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This week, it’s titles that for one reason or another just aren’t for everyone. More so than usual, anyway. Daryl reviews the 2004 Gonzo anime series Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, Gerald reviews the manga Voyeur and its followup Voyeurs Inc, and Clarissa reviews the Studio Ghibli film Omoide Poroporo, aka Only Yesterday.
In an attempt to combat the audio issues from the last episode, we tried recording this episode with us on separate channels then downmixing to mono during the final encode. The initial file we uploaded had all the parts with us speaking as rather soft, with the sound effects and music being louder. The current file, which is exactly the same filesize as the old file so hopefully the feed won’t flip out, should hopefully not exhibit that. Also, we might have messed up the sync at points. Please let us know if anything’s messed up.
This was supposed to be uploaded last week, but Clarissa had college finals/JET applications to finish up and Gerald had the GMAT to study for. We’ll get the show notes up later today.
Introduction (0:00 – 37:52)
Man, next year is our one year anniversary…and we probably won’t even have an episode. Somehow, that’s appropriate. These allegations from Ireland that our pronounciation of manga is almost D4 in its silliness–and for the record, we’d vastly prefer people send criticism to us directly so that we can actually respond to it–are false, we say! False! Clearly, Ireland has been duped by MANGA MAN:
Responding to your emails and voicemails, we reveal: what do we think about FLCL? Have we played Jump Ultimate Stars (which you can play wifi multiplayer against Japanese people), the only game with both Kenshiro and Kochikame fighting side by side? How much of all that oldschool stuff people like and defend is actually GOOD and how much of it is just stuff we like because we saw it way back when or had to make a big effort to get? Marc Handler wrote in to offer some corrections and additions to our interview with him in Show # 37, and here’s a correction to THIS episode: the second Voltron set is NOT out. Want to find out who’s REALLY responsible for casting dub voice actors? Marc tells us here. How come Gerald and Daryl haven’t taken up learning Japanese? And what do we REALLY think about Noir?
- Definition of what D4 means since it’s not a term used by anyone in America – a “fake shallow gay accent which is put on to make them feel more important.” Essentially, we’re accused of talking all “no more buttered scones for me, Mater, I’m off to play the GRAHND PIAHNO. PAHRDON me while I FLHY my AEROPLANE” like. This is where we point out that the “main-ga” pronounciation is not how the Japanese say the word; no seriously, listen to them say it. See that? You saying they’re saying it wrong, huh? Yeah, so it’s not that we’ve got a fake pretentious pronounciation, it’s that Manga Entertainment can’t even say their own motherfucking name right.
Promo: The Anime/Videogame Podcast (37:52 – 39:32)
People often wonder why we play the same set of promos over and over. Well, it’s because other podcasts don’t send us their promos to play! Send us your promos, and we’ll play them. One of our listeners, Victor “Fake_Brasilian” Chaves, has started his own anime/videogame podcast, so we’re helping him out by playing his promo. See? That wasn’t hard! We do however feel compelled to point out that searching for “anime/videogame” under iTunes returns no results and “anime/video game” returns one result that we thought wasn’t theirs because it’s called “The Super Anime/Video Game Podcast.” But that is indeed it, so remember that it’s “video game” and not “videogame.” Oh, and by the way, guys: the US courts have ruled that it still counts as kiddy porn if it’s drawn.
Review: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (39:32 – 1:07:21)
Daryl takes on this 2004 reimagining of the Alexander Dumas novel, courtesy of Studio Gonzo. Is this show crappy like practically every other Gonzo show ever made? Or did Mahiro Maeda pull it off? This segment was incredibly long, so things like Gerald explaining how much he can’t stand to look at this show and Daryl’s in-depth analysis comparing the Count of Monte Cristo to the Monte Cristo sandwich at Bennigan’s has been removed. Believe it or not, it’s a spoiler to properly explain just how similar the two are. Suffice it to say that the manner in which one would defeat the Count, were such a thing possible, is exactly the same method one would use to defeat Daryl Surat.
This is the Count of Monte Cristo. Seriously, how can ANYONE not see him coming?
The Count of Monte Cristo is very much like this sandwich. The Monte Cristo. A vile concoction of ham, turkey, Swiss and American cheese that’s battered, deep fried beyond recognition and edibility, then coated in powdered sugar and raspberry preserves to give it an air of class. You won’t see THIS coming till it strikes either.
