#rozen does art

[hypothesiscosmos]

Bad idea.

[gree-gon]

"For goodness sake!"

My entry for the LGTS fanart contest this month :]

[my-beloved-lakes]

Thanks @leverage-ot3 for tagging me!

Star sign: Libra.

Favorite holiday: I used to really like all the holidays that my family celebrates, but recently I just haven't really gotten very exited for any of them. The thing that gets me the most exited for a holiday these days is the food, but my family always does the same meal for every holiday so. I guess Christmas cuz I do still get excited about picking out a tree and decorating it. I also like looking at all the presents under the tree, maybe more than I like actually getting gifts lol.

Last meal: the last full meal I had would be pulled pork, brisket, and fries from my local BBQ place. But I had a bowl of cereal shortly after that that doesn't really count as a meal but it's something I ate.

Current favorite musician: oh there's so many! I've been listening to a lot of Vocal few, Lord Huron, Rozen, David Gray and Christian Kane lately.

Last music listened to: my playlist that's just a mix of all the artists listed above. I believe the last song was Skellig by David Gray

Last movie watched: Sea Biscuit. part of my horse movie™️ marathon.

Last TV show watched: Leverage

Last book/fic finished: last book I finished would be Macbeth I think. I don't really read a lot of fanfic, but I think the last one I did read was one of @lemissingmask 's short fics, which are always amazing!

Last book/fic abandoned: I don't think there are any. It took me like 3 or 4 tries to finally actually finish Snuff by Terry Pratchett, but I did actually finish it eventually. It was good and I really enjoyed it but for whatever reason I had a really hard time finishing it. And I've never abandoned a fanfic before (to my knowledge)

Currently reading: Robinson Caruso. Honestly if I didn't have to read it for class I probably would have given up reading it already.

Last thing researched for writing/art/hyperfixation: collapsed/punctured lung symptoms and treatment, for writing purposes.

Favorite online fandom memory: there's so many fond memories I have with the Leverage folks but I'd probably have to say the night I started watching Leverage, made a post about it and woke up the next morning to an overwhelming amount of replies welcoming me to the fandom. Y'all are the best!

Favorite Old Fandom You Wish Would Drag You Back In/Have A Resurgence: honestly none. There's a reason I quit interacting with all my old fandoms.

Favorite Thing You Enjoy That Never Had an Active or Big "Fandom" but You Wish It Did: Sirens (UK). Although in hindsight if it had had a bigger fandom it probably wouldn't have been as fun of a fandom for me to be a part of.

Tempting Project You're Trying to Rein In/Don't Have Time For: I actually have the opposite problem. Tempting projects that I have all the time in the world for and would really like to do, if only I had the motivation to actually work on them. I'm not trying to rein them in, I'm trying to get them going in the first place lol.

Tagging: @ghostlyarchaeologist @lemissingmask @just-fandomthings @buckaroosboogara @hotchocolateandpillowforts @lindseymcdonaldseyelashes @happyyellowhamster @katbratsupernaturalwhore @sebsdaniel @ whoever else wants to play

[aquamine-amarine]

It’s time for Part 3 of “I hate the fucking anime adaption so fucking much”. Part 2 is here.

I clearly need to be buying every single Nakayoshi issue because they keep hiding news in them that no one talks about, unless I see some Japanese fan on Twitter post about it. I saw this ad in the issue the night before the color illustrations were revealed. Like last time, seeing them in color only made me more annoyed. The themes are getting really ridiculous now. This one is "classical train station attendant clothing". Why. I know early on I wanted to see them in clothing besides their uniforms and transformations, I don't like these stupid themes though. Why they won't do a Halloween theme or wedding season theme is beyond...

Fucking anime art again, ugh. Three times now, it's too fucking much. If this isn't proof that they're absolutely planning on doing a reboot, I don't know what is. At least get a new fucking character design, God. I don't think I ever shared this character designer's Twitter account. Here it is. Yeah, that's Amu looking like a slut in the banner.

This needs a DRASTIC change just like the difference between the two Rozen Maiden anime adaptions. Completely different studio and character designer. It was a massive improvement. I'm so afraid of Satelight getting their hands on it again. I just don't see the results being as good as some past examples, where the original studio that fucked up the anime in the first place was also in charge of the reboots and actually redeemed themselves and made the adaption faithful to the manga. I'm talking about FMA and FMA: Brotherhood (Bones) and Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal (Toei Animation). Please, get a new character designer that actually references the manga art because this current guy does not. It will forever drive me insane that literally no one understand that Ikuto's hair and eyes are DARK BLUE not this shitty shade of blue (or purple) they keep using.

I'm happy to see that the Japanese fandom is actually expressing dislike for this (finally, it's about time), and none of them are happy with how Ikuto looks, obviously because he's just so out of character. One of them even posted a fixed version that made all their expressions better. At least Amu actually looks like herself this time, unlike those awful idol illustrations. Although her eye looks a little weird.

[etlu-yume]

Bookmarking this for later but 100% I've been going back to some tropical house instrumental music playlists (long story, but basically Establishing Vibes while working on some ocean-based art) when I'm struggling to get started on these research papers and BAM magically we're highlighting things left right and center.

(I really need to fix up/update my game OST selections - but:

• Rozen does some amazing remixes of particularly Nintendo games (Zelda, Metroid, Super Mario, Ghibli, NieR, Fire Emblem, Kingdom Hearts) • insaneintherain does these brilliant Jazz-inspired re-imaginations of Pokemon music (Pokemon, Undertale, Hollow Knight, Deltarune, Zelda, and more) • TPR has several albums of ballad-styled game covers (a lot of classics, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, FFVI...)

