Mistakes of Youth: The Blog (Powered by EXCELLENCE!)

Watching this raw is kind of a challenge– my Japanese sucks and this show delivers a lot of its entertainment by way of each episode’s individual plot. I can still follow the general plot points, but I miss a lot of the fine details. That’s okay, though– the real draw of this show is just how moe each of the girls are. Shiho really stole the show in this one with all the blushing she was doing. Real hot.

I just love how all the girls are hot for Minamoto. And to think this is a kid’s show…!

Original Post

At one point I decided I was going to make a determined effort to make comics about all the shows I care about this season, and as such I decided I’d move from Strike Witches to my second favourite of the season, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (while throwing in a Kanokon joke on the side.) This felt funny when I wrote it, but I’m not sure now. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been working on this script for so long that it’s become boring to me, but generally I feel it could have been better. Maybe if I got rid of the last speech bubble– I dunno. I mostly like how the art came out here. The background for panel one is kind of weird, but it works. I’m happy with all of the character art, and have few complaints on that front.

It seems people want to meet up at Otakon, so a meet up will be happening. I won’t schedule anything concrete at this point given the convention schedule isn’t up yet, but chances are most times will be ok since all the panels suck, and the only real event worth going to is the JAM Project concert. For now, I’m planning something on Friday at around mid-day. We’d meet up someplace for a bit, then run down to the Dealer’s Room to buy shit or something. It’ll be fly.

After a long hiatus, the Mistakes of Youth podcast is BACK with a new episode all about Kure-nai. Unlike the last podcast, which was kind of random, this one will mostly focus on in depth, spoilerific discussions of anime. The aim is to provide intelligent discussions on shows– the kind of thing you may be interested in listening to after you finished a series. This first episode isn’t the best since I wasn’t really in top form, but Omo and Link are great so listen to it for them. Expect two new episodes each month.

Like I said earlier, Strike Witches and Nogizaka Haruka are my favourites of the season so far. Strike Witches is just great because of the high moe factor and all of the fanservice. I could care less about the story, but the girls are all very cute, both in personalities and looks, and I love seeing their tight butts and cute crotches every couple of seconds. This is true man’s anime. Nogizaka Haruka also has a high moe factor, but this time in the form of a very cute otaku girlfriend voiced by Teh Mamiko. With this one, I’m mostly watching it for the developing romance between Haruka and Yuuto, and I also like seeing a cute moe girl doing otaku things. It warms my cold, jaded heart right up! I even made a crappy wallpaper for the show!

On the other hand, one show which I was really liking for a bit has gotten way too stupid, and that show is Code Geass R2. In the first Code Geass, I could brush off the stupid and laugh at it, but the amount of stupid in this latest season is overwhelming. It’s still entertaining, but when I start laughing at like… character deaths, that’s not good. Though, I will admit to honestly liking the Geass origin story, but that was balanced out by stupid shit like Lulu’s exploding mirrors and Viletta and Ohgi’s soap opera moment.

Anyways, I should cut off here since I still have a huge backlog of anime to get through, so I’m going to try and burn through at least half of that now. Later!

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Yes, it’s true! It’s not a dream! It’s not fantasy! The spectacular, amazing and totally cool Mistakes of Youth podcast is BACK, and this time we’re talking about Kurenai. This is kind of a general discussion of the show, so there will be spoilers. Listen with caution!

This is my first show a in while, so I wasn’t really in top form, but I think overall it turned out pretty well.

Guests

• Link
• Omo

Songs

• Opening Chorus– “Opening Chorus” by Takayuki Hattori
• Monologue BGM– “Sign” by Takayuki Hattori
• Insert Song– “Love Jump” by Minami Kuribayashi
• Ending Song– “Beyond The Time” by TM Network

Story is, almost a month ago I got the March issue of Megami from J-list. The mag came in one piece, but was kind of bent up due to a poor choice in shipping materials (a thin as fuck paper envelope with DO NOT BEND written on it in black Sharpie.) Once I got back into contact with my Friend in Japan, I complained to him, and he in turn complained to the rest of company. Minutes later I received an email from a J-list employee offering to replace the damaged magazine. However, they were out of issues of March Megami (I took the last one w) so he offered to send me the latest issue. I immediately canceled my order for this new issue on Animenation and took up the good man’s offer.

