Editorials

Editorial: Male Leads – Why I don't like idiots like Shutto.

November 4, 2009 by Chikorita157 6 Comments

Note: This Editorial primarily focuses on Romance and Harem animes in general.

The gripes of most harem anime is that most of the harems come with male leads that the viewer most likely hate. They are either losers, jerks or even perverts. The prime example of the unideal male lead is Makoto from School Days (which everyone seems to want him dead, which in the end he does in the last episode) or even Keitaro from Love Hina for being a pervert and a loser. Male leads like this makes me cringe and want me to stay away from harem anime.

With the viewing of Shutto Sutherland, the jerkass (and abides to the Screw the rules, I have money!) that was introduced in Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (first season) episode 11 and again in episode 5 of Purezza when he gets angry at Alice-chan and decides to bully her… Great god, there is a reason why I don’t like these types of male leads in harem anime. They seem to make you angry inside and want you to punch them for the horrible things they do. These type of leads make your blood boil and want to take a chainsaw out… Well… that what is the feeling I had when he was bulling her and also pouring grape wine on top of Yuuto’s head.
…

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial

MyAnimeList Updater… Why no Mac OS X Client? and the Alternative.

October 15, 2009 by Chikorita157 6 Comments

I watch Anime that I forget to update MAL... Why? There is no MAL Updater for Mac OS X.

I watch anime on my free time and I am often too lazy to log in to MyAnimeList and go through the hoops just to update what episode I’m watching. Like with Twitter, I want to instantly update my stuff through a client without needing to open up the web browser and log into MAL just to do that. There is actually a program like this called “MAL Updater”, but only for Windows…. That means that users that uses Mac OS X or Linux are SOL, unless you run it in Virtual Machine, but why would you want to do that since it takes resources just to run Windows….

Sure there are command line clients for Mac OS X and Linux, but they are no means user friendly for inexperienced users nor they are easy to use or feature rich as the Windows version. I’m complaining because why should users be shut into a Microsoft monopoly when the purpose of using Mac OS X and Linux is to get away from the Microsoft monopoly… but there is a alternative to all this MAL Updater madness… Melative (a combination of media and Twitter)… I have been using it for a few months now thanks to one blogger that does the same purpose and I have been helping with the development of melativemicro, a client that works on Macs, Windows and Linux. Besides, I don’t even use the social aspect of MAL anyways…

If Melative can have a cross platform client, how come MAL Updater can’t have a crossplatform client that have the same features to work on Macs and Linux instead of being stuck with command line crap that is hard to use and control and the Windows version only be locked into Microsoft? There are cross platform tools like Qt4, Mono, Realbasic, etc out there, so there is absolutely no excuse to make a client with the same feature set for all the OS. Until they make a full featured MAL Updater for Mac, I’m sticking mostly to Melative until that happens.

Update: In response to no MAL Updater on Mac, I decided to take the blue pill and build my own MAL Client for Mac OS X. If you want to track my progress or help out, join the club.

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, MyAnimeList, opinion, rant

Nagisa, why she is the ideal girl, which screams moé! – Part 2

October 3, 2009 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

Nagisa during the progression in Clannad have overcome her challenges of reviving the Drama club and also made new friends, but unfortunately, she got sick again, which caused her not to graduate with Tomoya. In After Story, we will touch more on the path with her eventually marrying Tomoya and deciding on giving birth to a child.

During the course of After Story, the relationship between Tomoya and Nagisa develops further. Towards the end of summer, Nagisa became sick, which resulted in being held back for another year. While Tomoya wanted to stay back a year, it would be foolish to do so anyways.

During the next school year, Tomoya moves into a apartment and start working while Nagisa finishes her school year. Although she couldn’t get the Drama club up again, she still seem to survive the whole school year with friends from the music club. Nagisa during that period help make food for Tomoya, which proves that she still seems to care about him alot, especially about her being concerned about his left shoulder.

Although Tomoya didn’t make it to Founder’s Day due to his mistake, she didn’t mind anyways…

Another instance with her caring about him alot is the night after asking about the swimsuit, Tomoya was avoiding the question about his father and insists on meeting him one day. When Tomoya was about to get a promotion, it was cut off by his father’s actions which made Tomoya deciding to move away from the city, which Nagisa doesn’t want since she seems to like the city and wants to make him happy living in the same city instead of running away from his problems. In meeting his father at the jail, Tomoya starts getting angry at him and walks away. With him angry, Nagisa chases after Tomoya before he punches right hand to a wall, but couldn’t stop it and injured his hand. Nagisa having seen what he done, gets him to stop. In this scene, Tomoya gets engaged with Nagisa so that they will become strong.

After marriage that happened after Nagisa graduated, she takes a job at a nearby restaurant that opened. After saving her, the manager reveals that she is a hard worker. In contrast with Shiori, although she is weak, she still managed to survive to have fun with Yuuichi and also attend a whole week of school.

Oh noes! I bet the moe levels are very high!

And yes, the famous scene and she did the impossible…

Sorry, no hentai scenes in Clannad.. It wouldn't matter anyways

In her decision of wanting to have the baby, she seems to want a home delivery, although it’s not safe due to her conditions. The decision to have it at home is not only because she wanted to see and hold the baby after it was born, but throughout the course of her relationship of Tomoya, she have grew stronger as a person… but the only problem is that the changes of the city causes her to become more ill since all things can’t stay the same forever. Even though she is strong, the illness caused by the city changing so rapidly caused her tragic death which caused everyone to be crushed with devastation the fact that Nagisa herself through the course of After Story to become stronger, but unable to because of the bad luck. This is why most people can sympathize with her (maybe more so with the visual novel than the anime). Although she have overcome the hardest challenges and become strong with the help of Tomoya and his friends, she was unable to survive, until Tomoya collects the light orbs to help save Nagisa and also Ushio from the horrible fate. In comparison with Shiori and Misuzu, there is a reason why we can also sympathize with both. Shiori in a sense that she is rejected by her sister and had her relationship with her sister and being strong until her birthday. Misuzu is that she is a sweet and innocent girl, which is unfortunately stuck with a curse and dies in her aunt’s lap on the beach which made many people’s hearts crushed with a bucket of tears and she was given no chance to live, unlike Shiori and Nagisa although she was offered a reincarnation along with Yukito.

