After the Event Afternoon, the tentative JAFWA program for Saturday 26^th November 2011 is below. To be held in the Collins Street Community Center on Collins Street just off Canning Highway in South Perth.

Things of Note:
1) Last week we discovered that we could get the Hall for this week, and the JAFWA attendees voted overwhelmingly in favour of this action.
2) During the evening of December 17, a Special General Meeting of JAFWA will be called to implement a constitution change regarding auditing. Could all paid up members be available to vote.
3) Movie Night! We are going to put on a movie tonight, the 15^th theatrical movie of Great Detective Conan. Appropriate cosplay gets in free.

Dale’s Suggestive Remarks, based on suggestion sheets handed in at JAFWA:
An unsigned missive that I suspect originated from one of our regular correspondents:

1.’Beelzebub’: Very funny. Although I doubt how long they can keep the quality of jokes & humour up as they always make a good episode 1 but mess up the rest of the show. About the ‘nudity’, I think it is insignificant by today’s standards.
2. ‘Read or Die’: Slightly anti-america, but acceptable. Although the fighting scene is kind of …. illogical. (How could a glider that can’t be shot down by Apache be shot down by a M-4 carbine on … another glider?)

Never underestimate how long a single joke can be run in anime. The first example I can think of is ‘Ranma 1/2′ where they made the martial arts boy can turn into girl supposition/joke stretch out for 38 manga volumes and as 161 anime TV episodes. Mind you the joke did wear thin after a while.
However with so much anime now available in this rich, rich period, the competition for viewer eyeballs is fierce, so you are correct that they really try and wow you with the first (or sometimes the first and second) episode, unlike earlier years where several episodes could go by before the main elements of the story appeared. Mind you, lately anime series tend to be only 13 episodes long, so they can’t faff around much.
As for the ‘nudity’, that was a joke comment by your ever loving MC. First ‘Dragon Half’ had a low anatomical resolution topless flash by the female character, so I thought it was appropriate that the next show that the naked baby’s low anatomical resolution full frontal nudity would balance things out. It got a laugh at least.

I am not certain that there was a specific anti-American bias to ‘Read or Die’, more a bias against the American president/leadership. But considering the show was animated before September 2011 (you can see the Twin Towers in the New York scenes and mobile phones had extendable antennas), it is unlikely that the author had had much exposure to George W. Bush’s shortcomings. Perhaps it should be seen as a polemic against the shortcomings of complacency and indolence of the modern consumer generation who have inherited the works of previous generations’ geniuses, when exposed to the raw nature of a previous generation’s genius. Or some such. What am I , a philosopher?
As for illogical battles, you have probably either not read super-hero comics and/or have been spoiled by the quality and consistency of anime. But if you were asking me to pull an explanation out of thin air, then the Lillienthal ‘Air King’ I-jin was using his superior maneouverability against long range rear attacks by obvious Apache helicopters, while was caught by surprise against a shorter range, more accurate attack from an unexpected glider to the fore. You try and do better. Exposition is limited in this series.

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All items in the original Japanese language with English subtitles

The tentative JAFWA program for Saturday 19^th November 2011 is below. To be held in the Collins Street Community Center on Collins Street just off Canning Highway in South Perth.

Things of Note:
1) During the evening of December 17, a Special General Meeting of JAFWA will be called to implement a constitution change regarding auditing. Could all paid up members be available to vote.
2) Madman has announced that the Studio Ghibli movie “The Borrower Arrietty” will be seen in theatres in January 2012. Don’t miss out!
3) Semi-regular attendee Danae would like to show everybody her artwork. Check out superstarsagal12 on DeviantArt. It may be disturbing.
4) People have complained that JAFWA shows to much moe (aka ??). No, we can show so much more. Watch the first two episodes tonight.
5) We have halted “Fairy Tail” until 2012.

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All items in the original Japanese language with English subtitles

Never Fear, JAFWA shall return. The tentative JAFWA program for Saturday 12^th November 2011 is below. To be held in the Collins Street Community Center on Collins Street just off Canning Highway in South Perth.

