Archive
Daily Intake 25.01.11
⚫ The new Keion character song singles have been a big success on the weekly oricon charts! Ui placed 5th, (13,000 copies), Jun 8th (12,000) and Nodoka 9th (12,000)!
⚫ Seiyuu unit LISP (featuring Asumi Kana, Hara Sayuri & Kataoka Azusa) will be starring in and singing the theme song for an upcoming TV anime aimed at elementary kids, “Pretty Rythmn Aurora Dream” (プリティーリズム オーロラドリーム). The anime is apparently about three girls who want to become idols, who are played by LISP. The original character designs have also been revealed. #1 (played by Kana Asumi), #2 (played by Azusa Kataoka), #3 (played by Sayuri Hara).
⚫ It looks like Yamakan has closed his blog after a tussle with commentors about his retirement that started yesterday (see yesterday’s post)… this is kind of sad. To someone just reading this news it might sound like Yamakan being stupid, but given the number of negative comments he gets on 2channel, I’m not surprised it got to him (even if he did kind of get into this mess himself). It’s a shame to see a driven director be beaten down by so-called anime fans. source.
⚫ A newspaper interviewed the Yumekui Merry author. Both him and his house look very plain, don’t they? #1
⚫ An Akihabara sushi store used Ika Musume illustrations on their menu source+pics
⚫ I watched Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka 3, and really enjoyed it after being slightly disappointed by the second episode. The storyboard (by Yasunori Ide, director of Please Teacher, Please Twins, and others) was very effective at delivering many funny moments, and the timing was spot on. I laughed quite a bit. There was also some great fanservice, which I’m sure Yasunori wasn’t opposed to!
⚫ Star Driver 16 was indeed a great episode! For possibly the first time, my attention didn’t waver for even a second. The animation was pretty superb, with contributions from Hironori Tanaka and Hiroshi Tomioka. On the downside, I think the show lost a big part of its appeal to me from here on. I won’t be specific but… BAWWWW.
⚫ Ken Akamatsu‘s website for online distribution of out-of-print manga, Jcomi, which is currently in beta, finally found a success with the distribution of “After School Wedding”! It obtained a revenue of 525000 yen! source. Maybe this model has hope after all. Personally, I think it’s a great idea which will work much better if the advertisements are better targeted.
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- Pantsu challenge 2011! Someone has put together this collage of pantsu screencaps from various anime and the challenge is in guessing as many of the girls or anime as you can. I actually do quite poorly.. I recognise 14 anime!
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- KoreZom 03: Orito’s keen perception of character allowed him to do a panty-profile on Asumu’s three supernatural boarders! What a guy! Now, the question is, are his visions correct? We know he’s correct that Haruna wears stripes, so if we extrapolate from that then we can conclude that Yuu wears black string panties~!
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- KoreZom 03: Point of order: I hearby lay claim to Haruna! Sexiest loli of the season!
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- Haha, Tenshi and Miyafuji make a cute couple!
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- Haha, Victorique could see through Kyubee in under 5 seconds.
Mahou Sensei Negima!: Another World Special OVA: Magical Girl Yue
Yue's finishing blow - a totally badass sequence.
Ratings
MOE: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪
ERO: ⚫⚫⚫⚪⚪
GAR: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪
LOL: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪
‘Magical Girl Yue’ is the episode title of this latest entry in the Negima ‘Another World’ OVA series, which has been faithfully animating the manga story from the beginning of the magical world arc. It’s a special episode, not just because it’s awesome, but because it covers the content that the last OVA skipped – Yue’s amnesia school-life side-story! I suppose the theory was that there was enough good stuff in Yue’s story to take it out and make a whole new OVA. It was a good theory! Unlike the others, it’s solely dedicated to Yue and the new friends she makes at the magical academy she winds up in. Her memory loss (secretly caused by her friend-to-be, Collette) means she stays at the school while she tries to work out who she is and what to do. When she hears discussions about the second coming of Nagi Springfield entering the international fighting tournament something stirs within her and she becomes determined to get to that tournament, even if it means winning a challenging free-for-all broom-race with a strip-tease twist! Although I’m currently behind in the manga (working on that!), I am a big Negima fan. of course, I disliked the earlier TV-anime renditions, but these new OVAs are hitting much closer to the mark by staying true to the original work. This OVA was particularly appealing because I have a soft-spot for Yue (she’s possibly my favorite girl after Setsuna), and the magical-girl-esque school plot is naturally interesting. I definitely wasn’t disappointed! This OVA had a really fun and colourful blend of humour, fanservice, action and badassery.
