Death’s Notes and Thoughts

Posts Tagged ‘japan’

The show is based on a light novel series by Katayama Kentarou, illustrated by Yamamoto Yamato. 16-year-old Shinkuro Kurenai is a Mediator – a specialist in settling squabbles between people. Despite his youth and easygoing nature, he is a man of some skills when it comes to protecting both his clients and his client’s interests. And then one day he is assigned as a bodyguard for Kuhouin Murasaki a seven-year-old. [stolen from AniDB] Desprite the kinda easygoing start of the series it gets pretty intense later, especially when the stuff around our lil girl gets revealed more and more. It shows not some random s-f stuff like one maybe wanna expect but rather some of the darker sides of tradition and idea’s of the people in japan. Through its probably not complete realistic i came to think that still some part of it are true while watching this show. I dont wanna go too much into detail here or i will spoil it and thats not what we want, right? Once again they produce a good story which shows characters that emotionally and mental evolving in a way that feels realistic, through a lil girl with the attitude of Murasaki is rare. But this way of beeing give her presents and also is a important part of the story. What i like is that she isnt that annoying as lil girl with that attitude in other series could be, but that probably comes from the whole situation that give it a different picture from what one is used to. Basically it’s not your nice happy sunday evening series but rather a honest series with some nice parts but a dramatic through still happy end. It keep ones emotion in continious motion from happyness from sadness and to anger. It made me feel a wide range of emotions and let me think a bit about the so called “upper class” after i finished it. Also it a bit of two worlds colliding. So, who like this kinda stuff or wanna give it a try, should watch it.

Trailer (particular subbed):

Short CM (raw):

-Death

yes, i failed to write the promised reviews last week. i even dont really remember what the fuck i did last week, so u can imagine it was a crappy one. Anyway, back to the point of this entry, i found today something that angered me heavily. See for yourself:

Many will probably say “great, finally a remake version of gits 1, i love it” or “yea, its finally worth watching” or similar, aka welcome it. But i say this is not a remake or improvement, its a great loss in my eyes and ruins what gits movie 1 stand for. Back in the days when it came out, it was a technological mile stone in animation, it showed stuff that wasnt there before like combination of 2d foregrounds with 3d backgrounds and such. Especially its perfectness was greatness as u saw such in other movies/series/watever before back then maybe but always really always it was flawed. The cg was not good enough integrated in the whole pictures so it was kinda outstanding. Basically my point is that this is one of the movies that never should have been touched, they only thing i would probably had wished for would have been a better mastered HD version on BluRay as the current one have room for improvement through there is worse like the R2 BluRay of Perfect Blue which have scenes with quality below VHS particulary. I dont like the idea to earse the memory what gits has brought us. Sure this movie aged and also the quality isnt up 2 date anymore but still it is something, something real great and it have to look as it is in the old real version. I loved and love it still, it raises great respect and emotions in me every time i watch it. The music alone can make me cry in joy and reverence, so i cant and never will fully accept this so called “remake”. It makes me even a bit sad to see that they try to squeeze out money of great old stuff by turn it into “modern versions”. I didnt liked the new nge version, and i even dont like the idea of gits redone. Well thats my point and my thoughts on this.

Death

PS: if you’re want more data, look around on ANN on this pages: Page1 Page2

Yuno has just begun school where she always wanted, Yamabuki High School. She moves out and into an apartment by herself in a complex called Hidamari-so, which is right in front of the school. There, she meets a classmate, Miyako, and a senior student, Hiro. Yuno’s days become hectic as she begins meeting the strange artists that live in her complex. Although she’s not used to her new life style, she begins to actualize her dream while being with these gentle friends. [this time its from AnimeNFO] What we have here is a light comedy which plays in a school setting but with the difference that we have here not the regular every-day school but a art school. This remind maybe a bit on stuff like Honey & Clover but its only focused on comedy. There is no romance stuff or drama at all, but the kowing viewer might find also some lil parodies on other animes like PaniPoni Dash or even on Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. But even without this knowlage u can enjoy this one as its not a parodie anime that needs lots of knowlage from other animes like for example Lucky Star. The whole series concentrate on the funny everyday life of the four girls and their friendship. Also quite funny is their teacher which have a cosplay complex but always deny that she do cosplay, desprite she says that its just cause she wants it. In some ways she is a bit childish and often gets punished for her weird ideas but all that add just another fun point to the whole thing. This anime can perfectly watched aside as something for relax and laugh. With 12 episodes and 2 specials its not too short or too long. Also says AniDB that there will be a follow up season in the near future, and i really hope it get also subbed.

