Animated Tuesday: Valentine's Romance Special

As you may be aware, Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching.  As that gives me a convenient theme for this week, allow me to recommend a few well done anime romances.  If you're not in the mood to watch and/or read anything romantic around now, come back tomorrow for a non-romance-related webcomic recommendation.

Without further ado: to the bullet-points!

• Toradora!-- This show is one of the best romantic comedies and/or dramas I have ever seen.  At the start, the characters seem pretty archetypical and the he premise is simple (and cliche) enough: two odd teenagers have crushes on each others' best friends and decide to help each other out.  As the show progresses, however, the characters are shown to be far more complex then they first appear, with issues and relationships much more complicated then you may initially guess.  This show takes typical romantic comedy anime archetypes and fleshes them out into fully developed characters.  In addition, Toradora! pulls it off with a minimum of male-gazey fanservice, proving that you can create an anime series with all of the strengths of the seinen romantic comedy and none of the weaknesses.  There is a reason this show earned the extremely rare "A" rating from Anime News Network's reviewer.  This series is licensed in North America by NIS America  and available on DVD in two sets.  The first six episodes are available for viewing on Crunchyroll, with the remaining episodes available for paying users.
• Emma: A Victorian Romance-- Not to be confused with the Jane Austen novel, Emma is
  
  a romance set in late Victorian England (the 1890's, to be precise).  This is the story of a maid and a member of the gentry who fall in love and the stratified nature of Victorian society.  If you're sick of "Victorian-ish" settings and want some historical accuracy in your romance, look no further!  Based on the manga series by the talented (seriously, check out her cross-hatching technique) Kaoru Mori, a self-proclaimed Anglophile, historical consultants were used in the making of this series and the characters act the way you would expect people in their positions to act rather.  The series is often quiet and reserved, but it can pack plenty of drama when it's called for.  Split into two seasons, both are available in North America from Nozomi Entertainment and Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment has made the first two episodes available to view on YouTube.
• Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions--  Believe it or not,
  
  this English title is actually less unwieldy than the Japanese title.  This show was hands down my favorite of the 2012 fall anime season.  "Chuunibyou" is a condition many people develop around 8th grade in which they delude themselves into believing that they're super special, whether by having special powers or remembering past lives or whatever.  Yuta has left his chuunibyou days behind him, but his classmate Rikka is neck deep in chuunibyou of her own and has attached herself to him.  This show is sweet and hilarious and even manages to fit in some (completely make-believe) action scenes.  The animation is gorgeous (no surprise considering the studio) and the comedic timing is wonderful. Like Toradora, Chunibyo explores and develops its characters beyond expectation and like Toradora, it manages to do so with little to no fanservice shots.  It even manages to completely avoid a "harem" situation despite the many female characters in the cast, in part by expanding the role of Yuta's best friend.  The focus for the first half of the series is on comedy and character introduction and it's enjoyable to watch, but the show gets into full swing in the second and focuses more on character and the central relationship while exploring why someone might dive into fantasy, why fantasy is important, and what "normal" is.  This series has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks and it's planned to come out on DVD later this year, but for now it can be viewed on The Anime Network (ignore their series description, it doesn't know what it's talking about), with the first episode available for free users.  If you enjoy the humor and characters in the first episode, I really would suggest paying for one month's subscription, watching the show, and then canceling the subscription.  This show is definitely worth the seven dollar fee.
• Kimi ni Todoke-- Oh, hey, a shojo anime. This is a sweet, pastel-colored story about a shy, kind, and socially awkward girl
  
  who falls in love with a "refreshing" popular boy.  The main character is adorable (everyone is terrified of her and she's completely oblivious) and the love interest is popular because he's super friendly and their friends are fantastic and basically this show is for when you want something adorable and sweet and heartwarming.  Like Toradora, it is licensed in North America by NIS America and DVD sets are available, though only the relatively expensive Premium sets with lots of extras.  Also like Toradora, the first six episodes are available for viewing for free on Crunchyroll with the rest of the series available to premium members.

Honorable Mention:

• My Little Monster-- The story of a girl who just wants to be left alone so she can study and the boy who needs to be socialized and won't leave her alone.  This romantic comedy is hilarious and fun and funny and absolutely worth watching.  Why is it only an "honorable mention," then?  Simple: at this point, it only feels half finished.  Hopefully there will be a second season to wrap things up but as it stands, it's a highly enjoyable series without a satisfactory conclusion.  All of this series is available to watch for free on Crunchyroll.

Animated Tuesday: Winter Season Recommendations

Hello and welcome to the first Animated Tuesday!  The winter 2013 anime season is pretty well established now, so lets talk about a few shows that are worth checking out and where you can watch them.

