I might as well have titled this post, "Why I keep hurting myself."
(Originally 29 January 2007)
So I've seen the fourth episode of the twelve episode series, and I have to admit to myself at this point that I'm really only watching it for Chikane and Himeko. I mean to say, Kaon and Himiko. I do feel a bit shallow, but not too badly since it seems a lot of people are just watching it for those two as well.
I like the OP and ED, although I've yet to hear the full length version of the ED track. Both don't really match well to the show, since there aren't any weighty themes (or themes being given any weight/screentime) thus far, but they do hold up pretty well on their own.
I'm in a sentimental mood at the moment, so I'm eschewing the faster and upbeat OP for the moderate-tempo ballad that is the ED. And I'm all for declarations of love and longing in a strong chorus line.
But on to the series itself. Basically there's not much happening, which is not that good a sign. Yes, KnM only picked things up in a serious way starting around the halfway marker, and the same thing might happen. This does not mean that this lack of development is a good thing, though, and lessons should have been learned from KnM. If the animators (hell, or the manga team from which the series is based on) could have evened out the pace a bit more, it would have been a vast improvement. It's disappointing that thus far they've reserved all episodes for moments of randomness and heavy-handed explanations in the form of idiot lectures.
I see some people thoroughly enjoying the randomness as unintentional comedy and blatant fan service. I don't really notice the randomness until it's pointed out, but I do recognize when time is being wasted. Fan service, I don't really care for, particularly when it's Kuu, and yes this character grates on my soul.
There is not much of a plot to speak of, the most powerful moment thus far being Kaon getting "tempered" much like a blacksmith strikes a sword on top of an anvil. So here's a run down of some characters.
Kyoshiro — the series' namesake. As of episode four he's established himself as a tool, or an asshat, or both. Nothing out of the ordinary with his motivations since it's the typical avenge a loved one who may or may not be dead because of some giant explosion. He's an asshat, though, because he's initially set up to be the nice guy hero, and then that's arbitrarily turned on its head and now he might be some anti-hero, although at this point it's hard to tell if we should even root for him. I'm going to go out on a limb and say no, because you can't be an anti-hero and a hero at the same time.
Setsuna — Kyoshiro's tool. Literally does all the bitch work. Somewhat stiff and robotic. Causes Kuu much teenage angst. Seems at a slight disadvantage when fighting Tarurotte.
Tarurotte — Magical neko (cat). 'nuff said. Oh, and is Sojiro's tool, but you wouldn't know it by the way she beats him down in episode 3.
Sojiro — Kyoshiro's brother. Not a tool, yet. Also not a main character, yet.
Jin — Souma clone, talks less, therefore thumbs up from me. Although why he has teal hair (and blue-ish eyes) and doesn't talk more and do stuff is beyond me. The blue ones are always the trouble-makers.
Kozue — has like two lines, then gets hit by a car. Oops, wrong series, but the effect is about the same.
Himiko — Himeko clone, talks less, emos less, therefore thumbs up from me. If she develops a backbone later on in the series, two thumbs way up. It's only fair. I mean, Chikane has always carried the team, and a sense of confidence would be a nice continuation from the ending of KnM.
Kaon — Chikane clone, not focus of series, therefore thumbs down! I like her dark blue eyes (they're closer to her hair shade), in contrast to those who prefer the lighter marine ones in KnM. I don't have a preference, and upon closer inspection the differences aren't that great. Inconsistent character design/animation in KnM is mostly responsible for the differences. Currently waiting for her to snap again and kick everyone's ass, because c'mon, it's Chikane, and Chikane is no one's tool. Speaking of which...
Mika — apparently Kyoshiro's sister? This hasn't been borne out in the series yet, but I read it on Wikipedia/the internet, so it must be true. Time for a family feud, huh? It seems everyone has their own tool (until Chikane flips out and kills things with real ultimate power), and they're all related. In my view she's the most interesting character because she actually does stuff, and lets her actions speak as opposed to rambling on and on. Possessive, radiates the eeevill, a straight-up no-nonsense (or shades of grey) villain.
Kuu — save the worst for last! I read the claim that she's an awesome character, but wouldn't work at all in real life. I agree with the latter, but maybe since I like a bit of realism so I can buy in
to a series, I fail to understand how she can be an awesome character. Maybe it's because I want to slap her around so badly that it rips me away from the suspension of disbelief (and there's a lot required). Even her character design is beginning to get on my nerves. It crossed my mind somewhere during episode four that her face is a very irritating cross between moe and emo. There might be some merit in accomplishing such a feat, such as best rage-inducing figure.
