Must be outage day

Not only is the Bee Train Fan server down, but so is a critical server at work. I'm not having a good day. :(

No TBD on either, and nothing I can do about either, either. *sigh* I should go back to bed.

Unconfirmed rumor: Mashimo to direct next "Digimon" season?

I know, don't trust everything on the internet, as my previous rumormongering lead to embarrassing failure... *grin*

But somewhere in Japan it was posted, then quickly yanked, that Mashimo was now on the Digimon project. Which the fan forum post goes on to debunk (as well as provide some poor "facts" on Mashimo, but whatever).

So, we'll either know in April that it's true, or that I'm chasing old rumors around again...

Unexpected potential "hidden" gem this winter: "Soranowoto"?

So this Soranowoto show is kind of surprising...

I mean, yeah, on the surface, it looks like just another saccharine "moe" schoolgirl romp. But it kind of isn't, either. For one, they're conscripts in the armed forces, tasked with defending a little out-of-the-way town. Why such young girls are in such a situation is not quite revealed. For two, the world they're in has a lot of undiscovered mystery, isolation, and backstory, and you just don't know the "rules" behind everything, even though it's wrapped in familiarity.

From the Animesuki discussion, the general suggestion is that it's sort of a combo of Habine Renmei meets Now and Then, Here and There, mixed with K-On (which I haven't seen due to my overall allergy to that sort of show...)

(...which, considering some of the shows I've been watching lately, I can't claim any kind of purity in the matter. But that's a discussion for another time...)

Anyway, yeah, weird. But add the fact that the art is quite lovely, there's a fine use of soundtrack, and (my favorite) there's actually some decent saguka-list-worthy animation... well, I'm sold!

I mean really, though there are some gaps, there are some scenes that have such a wonderfully natural weight and timing to the characters, that I thought there may have been some common-ground with the staff from Xam'd: Lost Memories. Alas, not. But whatever, "spark of life" is totally there, and the "moe" be damned! This has potential, if it doesn't devolve into total pandering to fanboy fetishry. Fingers crossed!

UPDATE: Okay, it's a lot like K-On in the animation and details. It was recommended that I give it a look-see, and I was pleasantly surprised. But... Soranowoto looks like it has much better potential for depth, discovery and a possible big twist, whereas K-On probably stays with the slice-of-life moe comedy antics.

(...and I might wind up watching that too... *sigh* What's wrong with me??)

Resolve?

I'd like to say that I've made a New Year's resolution to start trying to write again. And by "write", I don't mean "rant about cartoons & TV while intoxicated" like I've been sporadically doing here for the last couple of years. Heck, even my earlier posts, sober or otherwise, while better, really weren't all that either. But at least I was more thoughtful (or at least less incompreshensible) at the time.

I suppose it was easier to find subject matter then; after all, I just "rediscovered" a whole medium, and had hundreds of opportunities to find new and delightful things. So how could I not have been enthusiastic? Lately, aside from the few gems here and there, it's been a little more of a grind.

I have recently stumbled into the world of web comics. Well, actually, I've been kind of avoiding them for a while. I figured it would be too easy to get sucked into the countless pages upon pages of archives, and I didn't want to commit the time.

Well, I was right. I find myself wasting hours that I could be doing chores (oh, poor me) catching up with series like Girly, Flipside, and The Abominable Charles Christopher -- and probably soon to be a few dozen more.

I started diving in because, for a while now, I've been thinking of starting a couple of projects of my own. My long-standing Blank Page Syndrome aside, I think it would be fun. Some of the other titles I've been stumbling upon started out very simple and personal, and you could see the artist grow in talent and creativity as they progressed. Some will get tired and move on, but that's okay. I shouldn't worry about that; I should accept it.

So what exactly is my Resolution out of all this? Go figure, I can't commit to one. But it's what I've been thinking about. Since there are no new anime series on the near horizon, I guess I'll have more than enough time. At the very least, maybe I'll start reviewing a few web titles, and figure out what I like and don't like.

Finale. Noir Year style.

I've made it to the last disc of Noir. I was going to try to skip a few episodes in hopes of wrapping it up in time to sleep (and not keep the neighbors awake with gunshots and whatnot), but every episode, flaws not withstanding, is perfect. There's no escaping it.

This time around, Mirielle is my favorite. But I still hurt when Kirika goes "dark". Someday, maybe Chloe, or even Altena, will rate the center of my attention, but it's not as likely. They're not as bad as we are led to feel; they're just warped. But Mirielle and Kirika, they're the ones we have to love and want to protect. Or want to protect us... they're rather badass after all! *wink*

Enough of that. Time to finish it, and time to move on to a new 2010. It'll be another year before I do this again. And that's fine. I'm glad I brought myself to do it again, and I hope that I'll always feel this magic every year when I return to it.