Sometimes you get linked by the strangest places. Over the months, I’ve not only somehow got referrals from porn sites (they must be getting desperate if they need to link to an anime blog that has no porn), but my Red Garden review somehow got picked up by an aggregator for garden centre related posts.
I also regret the missed opportunity to write an April Fool’s post extolling the virtues of Hello Kitty TV; oh well, maybe next year.
HARD YURI School of Angst
Coming this spring to an anime slot near you, enjoy HARD YURI School of Angst! Shouko has just started high school at the all girl YURI Academy, a place filled with intrigue, angst and lesbians galore! Meet the girls in this all-drama adventure, in which no event is too trivial to angst over!
- Sei: Beautiful head of the student council, known for taking a shine to innocent young girls.
- The Three Evil Lesbians: nameless student council lackeys who make life hell for our heroine.
- Nagi: A seductive upperclassmen who likes to break the rules. She and Sei are bitter rivals who shared a past secret relating to HARD YURI.
- Hana: A chirpy and forward girl who quickly becomes friends with Shouko- but does she want to be more than friends?
- Nanako: A shy meganekko who works in the library and secretly lusts for Shouko. She has a twin sister who has missed a year of school due to suffering from Sick Anime Girl Syndrome.
- Otome: Star of the kendo club, a ferociously athletic tomboy who absolutely hates men.
FullMetal Rozen Maiden
Welcome to the world of FMRM! A mysterious man known only as ‘Father’ has created seven Rozen Maiden Homunculi, each powered by a Rosa Mystica/Philosopher’s Stone. Now they must fight each other, with the winner earning a place as the main character of their own series.
Lust = Souseiseki (devotion to sister)
Gluttony = Hinaichigo (love of flower topped burgers)
Envy = Kanaria (jealous of main household)
Greed = Suiseiseki (wants everything for herself)
Wrath = Suigintou (angry at being considered junk by the others)
Sloth = Kirakishou (can’t be bothered to appear in storyline until later on)
Pride = Shinku (prideful personality in general)
Red Garden finale part I
Claire considers the merits of cross-dressing.
The Animus explain how it is vital for them to have their way with young women.
“Without her, HARD YURI seems so dry and pointless.”
Claire drops in to service her employer one last time.
“No one else wants to sleep with you, but I need the money.”
“Here’s your payment, then.”
“It wasn’t the best I’ve had, but I appreciate the effort.”
“You showed me the ropes when it came to HARD YURI.”
“…since we last slept together?”
“Far too long.”
“I did have HARD YURI with my sister, though.”
“What about Hyper Self Pleasure?”
“I didn’t know about Self Pleasure in those days.”
“I bet you don’t even know about the kinkier side of HARD YURI, do you?”
*NEW* This Week in Anime
Replacing “The history of … in anime” comes this new feature, where screencaps of notable features such as apples, poisonous mushrooms and the like are pointed out. Many of them will not actually be from this week, but will be dug out from the backlog.
One of the earlier appearances of gourds is charted.
Walnuts also began having importance around this time.
In the fruit wars, the strawberry subjugates some underlings in an attempt to build its own tasty empire.
Walnuts in more recent months, courtesy of Emma Bangaihen.
HARD GAY corner: Spiral
Having been taught HARD GAY by his brother Kiyotaka, Ayumu Narumi always felt jealous of his brother’s larger Zhuge Liang, an asset which overshadowed his even after Kiyotaka disappeared. Nonetheless, Ayumu finds himself drawn into the mystery of the Blade Children, perhaps in the hopes of getting access to their ‘blades’. After an encounter with Kousuke Asadzuki, Ayumu settles on the far bishier Eyes Rutherford as his prospective partner.
Unfortunately, all is not set to proceed smoothly for the couple, whose budding relationship is soon threatened by the arrival of Eyes’ former lover, Kanone Hilbert. A tense battle of wits begins as each man for Eyes’ love, with Ayumu finally learning to gain confidence in himself and HARD GAY by the end of it.
OST spotlight: .hack//SIGN OST 2
Living up to the first SIGN OST was never going to be an easy task, and it has to be admitted that this CD is the weaker of the two, sticking a little too closely to Kajiura’s standard themes. Nonetheless, there are some strong tracks here that offer the powerful blend of intense action and lingering melancholy first glimpsed in OST 1; in fact, the haunting ‘To Nowhere’ and fast-paced ‘In the Land of Twilight, Under the Moon’ are so good that all the other tracks are merely a bonus.
