This is Fuji TV’s flagship anime series for the season. This is the latest installment of the coveted noitaminA programming slot which featured ratings monsters Nodame Cantabile and Honey & Clover. According Yutaka Yamamoto himself, this was supposed to be the show that destroys preconceived precedents and begin the path to anime redemption. Fractale aims high, but ultimately comes up short.

Aside from its name, there really isn't much fractale in Fractale.

Every good story element, characterization, and premise aspect that Fractale employs is sadly coincided with poor execution. The art and animation is gorgeous. The airship designs and backgrounds were very well drawn and detailed, yet only a few times do we actually see the ships in action. The “Fractale” system itself is very intriguing, yet apart from establishing its existence, it is never really explored. Sure it might have been one large and obscure metaphor for human reliance on technology brining about a societal regression. The world of Fractale is one where basic societal norms such as the family or physicality are lost. However, the show never made use of its intriguing premise, opting instead to focus primarily on its characters.

And my god are those characters shallow. If lack of writing destroyed the premise, than overtly bad writing destroyed the characters. Clain is uninteresting, underdeveloped, and sometimes just plain annoying. My biggest problem with Clain is that he doesn’t really do anything. We see the world through Clain’s eyes, but that’s about it, he is essentially a side line character to the story’s plot for most of the show. One must wonder, what exactly was Yamakan thinking when he made those industry statements. It’s almost as if he gave up on Fractale halfway through.

Disregard Fractale, Watch Madoka

Fractale really is a show that tries too hard given its short length. Most noitiminA shows tell stories with clear and concise goals in mind. Shows such as Trapeze and Moyashimon work so well because they know how to pace themselves for an 11 episode season. Fractale desperately needs more than 11 episodes to flesh out its characters and setting. It is a fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, military drama that tries to tackle too many things at once. With good writing, this can certainly be done. Eden of the East is a prime example, granted it did have two movie sequels. Fractale, on the other hand, tries to juggle multiple story lines without a concise sense of direction.

Final Thoughts: 6/10
Despite all the flame it’s receiving, Fractale is still better than perhaps 50% of the shows today. It simply failed to live up to everyone’s expectations. Had it not been hyped to hell and back, perhaps things would have turned out differently. In terms of both the winter 2011 season as well as noitaminA’s broadcasting standards, Fractale is the worst of the best.

Watch It.

Another concern for the industry is a possible shrinking fan base. Estimates put the population of die-hard anime fans at around 150,000. But Yamamoto suspects the number now falls short of 100,000.

Part of the reason, Yamamoto said, is that producers, including himself, devoted too much of their energies in creating cutesy “moe” (budding)-type characters in hopes of making sure-sell products in an already small market.

“Although the otaku (geek) market is said to be a robust one, even the otaku are not immune to Japan’s economic doldrums,” Yamamoto said.

YAMAKAN NINTENDO-LIKE STRATEGY : EXPANDING THE MARKET

Yamamoto is now trying to think outside of the box. His latest anime series, “Fractale,” will target non-anime fans and one-time fans who have shifted away from the genre.

I hope that we can develop an equal relationship with creators overseas, and not simply subcontract work. For that, we need to continue creating works that other people will be interested in,” Yamamoto said.

Anime creator looks abroad for a revival, Asahi, 2011/01/06

It’s been almost five years since I’ve last seen the anime blogosphere go so completely head-over-heals for an anime like what’s currently happening for Puella Magi Madoka Magica. That last time was for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya and it pole vaulted everything from it’s voice actors to it’s animation studio into instant super-stardom. This time it’s the well-known combination of the Shaft animation studio and it’s super-director Akiyuki Shinbou. Which is a bit surprising, given the prolific nature of Shaft/Shinbou; there isn’t that blank slate to work their magic on which KyoAni had with Haruhi.

And much like Haruhi, the PM3 fascination is well warranted; even for this long time Shaft/Shinbou fan, I was astonished how quickly this anime become special. The logical next step for a blogger would to blog about it but did I really want to be the 89th person that pointed how just how creepy Kyubey is or how dark and twisted this world is or how Shinbou was deconstructing the magical girl genre. The answer probably should have been yes since the alternative – coming up with something slightly more unique – took more work.

I eventually thought of something and all I needed was to call on the power of graphing and Gurren Lagann and an idea that’s been bouncing around in my brain for awhile.

The idea started out awhile ago when I realized, when doing my weekly anime review posts, that splitting an anime series into smaller intervals (individual episodes) and focusing only on those smaller intervals it gave an incomplete picture of the series as a whole. I needed the equivalent of calculus to find the area under a curve when all I had was a handful of rectangles to use.

Conversely, looking at just the final grade for an anime series was helpful in a different way but so much was hidden behind that number. A series that started out great but then coasted could get the same grade as a series that tried to be ambitious and missed the mark by just a little or a series that was mediocre at the start but built up to a thrilling conclusion.

I had a half-formed thought about using some sort of graphing but when my weekly anime posts stopped, I stopped really worrying about implementing a new system. For Puella Magi Madoka Magica, I dusted off these ideas with the view of that I needed a good way to quantify how good I thought PM3 was and how quickly it had gotten good.

The result is the graph below. It’s still not perfect but it’s much closer to what I want then just saying the first four episodes of PM3 have all been 12/12 perfect episodes. Basically, the colored areas overlay my numeric grading system and correspond to levels of achievement that are possible once an anime displays a certain level of quality. These levels are progressively harder to attain and are a reflection of watching enough anime that I can accurately grade an anime. A note for clarification, the stripped triangles for each anime series shows my guess at the future potential of the show.

Photoshop is helpful when trying to make a graph look pretty but it makes generating the graph difficult.

I used Gurren Lagann to compare the new series to because it is my number 1 show and the yard stick to compare all other anime series; though, the path Gurren Lagann took to reach number 1 is very interesting by itself. For instance, the big jump it took at the very end where it goes from being a fringe Top 10 anime to being my favorite anime corresponds to episode 26, aka the best episode of anime ever.

I put Puella Magi Madoka Magica into the “High Quality” level right away. It was during episode 1’s conversation between Madoka and her mom in the bathroom that I just knew. When the second episode showed no signs of letdown but only continued to impress me, it was upgraded to probably one of the best shows of the season (as measured against a “normal” season). The surprise at the end of episode 3 pushed the show into most likely earning the top spot for the winter season, assuming the rest of the series didn’t see a decline in quality, and moved it very close into earning a spot as one of the best series of 2011. (Again assuming a “normal” year, with this being just the beginning of the year, I’m using the past seasons and years as a guide in estimating.) The fourth episode didn’t disappoint either and Shaft/Shinbou made it clear that it had plenty of tricks left to play; meaning, PM3 is now all but guaranteed a spot on my top anime of 2011 list.

In picking the upper and lower bounds for how PM3 potentially turns out I decided even though it’s currently far surpassing where Gurren Lagann was at this point in time – it probably doesn’t have the spiral power to beat out Gurren Lagann in the end. Instead, I used the highest position of a Shaft/Shinbou anime series (Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei) as the probable cap. I could be wrong and it could go higher but I think PM3’s episode count being only half will limit it. For the low end, I just don’t see the show imploding and finishing any lower then maybe #3 for the winter season. My guess as to it’s most probably course would be for Puella Magi Madoka Magica to land in the top 5 – maybe 3 – of 2011 and just outside of my top 10.

I could have stopped here but there was plenty of space to graph several other new shows of the winter season.

