Picture of Maiya - Thanks, Kae!

As part of our little kick-off to Hand of the Goddess, Kae drew this wonderful picture of Maiya and the fugly naked mole-rat the Plutonian people were comparing her to. The detail in the picture is great, and one of the traits that makes this artist so good. Thanks, Kae! I love it!

Story Update, Emma, and a Movie!

For those who might not have found it yet, I've posted the first part of Hand of the Goddess on the DocSpace forum. We're taking a detour to the past with this one, and will focus primarily on Setsuna. The story does tie in with the Fate universe, but as a prequel will stand completely on it's own for those not familiar with any of the stories that were written before it.

Want to get in a recommendation for Emma: A Victorian Romance while I'm here. I want to do a review for it once I get through the second viewing of the season one, but will say that this show comes highly recommended and is one of the best I've had the pleasure of viewing. The animation is incredible and extremely detailed, the storyline is a nice change in pace from standard anime, and the setting is well researched so nothing feels out of place. RightStuf did a great job with the packaging giving us a gorgeous box set with one of the best and most useful extras I've ever seen. The Victorian Gazette goes into all kinds of detail about the series and the era in a thick booklet that fits inside the box. Go out and grab it, then pre-order season 2, which comes out at the end of October. Be one of the first 1000 people to pre-order from TRSI before the end of July and you'll get your name in the credits. :)

Last night I abandoned Doc to go see the X-Files on opening night. I enjoyed it a lot and was surprised to find it more monster of the week than mytharc. Avoiding any and all spoilers will do that to you. :) No complaints whatsoever here -- good story with a familiar feel, actors completely back in character, a good supporting cast, Chris Carter directing. Would have liked to see Mitch Pileggi a little more, but at least they got him in when it counted. Skinner is the only man in Washington with "the balls to get things done." Woohoo!!!

Addicted to Dysfunction

I like angst. Heck, I revel in it. But there's a trend in the shoujo-ai community that I've noticed that I just don't get -- emotionally dysfunctional characters and/or couples being loved and adored. Is it because so much of the community is under 25? Is it because subtle is lost on viewers and they need these overblown displays to relate to a character? Does it have something to do with the issues in their own lives?

Strawberry Panic is an easy show to pull examples from. Since I like my angst, I have to love Yaya. She's a wonderful character with a good heart that's being broken because she knows the person she loves is in love with someone else. Like a good friend, she encourages Hikari to follow her heart and go after her true love, no matter how much it hurts Yaya to do so. The problem from fandom's perspective - the person Hikari is in love with is too sedate for most of them. She's "an emotionless robot" because she doesn't joygasm at the sight of Hikari or rail in anger at the fangirls who annoy her so. She also doesn't try to rape Hikari, which seems to be a running theme in the show. Amane's personality is completely lost to most people. They don't see the smile of friendship she gives to Shizuma or how her demeanor changes when Hikari is around. The change when she's with those she likes or cares about is a dramactic one from the armor and shield she wears around campus. How can people not see it? But Amane is a quiet personality, and quiet is apparently boring.

The top prize for dysfunction, though, easily goes to Chikane and Himeko from Kannazuki no Miko. Don't misunderstand, I enjoyed the series. It's a nice guilty pleasure that drips with overwrought drama and angst. Though I like the Himeko in Kyoshiro better than the one in KnM. But that's another topic. So, anyway, we've got all the perfect elements here that get fandom riled up - whiny blond, dark haired heroine, token male, rape, and payoff. Payoff being the big thing here because that's so rare. I guess that's why folks cling to these two the way they do. Of course, we have payoff without hysteronics or rape in Vandread. That, however, is ignored. Why? No, they aren't the main characters. But there are at least 3 lesbian couples in Vandread, one even has a child together. Where's all the fanfic and the massive discussion over sexual identity that this show should garner? It's an overlooked gem with great characters, a fun story, and that rarest of rare things -- payoff. But, unfortunately, it lacks dysfunction.

I suppose I'm a boring person. I'm settled and I like it that way. Maybe that's why I go for the characters who are more like me. But I have to ask again, why the love of dysfunction with such disdain for subtle, quiet characters? Do people really relate better to that or is it just the angst they seek?

