Not since Love is War have I come across a song as great as this. And that’s saying a lot. After all, I have nearly 12 hours of Vocaloid songs on my hard drive. Miku here sounds absolutely stunning. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was a real human singing this song. It’s that good.
And the PV is marvelous as well. Both the song and the video work together for an awesome effect. They tell the story of a girl in a hospital room with a terminal illness, and she slowly starts to accept her approaching death. Yes, it’s very sad, yet it’s so beautiful…
Here’s an alternate MMD video that is also good. And you can find the English translation here.
Alas, we’re reaching the end of this series. I’ve been saving the best for last, so here we go.
Death Note is my third-favorite anime that I have watched so far. (It was my second favorite, before being usurped by next week’s anime.) It is clear that the creators know how to tell a good story.
The story follows Light Yagami, a brilliant high school student who places first on every exam he takes. One day, he finds a mysterious notebook: the Death Note. According to the instructions inside the cover, “the human whose name is written in this notebook shall die.” Naturally, his first reaction is disbelief. But eventually, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he tests the notebook on a criminal he saw on TV. Forty seconds later, the criminal dies of a heart attack. He is shocked, but doesn’t quite believe it yet. He does another test, with the same result. He has now proven to himself that the book is as advertised.
So now that he holds the power to kill anyone he wishes, what will Light do now? Well, he decides to think big. All the criminals in the world; if he kills them all, the world will become a better place. And so he begins his mass genocide, aiming to become the ruler of the ‘New World’.
By now, Interpol, the world’s police organization, is very interested in the huge amount of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals. The world’s leading detective, known only as “L”, takes charge of the investigation. Within a short time, L learns that Kira, (the name given to the unknown killer by the public,) is in Japan, and can kill without physical contact. And so begins a game of cat and mouse between L and Kira.
And that’s where all the good stuff lies. Watching these two Chessmasters trying to outwit one another is really enthralling. Both of them are fighting for what they sense as justice. Both of them trying to find someone whose name and face they don’t know, and whoever is found first, will die. The suspense is excruciating.
As for your funny video of the week, no need to travel farther than a clip taken straight from the English dub:
Azumanga Daioh is yet another school life comedy, again with high school girls.
Chiyo Mihama is a genius in every sense of the word. She skipped five grades, entering high school at age 10. Despite the huge age gap, she gets along well with her older classmates, and is a very nice person. Chiyo is also very short, and absolutely inept at sports. Her ponytails are of particular interest to Osaka, who often daydreams that they come off, allow her to fly, control her mind, and other stuff like that.
Tomo Takino is absurdly energetic and competitive, but is a real slacker. She never considers about the consequences of anything she does, and generally irritates the rest of her classmates. If given the right motivation however, she can be quite capable of things.
Koyomi Mizuhara is a grade-school friend of Tomo’s, despite having drastically different personalities. She is the most serious member of the group, and often the most irritated by Tomo’s antics. As you can probably guess, their clashing personalities make for lots of Comedic Situations.
Sakaki is very tall, and soft-spoken. Being shy, she rarely speaks, and her demeanor is often misinterpreted as ‘cool and mysterious’. She is very good at sports, and holds a secret desire for all things cute. She especially loves cats, but they rarely allow her to pet them, and bite her instead.
Ayuma Kasuga, commonly called Osaka, is often slow, inattentive, and stuck in her own world. One time, she was so intensely focused on something, that she didn’t notice all the papers, chairs, and even desks flying through the air during Tomo’s attempts to exterminate a cockroach from the classroom.
Kagura is a dedicated member of the school’s swim team, but is a good athlete all around. She tries to outdo Sakaki in everything, but rarely succeeds. Like Tomo, she is very energetic, but is not prone to impulsive outbursts and irritating behavior. She does, however, share her lack of interest in studying.
Yukari Tanizaki is the girls’ English teacher. Depending on her mood, she can be a loving teacher, or merciless tyrant. She will often hit her students with blunt objects if they annoy her. For those unfortunate enough to ride in her car, the event leaves them emotionally scarred for life. The one exception is Tomo, who shares a lot of similarities with her.
Minamo Kurosawa is the school’s gym teacher. She is a high school friend of Yukari’s, and their relationship is similar to that between Tomo and Yomi. She is a lot nicer to her students than Yukari is, and is much more sensible and in control, despite being constantly insulted by Yukari.
