Gen X Otaku 1971: the OG blog

First impression, Mayo Chiki (Ep.1-4)

Mayo Chiki! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Just returned from a screening of the romantic (harem?) comedy Mayo Chiki, new from Sentai Filmworks.  It was initially a sub-only release (copyright 2012) that was later dubbed (2014), and it is the new dubbed version that we got screened for us tonight at Alamo Drafthouse.  I was doubtful of Mayo Chiki at first, and some of the initial conceit of the show reminded me a little too much of MM! but nevertheless it was surprisingly entertaining with very likable characters, even if the premise seems a little fanciful and far-fetched.  It relies on a tried and true anime trope, namely the female character dressed as a boy but who's obviously a girl (to the audience) but this is later revealed as a huge surprise to the other characters out of the blue.  I speak of "The Butler" to the richest, prettiest girl in school.  A "Family Butler" who hails by the name Subaru Konoe (近衛 スバル Konoe Subaru^?), pictured right, and is voiced by Genevieve Simmons, who also voiced the titular character in Mysterious Girlfriend X.  She is the loyal, fanatically devoted servant to Lady Kanade Suzutsuki (涼月 奏 Suzutsuki Kanade^?), who is not only Subaru's master but also her childhood friend, and also, as Kanade later reveals rather opaquely, teasing at a "Yuri" relationship, Kanade's "first love" as well.  Because Subaru is regarded as male by the rest of the student body, the rest of the student body wants to know if main character Kinjirō Sakamachi (坂町 近次郎 Sakamachi Kinjirō^?) is the "uke" or "seme" in their "obviously yaoi" relationship.  See, Kinjiro accidentally walked in on Subaru in the boy's bathroom stall and caught sight of her very girly panties and shapely feminine rump.  The truth revealed, Kinjiro is sworn to secrecy by Lady Suzutsuki, who playfully sets him and Subaru up, playing matchmaker of sorts.  But she muddies the waters a bit by flirting with Kinjiro herself and hiding Kinjiro's budding relationship with Subaru by pretending to be actively dating Kinjiro herself, to throw Kinjiro's snooping kid sister, Kureha Sakamachi (坂町 紅羽 Sakamachi Kureha^?), off the trail.  However, by episode 4, Kanade playfully kisses Kinjiro, leaving him even more befuddled.

The craziness of this story is made possible only by the fabulous wealth of the Suzutsuki family and their unique arragements with their hereditary, nepotistic servants.  But if you can just simply accept this conceit, the story is actually quite engaging on an emotional level in very surprising ways.  It reminds me a little of the recent FUNimation release "Good Luck Girl" in terms of overall mood & feel.  I do like this show and it is a potential future buy, but probably not as a bleeding edge new release.  I have other priorities in the near future, like Part 2 of Attack on Titan, etc.  I'm glad I attended this special advanced screening and will definitely put this title in my "consider buying" note in my iPhone.

Finished Kill La Kill, volume 1 (DVD)

130911(1) - 身披「神衣水手服」單挑學生會四天王、動畫《キルラキル》（Kill la Kill）預定10/3開播、完整聲優陣容公開！ (Photo credit: ccsx)

I received my copy of volume 1 of the DVD of Kill La Kill in the mail yesterday from Right Stuf! so of course my anime watching plans for the evening immediately changed.  After my usual gym workout I took a shower at home then dried off, put on PJs, and popped the disc into my PS3.  I'd actually seen the first 2 episodes of Kill La Kill in the original Japanese on Crunchyroll, mainly to investigate at least a little what all the hype was about.  It was pretty cool to watch these same episodes again only now in English dub.  I will confess to being slightly disappointed by the choice made for Lady Satsuki, at least initially.  I was expecting a deeper, more mature voice.  But I got used to her over the four episodes.  The one I had the greatest reservation about was Christine Marie Cabanos for Mako.  Let me put all worries aside--she's PERFECT in this role.  I think having watched Christine be zany as Squid Girl and Minorin (Toradora!) helped cement my acceptance of her as Mako.  As for Ryuko Matoi, I have no complaints.  She's got a gruff, determined voice and I accept her English VA without reservation.

