We are officially on the clock for this year’s edition of Saimoe.  Our contributors this year will be colour-coded for your convenience once again. Staff predictions are in bold, with personal votes in italics.

Seishi, chaosprophet, KholdStare, uis, Teiran, Alice, overfunk

Let's get the party started

A-Block

A1-1: This probably the most underwhelming match I’ve seen to start Saimoe. Kureha will need quite a salvo to take down Miki’s aura.

A1-2: Here’s our first chance at a split, but I don’t think Working!! fans will let it happen this early. If it somehow does happen, look for Hiiragi to capitalize

A1-3: Hidamari Sketch has proven to be one of Saimoe’s most consistent performers, and this group should be no exception.

A1-4: All four are decently-placed qualifiers, I can see Hanyuu winning this with a slight scratch on her horns.

A1-5: Thus, To-Love-Ru‘s eternal screwjob continues. Why did it have to be snakes?

A1-6: Isn’t it sad, Secchan?

A1-7: Tsubasa and Ikaros placed 6th and 7th respectively in the same preliminary group. The kitty has more lives to use and should pull this one out again.

A1-8: Hard to say here…Karen was in a relatively weak preliminary group, but should win here on enough series mojo.

A1-9: Nazuna is gonna get worked.

A2-1: Not even a sword can repel sunglasses!Yuno from a block final.

A2-2: If there’s any place for this bracket to go wrong, it’d be right here. However, I believe Yui’s superior [s]string[/s] firepower should be enough to take down any chance Nadeko has.

A2-3: Nagi doesn’t even need a split to win this.

AF: Despite getting ganked in her block final last year, Nagi is still one of the strongest characters in this year’s competition; she should accumulate the least amount of hate in order to take down the defending tournament runner-up.

Extended Staff Analysis

Dark Horse picks: Nazuna Takanashi, Nazuna Takanashi, Nadeko Sengoku, Nazuna Takanashi, Nadeko Sengoku, Nadeko Sengoku

Personal favourites: Nagi Sanzenin, Setsuna Sakurazaki, Yui Hirasawa, Yui Hirasawa, Yui Hirasawa, Tsubasa Hanekawa

Finalists and Winners:  Yuno/Yui Hirasawa/Nagi Sanzenin, Yuno/Yui Hirasawa/Nagi Sanzenin, Yuno/Yui Hirasawa/Nagi Sanzenin, Yuno/Nadeko Sengoku/Nagi Sanzenin, Yuno/Yui Hirasawa/Nagi Sanzenin, Yuno/Yui Hirasawa/Nagi Sanzenin

Staff Notes

chaosprophet: Group A is very important to me, as it has Hirasawa Yui, my second priority for this year’s Saimoe and the one that actually has a decent chance. Unfortunately, I’m probably biased when I say Yui will win this group, although I truly believe she has the strength, even more with an airing series; although, sincerely I could see either Yui, Nagi or Nadeko getting this group. Anyone else and I guess some cardboard burgers would do well for dinner.

overfunk: The expected strong contenders are Yui, Nagi and Yuno, in this order. We have two runner-ups here, though the difference is Yui being recent material. Yuno is there but misses that special spark that would allow her to transcend. Among the newcomers, we have Nadeko, Hiiragi and you could even throw in Nymph and Icarus, which were well received in their groups too. Considering how Saimoe works, I see a strong chance of Nadeko overcoming Yui, despite what I outlined above. You can try to rationalize Saimoe, but Saimoe is a natural force, unpredictable and prone to screw people’s lives. I can see Nagi fans giving Nadeko a push, considering Hina was unable to overcome Yui last time…

Alice: Nutbladder to victory, yo. I believe it. I really do. Nazuna is going to throw us all by beating Nagi in the first round–probably after a split vote Working!! loss in A1-2–and then Yunocchi will win from there. Nagi had her chance at the top! She’s gotta move aside with how old Hayate no Gotoku is now. (Though by that logic we’ll be seeing Nadeko through to win Group A…ha ha ha.) Man I don’t care, all I want to see is some interesting people get through, not the people just about everyone is predicting.

B-Block

B1-1: Everybody remembers the stripper…just enough to send her through second prelims despite being in a top-tier show; meanwhile, Kaede finished 4th in a group that was won by the Railgun herself.

B1-2: No more nasty plots for Miki and Kaho. Fortune status – [x] told [ ] not told

B1-3: This is unquestionably the first heartbeater of the tournament. Yuri finished a few spots behind Shana in a prelim group clouded by massive fake votes. Both characters are legitimate threats to win this block.

B1-4: Has the Haruhi fanbase fully recovered from last year’s debacle? Not even the movie will give Mikuru enough umph to make it past Mayoi.

B1-5: Nanoha will have to go at full power right from the start in this battle of two expert magicians.

B1-6: Even if miracles don’t exist, Bern can at least take pride in dragging Beato down with her.

B1-7: Isumi got lost and ended up in the second round arena.

B1-8: Here’s yet another test for the Haruhi fanbase, though Ryouko will need a lot more than just a killer instinct to compete.

B1-9: Himari seems considerably more popular than Kuesu, but a slight split should allow Senoob to cruise through.

B2-1: Clannad has dimished just slightly due to only an OVA being eligible this year…not that Shana really needed another edge to her blade.

B2-2: Befriended at the mahjong table, befriended at the Saimoe table. The Legend of Ikeda grows ever stronger.

B2-3: Looks like Isumi will have to [s]exorcise a vampire[/s] fight her way through after all.

BF: In a one-on-one between Nanoha and Shana, the Flame Haze gets the advantage; however, in this situation I think faction voting will play a key factor. MSLN is experienced enough to pull this out.

