Actor Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, Animatrix, Johnny Mnemonic) told MTV News that the proposed live-action Cowboy Bebop film project is currently being rewritten. During a press event for The Private Lives of Pippa Lee film, he said, “There’s a draft of the script, but the writer did such a great job [that] in order to make the movie, you would need half a billion dollars. […] So the studio went, ‘This movie is fantastic and it would cost half a billion dollars. So he’s doing a rewrite.” Reeves added that the producers are “just trying to pull it back” in scope, and “the only challenge was to make a satisfying western narrative.”

Source: Anime News Network.

You know what they should do? Just sign Josh Whedon on and make a Firefly x Cowboy Bebop crossover. That idea’s so radical it might just bloody work!

Imagine, Captain Reynolds squaring off with Spike…. River and Kaylee and Edward…. Faye and Inara sharing some ‘women’ stories. ヽ( >∀<)ﾉ AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Well, that’s not to say I won’t cover it, but don’t expect me to cover the pre-lims. It’s too much work and I’m in for a busy period now (final year of my studies), so if I do cover SaiMoe 2009, it’ll probably be when the group finals or the tournament proper starts.

In the mean time, Moetron is offering daily coverage about SaiMoe, or you can always go to the usual Animesuki forums thread for results updates.

Bonus corner: Characters I’m hoping to see in the proper bracket this year:-

1. Sunohara Mei
2. Horo
3. Shishidou Takane
4. Akiyama Mio
5. Fujibayashi Kyou (lol)
6. C.C (lool)
7. Asuka Langley Shikinami (what?!~)
8. Katsura Hinagiku (even her mother’s in the running!)
9. Ana Coppola (lol IchiMashi makes an appearance this year!)
10. Felli Loss (as if)
11. Shinouji Matsurika (always entertaining)

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Akamatsu’s opinion is that the current direction of the manga is good as the battles have been pretty compact and it’s good to have an increase in readership even if just for a short period of time.

However he feels that it’ll be safe to return the manga to normal again, as the popularity would probably not drop sharply after having become so popular now. As an analogy he says it’s like how he doesn’t want to rapidly do shoryukens, he wants to use some hadoukens to zone too.

And I would like to respond with; “Thank the heavens!”.

Seriously I was waiting for that. If you asked me about my opinion of Negima nowadays, I would say that the Rakan battle is definitely a filler arc. Why so? Because they were concentrating on the fight itself solely. Most people have seemed to forget that there is a pressing story going on involving the fate of Magic World and the seething rivalry between Ala Alba and Fate Averruncus.

In fact, it’s been a long time since there was any real development about that end, ever since the Rakan arc started circa chapter 238 or so. It’s now Chapter 248 which means it’s been 3 months (including Akamatsu’s infamous 1 week breaks every 4 chapters) since the main story ’stopped’.

It’s an unbearably long time, especially for me who has been reading Negima ever since it’s debut back in 2003. One of the strengths of the Negima manga has been the fact that Akamatsu never neglects the main story even during filler chapters or fights and we’ve all seen that skill over the past 6 years of the manga. In fact, this is probably the first time that Akamatsu has ‘ignored’ the main story for so long and I was beginning to worry about him losing his touch finally.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do love the fights in Negima, and honestly speaking, they are one of the best parts of the manga. In fact, Rakan’s fight is one of the most impressive fights of the series so far.

But every time there is a fight in Negima, it’s not just about the battles and techniques, in the background there is a valid context for the fight to go on and the fights never fully focused on just the fighting. For example the school festival tournament was all about stopping Chao’s plan and we all had that in mind as Negi progressed through the tournament.

Rakan’s fight though, was more about for the sake of fighting than anything about the ongoing story, and while that made for a nice break, it’s been taking a bit long for my liking and having the main story paused for that long is not really a good thing in my books. It will be hard to get back on track with the story after this long and I guess a reread of the older chapters seems in order. Also I am starting to miss seeing the girls, except for Ako, whom surprisingly hijacked quite a bit of the current arc.

