Here are some curious items from the most recent batch of search terms:

heresy is not kawaii
gurren lagann knitting
cowboy bebop knitting
knitting anime themes
ponyo on a stick
sailor moon cardboard cutout
a religion based off of sailor moon
canzoni kawaii
languid gay charles solomon
gender critics are idiots
anime girl wolf boy frog
haruhi peanuts
kawaii the murderer pics
safe for work babes
oink supervisor

There were a few that make me glad that I am unlikely ever to meet the searchers:

anime manly girls
armpit hair pictures
kawaii tentacle monster

*****

Anime cosplayers are normal, sane people — at least compared to these.

Via Steven, who recently discovered Pokémon. (Update: note the third-place item in this list.)

Ubu, meanwhile, has discovered RahXephon. In a comment at Ubu’s place, Avatar confirms what I had suspected:

RahXephon was a show where we constructed a couple of really elaborate theories that explained everything, wrote off to Japan with a “so which one is it, we need to know for the translation”, and got back “huh? We did all those things because they looked cool.”

*****

I recently watched the first two episodes of El Hazard: The Magnificent World. Good grief. Here’s our hero:

I really wonder sometimes: do Japanese boys want to be girls? If you think I’m exaggering, count the thumbnails on this graphic:

The first El Hazard OVA was written by Ryoe Tsukimura. He also wrote the scripts for the first Tenchi Muyo! movie and the many UFO Princess Valkyries. They have their moments, but they’re all essentially anime junk food. Most of the rest of Tsukimura’s output looks similarly undistinguished. However, he does have one classic to his credit, Noir, which was his idea and his script. In this, he reminds me of Kou Ohtani, a competent, unmemorable soundtrack composer who was touched once with afflatus.

*****

Since I closed nominations for the current poll, commenters have mentioned Ghost in the Shell, Tenchi Muyo GXP, Kimagure Orange Road, Spice and Wolf and Wolf’s Rain. The first has been mentioned twice (the second time in an email), so I’ll probably add it to the second round candidates. Would anyone care to second any of the other series?

Some crossovers are best left unrealized.

More here, if you dare.

*****

How to be even cuter. These won’t work unless you’re already fairly cute — visualize how Hillary Clinton would look trying these poses.

(Via .clue.)

When the Fnools invaded Earth, they disguised themselves as two-foot-tall real estate salemen, figuring that no one would take them seriously until too late.¹ The aliens in Mao-chan adopt a similar strategy: by assuming mercilessly kawaii forms, the invaders make the Japanese defense forces reluctant to engage them in combat, lest the human soldiers be seen as bullies. The Japanese fight cuteness with cuteness: the head of the land forces enlists his eight-year-old granddaughter, Mao, to battle the invaders, arming her with a baton, a full-size model of a tank, and a clover-shaped pin that transforms her into a not-terribly-competent but very cute mahou shoujo. Mao soon is joined by a couple of other eight-year-old girls: Misora, representing the air force, and Sylvie, representing the navy, both recruited by their doting grandfathers. Mao and Misora are ordinary grade-school girls, as kids in anime go, but Sylvie is distinctly Osaka-ish.

(more…)

1. See Philip K. Dick’s “The War with the Fnools.” [↩]

Vicipaedia needs otaku who can write decent Latin. The anime and manga pages are pathetic. (I had several years of Latin, but that was a long time ago in a different century, and it would take more time than I can spare to regain competence.)

*****

Another entry for the “ducks in anime” file:

From Negima Ala Alba OAD #2 (not recommended).

*****

I discovered that the software used to animate Hatsune Miku is freeware, available here. It’s surprisingly capable. Here’s Miku dancing Maurice Bejart’s choreography; compare it to the final minutes of this.¹ Unfortunately, like Miku herself, it’s not for Macs.

*****

More random nonsense:

An animated stereogram. It works, too. There are more here. (Via Cartoon Brew.)

“Not only does it save time, but it’s really stupid, too.” More poem generators here.

Can’t find anything you like on the radio? Set a few parameters and generate your own music.

I did not need to see this:

show

.

1. I recommend skpping the first six minutes unless you are a Bejart fanatic. [↩]

Neil Gaiman and Gahan Wilson:

And Raymond Scott:

Via Cartoon Brew

*****

That other dealer is holding a “bargain bin blowout.” It’s mostly junk, of course, but there are complete sets of some worthy anime available for very reasonable prices, including Bottle Fairy, Divergence Eve and Misaki Chronicles, Haibane Renmei, Serial Experiments Lain, Shingu (including a t-shirt), Someday’s Dreamers and Sugar, a Tiny Snow Fairy. There’s also some Miles Davis.

.*****

So Sailor Moon is girl stuff? Check the results of this poll.

Odds and ends, some of them involving animation, Japan or spandex.

