Originally published October 3, 2011 on tumblr
My friend had the same issue i have of reading books that no one else
around you has read… so you end up lending the book to people for the
sole purpose of having someone to talk about the books with… i do it
with the Belgariad and Night Angel trilogy and she’s done it with this
series.
Now i’ll be honest… when i saw it was in first person i audibly
groaned…. i don’t know anyone who actually likes books primarily told in
the first person… and especially after the last book i read which
jumped from first to third constantly i was a little worried. However i
trust my friends taste and although we don’t always like the same things
i figured i would give it a try.
The next thing i noticed was that the plot is very close on a base
level to the Anime/Novel/Live action movies Battle Royal…. I found this a
little baffling cause i had been told this series target audience was
young adult…. while battle royal is not for people that young… but yeah…
i could spend all day comparing it to BR but i wont since other then
the main plot line of get a bunch of young people in a smallish area and
pit them to a fight to the death is really as far as the similarities
go so far… only finished the first book after all.
SO yeah… i had never heard of the book before cause it’s target demo
is a bit younger then me but now i see it everywhere…. it’s even getting
a movie.
And yeah i wont say much more because part of the joy of this book has to be all the reveals.
so yeah i enjoyed it… not my fav series ever… those honors go to
books written by Brent Weeks and Aaron Pogue but yeah… it's good, give
it a read… it’s nice to see something a bit darker for that teen
audience…. not vampire romance.
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Completed: Orange Planet
Originally published October 1, 2011 on tumblr
overall this series was cute, A young girl is crying due to having lost her parents and a boy comes out and gives her a gift… the brightest star in the sky that will always be there no matter what the season…. he vanishes and leaves behind a bear named Haru and a letter. “write all your problems to Haru and he will always listen.
Fast forward and Rui, the crying girl, is in her last year of junior high. She’s having boy troubles as she’s afraid to confess to the love of her life. One day, due to a combination of misunderstandings and a kerfufl there ends up being a fire in the hot teaching assistants apartment. To be fair…. he was with one girl and receiving a call from another so the first one kinda sorta became and arsonist…..
Well this has nothing to do with Rui so she goes back to her neighbors apartment where her best friend Taro lives.
When she goes home though she finds that said Hot Teaching intern has kinda sorta made the place his own, using the excuse of ‘having no where else to go~’ she allows him to do this since it’ll only be the length of the internship then he’s off again.
But as we all know it’s never that easy in shoujo… Turns out the love of her life likes her best friend….. who’s a boy so that's out of the question.
Her best friend loves her even though he rejected her…… in kindergarten.
and the teacher seems to have more of a connection to her past then anyone realizes.
i felt the ending probably needed a bit more time to flush out… it did feel a little rushed and a character is introduced only to be shoved to the side have have little to no effect on the plot.
The art is fairly cute, the eyes are approaching Arina territory but i think if i would compare the two they would be smaller…. but only by a little.
so yeah a cute shojo title, not the best but it’s not long so that’s nice.
alright on the the next thing
overall this series was cute, A young girl is crying due to having lost her parents and a boy comes out and gives her a gift… the brightest star in the sky that will always be there no matter what the season…. he vanishes and leaves behind a bear named Haru and a letter. “write all your problems to Haru and he will always listen.
Fast forward and Rui, the crying girl, is in her last year of junior high. She’s having boy troubles as she’s afraid to confess to the love of her life. One day, due to a combination of misunderstandings and a kerfufl there ends up being a fire in the hot teaching assistants apartment. To be fair…. he was with one girl and receiving a call from another so the first one kinda sorta became and arsonist…..
Well this has nothing to do with Rui so she goes back to her neighbors apartment where her best friend Taro lives.
When she goes home though she finds that said Hot Teaching intern has kinda sorta made the place his own, using the excuse of ‘having no where else to go~’ she allows him to do this since it’ll only be the length of the internship then he’s off again.
But as we all know it’s never that easy in shoujo… Turns out the love of her life likes her best friend….. who’s a boy so that's out of the question.
