Rec

[Kaoru Chujo]

REC is the first anime I know that is set in the world of seiyuus. I've been looking forward to it, and it started today. I enjoyed the first episode, with reservations.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/amorpsyche/chara-aka_sm.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/amorpsyche/chara-matsu.gif http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/amorpsyche/record.jpg

The episodes are half-length, just under 12 minutes long. The animation is just okay, in my opinion. I've just taken a look at some of the manga and I like the character design better there. (So what else is new?)

But the story is fairly captivating, and they did a lot in 11 minutes. The basic story: a 26-year-old blah-looking salaryman is waiting outside a cinema and feels he has been stood up by his date. He is about to throw his tickets away when a girl tells him not to waste them, so he ends up giving her one and going in to see the film. She sits next to him speaking all the lines spoken on-screen. It turns out she is a new seiyuu... ...They go out for beer and kebabs (yakiniku) afterwards. It turns out she lives near him. They part without romantic undertones. Later he hears sirens and goes out to find that an apartment building is on fire. She is sitting dazed on a swing in the nearby playground, clutching her pillow, which is all she saved. He invites her to stay with him, which she does. He directs her to the bed, while he will take the floor. But in the course of finally introducing themselves formally, they end up in each other's arms on the bed. In the morning she is gone, but the preview shows him going to find her at the studio where she works. The seiyuu for the heroine, Aka, does a nice job. The role is not easy, and kind of like a school exercise, since she is always pretending to be different characters, practicing constantly. Reminds me a bit of the role of Maya in Glass Mask in that regard. The seiyuu is a newcomer called Sakai Kanako 酒井 香奈子. The only other anime role she's done is one of the sisters (Chiaki) in Magikano. She was born 1986.11.11, so she's 19. She already has a good home page (http://www.rams.jp/kana/). She has done one game (Ar Tonelico) and has done some radio. More info on ja.wiki (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%85%92%E4%BA%95%E9%A6%99%E5%A5%88%E5%AD%90)

The director, Nakamura Ryutaro (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=39) 中村隆太郎, has a good resume: he directed Serial Experiments Lain, Kino no Tabi, and Sakura Wars. The animation director/character designer, Morioka Hideyuki (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=3699) 守岡英行, did key animation on Neon Genesis Evangelion, character design on Sakura Wars and Ultimate Girls, and was animation director for Sakura Wars. Animation by Shaft. Broadcast on TBS Thursday nights at 25:55 starting 2 February, and a week later at 25:00 on satellite BS-i.

Anime News Network page (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6008)

official site (http://www.tbs.co.jp/rec-aka/)

I was surprised there wasn't already a thread for this. If there was, please merge this post.

[NeoSam]

I was surprised there wasn't already a thread for this. If there was, please merge or delete this post.

There was one, and it had quite few posts in it, until it got deleted when the forum went down.

REC
レック

Its based on a manga thats serialized in the seinen(young men's) manga magazine Sunday GX (Sunday Gene-X).
For now there are 5 volumes released of this manga, here are the covers:

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/5072/vol1dc7.jpg http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/4808/vol20kt.jpg http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/9977/vol3fw5.jpg http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8783/vol47ap.jpg http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/83/vol52uv.jpg

Genre: Seinen, Comedy, Drama, Romance

Info from AnimeNfo (http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,3506,gottiw,rec.html):

Matsumaru was stood up by a girl whom he had asked to go out with him. When he was trying to throw away the movie tickets, a girl blamed him for wasting the tickets. So, he gave her a ticket, and he went to the movie alone. However, at the theater, he found that girl reading the subtitles aloud.

This is the love story about a common man and a girl who has a dream to be a voice actress. Her apartment was in a fire, and they began to live in the same room together. Meanwhile, she was adopted as the voice actress in the TV commercial of Shomaru’s company’s product.

Genre: Seinen, Comedy, Drama, Romance

[Keitarou]

REC is the first anime I know that is set in the world of seiyuus. I've been looking forward to it, and it started today. I enjoyed the first episode, with reservations.


Same here, just without the reservations. ;)

I've not taken a look on the manga but the character design in the anime seemed ok. I liked especially Aka, she's just too damn cute. :D

Anyway the first episode was nice and had a few surprising elements.

The age of the characters aside, which is actually a nice thing, to see something different from the usual high school age, it was a rare thing to see them jump the bed in the first episode. Doesn't happen all too often in anime. Normally it's more the innocence which is emphasised. Granted they didn't really show anything after the kiss, it still was quite surprising.

I agree on the seiyuu for Aka. She does a splendid job in the first episode and I expect her to do even better in the next episodes when they show her in the studio. :)
Hmm, took a look on her page and I wonder, does anybody else think that she's looking quite cute on the photos? =P

Overall a quite nice first episode. The only thing I could complain about is the shortness of the episodes and the series itself, only nine episodes. :(
It felt somewhat rushed in the first episode, which actually might be better for a lot of people, though I wouldn't mind a somewhat slower pace. :)

[Burner of Anime]

Hmm, lucky bloke.

He scores within the first day of getting dumped and meeting a young girl off the street. Maybe his timing is just damned good :heh:

[Aristophanes]

I don't like the whole half-episode thing though....

[suguru]

I wish it was normal length, but otherwise I loved the first episode. It's a different, more adult, take on a romantic comedy than I've seen in anime before. And Aka is really cute, which doesn't hurt things either.

I couldn't believe that Fumihiko's rounding home plate less than eleven minutes after the show starts, but I guess that's one way for Aka to take her mind off losing her apartment. Now that they've physically gotten further than most anime couples get even after 26 episodes, it'll be interesting to see how their relationship evolves from here. Could be an interesting role reversal of the usual stereotypes if Aka just dismisses it as casual sex but it meant something more to Fumihiko...

It's kind of weird Aka has no friends or family to turn to when her apartment burned down, but if she came to Tokyo to make it big as a seiyuu from some other part of the country, I guess that'd make sense.

Definitely looking forward to the subs so I can get all the dialogue, my Japanese skills suck enough I caught maybe 5% of what they were saying.

[RunningTARGET]

I had an interest in this show so I took a look at the manga and I found it to be very hilarious, and I cant even read a word (here's hopping someone will translate it).

I havent seen the anime yet (awaiting the sub), so here's hopping some of the good parts get animated. The funny and the sexy. :naughty:



Oh yeah Aka looks alot like Mahoro in the manga.

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9880/00603rr.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=00603rr.jpg)

[Srin Tuar]

ep1

So he gets lucky in the first episode.
Sex scenes are pretty rare in non-hentai anime.
but the scene was sortof unimpressive imo- the protagonist flopped on her like a sack of beans:heh:

[CaiSter21]

so is there a chance of this getting subbed by someone?

[Paracelsus]

Let's hope so. I'd be pissed if nobody subs it <.<

[NeoSam]

Let's hope so. I'd be pissed if nobody subs it <.<

I really hope so >.<

I had a look at the manga, and it looks great :)

[Dark`]

so is there a chance of this getting subbed by someone?
Most likely yes...not that I'm insinuating anything... :heh:

[Maceart]

Cross your fingers...

Anyways, great first episode, lots of story development, good voice acting (Aka's voice is quite good, ranging from high to low). I liked it a lot.

Too bad it's only 9 episodes of 12 minutes each.

[Sylf]

Most likely yes...not that I'm insinuating anything... :heh:
Froth-Bite is actually waiting for the widescreen version of the raws to be available before making releases

[Itachikun]

Miscalleanous released episode 1. Time for this to move to the fansub group!
________
Henry Ford Picture (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Henry_Ford)

[providence]

dled Studio ADTRW/Buttrock's version, no subs?

[Pellissier]

I couldn't miss an anime focused on the world of seiyuus.
I liked the first episode pretty much. It's very likely going to be one of those anime very focused on character development, which are my favourites in absolute.
Original way of depicting things and actions, the animation isn't outstanding but fits the mood of the show, that's the most important, imho.
*Excellent* work from the main girl's seiyuu, with a great range of roles all in one. she even gave quotes of the largely famous theathrical movie set in Italy and interpreted by Audrey Hepburn in the Fifties (1957 I think). I found weird they went to see such an old movie. Oh well.
The only major flaw here seems to be the shortness (both for single episode, both for series' overall lenght)

Looking forward to episode 2.

[NoSanninWa]

dled Studio ADTRW/Buttrock's version, no subs?
Wrong. You've got a playback problem. Do what it says on the AnimeSuki Playback Guide (http://excelsior.animesuki.com/doc.php/help/playback.html). If you still have problems do NOT POST HERE. Post playback help problems in the Playback Help Forum.

[froinlaven]

Just watched the first episode.
Was anyone else surprised at how fast they had sex!? That's gotta be a new anime (non hentai) record set!

Anyway, here's my first impressions/the OP (http://www.basugasubakuhatsu.com/blog/2006/02/09/rec-anime-first-impressions/).

[RunningTARGET]

Just watched the first episode.
Was anyone else surprised at how fast they had sex!? That's gotta be a new anime (non hentai) record set!



Well at least you know it's not going take untill the last ep before they kiss.
So this in my opinion shows how it builds on a started relationship, similar to, say Kare Kano.

Anyway i'm also a bit sadden that the show is only 8 eps long. Ep 1 was preaty much chpt 1 of the manga, so it seems they're not going to build on much of what Rec really is. Sad realy.

[PEDOS_GRANDE]

being an avid watcher of old classic movies, i found the Audrey Hepburn references very interesting.

http://gunsightone.net/RECHepburnWorship.html

Heh

[Catgirls]

being an avid watcher of old classic movies, i found the Audrey Hepburn references very interesting.

http://gunsightone.net/RECHepburnWorship.html

HehNice. Nicely found. Very cool indeed.

[PEDOS_GRANDE]

Nice. Nicely found. Very cool indeed.

The first two were very obvious. The last one was not; i knew i had seen that image before but had no idea what movie it was from.

1st is Roman Holiday, 2nd is Breakfast at Tiffany's (of course). Anyone know what movie the 3rd one is from?

[benjydb]

Well if I had to guess I would say the 3rd one is from Funny Face where she wears a similar outfit during one of the musical/dancing numbers.

[Rion]

I loved the Audrey Hepburn hints too *hehe* But I just noticed the second one myself (well it is the clearest :heh: )

Am I actually the only person who thinks that Aka's seiyuu's rather doing a mediocre job? I mean, every seiyuu is supposed to be able to do different voices - and sounding "right". Aka's seiyuu however sounds rather unbelievable to me as soon as she tries to change her voice (the ticket, Audrey Hepburn etc.)

All in all, I like the anime though. Aka's an interesting character, the story starts in a pretty interesting and unconventional way... I browsed a bit through the manga and I wonder how much of the manga will be covered in this anime - and whether the anime will be as ecchi and crazily funny as the manga *g*

Edit: Just like froinlaven has pointed out in his blog, Aka's chest is smaller in the anime. Maybe there really isn't as much ecchi (which I hope a lot).

[Pellissier]

Am I actually the only person who thinks that Aka's seiyuu's rather doing a mediocre job? I mean, every seiyuu is supposed to be able to do different voices - and sounding "right". Aka's seiyuu however sounds rather unbelievable to me as soon as she tries to change her voice (the ticket, Audrey Hepburn etc.)
Mine is just a guess, but couldn't this be due to the fact that Aka is still a novice seiyuu? Hence her skills and overall level aren't still supposed to be those of a pro.
What if her VA is purposally acting, for using your words, "mediocre"? Usually, no one is a master in his/her work at the beginning.
A little hint is also given by Fumihiko reaction to Aka's actings, not only he doesn't understand at all what she's doing and doesn't praise her, he was more for suggesting her to get lost..

As for the sex scene, I agree: it's unusual. But I think it's positive in this case: it probably means that the Fumihiko+Aka relationship isn't the focus of the tale, so better get it fixed already. Hence the focus could be on other most important thing by now, since the attachment between the two main characters has already been settled.
We've enough of infinite "pick & leave, leave & pick" relationships, so I think we can easily bear with how this anime dealt with state of things ;)

[frodo1701]

The first two were very obvious. The last one was not; i knew i had seen that image before but had no idea what movie it was from.

1st is Roman Holiday, 2nd is Breakfast at Tiffany's (of course). Anyone know what movie the 3rd one is from?

Funny face would be my guess as well. I can't think of any other movie, offhand, where Audrey wears an outfit like that. All three are very good movies:p

[tun]

Hmm, no one's put a TL note about that cup cracking. It's supposed to be a sign of bad things to come in old Japanese belief.

[dacoolman88]

yeah i know it is nice!

[wao]

Hm, I watched ep 2.. it's kind of funny at times but I can't say it's anything special, really. For one thing the episodes are too damn short!! Arrgh.

[Srin Tuar]

Hm, I watched ep 2.. it's kind of funny at times but I can't say it's anything special, really. For one thing the episodes are too damn short!! Arrgh.

Yeah, i feel they end jsut as they start getting interesting.


Lol, she decided that just because they slept together once they were
lovers or anything in particular. :heh:
Since the show is totally from matumaru's pov we simply have no way of knowing
what is going on in her head.
Hrm, i dont think i would have given her the bed were I him. Either share it
or she gets the floor.

[lavielove]

Yeah, i feel they end jsut as they start getting interesting.


Lol, she decided that just because they slept together once they were
lovers or anything in particular. :heh:
Since the show is totally from matumaru's pov we simply have no way of knowing
what is going on in her head.
Hrm, i dont think i would have given her the bed were I him. Either share it
or she gets the floor.