To Aru Majutsu no Index II Episode 08
KITTAA!!! After seeing this sight, Touma forfits the right to say "Fukou da!" ever again.
Ratings
MOE: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪
ERO: ⚫⚫⚫⚪⚪
GAR: ⚫⚪⚪⚪⚪
LOL: ⚫⚪⚪⚪⚪
I can’t tell whether this is a weak episode of Index, or whether the other episodes of this second season simply make it look bad by comparison. I think I’ll go with the latter theory, because even if it didn’t feel up to scratch coming off the back of the previous arc (which pierced the heavens of win), it was still fairly entertaining! It centers around the big inter-school sports carnival, which offers an array of strange events for espers to lock horns in, and the stakes are risen by a bet between Misaka and Touma over whose school will come out on top: the winner gets to make the other do their bidding! To me, this seems like a win-win situation for Touma, given Biri-biri’s obvious yearning for him! There’s also a growing plot to do with a legendary sword (Stab Sword), and the introduction of a sexy new villain, Oriana Thompson (seiyuu: Ryoka Yuzuki). Throw in a cameo appearance of Misaka’s mother, and a wholesome dose of fanservice, and you’ve got a pretty fun package.
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st
The last couple of days have marked another step forward in the march of the booming Nanoha franchise: the long-awaited release of the 1st movie DVD! I’m reminded again at just how remarkable the Nanoha series really is, it has to be one of the greatest success stories for a side-character ever! No one could of predicted that Nanoha would go from her roots as a minor character in a mediocre H-game and OVA series (Triangle Hearts) to being the face of a new era of the mahou genre, and one of the strongest character brands around today (just look at her and Fate’s saimoe records!). Instead of letting her fade into oblivion, it was director Akiyuki Shinbo and the animation studio Seven Arcs who pulled her out of obscurity by transforming her into a magical girl for an original TV-anime: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. The series was a success and was notable for its new take on the genre: it strayed from the humble themes of mahou shoujo and gave it an epic, science-fiction warfare bent, as well as portraying an overarching, tragic story. While other series also fit this description, Nanoha is possibly the best example of Mahou Shoujo series with an older male demographic. The first season pitched to the lolicon crowd with fanservice scenes, but this was soon overshadowed by its intense story and exciting action sequences. The fandom grew by the time the second season, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s, came along, and then jumped even further with the third season, Strikers. Many fans latched on at this point, but for me, the core appeal of Nanoha lies in the powerful emotional story of the first season, as well as the Nanoha/Fate dynamic! That’s why I was really happy to hear this movie announced, which would cover the first season! And, having just watched it, I can say that, as a big fan of the first season, I wasn’t at all disappointed!
Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii wake ga nai! Episode 7
Ratings
MOE: ⚫⚪⚪⚪⚪
ERO: ⚫⚪⚪⚪⚪
GAR: ⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪
LOL: ⚫⚫⚫⚪⚪
Once again, I really enjoyed this episode of OreImo! I think it may have been lacking a certain spark that other episodes have had, but it was still good fun. Well, I expected this to be an interesting entry into the series, because I’d read spoilers from the novel (thanks to Seanver’s blog!), so I knew what would be going down between Kuroneko and Kirino! Any time you get those two together, there’s bound to be some clash of otaku wills, but this time it got a little more personal when they read each other’s creations. Kuroneko read Kirino’s “novel” and Kirino read her doujinshi. Of course, they hated their friend’s work, but the shocking twist is that in their respective creations they each depicted the other in some terrible fate: A Kirino-replica was a sex slave in Kuroneko’s doujinshi and Kuroneko cameo in Kirino’s story involved both rape and death! Wow, these girls have such perverse minds at such a young age. Kirino’s father would murder her if he knew the full extent of what goes on in his daughter’s mind! But this is the dangerous (and glorious) world of otaku we live in! In a creepy-otaku kind of way you could take these insertions as a compliment! It’s not like Kirino and Kuroneko won’t be suffering similar depravity in real doujinshi anyway! Their fight was funny and awkward, especially the way Kyousuke was caught between them.
Manga: Greed Packet Unlimited
Ratings
MOE: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪
ERO: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚪
GAR: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪
LOL: ⚫⚪⚪⚪⚪
Greed Packet Unlimited (∞) is a recent, ongoing manga series drawn and written by Kamiya Yuu. It started in 2008 and is serialised in the Dengeki Maoh magazine, which is aimed at the seinen demographic. Although the plot and story development is pretty juvenile (a hallmark of most seinen these days), it fits nicely into this demographic with the adult appeal of fanservice, most of which has a loli flavour, and an eroge-playing main character. The premise is as follows (from manga-updates):
Sora no Otoshimono Episode 7
Ratings
MOE: ⚫⚫⚫⚪⚪
ERO: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪
GAR: ⚫⚪⚪⚪⚪
LOL: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪
We’re clearly past the pivot point in this season, just like last time focus has shifted from the so-called “peaceful days” of pervert-Tomoki to the serious story side. This time we’re getting closer to the root of the overarching Sora no Otoshimono story, which is making things more exciting (although I hope there’s enough left for another season!). I never really expected it to, but this anime is actually becoming pretty good for its sci-fi ideas. I like the very natural combination of dream-travel and multiple dimensions, and an almost matrix-like element. The meddling of the Angeloids’ “mother” is pretty cool, and the new villain, Angeloid 2.0 is pretty intense! Her name is Chaos, and she’s voiced by the lovely Aki Toyosaki! She’s a crazy nun-style loli who’s blatantly sadistic. This episode, she threatens Tomoki and then toys with Nymph’s heart before physically punishing her. She’s definitely going to shake things up. She’s also the most loli character to ever appear on the show. In Sora no Otoshimono a girl without huge breasts is so rare! Wonder we’ll get fanservice of this Angeloid? But Nymph was the highlight of the episode for me. She’s not just a girl in love, she’s an insecure Angeloid who feels unwanted without a master. Whenever this side to her character comes out, she gains moe points, big time. I love the Nymph who wants a master just as much as I loved the Nymph who wanted to be free! It was quite heartbreaking to see her so happy when imposter-Tomoki asked her to be her master, only to then discover that it was all fake. Chaos needs a spanking for this!
Index II episode 6
Ratings
MOE: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪
ERO: ⚫⚫⚫⚪⚪
GAR: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪
LOL: ⚫⚪⚪⚪⚪
Okay, this was probably my favourite episode of Index (of either season) ever! I shit you not; this episode was as if it was tailor-made for me. It’s the episode I’ve been waiting for – packed with all the elements of the Index franchise I love the most, and a completely entertaining combination of fanservice, emotion, tension and action! This is an episode that both gets your fanboy juices flowing with drool-worthy eyecandy, but also gets your heart beating with some moving themes of friendship – what could be healthier than that!? The icing on the cake is a really interesting plot, which was introduced at a brisk, gripping pace. It’s only been one episode but it already feels like we’ve had whole arc’s worth of development (I guess it’s because it builds onto the previous Sister’s arc). So what are those elements I love the most?