This is probably the most value I’ve gotten out of an issue of Megami, since I hung up all the posters except for one. Pretty good, especially since I paid absolutely zero for it. It is at this point that I’d like note favourite posters, but all of them are so good that I’d just list them all. A good lead up to issue 100, which is sure to be quite epic.

Also, I tried to put all of these up without taking down in posters. After some slight rearranging of things, I managed to get them all up, and as such I’m nearly out of wallspace. Eventually I’ll take new pictures of my otaku lair, complete with the hug pillows and bedsheets I normally hide when I’m at home– just for the full experience.

I MEAN SERIOUSLY

Is she really popular enough to get ANOTHER daikimakura cover made of her with completely original art? This better mean another Nagi one with MORE SKIN SHOWING THAN THE LAST ONE is in the works, and if one isn’t I will literally kill Japan. With my hands. Which are giant.

All that said, I think the illustrations are hot, but I won’t buy it since Hina is pig disgusting.

The loli catgirl who leapt through time!

I swear to god this is not Tina. I were to colour this I’d make her hair like… brown.

Lately I’ve been drawing daily for a number of reasons: to generally improve, to come up with different cute hair styles, to refine my drawing style and to attempt poses I’m unsure of.

I’ve felt my drawing style is a bit too stuck in the 1990s, so I’ve been trying to make it look more like the designs of today while still keeping the qualities that I think make my style mine. Of course, my style is still pretty generic, but whatever– I think it’s going good places.

…and I will give you some real quick reviews on all of them!!

MaxFactory 1/8 Mikuru School Festival Ver.

MaxFactory is known for their quality, and this figure is no exception. At first I found the face sculpt to be kind of awkward, but then I realized that was only due to the fact that Mikuru never ever looks this happy in the show. If I had to say anything bad about it, it’d be that taking the headband thing that was already on her head off to put the cat ears on is kind of hard, and the figure isn’t castoffable. I mean seriously, these panties are beautifully rendered, why must MaxFactory tease us so? The panties on the castoffable Atelier Sai figures suck.

In my mind I like to think that Mikuru thinks long and hard about what kind of panties to wear each day, on the off-chance that she will get lucky with meKyon.

Random Primula trading figure

I don’t know much about trading figures, but this one seems pretty ok. Yeah, the paint job isn’t the greatest and the eye detail is weak, but it’s a small little thing that looks good from afar. And hey, it’s cool to have a dainty little girl making a sand castle right there on your desk so you don’t have to sneak out to a beach and watch the real ones do it from a distance!

CharaAni Limited Edition Kaede Fuyou

I was originally going to get this version off of Yahoo Auctions for 1000 yen, but it was early in the morning, I forgot how to bid, and by the time I came to my senses the auction was over. So, I instead opted to get this limited edition version for 6000 yen. I kind of had to warm up to this one. Yes, it’s Kaede, so that’s like 99 out of 100 points right there, but the face sculpt for this one kind of bothers me. I’ve since gotten used to the sculpt, but if I had skills I’d paint some more stuff in the eyes or something.

If I ever see the original version floating around I’ll pick that one up, too.

Random Kaede Fuyou Trading Figure 1

Man, this one is so fucking hot. The best part about this one is the legs– they’re carved out so beautifully that I could lick them all over. Her body is also totally amazing too, and I just love how Kaede looks in that dress, especially the way her boobs come out. If I had to complain about this figure, I’d complain that the kneeled version of the legs weren’t included, but that’s not the figure’s fault.

Random Kaede Fuyou Trading Figure 2

And this is the hottest figure I got today. I just love how this one comes together, from the flowing hair, to the sexy “yes dear~” expression, to the hot hot dress, to the soup ladle that tops it all off. This incredibly sexy housewife looking pose embodies everything I love about women, and as such I totally love this figure. And damn, whoever sculpted this one gave Kaede some nice tits.

And that’s it for tonight! Welcome to the family, girls!