Opening (a compilation of all OPs (regular, special etc))

There u can u see nice the chars from the series.

Ending (eng subbed)

And here some funstuff that i found while searching for stuff on Youtube for this entry:

Commercial for Intels Quadcores

German fandubbed version of the opening

I cant help myself but the fandubbed op is somehow scary… anyway get this anime and enjoy it as i did.

Your Death

Today i got finally my Kenji Kawai Concert DVD and it’s just incredible. You have the concert on it as LPCM 48khz 2.0 ch and as DTS 5.1 ch. It have a runtime (both discs together) of around 2 h 30 min. It made me cry tears of joy while watching it. There were so much great piece one knows, for example:

GHOST IN THE SHELL 攻殻機動隊:謡III-Reincarnation

PATRABOR 2 the Movie:Theme of PATLABOR 2

Avalon:Log In

These are a few of the 23 pieces u get on this DVD pack. A complete track listing can be found here on cdjapan. The dvd is really worth the money and i can only saw i wished i could have been there live…

-Death

And finally i managed to finish off el cazador. Third installment in Bee Train’s “girls with guns” trilogy El Cazador is the story of a girl named Ellis, who finds herself on the run from the so called Hunters of the underground society due to being a suspect of a murder. She meets up with a bounty hunter named Nadie who offers her help and guidance to pursue the truth of her past. But now she’s also being targeted by the Hunters and so their quest for the truth begins. [description taken from AniDB as usual] If u watched Noir and Madlax u also should enjoy this one. It have more relation to Madlax then to Noir as we here have a girl with some special “abilities”, not like in Noir the perfect assasin. But on the other hand this one is more clear then Madlax at the end and u can follow the story easier. Also the music made me often think of Noir as there are some tunes that i suspect beeing identical. Also nice is this time the place where the story take part. Its not future, city or similar, no, this time it take place in a desert environment. As it plays in the US (considering the later data) i would say somewhere in Texas probably. This is a quite unique environment compared to the usual ones. It gives the anime a fresh and not so worn-off taste in case of the scenario. Our characters also get linked together more and more while the story goes on and the end is somehow more relaxed then i had imagined but that should not mean its bad. It was ok and the last episode also made me laugh a bit as they reuse some characters in it u might have forgotten over time while watching this anime. Also it was again intresting to see how much a character can tell one without using words. I can only say Lirio fascinated me. I was a good character design, i liked it. As I said the people who enjoyed Noir and/or Madlax should have fun on this one, and who dont know any of these at all could use this and try if he can have fun with such stuff.

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

I didnt added the op/ed this time as it not show much of the anime it self but rather shows different stuff. Different as it is like it tells a own story or show something thats meant in a brought forward meaning (i hope it gets through what i try to say). At least the ending do.

Deathy

Its the first series i spend the time i found in my week off from work on. It is based on a light novel series by Sanda Makoto, illustrated by pako. Itsuki Iba is the cowardly president of a ‘for hire’ magic company called Astral. Always in need of money, Itsuki’s company rents out magicians to perform misc jobs. His company features many magic schools such as Solomon (Demon Magic), Shinto (Prayer Magic), Onmyodou (Spirit Magic) and Celtic (Ritual/Paper Magic). Not the only company out there looking for work, but Itsuki’s company has an ‘ace’ in the hole which happens to be Itsuki himself. If things become more than they can handle, Itsuki will remove his eye patch. As a side note, most of these people are grade schoolers and 2 of them happen to be classmates of Itsuki’s. [description stolen as always from AniDB.] It was a good anime but with a little weak ending (sadly). What i quite liked was that we here got not only the typical japanese “magic” but also western stuff like Honamis Celtic Magic, which also is a type of magic i dont remember seeing before in any anime i watched. Also new to me was Adelicias Solomon magic, which is basically a type of demon magic but still different to the usual type. Through she need to have a special item i rather woudn’t it call demon magic but summoning magic as she calls her servants as she needs them. Also u get a little love triangle in this series but i guess that is used to add a little spice and comedy to this series. I hope they give us a 2nd Season as i still have some stuff that i want to know, most of it small things but well. The end was a bit weak to me as it was rather short and not well prepared enough as the story reveals. It feels a bit too sudden.

Trailer (net version):

Opening:

Ending:

I choose the net trailer, as it is longer and so shows more of the actual show.

