Category: Secret Santa

Secret Santa Project Review: New Getter Robo – Getter Robo is Nobody’s Friend

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hisui_icon_4040It is another solo year for me with as the only participant from the blog in the Secret Santa pool. I have to say when people are just picking for me the choices are far better. When it is both of us we get Gunslinger Girl, Texhnolyze, and Dead Leaves. (The scars from Texhnolyze will never heal. I’m fairly certain we both still wake up in the middle of the night crying because of that show.) When it is just me I get to leisurely pick from several shows that actually seem fun. I will admit while I love reviewing shows with Kate I think I was a little relieved that she bowed out again. Otherwise we might have ended up watching something like Yosuga no Sora or Kaiba. Also it lets me speculate who my Secret Santa is as much as anyone else who participates in the project.

I actually got four choices this year. The first three were Barakamon, Nagi no Asukara, and New Getter Robo. They also gave me the super challenge of the Touch but did mention that it broke the rules of the Secret Santa Project but figured they would throw it out there anyway. I actually picked my show fairly quickly this year.

I had actually watched Barakamon. The problem is I liked the show so much I marathoned it in two days and then forgot to note that on My Anime List. It was utterly my fault for leaving it off the list. But it was clearly a good choice considering my reaction to the show.

I watched the first episode of Nagi no Asukara but had mixed feeling on it as P.A. Works has a very distinct formula it uses on some (but not all) of its anime that can be very hit or miss. It was something I considered but figured it could be my backup show if I needed one.

I passed on Touch for two reasons. The first is that I actually read all of the Touch manga. There was no reason for the person picking shows to look into that but it does mean I actually know the story already. The second is that while I might not be the busiest human being on Earth even I would have a hard time watching 101 episodes in the time allotted. (Also Fate/Hollow Ataraxia does not play itself.) I was slightly curious how the anime differs from the manga but not enough to plunge into a crazy marathon.

I picked New Getter Robo for several reasons. The first is the reason I picked Aquarion Evol last year. We have not had that many mecha reviews on the site so I wanted to correct that to some degree with this pick. The second was the show had a fairly strong reputation so it seemed like something worth talking about just to see how my opinion stacks up with the prevailing attitudes. And the third was just to beef up my knowledge of Go Nagai. For a legendary manga creator I have not experienced a good deal of his signature creations so this seemed like a great chance to expand my anime database.

I’m going to try my best to watch all four shows before the end of the project. I’m a little too lazy to write that up so I will probably do that as a mini podcast. I will definitely review all the shows I watched by the 25th on a podcast. The question is how many of the four will I get to. If I add Touch to the list I will probably just watch the three compliation movies. It is not the full 101 episode experience but it is something I can do in the time I have.

But enough discussion of decision-making processes and internal politics. Lets talk about robots!

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The 6th Annual Anime Secret Santa Project Begins!

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Merry-Christmas-2012

It might seem early to be thinking about the holidays, but in order to get this ever-growing project off the ground we have to get started! Every year we have people say they never heard about the game so we are extending the window a bit on how long you can sign up. Once again, it is time to call for participants for the 6th Annual Anime Secret Santa Project!

The idea of this project is for everyone who participates to be reviewing a show that they might not normally watch or might have overlooked. Everyone will get someone else in the project to review a series of their choice and in return review something picked by one of their fellow bloggers. The goal is threefold for everyone involved:

  • Mixing up what you watch and review on your blog.
  • Getting other people to watch things you feel deserve more attention.
  • A way to interact with other bloggers thus creating possibilities for cross blog readership, also it fosters an environment to try other cross blog experiments.

Here is how this little experiment will work: If you want to participate send us your Name, Blog Address, and My Anime List Link (or some other equivalent listing) via e-mail (secretsanta.rt [at] gmail [dot] com) with subject: Secret Santa Participant. Due by Sunday, October 5th. Make sure that your MAL (or whatever!) is updated as much as possible before you submit it. Also, if you will not watch fan-subs mention that in the e-mail, too.

