Kurogane's Anime Blog » Otaku

Madoka Magica BD Vol. 6 GET!

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:02:14 +0000

The final volume ;_;.

Man, this was well worth the wait. The BD versions of 11 and 12 were deliciously upgraded, especially 12. Especially the floating in space scene between Madoka and Homura. Very nice, SHAFT. Very nice indeed.

*ahem*

The final OST also includes all the awesome tracks from 11 and 12, and dear god I don’t know how many times I’ve looped Surgem identidem and Sagitta luminis over the past 3 days. Just those two tracks… damn, it’s really sad now that’s it’s all finally out. Though I find it quite funny that the Walpurgisnacht theme plays right after Sagitta luminis in the OST. Weird arrangement. Intentional or… ?

For some reason, I had a really horrible delay on getting my package, no thanks to the shitty timing of the DHL couriers. Coming way too early, not calling me when they couldn’t get anyone at home, delivering at the wrong times even though I prearranged it. Then to top it off, the box was practically disintegrating when I finally collected it personally from them. Never had I been so thankful of Amazon.JP’s packaging before. Helps too that the blu-ray packaging itself is pretty damn robust :P.

Of course, while this finally ends the series proper, there is still more of the Madoka-verse in the form of Kazumi Magica and even Urobuchi himself has said he’s writing something more for this franchise. Not quite sure whether to welcome the news or not, but Puella Magi Madoka Magica has definitely sealed its place in the Anime Hall of Fame.

And dear god I wish I could set the BD 6 top menu as my wallpaper. I sooooo wish.

Madoka BD Vol. 4

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:44:29 +0000

… and now, I have collectively spent almost RM 1,000 (~340USD) on an anime series. Tohohohoho.

Anyways, as a proud owner of a PS3, I can immediately watch it and oh wow, SHAFT really redrew quite a bit for both episodes 7 and 8. Some of the scenes were even quite okay in the TV series but SHAFT just redrew them from a proper angle. Some of the really noticeable ones included;

from episode 7: Homura talking to Madoka on the school rooftop, the fight with Elsa Maria also added more blood for extra brutality effect.
from episode 8: the fountain in the park scene where Kyubey almost got Madoka to contract with him, honeycomb-ed Kyubey turning black, the scene with Kyouko trying to comfort Sayaka but instead sees her Witch transformation.

Weirdly enough, some of the “meduka”-quality scenes were left untouched. I wonder why….

The OST isn’t as memorable as the first one for me though, seems like they put in all the grim and sad tracks in to this volume.

Madoka Magica Blu-ray Vol. 3 GET!

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:41:18 +0000

Another month, another Madoka, another 12k yen gone….

I really need to get myself a blu-ray player though. I haven’t opened a single one of my Madoka blu-rays yet ORZ.

The bonus CD that came along with this, in case you missed yesterday’s post, is a special CD drama of the cast done in slice-of-life style. Surprisingly well worth it.

Next month… OST Vol.2 FUCK YEAH!!

Madoka BD Vol. 2 GET!

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Thu, 26 May 2011 12:01:31 +0000

ｷﾀ━━━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━ !!!!!

Finally got it. A little disappointed DHL took 3 days to deliver it to me, but oh well.

The original soundtrack is only disappointing in how short it is but otherwise finally getting the clean versions of the BGM’s of the show really feels good.

Sis puella magica! [Become a Magical Girl!] – Undoubtably the signature track of the series. No idea how high the play count for it is, but every damn time I listen to it, all the epic parts of the show just flash back out at me… Homura’s contract in episode stands out especially.

Salve, terrae magicae [Greetings, Worlds of Magic] – Ahh… the preview music,the 裏 signature track of the series IMHO. I just love the whimsical feel of the track.

Gradus prohibitus [Hindered Steps] – Mmmmm, the first Witch appearance track. Looking back at it, the sheer ominous-ness of this piece was trying to foreshadow things wasn’t it?

Credens justitiam [Believing in Justice] – Oh god Mami’s track. ’nuff said.

Clementia [Compassion] – Hmm… not much impression on this track, though I think a variant of it was used in the final episode somewhere.

Desiderium [Longing] – Another whimsical track, but in a more calming feel compared to Salve, terrae magicae. Somehow I am reminded of Junko when I listen to this.

Conturbatio [Disorder] – A serious track, it’s the slower version of Sayaka’s theme.

Postmeridie [Afternoon] – Meanwhile… I can’t help but to associate this track with the teacher. Probably because they use it for the school scenes quite a bit.

Puella in somnio [The Girl in Sleep] – Ahhh, another recognizable track. I call it the “serious business” track. Some will probably call it the “QB is a stalker” track though.

Umbra nigra [Black Shadow] – Another ominous track.

Terror adhaerens [Clinging Terror] – Befitting its name, also yet another of the ominous tracks of the series. This is more “serious” though.