Since YOU demanded it…

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18+ content ahead
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Original Post

This comic originally ended differently, but for some reason that old version just didn’t seem right. After a lot of thinking, I just opted to have Rets not speak at all, and just stare. I think it’s funnier. However, the funniest part about this comic is how Tina thinks Strike Witches is “great.” Yeah, Tina’s character is basically 100% wish fulfillment for all us lonely geeks out there (though honestly, I think Nagi, Haruka and Ohno are a lot better, but I try) but making her like a show like Strike Witches– a show that can only appeal to men– is kind of lol. At least I balance it out with making her complain about the lack of pants, which has generally been a real point of conflict with this show. I really like how the art came out this one, and have no complaints.

As of a couple of weeks ago, I’m officially going to Otakon. Now that my payment and stuff is all sorted out, I figure it’s a good time to try my hand at hosting a MoY meet up. I’ve offered this in the past, but no one has really shown any interest. I’m guessing that’s because no one actually wants me to meet creepy ol’ me, or that simply not enough people read the comic. I think I have a pretty good readership now, so I’m trying again. If anyone’s interested in meeting up, leave a comment and if there’s enough interested, we can arrange something.

I’ve really fallen behind on recent anime, and currently have something like ten episodes sitting on my desktop. I’ll try to get through as much as I can this weekend, but it’ll be tough between all the other things I wanna get done (such as a number of erotic pieces for my neglected art site) so with that I’ll be cutting this week’s rant short, too.

One and two

Because real men draw their own characters having sex with random people.

The dude in picture one is pretty effed up. Oh wells.

Also still working on some Nagi ero that I started back in June.

Previously…

Last two.

Natsume Yuujinchou: I watched this a couple of days ago, and all I remember is that it’s boring. Yeah, it has youkai, but eh. I’ll give it the three episode test but it seems to be pretty boring so far.

World Destruction: I guess this is Production IG’s solution to Druaga (which I never watched.) The first episode was kind of ok, but not totally great. The best part is the loli that’s probably only in the first episode.

And that covers all the TV shows I wanted to see this season. Ryoko’s Case Files would have been on here, but in the end it sounded too Crystal Blaze for me, so I skipped it. I won’t be covering OVAs because I haven’t seen any of them yet.

This episode also featured a guest appearance by everyone’s favourite former prime minister!

MEGAZONE 23 SPECIAL SONG COLLECTION (aka Megazone songs I both downloaded and liked)

• Track 1- 背中ごしにセンチメンタル
  
• Track 2- 風のララバイ
  
• Track 3- 淋しくて眠れない
  
• Track 4- ロンリー・サンセット
  
• Track 5- メガゾーン２３のテーマ
  
• Track 6- 今が一番いい時
  
• Track 7- 秘密く・だ・さ・い

Despite the fact that Megazone 23 PART I and PART II look and feel completely different, they were only made a year apart from each other, and tell one complete and (somewhat) coherent story. PART III, on the other hand is its own thing– it was made in 1989 (three years after the release of PART II), takes place several hundred years after the events of the original story, and has an almost completely original cast. As is usually the case with a sequel like this, it’s not very good– a lot like The Godfather III or all the Pink Panther movies made after Peter Sellers’ death. Yeah, it’s pretty bad.

Strangely enough, the plot is the best thing about this part. Unlike PART I, which was clunky and lacked an end, and PART II which just made no sense– PART III actually tells a pretty decent story that mostly makes sense. I still think it suffers from the same problems the other Megazones suffered from in their storytelling, but less so.

Unfortunately, the praise ends there. This entire production is a disaster. For starters, the animation is horrible. There are some cuts which do look really nice, but for the most part the animation ranges from G-Gundam quality to… Gundress quality. I’m not even kidding, there’s entire sequences in the first episode that are just unfinished cuts of animation with no shading or inbetweening. Don’t believe me? See for yourself, then!

The characters in this are also really lame. Especially Eve, who for reason has a horrible seiyuu this time around, and I think Megazone 23 PART III was the only show she ever did. The main character is like a less good Shogo, and he even admits it in the dialogue. The villain’s also pretty lame.

Megazone 23 PART III is a pretty bad sequel to an otherwise good series of OVAs. You can watch it for the sake of completion of you really want to, but if you’re short on time, I say skip it.

ps: anyone up for a game of HARD ON??

