I can’t say I’m terribly fond of the album art, but I guess I’m not really here to review that part…

There are ten tracks included on the disk, and as I don’t know about half of them, I went and listened to the original versions of the unfamiliar songs ahead of time. A majority of the tracks are pretty oldschool and a majority also have female vocalists. I’m not quite sure which subcategory of anime fan Ellison is aiming for with the selection, but I imagine that licensing issues severely limited his choices for this album, and given that, the variety isn’t terrible.

As always, when I review music, they are just “first impressions” and I write what immediately comes to mind my first time listening through the album. Since it’s a remix album, I’ll pause a bit more between tracks to compare to the original, but it’ll be harder for the ones I’m not familiar with, even if I did listen to them beforehand. To be honest, I tend not to like remixes of songs I like, even when they’re official, but sometimes they manage to make the original better, so we’ll see! But whatever, let’s go~:

TRACK 01: “Catch You Catch Me” (Cardcaptor Sakura) — INITIAL P, feat. TOKI

A disembodied female voice announces the first track and reminds me vaguely of SARA, a co-host of Toonami back in the day. Lapse into some very energetic beats before introducing the vocals… TOKI’s voice is cute and handles the lyrics well, but feels a bit monotone against the continued energy of the accompanying music. The beginnings of the verses relay a nice innocent energy, but as each verse progresses, the slight, apathetic monotone returns. This kind of fits with the original song, but considering the source was much more lax in energy, tempo, and tone, I’m a little conflicted with halfway transition.

The remix is much more upbeat! But the vocals do not reflect this, and she sounds a bit too tsundere. Nevertheless, TOKI’s voice is strong, clear, and consistent, and definitely carries the song through to the end, even as the background beats get a bit repetitive as we round the four minute mark. It’s a good song, and I think it stands well on its own, so even if you’re not familiar with original, it’s enjoyable. Hell, it may be more enjoyable that way.

TRACK 02: “Sobakasu” (Rurouni Kenshin) — INITIAL P, feat. DIANA GARNETT

Starts with a lot of stuttered repeating. You’ll forgive me for my total lack of familiarity with DJ terms because I’m sure there’s a specific word for it. Trademark techno beat starts up quickly enough and some really sweet vocals go with it. There isn’t as much going on in the background here as in the previous track, but while the vocals feel a little muted, the energy and emotion is much clearer. Diana Garnett demonstrates some really beautiful high and sustained notes leading into the second chorus and — oh, hey, slight warbles definitely make it more interesting to listen to. More of the stuttered repetition as we move into the bridge, as well as some suspenseful scales for tension. Garnett’s sustained notes near the end are especially nice, even if the higher ones get a bit close to the height at which it starts to hurt my head.

Another good song though. Knowing the original “Sobakasu” a bit better actually made me appreciate it more since I think this remix recaptures a lot of the same energy and sincerity, as well as the slight nostalgia associated with the series. DJ and vocalist compliment each other very well here, and I’m looking forward to this next track…

TRACK 03: “Zankoku na Tenshi no Te-Ze” (Neon Genesis Evangelion) — INITIAL P, feat. DIANA GARNETT

A little unrecognizable here in the beginning… ah, there it goes. Intro is pretty liberal, but it’s still “Cruel Angel’s Thesis.” Garnett’s vocals continue to impress, especially considering how quickly some of these lyrics are going. Her pronunciation is spot-on and her energy again matches very well with the accompanying beats. I’m actually really enjoying the remixy bits here just because they are so different from the original while still retaining what it needs to be the same song. The bridge is lovely and maintains enough variety to keep things interesting while gearing up for the final verses… Aw, it seems that the final verse, chorus, and half-verse are abbreviated considerably. It’s a little disappointing to not have the grand finale of the song, especially since it’s my favorite part.

All the same, this was an excellent track. I am thinking this album would be a great asset to anime cons and clubs hosting raves and dances since a popular complaint is that people want to play popular anime themes, but many of those themes aren’t really meant for dancing to. This solves all those problems!

TRACK 04: “Heart of Madness” (Fist of the North Star) — INITIAL P, feat. YOSUKE

Another song I’m not familiar with, but it starts off as manly and foreboding as I’d expect it to… Vocals are nice! They resonate really well and the music does well to punctuate the Engrish words and phrases, making them more impactful and manly! Laser sounds in the background create the feeling of some kind of epic battle, and a high-pitched half-echo adds to the oddly spacey feel. To be honest, it is kind of easy to lose yourself in this song and just bounce along to the manly beat, haha.

TRACK 05: “Delicate ni Sukishite” (Creamy Mami) — INITIAL P, feat. TOKI

Starts off pretty wacky and tangy. I’ve never even heard of Creamy Mami before this, so this is a pretty blind dive in, but ahhhh, TOKI’s vocals are much more adorable here than in “Catch Me Catch You.” They’re still a little apathetic in parts, but the voice is just so moe. <_< The contrast between very energetic music and slightly off-putting (but still moe!) vocals is less stark as well, and I almost get the impression this is some little girl singing karaoke in front of a crowd in an oddly deadpan way. Like she knows she has incredible talent, but just doesn’t care enough to smile when she sings or dance or anything. She is just up there, singing with a blank expression, and it still sounds amazing. As we ease into the final chorus though, the ends of her notes feel a little more genuine, or at least like she cares.

TRACK 06: “Theme from Lupin the Third 1978″ — INITIAL P

The theme from Lupin the Third is already pretty remixy to begin with, considering its general lack of vocals, but the intro here still manages to take it to the next level. It has the distinct impression of a video game level. Particularly an oldschool Sonic level. Complete with random sound effects that kind of sound like warping or collecting rings or something. Minute and half mark has some minor vocals, but they’re still very overshadowed by the music. In my head, Lupin and the gang are running through a Sonicesque casino level collecting jewels while being chased by Mecha Sonic in a cop uniform. Yup. Bridge introduces some tantalizing sparkle sounds. Perhaps they’ve reached the last safe? Final run through the verse and chorus is the final chase! And at the end they crash through a window and fall to their escape vehicle of choice!

…I’d say this was a pretty fun and successful remix, lol.

TRACK 07: “Grip!” (Inuyasha) — INITIAL P, feat. DIANA GARNETT

Not my favorite of Inuyasha’s extensive and awesome musical collection, but it starts off in an almost unrecognizable manner, just like “Cruel Angel’s Thesis,” before diving into the very familiar intro melody. Garnett’s vocals start off rather muted, but once again her pronunciation is perfect and her voice incredibly steady and strong. Volume and energy increase at the first chorus and I’m getting incredibly nostalgic. “Grip!” might not be my favorite song from the series, but it is still a good song, and both DJ and vocalist are doing a lovely job with it. Vocals in the second verse are less muted and again, Garnett pushes passionately towards the chorus. Bridge adds a secondary, repetitive voice in the back that compliments the variety of sounds and beats thrown in. Final chorus is on par with the rest and the outro carries us nicely to the end. :3

TRACK 08: “Sorairo Days” (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) — INITIAL P, feat. TOKI

For some reason the first part of the intro made me think of a fairy tale… part following that doesn’t give away the song, and it isn’t distinctly “Sorairo Days” until the vocals… and even then, it is a little awkward. The pitch seems a bit off, a bit flat, and TOKI’s apathy clearly returns as we get into the first chorus. As the first song I’m really familiar with that TOKI has sung, I think I’m pretty unhappy with it. The flat monotone definitely doesn’t fit here… second verse seems to improve somewhat, and there are some differences in volume/mutedness when we get to the second chorus, but the energy just doesn’t seem to be there, and I keep wanting to hear Shoko Nagakawa’s original vocals blare through.

The accompanying music doesn’t really betray many of the original’s melodies either, so the bridge feels like a different song entirely. Slower vocals in the bridge sound strangely innocent and hesitant. Music speeds up as we lead into the final chorus, but her voice then goes back to the way it had been for the previous verses. Overall the song has a pretty subdued feeling about it. While the music remains upbeat throughout the song, TOKI’s vocals really bring it down and the remix doesn’t feel nearly as vibrant and energetic as the original. The first real disappointment of the album.

TRACK 09: “Gekkouka” (Black Jack) — INITIAL P, feat. YOSUKE

Intro begins with an indistinct voice in the back, standard remixy-sounds, a brief female voice, then more music before YOSUKE’s manly vocals start the song and carries the melody beautifully. I wish more of the melody were reflected in the accompanying beats, but the beats are pretty standard and repetitive here. Progressing into the second verse, I have to say that as well as the vocalist manages, he doesn’t quite have the range and variation of Janne Da Arc’s yasu. Still, the slight warbling keeps it different, and the bridge brings back that indistinct intro voice as well as a chipmunk-like secondary. Pretty weird, but not bad. Final chorus and outro are more or less the same.

