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.
Leader of the Pack: Autumn 2009
The below endorsements are not exclusive; there are a handful of shows I would like to watch but haven’t gotten around to check, but these I will definitely follow. (Well, subs and time permitting…with the caveat that some shows are better with less brain cycles spent trying to figure out what was said while watching. As a side note, lol, White Album is epitome of that statement. Thanks CR!) That is on top of the show I am watching that, heh, is not eligible for this post for some reason. Like White Album.
I wouldn’t have guessed at all that A Certain Scientific Railgun was so much fun a month ago; perhaps that is why I didn’t guess at all. On the other hand I recall some people lamented that it was Index that got adapted back half a year ago, and not the stories surrounding the electrifying campus celebrity herself. At any rate, Railgun episode 3 got to a point that it reminded me of the more enjoyable/fun TV anime from the 90s, except it looks sooooooo much better. I would think anyone who followed Index from earlier this year would watch Railgun just by virtue of still being in the hobby of watching anime, but this is good enough to pull in new fans, and make people hopeful for a future that is not just darker than black.
However, that’s not writing off several other shows which might be more directly targeting certain demographics–
- Seitokai no Ichizon is the surprising hit for me. Episode 3 raises the stakes by introducing Toudou-san, and having Mamiko Noto play a major foil/antagonist, well, satisfies the kind of otaku that’ll likely get enough of the actually-funny references to keep with this frantic anime 4-koma-kind of thing. What is ultimately surprising is that not only I got enough of the jokes to enjoy each episode, but the jokes were easy enough to get for someone like me!
- Kimi ni Todoke gets a mention only because, well, there’s so much left to go and so little to go on right now. I enjoy the art style and the animation, first and foremost. And yeah, Mamiko owns me. At any rate it has not hit its stride yet.
- While I wasn’t overly fond of Mind Game, I think Trapeze will be a better experience simply because I only have to take it 22 minutes at a time. The first episode at least strikes a balance between the interesting (as in, makes me want to watch it) and the odd (as in, makes me sleepy/bored). Strictly for the art house crowd though.
- Sora no Otoshimono–you already know this. (As an aside I wrote up a little thing about the whole panties disjunction, but I’m debating about revising and posting it. Maybe you have a different take than mine: It seems like a redundant exercise, and a bad idea. I mean it’s like trying to explain a joke to tell you why it’s funny. Or why porn is…porny?)
As to sequels–
- Sunred is as you know it; I don’t think they can screw up a show like that simply by making more episodes of it.
- On the other hand, it’s not out of the woods yet, but the moe-relationship craving crowd probably will also stick with Haruka’s Secret for now. Second season jumps on what makes the first one worth following, and really cranks up the dial. It might not be what some who enjoyed the first season want to sign up for, but you win some, you lose some. Regardless Haruka scores better-than-expectation for me.
- And remember, November 11 is only 23 days away. The non-coupled episode arcs for Darker than Black 2 is something I have not gotten used to (it’s only 3 episodes in!) but so far it’s got all the charm from the last season, almost.
It seems that sequels this season are somehow better than sequels of yore; a welcomed change if it follows through.
White Album Summed Up in a Picture
Nowadays when some of my friends gather and chat, they’re afraid of people who are born in the 90s. I wonder why, besides that it makes us aware of how old we’re becoming.
But I think there’s something to be said of being born in a particular era. The latter half of the 20th century, conveniently thanks to globalization and WW2, we’re synched around the world by decades of American years. So when people speak of the 70s and 80s, there are some relatively clear understanding of what that meant. And I think in another 10 years we’ll understand the 90s very clearly too. I think.
Which brings us to White Album. It’s by all means a game made and released in the 90s. Perhaps there’s a bit of lag in Japan, that some of its early 90s pop cultural references are more like 80s by American standards, I don’t know. The anime though, is pure bred 21st century stuff.
So that calendar shot of Rina Ogata screams two things at me: the 80s, and the present. The aesthetics, the line art, the use of shading to bring depth and manage distance between the audience and the picture, the attitude, the tribute to the attitude, the guitar that looked cooler than it really ought to be, the hairstyle that looked more modern than it should have been…
It’s almost like the 90s. Creepy. It’s like that–people trying to refine and make better while innovating on what made the 80s a memorable time in many people’s lives.
I guess that’s a bit of a curse of having spent significant time in Asia in the 80s. I know how tacky and terrible things were. And a part of me deep inside is quite thankful that White Album manages to evoke that 80s feel, however unauthentic, without resorting to realism.
And honestly, that’s the best thing about White Album–it has this unique take on the aesthetics. If I forget that it’s suppose to look like an era piece, it might fool me into thinking that it’s original in some way. And I guess it is. It can pass as some kind of 21st century thing, a modern kind of visual.
That isn’t even all the fun. Why is Rina holding a pick in her mouth? Music got her tongue? Why December? Why a rifle? The look of distain in a red dress…a simple statement dressed with gold-color hair. Well, that’s just hypotheses and nothing particularly worth stating, but it sure is a fun thing to do.
And I guess that’s why the 80s is worth remembering. A fun time that feels sufficiently removed, 20 years ago, that it hits hard enough like a world built thousands of years ago or in a galaxy far, far away. Too bad it’s just not as accessible to the younger generation as it is for old otaku geesers. But I guess that’s just par for the course.