Previously…

Third three~

Hidamari Sketch x365: I’m actually liking this one. My problem with the first series was its pace, and I could only really enjoy it while in the right mood. I suspect it’s the same with this one, since it’s just more of same, but I just know when I should watch it now. The first episode is an unrelentless attack of fluid animation for about 15 minutes, then in the last half it goes back to business as usual. If you liked the first series, you’ll like this one.

Also, for some reason I totally forgot Yuuko Gotou was in this…!

Koihime†Musou: I generally steer clear of shows that involve badass fighting women, but since all the boob shows this season are of that ilk, I decided to submit and give some of them a try. One of these shows is Koihime†Musou.

I was pretty surprised by how much I liked this one. I usually like the pure, soft-spoken maiden types of girls, but the badass women in Musou don’t seem all that annoying, even if I’m not totally moe~ for them. The animation is solid, the writing is solid and the boobage solid, so I don’t see any reason not to continue unless it goes bad.

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: This show is just so adorable. Studio Barcelona has won me over again, but this time with the cutest otaku girlfriend ever, and not mischievous lolis. Haruka, the title character, is just so hot and is the sole reason why I am watching this. It’s not like she’s the only good part, though– the production values are great and the show has a great opening and ending.

The only off putting thing is Mamiko’s acting, but that’s only because I’m used to her playing a spineless shota…

Original Post

Little late with this one, but that’s because I also updated on Monday and was working on something else site-related on Saturday. I think I should add “manipulative” to one of Tina’s character traits at this point. At first Tina was just supposed to be a straight man to Rets’ antics (and provide needed boobs– this is an any-may comic, after all) but I think it’s more fun to make both of them crazy. Tina’s still mostly the straight man in this lame comedy duo, but as an otaku she needs an insane side. As far as art goes, I’m mostly happy. Panels two and three came out the best, and panel one is mostly ok. I could never get the last one right, and Tina ended up looking really bad. Using my magic, I cut out most of what I didn’t like, but that face still needs lots of work. As you can see, Rets has his dead-end grocery store job again, stocking cans into shelves made out of stolen photos.

Gonna plug some things now– stuff of my own, and stuff for other people. First off, I’ve been doing a season review over the past couple of weeks across a number of blog entries. I do three shows an entry, and currently two entries are up, with a third on the way. I also threw together three reviews of some shows that recently ended, and that can be read here. I’m only plugging these because I want some comments, so humour me, ok? The other plug is for my buddy Kransom who is having an otaku sale. He’s selling manga, doujinshi, video games and more. So give it a look will ya!

I’m pretty behind on the new season, so instead of ranting on for a couple more paragraphs, I’ll get to work on this backlog. Later.

(no, this comic does not mean I watched 00.)

Megazone 23 PART II is quite an uneven piece of work. The animation is mostly incredible, but at times isn’t entirely convincing. The story has good elements, but is told in a convoluted manner. The characters are all great, but are still fairly one-dimensional. All this doesn’t keep it from being one hell of a ride, though.

The first thing that strikes you about PART II is how it looks– it has a completely different design sense than the first one. The cute, big-eyed designs from the first part are traded in for more intense and realistic looking characters penned by Yasuomi “Kite” Umetsu. And it’s not just the designs that had a re-work– the entire piece has a darker colour palette, more complex shadow effects, and five more tones than Part I. In fact, if you didn’t know any better, it’d take you a bit to figure out that this was a Megazone sequel. I mean, these reworked characters barely look at all like their Part I counterparts!

Part II also one-ups Part I when it comes to characterization. Part I had some pretty decent characters, but in the end I found them to be somewhat bland. While mostly one-dimensional, all of the lovable punks in Part II burst with personality through their designs and snappy one-liners. You’re not going to get super attached to these bozos or anything, but they’re depicted as a likable bunch, and all get their moments to shine.

