hardworkandguts

[hardworkandguts]

Umaru throwing a tantrum

[hardworkandguts]

Himouto! Umaru-chan

干物妹！うまるちゃん

(Anime)

Slice of life comedy by Sankakuhead

Era: 2010s

Rating: B

Plot: Umaru Doma is the model high school girl: her grades are perfect, excels at sports and other activities, is well liked in the community and is so beautiful she sparkles. This in public, at home the minute she puts on her hamster hood, she becomes a lazy gremlin who's only interested in games, watching TV, reading manga, and eating junk food, to the desperation of her older brother.

Length: 24 + 2 episodes

Thoughts: Some months ago I've mentioned Gabriel Dropout, another Doga Kobo show with kind of a similar premise, where an angel falls into the vices of online gaming and becomes a complete gremlin slacker, but in here the perfect girl becomes a literal chibi gremlin slob, to the point she has to juggle being outdoor or indoor Umaru, depending on who she's talking to and still finding time to be UMR, an expert gamer clearing the top scores and claw machine prizes at the local arcade.

The first episides are dedicated to setting her relationships: her older brother Taihei, who has to deal with her tantrums in both gremlin and cute forms, the later being much harder because it's generally in public and making her cry in public makes him look bad, downstairs neighbor Nana Ebina, who moved to Tokyo from Akita, and has a crush on Taihei since he was the first person to realise her eyes are up there and gets easily flustered in his presence, and since she goes with Umaru to school knows her by her outside form, while Kirie, another classmate who seems to scare most of her class, happened to accidentally come across her gremlin form, and being shy and more comfortable around kids, quickly became friends with "Komaru", the younger sister persona Umaru made up on the spot to keep the ruse going. The last of her classmates is Sylphynford, who is very energetically ultra competitive with Umaru, and meets UMR during a not Street Fighter 4 tournament, not discovering who she really is.

The running joke of the show is that nobody seems to recognise the three are the same person, or that Bomber, Taihei's friend doesn't even recognise his own sister Kirie if she changes her hair. Now, does Umaru really changes shape like a really lazy magical girl, or does she becomes just so slovenly lazy nobody can believe that's the same model student? Well, there's never an answer, and if it's one that must be answered, it is one if those questions the answer is simply "yes". The recurring theme, however, are the little sisters and how they connect with their older siblings as they grow up: while Umaru is very much mooching off Taihei, she has plenty of points when she realises for all the shit he gives her over being lazy, he very much loves her and the reason she's so spoiled is that he will accommodate her whims within the reasonable, also because all her friends notice how kind he is to everyone. Ebina decided to move to Tokyo alone trying to find her older brother, who left home years before to find a job. Kirie isn't comfortable around adults, including Bomber, who is mostly concerned over not being able to connect with her. Hikari already sees Taihei as her older brother after noticing her older sister Kanau likes him since their school days and would like them to get together to make her happy. Sylphynford idolises her older brother Alex, and is terrified of embarrassing herself in front of him. And just for convenience, all of them are very close: the girls are all schoolmates, Taihei, Bomber and Kanau have been together since school and work at the later's family corporation, and Alex is a more recent hire. They also unknowingly met Ebina's brother during a work trip. Star Wars level of everyone knowing each other or their family.

All in all, it's a fun show about a gremlin, with plenty of heartfelt moments.

Recommended to: Gremlins.

Plus:

It's well animated and funny, a nice slice of slice show who got two seasons, something you don't see every day.

Minus:

Umaru can be a bit much at times, although usually not for very long before it starts being funny.

[hardworkandguts]

Sometimes she's a lot of things.

[hardworkandguts]

New Cutey Honey

新・キューティーハニー

(OVA)

Magical Girl by Go Nagai

Era: 1990s

Rating: B

Plot: Sometimes she's a tabloid reporter, sometimes she's a nurse, sometimes she's a geisha, sometimes she's... the cute secretary to the mayor of a neo-gothic cyberpunk city in the late 21st century riddled with crime with no memories of her past life? Anyway, she is Cutey Honey, the warrior of love, ready for the 90s.

Length: 8 episodes (~25 minutes)

Thoughts: One of those iconic characters that was never quite fully appreciated in the west, likely because... how were they going to push a show that moved from a magical girl shoujo into a shonen demographic by going really fucking sexy, as the editor asked? Not that it didn't stop the character from becoming very popular even with the original intended audience because she kicks ass, but you know, violence ok, tits, no. As the landscape changed in the 90s and you could say going topless was almost obligatory for an OVA, Honey made a return, and from what I've seen, this might be my favourite version of Cutey Honey as a character. Still kind of innocent, but more aware and far more confident than her younger and ditzier versions, her love for everyone carrying her through her mission. The rest of the cast include Danbei, now back in cyborg / super robot form, and his descendants: Chokkei, a boy who has a crush on Honey and worships Mayor Light, who is trying to bring peace to the streets of Cosplay City, his mother Daiko and his father Akabaku, both expert thieves, as well as many references and cameos from other Go Nagai works, including from the original Cutie Honey and an episode with Devilman himself in a supporting role.