Extended Staff Analysis

Dark Horse picks: Yuri Nakamura, Nazuna, Yuri Nakamura, Yuri Nakamura, Yuri Nakamura, Yuri Nakamura

Personal Favourites: Nanoha Takamachi, Beatrice, Tohsaka Rin, Kana Ikeda, Yuri Nakamura/Kana Ikeda/Nanoha Takamachi, Shana

Finalists and Winners: Nanoha Takamachi/Shana/Isumi Saginomiya, Nanoha Takamachi/Shana/Isumi Saginomiya, Nanoha Takamachi/Shana/Isumi Saginomiya, Nanoha Takamachi/Shana/Isumi Saginomiya, Nanoha Takamachi/Shana/Isumi Saginomiya, Nanoha Takamachi/Shana/Isumi Saginomiya

Staff Notes

overfunk: Oh boy. We have seasoned war veterans such as Shana and Nanoha heading the pack, with promising rookies such as Mayoi and Yuri are there to bust your bracket too. Add to the mix mildly successful characters from the 2009 highest tier series, such as Isumi and Ikeda, and we have ourselves a party. Poor beloved oldies such as Tama-nee and Rin won’t be able to stand the heat, as opposed of people new to Saimoe would think (which is every year). Normally, one should say Shana/Nanoha/Isumi and call it a day. But this is Saimoe. I won’t be surprised at all with a final consisting of Yuri/Ikeda/Isumi (2 of 3 repeating last year’s block final). We do have to remind ourselves that Shana and Nanoha have a mystical aura about them that makes them rather good at the game, dominating the arts of backstabbing and fake voting.

Alice: And by that logic I mentioned above (in Block A), Yuri is going to slam Shana. You’re old, Shana. Your newest series sucks. And Angel Beats has some damned good popularity. And then Hidamari Power will shine through with one of the new ultra-moe-moe Nutbladder girls (and seriously, Nazuna is almost worse than Yuno in this sense) and go on to the final. Of course, Nanoha is gonna befriend everyone well and good, so who cares? Her movie’s really popular; I reckon that’ll help. Oh yeah, and obligatory ISN’T IT SAD, UMINEKO ;_;

Teiran: It’s never simple with Shana.  Yurippe was always going to be a tough out on her own merits, and it’s all too easy for me to entertain visions of a tactical assassination.  After that–if there is an “after that” for the Flame Haze–Nanoha awaits, as she always seems to.  I have to believe, though; otherwise, what’s the point?

chaosprophet: My top for Block B is Tohsaka Rin although she was really unlucky to get Nanoha on the very first round. She should be immediately befriended. Nanoha should have her way open, at least until she meets Shana. I’m predicting Shana here but I think Nanoha has a chance of beating her. Shana should have an easy time against Yuri but that confidence may backfire. If Yuri gets through Shana she may even end up with the momentum to beat Nanoha. Isumi should also get to the block finals but I don’t think she has much if a chance against the opponents she will encounter there.

Happy Canada Day!

July 1st. This day has many layers of significance for myself and others I know, the most obvious of which is to pay tribute to my great nation’s 143 years of existence. Not to be outdone, the National Hockey League unleashes its free agent frenzy; my team already signed a few good players. Alas, most people who read this blog will be neither here nor there on these two events. So, what’s left?

Believe it.

More to come later

Yukizakura (Snow Sakura)

She's your teacher

Critical Values

• Story: C+
• Art: C
• Audio: C+
• Enjoyment: B-
• Overall: C+

Routes

• Saki: B
• Misaki: C
• Kozue: C-
• Rei: B+
• Misato: B-

+Pros

• Appealing Female Lead – TITLESS, TWIN-TAILED TSUNDERE MONSTER
• Teacher Route – not the typical sultry, alluring teacher you’d find in a bishoujo game, either. She is, arguably, the cutest (and smallest) character in this game.
• Unique Setting – a snowy village in Hokkaido
• Smoking Girl – I’m not sure why this appeals to me, but it just does in these kinds of games

-Cons

• Lackluster artwork – the body proportions seem off
• Formulaic and forced drama – in almost every route
• Multiple unappealing characters – as with most games that have five choices, at least two of them were largely uninteresting in every way.

Yume Miru Kusuri (A Drug That Makes You Dream)

This pretty much sums up how I felt in the latter stages of each route.

Critical Values

• Story: A+
• Art: A
• Audio: A
• Enjoyment: A+
• Overall: A

Routes

• Aeka: A
• Mizuki: B+
• Nekoko: A+

+Pros

• Fantastic Artwork – with character designs by Kiyotaka Haimura (To Aru Majutsu no Index)
• Character Focus – the three-route system flourishes
• Excellent Writing – Romeo Tanaka (Cross Channel, Rewrite) manages to even nail the ero scenes well
• Ero Scenes – probably the best, permeated by the point above
• Satisfying Conclusions – oh yes…especially one particular route
• Supporting characters – mom and dad are ever-present in the MC’s life with his sister reminding us that an extra route would be nice

-Cons

• Crossing the Line (twice) – some people WILL be less-than-thrilled with the actions of at least two particular characters, one being a route girl.
• Atomic Rage – includes above, though this turns into a pro due to successful dramatic tension and satistfying conclusions

Wind: A Breath of Heart

Can you guess each character archetype?

Critical Values

• Story: B-
• Art: B-
• Audio: B
• Enjoyment: B-
• Overall: B-

Routes

• Hinata: B-
• Minamo: C+
• Nozomi: B
• Wakaba: C+
• Hikari: B

+Pros

• Nakige – as expected from minori (Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two), this game will evoke a lot of emotion
• “True” Ending – recommended to finish last, of course
• Surprising Cast – even with the standard five-girl character archetyping, each one manages to have her own charm
• Supernatural Aspects – plays a huge role in the the girls’ and overarching stories

-Cons

• Convoluted Story – provoked more than a few head-scratching moments
• Lack of Flow – weak transitioning from scene-to-scene
• Difficulty Spike – the game takes a long time to actually get anywhere, and when it does, you might wish it slowed down

The Myth

It is often thought as grammatically correct to not place prepositions at the end of sentences. For example, let’s look at this sentence, which is supposedly incorrectly:

-Look at this snail that I just stepped on.

