Negima?! Watch: Let's grumble some more about things

So the first 2 episodes of the remake of the adaptation of the manga of the idea formulated have leapt off the starters block with a pretty heavy tone. Write us down as a little worried that they'll continue this once the Negi Genesis Evangelion malarky is out the way, because while removing the light hearted tone of the series isn't necessarily an outright awful idea (you get more drama and action out of it after all), I do think these characters won't end up as likeable as they are in other forms with such a serious air bearing down on everything.

Ah yes, but there's still gags in the series Mr Rockwell. That's true, but for some confounding reason, the comedy in Negima?! is just. not. working. I'm as confused as the next person because I enjoyed PPD!... but the timing or performances just seem completely off. Perhaps they're suffering from the tone of the show, I dunno.



Let's get back to the direction which I've criticized previously... It's a spiffy looking anime, and things are always interesting. But the more quirky stuff like 24'esque sliding panels, and schoolbook voiceovers feels out of place with the rest of the show. And the stuff which is more arty (such as the longshots that the director appears to have an enormous tentpole for) certainly look nice but tends to take away from the overall energy or emotion of a scene. The direction ends up competing with the story for viewer attention. That's not a good thing.

You can know all the fancy tricks in the book, but the skilled part is knowing when NOT to use them. I can't believe that I'm wishing for more generic direction in an anime, but here I am.



Actually, the OP to this is pretty much a good indicator of my whole problem. I love the concept and look of it, but does it really compliment the following show? Going even further, does the music(?) even fit the animation? Negima may wind up being one of those series where the parts are actually greater than the sum of it's whole.



And final gripe; some of the character designs just don't seem right. But it's not really as if their proportions are wrong.. it's almost as if the problem is in the final inking or shading stage or something. I just can't quite put my finger on it (Ichino and Takahata are the two that constantly make my eyebrow twitch).

But, I do really love how they're condensing the storyline down while keeping the important information in there. I'd go so far to say they've done a pretty expert job so far.

So in summary, episode 2 was much better than episode 1 but consider me "scared shitless" till further notice.

Stock Report: Death Note blew my ass out (and other stocks)

A Word From Some Jabroni

It's been a while since I've done a proper ASX recap, so why break that trend? I got a few stocks to look at, and figured I'd update the index while I was at it, but that's about it.

In fact, it may be quite a while before I return to my glory days of recapping every single thing on the face of the earth, what with everything else on my plate, but for now this is good enough.. plus it means you, the viewer only get the important stuff, and not a bunch of filler that I forced myself to write.

Everyone wins!

Of course this also means that stocks will most likely be going up and down with no cause or reason. For example, above there's a ton of securities delisting, and I've only recapped two of them (in previous posts). That's just part of the tradeoff you have to accept if you want the bonus of me being lazy.

I will say this however, if you're wondering why HIGU took such a sharp drop, it's because the ending sucked ass.

(yeah I just realized now that I forgot to put the little arrows and stuff next to the share price.. I'll try harder next time. Please look forward to it)

Crayotic Rockwell

DEATH NOTE GOES PUBLIC

Wow. They managed to take the least dynamic manga we can think of, and somehow turn out the most awesome anime pilot this season. Visually and audibly it was great. The OP and ED is roolz too. Likewise the BGM. We can't wait to steal to legally buy with money the OST.

Who's responsible for this? Because we at the ASX want to kiss them on the face.

Misa Amane predicts DNOTE stock to skyrocket.

NEGIMA!? GOES PUBLIC

Unfortunately what can be said for DNOTE cannot be said for the first episode of Negima!? While heads and tails over the Xebec "lol thx 4 $$$ suckerz!" to anime fans worldwide, the episode was rather stiff. Part of this can be attributed to understated (voice/animation) performances, and we hate to reference it and make all those whining fanboys from when this was first announced cum in their sweatpants, but the Pani Poni Dash'esque scene composition and slightly off-kilter comedic beats did not help matters.

Being the first episode and having a lot of information to get across (and us being complete marks for MSN) we won't hold this episode against them, and instead wait to see how things play out.

Notes:

Did Negi's dad always sound like a girl? It's been a while since Mahou Sensei Negima, but Chamo and Ku Fei also sound different.

So is exactly what is going on? This looks like a remake, but I SWEARZ that I saw a posting on manganews.net that said this was a spin-off of a new manga (complete with a cover from the forthcoming manga)

I liked how they managed to pepper in some of the character's extra details that don't pop up until later in the manga.

The opening credits made me want to fap off to Bible Black for some reason.

BAKA RANGERS ARE GO!

Negima's new classroom layout. No boom mics in view.

PUMPKIN SCISSORS GOES PUBLIC

Who would have expected this show to be a serious action series set in a war-torn country? Many thought this new season anime would be about the trials of a regular highschool student who at night transforms into a magical girl and fights demons with a set of futuristic pumpkins that have the ability to cut like scissors. Not so, apparently (although there's always time to weave in a subplot, guys).

If that wasn't enough surprise, investors got the 1-2 punch when Pumpkin Scissors also happened to not suck. In fact, some were saying that it was actually "pretty good" despite the obvious lack of said scissors, pumpkins, or any kind of amalgam of the two.

Notes:

Lt Spearhead gets my early nomination for MVP of the season.

What was it again? "We're with squad Pumpkin Scissors" or something?

How can they say the above with a straight face?

An artist's concept sketch of how Pumpkin Scissors could have turned out.

Stock Report: Air Gear blew

AIRG was a face-full of ass. But not the good kind that gives you a nosebleed before being punched by your tsundereko friend.

I think we all knew that Air Gear was a pretty terrible show when we watched it—even those who enjoyed it. But few could imagine just how low it was willing to sink into a quagmire of tat, as eventually proven with Ikki riding a motorcycle over a shark, while digital photos of Kyoto the producer snapped on his holiday whizzed by.

What a bunch of shit.

And if that was supposed to be some kind of open-ended cliffhanger to make people eager for a 2nd series or OVA, then Toei is seriously overestimating their fanbase.

Hang on, let me just check with Cloud from FFVII the demand for those Tenjou Tenge OVAs.

Cloud: "..... .. ..."

Because tits Ringo cosplayers are more worthwhile than this series.

Yupp, that about sums it up. Air Gear was an alright show to pad the week out, and watch without having to put much effort into it, but they should be drawn and quartered for that endgame. As far as Kyoto Arcs go, this must be the worst. It certainly beats out Xebec's attempt in Negima by a long shot, anyway.

Oh, and extra credit must be given to Ringo; who awes us with the sheer fact that we didn't realize you could be such a hot meganeko, yet also be so completely goddammed BORING at the same time. Hats off.

-6 (DELIST AT 28.00)

Moe to dull ratio = OFF THE CHART