Specials

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12 Days of Xmas: Throwing In The Towel

December 21, 2008 in Specials by Tom Langston (calaggie) | No comments

Slowly progressing through the second floor in Etrian Odyssey [pixiv link]

I have yet to compose parts seven and eight of this year’s series of memorable things and as I am already two days behind, I decided to end it early with a single post listing what I might have written about individually if I cared enough to do so:

  • Nagi’s frustrated “I’ll grow into it!” assertion in Kannagi ep. 6 when she goes clothes shopping with Tsugumi.
  • The bullfight in Michiko to Hatchin ep. 6 for the rescue and the scene’s entertainment value
  • Winning a game show during AOD 2008 and getting a Bleach pin (which I have since lost)
  • Seeing Evangelion 1.0 on 35mm with a large crowd at AX, admiring the visual updates, and cringing a little during that awkward Rei-Shinji scene (you know the one)
  • Being included in the special thanks section of the Emma Season One Set [pic]

I don’t feel too bad about calling off the remainder since many other writers are still proceeding on schedule and I think I did a good job with the ones I did finish. I felt pressured to catch up on more than I could actually manage; now that has lessened, though still lingering, and I will pass along my relevant feelings as I finish each. I still plan to do the regular predictions/resolutions posts.

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Tardy Two Cents on Credit, Crunchyroll and Comments

December 20, 2008 in Commentary, Specials by Tom Langston (calaggie) | 2 comments


When I heard on Monday that Wednesday’s Anime Almanac post would involve what Scott thought about Crunchyroll, I began thinking about writing a post that both responded to his essay and the two-part interview ICv2 posted with Crunchyroll Ken Gao. But then I got distracted and didn’t read either until Thursday, which happened to be when the post-publication feedback focused on credit and a rehashed discussion of the usefulness/lack thereof of comments.
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12 Days of Xmas Day 6: Burning Down Her Own Mansion

December 20, 2008 in Specials by Tom Langston (calaggie) | 2 comments

In Monster episode 14, Eva sends off a married businessman after a night of intimacy then notices her gardener saw him leave and knows of her dealings with numerous men so she asks him if he has the confidence to make her happy. (His wife hangs around with different men and hasn’t come home for a while.) The next day, Eva invites him out to dinner at a classy restaurant and he wakes up in the middle of the night next to her in her bed.
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12 Days of Xmas Day 5: Techgal Webcomic

December 18, 2008 in Specials by Tom Langston (calaggie) | 1 comment

During last year’s set of reflections, three of the “moments” were from real-life events, two involved websites, and almost all of them were concepts about series rather than specific moments within them. I have been trying to write this year’s posts with a narrower focus (and I think I’ve done fine so far) but today I will stray from that trend and mention something that didn’t come from proper anime or manga but rather came to my attention while attending a few conventions.

I previously wrote about meeting artist Tim Ferriera at Sac-Anime, where I found his influences include Range Murata and Yoshitoshi ABe, and briefly mentioned getting volume one of his webcomic Techgal (which I can’t seem to find at the moment) at Animation on Display a month later but I didn’t talk about the comic itself.

It centers on the eponymous gearhead Kristi, her brother Derek who tries to protect her, and the attempts of a company to steal her inventions for their own purposes. It’s light-hearted and doesn’t try to position itself as OEL manga or manga at all since it’s a webcomic and only a side project of his when he’s not doing comedy magic shows and other things. You can read all of what has been posted so far on the comic’s website.

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12 Days of Xmas Day 4: Bad Convenience Store Clerking

December 17, 2008 in Specials by Tom Langston (calaggie) | 1 comment


The beginning of Gintama episode 26 has the Yorozuya working in a convenience store and, as one would expect, they piss off a customer.

He first complains that Kagura is leaving crumbs in his bag while she’s eating an nmaibou (lit. delicious bar) over it, then that irritation intensifies when he asks for the manager and Gin-chan appears gnawing on a similar bar. After the two have a brief conference under the counter, Gin comes back up and explains they are temporary employees and thus don’t know the hard stuff but promises they will work really hard. Kagura then places the customer’s bag in the microwave and when asked what’s she zapping, she replies that she doesn’t know but that she’s working really, really hard at it. (I’ll have to remember that excuse next time I ruin a heat up meal.) The customer realizes his JUMP is in the bag and after that mention, something else inside the bag explodes and ruins his weekly manga magazine.

The rest of the episode continues with Shinpachi discovering one of his old friends has joined a gang in order to get tougher and culminates in a madcap drag race with Otae as one of the drivers. My anime club really enjoyed watching the first twenty-eight or so episodes during the previous school year (here is what they’re screening this year) and remembering this moment makes me want to pick up where they left off.

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