First Impressions – Dream Eater Merry

She's more worried about her head being uncovered

This is probably as good a time as any to mention that I kinda have a thing for toned female stomachs. My best friend growing up was the only other person I’ve ever known who shared this interest, but now I can add a third person to our club: Yamauchi Shigeyasu, the director of Dream Eater Merry. He’s obviously not shy about it, since I’m pretty sure Merry’s bellybutton had more closeups than her face. As much as I appreciated the attention to detail on this part of her character, I was still primarily interested in what was going on everywhere else. Fortunately, I wasn’t disappointed.

Fujiwara Yumeji has recently been having dreams in which he is pursued by a gang of bipedal cats through what looks like New York City from An American Tale. They finally catch up to him but retreat after a rooster crows, signaling they’re “out of time,” but promising to bring their boss to meet him next time. The next morning, he uses his ability to see multicolored dots by looking through his fingers (I never knew this was a special thing because I always see that sort of stuff when I press on my eyes like that) to try to predict what type of dreams his friends will have that night. After hanging out with a slightly creepy teacher and talking about writing novels, he heads home and has a forceful encounter with a strange girl who wanders off after she loses her hat.

More tummy after the break!

Irony by ClariS

Irony, the opening to Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai, is a song recorded by the singing duo known as ClariS. This group consists of two high school students named Kurara and Arisu. Uploading their own songs to anime websites led to their debut and signing by Sony Music Entertainment.

Very little is known about the history of these two artists. Any photos are actually anime portraits from a “well-known illustrator.” The mystery surrounding these two–along with the haunting tune shown above–has generated quite a bit of speculation. What I know is that, besides Irony, they have also recorded a song called Connect. It’s the opening theme to Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magica, which starts showing on Japanese TV on January 6, 2011.

There is also a website dedicated to the group: the ClariS Official Website.

Wherever their paths lead them, it is this authors hope that they have an enjoyable and fulfilling career.

Weekly Anime Review: Fall Season Wrapup

Well, this season of anime was certainly a pleasant surprise. After the lackluster summer season, everyone at Project Haruhi felt that our prospects for the fall weren’t all that great. Fortunately, a few standout series managed to rise above the typical  fare and keep us entertained. Foremost among them was Squid Girl, which we all agree was the best show of the season. Sadly, that’s pretty much the ONLY thing we agreed on.

While recording our weekly reviews on Bakacast, a number of disagreements sprung up. Dusty and Glen are huge fans of Star Driver, whereas I found it too boring to watch past four episodes. Alternatively, I’ve been quite the Panty & Stocking apologist, but Glen and Dusty find it marginally entertaining at best. And we all enjoyed hating on OreImo, one of the most reviled shows of the season… except for Glen, who actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Even our opinions of Iron Man tended to vary.

For the purposes of these reviews, I’ve tried to assign each show to the person who enjoyed it the most. The exceptions are Samurai Girls, which NOBODY liked, and Iron Man, which Dusty gets because he’s our resident comic book nerd. Hopefully, that will make these reviews more than just one unending stream of negativity. No promises, though.

Our in-depth reviews are below the break. Beware the sacrilege! Oh, and the spoilers too.

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Bakacast – We Are Not Spinal Tap

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On this episode of Bakacast, we bid a semi-fond farewell to the Fall 2010 season and share what we’re looking forward to (or dreading) in the coming winter. But first, I guess there might be more Lucky Star in our future? Who knows! And, more to the point, who cares? Frankly, we’re more interested in the recent Disappearance of Haruhi Suzimiya movie, which kicks off our review segment.

Ever wanted to hear me lose my temper? Well, you’ll get your chance when Jon and I battle it out during the Panty & Stocking discussion (though at least we can all agree that the soundtrack is fantastic). And to make sure this episode was extra special, we captured Thomas from Stepping Up to the Anime Plate so he could give us his thoughts on MM!

