Otakuism

Damn Darkmirage. GONG is still WIN no matter who’s singing.

Patrick truly is the reincarnation of Orange-kun. No one can fail as gloriously as he can. Now all he needs is a new cybernetic body and psychosis to defeat those gundams. Or he could become a kamen rider and fight evil. Probably the former is more his style.

Looks like Billy may not be gay after all. But he could still be bisexual if he has a haado gei crush on Graham. Only the ponytail knows which. It’s nice they’re fleshing out Sumeragi’s character beyond alcoholic genius now. And like all good gundam characters she has a mysterious past now, which hopefully they’ll spill the beans on soon so I don’t have to hear “that incident” repeated ten times an episode.

I love Ali whatever already, mainly for the awesome facial hair. Gundam 00 is really having a knack for introducing awesome side characters. He also connects to Setsuna’s past, so we’ll probably learn more about that soon. And it’s always good to have another normal character who can completely kick the gundams’ asses. It’s just pathetic how easy it is to defeat Setsuna now. He’s only won so far because Exia is such a great suit, but the others are quickly catching up. If any member of CB needs to be kicked out, it’s him. Guy can’t pilot worth shit.

Custom breast chart just for the viewers.

I think I know why it’s called Gundam 00 now.

Don’t ask me why it took me three months to watch the final episodes of Hidamari Sketch. It just kinda happened that way. Not that I hate Hidamari or anything, I like it a lot. It’s a great slice of life series with wonderful characters and unique art direction courtesy of Akiyuki Shinbo. After the downright insanity of Negima!? it’s nice to see Shinbo tone down the absurdity while maintaining his unique style. You can tell Hidamari never had a large budget, but the way Shinbo directs things makes even the lack of backgrounds look good. All the staples of Shinbo’s work is here, from inserted real life images to characters being represented by visual cues, especially in Yuno’s case.

Of all the slice of life series I’ve seen, I wouldn’t exactly say Hidamari Sketch is memorable. I had the exact same pleasant feeling as when watching ARIA or Bartender, but it doesn’t resonate with you like ARIA or ever be beautifully poignant like Bartender. It’s just four cute girls talking about their lives. It’s not compelling, just very peaceful. And I mean cute girls. Only Potemayo tops Yuno in sugary sweetness, and Miyako has an incredibly hot wild moeness about her. Sae’s sister Chika was definately cute, but sadly only appeared in the last episode. And who can forget OH GAWD YOSHINOYA-SENSEI IS HAWT? A fun little series to watch overall. A hour special just came out in October, so now it’s time for the familiar cry of SUBS?!

Story:

Satou Tatsuhiro, the world’s ultimate hikikomori, has discovered a conspiracy; a conspiracy to turn the whole world into hikikomori’s, and now only he can fight the evil organization. That is, if he could ever leave his room. Joined by his friend Yamazaki, a hardcore otaku with a lolita complex, and Misaki, the mysterious girl who promises to cure Satou of his hikikomorism, Satou vows to destroy the evil organization of NHK. Satou’s insane journey to fight the NHK, and maybe cure himself of his own hikikomori ways, now begins…

Impressions:

Taken on its own merits, Welcome to the NHK is probably the most interesting novel translated by Tokyopop so far. Instead of some kind of high fantasy or pseudo-military action thriller, it’s a personal novel about a real social phenomenon. Nothing makes the world of hikikomori’s more real than NHK, from Satou’s self-deprecating rants to the realistic thoughts of suicide. Satou has a real problem and no matter what he does or hope he finds, does not know how to fix it on his own. The various other characters — Yamazaki, Misaki, senpai — are also shown with their own realistic problems and accurately portray the world for Japanese youth, with school bullying, drugs, abuse, and a cutthroat economy.

However, when compared to the manga, the novel feels more like a plot outline than an actual story. Satou moves from one insane episode to the next without really gaining anything or changing. Plots like Satou’s date with Kashiwa-senpai or Yamazaki’s love life are only mentioned briefly. Several stories from the manga and anime aren’t present at all. Kashiwa isn’t even a real character and is definately healthier than her manga counterpart. Misaki’s background is radically different and makes her into a more sympathetic character. The climax of the book even revolves around her more than Satou. Despite Satou’s ranting taking up most the book he has the least closure of any character, with the reader still unclear if he’s actually changed. A stark contrast to the hopeful manga ending.

The translation is suitable, though definately mechanical in many places. The many dialogues and monologues often feel clunky. A problem with the original writing is how much it breezes over everything. No one event is given much emphasis or importance, and overall the storytelling has a dispassionate feeling to it. Though, this is more likely a consequence of Satou’s point of view and how depressed he is most of the time. Novel Satou could almost make Zetsubuou-sensei look happy. The book’s presentation is nice, with original cover by Yoshitoshi ABe and no obtrusive insert images like Full Metal Panic. The novel is a passeable read on its own, giving a good look at the world of a hikikomori and how it affects people’s lives. However, for the true Welcome to the NHK experience I would say read the manga. Its plot is miles above the novels and does a better job of fleshing out these characters. Don’t ask me how it compares to the anime; I dropped that halfway through.

Just do it already. If you aren’t going to kill yourself than kill Jin already, man whore that he is; stealing the dragon you only knew for five minutes. God, Kazuki is so crazy. I love this show.

Zeonic-Corps has released the first chapter of the Gundam 00P photonovel. Basically what it sounds like, written excerpt with a couple pictures of gundam models. Set fifteen years before the start of the series when Celestial Being was first started. Focuses on the first three gundam meisters: Ruido Resonance, the veteran who’s been around for a while; Chall Acoustica, the young girl recruit; and Marlene Brady, a supposed felon who is kept locked up all the time. Looks like CB has had a penchant for insane pilots since the beginning. Gotta love those names, too. There’s a couple bits of interesting information, like how CB has its own space colony and the prototype Gundam Astraea. Link to the torrent here.