And Now We Talk About Studio DEEN

I started off my J.C. Staff post by declaring them a “great” studio. I can’t say that about DEEN. Whereas J.C. Staff has shows that look good even if they suck, DEEN has shows that look like shit even if they’re good. Yet, while I could jump to the conclusion that this makes them a failure as a studio (in cases of adaptions, what good does it do if you don’t supply the most important thing—animation!?), the truth is that DEEN has a lot of good shows, regardless of their failings in animation. The studio even has a number of things going for it that only through watching a lot of their shows would you start to realize are definitive trademarks.

Some of those good points are as follows:

(800) Days of Fuzakenna! And Eight Awesome Eighth Episodes of Anime

I tend to miss my blog’s benchmarks. I realized in June that my third anniversary had passed in April, and I’m not sure when I broke 300,000 hits, but I’m already halfway to 400,000. But most of all, I’ve missed my specially-numbered posts, or realized after the fact that I’ve made them. Well, today I was lucky and noticed that this will be my 800th published post! It’s a great mark to have, because 8 has always been a special number to me (I was born on August 8, weighing 8 pounds and 8 ounces) so to mark the occasion, I’ll be listing 8 of my favorite ‘episode 8s’.

8 tends to be an important episode number in anime. In a lot of 26-episode shows, the 8th episode marks the transition from plot set-up to actual movement of events, and will often feature a shocking twist or revelation that changes the way things will happen from there on out. This is a common enough practice that I could make a list of just transitional eighth episodes, but of course, being an important episode doesn’t necessarily qualify as being a memorable and awesome one, so this list will take eighth episodes from any series. The requirement for consideration on this list was that the eighth episode wasn’t just great, but was one of the most memorable or amazing episodes in the entire series. Oh, and you can count on there being spoilers for each episode.

200 (+) Anime Worth Taking With Us Into the Next Decade

(Videocast) Released and Relinquished LIVE! Our Panel on Video

Okay, so here’s the panel in video in 6 parts. It’s an hour long, so be ready for some time. It takes a couple of minutes to get started and it only progressively gets better. Also the last five minutes were cut off from the tape running out, but they can basically be summarized as ‘GIANT ROBO IS AMAZING’. Anywho, lets go.

Simoun DVD Commentary Transcribed! Junji and Asako's Know-Your-Simoun Lecture! Part One

I’ve talked a lot on this blog about how amazing Simoun is, and I’ve also talked about how the Region 1 DVDs are some of the most worthwhile purchases you can make. Aside from great package art, they have all 26 episodes on just five singles with a full retail price of 18 bucks apiece. All of the DVDs feature cast interviews and games, and several of the DVDs feature a commentary video with the director, Junji Nishimura, and character designer/animation supervisor Asako Nishida, wherein a lot of behind-the-scenes information and bonus facts are revealed that dramatically enhance the experience. In the comments of my last Simoun-related post, remm noted how he wouldn’t be able to get the DVDs where he lives, so I figured, what the hell, I’ll do the world a favor and transcribe the commentaries! Plus it is great for referential use.

Simoun – Released and Relinquished Part Three

A post in the ‘Released and Relinquished‘ series.

(In case you missed it, go see Part 2: GaoGaiGar over at The Gaming Dungeon) Simoun is one of the most recent anime we’ll be talking about here, having aired in 2006 in Japan and been released between November 07 and 08 here in the states by Media Blasters. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many of the people who’ve seen it, Simoun deserves to be called one of the greatest anime of our decade. Let’s check it out!

100 Characters For 100 Otaku (Part Eighteen: 15-11)

The eighteenth post in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku.”

It’s truly down to the wire as we enter the final three posts in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku!” Has your favorite character shown up yet? If not, don’t fret – while it’s true I may have left them out on purpose, there’s a high chance I have never heard of your favorite character or not seen enough of their work. If there is someone you think I should know about, by all means, recommend them to me as convincingly as you can! Meanwhile, let’s see 15 through 11!

100 Characters For 100 Otaku (Part Thirteen: 40-36)

The thirteenth post in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku.”

The “100 Characters For 100 Otaku” series continues! You know, it’s almost easy to forget that this post series is still a part of the larger “Don’t Fuck This Up” post series. I’m definitely putting my effort into trying not to fuck up, so be sure to call me out at every potential problem, and I’ll edit it right up! Meanwhile, today we have numbers 40 down through 36. Let’s see what they are made of!

Digitalboy's Shipping – Anime Relationships I Support

Baka-Raptor posted recently about 10 heterosexual relationships that he supports to prove that he doesn’t only support lesbians (just primarily). I, as a person with similar tendencies toward lesbians, decided I also wanted to post about relationships I support (heterosexual or otherwise.) This list is all-inclusive. If a pairing is missing from the list it means one of a few things. A. I don’t like both characters  B. I don’t think they go well together, or C. I just don’t give a damn. So here’s a list of every single relationship I actively support (i.e. would write fanfiction/porn about) and why. In no order.

Simoun – Why You Should Watch One of the Best Anime Ever and Why I'm Glad I Watched it Again

The first time I watched Simoun was in early 2007 when I had just gotten back into anime and it was one of my first new shows. I watched it on Crunchyroll, which back then was the shittiest possibly quality of streams imaginable. Like all anime I watched that early in my fandom, I lost memory of it quickly because of factors like me not really hearing voice actors, the shittiness of quality, etc. As such, when I later bought and watched the first DVD I was utterly shocked at how much better it was than I remembered in about every way. I knew that once I collected the DVDs it would quickly become one of my favorites. However, the most surprising thing about this rewatch is that I may not have understood the show at ALL the first time I watched it. Re-reading the posts I did at the time of watching, my opinions are so different that it’s almost like I didn’t watch the same show.

So I’ve decided to divide this post into two sections. The first is one that you can follow if you haven’t seen the show, meaning it’s me trying to convice you to watch it, and the second is me talking about my own theories and other spoilerific content.