Fulfilling Wish
I think that picture says it all.
Personally, I think Haruka Nogizaka definitely hits. To the degree of variety between fantasies of each adolescent and older male fanboy would allow, anyways. Haruka is not as famous as Belldandy but there’s a lot of promise so far in The Secret of Haruka Nogizaka.
In some ways, different anime female companions focus on differing needs of the male psyche. It can be as repulsive as a doormat and as offensive as straight out loli incest; or it could just be someone to keep you company through times immortal even if she can’t cook (or can she???). Our fantasies do run the whole gamut.
I think Haruka Nogizaka’s pitch is actually similar to Karekano’s pitch–you have this overachieving girl whose underbelly has been exposed. In her moment of weakness she turns to you for help. The difference, of course, is that you get an Average Joe instead of an equally talented, overachieving boy. Still, both male leads here are just doing the same thing–just trodding along until their next moment of self-realization.
But unlike Karekano where mutual suffering leads to mutual understanding and admiration, so far in Haruka’s Secret we have it backwards, sorta–mutual understanding leads to greater understanding? Is it just a story where embracing who we are rather than rejecting our weaknesses leads to a life of happiness? Maybe. If those are not real weaknesses anyways.
It’s much easier to understand a normal girl compared to some freak of nature. And a happy ending is possible.
The other angle, blatant in Haruka’s Secret so far, is the whole societal perspective nonsense. I think I’m setting myself up for major disappointment here by expecting this show to do a proper job explaining how all this works, but who knows? But speaking of freak of nature, it takes some measure of strength to live the way you want, against the grain. It was the case for Yukino Miyazawa, and I suspect the same applies to Haruka Nogizaka, genre conventions aside. It’s quite amusing to think of the Akiba-kei abstraction and the things it stands for as a 2D fantasy come to life, thanks to modern sciences. The similarity to reality is striking, almost uncanny.
Sword of the Stranger
Speaking of Bones, Sword of the Stranger is having its US run at the ImagiAsian in LA and NY this week. I think he nails it, but I also think he wouldn’t pay for this movie despite his claim of its worth :D
Personally, Sword is perfectly in line with a solid Hollywood blockbuster kind of thinking. Let’s just say despite how gorgeous this film looks in theaters (and it’s really, really gorgeous; probably the best looking anime I’ve seen on 35mm this year so far), I probably will pass on buying it. However, if you dig samurai era pieces and anime, then you at least owe it a watch. It’s a very solid combination of the two. Maybe I’ll get it on Blu-Ray if it becomes available? Not sure.
And Naoki Sato is always good for it.
When I saw it yesterday at the NY ImagiAsian, the movie was actually dubbed. I guess they are still doing that west-coast-sub east-coast-dub thing? I think there were a total of two people in the theater for the 6pm showing, so if that other guy is reading this, he’d know who I am :o
Xam’devil’s Advocate
For the record I do like Xam’d, it’s a nice show. I am less thrilled about Sony’s exclusive PSN thing, but I like day-date subbed release in HD. Really can live without DRM and the 24-hour rental period (way. too. short.). I think the price is a tad high but it is money well spent.
I also think it’s more insightful to examine the situation from my perspective than some sour-grape chugging guy who doesn’t have a PS3, haven’t seen the show in HD, and doesn’t know a thing about how businesses sell media, if I take the opposite position.
Why should you NOT buy Xam’d from PSN? A top 10 list version:
10. I’m a spoiled 16yo who is working part time but I spend all my money on old school animu like Megazone 23 or video games like Doki Doki Majo Shinpan! So. $2.99 is too expensive for some anime I don’t know much about.
9. I don’t like giving out my credit cards over to the internet, let alone typing my credit card info on a sixaxis. It’s the devil!
8. It’s a rental and not a download to own. It’s more than a feeling when you pay cold, hard cash for ethereal digital bits that disappear when the clock strikes 12. And it’s Marianne, not Cinderella.
7. He hates Bones, and you know you love him.
6. 2ch hates Bones too!
5. I’m just used to free animu from my fansubbing distro buddies on my irc channels. LOLpie8 be in ur DRMs killing ur doods.
4. Exclusive lockout + price premium is tried and true and oldhat, but that doesn’t make it any more desirable. One could say it’s fair trade because Sony did finance the property and can do what they want with it. Furthermore, discouraging companies from engaging in this practice may decrease the number of equally well-financed anime productions in the future. But what the hay, exclusivity sucks and an anime you can’t watch (because a PS3 is still $350+) is not much better than an anime that doesn’t exist at all.
3. LOL I wish I have a PS3 but I don’t because I don’t have a good reason to get one and/or I can’t afford it.
2. DRM, DRM, DRM. I mean, how else can I make caps for my blog amirite. It’s totally fair use! Come to me, my DMCA anti-circumvention interoperability exception!
1. I don’t like Xam’d. I am a terrible human being D:
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A day ago I googled “Xam’d” and I came across a post on the IGN forums. And it’s pure, unadulterated advertisement. I’m going to quote it here because this is unbelievably flattering to the degree that makes me gag.