Her best friend loves her even though he rejected her…… in kindergarten.
and the teacher seems to have more of a connection to her past then anyone realizes.
i felt the ending probably needed a bit more time to flush out… it did feel a little rushed and a character is introduced only to be shoved to the side have have little to no effect on the plot.
The art is fairly cute, the eyes are approaching Arina territory but i think if i would compare the two they would be smaller…. but only by a little.
so yeah a cute shojo title, not the best but it’s not long so that’s nice.
alright on the the next thing
Monday, 27 February 2012
Completed: Tales of the Abyss
this is the 3ds Version that was just released not the Ps2 version but i may comment on the slight differences.
To date i haven't played very many Tales of Games, i have played Phantasia, Symphonia 1&2, i tried to play destiny but it wouldn't play on my console and now i can add The abyss to the list.
So i'll start by saying Next to Falcom games the Tales of Series is one of my favorites. Tales of phantasia was the first rpg that i beat, i mean lv 99 all summons all magic all items.... 100% so the games are near and dear to my heart. However they aren't perfect.
So lets look at the good and the bad of Tales of the Abyss (in my opinion of course)
Opening:
Right off the bat this intro is amazing, i could tell right away it was the instrumental version of a song which made me kind of sad... especially when i heard the original version with words.... which makes a really good song even better... but it's in Japanese so i understand why they changed it. but yeah really good song, it's called Karma by BUMP OF CHICKEN. The lyrics fit the story perfectly and the music adds so much to the mood. but we just get the instrumental in North America.... i'm just happy to have a tales game in general.
Story:
We begin with Luke, a spoiled brat with long who seems to just be existing... he hasn't left his mansion in 7 years since he was kidnapped and doesn't remember his past. but he's not completely alone. Guy his servant/friend is always by his side ready to cause trouble within the mansion as well as he is trained by one of the Oracle Knights, who goes by Van, in fact he's the leader of the Oracle knights.
However one day during training the mansion is broken into and a mysterious girl attacks with odd magic Luke has never seen before but as the girl goes to attack Van Luke rushes in to fight her off. When there weapons hit there is a bright light and next thing Luke and the girl know they have been whisked away to unknown lands.
And thus our story begins. Unfortunately this is where all the in world gargain gets thrown at you in full force. Normally i hate when characters throw around words and expect you to just understand what that is supposed to mean *gives a sideways glace at FFXIII* but this game takes the approach of Luke knows nothing of the outside world so when other characters are explaining things we get the "oh right the main characters a moron who's been extremely sheltered, this is what all that means" this works pretty well for the most part. but yeah... lots of in world words thrown at you really fast.... to name a few: seventh fonons, Yuliya's Score, Fon Master, Field of Fonons, Fonons, Lorelie, cheagle. now having played the game through all that makes sense but at the start i just kind of stared at the screen.
after a while we find out the murderous girl, Tear, is actually pretty nice and didn't mean to take luke from home and will help him get back... we meet someone called Fon master Ion, essentially he's the most powerful position of this world religion, his Guardian Anise and their Escort Jade. prety soon after that Guy shows up again and they all work together (kinda) to get luek back home.
But this is an RPG.... things are never that easy.
without giving away much more the main world mechanic is that there is this thing called the Score, a prophecy given mostly once a year but you can go in a get it done more if you want... anyways personal ones are vague... but the one known as yuliya's Score actually is quite clear and so far 100% accurate.
Unfortunately when things are already set in stone for you... you tend to rely on it and not try to do anything on your own.... and that's is really the crux of the story.... how to deal with yuliya's score.... both those who follow it blindly and those who try drastic measures to get away from it. It also deals with the sleeping God Lorelei and the fact that Luke seems to be able to talk to him (kinda)
and that's all i'll say without giving away spoilers.
so.... i really like the combat system... a more linear action based game BUT you can move around in the fight area... the characters are all really well developed... every bad guy has a story and a reason why they stand for what they stand for.... all the protagonist have an arc... (thought there is a section where luke starts warming up but then he goes back to being an jerk almost out of nowhere.... i'm guessing it's the task getting to his head but yeah... that was odd) and as shallow as is seems.... it has costumes in it... i love when games allow you to change costumes.... it's just fun.
the things i didn't like seem to be constant through all Tales of games.
