With my vacation approaching, I will be very busy for the last few days before I leave to Wisconsin which is a pretty boring state… not as nice as the place Tomoya took Ushio to… but it will take appromately two days to reach Wisconsin and two days going back and I’m planning to be on vacation for 10 days. However, I will still update my blog since I have Wifi access in the hotel and a iPhone 3G I can tether to my Macbook Pro so I have mobile broadband access in the car. However, it can delay any new episodes of Haruhi, the Kyou Clannad After Story special and the last episode of K-ON! for a few days since I cannot download any of these directly using a public Wifi hotspot. However, I won’t be neglecting the blog for the 10 days I’m away… I promise….
Editorial: Fanservice does not always make a anime series awesome… but sometimes makes it worse.
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.
Editorial: Is Modern Anime really that bad? Miyazaki thinks so… but I disagree strongly.
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
Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san… Worst comedy anime seen so far from Kyoani?
There are a few people who seems to disapprove of K-ON!, but I think Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san is the worst show done so far besides Munto seen from Kyoto Animation. Don’t get me wrong, I like Suzumiya Haruhi Season 1 and I also think they did a good job accurately adapting more of the light novel in Season 2, but Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san was extremely disappointing because of the poor animation, production values not usually seen by Kyoto Animation compared to other adaptions and rehashed comedy, done over again… alot more than just one episode of K-ON! I was disappointed about recently.
I may be a little harsh on it because it’s material is based on 4koma which is also the same for Lucky Star and K-ON!, but I was disappointed to the fact that each episode is actually very similar in nature which made the originality go down the drain. The poor animation and art style doesn’t help either because Haruhi (normal series) had alot better art and animation style which compare to the likes of Kyoto Animation’s Key adaptions… I know this is supposed to be a parody of Suzumiya Haruhi… but I expect them to have better animation style and have more originality instead of having every episode of Nagato abusing Achakura every time and Churuya-san wanting “smoked cheese” in every episode which drove me to put it on hold and eventually dropping the whole series all together.
Although Haruhi-chan is pretty mediocre (a step down from Lucky Star, atleast a 7/10), Churuya-san is alot worse from the two….
K-ON! – Episode 11
Kannagi – Episode 5 Impressions
Kannagi Episode 5 is just amazing… No one knew that Nagi is a good cook from the look of the food although the food doesn’t taste right for some apparent reason. Also, Nagi also have a fanclub with alot of popularity… which is very funny for some reason… and that incident makes her a student.
Although Zange-chan is trying to win the love in Jin’s harem… it seems that Nagi also have the liking for him too. Overall, I thought Episode 5 is amazing and deserves a 9.2/10.
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Kanon Complete Series Boxset Unboxing – First Impressions
It’s the “girls in the snow ani…” Oh Shi—-
Since the ADV meltdown occurred, it became increasingly difficult to obtain 6 DVDs of Kanon just as mentioned in the unboxing of the Air Boxset until ADV transfered it’s licences to Funianimation…
Here is the unboxing pics:
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K-ON! Episode 10 Impressions
Azusa-chan ironicly having fun instead of practicing.
Since I’m two days late on the post, I won’t be doing a typical summary post and reaction… I’m just going to post my thoughts about this episode. The episode was alright and we learned more about Azusa’s “dere side” of Azusa’s personality, Episode 10 is a rehash of Episode 4 all over again with 20% more new content and differences from Episode 4. Yes, Mugi made the sandcastle again and Mio scared of barnacles… but what disappoints me the most is the lack of originality to Episode 4. What they should of done is make it a bit different and more interesting…. like have them actually practice more..
I pretty much agree with this author who pointed out the same thing to a certain degree…. Although I sorta enjoyed the episode, I was a bit disappointed to the above reason… they can do better than that… Yet”s hope the last three episodes don’t disappoint me towards the end of the season.
Verdict
8.3/10
Poll 5 Results: Azusa vs Mio
Last week, I conducted a new poll since Azusa have gained popularity due to the last few episodes and I want to see if the popularity of Mio would be effected. However, the results came out very close with Mio since she have a 5 point lead over Azusa. I expect that to change at the end of the season, but whatever…
Air – Episode 4
Kano seems to me just as cute and energetic even in her childhood.
Episode 4 is the conclusion of Kano’s arc…
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