I just finished Sailor Moon S, which puts me well over the half-way mark in my SM nostalgia marathon. The monster of the week shit gets really grating after a while, but it’s nice to have on in the background because you don’t have to pay too much attention to it to follow what’s going on. The audio/video quality of the files I’m watching is utter shit (though it does take me back to my VHS fansub-watchan’ days). Aside from the boring monster of the week episodes–now this might be the nostalgia goggles talking, but I think you have to be a massive faggot to hate this show (yeah, I’m looking at you #/m/, I dunno how you can like Kamen Rider but call Sailor Moon shit). Oddly enough, I find myself wanting more mid-season powerups (the inner senshi have had the same goddamn attacks for like 2.5 seasons now, I think I’ve seen the stock animation for those like 75 times each at least now D: ). 

tbh now I’m kind of wanting a revival series. Something like 26 episodes, cut all the monster of the week/season shit and do a tighter storyline retelling the important plot points or whatever. But of course that’ll never happen :< (lol, last time I said that it was about more Slayers and we got stuck with fucking Pokota :| )

 

[EDIT] Started watching SuperS today, Moon Gorgeous Meditation is fucking badass looking (especially compared to the attacks from last season which were kind of retarded looking all-round imo). Also, I’m having a lot of fun throughout this rewatch since I keep seeing like, proto-Utena stuff here and there, which is really entertaining (this season in particular has a lot of that in it already and I’m just a few episodes in)

[EDIT II] Halfway through SuperS. Fisheye, you poor, flamboyant little man… ;~;

[EDIT III] Okay, so, my new favorite thing this season is all the Tuxedo-Mask-is-an-incompetent-retard gags. I don’t know why it amuses me so much, they’re not even that funny.

Just a short rundown post because I’m lazy.

Spring ‘09 in retrospect:

 - SenBa was fun, but the novelty wore off kind of fast and talking episodes were boring.
 - Ristorante Paradiso was really nice. I want a second season.
 - Eden was pretty awesome. I ended up looking forward to it the most each week this season. I can’t wait for the movies.

Current stuff:

 - Haruhi: Shitsux except for delicious Koizumi. I don’t care if Endless Eight never ends as long as they keep up the FABULOUS. 
 - Umineko: Watched the first episode. The OP and ED are cool. I don’t really know what else to say about it yet since I haven’t played the game and have no idea what’s going on yet.

Haven’t finished sampling stuff from this season yet, so I’ll probably add to this post later. 

Other:

Rewatching Sailor Moon, as I’ve mentioned, is fucking awesome. I’ve watched something like 100 episodes in the last week. Also lots of weird SAME PERSON–like Prince Diamond from R (or however the fuck they Engrished the name) is motherfucking Oberstein.

/a/… I’m disturbed at your ability to get shit done this week:

I’m also kind of sad that I didn’t have time to contribute to this one (the last thread taking clips was going on while I was driving back to Gville ;_;)

This is just so goddamn retarded, how anyone can not like it is beyond me:

I am eagerly awaiting JIBUN WOOO~

Working on icons now. Safari doesn’t wanna cooperate with Winterboard for me though :(
Almost done (lol just hid all the icons that I haven’t done yet). Had to manually replace the SMS icon since I have no idea what name it goes by in Springboard (er, I’m being lazy so I’m using the easier old icon method from Springboard–Winterboard still recognizes it but apparently it’s not as proper, but fuck that). I was thinking about using the number badges for icons, but it just seemed weird to do that for anything but speed dial and the iPhone doesn’t really have that. 

Still have a few more icons to change (or maybe I’ll just be lazy and keep them on another page :D) and then I think I’ll move on to editing UI stuff (like the keyboard and sliders and other shit). I think it’s actually starting to look pretty good now.

Meh, not totally happy with it. It’s kind of boring, but I wanted to change it up since I hadn’t in quite a while. :|

[EDIT] In other news, I’ve been rewatching Sailor Moon in my free time and it’s fucking awesome–and kind of weird because I saw the US version when I was little and seeing the proper version of the show is just bizarre. Also, Furuya Tohru mmmmmmmmm…..

Originally, I hadn’t intended to bother with the second season of Haruhi when I heard about it. I watched the first episode, the art looked pretty shitty and even though it’s been a few years since it aired and got hyped to death I’m still sick and tired of it. 

But fuck if Itsuki isn’t extra FABULOUS now. /a/, this is all your fault. Now I have to watch Haruhi. :|

Mmm… Itsuki~

Now this is what a fucking Official File should look like!

