The Null Set Is 4 Years Old Today
After almost 2 years of kicking around the idea of starting an anime blog I decided four years ago today to see if I could write an anime blog and keep up with it. I guess the answer was – yes I could. (With the caveat that my writing style never developed into something that I liked and I haven’t been posting as much as I’d like to 
.)
Looking over my previous anniversary posts I noticed that they get shorter each year and this trend will probably continue this year though I might start showing my age by reminiscing about the good old days …
… Thinking back, it was a strange decision to make about starting a blog. I was always more math/science attuned and find organizing my thoughts into something coherent on paper a very difficult task. For example, that comment I left in the previous post took me almost two hours to write. Also, during the anime season that I started blogging, Winter 2008, I was feeling burned out over anime and was only watching one series. Why this was a good time to start blogging about anime is beyond me now. …
Sorry about that; reaching four years isn’t even that old compared to many blogs out there.
Before I lose anymore eyeballs to my meandering thoughts, I want to wholeheartedly thank the people who continue to read and comment on my little blog.
Dear Aniplex, You’re Setting Puella Magi Madoka Magica Up to Fail In America and You Probably Won’t Even Know Why
What Aniplex needs
The recent news concerning the demise of Bandai in the United States should sadden anime fans living in Region 1 but it was hardly unexpected news. Instead, the reason why Bandai is shutting down now is the surprising part. The Japanese puppet masters behind the American subsidiary decided that if the American consumer would not adhere to a similar model as the Japanese consumer then they would just close the American subsidiary down and try to entice the American hard-core anime fans into importing Japanese media at Japanese market prices because the alternative – anime at a reasonable price that could be reverse imported – would threaten the stability of the Japanese market.
While perusing the articles about Bandai I had a light bulb moment concerning the impending English adaptation of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Those reading can probably guess where this is heading but before I get to discussing the recently released English trailer I have to establish something first.
Secret Santa Project – Figure 17 Review
In spite of only needing to watch and review a single title for the Secret Santa Project, the chance of discovering excellence a second time after Noein convinced me to squeeze a second series in. I chose Noein because it’s staff later did one of my favorite anime, Birdy the Mighty Decode, but I lacked such a clear indicator for the second choice. On one hand I had an anime called Figure 17 – which I’ve never heard of – and on the other was an anime called Simoun – which I remember hearing some positive buzz for. I decided that picking Simoun wasn’t in the spirit of the Secret Santa Project and went with the older and unknown Figure 17 as my second pick.
Secret Santa Project – Noein Review
I know what you’re thinking at this point – “He’s still alive? It’s a Christmas miracle!” Actually, probably not and those same readers probably don’t want some long meta explanation as to why I’ve been absent when you’re just here for an anime review. Don’t worry, I feel your pain; my excuse is related . I like to write about anime that excites me in one way or the other and it was difficult to find that spark this season when compared to the two anime series that I watched for the Secret Santa Project.
I can’t tell you how many times I thought, “Gee, I really should write something for my anime blog … Noein was an awesome show … but I have to wait till Christmas eve to post about it … well, ahm … Noein was an awesome show …” repeat to ad nauseam. Of course, what I should have done was taken the time to write my review of Noein during November or any day of December before today but the side of me that demands perfection told me I had plenty of time to figure out how best to convey the sheer epic epicness of Noein. I’m not that surprised that it’s Christmas eve and I’m just starting now without figuring the perfect pitch .
This is the best I’ve come up with.
Noein is ambitious, grand science fiction; wrapped in an emotionally satisfying story of love, redemption, and friendship; executed perfectly and featuring some of the best animated and choreographed action scenes ever.
Remembering Veterans Day
Watching Gurren Lagann invariably leaves me in a contemplative mood; so, I wasn’t surprised when my recent rewatch of it ended with me reflecting on the quiet heroism that my grandfather (on my mother’s side) displayed throughout his life, which includes fighting in World War II. I decided to be a bit selfish and write something for this blog about him so others can read how incredible he was. I chose today to this so I could also remind people to thank a vet for the sacrifices that they have made.
My grandfather was a man of little words and he didn’t like talking about his experiences in WWII or his earlier life so I’ve only heard parts of the story of his life from other family members over many different times and have had to put them together. It goes something like this.
Happy Halloween!
Of all the holidays that inspire anime bloggers to post off-topic about, Halloween wouldn’t be my personal choice as the biggest but I just realized that I haven’t missed a Halloween yet. So for the fourth year running, I hope everyone out there had a great Halloween.
With the second episode of Last Exile ~ Fam: The Silver Wing, Gonzo’s firmly shifted this anime into the winner’s column. They did this, in part, by embedding enough material that this life long SF fan can do one of his favorite activities – mental world building and guessing what’ll happen next. As long as Gonzo doesn’t screw this up, I believe this series of Last Exile could be even greater in scale than the first series and have a more epic story with better characters.
To see how I reach that conclusion, let’s start at the beginning.
This Season’s Biggest Self-Declared Failure
Surprisingly, it’s not this show.
Implicitly stated at the start of any show, anime or otherwise, is a promise of some sort to the viewers about what they can expect to see accomplished by the show. It might be a spectacular CG explosion, an opening monologue by one of the main characters, or an opening theme song with a montage of the various characters of the show doing a variety of things but, whatever it is, it’s there. If the viewer is amicable towards this promise then, chances are, the viewer will decide to continue watching the show with this promise morphing into what’s expected of the show.
There’s More to Mayo Chiki Than Just Low-Brow Humor
Mayo Chiki is never going to be considered a great anime, moderately entertaining and amusing – yes, but great – no; however, even for an anime like Mayo Chiki, being aware of classical Japanese literary works can come in handy. My own knowledge of classical Japanese literary works is very, very limited but I happened to have the required knowledge to understand the joke in the final scene of episode 10 and to find it hilarious.
Rewatching Last Exile: Subtitled – Please, I Don’t Want Another Lose Another Old Favorite
With Gonzo’s gamble for resurrection centered on returning to one of their best series, Last Exile, with a new series called Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam coming out this Fall, a rewatch of the first Last Exile seemed in order except I was very leery of doing so. Old favorites from when I was first becoming an anime fan haven’t faired that well recently. Paranoia Agent was still as awesome as I remember it (thanks to being done by Satoshi Kon) but I outright hated Witch Hunter Robin and found Kenshin a chore to get through. I didn’t want to lose another one and Gonzo’s later “quality” anime wasn’t reassuring me.
