Life in Quadrant 4

Lately there’s been a ton of stuff going on IRL, but that’s not quite the scope of this blog. So I guess I’ll write about the rest of the stuff I haven’t yet written about! I suppose.

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I didn’t really have any expectations for Sora no Otoshimono… Which was a good thing. Brainless ecchi love-comedy sorta stuff, but it’s executed well enough to constitute a rather enjoyable show. And well, it’s hard to top flying jet panties.
Not quite sure how long it will take for the show to snap out of the generic “be careful with what you wish for sorta thing” since it can get quite boring – the concept, not the consequences.

On Kobato. – the writeup on bianki’s post here suits it well. While I am a bit fond of shoujo – and this is very shoujo, in comparison with a lot of other shows – I hate it when the female lead’s a dumb moeblob. Heck, Ioryogi strikes me as a funner character. The first episode was bearable, but I don’t know if I’ll go on any further. Though I would like some of that Kobato Stew.

A continuation of the last season, Shin Koihime†Musou is well, pretty much the same as before. Except unlike the more entertaining hijinks of the first season, they decided to make the episode about a topic rather done to death – using true/personal names to address each other. As moritheil wrote – “While this might be instructive to five-year-olds, it’s just not that appealing to someone who already understands the distinction.” In other words, more food jokes + SD + yuri please.

Kämpfer is like Sekirei iwth a transgender and multiple personalities AND yuri. However the problem I had with Sekirei, is the same as this – the plot. I’m just not fond of a girls-fighting-each-other-for-no-particular-slash-specified-reason sorta show, which is exactly what these two are. On the other hand, the character designs are a little to my taste and animation is still of decent quality (unlike Seven Arcs non-DVD QUALITY), so I think I can stick around with this a little longer.

As a final word on things – I’m still a little hesitant to echo bianki’s words of “Fall Fail”. I’ll keep up watching as many (good?) shows as possible and see what sort of gold surfaces from the horrible, muddy rivers.

I guess from the onset, this was meant to be a parody / gag anime, judging from the source material. From the very start of the episode, they already break the fourth wall and make no qualms as to how the mood of the series will be – lighthearted and fun. Quite a number of references and jokes are made, many of which are at a certain animation studio’s expense, and they naturally don’t stop there, poking fun Higurashi/Umineko (both productions by the same studio), name-dropping Kuroshitsuji, making fun of DBZ and Evolution, and ultimately at itself.

Given its clear-cut distinction about its target audience (that is to say, people who understand these jokes – otaku being a large percentage of this), the number of people who could possibly enjoy this show is marginally low (in comparison to other shows that have more mass appeal). I guess you could equate it to masturbation (in a figurative sense, of course) – no meaning, no hidden intention. Just mindless fun and pleasuring oneself. I mean, it’s a show about nothing but jokes on otaku-related works and terms. It’s as meta as an anime could be, really. Whoever said Bakemonogatari was a circle-jerk of a show made for otaku can eat their words – SeiZon is miles ahead in terms of this distinction. This sort of show was made for otaku, period.

However, those people who do fall within its target market may quite enjoy it – as I have. This may sound awfully elitist, but the way the show works, it’s almost like it panders to the people knowledgable about its jokes and references – namely, us. It’s just like going to an IRC channel and watching the people randomly talk about anime; you laugh at some of the jabs and some others just fly right by you. Since the show is essentially a mini-dump of jokes, gags, and references on current shows and other media, I doubt it’s one of those things that people who don’t already know what the show’s talking about will enjoy it.

I hesitate to get pretentious and call it a brilliant social commentary on the current state of otaku media affairs; it could be, but I can’t quite find the words to fully describe how exactly it could. What I can say about it is that for those who like a little bit of pandering for their otaku selves, it won’t fail to satisfy. And I’m quite satisfied, even for just a little while.

Side Note: I was supposed to toss in a nice header image, but fail uni internet won’t let me upload anything. orz

Alright, so I’m not really thinking straight anymore. I’ll just post my thoughts at the moment, because I also lost all my notes and there’s no way I’m rewatching 4 hours of stuff and spending another two trying to remember what I was supposed to write.

Shows covered:

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Aoi Hana
Princess Lover!
Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou
Spice and Wolf II
Sora no Manimani
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class

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Another day, another post.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Bakemonogatari
Taishou Yakyuu Musume

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