Been a while since we had a decultural update, so I’m happy to be posting one. And I’m even happier this particular time because Yakk… Deculture! now has a collaborator! This is exciting stuff. In a move no one should find inappropriate, I’ve teamed with ghostlightning of We Remember Love to bring the deculture in all kinds of new ways. He and mechafetish are the biggest Macross fans I know so it was a natural fit. Hopefully with our powers combined we can bring dumb Macross fandom items to the internets faster than I ever could myself.

This one is an ongoing project, the Macross cover song mix tapes. You can hear versions of classic Macross hits as sung by all the major divas. I think it’s a great way to put the Macross music and timeline into perspective. In most cases, the list looks like this:

1. Lynn Minmay (SDF Macross in all cases except “Ai Oboeteimasu ka,” which only appeared in Do You Remember Love?)
2. Mylene Jenius (co-singer/bassist of Fire Bomber in Macross 7, some songs from the Mylene sings Minmay album)
3. Ranka Lee (of Macross Frontier; Sheryl didn’t really get much for Minmay song opportunities, which is a shame, I’d love to hear it)
4. Mari Ijima (these are recent re-recordings by the Minmay seiyuu/songwriter)

Go check them out! It requires Flash. And if anyone has any other ideas (did anyone cover Makoto Fujiwara’s awesome theme song?), hit me or ghostlightning up.

I have to admit, there is only one series that must come on without fail as soon as possible after it finishes downloading. That is this one. It’s also the one series that turns me instantly into a massive cheeseball ready to whip out the stupidest pseudo-writerly nonsense my fingers can manage to type. I stare, riveted, allowing ef’s now tried-and-true methods to work on me: red herrings, surprise appearance of the OP, stained-glass visuals, and extreme melodrama that even Key can’t front on.

Random-ish thoughts

• Australia, lols.
• Nagi seems to have given up easily. While Kei took until the climax to admit that she wasn’t The One, Nagi really seemed to let it go. Is that because she’s just a bridge between series (as Hiro’s sister) or because she’s not really done yet? Would be a shame if the show came and went with her just being “Hiro’s naked sister.”
• Am I missing something? Did I not stare riveted enough? Who did all that raping and beating on Yuuko — was it Amamiya? She did call him her “brother,” didn’t she? What a monster scene, though.
• Mizuki-chan kinda sucks. She’s just a flighty little girl who’s as easily swayed toward crushing on Kei as she is “falling in love” with Kuze. Is this why Kuze sent her away? Or does he really believe that one or both of them will be irreparably damaged by his little about-to-die scenario?
• Blacking out of faces seems to be used for different purposes. When Yuuko is all black, I thought it was because her true self was hidden from Himura.

I think this is a big reason why I love ef. I can come up with this list (or a much bigger one; see TheBigN’s MAL blog) and have a discussion with people or even just a mental exercise with myself. Like a good novel or piece of experimental music, ef requires a little active participation.

If I’m obligated to say something critical, I have to mention that it’s almost too similar to the previous series. But ef: memories didn’t get by on whack-tastic visual effects alone; there was a gripping story there. The Anno-esque (thanks Martin) phone card scene would not have worked without a character like Miyako there to support it. Now that we’re fully embroiled in the current storylines — what a wild, guilt-filled ride last episode — I totally expect the impossibly tight drama to unfold. And hopefully ef delivers a second time.

And regardless of what I said about active participation, that doesn’t quite extend to predictions for me. I don’t like to speculate on where ef will go. I’d much rather soak it in. Because regardless of the story’s twists and turns, it’s about execution and characters for me. Watching the characters, enjoying the pretentious dialog, taking in the visuals and wondering whether this or that is symbolic or red herring. That’s the fun.

For those of you who commented when Oi, Hayaku! launched, saying that you hoped I wouldn’t slow down here… sorry, I guess I’ve done just that. It’s not really OH’s fault, though. Life, work, sickness, etc. gets in the way sometimes, and given the choice between taking a few spare minutes to watch anime or blog, WordPress doesn’t look nearly as good as Michiko.

However, I have been doing a lot of design and theming work with Riex, and that is looking sexy. I’m happy to say that the work has paid off in the form of a new front page and some theme modifications that really make this site suit us more than the out-of-the-box theme.

totally awesome and unrelated image (from Collection DX)

I’ve met some great bloggers as a result of OH! too. It goes without saying that the rest of our writers are cool people with good stuff to say. But even clicking commenters’ names has led me to folks like ghostlightning and mechafetish of We Remember Love, a fantastic giant robot worship blog and a great read. Whether you’re a fan of Gundam, Macross, or even Mazinger, I hereby demand you read this blog.