The episodes are action packed and more than a little bonkers.  It has the same "pumped up" feeling of Gurren Lagann, and may even be superior to Gurren Lagann in the long run.  I look forward to buying and watching the next volume of Kill La Kill.

Aisaka Taiga is a terrible person but fascinating character

Cover art of the first DVD compilation released by King Records, featuring main characters Ryūji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I’ve alluded to on Twitter, I’ll readily admit that the character Aisaka Taiga of
Toradora! is a terrible person but she’s also fascinating because of how twisted she is; I realized probably why I like her as much as I do is she shares at least a few traits with my ex-wife, who, like Aisaka, had a terrible temper, was bipolar,
and had a reputation for shooting down almost every guy that approached her wanting to go out with her. When I met her friends, and she awkwardly introduced me saying this is “my boyfriend”, she did so slowly with rising intonation and a confused look including
scrunched up nose, as if she could scarcely believe what she was saying. All of her friends looked at me as something approaching awe, that somehow I had “tamed” this vicious tiger. Even she marveled at times how I’d somehow gotten past her defenses when
so many others had failed.
 
At least my ex-wife was not physically abusive and violent the way Aisaka Taiga is; but she was just as psychologically abusive as Taiga. Taiga is a type of character, a person consumed with anger and rage at the world generally. She
burns white hot. She’s an extreme Tsundere bordering on Yandere. She’s also flawed in that she’s not very introspective; she doesn’t spend a lot of time reflecting on her feelings, why she feels as she does. Therefore she’s not especially even all that
honest with herself about her conflicted feelings. She’s also profoundly lonely & depressed, though she’d never admit this to anyone. She’s a stereotypical “poor little rich girl”. She starts to fall for Ryuji because he pays attention to her and dotes
on her. He cleans her messy apartment, makes sure she gets up on time and eats a more regular, balanced diet. She wants to maintain an aloof Master-servant relationship with Ryuji but Taiga in her heart is far too passionate to be cool and aloof. Because
she’s not terribly introspective, she doesn’t even understand her own swirling emotions, which then proceed to make her more angry and confused.
 
Taiga’s ostensible love interest, Kitamura, is actually someone Taiga rejected in the recent past; She didn’t even know he existed when he confessed his love for her out of the blue. She rejected him as a matter of course but his confession
puts Kitamura on Taiga’s radar. She starts paying attention to him and starts falling for him, or at least, falling for the idea of him; driven, I suspect by her crippling inner loneliness. Her obsession with Kitamura borders on creepy stalker-y. She maintains
a brave façade but on the inside she’s dying. But in the real world it is Ryuji who is actually meeting Taiga’s needs, materially and emotionally. Kitamura can see this, Taiga can’t. It’s only when Taiga nearly loses Ryuji by a near drowning that her raw,
buried emotions are forced to the surface. It’s a very emotional scene that moved me to tears. It’s social outcast Ryuji who can best empathize with much feared Aisaka Taiga much more so than the ever popular, easy-going Kitamura (and Kitamura is well aware
of this fact as well). Once Ryuji is safe, Taiga can return to her fantasy infatuations with Kitamura and go back to denying her genuine feelings for Ryuji as anything more than a simple Master-Servant relationship. She goes back to being horrible to keep
Ryuji at arms length, but he continues to “kill with kindness”. Ryuji similarly indulges in his own fantasies about Minorin, who shows no interest in him (or any other guy, for that matter) beyond that of platonic friendship. He’s also directly confronted
by flirtatious and vivacious Ami, which sends Taiga into fits of jealous rage. Again, because Taiga doesn’t do introspection very well, she doesn’t reflect on why she’s feeling such intensely painful jealousy and possessiveness towards Ryuji. He means the
world to her but she just refuses to see it until she’s forced to by Ami or dire circumstances. Lesson learned: failure to be introspective and take a self-inventory only leads to greater emotional suffering. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to understanding
one’s own emotions. I’ll write more about Ami later as I see more of her character expanded, though for right now I don’t trust her. She’s two-faced and manipulative. But she also suffers in her own way and thanks to Taiga’s example, overcomes some of her
fears and insecurities. She is growing as a character, and I’m curious to see how it turns out for her.

