Various Thoughts

Episode two opens up with a scene between mystery church person #2 (Himura) and Chihiro, they apparently have some significant relation to one another, and it ends with a cut-in to Kei playing basketball. Chihiro definitely resembles Kei, at least appearance-wise. Things jump over to Kei/Hiro, and it would seem he’s a manga artist rather then an architectural artist, it would also seem that Kei has no relation whatsoever to him…based on Kyosuke’s (the earlier cameraman) comments.

This series seems to be filled with strange camera shots; long pans, black & white, fish-eye lens effects, quick-cuts, integrated cuts…it’s very busy. Anyway, things dip back into the supernatural a bit as strange church person #1 pops out of nowhere to talk to Hiro on the roof, then disappears just as quickly. In her place is Miyako, being as forward as ever. We then jump over to Kyosuke and his growing obsession over Kei, which suddenly jumps into Kei receiving a text-message from Chihiro. There goes my theory about different timelines and spirits. No matter.

Hiro and Miyako proceed to have a rather interesting conversation on the roof, while the line between Kei and Chihiro is getting extremely blurred. Finally, the relation is disclosed; they’re twins. Well, that certainly makes some sense, though it’s shockingly normal. Himura then pops out of nowhere and warns Renji that being with Chihiro will be difficult…which seems to be related to her not being in school, the eye patch, and her memory/sight issues. The episode ends by revealing that her problem is her memory doesn’t last longer than 13 hours, so she’s essentially a new person each day.

The series is certainly shaping up to be very interesting…as long as I can manage to continue dealing with the psychotic camera effects.

Now this looks to be my kind of series. The 5 minute Prologue sets a perfect mood and tone, though it’s animation is sketchy at best.

Well, the first thing that stands out when the series proper starts, is that we’ll have multiple main characters. The next is that the purple haired girl (Kei) in the Prologue seems to be Hiro’s sister (or close enough to be his sister), I assume they will eventually turn out to be ‘not related by blood’, as that’s usually the relationship rational in these series. We then get a wholly out-of-place scene of Hiro wandering around a church (I assume as inspiration for his architecture drawings), which is capped off by a girl, who is likely the red/orange haired girl in the Prologue, stealing his bike in order to chase down the person whole stole something from her. Hiro catches up to her relatively quickly, turns out she is the other girl from the Prologue (Miyako), since she got into an accident and was knocked out. She’s rather forward and sort-of forces him into a relationship with some rather sly seduction techniques.

Things then jump back to the guy in the beginning, who happens to wander over to the same church Hiro was at earlier (or would that be later?), only this time some other random person is in there. The two random people lurking in the church are both waiting for someone, and both appear to be rather suspicious in a supernatural way, I’m vaguely interested in what their story will turn out to be. Back to Mr. long-sideburns (Renji). He returns to the abandoned train station and again meets the strange girl with the eye-patch (Chihiro), whose diary will likely play some sort of important role in the series, if the Prologue is to be believed anyway. The interaction between these two is awkwardness incarnate, as they both seem to be incredibly shy and/or introverted, and I hope the series doesn’t linger on them to much.

Things jump to the next day, and it would seem that Chihiro has some severe memory issues, which explains the importance of the diary. I get the suspicion that she may be a ghost/spirit, and that the reason she’s incredibly happy to see Renji again is because he can actually see her. Strangely, very strangely, she would appear to be related in some manner to Kei…this has the trappings of a truly epic Dramatic Romantic Tragedy.

The ending scene involves the mystery camera-man and his apparent budding infatuation with Kei, which makes me wonder if the Renji/Chihiro scenes are from a completely different timeline then the Hiro/Kei/Miyako/Camera-guy scenes, as that would provide an interesting contrast while also making sense of the series’ title.

Well, I’m still engrossed in this drama, and things have recently took a giant leap into legitimacy:

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10609174

The Economist is now, in their own way, supporting Anonymous.

http://digg.com/world_news/The_Economist_reports_on_Anonymous_and_upcoming_protests

I watched the first 13 episodes as they were airing, so this will just be dealing with the final Arc of the season, which I’m only just now getting around to watching.

This Arc starts off (14-15) in a drastically different place then the others: way back in time to the childhood of the series’ main villain (the Major, who was finally revealed at the end of the last Arc). Unsurprisingly, her childhood sucked, and it’s not all that shocking that she went insane. We also get some nice, albeit rather boring, backstory on the parasite infecting the Hinamizawa area.

We then move on (16) to the events of the dam massacre, which was the source of many of the last Arcs’ breaking points. Turns out it’s also the source of the Major’s breaking point, as she first slips down the the road of human experimentation thanks to the dam workers (who quickly succumb to the parasite). It’s interesting to see that the dam workers themselves are both the cause and source of the massacre, as it had been implied throughout the series that the villagers were responsible for it.