I’ve also started a very serious undertaking, one that I pretended to begin months ago and didn’t get anywhere with: Inspired by a new wave of folks who’ve actually finished the whole thing, I’m back on Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I find that I almost have to force myself to sit down in front of the TV and do all that reading, especially after a long day, but inexplicably I’m riveted once they start strategizing. So far, it’s just involved enough that you feel like you’re really chewing on something, but not so complicated that it hurts. I’m maybe 10% into it, though, so time will tell.

Today the Legend, tomorrow… shit, I dunno. Probably will be well past tomorrow before that’s done. Come back to me then.

As DMC’s manager would say, FUUUUCK. There’s a lot going on this season, as there should be, it’s fall. Casshern Sins supplies the atmosphere, Kannagi brings the lulz, and ef: melodies keeps bring the symbolism (or is it the red herrings?).

Done and done.

Ga-Rei Zero. After the traumatic  first episode, it didn’t seem to go much of anywhere for a while. I just can’t seem to get into it, regardless of gore. I’ll probably check it out after it’s all over if the response remains somewhat positive.

Chaos;Head. Higurashi it ain’t, NHK it ain’t. In a medium full of shitty male protagonists, Takasu is the most worthless and loathsome representative of the species. NHK’s Satou was the product of excellent writing and was thus able to tread a thin line between empathetic and just plain detestable. Nitro+’s story doesn’t give us anything like that. Worse, the paranoid antics of the first couple episodes have taken a back seat to a harem-like lineup of girls with weird glowing swords.

Tytania. I can’t handle it. I re-started an earnest attempt to plow through Legend of the Galactic Heroes, for real this time (I know…), and I just can’t deal with both. I’ll check it out later.

Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden Ten no Haoh. It’s hard to find a reliable subtitle out there, and with Toei’s new Crunchyroll showing of the classic original Hokuto no Ken series, I can finally fulfill my wish of seeing the whole damn thing without actually paying for it (I’ve only seen the movie waaaaaay back in the day). You wa shock!

Thin Ice

Clannad After Story. When, in episode 6, Misae goes to get something to drink at the festival, did anyone else groan? It’s not that I wrote it. It’s just that this shit is starting to get old. Whether it was just Tomoya’s bizarre Dallas-like dream, or he was talking to a goddam cat, it reeked of the same old Key dirty tricks. The flashback episodes started to really get on my nerves how the character design is pretty samey. I mean, wasn’t one of Misae’s friends a dead ringer for Kotomi, never mind Misae herself being Kyou with a slightly different hairstyle? I can think of only one reason why I’m still doing this. Must be time for bodies to start dropping.

Toaru Majutsu No Index. While omo’s theory that whether or not you like the smoking-drinking-loli-teacher will make or break the show didn’t quite last after a quick survey, another common theory that there’s too much fucking exposition in this show holds water. Stop talking. Stop!

You may have noticed that since I randomly sampled a bit of Futakoi Alternative, I haven’t posted much. That’s because I’ve been watching it. On recommendations from Kabitzin and TheBigN, I dove headlong into what turned out to be one of the best series I’ve seen in quite some time.

Story

In Futakoi Alternative, which takes place in the same female-twin-infested universe as an (apparently crappy) harem series called Futakoi, Rentarou Futabo inherits a detective agency from his father and operates it with his young twin assistants. It’s not exactly a normal premise in itself, but add in crooked cops, a tofu salesman obsessed with crawfish, a Yakuza boss with a Mazinger Z fist, a vast underground conspiracy involving humanoid squid, and an arranged marriage in a castle in Germany, and shit starts to go all over the place.

Nearly every episode bounces around chronologically. At first, that’s a little disorienting and just a smidge confusing, but in the end this method works wonders for the emotional impact of the story.

Characters

Characters are foremost in driving Futakoi Alternative’s 13 episodes, especially Rentarou. He’s one of anime’s finest male leads — neither a spineless harem loser who can’t make up his mind about what he wants, nor an emotionless caricature of manliness. He’s a regular guy who you get to watch grow from a somewhat indecisive kid to a young man who takes things into consideration before ultimately tackling his problems head-on. The main theme of Alternative has more to do with Rentarou accepting who he is, and what it means to be his father’s son, than it does with squid conspiracies. He does, however, smoke a cigarette in one drag during an especially awesome scene, and if you think that’s great, you’re right.

