Added 109 stills and one anim from Trinity Seven. Total is now 4686 images.

Liese here was the cheesecake champion of the series. She was in more than half the grabs I took, for reasons I think should be apparent. She also contributed the first animation in a year and a half, which is below the fold.

UPDATE: By the way, this show isn't subtle.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Site Stuff at 08:34 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Saw that gif all over the place when it aired, so I'm not surprised that's what you were adding.

Posted by: sqa at February 04, 2015 12:27 AM (BTNcW)

2 She certainly puts the "pair" in apparent.

Posted by: topmaker at February 04, 2015 07:07 PM (2yZsg)

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I'm getting an Instaflood today! First time in years.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Site Stuff at 04:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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UPDATE: OK, It's up now.

I was inspired to write a post that I submitted to Ace. This morning I sent it to the Ace of Spades Gmail account, which I imagine gets a thousand emails a day, so it's very likely it'll get lost in the shuffle. (But I didn't know of any other email address I could use.)

But you never know; he might notice it and he might like it.

If I haven't heard back from him in a couple of days, I'll post it here.

UPDATE: The reason I'm saying this now is that I am pretty sure at least one of the regular writers on Ace of Spades is also one of my readers, and I hope he'll make sure Ace sees my email. (Fingers crossed.)

UPDATE: Oh, what the heck. Here it is:

A Crisis of Faith

No, not Muslims; it's the the western press. The Press have created an ideology over the last fifty years or so that approaches the level of a secular religious dogma. They believe that the Press are like the referees in a football game, present everywhere but not involved in the action. Surrounded by violence, they themselves never contribute to the violence and are never the objects of violence. And they are strictly neutral, favoring no one but simply calling it all like they see it.

Except that they've also mixed in a big dollop of Marxist ideology: they aren't, and shouldn't be, strictly neutral. As good progressives they can and must work against global capitalism and everything associated with it. That means it's OK to criticize Christianity and Judaism, for instance, because those religions are part of the Capitalist monolith. By working against all the things that Marxism says they should, this gives them credibility with the world's proletariat, who will respond to that by leaving the press alone. Or so they think.

And violence by the world's proletariat is a good thing because it may presage the global Socialist revolution prophesied by the sainted Marx. That includes, in particular, all the violence in the world being committed by Muslims.

Like a lot of religious dogma, this is subconscious in a lot of the press. They simply accept that it's the way things are (or should be) and don't worry about where it came from or whether it really makes any sense.

The lethal attack on Charlie Hebdo, and the firebombing of a tabloid in Germany, has brought out a major contradiction in the Religion of the Press, and a lot of members of the press are demonstrating their confusion in how they respond.

First, there is the fundamental dogma of press freedom: no matter what the press says or does, no one is supposed to harm them in return. They're the referees, dammit, not players in the struggle!

Second, though, is the fact that Charlie and the Hamburg tabloid which was firebombed broke the compact by criticizing Islam. This was wrong! Not, surprisingly, because Muslim fanatics are dangerous (that is a good thing!), but because it is hoped that dangerous Muslim fanatics will fight against the Capitalist enemy which all good progressives are supposed to be working to undermine. Islam is a Third World religion, and criticizing it undermines the Press in trying to prove to the world Proletariat that the Press is on their side in the great Marxist struggle.

And as a result of this Progressive sin, Charlie Hebdo et. al. have dragged all the rest of the press into the battle, on the front line, where they no longer seem to have their assumed immunity.

And that's why a lot of them have a deer-in-the-headlights look on their collective faces. A common response has been, "We believe in absolute press freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility, and Charlie Hebdo and everyone else who published cartoons critical of Islam are abusing their responsibility and... deserved what happened to them." (That last isn't usually stated quite so bluntly, but you can see it if you read between the lines.)

They know how bad this sounds, but they can't really say anything else without violating the Press religious dogma themselves and further undermining their presumed alliance with the World's Proletariat.

