Tag: 12 Days

Community

12 Moments of Anime #12: The Vocaloid Revolution and the Summer of AIR

Air in Summer

[moonknives]

Despite how convenient it might sound, I did not watch AIR this summer. I watched it during the summer of 2006, when I was inexperienced enough to not know the definition of the word eroge.

I did, however, partake in a certain OVA that seems to have all but disappeared over the years: Air in Summer. It’s not a particularly memorable story; in fact, it’s really just a more personal look at Kanna’s arc from the anime. It lasts for a total of two episodes – the same length as some battles in long-running shounen – and it doesn’t say much about anything.

However, that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.

What really got me about Air in Summer, and what made it good enough to make the 2009 Christmas countdown, was the fact that it’s downright pleasant. It feels like it’s been a lifetime since K-ON aired, and it’s been even longer since the KyoAni + Key combo graced my TV screen. Ryuuya’s sharp wit, Kanna’s endearing clumsiness, and Uraha’s carefree ara ara~ personality are all staples of the anime adaptations of Key games, and they’re traits that I love more than a lot of things. Witnessing all of my favourite aspects of some of my favourite anime, written on top of a surreal setting with a vaguely bittersweet atmosphere, was undoubtedly one of my most pleasant memories of anime this year, with or without a plot.

– – –

As for the Vocaloid Revolution I mentioned in the title, I wonder if revolution is truly the right word to use. Our lovely idol Miku is already two and a half years old – plenty old enough for her popularity to catch on. Maybe it’s only because the latter half of this year was my first experience with Vocaloid-literacy, but I can’t help but feel that the Vocaloid subculture is becoming ever more mainstream. While Miku and her fellow electronic pop stars will always be more known in Western fandom for their endless pages of fanart, the release of Project Diva combined with the birth and growth of blogs like Vocaloidism, Polymetrica, and even a fairly comprehensive wiki, the word “revolution” might be fitting after all.

~ ETERNAL
つづく

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Miscellaneous

Christmas Bells in the Anime Blogosphere

Christmas 2009[Ueda Ryou]

Or, my plans to end the year in style. Quickfire points ahead:

  • The Reverse Thieves are hosting a Secret Santa project, and I’m taking part. The show I selected is Kamichu!, and I’ve heard good things about it. I’m expecting the review to go up on the 24th.
  • CCY‘s 12 Days of Christmas has made its rounds for a couple years now, and I’ll participate if it happens again this year. I’ll probably do something along the lines of what IcyStorm did last year, highlighting one memorable anime event and one memorable blogosphere or internet event per day.
  • Somewhere along the line, I plan to rewatch True Tears. I know that I liked it when I first saw it, but the fact that I have no real opinion on it means that I must have missed something. I can’t promise any blog posts – and if I do write one, I’m not sure what kind of post it’ll be – but I fully expect to gain something from the rewatch.
  • Along the same lines, I’ll start playing the Kanon visual novel as soon as I can. It’d be nice to write a post on it over the holidays, but I have no idea how long it’ll take me to finish. I’m not sure if listening to a Key/Shiori fanboy talk about Kanon is your idea of fun, but suffice to say I’ll be writing something at some point.

And with that, let December begin!

~ ETERNAL
つづく

P.S. Umineko post is coming in a couple days. I’m sure that’s relevant to some of your interests.

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Community

⑨ Moments of Anime #1: ef – a tale of melodies ep 6

And here we are: the final day. Did you really think I would pick anything else? After going on about it endlessly after it first aired, and after taking days to recover from the effects of a mere 22 minutes of animation, this was the one moment that I had planned from the start. It was quite possibly the climax of Yuuko’s story (I say possibly because I haven’t seen the final two episodes yet), and in my eyes, it was easily the most heart-stopping moment of the year.

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Community

⑨ Moments of Anime #2: Clannad ep 22 (and a little holiday bonus)


That was definitely me last year…

The second-to-last Moment of Anime…what a fun time it has been. Counting down the year’s most exciting scenes (or gifts, as the original idea goes), tossing together a list of said scenes at the last minute, procrastinating until the end of the day to write posts that total up to be less than 500 words anyhow…as strange as it sounds, it was actually pretty fun.

And now we’re finally here, on Christmas Eve. Having played Animal Crossing for the night, I’ve got about an hour to burn before sleeping, and what better way to spend it than in this comfortable – sometimes a little tsuntsun, but still mostly comfortable – community we know as the anime blogosphere? Read on for my second-last post in the 12 Days series and a little celebration for Nagisa’s birthday.

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Community

⑨ Moments of Anime #3: Code Geass R2 ep 21


The day the world went “WTF!?!?”

Code Geass has been a lot of things. From brilliant to disappointing, shocking in a “I didn’t see that coming” sort of way to shocking in a “…….screw you, Sunrise” sort of way, it proved to be easily the most eagerly anticipated show this year, and it kept the community at the edge of its seat for the entirety of the conclusion. With DarkMirage and Jason Miao’s weekly satirical posts, the hundreds – even escalating up to a thousand – comments on RC, the creation of gg’s Code Trainwreck, and last but not least, Michael’s posts on the matter, Geass got people talking, for better or worse. In fact, when you add up the IRC channels, AnimeSuki forums, and probably a million other bloggers that I neglected to mention, the situation actually escalated much further than I’m giving it credit for. But either way, it was a moment in the community’s history that will be remembered forever, whether you liked the show or not, and I believe that episode 21 represents this trainwreck of a classic we call Code Geass; it was the episode in which almost two seasons worth of development got flipped upside down. And then rolled up by a Katamari and tossed into a different dimension. I’m not sure how the show ever managed to make it out alive (frankly, I’m not even sure if people still respect it), but it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless.

And as taken from the About page at CT,

A trainwreck is where something is so fascinating that you can’t help but stare.

And stare I did, right up to the final second.

~ ETERNAL
つづく

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Community

⑨ Moments of Anime #4: Kimikiss pure rouge ep 24


I didn’t use a more self-explanatory picture just to be on the safe side, but be warned: spoilers ahead.

Much like my opinion of True Tears as mentioned in my last post, Kimikiss proved itself as far more than a typical VN adaptation, except this time, I knew it was brilliant right from the first episode. With an unbelievably girlish yet unbelievably catchy OP, a light, easy art style that feels almost shoujo at times, and a casual yet occasionally dramatic slice-of-life setting, it quickly propelled itself to the top of my list, making it one of my fondest moments in anime; and I daresay that it’s one of my fondest in more than just the past year.

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