I don’t know. Maybe the manga does so much more, maybe the manga is more striking. I’m just spectulating because I haven’t seen the manga.

For a show that got a lot of attention beforehand, I feel underwhelmed. But there are couple of good elements:

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Madhouse Home Page

A few weeks ago, I sent an email to Madhouse, asking them to check out the petition and thanking them for their efforts. I will disclose the email here (forgive my terrible Japanese, please). The email is to Director Mr. Tanaka and Character Designer Mr. Umehara:

拝啓：田中洋之殿と梅原隆弘殿 Dear Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Umehara – クラモア

わたしの日本語わ全然駄目ですが、これわ大切のことかもうしれません。もし時間があだら、すごしめでください。

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YOTSUBANE, makers of danmaku game Crimzon Clover, offer a web demo.  The demo was previously released at Comiket 77, and an earlier version was released at Comiket 76.

The older version.

Japanese gamer NGD reviewed an earlier version, suggesting that parts were loud, flashy, or outright ugly, especially during BREAK mode, but admitting that overall it was “surprisingly good” despite these shortcomings.

European reception to the present version seems to be centered on its high production values and difficulty.  Comparisons to Do-Don Pachi Daifukkatsu and Ketsui have been made.

BREAK mode.

As a demo, the game contains only three stages and an incomplete third boss fight.

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You know, it’s been such a long time to see pure fan service goodness without elements such as twisted plots, lame attempts for innovation, flashing pictures showing scenes at awkward angles (no I’m not talking about Eva) or any orchestral music reaching way too high (not even up a skirt) in attempts to achieve a sense of “better service show with a heart”. Maybe there were some other shows like such in the past few seasons, but few do everything so well and so successfully as this one.

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Okay, I realize that despite all of the kind words & love shared about on these pages pertaining to the origin of our excellent mascot, that it perhaps requires explanation. To be completely honest, a lot of this screed comes from where we as lovers of such a medium come to get our regular fix. Whether it be within the confines of a local video outlet, or from the comfort of our own homes. Whether we enjoy harem shows, or straight slice-of-life dramas. The fact of the matter remains that Lucky Star never had a chance in a Top Ten of my composition.

And so comes the requisite “Whys” that this recent icon has slipped the grasp of this potentially perplexed writer.

So fess up. Did you just not enjoy Lucky Star? What the what?

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Stop it before it penetrates the sky!

What defines Aika Zero? The fact that it deliberately imitates fetish porn? The fact that the overarching target for the first story arc is a giant phallus, which must be destroyed before it succeeds in emptying its fiery load? The fact that the show goes further than the original Aika, blurring the line between titillation and parody of pornographic content?

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Note: The following event is real, and may not be safe for work.  This article was produced after repeated requests for details by readers on Twitter.  It may shock you, as it certainly shocked the author.

There was a lot of tongue.

That thought was the first to slip through as my mind unchained myself of its shock. I was standing in a grocery store and not ten paces away, a pair of pigtailed girls who might have been sisters were being very affectionate with each other.

While that ordinarily would have caused me to assume a publicity stunt and look for hidden cameras, they also didn’t look a day over ten.

Somehow, I had stumbled upon exhibitionist lolis. Real, live, in-the-flesh, twin-tailed, possibly incestuous, exhibitionist lolis.

Not quite like this grin. But not entirely dissimilar.

Let’s be honest. I don’t know what the normal reaction to such an event is. I’m guessing there is no normal reaction, because this event falls outside the realm of “normal.” My reaction was to blink, rub my eyes, and re-open them only to find one of the girls looking up at me with a grin and a knowing look on her face. It was truly baffling. Was that expression mischief? The confession of an innocent prankster? Was it something else? In another context, in another time, that grin could be taken any number of different ways.

Noise sounded, and parents arrived. One sister slid deftly out of the other’s arms and they began pulling at each other’s hair, chasing each other around fruit stands, giggling and shouting, slipping effortlessly back into the fabric of normal behavior. Only the faint, glistening sheen of saliva on one girl’s neck as it caught the light, and the wicked twinkle in the other’s eye, remained to tell that anything had ever been out of the ordinary.

What had I just seen?

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Our correspondent Kona-chan (tukasakagami) just informed us that thanks to Lucky Star and its usage of the shrine at the Town of Washimyiya, Saitama, they have gained 10 billion yen in total thanks to the Lucky Star Phenomenon.

We all know that Otaku from all over Japan travels to the shrine thanks to the success of the anime. The highest number of visitors reached 450,000.

Knowing that aside from the New Years Pilgrimage, usually people don’t really care to go to shrines in Japan. But thanks to Lucky Star, the amount of visitors going to the shrine has been amazing.

A certain Mr. Sakata sold sweet buns to the visitors.

Cards of the Hiiragi sisters were sold for great success.

The number of people increased 50000 to 1400000 in ‘08.

Just goes to show the power of anime, eh?

For rest of the facts and stats, see Manichi JP.

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You’ve probably seen my report, but we also said that we wanted to offer some pics and footage from others at the Anime Galaxy Haruhi event–and lo and behold, we got some! Thanks to Minh Phan for the photos in the gallery above (his original Flickr gallery is here).

The experience was surprisingly brief, but intense. Anime Galaxy is a relatively enclosed space compared to a convention hall, and the number of fans gathered on a smaller scale–though by the near-end of the event it had gotten quite full. The TV crew took up quite a bit of room for one, and there was a coterie of sign-wielders with such fan-friendly slogans as YUKI IS A SLUT and ENDLESS EIGHT SHOULD BE ENDLESS. (You can see them in the middle of my live report, when I interview them.)

Our first experiment with live streaming reporting was a great learning experience. I found that the most difficult thing about it, aside from the various sound problems and the shakiness of the video (exacerbated by the staggered quality of the stream), was the dead time–the filling in of space when there were no interviews, nothing much going on. In our usual video diaries, those would of course be edited out, but there is no editing in a live stream–I had to figure out sometimes things to say in between or simply let it run. It’s a style of reporting that I still need to become accustomed to.

Still, I’m glad we were able to get much of the event down on record of some sort, and give a glimpse of what is possible with a humble iPhone and an Internet connection. This was a worthy first try. If you want some clearer video, Kuronekopi also took some footage of a couple of interviews–including one with the “Man-Haruhi” dressed in the bunny girl outfit. He also caught the interview with the two lovely Mikuru and Haruhi concert cosplayers that happened after I shut off my video. See if you can catch me in the background of the Man-Haruhi interview video!

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know you are all probably sick and tired of all the top ten lists by now, but hopefully there is enough variety between the different editors to keep you blissfully amused…   Besides, a decade only ends once every ten years.  It’s special.

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