Between mediocre anime and really great anime lies one’s comfort shows. These are shows that generally don’t aspire to much, but do their thing well. At the same time, there are also shows which fall short of their expected potential, but are still quite entertaining regardless. Here’s a list of 2008 shows that fall into either of those categories.
Current
Casshern Sins: Great art direction but the writing is so boring. I’m pretty sure Casshern says JUST WHAT AM I in every fucking episode.
ChäoS;HEAd: It’s always super special! I like this one a lot.
Clannad ~After Story~: Hit and miss. Needs more Mei and/or baseball episodes.
ef – a tale of melodies: This is like a Shinbo show except not good.
Ga-Rei-ZERO: I mostly like it. Really dig the opening/ending tunes.
Golgo 13: ….
Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae: It’s like the writers on this show compete on who can write the crappiest episode.
Kannagi: Yamakan’s direction is great, and the production values are flawless, but the plot stuff lets it down.
Kemeko DX: Nice tits. Humour is hit or miss.
Kurogane no Linebarrels: This show is about man things like robots, tits and giant black men named JACK SMITH who cut airplanes in half.
Kyou no 5 no 2: I guess it’s fine but I still don’t know any of the character’s names.
Michiko to Hatchin: Uneven, but on the whole extremely well done.
Rosario + Vampire CAPU2: This show has moments of genius, actually. Moments of genius mixed with many moments of utter stupidity.
Shikabane Hime: Aka: This show is incredibly trashy, but it takes itself so seriously that I can’t help but take it seriously too. Gainax’s work also really helps it.
Tentai Senshi Sunred: Mostly funny. Some moments fall flat, but mostly funny.
To Aru Majutsu no Index: Pretty entertaining fluff after a string of terrible opening episodes. Let’s hope it stays this way!
Toradora!: I really like this, even though I can’t find a character to like. Taiga is almost cute, but she’s too violent.
Tytania: :V
Yozakura Quartet: This has a really shitty plot, but the direction is ok. Good voice acting, too.
Zettai Karen Children: Not as good as Hayate, but a thoroughly enjoyable year-long show.
Not Current
Windy Tales: Finishing this soon.
Reading
Hayate no Gotoku: Comic version is pretty good so far, but Kenjiro Hata is kind of a bad artist but works around his failings well.
Ikoku Meiro no Croisee: What? There’s only one volume so far? It’s been a year! Where’s volume two :(
I guess I’ll read more of the Tsukuyomi manga soon.
I guess I need to backtrack and provide negative commentary for the last comic in addition to providing negative commentary for this current comic, considering I was pretty lazy last update. The character art in the last comic is pretty bad, but I don’t hate it. I know I can do better though, or at least try. The backgrounds are a little rushed, and I kind of wish I could have represented the Boston City Hall more accurately. When I was in there to vote, I hastily took pictures before the security guard could notice. A partly middle eastern gentlemen such as myself taking photos in a government building isn’t really an image that inspires a feeling of safety, I don’t think. The script isn’t really laugh out loud funny, but I find the idea of talking about necrophilia and the like around people during election day to be funny. I added in Brad at the last minute as an excuse to draw a scowl and a tie. And maybe inspire some cheap laughs. Agitated old guys are always funny, right? That’s why I always try to make Aaron Clark’s life a living hell! Or used to. I’m turning into an agitated old guy myself.
This new comic has slightly better art, but it’s still pretty bad. One thing I have trouble with is the size of the head in relation to the body, so I tried to get that right here. Tina looks pretty bad in panel 2– I think maybe her head came out too small, and her body looks too manish. The rest is mostly fine, though. The lighting effects didn’t come out just as planned, but I like the backgrounds. I’m basing more and more of my backgrounds on real locations, and this one isn’t an exception. It’s my school’s dining hall. I feel if I keep doing this, I’ll eventually turn into Makoto Shinkai. The script isn’t really funny at all, but considering my chances of studying abroad in Japan are pretty high, I figure I may as well set the comic to go in that direction as well. And hey, anyone who’s been through that paperwork will be able to relate to Rets. There is a lot of paper work, I’ll tell ya what. Anyways, as always, I’ll try harder to write funnier things next time.
Moving on, I figure I’ll mention some manga I’ve been reading. So as not make mt-i feel as if the manga he sent me is just sitting around, collecting dust; I’ll talk about my adventures reading Ikoku Meiro no Croisée in raw Nihonese. One thing I noticed immediately was that my reading speed is way fucking slow. I suppose that’s normal, considering I have just over two semesters of Japanese under my belt. It does dash my hopes of applying seiyuu’s voices to these characters in my head though, since I’m more focused on making sure I’m reading this shit correctly. As far as understanding goes, I can understand most everything on a very basic level, but I often find myself missing fine details. The thing that helps this comic is its great artwork, which makes forcing my way through some tougher spots slightly easier. But seriously, this artist is super fucking pro. I don’t see how this person doesn’t spend three hours just on one panel. I seriously wish I could draw this well.