TRACK 10: “Moonlight Densetsu” (Sailor Moon) — INITIAL P, feat. DIANA GARNETT

Starts off pretty boring. Indistinct male murmuring? And there we go, the incredibly familiar melody striking through the intro. Garnett’s vocals once again start off beautifully and sound particularly delicate and charming here. The clarity of each lyric is again impressive given the speed of the song. Don’t really feel like the music suits the vocals in the chorus, but it isn’t that big a deal. Emphasis on certain notes here and there give more life to the song as well. Bridge is awkward and does nothing to remind me of the song, but everything is better when the vocals come back… music/vocal compatibility rise with the following chorus, though I still feel like the melody is a little forceful when the vocals are absent. Going into the second bridge, the music is thankfully less random, if a bit boring. To be fair though, the original gets pretty repetitive too. Does on for a while though… Oh hey, that wasn’t a second bridge, that was just an insanely long outro! Well, damn.

OVERALL: I’m actually really impressed. I admit I wasn’t expecting a whole lot mostly because I know I tend to dislike heavy remixes, but these tracks felt more like liberal covers than remixes to me, which may be the same as a more conservative remix… I would not consider them “hardcore” by any means. INITIAL P manages to put interesting twists on each track without going overboard into the realm of obscurity. For some tracks, like “Gekkouka” and “Moonlight Densetsu,” I actually think he could have pushed the boundaries a little more, but I would still hesitate to suggest anything too crazy since heavier remixes tend to drown out vocals, which is usually the part of the song I gravitate towards the most. And considering all the vocalists featured on this album are supremely talented, that would be a shame.

I still feel that TOKI was a weird match for most of her songs, and “Sorairo Days” is the only track on the album I don’t really like because of the it, but given a song with a tone more appropriate to the mood and impression her vocals give off, I think she’d do a wonderful job. YOSUKE’s voice was really nice to listen to, though I wonder if he would have been able to demonstrate a wider range given a different selection of songs. I felt like his performance in “Gekkouka” could have been better, but that may just be because I like the original so much. Diana Garnett was my hands down favorite of the lot though, and I think for now, “Grip!” is my favorite track on the album. The energy and sincerity she demonstrates through her voice really serve as the backbone to most of her songs.

I wish this album were longer.

As I said already, Anime Love Hardcore is totally for anime con dances and raves. With this, you get sufficient beats to move your body to, but you still get to hear the melodies and lyrics of a handful of old favorites. It keeps the anime theme going strong at a dance that sometimes feels a little irrelevant at a convention celebrating Japanese media.

The album is available on the Apple iTunes Store and on the official Disko Warp website.

On the bright side, I think few are naive enough or hopelessly optimistic enough to think that they won’t be spending crazy amounts of money on merchandise while in Japan. On the down side, even those who come prepared with money to spend and a budget to spend it on can get caught up in the insane amount of stuff they encounter while they’re there. There are a few places that almost require a visit, but there are also places that you’ll happen upon almost unexpectedly. Those will get you, those unexpected places full of impulse buys. Here are the top five money-sinks for weeaboo in Tokyo from my own personal experience:

5. Akihabara

Akihabara is the most obvious place. You go there knowing full well that it’s a huge fantard paradise. You go there expecting to see stormtroopers dancing in the streets and flash mobs breaking out in “Hare Hare Yukai” in addition to the maid cafes, manga cafes, pachinko parlors, the billion electronics stores, arcades, and seven-story buildings filled basement to roof with nothing but anime merchandise. Yes, that is buildings, plural, all seven to nine stories tall. Filled with anime merchandise. Seriously. It’s like the biggest convention dealer’s room you’ve ever seen. Multiplied by some obscene number. Sure, buildings in Tokyo all tend to be tall and narrow, so one floor might not constitute as much, but once you’re climbing the stairs in your fourth or fifth building, the magnitude of it all really starts to sink in.

The novelty of Akiba will probably lead you to choose it as one of your first stops. Unfortunately, as far as wise-spending goes, it’s probably one of the worst places on the list because most of the stores here sell new merchandise at standard retail price — some places may even inflate them knowing full well the district’s notoriety in otaku circles. Though some items will be on the shelves here faster, you might be better off buying most figs and models online, even with shipping costs. But there’s so much of it here! All in such close proximity! It’s hard to go around browsing and not see something that you want right then and there.

Some stores will have discount bins with older or merchandise from less popular series, but unless you have some really obscure tastes or some really good luck, there usually isn’t much there that’s worth it. Digging through them is kind of fun though, even if the employees will look at you funny.

I wasn’t adventurous enough to check out any of the numerous maid cafes advertised on street corners by maids with ridiculously high-pitched voices, but friends of mine who were reported that the prices at the cafes were pretty insane. ¥750 for a non-refillable glass of lemonade? Really? You’re paying for the attention of your maid, certainly, but I’d rather pay for the attention of a figurine. Maybe this says something about me.

Overall, Akihabara is fun mostly for the crazy volume of stuff you’ll see in a relatively small area. There won’t be too many rare finds here, but there will be tons of general stuff to distract you. You will see tons and tons of merchandise from series you’re only casually interested in and be tempted just because they’re there, they’re pretty, and the price doesn’t seem that bad. Being that Akiba was one of the first places I visited though, I was very conservative while there, intent on scoping out all that was available before making spending choices. Yes, there were still a couple of impulse buys along the way, but looking back, I didn’t spend that much…

4. Ikebukuro

Ikebukuro, or perhaps, more specifically, Otome Road, has been billed as the Akihabara for female otaku and fujoushi. This is pretty much because there are five or six major doujinshi outlets sitting together on a street, and everyone knows that fujoushi go nuts over their doujin, right? There are a handful of general anime stores in the area, the biggest of which is eight-story animate, as well as a BOOK-OFF with your standard discounted manga, and numerous arcades, but you won’t really find anything there that you won’t find in Akiba.

I don’t really consider myself a huge, huge fan of doujinshi, partially because the overtly BL majority annoys me sometimes, but mostly because I tend to be very picky when it comes to the art. However, faced with these five or six major doujin chains, each with at least two stories of bookshelves filled end to end with books, I knew I was bound to find something I liked. And unlike a lot of more general anime merchandise, it is insanely hard to find doujinshi outside of Japan — much less doujinshi by an artist you like, with a pairing you like, from a series you like — and the prices tend to be fairly high, so I definitely wanted to pick up at least one or two titles while I was there. But just one or two. Not that many. I had no intention of starting a mini-doujin collection while I was there.

The mistake was visiting Otome Road with my friend Chewi. You see, both Chewi and I have this complex where we feel better about buying things if someone with us also buys something. We tend not to spend much when we are shopping alone or when we are with people that are being careful with their money. But when we’re together, we end up enabling each other. It was pretty bad. “I don’t know if I should get this — are you getting that?” / “I guess I’ll buy this if you buy that.” / “Oh, are you still browsing? I guess I’ll see if I like anything over here then.” / “Are you checking out? I guess I’ll go ahead and get this then.” etc.

We spent an entire afternoon in Ikebukuro. Buying doujinshi. We combed through every one of those stores and did not leave a single one without buying at least one book each. It took much longer than I would have imagined because choosing what to buy is an exhaustive affair. Everything is shrink wrapped, regardless of rating, so there’s little to judge but the cover — how do you know that the art on the inside is just as good? A majority of books, especially those from older fandoms, were ¥210. Some thicker books were ¥420. These are killer prices when you consider that a lot of doujinshi will go anywhere between $10-50 online because all doujinshi is printed in very limited runs. Even the anthologies priced at ¥3200 don’t seem that outrageous when you consider that it might be impossible to find in another year. So when you’re faced with a dozen books with pretty good covers at two bucks a pop, how do you resist buying all of them? Especially when the person next to you has a stack of similar size? Money-sink!

Chewi ended up with a lot more than me, but this was mostly because she went in knowing more of what she wanted. Being a bigger doujin fan than I, she had a better idea of which artists’ work she liked and what was rare, etc. Her fandom and pairing of choice (One Piece – SanjiZoro) was also more popular than mine (Gundam SEED – Asucaga), though I did end up buying a few Code Geass – Suzalulu books because the cover art blew me away.

