AchtungAffen wrote:Polla Magica

It´s Puella Magica.
It´s latin for magical girl/mahou shoujo.



Holy shit, this is the most awesome version of Renai Circulation ever with that Angry German Kid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNpfkbmS ... iv-1r-4-HM

InstrumentalityOne wrote:It´s Puella Magica.
It´s latin for magical girl/mahou shoujo.

I know, but there are certain shows which I like to put alternative titles to. And considering how close Polla (cock, in Spain) and Puella are... yeah, bad humour is bad. But as far as I've seen, that show could be about a magic cock and everything would still be the same.

Reply to symbv:



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During last two weeks I went and watched entire Gall Force Saga/Franchise. I loved original trilogy and Earth chapters best. Revolution just made me think what the hell they were thinking. I'll propably write some reviews in future if anyone is interested.

Also rewatched Laputa for third time and it's a masterpiece.

AchtungAffen wrote:I know, but there are certain shows which I like to put alternative titles to. And considering how close Polla (cock, in Spain) and Puella are... yeah, bad humour is bad. But as far as I've seen, that show could be about a magic cock and everything would still be the same.

Congratulations, you've created a pun involving three different languages.

Oh, I have more of those. You know how Japan sticks english words inside of full Japanese lyrics? Well, I've developed a new lyrical style in which I take cumbia villera songs and do the same... on a second thought I guess I'll save that for meeself.

A week ago I watched Evangelion in whole. Loved it.
A few days ago I watched Code Geass in whole. Loved the ending and story as a whole.
I just finished Gurren Lagann. It's now my favorite anime.

I cried at the end of all of these. xD

I'm about to start Eureka Seven.

Interesting enough. All of these are Mecha anime. xD

^ I can't remember the last time I watched Evangelion in one shot...

Anyways, today was the first day of the semester, which means I got access to fast internet and downloaded the new season of shows. It definitely looks like a promising season to me for 3 reasons.

Rio, Onii-chan, and Gosick.

Not in that order. In fact, the opposite order. Rio is just awesome, I love casinos and mix that with the sexiness and it's a win-win. Onii-chan because I'm a sucker for brother/sister shows (KissxSis). The first episode of Gosick just left me with this face --> :o. It has a Spice and Wolf feel to it, and I like that a lot. I haven't gotten around to watching Freezing, Madoka Magica, or Yumekui Merry, but I think those 3 are going to stay my top 3 for this season. Also Ika Musume OP = Rio ED = Yes.

^Freezing is approximately what you'd get if you mixed Claymore with the OVA boom. It's little more than a woman fightan, bare-tittied, blood slathered mess of a narrative that so far doesn't make any sense. It's fun for what it is, though. Yumekui Merry isn't that bad from the first two episodes; first ep was nice and surreal, and I hope they bring some of that back in the future. And Mahou Shinboujo's already got a bit of a reputation. Gosick on the other hand I've been disappointed by TBH; its "mystery" bent is really lame, and the only thing keeping my interest so far is the setting.

Aside from a bunch of currently airing stuff, I've just started Princess Tutu and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. My flavor of the season this Winter is apparently of the magical girl variety. It feels good. Tutu is quite simply bizarre--the amount of metafiction in this show is outrageous, and the speed at which the narrative moves is pretty incredible as well. I'm about a third of the way through the show and I can't wait to watch the rest.