Some games have been uploading their OSTs (Square Enix has been getting better at adding backlogs, Stardew Valley is there, Octopath Traveller, I found the OST for Unpacking the other day. Sometimes it's a bit of a hunt)

OH and I can't start talking about game remixes etc without mentioning OC Remix. There's HEAPS of stuff, loads of individual song covers, some absolutely amazing albums that are available for free (FFVI's "Balance and Ruin" is still up there for me). It also means you can grab a bunch of music for offline times, if you need/want to disconnect from distractions!)

It’s literally that simple

Friend: “hey my son can’t concentrate on his homework. He chooses to do literally anything else everytime. He said his head doesn’t feel like it.”

Me: “Did you give him music?”

Friend: “No! No tech until he’s done! He doesn’t need more distracted.”

Me:

“k, bring me the child”

*Go to her house*

*points to the obviously ADHD boy struggling with his homework*

Me: “so your head doesn’t feel like doing homework?”

Son: “yeah. It would rather do ANYTHING else.”

Me: *unwrapping earbuds* here, listen to this for an hour while you do it.

French voice: 1hr later

Son: “k I’m done! :-)”

Friend: “wow, what’d you give him? Concentra, Adderall, Ritalin‽”

Me: “Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics” and some lo-fi.

[diary-in-disguise]

Back to Business 11/27/22

Finally better and like 95% over Covid. All I have left to get over is the occasional coughing, but even thats not often. Anyways my energy is back to normal now and i was finally able to do stuff today. I went to the mall to try and get my book goal back on track and I was able to do a lot of reading while finishing Sweet Grass. I also walked a lot and am feeling really good to move my body again. I am now just working on reading Rozen Maiden now and I am glad i picked it up again. Its good easy reading for the night. I am just glad I feel like I am making progress again. Being bed ridden for a week does more harm to me than good when I feel like I have a lot to do.

I will just have to try and work extra hard this week. I want to try and knock out 2 books I have irl so I can do a GoodWill run and donate some old books that have been sitting around for a long time. Since I bought the beanies I want to make sure my room isnt getting crowded and I feel like it is a little crowded since I also bought some new art stuff this year from those giftcards I got from my work. I will work on decluttering this week.

[littlebellksz]

Bit of an aside, I'm actually working on a flipnote-styled MV with Rozen Maiden characters, here's a bit of concept art for that

Currently I'm at the drafting stage, finished about a third of that as of today.

It could be a while before it actually does release though, it's currently planned for March of next year.

This specific frame won't be in the video, it's more to show off the type of style that I'm going for with it.

The expected length of it is 1m16s, but if I manage to complete it ahead of schedule, I'll extend it. Lastly, it'll mainly feature Suigintou, but I believe I'll probably be able to fit in most of the dolls in some sections.

[sassy1085arts]

Inktober Day 20 - Breakable

[neptunefairytales]

Hi! NeptuneFairytales here! I have never done a proper presentation post since I first log here years ago, so why not used the new pinned option to do it?

Read under before interacting:

I'm a 30+ years old queer french girl. I mostly post about my fandoms and the stuff I like.

-Magical Girls and Anime fan: Sailor Moon (my first and ultimate anime, Sailor Neptune and Harumichi lover), Precure,Mermaid Melody, Tokyo Mew Mew,  CC Sakura, Puella MMM,, Love Live!, Pokemon, Rozen Maiden... -Love cartoons: MLP (all generation!), Winx Club, Over the garden wall, Gravity Falls, EAH, ...  -Disnerd: Love them all (favourites are The little mermaid and Alice in wonderland but I love all the princesses and the talking animals. Also Cassunzel is life). Disneyland Paris citizen ^^ -TV Shows:  Doctor Who (favs: 13. 12. 10. OTP: Thoschei and Thasmin ^^),  Good Omens, OUAT (Evil Regal and Swen forever), Broadchurch, Merlin, ... -PotterHead: Hufflepuff pride! (Fuck JKR! Yes you could still like HP while hating her! HP is now our, and we can make it as queer and respectful as we want it to be!) -Lover of animals, specially Horses and Cats (also Warrior Cats fan here!), also dinosaurs...

I collect all sort of toys: Dolls (Disney, MH, Asian compagnies...) and Figures (Anime, Disney, Schleich, Sylvanian Families, all gen of MLP...) and love taking pictures with them and making stories with them! I am not an agere blog (well I think? I don’t feel adult at all, but don’t have the need to regress?) but those who are are welcome!

I draw (sometimes, when I remember how to...), you can request little things ‘same with toys pics, you can give me ideas to do)

I love Fairy kei, lolita fashion, Steampunk, dark and light academia, princess vibes and cottagecore. I love nature (autumn enthousiast) and fantasy (mermaids, fairies and witchy stuff).

Feel free to follow me if you like any of those things! (it’s ok to like this post but do not repost it.) Thanks!

All the post tagged "my stuff" and "my art" are mine, so please, do not repost them (and do not reblog if you use it for kink!). On some occasions nsfw but only light or funny stuff (and always tagged appropriatly) Not spoilers free of any sort (but I tag everything!) Don’t be affraid to reblog and comment under my post, don’t hide in the tags! (unless you are saying ugly sh*t!)

Death to AI Art!!! If I reblog something AI by mistake please tell me! Also same if I reblog from a repost (or something uncredited taking from pinterest)! Fiction does not equal reality, people are free to like the ships and characters they want. Also please separate art from the artist!!! Your are allowed to like a book/show without supporting the creator!!!! Be free! 

I believe in your kinks are not my kinks and that’s okay, just don’t touch my personnal posts if you are a kink blog. NSFW, dd/lg, age players, maps, transphobe/terfs, racist, proana, gore and kinks blogs, Do Not Interract!!!! You’ll be blocked in the minute! I also block blogs with no posts/pfp/summary (or just blogs with bad vibes)....

Enjoy your stay!!!

