this blog the best forever

Recent Anime

YuruYuri episode 9

This episode seemed really 4-koma-y to me. Maybe that's just 'cause this had a plot I had read in the manga before I saw it animated, but the manga isn't 4koma and even the stuff I didn't read first was really 4koma-y somehow. I guess it's just how they did the jokes. There were quite a few pretty good scenes here but nothing stellar. They spent a lot of time on the president/teacher characters which I was pretty hype for but they seem a little too gag-y at the moment. Then again, Chitose started off like that, and she's pretty rounded now. Not enough Ayano, and the tsundere twins showed up just long enough for me to want more of them. Also not enough Akarin but that goes without saying. And next episode is gonna be year two only again, whaaat? I dunno I mean I watch these shows entirely for the characters, it's annoying to have them not show up for long stretches of time. Oh well.

Nichijou episode 22

They really seem to be in a phase of, like, wrapping things up almost? This had a lot of Nakanojo action and really seemed to be the climax of his character, as much as possible. Really good scenes yeah. Also some of the “other group” action, that was good, Fecchan is one of my favorites for sure. But yeah you might think hey 22 minutes that stuff has to come at the expense of the main character scenes, right? NOT REALLY. There was still a really good Mio/Yuko scene, albeit not their best or anything, but oh man DEM DOGS. And obviously Hakase and Sakamoto were a “riot”. The Helvetica Standard and Lovelike segments were also top tier. Four episodes left! Oh man oh man.

Usagi Drop episode 8

Very wonderful episode. Lots of really beautiful scenes. Glad to see there still being some mom plotline, and this development does really nicely to escalate it both emotionally and in terms of general tension. Manga-ka can be really fascinating characters, and she is no exception. “Commitment to an artistic goal to the point that it becomes self-destructive” is a pretty enthralling plotline, I hope we see more of it. But not like a lot more. As far as the movement away from the whole “raising Rin” thing I mentioned about last week's episode goes, they seem like their plan is to just come up with new things for him to struggle with. I liked that they really highlighted the changes she's had in the past year. It all felt very natural and realistic. I would've liked to see more of the Obon festival, though, festival scenes are always good.

Idolmaster episode 8

Really enjoyed this episode. Straight up classic movie sort of plot. The “big city caper” genre. Don't see too many of those anymore or maybe they're just usually aimed at kids. I was sort of miffed at how arbitrary everything seemed until they hit some critical threshold where it became apparent this is “what the were going for” and then it was a whole lot of fun. I guess Miki's becoming like the “super-idol” character, fine, someone has to be I guess. Makoto was really great in this one, really happy they had her out kicking ass and such instead of having some wussy plot about wanting to be more feminine. Plus her insert songs are all cool, and she got 3! So much action! So many little jokes and nice scenes! Good job, Idolmaster! You actually did something that a lot of moe anime doesn't even try: to have a fun adventure! The motivating devices were simple as they come, and classic at that. The various resolutions were pretty amusing in their self-aware unbelievability. Characters getting fleshed out, good animation, lots of pretty hnnng scenes, yeah, I was impressed.

Curb Your Enthusiasm season 8 episode 8

Okay so I have a theory about this episode. Well first I have a theory about Seinfeld in general. You know the pretty frequent gag of Kramer pitching some idea to Jerry that Jerry would kinda sarcastically ridicule? There were a few episodes where this was a major plot but a bunch of other throw in ones. Well, I've thought for a long time that these were taken straight from Jerry-Larry writing interactions. I can see it so perfectly in my head: they're sitting around, pitching ideas, and Larry says something like “You know what they should make? A pizza restaurant where you make your own pizza.” I think that that part of Kramer's personality comes straight from Larry. This episode was like a hard confirm of that. One of my favorite Seinfeld scenes that I think is under-appreciated is one in the one where George is getting married and Jerry meets the girl that acts just like him. It's right before he meets her, actually. He and Elaine are walking down the street, talking about George's marriage. Jerry mentions that they'll probably never see George anymore after he gets married, meaning it'd just be down to three. Elaine says, no way, I'm getting out too. Jerry realizes that this leaves just him and Kramer. As they depart, he has a fantasy about it just being him and Kramer, and, horrified by the prospect, almost walks into traffic, when he is saved by the girl. ANYWAYS, in this fantasy, well, it's just brilliant in all regards. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqGo42jEXPw I'd like to go on about how hilarious it is but the point is BAM CAR PERISCOPE. Back with a VENGANCE in Curb. So my theory is that Larry really wanted to make an episode where they actually have a car periscope and like, Kramer and Newman have adventures with it, or something, I dunno. And now he's done it! And it was a really wacky episode! I dunno though I always wonder about shows with inventions that are a good idea in the context of the show, like, how can you act like it would actually be a good idea when no one's done it? I mean I assume no one's done it. I think I do remember an episode of the Red Green Show where they had a car periscope I think. No maybe it was a reclining chair. Anyways I ended up saying a lot without actually saying anything about this episode. It was pretty funny though. Some good escapades. Sorta similar to this week's Idolmaster in how it went for shenanigans over some sort of like, core CYE-esque plot.

