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The twintailed blonde girl is tsundere.

Kampfer has been getting… well, not rave reviews. It is, in fact, getting slammed pretty hard, in the way just about every show I like has been slammed at one point or another (the sole exception is Card Captor Sakura, which appears unslammable). The difference is that after all that slamming, if the slammer is still around, the disclaimer invariably appears: "it's bad, but I can't stop watching it."

There are apocryphal stories of Ranma 1/2, often cited to be the most popular gender-bender anime series among Anglophone audiences, being a sort of gateway to the realization of gender dysphoria among some viewers. Occasionally I suspect that the reason I keep playing as female characters in games is due to Ranma 1/2 being my very first anime. I don't think I have Gender Identity Disorder, because despite my interests and what I have been told is a disturbing lack of Internet Testosterone, I do still like looking at cute girls. Then again, you never know.

In all the male-to-female gender-bender stories that I have viewed, read, or otherwise experienced since then, assuming the story was made for popular consumption and not, say, a deliberate subversion (which to my view is good only for a one-shot gag, and quite unsustainable through an entire series), one truth appears to be unquestioned: the former male is certainly going to turn into an attractive female. It is a convention as established as drawing characters with the usual number of limbs and appendages.

Being that Kampfer is not the sort of show to troll viewers with a subversion in this, Natsuru appears to follow this trend. In fact, she (changing pronouns as appropriate) follows it too well, and I half-expect some sort of psuedo-scientific explanation of why she seems so popular among the female students. Perhaps Girl-Natsuru is seen to be more manly than Guy-Natsuru? It is a mystery.

And then there is the tradition of giving the genderbent-into-female character even larger cup-sizes than most of the rest of the cast, for no conceivable reason. (Well, other than the meta-reason of fanservice, which is always a good reason.) Presumably back problems are avoided by turning into girl-form only occasionally, but having those assets without any real need for them seems a little odd. Not unwelcome, just… odd.

In my darker moments, I often wonder if the joke about breasts being good flotation devices would preclude the existence of the Jusenkyo Spring of Drowned Girl, unless she was not as well-endowed as her spiritual descendants turned out to be.

You can kind of tell how busy my week has been or is likely to be by checking when I post to this blog. As I keep saying, two posts a week without guarantee of quality. If both of these appear on a Sunday, it is a sign that the schedule of my life is going to be a pain for the next two weeks, and I will have to post again on a Saturday.

I've been trying out roleplaying on a MUSH. A PersonaMUSH, as it is so named. The general world of the Persona-verse as described in Persona 3 and 4 (and only as described there, since I've never played any other Persona games) is one of those, like the Negima-verse and the Nanoha-verse and the ZKC-verse, where I like to create characters in.

I've never MUSHed before. This is a learning experience, and the lesson that is being pounded into my Skull Of +5 Thickness is that I am in entirely the wrong time zone.

Most of the basic character concept comes from one of those discarded bits of proto-characters that always turn up when I am in the midst of storycrafting. (I realize this sounds a lot more formalized that it really is, but I can't think of any other term.) A useful trait of all these settings is that it's all magic, even if it's actually science fiction or superpowers or whatnot. Essentially, things that cannot be done in Real Life, but can be done in that setting because it's cool.

Unfortunately, I have to keep the aspect of Coolness subordinate to the aspect of Consistency, mostly because I like characters who find new and creative ways to use what powers they already have, and I can't do that if I don't know what these powers actually are. This may be why I get accused of being too much of a killjoy when it comes to Cool Things Happening.

At least in this MUSH the powers are already defined, in that they are the best approximations the MUSH can do to the game powers. Everything else is roleplay.

I must admit that the primary reason I'm in PersonaMUSH is because I can't wait for Persona 3 Portable, and the opportunity to play a female protagonist. I have made this point before, but I can't quite be bothered to search for the relevant posts, so you're on your own there. But my character's appearance was first inspired by that of the female main character, popularly named "Minako" (or alternately "Misato"), and then altered to be less obviously ripped-off. Her personality gains some bits from both the proto-character (formerly a researcher from the Nanoha-verse), as well as the manga depictions of Minato Arisato (aka Male Main Character of Persona 3) translated into girl-form. Her character story arc stems from Doctor Faustus.