The revelations just keep coming now (17-18), as both Rika and Satoko’s parents’ deaths, some of Rena’s psychosis before moving back to Hinamizawa, and even the early events with Satoshi are all explained. Seems Satoshi did end up succumbing to the parasite, just like Keiichi way back in the first Arc of the series. Speaking of Keiichi, seems we get to meet his father, who has a rather interesting meeting with Rika and Hanyū. Shockingly enough, there’s also a candid view into Oryō Sonozaki’s true nature…who apparently isn’t as haggish as she was depicted earlier in the series.

Now the story revisits the main timeline (19), the one that’s been repeated so many times before. We get a surprising new addition at this time: Hanyū as a physical entity. Seems that after a thousand years of sitting on the sidelines of repeated timelines, she’s finally decided to take an active hand in things. This also marks the return of the disarming humor that the series is so well known for. I had almost forgotten how well the contrast between serious and silly worked. All of the groundwork for the final confrontation is lain in this episode.

Things pick up quickly (20-21) as all the pieces of the opposition start coming together. Not only are the plans to thwart fate coming along nicely, but it would seem that even the previously long-held attitudes in the village are wearing down and becoming more temperate…possibly do to the lowered tension. On the flip-side, the source behind the sudden outbreaks of symptoms in people who haven’t yet left the village is revealed, and ended up being related to the process of finding the cure. ‘Operation 48 Hours’ goes into effect at this time, and it almost immediately has the desired effect, though the enemy is to well organized and/or experienced to be fooled for long. The Major get puts under quite a bit of pressure however, and starts to suffer from the early symptoms of the parasite.

The Major now attempts to strike back (22), and get her plan back on track, but is somewhat hampered by her (now) clouded judgment and rampant paranoia. Our group of protagonists get cornered, and look to be in serious trouble, until it is revealed that Akasaka has apparently had extensive martial arts training…which I find rather odd…but whatever. Shortly after getting his ass kicked (23), the Captain appears just fine and dandy rambling on about how things are now a ‘waiting game’. The Major is having none of this however, and decides to take the entire force out in order to completely annihilate the protagonists in a mountain-side bloodbath. They’re apparently not prepared for Satoko’s trap-making skills though, and the series becomes rather reminiscent of Home Alone…only on a mountain.

The final episode (24) has the Major’s plan completely in ruin, and she starts to have her parasite-influenced nervous breakdown. Hanyū makes her reappearance in red-glowing-eye deity mode, which is actually rather cool looking (though I still like the demon-slit eyes from the first Arc the best), and manages to face her down. Then, the ending. The ending is Noein-like in it’s strangeness. I’m not normally a big fan of happy-endings, but this one managed to be upbeat without being sappy, which is a rather large accomplishment in and of itself. I don’t think this Arc was the best of them all, but it did do a fantastic job of tying all the earlier Arcs together…which was its main purpose.

I’ve always wondered at the reaction people (including myself) have toward getting unexpectedly wet. People generally have no issue going swimming, or taking a shower/bath, but getting wet when you aren’t prepared for it well in advance is one of the most uncomfortable feelings around. This happens even in a downpour, which is similar in many ways to a shower.

I wonder what long-buried instinct this is rooted in?

Well, this war is coming along nicely. Honestly, I’ve been rather distracted by the spectacle and haven’t been doing much of anything besides following its exponentially growing thread over on SA.

 Some useful links for those who have no clue what I’m talking about:

Information about Scientology:

http://www.xenu.net/

http://forums.enturbulation.org/

Anon Press Release 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbKv9yiLiQ
Anon Press Release 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcr1trjtLaU

Chanology Website: http://www.partyvan.info/index.php/Project_Chanology

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/01/anonymous-attac.html
http://digg.com/odd_stuff/ANON_release_Scientology_secret_DOX
http://www.warrenellis.com/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/25/ddos_scientology_controversy/
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3250934.ece
http://www.dagbladet.no/
http://digg.com/tech_news/Photoshop_Fixes_EVERYTHING_PIC_VID_3
http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Some_things_never_change_4
http://www.drudgereport.com/
http://www.news.com/8301-10789_3-9858436-57.html?tag=nefd.blgs

The first book in Jenna Black’s new series, and it’s completely different than the three Guardian series books. I’m rather amazed that this is by the same author, as the style doesn’t match-up at all. Whereas the Guardian series seemed to take after Lilith Saintcrow’s Watcher series, this book takes more after her Dante Valentine series. Now that I think about it, this is quite similar to the disconnect between those two series.

Anyway, the story is told from the perspective of one Morgan Kingsley, a Demon Exorcist. She has the same type of personality that you normally find in these types of series; strong willed, stubborn, rather emotional, etc. (like Anita Blake or Dante Valentine). The setting is modern day, only with demons. The demons in question are normally insubstantial on their home plane (which isn’t described), and need to possess someone in order to exist on the material plane. The possession is similar to classical possession, though demons in this setting aren’t necessarily ‘evil’ and can coexist with their hosts instead of simply displacing them. An Exorcist’s job is to kick demons out of unwilling/unsanctioned hosts, otherwise known as illegal demons. The only other known method of demon removal, besides exorcism, involves burning the host alive.