And now, a video showing Sakaki’s relationship with cats:
Earlier today, I became aware of a new Chex Quest mod project called Chex Quest: Return to Bazoik. The creator, LegoexpertSSF, asked me for help with some FraggleScripting, and I happily obliged. (I like passing my knowledge on to the next-gen modders. :D )
Anyway, so I’m out here to spread the word. Now all of you out there, let’s give the newcomer to the mod scene some encouragement! :D
First aired in 1998, Cowboy Bebop is another oldie with high ratings. But this time, I feel the praise is more justly deserved.
Set in the year 2071, Cowboy Bebop tells the story of some bounty hunters, (cowboys,) who travel around the Solar System in their ship, the Bebop. There isn’t a lot of the Real World Physics that was displayed in Planetes, but I do have to hand it to the creators, though. The visual effects for entering and leaving the hyperspace gateways, are what can only be referred to as Darn Cool.
Spike Spiegel is a Martian. (No, not a little green man with six eyes and tentacles, he’s a human that was born on Mars.) He is skilled at martial arts, which many people learn the hard way. He is also handy with a gun, and a good pilot. Spike usually has a laid-back attitude, often sarcastic, and has fluffy hair.
Jet Black is the actual owner of the Bebop. A big guy, he’s the group’s jack-of-all-trades. He can do everything from repairing the ship, to making dinner. Jet is also skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but unlike Spike, who uses more technique, Jet uses raw muscle to get the job done.
Faye Valentine is brash, and very lazy. At times, she relies on the guys to do all the actual work of bounty hunting, while she reaps the benefits. However, she will sometimes go out on her own. And in a fight, she can handle herself fairly well.
Edward is a 13-year-old, hyperactive girl. She is extremely good at hacking computer systems, and is known as “Radical Edward”. She is also very flexible and strong, being able to walk around on her hands while scratching her nose with her foot. She rarely walks anywhere, preferring more fun movements like rolling or flipping. For all these reasons, I like Ed.
Ein is a dog. A very smart dog. He is also very fond of Ed.
One part that I particularly liked a lot, was when the guys got ahold of an old Betamax tape from the early 2000’s. Nobody knew what it was, since in 2071, they all use discs for storage. (Just like we do now.) It made my skin crawl when Spike started pulling the tape out of the cassette. “NO! YOU’LL RUIN IT!” It was a realistic reaction for someone from the late 21st century, though. And so, I laughed at the whole thing.
At first glance at that scene, the fact that the creators used Beta instead of VHS doesn’t make a lot of sense. After all, VHS won the format war in the late 80’s, didn’t it? Since Cowboy Bebop was made in 1998, surely the creators should have known that? If this was an American production, that would be true. But this wasn’t an American production. In Japan, Beta continued to be popular, with tapes still being produced as late as 2002. So it actually makes perfect sense for them to have used a Beta tape. (There’s a little history lesson for you.)
Another notable thing about the series, is the English dub. Normally, I abhor dubs. Rarely do they sound as good as the original Japanese. Cowboy Bebop is the rare exception where the dub is on-par with the originals. Many people even say that it’s better than the original. Now I don’t know about that, but it’s certainly not worse.
And now it’s time for your amusing video of the week:
Strawberry Marshmallow is another school life comedy, all about comedic situations rather than an overall storyline. However, instead of high school girls, this time we have elementary school girls. And one college girl.
Nobue Ito is the eldest of the group. (By far. She is twenty.) She is Chika’s older sister, but all the girls call her Nobue Onee-chan. (Big Sister Nobue.) She usually holds the final authority on things. She smokes a lot, (which isn’t good for your health either,) and often ‘borrows’ money from her sister to buy cigarettes. Her weakness is the girls doing something cute. Nobue is defenseless against the powers of cute girls.
Chika Ito is twelve. She is more sensible than the other girls, and is very good at cooking. Cookies especially.
Miu Matsuoka is also twelve, and a troublemaker. Miu likes saying random things out of the blue, and playing pranks. However, she is often interrupted by Nobue, ending up out for the count face-down on the floor.
Matsuri Sakuragi is eleven, and a very timid glasses-wearing girl with a pet ferret named John. She is often the subject of Miu’s teasing, and resorts to crying and hiding behind Nobue.
Ana Coppola is an eleven-year-old British girl. She moved to Japan from Cornwall, England five years before the series started, and has forgotten how to speak English in the meantime. Matsuri befriends her, and they try to learn English together.
Overall, I have to say that my favorite character is Nobue, as she’s really the only character I can relate to. You know, being a college student and all. But unlike her, I don’t have four silly girls following me around everywhere. I doubt I could stand it.