Hige vs. Otaku

The Summer Top 10

Traditions are lovely things, even on undependable web sites that never update. And top ten charts are great ways for bloggers to express a hierarchy of love for the stuff they write about. Granted, you can gauge this by how often they noticeably crap their Haruhi underpants with overzealous punctuation and elaborate emoticons when writing about the latest episode of [whatever], but it's still fun knowing exactly how much they think Gurren Lagann is awesome by giving a numerical value.

But damn, I'm both horrified and proud that I run a site that can have an annual tradition like this. Almost two freaking years (my first post being August of 2005. I shan't link it out of embarrassment)!

The GBA reissue of this, the Final Fantasy that all the Real Fans say is the best, gave me a consistent (and legal) opportunity to sample its delights. And rather fucking delightful they were. Why can't Square Enix plot their RPGs like this anymore? When did, bleh, gameplay become the main concern of RPGs at the cost of involving, demonstrative story? When character development was so fundamental that even the lesser roles had stories that made you weep openly? Back in my day you got the cane for having sub par stories in your RPGs, but seemingly that's the norm with these young upstarts. That and vaguely related, shamelessly cash-in sequels (DIRL, FFVII Compilation, seriously). It's not like it was during the war, I tell you. Anyone would think SE have lost it now their pops has left to pastures new.

Some might say that including music in this chart is a cop-out. Me? I say, suck my left-one. Miho is legitimately Japanese and legitimately awesome. Once the vocal half of Cibo Matto, seminal alt-poppers from the 90s and the occasional voice of Noodle from Gorillaz, she moved onto making lush, sexual Latino musics with Smokey Hormel in Smokey & Miho. This year saw the release of her first real solo album, Ecydsis. It combines pretty much every sonic incarnation the dynamic young woman has offered over the past decade (bar the Gorillaz stuff) and the albumis  as beautifully soothing and intermittently weird as any fan could hope for. You can watch the video for the first single Barracuda here and take her shifty at her MySpace here.

Satoshi Kon Satoshi Kon Satoshi Kon. Now that we have the obligatory 'talk about the director' introduction out the way, let's talk about merits of the film. Visually sumptuous without showy egotism; incredibly strange without overt pretension; abstract without headfucking the audience into oblivion, Paprika demonstrates that breeziness can be legitimate art. Probably not as impactuous (my thesaurus failed me, sorry) as Paranoia Agent or Perfect Blue, lacking their more challenging themes, Paprika is still a fuckton of fun and worthy of a watch, DVD ownership and recommendation to friends. Washi offers more in-depth thoughts here.

It's blatant hypocrisy that, after that mild diatribe against modern Square Enix, I include one of their more recent games above a seminal classic. But in fairness Final Fantasy XII is one of the most compulsive, enjoyable games I've played for a while. Its story and character leaves a lot to be desired, and the expectations I had of it after loving Vagrant Story weren't met with much grandeur . . . yet I'm 70 hours in and getting very worried about finishing it, doing every side-quest I can to draw out the experience. And there's something to be said for a game that can encourage that kind of dedication. And it's the first RPG I've played where the level grind improves the closer you get to the end. If every Final Fantasy from this point onwards used these kind of automated battle mechanics I'd be a very happy fanboy. I just wish they banked on the rich historical/cultural background you can see in the visuals with the story and characters. It has too much wasted potential to be a true classic of the series, but it's a damn sight better than X, and that's enough to get my recommendation.

My initial hyperbole about this series is gradually fading as it moves through its mid-section, but the love it inspired in the first eight or so episodes still prompts a lot of faith that it can become something great. Reliably excellent animation; intriguing characters and plot elements; decent (but not great, damn it Yoko) music. Its parts suggest the sum of something fantastic and I hope and pray it lives up to the promise.

Nintendo are doing exactly the same thing with the Wii as they  did initially with the DS: one or two decent games at launch and then fuck all for months. This has damaged my interest in the console somewhat, not having much reason to play it now I'm pro at tennis and have completed Zelda, but it has been a fixture of fun for friends and I over the past few months. Now that I've got it working with the wireless connection one of its key draws, the Virtual Console, has reintroduced me to various nostalgia oozing classics (Lylat Wars <3) and helped tide things over until new games come out. Part of me is concerned about the lack of software options at the moment, and equally about the poor immediate prospects, but the DS demonstrated that if you sell a buggerload of units developer interest will shortly follow. Nintendo Europe just need to stop being ridiculous and release Super Paper Mario already. Bloody non-English types and their delay-inducing languages.

