It doesn't seem that long ago that I had the November issue, but the December issue
has arrived, and after their anniversary issue December's disk is back to three
episodes.


First up was: The Wallflower.
So, we have this girl who's been told she's ugly, and believes it to be true. As
result she becomes a bit of a recluse. She dresses in scruffy clothes, grows her
hair so it hides her face and decorates her room like a chamber of horrors. So her
aunt gets these four guys in to try to change her into a respectable young lady.
This is quite a change from the usual harem anime and sounds like it might even be
interesting.But don't be fooled, this is a pile of rubbish without a single
redeeming feature.

Next!

And next we have Magikano.
Ok, we're back in sort of harem anime territory. Haruo lives with his three
sisters, but one evening he comes home to find the girl who transferred into his
class that day is now the family's live-in maid. There's more to it than that of
course, Haruo's sisters are magic users, but his powers haven't appeared yet and if
his sisters have anything to do with it, they never will. However, the new girl is
also a magic user, but she's under a curse and the only way to remove the curse is
for her to awaken Haruo's magic powers. So the battle-lines are drawn. This is a
very silly series. OK, some of the jokes were slightly funny, even if you could see
them coming a mile off. It's a mildly amusing way to spend a bit of time, but how
many episodes of this silliness you could sit through is another question.

The third series was Yawara.
Now here's a real blast from the past, Yawara: The Fashionable Judo Girl. I
remember watching some of this series several years ago. This is the story of a
high school girl who lives with her grandfather and dreams of being just an
ordinary girl. Her grandfather has other ideas and wants her to take part in the
Olympics and win the Gold Medal for judo, so totally ignoring Yawara's wishes, he
dominates her life and forces her into training. With the conflict between Yawara
and her desire to be just an ordinary girl and her manipulative grandfather's
devious, and often underhanded, schemes to force her into the world of competitive
judo there is an interesting storyline. But there's just not enough here to hold
the attention, after a few episodes it just goes into 'mark-time' mode with endless
filler episodes. Eventually, I lost interest in the series after around 19 or 20
of the series total of 125.



== Peter ==
-----------------------------------------------------
"Was it all a dream? No it really happened."
(Hitomi Kanzaki: Escaflowne)

In article <memo.20071127082848.772A>, Peter
Boulter <starhunter> wrote:

> It doesn't seem that long ago that I had the November issue, but the
> December issue has arrived, and after their anniversary issue December's
> disk is back to three episodes.

I haven't watched the last lump of NTUSA DVDs yet! I'm in two minds as to
whether to continue as there is so little these days that really interests
me. The problem is that you never know when something will show up...

> First up was: The Wallflower. So, we have this girl who's been told
> she's ugly, and believes it to be true. As result she becomes a bit of
> a recluse. She dresses in scruffy clothes, grows her hair so it hides
> her face and decorates her room like a chamber of horrors. So her aunt
> gets these four guys in to try to change her into a respectable young
> lady. This is quite a change from the usual harem anime and sounds like
> it might even be interesting.But don't be fooled, this is a pile of
> rubbish without a single redeeming feature.

She'd get on well with a certain resident of Lawndale, methinks!

> Next!

Naked, a sin, an army towel wrapped around my... sorry!

> And next we have Magikano. Ok, we're back in sort of harem anime
> territory. Haruo lives with his three sisters, but one evening he comes
> home to find the girl who transferred into his class that day is now the
> family's live-in maid. <snip> It's a mildly amusing way to spend a bit
> of time, but how many episodes of this silliness you could sit through
> is another question.

Reading through that, not many. It's far too familiar a storyline. Chances
are that I'd spend most of the time spotting bits that I've seen in other
anime and manga series over the years.

> The third series was Yawara. Now here's a real blast from the past,
> Yawara: The Fashionable Judo Girl. <snip> With the conflict between
> Yawara and her desire to be just an ordinary girl and her manipulative
> grandfather's devious, and often underhanded, schemes to force her into
> the world of competitive judo there is an interesting storyline. But
> there's just not enough here to hold the attention, after a few episodes
> it just goes into 'mark-time' mode with endless filler episodes.
> Eventually, I lost interest in the series after around 19 or 20 of the
> series total of 125.

I'm currently wading through Urusei Yatsura again. I haven't made it to
the bit where we meet up with Ryonosuke and father yet though.

