The Cookie Jar

I have a review of new anime coming up later, but I thought I'd follow up with the stuff I watched last season. There will be some spoilers, I'll keep them mild.

( Kuroshituji 2, Occult Academy, Nurarihyon No Mago, Live Action Moyashimon, Ookamisan, Durarara, Baccano, and Initial D )

And now, a bit of a rant. A trend that’s bugging me lately is anime being made from light novels. It’s not that they’re bad, it’s that there are often very broad stories to tell in an abbreviated amount of time. If it’s a manga, someone has probably translated it and I can go read the full story later on. If it’s a light novel series, the chances of someone translating it are slim to none. Even if it does get translated, I’ve discovered that I hate most Japanese prose. It’s very simple. It’s been a while since I’ve read the few novels that I did read, but I didn’t enjoy them. At any rate, you’re left wanting more of those characters and you’re sort of adrift.

Durarara is based on a light novel. Somewhere down the road, one of my favorite characters, Mikado, stabs someone in the hand with a pen. That’s not something you’d see him do in the anime, even in some of his more intense moments, but somehow, he develops into someone that does. There are a few scattered translations of the novels, but only one volume has been completely translated and that’s the sixth one.

Ookamisan is also based on a light novel series. There seems to be a large plot at play and they poke at it but ultimately, the series ends far too soon for it to go anywhere because there were only 12 episodes.

Ghost Hunt is a series of light novels that was never finished. The anime just sort of ended and there were quite a few things that weren’t addressed such as the nice version of Naru that kept popping up in dreams. I guessed that he was the Naru’s dead twin brother and only by reading the wiki entry did I learn that I was right.

It’s just frustrating. The animes rarely dives into the stories properly. There's so much more to what you get but it's inaccessible. At least try to do it properly. There are so many loose ends that it's been bugging me a lot lately. I'm fine with making anime based off of light novels, but quit dropping the ball anime companies!

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll be posting about the new Fall anime soon.

Oh Oreos, you are so good no matter what color you come in. I'm finishing up the last of some vanilla oreos. So yummy. I have a weakness for vanilla sandwich cookies with icing in them. When I was really little, we lived in an old rent house in Houma. It was the one with the floor heater that burned my feet and gave me nightmares for life. I think I've mentioned it before. Anyway, next door, lived an older couple and they became my Muhmaw and PuPaw. Man, trying to figure out how to write their names how we say them is weird. They were from New Jersey but had settled in Louisiana, so it's not your typical Southern pronunciation. Anyway, even long after we moved across town and the rent house burned down due to afore mentioned floor heater, we always visited them and they always had vanilla sandwich cookies on hand. We always sat down at the kitchen counter and ate vanilla sandwich cookies and milk and then went out back to hunt for pecans and play on the cement slab of where the old house used to be. Pupaw died a few years ago. I haven't been to Houma in a long time, so I don't know how Muhmaw is. I'll be going there next Saturday to go to a dress appointment with Jill. That'll be interesting. Mom heard dress and her eyes lit up. Guess I'll be dragging her along too.

And now I'm full of cookies and waxing on nostalgic. Oh boy. Brian's here's for the weekend. Apparently, Opie has been misbehaving a lot since the last time he was here. I had him for two weeks, but since he's gone back to Brian, he's been destroying a lot of things out of boredom. He tears up bags, ate Brian's expensive boots, destroyed six rolls of paper towels and who knows what else. Poor thing. He has too much goofy energy to be locked up in the house for eight hours a day. Brian needs to find a doggy daycare for the poor guy.

Anyway, some of the anime that I've been watching has come to an end. I finished watching Mitchiko to Hatchin. It's different. It's set in South America (though there's still a lot of Japanese names like Hiroshi and Satoshi) and people actually have skin color! Yes, that's write, tanned people, black people, white people, all sorts of different colors of people. It's great to see in an anime, which can be so generic and bland. I wouldn't say that all anime is outright xenophobic, it's just that it's so self-focused that the outside world doesn't tend to exist unless they're throwing in a foreigner for a gag. So, Mitchiko to Hatchin has people with color, and that's nice. The plot is a basic jailbird on the run/chase scenario, but that's sort of inconsequential to the character development. While the animation and music are vibrant and there's plenty of action, when it all boils down it's about character development. You're watching Mitchiko and Hatchin and the people around them grow and change. It can be a little slow though. Even with the action and music and colors, if you're not big on watching characters bloom, this can be a bit boring. It's worth giving a try for the very least just because it's so different. The ending was no exception. Although, it was one of those wide open endings that bug me. It's sort of fitting. You pretty much know what happens next, but you can't know for sure.

Now onto the other anime that's ended. Kuroshitsuji has sadly come to an end. It's so pretty, so very pretty. And so darn suggestive too! I went into it saying "I will not ship Ciel and Sebastian just because they are pretty." And then they went and made me! There's just too much subtext there. It's just so beautifully wrong. Sebastian wants to eat Ciel's bittersweet little soul, but in the end he seems reluctant. So much affection has built between them. It's impossible not to ship. The anime also ended with quite an open ending. It pretty much tells you what is going to happen next but doesn't show you, leaving it open. I know what I think happens next. Bow wow chika bow wow! XD Srsly though. If Ciel thought it was just as simple as getting his soul sucked out by a demon, he's still a cute naive little boy and Sebastian is totally going to take advantage of that. The ending just fit though. Another bittersweet glimpse into the tragic life of Ciel Phantomhive. I wish it weren't over, but it ended so well. Ah well, there's always fanfiction. :D I'm itching to get my grubby fingers on the soundtrack too. *grabby hands*

I also started watching Heroic Age. Standard "Find the key that will save humanity from extinction at the hands of enemy" type anime, but it's nice. The animation is pretty. I like the characters, so even though the story is familiar, you want to follow them to see how it turns out for them. There are a few characters I want to keelhaul, but they're supposed to be that way. Ugh. Nasty princes! Anyway, I'm a bit more than half way, but after watching Kuroshitsuji, I feel like I need a break to let its bittersweet end sink in. I should probably read the manga too. Later though, I should probably bring the dogs outside.

It got chilly! We had a bunch of rain and it was hot and muggy and now all of a sudden it's chilly. My toes are cold. Oh Louisiana, you have such weird and uncomfortable weather. Usually, I'd just slip into my flipflops or sandals and take them out, but today calls for shoes. And that means socks. And that means work. I dun wanna. ^_^;; Ok, I'm going.