Current mood:	giddy
Entry tags:	anime, crack, manga

♥!!!
I watched the Tegamibachi ("Letter Bee") anime special last night, and loved it ♥

This surprises no one, I'm sure, because I heart the manga so much that anything vaguely letter and/or bee related makes me giddy with delight. But honestly, it was a good little special and they'd better give me a TV series. (I want those character sketches SO BAD.)

The art direction was all over the place. The director couldn't seem to decide if he wanted to go for a 2-D Storybook feel, or a dimly-lit gloomy feel, or a sweeping-landscape-dreamworld feel. (The almost compulsive need to identify every scene location by name made me laugh.) But that said, I didn't think any of the styles were a total miss. The CG battles look a little silly if the overall vibe is Storybook, but otherwise I liked it. It's German fairytale mixed with classic shounen elements, so I won't fault the staff if it comes out looking a little confused.

I would caution against them using the dimly-lit gloomy feel, because then the comparisons to Fullmetal Alchemist might bury it. (But I loved the look of the firelight scene when Nakata Jouji's character and Lag discuss Gauche's gun, so... well, just run with it either way. ^_^) Aria as a blonde (and relegated to carrying around stacks of papers) IS just Riza Hawkeye with glasses, which is a bit disappointing; I look forward to some of her flashback stuff.

I bet the audition process for Lag was awesome. "Can you yell and cry? Can you fight and cry? Can you eat and cry? Can you cry in your sleep?" If you don't find his near-constant poro-poro sobbing at least a little endearing, then run away from the series now, because it doesn't get any better. It's one of the reasons Niche is such a great partner for him. And speaking of Niche & Steak, the fansubbers misinterpreted a line about Niche as being about Lag and assumed he was a girl ;^_^ and granted, he's young and Miyuki-chan plays him with a higher voice (and he cries a lot), but Lag is a boy. ...Now I have that Always Sunny song in my head again.

I still totally want a bedazzler-ed sawed-off shotgun. And shiny Bee hat. Okay, let's just assume cosplay is inevitable. XD

I leave for St Louis again on Monday, for another two week stint. It's cold and sunless there, but the hotel is nice and they do the dishes for me. But before all that, delicious turkey! Have a nice Thanksgiving, US FL, and a pleasant Thursday to the rest of you! <3