So it goes.

If you do wish to drop by PersonaMUSH, it is at rpg-works.net, port 2012. Shiori Hibiki will be there, likely whining to what few may listen about how annoying it is to have to live life Out Of Character at GMT+8.

City of Heroes has a number of dance emotes, for a given value of "dance". This is because the animator who first manipulated the game model frames for this purpose based the moves off his own flailing attempts, and I use these less-than-flattering words because I am quoting to the best of my knowledge the man himself.

One of these dances, known among players as the Hyperactive Monkey, requires such great movements of the abdomen that when I introduced a friend to the game, she noted that doing that dance in real life would likely rupture something important.

Watching the ending animation for Kampfer, I cannot help but think of that phrase.

Kampfer has been billed as a "guilty pleasure", if it has been billed positively at all. While I am certainly going to be following this show, assuming it does not deviate too far from the source, I cannot quite call it a "guilty pleasure", as I feel refreshingly free of guilt.

We'll keep on trying. We'll tread that fine line. We'll keep on trying, until the end of time.

I admit that I didn't expect Marina Inoue to voice both versions of Natsuru. When I read the manga, Guy!Natsuru seemed like he'd be voiced by a Standard Harem Comedy Protagonist Voice Actor. I shouldn't be surprised, considering some small plot points hinged on Girl!Natsuru sounding a lot like Guy!Natsuru.

Speaking of which, the fourth-wall-breaking voice actress jokes in this episode fall just short of excessive. Yukari Tamura got the longest mention, which is a little brain-breaking in her role as a foul-mouthed plush bunny post-ritual disembowelment. Yui Horie and "the original Shizuka" (Michiko Nomura; reference to Doraemon) were also mentioned. One gets the feeling that the writers felt like being a little too clever.

This can also be seen in the vast amount of double- and single-entendres which pass for much of the comedy. I cannot find fault in this, seeing as I usually do much the same thing anyway. Clearly this is not a show to be taken seriously.

Gender-bender premises, especially aimed at the male demographics, are a fascinating source of observation for the reactions. We've seen it in action with Mizuho in Otoboku and Jun in Happiness, as well as unofficially with Kyonko. Anime, already a commonly-used art style for good-looking characters in general, is able to sidestep all the messy biology inherent in the problem.

And so we end up admiring what is, to all intents and purposes, a cute girl, while still knowing that there is still a technical male presence in that picture, be their magical transformation sequence ever so pretty and sparkly.

Kuroko is not the first teleporter who gets that onomatopoeia stuck in my head. Chances are I've used this reference before, and I will use it again.

My primary familiarity with A Certain Scientific Railgun is from the manga version. Well, obviously, since the anime just started airing. Despite the title, I have the impression that this show will not exactly be a shining pinnacle of accuracy in physics.

I'm not as familiar with the original source of A Certain Magical Index, having read the first few bits of the manga until what I think could be counted as the end of the (relatively long) prologue, but my impression of the male protagonist, Touma, is that while he has a special power, it is nowhere near as powerful as pretty much everyone else in the show. Touma gets to be the main character through a combination of luck, some skilful use of his abilities, and the sheer bloody-mindedness that is available to every male shounen series protagonist.

However, in Railgun, he's Mikoto's kinda-sorta rival, in that no matter what Mikoto wants to do, he can one-up her without even breaking a sweat, largely because his Imagine Breaker power is a great deal more general-purpose than her electromagnetism.

Same character, two different viewpoints. It's not a huge revelation. I just found the plot quirks interesting.

As for the actual episode itself, this is probably one of those series I'll be following if I remember to, since a) I already know the story, and b) I know there will be some measure of faux-philosophical angsting in store.

I wonder if it says something about me that the yuri-ness of Kuroko is amusing, but not especially titillating. Is this a special case, or have I changed my tastes?

I've never liked Neon Genesis Evangelion. This isn't to say that I hated it or anything, but more that it failed to fully elicit any sort of severe response in any direction. I didn't hate it, and I didn't like it; I was just not interested in it.