The storyline revolves around Morgan getting possessed by a rather powerful demon, dealing with the implications of said possession, and surviving the various attempts of that demon’s enemies to burn her at the stake. This is certainly an improvement over Black’s earlier books, especially since she seems to have actually created characters (instead of relying on archetypes), but it’s not anything particularly groundbreaking. If you liked Saintcrow’s, (early) Hamilton’s, or Harrison’s series, you’ll probably like this as well.

I watched the first Season of Da Capo quite awhile ago, and so I’m not all that certain about who the various characters in this season are. Some look familiar, some act familiar, and some look like characters from other series. It’s all a touch disconcerting, but I do remember the plot from the first season, so it shouldn’t be that bad.

Anyhow, it starts off as a typical Harem/School-life series, with no hint of the supernatural overtones that will almost certainly come into play. As the first episode rambles on a bit, I’m starting to remember each of the characters, and how they fit into the plot of the earlier season. I don’t think you’ll need to have seen the first in order to understand the second, but it would probably help a great deal.

We get a new character in the form of a mysterious little-girl, dressed similar to Rin from Fate/Stay, who’s extremely quiet. She’s apparently taking the place of Sakura, who returned to America in season 1. I’ve never really liked the way certain series will slip into archetypes like that, mixing and matching appearances with personalities, but she does seem to have a few notable personality differences (such as her odd, blatant, obsession with magic).

The early episodes (3-5) concern themselves with the disconnect between Aisia and Jun’ichi, how she is incredibly open with magic while he thinks it shouldn’t have much attention drawn to it, and her misconception about him being a ‘master wizard’. Once she realizes her mistake, after nearly killing them both, things go back to something resembling normal…and then Nemu makes her re-entrance, and with her comes the Drama. This, this, is what I like about this series. Comedy is all well and good, but there needs to be genre depth for a series to shine, and pure comedy just doesn’t do that.

The next couple of episodes (6-9) deal with the fallout and restoration of Jun’ichi & Nemu’s relationship after being apart for 2 years, turning the series from a Harem into a Romantic Drama (similar to last season with Sakura’s entrance). We also finally get to meet the mysterious ‘girl in the window’ from last season, who is no less mysterious now that we’ve met her.

Early mid-season (10-13) we switch to a completely different genre, I suppose it’s similar to the Magical Girl genre, as Aisia becomes the main character and resumes her search for someone who can teach her more about magic. I can’t say that I’m a fan of this particular stretch, because I’m not. This stretch is capped off by the required swimsuit episode (14), which works decently as a genre transition-point.

Late mid-season (15-18) we switch back over to the Harem genre, with Kotori, Nemu, and, eventually, Aisia in the running. Aisia starts out trying to play match-maker between Kotori and Jun’ichi, but soon realizes that she has feelings for him as well. This turns things into a love triangle similar to how it was with Sakura back in season 1, and just as happened then, Aisia eventually realizes she can’t really compete with Nemu. Then things become even more complicated, as Sakura makes her return.

The late-season (19-22) is, surprisingly, not a rehash of the Sakura/Jun’ichi/Nemu drama from season 1. No, instead we get a very interesting Aisia/Sakura dynamic, as Aisia tries to get Sakura to teach her about magic, and Sakura refuses due to Aisia’s simplistic outlook (magic = happiness). Things snowball as Aisia tries to understand what happened two years ago (season 1), but only succeeds in misinterpreting things by clinging to her false-ideals, and ends up repeating Sakura’s mistake.

The final episodes play out similarly to the end of the first season, but with the dynamics switched up just enough to keep things somewhat interesting. Overall I think this was a nice follow up to season 1, though I like the first better then the second…a bit too much focus on the ecchi jokes for me this season.

I finally got around to finishing off the various series from last season (StrikerS, ICE, Romeo X Juliet, etc.) and it seems like I haven’t developed a disconnect with Anime after all, apparently those couple of ‘new’ series I tried to watch (Air Gear, Shining Tears) actually were boring.

Ratings and short little descriptions of the above series can be seen over on the Anime Overviews page. I’d write ‘proper’ reviews over here, but I haven’t seen enough of them recently to be accurate (and I’m certainly not re-watching them with all these other series lying around).

The third book in Jenna Black’s Guardians series, and it’s rather similar to the first book. I found myself liking the Gabriel character from the second book, and still liking him earlier in this book, but about halfway through he becomes a near-copy of the Drake character. Jezebel, similarly, starts to greatly resemble Carolyn. It would seem JB has some difficulty with keeping character archetypes separate. The storyline isn’t anything all that interesting either, though we get a bit more background on vampiric society outside of the Guardians.

I’m not sure if I’ll read anymore books that are released in this Guardian series, though I will be getting around to reading her new series (The Devil Inside) shortly, and I hope that this penchant of hers isn’t as prominent there.