I don’t buy much anime on DVD these days, mostly owing to the fact that much of what’s being licensed and released lately is of little interest to me. That, and I’ve gotten cheap. Still, I generally buy a disc or two per month, and when I do, I typically order online (from Deep Discount DVD… like I said, I’m cheap). I haven’t ordered anything for the past few months, however, so I’m “behind” on a few shows: Ichigo Mashimaro, Kamichu, and Ah! My Goddess.

Anyway, I found myself at Best Buy this past weekend (a rare occasion, indeed), and since it was a location I had yet to visit, I decided to check out the anime selection… and a nice selection it was! Yet, when I went looking for those discs I needed, they were nowhere to be found. A single copy of Ichigo Mashimaro Vol. 1. No Kamichu whatsoever. Every volume of Ah! My Goddess except the one I needed.

Now you know why I order online.

On the way out, however, I caught glimpse of Comic Party Revolution Vol. 1, so all was not lost. Well, except for $25. My wild spending habits aren’t the subject of this post, though…

I don’t own an HDTV monitor. Nor do I need one. My regular TV viewing consists of anime DVDs and fansubs. That’s it. So, for now, I get by just fine with my 25″ Sony SD CRT. It’s a nice TV, mind you, but a stroll through the TV aisles at Best Buy reminded me that it’s an endangered species. Now, I’m not in the market for a new TV… not yet, at least. When that day comes, however, I fear I’ll have little choice BUT to go the HDTV route. And considering that much of my daily TV viewing comes in the form of compressed, low resolution digisubs, that concerns me.

My “fansub viewing” environment is pretty straightforward. I have a dedicated computer for fansub playback (sort of dedicated, actually… I also use it for various background tasks), and treat the TV as a secondary monitor. I don’t bother using any of my video card’s overlay modes - too much overscan, thanks to broken drivers (note to self: next time, don’t buy an ATI card) - I simply extend my desktop to the TV, drag a folder over, launch a file in Media Player Classic, go full screen, and sit back and enjoy. The results are actually quite pretty; bad encodes look good, and good encodes look spectacular.

Of course, standard definition television has a resolution of 640×480 (NTSC), so a digisub of the same resolution will (obviously) look just fine when played back on an SD set. And, of course, digisubs with larger resolutions will look even better - especially if they came from an HD source. HDTV, however, is much higher resolution. So, playing that 640×480 digisub on an HD set will require upscaling the image… and since we’re dealing with a highly compressed image to begin with… well, you get the idea. The fact that most HDTVs have screens large enough to serve dinner on would just magnify problems.

So, my question to you, my readers, is this: is anyone actually doing this? That is, is there anyone out there watching plain vanilla digisubs on an HD set? If so, are you satisfied with how it looks?

I hear there’s an election coming up, but the real battle is being fought today in the streets of Japan! Well, chat rooms, actually… and perhaps some karaoke booths in Akihabara…

Anyway…

The final round of the 2006 Saimoe Tournament has arrived, pitting the temperamental Suiseiseki of Rozen Maiden against the twin-tailed Fate Testarossa of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha! If this match-up sounds familiar, there’s a reason: last year, Takamachi Nanoha of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha edged out Souseiseki of Rozen Maiden for the Saimoe crown.

Will the lovely Fate inherit the title from her friend and comrade (and object of affection)? Can Suiseiseki avenge her sister’s loss? Will next year’s final match feature Hina Ichigo vs. REINFORCE? Will I finish typing this post before voting ends and the results are announced (I started two hours ago)? The suspense is killing me!

Or not.

Sorry, Suiseiseki-chan, but Fate’s got this one in the bag.

No sad girls. Perhaps they got stuck in traffic.

Sorry about the radio silence these past several days. I’ve been busy looking for the cause of Nadeshiko Syndrome… you know, the disease that unmercifully kills one out of every three anime mothers within a few years of giving birth.

So far, we’ve isolated it to the Melodrama-6 gene on the Lazy Plot Device chain. Still a long way to go… in the mean time, we’ll have to continue with experimental treatment methods.

I’m in love with Kanon. I notice that some Kanon virgins have described the show as “slow” - which is kind of funny, as I’ve found the pace to be rather swift. I actually expected for the show to take five or six episodes to cover what’s been covered thus far. The story hasn’t been rushed, however; the pace is just right, actually. I’m just a little surprised, is all. And, of course, the production values are out of this world. The camera work during Shiori and Yuuichi’s conversation in Episode 3 was especially nice. Hopefully, we’ll see more of that.

As for Asatte no Houkou, I find it’s a difficult show to discuss in any meaningful way for the time being, as it’s just a big bag full of uncertainty. I don’t know what direction the story intends to take, or, for that matter, what tone it’ll eventually adopt. It’s perplexing. Of course, I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner. And, from the look of things, I have a lot of fellow travelers.

Hataraki Man is SO my kind of show. But I have experience working in a Japanese office, so perhaps it’s all nostalgia. Young professionals in Japan really do work themselves silly, often for little reward. I won’t say my workplace was as hectic a place as the offices of the Weekly Jidai, but the overall vibe wasn’t all that different. Ultimately, I think the show speaks best to those who experience that sort of thing every day - which is why it’ll likely be of little interest to overseas anime fans. Or anime fans in general, for that matter.

And that’s it. Aside from the one or two bishoujo shows I eventually settle on, that’s all I’ll be watching this season. A far cry from the last couple of seasons, eh?

Indeed.

I’ve been watching Starship Operators the past couple of nights. I gave up on the show after a couple of episodes back when it first aired, but since it’s well-regarded in the circles I run in, I’ve been meaning to give it a second look. Unfortunately, it looks about the same as I remember. The story makes zero sense at times - and not because it’s especially complex or anything. Rather, the events that push the story forward so defy logic at times that I can’t make any sense of the big picture. It’s like trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle from individual pieces that aren’t quite cut to fit. Keep mashing pieces together, and you’ll at least get them to stay connected, but you’re left with gaps all over the place and a pastoral Amish farm scene as viewed through the eyes of Pablo Picasso. That’s good enough for a five year old, but is it good enough for you? Is it good enough for me?

Maybe. Or, in the case of Starship Operators, I suppose it is, seeing as I’m still watching and all. It’s frustrating, yeah, but I’m used to it, so no big deal. I can laugh it off, roll my eyes, enjoy the show for whatever tickles my fancy (cute girls!)… I’ll find a way. And, as anime fans, I think that’s something we do often: we find a way. And for those anime fans who burn out and move on to other hobbies? Perhaps they didn’t find a way.

I’ve long felt that being an anime fan has just as much to do with putting up with the stuff you don’t like as it does with seeking out the stuff you do like. Why? Because anime’s just that eclectic and diverse a medium. Don’t like fanservice? Gonna be rough. Can’t stand moe or bishoujo game adaptations? Slim pickings lately. Run away, screaming in horror at first sight of a loli character? Might be missing out on some good shows.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you have an obligation as an anime fan to subject yourself to shows you don’t care for - especially at the expense of shows you do care for. However, if you spend all of your time and energy looking for the perfect show, you’re likely to be disappointed. Because, chances are, your perfect show doesn’t even exist… especially if you’re a furry loli vampire slice-of-life dramedy fan.

Then again, there was Magical Pokaan…

There appears to be a severe lack of sad girls in my neighborhood. Plenty of snow, though… I’m hoping it’ll attract some.

(For maximum effect, a little background music…)