I'm currently in the middle of packing for the move back to Singapore, which means that anime reviews and such might be a bit slow to come, mainly because I don't actually have the energy to sit down in front of the computer to watch and blog about anime. When I'm tired, I turn monosyllabic. Of course, when I'm tired and irritated, then I turn snarky; neither situation is a happy one.

Couple that with both Issue 10 on City of Heroes being released and my getting Pokemon Diamond, and you might see how deep this hole goes. I've been grinding my way through the game and being more or less ten levels above the opponent whenever I can, which means that I'm just barely managing to survive in the single-player game. (I have no intention of battling competitively.) The playing of MMOGs has inured me to the practice of performing repetitive actions for limited gain save after long periods of time; I now think nothing of massacring a couple of million Nameless Minions in order to gain a single level, mainly because I start calculating based on personal milestones (one thousand, one thousand and one, one thousand and two… five hundred thousand and eighty-six, five hundred thousand and eighty-seven…) how long it is likely to take. There is no skill involved here, merely patience.

One wonders how much of the popularity of Pokemon is due to the influence of the anime, and how much of the anime's popularity is thanks to the game. Perhaps it is a sort of dual Ouroboros, forever feeding in on itself, each a catalyst for the other.

In any case, expect updates to be sporadic. This is a Formal Notification about the release of the Two Posts Per Week limitation: I may not have a computer during the final days with which to post from, hence no posts from me.

Until then, I'll try to work out how best to continue blogging when in Singapore. Can't really download or otherwise obtain the latest anime, and my supply of (legit) DVDs will run out sooner or later. Maybe I'll make a final post about it before I go.

Those who know me in Real Life would probably remember that my own cellphone ringtone is, in fact, also "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu" from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

It actually works kind of well, since I generally pick up the phone soon after the first line of Mikurun-run, and thus have the song running through my head when I answer, leading to a sort of manic cheerfulness in my tone of voice.

It has scared more than a few people.

(I also have a Haruhi wallpaper for my cellphone. But that's another story.)

I'm not sure how analogous this is to the much-maligned l33tspeak of the English-speaking Internet, but I've been idly fascinated by how some Japanese words can be expressed with a sequence of numbers. This could very well be the equivalent of our going "2″ for "to" or "too", or "4″ for "for". It probably does not take much to decipher a phrase like "all 4 1 n 1 4 all", although one may feel the urge to scoop one's brains out with a spork afterwards.

Still, with the various ways of pronouncing a number in Japanese and the possibility of using the English pronunciation, I get the feeling that the number substitutions in this case is a bit more lax. The foremost example I can come up with offhand in anime would be in Keroro Gunsou, aka Sgt. Frog. (I'll keep to the original Japanese title not out of anime elitism, but entirely because I'm far too used to it and hate having to backspace-and-retype the name every single time.)

In the series, Natsumi Hinata sometimes goes by the handle of "723″, which can be broken up into: "na" (7, "nana"), "tsu" (2, as in "two"), mi (3, "mitsu"). This would be easily understood by context, but considering that the 2 can be read as "tsu" ("two"), "ni" (one way of saying "2″), and "futatsu" (another way of saying "2″, mostly used for counting objects), the decryption may not be as simple as in a simpler cypher.

Similarly, Mutsumi becomes "623″, Kururu becomes "966″, and Kogoro turns into "556″. Explaining all of this would probably take a lot more time than anyone would probably feel like spending.

More common words and phrases have also been numerified. "Thank you", when pronounced quickly using Japanese syllables, turns into "Sankyuu", which in turn can be converted into "39″, "san" and "kyu". I would imagine that going "39″ would indicate extreme informality, like tossing off a quick "thanks" instead of a full "thank you".

And then there's "yoroshiku", which would translate very roughly as a sort of request for a favour, but distilled into a mere (and yet expected) formality. This appears to have two ways of numerifying that I remember seeing in anime: 4649 and 4679, depending on whether one uses the "shi" pronunciation for "4″ (plus the first "yon"/"yo" pronunciation), or the "shichi" pronunciation for "7″. Searching for "yoroshiku 4649" yielded 1,540 results on Google, while "yoroshiku 4679" a mere 104.

On the faintest of tangents, I pondered about all this while watching Keroro Gunsou. It's surprising how enjoyable it is, although I have to say that I much prefer the human characters (or really, anyone else) to the alien frogs. It's gotten to the point where any non-loli Chiwa Saitou role always brings to mind Natsumi Hinata, and any Mamiko Noto role period reminds me of Angol Mois.

I suppose part of it is that when not going through Wacky Hijinks in Trying To Take Over The World, the quieter episodes deal heavily with nostalgia and the happier, peaceful side of life. Also, the character designs for the (humanoid) female characters are invariably incredibly cute.

(Reposting to fix several bits of bad coding. Never HTML when drunk, people.)

I'm not entirely sure why, but this episode did not really seem as appealing to write about as others. I suppose that even though it had a great deal of future plot points introduced, the actual episode itself was not, well, dramatically charged or otherwise compelling. It was one step up from filler, so to speak. (Note that I have absolutely nothing against filler, and indeed, in some cases, prefer filler to actual plot.)