I had a reply typed up for symbv, but I lost it and I'm too tired to type it up again right now. Sorry man

Cleaning up stuff in my video recorder to make way for this season's anime. Ended up re-watching anime from last season (2010 4th quarter). If the number of re-watch is an indication of how I would rank the shows, here are the result:

Re-watch most
- Motto ToLoveRu (fan of the original manga, tears of joy as the anime finally stays close to manga, the pinnacle of harem comedy)
- Shinryaku Ika-musume (very enjoyable short stories-deGESO)
- Ore no Imoto ga konnani kawaii wakega nai (the characters keep pulling me back, and not just the main leads, love the art style too)
- Toaru Majutsu no Index II (the world building is cool, Touma is cool, Misaka is charming, and more besides)
- Amagami SS (my closet romantic heart is exposed - in particular watch Ayatsuji's arc multiple times)
** I guess one reason of picking these, besides they are all very fine anime, is that they are made up of short stories so it's easy to just pick one and enjoy without worrying a bigger story line. And you can tell I love comedy

OP re-watched most
- Ore no Imoto ga konnani kawaii wakega nai (ClariS is charming)
- Toaru Majutsu no Index II (I think it is even better than last OP Masterpiece)
- Motto ToLoveRu (just like its rhythm and melody, and the animation too)
- Shinryaku Ika-musume (this one is addictive)
- Kami nomizo shiru sekai (most unexpected OP last season, all English lyrics in multi-movements?!)

ED re-watched most
- Soredemo Machi wa mawatteiru (seiyuu sound great singing as a band, the animation is a lot of fun too)
- Amagami SS (seiyuu singing as a girl in the story, the lyrics and animation both fit the stories very well)
- Fortune Arterial akai yakusoku (the best ballad anime song last season)
- Tegami Bachi Reverse (the second best ballad anime song last season, animation is so-so though)
- Shinryaku Ika-Musume (another ballad ED!)

Honorable mention (re-watch for some particular reason)
- Yosuga no sora (despite its subject which could turn off most people, I must say that it has absolutely wonderful BGM, OP and two ED, the artwork is very good too)
- Hyakka Ryoran Samurai Girls (the experimental style of using black sumi ink for the background and character artwork deserves praises, very good character design too)

For the list in my to-watch list this season, I am not following Rio any more but might come back and check the fan-service if time allows.

So the watch list now is (those on the top are more likely they are the one I like most but I don't really like the idea of ranking so take it only as a rough indication of which I like best)

- Puella Magi Madoka Magika
- Toaru Majutsu no Index II
- I.S. Infinite Stratos
- Hourou Musuko
- Kimi ni Todoke 2
- Oniichan no koto nanka zenzen suki janain dakarane!
- Freezing
- Yumekui Merry
- Fractale
- Koreha Zombie Desuka?
- Tegami Bachi Reverse
- Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu
- Gosick
- Level E
- Bakuman
- Beelzebub

Wrote some views on some of the shows above. Anybody interested can check:
viewtopic.php?p=414558&highlight=#414558
(general preview and expectation)
viewtopic.php?p=416702&highlight=#416702
(Fractale, Hourou Musuko)
viewtopic.php?p=417771&highlight=#417771
(Puella Magi Madoka Magika)
viewtopic.php?p=417955&highlight=#417955
(some more Fractale)
viewtopic.php?p=417441&highlight=#417441
(Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki JanainDakarane/Beelzebub
viewtopic.php?p=417723&highlight=#417723
(I.S. Infinite Stratos, Gosick, Mitsudomoe, Kimi ni Todoke. Toaru Majutsu no Index II, Bakuman, Tegami Bachi Reverse)

Mitsudomoe has since recovered the original setting and style back in ep.2 which is very funny, otherwise it would have sunk to the bottom of my list...

Let me write a few more words about shows that I have not yet covered:

FREEZING

Before the show started, many people tried to compare this with I.S. because both are in a sci-fi high school setting, and both have strong females dominating the cast as well as do almost all the fighting. It seems both are harem. But they could not have been more different. While I.S. is a harem love-comedy supplemented by mecha; Freezing is something that does not come so often -- in Japanese they call it "Ero Guro" (erotic and gore) I call it "Boobs and Blood". I am not sure when the last time I see similar type of anime -- the last one I could think of that fits (slightly) into EroGuro category is Qwaser of Stigmata, but even that one has a lot more comedy moments and much less blood and gore.

