Yamatologic

Reflections Upon Watching Anime For The First Time In Five Years

【ニコニコ動画】ハルヒ「！？」
It was a long week. I sat down and I squeezed all 14 episodes of 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu) in to my life, mainly on lunch breaks and when the baby and wife were at Grandma’s house. It was tough, but as a self-proclaimed ニコ厨 (NicoChuu), it seemed that watching this アニメ (anime) would help me to better understand all the references and characters in the series that constantly show up on NicoDou.

The basics of the show I’m sure are widely known and not really worth mentioning. I watched it in broadcast order (”Kyon Order”) and thoroughly enjoyed the series. I think みくる (Mikuru) is a manifestation of 80-90’s cyberpunk future アニメ characters. ナガト (Nagato) is pretty much レイ (Rei) from Evangelion. I could totally relate to Kyon, but what red-blooded man wouldn’t? I laughed, I cried, and a good time was had by all.

Then I thought about it. It has really be 5 whole years since I saw any アニメ at all. Well, stray 宮崎 (Miyazaki) films aside. Oh, and starring in that one. But really, I used to watch tons of it in high school and college. Once I moved to Japan, I watched Initial D because I lived in 群馬 (Gunma). But soon enough, I stopped watching it all together. Why would I stop watching アニメ once getting to Japan?! Seems counter-intuitive.

But really, it makes perfect sense. My group of friends changed. I had friends in the states who enjoyed アニメ, and after watching something, I had people I could talk to about it. When I moved to Japan, my friends were more interested in sports and cars and music and alcohol… It wasn’t really your アニメ watching crowd. So even if I did watch something, no one could relate.

Now that I’m back in America, I have started reconnecting with old friends. But more than that, I’ve become a huge ニコニコ動画 (NicoNicoDouga) fan. It’s different than being an アニメ fan, since ニコニコ動画 already has people who you can talk to about the videos built in and in real time. And also, those people are the kind of people who watch アニメ.

So, I am back in the community. Next series I will be watching is らき☆すた (”Luck Star”).

Just have to keep my mouth shut about アニメ when talking to the wife! Wish me luck.

Technorati Tags: anime, おたく, アニメ, キョン, ニコニコ動画, ハルヒ, ヲタク, coming of age, community, gunma, life, NicoDou, NicoNicoDouga, otaku, reflections, wife, 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱

Rate Your Japaneseness… ZERO ONE!

【ニコニコ動画】ZERO-ONE(simon respect mix + H + more)に元ネタ画像を付けてみた「ｾﾞﾛﾜｰﾝ」

This is awesome. Watch this video (if you don’t like the song, just jump to 3:55 for the main event), and every time you get the reference they are making, give yourself a point. There are 104 ZERO-ONEs! So take your score, and then divide by 104. This is the probability you are Japanese. Not seriously, but there are a lot of random references, and you would have to be very knowledgeable about Japan (Japanese television mostly) to get a good score. I personally got 37.5%! w00t! How did you do?

Technorati Tags: anime, music, nicovideo, quiz, random, survey, television, test

Cirno isn’t stupid, she’s just special!

【ニコニコ動画】チルミルチルノPV 恋のミクル伝説/おてんば恋娘　H.264高画質 (Short animated version)

【ニコニコ動画】C.M.C F (Full version of the song, minus animation)

Man, I dunno what is in the air recently, but there is a lot of チルノ (Chiruno) videos going around recently. Figured I’d update ya’ll on some of them, after the jump! The one above seems to be from a non-IOSYS version of the チルノ song, おてんば恋娘 (otemba koimusume). The thing that is the clincher on this one is that チルミル is a baby formula with DHA, to make them smarter… pimped by Cirno, known to be the バカ⑨ of the 東方 universe. Then there is something about her eating frogs… Don’t make me explain everything! XD (Okay, that’s based on the whole things where she freezes frogs when she’s bored… there, I’m done.)

Read more »

Technorati Tags: anime, チルノ, チルノのパーフェクトさんすう教室, チルミル, フィギュア系, baby formula, Chiba Shiga Saga, chiruno, Cirno, figure-kei, figurine, hammer, HAMMER ZONE, iosys, Japanese girls, meme, music, nicovideo, video games, videogames, 千葉滋賀佐賀, 東方

Rin’s Ultimate Yakiniku Restaurant from HELL!