Nearly done with Blu-Ray Disc 1 of Toradora!

Toradora! manga volume 1 cover. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

**Spoiler Alert**

So I just finished watching up through Episode 8 of Toradora! on Blu-Ray with the English dub.  So many feels, especially in Episode 8!  I teared up when Taiga declared from the bottom of her heart at the top of her lungs that "Ryuji is MINE!!!"

Although I remember a lot of the story from the manga still, the anime adaptation and voice acting pack that much more emotional punch.  It was a welcome reminder of why I love this story so much...precisely because both Ami and Taiga are just so complicated and messed up in the head!!

My heart goes out to Taiga because she herself doesn't fully understand her own emotions.  She still has her naive puppy love for Kitamura, but literally everyone else around them can see she's actually falling for Ryuji.  Her explosive, possessive jealousy whenever Ami flirts with Ryuji is a dead giveaway.  Ami's not the only one being dishonest about who she is and how she feels.  Both Ami AND Taiga are deeply flawed in their own ways, not to mention at each other's throats as social rivals.

Ami has the problem of acting cutesy and innocent in public but in reality being quite vain and abrasive, selfish and rude.  She admires Taiga for her ability to be abrasive and nasty OPENLY.  She also admires Taiga's take-no-shit-from-anyone attitude that emboldens Ami to confront her own stalker and put the fear of Gawd in him.  Taiga criticises Ami's two-faced nature, but Taiga won't confront the division in her own heart, the fact that she's infatuated with Kitamura but falling in love with Ryuji in a deeper, more mature and profound way.

In Episode 8 (spoilers!), Ryuji is nearly drowned when a bunch of classmates fall into the pool on top of him.  He probably takes an elbow to the head, is forced under water and starts drowning.  Aisaka saw what happened and the last thing Ryuji sees is new swimmer Aisaka swimming desperately towards him to save him.  After nearly losing Ryuji, Aisaka comes undone emotionally...her emotions are laid bare and raw, she won't let anyone come near Ryuji, she's crying hot tears of pain, relief, anguish and love.  That episode especially and the few preceding ones make me very happy I preordered this Blu-Ray.  The emotional drama and turmoil is amplified even higher in the anime adaptation than was conveyed in the manga.  I love this series so far and look forward to where it's going.  I anticipate I'll soon be passing where I last left off in the manga proper.

Oh, and the anime makes it way more obvious that Minorin is probably a lesbian in denial.  This is harder to pick up on in the manga. 

I look forward to seeing where this story goes.

Red Data Girl (Ep. 1-4); a slow burn

RDG Red Data Girl (Photo credit: Danny Choo)

So I got to attend the screening of FUNimation’s new release
Red Data Girl at Alamo Drafthouse Mason Park. I hate to waste time and space bitching about the venue, but I really hate when our screening gets the noob projectionist who doesn’t seem to have a f*cking clue. Oh, and the sound was horribly off,
with a nearly intolerable background hum through all of Episode 1 and most of Episode 2 that made me want to scream out loud GOOD GAWD THIS IS
NOT SERIAL EXPERIEMENTS LAIN! Then when they tried to fix the sound, we lost a good 30 seconds of dialogue altogether, and the projectionist did not rewind to catch the missing bits but just plowed ahead. This really detracted from the
enjoyment of this series.
 
It took forever for the projectionist to catch a clue and put up the Anime at the Alamo still shot screen that is up as host Rommel does his announcements. It took forever for the actual show to start. They had to shut down the show entirely
and re-start it at one point.
 
What’s worse, this was on a night where the Anime at the Alamo group broke its attendance record…we broke the “century” mark, i.e. over 100 attendees. I hope the horrible audio visual snafus don’t deter some of the first timers from coming
back! Those were totally a fluke, most of the time the Alamo Drafthouse puts on a fine show without any glitches. Man did they drop the ball last night.
 