We will then make a circular list of everyone involved in the project that only we will know the order of. The order of the list will be made completely at random. Everyone will then receive the name, blog, and list of the person they are the Secret Santa for. You will then suggest three shows for the person all of which must be 26 episodes or less (yes, you can suggest movies, too). The shows must be subtitled in some fashion. Remember that you are picking shows that you hope the other person will like and give an honest chance. Look over their list and whether they watch fan-subs then try to pick out something good but unexpected.

Once we get everyone’s picks we will then pass on the shows to the recipients. No one except us will know the names of the person who gave you your choices. You then pick the show you are going to watch. Everyone is responsible for getting their own material for the review. You will receive your show choices by the end of October.

You then have until late December to watch the show you were assigned and write a review. On the week of Christmas everyone will post their reviews for the Secret Santa Project. We would prefer you to post your review on Christmas Eve but you can alter it as to the schedule of your blog. On Christmas Day, we will reveal the name of who had who as a Secret Santa along with a small post about the project.

Again: If you want to participate send us your Name, Blog, and My Anime List (or some other equivalent listing) page via e-mail (secretsanta.rt [at] gmail [dot] com) with subject: Secret Santa Participant. Due by Sunday, October 5th.

Just in case someone does not know what traditional Secret Santa is.

Why we don’t do manga secret santa.

Secret Santa Project Review: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Hamon and Cheese Sandwich

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30x30 icon for Lothos After hearing much about it, I finally got around to watching JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, specifically the 2013 series which covers the first two story arcs of the manga. It was quite a bizarre adventure. It reminded me a bit of Grappler Baki both due to the art style and in the style of action. The art features anatomically impossible muscle men often in beautiful poses, making kissy lips, and high fashion clothing. The crazy poses featured was mainly the only thing I knew about JoJo before going in, that and that there were some crazy mystical martial arts (again like Baki).

What I was not aware of is that the story of JoJo actually spans multiple generations, each arc featuring a different JoJo and taking place in different eras. The first arc features Johnathan Joestar and takes place in the late 1800s in England. The antagonist is JoJo’s adopted brother, Dio Brando. The second arc features Johnathan’s grandson, Joseph Joestar and the big bads are the “Pillar Men,” ancient super powered beings who created the stone masks featured in the first arc.

The action is often over the top and melodramatic, but always engaging. Much like in Grappler Baki, a fair amount of time is spent on explaining exactly what/how the characters do these crazy things. The writers are always thinking up some really creative and crazy things for the characters to do during their battles. This is what really keeps JoJo so interesting and entertaining to watch, because it’s just one ridiculously awesome thing after another. Air Master is really the only other show I can think of that matches JoJo in the level of hilariously awesome fighting techniques.

There are the typical training episodes, after being defeated by one of the big bads, then the showdown at the end. There are a myriad of characters as well, and often times a previous enemy will come back as an ally to JoJo but they’re typically no match for the big bads and at best can only help with dispatching henchmen.

Like many shonen protagonists, the various JoJos tend to be naturally gifted in the use of Hamon (basically the series’ form of chi) but lack proper training and rely mostly on raw power/force of will over technique. That carries them for awhile, but then they are forced to train with a Hamon master to refine their abilities. In the case of Johnathan Joestar his master was Will A. Zeppeli, for Joseph it was Zeppeli’s grandson Caesar and the mysterious Hamon master Lisa Lisa.

Respect for one’s enemy also seems to play a big role in the JoJo series, as the heroes and villains alike seemingly show moments of respect for one another. Of course, that’s usually after one of them has died, but still it’s a seemingly central theme.

The opening and closing themes are both fantastic. I especially love the use of Yes’ “Roundabout” as the ending theme, it’s just such a groovy kick ass tune and the classical acoustic guitar lead in works perfectly for the usually high tension cliff hangers in each episode. Follow that up with the funky bass line and punchy drums and it gets you so pumped to watch the next episode!

I tend to enjoy series with all the above qualities mentioned, and JoJo’s Bizarre adventure I’m glad to say was no exception, I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end and am now looking forward seeing the third arc.

– Lothos