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.

(Yes, I know the ANN article already says as much.)

Since I don't rightly know if putting the actual music onto my blog will make Maestro yell at me, I'll just use the Youtube versions for now.

There's something about the simple, catchy tunes in a certain sort of anime BGM that appeals to me in a deep, primal way. They would probably not win any music awards, and bear more similarity to muzak than anything else, but it's the happy, bouncy sort of backgound noise that sticks in the mind as indelibly as the girl from Ipanema.

I suppose I noticed it first with Azumanga Daioh and "Saa, hajimari yo", which later acquired vocals in "Kaze no Iro March". It's the sort of BGM which fits a slice-of-life series, and I admit that I only use "slice-of-life" as a convenient well-recognized term to differentiate from, say, sports or action anime. What I mean by "slice-of-life" is the sort of story which does not focus on being the strongest or the classical Hero's Journey or some sort of dramatic revelation or other. Rather, it's the quiet, everyday, unremarkable happenings of the characters going through their daily routines. A group of friends, being friends.

This can obviously be present in an anime of another overall genre, since character interactions are an important part of almost every story, apart from the more Artsy (or grandfathered) sort. What I speak of are the moments where sweeping orchestral scores or ominous Latin-esque chanting would be out-of-place, as are delicately sorrowful strings or lonely soloists. Moments of simple happiness, the sort we can experience ourselves in our own lives. I'm a great believer that life should have its own soundtrack, and these tracks make it all worthwhile.

Admittedly, I usually have to have seen the source anime before the full impact of the BGM can be felt. This may be why I tend to mentally recite the spiel about the nonexistence of Santa Claus whenever my mp3 player turns up "Itsumo no Fuukei".

I'm not entirely sure why I have to try to come up with some sort of theme titling for posts about The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It's invariably "The Something of Someone", and I am not so creative as to come up with a great many versions (possibly 15,498, or even 15,853) of this. And yet, there is the niggling feeling that this is somehow expected of me.

I picked up the second volume of the Haruhi-chan manga a couple of days ago, possibly in the vague intention of having something concrete and non-transient to remind me of the highly amusing incidents therein. I've not had much time to do anything other than a quick skimming, or indeed much time to do anything. I'd say I'm on the depressive cycle of manic-depression, but since I'm not (formally) diagnosed with such, I won't. It's just plain listlessness.

Haruhi-chan has helped in perking me up a little, and I suspect that it's because if I'm reading it, I'm likely not also reading forums or blogs or such: in other words, I'm not interacting with the fandom. This leaves me free to actually enjoy what I'm doing, rather than having to defend my enjoyment of it from the inevitable complaints, flames, and the other hazards of the Internet.

I have, it appears, gone back to basics.

It's always a pleasure to indulge in my hobbies as hobbies, rather than obligations. I know I'll receive all sorts of comments about Remembering to Do This Blog for Fun, which I'm still not sure how to answer: I tend to want to ramble on about whatever is on my mind at the moment, but this only really works in private. Once I have a public blog, I have to watch what I say, because posting these ramblings count as having published them, and now I have to be able to defend what I say. Invariably, the negative comments will get challenged far more than the positive sort, so I try to remain upbeat.

It's tiring, but it's not a matter of choice: if I say something, I must be able to defend it, or retract it as required. To behave otherwise is to shirk the responsibility I have due to the power of merely having a blog. If I claim to be posting my thoughts, I should be actually doing so; anything else would be at least unintentionally misleading, if not outright dishonest. I don't pretend to have a full grasp on the necessary vocabulary for expressing myself, so misunderstandings are inevitable, but that only means I should try even harder to avoid miscommunication.

I knew this when I started this blog, of course. It's something I've come to accept… which, of course, doesn't mean I don't resent it at times.

But I digress. Reading Haruhi-chan has the bonus of being able to see the miscellaneous illustrations the artist has seen fit to use as space-filler, and these are what reminded me of at least part of my love for MoHS: cute girls.

No, really.

I've never made any secret of my appreciation for the fine female form, presumably since I Do Not Get Any in Real Life. I'm well aware that this is escapist fantasizing, and I would never objectify Real Women like this, entirely because I am fully cognizant of the differences between fiction and reality. (I honestly think I'd gouge my own eyes out before I'd treat Real People in the consequence-free manner I could treat Fictional Characters. Not the consequences for me; the consequences for them.) But I will spend an uncomfortably long time staring at a picture of, say, Ryouko Asakura, divorced from the Truth about her personality as displayed in the canon, and simply admire how good she looks.