Anyway. Episode 12 of Card Captor Sakura, "Sakura's Never-Ending Day", deals mainly with one of the basic truths of the universe, being Time. Experience with playing a Time-focused character in Mage: The Awakening implies that it is a tremendously powerful ability (I mean, seriously, it's near-broken), but also quite draining (I blow Mana points like water). This matches up quite well with uses of the Time card in future episodes.

I should also note that I'm finding fewer things to say about this episode as I go on. So if this summary seems less entertaining than usual, well, there's always next time. Or the next one after that, if needed. I do have fifty-eight more episodes and two movies to go.

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I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but the opening animation for Nanatsuiro Drops ("Shining stars bless" performed by Kaori Utatsuki) makes me feel all hanyaa~n and quite incapable of using the vast majority of my vocabulary in describing it, other than "cute" and "sparkly". The overall feel is that of a Typical Magical Girl show, with nothing special or surprising, and yet… happy. After all the excitement and all the adventure, when all the Macguffins have been collected and the series heads towards its extremely standard conclusion, Everything Will Be All Right.

It is comfort anime. Being unsurprising should be its entire raison d'etre.

This episode does not have a whole lot of action, but it does have a bit of insight into Sumomo's friendship with Nako. Not a lot, but a bit. I have to say that Yuki doesn't really trigger my "why is the magical girl mascot even there" gut feelings for some reason; possibly this is because he's not perverted, arrogant, or hyperactive, and his voice isn't an odd falsetto. Besides, it's not like he's a Real Magical Girl Mascot in the usual sense.

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One thing which I've noticed since I started actually being a part of fandom, identifying myself as an anime fan, is that I appear to have a higher than usual tolerance of the more saccharine parts of anime. Reading reviews which slam a series for being "too cutesy" or "too sweet", I have to stare in confusion and bemusement, since I often enjoyed the parts which they do not like.

As for originality, it is a commendable ideal, but when all is said and done, it is not that essential to me. I can happily watch twenty six episodes of regurgitated cliches, assuming these cliches are something which are Relevant To My Tastes. It is as though I am presented with a portion of my favourite food, with the option of getting more of it as I please. I don't really see a downside to this.

Then again, seeing as how I'm used to grinding in games, online or otherwise, I'm perfectly happy with repetition.

Nanatsuiro Drops is, from the first episode (and technically the second, but that's skipping ahead), a rather unoriginal series. Based on an eroge, the show nevertheless feels as though it is aimed towards the same sort of audience Card Captor Sakura was, in all sorts of ways: there is that veneer of Bishoujo Harem Comedy, but thus far the primary focus is on a more pure interpretation of the magical girl genre than we've seen in a while. ("Pure", in this case, meaning Not Ecchi, rather than anything about faithful adaptations.)

In this, I'd say that anything it does (so far), Card Captor Sakura does better, and this might not even be all that biased. CCS has more likeable characters, and overall better story progression and direction. Nanatsuiro Drops just doesn't have anything eye-catching that would make it stand out against the "deeper" shows this season.

But yanno, with all the new "dark" and "edgy" types of magical girls, not even counting the more ecchi variations, it's kind of refreshing to have something that's simple and sweet. Something with bright colours and designs, with laughter rather than tears. Something happy.

Which is why I'm hoping, oh so very much hoping, that this trend will continue. If it turns out to lean more towards the Bishoujo Harem Comedy side of the spectrum, I'd be disappointed, but not too badly. If it turns out to be Dark and Angsty, I will feel very, very betrayed.

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You had to have seen this coming. I mean, you had to. Have I not been completely open and clear about what this blog is about? Have I not made my tastes known to all who ask? And has anything that this show has advertised as being about been in any way contrary to these tastes?

Before I go into the episode proper, I should perhaps mention that contrary to popular belief, the Moetan books are not Engrish-y. In fact, the phrases are (at least for the revised editions and the later books) mostly grammatically correct. What makes them unintentionally hilarious is that despite being grammatically correct, it may still make little sense. Or, in Moetan's case, the meaning is apparent only to the hardcore fan of anime and assorted pop culture (I'm trying not to use the word "otaku" due to the confused definitions for it).

For example, something from the second book which strikes rather close, the sentence for the word "will" goes "The alien, and the woman from the future and the guy with supernatural powers all exist because of the girl's will." (Seriously, it's on page 20.) Apart from the first "and" and the lack of a serial comma (yes, I know that the latter is controversial), this is better than many forum posts by native English speakers that I've seen.

In other words, if you're planning on watching this anime for the Engrish, you're likely to be disappointed. The anime doesn't even have that much English in it, apart from two sentences. In fact, if you're looking for anything other than what looks like a standard non-action magical girl show featuring lots of loli fanservice, this is not for you. (So far.)

As should be obvious, I loved this episode.