Yeah, i feel they end jsut as they start getting interesting.


Lol, she decided that just because they slept together once they were
lovers or anything in particular. :heh:
Since the show is totally from matumaru's pov we simply have no way of knowing
what is going on in her head.
Hrm, i dont think i would have given her the bed were I him. Either share it
or she gets the floor.



Can't say that bcause most of the men in Japan's urban area are lonely . too much works and they always longing for long term relationship.Especially after 25. They always dream of a girl cooking for him and taking care of her *sometimes*.That's a win-win relationship.

[evil-samurai]

She is 20... ok :heh: I wouldn't of been suprized if they said she was younger ^^

Wow! It was really short not including the opening, it was just over 10 mins, well the show is alright.. I like the main girls VA and Boy they sure got strait into things with the relationship... :heh: but I dont really like how they just went into it after her house/apartment got burnt down... :/ but meh.. will see how it turns out, one thing I loved! was the opening song it reallly was Great! and the animation style was fairly nice too .

EDIT// Oh! and froinlaven Nice! review, and I agree somewhat on Matsumaru.. :/ not really a fan of him, and one thing to add why! just why! cant they make more interesting male character designs arrgh!! At the start his design was kinda good, but it seemed a bit over the place the whole episode (imo) seemed like his face got more fat.. throughout the whole episode ^^;;

[giu_2]

nice anime:)
but i didnt like the voice of Matsumaru :eyespin:

[Furudanuki]

The first episode was enjoyable. The two main voices were a bit of a treat for me - there was something about the way they both spoke that made the Japanese words easier for my untrained ear to distinguish than in a lot of the other anime I've seen. So, even if the story doesn't hold my interest, I can still use the downloads to help with my language training.

One Japanese language question: When Aka explains that she is a "voice-actress in training", she uses the phrase "seiyuu no tamago". Is "no tamago" a common idiom for "trainee" or "in training"? I haven't knowingly encountered the phrase before, although it makes sense even when translated literally.

[Pellissier]

One Japanese language question: When Aka explains that she is a "voice-actress in training", she uses the phrase "seiyuu no tamago". Is "no tamago" a common idiom for "trainee" or "in training"? I haven't knowingly encountered the phrase before, although it makes sense even when translated literally.
I had noticed that myself, and since I got curious I made a little search.
While "tamago" by itself measn "egg", the expression "no tamago" indicates a future (substantive) .. for the subject . I.E. "seiyuu no tamago" will be "a future seiyuu". Alternatively it could be meant as "freshman/beginner", which would be close anyway.
This was what my little search brought to. Maybe a japanese native speaker could go further.

I also wanted to second evil-samurai remark about the OP, I loved it too, really catchy, fresh and enjoyable. This bring other points on the book of this new Voice Actress :)

[SlugZilla]

I think "Seiyuu no tamago" means "Seiyuu in the making" in that context. But there is no clear cut definition as it's interpretted in many ways.

[Kaoru Chujo]

I've added Aka's VA, Sakai Kanako, to the "newcomers" page of Hashihime's Seiyuu Gallery: photo, links and some info (http://hashihime.atspace.com/Hashi_seiyuusN.html#sakakana).

I've had a chance to look at the first volume and a bit of the manga, and I like it a lot. I can see a couple of divergences from it in episode 2, but that's understandable considering how few short episodes the anime will have. A real shame.

[lavielove]

woa *Sakai Kanako* is cute. thanks for the info.Is there any divergenences from the manga ? really ? how ? I just thought the episode 2 is very much less attractive compared to the episode 1.

[prince leon]

I really enjoyed the first episodes I must say. I was a bit surprised at the length when I first started it but realized that I totally forgot about that fact. The interactions between Aka and Matsumaru were wonderful and their voices were great. Looking forward to episode 2. ^^

[lavielove]

I was a bit surprised at the length when I first started it but realized that I totally forgot about that fact.

Thanks for repeating the fact alot of people already nutting about.:heh:
That's right, because alot of things was happened just in ten minutes :heh:

3 mins- they went out to the movie
3 mins- the conversation
3 min - the house burnt down
1 mins - they have ;)

[Millenia]

Hmm for a fast guess
He finds her and they get married?

Its a shame this anime is only 9 episodes long :(
I would have liked to have seen more for longer.

[Seyluun]

Wow, i'm impressed. It usually takes 26 episodes and a lot of pathos just for them to kiss. Maybe someone finally realized it doesn't happen like this in real world.

[KJlost]

Well they aren't highschool students.

[Seiryuu]

It's true that in the real world it doesn't take so much time and work just to be able to kiss, unless there's some serious interference. However, it also doesn't take a matter of less than perhaps four hours to be in bed. At least, it doesn't if either party has any respect. The people that do go to bed that quick don't seem serious about it the way these two were; with that kind of speed it's more like an evening's entertainment.
Consider that this girl only just met the guy, when he was waiting for a DIFFERENT girl, who happened to be going out with a thug appparently. Even if he's letting her use his place while she gets back on her feet after the fire, it seems absolutely absurd that she would trust this guy and like him enough to make love to him, especially if she doesn't know his name. While I'll give the writers a plus for not wasting time with questions of romance, the pure absurdity of these characters actually making love a few hours after they first meet, and starting with the words "Oh yeah, we never introduced ourselves", definitely brings this down in my opinion. I'll just say it was the beer for now.

[Millenia]

It's true that in the real world it doesn't take so much time and work just to be able to kiss, unless there's some serious interference. However, it also doesn't take a matter of less than perhaps four hours to be in bed. At least, it doesn't if either party has any respect. The people that do go to bed that quick don't seem serious about it the way these two were; with that kind of speed it's more like an evening's entertainment.
Consider that this girl only just met the guy, when he was waiting for a DIFFERENT girl, who happened to be going out with a thug appparently. Even if he's letting her use his place while she gets back on her feet after the fire, it seems absolutely absurd that she would trust this guy and like him enough to make love to him, especially if she doesn't know his name. While I'll give the writers a plus for not wasting time with questions of romance, the pure absurdity of these characters actually making love a few hours after they first meet, and starting with the words "Oh yeah, we never introduced ourselves", definitely brings this down in my opinion. I'll just say it was the beer for now.
This happens in real like and you know it :P

[wao]

It's true that in the real world it doesn't take so much time and work just to be able to kiss, unless there's some serious interference. However, it also doesn't take a matter of less than perhaps four hours to be in bed. At least, it doesn't if either party has any respect.

The thing is, I don't think Matsumaru doesn't have that much respect right now - he's just a horny guy faced with a very erotic situation.... >_> or at least, that is what I think.

In ep 2 you might see this side of him... ;)

[Potatochobit]

EHHHHHHHh

episode one was so nice till the end.....

you could at least wait till day 3 to get the girl.... japanese perversion is just too much sometimes.

[Furudanuki]

It's true that in the real world it doesn't take so much time and work just to be able to kiss, unless there's some serious interference. However, it also doesn't take a matter of less than perhaps four hours to be in bed. At least, it doesn't if either party has any respect. <deleted text> I'll just say it was the beer for now.
The thing is, I don't think Matsumaru doesn't have that much respect right now - he's just a horny guy faced with a very erotic situation.... >_> or at least, that is what I think.
Aka's actions will seem very believable if you've had any experience dealing with people who have just emerged from highly dangerous or stressful situations. A very common reaction in these cases is for the person to seek comfort, and the highly charged emotions often result in an elevated libido. Matsumaru had been kind to her, and he was there at the time. She may have regrets the next day when her thinking is clearer, but at the time the emotional part of her brain was in control.

I think wao probably has the right idea about Matsumaru. He's been depressed about his work and love life, and all of a sudden an opportunity and a willing companion are presented to him. Maybe he could or should have been more chivalrous, but I can't fault him too much.

[Srin Tuar]

A very common reaction in these cases is for the person to seek comfort, and the highly charged emotions often result in an elevated libido. Matsumaru had been kind to her, and he was there at the time. She may have regrets the next day when her thinking is clearer, but at the time the emotional part of her brain was in control.


Hehe, the human animal.

Earthquake, natural disasters, etc, they all cause the same reaction.

Was matsumaru taking advantage of her? Perhaps. But its no different than
if they had had a couple of beers or something.

ep 2


Aka seems to want to take things more slowly, but she is clearly not entirely
regretting the incident.(she wouldnt be sleeping in matumaru's bed if she didnt
like him)

As a woman, it makes sense that she doesnt want him to think shes easy, probably
because she knows instictively that guys tend to lose interest when they think a girl
is a sure thing.

[Seiryuu]

OK, I'll admit that something like that can happen, a "moment's passion" sort of thing. Especially when you've got two or three large cups of beer sitting in your stomach, and you've seen everything you own burn to nothing, and yet someone actually treats you like a human being.
However, regardless of the situation, I cannot believe the casual way Aka noted that they didn't even know each other's names. I definitely cannot imagine a girl saying that and looking at a guy the way she did, as if it didn't even matter. If she was so completely unconcerned by the fact that she was about to sleep with a man she'd known for four hours tops, it seems like she would have waited before interrupting the moment with such an absurd statement.
I'll admit, my opinion might come from the number of mysteries and thrillers I've seen where any girl that would do something that stupid ends up either dead or wishing she was. A few hours just isn't enough to get to know and trust a person, no matter what the situation may be. Believability just doesn't seem like one of the strengths in this series.

[Furudanuki]

However, regardless of the situation, I cannot believe the casual way Aka noted that they didn't even know each other's names. I definitely cannot imagine a girl saying that and looking at a guy the way she did, as if it didn't even matter. If she was so completely unconcerned by the fact that she was about to sleep with a man she'd known for four hours tops, it seems like she would have waited before interrupting the moment with such an absurd statement.
I agree with you about Aka's "we never introduced ourselves" comment being strange under the circumstances. If she was going to make a remark like that, to me it would have seemed a lot more natural for her to have said it during pillow talk afterward - something along the lines of "we got carried away and never even introduced ourselves". But this was just the first episode, so it may turn out that it is Aka's nature to be making observations about things at inappropriate times.

[Anime+]

This is a pretty good concept in my opinion. What I like is that the whole 12 minute episode thing works so far. So much happend in that 1st episode and I think they did it all right. I was pretty surprized on how it ended, but was glad that they did not add fanservice even though they easily could have...they are pretty secure with their project. The main male character kinda gets on my nerves though, he is a nice guy which is good but he still has very limited emotions.

-Luis

[Jaden]

So lemme get this straight, this series will be one hour and 21 minutes long? Hehe they could have made it a movie.

[relentlessflame]

So lemme get this straight, this series will be one hour and 21 minutes long? Hehe they could have made it a movie.Uh, well... :heh: The DVD boxset for season one is 120 minutes long (9 x ~12.5) and, apparently, it's scheduled to be three seasons long in total (9+9+8+1 OVA). It's definitely an unusual format, but it could work.

[NeoSam]

Uh, well... :heh: The DVD boxset for season one is 120 minutes long (9 x ~12.5) and, apparently, it's scheduled to be three seasons long in total (9+9+8+1 OVA). It's definitely an unusual format, but it could work.

9+9+8+1 :eek: you just made my day :D

Are you sure about this?

Please say yes >.<

[Kaoru Chujo]

Great news about the possible multiple seasons. There is a lot of good stuff in the manga that one season couldn't cover.

And I also agree that the short episodes are not as frustrating as I expected. They pack them so full that they seem longer.

And as for the quick hop into bed in episode 1, I agree with what people say: Aka was more or less in shock, and Takafumi was her lifeline. He was clearly a nice and basically non-threatening guy, and she took comfort. He did take advantage of her, but it surely seemed to him that she was receptive, and he didn't think about why. I do want to see him develop more. He isn't worthy of her yet, and they can't stay together unless he is.

The "we never introduced ourselves" didn't seem all that crazy to me. They knew each other, to some extent, and had already had pretty close conversations in the yakitori joint, as well as sharing a traumatic experience. The only thing missing was the name, which isn't as important as the person. I felt that she was just making sure she held her self-respect as she happily/dazedly accepted the situation.

[ultrataro]

Actually I think the fact that they went to bed made this show interesting. Look at how much discussion it's generated. Without that it would have been much more run of the mill. And using this as an example of Japanese perversion? i'd hardly say so, I'm sure theres lots of American stories that are just as quick about a man & woman ending up in the sack. There are many other shows that might be examples of "Japanese" perversion, but this is not one of them (so far anyway).

[Kainy]

This anime is going to finally make me fix my codecs so I can watch .mkvs properly.

Arg the work.

Yum the Lunar-done awesomeness, and futher .mkv-style awesomeness in the future.

[relentlessflame]

Are you sure about this?

Please say yes >.<Well, I've been told that it was mentioned on the mangaka's website (http://www009.upp.so-net.ne.jp/hanaQ-2nd/), but I'm afraid my Japanese isn't up to snuff yet... perhaps someone can find the quote to confirm? One of the replies to one of the posts here (http://www.tbs.co.jp/rec-aka/06bbs/bbs_002.html) seems to imply that this DVD-BOX may come with an unaired episode? I don't know... confused... but a few people who would normally be in the know about these sort of things understood there would be three seasons. So, the answer from me is a emphatic "maybe"... :heh: Hopefully someone else can confirm it.

[Wandering_Youth]

Hmm, I'm not sure what to think about this anime yet. Although, the plot is showing the life of Aka and her seiyu training does interest me plus she is cute with a whacking sense of humor.

