[Site Announcements]

Looking ahead to 2009, and my new blog

Posted by Martin  [Tags: blogsturbation, First Impressions and Retrospectives]

The wheels are set in motion: this is the last post for this blog before I launch my new one proper. Everyone who has read, commented or lurked over the past two and a half years has my deepest thanks; all I ask is update your RSS feed subscriptions to those of my new one when I’ve published some more posts and the RSS plugin’s cache straightens itself out and updates. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be taking a short break from posting to spend time relaxing with my family over christmas and work on the old viewing backlog; I’ll probably still lurk around on other people’s blogs and AB IRC but while the posts here won’t be deleted or anything, there won’t be any more updates here.

Time to sit back and take a quick break

There are already several good reasons to come back to blogging next month, not least some really interesting things recently announced that I think are well worth looking forward to, and will give plenty to write about. I can’t not write it seems, so here are some of the things that will kick the latest bout of Hiatus Disease out into the ether where it belongs.

[18 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Ginban Kaleidoscope: I blame Lolikitsune for this one

Posted by Martin  [Tags: community, First Impressions and Retrospectives]

Yep, you have Lolikit to blame for this post. Like, totally. It was an interesting exercise in watching something outside of my own comfort zone, at least - after all, ‘Canadian ghost figure skating animu’ is a bit outside my usual viewing, as is any sort of TV entertainment centred around sports. Of course, the concept behind Ginban Kaleidoscope isn’t just about ice skating: it’s about the ghost of a Canadian stunt pilot who possesses the body of an ice skater. Yeah.

I’m not sure why but Tazusa looks so cute in this pose

To be fair the premise is possibly the most left-field and odd that I’ve had the fortune to come across so far, which makes it both interesting and potentially offputting. Would I have watched it as it aired, knowing how the story starts? I’ll admit that I probably wouldn’t have. Which is a bit of a shame because once I got past the initial “You what?!” reaction at the initial setup, it was quite a lot of fun. Admittedly there are one or two things that drag it down from the heights of greatness, but in terms of light-hearted disposable entertainment I was genuinely pleasantly surprised. Not bad for a semi-serious exchange of smart-ass comments on IRC, I think you’ll agree.

[12 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Autumn 2008 first impressions (gar edition): Casshern Sins, Michiko to Hatchin, One Outs

Posted by Martin  [Tags: First Impressions and Retrospectives, Huerrgh!, One Outs]

And so I finally get to the end of my Autumn 2008 to-watch list. I must admit that I’m following a lot more new shows than I was during the summer (as in, three times as more), which is a bit daunting to be honest. On the plus side I have two whole weeks off work to keep up with things and many of the currently airing series are only twelve or thirteen eps long anyway.

To balance out the feminine frilly skirts and black lace trimmings of my last preview post, the final batch have a badass gar slant. So here they are: Casshern Sins, Michiko to Hatchin and One Outs. And to my Stateside readers, this week of Epic Election Win has earned you guys an enormous shout of congratulations. Nice Vote indeed.

[10 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Autumn 2008 first impressions (gothic edition): Mouryou no Hako, Kurozuka, Kuroshitsuji

Posted by Martin  [Tags: First Impressions and Retrospectives, Kuroshitsuji, Kurozuka, Mouryou no Hako]

My autumn viewing schedule is finally beginning to take shape now I’ve had the chance to watch the first two episodes for some of the last of the shows that interested me. I don’t think of these three as the least worthy by any means but circumstances have pushed my initial reviews further along, with only three more after these to go; it also happens that the most gothic anime shows of the season are collected in one post. So then, enjoy the dark atmospherics (and irrelevant EGL pics included just because they look stylish), perfect for the run-up to Halloween: Mouryou no Hako, Kuroshitsuji and Kurozuka.

Even though I suspect the series could never look as pretty and moody as this, it still makes me want to watch Rozen Maiden. This post isn’t about RM at all, by the way.

[7 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Autumn 2008 first impressions: ef - a Tale of Melodies, Tytania, Chaos;Head

Posted by Martin  [Tags: ef -a Tale of Melodies, First Impressions and Retrospectives, Tytania]

I wouldn’t wish illness on anyone but several days off work has allowed me to recharge my batteries a bit (despite living off canned soup and green tea for four days straight) and has done wonders for tackling my backlog. My two-episode rule still stands, which is a bit of a limitation: the subbers pull out all the stops to get the opening eps out but take more time over the second ones because most people make their minds up after the first week.

