Day 12 – 2012 Summary

Posted on December 27, 2012 by fnzna

クリスマスパーティー | いやくん

Putting my hands up, I donno what to do for today, so as a summary for this year, I will just provide 1 line summary/comment for all the shows that aired this year and that I have either completed or watched to the most recent episode.

Completed

Ano Natsu de Matteru: Remon was the best character and too much of those icky feeling from love triangles, I don’t like them.
Binbougami ga!: Good slapstick comedy made less good by mediocre drama.
Black Rock Shooter: They should have stopped at the Vocaloid song.
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!: Fun first half, ok second half, transition weren’t the best.
Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou: Funny guys doing funny things, reflecting parts of our high school lives.
Eureka Seven AO: Started of not bad and was promising, but ended up being a trainwreck with plot twists happening everywhere just for the sake of happening.
Fate/Zero: Expectedly solid, some really beautiful animation and really chilling plot in it.
Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb: The best season of HidaSketch so far (high animation production value), especially with the focus on future for the girls.
Hyouka: Started off really slow, but it all accumulated to a truly beautiful end.
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita: All fun and games underneath the harsh reality of demise of humanity, just like the fairies.
Jormungand: Koko is too loco for me.
Joshiraku: Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei but with J.C. Staff replacing Shaft
Kokoro Connect: I didn’t like how the characters was kinda secondary with the plot happening and revealing just to create drama.
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? of the Dead: It know what the audiences wants and delivers it.
Mouretsu Uchuu Kaizoku: Had the potential to reach to the ends of the universe, but ended up with staying in the same solar system.
Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse: Hey, at least the last 5 episodes is not total trash, as in stuff actually happens.
Natsuiro Kiseki: A surprisingly decently written show, but sadly it was not impactful enough for people to recognize this gem.
Natsume Yuujin-chou Shi: Another season of Natsume, another season of the same goodness.
Nazo no Kanojo X: Cute simple love story between the two protagonist, side characters only took away the experience most of the times.
Nisemonogatari: Deep, dynamic characters and beautiful animation cannot cover weak plot and blunt fanservice.
Sakamichi no Apollon: Give me back my jazz-centric anime, this one screams of Korean drama by the end.
Saki: Achiga-hen – Episode of Side A: Weak main cast, skips most of the mahjong battles, and the most important battle was not even focused on the main cast, but I can’t hate it because it still has mahjong in it.
Sankarea: Strong start, mediocre middle, disappointing end.
TARI TARI: I don’t money.
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia: Watched it only for the concept of the female protagonist, became boring as that initial interest went away.
Thermae Romae: Watching naked old guys bathing and naked Roman being excited at Japanese culture has never been this funny.
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun: it is a pretty good shoujo romance, but it shows that I’m not that big of a shoujo romance fan.
Tsuritama: I just don’t get how people continuously ranked this show so high.
Yuruyuri ♪♪: Has its ups and downs, with some episodes just failing flat on their jokes, but their last two episodes was one of the best thing that happened that season.

On-going

Girls und Panzer: At a sweet point between character, battles and tank references, with special emphasizes on the battles where the studio really didn’t cut any corners.
JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken: Shounen done right, with battles that doesn’t drag and colorful animation.
Little Busters: As much as I like to bash on this show, there are some good moments to it; maybe JC Staff will put their weight into it when they start animating Refrain.
Psycho-pass: Good stuff, interesting to see so much psychology at play here, and am anticipating to see how far the current conflict will go.
Robotics;Notes: Interesting female characters, plot is still rather slow, still hopeful for the show to become excellent as the plot picks up.
Shin Sekai Yori: Some good concepts are being raised up here and there, not a big fan of it at the moment, but at least interested in how it will unfold.
Smile Precure: Have watched enough of episodes to be emotionally invested in each of the characters, and really like some of the clear messages given out from the recent episodes.
Space Brothers: This show just go on for way too long.

