Otakuism

YES!

LOL IRONY.

Man, there are some really slutty girls at Ashford. Glad no one seems to have a problem with that.

YES!!

Lelouch doesn’t roll that way, ladies.

YES!!! in a completely non-fanservicey way. Clearly Code Geass has jumped the shark. It really has no idea where it’s going and is just using fanservice to keep the viewer’s interest, which does actually work. As long as the train wreck is entertaining who says we won’t watch it? With Orange-kun back maybe will get more action fanservice to balance out all the flesh, but in reality we’ll probably just get more LOL MELODRAMA, which can be entertaining in its own way.

There are very few shows that would start a fanservice episode with chanting to a messianic terrorist, but that’s just how Code Geass likes to do things. This was a very effective scene in showing how much Lelouch as the order wrapped around his little finger. Even the guys who know they’re being used can’t do anything to stop him. Of course, I fully expect this to lead to a “you’re no better than the Emperor” scene at some point in the future, or even better “you and I are not so different.”

You could cut the sexual tension with a knife. Suzaku’s big return was very effective, especially with the nice recap between the two. Seeing the two act so sweet to each other is just sickening, but part of our enjoyment as viewers is knowing how much both want to kill each other.

God, I’ve missed Millay. Still the best side-character, bar none.

The Rollo-Lelouch relationship is getting a bit creepy, and by a bit I mean a lot. Sexually confused Rollo is the last thing this show needs. It’s also kind of weird how adeptly Lelouch can not only manipulate members of the fairer sex, but also every male around him. Just look at Diethard’s mancrush. Really makes you wonder how Lelouch learned all of this, and how thankful I am not to be in his head.

Why can’t I have teacher’s like that?! Why can’t I have clubs like that?! Why must you mock me with your fantasies Japan?!

Take me to your Pizza, Chachamaru.

I swear Kallen’s ass has gotten more screen time than several important side-characters. I’m looking at you, Diethard, Lakshata, Lloyd, Sayoko, Kaguya, Cornelia, etc.

I AM SHOCKED, SHOCKED by these developments. Well, not really, since whenever the spoilers came out everybody seemed to guess Nunally was the new governor instantly, and how flawlessly the idea would screw Lelouch appeared to make it more likely. It will be very interesting to see how Lelouch reacts to this, and next episode he’s already staging a rescue operation, which other spoilers state will end in tragedy. Personally, I want them to kill Nunally off, just so we can get uber, cold-blooded bad guy Lelouch who butchers every Britannian around him, but that may be a bit unlikely. Because CG loves its cliffhangers, we’ll all just have to wait till next week to see what happens. (Where I’ll probably be proven wrong. Again.)

For providing meaningless bits of background information in almost perfect english. Really, hardly a bit of engrish in sight. Of course, this just makes what the hell is Britannia more confusing. Not only is there a House of Lords (IN AMERICA), but places like Tennessee and Virginia still exist. And yay for the brief mention of Charlottesville, which is only about sixty miles from where I live. It’s always interesting to find little parts of your life mentioned in anime. So is Britannia a constitutional monarchy or a fascist dictatorship with the trappings of liberalism? It’s funny how everyone likes to compare Britannia to America, when in reality it really is a fascist government. The strong central government, secret police, glorification of the state and the past, anti-communism, and an ideology that deems other peoples inferior are all there. The Emperor is actually just Hitler, but with a cooler laugh and no wimpy mustache.

Aside from all that, another great episode. Lelouch’s mindfuck was at an all time high, managing to screw all of his enemies, gain a new ally, and still make people believe he’s actually a student. I still wonder where Lelouch got his mad Knightmare skills from. Now, he’s a far cry from any kind of ace - probably the least skilled pilot in any mecha series ever - but it still takes some knowledge to be able to snowboard, especially with how clunky the Burai looks. (Now, Shinji may be even worse than Lelouch. Depends on if its the manga, the movies, or if he’s having a neurotic breakdown at the moment.)

And guns are complicated. This is why sex appeal is the ultimate weapon.

They’re like four feet away from each other! How do you miss then? Ok, Suzaku was probably planning to kidnap Lelouch from the beginning, but Lelouch has no excuse. The leader of a prominent terrorist group doesn’t need to learn how to protect himself, right?

SPINNING BASTARD KICK!

Bunny suits: the official uniform of the United States of Japan. Nippon Banzai!

Oh great, now the Lancelot recolor has teleportation powers. Sakuradite must be Trans-am and G-Stone all rolled up into one.

Wow, this guy’s voice is annoying. “He” really does sound like an eunuch.

