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Anime of Yesteryear Presents: “(Late) Halloween Special OVA: Ogre Slayer”

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First and for most, Happy Halloween to you readers out there. Most people trick or treat for candy, gummy worms and some rotten apples they want to give to kids on this giving day, while people like me at my age happen to do the same… at our local liquor stores. So after a full evening of Sake in my system and using my airsoft guns to shoot at punk teens who wanna egg my apartment, that put me into a good Halloween drunken coma as I happen to jump into another adventure in my VHS collection. When I came too, I met a young man with a school uniform and a sword like object in his hands, as he began to go full force into a monster like being. After the fatal swoop of the sword, the monsters neck began to geyser out blood as the young man became drenched in the red liquid of his victim. He began to tall his tale (like they all do… and here we go again) of his past of being a half human / half ogre himself and is destined to be human once he has eradicated all ogres on the face of the earth. Here is the world of Ogre Slayer.

I am going to make this a bit short since I did a review of this anime already on the podcast I am part of (Cool Kids Club Podcast) back this past summer. Ill go ahead and tell the events of the first episode, then give you guys a link if you want spoilers for the rest. All in all… this OVA is a bit of a stinker too. So let’s dive into this pile shall we.

 

We start off with a monologue of the main protagonist brief back story, Onikirimaru, which translates to the name of the sword he was born with, the Ogre Slayer. As I stated, his goal in life is to wander the same (it seems) two local cities in Japan to rid the world of ogres so he can be human himself. The first episode starts out with a girl being chased by an ogre, and it pretty much (almost) turns into rape, as we see clothes being torn off to see some pre-teen boobies. We then see a young man appear and slay the monster, or “Ogre”, before him and tells the girl that she will not remember anything till 3 years later when she “gets a feeling in her stomach?” Yea, you confused too, so am I, so lets keep trucking. The next scene shows the girl waking up, which goes by the name of Moeko. Moeko spends her walk to school by groping her friend making boob jokes and chats about typical high school drama “girl stuff.” Later that day, she and her friend are walking by the ball field when a pop fly goes up and Moeko looks at the ball, which we then see be charred and shredded like it was skewered on a flaming grill in mid air. No one knows why that happened, but that little “incident” is quickly forgotten about, as Moeko has to get to class. While in class, Moeko thinks about one girl who threw acid on her some time before hand, but the plan backfired and went on the girls hand herself and wonders why that could have happened. We then get to some dream sequence where we see Moeko talk to the Ogre Slayer, when the Ogre Slayer mentions that it has been 3 years since the incident and the pains she has been feeling is a result to what he told her at the time of the incident. The dream ends when Moeko gets called out by the teacher for “day dreaming” in his class. Moeko then goes to lunch with her friend, but is interrupted when the girl who threw acid on her decides to try to take Moeko out again by pushing out a window a few stories up. The window is deflected from Moeko, but her friend seems to get the worse of the window fall, which causes her to get the injuries. The Slayer shows up stating that the ogres inside her are the ones protecting her outright and she is unable to really protect anyone else without causing some harm.

 

"This can go one of two ways, you either spread 'em, or I do it for you."

Feeling under shock from what happened, Moeko goes to the Nurses office to rest for a bit, when the bully girl comes in and mentions to her she is a cursed being for the events that has happened so far. The bully girl then brings in some “help” and proceeds to gang up on Moeko in a good ol’ “beat down.” During the beat down, the awaking of the ogres finally happens, as she gives birth to them INFRONT OF EVERYONE!!! To the point that you wonder how loose her vagina is from what is coming out. But not only does she have one ogre come out, but there are two total ogres, which then proceed to completely decimate everyone in the nurses office. The Slayer shows up to let the girl know what is happening and that she cant keep the ogres inside her, as he’s gotta do his job regardless. But Moeko decides that she is unstoppable to anyone who tries to mess with her when she has the ogres, and then goes on a “go ahead and try to mess with me” spree. She then decides to have fun by “playing in traffic” and a local gang gets their bikes and cars messed up from it. The next day, Moeko’s friend shows up to tell her how she has changed and is concerned for her safety. Just then the gang she “took to school” last night shows up to abduct her as revenge, but she doesn’t mind the company, as she gladly jumps into the car of the gang members and drives off.

 

Just up ahead on the civilian overpass walkway, there is the Slayer, ready to take action and to stop the ogres from wreaking more havoc in the town. As the car drives by the overpass, he proceeds to jump down off the walkway onto the hood of the car yelling at Moeko to stop her actions and to let go of the ogres. Just as the driver of the car is experiencing his “WTF is going on” moment, Moeko then spreads her legs and out comes the ogres arm to reach to the front seat and crush the driver’s head, which crashes the car on the freeway and causes quite the pile up. We then get to see the Slayer doing what he does best, by taking some ogre names down with his sword of slaying. The Slayer finds out that the sword doesn’t seem to be doing its job too well, until Moeko states pretty much, verbatim, “Kill me and the ogres are gone.” Really without much thought or remorse, the Slayer gives Moeko the “slice of death” and both ogres disintegrate. The remorse (sort of) kicks in for the Slayer and states how no human should be killed to kill ogres…or something. And that’s the end.

 

"These ogre babies are mine! My Vagina, My Rights!"

So, pretty much from just what I wrote, that is how the rest of this OVA will turn out. This was just episode one of four of this OVA, so it gets pretty crazy from there on out in regards to poor writing logic, superbly, awesomely bad VIZ dubbing (this was licensed by VIZ, which ment that everyone’s favorite dubbing group from the 90’s, The Ocean Group, was part of this title) and where there is vagina’s, so there is some guy trying to rape that, sometimes even in groups. This anime isn’t all that fantastic honestly, even with the crazy stuff that is mentioned in my review, it’s really nothing but an average anime to watch to be quite honest. It’s entertaining to see, but nothing beyond that.

 

If you want more of a spoiler, the podcast I stated earlier did a review of this and ill post up a link to anyone who wants us to spoil the rest of the OVA for you guys. Though I do want to warn you, this is probably our worst episode in terms of quality, because even one of our reviewer’s pets wanted to try and stop us from reviewing this atrocity, but we kept on going regardless: Ogre Slayer Review

 

Well that is going to be for this segment, see you guys next time. If you enjoyed this make sure to check out my blog over at Anime Of Yesteryear

Final Thoughts:

Ehh... pretty much skip it...

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Lets Talk About Pretty Boys

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Pretty boys, Bishounen, Bishies, call them whatever you like they are everywhere and seem to be creeping into each and every type of modern anime show being created. Why are they so popular, what makes them relevant to todays anime, why are they in all the shows I/we love and why am I writing an article that will further increase the belief that I am actually a fujoshi?

Original Demographic

For all the un-initiated Bishounen is a combination of the word Bijin which means beautiful and Shounen which means younger males, Bishounen refers to the pretty boys found in anime and manga. In western anime fandom bishonen or ‘Bishie’ for short would refer to any outrageously good-looking male character in anime. It should not come as a surprise that most of these characters are found in Shoujo manga/anime,  Bishies are very popular with females and in a medium that is primarily dominated by male oriented material the addition of these characters in shows is often treated as icing on a cake for most fan-girls.

There have been a few shows that have taken a unique approach to the role of Bishies in female targeted anime. Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler is one such show, The series is a dark, Gothic, action drama with supernatural elements, the basic premise of the show is very fascinating and may seem like one that can appeal to a wide demographic but the twist comes when the humour and blatant pandering hits. The character designs are clearly meant to appeal to a female audience and the subject matter often gets lighter than the viewers may have preconceived.

