The Tagcloud Mystery

Everyone loves CLANNAD, right? Well, I do, and I know a lot of my readerbase does, too. (Or what's left of it. I haven't posted in forever.) But I know you're all wondering one thing, and that has to do with the Anime Nano tagcloud. Within its first week, Kanon 2006 completely dominated the thing, and did so for the remainder of its airing (although Code Geass managed to stay almost equal upon its introduction). Now, why didn't CLANNAD do the same? I've got a few possibilities.

Let's get this started.

Option 1: Was Gundam just too strong?

This seems the first obvious choice. After all, it's a huge franchise, and it's been very, very popular on the image boards, especially that one girl in the Chinese dress (hey, I haven't watched it yet, okay?). Not to mention, last year, when Kanon was airing, there was no member of said franchise running against it. Sounds like a solid theory, right?

Too bad. CLANNAD is also very popular on said boards, and actually, I can't tell which they like more. Not to mention, if you look on the tagcloud at this very moment...

The CLANNAD tag is bigger than the tag that encompasses not only Gundam 00 but any other mention of the Gundam franchise. Looks like that's out.

Option 2: Is it because we're not familiar with the game?

"It's just not as good." The same whispers came around when Kanon 2006 first aired. People that weren't used to the slow pacing we were all anticipating, well, they didn't like it. They wanted something like the rushed (but still amazing) AIR TV. The reason that so many people stayed on may have been because they fell in love with the characters, or because they liked the slow pace, or in faith of Key... but the biggest "because" is probably the happy cries of those that had either seen Kanon 2002 or played the original game. There is no CLANNAD 2002. Watching it, although I loved the characters, I began to feel the same way as the people that I had renounced last year as heretics. Of course, I realized this, and started to (as I should) appreciate it for the way it is.

But a lot of people here HAVE played the original game, or just like the way it's going so far. I do, even though I lapsed, as previously stated. And last year, there were a lot of first-timers for Kanon that watched it and loved it. That's out.

Option 3: Are we just bogged down with finals and Christmas shopping?

Not likely. Kanon aired at the exact same time last year.

Option 4: Are we lazy?

Think about this for a moment. Last year, Anime Nano was brand new. We all jumped on it, and a whole lot of people began creating blogs, seeing a new way to get their stuff out there. Animeblogger might be great, but Anime Nano wasn't tied to a specific domain, and it was new, so everyone could get attention instead of just the few already-popular blogs. A few of them died after a month or so. More died later on. If you want proof, this one is one of the casualties. (Let's hope my skills at raising things from the dead have improved. I usually don't do so well.) Less blogs means less people posting about CLANNAD.

Yeah, I'm going with the fourth one. If anyone has any better ideas, please tell me.

Oh, and the Riders won the Grey Cup.

Soukou no Fake

You want Soukou no Strain news, you get Soukou no Strain news. There hasn't been that much of it recently, besides the fact that somehow, the Sara and Lottie figures were featured in last month's Newtype USA (which made it sound like a harem comedy, but that's a story for another article). But I've come across something very interesting, and by interesting, I mean ridiculous. I thought S-Strain wasn't very popular, but I guess it was, or at least enough to warrant an...

OBVIOUSLY BOOTLEG ENGLISH DUB!

Shocking, isn't it? Well, let's do what I do best (besides make lists and thwack people that try to look up my skirt in chatbox), and mock this thing to death!



Signature font logo in white. Come on, you people can do better than this. I could do better than this, and you've all seen my "lovely" rendition of Sara. At least keep the nice original logo on there, it'd look better. And put "Soukou no Strain" in English somewhere next to it. A lot of real licensed releases do that anyway.

On a related note, "The Beautiful World"!? Clearly, this person needs to learn something about title cliches and when to use them. The S-Strain body count isn't nearly high enough for it to be called Beautiful World anything.



Hey, what's that? It's the picture on the official site, just smooshed. You probably couldn't tell, because you were distracted by the ugly watermark. "Hey, look, I stole this! You can't steal it from me!"



