Fangirlism

Apparently the secret to Right Stuf is to get Priority shipping.  I ordered our anime on Tuesday, and it arrived today!!!!  We want to take School Rumble on the cruise <3

There has been anime in my life, but I can almost guarantee I won't talk about it until after June 2.

However, just one minute ago, Josh and I bought ourselves mutual wedding presents:  Cowboy Bebop Remix box set for him . . . AND SCHOOL RUMBLE SEASON 2 (parts 1 AND 2) FOR ME!!!!!!  All of these things are on sale at Right Stuf (Funimation sale + Weekly Special), plus many others, so as usual, I recommend that you patronize Right Stuf for all of your anime needs.  Their actual service isn't so good, but I've always (eventually) gotten everything I ordered, and they've got the best prices for legit products.

OMG I OWN ALL OF THE R1 SCHOOL RUMBLE WHEN WILL "SEASON" 3 (in OVA form, I admit) BE LICENSED? OMG OMG OMG!  *falls over*

And back to work now.  Wedding is eating my life . . .

When Crunchyroll announced that it was going to simulcast Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, I was super excited.  I saw the first four episodes at NekoCon a few years ago, and loved it.  I've been saying it would do really well dubbed on Cartoon Network, but I also wanted to watch some subtitled episodes.  No one seemed interested in licensing the anime, though (Viz releases the manga).  I only hoped CR would put the back library on the website as well.

I just went to CR today to make a list of everything I want to watch when I have time, and lo and behold--there are episodes 1-6!  YAY!  I'm going to start from the beginning again at some point and watch me some Reborn.  I'm also going to watch more Pretty Cure.  But first, I'm almost halfway through the j-drama Bambino, starring Matsumoto Jun, so I'd like to finish that first.  I'm in the middle of episode 4 or 5, I can't remember.  So far, I love MatsuJun (unsurprising), but I'm a little dubious about the premise of the series.  I'll tell everyone about it when I do a review.  There's also a review of volumes 25 to 30 of Prince of Tennis coming soon.

Also, Funimation has made a deal with Toei to put some old school Toei series on the Funimation file streaming website.  Someone in the ANN comments made the point we were all thinking:  how long until Sailor Moon?

This round of episodes finishes up the "save each of our friends and family members one by one" section of the anime. Some of them were a little weak compared to the rest of the series, but overall, there is some quality entertainment here. I especially like seeing TWO villains active at once in the storyline (it would be cooler if they were villains from two different groups, though). It's pretty obvious where the story is going in terms of the one who is pretending to be a student, but still. Yay villain character development! What I'm really intrigued by, though, is Nagisa's love life. As of yet, I have NO CLUE if she is going to end up with the guy she likes or someone else. Is the guy a demon? Alien? Human? Is he relevant to the plot at all? WHO KNOWS?! I love it ^_^ (*whisper* I would love it more if he were a demon, or otherwise socially awkward, though)

Episode 13 introduces Kiriya, who is pretending to be a student at the same time Poisonny is trying to kill Pretty Cure. The girls have to save Honoka's friends in the science club, oh no! I thought this was a pretty touching episode. I kind of cried at the end >_> I thought Episode 14 was the biggest disappointment of the bunch, to be honest. There are two girls pretending to be Pretty Cure, WTF?! There was so much potential to develop how the rest of the world views Pretty Cure (never addressed), who the imposters were (weak choice, I wanted some real rivals), and why they were doing it (cute, but irrelevant and confusing in light of the fact that the episode never explained how people KNEW about Pretty Cure in the first place). So, yeah. Cute generic mahou shoujo episode, but could have been more.

Episode 15 is the obligatory "summer vacation trip goes wrong" episode, but it was kind of weak, too. The "big reveal" about the folktale at the end didn't actually alter anything about the episode, which was a little sad. Not much happened, really, other than Nagisa's family BONDED, but it was kind of cute.

Episode 16 was the other episode that really disappointed me here. The most popular girl in school (the typical "perfect girl secretly has a hard life" kind of deal) is multiplied and the doubles . . . walk around. Yup. Now, this episode is particularly funny, and I like Yuka, the "perfect" girl, but the whole episode is conspicuously lacking in action of any kind. That would be fine if there were some super awesome character development going on, but . . . no. As much as I do like Yuka, she was a bit flat.

