[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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[zuta]