(Note: Later I remember Ikki Tousen and Sekirei that may also be put as anime similar to Freezing, though neither have much gore in it, and ero-level is lower than both Qwaser and Freezing)

To decide if you may like Freezing, besides realizing it is EroGuro, the other thing you need to know is it is an Oneesan-kei anime, meaning all the main female characters can be grouped in "elder sister" look and style. The pairing of Pandora (female) and Limiter (male) seems to be almost a elder sister/younger brother combination.

I have checked the manga briefly before the anime starts. I love its character design -- I think they render the voluptuous bodies and the dress/hairstyle very well. The anime did quite some changes to the manga, making A LOT MORE bloody and stress maiming and limb loss, and it shows nudity A LOT MORE often as well. The vast majority of Ep.1 was used to explain how the Freezing world is functioned (pandora, nova alien, limiter etc) as well as highlight the brutality in Freezing world, with training being a bloodbath. While I am a bit taken aback by the blood splatter, I am glad that the anime at least keeps its serious tone (so don't expect much comedy element). They also changed the Pandora suit (like a armor) to Pandora mode (the body glows but no armor) -- I suspect it was changed so as to show nudity easier... The real story (matching the first chapter in the manga) only started near the end of Ep.1 While the purpose of Pandora is to fight super-strong mysterious aliens (which we caught a glimpse in ep.1), but if it follows the manga, most if not all the story in the anime would be about the fighting between various female students in school -- apparently this is their way to create bond and friendship....

The OP showed clearly the Untouchable Queen is the main heroine but personally I prefer those side (female) characters Interestingly, even though the male/female ratio is supposed to be 1to1 (pandora, always female, should always have a limiter parter, who is always male) but you see mostly female in the anime ha ha

Sidenote: The manga was done by a pair of Korean. It seems that their ero and gore approach does not allow them to be published in Korea. The story writer also wrote Black God, animated in 2009 (the manga drawing was done by another Korean).

KOREHA ZOMBIE DESUKA?

I found it a bit hard to tell my reaction to the first episode. Based on a popular light novel (and now a manga too), it seems to be a story about an ensemble cast all with strong character and all with some special power. Sounds like Melancholy of Haruhi you say? Indeed some did compare this to Haruhi, but it is only the settting:
- We do have a Kyon figure but this guy is a zombie (take the word zombie only as a word, it is more like an undead with heightened strength and agility(!));
- we have a Nagato figure who never speaks (but here we have a armor-clad purple-clothes necromancer who somehow lives with the zombie after she resurrect him as zombie when he was killed);
- we have a Haruhi figure who is egotistic, loud-mouthed and does thing her way (but here we have a Masou Shoujo -- never say Mahou Shoujo! -- whose magic weapon is a pink chainsaw but lost her power to the zombie -- yes, zombie is also a Masou Shoujo now, wearing the same costume! -- and now needs to live with zombie until she got her power back)
- instead of a big-breast naive figure, we have a big-breast foul-mouthed vampire-cum-ninja, who tried to get necromancer to come with her back to her village but ended up stuck with the zombie as the necromancer refused to leave

It looks like a harem but somehow it is not really about a harem. The zombie has its moments of perverted fantasy and there are indeed a bunch of female characters who seem to take a bit of liking to the zombie but that's about it. Fan service is not that much either -- restricted to the fantasy time, some close up of the ninja chest, and a few panty shots. The story is more about those characters interacting with comedy as a result. Their strong character and way of speech has a lot to do with how you may like this anime. There is also an element of adventure, as the zombie wants to find his murderer, and all the other characters have their issues to resolve (why necromancer never speaks, how to get the power back for masou shoujo, what is happening at the village of the vampire-ninja). And there is always a fight scene just round the corner. There is even a hint of romance underneath the adventures and comedy... There are also running jokes about the zombie can never die despite being cut off (dokuro-chan moments did happen), being afraid of direct sunlight, necromancer always getting hungry, masou shoujo only wants to cook eggs etc. So it is quite a mixed bag of various elements. Whether you'd like this anime depends on whether you like them as mixed and presented in the anime.