[Flo]

Watched Ayu sub's ep 1. Here's what I feel -> http://machall.com/index.php?strip_id=18

The last two panel are my feelings. XD

[NeoSam]

REC DVD-BOX (which will be released on 17/5/2006)

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/4649/recdvdbox7kw.th.jpg (http://img116.imageshack.us/my.php?image=recdvdbox7kw.jpg)
Click on the image.

[Pellissier]

Since we're talking of REC merchandise :) , I wanted to inform that on february 12nd , the OP single came out for selling.

REC OP Single - Cheer! ~Makkana Kimochi~ [Sakai Kanako]

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/499/recfront0eg.jpg http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/3601/recback4rl.jpg

Tracklist:

1. Cheer!～まっかなキモチ～
2. スナック「は」CMソング 何の木?-Full version-
3. Cheer!～まっかなキモチ～ Original karaoke
4. スナック「は」CMソング 何の木?-Full version- Original karaoke

-----------

Once again, Sakai Kanako is Onda Aka's voice actress, and according to this pic, she sure is cute ^^ , and the song too by the way, it's my favourite 2006 OP theme so far.

[Killermaster]

Wow she is indeed beautifull and cute too!
But whats even more cuter is her voice in the song and the anime
she does an outstanding job voicing Aka imo ;)

[AnimePlus]

Character designs in Rec are pretty generic if you ask me, just my personal opinion.

[Seiryuu]

I would not say that these characters "know" each other to any fair extent, and I would not consider any of their interactions particularly close. She sees a movie and has a beer with him because he's just so pathetic pining after the accountant, and they tell each other what they do for a living. He stomps on her ambition a bit, and they walk home to discover they're neigbors. This isn't close, intimate conversation. This is a very light chat with a random acquaintance. These two are scarcely more than strangers. That's why I find the name thing so strange. Even if they were only kissing, very few things could kill a mood faster than this sort of sudden reminder that they are complete strangers.

[RunningTARGET]

I would not say that these characters "know" each other to any fair extent, and I would not consider any of their interactions particularly close. She sees a movie and has a beer with him because he's just so pathetic pining after the accountant, and they tell each other what they do for a living. He stomps on her ambition a bit, and they walk home to discover they're neigbors. This isn't close, intimate conversation. This is a very light chat with a random acquaintance. These two are scarcely more than strangers. That's why I find the name thing so strange. Even if they were only kissing, very few things could kill a mood faster than this sort of sudden reminder that they are complete strangers.


It seems you're still rather anoyed by it aren't you. If it makes you feel better they get to know each other better and fall in love to become a official couple.

[Srin Tuar]

I would not say that these characters "know" each other to any fair extent, and I would not consider any of their interactions particularly close. She sees a movie and has a beer with him because he's just so pathetic pining after the accountant, and they tell each other what they do for a living. He stomps on her ambition a bit, and they walk home to discover they're neigbors. This isn't close, intimate conversation. This is a very light chat with a random acquaintance.

The main point is that she basically asked him out on a date on a whim like that.
Its a pretty aggresive thing for a girl to do, so she had probably already decided
that she liked him for some reason or another.
Sure, he was clumsy and awkward- but clearly he gave off a friendly and even
protective vibe, which she clearly liked.


These two are scarcely more than strangers. That's why I find the name thing so strange. Even if they were only kissing, very few things could kill a mood faster than this sort of sudden reminder that they are complete strangers.

What part of being total strangers is a mood killer??

[Keluangman]

It seems you're still rather anoyed by it aren't you. If it makes you feel better they get to know each other better and fall in love to become a official couple.
you read the manga? btw how many volumes is the manga and is it still continuing?

[NeoSam]

you read the manga? btw how many volumes is the manga and is it still continuing?

For now there are 4 volumes released of REC manga (check the second post of this thread to see the covers of these volumes), and volume 5 of REC manga will be released on 17/2/2006 yes tomorrow :) I'll post the cover of volume 5 the minute its available.

Anyway to see if its still being serialized in Sunday GX magazine (which is a magazine for young men) I had to check the site, but its not listed in the current issue of Sunday GX :confused: could it be that volume 5 of REC (released tomorrow) is the last volume of REC manga?

Edit:

Ahh also Yay Yay :D the first chapter of the manga got scanlated by Yanime group :D

Torrent available here: Manganews (http://www.manganews.net/seriesinfo.php?id=4050).

[Sinestra]

I had been looking forward to Rec every since i heard it was going to be an anime i must say i really liked Ep 1 i thought the animation was pretty good and love the way the girl talk(sorry forgot her name) im cant wait for more thought anyone know when it airs in japan?

Damn i mean he gets dumped in like the first 2 min of the episode sees his women with some guy whos and hears her say she didnt even want to see the movie (what a bitch by the way) then he meets this super cool chick on the street and all because of a little fire he gets laid in the first day of knowing her i mean they had to exchange names before they got down to it but hey i feel for the guy getting dumped is never fun maybe hes better off for it, sometimes a bad moment in time can just be a door way leading you to something better, cant wait to see how it turns out, since she bolted out of there before he even woke up but at least she left a letter most people wouldnt do that.

[Kaoru Chujo]

....anyone know when it airs in japan?... Thursday nights just before 2 a.m. So episode 3 aired about eight hours ago.

And I agree about Sakai Kanako (http://hashihime.atspace.com/Hashi_seiyuusN.html#sakakana). I think I liked her voice in this episode even more than in the previous ones. Her nickname is "Kana-hime" (Princess Kana), and that might turn out to be a good description of her place in the voice-acting world, in a while.

[NeoSam]

Volume 5 of the seinen manga REC got released today :) , here's the cover:

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/6341/vol58tb.gif

It will be added with the other covers (in this post (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=466617&postcount=2)) when I have a little bigger image >.<

[RunningTARGET]

you read the manga?


Hehe, its more like I look at the preaty pictures of the manga, I say the mangaka gets better at drawing through the volumes.

Oh and thanks for the heads up on the translated chap neosam, now I can put words to the pictures.

[Blaat]

I'm going to sound like a spoiled brat but... I want more :(

[Zappster]

Well I've just watched through the first two episodes and it was very enjoyable. I was basically hooked after episode 1 as it is my kind of anime really(or so it seems from the first two episodes). Glad to hear that there is a possibility of more than just the 9 episodes that have been announced so far. My initial reaction after watching the first episode was "hmm..that was good, just wish it was a bit longer". Personally I'd have settled for a 24 minute 13 episode series, however the multiple seasons route is not a bad alternative if it does happen.



Pretty much as everyone else said, I was quite shocked to see them in bed together during the first episode. I can kind of understand how it might happen under highly charged emotional circumstances although it was still a bit too fast for my liking. That said having seen episode 2, Aka's reaction towards the end was ace especially after Matsumura "teleports" behind her :D and it tied in nicely with the "too fast" thing in the first episode so it kind of makes up for the small annoyance that I had with that scene in the first episode. So far things have been handled really well IMO, from the emotional "drama" scenes in the first episode to the more humorous nature of the second episode.



Didn't realize Sakai Kanako had a role in Magikano. I thought this was her first anime, nevertheless I was impressed. She's handled the role really well IMO. Look forward to hearing more of her work in the future :)

[Anime+]

I was kinda disapointed with episode 2, I though the development was going to be faster; as in the 1st episode. This weeks episode probably would have been a better 30 minute episode with more development. Hopefully, the rest of the series will use the same formula found in episode 1. I really liked the drama in the 1st episode.

[wao]

Hehe, I actually kind of enjoyed ep 3. Short but good in general - I really got an idea of the play-it-by-ear kind of life both of them lead. I liked the bit where Matsumaru was doing work and was so obsessed with it that he kept typing and typing and typing as the doorbell rang. It's the first time he's lived with someone else as an adult so it felt weird for him to say "Okaeri" and "Itterasshai" and so on... nice touch.

Also Matsumaru's High School Memory is funny. :heh:

Also, is it me or did the OP change very slightly, I don't remember seeing Aka wearing that dress Audrey Hepburn wore in My Fair Lady in the OP before. Maybe I'm just blind.

Anyway, I like Aka's attitude towards Matsumaru - she's nice to him and brings him stuff and treats him respectfully since, after all, she's greatly indebted to him, but she does not submit to him or act all dependent and whatnot. She doesn't fall for his advances this time ;)

[Srin Tuar]

Anyway, I like Aka's attitude towards Matsumaru - she's nice to him and brings him stuff and treats him respectfully since, after all, she's greatly indebted to him, but she does not submit to him or act all dependent and whatnot. She doesn't fall for his advances this time ;)


I get the feeling she's playing hard to get now.
Matsumaru is not smooth enough to bypass her defenses, so she'll
probably keep teasing then refusing him like that for most of the series.
(i hope I'm wrong though... i really feel sorry for the guy. Doing all that
romantic stuff, sleeping inches away from her, then not allowed to touch.)

[jfs]

In the manga, they officially (well still secret from most people, Aka's manager not included) become lovers (yeah they actually use the word koibito) at the end of vol. 1. I assume that'll happen at the end of S1 of the anime then, or perhaps a bit before, but the end of S1 would seem like a good place.

[Potatochobit]

episode 2 was a little slow but good overall, no complaints.

[Pellissier]

I liked episode 2 a lot.
What I liked the most, Aka's "rejection" at the end, proving she ain't an easy girl at all. That's how I was imagining her, and that's how she is, after all :)

I also liked the humor of this episode and the little character development as well. Maybe, since an ep. is 10 mins long, too much time was used for the whole commercial/casting part (10 mins formula shows a side of its flaws), since it was obvious that Aka were to get the part (it's spoilered in the Opening too). But still, the overall was really good, and Sakai Kanako's qualities as VA were just great. Yes, I love her :love: , and Aka as welll :)

Here's also a pretty nice Aka's wallpaper I've found

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3519/akawp10246el.th.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=akawp10246el.jpg)

By the way, I'm also glad that Matsumaru-kun revealed his better side, he seemed an horny jerk on episode 1, while here we got how he actually he cared about Aka. Yes, that "teleport" scene at the end spoiled a bit his image, as well as his ego I guess :heh: , but for the sake of the show, it was needed ^^

My guess is that REC will be one of the most pleasurable surprises of 2006 (as for low expectations combined with high results). ;)

[Pellissier]

Sorry for double post but I didn't feel like merging this one with the previous ^^

Also, is it me or did the OP change very slightly, I don't remember seeing Aka wearing that dress Audrey Hepburn wore in My Fair Lady in the OP before. Maybe I'm just blind.
It's true. In each OP they put 3 Audrey Hepburn's frames.

In episode 1 we had:

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep1-01-romanholiday.gif ---> Roman Holiday

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep1-02.gif ---> Funny Face

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep1-03-tiffany.gif ---> Breakfast at Tiffany's

In episode 2 there were the same frames of episode 1, just in different order and with a different background (first Breakfast at Tiffany's, second Roman Holiday, third Funny Face).

Episode 3 brought new frames. Especially one I particularly adore from Breakfast at Tiffany's where Audrey Hepburn has her beloved cat lying above her neck. Then another one from the same movie, and then one from My Fair Lady.

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep3-01.gif ---> Breakfast at Tiffany's (Check here (http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/6283/bio12kr.jpg))

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep3-02.gif ---> Breakfast at Tiffany's

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep3-03.gif ---> My Fair Lady

----

I've also watched episode 3. Very nice, I'll post some thoughts later.

[Paracelsus]

In the manga, they officially (well still secret from most people, Aka's manager not included) become lovers (yeah they actually use the word koibito) at the end of vol. 1. I assume that'll happen at the end of S1 of the anime then, or perhaps a bit before, but the end of S1 would seem like a good place.


Why? Do you think we'll have more than one season ?

[Jcubed]

Why? Do you think we'll have more than one season ?

The manga has enough content for more than one. Another season simply depends on the success of the anime.

[kobun]

Sorry for double post but I didn't feel like merging this one with the previous ^^


It's true. In each OP they put 3 Audrey Hepburn's frames.

In episode 1 we had:

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep1-01-romanholiday.gif ---> Roman Holiday

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep1-02.gif ---> Funny Face

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep1-03-tiffany.gif ---> Breakfast at Tiffany's

In episode 2 there were the same frames of episode 1, just in different order and with a different background (first Breakfast at Tiffany's, second Roman Holiday, third Funny Face).

Episode 3 brought new frames. Especially one I particularly adore from Breakfast at Tiffany's where Audrey Hepburn has her beloved cat lying above her neck. Then another one from the same movie, and then one from My Fair Lady.

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep3-01.gif ---> Breakfast at Tiffany's (Check here (http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/6283/bio12kr.jpg))

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep3-02.gif ---> Breakfast at Tiffany's

http://www.webalice.it/sovrans2080/gifs/series/REC/aka/ep3-03.gif ---> My Fair Lady

----

I've also watched episode 3. Very nice, I'll post some thoughts later.

Awesome, i hope they do that with The Children's Hour, and have the manger, or that other girl that would rock..

[The Avatar]

I love this show. It's so much better than most of the other shows out this spring. It's been awhile since I've seen an anime that I can't wait to watch week after week. Can anyone comment on how this show is doing in the ratings?

[Simon]

I watched the first two episodes last night, and I'm hooked. It's so refreshing to see anime for grown-ups!

