Not just about a bunch of drawings: The Live Project

Hello again!

I’m proposing a new project of mine, aptly called the Live project. This way, I will feature anime or related stuff that doesn’t necessarily need to be just animated or drawn. I had a few of those featured already, so I was thinking that I could make a collective again, much like the [bishoujo project->summer-of-bishoujo] I have.

Most of the time, I would feature stuff from jdorama, since aside from those I don’t get too much live action videos. Maybe movies too. So do watch out for content! Bye for now.

You can catch the Live project at this URL:
[http://bluemist.animeblogger.net/live/->http://bluemist.animeblogger.net/live/]

To Heart 2: Yuma Tonami

Generic disclaimer: Same basic rules apply as in my [To Heart 2->toheart2] project. Please do comment or contact me in case I have mistakes in describing each girl’s scenario.

I’m a bit ok this time, but towards the end, it got quite confusing. In any case, Yuma’s scenario had gone quite smoother than Manaka’s, at least I never saw myself scratching my head all the time. Thanks to moyism also for helping me figure out the story!

imageimage Continue reading To Heart 2: Yuma Tonami

October Anime Season (Fall 2005)

Okay, I promised myself that I will have a minimum of anime come October, because my board exams are coming up. But resistance is futile, and so yet another huge number of anime series interest me this fall. But then again, I will keep my watching to an absolute minimum. I’ll just download… and watch later when I’m free. Call this my ‘eventual anime backlog’.

This site lists all the anime that will premiere this season, and the possible fansubbers or licensors.

I seem to have a perfect theme for the anime I’ll watch this season… it’s my bishoujo sequel season.

Bishoujo Sequel Season
Canvas 2 – The first one was a semi-H OAV. I don’t watch H so I didn’t watch it. This is based on a game from F&C, which also made the Pia Carrot multitude of games.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s – [Nanoha->] is a character from a Triangle Heart game. She had her own spinoff anime series last year. This seems like a direct sequel. Considering that the first was quite enjoyable, I’ll definitely catch this one.

Mai Otome – Mai-HiME was one of my favorites from last year. This time it’s an alternative world with new characters and some rehashes. If the first was “bishoujo gakuen action romance”, I think this one is “henshin bishoujo otome action”… whoa, magical girls? Looks like another hit.

To Heart 2 – It has never been more obvious. This will be my anime of the season, and considering all the effort I put into [playing the game->toheart2], I will blog this one episode-by-episode! Yes, something rare from me for a change. Watch out for that.

So that’s it. No more [deliberations->july-anime-season] this time, because I won’t care about all the other animes until my exams end come halfway through November. I’m sure that fellow bloggers will pick up the other good stuff. So have a nice watch, and continue to enjoy anime.

To Heart 2: Manaka Komaki

Generic disclaimer: Same basic rules apply as in my [To Heart 2->toheart2] project. Please do comment or contact me in case I have mistakes in describing each girl’s scenario.

Futility.

All throughout this scenario, all I am feeling is futility. This is the the hardest scenario I have played so far, in terms of not understanding what the heck is going on. I fear for the future, if ever I still have the guts to play the scenarios of other To Heart 2 girls. Because of this, please expect that the things I will say about Manaka “will have errors”. Having said that, why am I still relaying potentially erratic information through this blog? Sorry, but I love To Heart 2, and I think you will, too. I really hope that those guys doing the To Heart 2 translation would do it for real, and completely. I don’t care how much time it takes, as long as there is hope that I can correct all these information. Oh well, let’s go back to our regular programming.

image Continue reading To Heart 2: Manaka Komaki

Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 7: Dubbed in Filipino?!?

September 1, 2005

The unthinkable may happen.

Come October 2005, Animax-Asia is introducing Filipino dubs! Yep, you heard it right.

Filipino is the national language of our country. Anime on local television is normally shown with Filipino dubs, obviously, removing the original Japanese voices and replacing them such that the program can be accessible to the masses. You can say that our reaction to this kind of activity is very similar to how U.S. handles anime. Some anime get good dubs, others get poor dubs. Generally, Filipino dubs are rather well accepted.

Anime is getting more and more popular in this side of the world, to the point that Animax-Asia was launched in 2004 as the first 24-hour cable anime channel in Asia. Well, we all know the story afterwards. Subtitled anime become dubs, some non-anime programs surface, and a lot more programming quirks left the fans complaining all the time. And now, their new trick up their sleeve to garner bigger audience (or rather, prevent losing audience because of Hero TV, more on that later) is introducing Filipino dubs to their ever growing multi-language anime lineup!

