Witch on a Type-Moon Lit Holy Night
September 2, 2010
Let us all run over to our favorite import games website and pre-order the new Type-Moon visual novel, Mahoutsukai no Yoru (Witch on the Holy Night). Based on a novel written by Kinoko Nasu in 1996 this is the back story of Aoko Aozaki aka Miss Blue the Magic Gunner. As Aoko is one of my favorite minor characters in the Nasuverse I cannot wait to see what is revealed about her past. She has always had a delightfully upbeat and whimsical personality while still being a capable and serious character. The fact that she is utterly my type is just a bonus. I know that mysterious characters can have their popularity ruined by a poorly done back story but since this was written before most everything else in the Nasuverse I am not too worried about the Boba Fett effect. Also it is will not have any sex scenes thrown in so you don’t have to worry about awkward kinky sea life metaphors in the middle of your reading experience.
As a special treat the ED has been announced to be Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni (This Star Sparkling Night) by Supercell. You can already buy the single that also contains the 14th Naruto Shippuden Ending. Also lvlln at Borderline Hikikomori was nice enough to post an English translation of the song as well. Unless this utterly bombs I cannot see why we would not get an anime adaptation somewhere down the line as well especially considering how well the Kara no Kyōkai movies have done. If you are any sort of Type-Moon fan this will be the release of the year. You should preorder it if for nothing else it comes with an art book which is always a wonderful thing.
July’s Final Denouement: The Great Detective Knows
July 3, 2010
WARNING: Massive spoiler for pretty much all of Umineko no Naku Koro ni up to and including the 6th visual novel.
In an unusual twist I will have an actual Final Denouement as the this month’s Final Denouement. I’m going to use this as a sounding board for my crazy theory on what I think is going on in Umineko and even point a finger at who I think the the main mastermind behind the deaths on the chessboard is. I’m mostly curious to see what other people who have played the games think of my theory. I’m sure there are holes in this theory that I’m not seeing and I welcome any criticism. Of course this means if you have not read up to episode 5: End of the Golden Witch you should wait until because I will spoil parts of the story like nobody’s business.
Ongoing Investigations: Case #088
June 4, 2010
I rewatched the beginning of the Raoh Gaiden TV series and then finished it off. It stays pretty much insane and hilarious all the way through as we learn the story of Raoh before the beginning of Fist of the North Star’s main plot. We follow him through his first upheaval and declaration as king as he builds an army, meets Kokuoh-go, imprisons Toki, and bests many foes. Though it doesn’t have as much fighting as you might imagine since Raoh pretty much wins every time within 5 seconds. The exception to this is the last fight between Raoh and Souther but clearly that can’t end with either one’s death! There are new characters for Raoh’s story including some love interests, yes for real, not that Raoh every engages in such romantic actions. This becomes doubly funny with the ending animation seemingly implying this series has a really romantic slant. Reina as one of the ladies is hard to swallow as never being talked about in earlier works considering she is both Raoh’s childhood friend and a general in his army. The series is about Raoh so of course it is entertaining and of course I enjoyed every minute, but I don’t think it will appeal to anyone who doesn’t already have this feeling in their heart!
I decided watch one of the cornerstones of shojo history by taking on the 115 episode beast that is Candy Candy. After 25 episodes it is obvious why this is such an influential and celebrated work. Candy Candy is the story of the spirited tomboy Candice White who starts life as an orphan with nothing but her good nature to her name. She tries to keep in contact with her best friend Anne and find the Prince of the Hill who won her heart. She is thrown into adversity after adversity including the various machinations of the family that adopts her. Whenever it seems like the plot is going to drop into a predicable formula they will shake things up by doing something like sending Candy to Mexico. I have to say the end of this arc is quite surprising. If this is any sign of things to come I will say Candy Candy is anything but predictable. I feel a little bad for Archibald and Stear because they are really cool gentlemen who are obviously in love with Candy but everyone including them know they are always just going to be in the friend zone. I am very curious to see what the next 25 episodes have to offer.
Ongoing Investigations: Case #086
May 14, 2010
Detective Conan: Countdown to Heaven (movie 5) is the first to involve the Black Organization. I always enjoy their appearances and they add a level of danger so it’s a nice addition to this very tense film. This is also the first film that actually requires you to see some previous amount of Conan to fully grasp it, it ties into the first film. And actually if you haven’t seen the first movie I think it takes away some of speculation on who is the culprit. This time around a new hi-rise and hotel is about to open, but before it does one of the contributors is murdered in the new hotel section. Subsequent people involved with the new building lose their lives as well and it all culminates at the opening party where chaos ensues as the power goes out which is only the beginning. How the Black Organization fits in Conan is determined to figure out. I really liked this movie, but I almost always find when the Black Organization is involved things are more complicated and the outcome is more unknown. The killer was hard to determine plus the little details to the case were well put together. As always the ending sequence is pretty much amazing, though even more tense because of the kids’ involvement. I would rank this one high for the movies!
Having gone back and done things in the proper order we were finally able to watch the fifth Detective Conan movie. While this seems to be a “normal” Detective Conan murder mystery going on, the shadowy Black Organization also seems to have a hand in the proceedings. In a way this is like two separate Conan stories in one movie. There is the very standard but solid murder mystery like you expect and then a high tension Black Organization episode as well. Conan and the viewers know that the plots are somehow connected but how they are connected is just as much a mystery as everything else. But everything comes together in the end quite nicely with both stories being good and crisscrossing without tripping over each other. As with most Conan movies the action sequences at the end are nicely done and benefit from the theatrical budget. Since the movies have been mostly filler it’s easy to make them disposable but I feel this movie gave you the impression of having some weight to it while not disturbing the main storyline. You could watch Countdown to Heaven without seeing The Timebombed Skyscraper but you have to watch this one after the first movie because it gives away the solution to the first film.
