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Old 04-18-2012, 03:12 PM   #3901
Talon87
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Originally Posted by YUKI.N View Post
Posting as a heads-up that I'll be home for the weekend and will not get to F/Z until Monday. (Also will not be available on Skype so don't bother trying to taunt me with spoilers. XP)
That's fine, but I just realized something ...

What are you going to do about this summer?

I mean, you're out of school in, what, three weeks? Fate/Zero won't be over until late June. What do you plan to do this year? Will it be another summer spent bouncing between home and the library? Will your laptop be able to handle the ordeal? (I seem to recall last year there were some dead screen issues ...?) Obviously I know you intend to stockpile on a few series -- finding a copy of Hikaru no Go rather than watching the ehhhh-quality edits on the ehhhh-quality DailyMotion channel would certainly be a very smart idea! -- but for those that are still airing, what were you planning on doing?

As for this weekend, nah, I think you probably picked a good weekend. The thing that I expected to happen in Episode 15 and which did not happen ... like I told you last time, I expect now that it probably won't show up until Episode 17. I'll be very surprised if it happens this weekend. That isn't to say that big things won't happen this weekend either -- big things are always happening now in Fate/Zero! -- but just that the thing I'm thinking of probably will be the climax of another duo of episodes. That is to say, much like 14 and 15 fit together, so too do I expect that 16 and 17'll fit together. And if I'm wrong? If 16 is an intermission episode and it's 17 and 18 that'll fit together? Then all the better choice to head home this weekend. No matter how you slice it, I don't think you'll be missing out on the season's highlight episode. In fact, logic alone would suggest that 16 is probably going to be the season's weakest episode since the season opened with a two-part climactic resolution to last season's cliffhanger ending and since, dur, the further we go forward the more exciting things promise to get. That means that the earliest episode in the season which is not also a cliffhanger resolution episode is likeliest to be the season's least important. And that, of course, is Episode 16. ^_^; So yeah. Wouldn't worry about F/Z this weekend anyway.
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Old 04-18-2012, 03:46 PM   #3902
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What are you going to do about this summer?
I'm still debating. Got some options available to me now: might bounce back and forth between home and the library, home and the apartment, or mix & match both.

I resolved the laptop issue by just using the available computers at the library to watch shows/download stuff to a flash drive if necessary, so I'm not too concerned even if I have to stay home. My viewing schedule seems pretty lax this season anyway, and hopefully there won't be anything too sketchy. ^^;

Finals are over next week, so I'll basically figure out what to do then. XP

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As for this weekend, nah, I think you probably picked a good weekend. The thing that I expected to happen in Episode 15 and which did not happen ... like I told you last time, I expect now that it probably won't show up until Episode 17. I'll be very surprised if it happens this weekend.
The "thing" being specifically...

Spoiler: show
Lancer's suicide? Or death? I figure the latter since the preview hinted at him and Saber finishing their battle.


On another note... Now that I know someone else is sharing the awkwardness, I feel much more at ease watching Recorder now and even more inclined to actually talk about it, if that makes sense. ^-^; Was amused by the latest episode despite knowing where it would inevitably end up. Guy-next-door is such a tramp and a terrible influence, it's sort of charming in a sad way. XP Although holy shit, he's...

Spoiler: show
30?! The level of (implied) pedophilia in this show is astounding o.X


I amend my statement that he's essentially a "boy in an adult's body" btw. Obviously he's an adult so he has "adult interests" (if you get my drift), but he is a shamelessly childish playboy, which is rather refreshing in its own way. He's a kid in the sense he wants to do nothing but eat, sleep, and "play" all day.

...Plus I can't stop imagining him now with Yukiatsu's face. Maybe it is a "teenage girl" thing that I can recognize his voice but not Aya Hirano's. XP

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Old 04-18-2012, 04:04 PM   #3903
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Watching the show for myself, I came to very different conclusions from yours. This is all the more surprising given the power of first impressions (which in my case would be those you fed me) and how little actual material there is to go off of here. But yeah, Take-nii is one character I definitely didn't get the same impression of as you. You were saying that he was a kid in a man's body kind of like Atsushi (or that he was at the very least "immature"), but really, the impression I've gotten of Take-nii is that he's just some guy who doesn't want to get a job and join the adult world ... yet who is otherwise an adult in every sense (maturity outside of his irresponsibility, his build, his interests, the works). Like, no child would work a dango stand. No child would have happily swapped places with Atsushi at the end of that episode either. So on and so forth.