[hypothesiscosmos]

Local tiny cult-leading monk gets disgruntled

[blazehedgehog]

As an Internet veteran and draw-person, I really need to ask: what anime influenced you and many online artists circa 2000s? There's a specific style from those early 2000s webcomics and fanart I'm looking for and trying to replicate, and your old art fit in that "style", in my opinion. Thank you!

It’s hard to narrow it down, but it’s also not that hard to narrow it down. Anime was a much, much smaller industry back then. The “boom” was just beginning thanks to efforts by the Scifi Channel and Cartoon Network to bring anime to television in timeslots that people would actually watch.

So here’s your crash course in casual anime history, I guess, from someone who definitely isn’t like... obsessed with anime. Or isn’t anymore, but was back then.

For me, it all kind of started with, like... Dragon Ball, and this was a show that struggled to gain any traction at first. Where I lived, it aired at 5am on Sunday mornings. If you knew a kid that watched Dragon Ball, there was a solidarity there like, “Yup, you get it.”

Then DiC got the license to Sailor Moon and started airing it in the weekday morning slot I would typically describe as “right before you catch the bus.” You’d wake up around 6am, maybe 6:15, and watch whatever was on at 6:30 while you ate breakfast. As the credits were rolling, you’d head out to catch the school bus. Sailor Moon was what I remember doing that with the most. That combined with Dragon Ball formed my foundational interest in anime.

Around this time (1995, 1996) you were starting to see anime start to seep in to the mainstream elsewhere. There was a commercial I remember for, like, an anthology of anime classics like Akira...

And, y’know, when you’re like, 14 or 15 and you see a commercial like this -- cartoons! With blood! And nudity! It’s like, holy crap. Most of the classics we know today (Akira, Ghost in the Shell) were only really available via mail order like this back then.

More shows started getting localized for TV, too, like Ronin Warriors was one a lot of my friends got in to. It was considered “The Manly Sailor Moon.” And then there was, of course, Samurai Pizza Cats. Eventually Saban stopped dubbing Dragon Ball altogether and moved straight over to Dragon Ball Z, and that gained enough popularity that I think it eventually shook it out of its Sunday Morning time slot to somewhere a little more visible by general audiences.

Coming in to 1997 and 1998, anime was really starting to gain some momentum. The Scifi Channel had begin doing their “Saturday Anime” show, which aired at 3am every Friday Night/Saturday Morning. They probably figured it was one of the only ways they could get away with showing violent cartoons.

For me, this was where I got my first “real” taste of anime. They had a stable of about 5 or 10 movies and OVAs they’d run. Venus Wars, Vampire Hunter D, Project A-KO, Robot Carnival, Tenchi Muyo In Love (my favorite), Project L.I.L.Y. Cat, Beautiful Dreamer, Galaxy Express 999, Fatal Fury The Motion Picture, Record of Lodoss War, Dominion Tank Police, Roujin-Z, Demon City Shinjiku, Gall Force...

That felt like the bandaid got ripped off. Suddenly we were all buzzing about anime. Hey, have you heard about this movie called Ninja Scroll? There’s hardcore sex in it! No American movie, live action or not, could ever match the body horror of Akira! Hey, does anyone remember Robotech from the 80′s? That was actually anime, too! Wow!

Cartoon Network was smart enough to take notice and snatched up the rights to air Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z at reasonable, non-morning hours, and they dug out Voltron and put together a simple block of anime. I don’t even think it necessarily had a name, it was just an hour or maybe 90 minutes of anime a day, and it exploded. Right place, right time. So Cartoon Network expanded.

They added more classic anime, and some shows that were similar in tone, and called it Toonami. Robotech, Ronin Warriors, The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest, Reboot, Thundercats...

And this became the place to watch anime. Which is when we enter the era you’re asking about, the early 2000′s. This is where it starts to feel like a little too much to cover, because it came hot, heavy, and fast. There was a thirst for anime that was hard to quench because production companies were small and choosy about what they’d dub, but at the same time, a sort of gold rush was starting.

When I think of peak, classic-era Toonami, the stuff that really influenced me artistically, it was shows like Outlaw Star, Ruroni Kenshi, and Gundam Wing. I’m sure I’d also have friends speak highly of Big-O, G-Gundam, and Yu Yu Hakusho, three shows I never really got in to.

Eventually, Cartoon Network (and Williams Street, then called Ghost Planet Industries) began to realize that there was a growing library of anime they couldn’t show in the afternoon because it was too intense for the kids. There was also an undoubtedly vocal contingent of anime fans who were frustrated when their favorite shows had to be edited for broadcast. This gave birth to Toonami: The Midnight Run, the precursor to what would eventually become Adult Swim. The Midnight Run became home to uncut (or simply less-cut) episodes of afternoon shows that restored blood, alcoholic references, and the few cases of more extreme violence.

Midnight Run started getting exclusive shows, too. When I think about what Midnight Run (and later Adult Swim) was known for, it was shows like Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, and again, though it wasn’t really something I saw a ton of, Paranoia Agent.

Other networks did try to cash in on the anime craze. I think Tech TV/G4 tried to get in on things with Serial Experiments Lain and a few other shows, but to be honest, it never hit as hard as Toonami did. Then there was obviously the work of guys like 4KIDS, with the Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Digimon shows on Saturday Morning, but those felt noticeably different in vibe and in tone (something that only got more pronounced when Kids WB started a Saturday Morning Toonami block that was even more aggressively sanitized than what could be shown on Cartoon Network).

Beyond broadcast TV, the stuff I remember being popular among my circle of friends were things like Tenchi Universe, Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Saber Marionette, and.... like, Di Gi Charat and Chobits? This was probably right around the era of Azumanga Daioh, too.