Next Post, I will conclude why Nagisa is the ideal girl and sum up both parts with the full argument.
Attribution Information

Fanart used in this post is by 小倉　脩一 (ogura shuuichi) Source

Category: Clannad, Clannad ~After Story~, EditorialsTag: editorial, key, moe, opinion

The Harsh Reality of College and Anime Blogging

September 14, 2009 by Chikorita157 11 Comments

We all wish that we are in a city where wishes come true and be part of a drama club with a girl drawing pictures of Dango or help a harem of sad girls in snow… The problem is… reality. The majority of us Anime bloggers attend high school or college and school isn’t as fun like in the Anime universe or visual novels.

I’m going onto the third week at attending Rutgers University (yes, I know theres a Anime club there, but I won’t bother since there will probably be a bunch of Weeaboos that will annoy me since I’m a actual Asian) and like with Spring semester at my old college I used to attend, I’m in a pile of homework, readings and papers to write. Unlike spring semester, I am practically going to school almost the whole week although three days I only have one class and I don’t really have that insanely difficult classes that require alot of time. Still, homework takes a lot of free time I could spend on watching anime and writing a blog post about it. With the Prelab for General Chemistry Lab, it took me nearly 6-7 hours just to complete it… Same with my accounting homework since I have problems to work out which takes a while since I need to learn how to solve it. With the other courses, mostly it’s reading and writing papers which won’t take as long, but I won’t be updating nearly as much I did in the summer since I need to complete my homework ahead of time so I can have time to update my blog later… Remember, work and study now and play later… and you will get good grades.

I do anime blogging and watching on my free time and I do my best to make updates since I’m not one of those people who does hiatus and never updates the blog again… If you excuse me, I have some homework to do.

But my feelings still wish it was still summer, but not a eternal summer of course… I hate that Endless Eight loops…

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, updates

Editorial: Haruhi and Moral Issues, Does Haruhi deserves to be punched?

September 8, 2009 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

It's serious business that we need Meganekko Tomoyo. — It's so serious that we need Meganekko Tomoyo.

Haruhi and her rather egoistic and her cruel personality have resonated through out the first episode of Sighs to the recently aired episode when Kyon finally flips out at Haruhi. The problem is that lead up with some people ending up hating Haruhi since she have become a complete b**ch. This was also the case with the light novel which actually showed more of her being a complete b**ch. If Haruhi acted like that in real life, most people would just ignore her as a complete ***hole.

The Sighs of Suzumiya Haruhi finally shows Haruhi’s true colors that she has no morals nor values her friendship. Maybe because she is a goddess, but in real life, if you were to act like a complete jerk to your friends most of the time, you would probably lose most of your friends. The reason Haruhi is not my favorite character although she is funny sometimes is that she always take advantage of her friends (especially Mikuru the most, although sometimes funny) and also doing despicable acts that in real life would have big moral issues (like throwing a person into a pond, forcing someone to change into a different clothing against his/her desire, spiking Mikuru’s drink with tequila and also Haruhi smacking Mikuru which is a big no-no because “contact lens is supposed to fly out when your head gets smacked which is stupid… If this was real life and Haruhi indeed did this, there would have been moral consequences that would involve with it (such as assault, slipping alcohol in someone’s drink, potential loss of friendship, injury, etc.). Although Haruhi thinks that Mikuru is a toy, there are also moral issues by using a human being as a toy because seriously, humans aren’t meant to be used as a toy you can fool around with since they have feelings, which apparently, Haruhi completely disregards which makes Kyon angry. Haruhi have no right to treat Mikuru as a toy and smack her around as much she wants because you know, hitting a innocent girl is a wrong thing to do.

Should Haruhi deserved to be punched for being an immoral, cruel ***hole by Kyon, even if hitting girls is wrong? I believe so because even if it causes dire consequences such as the world ending, it would have teach her a important lesson, threat others as you would threat you and also stop acting like a complete jerk and respect her friends. If Kyon just let Haruhi continuing being a jerk, she would eventually stay a complete ***hole as Kyon says it and eventually everyone would ultimately avoid her. Too bad Itsuki stopped him before Kyon was able to punch Haruhi in the face.

After watching the forth episode of Sighs, it made me appreciate Kyon and the other members of the SOS Brigade. Believe me, it took a lot of courage for Kyon to ultimately flip out since he knew the consequences of the world ending if he successfully hits Haruhi in the face. The Sighs arc, despite Haruhi having a energetic, non-***hole side of her personality made me hate her as a character completely because she have a lot of flaws of being a immoral, cruel, cold ***hole as presented in the actions she did in the forth episode of Sighs. While some people may disagree with me, Haruhi is a flawed character, although she is a unique one because of her mostly dominant cruel side of her that turns me off completely… Despite that, she is a enjoyable character when she is not acting as a complete ***hole that everyone wants to avoid and hate as demonstrated in Sighs of Suzumiya Haruhi, but I still have stronger preferences for other characters though.

Hopefully, Haruhi finally gets out of being a complete jerk when she finally recorded the whole movie… or maybe not…

Category: Editorials, Suzumiya HaruhiTag: editorial, Haruhi

Bandai Entertainment does not care about the fans, delays Sola again

September 6, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

My reaction to the forth delay... Depressed...

