Bad Subs

Recently I bought a copy of one of my favourite anime series Sora no Woto, a series I consider to be a classic and worthy of a permanent place on the shelf. Or rather would be if the DVD release hadn't been so damned terrible - I could list the various problems (bad encoding, naff opening sequence) but chief amongst the problems has been the subtitles. I wish I could say this is the only time I've encountered bad subtitles but it isn't, and given that there are scant reviews of UK subtitle releases it's always a gamble as to whether or not you're buying something decent.

Which is what brings me to the topic of this blog: if I'm given the option of a badly subtitled DVD which barely makes sense; or a fansub which makes perfect sense, has wonderfully formatted fonts and perfect timing - then there is no real choice at all. By this point you may as well not bother with the DVD purchase because it'll only be a deadweight on the shelf with no benefit to the viewer. Historically you could show your appreciation for a show by importing it (either from Japan for the extreme fan, or the US) but with UK customs this is increasingly impossible.

That in mind, I'm wondering why there isn't an honesty box or something like that which viewers of fansubs can throw money into and see flow back to the producers in Japan - it's a fair deal, and one which would give them more money than some hokey release in a backwater market like the UK. Sure there are streaming sites like Crunchyroll which you could throw money at if you were really inclined, but I'd take more satisfaction in seeing money flow straight back to the producers to reward them for perceived good work than to have it syphoned through a middleman who takes a cut for himself.

But all the same, I'd still like to own a good copy of a good show with a decent set of subtitles. Is that too much to ask for? As a consumer you at least expect some quality, not something which is hastily thrown together without bothering to check the quality. Whatever the case, I can at least take some satisfaction in the distributor or SNW going broke - bad business practice is not a sustainable one.

Mub Rub Total Eclipse

I feel compelled to post right now about Muv Luv Total Eclipse, the last episode left me feeling pretty psyched and therefore in the need to blog about stuff. Considering this show started out as total rubbish it really has come a long way - though it still is visually pretty ugly looking, the delivery of the story has improved a great deal.

Just to recap the background of the show, the story centres around a group of pilots working in a test facility that develops experimental mecha. Most of the show revolves around the relationships between characters and what they do in their time between missions / test flights, the Mecha sections (when they appear) are generally quite fleeting. The reason for Mecha being necessary is that the earth has been invaded by a formidable alien race (or races?) known as BETA, which are pretty good at destroying tanks and aircraft, so something more maneuverable than either of those is pretty handy - but like the Mechs, the BETA are mostly only an aspect of the backstory.

The MC has no problems being alpha.

It's pleasing that the main character in the show is a total badass and isn't entirely dense, though he does harbour an irrational dislike of the Japanese (despite being half-caste himself). Along with the MC are various other pilots, engineers, officers, Soviets (yes, really) and so forth; the most important of these other characters is Yui, veteran of a failed campaign in Japan that is now overseeing R&D for experimental prototypes.

PEW PEW PEW

All this brings me to the last episode, where experimental equipment is finally brought by the test pilots to make use of on front lines. IT WAS AWESOME. Despite the fact that the anime does use badly constructed Zbrush monstrosities, it still kicked ass; and at this point I must restrain myself so as not to give away any spoilers. All you need to know is that it was awesome to see characters organizing themselves in the field (because mission plans went derp) and seeing them extract themselves from a colossal mess.

The main characters wind each other
up when there's nothing else to do.

As I have said various times before I'm not a fan of mecha, but I do enjoy how this presents a semi-realistic portrayal of characters in military situations. Just don't mind that they're all wearing body-tight suits. Oh yeah, and be sure to start watching from Episode 3 - the first two episodes are garbage.

Hyouka

I'm quite late to the party here, but for the last week I've been marathoning SMUGFACES: THE ANIMATION Hyouka.

Look at that smug.

