The Old Bento Box Part 1
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Let me share some of the anime I've watched and kinda stayed with me. They're not that old, some are quite popular and some may be unheard of. This might help those who ran out of new anime to watch and would like to try some oldies. So let's begin...
801 T.T.S. Airbats (OAV). When aviation mechanic (and anime fanboy) Takuya Isurugi is transferred to the 801st Tactical Training Squadron, he gets more than he bargained for. Moderated by hard-headed veteran ace Mitsuru Konishi, the "Airbats" are an all-female aerial acrobatic team consisting of loose cannons Miyuki Haneda and Arisa Mitaka, karaoke freak and gambling genius Sakura Saginomiya, and junk food lover Yoko Shimorenjaku. Both Haneda and Mitaka do not get along with each other, and their rivalry worsens when they both fall for Isurugi. But with the entire JASDF having doubts about the team, the Airbats must work as a team or face total disbandment.
Thoughts: This falls under the harem genre, basically featuring the lives of the pilots and the mechanic Isurugi. Lots of funny antics common in harems. There's also a nice side-story about the captain. ^_^
3x3 Eyes. 3X3 Eyes is the story of a young man named Yakumo Fuuji, who through a strange series of events becomes the immortal slave of the last of a race of 3 Eyed immortals. The immortal absorbs his soul to save his life, making him immortal in the process. Now, he begins a journey with the female immortal in an attempt to find a way of becoming human. Of course, there are many complications along the way, not the least of which being that the immortal is a female with a split personality, one achingly cute and the other being no-nonsense destructive power, and the romances that develop between.
Thoughts: I guess this is one of the pioneers of the master-servant genre. The OAV kinda fast-tracked the story but still very enjoyable to watch if you're into magical heroine and adventure.
Kimagure Orange Road. Fifteen year old Kyosuke Kasuga moves to a new city and becomes enamoured by one Madoka Ayukawa, whom often treats him coldly even though she seemed friendly the first time they met, when he caught her red straw hat on the stairs. Kyosuke also must try to avoid breaking the heart of the slightly childish Hikaru Hiyama, whom fell in love with him after she saw him make an impossible shot with a basketball and whom likes to shower him with affection. Also, just to make things interesting, Kyosuke, his sisters, his grandfather, and his cousins all have various powers (teleportation, psychokinesis, hypnosis, time travel, personality transferrence) which Kyosuke desperately tries to keep a secret, though some of the other family members have no such qualms against using their powers in public.
Thoughts: This seems to be the grandfather of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien but much lighter and more on the comedy side. The OAV concludes everything for the 3 main characters while the movie took out a new twist. Highly recommendable romantic comedy anime.
That's all for now, I'll rummage again through my collection, see if I find anything interesting. ^_^
(images and summaries from ANN)
Welcome to the Summer Days
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
I would like to share this excerpt background song in Welcome to the NHK episode 9. For reasons I cannot fathom I sensed a deep sorrow and longingness in this song which haunted me for a few days. Here goes [author actually singing :)]:
Sora no sukima ni kumo no yukue ni himawari mawaru
Hanabi no youri hanabira chireba kimi wa kakure
Tameiki shite kuchi wo tsuita serifu wa
Dame sa… uso sa… yume sa…
Youkoso natsu no hi
Nakushita natsu no e
Demo…
Mou ichido egakou
Hagareteru san shawaa
The sunflower pins between the skies and the direction of the clouds
When the petals fall off like fireworks, you’ll hide
And while saying…
“it’s no good… it’s a lie… it’s a dream…”
Welcome to the summer days
The picture of summer was lost
But…
Let’s draw it again.
The missing sun shower.
If I could only learn how to extract the audio track from the video then the effect would be complete. ^_^
Manga or Anime?
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
I see nothing antagonistic between the two media as they practically exist on the same plane, I think that much is agreeable. Everything boils down to preference. The common objective of both media is to present a story, a plot, or an issue. They only differ in the method of how such goal is accomplished.
Anime has OP, ED and background themes; voices; and most importantly a colored moving graphic. These are the best elements that can be used to effectively present a story. On the other hand, you only see a black and white drawing and dialogues in a manga. But take note that what is surprisingly unique about mangas is that artworks and paneling are made in such a way that it actually create movements on paper. That is indeed an amazing aspect of mangas. Another point, since most of the anime come from mangas, the latter are usually more detailed storywise. You have the cases of Video Girl Ai and Ichigo 100%. The VGAi OAV covered only the first 3 volumes of the manga which are introductory parts of the 15-volume story. A lot of things happened after vol.3 and most of the issues were only explained in the latter volumes. Similarly, the 13-episode Ichigo 100% anime didn’t really give justice to the manga which I found really good. The OAV was merely snippets of the rest of the manga.
As I said, it’s a matter of preference. There are stories I would rather watch in anime and there are those I’d rather read. Happy watching and reading!^_^