Unfortunately, much past 2003 or 2004 is where I started falling off of anime. The feeling of it being “new” and “special” was starting to wear off, and there was enough coming out that the standard of quality was beginning to drop. Whereas small studios like ADV and Manga Corps. could only afford to bring out the best of the best, we were starting to get junk like Duel Masters, Rozen Maiden and Tenchi Muyo GXP.

I remember friends speaking highly of shows like Bleach (heh), .hack, Full Metal Panic, Midori Days, Tenjo Tenge, Yakitate Japan, Eureka Seven, and Air Gear, but I can’t tell you anything about them, personally.

Either way, I’m sure I’ve given you more than enough to chew on.

[kirayamidemon]

rozen-kitsune said:

??? Kira what's wrong?? I don't know what you mean? tell me where it is cause I can't see any mistake, only great art?? please don't beat yourself up, artists are always their own worst critics and whatever it is there is no need to be embarrassed at all!! you could never fail me, all your art ever does is make me so happy!! ;v;

;LSDJFJSLSLK i’ll admit it’s only one panel (for now) but still flsjdkjjfd

[ilovepauljack]

What is the origin of Ahegao memes?

The hentai face (also known as the ahegao face) is a popular topic of discussion among anime fans. As a result, ahegao memes have gone incredibly widespread on the internet. So, what is the origin of ahegao? How did it go viral? Let’s all find out with ilovepauljack.com.

What is ahegao? 

Ahegao is a drawing genre in Japanese Hentai comics, in which the person (mainly female) is showing, during sexual intercourse, an intense amount of pleasure showed by her facial expression.

Ahegao is defined in several blogs and online user-created dictionaries’ articles, which list these features below.

Rolled-up Eyes

Stuck-out Tongue

Got wet with tears, snot, drool or semen or other body fluids

Flushed Face

Extremely strange moans: eg. Nhoooh! , Aheee!, Iguuh!, etc…

Ahegao memes

Where does the word ahegao come from? 

In the name, “Ahe” stems from Japanese onomatopoeia of “Aheahe” describing female’s flushed breath and moaning in sex & her sexual excitement, and ��Gao” means “Face”. According to a forum article in Nico Nico Pedia’s entry for Ahegao, it’s confirmed that the term had come already used in porn magazines to simply explain porn actresses’ face with pleasure in early 1990s. Used in the same context, it also made looks on a handful of posts in 2channel and its sister board community in adult contents BBSPINK as well as descriptions for porn videos on adult e-commerce pages in the first half of 2000s. The oldest 2channel post in existence which includes this term was posted to a thread in /company/ (tip-off) in November 4th, 2001.

Meanwhile, according to 2008-2009 Japanese blog posts WebLab.ota’s “Ahegao History” & “Ahegao Chronology” , and Himajin no Dabun’s “Chronological Analyze of The Ahegao form in Adult Games”, it was around 2003-2005 that some hentai manga & anime creators began introducing extremely exaggerated face depictions of women’s abnormal orgasms with unwanted sexual intercourse, hardcore BDSMs, rapes or other sex assaults. Another blog aritcle by Bar Rikashitsu no Bibouroku suggested that Japanese ero guro mangaka/painter Suehiro Maruo has already introduced this kind of depiction to his works in early 1980s.

Continuing these prior researches on the web, Japanese bishoujo comic researcher Rito Kimi included “Genealogy of Ahegao” in his 2017 book The Expression History of Ero-Manga. At this book, he points Hiromitsu Takeda’s 2008 manga “I

Scraper” is that first commercial work where a character utters the word “Ahegao” in the meaning of this facial expression , and it suggests Ahegao had established its personal concept in the hentai subculture at that point. He also analyses the image board communities Futaba Channel (2chan) and Pixiv, where its users started to highly use this technique for pure jokes like Ahegaokin around 2007, also had the critical role to spread the concept on the internet.

Ahegao in nowaday’s meaning was formed by increase and evolution of this drawing style in that middle of 2000s, and its spreading to the otaku community via 2chan, 2channel/BBSPINK that became to host Ahegao-themed threads around the middle of 2007, and matome weblogs reprinting threads in those online communities. And in around 2008, it had adequate spread to be recognized as one of famous drawing techniques for climax. The first Ahegao-themed doujin comic anthology “A-H-E” was released in the winter in that year. 

Ahegao comic AHE

Related: Confused anime boy Is this a pigeon memes – The interesting story you need to know

The spread of ahegao memes

Against the backdrop of the large popularity in the otaku group, which had been developed in the late-2000s, Ahegao has earned a lots of on-screen visibility as both a hentai art technique and fodder for parody illustrations. At its early days, Ahegao had been a popular style in the Collage tradition in 2chan and 2channel. And Japanese illustrators communities Pixiv and Nico Nico’’’ Seiga which were launched in the same period have been popular Ahgao-sharing services from its beginning. As of June 2017, Pixiv holds over 20000 illustrations tagged involved Ahegao, and Nico Nico Seiga, which doesn’t have the adult section, also had plenty of illustrations featuring the face.

On the Westerners Web, this specific facial expression is called in not only the original name, but also translated types “Fucked Silly Face” or “Mind Break Face”. Tagged under these names, loads of Ahegao illustrations have been drawn by DeviantArt users, or reprinted to Tumblr & Danbooru. Urban Disctonary’s article and Reddit’s subreddit Ahegao were launched in June’’ 2010. Besides, Instagram’s hashtag also has tons of Ahegao selfies by female otakus & cosplayers.

Readmore: Anime traps meme – What is it?

Some famous ahegao memes on the internet

Ahegaokin

Ahegaokin is a series of exploitables for the face. Started from an illustration which was inspired by 2chan’s Ahegao photoshopped image of Suiseiseki in Rozen Maiden, lots of illustrations of characters being infected by the bacillus was uploaded to Pixiv in 2008-2009.