Way to take the premise of the show and word it so it sounds like some kind of pioneer movie. And you could at least make the text readable. Lens flare is not to be used for evil.



Certificate of not-so-authenticity from the "Censorship Board". Bye-bye, Episode Seven, you will not be missed.


That's all I have time for. So you see, pandering to your subscribers is fun!

Why aren't I covering Saimoe?

Simple. Nanoha and Rozen Maiden sweep the thing every year. I am covering it on my personal blog, but as long as everyone else is covering it on their anime blogs, why should I? That being said... HOW did Princess Tomoyo lose to the likes of the Strawberry Panic girls? I'm disappointed in you, boys.

Men make no sense!

Yes! Precure 5 Movie Trailer

Yes! Precure 5: Kagami no Kuni no Mirakuru Daibouken released a trailer today. Therefore, I must make note of it. Basically, it has some guy that turns himself into an apparently sentient kowainaa. His name's Shadow, and he's very obviously evil. And apparently stalking the Precures. Coco and Nuts get dragged into the mirror world, and it's the job of Precure 5 and Milk, as well as two more add-on mascots, to get them back. The mirror world, though, is tyrannized by evil Precures.

I would just like to say one thing: Anti-Nozomi (as the evil version of Dream is referred to, at least on the Precure community) just reminds me of Anemone from Eureka seveN. From the silhouettes, Anti-Komachi looks like she'll be far creepier. (We all know that Komachi's the real mirror image, anyway. This person is clearly a decoy.)

Reused animation, we love you...

The cast of the Negima drama.

As far as I know, this is legit.

The good news first. Chao and Setsuna look perfect, which is great because Setsuna's my favourite character. (Love the expression.) The costuming department also did a good job making Chisame actually resemble the dorky-looking reject she's supposed to be, something that neither !, !? nor Akamatsu-sensei did with any respectability. And Sayo seems to have her character down perfectly, giving an expression that could easily be mistaken for fearsome but, when you think about it, is actually full of harmless cuteness. Kazumi also has her character down, even though her hair is a disaster. Mana looks like the twins that were in my grade 9 before transferring out.

There were some I didn't like, though, which is to be expected with 31 girls hanging around. First of all, KUU FEI. She doesn't look childish or energetic. In fact, she looks like a man! I will not get used to her as long as I live. The other problems I have pale in comparison to her, which is a good thing. Makie, though, comes close; she looks like she has to go to the bathroom, and she's got a bad hair day that cannot be cured. Konoka seems a little plain; maybe I've been seeing her through Setsuna-o-vision so long that I've forgotten what she really looks like, but she just looks boring. Kaede's hair also sucks.

Oh, how could I forget the main characters that matter? Asuna has the quirky-tsundere thing down, but she seems to have gone to Makie's hairstylist, and the ribbons are terrible. Nodoka looks creepy and standoffish, not shy. Wrong character type, people. And why didn't they make Eva a foreigner? Or at that, a loli!? I imagine some serious retconning, or something.

And that concludes What Not to-- er, my very relevant post on the Negima drama cast! Now why don't they reveal the rest of the cast?

This is what Nodoka REALLY looks like, in case you forgot. I'd post a Kuu Fei picture, but the contrast between cute and ugly would fry your brain.

Tokyo Omocha Show stuff.

Check out this stuff from Tokyo Omocha Show. I'm a little late, but nothing new there.

A lot of Gundams, of course. I assume this is the new series. I do like the light show.

Those are the clunkiest controls I have ever seen. I still wonder if it's fun.

Shounen hero fun for all.

Apparently, the "Precure Dream Live" game includes dressing up in these gaudy things. I can't help but laugh at Karen's expression.

And what would this blog be without occasionally mentioning the older shounen stuff that everybody says they don't watch to distance themselves from the kawaii-spouting hordes but secretly do?

I am soooooo late.

I'm usually early for my season previews... sorry about that. Well, it's June 21, better late than never? And besides, some of my readers only keep up with my blog and don't know what's coming out. (Which should be enough incentive for me to stop being lazy.

Begin... now!

