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

I put off watching the last two episodes for a while just because the first two were so… underwhelming. It’s fairly rare for me to discover a manga before a corresponding anime is made since I watch a lot more than I read, but honestly, it’s probably better that way considering how annoyingly purist I tend to be about adaptations. I don’t want to feel this way! This feeling of burning injustice when something turns out much less amazing than you’d like — when something doesn’t seem to do the original justice at all. The strange thing about the DOGS anime is that it doesn’t really seem to be its fault that it sucked (well, aside from the shitty animation). I feel like the format just didn’t suit it. DOGS is just something better read than watched, even if the voice actors all do great jobs and there are lots of action scenes.

Then again, maybe the anime only proves that underneath all of Shirow Miwa’s beautiful artwork, his story and characters aren’t that interesting after all. Maybe that’s what pisses me off the most. Nobody wants to be shown that something they loved isn’t actually that awesome. Is the love that comes from blinding nostalgia enough? The manga marches on, so I guess I’ll keep seeing what Miwa’s really made of. Viz’s release of the first volume of DOGS: BULLETS&CARNAGE came out earlier this month and I’ll be picking it up soon; might do another semi-review, but we’ll see.

There are only a few naysayers, and most either confused or cautiously speculative, but I honestly don’t think many things on the fandom end will be affected; there will just be more money in different people’s pockets. What’s really going to change with this acquisition? Disney is notorious for aggressive merchandising and pushing their licensed characters, but will a flood of new action figures and new Marvel-themed rides at Disneyland really affect Marvel’s artistic integrity or quality of work? As long as Disney keeps its hand out of what the folks at Marvel actually do, then I don’t see a problem. People were upset when Disney bought out Pixar too, but Pixar has, for the most part, retained its autonomy and continues to produce outstanding films. So why shouldn’t I expect Marvel to continue making comics like it always has?

Some people are concerned with the long list of Marvel properties being developed as films at the moment, but it isn’t like Disney is forcibly severing Marvel’s existing contracts with the dozens of studios already involved. If Marvel’s success in movies is part of why it was attractive to Disney, then shouldn’t Disney just let them continue doing their thing? Others are concerned that Disney might take away from the maturity and violence of certain Marvel titles, but if Disney was also attracted to Marvel’s popularity with boys and men of a wide demographic, why would they tamper with that by numbing anything down? Of course, logic hasn’t stopped companies from shooting themselves in the foot before, but Disney should know that they can’t afford to make too many mistakes here.

I guess I might be more concerned if I actually read more Marvel titles, but my Western comic consumption is pretty limited as is, and even then, it’s mostly DC for Batman. Still, I see this mostly as just another acquisition that will be accepted soon enough, just like Disney and Pixar and when Adobe bought Macromedia.

As for Kingdom Hearts, I don’t really think that Spider-Man will be making his debut there any time soon, but Square-Enix is just as notorious for exploiting its properties as Disney, so who would really be surprised? Sora, Spidey, and Mickey VS Xemnas, the Lizard, and Sephiroth, why the hell not?? At this point, Kingdom Hearts is every bit as much of a cash cow as Final Fantasy, so I’m not too invested in the franchise keeping any kind of integrity anymore. It’s too late for that already, so whatever! Bring it. …I’ll still buy it. Integration might be a little awkward considering most Marvel characters reside in the “real world,” but hey, it would be kind of awesome if Sora and his buddies could visit Manhattan and do the tourist thing. Sora in Times Square! Sora in Central Park! Sora at the Statue of Liberty! Sora riding in a taxi! I mean, they’ve already visited Port Royal and that was a real place too.

Just think, you could have Wolverine as a summon and he’d slash through Heartless for you… Okay, so I can’t actually picture Logan taking orders from Sora at all, but heeey. Maybe if Sora buys him a cigar and a beer.

Here is the review, and here is the MAL mirror.

Reading it was very hard in the beginning. Sixteen pages in and I could already relate absurdly well with both Meiko and Taneda, and hell, all their friends as well. It was depressing, but it got easier the further I progressed because they became their own people, rather than just ghostly representations of myself and people I knew. The story is how they choose to live their own lives, one path in a forest of many. Theirs aren’t the best choice, nor the worst. It isn’t an answer, but it’s there. Highly recommend.

This post isn’t actually about Engrish songs though. With Engrish as such a common element in so many anime themes and inserts (and indeed, Japanese music on the whole), it’s always a real surprise when you hear a song that’s in English. English! No mispronunciations. No sketchy grammar. Minimal or no accent. They’re a rare breed, but not all that difficult to find considering a number of very popular series include them. Sometimes they’re sung by native speakers and sometimes they’re still Japanese artists, but they’re always a real treat when you come across them:

8. “living inside the shell” – Steve Conte, Shanti Snyder, and Yoko Kanno (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG ED)

It’s a huge given that there’s going to be Yoko Kanno somewhere on this list. In fact, exactly half of the songs on this list are composed by Yoko Kanno, two of which are performed by Steve Conte. Few people would argue against Kanno’s astounding skills across all styles and genres of music. Blues, jazz, hip-hop, classical, orchestral, pop, folk, rock, electronic, whatever, you name it, she’s done it. Language? Japanese, Latin, Italian, French, Russian, some made up gibberish that sounds Latin-based, and of course, English. It’s hard narrowing down her extensive portfolio of works to a handful of songs, but “living inside the shell” is surely one of my favorites. SAC’s first season ending, “Lithium Flower” was also a contender, but I prefer Conte’s vocals to Scott Matthew’s and the lyrics I find better suited to the thoughtfulness of SAC’s themes. The spoken portion by Shanti Snyder also adds an eerie dimension to the mood of the piece.

