning after the hug before. Before Misaki starts banging her head against a wood wall. They are soon distracted by Trapimura Trapaoi-chan arguing with Nagisa about his trappiness, with the blonde-wigged princess screaming about not being allowed to express his true self. Eventually, Nagisa decides to let him finish his slave duty at the beach house and go home early wearing whatever the hell he wants if he wins the upcoming Beach Volleyball Tournament. Trapaoi take up the challenge and wonders off muttering about trying to find a female partner (it’s mixed doubles and former champ Nagisa is now too old to complete and so can’t partner him herself). Misaki is impressed with the littl‘un’s determination and resolves to help him, while Usui looks hot on. Later, once the partnership has been agreed by the lady and the trap, the other Maidos hear about it and get excited about the winners’ prize, which is to be crowned Beach Prince and Princess and to get to wear sexy outfits and have their pictures taken with random audience members. Usui later requests of Misaki not take part, but she doesn’t understand why he’d say such an unhelpful thing and brushes him off.

Soon the Tourney is upon us and the Misaki-Trapaoi tag-team demolish everyone brave stupid enough to stand in the way of their GAR. Until they reach the final and realise that Usui and Erika are up against them. And that they’re bloody good. Misaki is a bit miffed, but tells Usui not to go easy on them. And he doesn’t. And then Misaki is really miffed. So miffed, in fact, that she blurts aloud her confusion and frustration over Usui’s apparent and unusual unhelpfulness, by wondering why he has become her enemy. Usui is surprised, but recovers swiftly and loudly teases her back by claiming that she must want him after all. Misaki is now extremely miffed and goes all out to try and win the match, almost resulting in badly injuring herself against one of the metal posts… until Usui throws himself in between them. Final score: Usui saves Misaki from a nasty bump, but loses the match while doing so.

Later that night, while Trapaoi leads the post-tourney festivities, Misaki instead follows Usui to a conveniently more secluded part of the beach and gives him hell for not resting his injured back and for getting injured, i.e. trying to compete and thus beat Trapaoi, in the first place. Usui finally explains to Misaki that he competed because he didn’t want them to win as that would mean she’d have to wear sexikinis and pose for photos with random bastards. Misaki is floored (literally) by such a reason and says that Trapaoi’s issue was way more important. At which point, Usui crouches down too in front of her and tells her that she is more important to him. Misaki, flustered, comments that she never knows whether Usui is joking or not, at which Usui grabs her arm and asks her to take a good look to see if he’s joking or not. So Misaki looks, then they both lean in for a kiss… before they are interrupted by sudden fireworks and Misaki blurts out that they should go back. The epi ends as follows: the gang is reunited; Trapaoi is granted Nagisa’s traptastic blessing; the whole lot of them take a commemorative group photograph as Trapaoi and Usui play tug-o-war with Misaki; and three crying bakas are randomly shown camped out on the steps of Maid Latte awaiting the return of their favourite Maido, before that bloody new ED begins again and kills the my mood.

Thoughts:

Right, I’d better go in chronological order otherwise I’ll deafen you all with fangirl squealing. First up is the melon eating demonstration by Suzuna. One word: LAME.

Okay, better add a few more words. In short, Suzuna is awesome, but that scene which went on far too long (just like it did last week) just made me want to throw those melons in her face. In short, enough with the oh-isn’t-she-so-weird-and-thus-extremely-funny-without-us-having-to-bother-giving-her-a-decent-role? Shame on you, you lazy-arsed director/ producer/ script adaptor-writer/ whoever the hell it is who’s responsible and deserves to be shot. In the stomach. And if it’s the same person responsible for the new ED, then he should be castrated first. With a spoon.

Moving on, and in contrast, I must say that anime-Aoi is growing on me. In particular, the moment where he says that his cross-dressing lets him express his ‘true self’ was really interesting for me. What does he mean by ‘true self? What does ‘the self’/ ‘selfhood’ mean to him? Does that mean he feels like he’s expressing a ‘false self’ when he’s not in trap mode? Why exactly does he feel comfortable only in girls clothes, anyway? He was previously shown as a weird little brat who liked dressing up in such clothing to get other guys to fall in love with him, which seemed to give him some kind of power. Indeed, the only reason he ‘went after’ Usui in that early episode in which we first saw Aoi seemed to be only because Aoi recognised Usui as a ‘cool’/ ‘elite’ type of guy and thus apparently Aoi would feel an even bigger sense of accomplishment in winning Usui’s attention, for Aoi certainly wasn’t interested/ got scared s***tless when Usui pretended to seduce him. Unless Aoi does like men after all, but wasn’t mentally or physically ready for that step and got freaked out, like a young girl with a crush facing an older predatory male… Well, whatever Aoi’s myriad of issues may be, it was nonetheless satisfying to see him prove himself in this episode and, ironically, become more manly. Man enough to be allowed to wear girls dresses, that is. Hmm.

Bloody fireworks.

Finally, we saw some interesting developments in the Misaki x Usui dept [*squeals*]. Namely, the fact that Misaki finally seems to be getting it. ‘It’ being Usui’s true feelings, that is. They’ve already locked lips before, of course (epi 6), but that kiss was forcefully given (er, without making him sound like a rapist) by Usui, whereas this time they were about to share a mutual, and thus their first real, kiss. Before those bloody fireworks interrupted them. Dunno about the rest of you, but this member of the audience felt pretty cock-teased. And I’m not even a guy.

Of course, even if you haven’t read the manga, we can’t really expect Misaki and Usui to kiss and start happily dating without any further issues when there’s still almost ten more episodes to go, can we? However, it was certainly good to see Misaki really thinking about and questioning Usui’s actions towards her (e.g.: helpful Vs adversarial Vs joking Vs serious) and realising, or at least beginning to realise, his real feelings and thus her own.

