Monthly Archive for November, 2006Page 2 of 3

No Time For Anime!? Maison Ikkoku Once More!

18 Comments |
November 17, 2006
| Television

At some point last week, I sat down and started rewatching Maison Ikkoku, which, in case you didn’t already know, is my favorite anime series of all time, hands down, no competition, forever and ever, until death do us part. In years past, I made a habit of rewatching the show annually, but at a lengthy 96 episodes, finding the time was always difficult. Even if I made a point of watching a few episodes each day, it would take a month to finish the show… and since I’m the sort of person who likes to put everything else on hold when rewatching old favorites, that meant abstaining from all other anime for a full month. Long ago, such was possible. But not today.

So, I’ve resorted to marathoning. One week down, one week to go. I suppose I’ll take a break tonight and watch the latest episode of Kanon (it should be a testament to how much I adore Maison Ikkoku that I have to make time for freakin’ Kanon), but everything else will have to wait.

Anyway, you would think that, as many times as I’ve seen Maison Ikkoku, I’d have grown tired of it by now. In fact, every time I set out to rewatch the show, I ask myself, “Will it bore me this time around?” Hasn’t happened yet, thankfully, and I suspect the show’s length is the reason why. Regardless of how well I know the story and the characters, I can’t recall every little detail of every single episode, nor can I remember where certain story arcs take place in the grand scheme of things. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought, “Oh, THAT scene is coming up,” only to find said scene doesn’t actually occur for another 62 episodes. I suppose I could question my credentials as a die-hard Maison Ikkoku fan as a result, but if that’s what it takes to keep the show fresh year after year, so be it.

Ignorance is bliss.

I do need to do something about my habit of watching a bunch of Patlabor in the intervening periods, however. Every time I hear Godai open his mouth for the first time in the first episode of Maison Ikkoku, I think, “What the hell is Shinshi doing here?”

This is Mission Control, Over…

19 Comments |
November 14, 2006
| Administration

A quick administrative note…

I’m fed up with Akismet crashing the database every couple of weeks, so I’ve ditched it in favor of Spam Karma as the solution for all of my comment spam fighting needs. I’m still tweaking things, however, so if you post a comment and it’s not immediately approved, don’t be alarmed. It’s just the filter being overzealous (I wonder what would happen if I increased the severity level?).

Also, I disabled the nifty AJAX dynamic commenting feature, as it didn’t play nice with the change.

Guess I’m not Web 2.0 anymore.

An Editorial

23 Comments |
November 13, 2006
| Miscellaneous

Anime is fun to watch. ANIME BANZAI!!!

Mysterious Town, Indeed…

10 Comments |
November 10, 2006
| Otaku

Excuse my nerdiness for a moment, but…

It’s never explicitly stated, but the setting for Kanon is assumed to be an unknown town located somewhere on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido. Yes, I know Key used the real city of Moriguchi, a suburb of Osaka, as inspiration for the town in the game, but seeing as that area only receives a minuscule amount of snow each year, it’s fairly obvious the story can’t actually take place there. I suppose it’s possible the story could take place somewhere along the Sea of Japan coast, as yearly snowfall totals there rival those of Hokkaido. However, it’s clear the people of Kanon are accustomed to prolonged cold, and the architecture of the town and surrounding landscape suggest Hokkaido, so… it’s probably Hokkaido. One can reasonably assume it’s at least north of the 38th parallel.

Now, Kanon obviously takes place during Winter (for the most part). And, as of Episode 6, one can assume the time of year is somewhere around mid-January. Why? The Japanese school year is typically split into three terms, beginning in April. Breaks between terms occur in Summer, around New Year’s, and in late March. Yuuichi transfers into Nayuki’s school at the beginning of a new term, and given the time of year, one can safely assume it’s at the beginning of the final term in January. Granted, some locations in Hokkaido are snowpacked until April, but the snow is usually melting by then. And, besides, April marks the beginning of a new school year… Yuuichi clearly transferred into an existing class.

