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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Mike: Candy Boy: 90% sugar. 10% kinky. 0% boy!

Ray: It’s the sweetest thing – if only women were that great. In real life, I always meet AP’s – American Princesses, whether they’re Taiwanese American Princesses, Korean American Princesses, Japanese American Princesses (queens), or other kinds. Some of them don’t even live in the US!

However, in this case, there’s only a sweet, tender relationship and most importantly, no men.

Mike: Actually, no one else, period, except for Saku and Shi.

Ray: It’s like Friends, only with 4 girls! It’s so perfect!

Mike: I was waiting for the moment where it would suddenly be revealed that Kana and Yuki are not actually blood related.

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Ray:I’m wondering if I should continue to watch White Album. It’s…frankly, seemingly a little plain vanilla.

Mike: You know, I think that’s a good description of it. It felt very bland and unfocused. The character interactions were very flat.

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Mike: While I really enjoyed many parts of Kurozuka, I think you definitely got into it more than I did. At least until the end, I was more or less watching it like an action show.

There really were only two fundamental questions on my mind:
1.) What is Kuromitsu really up to?
2.) What’s going to happen when Kuro finally faces the Red Emperor?

#1 is more or less answered.
#2 is what’s so confusing.

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Ray:It’s more like, no I just don’t feel like doing it, therefore I can’t. Again, how has guts, passion and hard work changed?

Mike:In Gunbuster, it’s assumed. In Diebuster, it has to be recovered. (Well–arguably, Nono always believes in it.) Both Gunbuster and Diebuster feature really, really outrageous battle scenes which are powered by konjo–and said so explicitly.

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vs.

Mike: I shed a tear at the end of Gunbuster. What an awesome piece of work. My Hideaki Anno shrine just got bigger again.

Ray: Yes! Yessss! That, my friend, is the awesomest work ever.

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Mike: So I watched 4 episodes of Akane-iro last night. It’s really not terrible. It was actually pretty funny sometimes. I wouldn’t call it great; I’m not even sure I’d call it good. But it was watchable and amusing at times, though predictable.

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Ray: [Mouryou no Hako is] too slow paced and by the 10 minute mark I got bored. No, it’s not yaoi, I get that, but I honestly don’t see it as a great show. It’s just dressed up with surealism and bizzaro-ness.

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 Audio Face Off 1 - DMC [15:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (798)

Here’s a little experiment–an audio version of one of our now-regular feature, the Face Off. Here, we have a rambling conversation about the recently concluded Detroit Metal City, one of the most outrageous and yet hilarious comedies to come along in anime in a while. We talk not only about the final episode but also about the manga, and why there doesn’t seem to be any bands today that are like DMC.

As befits a show of its nature–this audio file is tagged “Explicit” in iTunes. Unless you want your kid to be like Krauser-tan, we suggest, as Negishi does, that your child listen to something else. :)

Ray: I can’t seem to remember a Madhouse production that I didn’t like. And Kurozuka is the surprise hit of the season for me. It’s simply…too…awesome!

Mike: I have to say, we really need more “mature” stories like this one. There is a wonderful soundtrack, fluid battle animation, and one of those epic concepts that easily could have become cheesy–love that crosses the distance of time–but it actually works.

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