(L) Simoun

[Dop]

Well, this is the best series I almost never watched. I watched up to about episode four AGES ago, but dropped it as I'd not been hooked and had too much other stuff to watch. Some time ago, when the first 13 episodes were available, I'd read good reviews and tried again. Got as far as episode 5 then had other stuff I wanted to watch more and put it to one side.

Once the entire series was available, I'd read yet more rave reviews and decided to try it again. This time, I didn't have scads of other stuff I was watching, so I persevered.
Episode seven got me more interested. Episode eight got me completely hooked.

And by the end. Whoa. How could I have so nearly missed watching such a beautiful series?

Thanks to Simoun-Fans for all their hard work in making this available.

[Seska]

Indeed, Episode 8 is a "key episode"....

[Dandruff]

[oneplusme]

Oooh...

I stand by my previous remarks about Simoun being the best yaoi series in a fair while.

[Dandruff]

If any of these are reposts, well, never hurts to see them again xD



NSFW

Spoiler:

[Dop]

Originally Posted by oneplusme

Oooh...

I stand by my previous remarks about Simoun being the best yaoi series in a fair while.

I think if you didn't cheer when Anubituf kissed Guragief then you have no heart.

[Matrim]

Nice pics, I like the one with Nevril and Paraieta the most.

[Futaba-chan]

Originally Posted by Dandruff

If any of these are reposts, well, never hurts to see them again xD

Anubit x Guragie FTW! Thanks for posting these.

[Dandruff]

Found some moar Anubituf x Guragief pics

[rishidan]

Originally Posted by Dandruff

If any of these are reposts, well, never hurts to see them again xD

These are Guragief and Anubituf when they were Sybllae, correct?

Originally Posted by Dop

I think if you didn't cheer when Anubituf kissed Guragief then you have no heart.

Maybe because it caught me by surprise but I don't think I cheered. I DO recall thinking: "It's about bloody time!!!" God, even tho those two had significantly less screen time the managed to "dance" around their feelings more Aaeru and Nevirl throughout the entire series.

[Veritas]

Originally Posted by rishidan

These are Guragief and Anubituf when they were Sybllae, correct?

Yup. Man, that eyecatch was such a pleasant surprise.

Maybe because it caught me by surprise but I don't think I cheered. I DO recall thinking: "It's about bloody time!!!" God, even tho those two had significantly less screen time the managed to "dance" around their feelings more Aaeru and Nevirl throughout the entire series.

I swear, it just highlights the tragic state of yaoi in anime. I've said there need to be more incidental gay relationships in series (media, inclusive) and in the few sweet moments A+G were on screen, they managed to portray a decently realistic one, that doesn't seem to hold to that tired seme/uke convention, and where everything can't be resolved by a kiss. Anyway, I'm glad to see that they're popular. the character designer has quite a few more sketches of them on her site. I think we can guess who her favorite characters are.

[oneplusme]

Originally Posted by Veritas

I swear, it just highlights the tragic state of yaoi in anime. I've said there need to be more incidental gay relationships in series (media, inclusive) and in the few sweet moments A+G were on screen, they managed to portray a decently realistic one, that doesn't seem to hold to that tired seme/uke convention, and where everything can't be resolved by a kiss.

Amen. It was lovely to see a gay relationship of any flavour portrayed in such a casual and believable manner. I sincerely hope more writers will work out that they don't need to scream Look! Teh GAY!, just show human beings (perhaps even, shock horror, adults ) who plausibly care about one another.

And thanks for all the lovely pictures, Dandruff.

[rishidan]

I'm in the process of re-watching the series and, while I've definitely enjoyed the music and the use of it throughout the series, I feel that I need to take issue with the one particular piece.

I don't know the name of it but because it sounds like something out of he Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, it completely took me out of the moment at two relatively key plot points.

Maybe it's just me... I've included the time codes below, if anyone's interested.