Black Butler

Obviously the series as a whole is very popular, popular enough to have two seasons worth of anime and an ongoing manga series. Both males and females enjoy the series even if they may be for different reason all-together.

There have been more  series that have turned this formula into a success, Hetalia and Ouran High School Host Club have had and increasing popularity and its fans are not only vocal about it, they are also loyal. The manga versions of these series is always in the top 10 best sellers list and the FUNimtion Brand Manager of Hetalia herself has announced to the public that the show has done incredibly well for them. Clearly these shows have something about them that must appeal to a wider audience than the desired niche female portion of the fandom.

However, there is always two sides to a coin and very recently there have been a few shows that have attempted to mimic the formula of the above shows and have failed terribly. No.6 was a story set in a futuristic, post apocalyptic sci-fi world and has some pretty cool action sequences and drama. They also had an ‘implied‘ Yaoi subtext that felt tacky and unnecessarily lengthy in most of the scenes that it was implemented. The writers of the show were clearly trying to reel in as wide an audience as they could and by adding some pretty boys and yaoi, they thought female fans would come flocking to this Sci-Fi Dystopia anime as well. Unfortunately for them the show as a whole just didn’t work, the story seemed to come to a screeching halt whenever the two leads had an opportunity to be together alone and to make matters worse this show aired on the noitaminA block meaning it only had 11 episodes in which to wrap itself up nicely, 11 episodes is not nearly enough for any mystery anime let alone a Sci-fi drama. The constant pandering just killed the show for me and many other viewers and proved that just having pretty boys in your anime is not a formula for isntant success no matter how hard you pander to the fujoshi.

Pretty Boys In My Manly Show??

I remember gong onto a forum to discuss this one show I had just finished watching, I thought it was amazing and assumed most other fans would as well, to my surprise the response I got was underwhelming, positive but underwhelming. I later noticed that only female fans seemed to talk about the show as much as I did and only females seemed to cosplay as these characters at conventions and such, it didn’t occur to me exactly why this was the case until I saw a Durarara!! panel at Anime Expo 2011 online. nearly 7/8 of the crowd was female and they all screamed and squeed whenever two characters were mentioned, Izaya Orihara and Shizuo Heiwajima. Suddenly I got it, it was because this show, my manly show, my favourite cool characters…were actually bishies. I was a little shocked at first but soon came to terms with it, the show was successful and it definitely would not have been so well received had it not garnered such a massive female following.

Izaya Orihara PVC Figure. This line of male figures is meant to target female audiences

Another good example of such a phenomenon would be Sunrises’ super hero show Tiger and Bunny. A show meant to appeal primarily to an older male audience so much so that the protagonist was designed to be in his thirties and have a beard! ( believe it or not this is quite rare in modern anime)

Tiger and Bunny has such a Western feel to it so it came as a huge surprise when suddenly the show gained massive popularity in Japan and with its female audience. In a flash Pxiv was spammed with various fan art, fan fiction, figures, posters and all sorts of other related memorabilia soon followed, some more creepy than others.

Tiger and Bunny is one of the best selling titles of the year in Japan, with each volume selling over 25,000 copies. The Show has been licensed by VIZ in the States and Siren Visual in Australia and will undoubtedly do very well even in the west once it is released.

An Interesting article by Project Haruhis‘ Jon Snyder contained the results of a ‘most popular anime series by gender’ poll taken by an Otaku matchmaking service in Japan. The results showed that women watched more Mecha than men and men, well lets just say they liked Kyoto Animation works as a whole. In the top 5 of the Womens list were Gundam, Code Geass and Macross Frontier, on the surface these shows may not seem like they would appeal to massive female fanbase but taking a deeper look (or not so deep) into these series and we can all see why, lets take Gundam OO as an example.

Male Cast of the Gundam OO Movie

A story rife with political intrigue, war themes and lots and lots of action but it also has a predominantly good looking cast. Was this deliberate? Even if it wasn’t it worked well enough to gain itself two full anime seasons and a theatrical release. Gundam OO is not the best the franchise has to offer but it certainly has its fans no matter how convoluted the plot becomes, no matter how bad the writing gets, as long as there are pretty boys fighting in Giant sparkly robots it will sell.

Fujoshi Bait

If a formula has been tested and it succeeds why not go all the way and try to create something spectacular with it. The Producers at Sunrise must have known they were onto something special when they were penning the script for the Mecha Action Thriller Code Geass and to make sure they didn’t alienate the female fanbase from this soon-to-be-masterpiece they decided to let the artistic geniuses CLAMP create the character designs for their show. At least how it must have gone if it was planned that way.

Regardless of the fact of whether it was deliberate or not , the decision to use CLAMPs’ character designs was ingenious. Ofcourse this meant that nearly the entire cast of the show would be superficially attractive even by anime standards. The show was popular and ended up selling well, so well that the next season was big enough to air on prime time television in Japan.

A common trend in Shounen anime is to add a superficial romantic subplot in order to reel in as many female fans as possible. While this tactic has been proven to work a more effective and more common one is to add atleast one or two pretty boys in the show for the female fans to fawn over. A very good example would be Naruto Shippudens’ Sasuke Uchiha himself. After the series first time-skip the character who was already popular with the females because of his good looks was given an even more appealing look and his default costume rendered him shirtless, I’m not kidding. A more recent example would be Ichigos’ final transformation in Bleach, a design unashemadley meant to sell figurines and to pander to the female fanbase.

A Faboulous Future

With the increasing popularity of shows like Natsume Yujinchou and Tiger and Bunny and a sudden influx of more Josei anime, it will come as no surprise to me if we begin to see more and more Bishounen in anime genres that they initially were not found in. I personally don’t mind this but then again maybe that’s because I am secretly actually a fujoshi 🙂

 

 

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The Rise and Rise of Kyoto Animation

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Humble Beginings

Kyoto Animation Head Office

Kyoto Animation is a name you have most likely heard more than once if you keep up to date with the ins and outs of the anime fandom, they are an animation studio based in Kyoto that were founded all the way back in 1981. They began by doing in-between animation work  for shows such as Cowboy Bebop, Turn A Gundam and the Doraemon movies, they even did some work on some Studio Ghibli movies at one point. ‘KyoAni’ (as they have become to be known) did not create their own full fledged TV series or Movie until the year 2003, their debut was a little known OVA called Munto. Munto was an original series with a mix of Fantasy and Slice of Life elements, the series was not bad it just wasnt great, it did well enough to get a sequel green lit down the line. The Slice of Life elements portrayed in this show would later go on to become a staple in the rest of the TV shows Kyoto Animation would animate.

The first big break the studio had was the chance to animate one whole season of the Mecha Anime Full Metal Panic, previously done by GONZO. The series they created was not a typical sequel per say it was more of a comedy/gag/ parody of the original, fans of the original Full Metal Panic loved it and some of them still proclaim it to be better. Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu was the first hit Kyoto Animation had and the producers of the show acknowledged this enough to have them animate the second season, the true second season if you will Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid in 2005.

In the same year KyoAni animated the TV adaptation of the popular Key/Visual Arts Visual Novel Air.  The series was a slow-paced romantic drama that had your typical ‘moe’ looking girls, the one thing to note about this show is that despite not having any ‘action scenes’ in particular it was very nicely animated and the background art was very nicely detailed, something rare for anime of that genre. Tatsuya Ishihara was given the role of Director, the combination of Ishihara, Key and Kyoto Animation would eventually prove to be a recipe for success for all the parties involved. Air did well enough that a second Key Visual Novel was animated the following year,there was also a notable increase in visual Novel anime adaptations in the industry as a whole. This would only be the first of many major impacts KyoAni would have on the Anime Industry.

