Incredible Nothing!

For some reason, my previous post isn’t appearing on AnimeNano. So I’m posting this substance-less excuse of a post to see if it’s something wrong with the post (did I say something wrong?) or I just have crud karma.

Okay fine, just so that there is some content of some sort, I’ll repost that last part about the Anime Blog Awards:

In other news, nominations for The Anime Blog Awards are closing… today? Okay, so I’m rather slow on the uptake. If anyone with an anime blog who hasn’t nominated and wants to, you better do it quick since every vote nomination counts/your one vote nomination could tip things in your favourite blogger’s favour, etc (or just because it’s your obligation as a citizenblogger of the community and that’s how democracy works!). If my own nominations didn’t turn out to mirror the common denominators of just about every category (except in the ‘Most Influential‘ category where I just tossed in my then personal favourite blogs ), I’d probably do one of those “why I nominated so-and-so” posts.

So what are you waiting for? Go nominate! That is all.

Edit: Okay, this is WEIRD, I posted this yesterday (22nd) and it JUST appeared on AnimeNano today (23rd)- almost 24 hours later… What’s going on here????

Edit again: Oh… looks like the ‘problem’s been fixed… I guess it is due to my forgetting to change the time zone settings for this blog after all… OTL

Kimi + Boku = Library War Love?

Instead of part 3 of Spring 2008 First Impressions which I promised once I got to Toshokan Sensou (which I obviously have), I’m holding that back for a while and branching out to give this awesome show the love it deserves in an individual post of its own!

I do want to do my own small part pimping out this show but usagijen has done a mighty fine job so far and Impz has joined the bandwagon and provided a much needed summary (Omni too, as usual) for the Japanese impaired like me Sad to say I understood almost next to nothing of the dialogue when I watched the first episode of the highly anticipated 1st episode of Toshokan Sensou, courtesy of Nico Nico Douga. I did manage to get the gist of the character interactions and I just had to snicker whenever “seigi no mikata” (allies of justice) was spouted out, but the whole ‘Library Wars’ aspect totally flew past my head (where are the subs???) so I won’t be judging the setup as much as I would usually and just go with my gut instinct that any show called LIBRARY WAR has got to be awesome (Nerds rule!)

The lulz of watching Toshokan Sensou on NicoDouga

And even if the concept may require a high degree of belief suspension… Who cares, it’s way more awesome than fanservice aliens from outer space =P And the first episode did a good job meeting my expectations, but was still short of surpassing it (perhaps if I actually understood what went on, it would have -_-”). What I do know is that I’m already loving the characters and there’s a definite chemistry in their interactions, and I’m actually looking forward to the possibility of light romance (Iku’s Prince Charming subplot is so Utena XD) mixed with all the military hoo-hah over books (god, I can’t get enough of this concept!). Inoue Marina wasn’t what I expected to hear from Iku, but she works (LOL at all the “KANA” comments on NicoNico, though not as lulz as the “DAN-KUN” coment when Ishida Akira’s character spoke) and it’s a pleasant surprise to hear Sawashiro Miyuki at work here as well as in Kure-nai. Maeno Tomoaki seems to be a newcomer but does a good job with Doujou, who is giving the S.A. guys a run for their money as my favourite male character this season =P

Production I.G. at the helm invariably means that the production quality is top notch, and much deserve praise has been lumped to the art in the show (though I’m no expert on the use of darker outlines, it’s hard to disagree that the show looks pretty damned good) and the humour is well complimented by the SD-ish segments. Like the OP and definitely love the ED just because it’s by Base Ball Bear I’m now ridiculously tempted to fork out cash and buy the novels whenever I visit a bookshop here… but the hardcover ones are almost 1000yen each and I wouldn’t be able to comprehend much anyways so I’ll wait a while and hope to see one in the second hand bookstore some time later(it’s a hassle having to look up almost every other word in a sentence… But it’s a hassle I now have to get used to *sigh*). I know it’s not too smart to be ridiculously pumped about a series based on just one episode, but I just have this feeling that Toshokan Sensou is going to be one of my top favourites this year *fingers crossed*

*stops gushing* (Here’s another positive review for the record )

There’s one more series this season I think I’ll be doing a separate post on while I lump everything else I’ve watched/will watch into a final(?) First Impressions post. The virtual manwhore voucher still stands for anyone that’s willing to take a shot at guessing what it’ll be… Oh, that might have just given it away =P

I “just” (Edit: last Friday, been busy over the weekend) got my (Japanese) placement test results!!! And they’re… so not like this, lol.