We cover:

  • The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
  • Panty & Stocking #13
  • Otome Youkai Zakuro #13
  • Squid Girl #12
  • Iron Man #12
  • MM!
  • Star Driver #13

Since the winter season’s shows won’t debut before our normal podcast recording time, we’ll be doing things a little differently next week. How different? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see…

Assembly and Paint in Less Than Three Minutes

Most of you know that, besides anime, my other passion is aviation. It is my first passion, because it existed long before anime was dreamed of. This video gives you a glimpse of what is involved in the final assembly and painting of a Southwest Boeing 737-800.

The subsections arrive by rail at the final assembly plant next to Boeing Field Seattle, Washington and then the fun begins. I know that an in-service overhaul of this airplane takes six to eight weeks to complete. I’ll use those numbers as a guideline as to how long this process takes. So the next time you see one in flight or ride on one remember what it takes to make one. And that video doesn’t even show the full construction. All the subsections–fuselage, wings and tail surfaces–are assembled at the other Boeing Commercial Aircraft Company plants or come from other subcontractor facilities world wide. They took months to complete on their own. Did you know about 50 gallons of paint are used to paint a typical 737? Once the paint is dry, it will weigh approximately 250 pounds.

So many things we take for granted today were only the dreams of visionaries 50 years ago. In this season of dreams, my present to you is another look at the other part of my world. Although I’m fashionably late, enjoy a look as this modern marvel springs to life.

Bakacast – Chizuru vs Grizzly Bear

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Bakacast is back from our holiday vacation, and we hope you guys had a good holiday too! I got The Secret of Kells on Blu-ray, so you can expect me to review that sometime in the future.

In any case, we send off OreImo with tempered praise. This won’t be our last discussion of the series, though. We’re pretty much guaranteed to talk about the OVA’s when they come out (I’m crossing my fingers for a “nice boat” ending). After that, Glen and I lament how far Zakuro has fallen, Glen and Larry’s rant on Samurai Girls justifies my decision to drop it by the fifth episode, Glen confesses his love for Kanako of Star Driver fame, and I come up with a surefire way for Squid Girl to get a coveted 6 out of 5 Picards.

We cover:

  • OreImo #12 (finale)
  • Panty & Stocking #12
  • Otome Youkai Zakuro #12
  • Samurai Girls #12 (finale)
  • Squid Girl #11
  • Star Driver #12

We’ll officially say goodbye to the fall season on the next episode and start bracing ourselves for winter. But until then, why don’t we gather around the yule log and enjoy the soothing strains of the Panty & Stocking soundtrack?

12 Days of Anime #1: Best Anime Scene of the Year

*For the full effect, read the following text aloud in the manner of a melodramatic old-time radio announcer.*

DANGER! The mighty electromaster MIKOTO MISAKA is being menaced by Telestina’s gargantuan robot! This high-speed freeway battle is not looking good for our young heroine! The fearsome war machine is impervious to all of Mikoto’s attacks, including her mighty railgun, and its deadly ROCKET FISTS are destroying everything in sight! With only seconds left before total annihilation, can Mikoto find a way to defeat this horrible menace and save the day?

12 Days of Anime #2: Fighting Evil by Moonlight

Sailor Moon is one of those quintessential anime that everybody has heard of, but almost nobody has actually seen. Old timers have vague memories of watching it on Toonami, and they’re plenty of Sailor Senshi fanart to be found, but only a few of us young’uns have bothered to sit down and learn what all the fuss was about. Well, as part of my rediscovery of retro anime, I decided to take the plunge. I was expecting something silly like Power Rangers, with a shallow story and a monster every week.

Funny thing is, Sailor Moon has a way of both fulfilling and subverting your expectations.

All the super sentai tropes are there, with great quantity and little deviation. Luna and Artemis, faced with a threat from the evil Dark Kingdom, recruit teenagers with attitude to form a team of color-coded warriors. These girls battle a neverending onslaught of weekly monsters using their stock-footage transformation scenes and elemental attacks, eventually challenging and defeating the ruler of the Dark Kingdom herself. In a nutshell, this is the show that defined the magical-girl tropes, for better or worse. It’s the pioneer, the trailblazer, the legendary matriarch whose influence is still felt today.

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