I'd been put off watching for a long while after many people reacting negatively to the first few episodes, so it's a pleasant surprise that picking it up now I find it to be a good show - nay, not just good: excellent. Outstanding. It's one of those series which showcases just what KyoAni can do with animation when they put their mind to something - whilst most of their shows feature fluid animation, this really really needs to be seen in motion to fully appreciate just how visually interesting it is. Remember how beautifully animated and abstract the Gosick OP was? Well, this is like that but fused with the fluidity and framework of KyoAni: abstract set pieces and surrealist imagery are employed to punctuate the show and re-engage the viewer, it's quite possibly the most visually interesting thing KyoAni have done to date; it's also (so far) one of their best series.

Did I mention smug?

Thematically, Hyouka is a mystery series; yet one which takes an unusual approach to the genre by applying a detective character to explain or coax everyday occurrences. "Why is that guy reluctant to let us look in his room for our book?", "How should this incomplete movie end?" - neither of which sound terribly interesting on paper, yet the challenge to solve the mysteries is particularly gripping. For a show which centres on low-key problems it presents a highly credible method of detective methodology: never are there any asspull solutions, potential scenarios are all discussed until a final theory is deliberated and acted upon thus allowing the viewer to figure things out with the characters. As I said before, this style of realism places this at odds with the "whodunnit" style of mystery (one episode even has the characters attempting to solve a whodunnit mystery with a realistic approach), it has more in common with (for instance) Law & Order but without the death or gore.

Since the approach to solving mysteries is realistic, it makes sense that the characters are too: they often have disjointed discussions which get interrupted or follow a non-linear route. I can't think of any books, films or television shows which have presented characters so realistically; nearly always a writer will present a clean and linear pathway for characters, with interruptions occurring at the least convenient time (often predictably so too). It helps a great deal that the characters themselves are interesting, humourous and (at least in the case of some female characters) endearingly sweet.

Chitanda is moe. Even when drunk.

The centremost character of Hyouka is Houtarou Oreki: an unenergetic and average student who goes out of his way to avoid doing things, and therefore finds a club where he can goof off and not do any work. Believing this club will be empty and devoid of other members, he is quickly disappointed to discover that it has another member - the highly energetic and inquisitive Eru Chitanda. Chitanda's persistent character quickly irritates Oreki, who begrudgingly decides that it's better to satiate her curiosity than to endure her incessant prattling. Thirdly we're introduced to Oreki's friend Satoshi, who serves to further irritate Oreki to the point of action (though Satoshi is more deliberate in this regard), his lighter and more outgoing personality also offering a nice counter-balance to Oreki's own slothness. There are a whole host of other characters too who pop up and disappear from time to time, but to elaborate further on these would be to spoil plot points and character development.

Considering I had low expectations for this series prior to watching, this has turned out to be a pleasant surprise. In fact it's a series I love so much that I don't want it to end, and it's been a long time since I've felt that quite so strongly when watching a series. Be sure to check it out!

Campione; Binbougami-ga!

There really isn't much of interest this anime season, so I'm going to post about the two shows which have caught my attention so far.  The first of these, Campione is an enjoyable magical-battle-romance set in Italy (a good start if ever, for some reason Japan does Euroland fantasy very well).  Everything shoots into place at high speed, perhaps a little too fast but not off-puttingly so.

Your money or your life

The story begins with a Japanese man (Godou Kusanagi) who is visiting Italy to return a magical tablet; he is quickly assailed by an Ojou-sama lady by the name of Erica Blandelli who seeks to take his tablet - however before she can steal it a god interrupts her attempted mugging and a fight ensues.  With the battle turning against Erica, Kusanigi rescues her and two pair up.  So far so Index.

For some reason Thor is here

As things progress it turns out Godou has divine powers that surpass those even of gods, and thus he defeats a Persian trickster God who has challenged a local Phoenician God for supremacy.  The result is that Godou acquires divine artifacts and steals the heart of the Ojou-sama (heavens!).

Erica argues with Bacchus

It's always hard to tell how a show is going to turn out after one episode, but so far this has been one of the most promising shows of the season.  As I said above, the pacing is a little rushed but it's great fun to watch; it also appeals to my love of Indo-European mythology which is seldom seen depicted in a respected manner.  I'll post about it again at a later date assuming it keeps me interested.

She later complains about chest pains
in the Manga. Oh Japan, you so crazy.

