Tenten and Tenhou at an embarrassing moment

A friend and I are planning to attend Costume-Con 28 next year, and we need to start working on our costumes soon. The theme is “spies.” I’m too tall for Boris and she’s too short for Natasha, and I’m not particulary interested in James Bond, or most other spy movies for that matter. So, I’m wondering what spies there are in anime worth considering. Let’s see: there’s Tenhou and Tenten from Oh! Edo Rocket, and Yomiko Readman and Drake Anderson from Read or Die (I don’t think I should ask my friend to be Nancy). I’m sure that there are others. What other pairs of spies are there?

Update: Are you a fansub team looking for a new project? Consider tracking down and translating the video of the stage play Oh! Edo Rocket. There are some brief excerpts here.

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.)

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Another entry for the “ducks in anime” file:

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

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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.

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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. [↩]

… I launched The Kawaii Menace. It’s my second anime weblog, succeeding Beware the Kawaii, which I abandoned when bots found ways of circumventing the anti-spam mechanisms. I’ve been writing about anime to some extent now for about five years, ever since I discovered Serial Experiments Lain.

Today is also the sixth anniversary¹ of my first weblog, Mixolydian Mode, also defunct for the same reason.². Its successor, Scuffulans hirsutus, devoted largely to photography, music and nonsense, is a good place to escape the virtual crowds; daily traffic there is usually in the single digits.

This is probably as good a time as any to acknowledge the obvious: The Kawaii Menace is essentially retired. I’m not shutting it down. I do have a series of summing-up posts in mind — though I’m in no hurry to write them — and I am as curious as anyone to see who the top ten anime babes are. There likely will be occasional observations, trivia and links about animation, Japan and women with blue hair. But my interest in anime has run its course. Little I’ve seen in the past year has sustained my interest past the second episode. I still enjoy watching old favorites, but I don’t have the patience anymore to plow through all the unremarkable new releases hoping to find another Denno Coil.

1. Six years, while not negligible, isn’t all that long in the blogosphere. Charles G. Hill has been around for over thirteen years now and still posts more in a week than most bloggers do in a month. [↩]
2. Coincidentally, Pixy Misa began blogging at almost the same instant I did six years ago. Congratulations, Pixy [↩]

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

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I just got off the phone with my nine-year-old nephew. He’s a bright kid, a voracious reader, and he enjoys anime. He likes Bottle Fairy a lot. His favorite, though, is Serial Experiments Lain, which I sent to his father several years ago. Um, parents, keep tabs on what your kids watch.¹

1. If any anime series is a classic, it’s Lain, but I hesitate to recommend it to anyone younger than college-age. [↩]

Banshee on Ohayocon:

And to make matters worse, the other events were a cheerleading convention and a Christian youth group convention. I mean, not necessarily antagonistic if physically separated… but apparently the Witchblade cosplayers kept walking into the youth group talks, and that’s just not going to end well….

She’s also been posting singable translations of the songs from the Natsume Yujinchou series. If I understand what she’s doing correctly, these are paraphrases of English translations she’s found.

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I’ve been doing everything but watching anime lately. I’ll get back to it — I’ve got Tokyo Godfathers sitting next to the computer, and I want to watch the rest of at least the first season of Natsume Yujinchou — but right now there are other priorities. In the meantime, here’s a curiosity: a piano version of a tune you might recognize.

(Not anime, but possibly of interest to geeky types.) We’re playing musical offices at work, and I unearthed some antiques in the back of one of the cabinets earlier today:

Yes, people actually did use 8-inch discs back in prehistoric times. Floppies really were floppy.

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:

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I can’t help comparing [Whisper of the Heart] to Revolutionary Road … not because they are similar but because they are opposites. Revolutionary Road explores the dangers of not having a dream (while thinking that you do.) Whisper of the Heart is about what it really means to have a dream.

*****

I haven’t spent much time on anime recently, and I don’t know when I will. My current obsession is a collection of fiddle tunes.¹ It should keep me busy for quite a while. I’ll be back eventually — maybe — but don’t hold your breath.

1. [Link deleted because of reported virus.] If you’re in the Kansas/Oklahoma area in September, go to the Walnut Valley Festival and drop by Carp Camp. And if you are building a website, don’t use frames. [↩]

… when I die, if I come to on Aqua, I know I’m Heaven; if I’m in Glie, Purgatory, and if I wake up and see Lain, Hell.

I came across yet another damned book meme over at Robbo’s, and I thought that adapting it for anime might be a pleasant way of spending a lunch hour.

• What anime are you watching now?

The only current series I’m following is Macademi Wasshoi, and if there are more episodes like the fifth, I’ll drop it, too.

• What is your favourite time to watch?

Evenings, after dinner.

• And your favourite place?