And it should be rewritten like so:

-Look at this snail on what I just stepped.

Of course, this is silly in conversational English. Actually, the “don’t place prepositions are the end of sentences” rule does exist…but in Latin. And from there, somehow it has leaked into English as a myth. In short, prepositions can be placed anywhere if it is needed:

-Whom did you throw the pencil at? (correct, “at whom” is needed)
-So that’s where my pencil is at! (incorrect, “at” is not needed)
-So that’s where my pencil is! (correct)

Even though it is often easy to remove the preposition to check if the sentence still makes sense, sometimes it’s not so easy when dealing with inquisitorial adverbs: when and where. So see why, just read on below.

Adverb vs. Pronoun

It is often that we hear the “Five W’s” being listed (Who? What? When? Where? Why?). But what we don’t intuitively realize is that those words belong two separate parts of speech when used before a verb in the form of a question:

-Pronouns: who, what
-Adverbs: when, where, why

Is there a difference? Why yes! Prepositions connects nouns and pronouns. Therefore, putting a preposition at the end of a question starting with “when,” “where,” and “why” will most likely be grammatical incorrect. But why are “who” and “what” pronouns but the others adverbs? Well, “who” replaces a noun, such as “John,” and “what” also replaces a noun, such as “pencil.” In contrast, “when,” “where,” and “why” actually replaces prepositional phrases because they also represent prepositional phrases:

-When: at what time
-Where: at what place, to what place
-Why: for what reason

If you prefer to use the definition of adverbs, then yes, they do modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. “When” modifies the verb to come in the following question:

-When will she come?

When here obviously does not refer to a noun but instead it modifies the word to come with how soon. Similarly, “Where” modifies the verb to put in the following question:

-Where did I put my DVD?

So now you’re probably thinking, “Why does this matter?” Let’s try putting a preposition at the end of a sentence beginning with an adverb:

-When is the store open until?
-Where is Nick at?

Now, let’s replace “when” and “where” with their respective propositional phrases:

-At what time is the store open until?
-At what place is Nick at?

Then let’s reverse the sentences to their “mythically correct” orders:

-Until at what time is the store open?
-At at what place is Nick at?

And finally, it is clear what is wrong. If you need to use until, then use “what time” instead of “when.” For “where” questions, leave off the at preposition entirely, because it is not needed, not to mention grammatically incorrect. So the correct questions should be:

-Until what time is the store open?
-What time is the store open until?

-What place is Nick at?
-Where is Nick?

Part of Speech

Even though we are going off-topic here, I have to remind everyone that the cases above only apply to the “Five W’s” when used before a verb in the form of a question. In short, “who” and “what” can be used as adverbs and “when,” “where,” and “why” can be used as pronouns.

First, we look at a situation where a pronoun can be used as an adverb. “What” is used as an adverb when it modifies the verb to be, specifically It is such and this/that is.

-What a wonderful movie!
-It was such a wonderful movie!

-What a pity.
-That is pitiful.

Second, we look at a situation where an adverb can be used as a pronoun. “Where” is used as a pronoun when it replaces “a place” and not “at a place.” This the following case, “where” is too ambiguous to specify “to what place” or “from what place,” so the prepositions “to” or “from” needs to be present, and where thus loses its implied preposition to become a pronoun:

-He drove 25 miles from where he started.
-He drove 25 miles from his house where he started.

“Where is” first and foremost implies “at what place is” or “to what place is,” so only use where as a pronoun if the implied preposition is something else.

-Where are you at? (incorrect, at is implied, where is adverb)
-Where are you going to? (incorrect, to is implied, where is adverb)
-Where are you from? (correct, from is not implied, where is pronoun)

Final Words

In conclusion, English is a language of exceptions and myths, so be careful of all the tiny nuissances of the common pronouns/adverbs. It is grammatically correct to place prepositions anywhere in the sentence, as long as it connects with a noun or pronoun, not an adverb. As Winston Churchill reportedly to have mockingly said, “Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.” So the bottom line is that you don’t have to.*

*Note that I didn’t end the sentence with a preposition! The verb I use was “to have to,” not “to have,” both of which have different meanings! This yet another nuissance of English.

This tutorial will create an animated GIF similar to:

Introduction

Before you attempt this tutorial, know that it is a midly difficult tutorial because specific instructions are lacking. Instead, it relies on your ingenuity and the ability to find problems and know how to fix them. Therefore, I would only recommend this tutorial for those somewhat familiar with Photoshop, and you will get lost if you don’t use Photoshop frequently. Second, because the result of this tutorial is a GIF in 256 colors, don’t be disappointed if the quality isn’t as good as you expected. Even though GIFs offer animation and transparency, it can only hold 256 colors, leading to inevitable loss in quality.

This tutorial assumes that you are trying to make a gif of a scene from a video clip. The video player I will use to export images is Media Player Classic. VirtualDub can be used to easily export images, but for the purposes of simplicity, only the MPC method will be shown. To use this method, CCCP needs to be activated and CoreAVC needs to be disabled.

Phase 1: Capturing Images

First, open up MPC then go to View -> Options. You should get the screen below:

Choose Output under Playback on the sidebar then select VMR7 (windowed) and click OK. This option only needs to be done once, so the next time you capture images you don’t have to do this again. Now close MPC and open it again with the video clip you want to use. Then go to the place in the video with the scene you want. Move to the scene just before that and press Pause.

Now go to Play -> Filters -> ffdshow Video Decoder. On the sidebar, scroll down until you see Grab then click on that word. When the options for Grab appears, click on the checkbox next to Grab. Your screen should look similar to the image below:

Make sure that the options match the screenshot. For Path, click on the button with ellipses (…) to select a blank folder. I just create a new folder on my Desktop for easy access. Once everything looks good, click OK. Now press Play. The video could play slowly because it’s saving images to that folder you selected. You should only let it play through the scene you want animated then stop the video. Go to ffdshow Video Decoder again and uncheck the box next to Grab. Now close MPC.