The teacher's another character I didn't reach the same conclusions as you. In fact, I have yet to see any evidence that she likes Atsushi outside of what we saw in Episode 12 -- and there she was clearly drunk, so the line is blurred between "so drunk she's letting her guard down and baring her true feelings" and "so drunk she's acting like she normally wouldn't and the things coming out of her mouth do not represent her true feelings." I got the impression, like you had also mentioned to me, that she's simply uncomfortable with men her own age and so whenever she's found herself in accidentally sexually-charged situations with Atsushi it has really made her uncomfortable. Like the time in the New Year's episode where Atsushi landed on her boobs and she ran off. (I mean, what woman wouldn't get embarrassed by some guy squeezing on her boobs by accident?) I dunno. I could ultimately be wrong, but from what little we've seen so far I definitely wouldn't have reached the same conclusions as you seem to have. *shrug*

Anyway ... lots to say about a different show ... I may even go back and screencap stuff, but man what a bitch that is to do with CrunchyRoll ...
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Old 04-18-2012, 04:14 PM   #3904
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Now I remember. I'm watching something with a similar premise to Recorder to Randoseru but it's a straight-up drama, not a comedy. Called Asatte no Houkou, and involves an older woman and an elementary school girl. Not blood-related, but they have a relation.
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Old 04-18-2012, 05:21 PM   #3905
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the impression I've gotten of Take-nii is that he's just some guy who doesn't want to get a job and join the adult world ...
That's pretty much what I mean. Isn't that kind of person what we'd call by normal standards "someone who's grown up on the outside but not the inside"? I never meant to imply he literally thinks and acts like a child despite his age. Obviously some things would have to change developmentally, but overall I'd say he's the definition of a guy who just doesn't want to grow up: a so-called "boy at heart".

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The teacher's another character I didn't reach the same conclusions as you. In fact, I have yet to see any evidence that she likes Atsushi outside of what we saw in Episode 12 -- and there she was clearly drunk, so the line is blurred between "so drunk she's letting her guard down and baring her true feelings" and "so drunk she's acting like she normally wouldn't and the things coming out of her mouth do not represent her true feelings." I got the impression, like you had also mentioned to me, that she's simply uncomfortable with men her own age and so whenever she's found herself in accidentally sexually-charged situations with Atsushi it has really made her uncomfortable. Like the time in the New Year's episode where Atsushi landed on her boobs and she ran off. (I mean, what woman wouldn't get embarrassed by some guy squeezing on her boobs by accident?) I dunno. I could ultimately be wrong, but from what little we've seen so far I definitely wouldn't have reached the same conclusions as you seem to have. *shrug*
Uh... I never indicated that she liked Atsushi. Just that she's so often put into these awkward situations with him that she might as well be a pairing candidate. Atushi spends more screentime with her than with Sayo after all.

Forgot to mention, given what you intimately know about her (*wink wink nudge nudge*), you'll probably get a kick out of her reaction at the end of S2 episode 03. ^~
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Old 04-19-2012, 07:36 PM   #3906
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Decided to get off my lazy, uninterested butt and check out the K-On! movie. Was surprised to discover that, much like the Haruhi movie, it's been over four months since this thing showed up in its December roadside theater tour and it still hasn't made its way onto Blu-Ray.
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Old 04-20-2012, 06:10 PM   #3907
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Watched the first two episodes of Uchuu Kyoudai. Good series which demonstrates that a large animation budget isn't necessary to make a quality anime these days. I feel it was the right move to hold off on watching this one until a few episodes were out. I would have hated to have had to wait between 1 and 2. Waiting between 2 and 3 wouldn't have been much better. But to be honest ... I'm not looking forward to running out of episodes when I finish 3 off either. ^^; Which leads me to wonder, should this be a show I put off watching until July? Maybe. We'll see. My spring season is shaping up to be really low on anime-watching opportunities but maybe that's just how it's meant to be.