You won’t be spending much in Ikebukuro if you aren’t interested in doujinshi, but if you’re even marginally interested, I would recommend either 1) not bringing an enabler friend with you, 2) budgeting your time so that you don’t spend freakin’ hours camped out in front of the bookshelves trying to decide whether to buy book A or B. Honestly though, I don’t really regret any of my purchases there. For the most part, I picked good books, and the ones I didn’t end up liking that much, I managed to resell later for a small profit. :3

3. The Pokemon Center

There were actually only a few places in Tokyo I was absolutely dead set on visiting while I was there. Predictably, the Pokemon Center was one of them. The first time, I wandered around Daimon for about an hour and half trying to find the damn place before asking a traffic cop for directions only to realize that I didn’t know the words for “left” and “right” in Japanese. Thankfully, the cop, upon realizing my supreme gaijinness, ended up pointing in one direction and declaring “Straight, then lefto!”  To be fair, the PokeCenter is tucked away in an office building and is a small portion of a single story, so I wasn’t entirely sure what I was looking for at the time.

But it was certainly worth the effort finding it.

I went to the PokeCenter three times in total and spent no less than $100 USD on each trip. I spent more here than any other place in Tokyo and had to buy an extra bag to be able to bring all of it home with me. …But I’m putting it as #3 because I realize not everyone is as fanatical as I am in this regard, even if a lot of my purchases were intended for resale at PKMNCollectors upon my return. But really, if there was ever a Pokemon fan in you, if there is even a sliver of nostalgia in you, if you have ever picked up and liked a Pokemon game, you will buy something here. There is just so much to choose from.

The thing about Pokemon in Japan is that there is a universal appeal. Sure, it’s aimed primarily towards children, but huddled around the wifi point at the Center, I saw a group of salarymen picking up the promotional Pokemon they got for visiting. They all left individually, without kids in tow. Each time I went, there were just as many, if not more, adults as there were children, and as such, the merchandise available is very varied. There are adorable plushies and shelves full of stationary, and there are also cups, mugs, towels, backpacks, figurines, board games, stamps, candies, and cookies. But there are also designer clothing and purses, delicate tea sets, jewelry, and other decidedly grown-up items.

With so many Pokemon (we’re just over 500 now, if you were wondering), there are definitely a few that are being neglected as far as merchandise goes, but also with so many Pokemon, there is bound to be one you like that’s available. Additionally, the PokeCenter almost always has some sort of limited promotion going on, and items released for the event become instantly rare and expensive after the duration. While I was there in December 2009, there were lots of HeartGold/SoulSilver limited promo stuff, as well as an Eeveelution promotion. Some of the merchandise released during these promotions have already inflated 200-300% their retail price. Pokemon collecting is serious business! But even if you aren’t a collector, I’m sure you’ll find something to bring home.

2. Nakano Broadway

You know, digging through my photos, I couldn’t find any general pictures I took at Nakano Broadway — a very unassuming four-story mall directly across from Nakano Station — this means that I was too busy freaking out over how amazing the place was the entire time I was there, all three times I was there. I took this photo off Google.

Nakano does not seem to be nearly as well-known as Akihabara, or even Ikebukuro, but one stop here could save you the trip to both. Merch-wise, there is nothing that either of the aforementioned has that Nakano doesn’t. All of Akiba’s merchandise — its figurines, its models, its cosplay, whatever — all of that is here. All of Otome Road’s doujinshi — that’s here too*. And there’s more. While the first floor has a lot of more “normal” shops for clothing and stationary and electronics and whatever else normal people buy, the second, third, and parts of the fourth floor are filled with otaku-related goods. It’s true that two or three floors here can’t possibly equal the volume of stuff that’s in Akiba, even if the floors are considerably larger, but what makes Nakano better is the fact that the shops here are more like flea market or garage sale stalls rather than normal retail chains.

While newer merchandise may take longer to show up at Nakano, there is a wealth of older stuff, making it the perfect place to hunt for rarer goods. Gashapon that are no longer in circulation find their way into dozens of stores, packaged clearly so you aren’t playing chance games at the machine, hoping you get the one fig in the series that you want. A lot of older blind box figures are also available in a similar manner. Models and figurines from decade-old series are displayed in glass cases lining the hallways. The fourth floor plays host to a half dozen shops dedicated to selling old animation cels — let the treasure hunting begin! You’ll also find a lot of other random Japanese novelty goods not necessarily anime-related. There is a Japanese equivalent to Spencer’s Gifts tucked away in the corner of the second floor, I believe.

Both Mandarake and K-Books, two major doujin chains (though Mandarake also sells a bunch of other stuff), have shops in Nakano, giving you plenty of books to choose from. *Naturally, given the limited quantities of most doujin, the selection between Nakano and Ikebukuro varies greatly, but visiting one and not the other will probably save you some money you weren’t intending to spend in the first place. (As for me, I probably spent equal amounts on doujin in both locations. Unfortunately, Chewi accompanied me on one of my trips to Nakano… so yeah.)

Nakano Broadway can kind of be considered the previous three places bundled up in a nice package. You will find tons of general anime goods a la Akihabara. You will find plenty of doujinshi to save you a trip to Ikebukuro. And inevitably, you will find a ton of Pokemon merchandise in one form or another, though in this case, it may be harder to find rarer toys because a lot of the older and more widely circulated stuff isn’t worth much.

Save your money for this place. You will probably be able to find most of what you wanted elsewhere and then some.

1. Any Place With Gashapon Machines

This is the killer, right here. Gashapon are innocent-looking things: those little machines filled with little plastic balls filled with little (usually) plastic toys. They range from ¥100-¥500 a pop and the toys are almost always of exceptional quality, so they definitely feel worth it. What’s a hundred yen here and there for a cute phone charm or figure? Nothin’ at all.

But these machines are pervasive. These machines are everywhere. The above picture was taken in Akihabara, but don’t let that fool you. There were gashapon machines outside of the temple in Asakusa. There were gashapon machines all over the place in the subways. There were gashapon in the parks, at the zoo. There were gashapon in the tourist traps and the hidden side streets. It is impossible to go a day in Tokyo without encountering a gashapon machine that contains something you wouldn’t mind owning. And those ¥100-¥500 yen goes add up. Fast.

These are the purchases you don’t expect. You aren’t heading to an anime-related destination today; you’re just going to a museum. Right outside the museum? BAM. Evangelion gashapon figures. You’re going to a shrine today. Across the street from the shrine? BAM. Pokemon gashapon figures. Sitting next to that cool-looking ramen place? BAM. One Piece gashapon phone charms. This one’s only ¥200! What else are you gonna buy today? A postcard? Oh snap, you didn’t get the one you wanted. Another go’s only ¥200, where’s the harm? Oh, this one’s pretty cool, but still not the one you wanted. Gasha-pon! There goes another ¥200.

Remember my friend Chewi? We were in the subway station on our way from Mitaka to Nakano. In the station was a bunch of gashapon machines, including one that had a bunch of Hitman Reborn! figures. Chewi had already gotten a few Reborn! figs from gashapon, but this particular series of figs she had not come across before. Being the enabler that I am, I did not dissuade her from getting one. They were only ¥300 each and were larger than a lot of other gashapon figures. Her first go is lucky — it’s a character she likes. She wants to try to get a matching figure of the character she likes him paired with. Second go does not yield this character, but she doesn’t dislike what she gets. Third go also does not yield the right one, but at least it’s not a repeat…

Fourth go is a repeat of the second. Fifth go is a different character, but still not the one she wants. (Sorry, I’m not familiar with Reborn!, so I don’t know any of their names.) At this point Chewi begins to question whether she should continue. Annnnd being the enabler that I am, I don’t start fearing for her wallet until the seventh unsuccessful gashapon. I convince her to give up for the while and we head on to Nakano. At Nakano, we find a room filled with gashapon, and once again, she sees a machine with this series of figures and sinks another ¥900 trying to get this elusive character, in addition to the money she spends on other machines. Do you see the problem here? :D

Eventually, Chewi managed to find the missing figure at a store in Nakano that was selling a them secondhand. Ironically, she bought it for less than the cost of the gashapon because apparently, it was the most common figure. The one she got four repeats of, on the other hand, was one of the rarer ones. Too bad neither of us knew enough Japanese to be able to try and sell her doubles.

I didn’t end up with nearly as many gashapon as Chewi, who probably had 30-40 total. She wouldn’t let me take a picture of them though because she was ashamed. :D

Hopefully, you’ll manage a little better, but honestly, I’m not sure that Chewi has any real regrets.

Annnnd Asterios Polyp is easily one of the most amazing comics I’ve read in recent memory. This is also one of the shortest reviews I’ve written in recent memory, mostly because I find that language is failing me in my attempts to tell you just why this book is amazing. Besides, it’s always easier to ramble on about why I dislike something than why I like something. There are more synonyms for negative words than there are for positive words. Asterios Polyp been nominated for four 2010 Eisner Awards, and if it doesn’t win at least one, then by golly, the Eisners must not mean much anymore.

