CT

OK, then, so who was I running AWAY from last week, thinking that would be the easier one? Why, it's Best Girl and @otakureview@urusai.social -summoner, Yui Horie! I thought it would take until Sugar Sweet Nightmare for her to show up, but she in fact joins my ED list a few years earlier, with Toradora's Vanilla Salt, which--while not my favorite of hers--is as catchy as can be. Active since the late 90's as both seiyuu and singer, she would enter my field of awareness as Naru Narusegawa, but I think just that, until a decade later, where she starts showing up everywhere. In Toradora she is best girl Minori, alongside "also sings in all the OPs and EDs except the one-off Christmas one." animethemes.moe shows her in 62 song performances so... #MusicWomenWednesday

Good morning and Good #MusicWomenWednesday Today we enter 2008 in style and iconic glory, as we seek to answer the question "What the heck is a Rocky Chack?" (Technically also "who is Natsumi Kiyoura?" because the Spice & Wolf OP and ED are both on my lists.) Let us start with Natsumi. https://animethemes.moe/anime/ookami_to_koushinryou/OP1-NCBD1080 Active since 2003, her soft and soulful voice brings us into the adventures of Wisest Wolf and her pet human with absolute perfection. She's performed a handful of anisong mostly around that time, with Sasameki Koto's being my other favorites, and perfect touches of their own. It is... kinda hard to find info. A single studio album, some singles, a long delay, and then... recent associations with the Sally Kubota Group? Wish there were more to go on.

Thankfully a simpler submission this #MusicWomenWednesday from someone many might remember is playing opposite Rewrite for Fullmetal Alchemist as ED4, and is a bit of a "professional ED-ist" as far as anisong is concerned. But I know her from the bouncy and sweet ED for the first Nodame Cantabile series https://animethemes.moe/anime/nodame_cantabile/ED1-DVD480 Crystal Kay has been active since 1999 (at age 13!), with about a dozen studio albums, all available on streaming. Her third album (in 2002) was certified platinum very quickly, which is what catapulted her into her "used in anisong" phase in predominantly 2003-2007 Child of a South Korean mother and a New Jersey native stationed in Yokohama, where she was born and raised. JP/EN bilingual and has released English-sung albums, and has influences all over the map.

@apc@starside.social However, the biggest "bowing" effect I can think of, with all the various stations attached, comes most-levelled for me out of the multiple contexts conveyed in Apothecary Diaries. Stations and "subservience" and safety, from red light district to imperial courts. Procedural to instinctual to special-circumstance pleading. It is stitched into the unfortunate fabric of this society. I'll keep it low to prevent me from just filling up 20 posts with Maomao pics, which I could totally do, and so should everyone. Nevertheless, there is so goddamn much bowing, all over the place.

Let's see where today's #MondayRandom10 leads us 1) Step One - Sister Q 2) Hiisama Zoom In - Miho Morikawa 3) Calling - Splash Candy 4) Be Somewhere - Busy 5) Working Girl - Sister Q 6) パラシューター - Folder 5 7) Hitoyo Hitoyo ni Yume Migoro - Hiramatsu Eri 8) Sakebi - yaen 9) Night of Fire - dream 10) Escape - MOON CHILD

Well well since the Nodame album is not on streaming I can't build a station on it, so with Crystal Kay's leadoff instead We Gonna Boogie this #MondayRandom10 2) XXX - SOULHEAD (feat. Kumi Koda) 3) Losin' - Yuna Ito 4) Yuki No Hana - Mika Nakashima 5) Ride on Time - May J. 6) Fierce - Che'Nelle 7) Talkin' About You - Jasmine 8) Buddy - Hiraidai 9) Kirakuni - Crystal Kay 10) Get Real - LISA

Been a few since the last #MondayRandom10 . Let's see what Yui Horie pulls off. 1) Vanilla Salt - Yui Horie 2) Soul Salvation - Megumi Hayashibara 3) Abracada-Boo - Karoi Ishihara 4) X-encounter - Maon Kurosaki 5) Asymmetry - Yui Horie 6) Love Power - Aice5 7) Platinum - Maaya Sakamoto 8) only my railgun - fripSide 9) She Can Drops - Petit Milady 10) Absolute Blue - Sora Amamiya My list brings all the @otakureview@urusai.social to the yard. (And @ishambard@cupoftea.social I suspect.)

