.
Damn, I actually had another post in mind for today... But what can I say, I got derailed by Derailed, lol. March madness has moved on to its second stage and I'm pretty pleased to see the lineup of series that made it through, and there'll definitely be some very in-te-res-ting matches to come. The first four one-on-one matches are now in order and now that we've dispensed with categorizations, it's now up to the readers to just vote for whatever series they feel has pierced the heavens/rocked their soul/insert any catchphrase denoting sheer awesomeness up to the final showdown. So on to the votes:
1) Azumanga Daioh VS ef ~a tale of memories~
I had my ORZ face on for a moment... both strong series in their own right which I adore, and not exactly comparable since as Jason has pointed out, they're so remarkably different from one another... But then I realized that the winner of this match would face Ouran in the next, and suddenly it became rather inconsequential which of these two it would be since it's Ouran 4tw for me :P So with half the dilemma done with, I voted ef since I had the feeling it would need my vote more against the stronger fanbase for Azumanga. Looks like I was right.
2) Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu? VS Dennou Coil
Again, 2 incredibly opposite series which I've enjoyed very much. Again a great comedy versus one of the better 'serious' shows of 2007. I'd flip a coin if Sagara Sousuke wasn't involved, so I'm sorry to say but it's Fumoffu for me, Densuke T_T Fumoffu would probably stand a better chance against Lucky Star the next round by splitting the comedy vote - do you like them laugh out loud explosive or moe moe moe?
3) Mushishi VS Higurashi
No doubt in my mind where my vote would go for this one. Mushishi is one of the very few shows I've awarded a full 10 on MAL (but considering I didn't rank them all at the same time and I'm rather inconsistent when it comes to a 1 to 10 number ranking system, it doesn't say all too much) and as much I enjoyed the WTF-ness of Higurashi (the first season. Ni Kai managed to answer most of the WTF questions lingering from the first season, but lost all the trainwreck goodness I was looking forward to) it's still Ginko for me. With the vote still in its early stages and only a small percentage separating the two, I'm praying for Mushishi to pull a win from the behind on this one despite the heavier Sonozaki pimpage on DbD...
4) Honey & Clover VS Baccano
Honestly, a throwaway vote from me this one, having not finished either series (this should rouse some cries of blasphemy from at least a few people reading). To be completely honest I've only watched the first episode H&C and I believe just 2 eps of Baccano before discontinuing both (now THAT's going to earn me some rotten tomatoes...) I'll just be taking the word of anyone who recommends either of these series that they're that good, but based on my limited experience with them I'm going for Honey & Clover since it had at least one character I saw which I liked (the only members of the bloated cast of Baccano which I can recall are the ones that annoyed me, sorry) and from the small snippets which I occasionally get from Animax, H&C looks to be the show of these two I'm more likely to watch later on and kick myself in the behind for not doing so earlier.
With general elections coming up in the country (and me being ineligible to vote anyways) March Madness couldn't have come at a better time (I should remind myself that it's called March Madness for a reason...), especially since real world politics simply baffle my hikikomori self... After round 2, I'm pulling for Ouran all the way from here on out since it's still a standing favourite of mine till now, and the thought of an Ouran banner on Derailed is just incredibly amusing to me =P
Friday, 7 March 2008
March Madness Round 2 begins
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
2007 Flashback: The Rundown
Run, Mihashi, run...It's already 3 months into 2008... And I'm still stuck writing posts about yesteryear (This is what happens when you restart your blog at an odd time of the year -_-"). Perhaps not the best time to publish this, but what the heck, this list has been sitting in a word file for much too long.
The 16 anime that made my year in 2007 (no real significance to the number, just so happen 16 of them I considered above average by my technically loose standards. And no series continued from 2006 or continuing into 2008 either, it's a purely 2007 list), in ranked order (good to great to best) :
The Good:
16. Dennou Coil (spoiler: RIP Densuke T_T)
15. Nodame Cantabile (Mukyaa~!)
14. Lucky☆Star (L-O-V-E Lovely~Tsukasa!)
13. Claymore (The Idiot's Guide to Self Mutilation)
12. Seto no Hanayome (Masa-san!!!)
11. Lovely Complex (All Hanshin-Kyojin BANZAI!)
10. Darker than Black (BONES)
The Great:
9. Sketchbook ~full color'S~ (Slow down world...)
8. Hidamari Sketch (Sorry ef and Bamboo Blade, the Miya of the year is here)
7. Moyashimon (The "You Absolutely HAVE to check this one out for yourself" show of the year)
6. Minami-ke (KANA IS BOSS)
5. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (~Burebureburebure~)
4. Potemayo (Honi, honi!)
Top 3:
3. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
2. ef ~a tale of memories~
1. Seirei no Moribito
Ranking done by the more serious, rational, and supposedly objective side of me that's supposed to judge the overall aspects of the show (Story, characters, presentation, blah blah blah) though obviously influenced by the whimsical, instinct-following, impressionable me (an indication of how much I felt the show impacted myself as a viewer, whether it tickled me silly or made me go "HOLY SHI- THAT WAS AWESOME , now I just have to sit down and let the other side of me think why...").
Of course anyone who's read this blog lately will probably notice the omission of one particular title, which at the time of this list's conception (a few months ago, mind you) was done on purpose since I wasn't done watching the series in question... But in the back of my mind there was no doubting its place on the list - the question is where? If serious, rational and objective had more of a say, this series would probably rank 4th pushing the current #9 to #4 a position back (and Gurren Lagann would have to switch places with ef). But based on my sheer enjoyment of this series and how it really changed the perception I had of its genre, I'm giving the 2007 top honour of personal favourite anime on Tondemo Nothing! to...
0) issa-sa's personal fave of 2007: Ookiku Furikabutte
Which neatly rounds up the Top 10 standouts series (#s 9 to 0) on my list with OoFuri coming out tops. *applause* A similar situation arose the year before that: Mushishi was easily the best overall 'serious' anime of 2006 (this time, it's Seirei) and Haruhi to me was best in just about every other respect (and was no doubt the iconic series of its year -whether you liked it or not- much like Gurren Lagann), but my personal favourite Ouran High School Host Club won me out anyhow. Call it personal bias or 'bad taste'/'good taste' or whatever, but what can I say, my blog my pick =P When you have strong shows colliding at the top, I'm the kind who'll pick the one that just feels right, and there's no denying that Ookiku Furikabutte is that series for 2007. Even back when I was only halfway through the series starved for subs, OoFuri had already impacted me so positively that I just knew it was the year's Ouran for me. I'd like to say more about the show now that I've officially completed watching it, but that'll be another post for another day.
It's also interesting to note what others ranked as their best show of the year: Specifically, Jason chose Gurren Lagann, Kurogane went with Seirei, Jeff Lawson pulled pleasant surprise by crowning Potemayo ^^ while the guys at Epic Win championed the best of the best: Mushishi! (Okay their real choice I wasn't as excited about). Besides these that come to mind, there was quite the Minami-ke love as well if I remember correctly.
I won't be debating why one series is better than another (or explaining why I didn't include/watch/finish watching series XXX not on the list) since this post is quickly becoming dated material. As a whole, I think 2007 offered myself many surprises in terms of series I liked (and utterly disliked) and though there were less hard-hitting sure-hit shows than 2006 and more average fodder running around (which even if I completed watching, did not make the top 16) there was generally enough to impress me at any given time during the year. So here's hoping for as good/a better showing of shows this year.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Ookiku Furikabutte 25: Life Goes On...
The look on their faces say... all the wrong things... 
Nice to see they brought back the umasou~!This episode closes off the series on a rather open, life goes on note. Tajima, Izumi, Abe and Hanai gather at Mihashi's place and reflect on their recent win against Tousei over some umasou~! curry rice amongst other idle chit chat. Mihashi also somewhat realizes how far he's come since the days of being the hated outcast at Mihoshi and how much a part of the team he's become now with Nishiura. After episodes of hard hitting (and hard pitching) baseball action, it really is a fitting closing episode that helps us wind down together with our players (which still leaves a wide open opportunity for future installments!) after a immensely satisfying climax in the previous episode.
*drools...*As a final episode, I treated it as a tribute to the key players in this immensely enjoyable series, starting with...