(this review contains no spoilers)

Asterios Polyp starts with the titular character at the end of his luck. His home burns down and he’s left with nothing but the money in his pocket and the clothes on his back. What follows is a journey backwards into the life that led him there and a journey forward towards some kind of enlightenment and some kind of peace. Asterios is a man obsessed with dualities and who sees the world in black and white. Things either are, or they aren’t. He is highly intelligent, self-assured and egocentric. Naturally, most of his conflicts are with other people — of both similar or opposing natures — and most of his problems lie within himself. Asterios is a very specific and three-dimensional character, but there is a universality to him and his problems that makes him easy to relate to and easy to sympathize with.

Hana, Asterios’s wife, is his foil in every way. Where he is rigid, she is soft. Where he is blunt, she is subtle. But there’s more to her than just playing out his opposites. She changes and grows alongside her husband, but most importantly, she is the catalyst and begins changing him from the moment they meet, even if he doesn’t realize it. Their relationship is representational of many marriages, making the characters even more accessible. All the other characters are also delightfully realistic and utterly believable. From Stiff and Ursula Major, with whom Asterios works for and lives with after the fire, to Willy Ilium, who employed Hana’s talents for a time (and makes a ton of inappropriate remarks along the way), all of the people Asterios encounters feel like people I could meet as well.

In addition to dualities and opposites, Asterios Polyp has thematic roots in Greek heritage, clashing cultures, and various philosophies. The story itself is still pretty straightforward, but there are so many surrealist and modernist elements to the storytelling and art that the journey becomes much more involved and personal for the reader. Comics as a medium already offers a beautiful blend of writing and art, but to see the art convey the story’s themes so literally is a rare, metaphysical treat. Story and art in this graphic novel compliment and accentuate one another perfectly.

The core style of the graphic novel has a very retro, cartoonish feel to it. Colors are very limited with most sections conforming to a two- or three-tone palette; a notable dream sequence near the end is monochromatic. Characters are simple and flat, easy to distinguish, and wholly unique. This in itself sets it apart from most other comics on the shelves today, but Mazzucchelli hardly stop there. Panel layouts flow with what is being told, rather than conforming to any specific aesthetic. Some pages are crammed with a dozen panels of the same size, shape, and colors. Others sprawl with an endless assortment of visual styles, all of which collide together poetically. This may sound chaotic, but Asterios Polyp never loses itself. Flip to any page in the book and you will be assured that it’s still the same book, no matter how different the page is from the one you were on previously.

Occasionally, Asterios is portrayed as a figure made of blue geometric shapes while Hana is portrayed as a mass of sketchy red. He is mechanical. She is organic. That they’re opposites is more than evident even without this visual representation, but the depiction never feels over-the-top or jarring, even when it’s a sudden jump from the previous panel.

Mazzucchelli hand-letters all of the text in Asterios Polyp. I’ve always found hand-lettering in general to be very charming. The slight imperfections that make each letter unique make the words more personal and more connected to the art. It’s distracting when lettering doesn’t suit the feel of the artwork, and unfortunately, that isn’t an unusual phenomenon when it comes to digital lettering. Hand-lettering avoids the problem completely because the letters and the art are created by the same hand. And here, Mazzucchelli creates a specific script for each character, setting them apart in their dialogue as well as their physical representation. And the scripts all have personality. Asterios has a traditional, sans serif, all-caps script. Hana prefers a more natural, handwriting script. The narration, offered from the point of view of Asterios’s dead twin brother, is in a strong, bold script similar to Asterios’s, but not quite.

This book really is a piece of work, especially considering it’s David Mazzucchelli’s first original graphic novel. He had previously worked on a brilliant adaptation of Paul Auster’s City of Glass, which is stylistically similar in both art style and storytelling (and which I also highly recommend), though it isn’t nearly as bold in its experimentation. But otherwise, his comics portfolio is grounded in the mainstream with titles like Daredevil and Batman: Year One (not that these are inferior titles by any means). Asterios Polyp isn’t necessarily a title one would expect out of Mazzucchelli, but he does an amazing job, and everyone needs to check out this book. (Right now.)

The only reason I picked this up was because of Stan Lee’s involvement, which I guess is funny because I’m not a huge fan of anything credited to the man. And most of the things credited to Stan Lee were made awesome by other people anyway. But it still felt obligatory. Maybe it’s because I’m graduating with a degree in comics and no one in comics ignores Stan Lee, as senile as people are calling him these days. Regardless, I wasn’t expecting much out of Heroman, which is why I don’t feel bad about dropping it at episode two.

Hell, I almost went ahead and dropped it at episode one.

Once again, I faced a protagonist I couldn’t sympathize with and whose circumstances didn’t interest me. Joey is a good and sincere kid, workin’ hard at a part-time job while going to school and being bullied by people bigger than him, blah blah blah. Pure-hearted characters with no apparent moral flaws bore me to death, and bullies being bullies for the sake of being bullies is also boring. Why should I care? Joey doesn’t even seem to really care about being bullied. Is it because he’s just that good? Or because he’s really afraid? If it’s the latter, he doesn’t do a very good job of showing it, so he doesn’t even have that going for him. I mean, it would be more interesting if he was seriously intimidated by the bullies, but he doesn’t seem to be, so whatever?

There was pretty much no way Heroman’s birth could have avoided being contrived and silly, so that didn’t bother me. The mech’s design is unique and kinda neat, and I think its serious business expression is a bit endearing. Unfortunately, its relationship with Joey is also boring. Joey gives impulsive, desperate commands, and Heroman complies. Joey doesn’t really do much beyond issuing the command, and Heroman doesn’t provide too much of a conflict point — he doesn’t disobey and he doesn’t overdo things. The perfect giant robot servant. Hurray. Snore.

At the end of the first episode, I was completely disinterested in seeing the second episode, but I felt like I should just so I’m not dropping on the first episode. I put it off. I got the second episode and still was disinterested in watching it. You know it probably isn’t worth it when you more or less have to force yourself to watch it just so you can say you gave it a chance, but there you go. In the second episode, it seemed like they were trying to play off the conflict as Joey being worried about having too much power, but it isn’t like Heroman really did much to warrant this worry. It just felt forced. And the aliens that have apparently come to destroy the earth? With no motivation given, I can only assume they’ll be a wave of generic “bad guys.”

I can’t decide what the target audience of this series is supposed to be. On one hand, the protagonist is in what, middle school? On the other hand, I would say much of Stan Lee’s works for Marvel had an “older teens” demographic, even if a lot of younger kids end up reading them. If Heroman is supposed to be aimed towards middle school kids, I guess I can pass it off as just something I’m not interested in. But if it’s supposed to be aimed towards a more general audience, one that might possibly include myself, then I will call it a disappointment. There’s nothing to set this apart from any number of other mecha action series and I’m bored.

In other news, I like how I always come back from long breaks with a “dropped” post.

You know, I really dislike self-entitled albums. They kind of make mentioning them in a [band]‘s [album] format awkward. Moving on, despite being a fan of hyde, I was never really that interested in VAMPS. I mean, I adore hyde’s work with L’Arc~en~Ciel, and his one-time collaboration with Gackt for “orenji no taiyou” was also amazing, but his solo work leaves a lot to be desired (especially in his third solo album, Faith), and that’s what K.A.Z. had previously worked with him on. And as VAMPS’s debut US tour did not visit any city I was remotely close to, I felt even less compelled to familiar myself with the music.

Additionally, the overt-vampire references in all of this — in the band name, the album name, the label name, and pretty much all of the song names and imagery — kind of made me facepalm. I would expect it from Gackt, who only recently came out as a mere mortal and has a long history of vampire and goth sound and imagery. But, well, I guess it really isn’t that big of a surprise coming from hyde either… considering the fact that he’s acted as both a vampire and a ghost, songs like “Midnight Celebration,” various photoshoots, and a lot of his fashion and accessory choices. Well, whatever brings all the fangirls to the yard, right?

And in the end, hyde is hyde, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I eventually decided to pick this up. So here we go:

TRACK 01: BITE
Thirty-second opening track! Starts off with some very classic horror elements — swanky TV noises in the background, creeking door, clock striking, howling, a woman moaning sensually and a scream! Classy.

