What I watched in APRIL 2013: Digest Version, part 2 of 2

b From Up on Poppy Hill: A lovely, enjoyable, slice-of-life sort of movie.  Gorgeous on the big screen with its hills and coastline.  This is a studio Ghibli film, directed by the famous Miyazaki's son (and apparently much better than his last one).  The dub was great, too.

b Magic Users' Club: This mostly light-hearted and goofy fantasy series starts with one of the most ridiculously-shaped alien invasion ever and continues in general ridiculous, over-the-topness, and sometimes realistically awkward romantic geometric shapes.  I really enjoyed it and found it a fun thing to play in the background as I assembled and organized a massive amount of medical records into a PHR.  (You really need something funny when you are doing this.)  The dub suffers from sounds-like-they-recorded-this-in-a-tiled-bathroom syndrome but is generally pretty serviceable and sometimes a total hoot.

b Strawberry Marshmallow 1: Bwahahaha.  So cute.  Makes me happy.  I really enjoyed it and found it a fun thing to play in the background as I assembled and organized a massive number of medical records into a coherent PHR.  (You really need something funny when you are doing this.)

b Zatch Bell!, 10: Oh, big brother Kanchome.  And Folgore.  And everything.  What a fun, ridiculous show.  I really enjoyed it and found it a fun thing to play in the background as I assembled and organized a massive number of medical records into a coherent PHR.  (You really need something funny when you are doing this.)

What I watched in MARCH 2013: Digest Version

b Shonen Onmyouji: Okay, there was this period when Geneon USA was circling the toilet when they started doing these horrifically, ruinously bad offshore dubs.  This is one of those dubs.  Unfortunately, when I was watching this show, I was busy gathering medical records and stuff, so I didn't have the time to watch it in Japanese with English subtitles while not gathering  medical records.  So I think the show is better than my English-dub impression of it.  It must be or everyone would hate it instead of just 50% of the people.  It's the story of a boy and his dog-like spirit companion.  This boy is the grandson of a famous spiritualist, but he's notorious mostly for having no spiritual powers AT ALL.  Then he meets up with this critter, and his life changes, and he discovers his real powers and meets a girl and has all these weird adventures involving the mythology of the Japanese spiritual world.  Did I mention the dub is really bad?

"What good is love if the fireflies aren't real?"

b Taisho Baseball Girls: This cute little series about junior high girls who form a baseball team for various reasons is short and sweet.  The team interactions are fun and cute for the most part, and you respect their grit and determination and the troubles they face.  It's also a fun glimpse at an interesting time in Japanese history as East and West collide and traditional views of womanhood seem on the verge of changing.

b You're Beautiful: So, I had a certain amount of expectation built up for this show.  It more and less met these expectations.  There were some surprises in the end, but it was a good experience over all.  One of the most interesting parts was actually the extras.  Some of these folks are really quite good at acting.  In real life some of them are very different.  The female lead and the happy-chipper dude (Blondie in Sarah's review that started it all) are SO DIFFERENT, I was floored.  The DVD box set seems somewhat impossibly priced out of print, but you can watch it legally streaming at Amazon.

What I watched in October 2012

b Angelic Layer: Sometimes you just want some goofy, shonen goodness as only CLAMP can provide.  It's a tournament show about fighting dolls and the people (mostly girls) who play with them.  Seriously.  It's about grit and determination and odd family dynamics and wiggly, wiggly I-chan.

o Baccano:I was going to sit down and watch anime instead of having it on while I did other things.  Then the first couple minutes happened.  They were not kidding about the graphic violence.  And so I found this anime better "viewed" 25% with my eyes and 75% with my ears.  Defying laws of physics everywhere all the time!  Netflix apparently doesn't have the last volume, and I don't actually care.  I don't think my stomach can take the conclusion . . .

"Mercy and Compassion are virtues only the strong can possess.  And I am strong."

b DanDoh: Dandoh's dad is a loser!  What a total jerk!  I don't care why.  Where are the adults and the monitors and stuff?!  WTH!!!!!  If there's this much cheating in golf, it's a much more interesting game than I thought. Yuka, you are my hero.  You talked to the adults and explained what happened.  How novel!  The best voice acting comes from the golf announcers.  Nice.

"That's it!  I'm not going to lose to someone who can't even count!" 

"If adults teach them everything, then the kids will never get to explore and learn things on their own."

"Your ball hasn't given up this match yet!"

"He is a man who killed his talents with his own hands."

