(L) Mononoke (Noitamina in July 2007) (Bakeneko sequel)

[Snoop']

Why, of course. Shinsen released ep.7 a week ago if I recall correctly, and Black-Sheep is at ep.5 I think.
Just wait and hope, man... I could send you a Mononoke greeting card in the meantime.

[runpsicat]

They could've at least picked nice graphics for the greeting cards . I'm disappointed.

[wao]

I think after watching episode 11 I'm going to feel scared if I scratch myself anywhere.

Seriously, the Bakeneko arc is completely blowing my mind into pieces. Everything is so full-powered that I'm left gasping for breath, almost.
I mean I just... a... argh... asfaksfasfks;

I don't want to believe this is ending next week.

[SeijiSensei]

My R1 DVD copy of Bakeneko arrived yesterday, and I surprised to find that it was in the 4:3 format. The subs were in that format as well, but I guess having watched Mononoke I figured there was a widescreen version of Bakeneko as well. As always I can't listen to more than a minute or two of the English dub without reverting to the Japanese. I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't care so much if I hadn't already heard the original Japanese version, but Sakurai's awesome performance as the apothecary sets such a high standard that hearing another actor voice the part just sounds so wrong.

[Snoop']

Originally Posted by wao

I don't want to believe this is ending next week.

Same here !
I haven't watched ep.11 yet (damn raw cappers), but ep.10 was masterful, and watching the characters of Bakeneko v1.0 makes me feel nostalgic.

- edit -
BTW, here's the comparison picture I posted on Wabi Sabi's blog (Iwanihana) between the two versions of Bakeneko :

Spoiler for Bakeneko:

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

My R1 DVD copy of Bakeneko arrived yesterday, and I surprised to find that it was in the 4:3 format. The subs were in that format as well, but I guess having watched Mononoke I figured there was a widescreen version of Bakeneko as well. As always I can't listen to more than a minute or two of the English dub without reverting to the Japanese. I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't care so much if I hadn't already heard the original Japanese version, but Sakurai's awesome performance as the apothecary sets such a high standard that hearing another actor voice the part just sounds so wrong.

That was the same with me. Most of the English dub voices were actually not bad but the Medicine Seller's dub voice was unfortunately totally missing Sakurai's mysterious aloofness. This is definitely a sub only release for me.

[White Manju Bun]

Im in despair that 11 still isnt out T_T but the revamped BakeNeko has been wonderful! I cant wait to see 11 and Ill be sad when 12 comes out...

[Snoop']

Finally managed to watch ep.11 before the final episode.
*scratch scratch*

Spoiler for ep.11:

The cat wore that thingy to prevent it from scratching... Hence the ominous symptoms of the witnesses guilty of false testimony.
*scratch scratch*

I thought it was clever from the staff to change Kayo/Chiyo's role from that of an innocent witness (who in a way speaks for the audience) to that of an irresponsible girl. You see, Kayo has always been a rather happy-go-lucky character, but here things turn out for the worse...
*scratch scratch*


BTW, the staff is misleading you (again) !!
It was hinted that the moga journalist looked like this :


This is a lie.
The shocking truth is that she looked like this :

[SeijiSensei]

In case you missed the latest installment of Japanese audience ratings from Siegel Clyne, it appears that Mononoke is pulling some impressive numbers. Here's a sampling of the results:

*4.8% (*3.5%) 09/14 (Fri) 12:45am-*1:15am Fuji TV Mononoke
*3.6% (**.*%) 09/16 (Sun) *8:30am-*9:00am TV Tokyo Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
*3.3% (*3.1%) 09/13 (Thu) *6:00pm-*6:30pm TV Tokyo Gintama
*3.1% (*3.0%) 09/12 (Wed) *7:26pm-*7:55pm TV Tokyo BLEACH
*3.1% (**.*%) 09/16 (Sun) 10:00am-10:30am TV Tokyo Hayate no Gotoku! [Hayate the Combat Butler]
*2.8% (*2.9%) 09/12 (Wed) *7:00pm-*7:26pm TV Tokyo Eyeshield 21
*2.7% (*2.2%) 09/12 (Wed) *1:26am-25:56am NTV Claymore

I'm not sure exactly which episode aired on 9/14, perhaps the final one? Even allowing for a little extra buzz at the end of the series, the 3.5 average places Mononoke ahead of a lot of other fairly popular shows. If we tried to estimate these ratings based on the number of AS postings a show receives, we'd certainly get the wrong answer if we were comparing Mononoke to Claymore.