"go here, it's south west of where we are now.... now go here.... past the desert east of us...." there is a lot of navigating.... which on foot is okay.... but once you get the airship....
"go to this town" the game states smugly
"but i've never been there and i don't know which direction it's in.... hm... maybe the people know? nope.... oh a skit? maybe? well it reminded me where i need to go.... oh oh oh i know *check synopsis*" and of course if it's not there... off to game faq just to find out where i'm supposed to go.... also don't tell me "it's on the content of Rugnica!" and expect me to remember which content that was.... but yeah especially in the third part there is a lot of "go here, then here, back to where you came from, go tell the church, now the kings, back to the church... for funsies..." which is fine at that point cause you have a jump opinion but still... it gets a little annoying traveling from cutscene to cutscene.
also, the 3ds version has random slowdown on some areas of the map... i found specifically near bridges.... no idea why but compared to the ps2 version the load times are much better.... i never played the ps2 versions but i did see a lot of comparison videos out there.
so other then that... i adored the game, it made me laugh, it made me cry (a few times) it deals with some pretty deep plots and it's hard to tell if what your doing is always the right thing... and that's what games should do.... make you wonder if in fact you are really the good guy... or just a group of racialist... okay it never goes that deep into the plot but it was close.
if you don't own or haven't played the ps2 version and you have a 3ds then get this game.... the entire thing is in 3d and it adds a little dimension but it's not a necessary thing to the game.... so yeah,,, really solid game and i hope more Tales of games are ported to 3ds.... it's nice to have it on the go. I put about 45 hours into my first play through so i felt it was worth the money.... plus that awesome intro song..... so good...
alright time to call it a night, i have a little fanart of luke in the works and i'll probably post it tomorrow.
To date i haven't played very many Tales of Games, i have played Phantasia, Symphonia 1&2, i tried to play destiny but it wouldn't play on my console and now i can add The abyss to the list.
So i'll start by saying Next to Falcom games the Tales of Series is one of my favorites. Tales of phantasia was the first rpg that i beat, i mean lv 99 all summons all magic all items.... 100% so the games are near and dear to my heart. However they aren't perfect.
So lets look at the good and the bad of Tales of the Abyss (in my opinion of course)
Opening:
Right off the bat this intro is amazing, i could tell right away it was the instrumental version of a song which made me kind of sad... especially when i heard the original version with words.... which makes a really good song even better... but it's in Japanese so i understand why they changed it. but yeah really good song, it's called Karma by BUMP OF CHICKEN. The lyrics fit the story perfectly and the music adds so much to the mood. but we just get the instrumental in North America.... i'm just happy to have a tales game in general.
Story:
We begin with Luke, a spoiled brat with long who seems to just be existing... he hasn't left his mansion in 7 years since he was kidnapped and doesn't remember his past. but he's not completely alone. Guy his servant/friend is always by his side ready to cause trouble within the mansion as well as he is trained by one of the Oracle Knights, who goes by Van, in fact he's the leader of the Oracle knights.
However one day during training the mansion is broken into and a mysterious girl attacks with odd magic Luke has never seen before but as the girl goes to attack Van Luke rushes in to fight her off. When there weapons hit there is a bright light and next thing Luke and the girl know they have been whisked away to unknown lands.
And thus our story begins. Unfortunately this is where all the in world gargain gets thrown at you in full force. Normally i hate when characters throw around words and expect you to just understand what that is supposed to mean *gives a sideways glace at FFXIII* but this game takes the approach of Luke knows nothing of the outside world so when other characters are explaining things we get the "oh right the main characters a moron who's been extremely sheltered, this is what all that means" this works pretty well for the most part. but yeah... lots of in world words thrown at you really fast.... to name a few: seventh fonons, Yuliya's Score, Fon Master, Field of Fonons, Fonons, Lorelie, cheagle. now having played the game through all that makes sense but at the start i just kind of stared at the screen.
after a while we find out the murderous girl, Tear, is actually pretty nice and didn't mean to take luke from home and will help him get back... we meet someone called Fon master Ion, essentially he's the most powerful position of this world religion, his Guardian Anise and their Escort Jade. prety soon after that Guy shows up again and they all work together (kinda) to get luek back home.