The only available place is the uncomfortable chair at the computer.

• Who is your favourite auteur?

The snap answer is either Yoshitoshi ABe (Haibane Renmei) or Mitsuo Iso (Denno Coil). However, each has really only one show to his credit.¹ Perhaps Junichi Sato or Akitaro Daichi, or maybe Masaaki Yuasa? I think I’ll go with Satoshi Kon for now.

• Your favourite OST?

Still Haibane Renmei‘s, though that of Oh! Edo Rocket, swing ripoff though it is, has been frequent listening for over a year now.

• What is the most difficult anime you’ve ever watched?

Serial Experiments Lain. I could also mention Angel’s Egg and Cat Soup, but I don’t think either adds up to much more than what you see. (I read somewhere that Oshii himself doesn’t remember what everything signifies in the former.)²

• What was the first anime you remember watching?

Shonen Sarutobi Sasuke, in the theatre in Brigham City, Utah, on a Saturday afternoon with my girlfriend Gloria a long, long time ago. Many years later came Princess Mononoke.
Update: Here’s a trailer for Magic Boy, as Shonen Sarutobi Sasuke was called in the USA, and here’s a website with screen captures.

• Do you have a comfort show that you re-watch?

Random episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura or Animal Yokocho.

• What is the most erotic anime you’ve watched?

Not Divergence Eve. Nothing much comes to mind; that’s not what I look for.

• Which classic should you have watched?

Monster, I suppose, or Legend of Galactic Heroes.

• Which series did you never want to end?

A good episodic series like Mushishi or Galaxy Angel A could be spun out indefinitely as long as the creators have ideas, but in general, a show isn’t good unless it ends well.

• What is your most overrated anime?

Neon Genesis Evangelion. I watched the first disc, and that’s two hours of my life wasted that I’ll never get back.

• Which character could you have an affair with?

This isn’t the sort of thing I fantasize about lest I end up like Sidney Kugelmass, but perhaps Lexshue from Crest of the Stars.

• Who is your favourite character?

Isako, from Denno Coil.

• Which character do you most dislike?

Kimura, from Azumanga Daioh.

• Which character do you identify with most?

Reki, from Haibane Renmei.

• Which anime changed your life?

None.

Update: Jumping on the bandwagon are Steven, Kiriska, Wonderduck and Mark. And Pixy. And Aziz. And Evil Otto and Nick. And Astro. And Ken the Brickmuppet.

1. Lain was a group effort, and while NieA_7 is based on characters created by ABe, someone else wrote the scripts. [↩]
2. Incidentally, Angel’s Egg is the reason I started downloading torrents. I had read about it and was very curious, but there was no legal way to watch it. [↩]

If you were planning to tour Venice this week, you might want to cancel your trip and visit Neo Venezia instead.

(Via Naked Villainy.)

I’m going to be busy not watching anime for the next few weeks. There may be an occasional trivial post, but don’t expect anything more. I’ll probably be back around the middle of December. Until then, here are a few links of interest.

I would have thought that this was obviously true, but apparently it isn’t clear to some people. Further discussion here.

Fred Kiesche discovers Ghost in the Shell. His reaction reminds me of mine to Serial Experiments Lain the first time I watched it. (Lain, by the way, was first broadcast ten years ago this summer, so I think it’s old enough to officially call a classic.)

Back in February, I had other things on my mind than following the otakusphere. Consequently, I missed Martin’s survey of the worst anime has to offer.

Here’s a preview of this winter’s new series. A couple might be worth checking out. Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou is a continuation of what was probably the best show of the summer, and Kemeno no Sou-ja Erin is based on novels by Nahoko Uehashi, who wrote the books Seirei no Moribito was based on. Update: Here are a couple of additional surveys covering more shows, here and here.

Has the internet indeed gone too far?

Ken the Brickmuppet writes about his uncle.

I’d been considering whether to look at Tytania, but Pixy points out a serious defect.

*****

This week’s frightening search term: “life sized anime bishounen cutouts.” For target practice, I presume.

I did searches at amazon.com and calendars.com for “anime calendar.” The results were pathetic. Between the two sites, 2009 calendars included only Naruto, Inuyasha, Bleach and Pokemon, and something called “Domo.” Bleah. Therefore, I paid a visit to YesAsia.com, where I did a little better: Soul Eater, Wagaya no Oinari-sama, Shakugan no Shana, Blue Dragon, Wolf and Spice, Ponyo on the Cliff, Chii’s Sweet Home, Clannad and Clannad After Story, Gintama, Evangelion and Petit Eva, One Piece, Gegege no Kitaro, Nodame Cantabile and Code Geass R2. And Gundam00, Tales of the Abyss, Keroro Gunsou, Shugo Chara, Studio Ghibli, Osamu Tezuka, Rumiko Takahashi and many others. And Dragonball Z.