7. “Duvet” – Bôa (Serial Experiments Lain OP)

You know, Lain is one of those series I’ve meant to watch for years and years and years and still haven’t gotten around to. I have a freakin’ poster of Lain and I haven’t actually watched a single episode. One of these days, eh? Regardless, I’ve seen and heard the opening of the series and though it kind of classes with my impression of it, it’s a nice song and pleasant to listen to. Bôa is a British indie-alternative band that was pretty much unknown prior to their involvement with Lain and pretty much unknown afterwards as well. That can probably be said for a lot of artists that only contribute one song to a series though. The vocalist has an odd desperation to her voice that I also find kind of apathetic, which clashes for a strange effect. Maybe that strangeness is what relates it to the series itself then?

6. “key of the twilight” – Emily Bindiger and Yuki Kajiura (.hack//SIGN OST1)

Maybe this one’s kind of cheating since it’s neither an opening, an ending, nor an insert as far as I know. It just shows up on the soundtrack though if I’m wrong, you can blame it on the fact that I found no real merits in .hack//SIGN beyond its music and therefore never actually finished the series. “key of the twilight,” like most of the other music for the series and much of Yuki Kajiura’s compositions in general, has a strong celtic sound and influence to it that helps tie it to the slightly mystical qualities .hack. It also features a lot of echoy canons and sustained notes, which I’m a huge sucker for. Indeed, the same qualities make “In the land of twilight, under the moon” my favorite song of the series. I would have included it on this list instead, but while the lyrics are all in perfect English, the vocalists occasionally have accents. (It’s more obvious here than in the studio recording assuming they’re the same people because I can’t seem to find any information on the vocalists of the song.)

5. “gravity” – Maaya Sakamoto and Yoko Kanno (Wolf’s Rain ED)

The second of four by Yoko Kanno. Maaya Sakamoto has some of the most impressive English for someone who doesn’t seem to have been raised at some point in an English-speaking country. “gravity” was my first exposure to her music and an instant hit. The clear quality of her vocals helped emphasize the crispness of her pronunciation as well as the gentle melody. It suits the series well enough, but I think it’s an especially great foil to Wolf’s Rain’s opening theme, “Stray,” which is performed by Steve Conte. The two songs’ contrast reflects the series better than either of the songs could do alone.

4. “The Sore Feet Song” – Ally Kerr (Mushishi OP)

This fact that this opening was in English really surprised me when I first saw Mushishi since the series seemed so steeped in traditional Japanese visuals and influences, what with the dozens of self-sustained villages scattered around the mountains. Ally Kerr is a Scott of little renown, but the calming nature of the song and the whimsical, far-off lyrics he sings really define the series, and it soon became clear that no other song could fit Mushishi as well as “The Sore Feet Song” does. Even the name of the song invokes appropriate imagery for the show and the accompanying animation for the theme drives that in. It’s awesome.

3. “kiri” – MONORAL (Ergo Proxy OP)

I haven’t seen Ergo Proxy either, but I’m planning to in the near future. Hell, the theme song’s name is “kiri”! It’s like it’s calling me. :P Seriously though, the song does have a beckoning voice to it and the style feels very Western. If Wikipedia didn’t tell me that both members of MONORAL were at least partially Japanese and signed by Sony Music Japan, I would have just guessed that they were American or British (or Australian or Canadian). Still, while the bassist/guitarist was raised in Tokyo, the vocalist/guitarist was born in London and raised in France — he’s also apparently fluent in Japanese, English, French, and Arabic. Wow. Ergo Proxy’s theme has a very desolate mood about it and the accompanying visuals suit it wonderfully; it’s definitely enough to make me want to watch the series. Curiously enough, Ergo Proxy’s end theme is by Radiohead (“PARANOID ANDROID”), but that’s really nothing alongside “kiri.”

2. “Call Me, Call Me” – Steve Conte and Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop insert/OST3 “Blue”)

This and the next song are probably exceedingly predictable, but certainly they’re predictable for a reason. I don’t actually remember if  “Call Me, Call Me” was ever actually used as an insert song or whether it only appeared on the soundtrack (that’s an excuse for another rewatch, amirite?), but regardless, it’s a wonderfully appropriate song for the near-end of the series and the character of Spike in general. Conte’s voice is sincere but not rough, and he turns rather simple lyrics into something very powerful, especially in those sustained notes. Most of Cowboy Bebop’s music is very memorable, but this one’s still up there.

1. “Blue” – The Seatbelts (Mai Yamane) and Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop insert)

Whatever you think about the end of the series, this song suited it. ♥

~

Annnd, here are a few others I thought about but took off for one reason or another.

Disqualified:

“Life is like a boat” – Rie fu (Bleach ED1) — I love this song and I love Rie fu, but only half of it is in English. :P Also, it’s gotta have the most boring PV ever.

“Wind” – Akeboshi (Naruto ED1) — I love Akeboshi and this was my first exposure to him; unfortunately, though he’s spent a bit of time in Britain, he still has quite the accent and is sometimes difficult to understand.

“Sakura Kiss” – Chieko Kawabe (Ouran High School Host Club OP, FUNimation dub) — This is one of the best examples of a dubbed over theme song I’ve ever encountered. The lyrics aren’t far from the original and the vocal quality is amazing. I have no idea who they got to record it, but the voice is both close to Kawabe to be reminiscent of the Japanese version and different enough to give it a life of its own. True, it does sound a little odd to hear the words in English because it’s so much more obvious how corny it is, but as far as capturing the energy and mood of the original goes, it’s perfect.