Man, I love Diethard. That’s one crazy Zero fanboy. Him and Kallen need to have a bitch fight at some point.

As has been mentioned numerous times already elsewhere, the first episode of the second season of Code Geass mirrors the very first episode perfectly, just with a lot more mysteries. Why does Lelouch have amnesia? Why is Rollo so gay? Why does Villeta need to degrade herself by becoming a gym teacher? How the hell did C.C. survive a long jump into the ocean? (short answer: the same way she survived everything else.) What does R2 mean anyways? Why does Kallen look so hot in a bunny outfit. Yes, the questions are endless, but I can still count on CG to keep somethings the same.

Lelouch has crazy expressions and arms with multiple elbows. C.C. is still enigmatically cool. The Emperor is awesome. Orange-kun gets the coolest scene in the OP. (speaking of the OP, like every other CG OP it will take me a while to get used to, but I’ll love it when I do. Lelouch riding a horse is just lolz worthy. And the Tristan is a cool design, the color scheme just sucks on it.) Suzaku is an uber-douchebag, and Pizza Hut still supports the Rebellion. Everything already feels familiar and comfortable, but with this being CG things won’t stay that way for long. Lelouch is already planning his comeback, and I can’t wait to see what CG’s comeback is either. I know everyone and their mother, uncle, and estranged cousin in prison will be blogging CG, and count me as one of them.

Now for something completely different. I checked out Kanokon hoping for some kind of fun, fanservicey show, and Kanokon definitely has fanservice of the raunchy variety. Too bad it’s spread too thin and everything else is the show is boring. Kouta is the most pipsqueak harem lead ever. The guy’s like a foot shorter than every other girl and lacks a single bone in his whole body. The main girl has no interesting qualities if you look past her chest, and every other girl is a stereotype we’ve seen before. There’s hints of something that may or may not be awesome having happened in the past, but this episode starts in media res, so anything that’s come before is lost on us now. I don’t think Kanokon is the kind of show I’m looking for at all. I need one that won’t put me to sleep.

Best ” OVA ” - ARIA the Arietta

Ok, actually ARIA the Arietta was probably the only OVA from this year I saw, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. Like everything about ARIA, it was great; calming, funny, whimsical, and slightly melancholic. Fortunately the OVA did not signal the end of the great ARIA franchise, but as a detour on towards better things. I’m sure almost everyone will be checking out ORIGINATION in the coming weeks.

Best ” OVA that didn’t come out this year but I finally saw ” - Giant Robo

Now tell me that’s not awesome?

Best ” Artsy Show ” - Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei

It was a toss up between Sayonara Zetsubuo-sensei and ef ~ a tale of memories ~ for this category, but ultimately I enjoyed SZS’s stylistic flair more. From the orgasmically surreal OP (BURE BURE BURE BURE) to the several design quirks that characterize Akiyuki Shinbo’s work, it is impossible to say SZS didn’t have style. The style could either enhance a joke to something truly hilarious, make an incromphrensible joke even more cryptic, or stand alone in silent beauty. I’m looking forward to see what the second season will showcase in its artistic melting pot, but as in SZS tradition I have to ask: SUBS?!

Best ” I couldn’t believe it could turn out this bad show ” - Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

It’s amazing to see how StrikerS went from the darling anime of the year to being derided by almost everyone, even hardcore fans. I tried to put up with it, but there were just too many flaws and I dropped it shortly after Vivio was introduced. The endless training, introduction of too many characters, poor villians, shoddy animation, bad pacing, Vivio, disappearance of old characters we loved; all a perfect mixture of fail. The only good things to come out of StrikerS were Subaru and Teana; Subaru’s a great character all around who deserves a better show, and Teana just because I think her design is sexy. They do make one hell of a lesbian couple, another thing that couldn’t save StrikerS.

Best ” Show that’s halfway finished ” - Code Geass

Great plot, great action, great characters, great pizza, great ass. I look forward to more in the spring.

Best ” Honi Honi ” - Potemayo

I had to give Potemayo something. There is not a more sugary sweet, diabetes inducing moeblob in all of anime. The show never took itself seriously and had fun with its characters, creating a great comedy show all around. Also desperately in need of a second season.

Best ” Romance Show ” - Genshiken 2

I’m not much of a romance guy. Too much romance in anime seems forced and unnatural to me, and often times it is, but Genshiken 2 got romance right. Genshiken had the benefit of being a slice-of-life/romance show, so it never had to rely on romantic intrigues to carry the story but could also insert gundam references. The natural love between Ohno and Tanaka and Sasahara and Ogiue grew throughout the series, and in the case of the later couple hasn’t even come to fruition yet. Hopefully we’ll get some OVA’s to finish up that story.