The same goes for Emiri Kimidori. It's my side character preferences acting up again, I suspect. This may be why I'm looking forward to new chapters of that Yuki Nagato spin-off manga, which hopefully has more of these characters without the plot portcullis slamming down on any further appearances.

All these characters pale, however, against Sonou Mori, the Organization member disguised as a maid. The illustration on page 37 of the second volume of Haruhi-chan (according to the Taiwanese translation copy, anyway) is a fine example of a sexy, sexy lady.

First, a disclaimer: I am not abandoning this blog. At least, I do not have the conscious intention of doing so. Indeed, I have the conscious intention to do precisely the opposite, to hold on to this blog as long as my love of anime and writing holds out, which should be until I die or the Internet dies, whichever comes first. While I cannot absolutely guarantee this, since I'm not omniscient or even merely prescient, I'm going to do the best I can to keep to that promise.

Having said that, I am considering a new blog.

It's not really my decision per se. It will be a group blog, with the other co-blogger being a real life friend of mine. We're doing this in a sort of vague effort to help another site branch out into more than competitive gaming news. (That link may not be current for long; the site admin is planning to change the site name soon, as soon as he decides what.) We may be getting more bloggers, preferably real life friends, although our schedules may mean that they'd prefer to be occasional guest bloggers rather than regular features.

What does this mean for this blog? Right now, very little, since that hypothetical group blog isn't even named yet, much less running. We're still looking for a good name, and considering our brainstormed ideas included "AnimeZombie" and "ZettaiZetsubouAnime", we may need help with that one.

But once it's up, I may resort to crossposting articles. What goes there (that I've written) will appear here as well, while what is here may not be replicated there. Think of it as the distilled essence of actual content, rather than my usual filler posts of "hee, cute girls". If you want to continue reading the random ramblings that spill forth from my brain without much filtering for coherence or hygiene, keeping track of just this blog is fine. If you want to read only actual attempts at intelligent thoughts, go to the new blog.

So, with this new blog, what would you, as anime blog readers, like to see?

There's the usual episode summaries, which will require more time and effort than is presently available to me, but I can try to cut down on some of my other hobbies. (Or, indeed, the number of anime I watch.) There are reviews, which have mostly the same problems as episode summaries, except slightly easier to handle. I'm not sure if I want to do commentary, since that's what I'm doing here; this sort of thing is about the best I can do, and anything more substantial I will have to leave to my co-blogger(s).

If we had to name an audience, I'd say the more casual anime fans. The sort of people who like anime in general, but may not like digging deep into anime fandom, and just want to check out a review or some such on an anime they're eyeing for a purchase. That means few inexplicable fandom memes, and as user-friendly a tone as possible. We may use a scoring system.

It's not really the informal, rambly style I'm used to, but it will be a learning experience, at the least.

Schadenfreude is not especially prominent in my personality (l'esprit de l'escalier is), and to be honest I don't really find The Endless Torment Of Mikuru Asahina all that entertaining. Of course, later it turns into comedy through repetition, and Mikuru's superhumanly resilient optimism and cheer makes it seem like all the abuse that is heaped upon her is not that serious. It's okay to laugh along. It's okay.

After all, most people I know seem perfectly content to laugh at Taniguchi's misfortunes. There may be a double standard here.

Despite my tendency to skip past the harrassment of Mikuru's person by Haruhi, fate, or both, I find the music of "Higeki no Heroine" ("Tragic Heroine") to be apropos, in situation and title. Mikuru would have been the heroine in another show, probably shoujo, and "tragedy" seems to be a good descriptor of what appears to be the default template for these characters. Despite the existence of two other possible theme songs for Mikuru, one of which is associated with "non-Haruhi" while the other is "too much Haruhi", when I think of Mikuru, the tango comes to mind immediately.

And the incredibly overwrought solo violin, possibly the World's Smallest, places the situation in the comedic context it is intended to be in. (The orchestral version, here along with two other tracks ("Invitation to the Unexpected" and "Beach Vacation"), makes for a startlingly fun showcase of the lead violin.) The strong melodic line is lyrically tempting:

Oh what a tragedy
For a heroine like me
I don't want to be
In this club especially
What is that costume for?
Why are you locking the door?
Oh how can this be
Kyon-kun, help me!