Did I mention that I watched first one and a half episodes of Tasogare Otome x Amnesia? This show was 100% made for 15 year old me. But for 27 year old me? The show's fanservice is just too strong, too distracting, and too frequent. The story doesn't need it and is in fact hindered by it. What kills the show most for me is the fact that it's yet another harem anime with a cast of four main characters -- three female, one male -- where every single one of the girls is crushing on the guy and where the guy is this bland, generic everyman that bores the fuck out of me with his lack of depth or defining character. This in turn annoys me, greatly, because I know that the only reason he's like this and that the only reason this story is popular with otaku is because, surpriiiiiii~ise, his lack of depth allows every single fat slob in Japan to project themselves onto him and to vicariously enjoy his success with women. It's the harem genre at its worst and I'd advise anyone looking for a good harem romp to steer clear of it and to consider titles from years past. Which is a real shame because, aside from the insulting harem premise and distracting fanservice, this show could have really been something. Great animation, good voice acting from the blonde girl (Ononogi?) and the main girl (Yuuko), and a cute premise. The fact that it's one of the very few romantic ghost stories Japan's put out in recent years is just added salt in my wounds. -_-; (Why did it have to be this one?) Anyway, like I said, I'm only halfway through the second episode. I couldn't bring myself to finish it off yesterday and today isn't looking any better, but maybe I'll finish it tonight or tomorrow, we'll see. And who knows? Maybe I'll change my mind about this series. But let me just say this: I'm already ready to drop this one whereas I wasn't willing to drop High School DxD until Episode 05. And we knew High School DxD was bad from like Episode 01. So yeah. You know this is bad -- or rather, that it's bad to me. Your results may vary.
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Old 04-21-2012, 12:03 AM   #3908
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Watched the first two episodes of Uchuu Kyoudai. Good series which demonstrates that a large animation budget isn't necessary to make a quality anime these days. I feel it was the right move to hold off on watching this one until a few episodes were out. I would have hated to have had to wait between 1 and 2. Waiting between 2 and 3 wouldn't have been much better. But to be honest ... I'm not looking forward to running out of episodes when I finish 3 off either. ^^; Which leads me to wonder, should this be a show I put off watching until July? Maybe. We'll see. My spring season is shaping up to be really low on anime-watching opportunities but maybe that's just how it's meant to be.
I don't have the same reservations...while UM is awesome, it's not the kind of show with the magnetism to occupy my thoughts throughout the week.

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This in turn annoys me, greatly, because I know that the only reason he's like this and that the only reason this story is popular with otaku is because, surpriiiiiii~ise, his lack of depth allows every single fat slob in Japan to project themselves onto him and to vicariously enjoy his success with women.





Quote:
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It's the harem genre at its worst and I'd advise anyone looking for a good harem romp to steer clear of it and to consider titles from years past. Which is a real shame because, aside from the insulting harem premise and distracting fanservice, this show could have really been something. Great animation, good voice acting from the blonde girl (Ononogi?) and the main girl (Yuuko), and a cute premise. The fact that it's one of the very few romantic ghost stories Japan's put out in recent years is just added salt in my wounds. -_-; (Why did it have to be this one?) Anyway, like I said, I'm only halfway through the second episode. I couldn't bring myself to finish it off yesterday and today isn't looking any better, but maybe I'll finish it tonight or tomorrow, we'll see. And who knows? Maybe I'll change my mind about this series. But let me just say this: I'm already ready to drop this one whereas I wasn't willing to drop High School DxD until Episode 05. And we knew High School DxD was bad from like Episode 01. So yeah. You know this is bad -- or rather, that it's bad to me. Your results may vary.
Yeah, the fanservice is a pity. It's less than Bakemonogatari so I'm not as bothered by it, but the other pluses going for Amnesia might get me to follow it. I actually think the fanservice might keep viewers from getting too creeped out by the mystery aspect.
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Old 04-21-2012, 01:52 AM   #3909
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Learning that Bakemonogatari is even worse makes me even less enthusiastic to check that show out and is making me a little ragey that either show is so popular. That would seem to explain UTW's shameless excitement for this crap. *sigh*
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Old 04-21-2012, 01:58 AM   #3910
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Like I've been saying Bakemonogatari is a bigger tease than even most ecchi or hentai. I'm amazed I managed to get through it, it makes me squirm so much more than many other, lesser shows. I think the hyper good plots are what kept me in the game because gosh, looking back, I'd have to be four times the man I am now to go through 12 episodes of season one Bakemonogatari.
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Old 04-22-2012, 11:40 PM   #3911
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Picked up a show called Natsuiro Kiseki at random. Don't know why, I think I saw a screenshot I liked.

Throughout most of the episode, I was bored out of my mind. Jeez and crackers, this was dull! Anime like this is a constant reminder of why I've been lazy with anime lately, very little compels me and grips me like Penguindrum did earlier in the year. Fate/Zero could have, maybe, if it came out in 2008 instead of 2012. The season has nothing magnetic, even if there are some solid shows in the line-up.

Somehow I got through the episode, and as we got to the end...big twist. I'm glad I laboured through it. Consider this show picked up. The magnetism isn't strong, but I'm interested.
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Old 04-23-2012, 06:47 PM   #3912
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Yes, this is live-action and all that, but this references anime quite a bit, so I think it's worth mentioning in here. Anyway, a friend recommended this to me, since it was supposedly hilarious, so I figured I'd give it a shot. This show is pretty much a huge Sentai (Power Rangers) parody show by Toei, and it's really entertaining. Sure, I don't get alot of the jokes since I don't watch Sentai, but a good percentage of the jokes also apply to Precure, like "Consistent power levels in Sentai don't exist!". Anyway, other than some of the characters acting too bouncy, I don't really have any issues. It's a fun show.