Things of Note:
1) We are continuing our trend to try and finsih all our current series bu the end of 2011, so that we can start 2012 with an almost all new program. As such, we will show two episodes of “Blood C” on the 12th.
2) People were quite adamant that we should show the second of the semi-biographical Animation Kuromi-chan OAVs.

Dale’s Suggestive Remarks, based on suggestion sheets handed in at JAFWA:
Comments on Anime by the ever reliable Thomson Han Yau Chow (22-10-2011):

1. Hanasaku Iroha: A very good one. I would like to watch the sequel (NOY if it means losing ‘Working II’).
2. My wish-list for our new line-up (so far):

• 1. ‘Index’ season II.
• 2. ‘Kamisama Dolls’ or ‘Sacred Seven’
• 3. Kamisama no Memo-chou
• 4. Nodame Cantabile: Paris
• 5. Working! II.

3. ‘Hidan no Aria’: if we need a anime full of action & gun-fight, this one might do.
4. ‘Fairy Tail’: Although this one keeps going, I wouldn’t mind to keep it in program longer

Yes, I am hoping to put ‘Hanasaku Iroha’ into the program. I am not even certain that ‘Working! II’ has been made yet, it could just be a rumour (crossing my fingers, I suspect that the Colours of Blooming is more socially/culturally relevant).
And what do you mean sequel to Hanasaku Iroha – that was not a one-shot, merely episode one of a continuing series.

The problem is that ‘Fairy Tail’ keeps going on and on and on. Up to 100 episodes in Japan now. So rather than have the same problem with ‘Bleach’ and ‘Naruto’ where week after week wore down our patience, we are looking at halting ‘Fairy Tail’ at the end of each story arc, give our faithful JAFWAites a few weeks to clear their heads, then ask if we should resume screening ‘Fairy Tail’ for another story arc worth. The current story arc finishes with episode #48 at the beginning of November.

Then a signed suggestion was handed in on 22-10-2011:

Please preview Fate Zero
it looks like it is going to be better then the original.

Greg McLeod

I must admit that when we previewed the first ‘Fate/Stay Night’ episode it was not received well. Then again the first season of ‘Full Metal Panic’ did not go down well with JAFWAites, the second season – fumoffu – certainly did.
OK Greg, I will have to find somebody with a copy of Fate Zero and we will see what we can arrange.

And lastly an unsigned suggestion:

* Hanasaku Iroha – This is a favourite, I am glad it is being previewed, can we keep it???
* Soro no Woto – another favourite. Any chance of an airing? Even as a preview?

I personally would like to have ‘Hanasaku Iroha’ as a regular item, as it is my personal inclination that this would be more socially and currently relevant, with less saccharine overload, than another season of ‘Working!’. No decision has been made yet, and am hoping that the latest survey will strongly influence this series inclusion (now if only the survey was done this coming week rather than last week). However, as always the JAFWA program choice inclusion process is fraught with ambiguity, oddly influenced (3 question marks?), bad timing, and arguments over genre balance. Sometimes we even do a good job

I regret to inform you, but JAFWA has previewed ‘Sora no Woto’, back in August 2010. I was rather enamoured by this low fantasy tale of a naive young bugler posted to a lonely military outpost. However, in the current survey listing of Best shows by Ranking, ‘Sora no Woto’ appears as a disappointing #53.
Sorry.

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All items in the original Japanese language with English subtitles

After the Event Afternoon, the tentative JAFWA program for Saturday 29^th October 2011 is below. To be held in the Collins Street Community Center on Collins Street just off Canning Highway in South Perth.

Things of Note:
1) Movie Night! We are going to put on a retro movie tonight, either the first “Patlabor” movie, or the “Galaxy Express 999″ movie. Audience choice on the night, but be aware that we will have to remove “Blood C” from this night if you choose the longer “Galaxy Express 999″.
2) Semi-regular attendee Danae would like to show everybody her artwork. Check out superstarsagal12 on DeviantArt.
3) DVD Heaven on corner of Gt Eastern Highway and Kooyong Road is closing down and selling their stock of DVDs cheaply. Including US released anime DVDs.

