It's time to get back in gear and once again hit up Japan's animated finest. Tomorrow I grab a new hard drive, and no comcast bandwidth will be safe from the swift wrath and fury that I shall use to pluck the succulent morsels of motion artistry from the deepest bowels of the various internets. That's right, tomorrow the tubes become trucks. BEHOLD!
Sky Girls. This started airing July '07. I pretty much have to watch this show. I mean, honestly. Does it look like I really have a choice? Moving on.
Dead Girls. Started airing August '07. Seems like the next logical step after Sky Girls. Little skeptical based on the odd looking possibly CG mechs, but hey. Mechs + girls can't be all bad. We'll see.
Evangelion Rebuild 1 and Evangelion Rebuild 2. ...Does this scare the fucking shit out of anyone else? I'm afraid to even read what the fuck these are going to be. Yet, I will, and I'll eventually see them, and yet another tiny bit of the very deepest and most personally intimate part of my very essence and existence will be torn asunder violently from the already hemorrhaging remnants of my eternal soul. I'll probably like them.
Minami-ke. Prepare your face for the onslaught of fucking cuteness that will leave you beaten and bleeding upon a round pink bed with a hello kitty pillow. KAWAII!!! Sometimes you just need it.
Petit Eva. This is apparently an internet release, so I don't know if we'll see subs. Not as if it would make any more sense if it was in a language I knew.
Genshiken 2, the sequel series to Genshiken, one of the greatest anime of all time. An anime about people watching anime? Hells yeah. They make it seem like my life could could remain just as lame as always but with more breasts. Where do I sign?
Gunslinger Girl 2 ~Il Teatrino~ Yet another sequel series to one of the best anime I've seen. Things are starting to look up. Haven't caught an episode yet, but from the art I've seen it looks like the animation style is different.
Kite Liberator. I sound like a broken record, but yes, again, another sequel to a badass anime. If you've seen Mezzo Forte or Mezzo DSA, or even the original Kite, you'll know how awesome this anime will be. As long as it doesn't suck like DSA, anyways. This airs Jan. 25th.
Mnemosyne no Musume Tachi. No clue. Comes out next month. Looks crazy and badass, check out the vids on the site.
xxxHolic Season 2. Surprise! Another sequel season to a crazy good anime. It's by CLAMP, our lovely ladies of Chobits and other good things. First season was surreal and awesome. Expecting more. Scheduled for release in April.
Amatsuki. Also scheduled to air in April. Again, no clue. Looks like samurai stuff, which is tasty sauce.
Kaiba. Another show airing in April, this one caught my eye only because it is said to be of the "Romance" and "Sci-fi" genres. A potent combo. Further investigation found this article about the director, who also directed Cat Soup, that crazy fucking anime where the cat wanders around some insane land and seems to die a lot, if I remember correctly.
Kurogane no Linebarrels. Set to air October '08. This one intrigues me, just by the animation style. I could go for a fucking good mech anime again.
Well, I hope I can find some exceptional anime again. It's been rather dry of late, and I was starting to get disheartened. I steeled myself earlier today into starting up Bleach again, and it was the right thing to do. The filler episodes were over quickly enough (hint hint naruto), and now it's back into the fist-clenching drama I know and love. With that as my backbone, I'll delve into these new shows and hope to find some classics. Time will tell. Ja na.
So I get into the queue to join a group for Maraudon. Arlach does, I should say. And I get into a group with another paladin, a warlock, a priest, and someone else. Basically the paladin and warlock turn out to be friends and morons to boot. The priest leaves, and so does the other guy. Finally, some level thirty-three priest joins the group. By this time I was soloing some elites on the purple side outside the entrance to the actual instance. For some reason they wanted me to come help them summon this level thirty-three, so I said screw that. They booted me, and I queued up for another group.
Eventually I ended up getting a group with a druid, a rogue, a mage, and another priest. We finally headed in, orange side, and started to get it underway. Long story short, this group was amazing. The druid was bear tanking and was doing a damn good job. We cleared out orange, dipped back into purple for the Celebrian Diamond, and finished up sceptres for myself and some of the other folk. We kept goin' in purple, and were just before the bridge to the princess when the rogue and mage had to take off. So, we managed to nab up a warrior and another mage. Finished off the princess, hopped down to rotgrip, and proceeded towards the goblin.
Let me expand a bit here. I've been hitting Maraudon with Arlach for no other reason than to get him a particular sword that drops from this goblin. The goblin is literally the absolute last boss in the whole damn place and if you start way over in orange like we did, it's a long fuckin' haul. By now, with all the switching and waiting and bullshit, it has probably been four or five hours that I've been in here.
We kill the goblin, we get some crazy adds, we die. He didn't drop the sword, but he did drop the other thing I want from him. A shield that is obviously pally loot. It has intellect and mana regen. So I say, hey, I'll just need that since we're dead and done anyways. I click need. The warrior says "so will I." so he clicks need, and wins. Sigh. The moral of the story is that ninjas and/or dumbasses suck.
So that's done, and now I head on over to the internets to see what I can see. Over on andy's blog I see a new video he posted. I watch it, and I am soon enraptured by its content. An in depth look at the Hiroshima bomb. Interviews with survivors, moment by moment descriptions, and a rendered reconstruction. Basically, it helped me grasp the awesome power of an atomic weapon. If this video didn't make you feel somber and thoughtful, you didn't understand the implications.
Let me say this. That type of weapon, in a heavily civilian-populated area, is mass murder. It's not a strategic military objective, it's not an acceptable loss, it's not necessary, and it's not right. People died because the leaders of their country did some bad things. Let's say I live in zone Q. I'm a regular dude, pay my taxes, do my job, heed john Q. law. Zone Q fucks up land X. I don't know why. I was born in zone Q. I live here, I do what I gotta to live happily. Joe Schmo, from land X, comes to my house and shoots me in the face, because my country fucked up his. Does that seem right to you? Cuz it don't seem right to me. Not one bit.
Shady government agencies. Murderous schoolgirls with swords. Amnesia. Cryptic dooders with a cello. (string bass?) Blood-sucking giant monster thingies. And lots and lots... and lots of blood.
Picture it: a perfect world without crime, without sin. A utopia of goodness and justice. A world you have the chance to create. It's easy. Just grab your pen... and kill someone.
Death Note. I must say, I'm intrigued. A notebook that kills whomever's name you write within. A teen with a vision of justice. A death god with nothing better to do. A mysterious detective with a sharp mind. So far, this show looks pretty damn cool.
The music of the first two episodes is dark and ominous, and it fits the premise very well. The animation is top notch, with some very well done scenes that seem to have a 3D touch to them. I'm looking forward to more.
And indeed, what about this premise. If one had control over who lived and died, how would one use it? To "cleanse" the world of evil-doers and miscreants, is an equally evil mind required? If so, can one acknowledge his own evil as necessary as a means to an end? And where is the line drawn?
Or is it all a farce. Can it be said that one who is capable and willing to undertake such actions is simply as wrong as those he marks for death? Where does the justice lie?
Well, hopefully the point is moot. Unless you know of any crazy death gods who have misplaced their notebooks of death, I think all we have to worry about are guns and bombs and crazy people with... well, maybe the point isn't quite as moot as I had hoped.
Sky Girls.
Dead Girls.
Evangelion Rebuild 1
Minami-ke.
Petit Eva.
Genshiken 2
Gunslinger Girl 2 ~Il Teatrino~
Kite Liberator.
Mnemosyne no Musume Tachi.
xxxHolic Season 2.
Amatsuki.
Kaiba.
Soul Eater.
Kurogane no Linebarrels.