The Big League

2006 was a massive year for anime in general and it seemed like Kyoto Animation had the timing right to release their creativity upon the world. Alongside the very succesful release of the Key Visual Novel Kanon, which was the second time the show was given the anime treatment, the first being a bad Toei rendition. KyoAni unleashed the Light Novel anime adaptation The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The light novel already had a rabid following in Japan so failure was not an option. They hit ball right out of the park with it, the animation was fantastic, the writing was solid and surprisingly enough it had such a huge mainstream appeal that a lot of modern anime fans (such as myself) found the show as a great gateway into the fandom as a whole.

The Dream Team

The opening and ending sequences were very cleverly thought out and animated, the dance sequence at the end ‘Hare hare Yukai’ which quite honestly had nothing to do with the canon of the show was a massive massive hit, not surprisingly it was the brain child of outspoken Director Yutaka Yamamoto. The shows lead Director was Tatsuya Ishihara who at this point had 2 major titles already under his belt. Another key figure in this team would be rising star Naoko Yamada who was a key animator for most if not all the work KyoAni had done, she would later on play director for a game changing series down the line. The Voice actors they hired for the show consisted of then up and coming idol Aya Hirano, the inclusion of insert songs and her singing the opening and ending songs was planned to give her musical career a jump start and boy did it work. the male Seiyuu in the show were top class as well with Tomokazu Sugita, Daisuke Ono and Minoru Shiraishi, Shiraishi would become somewhat of an easter egg character for KyoAni shows with minor appearances in atleast every show they would produce from then on.

1. Naoko Yamada 2. Tastsuya Ishihara 3. Yutaka Yamamoto

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya went on to smash BD sales records with an average of  over 40,000 BD sold with each volume. The show was both a hit in Japan and overseas, it is what many critics and analysts believe to be the main catalyst for the already growing ‘moe’ genre in the industry. After seeing haruhis; success everybody else wanted to cash in on this new fad.

In 2007 KyoAni adapted another Key/Visual Arts Visual Novel Clannad to both critical and monetary success, it was nothing new really just really well animated, really well written romantic comedy. It was the release of the self promotional comedy/parody anime Lucky Star that really propelled KyoAnis’ status in the Otaku fandom. Lucky Star was adapted from a 4-Koma (four panel) manga by Kagami Yoshimizu. That style of comedy in anime was popularised by Azumanga Daioh and Lucky Star seemed to follow suit. The show had no real plot it was simply four high school girls hanging out and having fun. There were a ton of anime/manga/video game references in the show, KyoAni took the opportunity to advertise their own shows in the anime as well.

The cast was very similar to that of Haruhi Suzumiya and young upstart Yutaka Yamamoto directed the first four episodes and the opening of the show which again was a dance routine. Yamamoto had a fallout with the studio and has not yet done any other work for them, he did however leave a legacy with him, both the Hare Hare Yukai(which has over 3 Million views on youtube) and Sailor Mottekke Fukku( which has Over 7 million views on youtube!!!)  Dances had become so popular that fans expected something similar from both him and the studio from then on. He went on to direct Kannagi, Black Rock Shooter OVA and Fractale which were not as big as Lucky Star or Haruhi but not too bad either, his styles were certainly present and fans continue to hope for a return to form for the talented director. Yasuhiro Takemoto was given the huge task of directing the subsequent episodes and the choice was wise because this was the same director that helmed the successful comedy/parody TV show Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu.

It’s important to note that KyoAni had continued to do what worked for them, moe character designs, romance and comedy anime, insert songs, quality animation, well known voice actors and otaku culture references. With every new show and with every year KyoAni seemed to find a new market to tap into and unlike other studios they continued to service that new market by incorparating whatever it is they seemed to like in their subsequent shows. Lucky Star and Clannad sold big, really big and the innumerable references to Haruhi Suzumiya in Lucky star had fans hoping for the continuation of the show the following year, they didn’t get what they wanted instead they got;

Clannad After Story, another Key/Visual Arts visual novel adaptation. The sequel to the very popular first series of the same name. After Story built upon what the first season had already given us and added a little more realism with less comedy and more drama. The execution was incredible and is definitely a must watch for any Harem fan or any other anime fan still skeptical about the genre. It of course had Tatsuya Ishihara as the director and this time had original creator Jun Maeda write the score for the show. The show was a huge success and is very very highly rated.

The only other show produced in 2008 was the Lucky Star OVA which unfortunately is not available legally in the west, which is a shame because it’s an hour long episode of the same Lucky Star goodness that even has an extended live action version of the very popular segment Lucky Channel.

Anime News Network Top 20 List

Trendsetters

In 2009 KyoAni decided to bring back the much anticipated much beloved sequel to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The would be broadcast on TV again but this time in chronological order and with a whole seasons worth of new episodes. Fan reaction was fever pitch and the expectations were incredibly high. The show brought back all of the original cast and crew so the production value was incredibly high and consistent. The first half of the series was magnificent but then about half way through the season KyoAni did something both revolutionary and risky.

This little segment might get a little spoilerific so Spoiler Alert I guess. The light novel had a segment called Endless Eight in which Haruhi made the summer holiday loop more than a hundred thousand times because she never felt satisfied with what she and the SOS Brigade had achieved in that time. KyoAni decided to animate eight of all of all these episodes differently and dub over them as well! This was revolutionary in the sense that each of those episodes was magnificently animated, it would have been incredibly expensive and annoying for the animators to do the same scenes a little bit differently each time, not to mention they had to pay the voice actors for each and every one of those episodes in which they pretty much said the same lines.

Did we really have to go through all of that?

It was risky in the sense that they hoped the fans would stick with the show each and every week and then go on to buy the ridiculously priced Blu ray volumes as well. Well it turned out just fine in the end, fans watched the show and raged at each episode for being ‘exactly the same’ but they also went on to buy the Blu rays of each volume as well. KyoAni had done something no other would have dared, they cashed their chips in and went all out and it payed off. The fans knew they would quality material down the line anyway and boy were they right.

In the Spring of 2009 KyoAni unleashed the Smash Hit K-on! upon the anime world. The show was slice of life comedy about a young high school girl that decided to join a high school band on a whim. It had all the ingredients that made KyoAni adaptations work; cute character designs, comedy, otaku culture references, insert songs and amazing animation. surprisingly the show was not directed by Talsiman Ishihara but by debut Director Naoko Yamada. she ofcourse had worked on storyboards and was a Key Animator in nearly everything KyoAni had done upto this point so why not give her a chance. Little did they know that she would direct their biggest selling and most successful franchise to date. It’s very rare to see a female director in anime, let alone a female director for such a huge series, KyoAni again was leading the way and setting trends for the industry.

There has been a fair number shows trying to mimic the formula that K-on! had but have quite honestly fallen short. perhaps it’s because of the female touch the show had, that’s just my personal opinion but in retrospect, the show was successful because it appealed to a very wide range of audiences. The primary target being male Otaku ofcourse but there was a fair number of young females that enjoyed the show as well. It steered clear of any fanservice and stayed as light and fluffy as ever.

K-on! sold Big and smashed BD records with each release, it sold an average of 30k with each volume (numbers for K-on courtesy of Jakes Anime Blog) and the insert songs were so popular that it even spawned J-pop group Sphere consisting of Aki Toyosaki (Yui hirasawa) and Minako Kotobuki (Tsumugi Kotobuki) their success on their own was testament to how much quality was put into the show. K-on! has somewhat become the poster for moe shows, with many fans showering both praise and hate upon it. The love outweighed the hate though and fans were excatic when a second season was announced just after the first one ended. However fans would have to wait a whole year before they could see this come to fruition.

