A few anime recommendations

I have been watching a little bit more anime recently, because a friend of mine recommended a few series. So this is what I was watching.

Over Drive
I've always liked sports series so I was happy to find this one. This time it's all about cycling. A young student joins a bicycle club at school and turns out to be a very talented rider although he says that he never rode a bike before. The club joins a race in Japan which drags on for almost 10 episodes. That's basically it. It's all about enthusiasm for something and following a dream. The usual anime story line. Because this series is about cycling I thought there might be some hints for performance enhancing drugs but that has been left out completly. Instead the Tour de France is the hot topic here and it's still the pure and marvellous event it used to be.
The character development is hindered by the very short time the series has (it's only 26 episodes) so I have the feeling that there's something missing somewhere. But it's fun to watch when you have nothing else to do. (5/10)

Dennou Coil
This is a strange one. It's about kids in a city where pets go missing. And it's not usual pets, it's cyber pets you can only seee when you wear special glasses. They seem to be hunted by a lifeform called "illegals" who come as some form of computer virus. There's lots of technical things all around and everything's "meta"-this and "meta"-that.
I've only seen two episodes so far but this seems to have the right mixture between funny parts, exciting story lines and mysterious cyberspace stuff. It's no Meccha series, it's more like private eye kids looking into a case which is of no interest to adults. But I might be wrong and the story will take a u-turn in the next episodes. You'll never know. Still I like this very much. The animation is great and the character design is a little different from what you normally get to see. (6/10)

Bamboo Blade
I was always interested in the sport of kendo so when this series came out I gladly took the opportunity to watch it. The main character is a broke teacher who runs the kendo club at his school and who has a bet with his senpai that his girls team will beat his senpai's girls team. At first there are only two girls in the team, one of those is absent all the time. But with time they are able to gather all the members they need.
This is nothing special either but it also has these nice funny moments and super deformed character design at times which I really like. The kendo scenes are not the centre of attention in most of the episodes so the anme takes a little bit more time for character development which I like as well. The previews at the end of each episode are hilarious. This is a series I like. (6,5/10)

Touch
This seems to be a classic and I only started to watch it because I really like the drama version of "H2". I don't know if "Touch" was done before "H2" or if it was the other way around. Anyway, the story seems to be very similar. When in "H2" there were three childhood friends from different families here we have two families and their kids are friends since they were born. There's is one girl and two twin boys, one of them is a slacker, the other one an outstanding athlete and student. Sounds familiar? Well, it does to me. So the talented guy plays on the baseball team at high school and that's what caught my attention. I've only seen the first two episodes here as well, but because it looks rather oldfashioned (the anime is from 1985) it has this nostalgic feeling to it. All in all it's over 100 episodes so there should be a lot of time for character development. I'm looking forward to watch this. (7/10)

Shigurui
A samurai anime which looks very mature and suited for older people rather than children or kids. It starts out with a duel between to crippled fighters, one being blind and the other one having lost an arm or a leg. From there on the story goes back a few years and tells what happened between those two men.
The whole set up is very dark, there aren't really any bright colours in this series. The violence is very explicit and very well drawn. Now, I always like to watch historic anime or drama series because I take an interest in how historic events or eras are portrayed in popular culture. This seems to be very accurate from what I can see but my knowledge of Japanese history is limited as well, so I might be wrong. This is definetely not like "Rurouni Kenshin" or "Samurai Champloo", it's way darker and gloomier. And much more gory, that's true. (6/10)

Byousoku 5 Centimeter
Another great movie by Shinkai Mikoto who also made stuff like "Hoshi no Koe" or "Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho". this time the story is about two kids who were friends in scholl but who were seperated when they had to go to high school. One day the boy travels to the countryside to meet the girl. When they meet he tells her he has to move further away from her. The next episode deals with what the boy is doing in his new home and the last episode shows what happened to both of them after they finished school.
What Shinkai always manages to do is to create a wonderful atmosphere with the pictures we draws. Although there might be a landscape covered in snow or just a scenery of a village at night it's always very colourful and because of that powerful. His stories are also very wonderful. Although they are everyday stories and nothing really happens (you are always waiting for a climax to appear) they leave you with a very calm and satisfied feeling. This one really is a must see. (8,5/10)

I will look into Blue Drop, Ghost Hound, Sketchbook - full color's, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Genshiken 2 when I find the time time to do so.

JDrama: The season wrap up (fall)

Is it just me or was this season just a little boring. There weren't those blockbuster star-packed series' which usually are shown. Although one or two good ones emerged the overall impression is that this one was a let down.