Episode 21, 13:41
Episode 24, 21:47

[Simon]

Originally Posted by rishidan

I'm in the process of re-watching the series and, while I've definitely enjoyed the music and the use of it throughout the series, I feel that I need to take issue with the one particular piece.

I don't know the name of it but because it sounds like something out of he Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, it completely took me out of the moment at two relatively key plot points.

That's シムラークルム宮国 Simulacrum Kyūkoku (or Simulacrum Miyakuni if you prefer the kun reading), track 15 on OST 2. It's my most-loved piece on the entire soundtrack, which is saying a lot - after the emotional wallop of the ep2 Spring scene, I get teary-eyed every time I hear it.

So I have to be honest and say I completely fail to share your perspective. But hey, music is a deeply subjective and personal thing, so I won't slap you around too much

[Potatochobit]

there is no tragic state of yaoi anime.

yaoi is a niche market, always has been, always will be.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Simon

...Simulacrum Miyakuni.... It's my most-loved piece on the entire soundtrack, which is saying a lot....

Mine, too. Along with Rodoreamon's lullaby. Maybe because it played during Limone and Dominura's mysterious and wonderful procession through the woods, it reminds me of some ancient lament, and has the weird freshness I associate with parts of Manyoshu or Shi Jing. Despite its Celtic/Andean aspects. I always find it quite moving, entrancing. Like right now, for instance.

I wasn't that thrilled with the movie version of the Hitchhiker's Guide, and don't remember the music. In fact, I watched it on DVD, and probably after I saw most of Simoun, so maybe that makes a difference. But as Simon says, tastes in music differ.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by rishidan

Anyone have a clue as to how to get one of the garage kits? Or is it even possible at this point since the show ended over 7 months ago.

Your best, possibly only, bet is an auction site like Yahoo! Japan. The Maruya kits showed up there within 24 hours of release (August 2006 for Neviril/Aaeru, Feb 2007 for Morinas and Limone - they were sold at the Summer and Winter Wonder Festivals respectively). I counted six or seven Nevi/Aaeru kits go by and three each of Morinas and Limone - after the initial rush it took a while for the last ones to be sold, so there may still be people out there biding their time to sell.

To give you an idea of price, I paid Y16,000 for Neviril/Aaeru, 10k for Morinas and 7k for Limone (plus another US$20-30 per auction in deputy service fees). These figures were fairly typical, except that I paid a bit much for Morinas - 7k would have been more reasonable, but at the time there was only the one kit for sale and I didn't want to miss out.

It's unfortunate but my Japanese is sorely lacking (read non-existent) so I'm forced to navigate Japanese websites by hovering over links and looking at the status bar.

For website navigation you can a get long way just by learning katakana. Once you're able to read the script, you'll notice that a lot of words are simply transliterated English. The way Japanese speakers do that transliteration may take some getting used to, but after a while it'll seem perfectly logical to write ガレキ gareki for "garage kit" (it's short for ガレージキット garēji kitto).

Holy @#$% but that's a perfect pose! It's an awful shame that no one has info or a lead on the company that put out for demo; at least that would have been a starting point.

I went back and found the source - it was caught on camera by a contributor to the Shoujo-Ai forums. So I'm afraid that in the immortal words of Kyon, I have no words of comfort to offer your dejected spirit...

Originally Posted by Matrim

And to stay on topic the Morinas figurine showing her holding a model Simoun just rocks.

Hell yeah, but that Simoun is going to be one epic challenge to paint! You'd never guess from this pic, but the upper helical motor has an outer diameter of about 10mm - it's by the loop of wire visible in the kit contents (top left). I forsee many painstaking hours spread over a year of Sunday afternoons

Originally Posted by Futaba-chan

Anubit x Guragie FTW!

Hehe, I know a couple of doujinshi you might be interested in hunting down. The two AnuGura ones are by kaseinosakana, and they're both very cute.

