Just so you know, the idea from this post comes from the book Ikebukuro West Gate Park because, as normal it is that the first 2 volumes made me think about Durarara!! (I'm still convinced Narita read it), the last one made me think about Tiger&Bunny, which is a little less normal. Unless there really is an evil organization that tattoos its mark on their members called Ouroboros in Japan but I highly doubt it.
Then I started to be convinced that everyone involved in pop culture in Japan somehow has read IWGP (which actually you should do too) and wondered what other influence I could maybe spot.
Sadly, my knowledge in litterature is primarily focused on European authors, but it doesn't mean you can't find any influence from them. Actually, these have been adapted a lot or at least a lot of Japanese anime have been influenced by those books.
Also, not counting light novels.
#1 The actual adaptations
Actually, there are a lot of those, even more in manga than in anime (Hell, they even made a manga version of Marx's The Capital).
I actually haven't seen a lot of those for which I have seen both the anime and read the original version. The only anime I can think of right now is Genji Monogatari which was a pretty good though really shortenned, adaptation of the book.
There's Howl's Moving Castle too and a lot of Ghibli works. Howl is a pretty good adaptation with Ghibli's defining style added to it.
Some others : Aoi Bungaku (pretty good initiation to Japanese "classical" litterature), The Count of Monte Christo, The Three Musketeers, etc etc
Please by all means add to this list.
#2 The influences
Again, those are everywhere because authors are always somehow influenced by something they have read or seen or whatever.
The one that comes immediately to my mind at this is actually a manga called Tsumi to Batsu that's been loosely based on Fyodor Dostoyevski's Crimes and Punishment, but set in modern times.
Some of those include works like Le Portrait de Petit Cossette (excuse me while I cringe at the French), Kuroshitsuji (no matter how you look at it, it's Faust), RomeoxJuliet (which is self explanatory, though I have actually never seen it so I assume it's only loosely based on Shakespeare's original), the Fate series (because some of the heroes are from books), Code Geass (because to me it looks like the whole thing is, loosely, based on the Bible) and probably a lot of others.
#3 And everything else ...
Actually this shouldn't really exist, I just can't really consider names a legit influence on a story.
But if you think about it, character names are often based on already existing characters.
Like, in Katekyo Hitman Reborn you have a whole team of characters whose names are based on demons, in Ao no Exorcist you have Mephisto which is from Faust.
There must be some more but I forgot.
In the end I guess that post wanted to summarize once again how amazed I am at how fluid Japanese are with categories. I am not saying French don't do it, we too have our "anime" loosely based on the Three Musketeers, but it's such a rare occurence that I can't help but admire how Japanese do it.
Damn, it's nearly that time of the year again. The time when I'll pick up too much anime. Which obviously will be even worse than usual because I'll be doing an internship at that time. (Though I'll probably need it given the stress of said internship)
Anime is an addiction.
But first, the chart!
Definitely watching from start to finish :
- Fate/Zero 2 : Goes without saying. Iskandar is moe. Caster is awesome. Ryuunosuke perfect. Saber adorable. Kiritsugu interesting. Waver, I don't know about Waver.
And more importantly : THERE'S STILL NO SHIROU! (I hope ^^)
That and it'll be my anime date of the season so ... <3
- Kimi to Boku 2 : Surprisingly enough the first season managed to be entertaining enough so still watching the second.
- Zetman : It's Zetman we're talking about. I love the manga. Also, Tiger&Bunny character designer's manga. /shot
- Tsuritama : I have no idea what that is but it's Noitamina so ...
- Sakamichi no Appolon : Same.
- Medaka Box : I heard the manga was really good so ...
Giving it a chance (and will end up finishing most of the time, I'm just hopeless like that) :
- Hyouka : Well, mystery anime ... I just hope it'll be quality mystery anime.
- Accel World : It's Sunrise, I NEED to check. I don't want to nearly miss something amazing again. But I won't hesitate to drop if it ends up being like some other past things I won't name ^^
- Sankarea : Seems fun.
- Tasogare Otome x Amnesia : Horror anime that really might be not horrific at all given the huge breasts I have seen.
- Kore wa Zombie desu ka 2 : Given the first season has the most hilarious first episode ever and how the series ended up disappointing I'm wary.