But this is an RPG.... things are never that easy.
without giving away much more the main world mechanic is that there is this thing called the Score, a prophecy given mostly once a year but you can go in a get it done more if you want... anyways personal ones are vague... but the one known as yuliya's Score actually is quite clear and so far 100% accurate.
Unfortunately when things are already set in stone for you... you tend to rely on it and not try to do anything on your own.... and that's is really the crux of the story.... how to deal with yuliya's score.... both those who follow it blindly and those who try drastic measures to get away from it. It also deals with the sleeping God Lorelei and the fact that Luke seems to be able to talk to him (kinda)
and that's all i'll say without giving away spoilers.
so.... i really like the combat system... a more linear action based game BUT you can move around in the fight area... the characters are all really well developed... every bad guy has a story and a reason why they stand for what they stand for.... all the protagonist have an arc... (thought there is a section where luke starts warming up but then he goes back to being an jerk almost out of nowhere.... i'm guessing it's the task getting to his head but yeah... that was odd) and as shallow as is seems.... it has costumes in it... i love when games allow you to change costumes.... it's just fun.
the things i didn't like seem to be constant through all Tales of games.
"go here, it's south west of where we are now.... now go here.... past the desert east of us...." there is a lot of navigating.... which on foot is okay.... but once you get the airship....
"go to this town" the game states smugly
"but i've never been there and i don't know which direction it's in.... hm... maybe the people know? nope.... oh a skit? maybe? well it reminded me where i need to go.... oh oh oh i know *check synopsis*" and of course if it's not there... off to game faq just to find out where i'm supposed to go.... also don't tell me "it's on the content of Rugnica!" and expect me to remember which content that was.... but yeah especially in the third part there is a lot of "go here, then here, back to where you came from, go tell the church, now the kings, back to the church... for funsies..." which is fine at that point cause you have a jump opinion but still... it gets a little annoying traveling from cutscene to cutscene.
also, the 3ds version has random slowdown on some areas of the map... i found specifically near bridges.... no idea why but compared to the ps2 version the load times are much better.... i never played the ps2 versions but i did see a lot of comparison videos out there.
so other then that... i adored the game, it made me laugh, it made me cry (a few times) it deals with some pretty deep plots and it's hard to tell if what your doing is always the right thing... and that's what games should do.... make you wonder if in fact you are really the good guy... or just a group of racialist... okay it never goes that deep into the plot but it was close.
if you don't own or haven't played the ps2 version and you have a 3ds then get this game.... the entire thing is in 3d and it adds a little dimension but it's not a necessary thing to the game.... so yeah,,, really solid game and i hope more Tales of games are ported to 3ds.... it's nice to have it on the go. I put about 45 hours into my first play through so i felt it was worth the money.... plus that awesome intro song..... so good...
alright time to call it a night, i have a little fanart of luke in the works and i'll probably post it tomorrow.
Completed: Restraint (Ghost Targets #3) by Aaron Pogue
Originally published September 29, 2011 on tumblr
a) love this setting, this volume starts showing more of the flaws within the hathor system and hints at something more sinister then what the system has been portrayed as in the other two books.
b) love the writer cause by the looks of it he works really fast….. Book two of the dragon prince series i think is supposed to be released in December…. and then book 4 of this series will be released in February… so it’s giving me lots of things to read while i wait for book two of the Lightbringer trilogy
c) I love that this didn’t feel like an ending…. most of the time book three (oh most any series) tends to close a lot of plot threads… this one actually leaves a few open…
what is the evil mastermind really planning?
is letting technology run so much of our lives good or detrimental?
what will happen with the main character and the main love interest?
why do certain characters seem to hate each other but also seem to help the main character when they can.
