Gen X Otaku 1971: the OG blog

NGE Parody (YouTube)....had to share!

Season's Greetings and enjoy this Neon Genesis Evangelion parody live action video, courtesy of YouTube

Surprisingly good production values and also HILARIOUS! 

Live Action ONE PIECE (Netflix adaptation) is better than the anime!

I have tried multiple times to watch One Piece, the anime.  I made it as far as 5 episodes in my last attempt but I just can't get into it.  The story just doesn't grab me and I find Luffy and his powers too laughable & ridiculous for the anime medium.  I eventually lose interest and drop the show, every time.  Until now.

Holy shit, you guys!   The live action adaptation of One Piece on NETFLIX is really REALLY GOOD!

I seriously like it better than the OG anime.

The first 5 episodes of the One Piece anime?  Meh.

The first 5 episodes of THIS?  Bam! Right in the feels and I'm crying manly tears nearly every episode.  The use of flashbacks/backstory is well executed and really makes you care for Luffy and his crew.  Luffy's goofy weird powers just make this adaptation feel like a comic book Superhero movie somehow, like it actually WORKS better in live action.  The villains are so over the top they too feel like Comic book Superhero arch villains.  Luffy and his whole crew are just so darn likeable.  In short order we get introduced to the principle cast and the story launches without delay.  The pacing is excellent and holds your interest.  The costume design, the backgrounds, the set design are all on point.  The writing and acting are top notch and feel like a polished Superhero film told in serial form.  

As stated, I'm not fan of One Piece the anime.  But I f*cking love this live action adaptation, probably the best one ever done to date....which is a low bar, true, but this one sails right over it.  I highly recommend it, even if like me you don't really like One Piece.

The saddest Side Story of Outlaw Star

I recently finished the series Outlaw Star on Blu-Ray, and while I'm undecided if I will do a full series review, I did want to zero in on Episode 20 of Outlaw Star for starters.

As my Bloghandle indicates, I am a Generation X aged Otaku;  Cowboy Bebop was a foundational anime for me, especially when it aired on cable television for the first time.  My Millennial co-workers on the other hand were very drawn to Outlaw Star, which is a product of the same era.  But while Bebop is arguably aimed at adult audiences, with more mature storytelling and plots, Outlaw Star is clearly aimed at adolescent boys.  I tried to start Outlaw Star over a year and change ago but just couldn't get into it and bailed around episode 5 or so.  I returned to it after finishing live action Cowboy Bebop on Netflix.  I did ultimately enjoy the series the deeper I got into it, but it remained top of mind for me that this is a show for teenagers and not adults....best not to think to hard about it!

However, I do want to single out Episode 20 for excellent storytelling and for reaching Cowboy Bebop levels of sadness, despair & regret.

This is the saddest shit in the whole damn show....

Jim is sad because he thinks Hanmyo stood him up.  He doesn't even realize he killed her.  At least mercifully Hanmyo never knew Jim was a part of Gene Starwind's crew.  Gaah....this episode broke me.  It was so sweet and so fucking sad at the same time.  Cowboy Bebop delivers this kind of sad irony and despair in spades.  Outlaw Star manages this at least.

Beyond the Boundary: Dubbed and Redubbed

I recently did a Deep Dive with this anime franchise based on a light novel series, namely Beyond the Boundary (Japanese: 境界の彼方, Hepburn: Kyōkai no Kanata).  This review will spoil the series and movie so this is your chance to click away, close this tab, whatever.
This review also contains pure speculation(s) on my part and any errors or misstatements are mine alone.

It's an action adventure fantasy series set in modern times with a star-crossed tragic romance at the heart of it.  There exists the original television series and then two movies.  The first movie is essentially a re-cap movie of the television series.  It doesn't really work as a stand-alone movie, however.  It assumes prior knowledge of the television series, otherwise the film is incoherent at a number of points.