Jewelpet Kira-Deco
'tis the new Jewelpet show, and someone's actually subbing it, so of course I'm going to watch it! Thankfully, this show has the same level of mindless sillyness that Jewlpet Sunshine had, but it has a little bit of a plot and some heartwarming moments. So basically this seems to be a combination of Tinkle and Sunshine. I'm only two episodes in, but so far, I'm enjoying this show. It's a nice show to relax to and laugh at.

Hyouka
Kyoto's show is finally here! Judging from the first episode, this show has potential to be a really good romance anime. It has gender balance, which is nice. I really like some of the conversations between the main guy and his friend (who looks like Ritsu's brother) about how the main guy wants to save his energy, and the only girl so far is really charming. Also, since this show's Kyoto, it obviously looks nice.

Kamidori Alchemy Meister
85 fucking hours and I'm not even done with the first damn path! This game is soul devouring! I've gotten addicted to running a freaking shop and making items for it. The fact that everything your character uses are things you've made yourself is really really addicting. The characters are pretty entertaining and well designed as well. The Undine character looks downright lovely. Though, that's where the positives end, and everything else is negative. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but the writing is piss poor, and on the level of any shitty harem. H scenes are always inappropriately placed, and even though the main character is going out with one of the characters, he's fucking all the rest, but because he's not fucking the other two main girls, it's supposedly okay. Despite how entertaining the characters are, the game always severely degrades them with typical embarrassment garbage. They go from entertaining to cheap hookers in an instant! Well my favorite character is a boy, so he's not a victim of this!

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Old 04-23-2012, 11:07 PM   #3913
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Hyouka

This show was... Weird. I don't really like it, to be honest. The characters and the development of their interaction are clunky, and I didn't care for the artsy-fartsy abstract scenes. The mysteries felt really lame and forced. Reminds me a lot of Spiral. Mixed with Another. Towards the end of the first half I checked the time, bored and hoping it was over, only to be disappointed when I saw it was only at the midpoint. -.-

I'm caught up with about everything else, but I'm too dead from finals to talk more. =x And it's only the first day. x.X At least there's no more Chem, thank God.
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Old 04-24-2012, 05:10 PM   #3914
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Uh oh! Poor Kobayashi Jin. One has to wonder now though: did he just get lucky with School Rumble?

Kobayashi's Ichiro Heian to end after only one year

Feels like it was just yesterday that Doppel and I were talking about how Natsu no Arashi had been Kobayashi's dream manga but the fans didn't take to it as well as they did to School Rumble and it came to a rather sadly sudden end. There was talk of a new, third manga series. Looks like this was it. And now, one year later, it looks like Kobayashi Jin's in even worse shape than he was one year prior. He's going to have a hell of a hard time now getting someone to publish his fourth idea.

Or am I reading this news story wrong? Is Ichiro Heian coming to an end because it was only ever meant to be a year-long series? Is Jin ending things on a positive note? Is he not getting canned?
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Old 04-25-2012, 08:31 AM   #3915
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One year serial definitely sounds like it was canned, but according to what I looked up, it was in Weekly Shounen Magazine (Kodansha) who Jin had curried the favour of with SR. For comparison, he went to Square's Shounen Gangan for Natsu no Arashi!, and is probably back with Magazine because of how progressive it is for encouraging manga-ka.

What's bizarre is Magazine is the least likely of the big magazine serials to cancel a title, and we're talking about Kobayashi Jin, who is only a few years removed from a franchise series with WSM. Even more troubling, WSM had Mahou Sensei Negima! end on it and Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei and Air Gear are soon to follow. You'd think they would have a long leash on Jin because of it.

Looking at the premise, "A 18-year old-Japanese otaku runs into a cute Chinese cyclist. Will the Chinese he learned from anime be enough to communicate?" I don't think it's very sustainable. Then again I thought Natsu no Arashi! had an internal length limit and Jin was able to stretch it a bit...and he somehow zombified School Rumble when it should have ended much sooner. Given this, he's not the kind of guy to give into a story's natural ending, so this definitely sounds far too soon for an ending.

I have no sales data, so I have no idea how that sold. I think getting access to such would be a good motivation to learn Japanese, now that I think about it.