TRACK 02: LOVE ADDICT
Now some rockin’ guitar with a very catchy beat. hyde’s vocals start rough and excitedly, a welcome throwback to some of his older work. Lyrics are in Engrish and they are hilarious as usual, so I’m not going to try too hard to decipher what he’s saying. Melody is pretty negligent as the song progresses, but the guitars carry a steady beat, so there’s at least that to tie things together. End of the first chorus has a weird break before hyde comes back in slowly, in a lower voice. K.A.Z. (I guess?) providing some backup vocals here and there, but nothing really substantial or interesting. I think the repeated lyrics near the end are “right on time, let’s go,” but it could also be “let go.” It frustrates me sometimes that hyde has spent so long singing in English, but it rarely seems to get more understandable. Guitars fade out to the end. Not a good song, not a bad song.

TRACK 03: COSMOS
Rockin’ guitars again. Another sort of classy opening, takes it’s time getting to the vocals, which start… nostalgically. hyde’s vocal quality here reminds me a lot of SMILE-era L’Arc~en~Ciel though the guitars and melody are very different. I’m so glad he’s singing in Japanese here; I was afraid for a bit that the whole album would be Engrish. Some nice sustained notes in the first chorus, but the longer notes in the verses sound a little strained. Oh, a nice falsetto in the second chorus. Glad he’s not abandoning that talent of his. Some decent guitar and drums in the bridge, accompanied by distant vocal echos. Guitar leading into the final chorus are pretty nice as well. Still haven’t come across anything that’s wowed me, but this second track makes me more optimistic than the first. I really want something memorable and catchy; the first part of “BITE” was catchy, but it get too repetitive too fast. What were the singles leading up to this album?

TRACK 04: SECRET IN MY HEART
Spacey kind of intro; would have been more appropriate for the previous song. Guitars rock in very quickly and hyde’s lyrics are back to Engrish though they’re a little less haphazard. The vocals are rather relaxed despite the breakneck speed of the guitars… but both get lazier come the chorus. Vocals start feeling strained again and the guitars aren’t very impressive until the short break between the chorus and the second verse. The vocals don’t seem to compliment the guitars very well again — it almost seems like they’re fighting for the spotlight rather than working together. Gah, I hate it when that happens. Second chorus feels a little better, but now I’m starting to feel like the melody’s very pretentious. Not sure. Some parts of the melody are very reminiscent of classic vampire-themed music and there are some slight screeching sounds that promote that imagery. I guess I need to stop holding that sort of thing against this album though, since that’s obviously its theme. Outro is a bit too long for my taste. Ends with a whimper, not a bang.

TRACK 05: EVANESCENT (YouTube it)
Boring sort of intro. Opening vocals are rather plain as well. Lyrics are back to Japanese. A guitars in the back sound like they’re from another song I’ve heard whether from this band or another. They just aren’t distinct. I think if I were sampling this album at the store, I would have given up on it by now. Chorus and beginning of the second verse remind me of another song. I feel like I’ve heard most parts of this song before, just not pieced together like this. Just wanna zone out and do something else…

TRACK 06: VAMPIRE DEPRESSION
Back and forth guitars and some interesting synth and distortion work. Finally! Something that actually seems intriguing? Vocals start dark and dramatic; hyde’s voice is low and brooding. Lyrics are in Engrish. Oh, nice, a measure of piano for a really nice creepy effect. Chorus has hyde screaming melodramatically and it’s pretty hilarious, but not terrible. Still diggin’ the mix of guitars and distortion as we go into the second verse. It maintains a nice mood, even if it’s a bit over-the-top. It works. hyde’s screaming is less entertaining the second time around, but the guitars and drums carrying into the bridge make up for it. Dramatic lyrics before the final chorus are pretty nice sounding even if I still can’t make out what he’s saying. Screaming is even less amusing the third time around, but they don’t last long and we go back to the guitars and distortion for an outro that’s just the right length. Best song on the album thus far. Perfect timing too, after the tedious track before it.

TRACK 07: REDRUM
More dramatic guitar. Feels like a really awesome movie action scene should be starting right about now. Another Engrish song and hyde’s vocals feel very American as they start off, even if his pronunciation still leaves a lot to be desired — the style he sings in just feels very familiar. Guitars and drums are really going at it here; they do a good job keeping me interested in what’s going on here. Post-chorus guitars are especially neat. hyde’s doing a lot of sustained yelling in a rough sort of voice in the verses here; more singing in the choruses. After the last song, the yelling is borderline annoying, but once again, K.A.Z.’s guitar and their power chords are keeping things together. Haha, the bits of the lyrics I’m picking up are hilarious melodramatic, but I know I can’t expect anything else. Song ends rather suddenly, but it’s definitely on par with “VAMPIRE DEPRESSION.” If the rest of the songs sound like this, it’ll get a little repetitive, but at least it won’t be boring.

TRACK 08: DEEP RED
A change of mood for the intro — a twangy sort of beat and a more diverse mix of sounds. It’s the music leading into a chase scene. Vocals are dramatic but well-controlled. hyde seems like he’s holding something back though and… it doesn’t really seem to release in the chorus. Voice gets a bit deeper and rougher around the edges though. Lyrics here are a mix of Japanese and Engrish. K.A.Z.’s guitar oscillates between high-pitched lines and a steadier background accompaniment here; it compliments the vocals well though and it’s a good break from the hard rockin’ of the previous two songs. I think I’m finding the chorus kinda catchy actually — “something something in search of blood”? Bridge is pretty interesting as well, and I noticed the weird bass lines for the first time. Last two or three choruses go on for a while, but I don’t really mind. I think the reason I like the “blah blah in search of blood line” is because hyde’s vocals finally don’t sound forced or strained or too deep or too rough. They’re more natural and it’s nice.

TRACK 09: I GOTTA KICK START NOW (YouTube it)
Rockin’ guitar again. Sounds like the opening of another song I’ve heard on this album already? Vocals and the continued start and stop of the guitar remind me of some classic rock song I’m not familiar with because I’m not big on classic rock. Guitars aren’t too interesting, but hyde’s voice still sounds very natural here, more casual and less pretentious. Even with the Engrish lyrics, it doesn’t feel too unnatural — he’s just slurring all the words! That’s all! Some of the short pauses in the guitar feel awkward, but it does keep you interested in the beat because it’s somewhat unpredictable. Oh, guitars in the bridge are nice though. I had a brief vision of BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. I go back and forth from feeling that “I gotta kick start now” sounds weird and feeling that it’s fine. Consequences of listening to too much Engrish. :P

TRACK 10: TIME GOES BY
Soft acoustic intro? Slow intro vocals and it feels like a ballad coming on. …Nope! Guitars come in harder and the melody picks up quickly; vocals somehow retain a “I’m singing to you under your balcony” sort of feel though. Really enjoy the little break between the chorus and the second verse. The mix of Engrish and Japanese lyrics is nice too. Second verse again starts off deceptively slow before picking up. Melody is reasonably catchy and I like the energy and feeling of sincerity in this song. And falsetto! I never know how much I miss it until it comes back all of a sudden! Lovely guitars in the bridge and a rockin’ return to the chorus — more falsetto! Outro makes me feel nostalgic again. This might be my new favorite song on the album!

TRACK 11: SWEET DREAMS (YouTube it)
Piano intro! Very unexpected. Falsetto opening vocals! Also unexpected. Difficult-to-understand Engrish lyrics! Not so unexpected, but hyde sings slow and sweet. A really mixed bag in the background accompaniment — it feels a little scattered, but comes together okay by the time we get to the chorus. Some self-harmony in the vocals sound a bit strange as well… Back to straight up falsetto for the second verse. Engrish sounds mad awkward for a bit, but then he thankfully swaps back to Japanese. Falsetto starts to feel a little strained, but it goes into the second chorus soon after that. Seems as soon as something starts feeling awkward in this song, it changes and goes away. Not bad, I guess, though it’d be better if it never got to the awkwardness in the first place. Random phone dialing and ringing in the bridge? What? Some generic sounding strings with a prominent violin… Tired of the chorus already, but we go back to the nice piano for the outro. Mixed feelings about this song; it’s all over the place.

TRACK 12: HUNTING
Some fun guitar rifts in the opening, but not that exciting… oh, wait, okay, it gets more exciting as it goes on. Punctuated yelling starts off the vocals. hyde sure does do a lot of yelling on this album. :o I think he’s saying “Hi! Ho! Let’s rock!” but I’m probably wrong… haha… What, is that it? Okay. A two-minute song of uninspired guitarring and hyde yelling. I mean, I guess it’d work okay for the intro to a concert to get the crowd riled, but as the second-to-last track of an album? Come on. Maybe it’d be too much to put it at the beginning along with the “generic horror sounds” track, but in that case, just pick one or the other? We don’t need both. :\

TRACK 13: SEX BLOOD ROCK N’ ROLL
Oh, back to the sensual moaning then. Fun-sounding guitars and drumming though. …Ew, distorted vocals. hyde, your Engrish is hard enough to listen to without it being distorted too! Eh, I can see why “HUNTING” would precede this track, but… blah, I’m so conflicted about this song. The guitars and especially the drumming are a lot of fun, but they’re not innovative or particularly original and the vocals are borderline pissing me off. Especially combined with the random noises and cooing and warbling. The chants of “sex blood rock n’ roll” are annoying as well and… then it’s over.