Princess, Princess

Crawlspace says: 4 lacy ruffles out of 5

Replay Value: high

Availability: Media Blasters, bilingual, complete collection now on shelves

Notable Extras: Manga preview - though it's tiny text is near impossible to read

"They're like a lubricating oil that soothes peoples' hearts."

And probably some other things considering it's a boys' school populated by young men who wouldn't be able to get a girl if one was handed to them. LOL. Yaoi is not something we typically watch, but Doc was looking for something fun and at only $20 for the complete series, this seemed like a good choice. Neither of us was disappointed.

Suffering from some family issues that will show up to cause problems later, our main protagonist, Tohru, packs his bags and transfers to an all boys' school. Being young and somewhat pretty, Tohru is quickly picked by the student organization to become one of the school's three princesses. It's a long standing tradition that helps keep up morale, choosing the prettiest boys from the freshman class to spend one year to dress as girls and entertain/cheer for/smile at all the young men. Young men who eagerly follow them around like love sick puppies. All of it is played for comedy, and as over the top as it is, it works very well.

It's immediately obvious who Tohru's love interest is going to be. With his long blond hair making him look very feminine even when he's not in drag, Shihoudani quickly becomes Tohru's best friend. They have real chemistry, none of it feeling forced or rushed. In the 13 episodes we're given, they don't angst over wanting to be together. Rather, they angst over their family problems. Speaking of how he distances himself from his family and how he feels like he ruins the balance that makes his parents and little brother look like a perfect family, he comes across as a young man struggling with that one thing that makes him different. He loves his family and wants to be loved in return (and he is), but he still feels alienated because he can't talk to them about it. It's played out well here, without feeling overdone or with over the top dramatics.

The third in our trio is Mikoto. He hates being one of the princesses, but once the student organization chose him, there was no way out. He's not very good at controlling the obsessive crowds the way the others are, he's indecisive, and he's struggling mightily to hold on to his masculinity. His small stature and pink hair make that understandably difficult. However, obviously wanting to prevent an unnecessary triangle, the writers gave Mikoto an honest to goodness girlfriend. He is teased endlessly by Tohru and Shihoudani for how sweet he is on his girl, talking to her on the phone every night and smiling giddily whenever he thinks about her. We meet Megumi about midway through the series, and I can say she's worth every bit of that. We also meet Mikoto's sister, Makoto. I'm wondering if there's more there about them all in the manga, because if I didn't know better, I'd swear Mikoto's sister is trying to move in on his girlfriend. Doc saw it, too, so it wasn't just my yuri colored glasses dropping down.

The rest of the cast is also a lot of fun. Akira, who everyone refers to as Sakamoto-sama, is unintentionally following in the footsteps of his illustrious older brother. The president of the student organization is crafty and wonderfully twisted, followed around by his "henchmen," always appearing at the right place at the right time. My only complaint is that we don't get real payoff in the Tohru/Shihoudani pairing, though we do get the hint of a payoff. I suspect the manga goes on after the closing of the anime, and I'm actually tempted to look into it. I like these characters and find myself pulling for them to have a happily ever after.

In spite of not being big yaoi fans, both Doc and I really enjoyed this show. It was good, silly fun with a dash of drama and angst. In spite of the wild concept, it never felt forced. They set it up well enough that everything made perfect sense. We didn't sample the English track, since Media Blasters isn't really known for well done dubs, but it is there for anyone who has to have one. There's a manga preview inserted as an extra, however the text is too small to read on a television. The only other extras are the clean opening and closing on the last disc, but with a retail price of $20 or less for the complete collection, extras are the last thing to be worried about. This was a solid release by a company that I'm starting to like more and more, and it comes highly recommended even to those who don't consider themselves yaoi fans.

Shattered Angels vol 1

Crawlspace Says: 2 feathers out of 5 overall
4 feathers out of 5 for the supporting cast

Replay Value: Moderate with liberal use of the fast forward button

Availability: ADV, 1^st volume out now, 3 volumes total (with box)

Availability 2: Funimation, release format undetermined as of 7/15/08

Notable Extras: Animated Character Shorts, hopefully Funi will retain these

“In a world of love and betrayal, Kuu must not only find the answers to these questions, but the meaning of her own existence.”