A screencap from the fansubs. Yeah, that whole “stop distribution of the fansub once the show is licensed” thing? That’s bullshit. I got this off of BitTorrent no problem.
The same shot, taken from the DVDs. Sure, you can see there’s more detail, but maybe the quality jump is more noticeable in the motion. Or perhaps the character outfits.
Aristocratic fashion…IN THE YEAR 2000! This is the textile layering effect on the clothes and hair I was talking about. I can’t adequately illustrate this without showing multiple screenshots, but you can get a good idea from this.
This is Peppo. He looks and sounds just like a girl. Stop, stop, Hibari-kun.
Hmm, I don’t think these were originally in the book. The marketing makes it seem like this is a show with robots and action in it, but I think they only appear like, two or three times near the end. Guess that’s why Adult Swim didn’t pick it up. Jerks. If they can run Reign: The Conqueror…Promo: StarShipSofa (1:07:21 – 1:08:49)
Tony Smith and Ciaran O’Carroll <— IRELAND ALERT are running this podcast dedicated to classic SF literature and such. Maybe you know about the authors they talk about, but they tend to talk about the more overlooked books. Mind you, these guys like Doctor Who, and Doctor Who fans are rightfully mocked by even the rest of sci-fi fandom PS: Clarissa is a Doctor Who fan.
Review (manga): Voyeur / Voyeurs Inc (1:08:49 – 1:26:40) Gerald reviews this manga by Hideo Yamamoto, author of Ichi the Killer as well as Homunculus which we reviewed in Show # 10. Only instead of being super violent and gory, this one’s all about super gross sex. And that’s Gerald’s speciality!
Review: Only Yesterday (1:26:40 – 1:49:17)
Clarissa bites the bullet and does a first for this podcast: a review of a Studio Ghibli film. We originally figured “well, everyone knows about Studio Ghibli already,” but this one’s by Ghibli’s other main creative talent Isao Takahata, who is somewhat glossed over by anime fans. Despite airing on TV in January, there is still no DVD of this film in America. We already had VHS fansubs (timed by Enrique Conty, RECOGNIZE), but the DVD of this was sent to us all the way from…
Promo: Eeepers Choice (1:49:17 – 1:50:10)
IRELAND ALERT! Yes, thanks go out to Eeeper once more, even though he’s seriously treading on Daryl’s dreams by saying Kimagure Orange Road is as good as Giant Robo. He’s watching DN Angel (which we can confirm is David Williams’ favorite show, having beaten out Dirty Pair) so we don’t have to.
Closing (1:50:10 – 1:55:00)
Our one-year anniversary is coming up next week, but we said we’d be taking a week off to…play videogames. Hmm. Perhaps we should upload SOMETHING next week. In any case, the next time a show is recorded, Daryl’s going to review the Special Edition of Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie (and he’ll have to spoil the TV series somewhat to do that), Clarissa’s got Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, and Gerald is the luckiest man alive since he’ll be doing our very first moe show review, Moon Phase. Hey, he’s read through Voyeur and Voyeurs Inc and is BEGGING for more. Why, this shouldn’t even faze him! PS: this week there is a stinger.
SO YOU MAD, BAD, CRAZY MAIN-GAH PEOPLE! GO OUT AND SPREAD THE WORD! LONG LIVE MAIN-GAH VIDEO!
I flipped out the first time I met an otaku from Belfast; but then again, an otaku from Syria recently helped me out with a bit of Arabic translation in a manga. We really are everywhere, it seems. Just wanted to let you know that I’m listening to the new show late nite in the office, working on MAIL Vol. 3.
–Carl
I think there’s some legitimate value to the idea that an anime work may belong to its time, and if it captures it well, that’s an achievement in of itself. This raises an interesting question. We’ve seen 60s retro and 70s retro style in anime. What about 1980s retro?
–Carl
Good luck to Clarissa on the JET application. I hope you get it.
You could put the smack down on the moe maid craze in Japan. AWO combined martial arts style is the strongest.
While in Japan, Patrick Macias will teach you to astro project back to the US and continue the tower of terror known as the AWO podcast.