Personally I didn't find their sleeping together at all rushed or unnatural - on the contrary, I thought it was a touching example of two adults finding comfort together in an unusual situation. OK, perhaps Matsumaru was being a wee bit opportunistic, but I don't think he "took advantage" of Aka's need for company. What should he have done, walked out on her and said "we mustn't, we'll regret it in the morning"?

(Thinking about it, the only other anime I've seen that treats sex in such a mature way would be Saikano - it's a nice change from panty-shots and giggling innuendo.)

I also liked the slice-of-life detail in ep2 - kind of like Azumanga Daioh for salarymen :) (This screencap (http://www.hikari.org.nz/stuff/random/REC_5.jpg) is so going up on the noticeboard at work on Monday!) It's actually quite interesting seeing how a CM audition works - I think the series has the makings of a charming "little anime", like Haibane Renmei or Someday's Dreamers.

The DVD boxset for season one is 120 minutes long (9 x ~12.5) and, apparently, it's scheduled to be three seasons long in total (9+9+8+1 OVA).
I wonder if there might be more than 9 episodes in the boxset - Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000EGFTLU) list it as having three discs, and if Google translated the page right then it contains all the broadcast episodes (http://cal.syoboi.jp/tid/736) plus some that haven't aired. This seems like an odd thing to do, but ¥5250 per 36-minute disc would seem a bit pricey even by R2 standards. Then again, the "not yet broadcast" bit might just refer to the ED sequence and creditless OP/ED - can any fluent readers clarify things?

And speaking of merchandise, it's great that they're including the CM from the show on the Cheer single. Can't stop listening to OP... Must buy single... :love:

[_yeah]

Out of insane boredom, I introduce to this thread,

The REC / Audrey Hepburn movie episode title guessing game!

Up until now, every episode of REC has borrowed the title of an Audrey Hepburn movie.

Episode 1 - 第一話 「ローマの休日」 - "Roman Holiday"
Episode 2 - 第二話 「麗しのサブリナ」 - "Sabrina"
Episode 3 - 第三話 「暗くなるまで待って」 - "Wait Until Dark"
Episode 4 - 第四話 「ティファニーで朝食を」 - "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

And thus, with 5 episodes left on the current airing schedule, it is time to hedge your bets! What, dear readers, do YOU think the next five episodes will be titled?! (note: you don't HAVE to guess with movie titles, but... look at the trend up until now!)

Participate by posting a reply in the following format:
Episode 5 - "blah blah"
Episode 6 - "blah blah"
Episode 7 - "blah blah"
Episode 8 - "blah blah"
Episode 9 - "blah blah"

Well then! Have fun guessing! <_<

[relentlessflame]

I wonder if there might be more than 9 episodes in the boxset - Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000EGFTLU) list it as having three discs, and if Google translated the page right then it contains all the broadcast episodes (http://cal.syoboi.jp/tid/736) plus some that haven't aired. This seems like an odd thing to do, but &#165;5250 per 36-minute disc would seem a bit pricey even by R2 standards. Then again, the "not yet broadcast" bit might just refer to the ED sequence and creditless OP/ED - can any fluent readers clarify things?Yeah... there was a post on the TBS's REC website BBS where a TBS official appeared to mention that the Boxset would include an extra, un-aired episode (in addition to the ED, which isn't broadcast on TV due to time restraints). So maybe the production plans have changed? Who knows... It'd be nice to get a straight answer, but as others mentioned in this thread, it may depend at least partly on how well the show does in ratings and in stores. We'll see...

[PEDOS_GRANDE]

Out of insane boredom, I introduce to this thread,

The REC / Audrey Hepburn movie episode title guessing game!

Up until now, every episode of REC has borrowed the title of an Audrey Hepburn movie.

Episode 1 - 第一話 「ローマの休日」 - "Roman Holiday"
Episode 2 - 第二話 「麗しのサブリナ」 - "Sabrina"
Episode 3 - 第三話 「暗くなるまで待って」 - "Wait Until Dark"
Episode 4 - 第四話 「ティファニーで朝食を」 - "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

And thus, with 5 episodes left on the current airing schedule, it is time to hedge your bets! What, dear readers, do YOU think the next five episodes will be titled?! (note: you don't HAVE to guess with movie titles, but... look at the trend up until now!)

Participate by posting a reply in the following format:
Episode 5 - "blah blah"
Episode 6 - "blah blah"
Episode 7 - "blah blah"
Episode 8 - "blah blah"
Episode 9 - "blah blah"

Well then! Have fun guessing! <_<

My Fair Lady and Funny Face are obvious.

[wao]

Actually episode 5 and 6's titles have already been released:

5: 昼下がりの情事 (Love in the Afternoon)
6:噂の2人 (The Secret People?? I think it's not actually alluding to a Hepburn film)

I don't know if they'll keep at the film titles thing the whole way.

[_yeah]

Actually episode 5 and 6's titles have already been released:

5: 昼下がりの情事 (Love in the Afternoon)
6:噂の2人 (The Secret People?? I think it's not actually alluding to a Hepburn film)

I don't know if they'll keep at the film titles thing the whole way.

Actually, it looks like 噂の2人 is the Japanese title for "The Children's Hour".

So, well, we've still got 3 eps to guess at. Get at 'em! >_>

[kobun]

Actually, it looks like 噂の2人 is the Japanese title for "The Children's Hour".

So, well, we've still got 3 eps to guess at. Get at 'em! >_>
awesome i cant wait, i havent read the manga, so my imgination is going to run wild... until this ep is shown

[Seiryuu]

OK, ep. 2 was much more believable. Kind of pathetic, but still believable. Matsumaru made a serious mistake here. Red may have said one time doesn't make them lovers, but even if they were, or even if she'd looked him in the eye and said "let's ****", acting like that was asking to have his head smashed through the wall. She seemed to have a good opinion of him too, and while she probably regretted last night a bit, she couldn't regret it too much, or she wouldn't be so frankly asking to live there a bit longer. He clearly had made some points with her, and he just threw them all away. It seems like one of the requirements for an anime/manga male lead is that he be an absolute imbecile who knows even less about the female mind than real men do.

[orion]

Well, I sort of think about this situation differently. If you're going to live with someone, then certain things are expected unless prior arrangements are made to the otherwise. Now, if the other part of "living together" wasn't in her plans, then she needs to... Hit the road Jack! ;)

(Otherwise, she's just using him as a source of housing with no real commitment whatsoever and preventing him from finding someone else.)

[Shiroth]

Deep down She probably does have some kind of feelings towards him.. but maybe she's just to scared to go with them? Ah well.. seven episodes left, plenty of time to see something happen with there so called relationship. ^^

[AmamiYui]

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/1516/11404215718947fr.th.jpg (http://img82.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11404215718947fr.jpg)

From Megami magazine, Aka can sure turn on the charm.

[Seiryuu]

Please remember, this is one day after every spec of Aka's property(aside from a pair of pjs and a pillow) burnt to the ground. She has absolutely nothing, and no money to go looking for a new apartment. In this case, "living together" doesn't fit the bill quite as well as "boarding" at someone's place. While I suppose she should offer eventual monetary compensation for the room and board, it is frankly cruel to expect this girl to give her body as payment, especially when she's merely taking him up on his own, no string attached, offer.
All the same, I do suspect Red was initially expecting an intimate, potentially sexual, relationship. Otherwise, she would have seemed at least somewhat embarrassed asking to stay with him longer. In the end, Matsumaru just ruined his own relatively good chances, and got himself some hefty expenses for the fixing of the wall and probably his teeth.
Oh well, all I really want to know now is the meaning behind the wicked grin in the preview of ep3.

[Simon]

More ways to support Rec with your hard-earned yen:

Character Song CD : CDJapan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=FCCM-108) - Amazon JP (http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000EBDEI0)

Drama CD #1 : CDJapan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=FCCM-111) - Amazon JP (http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000EBDEIA)

NB: I'd trust CDJapan's release date for the drama CD more than Amazon's.

[Pellissier]

Episode 4 was the one I liked the least until now.

Because while the interaction between the two characters was continuos, I found the progression of events a little slow and uninteresting, this time (too much time spent on the promotional place! imho). Although the sweet moments didn't miss ^^ , like the moment when they eat that was very Breakfast at Tiffany's alike :)

And lol, because Matsumaru can't show any jealousy at work, so he can't possibly say nothing to those picking on Aka :D

A new frame appeared in the OP:

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2164/aka04romanholiday8di.gif

This is "Roman Holiday", desu! :D
The other two Hepburn's frames were repeated (for the recording, the one with the cat from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and the one from "My Fair Lady")

[NeoSam]

Anyway to see if its still being serialized in Sunday GX magazine (which is a magazine for young men) I had to check the site, but its not listed in the current issue of Sunday GX :confused: could it be that volume 5 of REC (released tomorrow) is the last volume of REC manga?


Ok I'm quoting myself >.< lol

The manga is still ongoing in Sunday GX, so volume 5 is not the last volume.

[Srin Tuar]

ep 4


I was also hoping for more romantic progress.

I think Aka's agent saw right through her and Matsumaru. She probably thinks
Aka is sleeping with him to get work or something of that nature.

[Vexx]

Okay... I Officially Like This Anime now..... the two characters make me smile and it does remind me a lot of the old Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn type of movies.

Hopefully with Honey&Clover and REC... we'll start seeing much more of this "more grown up" type of storyline.

[animeallen]

I just love hearing the OP of this anime! Btw, I just made an Onda Aka animated GIF on my spare time ^_^ here it is:

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5821/ondaaka0021ox.gif

[Pellissier]

Btw, I just made an Onda Aka animated GIF on my spare time ^_^ here it is:

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5821/ondaaka0021ox.gif
The gif itself is quite good ;) , but why to choose a scene with Aka crying ? :)
I couldn't never make a gif of her sad, I want to see her always happy and smily ^^

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4780/aka1v47jh.gif

As here, from the OP. .. I originally made this to use as my avatar, then I chose the one I have currently, so this is freebie :)

[ultrataro]

But if there wasn't that, this story wouldn't exist, or not in the way it is now. I think it was very important to the story.

The gif itself is quite good ;) , but why to choose a scene with Aka crying ? :)
I couldn't never make a gif of her sad, I want to see her always happy and smily ^^

[animeallen]

Well, to be honest I really don't know why but probably because it gives me a big impression over the joyful cheery character that she is, it seemed impossible for her to cry, that's how I would've thought about her if I didn't saw the first episode dontya' think?

[Kaoru Chujo]

OMG Aka is kawaii! And strong, too. Really enjoyed this one, simple as it was: Aka gets a role in an ero-game and is too embarrassed to do the voice properly. Good facial expressions on Aka and her manager, coupled with good voice work.

Sounds to me as if Sakai Kanako (http://hashihime.atspace.com/Hashi_seiyuusN.html#sakakana) is as good as this good early role suggests. I've seen her in TV interviews and featured in a seiyuu magazine, too. She's both pretty and talkative enough to become a personality, I think.

Liked Aka's manager's voice: Toyoguchi Megumi, who was Sei in Marimite, Nishino in Ichigo 100%, and Saya in Black Cat.

[Shinji103]

Liked Aka's manager's voice: Toyoguchi Megumi, who was Sei in Marimite, Nishino in Ichigo 100%, and Saya in Black Cat.Also Miriallia in Gundam SEED and GSD.

[Vexx]

OMG Aka is kawaii! And strong, too. Really enjoyed this one, simple as it was: Aka gets a role in an ero-game and is too embarrassed to do the voice properly. Good facial expressions on Aka and her manager, coupled with good voice work.
.

argh....... must.... wait.... patiently.....

[Srin Tuar]

ep 5

I liked the way Aka's manager prodded her to get closer to matumaru.
It seems like she understands Aka better than she understands herself :)

[Pellissier]

Episode 5 was really good :)

And quite easy to understand too. I particularly enjoyed when Aka went in the shop for buying... err.. renting that tape :heh:
But overall her and Matsumaru are getting closer and closer, she was worried about his eventual reaction but at the end it was "shigoto wa shigoto" , work is work, no matter what.
Again props to this fantastic seiyuu (referred to Sakai Kanako, whom I adore! :love: )

Episode 6 will be again at the Matsumaru's work place with that nekoki outfit. I hope they'll do something more interesting than in episode 4.

New frame in episode 5 OP!
It's the third one of the set, from the movie How to steal a million (1966, by William Wyler)

Here the original:

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2387/images5pb.jpg

Here the adaptation:

http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/8595/aka05howtostealamillion4do.gif

[Burner of Anime]

OMG Aka is kawaii! And strong, too. Really enjoyed this one, simple as it was: Aka gets a role in an ero-game and is too embarrassed to do the voice properly. Good facial expressions on Aka and her manager, coupled with good voice work.

Sounds to me as if Sakai Kanako (http://hashihime.atspace.com/Hashi_seiyuusN.html#sakakana) is as good as this good early role suggests. I've seen her in TV interviews and featured in a seiyuu magazine, too. She's both pretty and talkative enough to become a personality, I think.

Liked Aka's manager's voice: Toyoguchi Megumi, who was Sei in Marimite, Nishino in Ichigo 100%, and Saya in Black Cat.

Megumi Toyoguchi also did Winry Rockbell in FMA. Pretty strong role this one.

Your site wins :D. Linking to lots of Tanaka Rei pics wins even more.

There should be a club for debut seiyuu who get it right on the first go. It's not a very long list, but it's greatness in one place. The qualities needed? same as anyone else: the ability to emote, be in character and show tremendous range. They just do it earlier :heh: Sakai Kanako and Sayuri Yahagi qualify for hitting all points.

