Anime Thread #2

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lost_Wanderer
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Well, I’ve gotten a few titles with my Christmas money (love it when relatives don’t know what to get me, heh). Let’s see, I got Toradora for Christmas from my parents (they actually bought it for me), and I’ve bought a volume of Hayate the Combat Butler on DVD (it was cheap, heh), Disgaea (not the game!), and I’ve got Katanagatari vol 1 on the way.
 
ironchapman said:
Well, I’ve gotten a few titles with my Christmas money (love it when relatives don’t know what to get me, heh). Let’s see, I got Toradora for Christmas from my parents (they actually bought it for me), and I’ve bought a volume of Hayate the Combat Butler on DVD (it was cheap, heh), Disgaea (not the game!), and I’ve got Katanagatari vol 1 on the way.
Click to expand...
Yoshihiko Noda the premier of Japan thanks you for supporting his economy. 🙂

Only kidding.
 
On the subject does anyone here remember a hilarious satirical site called japan.box.sk.
(Check it out on different Crawl days, the language occasionally contains profanities or occasional spoof discussions of adult issues, but nothing you won’t hear in a Hollywood film).
The site is long gone, the webmaster became a lomography junkie but it’s still around on the WayBackMachine.

My favourite is is the satirical spoof of the foreigner who falls in love on the subway:

web.archive.org/web/20040125035603/http://japan.box.sk/newsread.php?newsid=3929

Excerpt:
I remember the first unforgettable train ride I saw her. I stood in front of her mesmerised for what seemed like hours but was only in fact thirty minutes. I just couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Afterward, she noticed I was staring at her and held up a magazine in front of her gorgeous face. It was obvious she was shy and just wanted to ease the tension in chemistry between us. I ask you, would a J-girl ever do something as deep and beautiful as that if she wasn’t interested?
Click to expand...
I’ll never forget the magical morning she brushed her leg up against mine. She could have done that to any guy in the train, but she brushed my leg. It was such a crowded train that morning but she chose me. Me! I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. But after I thought about it for awhile I realized that it wasn’t luck. I may not be the brightest bulb around but, hey, I sure as xxxx know a sign from a beautiful woman when I see one.
Click to expand...
in response:
Where does this gaijin get the nerve to be infatuated with me? Did I look like I was interested in him? Was I wearing a t-shirt saying, I dig gaijin dorks? I mean, I try to be nice. Every time he catches the train, I try ignoring him as nicely as possible. I even pretend to be asleep to make sure he doesn’t get any stupid ideas. But does he ever catch on? Of course not! I don’t know what makes this guy mistake me for a J-girl who thinks I’m attracted to him, and, frankly, I don’t want to know.
Take yesterday, for instance, when he actually said oyaiyo gozaimasu to me. What a worldly, cultured gaijin he must be to know those difficult words in Japanese.
Click to expand...
or this one:
Freak line up causes local residents to wait hours for nothing!

web.archive.org/web/20040123155200/http://japan.box.sk/newsread.php?newsid=4125

And then there is the Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara (who is still around and who dislikes foreigners and anime):

web.archive.org/web/20040623110929/http://japan.box.sk/newsread.php?newsid=4403
Outspoken Gov Shintaro Ishihara sweeps best comedian at prestigious Japan TV awards!
Excerpt:
According to Japanese comic veteran Hitoshi Matsumoto of Matsumoto Downtown, who was previously a few years ago Japan TV’s Comedian Award winner for six years straight from 1992 to 1998, Ishihara now is in league all his own.
“I’ve seen a lot of mainstream comedy routines come out of Japan for sometime now on and off my times at the top, but nothing compares to the caliber of Tokyo Gov Ishihara’s brilliance,” said the legendary veteran. “He’s put a lot of work into his outspoken stand-up performances and it finally seems to of paid off. Even I wouldn’t try to upstage Ishihara. No sir, not on my life!”
Click to expand...
Reporters and photographers who were stationed outside the auditorium snapped pictures and interviewed the thousands of fans waiting outside to catch even a glimpse of the outspoken superstar comedian. Many of them reportedly seen waving banners and signs of their favorite Ishihara comical quote or line.
Click to expand...
“Whatever comes out of Ishihara’s mouth just makes me laugh. The guys pure genius,” said longtime fan Chio Yasuda, who was seen outside the hall holding up a banner of her favorite Ishihara line, ‘In China, people there were surprised to see a manned rocket launched. They were pleased because they were ignorant.’
Click to expand...
Added Yasuda san: “Oh and who could forget his classic line, ‘Foreigners are all sneaky thieves,’ and what about, ‘Japan has launched excellent rockets as symbols of high technology’ and I almost forgot his timeless classic, ‘I was expecting to have captured about 10,000 crows by now.’”
Click to expand...
Ironically Gov Ishihara first got into comedy seriously about the same time he was first elected Tokyo Gov.
Click to expand...
Another longtime fan, foreigner Dave Jenkins, a High School English Teacher and resident of Tokyo for 3 years, said that he has high regard for Ishihara and praises his ability to progress his classic outspoken comedy routines to include cracks and wise jokes not only about the Japanese but about the foreign community as well.
Click to expand...
“No one can touch Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara,” Jenkins commented. “Hell, no ones even tried. He’s in a class of his own. I mean, my favorite Ishihara line would have to be ‘Foreigners are again and again responsible for committing atrocious crimes.’” “Damn the guy knows us all too well. He’s the man! One of a kind. Hilarious!”
Click to expand...
 