The first half of the OVA has Honey awakening from her job as the Mayor's secretary, and realising her calling as her friends are in danger, and tracking down Lord Dolmeck, the mysterious man who threatened the mayor into surrendering the city, following a path of red capsules that turn random people into monsters she has to fight, before coming into the realisation it might be 100 years into the future, but her enemy is the same, Panther Zora. The second half, set a few years later, starts with a bomb threat over the vacuum of power created by the death of Lord Dolmeck, which Honey manages to track down, until it is stolen by the disciples of Panther Zora, reborn once again and now posessing them directly. The supporting cast adds Natsuko, a girl from the gang that stole the bomb in the first episode and love interest of Chokkei. Unfortunately, the second part of the OVA was planned for 8 episodes, but was cut in half, so there isn't much of a conclusion to the story.

Visually it looks as good as you would expect a 90s OVA to look, and let's just say a lot of care has gone into her transformations. It is generally very well animated, although I feel the fights could have used a more dynamic direction. I really liked the "Gotham if it was designed by Gaudi" look of the setting in the first season, and it was a shame it got dropped for a more conventional setting in the second half.

Recommended to: A good entry point to Cutey Honey

Plus:

Hey look, I'm not going to say anything about the fanservice here because this is Cutey Honey in a 90s OVA and you should know what you're walking into. And it's a plus because...

Very typical and very good mid 90s character design. It looks fantastic overall, the characters look very clean, the setting in the first half is fantastic.

Minus:

It is very short, and the four cancelled episodes are really missed.

Fights could be better, to be honest.

[hardworkandguts]

Weekly Catch-up #5

Nothing major, only thinking of figuring out some of the stuff in headers, like author (where I put the mangaka or adaptation director without any sort of consistency) and adding which studio it is primarily from. That's the problem of the backlog, Tumblr sucks when you have over 70 queued posts and I get lazy from thinking about editing all that.

(last week)

What was on?

The Apothecary Diaries

(ep 2.18) While Maomao ia still on parts unknown, and Lady Gyokuyou is about to give birth, Jinshi almost accidentally uncovered the conspiracy in the rear palace, picking up a lead about the mysterious eunuch, and investigating the graves of the victims of the previous emperor, runs into Shenlu, and from there visits Consort Loulan and reflecting on the Addicted To Love thing she has going on with her maids, notices she has the moles of one of them, which he thoroughly memorises, and immediately goes from your friendly sparkly eunuch into "Ka Zuigetsu" mode and deeply terrorises her (and the other maids) into confessing she has indeed abandoned the palace. So, huh, is bug girl Consort Loulan? She looks like them, only with less makeup. Anyway, adding to his worries of his missing cat and having to think about Shenlu's terrified reaction to seeing the previous emperor in him, he also knows Lakan discovered Maomao is missing and is about to do something about that, but before had sent his adopted son to investigate and discovered a suspicious rise in the price of grain and metal, adding to the case of a greater conspiracy against the emperor and the bloodline. Good for Lakan, because those palace repairs look expensive.

Kowloon Generic Romance

(ep 6) Around the start, looking at Hebinuma and Gwen and thinking of the retro style and making a joke about them being cousins in the English dub (seconds later) wait nevermind. So, the second Kowloon was also destroyed, but some people can still see it by resonating with it in a way Generic Terra is involved? Over on bsky I've mentioned this illusion theory would be more interesting if we never saw them go up a bunch of stairs. Or is the opposite, everyone else thinks it was destroyed, but only some can still see it? Ahhh, anyway. I'm sure next week we'll be fed a few more hints of mystery that will make me sound like a total fool.

Witch Watch

(ep 6) First things first, is it me, or was the character design a bit off this time around? I usually get a few screencaps of Nico doing funny faces but this time there was very little of it. As for this episode, spring is in the air and everyone is or wants to be in love. Except Moi, for Nico's annoyance. It's a nice episode that build in their relationship, but really, the animation felt off.

Uchuujin MuuMuu

(ep 5) Well, can't complain about the weirdness factor on a episode where we see Akihiro casually eat a box of tomatoes over a few minutes, and he's completely useless with technology, making his choice to join the refurbishing club very strange, and Tenkubashi being abducted by aliens who have decided to get the knowledge they need the hard way. I still think this show kinda lacks an extra gear I don't think it has, also, still don't get the point of Akihiro's girlfriend, most interactions are of her getting jealous of Sakurako being next to him, then after 30 seconds she disappears until the next episode. Last time I'll complain about that, because it's a weird recurring bit. On today's lesson, troubleshooting an AC that shuts down, and how x-rays work.