I think the color they use tends to be a bit darkened and always in some blurred state. Perhaps they want to highlight most of the characters seem more suited to the night time. But to me I would like the color to be brighter and sharper. The jokes can also be uneven -- the cliches of getting hit by car and wigs flying off are too old to be funny. And the directing sometimes look odd and awkward -- there are scenes where the only thing I noticed is the Dyson Air Multiplier fan (did they have an unannounced product placement ads with Dyson??). And I am not sure about the MALE fan-service (check out the male panty shot, not once but twice in ep.1!). Anyway, I have expectation that the story will turn more interseting and the cast are just warming up for the act. Kind of like the OP/ED though.

YUMEKUI MERRY

Somebody thought this is a Mahou Shoujo show but it isn't. Also unlike Gosick it is not ONLY about the main heroine Merry even though the OP/ED seem to show it that way. The manga is not too well-known but word-of-mouth reputation is very good. I would say the forte of this anime should be its STORY, which in manga is tightly structured and contains a few layers. This may make it harder to create an initial quick appeal to watchers. So in anime it needs to focus on Merry, and some fight scenes in the Dream World -- though I think the battle scenes were not as thrilling as it could have been. The color and background also tend to be darkened and blurred, but not as much as Koreha Zombie Desuka, perhaps because of the story link to dream? On the other hand, I love its directing and the way it focus on small objects or background to get the point across.

Ep.1 we already have the mystery of why Merry lost her memory and came to this world, and then there is the power of the lead guy seeing "dream color". Ep.2 is much better than Ep.1 because more mystery and characters are introduced. We now see more dream worlds and other dream fairies. We also see the childhood friend of the main guy has a really cool dad. And there is again a very cold and mysterious transfer student. This and combined with some innovative "dream world" design led some people to associate it with Puella Magi Madoka Magika but I think they are more like coincidence. Anyway I have a feeling that this anime is being underappreciated but my guess is that patient watchers will be rewarded.




@merridian
No prob. If you have a little time, you can also write me a short note any time.

Just finished Hellsing. It was pretty fun, but not much else. I feel like they tacked on a few deeper story aspects like Seras Victoria's pseudo-subplot just to make the episodes palatable, then abandoned all that in the last episode for one more BADASS GRIMDARK fight between Alucard and some nudist demon. I mean, fuck, when they have to put text at the end of that episode explaining how things tied up because they spent up all the running time trying to be goffik Dragonball Z, you feel a little gypped. And Alucard, although awesome, is probably the biggest Mary Sue in the history of anime. He NEVER really struggles or shows any sort of weakness in battle. Like every true Sue, he has a few token displays of "weak points" that are completely marginal and never get in the way of him being KEWL AND SPESHUL.

A friend told me about an anime called Basilisk that he says is really good. I'll watch that one next.

AchtungAffen wrote:

InstrumentalityOne wrote:It´s Puella Magica.
It´s latin for magical girl/mahou shoujo

I know, but there are certain shows which I like to put alternative titles to. And considering how close Polla (cock, in Spain) and Puella are... yeah, bad humour is bad. But as far as I've seen, that show could be about a magic cock and everything would still be the same.

When I first saw the official title, I actually saw Paella Magi... Perhaps I was too hungry then... magical paella...hmmmmmmm.....

symbv wrote:vampire-cum-ninja

Sounds like something straight out of a porn film

symbv wrote:MALE fan-service

The word you're looking for is "man-service"

I kinda liked Zombie (I'm not typing another stupidly long name) and I'm glad to hear Hikasa Youko again, although her character seems the least interesting out of them imo.

Also I know it's just a comedy and all, but for some reason I wish they'd just explain or show once how he can patch himself back up after being sawed in half, lol.

