Nothing much has changed from last year. A few new categories have been added, most everything has been generalized to anime/manga/game community related things, as I figure it’s best to stay within one realm. General awards are fun but they’re a lot harder to dig through and find everything great. So, it’s only general in around the Hall of Fame and Song of the Year. But whatever, I’m just trying to find the best way to approach them, as we’re only in our second year anyway.

Oh! And before we start. I should mention that this being a blog, I can’t post links to MP3s here. Those will be present here due to the nature of how things are. I meant to do this entire thing via video format, but the holidays caused some massive screw ups. Remind me to start work earlier next year.

Best Anime Openings

Due to a nature of complaints I got last year, I decided to split up the Best Anime Opening into two separate categories. Last year, I received word that choosing merely CV performed anime openings as top was a LITTLE biased. I didn’t think so, but for the sake of integrity, I figured I should give a little lead way. Not to mention, you get to hear more music in this sense. So why complain?

Best CV Performed Opening
My favorite category of openings, especially since it was how I elected them last year. It always seems to be a more broad choice to me and also tends to be more favored among fans. Mostly because they provide a nice touch to the show and create more of an effect than what you get from some random band doing so. They also lack in musicality in the same sense though. Oh well.

Runner Up: Lucky Star Main Cast – Motteke! Sailor Fuku (Lucky Star)
I know what you’re thinking. What is wrong with him? Why is this here and not in the number one spot? Well, I promoted this song just as much as the next guy but I just couldn’t record it as the winner this year. It still felt out of place, especially on account of it not fitting the show at all when compared with how the show actually was. It was more of KyoAni having fun then fitting it in with the show. Though I know I didn’t punish Hare Hare Yukai for this, but that was a better song to boot.

Winner: Mizuki Nana – SECRET AMBITION (Nanoha StrikerS)
Choosing this over the LS opening could be argued by hours by different people. Frankly, I believe I made the right choice here. In terms of musicality, it’s obvious that SECRET AMBITION should win. In terms of fitting it’s show? I believe it fits quite well in terms of how high action the show is. Is it cheap that Mizuki Nana is a out of this world vocalist at times? Probably. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have the right to be here, I mean, I gave Aya Hirano some unfair advantages last year just the same.

Best non-CV Performed Opening
A popular type of opening among some people. To me, it seems limited to the Shounen genre sometimes but a lot of big projects will also go towards this route as well. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, but sometimes they feel rather artificial. So I tried to find some music that wasn’t necessarily done just solo and then grabbed to be an opening. That, and I always try to see how well they actually match up with the intensity of their series.

Runner Up: abingdon boys school – HOWLING (Darker than Black)
I knew I wouldn’t get by without mentioning this song as well. This was one song that I utterly enjoyed this year that was male performed, to be honest. Not that I have anything against them, I listen to a lot of male artists, they just don’t seem to make for good openings as the music is often just ripped from one of their soundtracks. But whatever, I’m just rambling now.

Winner: Base Ball Bear – Dramatic (Ookiku Furikabutte)
I definitely didn’t know whether I should place this here or not. But it was, by far, one of my favorite openings to be released this year. There was something charming about it or maybe that Base Ball Bear’s band name fit so well with the show they were doing the opening for. A definite hit with me and it got me into a band that I probably would have never listened to otherwise. Oh and I’m trying to avoid laughing about the Nico-do joke surrounding this song. Because it goes down a whole different alley.

Best Anime Endings

Best CV Performed Ending
Actually, I felt a lot less love for this category this year. Maybe Hare Hare Yukai just spoiled me or I don’t care at the end of episodes anymore. I think I may have disputed over this category a bit before I called it good but I sometimes revisit it. After looking back now that I’m posting and listening to my choices, I don’t regret it. And hopefully I chose well enough among all that was done this year.

Runner Up: Minoru Shiraishi – Ore no Wasuremono (Lucky Star)
The unmistakably hillarious ending that played one day to finish Lucky Star. Frankly, there was nothing quite as surprising nor as amusing as this during the year. Having Minoru there and having him perform this was a genius idea and definitely brought a spark to Lucky Star after they started running more Shiarishi themed endings.

Winner: Bamboo Blade Cast – Star Rise (Bamboo Blade)
Being beat out for Openings, I didn’t quite know if I would be able to credit Bamboo Blade and it’s rather interesting set of OP&ED. Frankly, I don’t quite hold any other CV performed openings on the same level. Though I know fans of certain other songs will whine, I find this in a good place here. Frankly, nothing quite stacks up to Hare Hare Yukai from last year, which is probably the problem with choosing one this year.

Best non-CV Performed Ending
Wow, this category flew for me, almost like CD performed openings. It was one of those things that just snapped into place and I didn’t have any complaints. Maybe there’s more grace and place for the non-CV ending. Or maybe they caused the greatness that Hare Hare Yukai achieved last year…nah.

Runner Up: anNina – Taishou a (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai)
Another series that definitely deserves credit for it’s opening and endings. The endings was a favorite of mine, just because it worked well at the end of every episode once it got into the series. Then again, I’ve never complained too much about Higurashi OPs and EDs, so I guess it’s just another notch on the belt.

Winner: Little Non – Hanamaru Sensastion (Kodmo no Jikan)
An unmistakable pick for me. When I first heard Hanamaru Sensation, it honestly threw me for a loop. I didn’t quite expect what was coming but it was one ending that I never cared about listening to during the credits. I’d often just leave it running while I checked my mail and waited for the episode preview to come along. Then, there was the adorable little animation in the background, which probably didn’t make it any less enjoyable. Definitely something new and fresh among most endings for me.

Other Single Song Awards

Biggest Surprises of the Year
This category stays reserved for those songs that just spring on me. They may not come from amazing series or be by some predicted vocalist. In a lot of cases it can come from CVs showing their amazing sides and other times, the fact that a completely out of the blue series just popped out a goldmine to our ears. Of course, these are chosen among my own surprises, so what may surprise me may not surprise you.

Runner Up: Sarasa Ifu – Curriculum (Moyashimon)
I didn’t really know what to expect of of Moyashimon, nor did I expect the opening to be as catchy and playful as it was. As such an unexpected series out of nowhere, it’s music sure turned out to be the same thing. Both OP and ED could easily get this award but I find the opening more to my tastes. It deserved runner up in terms of sheer unpredictability.

Winner: Hiromi Kondo – Misoji Misaki (Lucky Star)
Not a biased choice, I swear it. I mean, did ANYONE expect Akira’s CV to break out into (very slightly) enka styled song during any of Lucky Star? With how unexpected the endings were, it might have been predictable but after Aimai Net Darling? I don’t think so. Flaunting a rather creative mix of scary and classical, this was definitely a hit and shocker for this year.

The Strange
Oh, the Strange. Music that I just can’t put my finger on anymore. I listen to them, think over them and wonder if I just heard what I did. It may be the lyrics, music, or vocals of the song that does it. Or maybe it’s just meant to be that way. No matter what the case, I really have only one way to look at these songs when I hear them. Not to say they’re any less enjoyable though.

Runner Up: Kenji Ootsuki – Hito Toshite Jiku ga Bureteiru (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei)
Both a surprise, pleasure, and strange. This song was definitely all three of those when I first heard it. Not only was it strange to hear Kenji Ootsuki’s voice again but in such a strange song at that. I guess this award could only go to one of the strangest comedies to come out of this year.