Gundam Soldering Pump

(ep 5) it's the beach episode! Only instead of a beach it's the belly of the Red Gundam in a damp recess of a space colony, and if you're wondering if it's a bad idea: yes. Also the "war is hell, huh?" episode, which is a weird mix but if you have only 12, you have to make them count, same with newcomer kira-kira action, now from Nyaan, who had to get in the Eva as Machu was too busy giving the ol' Kamille treatment to some guards and was running late for the match, and later seemed oddly thrilled with all the killing. Something I haven't mentioned so far is Machu has quite a range of faces, all good. Also: saw this theory on who Annqi might be, and you know what, yes.

mono Weekend Animation

(ep 5) This is more of an observation rather than criticism, but it feels the initial premise of the show around the cinephoto club just went out of the window. After an episode where Kako convinces Haruno and the club to go for a wine tasting trip, now she gets her on a cured ham trip, and what makes it weirder in the context of what I've said above is looking up the location this episode takes place and noticing this went unmentioned. Once again, not a criticism, just an observation, as in, if you are looking for a hobby anime about photography, after the first episodes this is looking like it probably ain't it. Second story is a ghost story, and those are generally fun, and no exception. But here comes a problem...

Food For The Soul

(ep 5) uh, with the cinephoto club now being mostly about going to nice locations and eat the local delicacies, where does it leave the do nothing / food appreciation club? Well, you put Kurea and Shinon getting their driving licenses, and by now, you should know how that plays out with Shinon. Second half of the episode have them driving Kurea's mother work van for practice, and as Shinon gets into the freeway and overshoots the exit, they decide to go Tsukiji, where Kurea used to go to the local food market with her mother, and decide on a seafood barbecue for today's meal and to give Nana some memories together. It's a fun and chill episode, although I feel mono straying away from what I expected would be the hobby show with tourism highlights isn't helping either show to stand out.

Tis Time for "Torture", Princess

(ch 269) In a Hime-less episode for a change, we get to see Inki terrified about a big-budget sequel to her favourite movie, so she goes with Youki just in case it's bad.

Flying Witch

(ch 85) I really wish Flying Witch updated a bit more frequently, because I had a bit of a tough time remembering the characters beyond Mako. Chapters might just come once every three months, but generally they're pretty good, so I'm going to put that more on my shitty memory. Anyway, it's a nice story that begins as a visit to a Buddhist temple that ends as a youkai / ghost story in the typical supernatural iyashikei style it does so well.

Monochrome Days

(ch 19) as promised two weeks ago, it's the start of the serialisation arc, and after winning the contest, Hanaichi and Saori are not too sure if they have everything set to be fully satisfied with the project, particularly the plot, so they pass on the priority opportunity and aim even higher, which greatly impresses Hanako, and you can imagine where it goes from there. This continues to be an interesting view into the manga industry, and I'd be curious to hear how faithful it is.

In other news:

It's not exactly "news" (just realised I lost it on a draft and didn't wrote it back in) but the 9th volume of the English release of Can You Keep a Secret? / I Have a Crush at Work is out. Some weeks ago on the post about the adaptation I mentioned there's a lot that was not adapted and the finale matches the 8th volume, so if you want more Mitsuya and Tateishi, the manga is the place to go, and now you get to see where it picks up from the ending in 10 new chapters. I'll probably feature them on a What was on? still this month.

[hardworkandguts]

Macross Delta

マクロス∆

(Anime)

mecha musical romance by Shoji Kawamori

Era: 2010s

Rating: D

Plot: Eight years after the events of Frontier, the ever expanding human civilization is dealing with VAR syndrome, a mysterious disease where those affected enter a blind rage after a goal is disallowed after three minutes of deliberations hearing a mysterious song. The only known remedy are the songs of Walkure, a tactical sound idol group flashing gang signs. Meanwhile, Hayate Himmelmann, a drifter, is fired from his job stacking crates in a space port, and meets a stowaway, Freyja Wion, an energetic girl who escaped from Windermere, dreaming to join Walkure.

Length: 26 episodes, 2 films

Thoughts: Right, let me get straight to the point and say this is going to be me getting really mad at it, and pretty evidently the reason I avoid talking of stuff I disliked because my extremely petty 90s British music journalist starts emerging. I dropped it once after 8 or 9 episodes, came back to it to reluctantly finish it months later, and now I'm rewatching it again because it's the last of the Macross shows and my brain would rather subject itself to watching it than leaving one unposted about. Although maybe I should just pretend it didn't exist, like all those Highlander sequels they never made.

So, the problems, which themselves allegedly started because it was supposed to be much shorter with a movie to finish the story off. This show bothers me so much on so many levels it doesn't surprise me the least it may have been retooled from a 400 minute project to almost double that.

The characters. Not only instead of one idol (or two, in Frontier) there's five. Like the rest of the cast they mostly have one unique thing about them and you're better off just remembering them for that and not trying to focus on any more details because it's a waste of time - there's really not much to anyone other than that, all are barely above "non speaking role" level. A big part of the problem of the bloated cast of mostly extras is the focus on Windermere. The "SPACY does dodgy shit" is already well established, there's no need to develop so much the backstory of them. SPACY screwed them, they're out for payback, make them kind of sympathetic or that the SPACY is as bad as them or something. I don't need all the scenes about internal workings that are just a slog or infodumping. Plus, who thought it would be a good idea to create the Aerial Knights, that just wreck the flow of every battle - arguably, the only thing it does well just to have captain guy talking to pilot B to let the true wind take him or whatever? You need maybe a couple guys, but seven interchangeable assholes?

