The feature that everyone expected to be dead - probably including myself - returns for a second edition of quick ramblings about nothing in particular.
It’s pretty much as the title says in terms of the three topics - a call to arms about the upcoming anime convention in San Jose, new enlistments in the integrated blogroll, and a rave about the strangely delicious mix of books and guns, so check it out.
Just Tell Me You’ve Got Candy
Meeting total strangers from the internet? Sign me up!
Seriously, I’ve confirmed my plans to head to Fanime 2008 all weekend, from May 23-26, so I was considering perhaps to have a little meet-up with other local area bloggers, if any others are attending (and happen to read M3. Yay, unintentional elitism!). Just drop me a comment or something if you’re interested, or if you just have any tips for a first-time Fanime attendee.
I’ve attended Anime Overdose / Anime On Display before but I’ve heard Fanime is ten times bigger, so it will definitely be something. Time to learn that art of wallet control-fu.
Now Everyone Gather In A Circle Now
Updated the ‘blogroll’ a bit - that’s the bar you see at the top and bottom that asks ‘Do you read…’ - with five new blogs that I’ve been reading on a regular basis. And by new I mean ‘probably read by everyone already but just trickled down to me’. So yeah, blog pimping like the harem overlord I am:
Baka-Raptor: Apparently my sense of popularity is a little out of whack; I didn’t know much about this blog until I stumbled across it from God Knows where, and I assumed it was under the radar, but it gets a million and one comments on every post, so it must be doing well. Still, I’m far too happy to be part of … uh … Baka-Raptor’s (any incident of me calling him otherwise in the comments is made up despite the fact that this afternote was added after the comment was made in a sort of paradoxial time paradox paradox thing) harem, as his posts have a immediately recgonizable style (when I’m not ripping it off; the recent spring season comparison posts were based off of his) and they’re really hilarious to read.
Shameful Otaku Secret!: I guess it’s not much of a secret anymore; I was under the impression otou-san’s blog was a bit unknown, but gaining in readership. And it should. It’s funny stuff, it’s where I stole the Fanservice Fight (a.k.a. “Ecchi Deathmatch” over there) concept from, and it makes episode recaps entertaining to read. Plus, the site has a great design, personally.
Omonomonoomonmomonomnomnomnomomnohno: You should probably know this one by now, even if you don’t know how to spell it. (I just remember it “O mono mono” but I think it’s pronounced differently.) Great analysis slash editorial slash deep reading stuff.
Anime wa Bakuhatsu da!: Birds of a feather flock together, or something. I like OGT’s writing, probably because it sounds all too familiar to me. It’s the kind of light analysis / editorial stuff with a touch of episode recap that I try to compose.
orz: One, is “swiss cheese porn” part of the name, and two, will I get thousands more hits for typing that? drmchsr0, or whatever we call him now, I first remembered as “that one guy who flames and swears a lot”, which sounds really common on the internet, but among passive anime bloggers, less so. But then I realized he makes some really good points beneath it all, so I filed him with Tyrenol as “guys who scare me yet I should probably listen to them most of all”, people who make points contrary to everyone else and have to scream to make it heard. But you probably know all this as he’s a pretty established name, so I’m just writing the prelude to a slash fic here … or something equally non-sequitur that hopefully will not get taken and run away with. I prefer lk x Sat-chan myself … does that count as hetero?
Additionally, I liked reading neko’s thinkbox as well for no apparent reason, but that seems to have gone a bit quiet. We managed to kick Epic Win back to life … we’ll see how this one goes.
In a Library Far, Far Away…
Haven’t gotten enough material or content to write a full post about Toshokan Sensou (a.k.a. Library War) yet, but it’s apparent enough already ,that it is great fun to watch, and quite possibly one of my favorite spring season shows.
ItaKiss is quickly rising up the ranks while Special A tries to hold on in the shoujo category, but Toshokan Sensou looks to pull ahead on a slightly different track, offering content for both genders - evidenced by how it has a manga adaptation in both shonen and shoujo magazines.
On the surface Toshokan Sensou is a bit frilly, a sort of lighthearted comedy with a dash of romance. You see this in the everyday life of Iku (Kasahara), the female protagonist, who doesn’t think twice about going into comic, chibi interludes as she struggles to get along with the people of the Library Defense Force, whether it be the the two calm, collected characters who frequently make well-targeted quips, or the two contrasting officers who seem to be in love with her (and frequently humiliate her in matters of more importance).
Toshokan Sensou is good in this regard, as it is fun to watch Kasahara doing her daily duty, and seeing the subtle relationships between her and the other members of the Task Force. It’s rather similar to what I liked in Special A, the way Dojo both protects and insults Kasahara by not letting her do a lot of the heavy lifting.
But Toshokan Sensou has a second side, one that I find intriguing as well, and that of course is the more action-based side, with a dash of war politics. I’m about as well versed in this genre as a harem lead is versed in handling five girls at once without getting his head served to him on a boat, which might be why I enjoy the simple yet tense firefights in Toshokan Sensou.