But the crisis in ep5? Need to get the raw now, sometimes delivering a botched performance is more difficult than a one good...

[wao]

Wow, ep 5 was kind of funny... and not in an entirely brain-fluff kind of way, it was interesting to see Aka having to accept the fact that she'll have to do erogame voices if she wants to earn money as a seiyuu, and that she's already lucky enough as it is. I'm currently enjoying the dynamics between Aka and Matsumaru very much in that it's a little quirky due to their, uh, first experience... yet they can be very amiable about work and can give advice to each other. :)

Also, I increasingly find the voice work of Matsumaru and his producer dude to be quite good, especially Matsumaru. Somehow it feels natural (still can't get into Aka's voice, except her serious voice). Perhaps because the seiyuu really feels for the character and is acting it out for real. Same with the female producer. She sounded like she was really giving honest advice.

[Srin Tuar]

Wow, ep 5 was kind of funny... and not in an entirely brain-fluff kind of way, it was interesting to see Aka having to accept the fact that she'll have to do erogame voices if she wants to earn money as a seiyuu, and that she's already lucky enough as it is.


I got the impression she wasnt doing it for the money- but for her jimusho.

They are kindof pressuring her to do it so that she provides them with revenue-
and she seemed like she'd rather have not done it.

"work is work" so you just have to do what the boss says sometimes i guess,
even if it doesnt match up to your dreams.

[DaFool]

The timing for Rec ep 5 couldn't have come sooner...just confirmed a lot of questions from this thread:

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=28856&page=3

I didn't know that Yoyogi Animation Institute was also a seiyuu college. I coulda sworn it sponsored a couple of anime....and its interesting to realize a couple of my faves, including Noto Mamiko came from there.

Is it just me or do I get the feeling seiyuu colleges are at least 75% female students? Now this would totally justify the craploads of harem anime and erogame-based anime nowadays just to provide jobs to even a small percentage of these poor souls.

What I admire though is the solid seiyuu industry Japan has. America almost has a seiyuu industry (which coincides with LA and NY stage actors), but its important to realize most countries couldn't give a rat's ### to whomever dubs their animation--its either live actors or nobodies (and neither usually works well as competent voiceover actors).

[LytHka]

What's really dumb with this show is that it's a show about a seiyuu, they even present the voice/phonetical drills, the vocals/throat maintainance with gargling, but they forget to draw Aka such a simple thing as a scarf. I mean, it's freezing cold outside and she's walking around with an opened jacket and even when she has it closed, she has her neck exposed to the cold weather.
I have some experience with singing and that just spells s.u.i.c.i.d.e in a vocalist's profession.

[Burner of Anime]

What's really dumb with this show is that it's a show about a seiyuu, they even present the voice/phonetical drills, the vocals/throat maintainance with gargling, but they forget to draw Aka such a simple thing as a scarf. I mean, it's freezing cold outside and she's walking around with an opened jacket and even when she has it closed, she has her neck exposed to the cold weather.
I have some experience with singing and that just spells s.u.i.c.i.d.e in a vocalist's profession.

The girl is young. When she gets hit it'll be a learning experiance :heh:

Reading some of the behind the scenes stories of real life seiyuu at work [eg: Tanaka Rei getting her co-stars in Rozen Maiden to push her around before working on the series climax], I'm amazed by the level of professionalism exhibited at times. Especially if the scene calls for something difficult and emotionally traumatic. Looking back at all the titles I've seen, it's usually a big wtf moment that will make a break a story. The training and spirit required to emote with voice only is pretty hard to imagine. So I am thankful when they have taken the trouble to show what goes on behind the curtain.

EP5 has about killed my illusion that the sound stage for a h-game dubbing is filled with perverts. They are just like everyone else working for the daily bread.

Anyway, now that I've seen more of the show I have to say that Kanako Sakai landed a pretty well plum role. Think about it, the chance to voice Audrey Hepburn [well, her lines that is :p]- this woman was one of the best character actresses in her generation. Tremendous range and control, she scores for being in exactly who you see on screen.

Kanako as Aka is so far pulling off her character and as a screen legend very well. She making the most of an opportunity to display the sort of skill it takes others years just for people to notice. Her switch between voices is flawless, so I hope to envision many good things from her in the future :D.

Oddly enough, these "half" episodes don't feel rushed at all. Maybe because it's completely driven by character and I love them enough not to be distracted by the duration.

[Vexx]

It really is amazing what they're covering in such a short format... kind of reminds me of the "short story competitions" authors sometimes collaborate on to hone their skills.

I sense trouble ahead with the big guy... he doesn't *seem* particularly abusive towards Matsumaru but I am getting a serious sense that the guy is using Matsumaru as a stepping stone in the company rather than having much talent of his own. He's moving on Aka in a lumbering sort of way (Aka-chan, eh? How forward).

Once again, we appear to be given a lead male in the form of Matsumaru who is actually a decent guy who has thoughts about Aka but wants it to be the *right way* after that initial "too much sharing in a weak moment". Aka seems to be settling in comfortably without really realizing it. Oye I hope this ends well .... too many of the animes last year were blindsiders and now I'm all skitterish. It has such a happy OP/ED though....

[NeoSam]

If anyone here likes REC manga, you might also like Momoiro Sango (a seinen manga by the mangaka of REC)

The first chapter has been scanlated by Solaris-SVU group: Manganews (http://manganews.net/seriesinfo.php?id=4127).

[Seiryuu]

Only seen to ep. 4, but I've just got to say thank God it was possible to reach a point where I don't find Matsumaru to be in the wrong. Up till now, he's been putting the moves on her, so her resistance is understandable. Now I can actually look at him with some pity. Not only is he getting beaten because SHE opens the door half-naked, exposing herself, but he's not even allowed to use the restroom. As he said, when living with a girl, if you can't use the restroom after her, when CAN you use it?
Also, this is the first time since ep 1 when I saw Red look at matsumaru with genuine affection, complete with the watery eyes. There's hope for him yet, if he lets her make the moves. If he tries to do anything himself, though, it will mean another bill for wall repair and replaced teeth.

[Furudanuki]

There was something in episode #4 that really puzzled me. They were well into the second day of their public product display, and the group has been essentially ignored. Then the little girl came up Matsumaru while he was in the costume and wanted to try some of the chips, but he seemed flustered and told her that they were not giving them away for free. What in the world was happening here? I can't imagine a product marketing campaign like that without free samples in the first place. And for Matsumaru, the person who designed the marketing campaign, to tell the first person to show interest - especially a little girl - that she had to buy a bag of Ha! if she wanted to try some? I simply don't get it at all. Was this done to show that he is a first-timer and still awkward? Is there some health, vending or other regulation in Japan that would explain this?

[eggplant]

There was something in episode #4 that really puzzled me. They were well into the second day of their public product display, and the group has been essentially ignored. Then the little girl came up Matsumaru while he was in the costume and wanted to try some of the chips, but he seemed flustered and told her that they were not giving them away for free. What in the world was happening here? I can't imagine a product marketing campaign like that without free samples in the first place. And for Matsumaru, the person who designed the marketing campaign, to tell the first person to show interest - especially a little girl - that she had to buy a bag of Ha! if she wanted to try some? I simply don't get it at all. Was this done to show that he is a first-timer and still awkward? Is there some health, vending or other regulation in Japan that would explain this?

Haha, it simply proves that many mangaka or scriptwriters have little or no experience working for companies in the real world.

When I worked for an advertising agency, I was involved in many corporate campaign events, and although there were cases in which the products being solicited were for sale, I do not remember a time when consumer products, especially foodstuffs, were not available either as a taste sample, or as a complimentary give away.

For the confectionery industry in particular, companies would normally provide small packet trial samples, therefore the marketing strategy for "Ha" surely is questionable. Although Matsumaru may have been newly deployed to the product planning divison, I think it's his sixth year in the company, so he should know the basics.

I would certainly be disappointed if I couldn't get a taste of some freebies in such circumstances. Then again, as with Aka, Matsumaru's learning process is probably being portrayed here as well, not that a 9 episode 15 minute program can afford much of it.

[Vexx]

aye.. what eggplant said... my first class in japanese was taught by a retired confectionery executive from Yokohama. Part of the hilarity of the street demo for me comes from him telling stories about his younger days of doing exactly that. Being white-collar was no protection from having to hit the street and make a fool of yourself to sell the product.

You do have to wonder about their scouting location analysis work though :)

The more I watch this the cuter she gets. Lord, how does he keep from going start raving mad....

[Rion]

If anyone here likes REC manga, you might also like Momoiro Sango (a seinen manga by the mangaka of REC)
Oh, thank you for pointing that out! I downloaded it and it looks funny so far *g* I had to laugh a bit, although I know it might turn out as a Love-Hina-ish harem manga *hrrr* Will definitely follow it ^^

[Tiberium Wolf]

Momoiro Sango == Momoiro Sabbath ??

[NeoSam]

Momoiro Sango == Momoiro Sabbath ??

Momoiro Sango and Momoiro Sabbath are both seinen manga, and both of them are serialized in the seinen manga magazine Young King.

But they are not the same:

Momoiro Sango
Mangaka: HANAMIZAWA Q-Tarou

Momoiro Sabbath
Mangaka: NAKATSU Kenji

[Srin Tuar]

ep6


heh, as I suspected her manager knew everything the whole time, and
she admitted it: "Managing both your business and personal life, thats my way."


the shortness of these episodes is killing me though, i really want to see the ending now :)

[Vexx]

ep 6 prattle
a favorite of most romantic comedies..... lots of idiots are required so that lame diversions work :) .... except for the one sage.... in this case, the manager.

[SWPIGWANG]

ahhhhh i spoiled myself on the raw manga......arggggg


Matsumaru appearently have to so something really stupid for things to start happening.......

Thats a petty long arc however, and I don't think it'd fit in the short anime format.

[Rion]

the shortness of these episodes is killing me though, i really want to see the ending now :)
Ugh, I thought the series would get a second and a third season (or so) O.o Can somebody maybe confirm that?

[Kaoru Chujo]

Love it, but this ep did seem too short. They sank to the level of cliffhanger for the first time. Good going to get this far without it.

[PEDOS_GRANDE]

Damn you spoiler tags~

[wao]

Well, these are the names of the last 3 eps:

ep 7: War and Peace (Sensou to Heiwa)
ep 8: My Fair Lady
ep 9: Two for the Road (Itsumo Futari de)

All films Hepburn's starred in, of course...

[magnumcyclonex]

Just watched the raw ep 6 and it was hilarious when she was on national TV...:heh: Also, there was a good step in their developing relationship. I think when this is all over, I'll watch all of them together, to experience the effect of short anime series. It'll be interesting.

[Kanna]

Anyone know if the manga's being translated yet? I have the first four volumes and it'd be nice if I could understand 100% of the dialogue in them.

[Aru]

Yanime is translating it. They have one chapter out.

[NeoSam]

The latest issue of the seinen manga magazine Sunday GX

http://img461.imageshack.us/img461/5470/genexz8rt.jpg

[Shiroth]

Just watched episode 05.. boy was it amazing, & all i wanna say is if Matsumaru isn't aloud to play that game.. then i won't too. ^^;

[wao]

LOL, episode 6 was hilarious - even if a little bit contrived/predictable - I loved the way Matsumaru had his mouth open and was going "H..h...h...h..a?" and his boss put a leaf inside it! Also the cameo of 2channel!
Teramoesu... teraerosu... Jisakuotsu... Warosu... The way they were scrutinizing the picture, it's hilarious. Shiroiki-! And matsumaru-kun's colleague was using a Vaio... Is it a reference to the sasuga brothers?

I really like the way the show portrays their changing relationship though. It's quite realistic, actually.

[Vexx]

I'm still of the mind that "big guy" is going to provide the crisis between the two that will either cement their love or drive them apart. Maybe its my long immersion in corporate nonsense but he's definitely riding on Masumaru's rising star and the steady move into Aka's "personal space" is pretty obvious - though she hasn't said anything yet. I suppose its too much to hope for a nice simple "Lamune" convergence :)
Been a great series so far and I'm pretty sad its so short - though it is a clever exercise in story telling.

[_yeah]

And matsumaru-kun's colleague was using a Vaio...

It's not a vaio, it's A VATO! :D

[Srin Tuar]

ep 7 raw:


well, its nice to see that they are back together,
but sortof sad how pathetic they are dealitng with each other.
without "manager" they would never have gotten back together.
aka is like a little kid not understanding herself, and matumaru is
completely incapable of sweeping her off her feet.

she finally got a decent VA job.in no time at all she'll probably be
earning more than he does. I wonder how theyll be able to get along
in the long run, their lives will probably have very little in common
moving foward.

[TougeSil80]

Just watched ep.7. I'm glad they got back together. They sure covered a lot for how short the eps are. Isn't this anime only have 9 eps planned? Man, only two more eps left. I hope they make a sequel.