Carl, I think to some extent we have seen some attempts at ’80s retro anime. I would posit that Escaflowne was Dunbine Lite, and Overman King Gainer was VERY MUCH low fat Xabungle.
Sadly, I doubt we’ll ever see the likes of Crusher Joe (let alone Nora) again.
What about GREED?
Well, I meant also a consciousness of 80s animation style and design–an 80s aesthetic. Although have gotten this vibe in weird places…VAMPIRE D: BLOODLUST had that good old fashioned “let’s ride out into the desert and waste a bunch of mutants with our repeating crossbows” urge you used to count on from 80s action OAVs; Patrick Macias pointed out the claw-handed thug who attacks Batou in INNOCENCE also seemed to step straight out the ANIME V timewarp–ANIME V, with its precious adult anime section whose pages you’d have to cut open, making you complicit in the crime. On the other hand, A TREE OF PALME seemed like an attempt to revive those “progressive” 80s OAVs that seemed to go on forever, even when they were only 45 minutes long.
As you may mention (I haven’t even finished listening to the whole podcast yet) Mahiro Maeda is a veteran of Gainax, which is where he worked before Gonzo began. Maeda made significant contributions to ROYAL SPACE FORCE. He and Sadamoto were working together closely at the time, and had intended to make ROUTE 20 as Gainax second professional work (it was of course instead GUNBUSTER, but echoes of ROUTE 20 can actually be seen in the recent GUNBUSTER sequel).
–Carl
Sorry to keep posting, but it’s 2:58 AM and I’m still in the office (now it’s KUROSAGI Vol. 3 I’m working on). ONLY YESTERDAY is one of my three favorite anime films, and I’ve been lucky to see it three times in 35mm. I think one of the challenges of a dub is that the original performances by Miki Imai and Toshiro Yanagiba are simply so good. As Clarissa says, there’s no car chases or magic to distract from the characters, so any dub actors would have to really bear the full weight of the film.
I was also the editor of VOYEURS, INC., so I can tell you Gerald didn’t even get into the dad with the unusually thick and copious saliva.
–Carl
Good luck Clarissa
Good luck Gerald
I hope you guys achieve your goals 😀
I haven’t listen to the file yet, I just wanted to write that.
It does sound d4-ish
Do you guys know what ‘D4’ even means? :p
Oh, great, now we’re gonna get a cascade of “WAT DUZ D4 MEEN PLZTHX” posts…
I still can’t get a handle on ‘Manga Man’ (or was that Max?). I’m ‘down’ with the idea of having a corporate mascot image, something that’s distinctive and stuff, but a grinning (some may say leering) faux 2000AD refugee just doesn’t say ‘Japanese Cartoon’ to me.
As I’ve admitted in other places, I still have my 4th Doctor scarf and a sonic screwdriver, so that nails my era of Dr. Who I do believe. And my street cred. yo. I roll like that.
I’d like to publically thank Funimation and Lance Heiskell for sending me my won copy of Full Metal Panic: the second raid, as well as a couple other nice surprises.
Well, maybe not *nice*, as just looking at the case of Moon Phase v.1 is making my brain melt and my spinal cord try to strangle me….
I’m listening to the new episode as we speak, but just to make a note of something, Saikano isn’t really a “Gonzo” show. Gonzo did the animation, but it’s based on a manga and they brought in outside directors for the show. So it’s more like Kaleido Star than, say, Last Exile or such in that regard.
Kaleido Star is fluff, but it’s harmless, modestly entertaining fluff.
But then, I’m probably not the world’s best person to comment on Gonzo, because the only “true” Gonzo shows I’ve ever seen past the first disc are Real Bout High School (which was rotten to the core) and Final Fantasy Unlimited, of which my rage-fuelled nervous breakdown of a review is a matter of public record.
Ewww, Steve, they sent you Moon Phase as well?! Every time I see anything related to that show, I react just like a vampire who just had a cross shoved in his face.
You guys should review Buddha. Or Ode to Kirihito. Just more Tezuka. And it seems like Dan the Fan has been listening to you guys, seeing as hes on a Tezuka line of reviews.
Well, ‘mainga’ could possibly be Japanese, but then the word would be written as ???? and romanized as meinga, as opposed to ??? (manga).