Winner: JAM PROJECT – JAM ga Mottetta! Sailor Fuku (Lucky Star)
Definitely a very very late entry in the race. This second LS remix album was the strangest including this song on it. No, it’s not exactly what one would call cool. Frankly, I found it more normal for Minoru to be singing it then JAM PROJECT. Far beyond their style, I don’t think anything could beat this song in terms of strange.

Best Single Performance
Gathering character albums, insert songs, openings, this almost functions as Song of the Year. Since Song of the Year is general music and also including groups, this is more to recognize independent anime vocalists. These vocalists rise above the top and give us a song that make our jaws drop. In a lot of cases, they often earn quite a few fans with these.

Runner Up: SUN (Momoi Haruko) – your gravitation (Seto no Hanayome)
Another song that went completely unexpected by some people. After seeing this in episode, I could only hold my head and think about what was going on. Seto no Hanayome pulled the switch on people in terms of great music this year, that’s one thing I can’t deny. Quite unexpectedly at that and I know a ton of fans who came into the series merely after hearing this song. It became a must have after the CD came out and if it wasn’t for the following character CDs, probably would have been the winner of this category.

Winner: Eri Kitamura – Rasen (Seto no Hanayome)
This was one of those, “What the hell? Really?” kinds of songs for me. I didn’t have a shred of respect for Eri Kitamura as I hated Seto no Hanayome by the time her character came in. When I heard this song though, I had a high amount of respect for her voice. I usually have a hard time getting people to listen to my music in the car but whenever I turned this on, they wouldn’t seem to mind. Frankly, I never expected this one but I was a huge fan of Eri afterwards.

Full Series Awards

Best OST
A very general award when it comes down to any awards show. These series break the barriers of the hum drum and give us music that actually creates an effect. I can only bow down to these winners as they actually gave me music that I would want to listen to after the series ended. Having an OST that is actually worth listening to is really godsend nowadays.

Runner Up: Hitohira
Oh man, I finally get to revisit this series. With it’s classical/piano style track, it’s no surprise that I placed Hitohira here. It’s frankly one of the few OSTs I really constantly listen to afterwards and my music background probably influences this entirely. Despite that, it was great and it was top notch for what was going on. Actually, it was amazing to hear that they had such a great set of songs for as series that wasn’t so stand out. I compliment them on putting full effort into a important element of any drama series.

Winner: Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!
Manabi Straight had a soundtrack, that again came straight out of nowhere. It seems that simple series had the tendency to put some real effort into their music. Aside from a great opening and insert song, Manabi Straight was accompanied by music that always fit the situation. It never stole the show but you could always identify the mood of every situation and it never once felt repetitive. More importantly, it was a very modern feel (unlike what Hitohira may have provided) so it appeals to more tastes.

Best Set of Character Albums
A new award to this year’s LLAMAs, but easily one that I don’t mind adding. This looks at the bulk of all Character Albums a series has turned out and from there, I see how all voices stand up. This is very important as you can have one really good album but a whole slew of crap elsewhere. These series deserve credit as they actually tried to have everyone sing rather than just making fun when they couldn’t. If they can’t sing, please don’t bother should be a more followed rule.

Runner Up: Seto no Hanayome
What? Non Lantis character albums? That’s right. It seems that Lantis FELL APART in recent years, after being my heroes for so long. Instead, it seems avex (who I usually hate by the way) stole the scene with the mostly flawless Seto character albums. Either way, Rasen came from these, which is enough for me. But for the most part, these were a good set of character albums and had a total amount of musicality to them. Well, with the exception of Maki mabye.

Winner: Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!
Well, did this surprise you? For those of you who didn’t hear these, the Manabi Straight character albums shook the beginning of the year. Well OKAY, fine you caught me. Momoha’s was the only one to actually COME out come 2007. But in reality, it still counts if you ask me. You can try and kill me for it, but I tell you to shove it. Since a lot of them were late in 2006 and the series itself leaked into 2007, so let’s drop it. Anyhow, with great tracks and sometimes better remixes, this was a great set. And from King Records at that. Suck it Lantis. After meeting the man behind the magic at AX this year, I can say that with a vote of confidence.

Worst Set Character Albums
Well, we had the best, now here’s the worst. Maybe these albums aren’t bad or there may be some saving graces on some of them. But looking at the majority, it just spells out such little effort. I really do love character albums, they can produce some otherwise great music but in the wrong hands, they can cause utter terror. Please, don’t punish us. You’re supposed to be encouraging us to buy more, not scare us away with bad vocals and shoddy writing.

Runner Up: Hayate no Gotoku!
I’m merely basing this on the majority of the albums. And, in general, the Hayate no Gotoku character albums were terribly forgettable. Whether half the songs were just badly written or what, none of them struck me as great. Frankly, it’s been bits and pieces that I’m actually able to stand in the first place. While certain songs are sure fire gold, the majority just kills.

Winner: Lucky Star
Sorry, but 2 out of 12 is not good stats. With only 5% of your character albums being remotely worth buying, you’re swimming in some really nasty waters. Don’t even try to argue with me about these being good either. You can say, “well this track is good” and I’ll probably tell you, “No, go to hell. Unless it’s on Tsukasa’s or Kagami’s, then it sucks.” Frankly I didn’t hate some tracks THAT much. But it didn’t justify the buy or, in some cases, the listen. I really enjoy Lantis, but when they fuck up and try to make money. They FUCK UP. I’d rather have more SHnY character CDs of totally random characters then this. Where’s the Computer Club President Character CD? I’d buy that before another LS one.

Pathetic Crap of the Year
Honestly? I wanted to do this award again but I couldn’t put myself through listening to bad music again. How about I do something nice? Pick something off of one of the later Lucky Star character albums, and it probably could have qualified. I feel kind of bad saying that. But I’ll get over it.

The Awards that Matter

Likkun’s CVs of the Year
Replacing my Rising Stars award from last year, I decided to kick it up a notch. Whether it be their work in series or their great vocals, these CVs really brought it to the table this year. They deserve some real credit to what they contributed to the community and brought us something to talk about. It’s almost like Time’s Person of the Year, as I expect them to have done some good, just not show up and do their parts but take them to a new level.

Runner Up: Daisuke Ono
It was a close decision for me in terms of runner up. With both the male talents of Daisuke Ono and Minoru Shiraishi coming out, I couldn’t decide. But with Daisuke taking a lot of lead roles and also stealing the show in other cases, I can’t deny him this title. If it weren’t for a certain crazed fandom, then he would have easily been the winner. From laughing like a maniac on top of a mountain to messing with dragons to messing with super loli idols, Daisuke Ono is the man. Frankly, he’s probably rose up to be my favorite male CV just from what he’s done this year alone.

Winner: Saki Fujita
To some of you, this may be a surprise, to some upsetting, and to some, totally worthy. For those of you who are typing her name into some CV searching site, stop and I’ll explain. If I had a choice, I’d give this award to none other than the voice of the year, Miku Hatsune. Since giving an award to a robot is a little ridiculous, I decided that, Saki Fujita, who did the voice sampling for Miku, was worthy of the title. Without her, we couldn’t have rocked the year so hard. So I don’t think of anyone who could better receive this title. Plus, her 3 lines in all of Manabi Straight were plain amazing. God pray she actually gets some CV parts next year or does some actual vocal work, rather than having her robo-self handle it.