It is the second movie that actually advances the plot beyond the original television series ending.  The audience POV character is Japanese High Schooler Akihito Kanbara (神原 秋人, Kanbara Akihito), though the main character is arguably also the love interest, Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai).  I watched exclusively the English dub for this show as I own the first release of the Blu-Ray from the series and movies.  I also (re)watched the dubbed stream of Season 1 specifically on HIDIVE.  My reason for doing so is because my Blu-Ray has the original dub laid down by voice actress Krystal LaPorte as Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai).  The HIDIVE stream of Season 1 recasts Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai) with voice being supplied by Kira Vincent-Davis......

On the Blu-Ray containing the first and second movies, Kira Vincent Davis voices Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai) for both films.  Even though the first film is a recap of the first season I decided to watch it mainly to compare Krystal LaPorte's performance in the first Season with Kira's performance in the recap movie.  I got used to Kira's take on the character and proceeded to watch and finish the Second movie.

The second movie is very good but also contains a lot more pain & heartbreak for the characters to work through.  I decided, however, that a truly fair comparison wasn't First Season (LaPorte) versus Movie 1 (recap).   The only fair comparison would have to be the HIDIVE stream of Season 1 of Beyond the Boundary with Kira Vincent-Davis as Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai) from start to finish.

I have to wonder if this series in particular is the straw that broke the camel's back, metaphorically speaking.  I want to tread lightly here and I'll explain what I mean in more detail shortly.  I also mean no disrespect to Krystal LaPorte as a voice actress generally; for example I thought her performance in Black Bullet as Kohina Hiruko (蛭子 小比奈, Hiruko Kohina) was freaking excellent....

....This little blue haired psychopath right here, Kohina Hiruko (蛭子 小比奈, Hiruko Kohina)  ^
Truly scary character and the daughter of Kagetane Hiruko (蛭子 影胤, Hiruko Kagetane) (left, with mask & top hat) voiced by Jay Hickman.

So what I mean by "breaking the camel's back" is that if the higher ups were truly okay with LaPorte's performance in Season 1, why not cast her again to do the recap movie and sequel film?  Why change horses mid-stream like that?  The Blu-Ray which contains both films, which I bought around the time I bought Season 1 on Blu-Ray, has Kira Vincent-Davis ONLY.  Something must've happened between the release of Season 1 and the dubbing and release of the two related franchise movies....QED, my dear Watson.

Down to brass tacks...So I have to admit, while I liked Krystal LaPorte initially when she voiced Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai), in this series she's too focused on being high pitched and cute to the point where her dialogue becomes incoherent gibberish.  ADR Director Christopher Ayres let slide several questionable takes by LaPorte in the later episodes of Beyond the Boundary that are truly awful, mainly because for certain line reads I can't understand a fucking thing she's saying, and there's no close-captioning to help me out, either.  I think that by the time of this release Chris and Krystal were a dating / already a couple.  What Chris should have done is call in an assistant director for Krystal's scenes as Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai) and have someone else give her direction; make her redo those godawful lines until she got them right.  But he didn't, and the product quality control suffered as a result.  Chris seems to have groomed Krystal's entire anime career as most of the shows I know her from were directed by him.  It doesn't look like other Sentai Filmworks ADR directors were willing to cast her in their shows, with one notable exception.  I have no solid evidence but I feel like this show was the downfall of Krystal LaPorte's fortunes as an anime voice actress.  The higher ups at Sentai Filmworks definitely disapproved of their relationship and I think overreacted in their retaliation against both Chris Ayres and Krystal LaPorte.  My impression of Mike Toole's postings on Twitter leads me at least to speculate Sentai Filmworks/HIDIVE has gone above and beyond to re-dub and re-cast every role ever voiced by Krystal LaPorte and hand that redubbing work exclusively to Kira Vincent-Davis, deemed I guess to be the best voice match.  The one notable exception to this general rule is Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse (マブラヴ オルタネイティヴ トータル・イクリプス, Maburavu Orutaneitivu Tōtaru Ikuripusu) where the HIDIVE stream still keeps Krystal LaPorte's performance as Yui preserved, probably because Kira Vincent-Davis is also already in the show herself, though her character dies tragically in the second episode.  The series notably wasn't directed by Chris Ayres but by Kyle Colby Jones.  Jones legitimately cast Krystal LaPorte himself, so no hint of nepotism and so HIDIVE didn't redub to scrub her from the show entirely.