I appreciate the character development and cute middle school romance in episode 17, but it may in fact give Pretty Cure the win for "Most Useless Magical Girl Device." Episode 17 introduces the "Prism Love Checker," which is a machine that . . . measures how much two people love each other. Seriously. Apparently it's required in the Field of Light to prove your love to someone else, but it's actually a part of Pretty Cure's arsenal on Earth? Is that NECESSARY? The way it's developed is almost cute (Nagisa doesn't believe the Checker when it says the grumpy old man loves his wife, but he secretly does), except that the grumpy old man is kind of an asshole.

Oh, well. Not the best bunch of episodes, but definitely entertaining.

Volume 1 of Nightschool by Svetlana Chmakova (Dramacon) comes out on April 21.  I have all the chapters (well, I will when my duplicate copy of last month's Yen Plus arrives >_>), and I recommend it.  I LOVE Svetlana Chmakova's artwork like whoa, and the story starts out interesting and gets super intriguing real fast.  It's not like Dramacon in terms of plot (it's a fantasy story), but there's drama and a great story, don't worry.  Buy it!

Best Buy announced today that it is cutting the anime selection in 800 stores, and that 461 of those will have the top-performing anime only.  Frankly, as "OMG THE SKY IS FALLING!" as this seems, I'm not upset.  The line, "However one anonymous source states that the stores where the anime selection is being cut are not profitable for anime publishers who are losing money on returns from these stores." is the reason why. 

I learned at the Old School Anime panel at NekoCon a few years ago that Best Buy has been awful to the anime industry--it buys a ton of anime at the discounted bulk rate, knowing it can't sell it all, and then sends back a whole bunch of returns.  It's a huge waste of money, and the anime companies have to keep cash on hand to cover those ridiculous returns.  It's one of the reasons I stopped shopping at Best Buy even when I did have money.  I do still send people there to buy anime FOR me if they ask, but that's only because it's easier to navigate.

Now, later on the article, it tells you about the clearance sale <3  At this point, I perked up.  50% OFF O RLY?  So, I was thinking, man, I hope my Best Buy is included!  But, alas, no (although the one in Plymouth Meeting is, which is WEIRD.  That's closer to Philly).  All the ones in PA are up north or more west, with a few in this general vicinity but not worth the drive.  HOWEVER!  My parents' Best Buy IS included!  Whee!  I'm not going up there again after the 25th until the middle of March, but maybe if Josh lets me I'll drive up on the 1st!  I'm not supposed to be buying anime, but . . . School Rumble.  That's all I have to say.

(New tag!  I figured I talk about it enough...)

I thought we wouldn't see any new licenses for a while, especially since even Funimation lost money last year.  Hmm.  But, this mostly sounds okay to me.  I'm reading the Bamboo Blade manga in Yen Plus, and I really like it (it's pretty hilarious, to be honest), and I watched the first season of Druaga.  I intend to watch the second season soon on Crunchy Roll.  I liked it, but I don't know if I want to buy it, though.  It does a good job of teasing you about hidden SERIOUS PLOT POINTS, but it's more funny than interesting sometimes.  I've never heard of Dragonaut, but I would give it a try.  The only one I'm not interested in Blassreiter >_>  It just sounds like something I wouldn't like.

I read five volumes of Prince of Tennis and watched more Pretty Cure, so I'll tell you about them soon.

When I logged in to CR to watch more magical girl goodness, I was elated to see that episodes up through 40 had been added!  But then, I realized that everything over 12 had a gold star, meaning it was for members only.  The horror!  I was so sad--the whole beauty of this is that I can watch a series I've always wanted to see, legally, for free.  That's a dream come true for me!  Luckily, the episodes were just an advance for the members as another incentive to pay them money, and they are being released for public streaming one per week.  They're up to episode 14 now.  I think there's 52 episodes in this particular Pretty Cure series.

Pretty Cure has great animation--I love it!  The character designs are creative without being ridiculous, and the art is really sharp.  But, for all it has a modern flair, it just feels old school.  I'll look up from folding laundry and all of a sudden I'm watching Sailor Moon again, even though animation techniques have vastly "improved" since the mid-90s (not all change is progress, kids.  I'll take Sailor Moon over Gankutsuou any day of the week).  Sigh.  Nostalgia.

