Uncategorized

In closing:

No one cares about anyone else’s life’s story, but I was reminded recently that I never closed off this blog properly, so I might as well do it now. Here’s what happened over the past few years:

  • 2008: Memories of Eternity was founded (mid-high school for me).
  • 2009: Joined twitter and made my first internet friends. Hooray.
  • 2010: University starts; I simultaneously got good enough to run a proper blog and ran out of time to do so.
  • 2011: Started traveling for cons; turned AX into an annual tradition; joined The Nihon Review and redirected focus there.
  • 2012: Rejoined anime fandom after a two-year IRL hiatus; tried to start blogging again; met a twitter girl and started an eroge TL group.
  • 2013: Stopped Paused translation for a bit; started dating said girl; ???
  • 2014 (?!): Applying for school in the US; probably west coast, probably for game design or film, either an MFA or college certification.

So I guess I’ve been here for a while. The internet is fun. Anime blogging was the beginning of my online existence so it’ll always be somewhat special to me. I’m still on twitter and probably always will be. It’s hard to say if I’ll get the chance to blog again, but if I do, it’ll be elsewhere. My main domain will contain all the relevant details, anyhow.

Thanks for reading my ramblings, whoever’s out there. See you online.

~eternal
おわり

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Episodic

black raison d’être (Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! 05)

The teacher, Nana, orders Rikka to improve her grades by threatening to disband the club if she fails the test. After the usual pool-cleaning antics, Yuuta and Rikka score poorly on the test only to realize that the class average is just below theirs. The episode ends with a hint of romance between the main protagonists.

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Analysis

Hyouka and Mystery

I’m surprised at the number of people who don’t like Hyouka when the primary complaint about it is exactly what makes it special. The first few episodes make it clear that it’s an unconventional mystery series–a light mystery, you might say, aimed towards the light novel audience. But what struck me about the show right away, and what a lot of people seem to hate about it, is that it deliberately ignores mystery’s partner: suspense.

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Editorial

Arbitrary;Name

I don’t know much about 5pb even with their Wikipedia page open in front of me. Steins;Gate is a collaboration with Nitro+ but it was written by one of 5pb’s staff, dodging Gen Urobochi’s sadistic pen keyboard. (For better or worse, one might argue, but one Fate/Zero per year is enough for me).  Like its quirkily-named predecessor by the same writer, Steins;Gate is both a horror and a mystery, and also sort of a science adventure thingy. The second arc is pretty cool: the girls’ stories intersect in surprising ways, there are real twists, and the ending is all kinds of romantic. But the anime really shines in its first cours as superb pacing and foreshadowing create more tension than I’ve felt from Nitro+’s horror works.

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Review

Shira Oka and What Makes a Dating Sim

Shira Oka is an original English dating sim that you might have heard of. It’s notable, sort of–the OP has real animation in it–but it otherwise flew under the radar in anime fandom (the indie game crowd might be different). The game is charming where it counts and flawed in forgivable ways. Flaws are flaws, though, and “charming” is as close to emotionally affecting as it gets.

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Analysis

A Hint of Paprika

Director Satoshi Kon is known for his illusions; there’s even a book about it. But he’s also known as the Hitchcock of anime given his work in the psychological drama genre, which is only partly true, not unlike comparisons between Miyazaki and Walt Disney. Paprika is a tricky film because the mind-bending plot and use of (basically) multiple personalities begets comparisons to Perfect Blue, but its tone is altogether different. It’s the antithesis to Kon’s first movie and a reminder that his illusions aren’t as haunting as Paranoia Agent and Perfect Blue urge us to assume. What’s more, there’s an undercurrent of metafiction in the director’s final film and I get the feeling that it can be described in terms other than illusion vs. reality and dream world vs. waking world.

(There may be spoilers for everything).

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