The most talked about show behind PM3 is Fractale, the latest creation from disgraced anime director, Yutaka Yamamoto. Some have loved it, some have panned it, some just note the high degree of similarities it has with other well-known anime works. I see it’s potential but it hasn’t impressed me in the slightest, especially since I don’t think Mr. Yamamoto has learned from his previous disappointing efforts. I don’t mind the recycling of ideas used elsewhere if Fractale was going to do something interesting with them. And I don’t mean – “hey lets do a Miyazaki movie but add in fan-service and potty humor”. Better story-telling would help it’s chances, like getting us to like a character before the director kills him off. The result is, unsurprisingly, that it’s been hovering around my drop line (anything below a 6/12 B- is in real danger of getting dropped) and I don’t see Fractale ending that high. Maybe if it does everything right then it might just creep up to around a 9/12 A- level but I don’t think so. It’s more likely to finish in the 5/12 C+ to 6/12 B- range.

Currently keeping Fractale company is the “comedy” Rio –Rainbow Gate– from Xebec. The mere possibility that Rio could finish higher then Fractale is mind-boggling. I don’t think that’s going to happen; I thought the latest episode of Rio signaled that the creators were fast running out of entertaining ideas (the gate battle in this episode was so boring) but the possibility still exists. The problem is that it’s too difficult being unintentionally hilarious week-in and week-out; eventually the animators figure out how to just be generic and that ruins all the fun. Which is a shame because having visited Las Vegas twice, I sort of wanted this anime to be a success.

Another show I wanted to succeed was Mitsudomoe 2. The first season was inconsistent but ended strongly and I had a feeling that a second season would be awesome. So far that’s been pretty much the case but it has a problem as well – it’s only going to be 8 episodes long and I’ve already seen half of them. That makes Mitsudomoe have to work much harder just to keep up with shows like PM3 and Level E when there’s such a difference in episode count. The last episode, in particular, seemed to display the animators at the top of their game and it reminded me of the splendid work they did on Minami-ke S1. If the remaining four episode can stay at that level, Mitsudomoe 2 might just land near the top this season.

The final show I graphed was the anime that most astounded me this season for being actually good – Level E – and the only anime that I think that has a shot at beating PM3. Not a great chance but it’s not zero, which would be enough for Simon from Gurren Lagann.  It should be mentioned that it bears no connection to any other anime that has “something E” in the title, which was why I initially passed it over – I thought it was a sequel. Nor does it rip-off the central idea to Men in Black because the manga actually predates the movie by a couple of years. It’s a SF/comedy series from the pen of the author that wrote Yu Yu Hakusho (which really deserves a new adaptation itself) and it’s refreshingly entertaining. Level E also has the largest potential range because I’m torn between how good it’s been so far and worrying about things that could drag it down. I wonder why this hasn’t been adapted in the 13+ years since it originally came out and if it’s short length (only 16 chapters) means that it doesn’t have a good ending and will the comedy hold up.

At this point, I figure putting any more series on this graph would just be overly messy looking so this is were I’m going to stop for now. I might revisit this graph with different series in the future but we’ll have to see. And in closing, I’ll say it again – Kyubey is freakishly creepy; though, I wonder if Kyubey barbecue tastes good.

Fractale is a new original television anime that will be airing in January 2011 on the popular Noitamina programming block in Japan. The new show will be directed by Yutaka Yamamoto (of Haruhi Suzumiya fame) and will be animated by A-1 Pictures along with Yamamoto’s Studio Ordet which just recently worked on the Black Rock Shooter OVA.

Here is the story synopsis from ANN:

The story is set on an island at the far reaches of a continent where the “Fractale System” is on the brink of collapse. A boy named Kurain embarks on a journey to search for Furyune — a girl who disappeared, leaving behind only a pendant. Kurain will eventually learn the secrets of the “System.”

The Noitamina block has been quite popular in Japan for some time now and it’s programming is now being streamed live by Funimation for American audiences starting with House of Five Leaves and The Tatami Galaxy this past spring. Fractale shows potential and after a quite bland summer season this year I’m looking forward to a more interesting selection of shows this fall and winter.

Studio Ordet‘s long-awaited first project as main animation studio is finally here and it turned out pretty much as I’d expected. It’s a well produced OVA with nothing particularly new regarding content, but an enjoyable watch nevertheless. I was mildly impressed with Shinobu Yoshioka‘s directing skills, he did a pretty good job with setting the overall atmosphere. He depicted the characters rather low-key and not as forced as in your average bishoujo anime, which adds a lot to the believability and mood. I would like to see more bishoujo anime going into this direction, so more human-like characters without any disturbing, unbelievable traits. I can live with overly exaggerated characters in comedy series like ‘K-ON!!’ where they aim for a different kind of atmosphere, but in anime with a more serious tone they usually feel quite misplaced. It should go without saying that especially heartfelt and dramatic moments feel all the more stronger if the characters act in a way that the audience can relate to, and not just in the manner which the character category demands.

On the technical side of things, it’s certainly an impressive piece of animation with more than 20000 drawings used for 50 minutes of film. ‘BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER’ and its circumstances remind me of KyoAni’s first solo effort, namely Yoshiji Kigami‘s ‘Munto’ OVA from 2003. Just as Ordet, KyoAni had also been famous for doing high quality subcontract work before they eventually got the chance to produce a technically outstanding 50 minutes original OVA. However, I can hardly imagine that Ordet will go on producing TV series in the near future, it’s a fairly small studio after all. I guess their next project – most likely the upcoming Yutaka Yamamoto x Hiroki Azuma x Mari Okada noitaminA TV series – is a co-production with another studio (probably A-1 Pictures).

In accordance with KyoAni tradition, everything moved a lot, though the drawings and movement weren’t quite as polished. It had more of a raw feeling to it compared to most KyoAni stuff, and the animation direction wasn’t as strict either. Animation director Yuusuke Matsuo didn’t meticulously erase most individual traits from the drawings as KyoAni’s sakkans do, but apparently he only corrected the faces and tried to keep most of the movement in its original form. I love the rough yet energetic feeling of the animation, but judging by some fan reactions and blogs it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Even mebae‘s part (the basketball/volleyball match and the bit afterwards, around 21 minutes in) looked like it was hardly corrected and thus is easy to spot. Hironori Tanaka did the great action scene shortly before mebae’s part, but those were hardly the only shots that impressed me a lot. The action sequences were generally well-directed and wonderfully animated, not surprisingly so considering director Yoshioka‘s skills as action animator. He probably did the right thing when he left KyoAni, I don’t think that he would have had many chances to demonstrate his aptitude with action scenes there. Of course, if KyoAni ever decides to produce another ‘Full Metal Panic’ series, he (and the other Ordet expatriates) will be extremely missed. You can count KyoAni‘s action/effect animators on one hand, after all.

It was quite interesting to see who is involved in Ordet‘s first solo project, particularly since I expected that they request some help from outside. As Yutaka Yamamoto pointed out in this recent ‘Business Media Makoto’ interview, that was indeed the case since otherwise they weren’t able to complete it in a reasonable time. They even requested help from Hokkaido-based illustrator/animator mebae – a net acquaintance Yamamoto has never met in person – who is able to be active in the anime business thanks to the internet. mebae‘s real name is Yuusuke Hiroshima [広島裕介] and he’s already worked on some other commercial anime (‘Shugo Chara!’, ‘Jigoku Shoujo’, ‘Higurashi no naku koro ni kai’, etc.), though his core occupation is still illustrating. French blogger Manuloz wrote a nice post on mebae a while ago, you can also watch some of mebae‘s animation works there.

