Witchcraft Works finished its 12 episode run. It was interesting that the manga translation paced the anime releases rather closely. It's an interesting story, if not a little boilerplate.

Somewhat weak guy is protected from a distance by a powerful girl who harbors deep feelings for him. There are secrets from his past that slowly become revealed, and relationships that develope as the series progresses. There is a power within him he is unaware of, but in times of great danger or distress, his powers break forth. Boilerplate. In a season that seems full of shows that are more or less okay, a familiar story well told is not too bad.

Of note, however, the show shares a similar problem with another one I have been following. In this show, the female protagonist shares the same kind of bland personality as the male protagonist in Mikakunin de Shinkokei. Low energy output. Although that type will make for some humor, they also tend to dull the edge off any scene they are in.

You might hope for some kind of breakthrough moment when a strong emotional expression or reaction comes forth, but it never seems to happen. There was one such moment in MdS, when the male character (and he's pretty much the only male character) makes a deadpan joke about his deadpan self, and it was a nice bit of self deprecation, but after the fizzle, there was no pop.

This doesn't mean the series are bad, but it is awfully hard to be great with this. Indeed I have rewatched all of MdS and the series hasn't even wrapped yet.

Witchcraft Works is the first I have been following that has been completed. The arc ended well, if a little rushed, but it was worth it.

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... and it occurs to me that I would have liked it much better if Nabiki, the middle sister who made oodles of money from naked pictures of female Ranma, would have been humiliated even remotely in the series. Rumiko Takahashi has created one of the most evil characters I have ever witnessed, especially considering that she gets away with pretty much every rotten thing she does.

It gets to the point that in almost every episode she has an important part in, and many that she barely shows up for she renders it actually unpleasant to watch. Her actions are reprehensible to the point of making these episodes unwatchable. The only other character who can possibly compete with her is Happosai, but at least he gets his butt reamed out every so often.

I have seen many detestable characters in movies, plays books and TV shows, but they usually get what they deserve at the end. Richard the III dies a rather inglorious death on the battle field, Aizen gets buried for many lifetimes underground, the Evil Darkness in the Ephemeral series gets sent to its own world where it finally learns fear and is therefore tormented forever,  but unless Takahashi ever revisits this series and shows her dying a sad, lonely death, she will not have gotten her comeuppance.

I don't know who Rumiko Takahashi was pissed off at when she created this character, but she unleashed a darkness nearly unmatched in entertainment.

Posted by: topmaker at 03:27 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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While not Irish myself, my ancestors were sheltered by the Irish during the Reformation. Happy St. Patrick's Day. "Go maire tu go deo".

The Saw Doctors:



The Dubliners and the Pogues together:

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Being a fan of the (pre disco) Bee Gees, I always thought about what a sweet love song To Love Somebody was. I mean "...to love somebody, the way I love you" is a pretty intense line, right?

It only later occured to me the importance of the line before it. "You don't  know what it's like..." isn't just an intensifier to what follows, it's a friggin' indictment.

"You don't know what it's like - to love somebody - to love somebody, the way I love you." It's either depressing, accusing or both, but it's not very endearing.


more...

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I run a small business in New England. Six full time employees all of whom are paid at the top of their trade. They are specialists in their craft, and we are known as a quality company who are experts in our field. We charge our customers appropriately. I offer good benefits, vacation time, 70% subsidy of health insurance and I am very understanding of the needs of my staff, including single parent issues, health issues and the different needs of different staff in general.

I believe every customer should have a product that they feel was worth paying our price. I work hard to get the recommendations I do. We help out charitable and church institutions and always donate items to auctions, craft fairs, etc. Compared to other businesses in our industry who care little for customers and staff, we should be the type of business the left regards as ideal.

So why is it that I am always worse off after any new regulations or laws hit my company?

My health insurance renewed in March. That meant I needed to make any changes in late January/early February . The insurance companies had to adjust their plans at least a year ago, so this automatically puts the lie to the flexibility proposed now by the current administration. Keep in mind that I could forego offering health insurance entirely, but that's not the type of company we are.