• Kotoura-san-- This show is the wonderful surprise of the season.  Kotoura is a girl who can read minds.  The problem is, she has very little control over her ability and can't easily differentiate between speech and thought.  Because of this, she has been abandoned by everyone she cared about and has decided that it's less painful to avoid any form of relationship than to have people she cares about push her away.  Then she meets Manabe, a boy who isn't frightened by her abilities and whose only concern about them is that he'll have to keep any dirty thoughts in check.  This show manages to shift between sweet, hilarious, and heartbreaking and covers some dark issues while still feeling sincere.  The first nine and a half minutes are possibly the saddest first nine and a half minutes of any show I've ever seen, but it does not wallow in despair.  Another nice thing about this show is the way Manabe's fantasies are handled.  Rather than showing every detail and playing them up for fanservice, his flights of fancy are mainly conveyed through his and Kotoura's humorous reactions, with most of the shown fantasies are kept short and played for comedy.  I would definitely recommend watching at least the first episode.  The series is being simulcast by Crunchyroll and you can watch it with a new episode every Thursday here, with episodes available to paying users the day they air in Japan and to free users the following week.
• 
  Maoyu-- Do you like fantasy?  Do you like macro-economics?  Then this is the show for you!  Humans and demons have been at war for the past fifteen years, so a Hero is sent to confront the Demon King directly.  Only the Demon King isn't a ruthless warlord who hungers to ravage the human world, but an attractive woman who wishes for the war to be over just as much as the hero does, but understands that the current economic situation will not allow peace.  So the Hero and the Demon King set out to stabilize the economies of the human world so that peace will be feasible.  This series is surprisingly engaging despite its relative lack of action.  The economics are understandable, the relationship between the Demon King and the Hero is adorably awkward, and the background political intrigue is interesting.  I would recommend this to anyone interested in fantasy with an eye at the bigger issues.  This is also being simulcast by Crunchyroll with new episodes every Friday and can be watched here, with episodes available to paying users the day they air in Japan and to free users the following week.
• 
  Tamako Market-- This show is adorable.  Energetic, enthusiastic, slightly dense Tamako is the daughter of a mochi shop (a particular kind of Japanese confectionery made from rice) who one day comes across a strange talking bird who is on a quest to find a bride for the prince of a distant land.  She is understandably shocked, but adjusts quickly and ends up taking him in and gets him addicted to mochi.  It doesn't take long for everyone else in the shopping district to take to the bird as well, despite the bird displaying increasingly strange abilities.  So far this show has a slice of life feel to it, establishing Tamako's relationships to the people around her, but there are mysteries present (Where's Tamako's mom? What's the significance of that song?  What's up with that bird, anyway?) that hint at a larger plot.  In addition, some of the relationships are more complex than they first appear.  This series is being simulcast on The Anime Network, with the first episode available to free users and the rest available to paying subscribers here.  New episodes are posted each week.  If you are interested in the show but don't want to pay monthly rates for an indeterminate period of time just for one show, I would suggest waiting until every episode is posted, pay the subscription for one month, watch it, and then cancel your subscription.  Seven dollars is a pretty decent price to rent a show.  While you're at it, watch Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions because it's fantastic.
• Chihayafuru 2-- This is cheating because it's the second season of Chihayafuru, but, seriously, if you haven't watched Chihayafuru yet, do it now.  Then watch season 2.  Both seasons are available on Crunchyroll here, with new episodes of season 2 simulcast every Friday.

 That's it for the major anime recommendations of the season.  Tune in next week for more me rambling about animated things!

Favorites of 2011

Hello there, Internet.  It's been a while.

Since we last spoke, I had surgery, discovered that I did not have a nasty, life-changing disease, moved to another country while still recovering from aforementioned surgery, began graduate school, and discovered the joys of David Weber's Honor Harrington books.  Oh, and a universe was destroyed and remade, but we'll save that discussion for another time when I can discuss it more fully.

Anyway, as it is not yet February, a quick post about some of my personal favorites of the year 2011 seems appropriate.  Let us begin!

• Favorite Album of 2011: Something Fierce by Marian Call.  (Available for listening and purchase here).  I love this album.  I really, really do.  Marian Call is an Anchorage based singer/songwriter (which may or may not make me biased) with a folk/ blues style.  This album flows very well and has a variety of sort of song in it.  Some of my favorite songs from it: "Coffee by Numbers," "E.S.B," "Dear Mister Darcy," and "Anchorage."  And let me add, this was a year in which both Kamelot and Nightwish came out with great new albums.  Two of my favorite bands.  And this one was my favorite.
• Favorite Book of 2011: Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson.
  
    First off, let me say that a lot of amazing books in series that I love came out this year: Goliath by Scott Westerfeld, One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire, I Shall Wear Midnight (paperback) by Terry Pratchett, Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede, multiple books by Timothy Zahn... I highly recommend all of those as well as this one.  They made this a tough choice.  Go read them.  This is an incredibly fun book.  Set three hundred years after the conclusion of the Mistborn trilogy, Alloy of Law has a Western-adventure-meets-steampunk-meets-magic feel and requires no previous knowledge of the world.  If you are familiar with any of Sanderson's previous works, you know that the world is going to be well thought out, and this book doesn't disappoint.  Nor does it disappoint with interesting characters.  This book must be read by every fantasy fan.  Every.  Single.  One.  Happily, there is plenty of material for sequels, so hopefully we'll see more.
• Favorite Superhero Film of 2011: Captain America: The First Avenger.  Like good books and good albums, several good superhero movies came out last year.  My runner-up is probably Thor, but Cap, silly scenes included, was my personal favorite.  Chris Evans did an amazing job and this was a really well made movie.
• Favorite Video Game of 2011: Portal 2.  Portal was an amazing puzzle game with an unexpectedly dark plot and background and this sequel is a great follow up.  While Aperture Science's benign facade is gone from the very beginning of this game, there are still secrets to uncover and witty robots to face.  And a great ending.
• Favorite Anime of 2011: My Ordinary Life

  

  Super-geniuses drink milk!