On the anime side of things, one show I’ve been watching is the Kyou no 5 no 2 TV series. I think I’m about the only person who cares about this show, but that’s fine, since I can totally understand people not caring about it. It’s not a bad show per se, but it’s just not as good as the first OVA’s take on the material. Kyou no 5 no 2 suffers from what every remake does, in that it will always be compared to the original no matter what. I think on its own it’s a fine piece of work, and I do appreciate its alternate take on the old material, and I like the new material as well. The show has also gradually gotten more fanservice laden, which is also a plus. But the whole, it’s simply not as funny. That said, I didn’t find the OVA to be all that funny either– I just watched it for the fanservice, and for the slice of life aspect.
The new TV series nails the slice of stuff pretty well, too. One thing I like about Kyou no 5 no 2 is how it captures those early years of your life pretty well– those years when you’d argue with your friends over dumb shit, would talk about sex and have no idea what you’re talking about, and when you still thought Super Balls were the coolest things in the world. But in the end, I guess if I were to rewatch 5-2 I’d rewatch the OVA (unless the original material in the TV series wows me.) The character’s don’t look as cute, but it’s an all-around more solid piece.
I guess I’ll cut it off here. I was going to go on for a bit more, but this rant is already around 900 words, and my other rantings are probably better suited for blog posts anyway. Hell, that bit on Kyou no 5 no 2 is a blog post in itself. Anyways, see you guys next week.
Current
Casshern Sins: Arty retro stuff. Sometimes boring, but mostly good.
ChäoS;HEAd: Moe psychological thriller. I can dig it.
Crannad ~After Story~: The first arc was great, but now it’s getting into “NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN, KEY” territory.
Detroit Metal City: Hahahaha, the rapping episode.
ef – a tale of melodies: Behind on this already.
Ga-Rei -Zero-: I dunno. Kinda good.
Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae: Lesbians send you to hell.
Kannagi: JIMI, DA NE. The opening is almost the best part of this show, but the real stuff is mostly good. I wish Nagi and Jin would argue less. It’s not funny like when Kohei and Hazuki do it.
Kurogane no Linebarrels: This show is just funny.
Kyou no 5 no 2: Not as good as the porno OVA, but decent. Kind of boring at times.
Michiko to Hatchin: SASSY, CRASSY, ASSY. Need more episodes~
Rosario + Vampire Capu2: You know those people who hate 0nT but watch it anyway? That’s how I am with this damn show.
Shikabane Hime: Aka: On hold because of FUNimation faggotry. I like it, though.
To Aru Majutsu no Index: Hey let’s talk for 30 minutes then make something exciting happen at the end of the episode only for the following episode to be more talking. This show needs to be fixed soon.
Toradora!: I think I love it. Such great character stuff here.
Tytania: I almost love it. Too gay, though.
Yozakura Quartet: I feel the Kurenai magic every now and again, but overall not that great. Good ending song, though.
Zettai Karen Children: Absolutely Lovely! That’s why it doesn’t lose!
Not Current
Gankutsuoh: Pretty good except all the characters who aren’t the Count are dumb cunts.
Mushishi: Pure brilliance.
Windy Tales: Almost pure brilliance.
Manga
Slowly reading through some manga in both Japanese and English.
YOU’RE ALREADY DEAD
Kurogane no Linebarrels
Talk about a volatile combination: On one hand, we have the evil forces of Gonzo, Hisashi Hirari and Ali Project going at it; but then again we also have Goro Taniguchi and Ichiro Itano somewhere in the mix. To be perfectly honest, I don’t hold as much a bias towards those three “evil” forces as other people do. Gonzo can sometimes turn out good work (Blue Sub 6, Black Cat, Strike Witches); Hisashi Hirai draws well, but is a horrible designer; and Ali Project has about one good song that they remix to make all their other songs.
However, we’re still dealing with dangerous elements. The positives in this equation are far less influential than the negatives, but pehaps these negative elements can remember what it was like to be good? Sadly, they’re already not doing so well. Like I said, I think Hisashi Hirai has a good art style, but his character design method is something like: take characters from Gundam Seed and change their hair colour. He kind of stopped doing that here, possibly because these designs are based off of manga designs, but they still look pretty bad. Or maybe it’s Gonzo’s fault in rendering the characters. That main guy looked off in way too many cuts. I do admit that Mamiko’s character is decently hot, though.
The story stuff is pretty typical mecha stuff, but I’ll hang around since I dig these types of setups. Though, knowing Gonzo, they’ll probably trip and fall at around episode 3 and never fully pick themselves back up.
Kyou no 5 no 2 TV
The 5-2 TV series is already suffering the fate nearly all remakes suffer from. No matter how hard Xebec tries, they will never be able to live up to what fans expect. I guess that’s why they just decided to completely overhaul the whole thing by redrawing the characters (IIRC they’re closer to the manga designs, but I’d have to check), changing the voice actors, and putting their own unique directorial spin on it. As usual, these kinds of attempts to completely divorce a new work from the original only serve to piss people off even more. So as a result, just after one episode, this show seems pretty hated.
