Author:

Ryan ARyan A. I am currently a student of physics and C.S. hopefully venturing into the world of QIST. My spare time is spent at the beach, coding, reading, or most definitely enjoying anime and manga.

Basquash! Wrap-up

Posted by Ryan A - November 22, 09

Yesterday, I took the time to finish off the last 4 episodes of Basquash!, but what is there to say that hasn’t already been said, or didn’t need saying. I identify quite a lot with natsuneko’s close, which is nice considering we went back and forth playing catch up in large batches; that was fun, finishing this series was not.

I didn’t poke too far around the net in search of reviews, but I think psgels makes a fair point that “it’s really hard to determine if it’s worth watching.” [review] Given, I did complete the series and have no regrets about it, but it is quite possibly the largest negative turnaround I’ve ever experienced in a work, and I attribute it to the direction change. Though it could have been fundamentally flawed at the source, it is worth noting that first 8 or 9 episodes of the series were brilliant.

In the end, the finale was packed with a sickening level of ridiculousness and never came to a solid close. The tapering composition was excessive, drunken, and often needlessly dumbfounding to the point where the only retreat was asking, “What Happened?” Sad really, as I thoroughly enjoyed the concept,  a few of the sexy characters1, and naturally the early production values.

Biggest disappointment of 20092.

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Warm and Fuzzy

Posted by Ryan A - November 14, 09

Ayane Yano

Ayane Yano

Ayane Yano

Ayane Yano

Ayane Yano

Ayane Yano

すい、すい、すい、だらざった、すらすら、すいすいすい〜。。。

Nodame Cantabile: Restart

Posted by Ryan A - November 11, 09

Nearly a month ago I decided to begin a Nodame Cantabile rewatch. There was much hubbub about a group rewatch, though I’m not sure how that played out. I do know ETERNAL kicked things off which was stimulating, and so I began…

_

rewatching Nodame Cantabile (episode 01)

Guess what!? This weather is too good to pass on this opportunity.

on Nodame Cantabile 24d ago

Yes, I enjoy the series when the weather is cool, cold, or freezing; a tangent in itself. I’ve watched the first episode countless times since that awesome Autumn of 2006, with a number of repeats earlier this year. Strangely there was one little piece I have always overlooked, a piece of Chiaki’s perspective on Nodame.

Eh

In the scene before the duo perform their practice piece, Chiaki mentions that Nodame resembles Vieira, which I completely brushed off, multiple times. Chiaki, who obviously suffers from a sensei-complex, let’s his guard down to the viewer. His attraction to Nodame has sprung.

Winter 2007 I wrote about the Nodame Cantabile anime and touched on the relation between Chiaki and Nodame. Though this little piece of Chiaki does not alter my overall thoughts on their admiration-attraction, I feel it seeds a deeper level of attraction.

I sense that Chiaki’s desire to be with, and learn from Vieira is not solely out of admiration. Likewise, Chiaki’s minute attraction to Nodame will ultimately become something similar, a desire to be with, and learn from Nodame.

For reference, I enjoy Nodame Cantabile in the cold, for the warming sensation of the experience is well-complemented. Hearts.

Micro and Status

Posted by Ryan A - November 8, 09

solo

Let’s hope this is brief.

I’ve recently started using the A.C.E. plugin for Wordpress, and I quite like it. With that, I’ve excluded two categories from the main pages, archives, and feed. Those categories are Status and Micro1.

As some may have notice, I am not updating on twitter anymore2, as I am holding out for something federated and open to appear3, such as kronblr, backed by the Federated Micropublishing spec. In the meantime, I will be updating said categories in micro-fashion with likely expansion on 日本のメディア updates from my Melative liveblog4.

Cheers to turbulence and a nightingale.

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IRC Social Viewing

Posted by Ryan A - November 7, 09

Author

Myself, sagematt and hikago bunched together to watch Kampfer 05 a couple of days ago. What it actually means though, we went to an IRC channel, started our media players on a countdown, and exchanged messages like “LOL at Akane dropping Natsuru from a tree”. Very social! And they cannot sneeze H1N1 on you.

Very social, but also considerate, unobtrusive, and avoids sneezing H1N1 on spamming others on one of those status-update things. I would have joined this little session, except I lost interest in Kampfer when Sakura became very pushy and potentially dangerous.

To The Year-End

Posted by Ryan A - November 2, 09

That’s right. Oh I so love this closing time. It’s November now…

scarfish

Similar timing as the year before, 2009 will be closing in just about 60 days. Isn’t it fun! I’m doubting Lawson will write a set of wrap up posts, but if such a thing occurs, it’ll be a Happy Christmas.

I do plan to assess my own experience through 2009 in year-end entries, but as usual, December is my animu-gold month.

December is love, and what better way to express some love and peace appreciation of 2009 anime than in batch marathoning. Devotion will be tough this year because I’ve been an inattentive seasonal watcher and the marathon list is hefty. but it’s nothing new and I quite enjoy it.

Unlike the previous years, where I reflected episodically on melative (auuu~ poor reflections are stuck without a view), I am debating whether I should revive reflections, use an excluded category here, or simply rely on liveblogging. O.o We will see.

To the various new blogs around the sphere, I encourage both annual perspectives and the December marathons for seasonal cheer. To those in the far North, enjoy your pre-Winter flurries. To my tropical and southern hemisphere pals, may December at least be cool T_T. I’ll be wishing upon BK-201 for chilly weeks to come.

So don’t forget the oranges and fresh brewed green tea on those cool days nor a good sake for those cold nights. It’ll all be over soon.

Hearts and stars to closing time.

Autumn 2009: From Me To You

Posted by Ryan A - October 22, 09

Reach
Standing affectionately, face-to-face, one would think it were Spring.

There is nothing here, or rather, there is nothing extraordinary. From Me To You is a simple beauty1. I am amused by the generic shoujo exposition; girl thinks about boy, boy silently thinks about girl, a tender relation begins. Given typical roots, why is this series particularly special?

Production… no, this isn’t the answer. While the production values are particularly appealing, I beg to differ that this is a specialized attribute which brings the series to another level2. It cannot be said that the same experience would be achieved with less production, so I do consider it essential, but there is more, or less to this blossoming experience.

Subtle, is that which renders From Me To You my season gem.

Given all attributes of composition, I feel it is the little notions which bring an array of shifts and feelings to the viewer. The amount of effort is not excessive, and the resulting atmosphere is coupled with a completely natural tone. Fluent in human.

While I highly enjoyed the first episode, this realization of the smaller pieces did not occur until the second episode, where I was taken by surprise at how a minor event of ‘Changing Seats’ could manifest such a compelling presence of heartwarming emotion.

Shocked. It was safe to smile, and so I did. Perhaps I shed a tear as well, I don’t remember3.

Reach
Do you remember their faces?

Expression Bump 2

_

watched 君に届け (episode 02)

I has been touched! Poked right in the heart. Again, subtle, and the presentation is just brilliant. Emote! Quite possibly my season pick, just as Nodame Cantabile was in Winter '07.

on 君に届け 15d ago

I stand by that micro reflection, and with that I feel From Me To You is the series of the season4. While the premise is simple and perhaps childish, the presentation thus far is practically perfect; there is no excess, and the composure is brilliant.

Enjoy. Small. Things.

Liveblogging on Melative

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