As for the other involved staff, there are some animators from A-1 Pictures in the credits (Toshifumi Akai‘s mates?) who apparently returned the favor of Ordet helping out on ‘So-ra-no-wo-to’, the staff exchange in more detail (yellow = Ordet-associated animator / green = A-1 Pictures animator):

BRS animator list divided in origin/affiliation:

♦ Satoshi Kadowaki [門脇聡]: Chief Animation Director of ‘Kannagi’
♦ Shinobu Yoshioka [吉岡忍]: Ep. Director on ‘Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu’, etc.
♦ Yuusuke Matsuo [松尾祐輔]: Animation Director on ‘Kannagi’
♦ Atsushi Saitou [斎藤敦史]: Key Animator on ‘K-ON!’, ‘Lucky Star’ OVA, etc.
♦ Yoko Takada [高田謡子]: Key Animator on ‘Air’, ‘Kanon 2006′, ‘Kannagi’, etc.
♦ Ryouichi Nakano [中野良一]: Animation Director on ‘So-Ra-No-Wo-To’, etc.
♦ Asami Komatsu [小松麻美]: Key Animator on ‘Air’, ‘Kanon 2006′, ‘Kannagi’, etc.
♦ Yuugo Mizutani [水谷有吾]: Key Animator on ‘K-ON!’, ‘So-Ra-No-Wo-To’, etc.
♦ Jun Nakagawa [中川淳]: Key Animator on ‘K-ON!’, ‘Lucky Star’ OVA, etc.
♦ Mitsuru Kakuda [角田充]: Storyboarder on ‘Kannagi’, pseudonym of Ex-KyoAni person?

♦ Toshifumi Akai [赤井俊文]: Character Designer of ‘So-Ra-No-Wo-To’
♦ Shingo Adachi [足立慎吾]: Character Designer of ‘Working!!’
♦ Isao Hayashi [林勇雄]: Animation Director on ‘Birdy the Mighty Decode:02′

♦ Hideki Nagamachi [長町英樹]: Character Designer of ‘Innocent Venus’
♦ Nao Chikaoka [近岡直]: Character Designer of ‘Today in Class 5-2′
♦ Hironori Tanaka [田中宏紀]: Ani. Director on ‘Ōkami-san’, ‘Naruto Shippūden’
♦ mebae: Key Animator on ‘Shugo Chara!’, ‘Jigoku Shoujo’, etc.
♦ Daisuke Hiramaki [平牧大輔]: Key Animator on ‘So-Ra-No-Wo-To’, ‘Working!!’
♦ Asaka Kazuyuki [浅賀和行]: Ass. Animation Director on ‘Ga-Rei -Zero-’, etc.
♦ Yuusuke Tanaka [田中裕介]: Animation Director on ‘Birdy the Mighty Decode:02′
♦ Saishi Suzuki [鈴木彩史]: Ass. Animation Director on ‘Toaru Kagaku no Railgun’
♦ Jun Mori [森淳]: Key Animator on ‘Bamboo Blade’, ‘Darker than Black 2′
♦ Yutaka Takahashi [高橋豊]: pseudonym? Different person from the same-named producer?
♦ [小田鴨瞳]: pseudonym

Flaming eyeballs? There's a Visine for that.

In case you’re unfamiliar, Black Rock Shooter was originally a character designed by the Japanese artist Huke, which the band Supercell adapted into a wildly popular Hatsune Miku music video. The video itself doesn’t feature much plot; it’s just the titular protagonist travelling around a post-apocalyptic world, looking all emo and angsty. That means when Yutaka Yamamoto and Studio Ordet decided to make a full-length original video animation from this concept for their first independent project, they had their work cut out for them. Not only did they have to prove their little startup studio could produce quality anime, they had to create an entire universe and mythology for Black Rock Shooter from scratch.

So, did they succeed? Did Studio Ordet prove it could hold its own against the older, larger and better-funded anime studios? Sadly, no. This OVA was a disappointment on nearly every level. It’s a pity, since there’s a really interesting concept here. Unfortunately, it was dragged down by poor animation, badly paced storytelling and low production values.

Read more after the break.

Those are the stubbiest, sloppiest twintails I've ever seen.

Black Rock Shooter begins, oddly enough, with a slice-of-life setup. Mato, a fairly typical high-school girl, meets another girl from her class named Yomi. Since they’re neighbors, the two begin walking to school together and strike up a budding friendship. Mato takes Yomi to one of her favorite places, a picturesque cliff overlooking the entire town, where they consummate their friendship by exchanging star-shaped cell phone straps. Eventually, Mato winds up joining the school basketball team, whereas Yomi opts for volleyball. However, Mato sprains her ankle during practice one day, and consequently meets the team’s manager Yuu. As Yuu and Mato become fast friends, Yomi begins to feel alienated, and shows signs of depression.

Meanwhile, interspersed with these school drama scenes are seemingly unrelated brief shots of Black Rock Shooter (who I will henceforth refer to as BRS) travelling through her post-apocalyptic world. Eventually, she arrives at the castle of a gothic girl named Dead Master. After BRS offers her hand in friendship, Dead Master scorns her and attacks. The two battle, with BRS using her transforming arm-cannon/melee weapon, and Dead Master using two giant flying skulls and a scythe.

Trust me, this gun is much less impressive than it looks.

Back in the real world, Mato becomes worried when Yomi doesn’t show up for school. After getting a panicked text message from her mother, she returns home to find two police detectives waiting to question her; Yomi’s parents have reported her missing, and the police fear she’s run away. Concurrently, BRS is defeated by Dead Master and chained to a wall, helpless. Mato falls into a deep depression, despite Yuu’s efforts to cheer her up. She becomes hopeful, however, upon recieving a blank text message from Yomi’s phone. She rushes out to her old hangout, the cliff, where she discovered Yomi’s cell phone strap lying on the ground. As she holds it, crying, a light descents from heaven and envelops her.

In the alternate world, BRS breaks free of her chains and confronts Dead Master. The latter, while backing away in fear, accidentally falls off a cliff, but is caught by BRS in a hug. Struggling against her captor, Dead Master breaks free of the body she had been inhabiting, revealing that Yomi had been possessed by the evil entity all along. BRS then confronts Mato, and after a brief conversation, merges with her. The new BRS/Mato fusion opens her eyes, looks straight at the camera, and declares “I am Black Rock Shooter!”

After the credits, we see Yomi and Mato reunited. However, Yuu is beginning to show signs of a mysterious depression…

*insert ominous music here*

From a technical standpoint, Black Rock Shooter was unimpressive. The initial battle between BRS and Dead Master was probably the highlight, as it was more fluid and well-choreographed than the rest of the OVA. The animation quality everywhere else was noticeably lacking, with many scenes having a distractingly low framerate. The flame around BRS’s right eye was probably the most egregious example of this; it was poorly animated, and didn’t look convincing in the slightest.

The character and art design was also pretty bland, with the exception of Huke’s alternate world designs. Similarly, the music was forgettable, minus a couple of piano pieces at the end. Honestly, the whole presentation was underwhelming to me. It felt like a cheap, second-rate project… and nowhere near the quality we usually expect from OVAs. I realize that Studio Ordet was operating with limited manpower and budget, but I really think they could have made a better effort.

Green is the color of EVIL!

On the other hand, my feelings on Black Rock Shooter‘s story are mixed. I thought the real world storyline was pretty enjoyable, with believable characters and well-written dialogue. However, the alternate world scenes felt entirely extraneous and unnecessary until the very end. I realize that the battle between BRS and Dead Master was supposed to parallel the relationship of Mato and Yomi, but this comparison never really clicked for me. How are these alternate-world entities related to our real-world protagonists? Why is the girl’s friendship represented by a battle? What caused Yomi to vanish? Why does her disappearance cause Dead Master to capture BRS? Is BRS actually Mato’s alter ego? The OVA never bothers to answer any of these questions, making the whole affair frustratingly confusing.

