Pleiades Rising

Really? I never heard it before, so I'll have to find it and play it all the time, haha. Thanks! Let's see, I'm on ep.10 (or was it 11?), and it's full steam ahead with nothing earth shattering. It's still delivering the goods that they served in the first episode. Of course, there's some little touches here and there that resonate with me and make me smile, e.g. the reference to Antoine de Saint Exupery's classic [i]The Little Prince[/i] made the little inquisitive kid in me beam! There's some other stuff too that made me realize how much of an occult aficionado I was waaaay back then: [spoiler]I knew that was a Chupacabra before they even said anything. Also, I recognize that old school UFO design, but I can't remember the specific case it's based on.[/spoiler] I kinda expect Aleister Crowley to come flying in on Cthulhu at some point, haha. All in all, it's still pretty fun so far, and like Kei said it's not really meant to be taken too seriously. ...unless you believe in that kind of stuff.

I've started this a couple of days ago, and right now I'm on ep. 4. So far so good. Actually, I had no idea what to expect when I picked this series up, which is what I usually do. However, now that I have a clearer idea (at least, for now) of what's going on, I think it's a decent series so far. I read the earlier comment (but not the spoilers) and they mention how things get a tad nutty later on, but I'm kinda looking forward to it. I mean, it's already kinda nutty this early on, and it's enjoyable (I like the crazy piano music during the previews, haha). It has the right level of humor, and thankfully no character has annoyed me in the first 5 minutes of the first episode! I'm patiently waiting to see how some of the other characters figure into the plot, without straining the it by focusing on too many side stories. That said, I'll hold further comment until I've got well-into the series.

[i]Dennou Coil [/i]is getting more interesting, now that I've made it to ep. 11. Imagine if Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed a third season to [i]Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex[/i]; you'd likely get something similar to[i] Dennou Coil[/i]. So far the series is told from the point of view of a group of children and how they engage with a technological society. But don't expect anyone to quote Baudrillard or Stekel; these kids are exactly that - just kids doing what kids do. However, in this series the kids do some interesting things in such a technologically advanced society, where the "toys" are both fun and kind of frightening ("Me Saatchi!"). It's quite nice to watch futurevision anime that isn't entirely cyberpunk.

[i]Noein[/i] is occupying me at the moment, and it's not bad so far. Mind you, it could be better, and it's not really living up to what I've heard, but I'm still in the early episodes (ep.7). As it stands, things are very mysterious and such, with lots of sci-fi oddness. But I do have to say this: Yu Goto is one useless character. Good lord, not another one of these I-can't-do-anything boys! [i]Noein[/i] has given me very little reason to care about this kid, and he only compounds his annoyingness whenever he opens his mouth. However, I'm led to believe that there's hope for Yu, basing my hope on another related character. Other than that, I think it's heading somewhere interesting. I'll see. Also, everyone should be watching [i]Gunbuster [/i]and [i]Diebuster[/i]. I'm currently on the latter, and that too is full of sci-fi weirdness courtesy of GAINAX. It's full of gigantic robots, strange aliens, and Spirit Cranked to 11!!! I'm on episde 4, and I can't wait to see how this one unfolds. (GAINAX ending?)

Actually, to be more faithful to the thread (which my first reply kind of wasn't) I'd have to say [i]The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya[/i]. This might be the perfect summer anime. Since it's getting nice and warm again, I have no doubt that I'll watch a few of these episodes again. To me, this fits the season perfectly, and it really puts me in a good mood, even if it's just a tad colored by wistful overtones. Heck, I don't think summer would be complete without that sense of longing, while remembering the joy. [i]Haruhi Suzumiya[/i] does this well.

Okay, this isn't comforting in the cozy sense of the word; it's rather more cathartic than anything else: [i]Neon Genesis Evangelion[/i]. When I first watched this, things in my life were really changing. I have no doubts that personal events in my life greatly influenced not only how I felt about his one, but also how I completely [i]experienced[/i] it as something basically fundamental. Without dropping an essay here, I can't explain it any more clearly, so I'll leave it at that. Nevertheless, NGE is the complete cathartic experience, reaching its peak with "The End of Evangelion". It's probably one of the greatest releases of primal, repressed humanity ever thrown into the world. Lately, I've been watching some [i]Gunbuster[/i], perhaps trying to prepare myself when I watch NGE once again, but goodness, I'm really not prepared to watch "End of Eva" right now, haha. I'll have to, though, to really get the most out of the series.