[Kaoru Chujo]

ep 7 raw:
well, its nice to see that they are back together,
but sortof sad how pathetic they are dealitng with each other.
without "manager" they would never have gotten back together.
aka is like a little kid not understanding herself, and matumaru is
completely incapable of sweeping her off her feet.

she finally got a decent VA job.in no time at all she'll probably be
earning more than he does. I wonder how theyll be able to get along
in the long run, their lives will probably have very little in common
moving foward.
According to this excellent post (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=482166&postcount=31) in this excellent thread (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=28856), seiyuu never make much money. Most seiyuu, even well-known ones, make only about $20-30 per episode. Only the veterans who do Doraemon, etc., get in the hundreds of dollars (i.e., in the 10,000s of Yen). kj1980 mentions that Ochiai Yurika, a middle-ranking young seiyuu (Konomi in ToHeart2, Keiko in Uta~Kata, Rara in the Futakois), had so little money that she couldn't pay her electricity bill and her power was cut off. So even if Aka does well, she will not be rising out of Matsubara's league. They won't have much less in common than they do now. She has an uncertain exciting job, he has a stable boring one. A match made in heaven, lol.

[Srin Tuar]

At those rates, the cost of sending 4 people on a trip for the campaign, plus letting then stay in a nice place
with a rotenburo would then equal 10's of years of her voice acting effort. She's got to be
earning some cash somehow. (perhaps not a whole lot yet) I mean she was planning on getting
herself an apartment within a few days- and considering her only income, that means she
must be earning something. (you could argue that this show is utterly unrealistic, and that
all VA's must live in their parents basements, but in the world of REC at least, shes getting
paid enough to scrape by, despite being a virtual nobody)

plus matsumaru's not exactly rich either.

[wao]

She was planning on getting an apartment, but notice the dire- I mean, the manager (;)) said that she probably wouldn't get one - the nuance I got was that she knew Aka was just saying that to sound like she was moving forward but she wasn't going to get a new house any time soon yet. She just didn't want to stay with Matsumaru at that point of time.


I think the trip was sponsored by Matsumaru's company, after all it was a campaign to sell their Ha! product, right? So they decided to take Aka along as well.

It wasn't such a good episode to me, it just felt really rushed and contrived. What a pathetic way to resolve things, meh.

[kj1980]

At those rates, the cost of sending 4 people on a trip for the campaign, plus letting then stay in a nice place
with a rotenburo would then equal 10's of years of her voice acting effort. She's got to be
earning some cash somehow. (perhaps not a whole lot yet) I mean she was planning on getting
herself an apartment within a few days- and considering her only income, that means she
must be earning something. (you could argue that this show is utterly unrealistic, and that
all VA's must live in their parents basements, but in the world of REC at least, shes getting
paid enough to scrape by, despite being a virtual nobody)

plus matsumaru's not exactly rich either.

Three words for you: corporate expense accounts

If it's part of the job, it's all paid for by corporate expense. Matsumaru's expenses are paid for by that snack company, the manager and Aka's expense is paid by the talent agency. Hatada even said "I'm tagging along from my own pocket since I'm worried about Matsumaru-kun (read: Matsumaru-kun is a lucky bastard, I'll come along so I too can be with Aka-chan)." Hence, Matsumaru, the manager, and Aka didn't pay a single yen for this expense (exceptions maybe, see below). The only one who did was Hatada.

A lot of seiyuus live by - corporate expense. The talent agency pays for her trips and stays at hotels as travel and "miscellaneous" expenses. Much like any other country, the more the company claims as "coporate expense" on their behalf, the less tax they have to pay when tax season comes along. Hence, seiyuus do get by with cheap pay. The talent agency can pay for her (and her managers') travel expenses, hotel fees, dress rentals, and even foods at parties - all under "corporate expense." Of course, some companies are stingy, while some are more lenient. "Foods at the hotel is paid for...but if you want alcohol (beers), that comes out of your pocket." Or "your plane ticket is covered...but if you want meal for purchase - that comes from your own pocket." It's practically the same in any other company.

If a seiyuu needs to go to a certain director's drinking bash to "promote" herself, well the director lavishes his own money. But that really isn't the director's money as well. If he has a sponsor supporting him, that "pay" comes from that expense account which he can write off as "miscellaneous" expense as well.

Welcome to capitalism - if you can write it off as "expense," you will write it off as expense. That's the business world in any corporate society.

Hey - when I go to overseas travel for business, you think it comes out of my own money? You can bullshit your way to write off many things as "business expense" to your company. Take for example, my passport renewal fees. Hey, I can B.S. saying that "I don't need a passport - but I need it for business when I make overseas trips." Bam! Saves me close to 30,000 yen that I don't have to pay for.

[Srin Tuar]

Three words for you: corporate expense accounts

If it's part of the job, it's all paid for by corporate expense. Matsumaru's expenses are paid for by that snack company, the manager and Aka's expense is paid by the talent agency. Hatada even said "I'm tagging along from my own pocket since I'm worried about Matsumaru-kun (read: Matsumaru-kun is a lucky bastard, I'll come along so I too can be with Aka-chan)." Hence, Matsumaru, the manager, and Aka didn't pay a single yen for this expense (exceptions maybe, see below). The only one who did was Hatada.

A lot of seiyuus live by - corporate expense. The talent agency pays for her trips and stays at hotels as travel and "miscellaneous" expenses. Much like any other country, the more the company claims as "coporate expense" on their behalf, the less tax they have to pay when tax season comes along. Hence, seiyuus do get by with cheap pay. The talent agency can pay for her (and her managers') travel expenses, hotel fees, dress rentals, and even foods at parties - all under "corporate expense." Of course, some companies are stingy, while some are more lenient. "Foods at the hotel is paid for...but if you want alcohol (beers), that comes out of your pocket." Or "your plane ticket is covered...but if you want meal for purchase - that comes from your own pocket." It's practically the same in any other company.

If a seiyuu needs to go to a certain director's drinking bash to "promote" herself, well the director lavishes his own money. But that really isn't the director's money as well. If he has a sponsor supporting him, that "pay" comes from that expense account which he can write off as "miscellaneous" expense as well.

Welcome to capitalism - if you can write it off as "expense," you will write it off as expense. That's the business world in any corporate society.

Hey - when I go to overseas travel for business, you think it comes out of my own money? You can bullshit your way to write off many things as "business expense" to your company. Take for example, my passport renewal fees. Hey, I can B.S. saying that "I don't need a passport - but I need it for business when I make overseas trips." Bam! Saves me close to 30,000 yen that I don't have to pay for.

やっと納得ができました:)

someone should cross-post this into the industry lifestyle thread. I felt something
was missing from the story, and this really fills in the blanks.

I can really imagine the lifestyle- essentially living off of corporate expense accounts,
and spending most of your time in hotels and such venues. In addition to converting
a payroll expense into a business expense and dogding tons of taxes, this practice
must really make the VA's totally beholden to their employers. When they are paying
for your lodging, transportation, food, and clothing out of their pockets, while only
giving you 20$ in pocket change, it must be pretty hard to quit a gig. And hard to save
money. And hard to really ever own anything. When the boss is happy, you live the
high life. When he's feeling stingy, you might not have a place to sleep. It almost
seems like living in a stable: you are owned by the agency in all but name.

[wao]

Well, it seems like to some companies their seiyuu just seem like products they want to sell better... Although Aka's producer's method of "managing her work and personal life" is something I wouldn't really want, I don't think I'd appreciate my boss nosing into my own affairs! But I suppose beggars can't be choosers.

I still way prefer ep 6 in terms of story and execution... even with the silly scenario, I can't help but chuckle at shiroi-ki~

[Vexx]

she's one of the managers you'd probably prefer actually .... "happy workers == productive reliable workers" in her book. I'm sure there are some that dropkick a VA the instant they have a bad day because a boyfriend dumped them, they can't pay the bills, yada yada.

This is clearly an activity you do because you love it or because the alternative is being an "elevator girl" or standing on a street corner hawking the latest tissue paper. Much of the reward is just like Aka tears up about.... "she remembered my voice". Until Animaniacs, I never really appreciated voicework (outside of Mel Blanc) --- now I try to make a point of finding who voices characters I enjoy and find some way to let them know I appreciate it. That turns out to be actually relatively difficult unless they have some sort of web presence of their own.

In America, we have the likes of Jesse Harnell, Tress MacNeille, Joe Alaskey, Rob Paulsen, Paul Rugg, and others...
People like Asakawa Yuu and Saito Chiwa and Horie Yui should get any feedback we can give them when we enjoy their antics (and I mean even a simple thank you --- not stalk them :) ).

[Amuse]

I'm going to download this series now but Lunar's episodes are in MKV, not AVI.
Is MKV divx or no?

Why didn't they just make it AVI?

[Srin Tuar]

this is not the thread to complain about file formats.

go way.

[SonicMonkey]

this is not the thread to complain about file formats.

go way.

First off, dude asked a legitimate question. You had time enough to snark him like an immature prat, but not enough to answer him.

Anyway to that poster: MKV files are just containers like AVI's are. That is to say, they are not actual codecs, but instead contain useful ways to organize and store various bits of information (different tracks, subtitles, etc). That being said I think if you use the DivX player it ought to work with mastroka files right out of the box? If you have problems viewing the files on a windows box you can check out this link:

http://packs.matroska.org/

As for the reason why to use MKV containers over AVI? Mastroka files are pretty robust and unlike the AVI format which is owned by Microsoft, MKV is in the public domain under the GNU LGPL. Plus it is pretty cool and maybe people are trying to support it ^_^

Anyway sorry if i got any of this information wrong... I am a engineer by trade but not a video guy really :)

[Srin Tuar]

First off, dude asked a legitimate question. You had time enough to snark him like an immature prat, but not enough to answer him.


this has been discussed to death in too many places.
despite agreeing with you, its still tantamount to spam here.

can we talk about the show pls


Edit:
PS, your link is suboptimal.
reading this is better:
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=27313
(people who cant get mplayer running from cvs should run the windows CCCP,
otherwise they may end up wasting their time.)

[riznar]

Aka's manager has appeared in at least two other anime. What a stock character. :p

Anyway, I picked this up last night. I really enjoyed it and agree with everyone else that the episodes are amazingly dense. I got my hopes up after the first episode though. I thought for once we weren't going to have main characters who were inept at romance. :rolleyes:

Does anyone else get the sense from the preview that Matsumaro is going to lose his job? (Or maybe we'll have one last relationship scare...)

[Vexx]

I keep waiting for his so-called "buddy" to shaft him in the back. So far he's been coat-tail riding and just screwing things up. People who smile too much, are loud, and generally vanish when real work is afoot just set off my internal corporate bullshit alarms.

[Sinestra]

funny episode even though its not the greatest series it stills amuses me to watch. Espcially since the Manager knew of their relationship and maniplulated them into making up and her moving back in . But when they tried to explain the relationship that was classic because they really arent anything they just slept together that one time but they both do have feelings for one another. oh well kind of predictable but fun anyway

[Vexx]

So far this series is following the classic romantic comedy movies ala Hepburn and Grant to a tee. I figure we'll see the "incredible dolt" sidekick put a move on Aka and that'll be the straw that binds Aka and Matsumaru.

[Shiroth]

I figure we'll see the "incredible dolt" sidekick put a move on Aka and that'll be the straw that binds Aka and Matsumaru.
Probably aroubnd episode 08 then.. and then we'll have the special moment in episode 09. <3

I still wish this series was longer then nine episodes.. ;_;

[DaFool]

Yeah ep 7 is not as good as, say, the ero-game ep, but still watchable and the obligatory onsen ep is already taken care of!

When the boss is happy, you live the
high life. When he's feeling stingy, you might not have a place to sleep. It almost
seems like living in a stable: you are owned by the agency in all but name.

(The question is not necessarily directed at the person quoted) Is it just for voice actors, or are full actors also 'put in a stable'? ...in Japan, I mean. I know in my country every actor is contracted to either GMA Channel 7 or ABS-CBN Channel 2...they are essentially 'owned' by the media conglomerates.

So in a sense, it is possible that Aka may well be on her way to (if she so chooses) stay in a hotel every night.

[Eclipze]

:topicoff:
(The question is not necessarily directed at the person quoted) Is it just for voice actors, or are full actors also 'put in a stable'? ...in Japan, I mean. I know in my country every actor is contracted to either GMA Channel 7 or ABS-CBN Channel 2...they are essentially 'owned' by the media conglomerates.

So in a sense, it is possible that Aka may well be on her way to (if she so chooses) stay in a hotel every night.
For my opinion, I would say that it depends on popularity (of the said voice/actor). But it might work very differently in Japan, though. From my perspective (from what I read), voice actors get it worst than "regular" actors.

Why? "Its just a voice".
"there are 10000 new VAs coming out of schools every year".
Hence ---> you can be easily replaced. "Its not hard to find a good voice actor, compared to a good actor".
Because--->"Actors need to sound normal and look good.".
"There are alot more people who have good voice acting abilities than people who have good looks and acting abilities".

Lets face it. Its entertainment.
An actor has to look good/acceptable. An actor requires publicity. An actor needs to know how to act. People judge their personalities. Hollywood should provide all other descriptions. One last one: They are capable of setting fashion thrends.

A voice actor? Needs to be able to utilize his/her voice, and make them different. Especially if they do 2 different roles in the same anime. They dont need to look cute. They place their entire life on thier voice. Some dont even appear in the public. Animes are things, in Japan, that only kids and Otakus watch.

They (VAs) make no impact on the general population. They dont set fashion thrends because their voice are heard (alot) more than their face is seen. They dont get featured in the paparazi news, because the people who could possibly know about them are Otakus-> Japan do not like Otakus (maybe for the money).

Ask yourself this question: In real life, if given a choice, between an extreem ugly looking person who has a voice you really like, and a very good looking person whose voice you really hate. Both have same personalities. Both from same backgrounds. Which will you pick? Take into considering if they are exact same people, except with the 2 traits being changed. Which will you choose, then?