Scaena felix [A Blessed Scene] – Back to a more calming piece, this is the music that is used for the slower scenes in the show.

Pugna cum maga [A Duel with a Witch] – Amongst the ominous pieces, this is surprisingly my favourite out of them all. Guess it’s because of how they used this track in episode 10 to show Homura stealing guns from the yakuza and generally getting more and more desperate.

Well, that’s my impression of the OST so far. There’s definitely going to be another OST as well since there’s still a fuckton of missing tracks. Unfortunately the next volume will be another drama CD again, so it looks like there’ll be another two more months to go before we get more of Kajiura’s awesome pieces :|.

Also, Aoki Ume’s special 4-koma in the booklet this volume is rather touching. Mami T_T.

Madoka BD Vol. 1 GET!

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:20:28 +0000

>dat feel when you don’t want to unwrap your merchandise because even the shrink wrap is part of the packaging.

Actually these arrived on Tuesday, but I didn’t really have time to take them out of the Amazon box until now. And then I realize even the shrink-wrap is part of the packaging and get lazy to open it :P.

But oh well, this is the “collector’s edition” anyways. Maybe I will be able to sell this off YJA for a crazy price in 5 years time. Probably will get myself the proper copy later when it’s actually released www

Can’t wait for Vol. 2 to come though, ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK DISC FUCK YEAH.

Why do you like/hate Madoka Magica’s ending?

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 05:41:01 +0000

Praise be to Goddess Madoka!

Okay, since this is going to be inevitable later on in whatever post I make about Madoka’s finale comments’ section, I’m just going to open this up to the readers first and deal with it early.

Why do you like or hate Madoka Magica’s ending and what is your justification for your stance?

I would really like to see how the opinions are really divided amongst the viewers. For the time being, you can count me in the “like” camp, but I realize there are flaws in the ending.

P.S. I sincerely hope no one actually takes the religion jokes about Madoka that seriously.

mt-i’s anti-”anti-moe” post

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:15:52 +0000

This is awesome.

[...]a particularly exclusive group is the bloggers you could call intellectual aestheticians, who unironically judge anime based on its adherence to (their understanding of) the conventional canons of high culture.

[...]but one singularly effective way of establishing your IA street cred is to discuss moe and its calamitous influence on all aspects of anime-as-an-art-form—the works themselves, the creators, the fandom, you name it. Because moe, you know, is the main reason for anime’s artistic downfall since the aforementioned and still unspecified golden age.

We found that you ought to make the following points, preferably in order:

Affirm the sorry state of anime in relationship with moe;

Point out some deeper consequence of the moe trend;

Put that consequence in a larger social context;

Propose a theoretical (sociological, philosophical, etc.) explanation for the underlying social change;

Deduce the historical inevitability of the moe decadence;

Remain a beacon of enlightenment in this inescapable turmoil.

The usual trick is to assert that the moe trend threatens not only anime quality itself, but the very fabric of anime production and consumption. [...] nobody expects you to substantiate those claims: vague and general assertions (“demise of elaborate story-telling”), problematic scare words (“exploitation”, “sexualization”) are quite welcome and will go unchallenged

[...] give an impressive-sounding description of the scope of the imaginary problem that you have brought up, and interpret it as a mere symptom within anime of large-scale historical, ideological or social movements. And be sure to make that a downward movement. [...] “the downfall of political and religious grand narratives in the secularized North after the Cold War”, “the consumerist corruption of wabi-sabi in post-Imperial Tokyo shopping malls”, you see what I mean.

As a proud IA, you need to uphold your intellectual pretensions by giving your post a scholarly twist. [...] For example, don’t just write about “the downfall of political and religious grand narratives after the Cold War”; make it “the Lyotardian theory of incredulity towards metanarratives”. If you mention “the end of history”, put it in a “Fukuyaman perspective”.

And you don’t need to let reality (e.g. the fact that words like tsundere originated in fan discourse itself, rather than by fiat of the industry; or the existence of TV Tropes) get in the way of your discourse.

And those are just some of the good parts.

Oh god, that was probably the best meta post about the animeblogosphere I’ve read since good ‘ol tj_han. It’s amazing how mt-i manages to parody their tone and language, yet still never does descend in to wall-of-text “tl;dr” style too much. I found that probably the best part of the post lol. Not forgetting how he ended the post itself!

Seriously, give it a read. It’s worth the 15 mins.

A lookback at 2010′s highlights

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:00:51 +0000

Second installment. Continued from yesterday.

Male Character of the Year: Kasugano Haruka, Yosuga no Sora

You honestly think anyone else would do? This is a guy who has to finish what he started.