I rented the HD version as well. Going in, I was set off by the steep price, but by the end I was perfectly fine with having spent the money. I would not purchase it at it’s present condition. Not because of any failings on the anime’s part, but because of the lack of English dialogue. This is a brand new anime that hasn’t even been localized yet, technically. Subtitles is hardly enough. I view the episodes as a preview of the show we shouldn’t be getting. It will be a while before this anime hits our shores. Think of it as paying admissions to an early premiere. With that said, I’ll probably have to cut down on some of my weekly Rock Band spending because of this. The price is just too much to keep up with otherwise. Now, to my review…
If you, like me, jumped at the opportunity of a High Definition anime; curious to see just how much of a difference there is between Standard Definition, know that this show will leave you with unrealistically high expectations. Colors are sharp, vivid, and blend incredibly well. The levels and tones are astonishing. Clean and smooth. Edges defined. Thin and unbroken (jaggies are a thing of the past). Much like a painting, the show moves incredibly swift and never lets down. The picture holds no matter the amount of visual effects. Truly something to be proud of.
As mentioned before, the episode is presented entirely in English subtitles with Japanese audio the only option. Regardless, the show is unbelievably awesome. Beautiful in its direction and presented by masterful seiyuus. The writing is sharp, witty, and emotional. I was equally impressed by the screenplay as I was by the visuals. The story seems much in the vein of Last Exile with a touch of RahXephon. Truth be told, I would be doing the anime a disservice by treating it as if it was more of the same. The story is wholly unique, and quite immersive. The characters alone make it entertaining to follow. Slightly confusing if you’ve never seen a sub before, but this will fade. Enchants with each new viewing. I have a feeling this anime will become an instant classic. Amazingly well rounded, and insightfully deep characters. Consider me hooked. I’ll be subscribing to the series. So if anybody would like to ask me any questions, I’d be glad to answer.
And I actually understand what this guy is saying because that’s similar to my own experience, sans the hyperbole. It’s lovely when you can get the kind of service PSN provides, if you turn a blind eye to the price. That said, the price just brings you back to earth.
But really, I think people object to buying Xam’d for just three reasons:
1. the DRM.
2. people do not value “exclusivity,” “fast” and “HD” the same.
3. the collector’s mentality.
If you can get beyond that, I think people would find $3.99 agreeable.
Okinawa Jamboree
As I am writing this sentence, I am slowly working through a sata andagi. I’m pooped. I want to talk about and watch more Xam’d (it’s freaking cool). I also want to watch more Macross Frontier. Speaking of which, definitely go read this post; don’t you love it when a plan comes together? So much care and attention and love for a not-so-little franchise.
But because a sata andagi is NOT to be confused with a doughnut hole, I’ll do a photodump here. Incoming crappy cam pictures! (I really ought to go buy myself a Nokia N95 or something). So this post is going to be mostly pictures. Mostly from Xam’d.
I Got Xam’d
It would be a cruel joke if Sony’s E3 announcement 12 hours ago was a big prank; I’d have lost some sleep and gain a lot of unbridled disdain for them. On the contrary they delivered a day-date release of the latest Bones anime over their Playstation Network. I guess it’s something to do when the All Stars game drags its feet into extra innings on a Tuesday night.
Normally I won’t be so excited about another digitally-delivered world premiere, but here are some technical details should you wonder if your $3.99 for 24-hours rental is going to be worth it:
1. The series is called Xam’d: Lost Memories. A first glance will immediate evoke two shows (or more), but one that everyone will first pick up is Eureka 7. But more sinister is how gorgeous the stuff looks with its scenic oceanside view that reminds me of this other studio. The steampunk-ish airship is toned down from E7’s gaudy green-lit magic, but when you take her facial markings and stick it on her, you get our female lead (who’s mostly silent in the first episode).
2. The HD version is a rental–after you download it you got 14 days to watch it. Once you play it you got 24 hours until it locks. To be honest that is fine by me; I watch and delete as SOP anyways. But 24 hours is a little short I think. And $4 is pretty steep.
3. The HD version of episode one was 1520mb. Gia reports the SD version is a measily 400. I was pulling on average 250kb/s so it still took a couple hours. YMMV here of course.
4. And being slotted for 26 episodes, possibly released on a weekly basis (actually I have no idea about this), it’s steep. I’m really borderline as to if I’ll continue past episode 3 (they’ve got my money at least up to episode 2–damn double-episode pilots) at $4 a pop. That’s just … a lot for a rental. Maybe if I skip lunch once a week. Or buy less Rock Band DLC.
5. It comes with hard subs (and the subs are better quality than Bosttv subs, for a point of comparison).
6. HD version comes with 5.1 Japanese and 2.0 Japanese. Haven’t hooked up my receiver to the PS3 yet so I can’t review the 5.1 track for you, but the 2.0 sounds fine. Darn those older receivers that don’t have HDMI. Maybe, just maybe tomorrowlater today.
7. According to the PS3, video bitrate is around 10 megabits, good ‘nuf for me but it’s no 5cm.
8. You can watch it while it’s being downloaded, hurrah. Because it does take a couple hours to pull 1.5gb. I timed it at around 80% for my bandwidth? I hope they work in something more intelligent about that in a upcoming PS3 patch, where it’ll tell you when to start the movie…
9. Screenshots. So I am not set up to do this with my PS3 (…how many anime bloggers could?), the next best thing is … just my phone cam.