- AKB0048 : No comment. I like idol anime.
- Shining Hearts : To be honest I have no knowledge of this beyond the "OMG it's soooo pretty" reaction I always get when I see figures.
- Hiiro no Kakera : It's from an otome game. It's adapted by Deen. That alone should explain why I'm wary. Why I'm trying then? Because most otome games are seiyuu fest.
- Sengoku Collection : I love that period. I can't help it. I'd watch anything that has Sengoku on the title.
- Ozuma : Captain Harlock was one of my first fandom so ...
- Arashi no Yoru ni : Seems cute.
- Train heroes : Original thing to make an anime about.
Not even getting near (at least unless someone makes me change my mind) :
- Saki Achiga Hen : Haven't followed the first season, not interested.
- Kuroko no Basket : Sport anime. Not interested.
- Uchuu Kyoudai : I need to put things in this section, I'm sorry, it seems like a decent anime otherwise.
- Uppotte : I know I won't watch when I see a young moe girl waving a gun.
- Queens Blade : Definitely not interested, if I want to watch hentai I watch real hentai.
- Eureka Seven Ao : Haven't seen the first season.
- Ginga e Kickoff : Sport anime.
- Nadia thingy : Haven't watched the original.
- Koi-ken : Too many girls on the promo picture.
- Haiyore Naruko-san : Seems like the type of anime I'll dislike.
- Acchi Kochi : I read tsundere in the summary.
- Phi Brain 2 : Read what I said about Sunrise earlier. That went into their disaster category. (I still had the patience to sit through 13 episodes, I'm proud)
New edition of the 12 days of Christmas that might end up being more or less than 12 because I don't know how my inspiration will follow me and more importantly, IF it will follow me through 12 days, or more.
Oh well, let's enjoy it while it lasts.
I was genuinely not going to do actually that many Christmas themed post but I don't seem to be able to escape it so, today's topic is going to ask you to be a little imaginative, I'll be taking my top 6 shows of my ACAA post, try to imagine how their characters would spend Christmas and would love it if you shared your opinions with me!
Working!! : Yamada would insist on spending it with her "family", cry when her wish was crushed by Takanashi, be comforted by the girls who would find it's a good idea, the manager will join because Christmas = food, Satou would join because Todoroki, Takanashi would finally accept because Taneshima, Souma can never miss any occasion to find more blackmail material, and then they'll celebrate together after the closure of the restaurant!
And I think it would be adorable.
Level E : I can totally expect Baka Ouji to bring a carnivorous Christmas tree to Earth. And then going all "But I thought you celebrated Christmas with trees" with his innocent eyes.
"WE DO BUT NOT WITH CARNIVOROUS ONES"
Something like that.
Fate/Zero : Iskandar would bring on himself to invite everyone to celebrate, it'll end up exactly like last week episode, they'd all argue and try to kill each other.
Natsume Yuujinchou : His friends would invite Natsume but he'd feel bad about leaving the Fujiwara alone but they'd tell him to go so he would, or he'd invite everyone at home.
I don't think I have ever read a Christmas Natsume chapter, nor a New Year one. I want to, it'd be cute.
Steins;Gate : I am firmly convinced Okarin would start by planning a little party with the labs member but would end up inviting everyone he meets (or nearly) the lab would quickly become too small and they'd end up at Feyris' place because of course Daru would want to go there anyway.
Tiger&Bunny : Since of course Bunny doesn't like Christmas, Kotetsu would want to help him forget and since he of course would want to see his daughter at least for Christmas he'd bring Bunny forcefully back home with him.
And of course before leaving Nathan would insist on throwing a big party with everyone, obviously disrupted because they can't party properly.
Or they'd have to take part in a HeroTV special. Or both.
Well, as obviously these are only my headcanons, you're free to disagree. But I had fun writing them and that's all that matters. (The fanfic writer that hasn't written fanfics in 6 months is talking ^^)
How can I resist joining a project hosted by someone who calls me his favourite fujoshi, there's no way I can right? I urge you all to go checkKidd's AniBloggers Choice Anime Award post for further informations on how to join and to just do it! (He said I was his favorite fujoshi after all, KYAAA *cough*)
And this is why I present you with my own list of 12 anime, movies and OVAs that marked, for me, the year 2011. Probably ranked. Or not. It's always pretty hard to rank things.
