Haruhi 69?

Posted by Neko Kyou in Suzumiya Haruhi on June 23rd, 2009

Either Haruhi is really supposed to wear that in the novel, or KyoAni decided to use Aya’s choice of wardrobe during the gekisou as an inspiration:

Or… I just have a very dirty mind…

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2nd Year Yay!

Posted by Neko Kyou in Personal, Updates on June 21st, 2009

Can’t believe I almost missed this by a day, I kept thinking it’s tomorrow when it’s actually today that this blog was first started 2 years ago.

You can easily see how often I used to post back then compared to now. It was probably the fresh excitement of having a blog, which has obviously died out by now.

But that doesn’t mean I’m getting tired of anime or blogging. I just have less time now and I’m really a lazy person by nature which is why I setup a Twitter account to accompany this blog so I can tweet short thoughts rather than doing a full post.

Thank you for reading and for you supports especially those through your comments. I really appreciate it!

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K-On, I Misjudged You…

Posted by Neko Kyou in Thoughts on June 21st, 2009

My first impression of K-On wasn’t very good…

I enjoyed the first few episodes, but had a few doubts.

I thought the animation quality was poor for a KyoAni production and that the show was only held up thanks to Mio.

I was naive…

K-On turned now turns out to be one of the best the season had to offer and is my favourite this season. In the end the animation style turned out to fit the show almost perfectly and while Mio is still the darling of K-On, the rest of the cast had proved their worth too.

I can’t really decide whether this is a good thing or not because they had to cut down on Mio’s screen time for Azusa and Ui… Oh well.

The K-On club performed Brush and Ballpoint Pen and even more Fuwa Fuwa Time in the last gig. Can’t really complain about that but I was actually hoping for a Don’t Say Lazy finale.

But with a winter special extra episode coming up, it may not be too much to hope for a new season to do just that. After all, they’re all only 2nd years and one first year. There’s still a whole full year to go before any of them graduates and series like this often goes all the way to the final year.

WE NEED MOAR MIO!!!

Kudos to Sawa-chan sensei for finally breaking her!

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So Many Questions: Eden of the East!

Posted by Neko Kyou in Thoughts on June 20th, 2009

I knew from the start that Eden of the East will end hanging. I thought I was ready for it, but I was wrong!

Damn it.

Did Takizawa wiped his memory again?

The sound from the phone and the way his mouth gaped was the same as in the first episode when he wiped his memory the first time. It’s safe to assume that’s what he did and then pre-programmed himself to slip his phone into Saki’s pocket.

What does he hope to achieve as King?

So all the hints about Takizawa being a Prince was referring to this moment. He became the King of Japan, or would it be more accurate to say the new Emperor.

And wouldn’t he be taken out by the Supporter for finishing up his money?

It happened to the good doctor. But since Panties is still alive after being presumed dead, it’s possible that the Supporter did not kill the doctor and that he is merely being held captive. Just a hunch.

What exactly is #1’s plan?

He seemed quite glad that Takizawa managed to stop the missiles, even though he was the mastermind behind it. He was also there when Takizawa first wiped his memory. It’s possible that there’s more to him than he’s letting out right now.

When will those of us outside Japan get to see the first movie?

It’s probably going to be a long, long time before we get to see it… And it’s probably going to be another cliffhanger ending that leads to the 2nd movie…

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What’s Your Recommendation?

Posted by Neko Kyou in Thoughts on June 18th, 2009

“Which cake is better?”

You know sometimes a friend who isn’t into anime comes up to you and asks if you could recommend them an anime to watch so they can see what’s so great about it.

This happens more often if most of your friends are fans of anime and manga, and he or she always seem to get left out whenever one of you start bashing about this guy called Kishimoto for ruining someone’s fishcakes or something (yes, they probably know what fishcakes is in Japanese, especially since they’ve been dragged by you to the nearest ramen every week).

There will be at least a time when they will start to wonder what’s so great about these Japanese cartoons known as anime. You will then be approached by said person with the question “Hey, maybe you can recommend me something to watch.”

The usual response would be recommending your favourites, whatever that’s currently “hot” or recommending a random show based on their preferred genre.

I actually had a few friends asking me just that and it got me curious about how others go about it. Would you recommend your favourites or do you take a different approach to recommend something?

Is Lucky Star a top choice?

At the top of my head, I can easily suggest some of my favourites like Cardcaptor Sakura, Ranma, Lucky Star and Haruhi. But thinking about it, I doubt someone who has never been exposed to anime would want to watch a mahou shoujo and a show like Lucky Star would only alienate them. A parody is not a parody unless you’ve seen the original, and let’s just say that even right now I haven’t been able to catch all the jokes yet.

Ranma might be a good place to start, but with over 160 episodes, it might be too much for someone completely new. Haruhi is shorter (so far) very popular and are light novel adaptations, but I still wouldn’t recommend it for a newbie.

Instead I find myself recommending shows that are mostly slice of life or comedy and are short (or have short season), such as Minami-ke, Ouran Host Club and Honey & Clover. Then depending on what they like, I would recommend obvious choices like Gundam, Black Cat, Initial D or Slam Dunk.

It’s quite interesting to see how some would immediately recommend Lucky Star or Gundam to someone who just wanted to have a peek at what anime has to offer out of curiousity and that the last mecha show he watched was Robotech about 20 years ago.

I believe it’s important to recommend something you know the person will enjoy, and that is not necessary what you yourself find enjoyable. Lucky Star is one of the best shows in recent years, but it’s a heavy hitter. First, you gotta bait the poor soul into the dark side with easily digestible snacks… then you bring in the heavy artillery and forever corrupt a pure soul…

Haruhi-sama will be so proud of you.

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