【Anime】 喰霊-零- / Ga-Rei -Zero-

More old anime.

Title: 喰霊-零- (Ga-Rei -Zero-)
Studio: AIC Spirits and asread
Director: あおきえい (AOKI Ei)
Original Creator: 瀬川はじめ (HASEGAWA Hajime)
Episodes: 12
Genre: Seinen (Drama, Supernatural, Action)
Status: Completed, not licensed.
My Rating: 9.3/10

Ga-Rei -Zero- is set in an alternate version of Japan riddled with destructive supernatural spirits which regular people cannot see. In order to protect its citizens, two factions of the government have set up specialized teams dedicated to fighting against these spirits, and the most elite teams employ members which have the natural ability to perceive spirits, fighting against them with unique exorcizing weapons. The series follows the missions of the elite teams and explores the relationships between the members. Ga-Rei -Zero- is the anime-original prequel to the original manga Ga-Rei by HASEGAWA Hajime. -Zero- does not assume any knowledge of the manga on the part of the viewer.

Review: This is a series which the viewer should start watching without knowing anything, as its main appeal, in my opinion, is in its unpredictability and shock factor. The first-time viewer only needs to know that the series is good to incredible and is worth a watch, and should not be given clues as to the series progression. I highly advise against looking at anything related to Ga-Rei -Zero- (besides this post, maybe) if you have not seen it before. Also, try not to read any episode summaries (especially avoid Episode 1 summaries) or look at reviews which detail parts of the plot. Perhaps hold off on reading the manga as well. I also do not recommend marathoning the series in one or two sittings. I did so in a single sitting, and it was not to the best effect. I believe I could have had an even better experience had I paced myself and watched 1-2 episodes at a time to give myself more time to think about all the things that happened.

Because of my firm belief in not disclosing anything relevant about the plot in Ga-Rei -Zero-, I will not mention any character names or specific events which happened in the series. This will be a spoiler-free review about the general elements which I found noteworthy.

I highly recommend this series to anyone mature enough to cope with relatively brutal and graphic violence, and to those looking for a compact but substantial and exciting series. I especially recommend this to those who like unpredictability and like to have their expectations destroyed. As this is a relatively heavy series, I do not recommend it to those looking for quick entertainment or those who are currently in very low spirits.

【Anime】 Ani*Kuri15

Old but good.

Title: Ani*Kuri15
Studio: GONZO, Production I.G, GAINAX, Studio 4°C, MADHOUSE, Comix Wave Film, Satelight
Directors: MAEDA Mahiro, YABUTA Tatsuya (with Murata Range), TAKEUCHI Atsushi, HAYASHI Akemi, OSHII Mamoru, Michael Arias, KON Satoshi, ODA Tobira and SHIMIZU Yasuyuki, SHINKAI Makoto, NISHIMI Shoujirou, NAKAZAWA Kazuto, KAWAMORI Shoji, SOEJIMA Yasufumi, KIMURA Shinji, and KOBAYASHI Osamu.
Episodes: 15
Genre: Short experimental animation
Status: Completed, not licensed
My Rating: 9.0/10

Ani*Kuri 15 was a short animation series which aired on NHK from 2007 to 2008. Each episode was one minute and was directed and animated by different directors and studios. There were a total of three seasons, with 5 episodes each. These shorts have no recurring theme due to the differences in producers, but they were all meant to showcase a sample of the variety of styles and themes found in Japanese animation.

Wikipedia: Ani*Kuri15

Review: This covers all fifteen episodes, but some “reviews” are shorter than others. Majority of reviews do not include summaries. The episodes and main producers are listed as “director name” x “production studio name”. Click on the title to see a frame from the short. Recommended ones are asterisked.

I (highly) recommend this series to anyone interested in exploring the different styles present in the Japanese animation scene, and it’s a very good starting point for getting to know all the studios and directors showcased here.

【Things You Are Excited About】supercell 2nd Single “Sayonara Memories” Details Revealed

This is a translation (and more) for the Oricon Style article that disclosed further details of the single.

Jacket picture for supercell's "Sayonara Memories", to be released on February 10th. (Illust: redjuice)

Article title: supercell, a big favourite for 2010′s sakura/graduation song!

Article translation: Suddenly debuting at 4th in the charts with their first album “supercell” on March 1st, 2009, doing it again with their first single “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari” in August, and making it certain that they had made a vivid debut from the internet scene to the major commercial scene, supercell is a creator group headed by ryo. After “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari” first appeared on the charts at 5th, it had continued to be in the Top 20 for 6 weeks, and with long sales, it is now a hit with over 80,000 copies sold.