Day 11 – Girls und Panzer

Posted on December 26, 2012 by fnzna

Girls und Panzer | NorthAbyssor

I’m not a military buff, nor do I play first person shooter, hence I almost have 0 knowledge about guns and tanks when I watch shows like Upotte and Girl und Panzer. Whereas I ended up dropping Upotte half way though, I find that Girls und Panzer to be one of the best show this season. The main reason that I enjoyed Girls und Panzer is that the show is in a sweet sport between all the things that the show tries to juggle: the tank references, the characters and the battles. Unlike Upotte, the tank references, while existent, was never the core of the show, and hence while military buffs can have a good chuckle when those references are made, people like me can still enjoy the other things, ie the awesome battles. This is also true for the Hippo Team, or the History Team, where they would reference to several historical events to describe their situation, which I’m sure will give a few chuckles to the history buffs also, but it doesn’t make the show that much less enjoyable for people that didn’t get it than shows like Joshiraku where a huge portion of the show was you getting the obscure reference from the girls chats. At least for me, by making the opponents a stereotype of the country that they represents, it at least made me giggle a bit when I saw the enemies antics (stereotypes are bad blah blah blah).

While I do think the battles are where the show shines, the episodes between the battles are also nicely done, especially it helps the audiences to anticipate for the next battle. Each main character, the members in the Anglerfish Team, are also given enough screen-time to provide background to the character to make us interested in them without making it overshadow the battles too much. Mind you, I do think that their the main characters’ situation aren’t that original, but it is good enough that I will want to support them when the battles do start.

Finally the battles, o man, it has one of the best animated battles I have seen in the winter season, if not the whole year. Even from the very first battle, or the very first scene, where the camera does a 360 degree turn to introduce all the main characters, the studio cuts no corner in animating it, blending both 2d character art and the 3d CGs nicely, making every scene of the battles a feast to watch; it is really surprising to see such a high quality show in a TV anime. This is true also for every subsequent battles, with each battle both beautiful and fun to watch. Unfortunately, this might also be why the show is having constant delays, making Girls und Panzer the best show in 2012 that didn’t end on time. Other than the animation, the flow of the battle itself is good to watch, usually with good tactics from both sides; while not of LoGH caliber, it is still one of the better shows where tactics are actually used. For the battles, the show delivers perfectly.

Also thanks to the director, the show is pretty much free of fanservice (of the skin and panties kind) which tends to plague shows that blends moe and weaponry like this and Strike Witches (apparently the show shares some of its crew to Strike Witches), and yuri (especially mentioned in episode 10) [ironic because Girls und Panzer is nicknamed Saki with tanks], and hence it also appeal to people that might be turned off by those stuff. It is good to see that a show is not trying to win the audience over by seducing the audiences. [Source: TVTropes]

And who can forget the sudden Russian insert song in episode 8, where Katyusha (voiced by Hisako Kanemoto of Ikamusume) and Nonna (voiced by Sumire Uesaka of Dekomori Sanae) of the opposing team started signing in seemingly correct Russian (when many other VA are still having difficulty speaking in proper English) as their team marches in the snow, making it one of the most beautiful anime sequence of 2012. Also, help proving that Sumire Uesaka is one heck of a promising new voice actress.

Obviously my only complaint is that I need to wait until March of next year to watch the final two episodes.

Day 10 – ka: a fairy tale of the two

Posted on December 23, 2012 by fnzna

薔薇色の | meron

It seems that for every year’s Twelve Days of Anime, I would dedicate at least one day on an anime that Kyoto Animation [abbreviated as ka on the title] animated (Day 10 on 2011, Day 4 and 8 on 2010), praising the excellence of their works. This year, not as much, as I was not totally sold on the two TV series that they made this year, Hyouka and Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai!.

Hyouka started off really show for me, and with me having close to zero knowledge and interest to the mystery genre aside from works by Ryukishi07, all I got out of the first few episode was the intelligence and reluctance of Oreki and the curiosity of Chitanda. The mystery solving part was interesting at first, but that initial interest in the show didn’t stay with me long, with me being bored out of the show as the episode count starts to go into 2 digits. However, it was around then I read several posts put the focus on the characters and less on the plot. Convinced by those posts and with people continuing saying how good the show was on Twitter, I didn’t drop the show. Then the School Festival Arc happened, things got more and more interesting, and then the end of the School Festival Arc happened, and I was literally blown away by how perfectly done that episode was, and once again showing how important the characters are in the show. The episodes afterwards was very light on the mystery solving part, instead opting for screentime showing the relationship between the four main characters. Hence, by the end, I was quite impressed of how well written the characters were. In hindsight, even earlier episodes were important, since it showed the relational transformation between the members, especially between Oreki and Chitanda.

Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai! instead, captivated me early on, with the whole plot about chu2 and Rikka being a bag of fun with her chu2 antics. That enjoyment had only intensified as we were treated to glorious fictional battles that Rikka has with her older sister and the introduction of Dekomori. However all that joke and giggles were swept away when Yuuta suddenly landed on Rikka issues and with him trying to ‘solve’ her problem for the duration of the second half of the show, which I think hurt my enjoyment of the show quite a bit. Compared to Hyouka, Chu2koi felt a lot more sudden for the change from the initial plot to romance. Hyouka was heavily about mystery solving in the first half, and it is through those arc that we see glimpse of the characters of the Hyouka members. While the relationship between Mayaka and Satoshi was clear from the start, we not only see the change in interaction between Oreki and Chitanda as the episode progresses, we the change in emotions that Oreki has for Chitanda, first from annoyance, someone that had entangled him, to a good friend that he ends up helping out for and finally to a possible girlfriend. However, while we did see hints of Rikka using her chu2 antics as a defense mechanism even before the drama starts, the hints were way too minor compared to the mind wooplash that follows afterwards, making the whole transition a bit too abrupt, making the disconnect between the fun first half and the Dekomori crying second half.

Chu2koi is in no way a bad show, with the first half was clearly one of the highlights of the winter season (before Garupan became amazing), and the second half reasonably handled, but the transition leaves more to be desired, especially since we have already seen how good Kyoto Animation can adapt more serious plots in Disappearance and Clannad. Similarly, Hyouka is not the perfect show either, as the fact still holds that I found the first half a bit on the boring side.

And that gem sitting in the corner? That is K-On Movie, now that is Kyoto Animation at their best of their abilities.

Day 9 – Mahjong is subara des

Posted on December 22, 2012 by fnzna

海底撈月大四喜　字一色　四暗刻 | stoner08

Mahjong is fun. Mahjong is serious business. The government supports you to play mahjong etc…

Saki Achiga-hen, the side story of Saki that follows the Achiga school as they go and advance in the nationals, aired this year, making not only the Achiga-hen cast able to participate in this year’s Japan Saimoe tournament, but most of the Saki cast to be able to participate in the tournament also. The result of this year’s Saimoe is that Saki franchise basically came above any other franchise by a huge margin, with characters in Saki taking 6 out of 8 spots in the quarter finals, of which the other 2 non-Saki character quickly got knocked out in the quarter finals, with Saki franchise taking both 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place of the whole tournament. It just shows how important Saki is to the whole moe industry. This is even better than Saki’s performance back in Saimoe 2009, where while Saki characters manage to secure 4 out of 8 spots in the quarter finals, only 2 made it through quarter finals and neither of them made it past semi-finals. Hence, seeing the massive Saki win in JSaimoe 2012, 2012 (or specifically 2011/07/01 to 2012/06/30) really is the year of the Saki.

かっこいいつも | ゆる

Seeing moe girls playing mahjong with their op powers and seeing those characters win Saimoe is one thing, seeing the anime community embracing mahjong partly because of the Saki franchise is another thing. I have been playing mahjong for ages, and delights when I get the chance to play it. When I was small, I would see my parents play mahjong against my relatives from time to time, but was not allowed to play it because those matches involved of using money instead of purely using points. But like Mako, or I like to think I’m, I developed some skills through out the years and knew some really simple plays when I started playing. Having raised up in such a family, with mahjong as a form of entertainment, I still find mahjong to be one of my favorite games. Mind you, my past experience of mahjong before playing against others online aren’t riichi mahjong, the one that anime community embraced, but Cantonese mahjong, which varies quite a bit from riichi mahjong (no riichi, a lot less combinations, usually minimum of 3 fans, includes flowers), meaning my past experience might not only be not useful to riichi mahjong, but at times puts me at a disadvantage because of me going back to Cantonese mahjong strategy. But at least this makes me a n00b, being in the same level as the people that just started mahjong because of Saki, and hence can learn and advance together.

Mahjong cannot be play alone but usually must need 3 other opponents to play with you, and hence can be a rather social game, as it forces you to sit with 3 other people on the same table, giving you chances to talk with them while you play. However, even without that interaction when you are playing online, I find it still really fun when I know I’m playing against some real person, especially if that person is someone that I know either online or offline (also the communication can still happen by using programs like Skype). Hence, I was really excited when I was given the chance to play riichi mahjong against some of my Twitter peeps.

