The Week in Anime 30

Kick-Heart reached its funding goal! This is a great thing, and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

In other news, my Yukiko figma arrived, but got hit by customs so I had to pay like another £12 to free her from the evil clutches of the Royal Mail. Grr. Either way, she’s a lovely figure with a great sculpt and better articulation than the Chie figma I already own, although she does her long + hard plastic hair limits the potential movement of her arms a fair bit. But the main problem? Her ‘smiling’ face looks more like she’s being super srs. Ah well.

We should all strive to be this rad in our day to day lives

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The Week in Anime 29: Go Back Kick-Heart

So I finally got around to backing Kick-Heart (pledged 60 bux to get the Blu-Ray hellz yeah) and I feel pretty good about. But with less than 10 days to go and ~$20K left until it’s funded, it could go either way whether it actually gets made or not. Either way, I’m not putting my money down just for the final product ($60 for a 10 minute short + some merch is a little ridiculous), I’m doing it because this is a fantastic opportunity for international anime fans to actually and directly influence what gets made, to say “this is what we want” and make it happen, to say that we are in fact a marketable demographic and not just a second though to the studios. It helps that the creator and director, Masaaki Yuasa, has an amazing pedigree – Kaiba, Tatami Galaxy, Mind Game and Kemonozume – so this will be interesting regardless. And have you read the synopsis?

So go back Kick-Heart now.

And back to your regularly scheduled “me saying nothing for 1000 words about anime I watched recently”.

The theme for this week: manly tears

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Chouyaku Hyakuninisshu: Uta Koi.

Japan has a rich literary history. One that even stretches beyond manga! I can’t say I’ve actually studied any of it, or really know much more than maybe some incredibly basic stuff, but I know enough to say that their poetry is kind of a Big Deal. Enough that one of the most famous works of Japanese literature is the hyakunin isshu, lit. “one hundred people, one poem [each]” (woo Wikipedia), an anthology of 100 now-classical poems.

The hyakunin isshu is arguably best known as the basis for the card game karuta, a claim I make based entirely on how great Chihayafuru was. Thanks to that, I’m at least aware of the general style of the poetry – short, colourful, evocative and delighting in allusions and metaphors rooted in nature – and that they unsurprisingly cover a wide range of topics and themes. Uta Koi, as you may have guessed by the title, only concerns itself with the poems on love and romance.

Sounds deep and educational, no?

CLASSICAL POET MAKING A ART

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The Week in Anime 28

So it seems like the only thing I decided to pick up that isn’t getting subbed is Haitai Nanafa? No big loss, it looks like it’s only a series of shorts anyway. In other news, there’s way too much decent (well, above average) stuff this season. Hard to drop much!

Guts! Bravery! And friendship! The necessary components of anime.

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Tari Tari

Slice-of-life high school series involving music clubs is probably a trend in anime. I’d find it harder to believe it isn’t given the phenomenal success of K-On! and bankruptcy of original ideas in the anime industry. As a result it’s not unfair to say that the expectations for Tari Tari are eloquently summarised by its nickname: ‘HanasaK-On! Iroha’.

It’s not particularly difficult to see where that nickname came from. High school SoL about music with a very similar art style to Hanasaku Iroha (even produced by the same studio)? It’s a good thing that it didn’t take too long to shake that initial perception and really become its own thing then!

And you thought you had enough of cute girls singing

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The Week in Anime 27

This time last week, only one new series had started. But now? Too goddamn many. And it’s not even all of them yet D:

Every character this week wishes they could be this badass and/or kawaii

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Phi Brain S2

Ah, Phi Brain. The premiere anime for shounen puzzle solving and yaoi shipping. I love that ridiculous show – my review of the first season speaks volumes – so imagine my delight when a second season was announced! For who could get enough of Kaito bullshitting his way through absurd contraptions with MAGIC while everyone hungered for his dick? Of course, he had eyes for none other than the Sudoku in front of him, but such was the complex state of relationships in the first series!

No, the initial 25 episodes were not enough. What satisfaction was there to be had? Sure, Rook and Kaito went on a date, but what happened after? The character development had only just started! The personalities and past had barely been plunged! Yes, another 25 episodes were desperately needed. Thank kamisama for NHK-E and the Japanese public’s glorious tax dollars, because without them we would not be here with Phi Brain S2.

There is actually, seriously, sincerely no trace of sarcasm in anything I just said.

Let’s review up!

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Hyouka

Ah, KyoAni. Amongst those who enjoy shows about cute high-school girls doing fun things (or Key adaptations) they enjoy a high reputation; amongst other anime fans KyoAni at least gets respect for their consistently high production values and often fantastic animation. But these cute-girls-doing-cute-things shows are what they are famous for, with Haruhi (kinda), Lucky Star and the juggernaut that is K-On!. As a result there was a certain hype leading up to Hyouka, the latest high-school slice-of-life from KyoAni. But more importantly, there were certain expectations.

The K-On! fans were expecting – wanting – something very much along those lines. The more astute fans noticed the two guys amongst the principal cast of four, so imagined it might perhaps be closer to Haruhi. The Key fans were too busy being sad about the fact that Little Busters! was a) not being adapted by KyoAni and b) being adapted by JC Staff. What we got in the end was rather different from all of that…

Reading this would probably take too much energy

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