Tajima (aka 'Masturbation kid' XD): Throughout the series he's been consistently impressive with his talents and off-the-wall remarks. And I so do like a character who appreciates his/her food... :D
Tajima is one of those just full of energy and life characters that lights up the scene instantly when he's around. He's also incredibly sharp and shares an unerring understanding of Mihashi as a friend. It cracks me up whenever Abe fails to understand a word or action of Mihashi's, yet it's all effortless to Tajima :D
Tajima says the darndest things... XD
I like how they brought up the awesome swing which Tajima pulled off during the game, which they would've lost had he not done that, as acknowledged by Abe. We also learn a bit about why Tajima chose to study in Nishiura, which has to do with an incident with his great grandfather collapsing one day and his entire family rushing him to the hospital... and leaving poor Tajima rushing back to an empty house. Apparently the family he lives with is so large they totally took for granted that he was with them at the hospital -_-" Since then Tajima chose to study in Nishiura since it was close by and he'd know if an ambulance passes by in another emergency (the long story's relevance to the conversation was really not apparent to me until I watched the subs >.<). In his mind, Abe was thanking Tajima's callous family for their son's enrollment in Nishiura and becoming a member of their team. So was I! 
...About as welcoming as the innkeeper from Fruits Basket...
No episode of OoFuri is complete without Mihashi freaking out like the frightened little jitterbug that he is XD I highly doubt if he'll ever grow out of his flightiness despite the steady improvement in his character along the way, which really is fine by me as a source of a lot of comedy in the show. But despite his shortcomings in the self esteem department (it took him forever to realize that Abe was bluffing when he asked Mihashi to step off the mound diring the crucial stage of their previous game. Thinking that Abe and the team must really be very displeased with his 'selfishness' in refusing to step off, Mihashi spends most of the episode in distress over the issue -_-")
The real tribute to Mihashi is when Izumi passes him a note from Shinooka with written comments from all the team members about the game they just won, and almost everybody had to mention how impressed they were and how so much of the team's performance really relied on Mihashi's pitching strength (Abe had to be the sourpuss who mentions what a 'close win' it really was). It should really come as a vindication for Mihashi, to know that he is fully accepted as a true ace pitcher for his team. Though knowing him, he'll probably need to be reminded again and again in the future, but at least it's proof that he's successfully left his dark days of baseball with Mihoshi behind.But what I truly enjoyed was the tribute to the volatile (and closely bordering on violent, lol) relationship between Abe and Mihashi XD
Abe always means SRS BSNSS
So someone could use a little anger management classes... Well I hope not, since the fees are probably too high for a high schooler to bear, and it's more fun to watch Abe go ballistic on poor Mihashi over every little miscommunication =P Somehow it never really got old for me through the series, and has played its important part in building up Mihashi's character. Abe too, gives his best efforts in trying to understand Mihashi as a person and to strive to advance themselves as a strong battery for the team. Although he probably has quite a bit more to learn...
Am I the only one who thinks Mihashi's antics are actually quite adorably hilarious? =PAlso in this episode:
Hanai got a small monologue where he ponders that Mihashi does irk him almost to the same level as he irks Abe sometimes, but since Abe's got the abusive front covered, the team captain's relationship with Mihashi has been a placid one, to his relief (and Mihashi's too if only he knew, lol). Hanai started out as a rather 'too-cool for this team' character when we first saw him, but when the true potential and strength of the team quickly became apparent, he too quickly integrated with the rest to form yet another integral part of Nishiura. And we should always remember that it was his dumb luck that drew their team against last year's champions in their first match that set the entire second half of this series in motion. Cheers to Hanai!
And we shouldn't forget the roses amongst the thorns. The women of OoFuri are a nicely varied bunch, from the capable and sweet Shinooka to the awesome 'juiciness' (so-to-speak) of Momokan and even the ever supportive moms. Also, surprisingly for her late introduction in the series, Ruri probably had more of an impact to the story than all the others combined. So here's saluting her for pulling "Ren-Ren" out of his one of his major funks in the game.(Yay for Marina Inoue voicing Ruri. Her Minami-ke 'sister' Rina Satou was the announcer during the match, btw. It makes me think that Haruka-sama is the one behind the stands voicing lines such as "Be careful of foul balls", lol)
Finally there's Kanou, or Shuu-chan as Mihashi calls him. A salute for believing in Mihashi even when his entire team refused to acknowledge him, and for encouraging an old friend to keep on pitching. If the series does continue on, would it become inevitable that Nishiura and Mihoshi face off once again later on? Yet another match to look forward to... *Has already deluded self into thinking that there are future seasons confirmed...*
One more for the fangirls ;P
Sleep well Mihashi. You deserved it ;DMore March Madness
Sad boy in snow... (Would be more relevant if I voted for Kanon...)Okay good news, bad news time. The good: first voting results for March Madness over at DbD are out, with my personal favourite anime of 2006 in the lead!! The bad? My personal favourite of 2007 isn't even in... *sighs*
Honestly, I'm terribly disappointed Ookiku Furikabutte wasn't even included in Jason's
On a positive note, it's great to see Mushishi and Black Lagoon going on to the next round at least along with Ouran and the shoo-ins like Death Note, Haruhi, Fumoffu and FMA. Sad to say Muteki Kanban Musume is very likely out of the running (it only got like, 3% of the vote in the comedy division. Where is the emo-ramen love??) but at least we'll see the Minami sisters and the Azumanga gang as well.
