tj_han86’s comment that Mamiko Noto is the worst person to pick for the lead role of Masane Amou in Witchblade reminded me of Moyism’s wish that she wouldn’t get typecasted so much. I’ve only seen one episode of Witchblade and am feeling wishy-washy: it’s not a complete disaster so far and there’s potential but I’ve yet to be convinced. (Feedback from those who have seen the ten episodes so far?) Overall, Ms Noto’s voice and history of roles appears to severely constrain her possible roles, but I think that her range wider than what most of us assume it is and if she pulls off Witchblade, it will further increase her already large fanbase and widen the choice of roles available to her - which I think is no bad thing. Continue reading ‘Mamiko Noto: Typecast or Miscast?’
Keeping the momentum going, here’s my top 10 list of favourite anime elder sister types [edit: from recent series]. Seems that the hontou ni class of anime blog has captured the siscon niché of the market (;^_^) - with Stripey specialising in girls who like their brothers a bit too much while one area of focus for me is Oneesama types. Pretty big difference still, within this niche. Stripey gets his shivers down the spine from such instances as Nemu’s “Niiiii-san!” or Pacifica’s “Daisuki dayo!” so technically his niché is “cute girls with elder brother complex” (but that’s too wordy so he’ll just stick to "siscon". In contrast, I get my thrills from the girls listed below.
The screencap above says a lot about my criteria. She must be an actual older sister to someone or if not, she is addressed as such or have the term associated with her. Hawtness is an obvious criteria. Significant screentime rules out Suzuka’s elder sis or Motoko Aoyama’s aneeue (both of whose names escape me). Character traits like natural leadership, bossiness, domineering also given high weight. Respect and ownage a big bonus while extra credit is given for oneesamas with imouto admirers who want their “gouhoubi”. Continue reading ‘Top 10 Anime Oneesamas’
Some great LOL moments in this second installment of the OVA. Again, lovely Harima-Eri interaction in Tenma’s presence. Eri is normally a very bright and observant person but given her feelings about Harima and Tenma not even appearing on her competition radar (which had already zapped Mikoto and Yakumo), I suppose it’s understandable that she didn’t link Harima’s changes in behaviour to the only variable that was controlling it. Continue reading ‘School Rumble OVA Ep 2′
When I read bakaboobie’s characterisation of Sara’s first meeting with Yakumo as being "yuri-lific", just had to grab the raw. (Which sort of explains the black bars in the screenies.) Previously I was never quite sure whether Sara wanted to go on a date with Akira or Yakumo after the whole wedding dress photo-shoot bustup thing but now it seems that it’s definitely Yakumo. ^_^
While Yakumo is a hot favourite among Sukuran fans, I did not really find her very interesting initially - a bit of pastiche of Azumanga’s reticient, cat-loving Sakaki and Da Capo’s mind-reading (though without text) Kotori. Sure I liked her character design and her devotion to her sister but it got a bit boring. It’s really only after she became fascinated by Harima: being unable to read his thoughts at all and his animal friendship ability and was drawn into the role of his confidant, adviser and helper on his manga that she became a more complex character. The Sara angle makes her even more interesting as it shows how lonely she was. Continue reading ‘School Rumble OVA Ep 1′
I was very disappointed by this episode the first time I saw it. But now knowing that there will be a second season, the lack of closure is less galling. Rewatching it, the multiple iterations of the story less confusing. However, I still didn’t like it all that much mainly because of its focus on the Tenma-Karasuma angle which I found extremely tedious and was really glad when the series moved off it after the initial arc. What I did enjoy a lot was the Harima-Eri interaction in this episode. Continue reading ‘School Rumble 26′