Merchants and Spices and Wolves (oh my!)
I caught up on some anime viewing over the weekend, taking in the first five episodes of Spice and Wolf along with the first episode of Macross Frontier and the final two episodes of the Marimite OVA. I held off watching Spice and Wolf initially as I didn’t think the Kuroda Kazuya designs were a good match for the original novel’s Ayakura Juu illustrations (I think the strong resemblance to his work for Kaibutsu Oujo originally threw me off), but after watching a few episodes I warmed to his interpretation of Horo (Lawrence could still use some work, in my opinion).
I’m enjoying the show, though the addition of Chloe feels contrived to create a plot arc that fits in the 12 episodes (+1 OVA episode) it’s been allotted. I think it’s the kind of show that should be given room to breathe and expand over a good 26 episodes, and the conflict that has materialized out of nowhere feels forced – just let it flow, and feel more like the OP and ED. I’d say they’re the best of the season if I had anything to compare them too; is there anything else worth watching this season?
Catching up on some older material I finally watched the last two installments of the five episode Marimite OVA series (nominally dubbed “season 3”). They were fun, especially episode four (gakuran Sachiko-sama banzai~!), although they didn’t quite pack the punch of some of the material in earlier seasons; I’m looking forward to the promised season four TV anime, that should bring us back into exciting territory – will Yoshino find her soeur? Will Yumi choose drill or denpa? What will become of Sachiko and Rei following their graduation? I can’t wait. :3
Macross Frontier was gruesome, in that I shudder to imagine what dark rituals must have been performed to raise the budget necessary to pull that episode together. I haven’t seen anime that cinematic in a long time, and am having trouble believing that it’s actually a TV series… I’m sure subsequent episodes won’t be as flashy as the pilot, but man, that was all kinds of crazy awesome. I’m not convinced that squeezable, squeaky cell phones are the wave of the future, though. I’m planning a look ahead at the shows coming up this spring from a character design perspective, so I’ll be revisiting the topic of Macross F again soon.
Hard Core Vibes
Following Zepy’s scoop over at Canned Dogs that Core Magazine was offering to send free copies of their eromanga out to blogs to review for a six month period, I said what the hell and applied. Their Megastore Comics imprint has produced a consistent line of quality releases over the past few years with a ratio of hits to misses more favorable than just about any other eromanga publisher; I don’t think it could be too painful to be obligated to review their books, and it would provide the impetus needed to continue the Eromanga Toshokan column. Here’s hoping. :3
Oretachi Utawarerumono
A big translation release from the English language visual novel fan scene came over the weekend in the form of a full English patch for the PC DVD version of Aquaplus/Leaf’s Utawarerumono. It was produced by mirror moon, the same group that released a Tsukihime patch last year, and while listed officially as an open beta it appears to be free of serious bugs. Discussion of the release can be found here; the patch-compatible DVD version of the game can be bought here and here.
Futaket 4 Circle Applications Open
The official site for futanari-themed doujin convention Futaket has been updated with further information on the fourth iteration of the event, scheduled to take place on May 4th. As of last Friday the planning committee is now taking online applications for circle participation, and paper applications have also been distributed to Toranoana and Melon Books stores around the country. I’m definitely planning to apply, though I had a circle space at Sunshine Creation 38 last Sunday and wasn’t able to make the event so I’m not sure how this one will fare either. orz
In a final note, HD’s server was down for several hours over the weekend for a server move. Should announce these things before they happen, but someone around here is forgetful…
Dammit, I have Spice and Wolf sitting in my HDD; the “from the creators of Love Love? and Cosplayers” has been keeping me away from it. Should start watching now.
Let’s hope Macross F doesn’t dissapoint; the first episode did feel like Macross, so it would be sad to see it go downhill.
And yeah, Megastore Comics has a very nice line-up; I hope you get selected, even if the chances for an english language blog seem slim.
Oh yes! It would be great to see more Eromanga Toshokan ^^ (your column introduced me to Kisaragi Gunma, for which I am eternally greatful).
