Archive for May, 2008
May 30, 2008 – 12:28 am
As I wait for the next episode of Macross Frontier and the next chapter of Windows of the Soul, I settled to reading Lestaki’s previous fic Astraea Lake. It’s a Strawberry Panic fic of massive proportions featuring our favourite evil lesbian duo would-be rapists, Kaname and Momomi.
Now, although I watched this series, and believe I did watch it to the end because I still bear the scars from frantically trying to claw my eyes out during that unintentionally traumatic Amane/Hikari hawt secks scene in the barn, I honestly don’t remember much except that Miyuki was awesome and deserved better, and Chikaru was awesome and probably some IQ 500 alien disguised as an innocent cute girl.
Oh, I also vaguely remember these two evil lesbian schoolgirls plotting to.. um.. plotting something, in between vaguely disturbing scenes of making out and bathing together – vaguely disturbing because the two most irredeemably despicable characters in the show were shown to have the most functional and normal relationship of the lot. That’s Strawberry Panic for you, I guess.
Now, Astraea Lake is just over 410,000 words of getting inside the head of Kaname and Momomi, our favourite evil lesbian duo of the conniving, plotting, dirty no-holds-barred variety. And while it is as dense and slow-moving as treacle, it is actually a highly addictive, fascinating read. One of the few fics in which OCs positioned nigh-perfectly – interesting enough that you would never skip any scenes in which they appear, but not so center-stage that you lose sight of the main plot. The story tells of Kaname and Momomi’s beginnings as friends in their second year and develops both their characters and relationships, plus shedding light on Amane (whom the author seems dislike as much as I do). It was a surprising delight, because in the TV series Kaname and Momomi just kinda struck me as rather creepy, and at the end of this fic I was sorry to part ways with their marvelously atypical lives.
So, if you have time to kill before the next episode of whatever it is you are watching, go and read this fic.
Posted in ANIME, Fanfiction, Strawberry Panic | 2 Comments »
May 24, 2008 – 4:29 pm
Ok, erm, someone’s stolen my MacF and replaced it with some Jump highschool hijinks anime. It’s like I’m watching a crossover between Ranma and Eva, where Happosai’s small and green and Asuka has pink hair. Excuse me while I go scrub my eyes and ears clean.
Well, I guess it would be hypocritical if I didn’t admit to laughing through a lot of the scenes. I mean, yeah it was kinda whack slapstick. But really, almost one whole episode devoted to Sheryl being a first-class pampered bitch? A little too much, even for a fan as me. BTW, I really didn’t like Sheryl in this episode.
Granted this episode had some important plot points. First and foremost it reveals that the mysterious pilot from ep 7 is now on Frontier, and Mr Sleazeball aide has some slimy connection to him. Next, it tries to set up Ranka as the underdog in both idol- and Alto-dom. It’s this part which I found contrived and clumsy. I mean, geez, can you get anymore obvious about how put down Ranka feels compared to the high flying Sheryl? Beat me on the head with a stick again, will ya?
I don’t mind that Ranka is supposed to be the underdog. I do take issue with badly written teen drama. Of course, compared to oldies such as KOR this isn’t bad at all, but just because something was okay 20 years ago doesn’t mean that I will stop having hopes and expectations for anime to show more mature storytelling.
To top it off, the whole setup where Sheryl comes to school and joins everyone is just so… cliche anime. Would the biggest star in the galaxy suddenly start going to school, just because she feels like it? Well, perhaps, but it still feels like a terrible thing to do to a character that started with quite a bit of potential. She was smart, strong-willed, stubborn but practical. A girl who grew up too fast, but still a kind girl at heart nonetheless. Now she’s just pig-headed and idiotic. I guess it was too good to expect that we’d escape the annoying-idol syndrome this time around.
At least next episode looks to be good. We find out something about Max ^H^H^H Michel, whom I am interested in, and we have some fight sequences to whet our appetite.
Posted in ANIME, Macross Frontier | No Comments »
May 16, 2008 – 10:39 am
*SPOILERS!*
Oh my god, Sheryl is… is… a magical girl! AARGH!! *brain explodes*
Thoughts
Okay, this episode was so over the top I had to get this down on (electronic) paper right away. The battle was outrageous, Alto went Newtype all of a sudden, formerly invulnerable Vajra are now rather handily disposed of, Sheryl had recycled footage and absolutely no one to help her change and touch up makeup during her encore, and apparently earrings allow song to travel millions of miles… but it was all right, it was all right.
