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AnimeSuki 2011 Choice Awards: Picking Winners

Sorrow-kun — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:11:10 +0000

The AnimeSuki Choice Awards frustrate the hell out of me. I definitely think it’s a worthwhile idea, which is why I cover it each and every year, as it is a good exercise to see which anime a community of its size rate highly, and Haak does a good job organizing nomination and voting stages, counting votes and announcing winners. But the problem I’ve been complaining for years about now, in this very column, seems to get worse every year. There’s too many categories, which makes the nominating and voting processes (as well as attempts to cover it comprehensively, like this one) a giant pain in the ass. The categories are hella ambiguous too, which makes the nomination process confusing (fortunately the voting process isn’t so hard, because the choices are more limited).

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Copyright © 2012 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By Sorrow-kun | Permalink | 23 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: AnimeSuki Choice Awards, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Colorful, Fate/Stay Night, Hourou Musuko, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, Mawaru PenguinDrum, Moshidora, Redline, Steins;Gate, Usagi Drop, Working!!

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Here We Are One Year Later, Anime Dead?

TypicalIdiotFan — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:15:11 +0000

Yes, it's been about a year now. But, no, I don't mean this.

Have you forgotten completely? Let me refresh your memory:

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Copyright © 2012 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By TypicalIdiotFan | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Aki Sora, Anime Contents Expo, Bill 156, Comiket, Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo International Anime Fair, Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths

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Voices of a Distant Underworld

Sorrow-kun — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:00:27 +0000

I think the divisiveness of the response to Shinkai Makoto‘s latest film, Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo is very interesting, and it perhaps paints a picture of a set of expectations that fandom has for him that he still hasn’t quite met. Personally, I thought Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo was a great film but my precise opinion of its story has fluctuated, not only while I was watching the movie itself, but even afterwards, on further reflection. Various reviewers have attempted to grasp at where the story was lacking, some arguing it was overly ambitious, others saying it was unengaging, simplistic or the pacing wasn’t right. My opinion of its biggest shortcoming is probably controversial in the context of other reviews: I don’t think there was a great deal wrong with Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo‘s story, the core issues were with the plot. (Warning: this post contains major spoilers.)

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My Weekend With Akira

Sorrow-kun — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:09:43 +0000

Who's Akira's waifu again? I forgot.

On the flight to Sydney to meet Akira, the word “off-kai” rang continuously in my head. This was the first time I’d gone to meet someone from the internet, and I was reminded of what 2DT said of his meeting with Akira and the nerves he had beforehand, in his post on 2-D Teleidoscope. I was full of nerves too, which didn’t make an uncomfortable domestic flight on a budget carrier all that much enjoyable. (The sleepy guy sitting in the aisle across from me was rudely awakened when a stewardess clumsily bumped a drinks cart into his knee, but that’s nothing compared to the crap Akira told me he experienced from said carrier.) When I touched down, Akira told me to take the train into the city, and that he’d wear a shirt that only I would recognize.

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Copyright © 2012 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By Sorrow-kun | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Comiket, Guilty Crown, Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, Kannagi, Kill Me Baby, Kugimiya Rie, Mawaru PenguinDrum, Steins;Gate, The iDOLM@STER

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Three (FIVE?!) Way Action: THE (NON-SOBER) NEW YEARS’ SPECIAL (Episode 3)

Akira — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:47:52 +0000

I call not Mami.

Surprise, bitches— I’m back. (Not really. Just for right now.) After a night of revelry and watching the fireworks at Darling Harbour, Sorrow-Kun and I ran back to my friend’s house to record this very special hour-long (LIVE!!) New Year’s Extravaganza. We patched in Kylaran, delirious from Comiket 81, and also had two special guests— Furinkan and AstCd2, both of is.moelicious.be fame (infamy?). We talk about ~~life, love and everything in between~~ Guilty Crown, Haganai and The iDOLM@STER. Enjoy, and Happy New Year.

0:25 Comiket 81
2:55 Anime of the year: Penguindrum v Steins;Gate?
9:37 Guilty Crown – Too many cooks spoil the broth?
17:14 Was Haganai deliberately bad?
26:18 The politics/religion of The Idolm@ster
37:40 Favourite characters of 2011
49:35 Hopes and predictions for 2012

Total length: 59:23. You can listen to it here:

Or download it from here.