  (also known as Nichijou and available for completely legal viewing here).  Based on the yonkoma comedy manga by Keiichi Araw, this is basically a slice of life series about people going about their normal lives in a world that's just a tad... completely bonkers.  This series has a unique sense of humor that may not suite everyone, but I say check it out in case it is your thing.  The animation style(s) are gorgeous and the ridiculousness (a seven-year-old mad scientist!  who acts like a real seven-year-old!) is fantastic.  This series is made of sparkles, rocket ships, and pure joy.  Runner-up series: Hanasaku Iroha.
• 
  Favorite Amazing Conclusion to a Long Running Manga Series of 2011: Fullmetal Alchemist volume 27.  Okay, this is practically cheating but I must mention it.  Fullmetal Alchemist is an amazing, amazing series and this is a wonderful conclusion to it.  If you like comics and/or fantasy, go read this series.  My favorite (non-spoilery) part of this volume: the train station scene.  It's just so perfect.

 That's all for now!  Have some favorites of your own to share?  Feel free to leave a comment!

Three Top Star Wars Book Covers (Out of Books I Own)

What happens when you combine the end of a planned break with a computer's decision to stop working?  Apparently an even longer break concluding in the use of someone else's computer with an unfamiliar OS and an unfamiliar browser.  Without dwelling too much on the details, I've recently had the ....pleasure to discover this first hand.  Thus this is is the first of this week's multiple updates.

.... Anyway!  Timothy Zahn's latest Star Wars book Choices of One was released not long ago and, being the massive Zahn fan that I am, I eagerly snagged a copy from the book store.  However, doing so forced me to come face-to-face with something I knew was coming.  I had scene the press releases for the book.  I knew it was a victim to the horror that has been plaguing Star Wars books both good and bad since Heir to the Empire hit the shelves twenty years ago: terrible covers.

Help! A computer game ate Mara! 

There a few problems I have with this cover, but, honestly, it's far from the worst cover a Star Wars book has had to bear.  There are without a doubt far more terrible than good covers and even more blandly mediocre covers.   Instead of wading through the slew of book covers that repel people from Star Wars books, let's look at some of the better art that has graced these books.  This list is in no particular order and is restricted to books I own, largely because of the shear number of Star Wars books ad the fact that it's much easier to look through the books I own.

• I, Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole, published by Bantam Spectra, 1998.

One of the major problems with Star Wars book covers from the '90s is the reliance on stills from the movies.  They would often be a hodgepodge of characters painted straight from the stills onto a generic background.  If there were any characters on the cover that weren't from the films, they had a flat look due to the lack of photo reference and were often shoved to the Unknown Regions of the cover.  This cover does not do that at all.  The central figure is Corran Horn, a character first appearing in the X-Wing book series and the viewpoint character of this novel, shown here in disguise as Keiran Halcyon.  While there is a close up of Luke's face, it's very clearly in the background.  The cover has a sense of cohesion that was rare for Star Wars covers of the day and, most shocking of all, Corran is well-painted.  When I think of Corran, I picture this cover.

• X-Wing: Iron Fist by Aaron Allston, published by Bantam Spectra, 1998.

Ah, the X-Wing books, the bastion of light and hope during the time of poorly painted character stills.  While I, Jedi deviated from other covers of its time by focusing on the original character, the X-Wing books took a different route, choosing instead to shown no characters and to focus on vehicles, most notably snub fighters.  Each cover in the series depicts one scene from the books with some difference and each cover each has a sense of both cohesion and drama.  As the covers are all excellent and rather similar, I chose Iron Fist to represent the nine-book series because it's my favorite of the covers.

• Allegiance by Timothy Zahn, published by Del Rey, 2007.

And now for the last of my short list, the real reason I was so disappointed with the cover of Choices of One.  Choices of One is the sequel to Allegiance, the cover of which I actually like.  While most of Del Rey's Star Wars books carry blandly unmemorable covers featuring heavily photoshopped characters for that mass-produced look, this cover combines CGI with brush strokes (either real or generated) to give the stormtroopers a rough feel.  However, this is only effective because they are storm troopers; put someone without armor on this cover and you get another mediocre photoshopped image with added element of it looking like a screenshot from a seven-year-old computer game.  Thus, the Choices of  One cover.

That is my subjective little list of the top three covers for Star Wars book I own.  Please comment and let me know how you agree and/or disagree and what other books you think have good covers.

Next time: Ryorin discusses comics and reboots.  Again.