Net Window Shopping: Lucky Star and Yotsuba&!

I've definitely decided to become more of a patron of my favorite bookstore. After finding a favorite manga of mine there the other day I decided to check out what books and other media I an order through them. I proceeded with my search and found that I can get both an anime I've dying to get my hands on and manga of which the fan translation I found absolutely hilarious.

My problem will probably be deciding what to get first. Kyoto Animation's Lucky Star fully available, including even the OVA. [Search results]

And from Kiyohiko Azuma, author of Azumanga Daioh, is Yotsuba&!. Completely crazy about Azumanga Daioh (which incidentally happens to be the manga I picked up last week) I read up on its creator and got my hands on a fan translation of Yotsuba, which might possibly be funnier than the work I was originally sold on. [Search results]

Danbooru OS and an anime Danbooru

Just stumbled upon an interesting read on where RDBMS and file systems merge in theory by fuzzysoul. Also happened on an anime Danbooru board, moe.imouto (NSFW, may contain hentai); high-res = love.

Another thing which caught my eye today, 4walled (also NSFW, images are from 4chan); just keep scrolling and keep finding awesome wallpapers...

Anime reviews moved

I've decided to declutter this blog; and thus I've moved my latest favorite category, anime reviews, to their own blog. Check it out and follow along at Akuyume's Anime Blog.

[ARIV] Welcome to the NHK

Welcome to Welcome to the NHK! (N・H・Kにようこそ！) No, we're not entering anything related to the Japanese national broadcaster Nippon Housou Kyoukai. This, is the Nihon Hikikomori Kyoukai, although apparently by the end of the show the H is interchangeable but lets not go there.

The show follows the life of hikikomori (recluse and acute sufferer of social-withdraw and severe social anxiety) Tatsuhiro Satou. Laden with a few weightier topics, including pyramid schemes, drug abuse (only present in the anime for one character), conspiracy theories, suicide, and Comiket (okay listing that one here was a joke, laugh, I command you). With all of these themes NHK manages to be delightfully entertaining dark comedy. As all the characters have major psychological problems going on I'm tempted to compare it to Evangelion. Some have gone as far as comparing it to The Catcher in the Rye.

Character development is particularly enjoyable, maybe this is a factor of the depth of problems the characters have but nevertheless the characters do feel quite real for the length of the series. And plot clinchers were quite effective on me; and the ending of the series is full of quick twists and given the amount of dark comedy, its actually a little surprising, but I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen/read the series. 8/10.

[ARIII] Hayate no Gotoku !! Episode 1

I've had my eye on Hayate no Gotoku! for a while now and I've finally decided to check out the first episode of the second season ala Crunchyroll. Three and a half minutes into the episode and female lead finally opened her mouth; this show is definitely gonna be afflicted (in my mind, at least) with a severe case of "Hey, It's That Voice" as Nagi is voiced by none other than Rie Kugimiya, or Shana of Shakugan no Shana. Hmm and both are associated with maids with Western names (Shana's mother-like Wilhelmina and Nagi's actual maid Maria).



<rant>Three tsunderes at the beach, sounds kinda scary, and it would sure be confusing with all them having the SAME VOICE. I haven't seen Zero no Tsukaima but for some reason I've got a feeling I know exactly what Louise's voice sounds like. But lets face it, Rie and her voice are about as typecasted tsundere as Ben Stein is typecasted boring.</rant>

Back to the show now! Well at least it sounded a bit less like Shana when she only said urusai once! ... Moving on. Margery Daw's seiyu, Hitomi Nabatame, plays the part of another drunkard, one of the teachers at this strange school.

All in all, I'm not even sure what just happened in this episode. 6.5/10. Maybe I just need to see more.

Anime Review II: AIR - Episodes 01-04

Having already seen Clannad I can say that I am slightly experienced with Key's habit of tying supernatural forces into their harem/romance animes. However this time around in AIR, its definitely more prominent, at least thus far.

One thing to hit my mind is that the main character does have a vague resemblence to Tomoya of Clannad. But that's not their only similarity, as both seem to have an ability to be surrounded by strange single females whom they then help on a quest to normality. So far dinosaur-girl still says "gaou" every other line. On the other hand he seems to have fixed the girl I was starting to think might have been possessed.

Don't get me wrong, I might sound a little patronizing but I'm actually liking this show. And I like the opening theme so much so that you may have noticed I'm presently undertaking the production of my first AMV to it.

[Shana]Preview of my first AMV project

Here's a preview of my aforementioned AMV. :)

Someone asked me if I have a deadline for completing the video. Not really, I just want something to work on that feels productive. Up 1:24 of video, that's the beginning of the song all the way through the part I used as a "preview." Of course the song is 6:11 so I've still got a bit to go before its done.

Its a harder process than I might have assumed, I've listened to the song plenty of times and read the lyrics even more now in both Japanese and English trying to find parts that make me "see something" and then I search through all the hours of the video I have to find clips I want. And then there's the processing... the last few builds actually took a few minutes to encode.

One issue I didn't expect is that the software I'm using for video doesn't support playing sound from videos. It supports sound in the videos, it just won't play it. So I've got to open my audio in a separate program to "measure" the music.

Anime Music Videos

I've decided its about time I finally make my own anime music video. The song I've decided to make one to isn't anything I'm too familiar with actually. Its AIR's opening theme, Tori no Uta. I have seen an episode or two of Air, but I just stumbled across the song surfing YouTube; and here's a particularly handy video with Japanese subtitles. Incidentally, about half of the video clips I've noted that I want to use are from Clannad (Clannad and Air are both productions of Kyoto Animation and based on Key games). The other half come from Shakugan no Shana. Its my first AMV, but its a great song and I've picked two animes I love, so wish me luck so that I won't disgrace it too much! hehe =)

Tsuruya + Haruhi = Misao?

After watching both of Kyoto Animation's recent animes Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, one will be quick to notice the many references to the latter which often are lampshaded throughout Lucky Star.

While most of these are noted across the net, one thing which I hardly ever see anyone else mention strikes me. Lucky Star's character Misao Kusakabe has a strong resemblance to a character we know and love from Haruhi; Haruhi herself. Eye color, hair color and usual style, and even height, relative to the other characters, match to a T. But this is with one small addition. The "cute little fangs" of Tsuruya, a.k.a. LOL Fang-tan.

Tsuruyu-san

+

Haruhi Suzumiya


=


Misao Kusakabe

Wallpaper: Anime

Done some work on a few wallpapers over the last few days. The first two, a Death Note wallpaper and an Eureka Seven wallpaper, can be found at my homepage (Anime Backgrounds 2008/11). My latest (and so far, my favorite) work can be found at Advanced Anime, a Gaara+Hinata wallpaper featuring characters from the anime Naruto.

Anime Review I: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

I've been watching plenty of anime lately. The latest series to grab my attention? The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (宮ハルヒの憂鬱, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu). I'm halfway through the series and several things are tempting me to write about it. I've been watching the English dub as I tend to watch whatever is easiest to get my hands on and all the eng dub episodes of this series are currently available on Veoh (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Video Channel).
Basic rundown, its a sci-fi comedy. The plot itself has several wtf..? moments (if you don't know me, I enjoy these kinds of plots) and the sci-fi dimension goes very far out. Anyhow, the plot stays very novel, original even. Its not quite one's usual sci-fi; as for the comedy aspects, I have been ROFLing frequently watching this anime. The part that gets me is this: the graphics and artwork are definitely over top. Its simply a very beautiful anime. At this point I'm even considering checking out the manga this show is based on.