To keep what was more or less the same policy with the same company, my own rates were going up more than 40%. To be fair, one employee would not have changed much, and he likely would do better by eating a higher deductible and going for the individual mandate and the subsidy. Ultimately we had to abandon that plan. Too many of us were hit too hard.

Because we had more than three policy holders, we were allowed to have two different policies to choose from. I stayed with a standard co-pay type, with a higher deductible (almost double) and some more restrictions. This policy - worse than my policy of last year - cost an additional $170.00 per month. The other policy we settled for was a HSA type policy. Two levels of deductibles are borne by the employee until they reach the first limit, then a 10% deductible kicks in until they reach the second. One employee (married, about 45 years old) will be paying about the same as they did with the better policy they had last year, and the other, a younger single employee is paying about $30.00 more per month with considerably worse coverage.

I am waiting for my $2,500.00 per year savings. Holding my breath. Turning as blue as the state I live in.

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"The past decade has seen astonishing spikes in the rate of Asians over 65 choosing to end their lives early, particularly in the region's economically successful countries."

The article notes that this trend does not seem to apply to all countries evenly.

"By contrast, the rate remains both stable and far lower in less-developed countries, such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam."

The article holds out several possible reasons for the trend. The shrinking family, the lack of connection to community, SARS and other widespread diseases, etc. I don't see too much that is different from other countries - including the U.S. that would explain the difference between Western countries and East and South eats Asian countries.

I do think there might be a greater effect on the diminished role of families. Our break with the crucial presence a cohesive family unit has likely been going on longer and perhaps more slowly than other parts of the world. whether you blame politics or economics. Distance in miles or in generational attitudes, the family unit is much less important now than it was in our even recent past. Perhaps this is happening more quickly and with greater impact in Asian countries?

Is there a greater reluctance to be a burden on our younger generation? In my youth there were many houses that held multiple generations under one roof. It was understood that you took care of your elders when it was time. Houses were often divided between two and three stories, with different generations of  the same family living on each floor.

Now more families are moving further apart from each other. The technology that keeps us connected electronically makes us feel better being disconnected locally. That doesn't help when you need someone downstairs when they are downtown. Is this separation greater in Asian countries or communities?

It does feel that we are less connected to our loved ones in general. That "family" does not carry the weight (and burden) that it once had. I'm happy to be in the same general area as my kids today, but as I look at the costs associated with retirement in this New England blue state, I will need to contemplate a less expensive area to which I will live out my days.

I hope I never get to the point where I feel ending it all early is the best solution I come up with.

Posted by: topmaker at 07:07 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I would like to thank Don over at Zoopraxiscope for what I believe is my first permalink in his sidebar. It was a real nice thing to do. I was surprised at how good it felt that someone thought enough about me to go through the effort.

Now I have to figure out how to do that here so I can reciprocate.

Zoopraxiscope is a blog about anime, music, literature and the arts in general and various political, cultural, and world event matters. In short, "trivia that matters".

He has a section where you can download music he has composed, which is something I am absolutely chickenshit to do myself. I have files floating on the internet somewhere, but I can't remember where they are. Don also has a list of midi files he has either composed or performed, royalty free, to be downloaded and used. If I ever rebuild my studio and set up shop again, I will be sure to use them.

Thank you, Don!

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So far I have been consistent in seeing shows that I thought would be terrible but at least keep my interest and shows I keep wanting to be good that don't live up to my expectations.

I am currently following a few more shows than I normally would. Primarily they are as follows:

Nisekoi
Mahou Sensou
Witchcraft Works
D-Frag
Chuunibyou yadda yadda
Z/X Ignition
Kill La Kill
Golden Time
Mikakunen de Shinkokei
Sekai Sekufu bla bla Zvezda
Buddy Complex
Tonari no Seki-kun
To Aru Hikushi e no Koiuta

and I think that might be it.


more...

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Turns out it wasn't too bad a story. Much better than the anime.

I truly can't believe I missed the Alucard reference. I guess it shows I paid less attention than I should have.