The second part of March Madness round 1 covers the Sports, Giant Mecha, Harem and err... "Uncategorized(?)" series. My votes this round:
- Sports (Smythe Division): Have I mentioned how much I'd rather see Ookiku Furikabutte here rather than School Rumble and OtoBoku (which even Jason admits are there just to fill the gap...)? It's like appearing to support your favourite sporting team... Only they're not playing so you're left cheering for Tenma and Co's ridiculous basketball game to end all basketball games (SR being the only series in the list I've watched to the end). Okay, okay I'll stop ranting for OoFuri now. Incidentally, the two 'filler' series are leading in this division currently by a huge margin, which is an obvious indication of show popularity versus how much the show actually lives up to its categorization (and how few of DbD's readers actually enjoy true sports animes, I suppose).
- Giant Mecha (Norris Division): Easy pick, Gurren Lagann wins for making the impossible possible: letting me enjoy a giant robot show as a giant robot show - and not as a catastrophic trainwreck of cheesy goodness (if there was a category for that, Code Geass it would be =P)
- Harem (Patrick Division): Currently being lead by the two Key/Kyoto powerhouses. If I had to choose from the two my vote has to go to Kanon (2006)... But seeing as ef is in the list is there, the SHAFT bias came to play. (Though technically being less of a harem anime than even Rozen Maiden is...)
- ??? (Atlantic Division): Planetes (which I'm still pronouncing wrongly as "Planets") imho, was the best series I watched last year... which wasn't from last year, lol. Jason never finishing it probably meant he never got past the episodic slice of life (in space!!) episodes which took up a good part of the series, but the show thoroughly impressed me with its very believable take on how us humans are probably going to screw up (literally) life in space one day... Since there's no clear category here, there really is no reason against me voting for "Pla-ne-tes" (My main rant with the Atlantic Division would be since Mononoke's not even ranked highly on Anidb or ANN, Jason could've slotted OtoBoku here instead to give OoFuri a chance... okay, now I'll really stop)
2007 Flashback: Seirei no Moribito
Here's something new on this blog: a 'serious' review post restricted to just one screenshot and one paragraph. *Gasps* Does this mean that Seirei no Moribito (or if you prefer the cheesier but accurate translation Guardian of the Sacred Spirit) is not worth me writing a longer, more detailed post peppered with samples of its stunning visuals? Does it mean that its characters (such as the kick-ass yet wise and motherly heroine Balsa and the surprisingly mature and unspoilt prince Chagum turned out to be) lack the necessary strength of character and growth to deserve individual paragraphs of their own? What does my lack of verbosity speak of the show's linear but engaging storyline, the spectacularly choreographed fights, the superbly tuned soundtrack, the wonderfully fitted in fantasy elements and the overall impressive quality and atmosphere of the show? How will I be able to express all that and my opinion that this was probably the best overall show of its year just by virtue of being the kind of no-nonsense show that you can even recommend to non-anime watchers and as an argument that anime doesn't need fanservice or snazzy one-liners or unnecessarily flashy plot devices like giant robots or magical girls to work (though a Shaman on a donkey seems to work fine as well)? The answer to this last question: by writing a damned long paragraph full of rhetorics, that's how. And now if you excuse me, I think my job here is done. Good night.
Sunday, 2 March 2008
March Madness on DbD
.
Derailed by Darry (or Anime on My Mind to anyone who won't accept the name change) has always been one of my top favourite anime blogs to visit (honestly, I think I love it more than my own! lol). Put simply, Jason's mix of obvious hilarity and insight in his posts is one of a kind (even especially his gimmick posts are pure win), though admittedly all the sports references fly past my head faster than anything on Oofuri did. Basically when Jason blogs a series, a huge part of the show's entertainment value, I swear, really comes from his postings on it. Cases in point: Minami-ke, Gundam 00 (which I don't even watch!), Code Geass, Kanon, Muteki Kanban Musume and the first season of Higurashi (which was probably when I started following DbD AoMM as it was called back then).