@otakureview@urusai.social @ishambard@cupoftea.social Oh no! Songs to listen to! 😱

@otakureview@urusai.social @ishambard@cupoftea.social My classic “favorite seiyuu” list was Hiromi Tsuru (due to Ayukawa from KOR), Ai Orikasa (Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo), and Aya Hisakawa (Sailor Mercury/Skuld) and I guess Megumi Hayashibara was a monument unto herself. Those were the days I’d use Hitoshi Doi’s seiyuu database to chase them all over the place. Modern seiyuu: Saori Hayami Miyuki Sawashiro Akira Ishida Hiroshi Kamiya

@apc@starside.social "on bowing" I get to link one of my favorite series of all time to the most "you should be watching" current this season, in that all rakugo performances begin and end with a prominent bow to the audience. (And occasionally that's just what you gotta to beg to become an official apprentice, or offer thanks FOR your official apprenticeship.) Now go drop everything and watch Akane-banashi, it is @akane-banashi_global@www.youtube.com, ARE YOU GOING TO FORCE ME TO DEDICATE ANOTHER "THIS WEEK" TO IT?!!? I deeply bow from my cushion (zabuton), fan (sensu) squared precisely in front to implore you... WATCH, DAMMIT! (Wait, that wasn't terribly polite.) PLEASE WATCH, DAMMIT

@apc@starside.social Good morning. And, well, I gave you all a chance. But probably there was a 0% ultimate chance I wouldn't cover a certain something here, since it is broadcasting newly this season. (Alas not straight into summer as well, but it's a 2-cour split, so it should be back in the fall.) It already got two This Weeks before, but those were via the manga. If no one picked up the anime, I just have to make sure to CONVINCE EVERYBODY here! https://urusai.social/@cthellis/114528707297705584 https://urusai.social/@cthellis/115519998509493470 Also just look at these best anisong! Summoning Southern All Stars for the first time!! https://animethemes.moe/anime/akanebanashi/OP1 https://animethemes.moe/anime/akanebanashi/ED1 We of course #AniMangaFoundIt in Akane-banashi, by far the best series WSJ gots, and their most powerful hero. Time to ride this out.

1) Coppelia no Hitsugi - ALI PROJECT 2) Soul Salvation - Megumi Hayashibara 3) Kiseki no Umi - Maaya Sakamoto (look, I can't help it) 4) Black Swan Lake - Yura Hatsuki 5) Crimson Moon - ALI PROJECT 6) AfterSchoolDi{e}stra{u}ction - Yakushimari Etsuko 7) Astral Dogma - Das Feenreich (Yousei Teikoku) 8) No verao, as noites - Sheena Ringo 9) Koibito wo Uchiotoshita Hi - Sound Horizon 10) Oblivious - Kalafina It was taking so long to get to a Kalafina! 😝 #MondayRandom10

@apc@starside.social And now we enter "the twang zone." Led off by the finest shoulder in anime (well, second-finest ) as we explore a shrine priest and kyuudou expert take charge of a club of lovely archery boys in a series literally named after "the sound of a vibrating bowstring after the arrow is released."

1) All the Way - Mikuni Shimokawa 2) WINTER WISH - Chihiro Yonekura 3) Kimigatame 2016 - Suara 4) Book End Bossa - ROUND TABLE (feat. Nino) 5) Kanashimiyo Konnichiwa - Mikuni Shimokawa 6) Yakusoku wa iranai - Maaya Sakamoto 7) Come sweet death, second impact - Megumi Hayashibara 8) Akatsuki no Kuruma - FrictionJunction YUUKA 9) Idea - eufonius 10) homura - LiSA #MondayRandom10

