Mistakes of Youth: The Blog (Powered by ur mum)

I kind of like how this turned out, but looking at it now I may just go ahead and re-draw it.

In the midsts of my Shuffle! merch buying frenzy some months ago, I came across this “Clear Sheet Collection” over at CDJapan. I noticed that of the fifteen “clear sheets” available, two of them were rare images that I really wanted highres copies of (Kaede in naked apron and Kaede in maid outfit) and a quite a few others were images I liked but didn’t have highres versions of. Though, there was a catch: of the fifteen images available, the most you could get from each set was twelve, so you’d be missing out on three of the images no matter what. But despite that little hang up, I snatched this up without a thought and hoped for the best. After a few weeks, it finally arrived at my doorstep (gogo SAL shipping.)

Turns out my luck wasn’t totally horrible like it always is, and I at least got one of the two rare images I wanted. Alas, Kaede in a maid outfit seems forever out of reach, save for bad Yahoo auction pics. If anyone has that one, I’d love a scan of it. Anyways, on to the review…

This “Clear Sheet Collection” is really just a set of transparent pencil boards with various pieces of Really? Really! promotional art on them. Of the fifteen offered, only five of them are the same old recycled art you’ve seen everywhere, with the other ten being rarer images. So, no matter what kind of batch you get, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get some good stuff.

And what good stuff this is! Aoi Nishimata is in top form here with a bunch of cute Kaede renderings along some hot Primula, Mayumi and Sakura action for good measure. Hiro Suzuhira makes some brief appearances with a few Asa and Ama pics, but is mostly absent from this collection considering she apparently left Navel a while ago due to health issues. If I had to say anything negative about this set (aside from the fact that you miss three of the images >:((( ) is that the transparency thing seems pretty pointless. All it really does is make the art look faded, which isn’t a good thing. However, if you’re like me and tape up pencil boards, these look decent against a white surface. They’re also good to collect in an album of some sort!

I’d recommend these to any serious Shuffle! fan such as myself, but good luck finding them now. CDJapan is out, and I have no idea where else they’d sell these. Your best bet is Yahoo auctions, probably. In fact, I should go there right now and see if anyone is selling the Kaede maid “clear sheet”!

Bonus

As a distinguished member of the interwebs, I’ve decided to scan some of the rare images for my fellow otaku. I’ve uploaded all of these to danbooru (18+), but this blog post has a better scan of Naked Apron Kaede. Get ‘em while they’re hot!

So apparently after a lot of fan yelling FUNi’s going to put out a box for The Best Series Ever. I was kind of bothered that DVD 1 lacked a box, but I had other things to be angry about so it didn’t phase me too much. A box is splendid news, though, and I hope they do a good job. By that I mean I hope they don’t pull an ADV and just put random pretty pictures all over the place.

Ideally the box will have pictures of either a) Kaede doing house work, b) Kaede naked or c) both

Lately I’ve been trying my best to just take it easy. Ever since I left that dreaded hell of high school, I’ve had a giant Space Battleship lodged up my arse. It’s slowly working its way out of there, but as all you readers probably know, I still get my panties in a twist over many things. The main reason why I’m generally just trying my best to “keep it cool, yo” (as the kids say) is because this type of attitude does nothing good for me, and only causes headaches. But enough Live Journaling, I already have one for that. What I want to talk about is favourites.

A lot of bloggers at one point or another make it clear as to why things make it on their favourites list. Jeff Lawson is the first one that comes to mind, but there’s probably more. For a long time being on my list of favourites has been a very exclusive position for the 5 or 6 shows on there out of the 298 completed shows/movies/whatevers I’ve seen so far– kind of like a snobby party for only the elite of the elite of the elite. Basically my favourites list was the landmarks of anime that I’d seen and really enjoyed. Stuff that was approved “good” by various respected anime-watching personalities that just happened to strike me in a profound manner as well. Stuff I wouldn’t be “ashamed” of having on my list of favourites. Well, now I want to open it up. Consider this another step in removing the <Insert Giant Object Here> from my arse.

It just hit me a few minutes ago while I was in the shower– such an attitude is the attitude of a fucking critic. The attitude of Jay Sherman, if you will. I’m not a motherfucking anime critic, I’m a fan. Fans don’t need to operate on logic, they just need to love. That isn’t to say you should abandon the critic mentality as a fan, but you shouldn’t let it take you over. I think my main problem for a while was that the critic mentality and fan mentality were often at odds, which resulted in many confused emotions over shows, along with numerous headaches and other terrible things. But now that’s gone. I figure if I already post shameless pictures of dakimakura covers, I should be allowed to be shameless with my tastes, too. So, as of right now, Shuffle! is a favourite anime. Tsukuyomi is a favourite anime. Futakoi Alternative is… almost a favourite anime!

