ARTNERD Jumbletalk: Nekomogatari (Kuro)

**Discusses Nekomonogatari in terms of  art/graphics  only**

What a start of the year! Although we could only catch less than 5 seconds of Senjougahara’s back, these 4 episodes sure is my kind of fan-service: the pornographic 5-point distortion overlay on the one point perspective, semi-realistic atmosphere effects, the interchanging rendering style of the characters, the lovely flat panty-flash of solid color typography…. *kneel and bow*

It’s clear how much effort they placed in keeping their quality up to their own standard –and they did with extra surprises. Instead of showing off their fancy CG and $$$ spending artwork (did you see those feathers?) they weren’t afraid of slapping on their familiar black and white silhouettes. Their powerful abuse of point of view and denial is undeniably  fantastic.  Just the intro itself is enough “graphic porn” for a month. Their 3D is mixed in seamlessly with the flat renderings and the even more flat slide show bursts…

What I appreciate the most is their backgrounds. Obviously , they had the ability (and money up till part 4) to make the whole movie with all that scenery porn, but instead you get less than 5 seconds of each of those…  Quite sadistic move on their part (but I like it <3) There’s not a scene where the lighting is half-assed, making even the calmest scenes pleasurable for us who have ADHD in their eyes. All this clash of rendering/ drawing style couldn’t have worked without their carefully palette choice and alternating schemes. It almost spurs jealously in my worthless pride as a self-claimed artist… \(T^T)/. They still kept their graphic gradient foregrounds and figure suggestion, making neko~ very consistent (yet not boring) part of the series.

I’m very tempted to talk about neko~ ( and the blood-letting fanservice)  but I’m hope one of us would do so instead some other time…. From this point on im judge anime this season from a scale of 1 to  neko~ (though they’re probably not art related what-so-ever.)

Now I shall fly back to the land of gradients, hard lines, and bad headaches ❤
Len.Canvas (bursto outo!)

Makoto: 5 Centimeters Per Second & Voices of a Distant Star

LenCanvas here,

Been a while since I’ve written anything. You’ll probably see something from me in the next week or so. Hopefully the team has been entertaining. Consider me the one that brings the alternative to this blog since I don’t try to catch the newest (or new) anime season. Today, I bring you some “literature” of anime:

||      Voices of a Distant Star and 5 Centimeters Per Second are both by  Makoto Shinka
||      discussing the intangible and mysterious connections between relationships. As the
||     titles suggest, these animations are neither harem-filled, panty-flash eye-candy (though
||     they do have scenery porn), nor ending with happily ever after. These animations hit
||     the bittersweet heart-buds and are meant to be watched with concentration and detail to
||     character roles.

||     The plot in 5 Centimeters Per Second is highly composed and brutally
||     honest, not afraid to give glimpses to the repetitive but equally numbing actions
||      growing children take. As you can tell I felt very moved by the movie but appreciating it
||      requires much attentive relation to the characters. Hence, if you search around google
||     you would see comments of boredom and lack of interest. Highly recommended for
||     the softhearted.

||     Voices of a Distant Star is a (dated) sci-fi fantasy ova harping on those same
||     heartstrings. The story is much less complicated –a preview in comparison to 5
||     Centimeters Per Second. There’s a lot more implied in the characters’ roles: the
||     typical childhood friend scene with singular, timid mix of friendship and hormones. The
||     artwork is not for everyone but if you’re into mech and space scenes…. The breadth
||     of this ova disappoints me but is acceptable since its was all done by Makoto and his
||     wife (later re-dubbing from professionals.)

5 Centimeters Per Second:

artwork: 6/7
plot: 6/7
Lencanvas points: 7/7

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.

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Voices of a Distant Star:

artwork: 4/7
plot: 4/7
Lencanvas points: 5/7

~~

Hello Len Canvas Here

As demanded by our all mighty Wing Commander CardOtaku, I, Cadet Len Canvas, will entertain you a bit with me and my lovely self-yap. I haven’t been doing much anime / manga lately so while CardOtaku dances around joyously with those all loving tentacles~~~~ I’ll be reporting back at home. (^ ^)>

I’ve been fidgetting with my vanguard deck. (especally cuz yugayhou has no hope) Currently, its my OTT deck~ which honestly is not very competitive. I sometimes wish i had EYE power

(/ -)/~~~~~~~~~~ PSSYYYCOOLLIAAHH

like Aichi does. I don’t even have to see how each game ends, i just want flashy eyes so people go “nani?!”