Other thing I don't like is that it feels like an extra cynical cash grab. Yes, I've started the series by suggesting the pitch was probably "we can sell toys and soundtracks", but the decision to go full idol group seemed just opportunism to sell merch of five characters and just dump a load of mostly mid songs. The scene where they release a song to deploy a virus on the system and cash in from sales at the same time? It's the header image for a reason, the perfect summary of what many decisions taken for Delta feel to me. Sell waifus and iTunes downloads.

There's some stuff I like; it hits the notes Macross should hit - music, connected to the protoculture, is at the forefront of saving the universe (even if parts of it feel ripped off from Macross II), the variable fighters, theres initially not much in the tension between civilian and military command (as they're planet-based in the first half) but the plot revolves around the SPACY doing bad shit and trying to cover that that, and a love triangle. And this, better than anything, explains how short Macross falls - Mirage is just... a complete non factor? Like many things, it feels like everything was in place but the execution of the ideas was completely botched. It really puts some focus back on dogfighting (because those seven assholes really had to serve a purpose, but it's not like I had to know their family history and favourite hobbies), some of it pretty intense. Some of the songs? Not bad. Visually, it looks uneven. I can live with the 3D mechanical models and elements next to the characters in the previous two shows and accepted that's how things were always going to be, but here? Ugh. How do you manage to make something that on occasion looks more distracting than in the 90s when that stuff was new?

It got two movies, the first, released in 2018 is a retelling of the story reusing a lot of animation with some changes and a few omissions to the story (for instance, what Hayate's dad did goes unmentioned). If in one hand it compresses a lot of the story (bad), it also compresses a lot of the story (good), and it's hard to say if it my head was filling in gaps with stuff from the show or there were jumps where things don't make sense, but either way, if you find myself in my camp, it's probably the better way of seeing Delta (C). 2021 saw the release of Zettai Live, which continues from the end of the movie, and as Walkure and Delta are in Windermere as part of the peace negotiations, a new enemy folds with the goal of freeing the galaxy from the influence of humanity and the mysterious Lady M. It reuses some bits of the plot from the show, one of the series's favourites makes another appearance, and we get a sad but kind of meaningful ending. Do I prefer the movie version of the story? Well, it's certainly better in many aspects (B).

So, where does Macross go from here? If I had to guess, between the Labyrinth of Time short and the references to Megaroad here, I wonder if the plan is to bridge the franchise together. Time will tell, but this feels where it's going to lead - Lynn Minmei is presumed lost, so is Alto, maybe Basara found a way to get to them in his travels. The galaxy needs saving, and it will take more than one hero. What is Mari Iijima up to these days?

Recommended to: WELL NOT TO ME IT ISN'T. Except the movies.

Plus:

Predicted people with vaguely European names losing their shit because of something called VAR

The dogfights look veeeeeery cool

Freyja deserved a better show than this

Movies are an improvement over the show.

Minus:

I'd be more interested in hearing the shit the antagonists went through if they didn't suck so much.

The 3D models look *awfully* out of place next to the characters.

A complete slog with bland, undercooked characters.

Honestly, throw 30 more characters in there, will you? Maybe a gardener for the Windermere royal family or something.

The love triangle with two sides.

[hardworkandguts]

Once again, it still impresses me how a kind of oddball game for the Sega Saturn became a phenomenon to the point of what you are witnessing here took place, yet it remains a niche title within western audiences.

[hardworkandguts]

Sakura Wars

サクラ大戦

(OVA 1 + 2)

Steampunk adventure by Radix / Animate Film

Era: 1990s, 2000s

Rating: A

Plot: Early in the Taisho era, steam powered machines are the norm and the world is recovering from the Demon Wars that destroyed Tokyo. To prevent that from happening again, the government creates the Mecha-piloting Imperial Combat Revue, working undercover as the Imperial Opera Revue (works because reading Kanji is supposed to make you go mad), and go across the world recruiting people with high spiritual power, necessary to control the Kobus.

Length: 4+6 episodes (~30 min)

Thoughts: Sakura Wars is one of those cases showing huge differences between Japanese and Western markets. Destined to be a "weird title" that mixes a tactical RPG with elements from visual novel and dating sim (genres that had their home in the PC-98, NEC's line of Japan-exclusive home computers), Sega likely deemed an English localisation too expensive for what would be an extremely niche market, and here we arrive at a situation where a franchise is *huge* in Japan, spawning a number of games and adaptations, including a yearly stage show, but in the west it remains mostly a trivia question for best selling Sega Saturn games. So, let's start with the two OVA released as the original games came out.