Anyway, the main difficulty with Red Data Girl is its intolerably slow pacing. It only gets sort of interesting by about Episode 3 or so. This is a show I’d probably watch in streaming via FUNimation.com first, if I had
nothing better to do or watch. I doubt I’ll ever pick this up on physical media. If you wait until Episode 4 to try and “hook” me, forget it. You need to reel me in with Episode 1, right out of the gate.
 
It’s a pretty mediocre show so far, and I’m in no hurry to finish it. I have other priorities right now like
Toradora! and Jormungand.

Finished Moribito on the new Neon Alley

The cover of the first DVD compilation released by Geneon Entertainment. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So I finally finished Moribito on the “new” web-only Neon Alley, powered by Hulu, having started the series on the “old” Neon Alley which I subscribed to via my PS3. I lamentably did not finish the series while Neon Alley was on PS3, though
I did get pretty far in. I eventually failed to keep up because I got interested in other shows, and the pacing of Moribito is just so intolerably slow, and the addition of unskippable Hulu advertising only drags it out further. Luckily I used the advertising
time to go take a urination break, or take to Twitter via my iPad, or play Words With Friends or Bookworm. Sometimes I actually paid attention to the ads, as they were sometimes moderately entertaining.
 
Set in a fantasy version of an Asian landscape resembling both feudal Japan and ancient China, Moribito is the tale of a spear-wielding mercenary woman named Balsa who is hired by the wife of the Mikado to protect her youngest son Chagum,
who is second in line for succession to the throne. Unfortunately for Chagum, he has been possessed by a water spirit “egg” and is saddled with a terrible destiny and may very well have to die so the water spirit can be born. The Mikado blames Chagum for
the ill fortune besetting the kingdom and secretly orders the young prince to be killed. His mother cannot bear this and thus orders Balsa to take the young prince and flee the palace. Chagum may have to live like a commoner for the rest of his days, but
at least he will live.
 
Balsa proves to be a highly competent body guard but also slowly develops maternal instincts for the boy. Chagum learns what real life is like outside the palace walls and learns to mix and mingle with the common people, to understand
their daily suffering and challenges, and applies his education and learning to their problems, developing his own wisdom. Meanwhile, the spirit egg inside the boy grows ever more restless, and he is propelled along the path of destiny, waving between the
human and spirit realms.
 
Balsa has many friends among the common people and they come to her aid time and again. We do not learn fully her back story until near the final arc of the series, where we see that her own early life story bears uncanny resemblance to
the life on the run that Chagum has endured, only now the roles are reversed.
 
I found myself uneasy right down to the last episode. There is a pleasing payoff, but one has to earn it. This is a good, solid series but it is also what I call a “one and done” series. I do not forsee a need to revisit or rewatch this
show ever again.
 

Got in my Toradora! pre-order.

Cover art of the first DVD compilation released by King Records, featuring main characters Ryūji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A brief post to confirm I got in my deluxe Toradora Blu-Ray/DVD Combo preorder from an online anime retailer who handles NIS America merch.  I've watched Episodes 1-3 of the dub and so far I like it very much.  It seems to be moving a bit faster than the manga series.  The male protagonist Ryūji Takasu is voiced by the same voice actor, Erik Scott Kimerer, who voices the main male protagonist of Accel World and plays Alibaba in Magi. Johnny Yong Bosch voices Kitamura, Ryūji Takasu's best friend and Aisaka Taiga's unrequited love interest.  Christine Marie Cabanos (Madoka of Madoka Magica, and the titular character of Squid Girl) voices supporting character Minorin (Ryuji's main secret love interest) and Cassandra Lee voices Taiga.

I like it so far, and my box set includes a nice art book that is also translated into English, which is an added bonus (I was fully expecting this to be left untranslated and just pretty to look at).

