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Monday, July 24, 2006
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Experimental Comic Kotone #477 "Laika 42"
(Story Arc: Laika story arc)

Comic Strip

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"Laika 42" by Akira
(2006-07-24)

Hmm... I want to redraw Jung a bit, but I kind of enjoyed drawing Laika with short hair.

Please write your comment to this strip at pOnju forum

Tuesday, July 25, 2006
"Summer Wrap Up" by Konstantin
(2006-07-25)

This just about covers this anime season's remaining shows. Looks like this summer isn't as prolific as spring was, but it still took me the better part of a month to sample everything.

Bokura ga Ita - I've been a big fan of Akitaro Daichi ever since Kodocha, and it looks like he has yet another winner on his hands with this show. Considering the deluge of entries in the high school romance genre, it takes a good source manga and a talented director to make an anime that really stands out, and if the first episode is anything to go by, Bokura ga Ita is one of the few shows that manage it. Kept getting a certain KareKano vibe throughout the episode, which is always a good sign. Needless to say, this one looks like a keeper, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in shoujo romance.

Binbou Shimai Monogatari - A cute but maudlin slice-of-life show about two young sisters trying to make do after their mother dies and their father runs off. The characters are likeable and the art is pretty (if a bit on the low budget side animation-wise), but I think the show ends up laying it on a bit too thick in the sentimentality department. Generally I'm a big fan of this sort of slow character-driven anime where nothing in particular happens, but I really think it would have benefited quite a bit from a more subtle approach without hammering in the poor-but-happy message. In the end I think it's a neat but flawed little show that, while not deserving of an outright plonk, doesn't really warrant a spot on my viewing schedule either.

Tonagura! - You've seen one post-Love Hina ecchi comedy, you've seen them all. This one seems to be better done than most, but in the end the characters feel like cardboard cutouts (jiggling ones at that) and most of the jokes are of the pervert sees panties and gets pummeled variety. The show's one redeeming feature is Marie, who is made of win and awesome, though it could be just my weakness for gun-toting lolis talking (moe~). Still, she's not enough to rescue Tonagura from being a generic jiggle-fest, so I'm giving this one a pass.

Chokotto Sister - This show, on the other hand, doesn't feel like it's even trying. Maybe a single episode is not enough to establish plot or character, but what I've seen so far has been alternately ridiculous, hackneyed, annoying, and boring. In a word, *plonk*.

Thursday, July 27, 2006
"The Analysis of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 2" by Totaku
(2006-07-27)

Ok, I'm going to go ahead and finish up what I last started here...so let's continue...

Warning: the following are possible spoiler to the anime Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsi, if you wish not to be revealed alot regarding the anime, then please avoid this rant

Episode Highlights

Perhaps one of the coolest things about Haruhi were the plenty of wonderful highlifgts the show had to offer there are so many I'm not sure I can count them all, but I know they're are plenty and everyone who sat through it sort of had thier fave. ^^

Watching Haruhi get a computer from the Computer Club That part of that episdoe was one of the most unusally funny highlights I recalled I enjoyed alot. Cause I never expected Haruhi to pull such a dirty trick to get the Club priseident to give them a computer. XD Haruhi you sometimes surprise me. ^^

The final bit of the investigation on the Island During the moment when Haruhi went and explained to everyone in a long detailed session about the "mystery" that occured and why the owner of the villa wasn't really dead. I couldn't help but watch Haruhi and Itsuki do jesters based completely off of Phinox Wright: Ace Attorny for the Nintendo DS. That moment itself deserved alot of praise.

The battle of the Cave Criket This one had me laughing all over the place. XD I couldn't help it since there were so many refference thrown into this one. Hearing Itsuki shout out Fuumofu! and Second Raid was a total win for me...but also seeing the cricket get "healed" by a bettle had me rolling all over the place. Truely funny and interesting at the same time. XD

The Nagato vs. Asakura Battle Words cannot discribe the beauty of this battle. This was one fight that truely blew me away all together. To be honest, it is as if they almost read my mind how I wanted an epic fight to be like because ovserving all the elements that lfashed by and watching Yuki and Asakura battle each other out was truely remarkable.....no way can I exactly put this into word....except....beautiful.....

Day of Sagitarrius III This little game that Haruhi's team played against the Computer Club team was actually very nicely done. Wonderful CG graphics, lots of crazy Gundam refferences (and a censored Gundam to kick too .XD) And a game that actually looked intresting to play..in fact I hear some people in Japan are trying to recreate Day of Sagitarius III as we speak...if it ever comes out, I'm getting it.

The Rock Concert This moment truely won in so many ways....Every once in a while I like to hear animes do music perfromances cause they make me feel happy and have this since of calmness to hear the charaters sing thier hearts out.....But this rock concert turely blew everything thing out of the water. It was such a nicely done rock concert and very mind blowing....Considering the voice actress that plays Haruhi is also a singer as well indicated a massive win in this part. Once again, a vary moving rock concert, this will be very hard to beat....

Dreaming in Closed Space The final episode won very hard for it's epic musical that plays near the end as Haruhi and Kyon escape from the Blue Giants as Kyon tries to convince Haruhi that they need to return to the world he beloongs in...and it ended on a very unique and pleasent note to. ^^

The Dance Do you think I wouldn't mention this? The dance from the ending was perhaps one of the most highly budgeted ending I've seen in a long time. And done so well. It's no wonder the Haruhi Dance ending has caught so many peoples' interest (both in good and bad ways) I look forward to seeing the animecons here doing the dance....it'll blow the con out of the water. XD

Out of Order or Chronological: Which is better?