>is there anything else worth watching this season?
Yes, Hakaba Kitaro :)
Spice & Wolf is pretty much the only half-decent new show to have started this season. Which is pretty depressing because personally I really don’t like it and it essentially has left me with nothing new to watch except for stuff from 2007 and earlier, and a couple of sequels (Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Minami-ke Okawari).
Hopefully next season pulls it back together again.
Do you think a complete Macross noob (i.e. me) could enjoy Macross Frontier? My Macross experience is limited to half of Macross Plus which I didn’t really like, but that was a long time ago.
>>Nemo_N
I can’t unequivocally recommend Spice and Wolf; the OP and ED are my favorite parts of the show, and I have a feeling it would do better conceptually in novel form than in a compact anime like this. Still, it’s not a bad watch so far.
>>YnY-u
I do plan on getting back to the eromanga reviews regardless of whether Core pulls through with this deal… just need to get things together here on this end, they’ll probably start up following the site renewal at the end of this month.
>>Ialda
The Kitaro franchise has never really grabbed me, I’m afraid. I’ll watch it if it’s on somewhere, but probably not something I’ll end up searching out for myself…
>>NegativeZero
I was actually somewhat relieved when looking over the list of new shows for this winter to see that there were only a couple of titles that looked remotely interesting to me – it’s nice to have a break from stuff I feel like I need to watch to stay current. The spring is looking much more promising I think, what with Geass 2, Macross F, Druaga, and Toshokan Sensou.
I think it’s a bit early to judge Macross F after just one episode. The plot isn’t anything new thus far, but visually and aurally it’s a stunning piece of work, and I’m holding out hopes that the team of talent they’ve assembled will be able to carry the series through. I don’t think you need to have any prior experience with the franchise to enjoy the show (you might enjoy it more, actually, as some of the memes might not feel so recycled).
whew…had a scare yesterday when I thought HD is gone. Glad to see it back online again. 8)
Hmm.. What about Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei? I have not gotten to watch any of the second season yet, but I liked season one. And it is directed by Akiyuki Shinbo…
It’s sort of a slow anime season… there are a number of good shows, but nothing in the instant classic category. I’m enjoying Spice and Wolf, though the warring merchant association arc is harshing my mellow. Hakaba Kitaro is fun, in an old stream-of-consciousness horror manga way. Shigofumi is my favorite so far: Jigoku Shoujo-style urban horror with lots of satisfying plot twists, plus heavily armed girls in postal uniforms.
Macross F strikes me as being a medley of all previous Macross series, so I guess it might be a good place to start for the uninitiated! Personally, I think the franchise reached its high water mark with Ai Oboeteimasuka.
>>yny-u
Zetsubou-sensei is a series I’ve been meaning to catch up on, I watched the first few episodes of the first season and enjoyed them immensely. I’ll definitely queue up the second season when I’m able.
>>Dr. Matt
I agree with you regarding Macross, I think DYRL was the culmination of the franchise – though the original series was great, and I enjoyed Macross Plus and what I’ve seen of Seven. I try to forget that Zero exists except when I’m particularly drunk…
…And you don’t even mention Macross II :) The rule of thumb used to be that every other Macross spinoff was worth watching, starting with DYRL, but I’ve lost track of where we are in the sequence.
DYRL was such an outstanding movie adaptation of a longish TV show. They really managed to cut the fat, keep all the good stuff and make it even better.
And of course, for us Minmay fanboys, there’s the one and only nude sequence in all of Macross. 8D
I agree with you Shingo and Matt – DYRL is a very nice concise and complete version of the overly long TV series (which imo, should have ended when Macross and Bretai joined forces and destroyed Boldoz(sp?))
I have yet to see Macross II, it’s a gap in my education. orz
I take it it’s not that highly recommended? Maybe I should go hunt it up…
I think that about the nicest thing I’ve heard someone say about Macross II was that it’s disappointing. I’m pretty sure I watched it back in the day, but the memories are thoroughly repressed.