Normally I would deride the whackness of such an episode. But damn, I just have to give the writers credit for their sheer enthusiasm. No holds barred, this is what the anime genre stood for, and this is what Macross Frontier has once again reminded us of. Damn that Destroid was too freakin’ awesome!
Yeah yeah, I know the Macross finally transformed, and totally kicked ass. Then there was some soul-bonding between Sheryl and Ranka. And we get introduced to some mysterious new character who knows Ranka’s song (*dun dun dun*). But I tell ya, nothing beats that Destroid scene!
Extra points for the new ending.
Oh, and if they sell MacF goods, I so totally want Sheryl’s earrings. Speaking of which, is the one with Alto now floating somewhere in space?! That’s gonna be hell to find, for sure.
Posted in ANIME, Macross Frontier | No Comments »
May 16, 2008 – 4:50 am
Okay, in two weeks, I have gone from Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur to Layang Layang (East Malaysia) to Penang (West Malaysia) to Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo to Toronto. Me is tired. And jet lagged. The things I do for friends and family…
To cut a long story short, I loved ep 6 of Macross Frontier. It had all the elements that I look forward to in anime – great art, great direction, and great sense of storytelling with both humour and plot advancement. Lots of little touches here and there that show off the scriptwriter’s experience. A bit old style perhaps, but just the way I liked it. Not that I thought ep 5 was horrible or anything; dating antics are a necessary part of the Macross universe, and it was really fun to see the Zentradi suburb with all the giant cow-hippoes and panties ^^. But that felt like the creators kinda goofing off and inserting fan service (valid of course) under the guise of character and relationship development.
Summary and Thoughts
This episode starts with an explanation of the fold system. I like this gimmick of beginning each episode with new bits of Macross background, which helps both newcomers and old fans by setting common ground. Then, before the opening, the story picks up with Ranka’s storyline. The hippy Zentradi from the previous episode is a small producer convinced Ranka’s voice is the best thing since, well, Minmay. And so he goes to “receive” Ranka from Ozma in a hilarious parallel to asking for a girl’s hand in marriage. And Ozma, with probably on of the funniest constipated expressions, agrees. Then we see a scene of Sheryl rehearsing for her farewell concert. Sheryl! <3
After the opening, we have Alto and co. Alto has found Sheryl’s earring (thank god, I was afraid this plot point would amount to nothing more than a reason for Sheryl to be thrown together with Alto). Alto’s little date with Sheryl is now common knowledge thanks to Michel’s rather public teasing. Alto, in the grand tradition of anime males tying their own nooses, tells Ranka that he was alone in Zentradi town when he saw her singing. Way to go, Alto. Plus, you gave her a ticket to Sheryl’s concert, strike two. BTW, I thought this was a really nicely done scene with nice writing and pacing.
In the meantime, the governor of Frontier has decided to tell the public of the Vajra, due to overwhelming evidence and the fact that Galaxy may have gotten wiped, and Frontier has to help. Sheryl, too, has received word of the attack on Galaxy, and is understandably upset.
The announcement of the Vajra attack is made immediately, and SMS are scrambled. Ranka, watching the news alone in her apartment, realizes that Ozma let her join the agency because he knows he has to go fight and can’t righteously deny Ranka her will while blatantly breaking his own promise to her.
Alto is being his usual moping self, but when he sees Sheryl television interview, in which she expresses her gratitude for Frontier’s decision to help Galaxy (elegantly shooting down a reporter who suggests that it may be detrimental to Frontier to attract the attention of the Vajra by doing so) and then vehemently asserts her conviction to perform and return home to Galaxy, Alto acts.
He runs to her the concert hall and forces his way backstage, where Sheryl is feeling nerves before her concert. He’s rather cute in his embarrassment as he hands Sheryl’s lost earring back. This proceeds to a quiet moment between the two, as Sheryl opens up and explains that the earring is a memory of her mother, a mother whose face she can’t remember. She asks Alto if he likes this ship, and he answers that he hates it, because it has no sky. Their conversation is interrupted by a call from Michel to Alto telling him to get the hell back to base for their coming battle. Alto tries to hand the earring over, but Sheryl tells him to keep it – it is a good luck charm. She then confesses that she hates Galaxy and gets depressed, but then Alto breaks the mood by telling her he can’t deal with her in that mood, then runs off by saying he’ll take her lucky charm. “I’m just lending it! You’d better be back to return it!” shouts Sheryl after him.
