Hi!

A week ago I mentioned that I'd polled my students to find out what anime they liked - great idea, right?  Well, I got feedback, but of their favorite musicians... somewhere along the line, things got mixed up, and very few mentioned anime or manga at all.

However, I have been keeping track of what show pops up, and at what time, so maybe this'll give an impression.  I'd fallen a bit out of the anime loop before leaving Canada, so for all I know some of these may already have been ported over; heck, they could be ten-year old repeats, for all I know.  I don't understand much Japanese, so in some case I couldn't even get the name - sorry.  I list the subject as 'partial' because I don't watch much tv, there's bound to be a number of shows I've missed (heck, I _know_ I missed some, I just can't remember when they run.)

Anyhoo, here's what I got, running from Monday through to Sunday:
(Oops, ran out of time, I'll get the other days tomorrow.)

Monday:
4:30 pm, channel 31: Digimon.
Cheap pokemon ripoff without the cuteness.  I thought they only tried this kinda uncreative plagerism back home.  Oh well.  Very high toyability (see below), has the whole line of toys, a la Magic:TG card game, etc, etc...  Animation seems okay, though, better than Pokemon from teh little I saw

6:00 pm, channel 19: Microman (I think)
Only caught the ending credits, which were great - Japanese remake of a Jackson Five song!  Seems to be a mecha-figthing style show... except they're all really small - as in, ballpoint pens for their big cannons, rulers for wings, etc.  Hi toyability index.

(#Toyability, term I picked up from Freakazoid: how easily converted into a merchandizing cash-cow a series is, often the creative impulse behind a show.)

6:30 pm, channel 19: Cyberstar, or Earthark, or both.
Good show, another giant mecha one.  From the little I understood, Earth is all banged up, and some evil Gendou-looking guy is behind it, setting up the new Earth order.  There's some kind of rebellion, led by some reluctant-hero guy (who, typically, gets pissed off really easy.)  These guys use the Cyberstar's, some kinda semi-mystic, organic mecha they summon in from an alternate earth or something.  Way powerful.  Okay art, great opening and closing music, even the bad guys seem a cut above normal.

7:00 pm, channel 41: Young Kindeichi?  Whole thing was in kanji, dammiti!
Seems to be a really good show, great art and animation - couldn't understand much, though.  Contemporary setting.  What I saw had a group of people trapped in some big house, raving dogs outside keeping them from escaping.  Sounds like Resident Evil, huh?  But not, although with a nicely suspensful air.  Some kinda subplot with DNA I couldn't make out, either.  Good character design.  I'd like to find out what this one is about...

7:30 pm, channel 41: Detective Konan.
Great show, great animation, though aimed, I think, at a younger audience.  Very popular, manga runs in Shonen Sunday.  Young kid Konan solves mysteries, although there's some background stuff going on I don't quite get (who's the older guy in the opening credits - did Konan shrink into a kid or something?)  Konan also has some kind of super-soccer power, defeating villains with his ability to kick things really hard.

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That seems to be the Monday lineup.  More tomorrow!
(Unless this doesn't belong here....)
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BTW, the updates continue!  Find my Japanese Journal on my webpage, and the most up-to-date version of Choices: Decision.

Later!
Mike Noakes
noakes_m@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Subway/9701

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