So, where am I going with this? In Episode 6, Yuuichi promises to meet Ayu in front of the train station at 5:00 PM for their movie date. Beforehand, he drops by the school in search of Nayuki, only to bump into Shiori instead. There, they talk and admire the sunset until a bells ring in the distance, signaling that the time is 5:00 PM. There’s just one little problem…

At no location in Japan north of the 38th parallel is the sun visible at 5:00 PM in the middle of January. At the earliest, sunset occurs around 4:00 PM. At the latest, sunset occurs around 4:45 PM. Either way, the sun is long gone by 5:00 PM.

Now, should Kanon actually take place in Moriguchi (damn global warming!), the sun would be visible at 5:00 PM in the middle of January… for about 5 minutes. It definitely wouldn’t be a good 30 degrees above the horizon as depicted in the image at the top of this post.

Of course, none of this is important, but given KyoAni’s standard attention to detail, I found it amusing, especially when you consider how explicit the scene was about the time of day. Although, if the scene played out in a similar fashion in the game (I don’t really recall those sort of details), I suppose it’s Key’s fault, and KyoAni should be commended for respecting the integrity of the original material despite its logical inconsistencies. Bravo, KyoAni?

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

9 Comments |
November 9, 2006
| Dry Goods, Industry

In a post last week, I described my anime DVD purchasing habits as follows: “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.” Well, somewhere around mile one thousand, two hundred and twenty three driving through rural Nebraska yesterday, I got to wondering about the accuracy of that statement. So, this afternoon, I sat down and ran the numbers.

Generally, if I watch a show fansubbed from start to finish, it’s because I enjoy it. In other words, if I dislike a show, I’m unlikely to finish it. So, if I watched a show in its entirety, it’s at least “of interest” to me. Since the R1 licensing landscape began to change with the DVD market downturn of 2004, I chose to limit my data set to those shows which have aired since January of that year. That’s just under three years worth of new anime. So, let’s get to it…

Number of shows watched fansubbed, in their entirety, since January 2004: 59

Of those, the number of shows licensed (and announced as such) for R1 release: 19

Now, let’s look at the details for those shows which have been licensed. So far, 10 shows have either been released on DVD in their entirety or are in the process of being released. Of those shows, I have purchased or am in the process of purchasing 5 (Comic Party Revolution, Diamond Dust Drops (R2), Genshiken, Ichigo Mashimaro, and Koi Kaze). Now, of the remaining 9 shows that have yet to be released on DVD, I tentatively plan to purchase 4 (Mushishi, School Rumble, Shuffle, Suzuka). So, of all shows licensed, I have either purchased, am in the process of purchasing, or plan to purchase a total of 9 on DVD. Half, basically. The remaining 10 shows aren’t bad, by any means - I just don’t feel they have enough rewatch value to justify owning on DVD.

Now, the number of shows that remain unlicensed: 40

Twice the number of shows that have been licensed, basically, or nearly 70% of all shows watched. Of these shows, I have purchased a grand total of 1 on R2 DVD (Uta Kata). That leaves 39 shows unaccounted for. Of these, how many would I be interested in purchasing on DVD should they be licensed for R1 release? 20. That’s a lot of shows. Unfortunately, looking at the list, I won’t be holding my breath.

So, what’s the conclusion? Of the all the shows I’ve watched fansubbed in their entirety the past three years, roughly 30% have been licensed for R1 release. I own or am interested in owning half of those. Of the remaining 70% of shows that have gone unlicensed, I’m interested in owning half. Of all shows watched, licensed, and unlicensed, I own or am interested in owning, you guessed it, half.

Taking all of that into consideration, was my original statement accurate? For the most part, yes. It’s worth noting that, of all of the shows that have been licensed thus far, the vast majority aired in 2004. And it’s also worth noting that, of all of the shows that remain unlicensed, there are quite a few I’d consider personal favorites. Hear that, R1 distributors? I’m an untapped market!

Oh, and while I was at it, I calculated the value of my anime DVD collection: roughly $11,000.

Hey, it’s got to be cheaper than buying figures.