Dale’s Suggestive Remarks, based on suggestion sheets handed in at JAFWA:
The ever reliable Thomson Han Yau Chow wrote on the 08-10-2011 on the topic of Comments on Animes & Replacements:

1. ‘Kamisama Dolls’: Looks good. If we don’t put ‘Sacred Seven’ on program, I vote for this one.
2. ‘To Aru Kagaku No Railgun’: Nice one. I nominate ‘Index II’ for its replacement after we showed the OAV.
3. ‘Welcome to NHK’: It is actually good. Too bad not everyone likes it.
4. Next year’s screening: how about ‘Working!’ season 2?

It was because anime looked good that I originally started watching it. And because anime often had a good and intelligent storyline that I have kept watching anime. Anime is a medium that covers so many genres. But what genre would you say that “Kamisama Dolls” and “Sacred Seven” fall into? Ordinary humans secretly in command of, and battling with superhuman powers. JAFWA does have a couple of timeslots open in 2012, that you can vote for. For instance, there is no reason that we can’t remove the retro 6 part Cultural CatGirl Nuku Nuku and replace it with one of those two titles.

Do not torment with the concept that there is, or more likely shall be, a second series of “Working!”. I am trying to convince people of the goodness and hard work of “Hanasaku Iroha”.

An unsigned missive was handed in on 15-10-2011 that I shall copy as precisely as I can work out the handwriting:

NO DVD SUBS Plz Play in English
Not EXSatlee what There saying

After a bit a puzzling and head-scratching (darn my dermatitis) I suspect this is a mocking comment regarding the DVD that we were playing “Dominion: Tank Police” from. I am sorry, we didn’t have a decent fan-sub available, so we were forced to use the US DVD release.
While the commercial fansubs may be jarring to an insulting degree to those who can speak Japanese, I do congratulate you for being able to speak Japanese to such a degree. Mind you, you will probably also object when we show the commercial sub-titles to “Dragon Half” (it is old enough we do not have readily available fansubs) and “Read or Die” (we support madman Entertainment). Have you considered providing decent sub-titles for JAFWA?

And once again Thomson Han Yau Chow writes on the topic of Comments on Anime:

1. ‘Kamisama’s memo-chou: It’s nice and I think it is a good idea to screen double ep. I nominate it as replacement of ‘Gosick’.
2. ‘A Certain Sci. Railgun’: I suggest the OVA & 2nd season of ‘Index’ as its replacement.

Thank you for approving our inadvertent mistake. The copy we showed was not the copy that the JAFWA committee previewed, instead being a combined episode 1&2. Which certainly helped us understand the story. But did annoy the people who wanted to watch “Level E” later that night.
Are you suggesting that a NEET detective series should replace our Gothic detective series merely because both are detective stories (what then is your opinion of Great Detective Conan?), or because of some deeper, more profound worth?

And yes, we have taken note of you Certain requests.

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All items in the original Japanese language with English subtitles

The tentative JAFWA program for Saturday 22^nd October 2011 is below. To be held in the Collins Street Community Center on Collins Street just off Canning Highway in South Perth.

Things of Note:
1) We apologise for not showing “Level E” last week. Turns out that the copy of the preview item we showed “Kamisama no Memo-chou”, was unexpectedly a double episode. “Level E” will return this week.
2) Last week’s Bean Poll, whether to continue showing “Blood-C” was unexpectedly very close – by only 2 more people voted for keeping it in the program compared to removing it from the program. And yet it seems so popular.
3) DVD Heaven on corner of Gt Eastern Highway and Kooyong Road is closing down and selling their stock of DVDs cheaply. Including US released anime DVDs.

Dale’s Suggestive Remarks, based on suggestion sheets handed in at JAFWA:
Long time member Greg McLeod did write on the 24-09-2011 on the topic of Suggestions:

I want to see Dog Days because it has cat girls, dog girls, rabbit girls, fox girls, wolf girls…

I think I see a pattern here – you like furry animals. Though you are restricting yourself to only the female gender of furry mammals.
But seriously, that was only a single Suggestion. Why did you try to confound me by referring to it as Suggestions, in the plural?