Furthermore, the emotional conflict between Mato and Yomi never receives any meaningful resolution. Instead of addressing Yomi’s feelings of alienation, this OVA seems to indicate that her depression was merely caused by Dead Master possessing her. In other words, it raises some very serious issues concerning friendship and its consequences, then hand-waves those issues away by saying “It was just alternate-dimension demonic possession all along.” Such an unbelievably asinine deus-ex-machina I have not seen since the finale of Battlestar Galactica.

However, Black Rock Shooter is much sexier than Starbuck.

Overall, I found Black Rock Shooter disappointing. Although it had a a promising concept, the storyline was fragmented and the production values subpar. I can see this OVA being a good jumping-off point for a series, but on its own it fails to impress. I’m disappointed, Yamakan… I really expected better from you.

http://www.senpai.info/

Love happens, or so, between high school student Yamako and her senior students as she moves to a small island in Kyushu. She falls for one of the students, but can’t reveal her love for him until she finally writes a love letter that sets things in motion and makes love work its truly mysterious ways.

Directed by Yutaka Yamamoto, starring Umika Kawashima, Satoshi Kanada, Jingri Irie, Kinyyo Kodama, Natsumi Ogawa, Nobuhiko Takada and Mei Nagano.

J.

1.  Equality Now – Also known as “Rage Against Eroge,” the feminist organization set off a campaign that precipitated questionable legal revisions across the globe, including a proposed act in the UK, a new law in the Phillippines that failed to distinguish between hentai and other forms of anime, and a new set of voluntary restrictions in Japan itself.  Chilling effects were seen in the US as well.

Presumably legitimate businesses were far more important targets than actual criminals, as it took months for EN to go back to things like attempting to bring justice to rapists.

2.  The FCC – Taking a step closer to its future role as the GOTT, the FCC proposed sweeping changes to blogging, and the huddled masses could do naught but obey.

3.  Kyoto Animation – With the infamous Endless Eight arc, Haruhiists were forced to cry, “Why have you forsaken us?”  “Kyon-kun denwa” became a hissing, a byword, and a song. At least some took comfort in it:

At last I decided to take the pettan song, @moritheil‘s ‘Kyon-kun, denwa,’ some public So-called videos, and an @Anime3000 podcast ep

4.  Yutaka Yamamoto – With his apology for Endless Eight and sniping at what he felt were undesirable trends in anime, Yamamoto secured infamy for himself in 2009.

5. Colony Drop – Their trolling ranged across the blogosphere, provoking wars with the likes of Plot Shield and ANN.  Individual members managed cameos in even the most unlikely situations.

6. Shinn87 – While other fans have also wished they were lolis, none have exhibited Shinn’s relentless dedication to making his views known.

7. Otaku Elimination Game – Whether you reacted to them with love, hate, amusement, or scorn, there’s no denying that OEG made a big splash this year in the anime blogosphere.

8.  Wildarmsheero – Like a cook, WAH kept the pot of drama simmering, though it occasionally boiled over.

9.  Koji Oe – At great personal cost, he kept it real.

10. Yamila Abraham – The proprietor of Yaoi Press kept a cool head even as rumors flew on Twitter.  Her twitter feed combined stark professionalism with . . . somewhat less than stark professionalism.

Is ‘passage’ an acceptable word to use for a guy’s bum hole in erotic writing?

11. Michael Pinto – Well known for his different takes on events that often cast light on issues that threatened to slip into obscurity, the proprietor of fanboy.com maintained a dignified status as mentor to up-and-coming sites.  Most recently, he was called out for his rampant fanboying.

12. Extrange – Known for his ability to devour volumes of manga in one sitting, Extrange found time to war with Crusader and compare his life to a shoujo game.

Truly, we give thanks for our dorama generators, for without them, the anime blogosphere would be a much more boring place.

Credit to CCY for starting the “12 moments in anime” movement.

Disagree?  List your own top twelve below!

Last week the pilot edition of BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER was released that gives us a foretaste of the upcoming animation project by Yutaka Yamamoto and his studio Ordet. The promotion video of sorts is certainly convincing production-wise, the imaginative approach on visual directing and design as well as the interesting animation style with rippling and cleft lines give it its very own feeling.

While Yutaka Yamamoto is the supervisor of the BRS project, it’s former Kyoto Animation member Shinobu Yoshioka who is the actual director. He had a typical career at Kyoani with starting out as animator (Inuyasha, Soultaker, Air, etc.) and eventually proceeding to episode direction and storyboards (Haruhi Suzumiya #4 and #6, Kanon #4, some episodes of Lucky Star) after some years of doing animation. After he left Kyoani, Yoshioka worked on various projects on behalf of his new employer Ordet, besides the more obvious and famous works like “Kannagi” (episode director of #7 and #10) he directed also an opening and ending of “Katekyo Hitman REBORN!” (the nice third opening and the rather low-key fifth ending). Furthermore, he did also key animation for aforementioned opening/ending and several other projects like Ordet’s “Shakugan no Shana II” opening (#2) or “Valkyria Chronicles” #1 (sometimes credited with a pen name), so he doesn’t devote himself to directing tasks only.

Another ex-Kyoani animator, namely Yuusuke Matsuo, designed the characters for the BRS anime project, the similarity to Kyoani’s or strictly speaking Horiguchi‘s and the Ikeda‘s approach on design is pretty obvious.

Credits:
Original Creator: huke
Music: ryo
Director: Shinobu Yoshioka
Character Design: Yuusuke Matsuo
Supervision: Yutaka Yamamoto
Animation Production: Ordet
Background Art: Emi Kesamaru
Animation Inspection: Yoko Takada
Color Coordination: Kazuko Nakashima (A-1 Pictures)
Director of Photography: Takeshi Hirooka
Sound Production: Gakuonsha
Editing: Kentarou Tsubone
Video Editing: Qtec

The animation project is slated for spring 2010 and it isn’t clear yet if it’s a TV series, OVA or something else, though in the case of a TV anime some kind of cooperation with other studios is very likely as Ordet hasn’t the capacities for producing a series alone. Since the connections to A-1 are already well established – especially through “Kannagi” and more recently “Tonari no 801-chan R” – it’s probably safe to assume that they are involved as well.

On this occasion let me include a short studio profile of Ordet:

Studio Ordet was founded by Yutaka Yamamoto and several other former Kyoto Animation/Animation Do staff members – such as Shinobu Yoshioka and Satoshi Kadowaki – in August 2007 after Yamamoto‘s dismissal as the director of Lucky Star. From the very beginning it has been involved in projects of A-1 Pictures and Hal Film Maker until their first more prominent job as production assistance on A-1 Pictures‘ “Kannagi”, which made them widely known among anime fans.

List of works:
♦ Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan Second [OVA]: #3 Episode Direction / Storyboard / Production Cooperation
♦ Sketchbook ~full color’S~ [TV]: #11 Episode Direction / Animation Direction / Production Cooperation
♦ Shakugan no Shana II [TV]: OP2 Direction / Storyboard / Production Cooperation
♦ Kannagi [TV]: Direction / Production Cooperation / OP, ED, #1, #7, #13, #14 Episode Direction + Storyboard / Animation Direction / Character Design
♦ Kemeko Deluxe! [TV]: #2 Episode Direction / Storyboard / Production Cooperation
♦ Tonari no 801-chan R [OVA]: Direction / Production Cooperation (watch)
♦ BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER -PILOT Edition- [OVA]: Direction / Animation Production

List of works by Ordet-associated staff:
♦ PERSONA -trinity soul- [TV]: #6 Storyboard
♦ Porfy no Nagai Tabi [TV]: #11 Storyboard
♦ Library Wars [TV]: #8 Storyboard
♦ Ookiku Furikabutte [TV]: ED2
♦ Katekyo Hitman Reborn! [TV]: ED5, OP3 Animation / Direction
♦ Shiina Ringo PV “Gamble”: Animation (watch)

Important staff:
♦ Yamamoto Yutaka [山本寛]
♦ Kadowaki Satoshi [門脇聡]
♦ Yoshioka Shinobu [吉岡忍]
♦ Watanabe Seiji [渡邊政治]
♦ Mima Kakeru [三間カケル]
♦ Tomii Ryouko [富井涼子]
♦ Emi Kesamaru [袈裟丸絵美]
♦ Takada Yoko [高田謡子]
[♦ Matsuo Yuusuke [松尾祐輔]] (uncertain)

And they’d be right, except it doesn’t disqualify any of the above-mentioned Yamakan shows from being catchy bookends to each episode. Simply put, they’re quite good and they deserve to be catchy.