[Sauce]

{From the section titled: ‘00′ story analyze Core of GUNDAM00 SECOND SEASON}

P4-7: Celestial Being
• Aeolia was neither a particularly good or bad man.
• The Observers do not know the entire plan. [The Observers] were randomly assembled from important persons of the era who support the plan.
• The five GN Drives aren’t necessarily safe.
*It seems that Mizushima is retracting his statement from a previous interview in which he said that “the five [drives] are being left alone.” It seems that the movie will be very entertaining, don’t you think?
• The GN Drive was Aeolia’s theoretical work. It was nothing but a design. It was the later scientists who discovered that it was impossible without Jupiter’s environment, and so with Jupiter the GN Drives were produced.
• Trans-am Burst was originally intended as the 00-Raiser’s [normal] Trans-am [mode]. Although it [should be] impossible in practice, Setsuna, having become an Innovator, made it a reality.
• When Aeolia was alive, Veda too was just an idea of his. Quantum Computing, Innovators and GN Drives were all just theoretical. (lol)

P8-11: Enemy Camp
• QBW levels (A, B and so on) were something the Innovedo came up with on their own. The Innovedo were under the impression that they were A-Level, but in reality they were B. The [only] one who can utilize A-Level QBW is Setsuna. Souma’s QBW level is lower than that of the Innovedo. And Louise’s is even lower.
• What Souma can do at her level is perceive QBW. Since she can perceive them, she can quickly/nimbly interact with things. Machines designed for use by super-soldiers takes advantage of this interaction speed. Although she can perceive [QBW] she cannot transmit them.
• Super-soldiers get [QBW] headaches when they repel QBW of the same frequency, much like magnets with like charges repel each other.
• Ribbons gave Louise the same substance that is used in the bodies of the Innovedo to develop QBW.
• It is established that the GN Drives and GN Particles are behind the QBW leveling up.

• The era the Innovado were created in and their tuning varies.
Ribbons’ type was most likely borne from an earlier model, and was given qualities which differ from the later types.
The personalities of the Innovedo who were born from then on were regulated to an extent.
• The biggest mistake of CB and Veda in producing the Innovedo was the construction of combat type Innovedo. “My kind are stronger than humans,” this sort of simple sentiment began to develop, and Ribbons was the first to realize the fundamental contradiction [behind the idea].
• Ribbons told Regene and the others, “I created you,” but he didn’t really create them so to speak, rather it’s just that data obtained from Ribbons went into [their creation].

And there’s still a shitton more, I’ll post more as I get further along.

[EDIT] Moar, going slow because ~stuff~ is happening at home:

P12-13: People dragged into the fight
• Regarding Marina’s song, the world was unaware that it was something she created. It’s a song that spread by word of mouth.
• Katharon participating in the Federation government was one part of the Federation’s reconciliation policy. They were ushered into parliament under the condition that they disarm.

P14-15: Innovedo
• Ribbons was the very first Innovedo produced.
• Through Alejandro Corner, Ribbons eliminated all of the Observers.
• Setsuna managed to defeat Ribbons because he had much more combat experience. In the beginning when Ribbons was created, he was allowed to develop the characteristics he happened to posses purely on his own, but it’s been a long time since he was on the front lines.
• Ribbons was O Gundam’s original Meister, but he knew that according to the plan the Meisters were to perish. Because of that, Ribbons considered surrendering [his position as a] Meister. “I want to see Aeolia’s plan to the end!” he thought. Ribbons didn’t want to die. Even though he didn’t understand that to the end, it was tied to the plan’s failure.
• Regene is a child. It’s not like he had his eye on the top position from the beginning. Beforehand, (the Innovedo) were unconsciously [programed with the command] “enforce Aeolia’s plan.” And so he cooperated with Tieria.
• “00″ is what you might call a “hivemind” (lol)

  Some more:

P16-17 Gundam Development Tree
P18-19 Enemy MS Development Tree

P20-22 Mizushima x Kuroda Interview
• In the midst of my life as a screenwriter throughout the series, I think I probably went through more drafts than ever with this project. More than one episode had to be rewritten 6-7 times.
It felt like I was in the deepest pits of hell (lol).
In the middle of it, I’d become defiant and [say things like] “If I rewrite it eight times it’ll be perfect!” (Kuroda)
{more general stuff about writing the series, skipping because I’m bored}

P23-25 Mizushima and Kuroda talk about the main cast.

{fuck Allelujah :D}

Tieria:
• Originally all of the Gundam Meisters were going to be Innovedo.
As a matter of fact, because Ribbons stepped down from being a Gundam Meister, a variety of humans were able to take his place.
Tieria was just Regene’s substitute.
That’s why he wasn’t given any information about it. {not following 100% so I might be reading this wrong}

Concerning Tieria’s “I… I… I…”
(It’s been established that the Innovedo are sexless)
• That was the depiction of his identity falling apart in battle (Mizushima)
• I (Kuroda) think that originally, Tieria used “boku,” but when he became a Gundam Meister, he convinced himself to switch to “ore.” As “ore” he took pride in being able to handle his duties with ease, but with his own failure that [identity] was shaken, “I… I… I…” he sobbed. His “boku” in the second season was the result of figuring out where he stood and finally being at ease with himself. He returned to “boku”.
Well, I guess there are still traces of the original “a beautiful woman disguised as a man” concept (lol)

• In the last episode it’s not exactly as if Tieria was able to make complete use of Veda’s capabilities.