Not only are the questions not worth repeating, but the only good thing about the journey Kuu finds herself on with her overly brooding and angsty boy-toy is the introduction of the side characters. If it weren’t for them, my voyeurism into Kuu finding herself would have ended with this first volume.

For those not already familiar with the show, Shattered Angels: Kyoshiro and the Eternal Sky is the ‘sort of’ sequel to Kannazuki no Miko. The big draw for a lot of people when the show was first announced was the possibility of getting more Chikane and Himeko, albeit less of them. Here, they are renamed Keon and Himiko, and they are two of the side characters that make the series bearable. Having now seen the first four episodes, I’d say this series is less direct sequel to KnM and more alternate universe. Characters from other series are brought in, renamed, and recreated as Absolute Angels. It’s kind of like the creators’ version of Tsubasa, but without all the bishounen. But what does Shattered Angels have Clamp’s epic crossover doesn’t?

Megumi Ogata.

Kinda blows your mind, doesn’t it.

Getting back to the show itself, the main premise is that ten years ago, some great disaster occurred, releasing into the world a handful of beings known as Absolute Angels. The Angels are near indestructible killing machines, though only because of the humans who control them. Apparently, they regenerate by kissing, so they need a human to stay alive and thus tend to be used in unscrupulous ways. Adding to their bad reputation is the destruction caused by the incident that brought them into the world. That destruction, however, led to the creation of a region known as Academia, which is broken into a kazillion different campuses. Our heroine, Kuu, is a student at one of the campuses when a transfer student named Kyoshiro appears, hailing from one of the upper echelon campuses. Apparently he’s very well known and girls fall over his indifferent self.

And he’s her prince.

Well, sort of. You see, Kuu as a small child had an ethereal vision of her prince coming to save her from some falderal, and since then has continued to write and mail him letters. How she knows where to send these letters is beyond me. Nonetheless, she continues to use him as her own personal diary, every episode starting out with her writing a letter. All of her internal dialog is also directed at her prince. I sense a tissue paper thin shade of Utena gone horribly wrong.

Anyway, enter Kyoshiro, and Kuu is astounded by his resemblance to her prince. By the end of the first disc its clear why, though Kuu herself is still clueless. Clueless and annoying. She now has the dubious honor of being the most annoying female character ever created. And Kyoshiro is perfect for her, wrapped up in himself and all his family angst that is supposed to be the driving plot behind the series. While his drama may give us some of the background we need on the Absolute Angels and the why of everything, it is far from the main draw.

The actual driving force in this series is the side characters and their individual storylines. It seems all the real effort and thought here went into developing them. They’re considerably more complex than the main characters, and I find myself actually looking forward to the next volume because of them. Will Setsuna be selfishly sacrificed? Will Keon and Himiko survive to escape to a better life? Will little catgirl become as annoying as Kuu or will her tie to her human provide enough balance so that she remains fun comic relief? I care about these characters, and ultimately, that’s the most important thing.

Plus I want to hear Megumi Ogata in a girly, fanservice role.

What it all comes down to is that this show is going to be a guilty pleasure type of series. The plot so far is standard and uninspiring, and the main characters are much the same with an added annoyance factor. However, if you enjoy shows like Burst Angel or Strawberry Panic, you should enjoy this. The mediocrity is saved by interesting supporting characters, and more Chikane and Himeko is a big plus. At only three volumes, it’s worth the price of the singles for KnM fans, though for everyone else I’d recommend waiting until next spring for the box set (though you’ll lose the great character shorts) or renting.

Update: It seems ADV lost the license, along with everything else they've picked up in the last two years. Funimation is the new license holder, but as of yet, we don't know how they're going to release it. With only one volume having made it to retailers, there's a possibility this will be released as a set rather than singles.

Tea with Neuroleptic - Episode 1

A few months back, Neuroleptic - one of the regular posters at the DocSpace forum - went and reread all of "Fate," leaving some great reviews for each chapter. I had wanted to answer back to some of what he commented on, but as most know, I am notoriously bad at getting to things. Now that "Tangled Web" is a few paragraphs from being completely completed, I'm going to go back and answer those reviews, bit by bit, not necessarily in order. Thanks again to Neuro both for the reviews, which were awesome, and for being patient with me and stroking my ego so thoroughly.