Song of the Year
We’re finally here. The mother of all mothers. These songs should be held up on a pillar for being rather addictive and bringing something different. Whether it be the song, the voice, or the influence, all of it matters. I could regret the decisions I make with such a big award, but I’m ready to take the heat.

Runner Up: Kaori Fukuhara – Ne Tou ge de Reset! (Lucky Star)
You’re probably wondering how I could give Rasen best single but why I wouldn’t put it here. Frankly, I don’t know the exact reason either but I still consider it more deserving of this award. Tsukasa’s character song was not only unexpected but very cute and extremely catchy. I still find it ironic one of my picks for Song of Year would also come from the worst set of character albums.

Winner: Miku Hatsune – Miku Miku ni Shite Ageru (Original)
Oh boy, what better song to remember the year with. It may not strike a note with some but I almost feel like someone should have heard this at some time. Anyhow, Miku was really the voice of the year at least as far as I’ve heard. Maybe I got wrapped into the whole thing due to my VIPPER status, and maybe they’re putting death threats on me if I don’t give this to her. Either way, my conscious and music self still has yet to tell me this is a bad idea. Funny thing? Got to love how unofficial music can still be great. I guess the tags on Nico-do will always be right. Waste of talent.

HALL OF FAME
There are songs every year that manage to score themselves a place on my permanent playlist. They can be from anytime, anywhere but they get the best of me every time they come up. It may take years for a song to earn a place here or it may take a series of months. Either way, these songs are all here for a reason.

Choice One: Eri Kitamura – Apron wo Tora nai De! (Koharu Biyori)
If you were ever able to take a ride with me, chances are you heard this song there. If not, you may have heard it the other 100 times I played this song. If I were to actually scrobble half the music I listened to, this probably would have passed about everything. Something about it’s ridiculous music mixed with random lyrics makes it a good way to kick back. Is it totally lacking in any for of musicality? Yes. But that’s probably why I like it. It’s one of those, if I had a dollar things.

Choice Two: Miku Hatsune – Meruto (Original)
You’d be crazy if you thought another Miku song wouldn’t show up somewhere. Frankly, it’s hard to pick just one of the many to place in the hall of fame. Meruto, aside from our elected song of the year, was definitely a stand out. It’s upbeat and with a real vocalist put in, could make a rather money making single. Actually if you argue how good it is, the real male vocal version of it that was performed is just as amazing, if not better.

Choice Three: Satomi Akesaka – Kanashimi Ryuuseigun (Galaxy Angel II)
Ahh yes. The infamous song that Likkun never once shut up about. After nagging for a long time that Satomi Akesaka shouldn’t sing ballads, I got my up and comings come this year. And yes, I cannot deny that this song has been played over quite a bit. And as my liking towards Satomi is only growing, it’s no surprise that it takes the spotlight in my Hall of Fame.

Closing Thoughts

Well, we’ve come to the end of it. Surprised? Unhappy? Overjoyed? Juiced up on music? All of these at once? Good to hear. That means I did my job in handing out awards because it wouldn’t be the same without doing all those things. I really don’t know how this stacks up to last year. In terms of music, I may have enjoyed last year but there were some REAL gems this year. And with more VOCALOID programs on the way, more anime, and more promising CVs, I’m sure it can only get better. Hopefully we’ll have some songs this year that can take it back from robotic synthesizer singing.

Until the end of the year. Bye ni~

It’s rather apparent that fans of anime and the like seem to draw the short end of the stick. Nowadays, one would see that even the video game geeks can be held in higher esteem. Though, with how some fans behave, it’s obvious as to why the certain degree of mistreatment most receive. Though there is one thing I do find interesting and that lies within the realm of music. It’s not a surprise for many to have a bit of music in Japanese on a CD, MP3 player of some sort. But are they drawing the short end of the stick in even as something as simple as music?

Picture yourself in a room with a few other people your age. You’re very casually sitting and thinking to yourself when you can’t hear but overhear the conversation near you. Those other peers of yours appear to be having a discussion about some of the types of music they listen to. Mixed in this, you hear of a variety of songs from different countries and that they are even performed in the native language. The others seem rather interested in this and you feel like joining in the conversation. You begin to openly participate and bring up some interesting artists and songs in Japanese that you’ve heard.

Suddenly, the conversation appears to turn sour. One of the members of the conversation roles their eyes in exasperation and you see that you must have said something wrong. Another decides to turn to you and address you rather aggressively.

“What? I don’t listen to that weird anime music. Why don’t you listen to some real music?”

All of then leave you to yourself and appear to take their conversation elsewhere. Well, that was strange. You know well that what you were talking about was of no anime relation whatsoever. Somehow you find yourself far removed just because you listen to a few songs in Japanese.

Now sure, this is a dramatization but it’s still not far removed from what I’ve seen. Whether it be outside or even on the internet, there seems to be some interesting intolerance to more modern Japanese productions. Well, they may not go as far as not calling it real music but they still won’t address it as if it worthy for the part. They still seem to give you that awkward reaction that seems to alienate you.

A rather disturbing issue it seems but a common generalization that tends to happen. Somehow, aside from the food, a lot of other exports from Japan later seemed to be tied to the realm of anime/manga. Well, it’s probably not like this in certain communities but I’ve sure seen it in quite a few places. Whatever the case, it seems even while it may be perfectly legitimate music, it still falls into that area.

I would have much less issue with this if the generalization wasn’t so bad in the first place. On most note, the question “Is that music from some anime?” shouldn’t really have to exist. Does it really matter to you if you like it? Well, I’d really hope that it doesn’t. Frankly, certain music performed for anime is no different from music that’s selected for a movie soundtrack. It’s not as if the artist said, “Oh, I feel like writing a song for an anime series” and then proceeded to do so. Now is their certain music written for anime series only? Well, yes quite a few times. I wouldn’t call character CDs as to be released for the artist’s personal way of expressing themselves.

I guess in this very brief discussion, I mean to say that you should be standing up for your music tastes more often then naught. If that person decides to roll their eyes and ask that nonsensical questions, then be more prone to respond, “Does it matter?”. Frankly, you have no reason to have to defend yourself in the first place. Now am I giving you the okay to try and and justify “Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan”? Well, not quite. I’d probably smack you if you decided to try and present that to other people that weren’t more into that sort of thing. Though if it’s something that you know deserves the credit, then by all means step up and add your piece. If they can listen to their classical music in Latin or heavy metal in german, then I see no reason that you should be defending (whatever genre it might be) in Japanese.

Ahh, yes. Yet another time the casual anime fan may draw the short end of the stick. But no worries, there’s always that chance to step up and educate some people in the process.

So aside from this, it wasn’t my real idea of what I wanted to carve. I had actually planned for something more amazing but forgot it in all my scrambling before the holiday. If you’ve never done anything like this, it’s really not that amazing. Especially a design like this which took me nothing but a couple of hours, which was mostly because I had crappy tools to work with this year. Some rejected ideas you say?

Kudo (Little Busters!), Ahiru (Moetan), Mimolette (GAII), Nano-Nano (GAII), Neuro’s simple-minded look (Neuro), Tomikate (Higurashi), Hanyuu (Higurashi) Nice Boat (School Days), Kotonoha (School Days), Tsukasa simple-minded look (Lucky Star), Kagami (Lucky Star), Misao (Lucky Star), Akira (Lucky Star), SOS-dan Silhouette (SHnY), Haruhi + Giant H ala Hare Hare Yukai (SHnY).