Where Part II falls short is in the story department, however. As I mentioned earlier, the plot for Part I was pretty weak, so the fact that Part II’s plot is worse is… not very good. Well, it’s not so much the plot that’s bad, as much as it’s the execution. This OVA was, for some reason, directed by Ichiro Itano– a man known for his complex missile firing patterns and… lack of any sort of directorial ability. The piece starts off well enough, but once all the plot seeds begin to blossom at around the half-way mark, you can slowly see Itano losing his handle over the project. The whole thing ends with a bunch of explosions matched to cryptic dialogue, and not in the good End of Evangelion way. But really, in the end you don’t care about the plot, since the show has a lot of chases and action scenes thrown in to distract you.

The production values are also a good distraction from the convoluted excuse for a plot. For the most part, this thing looks beautiful. The characters are all super detailed, the animation is at times frighteningly fluid, and the piece on the whole is dark and beautiful. There are odd cuts here and there where the characters seem too weightless, and there are also a number of cuts which lack shading, but they aren’t terribly jarring. One place where the production really shines is in the action sequences, which are always well choreographed, exciting and sometimes extremely gory.

Megazone 23 Part II is, in the end, 90 minutes of wasted potential. For all that it could be, it falls prey to poor directing and tired anime cliches. Perhaps it could be better in the hands of a more skillful director, but what we get is only really good for the action.

All is forgiven

Last night I jumped into my DeLorean, set the destination for 1985, and took a colourful, sexual, violent, gory, and action-packed trip into the first installment of MEGAZONE 23 (that’s two-three, not twenty-three.) For those not in the know, Megazone 23 is the title that brought the OVA format into prominence, and is also the show that many people claim The Matrix rips off on. However, to me it’s a very interesting look back into the history of anime.

Megazone 23 is one of those shows you’ll see old guys talk favourably of all the time when they go on about the Good Ol’ Days. Me, being a relatively new anime fan (started watching things in ‘99) lack such nostalgia, and can look at these things without the rose-tinted glasses. Simply put, Megazone isn’t as flawless and perfect as some of these guys may lead you to think. The storytelling is clunky, the animation is uneven, and the production is generally somewhat amateurish. Like the first Space Battleship Yamato, this show is filled with the staff just trying new things out, and not having much of a budget to mess with. It’s good as an educational experience, but as far as entertainment goes, it shows its age.

That isn’t to say it isn’t totally entertaining. This thing is just so 80s– one of the first scenes involves tons of copyright infringement (Cokes, mentions of McDonald’s and the Hard Rock Cafe), ridiculous outfits, poofy hair, and a perfectly straight guy who wears eye shadow for some reason. Yeah, I don’t know either. The synth-heavy soundtrack by Shiro Sagisu also does everything its power to date this thing, reminding you constantly that, YEAH THIS WAS MADE IN THE 80s. And it’s fucking awesome.

If you already know the big twist in the story (which you probably do, especially considering I gave it way in the first paragraph) then this doesn’t have much going for it storywise, since the twist basically is the story. The show doesn’t actually end either, so as far as plot goes, it’s kind of weak. I guess I have to watch part 2 before I can pass judgment though, so I’ll be doing that right now!

What’s notable is how they use a variation on ADTRW’s  “kick reason to the curb” line on the back.

Sadly, “Reject common sense to make the impossible possible” is used in the show proper, but it’s good to see that Bandai has some kind of idea about the pulse of the fandom.

I actually skimmed episode one a bit, and the translation seems pretty good. There’s a lot of liberties taken (Kamina at one point says “fugly”) but it works for something like Gurren Lagann. 110% and all that.

Previously…

Second three!

Strike Witches: My first reaction was, “Sky Girls, except better.” The characters are cuter, the setting is nicer and the fanservice is plentiful. Gonzo has really been letting me down lately, but they may have a winner here. The first episode wasn’t totally great, but this show could really go places. Like in my pants.

I was naughty and downloaded a torrent of the BOST file, but I’m seriously considering supporting this now. It’s better than paying for Blassreiter!

Tetsuwan Birdy Decode: I’ve never seen the original OVA, nor have I read the manga. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by this tasty slice of SF action. The production values sure are something– I hope this A1 Pictures Inc. studio can keep up the quality.

