Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Second Around

Watched Nana 11 today. Somehow they managed to make bishounen even more stereotypically bishounen than he already was. I was also disappointed that it featured a fake confession: I hate those.

I wouldn’t normally make several “excuse” posts in a row, choosing instead just to leave the site silent and update in my own good time, but I think this one is important: I didn’t write tonight because I saw Superman Returns. That’s the same reason as last night, if you’re keeping track. Yes, Lois Lane totally goes to the hospital from my office.

Commence regular schedule, and less procrastinating, tomorrow. Unless Dragon Quest eats me. I’m screwed, aren’t I?

Bonus points: For these last three days my computer has been running at dial-up speeds. Our community totally sucks if you’re an interpleb! Then again, you wouldn’t be downloading this stuff anyway, and you almost certainly wouldn’t have the patience to order it from internet stores.

Work is the death of creativity; the workplace is the Return of Superman

I’ve watched Digimon Savers and Ouran High School Host Club but have not had the time to write anything about them yet. I’ll share three of my notes from the latest Ouran High School Host Club with you, though:

BEST PLAN EVER
BEST MORI EVER
BEST SHOT EVER

That’s some Ouran for ya right there.

Tonight I saw Superman Returns, which was something near brilliance. It was filmed in the streets surrounding my office, so I could recognise a good deal of the locations. The Metropolis Hospital was directly opposite my office (to the point that you could actually see Lois Lane walking in front of my building), and there was a geographically hilarious car chase which began midway through Martin Place (one street behind my office, and coincidentally where my previous office was and where the “woman in the red dress” sequences from The Matrix were filmed), and ended, after a trip through some streets, at the top of Martin Place.
Don’t even get me started on the earthquake in O’Connell Street – that’s where I buy my candy from! Superman Returns was kind of like going to work for me, except with more explosions and less fatigue.
Anyone else who lives in a big city might be thinking “beh, I recognise locations from my city all the time and don’t care a hoot about it”. When I watch Australian films (what very few there are), I don’t care about the locations. When I watch a film allegedly set in America, or a fantasy version thereof, it’s fun to recognise actual places.

So stop watching anime for a second and go out and make Brandon Routh rich and forgive Bryan Singer for his crappy X-Men aesthetic: he’s finally getting the hang of CG without overblowing it.

Tide-Line Blue – episode 13

“Brother”

Having rewatched Tide-Line Blue over the past month or so, I no longer agree with my verdict of last year. While it is true that the series still has one truly terrible episode in which none of the characters’ actions make any sense (episode four, that woule be), it works better in self moderated doses than it did over the course of three rigid months.
If you look at that, I’ve really said “it’s a TV show that isn’t very good on television”, which is an issue … but the beauty of the modern age is man’s ability to liberate things from their original medium. Or something like that. Anyway, it’s a moot point considering the way the myriad of choices we’re given in this field.

Spoilers for the series’ conclusion before the cut

At any rate, I came to realise last week that episode 12 was actually a fitting conclusion for the series because it suggested that the world had been handed over to Teen and Keel, with Gould choosing to relinquish control in favour of seeing where the children will take humanity.

Episode 13, the DVD only final episode of the series, is more of an epilogue than anything else. It makes more obvious the implications of the TV conclusion and features several touching moments that prove Tide-Line Blue to be a worthy program.

Episode 13 spoilers hereon

Continue reading Tide-Line Blue – episode 13…

Haruhi Stardust – episode 12

“Live A Live”

Haruhi played guitar
Jamming good with Kyon and Yuki
– The girl from the stars

Wow, in the preview for the next episode Kyon admits that the story will progress! Still, that matters not in the face of this offering, which features Haruhi very briefly coming to understand the concepts of humility and generosity.

Continue reading Haruhi Stardust – episode 12…

Southern Cross – episodes 15-24

I wrote this a month ago but never got around to publishing it. I realised today I have nothing more to say, so here it goes. Also there’s no image this time around because quality Southern Cross images are difficult to find.

Supplementary materials should never be necessary for the comprehension of anime. Sadly, despite its early promise, Southern Cross fails to realise its directors’ intent.

Traditional deconstruction inside

Continue reading Southern Cross – episodes 15-24…

Make no promises and break no hearts

It appears that I have rented out a corner of the internet in which to post things about anime, and that I have neglected it for the past week. This can be explained by a cocktail of exams and Dragon Quest (the ratio of exams to Dragon Quest is actually quite disturbing).

Apart from two episodes of City Hunter, I have not watched any anime in the last seven days. I’ll see what I can do about getting some stuff into me, but Lord Rhapthorne is just so compelling, dangit.

Oh, in case you were wondering how the exams went: they were a mixed bunch, with the highlight being today’s “Imagining America” subject. It consisted of two essays. My reaction to the first was “Huckleberry Finn, motherbitches!” and the second was “Gangs of New York? I’ll kick you in the face!”
See, writing for Anime Pilgrimage makes you just that good at writing about books and film.

City Hunter Handbook: Episodes 2-5

More City Hunter! You’ll never stop me! I’m aiming to make these semi-encyclopedic, which means that I am almost guaranteed to be shot down in flames by my hubris. Still let’s give it a try!

These introductory episodes present insights into many facets of Ryo, with high stakes and complicated stories. It was something that I complained about in my initial run through of the series: a lack of deaths. Now, with all that I know, I can sense the consistency in the judgements meted out by the ultimately sage City Hunter.

Contains individual episode spoilers that will help you in your quest

Continue reading City Hunter Handbook: Episodes 2-5…

Kiba – episode 12

“The advance towards truth”

Seriously, every time Dumas appears on screen to talk to anyone I imagine that he is saying “your resistance only serves to make my penis harder!”

Needless to say, it is now physically impossible to take Kiba at anything approaching a serious level.

Continue reading Kiba – episode 12…

Nana – episode 10

Hachi is so flighty that I have no choice but to love her. Wait, I shouldn’t be saying that. I should instead be pimping lesbian foreshadowing.

Yeah! Hachi loves Nana etcetera!

Continue reading Nana – episode 10…

Ouran High School Host Club – episode 11

“Oniichama is a Prince”

The Fetish Brigade come to the help of a young girl, who turns out to have intense knowledge of decadence and reverse harems.

Continue reading Ouran High School Host Club – episode 11…