The first one is around two hours of character introduction - don't expect to see much combat, but you'll surely get the character traits and the dynamics in the team right away. You'll know Sakura is the clumsy latecomer with off the charts potential, Sumire is the prima donna both on the literal and figurative sense, Maria the quiet and very reluctant leader, Iris is the powerful psychic, Kohran the genius / mad scientist behind many improvements to the gear (that more often than not end in a cloud of black smoke), Kanna the muscle of the group, and Ogami, the protagonist in the game and brought to get everyone working in the same direction. You can even kind of figure the RPG class each characters represents from it. The animation quality is quite solid (particularly if you watched the TV series first, which we'll get at a different time) and if the goal was to get you interested in the games, I guess It's engaging more than enough to make you interested. Onto the second, the framing being Ogami reminiscing about previous events as he's packing for training overseas after the events of the first game, each episode focused on a story of one of the stars of the Flower Division, the last two a look at the burden of the Shinguji family. There's even less of combat here, but quality animation once again.

All in all, it's unfair to say these were made to promote the game since this is truly a media franchise, and there's a lot of care put into it. That the game is so interaction heavy makes more sense that there isn't much mecha action here.

Recommended to: Fans of the franchise, but first OVA is a great introduction.

Plus:

Needs to be said, OP, banger. When you have a full length CD that are just several versions of it, you know you did something right.

Both look pretty good

Minus:

First OVA introduces all characters, so it can be viewed by anyone, the second makes it a bit harder to follow as Leni and Orihime are thrown on.

[hardworkandguts]

Weekly Catch-up #4

"This Tumblr is just something I do for fun", I say, while scheduling the first of the two posts for Halloween. Confirming I've dropped Your Forma from these weekly posts because it's a show I was struggling to follow (given the whole "skip the introductory part") but I'm still going back to it once it's completed.

(previous week)

What was on?

The Apothecary Diaries

(ep 2.17) Well, this clears up who is the bug girl and why she appeared a bit out of nowhere. It's still hard to say what to say what are their plans and where Maomao fits in them, other than knowing she's the daughter of Lakan and that Jinshi often relies on her to figure out something weird he knows it's going on but he can't by himself, like why wouldn't the women at the clinic, many who have been in the palace for decades, wouldn't have remembered why the lead skin powder was bad.

Witch Watch

(ep 4) after a full episode introducing Kanshi, we get a three part episode, starting with Nico's homeroom teacher discovering Kukumi is her favourite doujin artist and being extremely normal about that, second about the ill-advised idea of asking Nico to help out with something with magic (well, it did work), and finally we're introduced to Nemu Miyao, a shape shifting (into what, look at the name) witch who wants to make Morihito his familiar but is too shy to even talk with him and absentmindedly follows them home. The kind of character this kind of show gets a ton of mileage from, then.

Food For The Soul

(ep 4) Oh, a surprise fifth girl. She's Nana, a friend of the three that were unsuccessfully trying to start the club, and she didn't initially join because she was trying to start her own club. Thing is, she's even more socially anxious than Mako is and can't even talk with people she doesn't know, which of course makes it impossible for her to do it even after her makeover, and for great comedy when both are together. By the end they bond over souvlaki (the kind you grill, not the one you need guitar pedals for), but I'm sure it's not the last we'll see of that. Maybe my favourite episode so far, and Nana being a great source for reaction images plays into that? Yeah maybe. Also love how they snuck her in the ED.

mono Weekend Animation

(ep 4) on to the cinephoto club, it's a two part episode, first where Kako convinces Haruno to go for a wine tasting (or an all you can drink, your call) and the second where Haruno gets the girls to do a Photorally that unknown to them is also an eating competition. The episode is a bit lighter on the photography side of it, heavy on the tourism promotion side, but one I was ultimately a bit "heh" overall, although we got drunk Haruno.

Kowloon Generic Romance

(ep 5) Uh, well, that surely was a cliffhanger that went nowhere. While it may have been a joke, there's one person for whom it certainly wasn't, and Youmei certainly has her eyes on what Kudou is up to. What is true, however, is that we finally discover the reasons for her plastic surgery as we see what she was up to in her previous life, which I understand might be a weird choice of words for this situation we haven't fully figured out, and puts her talking to Kujirai to just be herself in a different light.

Uchuujin MuuMuu

(ep 4) I've been saying I wanted this to get weird, and it's a small step in the right direction. Carrying on from the giant electrical bill Sakurako got, she's working in the club for meal tickets, where we get to see MuuMuu channelling the Pyramid Power his civilisation mastered (not that he knows how) to turn a battery extra spicy and blowing up on his face. Second story is about the club president trying to impress a girl who's having smartphone battery problems, and after embarrassing himself with the worst analogy possible for USB ports, now has a device that uses a bunch of microwaves to charge her phone at s distance. On this week: opening small appliances, putting a new motor on a milk frother, and how wireless charging works. Could have used one on how to replace my smartphone battery.