The other show to catch my attention has been Binbougami-ga (lit.: God of Poverty) which follows a girl who has excessive amounts of good fortune, attracting the interests of the gods of misfortune who send one such god to deal with her.  Unfortunately being gods of misfortune means they aren't too err... fortunate... themselves, and so their attempts to rob the MC of her "fortune levels" result in highly comic failure.  So yeah, I guess Gods are the topic of interest for this season.

Kahink

I had read and enjoyed some of the manga a while back, so it was pretty cool to find this actually surpasses the quality of the manga some degree.  The show is similar in some respects to Excel Saga and Gintama (the latter being notable due to the same director), so there's plenty of foul-mouthed slapstick going on with a surreal story, and occasional referential parodies.

The artstyle is pretty nice, opting for a semi-realistic character appearance with pleasantly vibrant colours; very reminiscent of Gintama's style, which has always been very nice.  Given the quality of the manga and the credentials of the director, I'm confident this show will continue to deliver so I heartily recommend this.

Spring 2012, a retrospective

It's blogging time gentlemen and other persons, and the topic of today is a look back at the currently ending anime season - which by all accounts has been rather entertaining.

I don't really want to plump for a "best show" (an assignation which is always purely subjective), but of all the series which aired my favourites were by far Jormungand, Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka II and Saki Achiga Hen.  Apologies to the T-man, I still haven't got around to trying Apollon, but it is a high priority on my backlog.

Jormungand was a show that managed to get a great many things right: it was a great action series with a very nicely paced plot and decent story. For those unfamiliar with the series, it follows the adventures of an arms dealer and her elite group of bodyguards; incredulous occurrences follow.

In some ways the series harked back to the good old action movies that were made in 60s-70s, when there was some semblance of credibility mixed in with an otherwise fanciful plot (eg Where Eagles Dare etc). The characters for the show also harked back to that era - there was a huge cast of main characters, rather than the usual "odd couple" which have been commonplace in almost every action movie / series since the 80s.  Needless to say in such a large ensemble a viewer should find a character who appeals to them.

Rather than letting itself be too serious (considering the genre, many contemporary series do) Jormungand frequently made use of comic scenarios to lighten the mood.  These actually felt appropriate in the context of their settings (comic moments never felt shoed in).  It was great to see a show that didn't take things too seriously, but was also able to provide plenty of kick-ass moments.

As an aside, this deserves special mention for being one of the stupidest things I've ever read:
"I was massively dissapointed with Jormungand it had no real substance and oh the Jonah most of the other characters were just really carried along or 1 dimensional" 

DERR HURR. Extra points for appalling use of English. For any passing readers, I feel I should point out that characters had plenty of depth.  I could go into why, but instead I would urge anyone who hasn't seen the show to check it out.  Preferably now.


Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka is a show I have waxed on about more than I'd care to do, but I absolutely love it... so I suppose that's a good enough reason to mention it in passing once more.  The second series did a great job delivering plenty of hilarious episodes, with the nerdy (but awesome) main character falling victim to evermore ridiculous situations; meanwhile he acquires the greatest harem known to mankind* and occasionally fights monsters.

So yeah, check it out if you're looking for something outrageously funny to watch.

* I'm absolutely serious, I can't think of a better harem. All the girls are god tier.

Saki Achiga Hen is a sidestory to "Saki", and follows various groups of girls who battle to win a mahjong tournament whilst SOL elements intermingle. I suppose it's best described as being a moe-battle series - with some similarities to K-on, albeit with a far broader cast.

I have no knowledge of or interest in mahjong, but fortunately the show rattles along in such a way that prior understanding isn't really required to enjoy the show (TL notes explain any key points whenever they arise).  The enjoyment of the show comes from the characters: their various modes of cunning employed to outdo one another (psychology ahoy!); or at other times being endearing to the point of heart damage (the inept Matsumi sisters especially so).  So be prepared for moe-moe, but not of any intrusive sort - it's just there and part of the show.

If you're looking for a great SOL show with a twist, then I really recommend this.  There is implied yuri throughout the show, so just mind who you watch it with.