The transition from 2005 to 2006 "turns a bit of a corner," as it were, for my otaku timeline as well as #MusicWomenWednesday I had gotten out of the habit for a few years, after leaving convention staff and just being a bit Dr. Manhattan with the world, but a particular title and a specific hyper-whimsical character, and an inflection point for the entire industry brought me back full-force. So today belongs primarily to Aya Hirano (secondarily to Minori Chihara and Yuuko Gotou), and the compelling OP/ED for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya https://animethemes.moe/anime/suzumiya_haruhi_no_yuuutsu/OP2-NCBD1080 https://animethemes.moe/anime/suzumiya_haruhi_no_yuuutsu/ED1-NCBD1080

@mxchara@seattle.pink @ami_angelwings@urusai.social Do not force Eärendil and the Great Eagles to duel and slay you, causing you to fall from the sky, casting you down upon the towers of Thangorodrim, destroying them in your fall, marking the end of Morgoth’s final resistance.

Who graces us this #MusicWomenWednesday ? Not gettin' out of 2008 yet! Fall has both an OP and an ED, so let's start with the OP. Haruka Tomatsu enters via "one of those things where the OP is kind of a banger, and definitely weirdly cute, but I don't care about the show at all" in this case, for Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens https://animethemes.moe/anime/kannagi/OP1-NCBD1080 Haruka is in the titular role, and snagged a number of "fandom roles" like Lala Satalin Deviluke and Zero Two. Also one Asuna, of SAO. And she in a BOATLOAD of anisong. Singles from 2008, a handful of studio albums from 2010 on, and involved in a number of groups, primarily Sphere which has 20 of those listed anisong alone. Frankly, I thought she was going to be the WAY easier Fall 2008 pick, but... nope!

@ami_angelwings@urusai.social I think on Urusai I want to specifically compile for "AniManga characters A to Z" so I have to add an option here, and add a secondary if I pick a different one first, and I guess use a third tag just for those. So here we'll start with Bestest Ghibli Boy, Ashitaka. Shows the consequence of actions, and determination to resolve as much conflict as possible and protect as many as he can, including the land itself. Strives the understand people, and help them understand each other. Also his theme kicks ass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OFbtrDZESo #FavCharacterAtoZ #FavCharacterA #FavAniMangaCharacterAtoZ

@ami_angelwings@urusai.social I guess I’ll submit a separate as well. And take a dip into the webcomics world, as I have been following Antimony Carver for a good couple decades now. https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1 Also one Agatha…. Clay https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021104 #FavCharacterAtoZ #FavCharacterA

@press_rouch@mastodon.green @ami_angelwings@urusai.social Came here to post this, leaving happy.

@apc@starside.social While looking for the right kind of final type, I shall satisfy my manga requirement with my “first bow of manga”exposure. Iconic, though short-lived, as Akane’s long hair and bow (something she shares with eldest sister Kasumi) does not make it past chapter 13. Personally, I liked how the more feminine signaling traits merged with her martial skills and aggression even while fitin’ all the boys, which was not the quite same short-haired and bow-less. If only Takahashi encouraged the “next generation” of Ranma, and we could have gotten this return to form!

@jschauma@mstdn.social @negativeprimes@urusai.social Shocking, if true.

Today's #MondayRandom10 we gonna spin a bit 1) Bouken Desho Desho? - Platina Jazz version 2) Giselle - JAZZ PARADISE 3) Home sSay GitS: Stand Alone Complex OST, Track 10 4) Arigatou - Moonlight Jazz Blue 5) Dolphin Dance - Makoto Kuriya 6) Ashitaka and San - Kazumi Tateishi Trio 7) Bright Lights, Big City - Takeshi Nakatsuka & Karen Aoki 8) Rakuen - Wolf's Rain OST, Track 2 9) La La Land Suite - Jacob Koller 10) Someday My Prince Will Come, elegant version - Eximo Blue

@apc@starside.social Normal lightning is boring. The people demand we #AniMangaFoundIt in demon form, fresh from Shinjuku. The evilly-evil Levi Ra sure does love his demon void blessing powers, most notably "a whole lotta lightning" especially during summoning rituals to bring demons to the planet, and even more especially to be surrounded by 90% purples and reds and blues in mood tones, thus letting you know Kawajiri is baked into every square inch of this thing.