Gundam Door Buzzer

(ep 4) Well, this was one of those cases I really don't know if my lackluster knowledge of Gundam is setting me back. Is Shiiko a character from any of the other shows, or is her "Witch" moniker just a reference to the previous Gundam, and she kinda looks like Mirai? Either way, she's in town to beat the Red Gundam, who killed her Mav during the war and wants to settle the score in a clan battle. As how it goes for her, well, that's true Gundam 0079 behaviour, letting your desire for revenge get in the way of surviving, the Gundam RX-78 just has that effect on people. And traumatising Machu, because that's also another thing they do to you.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

(ch 397, 398) So, we get a very good single story that starts with Zeus and M.O.T.H.E.R. having leg cramps, and you can guess what happens next from the image, and a new arc where the Cursed Musician's mother signed him up for an idol audition which he didn't want to go, but as the Demon King wants to send someone to spy on where it is taking place, of course he goes there with Syalis and the nudist, always a fun combo.

Tis Time for "Torture", Princess

(ch 268) Oh, the princess trying to sneakily get one up on Tortura, who gets legitimately annoyed at her for wasting food. Another one for the "I want to see this animated" pile. And speaking of...

In Other News:

Tis Time for "Torture", Princess season 2 confirmed for the Winter 2026 season (via).

In case you missed it, the Rose of Versailles movie is now available on Netflix. A decent effort but severely harmed by the time they had to tell the story.

[hardworkandguts]

Some screens from the new Rose of Versailles movie.

[hardworkandguts]

Rose of Versailles

ベルサイユのばら

(Film)

Historical Shoujo by Ryoko Ikeda

Era: 2020s

Rating: C

Plot: Oscar de Jarjayes, born as the youngest daughter of a noble family in 18th century France is raised as a boy to fulfill her family's role, to serve in the palace guard, where she receives the assignment to protect the future Queen of France, Marie Antoinette.

Length: 113 minutes

Thoughts: Rose of Versailles is one of the very first posts I made here, and remains both a personal favourite and at that time one of my top picks for a show to be given a modern coating, comparing it to The Apothecary Diaries - insert back the tiny gremlins in the background and some of the silliness from the manga, while being a mostly serious historical affair of palacial intrigue. Months later, it was announced it would return, but as a movie, which I don't think is suited for such a well crafted story, and both the visuals from the trailer looked a bit weak and if you are going to use music, ignoring one of the most iconic OPs is a choice, for sure. As it was released in Japan the news was that it was a musical and while I'm not opposed to the idea, the original was so strong in the incidental music department I knew it was going to be an uphill battle for it. So, months later, here we are.

First thing, it's not a musical as much using a few musical montages to advance most of the early part of the story. In a way, that reminds me of the 2006 movie Marie Antoinette, which attracted notoriety by using post-punk and new wave songs to some of the montages of Marie Antoinette's daily life. That movie also shows you can do that story in around the same time, but as this is also Oscar's story, well... On the positive side, the character designs, from Mariko Oka, are closer to the original manga than those of Shingo Araki, and when it isn't trying to do 3D stuff that always reminds me of something like the Sega Saturn RPG Dragon Force, it looks quite good. Unfortunately, that's about as much I can say I liked from it. The music? Hours after watching it, nothing stayed in my ear. However, most of my complaints are from the story being cut down beyond the essentials. The overall arch of the story is of her becoming one of the few persons Marie Antoinette can trust in Versailles, and then witnessing the self-serving interests of the noble class and the constant palacial intrigue, and their treatment of the common people, and during all this her struggles in her identity as a woman, a noble with the duty of protecting the queen and her growing interest in the humanist ideals of the revolution bubbling under the surface. Unfortunately all the palace intrigue beyond her affair with von Fersen is glossed over, and the pains the people of France go though are alluded but since Rosalie is just a girl protecting a boy (in the original, the noble letting him go just to shoot him in the back becomes a key point where Oscar realises that is what she is sworn to protect) and her time with the French Guards is severely cut, having read the manga and watched the original anime, I really can't tell if this adaptation conveys the same weight to the events, or for a newcomer it all feels rushed. Can you suggest this as an introduction to a newcomer to the series? Arguably not, as I think most of it has to be filled with some knowledge of the original story.

Ultimately, there are many problems I already expected, first from the idea of the story as a movie and then from the initial trailer. Expected it would have something to make up for it, but found it very lacking in that aspect. Still hope this brings enough interest so that someone would do a fresh 24 episode adaptation of the manga.

Recommended to: It's probably for the fans more than for newcomers.

Plus:

Good character design

Minus:

Story glosses over much of the human factor that led to the radicalisation of Oscar by the end of the story, without establishing her closeness to Marie Antoinette.

