The latest “Song of the Day” was inspired by having witnessed on April 23, 2011 at the Hynes Convention Center during Anime Boston 2011 a performance by the Odaiko New England (ONE). This traditional taiko drum group performed both traditional taiko set numbers and more modern compositions. To say that the experience was quite primal would be an understatement. Since then I’ve searched and listened to many other taiko drum groups and I’ve come to realize that the band Kodo really shows the Japanese art of taiko drumming at its best. I chose their song “O-Daiko” as the latest song of the day.
“O-Daiko” by Kodo is traditional taiko drumming at its finest. It begins quite subtly and gradually builds up to the booming, heart-pumping bass beats that could only come from taiko drummers playing their instruments in perfect tempo. It’s difficult to listen to any taiko music and not have oneself brought back to a simpler time. Taiko drum music has been a mainstay with Shinto shrine rituals, but they’ve also been instrumental in warfare during the warring period of Feudal Japan. The drum beats would be used to signal coded information to allies and friendly forces. They could also be used to demoralize opposing enemy forces.
So, if you ever learn that a taiko drum group is going to be performing in your area I highly recommend that you attend said performance. It’s an experience everyone should have at least once in their life.
“mahou shoujo” – def. subgenre of Japanese anime and manga involving young girls (usually early to mid teens) with superhuman abilities who either volunteer or forced to fight for good and protect the Earth from destruction.
It has been awhile since I’ve profiled an anime series or OVA on the site. The great thing about attending anime/manga conventions is one discovers new anime or manga to obsesse over. This year, after a visit at this past April’s Anime Boston 2011, my latest anime obsession looks to be our latest “Anime of the Day”. My choice happens to be the latest in a long line of mahou shoujo anime series: Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
This series was actually recommended to me by someone on Twitter months ago but I was still hesistant to check it out until recently. It was while doing some last-minute research before heading over to Anime Boston 2011 that I finally latched onto Puella Magi Madoka Magica. This is peculiar since I’m not that much into the mahou shoujo (“magical girl”) subgenre of anime and manga. Fellow site writer pantsukudasai56 is the one who probably knows about this subgenre than I. It didn’t stop me from finally checking it out. Once back from Anime Boston 2011 I went and found all 12-episode of the first season (it’s just been recently announced that there’s to be a second season). I ended up watching all twelve episodes over a week and fell in love with it.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is about very cute teen high schoolgirls who suddenly get thrust into a world of magic and science. There’s a major character that I always call an anime series’ mascot and this time it’s a creature resembling something crossed between a bunny and a siamese cat. Kyuubei (others spell it’s name Kyubey, Kyubei, QB, etc…) is a very cute creature who will grant a chosen girl any wish they want as long as they enter into a contract with it to become a Puella Magi who is a girl with magical powers to fight evil and witches.
How can you not love this little guy…
The series’ animation and characters actually make it out to be a very cutesy anime. From the playful and gothic lolita-style design of the girls. Even the creature known as Kyuubei was drawn to elicit nothing but “awwwws” and “d’awwwws” from those who first see the initial episodes. But it’s not that which got me to love this series. Unlike most other mahou shoujo series this one actually becomes quite serious after a couple episodes and turns a major corner into becoming quite a dark series. This turn is even more disturbing considering that the animation continues to be cute and lighthearted. The look of the character design might turn some people off, but for this particular series the gosurori (“gothloli” aka “gothic lolita”) style fits the series and should change the minds of even those who hate the look.
The animation by the anime studio SHAFT is exquisite despite a few inconsistencies here and there, but overall it’s one of the more beautiful and inventive looking anime series of late. The writing by Urobuchi Gen is what sells the series as it combines the early cutesy nature of the series with the darker turns it makes until the very end which is heartbreaking and emotional, to say the least. Here’s to hoping that some enterprising and brave licensor in the U.S. like Sentai or FUNimation will take a chance and license the series for a North American release.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica looks to be the anime series of 2011 and has only been seen in Japan. How those outside Japan are able to see the twelve episode is something to be left unsaid. Maybe those still wanting to know the answer can enter into a contract with Kyuubei and find out.
Some of the transformation animations from the series…
During this past Anime Boston 2011 there was one panel where I and fellow site writer, pantsukudasai56, sat in and had one of the better times during the convention weekend. It was the panel being held by the on-line podcast and site, Anime World Order, and it was called “Anime’s Craziest Deaths”. It was pretty much two hours of just watching clips of some of the craziest death scenes in anime history. One which stood out and had quite a reaction from the crowd was from the action anime series, Black Lagoon.
This scenes qualifies as one I love just for it’s sheer audacity and craziness which typifies much of the action genre in anime. Black Lagoon has so many cool and crazy characters that it was only fair that the show contain scenes and sequences to match their personalities. This scenes pits the protagonists’ WW2-era PT boat versus a Soviet-era Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship. Now one would ask how could an antiquated PT boat even take on such a heavily-armed and heavily-armored chopper gunship whose sole purpose is to take on tanks and armored vehicles.
Well, glad you asked.
The only way to answer that question is to watch the scene and just marvel at just how it’s level of craziness just continues to increase as the scene moves along to it’s surprising climax. All I can say about this scene is…
Through the Shattered Lens 