Okay, the latest science nerd hype is...have they actually found evidence of the Higgs Boson? The headlines are already bellowing: "Have They Found 'God'?" There's a memo circulating that the researchers at CERN have discovered evidence of the Higgs, but there's mixed opinions about the memo: it might be simply a hoax, or it might be real. If it's the latter, doubt still remains: the results might just be an anomaly, an error. Fabiola Gianotti, spokeswoman for the LHC facility, said "Only ... results that have undergone all the necessary scientific checks by the [ATLAS] Collaboration should be taken seriously...." For now, I'll look at this with a dose of scepticism, and wait for more solid results to come in. Another related item is Fermilab's Tevatron collider and it's mysterious results: they have fairly strong statistical evidence of an entirely new particle - but it's not the Higgs. This one, if correct, is more interesting that the previous item I mentioned. Finding the Higgs would substantially strengthen the Standard Model, but Tevatron's possible discovery would actually [i]cast doubts on the Standard Model.[/i] And that means rethinking substantial foundational areas of physics itself. If that were the case, then we'd actually be witnessing a good ol' paradigm shift in physics, something we don't see everyday or even in a lifetime. Of course, Fermilab's results could also be a statistical anomaly (something that exists only as a number). As far as I know, the results are still being confirmed. In any case, the memo is interesting, but it's only a questionable memo; Tevatron's findings are more interesting, since they've got some substance behind it.

Dagger, I'm up to ep.19 of [i]Texhnolyze[/i] . . . and I'm[i] still [/i]scratching my head. This episode was like a what-if: Salvador Dali and Norman Rockwell meet for drinks and decided to co-direct an episode on anime. This is one strange anime, indeed. Let's see, I've also gave [i]Hidan no Aria (Aria the Scarlet Ammo[/i]) a try, and while it's not exactly groundbreaking action-anime, but it might be interesting enough to keep up with. What I'll probably add to the list is [i]Natsu no Arashi[/i]. Again, I watched the first episode of this last night. How amusingly ridiculous was that first episode!? It spent most of the time fussing over a strawberry shortcake of all things - in a very creative and amusing way, however. If they can keep that sort of thing up (and add some depth) I'll be satisfied.

I rarely buy manga now, but I decided to make an exception and pick up the [i]Gunslinger Girl Omnibus 1[/i] manga. I also have the second omnibus on preorder, which will ship today or tomorrow, I think. I had bought the dvd boxet that contains the entire collection (including the mediocre OVA), and I decided to make the experience more complete by getting the manga as well. These omnibus collections are thicker than bricks. Hell, they put some of my philosophy books to shame in page-count. Reading the manga and watching the anime work well together: one plays off the other, and add something new to each of them. One thing that became even more clear to me this time around, thanks to the manga, is that whole theme of love. I'll have to read both omnibuses to the end to see how it works with the anime, though. It's still too early for me to draw any conclusions.

I'm currently pondering over [i]Texhnolyze,[/i] which is one muted anime (at least so far it is). The whole vibe is similar to [i]Ergo Proxy[/i], with the dark and gritty animation. I'm only up to ep.4 (and will be watching ep.5 tonight), so it's still too early for me to get a good handle on what's happening. Nevertheless, I'm a sucker for cyberpunk, especially when it's tuned well into the same brainwave that [i]Blade Runner[/i] (dir. cut!) thought along. I'll reserve further judgement for now. And why in the world did I sit through all of[i] Shadow Star Narutaru[/i]? Being a completest isn't always a virtue, especially when the anime in question gradually reveals it has no overarching storyline; just steadily increasing into vileness, while clothed in seemingly kid-friendly animation. It definitely bothered me, that one.