Still, I simply can’t let myself give up on my fableds (yes, yugioh).

Instead of playing, I started drawing each fabled card that I use. This is how kushano looks like now. When I can’t stand it’s incompleteness , ill show you guys a more developed version…

 

(still cant get the face right)

Mission Complete. Cadet Canvas. Signing Out~ ( ><)>

Claymore 124 on Mangahere??

Hey, I was doing my dialy manga update check and “claymore 124” came up. It appears that the scan is real but the subs are ridiculous ~ I’ll do research on if its legit. but hell its funny… the bad sex joke and rifting off dragonball Z on first page~~ LOL

I checked the chinese translation and it has the subs have nothing in common. There people in mangahere were getting creative with their riffs, and ppl posted it on other manga reading sites (lol). I guess its another of those censor shiz that noblesse was doing with the Korean censorship bill in protection of children (cept Noblesse more obviously?)

Check what mangahere did HERE

If you can chinese

RAW

Mangareader has it right btw. so if you’re using anything else. USE MANGAREADER.NET

Favorite Procrastination Music: Unhappy Refrain

So, I actually have a lot of work to do during this hell week (midterms) BUT in order to have more viewers (¬ *∆* )/ the stats are dropping!!!) I’ve decided to post more often and put a more diverse range of shiz up on this blog…

So whenever I try to put myself into concentration, the first thing i do is close mangareader.net and Facebook and switch on itunes (probably just like many of us?) One of my favorite albums to loop and loop is (though im a super fan of Len and his Hot Cocoa ~<3) Wowaka’s first full album Unhappy Refrain. Whats good about is that it has a good balance of extremely quick~steamrolling songs and slower streamlined ones. They are also high enough and with enough contrast to keep me awake late at night (or morning)…. The rhythm in the songs always remind me to get back to work whenever I compulsively press command + T every so often. The whole album (with all its remixes) is a over an hour, so instead of checking my Lumina, I can pace myself by the work I still have to do ~~ What’s your favorite procrastination album!

heres the hot cocoa song~ though honestly its musical quality is meh.. its its kinda annoying… for an alarm though it will surely wake you up…

 

– Len Canvas

Manga Reading Blog 1: Gantz

So I started to read this manga called Gantz, a highly skilled rendering, (fully rendered nudity), with perspective and realistic style, illustrated by Hiroya Oku of Young Jump -works including Zero One and the All famous HEN for the rather… interesting effect on the upper body. If you read the manga, he’ll talk about it.

The story: well, its about this “reality TV-show” (in quote because the suggestion changes as we go along) where people who died / almost died (the manga was unclear throughout a long run of it) is put in this room where random people are gathered. One of this incidence, a wild bishoujo appears (+ extremely enlarged breasts). The story itself is not sexual imo. Well anyways, lots a people “die” in this manga so be prepared. This manga has great backgrounds. In chapter 10, Hiroya Oku describes how he does all this incredibly realistic manga. The methods are obviously not what you expect and certainly not many manga fit this “factory” style (factory: famous Pop art artists like Andy Warhol call his studio a “factory” as his emphasis was the beauty of the normal everyday life). At first I sorta taken it as a joke but the (rather stiff) postures tell me otherwise. The manga gets more sophisticated later, so bear with the beginning. It is quite violent, both sexually and physically. The nudity cover of every chapter disturbs and there are implied sex every so often. If you’re not into it, like me, then make sure you skip the first page and you’ll do fine.

Random spoiler: Angelina J.’s Tomb Raider lookalike appears!

TROLL! If you want to see her, you gotta read it! im not telling you what chapter it is~ you’ll get rewarded later, if you like her that is… OH ya. SHE DIES.