Galileo
A detective/mystery series about a young detective (Shibasaki Kou) who has been assigned to solve very difficult cases which go beyond the normal imagination. She teams up with a weird scientist who helped her predescessor in his work. The setup usually is the same in each episode: there's a mysterous killing which cannot be explained reasonably. The detective will meet with the scientist and he will come up with a rational explanation of the case. This may sound boring but because of the great acting actually it's very funny. I always like to watch Shibasaki Kou act in dramas and this one is no exception. She really fills the screen with her presence. her counterpart is brilliantly cast with Fukuyama Masaharu who wonderfully displays the weird and rational scientist who only believes in what he sees and what he can explain reasonably. A must see! (8/10)

Abarenbo Mama
Yet another drama starring Ueto Aya and this time she plays a mother who has to come to terms with the kid her husband brings into the new family. Personally I think that her acting is way too childish for her to portray a responsible mother, but since this is a comedy it might work out. The series follows her problems with all the other mothers from the kindergarten and stuff like that. it feels a little bit like "At Home Dad". Her husband is played by Oizumi Yo who was very funny in "Haken no Hinkaku". This is lighthearted and funny, but it's not brilliant. (5/10)

Yukan Club
Take six goodlooking young and promising stars (like Akanashi Jin, Kashii Yu or Suzuki Emi), some of whom might even be singers, put them alltogether in a series with a lousy script and this is what you get. Although there are dramas with every singkle one of the main cast actors this is just disappointing. The story is a bout six filthily rich students who in their free time solve criminal cases. It has its moments but overall this is aimed at a far too young audience. Maybe that's why I just didn't get into it. (2/10)

Iryu Team Medical Dragon (2nd Season)
I really liked the first season and this one follows the original series where it left off. Asada-sensei is back to save a lot of patients with the most frightening heart diseases. Honestly I would consider this to be "Schwarzwaldklinik" ("Black Forest Clinic") on speed with those fast cut and highly dramatic operation room scenes. The episodes are mostly the same, there is always a hopeless case which by the hand of Team Dragon is helped to survive and to live on. But there is also the overriding theme, this time it's the conversion of a hospital into a high tech medical centre for rich people. This keeps the pace high and this has kept me watching it. A good manga adaption with a great cast which has too many good actors to single out a few. (6/10)

Joshi Deka!
Another detective drama this one tells the story of a veteran offiver and her new apprentice who came straight out of the police school. I've only watched to episodes but this looks interesting. true, sometimes it's a little bit too silly, but the main Story about a serial murder case is very interesting and serious and it seems that there is something happening in future episodes since the first episode started with a flashback. Nakama Yukie starrs as the apprentice and Izumi Pinko as the veteran. They make a great team and it's fun to watch them when they interact. Nice one (7/10)

Utahime
This is this season's winner to me. Another great show starring Nagase Tomoya who despite being a rockstar with his band "Tokio" delivers another wonderful performance. This time he plays a war veteran who was washed ashore a small village on the southern coast of Japan. When he strands there his memory is erased and he becomes a helper to the local cinema owner. Things evolve from there. What makes this very good is first and foremost that all actors speak some kind of dialect. This is a nice expection and really sounds interesting. Then I think that either the scriptwriters, the producers or the directors had something to do with classic series' like "Ikebukoro West Gate Park", "Kisarazu Cat's Eye" or "Tiger & Dragon". They way the dialogue flows and the way some jokes are introduced is very similar. And some of the actors are featured in the aforementioned dramas as well. I really liked this one (8/10)

Mop Girl
Another winner. This is about a girl who is demoted from her job as a wedding planer to a company which cleans up crime scenes and prepares for funerals. The lead character, played by former "Sailor Moon" Kitagawa Keiko, has the strange ability to travel back in time when she touches the belongings of recently deceased people. So you get the picture of what happens in every episode. What I really liked was the very comicbook-ish facial expressions of Kitagawa and the supporting cast. Above average. (6/10)

Dream Again
I originally started watching this because it was about baseball, but then again baseball is just a side story here. Sorimachi Takashi plays a professional baseball player who loses his place in the first string team of the Yomiuri Giants and tries to get back to the big leagues. Just when he makes his decision to work harder he gets struck by a lightning and dies. But this was a mistake and so he is given a second chance. He enters the body of a business man and has to cope with all the faults of a ruthless broker. Adding up to his problems is a daughter who he never heard of and trouble with a law firm who is represented by his former girlfriend. This is a little bit over the top and we all know those "dead people return in another body" stories. It's fun to watch, but it's nothing special. (5/10)

SP (Special Police)
A drama about a special squad which is assigned to protect important people. You might say it's a bodyguard unit in the metropolitan police. I've only seen one episode, but it looks interesting, because it has Okada Junichi and Tsutsumi Shinichi in it, two actors I really like. The first episode looked very promising and this didn't seem to be a case-by-case approach but there seems to be an overlaying storyline as well, something I always like because there is an end you can look forward to. From what I've seen one of the better dramas in this season. (6/10)

* Summer 2007 Wrap Up
* Spring 2007 Wrap Up

Bundesliga: Day 18 - The winter break is here, but who cares anyway...