Best ” Other show made by SHAFT this year ” - Hidamari Sketch

For that other awesome show made this year by SHAFT. Also can’t wait for the second season airing soon.

Best ” Show of the Year ” - Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann

Could there be anything else but Gurren-Lagann for best show of the year? Everything about it is perfect. Stellar animation, manly GAR characters, and an epic plot that encompasses the entire universe. It had a couple problems in pacing halfway through, but nothing could stop this juggernaut from reaching the top. The spirit of this show - its characters, its emotions, and its many great monologues - will definitely stay with me in the coming year.

On a personal note, it’s been a pretty good year overall. The blog reached one year old. Readership increased dramatically, declined dramatically, and finally leveled of. My fanboyism of Type-moon reached new heights with the Fate/stay Night patch, but due to the lack of any new games has settled down to a kind of pessimistic cynicism. My fanboyism in touhou was similar, with much reading of doujinshi and playing of games at the beginning of the year leading to me not even thinking about touhou now. Too much too fast I guess. I discovered a love for mecha and tokusatsu which does continue now and have been watching as much as I can in those areas, which has definitely been reflected in the blog. And I got a cute girlfriend who I love, which was the best part of the year. And she has seen the blog and agrees: otaku make great boyfriends.

Finally, in mimicry of what one of my favorite bloggers does, let’s look at which post each month you readers most commented on and, I assume, liked.

January - Series Review: Black Lagoon Second Barrage - several people seemed to agree with me on how great this anime was. A third season is still sorely missed.

February - Saigar Update: Quarterfinals Match 3 aka. Good Night Sweet Prince - Archer’s lost in Saigar prompts a discussion on what the hell GAR is.

March - Greatest Haruhi Pic Evar - still rings true.

April - I have found it! - video of the first live action attempt at Lucky Star dance. Not to be viewed by the faint of heart.

May - Claymore Manga: Awesome, Claymore Anime: Meh - everyone agrees the girls of Claymore are moe.

June - Game Review: Fate/stay Night - FATE Route - still waiting for UBW patch.

July - Impressions: Sayonara Zetsubuo Sensei - the beginning of the madness.

August - One Year Anniversary Extravaganza - looking back, it wasn’t that big of an extravaganza.

September - Final Thoughts on Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann - the end of a legend.

October - Tomoya’s Dating a Retarded Person - more people really need to watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

November - Prelude to the Ultimate Battle of Manliness V.2 - it’s on in a couple of days.

December - I Hate Keyches - I love inventing new words.

Well, that’s it for 2007. Happy new year everyone and I’ll see you in 2008!

One the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: five ZERO!, four VOLTEKKA!, three PRIMAL SCREAMS OF HOT BLOODED FURY!, two(million) RONs!, and one GIGA DRILL BREAKER!

This is the fifth post in a series as I look at the twelve best anime moments of the year from shows I watched. Key there being watched, as a few of these moments are going to be from some pretty old stuff, but I think they’re damn good enough to talk about at any time. This is a joint ABC blogging project with other contributions from Roxas, CCYoshi, Orion, Owen S, Xerox, Nekoron, Martin, Michael Huang, usagijen, and Moogy. Yeah, there’s a lot of us. If you haven’t seen Code Geass then go watch it now, as this post contains some massive spoilers.

Code Geass is definitely one of the more popular shows of the year. Its insane characters and melodramatic plot made for perfect endless blog speculation. While many would probably say the final tragedy of Euphemia’s massacre is the most memorable moment of the show, I differ and instead enjoy the final minutes of episode 25, essentially season 1’s cliffhanger. The setup is perfect, with an insane(r) Suzaku finally facing off with Lelouch on even ground. The reveal of Lelouch as Zero was a chilling moment, with the helmet cracking to reveal Lelouch’s now almost inhuman face, a man who has gone beyond the limits of good and evil. Kallen’s reaction is also great for summing up her betrayed feelings of love for Zero.

Everyone remembers the cliffhanger ending, with both Lelouch and Suzaku shooting at the same time before the screen went blank. While I hate that kind of non-conclusion, it definitely makes me want to watch more geass. The final moments really sum up everything I love about the series - intense character and plot driven melodrama - and hate - Lelouch’s and Suzaku’s endless stupidity. Lelouch really should of just hired someone to protect Nunnally already and Suzaku’s way too obsessed with his own ridiculous ideals. Still, I love the show and can’t wait to see the outcome between the two when season 2 premieres next year. My prediction: Kallen shoots Suzaku while Lelouch is injured by Suzaku’s bullet and Kallen is forced to rescue him.