So, like all otaku, I did my duty.  I climbed Mount Kunlun to pay homage to Haruhi and vote in the International Saimoe League 2009 Aquamarine Period — Round 5 elections. I am a blogger of Anime Diet, moritheil, making an obvious reference.

While this isn’t the original Saimoe we all love to gripe about, ISML is vastly simplified.  This directly benefits the participants in that it does not feel like working a second job.  The staff have also gone to extra lengths to be inclusive of international crowds and their submissions – some might argue too inclusive.  See this for Touhou-related drama.

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As evidenced in this wonderful (though still incomplete) video:

That it really, really fits proves my point. Though I still think Kare Kano is ultimately the more insightful show.

This is making me want to go back and watch Kare Kano again. Or imagine what Toradora! would have been like in the hands of Hideaki Anno…one can only dream.

(HT: bluemist.)

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This work relies on stereotypes, but it uses them with a deft touch.  The villains and heroes are easily identifiable as such, magic is obvious, and there is an alternate dimension locked in desperate struggle, in stark opposition to the daily lives of the teenaged protagonists.

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Animation: 85%
Acting: 90%
Music/Sound: 80%
Story: 88%
Overall: 85%
See explanation of scores.

Toradora is the standard-setter anime about high school shounen romance. It does for high school love what Kare Kano does for adolescence in general and Honey and Clover did for post-adolescence–and that well-defined scope is both its strength and its ultimate limitation.

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Yes, moritheil has become a discussion partner in this revival of our Face Off feature! Please enjoy this rather meta-level discussion about whether anime can be treated like art or not.

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Alteil is a web-based CCG whose claim to fame is that many famous mangaka were commissioned to draw the images.  It bills itself as “Japan’s #1 online card game” and is designed for the grown-up gamer who has a life and doesn’t want to spend more than 10 minutes per game on average.

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 Anime Diet Radio Episode 33 (AAC) [51:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1158)

 

 Anime Diet Radio Episode 33 (MP3) [51:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (307)

 

 Episode 33 Xtra: Maid Cafes (MP3) [2:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (448)

EDIT: Counters fixed.

This late episode, recorded a while back, may be tuneless–as might be expected when seiyuus since punk rock songs–but it is a lot LOUDER thanks to the Levelator software! We’re louder than bombs, as another band might say. And we’re going to bombard you with news about Taiga on city posters, teachers forcing girls to be maids, and Dutch wives in the trash bin.

But the center piece–or the horror show, as it were–is our Roundtable about the Puncolle Seiyuu Punk Rock Collection of songs, in which seiyuu desecrate cover various classic punk and alternative tunes. The results, in which we present a good number of clips, are either horrifying or horrifically funny.

Anyways, enjoy this latest outing from Anime Diet Radio. Leave your comments below; we will do our best to answer them on the air!

PS: sorry we didn’t get your comment in time, asdf–but know that the massively improved clarity of our voices is due to your suggestions and links. Seriously–thanks so much!

Show Order

• –(00:00–02:48) Intro
• –(02:48–08:50) News 1: Taiga Inspects Your Home
• –(08:50–14:13) News 2: Teacher Forces Girl to be a Maid
• –(14:13–22:09) News 3: Man Throws Out Dutch Wife in the Trash
• –(22:09–33:26) Mailbag
• –(33:26–49:58) Roundtable: Seiyuus Go Punk
• –(49:58–50:48) Conclusion
• –(50:48–end) Back Bumper

Show Notes

• –OP: “Brave Your Truth,” by Daisy x Daisy (OP to Chrome Shelled Regios)
• –ED: “Basket Case,” performed by Ikezara Haruna (with apologies to Green Day)
• –The Taiga home inspection poster story is found on Sankaku Complex [http://tinyurl.com/cpd6u4].
• –Japan Today has the story about the teacher forcing the girl to dress as a maid [http://tinyurl.com/am5nbr].
• –Pink Tentacle reported the story about the man who trashed his sex doll [http://tinyurl.com/5kxebv].
• –Finally, Youtube has all the Puncolle songs available for streaming listening [http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=tagglebear&view=videos]. Yes, all of them. If you dare.

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Blue Dragon Plus, a strategy RPG in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics for the Nintendo DS, turns out to be a pretty easy-to-learn and engaging game so far. It avoids some of the pitfalls I encountered with FF Tactics and proves to be a good way to pass the time.

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O Pocky! My Pocky! our shopping trip is done;
The pack has weather’d every press, the space we sought is won;
The chair is near, the squeals I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the slender line, the package red and daring:
But O mouth! mouth! mouth!
O the tell-tale drops of phlegm,
Where on the bench my pocky lies,
Fallen prey to them.

O Pocky! My Pocky! Rise up and hear the crunch!
Rise up! For you the flag is flung; for you the panties bunch!
For you cold plates and milk in cups; for you the mouths a-gaping;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their joweled cheeks a-draping;
Here pocky! Dear snack!
This arm beneath your stem;
It is some dream that from the pack
You’ve fallen prey to them.

My Pocky does not answer, its base is pale and still;
My chocolate does not feel my arm, it has no pulse nor will;
The groceries are safe and sound, their voyage closed and done;
From fearful tack, the promised snack, comes in with Pocky won;
Exult, O fans, and ring, O cells!
But I, with morunful hymn,
Walk the ground my Pocky lies,
Fallen prey to them.

With apologies to Walt Whitman, who originally composed O Captain! My Captain! about the death of Abraham Lincoln.

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From ANN -

Sky Crawlers’ Oshii PLans 1 Anime, 2 Live-Action Films

…the writer and director known for the…revealed his upcoming film plans at a Friday event to mark the DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases of…in Tokyo…one of the projects will be aimed at film connoisseurs and will have a penny-pinching budget…

Ray’s take: Wow, Mr. Pretentious with a shoestring budget, very nice. I guess we can expect endless monologues about the meaning being human, eh? You know, I could do that while eating pizza and drinking beer, and hey, if I remember to put a flower into a beer bottle at the end of the film and remember to add some monologue, I may win an indie film award! I guess I want to see the one with epic eroticism and violence. I just hope I’ll stay in my seats after I finish jerking off!

P.S. To our international readers, I’m very sorry for the very American references.

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