Freezing - This show seems pretty generic to be honest. And seriously - WHY is it in 4:3 ratio? The OP and ED are 16:9. Is this some genius ploy to get people to buy the BD or something? Weird.

I don't think any show for a while will top Qwaser in terms of "I can't believe they did that" or "I can't believe famous seiyuu xxxxxx just said that" (Having Haruhi do BDSM with Mio = gold). If the OVA was a little taste of what they can do when they're unrestricted, I wonder what they have in store for the 2nd season/movie

toe mash wrote:Sounds like something straight out of a porn film

Well I did not choose that LATIN word for no reason...

toe mash wrote:The word you're looking for is "man-service"

Is this the word for "fan service provided by male character"? Somehow both "male fan-service" and "man service" seem off...

toe mash wrote:I kinda liked Zombie (I'm not typing another stupidly long name) and I'm glad to hear Hikasa Youko again, although her character seems the least interesting out of them imo.

The title Koreha Zombie Desuka is not that long... Oreimo and OniSuki (the shortname used in Japan for Oniichan no koto blah blah) are really long... While we have Hollywood making movies with single word as title these days, we have longer and longer names for anime...

Agree the ninja character is the least interesting character so far, but at least we get to be abused by Hikasa Youko tsun-tsun style (not tsun-dere like Houki in I.S.)

toe mash wrote:Also I know it's just a comedy and all, but for some reason I wish they'd just explain or show once how he can patch himself back up after being sawed in half, lol.

I was surprised by that Dokuro-chan scene. Nobody expected such gore scene in this anime. Apparently that scene was not in the light novel (and definitely not in the manga). Personally I think it should not have been put in the anime.

toe mash wrote:Freezing - This show seems pretty generic to be honest. And seriously - WHY is it in 4:3 ratio? The OP and ED are 16:9. Is this some genius ploy to get people to buy the BD or something? Weird.

"Generic" is not a necessarily negative word to me. As soon as I see it is generic, I just set my expectation and see if I can find something I can enjoy. At least it has really good artwork for the characters, and it is consistent in its serious tone. There is no need to take it to be a serious-serious story like Gundam but I feel the consistency makes me easier to identify with the characters and the story.

As for the aspect ratio, it was only 4:3 when it was shown in the cable tv channel, but it is also only in cable tv channel you get to see all those nudity shots. Which one would you choose? Better aspect ratio but with censorship? Guess not, right? Don't know why the aspect ratio is done that way though...but you may be right. For this kind of anime the ploy is to tease fans enough to get them to buy the DVD/BD. And if they cannot see the full deal even if they check the cable tv output, it may be an incentive to get them to buy the discs.

toe mash wrote:I don't think any show for a while will top Qwaser in terms of "I can't believe they did that" or "I can't believe famous seiyuu xxxxxx just said that" (Having Haruhi do BDSM with Mio = gold).

Qwaser was a SHOCK to the whole fandom (at least in Japan) because few (if any) people would expect all these popular and famous seiyuu would be willing to do something like THAT. Professionalism? Playful hearts at play? Release channel for their pent-up energy? They were really thorough on the conversations though - the added dialogues in the BD Specials are even more hentai. It is a jaw-dropping (and drooling) experience of the life... I do love Qwaser for its artwork, story and how it takes itself seriously enough (the consistency thing again) but sprinkled it with sufficient comedy elements in between, but I have to say the cast is a BIG DRAW -- all of them girls deserve our top respect and gratitude !!

symbv wrote:Is this the word for "fan service provided by male character"? Somehow both "male fan-service" and "man service" seem off...

Yup, it is. It also sounds pretty damn funny

The title Koreha Zombie Desuka is not that long...

Perhaps. But "Zombie" is even shorter :)

"Generic" is not a necessarily negative word to me. As soon as I see it is generic, I just set my expectation and see if I can find something I can enjoy. At least it has really good artwork for the characters, and it is consistent in its serious tone. There is no need to take it to be a serious-serious story like Gundam but I feel the consistency makes me easier to identify with the characters and the story.

