Blogs

Well, I'm quite flattered that Fledge thinks my obsessions are working looking into. So, I will return with even more Makoto Shinkai visuals!

But first, I need to announce the Makoto Shinkai English Fan Forum And Site. It's not super active yet, and there hasn't been any major discussion of Shinkai's work yet, but hopefully, I can get some time to resolve that issue. It's been open for several months now, and I only found it from Daike's Shinkai Fan Site a couple of months ago.

Now let's go back in time for what I would call his pre-breakout days. These were the shorts Shinkai made before he quit his then day job to work on Voices of a Distant Star:

I know Shinkai's visual tendencies lately has been to not focus too much on realism in his films1 but the preview of his supposed latest short named Neko no Shuukai is something different:

{YOUTUBE:-w5PuQM0erI}

If this is truly Makoto Shinkai's work, then I'd have to say that I'm quite pleased that he's actually branching out. I'm just having a hard time believing that it's his, even if the character designs and background match his style.

UPDATE: Looks like a few other bloggers say that it's his work. Huh.

• 1. He mentions this on an interview on the Five Centimeters Per Second DVD. This actually might be why I found 5 CM Per Second so much more visually striking than The Place Promised in Our Early Days

[img_assist|nid=2179|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=320|height=240] I got wind that a new series of Someday's Dreamers has been greenlit for production and showed later in the summer season (via the AnimeNfo forums). Seems like one new anime series to definitely put on my watch list. Hopefully, it'll be as good as the first series.

Looks like there's been some recent resurge of interest in The Twelve Kingdoms recently. Maybe it's the new volume of the novel series coming out or the 90 page story released in a Japanese magazine that sparking it, but the attention still being put on this series isn't too bad for a now 6-years-old TV series.

Well, time to sharpen those guitar playing skills. Found this on Youtube looking for the guitar tab for the main theme used for Byousoku 5 Centimeter:

{YOUTUBE:sbmZu5ExzdI}

Well, I've been holding on to some good news when it came to this franchise, but I'll get to that later... :P

For now, look at this:

[img_assist|nid=2175|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=349|height=486]

The second volume of the Twelve Kingdoms novel, titled "Sea of Wind", is due on March 11, 2008, only a few weeks away!

Here's some links on where to get it:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• BooksAMillion

This is going to be about Taiki's journey in the land of Tai. Should be interesting to read, as his story didn't get a big chunk of the anime series to get told.

[img_assist|nid=2173|title=|desc=|link=node|align=center|width=560|height=315]
Sometimes, I wonder how the Japanese are able to show what are considered "children's anime" which can deal with very serious topics. How do they allow shows that put their viewers through such an emotional roller coaster that are said to be aimed at elementary school students? And why don't I see or hear about this in many modern American animations, unlike the American classics (recall something like Bambi, for example)? I don't hear of anything that runs like Full Moon wo Sagashite in America today, but I have found another example of an emotionally tiring series in Denno Coil

No, my new hobby hasn't taken up all of my time that I haven't watched anime. I'm still watching, just not having enough time dedicated to blogging it as much as I used to.

Hopefully, I can get an update out this weekend.

Fledge posts about his blogroll and triggered a few thoughts on my end1.

• 1. Somewhat treading on the tenth blogging cliché (via)

After a little hiatus away from anime, I picked up on episode 221 of Lucky Star. A few scenes caught my attention.

First of all, about the MLB World Series:

[img_assist|nid=2167|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=560|height=315]

And on Konata questioning her father on how he would like to die:

[img_assist|nid=2168|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=560|height=315]