June 06, 2005:

Claymation is so fresh

My Futakoi Alternative mugs are AWESOME, yo.

My Futakoi Altenative mugs

Doesn't seem right without the third one, though.

[Update: Third mug acquired!

Damn, I'm such a dork.

It's not really the right shape, and it's larger than the other mugs, but I say it's close enough. Total expense for the three mugs? About $1.50 including tax.]

May 23, 2005:

Several weeks into this new season of anime, Futakoi Alternative shines the brightest among the current crop of shows. Gotta love ufotable.

Futakoi Alternative stars a young private investigator, Futaba Rentarou, and his twin assistants, Sara and Souju. Techically, Futakoi Alternative is loosely based on an earlier show, Futakoi (which I have not seen) that by all accounts ranges from somewhat insipid to tremendously awful.

Stay out of Sara's way.

However, Futakoi Alternative is great stuff. From what I gather, the original Futakoi series is a rather limp harem comedy featuring several sets of twin girls and one unremarkable male protagonist. Futakoi Alternative advances the girls' ages a few years, and discards Harem Comedy Male in favor of the aforementioned Rentarou—a likeable slacker who can pull himself together and summon his FIGHTING SPIRIT when it's time to get down to business.

Rentarou's life has its ups and downs.

It appears all the original female twins get a part in Futakoi Alternative, but the focus will probably stay with Sara and Souju.

It's all about the timing.

So far none of the episodes have approached the first episode's frenetic energy and unrelenting action. However, the quieter episodes have all had a soothing calmness to them as well, and do a lot towards revealing the backstory behind Sara, Souju, and Rentarou layer by layer.

Twins? Check. Train-top? Check. Dynamite? Che...WHAT?

Still, I'd like to see some more of that crazy ass action from the first episode and the wild opening credits. [7.6 MB. 384x288. Matroska container. H.264 video codec.]

May 25, 2005:

Rentarou listens to Souju play a Daisy Fitzgerald song.

Just to give an example of the contrasts involved in Futakoi Alternative, episode one prominently featured the use of a moped's SUPAH BOOSTAH to escape from the mob. Episode five, on the other hand, prominently featured lying around doing nothing, listening to a pretty girl quietly playing guitar.

June 03, 2005: Futakoi Alternative nine:

Something serious happened in episode nine of Futakoi Alternative. I'm sure of it.

1:45

2:32. What's the deal with the clocks?

3:15

13:12. Seriously, what's the deal with the clocks?

13:32. [Spoilers]

It's pretty subtle, but you're not slipping this past me, yo.

[Update: Moetry.org has prepared a timeline with an additional shot of the bed at 11:10. This may refute my theory. Hmm.]

[Update 2: I think I may have to concede the differences are simply continuity errors. At this time, I cannot think of a reasonably plausible explanation for the 11:10 and 13:32 differences.]