@Ragashingo@starside.social @apc@starside.social Nooooo, Truck-kun! ❤️ Good pick. I feel WWY is under-appreciated. That scene really sticks with me.

@apc@starside.social Side note of amusement: Nothing slows me down more and causes me to pirate more than "getting an idea for APC and then having to download the series" Thank you every streaming service under the sun disallowing screenshots which STOP PIRACY NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST BUT SERIOUSLY FUCKS UP FANS JUST WANTING TO GRAB SOME SNIPS AND MARKET INTEREST IN THE SERIES FOR YOU 😑

@apc@starside.social ...and I feel we should give some time to the currently airing Daemons of the Shadow Realm, whose main character Yuru is introduced with his bow skills, hunter's personality, and deadly seriousness with tremendous emphasis right from the beginning.

@apc@starside.social Considering my first "This Week" was chapter ~157 in the manga, and yesterday's anime episode was only 16-18, I figure some quick reintroduction is in order. But first, some anime-specific chat. In NA/SA, it ended up completely free on YouTube, which is... surprising. But awesome. @akane-banashi_global@www.youtube.com Literally the easiest title to watch (and screenshot!) for most of us this season. Coming out of longtime Studio Zexcs which... I do not normally associate with particularly quality, but here they are doing very well. Directed by Ayumu Watanabe, who is surprisingly "just doing the best two anime this season" as Witch Hat Atelier is under his direction as well. HOW? I have no idea. He's also directed a little thing called "the best series of all time" in Space Brothers.

@apc@starside.social Why is this considered such a handicap? Well, even those with no interest in rakugo know this particular one. And anyone getting INTO rakugo learns this one. It's like... "practicing scales." It still takes skill to deliver it well, but it's something the whole audience would be acclimated to, and any judges probably heard more from beginning rakugoka than anything else. Not only that, but chances are everyone else will be performing two different pieces (one to get to the finals, and one for the finals) while Akane must use only Jugemu. While Akane-banashi involves "training arcs" of sorts, this starter run is the usual "searching for an epiphany" and working through the other apprentices to try to get to the bottom of "why did Master make this particular demand?" (ep6)

@Ragashingo@starside.social I feel like "boy, howdy" is too weak a response, but... Boy, howdy.

@apc@starside.social It "took a couple years" to "get something to fill that underrepresented niche" and had to fight any number of my presuppositions going in... And has really triumphed on all levels, to my own surprise. And so you get my third attempt to make everyone fans. COME ON! Anime is easier for most people to get into, right? ;-) It's a great adaptation! DO EEEEEET --ahem-- (do it)

@apc@starside.social Is Akane being set up to sweep? Has she just stirred up the hornets' nest to make her rivals even more passionate to knock her down? TUNE IN NEXT WEEK, TRUE B--!

@apc@starside.social Let's go back to early 2022, when the series began. I did... not have particular high hopes for Akane-banashi at the start. I thought it was important for Weekly Shounen Jump to feature a prominently female-led series again (just take a look at everything else in that issue), but... SGRS is almost always within my Top 5, and how could a shounen series compare? I liked the look, but it did not "strike me" the way the previous "strongly female-led" series did, and looked to only be "the Akane show" I am still angry that Shueisha did not try to rescue Act-Age from "the unfortunate events," as from 2018 to 2020 it was my previous "by far the strongest WSJ title" they had. Not un-coincidentally, a "passionate arts battling" series, in the middle of a strong arc, when it was ended.

@Ragashingo@starside.social Haha, I did pass by a lot of that trying to find the scene I wanted. A very good example of that kind of bowing. I need to go on the hunt still!

@apc@starside.social There's a lot more lighting I could drop, but let's just talk about Demon City Shinjuku for a bit. DCS really does feel like the unwanted stepchild of Kawajiri's catalogue, even though it's my personal favorite. It is admittedly a whole lotta "style over substance" but... I feel like that's kinda his thing? 😝 Not to mention the original author's. It smashes together a whole lotta pop culture, such as "totally not lightsabers and and totally not The Force" with "the most mysterious stranger named Mephisto voiced by the MC from Wicked City and totally not a direct Vampire Hunter D analogue" (allowed since the same author wrote all three series). There is a kid voiced by Kei from Dirty Pair who I can't listen to an not imagine Kei from Dirty Pair, which is very odd.

