A whole lotta ramblings.

[nenena]

The zero: No, the constantly re-translated, re-edited, and republished mass of Oh My Goddess! manga available in English didn't just get a thousand times more confusing at all. No, really. Do we *need* another version of the manga in English?

The first: SECOND SEASON OF SHAKUGAN NO SHANA HELL YES!!!!!

The second: Code Geass. I've already blogged about how beautiful the WTFery of episode 23 was. And from the moment that 23 aired, I knew that the story could only end in death for [spoiler]. In which, I have to finally admit: Sunrise, you actually surprised me. So far every single plot twist in Code Geass has been as predictable as hell. But not this one. I knew from the beginning that half the main cast was going to die, but I gotta admit, I would never have predicted that [spoiler] would be the first. And what a death scene it was. Absolutely fantastic, from [spoiler]'s Geass-addled ramblings as she fights the Guren Nishiki and fails to load a machine gun and then in a moment of apocalyptic surreality tries to hold a normal conversation with Lelouche, to her last words with Suzaku juxtaposed with images of Zero's bloody rally at the arena. Wow. Where was that direction in the previous 23 episodes? It was like, for fifteen minutes, Code Geass was actually *good*. Er, rather, the death scene was good. The set-up and rationale for why [spoiler] had to die is still full of beautiful WTFery.
The "hatsukoi" bit came flying out of left field, though. Wow, Lelouche. ISSUES MUCH? The guy is in love with two of his sisters, and then he goes and blows up freakin' Tokyo just to give a metaphorical finger to his third sister. I've said it before and I'll say it again: This series is glorious in its awfulness. No sarcasm here, I genuinely cannot wait for the final two episodes. Unfortunately, Sunrise is going to make us wait a couple months.

The third: Original Code Geass character designs published in Animage. I don't have scans here, but I'm sure they're already out there somewhere. In the original design, Suzaku had spiky black hair and angular eyes, whereas Lelouche was a blonde with green eyes, who basically looked exactly like a younger version of Clovis. In short, Suzaku actually looked Japanese, and Lelouche actually looked Caucasian. But comparing that to the final character designs...? Lelouche, with his spiky black hair and angular eyes, looks to be coded as far more "Asian" than Suzaku, with his curly brown hair and round, green eyes. I'm... not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, I can see why the character designs were changed. Lelouche was given angular eyes because that signifies his cunning intellect (and somewhat absent moral compass); Suzaku was given the round eyes and curly hair because that's how we code "pure-hearted uke" in anime. ;) But it's interesting to see the progression. In the original design, it looks like CLAMP was actually trying to visually represent the Japanese/British racial difference between Suzaku and Lelouche. Whereas in the final product, racial considerations were thrown out the window, in favor of using character design elements that communicated the personality of each boy. But the ironic end result of that is a Lelouche who looks Japanese and a Suzaku who looks Caucasian, at least to a Western viewer like me. Although I write this understanding that, blah blah blah race doesn't work like that in anime and blah blah blah just because a "Japanese" character has big blue eyes and blonde hair doesn't mean that he's meant to look "Caucasian" it's just an effect of a limited visual palette blah blah blah. But I still think it's funny because, as the Animage character designs show, CLAMP's original designs for Suzaku and Lelouche *did* attempt to visually code race.

The fourth: Character designs for the upcoming Red Garden OAV, Dead Girls, were also published in Newtype. The future versions of Kate, Claire, Rachel, and Rose look great. Particularly Rose, her long hair looks gorgeous.

The fifth: Fate/Zero Volume 2. Lotsa lovely new illustrations, lotsa kick-ass story. Also, apparently I'm now twice-wrong, and Caster IS Gille de Rais. The reason that he's infatuated with Saber is that he thinks that she's Jeanne d'Arc. Well, there goes my dude!Morgan theory out the window. There are translations being posted to Baka-Tsuki for the interested.

The sixth: Anime that I am watching this season!

Romeo x Juliet. Will I burn in hell if I suggest that a kickass swashbuckling Juliet and a Pegasus-riding Romeo might actually be an improvement over the original? This is definitely this year's Gankutsuou for me. Having seen the first episode, my thoughts are thus: MADE OF AWESOME. Even if the technical quality of the animation is lacking.

El Cazador de la Bruja. A kickass female sharpshooter whose character design doesn't revolve around her breasts. Whod've thunk?

Toward the Terra, because it is Toward the Terra.

Kamichama Karin, because the manga surprised me by how good it was.

Seto no Hanayome. Mermaid. Mafia. Need I say more?

Seirei no Moribito. I saw a trailer for this waaaay back in the Dark Ages last year. I remember my first impression was that it looked like typical Production I.G.: Lovely character designs, top-quality animation, hints at a plot that could possibly be coherent and interesting but that might actually turn out to be a complete mess. Well, we'll see.

The Skullman. Oh wait this doesn't premiere until 4/28. Oh well.

Sakura Taisen V OAV. I am a shameless fan of Sakura Taisen, and the New York cast is absolutely my favorite cast of all time. Because I have a thing for strong and interesting women characters, you see. You've got a katana-wielding cowgirl, a Mexican bounty hunter who could kick your ass despite only being eleven years old, a black female lawyer (who dresses sensibly OMG is that a pantsuit?!), and a brilliant woman doctor. And Ratchet. And a transexual male character that, in the original game, you had the option of hooking the male protagonist up with. Rommmmantically. That's pretty damn progressive for a male-oriented bishoujo game. The game also had flying giant robots and sword fights and gospel music sung in Japanese. If the anime only delivers on half the awesomeness of the game, it will still be awesome. Having said that, though, the history of Sakura Taisen OAV adaptations is spotty at best. The first OAV based on the Paris cast was almost unbelievably awful. I really really hope that we've learned from our mistakes by now, right, anime gods...?

Oh, and no matter how awesome the opening sequence of the OAV is, it will never top this:

Ikuzo, TEXAS no SAMURAAAAIIIII!


Gemini Sunrise is the most unbelievably awesome Sakura Taisen heroine ever. Issues with her ridiculously short skirt aside, that is.

ETA: Watched the first episode. Loved it. It was completely insane, from start to finish, which is exactly how a good Sakura Taisen anime should be. Taiga in a dress! Rika being completely psychotic! "Skyscrapers go boom!" And a GIANT ANUBIS ROBOT. Rock.