Sometimes blog posts just don't turn out the way you want them to. Whether due to the content or the implementation, they'll often end up smashing through the central reservation of the Good Intention motorway, hurtle down the Mediocrity slipway and end up in Dumb Idea ditch, back wheels still spinning.
the results made for nuanced [...] reading. And when I say nuanced I of course mean dull
My drafts folder is littered with these. Some are just a single word, like the opening to my Final Fantasy XIII review which was simply "bleh"; or they're almost complete and all that prevented pressing the enticing curves of the publish button was a lack of faith.
This is what happened with the firebrand titled "Does modern anime suck?", a post from one year prior which attempted to use Science™ to prove that modern anime doesn't suck and the familiar cries that echo every quarter of a year claiming as such were flat wrong.
That was the theory, the practise turned out to be less than convincing.
Blood-C received a lot of stick when it aired. Upon announcement of the sequel film Blood-C: The Last Dark, the series was labelled as a nothing more than a twelve episode trailer. It's not entirely unjustified when taken on a plodding, twelve week schedule; in aggregate though the series' strong points shine through safe in the knowledge of the next episode's position on your playlist.
the kind of trouser-stirring animation Production I.G. are capable of when enough money is thrown at them
The nagging unreality of protagonist Saya's situation never departs after the first of her friends is butchered and is only magnified when the wholesale slaughter is played out. The brutality of the monsters and their sublime indifference to the general populace juxtaposed the puppies-and-sunshine school life the opening episodes peddled.
Sunday is all about putting your feet up, turning the volume up and queuing some music to get wholly lost in. During the week music always seems to accompany doing something: programming, walking, writing, pretending you can't hear the other people in the office talking about you. It seems somewhat of a lost past-time to simply sit and listen.
there's something alluringly infectious about this sentai inspired quintet
What better way to celebrate this than the release of the Kids on the Slope soundtrack? Any Yoko Kanno release is a cause for celebration; that this has jazz ensembles from Takashi Matsunaga, a noted master of the genre, as well as vocal tracks from well-known artists such as Aoi Teshima is a special treat. I can't claim to know the first thing about jazz or how to approach it for a better appreciation, but as the adage goes, I know what I like. It's still on heavy rotation so my final opinion is still gestating but the tracks effortlessly blend easy listening and jazz sessions with Kanno's signature background melodies - unique but not overpowering.
Nostalgia for the carefree days of school is a staple of anime, the future was brighter when one didn't have to worry about careers or significant others or the multitude other thralls of adulthood. If this spring season of anime is anything to go by, it's also full of banal whinging.
where exactly is this series going with flying middle-school girls?
Hyouka and Kids on the Slope kick this off with the protagonist of the former trapped in chronic apathy ("energy conservation" in his parlance, like a self-conscious battery) while the latter's Kaoru bemoans climbing a gnarly looking hill to get to school. Such hardships. The two series share a similar affection for oversaturated amber sunsets and a slow, measured pace; the polar opposite of A Summer Coloured Miracle which is all cerulean skies and the constant background cry of cicadas.
Hapless villagers: Why is she attacking us with potassium chloride?!
Dandy pirate: *evil cackle*
Hapless villagers: That outfit does not look conducive to piracy!
Skeletons: RARGH!
Animators: Who knew skeletons were so hard to animate?
Please note: the remainder of this post contains images of nudity, if you are offended by these or are otherwise unable to view these images within your municipality due to laws or moral obligations, please do not proceed.
Flying pirate ship: PEW PEW PEW!
Hapless villagers: Why is she attacking us with potassium chloride?!
Dandy pirate: *evil cackle*
Skeletons: RARGH!
Animators: Who knew skeletons were so hard to animate?