Funny Little Men

First of all, some apologies...

...for our absence. We blame FaceBook because we don't like taking blame ourselves. For a moment, we felt like FaceBook could replace this very website altogether. But then it dawned on us that those itsy bitsy bits of information on FaceBook would never be able to capture the sheer size and breadth of our intellectual musings. We need a broad canvas and FaceBook just cramps our style. 

Don't even get us started on Twitter.

Then a Shout-Out...

Ah yes, this has been on our minds for a while: here's a little shout-out to Bull and Gate. A lovely little company that does all sorts of animationy things. It's run by the Fantastic Mister Frost. Please go over there and give the man some work. Anything will do. Rumour has it that he wastes his time watching cricket when not at work. No one should have to go through the horrors of watching sport's equivalent of drying paint.

Followed by a little update...

As reported in one of our previous blogs, the not-so-legal channels to the world of anime are starting to dry up. Not dramatically, but the signs are there. What is more interesting is that anime distributors are starting to create legal subscription based online channels for anime. Often this online content appears within a week of it appearing in Japan. Not bad compared to the years it would take before.

Looks like anime is spearheading this new type of distribution, so much so in fact that the anime distributors aren't bothering getting their stuff on terrestrial anymore. Adult Swim have pretty much stopped showing any anime. So far it's only for North America. But still, we can't help but wondering if this is the face of things to come. Watch this space.

And to finish it off, some rejoicing...

Hallelujah, the Goddess, Haruhi Suzumiya, has returned in her second season. There was lots of nervous anticipation here at the Funny Little Men Headquarters. Would it live up to the first season? It's quite a tall order, but if anybody can, She can. 

So there we were, all in our cosplay uniforms, looking at the screen, wondering whose eye would receive the first sacred photons containing some Haruhi.

Remember, She was the one that inspired our initial liking for anime. Well, some anime. Most anime is [diplomatic] not very good.[/diplomatic]. But Haruhi was the happy exception to that rule, with scripts that were as sharp as a razor and yet understated. Gorgeous animations. Lush backgrounds. Confident and inspired directing. Like a perfect storm of creativity. The animated equivalent of a catchy pop-tune that never bores. If anything, it was too good for its target audience.

So please don't betray our trust. All we ask You to do is to be as perfect as You were the first time around. Perfection, that's not too much to ask for is it now?

...or is it?

Well, so far we've only seen one episode, and we were all a bit underwhelmed.

We fear the Goddess may have lost some of her original sparkle. Yes, Kyon's voiceover is still as acerbic as ever. He's still a grumpy 60 year old stuck in a teenagers body. Yes, Mikuru is still as useless as a chocolate teapot. Yes, Yuki is still... Yuki (aaah). And rest assured that Haruhi hasn't changed one bit. Which is good news, the world would end if she changed. Literally.

But the background art felt a bit flat. The camera-angles were often boring and unimaginative compared to the first season. The layouts didn't have the same pixel perfect quality to them.

Some of us here at the Funny Little Men compound swore they recognised some of the camera angles and layouts from the first season.

None of it was truly bad, but compared to the perfection that was the first season... How shall we put it. The first season was the Beatles, this was the Monkees.

Keep in mind, this is only after watching one episode (a perfectly illegal version available on the perfectly legal Veoh we should add. Some things haven't changed). Normally we specialize in Slow Blogging® where we spout our opinion months after the storm has passed. So there's still a chance we jumped the gun.

We shall keep our devoted eyes peeled and see if this was just a filler episode. It would rather suit The Divine One to start the season with a such a curve-ball.