A 2nd single from supercell, to be released on Feb 10th and titled “Sayonara Memories”, has arrived. Along with composer ryo’s immensely heartrending lyrics and an impressionable melody, the vocals are will again be by nagi from the group’s previous work. ryo brilliantly shows his depiction of the anxious, bittersweet world view that is characteristic of adolescence. Also, the music video will be by MIKI Takahiro, who will make his debut in the coming spring as a film producer with the notable movie “SORANIN” (Starring MIYAZAKI Aoi), and will utilize a projector to feature fantasy-type content, making this a video a subject to be taken note of.

As the jacket and artist picture was illustrated by supercell member and noteworthy illustrator redjuice, the jacket has gathered as much attention as the music itself.

With “Sayonara Memories” having a big hold on being 2010′s huge sakura/graduation song favourite, the formerly internet-based, attention-garnering creator group supercell looks like they would again be of great acclaim in 2010.

Artist picture drawn by illustrator redjuice.

Description: Although it’s to be released on February 10th, preorders for both the regular and limited editions of the single have already started at various online retailers such as amazon.co.jp and cdjapan. The regular edition is retailing at 1,233 Yen while the limited edition, which includes a Region 2 DVD with music video, is priced at 1,575 Yen (1,338Y at Amazon.co.jp). The CD’s tracklist, from amazon.co.jp, is as follows:

1. さよならメモリーズ (Sayonara Memories/Farewell, Memories)
2. 教えてあげる (Oshiete Ageru/I’ll tell you)
3. 約束をしよう (Yakusoku wo Shiyou/Let’s Promise)
4. さよならメモリーズ -Instrumental-
5. 教えてあげる -Instrumental-

Further according to amazon.co.jp, the total time of the CD amounts to 25 minutes. In addition to having three wholly new songs on the single, the other noteworthy aspect of this would be redjuice’s illustrations, which were drawn in a style quite uncharacteristic of the illustrator’s regularly sleek, mechanical artwork. It’s surprising that a second illustration was drawn other than the jacket artwork, but what is even more interesting is that the second is being billed as an artist picture. What does that even mean? I’m guessing that it’s just a picture redjuice wanted to draw for the single on his own accord, maybe. Hopefully it’ll be used for a special limited edition add on, as the Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari single had an additional sticker with it. Furthermore, ryo wrote on the supercell member blog that there is more to the jacket illustration, and that the full version is even more stunning. Ideally the full, wider version will be released soon! I am also quite anxious to hear the demo tracks for the three new songs, and I’m personally happy that nagi is again providing the vocals for the single. Another notable thing is the curious, supposedly fantasy themed music video. I do hope that it will be more substantial than the “live action” Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari PV.

Sayonara Memories Demo: http://www.supercell.jp/index.html
supercell blog entry: http://www.supercell.sc/archives/2009/12/post-44.html (Japanese)
Original text from Oricon Style: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/music/71963/full (Japanese)
Preorder at amazon.co.jp: http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B002Y3DFDU/ (Limited Edition ver)
Preorder at CDJapan: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SRCL-7203 (Limited Edition ver)

【Lyrics】アクアリウム・スカイ (Aquarium Sky)

Have been kind of disenchanted with new Vocaloid songs lately, but I just utterly fell in love with this song from just hearing first few seconds. Please give it a listen!

1. Original lyrics
2. Transliteration
3. Translation

アクアリウム・スカイ (Aquarium Sky)

Lyrics: 虹原ぺぺろん (ぺぺろんP)
Compose: 虹原ぺぺろん (ぺぺろんP)
Arrange: 虹原ぺぺろん (ぺぺろんP)
Vocals: Hatsune Miku

Illustration & Video: 御厨わた (Mikuriya wata)

Nico | Youtube

虹原ぺぺろんさんのコメント：
（ブログから）
これまでの曲とは一味違ったぺぺろんＰの曲をお楽しみください。
ABメロのみの構成で、歌詞重視の1曲になりました。
アクアリウムはこの世界で最も低い位置にある天国であり、この世界で最も高い位置にある地獄だと思います。
美しさの中に潜む哀しさのようなものを感じていただければ嬉しいです。

（ニコニコ動画から）
水族館をイメージした曲を作りました。
偽りの海。不快な「青」すぎる「青」。私はこの場所に何を想うだろうか……。
アルバムの中で一息つくような、歌詞重視の曲になっています。

Nijihara Peperon’s Comments:
(From blog)
This is a song that’s a bit different from all the other past peperonP songs. Please enjoy it.
Since this is composed of only two different melodies, the biggest focus was actually on the lyrics.
I think that in this world, the aquarium is the lowest tier of heaven, and the highest tier of hell.
It’d be a pleasure to be given the chance of feeling something like the sadness within the depths of beauty.

(From niconico)
Made a song that reflects the image of an aquarium.
A false sea. A “blue” that surpasses the unpleasant “blue”. What would I be thinking about if I were in this place…?
This is a song where the lyrics are of the most importance, and is about the only song in the album that was made in one go.