Also, I think if I ever live anywhere that gets really cold as opposed to sweltering areas like Louisiana or Florida, I need a Fourth Doctor scarf to wear.
I guess I should get one anyway, but that’s like how I should have replaced my Starfleet uniform that no longer fits, or learned Elvish. It just never ends up happening.
Winter:
Yes…Moon Phase…OMGWTFBBQ and other internet slang. I don’t think I’m man enough to watch it.
OTOH the copy of Black Cat v.1 looks like it might be passable entertainment.
Clarissa:
I’ll do you one better. I still have my Adm. Kirk uniform from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Carefully hand made from endless hours of studying pre-release photos so I would be ready for the Dec. 7th 1979 release, and worn the weekend before at the first convention I ran.
I’m sure were I to run for public office it would be shown to prove what a nutcase I am. It was a damn good costume if I do say so myself.
I am beyond the point where I could wear it today. Just like William Shatner himself.
Jelly Babies. God, those tasted HORRIBLE. Ick.
I won’t scare anyone with the tales of grooving on Battlestar Galactia and Space:1999 and the like.
You guys should review Buddha. Or Ode to Kirihito. Just more Tezuka.
I’m the only one who’s read all of Buddha (bought it all in hardcover), and while Gerald’s also got Ode to Kirihito, he might not finish it before I do. Then again, I’ve not even started reading it and he’s made significant progress. In any case, I think I might review The Push Man and Other Stories along with Abandon the Old in Tokyo before those. Funny how the only manga I buy lately seem to be gekiga or Tezuka works. And Genshiken/Welcome to the NHK. Speaking of Genshiken, Right Stuf is selling the entire series for $30 instead of its usual $90 until Christmas Eve. No excuses.
Do you guys know what ‘D4’ even means? :p
Nobody in America would know, so we’ve thrown a link in with the show notes.
a grinning (some may say leering) faux 2000AD refugee just doesn’t say ‘Japanese Cartoon’ to me.
You’re thinking too hard, Steve: the name “Manga Video” is oxymoronic, but that didn’t stop them, did they? Heck, remember when they tried to trademark the word “manga” despite them never having released any before? The fact that “Manga Video/Entertainment” released some of the most popular anime titles such as Ninja Scroll and Ghost in the Shell is a big reason why you still see people confusing the terms “manga” and “anime.” And saying “main-gah.”
PS: Black Cat’s one of those shows that was based off of a porno, only they’ve removed all the sex and left you with just the story. And you know who did the animation? That’s right. Gonzo.
Black Cat was based on an H-Game? That’s weird. I’ve only ever seen that it was based on a Shonen Jump manga.
*sigh* No, it’s totally NOT based off of an H Game. The characters are even selectable in Jump Super/Ultimate Stars. BUT STEVE WOULDN’T HAVE KNOWN THAT CAUSE HE NEVER FACT CHECKS.
And here I was, hoping to put the fear of God into him and have him watch this thing trying as hard as he could to extrapolate that which was never there.
Ah, I see. Sorry for spoiling the point.
Normally I wouldn’t have asked, but I knew there was a similarly named title that was porno or quasi-porno, Dark Cat or something, that would have fit the description. More than anything, I was wondering if I was confused.
I’ll say it now, since Clarissa’s got my back: there’s no reason NOT to learn your katakanas. They’re no harder than morse code. Just write them out ONCE and you’ll almost have them. They’re super easy to memorize, and the first time you sight-read a katakana word you’ll feel like you’ve got the strength of ten grinches plus two.
As for their usefulness, without them I couldn’t have found anything on Amazon.jp or Yahoo.jp. and my bank account would be a few thousand dollars bigger. Case closed.
Hiragana’s not quite so friendly (at least to me) for some reason. I’m still not adept with them after all this time, plus the fact that only about half the words I can read with them are ones I recognize from listening to anime all these years. But that’s a helluva lot better than nothing.
So get on those katakanas, those of you who haven’t, or you will end up as drinking, smoking, condomless losers!
That’s it! You guys are gonna get an ad copy reading for Discipline in aD4 accent! Expect it soon!