Again, Animax-Asia has a separate Philippine feed exclusively for Philippine viewers, and that’s how Animax just loves us. I tend to think that we are their biggest audience (read: source of income) in Southeast Asia because of the immense popularity of anime in our country. This move by Animax seems to cater to the masses, getting more audience classes (as per their ‘anime for everyone’ slogan) and cultural divides. At the same time, this seems to be an pre-emptive move to compete with Hero TV, the all-Filipino cable animation channel that will be fully launched this October. This upcoming channel is reportedly gaining ground, maybe because Naruto is in the lineup. More importantly though, anime fans will have even more choices. We already have Cartoon Network and Animax-Asia, now with Hero, anime has just become so widespread, you can’t deny it anymore.

You’ve been waiting for the catch, so here it is. I’ve been complaining for almost seven episodes about Animax-Asia’s English dubbing, right? Animax-Asia’s Filipino dubbing now opens a new debate and divide. Purists who want their subs have another reason to complain, because Filipino dubs will eat airtime further, having fears of having less subtitled anime yet again. Evidence of this seems to surface even nowadays because the 6:00PM Saiyuki Reload timeslot is now in English dub (it used to be subbed before). Here’s a bigger news. The first anime premiere that will feature the Filipino dubbing is… be surprised, Initial D Fourth Stage! Nope, they did not show any Initial D prior to this. That alone is an outrage, isn’t it?

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Recently news about some of the local voice cast of Initial D Fourth Stage have been introduced. Takumi Fujiwara will be voiced by Matteo Guidicelli, a young and popular kart driver over here. Kyoko Iwase will be voiced by Angel Locsin, a beautiful and very popular actress, widely known for the Darna live action series (Darna is our equivalent of Wonder Woman). She says that she likes the PS2 Gran Turismo games, and so she’s kinda hyped up to voice Kyoko I guess… Let me tell you that it’s kinda rare that news like this surface over TV and newspapers, let alone anime news. I guess Animax-Asia is heavily hyping their one-of-a-kind move.

As I said, this becomes a new dynamic in this ever-ongoing anime debate. Even now, fans may be just oh so furious that Animax-Asia has just become trilingual (Japanese, English, Filipino). As debates go on, I’m just here monitoring in the sidelines. I don’t watch Animax-Asia anymore, for various reasons, but once in a while I tune in for a random anime episode treat or two. Whether a dubbed or subbed episode, I don’t care anymore, as long as it doesn’t annoy me too much. Come October, which will premiere Initial D Fourth Stage, I’ll definitely watch and find out how good is their first Filipino dub offering.

I’ll be waiting for Angel Locsin’s voice too. She’s beautiful isn’t it? I’m not too sure about her voice though, and I don’t even watch Darna…

TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 1: The end of Animax-Asia? Too sudden!?->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 2: Cardcaptured.->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 3: Trying to Adjust->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 4: Towards the 1st Anniversary->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 5: I gave up on Animax-Asia->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 6: One year since->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 7: Dubbed in Filipino?!?->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 7.5: Initial D Filipino Stage->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 8: More Pain->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 9: Now in blue->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 10: Fake Revival->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 11: Something New->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 12: Red with anger->]

Miu-chan Punch

While Miu-chan isn’t my favorite Ichigo Mashimaro girl, she definitely has some of the best punchlines in the anime… well… because she’s a super-baka.

Unfortunately, her punchlines (and some weird actions) usually come with a literal ‘punch’ from her Nobue-oneechan. It’s a recurring event where Miu-chan has her face flat on the ground, or something similar.

So, let me list the number of times it happened, kay?

*NEW* OVA Episode 1

Miu wrote gibberish things on Nobue’s resume
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=============================
Episode 1 (3)

Nobue doesn’t remember why she entered Chika’s room
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Nobue promises to buy Matsuri-chan some pudding
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Matsuri-chan is being wrestled by Miu-chan
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Episode 2 (2)

Chika-chan and Ana-chan are talking about making milk tea
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Miu-chan writes something and shows it to Ana-chan
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Episode 3 (1)

Matsuri-chan is doing the nekomimi act
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Episode 4 (1)

Chika is getting annoyed with Miu’s doctor play
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Episode 5 (2)

Nobue is asking if Miu blurted out Ana’s embarrassing surname (Coppola) to her class on purpose
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Miu is annoying Matsuri-chan while eating
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Episode 7 (2)

Secretly filming Chika-chan while asleep…
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Miu still has it
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Episode 8 (1)

Miu is throwing Chika’s CDs like shurikens
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Episode 11 (1)

Nobue notices that Matsuri-chan still believes in Santa Claus
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Episode 12 (4)

Still hell bent on revealing to Matsuri-chan that Santa doesn’t exist…
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Miu (Santa) is supposed to hand over a book to Nobue (reindeer)
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Miu is imitating some kind of RPG game this time
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Matsuri-chan wakes up and saw (Miu)
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Download Backlog

Oh, this is horrible.