Zero no Tsukaima: Princesses no Rondo: This first episode was business as usual for 0nT, and naturally I ate it all up and wanted more. In contrast to the second season, this first episode of season three actually progresses the plot somewhat. I kind of hope they continue on in this vein, but I’d be fine with more stupid fanservice, too. However, it seriously needs more Siesta.

Also, the opening and ending songs are great!

パーフェクトスター・パーフェクトスタイル by Perfume: So this is the song from that Nico Nico Kumikyoku.

Super Scooter Happy by Capsule: Made famous by a certain Hidasketch MAD.

Original Post

Before anyone says anything, yes, his neck is supposed be messed up like that. It makes that last panel all the more frightening. Maybe I should have added some CRACK CRACK sound effects.

Wanted to get this one out quick while the news was still kind of fresh. It’s already pretty old now, but better to post it now than this Saturday! This comic may be overreacting, though, because I just went on Nico and it seems people are still uploading MADs despite this BS. I wonder if that’ll change in a week from now? My mylist has suffered only minor damage thus far, with the Akagi/Hidamari Sketch op crossover being the only loss. Good thing I saved that!

This comic is ok. For some reason drawing people straight on is totally difficult, so I had to fix up a lot of things, mostly Tina. And even after fixing up Tina a lot, I still missed the giant mistake on her shirt. Oh well. She still looks kind of hot, right? Panel two is kind of messed up, as well. Way too angular and pointy. I do like that background, though. For those who can’t tell, it’s the side of a big-ish building. It’s a great hangout for teenagers!

That’s all for today. Hopefully I’ll have a comic up for next Saturday, but don’t count on it.

First three!

Sekirei: This is a boob show, but it has a lot of charm and very good animation for some reason. This is Seven Arcs, right? I hope the rest of the episodes look this good, because thus far the production values and boob animation are this one’s strength. Musubi is pretty cute, though.

Slayers Revolution: I’ve never seen a Slayers series in my entire life (I know, I’m horrible) but I sure did like this first episode! The writers do a great job at getting you acquainted with the characters, while at the same time delivering service for existing fans of the series– a win-win! And man, this show sure is 90s. They even keep the 90s design work! It’d be awesome of JC Staff went the extra mile and animated the entire thing on cel, but that’s more trouble than it’s worth.

And yeah, Megumi’s still got it.

Telepathy Shoujo Ran: On one hand this show is held down by NHK for the family BS, but on the other it concerns itself with dogs that attack people and can somehow manipulate lighters using their mouths. So, uh, it’s ok, I guess. So far the best parts are the random bursts of psychedelic colours that happen when psychic junk occurs.

Also, why the fuck is Tokyo Movie Shinsha doing this? They should be the ones working on the new Cobra anime!

Time to review three short series that all ended recently!

Kure-nai: I wanted the Hollywood ending. That said, the show did do well to stick true to its sense of realism right down the end, but they could have at least indulged us a bit, right? I guess they did that with episode six, though.

Kure-nai was a very good show. I can’t say it was perfect, but it certainly lived up to my expectations, and at times surpassed them. The show sold itself on character interaction, but what I really liked was the atmosphere and the underlying plot. Being a fan of Gunslinger Girl, I enjoy it when small children are thrown into situations involving The Underworld and Violence, and Kure-nai delivered that somewhat decently. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy the character interaction, because that was awesome– I just wish that they hit more on The Darkness throughout the show.

Kanokon: Uh, I guess the only notable thing about Kanokon was how it was a fanservice show with a really high budget. I mean seriously, every episode of this was crazy beautiful and looked movie quality. I’m not going to ask why, because I enjoyed it as well done softcore porn. GJ, Xebec.

Toshokan Sensou: This won points simply for being the first Production IG show in something like, what, two years? that I actually really liked. They almost won me over with Blood+, but that went sour near the end. However, Toshokan Sensou was by no means perfect. The story was pretty shoddily developed, and the show only really carried itself on character interaction. That’s fine though, since the characters were pretty decent, and I don’t care much for plot anyways.

For some reason I wrote these all in the past tense!

Just got a bent up March 2008 issue of Megami from J-List…

I got this issue for the poster of Kokonoe covered in chocolate, but me being at home, I couldn’t really put that up. Luckily, on the other side is that hot SZS pic.