Daryl:
I don’t fact check? *pffft* I’ve forgotten more than you’ll ever know…
what was I saying?
yeah, I recall the whole Manga UK attempt to copyright the word ‘Manga’, and I also know there’s an entire generation of Brits who got into the habit of asking their shopkeeper “hey, did any new Mangas come in?” when checking for new anime releases. *shudder*
and I know your TERRIBLE SECRET. Tim told me. Now you’re like one of Duke Togo’s victims, sweating, listening for my footsteps…
And speaking of Tim…*ahem* know your katakana eh? and who is it that pointed you to a number of those recent “where did this come from’ auctions, hmmmm? Hmmmmm?
I rest my case! 🙂
Moonphase…?!
AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
Omoide Poroporo
Thank you!
BTW the Japanese region 2 Ghibli discs are in NTSC format and almost all have English subtitles, even the documentaries:
Yanagawa Horiwari Monogatari (The Story of Yanagawa’s Canals)
Lasseter-San, Arigato (Thank You, Mr. Lasseter)
Miyazaki Hayao to Ghibli Bijyutsukan
(Hayao Miyazaki and Ghibli Museum)
Otsuka Yasuo no Ugokasu Yorokobi
(Yasuo OTSUKA’s Joy of Animating)
and others.
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/video/ghibli/
Steve, did you have your own starship and crew members?
Did the Genshiken anime get as far as the story where Saki and Madarame have dinner together?
–Carl
Carl, I don’t think it did. The TV series ended before Ogiue showed up, and the dinner happened after that.
Carl, is there any other info you can provide about Route 20/R20? I’ve got three of the five original Newtypes with issues (had to pay someone to go to Mandarake to rescue them for me) and a copy of the trailer video with the Doors song, but would love to know more about the planning, how it fell through, etc. (especially as the trailer looks like it had a far deeper story than the 60 pages of manga did).
I think Gerald should have to follow up all of the Neko Mini-Mode-ing in Moon Phase with some GOOD cat anime…namely Kenji’s Spring (aka Spring and Chaos) and Night on the Galactic Railroad. Of course, someone may have done these already and I’m just too lazy to look them up in the review index.
Anyhow, great work this week. I’m listening through the archives from the beginning at work, with #4-6 on deck for tomorrow. Must confess, though, listening to how much y’all got WRONG during Clarissa’s GGG review hurt. Ah well, so it goes, ever forward, ever improving.
Clarissa, that’s my favorite scene in the entire story. You get a sense of what’s going through Madarame’s head on the subway ride home, but what Saki is thinking remains a bit of a mystery.
Exedore, I guess there are two main (if still somewhat scanty) sources in English on R20: 1.) the passage on it in THE NOTENKI MEMOIRS, and 2.) the article about it which appeared in ANIMAG #3. Do you have access to those?
–Carl
Carl, I love that story as well.
It’s kind of funny, but I think the one-sided awkward romantic interest between Madarame and Saki is better written than most of the other full length romance anime/manga I’ve read. And I don’t even know if I could fully get behind them hooking up as I really like Saki and Kousaka!
I really hope we get that scene in the new OAVs.
exedore –
I’m inclined to apologize for any mistakes in the GGG review (or any other review), but it’s kind of hard to respond or clear things up if people don’t actually tell us *what* we got wrong!
If you don’t want to do it publicly in the blog for some reason, you can email us.
Yes, Clarissa, but in order to get that scene…
[PAUSE FOR EFFECT]
…we’d have to suffer through 12+ episodes of Kujibiki Unbalance.
Sweet Jumping Azathoth, Japan, that’s just cruel.
James:
Not as such…I *was* part of the local Star Trek club (and president for a time), but we didn’t go the Starship route. altho we did have ties to a Chicago based ‘Starbase’…
Hey I like Doctor Who
Carl–
I need to buy Nonteki Memoirs still – probably will do so after Christmas time and I make my annual overkill order on Amazon. Animag #3 is not something that I have access to, though.
Clarissa–
I don’t know if the forum is long enough. The big thing for me was the popularity of GGG in Japan in regards to the rest of the franchise in Japan. Yusha ratings had been going up from Exkizer (no numbers easily available) through Goldran (which started off low enough that no video release was put out but was pulling 9.x ratings by the time it finished). While Yusha’s ratings were by no means stellar, they were pretty good for mecha (and childrens’ mecha at that).