Ahegaokin meme

Desu Desu

Desu Desu is a derivative from Desu meme and an Advice Dog spin-off which reused that Suiseiseki’s Ahegao face. As early as April 2010, this series became to be shared in Meme Generator.

Desu Desu

Ahegao Double Peace

As well as the face itself, its descendant Ahegao Double Peace is also one the iconic poses in the hentai subculture & online parody illustrations. This quite weird pose had established its concept at the middle of 2011.

Ahegao Double Peace meme

So, have you gotten all of the information about ahegao memes? We hope that the above article is helpful to you. Share it with your anime-obsessed friends so that they could understand more about the mentioned topic. 

If you’re looking for Anime memes, Dank memes, and Pet memes , ilovepauljack.com is the place to be.

The post What is the origin of Ahegao memes? appeared first on Happiness is handmade with Paul's Memes.

source https://ilovepauljack.com/anime-memes/ahegao-memes

[medea10]

My Review of Dirty Pair

Now that I think about it…if you look at Dawn and Zoey from Diamond & Pearl…they could pull this off. I’m starting to have some questions for Pokemon’s animators in the mid-2000s. Next factor is that every time I attended Kraken Con in Oakland, they would usually play the first 4 episodes of this anime. And I would catch a few minutes or a random episode (most of the time it was episode 3). And finally, it’s an anime that came out in the 1980s. Let’s face it, what other anime have I watched came out before 1986 that’s not named Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, or Ranma ½? Thought so! If you're in big trouble, call the World Welfare Work Association or 3WA. They will send out a team of highly trained capable agents (also known as Trouble Consultants) who can solve your problems. But if the team they send you is the infamously named Dirty Pair, there will be a lot of collateral damage aside from solving your problems. The Dirty Pair (or Lovely Angels as the girls would like to be refered to) consists of Kei and Yuri, two ladies who are well equipped to help whoever, wherever, and whenever…for the right price. Win these ladies over with handsome men, bonuses, and luxurious items and they’ll help you with whatever the problem is. BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: I do face the same kind of dilemma watching this as I did with Rose of Versailles because I’m going to experience hearing people I’ve never really listened to until now (with the exception of Yuri’s seiyuu because she was in a lot of the Rumiko Takahashi animes I’ve watched). Licensing wise, last checked, Nozomi Entertainment has all the Dirty Pair animes (including the TV series, specials, OVA series, the spin-off series, and the movie). And if memory serves, I believe ADV once had claims over some if not all of this series. However, not everything got a dub. Pretty much, everything except for the original TV series got a dub. I got a chance to listen to the English dub and thought it was okay for the most part. It’s not ear-gratingly horrifying if that’s what you want me to say. With the dub, I noticed Yuri’s voice was different in some specials and I do have a theory on that. Apparently Jessica Calvello voiced Yuri during the OVA series, while Allison Sumrall did the specials and movies. My guess for that was when they were dubbing this, it was around that time when Calvello blew out her vocal chords…Yeah, that happened. But no complaints from me here either! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from. JAPANESE CAST: *Kei is played by Kyouko Tonguu *Yuri is played by Saeko Shimazu (known for Kodachi on Ranma ½, Princess Abi on InuYasha, and Shinobu on Urusei Yatsura) ENGLISH CAST: *Kei is played by Pamela Lauer *Yuri [in the OVA series] is played by Jessica Calvello (known for Prima on Pokemon, Hange on Attack on Titan, Excel on Excel Saga, Aika on Aria, Kanako on Maria Holic, and Suigintou on Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen) *Yuri [in the movie] is played by Allison Sumrall (known for Kagura on Azumanga Daioh, Miia on Monster Musume, Shinichi’s mother on Parasyte, and Sasasegawa on Little Busters)

SHIPPING: These ladies are quite promiscuous. So it’s pretty easy to say they flirt with a different sort of men each episode. But there was one episode during the television run where Yuri really had something for a boy that deserves a mention. In the 8th episode of the original TV series, Yuri gets word of a childhood love (named Billy) reaching out to her. She was ready to leave her life and job as a Lovely Angel to be with him. Unfortunately, Kei comes across the unfortunate truth about Yuri’s long-lost love, Billy. He died while trying to complete his project. But Kei decided to keep this fact away from Yuri and instead told her it’ll take Billy a lot longer to complete his work. And Yuri will wait for him.

There have been a few notable men as well that made a dent in Kei and Yuri’s love life. Hell, there was even an episode where Yuri almost tied the knot with a man in the OVA series that almost got me to second guess Yuri’s angle. When it comes to Kei…yeah, there were a few guys on her radar but none that really stood out. Except I couldn’t help but wonder if there would ever be something between Kei and Carson from the movie! Regardless, Kei and Yuri are just too promiscuous and wild to just settle down with one guy (unless he was a handsome sugar daddy). ENDING TO TV SERIES: I don’t want to call it much of an ending because all the episodes follow the same pattern and that’s the girls work on a case they’re given and they finish their mission (more or less). If you ask me, the television series should have ended on the two-parter episode where Kei and Yuri are helping a family find a plane that has 463 missing passangers.