I'm on Volume 6 of the Manga, which is ongoing in English.  I'm looking forward to enjoying the complete series on Blu-Ray.  Please don't spoil it for me, but I've heard the ending for Toradora! is kind of a dissapointment.  So I'm hoping to just enjoy the journey as I go.  There are just some tender scenes in the manga where despite their ostensible love/lust for other characters, it's painfully obvious to the reader that Ryuji and Taiga are meant for each other.  I remember one cell where she's crying from anger and frustration, tears flowing down her face and Ryuji is just holding her gently, from behind and above her.

I accept Cassandra Lee as Taiga, though I am left wondering who else among the BangZoom! regulars were up for this role.  I think Christine Marie Cabanos definitely works better as Minorin; would not have cast her as Taiga.  I accept Erik Kimerer as Ryuji--I guess Bryce Papenbrook can't voice EVERY hero/protagonist for BangZoom! these days ;-)  And I'm fine with JYB voicing a supporting character.  I'm very glad I preordered this.  Now just waiting on my Eva 3.0 Blu-Ray to come out.

Finished Ep.1-10 of Blood Lad on Neon Alley

130601 – 吸血鬼冒險動畫《ブラッドラッド》（BLOOD LAD 血意少年）將在7月首播，主角聲優陣容&首張海報一同揭曉！ (Photo credit: ccsx)

Thanks to Neon Alley, I was able to watch the English dub of Episodes 1-10 of the new anime series Blood Lad, soon to be available on DVD from VIZ media.

For the most part, I like the series.  The main male protagonist is a slacker otaku vampire demon known as Staz Charlie Blood (ブラッド・チャーリー・スタズ Buraddo Chārī Sutazu^?) and voiced in English by Bryce Papenbrook (who also voices Eren in Attack on Titan and Rin in Blue Exorcist).  He feels guilty and responsible for the death of ordinary Japanese schoolgirl Fuyumi Yanagi (柳 冬実 Yanagi Fuyumi^?) who foolishly wandered into the Demon Realm.  She becomes a ghost and Staz promises he will do everything possible to bring her back to life as a normal human.

Most of the action is driven by this central plot point, though there are side stories that also feed into the main plot, other characters with different agendas, etc.

The story has a good balance of solid action and slapstick comedy.  It makes jokey references to other anime that are kind of a wink and a nod to the viewer.  The opening titles make an offhanded reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion where Fuyumi is strung up on a tilted cross like Lilith in NGE.  Staz also almost blatantly rips off Dragon Ball Z, and Fuyumi breaks the fourth wall by urging Staz to not say out loud the attack name he is planning to use (for fear of being sued for copyright infringement).  There are assorted other jokey references in passing to other popular anime known to otaku.  Staz himself is something of an otaku, with an extensive manga, anime, and figurine collection and an obsession with this aspect of Japan's culture.

Staz's best friend and rival is a werewolf who simply calls himself "Wolf"; He also must contend with Bell Hydra (ハイドラベル Haidora Beru^?), a treasure hunter and dimensional magic user.  She's a busty blonde and kind of a tsundere.  She starts to fall in love with Staz after he unlocks his buried super powers...or more precisely, is forced to by his older brother Braz D. Blood (ブラッド・D・ブラッズ Buraddo D. Burazzu^?), voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch, after Staz is captured and imprisoned by his impish little sister Liz T. Blood (ブラッド・T・リズ Buraddo T. Rizu^?).  Though most of the time she wears a terrifying iron mask, she's actually a cute little redheaded girl with red eyes.

Fuyumi begins to befriend Liz, and Liz is able to open up to Fuyumi and come out of her shell a little.  She slowly learns to trust and respect Staz, though she still mainly seeks the approval and praise of her older brother Braz, and views herself in competition with Staz for the eldest brother's attention.

The story is fairly engaging and entertaining, but my one complaint is how the main female protagonist, Fuyumi, is utterly infantalized.  She's completely helpless and has no agency...in order to keep from disappearing completely, she is forced to consume Staz's blood, which he administers by making her suck his thumb like a baby.  Later, she is also sustained by a glowing purple potion devised by mad scientist Franken Stein (フランケン・シュタイン Furanken Shutain^?) as a stop gap measure...and these potions are consumed from vessels that resemble a baby's milk bottle...once again utterly infantalizing Fuyumi.  It's really pretty sexist and humilitating.