Overall, a pretty satisfying second part of a comedy/ fluff/ kyaa kyaa! double bill. Though, like our three favourite bakas, I’m also ready for the Maid Latte crew to return home. Not least of all because a certain Evil Prez is set to return and shake things up a little more next week, judging from the preview. Plus, I also caught a glimpse of some very fetching footman outfits too – might I even be referring to a reverse-trap next time…?!

Let the cosplay continue!

All original (non-screen captured) images in this post are by Huke.

Thank’s GL, also for letting me guest here on THAT.

To understand the popularity of Black Rock Shooter, one must first understand the popularity of Hatsune Miku. Miku is a ‘Vocaloid’, the personification of a software that allows the user to create songs by programming a voice to sing. There’re a number of Vocaloid characters, each of which has it’s own distinct voice, but Hatsune Miku was the first one to strike major popularity, and even as more Vocaloids have been released, she’s remained the most popular.

To contextualize that popularity, it’s comparable to the likes of Touhou, or to any given Kyoto Animation show. In fact, one such show, Lucky Star, featured a famous scene in it’s OVA wherein Kagami cosplays as Miku for a couple minutes – the popularity of that cosplay was enough to get it’s own Figma (which I own~). Miku and the other Vocaloids have also been a massive hit in America, to the point that even non-anime-fans are aware of them.

Like a Touhou character, Miku doesn’t have any set personality or story, so the only definite aspects of her character are the design and voice. However, it’s the strength of those two factors that’ve made her so immensely successful, and her malleability is exactly what’s inspired thousands of artists, writers, and programmers to make, well, anything you could possibly imagine the fanbase making out of her. (I’ve written two Hatsune Miku fanfictions myself, one of which is a sci-fi adventure, and the other an action story – which goes to show you the diversity of her usage).

The original illustration

This brings us to the unique creation of Black Rock Shooter. As explained on the Black Rock Shooter wiki, the character, along with the other characters from the series, were originally created by artist ‘huke’ with no relation to Hatsune Miku or Vocaloid. The connection was made because of ‘ryo’, a songwriter who’d been using Miku’s voice out of necessity because he couldn’t find a vocalist, and ended up becoming easily the most popular musical artist to use Miku as well as the most popular artist on Nico Nico Douga. ryo formed the group ‘Supercell’ out of himself and the team of illustrators who worked with him to create graphics and videos for his works. huke became a member of that group, and when ryo saw huke’s Black Rock Shooter illustrations on Pixiv, he was inspired to write the song Black Rock Shooter, and the character’s design was actually altered to more closely resemble Hatsune Miku for the sake of the video. The rampant success of the song and design lead to Black Rock Shooter becoming the most popular alternative Miku design.

Because Black Rock Shooter isn’t Hatsune Miku, huke still has full rights to the character. The Vocaloid company is apparently known for being fairly protective of Miku, and may have either not wanted an anime to be made for her or was simply asking too much for it (and anyway, there’s no way it could’ve been any good.) So instead, with huke and ryo’s permission, studio Ordet (formed a couple years ago when Yamakan, the man who could be called the reason for Haruhi’s and Lucky Star’s success, left Kyoto Animation to form his own studio) decided to produce a Black Rock Shooter anime.

Knowing not only how popular Hatsune Miku is, but how popular ryo’s song and huke’s design are, as well as knowing that Yamakan’s studio is behind the production, you can guess how large the positive response to this project was among the fanbase. Not long after the adaption was announced, a number of extremely high-quality Black Rock Shooter figures also started going on the market, and were among the top figure pre-orders for as long as those were open. (I happen to own the first one that got released, which is also the most expensive single item in my collection~). The trailer for the anime was aired on a big screen in the middle of a live Hatsune Miku concert (that was, in fact, a concert, in a concert hall, wherein a 3D hologram of Hatsune Miku performed her music. Sort of like Gorillaz, but moe) which instantly went viral from the shitty rips of many camera-wielding otaku. Not long afterward, the official trailer was released to the world, and then the long wait for the OVA began.

You can surely imagine the amount of anticipation being poured into this as Black Rock Shooter fanboys like myself clutched their hundred-dollar figures tightly and prayed that it would turn out as good as they hoped. Which is why it was imperative that studio Ordet deliver – so the OVA got a massive animation budget and some of the industry’s biggest seiyuu behind it (including Kana Hanazawa, Miyuki Sawashiro, and Kana Asumi, the first of which is easily the most popular seiyuu among otaku this year, and the other two of which are among my personal favorites).

In some ways, what you get from the Black Rock Shooter OVA is fanservice born from fear. The OVA’s story alternates between the tale of two girls in the real world and their counterparts in a dream-world. All of the plot happens in the real world, whereas there isn’t even any dialog in the crazy world. This is exactly what I, and surely most others, expected, as it was direly important for the anime not to impose any kind of personality on Black Rock Shooter beyond what’s represented in her art and song, lest it risk alienating or enraging fans who wouldn’t be satisfied with the given personality. Hence, the real-world characters were created to protect the sanctity of the Black Rock Shooter character, so to speak. This could come across as weak to some viewers, but as a BRS fanboy, it’s exactly what I wanted, as I, too, wouldn’t have been satisfied with my vision of the character being wronged.

Anyway, I greatly enjoyed the OVA, but I don’t have much to say about it. I look forward to the further installments that will definitely happen with there being so many characters left to introduce. GL can take it from here.

—

Thanks digiboy, I’m giving you a hug like how Mato gave Yomi.

The OVA itself plays like a Hollywood superhero film in only in that it works like half of an origin story. While we learn all about Mato and Yomi and their friendship: how it started, grew, and developed tension. But we know very little about Black Rock Shooter herself.