Anyway, after comparing head-to-head the performances of both Krystal LaPorte and Kira Vincent-Davis in the role of Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai), I have to set nostalgia aside and come down on the side of Kira Vincent-Davis for turning in the superior performance.  Not only is Kira's line delivery always clear and comprehensible--I understood every word--but also Kira focuses more on the emotional pain & pathos felt by Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai)...the cuteness isn't the focus the way it is for LaPorte, merely a byproduct.  It took getting used to but even Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai)'s catch-phrase, "How unpleasant!" I prefer hearing in Kira's voice...again because her line deliveries are that much more empathy inducing....you can hear & feel the pain and anguish in her voice, every time, which you just can't say with Krystal's line reads, which are at best "cute and annoyed".  Kira's is the more soulful performance....she's a polished professional actor and it shows.
I truly believe Kira's Mirai loves Akihito so much it hurts.  Krystal's Mirai doesn't inspire that kind of deep empathy, she's just flustered and cute and you want to tussle the hair on her head at most.

I do think Krystal LaPorte can turn in good voice performances....IF she has a good director (Kyle Colby Jones, etc), but I just feel like Chris Ayres made a big mistake continuing to cast and direct Krystal himself despite their ongoing personal relationship.  He should've recognized the inherent conflict of interest and teamed up with an assistant director to help out in any production where he decided to cast Krystal in it.  I can understand some actors being upset and feeling like Chris was putting his thumb on the scale for his girlfriend, and perhaps there's some merit to that criticism, but in any case continuing to direct her and letting atrocious line reads slide to avoid conflict in their relationship outside work, that's the more unforgivable sin, I feel.  Krystal LaPorte is a good person and she stayed by Chris Ayres's side to his last breath, always there for him, looking out for him in his declining health, etc.  That's commendable, and I would love to see her in more anime dubs going forward.  With Chris Ayres no longer with us, maybe someday she'll make a fresh start in Los Angeles and pick up more recording opportunities.  I truly do wish her the best.

But alas the performance she ultimately turned in for this show went Beyond the Boundary of what Sentai Filmworks/HIDIVE management were willing to accept in terms of quality control, it seems like.

In the meantime, I'm going to be finishing up my (partial) rewatch of Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse (マブラヴ オルタネイティヴ トータル・イクリプス, Maburavu Orutaneitivu Tōtaru Ikuripusu) via HIDIVE streaming.  I'm also working my way through the Second Season of AKB0048, aka "AKB0048 Next Stage" on Blu-Ray disc.  More details to follow.

Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito (a review)

Per Wikipedia, Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito (ヤミと帽子と本の旅人?,
translated as Darkness, the Hat, and the Travelers of the Books), also known as
Yamibō/Yamibou for short, is a Japanese adult visual novel published in December 2002 by Root. A 13-episode
anime series produced Studio Deen aired between October and December 2003.[1] Although the characters and their relationships remain
basically the same in the game and anime, the storyline is quite different.
 
This anime adaptation was recently added by Hoopla Digital as part of their television anime offerings under the shortened title
Yamibo.
 
It involves a main heroine character, Hazuki Azuma (東 葉月 Azuma Hazuki⁾ engaging in a search across various dimensions for her lost younger sister, a mute girl named Hatsumi Azuma (東 初美 Azuma Hatsumi^?), who completely disappeared the night of her 16th birthday bathed in a mysterious green light!

The episodes are reminiscent of the old science fiction live action show Sliders. However, the younger sister’s own story is more like that of
Quantum Leap, for she is actually the biblical Eve, but assumes a new persona in each new “book world” she enters to engage with. The older sister is aided by Eve’s sister Lilith, who is, like Eve, depicted as a good witch wielding powerful magic.   The main character’s younger sister was but one of these assorted personae of eternal Eve.

It's basically a trans-dimensional "road movie" as the search continues across the dimensions of time & space, from Feudal Japan to a strange Science Fiction story.