What actually made me newly appreciate Yamakan’s work was the second season of Haruhi. Watching the new ED, it just did not have any of the pop or style of the first series’ infamous “Hare Hare Yukai.”

Haruhi Season 1 ED

Haruhi Season 2 ED

It’s not like I’m criticizing the level of animation in the new ED; in many ways the animation in the new ED is better than the old one. And I’m not comparing the full Hare Hare Yukai dance itself to the new ED either. However, I really feel that the new ED’s sense of timing is a little lacking compared to the original, and that it overuses certain visual elements (a problem that goes double for the new OP). It was a pretty good idea, but the execution leaves something to be desired.

I’m not promoting the proliferation of even more dance numbers in anime, but rather just pointing out an example in which we have to look beyond the fad and into the core of what makes an opening catchy or memorable. I think that if you gave Yamakan an opening to storyboard and told him “no dancing,” he’d still be able to create something just as visually engaging.

First Alice I saw at the con the pre-reg line. The best one out of all I saw too.

It was completely random spotting omo along with meeting animemiz for the first time immediately after picking up my badge, but since we all had the same destination, the first Yutaka Yamamoto Q&A, it made me quickly relax and fall into a comfortable groove that stayed with me for the whole con. At the panel, I ran into other people I knew, and ended up sitting next to Bayoab (crazy fast typer, by the way, but I guess most would know that) in the front row to see Yamakan as close as possible. From his opening “wa wa wa wasuremono~” to the thoughtful answers he gave to the questions that people brought up, I thought the director was a cool guy who knew what he was talking about and wasn’t afraid to state some difficult views on the state of directing and anime in general.

Things I enjoyed during Yamakan’s first panel:

• his thoughts on how directors need to be more honest with each other and more willing to take risks and go wild in anime
• how though he feels that one is not to get so emotionally invested into directing, he’s broken that rule a couple of times
• how dances were something that he really wanted to do in general (and in coming up with the Haruhi dance on his futon)
• his succinct answer on moe that makes sense (‘if you’re into it, it’s “moe” for you’)
• how making characters stay consistent and true to themselves is the most important thing to him in a show
• how he believes that Haruhi made fandom more “out there”, focusing on the “festival” surrounding the show, but less on the show itself (where the show takes the most priority
• how he enjoys doing work where “people are being like people”
• Running into other people like Scott, 21stcenturydigitalboy, mrvacbob, kransom, mdl and so on.

It was an entertaining and educational (in my opinion) experience.

I'd confess to her anytime.

From there, I decided to skip the Madhouse panel (given that I tend to like those things, I’m not sure if that was a good idea or not) and go to the Anime Recruitment panel ran by four panelists involving the pair that run Reverse Thieves. The panel included guidelines on how to introduce people receptive to trying out anime (I was only slightly miffed at the not picking something “slow-paced” as the first anime, but then again, I’m strange in that way) and examples of shows that could appeal to really general subsets (stuff for moms/dads, stuff for geeks, stuff for stoners, etc.), followed by Q&A and free stuffs. Overall, the main thing stressed was that before one even decides to introduce people to this hobby that they’ve been focusing on (with great quotes like “I’m not just a creepy person in the dark” from the introducer and “That’s yet another Saber figure. How unusual” from the person being introduced) is to know that persons likes/dislikes, and what they’re receptive to, which is an important point that I tend to forget every once in a while myself.

I did ask a question about how one could prepare to be willing to actually go and introduce anime to others, since that obstacle is the most important part of the whole thing in my opinion.  In my experiences, there’s a mental roadblock that I create in worrying about what the people I introduce anime to feel about the medium in general, and if they’re willing to try it. And while I’ve overcome that obstacle myself, more advice on things to expect and deal with would be helpful. I feel like I got a good answer for it (be prepared to try again if necessary, or stop trying if it doesn’t work, and know your audience), along with the second half of Heroic Age and the chance to shake hands and say hey to Hisui and Narutaki, so that was all good for me.

A Studio Ghibli crossover anime doesn't seem that bad when I think about it.

Next came the first of two Aniplex panels, this one being a TBA panel. It turned out to be a Kannagi appreciation panel which was great because I enjoy the property and because it was another chance to experience Yamakan, this time with the animation producer Satoru Shimizu joining as well. Things I enjoyed during this panel:

• The voice casting process, with 30 applicants auditioning for all three of the main female roles. Enjoyed hearing that apparently both Miyuki Sawashiro and Haruka Tomatsu tested great for both Nagi and Tsugumi, and that the eventual casting was mainly based on the look of the corresponding seiyuu. This means that now I really really really really really really really really want to hear Miyukichi’s Nagi. It would be cool to hear Tomatoes’ Tsugumi as well, but Miss Sawashiro takes preference here by far. :3
• How Yamakan wanted the OP to reflect Nagi as idol (hence the dance by herself among other things) and the ED to reflect Nagi as the divine. And that the Op was drawn in 30fps instead of standard (?) 24 for that more realistic feel.
• How Yamakan asked the audience how Americans see how gods and goddesses worked in Japan, especially considering Zange’s appearance, and the generally positive response from the audience to the question
• Three cosplayers from Aniplex as the three female characters, and them doing the OP dance with my good friend W-General joining in. Rock on man.

And I was able to ask the director himself if he had any specific philosophy applied to Kannagi compared to other works, to which he replied that he was aiming for a “boy and girl living together under one roof” type of show and all of the tension-filled (heart pounding or otherwise) moments that haven’t been done in a while, which was something at least. For actually being able to ask a question (as I was too nervous in getting the question right in my head, then finding that elements of the question were asked before in the previous panel), I managed to get a Kannagi poster (from the Tsugumi cosplayers no less. I can almost die happy now), which would have been already something that I hadn’t expected. But after the end of the panel, somehow some members of the audience were able to get Yamakan to stay and get pictures, including myself with him, which was a fun plus.

I have no regrets.

After briefly staying in the panel room to see Aniplex’s industry panel (basically a showing off of their recent wares), I left and decided to explore the dealer’s room. Again, it was interesting how even though I had set goals for what I wanted to by and that was it, I managed to find some interesting things that I never believed that I could find, and I quickly found myself bereft of all my set away spending money. But I’d like to think that it was all for a good cause. If anything, it allowed me to waste some time before going to line up with omo, Moy, Link, SDS, W-General, animemiz, paranda, VManOfMana, alexd00 and others hours before the MELL concert…

Which was an epic blast, enough that my right ear was almost shot after the concert. I think the live band accompanying MELL helped out with my enjoyment a lot, since the experience is a lot different then hearing the studio produced work. I felt the drummer laid down the beat that helped pump things up, and the keyboardist (apparently from a band known as Soft Ballet) was having a super fabulous time on stage firing up the audience and the singer herself, who I felt left everything on the stage (and them some, when I think of one moment during the concert) and of course rocked me hard. Of course I was really feeling it during the songs I know (fist pumping my way though Red Fraction and the encore with Rideback more than other songs), but props to the others with glow sticks and doing Wotagei through out the entire concert (especially Paranda and W-General), as they were really troopers.