UPDATE
I just noticed the chapter number of this episode: 66.6.

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Maison Ikkoku was a bit of a departure for Rumiko Takahashi. No space aliens, cursed martial arts aficionados, half human half demons or immortal travelers. Instead, it is a story about real people learning to love and learning to let go.

Widely seen as a slice of life in 1980's Japan, although perhaps without the psychotic fellow tenants. The manga centers around two main characters: Yusaku Godai, a student who can't seem to find the motivation to get through his entrance exams for college placement, and Kyoko Otanashi a widow who has come to be the manager of the boarding house owned by her late husbands family.

Rumiko Takashi is known for long format manga. She specializes in almost real time character development. While an important event always provides a push to her characters, it takes much more than that to make a lasting change. In the case of Yusaku, he grows from being a wimp to learning to stand up for himself. He learns motivation. He learns, most importantly, the difference between infatuation and true love.

Kyoko is somewhat more complicated. First, she must accept that she has a future separate from her late husband. She must come to feel that falling in love again is not a betrayal to her late husband. Last, almost last anyway, she must make the decision between greater love and greater security in deciding between the two men in her life.

I say almost last, because at the end of the story there is a final door she must walk through to move on with her life. It is something that is not mentioned throughout the series, but once revealed, the reader understands that it has been there all along and has influenced the reluctance to move on as much as anything the series spent time on which to focus.

Obvious spoilers to follow..........................

At this point, Kyoko is all  but proposed to. Godai, who finally has become a responsible adult is waiting for the perfect time to spring the question. Her father is dead set against her ever remarrying. He arrives on the scene sick and Godai ends up carrying him to wherever it is they are taking him to get home. Her father is reluctant because he felt helpless towards his precious only daughter after her husband's death. This was something he had no words to help with, no actions to solve and no way to lessen the pain - his or hers. Godai is telling an apologetic Kyoko that he understands her father's point of view. To him, she is and always will be his little girl, but to Godai, she is his most important woman, and would she please marry him.

The reader has known that Kyoko has been waiting for this moment. We know she is anxious to make it official. However she does not agree right away. She asks him to make her a promise. Godai thinks about what she might ask and states that he will never go out drinking with is friends, never to cheat and never to make her live in poverty. She replies that those things might make her mad, but never make her cry. Then she asks, not quite facing him (and the anime absolutely excels here) the question that reveals her final fear:

"Promise me that, even if it is by one day, you'll outlive me. Because I don't think I could  endure being left alone again."

Suddenly all of the reluctance, the jealousy, the doubt we have watched her go through is justified all the more due to something that has never been front and center. The overwhelming risk of pain and loneliness of finally opening your heart again, only to have it crushed by fate.

In all the series I have read and watched, it is one of the most truly special moments. Very well done.

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I was ruminating on two different plot devices with similar purpose. One is foreshadowing, the other best defined as a Chekhov's gun.

While watching Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari for the umpteenth time, I was once again reminded of the better uses of foreshadowing I have seen. Kenshi is the male protagonist. He is from a different world, part of the Masaki family in the Tenchi universe, as this is part of that franchise. He is very good at almost everything, as you might  expect from that lineage and the upbringing it imposes on family members.

As Kenshi is being shown around campus, he is brought to an arena where mock combat takes place. The arena has pillars which can  be raised or lowered to restrict ease of movement. The ones showing him this stress the difficulty of combat in such a field. He looks at the arena with all the pillars raised and makes a throw away comment: "Eh? Is it really that hard?"

Later, when he ends up having to enter into real combat, he draws several enemy into the arena and proceeds to absolutely annihilate his opponents. He uses the pillars to restrict the movements of the enemy, while making use of the structures in ways they have not thought of yet to execute surprising attacks they can't anticipate.

One of the cast who was there at the time, reflects on his earlier comments and understands why he said what he did.

Posted by: topmaker at 06:26 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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Bless you, Phil Everly for the songs you and your brother Don gave us.
Here is a clip from YouTube with Phil and Don on the Johnny cash show. I picked this one because, although it was not one of their hits, it showcased who they were and how they got there.