It seems that she functions like an avatar for Mato in that dark stylized world, but she appeared to Mato to invite her in it. Mato ‘became’ Black Rock Shooter. It would be something like the black alien symbiote suit that Spiderman used for a while, if the suit wasn’t a parasite, and actually revealed itself to Spider Man first.

This is an action show, and the action — the battle — is shown in the beginning, and in-between segments of Mato and Yomi’s story. As for the content of action and battle, it would not be a big stretch to say that there is as much fighting and battle in this show as there is musical performances in K-ON! This isn’t a knock on either show, I merely intend to highlight that the shows are more concerned at telling the story of the girls than showing the performances.

Since this is a show where best friends fight, I can’t help but compare it with another OVA with the same conflict: Macross Plus. Black Rock Shooter is the Macross Plus for lolimoe fans. I can’t say I’m really impressed by the action (the special effects, like the gun shots annoyed me), but I appreciate it.

I think this show will make the fanboys rejoice, but I don’t think it’ll automatically alienate non-fans. Mato and Yomi’s story while rather light to justify the deadly combat to come, was engaging enough to watch. I don’t think anything felt like a cheap play for laughs or even moe reactions.

So yes, Black Rock Shooter works as half of an origin story for its ‘superhero’ character, though if digiboy is right, there was never meant to be a story for the shooter herself and it should be that way.

Have you been waiting for Black Rock Shooter?

Did it live up to what you expected?

Here comes Sadako Sawako Sunako Kirishiki, the resident creepy girl in Sotoba.

I apologize that I took longer than expected writing this review in a haste. (Only got the subs a few minutes ago). So many changes to adapt in my new school and I have to heed my principal studies lecturer’s instructions on relaxing my usually-tense arms. The bad news is, there’s so much work to do; handing up reports and coming in for lessons/lectures on time does count my total score in the final paper. Unfamiliar with the system in a tertiary institution, I guess the only way to get along with my lecturers well is to actually heed their words in order to graduate without hiccups on the way, or fail any of my modules.

Fortunately, the good news is that the first year studying in this arts academy I’m currently enrolled at doesn’t affect too much on writing my thoughts and opinions on Shiki. Things will go into full swing when 2011 arrives. Without further ado, I present you the review of Shiki, Episode 3. Click the ‘Read More’ button, if you dare…

Remind you of something VERY similar? Hint: The Bible. You have three chances. No excuses if you managed to used up all three chances wrong.

First off, Natsuno reminisced the days where he first entered the village and became friends with Toru Mutou (that blond-haired guy, with a smile on his face at all times) within the aged community. This episode, we are introduced with more characters, most of the members in the Murasako family (Masao, Hiromi, Chizuko) and some of the members of the Kirishiki family are also officially introduced here (Despite the wife in the couple was introduced briefly by someone to Kaori in episode 1).

Toru Mutou, Natsuno’s (currently) only friend in Sotoba.

Because he only wants Toru, and no one else (Yes, even you Megumi).

Hooray for a little fanservice for this week’s episode (Talking about Ritsuko’s closeup on her b00bs as she dresses up for her job.) so guys, don’t get distracted by the sexy nurse on the block. Once again, confusing medical terms were being thrown as us by Toshio (What colorful words…) as he tried finding a pattern in Nao’s illness, which has got something to do with Megumi’s anemia. As he starts figuring out what Nao’s condition is, nothing seemed to match up.

Man, she looked so young as Masao’s sister in law. I was thinking if she was still in high school on her first appearance.

Back at the Murasako family, Masao’s got all pissed when his grandfather paid much more attention to Hiroki (The younger child) than him. Having the sort of mentality of a selfish kid like what Masao’s grandfather had spoken out loud to him, he acts all bratty and starts whacking his Lego toys in his room as he whines about Chizuko entering the family. (Like, he’s already in high school. Oh wait, it’s the ’90s. Computers aren’t readily available to kids back in those days. Brilliant.)

When Nao’s husband Mikiyasu Yasumori (Not so sure if the arrangement of his name is right) brought Nao to the clinic again later in the afternoon, Toshio starts checking on her condition after interrogating him about not bringing her back to the clinic when she’s not feeling well. (By looking at the tone of her skin and her sunken eyes her condition’s has become bad to worse.) Spotting some ‘insect bites’ on her arm, there’s a possibility that Nao’s illness is the same as Megumi’s and started conducting a blood test on her to see if the deaths are connected to those bites.

Is that Spike? So, he chose to switch careers now?

He interrogates Mikiyasu again on how Nao’s illness began just like a policeman, from there he starts asking if his clients or customers are acting strange of normal behavior within the given period. Mentioning about the couple living in the Kanemasa mansion, his family met them at night during O-bon while the two were strolling out in the village. Inviting the couple to join in the festive occasion, the wife actually rejected their offer, who somehow responded that it’s not good being rude to her new friends and promised that they will visit them another day. Now, feeling something odd in this case?

Just by looking at their eyes, you know that something’s not right with those two. Too bad most of the villagers aren’t genre-savvy to think that they are the oddities within Sotoba.

Certainly, moving out of topic isn’t being helpful to Toshio and his job as a doctor. Requesting Mikiyasu to transfer Nao to the city hospital if her condition worsens or let Toshio write a referral for a university research hospital, this makes Mikiyasu feel a little better. Unfortunately for him, Toshio thinks that Nao will die sooner or later; apologizing him in his thoughts.

At night, Seishin had a visit from one of his fans, Sunako Kirishiki as she told him that she reads his books in her father’s room despite being a little too young reading books that are too advanced (as in the vocabulary) for a child like her. Being a true fan of Seishin, she did read his essays published in magazines. And this is the reason why her family moved to Sotoba in the first place, all for the sake of one author. Saying lots of creepy stuff to Seishin, it’s as if she can read his mind about his past and everything else about him. To end this conversation with a fine note: Sunako told Seishin that slitting wrists is not enough to kill someone. It’s common sense, despite putting this in a creepy way. She guessed it right; Seishin had a scar on his wrist.

