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Dated 26 January 2013: Vividred Operation is three for three

Akane and Momo
I'm surprised there wasn't a Momo POV shot immediately after this.

Vividred Operation is not exactly a high-brow show, but it is consistently entertaining and there have been no occasions to complain about its production quality or execution. I'm also very pleased with its pacing through the first three episodes. Some people felt Vividred rushed Wakaba's introduction and integration in episode three, but while I would agree in the context of a 26-episode series, I don't think there's any time to waste during what will almost certainly be a 12- or 13-episode run. Hopefully, Himawari's introduction in episode four will be similarly quick.

Rei
Where did her bow go?

After these introductions, Vividred can get down to business devoting the remaining eight episodes to unfucking Rei's shit, and befriending the Bejesus out of her. Or maybe Rei ends up killing them all. It won't happen, but I'd be okay with that. Rei is going to be the lynchpin behind the success or failure of Vividred. If you can suffer another not-necessarily-apropos comparison with Strike Witches, the Alone appear to be as unengaging and faceless as the Neuroi. I'm sorry, but you can't try to build action scenes around bland opponents that nobody cares about.

Rei
I re-watched this to confirm it was a sunrise, not a sunset.

Using cardboard bad guys didn't work in Strike Witches, it certainly didn't work during the Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS training arcs, and it won't work in Vividred with the Alone if Rei doesn't instill some life into the fights. It's possible to have have emotionless enemies that the audience finds engaging (see, for example, the first two Terminator movies), but they'll at least need to be menacing or unique in some way.

Stonehenge
I promise this is the last time I will make this joke.

As long as Rei ensures there will be an antagonist we care about in future episodes of Vividred, then the show will basically have everything. You want fighting? It's got fighting. You want flying girls hitting things with giant hammers? It's got that too. Standing-in-circles magic and fancy transformations? Yes. Bridge operators swiveling around to holler SITREPs to the commander? Well, yeah. Befriending enemies? Count on it. A talking weasel/otter/ferret/probably-not-a-mink thing? Of course. Butts? It's got butts. Fresh fruit? Holy shit, it's got fresh fruit. And how. (Tomato is a fruit, okay.)

Dated 9 December 2012: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Medaka Box Abnormal are basically the same show

Zeppeli
JoJo and Zeppeli share a tender moment.

Okay, I don't really believe that JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Medaka Box Abnormal are basically the same show, but there are some similarities that you can't ignore. Principally, both shows are essentially about increasingly implausible battles between overpowered fighters with superhuman abilities. I guess technically the fighters only start out as superhuman or special in Medaka Box Abnormal, whereas in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure these abilities are triggered by external influences or inspired by having sufficient willpower or emotional commitment. Also mountain training and stuff. Whatever. Does this make Medaka Box Abnormal sort of chuunibyou because its characters are supposed to be special? Look, don't even start. And let's not even consider whether people can be considered special or abnormal if everyone else around them has absurd abilities too.

Naze and Maguro
Naze and Maguro share a tender moment.

Does that mean people who like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure will like Medaka Box Abnormal also? Not necessarily. Perhaps if their enjoyment comes from the one-upmanship as new abilities manifest during heroic moments of crisis, but Medaka Box lacks burly men and nearly all its ass-shots are of girls. Personally, I suspect some JoJo fans are motivated more by efforts to distance themselves from the despicable moé-tuned crowd while convincing themselves that watching anime can still be cool even if it does come STRAIGHT FROM JAPAN. But apart from its origins in the historically significant and influential JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga, I'm not sure I can claim the anime is particularly noteworthy when viewed strictly in and of itself. Then again, I'm an odious newbie anime fan who knew nothing of JoJo prior to the anime, and moreover, I consider Medaka to be Toyosaki Aki's best role to date. What do I know?

Dated 21 June 2011: Today's Viewer Mail excerpt

Minko
Minko's date is off to a good start.

Ron writes:

I've been a fan of your blog since June 2003....I especially enjoy jumping in the way-back machine for stuff like Nuku Nuku and SDF Macross. Lots of fond memories of those particular anime.

Minko
How do you feel about bulimia, Minchi?

Man, I've been doing this a long time. If you include the non-anime Geocities years, it's been almost 12 years. 12 years! I can't even remember what I posted about before this turned into an anime blog. I think there was one month dedicated to supermodels wearing stockings.

Minko
Wait, what do these pictures have to do with anything?

P.S. I also like how comments have never been enabled.

Well, I did add that Twitter button jobbie. Confidentially, comments are disabled so I can milk new entries out of reader responses instead of writing updates like, "Hanasaku Iroha was really good this week," and posting four pictures of Minko suffering through what was almost a date.

Minko
Oh.

P.S. Hanasaku Iroha episode 12 was really good—probably the best episode of the series so far. I don't despise Ohana's mother anymore. Tomoe > Minko > Ohana > Yuina > Ohana's grandmother > Namiko (Koichi's co-worker) > Ohana's mom > Nako (what is with all the KO names?) > Yuina's grandmother > annoying consultant lady.