Copyright © 2012 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By Akira | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Comiket, Guilty Crown, Mawaru PenguinDrum, Steins;Gate, The iDOLM@STER

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Tsundere Exposure: Why the Word “Tsundere” has Natural Appeal

Kylaran — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:48:42 +0000

A picture of an alliance of university SOS Brigades, or otaku-oriented clubs, protesting otaku discrimination and Akihabara's take over by larger companies. At my university in Japan, I was apart of the SOS Brigade. Photo belongs to Hector at www.kirainet.com.

I’ve personally noticed that in the past three years or so there’s been an increase in how visible otaku culture has become. In fact, Akihabara, the so-called “Otaku Holy Land” has seen a significant shift in its visitor population; the Japanese government has invested in the area as a major tourist attraction for both Japanese and foreigners alike, promoting campaigns and advertisements in an effort to make the area attractive to an audience that, in reality, consists little of the hardcore otaku that once frequented the area for their computer parts.

The economic development of Akihabara is an interesting topic, and has been covered by other bloggers and researchers already, so I won’t talk much about it. Instead, I want to discuss the growing awareness of previously otaku-specialized terms, specifically the word “tsundere.”

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Capturing Soul in Cosplay Photography

Akira — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:48:19 +0000

Cute, but boring.

Too often in cosplay photography, the subject becomes an object. Cosplayers are fairly bad at doing anything other than looking sexy (?) and photographers focus too strongly on simply making cosplayers look good. I think we can do better than that.

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The East is Burning Red: A Shanghai Otaku Story

Akira — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 06:30:00 +0000

A great way to stave off industrial decay.

While most of NHRV attended Anime Expo, I was halfway across the world. I stepped out of my air-conditioned taxi into the sweltering heat of Shanghai’s exburbs. Facing me was a dusty old factory, recently converted into a small convention hall. A dozen or so itasha were parked outside the hall’s entrance. A few dozen fujoshi were lined up outside, complaining about wait times. I cut right in front of all of them, and flash a VIP pass. “Welcome to Comic Fantasia 1,” the PA announced. “We have received reports that the two people cosplaying as mother and child are actually thieves. Con-goers, please watch your belongings.”

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Ano Hana, an Anthology of Comments

Sorrow-kun — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:44:05 +0000

It’s been almost three years since I first tried this exercise, in which I re-examine my week-to-week forum posts about a given anime in hindsight, and look at how my opinion has changed over the course of the series. The last time I did this was for Special A, in part because my impression after episode one stayed effectively constant. Ano Hana is very different because my thoughts on the show fluctuated significantly more, right up until the end. The posts I’m looking at today were originally posted in the Ano Hana discussion thread on The Nihon Review Forum. And yes, so there are no false pretenses, I am phoning this in. (Above image found on Safebooru. Major spoilers for the tagged series within.)

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Copyright © 2011 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By Sorrow-kun | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, Hanasaku Iroha, Purity Fixation, Toradora

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Adaptations Suck: A Look at Astarotte no Omocha

TypicalIdiotFan — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:11:27 +0000

Not trying to bust your balls, sir. I'm just saying...

I don’t know if Oizaki Fumitoshi is a good director or not. Based on his credentials, he has mostly excelled in character designing. However, he has directed at least three works: the Gonzo production of Romeo X Juliet, the Gonzo production of Welcome to the N.H.K., and Diomedia production of Astarotte no Omocha. Though Welcome to the N.H.K. was considered a good anime by most, it was regarded with much more vitriol for being a bad adaptation of an even better manga. Generally, adaptations from manga to anime result in and sometimes necessitate changes. There could be a thousand reasons why, both stemming from the production office and / or from the director him/herself. The only common aspect all of these adaptations with Director Oizaki at the helm have is that they’re all pretty bad adaptations.

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Copyright © 2011 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By TypicalIdiotFan | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Adaptations, Astarotte no Omocha!, Kugimiya Rie, NHK ni Youkoso!, Oizaki Fumitoshi, Romeo x Juliet

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