[hardworkandguts]

The Laughing Salesman

笑ゥせぇるすまん

(Anime)

Dark comedy by Fujiko Fujio A

Era: 1980s, 1990s

Rating: C

Plot: Moguro Fukuzou, a short rotund man with a permanent grin of his face and a deep unsettling voice is a mysterious salesman, but rather than dealing in goods, he will fill the empty souls of his costumers by allowing them to live their dreams and desires. However, should they fail to follow his instructions or betray his trust, they will lose everything they had.

Length: 112 episodes (10 minutes long)

Thoughts: If Ninja Hattori, Motoo Abiko's most famous creation might not be that well known outside Japan, I think everyone is well acquainted with Doraemon, probably the most famous kids anime of all time and one of those that can be considered a truly global institution, created by Abiko's lifetime creative partner Hiroshi Fujimoto. They share a drawing style which makes their work instantly recognizable, and a true legacy in children's manga and anime. Now, imagine that same style, but in a dark comedy where men and women see their innermost desires fulfilled, before succumbing to their arrogance, greed or lust.

That's pretty much the whole deal with Laughing Salesman: someone, very often a salaryman or career person bored with life is approached by Maguro to whom they confess something they desire: someone, success or some skill, which he grants for free but under certain strict conditions, such as forfeiting a vice, valuing their newfound fortunes or keeping them within what they wished them for. When they invariably fail to, usually through hubris, they are punished by getting into a even worse position than they started on. Other times, it's not like they did anything wrong, but still the great forces of the universe kicks them down a notch or ten again.

Picking one episode at random, Kazuo Uwame is a salaryman who keeps groveling and apologising at every instance. Tired of being seen as a mat or a ass-kisser, Maguro offers to help him by taking him to the top of a skyscraper, where he will live looking down at everything for a week and change his personality. He becomes more assertive, earns a promotion, but returning home after a week without telling his wife, is greeted by a flying casserole and reverts immediately to his old self, as Maguro walks away reflecting on a week maybe not being enough. Now imagine this with a character that looks like Nobita if he had become a middle-aged salaryman going through a Sparks or Charlie Chaplin phase (or with uh... extremely questionable political beliefs), and you kinda have a big whiplash over what you expect from the visuals and the dark morality tales of the show.

Recommended to: people who like to say "well, they had it coming"

Plus:

It is kinda fucked up, in a good way.

The typical Fujiko Fujio style in something like this is... something.

Minus:

You can pretty much watch, say, 25 random episodes (or even less) and get a gist of it, there's not much variation beyond how poorly his customer acted to get just back where they started or get the finger pointing of doom and have their lives destroyed.

[hardworkandguts]

Weekly Catch-up #3

Well, that's one show less, this week, as a few of them are already completing the first third.

(last week post)

What was on?

Kowloon Generic Romance

(ep 4) So, we know Kujirai B is dead, and Kujirai seems still kind of stuck between being herself and still trying to cling to parts of B's life. What it all means, however, is going to depend heavily on the dynamite cliffhanger ending. Also, this isn't the original Kowloon, it was rebuilt after the original was torn down, which of course isn't going to draw parallels with whatever mystery is going on. And that face on the image? It was never intended to be on a 16:9 HD display, that's clearly a face from a 4:3 VHS and you can't convince me otherwise.

The Apothecary Diaries

(ep 2.16) Ah, right at the start we get to see where Maomao picked up her subtlety, as Luomen writes a caution on things to avoid during the concubine's pregnancies, using simple language so that the maids are able to understand it. Then, as she thinks of who could be behind much of the intrigue in the rear palace, she also discovers what curiosity does to cats, as finally putting all pieces together and watching the full picture come to life, an old friend reappears. This is maybe the highest stakes the series has been so far, so it will be interesting to see how they deal with that. On the other story, Lakan is getting to the end of the the assassination attempt, in true Lakan fashion, quietly showing Shishou might be connected to the imperial through a green wine ruse to who he thinks is the Emperor's younger brother. Maomao is truly a daughter of her two dads.

Gundam David Lynch Soundscape

(ep 3) After an episode showing where this continuity diverged, we're back to the main story, where Machu meets and immediately teams up with Shuji, the pilot of the red Gundam (who's not Char) in the very well animated clan battles. However, as much as we can put that to "Newtype things", the way Machu quickly convinced him into the illegal deathmatch feels more like a concession to fitting an whole story in 12 episodes, even if it's likely it will get more.

Witch Watch

(ep 3) It's maybe the weakest episode so far, but as it had to present the last of the three main characters, it needed to shift gears a bit instead of just another shambolic display of magic. And we got two, anyway. Kanshi has everything to be one of those really annoying characters, but Morihito plain not caring about his hate for Oni, and his attempts to move in with them to better protect Nico being immediately outed as a continuation of plots related to his terrible money management put him in the positive side.

Uchuujin MuuMuu

(ep 3) A few things to pick up from here, the aliens aren't cat shaped, they just picked that disguise (which explains the zipper tab in their back) because, worth reminding, only the dumb ones are left and thought cats are the true dominant species of earth, and the electricity cost of keeping an alien craft cloaked is almost $500 a month, if you are surprised, imagine Sakurako. Also love the true hater move by the club president of ratting out on some guys doing illegal trash dumping because their stuff was not fixable, still not so much the point of Tsurumi's girlfriend who only appears to get mad at Sakurako. On this week's lesson: automatic doors and how to replace an electrical plug.