The answer from the average joe on the streets? Option B. Some people can care less about the voice. Looks will always have an annoyomas piority above the voice. If Tenma from school rumble was a big fat girl, with the same voice, do you really think Harima would fall in love with her? If Shizuru and Natsuki were both ugly bitches, would there be so much fandom and fanfics about them?

So, the direct answer to the question? Its the voice actors who are in the stable. Maybe throw in those extreemly newbie actors who have a tough luck with popularity. Actors are a "whole package deal". VAs are just the voice. Looks do not matter.
You can, by all means, ignore what I say, as Im no more than a measly 17 year-old teen who doesn't even live in Japan. Cheers.

[Shiroth]

Episode 07 had me in tears right from the start.. though its nice that Aka & Matsumaru made up in the end.. still, only 9 episodes. ;_;

[SonicMonkey]

It was nice that they finally showed the nicer face of Matsumaru in this episode. Although I think that sometimes he comes across as just horny (and being a guy myself I understand this!) but he does actually care for Aka and he wants her to succeed. I think Aka was really touched by the things he said to her so I give him a B+ for finally being open about his feelings. It would have been an A, but technically Aka was the first one to come clean in that regard ;)

Anyway I really wish the anime was longer so it could have shown more scenes of Aka and Matsumaru together - they were really cute in episode 6 when they were horsing around during that televised cooking show.

The next episode looks to be a sad one, probably in anticipation for the finale (episode 9). I'm curious however what kind of drama they can introduce in 10 minutes or so that can be resolved for a good ending in the last episode ;)

[TougeSil80]

Just watched the last ep.

It's a good ending, although a bit rushed. Matsumaru acted pretty stupid when she tell Aka to move, I know he's in a bad mood but damn, that's pretty extreme. I'm glad it ended with them staying together, so even if they don't make a S2, it'll still have a conclusive ending.

[Kaoru Chujo]

This was a good series, but painfully brief. There is a lot more in the manga. I understood Matsumaro's ridiculous tantrum at the end of 8 and beginning of 9. He was feeling inferior and a failure. That can really screw a guy up. The indirect apology scene was well handled. And the ending in the road, with the coworker (who turned out to be a good guy) and the manager was well done, too.

[riznar]

Episode 8 is fansubbed up on the main animesuki page.

[Vexx]

I'm actually relieved...

that his buddy turned out to be a decent fellow... it'd have been too easy to write him as a brutish catalyst.

I'll be following the manga scanlations on this one .... *FINALLY* an anime this year with an ending that that I can applaud for being as well written as the rest of the series (okay, Lamune as well but technically I'm still waiting for the subs).

Still.... consistent, well written anime seems to be far and few between --- I wish the fans would speak out for more quality instead of the "my girl no matter how" stuff they seem to be ok with.

[Shiroth]

This really is a show that i wouldn't mind lasting forever.. but we all know that wouldn't really work, everything has to end sometime. ;_;

[dyler13]

Episode 8 was made extremely well. The show never ceases to amaze me. So much emotion: laughter, sadness, loneliness.. And it’s all packed in just 10 minutes! For being only 9 episodes long, somehow it still managed to become one of my all-time favorite anime series. I really hope they come out with another season. I haven't been this sad to see a series end since School Rumble.

[Cal-Reflector]

Honestly, in 90 minutes this series accomplishes more in-depth character and relational development than the majority of shows out there that span 400-500 minutes. Cute show, nice story, too bad they made it so bloody short.

Any body have the lowdown on the unusual choice of length, series and episode wise, for REC? I'm very curious.

[Rion]

I also remember somebody saying that there might be a second (and even third season) for this anime. How possible is that actually?

[SinsI]

Well, they certainly have more than enough story for five or six more seasons, considering that the Episode 8 ends near page 130 of the first volume of manga and the fact that there are five volumes of REC(maybe more, it's just that I found that many).

[NeoSam]

Well, they certainly have more than enough story for five or six more seasons, considering that the Episode 8 ends near page 130 of the first volume of manga and the fact that there are five volumes of REC(maybe more, it's just that I found that many).

No, you are right, currently there are 5 volumes out, and the manga is still being serialized in Sunday GX magazine.

[Onizuka-GTO]

woohoo! someone needs to scanlate them! always disappointed at how short the episodes are.
I feel so unfullfilled, compared a normal length anime episode. :(

[Vexx]

woohoo! someone needs to scanlate them! always disappointed at how short the episodes are.
I feel so unfullfilled, compared a normal length anime episode. :(

Actually, if you'll go visit manganews.net, you'll see Yanime has at least *started* a scanlation (only vol1ch1 so far released 16feb06) but I can't find anything about it on their website. Rats... I wish I was farther along in my JP studies or I'd do the damned thing myself.

[riznar]

REC 9 is out.

That was simply the best. :love:

[Shiroth]

That was one hell of a beauitful ending.. really need the OST! >.<

Its shame its the end, really is - but with a ending like that, i'm happy if the anime just stays like that.. and we don't get anything else.

[Shift_]

Must get the manga...

[Anime+]

The ending was fairly decent. I really liked how they did not run out of creativity in terms of the animation. I thought it was a pretty good 1st season. Not a bad watch with only 9 half episodes.

[Forbin]

What ever happened to his girl that stood him up? She's in eps 1-2 and in the OP.

[milkmandan]

NOOOOOoooo! Aka didn't get banged in the end! >_< terrible terrible~!

[Forever]

NOOOOOoooo! Aka didn't get banged in the end! >_< terrible terrible~!

I do hope you are not watching just to see Aka to get banged :heh:

I liked the ending. Things was wrapped up and concluded.

Overall this series gets 8.5/10 from me. The mood is nice and story was good. Hopefully there will a second season.

[riznar]

...anyone who thinks that a 20-something couple doesn't get it on regularly is living in AMG land. Not that they would show it on camera...

[Vexx]

Manga ordered ... enroute.

As for any frolicking... you'll just have to use your imagination, it probably would enjoy the exercise anyway :)

[jfs]

It seemed to me like the anime took an incorrect(?) turn in ep. 9, by making it rather obvious to Hatakeda that Matsumaru and Aka are living together and having a relationship. That never happens in the manga, and Hatakeda is quite oblivious to it. This might make it hard to continue the story like the manga, at leawst parts of it.

About Tanaka (the woman Matsumaru was to have a date with in ep. 1), she does in fact try to exploit Matsumaru later on, while Aka is away.

In fact, much of the continuation of the manga is pretty much various people attempting to spoil Matsumaru and Aka's relationship in one way or another.
If you like ecchi, the manga is a much better bet than the anime, btw.

[Radiosity]

NOOOOOoooo! Aka didn't get banged in the end! >_< terrible terrible~!

Are you forgetting that they slept with each other in the first episode?

[dojikyo]

Honestly, in 90 minutes this series accomplishes more in-depth character and relational development than the majority of shows out there that span 400-500 minutes. Cute show, nice story, too bad they made it so bloody short.

Any body have the lowdown on the unusual choice of length, series and episode wise, for REC? I'm very curious.


Part of me wishes the series was longer but most of me is happy with how well the series ended and how good a majority of the series was.

I remember being apprehensive about a second season of Kaleido Star and so far the first 2 volumes of it have been mostly crap. But that's another story.

[Amuse]

What? So Episode 9 is the last episode of this series?

[musicgal]

Hey guys, dropping by to say hi :D

i come to realise the more ecchi it is, the more interesting the story line is, eg: love hina , mahou sensei negima and ichigo 100% , looks like rec is going to be in my list for downloading.. i need some laughs man haha

oh yea besides these wonderful animations are there more ecchi animations you all can reccomend me? ecchi and love romance + comedy? cos i'm quite new to animations so hope you pros can give me advices, ty !!

[Vexx]

You might enjoy "Futari Ecchi" (Step Up Love) .... don't know where to get it though. Its about a late-marrying-by-matchmaking couple --- fairly comedic but actually pretty honest in how it treats the subject. There are 4 eps I know about (2 DVDs).
Its "fairly explicit"...

Be wary in general ... a lot of explicit series really have lousy plot lines. Most of the other "romance" shows I can think of are far too serious. You might try "Tsukuyomi Moon Phase" .... it manages to mix some serious tragedy in with pretty wacky humor. Nothing really explicit in that show, outside of some massive cuteness overload.

[Forbin]

What? Vexx didn't recommend Shuffle? Each girl except for Primula gets a decent romance relationship.

And Negima isn't ecchi. Heck it's barely PG-13.

And thanks jfs, I thought that girl was going to be important later.

[Vexx]

Well.. she was looking for "da funny" ....

Shuffle! has a mix of drama and comedy .... I have an opinion about the ending quality of writing but you should watch it without prejudice (in other words, don't read any posts first).

and yeah.. I'd hardly call Negima "ecchi" ... just a lot of fanservice. Even REC is only implicitly ecchi, just the first ep.
Love Hina is also just a lot of fanservice. Everyone has their own line of "ecchi vs fanservice" .... for me, the line is "are we seeing active sex or is it implied undercover? is the pose blatant?" ... simple nudity is just fanservice. If its in context (comtemplative bath or hotsprings conversation) -- then I'd argue it almost doesn't even qualify as fan service because it is a situation where people are normally unclothed.

[rooboy]

and yeah.. I'd hardly call Negima "ecchi" ... just a lot of fanservice. Even REC is only implicitly ecchi, just the first ep.
Love Hina is also just a lot of fanservice. Everyone has their own line of "ecchi vs fanservice" .... for me, the line is "are we seeing active sex or is it implied undercover? is the pose blatant?" ... simple nudity is just fanservice.Ecchi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecchi) is usually only intended to mean naughty (yes, I'm aware that when you use it as a verb it means sex). Fanservice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanservice) is something that is included for fans, but has no direct plot relevance. In Pani Poni Dash, one of the next episode bits is Rebecca doing a vampire bit (Rebecca's seiyuu was the seiyuu for the vampire girl in Tsukuyomi Moon Phase), that would be fanservice. Stan Lee cameos in all of the Marvel superhero movies, that's fanservice.
Panty shots, cleavage shots, etc are ecchi; they are also fanservice if they do not have a plot reason for existing. I'm only pointing this out to again get on my soap box that not all fanservice is ecchi in nature.
With that out of the way, the series you might be looking for is Magikano. Plenty of the ecchi kind of fanservice (including a whole episode about talking cat panties), and very funny. Girls Bravo, Please Twins, Please Teacher, Mahoromatic, and Maburaho are other examples (though, amusingly, they're all licensed).
I have to agree with Vexx, Shuffle is very ecchi, very fanservice-y (the inclusion of Tsubomi would be fanservice. :) ), and occasionally funny, but frequently it's not funny as well. Tsukuyomi is loaded with fanservice (nekomimi mode!) and also very funny (well, sometimes), but I don't really remember any ecchi-ness about it at all.

[Vexx]

yeah, I have to balance the japanese meaning against how it gets tossed about by anime fans....

ah I forgot about Magikano... great fun just don't take it seriously :)

[musicgal]

aha yea! magikano is funny!

u know the animation green green? i know we are quite off topic about rec, well th reason why i read the forum is to understand what is the animation about.. and of course with pros like you all reccomend, i would love to check them out... pardon this noob here... bt nevertheless, yup yup i downloading shuffle! soon.. i currently downloadint fruits basket and kanon.. took up alot of my space and i'm so lazy to burn them . so i'm sadly deleting my naruto and bleach fillers :upset:

wow you all know alot of stuffs ya? yea i am looking for some "cheeky +naughty" expressions and scenes, it'll tickle my funnybone =)


ty once again, will take note on the animations you all have watched so far

=)

[Amuse]

Just finished watching all 9 episodes today.. Pretty good anime!

[musicgal]

hey heyy i getting hand itchy already dont tempt me! *roar*

okay! since the animation is so short, i shall download the animation tonight! muahahahahha *sadislaughter* - i'm just bored at work sigh...

[Gryff]

Rec is a great series, hope we get a second season.
Brrrrrrrrr I've only just re-registered ( My original reg was just before the wipe and I didn't bother re-regging :p

[DrewGSR]

Short and sweet anime. I enjoyed it. I would've liked it to ahve been a full 30 min eps with 13 eps.

[Sinestra]

Nice series really short though but i enjoyed it hope to see a second season

[DannoHung]

That was sweet.

I think maybe they should've ended the series at episode 7 though. Episode 8 felt forced, even though 9's scene at the bar was really great.

I hope they don't do a season 2, their story is over. No reason to keep milking it.

Perhaps another short series about something else from the voice acting biz?

edit: Oh yeah, the other thing I thought was that they should definitley recut it as a movie, it flowed pretty well given the constraints, but I think it could REALLY work well as a full length film. Hell, it'd probablly work pretty well as a live action film. And if Aka weren't a voice actress, but a regular actress, I could totally see this as a Hollywood romance flick. They'd probablly cock it up and pick a really handsome dude for Matsumaru though.

Some plots can't support 13 22 minute episodes, "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away"

[Vexx]

Hmmmmm, if we get anything else out of REC, it'd just be an expanded remake as a movie I'd prefer rather than a continuation. "Happily for the moment" is a fine way to end it.

[Kaoru Chujo]

...I hope they don't do a season 2, their story is over. No reason to keep milking it...Some plots can't support 13 22 minute episodes, "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" First, I agree totally with your quote. Lots of anime series are too long and too padded. I like it when every episode really counts.

