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April 2015 News

This is the April 2015 edition of the Gwern.net newsletter; previous, March 2015. This is a collation of links and summary of major changes, overlapping with Changelog; brought to you by my donors on Gratipay.

Writings

  • Nothing finished

Media

Books

Fiction:

  • The Sagas of Icelanders

Nonfiction:

  • The Hall of Uselessness: Collected Essays, Simon Leys (review)

Manga:

  • Tsutomu Nihei: Blame!, Blame! Academy, Noise!: beautiful nonsense. Nihei cannot write plots, coherently world-build, or do dialogue, and I find myself regretting the commonness of manga written by mangaka whose strengths lie almost entirely in one domain (writing vs art); if he had been yoked to the same plow as a writer like Gen Urobuchi or Ryukishi07, what could they have created? As it is, Nihei remains a visual stylist only. Probably not good works to marathon, because after a few chapters in a row, the visual enjoyability of the architecture and the skulls starts to pall—he uses the same motifs over and over.

Film/TV

Live-action:

  • Cinderella 2015 (review)

  • Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (201411ya); an attempt to do a little worldbuilding in providing a backstory for all the antics, and close the franchise (temporarily?) with a theme of maturing and passing on the baton, closing the loop with the first movie; unfortunately it comes off as completely stale, with no gags we didn’t get tired of in the first two movies.

Anime:

  • Atama Yama: curious short story about a greedy miser who grows a small sprout on his head apparently as punishment, is annoyed by the even smaller visitors to the tree, and then apparently drowns while trying to get rid of it. The story isn’t much, but it’s much more interesting to listen to the narrator recite it to the traditional music and watch the eccentric animation.

  • Ben-to (review)

Music

Doujin:

  • “Lost my music” (TAM, Gensou Gakudan, Satoru Kousaki; Suzumiya Haruhi no Kyouen {200718ya}) [classical]

  • “Rider / The Distant Sea and Holy Land” (TAM×Aruna Ryuki; Fate Violin Zero {M3-29}) [instrumental rock]

Touhou:

  • “少女” (KD feat.瑶山百霊; SEEKING {C81}) [trance]

  • “少女 -Ryutsuki Version-” (暗猪 feat.流月; SEEKING {C81}) [trance]

  • “鏡に映らない闇 ~sorairo no tabi~” (暗猪 feat.流月; SEEKING {C81}) [vocal]

  • “月笹船” (Jersey to Yukaina Nakamatachi; 涼風至 {C86}) [folk]

  • “Bom dia” (だ feat. ごんだくたー; TOHO BOSSA NOVA {R9}) [bossa nova]

  • “Bonus Track” (うんちく商事; Land der Illusionen {TK10}) [orchestral]

  • “Eastern Mystical Dream ~ Ancient Temple” (うんちく商事; Land der Illusionen {TK10}) [piano]

  • “IQ69” (Sound of Swing; In Walked Cat’s {C86}) [jazz]

  • “Afternoon tea in Tunisia” (Sound of Swing; In Walked Cat’s {C86}) [jazz]

Kantai Collection:

Vocaloid:

  • “Yume Rockets” (Miku; OKUMEIKIBOUNOTOKYOTOZAIJYUU; Virtual Songs {200916ya}) [electronic/Jpop]