Most of these were rejected because I had about 3 hours until Halloween started. That or I really didn’t like where the design was going.

But as the title leads you to think, this is part two of my two part look at Lucky Star. In the first, I talked about how Lucky Star (at the first episode) was being underplayed for what it really was by viewers. Now, I somehow find it necessary to mention how it has become overplayed for what it really is by it’s viewers. Confused yet? I know I am.

Now what after seemed like what appeared to be a very long half a year, Lucky Star finally met what I considered a very necessary end. One could ask me why so many times and I could give you a different answer each time. But it all boils down to what I really come out of this series thinking.

My “issues” with Lucky Star

No, it may not have always been the overwhelming influence and exploitation of KyoAni that really bothered me, but it sure helped. I somehow always knew in the back of my mind that it was going to be a realm of trouble but I tried to ignore it when I first approached this series. Like I had said in my original preview, I dig the Lucky Star manga. Konata’s exploits somehow remind me of the daughter I always hoped to have while I can only help but compare myself to her father. My hopelessness aside, I knew the CV shift was another realm of problems in itself. Which obviously traveled under my radar through the series…for the most part.

Now Lucky Star was never one to avoid it’s references in the manga. It made some of it fun…but…they weren’t SHnY centered. Yes, KyoAni’s overwhelming influence won over that one (see my Conspiracy Theory later in this article for the full story) which bothered me. Sure I loved the series for what it did right but what it did wrong made me grind me face against the nearest wall. Could Lucky Star, the manga, survive without such things? Oh, hell yes it could. Could Lucky Star, the anime, survive without such things? I doubt it. Many fans seemed to hop aboard as soon as the new director started throwing the big time and powerful references in that they wanted to see. But it did serve as a good hook. It drew people to other parts of the show, even to blind them to that they weren’t watching references anymore. A rather effective strategy to say the least but sometimes it appeared people didn’t truly know what they were watching.

And, oh, the fans. Now here’s a subject we can discuss for hours. It’s a fact, that people just don’t like fanbases. It’s natural order if I do say so myself. I don’t like Gurren Lagann fans, Code Geass fans piss me off, Naruto fans piss me off, name an extreme fanbase and I probably won’t get along. The same goes for me. I’m in the hardcore Galaxy Angel fanbase and have pissed off A LOT of people along the line. It’s just natural but there is one thing in particular that seems to bother me about certain Lucky Star fans. This is, of course, the KyoAni factor. It’s not that I hate KyoAni but I have a problem when people claim Lucky Star as yet another “KyoAni” masterpiece.

A) This under credits the source material so much
B) Masterpiece is such a strong word

But let me approach this in a different manner. I could stand the semi-hype KyoAni got with FMP. Frankly, they didn’t get too much there anyway so I was nice and happy. I could stand the hype that KyoAni got for doing SHnY…for awhile. It was good and it probably deserved some of the praise it got. It got a little out of hand, I get pissed, etc. The praise KyoAni got for handling Kanon, I found to be spot on. Obviously they had excellent source material and didn’t blunder too badly with it, so I didn’t get pissed when reading the endless praise following that. Now, we arrive at Lucky Star. What I always shallowly enjoyed as a 4Koma, as did most people. Then people start seeing it as a holy beacon of godly light. Then comes the anime fandom that sweeps around like some fierce storm. Now it did not take me a split second to become angry with the praise. I had boosted it before for being underplayed and it’s been the one series where I instantly flopped as the series saw new grounds. But why would I say such things? I mean Lucky Star is so damn unique isn’t it? Well, let’s move on to the next section of this discussion shall we?

The 4Koma and Why People Like It

When I first argued Lucky Star’s realm of praise, I argued the 4Koma point in about every aspect. We all know the 4Koma, a short snippet of comic relief that someone in the world laughs at. And that’s just exactly it. SOMEONE will enjoy it, somewhere, somehow.

The point is, we can looks at these like the Sunday Comics in the average newspaper. Sure, you don’t like reading “Family Circus” but instead enjoy the comedy in “Dilbert” (to those of you who I’ve lost, I apologize). Sure, you believe that “Family Circus” is a piece of utter crap and want it ripped off the face of the paper but several audiences do indeed get a kick out of it. But they may find “Dilbert” to be equally stupid as you find their favorite. This is the essential idea of 4Koma and why people need not argue how good one is.

My point is, 4Koma can never leave a mediocre score as an anime. Sure, it’ll make people laugh but it is a very closed humor. Unlike some series, it’s hard for certain people to find anything to like about it since it truly focuses on that one person who’s sides will crack open upon reading it. I’m not against these series from seeing the light of animation but I don’t believe they deserve so much praise that people honestly get riled up about it. Because, I believe they have the right to say, “You’re taking it too far” at some point.

It’s a hard point to admit but just look at a few 4Koma and you’ll see. Some people enjoy Potemayo and other believe the anime needs to be shot dead. I thought Hidamari Sketch was the worse thing to see the light of day and people thought that it was hilarious. The same goes back to series like Azumanga and Ichigo Mashimaro. Some people found both atrocious while some incorrectly recognized them as masterpieces. We all want to get our stupid laughs somewhere but just because you can “relate” so well with something, don’t treat it like it’s holy. I read a perfect fit for me in this morning’s “Non Sequitur” but I’m not going to go request it be animated an recognize it as the best cartoon to hit American television. Other people found this same comic completely against their tastes, which I recognized as fine and I didn’t find it necessary to argue that they couldn’t find anything to relate to in it. Sorry for the bad comparisons but that’s about all I have. By the way, I despise “Family Circus”.

Where does that leave us? Well, not in a place to argue where the 4Koma stands. It is MEANT TO target the inner humans minds. Lucky Star didn’t invent this concept, no it purely took a different approach as all 4Koma tends to do. So, once again, nothing new.

Now we move on. 4Koma is also meant to exploit the basic personalities that people enjoy. Like I always said when I talked about Lucky Star. They have a cast…it goes…

Otaku
Tsundere
Dojikko
Timid Meganekko

End of story. 4Koma is designed like so. Each character is basically composed of a single trait that people enjoy. The success of 4Koma with certain people relies on the personality types chosen and, more importantly, with how they interact with each other. If you really look at 4Koma you’ll see that all characters can be boiled down to one center personality trait that is often exploited in each panel they appear in. It’s what they do, they serve their purpose in that fashion. Miwiki tells some interesting facts, Tsukasa has no idea what’s going on, etc. This concept will be later discussed in my upcoming book, “Hi-ho! 4Komas a go!” which will be available in every local bookstore in your area.

KyoAni Conspiracy?

You know, when you’re left with your thoughts, a lot of things happen. One, you overthink things and two you overthink things again. This section is a result of what I think may have happened with Lucky Star.

Take KyoAni, not a bad company but, like most, out to exploit and make money. Just like Lantis does by releasing 12 characters albums per anime series they control. True story.

Though, how could KyoAni exponentially make money off of Lucky Star? Obviously, they know the things that people like. WAWAWA and SHnY. Put those two together and you can rake in the fans and sucker them into anything. So what do you do?

“Well, we could put your reference in here but we have some equally good SHnY ones to fill the spot. Though…if you open up your wallet a bit, we might see eye to eye.”