Your Forma

(ep 4) Ah, the plot dump episode, and along with it the explanation of the mystery. With this arc out of the way, I do hope it improves, because this is the weakest shows of those I'm watching. Reading on the most trusted source on the internet, YouTube comments, apparently this adaptation not only skips the first part of the story, leading to these long boring scenes where someone has to infodump because you still need to make people aware of how this world works, and also did away with much of the personal relationships, making the end of the episode feel void of any meaning. On a slower season I'd probably give more attention to it, but now I'm considering watching it all at once once they drop the +4 hour video on YouTube.

Mono Weekend Animation

(ep 3) under the excuse what's certainly not Laid Back Camp getting an anime adaptation, Haruno is invited to make a Manga pilgrimage around the area and takes the club with her, with the usual adventures. You know, driving on mountain roads when you can barely drive in the city, going into spooky woods in the middle of the night, falling asleep holding the map saying when to turn, the usual stuff. Some great faces and really great background work in this episode. Maybe I should add Laid Back Camp to the list.

Food For the Soul

(ep 3) Also a road trip episode, this one starting with Shinon planning the while thing, then knowing she's spend the money she has left, hid it in the last place she would look for, leaving just as trail of hints. Or that was the idea, anyway. Second half is mostly a very regular cute girls going cute things on location (Mount Takao), but I feel the Photography club wins the comparison..

In other news:

AnimEigo released their third episode on their series of interviews with people in the industry, in this episode focused on the NYC con scene since the early 2000s featuring Peter Tatara.

Questions?

None. Lines are open.

[hardworkandguts]

It's incredibly funny how this is a reference that just reaches across the globe.

[hardworkandguts]

Lucky☆Star

らき☆すた

(Anime)

Slice of life by Kagami Yoshimizu

Era: 2000s

Rating: A

Plot: Four high school girls debate the hot topics of the day.

Length: 24 episodes + 1 OVA (~50 minutes)

Thoughts: So, I've seen plenty of originals, straight adaptations with varying levels of fidelity and filler, "you do you" adaptations like Excel Saga, variations over the original material like 16-Bit Sensation, "this is a fighting game so here's two pages outlining the characters" like Virtua Fighter, but I *think* this is the first time I saw something that was based on a four panel comic. The result are mostly complete scatterbrained mini-stories (the OVA does a bit more structured stories) that only get more bizarre the longer they get, as the girls discuss important topics such as the proper way to eat a chocolate cornet, the effect going to the beach has on hair, dipping into your dad's eroge games collection, how extra innings in baseball and election coverage impact airing times of anime, the semantics of tsundere, going to Comiket, Gu***m, American sports team calling themselves "World Champions", and a varied assortment of shower thoughts the cast goes through in very weird ways, depending on the combination of characters present.

Speaking of, we have Konata Izumi, the blue-haired otaku, the Hiiragi twins, Tsukasa, the lazy ditz who's always catching strays and Kagami, the serious and smart one and finally Miyuki Takara, the moe type of the group. In addition there's also Nanako Kuroi, homeroom teacher of the girls (except Kagami) who spends most of her time playing the same online game as Konata, Yui Narumi, Konata's older cousin who for everyone's surprise manages to hold her to her job as a traffic warden, and Konata's father Soujirou, a writer who may have influenced her otaku ways and uh, has a type. Then there's also Akira Kogami, a 14 year old idol who cheerfully presents the final segments of the show, Lucky Channel... until something that presents a threat to her position (usually from Minoru, her cohost she constantly threatens over what she sees as getting a bit too big for his britches) emerges. In the end stretch freshmen Yutaka (Konata's younger sister) and her friend Minami join to add additional "just what am I watching" moments to it.

Yeah, look, it's fun. That's around as much as you need to know. In a way, the constant references to anime and the kind of enjoyment you get from Konata's references reminds me of Excel Saga, although infinitely much less hyper and in a more Seinfeldian way. Is this an anime about nothing? Yeah, maybe. Since it's based on a 4 panel manga, there isn't anything resembling a plot or coherent stories, it's just a chain of random thoughts going through the characters' heads. So, is it an unscripted comedy podcast living on riffs they get tired of in 5 minutes? You know what? Yes.

Recommended to: fans of fast paced references

Plus:

It can be legitimately funny on how a random topic can come up, and then turn into a bizarre train of thought by one or two of the characters.

Timoteeeeei

Minus:

It can vary on quality, but since a bit you don't get might last anything from thirty seconds to two minutes, it's not a great deal.

[hardworkandguts]

For your amusement, a never-ending loop of Kintaro being abused by Madam President.

[hardworkandguts]

I'd like to remind everyone Golden Boy was broadcast here on cable during the late afternoons.