Sara and Soujyu, the twins, aren’t as deeply characterized but they’re not one-dimensional moe shortcuts either. Sara’s strength and unhesitating decision-making are the trigger for the second half of the plot, and the vulnerability she ultimately shows is the ironic product of her unwavering resilience. By the same token, Soujyu, the shy and accomodating one, gains a quiet and believable strength in that second half.

Side characters aren’t very well-developed at all, but they are highly entertaining and more than serve their purpose, especially the crawfish-catching Gen.

Animation & Music

Alternative has some of the best background music I’ve seen in a TV anime. It almost always enhances the mood greatly, and anyone who’s seen it should probably identify with the words “disco fight scene.” Animation (by ufotable with flag and feel.) is capable and never drops in quality, but the directing goes far beyond the call of duty. Action sequences are over-the-top and frequently resemble Kazuya Tsurumaki’s wacked-out FLCL, while the more melancholy stuff can be gut-wrenching without slipping into Key-style melodrama.

Vibe

I have to mention that one of Futakoi Alternative’s greatest strengths (if not the greatest) is its constantly-shifting mood. The first half is manic, hilarious, and action-packed. We get a bit of angst off Rentarou as everyone including the spectre of his dead father pressures him to be something. But overall, it’s a free and easy (if very wild) time. You feel as if there can’t be more fun packed into 20 minutes. Then, abruptly, the second half cuts a wide gash through your fun, just as it does with the characters. That manic energy is ripped away and replaced by alternating sweet sadness and hopeless desperation. By the time the middle of the story starts winding into the end, the only happiness the characters have seen for weeks was in their own bizarre and delusional fantasies. But by the end of the story, frenetic action and laughs are back, augmented this time by a fist-pumping “fuck yeah” factor that would make Simon and Kamina proud.

Bottom Line

Just watch it. It’s got brains, balls, and heart. And, it’s got something for almost everyone: romance lovers, missile spam fetishists, FLCL fans, and even bigamists. I would love to own the show, but it seems unlikely at this point that we’ll get a license for R1 and I’m almost never willing to pay R2 DVD prices for stuff, so my enjoyment of this series is a bit bittersweet. Much of what we watch as far as TV anime is throwaway, even the best of it, but I can see myself easily enjoying Futakoi Alternative again. I can recommend this wild ride without any hesitation.

Not really too much else worth mentioning about that, but hopefully the quality doesn’t falter. So far there’s been nothing original about the plot in general, so adding another anime cliché should just be another test of Kannagi’s ability to execute brilliantly. It’s still a bit early, but it hasn’t failed yet.

This is mostly an excuse to respond to remarks made by He-Who-Must-Be-Spoken-To-in-Trackbacks (you’re welcome for the trackback), which no one loves to do but the statement that “nobody … even paid attention” raised a flag. Heaping praise is being dumped on Kannagi from all over the webernets, and let’s just say I wasn’t the only one zaitcev glossed over when he decided he was the sole party who noticed the animation quality. In fact, I even mentioned the Lucky Star resemblance (passing mention, I guess, but the parallel is clear as day).

Why is it people have to imagine they’re the only ones to notice something? Some other bloggers I love have a tendency toward this underdog stuff as well. Maybe it’s everyone’s desire to be the one finding the hidden gem, but let’s just all get together here: Kannagi is pretty boss, it’s so boss that we all know it, time to start a fan club.

Critical info:

• Vintage: 2005
• No. of episodes: 13
• Episodes sampled: 6 & 7
• Notable personnel: not really
• Origin: Sequel to Futakoi
• Themes: Detectives, action, twins, harem?

Futakoi Alternative is one of those series I missed the first time because it was in one of those “dark periods” where I wasn’t watching much anime. This particular sample, of a series that is on some level about a guy who takes over his dead father’s detective agency which is located in a strange world full of twins (I think), reveals the two flaws in my random sampling system.

First, I’m always tempted to hit the middle episodes, where you’ll often see a change of direction in the series. TheBigN talked about this series in particular having a major one. And, if I find that I really enjoy the episode(s), I’ve probably run into serious spoilers for the time when I start it over and watch for real.

I’m not too sure about the spoilers, but I did really like these couple episodes, and I could sense the directional change (toward the serious) without having too much knowledge of what was going on. Other than that, there seems to be a lot of madcap action and, dare I say, zaniness to be enjoyed in Futakoi Alternative. Plus Rentarou smokes a cigarette in one drag, it’s pretty boss.

From a passing glance at the blogs, including Kabitzin’s posts on the subject, it looks like the series has its merits and its fans. And from the mix of action, laughs, and soapiness I saw, I do believe that I’m going to give it a shot.