Now I’m not saying that KyoAni did in fact exploit the series, but I felt they only had to meet a certain requirement of Comptique plugs and they were free to do with what they wanted for the rest. So what next? Well, let’s see if people want to keep what references here and where we can plug our own series. Hey, it’s genius. We make money either way. Frankly, if I was in their shoes, I’d do the same thing. Sure you have to spot them a little to borrow said references but if you charge them a little to get their heads in the game you could possibly break even. They’ll partly pay you to advertise a bit and they can get some money back for the appearance fee. Sounds good to me.

I’m not saying KyoAni did in fact, plan this. But it will forever roll in my mind as a conspiracy surrounding Lucky Star. Right up there with Elvis coming up with the “Motteke! Serafuku” dance.

Summing it all Up

So, here’s the real question. Are we going to forever look down at future generation and brag about how we were part of this legendary season of “the greatest 4Koma to see the light of day”? Hardly. I see Lucky Star as forgettable and even though it will get mentioned in it’s genre like Ichigo Mashimaro and Azumanga, it won’t be ingrained forever within a timeline. No, it lived so much in SHnY’s shadow at some point, that I knew it wouldn’t be a stand alone series. And frankly, I don’t think any 4Koma should be truly marked on a timeline. Maybe for being the first to see an anime conversion, and nothing more. What remains of Lucky Star? Well, let’s see.

The dance will be ingrained into flashmobs and cultural festivals in Japan forever, that’s for sure. What next though? Frankly, I believe 2ch got more a kick out of individual lines and MADs then Lucky Star itself. And I could honestly say the same. I laughed harder at MADs based off the series rather than the show itself.

The reference section of the show was hardly something for me to boast about. Not because KyoAni took it over but I found it either too ingrained or badly ingrained. In this sense, they referenced something but not in a comedic fashion. A successful reference to me strikes me as something that can make a normal person laugh who has no idea what’s going on or not and also not interrupt the flow of the show. There seemed to be a few awkward moment in Lucky Star where references simply peeked out and anybody who didn’t understand it was left with a giant question mark. No, it shouldn’t have to be like that. This is one of the few reasons I boast about Moetan’s references and Hayate’s more so than Lucky Star. Sure they may overuse them a bit but they’re done well enough that anybody can laugh and if you know what it references, it goes over twice as well. You can argue with me but this is something I can’t completely overlook.

So, what is left? To me, the series blundered in a few places for me. Introducing the secondary characters too late, killing Lucky Channel (which was good anime original content for the most part as it did feel unique) near the end, and other small details. The attempts to be heartfelt at some places did feel remarkably awkward as well. Not that I hated them, but it felt like Lucky Star tried to be something it wasn’t. Manabi Straight! properly reflected the bonds between high school girls, Lucky Star had always been innocent fun to me. Was it terrible to try at heartfelt? Not really. Did it work as a detriment to me? Yeah, it did.

The question that forever will bother me. What would the original director have done? Looking at the first few episodes, was he really THAT bad? All he did was avoid guising the real content within a bulk of references. If you ask me, he didn’t hide the real Lucky Star from people. I did feel the second director taking an artificial approach and I know this is where my KyoAni conspiracy comes in again. If it truly did change things, then I’d gladly do it all over again. All twenty-four with what I thing was the better choice in the first place. If it really did a smaller job of hiding Lucky Star then maybe things would have been different. More important, I’d love to do it with a different studio in all. But I know that’s even less possible.

Final Score: 6 / 10

In all, this show will always strike me as medicore. A decent 4Koma, yes. I don’t mind reading the monthly Comptique for it. So I’ll go ahead and keep doing so. Reflecting on this, this is why I fear when a series is fed to KyoAni. Which is why I pray that Little Busters! is shipped off to someone aside from our moe loving friends. Though I know it won’t see the light of day if it doesn’t go to KyoAni, it still bothers the pants off of me. Is KyoAni the reason for the death of series to me sometimes? Not them directly, but they sure as heck cause conflict within my person.

With it’s obvious flaws evident to me after analysis and the obvious mediocrity of 4Koma, I could only consider Lucky Star worthy of what it gets and don’t see any consideration to a higher score.

I’ll be making these things all week methinks. I have to succumb to the VIPPER inside of me every once in awhile but I won’t take it so far to make a MAD. Not yet…

Oh, and prepare for a really long winded rant about the SOS-dan concert. One like you may have never seen before.

SOS Autograph Line & Exhibit Hall

So, Day 2 of AX began with, what else? If you guessed another line then you’re absolutely correct. The SOS-dan autograph session had been announced at 10:00 a.m. that morning and I decided heading in at 8:00 a.m. would be good enough. Boy, I mis underestimated a large margin of people by doing that. Instead I got stuck in the middle of the line on a bridge. It was in clear view when I first arrived, so I couldn’t really do much about it. All I could do was stare at it until I got my position there. I’ll post some photos of it just for laughs. But more importantly, when the signing time rolled around a new announcement came out. That was the words that the sessions had been canceled due to unknown circumstances. Well, at least I never figured it out. So two good hours had been wasted but it was an interesting time. Goofed on on Pictochat and watched some bad Hare Hare Yukai and Lucky Star dancing. Can’t say I wanted to get a video of those.

I had a friend shoot a pic of these…

I’m in the generally circled area if you were curious…

After I headed down to the exhibition hall to pick up a GA CD that wasn’t on sale. Yesterday they hadn’t printed the price so they couldn’t sell it. Unfortunately, it was still unpriced and I had to wait to get it. So I was stuck wandering around the exhibition hall trying to find something interesting to purchase. I ran into some interesting things and hung out with my buddy and line buddies for awhile. After that, I got to run back to the GA booth for the autograph session and to check on the CD. Sadly, I had to buy another copy of the GA-Rune DVD. But since I was planning on buying a copy for people anyway, I had to get it no matter what. So I ran around after buying my CD and went to get it. It was at that point that I made a new friend in the BROCCOLI information booth. She had told me the autograph session would start at 1:00 p.m. (which I had known) and there was some other interesting things happening at 12:00 p.m. (which I hadn’t known). So I decided to meander again until 12:00 p.m. rolled around so I could see what was going on.

The GA Autograph Session and Prior

Upon returning to the BROCCOLI booth at around 12:00 p.m. there was a small crowd of people. I decided to ask my new friend at the information booth what was up. Evidently, they were allowing questions again that were submitted in writing. I had already gotten Yuuna to scream once, so I thought of what else. I asked her if getting photos with them was possible on that day and she told me to try writing it in as a question. So I jokingly wrote it to see what would happen. So out of all the interesting questions submitted, mine was actually pulled out. I got a chuckle out of the crowd and from the Yuuna and Sumire as well. So it wasn’t a total loss but they still wouldn’t let me take a photo. I figured at that point they were just stalling but I didn’t really care anymore. I just wanted the autograph at that point. After having their little question time end, they moved onto holding a little quiz. This involved us all answering questions related to GAII and the game. Since I had my knowledge of Japanese and the game packed with me, the thing was a breeze. And it wasn’t hard to tell that people behind me were just copying my answers. I felt bad though as some Japanese speakers in front (including the guy who gave Yuuna the present) didn’t know some of the answers. So they honestly dropped out unlike the people who just decided to go with what I had answered. Once again, didn’t matter. The prize was what we got at the panel anyway, so I was just building up my collection at that point.