Of course, with my standards being a lot more loose now, things will come and go from the list a lot easier. One thing that determines a favourite for me is rewatchability, and a lot of the shows going up there I haven’t watched much more than once. However, when I come to the end of a series, I know if it’ll be worth a second look or not. What determines that is what emotions the series brought up in me, and how strongly they affected me. For instance, after Shuffle! I knew I’d eventually come around to it again, but I’ll never pick up Kaiji for another viewing after I’m done with it. Sure, Kaiji’s a great series, but it doesn’t effect me emotionally at all.

Anyway, I’m getting off track here. I guess I should just stop writing this and chill, or something.

JESUS CHRIST CAT EARS OH GOD

Less cat ears but Kaede is still cute as hell <3 

Man, these things are being re-released. Which means they were released once before. I feel like such a fuckup for not knowing these things even existed. I guess I’m too used to looking for Shuffle! merch on Yahoo Auctions and forget that normal stores carry stuff, too. But I sure as hell ordered them this time around! Now if only I could find the Visual Fan Book anywhere, given it has epic works of art like this.

I think this post needs a Kaede CG :3

Guys, remember this?

Well, I’ve finally coloured it. Woop woop.

So, today I was bored during my New Media New Markets class. While teach was spouting off nothing in particular, I was googling for things. One of the things I googled for was Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Under “images”, I came across this curious screencap.  I’ve recapped it since the original had a watermark.

This is from episode 4 of the first series. Just fresh off skimming episodes of Shuffle! Memories, I noticed an interesting parallel…

I wouldn’t put it past Shaft. It’s just such a good seiyuu_joke. And subtle, too. I didn’t even notice it when watching the episode.

Or maybe I’m thinking too hard.

To be honest, I was quite worried about watching Shuffle! again for the first time in almost three years. If you’re not already aware, I have something of an adamant fanaticism towards the franchise, but since the show’s conclusion back in early 2006, my passion for it has been kept alive through buying merch of questionable taste, playing the games with little knowledge of Japanese, and generally fanboying over it. Shuffle! Memories, a short recap of the show which aired in 2007 brought it all back to me in digest form, but I actually stopped watching that because I wasn’t a fan of how it was cut together. That, and I also called into question whether or not I still liked the series. Thankfully, upon completing this first disc, I can gladly say this show is just as wonderful as a I remember it being.

Story is, Rin Tsuchimi is the object of many a girl’s affection. His adoring childhood friend Kaede pampers him daily; his senior Asa teases him lovingly at every turn; the princesses of the World of Gods and World of Demons, Sia and Nerine, want to be his bride and a certain deadpan loli called Primula is inexplicably attached to him. In other words, he has quite the harem on his hands. These early episodes focus on introducing the cast, the world in which they inhabit and then they get started on fleshing out each girl one-by-one come episode three. It’s pretty standard harem/bishoujo game adaptation fare, but its beauty lies in the execution.

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The first episode is as good as I remember it, which is to say it’s just that– good. See, I wasn’t completely taken with the show until they got to the episode where Kaede gets sick (SO MOE.) The first episode doesn’t really need to be much more than that though, as it does a good job of easing you into the world and the characters. Asread’s animation is very good here– nice and fluid, but as usual in some cuts you can tell they really are green behind the ears. It does however move a lot better than Minami-ke ~Okawari~.

Funimation’s work on the DVD is a mix of QUALITY and quality. The first sign of QUALITY is when you see KyoAni’s name pop up in the opening logos. Looks like Kadokawa sent them the same sequence of logos Bandai uses on the Haruhi DVDs, but they forgot to cut out the KyoAni logo! Aside from that, the sub work is fine, if not a bit robotic. It seems there were more than a couple of occasions where things like “it is” and “this is” could have stood to be contracted for the sake of flow. Also, for the first time, Funi overlayed the Japanese credits and titles with English ones. They usually do a multi-angel thing, so that when you watch it in Japanese, you get the Japanese text and vice-versa. This could just be because Power DVD may not like multi-angle things? I don’t know. Then again, my Tsukuyomi DVDs work fine on PDVD… I should test this on a real DVD player. The extras are minimal– trailers and textless opening/ending. Menus work well. Besides the QUALITY subs and the bit with the logos, the DVD is fine.

A better review will follow. This is just a first impressions of sorts. Will end this post with a digest version of the best scene in the episode. Incidentally, it’s also the opening scene.

WHY IS SHE SO PERFECT?!

“OOC FANART BANZAI”, by the way.

Probably going to watch it on the weekend, with a fanboi review soon to follow. Maybe.

Also, I don’t know who to throw the “fuck you” to, but the DVD case is a little fucked. Not like I really care, but still.

And yes, my Kaede figures is leaning. It was one of my first figures, thusly I didn’t know how to take care of it and left it in the sun. I’ve since straightened it a bit more, but it’s not completely fixed.

Mine, however, is on its way from Amazon.

Talking of Asread-animated shows, I have this entry on Minami-ke Okawari kicking about in my head. Maybe I’ll write that later.

~

If you happen to be someone who knows me personally (you poor, unfortunate soul) then you’ll know I’m not one of those people who harbours a hate for harem anime (or harem-type shows, such as bishoujo game adaptations.) In fact, when people go on their usual tangents on how harem anime is the cancer killing their hobby, I usually defend it to some degree. However, looking over what other people are watching season by season, I actually rarely partake of these kinds of shows, and I’ve always wondered why.

