12 Days of Anime – Day 12: C’était un Rendezvous de Mort
Natsuyuki Rendezvous is, for me, the best show of the year. I’m fairly certain that I’m alone in this opinion, but I hope I’m not alone in thinking that the show was good. Natsuyuki explores the later stages of grieving by showing a woman, Rokka, through the eyes of both her departed husband and her new lover. It is a beautiful, well executed story. (more…)
12 Days of Anime – Day 11: Confession of the Year
Kids on the Slope, or Sakamichi no Apollon, was a very good show that missed its opportunity to be a truly great show. Muddling middle and odd ending aside, the show had some excellent moments. In particular, I was incredibly impressed with Kaoru’s confession in the third episode. For me, it stands out as the best of the year, even if – or perhaps, due to how – Ritsuko didn’t reciprocate. Here’s how I described it at the time:
Kaoru plays Someday My Prince Will Come by Bill Evans for Ritsuko. She thinks the song is for another girl, but he tells her it is for her; she is the one he likes. It’s immediately obvious that Ritsuko is unprepared for this and can’t return his feelings. The situation hangs between happiness and sadness. There is both unspoken grieving and relief on Kaoru’s part. The tension in the scene switches from intimacy to awkwardness. Then the scene ends.
So it was. This scene was handled deftly and with tact. Certainly one of the best moments of the year.
12 Days of Anime – Day 10: Dat Toothbrush
Nisemonogatari skirts the line between enjoyment and revulsion. The show was incredibly sexual considering the most common interactions are between siblings, and the rest are mostly between minors. Of course, the defining moment of the series comes in Episode 8. (more…)
12 Days of Anime – Day 9: Hair Over Drool
Mysterious Girlfriend X was a very… interesting series. Sure, it was a little trashy. It had a great nostalgic feel to it, though. Some things it nailed, like the awkwardness of teenage romance. Other things were less successful, like the whole shtick about Urabe stripping naked at school only to have Tsubaki see her. The one thing the show constantly nailed was focusing on various fetishes as a means of fanservice. Episode 9 was about hair, and it was good.
12 Days of Anime – Day 8: NTR in the Summer
Kanna, from Ano Natsu de Matteru was a strong and loving childhood friend. Unfortunately, the heart she thought was hers for the taking is swooped away when a buxom alien moves in with her crush, Kaito. The scene pictured is about as close as Kanna ever comes to achieving her goal of a romantic relationship with Kaito. (more…)
12 Days of Anime – Day 7: The Chuunibyou Blues
Somewhere
between Heaven
and the Unseen Horizon,
is the sacred mathematics of Chance.
The calculated risk
And the wind, whipping ya in the eyes,
and the sharp, metallic taste
of life
and death.
(more…)
12 Days of Anime – Day 5: Rape Me, My Friend
There’s been a lot of rape in anime this year, especially in the fall season. It seems, though I’m too lazy to verify, that half of the currently airing shows feature rape in some way. The most notorious of these is the casual rape threats and references in Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. Other shows this season have run the gamut from insinuations to overt depictions of rape. If we can learn one thing from this, it’s that anime doesn’t know a lot about how to approach the topic of rape. (more…)
12 Days of Anime – Day 4: Rage
I don’t like piracy. I never have. That certainly applies more to games than anime, but even with anime, I never download to my hard drive. I feel if I limit my access to anime I haven’t paid for (and with my network, limit is very apt) then at least I won’t be too far off from the people viewing it across the ocean on TV. Since joining the blogosphere last year, though, I took this to the next step and actually started buying anime DVDs. The second one I bought was the complete set of what is probably my favorite anime of all time, Kino no Tabi. I was really excited to finally get DVD quality and own this work that had been so formative for me. That was when it happened. I saw unfolding before my eyes what may have been (and may still be) the worst licensing job known to anime.
12 Days of Anime – Day 3: Symphogear Walking
The quality of animation in this scene speaks for itself.
12 Days of Anime – Day 2: Mouretsu Pirates Episode 12
I picked this one for two reasons. The first is Troll of the Year. The second is favoring diplomacy even at the cost of entertainment value. I loved this episode because it demonstrates how Bodacious Space Pirates had the guts to do something few shows purposefully try: it was boring.
12 Days of Anime – Day 1: That First Yuru Yuri ♪♪
Hey kids! It’s that time of the year again! Time for the 12 Days of Christmas. This is a magical time of year where the aniblogosphere egotistically reflects back on itself under the auspice of holiday cheer. Here at O-New we might post 12 times in 12 days, or maybe this is the beginning and the end. So spike your egg nog, sit back, and refresh the homepage every day!
I love Yuru Yuri. I hate Yuru Yuri. The show is so completely inconsistent. Sometimes it’s hilarious, other times boring. It can be heartwarming one moment, and patently offensive the next. Mostly, I like the characters in the show but consider the writing to be spotty. I love Akarin, though.
O-New 