After looking through the rightstuf orders again, Bandai Entertainment yet again delays sola again for another 23 days. Now it’s being released on September 29, 2009… That’s great since I have absolutely a lack of anime to watch in Fall 2009 since none of them interests me and there is no Key Adaptation… What am I supposed to do, bang my head on the wall several times and make sure it’s not a dream?

Evidence that sola is yet again delayed...

Unfortunately, it’s not a dream and I’m really angry on how Bandai Entertainment is handling the release, which is so ADV Films like… What R1 Licensors should learn from ADV Film’s shutdown is not to excessively delay the releases of the anime series or you may get loyally paying fans angry or even complain about it on the blog. I know Bandai Entertainment is far from becoming another ADV Films, but this continual mistake that ADV Films made so many time is just damaging their credibility. How simple is it to just translate, add the subtitles, press the DVDs and package them. The way they are handling it, they are having a hard time…

Until they ever release it, I’m never buying any more releases from Bandai Entertainment, except the ones I have already preorder anyways… If you actually read this, I want a formal apology once you release it to the fans for screwing with the fans so many times…

To people who want to buy these series: If Bandai Ent. never materialize these releases, I suggest complaining via written letter. The address is:
5551 Katella Ave
Cypress, CA, USA ,90630
By Email: support@bandai-ent.com
or mention them on Twitter with @bandaient

Okay, I’m done raging about them for now…

Category: Editorials, solaTag: editorial, rant, strawberry sundaes

Commentary: Downfall of ADV Films… What caused it?

September 4, 2009 by Chikorita157 12 Comments

This Monday, ADV Films, a licensor of region 1 Anime announced that it would shut it’s doors for good and transfer assets to other companies. The announcement cause many people to be surprised and caught off guard. However this was expected because ADV Films for the past few years made several fatal mistakes that lead to the shutdown of ADV films.

So, what lead to ADV Films ultimately folding?

ADV Films was once a strong licensor and looked highly towards with the many successes with the dubbing aspect, but several mistakes they make caused them to ultimately cause them and their reputation to weaken in 2008 and ultimately crashing in 2009. The recession that worsen in late 2008 didn’t help either and made things a lot worse.

Ever since 2008, ADV had a bad year, ending up having to shut down the UK devision, suspending the Anime ADVocates program, ended the relationship with Sojitz (which may be the cause of not having enough funding, thus calling it the ADV Meltdown), and ultimately transferring 30 titles to Funimation since they aren’t able to continue distributing it.

On top of that, in early 2009, ADV flops again and said that Clannad won’t have a Dub which caused people to go in a frenzy and cause the reputation of ADV to go down even further, after they screwed up in 2008 with distribution of Anime availability. Lucky for them, Clannad actually sold better than expected despite fan reaction to no dub, but still didn’t stop the inevitable…

The problem with ADV is that a combination of mismanagement of their part and unable to meet the fan’s demands and giving them accurate information, it too contributed to ADV Films ultimately shutting down.

What mistakes have ADV done?

1. Not listening and informing the fans.
Besides from the negative reaction towards ADV for not providing a dub for Clannad, they never have a good system of informing the fans or even have any good communication by email. Another thing is that their website is hardly updated so fans could get accurate information.

Not to mention, ADV films for what I remembered never had a blog, unlike others. Funimation and Bandai Entertainment have one, so why not ADV? Perhaps they are too lazy.

2. Not providing accurate information
ADV is infamous of this for awhile. They pull the titles before they put the information back and also never give information about the schedule releases (going back with #1).

3. Decisions and Anime on DVD.
ADV seems to depend on listening users on Anime on DVD (now Mania.com) according to Zac Bertchsy, which is the worse possible way of deciding on what series to license/produce. (maybe too exaggerated, but they shouldn’t have depended on AoD too much)

4. Poor distribution and supply of DVDs and delays.
ADV also made this mistake… a lot. and they usually delayed various series with no explanation which was common in 2008 (aka ADV’s bad year). These delays, however cause negative reaction to fans, for example this post from the blog post of GAR GAR Stegosaurus… Great way to screw loyally paying customers.

5. Licensing more than they can handle.
ADV always seems to go and license a large amount of series and end up failing on a number of them. Instead of licensing a few of them and give them a quality release, they most likely do a wing job and just put it out in the market as fast as they can, which usually cause mistakes. This is also what contributed to their big downfall.

6. Depending way too much on Neon Genesis Evangelion…
and also ADV’s desire to make a Evangelion live action movie surely cooked up a disaster, which resulted in a big loss of money. You can only go so far with Evangelion…

7. ADV’s Mismanagement and Bad Business Plan.
If you have take a course in business, you know that the Business Plan. It’s what makes up your business and how will it operate. ADV took too many risky plans which resulted in a loss of money. Mismanagement on ADV’s part did not help either since they can’t seem to get the company on track and come up with a project that will be actually be successful.

What can Section23 Films learn from ADV’s mistakes?

Now since Section23 Films ultimately own all the companies that owned ADV’s assets, they need to learn from ADV’s mistakes and learn from them. They need to listen to the fans (through means of email, phone or even Twitter) and give accurate information instead of removing the listings and adding them again. Another thing is that they shouldn’t really take the suggestions from AnimeonDVD aka mania.com and figure out what would fans want instead of having a large number of failed projects. They also need to provide a well designed and regularly updated website with the latest information and also keep a blog on what they are doing. Lastly, they need to take their time on making a quality release instead of acquiring a lot of licenses and not being able to make a quality release.

Like always, Bandai Entertainment yet again delay the release of sola again.