I don’t have a full set of ratings handy, but I did grab one of my old Newtypes off the shelf (January 1992). At this time, Newtype ratings were two months old so these are from December. At the time, Fighbird (second Yusha) was pulling ratings between 4.0 and 5.8 per episode and fluctuating. DBZ was on a different night and pulling between 18.1 and 22.3. Cyber Formula GPX was finishing its run and pulling between 3.7 and 4.5, and Yawara! was getting 11.6-14.9 ratings, while Ranma was lagging with 8.8-10.9. Unfortunately, I can’t read any of the other titles enough to know what they are, and the spine is starting to go on this issue.
(on a side-note, this issue also has full page ads for the LD releases of Yawara!, Only Yesterday, Otaku no Video 1985, and spreads on the original live-action Zeiram, Heroic Legend of Arslan, LoGH S2, and Gundam F91. I swear that the old issues are worth getting just for the adverts.)
A lot of this popularity came from the toys, which were awesome, but also from the fact that Yusha had an awesome timeslot – 5:30PM. Goldran’s extra popularity later on came from it being the lead-in for DBGT, as well as Evangelion starting halfway through its tenure, as Eva brought a huge wave of attention back to robot anime in general.
I should also note the setup of the Yusha creative teams.
Exkaizer/Fighbird/Da-Garn = Team 1
Might Gaine/J-Decker/Goldran = Team 2
Dagwon = Team 3
GGG = Team 4
Yes, Might Gaine is a bit gay (and its robots are more than a bit lame). However, J-Decker makes Might Gaine look manly as it’s rather obvious that there’s some hot bot on bot action in J-Decker that we’re not seeing onscreen.
What killed Yusha was the 1996 series, Brave Command Dagwon. Dagwon is, to be pretty honest, a steaming pile of crap. I don’t know if any of you have watched the fansubs, but Dagwon breaks from any sense of continuity in style from the prior six shows. The whole focus on power armour and the bishounen and lack of ANY appeal to the core demographic really didn’t do the ratings any favours. Case in point: there were special “Club Dagwon” segments at the end of each episode to show kids playing with the toys and merchandise because there sure as hell weren’t many tie-ins during the episodes. It’s clear that Sunrise were going on a big fangirl kick at the time, because Chouja Reideen was coming out at the same time, and I don’t see 6-12 year old boys watching that either.
What happened afterwards is iffy to be sure about without being able to directly interview people at Sunrise. The series for 1997, Brave of Saints BaanGaan had entered preproduction, but the TV network were having doubts about the franchise, as was Takara. Sunrise needed something big to wow everybody over, so BaanGaan, a throwback to the earlier shows in the franchise, was shelved.
It turns out that Ryosuke Takahashi (Dougram, VOTOMS, Gasaraki) was interested in everything going on, and became the executive producer for what ended up being GGG. His name gave a lot of weight to the show, and it began to get heavy advance coverage in Newtype and the rest of the anime press.
What ended up happening, of course, is that GaoGaiGar *bombed* on Japanese TV. Not “didn’t do exceptionally well” but “aired during golden time and still couldn’t get above a 3.x no matter what” bombed. The reason? GGG failed at being a kids’ show. Kids were turned off by the technobabble, the seriousness, and the hard SF plotline and the -mon shows were starting to rise up and take their attention and merchandising dollars.
Otaku, though, ate the show up, which is why it did so well on home video and why the OVA’s have significantly more fanservice. While it may not have been clear to those working on it as they were starting, GGG was never a childrens’ series but rather an otaku series trying to be kid friendly.
As for BaanGaan, it stayed on the shelf except to make some appearances in the Brave Saga Playstation games. There was an OP sequence and some stock footage and enough animation for cut scenes produced, and it looks like it would have been pretty cool. While it’s hard to say how the series would have actually turned out, a number of its stylistic and story based elements ended up being recycled into one of my (and apparently Daryl’s) favourite shows, GEAR Fighter Dendoh – probably because Fukuda was supposed to direct BaanGaan.
Apologies for inconsistencies/incoherencies. It’s late and the end of a long day. Please ask if you want anything clarified.
Yeah, the most interesting romance in Genshiken is the distance between Saki and Madarame. Both are characters that reveal themselves to be open-minded towards each other’s lives, and respect each other as people, but that still won’t change who they essentially are. To use Ohno’s word, Saki and Madarame both have integrity–although opposites, they’re the strongest personalities in the story. Madarame himself says that he doesn’t want Saki to change.