I’ve been off-colour lately but Hidamari Sketch always makes things brighter

Since animu is infinitely more interesting than hearing about my immune and digestive systems going into temporary EPIC FAIL I give you ef-a Tale of Melodies, Tytania and Chaos;Head.

[14 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Autumn 2008 first impressions: Clannad after-story, Shikabane Hime: Aka, Yozakura Quartet

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Clannad, First Impressions and Retrospectives, Shikabane Hime]

I know I’m so late to the First Impressions party that I’m stuck at the back of the queue for the bar, but I try to draw my conclusions after watching more than one episode. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go on one outing alone; after all, you don’t commit yourself after the first date, do you? The thing is, opening episodes aren’t always representative of the story as a whole so I’m doing a bit more reading around and previewing before getting my watchlist updated proper. First up is Clannad: after story, Shikabane Hime: Aka and Yozakura Quartet.

[14 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Battle of the Backlog: summer 2008 edition

Posted by Martin  [Tags: First Impressions and Retrospectives, Hidamari Sketch, Natsume Yuujinchou]

So far I’ve found only two new shows for the summer season that have really caught my attention and even then one of them, Eve no Jikan, isn’t following a weekly schedule. I quickly realised how I need to really pull my finger out in sifting through the newest offerings before they’re swamped by the Autumn titles so here are the latest updates to my watchlist: Himitsu: the Revelation, Natsume Yuujinchou, Yakushiji Ryouko Kaiki Jikenbo and of course Hidamari Sketch x365.

[7 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Make time for The Daughter of Twenty Faces…seriously

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Daughter of Twenty Faces, First Impressions and Retrospectives]

I can understand part of the reason why Nijuu Mensou no Musume, a.k.a. The Daughter of Twenty Faces, has been a sleeper title this season. I know anime show writers have a knack of coming up with weird titles (untranslated or otherwise) but it’s a bit of a mouthful and sounds odd as opposed to exciting. Furtheremore, the first couple of episodes have a decidedly un-Japanese 1900s-1940s European setting and lack the sci-fi or high school themes of most other shows at the moment. I’m always one to accept the occasional recommendation of something A Little Bit Different however, so this made me all the more curious to start my belated introduction to the show. It really is a sleeper title, but a fascinating one into the bargain.

The story seems to be set in a post-war period, but whether this is post-WWI, post-WWII, or even something completely unique to the NMNM universe, I’m still unsure. It is almost steampunk in some ways because of this alternate historical timeline (in a similar way to Allison to Lillia actually, only without that clumsy narrative and those annoying plot holes) and has some great old-school technology like vintage submarines, double-envelope airships, and ruins of giant tanks and planes; the latter reminded me of those hulking aircraft from Nausicäa actually. Can you tell I’m liking it already?

[12 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Spring 2008 first impressions #4: Real Drive and Toshokan Sensou

Posted by Martin  [Tags: First Impressions and Retrospectives, Toshokan Sensou]

It’s halfway through the season and people are already starting to look to the next one…and I’m still finishing my First Impressions for spring. Heh. The final two candidates for my ever-growing watch list are Real Drive and Toshokan Sensou.

*Cough*

In other news I’m thinking about changing my blog’s theme to revitalise my enthusiasm…Frozen Twilight 1.0 is beginning to look a bit drab.

[11 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Spring 2008 first impressions #3: Kaiba, Kamen no Maid Guy, Kanokon

Posted by Martin  [Tags: First Impressions and Retrospectives, Kaiba]

The fact that the next three in line, Kaiba, Kamen no Maid Guy and Kanokon, all begin with the same letter is pure coincidence by the way - I’m not trying to be clever or anything here. It’s the ‘Experimental Edition’ of my Spring 2008 first impressions: the first is itself experimental while the other two were another attempt on my part to try something a bit different in another sense. The results were mixed.

You don’t know if fifty minutes of your life will be wasted on something until you waste those minutes on it. That’s the price for being open-minded I guess

[7 Comments]