Very few scans due to what appears to be scanslators having trouble reading the Chinese girl's accent. I'm not sure I understand that?
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Old 04-25-2012, 09:40 AM   #3916
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I guess I'd have to see for myself how the girl talks but I'm not sure I buy that. As we learned from Gintama last year, the Japanese have some characteristic ways for depicting Chinese people speaking Japanese. They would be curious to someone who isn't familiar with them, like say me from 2010, but you would still be able to understand what it is that they're saying. You just wouldn't be able to peg what appears to be a dialect. The analogy I would use is, say this showed up in an English television script:
Quote:
Why you no study harder? You want become deadbeat? You want me die old woman, have no grandchildren?
Someone who doesn't live in America might not recognize this for what it is -- a stereotypical depiction of a 1st-gen immigrant Chinese mother talking to her 2nd-gen Chinese-American son or daughter -- but they would definitely be able to translate what's being said for meaning. They would be able to understand what it is that she's saying. They just would have no clue what "dialect" she's speaking in. ("Perhaps this is how people from the Rockies speak? " they might wonder. )

If, on the other hand, she's using Chinese words constantly -- either her Japanese is punctuated by them or else she speaks in straight Chinese on occasion -- and the expectation at home is that the readership can understand it just like we're expected to be able to understand certain Spanish words when they show up in television programs (e.g. no hablo ingles, la puerta, muy bueno), then I can see why the scanlation community might be averse to picking this one up.

I have to agree with you though: the premise doesn't sound very good. I mean, what the hell does that even mean, "the Chinese he's learned from anime." How much Chinese have we learned from anime? That argument alone, that somebody might pick up Chinese from watching anime despite the fact that almost no Chinese shows up in any anime and certainly at no greater a frequency than regular Japanese television, has me furrowing my brows at this one.

Sales data would be nice. Particularly if we had it for all three franchises of his. Lifetime sales would be misleading but first-month or first-week sales would be pretty good.
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Old 04-25-2012, 11:17 AM   #3917
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Okay, so ... I am reading the first chapter of this on Manga Fox and ...

This is so cute.

First of all, there was a misunderstanding. He didn't learn Chinese from watching anime i.e. Japanese cartoons. He learned Chinese from watching anime i.e. cartoons period -- and in this particular case, Chinese cartoons. He watches Chinese cartoon fansubs. I had no idea otaku were even interested in foreign cartoons. ^^; Go figure. So yeah, he's basically a weeaboo who is using "sugoi"s and "ohayou gozaimasu"s and such, random words and phrases he's picked up from watching anime, only it's Chinese this time, not Japanese. That in itself isn't so much cute as it is painful ^^;, but what is cute is seeing this guy give it his all to try and maybe hit it off with this girl who he randomly crossed. And to be honest ... the things he says on accident aren't that painful after all. It's pretty cute how he's trying to think of what he wants to say, recalls a scene from anime, says what they said, and fails to realize what he's actually said. It's a little silly how ...

Spoiler: show
... positively she responds when he tells her "I've fallen for you" ...

... but aside from that, this seems like a really cute little story. And given what the ending is for Chapter 01, I could easily see this being a one-year serial. So it's actually quite possible now that things ended well for Jin this season, not poorly. The plot thickens! Time to find out what the truth is behind this wrap-up. Is it being canceled? Is it wrapping up all in accordance with Jin's and Kodansha's plans? I'll see if I can't find out.

EDIT: Didn't know what word they were going for when they said ichiro here so I had to look it up. That led me to discovering some neat things. Spoiler info for the very very end of Chapter 01, so don't click until you've read Chapter 01.

Spoiler: show
The title of the manga is 一路平安 Ichiro Heian. I knew Heian, the name for the ancient capital (Heian-kyo) that would later be known simply as Kyoto, but I had never seen the character 路 before so I set off to look it up. And I found this:

一路 【いちろ】 (adv,n) one road; one way; straight; earnestly

So, given how the chapter ends, it makes sense. The two are embarking upon the titular "one road to Heian (Kyoto)" together. However, I glance down in the dictionary and I spot this ...!

一路平安 【いちろへいあん】 (n) (wishing someone) bon voyage

Unbelievable. That Kobayashi Jin! He sure does love him his puns and misunderstandings and other witticisms! So basically, it looks like ichiro heian is a figure of speech in Japanese (it's a new one on me ^^; ) and Jin thought "Wouldn't that be funny if I told a story where I explored this figure of speech both literally and figuratively? And hell, while I'm at it, wouldn't it be funny if I could somehow make the story about language and interpretations and such? Oh boy, I think I feel a brainstorm coming on ...! " Wow. That Kobayashi Jin. So clever.