-Death

Based on a manga by Fujishiro Takeshi, serialised in Monthly Shounen Gangan. Ikuto Touhohin just had a fight with his old man, one that led him to make a rash decision to run away from home. He boards a ship, deciding to take a vacation, but the ship is suddenly hit by a huge storm – one that sends Ikuto overboard! When he regains consciousness, he realizes he is still alive… on some island. An isolated island. An isolated island with nothing but girls. Beautiful girls. Stranded on an island with only girls, no electricity, gas, radio, television… like he was back in the stone age. [stolen as always from AniDB] Its a quite funny anime out of the harem/comdey/romance genere. I had at first my probs, since it felt like some overdone harem anime that get unnatural (like Ichigo 100%, it was so… artifical and dumb… *shiver*) but after some episodes this feeling was gone and the fun really begun. Also the setting through it feels old is unusual and i must admit i never had such a scenario for a harem/comedy/romance before. Still i cant get a rid of the feeling i had something like this already… guess i don’t remember that anime anymore. I had the most fun on Suzu and Machi-nee. Suzu for just beeing cute and lovly, and Machi-nee for her evil behavior. She is quite wonderful in her ways of beeing evil^^… poor Ayane (her lil’ sister). But there are more characters that have their own intresting points like for example Chikage and her obession with research everything. The chars also grow slowly, not in a physical way but in a mental way and also as lovers (through they never actually said they loved each other the for the whole series^^). Also funny is the fact that they can communicate with the animals, and many of them have their friends. Like Suzu and the pig Tonkatsu. Tonkatsu is a quite funny one and looks like a ball with a face and 2 ears. But that not all, but for the more u have to figure out for yourself. Also what i digged up was the sweet stuff that Suzu goes nuts for as i was intrested in what this is. Its named Mame Daifuku and consist of a soft, chewy dough surrounding which covers small sphere of sweet red bean paste. I must say i never got the chance to taste it myself so i took the discription from the blog where i also found the recipe how u can make it yourself. You can find the recipe along some pictures in akatsuki talks rot‘s blog entry “mame daifuku”. Also i found later a second guide how to make Mame Daifuku at the “To Short Term Memories” blog, which is a bit more detailed and also includes pictures of the process. It sounds quite yummy and make me understand why Suzu loves it so much through it looks a lil bit weird in reality. So all together we can say that Nagasarete Airantou is a funny and entertaining anime just i have to say that i dont like the final solution for the prob of his lil sister in the end, but i wont say more ’bout this as it would spoil too much. See for yourself, i just say they could have solved it better.

Trailer (raw):

Opening:

And as for the Mame Daifuku, here u can see some pictures i took also from akatsuki’s blog:

Mame Daifuku on a plate

Mame Daifuku on a plate cutted open so u can see the inside

So, thats all, i hope u enjoyed it.

Your Death-chan

Innovative world view and elaborate set drawn by Shirow Masamune popular manga by the Appleseed, based on the aspirations of Aramaki Shinji, manager of the 2004 “Appleseed” after re-animated feature of the sci-fi action. John Woo served as a producer, including the various sectors of the global creator is in the lap of luxury concentrate on the original view of the world gargantuan scale visualization along. In the year 2138, half of humanity is nonnuclear War by death, conflict and chaos the world over. Born in a neutral city with a cease-fire (Olympus), and human cyborg, and the human gene built in, the anger and hatred to control the tribe, “Danger” is coexistent. Olympus belong to a special unit ES.W.A.T. BURIAREOSU Dunant and the battle when the partner, but with lovers. Past BURIAREOSU wounded in battle and became cyborg body is still Dunant love to change that. But one day, during a campaign was moribund BURIAREOSU serious injuries, signs of improvement have been invisible remains in a coma. Meanwhile, Dunant`s new partner as assigned by the BURIAREOSU genes designed, a cyborg before him in the face and body with the substance, terreus. Meanwhile the time, in many parts of runaway cyborg is a terrorist mirabilis, the highest level of vigilance will continue Olympus was …. [stolen from AllCinema and translated by Google]. They keept going in the same manner as the first movie but what i missed was the great music like the first had. Again i was irritated by the CG, it is good done but still it dont feel natural enough for me. I liked in cases of CG the first movie effective better but i guess that comes from the fact that it was somehow “smoother” and not as sharp as the 2nd which probably have covered the unnatural feeling of the CG a bit better. As for the story itself i quite enjoyed it through it got a bit weak on the end, it could have been a bit more thrilling. But overall it was ok and worth watching. The characters grown older and got a gained a better presents from that, especially i was noticing that on Hitomi as she wasnt acting and looking like a child anymore but behaved more mature. Also u saw the maturing technology-wise as Buriareosu got a improved cybernetic body and a somewhat different lookout with that. Also i sense difference in his agility. Well, to sum all up it wasnt perfect but ok. It had some good point but the CG again caused me some problems. Also the music somhow lacked the hightligh’s from the first movie, as there was not great track in my eyes.

