Whatever It Is That Normal Kids Get To Think About
Well, there went June.
Been up to even less than usual. Besides the job hunt and work, really not much happening. I finished some noteworthy anime recently, so I thought I'd tell y'all about that:
Arakawa Under The Bridge was a hilarious series from the always-delightful direction of Akiyuki Shinbo and SHAFT Studios. If you're not familiar, it's about an office worker whose life is saved by a strange girl living under the Arakawa bridge. Having been raised all his life to never be indebted to anyone for anything, he becomes her lover, though not quite in the traditional sense. His life under the bridge leads him to meet other similarly strange individuals, such as a cross-dressing former soldier, two children convinced they're robots and the mayor of this makeshift village- a guy in a kappa costume. The show is hilarious, pretty, and the manga upon which it is based was conceived by the same crazy mind behind Saint Young Men.
Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei (literally "A Compendium of 4.5 Tatami Mythology") or "The Tatami Galaxy" as Funimation chose to release it when they streamed it, was tied with Durarara!! (also awesome) for the best show of spring season, in my mind. It is about a college student with no name who is informed by a god of matrimony that other such gods will be meeting to decide if the apple of his eye, Akashi, will marry him or his best friend sworn enemy, Ozu. The series follows our protagonist as he is forced to go through his first two years of college again and again, making different choices every time that lead him down different roads. This show is gorgeous on so many levels- dialogue, art, plot, music- I just can't say enough about how deeply this show touched me.
Lastly we have House of Five Leaves. This was an odd one.It's about a Ronin that joins a... club? Secret society? IDK. I couldn't really get what this show was supposed to be about, plot-wise, and my mind wandered whenever I watched an episode to the point that I only got the barest idea of what I was watching. And yet that didn't stop me from going through all twelve episodes of it. The music is great and the art is gawjus. Sometimes a show has enough going for it in the tone department that the other stuff doesn't matter.
I also listened to a bunch of music. Here is some of it:
Thao Nguyen (who now plays with a band called The Get Down Stay Down) is an alt-folk-rock act that enjoys her acoustic guitar and singing about things that make you feel relaxed. "Like The Linen" is quite the appropriate title:
"Gorgeous Things"
"Chivalry"
The Avett Bros. specialize in love. If there were ever a more appropriate application of the TVTropes Trope "In Love With Love", I don't know what it is. "Emotionalism" is a love that one would be glad to be a part of, but even watching warms the heart:
"Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
"All My Mistakes"
Defiance, Ohio is a group that seems dissatisfied with where they're at in life. They worry that they're too emotionally fucked up to make real connections and are just anxious in general, it seems. And yet "The Fear, The Fear, The Fear" is not a downer of a punk rock record by any standard. They see the darkness, and they laugh at it. Laugh along with them:
"The Things We Won't Let Settle But Let Set"
"Oh, Cheri"
The Tough Alliance is a dance act that lifts my soul up every time I hear them. They have energy in spades and have the talent to put that into their beats on "A New Chance":
"First Class Riot"
"A New Chance"
A few weeks ago I found out about The Voice Project- one of the many things I've stumbled upon via the magic of Twitter. This site is dedicated to helping spread peace in Uganda by getting people to donate when they get singers to do cover songs. Some of the stuff on the site is just pure beauty. I've ripped a few of the videos to MP3, and if you find something that catches your fancy, I encourage you to do the same and donate if you're able.
And finally, today I saw Winter's Bone a mystery/suspense piece of sorts set in the south. This movie reminded me a lot of the Millennium books, which I am just about 2/3rds of the way through. Smart female heroine, intriguing mystery, but all with a southern twist. It's a gripping tale of a life harder than most of us have ever or will ever know. Check it out if it's in a theater near you.
Been up to even less than usual. Besides the job hunt and work, really not much happening. I finished some noteworthy anime recently, so I thought I'd tell y'all about that:
Arakawa Under The Bridge was a hilarious series from the always-delightful direction of Akiyuki Shinbo and SHAFT Studios. If you're not familiar, it's about an office worker whose life is saved by a strange girl living under the Arakawa bridge. Having been raised all his life to never be indebted to anyone for anything, he becomes her lover, though not quite in the traditional sense. His life under the bridge leads him to meet other similarly strange individuals, such as a cross-dressing former soldier, two children convinced they're robots and the mayor of this makeshift village- a guy in a kappa costume. The show is hilarious, pretty, and the manga upon which it is based was conceived by the same crazy mind behind Saint Young Men.
Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei (literally "A Compendium of 4.5 Tatami Mythology") or "The Tatami Galaxy" as Funimation chose to release it when they streamed it, was tied with Durarara!! (also awesome) for the best show of spring season, in my mind. It is about a college student with no name who is informed by a god of matrimony that other such gods will be meeting to decide if the apple of his eye, Akashi, will marry him or his best friend sworn enemy, Ozu. The series follows our protagonist as he is forced to go through his first two years of college again and again, making different choices every time that lead him down different roads. This show is gorgeous on so many levels- dialogue, art, plot, music- I just can't say enough about how deeply this show touched me.
Lastly we have House of Five Leaves. This was an odd one.It's about a Ronin that joins a... club? Secret society? IDK. I couldn't really get what this show was supposed to be about, plot-wise, and my mind wandered whenever I watched an episode to the point that I only got the barest idea of what I was watching. And yet that didn't stop me from going through all twelve episodes of it. The music is great and the art is gawjus. Sometimes a show has enough going for it in the tone department that the other stuff doesn't matter.
I also listened to a bunch of music. Here is some of it:
Thao Nguyen (who now plays with a band called The Get Down Stay Down) is an alt-folk-rock act that enjoys her acoustic guitar and singing about things that make you feel relaxed. "Like The Linen" is quite the appropriate title:
"Gorgeous Things"
"Chivalry"
The Avett Bros. specialize in love. If there were ever a more appropriate application of the TVTropes Trope "In Love With Love", I don't know what it is. "Emotionalism" is a love that one would be glad to be a part of, but even watching warms the heart:
"Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
"All My Mistakes"
Defiance, Ohio is a group that seems dissatisfied with where they're at in life. They worry that they're too emotionally fucked up to make real connections and are just anxious in general, it seems. And yet "The Fear, The Fear, The Fear" is not a downer of a punk rock record by any standard. They see the darkness, and they laugh at it. Laugh along with them:
"The Things We Won't Let Settle But Let Set"
"Oh, Cheri"
The Tough Alliance is a dance act that lifts my soul up every time I hear them. They have energy in spades and have the talent to put that into their beats on "A New Chance":
"First Class Riot"
"A New Chance"
A few weeks ago I found out about The Voice Project- one of the many things I've stumbled upon via the magic of Twitter. This site is dedicated to helping spread peace in Uganda by getting people to donate when they get singers to do cover songs. Some of the stuff on the site is just pure beauty. I've ripped a few of the videos to MP3, and if you find something that catches your fancy, I encourage you to do the same and donate if you're able.
And finally, today I saw Winter's Bone a mystery/suspense piece of sorts set in the south. This movie reminded me a lot of the Millennium books, which I am just about 2/3rds of the way through. Smart female heroine, intriguing mystery, but all with a southern twist. It's a gripping tale of a life harder than most of us have ever or will ever know. Check it out if it's in a theater near you.