The standoff at the private library in episode 3 is an example of what I enjoy most about it; the music complemented the scene well, giving it an energetic feel at times and at other times adding to the mood when the situation was at critical moments. There were interesting things to watch for, such as seeing the different tactics of the Defense Force (non-lethal blows, focused more on - you guessed it - defense) and the Cleansing Force (win at whatever means possible - except, apparently, for bringing out a rocket launcher).
And the little things, like the way the Defense Force keeps the war in balance and in control by leaving a carton for the Cleansing Force. It’s an interesting move, because it helps both sides feel like they won, and prevents the war from escalating into a large-scale conflict with lots of casualties, something that at least one side wants to avoid. It looks like a tense peace in Japan at the moment, and they question is whether it is moving more towards or away from escalation.
Or, the other question, whether the show plans to move more towards one end of the spectrum or the other, in terms of serious versus lighthearted. It works well as a mix, but I hope it can stay strong individually if necessary.
It’s really a show that takes the term “guns and girls” to the next level … since it’s not the type of girls usually portrayed in such a show.
-CCY
(In news of the other, I watched one episode of Kure-nai and it made my head hurt. I’ll try again soon.)
This post is tagged blog general, Conventions, Rapidfire, Toshokan Sensou
12 Comments
Thanks for the good word! I’m honored to be in such great company.
Toshokan Sensou didn’t immediately catch me, but it’s growing on me for sure. It’s got the kind of decent female lead you don’t see in these shows normally, and its premise is so incredibly retarded you can’t help but abandon all logic and just enjoy it.
It’s about damn time you added me! Welcome to the harem (although my name isn’t Azrael, that’s the Gaijin Smash guy).
No, your sense of popularity isn’t out of whack. My page rank is still zero. Yours is three. Shameful Otaku Secret, Omonomono, Anime wa Bakuhatsu da, and Orz are all 4’s. Long story short, you ripped off a zero. Shame on you, that’s like stealing from the blind.
Anyway, here’s how you found me:
1. I asked my readers which blogs they read
2. One of them told me about you
3. I added you to my blogroll
4. Somebody clicked their way to you
5. You clicked your way back to me
I’m also assuming that since you listed me first, you like me better than the other guys (yes, I said GUYS, I assume all anime bloggers are men until proven otherwise). Thanks.
tip:
omo + no + mono = omonomono
@otou-san: I’ve seen most people refer to Toshokan Sensou as a retarded premise, for some reason. Perhaps it’s just the paranoiac in me that sees it as vaguely plausible in an information-controlling 1984-esque society; although, the warring govt.-sponsored forces, less so.
@Baka-Raptor: If, perhaps, I did make that naming error which you are referring to, of which there was none, I would question myself as to what substances I would be abusing in order to potentially make that mistake. Which, of course, did not happen.
Sweet, I’m a three, that high? Oh wait… my blog … dissapointment again. If I stole from a high-rank page I’d have to write like this:
“free kanon reviews haruhi reviews clannad reviews hot analysis blogger-on-show action free no charge crack amateur writer make posts quick free did I mention free already?”
Also, you’ve referred more people to me over the last month than anything that’s not a aggregator. Some zero you are.
@omo: “Omo’s thing”? You’ve dispelled all the illusion of someone thinking of Bobobobobobobobobobo. It made more sense that “Omo’s monkey” in any case, from the Spanish perspective.
Most of those visitors were probably me. I use my blogroll as a launchpad for visiting other blogs. The RSS thing still hasn’t grown on me.
I read Fahrenheit 451 a long time ago and remember thinking that was relatively plausible, but something about the whole paramilitary library angle just struck me as anime-world-only.
Not a problem, though, really… suspension of disbelief is still easy as long as a story sets up its own rules and then sticks to them. Toshokan Sensou is doing a great job of that so far.
Baka-Raptor still being PR zero is borderline criminal, but if I passed up 3 it’s news to me. This calls for a drink!
Toshokan Sensou’s premise retarded??? How there they!
Doujou’s treatment of Kasahara is at least more justified that Special A’s weak excuse of wrestling mishaps *swt* It’s war, there’s guns, people die! Over books! Of course he has to look out for her! Of course she’ll have to prove to him that she doesn’t need that kind of special treatment!
Those who find the premise retarded just don’t like books enough :P
Tsukasa is NOT Cirno.
And I fear what you might do with my less-than-stellar rep. or not.
If there’s a specific time and date, I may be able to come into the Valley, get one-day on-site registration. Make sure to post an announcement.
@Author: I’ll make sure to post something soon if I can manage to get something together.
I’ll be at Fanime, of course. Whole weekend.
A bit late, but I just wanted to say I’m active again… somewhat. Also, sorry for going AWOL in such a disrespectful manner, I didn’t expect anyone to notice it - I should have known better and at least have said something - but also thank you for your concern ;)
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