Their father Ike, Johnny Cash and his brother Tommy were there to help.

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I'm sure there are many sites that let us know what mangas are currently slated to become anime series. I'm also sure that some of these suggestions may already have happened, or are happening. 

Some manga I have read recently seems well suited for anime adaptation. I think this way when a story has great visual strength in its narration, has well drawn out characters, and employs unique twists to the stories. This means it could be telling the same kind of story in a new way, or it could be telling a completely new story I have not seen before. Those are rare, but not impossible. More common are the stories that use a new idea to tell an older story.

There are a few stories I am following that I think would make good anime if and only if, the creators resist the urge to run off in new directions that end up ruining the author's original vision. I would also hope that they wait until a story is finished and not overtake the manga, as often happens.
more...

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Like many of the series I have watched, Steven's review recommended Someday's Dreamers to me. I saw the series and agreed with him on its merits. A very good show, indeed.

I later had the chance to see a very similar series that I could not remember the name of. I knew it had the main character's name in the title, and it was so close to the plot line of Someday's Dreamers that I wondered who stole what from who? I even had Robert trying to help me out. All I remember is it was as good a series as SD was.

I should have thought this might be the case, but it turns out there were two seasons of Someday's dreamers. The second season was tagged with a "Sora" at the end. This was the name of the main character in the series.

It is, in my opinion, every bit as good as the first season, but is profoundly sad at the end. Seriously, there aren't too many shows that find me in tears through an entire one and a half episodes.

When I ever learn how to write up a decent review, I will try to do it justice. Suffice to say that the story draws you  in very well, with excellent character development and plot.

Someday's Dreamers II: Sora.

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So I came across this description of a new (I think) manga:
Kisei Konojo Sana
Knowing the konojo usually means girlfriend and Sana sounds, to these untrained ears, like a female name, I am left wondering about the kisei part. I read the description:

"A wonderful tale of a boy falling in love with his tapeworm"

Indeed.

Posted by: topmaker at 03:35 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Great moments must make an impact on the reader/viewer. They can't just be a good idea, well executed. They have to leave an impression that ultimately makes you glad you put the effort into the project to get to the point. They must reward your investment. They must be special.

These are almost by definition going to have spoilers, so...

Kekkaishi - Manga

Mid way through the anime, about a quarter of the way through the manga, a character named Gen Shishio appears. He is a half ayakashi (demon) loner who has been ostracized most of his life, and has neither aptitude nor inclination to get to know, trust and befriend anyone. This is the case even when he is with other half ayakashi like himself, and is a member of an organization designed to use and help others just like him.  He just doesn't have the skill set necessary to make friends and learn to trust people, until he joins up with Yoshimori and Tokine, the protectors of a land called Karusumori.

Yoshimori is every bit as obstinate as Gen is, but through several trials they form a bond. Tokine, the female lead, through her kindness and tactical sense helps here as well, but it is Yoshimori who really brings Gen into the fold, making the twosome an almost unbeatable threesome in protecting the land that Yoshimori and Tokine's families have been protecting for over 400 years.

During one particular attack, Gen is about to deliver the finishing blow on the strongest opponent they have fought so far when he is ambushed by an extremely good fighter on the enemy's side. He is killed.

His death affects Yoshimori and Tokine in profound ways. Yoshimori in particular is beside himself. He vows revenge on this enemy and is driven to get better, stronger, faster and pushes himself further than he ever has before. He gets his revenge and in the process learns a technique that will later help him build a whole new world of sorts where he creates castles, buildings and characters from scratch.

Towards the end of the manga, when Yoshimori is creating the world that will allow his and Tokine's families to be freed from the responsibility of forever defending the land they are bound to, he gets a bit selfish and creates Gen, and then creates a copy of himself as well. You see them walking off, arm in arm to have adventures anew. This only takes three or four frames and happens so fast and is so unexpected that it really takes you by surprise. That is part of what made it a great moment. It was so well executed that I said "Oh!", and tears started flowing.