On Top Of The World!

K-on!! finally aired in 2010 and this time had double the episodes and double the fun, it truly was a spectacle so much so that it ended up winning the Tokyo International Anime Fair Award for best TV series for that year. The show hit an incredible milestone as well by selling over 500,000 copies of Blu rays that year surpassing the likes of Bakemonogatari, Evangelion 1.0 and Gundam UC.  KyoAni had really come into their own and at this point all the fans and critics alike  only expected the best from them.

The sequel to the much beloved and controversial second season of Haruhi Suzumiya was unleashed upon theatres early that year as well. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya was so highly anticipated that one of the promotional bookmarks was auctioned off for over $3,000. I was one of the many fans excited for this movie so much so that I sat through that horrible horrible camrip. The Movie starts off right were season 2 left off and is INCREDIBLE, all 2 and 1/2 hours of it. The emotional impact the film has is even doubled if you sat through all of endless eight because the main plotline of the story is about Yuki Nagato and how her experiences have led to develop emotions…supposedly.

Clearly I wasnt the only one that enjoyed the film as it is highly rated by nearly everyone else (see ANN TOP 20 list) The film grossed over 100 million Yen in its opening weekend alone, that’s about US$1 million. The English versions of the Blu ray and DVD are set to be released in a couple of days for Region 1 and in november for region 4, they are without a doubt going to sell big.

This year KyoAni have given us the adaptation of the comedy/gag manga Nichijou. A lot fans have said it is one of the weaker titles they have produced in recent years but I would like to remind them of the countless times they tried to resurrect Munto. Nichijou is certainly for a particular crowd and doesn’t have as much mainstream appeal as their previous titles, it is noteworthy to mention that the animation they have in most of these episodes is phenomenal. The studio is certainly having a lot of fun with this series and why not? they sure have earned it.

 The Future Has Moe…I Mean Money

December 3rd is a date firmly burnt into the minds of all Otaku because it is when the K-on! Movie will finally be screened, only in Japan ofcourse. the movie will open in over 130 screens. This is more screens that what Evangelion 2.0 and Mobile Suit Gundam OO had and about 6 times the amount that The Disappearance got as well. Pre orders for special tickets have already sold out so this movie is guaranteed to be a huge success. The entire cast is back and Naoko Yamada will be Directing this one as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMR3ORTx89I

Kyoto Animation have certainly come a long way since doing in between animation for Studio Ghibli and Sunrise, they have taken risks and along the way set trends for all the other companies to follow. They continue to deliver quality shows each and every year and while they may have had a hiccup here or there, they learn from that and work upon those very mistakes in their upcoming titles. I really like Kyoto Animation and I hope they stay successful, the industry really needs as much success as it can get right now and even if KyoAni don’t necessarily produce shows that may cater to your taste at least appreciate that there is a humble studio out there making great animation for this little niche hobby that you love so much.

 

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Survivor Series: Catherine Review

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Hey Anime Addicts, so I finally finished main lining the wondrously busty Catherine and now will proceed to review the game. I know that this game has a big following on this site, and I hope a lot of you will read this who are not yet fans of this game will pick it up and play it because its really a one of a kind game. This game has controversy surrounding it, not only for the mature content( when I told a friend I was playing this game she said oh the sex game :P), but also for the difficult of the game itself, I’ll address both of those points below.

Background Story:

In this game you take the role of Vincent Brooks, a 32 year old, systems engineer for technology company. He’s kind of a lazy, unorganized, and very in the moment average guy with not much of a future planned out. He has a girlfriend of 5 years(amazing I know), called Katherine. Katherine has recently began to talk about getting married and then Vincent started to have very dark nightmares. The next morning he wakes next to a hot, young, and curvy girl also named Catherine and wonders he how he will get himself out of this mess.

Game play:

Catherine is two games in one, a puzzle game and what you might call a ” moral” psychological thriller. The puzzle element of the game is pretty straight forward as it involves 9 stages with various themes and lengths. At the end of each stage there is a boss stage in which a large creature will change up the wall of blocks and will attempt to kill you. In each puzzle stage there will be various items that can used to help complete the stage. Sprinkled through the stage you find “sheep”, other guys like Vincent trying to escape the nightmare and they will try to impede your progress. As you proceed through the game there will different types of blocks you will encounter, ice blocks, spike blocks, exploding blocks, black hole blocks, etc. and learning how to manage each type of block will be integral to your completing the game.  Also important is mastering the various techniques for scaling the different walls of blocks, these will be taught to you at certain points in the game.

The other element of the game, the moral psychological thriller, mostly takes place between each stage in the form of questions asked by a disembodied voice in a confessional booth and the question is usually on the subject of some issue of morality. How you answer the questions affects the ending you will get upon finishing the game, there are 8 endings in total, three for each Catherine, and two neutral endings. Some of the questions will asked at a bar called the Stray Sheep where you will interact with your friends and get messages on your phone from both Catherine. In the bar there are additional features like a mini game called Rapunzel which is also a block based puzzle game, and there is a jukebox that plays various songs from different Atlus games.

As for the game being too difficult, honestly with any game you should probably play it on lower difficult levels, learn the game,get skilled and then try to beat it on the more challenging settings. Its true this game is very challenging, in fact the develops actually created a very easy mode because people complained it was so hard. I found the game to be not as insanely difficult as people make it out to be, playing on easy I think I never dropped beyond 90 retries as there are more enough items that give retires, so on normal and hard it cannot be that impossible.

 

Visuals and Graphics:

The game play graphics are pretty good for this day and age, the blocks are rendered in nice detail and are as the characters. Where this game really shines in terms of visuals is in the cut scenes. There are two types, ones that are CG graphic or ones that are anime style. I really love the anime cut scenes, I have never seen such great animation in a game and Atlus really went out of their way to make those scenes so beautifully animated. The CG scenes are good as well, just a little overshadowed by the anime scenes.

 

Closing Comments:

I loved playing Catherine its a one of a kind gaming experience that combines two genres of games that I think no one  ever thought would go together, and yet it seems to work in this incarnation.  Its a special treat if your a anime fan like me, and most of you that will read this most likely are. This game asks some interesting questions about relationships  and what people want out of life and I found myself rethinking a lot things I thought I had figured already about life. In sum, if you want a game that will make you think, with puzzles, and you are a fan of anime this game is for you.

 

Until next time,

Devil Survivor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

168-tsundere

It’s Not Like I Want You To Read This Post Or Anything

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Before you give your abs a workout because of how silly and long the title post is, I’d just like you to continue reading this article that explains and discusses the phenomenon of otaku culture that is the “Tsundere.” Thats right its all twintails, fiery hair colors and eternal scowls today.

So what is a Tsundere, where and when did it originate? The very first Tsundere that I came across was Naru Narusegawa from the Harem anime Love Hina. Love Hina aired in the year 2000 just about the time when the term “moe” started to get thrown around more often on the internet. Tsundere is somewhat a sub category of moe, some would argue Tsundere is an essential part and possibly is what exploded the moe boom.