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【ニコニコ動画】究極焼肉レストラン！お燐の地獄亭！(高画質・高音質版)H264

A new IOSYS arrangement CD is coming out on the 8th! And that can only mean one thing! A new promotional video! This one is about the hellishly ultimate 焼肉 (yakiniku) restaurant, based on the song 死体旅行　～ Be of good cheer!. The CD is called 東方超都魔転 (Touhou Choutomatten). The English title is “Toho just a moment!” Until I read that, I didn’t get the pun. ><;

Not much to say about this one... probably will take me a few weeks to process all the jokes. Poor チルノ (Chiruno) gets melted at one point. ;;

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: anime, チルノ, chiruno, Cirno, cute, 焼肉, hell, iosys, japanese bbq, korean bbq, music, nicovideo, shrine maiden, touhou, yakiniku, 東方

Most Dramatic Timer Ever: Eva Clock

This morning, a friend of mine showed me one of the coolest iPhone apps I’ve seen in a while. It is the Evangelion vol.2 Clock (iPhone Link, iTunes Link). Very simple in idea, but huge on execution. It essentially is a clock and an alarm that look just like the battery timer when an Eva gets disconnected. The regular time mode is cool, but the timer mode is the best URGENT countdown timer I have seen for the iPhone to date. It feels so urgent that I was like freaking out as it got to the end… for no good reason.

Anyway, $2.99 is pricey, but it really is a must have for Eva fans. It is the first (although it says vol.2, I dunno what happened to vol.1) in a series of Evangelion movie tie ins.

The other eva app puts eva stuff in a picture, which is silly and fun, but not as urgent.

They also make a katana app… but it feels racist somehow. Watch the video and tell me what you think.

Technorati Tags: anime, app, cell phones, clock, eva, Evangelion, iPhone, timer

YOMBAN Free Online Manga

I just found a site run by BANDAI VISUAL called YOMBAN that features free online manga and novels. I’ve only scanned the manga up right now, but my favorite so far is BAND野郎ZE! (BAND yarou ZE!), which seems to be about some good-for-nothings who are approached by a good-for-nothing angel to form a band. Totally silly.

This is a great time to jump on the site as all the manga are just starting up now! And there are lots of different genres, from horror, to magical girl, to パンチラ (panchira) paradise. My biggest complaint is that there doesn’t seem to be an RSS to keep track of when the manga are updated. Bummer. But, as long as it stays free, I will be an avid reader!

Technorati Tags: angel, anime, band, bandai, essay, free, horror, magical girl, manga, novels, online, website, yarou, yomban

Morning Musume in LA

What the hell… Morning Musume have been announced as the guests of honor at Anime Expo. It is like all my adolescent dreams are coming true, just 10 years later.

This video is apparently their newest single. I seriously don’t recognize any of them… Okay, maybe one or two, but they were n00bs when I last paid attention.

Also, isn’t this a little bit non-anime related? I mean, Shokotan made a bit more sense, she is the queen of all otaku. Morning Musume, while probably loved by otaku world round, aren’t exactly directly related to anime nor manga.

BUT this is a good thing. The more Anime Expo becomes more about Japan, the happier I will be!

In any case, look forward to this coming in early July!

Technorati Tags: anime, anime expo, concerts, conventions, idol, Japanese girls, morning musume, music, music video, video

Dissidia Bebop

Somewhere, deep in the bowels of the Outlands, where all the memes live in wondrous chaotic harmony, the chill Cowboy Bepop fell for the sweet, yet awesome Final Fantasy. I am proud to announce the birth of their love child!

If you watch the nicovideo version, when Shantotto shows up on screen, the spam is fantastic. People are such nerds. It’s great.

Also, did you know Shantotto is voiced by Megumi Hayashibara? Almost as epic as when they cast Patrick Stewart as Professor X.

Technorati Tags: anime, cowboy bebop, final fantasy, games, MAD, nicovideo, opening, remix, Shantotto, taru taru, video

Evangelion Winter Conditions Plug Suit

Okay, I don’t normally get all jazzed up about anime goods, but the second you combine anime goods from an anime I’ve actually seen with some other hobby of mine, my interest goes up instantly. It’s like a square wave.

In anycase, these Winter Conditions Plgs Suits from evastore are hot, or at least warm.

These things’ll run ya 73,500円 (yen). Large size is sold out. The eva snowboard will set you back the same amount. All made by the fine folks over at Salomon Snowboards.

I love how the model in the picture looks like a dood and not a hot, young clone of your mom.

Technorati Tags: anime, Evangelion, plug suit, rei, snow, snowboard jackets, snowboarding, snowboards, sports, winter, winter sports

Biyori Hime

It is here! The long awaited anime 「源氏物語千年紀 Genji」 has finally aired its first episode! Low and behold, the video for the Puffy/椎名林檎 (Shiina Ringo) collaboration 「日和姫」 (Biyorihime) is up on the YouTubes!

Sounds like a 椎名林檎 song, which means I love it. And it is good to see Puffy in action (and in kimono!) again.

Anyway, enjoy until YouTube takes it down and I have to find a new version!

Technorati Tags: anime, Biyori Hime, Biyorihime, Genji, katana, kimono, music video, PUFFY, Shiina Ringo, Shina Ringo, yakuza, 椎名林檎, 源氏物語千年紀 Genji