(more…)

A bit of good news: Kunio Kato’s recent animated short, “Le Maison en Petits Cubes,” will be shown in theaters across the USA this month — amazingly, even in Wichita, albeit at the library. Kato is the artist who created The Diary of Tortov Roddle, which has my highest recommendation.

Update: It’s on iTunes.

Update II: “Le Maison en Petits Cubes” won the Oscar for best animated short film,

Update III: Here’s a short interview with Kato, with a brief excerpt from “La Maison.”

*****

And now for something completely different: “Peach Pie on the Beach,” with cheerleaders.

I had intended to write a detailed comparison of the print and anime versions of Moribito, but I doubt that I will get around to it any time soon, and I’ve loaned the book to friends. Here are some highlights from the post I’m not writing:

(more…)

I found an application that makes jigsaw puzzles from files on my computer and exports them as java applets. Eventually I’ll figure out how to embed them in my web pages. Until then, here are a couple made from screen captures that you can download and play with:

Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne

Macademi Wasshoi

Update: I think I have the embedding working. I’m putting the picture from Rocket Girls that I filched from Steven below the fold because it is so large that it screws up the layout.

Update II: It works in Camino, but not in Safari or Firefox — you can see the puzzle, but you can’t manipulate the pieces. Grrr. I’ll have to find another solution. Until then, here’s the .jar file: Rocket girls.

Update III: My video site is now a a video and jigsaw puzzle site.

Made with Wordle.

Discovered while looking for something else:

Update: Steven has a higher-quality file.

(more…)

ANN has posted the entries in their pumpkin-carving contest. I kinda like this one:

Sailor Moon has her own orchid, a distinction she shares with Dracula and Kim Il Sung. (Kim Yong Il has to make do with a begonia.)

If you get the munchies while watching Moyashimon, here’s another delicacy to try: hákarl.

(Via Maureen.)

Charles Schultz does Evangelion. (The scanlation is out there if you know where to look.)

… even plants blog, like this Hoya kerrii:

(Via Fear and Loathing in Georgetown.)

I shot about 1,500 frames of dance last night, and it’s going to take a few evenings to go through all the pictures, selecting and editing the best. That and some projects for work mean that I will continue to be scarce here. I’ll be back eventually, but don’t hold your breath.

*****

I watched the first episodes of a few recent shows. Surprisingly, most didn’t stink and might be worth a second look. Let’s see ….

Macademi Wasshoi — It’s energetic and entertaining, but I would enjoy it more if the characters looked older: neotenous faces and fanservice is a distasteful combination. If future episodes emphasize humor over fanservice, I might continue with it. By the way, I’m not convinced that we actually have a dog-girl here. Her tail doesn’t wag properly.¹

Kannagi — There’s an opportunity for easy but effective parody and satire if this divine Galatea continues to learn about the modern world from television. Otherwise, the series looks to be mildly amusing and bland. Update: Hideyuki Kurata is responsible for the script. Expect wildly erratic writing.

To Aru Matjutsu no Index — Promising, and that’s about all I can say at this point.

Detroit Metal City — Cute premise, but romangst and death metal are unlikely to wear well. Pass. (I would like to see the live-action movie, though.)

Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo — “Sexy adult women in anime.” ’nuff said.

*****

A few links:

Pixy recently posted some of his collection of openings and endings. N.B.: Dokuro-chan is not recommended.

Neojaponisme. (Via Eve Tushnet.)

Japanese matchbox art, ca. 1920-1950. (Via Lynn.)

*****

I didn’t recognize the reference, but a bit of searching did turn up this:

Bewitched: I got four kings.
Bothered: I got five — all hearts.
Bemildred: One a’ you is mus’ be cheatin’, ’cause I never had no kings of hearts in no deck of mine.

1. If you want a true dog-girl, albeit without the tail, see O-Nui in Oh! Edo Rocket. [↩]

The “Touhou Project” is a family of shooting games. According to what I’ve read, they are mostly the work of one person, “ZUN,” who, as “Team Shanghai Alice,” writes the code, draws the art and composes the music. They are noteworthy for their complex bullet patterns and large casts of pretty girls.¹ I don’t have any particular interest in playing the games, but I was curious to note that the very active Touhou doujin community includes many musicians who record their own versions of ZUN’s music in various styles. Most I’ve sampled have been okay but nothing more; I forget them as soon as I’ve heard them. One album did catch my ear, though. It has the perfectly comprehensible title “Cubical Another Perspective Has Violated Systematically” and was recorded by something called “Cytokine.” Here’s a sample:

It’s no substitute for ELP, but what we have here is good, old-fashioned prog rock.

*****

No only is Polysics one of the most energetic bands around (they’d be the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band if only Hayashi could carry a tune), but they are also one of the most uncompromisingly intellectual:

Here are the lyrics.

1. if you don’t mind cockeyed mouths [↩]