In fact all the doujinshi I've found are like that - even the dodgy-looking Obachan Kawaii yo Obachan in the bottom left of that pic. Opening pages at random, I find a chibi Yun collecting twigs to build a model of the Tokyo Tower, and Paraietta banging on Neviril's door until it eventually opens a crack and bags of accumlated trash are thrown out (NHK ni Yōkoso, anyone?).

And finally, since I've been taking pics of my YJ plunder anyway, there are some Simoun phonecards in the middle of this image.

[Matrim]

Simulacrum Miyakuni has an ethereal otherworldly beauty that really fits scenes like the end of episode 24, IMO. That said, I still like Kanashimi no Simoun Shivuyura the most and have watched the pivotal scene with Rodoreamon and Mamiina in the end of episode 10 an unhealthy amount of time largely because of it.

there is no tragic state of yaoi anime.

yaoi is a niche market, always has been, always will be.

Er, so yaoi fans should be happy even if all the yaoi available sucks, is that what you are saying?

[WanderingKnight]

From the OSTs, being Argentinian, I can't help loving Youen Naru Kizuna no Hibiki. It's not that I usually listen to tango (or that I like it for that matter), but the inclusion of it in anime amazed me to such extent that it became one of my favorite BGM's of all time.

Another beloved BGM of mine from Simoun's OST is Kasuka Naru Koi no Kokoro.

[rishidan]

Originally Posted by Simon

That's シムラークルム宮国 Simulacrum Kyūkoku (or Simulacrum Miyakuni if you prefer the kun reading), track 15 on OST 2. It's my most-loved piece on the entire soundtrack, which is saying a lot - after the emotional wallop of the ep2 Spring scene, I get teary-eyed every time I hear it.

So I have to be honest and say I completely fail to share your perspective. But hey, music is a deeply subjective and personal thing, so I won't slap you around too much

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Mine, too. Along with Rodoreamon's lullaby. Maybe because it played during Limone and Dominura's mysterious and wonderful procession through the woods, it reminds me of some ancient lament, and has the weird freshness I associate with parts of Manyoshu or Shi Jing. Despite its Celtic/Andean aspects. I always find it quite moving, entrancing. Like right now, for instance.

I wasn't that thrilled with the movie version of the Hitchhiker's Guide, and don't remember the music. In fact, I watched it on DVD, and probably after I saw most of Simoun, so maybe that makes a difference. But as Simon says, tastes in music differ.

I noticed two things after reading both of your replies:

1) Simon is completely correct, of course. Music is a VERY subjective medium. (Evidence: Brittany Spears and/or Boy Bands.)

2) I'd forgotten about the movie version of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy when I posted that earlier; I was actually referring to the original BBC series that aired back in the 80's.

I think both the director and musical director did a great job using music throughout the series but excelled at the end by using the tango (Youen Naru Kizuna no Hibiki) in the last scenes. Because of this I've totally fallen in love with the piece, as you can tell below...

Spoiler for Because I'm a Sad, Sad Otaku:

It contains a LOT of nuance that I'd never have imagined if I'd not seen how they used it.

When I listen to it now I think I can understand why the directors chose it for the ending scenes. I can imagine Aaeru as the brash and unapolgetic accordion which begins the song while Neviril's part is played by the quiet and (at the beginning) almost disinterested Violin.

At the start it's mostly the accordion playing by itself; while near the middle "Neviril's" violin starts to come around and towards the end both complement and support the other by playing each others parts and flowing together.

Like Simon said, "music is a deeply subjective and personal thing" so perhaps I'm projecting my feelings into it more than anything.

I wonder... Does anyone else hear something different?

It would never have happened, of course but I would have been immensely happy had ending of the series just faded to black after the needle picked up and the song ended rather than going on to the ending credit's.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the ending credit's theme a lot but it has a totally different vibe to it and comes close to offsetting the mood that Youen Naru Kizuna no Hibiki had set up previously.

Anyone else want to share their favorite piece(s) of music and/or scenes?