If I had an a top 10 of Everything I Love in the World Ever, Haruki Murakami and his fictional works would be riding high. Specifically, his novel Dance Dance Dance would be the overall favourite, but every thing I've read by the man has the same ethereal, addictively weird edge that commands my every waking moment until it's finished. Similarly to how the Dragon Quest games are released in Japan only on national holidays, I have to put his new books to aside for times where I know reading them won't cost me essay marks and encourage general life negligence. My love for his authorship is on-going, but my recent re-reading of Kafka on the Shore has prompted me to award him this position. I still hold other novels in higher regard, but Kafka offers everything you'd want from Murakami: surreal magic-realism coupled with serious, terrestrial drama, with a style that's as effortlessly simple or as challengingly complicated as you're willing to invest yourself in. I've read the book twice now and I still haven't settled on an interpretation that I think does the whole story justice, but as with everything he writes, it's about the process rather than the bottom line.

Ooh GAINAX returns to form blah blah blah. Give it a rest, anime fandom. GAINAX may've embarrassed themselves occasionally over the past few years but they've never truly lost the magic. Diebuster demonstrated they still had the capacity to make the bloated, extravagant melodramas that we all love them for, and Gurren Lagann just realises such on a grander scale. Gurren Lagann also represents GAINAX's lack of complacency with their anime, taking exciting risks and showing an innate ability in using those risks to great dramatic affect. The show really became special for me when Kamina died and became a sort of martyr figure. GAINAX understood the finite appeal of such a stubborn idiot of a character and how his dramatic potential would be more resilient if he acted as a passive inspiration rather than a gung-ho fuckwit. Definitely an inspired plot decision deserved of the production company's reputation. So yeah, Gurren Lagann is shaping up to be an anime worthy of the GAINAX Greats (Gunbuster, Eva, Kare Kano, FLCL), and it's a relief that they've come back to what makes them so respected, rather than what makes them so rich.   

Proof that I wasn't just trying to pad this thing out with bands, here's one perhaps more tenuous than Miho Hatori by being technically American with only a Japanese bassist and singer. But their hyper, infectious energy is worthy of any Japanophile's attention (serious apologies for using that phrase) and their vocals and lyrics Engrish enough to sate the needs of J-Pop aficionados; all with the added benefit of being Cool As Fuck. If America somehow produced its own FLCL Deerhoof would be on hand for its soundtrack. I really can't think of a better recommendation. MySpace and a video.

All the other entries of this chart have been upbeat, quirky examples of entertainment. Tony Takitani proves that the sombre, quietly beautiful things of this world will forever hold the deepest place in my heart. I wrote a short review of this film when I saw it in the cinema, but I bought the DVD recently and having seen it many times since it's become one of my all time favourites. An opus in minimal dialogue, sparse-but-soul-destroyingly-beautiful music and, perhaps most importantly, a comprehensive demonstration of adapting Haruki Murakami's writing. Tony Takitani is a film to see before you die. Or maybe as you die, slowly lulling you into a calm, peaceful rest. So stunning that you'll be in tears by the first ten minutes; so stunning that I actively try not to listen to its OST that I adore just so I don't ruin its delicate impact. I really can't emphasise its worth without succumbing to sloppy hyperbolising. FantasticamazingIwanttomarryitA+infinity. 

The Summer Top Ten

HVO is lacking a comprehensive list, and to legitimise my position as a proper anime blog I've gotta have one. Plus it's an enjoyable way to break up the dominating Naruto chapter reviews and give me a platform to spout opinionated recommendations to the masses. Everyone loves a soapbox, after all.

So, think John Peel's Festive Fifty only less fundamental and more ffs obvs. Those with a solid taste in the objectively good can skim over this, as I doubt I'm recommending anything outlandishly different. But then who's to say that anything is objectively good . . . apart from the following ten things. :x

Alternatively, you can read it and criticise the chart positions. I swear that's probably the only reason I read these things anyway. Let's do it.