Is that a N64? Oh yeah, the original novels was published in 1998. (Useless trivial: N64 entered the market in Japan in June 23rd, 1996.)

Nao died a few days later, with Masao gleefully announcing her death to Natsuno and Toru. Talking about Nao being buried dead or alive, his guess about an epidemic circulating in the village was more or less right with Toshio’s claims. Teasing and mocking Natsuno for being such an asshole for not returning Megumi’s feelings and calling him a complete apathetic jerk, Natsuno rebuked that anyone, Masao and he, could die the next day too if they aren’t careful. That alone made Masao panicked and starts whining that he’s too young to die. Natsuno’s slack attitude got into Masao’s nerves as he told him that Megumi will come out alive at night from her grave and kill him. Oh, and Natsuno’s response?

Screaming and anger issues ensues. With Masao losing the cold battle, Natsuno decides to have a sleepover with Toru. So, sensing any yaoi vibes, you yaoi fangirls? Especially when Toru pulled a blanket and covers a sleeping Natsuno? And really, Natsuno do look adorable sleeping like a baby. (Aww!) After that, Toru went outside to buy some juice, until he met that strange man (Guy with cat ears, or whatever) Tatsumi again…Until he brought his back-scratcher with him to reach out for Toru’s 100-yen.

Thoughts:

He is indeed a strange person. Once again, someone’s contributing to the increasing death toll soon~

Masao looked creepy; creepier than the mysterious inhabitants in the Kanemasa mansion (Or Sunako, with those black eyes I think she’s pretty cute. Don’t get this wrong though, I’m straight) and vastly different in looks with his other family members (I mean, look at all the others, from average to beautiful.) and the part where he talks to Chizuko (Hiromi’s mother, Masao’s sister-in-law) sounds as if he’s interested in her. (*shudders*)

A young creepy Masao, who is ten times creepier than Sunako. I mean, just look at his eyes and his fingers!

Currently I’m used to the character designs (Since I’ve already read the manga and all, but that’s not the point). For the sake of one author, Sunako’s family decided to move house. So, anyone who loves an author so much that you decide that living next to him/her is a good idea to show that you are a true fan?

The only dick around here is you, Masao. Okay, I do agree to a lesser extent that Natsuno occasionally acts like a jerk, but you are way worse than him in every way.

The last few minutes got me ROFL with Tatsumi…bringing his back-scratcher wherever he goes. A strange man indeed…and good news for Gackt fans, his first appearance as the man in the Kirishiki couple. (I can feel the vibes of fangirls screaming the hell of their diaphragms.)

Just something to take note: Never call Sunako ‘little’. So it’s good to hear that calling her ‘loli’ is fine with her. Loli Sunako, loli Sunako, lol- Maybe I should stop before she comes raging with anger, screaming and crying like a little girl.

What shiny red shoes you have, Sunako. Like, the Shoes of Death.

If you really loved me you’d be a creepy stalker!

Oh those two crazy kids! The final chapter in the Haruka arc ends in a manner most befitting the two characters. While not quite the epic kinky of last week, Haruka and Junichi come together in that crazy, but adorable, but crazy, but adorable, but crazy manner that has been the hallmark of their relationship thus far. The day starts off fairly normally, with Junichi summoning some of Patrick Colasour’s luck in running into Haruka near an arcade, then talking in the park where Junichi was stood up. But on Christmas Eve, Haruka pulls off a brilliant total victory, a setup so transparent that she had to have been using it to tease Junichi.

My, what a great pun there Junichi. にしし。

More roleplay already, Haruka?

Lovely? Seriously? You sure you’re not 1/4 Engrish, not English?

She even named you, Junichi, how do you feel about that? And she compares him again to a dog, this time to her deceased pet. That aside, it was kind of a nice setup that had them talking at the park and remembering what happened a year ago. I’m thinking that in each arc it will be each girl the same day at the same location, but they would have said different things to Junichi and thus shaped his reaction so that we have a different ‘What If?’ version of Junichi each arc.

At the end of their talk at the park Junichi asks Haruka out for a Christmas Eve date, and he’s turned down. But fear not, as it is only because Haruka’s grandparents will be visiting Japan, so instead he is invited along to their get-together. This would all become a pretense when Haruka’s grandparents cancel their trip, but like the playfully manipulative girl she is Haruka seizes the opportunity to play with Junichi for awhile first. Since he ran to meet her she wants him to clean himself up before meeting her grandparents…by taking a swim in a hotel pool and riding the waterslides with her. After she’s had her fun with him there she tells him that they’re an hour late for their plans, and then disregards it to Junichi’s shock. And then she tells him that it would be a shame to waste the room that was already reserved. Not only that, she announces her intention to stay in the room and goes right to taking a bath while Junichi is left bewildered by the pace of things out in the living room.

Oh there’s just so much to work with here. Perhaps “you’ve been a bad boy Junichi, you need to be punished.” Nah, something else. How about “bad dog! Roll over like the lowly animal you are!” Yes, that’s the ticket!

Oh this isn’t more roleplaying, Haruka has moved on to LARPing.

Oh jeez, this episode just laid it on thick with the flag tripping. But it all proceeded according to Haruka’s design.

Waste not, want not, Junichi.

Meanwhile the rest of the characters are at the school festival, including my dear Ayatsuji Tsukasa. If the panning from one girl to another at the start of the OP is indicative of the order (so far it is), it looks like I’ll have to wait until the end of the series for her arc.

