Hirasawa Yui gathers no moss

That Mio is the top favourite K-ON character isn't a surprise at all. I have been a little surprised though at how much Yui is disliked: she 'drove [Kabitzin] crazy, in a bad way' and Mentar called her a 'walking toothache.' Ouch.

I'm not going to rush to the defence of K-ON's QUALITY animation (though it doesn't bother me that much). But I'm going to fanboy about Yui for a bit, as Tohsaka Rin might chant, to protect the balance.

Toradora 7 – Why I STILL want to be male in my next life

While I don't believe in reincarnation, I've always maintained that I would STILL want to be a guy in my next life. No offense to the other half of the world but being able to stand and pee beats the daylights out of multiple orgasms the female body, though an improvement over the male physique, pays a steep steep price with monthly maintenance. I quote a high school friend, one of the brightest in class -

"How can you lose to a girl? They're whacked out of sorts 5 days every month..."

I assure he's still very much alive and in fact happily married (to an overachieving wife). Anyhow I digress. Back on Toradora 7

Courage, Wife and Downloading

I wanted to write about an NGO's report that filesharers buy more media stuff than non-filesharers but the initial Slashdot post was a bit thin and the report is only available in Dutch. Today another post on the same report popped up again on Slashdot linking to an article with a bit more content.

Basically, one of the highlights is that filesharers buy as much music as non-filesharers. They also buy more DVDs, games, merchandise and attend more concerts. This... sounds kind of familiar.

Richer than romance – The Taiga-Ryuji relationship

Having caught a random ep of Toradora (turns out it was ep 15) on TV last night, I was rather surprised how enjoyable it was despite not having seen the preceding 8 eps. 15 min into the ep, I realised it was the Taiga-Ryuji relationship which intrigued me.

Platonic relationships fascinate me because all my previous 'platonic friendships' had encroached on romantic territories. Hence, I'm rather envious of 'couple' friends who can have such intimate friendships without ever crossing that fine line. Taiga-Ryuji appears to be one such example. It doesn't help that I hail from the school of thought that believes love needs to be built upon friendship/relationship. So my natural instincts were to root for Taiga-Ryuji as a romantic couple given their solid friendship. However, the ep showed me that what they shared was richer and rarer than some plain vanilla romance. Personally I don't believe in platonic relationships between attractive persons. Taiga-Ryuji, despite their tsun-tsun and scary eyes respectively, have their own unique charms that I would deem attractive. I suppose their relationship works because they are fixated on another whom, by their reckoning, is much worthier.

I'm not sure about the direction the anime intends for Taiga-Ryuji but I hope their buddy status would remain. For now, it's a beautiful relationship which needs not blossom into love. Now to download ep 7.

How to enjoy anime adaptations – Don't compare with its source

Anime adaptations often invoke either great love or loathing amongst fans of the source material with the latter typically being the larger and more vocal camp. Most criticisms center on the heretical or uninspired source-to-anime treatment of what originally were wonderfully crafted plots/characters. At its core, such dissent boils down to a failure to meet expectations which an anime-only 2D fanboy like myself is devoid of. While I understand that such expectations unavoidable, I'm not sure if it'd be fair to compare the two even if one has its roots in the other.

Different medium

Depending on the source (manga, light novel or games), the freedom/constraints in the adaptations would vary. Bring alive the static requires the infusion of dimensions (music, voice acting etc) previously absent and may potentially jeopardise unspoken but canonical attributes envisioned by hardcore fans. Add the dicing/slicing of the original plot to meet the challenge of delivering an anime episode that entertains on a weekly basis yet coherent to the overarching plot and we have a purported eroge/light-novel/manga homicide.

Different ownership

The anime production is ultimately in the hands of the director. Depending on the studio, its receptivity to the original author's participation and input varies. Many an adaptation have taken fresh directions in consultation with the mangaka, granting new life to the anime making comparisons meaningless. I also suspect that many mangaka have remained deliberately vague about the direction of their manga (either because they have no idea what's going happen next or they don't want the anime spoiling their next manga release) forcing the studios to conjure (sometimes out of their asses) creative interpretations for their adaptations.

I believe an anime adaptation is a new life. No doubt one that owns its birth to the original material but it should be recognised as an entity of its own. To the manga/eroge/LN purists, try this - cast away your heightened expectations and enjoy your anime adaptation as an alternate story within the same universe. Assess the anime solely for what it has to offer for its 13 or 26 ep run and you may just find it easier to enjoy the series as this happily ignorant tanuki does.

Disclaimer: I hated Yoakena not because it was a poor adaptation but because it insulted my favourite vegetable - the Cabbage.

