Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai review – ep 6-10

For my review of episodes 1-5, click here.

With these episodes containing the ‘Massacre’ arc, Higurashi steps out of its ’slice-n-dice horror’ genre and into the ‘dark drama’ genre. As weird and slightly scary as it sounds, it works quite well for these episodes. The drama, shifts in atmosphere and new information presented will be a treat for fans, and should be enough to entice non-viewers into watching it faithfully. Of course, then episode 10 ends on a cliff-hanger because Higurashi seems to have abandoned its 4-episode arc format. (I think the current arc lasts 6 eps, but I can’t say for sure.)

RotW: Who’s gonna license what anime

With the anime industry in a bit of turmoil right now, it seems to me like US companies might hold off on licensing new series in order to possibly grab Geneon’s titles. But even the months leading up to September 27’s Geneon downsizing have been slightly lacking in major licenses. The only one that comes to mind right now is Bandai’s July licensing of Code Geass.

With that said, there’s a LOT of series out there that are currently without licenses. Here’s a list of the 10 most notable, and who I think will pick them up for North American distribution.

Broken MP3 player and K.C. updates

+ My MP3 player broke. I named it Ginji (after the blond dude from Getbackers, FYI.) I just got it 4 months ago, so I don’t know what the frickin’ problem is. Grrrr.

Onto more interesting topics…

+ ANN listened to my news tip. I am quite thrilled.

+ Jenni sent me pics of her almost-finished FMA scarf:

FMA scarf 1

FMA scarf intarsia

The second pic is of the intarsia (embroidery) of Ed’s symbol. (Duh)

+ I’m now working on chibi bookmarks for Ohayocon. ^____^ I did an Urahara chibi head:

… uh, yay. :D

Dentsu: Geneon merely ‘downsizing’

Dentsu, the Japanese parent company of Geneon Entertainment USA, has a financial report on its homepage that states that

” Dentsu’s subsidiary, Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc., which undertakes
animation related business in North America, has decided to downsize its scope of
business and increase business efficiency. “

Note the word ‘downsize.’

ANN: Geneon shutdown affects Bandai Visual

Well this kinda sucks…

Anime News Network is once again reporting on the Geneon case: Bandai Visual USA says that since GENEON handled their distribution, they’re going to temporarily move all of their sales to their dot-anime.us website. Which, of course, means that it will be very difficult to find their titles at Best Buy or Amazon, or anywhere else for that matter.

Haha- I already finished the kiriban pic

 

(warning: piccy is HUGE, click at your own risk!)

ONIGIRI FTW!!!

I know I said I had NO idea what to draw, but I was making sure my Photobucket albums were in order when I saw a screencap of Akira (Lucky Star) on the set of Lucky Channel. So then my psychotic little mind replaced Akira with Hiki-chan and the star with an onigiri… and voila. Much better than Yu-Gi-Onigiri, fo’ sho’. ^_^;;;

For those of you who haven’t seen Lucky Star, go watch it just for the end of each episode. Akira rocks almost as much as Konata.

…uh, that’s it. THANKS FOR 3,333 HITS!!! <3<3<3 Next kiriban is 5,000!

3,333 hits (and other updates)

Eek, 3,333 hits came waaaay faster than expected. I don’t have a kiriban pic done. >_< That’s okay, though. I’ll think of something to draw!

… *thinks* Okay, how about Yu-Gi-Onigiri? XD *shot* lol, sorry. Maybe I’ll switch to California rolls for the food theme for this one.

Anyway, I updated the screencap collections on Photobucket. and now there’s a page for them (hint: it’s under the word ‘pages’ to the right, and it’s called ’screencaps.’ —>) I added about 100 Code Geass caps, because I started using Fraps to nab them (it’s 10 times faster than using MS Paint, seriously)

Also, updates and stuff may revolve around Geneon the next few days. I want to get the facts as straight as possible, cause there’s a bit of a panic on the ANN forums right now….

And the premiere of Dragonaut is like a week away, so sdgihlenfdnfiwe I’M EXCITED. :D

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS- ep. 1-4

Ah, yet another magical girl anime. Most would be quick to dismiss this as a quick cash-in on the magical girl cliche, but don’t do that just yet. While it’s fairly stiff at first, it hints at possible depth and drama later on; and since I’ve already seen episode 5, I’d say that depth may come very quickly.

ANN: Geneon’s ending DVD sales. And this means…?

Anime News Network has more sad details regarding ADV and Geneon’s botched sales and distribution deal. In a letter from the CEO, it is stated that sales of DVDs will cease at 5 pm PDT on September 28 …which is two days from now. Unfilled orders will be shipped by that time.

So what does this mean for the anime community? I’m assuming that unless Geneon quickly passes off distribution rights to someone, most online retailers will begin listing their remaining Geneon stock as ‘discontinued items’ or something. Amazon may have some sort of discount on their stock since they’re no longer being marketed.