I don’t mind it, though. I like the new designs, and found the first episode to be decently enjoyable. It’s not really as good as the OVA, but I think this first episode carries itself well. The production quality isn’t as bad as people say, either. If anything it’s somewhere between To Love Ru and Kanokon. And hey, if you’re an SA member, watching this version of 5-2 has a lesser chance of getting you banned!
To Aru Majutsu no Index
I came in expecting a less-good Zero no Tsukaima, but instead I got a better Shakugan no Shana. The similarities to Shana mostly lie in the fact that this is another shounen action show with moe lolis and in the general presentation. I really dig the futuristic setting in this one, and for the most part like how they handle the supernatural aspect. The main character is a cool dude, and the main loli, Index, is pretty cute. This doesn’t have best of season written on it yet, though. I need to give it a few more episodes.
Also, some of those male character designs are way too Tite Kubo.
I’m so glad all of this stuff is starting in October, rather than in September like I originally thought. I was wondering how I would be able to handle twenty more shows on top of of the fourteen I already have going. Thanfully, that is not the case, and by the time this new season rolls around, about everything I’m watching right now would have concluded.
This season isn’t looking all too hot. While nothing looks super horrible, nothing looks totally good either. With most seasons I can usually pick out one show that I know I’ll love (eg Kodomo no Jikan, Kure-nai, Gurren Lagann) but there’s nothing really like that this season. I hope at least some of these can surprise me!
Man, I just gotta watch this
Man, I should probably watch this
Man, I probably shouldn’t watch this
Man, fall’s gonna be busy!
Anime World Order may not want to admit it, but lolita characters and the exploitation of said characters have been part of Japanese cartoons and comics since the 1970s, and probably even further back than that. What we can all probably agree on is that at the turn of the century this exploitation became a lot more shameless and rampant– and right now in 2008, such shows have become par for the course when it comes to a season’s anime offerings.
I can’t really talk much about the manga side of things, but when it comes to modern anime, the types of lolita fanservice you get can be divided into roughly two groups: 1) Older characters who look younger than they are (your Manabi Straights and your Lucky Stars) or 2) Characters who are actually proper children and look it (your Kyou no Go No Nis and your Kodomo no Jikans). There are various ideas and thought processes that go behind the exploitation of these characters as sexual objects– in the case of number 1, the fact that they’re actually older is meant to lift that latent feeling of guilt. It almost makes it ok for one to be attracted to them, since after all, they’re 18! Number 2 is meant to cater to the more hardcore lolicon, the guys that want as close to the real thing as possible without sharing a cell with the other Miyazaki. But this entry isn’t really about that kind of stuff at all– what I want to talk about is the honesty lolita/pedo fanservice.
When I say honest loli fanservice, I mean stuff that’s true to life. In the case of number 1, this doesn’t exist at all. It’s meant to pander– pure, simple and guilt free. However, in the case of number 2, there is a degree of honesty. Not just in the fact that the characters are proper kids, but in that kids actually do talk about sex a lot.
The kinds of discussions found in Kodomo no Jikan and 5-2 are played up as lead up and/or accessories to the fanservice, but I don’t think anyone can really deny being at least interested in such things when they were younger. I remember being as young as 7-years-old when the word “sex” first made its rounds throughout the classrooms. In grades 3 through 6 we would often ponder this mysterious act and its ramifications with a great amount of interest. Shows such as KnJ and 5-2 really do a good job of bringing back this feeling of wonder and interest in things such as the idea of sex to a young kid. Probably more so with 5-2, since the sexual element in KnJ is played up more for the boners than anything else.
I’m not really saying normal people shouldn’t find such fanservice any less reprehensible, but there is something to be said in the honesty in shows such as KnJ and 5-2. Sure it’s for perverts, but it’s true! And that’s part of what I like about it.
This is something of a true story. Yes, it is true that in my English 101 class last year, our first assignment was to write about anything we wanted. I however, did not write about moe. That happened about two years earlier in my Junior year of high school. See, in high school I was doing the IB, and part of trying to get your IB diploma was to write this 10 page essay called the Extended Essay. Me, being more of a Japanophile then than I am now (if your mind can fathom such a thing) wrote an “anthropological study” on otaku. The paper is horrible, and if I tried to read it again now I’d probably rip my face off. Anyway, the paper had a bit on moe. Now, when I wrote this (I guess back in… 2004? 2005?) I didn’t really know much about moe past the word. So I read a bunch of essays, and basically wrote about it as a desire to protect innocence and cited examples of certain works and magazines. Some time after I wrote it, I gave it to my English teacher to look over, and he said exactly what the guy in this comic says, word for word. As far as art goes, I don’t really like it. The drawings are sloppy and rushed. I do like the backgrounds and the lighting, though. I also like dressing the English teacher up as Lupin III.
I’m kind of running short of comic ideas. Nothing airing at the moment really inspires me to write anything funny. Well, I could do something about the two horrible Gonzo shows playing, but that’d probably be the same as that Soul Link comic I did a long while back. I do have a good supply of scripts that should last for a good 15 weeks, but reading them over, they seem very not funny. Eh. I probably need to give some of them a good editing job. Whatever. I kinda know what I want to do for next week, so that’s fine.
Recent Tracks