Designs. Looking back at all the bishoujo game adaptations and harem shows I’ve watched (them numbering very little) it’s almost always been the designs that have hooked me. It’s not always the designs, mind you (you think I’d watch a Key show for the designs? Hahahaha…) but for the most part, that’s what hooks me. And, honestly, a lot of these shows have horrible design work, with few exceptions. The reason I watched Shuffle! in the first place was because I loved the design work and the animation style. The reason I started watching Rosario + Vampire was for the design work. In fact, that’s the only reason why I’m still watching Rosario + Vampire.

So, in the end, I guess I’m not really attracted to the harem situation as a means of entertainment. Looking back, that’s why I skip out on most of these things– because if you’ve seen one harem show, you’ve seen ‘em all, and if you can’t hook me from the get go with the designs, then I ain’t watchin’. Of course, I will go back and watch shows people recommend for other reasons, such as the G-Gundam nods in Kimi Aru. And, of course, Shuffle! kept me going with its absolutely brilliant writing and amazing characterization.

Update

Why didn’t I do this earlier?

2007 was really fucking uneven. The first few months got by on the better titles that carried over from 2006, but between April and August it was something of a wasteland. I managed to get my fix for good modern anime by way of genius works such as Gurren Lagann and Hayate no Gotoku, but all the other offerings during that period of time where somewhere between mildly amusing to plain bad. Thankfully, August saw the debut of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Zero No Tsukaima 2, both of which restored my faith in the industry somewhat. October once again impressed with Minami-ke, Kaiji and Clannad.

What follows will be something similar to my monthly posts, but for the Year In Review, I’ll be ordering things by quality using letter grades, starting from the worst to the VERY BEST. I cover a lot of shows in the post, but it’s not everything I watched during the year.

Here’s my rankings.

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Actutally taken 2 days ago, because at the moment I’m in New York (well, not really, but I will be when this post goes up.) Celebrated early since I was going to be away on the 10th. We did more than eat cake :3

~

Not just the usual LAWLS LOOK WHAT WEIRD THING I BOUGHT post. This is a proper review, somewhat influenced by Shingo’s recent review.

Anime dakimakura covers are truly wondrous things. They provide for us, the lonely otaku, companionship in the form of our favourite characters. I was sucked into these things about a year ago, when I bought my first dakimakura cover of Kaede Fuyou. The cover was a freebie that came with the game Really? Really! if you had bought it at a certain store, and featured Kaede on a bed with her clothes scattered and her bra pulled up, revealing a cute pair of breasts. I got it off Yahoo auctions for about 5000 yen. Since then, I’ve been addicted. I don’t have quite as much as certain individuals out there (the right people will know who I’m referring to) but my collection of waifu is steadily growing, with this second Kaede dakimakura being the newest member in the family.

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In the eternal words of Isao Sasaki, “Goodbye, my darling”

More than  ~200 votes would have been nice, though…

WE LOVE KAEDE

WE LOVE KAEDE

WE LOVE KAEDE

WE LOVE KAEDE

WE LOVE KAEDE

WE LOVE KAEDE

KAEDE FUYOU IS LOVE FOREVER

It is Kaede’s turn in Saimoe today. She seems to be doing well thus far, but she needs your support!

So, go read this guide, and vote already! SHE NEEDS YOU!

I accidentaly posted twice in excitement. I hope my vote isn’t invalidated :(

http://www.mistakesofyouth.com/01%20Kaede%20Fuyou.mp3

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Not really a special occasion or anything, I just got some food and thought, “hey, I’ll do that thing lonely geeks do.”

I am a lonely geek.

Edit: Thanks, Cortana.

In response to abq… 

This is mai waifu (pic after jump)

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Original Post

This comic has +100 wish fufillment points! Seriously, I drew a good half of this comic entirely with my penis. I don’t know any girl anime fans, but I’m sure they don’t all have nice bodies and dress in next to nothing. Sorry. I let my imagination get the best of me! orz

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After years of difficult fighting up on the eroge front, I’ve finally completed Really? Really! I played it continuously for a while, then the month long winter break at home destroyed my flow. After that, I played it on and off. School work (among other things) piled up and I just couldn’t get to it. Only now, after watching Kaede’s final summary episode in Shuffle! Memories did feel compelled to complete the quest (needed some happy Kaede to balance out crazy face-cutting Keade.) I can’t really say anything about it, because I understood a good 5%. The porn was good, I can tell you that!

Now to never touch it again until my Japanese comprehension improves or a translation patch surfaces! Well, actually, I’ll certainly revisit it for the H-scene viewer…

I swear to god there will be a comic next week…

Shuffle! Memories isn’t too painful. I mean, it’s recap, but they’re decently done. That and I haven’t seen the original series for quite a while. But oh, did episode three made me wanna die.

A bunch of screencaps with witty comments after the jump.

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