My New Shiny

[p_zeitgeist]

For many years -- and I can call old friends to attest to this -- I've been playing in a desultory sort of way with an original alternate-universe thing. In this universe there's another island nation off the coast of Europe, somewhere sufficiently south of Britain that it wasn't constantly embroiled in conflict with England and Ireland. It has a

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[kessie]

Seki Toshihiko is in it? GIMME GIMME GIMME. *___*

Okay, you converted me even without that, sooooo.... *goes to download episodes*

[p_zeitgeist]

I didn't know it was Seki Toshihiko when I stumbled on the series unaware, but I think you've hit unerringly on the thing that makes this Not To Be Missed. That voice, my God.

Now that I know who he is, I find that it's not as if I hadn't admired his acting in other roles. But the synergy between voice and character in this particular role is still something special. It says something, I think, that I'd watched all of Saiyuki Reload and Gunlock before I'd ever heard of this thing. And Ludwig's voice didn't make me think of Sanzo's at all -- but now, Sanzo's voice kind of reminds me of Ludwig's.

-- But all that is secondary to what I started out wanting to say, which is, Yes! Yes! And, thank you! There is nothing like the gratification of finding that the very first person to look at this post is willing to indulge me in my madness.

[p_zeitgeist]

I'm still pretty ignorant when it comes to voice actors and their roles; Rana had to clue me in to the fact that this was somebody I knew from other series.

Which of course I did, but it never before struck me that this was the Best Voice Evar OMG. I put it down to the evident fact that the man's a remarkable actor, aside from the beauty of his voice. Sanzo isn't a man to do the things with his voice that Ludwig does; they shouldn't sound the same. And I'm impressed as hell that they don't.

[angharadd]

From the moment I saw your post, I knew I was doomed. My friend gave me Meine Liebe a really long time ago, but as I knew nothing about it, I had not made time to watch it yet. I think tomorrow that's gonna change :)
Thanks for such a persuasive and hilarious post!

BTW, have you finished watching Weiss Kreuz?

[p_zeitgeist]

I'm still only part of the way through Weiss; I've been away from home for the past couple of weeks, and the episodes are on the home computer, or I'd probably have gone through them by now. But it was Weiss that sensitized me to the whole dead-sister issue -- I now realize that you see dead sisters everywhere in the world of anime, but it was so gaudy and dramatic in WK that I couldn't fail to see the pattern.

And now I'm wondering: What is it with the culture of Japan and the dead sisters? There must be some significance that's escaping me because of my lack of background -- but then, maybe it's better not to know, and be able to enjoy it for its alienness.

But, I'm so pleased to have been able to tempt you into watching Meine Liebe. I'm also grateful for the reassurance that if nothing else, the endless post about why people should watch it isn't too tedious for words. I can certainly see why a lot of people would be immune to its charms, but I'm still a little surprised at how few people know anything about it at all. I'd

[angharadd]

Thanks once more for the rec! Today I watched several eps, and, gosh, am I happy I started watching it! Teh cuteness, alternative history stuff, the whole cast of characters, Dr. Muraki in disguise (I can't help giggling every time he appears onscreen)...

I think that those countless dead/distressed/comatose/long-lost etc. sisters could be heroes' animas (which, again, could at least partly explain this whole obsession with incest), but as my acquaintance with Jung's theories is fleeting at best I'm not sure how valid my ponderings are.

[p_zeitgeist]

I still cannot believe that in addition to everything else about this series that's calculated to appeal to me, the damn thing actually has Muraki-in-disguise in it. I'm a little relieved that other people see him too; it's so improbable that I could easily be convinced I was hallucinating it.

But no: it doesn't matter how often I go back to check, he's still there.

Anyway. As delighted as I was to know that you were going to give the series a try, I'm even more delighted to hear that you're having fun with it so far. If you like the beginning, I'm reasonably confident that you'll like all of it: it only gets better from this point on.

[wordsofastory]

Only five stories? My God, that's sad.

But lovely characters, and courts and schools and secret plots- I can't imagine that I wouldn't like this series.

[p_zeitgeist]

It is sad. I can only think that people are put off trying the series because of its disreputable origins (after all, if I'd thought it was about trying to get myself a boyfriend, I wouldn't have watched it myself). Or maybe no one wants to write for a series in what feels like too much isolation.

But whatever it is, I certainly hope the situation can be corrected. There were more than five people offering to write it for the yaoi_challenge obscure fandoms round, without anyone pimping it at all, so I tell myself that at least there's a potential for critical mass.

[ranalore]

Eliza's bringing this one down when she comes to visit next, but she didn't mention Naoji with the sword and the archery.

::queues for download::

[p_zeitgeist]

Hey, I didn't mention Naoji with the sword and the archery, mostly for want of room, though clearly I should have. Dare I hope that this means you've already seen enough of the thing to know you want to see more?

What can I say? It would feel like such a coup if for once I could introduce you to something, instead of it always being the other way round.

[ranalore]

I haven't seen any of it yet, though I plan to download it at the first opportunity. I just mentioned the picture of him, and she asked with sword or bow, and I said, "...You failed to mention these things before," only in slightly stronger language. There might have been vengeance sworn for failing to keep me informed of vital elements like that. It's a little fuzzy, what with my brain going, "BOW. SWORD. BOW." As it does.

Hey, somebody has to introduce me to these things, and Coyo's too distracted to do it these days. *G*

[p_zeitgeist]

Heh. For what it's worth, the picture above is with sword: if I'd screencapped a few frames later you'd have been able to see it. It's from a scene where Naoji and Lui fight a demonstration duel that winds up being so hot that it leaves everyone in the school staring at them with their mouths open, breathing heavily, for a long, long beat after the fight comes to an end. Canonically.

If that download site gives you any trouble, just let me know. As I said below, I have a DVD burner, and I'm not afraid to use it. But I suspect it won't be necessary; not only do you have Eliza, but that fast download site is really astonishingly fast (or at least, it was when I used it).