Somehow, amidst all the fall anime I’ve started (some of it’s gonna get dropped like a shitty potato) and extra blog work I’ve taken on, I found time to watch some more cartoons. The time I’m able to watch anime comes in bursts, so I tend to take full advantage of it when I can.

I’m not sure what possessed me to go after Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha at this particular juncture. Maybe it was just… there. I didn’t even know this was an Akiyuki Shinbo thing until some of episode one’s strange angles and techniques made me wonder who the hell directed it enough to look that up.

Set up.

First off, Nanoha is not quite what I expected. Like I said, I didn’t expect some strange Shinbo shit to be going on, and I certainly didn’t expect fanservice, which to be honest is a little weird. But I knew enough to know that there would be some things I didn’t expect. I’d heard talk of things getting dark after a certain point, and I knew that later seasons focused on the characters as they aged beyond typical magical girl years.

To me, the very idea of what happens to a magical girl after she grows up is fascinating (as fascinating as anything in the genre could be), and I’m watching as much in anticipation of those later seasons as I am for the first series. But as a whole, I’ve found that even in season one there is a lot more in-depth exploration of the “realities” of the mahou shoujo life. If, indeed, a magical girl were real, it’s unlikely life would be a walk in the park for her. While others have delved into that a little bit, Nanoha gets (relatively) weighty at times. Granted, it’s no Citizen Kane, but it’s more serious than I expected.

That’s just the tip of the magic wand, though — Nanoha seems to approach almost every aspect of its story in a more “adult” way than you’d expect from a genre usually aimed at little girls. That can be both interesting, as with Shinbo’s Tourette’s-like explosions of visual craziness, or kind of icky, as with fanservice.

Random thoughts:

• Shinbo has marked his territory here, no matter what anyone says to the contrary. Fisheyes, fast clouds, silhouettes, and of course the ol’ off-center scene composition all make their way into Nanoha on a regular basis.
• Characterization is not so good. Instead of straight-up explaining the characters’ motivations, I’d like to see something less lazy.
• I can’t say that Nanoha is the first anime where I’ve seen a huge shock of hair migrate from one side of the head to the other, depending on which way a character faces. But I think it’s the first one I’ve seen from the 21st century.
• It’s a given that the transformation scene will be shoved in your face over and over again, so I always hope for cool but short. Nanoha’s has a couple neat little head-trips, but also some barbie-doll nudity, and it lasts a full minute and a half. You don’t always see the whole thing, but holy hell. Beats Sailor Moon, I guess, but that’s not saying a lot.
• Nanoha and Fate’s “magic” is actually sufficiently advanced technology, as in Arthur C. Clarke’s third law, which I didn’t expect to crop up in a magical girl cartoon.

Anyway

I’ll get back to it eventually, and watch the second half when I have some time again. So far, I can’t say I’m impressed with the basic Sakura-meets-Inuyasha plot or the lazy characterization, but it has some charm and the visuals are cool more often than not.

The other day, Jason asked me what the dark horse this season was. The True Tears, if you will.

Seems like I haven’t seen enough to make a real judgment yet, but to my surprise I answered pretty quickly: Kannagi.

What a catch! If asked to sum it up, I’d say Kabitzin suddenly became a cute female spirit of nature with a dime-store magical girl wand and is living at some kid’s house, watching TV and eating all the cup noodles! What’s not to love?

(Tree) God is in the details

The premise is nothing new. In the world of anime, gods and spirits become flesh in the form of cute girls and shack up with high school losers all the time. Then they break stuff around the house while they try to figure out how the mortal world works. They create misunderstandings with the boy’s childhood friends — who, as we all know, are the only fitting mates for our male heroes. They even have arguments early on, wherein they storm out of the house for good, only to need help (from the boy) and finally return home, where they find that the incident has only strengthened their inexplicable relationship.

The difference in Kannagi’s case is in the execution.

Nagi is not too cute and klutzy, though she’s no athlete. She’s not too tsun-tsun, even though she does get angry and obstinate when Jin hits a sensitive spot with his words. And she’s not too helpless, needing a loser-boy-master to help with everything — even if it did take her a second to figure out the TV.

Instead of her traits adding up to one big cliché, they add up to a real character. And with the added benefit of her love of puns, Nagi becomes a lot more enjoyable than any supernatural-girl-in-your-house in recent memory.

Lookin good

High-quality art really benefits that characterization too. Like Lucky Star’s cartoony-yet-realistic body language helped create a million Kagamin fanboys, the execution here makes Nagi more real when she scratches her leg with her foot while watching tennis on the floor, as Jin saws frantically at the glued-on wand behind her. Or, best of all, when she describes the circumstances surrounding how the wand got glued to the exact center of the table.

