New Anime

A new season has started, and there are new shows to examine. One good thing about really recent stuff is the forced pacing; it's impossible to get too engrossed and go through a ton of episodes in one stroke.

Pumpkin Scissors
Watched the first 2 episodes. A long WWII-themed war between nations has ended. Some find the opportunity to use their violent skills for personal benefit irresistible, some find it difficult to readjust to peace-time, and still others have found ways to exercise their sense of justice despite the lack of overt warfare. Alice is the leader of the Pumpkin Scissors war relief unit, traveling across the nation, generally righting wrongs. She is driven by an (over)zealous sense of justice (think Amelia from Slayers) and utterly optimistic. Roland is a former member of the 901-ATT (anti tank trooper) squad, drifting aimlessly until he meets up with the Pumpkin Scissors. He's a one-man tank destroying freak of nature, but otherwise huge, quiet and shy. Together, they encounter various bad guys left over from the war, who tend to have tanks for some reason. No problem though, Roland is good at destroying them. The character focus is on the contrast between Alice and Roland's personalities. The military supporting cast is very FMA-ish. Although the OP song is really cheesy, there is character and story potential here, but also the risk of being bad-guy-of-the-week. I'll keep watching this one.

Code Geass
Watched the first episode. Sunrise mecha show with CLAMP character designs and an amusing dose of anti-Americanism. Japan has been invaded and taken over by the "worlds only superpower", the brutal New Britannia Empire, which "coincidentally" occupies the geographic area of the modern United States. Employing mecha, the New Britannia Empire, Japan is now known only as "Area 11" and under military occupation. In an odd twist, the angry (and kind of sadistic) main character randomly gets involved in some top-secret "thing" being transported by the military, but rather than getting control of a mecha, he gets supernatural mind control powers. However, he has grown up hating the empire and I'm sure he'll use his new found powers to get some mecha and blow away some bad guys while enduring a heavy dose of angst. These Sunrise shows have often failed to be interesting enough to hold my long term attention, but the combination of CLAMP designs and bad "Americans" warrants more viewing.

Red Garden
Watched the first two episodes. Gonzo animation about girls attending an elite New York City high school who get embroiled in some kind of weird, possibly supernatural, suspense/mystery. This show exudes high budget, and although it's hard to tell where the story is going, there seems to be a lot of potential. Plus, all that NYC action. The wilderness in ep. 1 is almost certainly Central Park, since the Roosevelt Island tram depicted in the same episode gets off at 59th and 2nd. The school is a little trickier, since it requires subjective interpretation over how "elite" it is. The "Oniisama E" feel of this school would seem to indicate that the writers intended the school to be high up on the eliteness scale (although I would doubt any school in the NYC area would really be like that). Also, given the depictions of school life, it seems unlikely to be a parochial school. If that's the case, the school is probably one of the Ivy Prep schools, or possibly the Hunter College High School, which is selective and highly ranked. Only 3 of the Ivy Prep schools are in Manhattan. Dalton and Hunter are on the upper east side, Trinity is in the Wall Street area, and Collegiate is on the upper west side. None of these schools is particularly close to the tram, although the semi-warehouse district and water view might make Trinity the most likely candidate. This show is definitely worth more watching.

D.Gray-man
Watched the first two episodes. 1800's-ish setting involving a supernatural struggle between the devilish "Earl of the Millenium" and an organization of "exorcists" dedicated to prevent the destruction of the world. So far, the story is reasonably interesting and holds together, although this could definitely change. What this show really has going for it is the really pretty character designs and some pretty interesting (yet grotesque) designs for the Earl's minions. The overall structure of the show seems to definitely ride the TYPE-MOON "eye candy gothic" wave (e.g. Fate Stay/Night or Tsukihime), but is, so far, a far less boring tale. I'm so far sucked in for at least a few more episodes.

Naan Adventure

Based on Naan Recipe II, the ingredients are:

• 2/3 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (1/2 pound)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup ghee (4 tablespoons / 2 oz / 57 g melted butter)
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 2 teaspoons kalonji (onion seed)

I'm going to try going with a AB-style sponge starter instead of just proofing the yeast in sugar water.

1. Whisk the water with the yeast and sugar until the yeast is dissolved. Add 3 ounces of flour. Cover and let stand in a cool place for a few hours.
2. Sift remaining 5 ounces flour and salt three times into a large bowl add the yeast mixture, half of the ghee and all the yogurt. Mix into a soft dough then knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until the dough is doubled in size .
3. Punch down dough then knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece out into 8 inch round naans.
4. Cover an oven tray with foil and grease the foil. Brush the naan with a little of the remaining ghee and sprinkle with some of the kalonji. Cook naan one at a time under a very hot grill for about 2 minutes on each side or until puffed and just browned.