Truly a great  moment in manga.

Posted by: topmaker at 02:50 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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So I found a new word today. While reading the Elfen Lied wiki page, it described Kouta, a character I would have put on equal terms with  Kaede/Lucy/Nyuu as the Deuteragonist, or second most important character behind the Protagonist (the aforementioned Nyuu). The wiki article on the term also mentions Tritagonist, or the third most important character.

I had always thought that there could be more than one protagonist, but I suppose I am wrong.

Anyway, I have finally watched Elfen Lied and I have very mixed feelings about it. Nice idea, but the gore is really cranked up to 11 in this series. I mean really.

If I only have two commenters, would they, by default, be the Deuiteragonist and Tritagonist in this post?

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Three Dog Night was one of my favorite bands to listen to while growing  up. The harmonies between the three lead singers were inspiring and spot on. The range the vocalists had was nearly unmatched. They were one of the groups that inspired me to compose songs with an ear towards harmony.

They had lots of hits, most of which were covers of songs written by some great artists. Randy Newman gave them "Mama Told Me Not to Come". Laura Nyro gave them "Eli's Coming". Argent (of "Hold Your Head Up" fame) gave them "Liar".

One of my favorites came from the pen of an artist I really did not think much of in the day. It was probably because his big hits this side of the Atlantic were in the disco era, especially "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing". Leo Sayer wrote "The Show Must Go On", which Three Dog Night turned into a smash. They made a very faithful rendition of the song, as they did with most of their tunes, with one minor word change that either by accident or by design changed the entire meaning of the song.

There's a wonderful live version of Leo Sayer performing the song in make up that seems like a cross between Pierrot and Harlequin (which is kind of ironic in itself):



Three Dog Night left off the scat solo in favor of a calliope instrumental, but the differences did not stop there:



Any artist needs to perform as if they are doing each show the first time, looking fresh and exited to be there. Show after unchanging show gets monotonous at times. In this song the artist sings of his despair and feelings of being trapped in this world. He knows he is being taken advantage of by the producers, who are the ones making the big bucks. He feels the audience demands too much of him, turning from his inspiration to his torment:

Baby, there's an enormous crowd of people, they're all after my blood.
I wish maybe they'd tear down the walls of this theater,
Let me out, let me out.

Here's the difference: In the original version, Leo Sayer sings that he's had enough. He's through. He sings "... but I won't let the show go on."

Three Dog Night, however, goes the opposite route. They will persevere, in spite of the torture: "...But I must let the show go on."

At first I determined that Three Dog Night's version was the more positive. I still think so, but only from the perspective of the paying audience, and the standard theatrical attitude. The artist himself is trapped in his nightmare, always suffering for the sake of his art (and presumably, a paycheck). 

Leo Sayer's performer is giving up and getting out. Maybe it is bad for the audience (but they might enjoy a fresh performer with more enthusiasm better) and certainly bad for his bank account, but his piece of mind, maybe even his sanity, will be the better for it.

Looking deeper into the lyrics, the Three Dog Night version makes a bit less sense, since the last verse has him pleading with his friend/lover to help him leave:

Baby, I wish you'd help me escape, help me get away. Leave me outside my address - far away from this masquerade.

It does seem to make more sense that he wants out for good.

One word. Big difference.

Posted by: topmaker at 02:37 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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So I kept hearing good things about Ai Yori Aoshi, a romantic comedy / faux harem comedy. I heard this even from Robert who is not prone to recommendations. That was the deal clincher for me. I decided to give it a go and just finished both seasons.

In a nutshell, Kaoru has left his family due to very harsh abuse administered by the patriarch (his Grandfather). While growing up his family entered into a marriage pact with another family, whose daughter, Aoi, happened to love Kaoru from the first time she met him, at a very young age.

After Kaoru left, the pact was dissolved which devastated Aoi. She had spent her youth learning how to be the ideal wife, not for just anybody, but for him. She builds up enough courage and leaves her very sheltered environment to find him, going on an address she happened to have, which was sketchy at best.