OVERALL: On one hand, I feel that maybe I wasn’t in the right sort of mood walking into this album. I should have known that there would be a lot of cliche and silly vampiric elements, but they bugged me all the same. I didn’t want to listen to unoriginal vampire-themed music. As always, I wanted to listen to everything that made me a fan of hyde’s voice in the first place, and that’s L’Arc~en~Ciel (though to be honest, Laruku’s most recent album also left a lot to be desired). VAMPS is not Laruku. hyde’s singing style and vocal quality is almost completely different from what he uses for his other projects and K.A.Z.’s guitar is certainly different from ken’s or hyde’s.

Listening to VAMPS while wanting L’Arc~en~Ciel is just a bad idea, but regardless of my bias, VAMPS still seems to utilize a lot of tired rifts and generic punches in the vocals. With a name like that and a debut album like this, I’m left wondering whether VAMPS will continue churning out songs with such forced themes and melodramatic ties to a specific subgenre. A few songs like “VAMPIRE DEPRESSION” and “DEEP RED” are energetic and fun in that they don’t seem to be taking themselves too seriously, and “TIME GOES BY” stood out to me for being very different from the rest of the songs on the album, but pretty much everything else is forgettable and disappointing.

So instead of that, here are nine series I kind of meant to watch at some point during the last ten years and never got around to, either because I was too busy or too lazy or too cheap or forgot about it. Maybe I’ll get around to some of these eventually, but some of them will probably just slip on further and further into the back of my mind where I’ll forget about them like I’ve probably already forgotten about a dozen other things I intended to watch at some point.

These are in no real order.

1. Voices of a Distant Star (2002)

After seeing 5 Centimeters per Second, I was very interested in seeing Makoto Shinkai’s other works. I was going to include The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004) in this as well, but I think I’ve actually seen a few minutes of that, either of the beginning or the end, I don’t remember. Voices of a Distant Star seems to have a theme similar to 5 Centimeters, which is depressing in that I can relate too well, but it also reminds me a little of PLANETES, which was considerably less depressing, perhaps because it slipped in a lot more comedy. Either way, this movie is definitely something I still intend to check out eventually. I really don’t know why it’s so hard for me to sit down with movies; I never feel like I have enough time.

2. Seirei no Moribito (2007)

As with most series that manage to get on [adult swim], I intended to watch this when it aired there. Unfortunately, its debut coincided with me not owning or having regular access to a television set, and [as] didn’t care to provide it with an online stream like many of its other series at the time, including Code Geass. So I missed out for the while, and I guess it was just as well considering the various bullshit [as] put the series. I think they eventually did air all of it, but yeah, it definitely never got the respect or attention it probably deserved. To be honest, I really don’t have a good grasp of what the series is actually about or why it’s good, but ghostlightning, among others, assures me that there’s good character development and such, so I guess I’ll probably get around to it eventually. (Then again, ghostlightning, among others, also goaded me into Eureka seveN, so maybe I don’t trust his judgment anymore…)

3. Junjou Romantica (2008)

Actually, nothing about this series interests me. The premise bores me and the character designs bore me, and those are really the only solid things I have to go off of. It seems like a huge combination of all the things that would make a newcomer skeptical of the genre, and after having dabbled in a few other shounen-ai series, I’m inclined to think that maybe my fondness of Gravitation is a huge, huge fluke. Nothing else has appealed to me since, and in retrospect, I can accept that Gravitation really wasn’t all that amazing either. Junjou Romantica interested me solely because, for a while, it seemed almost as popular as Gravi had been in its heyday, especially in that a fair number of guys seemed to regard it with some positivity. It also managed to get a second season. It’s definitely not high on my list of things to see, but I may eventually check out a few episodes at least. Dunno.

4. Kino’s Journey (2003)

My brother’s read and recommended me the manga a few times, but I’m better about eventually seeing an anime than I am about eventually reading a manga, and Kino’s Journey is wonderfully short at 13 episodes. Observations of the human condition always tend to interest me and for one reason or another, I feel that this series has a whimsical nature to it. (Maybe it’s the talking motorcycle.) I definitely want to see this eventually. Eventually!

5. Gankutsuou (2004)

I really like Alexander Dumas’s Count of Monte Cristo. Perhaps that is reason enough not to see this series. I mean, I hated Romeo x Juliet, though honestly, I think that hatred stems more from the atrocities of storytelling and character development than any offense I took to the utter bastardization of Shakespeare’s play. But Gankutsuou looks so like such a trippy visual treat! But I’ve already had Monte Cristo ruined for me once before a la the terrible 2002 movie adaptation. Not sure I want to deal with that again. Sure, I’d expect Gankutsuou to be a much looser adaptation, and really, as long as it manages to tell an okay story with okay characters, I probably wouldn’t be that pissed at whatever they end up changing… but by now I know that I’m a purist at heart, even when I try my best not to be. So will I ever see this series? Maybe.

6. Azumanga Daioh (2002)

I just feel like I’m missing out on a lot of Internet nerd culture references by not having seen this, y’know? That and not having read more than a few chapters of Yotsuba&!.

7. Yakitate!! Japan (2004)

When I’d first heard about this show and that it was about bread and puns, I really, really wanted to see it because really, who doesn’t love bread and puns? For one reason or another though, I was unable to do so immediately and so forgot about it and then put it off and then put it off. With a final episode count of 69, it now violates my usual rules for picking up a new series that isn’t currently airing, which are basically “it’s gotta be less than 27 episodes or a Gundam series.” There have been exceptions to this rule certainly, but the more I continue to put it off, the less confident I am that Yakitate!! will be ever an exception.

8. Xam’d: Lost Memories (2008)

I was excited about Xam’d being launched on the PSN and all, but that was mostly irrelevant to me since I didn’t have access. Still, as the series aired, I heard many good things about it. BONES’s animation looked gorgeous as usual and Michiru Oshima did the music! Not to mention the awesome, awesome theme songs Boom Boom Satellites provided. With all those technical goodies, I still haven’t really bothered to see what the story’s about. Maybe if it’s cool sounding, I’ll get to checking it out faster. If it’s forgettable, I’ll probably keeping putting it off and putting it off…

9. Chi’s Sweet Home (2008)

I think I just need more simple adorable sweetness in my life. It’s ongoing and already has like sixty episodes, but this probably isn’t a series for hardcore watching, analyzing, and discussion, so whatever, right? Maybe I’ll be able to sneak some episodes this year in between all the running around hectic and stressed. Who knows. Kitty is so cute.

Happy New Year!

On our second-to-last day in Tokyo, everyone was instructed to show off all the crazy stuff they’ve purchased during the course of the trip. And if ever I needed confirmation that I was surrounded by a bunch of weeaboo, that was it. It was like a mini-dealer’s room. I was going to save these photos for the end of my eventual series of posts about Tokyo, but I figure, hey, it’s Christmas Eve. Let’s look at all the cool stuff people got in Japan. For all the money that we spent there, we probably aren’t getting any real Christmas presents anyway…

Exhibit A is a table full of stuff purchased by two Gundam fujoshi. What do we have here? A 00 poster, some figs, a stack of 00 doujin behind that and a stack of other doujin under that DeathScythe cell. I kind of wish I knew where she’d gotten that Haro coin purse though… I think I would have bought one too if I had seen it. I do have that Jolteon plush, but my Pokemon haul can be another post entirely.

Apparently the fourth floor of Nakano Broadway has an asston of cel stores. I wish I had taken pictures of the MOB of students that went insane in those little stores, rummaging through boxes and pulling out cheap, cheap cels for¥200- ¥600. Predictably, the animation kids in particular were going nuts. Of course, most of the cels from more well-known and popular series were in the range of ¥2,600-¥350,000, but there were still many good finds. Personally, I didn’t look that long or hard because I just wasn’t expecting to find anything I wanted for a price I was willing to pay. Even this particular cel — if I had found it first, would I have gotten it? It’s a gorgeous cel and I’m still rather fond of the DeathScythe, but I don’t know.

This is the other half of the same table: another huge stack of Gundam 00 doujin, some random things in boxes, piggies from out of UFO catchers, Miku figure, things from the Ghibli Museum, random gashapon…

Next table! A giant book about the Ghibli Museum from the Ghibli Museum, random figs, Yu Yu Hakusho cel of Koenma — not sure how much this one was, Vaporeon plush…

This was my roommate’s table. I THINK I SEE AN EVA FAN, YES? Pah!

