eyeballs at maximum

[kaigou]

Just finished watching (finally, after wanting to, for so long) Rahxephon. In short, if Eva has daddy issues, I suppose Rah's got mommy issues... but the art's a great deal better. (So's the story, but I say that as someone who's managed to avoiding seeing Eva for, well, since it came out, and plan to keep doing so, which means comparisons can't go past the superficial level to which Eva has hugely influenced Japanese -- and US -- pop culture.)

Other than ongoing series, also currently catching up on a few more. Yes, all at the same time, trading off one episode to the next in a disorganized round-robin:

Hatenkou Yugi -- genre-savvy, but not where I'm at right now.
B Gata H Kei -- ehehehehehehe.
Bakemonogatari-- like Senkou no Night Raid or Rahxephon (but for different reasons entirely), this one requires a mental break between episodes.
Toward the Terra-- some reviews say "it takes a bit to get used to the character designs". Maybe because it's based on a manga from the late 70s? Very retro. Check out those lapels! Story-wise, though, it pulls no punches.
Heroic Age-- Dude. When the first episode is already a half-assed mixed-bag, I don't think there's much hope.
Now and Then, Here and There-- hmmmm. Verdict still out.
Kimi ni Todoke-- Not my usual style/genre, but totally charmed all the same.

I have no defense as to the amount of shoujo in there, except to say that B Gata H Kei would never ever make it onto American television. EVER. I'm not even sure how it made it onto Japanese television.

Comments

[taithe]

Kimi ni Todoke is pretty good as far as shoujo goes. I like the fact that the female protagonist doesn't fall in love with a jerkass male lead for once.

How's Toward the Terra? I've only watched a few episodes online.

B Gata H Kei: Ahahaha wow. This looks... interesting?

[kaigou]

B Gata H Kei: Ahahaha wow. This looks... interesting?

I have MULTIPLE bruises on the underside of my jaw, and that's just from the first episode. I'd say it can only go up from here, but maybe I should say it can only go down from here. Oh, man, either way, it sounds obscene...

[branchandroot]

*laughs* Rahxephon /so/ has mommy issues. But the art /is/ good, and I think I laughed for days when I got around to looking up Mu.

[kaigou]

I spent the first four episodes going, I know this art, I know this art -- before pausing and going and looking it up. Character designs by the same person who did Twelve Kingdoms (another well-designed work). Ahah. Plus, the eyes are not abnormally oversized, which is always a plus.

Mu, mu, mu... I rather liked the twist that it was all one guy's invention. *whistles*

[mikkeneko]

Yeah, watching RahXephon, there wasn't much I could say to it except that the creators watched Eva and told themselves "I can do that! Except better, and prettier, and more pretentious!" Although in many ways, Eva deliberately chose to be ugly.

[kaigou]

CP keeps making noises like I should watch Eva, but now I intend to retaliate by making noises that he should watch Rah instead, then.

I will say the mecha designs were... uhm... well, not sure what I can say. And I don't know enough music theory to know if the soundtrack really does echo the mecha-now-appearing (only that I've read from music theory folks that it does) -- I found the soundtrack distracting and at times, downright jarring in a bad-80s video-game soundtrack-ey kinda way. But other than that, it had a balance of interpersonal crunchy goodness, the likes of which other mecha (or pseudo-mecha) shows usually only hint at.