August 8, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

Yes, this is facepalm worthy, but yet again, Bandai Entertainment yet again delayed sola another month, which now releases on September 15, 2009 from the orginally posted date, August 18, 2009 (found out on rightstuf. Is Bandai Entertainment pulling another ADV since they have delayed prerelease due to financial trouble? I’m 100% positive that Bandai Entertainment is not in any financial trouble in contrast of ADV which is was due to a big fiasco. Reguardless, Bandai Entertainment should have released sola by now.

Was it necessary to delay the release another month? How hard is it to just subtitle the whole series, author them onto DVDs, press the DVDs and package them? As mentioned in a few posts back almost about a week ago, I was asking, what is going on here? This latest delay make me ask the same questions over again, when it will ever come out? At the rate they going, sola will never materialize which is sad because I’m interested in watching that show and there isn’t really that much to see in the Fall season because it’s so lackluster… so, if they delay or cancel it one more time, I’m canceling my order completely along with my second volume of Kannagi as a punishment and they won’t get any more money until they formally apologizes for the delays.

Also, I suggest boycotting any of their releases if they don’t release them. Delaying it 3 times is more than enough… This will probably be enough to have them listen

Category: Editorials, solaTag: editorial, rant, strawberry sundaes

What is a Harem Anime anyways?

August 2, 2009 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

I have been wondering… Why Kanon and Clannad or the like is labeled as a harem anime? Is it because it have a group of girls and only a minimal amount of male characters? It surprises me that in the game, you are only allowed to fall in love with one girl depending on what flags you have choose in the game…

For example, when I was playing Shiori’s arc in Kanon, the game does not give me another option to go on a date with another girl nor the choices I choose will allow that since the girlfriend is willngfully chosen depending on the flags you chose. Games like these are more on the melodrama/drama/one sided romance/slice of life opposed to a harem where you can date more than one girl. multiple dates and not having a definite girlfriend is key here. If the male lead willingfully chose his girlfriend, all bets are off and it isn’t considered a harem by definition.

The dictionary definition states for Harem:

Harem (noun) the wives (or concubines) of a polygamous man.
a group of female animals sharing a single mate.

This definition pretty much fits the classical definition of Harem (suggested reading on more about Harem from Baka-Raptor). Harem shows under the definition would be more like Shuffle!, Love Hina or Da Capo where the male lead dates more than one girl… When people consider Kanon a harem, just remind them the simultaneity requirement which is important in harem animes.

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, opinion

Editorial: How to screw up a licensed anime release.

July 31, 2009 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

Everyone might be wondering, what ever happen to the True Tears and sola anime releases? Originally Bandai Ent., the licensor of both anime series licensed both series early 2008 with selling volumes that are singles which are expensive without a dub… until they scrap it and instead decide to make it a full box set mid/late summer of last year. Ever since, the release date kept getting delayed and never face a release. Recently, True Tears supposed to release on July 21st, which is this month, but yet pushed back to August 18, 2009, the same date sola boxset supposed to be release.

What is going on here? I know the economy is not in the greatest shape, but it’s gradually improving, Bandi Ent., this is no excuse to keep delaying the release on end so people expect that it would never materialize… You already messed up the Lucky Star OVA release without a dub when it’s a very popular series… Next you are going to disappoint us on August 18 by delaying the release of both anime series again by another month? I am posting this because I am interested in watching sola and want to buy the DVDs, but keep messing with the release dates… If it gets delayed or even canceled, people are going to go into a RAGE somewhat like we have experienced with Endless Eight. There is absolutely NO EXCUSES why it shouldn’t release on August 18, 2009… but I am going to be very upset if it gets delayed or even canceled…

Also, I suggest boycotting any of their releases if they don’t release them. Delaying it 2 times is more than enough… This will probably be enough to have them listen.

Category: Editorials, solaTag: editorial, rant

Sub-Only Releases? Is this the future of the licensed anime releases?

July 28, 2009 by Chikorita157

Although I’m not a big fan of subs because they disappear while I’m reading it and having to go back, I will prefer watching the dub just to get the story and rewatch it the second time with the Japanese voice… but most of that is mostly gone which is sad because the economic downturn which is expected for us to get out towards the end of the year causing licensors to hold back dub releases and just release sub releases.

Unless I’m currently watching a series like Kannagi which I only watched 5 episodes and they licensed it for a sub-only release, thats the only circumstance I will buy the discs because I believe that studios who make the anime should deserve kind of credit… but for something I watched already and only comes out with a sub-only release, I am less inclined to buy the release because there is no added value.

While I’m still waiting forever for ADV to ever release a Clannad dub, I might not ever see it even after a few years and I’m still angry about them changing their decision about the dub release and still waiting up to this day to release a dub and sub release so I can support my favorite anime and buy it even if it cost a little more. The problem is, sub-only releases makes it difficult to recommend a series like Clannad which is very good to someone who haven’t watched anime before. I have nothing against any dubs and I have a open-minded approach, but I still think that series like this should deserve a dub so that other people can enjoy it without the frustration of having to rewind to the subtitle they missed and get what the character is saying. I know there is a economic downturn, but once the economy recovers, they should think about the fans and do what the fans want so that they can pull in more profit… For the meantime… I will be waiting for those dubs until pigs fly.

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, opinion

The Fiasco of Suzumiya Haruhi: Who to blame?

July 17, 2009 by Chikorita157 8 Comments

If you do survive 6 episodes of Endless Eight... Great! You will earn a big achievement for going through the endless, repetitive loop.

As we watched the first episode of Haruhi S2, Bamboo Rapsody… many would thought that Haruhi Second Season will turn out great… However, after the end episode aired, Endless Eight Part 1, many thought that it was the end, but that wasn’t the case and Endless Eight after Part 2 was in a repeating loop which many people started to go bananas and accusing Kyoto Animation and Kadokawa and causing Haruhi Season 2’s rating drop from the mid 8’s close to a high 7’s on MyAnimeList and people dropping or putting Haruhi on hold indefinately…. but the question is… Who should we really blame?