I still can't decide if I want to say I hold Howl's in the same regard as Mononoke when considering the Ghibli top-tier. It's certainly more frivolous than Mononoke, with fewer moral ambiguities and facets to its characters, but that's what I love about it. The process of making an old woman an exciting a lovable protagonist deserves respect for one thing, as well as the immense technical achievement this and every modern Ghibli film produces. True, it doesn't have all the clear-cut specifications to make it one of the greats, but I haven't had that much fun watching a film since early Disney. My inner seven-year-old is obnoxiously gesticulating a confirmation.

First controversial statement of the chart: I think I like Howl's more than Totoro. And Grave of the Fireflies. Bring on the lynch mob.

The release schedule for this manga is pretty much one volume a year, and yet I still find it required reading. The review of the first volume sums up most of my reasons for enjoying the series as much as I do, but in addition to that I think Bambi is a good example of how compelling visual storytelling can drive a comic book beyond the mediocre.

It's not deep and the violence is almost desensitising, but Kaneko Atsushi is a master visual storyteller. I have a great love for extremes in fiction (Chan-wook Park's trilogy being all-time cinematic favourites of mine) and Atsushi is fantastically visceral and unrestrained with his work. Technically speaking he's just fucking good. An auteur, if you like, with the use of different paper media being so creative and his line work having a shaky vibrancy that sets him apart from his peers. After reading some of his other work online (like Soil), it's obvious he operates on a different league to other mangaka and Bambi is a great example of this.

Probably the only slightly maligned title on this list, and I recommend it all the more for it. Bear in mind that it is incredibly violent, so those with lighter constitutions and aversions to heads being shot in two should avoid it.

Personally I see the tie-in between these series as superfluous. I certainly don't miss it in the xxxHOLiC anime and it's come to the point in each manga that you barely pick up on the connection. It's a playful addition that often gives rise to some entertaining comedy, true, but it really doesn’t define either series. Actually, for me, it's merely a justification to list two great series together in the one spot, although in all honesty it's 70% xxxHOLiC 30% Tsubasa.

This is mainly out of preference. I have little reason to speak poorly of Tsubasa - it hits every shonen manga checkpoint with style and the artwork is always fantastic. I just find more subtly in xxxHOLiC, as well as it appealing to the mild interest I have in Japanese mythology and the occult. I appreciate the slower pace of xxxHOLiC too; it allows the character-based moments to be more emotive. Of course Tsubasa's brisk variety is an exciting contrast and its characters are fun, if a little stereotypical.

I won't say one is better than the other. Both these series are excellent and fitting of the celebratory position they hold in the CLAMP catalogue. Perhaps xxxHOLiC's more definitive originality is what puts it in favour with me, but Tsubasa's ability to form its own identity based on previous characters is commendable in and of itself. Both are better books than a good two thirds of what's out there and both are equally worth your $10.

A dark horse for my manga collection, perhaps ironically when I'm frequently blinded by the hot pink covers. I can't decide if I'm just humouring the raging valley girl inside or finding legitimate emotional reasons for enjoying NANA as much as I do, but needless to say the series has layers. In its characters, plotlines; everything. Much in the same way I kinda liked Sex in the City because I respected the writing (no, seriously), NANA does the shoujo thing without making me act like a total man and roll my eyes. Okay, so Sex in the City constantly did that and so does NANA, but both have genuine pathos beneath the love for stylish aesthetic.

The anime upholds this principle and hopefully it will get its shit back together now they've retold the beginning six episodes in. Who knew Ai Yazawa is such a diva!

I write summaries for its weekly scanslation, irreverent as they tend to be, for good reason. Much in the same way it's so massively popular these days. I'll admit the anime variation still leaves me a bit uneasy (even when it follows the manga) but as a comic it simply is my favourite shonen book out there. All for the same reasons it's probably yours.

I think Kishimoto has found a perfect mix of emotional weight and exciting long-term plotting techniques that are (generally) pulled off with a dependable regularity. Granted, Part Two is showing Naruto's age, but I still have faith in what Kishimoto is aiming for, even if it isn't particularly original anymore. I'd happily agree that it has surpassed its spiritual successor in Dragon Ball and artistically I think it's achieved even more. Apart from that there's not much more to say on the matter. Naruto is just a distinctly likable series and one of my favs.