Following the Quiz Corner, we had a time dedicated to playing mass Janken (or Rock, Paper, Scissors to uneducated types). So, we played against the three BROCCOLI employees there. First we would all try and win against Sumire. If you beat her, then you got to move on to play against Yuuna. I always lost when I got to Yuuna and actually a lot of people did. Only an average of two or three got to play against Papa Zombie for the real prize (which was a deck of cards, very nice actually if you know Project Revolution). But Yuuna admitted afterwards she was skilled at Janken, which I didn’t doubt after losing 10 or so times to her. But it was a load of fun and everybody was confused as to what the hell was going on outside of the event. Last but not least was the Autograph time. So I got in line around 4th or so and waited to get my DVD and CD signed. Luckily they allowed both and you could even say things to each panelist if you wanted. So I had to tell Yuuna how I was following her work and watching Darker than Black every week. She seemed suprised that I knew about it but the entire panel was surprised to see my DVD and CD in the first place. So I got the usual “he~” kind of reaction from the two girls. And the usual blank stare from Papa Zombie. I love the man for his humor but the guy doesn’t crack as much as a smile for anything. But before leaving I had to compliment Sumire on her writing and said I was looking forward to playing GAII 2, much to getting her smile as well. Honestly, both Yuuna and Sumire were cute as hell. It wasn’t even funny. I never expected the writer of GA to be as adorable as she was, frankly I saw a weird old lady when I pictured it before.

SOS Dan Concert Before, Overall, and After

So after that, I had a bit of downtime before the SOS-dan concert. During this period, I got to head down to the gaming corner for the first time. While I was there, the Guilty Gear tournament was going on. So since I had played the game a bit myself, I decided to go ahead and watch the thing. The tournament was a real kicker but the two finalists I had picked ended up both losing in the semifinals. Even the guy I picked winning the finals didn’t pull it out but it was a good match nonetheless. There was also a double KO during the tournament, which is always fun. After the tournament I ended up heading near the arena to meet up with my friend. Little did I know the concert wouldn’t start for another two hours. During this time, we looked over a few things we had purchased and made some new friends with the people next to us. There was also time to make fun of the people who were trying to get good seats for nothing. Premier tickets are wonderful in all honestly. Definitely worth the money you pay. But despite starting late, I did make it into the concert. Section A, Row 7, Seat 3 and damn if it wasn’t a good seat. Right near center stage and not too close that I had to crane my neck. And definitely close enough that screaming in Japanese could get reactions from the SOS-dan. But I know what you’re thinking. How was the concert, what did they sing? Well that’s coming people.

The concert was pretty slow to start. They kept on showing the audience, and a stadium wave began to start to get the camera on certain sections. I ended up on there a few times along with the awesome Man Haruhi who was wandering the convention.
So I could do a step by step song analysis, but everyone’s heard it already. Instead, I’ll cover my thoughts on the overall experience that many people just had to complain about. So here’s my two cents and prepare for a lecture. I’ll separate these points into several small points. Let’s have P) represent the point and L) represent my response to it.

P1) They put too much focus on the English CVs
L) You know what…I don’t care. The whole point of the “Invasion Tour” was to create a fun community for the English community of SHnY. Not everybody there knew about the real SOS-dan and just went there out of curiosity. I wouldn’t have really called it a concert. It was just like any live event I’ve seen in Japan. There’s small skits and talks with a mix of music to get you hyped up. In other words, it’s a big advertisement to buy their stuff. Did they do that? Actually, they pulled it off pretty damn well. The skits were funny if you weren’t being stiff about them and there was a lot of fun to it. If you weren’t being a total stick in the mud, then this would have appeared like any other event to you. Not to mention, it was only an hour concert and they haven’t released enough music in the U.S. to perform it all. Otherwise I would have LOVED to hear Saikyou Pare Parade and First Goodbye. They performed what they were allowed to and that’s all that matters to me.

P2) The Technical Difficulties were Inexcusable
L) Alright, I won’t argue this. The technical difficulties during the musical performances were just plain bad. The fact the guitar part got cut out during God Knows… was more than annoying for me. I’m sure it easily threw off the CVs as well as they weren’t exactly expecting it. I didn’t mind the problems running the videos, whatever it didn’t kill anything for me. I didn’t like the fact they had to screw things up during the musical sections though. It’s just frustrating.

P3) _______ messed up on ________ or wasn’t as energetic during _________. I blame _________.
L) Unless you fill that last ______ with the crowd then I don’t approve. You know why? Because I’m going to tell you something. After the concert I heard people complaining they couldn’t see, merely because the person in front of them was standing. WHAT THE HELL. As a performer, let me clear up something about concerts, especially ones upbeat in nature. The moment you enter a concert like this, everyone there becomes a single entity. At that moment, you and the performer are on the same level in a sense. If you aren’t energetic then they won’t be. You want to sit down and just watch like a bum? Well, then what motivation does the performer have to exert energy? They don’t have any reason to do anything. When I was looking around, only a margin of people were really standing up, clapping, cheering, and getting into it. Hell, even an older man in the fourth row or so was always on his feet and waving around a glow stick. If he can do that at his age, what stops any of you? Unless you were handicapped, then I would have EXPECTED you to be doing the same. You want a good performance? You have to earn one. Stop blaming the technical difficulties, conditions, or whatever for the lackluster performance of someone. And if you asked me, I’d say that their performance there was pretty good in comparison with what I’ve heard. It may have not been the greatest, but I didn’t expect it to be. Hell, they were all nervous. And why wouldn’t they be? First concert in a foreign country with fans you can’t understand? Yeah, I’d be a little on edge as well. But if you got up, clapped, jumped, cheered, and did all that then it would have easily got them fired up enough to do better.

In general, I will only except complaints for two reasons. One is that you somehow you can go or have been to another SHnY concert in Japan and compare. If you’ve done that, then I don’t mind TOO much. But please don’t go too far, especially since you’ve seen them elsewhere and don’t have a right to complain. And if you have the money to fly to Japan to see the SOS-dan or fly to America to see them, then you shouldn’t be complaining. But if you could barely make it to this concert and doubt you’ll ever see them again, shut your trap. Just don’t complain one bit. I know I’m not. By large, I doubt the SOS-dan will be coming back anytime or ever again to perform in the U.S. In that case, you experienced one of their possibly only concerts outside of Japan. Not only that, but you saw a real phenomena. This group has an immense fan base in Japan and even fans there haven’t seen them live. You know what? You’re pretty damn lucky. And since this is your one shot in life you saw them, just sit down and enjoy it. I’m not going to go around and tell people, “Oh, I went to the SOS-dan concert. It was lackluster and I know it could have been better.” No, I’m going around talking about how lucky and crazy I was when I was there. Hell, I barely got to AX and I can’t stop thinking about it. Perfection is everything to me, the fact I saw something THAT big is.

Anyhow, after the concert I wrapped up a few things. I bought a few things at the booth outside of the concert for fun and then headed on home. Just another day at AX could be the right way of describing things. What came on Day 3? Did I get that SHnY autograph? What happened to the line? And what the hell was left to do on my last day there?

You know I wouldn’t be me without half-assing at least one episode, right? Anyhow, I had all the reason to skip this episode. I’m not much one to come up with good jokes for fanservice episodes. I mean, all you can really think about is, “What the hell am I watching and why am I watching it?” The fact it’s a beach episode takes it to the next level. All great fanservice happens at the beach or in a hot spring. This happens to include a bit of both (okay so it’s a bath but it’s the same idea).