KAY SO NOW IM CAUGHT UP. the artwork isn’t really art anymore and the 3D modeling is now to the point of disturbing, and the aileen arc is i think soon to close…. The story kept me reading though. Aesthetically, however, it no longer appeals to me. Half the time probably, the illustrator no longer needs to draw. The uniformity and the 3D model shading is just plain ugly.
BUT, again the story is quite interesting, though i guess it gets quite battle-manga-mecha-ish 😛

ALICE IN WONDERLAND <3 (mar 3 edit)

I recently finished catching up with Are you Alice?, a rendition of the Alice story where Alice is a guy~  well the 89th alice that is…

One would think since Alice in Wonderland is such a well known story, more manga/anime would be about it…
Heres the ones i know:

Kurshitsuji had an ova where Ciel was alice ❤ the anime (complete) / manga (ongoing) is nothing related but i just have to share~
Regarding fan art, there isn’t just cool ones I like since most are yaoi from the second season (nope not going to spoil it). I was sorta disappointed with Sub’s character but oh well…

isn't Ciel so kawaii~~<3

Pandora Hearts: the whole thin is about alice and the B. Rabbit which is a girl but a dude but not really (did i spoil something… well suck on it >:D) It’s not yaoi. but i just picked an offical image that looks like it would be mahahahaha~ feel evil today.

its a lot more popular wit the male gender group compared to Kuroshitsuji actually~ even though technically Kuroshisuji has more women in it O.O)?

Alice in the Country of Hearts: Never actually read/watched this one. so ill keep you updated on it as soon as i finish reading/watching (in the weekend perhaps?)  Its just some boring shoujo~~ not worth reading! unless you are into typical love-at-first-sight shoujo …

and of course ill have len! <3<3<3

isn’t Ciel so kawai~~<3

<3<3<3 yep its not friday, but im doing it anyway~~ BOSS!

Arakawa Under the Bridge

A friend just introduced me to this odd anime. and I love it!
It begins with the protaganoist as the son of the biggest company with the intellect of a king and the the looks.. of a supposedly pretty boy. ANYWAY. he meets a self-proclaimed Venusian~ highly recommend~ has odd yet interesting humor with even perhaps satirical messages in the background~

Here’s a screenshot:

update:

the anime has two seasons. the beginning starts with artwork you might find resembling Bakemonogatari. The second season is much more carefree than the first~
expect to read the manga after you’re done with the anime (im starting the manga now!)

Be sure to watch what is after the Credits 😀

(the story also has a drama so if your interested check it out)

Hi girls and guys~ yes im back

I’ve been busy doing stuffs so I didn’t have much time to think of a good post. anywars now that I’m slightly free and CardOtaku had his Lent post~
I suggest to also do things that you promised yourself to do but gave up on:

Using myself as an example. I’ve always admired ppl with their SAI and photoshop drawings on pixiv and DA, especially when they are manga/anime characters. Even when I was to illustrate for a story using manga style, I still didn’t have the courage to draw on computer. SO, I finally attempted on my first Photoshop drawing (with my mouse… >,<) Though as a self proclaimed perfectionist, I stopped myself from spending too much time on this (c’mon I’m still in college.)

I’m still trying to learn the proportions of the face in manga (my gawd just a tiny mistake makes a good looking face a flat one…) ANYWHOS.
The Point Is :: I challenge you to do something that you promised or wished you to do and work to it on these 40 (39?) many days!

 

Special Thanks to Silverblade for the suggestion ( ^^)-#

´(˚∆˚)ƒ Happy President’s Day! Aniarch 1: Mahou Shoujo

In celebration of Len as the first president of the US, we now have a day off~

so i took it literally and played sims 3 with the girls all day (yah… oh my) i think my life has shortened for 3 days.

(x.x)/ *insert extremely interesting info here*

Now you’ve been entertained, Lets talk about Anime Architecture:
Since, in anime, they redraw the characters every time the angle view changes, the scenes are usually flat roads, where perspective is lacking. When it comes to the backgrounds, usually, they would therefore look flat and far away. Of course, now with much more 3D rendering going on, that isn’t always the case anymore~ Unless if most of the anime is 3D rendered (like tiger & bunny), then you’re pretty much stuck with generic, backgrounds (road to school, the sky, mountains, hills, large, dramatic views of the city, the beach, i can go on…) SO I decided to re-watch anime to crack down their buildings. The first one I thought of was Madoka, with its dramatic first episode.

 

if your truly interested, here you will find many of the real life places throughout the anime (no the dream part in the first episode isn’t real, sorry guys)