Some complain that Himeko was spineless, but Kuu puts Shinji Ikari to shame. I was hoping for a bit of trope subversion in a scene where Kuu stands over a possibly dying (but it's a shoujo series, no one ever dies! Or something) tool Kyoshiro, crying out his name over and over again. That sounded dirty, but it's not. I half-expected Kyoshiro to wake up and smack her upside the head, and scream, Get me a (censored) medic!
Alas, it did not happen. How disappointing. Shell-shocked people might experience bouts of paralysis, but if there are any people who stand around calling out someone's name hoping they'll wake up, they ought to be smacked silly for being totally incompetent. Or being a Kuu.
When she's not being extremely emo (she needs a boxcutter. A box of them, ho ho ho), she's narrating to her imaginary friend (although signs point to this friend being dead) in the form of a letter. Writing imaginary letters on sites can be pretty funny, and even more amusing if they're sent and a reply comes back, but it requires a minimal amount of effort to write a good letter. Writing a letter detailing your emo thoughts and activities does not make for a good letter. It makes for a pretty terrible, fast forward moment, though. Like I said, it seems quite a few people are enjoying the unintentional hilarity in it all. I find it pretty pathetic, and I've seen enough pathetic people (i.e. Shinji) that it's as if they're filler. Time wasting not only has filler moments, but filler characters. The irony is that Kuu's name translates into empty or shell. There are situations where time-wasting is acceptable, usually if it goes unnoticed because the writers are marginally clever about it. Active time-wasting deserves some kind of penalty, like in sports.
Probably the worst that could happen is if Kuu fails to grow a freaking spine, and gets entrusted with a giant phase-shifting robot, since it's pretty much guaranteed she has that power. Anime would then bear witness to the creation of a female Shinji, no Shinji trascended, like a version negative 2.0, and then a trainwreck of epic proportions. Who wouldn't want to watch an emo girl with a giant robot getting beaten down by Chikane Kaon?
Friday, June 8, 2007
Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora - the first third
KnM and related fluff images
(Originally 28 January 2007)
Why this artist has a domain suffix for India is beyond me. Click the image for the full resolution. The image is in reference to a scene in episode 2 of Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora, where Himeko's incarnation (named Himiko. Original eh?) kisses Chikane's incarnation (Kaon, a play the pronunciation of her kanji name) to restore her energy. And they're definitely lovers. Right. We'll see how that plays out. Right now it's the only reason I'm watching it. The main character's personality grates on my very soul.
Side note: Fervent Idiot owns.
There is some official art for the Kannazuki no Miko anime. I don't think I've ever seen this one, though, although it's very clearly anime inspired if nothing else. The manga character designs have way too much hair.
KnM Fan Forum
(Originally 27 January 2007)
Anyway, I stumbled across a KnM fan forum while reading the Shoujo-Ai forums. The thorough flood filling of purple might have been an emotional statement of some sort, but it's pretty hard to read. There might be a way to change the template if I signed up, but I'm not going to. I may be a (rabid) Chikane fan, but I don't have anything to say that I haven't said previously. Wait, I actually haven't. I suppose I should remedy that as opposed to studying for an upcoming midterm.
Two-Mix eclipsed
(Originally 20 January 2007)
I've been trying to free up drive space to feed the anime monster. On the hit list is my archive of music that I've never listened to. I've already ditched Echoes by The Rapture. Up next is 150 BPM by TWO-MIX, which is pretty surprising to me as well.
A long time ago, probably late elementary school or early days in high school, I was in the basement, flipping through channels. I was bored out of my mind at the time, as I typically am now with the exception that I didn't have high-speed internet, a computer capable of running TFC or any other 3D FPS at playable framerates (let alone running any FPS later than maybe Quake at all), and didn't know anything about anime (as opposed to knowing a miniscule amount about my preferences now).
At the time, on YTV they were in between shows, and the announcer (probably one of the PJ's) was saying that up next was a pilot episode for a new series they were going to try out. I thought, that was kind of cool, sort of like history being made. Looking back, it was.
At any rate, I stuck around to see what would transpire, and the OP sequence hooked me from the opening bars. It was good, whatever it was. Heck, it was great, and it was in Japanese, and the animation had fighting robots. The series was Gundam Wing, and the OP was Just Communication from TWO-MIX.