Phase 2: Pre-Editing Processing

Access the folder you’ve “grabbed” images to, and it should have a ton of images. Remember that most animation are 24-30 frames per second, so if your scene is 3 seconds, the you would have captured about 75 images. First, locate the images that are not part of the scene, because remember, I told you to move to the scene before the scene you want before pressing Play. In the screenshot below, the images encircled in red are not needed and should be deleted:

There should also be more images at the end of the folder that are part of the next scene, and you should delete those also. Now you’re left with probably still a lot of images. And here comes to tedious part. For anime, notice that many of the images captured are exactly the same. This is because you do not need 20+ different frames per second to create smooth animation. Therefore, the same frame can be repeated to get about 8-14 unique frames per second.

So now you have to go through all of these images and delete all duplicates. This is a time-consuming process, but it will save a lot of trouble when we import these pictures to Photoshop. In the screenshot below, the selected images are duplicates, and they are in the process of being deleted:

After you’re done, the best scenario would be that you have 5-12 images. If you have more than that, then the scene you want animated is too long, and that would likely result in a very big GIF file that is not friendly to anyone. The very maximum I would go is 15 images animation. If you have 22 images, then I would suggest that you delete every other frame to get 11 images. The animation will be choppy, but at least it is manageable.

Phase 3: Importing and Organizing Frames

Now, we open Photoshop CS3. Go to Files -> Scripts -> Load Files into Stack. You should get the screen below:

First, change the Use dropdown menu to Folder. Then click Browse and select the folder you stored your captured images in. A list of files should appear. Now click OK. Photoshop will attempt to open all of the files in that folder and put them all in a single file. If you’re trying to import 50 images this way, you will probably freeze Photoshop, so that’s one of the reasons why I advised you to get rid of duplicates.

Now, open the Animation palette by going to Window -> Animation. There are two modes in the Animation palette, frame animation and timeline animation. If you see blue bars, then you’re in timeline animation, so find the button on the lower-right corner (Convert to frame animation) and click it:

Now you should see a single frame. It would be helpful to have the Layers and History palettes open at this point also. Find the pop-out menu at the top-right corner of the Animation palette, open it, and choose Make Frames From Layers:

Open it again and choose Reverse Frames. Now all of the layers will be converted into frames, with each frame having only one layer visible. You can go through all of the frames to see the changes in visibility on the layers palette. But those weird layer names are not agreeing with me. go to the pop-out menu again and choose Flatten Frames Into Layers. That should create new layers having the name associated with each frame. Since you have these new layers, you can delete all of the original layers (not frames) with MPC-assigned names.

Note: Know the difference between a frame and a layer. Frames refer to frames in the Animation palette, and layers refer to layers in the Layers palette.

This is nice, but it is harder to work with hidden layers. Instead, working with opacity is better, so we should convert all of the hidden layers of each frame to visible, having 0% opacity. To do this easily, find the Convert to timeline animation button in the lower-right corner (same button to clicked on before), click on it to see the timeline then click on it again to see the frames. Amazingly, doing this will convert all non-visible frames to visible with 0% opacity.

Phase 4: Editing the Animation

Now, it’s time to deal with the animation itself. In the lower-left corner, you should see the word Once or Forever. If you see Once, then click on it and change to Forever:

Then, select all of the frames. To do this, click on the first frame, hold down shift, then click on the last frame. Go to the “sec” at the bottom of the picture on the frame and chose 0.1 seconds. This is a temporary setting. All of your frames should display 0.1 sec. Lastly, it’s time to crop your image. Let’s say I want to make a 120 x 300 forum signature. When you crop the image, all of the layers and frames will also crop to that dimension. I’ll assume you know how to use the Crop tool:

Now preview the animation by pressing the play button on the Animation palette. There are two main types of animations, looped and reset. Reset animation means that after the last frame, animation is reset to the first frame without transition. In the first image, the signature is an example of reset animation, because after the scene is animated, it stops, then goes back to the first frame. Looped animation means that after a sequence of frames are played, they are played again in reverse to transition back to the first frame. The second image, a member card, is an example of looped animation.

Looped animation is mostly used for a still camera shot with only a part of the focus moving, such as hair, mouth, or arms of a person being still. This type of animation may require a bit more planning, such as which images to delete to “loop back” to the first image smoothly. In certain cases, you will need to use existing layers to create new frames and reverse them. Since this type of animation is more advanced, this tutorial will focus on reset animation, so we will continue with our signature.

For reset animation, you will want the last frame to wait a bit before resetting to the first frame. A good time is 2-5 seconds, depending on the animation, so set that time for the last frame. Now, if we don’t want to do adjustments to the layers, then we’re basically done. If you don’t want to mess with more advanced stuff, then you can skip down to Phase 5.

Now, if you want to make adjustments to the layers, remember that you have to do it to all of the layers. If you’re trying to apply Auto Levels/Auto Contrast to each layer, then there is a chance that some layers will look out of place since each layer has different color information. Therefore, it’s best to manually adjust a setting, record it as an Action, then play that Action for all of the remaining frames. Lastly, when making a global adjustment, make sure you are on the first frame.

Let’s say you want to apply Levels all of the layers consistently. Select the first frame, then select the layer Frame 1. Then on the Actions palette, create a New Action, name it something, then click Record:

Without doing extraneous actions such as changing frames/layers/tools/etc…, do your Adjustments (I usually apply Levels and Surface Blur), then click Stop on the Actions palette. Without changing frames, click on the layer Frame 2, Play the Action you recorded, then do so for the rest of the layers (while still on the first frame). Because all layers are visible, you can do this while on the first frame. This is why we use opacity instead of visibility. If you’re confused, then just undo what you didn’t understand in the History palette and move on.