The whole anime industry will, regardless of Geneon possibly passing on licenses, be shaken by this. Geneon is responsible for bringing Kannazuki no Miko, Nanoha (and Nanoha A’s), Shakugan no Shana, R.O.D., Sailor Moon S and SuperS, Higurashi and countless others to North America, and fans waiting for future releases may get desperate.

RotW: 10 Commonly Mispronounced Anime Terms

While the Japanese language may be hard to navigate, there are some common anime and manga related terms and names that you should be able to pronounce. Some fans, though, still butcher these terms on a regular basis. To assist these people, I’ve compiled a list of commonly slaughtered names, series and terms. Read, n00bs.

EDIT 2: Some people started hating on me for picking so many character names to include in this. Get over it; it’s my list and I’ll put whatever annoys me the most on it. Make your own list if you want, and link to it in a comment so I can read it. Mmkay? ^______^

1. manga (Japanese comics)

*raises hand* Guilty. Anyway, this term is frequently American-ized as ‘main-gah’ so it’s an easy term for new fans to get wrong. It’s okay to say ‘main-gah’ in normal conversation (ie with non-otakus) but you’d better get it right at an anime convention. Correct pronunciation: mahn-gah

2. Naoko Takeuchi (Sailor Moon creator)

I’ve heard it slaughtered by panel staff at anime conventions, and it’s a common mistake by average fans as well. Mispronunciations I’ve heard include ‘Nay-ohko Tay-koo-chee’ and ‘Nah-oo-koh Tay-kay-chee.’ If you’re familiar with the pronunciation of Japanese syllables, this one should actually be no problem. Correct pronunciation: Nah-oh-koh Tah-keh-oo-chi

3. Eureka Seven (manga and anime series)

Noooooooo, people, it is not pronounced ‘Yuh-ree-kah Seven.’ If you examine the original katakana, it says it’s pronounced ‘Eh-oo-reh-kah Seven.’ It even clearly states this in the manga (and in the anime, the main character’s name is pronounced this way as well.) Correct pronunciation: Eh-oo-reh-kah Seh-vehn

4. Code Geass (anime series)

Since this mecha series hasn’t been released in North America yet, I can sort of understand some occasional butchering of the title. But I heard it mispronounced multiple ways at Matsuricon alone! Things I heard include ‘Code Gay-ahss,’ ‘Code Gee-ayz’ and my personal favorite, ‘CODE GEESE!!’ Look, people, there are NO geese in Code Geass, unless you consider that Shirley has the brain of a goose. The Wikipedia article for the series has the correct breakdown of the katakana. Correct pronunciation: Cohd Gee-ahss

5. Evangelion (anime series)

>_> Look, people, if you’re going to publicly diss the grandfather of modern mecha series, at least get the frickin’ title right. ‘Ee-van-jellon’ doesn’t count. Correct pronunciation: Eh-vahn-gel-ee-on (hard g in the middle)

6. Lelouche (Code Geass character)

Now that we have covered the pronunciation of the series’ title, let’s look at the main character. People who haven’t seen the series or turn the audio off when watching subtitles have been heard pronouncing it as ‘Lee-lou-chee’ or ‘Lay-lou-chay.’ Once again, the original katakana can set things straight. Note that since his name seems to be French, the exact original pronunciation may be slightly different. Correct katakana pronunciation: Loo-loo-shoo. My best guess at the true name: Luh-loosh

6. C.C. (Code Geass character)

Wow, Code Geass sure is tricky. ^_^ Though it’s spelled like it’s a pair of initials, the female protagonist’s name is not pronounced ’see-see.’ People who TURN THE AUDIO ON when reading their subtitles, please say it with me: ‘See-too,’ or in the katakana slaughterization, ‘Shee-tsoo.’ (So why isn’t her name just spelled C2???)

7. Neko (Japanese for ‘cat’)

HYPER FORUMTARDS, I’M LOOKING AT YOU! It. Is. Not. ‘Nee-koh.’ Stop calling yourself a ‘Kay-wah-ee Nee-koh’ if you know what’s good for you. Correct pronunciation: Neh-koh

8. Hentai (anime porn)

Attention all porn addicts: no, it is not pronounced ‘Heen-tay.’ Do youself a favor and skip the next episode of Unconcious Virgin Catgirl to learn some proper pronunciation of Japanese syllables. Correct pronunciation: Hehn-ta-ee (Hehn-tie)

9. Cowboy Bebop (anime series)

As classic as this series is, it still seems to get occasionally mispronounced by non-fans. Maybe if ‘bebop’ was actually used in modern English, they wouldn’t call it ‘Bay-bop.’ Correct pronunciation: Bee-bawp

10. Pocky (snack food)

To be honest, this one hardly belongs on the list because almost everyone in America pronounces it ‘Paw-kee.’ But if you look at the katakana, of course, you get a different story. No one at an anime convention will flame you for it, though. Correct pronunciation: Poh-kee. (But does anyone really care?)

EDIT: To answer Jenni’s question, ‘ramen’ IS pronounced rah-men. Not ray-men as her classmates say. :P I didn’t know it was even possible to mispronounce that…