And a One Piece fan… I was tempted to get some One Piece socks for my brother, but I doubt they would have fit him. Glad I didn’t anyway though because I ended up getting the bastard way more Touhou crap than he deserves. ;\

Next table! Oh, snap, is that a Spike cel? Sorry for the glare. I think that thing was upwards of ¥15,500, but I don’t remember. I’m surprised it was for sale though since a lot of the cels from popular series were for auction only, including some Ghibli and Disney cels.

Art kids like artbooks.

A whole stack of artbooks and some Gundams.

I wasn’t kidding when I said these guys literally mobbed those poor cel stores. The employees seemed so utterly befuddled at this massive horde of gaijin spazzing out in their store. A lot of them just sat down on the floor and camped out in front of boxes as they sifted through every single cel, looking for hidden gems. So here is a Card Captor Sakura cel, a pretty awesome G Gundam cel, some Bleach production sheets, a Di Gi Charat cel, and some random white-haired badass because the person who bought these apparently has a thing for white-haired badasses (just like the rest of Japan, amirite?).

More art books, some PokeCenter swag, and that Rajah plush is from DisneySea though in Japan his name was something else — Chandu, I think?

Someone isn’t embarrassed of their giant Queen’s Blade fig box, lmao. Too bad I totally don’t remember who this was since I was just running around taking pictures and not paying attention to the stuff’s owners.

Even more cels! Slayers! Tenchi! Actually, I think someone dug out a fairly nice Ryoko cel and showed it to me, but it was ~¥6,500 or so, and I didn’t want to pay that much… wish I’d remembered to get a picture though. Annoying thing about having a fancy DSLR is that it’s a pain to bring it back out once you’ve stuffed it back in its bag.

So apparently in Akihabara and Nakano Broadway, there are about a billion little stores celling old gashapon figures of all sorts, often at really nice prices. Thus, it’s easy to quickly accumulate waaaaay too many of the little things. Thankfully, I had more self-control than this compatriot of mine… though I admit I dug through quite a few ¥50-¥100 discount bins…

Halfway through our marveling of each other’s crap, one of our professors announced that one guy probably had us beat as far as ridiculous expenditures went… apparently, he dropped $1,000 USD on Macross figs and had to get two other people to help him carry the boxes back to his hotel room. He obviously did not bring all of his loot to the party, so I don’t really know what $1,000 worth of Macross insanity looks like. Then again, I’m sure a good chunk of folks regularly spend thousands of dollars importing nonsense from Japan, so this was really only LOLWUT because he apparently dropped the change all at once.

A bunch of figs. Most of these were probably gashapon at some point. I know that the Lupin III stuff on the corner was all from a set of gashapon anyway.

And this… this is apparently a Pikachu condom. Apparently.

Artbooks and doujin and the most adorable Gurren Lagann figs ever. (There was a Viral and a Nia in the set as well.)

More artbooks, Gundam, figs, and a full set of Dragonbouncyballs. This particular person hid the seven Dragonballs in random places in her room and left when the cleaning ladies were coming. When she returned, the cleaning ladies had gathered the seven and put them on the center of her bed. Oh, Japan, we love you!

Gundam!

Zaku cel! …I think I might have bought this if I had seen it first. :( It would have been amazing if there had been a Gouf cel as well…

I WISH I HAD THAT CHARMANDER. FFFFF. IT IS SO CUTE. AHHH. Why didn’t I find it too???

And that’s everything! Well, everything that people brought in to show. I’m sure there were pleeeeeenty~ more that people left up in their rooms, like me. I didn’t bring any of my stuff down, partially because it was a lot of stuff and partially because I didn’t want people getting their dirty mitts all over my merch… <_<

But what do you think? Good haul? What would you be looking for/hoping to find in Glorious Nippon? (Or under your Christmas tree?)

The periodic trailers and behind-the-scenes looks released for the Princess and the Frog all looked amazing. The character designs felt like they would have fit in well with the Disney movies of the early 90′s and the animation was similarly nostalgic. In addition to being a throwback to the animated features I grew up with, I was happy to see another film focused on a slice of American history and culture, in this case, the French Quarter of New Orleans before and after World War I. The music and musical style were less of a concern for me since movies like Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch and the Emperor’s New Groove worked perfectly fine without much, if any, bursting into song. Still, the last Disney musical was Mulan, and Mulan was all kinds of amazing, so anticipation remained extremely high for this film. I finally got to see it yesterday.

STORY - Walking into the movie, I knew I was going to be in it more for the technical aspects than anything else. The princess movies had never been amongst my favorites of what Disney had to offer and I wasn’t expecting to be wowed by the story in Princess and the Frog. As such, it was no surprise that the movie’s plot was basic, cliche and a bit predictable: girl has dream, girl works hard to achieve dream but it’s just out of reach, girl then gets caught up in some crazy nonsense, falls in love with boy and somehow this results in the dream also getting realized. It’s a typical, romanticized children’s tale storyline. But despite that that was pretty much what I had expected, I was still a little disappointed.

Part of it was because the villian(s) aren’t nearly as prominent and the obstacles the protagonists faced weren’t nearly as dangerous or thrilling as they could have been. Tiana and Prince Naveen spend very little time actually facing the bad guys. The main, immediate problem the protagonists struggle with is the fact that they’ve been cursed into frogs. Sure, there is the Shadow Man that put the curse in place, but neither protagonists spends all that long with him. Instead of fighting him directly, they journey through the Louisiana swamp looking for another voodoo capable person to help them. Almost all the characters they meet along the way are friendly and work to help them along. And there is no build up to an epic final fight because there really isn’t a final fight. Compare this with the various hurdles Jafar sets for Aladdin. And their final fight. Pretty disappointing.

It wasn’t all bad though. I was very impressed at how the classic tale was reworked to fit the setting and characters. 1920′s New Orleans isn’t the first place you’d think to set an adaptation of a princess story, just like 1980′s New York isn’t the first place you’d think to set an adaptation of Oliver Twist, but damn if Disney didn’t make it work. Obviously, there were no real princesses in that time and place, but the Princess and the Frog played around and made it work in an almost tongue-in-cheek fashion; I was especially pleased at how the traditional princess and curse-breaking tropes were toyed with at the end. It made me smile.

CHARACTERS - The movie’s main protagonist, Tiana, is very much the archetypal strong-willed woman. She knows what she wants and is hyperfocused, working single-mindedly towards her goal. She isn’t easily threatened, but can be distracted by the intensity of her own dreams. She is quick-witted and adaptable, as well as sympathetic and a good role-model: the ideal character to lead a movie like this, but really not that interesting to an older viewer like myself, especially since she doesn’t really change during the course of the movie. She just falls in love. (In like, two days.)

Prince Naveen is similarly stale, though he’s also accompanied by some unfortunate logical flaws. Growing up as royalty, he was spoiled and never had to do anything for himself. For some reason though, he desired “freedom” (from what?) and for some other reason, he was disowned by his family (why? Wikipedia has some reasons, but I don’t think the movie ever said anything specific), so he ends up in New Orleans penniless and intending to marry a wealthy girl for money (and thereby grounding his own freedom again? what?). Predictably, Naveen learns a bit of humility and gains a little usefulness during the course of the movie. Predictably.

Dr. Facilier, also known as the Shadow Man, had the potential to be the most interesting character in the movie, but this is hindered by not quite enough screen time or backstory. He has a few lines of complaint here and there, but there doesn’t seem to be a point in his past where he was morally offended by something or someone that spurred him to want domination of New Orleans. His interesting relationship with people “on the other side” is also never fully explained, which was supremely disappointing considering their awesome musical number together. There were so many things that could have spiced up both Dr. Facilier and his collaborators’ roles, such as giving some of the shadows (aside from Dr. Facilier’s own) personalities and giving Lawrence, Naveen’s backstabbing servant, some ulterior goals.

The secondary cast was not particularly notable; they were there, occasionally humorous, but too simple to be called good or bad. I saw the movie with several people though, including a New Orleans native who was apparently upset at some of the stereotypical characters portrayed in the movie. Personally, I don’t think the portrayals were necessarily unfair since all regions have their stereotypes and most of them are grounded in some sort of reality, including the bumbling backwater hicks. I doubt anyone will really come away with a negative impression of the area, in any case. I mean, I wasn’t offended by the hilariously stereotypical gender roles presented in Mulan since you know, they’re kind of true.

