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Archive for the ‘Anime’ Category
Gurren Lagann 2?
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009I love Dragon Ball Z/Kai
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
I realised this while I was watching episode 7 earlier. It’s not that I think it is particularly deep (obviously) or anything like that, it’s just that I’m really, honestly enjoying it. Like how in this particular episode, Goku is training with King Kai in the after-life; first, Goku has to catch King Kai’s pet gorrilla Bubbles, which totally isn’t as easy as it sounds, and then he has to knock-out Gregory with a hammer; Gregory being King Kai’s slightly larger than normal firefly! A lot of what cracks me up is that the thing’s name is Gregory, like I’m reading a Roald Dahl book or something.
King Kai’s planet is so small, floating out in the middle of nowhere. It’s green all over, with flowers and a big tree in the middle. It has just one road, which he drives around on with his shiny red car, his house is small and the sky is pink. I remember watching these episodes before, when I was ill from a cold or something. I remember I was flicking through the TV channels with nothing to watch and came across this 4 episode marathon of DBZ and I remember thinking that it was perfect. My watching of this has everything to do with nostalgia, but it is better than that. It has space invaders, green aliens, cyborgs, dinosaurs, time travel, magic and a god damn firefly called Gregory. It’s just as good as I remember it.
What I Should Have Watched Last Week
Monday, June 1st, 2009As saturated as the blogosphere is with all the latest anime, it’s often the case that, every year, one or two really good series just seem to pass me by.
Most recently, this happened with Tetsuwan Birdy Decode (aka Birdy the Mighty Decode). For no good reason, I’ve been ignoring it since 2008. I’ve often wondered if it might be worth watching, yet, as of writing, I still haven’t tried it. So, last Friday, I ended up on YouTube (via the ED for Tokyo Tribe 2) and discovered all these clips of fantastic animation from the series.
It’s not that they are the most incredible or beautiful sequences of anime I’ve ever seen, but they have that certain, brash personality I’ve come to really admire in the more creative anime. This one scene in particular is reminiscent of something like Kaiba, as in the way the colour palette is so washed out by red, obscuring certain details, lacking shadow and depth. It feels so atmospheric and harsh, which isn’t what I was expecting from Birdy at all, and therefore, now I know I have to watch this series! (I hope I’ve convinced you, too!)
The sky is falling
Sunday, May 31st, 2009Oh dear, it has been hard to escape the news of Funimation’s botched simulcasts. Opinions are many, and moral outrage even more plentiful than ever, but after a page or two, I just feel desensitised to it all. Jumping from one crisis to the next, people launch into their biased diatribes, repeating the same old rhetoric, again and again.
I realise why they are disappointed, or rather, I can understand why residents of the US and Canada are disappointed, but personally, I couldn’t care less, because I live in the UK, I wasn’t even invited to this party in the first place. Hence, it seems stupid that while the industry likes to pretend that large swathes of the world do not exist, many of these people are so offended that fansubs still prevail. We do exist, obviously.
So, what this comes down to is a ridiculous game of brinkmanship between the anime industry and the anime fans, and for all of their cease and desist notices, I can’t remember Funimation ever taking a fansubber to court; I don’t think they even have the money to waste on legal fees in the first place, so when I read their statements, I just see empty threats. I expect fansubbers feel the same way.
Funimation are in a hopeless situation right now, their credibility shot to pieces by technical incompetence, while an inability to open dialogue with the fansub community at large means that every time they send out legal notices, they create new enemies. It’s a stalemate. Trench warfare.
I really like that these global simulcasts are so close to reality, it’s long overdue, so I’m happy that my fellow anime fans in the US and Canada can enjoy free, legal anime like this, but if it’s going to last, the industry needs to stop being so aggressive, listen to the fans and, if just for my own sanity, accept that fansubs aren’t going to disappear overnight.
Eden of the East is that popular?!
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
It’s hard to pin point exactly what it is about Eden of the East that makes it so popular, but popular it is; the 7th episode managed to find a bigger TV audience than Naruto; an even more remarkable feat when you stop to consider that it airs at 00:45, compared with Naruto at 19:30! Either there has been some serious marketing yen thrown at the series, or, more encouragingly, there remains a strong demand for intelligent, mature anime in Japan (could have fooled me)?
Of course, TV brand Noitamina deserves a lot of the credit. Conceived with the “intention of expanding the target audience [of anime] beyond the typical young male”, they have done exactly that; starting with the excellent Honey and Clover, and following that with the likes of Mononoke and Moyashimon, their main target is clearly the josei female audience, yet their selected series are often so good (in terms of animation, direction and characterisation) that they appeal broadly across the sexes, hence Noitamina has become synonymous with quality anime, and the viewing public have responded in proper numbers, which is encouraging to say the least!
Replacing Eden of the East in July will be the earthquake-drama Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. So, replacing the cinematic quality of Production I.G will be the ever-impressive Bones; seems Noitamina is showing no signs of slowing down!