This is probably one of the most heavly debated things regarding Haruhi was that the show originally aired out of order and sometimes people wondered if it would work just as well in order. Some watched it in either or both methods and I've questioned myself is watching Haruhi in either of these fromat worth it as in which one is better or are they both just as equally strong in their own way.

I've seen the show in the orginal out of order sequence and personally from my view I like how it developed in the out of order format. It had this unusal Pulp Fiction like format which sorta helped mainly justl ike the film served as a method to helping us get to know the charaters very well. To me it started off a little slow and awckward, and then we being to see the charaters as we learn about them as they develop as the stroy begin to become more interesting depsite it being out of order. Plus it sort seemed better this way because it kept things interesting for me since it save some of the most epic parts for the late part of the show building the tension up.

I originally thought that seeing it in the order format might not work because looking how the show fuction alot of the strong stuff would happen in the beginning and then all of the lesser stuff would close the show and the sense of calmness might not word for it. Epecially with the last episode which was a long pace of complete clamness...

However I found someone who watched the show Chonologically. His name is Water and if you been to the Tsunami Channel forum then you might be familar with him. He was one of the few that watched the show chonologically and to from what he explained to me I was rather impressed since it sounded like it was almost as good as watching it naturally. I'll quote a stament from him.
"I think the creators of Suzumiya Haruhi deserve a lot of credit, not only for bringing Haruhi to life in anime, but the way the anime itself was put together too. By putting it out of order they've given the viewer two choices about how they want it to end: there's the very exciting, end with a bang, aired order ending, and then there's the rather quiet, mellow Haruhi order ending. And really, episode nine (the actual ending) doesn't seem any less of an ending than episode fourteen. Like you said, it's the most boring episode in the whole series, but you get the impression they're just taking it easy, enjoying each other's company after all the crazy stuff they've done. Haruhi dresses up Mikuru in crazy clothes for old-times sake, Yuki enjoys reading, (as usual) and at the end Haruhi and Kyon take a "romantic" walk home in the rain, sharing an umbrella. It's a rather quiet peaceful ending as opposed to the "Armageddon narrowly averted" ending in fourteen.

The way the actual story is set up, most of the exciting stuff happens near the beginning; that's when all the explanations occur, the others reveal their awesome powers, and we get to see just how dangerous Haruhi really can be if she gets depressed. But if you show all the exciting stuff at the beginning, you're going to be breaking a lot of rules about storytelling... the climax is typically supposed to happen towards the middle or the end of a story, not at the beginning. You're not supposed to reveal all your information right at the beginning either. Not only is there those two things but there's always the issue of topping the previous episodes in term of coolness. When all the really cool episodes happen at the beginning, you're going to lose many people's interest.

So, playing the episodes out of order makes a lot of sense. More people will find this intriguing and you won't lose any people's attention because the action proceeds in a typical manner, with the more exciting stuff happening at the end. The plot is also revealed in a timely manner, with most of the explanations being aired at the end. Me personally? I liked watching it in the actual order and don't regret it. For one thing it made a lot more sense. I can imagine it to be at least a little confusing out of order, but I rarely found myself confused watching it in order. (Except for during some of the explanations given by Mikuru, Itsuki, and Yuki.) In terms of how the action unfolded, it was almost like watching a short story with a super long ending; instead of worrying about what dangerous things were going to happen to the characters you could just sit back and enjoy, much the way you enjoy a rewarding ending to a particularly tense story. I'd guess that it also changed the entire tone of the show. Since, for me, all the really exciting and dangerous stuff happens at the beginning, the characters get to spend the rest of the story just having fun.

Another good reason to watch it in the actual order is all the little cues you pick up on. The ponytail thing for example. In the baseball episode you see Haruhi say something about Mikuru and how she should put her hair in a ponytail to make her cuter... and then you see her glance at Kyon... and then she glowers at him and changes her mind about putting Mikuru's hair into a ponytail. XD Anyone who's seen the last episode understands the significance behind that, but it's a small event that most who watched it in the aired order would forget about the first time, and you'd only really notice it if you'd watched the shows in their actual order instead of chronological order.

Bottom line, for most people I'd suggest watching it in the aired order first and then watching it again in the actual order so that you can pick up on all the little stuff you missed the first time. I don't think many people would like the "boring" actual order. (I put boring in quotes because it's really a matter of opinion and I myself didn't find it boring.) However, if you're like me and think it's kinda cool to see a story with a totally unconventional action structure, with the climax very near the beginning and the rest of the story being falling action (for the most part), I'd say go for watching the story in the actual order first instead. It makes a lot more sense this way, and you don't miss any of the little things like why Mikuru is suddenly wearing a nurse costume, or the whole ponytail thing. You just need to be aware of what you're getting yourself into." -Water

So there you have it, I think seeing from Water's viewpoint he clearly explains that Haruhi is just as fun to watch in order as it is out of order. It just depends on the type of taste your looking for.

I'm going to conclude my rant for today I've been rather tied up tring to look for an intern postion, till next time....
Ja Mataa. ^_^
-Totaku