Of course even a "generic" anime can be really good (i.e Toradora which on paper offers nothing new while actually being very refreshing). If it's entertaining, then what do I care really. Also is it me or is Eri Kitamura's character nearly identical to her character in High School of the Dead?

As for the aspect ratio, it was only 4:3 when it was shown in the cable tv channel

Oh, so it does exist already in widescreen? There are a few versions of them out with English subs but they are fake so I assumed there isn't yet. Huh.

Qwaser was a SHOCK to the whole fandom (at least in Japan) because few (if any) people would expect all these popular and famous seiyuu would be willing to do something like THAT. Professionalism? Playful hearts at play? Release channel for their pent-up energy? They were really thorough on the conversations though - the added dialogues in the BD Specials are even more hentai. It is a jaw-dropping (and drooling) experience of the life... I do love Qwaser for its artwork, story and how it takes itself seriously enough (the consistency thing again) but sprinkled it with sufficient comedy elements in between, but I have to say the cast is a BIG DRAW -- all of them girls deserve our top respect and gratitude !!

Pic related:

BD specials huh? You mean the picture drama I guess. They seem to only be 1 minute long, they must really need to cram in something to make it worth it

Also Fujimura Ayumi (Mafuyu) especially impressed me, as I happened to watch 3 shows she was in in a short amount of time (Qwaser, Kaicho wa maid sama and PSG) - 2 of which she was the main character, sounding completely different in each one.

toe mash wrote:Yup, it is. It also sounds pretty damn funny
Also is it me or is Eri Kitamura's character nearly identical to her character in High School of the Dead?

You mean Ganessa Roland the twin-tailed girl in Freezing? So far she acted as a bitch who somehow hates the Untouchable Queen and just wants to humiliate and trash her even if it means ignoring the rules. Don't see how she is like Takagi Saya in HotD, who is cool and strategic-thinking...
One thing to note is Kitamura Eri also voices the hentai sister Mio in OniSuki (oniichan no koto blah blah). How different the roles are...

toe mash wrote:Oh, so it does exist already in widescreen? There are a few versions of them out with English subs but they are fake so I assumed there isn't yet. Huh.

That's why I think you may be right -- they made it in 16:9 and added censorship for broadcast in network TV but changed it to 4:3 for cable TV. Now I wonder whether it will also happen to similar anime in future -- like Qwaser II....

toe mash wrote:BD specials huh? You mean the picture drama I guess. They seem to only be 1 minute long, they must really need to cram in something to make it worth it

The preview for the next episode was also extended with extra dialogues -- Toyosaki Aki's character (Yamanobe Tomo) doing a short drama with her breasts is something that was never broadcast on TV.

By the way, as mentioned in my earlier post, the decision to animate a series is now taken carefully. It is clear that because the Qwaser OVA (out in Oct 2010) and BD/DVD (out Apr-Nov 2010) sold very well that season 2 got green light soon afterwards in Dec 2010. All of us need to thank dedicated fans in Japan for that !!

toe mash wrote:Also Fujimura Ayumi (Mafuyu) especially impressed me, as I happened to watch 3 shows she was in in a short amount of time (Qwaser, Kaicho wa maid sama and PSG) - 2 of which she was the main character, sounding completely different in each one.

Don't forget she is also Eiko in Ika-musume and Niche in Tegami Bachi Reverse. The latter she needs to use a little girl voice which sounds again different from all the other roles mentioned earlier.

OH GOD





WHAT HAS BEEN REALIZED CANNOT BE UNREALIZED

I don't get it, Xard....

Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion wrote:I don't get it, Xard....

Well, it's not like this differs from your modus operandi.

Kentaro Miura

Xard wrote:
WHAT HAS BEEN REALIZED CANNOT BE UNREALIZED

Hmm... in Kimini Todoke the name is Miura Kento. The BERSERK manga writer is Miura Kentaro. Not really that close.....