Honourable mentions also go to Tasogare Otome x Amnesia (Dusk Maiden of Amnesia) and Acchi Kocchi.  Both of these are very good shows, but I wouldn't say they were essential viewing; Upotte!! was another show I enjoyed a great deal, but I concede is one which has little appeal to non-guntaku.

Anyway, that's all for now.  Of next season shows I'm looking forward to Muv Luv Total Eclipse, Binbougami and Campione, but as always time will tell what's actually good (and there are usually some unexpected surprises).

Tea fuelled rage.

There are some series I have never been able to get into for one reason or another. Evangelion is one such series. Why am I talking about such an old series now? Well, I tried to watch the new remake movies recently. So here we are.

I didn't ever finish watching the TV series because honestly I found it quite boring to watch; I can respect that it set a precedent for psychological character development, but aside from that it had no real interesting facet or features (perhaps I'm being harsh, it was a long time ago when I tried watching it). Thus I come to the first big problem I have with the movies - all that character development is thrown out. The result is GIANT BLOBS FROM SPACE FIGHT GIANT ROBOTS. Or to put it another way: Power Rangers with less depth.

The bulk of these films is spent on the giant robots fighting the giant blobs from space, so it doesn't exactly help when the fight scenes are so boring to watch. Worse still, they all seem to follow a standardized pattern: robot and blob struggle together, blob gets the upper hand and almost destroys the robot, then the robot recovers from near death and pulverizes the blob.  This tripe is forced into your face from the first 5 minutes of the movies too, there isn't any build up - the blobs just appear and stuff happens. Without any real reason for this, I don't really care. Yes there is all that Christian symbolism and blah blah blah, I don't care. That isn't a story, it's pretentious garbage - no better than writing an essay on the symbolism of a blank art canvas.

The characters in the movies still seem to be the same dullards from the TV series, though for some reason the 2nd movie felt the need to throw in a mary-sue (who has less personality than Rei). She appears by parachuting from the sky into Shinji's face (how does he NOT SEE SOMEONE PARACHUTING FROM THE SKY) landing crotch first of course, then losing her glasses... ugh. It's horrible horrible exposition which served no purpose aside from otaku pandering fanservice.

Perhaps fanservice is the best way to summarize these movies, because I can't see them appealing to anyone outside of the pre-existing fanbase. I get the feeling whilst watching that the movies are akin to an aging rock band going on a reunion tour, except most of the original band are dead leaving the sole survivor is propped up a bunch of fill ins... I'm not sure where I was going with this analogy, the tea is starting to wear off. Long story short, the Eva movies are bad - even if you're a fan of the series I cannot under any circumstances recommend them.

Spring Anime 2012

It's been a while since I last posted anything, I'm needing something to do while I let other thoughts stew so here's a derivative post about BLAH anime series currently airing.  So far a lot of really awesome stuff has aired. Still struggling to keep up with stuff (Hyouka for instance I still haven't got around to watching, nor AKB48 or Natsuiro Kiseki), but this isn't a bad thing.

Yuuko is a miracle of the universe

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia (The Dusk Maiden of Amnesia) is still my favourite show by a long shot. In case I haven't waffled on about how awesome this is to you, it's basically about a ghost (Yuuko) who enjoys trolling people and having a somewhat romantic relationship with a living guy - much to the jealousy of her own living descendant.  Thematically, the story is about a paranormal detective club who - like most clubs in anime - rarely do what they're actually meant to be doing, instead spending time fooling around with various things. 

As said above, the focus of the show is the dere-dere relationship between Yuuko and her love interest - which occasionally drifts into glorious (but completely tasteful) fanservice.  Animation is nicely handled (though occasionally has moments of QUALITY) and the character designs are pretty awesome, going for a semi-realistic look which also somehow manages to be moe.

Oh god

Acchi Kocchi is another show I'm still getting a lot of enjoyment out of. It's a moe-moe SOL that ditches the usual 4 girl character roster, placing instead a mixed group of friends (guys included) who like to troll or outdo each other.  Much is made of central character Tsumiki being in love with one of the guys - though he's entirely oblivious to her intentions. Said guy carries a great deal of swag and awesome, so pretty much everyone drops to his feet... only for him to trample over them again.  Cool guy.

