More Language Fun

Went to Mitsuwa today: ramen! You ever see a big fat hairy guy with a large unkempt beard eat noodles and broth? No, it's not pretty. Yes, it's yummy.

I have this thing where small children find me fascinating. I used to think it was a Santa thing, but it's pretty cross cultural. Small humans stare at me in various states of awe, bewilderment, fear, I don't really know what, usually to the chagrin of their parents.

Today's pair of kids were Japanese. I'd been enjoying their chatter with their parents next to us. I like the cadence of spoken Japanese, even if my attempts to understand it remain miserable at best. At the end of our meal, I realized the kids seemed to daring each other to get a closer look at the big scary guy; me.

Their mom was very cool, actually. Not put off by me in the least, she told her kids in English to say Hi, which they did and then burst into embarrassed giggling. Mom wanted them to say more to the friendly stranger, like "how are you" or something.

I dredged up some half remembered phrases and settled on the simplest one. "Genki desu ka," I said with false confidence, which sort of means "how are you." The kids didn't seem to notice, but the look of shocked surprise from mom was satisfying. Other nearby adults looked at me in disbelief.

She tried to get the kids to respond in kind, but they were done. The gist of it was "He said genki?!? Say genki desu. Say thank you. What you do say?"

I haven't even looked at Japanese in nearly a year. I really should apply myself to it again. As if to offer encouragement, the bookstore finally got in a copy of the first book in the "Japanese in MangaLand" series. I forked over $25 bucks for it. Nothing says commitment like cash. :p

Anime: Witch Hunter Robin

I really liked this one. Not action packed, but not a social tedium anime lithium hit, either. Robin manages to deftly evoke its understated urban magic world where "witches" threaten society and witch hunters keep them in check. If it sounds tired and recycled, it's not.

The characters are believable and all deep enough to be interesting. Some are even surprising ( Nagira adds a refreshing element to the show just as events begin to get heavier. ). Robin is mysterious 15 year old girl who is a "craft user", trained to use magic against those who would use the same magic to do harm. The show manages to support an ambiguity as to what separates a craft user from a Witch, beyond the acceptance of some far away authority.

One element in particular that struck me as well done was, of all things, set design. There was an unusual attention to detail with all the architecture. Harry's bar is an art deco dive that's practically a character in it's own right. You keep looking for the piano player and imagining an oversized cognac glass stuffed with yen. Nagira's law offices also have a deco thing going on, like they stole some windows from Harry's. The headquarters of the STN-J are have a particular feel, day and night. From slums to cars, everything has a very clear sense of place.

One more thing, if you watch the Scifi channel you may have seen this; the Painkiller Jane series has more than a passing resemblance to the Witch Hunter Robin series. Indeed, most of the original feeling elements in the forgettable Scifi series can be found here. Special guns, hunting people from a list who pose a threat, the main female character having more in common with the hunted than the hunters, a far away headquarters controlling an organization of specialists, the motives of said headquarters coming into question, the disposal of the captives being a mystery...

Happily, Robin is smooth and controlled in it's storytelling. It rarely takes the a painfully simple turn and avoids many possible pitfalls. Ok, the true nature and origin of the organization's anti witch drug, orbo, is pretty much telegraphed, but you can't have everything. The ending, and the show as a whole, is satisfying.

( I have a huge backlog of anime reviews, but I'm lazy. Hopefully more to come. Unfortunately, only one is maybe better than this one, but no magic. Lot's of stinkers. )