Junichi waits outside while Haruka bathes wondering how to act when she comes out in a towel upset that he didn’t peak at her. That he DID NOT try to peak at her. Oh Haruka, you so crazy. Apparently she wanted him to as a sign that he likes her and thinks a relationship with her can work, and she breaks down into her weaker, confidence-lacking self in front of him. While Haruka has been taking the initiative for most of this episode, leading Junichi into her high class love nest, now it’s his turn to act boldly. They really are just perfect for each other, one rising to the occasion when the other slips, and Junichi confesses all his feelings over again and with more strength. Embracing her he tells her that he wants to be with her forever, and how the rest of the night goes is left to our imaginations. And then we get a brief Amagami: After Story set 10 years later. Now married, we see Hibiki talking to Haruka in her kitchen while Junichi makes his cheesy entrance brandishing his police badge for what’s implied to be the millionth time. And Haruka eats it up still, laughing and holding hands and obviously still madly (emphasis on the mad, for the both of them) in love. They’ve become an adorably mushy couple ten years after, even if it might be a bit too sugary sweet for Hibiki to watch.

Jeez, Junichi why can’t you be a creep?!

Junichi looks more like he’s taken a powerful attack in Yugioh than someone in a romance series. He should have screwed the rules, he’s got Haruka!

DDDAAAAWWWW crazy, crazy love!

Hibiki knew from the start and offered the counsel and solutions to help them along from the shadows. I hearby award her the Oberstein Order of the Velvet Glove for her efforts in supporting Junichi X Haruka.

One has to wonder if he got into police work because Haruka wanted some handcuffs and a police uniform. Though I suppose all the roleplaying helped him with undercover work. Also, as a trenchcoat wearing detective does this mean the puppy was trying to emulate Jett ‘The Black Dog’ Black?

DDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW! BEST END!

Happily ever after.

Final Thoughts: - Well that was a fun time. Junichi and Haruka really went well together with their quirks and odd habits, and it wasn’t just that they fell into their interactions. Both of them, and especially Junichi, put in a lot of effort to make things work. Plus they had Hibiki to help things along at just the right moments as well. It could be downright hilarious to watch them, but it somehow never really felt outside the realm of reality. You really could imagine people like them interacting like they did. Surely odd, but not beyond reason.

- The ending was certainly cute, and I really enjoyed the ten years later part at the end. Hopefully each arc will have such a denouement. Overall the last episode didn’t have the impact of the previous one, but it would be hard to top that and have an ending to the story at the same time. I wasn’t blown away, but I came out of the experience feeling satisfied with how it ended.

- Next arc is Kaoru ‘Sex Hair’ Tanamachi, a character who I know has been eagerly awaited by many viewers. It’ll be interesting to see how the reset is set up, and I’ve mentioned at least twice now in my posts that I’m speculating that Junichi reacts differently to being stood up, drawing different lessons and becoming a somewhat different person because of this. I can’t really see it being done all that differently without the show getting repetitive. How exactly would puppy dog Junichi manage to suit all six girls?

Black Heaven/Kachou Ouji is one of the best shows that no one seems to know about. A 13 episode series from 1999 about Ouji, a guy who used to be a guitarist in a rock band before giving it up to get married, start a career, and have a family. Years later he’s a stressed, unfulfilled section chief at a nondescript company in Tokyo with a hyperactive kid and an insensitive wife, neither of whom seem to pay much attention to him. But someone is paying attention, as aliens happen to find out that his music is the key to activating an ultimate weapon to fight off their vastly numerically superior enemy. That’s the premise and Black Heaven uses it to its fullest to bring the viewer plenty of interesting themes, BURNING PASSION for music, and some slapstick comedy to wash it down with. It’s FLCL for the post-college crowd. Interested? Well read on as I tell you why more people should watch this.

Like FLCL which I just compared it to, the guitars and rock music and aliens are just the badass vehicles through which Black Heaven delivers its characters and themes. And while I can’t personally connect to a lot of them at my age and point in life, they have such genuine feeling behind them that even I can appreciate them. Ouji’s feeling of being trapped in a mundane life, trying to convince himself that he doesn’t want or deserve extraordinary things at the beginning of the show sets the tone. And then when Layla Yuki, an alien officer that has set herself up as a new hire in his office, encourages him and gives him a chance to play again he returns to his past dreams. But this show wouldn’t be worth me trying to sell you on it here if it was that simple. He’s also very attracted to Yuki at first sight, and especially when she pays attention to him and encourages his music when no one else in his life does. Throughout the series there’s that tension and conflict within him between Yuki and his wife Yokko, and the worlds they represent. But that’s just the start.

I fell in love at first sight too.

Without going into spoilers, later on Ouji’s dream of playing music interacts with other aspects of his life. Sometimes positively, sometimes negatively, and sometimes varying at different points in the story. Trying to connect with and come to terms with his family is one way, and there’s also the matter of his old bandmates and what’s become of them since. Again like FLCL, it’s got a lot of heavy stuff under the facade of guitars saving the world and mischievous aliens. But in this case it’s not about coming of age (at least in the classic sense), it’s about trying to come to terms with early-middle point in time where people are just beginning to start their families and careers. It’s almost like a sci-fi Solanin but set 5 to 10 years later in the characters’ lives. And to make sure that it’s not too heavy, there’s a good amount of humor and slapstick comedy delivered primarily by Kotoko, Eriko, and Rinko, a trio of aliens sent to observe and aid Ouji but who mostly stand out rather than blend in.

The three comic relief stooges.

For as much as I was blown away by the show, I do have to acknowledge its weaknesses. It seems like it was made on a low-ish budget, so for the space battles there is a lot of reused sequences and shots. But the creators did choose the right places for cost cutting. This isn’t Legend of the Galactic Heroes or Banner of the Stars where the battles and their details are important. Black Heaven is about Ouji and his struggle to embrace, integrate, or reject his passion for music in his life, and by extension whether to do the same with the other elements of his life that compliment or are in opposition to that passion. And the show does this excellently. And also of note is that it’s backed up by a great soundtrack, in both the rock music and the background music.