For any readers out there not aware with what the term Tsundere means, Wikipedia (the online being that has all the answers) defines it as ” A character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time. The word is derived from the terms Tsun Tsun meaning to turn away in disgust, and Dere Dere  meaning to become ‘lovey dovey.” Some popular examples would be Taiga Aisaka from Toradora! and Rin Tohsaka from Fate/Stay Night, there have been some variations of the character type in recent times like the overly Indifferent Kirino or Kagami from Lucky Star that doesn’t express her lovey dovey side to any male character in particular. I will let Minoru Shiraishi explain it to us in this video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JoyuY1i9ys&feature=player_embedded

It’s hard to ignore this character type in modern anime  because they are present in a lot of series. I would point to the success of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya which aired in 2006 as the catalyst to the already growing trope. Ironically, The Haruhi Suzumiya light novel reads as a clever parody of the moe culture and how it has taken over the anime industry in recent years. Watching the anime  though gives a somewhat different experience. By being a parody of a Tsundere Haruhi in turn ends up being one herself, definitely not your typical tsundere but she becomes one none the less. An example of this would be when Haruhi explains what moe is and why it is important..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ux0fQPkNdMY
In this scene Haruhi is making fun of the other anime that always implement the ‘token moe characters’ into their shows, but by doing this the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Show itself implements its very own token moe character. It’s easy to dislike Haruhi as a character, but isn’t that the point of being a Tsundere? They withdraw an emotion from the viewer be it negative or otherwise making the experience memorable thus leading you to watch even more of the said show. It’s a tactic that works and it is why it will continue to be used.

It is also important to note that while this character type may seem over-used and extremely cliché, they can all be unique and complex in their own right. Take Asuka Langley Sohryu for example, she is pretty much the template for the modern day tsundere. Going too much into detial about the character of Asuka will turn this post into a why I love Evangelion article so to sum it nicely I will show you this video.

Warning: May Contain Slight Spoilers…… (why havent you seen this show yet for shame?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbvssp890Tc&feature=player_embedded

One of the more interesting things I noticed was that most anime fans that had seen Evangelion only recently often compared Asuka to ‘similar characters’ of recent shows. while you can argue and say, Kirino is just Tusundere for the sake of being Tsundere its hard to unjustify why Asuka behaves the way she does and just to emphasize just how popular her character or character type is just take a look at how many figures of her are still selling.

Another example of a unique and somewhat complex Tsundere character would be Makise Kurisu from last seasons Steins;Gate. Her character is also a clever parody of what a tsundere would be if she were real, the cast of the show are constantly calling her one and while it may seem like it’s just been implemented for laughs it turns out making her a rather unique and refreshing tsundere.

I honestly think Tsunderes’ will continue to be a staple in modern anime, when they are done right they turn out to be complex and relatable characters because they are quite honestly flawed. They aren’t as 1 dimensional as the ditzy character that’s clumsy for being dumbs sake or the characters that are silent and  serve no purpose to the overall plot or characters growth or development .(just for the record Yui Hirasawa is NOT in this category she is much more complex than that)

Speaking of bad, there are a lot of things that can get quite annoying when it comes to tsunderes’ for one thing the older versions tended to be more violent than the current ones. The punching the guy sky high can be a little bit funny the first two times but it really gets annoying and can get quite tedious pretty fast.

On the Flipside the very same trope can be used strategically well if actually makes sense for the character to behave this way, take Taiga Aisaka for example.

Another awful cliché that most Tsunderes bring to anime is their type cast Seiyuu/ Voice Actor list. Now don’t get me wrong I like Ayana Taketatsu and Rie Kugumiya just as much as the next guy but hearing the same voice actors do the same type of voices for the same type of characters can really get on your nerves, its extremely repetitive and your brain immediately categorises the said characters in a box that they will never break the boundaries from.

As I mentioned earlier the tsundere character type often has a checklist of characteristics that it often adheres to just so when the Otaku take one glance at a still frame they can easily be pinpointed. For Example, Twintails, Usually Loli, Crazy hair color..compared to the rest of the cast, violent, Hyper Active, outspoken etc etc. Its the checklist mentality that has driven the creativity of anime creators to a standstill and until we can get more variations of character types we will forever be stuck with the same tried and trusted characters for years to come.

I have really come to like tsunderes and appreciate them even more, especially when they are done right, I hope they don’t continue to take over the anime scene but I don’t want them to completely die out either, they are a core part of what makes anime a unique medium and are arguably what some people may refer to as ‘strong female characters.’ Try finding a bunch of those in western media.

WTF Is Moe And Why Has It Taken Over My Anime!?!?!?!?

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So all fans of anime have heard the word moe with mixed interpretations, sometimes they cheer, sometimes they rant, and sometimes the just want to go wtf… But who the hell actually knows what moe technically is? Moe is such a wide range of different characteristics tacked on often unceremoniously to those poor anime characters. Moe is written in Japanese as 萌え, the kanji meaning bud or sprout and being read a “mo” for its kun reading. The word is slang coming from the word moeru which means to bud or sprout and can therefore be interpreted as a pun referencing the “budding” of a preadolescent girl. It is also speculated that since the word moe (萌え) is a homonym of moe (燃え) which means burning the word could be a pun on the burning passion that fans have towards moe characters. However we are not here to talk about budding or burning, we are here to talk about moe which is slang! The slang definition of moe is “a rarefied pseudo-love for certain fictional character (in anime, the manga, and the like) and their related embodiments” according to Wikipedia. Characters who fit this definition (which is hella large) are called moekko (萌えっ娘) with the final kanji meaning female child.

So now we have the technical definitions of moe, WTF is it!? Well first to answer that question we will have to explore the history of moe, and immediately as we dive into the history we come across an answer to what moe it is, it comes from the fact that…. No one knows who invented the word moe! There are many different theories about moe’s origin like the above mentioned puns on budding and/or burning, but another theory is it came from Hotaru Tomoe from Sailor Moon. Tomoe’s name is written with the two kanji 土萌, and you guys had better recognize a certain kanji by now. Yes do too her characteristics and the kanji in her name Tomoe is viewed as possibly being the origin of the word moe. Another theory is it came from the online forums 2channel during the 1990s where posters used it to discuss “hybrids of lolicon and bishoujo genres”. The most commonly accepted theory is that it is a combination of the last two where at that time on 2channel Tomoe was at the height of her popularity.

So in the end, the origin is a complete shamble, we don’t know where moe came from or what the hell it is, so lets go and examine some more famous moe characters. One of those is Lum Invader from Urusei Yatsura who is thought to be the source of moe and one of if not the first tsundere, talk about win. Lum is viewed to be the first moe do to her personality and her looks. Lum has a fiery temper, but is very naïve being from another planet and so is clumsy and doesn’t always understand what is going on around her do to her innocence, a common characteristic that touches our otaku hearts. She is also bad at cooking and gets drunk incredibly easily and she dislikes garlic which we somehow find cute? Lum InvaderAnother famous mope characters would be Rei Ayanami who “helped” to alter the definition of moe (and significantly confusing fans forever) apparently meeting the moe definition for being incredibly popular. Her pale skin, blue hair, and calm/quiet/cold/freaky personality which have spread throughout the anime, manga, and gaming industry. However we all know the most moe characters in existence ever if you argue with me I will kill you simply because they were designed to be the most moe characters in existence… the cast from Lucky Star. Period. No other comments needed.