Conclusion: Average

A little of this and a little of that. I can’t completely bash the episode, but I’ve gone through enough fanservice that I won’t be blinded by it. Next week sounds like it’ll have more substance (whatever that means) but you never know what could happen. I definitely expected a total fanservice episode in this series, I just didn’t see it happening so soon.

Last time on Moetan, we were introduced to Ink Nijihara. The loli hero of this story who’s fallen hard for her classmate Nao (also referred to as NAO-KUUUUUUUUUUN). One unlucky day at the shrine (or lucky to some people) she meets up with a convicted magician Arks. Arks was sent to Ink’s world and somehow gained the form of a duck, make of that what you will. So Ark (hereby referred to as Ahiru) gives Ink the opportunity to become a mahou shoujo. So, Ink obviously took this offer (we’d have no story otherwise right?) and used the power to help Nao as Magical Teacher Pastel Ink. That’s pretty much where our story continues here. What was the point of this? I have no fucking clue.

This episode begins where the last left off. We find that our bunny loli is still sizing up Ahiru while a new shadowy figure shows up. Despite this, Ahiru seems to care more or less about what’s going on around him. Frankly, in the situation he’s in, I doubt I’d give much of a care either. You know, aside from the whole being a duck part.

Meet Sumi. Sumi is rich and as we learned last episode, a potential rival for our hero Ink. Despite that, she’s also lazy as hell and doesn’t wear cat pajamas without a reason. Ahh symbolism, how I never thought I’d see you in anime. Anyhow, after an abrupt wakeup from her maid, Sumi enjoys a simple daily routine. A nice relaxing cup of tea and then it’s off to school in her limo. Seriously? I always wondered what I would be like if I had money like that. Not sure if wearing a full body cat pajama suit to sleep would be on my list, but what the hell. While taking the gentle cruise in her limo, Sumi begins to think about Nao (Nao-sama to her, stuck up twit). So on her way passing her house, it’s only ideal for her to notice Ink being her usual loli self and cowering in the corner. Fast then you could say “magical ahoge” she’s out on the field and looking at Ink from afar who’s ironically watching Nao from afar. When Ink fails again with Nao, Sumi goes on the attack instead and tries to stop Ink. Well, by stop I mean getting a knocked flat on her back. Ink is once again aided by the strange man (with the awesome way of speaking) and policeman again. Irrelevant events ahoy! But I think “You will see the tears of time.” is my new exit phrase now.

At school, Sumi is still fazed out from her morning shenanigans. In true air headed fashion, she boggles her daily reading and is done over by Ink. So, Sumi decides to blame her misfortunes on Ink and go about stealing her boyfriend. I’m not an expert, but I’d say that Nao is a pretty damn lucky guy. I mean not one, but two lolis trying to get in his pants? That’s been unheard of in most series, at least I have yet to see any pull off a double loli love triangle. Sumi is denied the same as Ink (there’s seriously a pattern here) and decides to blame this misfortune on Ink as well. After calling out Ink as her rival, Sumi storms out and trips over her own feet. Looks like she’s not only magical ahoge Sumi but a little bit of a dojiko as well. Can’t ask for more then that, huh?

As Sumi storms off, Ink gets a call on her magical cell phone. It seems like a lot of heroes could benefit from a device like this. Unfortunately, your cell phone HAS TO BE magical for this kind of thing to work. After copying the number sequences myself, I realized I couldn’t go through an elaborate transformation sequence. Bummer. My idiocy aside, Ahiru wasn’t the only one watching Ink transform. No, it wasn’t some perverted otaku. Sumi happened to catch a glimpse and is more jealous than anything else. Well, I guess shock is somewhere in there too. Anyhow, Ink goes on to find a man pinned to a wall by a pink car. WHAT? How in the hell do you pull that off? Am I the only one who understands how this happens? Whatever he did to have this happen, he probably deserved it. But Ink is forced to help him anyway by using her new stylish power gloves. Ironically, this reminded me of Megaman’s power transformation. Someone remind me which game it was from.

As the two realize what great work they did. They’re pulled into a magical time space that is rather violent and red looking. Here, we encounter the same shadowy figure from earlier. In this shadow we find a rather simple black cat that resembles Ahiru. We find out this is one of his rivals from the magical realm who happens to be taking advantage of the moment. So the two duke it out in a mighty clash. I would call it mighty if it didn’t involve a duck and a cat going at it. Ahiru manages to motivate himself to win and takes down his rival with a single blow. Good fun but thinking it’s the last clash between the two would be crazy. I mean cat, Sumi in a full cat body suit? You know where I’m going with this.

Back at school, Sumi decides to confront Ink about her transformation sequence from before. Aside from denying this claim, Ink also makes a chain of adorable noises. Eventually, Sumi takes off in her usual tripping fashion. Ink and Ahiru also realize there is no real disadvantage to Sumi knowing anything. Frankly, it doesn’t seem like Ink is in any Spiderman, Superman, Batman, or Aquaman situation where her secret identity is vital. Or at least…NOT YET. (insert dramatic reverb here)

Sumi, not predictable at all, runs into her cat counterpart surrounded by dogs. She musters the courage to save the thing and realizes that it’s none other than a talking cat. With that, Sumi takes off home with her kitten friend. This leads into Ink once again going over some English phrases with Nao. You know, he sure got over last week’s incident pretty quickly. I think it’s the old loli charm kicking in. Screw going to college.

Events shift back to Sumi as we see her begging her new friend for the ability to transform. As fellow rivals to their counterparts, he’s forced to give in and give Sumi what she wants. Hell, why not? Might as well get the same loli fan service as your rival right? Anyhow, after another really revealing transformation and some nosebleed (that is realistic by the way), things wrap to a close. Sumi gets her transformation and becomes Magical Tempura Sumi. Alright, I’m kidding. That and Sumi gets knocked one by her maid. What? Transformation sequences and running around in skimpy clothes is not weird AT ALL.

I’d go over the ending theme screen shots if there was anything really worth it to show. Seriously, it’s the lamest thing one could expect. But the song is pretty fitting though and reminded me a hell of a lot of CCS. And making me reminisce about that show is a damn good thing. Speaking of lolis in strange outfits…that would be pretty damn close. Too bad there was never a transformation sequence there…what?

This week’s Moetan Corner, “No attacking during transformation scenes!” Good advice for the growing otaku. Not only do we not know what happens in the occasion you do, but it’s just damn cheap. If you’re a villain, just enjoy the pleasant shots of…yeah. Did somebody say Caro? I heard someone say it. Done now.

Conclusion: Hot

Once again, I think this is a really strong episode for this show. Not only did it shift from Ink for a bit but it played through it in a very similar manner. Yes, there were pattern and patterns are good things. As you could tell, I tried to review in the same pattern when I was writing this. Yeah, I’m THAT awesome. Despite that, I really enjoyed Sumi as a character. Aside from her awesome ahoge, she’s an amusing rival and pretty bumbly at that. If a love triangle had to happen (and in mahou shoujo it just does) then this was the way to go. And it’s one of those times when the otaku in the audience can yell, “Nao you lucky bastard, fuck you.”

So, the first day of AX was probably the most interesting in terms of what happened. Mostly because it included both exciting panels, one being the Galaxy Angel and the other being the SOS-Dan. So if either of those things interest you or you like listening to convention nonsense, then this day might be for you.