Lilith and her companion cockatiel, Ken (ケン), especially are the comic relief of the show.  Hazuki eventually catches up with Eve, who is actually able to speak.  Eve explains she cannot go back to being Hazuki's little sister but when Hazuki threatens suicide from having a broken heart, Eve reluctantly agrees to be reborn as Hazuki's daughter in the future.  It's a strange relationship because Hazuki's feelings for Hatsumi are clearly overtly sexual and erotic and romantic.  Lilith seems bisexual and flirts with Hazuki in a teasing manner but Hazuki rebuffs Lilith's advances and stays focused on her beloved Hatsumi.   The various characters are redeemed by being granted  a "do over" at very critical decision points in their lives.  For her part, Hazuki uses her second chance to finally kiss her beloved Hatsumi, who reciprocates.  Hatsumi still disappears the night of her 16th birthday, just as in the first time continuity, but Hazuki is at peace with this because at least she finally got to kiss her beloved and show the depth of her feelings for her....and she hazily remembers the promise Eve made to be reborn to Hazuki as her daughter in the future, which Hazuki accepts and looks forward to.

It's a very entertaining series but also quite strange.  It is a sub-only show, no dub was ever produced, to my knowledge.

Fight Ippatsu! Jūden-chan!! completed, with review

Fight Ippatsu! Jūden-chan!! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have noticed that Hoopla Digital does periodically swap out its available anime content. As some shows are removed (most recently
Antique Bakery and Emma: A Victorian Romance) other shows are added to replace them, such as the
Vampire Princess Miyu OVAs, the very esoteric and mysterious Mononoke (not to be confused with
Princess Mononoke from Studio Ghibli) and the lewd and hilarious
Fight Ippatsu! Jūden-chan!! the English dub of which I just finished last week on Hoopla. To my mind, if you’re not watching the hilarious English dub of this show, you’re doing it wrong. This is an old Media Blasters title and has some familiar
names among the English cast, but some names that were new to me as well, especially the lead characters.
 
This is ostensibly a science fiction “action comedy” show but is very trope & fanservice heavy, with the usual expected boob and butt shots, but also a weird urination fetish.

The story focuses on main character Plug Cryostat (ぷらぐ・クライオスタット Puragu Kuraiosutatto^?), who is a "charger girl".  She exists in a parallel dimension to the regular human world.  It is the job of "charger girls" to find depressed people and give them a literal "energy boost" that translates into positive emotions in their target and restores their level of mental health to a safe(r) level.   Plug is a really good person with a warm heart, but she's shown to be kind of incompetent and a bit of a bungler or "Dojiko" (clumsy girl).  She's a lovable screw-up who is always failing to meet her daily quotas and always being forced to do lots of overtime to make up, but also having her pay docked for damaging equipment and other mistakes.  She has money problems and is whiny and complains about how hard her job is and how mean her bosses are to her.  But in spite of this, she genuinely cares about her targets, tries hard to understand them and the deeper causes of their misery.  This earns her rebukes from her superiors as it is going above and beyond what her job requirements actually are.  She runs afoul of highly ambitious Arresta Blanket (アレスタ・ブランケット Allesta Buranketto^?) who operates in the territory adjacent to Plug's and even starts "stealing" some of Plug's potential targets in her area of responsibility.  Arresta is very quick and efficient and has won employee of the month and is highly regarded by upper management for her impressive quota numbers.  Arresta takes pride in her work and exudes professionalism and a strict adherence to regulations.  She regards Plug as an incompetent Slacker who should just quit the profession of "Charger Girl" altogether.  Plug takes offense to this and tries to explain her work philosophy to Arresta, who will hear none of it.  Plug remains quietly convinced she's on to something with her more empathetic approach and only slowly does Arresta check Plug's work history and come to the realization that she's never ever had a repeat "charge" client.  Arresta may have more raw numbers, but many of her targets are repeaters, while Plug has NONE.

Still, Plug is lazy and likes to goof off and watch an ecchi anime series called "Miracle Witch Milly", which is an incredibly lewd, over the top, trope-y "magical girl" type show with lots of nudity and violence and strong language.  She runs into trouble when bumps into a human named Sento who, for reasons left unexplained, can actually see "Charger girls" like Plug and Arresta, even when they're in full "stealth mode".  Sento is short tempered and works out his frustrations by clobbering Plug and Arresta with his handy baseball bat.  This happens nearly every encounter with them and is humorous if only because it is as ridiculous as it is predictable.  Arresta is shown to be a bit of a closet Masochist, finding some sexual arousal in being struck by Sento's bat.  She's so uptight otherwise that it makes sense for her to have a secret weird kink like this.