For three days now, my internet has slowed down to a literal crawl. I can’t download through Bittorrent, and browsing was similar to my dial-up days. Technically, I’m screwed now. Well that’s just sarcastically perfect timing isn’t it? I was supposed to have a gig worth of downloads!

Ooh, not only did I have an anime backlog, but even a downloading backlog?!?

I just hope that the BT seeds are still intact when I get my speed back, or else this will be radical scampering through all file networks. I seem to be okay with the fansubs, but the raws always disappear after a mere week, and that’s the bigger problem.

In any case, I’m complaining right now to my ISP about this matter. Considering though the multiple quirks I have with the ISP, I don’t think they can solve this one quickly. Our entire neighborhood is affected by the way, which leads me to think that there’s something wrong with our central office. Plus the fact that this is the ‘only’ predominant DSL service available, I guess I’m stuck with it through thick and thin.

Well that’s about it for my random rant.

Densha Otoko and Daicon IV

Densha Otoko is a jdorama that actually has an animated opening sequence. While this OP looks kinda pointless (read: a bunny girl riding on a flying train greening the world and then out into the depths of space), it does have its roots.

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As many already know, the Densha Otoko OP is paying homage to Daicon IV, a sleek opening animation that was featured in the 22nd Japan Science Fiction Conventions, way, way back in 1983. Some concepts are similar, and the exact same song was used (Twilight by Electric Light Orchestra). Despite its age, I think it stands the test of time. I really felt compelled to write this up because… Daicon IV was AMAZING! I really wondered why it’s just now that I watched this short animation video.

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Densha Otoko’s Mina character is a bunny girl similar to the Daicon bunny girl, but notice that Mina has some orange carrots in her costume. Daicon is a word play on “daikon”, a white radish. Well, bunnies like carrots and radishes.

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The mix-up of stuff in Daicon IV was amazingly crazy. You see the bunny girl not only kick robots and sci-fi monsters, but also have a lightsaber battle with Darth Vader! Even references to superhero comics like Batman and Robin are there, as well as transforming mechas and sentai stuff. It all mixes together to create imaginative chaos. No less from the masters… the animators of the Daicon videos were actually from Gainax! Gainax was officially founded because of these videos, so thank Daicon for it. Okay, fine, I will watch He is My Master someday… promise.

The part I really liked was the nuclear explosion. My jaw dropped in that, I can’t believe this is 1983 stuff! I guess despite technology animation still needs creative minds to visualize an awesome scene.

Daicon videos here

DC++

Let’s start the ball rolling!

Who will win Junichi’s heart in Da Capo Second Season?
Would you even care?

This post is a DCSS analysis post. I’ll keep track of all the craziness, on how much these Da Capo girls love the boring male lead. I’ll reward each DC girl with points depending on the events that happen. And to keep things crazier, I’ll do this in the prententious and entirely fictional DC++ programming language! Don’t take the programming thing too seriously though, it’s just for presentation purposes. And of course, the point system is entirely my bias, so it’s just my personal analysis on who leads the race.

Please do check this post often because it continually updates.

============================

As of Episode 10:

Current Tally:
Kotori = 24 (+20 +3 +2 +2 -10 +3 +3 +1)
Aisia = 29 (+1 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 -3 +3 +3)
Nemu = 33 (-5 +3 +30 -3 -5 +10 +3)

Kotori is extremely side-character lately. Nemu seems that way as well in the latest episode. Looks like the new D.C.P.S. characters will share the limelight with D.C.S.G. new character Aisia, although it seems that despite episode 10 being a Tamaki episode, Aisia shares or steals the spotlight from her. I want another Tamaki episode, so I hope the format for this second season is the same (bring in a filler ep. or two for each character, then also a ‘dramatic’ finale ep. for each character towards the end.)