....FORTUNA IS ON TOP OF THE TABLE!!! That's all that counts to me. Here are the results of the Bundesliga:

Energie Cottbus - Hannover 96 5:1
FC Schalke 04 - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:1
Werder Bremen - Bayer Leverkusen 5:2
Hertha BSC - Bayern München 0:0
Arminia Bielefeld - VfB Stuttgart 2:0
VfL Wolfsburg - Borussia Dortmund 4:0
Karlsruher SC - Hamburger SV 1:1
Hansa Rostock - VfL Bochum 2:0
MSV Duisburg - Eintracht Frankfurt 0:1

Bayern again only drew, Dortmund lost horribly, Schalke won again, Bremen thrashed Leverkusen and Cottbus shocked Hannover. But that's all bullshit. What really counts to me is that Fortuna Cologne tops the table of Verbandsliga Mittelrhein, the fifth division. They won against VfL Rheinbach away 3:2 and passed local rivals Viktoria Cologne who were beaten 1:4 by FC Junkersdorf, another club from Cologne. This is the first time Fortuna have been sitting on top of the table in a long time, in fact this is the first season in a long time when they really have a chance of getting promoted to a higher league. I have been going to games at the Südstadion for almost 20 years now and in all that time the only way has been down. Sure, there were a few highs, but all in all the spiral went downwards. The last success of the club was when they were promoted to the first division in 1973 and they are still the relegation team with the best record in one season. You can't buy anything off that nowadays so seeing them in first place is something very special to me. They are now in their winter break and play will resume in February. I'm looking forward to spring time...

MLB: The Mitchell Report

I took a little time to read a few pages of the report about drug abuse in baseball which was conducted by Senator Mitchell and which was released last week. It is very pleasant to have the opportunity to actually read the stuff everybody is talking about in the media, something that rarely happens over here in Germany. When there is a report, it is handed out to the journalists and they interpret it for the readers and viewers in their respective magazines and shows.
So, getting back to the topic I found it very interesting that none of the players cooperated with Senator Mitchell. This very much reminds me of what is happening in cycling over the past few years. There is a wall of silence and the guys who actually speak about what they did are sports counterparts to mafia traitors who broke the rule of the "omertá". So, well, yeah, no one said anything, everything is based on federal investigations and two or three whistleblowers.
Speaking of whistleblowers, it seems that the biggest surprise was the inclusion of Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens in the report. Now I believe I don't have the slightest clue about how big a star he is in the USA, but again comparing it to cycling noone is safe from being accused of abusing drugs. In cycling a lot of the big stars of the past admitted that they used performance enhancing drungs like EPO and I think that those guys who strongly deny that they ever had anything to do with that stuff will at some point have to admit that they did it as well (think Lance Armstrong here).

The interesting thing is how the public will react to this and all the commentators I've heard said that nothing will come out of this. There will be no spectacular consequences. And this, I believe, will affect how baseball is seen abroad in countries that don't have a huge baseball following. People there will say that that's the sport with those big guys completely blown out of proportion because they all use drugs to enhance their play. I won't go so far to point the finger only at baseball (Rugby might have a huge problem as well, considering what players looked like a few years ago and what they look today), but I think it's sad that MLB won't use this report to clean up the sport. Cycluing has shown that you need drastic actions to start things.