The problem is, Kyoto Animation is in the crossfire of all this madness which isn’t really their fault… It’s pretty much Kadokawa than Kyoto Animation because Kadokawa Shoten controls the license to Haruhi, which they ultimately have a say on how many episodes should be produced for Haruhi and the making and marketing of Haruhi merchandise.

In a recent post, this statement is regarded as a rumor, but looks perfectly legit on the situation. (Source: NotCliche)

Umm… I guess it’s okay now?
Endless Eight was organized and produced as 6 episodes.
Kadokawa’s back sponsor got furious and after it was too late (production had finished), the producer was fired.
There was a ton of confusion over whether they were going to skip the produced 4th and 5th episodes and air the 6th.
By the way, the 6 ep organization was Kadokawa’s instructions.
The fired producer was a scape goat to appease the angry back sponsors.
Kadokawa’s ultimate goal was to blow smoke over the fans by having 12 episodes that would consist of E8, Sigh, and a new/re-organized Mikuru’s adventure.
And the Disappearance source material they had pulled from remains exactly that: source material.
Currently Kadokawa does not feel like animating Disappearance [yet/still]
This gives the feeling that the purpose of this new production is simply to pull money from the fans as they move the series from DVD to BD.

If this is true, Kadokawa is ultimately to blame for this fiasco since Kadokawa is just looping Endless Eight so it will sell more DVDs… But then again, we know in the past that noone should trust Kadokawa… Do you remember the “Nice Boat” incident with Haruhi-chan? Do you still remember the statement of Haruhi being “canceled” by Kadokawa? I think it’s time to make Kadokawa responsible for the mess they cause and don’t buy any merchandise relating to Haruhi S2. This is the main reason I given up on Haruhi S2 in whole.

For Kyoto Animation… I really hope they redeem themselves after this mess and atleast adapt something that might become a masterpiece… or something great… Little Busters or FMP anyone?

Category: Editorials, Suzumiya HaruhiTag: editorial, Haruhi, Kadokawa, The Fiasco of Suzumiya Haruhi

Editorial: Eroge Ban and Feminism/Activist Groups… which cross the line with freedom of speech

July 1, 2009 by Chikorita157 4 Comments

With the Japanese recent ban on eroge games as a result of the Rapelay fisaco, it caused outrage in the anime/otaku community and yes… I have to agree that these Feminism/Activist groups have crossed the line since it’s a violation of freedom of speech….

Again, not every eroge game have content like Rapelay and some companies release all-ages version without any naughty content like Key for example… but in today’s society… Westerners think that anything that contains you-know-what is equal unhumane because other hollywood movies contain these kind of scenes as well and I never hear outrage because of it. The problem today is that these feminist and activists groups are overreacting and controlling what content he/she can watch or enjoy… While I don’t like these scenes and try my best to ignore them… (Also, I don’t play bishoujo games very often (only if I’m curious/interested, which is rarely) and I perfer not having naughty content) I’m strongly against any form of censorship and banning of content because regardless… it’s still freedom of speech and people should enjoy whatever content they want….

As long westerners remain prejudiced to this kind of content… it’s not likely to change… but you can try writing a letter to the Japanese Government (if you know Japanese, of course.)[poll id=”7″]

Category: EditorialsTag: commentary, editorial

Is K-ON! another Lucky Star? Somewhat, but not really…

June 24, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Missing Artist Infomation: help us out!

With K-ON! ending soon, another question arises… is K-ON! another Lucky Star? This have been debated before, but now after looking at 12 episodes, K-ON! is vastly different from Lucky Star besides a few simularities:

K-ON! and Lucky Star have a mostly all female cast: Besides from Minoru and Konata’s dad, Lucky Star had a mostly female cast… but in K-ON!, the whole cast mainly consist of girls since the story takes place at an all girl’s school (no kidding)

K-ON! and Lucky Star are both popular: You might be wondering why such a story like this could be so popular… Well, both Lucky Star and K-ON! orginated as a manga series and are both 4 panel manga which are published in magazines. However, the anime made it more popular with is the case with both Lucky Star and K-ON! and managed to sell alot of albums.

K-ON! and Lucky Star have moe: You might be wondering why some people hate the series with passion or like it so much… Both seems to put emphasis on the moe factor for some reason. Also, you may find that the characters of Lucky Star are very similar to the ones in K-ON!.

Differences:

Lucky Star have alot more references than K-ON!: Besides the references to famous musicans in K-ON!, there is a lack of references opposed to Lucky Star which have a boatload of references pertaining to Anime, Manga, Japanese Culture, etc. Not to mention, there is alot of Haruhi references in Lucky Star.

K-ON! have alot more music/performances: Well, duh! keiongaku is “light music” in Japanese… and why wouldn’t there be music if there is a light music club.

Different focuses: K-ON! focuses more on friendship/having fun while Lucky Star… have a completely random focus… not to mention… Lucky Star have no plot line at all.

Ending Themes: K-ON! like most anime stick with the same ED, while Lucky Star changes it every episode.

Animation Style/Quality: K-ON! have better animation/style compared to Lucky Star… it’s no comparison.

Category: Editorials, K-ON!Tag: comparison, editorial

Commentary: Is Anime being abused?… Not really… but…

June 22, 2009 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

After seeing a new, stunning post in the “General Anime” section on AnimeSuki which is in a heated debate, I decided to put my analytical thoughts about the issue…

Is Anime really being abused? Not really, but Anime is a media form like any form of entertainment like movies, TV shows, etc and Anime is basically Japanese animation that focuses deeper topics instead of child cartoons and comedy like American cartoons are mostly about.