Image from the video for the song. (Illust: 御厨わた@Piapro)

Description: A really relaxing and immersive song that completely exudes the underwater theme. The composition of the song is quite basic, with only two alternating lines of melody, but the arrangement is quite incredible, utilizing soft piano and strings in the background to give it a more mature and deep feel. Even though the same two melody keeps repeating, it doesn’t seem boring or repetitive at all. There seems to be at least 4 instruments playing at once (besides the vocals), which give it layers of depth, making it a great song to relisten to over and over since it’s hard to catch all the sounds used in the song on the first listen. Although there are deep, synthetic exhaling sound effects added in, it’s not at all jarring, and well enhances the underwater atmosphere. I especially enjoy the waterdrop sound effect. Lastly, the vocal tuning is very smooth and has the right tone (not too cutesy, slightly low-pitched), and although it may sound awkward at a few points, it’s well mixed, blending in quite well with the intrumentals.

【Website】formspring.me

Sorry for this illustrator-unrelated, and therefore disappointing, post.

formspring.me is a personal question box service created by FormSpring, a company that specializes in helping professional organizations collect and manage data. This is FormSpring’s attempt to link information organization with social networking. It is relatively similar to Twitter and Tumblr in that it utilizes a clean and straightforward interface.

formspring.me’s premise is very simple: Create an account, link your friends to it, and let your friends ask you whatever questions they like. You can ask questions both anonymously or with your user details showing, so it’s also a very useful tool for using as a question box for anywhere, since questioners aren’t required to sign up.

The dashboard of formspring.me is very similar to Twitter’s, where you can follow your friends and see what new questions they’ve answered on your homepage’s timeline, and you can also search for other users. You also have an inbox where you recieve and respond to questions. When answering questions, you have the option to block, delete, or respond, so there’s little pressure on answering questions you don’t want to. Your answers are shown on your profile. You can customize your profile with a custom background or background colour, and you can also link your account with Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and Blogger to share your responses instantly elsewhere. There’s also a form that you can embed on your blog or website to prompt questions from your visitors.

All in all, formspring is a pretty fun website to waste time on, and it’s very fun to see what questions you get from all your friends. Though personally, I think the best part is formulating answers to the questions. Please try it out, and ask me a question if you have time as well! I also put a link to it on the sidebar if you ever feel bored eno-

Website: http://www.formspring.me
polymetrica at formspring.me: http://www.formspring.me/polymetrica

【Lyrics】シザーハンズ (Scissorhands/The Scissors)

An Original Composer-approved post. I think. Thanks again to Nem for all the input and willingness to communicate with me! It’s such an honour…!

This post consists of four parts:
1. Original lyrics
2. Transliteration
3. Translation
4. Recommended Covers

シザーハンズ (Scissorhands)

Lyrics: Nem
Compose: Nem
Arrange: Nem
Vocals: Hatsune Miku

Illustrations: 九藤咲織 (KUDOU Saori)
Video: Spica0350
Guitar: KP (A “nice guy” from Nem’s old high school band club)

Nico | Youtube
MP3 + Instumental → http://nemiu.com/scissors.zip

Nem’s comments:
I composed this song as a homage to Tim Burton’s famous movie “Edward Scissorhands”, but the story in the song has nothing to do with the movie. I wanted to explain the growing mentality during boyhood instead. The scissors are a symbol of juvenile violence.

Main image used in video. Click to enlarge. (Illust: 九藤咲織@Piapro)

Description: A jazzy song with a very cool image of Miku with scissorhands. This is Nem’s first time using Miku for vocals (instead of the usual GUMI), and is his most Mylisted work to date. Good tuning and incredible lyrics and melody, but is a little tricky to sing along to due to the intro that you have to accurately count in. Oh, and the official English song title is The Scissors, while the Japanese title translates to “Scissorhands”.

Also, Nem’s comments in English above was actually provided by Nem himself…and was originally in English! It’s pretty incredible that somebody can be this amazing. Please take a look at his other works too! (Linked to a previous post on this blog)

【Lyrics】ココロノコリと浮遊 (Regret and Float)

The only newish Vocaloid song I’ve been continually listening to this past month. Recommended by 古川P (FurukawaP).

This post consists of three parts:
1. Original lyrics
2. Transliteration
3. Translation

ココロノコリと浮遊 (KOKORONOKORI to Fuyuu / Regret and Float)

Lyrics: ぽわぽわＰ（仁王立ち） (PowapowaP aka Niou Tachi)
Compose: ぽわぽわＰ（仁王立ち）
Arrange: ぽわぽわＰ（仁王立ち）
Vocals: Hatsune Miku

Nico | Youtube
MP3 | MP3 (Luka ver.)