The battle with Rakan has definitely taken too long a time and taken up too much attention and I’m glad that Akamatsu himself has expressed intent to return the manga back to normal after this. The core of Negima isn’t just about the fights, there’s also an overarching, engrossing story to tell as well. I just hope that this aspect of the manga will not be forgotten, in light of the new ‘fanbase’ that Negima as gotten.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

This list was seriously delayed because I decided to write a blurb for each title, which got too long after I ran out of suitable adjectives for all of them. Suffice to say, I greatly enjoyed all the titles in the list, each in their own way.

Honestly though, I’m surprised I didn’t see much accolades for Seirei, which clinched top spot for being a solid watch from start till finish. Well, it wasn’t an attention-grabber as much as Gurren Lagaan and Lucky Star I guess.

For the record, I managed to watch 50 titles in 2007, completed 33, didn’t finish 7 of them, and the rest are shows from Fall 2007 that are still running.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Anyways, in this edition, I’ll be giving out a bunch of raspberries to those who deserved it this year. First, let’s kick it off with the…

Biggest Lemon of the Year

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

Ah yes, StrikerS was already interesting because of the bold decision to give the Nanoha franchise a 3rd series. Not only that, it also un-lolified the main characters, causing it to be a target of criticism from *ahem* certain quarters.

Nevertherless I had really high hopes for the show at the start, but eventually, the horrible production quality, the jumbo mess of characters and uninspired plot caught up to me.

’tis too bad really, and StrikerS had many chances to elevate the Nanoha franchise to even higher peaks, but sadly, this was all scuttled away.

Most Disappointing Ending of the Year

Zero no Tsukaima ~Futatsuki no Kishi~

After a rather lackluster and messed up run, Zero no Tsukaima II was about to end the show with one of the best highlights of the series, namely Saito’s selfless sacrifice to face an entire army, alone, just to save Louise, his abusive master.

Sadly, even that was ruined with the deus ex machina of the year by having Saito miraculously return back, unharmed, with the only explanation given in a 5 second titillating scene of Tiffania. That really just ruined the ending for me. Really.

There’s a 3rd season in progress though… I seriously hope it doesn’t turn out to be like this.

Most Impressive 3D Scenes That Was A Waste of Budget.

Getsumen to Heiki Mina’s Carrot Rocket lauch scene.

Seriously. Gonzo. WTF?

Weirdest Series Adaptation of the Year

Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA

Okay, idol-making game turns in to mecha show, fine. Said mecha’s function as asteroid breakers, fine. Main heroine falls in love with her mecha? Not fine.

Worst Show of the Year that I actually finished watching.

Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora

I have no idea how I survived this. Well, I admit it was the attraction for more Kaon x Himiko action every episode that compelled me to watch… but really, I admire myself for the fortitude to finish this.

If only they had more scenes like this…

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Anyways, kicking it off, here are my picks of the moe and GAR characters and moments of anime in 2007. They’re mostly dominated by a few shows, but then it’s expected :).

Moe-est Female of the Year

Hiiragi Kagami, Lucky Star

A no brainer for this one, since anyone who reads this blog already knows how much my love for Kagamin is and are probably Kagamin fans as well. Truly, her tsun-tsun and tsukkomi-ness provided much of the fun of Lucky Star and gave the otaku-centric show the voice of the common people. My moe for her will probably last a long while, and she’s already himegimi status in my heart :).

Honorable Mentions: Katsura Hinagiku, Hayate no Gotoku!; Potemayo, Potemayo.

There are actually quite a number of contenders also, but I’ve gotta give honorable mentions to those stated above even if they didn’t win. Hinagiku, god damn she’s so awesome. Her character is well described during her first appearance in the show, where she climbs up a tree to save a chick, which being morbidly afraid of heights herself. That combination of being perfect, yet a sore loser and tsundere seriously makes her one moe character.

Potemayo was just…. so cuddly! Honi~ honi~. I really attribute much of her moe-ness to having Kana Hanazawa as her seiyuu.