"That is SO RIDICULOUS!!!!" - me (so many times)

b Strawberry Marshmallow: Adorable warm fuzzy goodness and some amazing English voice acting.  Mio, in particular, is endearingly 100% obnoxious.  (I'm still not very fond of Anna, but she's the only exception.)  The group dynamics are a hoot and somehow realistic while still being firmly in comedy territory.  A neat trick.  This show is a real pick-me-up and pretty much always leaves me grinning for days. 

b Viewtiful Joe:Another great pick-me-up show, Viewtiful Joe makes me happy.  Its good natured, dudical goofiness and relentlessly positive slacker hero are just the ticket when you're feeling down.  And Joe's English voice is outstanding, as are several of the other characters.  It's an all-around good time.

"There's a kind of heroism in staying behind sometimes, I figure."

"What's cool now is to pretend you're too smart for hope.  That hope is for those too frightened to face life as it really is."

What I watched in August: Digest Version, Part 2 of 2

b Gungrave: I think this probably qualifies as MANime.  At least until it falls apart at the end.  Actually, maybe that's part of the MANime madness?  Nah, I blame that part all on the video game.  The bits around that are pretty good, though.  Lots of violence, so it's not for the weak of stomach.  If you really want a deep and intricate plot, it's probably not the one you want to choose.  If you want a nice buddy story gone terribly, horribly wrong with lots of action and mayhem and bullets and tears and some really silly names, well, this is an excellent choice.

"Bind your opponent with invisible irons.  That's the true way to use power."
---
"Whatever made me think living was so important?"
---
"A place for people with dreams like you who can still look toward the future with hope."
---
"I love the taste of despair!"

b Hetalia: Some people (and some governments) maybe take this show/manga too seriously.  I mean, any country that actually sanctions another because of a gag comedy that makes fun of all the countries is probably . . .  (And they didn't even see the American dub which amps up the offensiveness even more with a cheerful smile and a rude gesture.)  In the commentary, they talked about their desire to offend everyone because they don't believe in singling countries out.  I would say they have achieved success at this equal-opportunity policy.  And frequently hilariousness.

"I say we hit Italy first because they can't drive and are usually drunk!"
---
"Their killer technique is profiting from the sidelines." (France)
---
"Waving this white flag is really tiring!" (Italy)
---
"I'll definitely (probably) quit it." (can't remember)

b Moribito:  Am I seriously getting misty-eyed just from hearing that tune play over the menu?  Yes, yes I am.  Because this show is THAT good.
Someday, I will cosplay Balsa.  I will need to be able to use my hands and arms enough to do some serious weight-lifting before then.  So maybe I will not ever cosplay Balsa, but I would if I had better muscle definition on my arms.  Anyway, have I mentioned that I love this show? Because I do.  It has action, drama, mystery, fantasy, a dash of romance, amazing animation, good music, a decent plot, and Tanda.  Who really needs a hug.  Just because.  I cry at the end every time.  I want to read more of the novels SOOOOOO BAAAAAAAD.  Oh, please, Viz, please.  PLEASE!

What I watched in January 2012: Digest Version

b Blood +: Part Two:   I thought I hadn't seen most of the second half, but apparently, I was only missing the last few episodes.  I still really like this show.  Good dub, good characters, interesting psychology, great music, solid, heartbreaking ending: what more could I ask for?

b Legend of Black Heaven: A thirty-something protagonist who used to be an almost-famous rock star.  Rocky relationships with his wife and son, a job he hates.  Life it kind of crappy.  Until the aliens come and tell him that only his guitar playing can save the planet.  (I am not making this up.)  The dub is great fun (with Beau Billingsly [you may be familiar with his portrayal of Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop] as the lead), and this show deserves an award for showing the best bedhead ever displayed in anime.  "Rock and Roll is going to save the Earth!"  Rock on, man.  It's totally ridiculous, and I love it.

b xxxHolic: Hmmm.  I wondered how they were going to do this adaptation.  In the end, they took some of the tamer stuff and put together a serviceable series not lacking all the manga's bite (but most of it, especially the long-running plot threads that tied in to long-term payoffs and developments beyond the scope the anime).  They knew this one wasn't ever going to get to do the whole series, so they took out most of the long-term plot connection elements without making too many dumb mistakes.  It's fairly gorgeous.  Some of the voice acting in English grated on me, but, well, it's not their fault Watanuki is such a spaz.  His is a hard role to play.  : )  Overall, worth watching.