I ended up taking off at 8:00 a.m. to get ready to register for AX that day. Not a bad idea nor a very genius one with what was about to happen. As it turned out, we got directions for the pre-reg line and ended up in the middle of the parking lot. This picture should explain what it looked like…

So me and my friend waited…and we waited…and we waited again. Unfortunately, the time didn’t pass fast and it was the make random friends in the line game. This of course is never a hard thing. I mean you’re at an ANIME CONVENTION. The only people you couldn’t socialize with were the SKIN concert freaks, and I do mean to call them freaks. Anybody who would pay just to see Miyavi is a dumbass in my book. And the fact the others were there didn’t justify squat. But our line buddies ended up interesting in all senses of the word. By interesting though, it was obvious who the interesting part of the conversation was. Loli conversation? Anyone? So aside from my loli does not equal pedophile talk, there were more interesting things to discuss. Like the prospect of Fat C.C.s and all the random Death Note cosplayers you could find. Along with the amount of big swords and keyblades you saw as well. All in all, it was hard to avoid laughing upon some of the things you saw.

After around two and a half hours when we were beginning to near the real line, we found out we had been in the register line. By this time it was around 11:30 and we were all hot, worn out, and ready to get into the convention. Realizing I had been in the wrong line didn’t set well but the good conversation was worth it. Not like there was anything interesting to do until the GA panel started anyway. So after the scramble to get to the new line, everyone got registered and everyone was happy. After that, it was the play the find your way around the convention game. This involved walking in circles for awhile until it all became clear. And it did work out well, so no biggie there. Went out to get a ticket for the SOS Invasion which wasn’t a bad seat, made fun of the SKIN attendees, and then moved on to buy some shwag. This mostly consisted of me in Kinokuniya to pick up some cheap manga and a Code Geass mini-book for the poster. Next in line was the Galaxy Angel panel, and the thing I was fired up for.

Galaxy Angel Panel

Not taking anymore chances, I stumbled into the Bandai Visual panel early to get a nice seat for the GA panel. Right by the microphone and around the third row seemed like good fun for me. Aside from the brief introductions though, there were some interesting tidbits at the panel.

Yuuna Inamura on the right and Sumire Nanohana on the left.

Papa Zombie talked about how he ended up creating GA. This involved him smashing together two things: Star Wars and Sakura Taisen. Seriously, that was a kicker. I always knew that Papa Zombie was a little geeky in his own way and that pretty much nailed it. Papa Zombie is a good guy though if you get to meet him. And everyone there seemed to love him despite his whole hobby of feasting on brains and whatnot. But it was nice to see him talk firsthand about somethings, since it was a good way of getting down to things.

Better yet though, was when Yuuna was talking about the GA radio show and it’s fun little title. Those of you who listen should know, but she had everybody do the greeting. I was really psyched for it, especially when she mentioned that she’d discuss it during the next program along with her visit to the U.S. I was hoping for my five seconds of fame but as you’ll learn later, some guy cheated me out of it by doing something bigger.

There were a few other fun tidbits during the Q&A section. The writer went over several of the new GAII characters which happened to be another nice topic. I’d bore you with the details but the Q&A seems more up the GA fan’s ally. Especially with the question that EVERYBODY needed answered.

First question? What do you think? Will the games be licensed in the U.S., blah, blah, blah. It was made clear to all the people there that the company obviously has had trouble getting someone to translate it. If you hadn’t known, BROCCOLI isn’t the one who doesn’t want to send the game over. They’ve been trying since Day 1 of GA getting licensed in the U.S. But just for you guys, I’ll go over that nobody here wants to work on the GA games. Simply because they don’t seem them as profitable enough being what they are. Yes, game companies here are shallow, live with it. But Papa Zombie always gave his usual, “I promise” line along with an always present “maybe” as well. So there you go. Your wait will be an eternity, you can probably learn the Japanese you need faster than the game getting licensed.

Along with some other not so thrilling questions, the guy in front of me CHEATED. I was going to wish Yuuna a Happy early birthday. But this guy broke out a present and everything. So the old man ended up getting credit for knowing rather than me. Just in case you didn’t know, her birthday falls on July 11th, so a bit early but still within the distance of when we saw her. I almost wanted to buy her something to give at the autograph session but, oh well. I think I was able to get what I wanted…

Did I do it? Yes. Let the video speak for itself.

Yeah, I went there. I went up to Yuuna for awhile after the panel and got her adorable smile. Yes, I still will marry Satomi Akesaka but that doesn’t keep me from distributing my love equally. So I stood around rather than run off immediately to the SOS-dan panel. That was fun since I got to pretty much stand next to Yuuna. So since some other guy had been talking to her that wasn’t press, I decided that it wouldy be harmful to try the same. So, I decided to communicate and compliment her on the work she had done so far. Of course, I got a smile and thanks which was amazing. When I asked the spokesman about getting a picture though, she said I would have to wait. Well I spoke with Yuuna which wasn’t a bad thing. But you’ll see that this quest doesn’t end there.

Next on the agenda was the SOS-dan panel. And SHIT. Was there a line to get into that thing. Before it had started, there were about two or three people there. Not like it mattered THAT much but I guess a front seat may have been good. So among all the scrambling I ended up with some staff members who understood Japanese like me. So I got to mess around the entire panel making fun of the stupid questions and coming up with questions that were even better. Even worse was the amount of Lucky Star freaks in the front. I’m all for it but two things about it pissed me off.

A) Some guy asked a question about future projects for the three. Of course he mentioned Aya Hirano was in Lucky Star but stopped there. Hello, ASSHOLE. Minori is in Lucky Star you fucking ass. Get off your Aya Hirano fanboy stool and ask a real question, and watch what you say. I’m all for respecting Aya but the others are just as great. Yuko is a serious veteran and has too many great roles to not know, Minori has a beautiful voice and probably beats Aya singing wise. So, aside from that I won’t say anymore.

B) Some guys solely directed questions at Aya that the whole panel could have answered. Once again, this isn’t the Aya Hirano show guys. And they’re not here for Lucky Star either. If I were Yuko, I probably would have left mid-panel.

Also, some girl did a HORRIBLE impression of Akira. SHUT…THE…HELL…UP…NOW. When I heard that, both me and the staff members there scoffed. I respect Aya for putting up with it though. She also did a lot of things for the Lucky Star fans in the audience. She did her famous “timotei~” line for us as well as doing her rendition of Cha La Head Cha La. Quite a good day if you enjoyed Lucky Star but a lot of people in the audience had no idea what was going on. But they pretty much just had fun clapping along with everyone else, even if they had no idea what was going on. Oh, and Aya’s favorite character from SHnY is actually Tsuruya, which I found amusing. Along with the fact Yuko announced the fact she thought she was strong and cool. Just because of the Lucky Star attention going on, I wanted to go up and ask the other two about Manabi Straight! and Hidamari Sketch to be nice. But trying to ask a question there was trying to flush a full grown dog down a toilet. Small dogs don’t count.

After the panel though, it became cool down time. Both autograph sessions were the following day and most other events didn’t concern me too much. So I browsed the exhibit hall a bit more and eventually ended my first day. Doesn’t seem like a lot but there was a lot of quirky in-between segments. And of course the line devoured most of the morning.

What lies on Day 2? Autograph sessions, concerts, cosplay, and more exhibit hall browsing. Now tell me that isn’t a jam packed day? Well, maybe if you like camping out and waiting in lines.