I think it was the first time I had ever heard a Japanese song. I may have seen Escaflowne being butchered by Fox either before or after Gundam Wing — I can't really remember the air dates for either series — but Fox's Escaflowne definitely did not keep the original OP track.
It might have also been the first time I had ever heard electronic, or very nearly after I had my first taste of electronic, which was in a car ride in which Enigma and Robert Miles were played. Just Communication just whipped along. It was faster than almost anything on the radio, faster than the dream music of Robert Miles, and exponentially faster than Enigma on crack. It had a strong low range drive, decent melody (for the time), and thus, TWO-MIX was godly. Just Communication followed with Rhythm Emotion, White Reflection, all Gundam Wing related tracks, all received via the awesomeness of a 33.6 kbps modem on a good day, 28.8 kbps on any other.
150 BPM is an old TWO-MIX album, featuring other old favourites such as Rhythm Generation, Just Meeting on the Planet, and Love Revolution. Unfortunately these are also the stand-out tracks among a host of lesser imitations. I might be inclined to keep these, and toss the rest.
Among the contenders for TWO-MIX's place in my archive are KOTOKO and to a lesser extent, Tamaki Nami. KOTOKO doesn't need any further elaboration, but Tamaki Nami's Believe made more of an impression on me than Just Communication, if that's even possible. Since then, I feel that she's been unable to reach that bar, although she's come close in Heroine, Daitani Ikimashou, Destiny, and Final Memory.
In an earlier incarnation of this article I essentially wrote TWO-MIX off. If they'd actually release more stuff, I'd certainly reconsider. I'm trying to get a hold of Delta Two -Universe- to ascertain whether they've updated their style.
I'm not worthy
(Originally 13 January 2007)
orz
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2484/1168646289235sm4.jpg
Yanked from http://www.shoujoai.com/forum/topic_show.pl?tid=37213;pg=7
AIR TV in HD on Blue-Ray
(Originally 5 January 2007)
Holy shit. WinD released a sub of the OP, and Blue-ray was probably the source.
Honey and Clover II - It's serious business
(Originally 31 December 2006)
I suppose if you were into the first season of Honey and Clover for teh funny then this concluding arc (it picks up right where the first season left off) might be rather disappointing. I liked it much better overall. I can't recall any chuckle-worthy moments on the order of the first season, but that hasn't dampened my appreciation of it in the least. At twelve episodes, the story-telling proceeds at a brisker pace, and makes for a tighter, more compact form.
Ayumi continues to be noose around neck irritating, but a lot more screen time is given to Shinobu Morita and his brother Kaoru. While it's never spelled out, it seems Shinobu does mostly CG work, and he's his brother's bitch as Kaoru is running a lot of the administrative work for a revenge takeover that Shinobu is only going along with because he feels obligated to.
In terms of mini-arcs, Shinobu's story was the most compelling, followed by Yamada's which ended early on and his relationship with everyone has been pretty reasonable since. Last up is Hagu's arc. Initially I wrote her off as being like, loli, but her character design has since dropped the Princess Leia hair buns and goes into more of her fears about the future. What happened at the end was just kind of awkward, wherein Shuuji (her uncle) says that he loves her. It was pretty evident throughout the first season that he was protective of her, as an older family member ought to be, but this just tosses a wrench into the gear works, doesn't it? In the final discussion on the topic, it's not really spelled out what he feels (i.e. is the wedding in six months or what?), maybe he was just doing it to piss off Shinobu, or not. It's not brought up ever again, either.
Takemoto's story wrapped up in the first season, and is pretty much a side character. He's a solid character and deals with issues, and Shinobu pretty well. No one else dares confront Shinobu's antics, much less clothesline him in the second episode.
The ending is they all part ways and life goes on. There's no finality which is dissatisfying in some ways, but very realistic and peaceful in others. I personally prefer strong finishes, but Honey and Clover's story is about life, and life can close chapters with a bang, or with the quiet sliding of a train door.
(Later)
Accept that you love someone, loved someone, and that others love or do not love you. At the end of the day, you can (and should) confront your peers, everyone can still respect each other, even though it's human nature to part ways. I think that's one of the main messages. I was skeptical throughout the first season, but the second concluded on a realistic note if the time gap is conveniently neglected.