School Days

Otherwise known as that one H-game with the yandere and the saw. Main character guy's female friend tries to set him up with a girl that doesn't know he exists. Of course, she likes him too. This game has about a million endings, some of which are very messed up... wonder if they're going to pull a Higurashi and do them all?

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Ever wanted to get inside the head of Osaka from Azumanga Daioh? This is the next best thing. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei revolves around spins on a word or phrase that end up being very slightly related. Based on the manga dubbed "The Least Translatable Manga Ever", which means this probably won't get subbed.

Nanatsuiro Drops

It's so in Japanese. In the town closest to the stars, a quiet, nervous boy must find a magical girl who can collect the "Drops of the Stars" to undo a curse upon him. Magical girls and renai game romance? I'm in! As long as it doesn't suck like Happiness! did.

Sky Girls

Wasn't that OVA supposed to be terrible? Now they're making a show about it?

CODE-E

The pictures look cool. Twenty years in the future, a girl with the uncontrollable power to stop electronics from working is so afraid of herself that she takes notes on her power. She meets up with a scientist, a miko and a mysterious girl that work together to study her. But someone else is after her, too... This sounds interesting. Might watch.

Zero no Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi

Why did everyone like Zero no Tsukaima, anyway? Is there some hidden depth I'm missing?

Doujin Work

Based on a 4koma. A girl is sucked into the world of doujinshi and meets a bunch of fun people. A lot of people have been comparing this to Comic Party based on premise, but I don't know. It looks a lot more fun. I didn't really like Comic Party...

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan 2

Murder mayhem and resurrection rebounds. And alliteration... um... allegory? No, that doesn't work.

Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho

Ugly art and fanservice galore. Transfer student guy tries to join the swim club to make friends, but they're all weird. Then in comes transfer student girl, who's even weirder. Guy likes her because she reminds him of a mermaid he saw once. Other guys like her because she likes to swim in the nude.

Mushi-Uta

Based on a light novel series. Told you there were going to be more. Anyway, in this one, there's a guy with a gun. And giant killer bugs. Yay? Or not yay? Not yay. Basic shounen stuff, if you're into that.

Zombie-Loan

Guy dies. Guy decides that he does not want to be dead and that this is Not Good. He makes a deal to be alive again, but it's not so much alive as undead, hence the name "Zombie-Loan". He holds up his end of the deal by killing bad zombies that go around doing zombie things. Personally, I liked Hung's summary better.

Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho Tou Dai Ni Maku

Didn't watch the first season.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

I read spoilers so I wouldn't have to watch it; season one gave me nightmares. For those interested, we learn what the government's got to do with it, what Oyashiro-sama is, and what on earth is going on with Rika.

Baccano!

1930s America is an automatic ping no matter what the show's about. Nuns with guns and alchemic battles don't interest me, though.

Shigurui

Competing with Higurashi and Dokuro-chan for the blood-spiller title, but unlike the mysterious Higurashi and the comedic Dokuro-chan, Shigurui is an epic about samurai. A fighting tournament is held, and for the first time, the contestants are allowed to use real weapons. A blind guy and a one-armed guy that trained under the same master both want to become the champion.

Buzzer Beater

Apparently this is a remake, but I had no idea what it was. Based on a webmanga that was later published professionally, Buzzer Beater is about a basketball team, as the name would imply. Sports anime's not my thing.

Moetan

This has generated a lot of publicity. It's comedic educational TV that teaches otaku how to speak English. The phrases taught? Common moe catch phrases and random things that no one will ever need to use. Personally, I think it sounds amusing. I wonder if anyone will sub this and bring it full circle.

Mononoke

I cannot find anything about this without bringing up a million search results for the movie Mononoke-hime.

Tetsuko no Tabi

Based on a very old manga, and therefore with very unique art (that is, half of you will find it ugly). It's about a man that is obsessed with trains, a publisher that accompanies him on a train road trip and the flustered mangaka they drag along, as well as the many things they find on their journey. Looks interesting and calming. Might watch, might not.

Potemayo

Based on a 4koma, and apparently fantastic comedy. The art is nothing short of amusing.

End.