Actually we didn’t really get our results, but we can fairly guess how we did by the classes we were sorted into. Considering that or the placement tests I didn’t finish the multiple choice grammar portion (I read slow, okay), managed like one page of the kanji portion without guessing (a surprising achievement really, guess furigana in manga does help somewhat ), absolutely flunked the essay (90% of whatever kanji I do remember I can’t remember how to write) and was probably the only person in the room who didn’t speak in a grammatically ‘correct’ manner during the interview… I’m surprised I didn’t get put in the last class (close enough to last really, which is a relief since I get to relearn everything I shouldn’t have forgotten about the language -_-”). There are two Special A… I mean advanced classes for the students who are ridiculously fluent enough in the language to pass off as locals, and I supposed that inspired this separate first impression post for Special A.

(Edit: This is all last week’s news btw, this week I have placement tests for subjects like Japanese Culture and Science ORZ)

I keep mistaking the dude on the left for a girl… It doesn’t help that he’s voiced by Yonaga Tsubasa of OoFuri fame =P

Special A is this season’s ‘uber’ shoujo offering this season, which many have labeled as a successor of Ouran High School Host Club of sorts… but I say nay, because that’s an insult to my favourite comedy of all time! Kidding. Ouran isn’t my favourite comedy of all time, but it’s close (You get a virtual manwhore voucher if you can guess what is =P). The comparison is probably inevitable though, since most people hail Ouran as the premiere shoujo show in recent history, but though the setup and stylings of Ouran is very much catered to the shoujo market, Ouran’s success to me wasn’t that it was an awesome shoujo series, rather it an awesomely hilarious comedy that managed to make fun of many things including its shoujo trappings. In fact I think those who aren’t usually into shoujo anime enjoyed Ouran because it was funny in both intelligent and whimsical ways and more so because it didn’t delve too deeply into the intricacies of romance and fluff that supposedly ‘bog down’ the ‘girly’ genre.

But I suppose the comparison has more to do with the ’special students’ sitting around drinking tea in a lavish setting concept (why can’t school be like that in real life?) than anything, but I just wanted to rant a bit =P But instead of saying “It’s like Ouran…” I’d say the setting is more that of the student councils in Utena (the garden etc. Though technically Ouran is reminiscent of Utena too, so S.A. being similar to Ouran seems reasonable… gah, there goes my point…) or even Code Geass. Kei can be Lelouch, Megumi can be Nunally, Akira can be Millay and Hikari would be Shirley, lol. Tadashi can be Rival(z) and Ryuu would be Mori-senpai… Oh wait… D’OH!

My main irk with comparing S.A. with Ouran based on its first episode is that Ouran had one of the most brilliant first episodes to remember ever (I will forever love the lightbulb gag ) whereas S.A.’s just was just… okay (not “Special” enough?). I tried to like the show as much as I could (it was one of the few shows I had in mind this season), but there were sill things that rather annoyed me when I watched the first episode. Mainly the noodle thin character designs (seriously, the characters here make CLAMP’s look fat!) which I wouldn’t have minded so much if they didn’t make Hikari and Kei wannabe wrestlers – I keep thinking that they’d snap like dry twigs in those scenes -_-” Besides the fact that they’re trying to play him up as the token ‘perfect’ bishounen who’s a little too proud for his own good (Hmm, where else have we seen that this season…) Kei is a big annoyance in that he just screams Geass (Fukuyama Jun should gargle some salt water or something in his future roles, I’m in despair hearing Lulu’s voice everywhere). I actually find him more irksome than the guy from Itazura na Kiss (it helps that I don’t recognize Itou Makoto’s voice as well). Gotou Yuko as Hikari, I don’t mind as much since she’s okay in my books as long as she keeps to her Kaede/Abiru voice rather than her high pitched Mikuru (It doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like her singing the insert song >.<).