Requisite Don't Say Lazy appeareance.

Having been thoroughly rocked, several of us remained in the autograph line afterwards either with something to sign or willing to purchase something to sign (myself in the latter). And we were psyched enough to remain in the line for about an hour and a half for that goal, despite all of MELL’s CD selling out for the con about a third of a way through the line (which was pretty “whoa” to me). I ended up buying a drawstring bag which she signed, along with getting a picture taken with her that I need to remember to get later on. As Moy mentioned in his Day 1 entry, another cool thing was how MELL’s crew went through the autograph line with a video camera asking people what they thought about her concert. I was worried if the focus would turn to me, since I had no idea what to say, but when the camera (unfortunately) turned to me, I think I managed to say something that made sense and didn’t sound awkward. Omo helped with the mood as well, and hopefully MELL gets a kick about how he feels as well.

After that there was a small meetup with some of our little group of attendees along with some more friends of omo’s (and acquaintances of mine) at a bar called Pickles. Sadly, I didn’t try their specialty fried pickles, but I enjoyed the bar’s fries. Hopefully I can get a chance to eat there again the next time I’m in Baltimore. I left early to get some sleep, since I felt that Saturday would be a big day, and so after a fun discussion with my roommates over baseball and some of what we each focused on anime-wise, my Day 1 of Otakon 2009 came to a close.

Lighting's off, but I wonder if Owen would want.

I got a Kannagi artbook signed by Yamamoto-san, and Oh My Goddess! Colors manga signed by Kikuko-neechan!

I also submitted my room to the Otacool competition hosted by figure.fm for Kotobukiya. You can see the pics of my room here. Please bear with it as I recover from this illness and do my best to begin to profile the glut of figures I obtained recently.

Otakon 2009 was punctuated by a number of personal differences and changes in my life, not least of which were a new method of travel, as well as a variety of new travel buddies. It was also my first year at Otakon as a member of the Press (thanks to the existence of this blog), and while I can’t say that it was as rockin’ as last year’s Otakon, I can tell you that it was a fine experience where I never felt like there was too little to do.

My trip began Thursday afternoon, where while on the bus to Baltimore and then on the city bus to Downtown Baltimore we argued about moe in all of its forms, seeking to wrestle the elusive beast to the ground with mixed results. Baltimore that day was a breezy 93 degrees Fahrenheit, the kind of weather perfect for strolling through the city carrying luggage. Dropping off our belongings at the hotel, we went off to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and met up with esteemed guests such as Patz, Ed Sizemore, and Clarissa from Anime World Order. A variety of fine topics were discussed, such as the joys of showing little kids the Real Power Rangers and the deliciousness of beef (conclusion: it is very delicious).

Upon returning to the convention center to get our badges, we realized that there was a line still snaked around the building that normally would not be based on past experience. I luckily had my badge waiting for me at Press Ops, but many were not so lucky. It was yet another sign that this year’s Otakon was Different. The lines would continue throughout the weekend.

The Pre-Registration Line for Otakon 2009

I also had dinner with people on Friday and to a lesser extent on Saturday, meeting the rest of the AWO crew, Erin from Ninja Consultant and others who I can’t quite remember because the table was quite long. If you’re willing to sit down and relax, the downtown Baltimore area is good for food, and if you’re able to travel further out there are also some excellent restaurants. If you want fast food, that’s also available, and if you want to save money on food I recommend Grape Nuts and Parmalat. Grape Nuts is a dense cereal in a small box and is very filling and nourishing. It has the Ogiue Maniax seal of approval.

Food aside, there were so many events each day that they’ve started to blur in my head, and instead of discussing what happened chronologically I’m going to talk about things more categorically.

Industry and Otakon-related panels I attended were the Funimation panel and the Opening Ceremony panel. Funimation, as you might know already, announced some big-deal shows, namely Casshern Sins (which I reviewed here), Eden of the East (one of the best shows of last season), and the “Dragon Box” master edition remastering of Dragon Ball Z just like the one the Japanese have.

The opening ceremony also marked the second year that Madhouse animated a special opening for Otakon, akin to the Daicon IV opening of legend. This year’s animation incorporated the entire Otakon staff and had numerous references both eastern and western. If you wanted to see the Enterprise duke it out with the Yamato, this was your chance. Unfortunately, we were given the news that the director of the Otakon 2009 Opening Animation, Endou Takuji, had died the week prior, and our condolences go out to a man who reached out to American fandom so readily. Endou was also the director of Record of Lodoss War, a show which many fans in America consider vital to their beginnings as otaku.

As you might guess from the title of this post, guests this year were remarkably good in their decision to not constantly dodge questions and defer to others, though it still happened occasionally when it had to.

Yamamoto Yutaka, aka Yamakan, dropped down answers to questions which clearly showed him putting in some genuine thought and not just defaulting to stock answers. One person asked him how he got to be a director, and his response was that he wanted to be an animator but then couldn’t draw so he had to pick something else that would let him work in anime without drawing talent. To follow up, I asked what he thought of Takahata Isao, director of Grave of the Fireflies, because Takahata is also a director who cannot draw. Yamamoto answered that Takahata is one of the two directors who inspired him to get into anime, and that he considers the Anne of Green Gables anime directed by Takahata to be pretty much THE finest example of an anime TV series and how to tell a story in that format. Sadly, he would not reveal the second despite prompting.

I also asked him about Tonari no 801-chan’s anime debut, and he said that the original author asked him personally to do it, and that he felt destined to do it. Other highlights from Yamakan include his belief that what’s most important in animation is having characters stay “in-character” (and anyone who’s seen Tsugumi in Kannagi can attest to him putting his money where his mouth is), his desire for fellow anime creators to be capable of being creative with each other so that they may grow and improve, and his belief that today’s anime creators lack strong enough personalities akin to Miyazaki, Tomino, and Anno. As you can tell, he was not a “normal” Japanese guest and I am grateful for that.

Oh, and as for his definition of moe: If you like it, it’s moe for you.

Frederik L. Schodt

Frederik L. Schodt (apparently pronounced “Shot”) meanwhile revealed very good knowledge of the scanlation scene and an understanding of its appeal, as well as being good at handling the audience at his Astro Boy panel. At his Q&A panel, I asked him about instances where either American culture values in Japanese comics made them unapproachable by an American audience and vice versa. For the manga example, he pointed out how works are still censored to an extent, and that some companies are forced to claim the girls in their media are 18+ when they clearly are not given the context of the story, and that most of the genres of manga in Japan never come to the US, such as mahjong manga. His answer for American comics that were deemed not appropriate for a Japanese audience was even more interesting.

Schodt had accompanied the great Wil Eisner of all people to Japan, as Eisner was interested in publishing his works there and and there was a Japanese publishing company which published non-Japanese artists. However, when shown the work of Eisner, the company said that he had to rework it to flow more like a Japanese comic and have it read right to left. Eisner, who was over 80 years old at the time, naturally did not want to entirely redo one of his comics which had sold successfully internationally for decades and so the deal was off. He also talked about how much he likes The Four Immigrants Manga by Japanese immigrant Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama, a comic from California in 1927 which is written in a sort of simultaneous Japanese and English (thus requiring knowledge of both to read properly), and is arguably the first existence of a comic book in America, as well as predating Tezuka’s debut by a number of years. After the panel, I got Schodt to autograph my copy of Dreamland Japan.