If you want to add text or borders, then you have to do it on top of all the current layers. Like usual, make sure you are on the first frame before you add new layers. For this signature, I just added a simple black stroke and no text. It’s time to save your animation.

Phase 5: Optimizing and Saving

To save GIFs, I recommend you going to File -> Save for Web & Devices. First, make sure that the file type is set to GIF (instead of JPEG, PNG, etc…). Here, if you are making an avatar or signature for a forum without a size limit, then you can go to the pop-out menu to the right of Preset then choose Optimize to File Size:

Doing this may give you a very crappy GIF, which means you had way too many frames. Under the GIF drop-down, you should select Perceptual, Selective, or Adaptive, whichever gives you the lowest file size. To the right, the more Colors you have (max 256), the higher your file size will be. The more Dither % you have (max 100), the higher your file size will be. The more Lossy you have (max 100), the lower your file size will be. It’s best to play with these three settings to get good quality while retaining a decently low file size.

The more complex your background is, the more Colors you will need for the image to look good. My signature really only has white, black, blue (the cat), red (the text), and yellow/brown (the background), so I can get a nice picture with low amount of Colors used. But if you’re animating a transformation scene or something vibrant, then even with 256 colors, the GIF will look bad. Keep this in mind when making GIFs, and the best ones have relatively little animation with a simple background.

In general, even if a forum does not have limits, the maximum size of a signature or member card should not exceed 350 kb. This courtesy is mostly for people with slow Internet connections. If you are hosting a GIF on Photobucket or a host with strict bandwidth limits, then big GIFs will let you reach that limit rather quickly. So it’s for your and others’ benefit to keep the size of GIFs as small as possible.

To maximize a quality of a GIF, you should change the color reduction algorithm (drop-down box below image type) to Pattern. This will give a very big file size, but if you’re only making a 100 x 100 avatar, then you might not worry much since it will still be relatively small. For my signature, I will optimize it down to 100 kb and take the suggested 150 colors.

Finished Product

If you’ve followed through this tutorial and made a GIF of your own, then congratulations! Do note that there are way more to GIF animation, and this is just the basics. Slices are a great way to reduce file sizes in signatures, because it allows you to only save the animated part as a GIF and the other parts as JPEG. Notice how the right side of the above signature has no animation at all. If we slice the signature into two and save the left as a GIF and the right as a JPEG, then that would further reduce the file size. For example, below is the same signature, sliced into 3 parts, totaling only 48.6 KB, optimized for AnimeSuki forums:

(The three slices are shown separately for demonstrative purposes.)

You can notice that the quality is worse, but all the same, it is a nice signature for 48.6 KB, which is less than half the size of the first version! The second version uses only 31 colors as opposed to 150 colors, but because the signature has a simple focus and background, 31 colors is good enough. Wasn’t that fun? Animated GIFs can result in lots of unique and dynamic creations, so it is very useful to know how to make them.

Interesting right. Even she can summon Ifrit lol. I can not stop laughing when i see that. So i hope you try reading it first because it so damn funny and anyway this manga only 2 chapters is out but it definitely worth reading. Give it shot and i sure you will like it if you like gag and comedy manga.

Negima started publication on 02/26/2003. As of today, it has 267 chapters and 27 bound volumes released.  It’s released weekly, but with a break week (a week with no chapter being released) between each 4 weeks with releases.

• The Story

The story starts with Negi Springfield, a 10 year old Welsh boy, graduating from his magic school. To continue their training to become a Magister Magi (something like a Master of Mages) each student receives a task after graduation. Negi receives the unreasonable task of being a teacher in Japan. That’s how he ends up being an English teacher for a girls’ middle school, and the homeroom teacher for Mahora Academy’s class 2-A: a second year class with thirty-one 14-year old girls.

Negi and the 2-A girls

Mahou Sensei Negima! starts with lighthearted themes:  a little slice of life, a little harem comedy, a lot of fanservice.  All three are on display as soon as he arrives at Mahora Academy.  He has a really bad start with Asuna, who happens to be not only his student, but also one of the two girls he will have to share a room with. Asuna, who already isn’t fond of children, gets an even worse impression of Negi through a succession of unfortunate events usually triggered by Negi’s naïve personality.  Things only get worse when she discovers he is a mage, something he is supposed to keep as a secret from all his students.

There are a few other students who, for their own reasons, don’t take kindly to Negi. And while most of the class likes him, they can’t take him seriously because of his personality, not to mention the fact that he’s younger than them.  Yet another problem arises as he arrives in the last trimester of the school year; he immediately needs to improve his class’ scores, by far the worst of all the second-year classes, on the end-of-year test if he wants to continue to be a teacher there – and he has to, in order to become a Magister Magi.

With lots of effort Negi is able to slowly gain the trust and respect of his students and conquer his hardships. The story dynamic starts to change when we learn Negi’s reason for wanting to become a Magister Magi:  he wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, Nagi Springfield aka The Thousand Master, famously touted as the strongest mage ever.  Nagi Springfield was supposed to have died a few months before the birth of his son, but in an encounter six years before the story, Negi met someone he still believes to be his father.

It’s in Negi’s search for clues about what happened to his father and his quest to become as strong as him that the story starts to take a different path. While fanservice and harem comedy stay present in the series, they take a bit of a back seat as the story starts to darken a little and shift its focus more toward powerful magic battles. For Negi to mature and reach his objectives he will need to learn that things such as good and evil, or right and wrong, aren’t absolute.  Negi will also learn that most of his students are far from normal as he discovers the relationship amongst them, the world of magic, and what happened with his father.

• The Characters

The main cast is sizable to start, with Negi and the 2-A students. In the beginning they may look similar, but as we are introduced to them and slowly learn more about their backgrounds we can see how unique each character is. The cast grows a lot with time as more and more important characters are added to the mix, but the manga is still able to keep most, if not all, of them interesting and each contributes at least a little to the main plot.