For a completely ridiculous & lewd action comedy as this, the show has a lot of heart and tackles some deep themes in an unexpected way.  Plug is a warm and likeable character and it's impossible not to cheer for her.  She's fighting against long odds to reform the bureaucracy she works for, but in the end Plug's innovative methods end up saving the day when a real crisis hits.

The English dub of this show is laugh out loud funny; the ADR script probably took a lot of liberties but they pay off in spades.  It uses over the top "shock" humor, especially in terms of random expletives in the dialogue, etc.  I could do without the urination fetish, which is kinda gross, but still kind of funny at the same time.  Pretty sure the Hoopla version is the unedited version, because it didn't seem to hold anything back.  My only lament is that the Hoopla version doesn't have the bonus OVAs, which are apparently even crazier than the main story.  It would be almost worth tracking down the original Media Blaster's release to see them.  The OP and ED are both uplifting, catchy pieces of music.  I especially like the End Credits sequence which features a tired but determined Plug, running on a treadmill. 

I don't know if I would've enjoyed this ridiculous show nearly as much as I did if I'd only seen the original Japanese dub.  The wacky English dub really sells it, I think.

Bakemonogatari via Crunchy Roll

Bakemonogatari (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I finally sat down to watch and finish Bakemonogatari via Crunchyroll.   It is visually stunning, but VERY talky, very Japanese, and I can totally understand why it was never dubbed.

It delves deep into Japanese culture, mythology, history and pop culture.

It is the story of a Japanese male otaku who has a boring, ordinary life, except for the fact that he was once a vampire but got better.  Oh, and his sisters think they're superheroes and he is slightly obsessed with the prettiest girl in school, Hitagi, and is platonic friends with the school's student council president Hanekawa.  He also gets wrapped up with the school's ace women's basketball prodigy, Kanbaru, who is a lesbian and secretly in love with Hitagi.

The series is pretty episodic, comprised of a number of different arcs; the main male protagonist wanders about town seeking to cure various female characters of their spiritual maladies, many having made bargains with various supernatural creatures that went bad in some way and ended up cursing them, possessing them, etc, and otherwise making life quite difficult for them.  The show is very chatty and the main male protagonist is in many ways a thoroughly unlikable character.  He's slightly perverted, has an unhealthy interest in under-aged girls, etc.  His sisters utterly despise him, and he is a total spaz when it comes to women his own age.   He ends up saving Hitagi from an apparent accident or possible suicide attempt, fixes her curse, and winds up, to his surprise, with Hitagi as his loving, devoted girlfriend who is also Yandere levels of crazy.  Indeed, Hitagi is a perfect blend of Tsundere and Yandere.  She's equal parts beautiful, i.e. smoking hot but also terrifying and crazy.  She often carries office supplies with her to use as makeshift weapons, especially her trademark stapler.   She can seem very cold and insulting, even to the main character (her boyfriend) but she can still be persuaded by reason or emotional considerations.  Despite her quirky, unpredictable, borderline sadistic behavior, she does seem to genuinely love the protagonist, and her love confession in the final episode in this first installment of the Monogatari franchise is touching and beautiful.  In my humble estimation, it is actually Hanekawa who is the "best girl", but Hitagi is a fine catch nonetheless.  Hanekawa has her own dark secrets and though she is sweet and beautiful and very well respected at school due to her academic excellence and gentle demeanor, she comes from an abusive home where her father is relentlessly cruel to her.  Sadly, Crunchyroll has, unfortunately, left out the episodes focusing on Hanekawa that are only legally viewable on the Aniplex physical release.  These are skipped and jump next to the Hitagi love confessional sequences.

So far, I really have enjoyed this sub-only series and Hitagi is the first character I've ever bought a figurine of from a sub-only show.  All of my figurines up to this point have come from dub releases I have seen and loved.

But I do still maintain that Hanekawa is best girl:

And Kanbaru is so funny and flirty it wouldn't surprise me if she's actually bisexual....

