The old online joke is that you have reached the end of the web. There are no more pages. Turn off your computer and go read a book.

Reading through Bob's upcoming titles page, I have realized that I seem to have reached the end of anime. There's almost nothing coming that I care about! Not for a long time, anyway.

I keep a "To Buy" shortcut folder where I note stuff I might pick up. Most of what's in it right now is stuff I've already bought, or stuff I've decided not to buy after all.

I never finished DVD 5 of the second Ah! My Goddess! series, so I'm not going to bother getting the sixth and last. The series was already stale and not even the appearance of Hild ultimately could revive it.

I never unwrapped the first DVD of Witchblade, or the first DVD of Mushishi. Why buy any more?

Shuffle DVD 1 would be a guilt buy, but I think I'm not going to bother. I'm certainly not interested in any of the rest of the series. (Yandere! Eeek!)

Definitely to buy next time: Aika R-16 Virgin Mission, Ayane's High Kick, Legend of the Last Labyrinth. Crap all, though.

In the "well, maybe, someday, but probably not" file are Genshiken, Mao-chan, and Maps. Maps just sounds like it's junk. Mao-chan might well be pretty good, but it isn't a budget release and I don't think I'm up for spending full price for it. Genshiken?

Well, there's the Ayako principle. Kawasumi Ayako does the voice of the girl who's into cosplaying -- which is to say, she's the primary fanservice purveyor in the series. And it's got a couple of other seiyuu in it that I like. On the other hand, shows about otaku tend to make me cringe a bit. They strike too close to home.

However, now that it's out as an economy release for only $33, and given that it also includes the Kujibiki Unbalance OVA (i.e. the one with the good cast), I will probably include it in my next purchase.

But I look rather forlornly at the "Upcoming" list, and the next thing coming that isn't out yet that I want to buy is Lucky Star #2, and that's scheduled for July 1. Then on July 8 we (might) get the first Gurren Lagann release.

And then? Well, I'll pick up the third DVD of Tweeny Witches (July 22) but after that there's nothing. Just nothing. More of Gurren Lagann as it comes out, whenever. Nothing else.

Sigh.

(Please note that this is not an invitation for people to flood me with suggestions. Or trickle me. Do Not Want. I mean it. I really am sure I don't want to watch Gunslinger Girls. I don't have the slightest doubt about my decision to not watch it. Or any of the other things on this list.)

I've been looking around for older more obscure titles, which is why I ended up with weirdness like Ayane's High Kick and Legend of the Last Labyrinth on my list. I'll probably do more of that, but it's kind of a sad feeling. I seem to have reached the end of anime.

Gad, will I have to start downloading fansubs?

UPDATE: There was a degree of hyperbole in there, of course. There are things coming that I'm going to want. But there aren't many, and they're all a long way off.

For instance, I'll definitely be buying Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny. I have every expectation that I'll like Gurren Lagann and will eventually get it all. I'll give Aria a try. Rocket Girls is probably silly fluff, but I'll at least buy one DVD of it. And Nanoha is on the list.

But that's not much. Sad, isn't it?

Historically, June and July have been months where the R1 companies announced a lot of new licenses. I hope we see some good ones this time. (I hope we see anything at all.)

Top of my list of things I hope get licensed? Magipoka, and Dai Mahou Touge. But I don't expect either of them to get picked up.

UPDATE: Oh, and I really, really, really do not want any suggestions or recommendations.

UPDATE: Sorry about that, folks. I'm in a foul mood right now and it's coming out here.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 08:12 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
Post contains 727 words, total size 5 kb.

1 Obviously, you should take advantage of this brief lull in the year's action-packed release schedule, and start seriously studying Japanese. All the cool kids are doing it.

-j

Posted by: J Greely at June 04, 2008 09:06 PM (2XtN5)

2 That sounds too much like work.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 04, 2008 09:11 PM (+rSRq)

3 I was just wondering what the chances were that Kanokon would be licensed for R1...and whether it would be marketed in a plain brown cover marked "18 and up only.".

Posted by: ubu at June 05, 2008 03:55 AM (cNPo8)

4 I have a big backlog and I drop good shows all the time, because I just cannot keep up. But DVD availability is just just pitiful. The only thing I'm buying right now is Lucky Star, and I'm waiting for a couple other releases. Netflix saved me from buying Rumbling Hearts and FSN. After these, I don't see any DVDs I would want to buy (I'm on the fence about Figure 17).

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at June 05, 2008 12:28 PM (prIxR)

5 Have you considered watching Gunslinger Girls?

(flees in terror)

Posted by: EvilOtto at June 05, 2008 03:26 PM (08dnm)

6

What did I do to deserve this?

(And I had nightmares all last night. Woke up this morning and spent five minutes sitting on the edge of my bed with my head sunk into my hands.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 05, 2008 03:30 PM (+rSRq)

7 You blogged. And then you got popular.  (If you want nightmares, mine have been doozies. Ten-year out-of-date nuclear-war supply Cheetos and electrical paddles with cold purple goop.  Well, ok, it was more of a surreal-mare than a nightmare.  Here's hoping you sleep better soon.)

And Otto, that wasn't nice.  Especially considering it's already on his  list with a NO.  Nope, you should have reminded Steven he hasn't finished The Third, either!   

Posted by: ubu at June 05, 2008 03:48 PM (cNPo8)

8 Well, I *am* evil, Ubu. Not brave, but evil.

Posted by: EvilOtto at June 05, 2008 04:14 PM (08dnm)

9 You could always pick out one of your random DVDs to watch from a series that you gave up on after one or two episodes. I find that a lot of anime series have terrible first episodes and it is always possible that you might find more redeeming aspects of a show if you watch an episode half way through the series.

Urusei Yatsura might be a good choice as I don't think you have come across Oyuki yet. She is worth some screen captures at the very least. I think she first shows up in episode 8 which is actually story 15 as the early Urusei Yatsura episodes were actually half length stories where two were shown during the half hour TV time slot. There are some other babes, but the main ones would be Lum, Shinobu, Sakura, Benten, Princess Kurama, Ran, Ryuunosuke, Oyuki and Asuka.

Posted by: ColoradoJim at June 05, 2008 04:54 PM (92FSs)

10 Sheesh. At least Otto was kidding when he gave me an unwanted suggestion.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 05, 2008 05:39 PM (+rSRq)

11 Jim's not wrong about the "first time ehhh, second time yay" phenomenon.  I couldn't stand Azumanga Daioh the first time I tried to watch it... second try, though, it became my favorite series in the history of anime.

So how about Ghost In The Shell: Stand-alone Complex?  (hides behind Otto)

Posted by: Wonderduck at June 05, 2008 07:16 PM (AW3EJ)

12 I think I'm going to close this.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 05, 2008 07:26 PM (+rSRq)

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