Tag Archives: K-ON!

I’m Not Sure What to Expect From a K-ON!!! Film

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Editorial Comment

The final K-ON!! episode announced that a film will be produced. I can’t say I’m surprised, but I am somewhat disappointed. Do we really need this?

KyoAni has done it again: they gave us a repetitive and boring second season that didn’t live up to the first, just like Haruhi, and then tried to win back our favor with a film announcement. Bah! Why waste our time and money with a subpar TV anime season when KyoAni can give us better material on the big screen? MERCHANDISE is the answer. It’s all for one and one-thousand yen for a Mio doll.

Is this the future of anime? Do the studios care about nothing but merchandise and ticket sales? Substance, story and plotline don’t matter anymore? I certainly hope not… but given what I’ve seen lately, it’s hard to be optimistic.

I’ve said on the podcast that K-ON! had all the material to do a third season, provided it focused on the light music club and its new members. Will this film be about Yui and company, or the new band under Azusa’s tutelage? Will the girls finally realize their dream of playing at Budokan, or just sit around drinking tea? If this just winds up being more of the same pointless filler we got for much of the second season, they just shouldn’t bother making this film at all.

Here’s to the K-ON!!! movie. I hope you live up to the hype.

Otaku Debate: Finding an Anime Girlfriend

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Last week’s debate indicated a fairly split opinion on the quality of the summer anime season. 59% of you said it was either average or horrible, whereas 31% liked it. 12% didn’t even bother watching any shows from this season at all. Based on these results, it think it’s safe to say the summer season received a somewhat negative reception from our readers.

As many of you have already seen, my room is decked out in all manner of otaku merchandise. Upon seeing those photos, one of my friends remarked, “Now that’s the kind of room guaranteed to repel girls. If she doesn’t turn tail and run after seeing that, she’s a keeper!”

That got me thinking. Are girls really turned off by such overt displays of nerdiness, as my friend claimed? The dream of any otaku (or any nerd, for that matter) is to find a significant other who shares their interests. I’m sure we’ve all fantasized about that perfect girl or guy who’s both cute and into K-ON!. The question is, can we turn that fantasy into reality? Is it really viable to meet an anime girlfriend or boyfriend? What would be the best method for finding otaku romance? Or are we all doomed to spend our lives alone, crying ourselves to sleep every night while hugging our catgirl body pillows? That, dear readers, is what this week’s debate is about. Cast your vote in the poll below, and share your thoughts in the comment section!

[poll id=”18″]

Madhouse Earns My Forgiveness With Epic New Film

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I have immense respect for the prolific anime studio Madhouse, but their offering this season has been a total disappointment. Highschool of the Dead is one of the worst anime I have ever seen; a veritable ordeal to watch. If it wasn’t for my duties as chief editor of this site, I would have dropped it weeks ago. The K-ON!! finale might have been a wrenching roller-coaster of emotion, but the last episode of HOTD is what brought me to tears… tears of joy, that is. I’m so very happy that I don’t have to watch another episode of that garbage.

So, as you can imagine, I’ve been pretty disappointed in Madhouse lately… that is, until I saw this little trailer for something called Redline.

Freakin’ epic.

Seriously, this is one of the most visually stunning anime projects I have ever seen. I especially love the bits which display an aesthetic I can only describe as “LSD cyberpunk.” I think this film is worth watching for the animation alone. Madhouse, you have redeemed yourself.

You can learn more about Redline at ANN.

Otaku Debate: Did the Summer Anime Season Suck?

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Surprisingly, last week’s debate didn’t generate the knee-jerk negative reaction towards obesity that I expected. Most of the poll respondents said they preferred their girls anywhere from “meaty” to “slightly chubby,” which could be considered average weight for most people. It’s nice to see our readers have rejected the “thin = sexy” message of pop culture and formed more realistic standards of beauty!

This week’s topic is a bit of a painful one for me. In my humble opinion, this anime season has been a total letdown. Most of the shows, such as Seitokai Yakuindomo and Ookami-san, were just too bland to be worthwhile… and the few that showed promise, like Occult Academy and Highschool of the Dead, turned out to be total duds. The only show that’s marginally entertaining at this point is Mitsudomoe, but the very risque humor makes it appealing to only a small subset of otaku.

Now, I don’t think this means anime is doomed or anything silly like that. We’ve had bad seasons before, particularly in the early nineties after the last economic crash. Still, that doesn’t make it any less depressing to slog through such mediocrity. Has this season left you in a similar state of despair? Or do you think that I’m being overly negative? Are there any anime this season you did enjoy, or are you taking refuge in old classics like Dirty Pair and Gundam while this storm blows over? Vote in the poll below, and share your thoughts in the comment section!