Other candidates:
Hino Akiharu, Ladies vs Butlers
Sai Akuto, Ichiban Ushiro Daimaou
Kohta Hirano, Highschool of the Dead

Female Character of the Year: None

Frankly, I don’t think there was any female characters this year that was quite outstanding enough to win this award.

~~Trap of the Year:~~ Meh, fuck this.

Zettai Ryouiki of the Year: Serizawa Fumino, Mayoi Neko Overrun

Seriously, I could watch those for hours. Too bad they got entirely forgotten after that.

Senpai of the Year: Morishima HarukaAARRRGHHH, Amagami SS

Nyan nyan.

Yandere/Onee-san of the Year: Yasuri Nanami, Katanagatari

I really pitied the three ninja dudes.

Imouto of the Year: Tachibana Miya, Amagami SS

In a year full of imouto-moe shit (including Yosuga), she remains the only imouto to truly embody the ideal imouto (that I don’t feel like fucking). Honest.

Twins of the Year: Tortilla Ritos & Salsa, Shukufuku no Campanella

The show wouldn’t have bee half as entertaining as it was if they weren’t around.

Queen Bitch of the Year: Saikyou Tomomi, Ladies vs Butlers

Honestly, who else? Ayako Kawasumi was amazing with her.

The “Even though the show was shit, this episode made me cry” Award: Episode 10 of Angel Beats!

Yui ;_;

The “Oh fuck, shit suddenly turned serious” Award: Mafia no Woto

I certainly did.

Top Commenter of the Year: Haesslich.

“There’s another spambot, Kuro.”

Memorable OP themes:

LOVE X HEAVEN, Ladies vs Butlers

Magical Twinkle Sky, Mahou Shoujo Yue Negima! OAD

Hikari no Senritsu, So-Ra-No-Wo-To

LEVEL 5-Judgelight-, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

Complication, Durarara!!

SOMEONE ELSE, Working!!

Help!! -Hell side-, MM!

Now loading… SKY!!, Asobi ni Ikuyo!

REALOVE;REALIFE, Ichiban Ushiro Daimaou

Kimi no Mama de, Amagami SS

Memorable ED themes:

Kigurumi Wakusei, Hanamaru Kindergarten

Kimi no Kirei ni Kizuite Okure, Kuragehime

Cross Over, STAR DRIVER

Brave Song, Angel Beats!

Memorable Seiyuu Performances:

Kana Hanazawa

This year is truly her year. Not only did she got multiple roles each season, she also did quite a lot of OVA’s and movies as well, so there was no shortage of my enjoyment of her voice this year. Some of her standout roles this year for me were Amano Touko (Bungaku Shoujo), Kurashita Tsukimi (Kuragehime), Sonohara Anri (Durarara!!) and of course, Kuroneko (Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii wake ga nai).

Yuuki Aoi

Despite a limited repertoire, Yuuki Aoi sure has a really moe voice that she can skillfully handle for maximum HNNNNGGGH as well as enough range to be versatile enough to be pigeonholed in a certain role. Her most standout role this year to me was Korone (Ichiban Ushirou Daimaou), but maximum HNNNGGGH was achieved as Yagyuu Jubei (Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls). Next year looks set to be her year as well, with two main voicing roles already confirmed for next season.

Itou Shizuka

Morishima Haruka, ’nuff said.

Toyosaki Aki

She’s been slowly discarding that “airhead” character type her voice seems to fit the most and gave some really great performances at the later half of this year, such as Momo Belia Deviluke (Motto To-LOVE-ru), Chaos (Sora no Otoshimono Forte) and Bonbori (Otome Youkai Zakuro). Still, she does manage to be really annoying when she tries, like as Hyakka Ryouran’s Kanetsugu Naoe

Satomi Arai

She’s been slowly getting roles back after that craziness of Kuroko in Railgun and this year we’ve been hearing her quite a lot. Aside from Kuroko, her turn as the narrator in Ookami was about the only thing that kept me from dropping that show like a rock. And her turn as Hata in Seitokai was pretty hillarious as well. While not a lot of people will like her husky voice, I’m still a fan of her because of how she manages to use her voice for maximum hillarity.

Tomatsu Haruka

I can’t say she’s been really active this year, but she’s on this list for one reason, Princess Hitei (Katanagatari). And she’s also had a prominent role as Sakana-chan (STAR DRIVER), not to mention contributing to a pretty popular insert song as well.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Well, that wraps up my highlights of this year.

This is mostly from anime actually, because if I included other media, I’m not gonna finish any time soon.

My hopes for next year:

Stop with the imouto-moe shit
Magica Madoka to be actually decent.
More original anime titles
Less shitty adaptations
Enough time to watch shit since I’m going to be a working member of society already.

That’s all.

Happy New Year 2011 (and a lookback at 2010 in anime)

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 16:00:12 +0000

You know the drill.

The really good:

Katanagatari

Cheerio!