Whilst this may sound like a tedious boring show in print, it really isn't.  The timing and delivery of humour is tight, story and scenarios are relatable (whereas many other recent SOL series have come up with less and less realistic scenarios) so the whole thing feels pleasantly fresh. Just don't mind the fact that Tsumiki looks a lot like Konata.

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san is a bizarre parody of HP Lovecraft and popular culture. Cthulu driving a flying Delorean? Yep. Moe anthropomorphism of Lovecraftian monsters? Check.  Summoning magic pokemon style? You get the idea... 

Long story short, you get a moemoe show about a Nyarlkothoep (or Nyaruko as the show calls her) and wacky goings on as she tries to police the behaviour of other cthonic monsters, and when she isn't doing that she's aspiring to be the wife of the tsuntsun MC.  It's a waferthin plot which basically serves to setup various nerdy jokes and or fanservice - and I love it.  It's not a show that will be for everyone, but if you "get" the humour you should find plenty of enjoyment to be had here.

On a related note is Upotte! which is produced by the same studio, and features a similar style of humour (though it is much more subdued in Upotte).  I don't need to say much about this since it's pretty widely known about anyway, but I really enjoy the character development, pacing and scenarios.  The current battle arc makes for a great break from typical school scenarios, I'm glad it doesn't feel like they're rushing things at all. 
Hopefully this will sell well enough in Japan to bring about a second series - at 10 episodes this will be a very short series.

Speaking of school settings, there was a Seitokai Yakuindomo OVA released the other day.  Was not expecting that at all.  It's a fun series but the sex jokes become somewhat repetitive after a while, so I guess occasional OVAs suit it better than a full blown series. 
Medaka Box on the other hand is just... bah... boring.  This is an accusation you could place on many JUMP series, but this is astronomical levels of dull.  It's supposed to get better - just as Gintama did, but at least the early Gintama episodes were in someway funny or entertaining; Medaka Box doesn't even try to get past generic scenarios.  Purportedly it is written as a troll series, but honestly if that's the case why even bother?

Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka II is a great deal of fun, so far spending its time on slapstick-parody-harem antics which were the strongpoint of the first series.  For those who don't know, the series is about a zombie who also happens to be a magical girl (despite being a guy), thus when he needs to fight monsters he is forcibly required to wear a frilly dress and wield a chainsaw...

Normally this passes without incedent, but the second series begins with all the MCs friends discovering him in frilly uniform, so he seeks out a drunk loli who can hear out his problems, whilst his friends attempt to cure him of his perceived perversion... So yeah, the show doesn't take itself seriously at all - if anything it generally likes to parody atypical battle-harem scenarios (not even FMP is exempt from this).  Even though it does parody harems, the harem of the MC is god tier with more waifus than you can count.  Oh, and there's fanservice aplenty.  As with Upotte this is only going to be a short run show, so hopefully it'll be back for another series next year sometime.

Fate / Zero keeps getting stupider and stupider. What went wrong? Series 1 was damned good, but this is just... not.  Ridiculous plot devices pop up everywhere, which is a real shame because I'm wanting this to redeem itself somehow.
What really bugs me is that a lot of filler material has been inserted - stuff which is entirely unnecessary. Yes, we know that Kiritsugu and Kirei are asshats, we don't need to see lengthy generic exposition about why this came to be.

The weakest thing so far was a character claiming to have developed an elixir of life which induces immortality. Of course, magical potion for eternal XYZ makes generic flesh eating zombies. Zombies. Seriously? This arc is still ongoing too.  Bummer :\

Om nom nom

Sankarea takes the zombie angle to a similar direction to KoreZombie, insomuch that it crafts a romantic relationship between the MC and a zombie (Rea).  Oh, there's also a zombie pet cat and a busty cousin (Wanko) who doesn't seem bothered by the concept of romantic relations with uh... related people.

It's pretty passable, I'm only watching it for the shenanigans of Wanko and whyboner (the last episode had full on zombie-yuri, should not want).

That's probably enough for now, I haven't covered *everything* I'm watching but that's pretty much the gist of what I'm watching.