Last time on Shin Christmas Carol Z, we saw <Main Character> leaving the meeting of his local anime club. While everyone had exchanged gifts, <Main Character> rejected the holiday spirit. There was no way that he would exchange presents with those young upstart anime fans who knew not of the glory of older anime. They were blissfully unaware of the dying of the anime industry and were corrupted by the vast and unyielding fujoshi and moe conspiracy. He had shown up once again to show the glory of superior 80s OAVs to the foolish members of the club but was rejected once again. And so left with no more than a “bah humbug.” <Main Character> returned to his apartment lamenting how corrupt fandom had become. But before he could rewatch Root Search a stranger suddenly appeared in the room. Who could it be? We shall find out in this episode of Shin Christmas Carol Z!
<Main Character> leaps to his feet in surprise but just before he can scream out, the armor-clad stranger steps out of the darkness. <Main Character> drops to his knees in equal parts shock and reverie as he stares into the face of none other than that Most Dangerous Soldier, Geist.
The legendary spokesmecha roared like a chained beast, “<Main Character> do you not see these copies of Wild Cardz chained to my armor? Look upon my curse and bear witness to the visage of true suffering. Know that these are chains I forged whilst I was still alive by the many sins I committed by closing off my heart and turning my back on humanity. And for coming back and making MD Geist 2 and 3.”
“MD Geist 3? Why have I never seen MD Geist 3, my lord?” <Main Character> questioned with hope in his heart.
“For MD Geist 3 was so horrible the cells imploded in on themselves before they could be animated. But enough of anime trivia! You are destined for the same fate as I unless you amend your ways. Tonight you will be visited by three spirits each of which will show you the true meaning of anime fandom. Heed their words of advice and change your ways lest it be too late. This may well be your last chance before you too suffer my fate.”
And with that the demonic shadows of Death Force machines dragged Geist back to the horrific underworld from which he came. Of course Geist was too manly to make any sound while it happened.
As <Main Character> stared at the murky darkness where the Most Dangerous Solider had been, he felt the utter stillness of the room permeate his very being.
“Bah humbug!” he shouted to the silence. “Surely what I saw was no more than a troubled vision brought on by a mixture of too much Pocky and Ramune before bed. I am sure that a good night’s rest will clear my head before the morning.” And so <Main Character> slipped into his Crystal Triangle pajamas and tried to drift off to sleep.
But as the clock struck midnight <Main Character> was startled to be staring up directly at the night sky for the roof of his apartment had been ripped off. Looking down upon him was a ghostly apparition piloting an equally ectoplasmic Tranzor Z. “I’m Tommy Davis, the spirit of a boy just like you! I’m going to rocket punch the true burning spirit of anime fandom into your heart!” And before <Main Character> could get in a word of protest, Tranzor Z picked up his bed and rocketed into the night sky.
When Tranzor Z finally stopped, he was hovering in front of an all too familiar scene. It was <Main Character>’s childhood home. Through the window he saw a younger version of himself watching Robotech on the TV as Rick Hunter mourned the death of Roy Fokker.
“Spirit, I have two questions for you. Why did you bring me here to this time? Also why does no one notice the deafening roar of several hundred tons of metal hovering in the air?”
“You are here to see what you were like before your heart froze towards your fellow anime fans!” Tommy screamed as if he could not speak in anything else but a dull roar. “Look at you running to the other room to draw some manly fan-art of Roy Fokker’s death! There was a time where all animation brought a smile to your face! The next day you would run to school as if being chased by Count Decapito himself to tell all your friends about this episode! What happened to that youthful enthusiasm? What happened to that camaraderie with your fellow fans? Think about that as I take you back! GRAB A HOLD OF YOUR LOVE OF FANDOM WITH YOUR OWN TWO HANDS!”
As soon as Tommy shouted those words, the heavens themselves shook and <Main Character> found himself back in his bed albeit with one less roof over his head. In a mixture of shock and horror he stared up at the night sky and promptly decided that this was nothing more than a horrible nightmare. He would bundle himself up, go back to sleep, and call his landlord in the morning.
As he turned to the clock, he saw not but the long, flowing hair of a lithe, tall man in a butler uniform standing over him. Without a sound this latest apparition lifted his swords high in the air and brought it down swiftly slicing <Main Character>’s SDF-1 Macross shaped bed in three pieces. <Main Character> leapt up only a moment before but found himself with large gashes in his PJs. The stranger smiled slyly…
Next time on Shin Christmas Carol Z, Who is this dangerous butler that has found his way into the room of <Main Character>?! What visions will he show him of modern anime fandom?! Will <Main Character> be able to keep his mouth shut and his limbs in tact?! Not to mention what will happen to all his memorabilia?! And who is this strange 10-year-old shinigami?! And why must she end all her sentences with the ominous phrase “nano desu”?! Find out next time on Shin Christmas Carol Z!?
I’m really surprised by the turn out and overall positive reception for the Secret Santa Project. Most everyone picked innovative shows for the people they got. I was impressed by the shows most people selected for the project. They were almost all shows I enjoyed. I hope that people enjoyed the shows they watched and maybe will try something new again after their eyes have been opened by this project. I was only expecting to see half the reviews to be completed by the 25th but I have received all but 5 by the time this was initially posted. That fills my heart with goodness and hope. Also I’d love for someone to figure out a way to do this type of project with manga. I think it would go over well. If they do you know you can count Narutaki and I in as participants. And finally, if nothing else the project got me interested in Vertical’s release of 
I was more than happy by the response we had for this fun little project. We could also do this project evil style in which everyone tries to pick a show the other person would completely hate just to fulfill any latent (or active) sadistic desires of people. But that is for another time. As for this project, I had a good time with it, even if we were less than thrilled with our show. It really seemed to get people chatting and I even had a few people lamenting that they didn’t find out about it in time. Don’t worry folks, this will certainly be brought back for 2010! Good thinkin’ Hisui!
The roulette wheel of fortune is a fickle beast. It can choose to see you go home a winner or it can clean you out without remorse. We had to choose between 
To fully embrace the project, I felt Texhnolyze was the only option. I had literally never even heard of the show before and thus I went in with no expectations, no prejudice, and no idea what was going on. This actually became a running theme of the series, the “not knowing what was going on” part that is. Most of Texhnolyze in fact remains an enigma to me even after watching the whole thing and writing this now. But then again, I have no real desire to discover its secrets after all this. In fact, the only thing I can say for sure that was good about this show was that a Gackt song was used for the ending theme!
Reverse Thieves 