Hidamari Sketch Hoshimittsu

SHAFT gets it right third time round.

Youjouhan Shinwa Taikei

The last three episodes made the show worth it.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Decent anime adaptation for a really great seinen manga.

Yosuga no Sora

This is how eroge adaptations should be done.

Motto To-LOVE-Ru

Even surpassed the manga at points.

Kuragehime

Noitamina’s really great this year.

The enjoyable:

Durarara!! — I can’t believe there’s headless moe now.
Hanamaru Kindergarten —Will Tsucchi ever get to confess to Yamamoto-sensei properly?
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun — Biribiri
So-Ra-No-Wo-To — Amazing grace~ how sweet the girls
B-gata H-kei — Blue balls all around.
Working!! — SAM WAN WAN SAM WAN WAN
Ichiban Ushirou Daimaou — How to go against the world… in style.
Amagami SS — Kneepits and bellybuttons with stalkers.
Shukufuku no Campanella — Very fuwa-fuwa.
Mitsudomoe — I like how their teacher was forgotten over time.
Seitokai no Yakuindomo — Sex jokes extraordinaire!
Shiki — Blood and staking arc was well worth it.
MM! — Set a landmark for a XEBEC show; almost no panty shots.
Shinryaku! Ika Musume — Mini Ika Musume’s would’ve invaded us in no time.
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes — BOYOYON~ BOYOYON~ BOYOYON~
Cat Shit One — Those damn bunnies.
Henzemi! — Akira Ishida talking about poop.
Shakugan no Shana S — I think the lack of Yuuji made this OVA for me

Decent enough:

BakaTest — Good for a few laughs and forced memes.
Chu-Bra — Talking boobs
Ladies vs. Butlers — Mai Nakahara vs Ayako Kawasumi.
Kobato — Made it through thanks to Kana-tan.
Arakawa under the Bridge — Good for a few laughs.
Arakawa under the Bridge^2 — Good for a few more laughs.
The World God Only Knows — Kana-tan killed me.
Fortune Arterial — Could have been better.
Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls — Jubei was such a good girl ;_;

Disappointments:

Ookamikakushi — They had a girl with a giant scythe, man!
Angel Beats! — ”Maeda sure doesn’t know what pacing is even if it was a 380-pound albino gorilla wearing the Brazilian jersey emblazoned with the words “PACING” and blowing a vuvuzela to each ear. “
Mayoi Neko Overrun! — Lack of zettai ryouiki after episode 1 killed it.
Ookami to Shichinin no Nakamatachi — Sad when the narration is the biggest highlight of the show isn’t it?
Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin — I still don’t know what I watched.
Strike Witches II — Forced drama at the end ruined it.
Asobi ni Ikuyo! — Wasted potential for epic.
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt – Too experimental, even for Gainax.
Sora no Otoshimono Forte — I am still mad.
Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii wake ga nai — *sigh*
Otome Youkai Zakuro — Did they really have to put in the incest angle in there?
DtB: Gaiden — Went full emo and still didn’t explain shit.

Notable Movies:

TTGL Lagaan-hen
Evangelion 2.22
Bungaku Shoujo
Macross Frontier: Itsuwari no Utahime
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Movie the 1st
The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi

Did not finish:

Seikon no Qwaser
Dance in the Vampire Bund
Heroman
K-ON!!
Kaichou wa Maid-sama
Nodame Cantabile Finale
Highschool of the Dead
Legend of the Legendary Heroes
Giant Killing
Senkou no Night Raid
Sarai-ya Goyou
Nurarihyon no Mago
Iron Man
Bakuman
Kimi ni Todoke

So… 61 shows started this year, 46 completed. Pretty good I guess.

Despite a lot of the griping I did this year, I did finish a lot more shows than I expected to and even enjoyed a lot of them, although most of them probably aren’t going to make any lasting marks on me.

Movies were probably the best thing this year though, since it seems that production committees and creators are realizing that TV anime isn’t that big and lucrative a market anymore, so it’s better to pool budgets and resources in to making something that is at least guaranteed to sell twice (theater seats and DVD/Blu-Rays). Of course that is bad news for us dirty gaijin anime thieves… since we’ll have to wait an inordinately long amount of time for movies to be out. Sigh.

That being said, I’d like to thank my readers for keeping up with me another year in this blog (oh gods, it’s been more than five years now) and I wish all of you a Happy New Year 2011. Here’s to hoping for another fun year ahead for us all, especially in anime. A number of original shows are seemingly coming out next year and I do hope they all do good for us.

Stick around tomorrow, (hopefully after the hangovers have cleared) for another post about the year gone past.

ANN and fansubs

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:00:31 +0000

This is just too good to pass up:

Yeah… okay, sure…

Excuse me while I appreciate the ~~irony~~ ~~sarcasm~~ ~~joke~~ whatever this is.