Moe-est Male of the Year

You honestly think I would actually award this out? ▼

Moe-est Moment of the Year

Kagami switching places with Konata at the Haruhi Live, Lucky Star.

Oh yes, this single moment really, REALLY hit me there at that moe spot on my heart, with Kagamin’s kindhearted gesture of changing places with Konata, noticing her spot was blocked. At the first place, she actually followed Konata to the live. I probably couldn’t persuade my normal friends to actually follow me to any otaku-ish events in real life, so this was really a sign of their strong friendship.

GAR-est Male of the Year

Simon, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan

No question. Simon has to be the GAR-est male of the year. GAINAX really did a good job in fleshing his character out. While at first he seemed to be another Ikari Shinji, but that quickly changed with the death of Kamina and his subsequent meeting with Nia that raised his spirits and gave him back his motivation, which proves to go even further heights than Kamina did. From the battle with Lordgenome and the final faceoff with the Anti-Spirals and subsequently his decision to retire and wander alone, Simon definitely proved himself to be a real hero.

Honorable Mentions: Kamina, TTGL; Michishio NaGARsumi, Seto no Hanayome; Yagami Kazuma, Kaze no Stigma

Of course, Kamina has to make this list, and his influences were no doubt the biggest reason that Simon grew up to the man that he became. NaGARsumi practically makes this list for all the shit he had to endure for being San-chan’s bride and the awesome finale that earned him this moniker. And while Kaze no Stigma was a so-so show, Kazuma’s antics made it very much watchable and his attitude of casual indifference towards everything, plus his penchant for teasing Ayano every chance he got makes him one of the GAR-est males this year.

GAR-est Female of the Year

Seto San, Seto no Hanayome

Who else would win? San-chan’s spirit of chivalry was the cause of much trouble to poor NaGARsumi, but yet, her intentions were always pure, even if it was misguided. Not to mention she’s actually pretty awesome with swords, managing to even match up to the trained Akeno Shiranui definitely makes her one of the rare females that are GAR. Also worthy of mention, her awesome Nemuri no Uta.

Honorable Mentions: Alice L. Malvin, Pumpkin Scissors.

Second on the list of Alice L. Malvin of Pumpkin Scissors, of which I wonder how many actually completed this show. While the show itself was rather mediocre, but Alice’s GAR-ness was truly awesome and she was one of the sole reasons I finished the show. Thanks to this role, I also became an Itou Shizuka fanboy for real :).

GAR-est Moment in Anime of the Year

Kittan’s death, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan.

While Simon was all round GAR in TTGL, Kittan’s death was, to me, the pinnacle of GAR-ness in it. His selfless sacrifice made it possible for the whole Gurren-dan to survive, and not to mention he managed to actually kiss Yoko before dying off. Even now, every time I rewatch this scene, I really can’t stop shedding some manly tears for him.

Honorable Mentions: Alice L. Malvin fighting in a ballroom dress and high heels, Pumpkin Scissors; NaGARsumi catching bullets with his bare hands, Seto no Hanayome; The LICK, Kaze no Stigma

Honorable mention also has to be given to the part where Alice actually fought using a dagger in a full ballroom dress coupled with high heels. I’ve always had a lot of respect for women who willingly wear them, and for Alice to actually fight and win while garbed in such finery was no less than awesome and totally defined Pumpkin Scissors for me.

NaGARsumi catching bullets with his bare hands is also awesome, as it truly showed his love for San-chan. Truly it was exaggerated, but damn, it was epic.

As for the LICK, oh it truly reflected on how awesome Kazuma was, for him to casually do that so as just “not to waste some good wine”.