No Roman numeral numbering for Europe, just Dragon Quest: Journey of the Cursed King; it being the first ever Dragon Quest game to reach our neglected shores. But what a refreshingly traditional game, eh? I won't wax on how beautiful it is - that being a lot harder now I have a 360 - but the level of design is definitely a strong feature of the game. Toriyama's designs spring to life more vividly than two thirds of the Dragonall anime ever did and it's a pleasure to control them through the solid environments and fight the silly monsters (the little devils who sultrily dance being personal favourites, the slags).

I think 'solid' and 'pleasurable' sum up DQ:VIII perfectly. No bells, no whistles and truly affable for it. It's making an enjoyable starter (along with Vagrant Story, god how I love that game) for the forthcoming epic that-will-be Final Fantasy XII. Granted, it will have to be a starter that will have to last me for another 140 fucking days, but there's loads of games in the interim. I think it's testament to how bloody ridiculous the European release schedule is when Kingdom Hearts 2 isn't even out until late August. But anyway, I'll stop ranting. I'll just put my zimmer frame away and let you damn whippersnappers (by which I mean Square Enix) exploit me.

Regardless of some of the current ecchi trash Gainax churns out they remain one of the most dependable studios for replay value (and occasionally future excitement). FLCL and Evangelion are two of the three shows I watch every six months and still offer consistent emotional impact each and every time. End of Evangelion continues to flaw me and with each viewing the heinous apocalypse pop song sickens me less. That must be saying something, right? They're also the first port of call when showing people who have no anime experience, and they have a habit of converting most of them to anime's fickle ways. Even without Miyazaki, Akira or GiTS.

Based purely on these merits they get a high spot in the chart, and with shows I haven't currently finished like Gunbuster 2, Kare Kano and Abenobashi they still offer some excellent prospects. Yeah, I'm a shameless GAINAX fanboy and the flagrant bias that entails is something I'd happily admit to. To put it bluntly: they are the main reason I watch TV/OAV anime. They're the benchmark I measure everything by.

Really, reeling off phrases like 'definitive' and 'cannon' is a mute point. I'd rather do it this way than dedicate five separate positions to the bastards, because they'd hog them so effortlessly. Episode five of Gunbuster 2 needs to hurry the fuck up and get subbed.

I can't help but feel something of tool for succumbing to all the hyperbole this series gets, but it is founded on factual truth; Monster is really that awesome. This and this explains why.

The prior GAINAX gushing underpins my love for pretentious wankery, and out of the current season of shows Ergo Proxy tickles my fancy the most for that specific reason. In many ways it represents what I want an anime to do; to challenge the way I understand the events that unfold, roll out consistent surprises and taxing ideas.

Some of the less attractive conventions I find in anime are the constant need to lay out a definitive premise and character set from the get-go. Ergo Proxy's almost meandering pace (of course coupled with a explicit, conflicting sense of premeditation) in doing this is incredibly appealing. Vincent's constantly morphing role, for instance, is fantastic and so unconventional. How he begins are inconsequential supporting character to become the main protagonist is refreshingly staggered. Not to mention the strange sense of stasis we get from Real Mayer's development, who seems to be especially guarded for one of the main characters.

Of course it's still early days for Ergo Proxy, with potentially still seventeen episodes left to be released/subbed. God knows what will come next, because in its weirdly tense and slow way so much has already happened.

Similarly to the GAINAX, Del Rey are rapidly becoming synonymous with quality. Much in the same way I might be more inclined to listen to artists on a certain record label I pick up Del Rey books because I trust their sense of quality.

Quite apart from the fact I've listed two of their series here, Del Rey as a company do exactly what I want from manga publishers. Their production values are restrained and appropriate, their translations are worthy of their Random House parentage and they pick series that are almost always worth your time and money. I'm sure if I could afford the more expensive Dark Horse output I'd feel the same way about them - the two companies sharing similar respectable ethos that I love so much - but fate would have it Forbidden Planet don't include Dark Horse manga in their 3 for £15 deal. Much of Del Rey's output speaks for itself, as well as their future plans relating to new acquisitions and the mature titles line. Just a fantastic company that grow from strength to strength.