Damn do I have the feeling I'll be quite alone in some of my choices.
12) KamiNomi II (Spring)
Because this is probably the only harem anime I genuinely like. I don't usually like the genre and get bored pretty soon. It didn't happen. Not only that but the second season was much more enjoyable than the first.
11) Mawaru Penguindrum (Summer)
Only reason as to why it is so low in the ranking is that it's not finished, and, knowing the kind of anime it is, it can take a turn to have a disappointing ending pretty quickly. Even the risk exists, at least it was a very fun ride.
10) Usagi Drop (Summer)
Heartwarming and adorable piece of fluffy feelings. And realistic. And pretty.
09) Yondemasu yo Azazel-san (Spring)
I think more people should give a chance to that very short (one episode is only 10 minute) anime, it's totally nuts, crazy and over the top in every way (and a bit trash too, considering the favorite "food" of one of the main character).
Nyorin~
08) Hellsing Ultimate 8 (Summer)
It did something very difficult, making me cry for the death of a character. At least one character dies per episode you think I'd be used to it by now but nope, that one was horrible. Beautiful in a very sick way, but horrible. (Yes that's the only thing I remember about the episode, I'm not even ashamed of it. At all.)
And, since I'm talking about it, every character voiced by a seiyuu I really like die in that series. I'm glad he lasted that long.
07) Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (Winter)
Because I didn't think they'd dare to behead Mami. And because Kyubey is adorable. And because I really liked the story and the visuals and the music. (I didn't quite like Madoka the character but that's another story)
06) Level E (Winter)
That was hilarious. I love trolls. Especially alien trolls.
05) Working 2 (Spring)
This is the only reason you need :
04) Fate/Zero (Fall)
That's, for me, the second great surprise of the year. I'm not a fan of Fate/Stay Night. Not at all, so I didn't even consider watching this until I heard Yuki Kajiura was doing the music, and then I saw the first episode.
And I think I completely fell in love at the whole Sakura in the insect pool scene.
Anyway, I'm enjoying myself immensely while watching every episode and I just love the characters.
03) Natsume Yuujinchou San (Summer)
It's Natsume. It's adorable, peaceful and it has yokai.
02) Steins;Gate (Spring)
It took me off guard a bit too, it's something I heard about quite some times before it aired, so, as usual, I was a bit wary of the hype and expected nothing out of it, especially since I did see Chaos;Head before and thus assumed Steins;Gate had the same crazy themes and thus would be as hard to animate.
I was wrong, I'm glad I was wrong. Steins;Gate was amazing, I understood what they were talking about (since I'm not a scientist I'm sometimes lost, especially when it concerns time travel), I wasn't bored, even when re-doing the same days over and over, I loved the characters, felt sorry for them, supported them, didn't want them to die, wanted them to be happy. I loved the plot, I loved the surprises, the plot-twists, the romance. Everything.
01) Tiger&Bunny (Spring)
That is the first surprise of the list, I found no other interest in the first episode than the main character, I honestly thought the whole thing would be boring, hell, I wouldn't even be the slightest bit interested if Narita Ryogho didn't mention he was watching it on his Twitter. (Shallow, yes I know, though I can't really help to feel like I might be interested in something the guy who wrote Durarara!! likes ^^)
I expected some generic super hero show and it's exactly what I didn't get.
In the end I don't think I have cried more at any other show but this one, because I didn't relate to any characters more than I related to these two. (Crap, I outed myself as screwed up)
That's, I guess, part of the reason why I love it so much and obsess over it so much, but even speaking objectively the characters are really well written and realistically well written. Hell, even the seiyuu surprised me, upon seeing one of the main character was voiced by Morita Masakazu I sighed, thinking said character would be another fighting maniac without depth, I was wrong. Everyone else too was perfectly spot on and it showed me once again how perfect Tsuda Kenjiro is. If I had one complain to voice it'd be about the predictability of the story (because I honestly don't care much about the quality of the animation and saw worse anyway). But even with a predictable story it caught me in, and you had to actually think to predict it, I don't care much anymore at this point anyway, pretty much everything is predictable. (And I was wrong, I thought someone would die)
Still, the end of the series actually feel like a closure even if it's not, it leaves room for more thoughts and they keep on adding more depth to the universe. It's almost like an interactive story and I think it's great.
