I could have sworn I was watching Toradora. And while I was watching this episode, I thought to myself, “I’m probably right.”

Wasn’t a surprise I was. Anyone who has spent time oogling at director Tatsuyuki Nagai’s works, like Shigofumi or A Certain Scientific Railgun, would find Ano Natsu de Matteru’s art instantly recognizable. It’s that slightly stylized and blocky, but proportionate anatomy that gave it away for me. Nagai directed episodes 2, 7, and 11 of Shigofumi according to ANN. I had to put in the the effort to backtrack and rewatch those episodes since I wasn’t really aware of Nagai’s stuff until Toradora. I also found out that exact head angle in the above screencap is a good way to find the differential markers between styles. To try this out, go watch Amagami (either one, first or current season), Toradora, and Rinne no Lagrange. Keep an eye out for that particular sideways angle, away from the camera, and it completely changes how the artists have to compensate for the art style.

Amagami’s anime art style unfortunately looks like they have cardboard faces most of the time. I’m surprised I managed to stick with that series because I’m picky with what art style I’m willing to watch.. and sometimes I’m not, with exemplary series such as Akikan and Akagi. Occasionally I can spare myself from puking out my soul and intestines by briskly deleting the files from my brain and HDD. Here’s looking at you, Yoake ~ Cabbage Love.

By the way,  Tantei Opera Milky Holmes is an awesome series. I can’t believe how retardedly happy I got when I saw it on the seasonal anime previews.

I’ll end on the note that Yukari Tamura is voicing the loli on the left of the top image. It’s almost too natural for her voice — it makes me hnng everytime. It’s unfair.

After a couple of seasons of self-analysis about anime tastes, I have determined that it’s not that my standards have lowered. It’s just the range has increased by a large amount. I wonder what I watched that pushed the bottom out so far that I actually enjoy Milky Holmes. I now cannot fathom how people would hate on Milky Holmes. Is it getting across that I love that show? OH YEA.

-maserbeam

“L is for Last Exile!”

I haven’t really posted much about Last Exile ever since I mentioned it somewhere in this blog that I was going to hide in my cave and watch it. Oh boy, has it delivered the goods. Along with some bruised apples and Russians.

I like apples. Give me one.

-maserbeam

These things share two things in common. I can’t get enough of either of them, and there’s people who complain about how it looks.

Skyrim is getting a glut of informational write-ups on how to make the game look “better”. Admittedly, there’s a couple of instances of wishing the visual fidelity was questionable. I don’t always have a problem with how it looks. It would be extremely nitpicky of me to squish my character’s face against a rock slab and declare, “This kind of texture resolution is unacceptable!”. Quite frankly, I’m happy that it already feels less buggy than I anticipated. Some faggots think it’s incredibly buggy and broken with no recourse available to salvage what’s left of the game. Lucky for us they’re a relatively small minority (but still louder than ever).  I think it’s a great game and it’d be a huge disservice to the game if your only reason not to play it was because someone else told you it was buggy. Besides, the game does eventually get fixed via official patches or through fan created fixes.

Haganai, otherwise known as Boku ha Tomodachi ga Sukunai, has our male protagonist luckily not in Nordic skivvies. In fact, he looks rather dashing if you look at the top image. That is if you know nothing about Japanese culture and their silly nomenclature for guys who have lived 30 years and not experienced the warmth of a lover.

Actually, I’m not sure if there are people who complain about Haganai’s look. The show has taken a few dips in the art, but nothing nearly as notorious as some parts in the second season of Minami-ke. Oddly enough, there was one episode that had an entire segment that was decidedly animated by a highly skilled someone, and now the name escapes me. Perhaps I’ll rewatch that season to provide screencaps of the horrendous and the beautiful.

I’m personally rather happy to hear Misato Fukuen voicing Rika. Her role as Miyafuji Yoshika in Strike Witches was great, and puts her voice to great effect in Rika’s debut episode. Rika screaming “UNIVERSE!!!” was hilarious, and somehow arousing. I can gush about Marina Inoue and Kanae Itou too, but that’ll take up another entry.

Almost approaching 400 words, so I’ll shut up and save it for later.

yayskyrimohwhatit’salreadyfinalsohno.

-maserbeam

(It’s so cute!)