Although I have seen outstanding works like most of Miyazaki Hayao’s movies, any of Kyoto Animation’s Key anime adaptations, Suzumiya Haruhi, etc… but I have started to see Anime with some fanservice and then… anime with excessive amounts of fanservice/ecchi like Queen’s Blade which is the most notorious anime series that aired recently that every episode have this type 2 fanservice/ecchi which made the show 100x worse in most people’s eyes.

Why do I say it’s being popular in the WRONG way, you ask? Before, animators created their own creative stories with good characters, good plots, good development, somewhat realistic references, good setting, good plot devices, and many other things. But it seems that ever since 2005-2006, about 70% of anime has consisted of NOTHING but moe, lolicon, useless fan-service, ecchi, chest groping, people shoving their privates in other people’s faces, non-seriousness, lack of discipline, maid outfits, bunny outfits and fetishes!…and now it’s going to go WAY TOO FAR. The other 30% being the anime WITHOUT that useless stuff (such as anime from the like the World Masterpiece Theater).

I disagree to some extent… While some shows have some moe like Clannad for example, the storyline, animation, and character design proved it to be a beautiful series and the main reason why I consider it a masterpiece since it lacks type 2 fanservice… The problem that some people have is that some people think that if a show have moe, it automatically makes the series horrible without looking at the content deeper… which is why I see the same posters that complain continuously about every episode for the same reason for the reason to get people into a heated debate and people defending the series which I wouldn’t like to see, but it happens. While some series can have this content in the series, if the story line comes out stronger than the latter part the poster mentioned, the show can still be successful… as long they don’t use it excessively like Queen’s Blade.

This also brings the part that Miyazaki Hayao’s remark said that most anime today are unoriginal and uninspiring… like mentioned in a earlier post, but again, it depends on the viewer’s opinion what he/she deems original or inspiring… like I mentioned before:

There is always going to be a bunch of bad, unoriginal or uninspiring anime in every genre regardless… Another factor is that people’s opinions on a show is depending on the person’s tastes as mentioned before… so one person can say X show sucks while the other person thinks X show is good. So, I mostly disagree with this statement at the same time agree with some of his points of shows being unoriginal and uninspiring, but not applies to some since this is a matter of opinion.

Closing Arguments

Is Anime truely being abused? No, but the definition of Anime is animation originating from Japan… but the problem that most people are facing is the lack of masterpieces like the ones I mentioned before and the ratio between good and bad anime is off balence, like 80% of anime are bad and 20% of anime is good (7 or better). People got to realize that people have different tastes, so one person can say X show sucks because they don’t like that genre and another person can say X show is good because they enjoy that genre.

If you wish to read the full post I have mentioned, feel free.

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, opinion

Editorial: Fanservice does not always make a anime series awesome… but sometimes makes it worse.

June 16, 2009 by Chikorita157 5 Comments

After recently writing an editorial about Miyazaki Hayao about most anime made these days are unorginal and uninspiring… it’s because most anime are focusing too much on fanservice and less on the content to excite the audience.

The main reason I approve most anime series from Kyoto Animation and Miyazaki’s films is that… you guess it… they have minimal amount of fanservice. The problem today is fanservice is everywhere…type 1 mainly focusing on non-sexual fanservice (which I’m not against) and type 2 fanservice which involves with sexual in nature which is very common… like nudity, panty shots, etc which is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY and does not add to the story or make the series any better… I don’t mind if a anime have some fanservice, but when it gets too excessive like Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo, Gonzo’s version of Full Metal Panic or something alot worse like Queen’s Blade for example… this is where I find it unorginal and also annoying… While most people won’t care in the world about fanservice or some actually liking it… I for one find it completely unnecessary nor it make the series any better with it.

The problem with modern anime today is that too many are focusing on excessive, type 2 fanservice which adds no quality to the story or make it inspiring or a masterpiece. This is the main reason why most fanservicey anime series tend to fail in quality because it’s overused and every animation studio besides Kyoto Animation far I know does it. You may ask youself, how come Kyoto Animation’s adaption of Full Metal Panic is better than Gonzo’s version of Full Metal Panic… it’s because Kyoto Animation focused on the actual material which resulted in good results while Gonzo added too much fanservice which caused the quality to fall. I’m not against series because it have too many fanservice, but the type 2 fanservice is causing the drop in quality of the story and better improved if studios stop relying too much on type 2 fanservice and actually focus on the story and make it original and/or inspiring.

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, fanservice, rant

Editorial: Is Modern Anime really that bad? Miyazaki thinks so… but I disagree strongly.

June 14, 2009 by Chikorita157 6 Comments

In the recent years, I have seen some great modern anime with great animation, story line, high production values, and etc… yet the backwards man, Miyazaki, the well acclaimed animator of Ghibli who is known for My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away saying that modern anime is no good… He is a sign of a purist and elitist and can’t accept that the way of anime is done since 2000 is done differently.

Anime before then were hand drawn and animation quality wasn’t as great until technology evolved which allows animators to produce higher quality productions which resulted in masterpieces… The ones I have seen recently and deemed as masterpieces is Clannad (both seasons) and Kanon 2006 remake. Most people will agree that some of the modern anime are masterpieces. However, Miyazaki is living in the past and believes that modern anime is bad… in the statement he said:

I can’t stand modern movies. The images are too weird and eccentric for me

In his statement, he believes that modern animation done by computer is too strange and unreal… Sure, modern anime have alot more eyecandy which appeals to the viewers… However, I disagree with his statement because it’s a sense he believes that his productions are better and that anything but his works his bad.

Young people are surrounded by virtual things. They lack real experience or life and lose their imagination. Animators can only draw from their own experience of pain and shock and emotions.