While Negi and Asuna are the central characters, many others take the spotlight during the course of the series. Some seem minor at the beginning but end up suddenly shining later; most get a decent amount of development during the series, which shapes them into becoming even more unique. Romance is also developed nicely, not only in relationships with the girls and Negi, but also between other characters.

• The Setting
  

Most of the story happens in Mahora Academy, a learning institution about the size of a small city with its own residential and shopping district.  It contains, amongst other things, elementary, middle and high schools, each divided by gender, and a university fully equipped with research facilities. It also features many clubs which have members from all grades.

A view of Mahora Academy

Mahora has many mysteries, like the Library Island, a giant library in the middle of a lake with many underground levels, and the majestic World Tree, which stands in a small hill in the middle of the campus.

Library Island and the World Tree

• Art

As the characters mature and the story changes its direction, the art evolves too. A panel in Negima tends to have many details spread through it, and to obtain that level of detail Ken Akamatsu uses CG for drawing many of the manga’s background elements.  Those details can be important, as Mahou Sensei Negima! has a lot of foreshadowing hidden in plain sight.

Negi as in the first chapter and in a later chapter

• Negima’s other media

Many adaptations and spin-offs based upon the Negima! manga have been created. I will give a short summary of each, concentrating on their relation to the manga. I asked Seishi to give a summary for one of the series as he knows more about it.

Mahou Sensei Negima! (Anime)

The first Negima! adaptation with a total of 26 episodes.  It faithfully adapts the first few volumes of the manga, although the art quality isn’t the best and the fanservice is downplayed.  The pace picks up for the last few episodes, cutting some important scenes out of the story, and the final arc is completely original.

Negima!? (Anime)

Summary done by Seishi:

First of all, we must establish the two things Negima!? is not.
1) An adaptation of the manga’s story
2) An actual coherent story of its own

Having said that, Negima!? stands out for its quirky but stylistic take on Ken Akamatsu’s popular manga. The first thing manga fans will notice is the noticable toning down of fanservice, something Akamatsu used quite liberally. In the beginning, the focus of the series goes straight to Evangeline and the problems she causes for Mahora Academy. The first batch of Negima!? episodes features a greater focus on action and pactio forming, the latter of which is very different from its manga counterpart. All wrapped up in this is Studio SHAFT’s (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Bakemonogatari, Hidamari Sketch) magic touch; director Akiyuki Shinbo manages to entertain his audience with his usual animation tricks.

As the series progresses, it manages to fully separate itself from the manga, which in turn alienates long-time Negima fans.  This is rather disappointing because Negima!? has elements that hardcore fans should be able to latch on to if they can look past the obvious adaptation decay.

Mahou Sensei Negima! Haru OVA and Natsu OVA

Two 1-episode OVAs loosely based on events from the manga. They don’t really fit in any of the timelines from the manga or either of the two animes, so they’re more fanservice for the fans. They were also animated by Shaft.

Negima!? Neo (manga)

A manga adaptation for the Shaft anime. The main plot of the anime is shortened; after it covers all of the anime, it becomes more of a slice of life. It’s like a middle term between the manga and the second anime.

Mahou Sensei Negima! Shiroki Tsubasa Ala Alba (OAD) / Mahou Sensei Negima! Mouhitotsu no Sekai (OAD)

These two Shaft-animated OAD series were supervised by Ken Akamatsu, so the art and story are fairly loyal to the original manga. The first series, Ala Alba, with 3 episodes and one drama CD, animates some of the later chapters of the manga and acts an introduction for the second OAD series. The second series is still ongoing with 1 of 4 episodes released. It follows the events from Ala Alba and will adapt the latest manga arc together with a movie.

From a personal aspect, I couldn’t ask for a better result. Taiga was my clear-cut favourite going into Saimoe preliminaries, and that did not change for the main draw. I’m not going to bother going into a long exposition about how I felt this year was the best Saimoe ever, but I want to take this time to give out some much-needed thank yous to various people.

• My blog team, for putting up with a great deal of my nagging and bitching. I appreciate your patience. I hope we can do the same kind of posts next year.
• My IRC channel, for putting up with constant Saimoe discussion.
• The AnimeSuki community, for providing a fun forum thread to chat in as well as translators for the preliminary matches.
• 2ch and Japan, for hosting yet another exciting event.
• My associated bloggers: Micchi, kevo, and frustra. You provided me with a great deal of inspiration. Without you, I probably would not have came back to the scene after my break during the third round.
• overfunk, NissanNut, Vizard, neutralizer, and raizoo for participating in my final match post and offering various insight to me throughout the season.
• You, the reader, for taking an interest in reading this blog. I hope you stick with us even though the contest has ended.

For further reading, please visit these Saimoe summary posts.

kevo – Desu ex Machina

Micchi – Hau~ Omochikaeri~!

frustra – frustra’s Saimoe Update Blog

Now, a final look at the journey. After seven battles, Taiga stands on top with a fitting victory pose.

Year of the Taiga

“Well, shit. How anticlimatic would be a Taiga vs Yui final… I sorta kinda want it now.” - overfunk (before the semi-final matches)

The Numbers

21920 – Total votes since the top 16

3832 – Posts on Animesuki’s Saimoe thread as of writing this post

386 – Contestants in the main draw

101 – Shows respresented in the main draw

73 – Days since the tournament began

8 – Contestant Blocks

6 – Rookies in the quarterfinals

1 – Anime Saimoe Japan 2009 Champion

There is something magical about Saimoe that captivates me more than any major sporting event can: direct participation, friend interest, hype factor, and a chance to support characters in the entertainment medium I love the most. This time, I have gathered information from sources outside the blog team to go along with the usual six of us. So, without further ado, I present the final match. Enjoy. Poster courtesy of frustra.