While I did not manage to score any one-on-one interviews, I did attend some very informative press conferences. There was a sudden press conference with Maruyama Masao (head of Madhouse), Ishiguro Noboru (director of Macross and Legend of the Galactic Heroes), Kikukawa Yukio (producer of Legend of the Galactic Heroes), and Matsubara Hidenori (character designer for the Ah! My Goddess anime), which started off with Ishiguro and Maruyama deciding to just sit in the audience and act like they were members of the press. At this point we had some fun interviewing the translator in the room, asking him throwaway questions such as, “Who are your translating influences?” and “What made you decide to become a translator?” When the press conference actually began, as it were, it turned out to be one of the most informative hours of my life. This press conference will most likely appear online in its entirety at some point so you don’t have to worry on that front, but there are a few highlights I’d like to mention.

From left to right: Kikukawa, Maruyama, translator, Ishiguro, Matsubara

One interesting set of answers was everyone’s response to the anime they would love to make if they could. Matsubara said he would love to adapt the Tezuka manga Dororo into an anime, and even has the support of Maruyama. Maruyama meanwhile said that there were so many he’d like to have made and that’s why he makes them. Ishiguro wants to make a story set in Tokyo in 1948 that he’s been wanting to make for 30 years and even has the entire story plotted in his head. Kikukawa’s dream anime is to adapt the Darkover series of science fiction novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Another interesting answer was one to my own question, where I asked Ishiguro to talk about his experiences with the deceased Nagahama Tadao, creator of Combattler V, Voltes V, and Daimos, as well as one of the directors of Rose of Versailles. Nagahama, as it turns out, was actually in puppet theater of all things before he became an anime director. Also, when working as a director he would act out every part, male and female, in the script to give a better idea to his staff as to how the story should go. Finally, because he had no talent for drawing, whenever he wanted to make corrections to a key animation (and he inspected every single one), he would write a detailed description on the back as to what needed changing. Nagahama is not terribly popular in the US even among old school fans so this was an amazing bit of information to find out. I personally cannot wait to ask Tomino this question at New York Anime Festival.

While the other press conference I attended with MELL was not nearly as informative, what I found was that MELL opened up to us much more than I would expect from a musical guest. We found out that, despite the heavy use of English in her songs she was never good at it in school, she had her first band at around the age of 15 or 16 where she sang for a college band, and that she mistook a guy for a girl due to his elaborate cosplay of a Victorian era character.

MELL was also one of the concerts I attended at Otakon, the other being the Tamura Naomi concert, and both were beyond my expectations. I am no music expert and my music vocabulary is entirely lacking, but I will say that MELL and her band knew very much how to perform and keep the audience in the mood. She sang songs from Black Lagoon and Rideback, and showed off why she’s well regarded among fans.

Sunday’s concert with Tamura Naomi showed how incredibly powerful her voice can be, as she demonstrated that the notes she hits in those opening themes she sings are notes she can hit in a live performance. Highlights of the concert include her own rendition of the Jackson 5′s I’ll Be There, and her Rayearth songs, namely Yuzurenai Negai (1st series opening), with which she ended her concert.

I also held my own concert on Sunday where I sang the theme song to the Golgo 13 NES games. In case you didn’t know, the song actually has lyrics!

My dealer’s room experience was also a most pleasant one as I managed to get everything I was looking for, specifically Ogiue-related…merchandise… as well as the recently released Revoltech Souther from Hokuto no Ken, or, as he’s known on the box, “Thouzer.”

On the fandom side of things, while I did not pay much attention to cosplay I was glad to see a good variety of costumes. While you had your endless Sora from Kingdom Hearts and the general love for Naruto and Bleach you usually expect, I also got some pleasant surprises, such as a cosplay of Kitarou and Nekomusume from Gegege no Kitarou.

Something I did not approve of was the near-total lack of Tainaka Ritsu when it came to K-On! cosplay. I like Mio too and all, but the ratio of Mio to Ritsu was unacceptable. I’m just saying.

The fan panels I attended were all well-run and had people who at least to some extent knew what they were talking about. The Neo-Shounen panel run by Daryl Surat succeeded in its goal of showing how Shounen as a concept changed over the years, mainly in its desire to appeal to both male and female readers, and the Lost in Translation panel was a good beginner’s panel for those interested in seeing some of the difficulties of translating from Japanese to English. The Mecha Appreciation Panel had knowledgeable panelists, but the format was a little haphazard and could have used some focus. If you ran this panel, I was the one who said “King J-Der” for coolest Gaogaigar robot.

I also went to the Anime Recruitment panel by the Reverse Thieves, which provided very good advice for how to get people into anime without scaring them off, offering tips such as, “If your first attempt fails, don’t press the issue. Instead, give them time to cool off, like three weeks or however long it takes.” I’ve spoken before on how difficult I find recommending anime to be, so I will take this advice to heart.

I had a personally vested interest in attending the Otaku TV and Genshiken panels, both run by Viga the Otagal, and was curious as to how these panels would go. Overall, they did a good job of showing the audience what these shows are all about, though I think Viga was a little too spoiler-friendly and it could scare off people who would want to see these series otherwise. Still, I was very glad to see such significant attendance for Genshiken-related panels. After the Genshiken panel, someone in the audience actually greeted me as a reader of Ogiue Maniax and asked to take my picture. Whoever you are, that made my day and I thank you.

Viga said in her Genshiken panel that she believes “The Psychology of Ogiue” would provide enough material for an entire panel, and I am inclined to agree. Keep on the lookout for that.

Overall, I have no serious complaints about Otakon this year, as I feel that the events I would have complained about I simply did not attend, such as the apparently misleading title of the “Sailor Moon’s Influence on Hentai” panel. The fact that Daryl Surat’s Anime’s Craziest Deaths got shut down because no one actually knew what Apocalypse Zero was disappointing, but I’m sure both sides will know how to better handle it next year. As a member of the Otakon press, I also would have felt better if I was told in advance that I would not be getting any interviews, rather than being left dangling. However, because this year’s Otakon was so packed with activities and intriguing and intelligent guests, I can say that this was one of my finest convention experiences, and everyone I traveled to Otakon and back with agreed wholeheartedly.

Me want more Kyonko.

Continuing on from my previous post about the former Kyo-Ani director’s apology of the recent Endless Eight Arc in the new season of Haruhi, the guys at Kyo-Ani made a response to Yamamoto’s regrets in 10 words. (Courtesy of Sankaku Complex and J-Cast)

“This person has absolutely nothing to do with our company.”

I suggest “This person has absolutely nothing to do with our company anymore” would be a better statement since, he did once work for Kyo-Ani as the director of Haruhi, until they abruptly kicked him out of the company that is.

Stating the obvious one might say…

• Panels:
  • No Means No Defense Against Fanboys & Fangirls – At this panel they discussed what to do if a creepy stalkerish person latches onto you throughout the whole convention. Some people even shared their own personal stories. Biggest lesson learned: Do NOT give out your phone number!
  • Kannagi Focus Panel – On the schedule this was labeled as “Aniplex TBA Panel” but everyone pretty much figured out (after the announcement on Thursday about Kannagi being licensed) that it was about Kannagi. Director Yutaka Yamamoto made an appearance and we had a Q&A. There were also some great Kannagi cosplayers there, who did the famous dance.
    

    Yutaka Yamamoto, Bandai staff, and Kannagi cosplayers

  • Aniplex Panel – In addition to Kannagi, Aniplex also discussed some other titles of theirs (some of which haven’t been licensed for North America yet), including Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Kara no Kyoukai – The Garden of Sinners, and Cencoroll. There was also a Q&A.
  • Whose Line Is It Anime – I don’t think I need to explain what this was. It was hilarious, but not as good as what was at Anime Boston (there they had voice actors do it).
    