Though it should be noted that Kanbaru's jealousy burns so hotly she's prepared to kill the main character to win Hitagi's love and attention.  Hitagi intervenes and commands Kanbaru to stand down and not kill the man she loves.  Hitagi is so intimidating and has such presence that Kanbaru backs down and falls into tears with frustration and a broken heart.  Kanbaru is resilient, though, and becomes a good friend to the main character, whom she continues to enjoy gently tormenting and flirting with.  She seems perfectly willing to sleep with the main character if only to make Hitagi hate him and dump him and become open to Kanbaru's affection once more.  Of all the characters, Kanbaru is the most aggressively sensual and sexually forward.  I've already started watching Nisemonogatari, which is ostensibly the next series in the franchise.

It's definitely a good show and a cultural phenomenon worth knowing in the otaku cultural milieu.

Completed: Deltora Quest (via Crunchyroll)

I finally completed the rather lengthy series Deltora Quest (with Canadian English dub) via Crunchyroll.  It was definitely a fun ride.  It is aimed at children, so some of the violence is blunted and nerfed, but it is still an engaging story from start to finish.  Deltora Quest is originally a book series from children's fantasy author Emily Rodda.  It was adapted as an anime, specifically as a Japanese-Canadian co-production.

It is a High Fantasy adventure story with Knights and Magic and Dragons.  A young Blacksmith's son, Lief, is sent on a quest to retrieve the 7 sacred magic gemstones of the legendary Belt of Deltora, which is the only device capable of fighting back against the evil Shadow Lord who currently holds dominion over all the land.  He is joined in his quest by former royal guardsman Barda and later by the roguish heroine "wild girl", Jasmine.

Each arc of the story relates Lief's quest to obtain the next gem for the belt, one after the other, each of which is kept hidden away by a powerful guardian, each more terrible than the previous one.  The belt, once complete, must be turned over to the one true heir to the Kingdom, who can then use the belt to defeat the Shadow Lord and restore freedom to the lands of Deltora.  Each quest is an opportunity for Lief to learn and grow and become a better person.  His relationship and emotional bonds with Barda & Jasmine deepen as their quest continues.

I watched this series' entire English dub run on Crunchyroll (alas the original Japanese subtitled version is not available for streaming nor is it included in the physical release, which is a shame because it includes extra OVAs that continue the story beyond the original); I liked it so much I bought a copy of the box set to own.  The characters are very likeable and the visuals are compelling, as are the stories contained in the quests for each individual gemstone.   Jasmine is very independent minded and is never used to only be a damsel in distress nor as Lief's love interest.  Jasmine has her own agency and her own agenda.  I think she has feelings for Lief but she does not pursue a romantic relationship with him in the context of the story.

Emily Rodda teases us with the prospect of a Queen Jasmine but then throws in a twist that defaults back to the least surprising ending.  I think an actual surprise that delivered us a Queen Jasmine would've been a much more interesting tale, but I'm sure the more predictable ending is what Emily Rodda intended and the anime was constrained by the source material.  In any case, it's a fun fantasy yarn and definitely worth watching.

More animated shows on Hoopla

So I'm currently making my way through a few notable shows on Hoopla Digital, having finally exhausted all of the anime I care to see in the official "anime" category on Hoopla for both movies & TV shows.  True, I haven't watched all of Astro Boy or Princess Knight, but those to my mind barely qualify as anime and are of very little interest to me personally.

I did however discover one last anime title on Hoopla that was not classified as such, because it's a Canada-Japan co-production, but to my mind it totally qualifies as anime.  I'm speaking of the animated series known as Spider Riders, of which Hoopla Digital offers streaming access to the entire first season of 52 episodes.

It's very much a "Kids show", and the Canadian English dub is serviceable if a little corny.  I'm starting to get invested in this show, especially in the "noble adversary" character of Aqune, who is like the pretty but distant goth chick in class that you find attractive but unapproachable....

Like our Heroes, Aqune is a Spider Rider, but she seems to be brainwashed or have her own agenda, as she's working for the Invectids.  The main hero, Earth boy Hunter Steele, seems convinced Aqune can be flipped back to the side of Arachna kingdom.  He feels like Bugeeze has some unnatural influence over Aqune and that Aqune's will is not wholly her own.