But second, this is just the beginning for the manga. The anime covers volume 1 of the manga, which is at least up to volume 4. I've only read part way into volume 2, but I can assure you that there is more good story there to animate, if they want to. Maybe even better story than this first part. At least there's more of the seiyuus' world.

[Onizuka-GTO]

karou got a frigging point. It's just the start. And while you some animes are too padded, too long winded. The opposite is the same, sometimes it can be a pain when a story takes FOREVER to unwinded.

This isn't either of these things, it's just the beginning. And since thw author got more then one volume of manga out, i do think he's on to something with the continuing story.

But i did find it quite ironic, in the last episode they talked about Onda doing "two cools" which the notes said: "One cool means 13 episodes"
when this very anime was only nine. :rolleyes:

[DannoHung]

Ahh, the Manga. You know, sometimes I forget that most of the anime series are based off of existing properties.

I had assumed given the oddball format of the show that it was a one off.

Well, I suppose if there's more good material then it'd make sense to create more seasons. But I can't help but think that it'd sort of get into the kind of brainless soap opera that I dislike (You know, That "I love you, I hate you, I love you, I hate you" sort of thing.) or the other death knoll for romantic comedy: persistent ambivalence.

But if you say it's good, I guess it's good!

[Onizuka-GTO]

dammit. your not suppose to agree with me! But granted, i do hate the same stupid Tv soap format. Where everyone love/hate and slept with everyone to make them all related. I have not read the manga, but I don't se why we can't jump a little further into the available volumes. While we all know Animes rarely follow an manga series to the bitter end, I think we can be assured it will stop at a reasonable point. As long as we keep the nice 12min or even 20min format. The short format does grow on you after a while, you get use to the frustration of not being fullfilled by one episode. Kinda fgets you high after afew of those in a period of a few days. Either that, or im really a closet masochist.

[Kaoru Chujo]

....But I can't help but think that it'd sort of get into the kind of brainless soap opera that I dislike (You know, That "I love you, I hate you, I love you, I hate you" sort of thing.) or the other death knoll for romantic comedy: persistent ambivalence.... Since we're politely flip-flopping around from disagreement to agreement, I'll add that I agree completely about the love-hate-love-hate scenario you just mentioned, and I can't claim that future parts of the manga are entirely free from it. Just that it is done well, and doesn't seem excessive to me.

[Vexx]

I suppose most relationships are like that.... (although not necessarily that extreme).

For everytime I've wanted to strangle my wife, there are other times when I'd throw myself on a grenade to protect her ... so I don't know that its brainless so much as the normal ebb and flow of a relationship.

I've ordered the REC series published to date, so am interested in seeing whats up with them post the anime (or what the anime left out).

[rooboy]

I don't think I'd ever throw myself on a grenade to save my wife. I might throw her on a grenade to save my son though .... ;)

[Vexx]

I don't think I'd ever throw myself on a grenade to save my wife. I might throw her on a grenade to save my son though .... ;)

but .. but... the banana song! :)

ah I see... the son is not quite ready for market.

[DannoHung]

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring ring banana phone!

Too bad the Manga isn't really being translated by any one (two groups have the first chapter out is all).

[Onizuka-GTO]

lolol
you lot are terrible, think of the poor grenades :(

Anyway, back on topic, I'm kinda surprised that no group have really picked it up. I mean it took some time for scanlation groups to do Iketeru Futari after the anime aired, thats a hidden gem.

Maybe, becausee the theme is so....generic that most Scanaltion groups have other more interesting series to do?

Either way, anyone know where i can grab those scanlated chapters? :)

[Lost]

Hi there! REC had a great ending I have to say, yes, happy for the moment, leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling, especially liked the part at the table in the restaurant. Thruout the series, and here especially, I loved how Aka's emotions showed in her big red eyes. And the later when they embraced outside, I enjoyed the cool blur(?), dappled, glittery effect.

Couldn't help laughing out loud when Matsumaru's stocky friend, the Onda Aka worshipper, finally realised their relationship, and then was dragged away by Aka's manager.. Priceless :D:D

[amonrei]

Great ending, yeah. But still i think it's a bit too short. :( I have the raw manga but bleh, can't read Kanji. XD

[Lost]

I like short and sweet :) That way, nothing can go wrong.

[Gryff]

Couldn't help laughing out loud when Matsumaru's stocky friend, the Onda Aka worshipper, finally realised their relationship, and then was dragged away by Aka's manager.. Priceless :D:D


On that note, who thinks that those two are going to hook up? Maybe a manga reader can spoil us here ;)

[Onizuka-GTO]

yes yes! spoil us rotten! go on! please? :)

Im want to know what's next. I hope Aka get some. And as someone once mentioned. Yes, Aka did get some in the first episode, but that was AGES i do think she saved up enough O coupons for some more.

:P

p.S: where did the Suzumiya Haruhi thread go? it's been moved, but where to? i can't find it anywhere :(

[jfs]

On that note, who thinks that those two are going to hook up? Maybe a manga reader can spoil us here ;)
Nothing between those two. At all. (At least by the end of vol. 4.) In fact Hatakeda is a moe-crazed otaku, though I don't think he has 2d-con. (He seems to be very interested in voice actors *hint hint*.)
But as I explained before, Hatakeda is not even remotely aware of Matsumaru and Aka having a relationship. He does know that Matsumaru has some girl (at least that's how I remember it) but not who, and he firmly believes (like most other people) that Aka is single. After all, having a boyfriend would seriously hamper her career as a moe voice actor star.
I believe it was a very bad decision by the anime writers letting Hatakeda know about their relationship.

[DannoHung]

On Topic: I can't vouch for the the Manga, but I don't think it's unlikely that they're doing a little Horizontal Mambo. You don't have to SHOW people doing the nasty for them to be nastifastying, you know?


p.S: where did the Suzumiya Haruhi thread go? it's been moved, but where to? i can't find it anywhere :(

I dunno! There was a new sub-forum earlier, but that's gone now (too bad too, I wanted to maybe get a discussion going about paranormal phenomena).

[Niamh]

I just finished watching this series today. I loved it! I've never really thought much about how hard it must be to have a job as a seiyuu.

I like how this series was pretty fast-paced. I hate it when the two main characters have a fight and it's dragged out for eternity. *blah*

In my opinion, the animation was fairly decent. Some of Matsumaru's faces were absolutely hillarious and kind of reminded me of Golden Boy.

The only problem I had was the opening theme seemed a bit long. I think it should have been a bit shorter to be proportional with the twelve minute episodes.

[ragnarokr]

Also finished the last episode today, and have to say that it' was a very weet show to watch, liked it pretty much.


BTW, this is for the one who have read the manga,

SPOIL US WITH THE STORYLINE AFTER THE EVENTS OF THE ANIME!!!!;)

[Mephisto2k]

I collected all the episodes, but i got stuck watching somewhere at episode 4 or whereever. With all those upcoming animes i got to bored to watch the anime to the end so i zapped through it. I know i dont really have the right to say it because i havnt watched it properly, but i think rec is kinda boring. There are a few comedy scenes, but not enough to call it a comedy. There are few dramatic scenes but its not like its really deep or sad or a drama. There is a little love story but its not as touching to call it a romance. The girl might be cute and thats all there is to it. Its not that im not into those lighthearted stories like da capo, lamune or toHeart, but i got kinda bored by some of those series, and rec is one of those.

[darkchibi07]

I collected all the episodes, but i got stuck watching somewhere at episode 4 or whereever. With all those upcoming animes i got to bored to watch the anime to the end so i zapped through it. I know i dont really have the right to say it because i havnt watched it properly, but i think rec is kinda boring. There are a few comedy scenes, but not enough to call it a comedy. There are few dramatic scenes but its not like its really deep or sad or a drama. There is a little love story but its not as touching to call it a romance. The girl might be cute and thats all there is to it. Its not that im not into those lighthearted stories like da capo, lamune or toHeart, but i got kinda bored by some of those series, and rec is one of those.


Damn, you haven't got to episode 5 yet which is by far the most hilarious episode yet! Too bad. :p

[zrdb]

Great little series, it's nice to watch something that can finished in a couple of hours instead of a couple of weeks!

[Shinji103]

Wewt! Raw for episode 7.5 released! Unbroadcasted episode! :love:

[uris]

Oh wow, this taught me not to burn my shows out too fast -_-

[Shiroth]

Episode 7.5 actually has to be one of my fav' episodes. What happens is actually something i was shocked not to see in the series.

Gawd.. i actually forgot how much i love this series. <3

[darkchibi07]

Care to spoil that unaired episode? :p

[Shinji103]

I agree, 7.5 is probably my favorite episode. :D

[PsychItsMike]

I finished the anime a while back and i loved the story. Cute, sweet, and short is how i would describe it. I dont read the manga but are there stories after the anime ends?

[Shiroth]

Care to spoil that unaired episode? :p
The main story of the episode is just Matsumaru's past love interest from the first episodes back..

I'm sure you can understand what its about. ^__^

[tugatosmk]

Damn. This new trend of not airing all the eps on TV, just so they can make more money on the DVD releases...
it just sucks. :mad:

Now I have an "incomplete" burnt DVD of REC... :(

[Kaoru Chujo]

Somehow I couldn't really get into 7.5, much as I enjoyed the series. Maybe because I'd read the manga. Maybe because I'd lost the emotional connection to the characters that I built up then. I can't say I ever really liked Matsumaru, well-conceived as the character is.Damn. This new trend of not airing all the eps on TV, just so they can make more money on the DVD releases... it just sucks. :mad: Now I have an "incomplete" burnt DVD of REC... :(I know exactly how you feel, but it's kind of hard to expect the companies to gear their releases for the convenience of people who download them for free rather than buying them.
I finished the anime a while back and i loved the story. Cute, sweet, and short is how i would describe it. I dont read the manga but are there stories after the anime ends?There certainly are, and very interesting ones at that. Some are probably even more interesting than the ones they showed. There is more that is similar to the events at the end of episode 1.

[tugatosmk]

I know exactly how you feel, but it's kind of hard to expect the companies to gear their releases for the convenience of people who download them for free rather than buying them.

My statement wasn't geared towards the "download instead of buying" concept. :p
Shouldn't the japanese people who watched it on TV be annoyed as well? :confused:

[Semaj]

Is EP 7.5 only in the DVD? Is there a raw or a sub released somewhere?

[Vexx]

As long as the *aired* series episodes tell a complete story... I suspect the japanese viewers are okay with the concept (I'm thinking for example of kasimashi's "false ending" with the bit of a teaser in the credits or Kamichu!'s insertion eps on their DVDs).

I suspect more annoyance will rise if they start telling part of the story, ending with a cliffhanger and then saying "buy the DVD" ... thats a good way to piss off customers but again... it'll depend on how easily the otaku bend over.

We'll see if the usual subbers decide to take it on.

[lavielove]

Onda Aka

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5979/prodondaaka3co8.th.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=prodondaaka3jh9.jpg)

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/5892/prodondaaka1rb0.th.jpg (http://img221.imageshack.us/my.php?image=prodondaaka1rb0.jpg)

on company's website (http://www.junplanning.co.jp/item/rec/rec_index.html)

on anime news international (http://animenewsi.com/index.php?itemid=9630&catid=245&catid=245)

[martino]

Hmmm...I've had the Ayu version for some time, but is it worth getting the Yoroshiku version???
Or is it just an "upsized" version?

[NeoSam]

I just found out that there's a REC game planned :)

I have no idea what type of game it will be, but information about the game got out in the September 2006 issue of the seinen magazine Sunday GX.

I hope someone can provide this info about the game >.<

[Shiroth]

Heh, the idea of a Rec games pretty crazy - i'll keep a look out for any information~

[Shinji103]

What the heck would a REC game be about? :eyespin: The only thing I can think of it being would be a novel game like F/SN and Demonbane. Maybe it'll pick up on the story of the manga where the anime left off? The anime only covered volume 1, after all. lol

[Grv]

Hmmm...I've had the Ayu version for some time, but is it worth getting the Yoroshiku version???
Or is it just an "upsized" version?


We didn't upsize any of REC. It aired on BS-i which is a digital HD station. Oh and DVD episode is out now, just so you know :>

[aliensporebomb]

11 minute episodes? Sounds a bit like "If I see you in my dreams".

I'll check this one out, it sounds like a mixture of odd chance, romance,
and some awkwardness. Interesting.

[Vexx]

The episodes are quick, concise, and almost zero filler. Like the HanTsuki short series... these seem like discipline exercises for the writers to improve their story telling skills. The results are very good.

[ryomakun]

i see there is an episode 7.5 released just today, is there any difference with a version 7 by the other groups? (Difference in animation/content not Subtitle)

[Eeknay]

"7.5" (or in the revised, official order, 8) is the DVD only episode. Matusumaru and Aka go out drinking with Tanaka(?) from Accounting (the chick who stood him up in the first episode) and hilarity ensues.

[martino]

We didn't upsize any of REC. It aired on BS-i which is a digital HD station. Oh and DVD episode is out now, just so you know :> Talked to you on IRC...remember?

I did some more comparisons and I came to a conclusion(ahem, my explanation) that BS must have had the episodes in ->(I believe it was 480p, my knowledge here is limited) and upscaled it for HD to 720p). The DVD only episode has got a different resolution, smaller than the TV versions.

Hasn't there been a drinking episode already???