Hello everyone, I’m The Xenomorph, your new contributer, I’m your typical everyday xenomorph otaku that likes his anime with a great premise, and not some series made for the sake of fan service, a.k.a no moe blobs for the sake of moe blobs (I eat them). I’m also a strong advocate for the preservation of the male character in the modern anime (tired of these all female driven casts, sometimes you need a man’s touch). My video games are all about the story, if it isnt at least twenty hours, it better be as fun as hell (Monster Hunter) or a masterpiece. But in all honesty if you give me something different I’ll watch it and I’ll give a cool collected response. I may be called The Xenomorph but that doesn’t mean I’ll bite your head off (unless your Mami).

Now you may be wondering why I, your everyday xenomorph drone, would want to write about anime and video games?  Well I say good question! To be honest its my biggest hobby, outside of trading cards, and I think that after all the anime I have watched I can make some valid points about the story, motifs, characters, etc. I think my greatest attribute is that I started my anime life in the 90′s and have experienced the transition to what anime is today and I think I can give great insight on the pros and cons in what this new generation has become and where it is heading. In all reality that’s really what I want to do with my articles: to compare the old generation to the new; I want to get my beliefs out there and see who agrees with me. Same goes for video games, the days of the rpg of my childhood and this new generation that is so fps and competitive gameplay focused. Bottom line I got some opinions and I’d love to share them.

Hmmm….what you want to know why I call myself Xenomorph? Well I’ll tell you, back in the day of my childhood I was tramatized and at the same time facisnated by these adorable majestic creatures; as a result I have been a fan of the dark, the mysterious, the creepy and above all the badass. I want to share these concepts with my reader. Xenomorphs fascinate and scare me, I want my readers to know my fear…to know my intrigue.

My first post is coming soon……..

-The Xenomorph

Now now, Miku.. I say another one, but really, I missed one I wasn’t able to watch to begin with anyway. Your people didn’t want others to record the show. And there was no livestream. Stop looking like a copyrighted series that I’m currently watching.

Aside from acting like a faggot just now, there’s another Hatsune Miku concert going on. HATSUNE MIKU LIVE PARTY from Singapore happens this Friday at 19:00, for us west coasters in the US that ends up as 3am. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure if it’s going to be any different. Perhaps the setlist will have a few new songs. It’s interesting to note that I have another Vocaloid related post right behind this one, highlighting the composer NantokaP (kiichi). Maybe I’ll have my wish granted. This I’m sure won’t happen because I’ve checked the view counts on nicovideo and they’re paltry compared to the songs that make the live concert setlists.

So is there a reason to watch this one? It’s already cheaper than the previous livestream. I remember paying around $18 USD last time, and now it’s $11. The cost of a lunch from where ever. I think I can skip food to watch a lithe Miku dance in front of me with the support of a damn good live band. If it’s the same guys as seen from the AX2011 and the original 39s-Giving Day showing, then you can bet your ass (or other equally valuable asset) I’m watching it.

Besides, I already laid down the 11 quid to watch the livestream. Can’t go back now.

***

I’ll also take this time to reference the image above. It’s a Hatsune Miku drawn in the style that has been used in Denpa Onna to Seishuun Otoko and more recently Boku ha Tomodachi ga Sukunai. If you’ve crawled danbooru for a while and other anime related imageboards, you’ll probably know the artist Buriki. I first took note of the artist when I found his Touhou fanart — most notably the one where Nitori and Cirno do a hit-and-run skirt flip on Sakuya. (Since when is a skirt flip not hit-and-run? If you’re not running away, it’s just revealing girls’ panties. Oh, technicalities.) It’s been thanks to the adaptations of his art that there’s a noticeable difference in character art.

Lips. They’re drawing lips on the characters. Normally they’re drawn only when there’s a need to draw attention to the lips, or it’s a close-up. Even then, a lot of anime simply don’t draw the lips. Sometimes a character is lucky enough for it to be a focal point of their design (e.g. Mamimi from FLCL). It seems a little silly to give some praise for such a minor detail. However small it is, people took note to realize these character designs looked significantly different from the modern crop of anime. So to that, I salute the original artist and character designers for both series.

Sometimes I can’t tell if my standards are falling, or it’s just me getting hooked on an art gimmick. Maybe it’s both.

UPDATE: I misreported the time as 3pm PST, when it’s actually 3am for those in PST. The concert starts at 19:00 this Friday (11/11) in Singapore. It has been corrected in the post.

-maserbeam