ART & ANIMATION – Everything was gorgeous, just like I thought it would be. Seriously, you don’t realize just how different 2D animated characters look until you go a while without seeing them and are suddenly sent back. Disney was amazingly successful at recapturing a number of styles it had left behind, and Princess and the Frog included several short sequences animated in a simpler, blocky color, storybook style, such as for the song “Almost There.” But while all the characters were animated traditionally throughout the movie, most of the backgrounds had been painted digitally and there were some digital special effects. This was really fine though, especially since it allowed for some really visually interesting scenes involving Shadow Man’s shadow and shadowy minions. The digital backgrounds complimented the characters fine and didn’t detract from the film in any way.

The character designs were pretty standard. Tiana is pretty much what anyone might have thought of given the prompts “African-American” and “Disney princess.” Prince Naveen is just the next in a long line of Disney princes, though his frog form reminded me a lot of Warner Brother’s Michigan J. Frog. In contrast, Dr. Facilier actually has a pretty fun design and reminds me vaguely of a cross between Jafar and Jack Skellington. This compliments the uniqueness of his character, but while his personality and backstory aren’t really given the attention they could had have, Facilier’s design is bold and has many clever little elements, such as his skull mask. Like their personalities, the secondary characters didn’t leave a big impression visually either, but despite that, I was very pleased with both the art and animation in this movie.

MUSIC - As with the animation, the Princess and the Frog attempts to capture the musical success of its 90′s predecessors with music by Randy Newman and lyrics by Glenn Slater. Maybe I’m just a little out of touch with musicals, but some of the film’s songs felt a little awkward and forced. As a sort of opening song, “Down in New Orleans” wasn’t too bad, but the beginning of Tiana’s first solo, “Almost There” didn’t seem to mesh very well with the scene it was placed in. Thankfully, as the song progressed, the tune became catchier and more attractive and the end of the song seemed to suit the scene much better. Dr. Facilier’s solo, “Friends on the Other Side” was probably the best song in the movie; it was a lot of fun both lyrically and visually and is one of the main reasons I wish the character had gotten more attention than he received. “When We’re Human” seemed like a pretty typical Disney song. “Gonna Take You There” and “Ma Belle Evangeline” were both fairly decent and more nostalgic feeling in mood and style. “Dig a Little Deeper” reminded me somewhat of the “Morning Report” song Disney inserted into some DVD re-release of the Lion King… which is not a compliment.

I really don’t feel like Princess and the Frog benefited from being a musical, but I guess it really didn’t detract from it that much. Either way, Anika Rose’s “Almost There” won’t be the next Elton John’s “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” or Christina Aguilera’s “Reflection.” Newman’s general score for the movie was pretty okay, but come on, Alan Menken would have been a much better choice of composer.

OVERALL - If an older someone were to watch the Princess and the Frog after all the Disney feature films of the 90′s, they might be dismissive and unimpressed. As a simple movie aimed at children, it’s very solid, but even then, compared to the previous decade’s most popular hits — Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, the Lion King, and Mulan — and Disney’s beloved classics, the Princess and the Frog is really nothing spectacular, especially in terms of story and character. The cultural aspects are fun though, and animation is surely on par. I actually really like that they still included digitally painted backgrounds in their highly anticipated 2D revival. Disney’s demonstrated that traditional animation can still be used, but further suggests that they’re still experimenting with different ways to animate and to cartoon. Their upcoming Rapunzel movie for 2010 is a testament to this as they’re trying to make a CG movie not look like a CG movie. I look forward to it, but I do hope that Rapunzel’s struggles will be a little more interesting storywise than Tiana’s.

And hence this post. Kimi ni Todoke has annoyed me enough to make me post about how I’m dropkicking its ass despite the delighted and downright fawning reception the rest of the blogosphere has given it.

I’ve said before that shoujo isn’t really my cup of tea. Though there have certainly been exceptions (Lovely Complex, Ouran High School Host Club), I think I’m generally disinterested in the genre because I just don’t care for what I perceive to be its stereotypical qualities: idealistic and naive characters, contrived romance, and related drama. And Kimi ni Todoke has all of those in spades.

Let’s start with the first one. Sawako Kuronuma is a sweet, well-meaning, and very naive girl. It does not take long for her to grind on my patience. There is a point where naivete stops being cute and moe and just starts being absurd and thoroughly frustrating. I do not buy that Sawako just cannot understand why her classmates are wary of her. If they call her “Sadako,” then certainly she can derive that they are comparing her to the character from The Ring. As such, why the hell can’t she just cut her hair? Or tie it back? Or do anything practical to avoid being compared to such a character? You can’t even give the argument of pride or not wanting to bend to public pressure because it doesn’t take long to establish that Sawako is very easily pressured into stupid corners. I am just not convinced, and that keeps me from fully sympathizing with this protagonist. It doesn’t matter to me how sweet she is if I think she’s retarded.

There is a difference between being socially awkward and being socially stupid. I know plenty of awkward people and can be rather awkward myself, but they and I still understand what was going on to an extent; we just don’t always know how to react or deal with it. Sawako doesn’t understand what’s going on at all, much less how to deal with it. It doesn’t help that Sawako’s voice, provided by Mamiko Noto, sounds like she’s trying far, far too hard to be cute and naive; her voice is always a strained, high-pitched, and airy whisper, and listening to it for an entire episode at a time is almost enough to make me beat my head against something, especially her “A-Ah…A-Ano…”

The rest of the cast is perfectly idealistic. Kazehaya is popular, pure-hearted, always means well, and of course, has a crush on Sawako. Such traits would be easier to deal with if he had even one flaw about him — if he cared about his reputation and popularity, if he simultaneously had a crush on another girl, if he tried to take advantage of Sawako somehow, if anything. There’s no point in disputing the fact that Kazehaya and Sawako are somehow destined to be together, and some people have praised the progress so far for being slow and natural, but even if I didn’t pick on Kazehaya’s stubborn goodness and patience, I don’t find Sawako’s naivete and amazing ability to misunderstand everything to be a very natural reason this relationship is progressing slowly.

Meanwhile, Yano and Yoshida are more or less interchangable, but slightly more tolerable because they do have some noticeable flaws: they’re insecure and jump to conclusions. The circumstantial nature of episode four makes that flaw especially obvious, but it also makes the resulting drama seem terribly contrived. Certainly high school was a place where people ostracized others, where people were isolated, and where people let jealousy and envy get the best of them. Unfortunately, I don’t find Kimi ni Todoke to be an accurate depiction of that environment. It’s too dramatized and too idealized. Then again, I didn’t pay attention enough or have enough friends in high school to have gone through such drama myself, so maybe that lack of personal experience contributes to my lack of interest, lack of nostalgia, and complete lack of sympathy or empathy for these characters.

Kimi ni Todoke isn’t a terrible series by any stretch and I can understand at least some of the appeal of such an idealistic setting. But at the end of the day, this just isn’t the series for me.

There’s absolutely no mistaking the reference. Both Araragi and Suruga are in the exact same poses as the nearest two dudes and their expressions are nearly identical as well — just Suruga’s eyebrows seem to make her a bit more “Holy shit!” than “Hell yeah!”

I hadn’t realized just how widespread this meme apparently is though!  Hell, I didn’t know the “official name” of it until I googled around trying to find a clean version of the image. The photos apparently originated from E3 2003, so the source has at least existed for a good many years, but my first encounter with them was in a meme (contains spoilers) about all the episodes of Gurren Lagann. Was that the first occurrence? Probably not.

4chan memes come and go (and even if it didn’t actually originate on 4chan, we can probably still rightfully credit them with any meme’s viral spreading), but it’s interesting to see which ones persist throughout the years. How long did it take poor Domo-kun to vanquish his image as the kitten-killing hand of God? Or has he actually gotten rid of that image? You don’t see it around as much anymore though, and I wonder if Nickelodean and Target would still have been keen on adopting the character if the masturbation meme were still widespread. Meanwhile, Pedobear still makes regular rounds on the boards as well as conventions, and I doubt we’ll see the end of fake motivational posters any time soon. Beside them, the Reaction Guys don’t seem nearly as prominent, which I guess is also part of why I was so surprised to see it referenced.

And probably part of why it’s so freakin’ awesome. SHAFT and their cultural references indeed! Though actually, I also find it interesting that the reference was made in Bakemonogatari rather than whatever season of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei we’re on now since the latter certainly has many more otaku-related jabs. Then again, I haven’t finished the second season (ZSZS) yet, so maybe they have? And the Reaction Guys probably aren’t in widespread usage solely in the anime otakusphere — after all, the image came from a gaming trade show. Who knows? This is just another reminder that on the Internet, we’re being watched. :o