I also found a couple of Yotsub&! daily calendars. The 2009 edition will be available March 31, 2009, suggesting that these run from July 1 to June 30, which means that the 2008 edition has eight months’ use left.

By the way, this year’s Edward Gorey calendar features “Neglected Murderesses.” I didn’t spot a Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei calendar, but Gorey operates in a similar pleasantly macabre vein.

I watched the first episode of Tales of the Abyss to see if there was a good reason for eight different groups to subtitle it.

It starts off with some mythology, introducing a planet made of the seven “fonons.” After the opener, which features a whole bunch of people (you’ll probably need a scorecard to keep them all straight as the series progresses), there’s some more mythology, some history, and prophecies involving a boy with red hair. It’s all very portentous but not particularly memorable.

Then we meet a kid with red hair. He’s a prince named Luke who doesn’t remember anything before he was six. He evidently doesn’t remember much else, either, providing the writers opportunities to dump yet more lumps of exposition into the story in the form of lectures and flashbacks. I suspect that the viewer is supposed to see him as a spirited youth frustrated at not being permitted to leave the palace grounds, but he comes across more as an insensitive lout. He apparently has two belly-buttons.

There are other people, of course: the old gardener he thoughtlessly insults, his servant and keeper, his swordsmanship teacher, his parents, his fiancée — none of whom show much promise of being more than clichés. And then there is Tear, whom I wish would visit me late at night. I am a chronic insomniac, and she can sing people and monsters instantly to sleep. Tear magically arrives at the palace, where she attacks Luke’s teacher. Luke intervenes, and when their blades meet, some kind of supernatural resonance builds up and sends the pair flying out into the hinterlands. It seems that Luke and Tear are both “seventh fons” (is Luke the seventh fon of a seventh fon?). There are monsters out there, which they easily and bloodlessly dispatch, and —

The hell with it. What we have here is another fantasy RPG adaptation of no particular distinction. It’s not terrible, but there’s nothing of interest in it. I can see one or two groups subbing the series for the fans of the game, but eight? It’s squandered effort.

*****

A bit of good news: the second episode of Macademi Wasshoi has finally been translated. It’s as frenetically silly as the first episode, albeit raunchier.

Here are the candidates in the new poll.

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28% of the voting visitors to this page would most like to see Denno Coil licensed (my choice, too, but I don’t vote in my polls). Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei came in second with 19%, followed by Potemayo with 14% and, Banner of the Stars III with 10%. The other shows, in order of decreasing votes, were Sailor Stars, Oh! Edo Rocket, Dirty Pair TV, Animal Yokocho, Magipoka, Alfred J. Kwak and Aishiteruze Baby. I was disappointed that nobody voted for Mind Game, a movie that deserves much more attention than it’s received.

And now, the new poll: which mahou shoujo has the best costume? Note that I’m not asking who is your favorite or is from the best show. I just want to know who you think has the best designer.¹ Also, the inclusion of a particular girl is not a recommendation of the relevant show. Some of the series are very good, e.g., Princess Tutu, but others are not so good, e.g., Pretty Cure.

The astute will notice the conspicuous absence of Sakura Kinomoto. This is for two reasons. First, she is not a typical mahou shoujo; i.e., she doesn’t transform² Second, Tomoyo’s creations are worth a poll in themselves someday.

1. Who makes the magical girls’ outfits, anyway? What does a girl do if her costume needs alterations? What happens if she needs to transform while her costume is at the cleaners? [↩]
2. Toward the end of Cardcaptor Sakura she does sprout wings, which can be regarded as a transformation, but she still wears Tomoyo’s costumes, not proper magical clothing. [↩]

From the Icelandic film Astropia, here is a brief apologia for anime. Flóki is a clerk at the titular comics/DVD/RPG shop and Hildur is the innocent new employee.

Flóki: Here we have Japanese Anime.

Hildur: Why aren’t they in the Asian section?

Flóki: Because I say so. They’re special cartoons. Some people like anime, but never watch Asian cinema. And vice-versa. Here we have some great titles, like My Neighbor Totoro, Akira, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ghost in the Shell.

Hildur: And grown-ups watch this?

Flóki: — Oh yeah. You’re just thinking of the Disneyfication of animation. Anime has much more to offer.They’re not all family films, but they respect their audience. They’re open-ended and multi-layered.

Disney has bought and hidden away many of the jewels of Anime to keep them from western audiences. To make a buck off The Lion Kingdom of the Mouse House.

Astropia is available for the reasonable price of $18.10. Unfortunately, shipping from Iceland is $32.99, so I hope that the film soon finds an American distributer.

Bonus link: My familiar is a purple snow leopard. The election as a RPG campaign. (Via Naked Villainy.)