It seems Lina missed us too. Unfortunately, now she has a chance to aim.

There is nothing else I can say about the much-awaited fourth season of Slayers that has not been said before, whether by myself or by other more worthy luminaries. I don’t think I can give a fair and unbiased view of the matter through the impenetrable haze of sheer, undiluted nostalgia.

It was, as Arudoc mentioned, fitting that Lina made her debut by blowing up bandits, this time of the seagoing kind led by Captain Jack Sparrow. It is an ancient tradition as hallowed as the sun rising in the east, the ubiquity of hydrogen and stupidity, and Amelia giving a Justice Speech.

Things became something of a blur from there. A squee-ful blur, to butcher the language.

I must also admit to surprise at New Character Pokota’s entrance. I wonder what the Dark Lord Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo thinks of his signature spell being cast by a Pokemon muppet.

I have to give massive props to Princess Tutu for doing it right.

We’ve all had our discussions about how anime can be Art, or at least be in the same general vicinity as Art. Princess Tutu falls in at least the latter category, and I believe that it makes a very strong case for the former: the composition of each scene, the musical background, the plot, all of it is suffused with the essence of Art-ness. I would not hesitate to recommend this anime to those who would like an anime that makes them ponder the deconstruction (and, possibly, reconstruction) of fairy tales.

And yet, with all its Art-ness, Princess Tutu never forgets to entertain. I can watch it and analyse the roles of the Prince, the Princess, the Evil Villain, and how they’re just roles rather than characters, an unfortunate fact that said characters are fully aware of. Or I can watch it and enjoy Ahiru being, well, Ahiru, the happy-go-lucky naive-but-charming little girl who isn’t very good at much, but who still tries her best.

Princess Tutu is the best proof I have right now that anime doesn’t have to be Serious and Edgy to be thought-provoking. It can be fun, and it can be art, all at the same time.

Also, I’ve always thought that Saint-Saens’s “Les Carnaval des Animaux: Aquarium” would be perfect for a Creepy Eerie Revelation BGM, and Princess Tutu has done exactly that.

Amazingly, artwork from and of Kanokon is not exactly plentiful, among the usual imageboards. I suspect that this is at least partly due to the phenomenon known more or less as “too easy”.

The best estimate available for the release of Firefox 3 is “late June”, which is a worryingly vague timeline to spread about as part of an attempt to obtain a world record for the most downloads in one day. I am concerned about the amount of advance warning we shall have, although I admit that I’m not sure how much warning we’ll actually need to click on a link.

In any case, when the time comes, download Firefox 3 to get a kitsune girl in your bed. Or maybe not.

In slightly more anime-related news, the popular vote winners for the Anime Blog Awards have been announced. No surprises were in evidence, at least by my expectations.

Updates from here on out shall remain as (ir)regular as ever, but with substantially less content. I shall be off wrestling with infernal, or possibly even abyssal, pinatas of XP present in Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. I still do not, as yet, have a group to share these treasures with, but as with window shopping, there is surely no harm in looking.