While strolling carefully through the minefield that is Usenet, on
Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:41:39 +0000 (GMT), Chika
<miyuki> wrote:

>In article <memo.20071127082848.772A>, Peter
>Boulter <starhunter> wrote:
>>I haven't watched the last lump of NTUSA DVDs yet! I'm in two minds as to
>whether to continue as there is so little these days that really interests
>me. The problem is that you never know when something will show up...
>>She'd get on well with a certain resident of Lawndale, methinks!
>>Naked, a sin, an army towel wrapped around my... sorry!
>>Reading through that, not many. It's far too familiar a storyline. Chances
>are that I'd spend most of the time spotting bits that I've seen in other
>anime and manga series over the years.
>
And they wonder why the anime industry is in trouble....

In article <qpnok3pjnp9sr40i34mcs0o6lkjf2668us>, Tsunami
<tsunami_65> wrote:
> >> And next we have Magikano. Ok, we're back in sort of harem anime
> >> territory. Haruo lives with his three sisters, but one evening he
> >> comes home to find the girl who transferred into his class that day
> >> is now the family's live-in maid. <snip> It's a mildly amusing way to
> >> spend a bit of time, but how many episodes of this silliness you
> >> could sit through is another question.
> >
> >Reading through that, not many. It's far too familiar a storyline.
> >Chances are that I'd spend most of the time spotting bits that I've
> >seen in other anime and manga series over the years.
> >
> And they wonder why the anime industry is in trouble....

The thing I see in anime generally is that it seems to be going down the
same route as animation in the US, where it is all effect and no cause,
where an easy buck is better than chancing success or failure. The days of
the garage anime and the big experiment is long over and big business is
firmly in control with balance sheets being more important than
storyboards. If anything really original and unique makes it through, it's
usually a fluke.

A real shame, is that.

Chika(miyuki) added

> > It doesn't seem that long ago that I had the November issue, but
> > the December issue has arrived, and after their anniversary issue
> > December's disk is back to three episodes.
>
> I haven't watched the last lump of NTUSA DVDs yet! I'm in two
> minds as to whether to continue as there is so little these days that
> really interests me. The problem is that you never know when
> something will show up...

One of the advantages of the disk is that you get to see an actual episode, which
is a much better way of making a decision about a series than reading reviews and
following the hype that surrounds some series.
Like you, I find little to interest me these days, so I my watching time is spent
re-watching series I've already got.

<snip>

> > And next we have Magikano. Ok, we're back in sort of harem anime
> > territory. Haruo lives with his three sisters, but one evening
> > he comes home to find the girl who transferred into his class that
> > day is now the family's live-in maid. <snip> It's a mildly amusing > > way to
spend a bit of time, but how many episodes of this silliness
> > you could sit through is another question.
>
> Reading through that, not many. It's far too familiar a storyline.
> Chances are that I'd spend most of the time spotting bits that I've
> seen in other anime and manga series over the years.

Yes, that and anticipating when the next cliche is going to come along.

<snip>

> I'm currently wading through Urusei Yatsura again. I haven't made
> it to the bit where we meet up with Ryonosuke and father yet though.

UY is one of those series that I thought was really good when I first saw it, but
somehow for me it hasn't survived the test of time.


== Peter ==
-----------------------------------------------------
"Was it all a dream? No it really happened."
(Hitomi Kanzaki: Escaflowne)

Chika(miyuki) added

<snip>
>
> The thing I see in anime generally is that it seems to be going
> down the same route as animation in the US, where it is all effect
> and no cause, where an easy buck is better than chancing success or
> failure. The days of the garage anime and the big experiment is long
> over and big business is firmly in control with balance sheets being
> more important than storyboards. If anything really original and
> unique makes it through, it's usually a fluke.
>
> A real shame, is that.

A shame indeed. But there have been a few good series recently. The question is,
will anyone license them?


== Peter ==
-----------------------------------------------------
"Was it all a dream? No it really happened."
(Hitomi Kanzaki: Escaflowne)

In article <memo.20071127233214.2768B>, Peter
Boulter <starhunter> wrote:
> Chika(miyuki) added
> <snip>

> > I'm currently wading through Urusei Yatsura again. I haven't made it
> > to the bit where we meet up with Ryonosuke and father yet though.

> UY is one of those series that I thought was really good when I first
> saw it, but somehow for me it hasn't survived the test of time.

The trick, as far as it works for me, is not to play it for a very long
time. I left UY alone for at least a year before I went back to it.

In article <memo.20071127233214.2768C>, Peter
Boulter <starhunter> wrote:
> Chika(miyuki) added

> <snip>

> A shame indeed. But there have been a few good series recently. The
> question is, will anyone license them?