Seishi, chaosprophet, uis, KholdStare, kevo, Teiran, Guest Writers

Attendance is free

The Contestants

Taiga Aisaka – Toradora!

• Semi-finals def Nodoka Haramura (1077 – 998)
• Quarter-finals def Isumi Saginomiya (812 – 736)
• 4th round def Azusa Nakano (825 – 711)
• 3rd round def Maria (850 – 725)

She’s the “little tiger that could”…possibly win three Saimoe tournaments this year. 2009′s super rookie performer looks to take yet another step into multi-national Saimoe lore by taking Japan’s tournament. With Ami, Minori, and Taiga’s performances, Toradora! emerged as a legitimate faction. With the story already completed in just one season of anime, can Taiga bring a title to a fanbase that might never see her in this tournament again?

Yui Hirasawa – K-ON!

• Semi-final def Mihoko Fukuji (1019 – 988)
• Quarter-final def Koromo Amae (873 – 819)
• 4th round def Minori Kushieda (838-752)
• 3rd round def Hinagiku Katsura (953 – 935)

Since the second round, Yui has been running the gauntlet. With a seemingly down-and-out K-ON! faction, Yui began one of the most amazing runs in Saimoe history. Here and now at the stage of her dreams, can she rock Taiga off her game?

The Team

Seishi: Taiga – How fitting it is that these two contestants meet again so many months after their original preliminary battle. Taiga will be looking to avenge Minori’s loss, with Yui carrying Azusa on her back. Unfortunately for Yui, my unconditional love goes out to Taiga as one of the greatest anime characters I’ve ever seen. I think Taiga will take it in one of the closest and best Saimoe matches ever; whatever happens, I believe both are deserving champions and will remember their tournament performances very fondly.

chaosprophet: Yui – After a long period with many moments of bliss and many of despair, the final finally is here, and what a final it will be! On one side we have Taiga, a pretty good character that really deserves to be there. She beat many strong characters on the way, like Nodoka who was one of the favorites to win by many people on the late game; one can see how she had an excellent performance in other saimoe contests too, that she being there isn’t a joke at all.
On the other side we have Yui, who is just as deserving as Taiga for a place in the finals; she defeated many strong contestants, like Hinagiku who was regarded as one of the strongest competitors. I’m really proud of what she did so far, even more considering how K-ON! did in the beginning and how she’s usually overshadowed by Mio for many K-ON! fans.
In the end, it’s an ideal final for me and a win-win situation too, but my vote will go for Yui without a doubt. I like Taiga a lot, but Yui is one of the characters I love the most.
This match is really hard to predict. Yui beat Taiga before when they were part of the same group in prelims, but that was a long time ago when there were much less voters, and prelims dynamics were really different from the main round ones. Considering their opponents and amount of votes, Yui had a better performance overall; but looking at the semifinals results, Taiga seems to be stronger. Taiga may lose votes because people don’t want her to win another major moe contest in the same year, however she may get some votes because people want to see her getting the crown for both Korea and Japan. This is not unprecended, but it may never happen again. Also, both characters have strong factions behind them.
I will go with Yui for prediction, more for bias than anything else. All in all, it should be a very exciting match. May moe prevail!

uis: Yui – I am happy my number one that I support this year is in the final. Only one more before you are the champion, Yui…

KholdStare: Yui – Taiga receives more hate than support. No one really hates K-ON!, Yui isn’t associated with “KyoAni” so much as LS characters, etc…, and she has no backlash at all incredibly, even from SAKI supporters. It’s the finals, and people are likely to vote if they can even if they don’t support one of the two charaters, and especially if it’s hate-voting. Therefore, my prediction is Yui.

kevo: Yui, Taiga – When the top 16 was announced, I expected Taiga vs. Yui to be the most exciting, closest match possible. Though Saki broke records by sending six girls into the top 16, history repeats itself and the Saki characters are out of the finals. Taiga is fresh off her Korea Best Moe win and took care of Nodoka solidly to get into the finals. Yui has had the stronger schedule and came from behind to overtake Mihoko in the nick of time. Now, the two girls square off for the biggest title of moe. When you compare schedules, Yui has definately had the harder schedule getting here, with wins over Amae Koromo, Furude Rika, and Katsura Hinagiku in her name. Taiga took down a strong Maria and overcame a split vote to beat Kawashima Ami and Asahina Mikuru early in the tournament. Of all the Saimoe finals I’ve seen, this is one of the toughest to call. I believe that Taiga’s Korea Best Moe title might affect her votes, but it should not make or break her. Yui literally has no weakness; she has no point of attack like the Saki characters do, and the anti-Kyoto Animation base seemingly has disappeared. K-ON!’s faction is back and seemingly in good form. I love both characters, but in my heart I am leaning for Taiga just a sliver. I would give Yui the 55-45 advantage, however. Prediction: Yui by 20.

Teiran:  Yui.  I wasn’t just paying lip service with my comment that it seemed almost natural for the would-be guitarist to be left standing at the last, but in saying that I feel like I might have shorted Taiga (no pun intended).  Her fanbase came through admirably in the semifinal match, and her place in this final is equally deserved.  This one’ll be good for sure; both Taiga and Yui have some luminaries on their respective hit lists.  I’ll go with the guitarist here, using much the same reasoning as I did for Mihoko’s victory over Yuuki:  I can’t sense a concerted anti-movement against her.

(It’s interesting for me to read my colleagues’ takes on this, even if their reasoning is divergent from my own.  KS says Yui won’t face any backlash, but I don’t entirely agree with that – despite the “universal appeal” spiel above, everyone in this tournament who survives past a certain stage faces some backlash, and this is the final, so you can bet that stage is long past.  I also don’t believe for a second that whatever happens in Korea’s Best Moe tournament has any bearing at all on Saimoe.  As for factions’ machinations, those are far too convoluted for me to unravel; I might kill more brain cells in trying than in leaving well enough alone.)

