Nick's Anime Weblog

... but anyways:

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Well, those of you in the U.S. Hope the rest of you had a good Thursday...

It seems this season has been a bit light on anime for me. There just wasn't much that really stood out for me to watch this season. I've mentioned Time of Eve before, and that is one that I'm watching as it releases. Yet it only has an agonizingly slow one-episode-every-two-month release, though I do think the ones released so far are worth the wait. Another series that for some reason was picked up on my radar was Shikabane Hime: Aka.

Makina Hoshimura

Though I knew that Makoto Shinkai had directed the openings of the ef games by minori, but I had thought that he didn't work on the Ef: A Tale of Memories anime series at all.

Turns out, my research for the last post had me stumbling on IMDB crediting Shinkai for directing the openings of the series, and has him listed under "Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director". Is this actually true? The style is very different from his usual work, though I do think it fits better with the series than what I tend to think of as his "signature" style.

I've watched the series and thought it was worth watching. One day, I need to put up a post (or posts) with my thoughts on the anime I've watched this past season.

I got involved in a discussion on AnimeNfo comparing Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai1. While looking up some hard facts about both of these animation directors, I came across the difference in the budgets they had to work with.

1. 1. Something I've touched on my blog before...

Looks like Crunchyroll is on a roll here. This time, they will be streaming Catblue: Dynamite, though I'm not sure if the movie will be available for download (whether for pay or not) from the site. I have talked about this fun CG anime before...

Hopefully, this me reporting on series showing on Crunchyroll reported by Anime News Network won't be what this blog pares down to. I'll try to get a proper post up at some point...

I was just thinking of Eve no Jikan (Time of Eve) when I saw this announcement on Anime News Network:

Crunchyroll to Premiere Time of Eve in English/French

posted on 2008-09-23 15:48 EDT

1st 2 acts of Yasuhiro Yoshiura's sci-fi anime to debut online on October 2

The Crunchyroll video-sharing website and the media production company Directions, Inc. have announced that Crunchyroll will premiere Yasuhiro Yoshiura's Time of Eve (Eve no Jikan) anime series in English and French in North America and Europe on October 2. Yoshiura and Studio Rikka — the creators of the Mizu no Kotoba and Pale Cocoon anime — developed this "non-hard science-fiction" story about everyday life in a future Japan populated by robots and life-like androids.

Some members on an anime forum I frequent had a topic up showing off their collection and how they watch it, so I figure I should post it here just for the hell of it:

Behold! The Hall of Anime!

Actually, the nearest shelf contains my housemate's anime DVDs. The further shelf houses my girfriend's and my DVDs. Two-thirds of it is mine; I have maybe about 10 boxes of non-anime. Here's a picture with only my anime DVDs in it:

My Anime Collection: Look how it stretches into the darkness!

Soichi Negishi is your basic mellow guy who wants to sing pop love songs and be a kindergarten teacher. The fact that he has problems with a lady friend named Yuri Aikawa is rather cliched, but the real problem is that he lives a double life as Johannes Krauser II, song writer and front man of the becoming famous death metal band, Detroit Metal City, where the title of this OVA and the manga that spawned it comes from. What could have been rather stale romantic comedy is pushed aside by the over-the-top ridiculousness of Krauser, his band members, and their music.

Set on the Eastern Front of World War II? Interesting.

Features a katana-wielding Russian girl? Well, that is slightly different.

Produced by Studio 4°C? Now you have my attention.

Nazi zombies? Wait.... let me try that again: Nazi zombies?!? I'm sold!

Studio 4°C is working with the Russian-Canadian animation company Molot Entertainment to produce this World War II action OAV series.

A couple of things to note.

Eve no Jikan

Being that I have enjoyed Yasuhiro Yoshiura's previous work that I imported it from Japan, you would think that I would be paying better attention to his newest work when it is finally available for me to watch it. Fortunately, Martin was on the ball and wrote up his impressions of the first 15 minute episode.

How did I take the first episode of the ONA Eve no Jikan (Time of Eve)? Well, it really shouldn't be a surprise that I thought it was an enjoyable short episode that hints of greater things to come. It definitely has its links from Yoshiura's earlier short, Mizu no Kotoba (Aquatic Language), including the reference of the Three Laws of Robotics from Isaac Asimov's Robot Series books1

I'm definitely going to try to keep a better eye out for new episodes as they are released.

Tweeny Witches

I had ordered the first three volumes of this series with a silly name (titled Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu in Japan) for a couple of reasons: I'm a fan of Studio 4°C, the animation production company behind the series, and I found it to be a damn good anime. I am currently rewatching the series for the fourth time now, though this time with the English dub, which I find to be fairly well done for the series. I can't wait to get the fourth DVD when it comes out as it is an OVA that contains episodes that I haven't seen yet.

Eugene Woodbury has a pretty nice discussion about the storyline and proclaimed that "Tweeny Witches is the un-Harry Potter, getting right everything it gets wrong." I do see his point, though I think he's being a bit harsh on Harry Potter. I do agree that the moral complexities and plot twists in Tweeny Witches are much better and more believable than those in the Harry Potter books.

And finally, I'll have to do a recommendation of Tweeny Witches to Fledge. Despite the unusual animation style2 and the Tim Burton-esce storyline and world, I think it might be pretty close to his own tastes.

1. 1. I had recently read I, Robot, with no small thanks to Mizu no Kotoba's mention of the Three Laws of Robotics. I don't know if actually reading the books will bring more insight into the Eve no Jikan series, but it sure wouldn't hurt.
2. 2. with "distinctly substandard" character animation, according to some. I like the character animations myself; my beef with the technicalities of the series is with direction: I think there's way too much off-screen dialog and action, and the series often skip forward without any transition. These issues are discussed in Anime News Network's review of the first DVD.