Notable tracks: Open Your Heart, In the Land of Twilight Under the Moon, Useless Chatting, To Nowhere.
Mini-editorial: Translating titles
When anime or manga series are licensed for distribution in the US, it may not always be a good marketing decision to retain the original title, but at the same, changing it may anger hordes of existing fans. When should a title be changed, and what should the alternatives be?
Many titles can come through the transition process intact, but when it comes to longer names like Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto which take a while to memorise and never really trip off the tongue, some sort of action is needed. Perhaps the best method is to shorten the title into something that doesn’t really mean anything in either English or Japanese, but are catchy monikers that retain the essence of the original (think Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou -> Kare Kano, Saishou Heki Kanojo -> SaiKano or Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna -> Spiral). The other option is to translate the title into English, but this may not trip off the tongue as easily (how many prefer to use ‘His and Her Circumstances’ for Kare Kano?) and in the case of some titles, may sound even more meaningless than the original Japanese name (think ‘The One Being Sung’ for Uta).
A third and perhaps much less desirable choice is to find a completely new English title for the series, and whilst few might argue that Mahō Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto/Things Precious to a Mage doesn’t have the same draw as Someday’s Dreamers, all too often there is the danger of ending up with a completely generic name like Chibi Vampire or the thankfully scrapped Shadow Warrior Chronicles.
Ultimately, many titles come through with no change or remark, but as always, the minority can still cause an upset. It cannot be denied that some English titles are a poor choice and that names like the aforementioned Shadow Warrior Chronicles shouldn’t be encouraged, but if the actual content is available and unedited, one could just as easily ask ‘what’s in a name?’.
In Your Reflection
In our second round of blonde shota, we focus exclusively on those from Neoromance games. First up is shy friend Shimon from Haruka 8, who we’ve seen here once before, but now he is accompanied by his spiritual brothers, sleepy cello player Shimizu from La Corda d’Oro, and Guardian Marcel from Angelique.
Fashion police: Ginji Amano
Short trousers are almost always a bad idea, but when coupled with a generic white t-shirt and a hideously coloured jacket, it can only ever be a recipe for disaster. Here Ginji shows how bad fashion decisions for each individual piece of clothing can only lead to an overall fashion disaster. It is also not recommended to wear this outfit when it gets even slightly cold.
Fashion sense: E-
Amusing Search Terms
Old favourites: lolicon, you toube sex, you toube, large boobs, hack perfect audition, bouncing breasts
Utawarerumono Sprite Rip: Actually, I’d like it if someone else did this for me.
busou renkin doujinshi: Not again.
Moe Kare manga download: Okay, so I finally found out what Moe Kare is, but tht doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have it available for download.
la corda d’oro episodes with english sub: Don’t do it! It’s too painful.
www Sasuke( And Black Ops): Sasuke is a black ops team member now?
saiunkoku monogatari S^M: S&M in SaiMono world?
pumpkin scissors season 2: Not yet.
toki out less: Perhaps she should get out more.
“busou renkin hentai”: “And then Papillon grabbed his throbbing member…”
RAMBALDI VS NOSTRADAMUS: Arguably Rambaldi won, since he had immortality and beautiful artefacts…oh wait, he wasn’t real.
“hard gay” sakujun: Actually, he’s BI.
anime acid trip: Cat Soup.
tsubasa chronicle episode 53, tsubasa third season: NOOOOOOOOO!!! It must never come to exist.
Harvest Moon tileset: In HM the RPG, one can fight as a cow or sheep.
DBZ RPG techniques: Genki Dama!
Marie Zhuge: Marie cannot be Zhuge, unless she has a hidden Liang.
“hard gay” busou renkin: You’ve come to the right place.
characters ikkitousen rmxp: With or without clothes?
gay machine: There’s a machine that churns out gay now, is there?
an anime about a girl who is chosen to e: If only the last part of the search was recorded
rpg maker xp dragonball Z resources: none.
may missing harvest moon: She’s at the beach- but only after 6pm.
high school parody 2: What happened to number one?
“roll on summer” phrase: Isn’t this a quote from Father Christmas?
“green spot” anime: Uh, yes, I know exactly what you mean.
Rumble Roses Doujinshi Download: Wrong place.
scrappy oh sei (anime): Is this a Scooby Doo version of Jyu-oh-sei?
Great post. XD