adorable rockets

Yes, yes Bakamonogatari was the knock-out hit of last season and quite possibly the last five years. So why am I wasting my time on what I should be bemoaning as typical J.C. Staff dreck, instead of waxing rhapsodic?

Two simple reasons:

1. Bakamonogatari deserves more than a quickie post dashed off from the hip.
2. A contrast between Railgun and A Certain Magical Index provides a unique opportunity, unparalleled in the annals of anime, to contrast two shows with near identical moétic goals but very different moétic results.

I dare say that even after only one episode Railgun is an almost unqualified moétic success, while Index failed to retain my interest for even ten episodes. Of course what’s most fascinating about this comparison is that we have not only similar goals, with contrasting results – we also have the same source material, the same studio producing the show, even many of the same characters. It is a near ideal laboratory to study the success and failure of moétic technique, and even to gain some insight into the evolution of this genre/school of art. Yes my dear readers, this is once again an entry in the service of moé.
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Behold, the Beast!
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What’s smaller than Lego minis? Lego micros of course!

Another shot after the break…
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A rough Raptor and a pretty decent Viper MkII (if I do say so myself)!

Lego Digital Designer where have you been all my life?!

In honor of Battlestar’s climax, I’ve designed some Lego minis!

Some value and other point updates to the last two cards after the break…

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I guess I never got over the end of Strike Witches…

Cuteness has a quality all it’s own.

Compassionate lolis always have a hard time with the finishing blow…

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Of course I’d heard rumors of Hitler’s death before. If the army is a giant organism and the soldiers it’s cells, then rumors seemed to be their life blood. The invasion of France had been repulsed, Germany had surrendered, the President was sick and had signed a treaty with Hitler – the crazier the rumor, somehow the more plausible it seemed. Even we in the OSS, who should understand the strategic value of rumors, we were not immune. I suppose we all need to have some small measure of foresight and control in our lives. But of course, rumors only gave that illusion. Our destinies were decided by men in chambers far from the lines, and tomorrow’s orders were as impossible to divine as the bullet that would take your life.

“They say Hitler’s dead!”

I’d only met Mike two days ago and already the fast talking Jersey kid had gotten on my nerves.

“Is that so?”

“Blown up by his own men! They said it was bomb disguised as a giant roast pig, you know the kind with the apple in it’s mouth?”

Officially we were advisors, making sure that Soviet troops were trained in the guns and vehicles we gave them through the Lend-Lease program. When I got the assignment half the shipments didn’t even have manuals. Surprisingly it wasn’t so hard to play my ignorance naturally when I tried to demonstrate the American Bazooka and ended up having it explained to me. I suppose the Russians assumed you had to be a real incompetent to get this assignment.

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Strike Witches is a new anime released this season by Konami and Gonzo, intending to answer the question “How can we make a sequel to Sky Girls but sell more figures?” “How can we combine the hardcore appeal of a mecha anime, with the heartful joys of a moétic harem?”

The heart of Berlin is aflame?!

This is a perpetual theme of interest among Otaku, with previous solutions to the puzzle including such luminary milestones as Macross ’s bridge bunnies, GunBuster’s teen age pilots, and Gunslinger Girl’s killer lolis. Even as we speak Macross Frontier is trying to update it’s formula to today’s moér and trappier standards.

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