Now here is what we are left with. Moe characters are characters that meet some fetish of the fans, most often something to do with lowliness, childlike helplessness, innocence, and cuteness. This is all enhanced by different characteristics such as glasses, striped underwear, butlers/maids, tsunderes, and sisters. However as we have seen there is no clear definition, it is something that insights burning passion for budding adolescence, the above traits are simply what seems to be the most popular but moe is not limited to that in the slightest, it just takes the love of fans.Unfortunately this effort by companies to make characters as cute as possible so that fans will buy their product has (in many eyes) begun to go far. One example is moe anthropomorphism, a fancy way of saying making non-human things (animals, plants, appliances, your face) moe as well in an effort to basically kill the watcher through diabetes through sugary cuteness. This is giving the opposite effect sometimes though, by making people dump the show and write it off as just another moe collage. Yet there is still a demand for moe as Hayao Miyazaki has said in response to a question about otaku obsession with cute characters, “It’s difficult. They immediately become the subjects of lolicon fetishism. In a sense, if we want to depict someone who is affirmative to us, we have no choice but to make them as lovely as possible. But now, there are too many people who shamelessly depict [such heroines] as if they just want [such girls] as pets, and things are escalating more and more.” So some people love moe and some people hate it, sounds pretty standard for anime right? So if you come about thinking WTF is this moe in my anime decide if you can stand it, and try to ignore it. Moe is like big breasts, they get in your face but if you prefer small breasts they can be ignored well enough.

Sincerely,

~Folium

troll2

Survivor Series: Troll Assassination; A Troll Typology

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So its me again, coming from the 5th layer of hell, the devil that survived the fieriest of games out there. Today I’m back with the first in a sub series about the thing everyone hates(except themselves) , that being trolls. Now I have heard lots of people talk about their experiences with trolls and there seems to me that there are many types and I’m going to set out to describe each type. In research methods terminology this is known as creating a typology; which is when a researcher studying a phenomenon divides the cases in their research to better present the data which has been collected.



 

1. The hit and run troll– these are trolls that leave one comment on a forum, message board, or a social network site and then don’t ever return to continue the conversation. An example if this was in episode 63 of the Gundamn podcast during one of their mailbag catch up shows when a troll posted a badly worded and very grammatically incorrect question and never post a another thing on that forum.

2.The fake debate troll– these are trolls who at first appear to want to have a real debate with you and then make no concrete arguments about the subject being disgusted and just throw insults at you. Too examples to cite a certain one, but check site with a comment section and you should find one.

3.The one word troll– these are trolls just leave one word on a comment section of a site. Usually its a hateful and homophobic comment, these are perhaps the saddest all of the troll types. Again check any site with comment section to find an example.

4.The hate on something and then buy it troll– These trolls are the curiousest type because they will be a huge fan boys of a certain franchise, and when a new product comes out from said franchise that is a little different they trashed it ,and say that they will never buy it, and they turn around and purchased it at the first opportunity.

 

 

 


5.The inner franchise troll– In many franchises in anime or video game  fandom, there are different fractions that like one part of a franchise and decide anyone who likes another part is a moron and sets out to hate on the other fans of the franchise.  A prime example of this is the Gundam franchise,and the universal century fans vs. the alternate century fans.

6. The video troll-  This species of troll usually is found on video sharing sites like youtube. You find will find them making videos of rambling, incoherent, nonsensical rants about whatever ridiculous topic pops into their troll heads. Examples of this type is xbox or playstation fanboys making 3 to 4 videos in their parents basements about which system is better because it has all the best games and the other is for “insert homophobic slur” and losers.

7.The private message or email troll-  The most cowardly of the troll types. Instead of commenting out in the open on a forum or message board, they troll someone in email or a private message. Any website administrator could probably tell you about an email or 100 they reached from a troll.

8.The out context or straw man troll- You will find this type on 4chan using the green text to twist a commentator’s words so far around it bears no resemblance to the original meaning of the comment. On the internet is frequent known “straw manning” someone in reference to the straw man argument which is when someone misrepresents
 the position of another person.

 The Straight Dope on Trolls– Here is a good video about trolls and is a good definition of what one really is.

 

Cheers and Beers,

Devil_Survivor

 

 

 

 

 

Top 10 Otaku in Anime

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Its Been a while since I had a post on here so I decided to cop out and pull up a top 10 list everyone loves those right?

The thought actually occurred to me while I was in the shower (where all world changing ideas are born) I noticed that most of my favourite characters in anime were Otaku just like me, so I looked up my list and favourite characters and lo and behold I got the convenient number of 10 different Otaku. Without further ado and in no Particular order here they are.

Edward – Cowboy Bebop

She…umm He..wait umm. This person makes this list simply because of how epic she/he is (we will go with she for now) Introduced fairly late in the series Ed stuck with me as my favourite character from the show. she was funny, Intelligent, Quirky, always hungry and Funny. Her hacking skills made her an essential member of the Bebop I remember panicking in a few episodes because Ed just wouldn’t take certain situations seriously, she would always pull through in the end though. her character design was unique and I found her rather cute which is why I firmly stick by the opinion of her being female. Honestly speaking if  Ed was not added to the Cowboy bebop cast Im certain I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much.

Her character is not only put in the series for comedy, the last few episodes of her arc were very touching and are some of the highlights from Cowboy Bebop.

Erika & Walker – Durarara!!

ahh Durarara!! Why are your characters  so Awesome? From the very first scene we see these two we know they are Otaku, their power levels are waaay to high to suppress. From the memorable scenes of them Packing a Life size Holo cut-out poster into their van to their Role playing with anime figures. All their scenes together are at-least packed with an anime reference or two. I especially loved the bonus episode 12.5 which was seen from the point of view of Walker. His narration rivaled Kyons’ from Haruhi Suzumiya, his monologues about reality and fiction are very funny and fun to listen to. I have to admit to having at-least said some of those things before.

Just like all characters in Durarara!! these two are bad ass, asking you to pick what form of torture you would like to be inflicted on you from a moe magazine is simply diabolical. In other words, don’t piss them off.

Ika Musume – Squid girl

She came from the bottom of the sea to conquer the land and ends up becoming a waitress on restaurant by the sea side. BUT, don’t let that fool you that’s just the beginning of her great conquest. Ika Musume is a very unique character her speech- quirks and blue tentacled hair certainly make her stand out. Her power levels are slowly revealed to us as the series progresses. My favourite one being the episode where she wakes up in the middle of the night to have a good Video Gaming Session, Super Nintendo gaming no less! She also occasionally references movies and some games as the series progresses. It may not be blatant but the signs are there.

Squid Girl is an awesome comedy show and if I have ever had a Licence wish before this has got to be way up there with the best.

Yuki Nagato – The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

The silent member of the SOS Brigade joins the list and arguably has the highest power level among these. She’s primarily a bookworm and is the sole member of the Literature Club. She ditched her glasses after Kyon suggested that she looked cuter without them, I do not disagree. Her favourite kind of books are science fiction and when she gets into gaming she really really gets into it.  My favourite episode is the Computer Club Duel episode because it showcased just how advanced this Humanoid Computer Interface really is. Right at the end she acknowledges that she enjoyed the entire experience, which is the first hint in the series that she actually has feeling. Nothing like gaming to loosen up an alien android.

In the Movie/sequel The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya her character growth is extremely immense and is quite shocking. Its an awesome movie and the fact that it currently sits at Number one on the ANN ratings is proof that I’m not the only that thinks this.

Konata Izumi – Lucky Star

Wow where to even start? She’s a high school Anime Otaku, loves manga, loves games, loves Visual Novels, collects some figures and is also a cosplayer. Yup the total package. Everytime i watch the show I find something new every.single.time. No kidding!! Konata is very very funny and is fun to watch and takes some of the common otaku traits to some extremes (or are they?) If I ever had a mascot Konata would probably be it.

Keima Katsuragi – The World god Only Knows

Nicknamed “The god of Conquest” because of his impeccable skills at dating sims or galge this maestro of a gamer even has his own website that acts as an online strategy guide for any decent Galge ever made. Yes people he IS the best if there ever was one. Spotting him without his “PFP” is stuff of legend something only very few eyewitnesses can attest to. He is not only confined to this hardware however he is known to have every console ever created to play at-least one dating sim, he has played them all ladies and gentlemen.

