By Ruben(nerd) Schade, a UTS university student and IT guy in Sydney and Singapore. c.2004
Between packing, moving and working on my university anime club's website and membership systems, I haven't had time to review the last two Tamako Market episodes Clara and I watched. I know, I'm as horrified as you are!
While we wait for me to have a sliver of spare time, have this super cute Megami image of the girls from the series instead. Arigato.
I haven't blogged an anime series as it's aired since Bakemonogatari in 2009, but I'm getting back into it again with the delightful Tamako Market.
For those who don't know me, I have a Kyoto Animation Doctrine. This states that if Kyoani releases something, I have to watch it. Not "I should watch it", as in I have to watch it. The plot, the origins of the story, the number of clichés or blobs, these are all irrelevant. Or possibly, the reason. This used to be the Kyoani SHAFT Doctrine, but with limited time I had to get a bit more selective :)
As Clara and I huddled in front of the computer screen to watch Kyoani's latest endeavour, we couldn't tell if we were being trolled or not. Or if we were, whether you can be trolled in a good way. The story makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Firstly, a regal talking bird who's name happens to be a disparaging review of the foodstuffs his hosts produce? A bird who gains so much weight without simply exploding? The fact people so readily accept the fact he talks after the initial shock subsides? The fact he turns into a projector?
For a shameless person like me who watches anime for the art as well as the production studio, the colours, sky and market itself were rather vibrant, more than I was expecting. Clara is an actual artist and seemed impressed by these too, so I knew it wasn't just me being impressed by something simply because I have no hope replicating anything close to it.
The characters. Well, lets just say they look like K-On, talk like K-On, have the K-On eyes and hand gestures. It may as well be K-On, in a market, with a talking bird. I'll admit, I was excited to see the K-On character design being adopted for... guys. I unashamedly loved K-On, so I'm perfectly okay with this, almost nostalgic. There were a few elements of Hyouka too, especially of Tamako during the ED.
Haters gonna hate. I don't care. I'm going to watch the heck out of this series. The only catch, watching all this food being prepared made Clara and I eat more pizza than we realised, which gave us tummy aches afterwards. This is a concern.
Also, for what it's worth, the florist is already giving me ideas for a cosplay. I couldn't hope to match our club's Lexi, but I could try. Also, Tamako drinks coffee which is far too awesome for words. Sudohbucks, anyone?
The only reason I used to care even slightly about Halloween were The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes. Now I have another reason. Can someone with visual talent please do a text filter as soon as possible? Kthxbye.
From the beautiful Clara Tse and Zerochan (you need to be logged in to view).
Aaaaaah. Chitanda Eru from Hyouka, the latest KyoAni production. Will no doubt be another significant (and entirely voluntary!) financial drain on me at some stage.
Thank you @hanezawakirika ^^;
And yes, this post had merit. Just like this one.
After that last ranting post about immigration, I feel compelled to talk about something a little more light hearted. With this in mind, I have a bone to pick with Kyoto Animation and the images they're releasing to promote the up and coming movie de K-On!
Firstly, as a matter of disclosure, I am far more excited about this movie than perhaps I should be. I remember watching the first K-On series, then reading the four panel comics, then the second series, then buying hard copies of their four panel comics, then buying badges with Mugi-chan on them, then lending her name to my Mac Pro (iMugi for those in the know) and cosplaying as a gender bender version of her for SMASH.
While professing enjoyment and obsession with K-On will have you electronically tomatoed and marginalised by certain anime fans, I'm an unashamed, unabashed fan of the series, and I make no apologies for the fact.
To build further anticipation in their upcoming movie release in silly fools such as myself, Kyoto Animation have been releasing official art in various anime art journals of record: the legitimate sounding, tongue-in-cheek title I give to magazines such as Megami that serve to just showcase cute anime girls, many of which come with posters that look great on dormitory walls in student housing, but less so in family houses XD.
But I digress! The point of this post (if there was one, I forget) was to comment on one of the more recent pieces of officially sanctioned art that arrived in my image board RSS subscription on Bloglines. As you can see, the girls from the series are in their bathing suits, enjoying the sun, and better still my two overwhelmingly favourite characters are front-row-centre! This crop is desktop background material!
Well, actually there are five problems, though two are related. Darn, I just keep thinking of them. First, let's get the nitpicking out of the way:
Leaving aside their choice in clothing however, the biggest issue I have with this image has to do with their locale. Perhaps its due to my upbringing in the tropics, or the fact I'm currently back in Sydney, but the United Kingdom (where this movie is purported to take place) is devoid of any such beaches, and only once in a blue moon has weather like this!