Ginga no hate made!

So if the themes and the rock music sound interesting to you then I would heartily recommend giving Black Heaven a try. There are subs out there as well as a DVD released by the now-defunct Pioneer entertainment group, with a dub of the series too, if you’re into that sort of thing (I took a momentary look at it and Ouji is voiced by the guy who did Jet in the dub of Cowboy Bebop so it has at least one good VA.) Whatever your preferred media format, Black Heaven is well worth your time.

Another episode that probably needs a post unto itself, but for very different reasons from the previous one. Kare Kano is a series known to have some, um, issues in its production, and it seems like this episode was intended precisely to save money so that the rest of the series could be funded. Paper figures held on the end of pens and moved by hand, stock photo backgrounds, handheld camera segments, bare minimum animation, recap narration, slideshows, everything possible was done here to make an episode at the lowest possible cost. This isn’t merely an episode where the animation dips in detail or shots are reused like when SDF Macross had to stretch its budget. The animation is almost abandoned entirely! But for all of that it still told the story, and far from hating it I mostly had to laugh at the audacity of Gainax in sending this episode out for broadcast. The content, and thus this post, is fairly brief, but it’s rather amazing to see how the creators managed to even tell anything with this format.

The very beginning is like a Powerpoint presentation voiced over by Kawashima the Cruel’s and Tsubasa’s voice actors (maybe because they were cheaper since they’re supporting characters?) talking about the economic stagnation of 1990’s Japan and then recapping all the events so far. Then it begins. Morning at the Miyazawa residence starts off with a blank white paper cutout house that paper dolls of the characters held up by pencils burst forth from. Gainax spared no cheapness on these either, using a bare minimum of colored pencils to draw and fill in the characters. Later at school plans for the upcoming cultural festival are discussed, and how appropriate, as the animation in this episode adheres to the Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei concept of the “bare cultural minimum” as required by the Japanese Constitution.

Little did they know it was only the beginning. Also, nice attempted apology for their budget issues!

Hand-held video camera of a TV playing previous episodes during the flashback? Check.

Miyazawa literally burning up thinking about when she and Arima had sex. Well that’s one way of doing special effects on the cheap.

Exams are coming up and Yukino’s true colors do not fade just because she’s in love.

Haters gonna hate.

I’d call Tsubaki a yaoi-obsessed fangirl is she weren’t so into the girls as well.

Later on planning begins for the cultural festival, with several classes and clubs already ahead of Yukino and Arima’s class in terms of plans. Tsubaki already got approval for the volleyball team’s gender-swapped version of the Ouran Host Club, Asaba interrupts announcing something called the Asaba Dinner Show, the next step on his Mary Land project, and when it comes time for Yukino to address the class she hardly cares since it’s prime studying season. Well, that is until Arima reads out that there’s a prize for whichever class, club, or team gets the most patrons and the most profits. She launches into full competition mode, even trying to revoke approval for the Asaba Dinner Show before the student council, which is denied. By the end of the day she does have a plan presented to her: a play written just for her, Tsubasa, and Maho. On the sidelines to all of this, and likely important to the next, hopefully fully animated episode, is the entrance of one Tonami Takefumi. Transferring into the school from Okinawa, he seems to have a name that many remember but not the face to match their memories. But despite his new appearance he definitely is the kid who grew up in the area and who remembers Rika and Tsubaki especially. Despite it being brought up that Tsubaki made him her personal servant back in middle school, he announces in his internal monologue that he would very much like to see her again.

Miyazawa Yukino: Libertarian candidate for class representative.

Have to keep the plebs in line!

Kind of tough to look bishounen on this animation budget.

What the…? They call him a producer, I wonder if that image is of the actual series producer or director?

More Kaiju Big Battle.

So Tsubaki had a hand in this? I suspect that it will be in the Takarazuka style.

Final Thoughts: - Tsubaki’s teasing would seem to suggest that Takefumi wants to get back at her, but the way that he thinks about her makes me think that he might have fonder memories than one would assume given their past. I hope so, because I would DDDDAAAAWWWWW so hard if Tsubaki gets a boyfriend.

- The one very short scene that I left out of the above recap-commentary section where Arima asks Miyazawa if her body is alright after they had sex was handled nearly the same way I would expect it to be even without the minimum animation budget. It was awkward but wasn’t contrived and there was a lot of close up blushing and manga-style still frames as have been done in similar scenes in the show. So in a sense that particular scene wasn’t really affected by the money issues of the rest of the episode.

- Here’s hoping that they saved enough money on this episode that they won’t have to resort to such desperate measures for the rest of the series.

We have favorite shows, and we also have favorite characters. Sometimes our favorite characters aren’t even on our favorite shows (if we look at our top 5 lists). Here I will look at our habits of favoring anime characters and speculate a little on why we do it the way we do.

In any case I will present my own method (or lack thereof), and at least one other, as explained by the generous Pontifus, of the superfanicom blog. First, a set of samples:

Here are three subjects. Including myself are Pontifus (as mentioned) and lelangir. All of us blog anime.

—

Immediately noticeable are the lack of correlation between the characters and the shows. The correlations appear to be exceptions rather than the rule. I don’t think there’s much to this, as there are plenty of memorable characters that can be found in not as remarkable shows. At times the characters are the primary draw for such shows.

Also, there is some connection I think with Azuma’s ‘Otaku Database’ theory. There are shows that aren’t viewed for particularly Liberal Humanist values such as timeless quality, but rather for the possession of characters that have elements viewers like. This shouldn’t be a strong connection however, as I don’t think that the sample group (or perhaps the larger fandom) favors shows strictly on database elements, at least not yet.