I really really love his monologues on reality and 2D vs 3D, the sad thing is I have said some of those things before and seeing someone else say them gives me mixed feeling. On one hand joy and satisfaction because im not the only soul who believes this on the other great shame because of how stupid and silly it is to say things like that. Here are a few quotes I can remember off the top of my head.

“Real girls has no flags to hit”  “The game design for Real life is seriously flawed”    “Life is just a crappy game” … and those are not even close to his best.

Ruri “Kuroneko” Gokou – Oreimo 

We are introduced to her character in a cafe in Akihabara. Always clad in Gothic lolita cosplay in public, she will not be seen in any other way. Her favourite anime series is called “Maschera” which is clearly a parody of Code Geass. Her “argument” with Kirino (the main character of the series) on what type of anime is the best totally hooked me on the show. See Kirino loves magical girl/ moe anime and Kuroneko loves Fantasy/Mystery anime, these silly little arguments happen online ALL THE TIME so seeing it in an anime was really good fun. The fact that they become close friends because of this encounter was both funny and quite accurate.

She writes her own fantasy doujin light novels and role plays occasionally, she is also very good at video games this proven with one scene of her winning a tournament in one of the episodes. Oh yeah she can also create her own video games, beat that!

Hashida “Daru” Itaru – Steins; Gate

I tried not to include any characters from unfinished series but Daru stands out so much. He is a Computer Programmer that works for a self proclaimed Mad Scientist. Daru loves all things Akihabara especially maid cafes, He often references Geeky movies or shows to real life situations and loves too see him a good cosplayer bonus points if they are moe. His snarky remarks, perveted jokes and timely comebacks are what make him awesome though.

with the show still ongoing Im sure there is way more to come so check this space.

Tatsuhiro Sato – Welcome to the NHK

The idea of watching a Hikikomori (shut in) go about his daily life may sound boring at first but add a little otaku culture in there and you get one of the best shows ever created. Sato starts out your normal average Hikikomori (whatever that is) and slowly starts to attain habits, some more dangerous than others but ill save that for another post. The one “habit” that Sato went through that I enjoyed and related to (the most LoL) was his online gaming. Sato spent hours upon hours on what was clearly Final Fantasy XI. The amazing thing about this little arc is that within a couple of weeks or so he went from utter complete “newb” to the ranks of Guild leader for lack of a better comparison. He was clearly addicted and the story centres around his efforts to try and cure himself from this dreadful dreadful diesease.

Sato is also the best candidate of what I call the Nerd recommendation syndrome (name subject to change and/or suggestions)  This is the phenomenon that occurs when you recommend something new to fellow nerd and find out they have become an even bigger fan of the said thing than you. My favourite of these in the series is when Sato is introduced to the world of Dating sims and Akihabara. He spends a couple of nights playing borrowed games from his friend and within ended up buying model figures of his favourite characters. Im sure every one of you has a similar story….No?

Tsukimi Kurashita – Kuragehime (Princess Jellyfish)

This one is a little different, as the title suggests Tsukimi is a Jellyfish Otaku. That means she likes all things Jellyfish, yes she draws them in her spare time, she has books on them, she can name their scientific alias’ and can identify them by the color pallete alone. All this has nothing to do with anime or manga but its her passion that warrants her a place on this list. Because that is the one thing all these characters listed above have, Passion and Tsukimi is the best example of this.

Well there you have it? Wow looking at this list I only now realised there’s more females than males which is a far cry from reality. What are some of your favourite Otaku in anime and why lemme know.

Gateway Anime For the Modern Fan

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The title speaks for itself, these are the shows that most fans have and I hope will continue to have as the first dips into the rich medium. I limited myself to the titles I have personally seen in this post as well, this will help me convey my opinions on the shows much clearly and hopefully the passion may just sip into your souls as well.

Ive noticed that most current fans got into the fandom through convinient access, Toonami for the Americans is the perfect example. The shows that were popular on there have become solid classics in the west and still sell well to this day. SBS and Cheese TV  in Australia aired Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cardcaptor Sakura respectively, these shows have near legendary status here and finally DSTV Africa showed Dragonball Z and Pokemon in Zambia.

While all the mentioned shows are very good in their own right and served their purpose in planting the “anime wants” seed, its often the second or third show that fans see that are the deal clincher. Those are the shows that will make my list. So yes this is basically a “how to get your friend into anime” post.

The easiest way is if you know the said person is already interested in general Film, If it is difficult to get said person to watch even the biggest Hollywood blockbuster just give up. Most people interested in general film entertainment have heard of or seen a samurai,ninja or geisha in a movie or cartoon. Like most entertainment fans I knew Ninja before anime and that one Samurai show that aired late at night was pretty epic I still recall the opening to this day, boy was it badly dubbed. Anyway, most entertainment fans have already seen or heard of a part of the Japanese culture so showing something created from there would not be a bad idea.

Pick your shows wisely, Im not going to show my Jason Bourne fanboy friend Haruhi Suzumiya first no matter how awesome I/we  know that show is, because believe it or not the culture shock will be really offputting. Pick a show that is as closely related to the siad freinds’ favourite genre, you know the saying “there is an anime for everyone.” So  Here are my recommended picks;

 

Shounen

Anime aimed at young boys and teenagers.

Its no secret that I got into anime through Naruto Shippuden and I still love that show, Its difficult not to get sucked into the story of the show. It hooks you in with its good characters and finds a way to coerce you into rooting for Naruto and his dream to become Hokage. The setting is also very unique and the action scenes are really well done, the fights are not drawn out too long so it doesn’t feel like you are just being taken for a ride in fact most of the fights happen so quickly that only after going through them in the manga did I get to appreciate all the tactics and techniques. Speaking of techniques, the special abilities in Naruto are very unique and flashy. Its hard not to get them stuck in your head, im sure we have all said “Shadow Clone Jutsu” out loud at least once. The dub cast is also very very good, Maile Flanagan does a perfect Naruto and the supporting cast is just superb with voice actors like Crispin Freeman, Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt and Steve Blum just to mention a few.

Bleach is also very similar to Naruto great voice cast, awesome setting and brilliant fight scenes. This is the show that will most likely be easier to give to non anime fans (is there a word for those? Harry Potter has muggles why don’t we have a name yet?) The main character is your typical cool hot headed teenager and the supporting cast is so vast its more than likely you will quickly find a favourite character.

A more recent title that caught my eye would be Soul Eater, If I had to pick an anime title, any title to put on national television on the Saturday morning that isnt Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh (and I have nothing against those shows) It would have to be Soul Eater. The Character designs look similar to western style animation and so does the general outlook of the entire series. Like most successful Shounen titles this one has a great cast. They are all unique and easy to get attached to, a few moments of suggestive themes may put off a few young viewers (not really) but cutting these out wouldn’t hurt the story at all. Of all the Shounen titles to get a potential fan to watch this is the creme of the crop.

Action

Admit it, We all love to see violence in our entertainment..well most of us do otherwise Micheal Bay wouldn’t be as big as he is right now. Action is the best way to get someone into anime and the following titles prove me right.

Trigun is the perfect example of a well done action comedy, It is set in the distant future where the planet that man has settled is a desert wasteland and thugs, gangs and outlaws run rampant in this Neo Western. The main character Vash is the series comic relief because of his pacifist philosophy and is voiced by Johny Young Bosch. Trigun is a fun, silly action western that is very easy to get into and is still very dear to alot fans that saw it first.

-Recommend this to a new fan if they like Action Comedies and Westerns.