I personally ship these two, though the show itself seems to want to ship Hunter with Corona, the other female Spider Rider.  Corona is nice, with blonde hair.  She's more conventionally pretty, like Head Cheerleader pretty.  Corona wields a bow, one of the few ranged weapons in use among her fellow Arachna Knights.  The Lore is actually fairly complicated for a children's show, even if the action from episode to episode is fairly straightforward and conventional, even predictable.

Other shows I'm watching include the cute Naruto-wannabe show Shuriken School

A Spanish-French co-production that also aired on Canadian television with a Canadian-English dub cast.  It's your basic episodic "slice of life" set in a high school for Ninjas, featuring the shenanigans of the students and of the faculty as well.  Shuriken school is the rival academy to nearby Katana School.  This is obviously not an anime but it does betray a number of "anime" influences, tropes, etc, and even slips occasional Japanese words (like "Sugoi") into the dialogue.

Yet another Canadian cartoon I'm enjoying via Hoopla is the French cartoon (dubbed into Canadian English for Canadian TV outside Quebec) known as Dragon Hunters.  And yes, your ears do not deceive, the catchy opening song is indeed sung by The Cure/Robert Smith.

Again, total kids show; an entertaining, episodic show of a team of barely competent Dragon Hunters with delusions of grandeur about their own abilities.  It also shows some limited Anime influences.

Lastly there's the "creepy but cute", "spooky" show Ruby Gloom, also originally on Canadian television of yesteryear. 

I mainly content myself to watch these four cartoons intermittently on evenings where I'm also following a Houston Astros televised baseball game muted on my nearby television.  I watch Hoopla on my mom's PC while I glance over at the score to the baseball game from time to time.

Other than that I'm keeping up with shows on Crunchyroll and on Netflix.  I recently finished Maid-Sama! on DVD and will review that at length in a later post.

So many good anime shows, so little time.  Story of my life, really.

 

Addendum: Finished Slayers Excellent

In case you were curious from the previous post below, yes, I did finish Slayers: Excellent and yes, I enjoyed it very much, too.  The best part(s) were in the extras, the actual interviews with voice actresses Cynthia Martinez (young Lina) and Kelly Manison (Naga).

The unique thing about Slayers: Excellent is we're treated (in flashback) to the very first moment of Lina and Naga meeting each other and deciding to team up.  The OVAs themselves are amusingly ridiculous, like much else in the Slayers franchise.

I very much enjoyed the interview with Cynthia Martinez, though of course I also listened to her on the commentary track for the original Slayers: The Motion Picture.  More interesting for me was the interview with Kelly Manison, on how she developed Naga's voice and more specifically that unforgettable haughty laugh!

Looking back, I have thoroughly enjoyed my trip through the Slayers universe.  I couldn't possibly pick between Lisa Ortiz or Cynthia Martinez as the voice of series Lina and young Lina respectively.  Both performances are brilliant, though I guess if I think of Lina Inverse, I tend to hear Lisa's voice in my head first.  I think it comes down to the strengths and weaknesses of the ADR script, which are not the fault of the actresses.  I think the spell incantations in the television series are more poetic and memorable, while in the prequel movies they're more elaborate but don't have the same flow and cadence as they do in the regular tv show.  I'm going to think of Lisa narrating the Dragon Slave incantation more often than I can recall to mind the version Cynthia had to say.  Plus with Gourry in the mix for the television show, and in only one of the prequel films, Lina has more emotional range by default.  Does she love Gourry or is he "just a friend"?  Will they or won't they?  Slayers teases this romantic tension constantly.  Season Three does reward us with their first on screen kiss, only to steal it back by blanking both their memories of it as a product of being in altered existential states.  Lina doesn't exactly deny it when Amelia and others ask her point blank of Gourry, "You love him, don't you?"; She just blushes hotly and changes the subject.  I think Lina likes Gourry just as he is....big, dumb and handsome.  In other words, he's totally her type.  She knows she's smarter than him and wants to keep it that way.