Mako = 4 (+2 +1 +1)
Miharu = 7 (+2 +2 +3)
Moe = 1 (+1)
Alice
Nanako = 3 (+3)
Tamaki = 4 (+1 +3)
Izumiko
Mystery Girl
Sakura = -4 (-5 +1)
Yoriko = -4 (+1)
Kasumi = -5

============================


^define major girls {
[kotori]high contender for junichi’s heart, and one of the most popular bishoujo ever[/kotori]
[aisia]new contender, a magician, and temporary maid of the junichi house[/aisia]
[nemu]previous winner, has just come back, the school nurse, and still asakura-imouto[/nemu]
}

^define minor girls {
[mako]my favorite DC girl, may she not be in junichi’s evil love arms[/mako]
[miharu]banana freak, nemu’s most active yuri lover[/miharu]
[moe]mako’s sister, has the best body proportions, has the worst mind sanity[/moe]
[alice]new DCPS girl, has amazing acrobatic abilities, has the most quiet reputation[/alice]
[nanako]new DCPS girl, manga addict[/nanako]
[tamaki]new DCPS girl, some kind of traditional japanese girl[/tamaki]
[izumiko]she’s the pink bear[/izumiko]
[mysterygirl]probably some of you know already, but i’ll keep this as a mystery for now[/mysterygirl]
}

^define hiatus girls {
//note: The hiatus girls (including Nemu) start up with -5 points in the tally.
[sakura]a previous major contender, currently nowhere[/sakura]
[yoriko]the ever-loved nekomimi maid, maybe still a cat[/yoriko]
[kasumi]a DCPS girl, seems like she’s not around yet[/kasumi]
}


^ events {
[miharu]Well, the banana incident left Miharu a bit of banana-phobia. I’d give her points for waking Junichi up sometimes.[/miharu]
[kotori]Definitely Kotori has the lead here. We see her walking home with Junichi, which I assume has been an everyday affair. Even taking a bath in his house… whoa! Definitely posing to be one of Junichi’s major heart grabbers![/kotori]
[aisia]First appearance. She says “I’m hungry, falling into Junichi’s arms. Kotori saw the whole thing. Hehe, did it cause Kotori some bit of jealousy? Dunno, but I’ll give her a point up.[/aisia]
}

^ deliberation {
[miharu]2 points[/miharu]
[kotori]20 points[/kotori]
[aisia]1 point[/aisia]
}


^ events {
[kotori]She’s been trying to find Junichi here, and even helps him out for Aisia’s sake.[/kotori]
[aisia]Very quiet girl. She’s trying to find Sakura’s grandma, with the help of Junichi.[/aisia]
[sakura]Because of this, maybe memories of Sakura linger on with Junichi, so I’ll add her a point.[/sakura]
}

^ deliberation {
[kotori]3 points[/kotori]
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[sakura]1 point[/sakura]
}


^ events {
[aisia]O MY GAWD! An extreme change of personality, Aisia becomes a maid! Junichi is Goshujin-sama![/aisia]
[nemu]All of Junichi’s thoughts about Nemu is bugging me quite a bit. I’d give her 3 points this time, based on how often he thinks about her… for almost 3 episodes already.[/nemu]
[mako]Mako’s not very happy that Aisia is living with Junichi, so Aisia stays with the Mizukoshis for a while.[/mako]
[moe]Well… she helped out a bit so… one point.[/moe]
}

^ deliberation {
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[nemu]3 points[/nemu]
[mako]2 points[/mako]
[moe]1 point[/moe]
}


^ events {
[aisia]Another Aisha-centric episode. She thinks the school is some kind of Hogwarts, and invokes magical chaos all in the name of her beloved master.[/aisia]
[kotori]Helping out. I think she’s being continually pushed away these days.[/kotori]
[tamaki]Offers to help find Aisha.[/tamaki]
[mako]Helps find her too… and continually gets angry with Junichi (a little sign of affection)[/mako]
}

^ deliberation {
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[kotori]2 points[/kotori]
[tamaki]1 point[/tamaki]
[mako]1 point[/mako]
}


^ events {
[aisia]Yet another Aisha episode! Gets in some… sticky situations with Junichi. And instead of goshujin-sama, Aisha calls him as Junichi now.[/aisia]
[kotori]Helping them out of their sticky situation.[/kotori]
[mako]Helping them out as well.[/mako]
[nanako]One of Nanako’s manga characters definitely looks like Junichi. She blushed when Aisia noticed it.[/nanako]
}