Anyway, Pretty Cure also has amazing villain names.  So far, we're on the third villain, and we've already met Pisard, Gekidrago, and Poisonny.  They seem to get progressively more strange, so I've got that to look forward to.  Also, for the BJD peeps, Poisonny looks like a vampire Lishe.

Oh, summaries?  Sure, I can do that.  Episode 11 is the obligatory "bonding with little brother" episode.  I love how creative the team got with the villains; that creativity really shows in this episode.  I also like how the episodes are related through more than flashbacks.  At the beginning of episode 12, Nagisa's lacrosse friends actually talk about the ruckus at the aquarium from episode 11.  Episode 12 is one of my favorites so far.  In it the story reveals the also-obligatory "NPC who is somehow related to the magical poltline," but it's done in a totally awesome way.  Although often distinctly Japanese (which is a statement, not a criticism.  Of COURSE media made in Japan will have Japanese moral overtones), I enjoy how well this series evokes emotion.  Even in the generic episodes I've seen twenty million times because there are three or four of that exact episode in every magical girl series, I still CARE about what's happening.  Love this series...

If ever there were a movie to perfectly capture the essence of shoujo drama without 12 volumes of manga or 24 hours of television-watching, it would be this movie.  If you love Hana Yori Dango because it is both out of control and incredibly romantic, then you will LOVE THIS MOVIE.  I'm serious.  At one point, Makino punches a bear, and then not fifteen minutes later, she and Doumyouji pledge their undying love.  This movie is made of serious win.

Apparently Matsuda Shota (Nishikado) got nominated for an award for this movie, which makes me scratch my head.  I mean, he's a good actor and he's gorgeous and all, but--he's barely in it!  I guess they had to nominate the movie for SOMETHING (best-selling DVD of 2008 in Japan, and it wasn't even released until December o.O), and that was the only place they could fit it in.

Anyway, this movie is super cute, and it's a GREAT ending to the series.  None of that ambiguously happy ending crap here!  I wish the bulk of the movie had been a little more up and down, though, much like the series always tricked you into thinking they were breaking up or getting together or breaking up again FOR GOOD THIS TIME.  I don't think there was quite enough conflict.  But, I do understand what they were going for.  The characters had to grow up and start behaving like adults. 

I could also have done with a slightly deeper plotline in terms of the conspiracy.  Although, I will say that they tricked me.  I thought I had it all figured out, and I was wrong.

Everything about the movie is beautiful and opulent, and I really wish I had been able to see it in the theater.  Sigh.  The entire cast was great, but as always, Inoue Mao and Matsumoto Jun were phenomenal.  Someone really made a great call by casting those two.  Give that guy a raise!  Inoue Mao is adorable, and I think she is a large part of the reason why I sympathize very much with Makino.

And here are two spoiler pictures, although if you didn't figure this out, you obviously weren't paying attention to the series.

( Spoiler! You are warned! )


Note that I DID NOT take these screencaps.  I got them from here.

In closing, there are many things that I have done recently that have not really been conducive to getting married (such as writing a Complaint for Divorce, which was an assignment from the New Jersey Bar Association, indicating to me that New Jersey disapproves of my marriage), but this movie is PERFECT for getting you into the happy-happy wedding mood.  It makes me want to cuddle, but Josh is asleep :(  Stupid work.

In a fit of rare pre-marital financial responsibility, Josh and I agreed that I should wait until Right Stuf had a Funimation sale before I purchased School Rumble season 2 part 1.  Well, TODAY Right Stuf announced such a sale.  40% off of $60 is something we can afford.  Yes?  Well, not anymore, thanks to my car.  Sigh.  THE PLANS WERE ALL SET!  WHY IS THE UNIVERSE KEEPING SCHOOL RUMBLE FROM ME?  So, yeah.

On a related note, I am currently selling the entire run of Hot Gimmick on eBay, and some other things will be up before the end of the weekend.  I was holding off on it, but the car thing is forcing my hand . . . one of the included items will be my Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Princess Harp.  It works, and it will come with batteries.  I seriously cried when I wrote the auction for it last week, so Josh told me to wait. I think the time has come, though.  Honestly, it's just a "thing," so it's really not as important as bills or a car or a job--or people.  But damn, I'm proud of it.  MOTION SENSOR FOR REALISTIC HARP-PLAYING!  And OMG, I found out they make the Star Tambourine, with interchangeable colored crystals *wibble*  I think the last thing that will go will be my Uranuses, or perhaps my Sailor Moon lithograph, since there is no way I will make my money back on that.  I guess some of my Rock Lee paraphernalia will have to go soon, too.