The final episode consisted of the girls in an apartment with three salesmen and a policeman in game of who’s the killer. Because of recent murders in the area involving women, Kei and Yuri were placed in an apartment to be on lookout. And for some reason, those four men wound up in the apartment together. Thanks to some clever intuition on Yuri’s part, she was able to figure out who the killer was and the reason behind the killer’s message. A year after the television series ended, they released two special episodes that follow suit to the series. Meaning the girls have to solve their mission. And the final one involved trying to save their chief from some kidnappers. PROJECT EDEN: Oh my God, could this movie be any more 1980s?! Half the movie has no dialogue and all those parts feel like a long-ass music video. I’m not knocking it, I just find it amusing. I want to call it a side-story from the original series. Basically, Kei and Yuri are working together with a smuggler (named Carson D. Carson…this name is literally too funny to comment on) from a previous mission to stop a crazy doctor from unleashing aliens upon the world. Seriously, just watch this! It’s a trip! OVA SERIES: Two years after the original television series finished (1987), Dirty Pair was given 10 more episodes in an OVA series. I guess you can call it a sequel as the stories all seem to follow the same premise as Yuri and Kei are on a different mission in each episode. There were only a few key differences here. First of all, unlike the television series, this set got an English dub. Again, I still don’t know why they neglected to dub the original TV series and dub this, the movie, and spin-off. Whatever! Secondly, in this series we got to see a few more people who work in the 3WA (besides Chief Gooley). The 3WA is a big organization and we really knew nothing about anyone else aside from Kei and Yuri (and to a lesser extent Chief Gooley). But there were characters like Madam Beryl and Dr. Q who seem to show up in more than just one episode here to help the girls. It's a shame we never saw more of these OVA's. And then we have Dirty Pair Flash!

What the shit?! What is this hot mess? This is not Yuri and Kei! I know their names are Yuri and Kei, but they’re not the ones I’ve been watching for the past year. As you can see, this is a definite product of the 1990s. Take something from the 70s and 80s and bastardize it with wonky animation, flashy colors, and every kooky sound effect you heard during 1990’s animes! Give me one good reason why I should even look at this!

Holy crap, is that Rica freakin’ Matsumoto in that fucking main cast?! And this was BEFORE she played Satoshi?! Fine…Imma watch it!

This is Kei and Yuri. No, they’re not the Kei and Yuri from the original series. This Kei and Yuri are different. This series is sort of an alternate setting to the original Dirty Pair. It’s not the same universe where the 3WA gives the names “Kei” and “Yuri” to new recruits. There won’t be an episode where both Kei’s and Yuri’s meet. This is something completely different! Now aside from their “radical” new look, Kei and Yuri here kinda differ from the Kei and Yuri from the 1980’s anime? Just a smidge. Kei is way more tomboyish than the original one. I know the original Kei was a tomboy too, but she also seemed promiscuous when it came to men unlike the newer one. This Kei didn’t really feel too interested in men all that much. Both Yuri’s seem the same as they can both be promiscuous, flighty, and hopelessly romantic when it comes to men. But the one thing that stays the same is that these girls always find a way to botch-up the missions. The cast of course has changed and with many more recognizable voice actors in the sub (to me). Here’s what you might recognize these folks from. JAPANESE CAST: *Kei is played by Rica Matsumoto (known for Ash on Pokemon, Yami/Bakura on YGO, Rumi on Perfect Blue, Choromatsu on Osomatsu-kun, and Sis on Now and Then Here and There) *Yuri is played by Mariko Kouda (known for Sakura on Pokemon, Nayuki on Kanon, Kaya on One Piece, and Juri on Vampire Knight) ENGLISH CAST: *Kei is played by Sue Ulu (known for Ritsuko on Neon Genesis Evangelion and Ayako on Golden Boy) *Yuri is played by Kim Sevier (known for Yui on Neon Genesis Evangelion and Noriko on Golden Boy) Dirty Pair Flash had something I kinda wished to see with the original series. Continuity! At least it was the case of the first set of OVA’s as it does show how this Kei and Yuri got paired up and their hardships of having to work together as the “Lovely Angels” of the 3WA. While with the original, we already jump into Kei and Yuri’s line of work where they already have a reputation as the infamous “Dirty Pair”, here we actually see this Kei and Yuri first get paired up. Kei was a delinquent and on probation and Yuri was one of the lowest in her class, let’s pair them up! What could possibly go wrong?

The first set of OVA’s had Kei on a literal manhunt for someone only to later find out it was a former member of the 3WA who has been causing mischief. Hell, she was one of the original Lovely Angel duo. The second set of OVA’s Kei and Yuri had to spend 5 episodes with a computer geek named Touma. The episodes here weren’t as continuous as they were in the previous set (as they don’t follow a strict storyline). And the finale to the second set felt very rushed to take out one bad guy. Seriously, all that build-up for such a sorry payoff!

The final set of OVA’s, five more stories that don’t connect whatsoever. And that’s a shame since you got an episode where Kei is taking care of a (now) orphaned baby and an episode where Yuri is a literal object of a little boy’s desire. I will give it this, the final episode where there’s a terrorist on the loose trying to kill the chief of the 3WA was pretty intense. All in all, Dirty Pair Flash was okay. I think I was more of a fan of the original Dirty Pair, but that’s just me. There were some things I liked from Flash too, don’t get me wrong. This series however gets extra points having Rica Matsumoto sing several songs on here. As for old school Dirty Pair…I can honestly say I jumped into this series blind-folded. One of the types of animes I don’t normally touch are sci-fi and mecha. It was never really my thing but every few years or so I would pick up titles with those specific genres. But I enjoyed watching the episodes of Dirty Pair. I almost want to compare this to any cop show you see on TV. Mostly for the aspect of two cops working together! It’s easy to say that Kei and Yuri do get the job done, but sometimes they fuck up. And that’s a common trope in many cop shows/movies (the entertaining ones). Plus I always found myself chuckling at the witty/catty banter between Kei and Yuri. How often do you see two female cops in this situation? In most of the shows I’ve seen it’s always between two guys! Sure it gives off a stereotype of if you put two girls in a room, all they’ll do is bitch and scratch each other’s eyes out. Yes, this does happen from time to time. But Kei and Yuri have always gotten along for the most part.