Thus ends my first installment for now, honestly I’m still not sure on what will be next, so you’ll know when I post it up.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

• Da Capo II (09) – Got boring after Nanaka’s (TT_TT) episode. Might be forgetting about this show soon.
• BAMBOO BLADE (09) – Going horribly off-tangent somewhat.
• Kaiji (08) – Kaiji is such a noob.
• NIGHT WIZARD (08) – I don’t know why I’m still watching. Now I know why I’m still watching.
• Myself;Yourself (08) – Another show this season that’s going horribly off-tangent.
• DRAGONAUT (06) – Daisuke Ono is not made to voice lameass characters like Jin.
• Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun (08) – If you’ve been wasting time on reading my blog, no need for me to add anything else.
• CLANNAD (08) – Not as emotionally impacting as Kanon 2k6.
• Shakugan no Shana (08) – Uh, is this season full of anime that are going off-tangent?
• Shugo Chara (05) – Dropped it when it went down the generic mahou shoujo road.
• Gundam 00 (08) – Honestly, I don’t know where is this show going, it’s really messed up now.
• ef ~a tale of memories~ (07) – The second SHAFT show I actually like after Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Thank god they limited their touches to the visual components, not the story ones.
• Kimikiss (08) – Not too linear, yet not too dramatic; a rightly balanced romance show.
• Rental Magica (08) – Unintentionally hillarious, especially when Itsucki gives out orders like, “Use Fira at 35.38028° to my right” and they actually execute it. Needs more Addie btw..
• Prism Ark (08) – I don’t know why I’m still watching.
• Minami-ke (08) – Slap yourself if you’re not watching this show yet. C’mon!
• Genshiken 2 (07) – Yaoi episode aside, it’s been a pretty good show.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

[21:38] <kur0gan3> I am so going to regret this…
[21:38] * kur0gan3 is watching [Mahou Sensei Negima! ep01 (704x396 DivX6)] – [00:03 / 22:34] – [218.83MB (~165.5KB/s) - 704x396 - OpenDivX (DivX 4.0 and later)]
[21:40] <XGas> Jesus, Joseph, Mary.
[21:40] <XGas> well……. may god be with you.
[21:41] <Gains-out> kuro, after this review the trap
[21:43] <AnonyM0US3> kur0gan3 – review is MANDATORY
[21:44] <kur0gan3> the 3D is screwed
[21:44] <kur0gan3> wtf
[21:45] <kur0gan3> Takahata is so f-cking old
[21:45] <Gains-out> be our martyr and do it clockwork orange style :P
[21:45] <XGas> I’m suprised you lasted 3 minutes.
[21:46] <kur0gan3> 5 mins in now
[21:46] <Gains-out> our saint kuro :P
[21:46] <kur0gan3> LOL
[21:46] <kur0gan3> HOLY SHIT
[21:46] <XGas> not enough fan service in anime.
[21:46] <kur0gan3> The Magic Academy Principal looks like a mad man
[21:47] <kur0gan3> lol
[21:47] <kur0gan3> they skipped a lot of parts
[21:47] <kur0gan3> a lot
[21:48] <Gains-out> so they’re doing the eva arc?
[21:48] <kur0gan3> no
[21:48] <kur0gan3> they’re still at the intro
[21:48] <kur0gan3> LOL
[21:48] <kur0gan3> Ayaka looks weird
[21:48] <Gains-out> i don’t think i’ll watch it
[21:48] <XGas> my god.
[21:49] <kur0gan3> oh my god
[21:49] <kur0gan3> Sasaki looks so wrong
[21:49] <kur0gan3> oh my god, Sasaki just stripped in the middle of class
[21:50] <Gains-out> i think i might see it…
[21:50] <kur0gan3> make sure you have nothing sharp nearby
[21:50] <kur0gan3> you might injure yourself
[21:51] <kur0gan3> whoever they chose to play Takahata doesn’t fit at all
[21:51] <kur0gan3> oh shit
[21:51] <kur0gan3> Nodoka’s appearance
[21:52] <kur0gan3> must. resist. stabbing self
[21:52] <Gains-out> i can’t imagine the non mamiko nodoka
[21:52] <kur0gan3> don’t
[21:52] <kur0gan3> okay, Konoka looks like a slut
[21:52] <AnonyM0US3> kur0gan3 – you HAVE to review this, it’s so bad that it DEMANDS a review!
[21:53] <AnonyM0US3> (from the sound of things anyway)
[21:53] <kur0gan3> i don’t feel like writing any thing
[21:53] <kur0gan3> why is Shizuka-sensei serving milk to Negi
[21:54] <XGas> lol.
[21:54] <kur0gan3> okay, the actress is flat
[21:54] <kur0gan3> very.
[21:54] <XGas> bad.
[21:54] <XGas> lol.
[21:55] <kur0gan3> lolllll Mahora principal looks so wrong
[21:55] <kur0gan3> okay Negi’s making the love pills
[21:57] <kur0gan3> well, at the least, whoever they hired to act as Asuna knows her character
[21:57] <kur0gan3> uh oh
[21:57] <kur0gan3> Negi’s being swarmed by girls
[21:58] <kur0gan3> uh oh
[21:58] <kur0gan3> Negi and Nodoka in the library
[22:00] <kur0gan3> wow
[22:00] <kur0gan3> I’m almost finished with the episode
[22:00] <kur0gan3> I AM A SAINT!
[22:00] <XGas> you are!
[22:01] <XGas> to be able to withstand that horrible abomination.
[22:01] <Gains-out> put a fact on kuro
[22:01] <Gains-out> patron saint of negima :P
[22:01] <kur0gan3> LOL
[22:02] <XGas> @fact-set kur0gan3 Patron Saint of Negima
[22:02] <LoliPico> Fact recorded.