And now, on the premier episode of Tea with Neuro, we'll be talking with Crawlspace about sleeping arrangements, the evil genius of Haruka, and something shiny. Come join us... but be wary of spoilers...

Episode One

As a Side Note...

Just to add to the bit about Stellvia, since it was a Geneon release and those are getting harder and harder to find. TRSI (aka Right Stuf) is the only place to easily find the entire series at a good price these days. They have it both as singles (8 total) and a complete collection. The singles are in the bargain bin and run $8 each. They have just over 100 each of the last two volumes, but a lot more of all the others, a number of which other retailers like Amazon are completely sold out on. The complete collection comes in a tin that holds double thinkpak keepcases. All artwork from the 8 discs is retained even though there are only 4 thinpaks. The complete collection runs $90, however TRSI is having a 20% off sale right now which would nab it for around $75. With both orders, shipping would be free. Incidentally, I also recommend the soundtracks. The opening theme is fantastic.

Coupon code for the sale is cleaning2008 and will be good through 3/30/08. If you're thinking about shopping with them, head over to animeondvd.com and click into the store through them. The banner for the sale is also up on the main page there.

Stellvia

Crawlspace Says: 4 Starships out of 5

Replay Value: High

R1 Availability: Geneon – that about says it all, though RightStuff does have it in stock...

The first thought I had when we broke open the plastic and took disc 1 of Stellvia for a whirl was “Battle Athletes.” By the end of the first episode, I’d updated that to “Battle Athletes with a heavy dash of Vandread.” This, of course, meant the series was an automatic win. Right through to the end, Stellvia never did anything to change those first very positive impressions.

The overall plot for the series is pretty cookie cutter. A group of teenagers going to school on a space station are tasked with saving Earth from destruction. The way it all plays out, though, is a bit different. Though she does play a major role in all the big moments, our central character, Shima, isn’t The One, It, or She who will save us all. That dubious honor will go to her eventual love interest, Kouta. Shima, like most gifted students, has great aptitude in some things while barely keeping her academic head afloat in others. She works hard for what she accomplishes rather than relying on fate or some mystical talent that only she possesses.

Unfortunately, she’s also a crier.

Much in the vein of Usagi Tsukino and many other teenage heroines before her, Shima spends several episodes doing nothing but crying because of her perceived inadequacies. This seems to be something of a requirement for all teenage girls when they’re the lead character, and thankfully it only lasts for a small chunk of episodes, culminating in one of the best scenes in the series.

For yuri fans, there’s one unambiguous couple and one small unrequited crush. The crush comes from Shima’s roommate, Arissa, who upon meeting Shima on their way to the space station declares they are to be best friends. Arissa is a sweetheart with a loud mouth and an outgoing personality. Her crush is, for the most part, very subtle. She doesn’t pine away for Shima and seems happy enough being her friend. The best way to describe her is Tomoyo at one quarter strength, but without the video camera and weird costume fetish.

Our yuri couple is Ayaka and Yayoi. Their backstory is told in flashbacks and bits and pieces as the series progresses. Lots of angst here, and lots to love. The epilogue left me with a huge grin just because of these two.

Even without the yuri, the characters are all likable, each with their own quirks and storylines. Akira was my favorite, no doubt because of her strong resemblance to a young Setsuna. I even liked Kouta, who like most heterosexual males suffers undue hatred at the hands of rabid yuri fans. You know those kinds of fans, the ones who can’t stand the fact that the lead female is in love with a guy even though they’re given an actual yuri couple to pull for. So they turn that guy into a horrible, heartless brute as an excuse to break them up in fanfiction and put the heroine with the girl of their choosing. Poor Kouta. He really is a very nice, average teenage boy who, in spite of being “mankind’s greatest hope” is completely confused by his girlfriend’s mood swings.

And the English voice actors managed to capture all of this very nicely.

I can practically hear everything suddenly grinding to a halt with horrified cries of “You watched the dub!?” echoing in the background. The answer to that would be “Kind of.” Doc and I watched a few episodes in English just to see what they’d be like. Bang Zoom handled the English production, and for the most part it turned out well. Rinna was spot-on perfect, though the best VA in the dub was the one voicing one of the teachers, Leila. Her voice sounded natural when she spoke, the flow of her words making me forget there was an actor behind the drawing on the screen. That’s a very rare thing in a dub for me.