Paraphrased/summarized snippets about the other characters (I’ll go back and do some of these properly later, just picking out the most interesting bits for the moment):

• Sumeragi is Spanish with Japanese ancestors.
• Feldt dyes her hair because she has a complex about not being born/raised on Earth.
• Lasse was supposed to die at the end of S1 but they changed it.
• Wang Liu Ming and Hong Long are half-siblings.
• Christina was a hacker. She had a bad relationship with her stepmother so she ran away from home and became a hacker. She decided to join CB to avoid being arrested.
• Lichty thought that because of the way his body was, he couldn’t fall in love normally. He gave up on the idea of happiness thinking he’d never be able to marry or have children.
{there’s more, I’m just stopping here for the moment}

Also if there was any lingering questions about Innovade genders:

The Innovedo, with the exception of Anew who is listed as female, are sexless.
* They’re not listed as “unknown” anymore, but rather “–.” On a related note, their birthdays and bloodtypes are all listed as “unknown” now.

Goddamnit /m/, this actually looks interesting:

And just when I thought I was done with 00… :<

[EDIT] kouryakukan to-be-updated blurb on Dengeki Hobby/Gundam Ace/Hobby Japan:

Gundam 00I will be starting serialization in next month’s Gundam Ace.
It’s the story of the Innovaids awoken in the midst of 00’s second season.*
The “I” in “ooI” is [the word] “I.”
There’s a two-page spread of Feldt, Souma and Marina in bathing suits.
Illustrated by Kayo Ikeda.

 There’s a color illustration of the Meisters in Dengeki Hobby. 

Hobby Japan’s 00V is related to the movie. 
Celestial Being, the spaceship containing Veda, is under the current Federation’s control and it appears that investigation [of the ship] is in progress.

*- A couple of notes:
1) I forgot what the official romanization of イノベイド ended up being.
2) Given the phrasing I don’t think it’s talking about the skittles squad proper. Unless I’m just being a dumbass about さなかに (which is entirely possible) or not all of them were awake prior to the start of S2 (Ribbons, Regene and Tieria obviously were and iirc Bling was around in between seasons in one of the other side stories).

[EDIT II] Can’t sleep, random chunks of interesting stuff from kouryakukan (skimming the last few posts 90% of the 00 stuff seems to be the kind of bullshit you’d expect at this stage “hey, I bet those lights around Jupiter they showed in the last seconds will be important in the movie!” kind of stuff–but a few things sounded interesting):

From July’s PASH: 

Movie Q&A:

Q: “[What about] Tieria’s revival?”
A: He should be able to board and act with both Veda and Ptolemy* (lol)
A:  If Veda is put aboard Ptolemy, then he should be able to act together with them. (lol) {thanks to mike_s_6 for the correction!}
Just how he’ll be revived will be very interesting.

Q: “Will that character (Graham) be involved [in the movie]?”
A: Setsuna’s final words resounded in him somehow and he grasped the key. 
As a result, whether he has a “from now on” or not, I don’t know.

*-I still don’t really understand ごとconstructions so this could be all sorts of fucked up. Anyway, right now I’m thinking hologram, because that would be “interesting,” but then again by Japanese anime mag standards Tieria pulling a Ribbons and downloading into a clone body would probably qualify as “interesting” too. :|

Prolly gonna keep skimming for interesting stuff until I get sleepy…

Bits from the Complete Mission book:

[Friendship Level graph]

Setsuna: Gundam – 5; Marina, Saji and Neil – 4
Lockon: Anew – 5; Haro and Neil – 4; Setsuna – 1
Allelujah: Marie – 5; Setsuna and Tieria – 2; Lyle – 1
Tieria: Neil – 5; Setsuna – 4; Veda – 2; Lyle – 1 

{skip}

 - Patrick was called in to replace Souma who “died in action”
 - Hallelujah was revived in ep 25 thanks to the Trans-am Burst
 - Louise retired from the military

{skip} 

Q: Has Tieria ever gone out with a woman?
A: I don’t think so. He hasn’t gone out with anyone aside from Veda.

{skip}

P94-97 Kuroda interview. VA and reader submitted Q&A.