WHAT WILL THE NEXT CASE BE? (most important question of course)
ok, yes this book makes book 2 look inconsequential to the plot other then a few hints but i have a feeling it’ll come more into play with time and more books…. for now i just plan to happily enjoy.
now off to read a book a friend recommended…. i trust her taste so i’m looking forward to it… even if it’s in first person… which i am not looking forward to…. oh well..
a) love this setting, this volume starts showing more of the flaws within the hathor system and hints at something more sinister then what the system has been portrayed as in the other two books.
b) love the writer cause by the looks of it he works really fast….. Book two of the dragon prince series i think is supposed to be released in December…. and then book 4 of this series will be released in February… so it’s giving me lots of things to read while i wait for book two of the Lightbringer trilogy
c) I love that this didn’t feel like an ending…. most of the time book three (oh most any series) tends to close a lot of plot threads… this one actually leaves a few open…
what is the evil mastermind really planning?
is letting technology run so much of our lives good or detrimental?
what will happen with the main character and the main love interest?
why do certain characters seem to hate each other but also seem to help the main character when they can.
WHAT WILL THE NEXT CASE BE? (most important question of course)
ok, yes this book makes book 2 look inconsequential to the plot other then a few hints but i have a feeling it’ll come more into play with time and more books…. for now i just plan to happily enjoy.
now off to read a book a friend recommended…. i trust her taste so i’m looking forward to it… even if it’s in first person… which i am not looking forward to…. oh well..
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Completed: Hanasaku Iroha
Origianly published September 25, 2011 on tumblr
The story of Ohana, A girl who is informed that she will be living with her Grandmother at a japanese inn while her mother is off traveling with her new flame.
Of course it’s not so easy… Ohana is put to work as a waitress almost as soon as she arrives and she struggles to learn the job, the people and the new mindset… not to mention her long time friend confessed to her right before she left and her grandmother doesn’t seem to be terribly kind to her simply because Ohana’s mother abandoned the inn.
As time passes however she learns a lot about herself and those around her, she goes through too many emotions to even mention while repeating her mantra of 'Festing' it up which always seemed to get her through the harder days.
Near the end there is a lot of talk about Dreams, goals and the Fate of the Inn and it makes for a really touching Slice of Life show. I was expecting it to be much sadder then it was but in the end it all had a nice balance.
The animation is stunning, the music and voice acting is good and the characters are loveable. If you like Slice of life then this is a must see show. i’m just really sad it’s over… still looking forward to the next season of shows!
The story of Ohana, A girl who is informed that she will be living with her Grandmother at a japanese inn while her mother is off traveling with her new flame.
Of course it’s not so easy… Ohana is put to work as a waitress almost as soon as she arrives and she struggles to learn the job, the people and the new mindset… not to mention her long time friend confessed to her right before she left and her grandmother doesn’t seem to be terribly kind to her simply because Ohana’s mother abandoned the inn.
As time passes however she learns a lot about herself and those around her, she goes through too many emotions to even mention while repeating her mantra of 'Festing' it up which always seemed to get her through the harder days.
Near the end there is a lot of talk about Dreams, goals and the Fate of the Inn and it makes for a really touching Slice of Life show. I was expecting it to be much sadder then it was but in the end it all had a nice balance.
The animation is stunning, the music and voice acting is good and the characters are loveable. If you like Slice of life then this is a must see show. i’m just really sad it’s over… still looking forward to the next season of shows!
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Completed: Expectations (Ghost Targets #2) by Aaron Pogue
Originally posted September 24, 2011on tumblr
it’s just not fair…. how can such a good author have so few books out.
so this is the follow up to Gods Tomorrow, a sci-fi novel that essentially asks the question what happens if smart phones go on crack and do EVERYTHING and the world is monitored by cameras covering every inch of the world.
Now that sounds quite big brother and when i first picked up this series that’s what i was expecting… and it has those elements… but it’s not quite so malicious. In the first book we dealt with the fact that people were dropping off the grid and committing crimes in ways the computer couldn’t detect and special FBI agents known as Ghost trackers were set to figure these crimes out.
This one follows up with Agent Katie Pratt, having just recovered from her adventure in the previous story she heads back to work to find out her department is under an investigation. During all this another case drops on them, the doctor who has found the cure for aging has fallen into a coma and some people think it’s foul play.
