Obligatory Valentine’s Day Related Post: Our Favorite Couples of 2011

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Ah Valentines Day. A time for anime bloggers to write about romance and dating. As I understand there are also other rituals involved with this holiday but I am not privy to such mystical secrets. So we present to you our favorite couples from 2011.  As with every year with anime there are a fair number of very standard romances, some bizarre ones, some Tomino styled ones, some that never go anywhere, and even some dreadful ones. We both selected a pair that we though were both well written and entertaining. Feel free to comment below on who you would pick from 2011 as well.

Looking at our picks, I realize both of them have pretty sad ends. They aren’t bad endings, but they are melancholy for sure.

Ringo and Shoma (Mawaru Penguindrum)

I won’t say they are the best couple. That is just crazy talk. Everyone in Penguindrum is a crazy messed up person with more baggage than an airport. But Ringo and Shoma are a very fascinating couple and that alone secures their place in my favorite couple spot of 2011. They started off as strangers both obsessed with different goals that happened to be more interconnected then they first assumed. Ringo is an obsessed stalker devoted to seducing the man her sister loved at any cost. Shoma is equally obsessed with trying to find the Penguindrum to save his sister but is amazingly passive in his attempts to accomplish his mission. As the series goes on they both learn from the other as they grow as a couple. Ringo sees the folly in her single-minded devotion and Shoma learns that he must make a stand to get what he wants. Their wildly divergent personalities oddly complement each other. There are several major complications that keep them part when their pasts are revealed but it does not stop them from coming together in the end. Although their time together as an actual couple may be short, it is unforgettable. Their story engaged me and added to the story despite their major dysfunctions.

Jintan & Menma (AnoHana)

From the very beginning we know that the story in AnoHana is going to be a bittersweet one full of the ups and downs of childhood and all the regrets that go along with it. Menma died when everyone was very young and it blew apart the circle of friends, but Menma’s spirit brings them all back together to confront each other and the future. Jintan and Menma’s love is a simple one, afterall it comes from a simpler time, yet because of the tragedy it has distorted everyone’s relationships thereafter. There is a moment between Jintan and Menma that moved me so completely that it is probably why I picked them above all others. They are sitting at the table, like they have so many times before, but now the weight of the past has started to come down and the barrier cracks as Jintan talks about granting Menma’s wish and her disappearing. It was amazingly heartfelt and open. I could literally see Jintan realizing he loved her. Jintan is stuck, but he doesn’t understand why, he has simply put away the past instead of acknowledging it. With Menma’s appearance the wheels start to turn ever so slightly, I find his emotional journey just as compelling as this impossible romance.

All Points Bulletin: Neoclassical Romanticism

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If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on an APB drop us a line via email or Twitter.

Hisui’s picks:

Narutaki’s picks:

  • Love Scars
    Special for upcoming Valentines Day, Comics Alliance has a new series “Love Hurts” which features some of the most hilarious (and creepy) romance comics of the past. All brought to you by the very funny Chris Sims. It is a shame this column will not continue after the holiday!
  • GO ETU!!!
    At least Adidas understands my love for Giant Killing! They are releasing a slue of apparel from uniforms to scarves (do want!). It is all limited edition so I’m not sure I’ll ever get my hands on it though.
  • Monsuno Killed the Dinosaurs
    According to the press release for this new Nickelodeon animated series. Evil alien DNA, end of the world, monsters, sounds like a series worth giving a shot later this month.
  • NOT Disney’s Snow Queen Film
    This is a trailer for a new Russian re-telling of their classic story, coming out at the end of 2012. It is the first major CG production for them and looks pretty impressive. Since the trailer is in English, hopefully that means it will see a wider release and not just be available to film festivals throughout next year.
  • Let’s Pretend There is an Incredibles 2
    With this concept art it isn’t too hard to let your imagination run wild. We all want a sequel to Pixar’s most sequelable (?) movie, but still any plans for it elude our watchful eyes.
  • Is Marvel’s Public Image Spiraling Out of Control?
    There has been a lot of bad press for the company lately and with mounting lawsuits, complaints, and outcry things don’t seem to be getting better. The big two have always had shady dealings marring their past but it isn’t in the past at all. Just this week Marvel demanded $17,000 from the creator of Ghost Rider for profiting from his creation. Then in an interview Marvel’s publisher tried to tell us that they do not do crossovers, nope never, which is just plain strange and not true. It doesn’t seem like a big deal perhaps, but lying to your fanbase makes them question why you did so. The more we learn about the company, the less people are willing to ignore these things and at some point they may be pushed too far.

A most amusing cross over:

Fate/Get Licensed

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This is an open letter to any companies that are either currently localizing visual novels or are interested in getting into that market.

Imagine this. Some company like Manga Gamer or JAST USA that already adapts Japanese visual novels into English wants to bring out Fate/Stay Night. It is a highly demanded title with a ravenous and dedicated fan base. The problem is the licensing price on a high-profile game like Fate/Stay Night is equally high to the point where it would need to sell more copies than any other visual novel ever has in the English-speaking market to break a profit. Despite the number of people who say they would pay there is a readily available fan translation of the game from Mirror Moon so the question always is how many of them will actually buy anything. I know there are manga that English publishers won’t pick up because they feel the scanlations make them worthless to license. How many people will buy a game they already played for free?  I am sure many companies have run the numbers and discovered that the risk to reward ratio is far too great to take a chance on the title. As it is it might not even be viable at all. I myself can’t blame them. They just want to keep the lights on.

But now that Kickstarter has created a viable method of getting funding and support to what would otherwise be high risk niche projects. I wonder if a title like Fate/Stay Night could be viable. I am not going to even pretend like I am an insider. I don’t know what the licensing fee on visual novels are nor how much the assorted overhead costs are with releasing a title like Fate/Stay Night. Even with a Kickstarter it might still be ridiculously prohibitive to even attempt such an undertaking. But I feel a well orchestrated and promoted Kickstarter just might be able to make this a feasible idea. It removes a good deal of the risk involved in licensing such a big named title and lets the companies involved get a real sense of how many people would buy such a title before any money exchanges hands. It is a great time to run a kickstarter for such a project and a title like Fate/Stay Night will definitely get people talking. No one is assuming you are every going to raise Double Fine money but you could easily make Barbara money. And that just might be the boost the game needs to actual make it to its English-speaking fans.

I can’t help but be fascinated with this idea. If any one has any idea of how to make this happen let me know. If any company wants to take this idea I am leaving it on the table. If any company was toying with the idea before I wrote this post then I am showing that it has some support. Otherwise if you support this idea just leave a comment below and pass this post around to show this idea has support among the fans.