仁王立ちさんのコメント：
(ピアプロから）
死別曲です。いちどやってみたかった。
かつて恐れてた事が起きてしまったって感じの曲です。

Niou Tachi’s Comment:
(From Piapro)
This is a bereavement song. Trying it out just this one time.
It’s a song with a feeling of suddenly remembering something you used to be afraid of.

Artwork used in the video for the song. Click to enlarge. (Illust: つりざお@Piapro)

Descrption: A requiem with a peaceful electronic twist and simple atmosphere. Great song to loop while reading or doing homework. Vocal tuning is good, but the whole mood of the song is quite moving and is the most notable. I recommend the Luka version over the Miku version.

【Anime】CANAAN

Old news anime…

Click to enarlge. (Illust: 関口可奈味)

Title: CANAAN
Studio: P.A. Works
Original Scenario: 奈須きのこ (NASU Kinoko)
Character Designs: 武内崇（TAKEUCHI Takashi)
Episodes: 13
Genre: Seinen (Action)
Status: Completed, not licensed.
My Rating: 7.8/10

OOSAWA Maria is an aspiring camerawoman who travels to Shanghai with her co-worker, reporter MINORIKAWA Minoru, in hopes of getting a big scoop. While they’re on the job, they get caught up in terrorist-related activities which have to do with a lethal virus called the Ua virus and its victims. The anime is based on a bonus scenario written by NASU Kinoko for the game 428.

To be honest, I’ve never really read/seen any of Nasu’s works before (5 paragraphs of Tsukihime doesn’t count!), so I’m not sure if CANAAN is the regular, awesome Nasu affair, but CANAAN’s story was pretty great, in my opinion. I wanted to watch this for four reasons:

1. 428 got 40/40 from Famitsu.
2. Alphard reminded me of Revy from Black Lagoon, who is awesome, and is voiced by Sakamoto Maaya
3. The OP sequence’s ranking as interpreted by Baka-Raptor.
4. The ED theme was sung by Annabel, one of my favourite doujin artists.

There was a lot of progression each episode, and the sequence for how they revealed everything (from the initial individual encounters to the reasons behind the whole grand plan), was done really coherently, and the best thing was that after everything was revealed, they went back to the characters and developed them a little more so that at the end they didn’t seem shallow at all. There weren’t a lot of plotholes that I noticed either, and even the silly mascot helmets were explained. Unfortunately, I thought the actual concept itself was pretty over-the-top. A superstrong virus, world government leaders, fighter planes, synethesia to this extent…It’s good to try and incorporate some real world stuff into elaborate stories like these, but here it just seemed a little out of place, especially when the whole thing is centered around relatively unserious large-eyed characters.

I should also note that the animation was seriously impeccable. After seeing a certain slideshow anime, I forgot that anime was supposed to immerse the audience with animation, but CANAAN reminded me with every second I watched. GJ P.A. Works!

The characters were in general awesome, but with a large, important exception: Maria. Maria is absolutely useless. She cannot take pictures, she cannot fight, and her most outstanding skill seems to be getting kidnapped so people can get a certain character to fight with them. I really felt that she was just there to act as a plot device to develop other characters and trigger events, and other than that, she didn’t seem at all like a character. Her voice is also not sugoi. Other than Maria, though, the rest were almost more than awesome, and I could say that the entire main cast (except Maria) was above average in terms of likeability. Here’s my ranking:

1. Hakko - Mute, beautiful, slightly deadly woman who stole every scene she was in despite not talking. So awesome.
2. Alphard - More like 1.02, because she’s equivalent to Hakko in coolness, but she really didn’t have enough scenes in the series, and if she appeared more often, she’d be my absolute favourite. At first she reminded me of Revy from Black Lagoon (Tattoo, ponytail, shorts, nonexistent fashion sense), but she is more composed and slick. She’s also voiced by Sakamoto Maaya, whom we all love.
3. Canaan - So unemotional and strong she is awesome. Although it seems like she likes Maria in a really yuri way to most people, it seemed to me that she just loved Maria since Canaan doesn’t really have anybody else to love. Crazy fighting style and pretty eyes, too, but just how old is she anyways?
4. Liang Qi - Psycho, sadistic villian who would’ve been my top favourite if she fit in with the rest of the too-chill cast. She is very entertaining to watch, and her dialogue is so incredibly interesting, but is far too exaggerated and insane. I couldn’t believe she was voiced by Tanaka Rie. Must’ve been a mistake in the credits…or not.

Overall, CANAAN was a really satisfying series to watch, especially because the fights were so well choreographed and animated. Great characters and a coherent plot that doesn’t make you think TOO much makes this series above average, but the existence of Maria pulls it down a bit, and the themes are not life-changingly deep. (Actually, it is slightly shallow.) Recommended if you want a quick, beautiful action fix with an awesome cast.