So, with the year ending very soon, what’s everyone’s top anime?

For me, it’s (in no order) Gosick, Fate/Zero, Steins;Gate, The World God Only Knows II, and Usagi Drop.

Of these, Steins;Gate is my absolute favorite. Any other fans of the show here?

Also, I enjoyed Nekogami Yaoyorozu, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, Mirai Nikki, Hanasaku Iroha, Working’!!, and even though the fanservice was excessive, I really enjoyed Ore-Tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai’s story and characters. Very interesting commentary on a certain psychological disorder and child abuse.
 
ironchapman said:
So, with the year ending very soon, what’s everyone’s top anime?

For me, it’s (in no order) Gosick, Fate/Zero, Steins;Gate, The World God Only Knows II, and Usagi Drop.

Of these, Steins;Gate is my absolute favorite. Any other fans of the show here?

Also, I enjoyed Nekogami Yaoyorozu, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, Mirai Nikki, Hanasaku Iroha, Working’!!, and even though the fanservice was excessive, I really enjoyed Ore-Tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai’s story and characters. Very interesting commentary on a certain psychological disorder and child abuse.
Click to expand...
Ack, I can’t say I’m in a position to evaluate anime in that manner because I don’t pay too much attention to release dates. I just watch what I run into and say if I like it or not.

With that said though, I suppose I’ll just list some of the series I managed to enjoy this past year.

Tiger & Bunny
Gosick
Mayo Chiki
Carnival Phantasm

Meanwhile, on the manga side of things however, one of the series I was previously following but stopped due to the lack of its author’s activity suddenly updated recently. It’s called Ubel Blatt. It’s a really dark fantasy piece but it I like how it poses a nice moral dilemma of maintaining the social order and peace versus the pursuit of justice when that peace was founded via less than admirable means. If you can stomach the heavily mature content, I recommend you all give it a read. 👍
 
Tenofovir said:
Sadly fan service is more and more common and for some reason the ugly concept of “lolita complex” or simply what you and I would call pedophilia is finding (or has found) its way into anime/manga. Whether pedophilia is more common in Japan is debatable but pedophilic concepts also seem more common in the anime/manga form. So much so that it is parodied and satirized in many shows too.
Click to expand...
Japan has had a historically lower age of consent than most Western nations (fifteen for both boys and girls), stemming from the fact that Japanese culture tends to be a bit more frank about sexuality and it’s place than Western nations; not that it allows rampant promiscuity or nudity where it shouldn’t be, there’s much less of a sense of shame about sexuality than you find in the West. Thus, what looks like pedophilia in the States is perfectly licit in Japan (or was, since a lot of the larger cities are raising their AOC to 18). Japanese kids seem to mature quicker emotionally, since they’re given more responsibilities at younger ages than a lot of kids in the States, plus, they’re culturally less sequestered from sexuality and its role than most Western kids. The country’s main religion, Shinto, is pretty much a fertility cult and as such, sex tends to play a role in a fair number of their myths (In the Kojiki, one of Shinto’s main sacred texts, one version of the creation myth has Izanami and Izanagi, the first pair of gods in the Shinto pantheon, trying to figure out how sex works, which leads to them fumbling around like a pair of teenagers).
 