…Oh yeah…I suppose I should talk about the sex appeal. Even for the time this aired, I’m surprised they got away with these girls wearing butt-hugging shorts in literally every episode. Then again, it’s Japan. I can’t imagine what they’d be wearing nowadays. But for what it’s worth, I say give it a watch. If you’re a fan of police shows, mecha, or both, this might be right up your alley. And if you want to give Dirty Pair Flash a try, go for it too. I just suggest watching the original first, but that’s just my opinion. Through Nozomi Entertainment, you can purchase just about anything of Dirty Pair for home video. Nozomi Entertainment also put up a few of the specials, the movie Project Eden, and the entire set of Dirty Pair Flash on their Youtube page. Okay, now that’s over with. What’s the next Discotek license/older anime am I watching next?

Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan? 2019 sure loves to torture me.

[p2j3nicakraus]

Ik doe de vormgeving voor de solo’s van Sem en Kanen! ik heb gezellig met hun gesproken over hun ideeën en ik heb voor beide even een inspiratie boord gemaakt en een schets voor kanen zijn indeling van de zaal. Het bovenste onderzoek is voor de solo van Kanen, ik heb vooral onderzoek gedaan naar verschillende poppen binnen de performance art. Kanen zijn idee is een pop van karton en tape (grof in elkaar gezet), alle lichaamsdelen zijn los en hij kan de pop tijdens zijn solo gaan opbouwen, verder wil hij een contrabas (regelt hij zelf) in de zaal en zwarte rozen op de grond (regelt hij ook zelf) , dit zie je ook terug op de schets. Mijn taak is om de pop te maken en uit te vinden hoe we hem kunnen gaan ophangen/neerzetten.  Het onderste onderzoek is voor Sem haar solo. Haar idee rondom vormgeving is een zwarte strakke jurk of pak met een kooltrui en handschoenen (dit gaan we gewoon kopen en aan elkaar maken). Voor decor is Sem haar idee om een doek te hebben waar ze zowel van voor iets op kunt projecteren als waar ze achter kunt spelen zodat je haar schaduw ziet en aan het eind van haar solo wilt ze allemaal witte veren naar beneden laten vallen (de veren regelt ze zelf). Mijn taak is nu om een scherm te maken waar ze achter kan spelen en op kan projecteren, dit wil ik gaan doen door een frame te maken en daar een doek op te spannen. Ook moet ik meedenken met de techniek over hoe de veren naar beneden gaan vallen.  De samenwerking met de solisten gaat goed! ik heb zin om te beginnen met maken en verder te kijken met de solisten.

[hawk-in-a-jazzy-hat]

Anime Review: Gosick

In the year of 1924, in the fictional European country of Sauville, lies the prestigious Saint Marguerite academy; a place for students to reach the best of their ability. One such student is Kazuya Kujo; thierd son of an imperial soldier determined to make a name for himself away from the shadow of his two older brothers. Not that it’s easy, as due to his appearance he is quickly dubbed the Reaper that Comes in the Spring, as to a local ghost story, and his very appearance is made synonymous with bad luck.

On his first day at the academy, however, he makes a chance encounter. In the towering library on the ground, he discovers a beautiful garden on the top floor. And in there, he discovers a mysterious doll-like girl with beautiful golden hair; the Golden Fairy that supposedly steals the souls of men. He soon finds out however that this is no fairy, but a genius young girl called Victorique, who is kept in isolation at the academy for somewhat dubious reasons.

Kujo quickly takes a liking to her, and as they get involved in spooky goings on and grisly murder cases around the country, she soon takes a liking to him. But a storm is coming, and their happiness is threatened by the very forces that kept Victorique shut away in the first place...

The Reaper, and the Golden Fairy. Two terrifying beings, and two people totally unsuited to be with one another. Yet though the gale threatens to tear them apart, their hearts will always be together.

It’s time to consult the wellspring of wisdom and assemble the fragments of chaos once again.

Every time I start a ‘block’ of new anime series from my overwhelmingly large backlog, I’m always hoping for that ‘one’ series to come up. The series which seemingly comes out of nowhere, that I know very little about, and yet which somehow, inexplicably makes it onto my favourites list. A couple of blocks ago, it was Fate/Zero and Rozen Maiden. The block after that, it was Jormungand. And when I did my little Urobuchi retrospective, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet was the show which really stuck out to me. It’s a nice feeling when it happens; finding something excellent completely by accident.

In many ways it’s these kind of shows which essentially ‘save’ anime for me; there’s only so much stuff which is mediocre-to-average you can sit through before you begin to question why you’re bothering. I try and mix things up a bit; mixing the things I’m genuinely excited for with shows like the ones above that I’m practically going into blind. Perhaps it’s the lack of hype which makes them stand out, or perhaps I do, occasionally just find diamonds in the rough. It certainly doesn’t always work; shows such as Haibane Renmei or Requiem for the Phantom, while technically impressive, can fall a bit flat under an emotional scrutiny, whereas others like Aldnoah.Zero and Umineko are just plain crap.

But when these shows come along, it’s well worth the wait and the drivel I forced myself through to find them. I was slightly concerned with this current block; while it did give me Tokyo Ghoul and Eureka Seven, both of which are great, the latter I was kind of expecting to enjoy anyway and the former only really became great in its second half after a pretty dull first half. As for the rest of the things I’ve been watching, Ghost Hound was technically sound but ultimately a bit of a let-down, Clannad annoyed me for several reasons, Umineko, as I’ve stated, was pure crap, and we don’t talk about Elfen Lied ever again. I was beginning to worry that I wasn’t going to find my ‘undiscovered gem’ as it were for this block.

Then I saw Gosick; a show which has assuaged my fears and reinstalled my faith in anime once again.

It’s not perfect. It has problems, some of them rather major. But when you actually get down to what matters, Gosick is actually a pretty fantastic show.