I'd be curious to see the demographics for this show; I'd guess the audience skews older than the viewership for something like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, but I'm obviously just taking shots in the dark here.

[wao]

Snoop', how dare you make me nearly snort out my breakfast cereal!


*scratches nose*

EDIT: SeijiSensei - this is aired in the "Noitamina" timeslot, which is aimed at older women (late teens (?) to working adults), or well, has been so far. But not necessarily the same sort of people, I mean you wouldn't say that Honey and Clover and this have a lot in common... It's following the tradition of Bakeneko which even hit 5.0% despite being late at night. I think it's the highest rating any late night anime has gotten, or at least close to the highest. I guess that it's because people other than the usual anime otaku are watching this show as well. That's how most of the Noitamina shows have been targeted so far, I think.

Reactions on AS are sometimes completely disproportional to its popularity in Japan...

[SeijiSensei]

I thought Mononoke was the Noitamina show, but I became confused when I saw the ratings data. I recalled reading somewhere here that the Noitamina slot was on Thursdays, not Fridays. The next Noitamina show appears to be about bacteria! Talk about having little in common with its predecessors. Maybe our resident apothecary will be making a guest appearance with an arsenal of antibiotics. (OTOH, some of those bacteria are so cute, I'd want to turn them into plushies, not destroy them.)

I meant my comments about the frequency of AS comments versus popularity in Japan mostly in jest. Once in a while the two align though, as in the case of Lucky*Star whose DVD sales are through the roof.

[wao]

Well, that's because of the confusing way the times are written for TV programming over there. Noitamina is considered a "Thursday late-night show" and the shows are written as airing at 26:30 or 28:30 and times like that. That is actually Friday morning. So it is really a Friday early morning show.

Yeah, Moyashimon being slated for Noitamina completely confused me. I have no idea what to think, but that's precisely why I'm interested in seeing wtf it's about. If there's anything to be said, Noitamina shows so far have been mostly on the Pretty Good Side or better (let's forget about Juuousei - although it must be said that had rock-solid production values).

[MrProphet]

Wooooow. Pretty picchuuuuurz! *is in complete trance after watching Zashikiwarashi and Umibozu*

Just when I thought that nothing Japanese would ever manage to really surprise me with any amount of originality, Japan turns around and does a roundhouse kick in the nuts with this gem,

[White Manju Bun]

Man so wish it was gonna be more then 12 epis. Props to Mononoke for being the only series of the summer season where I enjoyed EVERY single epi MS, I will miss you Thankfully can still wait on subs.

[nehnehneji]

Originally Posted by Snoop'

Why, of course. Shinsen released ep.7 a week ago if I recall correctly, and Black-Sheep is at ep.5 I think.
Just wait and hope, man... I could send you a Mononoke greeting card in the meantime.

Episode 8 sub was released on 26th by Shinsen...

[Snoop']

Spoiler for ep.12:

Gah...
The transformation scene...!!

Further serious comment here when I have time.
BTW, did you notice ODAJIMA-SAMAAAAAAAA in the background ?

I'm proud of myself, since very few people seemed to have noticed it.

[SeijiSensei]

Shinsen episode 9 arrived today.

[wao]

Originally Posted by Snoop'

Spoiler for ep.12:

Gah...
The transformation scene...!!

Further serious comment here when I have time.
BTW, did you notice ODAJIMA-SAMAAAAAAAA in the background ?

I'm proud of myself, since very few people seemed to have noticed it.

Practically everyone on niconico noticed it It's so sad that he got turned into a mannequin when they all did though.

I seriously need someone to explain to my fried, hopeless brain what really went on in ep 12. And why did it end so abruptly? That really took me off guard. Although everything must have been solved when we saw MS smile ^_^_^_^_^_^_^

[White Manju Bun]

Originally Posted by wao

Although everything must have been solved when we saw MS smile ^_^_^_^_^_^_^

amen to that! I nearly hit the floor when that happened.

Just watched epi 9 subbed, best part...

"Silly me, silly me"

I laughed out loud. You know as little hype as this show gets I have yet to find a person who didnt like it if they made it through the first 2 epis. And if they didnt I usually tell them to try it again and then they like it

[Snoop']

My brain is as fried as wao's, so I can't be of any help...
The Apothecary in the very last shot was sooo handsome