Just got the first half of Katanagatari in the mail today. Looks promising. Anyone here seen it?

And Lost Wanderer, Tiger & Bunny is one show this year that I’ve really wanted to see. Heard a lot of good things about it.
 
Well, I haven’t watched lots of series this year, but my 2011 favorite is Nichijou! 😃

God Bless you!

🙂
 
ironchapman said:
And Lost Wanderer, Tiger & Bunny is one show this year that I’ve really wanted to see. Heard a lot of good things about it.
Click to expand...
Indeed it is! Everything from the premise to the entire plot make for a really nice innovation in the superhero genre. 😃
 
Matrix_Refugee said:
Japan has had a historically lower age of consent than most Western nations (fifteen for both boys and girls), stemming from the fact that Japanese culture tends to be a bit more frank about sexuality and it’s place than Western nations; not that it allows rampant promiscuity or nudity where it shouldn’t be, there’s much less of a sense of shame about sexuality than you find in the West. Thus, what looks like pedophilia in the States is perfectly licit in Japan (or was, since a lot of the larger cities are raising their AOC to 18). Japanese kids seem to mature quicker emotionally, since they’re given more responsibilities at younger ages than a lot of kids in the States, plus, they’re culturally less sequestered from sexuality and its role than most Western kids. The country’s main religion, Shinto, is pretty much a fertility cult and as such, sex tends to play a role in a fair number of their myths (In the Kojiki, one of Shinto’s main sacred texts, one version of the creation myth has Izanami and Izanagi, the first pair of gods in the Shinto pantheon, trying to figure out how sex works, which leads to them fumbling around like a pair of teenagers).
Click to expand...
Historically people in the West married at 12 or so. I get your points. Also AOC is pretty low in many European countries. Even in the book of Psalms there is reference to a young girl.

The youth thing is popular elsewhere in Asia too. In Korea “enjou kousai” = compensated dating is also occurring where older men fetishize young schoolgirls and actually have relations with them. There are even comedies about this made in Korea (live action). There was one where a 14 y/o schoolgirl was arranged to marry a guy 15 years her senior. They eventually get married after he enrolls as a schoolteacher in her school and finally asks for her hand in marriage in front of the whole school. My Burmese colleague (woman) found the story touching but said that even in Burma they have issues with old guys publicly going for early teen girls.
 
Lost_Wanderer said:
Victorique is so cute. :3
Click to expand...
Too tsundere. A real fan would appreciate someone like Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière who is more sane and very pleasant to be around. 😛

(My anime posts are not always to be taken seriously when referring to actual characters or plotlines.)
 
Tenofovir said:
Too tsundere. A real fan would appreciate someone like Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière who is more sane and very pleasant to be around. 😛
Click to expand...
D8
_<;;;;
Click to expand...
Anyways, on the subject of recent anime-related purchases, I just bought a nice, bargain copy of Final Fantasy X-2. 😃
 
I just finished reading this awesome manga titled “Many Are Called”.
It was VERY well done and the cool thing is: the writer is Catholic! It’s basically a single volume manga that took the parables of “The kingdom of heaven is like…”, used that plot, and put it in a futuristic/medieval setting where people fly airplanes and futuristic airships! It’s got likable characters, action, romance, betrayal, and a creepy villain that I can take seriously. The story is not at all ‘preachy’ either (which can sometimes get obnoxious if your trying to find good, Christian fiction, in my opinion) and can be enjoyed by older audiences as well as young. It’s very high quality work that serious fans of manga will like. I HIGHLY recommend it! 👍

If anyone is interested, here’s a link…mangahero.com/manga/many-are-called/many-are-called/
 
Oren said:
Bleach is right where Ichigo just got his fullbring as a samurai outfit. He was fighting that sword/book guy, but Ginjo or whatever his name is, stepped in and started fighting the bad guy. The filler arcs on Bleach are out of control long and I don’t watch them…still if I didn’t know any better from reading the Manga I’d think this WAS a stupid filler arc. Dirty Boots…nanda sore?
Click to expand...
Thanks.

Well the anime isn’t that far behind I suppose. Though that arc has already finished in the manga. I wont spoil it but the ending was… satisfactory. It accomplished what it set out to do. That is to say it clearly demonstrated Kuchiki Byakuya is the real protagonist of the series :D!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top