Cowboy Bebop is very similar to Trigun in that it is also described as a Western, A Space Western but a Western none the less. It is set a about a hundred years in the future and space travel is now more frequent and civil. Humans have colonised nearby planets and guess what? crime is still rampant and on the rise, so to counter this the police puts prices on wanted criminals and bounty hunters bring them to justice. The main characters are all Bounty Hunters and are members of the space ship called the bebop. The show has a little comedy, sci fi and some drama. It has a very western feel to it so it shouldn’t be too hard to get into. Cowboy bebop is still praised for its dub to this day with Steve Blum and Wendee Lee gracing the main cast.

Cowboy Bebop

-Recommend this to a new fan if they like Action or Sci Fi.

As I have mentioned in my previous posts Full Metal Alchemist is the show that made me sign that anime otaku contract. It is still one of my top 3 favourite shows of all time. The setting is unique is and so are the characters. the story is solid well written and excellently paced. It is hard to not get behind these boys quest to regain their body parts or to save the people they meet on their journey. Both iterations of this series are good so go with whichever you see fit. If I had to pick a favourite from this list it would have to be this title and this is the show I always plug to anyone even slightlty curious about  anime. 

Recommend this to a new fan if they like Adventure, Action, Comedy or Drama

My recent anime pick would have to be Eden of the East. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama of Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex fame. The show is set in present day Japan and some of the US, the use of social networking to save the world is also something us the “internet age” can get behind. The animation is quite fluid and the mystery surrounding Juiz, and the other “Selecao” is so gripping it will have anyone clamoring for the Movie sequels once they are done with the eleven episodes of season one. This is still a big seller for FUNimation and I can see the reason why.

Recommend this to a new fan if they like Mystery, Action,Drama, Comedy and Romantic subtext.

Movies

Series can be a bit of a chore if you are either impatient or just not used to the idea of “waiting for episode 3 before it gets good.” Anime fans have  a lot of patience unfortunately not everyone is built that way and getting your friends to watch a series would be a hurdle just because of the length. Not to worry full length Movies and OVAs’ are here to save you! Its no secret that the general populous of the west was introduced to anime through Akira, while a select few had seen and enjoyed Star Blazers and Speed racer prior to this. Not everyone would have been patient enough to sit through weekly episodes of these cartoons.

To this day the most well know anime films are Studio Ghibli. Princess Mononoke, Ponyo, Grave of the Firefiles, Spirited Away are just a few examples of the classics that this studio has given us. The amount of money they have insures that the production value is top notch. The movies are qute literally art pieces in motion, add a well written plot and voices to this and you have a very powerful emotional piece of entertinment. These movies are also very easy for new fans to get into, every time Im in our local anime store I always notice someone buy a new Ghibli film or atleast talk about it. Have parents or family that would like some good family entertainment? watch some ghibli with them it will certainly nullify that bad opinion they have of you after they caught you watching that ecchi show.

Whisper of the Heart

 
Arrietty UK Dub Trailer

Recommend this to a new fan if they like Good movies

Sword of the Stranger is quite honestly the best Samurai anime Film I have ever seen. the animation is very fluid especially in the fight sequences. The main character is not the very cliche good guy, in fact at some points in the movie his motives might actually be questioned if you can call them motives at all. This really reminded me of that one Samurai show I saw late at night when I was like 5 years old. In all seriousness its a great film for action or samurai enthusiasts. If you get the chance do watch this in Blu ray you will not regret it.

Recommend this show to a new fan if they like Samurai, Action, Blood and dogs

My recent anime pick for movies would have to be “The best family movie ever made” Summer Wars! The story centers around a boy named Kenji that is forced to go to his friends hometown and pretend to be her boyfriend for her ill Grandmother. All goes well until the virtual world of OZ which has now become the hub of all things economic, civic and social with a user base in the billions goes berserk because of a reply he sent to a spam text message (do not reply to those see what happens) It is up to kenji and his “new family” to overcome this tragedy and save the entire Human race from destruction.

Everytime I even see a screenshot of this movie i get goosebumps, i was lucky enough to see this in the Cinemas and the number of school kids that saw this was shocking. This is certainly going to be one of those classic titles everyone talks about watching for the first time 5 – 10 years from now. dont be left out or leave out your friends or family. Its a very well made movie and stories centering around the power of family or love are very universal. Watch this with someone get them to atleast appreciate good Japanese animation, you wont regret it.

Recommend this to anyone that has a soul

Other Titles you can try are Code Geass, Ghost in the Shell (movie) and Death Note.

What are some of the titles that got you hooked onto anime and what titles do you think would be good to get more newer fans into the fandom? It makes me happy everytime I see or hear of a new fan because i know my fandom is not going to die anytime soon.

Here is an interesting Poll I found on Anime News Network I think it might interest quite a few of you that would like to know the statistics and numbers of Gateway anime through the years http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/survey/153/result

moto to love ru

Motto to Love Ru -Trouble-

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Alternate Titles:  もっとTo LOVEる -とらぶる

Original Japanese Release Date: September 17, 2010

Episode Length/Run-time: 12

Summary:
Because this anime is so horrible, it’s easier for me to just give detailed description of what accounts for about 90% of this show.

Review:

First of all, the story is broken down into a series of shorts.  Much like Azumanga

The show is about a girl named LALA who comes from a planet called Devilluke(she has a devil tail) she runs away because she is a princess and doesnt’ want to take part in an arranged marriage.  This is not the first series of this(I don’t know how there is a sequel) and so some of the stuff doesnt make too much sense to me.  Lala lives at a boy named Rito’s house and he’s the male “protagonist” even though he doesnt do much to fit the role.  Weak, nervous, indecisive. This show also has some side characters in it that are from the old series.  There is a blonde girl who can use her hair as weapons and apparently, for whatever reason she is an assassin from another planet and she is supposed to kill Rita althought I’m not sure why because from what I’ve seen he doesnt do too much to be deemed killable. The rest of the show is bs antics and panty shots, blushing, and slapstick comedy that isn’t funny. And of course, every single character in the show has a crush on Rito.  And I mean they’re literally throwing their bodies on him but this show never has any kind of physical interaction of that kind.  No kissing, no sex despite all the nudity, nothing.

Some scenes that make me want to kill myself:

  • There is a guy named Zastin who comes from Devilluke to retrieve two other girls from the royal family who run away.  There is also another girl in the school that Rita goes to that has a crush on him (somehow) and so they call him to the school so that she can confess.  At the same time Lala has cooked Rita some bad bento with black smoke coming out of it.  He’s watching the confession from the side of a building a bit away and up from behind Lala finds him and crams some of the food in her mouth.  He gags and runs out from the building towards Zastin and the girl.  He slams into the girl and she falls on him, ass up, and Zastin gets a shot of her panties and vag area.  Then she gets mad and hits Rita and chases him.  Ugg….
  • It’s Valentine’s Day.  Kotegawa a girl in Rito’s class is making him chocolate because she has a crush on him.  So…she tries to give it to him but she gets nervous and ends up cussing him out.  Later in the day, she tries again, and in the middle of it, another girl that is cute with green hair comes up and pounces on Rita and offers him chocolate out of her mouth (because this is apparently a harem) and he gets “scared” and turns to run in the other direction and runs into Kotegawa.  She falls and he ends up with his head basically in her vag. Ugg…
  • They’re at the beach.  The watermelon they are trying to split turns into a monster and spits red “cum juice” on the girls and then they pose for the camera provoatively  with all the stuff dripping off of them.
  • Tentacle octopus breast enlarger…

[starrater]

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