That's a different problem, yet related. Just as the companies producing
anime are often afraid to produce anything ground-breaking, so the folk
licensing anime are less likely to risk their money on a title that might
not make it. Again, the balance sheet increasingly rules.

Peter Boulter wrote:

>
> First up was: The Wallflower.
a.k.a. "Yamato nadeshiko shichi henge"
> So, we have this girl who's been told she's ugly, and believes it to be true. As
> result she becomes a bit of a recluse. She dresses in scruffy clothes, grows her
> hair so it hides her face and decorates her room like a chamber of horrors. So her
> aunt gets these four guys in to try to change her into a respectable young lady.
> This is quite a change from the usual harem anime and sounds like it might even be
> interesting.But don't be fooled, this is a pile of rubbish without a single
> redeeming feature.
>I think yours is a minority opinion. I saw two or three episodes of this
as a fansub, before it got licenced (an event which seemed to surprise
nobody). While not the best ever, it was certainly a lot of fun. I
probably wouldn't go so far as to buy it, but I'd watch more of it if I
got the chance, e.g. if it was shown on Sky 195 or 199.

GeoffC(geoff_cowie) added

> a.k.a. "Yamato nadeshiko shichi henge"
> I think yours is a minority opinion. I saw two or three episodes
> of this as a fansub, before it got licenced (an event which seemed
> to surprise nobody). While not the best ever, it was certainly a
> lot of fun. I probably wouldn't go so far as to buy it, but I'd
> watch more of it if I got the chance, e.g. if it was shown on Sky
> 195 or 199.

I'll quite happily accept that mine is a minority opinion.
Sometimes I think it's my destiny in life to hold minority opinions, I seem to do
it rather a lot. ^_^


== Peter ==
-----------------------------------------------------
"If he has a name, he's not like me...
....I don't have a name ... all I have is a lie."
(Kirika Yumura: Noir)

In article <memo.20071201092356.2212A>, Peter
Boulter <starhunter> wrote:
> GeoffC(geoff_cowie) added

> > I think yours is a minority opinion. I saw two or three episodes of
> > this as a fansub, before it got licenced (an event which seemed to
> > surprise nobody). While not the best ever, it was certainly a lot of
> > fun. I probably wouldn't go so far as to buy it, but I'd watch more
> > of it if I got the chance, e.g. if it was shown on Sky 195 or 199.

> I'll quite happily accept that mine is a minority opinion. Sometimes I
> think it's my destiny in life to hold minority opinions, I seem to do it
> rather a lot. ^_^

Just remember that *any* review is merely an opinion. Everyone has a right
to express theirs and disagree with any other.

Personally, and being somewhat enamoured of Daria, the subject sounds
interesting enough for me to take a quick peek myself. However, as I've
already said, I'm somewhat harsh on new anime, mostly because they often
just rehash old ideas in a cute package. I'll be happy enough if I'm
proved wrong on this one (or any other, for that matter).

On Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:43:54 +0000 (GMT), Chika
<miyuki> mangled uncounted electrons thus:

>In article <memo.20071201092356.2212A>, Peter
>Boulter <starhunter> wrote:
>>
>Just remember that *any* review is merely an opinion.

Almost right. Everyone has the right to an *informed* opinion -
thereby excluding all Daily M**l journalists who pontificate upon
topics (such as anime!) without ever watching any...

(Yes, the quotation is from SF's original 'angry young man' - now
an angry older man - Harlan Ellison.)
<snip>

Martin D. Pay
Who's turning into a classic grumpy old man - but who isn't old
enough to qualify... >:(

In article <mvq8l3tbblfg67dqrhpm6u9ujnd81tjfm3>,
Martin D. Pay <martin> wrote:
> On Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:43:54 +0000 (GMT), Chika
> <miyuki> mangled uncounted electrons thus:

> >Just remember that *any* review is merely an opinion.

> Almost right. Everyone has the right to an *informed* opinion -
> thereby excluding all Daily M**l journalists who pontificate upon
> topics (such as anime!) without ever watching any...

I tend to include quite a few other journos in the above, not just the
Daily Snail.

> (Yes, the quotation is from SF's original 'angry young man' - now
> an angry older man - Harlan Ellison.)
> <snip>

> Martin D. Pay
> Who's turning into a classic grumpy old man - but who isn't old
> enough to qualify... >:(

Heh! Rick Wakeman waved at me last month on his way into his show in
Chelmsford! ;)