While this is happening, the SMS battleship launches, with Cathy aboard. She has been assigned to be the military liaison on this mission. Hmm, shades of Misa, anyone? The scouting team detects multiple defolds – the Galaxy fleet with some rather undesirable hitchhikers…
Thus we enter the final sequence of the episode, which really put the finishing touches on the whole build-up. As the soldiers get ready of war, Sheryl begins her concert, and sings her song of good-bye in a send-off of love. It’s cheezy and cliche and the art and animation were a little wonky with Sheryl, but maybe because I love this song “Diamond Crevasse”, I was soooo into this last part. Especially when it blended right into the ED. This is what makes me love anime, year after year, decade after decade.
More thoughts
I loved Sheryl in this episode. Her strength is moving, and more so now that we have a glimpse of her back story. And I like Alto and everything he does, despite his little faux pas in hiding his date with Sheryl from Ranka. He’s a good guy with good intentions and he’s not an annoying brat, thank god.
After rewatching, I realized I love Sheryl’s voice. This is not the same as her singing, which is done by someone else. I like her voice itself, it’s kinda hard to explain but it’s grown up and very attractive. On the other hand, I’m not much for Ranka’s voice acting, but I think she’s got a great singing voice.
Based upon the previous episode, one could conjecture that a Sheryl-Ranka rivalry is a-brewing. I say, based on the opening, that they will join to form the ultimate song of triumph ^^
Time to put Sheryl single of repeat again. Woo!
Posted in ANIME, Macross Frontier | No Comments »
May 8, 2008 – 9:38 pm
I watch Mnemosyne just for entertainment’s sake and don’t give it much thought once an episode is over, but to my surprise I really like ep 4. The reason is, pure and simple, Mimi – Mimi and the change in the relationship between her and Rin. For the first three episodes, she’s been a rather one-dimensional character, what with Rin taking center stage and Kouki being the human foil; Mimi’s the sidekick with a taste for vodka and a rather forward way of displaying affection towards Rin. We’ve seen Rin and Mimi as colleagues in a dangerous line of work. They’ve been together a long time, and they care a lot about each other. We know Mimi flirts a lot with Rin and Rin takes it in stride; in episode three, their interactions indicate that they are in a relationship.
In this episode, however, 14 years or so have changed things. Mimi still teases Rin, but she doesn’t flirt with her. More tellingly, when Mimi decides to go to the information dealer, it becomes a point of tension. Rin prods Mimi by saying she thought Mimi didn’t quite like the woman. Mimi responds indignantly that of course she does not, but Rin says, somewhat teasingly, that it seems Mimi has been using her more than Rin herself, lately. Mimi then becomes defensive, telling Rin to make sure to turn off the gas and lock the door. Rin then mentions casually that perhaps she will take Teruki to her home (there is no indication that Rin and Mimi live together), to which Mimi looks shocked and upset. Rin but smiles kindly and says, “It’s all right.”
Now, I may just be reading too much into this, but to me it appears that Rin and Mimi are no longer together, and it’s an issue that’s been eating at them for a while. Perhaps Kouki’s death hit hard, or maybe it was the passing of time… More likely, I think it was Mimi who fell in love with Rin, back then, and Rin reciprocated but was never fully in love with Mimi; rather, she had always loved that mysterious bearded man, or angel as the case may have it. And Mimi’s heart got broken, and the relationship was no more because Rin couldn’t love Mimi like Mimi loved Rin.
And Rin knew this, and so she been trying to let Mimi go for several years now. When she said, “Maybe I’ll take Teruki home with me”, it was her implicit permission for Mimi to go to someone else. When she said, “It’s all right”, she meant that she didn’t want Mimi to continue trying to stay in love with her, that it was all right to start having feelings for that woman.
Some people might argue that Mimi doesn’t enjoy her “payments” with the woman. I’d say that may have been true in 2011, but it’s no longer so in 2025. In 2011, Mimi did it for Rin. In 2025, she did it for a boy in trouble. Admitted, Kouki’s son, but still, obviously she’s been buying information for more than a few cases before then already. Look at their interaction in bed. The woman teases Mimi, and Mimi’s reaction isn’t terribly hateful or resentful. When the talk turns serious, Mimi sounds somewhat melancholic. Would it be too much to read that the woman may hold affection for Mimi, and Mimi, while loathe to admit it, does as well? I see the last scene from the episode, where Mimi walks off with a lone suitcase and Genta, as someone in deep pain when the woman she loves ie Rin has failed to return. But I can imagine Mimi burying the tears inside and stoically showing up on the information dealer’s door, so that she would at least have someone to hold her.