It helps that the production is done by my absolute favourite of all anime studios; Studio Bones, baby! These guys can take on any genre and any art style and make it work, I swear. It’s funny, because by Bones standards Gosick isn’t actually that impressive on a technical level; the character designs, while striking, are simple, the direction is merely fine, and the animation is really quite restrained. Yet even a Bones show on a budget looks better than about 80% of other anime out there, and at its best Gosick is a really pretty show, really making the most of its gothic setting. The standout moments are few and far between, but when they come around they really make the most of it. Overall Gosick is just a really purty show; perhaps not with quite the sparkle and flair of a KyoAni or a P.A. Works show, but honestly, I prefer a style that’s a little more grounded anyway.

As for the music, you’re honestly not going to notice it. Aside from a couple of notable insert pieces and two really good ending themes (the opening looks pretty but the song is pretty meh), most of the music just basically does its job; accentuating the mood and blending into the background. I can’t fault it for that, though I can’t see myself revisiting the soundtrack like I do for, say, Eureka Seven.

So here’s a thing which took me far too long to figure out; the title Gosick isn’t a referencing to a plot point or a character in the series, but is in fact just a corruption of the word Gothic. I’m not making a point here, other than the fact that I feel silly for not working it out.

Although technically it is an important point, because when it comes to whether this show works from a story perspective, the important factor is literally staring at you right in the title. From the early episodes Gosick has a tendency to paint itself as a season long mystery show, which honestly is doing itself a disservice. If you’re watching Gosick for a good mystery, you’re probably going to feel rather let down. Even if you’re watching for a thriller or a crime drama or something, it’s really quite basic in that regard.

But if you’re looking for the best example of a purely gothic anime you can find, I can’t think of any better example than this.

(or Rozen Maiden, but...you know...one thing at a time)

It’s not just the visuals and the sound that lead to this. It’s the lore. It’s the setting. It’s the ghost stories and folklore playing along with politics, science and the occult. It’s a tension that never really goes away, and a constant feeling of dread for both our main characters at any given time. It’s pure black comedy mixed with goofy slapstick, and it’s genuine terror mixed with cheesy horror.

Good, proper gothic is a hard thing to get right. In the west, Laika and Tim Burton are probably the only ones who really know what they’re doing in that regard, and even then the latter has the tendency to overdo things here and there. Gosick however strikes the balance just right; it is one of the most consistently entertaining series I’ve ever watched. Even in shows I loved, I can generally point to moments that are better than others. Gosick is basically an extended anthology; two or three episodes a time dedicated to the current mystery, with hints thrown in now and again towards the overall plot. But the thing is, it works, because all the individual mysteries are seriously engaging, as is the main plot. Sure, not everything hits, and not every single plot twist is truly warranted (I am reminded of a certain late revelation which is highly uncomfortable and really could and should have been done another way) but honestly everything that needs to slot into place, really does.

It helps that the show has a strong cast. Again though, not strong in the traditional sense; most of them don’t really go through a proper arc or have much development at all. Even the main hero Kujo pretty much stays the same throughout the whole series, and if there is a weak spot to the show I’d have to point to him. He’s kind, charming and performs the every-man role fairly well...

...buuuuut he’s also a blithering idiot. Like, really. You wonder how he even managed to find his way off the boat.

Okay, okay, he’s not that bad. And frankly, I’ll take his idiocy and his many, many poor decisions with slightly more leeway given the fact that he is such a charming person. It’s not like Shirou from Fate, who is such a blithering moron yet is also so convinced he’s right that you just want to punch him. Kujo’s idiocy is harmless. Most of the time. I did want to slap him once. Maybe twice.

The rest of the supporting cast fill their roles well. The hyperactive teacher, the friendly cook, the flamboyant detective, the secondary love-interest who doesn’t have a chance at all; they’re all interesting and distinguishable in their own way, frankly fitting a gothic story to a tee. They don’t have to have fully fleshed out characters just so long as they’re instantly recognisable, which they are.

Also, props to the show for having a character with ridiculous anime hair, where, not only is this actually acknowledged in the show, but is also a vital plot point. That did make me chuckle.

But of course we’re just skirting around the edges here; the real reason to watch this show and the reason it is so dang entertaining is Victorique herself.

Victorique is basically the Sherlock for the show, but she has an awful lot of layers to her. She’s grumpy and stroppy, but also adorable with a childlike innocence. She can be badass when she puts together a mystery from the smallest cues, yet also badass when she fights for her own happiness. Her relationship with Kujo is what makes the entire series for me; they both fill each others weaknesses, and bring out the best in one another. It’s a deep, mutual respect and friendship that lies beneath the surface teasing and baiting, which honestly is the thing I think was missing from Spice and Wolf.

Honestly, I think Kujo and Victorique have one of the best relationships I’ve seen in any anime. And the show knows this, and is constantly threatening to wreck everything; I won’t spoil anything, but when the feels hit, they hit hard.

Gosick is a show that really shouldn’t be as good as it is, and in fact may not be. It has issues with storytelling, with characterisation, with a bit of major plot contrivance near the end and with the fact that one member of the main duo is, as I’ve mentioned, a complete blithering idiot. But honestly, it doesn’t matter; Gosick does so many things so, so right during its run that I can’t help but instantly love it. If you’re one for sweet, delicious Victorian gothicness or just want to see an adorable and really well realised relationship (which may or may not be romantic) between two very different people, I can’t recommend Gosick highly enough. And even if you’re not sure, give it a try. I did, and while I certainly wasn’t expecting anything truly fantastic, I most certainly got it.

My score: 8/10

Well, one more show from this block to go. Will it round it off nicely, or will it bring the whole thing crashing down. We may never know.

Well, we will. That’s why I do this stuff.

Next classic review will be RahXephon.