**********************

By the way, a reply to Xard

Xard wrote: K-ON's best selling BD volume sales are under 100,000 but Rebuild is undeniable king of ALL BD sales. It's top selling BD in Japan, after all, leaving behind even Michael Jackson and Cameron's Avatar. Looking at brute figures not even Bakemonogatari gets close - then add on all this theatre revenues etc. and we're talking about monster.

Eva's sale figures are absolutely ridiculous

First entry by K-ON is at #26 - but the gap between eva and the second title on list (Toy Story 3) is telling:

Evangelion 2.22 - You can (not) advance (Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Ha) - 449,675

Toy Story 3 DVD+Blu-ray Set - 151,832

(it's possible Macross Frontier: Itsuwari no Utahime might be second highest ranking title as it's sales were after first week about equal with Toy Story 3)

I stand corrected about the 2010 figure. Yes, Evangelion Rebuild 2.22 has a monster sale figure. My mind got stuck in the 2009 figure, where Evangelion Rebuild was much more modest in sale.

Japanese source for 2009 figures:
http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news ... 39731.html

There are 2 categories BD and DVD but Evangelion did not make it to top 10 of DVD list -- DVD is dominated by children anime and music concerts. Just looking at BD sales, in terms of Yen figures

Evangelion 1.11 590 million
Bakemonogatari 1130 million (3 vol so far in 2009)
K-On! 806 million (3 vol so far in 2009)

Of course it may not be very representative as Evangelion has ticket sales and it is just one movie of 4 (and perhaps expected to have the weakest sales too). On the other hand it is customary to group all volumes in one TV series to compare sales with a movie, and K-On! did not have all volumes released yet in 2009.

What is clear is that Evangelion Rebuild did not start very strongly but once Asuka arrived its popularity exploded -- yeah this is my theory as an Asuka lover!!

Xard wrote: yeah, and this financial model is absolutely insane. Living hand-to-mouth to such extent is anything BUT healthy. I'm hoping some great structural changes are coming in the future.

If the anime is not sure to get good sponsorship then it would have to be contented with a midnight time slot which is much less expensive. Outside Japan I guess few people would see those commercials shown in break time of an anime show. I could tell you most if not all of the commercials in an anime show are for other anime, or from trading card or game companies. This really makes me sad...

Xard wrote:It's terrible cycle: you can't bring prices down without hurting revenues considerably but on the other hand because they are so expensive huge number of potential customers propably leave the BDs on the shelf.

Actually I don't know how the economics works in detail. There are so many midnight anime these days, and a lot of them would not attain super popularity. Some people may follow through the anime as shown on TV but forking out >8000 yen for one volume of BD for the show is absolutely another matter. The pressure should then be for the anime companies to concentrate on fewer titles which are more certain to obtain big sales (something like what is happening in Hollywood now) but we still see so many titles coming out this season. That is why I say we are spoiled and I always doubt how long the current situation can last.

And anime DVD/BD sells at much lower price when it comes to nearby countries like Korea or Taiwan. If even Finland also sells at a discount price compared to Japan, then this industry is basically fed by really generous Japanese fans, to the benefit of all foreigners (if they pay for the anime legally).

*****************************

Cleaning up even older stuff from video recorder. Re-watched the last 8 episodes of K-On!! Decided not to remove them yet. It was really really good.....

And re-watched Seitokai-Yakuin-Domo... this time with the original manga side-by-side. The dialogues are very close to manga!! And it follows the sequence of the manga >90% of the time. It is still funny as hell. So far 4 vol of manga were out, but the anime only went till beginning of vol.3 Instead of 2nd season, we have a OVA coming. Perhaps BD sales was not good enough?

I gotta say, western reluctancy for moe or not, when all dialogue lines in a show can be replaced by cute onomatopoeias and nothing of substance changes, then I guess they're taking the public's intelligence lightly (sometimes rightly so I'm afraid).