Vizard: Yui, Taiga – It’s been a pretty hectic and long 2009 year for the Saimoe tournament of Japan. I don’t really care for Yui as she never really appealed to me. Taiga’s cool though. I can’t vote for her due to chaosprophet voting for Yui. I predict Yui to win mainly because of K-ON! being the latest to air whereas Toradora! started in the fall of 2008 and ended shortly before K-ON! aired. Also, the voters coinciding between Korean Best Moe and Japan Saimoe will conflict as I’m assuming they don’t want a ‘winner in both tournaments’ and whatnot.

raizoo: Yui – If Taiga loses, I’m going to go back to laughing how Kugyuu hasn’t won a saimoe yet. I hope Yui wins because she beat Hina so she better win the whole thing.

Micchi: Taiga, Yui – Both are top tier chars deserving to get this far, although Yui has arguably had the tougher route. While I want Yui to win, it’ll come down to the little things that will push Taiga to victory, such as the possibility of a double crown for Taiga or the reluctance of choosing another KyoAni champion.

overfunk: Yui, Taiga – Yui beat Taiga in the strength match at the start since preliminaries have no real strategy going on. Toradora! truly showed up as a smart faction: Mikuru gambit! Yui beat powerful opponents in a string: Rika, Hina, Minorin, Kodomo, and Kyaputen.  The revenge weight should be on Yui since Taiga beat Ami (whose fans already dislike her), Maria, then Azusa, which was sort of like a rook change with Yui. Then, Isumi and Nodoka. So, both have pissed off the former Hayate no Gotoku! and Saki factions. However, Hayate and Toradora! are both part of J.C. STaff realm, so there shouldn’t be many Hayate fans disgruntled with Taiga; especially Nagi fans, if you catch my drift. So, Taiga has less revenge weight. Now, the X-Factor: any of the two could have controlled the semi-finals from the shadows, since the vote totals rose. I fear it might have been Yui. Based on statistics, it seems like 51-49 in favour of Yui.

neutralizer: Yui – A girl and her guitar. Even though Yui beat out Hinagiku, she’s got my vote for being adorable while airheaded throughout all of K-ON, but inspiring and hilarious to laugh at. The match is too close of a call to predict, I think they’d be separated by very few votes and so I’m might as well predict the one I want to win. No sense in not believing in her win.

And now, some further analysis by a dear friend from AnimeSuki, NissanNut. Be sure to give him props wherever needed.

We’ve finally made it to the championship match of the 2009 Anime Saimoe tournament! Aisaka Taiga of Toradora! versus Hirasawa Yui of K-ON! As expected, we’ve seen the unexpected in this year’s tournament. Favorites falling early (Akiyama Mio), surprise winners (Minami Kana, Sawamura Tomoki, Touyoko Momoko), upsets (Mio, Katsura Hinagiku), ridiculous faction / anti-faction voting, a near takeover of a mahjong anime empire (-Saki-), intriguing back stories… all leading to this one final match to determine this year’s champion.

While none of my favorites ([Takei Hisa, Tsukishima Aoba ) made it to the final, I’m still as excited about this final as much as I would be had at least one of my favorites were contesting for the title.

Now on to the my thoughts, pick and prediction!

Both characters are strong and the numbers suggest so.

Total Votes
Yui – 5237
Taiga – 5016

The top 2 vote-getters leading into the semis, meeting in the finals? I’m expecting votes in excess of 1300 votes for both girls in a year where voter turnout seems to have been low compared to previous years.

Percentage Votes
Taiga
Round 3 – 53.97% (9)
Round 4 – 53.71% (4)
Quarterfinals – 52.45% (2)
Semifinals – 51.90% (1)

Yui
Round 3 – 50.48% (14)
Round 4 – 52.70% (5)
Quarterfinal – 51.60% (4)
Semifinals – 50.77% (2)

I’m a big believer that percentage of votes a character receives from round to round is an excellent indicator of how that character will do during the next match. From Round 3 on, Taiga has fared a little better in her matches than Yui. Expect that trend to continue!

Head to Head
Yui – 621 (1)
Taiga – 594 (2)

Surprisingly, these two have met in this year’s tournament. They were both in group 13 of the 1st Prelims, where Yui and Taiga finished 1-2, respectively. Supporters of both girls will surely have not forgotten this result. This provides an excellent back story to a much anticipated final!

Notable Eliminations
Taiga
Kawashima Ami (Toradora!), Maria (Hayate no Gotoku!!), Nakano Azusa (K-ON!)

Taiga has knocked out her fellow Toradora! representative Ami and a strong HnG!! girl in Maria. She’s even taken down one K-ON! girl already – a strong title contender in Azusa. Taiga is not afraid of the K-ON! powers, especially those that play lead guitar.

Yui
Furude Rika (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni), Katsura Hinagiku (Hayate no Gotoku!!), Kushieda Minori (Toradora!), Amae Koromo (-Saki-)

Yui eliminated 2007 champion Furude Rika and perennial favorite Hinagiku. She’s already eliminated a Toradora! rep in Minori, and recently took out loli mahjong sensation Koromo. Lolis are not safe from Yui.

My Thoughts
As much as I’d like for a non-loli character to win the championship, there’s no denying Taiga’s moe factor. Yui is moe in her own regard, but for me Taiga has that extra umph that puts her over the edge. Sure, Yui won the first head-to-head, but Taiga has been stronger in more recent rounds according to the numbers.

I’ll be voting for Taiga, and I expect a Taiga win based on her recent performances. It’ll be a race to 1300 or more with late surges for the one in second place with a few hours to go. However, it’s Taiga who will hang on to her lead and emerge as 2009 Saimoe champion.

The trend of Saimoe loli champions continues, and we must wait yet another year for a chance to have a non-loli winner.

Pick: Aisaka Taiga
Prediction: Aisaka Taiga