If I own something you want, let me know and maybe we can work something out.

But, to end with something happy:  I almost forgot to tell you that there MUST be an otaku on the Mercer County planning commission.  On my way to work, I drive right past . . . Rockleigh Drive.  There is NO REASON for that name if you aren't a fan of the Green Beast of Konoha.  Seriously, yo.
 

ワイトスンダア！ブラクスンダア！

I particularly like how much Pretty Cure deals with people and their (sometimes) realistic emotions and reactions.  Sometimes they're kind of  unbelieveable and overwhelmingly Japanese in their solutions, but I appreciate the attempt.  In episode 10, we have bank robbers who are actually down on their luck guys whose company went bankrupt, along with Nagisa's search for a good birthday present for Honoka (and Honoka's parents' thinly concealed guilt), and in 9 we've got the principal and his secret hobby, and some development of Nagisa and Mepple's working relationship.  I think Pretty Cure is honestly trying.  It doesn't quite succeed to Western eyes, but I thoroughly enjoy it anyway.  It's happy and heartwarming.  I believe in using anime as pure escapism, which I think ought to have warm and fuzzy endings.

Also, way to go CrunchyRoll!  I used to be in the group that thought CR was a hopelessly illegal hotbed of fansubs and bootlegs, but I guess the capital they received last year really turned things around.  Agreements for FREE distribution of so many titles?  YES SIGN ME UP RIGHT NOW.  Well, okay, I'm already signed up *lol*  But you get my point.  I'm not in a position to pay them anything right now, but I am thrilled beyond belief at the directions in which things are going.  I've been waiting years for this.

Also, my keyboard was acting all wonky the last time I posted, so I didn't get to say--Funimation also licensed Soul Eater!  Rock on!

THANK YOU FUNIMATION.  No, not Hana Yori Dango live action (my personal opinion is that we will never see any wholesale licensing of live action dramas in this country), but something pretty damn cool anyway:  Evangelion: 1.0 You are (Not) Alone.

The Hana Yori Dango movie hit DVD on December 19, so I should get to watch it soon.  If this series came out in America, I WOULD BUY IT.  Hint, hint, Funimation. 

Pretty Cure episodes 7 and 8 were very character-heavy--the fight scenes were purposely shortened because at the time the fights occurred, the girls had good reasons to want them over quickly.  I appreciate the bit of realism there (although if someone skips 90% of a major lacrosse game, she would probably be thrown off the team in the real world).  In episode 7 we see Nagisa become quickly depressed when she sees Honoka with Fujimura, and in episode 8, Honoka's attempt to help Nagisa get her man backfires and their friendship is in danger.  The episodes were slightly dark, but felt more natural than the girls always getting along and being happy-happy all the time.  This is definitely quality magical girl entertainment, let me tell you.

Don't forget the most awesome anime sale of the year, Right Stuf's 12+ Days of Anime!  That's how I got the awesome deal on Cardcaptor Sakura a few years ago, and the reason I'm still kicking myself for not jumping on $90 for the entire run of the Hana Yori Dango manga *sobs in the corner*

Wow, that was a short tenure for our first villain, but hey, there's whole stable!  That's one of the two mysteries of mahou shoujo:  why doesn't the bad guy just START with the strongest minion?  It seems like a waste of time; it's not like it costs the main villain extra money or power to use the strongest one.  The other mystery is, of course, why the villains don't attack the good guys while they're transforming.  Who knows?!

Anyway, I really like that Pretty Cure addresses the fact that two girls who are complete opposites and were not friends before were just thrown together.  The series makes clear that they don't really have much in common, although the two girls try very hard to get along.  I like a little strife and angst in my mahou shoujo, so this is perfect for me.

This episode also introduces some new esoterica to the Pretty Cure world, because what mahou shoujo series DOESN'T have tons of phrases and item names that don't make sense to people who don't watch the series?  Well, I guess most anime is like that, but mahou shoujo, shounen, and mecha are probably the worst offenders.  Episode 6 sees the introduction of the Prism Hopish (no, hopish is not a word--were they trying for hopper?), where the girls keep the Prism Stones, and Pretty Cure Rainbow Therapy (yes, I know . . .), which the girls use to cleanse creatures possessed by Zakenna (the generic evil demon-force thingy used by all Pretty Cure villains).  Glee!  Made-up words! 