Again, his statement is untrue to a certain extent in a sense because some anime which are more in tuned in real life experience like some of the Seinen drama-genre anime I have seen have shown real life experiences that could happen in real life.

Another thing, is that he views all modern anime as “unoriginal and uninspiring,” and agree to a certain extent except that not all modern anime would fall into that… since it’s a matter of opinion.

There is always going to be a bunch of bad, unoriginal or uninspiring anime in every genre regardless… Another factor is that people’s opinions on a show is depending on the person’s tastes as mentioned before… so one person can say X show sucks while the other person thinks X show is good. So, I mostly disagree with this statement at the same time agree with some of his points of shows being unoriginal and uninspiring, but not applies to some since this is a matter of opinion.

The main problem with Miyazaki is that he cannot accept modern anime what it is… It doesn’t mean that any of his works is horrible or that I’m heavy criticizing about since he did made good movies, but in the world of technology and with the most of the population using or know how to use technology (which he also don’t like), he is making people lose respect of him because he refuses to accept the fact that modern anime like we know it is here to stay…

Source: alafista.com

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial

Minagi and Kotomi: Two characters separated at birth

June 2, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

While I was watching Air, something kept bothering me about Minagi Tohno. Kotomi is very similar to Minagi in many ways except the story line which is similar to Mai’s. Although there are differences in appearance with Kotomi and Minagi, their personalities are very similar with minor differences.
…

Category: AIR, Clannad, EditorialsTag: editorial, key, opinion

Editorial: Is Twitter end all to all of Anime Blogging?

May 23, 2009 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

Sorry for the bad editing… but it serves the point.

Twitter is a popular microblogging website that people write 140 characters on what they are doing or share something on the internet… Recently, more people in the anime blogopshere are getting Twitter accounts and we also created one too… (just click the Twitter icon on the top right hand corner to view our timeline) and it’s popular in Japan. Recently, something is bothering me because I saw a headline that blogging is dead because of the popularity of Twitter and social networks… but does that apply in the Animeblogosphere… the answer is not really… for several reasons:

Posting reaction posts and news takes too many characters

Blogging about anime requires alot of characters, and simply summing it up with 140 characters won’t cut it… Also, Twitter doesn’t allow you to post any pictures of any kind, although you can share a link to it… but what if you want to post something interesting about it… You can’t do that with Twitter!

Twitter is too limiting

Yes, Twitter have it’s limitations, but it’s more limiting that you cannot categorize your updates by anime series or tag them… nor you can format your posts or have people comment on them. You cannot even embed a MAD or someone playing anime music on the piano due to the lack of HTML input.

Although Twitter won’t replace Anime Blogging by a longshot, there are advantages:

Updates are instant: You can instantly share your blog posts to everyone and people might catch attention to it and read it.
Share interesting infomation: If you find interesting blog posts, you can share it to others by posting the link in your update.
Can potentially replace RSS and Anime Blog aggregators: Since updates on Twitter is instant, there is less of a need to use RSS and Anime Blog aggregators since you can follow the author of the anime blog and receive instant updates. There will be less of a need to use AnimeBlogger Antenna (which won’t index my blog posts) and AnimeNano to receive updates for blogs you subscribe to.

What is your take about anime blogging and Twitter? Do you think that Twitter will make anime blogging obsolete or help promote anime blog posts through Twitter?

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, opinion

Splash Page taken over by Haruhiism

May 22, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Oh noes! Haruhi-ists took over my splash page for my Blog!

You might be wondering, why are you copying some websites who replaced their whole website with a SOS-dan logo? If I didn’t, Michiru would butt taunt me. Seriously…

Maybe not for that reason, but I wanted to commemorate that Kadokawa didn’t troll us again and the first episode of Haruhi Season 2 have finally aired as promise… Does that mean I will drop all the series I’m currently watching… Absolutely not… but I will be covering Haruhi Season 2, but no long synopsis since other bigger anime blogs are doing that already..

Category: EditorialsTag: aniblog tourney, AniBlogosphere, commentary, fandom, opinion, rant, strawberry sundaes

Editorial: Is Anime really for kids? Not really…

May 18, 2009 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

This is the most debated topic in the Animeblogosphere and Anime forums alike, is Anime really for kids because it’s implied that cartoons are for kids? Not really, but shows like Pokemon, Naruto, Dragonball Z and others make it seems like that. However, most anime are not meant for children, but teenagers or even adults.

The difference between a typical cartoon and Anime is that Anime focuses more on culture, art and often have deeper plots than a typical cartoon. Also, Anime ranges more in genres like action, romance, drama, slice of life, etc than a typical cartoon that usually focuses on comedy. Most cartoons are stereotyped as for children because a great deal are made are for children and most wouldn’t enjoy it because of it (with some exceptions). Although there are some Anime series that are targeted to children, a vast majority isn’t. These are shows that usually have intense violence with murder scenes (for example: Death Note, Higurashi, Elfen Lied, etc), which no parent would show this to a child (unless you have bad parents).

Another problem is that some shows are not understandable by young children. These are usually a drama/romance show that focuses on deeper feelings of people and different situations that a 13 year old or higher will understand more. It’s pretty much like making a 8 year old child watch a drama show like Kanon and expect them to understand it… Most likely the 8 year old would get bored and won’t appreciate it opposed to a 16 year old who watches it and will most likely appreciate it more. The child who won’t appreciate it is because the child haven’t mature enough in life and would likely enjoy something like Naruto…

Depending on the show, most shows are not suitable for children, but does it mean that Anime is not really for children? In some cases, no… as mentioned before, there are Anime that are geared towards children

What is your take on this? Do you really think that Anime is really for children or not?

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, opinion

Is the Aniblogosphere being flooded with mediocre quality blogs?