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I do realize that this is probably an essential part of the comedy, but occasionally I have to wonder why it is that in the wackier harem comedy anime, the main male protagonist is so very unlucky. It is as though the universe exists entirely to take a dump onto that character's karma. After a while, it ceases to be mere schadenfreude, and turns into a sort of horrific and yet hilarious absurdist comedy.

Offhand, I remember that Excel Saga deals with a parody of something like this in the form of Pedro and his screams of despair, and I'm sure we all remember Keitarou Urashima from Love Hina. The sequence of events goes something like such: the male lead attempts to do a certain task. Circumstances all converge in a highly improbable manner that may power starships to place him in a position of maximum embarrassment and bodily discomfort, stopping just short of outright killing him. (Or not, as the more outrageous shows sometimes attempt: Dokuro-chan, anyone?) Meanwhile, there will be the presence of an attractive girl (or several), which may or may not have any actual bearing on the male lead's predicament.

Now, note that I don't have an actual problem with this. This is, after all, what looks like a staple of the genre, and while I don't especially like the stereotypical hapless male lead, I don't dislike him either. It just is, like the mountains or the seas or the rabid fangirls.

What does give me pause, however, is in how over the top some of these situations may be. The male lead's physical resilience is shown to far exceed anything the more serious sort of Western superhero is capable of withstanding, as long as he shows an adverse reaction to it. Everything is, in effect, comedic damage, which lasts until it is no longer funny. Damage resistance is inversely proportional to how relevant the scene is for plot progression: Keitarou randomly accidentally peeks at Naru, and get punted into Low Earth Orbit with no ill effects. He gets into Tokyo University before the plot desires, and he gets squished by a giant stone head, resulting in a broken leg. This is Warner Brothers Cartoon Violence, with the addition of cute girls.

Mention should also be made that occasionally the girls are the ones suffering from the whims of comedy. To follow with the Love Hina example, Mutsumi is probably the most obvious, although all of the Hinata-sou residents (with the possible exception of Haruka) have had bad luck happen to them at one point or another (in Motoko's case, probably because the serious ones are funnier). And then there's the Misfortunes of Mikuru Asahina, where it is unclear how much of the plot abuse is due to Haruhi's viewing of the world in genre conventions, and how much is due to Mikuru's doormat personality interacting with Haruhi's forceful one, resulting in unintended consequences. Considering Haruhi's powers, this question may well be pointless.

In any case, once again, I must repeat that I don't see this as a Bad Thing, or a Good Thing, but merely a Thing Which Exists. Why it exists is something that someone else, likely with a firmer grasp of film history, would have to answer.

Produced below is part of the text of a Typical Rant on the City of Heroes official boards, which I will have to mention for the record is not as bad as some of the worst examples of the type, but is still unfortunately typical.

I've tried to edit out any references to obscure knowledge only players of the game would have (if you're wondering, the original rant was a diatribe against Enhancement Diversification, quite inaccurately at that; the nerfs that were mentioned came in the Global Defense Nerf in the previous content update), as well as removed the swearwords (which were censored out by the swear filter anyway). Other than that, the rant is fairly unchanged, but I've added in formatting and highlights for reasons of this post.

It's sad that [the devs] decided to go through with this change, when it's clear that it's their myopic "vision" of the [game] which drives [players] away. They should be following their stated goal of giving the [players] what they want, not wasting their time with this slap in the face of loyal customers. Just look around you to see how everyone is leaving in droves when the [game] could have been such a great one, but was run into the ground by stupidity. I predict that the [game] will not have much longer to live, and we are seeing its dying moments even now. I for one will never recommend this [game] to anyone ever.

Don't bother looking for this post: it was locked due to the inevitable flamewar, and got pruned in the regular forum maintenance which delete older inactive threads (not so much censorship as mere software limitations).

Now. You've undoubtedly noticed the highlighted words. In the style of madlibs, try replacing those words with the following:

the devs = Kyoto Animation or Sunrise or GAINAX or Studio Bones or whatever
game = anime or fandom, whichever seems more appropriate
players = fans

Does this look familiar?

I always find that being involved in many fandoms, especially if they do not tend to cross-pollinate, provides for a great deal of insight into how people (specifically, fans) tend to act in much the same way everywhere. For example, the announcement of the cancellation of Kodomo no Jikan was met with cries of outrage about "censorship" that had an uncanny resemblance to those surrounding what was termed Livejournal Strikeout 2007. And, as mentioned, madlibbing one angry rant from one source makes it as interchangeable as a form letter.

What is the point of this post, apart from being Blatant Filler? Well, I usually do things like this when I am well and truly irritated, which should give you an indication about my current state of mind. But mostly, I'd just like for any readers to depart with the idea that their championed causes in response to various issues, serious or otherwise, are not exactly unique. And rather importantly, when engaging in the inevitable battles which give rise to heated feelings and words, do remember the progressions and outcomes of all the other examples. It may provide for some insight.

In other offtopic news, the whole "anime elitism" debate going on right now is… well, I'm not exactly staying out of it as much as staying out of it this time, since all my viewpoints have been hammered to death already to what was probably an empty room. Let's just say that I'm tired of having to repeat myself for now; I might come back with greater energy in a while.