• Characters’ names
Allelujah’s has the meaning of “blessing” and “baptism.” I still can’t talk about the origin of Tieria’s, but please look forward to [that in] the movie. Graham’s [came from] “ground” and “acre,” words denoting “earth” and “vastness.”

[EDIT] Some more from the Complete Mission book:

• Will the movie end 00?
For me personally, I intend to be done with it, but whether you could call it the end [of 00] is up to Mizushima.  I think the if the director started talking about continuing in another work, it’d go on. 

• Dream couple
I like Allelujah and Marie. {oh, lol}

 • During auditions, Marina’s family name was “Rajel” and yet it ended up being “Ismail,” what’s the story behind that?
If you look it up you’ll notice that [Rajel] is a little too high class, so the director settled on Ismail. 

• The Innovedo look human, but how are they constructed?
They’re very nearly human. Designer babies.  They [each] have a model, and are distinguished only [serial/model/etc] number, and so there are a lot of them with the same face. In reality, there are very few combat types among the Inovedo.

{probably gonna keep going on this until I get bored}

• When Tieria lost his body, it seemed like he entered Veda, but rather than entering it he linked with it. In short, his consciousness were allowed to take refuge in the temporary memory buffer. Not all Innovedo can do this.

• Did Regene enter [Veda] too?
Regene didn’t. While linking with Tieria, Regene gave him the code to cancel [Ribbons'] access rights. And so Tieria was able to take away Ribbons’ control [over Veda].

P98-101 Interview with Mizushima. Illustration of Tieria wearing an apron preparing dinner. 

• If the movie hadn’t been greenlit, some main characters were slated to die. 
• The photograph of Billy and Sumeragi in the last episode was taken by Millena. 
• Even Tsunematsu was asked if Marina and Setsuna are going to get married, but presently we have no intent to depict such an event. I’d rather leave that to the fans’ imagination.
•  The movie’s story has already been determined. All of the main characters will probably appear. The lead is Setsuna, of course. 

I’m really behind on Ristorante Paradiso, so given my shitty internet connection and minimal space available on my laptop I decided to give Crunchyroll a go. I should mention that I’ve been whining for years that anime companies need to be providing a faster turnaround for the international market if they ever want to dream about ending the piracy problem, or at the very least minimizing it. To be perfectly honest I think the concept of Crunchyroll is fantastic and that it’s a huge step in the right direction—but it’s got some rather glaring problems right now.

I’ve heard /a/ bitch about the quality of the video and whatnot, but I dunno it seems comprable to other streaming video services (Hulu, Netflix, etc) and really doesn’t bother me. I’m not a huge qualityfag for most things. Some shows definitely benefit from HD (SenBa for example), but for the most part it’s not a big issue and at best it’s more of a luxury than a necessity–i.e. Do I *need* to watch SenBa in HD to enjoy it? No. Is it even more awesome in HD? Hell yeah. Anyway, I think the free streaming quality is just fine. I haven’t looked at the quality of any of the other options. I’d have higher standards for something I’d be paying for, but for free this is perfectly acceptable. 

My main problem with CR is the atmosphere/interface. Take a look at CR in comparison to Hulu:

I dunno about you, but I’d take Hulu’s interface over CR’s any day. I think the main issue is that CR hasn’t changed it’s look a whole lot since it became legitimized—it still looks more-or-less like Youtube (or any other user-generated video upload site). The video is off center and the area immediately around it is quite cluttered with unnecessary shit and obnoxious moving ads (I’m sorry, I just find it intensely annoying to try to focus the video while there’s a WoW ad cycling over and over to the side). Admittedly the ads thing is likely a result of a different advertising scheme (namely, no commercials). But on Hulu, the video literally takes center stage on the screen, the area around it is much neater and professional looking.

Another major area of annoyance with CR is it’s idiotic userbase. Hulu has similiarly idiotic people, but the nice thing about Hulu is that it doesn’t shove obnoxious user comments in your face. I don’t think I’d use Hulu as much as I do if just below the video there were things like this:

[insert obnoxious, animated avatar]
xsmexygurll69x:
OMG!!!!! SILUS IS SOooOOooo HAWTT!!!!11111 <3

[insert avatar with 'witty' text]
sirsparklepants: 
lol guiz I just relized. david. slaid. golaieth. LIEK IN THE BIBLE!

Again, very Youtube. Not that it’s a bad thing for Youtube, but if you’re trying to present yourself as a professional site, with “official” content as opposed to user-generated stuff it just doesn’t seem to mesh very well. But maybe it’s just me. If I want to know what people are saying about an episode of something, I go on /a/ or I’ll go look at blogs or a forum. I don’t care what the idiots on CR think about an episode. 

tl;dr: CR, try to be more like Hulu and maybe people would be more interested in using your services than pirating your subs :P