(Should probably stop before I write a novel about why I liked that anime ^^)
It suddenly occured to me I'll probably have to put the blog on hiatus at some point during the year again, got another internship, a long one, yesterday. But that one is much further away than the one I'll do before, and they said they can lend me a small room for free, alternatively, I have family living there too, and even if I have access to the internet I don't know if I'll have time to watch a lot of anime.
Anyway, it's for April so it's still a bit long before it happens and I'll see.
I am currently facing a blogger's crisis, it's not even about the lack of inspiration, my problem is the lack of motivation. I have lots of posts drafted but don't feel like finishing any of them.
Sorry?
Pyro posted a blog post about her fandom bias, the small facts that can transform a show you're not interested in at all into a must watch.
She talked about hers and asked about ours, it actually made me think a lot so that post will be my answer.
The only problem is : I'm pretty sure I am forgetting things but it will have to do.
- Seiyuu
A good seiyuu cast can hold me through the most boring of shows. Almost. (Well, there are things that are beyond saving, even with my favorite seiyuu)
It did get me through Uraboku, which is everything but good, and on the other hand my fascination for people like Kamiya Hiroshi is the thing that made me start Angel Beats for example.
As such, it has good and bad sides.
- Yakuza
Sadly, this is the bias that is always, always used against me to make me read BL manga.
On the other hand, it made me discover stuff like Gokusen which I would NEVER have checked otherwise and became my favorite drama of all time (since both the manga and the anime version suffer from horrific art)
- Yuki Kajiura (and a few other composers)
In an anime I am very sensible to music and I can tell Yuki Kajiura or people like Sawano Hiroyuki are the composers as soon as I hear their music in an anime, a great soundtrack helps me finding the show enjoyable.
And if it wasn't for Yuki Kajiura I would never have checked Madoka or Fate/Zero.
- Sengoku Jidai
Rather than Sengoku Jidai I have developed over the years a soft spot for Akechi Mitsuhide, probably one of the less likeable warlord of the era and I feel obligated to watch every single anime featuring Sengoku Jidai in the hopes of seeing him.
And you have to admit the era has a lot of potential, in terms of battles, in terms of interesting politics and in terms of colorful characters.
- Narita Ryogho
I like this man and how he writes and how good and faithful the anime adapted from his works are. I'd watch anything if he's somehow involved. I'd watch anything if I know he's watching it as well. (Wouldn't have tried Tiger&Bunny if it wasn't for him, I'm forever grateful. And he's watching Fate/Zero and seeing him stay up so late to fanboy about it is adorable. I love Twitter) (AND I WANT A SECOND SEASON OF DURARARA!!) (AND ANOTHER ONE OF BACCANO!) (AND FOR HIS OTHER BOOKS TO BE ANIMATED!)
- Psychopaths
You probably already have noticed my love for, well, rather questionnable characters. Tell me there's one in something and I'm watching whatever you were recommending.
I don't even have that many. I thought I'd come to find many more considering the amount of stuff I watch. Oh well, guess I'll just blame curiosity.
Anyway, I'll ask the same question she did back in the days (because that post slept for quite some times in my drafts), what are YOUR fandom bias?
One day I'll make a post about what's good in re-watching some anime. Because I'm currently re-watching Tiger&Bunny and can't stop discovering new things.
First edition of the now famous corner featuring the anime of the Fall season 2011. Man, time goes fast doesn't it?
It's nearly Barnaby's birthday Halloween too ...
As usual, beware of spoilers if you're not up to date with things!
Last post of the day before I get swamped under more construction work (which doesn't mean you shouldn't expect stuff tomorrow, I still have the Sunrise Saturday timeslot to review)
It's kinda hard to summarize that anime, if you know Fate/Stay Night you know it's a prequel to it.
If you don't know, well, it's about battles of magicians summoning heroes from past eras to fight against each other to obtain the Holy Grail to have a wish granted.
Quite long first episode, not that it feels at all like 45 minutes. Really, time went fast.