Of course, Madarame may just have a simpler problem vis a vis Saki–except in Ogiue’s imagination, he’s not very attractive–although I don’t recall Saki ever berating him for his looks, as she had plenty of other things to mention first ^_^
–Carl
I’m actually sort of glad the Genshiken anime didn’t really get into Madarame’s unrequited feelings for Saki, since I thought that plot-development was a bit too mainstream sitcom for my tastes.
About the manga/monga thing–
I said on my first show that I probably was saying it wrong. but here in ireland it’s not so much how you say it more than if the shop clerk knows what you’re talking about.Yesterday after i stocked up on Ghibli DVD at my local HMV I tried my local chain bookstore looking for manga.
“where’s your manga section, please?”(P.S.: the other locations of this store I visited had a section),
“Sorry?”
-Sigh-“the japanese comics”,
“oh, it’s over there.”
-Points in direction of said section-.
I went over to where she said.she sent me to the american comics section. after looking in the back of the store I found their manga section if you can call it that. the usual Tokyopop dross titles plus their “Global Manga” crap…..
For daryl and the rest of internet land–
I never said that KOR was better and/or as good as Giant Robo. far from it, I think Giant Robo was the best small scale purchase i made this year. KOR is good but as I’m only about 1/4 the way through it’s too early to tell if it’s going into my favorite list. So far it’s funny and sad at the same time.
clarissa —
how did the subs on the R2 DVD of Omoide Poroporo compare to the fansubs? i only bought that disc yesterday so i haven’t checked yet.
To me, the Ogiue-Sasahara thing was more mainstream. I don’t think Saki x Madarame would ever happen, but it’s one of those relationships that’s powerful because of its absence, because of the reasons why it doesn’t occur, something like the anti-love affair between Shiro and Leiqunni.
I just noticed a small mistake in the English version of Genshiken Vol. 5. But because I’m an editor myself, I find myself sympathetic rather than judgmental.
Exedore, I’ll try to scare up that issue.
–Carl
What? Offhand comments about Trinity Blood? You have a problem with vampires who go, “I could destroy you all, but first why don’t we all sit down at this table while I tell you about my fine china and doilies?”
“It’s clear that Sunrise were going on a big fangirl kick at the time”
Was this pre- or post- Gundam Wing, and was GW the one that kickstarted that whole mid-90’s angsty pretty boy business for Sunrise?
Sub:
According to ANN, the airdates were:
Gundam Wing – 7 Apr 95 – 29 Mar 96
Brave Command Dagwon – 3 Feb 96 – 25 Jan 97
Chouja Reideen – 2 Oct 96 – 25 Jun 97
So yes, Gundam Wing kicked it off and the others followed. I had thought Reideen started earlier than it did, though, but it explains a lot about Reideen and its use of the elements compared to Dagwon.
Pom Poko… Not really a story-driven film, but more animation oriented. The story is nice in a Miyazaki way, with the environmental message and the cute furries.
Still, it’s the gorgeous animation that stands out. The raccoons transformations are beautiful and the ghost parade, THE center-piece of the film, is one of the most perfect pieces of animation ever.
I’ve only watched it one, but the ghost parade left me in complete awe. It’s a cliche, but words cannot describe the incredible surrealism and magic of that sequence.
Takahata really knows how to use dreamy and surreal sequences, something that Miyazaki did on My Neighbor Totoro and, to a certain extent, Spirited Away.
When you review those Daryl, you’ll need to tell me what other gekiga have been released over here, cause I’ve been scouring high and low, but haven’t really been able to find any.
Gundam Wing also solidfied the ‘everything is Gundam, all robots are Gundam’ thinking.
It was brushed with in V Gundam, pushed more in Gundam 0083, but Gundam Wing really did it.
Of course, Bandai doesn’t understand that just because you’ve named a robot “Gundam Prepration H” instead of HiZak Mk II that doesn’t mean it’s going to sell plamo in the same numbers as whatever is the ‘Hero’ Gundam on the show…
But all robots are Gundam….
