*****

Here’s some more animation and twentieth-century music.

Disney vs. Stravinsky: the rematch:

(Via John C. Wright.)

A bit of Copland:

(Via Drastic My Anime Blog.)

Not animation, but fun; an unlikely combination that works surprisingly well::

(Via Mark Sullivan.)

See also Dick Van Dyke meets Herbie Hancock.

Finally, Pretty Cure in about 40 years or so:

This is the second, and last, preliminary round. The top ten from this poll will advance to the final round. You can vote for up to three candidates.

Cowboy Bebop (42%)
FLCL (23%)
Haibane Renmei (23%)
.hack//SIGN (17%)
Aria (15%)
Last Exile (13%)
ef: a tale of memories (11%)
Death Note (11%)
Azumanga Daioh (11%)
Code Geass/R2 (11%)

These ten will advance to the final round of the best anime OST poll. I’ll post the second round once I figure out how to get the poll working again.

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?

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihohito:

Binchou-tan:

Spice and Wolf:

Metropolis:

Arjuna:

… and a little music depreciation. Here’s a tune you might recognize, sung by Haruna Ikezawa.

There is a three-way tie for eighth place:

Mai Kawasumi (Kanon 2006)

Rin Tosaka (Fate/Stay Night)

Yomiko Readman (Read or Die)

In seventh place is Teletha Testarossa (Full Metal Panic).

In sixth place is Yoko (Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann).

In fifth place is Rushuna Tendo (Grenadier).

There is three-way tie for second:

Horo (Spice and Wolf)

Kan’u Unchou (Ikki Tousen)

Mikuru Asahina (adult) (Suzumiya Haruhi).

And finally, the outstanding anime babe of all time, at least for the moment, is Ablïarsec Néïc Dubleuscr Bœrh Parhynr Lamhirh, also known as Viscountess Paryunu Abriel Nei Dobrusk Lafiel (Crest/Banner of the Stars).

Admiral Spoor (Crest/Banner of the Stars) and Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop) tied for eleventh. The other finalists were Meia Gisborn (Vandread), Urd (Ah! My Goddess TV), Misato Katsuragi (Neon Genesis Evangelion), Akane (Ranma 1/2), Balsa (Seirei no Moribito), Ginrei Von Vogler (Giant Robo), Yuri (Dirty Pair), Shampoo (Ranma 1/2), Eineus (Macademi Wasshoi) and Lexshue (Crest of the Stars)

A couple of notes:

• While I’m pleased that Lafiel placed first, I’m also a little surprised. Not because she doesn’t deserve the honor — she certainly does — but because her character design looks odd to my eyes. Her eyes are drawn too large and her face is peculiarly shaped. I suppose that the oversized eyes signify that she is younger than the other Abh we see, but she is in fact a young adult and, in Banner, commands a ship. The other Abh are drawn with regular human features,¹ as are the humans (except Jinto, who also has inappropriately juvenile eyes).

• Mikuru Asahina is agreeable company and easy on the eyes, but I don’t think she belongs on this list. We don’t spend enough time with her adult version to tell how much stronger a character she has become, and the younger version is too wimpy for my taste. A proper babe would have knocked Haruhi into the next space/time continuum had Haruhi tried manhandling her the way she does Mikuru.

Addendum: here’s the original list. There’s no date on the page, but I would guess that it’s about ten years old.

10. Sharon Apple
9. Sailor V[enus]
8. Priss Asagiri
7. Grandis Granva
6. Pirotess
5. Ifurita
4. Misato Katsuragi
3. Ginrei
2. Ryoko
1. Madoka Ayukawa
1. Lum

1. Abriel ears excepted.

I’ll post the complete results sometime this weekend.

*****

There were 62 nominations altogether for the best anime soundtrack. I’m going to run two preliminary rounds of 31 each, in which you can vote for up to three candidates. The top ten in each round will go on to the finals.

Ideally, I should post excerpts from all the nominated soundtracks, but I’m lazy. If you want to campaign for your favorite, feel free to post a link to an illustrative video or .mp3 in the comments. (There are a number of such links in the comments here.)

Trap Academy — A transfer student at an exclusive all-girl boarding school discovers that every single one of her pretty classmates is actually a boy in disguise.

Does Anyone Need Tenchi? Does Anyone Care? — Yet another spinoff of the venerable franchise. In this one, Mihoshi’s IQ approaches the single digits.

Mystery Meat — Students with paranormal abilities investigate inexplicable events in the school cafeteria. Chiaki J. Konaka’s script draws on quantum mechanics, evolutionary biology and feng shui in this account of alternate realities and healthy nutrition.

Planet of the Enormous Hooters — Al Franken’s masterpiece receives an appropriately respectful anime adaptation. The staff includes alumni of the Queen’s Blade and Eiken crews.

Apocryphelion — Aliens attack the Earth as foretold by ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets, and only neurotic adolescents piloting absurdly large mecha can save the planet.

inCurably Pretty — The latest iteration of PreCure introduces 17 more magical girls. The pastel mahou shoujo outfits feature second-order ruffles.¹

Sliders — The intense world of professional shuffleboard is examined in the suspenseful tale of the rising star of the care home circuit. Is her mysterious ability to put the puck dead center in the “10″ triangle every time somehow connected to the fact that she has not spoken to her manager and husband in 53 years? And what about the mysterious reigning champion, who is as stacked as Carol Doda, and as old? The show sets new precedents for fanservice. (The DVDs will feature additional steam.)

Angels and Idiots — An ancient order of renegade priests and a nun in a slinky habit who lives her own version of aggiornamento are all that stand between humanity and an unholy alliance of vampires, demons and lawyers — or is it the other way around? This gnostic extravaganza is sure to be a favorite of cosplayers.

Godot Can Wait — Nabeshin’s first effort for World Masterpiece Theater is a breezy adaptation of Beckett’s play. Nabeshin himself takes the much-expanded role of Pozzo’s slave, Lucky, and finds surprisingly many opportunities for fanservice in Beckett’s barren landscape.

Type Two — Mika isn’t sure how she feels about Kai. Sometimes she treats him with affection, but just as often she subjects him to scorn and violence. Their budding romance abruptly ends when Kai obtains a restraining order against her.

Yokai Cram School — A vampire who faints at the sight of blood, a vegan werewolf, a succubus who made a vow of celibacy, skirts too short to sit down in … and the hell with it. It’s not easy to invent something as stupid as Rosario + Vampire.

1. I.e., ruffles on the ruffles.