March 27th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
(Anime, Articles)
We’re going to take a quick look at a few unlicensed anime available right now through bittorrent.
Spice and Wolf
Spice and Wolf (Otami to Koshinryo) is an anime based on a Japanese light novel series written by Isuna Hasekura and
produced by IMAGIN, a smaller studio. It features Craft Lawrence a traveling merchant in what appears to be a historical feudal society. So, that’s the basis. No real big change from any other anime. But, wait, get this. Craft has an unfortunate encounter with Holo, a wolf god who controls the harvest of a small town. Holo is supposed to be an angry looking mean wolf god (think Mononoke Hime) but she transforms herself into a cute human-like figure (Suprise suprise! Avant garde!). Holo ends up tagging along with Craft. Yup, that’s the entire premise. Not especially ground breaking.
Strong point Sure the animation is run of the mill but Spice and Wolf is more about story. Though it seems simplistic now remember, the anime evolved from a light novel so expect the plot to really pick up. The interactions between the down-to-earth Craft and the spicy and spunky Holo are humorous and interesting. Though Craft and Holo don’t break traditional anime archetypes they do provide for an interesting atmosphere given the twist of the plot, Holo is, of course, a wolf goddess. In the end, however, expect a well-written plot.
Why should you pick this up? I’m going to recommend this to people who enjoy feudal society animes. Moreover, if you like animes that focus on relationships between different personalities pick this one up. I know you all are suckers for animes where a relationship between two people slowly evolve over time until they are truly tested.
Where can you get it? BSsubs
They Are My Noble Masters
They Are My Noble Masters (Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de) has a rather curious name, but it accurately describes the anime. The anime really does exhibit the fascination of master-servant relationships that some Japanese (well… some people in general) enjoy. The story goes like this, Ren and Mihato Uesegi run away from home due to their abusive father and start looking for a job. By some “wacky” (as it is often put) circumstances they end up at the Shinra (FFVII?) Kounji’s, a 
famous conductor, household. The estate is filled with mostly females of which you can expect your stereotypical Ren to interact with, help, etcetera as male anime characters are ought to do when surrounded by tons of females. Of course, having sex with any of them is out of the question as an idea like that is totally outlandish in Japanese standards. I mean… living in the house with tons of good looking women and trying to hit on them? No way!
Strong point Think of it like a harem anime except the usually dominant female is also dominant in status not just personality. In Japan, it appears, gender roles are likened to be reversed and it’s kind of refreshing to see a male character grovel, though this is not necessarily uncommon (see Keitaro in Love Hina and any other harem anime).
Why should you pick this up? I’m going to recommend this to harem anime lovers everywhere. If you love seeing one guy being mercilessly hammered by multiple females, one of which stands out as the alpha-female and his obvious future partner, get this anime now! In all honesty, it’s one of the better harem animes out there given just how many there are!
Where can you get it? Anime Yoshi
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February 23rd, 2007 at 2:31 pm
(Anime, News)
Hey everyone. Spring break is coming up. You know what that means? PARTYING, GETTING ON THE BEACH AND HAVING FUN. Wohoo! But also, maybe, a podcast or two? I’m expecting to get together with Luis to release a podcast over spring break. Can’t wait! Also, expect to see another RAGED article, once I can figure out how to send fanboys on a mindless rampage once again. Come to think of it, the hate from my previous RAGED articles hasn’t stopped at all. Anyways, Luis and I have been really busy with college but we’re trying to get back into some animes. If you want to talk to me please send me a message at our email address or you can even IM me on my AIM SN IHaveCrayons!
2 Comments »
October 13th, 2006 at 1:21 am
(Anime, News)
The following is an interesting comment I received from someone who read the FMA Raged Article. This is the e-mail I sent in reply, I received no e-mail back.
Dear Ehren,
Thank you for your comments about my RAGED articles. Before I reply to anything about your comments I want to say that I could not publish the comment because of the large amount of profanity you used. If you could please take out the curse words and the like if you are inclined I will publish it. You are entitled to your opinion. For your convenience I have provided the text below:
“First off, watch the raws, everyone knows CArtoon Network eats anime alive. Second, READ THE MANGA IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE ANIME!! For christ’s sake, what is the matter with you that you take one look at something that is in fact an action anime and say there’s nothing in it? What about all the times Ed and Al have to fight to survive? What aobut the fight between Hohenheim and DAnte before she blasts him through the gate? What about the fights with Scar? What about the fights with the homunculi?
And the manga is almost completely seperate from the anime; same characters, different plotline, but similar. And… it’s still going, getting a new greed and the homunculi father/hohenheim look alike is yet to be explained, while Roy and Riza and Ed and Al are caught in a trap by Pride/King Bradley.
If there was no plot, then hardly anyone would watch it, let alone me. FMA forces you to think and think very hard about what’s going on, makes you try to figure out what’s happening for yourself. The anime AND manga do that, the manga even more so.