@apc@starside.social I kinda wish this tag was summed a few weeks ago so I could more-specifically gush about episode 5, as I found it particularly strong. But since it's part of the "intro" to ep7, I'll start there at least. The first episodes are "setup" and "learning the ropes" and "acclimating the audience" while introducing various characters, like Issho's only apprentice Kaisei (the "wunderkind" of his young generation), respected by everyone in the industry and obviously someone to bounce Akane's personality off. The "conflict" of ep5 is Shiguma's command that Akane finish high school before she can officially be accepted as an apprentice, And her HS guidance counselor's "you should go to college" icy... encouragement? Demands.

@ami_angelwings@urusai.social lol the world needs more Rival Schools love Or just Kyoko love, I’m fine with that. https://youtu.be/qLrxhDVir8Q (Also that she’s Sailor Moon’s VA blows my hippie noodle.)

@apc@starside.social I suppose most of the lock in was "my first Kawajiri" plus "only had access to the raw until I got a DVD 10+ years later" which kinda distends the "enjoyment for style" component. Not to mention it sidled alongside my "access to only KOR eps 5-8 raw" shared voice acting with 80's goddess Ayukawa Madoka, which I was the right age to hugely crush on from the beginning. But mainly it's simple, shlock pulp glory. And I found it easier to recommend to people who don't respond as well to the overt nudity/horror/gore of Kawajiri's other works. It sidles alongside the original VHD (which was not Kawajiri) much better than your Wicked Cities or Ninja Scrolls.

@apc@starside.social Akane herself doesn't think it's right to enter the Karaku Cup, as she doesn't consider herself an "amateur" even if she is still a HS student. But there is a "prize" for this one... Issho Arakawa will be serving as judge of the 8 finalists, and will give the winner "the honor of a bit of his time" - a 1 on 1 session where they can ask any question of him. THIS...! Akane wants. Not trophies, or public recognition. She needs to know WHY, about "that day." And here we get a familiar trope for the overpowered shounen protagonist... "conditions." Shiguma demands that she win the Karaku Cup using only Jugemu.

@apc@starside.social WHAT IS HER PLAN?! HOW WILL SHE DELIVER?!?? TUNE IN NEXT WEEK, TRUE BELIEVERS!!!! ... One of my very favorite series is Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, and to be sure josei ranks top of the list "demographically" for me, in story-deliverance, while shounen is at the "please be shounen not trying to be so shounen." But there is something to the over-the-top presentation of rakugo here that is uniquely exciting, and placing down "fighting face" in such an arena as competitive rakugo manages to "spark joy" in a way I did not expect it possibly could, and the series keeps on delivering, including the relationship between Akane and her "rivals" introduced here.

@apc@starside.social ...and so we get to the real "this week" with Episode 7, and the preliminary stage of The Karaku Cup, involving 30 competitors (chosen off basic credentials). The pre-OP "ominous" Akane pronouncements, that she thinks she "gets" Jugemu. In what way? Her teacher things "isn't it just speed and enunciation?" One of her ani-san discussed with her last episode about understanding the era, the foundations of the story, and the original story's ending. We are left to ponder what she means. Meanwhile, day 1 introducers the first "real battle shounen thing"--competitors! Specifically, the winner of the previous two Cups in Karashi, and a popular, top-level voice actress in Hikaru, looking to use this as a path to get ahead even further.

@apc@starside.social Also, why was Kawajiri not granted "Miyazaki status" to just keep doing his own shit perpetually? He's still in the industry, and storyboards for things like Chihayafuru and Vinland Saga, Frieren and Orb. Demon City Shinjuku and Wicked City were their own LN series the same way Vampire Hunter D is, though only 7 and 11 books to that one's.... FIFTY SEVEN?!! Dude could have just continued directing by pulling out a new one of each every decade or so, and we'd be much better off for it. Just a constant stream of his character design, storyboard and direction, and so, SO much more purples and blues!