Birdy DECODE’s animation slipped badly last season, but the style here is already so inextricable from the overall experience, I hope A-1 Pictures can maintain this level.

Acting — not so wooden (LOLS)

I was surprised to find that Nagi is voiced by Haruka Tomatsu, the voice of Lala in To Love-Ru. If this isn’t proof that the material makes a difference, I don’t know what is. I actually wished for the ability to jump through the television and strangle Lala’s seiyuu once. Now I’m glad that the god of comic book powers didn’t grant me that one, since every conspiratorial half-stifled laugh at an awful pun is cuter than the last.

Hiro Shimono, ef’s Hiro and RahXephon’s Ayato, already had my vote going into this but he’s proven to be great as well. Take this scene in episode two, when Nagi finds some kittens:

Nagi: At least get them some milk.
Jin: you can’t feed kittens cow’s milk.
Nagi: Your breasts are too small to make any milk, so give it up. HAHAHA. That’s what you’re thinking isn’t it?
Jin: I’m not thinking that.
Jin: Maybe a bit.

It doesn’t look like anything great in transcript. LOL small boobs no one likes those except anime fans harhar, we’ve heard that one. But the delivery on both of their parts is what makes it special, and funny.

That’s a lot of high-quality ingredients all thrown together in a pot, but unfortunately it’s not a soup until you cook it right. And in this metaphor, which is itself pretty half-baked, that means the story. I think we’ll still have to wait and see where that goes. From next episode’s title, it sounds like Nagi will head off to school with Jin, so I hope that we don’t get deluged with clichés from here on out. I also hope the whole smashing-impurities plot will continue to develop, while helping the charming characters do the same. It may still be too early to definitively guarantee Kannagi’s place in the season, but as of now I’m surprised and hopeful.

Edit: I’m not the only one. Hop over and tell OGT he’s not as alone as he thinks.

Chaos;Head

Anime Diet called it Welcome to the NHK meets Higurashi meets Satoshi Kon. I think that’s a good assessment — the story concerns a hardcore hikikomori with delusions/hallucinations who sees a possible grisly murder and experiences some nice reality warping — but Chaos;Head’s first episode feels like less than the sum of its parts. I can reference all those things if I want, but the execution didn’t grab me at all.

What did I like? The premise could make for some cool psychological horror.

Potential problems? Animation wasn’t too good, and from what I’ve seen it’s got a long way to go before it’s Satoshi Kon.

Tytania

Noboru Ishiguro (Macross, Legend of the Galactic Heroes) is back with a space opera that bears a lot of resemblance to LoGH on first glance. The rich Tytania family is basically on a rampage through the universe, repressing everyone they come across with their giant space fleet and endless stores of fancy tea.

What did I like? It really resembles an old-school space opera.

Potential problems? The CG was really slick but the standard animation was anything but impressive. Of course there’s the whole “keeping characters straight” issue, and by that I don’t mean heterosexual because there’s probably very little danger of that— I mean keeping track of who’s who. Of course LoGH probably holds the record, and even it printed character names on the screen at least 27 times, so I’m not that worried.

Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka

So there’s a guy who’s misunderstood by his classmates. They all think he’s a tough guy. One day he ends up in a bizarre pseudo-relationship with a girl played by Rie Kugimiya, who will abuse him constantly over the course of the show. Have you heard it before? Maybe even this season? Well, it’s ok, cause this one’s a VN adaptation. Wait, what? Fuck. No more listening to Riex (he likes Rosario a little too much).

What did I like? Not much, really. Character designs —especially the H2O-style hair — bothered me a bit, but there was lots of thighservice. Um… yay?

Potential problems? Aside from obvious? In two episodes there has already been one “whoops I landed with my hand on your boob.” Aya Hirano as the younger sister (oh yeah, strong siscon undercurrent here) and Kugimiya as Miss Tsun-tsun, along with all the other well-known seiyuu in this could collectively fill the Hindenburg with all the helium it sounds like they’ve been huffing.

Soul Eater

I don’t talk much about it but I’m always watching it, so I wanted to take a second to mention a series that for 27 episodes has yet to hit an extended slump. The action is creative, the animation is solid, and even the stuff that doesn’t contribute to the overall plot is super entertaining. Here’s to a second half that keeps it up.

The only other thing I haven’t seen that I plan to is the new Hokuto no Ken. I don’t know why. Guess it’s just been too long since I saw anyone’s head get punched to the point of explosion.