The characters are blah? No character development? No variation between the charcaters? Roy is a smartass, uber controling, yet incredibly lazy colonel with very slow burning temper. Riza is a calm and collected sharp shooter with more going on with her than we know (She has a very elaborate fire transmution circle tattooed on her back), Ed is a short, pretty young man with cat like eyes and a hair trigger temper, but is otherwise a good guy at heart even when he’s being an evil little bastard, Al is his younger, sweeter and generally calmer brother, caring more about Ed’s welfare than his own, even when he may at any second have a soul to armor rejection and possibly blow up from it. (He is a very adimrable, but both are somewhat stupid at times, because they’re boys.) Winry is a very sweet and loving girl, wanting to improve in her automail work so she can make sure Ed will always be protected by her, since she feels that is the only way she will ever be able to do anything for him. She loves him dearly and Ed does the same toward her. He keeps her from sullying her hands with Scar’s blood (kept her from killing him because she found out he killed her parents) because her hands were meant for letting people live, not for killing.
As for cosplaying the characters, I love seeing how people come up with ways to dress up like the characters; I want to one day go to a convention dressed as Ed because I’m supposed to be almost exactly like him. When I saw my friend’s little sister dressed up as Ed ( and she IS him), I wanted to take as many pictures as possible, though I never was able to get a camera on her. She looked exactly like him, including the hieght. The only thing missing was the automail arm and I’ve seen some really nice automail arms and legs and even Al’s armor in my time as an FMA fan.
If you have a problem trying to find plot in this series, I suggest you try reading things meant for little children, because obviously, you never learned reading comprehension, you shitfaced moron.”
-Ehren
Regarding your first paragraph, I did not watch FMA on Cartoon Network. I do not know how you derived this information but I was not even aware that FMA was shown on CN. If you had seen the other posts and the like you may have noticed the trend of animes I watch, fansubs such as Noein and Fate/Stay Night that are not presently availible in the US. I watched FMA when it was being fansubbed. Also, the article is about the anime not the manga. I’m only talking about the anime, why would I read the manga? I’m not talking about the manga. I had a cordial conversation with someone who read the manga and I am aware that they are very different, but I still have no interest in reading the manga. I’m not a manga reader that is my personal preference.
I would like to make it clear that the article is an editorial not a factual objective review. If you had caught in you may have noticed the sarcastic tone in my writing, in all seriousness what does a random picture of a guy cosplaying Edward have to do with the anime? Nothing.
I didn’t like the characters. That is my opinion, but I am not going to back up on editorial with objectivity. The editorial is meant for entertainment, so again, there is no point. You like the characters, I don’t. That’s all. I do, however, like Winry but I didn’t mention her in the editorial.
I don’t know much about cosplay, I just said that people cosplay it too much.
This all aside, your opinion was somewhat helpful. It would be nice to have a comment where someone disagrees with me so that everyone can see all sides of the editorial, however, you wrote this: “you never learned reading comprehension, you shitfaced moron” Now, I am not sure why you wrote that. I was not aware that a person could be so upset over something so trivial as an opinion over a bunch of animated characters. Are you really upset over the article? If so maybe you should get your priorities straight. There should be no reason to be offended over and editorial about anime. There IS reason to be offended if someone insults you directly in a fashion totally unwarranted. Reading comprehension? I scored a 740/800 on the Reading Comprehension section of the SAT putting me in the top 3 percentile in the nation. But, there should be no reason for me to be telling you that. You do not even know me, yet you insult me over an anime?
Your other comment about fanservice again brings up issues near the end when you had an almost solid argument. You like fanservice, I don’t. Same thing as I said before, I’m ok with that. I am not offended. Then you wrote this…
“you get the picture? Probably not because you’re still bitching like a little girl and not doing anything about the problems you see, or finding out if that is all there is to what you’re seeing. you fail at life, moron.”
I do not get the picture. I don’t understand how I am ‘bitching.’ I don’t like fanservice, so what? Why would I need to do something about the ‘problems’ ? There is no problem. I don’t like fanservice, that’s just my opinion. Do you want me to call up BONES and say, “You shitfaced morons don’t put fanservice in your anime!” Why would I do that? I would just not watch any BONES anime. Furthermore, how do I ‘fail at life’? Do I fail at life because I don’t get off to animated characters’ titties? Do I fail at life because I don’t get a hardon when I see the drawn panties of an imaginary character? If so then I get a F-. Furthermore, what do I need to FIND OUT about fanservice? If you could please enlighten to me about what I’m missing, the deeper meaning of fanservice.
Now, a cordial and polite comment would be as follows. You said “Evangelion is a complete waste of time.” I disagree, this is why:
Evangelion is a heavily introspective and philosophical anime. It requires, to be fully understood, knowledge of Biblical references, mythology, and Freudian psychology. The allusions to the Bible and other Christian elements are extensive as well as the status of ‘man’ in the eyes of the creator of the anime. Evangelion is a very deep anime and in fact, to fully explain many questions present in the anime it took up to 7 pages typed (located at Eva Monkey.) Evangelion requires much though into the interrelationships of characters, the protagonists and antagonists as well as the relative plot devices. These must be connected with the aforementioned resources (Bible, Freud, Mythology) to understand truly Evangelion.
Now am I going to call you a ‘moron’ because I disagree with your opinion on Evangelion? No. I disagreed and I said why, nothing more. I did not make it personal. There is no need to get personal over an anime. But in actuality, all anime is a ‘complete waste of time.’ There is nothing productive in watching anime. Working at a job is productive. Writing an editorial about FMA is not productive. Cleaning the house is productive.
Don’t take anime so seriously. Chill.
Your Anime+ Host,
Alex
9 Comments »