Staz is a likeable roguish "dark hero".  He has a fair amount of psychological growth as a character in the first 10 episodes; these first 10 episodes are far from a conclusion of the series, but do represent the end of an initial arc of the story.  The music to the series is catchy but not exceptional.  The fight choreography is exciting and fun to watch.

I definitely recommend checking this show out, as it's available only for a limited time on Neon Alley right now.  Although not  a priority purchase for me, I would consider picking up the VIZ release eventually.  If you miss the window of opportunity on Neon Alley, definitely go pick up the VIZ release of this series on DVD or Blu-Ray.

I very much enjoyed the English voice performances and am glad to be able to watch an entire first arc in English on Neon Alley.  Been the first time in a long time since I've been able to do precisely that.  I hope I'm able to do the same with Gargantia in October this year.

Majestic Prince - unlikely heroes, unlikely hit!

130201(3) – 電視動畫版《銀河機攻隊 マジェスティックプリンス》（銀河機攻隊 Majestic Prince）鎖定4月開播，「Team Rabbit」聲優陣容出爐！ (Photo credit: ccsx)

Just got back from an advanced screening of the upcoming new release from Sentai Filmworks, the dub release of the first four episodes of Majestic Prince.  The odd title derives from a nickname given to a team of 5 (literal) space cadets thrown into battle to guard the retreat of Earth forces from a remote base.  Through a combination of bravery, recklessness and pure luck, they not only successfully cover the retreat, they push back against the enemy and cause them to withdraw, sparing the lives of scores of civilians who were otherwise destined to be abandoned owing to a lack of transport ships.  This heroic action wins the cadets actual military honors and instant celebrity status in Earth's media, along with the nickname "Majestic Princes", a backronym created from their official military designation, M.J.P.

These child soldiers are mecha pilots genetically engineered to fight the alien invasion.  They are superior in every way to ordinary humans and have an intimate connection to their mecha right to the level of their individual DNA.

If the character designs look reminiscent of 2007's Heroic Agedistributed in North America by FUNimation Entertainment, that's because Majestic Prince shares the same character designer, Hisashi Hirai.  Hirai's distinctive style carries over to 2014's Majestic Prince and its loveable cast of characters.  The tone of the anime is generally serious, but it has its lighthearted moments where the characters can look and act quite cartoony for the sake of comic relief.  They are still young teenagers at the end of the day, with all the insecurities and angst you'd expect from that age demographic.  Hisashi Hirai also did the character design for yet another Mecha show, 2005's Fafner, which was recently rescued & re-released by FUNimation Entertainment with its original dub cast.

I was definitely highly entertained by these first four episodes.  Hell, the English dub trailer alone was enough for me to throw down $$$ on a pre-order for this show on Blu-Ray over at Right Stuf! for their recent Sentai Filmworks 40% off sale.  The story, the characters are great, and this show is positively GORGEOUS.  I can't wait to watch the rest of it in full HD Blu-Ray quality on my flat screen TV.

We also had a surprise visit from the ADR cast & crew, who graciously answered audience questions during the Q&A period at the end.  I asked if the Alien language was simply the original audio or if it too was re-dubbed (which it was).  One of the newer Sentai Filmworks cast, who plays the "gun" otaku of the band is an aural dead ringer for Josh Grelle, so I was surprised to not see Josh's name in the credit roll.  I know Josh mainly works on FUNimation properties but he will sometimes come down to record for Sentai Filmworks, as Monical Rial did for this production, whose character is so lovely and adorable you just want to hug and squeeze her.

I also thought the more reserved girl was being voiced by Jessica Boone, but then saw it was actually Genevive  Simmons, who also voiced the titular main character of Mysterious Girlfriend X in the English dub of that show.  Incidentally, I was happy to hear Ms. Boone in Devil Survivor 2.

I give this series a big thumbs up so far and look forward to finishing it and to acquiring Part 2 when that gets released later on by Sentai Filmworks.