Anyway, that’s my take on this episode. How utterly depressing. But now I am a Mimi fan ;-)
Although, dammit, Rin looks too damn good when she tells Teruki they are going out, and she says, “Ii toko! <3″
Posted in ANIME, Mnemosyne | 2 Comments »
May 7, 2008 – 1:48 pm
When I updated WordPress, I also installed the stats plugin. After a couple weeks it’s interesting to see that my most-read posts are about Mai-Hime, specifically Shizuru and Natsuki. I guess it’s not surprising, since Mai-Hime was in and of itself a highly popular show, and Shizuru and Natsuki garner much attention from the fanbase. That said, I am glad that others find this as fascinating a couple as I did.
When I finished Mai-Hime I was most unhappy with the happy-go-lucky, no-consequences ending portrayed. It was just too pat, because a whole lot of shit happened between Shizuru and Natsuki that doesn’t just go away because you killed each other out of love then came back to defeat the bad guy.
But I left it at that, because well after all is said and done it’s just a Sunrise TV series.
Then the other day, I came across a fanfic. This was a ShizNat fanfic, but it dared to go where no other fanfic writer had gone, and that was to write the aftermath of the Carnival for Shizuru and Natsuki. Shizuru’s guilt and fear and tenuous sanity. Natsuki’s courage and trauma and confusion. And how these two could ever, ever hope to bridge the gap in trust and friendship left by Shizuru’s horrendous betrayal and hideous crime of murder.
This fic is called Windows of the Soul and it is on FanFiction.Net. Read it, please. It is an amazingly good story. It’s still incomplete, but the author updates quickly in and volume, such that in 4 months we have over 310,000 words describing in detail, from Natsuki and Shizuru’s POV, what it could have been like to hold on to your most important person.
After Mai-Hime ended, I wanted, more than anything else, a realistic portrayal of Shizuru and Natsuki. So I am amazed and extremely happy to discover that sometimes we do get what we wish for ;)
Posted in ANIME, Fanfiction, Mai-HiME | 3 Comments »
May 5, 2008 – 12:18 am
I type this post up as I’m listening to the Sheryl Nome single. God, Diamond Crevasse is such an amazing song… A great and deep feeling wells up in my heart as I hear the first lines. In comparison, I think the full version of Don’t Be Late suffers, but mainly because it has no visual of Sheryl to accompany the music >8-) No, I am harsh, I like this song too. But it is Diamond Crevasse which makes me sit and close my eyes and let the song wash over.
Okay, enough of Sheryl. Ep 4 focused on Ranka and Alto, which is to be expected as this showcases how they take on the new challenges they set their minds to in the last ep. No summary this time as I’m behind and want to get my thoughts on this ep down pronto so I can proceed with watching ep 5.
Thoughts
I liked this ep well enough. On the minus side, there were some throwbacks to the original Macross, such as the scene of Alto in the VF, rising up and launching just like the OP of Macross, which made me cringe in their blatantness. Also some of the art and animation in the with Ranka and the other contestants getting ready for the pageant were just absolutely horrid. And to be honest, I really didn’t like chibi Kulan Kulan >_<
On the plus side, Alto’s training fight was really cool. I loved the way Kulan Kulan shot the Vajra, and Alto grabbed the gun and shot it again; nice choreography on the sequence. I liked the humour too – I laughed at the boobies joke, at Alto getting razzed by Michel, at the victory pose. I thought how Ranka and Sheryl interacted was great, when Sheryl found Ranka depressed before the competition.
Of course, I was also very glad that Ranka did not win. It would’ve been too much of a deus ex machina if she did. Rather, having Ranka lose gives her more room to grow as a character and allows us to look forward to what sort of role she will play as the Vajra invasion unfolds. Oh, and the fact that her song wasn’t “Ai Oboeteimasu Ka” nor the old Zentradi song was key as well. I was afraid they would waste all the good stuff at the beginning, but really, the writers do show a decent maturity.
And dudes… finally… Zentradi! Too bad she has defective genes ^^;;;;;;
So all in all, not bad. Without Sheryl, I’d have to vote on the good fight sequences in this one :D
Posted in ANIME, Macross Frontier | No Comments »
May 4, 2008 – 3:34 pm
Last Tuesday I finally moved back home to Malaysia. The week before was absolute chaos as I was packing all my crap and shipping it home, and I had to move to another place because my visa didn’t get extended in time for my initial departure date. Plus I had a sudden business meeting in Manila right before my move date, then I had contracts to review and people to call… etc etc. But I finally made it back, and took off the next morning for a dive trip in Layang Layang.
All of which explains why I haven’t written up on MacF. I’ll get around to it.
Posted in MISC. RAMBLINGS | No Comments »