Kaoru finds Aoi lost in a train station. Neither recognize the other right away. She tells him she's looking for her fiance and he helps her get to an area in a neighborhood very close to his. He invites her into his apartment for a respite and, while musing on how lucky her fiance must be to have someone so cute and devoted as she, sees a picture she carries of the two of them when they were little. This sets the series off and running.

I am not prone to love the romantic comedy genre in the first place, but I can appreciate anything done really well. Simply put, the first four episodes floored me.  The mood was always just gentle enough. the characters were instantly likeable, and the feeling was romantic. There was one scene where the two characters were staring at each other, saying nothing. A bad romantic comedy might have had someone interrupt them, or have them turn away from each other, or even (ugh) get all angsty. In this case I thought to myself "laugh", and they did. That was the case so many times here. I would think "tell him how you feel" knowing that it almost never works that way - and yet she would tell him, or he would tell her. I was surprised and so happy I had finally found a truly special series. This went on time after time.

Then came episode five.

All of a sudden, this became a harem comedy. Granted, a "faux" harem comedy, because you always know who the main couple is and always will be, but all the elements of a harem comedy are there. Other characters start to intrude in their lives and start to develop feelings for the male lead. I was disheartened and dreaded what I knew would be coming. Accidental breast gropes, drunken buffoonery, clingy rivals, all the standard tropes of the harem comedy. Sure enough, all those things happened, but in this series, I didn't actually mind them. There is a reason all this stuff is done in harem shows: done well, this stuff can be funny. Done with care, and infrequently, the plot can be advanced and characters can be developed.

These two characters truly care for each other, and are not about to be swayed by happenstance. The female lead does not get all pissy and violent, a la Love Hina. The male does not get all bloody nose horny, nor does he run screaming trying to deny the circumstance a la any number of shows. He doesn't have to. He knows honesty will work and she will understand. She knows there is a reason for whatever happens because - here is a concept! she trusts him. Another thing unusual in harem shows is that he gets out of potentially embarrassing situations without the inevitable discovery and ensuing shock and awe. There is a scene where one of the potential love interests finds herself in a compromising position with the male lead. She tries to help the male lead get out of the area so he is not discovered, and holy schmolies, it works! That almost never happens.

One character who is by design an over the top hyper exaggerated foreigner (American, of course - that trope never changes) is one of two very annoying characters in the series. The way the writers develop her, by the end of the series, she is one of the most sympathetic characters in the bunch. It was wonderful to see that change happen so well, you hardly noticed it.

 In most rom coms (as they are wont to be called) the characters are too embarrassed or afraid to tell each other their feelings at least until near the end. Aoi tells Kaoru fairly early she loves him. It doesn't take too long before he tells her the same. They hold hands when they can. They reassure each other that they are together and hope to be forever. It really changes the attitude this viewer had towards the situations they find themselves in, because I knew they would be strong enough to deal with it.

In Japanese culture, the "first kiss" is a very special moment. In romantic comedies, there is almost always some kind of interruption, accident or other intrusion that scotches the deal. While something similar happens in this series, the author uses it as a showcase of how much Aoi trusts Kaoru. Finally, when it is time for their first moment together, I kept waiting for the interruption, the intrusion, the head bump or the pratfall. I dare say the creators knew it, and deliberately took their time.

Then - they kissed. it was a wonderful moment and it shocked me for how much did not happen. This continues tyhoughout the series. It was all handled so well, that, at one of the few times they were interrupted, it was both funny and poignant. It actually surprised me when it happened and it was a funny little moment, instead of a predictable disappointment.

There is a strong hint towards the end of the second season where it is suggested that the couple takes the relationship to the next level. This was handled with so much class, and dignity, I was smiling. When the couple arrives back home afterwards, they see the only other character who had an idea this might have happened. There was a simple, small, non verbal exchange between Aoi and this character that was so well done I almost cheered upon seeing it. It added to the moment instead of embellished it.

Other series should take note.

 

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