(Just FYI: I consider K-ON!! to be a spring season show, so it doesn’t figure into this debate.)

[poll id=”17″]

Need More K-ON! Music? Try These Seiyuu Solos!

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With the second season of K-ON!! in the can, many of us are already starved for more peppy after-school music.  Aki Toyosaki, who is the voice artist of the character Yui Hirasawa, has released two singles over the past year, which is old news. However, Minako Kotobuki who plays Tsumugi is releasing a solo of her own. This I find rather surprising. Since I don’t think Minako’s done a solo, in the series that is, it will be interesting to hear what she sounds like without the other four members of H.T.T.  The links listed below the photos will take you to CD Japan where you can hear forty-five second previews of the songs that Aki and Minako are releasing.

More after the break.

Continue reading →

Which Hairstyle is Sexiest?

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In episode 21 of K-ON!, the girls try out a variety of different hairstyles in preparation for their class photos. One commenter, Don Kangol Jones, mentioned that he thought this was a subtle commentary on how a character’s design and, by extension, personality is defined by their hairstyle. This got me thinking about past anime and manga where characters have changed their hair. One example that stuck in my mind was the final volume of A.I. Love You, where Cynthia trimmed her long locks into a bob cut that, frankly, didn’t suit her at all. Although her personality technically stayed the same, she just seemed like an entirely different person based on appearance alone. I think Don hit the nail on the head; hairstyle is the most important aspect of any anime character’s design.

So, what kind of anime hairstyle do you like best? And what type of personality do you think that hairstyle suits? Do the twintails make the tsundere, and do all tomboys sport short haircuts? Should an elegant bushido girl wear a ponytail, or let her flowing tresses fly free? I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. Vote in the poll below, and leave your opinion in the comment section!

[poll id=”15″]

Bakacast Briefs – Chupacabra Attack!

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On this episode of Bakacast Briefs, we take an trip to Bizarro World, where the only show that manages to impress us is Highschool of the Dead. Of course, it doesn’t impress for any good reasons, but still. Weird, huh?

Anyway, in addition to the reviews, we briefly discuss a minor controversy concerning an ad for an Arizona sushi bar and answer some very strange Twitter questions from our faithful listeners.

The shows we talk about, as usual, are:

  • Highschool of the Dead #8 (sadly, the infamous supersonic boob scene video was taken down off YouTube)
  • Occult Academy #8
  • K-ON!! #21

[Music used in this episode is “S U P E R S C A R Y” by The Kiffness.]

Bakacast Briefs – Bang Bang! Boobies!

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Have we mentioned breasts yet? We have? Okay, just making sure. It seems like a pretty good way to get a bunch of listeners.

Anyway, we start of this week’s podcast by talking about the most popular anime and video game names Japanese parents give their kids. Though we each had different favorites, we all agreed that it would be super awkward to name your daughter after a character you own a wallscroll of.

After that, we take on:

There’s no Sengoku Basara 2 review today, because I’m an idiot and forgot to watch the most recent episode. GO ME!

[The music used in this episode is “TV Games” by The Kiffness.]

Bakacast Briefs – Put Ya Guns On!

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ARE YOU READY GUYS?

Now that I’m back from my vacation, I can finally inject some much-needed silliness (and bromance) into the podcast with Sengoku Basara 2. There’s no news for this week, so you might notice that all that pent up discussion energy causes us to GET SERIOUS about…well…every show we talk about. So if you decide to listen, I hope you like arguments about world-building theory. Otherwise, you’ll need LOTS OF LUCK to make it through.

We take on:

You may notice I’m more forgiving of HotD #5 in the podcast than I am in my review. Funny how time makes the heart hate stronger, isn’t it?

Anyway, we like hearing from you, so feel free to leave a comment or two. Just don’t get SO CRAZY that the mods have to BREAK IT UP.

…okay, I’m done now.

[The opening and ending music is “Boy Walks Girl to Work and is Followed by a Ghost” by .hnz]

K-ON!’s Weirdest Merchandise

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Wanna look your best at work with Mio!

According to a recent article from ANN, the K-ON! merchandising juggernaut has made 1.8 billion yen in the last three months. That’s approximately $20 million USD, and that doesn’t even include the video sales and licensing rights for the anime or CDs. It’s not on par with merchandising juggernauts like Star Wars or Gundam, but it’s still pretty impressive.

But out of all this merchandise, there are a few products that are rather… bizarre. Let’s take a look at those odd and ridiculous accessories that really make people scratch their heads and beg the question,”What were they thinking?”

Check out the strange products after the jump. Continue reading →