Okay, better stop the blog stalker-ish rant there and come to the actual content of this post... March Madness 2008 on Derailed by Darry! (so much for not sounding like a total blog stalker...)
Since I only started following Derailed way after the last time Jason held March Madness on his blog, the details are still rather sketchy to me but in essence it looks like yet another anime popularity contest driven by DbD's readership which undoubtedly must be bloated enough to support the venture. Hopefully it doesn't collapse on itself like the late SaiGar *touches wood* and will make for yet another interesting excuse to return to Derailed throughout this one month(not like one is needed really =P). Anyways, I'm jumping on the bandwagon this time around, so here's a rundown on where I cast my votes in Round 1:
Looking at the polls currently, there seem to be clearly predicted winners in each category already. Those who are still interested have till 11PST on March 3rd to vote for these 4 divisions before Jason posts the next 4 divisions. Since the top 2 series in each division will advance to the next stage together with the next 8 series with the highest total votes as wild cards, there seems a pretty good chance for all the series I've voted for to make it, with the sad exception of Muteki Kanban Musume T.T (Where is the emo-ramen love???)
No image this post since I think the one on the current March Madness post is just totally awesome by itself (can you spot 'me' in it? =P) Will probably report back on March Madness during the voting for the next 4 divisions come along, and probably up until the juggernaut series like Haruhi and er... Haruhi steamrolls the competition later on :P
Saturday, 1 March 2008
Tondemo Nothing!'s One Month Anniversary (amongst other things...)
As the date shifts and February (which got that special extra day this year) gives way to March, today marks the first month of my GIVING IT ALL I'VE GOT on this blog... A small achievement really, but still one worth celebrating (If you notice, this blogger is prone to celebrating just about anything on this blog =P). So here's to the first official month of Tondemo Nothing! a venture I hope to continue for, well, many more months to come! On behalf of this blog, I'd like to thank anyone who's come through this blog to take a peek at the 20-odd articles up so far, and a special thanks goes to usagijen over at scrumptious who posted the first ever comment on Tondemo Nothing! *claps*
Oh, but that's not all there is to celebrate today...
Well if the pic doesn't just give it away... Not only am I celebrating this blog turning 1 month old today, but as of today this little blogger's turning one year older ^^ (Okay, maybe I'm not as 'little' as I like to be and I'm certainly much older than the cake suggests...) That's right, it's also a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to issa-sa today!!! *solitary applause from the self-absorbed panda that I am =P*
(The real Issa only celebrates his in November btw)
Since my last post had to do with anime character birthdays, it only made sense to check up which character(s) I shared a birthday with. The result...
March 1: Misaka Kaori (Kanon)
Not exactly my favourite Kanon girl (Oh, what a killjoy I am), but you can't exactly pick the day you were born, can you? So to Kaori-chan, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! おたんじょうび おめでとう!!!
(This is strangely looking very much like the recent birthday post by Kurogane... who happens to be my senpai by a year and a month btw, unless either of us is lying about our age =P)
Also born on March 1st : Street Fighter's Chun Li (LOL!) and apparently someone named Gouda Yuu from Full Metal Panic! (someone enlighten me on this one since I can't seem to remember anyone by this name in the series). On the seiyuu front, it's also おたんじょうび おめでとうございます to Nogawa Sakura and Kashiwakura Tsutomu. (Yay!!)
Nogawa Sakura is recognizable as Nemu from Da Capo, Hinaichigo from Rozen Maiden, and more recently as Seto no Hanayome's Luna and Frog girl A on Kimikiss :P Personally my favourite role from Nogawa-san is Ayumi from the wildly hilarious Magikano ^^ 
Kashiwakura Tsutomu is credited as as the sound director for the Ai Yori Aoshi series (which I should remind myself to watch one of these days). As to his seiyuu performances, most of his roles don't seem too familiar to me, but I will remember him for his Barabaraman-sensei on Akazukin Chacha.
To anyone else whose birthday is today, here's wishing you a Happy Birthday (too!), and to everyone else, enjoy this 1st of March for what it's worth =D