I am rooting for this story to have been a commercial success now. ^^; Will be very sad if it was canned. ^^;

EDIT 2: Am having a hell of a hard time finding answers. Went ahead and logged back in to my ANN account and posted a thread here. We'll see what comes of it. I don't expect much but you never know. I am flabbergasted at how poorly Weekly Shounen Magazine / Kodansha supports these titles' presence online. I expected Ichiro Heian to have its own website. Not only does it not, it doesn't even have a proper section on the WSM website! If you search for 一路平安 there, the top hits are all information pages about the first tankoubon. There is no Ichiro Heian splash page, as it were. Nothing like you might find for a television anime where there's a main page and from there you can click on tabs like "Story," "Characters," "Wallpapers," and such. Nothing. Zero support. I was hoping to find such a page since it'd make it very, very easy to just click on the "News" tab and see what was being said there. But nope. Nothing. I also tried the Japanese-language Wikipedia page for it but there was no information there either. Nothing about reception, nothing about sales, nothing about Kobayashi Jin's feelings regarding the end of the line, hell: not even any mention of it coming to a close! At least the English-language Wikipedia article on Kobayashi Jin correctly lists the end date for this franchise as 2012! Though ... we don't even have an Ichiro Heian article proper in our language, so ... ^^;

Last edited by Talon87; 04-25-2012 at 11:52 AM.
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Old 04-26-2012, 12:11 AM   #3918
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It looks like I may have given you false data. IH is serialized in Seperate Shounen Magazine which is a new, monthly anthology by Kodansha. Here's the product page for Ichiro Heian.
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Old 04-26-2012, 12:19 AM   #3919
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Read my post again. I make reference to that very same link. Also, I'm pretty sure you didn't give me false information: Wikipedia itself (both Japanese and English) seems to indicate that this is a WSM production. On phone right now so can't say or do more, but yeah: your link (1) I already mentioned and (2) I wouldn't call a proper homepage for the series. What it is is pretty much a WSM shop section product page for tankoubon #1. "Add 1 to cart," that sort of thing.

EDIT: on second look, the Japanese one totally indicates your correction. Will need to edit the ANN post.
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Old 04-26-2012, 02:22 PM   #3920
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So ... I managed to find Chapters 01 thru 10 of this manga ... in Chinese. I can't seem to find raws for it anywhere, and the only English copies I've managed to find are the McDonald scanlations for Chapters 01 thru 04. Would really like to find the raws for the missing chapters. >_>;

As for why the Chinese are so interested in this, I think I may have found out why. In addition to the obvious possible interest in a sexy worldly go-get-'em-tiger Chinese girl going on an adventure with a nerdy shut-in Japanese guy, there also appears to be the fact that Bessatsu Shounen Magazine may be more popular in China than in Japan. -.-; The very top hit I got for a Google search for 別冊少年 (bessatsu shounen) was China's Wikipedia page for the magazine. Not the company's page. Not even a Japanese page. A Chinese page. When you type in 別冊少年 マガジン (bessatsu shounen magajin) you get the official product page, sure enough, but that's to be expected given that "magazine" is written in katakana there and if you're specifying that then you're ruling out most of the Chinese side of the Internet. But for just 別冊少年 you get the Chinese side of the Internet. To me, this indicates that the magazine itself might be one of the few (?) that sees a Chinese language publication and thus ... yeah, loads of Chinese fans are bound to be enjoying this series.

Out of desperation, I went to see if the AnimeSuki fans had anything more to say than did the MyAnimeList fans. And ...
  1. No, they didn't.
  2. But I did see someone posted there just yesterday ...
  3. ... it was you!
  4. And already the thread is on the top of Page 3. -.-; Good lord that board is overrun with spam-happy children.
Thanks for asking your "old friends" on AnimeSuki for me, Doppel. It's too bad that none of them replied to you. No one's replied on ANN yet either. I edited WSM into SSM (though I wonder if I should go for the Japanese name's acronym and call it BSM instead ... that sounds very, very wrong though ^^; ).

*sigh* I want to read more. ;_;
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Old 04-26-2012, 11:48 PM   #3921
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God damnit, finally! After 100 hours, I'm finally finished with one out of three paths in this game. Will I continue playing to completion? I don't know! I'm sure the other paths will be shorter, but this game has killed enough time as it is. As far as comments about the content, there's nothing to say that I haven't said before. Lackluster, blah plot with great art and addictive gameplay.

Also, Doppel, watch the newest Saint Seiya Omega! Erika's brother becomes part of the main cast!
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Old 04-26-2012, 11:58 PM   #3922
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Thanks to Doppel, I was able to find Volume 1 of Ichiro Heian as well as magazine scans for Chapters 10, 11, and 12. (08 and 09 have been taken down and 05, 06, and 07 were never posted by this source.) Between Volume 1 and the available magazine samples, I have Chapters 01-06 and 10-12 now so I'm only missing the third of four quarters. Not a bad quarter to be missing if I absolutely had to pick one quarter to miss. I haven't had a chance to read in the forwards direction yet but I did sneak a quick peek at Chapter 12 and then Chapter 11 so I could try and weigh in on the mystery of this series' brevity. Honestly, we'll never know whether he was told to wrap it up or whether he planned on it -- not without some sales data. But my impression from what I've seen is that this was all part of the plan and so all is good with our friend Kobayashi Jin.