I only had a few quibbles with the dub. First, Ayaka’s VA was uneven, missing the mark about 25% of the time. In most of those instances, what should have been subtle or subdued was coming across more as flat and strained. Second was Shima. Carrie Savage wound up higher pitched than the Japanese VA, and while her acting was good, the pitch was wrong for the character. Had she been voicing the much younger Rinna, she would have been fine. Even with that, though, Shima is tolerable once you get used to listening to her. I could watch this in English if I had to, and I expect the next time we pull it off the shelf, we’ll be listening to the English VA’s.

So overall, this was a fun series with high replay value and as a bonus, a good English dub. I give it four starships out of five, topped with whipped cream and a strawberry for the yuri payoff. Even though the plot is standard anime fare, the characters carry it above the norm. This one comes highly recommended.

El Cazador de la Bruja

I've been a fan of BeeTrain ever since .hack/sign (yes, I even like Avenger, though I choose to block out Mein Leib), so when I heard they were putting out their third girls with guns series, I was tickled to death. And El Cazador delivered in every way possible. Much more light hearted than Noir or Madlax, it's also a lot more straight forward in it's story telling and character relationships. Not that their isn't the typical mysterious organization that's never fully explained, complete with loose threads and plot holes the size of Texas. But if you've seen any other BeeTrain series, you know to expect this and just move on and enjoy it for what it is. And that's very easy to do here, since this show is primarily character driven with a heavy dose of action to keep things bouncing. There's a touch of angst, but never so much that it weighs you down, and the mysterious organizations and plot elements aren't so mysterious that they turn your brain to mush trying to figure them out. The series has great pacing and never seems to drag, the side trips providing true character development rather than feeling like pure filler. Everything actually had a purpose, even that little trinket Ellis randomly acquired in random early episode.

For yuri fans, there's true payoff. So much so that I remember non-yuri fans complaining about halfway through the series when it became obvious where Nadie and Ellis stood. For Aya Hisakawa fans... well, let's just say I was very pleased. I don't usually get to hear her voicing these types of characters, and the fangirl in me was doing cartwheels. For once, she got to play the adult instead of the odd little girl or random side character. I am completely in love with Jody "Blue Eyes" Hayward. And I like her posse, too, though I still can't figure out if the one girl was just wearing that eye patch for fun... Also, Jody seems to have a particular fetish with being tied up, though I may have just missed something there, too.

As has become almost standard with BeeTrain, Yuki Kajiura is composing. The soundtrack is very similar to those from Noir and Madlax, but to me that's not a bad thing. I'm as much a Kajiura fan as I am a BeeTrain and Aya fangirl. I've been humming various pieces all week, and it's the main reason I'd like to see Bandai bring this over. With them, we're more likely to get the soundtrack and possibly the drama CDs. With ADV we'll get beat over the head with song subs and no chance at the soundtrack. I'll take it from which ever releases it, but I have a clear preference.

Tacos. You'll just have to watch it and you'll understand. :)

Overall, this was an enjoyable series that I'd highly recommend, even to those that didn't like Noir and Madlax. While similar to it's sisters, it's not as heavy on the drama and provides a fun 26 episodes for yuri fans with payoff at the end.

In My Hot Little Hands...

...I currently hold the latest manga volumes of "Strawberry Panic" and "Kashimashi." Seven Seas was a little late on getting them out, which was making Doc absolutely nuts. But as soon as I saw "available" on Amazon, we called Borders and had them hold SP for us until we could get there. Good thing we did, too, since there were no more on the shelf.

...I also hold the latest update to Tangled Web. It's the first half of the last chapter, and I've got my angst back on. Woo Hoo! Catch it over at the previews page on Docspace, and then come by the forum to leave your thoughts (or to just say hi and chat).

Happy New Year!

2008 is officially upon us, and so is voting for the DocSpace Christmas Challenge! All the entries can be found here. They were all a lot of fun to read and a nice cap-off to the season. Come take a look if you haven't already, and reward your favorite with a vote.