    Crazy stuff was going down here

  • FUNimation Industry Panel – FUNimation’s Adam Sheehan once again delivered an excellent panel, full of great previews of upcoming FUNimation titles and some exciting new announcements, including Eden of the East, Casshern Sins, and the Dragonball Z Dragon Box. I was kinda hoping for Toradora!… but you can’t win ‘em all.
    

    Adam Sheehan starts off the FUNimation panel

  • How To Heckle Bad Anime Good – A hilarious panel. They discussed how to heckle bad anime, bad cosplayers, and bad panels. The main speaker during the panel was very funny and energetic, which made the whole thing really enjoyable.
    

    "Good Dub Bad Dub", a slide from the panel

  • Anime Press Your Luck – Loads of fun. The crowd was really into it here, and there were some really exciting moments. The crew that ran this panel did a really great job. The host really needs to learn how to properly pronounce Japanese names though.
  • Review Anime The Right Way – An interesting panel run by some of the editors and writers at ANN, the now defunct Anime Insider, and other anime news outlets.
  • Sailor Moon’s Influence In Hentai – Not as exciting as it sounds. In fact, it was quite boring. Maybe if they showed more actual hentai rather than simply talking about it, it would have been more interesting.
  • FUNimation TBA Panel – Also not as exciting as it sounds. No new announcements, just some Q&A and they showed a premiere of the English dub of Nabari no Ou.
• Concert:
  • MELL – She put on one hell of a show. One thing I especially notices was how wonderful the crowd was thoroughout the show. They were really encouraging to MELL and I think we all made her feel very welcome. MELL sang an array of songs, including her famous hit “Red fraction” from Black Lagoon.
    

    MELL rocking the stage

• Video Programming:
  • Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone – Fail screening is fail. I went to the Saturday screening, where they had serious technical difficulties. The screen kept going blank and they had to stop the movie. They claimed they would get it back up running soon. I waited about 15 minutes, then left. Makes me wonder if Otakon even tested their equipment before the con started. Nonetheless, I’m sure FUNimation isn’t happy about what happened.
• Autographs:
  • Crispin Freeman – Sadly, I never got a chance to get his autograph. He had two autograph sessions. For both of them, I showed up an hour early and for both of them, the line was enormous, despite me showing up so early. I had a lot of things for him to sign too.
  • Yutaka Yamamoto – I did manage to get his autograph, though for some reason he was only signing Kannagi DVDs at the session I went to. I had brought my Haruhi box, hoping he would sign that, and he wouldn’t. Also, the Kannagi DVD was a ripoff. Cost me $35, and I feel that the price was “conveniently” jacked up during the autograph session since others have claimed they got it for $25. Nonetheless, I did get an autograph out of it, so I feel it was worth it.
    

    Kannagi director Yutaka Yamamoto signing autographs

• Con Swag:
  • Dealers Room – A great Dealers Room as always. I spent way too much. Details below…
  • Artist Alley – Some really talented artists showing off and selling their stuff. Some of the stuff I saw there was really good. I didn’t buy anything though.
• Surroundings:
  • The Inner Harbor – A great place to eat and see some free entertainment.  Thursday night we all went to Edo Sushi and Friday night we went to ESPN Zone. That’s kind of an Otakon tradition for us now. Both are amazing restaurants. They’re pricey, but it’s worth it.
    

    We all had a great time at Edo Sushi

  • Other Areas – Baltimore has a big poverty problem. Everywhere you walk, some beggar is asking you for money. I also heard some crazy lady preaching the gospel very loudly on a city street.  -_-
• Staff & Press Relations:
  • Otakon needs to treat their guests with more respect, especially their press guests. Despite the fact that I had a press badge, the staff gave me a hard time getting into several areas.
  • During the MELL concert, there was much confusion and ambiguity as to whether or not we could record the show. About 15 minutes before the show started, a very rude staff member explained to us that we were not able to record.
  • Twitter updates from the con staff were helpful, but I feel it could have been implemented better.
  • Overall, my experience with the Otakon staff was not pleasant. Otakon is always lacking in this department when compared to other cons.

Now for everyone’s favorite part… the “What I Wasted My Money On” section!

OVERHEAD

Admission – $55
Gas, Tolls, Parking – about $50
Food – about $40 (a friend paid for most of my food since he owes me money)
Hotel – $93

DEALERS ROOM

3 Toradora! statues: $220 (yes you read that right)
Toradora! art book: $37
5 Higurashi mini-figures: $70
Kannagi DVD: $35
Rozen Maiden Traumend DVD box set: $40
3 Evangelion statues: $36 (gotta love Sunday clearance!)
2 iDOLM@STER figures: $16

AND THE GRAND TOTAL IS…

$692

Yeah. Needless to say, I won’t be buying anything expensive for a long time.

To see all the photos I took at Otakon 2009, click here.

Riiight, so the former director of Haruhi apologises on behalf of Kyo-Ani (at Otakon 2o09) for the recent recycled Endless Eight Arc. Who stated that he knew about this a year ago and didn’t tell the public (via his blog) about it, otherwise he would get into trouble, and also thought it was going to last for 2 episodes, but turning out to be 6 episodes. And lastly on behalf of SOS-Dan Production Committee Former SOS Dan Production Committee, he truly apologises to its fans for the obscene direction the series has taken with the hated Endless Eight arc, calling it “inexcusable”.

Sure sure. Mhmm.

Wait, so next weeks episode is going to be the last in the Endless Eight Arc?

I absolutely (not) believe you.

Time for more anime impressions. This time it’s Kannagi, one of the titles I was particularly looking forward too. This show had the distinction of being the only one of the season that I was familiar with the source material. Will that help or hinder the anime adaptation in my mind?

Rating: 7/12 B

The answer is, at least for now, that knowledge of the source material is a hindrance.

It’s not because the anime changed the manga around because they remained pretty faithful to it. The hindrance comes from being able to compare the anime to the manga and see the differences. If you remember the director of this show -Yutaka Yamamoto -is the same person that, as director, was removed by Kyoto Animation after the fourth episode of Lucky Star. I really feel for him, it must of hurt badly to have something like that happen. Therefore, as his first project after Lucky Star I’m rooting for this show to work out but I’m troubled with the amount of fan-service that got added to this episode.

In the manga, when Jin turned on the tv, it was already on the magic girl show and not on the (what I’m guessing) Victoria Secret’s commercial. Also, there was no scene where Jin gets an eyeful of Kannagi’s unmentionables in the laundry basket or where he goes to the store and buys Kannagi a spare set of clothes, undies and all. Then there’s the scene where Jin answers the phone. In the manga he’s fully clothed, and the joke is that he mentions the reason why he wasn’t in school was because his art project is ugly and is trying to fix it. Nagi is right there and takes offense and puts Jin in a headlock. In the anime, the joke was that the phone call was right when he was bathing and thus had to answer it with only a small towel partially covering his nudeness.

I’m not against fan-service in all cases; there is a time and place for everything. However, the time spent on needless fan-service is much better spent on getting us to like the characters more, especially for the first episode when I’m deciding if the story and characters are good enough that it’s worth sticking around.

On the other hand, the animation was top-notch. A-1 Animation even did a pretty credible imitation of KyoAni’s sun beams through leaves as seen during the Tomayo OVA. The opening was different in a good way, but that can be expected from the guy that gave us the Lucky Star opening and the Haruhi dance. I’ve still have hope that this series will turn out to be a good one but the clock is now ticking.

Yeah for good openings

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