Nick's Anime Weblog

This was too amusing not to pass up:

Shamelessly stolen from the AnimeSuki forums.

In any case, I'm enjoying Sora no Woto so far. Despite how people are comparing the designs to K-ON!, I am with some others seeing some hints of Haibane Renmei and Now and Then, Here and There in the first couple episodes. Hopefully, Sora no Woto lives up to those hints, but even at two episodes in Haibane Renmei was basically still a slice-of-life series with some vague hints of darker things to come.

Fuyumi Ono is best known to me as the original writer for The Twelve Kingdoms, the series that really got me seriously watching anime and laid the foundation for me to discover Haibane Renmei and Berserk1

I had discovered the anime adaptation of Ono's Ghost Hunt and enjoyed the heck out of it. It doesn't have the epic scope that The Twelve Kingdoms had2, but Ghost Hunt did feature some great characters and some really memorable scare moments3. In the end, I liked the hell out of it, even if it didn't get "top ten" rating.

Well, just got news today that another manga that Fuyumi Ono written the original novel for has been green lit to be adapted into an anime:

1. 1. Yes, two very divergent anime; one day, I'll have to write how they link together with The Twelve Kingdoms thematically.
2. 2. And not many anime did and handled that level of scope nearly as well
3. 3. Especially the one that featured the doll. I still get the creeps watching that scene!

I have continued to watch anime lately, just haven't been talking about it much1. I could talk about several series I'm watching currently, like Nyan Koi!2 or The Sacred Blacksmith3, but both of those are largely "filler" for me to pass the time. I could rave about Kimi ni Todoke, and yes, I am finding it pretty good. I also could praise the recently ended (hopefully first of many seasons of) Guin Saga, and it deserves it.

But no, I am addicted to the series presented in the included image; a contemporary romance with baseball. I mean, there are quite a few of those, but Cross Game has been the only one to have me hooked from the beginning. No other recent series has me rabidly waiting every Sunday night for a new episode to be released. No other series has me so sorely tempted to read the manga behind the series, yet I don't want to be spoiled before I see how the anime treats the material4. No other recent series has me so infatuated with such excellent characters. And I don't even mind the baseball in it, too5!

And I could say more, but that will have to wait... I need to get back to work. 6

1. 1. here or even on twitter
2. 2. Amusing harem
3. 3. Amusing fantasy-(pseudo?)-harem
4. 4. I have read the Cross Game manga to compare, but only up to what was covered by the anime. And so far, the presentation has been nearly perfect; a few things were changed for the adaptation, but they were changes that made sense
5. 5. Actually, I enjoy it quite a bit!
6. 6. So, apparently, my title is a lie... I didn't say anything noteworthy in this one (do I ever?)

Just finished Time of Eve, and though I am trying to temper my usual enthusiasm and usually wait a bit before posting about a series I really enjoyed, I just can't resist on this one. Consisting of six episodes clocking in around 15 to 17.5 minutes each (with the finale going 27 minutes and 44 seconds), Yasuhiro Yoshiura delivers a series that is hard to really find faults with1, is very thought-provoking, and features some excellent animation and well though-out camera work. I really want to collect this series on Bluray or DVD2. As it were, I did purchase each episode off of crunchyroll as they became available, mainly to have a copy that I can watch on the main entertainment setup rather than having to watch the stream on the computer.

At this point, I consider Yasuhiro Yoshiura as a story-writer and anime director superior to Makoto Shinkai.

1. 1. The biggest one being that it took 1 to 2 months between episodes, but considering the small team, they put out a very high quality product
2. 2. Directions, Inc. was selling the DVD singles as each episode came out, but the fact that I can't read Japanese and that they seemed to offer shipping only within Japan makes trying to collect them difficult. I do hope they can release a Bluray or DVD release of the full season that I could get through CD Japan or Amazon.

Quite a bit of news going around about this violent series by Kentarou Miura, which was adapted into an anime series in 1997. First is the news of a possible hollywood adaptation (along with Garefoot Gen and Baki the Grappler). Now there are rumors of a new Berserk anime series made by Studio 4℃, including leaked images! Sankaku Complex has more information in English, though the site is NSFW.

Good days indeed.

Not dead, though my posting has been that way for a while. Lots of things I would like to talk about eventually1 but I've just been too burned out to do so. Been doing the microblogging thing on Twitter so I can keep some writing up2, though most of that is entered through the iPhone interface.

Doesn't help that I had to turn on moderation as some bot/spammer is somehow getting junk comments in through all of the automated anti-spamming systems I've tried, so if you happen to comment and it doesn't show up immediately, that should be why. I do try to check at least once-a-day, though.

1. 1. Including the Popcorn Hour, Ponyo, Kenshin, Coraline, and many anime series I've been watching...
2. 2. And my Twitter feed is also showing the sidebar, if it wasn't obvious...

Now in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as I am running the Anime Track for BabelCon 2009. I'd say I'd be sparse while here, but really, this post alone means that I've actually increased my posting average lately...

Here I am with Tiffany Grant. And Oh my, I forgot to shave this morning!

Well, gotta go back to run the schedule.

Got quite a few new acquisitions in the past week. First of all, what my girlfriend got me for my birthday1:

I've always felt that Who Framed Roger Rabbit was one of the most amazing films to come out of an American studio. The book was one I've been looking forward to read for some time now.

Then I had the following come in from Robert's Anime Corner Store:

1. 1. Not young anymore at 30... Yet I'm still watching cartoons.