「ブートストラップ連続体」 (Buutosutorappu Renzokutai)
“Bootstrap Continuum”

I don’t have too much to say about Disney and JINNI’s fully-rendered CG shorts outside of what I already stated in the Spring 2011 Preview (shame on you if you haven’t read it by now), but I felt compelled to get a quick post out about the two-minute long premiere episode in glorious high definition. Amazingly enough, Duchess Drossel von Flügel (Kawashou Miyuki) didn’t start off by calling her spider tank-like butler Gedächtnis (Ookawa Tooru) some random name only to have him try and correct her, marking just the second time the series has broken away from that opening gag. (First time was episode 11 of season one.)

As always, Drossel’s naivety and knack for speaking her mind are fun to watch, along with the random poses she strikes just for the sake of doing so. I loved how this episode featured one of the rare occasions where she corrects Gedächtnis for a change, and where he somehow gets her caught up in his pace (as noted by her drooping “hair”). That led to some good comedic pauses as well as some fast-lipped back and forth dialogue between them — two aspects of this series’ mild humor that I tend to enjoy. For those who have never seen Fireball, this “anime” goes for a subtle form of humor backed by impressive visuals, which may not sound like much, but works really well with Drossel at the center of it all.

For me, the best part of this episode was the introduction of a new character, whom Drossel believes to be a human. While I have my suspicions about that, I did love her exaggerated reactions to him both in her dream and in person. Will this new character be able to put up with Drossel? I don’t know but I sure am digging how we have more of Drossel and Gedächtnis this season!

 

40 Comments

    1. YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

      But seriously, I’ve never heard of this show before the spring preview, so I need to go find the first season somewhere…

      Tenck
  1. Just saw an episode, and i never heard about the show, so it was something finding an episode (specially trying to find first season) which i enjoyed in the end. The “human” could be what’s left of one or an android within a robot? I didn’t notice the hair part, guess subs do get your eyes off small details. And lol bitter water does so describe cocoa, oh wait wrong book. Supposed to be talking about the princess and the frog XD

    Thanks for introducing me to a random show about random stuff. It’ll make my day more erratic.

    PS. It reminded me somehow of those random shorts nickelodeon and cartoon network used to give, sometimes even at random times.

    Ine
    1. Yeah, i forgot to mention it was weird from a more sillier childish looking to this, hmmmm i wonder if they did it to take advantage of newer CG tech. I actually went back in case i missed something, but like you said, wonder if it’s going to be used as a topic in future episodes.

      Ine
  2. Fireball charming’s jokes have gotten quite…dry for my taste. While I have seen the first season. It was funny half way through until some of the jokes got repetitive. Yet, I won’t be dropping this show because I know how good it is when great CG intertwines with mild comedy. Seeing Drossel once again is great and I did miss her usual opening gag.

    That ‘human’reminds me of the main character in Bio Shock (the game) or those old-school divers with that massive helmet. Forgot what they are called… Drossel having two different reactions towards the human in her dream and while she was concious was great!

  3. This is the first time I’m seeing anything from this series. If there’s a prequel, I’ll try to run through it. It’s unfortunate that these aren’t full episodes. I found this just as refreshing as Level E. (Which had an amazing ending btw)

  4. Interesting that Charming takes place more than 400 years earlier than Fireball. I guess Drossel and Gedachtnis, as well as the palace itself, decided to have a bit of a cosmetic change during that interval.

    AureateFlux
  5. Man, this is why I follow this blog – I’d normally never have gotten round to watching this, but after a quick glance at the delicious animation quality I made short work of not only this humble minute of entertainment but also the /whole/ prequel. Beautiful CGI anime.

  6. I love the music and voices. But they really did a number to the style of the show. They removed drossels twintail hair, sexified her by giving her some weird ass sexy thighs. Also gedachtnis is way too big now, so they can’t fit together in one shot that well. And his eye has become less expressive since now it’s a big red bulb in a big box instead of a blinking smaller moving one.

    outcast
    1. And Gedächtnis is listed as Tauri model 32 instead of 34. And date is some half century earlier… It seems that Charming is actually a prequel to Fireball and all characters are previous models.

      puppygod
  7. hmmm this animation is better than haiyoru. and oh men, the way she walks, talks and reacts makes this 3d animation a hit. :D. though this is a short animation like haiyoru, i felt that it should be left like that.

    Croosboy
  8. just finished season 1 in 1 go… got to say, the show was funny 🙂
    though I sort of like their appearances in season 1 when compared to this new looks, although the hip looks good (but I don’t like the new face and hairstyle)
    can’t wait to see if the “human” is going to do anything more, and where is the monkey?!
    thanks for the recommendation, Divine!

    jrj
  9. that was great! love the NEW design, HIP’s minus the pointy pelvis FTW! i hope this time we’ll get a bit of the human aspect instead of just hearing about them, but i doubt it….and some more capoeira!!!

    BROOKLYN otaku
  10. I actually much prefer these designs to their “newer” ones from the first season (of course, the HD may have a part in that).

    But one feature that I found particularly amusing was her new hair function as she skates around with the wheels.

    Gedachtnis also seems much more impressive. Clunkier and more industrial somehow.

    Thank you having brought this series to my attention. It has become a personal favourite.

    Stranger

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