A Last-Minute, Visual Review of 2009
I wasn’t able to squeeze in these “year in review” pictures in my earlier posts, but here they are anyways. These are some screen caps w/ captions that somehow I have kpet around this year. Minor spoilers are present. Enjoy at your own risk. I may have an odd sense of humor, but I believe it’s at least backward compatible!
Why I watch Bakemonogatari in a nutshell.
Year In Review: N-Squared List
Just like last year, I guess some things have not changed. This could be a reference.
The Land of Canaan Is a Promised Movie
You know, there is something missing in Canaan. Possibly the same thing that kept some away from the classic cinema-influenced anime Cowboy Bebop. And it’s not the non-serialized narrative.
The problem with Canaan, in short, is that it is scripted and paced like a film. When you dice a film into 22-minute segments, you’ll have a tough time to keep the audience hooked without wrangling the pacing out of whack. On the other hand, all the twists and turns are rather spot-on if you were to marathon the series without breaks, kind of like a modern Hollywood, action thriller. If you plot out the plot to Canaan right now, that’s exactly what it is–a modern action thriller.
Perhaps the best comparison to Canaan’s pacing is Eden of the East, just from a couple months ago. However there is a simple, overarching plot climax which builds on successive episodes after about the half-way point for Eden where as the mystery keeping viewers interested also bogs down that hook and line pulling my attention span longer. So it’s not longer.
The drawn out presentation of Canaan also gives more pause to some of the points of distraction–like Rie Tanaka’s over-the-top, silly girl Liang Qi. Or just how many “sugoi” can KokoMaria say if Maria could say “sugoi.” Or delicious Yunyun buns. Or all those taxi driver guy cameos. On the plus side, they could really pass Hakkoo off as a mute!
And I still persist that it’s Shem! Not Siam or Sham or whatever. It’s also a long shot, but Arpachshad would make sense of Alphard. As a side note, Abraham would make an awesome name for a final boss mecha.
It also makes me wonder how much of a role films like Munich played in the scripting for Canaan, as a part of the overall concept. Someone ask her for us?
But at least the Canaan movie series this fall, at least I hope, will do Canaan the justice it deserves. Comparing it to Noir is just plain misinformation that should be corrected.
Merchandising in the Spring
I wrote in a post a while ago about OP/EDs, but I didn’t really focus on the music to exclusion of everything else (and why would you?). Thinking about it though, it might be enlightening to point out the singles that I decided to buy (in physical format…I think I’ll wait for Amazon or iTunes for any new Boom Boom Satellite just because of, well, other merchandising mechanisms available). [CDJ affiliate links zomg incoming.]
One thing for sure is Marble’s Hatsukoi Limited ending song, which is titled also Hatsukoi Limited. I wonder if that is a sign that they’re now true anison artists? LOL. It’s also a mysterious coincidence that most of their anime works are from shows I really like, namely the Hidasketch anime and Kimikiss anime. I mean if I actually liked the “I AM GOD” anime (koge donbo, not that other one) then Marble would be batting four for four, so it’s a small sample size thus far.
Natsu no Arashi has a killer Ryoko Shiraishi song. I know the girl’s got talent but this might be the first time I actually find myself liking one of her songs. And just as an aside, Shinbo et. al. really know how to make their OP/ED enjoyable, memorable, and even exciting sometimes. So many winners out there, and Natsu no Arashi is not an exception. Well, in this case they do it by changing it every episode >_>
And count me as one of those people who helped K-ON’s Don’t Say “Lazy” score high on the weekly single ranking at Oricon. But you know, the B-side track is much better than the A-side, which adds tremendous value to this little merchandising trick. You all know about its 4-cover limited edition nonsense right? Kind of like what Blizzard did for their World of Warcraft launch and Starcraft launch, different copies have different covers, so tedious otaku has to collect them all!
I would love to say “that is all” right now, and I ought to, but the jury is still out on a few others, such as the K-ON OP, Natsu no Arashi OP, and maybe even Eden of the East nonsense. Well, we’ll see. It might already be too late to snag Eden of the East soundtrack! LOL Kenji Kawai $$$. The more I know, the more I spend, it is true.
Looking for Otaku Photogs That Walk the Walk in DC
It’s already been a few days since Eden of the East was made available, so we’re already ‘not-l33t’ by some standards, but it’s not too late!
Location shots! The one for K-ON appeared pretty much the day after it aired. It was crazy. They surely are not lazy.
And granted, stuff like the lawn shot of the White House is as easy to pick out as any, as well as many of NY’s skylines and landmarks, there’s a lot of space left to fill out for boredhardcore fans to snap those choice shots. Like the Dept. of Commerce bit, the area around the memorial that Saki ran through, the CVS where those pants where exchanged, just to name a few.
Folks up for a real challenge can explore the airport. Dulles International Airport is p. cool the one time I’ve been to it. I know security is a problem for the casual photoblogger but surely there is a way…
To make it easier I’ve uploaded a bunch of the caps here. It’s not much but it’s what I can do.