@apc@starside.social We only get to see Akane's finals-worthy performance in this episode; everything else is character interaction, mostly between Akane and Hikaru. We only have the vaguest hints as to what their performances will be about, surely to come next episode. Akane wields Jugemu to such speed and perfection that it breaks through everyone in the audience. From a weepy child, to a neighbor, to the mother needing to recite Jugemu's name as quickly as possible, Akane switches gears multiple times to the point where it is totally overwhelming. This WAS her plan... for today. Karashi is not impressed, though he acknowledges her skill. And he feels his raguko will take everything in the finals again. Kaisei makes sure he lets Akane know he's still waiting her "true Jugemu" for the next day.

@apc@starside.social The press know these two first and foremost, and these two know and respect the day's emcee, Kaisei. And he knows and gushes to... Akane?! Akane had helped Hikaru with her obi just before and thought her just a simple student and possibly a fan, but with Kaisei's notice and their flippant/familiar encounter, everything changes. Everyone notices; even the press decide to look in. (Though no one can find anything.) That she takes up a hostile stance and accuses him of embracing her before (he was just to pleased with her performance he couldn't help it) gets everyone abuzz. Akane finds his attention bothersome, and is still mostly wanting to kick his ass. (At rakugo.)

@Ragashingo@starside.social @Tatsumeg@sakurajima.moe Second-best OP and ED of 2017!

@apc@starside.social In this case, it becomes an exercise in communication between student and adult; Akane already has her parents' approval and her personal determination, but the teacher has experienced "student loss" before by "encouraging/accepting the wrong thing" and watching one throw away chances for a better future, and feels her role is to override passion with pragmatism. But she listens to Akane's childhood friend, brings herself to watch Akane's local performance, notes and accepts her skill and confidence--her true passions--and decides to encourage her further. She encourages Akane enter "The Karaku Cup" a student rakugo competition in its 20th year. She a booster now! Needs an Akane fan and headband. (As do we all.)

@apc@starside.social One final, mysterious treat. Chapter 206. How far have we come?

@apc@starside.social Akane has been training under her father's master (Shiguma Arakawa) since that time, and is wholly consumed with things-rakugo. (Though for SOME REASON we still get a lot of expositional info dumps. 😝 ) Being in Weekly Shounen Jump, she has also "inherited the revenge plot trope," which in this case is wanting to prove how good her father's rakogu was and stuff it in that crazy-eyebrow-jerk-Issho's face until he pleads mercy and admits he was wrong and cries, begging and clutching at her shoes... Well, that's probably what she WANTS, at least. So we explore Akane taking her first steps into official performances and "learning the ropes" while we as the audience learn how rakugo works. On that note, it's got cute lil' after-credits helpers too, which I love.

@apc@starside.social The basic setup: Akane has been inspired by rakogu since she was a child, memorizing things even like "Jugemu" when she was 4-5 years old, just watching her father, fascinated by his storytelling. Her father was in training and attempting to make it as a full rakugo performer for 13 years, when "an incident" occurred that forced him and a number of other students out entirely. Because of "this guy" - Issho Arakawa, considered the finest rakugoka of his generation, and effectively the "head" of the entire Arakawa school. "Shinta Arakawa dies" and Akane's father becomes a regular salaryman, not allowed to study under his master anymore. Ep 1 ends skipping forward six years to when Akane is a high school senior, and we learn whose story this is. (I mean. There's also the title.)

@apc@starside.social There is a level of "shounen joy" that really comes out in Akane-banashi that's hard to express. With a lot of "hype shounen" (especially of the WSJ sort) I get kinda irritated in the nature of how it leans into certain things, but here it is totally fitting. Not the same as in Chihayafuru, but "passionate excitement" though something that isn't fisticuffs and laser-blasts and "make all the friends" is more my style. (Semi-ironic considering Ayumu Watanabe also directed Komi Can't Commuicate, a series literally about making 100 friends, but YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN 😝 ) I'm overall more stirred by the SAS themes than the Akio Izutsu composing, but it's strong enough and I have hopes for the boy. Not much under his belt yet.