Now that I think about it, the twins do remind me of CLANNAD’s Kotomi – if she were split into 2 halves.

Sloths are awesome because they get away with being, well, sloths Now who wouldn’t want to get away with that…

Karino Tadashi : He’s just like Tajima… (seriously, they’re both hilarious) Let’s hope we don’t hear about his masturbation habits -_-”

But enough of the ‘hate’, let’s go on to the positives, and why I will continue watching Special A. (Besides the fact that I’d take a shoujo anime any day over stuff like Kanokon and To-LoveRU) The setup may be slightly generic and the main characters are only passably likeable (well I seldom take to main characters anyways), but there’s nothing really bad per se about it all. What’s tilting the scale for me is definitely the entertaining side characters. Yea, so quirky side characters are a tried and tested gimmick to increase the likeability of the cast and better the impression of a show. It worked for Itazura na Kiss, and it’s working in S.A. as well though it feels slightly more gimmicky here (see girl who can’t talk but can end the world with her singing… Reminds me of Kotomi -_-“). Ryuu, the sloth guy (who reminds me of Mori-senpai, only he talks lol) seems pretty cool (because sloths are cool! And that he has the twins literaly eating out of his hand ) while Tadashi is a riot (casting Tajima’s voice = brilliant!) especially his chemistry with Akira. Overall there’s an enjoyable chemistry between the characters as well that works in the show’s advantage. Story-wise, nothing spectacular yet, so I’m still seeing how it develops. Overall, my impression of S.A. is still a positive one.

Continuing? Yeap, especially if the sloth returns

Needed a more recent Osaka icon in anime besides Kotomi (Well, it wasn’t stated where she was born). The All-Hanshin Kyojin will more than suffice.

(Otherwise, it’d be Kawachi from Yakitate! Japan and this post would be called “NANDATTE?!!!” instead.)

So it’s confirmed, this little panda’s going to Japan in a week. (Kawachi: “NANDATTE?!!!”) No prize for guessing where, though you might get one for the “why” =P

Or not. Unless you want some virtual bamboo dangos. DS isn’t the only one who can make one.

Of course, when it comes to anime icons of Osaka, you can’t get away without mentioning Osaka herself (What’s her real name again? Did we really need to know?). And when it comes to Osaka(-san), there’s little that’s less awesome than her banner on Sea Slugs!… Oh wait, it’s not there anymore?

This post would be rather pointless if I don’t come clean anyhows (don’t really have the resources to churn out a Top XX characters with a Kansai-ben post right now). So I’ll be in Japan for at least a year to study the language full force in the hopes of entering a Japanese university the year after. Probably not the most common course of education of your typical Malaysian as several parties have pointed out to me on several occasions (particularly the two older people who support my current hikikomori lifestyle), and there’s a part of me somewhere telling me that this is too much of insane leap of faith I’m taking here. Obviously, I don’t listen to that part of me very often.

Needless to say, I’ll be GIVING IT ALL I’VE GOT once I’m there (I so need a new catchphrase next season) and hopefully avoid turning out like Satou in Welcome to the NHK *shudders* (Misaki come save me if I do). I foresee an uphill battle against kanji (since I am a shame to my Chinese heritage with the character recognition skills of a typical Chinese kindergartener), so I’ll probably turn my nerd on rather than my otaku on when I’m there >.< (What's with all the pessimism here? Too much Zetsubou Sensei episodes subbed recently??)

That should be enough for today from me – am ridiculously drained after the ridiculously long process of dragging my outside world fearing world self all the way to the embassy to finally apply for that visa I’ve been needing (Here’s a tip, photocopy all your documents just in case they don’t want to hold your originals to avoid lining up for the same application twice! It’s probably common knowledge to the more street-wise, just wished someone had told me beforehand -_-” And bless the officers who had to work overtime to process my documents in the end). Going to go brush up on those Japanese listening skills now – watching anime turned educational, gee golly whiz!