Evangelion by Okumura Sachiko



Gundam by CLAMP



Sakura would fit pretty well in any Gundam series, methinks. What with her tendency to keep dying and coming back to life and all.

(Note: If you cannot see thumbnails above, try viewing this post from nenena.livejournal.com.)

Linkspam > Boredom. Let's go.

( Behind this cut, the internets are awesome. )

Bonus awesome: How to Make a Real Taco. Although I maintain that there is no shame in making and eating the Americanized version, however, as it's quite a tasty invention. As long as you're not fooling yourself into thinking that you're eating a REAL MEXICAN TACO, that is.

Well, it's that time again. October means the start of new anime series in Japan, and everybody and their dog is throwing up a "fall preview" post on their blog or livejournal. I was thinking of doing that too, but first, I went back and looked at what shows I predicted I would watch last spring, and laughed a bit at myself. Then I started thinking and writing, looking back on a year of watching free anime in wonderful Japanland, and, well...

I guess it's the normal procedure to wait until December to do an "anime year in review" post, but I think that fall would actually be a better time for me to do so. First, in Japan as in the United States, fall is the nominal start of the Year in Television. Second, I arrived in Japan last fall, so if I wanted to write about a year's worth of anime, of course it cover the span of time from autumn to autumn!

So without further adieu, here is my year in anime. ( Behind the cut. )

And, to conclude this amazingly long post...

Recommendations?

Level One: If you breathe air, you will probably like this series.
Seirei no Moribito/Guardian of the Sacred Spirit
Romeo x Juliet
Dennou Coil


Level Two: Recommended, but your mileage may vary.
Gurren Lagann (must love old-fashioned schlock done right)
Code Geass (must love old-fashioned schlock done horribly, horribly wrong)
Claymore (must be able to love a good story despite terrible art)
Hataraki Man (must not be grossed out by onscreen depictions of people eating natto)
Moonlight Mile (must have tolerance for slow pacing)
To Terra (must be able to love that old-school space opera)

So, if I had to sum up all of the above in one sentence, it would be this:
Everybody should watch Seirei no Moribito.
That is all.

Other than movies related to long-running anime series, or "movies" that consisted of a series of experimental shorts (hello Amazing Nuts!), Paprika and Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo ("The Girl Who Leapt Through Time") were the two biggest true anime movies last year. Well, them and Gedo Senki. But Gedo Senki was powerfully un-good, so we won't waste time discussing it in this post, since it's already been criticized to death all over the internet. Anyway, what's interesting about Paprika and TokiKake is that they're both based on classic science fiction novels by the same author, Tsutsui Yasutaka.

And I watched them both last week for the first time. So here are my jumbly-thoughts about both.

( Paprika. Cut for vague plot-related spoilers, and explicit romance-related spoilers. But if you don't care about knowing who will hook up with who (hint: it's obvious from the beginning), go ahead and read! )

( Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. No spoilers. )

Typhoon = can't go out = inside reading magazines = screwing around on internet = posting a lot.

So, anyway, Newtype. Still the premier and most popular anime magazine in Japan, even if they do devote twenty pages every issue to humping Gundam Seed and even if their furoku is pwned every month by what Animage and Animedia offer.

But what Newtype has going for it that the other two don't is brilliant, calculated false advertising.

For example: Sometime in 2001, Newtype publishes an issue with Keiichi and Belldandy on the cover, wearing a tuxedo and wedding dress, respectively. The cover says "AH! MY GODDESS THE SECOND MOVIE" in giant English letters. Fanboys across the nation orgasm in delight when they see this cover on the newstands, snatch up copies of the magazine like whoa, post all over the internet how there's going to be a new Ah! My Goddess movie, and.... Open the magazine, read the article, and find out that it's a total false alarm. Meanwhile, Newtype sells a bazillion copies, and Kadakowashoten sits on their pile of money and laughs.

For example: In August 2006, Newtype publishes an issue with Suzumiya Haruhi and her friends on the cover. The cover says "SUZUMIYA HARUHI RETURNS!" in giant English letters. Fanboys across the nation orgasm in delight when they see this cover on the newstands, snatch up copies of the magazine like whoa, post all over the internet how there's going to be a second season of Suzumiya Haruhi, and.... Open the magazine, read the article, and find out that it's a total false alarm. (The main article is an interview with the director where he says, "Well, I wouldn't be opposed to the existence of a theoretical second season, but there's no plans for one," in so many words.) Fans in Japan cry out the false alarm, but fans in America who see the scans and can only read the English cover but not the Japanese article, continue to spread the false impression that a second season has been confirmed. Meanwhile, Newtype sells a bazillion copies, and Kadakowashoten sits on their pile of money and laughs.

For example: In September 2006, Newtype publishes an issue with Ayanami Rei on the cover, giant English writing that says "REBUILD OF EVANGELION," and Japanese text that says (loosely translated) "Hey guys totally new Eva anime liek ROCK AWESOME!" Fanboys all over the nation view this cover with... extreme skepticism. News leaks out over the internet that the interior article of said Newtype issue does indeed confirm that there will be four entirely new Eva movies, including prequels and sequels, the first of which is set to premier in 2007. Yes, that's right, new Eva anime - not a new DVD release, not a new PS2 game, not an inane new shoujo manga remake, not a new artbook, but actual new anime. However, fanboys are skeptical of the Newtype cover, do not trust the internet sources, and snatch up copies of Newtype by the thousands to see for themselves whether it really IS true or not.

Thus, Newtype sells a bazillion copies, and Kadakowashoten sits on their pile of money and laughs.

The false advertising works even when it's NOT false advertising. Awesome.