How much of this is cowardice? I don't think they are really thinking in those terms. For one thing, the Press in the US thinks of itself as being brave, in part because of all the critical things they say about Christianity. There are all those "bitter clingers" out there with closets full of AR-15's just aching to shoot up the NYT and any other press outlet who dares say anything bad about Christianity (never mind that nothing like that has ever happened) and the Press bravely go ahead anyway. Likewise, they bravely risk being taken away by the Secret Police for criticizing the government when there's a Republican President (again, never mind that no one has ever been taken away like that). They're brave, damn it. They know they are! It's all very romantic and revolutionary.

No, the problem, and the reason a lot of them won't republish the Charlie cartoons, is that the Press isn't supposed to be doing that kind of thing. It isn't Progressive! It's the wrong damned target!

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Site Stuff at 08:55 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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I added 47 images from the Bodacious Space Pirates movie. Total is now 4576.

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Added 60 from Amagi Brilliant Park, 56 from Madan no Ou to Vanadis, and 57 from Nanatsu no Taizai. Total number of images is now 4529.

I also made it so that you can see the NW, NE, and SE buttons when your mouse is over them.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Site Stuff at 09:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Madan no Ou to Vanadis was good for 56 candidates. I think it's time to do another update.

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I ended up with 61 candidates from Amagi Brilliant Park.

It takes quite a girl to take a selfie like that and make it work! (It takes quite a girl to even be willing to try!)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Site Stuff at 03:39 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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In general this season started well, with several pleasant surprises, but it's turned out to be a disappointment. It's not the fault of the Japanese, for a change; the subbing circles have let me down. (sob, poor me)

But a lot of shows which I didn't think were worth watching might well still be worth plundering, and since the season is mostly over now I thought I'd check them out.

Amagi Brilliant Park: As far as plunder is concerned, the main problem is that Our Hero is on screen too much. Lots of otherwise good images are spoiled by having a guy (ick) in them. But it's not a total loss, and as long as the Elemental Idols get some reasonable screen time, there should be at least a bit of stuff worth taking.

Especially Sylphy! There are some good images of Isuzu, too, but she always looks miserable and that doesn't make for good grabs. I figure it'll be low yielding but high quality.

Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai: Lots of cute girls, but Our Hero spoils most shots, and the school uniforms are not flattering. I think this one will turn out to be a total loss. (A quick scan through a few episodes didn't turn up a single image I though was worth taking even as an example.)

Girl Friend Beta: There aren't any boys who are speaking parts, and they only show up occasionally in crowd scenes. The girls are mostly nicely shaped. But the school uniforms are quite unflattering. The only outright cheesecake shot I found when I briefly scanned through the first 10 eps was the gymnast at the beginning of the first episode.

This was more typical. You can tell that they're girls, I guess. This probably will turn out to be a waste of time. I was hoping for a swimming pool PE scene, but there hasn't been one so far and the way the story is going there probably won't be.

Inou Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de: Our Hero is on screen too much. (This is a common problem with harem shows.) Ep 10 was the first one I looked at, and it was a swimsuit episode. But the first half was lolis, and I despaired. However, the second half featured this girl:

So maybe. I figure it'll be low yielding but decent quality. Possibly 30 images, if that.

Madan no Ou to Vanadis: Not a problem. Elen alone is enough to make this one worthwhile, and there are several other women who make good appearance.

Nanatsu no Taizai: Elizabeth and Diane:

Especially Diane!

Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu: Toaru is certainly worthy of a place in the top rotation, and Yellow is good looking (even if I hate the character). As to the loli, um...

Trinity 7: Since these two girls are major characters, it's possible this will be worth plundering. It's really a question of what kinds of scenes they're in. Early on there are gratuitous ecchi scenes (which might be too ecchi for me), and later on the show gets grim and gritty.

As to other shows? I won't be doing Unlimited Blade Works. It's not the kind of show that will have the kind of images I want, and I don't feel like wading through it. (Besides, I did Carnival Phantasm.)