WANTED – Spring/Summer anime recommendations

This must be the nuclear winter of my anime passion. Since embarking on new employment in March, time has become such a precious commodity that I've only managed to complete 2 series from the Spring and Summer broadcasts - Code Geass R2 and DCIISS (both of which I enjoyed tremendously.) Of course, I'm currently still pursuing Wagaga no oinarisama (ep 21) and Nogizaka Haruka no himitsu (ep 10) but just haven't found enough motivation for the sprint to the finale. Currently stuck at the birthday ep for Nogizaka (which reeks of cliches) and the Momiji arc for Wagaya (what if they screwed up the arc of the hottest girl in Wayaga!?!). That's not all. I'm also at the concluding eps for Mahoraba (ep 22) and Seto no Hanayome (ep 22). Heck, my records at MAL tells me I'm also one ep short of completing Clannad and Bamboo Blade is frozen at the magical number, yes, 22. So just what's wrong with me?

Possibly besides the time factor, there must be a subconscious suppression of the urge to finish the series, anticipating the emptiness and uncertainty (of meeting the next worthy production) that follows. But like the wise said, "there's no better way to get over the last than with the next.", here's an appeal for recommendations of the recent Spring/Summer series. I have Blassreiter on my list at the moment since it comes highly recommended by Zyl and Mentar.

Noting that I enjoy, drama, bishoujo, coherent plots and endearing characters, which of these Spring/Summer productions would you recommend for tanuki consumption?

Series composition – Going beyond studio pedigree

You know you are leveling up in anime-geekery when you stop referring to a series as 'a Kyo-Ani production' but "directed by Tatsuya Ishihara". Someone has posed the question before - "Why do you even need to know the animation studio?" To which I had answered, "to anticipate the quality of the series." There is just too many anime for us to sample and feedback from trusted anibloggers and studio pedigree thus become important factors in a series uptake. However, the latter is becoming less pertinent of late given my emphasis on story integrity and plot coherence which fall under that purview of series composer/script writers who may or may not be staff of the animating studio.

I may have been watching anime for years but am still clueless when it comes to the mechanics of anime production. Which was why the interview with Jukki Hanada (that came with my Rozen Maiden Traumend DVDs) was so educational. Hanada san was the series editor (composer) for Rozen Maiden and Traumend and the interview granted great insight on how the plot of an anime is put together. For those interested here's a brief on the process.

Kiddie steps into anime fandom – My nephew the Naruto fan

My nephew has been watching me watch anime since he was born. 7 years he witnessed his uncle laugh, yell, cry and headbutt Japanese 2D images on his now-retired desktop LCD. Despite that, he never got into Japanese anime (or maybe PRECISELY because of that), preferring the fare that Cartoon Network spews. (Alright, it's not that bad really. I actually enjoyed Spongebob Squarepants' quirky humour.) That was until Naruto began to air on Central last week. 5 eps into the show, he was a fan.

It's great to meet a fellow fan even if he was your nephew and more than 20 yrs younger. He started to call frequently to discuss about the show/characters and I prepped him for the Haku arc (which incidentally is my favourite of the Naruto anime). In fact, just talking about it got me so excited, I went out and bought the Naruto DVDs for him (Vol. 1) - 4 DVDs which he devoured immediately. Now he can't wait for the start of the Chuunin exams and I can't wait to get the DVDs from him to relive Haku goodness (who must be one of the finest traps even more the term was coined.)

I personally believe one's reaction to Naruto fandom is one of the most telling things about his anime fandom. The anime elitist would deride it as a mass-market product designed for the inferior mainstream palette while the Narutard would try in spoil your anime experience by flaunting how much he knows. But honourable is a fan who seeks to enhance another's anime experience via nurturing instead of neutering interest. (And neutering interest includes posting anime spoilers as entry titles, spoiling everyone and anyone visiting just the aniblog aggregators hosting these sites.)

Now I can't wait till weekend to pass my nephew Vol. 2 of Naruto. Man is he in for a ride.

The unique flavour of anime

I'm often challenged when I staunchly choose this medium of storytelling over the vast offering of alternative visual entertainment in this hedonistic age. Why indeed? After all, I enjoy a great deal of American TV, Japanese/Korean/Hong Kong (less on the Taiwanese though) dramas/romances/martial arts and the occasional British humour. But I'd always return to my first love, anime. After some soul-searching (for a profoundly long 30 seconds), I believe here are be some factors why anime remains irreplacable for this tanuki.

Anime is diverse

Horror, harem, drama, romance, harem, mecha, sentai, sports, ninjas, you name it, anime has it. And that's only touching on the genre. There's a whole slew of other offerings like animation style, fetishes and storytelling mode etc which anime can boast of great diversity in.