Update: Wuh oh ... I just checked out the first page of Chapter 10 and ...

(spoilers for Chapters 10, 12, ... the whole series, pretty much. Click at your own risk!)

Spoiler: show
The distance between Tokyo and Kyoto, according to the first site Google returned , is approximately 363.7 km. On the first page of Chapter 10, Jin says that our intrepid duo have just reached Chita and that they still have 150 kilometers to go before they hit Kyoto. That means that, from Chapter 02 to Chapter 09, eight chapters, they cover approximately 210 kilometers. With approximately 150 to go, that means readers could have expected five to six more chapters before our heroes reached Kyoto. Instead, they reach the outskirts of Kyoto around the start of Chapter 12 and reach the inside of the city proper by the end of that same chapter. This is only three chapters later as opposed to four, five, or even six. (The math suggested 5.7 additional chapters, hence why I keep bringing up six.) Now, no one ever said you had to maintain the same pace throughout, but now that I look back through Chapter 11, the two cover amazing ground in this one, going through what looks like three different prefectures bit by bit. They start off in Aichi, then go to Mie on page 09, are then in Shiga by page 12, and spend the remainder of the chapter there. For what it's worth, they arrived in Aichi on page 03 of Chapter 10, so really, I guess you could say that they only blew through Mie. Maybe it's not quite so bad after all. *shrug* Still ... let's just consider the math.

Covered 210 km in eight chapters --> 26.25 km/chapter
Covered 150 km in three chapters --> 50 km/chapter

The math doesn't lie. ^^; Somewhere between Chapters 09 and 10, Jin made the decision to pick up the pace with his story. There are several possibilities for this:

1. He felt it was time for the characters. He was ready to have Koumei confess (end of Chapter 10), to have Miao Fu and Koumei figure out their feelings towards one another (Chapter 11), and to have Miao Fu give Koumei her answer (Chapter 12). He may have wanted to save this for the end of the story and so, naturally, he rushed his characters to Kyoto so he could move ahead with the character developments he so wanted to move ahead with.

2. He felt it was time for the journey. Basically the reversal of #1. I don't think this is as likely, what with their journeying speed having been increased by a factor of two and all, but it's possible. He may have felt like he didn't have any more adventures for these two to have together and so he just wanted to get them to Kyoto ASAP. As a result, he goes ahead and bam-bam-bam has their romance develop as develop it must before the show ends.

3. His publishers ordered him to wrap things up. Also known as Other, this is the answer choice which basically says "Jin neither wanted to wrap things up Kyoto-wise nor romance-wise but somehow he ended up having to do both." Of course, there is one final possibility which is ...

4. This was what he had planned all along. Perhaps that final stretch between Kyoto and Tokyo is just boring, I don't know. Perhaps he always intended for this to be an IRL-one-year series. Perhaps he knew from the get-go that he was going to have Koumei confess at the end of Chapter 10 and have the two arrive in Kyoto in Chapter 12. Perhaps I am overthinking things. ^^;

Who knows which was the case. In any event ...

UPDATE #2: Just enabled JavaScript on that page and ... whoops. ^^; It was drawing a straight line between Tokyo and Kyoto to calculate the distance. Stupid website! The distance by road looks much longer as it's pretty much a coastal road. Would not be surprised in the slightest if it's ~450 kilometers or more, in which case, 150 kilometers for the final third indicates no problems with the pacing whatsoever. So ... I really may have been overthinking things. ^^;

I can easily see this series being turned into an anime in the near future at one episode per chapter although I fear that each episode might feel a little light given how quickly one can read through these chapters. Would definitely be stronger as a series overall if they made it an awkward 8 or 9-episode anime but since those things don't exist it's probably just going to become a 13'er. Since it'll ultimately be a 13-chapter manga series, that works just fine.

I have gone from being cynical about this series to on the fence to liking it to loving it, all in the span of 48 hours. It's pretty crazy but what can I say: this is a really charming little story from what little I've gotten to read of it so far (01-04, parts of 11 and 12). I will ... I will probably make a thread for this. ^_^; And hope that we get word about an anime adaptation some time in the next two years. With any luck, it'll be handled by a studio as capable as if not more capable than the studio who animated School Rumble at bringing Jin's distinctive character designs to television. Shaft did a fine job in some sense with their animation of Natsu no Arashi but in the end I feel like their artists took too many liberties with (or were just plain lazy in) how they drew the faces. Mind you, Arashi was gorgeous but ... she was a Kobayashi girl 50% of the time and then a complete visual stranger the other 50% of the time. ^^; Then again, now that Shaft have become a godly-rich studio thanks to Bakemonogatari and Madoka and whatnot, perhaps Jin would be only too stoked if Shaft offered to animate this series for him.