Speculation: Admirable Traits Wins over “Interesting Complexity”

Beyond the people on the table above, I noticed in many (perhaps most) MAL profiles that people’s favorite characters are those whom they admire. Perhaps I should qualify this for males favoring male characters. Males will also admire favorite female characters, but there is also a layer of sexual attraction in play, so it is more difficult for me to speculate on this.

That said, the admirable qualities of favored female characters qualify them to exist in an imaginary romantic pairing with the viewer, whether this is actively imagined or not.

Looking at Pontifus and lelangir’s list, from what I know about the characters listed, these are all admirable and upstanding folk. They are fallible, in a way that is charming or endearing, as opposed to more complex flaws as can be found in characters like Paul von Oberstein (Legend of the Galactic Heroes), Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass), or Ikari Gendo (Neon Genesis Evangelion).

I can easily imagine someone favoring a set of characters like these, but even I don’t do so, as much as I really like them. I’m not concerned with viewers who dislike these characters, but rather with those who do like them and yet would not consider them favorites. I wonder if there is an answer beyond the obvious: that they just like other characters more.

Pontifus Justifies

Explaining my MAL favorites, using the ghostlightningian admirable/complex spectrum. In fact, I want to add a third dimension: relatable. This is just a quick overview for the sake of getting ideas out there.

Athena Glory (Aria) — Admirable, but maybe more complex than is immediately evident. At any rate she’s a favorite because I admire her willingness to help Alice without the least expectation of reward, unless one counts her own pleasure in having done something nice for her kouhai.

Ginko (Mushishi) — Admirable. He’s probably complex, too, but again, I like him because of how he values life. He assumes personal responsibility whenever he has to kill a mushi.

Reki (Haibane Renmei) — Complex. She’s troubling in both her actions and her function as a character, and thereby saves Haibane Renmei from being a mostly bland and generic example of slice of life.

Kanji Sasahara (Genshiken) — Relatable. His predicaments feel very authentic to me.

Yotsuba Koiwai (Yotsuba&!) — Admirable for her being Yotsuba. Probably the characters I enjoy most in Yotsuba&! are the adults, but they’re probably able to have as much fun as they do because of Yotsuba’s being around to justify it.

Max Jenius (er, Macross) — Admirable. Much as he ceases to be so admirable and becomes a little more complex in Macross 7, it’s probably admiration (in the form of awe of his manly prowess — he makes intelligence look cool) that made him a favorite in the first place.

Mullin Shetland (Last Exile) — This is tough because I’m not really sure. Mullin is the oldest favorite on the list by far. But ultimately I think it has to do with his being relatable — he’s just a guy who doesn’t know what he wants out of life, much less how to get what he wants out of life.

Souichi Negishi/Krauser (Detroit Metal City) — Relatable, amazingly enough. I get his sense of being torn between multiple identities — including the associated anxiety — and his inability to settle on one over another. I sympathize with his discovering that life takes strange, unplanned, un-hoped-for turns.

So for me that’s 50% admirable, 12.5% complex, and 37.5% relatable — and I suppose that supports ghostlightning’s observation that people are drawn primarily toward characters they admire (and not necessarily toward complex characters), an observation I agreed with re: myself in the first place.

But then I wonder about how people consciously choose faves — for me it has a lot to do with whether a character feels satisfying in the context of the show’s events, I think (though once that stipulation has been met, they can be removed from those events and I’ll still be excited about them, i.e. Ramba Ral as he appears in fan art and Dynasty Warriors Gundam). And maybe that’s why Nekki Basara is so great, singing to space whales notwithstanding.

So, to put it another way, what I’m talking about here isn’t really like Azuma’s database business; I’m not savoring Ramba Ral’s discrete elements. I think of my favorite characters as complete packages in the sense that their existence — say, in fan art, conversation, or memory — implies everything they’ve done plot-wise. They’re these horribly clunky things that resist reverse-engineering, not at all like constructs of convenient moe building blocks.

How Do I Explain My List?

The top two characters, Basara and Minmay are there for very specific reasons. I love Macross in a way that I think that’s different from other anime fans. It’s almost as if I am a fan of Macross as much as I am a fan of anime in general. I am a fan of Macross more than I am a fan of robot anime. It is a powerful love that finds expression in We Remember Love.

Minmay represents my discovery of the show in 1984. Love at first sight. She represents my loyalty to the show. She is grossly imperfect and generally makes a mess of things – and not in a winsome, moe fashion as one may expect from such a statement. She represents my view that I love Macross not because it’s the best anime I’ve ever seen. Rather, I esteem it above all other anime because of my love for it.

But Minmay is a woman, and I too seek to look up to in some way to my favorite character. Basara serves this well because like Minmay he represents how flawed the franchise is and yet how much I love it anyway. And yes, he pilots a variable fighter using a guitar hero controller and makes space whales LISTEN TO HIS SONG.

If Minmay is the symbol of my love for Macross as a whole, Basara allows me to be aggressive with it and champion my favorite anime franchise to the ends of the galaxy. THAT’S WHY THEY’RE THERE.

The rest are generally admirable, Char, Reinhard, and Kamina are strong-willed men who do great things. But in the case of Reinhard and Char, they are very interesting in that I disagree with many of their ways. I don’t really see myself as the galactic conqueror type, nor the amoral revolutionary. Even so, I find them the most fascinating among all other anime characters. That’s why they’re there.

Kamina and Basara are alike in that they’re courageous morons that don’t let their lack of intelligence get in the way of saving the universe. I fancy myself an intellectual, but I have a deep intellectual appreciation for this kind of idiocy.

So what?

I still believe that the choice of favorites, while an act of collection, is as much an exercise in ‘putting on clothes,’ that is what a fan does to present himself to others. It is a manifestation of taste, declaring what is quality. What is added here is since the characters chosen are admirable, it is an advertisement of what the fan holds as (at least some of the) ideal virtues.