Trailer:

US Trailer:

Enjoy, your Death-chan

Kasumi Kogen, the so called Village of Mist, is a town located somewhere in a tasteful and rural place in Japan. In this town, there is a training school. Surprisingly, it is the Sinobi Gakuen, a training school of kunoichi, or the female ninja. It gathers competent students from all over Japan to train them to become kunoichi. Needless to say, the villagers are alumni of the school, and they run and jump, appear and disappear, as if the whole town were a big ninja house. To this strange town, there came a girl and a man. The girl is Himawari who wants to be a ninja and respect “Ichikawa Raiso” as her master, and she came here to enter Shinobi Gakuen. The man is a new assigned teacher Marikoji Hayato. He was deceived into paying money and came here to repay his debts. They encounter in this Village of Myst. Whether their encounter is by chance or inevitable? A teacher and his student. Forbidden Love? Other students like Azami, Skimi, Himeji, Yusu wait and see their situation secretly. Whether can Himawari become a full-fledged Kunoichi? Whether can she protect her master? Well i must say usually i dont like ninja animes too much but this one was just hilarious. The mix between the characters is pretty good done as u have the stupid one, the “superpower” ones and the victim that gets targeted by the stupid one^^. It reminded me somehow on 2×2=Shinobuden! where u had a bit similar constellation (a ninja setting, a complete failed ninja, etc). Its quite enjoying to see what Himawari will undergo to please her “master”. I think if u like the ninja comedy type this should me a nice funny series. There is also a 2nd season coming as the first one i here speak about have 12 episodes and much stuff left to make fun of. Sadly it seems that the english fansub group that have picked the 2nd season dont really make progress… sigh. Well lets hope and see. Here is the opening since i couldnt get a hold of the promo yet, but it should help to give u an idea how the chars look like and stuff.

Enjoy, Death

ADV US removed several titles of their anime program from the website and had also removed them from their store. Its like they never existed, and so far there is no offical news on it. On a information request from ANN ADV Films declined to comment. The list of titles that have been removed includes:

• 009-01
• 5cm Per Second
• Ah! My Goddess: Flights of
• Fancy
• Air Gear
• Air Movie
• Air TV series
• Best Student Council
• Blade of the Phantom Master
• Comic Party Revolution
• Coyote Ragtime
• Devil May Cry
• Ghost Train
• Gurren Lagann
• Guyver
• Innocent Venus
• Jinki: Extend
• Kanon TV Series
• King of Bandit Jing: 7th Heaven
• Kurau Phantom Memory
• Le Chevalier D’Eon
• MagikanoMoeyo Ken TV Series
• Moonlight Mile
• Nerima Daikon Brothers
• Pani Pani Dash!
• Project Blue
• Pumpkin Scissors
• Red Garden
• Synethesia
• The Wallflower
• Tokyo Majin
• UFO Princess Valkyrie – Third and Fourth Seasons
• Utawarerumono
• Venus vs. Virus
• Welcome to the NHK
• Xenosaga

This list is based on the ANN News Article and what could be find in the google cache from the ICv2 webpage. If the cache fails i found also a screenshot of the news on anisuki. Here is it, see for yourself. The original ICv2 page seems to got taken down some hous later for a unkown reason.

This list practically includes all licences ADV got through the financial deal with the the Sojitz Corporation (more details on that deal can be found on ICv2 here) in late June of 2006. Since then all properties that was announced (and released) by ADV coming from various anime studios were all licensed through the ARM Corporation. The ARM Corporation itself is a subsidiary of Japan Contents Investment which is a investor group which consist of ojitz Corporation, the Development Bank of Japan and KlockWorx. In a letter to the retailers ADV said: “ADV has suspended certain elements of its former alliance with ARM Corporation, which financed the acquisition of these titles. ADV is working closely with various constituencies with the goal of restoring most if not all of these properties to our release schedule at a later date to the extent possible.” This do not only affect completed series like Nerima Daikon Brothers, Guyver, and 009-1 but also particular released series like Pumpkin Scissors, Kurau Phantom Memory, and Red Garden aswell as only announced series like Devil May Cry, Gurren Lagann and 5 Centimeters per Second. Well i says this is no good news. I hope i can archive more information about this matter soonish and keep u informed about it. Also this was the think i mentioned for ADV UK’s weird behavior, as this should also affect their programs.

-Death