Jonah Matranga + Ian Love @ Blue Shell, Cologne

Originally I was tagging along for this one since I am not the biggest fan of Mr Matranga. I saw him once or twice with one of his bands called New End Original at some Popkomm event in the "Büze Ehrenfeld" back in the days. Their record is wonderful but the live set was a little bit too hippie-ish. They broke down the atmosphere with too many slow songs and when Jonah started to blabber about love and "Liebe über alles" and so on that was really getting on my nerves. This must have been in 2001 or 2002 and all I can remember is that by the end of the evening I was pretty drunk. I then saw him play a solo set under the name of Onelinedrawing at the "Underground" in Cologne and that show didn't move me either.
So I wasn't expecting much when I arrived at the "Blue Shell" and frankly I was shocked when I heard that the price was at 15 Euros. I mean, 15 Euros for two singer/songwriter sets is one hell of a lot of money. Oh well, nevermind, there's a free drink included so there we go. I never heard of Ian Love before and I don't think I want to hear anything again in the near future. Yes, it's nice and quiet music at times and then there's songs that rock out a little bit. Yes, he communicates with the audience and has some nice stories and jokes to tell, but that's it. There's nothing special there. Maybe there are too many of those acoustic acts strolling around the stages of Cologne at the moment. Jonah Matranga joined him on stage for a few songs and then I'm off out into the cold to have a cigarette since the artists asked the audience to smoke outside. Well, it's a good practice for times to come when smoking is banned in clubs and bars anyway.
After a short time it's Jonah time and I didn't have a good feeling about this. In the end it turned out that it was a really nice show and it wasn't as hippie-ish as I expected it to be. I recognized a few songs, especially some New End Original stuff. Sure, there were those long and tiring speeches he gave on stage and sometimes the enthusiasm was a little bit too much over the top. But I have to give credit to him that everything he said was something I was able to identify with. Of course that's stuff you hear at every hardcore show and there have been lots of people who say stuff like that a lot better - and a lot shorter. But this was nice for a change. I didn't expected that so I was contend with what I was hearing that evening. Mr Matranga went on to play quite a few songs, I believe he finished the set after some 85 minutes and came back for one encore after the audience refused to stop applauding. Something that rarely happends at shows in Cologne where the auduience usually listens to the musician(s) and then leaves after the last song.
So I expected tthe worst and instead I left with a slight smile on my face.

How crazy can you get - Bayern suspends Oliver Kahn for one match

Just as the Champions League matches get into the final minutes - and it looks as if Schalke will advance and Bremen will end up in the UEFA Cup - there is a special program on the German Sports Station DSF (German Sports Television) about the suspension of Oliver Kahn. These are the facts: the clubs suspended the player because of displinary reasons for one game and he will have to pay another 25.000 Euros. That's it. Of course it's a journalists duty to dig for further reasons which might have had an influence on the decision of the club. But the way those blokes of DSF do it it just gets way too hilarious. First up they show a report about the morining practice session of Bayern Munich in which goalkeeping coach Sepp Maier gives a rather enigmatic interview in which he tries to indicate that there was something going on which he knows what it is but he won't tell the media. You get the picture. He's saying no comment in a rather polite way.. Then there's pictures of Kahn running around the pitch, all alone, the team running around elsewhere. The whole report ends with a shot of Oliver Kahn entering his car and driving away.

Think that's it? Think again.

Another report follows which covers the afternoon session and here we get an intrerview with Kahn (nickname "The Titan") himself. The interviewer is humbled and very very poltie towards the man and by the time the questions are done we know ... nothing new. Just some bunch of phrases and excuses and that's it.

So this is what the media is trying to squeeze out of this whole story. First up Kahn gave an interview to German football magazine "kicker" in which he accused the new signings Ribery and Toni to slack off during the past few weeks. He is reported to have said that Bayern is not like "Marseille or Fiorentina", it's more like "Real, Barca or Milan". This is thought to hjave provoked the supension. What the media are after though is that he left the christmas party too early to have dinner with his girlfriend. And this is when we enter the dirty hell of tabloid journalism. I mean, honestly, how stupid can you get thinking that this is a reason to suspend a player who has played for the club for more than 10 years and is still one of the top goalkeepers in Germany (which automatically makes him one of the best in the world, if you might excuse my arrogance there, my dear British readers). There must have been something else, not just some damn christmas party. This is ridiculous. But the DSF jerks still try to go on with that tabloid bullshit and they will drag this through the whole, you bet! Another masterpice of German sports journalism. Just when you thought it can't get any lower...

(Alright, it's Schalke to the next round and Bremen to the Uefa Cup now definetely, closing minutes)

Bundesliga: Day 16 - Struggles at the top ... and FORTUNA WINS AGAIN!

1.FC Nürnberg - Hertha BSC Berlin 2:1
Bayer 04 Leverkusen - FC Hansa Rostock 3:0
VfB Stuttgart - VfL Wolfsburg 3:1
Hamburger SV - FC Energie Cottbus 0:0
FC Bayern München - MSV Duisburg 0:0
Eintracht Frankfurt - Schalke 04 2:2
Hannover 96- SV Werder Bremen 4:3
VfL Bochum - Karlsruher SC 2:2
Borussia Dortmund - DSC Arminia Bielefeld 6:1