Story wise i personally liked the first one a bit better, it set up Katie’s character really well and she was the main focus, the ending was a bit less predictable and i really enjoyed a certain character that seems to be more trouble then he’s worth who’s role is a bit more pushed to the side in this one.
Still this case was great, seeing how clever/brave/reckless Katie can be is very exciting and some of the twists completely took me off guard. Also loved the fact that Reed got a bigger role…. even though he’s underused in the first one i really enjoyed his chemistry and this adds to that quite a lot…. so yeah… another good book… hope Mr Aaron Pogue is a fast writer because waiting for the next installment in the Dragon Prince Series (december 2011) and book two of the light bringer Trilogy (september 2012 *sobs*) may be the end of me…. great book… great series.
it’s just not fair…. how can such a good author have so few books out.
so this is the follow up to Gods Tomorrow, a sci-fi novel that essentially asks the question what happens if smart phones go on crack and do EVERYTHING and the world is monitored by cameras covering every inch of the world.
Now that sounds quite big brother and when i first picked up this series that’s what i was expecting… and it has those elements… but it’s not quite so malicious. In the first book we dealt with the fact that people were dropping off the grid and committing crimes in ways the computer couldn’t detect and special FBI agents known as Ghost trackers were set to figure these crimes out.
This one follows up with Agent Katie Pratt, having just recovered from her adventure in the previous story she heads back to work to find out her department is under an investigation. During all this another case drops on them, the doctor who has found the cure for aging has fallen into a coma and some people think it’s foul play.
Story wise i personally liked the first one a bit better, it set up Katie’s character really well and she was the main focus, the ending was a bit less predictable and i really enjoyed a certain character that seems to be more trouble then he’s worth who’s role is a bit more pushed to the side in this one.
Still this case was great, seeing how clever/brave/reckless Katie can be is very exciting and some of the twists completely took me off guard. Also loved the fact that Reed got a bigger role…. even though he’s underused in the first one i really enjoyed his chemistry and this adds to that quite a lot…. so yeah… another good book… hope Mr Aaron Pogue is a fast writer because waiting for the next installment in the Dragon Prince Series (december 2011) and book two of the light bringer Trilogy (september 2012 *sobs*) may be the end of me…. great book… great series.
Friday, 24 February 2012
Completed: Ikoku Meiro No Croisee
Originally posted September 22, 2011 on Tumblr
So cute…. i wish overall there had been more of an overall plot… a lot of things felt shoved into the last few eps and some things i felt didn’t get enough attention… almost like it needs a second season…. though i don’t know if it has one in mind.
this slice of life show of pure adorable is only 12 eps long and focuses on Yune, a little Japanese girl in Paris at the turn of the century.
It deals with Culture shock and trying to get used to ideas that differ from your own.
and that's really it… i enjoyed every episode but yeah… wish there was more… guess i have to read the manga.
So cute…. i wish overall there had been more of an overall plot… a lot of things felt shoved into the last few eps and some things i felt didn’t get enough attention… almost like it needs a second season…. though i don’t know if it has one in mind.
this slice of life show of pure adorable is only 12 eps long and focuses on Yune, a little Japanese girl in Paris at the turn of the century.
It deals with Culture shock and trying to get used to ideas that differ from your own.
and that's really it… i enjoyed every episode but yeah… wish there was more… guess i have to read the manga.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Dear Canadian weather forcaster...
stop treating every little snowfall like it’s the end of the world….
it’s winter…. we are going to get snow… hell this has been one of the lightest winters i’ve ever seen.
this will not be the storm of the century… or the decade…. or the year…. or the month…. so just calm the hell down.
every time you do this you make yourself look more foolish…. remember a few years ago? we were supposed to get that massive storm? everyone freaked cause it was gunna be big…. remember what happened? I do! NOTHING…. I think there was maybe a couple of centimeters of snow…. which was plowed right away…. and then we were fine.
so my point is…. news…. all you have to say is “that white stuff is gunna fall from the sky again, don’t be an idiot and start speeding cause the roads will probably be slippery…. you also might get stuck behind a snow plow… please deal with it cause if you get into a fight with one… the snowplow will win. Also remember that snow is cold…. so wear a sweater….. welcome to Canada Bitches….”