^ deliberation {
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[kotori]2 points[/kotori]
[mako]1 point[/mako]
[nanako]3 points[/nanako]
}


^ events {
[nemu]Ah… yes! The so-called ‘evil’ has returned to haunt the DCSS crew! Junichi’s coming back to his sis-con![/nemu]
[kotori]The shock on Kotori’s face! Plus the cold shoulder! It’s a negative for Kotori fans![/kotori]
[miharu]Junichi seems unusually happy that Miharu has some kind of love life. Of course it’s a misunderstanding, but her yuri-complex just rose with Nemu’s return. As butterfly effect I’ll give her some points.[/miharu]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]30 points[/nemu]
[kotori]-10 points[/kotori]
[miharu]2 points[/miharu]
}

^ notes {
– Why is Mako not so close to Nemu this time around? In season one Mako used to be one of Nemu’s best friends. Ooh, she seems so distant this time. I’m afraid Mako’s slowly turning into the sidelines. And being Suginami’s fight-partner for so many episodes already… the shame. I want a Mako-centric episode NOW!
}


^ events {
[nemu]A misunderstanding tipped her down a bit, but I think it’s never major. Misunderstandings always happen with Junichi and Nemu anyway.[/nemu]
[kotori]Aah… good strategy. Keeping your enemies closer eh? Kotori gives Nemu a little ‘yoroshiku’ on their pet talk.[/kotori]
[aisia]Aisia talked a bit of sense to Junichi, so her ratings go up this time.[/aisia]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]-3 points[/nemu]
[kotori]3 points[/kotori]
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
}


^ events {
[nemu]The misunderstanding continues, and it even brought about the Dark Nemu accent. While Junichi realizes his mistake toward the end, Nemu is burying herself deeper into despair.[/nemu]
[kotori]Keeping her enemies closer again, this time, she talks to Aisia. Kotori is very, very sneaky. At the same time, she doesn’t involve herself on Junichi and Nemu’s conflicts. Smart.[/kotori]
[aisia]It’s Aisia’s first slip. She tried to do something amusing in the heat of an Junichi-Nemu fight, with bad effect.[/aisia]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]-5 points[/nemu]
[kotori]3 points[/kotori]
[aisia]-3 points[/aisia]
}

^ notes {
– Dark Nemu is in full Force this episode. I like the way she talks when she does that. It’s so formal and at the same time angsty.
– I really, really hate that Mako isn’t even concerned about Nemu’s problems. Her character doesn’t seem to be carried over from the first season. What’s with that?
}


^ events {
[nemu]Nemu and Junichi finally made up! Are we back to incest mode?[/nemu]
[aisia]Aisia helped solved Nemu and Junichi’s mini-fight.[/aisia]
[miharu]Miharu helped too.[/miharu]
[yoriko]Yoriko’s master appeared.[/yoriko]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]10 points[/nemu]
[aisia]3 points[/aisia]
[miharu]3 points[/miharu]
[yoriko]1 point[/yoriko]
}


^ events {
[nemu]Spent so many days watching DVDs with her nii-san. What bonding! (half-sarcastic)[/nemu]
[aisia]Thought that miko powers = magic. Annoyed the baseball team, but at least had a bit of good result.[/aisia]
[tamaki]Showed off her miko powers! Go Tamaki![/tamaki]
[kotori]She’s… just… there.[/kotori]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]3 points[/nemu]
[aisia]3 points[/aisia]
[tamaki]3 points[/tamaki]
[kotori]1 point[/kotori]
}

^ notes {
– This seems to be the start of a filler arc surrounding the new characters which were not in the first season. As a result, minimal point system will be attributed because this does not concern Junichi too much anyway.
}

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This is a [Summer of Bishoujo->] feature

To Heart 2: Karin Sasamori

Generic disclaimer: Same basic rules apply as in my [To Heart 2->toheart2] project. Please do comment or contact me in case I have mistakes in describing each girl’s scenario.

She’s the second girl I finished in playing To Heart 2. Part of the reason is that her scenario is quite short. She doesn’t appear too much until the latter half of the general timeline. Anyway, I’ve compiled a list where she has appeared in my detailed To Heart 2 project:

[To Heart 2: March 2->]
[To Heart 2: April 13->]
[To Heart 2: April 14->]
[To Heart 2: April 15->]
[To Heart 2: April 16->]

imageimageimage Continue reading To Heart 2: Karin Sasamori

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