Aside from the good mahjong rounds that Saki and Saki Achiga displayed, giving me chances to either just laugh at how overpowered the beasts in Saki were and to analyze some of the less beast-like players in Saki Achiga, and the moe girls, the Saki franchise also gave me much more chances to just chill and play mahjong with my Twitter friends through Tenhou (thank you Tenhou also). And hence, despite the yuri overtones that I’m not that fond of, I still really like the whole Saki franchise, and man I’m really looking forward to the National hen finally being animated (o and the last few episode of Saki Achiga).

And for anyone that want to play riichi mahjong with me on Tenhou, just reply to me on Twitter when you want to, I will make time for it.

Day 8 – BETA begins Earth invasion, as predicted by the Mayans

Posted on December 21, 2012 by fnzna

Official art, taken from Danbooru

By the time you read this, the Mayan December 21 Doomsday prophecy would either have been shown to be false already or you are reading this in horror as countless news flashes on the sudden change in humanity fate in the past several hours. The first Hive would have fallen in Kashgar already, killing millions living around there. Soon, Americans will be forced to launch their nuclear warhead to Canada to destroy the second Hive that would land later in North America. Also because of the BETA attack, human intelligence will fall to the level that was predicted by the recent Total Eclipse show, with humans, instead of focusing on defeating the BETAs, worry themselves over relationships and inner race conflicts and creating harems, making even the aces unable to defend themselves from BETA attacks.

With humanity’s future grim from December 21, with no one having the ability and intelligence to defeat the BETAs, the world needs someone, or something that is not of this world to provide a way for humanity’s survival. He will come with mad piloting skills, having mastered video games in his original world, and will come with wisdom and knowledge that he will impart to to anyone he is close with, giving hope first to his team, to his supervisor and finally to the world. He will come having full knowledge of the government’s secrets, and will use that knowledge to turn humanity’s fate around. He is also not perfect, for he will go back to his own world after some failures, only to come back with a heart of steel after receiving support in his original world, and will not falterer in the face of 100,000 BETAs in the end. Despite his sacrifice though, many will not know him nor his accomplishments. This is all recorded in book of Muv Luv Alternative.

——————————————–

Muv Luv Alternative, and the game that came before it, Muv Luv (with the 2 parts: Muv Luv Extra and Muv Luv Unlimited), was a long and rewarding path to see the transformation of Shirogane Takeru from the common visual novel high school protagonist in Extra, to the god-like person that was described above by the end of Alternative. The closest game that I can think of the protagonist having that level of transformation is Shirou from Fate/Stay Night, and even then, Shirou transformation is rather different from Takeru’s transformation.

In the very beginning, Muv Luv Extra, I was treated with a generic visual novel set in high school with your generic heroines as potential routes. You got your childhood friend, the rich kid that does not understand the way of the peasants, the meganekko, the silent and the loli. It was all rather light hearted, with the most serious issue being lacrosse. It was also quite funny, especially with some parts of the show referencing to other shows. Lastly, I was also amazed at technical aspects of the game, of how the background aren’t static and would pan when the protagonist looks around, zooms in and out, and that the characters spites would actually move quite often. It was all jokes and games, with nothing really that stood out.

Then Muv Luv Unlimited happened. The protagonist Takeru’s world suddenly changed as he was tossed into an alternative universe. Ironically, even though there were constant talks about BETAs and how they are the ones that Takeru were fighting against, they never appear in Unlimited, but instead was mainly about Takeru getting accustomed to the military life, failing in training and then again choosing a girl from the potential heroines, all of them from his team, and finally ending with a rather bittersweet end.

Finally Muv Luv Alternative happened. Having experienced the same sequence of events from Unlimited, he determined to change the fate of the universe for the better. However, this in turns triggers political conflicts, puts him in the front lines of battle against BETAs (and hence sees the deaths of who he fights along with), and many other events that make his path to the future that we strive to fight for long and painful. This includes deaths of people close to Takeru in the most crude way, haunting him and the audiences for the longest time and just many other tearjerking and PTSD-inducing moments, made even more severe with the familiarity of characters since Muv Luv Extra, especially when he decided to abandon his role as a TSF pilot. However, it is through those events that he became more matures, to finally accept his current situation, and finally accomplish the task that he was given to do despite of how much in sadness he is in for the lost of his fellow friends and the whole situation that they are in. Coupled with songs by JAM Project and glorious mecha battles, it is no wonder that Muv Luv Alternative is widely acclaimed because of how emotional the whole journey was.

Fnzna Side Dish

Tag Archives: Twelve Days of Anime