I’m sure by episode 13, it’s big brother I wanna do anal to mouth.
hahahahaha XD
Because I see there has already been 40+ comments over the past few days here, I figured I might as well submit my comments to this week’s show…
First off, I like to report my mom’s condition has stablized and she’s been out of the hospital since yesterday.
Thinking of the “Manga” thing, I’m often being reminded of the days when “Japanimation” or “Japanime” was the name that got flaunted everywhere, and I suckered into calling it that for a bit before “Anime” crepted in and I began hating the previous words I was introduced to.
I tend to be half and half with FLCL. But I’ve only seen a bit of it from it’s Adult Swim airings.
In the case of the Jump Superstars games, the anime rights would be a little tricky since there are multiple companies that had licensed them. In the case of the manga rights, most like Dragon Ball , Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece, Naruto and such are owned by Viz Media (them being co-owned by the publisher of Weekly Shonen Jump themselves, Shueisha). This Wiki entry does explain the Best Buy sale of the game…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_Superstars
Too bad I don’t have a DS personally or I’d play it!
Thinking of how Marc Handler’s corrent for Go Lion’s studio orgins made me think of how I made the correction in the comments for when you mention that the Daicon films were made on 35mm when it was really 8mm.
I’m pretty good at kana myself, though my friend down in Texas is extremely fluent in Japan, and will be heading back to Tokyo next Feburary to teach English at a school there. He previously went to Japan as part of the JET program himself a few years ago, and documented it on his webpage…
http://www.geocities.com/bebopcowboy/
Being reminded of watching the first episode of Noir from a DVD that came in an early issue of NewType USA. Guess I won’t have to watch the rest!
Wonder if someone should add “The GONZO Syndrome” into the Wiki entry for GONZO? 🙂
After seeing that Voyeurs Inc. pic, I nearly got a heart attack! I might use it for an avatar!
Olny Yesterday is one of my favorite films since I saw it on TCM earlier this year, and made a DVD recording thereof, though I had to catch it from the midnight repeat that had to come at a time when my local cable company likes to do their EAS Test crap, so I’m stuck with 30 seconds worth of a blue screen with some message while a tone goes off in the background sometime during the film. This is why I don’t watch much TV anymore if they’re going to keep ruining my enjoyment in recording anything off it. 🙁
One moment I like in the film is the reference to an old Japanese puppet show that aired on the NHK called “Hyokkori Hyoutan-jima”. That’s a real show in case Clarissa wanted to know. The same friend I’ve told you about sent me a DVD copy of some episodes of this show so I’ve already been somewhat aware of seeing it when it came up in the film. Too bad I can’t search for it too well passed the Morning Musume video (though an animated movie of it was produced by Toei in the 60’s). Here’s the NHK’s webpage for it…
http://www.nhk-ep.com/chara/hyotan/
Such a shame that Disney hasn’t relased this on DVD yet. Thinking about the “periods” bit in Only Yesterday, I’m reminded of something else Disney did do along the same lines…
Of course Disney did however saccharinated Pom Poko generiously in some ways of bringing it the American audiences. What with tanukis being turned to raccoons and the males all sported “magic pouches” between their legs. How moot could you get? 🙂
Much of what I’ve seen of Isao Takahata’s work makes me think the one thing he wants us to do is THINK. Really, that’s what I do when I do see Grave of the Fireflies and Pom Poko as well. It goes a different way from what I get in Miyazaki’s work, the films are more down to earth and “real” in terms of the stories told. I often think animation can do more than what most would say it needs to be to distance it from live-action. Animation is still a medium and not a genre or set in that pattern that it needs to say in. You can tell anythign you want in animation.
By the way, I found out a science musuem in my city will be having something interesting next month…
http://www.cositoledo.org/
Hopefully I’ll show up to it and see what they’ll have.
I want you, Anime World Order people, to know that you are responsible for me ordering a Monte Cristo sandwich at dinner last night.
And it was DELICIOUS.
It is the Count of Monte Cristo…….IN SPACE!
I believe you’ve mis-spelled “The Stars My Destination”….
And it’s interesting that Howard Chaykin was doing this visual ‘look’ back in the late ’70s.
But HIS take didn’t have a blue elf vampire as the Count…
According to your ClustrMap, you’re getting visitors from Libya, and…is that Easter Island? The mystery of the EMOTION label is revealed!
–Carl