Pretty Cure wins for making me cry at random episodes that aren't even particularly important.  What?  That bear cub could be killed by his demon-possessed mom?  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  *wail*

New Fullmetal Alchemist series to premiere in April 2009.  Cue fangirls ;)

I haven't seen the first series, but I intend to!

I got my hands on some softsubs of Cat Street, so I watched all six episodes yesterday and today.  I'm glad I did, because it's really good!  I recommend it!  It's based on a manga by Kamio Yoko (Hana Yori Dango), so I kind of had a suspicion I would like it.  Now, it's not as ridiculously and deliciously overdramatic as Hana Yori Dango, that's true, but it's dramatic ENOUGH for me.  A lot of drama is overblown in that the characters take very small things and make them into major disasters, so that adds a little excitement.  Unfortunately, however, there is only one kidnapping.  I know, what is this world coming to?  (Kamio-sensei seems convinced that people frequently kidnap each other when in the midst of drama.  WHY IS THAT?  Is it really a common occurrence in Japanese high schools?)

I read on the intarwebz that some people don't like Tanimura Mitsuki as the female lead in Cat Street, but I actually really liked her.  Not having read the manga, I have to assume from the drama that the character is withdrawn, socially anxious, and naturally somewhat stoic when she's not acting (which you can see in the flashbacks to when she's 10--if she's not acting, she doesn't talk much).  I think Tanimura-san does a very good job of capturing those things.  I totally believed her as the kind of person who would be so upset by a single comment that she would be a shut-in for seven years.  I would like to see her in more things, but most of the other series she is in are not the sort of thing I would enjoy, I think.  Sigh.

You may also like to know that the actors are hot.  Well, duh, I know, but it's worth pointing out.  I would have chosen a different man than Aoyama Keito did--the very first time Gouta speaks to her, I would have instantly fallen for him had I been in her place--but the one she did choose is unobjectionable.  He's adorably socially inept, which I like.

Perhaps Stephenie Meyer should take some advice from Kamio-sensei. Kamio-sensei had this to say at a panel in 2000, after admitting she had dreams about Doumyouji [from Hana Yori Dango]:  "Falling in love with a character that I created is just disgusting..."

And I leave you with this from Kamio-sensei's Wikipedia page:  "Also, in one of the first volumes of Cat Street, Yoko Kamio admitted that she planned to start a sequel to Hana Yori Dango in the near future."

WANT! 

Also, I'm going to watch Pretty Cure episode 5 today.  I <3 magical girl anime.

This is just too much fun for me.    I love good mysteries and action series as much as the next fangirl, but mahou shoujo is just so fun.  There's nothing creepy or disturbing.  I guess some people don't like how it's so happy-happy, but I've always considered fiction of any kind to be escapism, so I want to escape to a better place than the world I live in.  Sometimes I would just rather watch an anime that always ends happily.

The episode 3 monster is possessed gym equipment, and episode 4 is basically an episode of Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne with more (imaginary) property damage.  MADE OF WIN.  Also, we meet the stable of villains that we will be rotating through during the series.  Very good.

Also, Cat Street?  Maybe please?  I would really like to watch the jdrama, but there is simply no way I have the time to translate it myself.

PRETTY CURE MARBLE SCREW!

The sheer awesomeness continues.  Nagisa gets a romantic interest--and he is ON THE SOCCER TEAM!  You may think I'm excited because I used to play soccer, but actually, that is not the reason.  In Wedding Peach, Momo's love interest is the goalie on the soccer team.  I have a soft spot now for soccer-playing love interests, because I <3 Wedding Peach in all its pink glory.  Also, this episode had a vacuum cleaner monster, and hints that the villian is EVEN GOOFIER than previously anticipated.  In addition, the magical girls have powers that are just kind of crazy (they can stop a falling elevator by bracing their feet on the walls of the elevator shaft?  Really?), which I appreciate.

Have I mentioned recently how giddy good, old-fashioned mahou shoujo makes me?  No?  Well, it's pretty darn giddy, let me tell you.