The teams on top had some difficulties to get it going this weekend, all top three clubs were struggling in their matches. Meanwhile an average team like Hannover gets rolling and plays very nice football. Their president is calling for a change in German ownership rules for football clubs. Apparently he wants an English system where millionaires can blow money into a club so they can spend big cash on players. This is forbidden by a 50.1% rule in German football which says that at least 50.1% of the club must be in the hands of the club members. Just imagine what Hannover 96 will do when they get big money for their team. With all the resources and players they have right now they are playing a very good season. Beating Bremen 4-3 at home is something special. With this Bremen lost the chance to jump on top because Bayern wasn't able to score against a horrible Duisburg side which everyone thought to be going down against Munich. Instead there was a goalless draw. At the bottom of the table things are getting tense again with Nuremburg starting to win and Bielefeld getting another beating on the road, this time with a 1-6 loss against Dortmund. Although Bielefeld had a good start into the season they look like they will get relegated by the end of this season. Their coach seems to be on his way out of the club.

Going further down through the leagues SC Fortuna Cologne won again, this time against Kaller SC, a team from the infamous German region of the "Eifel". They went up 2-0 quickly but then lost their concentration and the visiting side was able to equalize in just 2 minutes. But just a few minutes later it was 3-2 and Fortuna secured the win in the 2nd half. The mood and the atmosphere were great and the fans were singing all the way. On the clubs internet site they even posted the links to videos showing the goals. Here's the 5-2 goal by Marco "Stasi" Stasiulewski who has now scored 16 in just as many games.

Bundesliga: Day 15 - ...but more importantly FORTUNA won!!!

Arminia Bielefeld - FC Bayern München 0:1
MSV Duisburg - 1.FC Nürnberg 1:0
VfB Stuttgart - Borussia Dortmund 1:2
VfL Wolfsburg - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:2
FC Energie Cottbus - Karlsruher SC 2:0
FC Schalke 04 - VfL Bochum 1:0
Hertha BSC Berlin - Bayer 04 Leverkusen 0:3
SV Werder Bremen - Hamburger SV 2:1
FC Hansa Rostock - Hannover 96 0:3

Nothing special this weekend. Bremen won the top match against Hamburg, in which the two goalkeepers made hilarious mistakes as if they wanted to apply for the post as the England goalkeeper. Bayern won against Bielefeld and keeps the first place. Dortmund regrouped and defeated Stuttgart with a2-1 away win. Leverkusen crushed Berlin and Nürnberg lost once more.

The highlight of this weekend in football came today when Fortuna Köln defated VfL Leverkusen 4:2 in the top match in the 5th division. 3rd place Fortuna started well and scored two brilliant goals against 4th place Leverkusen who didn't seem to keep up with the speed of Cologne. But then came the intervall and the game looked completely different after the break. After the consolation goal it was a ridiculous mistake by Fortuna keeper Blech which levelled the score. But then Fortuna got back into geasr and scored twice. The atmosphere was brilliant, lots of chants and screaming and the supporters cheered the team when the came to them after the final whistle. This is what I really like about football. It doesn't need to be a multi million team with some damn arena type of stadium. This is what football is all about. A pitch, lousy weather and people who appreciate the spirit the players show on the field. Fortuna is now still in 3rd place, 3 points behind leaers Viktoria who still have a game in hand.

Minus The Bear @ Neue Werkstatt, Cologne

Visions Magazine is doing shows for quite some time now, but all of those took place in Dortmund, if I'm corrctly informed. Now they expanded their grasp on Cologne and so I went to see their 2nd so called "Visions Party" at a new club in Ehrenfeld, a hip part of Cologne. The club is your usual old and rundown small factory building which is turned into some disco thing. Nothing special, way too clean and boring and the beer is much too expensive. I saw Minus The Bear some time ago when they played at the "Blue Shell" and I remember I really liked the music back then. First I had to endure Escapado, a German band who put out their new record on Grand Hotel Van Cleef, a labvel from Hamburg which is run by lots of guys who come from the punk scene. Bands like Kettcar and Tomte are on their roster and Escapado fall out of line a little bit. It's not that their music is crap, but somehow I'm just not interested in that stuff anymore. You can hear that they are influenced by bands like Yage or Loxiran, but they neer reach the level that those to bands had. Still they draw pretty big crowds and yesterday was no exception. The people were having fun and I had a pleasant coversation.
Minus The Bear were a letdown afterwards. Somehow my memory must have played a trick on me since that was something completely different from what I remembered them to sound like. Rather indie-ish and not so much into atmospheric and long songs. Disappointing in a way. What kept me in the room was the way their guitarist was handling his instrument. That was fun to watch.
After the show we hung out at the party for some time, but that was just your normal big sico kind of crap with bad music and strange people. I was wasted when I got home, so I guess I had a nice evening in the company of nice people but with a rather disappointing show. Next.