Now I acknowledge that this is but speculation, and the analysis may be extremely fallible. I put this forth less as an attempt to educate readers, but more as a means to educate myself through discussion.

Who are your favorite characters?

Why so? Do you have a method or system in choosing them?

We’ve seen the many faces of Maya, now we get more of Uchida’s facial repertoire, as the dynamic duo tentative twosome go about investigating the spate of recent disappearances in the local area. Or rather, in Uchida’s case, taking a trip down memory lane and taking in a spot of sightseeing along the way…

Episode Summary:

The opening of this week’s episode is similar to that of episode 1, where we see another night-time attack made by the/ another bat-winged, red-eyed beasty. The next morning, the students discuss the disappearance, which is now one of many that have occurred, with the possibility that it might be the work of a tengu (some kind of demon, more common in the Edo period). Maya, naturally, rubbishes the idea, waving her superior if reluctant knowledge of the occult in her classmates’ faces. Later in the Principal’s office, Maya and a very bruised Uchida decide to investigate the disappearances, in the hope that it’ll shed more light on her father’s killing as well as lead to the capture of the perpetrator of the other kidnappings/ deaths. As Uchida leaves the building, he is accosted by the suspicious Vice Principal, who gives him hell over his less than immaculate appearance and over the frequency of his visits to the Principal’s office. Uchida, however, deflects her suspicions, via some barefaced flattery. Some very unexpected flattery, leading to a sudden (and scary) confession from the Vice Principal, before she is hastily left in the dust.

Later in his apartment, Uchida watches his younger self bending a spoon on a variety show and reflects on how happy he used to be with his loving mummy back then. This leads to the realisation that he is now, of course, ‘back then’, and Uchida calls him mum, only to hang up after barely hearing her voice. Saddened, he spots a restaurant and goes in for a late curry, then promptly falls for the waitress, Mikaze, who is the only other person to refer to him as ‘Fumiaki’ rather than ‘Bunmei’ (albeit without realising that the man in front of her and the little boy on the restaurant’s TV who she’s referring to is in fact the same person). After several repeat visits to the restaurant, Mikaze offers to show him around the town the next day. Uchida, naturally, is delighted to accept.

Meanwhile, Maya, armed with a red marker pen, has been poring over a map of the local area looking for patterns among the places where the disappearances have taken place and her attention is particularly drawn to an underground bunker that was designed as a hideout, but is now abandoned and mainly a tourist spot. The same spot, in fact, that Mikaze and a loved-up Uchida are currently exploring alone, before the latter starts crying at some paper cranes left in memory for the workers who died there. As Uchida takes her back above ground, Maya is then seen in the tunnels running from the bat-winged, red-eyed beasty, while trying to shoot it with a crossbow over her shoulder. She manages to hit the creature, but it then seems to grow bigger and come after her again, with only Maya’s screams left in the audience’s ears as the screen goes blank.

Thoughts:

Okay, my first impressions were that there was not enough of Maya, let alone the other students, versus the masses of Uchida screen-time. For example, the moment with Ami commenting on how nice it was to be in the same class with Maya again and then that rare smile from Maya was a nice touch, but it should have been explored more. On the other hand, I assume they will explore that particular relationship further in another episode where there’s more time to do it justice, given the significance of their shared past during Maya’s pre-occult-hating days.

However, as mentioned, there was certainly enough of Uchida. The perverted expressions aside (more on this later), it was interesting to see his memories of being ‘Bunmei-kun’, the young spoon-bender who later mysteriously loses his famous ability. The sweet young boy at home with his loving mummy dishing up homemade curry was certainly a lovely sight, thus the phone call home that the older Uchida makes and then the tear he wipes away while his face is turned away was suitably poignant. Hopefully we’ll find out more about how he came to lose the ability and why he values those past memories so much.

As mentioned, most of the episode was filled with the many faces of Uchida. For example: first up, was the face we’ve come to know the most well (i.e. the one he wears in front of Maya and whatever missiles she’s chucking at him), then we got that chibi-deadpan-yet-horrified face (pretty funny I thought) when the V.P. was trying to kiss him (not so funny, they were trying too hard here), then the reminiscing/ sad faces in between Uchida’s apartment and the phone booth, then all the happy/ pervy faces with the cute waitress, with a couple of, er, let’s just call them so-drained-with-fear-slash-effort-that-he-almost-looks-dead faces subsequent to Ms cute waitress’s dodgy driving.

Wise words.

I guess the point of all these faces was to add to the comedy and also to aid the character development of Uchida. In the first case, I think that it largely succeeded, but in the second case it was so-so. I mean, apart from the sort-of mysterious past (e.g.: makes you wonder exactly how did he bend those spoons? And why/ how did he lose that ability?), I’m thinking that he’s basically just the bumbling-and-slightly-perverted-minded-but-generally-a-nice-guy type. However, again, I’m guessing our further questions regarding his past and how he became a Time Agent will have to wait when there’s more time to answer them.

Finally, some thoughts on the overall plot development so far. While most of this episode was comedy at the expense of Uchida, I thought the pace was thus a bit on the slow slide (too much walking around with the cute waitress and not enough focus on the others, let alone on the occult stuff). Then again on the flip side, the tengu (or whatever the hell it is that’s bumping-off the locals and about to bump-off Maya at the end) remained relatively mysterious and suitably scary. Seeing as we’re only three episodes in to the series, it’s probably a good guess that Maya won’t in fact be bumped-off just yet. Hopefully, her battle with whatever beasty it is will thus go in her favour and will lead to some more answers that will help her and Uchida in their wider respective investigations.

And leave her unscathed enough to battle more beasties for our viewing pleasure. Fighto, Maya-san!