However fear not, JAFWA is definitely considering showing a preview sample of “Dog Days”. Considering the topic of this anime, we are planning on previewing this episode during the evening of October 29. Not only does this tie-in with our monthly event afternoons, it might help take people’s minds off of CHOGM. That, and that it is also the final night for “Gosick”.

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All items in the original Japanese language with English subtitles

The tentative JAFWA program for Saturday 15^th October 2011 is below. To be held in the Collins Street Community Center on Collins Street just off Canning Highway in South Perth.

Things of Note:
1) This week we say good bye to 3 series we have shown and loved – “Allison & Lillia”, “A Certain Scientific Railgun”, and the very retro “Dominion: Tank Police”. Come 2012 we hope to start a program with almost all new series (barring “Chi’s New Address”, “Blood-C”, and “Welcome to the NHK”).
2) People have asked that I once again order calendars from Japan this year. You can get some ideas from here. So far the most expensive are the Studio Ghibli Works, which with the current exchange rate are $39 each. I have ordered some calendars on speculation, come see me at JAFWA as they are mostly < $30.

Dale’s Suggestive Remarks, based on suggestion sheets handed in at JAFWA:
The ever reliable Thomson Hau Yan Chow wrote on 24-09-2011 a missive on the topic Comments on Anime & Logo:

1. Logo: OK, if our current logo is too ‘suggestive’, I can think (but not draw) one. The problem is: if we cannot
use licensed anime (in Australia) characters, we can only use the not-so-mainstream animes, which are either more suggestive (too many hentai game turned anime today) or nobody knows about it (and that made the logo pointless).
2. ‘Bleach – hell verse’: Very exciting & funny. Especially the last bit of it.

Back in the early days of JAFWA, about the time we weren’t even a formal club but instead a group of like-minded friends meeting in Tom Edge’s or Michael Studte’s house to watch strange cartoons from Japan, a mascot character was chosen. Misty Mei was introduced to the world in the opening animation for DaiCon IV by a garage group of animators who went on to become the world famous Studio Gainax. Misty Mei showed up some more in “Otaku no Video”, Studio Ganax’s homage to their origin in the otaku fandom of Japan. And was instantly beloved by the proto-JAFWA crowd of university
blokes once they saw the video tape.
However appealing her somewhat improbable anatomical movements may be to the male half of the audience, Misty Mei is now somewhat dated and it is time for the grand lady to return to her roots of representing all anime fandom, bow out and allow some new character to uniquely represent JAFWA. WaiCon and PANIc have their own unique anime-like characters, why can’t JAFWA. Use established anime characters as inspiration, rather than as a direct model if you will. Let 2012 be the end of the old world, in with a bright new future for JAFWA!

So many of our newer, younger attendees had been asking for Bleach we thought we should throw them a bone. The 4th movie “The Hell verse” did seem somewhat better than previous movies. Did they actually get the Bleach author Tite Kubo to write the movie, rather than the people who wrote all those second-rate filler episodes of the anime? I approve, just like the 10th One Piece movie, getting the original series author writing the movie makes for a far superior experience.

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All items in the original Japanese language with English subtitles

5:10pm	Allison and Lillia	Ep 26/26	(final)
5:35pm	Gosick	Ep 22/24
6:00pm	Fairy Tail	Ep 45/?
6:25pm	Chi’s New Address	Ep 081/104	=^_^=
6:30pm	dinner break
	Possibly showing something during Dinner Break
7:15pm	door prize drawing, and announcements
7:30pm	Chi’s New Address	Ep 082/104	=^_^=
7:35pm	Kamisama no Memo-chou	Ep 1	(preview)
8:00pm	Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin	Ep 10/13	(?)
8:25pm	Blood-C	Ep 5/?	(v)
8:50pm	A Certain Scientific Railgun	Ep 24/24	(final)
9:15pm	Late Break
9:25pm	Level E	Ep 10/13
9:50pm	Welcome to NHK	Ep 15/24	(?)
10:15pm	Dominion Tank Police	Ep 4/4	(vn) (retro)

JAFWA Doors Open:	~4:55 PM
Program Finishes:	~10:55 PM