May 11, 2009 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

I have noticed a drop of quality posts ever since K-ON! started (no offense to people who like it). I have been seeing posts with only a picture with a few lines of text which spills quantity over quality.

I pretty much agree with this person because people want to read interesting articles about Anime and at the same time have readable articles with no grammatical mistakes.

To prevent pollution of the Aniblogosphere, I suggest the following:

Don’t just post a picture and a few lines of text… It’s not interesting to the readers. If you have something minor to say, open up a Twitter account and have people follow you so you can share your interesting findings if you can’t write much about it.
Proofread your posts before publishing! I suggest using the grammar/spell check and reading it to yourself so you can find the errors in your post.
Be creative… Post your own thoughts about something thats bothering you about Anime or anything related to that. Don’t just post countless posts about something that people might know already, unless you really wanted to. That way, you can catch the readers attention and also have the potential for people to come back and read your Anime blog. Also, try to add interesting facts about the episode you might know or write in a different voice.
Be creative with your blog layout… The problem with some blogs is that they use the same dull, generic theme that have been used by many blogs. If you know PHP or HTML and/or good at Photoshop, make your own theme so it will make you stand out from other blogs.

Category: EditorialsTag: AniBlogosphere, editorial, fandom, opinion

Calling any anime series "overrated" is overrated.

May 4, 2009 by Chikorita157 9 Comments

I have been reading the Top 5 overrated anime thread at AnimeSuki Forums, and now coming to the realization of people listing anime they don’t like “overrated” without any real justification which is the most of the people who list overrated anime with no reason or a reason which is not justified enough.

Let’s say calling any anime series “overrated” is overrated because simply, it’s just another way to say you hate the series you watched… Why not just say dislike or hate instead of using overrated?

Why am I calling anime series “overrated” overrated… I feel that most fans are missing the point of calling a series overrated just the reason for not liking it. Overrated means something is overhyped, overcredited, and usually very popular. It’s just like calling a series like “Clannad” with a small fanbase overrated just because you don’t like that genre or not in your taste… it’s completely asinine. However, calling a series like Bleach or Naruto overrated due to it’s popular and very high fanbase is justified. (maybe not Haruhi since it’s overhyped…)

Before posting your list of overrated anime… think to yourself first… Are you doing it because you hate/dislike a series that have a small fanbase and is regarded as a masterpiece by most due to it’s good storyline, character development, animation, etc? or you watched a popular series which is highly rated and you don’t think it’s that good (in a case of Naruto).

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, fandom, opinion, rant

Editorial: Anime Elitism is never a good thing… (Updated view)

May 2, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

After reading a blog post about anime elitism… how about now? Does Anime Elitism still exists in the year 2009?

Unfortunately yes… it still exist at the same level… Why? It gotten worse…

What is Elitism?

Dictionary Def: a person who believes that a system or society should be ruled or dominated by an elite. (from the Oxford American Dictionary)

The term anime elitist is similar to any kind of elitist… They are just as bad… labeling anime they don’t seem to be in the line of taste and call it “overrated”, especially anime that needs a lot more understanding like most serious and deeper stories like ef series, any of Key’s anime adaptation, etc. I am starting to feel that people are simply calling anime overrated because they seem to have a strong dislike or it’s not within their taste which in my opinion isn’t justified unless there is a very good reason.

Overrated anime is supposed to be in the line of being overhyped and overcredited, which mainly applies to shows like Naruto and Bleach, which have very high popularity, but the content is not.

Also, anime elitist seems to bash dubs and saying that the original voices are superior and complain about any changes. While most people won’t mind, they seem to overblown the poor quality of dubs due to the bad perception of 4KIDs dubs which they don’t dub anime anymore. Although the perception of dubs are poorly perceived, some series that have dubs have decent ones.

Content, Storyline, Character Development, and etc matters… no matter of which Genre.

No genre is inferior to the other. It’s common belief that many people say that harem genre is inferior to something like mecha… but you got to understand that every genre have a amount of well acclaimed series because of the content, animation, etc opposed to a poorly done one in the same genre. It usually depends on production values, where the content originally came from, and also the production. Without one of them, the series most likely won’t be well perceived.

Fandom and Elitism… do they mix?

Are you always annoyed by Haruhiists, Naruto and Bleach fans saying that their anime is superior than your favorite anime… If so, you are not alone. There always a lot of people who complain about these rabid fanboys/fangirls due to the fact they want you to accept it. Unfortunately, in the end, it ends up having a negative effect on the fandom… Even well done anime can be labeled as overrated due to the fact of the rabid fanboys/fangirls of a very popular series and their annoyance.

Why do I mention Haruhiism… If you haven’t read several posts about them complaining and bashing about Kyoto Animation doing anything other than Haruhi Season 2 (for example: Kanon and Clannad), you most likely know why..

Don’t get me wrong, I do like Haruhi, but sometimes the rapid fanboys/fangirls of the series can be annoying.

Conclusion

In the end, elitism is never a good thing because it hurts your creditability and also your reputation. Anime is something that all fans of anime should enjoy and fans should spend more time enjoying and have friendly discussion rather than bashing each other’s anime without any good justification.
So, what is your opinion on anime elitism? Do you think it’s annoying or not?[poll id=”3″]Poll closes on May 8, 2009 at 11:59 PM EDT

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, fandom

Editorials

So, what lead to ADV Films ultimately folding?

What mistakes have ADV done?

What can Section23 Films learn from ADV’s mistakes?

Further Reading

Closing Arguments

Posting reaction posts and news takes too many characters

Twitter is too limiting

What is Elitism?

Content, Storyline, Character Development, and etc matters… no matter of which Genre.

Fandom and Elitism… do they mix?

Conclusion