Second very important stuff to note : this is actually quite good.
See, I didn't like Fate/Stay Night very much. I didn't hate it but wasn't a fan either and stopped watching the movie halfway through because I was bored. So my expectations were low.
I'm surprised. This is good.
Probably mainly because there's no annoying Shiro.
As you may have guessed, I didn't want to watch it and if I did it's only because I heard Kajiura Yuki was doing the soundtrack. As expected it's wonderful. And as expected she found something new to add to her usual style.
Second reason why I thought I'd give it a try was because I heard Urobuchi Gen was involved. It shows.
Probably not a good thing for everyone though. If you are araid of insects. Stay away.
To sum everything up, and even if that episode only introduces the characters, their relation and the general situation, I really enjoyed myself.
No previous knowledge of the serie is necessary either. It was a good first episode.
While I admit the title is a bit over-dramatic (Come on self, you'll survive, you've survived the end of DRRR and the lack of your favorite character in it, you survived death of your favorite characters too, so there's no reason why I won't be able to get over the end of Tiger&Bunny, right? RIGHT?), the fact that the only shows I'll have the pleasure to continue next season are Gintama, Beelzebub and Mawara Penguindrum. Not that I mind, but that's not much, and I feel empty when some days (like thursdays) nothing new comes out.
So, what will I watch?
These are the things I can't miss (for various petty reasons) :
- Un-Go : I can only hope for Noitamina to finally bring me a very good mystery anime. Please?
It should right? The original author is good. So maybe?
- Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon : Depending on the end of Tiger&Bunny I may or may not have lost all hopes in Sunrise by the time this airs but, it has a good cast and a kind of Sengoku Jidai setting in modern times.
I should enjoy this.
- Persona 4 : It seems, I've been one of the only person on Earth who REALLY enjoyed Persona : Trinity Soul so, more? Yes please!
And everyone who played is super excited, and since I never played I won't complain about the adaption. It's a win/win type of situation. (Well, except if it's bad ^^)
- Working!! : Yamada loved the first season to bits. Yamada even recently rewatched it when she heard about a second season.
Yamada is overjoyed!
- Sekaiichi Hatsukoi : Don't ask. It wasn't as half bad as I'd have expected it to be. I enjoyed it enough to keep going. If worse comes to worse at least I'll laugh at the animation.
- Phi Brain - Kami no Puzzle : Or, how Sunrise may or may not be the death of me. I shouldn't expect much from this but the setting interests me enough. The fate of the world reside in a puzzle my friends!
- Mirai Nikki : Liked the manga. Should be enjoyable enough.
- Bakuman 2 : We're entering the interesting part. Mainly, Hiramaru.
Hiramaru means more Yoshida-shi. Yoshida-shi is my favorite character. (When I say I'm cursed, I'm not joking ^^)
-Gundam AGE : Well. It's a Gundam.
I will check but am a little bit wary (or, things with obvious flaws from the beginning)
- Guilty Crown : Noitamina + good cast = must watch.
Even though the plot seems like a mess and like they're trying to throw everything they can into it. (Please don't let it become another Sacred Seven fiasco because from the look of it, it's a Code Geass style dystopia, resistance group included, with a virus reminding me of Bloody Monday and a hero à la Kamijo Touma)
Also note that it's the first time a Noitamina thing is downgraded to this section, that shows how wary I am.
- Hunter x Hunter : Heard a lot of good stuff about the serie, the mangaka wrote Level E , it has Daisuke Namikawa, Sawashiro Miyuki and Keiji Fujiwara.
BUT, it's Jump. And that makes it a major flaw because it'll go very near the boring line for the first 25 episodes.
- Kimi to Boku : The title sounds like a cheesy romance thing, and it looks like a slice of life thing, which isn't my favorite genre either. But it has Toyonaga Toshiyuki so I'm willing to give it a shot.
- Tamayura hitotose : I love photography, I really do, but yeah I'll stay wary of slice of life things.
- Ben-to : Or Battle Royale in the supermarket. The plot is completely nuts but as I have seen girls with big breasts on the promo picture I'm not going to hope too much.
- Fate/Zero : I didn't like the previous installements very much but there's nothing I can do against Kajiura Yuki.