What I watched in June

o Gao-Gai-Gar: Well, that's finally over.  My question the last four discs has been, "Why is this still going on?"  I mean, how many climactic final battles can we have before it ends?  Answer: There's always room for one more!  On a positive note, the theme songs were also passionate and hilarious every time.

b Stellvia: I probably talked enough about this one already.  http://notanotakunao.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-i-love-stellvia.html

b Tsubasa: Sometimes Funimation gets a bit carried away with their "reversioning" for English dubs.  Tsubasa is unfortunately a prime example of this irritating tendency.  If you want to know what's really going on, watch with the subtitles on because the wide difference between the spoken English dialogue and the more literal subtitles is sometimes startling and occasional obscures the actual meaning of what's going on in a way I consider somewhat unforgivable.  Who gives a crap about lip flaps?!  Well, that's what the Japanese dub is for, I guess.

Why I Love Stellvia

Stellvia is the story of the folks who live and work on the space station Stellvia.  In this world, a star went supernova, and the initial blast almost totalled Earth.  The time for the second wave (this one containing debris that would finish the destruction of Earth) is near, and the cooperating Earth governments have a plan to save the world.

As our story begins, a new probationary class of trainees is on their way to Stellvia, and they end up taking part in a lot of important events during the second wave and beyond.  I think I've seen this show three (maybe four) times now, and it delights me every time.  One of these days I'm going to get around to watching it in Japanese, but I've enjoyed the English dub well enough so far that I just keep watching that (eases multi-tasking, too, I must admit :).

So just what do I like about this show?

• It's a mix.  Part sitcom, part school story, part drama, part romance, part coming of age story.  When something gets tedious, usually the next episode is completely different.
• It's clean.  A little swearing here and there, some scary moments, and some violence, but overall, it's just a fairly PG show.  Even the fanservice is pretty toned down (at least not quite as obsessively focused on as it could be).
• It's genuine.  There's a fair amount of interpersonal work that gets done, some of it frustrating and some of it hilarious, all of it somewhat universally relatable.  The romance is often cute, but it's never idealized (and it's basically a minor part of the show, often completely absent).  The romantic conflicts are realistic for kids this age in this kind of situation. 
• It's gentle.  Difficult things happen.  People fight for stupid reasons with their friends, with their parents, with their boyfriends.  They're clumsy.  Sometimes they screw up.  Sometimes badly.  They get frustrated; they're under too much pressure.  Sometimes you just want to smack them, but you still root for them, and you feel the loving worry of watching over people you care about as they face challenges and make decisions you can't help them with.
• It's hard sci fi.  Some folks might argue with me because it has a giant robot, but it's only really able to work in zero G, where its ridiculous shape isn't quite so ridiculous.  I argue for the hard sci-fi designator because so much of the premise is hard science and so much of the execution is, too.  I only really know of one other show where programming skills are so important to the fate of the universe, but that one is a fanservice extravanganza and sometimes incoherent and has a frustrating ending.  (I have too many reservations to recommend it to a general audience.)
• It has adults.  And they are not stupid.  And they care about the kids and work through adult problems while interacting with the kids as they mature and stumble into new problems.  And they have personalities and backstories and interaction with each other and not just the kids.  I know, novel, right?  I rather like the adults.
• It moves fast but still takes plenty of time with its characters.  The Great Mission is what you think it's all about, but that's only the first half.  The second half is where things really start to get intense (interpersonally, politically, strategically, etc.), and the friendships and relationships built in the first half get to try out their legs.  And look at 'em go!

I like shows with good re-watch value, and I've found this one to have it in spades.  Not for the complicated plot or mind-bending special effects or confusing events.  I just like hanging out with these folks every so often.  Maybe you should give it a try.

Have you seen the show?  Your thoughts?

Geneon suggestions

Drat! Geneon titles are falling off Netflix faster than I can watch them with my limited time and even more limited funding! Do you have any must-see suggestions from the Geneon catalog for me, so I can bump them up the queue? Do share!

On The Familiar of Zero

+

• a plot
• hints dropped early that came back around and tied things together in the end in a somewhat natural but still surprising way
• didn't resort to, "It's fantasy; we don't ever have to explain it in a way that makes sense!"
• male lead who isn't a total pushover (mostly because of his special ability), at least, not all the time
• different hair colors and eye colors had regional reasons; black hair, black eyes = significant/meaningful
• implied rather than showed some things related to the ending, so it wasn't as tedious as some shows can get (except for the underwear, mentioned below)
• the female lead's tsundere tendencies make logical, explainable sense and tie in to the whole plot (really)
  

-

• English dub not so great; might be better in Japanese because overacting for comic effect easier to take in a foreign language
  
• cheesecake, gratuitous fanservice
• underwear, related to above
• attempts at character development not always successful

I thought it was a fun, short series.  Also, every word in the title makes sense related to the show!  How often does that happen with anime?!


Have you seen it?  Any thoughts to add?  How was the Japanese dub?