Which, I suppose, is sort of the problem, and worse than active dislike of the series: Evangelion failed to interest me, and so the only emotion I drew from the series itself (distinct from the emotions I have towards the fandom, which ranges from polite attention to eye-twitching irritation) was boredom. The series failed to engage me at any level. I've been classified as a hater of the series because of this, which I think kind of misses the issue: I don't have the passion to hate Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's just there. You may as well ask me what I think about the cultivation of yams.

From conversations with people who are fans of the series, it appears that a common thread (but by no means universal) is the ability to identify with the main characters, most often Shinji. (Occasionally Asuka is held to be the identifiable character; sometimes Misato.) They see themselves in Shinji, and they can empathize heavily with what he is going through.

Or maybe not, and I am completely misunderstanding the situation. I can kind of see it academically, but I cannot quite grok it to the fullness of understanding. This is because the three main characters, Shinji, Asuka, and Rei, are thoroughly unidentifiable for me. About the closest character I can empathize with is Rei, since she's quiet and unassuming, but I hear that she's not supposed to be empathizable, so I apparently have been suckered in or something.

I'm pretty sure I was never like Shinji or Asuka. This is not a boast, since it's entirely likely that I was in some way worse. But I didn't have parental issues, and I grew up in a happy home environment. There is just nothing connecting me with people who went through what Shinji and co. did. It's kind of like a cultural gap, except not exactly cultural, but more circumstantial. I recognize that it is a valid personality type; it's just not mine.

I think the character who would have the same sort of reactions I would might be Maya Ibuki. Her actions seem kind of natural, at least.

And since I can't empathize with the main characters, my other option was to watch them from the outside, seeing how they act from the viewpoint of an invisible observer. Considering my usual tastes in comedy and lighthearted fun, however, Evangelion held no joy for me.

I can understand that it is significant to the culture of anime, as well as its enormous influence. But I just don't like it. This has no bearing on its quality or its importance; just my personal tastes.

I should probably be spending more time on this topic, but not only do I not have the time or inclination to do so, I also don't think there is anything more that has not already been said by many others far more eloquent than I am.

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I stopped watching Bakemonogatari after the second episode or so (I think I got through about half of number three), mainly through finding all sorts of excuses not to continue watching. Too little time, too many other anime I prefer watching… to be honest, it's really the latter reason which indirectly points to why I never got into the buzz for the show: it's not quite that I want to watch other anime more, it's that I don't want to watch Bakemonogatari as much.

The reasons are fairly petty, as can be seen from the fact that I never got past the first few episodes. It's not SHAFT's weirdness in art direction, although I'd be happier if they went without. After all, my candidate for third-favourite series of all time is Hidamari Sketch. It's SHAFT's tendencies in mood direction which bother me: Bakemonogatari, at least in the first few episodes, is not a happy show. It's dark and gothic and edgy. And SHAFT has a tendency, in edgy works, to brutally subvert audience expectations and audience demographic stereotypes (cf. Pani Poni Dash).

The comments about "moe characters" in the first episode made me feel immediately defensive: is it making fun of me? Saying "oh, it's just a general stab, you'll feel offended only if it doesn't apply to you" is a rhetorical tactic on par with the ad hominem. Why shouldn't I feel offended if it doesn't apply to me? If it does, and I am rightly offended, then why can't I be offended? Being in the fanfiction-writing contingent of fandom in general has made me conscious of the important parts of Constructive Criticism, which simple insults, however friendly, are not. (Criticism is Constructive only if it mentions how to improve and why, in much more detail than "don't do that" or "don't be like that".)

So as it stands, the humour itself is clearly not aimed at me and my ilk. Since this is SHAFT, plot is probably a side consideration. Already, my interest in this anime is limited to watching cute girls.

There are some, of course. But the greatest gut reaction was to Senjougahara.

From other accounts of Bakemonogatari on the blogosphere, she's a popular character. I'm well aware that I don't have to like characters that most other people do (Miyuki from Lucky Star, Tsumugi from K-On), but I cannot bring myself to see Senjougahara as anything other than an unpleasant character.

