Rescue Wings – episode 7

March 29, 2006 on 10:20 am | In Rescue Wings | Comments Off on Rescue Wings – episode 7

“Bright Side of Life (part two)”

Carelessness is only a split second, but regret lasts forever.

They really do make anime as good as this. Rescue Wings manages to put me in a very emotional state without for one second seeming manipulative. From this series I get a feeling of a total love for human life, and the idea of friends as a family that care for each other.
This “Bright Side of Life” story covered many different perspectives and was generally a triumph of scripting and direction.

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Shinigami no Ballad – episode 4

March 29, 2006 on 9:27 am | In Shinigami no Ballad | Comments Off on Shinigami no Ballad – episode 4

“Autumn Magic”

This time, Shinigami no Ballad offers the story of a dead mother. I much preferred this episode to the previous as it fired on several levels.

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Honey & Clover ni-go and State of the Nation

March 28, 2006 on 6:49 pm | In Site News | 2 Comments

All over the inter net is the news that Honey & Clover has been granted a sequel. Some worry that lightning isn’t going to strike twice – especially with the great ending offered by the first series.

The other news is that I’m this close to kicking the arse off of my sub backlog which means I can return to the world of DVDs and maybe even get some university work done.

I’ve also been quite disturbed to read that people think no one writes about “older” shows any more: I would like to point to my two years’ worth of archives which stretch back as far as 1977.

PS. I tried all night to fix up this god forsaken corner of the internet. I’ll reinstate lost comments tomorrow.

Mushishi – episode 19

March 27, 2006 on 2:24 pm | In Mushishi | Comments Off on Mushishi – episode 19

“String from the Heavens”

Another superlative episode of Mushishi, this time about faith, scepticism and the invisible. 

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Rescue Wings – episode 6

March 26, 2006 on 8:45 pm | In Rescue Wings | Comments Off on Rescue Wings – episode 6

“Bright Side of Life (part one)”

An episode that occurs during the o-bon festival, yet another Japanese holiday. The episode works on the triplet fronts of Uchida, Megumi and Hongo with some overlap. Again the home lives of the characters are on offer and one can more accurately see what these people are like.

Continue reading Rescue Wings – episode 6…

Binchou-tan – episode 5

March 26, 2006 on 6:39 pm | In Binchou-tan | 1 Comment

“Kimono memories bin”

Another semi-depressing episode of Binchou-tan.

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Yakitate!! Japan – episode 56

March 26, 2006 on 5:44 pm | In Yakitate!! Japan | Comments Off on Yakitate!! Japan – episode 56

“Kuroyanagi in danger!! The lost reactions!”

There’s not much point in me saying anything beyond the very basic, as my misgivings are the same in every episode.

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Shinigami no Ballad – episode 3

March 26, 2006 on 4:05 pm | In Shinigami no Ballad | Comments Off on Shinigami no Ballad – episode 3

“Beyond the Light”

General consensus on this episode is that it’s different to the first two. I agree, but I don’t like the ways in which it is different. I’m normally a fan of understatement, but this episode is understated to the point that virtually nothing happens.

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Japan to face challenges from foreign animation

March 25, 2006 on 10:42 pm | In Media coverage | Comments Off on Japan to face challenges from foreign animation

The Sydney Morning Herald has an article about the anime industry’s saturation, and infers that Japan will soon be facing competition in the world market.

While Al-khadra has a point about the fact that some people don’t care where the product is from as long as it’s dubbed, I think that the existing fan market won’t be penetrated that strongly simply due to the intense elitism of its members.

Judgement can’t really be passed on this sort of product because we haven’t really seen any of it. That, however, does not stop me from thinking that I wouldn’t be that interested: what could possibly be offered? If anything, the article implies that the work will both be derivative of anime and aimed primarily at children.
This makes it seem a cynical attempt to cash in by emulation, like so much of the stuff that you might see on Jetix. Of course I’m not saying the Japanese market itself isn’t driven by cynicism – hell, look at the amount of onsen boob ninja robot panties we’ve got at the moment – but industries should invent their own system of cynicism rather than slavishly copying another.

Finally, my traditional complaints: the article refers to fans as “geeks” and also it jumps straight from “Hello Kitty” to “sex and violence” as the two kinds of anime. Nothing much can be done about this, and I don’t think anything ever will be.

That link may expire soon, at which point I will reproduce the article in its entirety.

Angel Heart – episode 13

March 24, 2006 on 11:41 pm | In Angel Heart | Comments Off on Angel Heart – episode 13

“A gift from Master Li”

There’s one thing about anime that I will never understand, and it’s something quite commonplace. The instance is when two people in direct competition with each other face off, and one says to the other “I’m not going to lose!” and the reply is invariably “I’m not going to lose either!”
Generally this is said with some enthusiasm, but it’s a sentiment I’ll never understand. Here it is carried to a new level.

“I’m not going to die before you!” says Shan In to Papa Ryo.
“I’m not going to die before you, either!” says Ryo in return.

Way to strengthen the father/daughter bond, you two.

Continue reading Angel Heart – episode 13…

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