My Germanic genes from my father's side of the family are encouraging me to inform the K-On writers that Munich and Vienna would make for far more picturesque locales to eat amazing tea time deserts for the girls, but I suppose the UK also makes sense where afternoon tea is an elaborate affair with tea, scones and Wedgewood. This I'm not disputing... but an amazing beach with beautiful skies... that's not the UK! It's time to call a spade a spade.
Or am I wrong?
![Saturday 13th March 2010: [Anime] A new K-On character with a... tuba!?](http://rubenerd.com/uploads/anime.miuraakane.jpg)
It's been more than a year since we were told about her... is she ever going to appear?
For those who don't remember who haven't been subscribed to my blog for very long [you're a wise person] back in March 2010 K-On! fans were treated to a series of character profile images depicting a new character in the form of Miura Akane.
I posted them on Rubenerd.com at the time, and commented that a tuba player in the Light Music Club playing a tuba was simply too awesome for words. A number of you left comments echoing my sentiment!
As I said at the time, not only would the idea of having an adorable moeblob character playing an instrument that's almost as large as she is would be highly entertaining to watch, it's such an unconventionally bizarre and wonderful instrument to have in a pop music group! As I've been saying since I got into jazz and swing in my late years of primary school:
It's true. Prove me otherwise. I dare you.
So we return to the present. Wait, how does one return to the present, if we were talking about the past? I'd make a lousy time traveler, I'd barely be able to form sentenced discussing where I was, let alone operate the devices used to transport me. But I digress.
Where is Akane Miura? Whatever happened to her? Has she appeared in the manga yet? Apparently, I haven't been the only one thinking about this... leave it to the demotivational poster folk to come up with this ;).
I wonder if she'll appear in the movie? Miura Akane doesn't seem like a very British name!
Illustration by 機助 on Pixiv. Granted this birthday image would have been more appropriate, but this was just too cute to pass up!
For those who don't watch/read K-On, Tsumugi is the one with the legendary eyebrows.
For over seven years I've [largely] abstained from posting animated GIFs. Worries about being distracting aside, their file size also puts strain on my already stretched bandwidth quota.
I guess you could say, I found this too sweet to pass up. Yui's clothes also match my blog theme, you see.
It's that Yuletide season thingy, so I'm doing what any self respecting, atheistic, masculine, terribly intelligent 24 year old would do, setting my desktop backgrounds to super cute pictures and all that. 56k warning, run for the 56k hills! Slowly!
K-On! Used it JUST for Mugi's nose and antlers XD. Snow Leopard, 1920x1200
Suzumiya Haruhi and Co. I like Yuki's hat :). Leopard, 1920x1080
Toradora. Taiga doesn't look too impressed!. Fedora 14, 1024x768
Photo from our 2009 winter trip. Germany is so amazing. FreeBSD, 1280x1024
Lucky Star, in honour of their rumoured new season. Warm and happy :). OS/2, 640x480
The poor Japanese, can't they live but one month of their lives without having a new Prime Minister thrust upon them? Fortunately I have a solution that I'm confident would work out, and save taxpayer money.
I suppose at this point you expect me to make an anime reference, because Japan is where it comes from. Well firstly I'm shocked and appalled that you'd assume I'm so much of a crass simpleton that I'd see places not for what they are but with sweeping, overt generalisations based on one of their recognisable industries.
I mean, do you expect every post I write about Ireland to mention praties floating in Guinness, or every post that mentions Singapore has to mention teh tarik and PCK? Best in Singapore and JB, and some say Batam? Really?!
Now that we've got that out of the way... we all know Suzumiya Haruhi would make the best Prime Minister.
She has drive, an "unconventional" way of solving problems and getting what she wants, the uncanny ability to make those she despises very uncomfortable, and she created the universe so if anyone were to know what makes it tick, it'd be her. And if she should falter she'd be no more or less effective than any of the six previous post holders, and better still she could just change the universe back to what it was before (as she'd rumoured to be doing so her second series never ends up appearing).
Unfortunately, despite being God she couldn't be the Emperor because of her gender, though as PM she'd wield more legislative power anyway. She could also save the Diet billions over the course of her tenure by having Konata as one of her senior ministers because they'd both be voiced by the one person.
It's pure, unmitigated genius, feel free to let me know why I'm right. Come to think of it, maybe she should come to Australia given we have no good choices in either major party.