In the first portion of the very first episode, she threatens and physically assaults, in cold blood (which is somehow worse than if she had another, more emotional reason), a guy whose only crime was curiosity, and according to a friend who has watched most of the series, she has failed to apologize for that specific action. Whatever her reasons for it, no matter how justified in her viewpoint, I don't think there's anything she can do to redeem herself in my eyes.

"What about Haruhi?", I hear the accusatory cries. How can I like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya when Haruhi also treats Mikuru like dirt? The answer is that I don't like Haruhi as a character, but the rest of the show makes up for that.

The first few episodes of Bakemonogatari do not have that advantage. I'm giving it another go because it would only be fair to see if the rest of it does.

As I grow farther away from what is known as the Youth Market, I realize that technically I should not be as obsessed with all these things which are meant to appeal to a target audience about a decade younger than I. Still, I react to that assertion with the sort of indifference which marks either acceptance or escapism: being grown-up does not bring with it maturity as much as greater disposable income.

I realize that I'm certainly not the oldest anime fan around, or even near to that qualification. I am still in the generation of Newfangles, and our Snappers are Whippered. I have had occasion to hastily remove myself from a surprising variety of virtual lawns.

And yet, it is a minor shock to realize that it is possible for a young anime fan to ask me "so how long have you been watching anime?", and thanks to a relatively early start, I can honestly reply "longer than you've been alive". (If you're wondering: counting only the time I was aware that it was anime and not just a random cartoon, about fourteen to fifteen years; I forget exactly.)

Anime fans above the target age of the Youth Market tend to have a certain reputation, deserved or otherwise: curmudgeonly and crotchety, liable to express views along the lines of "in my time". To be fair, this applies to more or less every community that is predominantly under the age of 25: I've seen it in all sorts of situations, and the flamewars start to look the same after a while. I suppose this is also something that comes with age, in the sense that it is more rightly associated with experience; age merely provides more time for this experience to happen in.

But age seems to be of great concern in certain discussions, especially in touchier situations. I have been told that my habit of rambling on in complete and complex sentences is a sign of some elemental concept of Maturity lacking in Young People These Days. Few people seem to believe me when I point out that I've always communicated like this on the Internet, ever since I found out about the Internet in the first place. (Which was, incidentally, around the time I discovered anime as anime. Figuring out what these strange cartoons were categorized under helped immensely.) I'm not sure how it happened; it just turned out that way.

Conversely, I've also been accused of being far younger than I am, or at least more immature. I cannot comprehensively dispute the "immature" label, since it's not something I can self-diagnose, but the chronological aspect is easily disproven. From context, it appears that I am part of the Newbie group entirely because I like current anime. These anime are not targeted at my age group, I admit; perhaps this is why I am assumed to be of the age the anime are targeted towards.

It's a little odd to make such assumptions, I think. After all, just because I like Card Captor Sakura doesn't make me a ten-year old girl, as novel as that would be.

A common analogue I've seen would be a certain sort of gamer decrying people who like Final Fantasy 7 or later, claiming that they Have Not Experienced Better. They point to the Super Nintendo era as the True Classics; seeing as I started gaming on the old Nintendo Game And Watch and Atari 2600, I think I may be misunderstanding the criteria for "True Classic". I like Final Fantasy 6 more than Final Fantasy 7, but I still like Halo more than Doom. When people say "remember the time when games were better than today's" I have to honestly reply "no, I don't remember, sorry."

Nostalgia is perfectly acceptable, and reminiscing about stuff I've seen before in happier times is not an activity that is inherently deplorable. However, saying that they are objectively better because of their age, occuring in some sort of Golden Age of Anime, is simply incoherent and bizarre. I recognize that the whole "moe" thing may not last, and if everything swings towards a Darker and Edgier and Angstier style, I'd probably stick to my happy shiny fluffy moe bishoujo harem comedies. But that is preference by genre, not by age, except by coincidence.

After all, it's not like I can claim Ranma 1/2 to have any objective superiority to To-Love-Ru.