Exhibition Report

Went to the Canadian National Exhibition a few days ago with my mom and my grandma. This is a tradition with us. It was pretty fun, saw some nice things. The role of Exhibition as Exhibition has been obsoleted by the internet even more brutally than it was by television and before that the radio, but the spirit is still there and in some ways it can still shine through. I think one of my favorite parts is going to the farm building and seeing the city slicker kids freak out about seeing cows itf and up close. Very Yotsuba-esque. Of course I do the same thing when I look at the ostriches, though. Those animals seem like they shouldn't work. Other fun stuff are the ice shows, sculpture guys, big demos, little random shows, yeah, I dunno, a lot to do, but it always seems like a nice manageable amount and everything is more just fun and neat instead of intimidatingly overwhelming. This is, more than anything, why I'm happy to go year after year where other such experience, if annual, would be way too much.

Also good: What I Ate.

Shawarma

Shawarma is one of my favorite foods (well, it's like, on burger tier, I guess), but the taste is so unique etc that I basically want it as often as I go to local Egyptian place Al Medina's and no more often than that. Today was a strange change from that. I saw a shawarma stand and could not get the idea of it out of my head. Of course, I ended up being pretty much totally disappointed. Shawarma is the food most skewed in my mind, I think. The only places I've had it really are Al Medina's – a chicken shawarma so good I think it's probably the best meal in that whole huge plaza – and the places that have to compete with Al Medina's. So yeah I eat what is probably still an above-average shawarma and it seems brutally over-flavored and the meat seems dry and the bread mushy. Oh well. This is my curse I guess.

Tiny Tom's Donuts

This is another CNE tradition obviously. Got “apple cinnamon” which I think is probably the best flavor after plain cinnamon. Chocolate is bun.

Deep Fried Butter

This stuff is disturbingly good. Seriously. It's so good it makes me rethink everything. I got this last year too and I was amazed at the taste. There's this really brief window where it just tastes like the topping sauce and generic fried taste, and then you really bite into it and suddenly it's BUTTER, just like a ton of butter airlifted directly into your mouth. Insane. A very “concentrated” flavor, I'd say.

Doughnut Burger

This was disgustingly good. Definitely the “last donut of the night”. So it's uh, two Krispy Kreme doughnuts as buns, then a pretty hefty patty, then tomato, lettuce, and, if you got the deluxe version I did, a fried egg and a bunch of bacon. Very very dense and heavy. Second messiest burger I've ever eaten to that “mega teriyaki” burger I had in Japan. Really tasty, oh Jesus ugh yeah very tasty. Egg on burger is something I have become a huge fan of. Doughnut as bun is something I will be a huge fan of for the next three times I eat it and then I will be dead and on my tombstone they will put “holy dang who would have thought that sort of creamy/sugary sweetness would work SO WELL with the savoriness of meat and egg????” So yeah, pretty crazy.

The last few years there's been this unofficial contest to one-up the last year's unhealthiest wacky food. Even though the exhibition as food exhibition thing has been heavily quashed by food courts, huge grocery stores, etc this specific thing is still pretty unique to it. I guess this is mainly due to the whole “once a year” aspect, maybe? At any rate I'm pretty curious about next year. Eventually it will probably best me, but I look forward to that day.

That's it for now I think.