Well, actually it was not as bad as, uh, Sailormoon Live Action. They did keep the magical effects to a minimum and made it at the least, not too overtly in-your-f-cking-face, even if it was still cheesy. The actress for Negi was a total fail though, her acting was wooden. Asuna’s one did a good job of doing her though.

I might, keyword here -might-, check out the next episode, although I feel like not after seeing how Eva and Chachamaru look like in it.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I hope it’s just a spelling mistake, a.f.k., I really hope it is.

Anyways, rewatching this part really makes me admire Gotouza-sama even more. Too bad I haven’t heard her much this season yet, apart from Night Wizard.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

And it’s the truth. If someone random came up to me in public, in real life, and asked me, “Do you like anime?”, I would answer yes to it, because it is true, I like anime. In fact, anime is a big part of my life and I will admit that it’s my main form of entertainment, above all else.

So, if you like something, what is wrong about being proud about it? Of course, I don’t mean idiots, like this, that proclaim anime is the superior form of entertainment a good example of an anime fan, but don’t disregard that there are others who actually feel proud to like it, but aren’t being an ass about it.

“Being proud” about something doesn’t necessarily mean you have to flaunt it on everyone or force your own opinions about it on to others or even close off your acceptance about other forms of it. I personally understand that there are various other forms of entertainment that are being enjoyed by other people as much as I myself enjoy watching anime, and I do enjoy the occasional CSI or House M.D episode a lot.

But maybe it’s just because I’m a rather less opinionated person, I just feel that all this drama is rather unneeded. Liking something isn’t about whether you’re proud of it, nor whether it’s deep or not, nor whether is it frowned and stigmatized by the society, it’s just purely about whether you enjoy it or not. That’s my own 2 cents on this issue, and given that many responses towards this are pretty negative, I just felt like balancing the scales a little bit.

So, unless if I ever stop enjoying anime, if anyone asks me, “Do you like anime and are you proud of it?”, I will answer, “Yes, I like anime and I’m proud of it.”, without hesitation. As long as you like it, and you enjoy it, and remember to exercise moderation and open-mindedness, there’s nothing wrong to be proud of liking something, not just only anime, but other things as well. I’ll just sign off with this little tidbit I conjured for tj’s initial post that got the firestorm started, but somehow got stuck liking it a lot…

“BELIEVE IN THE OTAKU IN ME THAT BELIEVES IN THE OTAKU IN YOU!”

Thanks for reading :).

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.