Denkigai no Honya-san appears to have some decent cheesecake but I think it would be too painful to dig them out. Same goes for Cross Ange. Grisaia doesn't have a lot of images I can use -- too many shots spoiled by Our Hero -- and it's a strange aspect ratio so it would be hard to trim to 600*375. (And I don't want to wade through all the blood again.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Site Stuff at 05:14 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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1 I was wondering when you'd find the joy that is Sylphy. She's just great.
Most recent eps of Nanatsu should be really good for plunder.

Posted by: sqa at December 14, 2014 07:26 PM (tEOgr)

2 I spotted Sylphy a long time ago!

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 14, 2014 07:57 PM (+rSRq)

3 Did Gokukoku no Brunhildr have any good ones? 
Do you like the art in the new Sailor Moon series? 

Posted by: muon at December 15, 2014 01:20 AM (XIprt)

4

Re Gokuko no Brynhildr, I don't really like taking shots from shows which feature a lot of dead and/or bloody girls. Even if the images I take are clean, they still remind me of the horror. (For instance, Kotori would have been an excellent source of plunder, except I can't forget what ultimately happened to her.) That's why I never tried to process Freezing, for instance. Trinity 7 is borderline and I might end up skipping it once I take a closer look at it. Oddly enough, Strike the Blood wasn't borderline.

These things aren't hard-and-fast rules; it's just intuitive on my part. Some series I don't want to be reminded of, and GnB is one of them. I don't regret watching it, but I don't want to watch it again.

Re Sailor Moon, I didn't really consider it. Such views of the art from that series I've seen makes clear that it isn't likely to have anything I would want to use. For one thing, the girls don't look like girls. A real girl has no straight lines; it's all curves. But Usagi looks like she's made out of soda straws. And all of them look like famine victims.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 15, 2014 01:50 AM (+rSRq)

5 The Sailor Moon girls are supposed to be Japanese middle school students after all. You can probably criticize their legs for being too long. The art does seem to have improved as the series goes on.

Posted by: muon at December 16, 2014 01:57 AM (XIprt)

6

That's fine. They can look however they do. But I don't want them in the top rotation.

Besides which, middle school girls don't have to be made out of soda straws.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 16, 2014 07:33 AM (+rSRq)

7

Usagi is Cameron Diaz, and Himawari is Kate Upton...

The character designs for Sailor Moon makes clear that the intended audience is girls. I don't happen to be a girl, so I prefer Vividred Operation.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 16, 2014 07:42 AM (+rSRq)

8 The mad scientist episode of Vivi Dred Operation... the most fun you can have doing a writeup while still feeling slightly greasy at the same time!

Posted by: Wonderduck at December 16, 2014 07:44 AM (jGQR+)

9 Nobody in Denki-Gai has grotesque mellons.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at December 16, 2014 10:43 AM (RqRa5)

10

I don't want them to be grotesque. (That's why Queen's Blade never showed up here.) But it would be nice if they were present. Leave us be frank: the top rotation is primarily a collection of cheesecake.

Whatever else this might be, it ain't cheesecake.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 16, 2014 11:49 AM (+rSRq)

11 I like Sailor Moon; I even like the character designs. But it's a different style for a different audience.  And there's no shortage of cheesecake in anime.  Thank goodness.*
* "Goodness had nothing to do with it!"

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 16, 2014 05:11 PM (PiXy!)

12 Ushinawareta Mirai o Motomete (In Search of the Lost Future) looks like it might be a candidate, if the male protagonist isn't on screen too much.

Posted by: muon at December 18, 2014 12:46 AM (XIprt)

13 Those kinds of magazine posters for shows are nearly always uncharacteristically racey.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at December 18, 2014 07:28 AM (+rSRq)

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I'm informed that recently Sitemeter began redirecting people to advertising sites on a random basis, and that it's happened here. This was the first time I'd been told there was a problem at this site, and I myself have never seen the problem.

But I don't doubt, and I've removed both instances of the Sitemeter gizmo. If you still have problems, I'd like to hear about it.

UPDATE: I also apologize for any problems people have had.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Site Stuff at 04:29 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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I replaced the pitiful 21 images from AsoIku with a new plunder of 156 images.

Total is now 4356.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Site Stuff at 07:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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