Last edited by Talon87; 04-27-2012 at 12:11 AM.
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Old 04-27-2012, 04:16 AM   #3923
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I over-fed myself last night, eating TWO WHOLE SERVINGS of eye-of-round and TWO POINT FIVE servings of rice. Suffice to say, I felt fat/drunk, and a inebriated enough to try something risky...

...so I finished Ano Hana. :P

Something I've been delaying since summer, given how squeamish I can be, I mustered up the courage/insanity to finish it.

I'm disappointed. Minor plot points with Menma's family weren't resolved, and the emotional outburst felt very unnatural to me. I didn't find it universally funny like BBB did, especially when it came to Popo's story. For reasons I won't share, Popo's story wouldn't have bothered me a year ago, but it did give me pause a bit hearing him say it.

Breaking tension with the eyebrow thing. Really now. And Menma's promise with Jinta's mother? Terrible. The ending was also excruciating, I couldn't wait to end.

So, now that everything's finished, I'm giving Ano Hana a Mediocre score. Tremendous first episode, with great potential, but it fizzled out without any satisfying resolution. Too many false climaxes. Character development was stunted by and large. Most of all, it wasn't fun to watch after the first few episodes and it took me this long to finish off the last.

Now, time to wash my sorrows with some PreCure.
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Old 04-27-2012, 11:07 AM   #3924
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I was about to say: maybe that guy in Ichiro Heian was just a big fan of Sword of the Stranger. It's a movie I watched recently that has some Chinese swordsmen in it, and they actually speak Mandarin. That was pretty cool, but it was also stupid. They'd speak Mandarin sometimes, but other times they'd talk in Japanese, even to each other. Shit don't make no sense! I guess they got the VAs to say a few lines in Mandarin to sound authentic, and then the director was like, "Okay, fuck it, good enough. You can just say the rest of your lines normally now." I guess they do the same thing in American movies with Russian characters and the like.

Anyway, the movie was a poor man's Ninja Scroll. Anyone craving some samurai action should just go watch that instead. Overly flashy fight scenes, which I dislike. I much prefer the sheer brutality of Ninja Scroll's fights. The biggest hit against Sword of the Stranger is the protagonist. He's a Kenshin type, who was once a strong swordsman, but no longer wants to fight anymore. I just wasn't feelin' it with this guy. You know how some warriors in anime are super powerful, and you can believe it, because they're a total badass? This guy never gave me any vibes like that at all, yet he's a massively powerful fighter. It just didn't fit. You know you're in trouble when the hero of an action movie isn't cool, at all.
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Old 04-28-2012, 03:37 PM   #3925
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You know, Ano Hana would have been much better if it implemented some of the events from the the LN/manga/whatever the fuck it originated from. What the anime didn't mention, is that after Menma died, pompous asshole and Jinta took her body and fought over who gets to go out with her. Even after she was starting to rot, they took her out on dates, and tried to win her affection. Eventually, Anaru and Tsurupettan got jealous and tried killing her. They never succeeded.

Also, during the last moments in the whatever the fuck Ano Hana originated from, Menma kissed Jinta. Pompous asshole then kissed Jinta in an attempt to feel her lips.

Yugioh 5D's
After countless distractions, such as Yes Precure 5 GoGo and Kamidori Alchemy Meister, I finally picked up the initiative to marathon the last few episodes of this. All in all, this was an enjoyable ride. This show had its share of dumb shounen moments, but I ended up not caring about them as the show went on. It was a very exciting show, and I grew to love the cast. Even the one character I was upset they shafted ended up getting a huge spotlight shown on him towards the end. Also, Jack Atlas is fucking amazing, and he's certainly deserving of his harem. What made it even better was his line "Women will only get in the way of my path of being king!" I also really liked the 3 episode epilogue they gave. I wish more shows did this, since most shows just rush the ending, and don't give much closure. It gave a nice, long, final moment with the cast I grew to really like. All in all, I'd say this show deserves an 8. This show's difficult to get into because of the stupid premise, but when you get over the memetastic thought of "cardgames on motorcycles!", it's actually pretty entertaining.

As for what I'll do next, I don't know. I still have a massive backlog of VNs, anime, and videogames. I'll just sift through and do what seems to be the best!
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