which in my opinion sounds much more dignified then “OMG We’s all gunna die! this storm will be the worst storm Eva! go crowd the stores and buy lots of stuff cause you may be trapped in you home cause of teh storm :( also it may just end up being a rain snow mix… which means it’ll melt before tomorrow….. BUT IF THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN THEN WE IS ALL GUNNA DIE : (“
so yeah…. that's my little rant on how the news… specifically the weather part of the news is stupid.
it’s winter…. we are going to get snow… hell this has been one of the lightest winters i’ve ever seen.
this will not be the storm of the century… or the decade…. or the year…. or the month…. so just calm the hell down.
every time you do this you make yourself look more foolish…. remember a few years ago? we were supposed to get that massive storm? everyone freaked cause it was gunna be big…. remember what happened? I do! NOTHING…. I think there was maybe a couple of centimeters of snow…. which was plowed right away…. and then we were fine.
so my point is…. news…. all you have to say is “that white stuff is gunna fall from the sky again, don’t be an idiot and start speeding cause the roads will probably be slippery…. you also might get stuck behind a snow plow… please deal with it cause if you get into a fight with one… the snowplow will win. Also remember that snow is cold…. so wear a sweater….. welcome to Canada Bitches….”
which in my opinion sounds much more dignified then “OMG We’s all gunna die! this storm will be the worst storm Eva! go crowd the stores and buy lots of stuff cause you may be trapped in you home cause of teh storm :( also it may just end up being a rain snow mix… which means it’ll melt before tomorrow….. BUT IF THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN THEN WE IS ALL GUNNA DIE : (“
so yeah…. that's my little rant on how the news… specifically the weather part of the news is stupid.
Completed: Mageborn: The Blacksmiths Son by Michael Manning
Originally posted September 20, 2011 on tumblr
I Love fantasy, when it comes to novels it’s the Genre i tend to default to. I love seeing authors interpretations of magic systems, or how they deal with things if there are other beings like elves or fairies with humans, most of all i just tend to like the characters.
Things that i don’t tend to like? Inconsistencies.
Maybe i’m just too stubborn but i hate when things don’t pick a format and stick with it.
So with that preamble out of the way…. onto the review.
AT the beginning there is a little prologue explaining how a castle was attacked and how all but a few were killed, one was a baby the other was someone in the dungeon but we don’t find out about that till much later and it’s not really ever flushed out.
The book proper starts with us being introduced to a young boy who eventually tells us, yes this book is in first person, that his name is Mordecai just in case he hadn’t mentioned it before…. so it’s first person and he is telling US… the reader.
We meet his friend Marc who is the son of a Lord and they just happen to be friends because….. it furthers the plot… to be fair to do give some reason but i can’t remember.
Marc, after seeing his friend save a drowning horse with what only could be magic, convinces Mort (yes thats the same he goes by…) to come by his home and stay for the festivities and even pretend to be a lord.
yeah that can’t go wrong.
soon were introduced to main love interest Penny and Tough guy guard Dorian, the 4 are all childhood friends despite their difference positions in the class system.
so eventually other guests arrive… a girl names rose who seems to know more then she ever lets on, a jerk name Devon who’s sole purpose in life is to be a Asshole and our main adversary… Mort notices he’s got a nasty feeling purple aura… in fact mort notices he can see many odd auras on people and objects.
Devon has it in for Mort right away and does everything he can to embarrass and possibly even kill him.
parallel to this we have Mort finding a book that describes magic…. which he proceeds to read, fully understand and even experiment with…. Without a teacher.
Then suddenly we are in 3rd person….
wait….. what?
nearing the halfway mark of the book we suddenly get views from other characters were are in 3rd person. so wait is he still telling us this? how does he know what happened when he wasn’t around? i doubt Devon would tell him after the fact so mort could tell other people…
then suddenly chapters get names…. while up to a point they were just standard “chapter 1” and so on….
And thus we have hit on my main issue with this book.
It had such potential…. i hate first person but if it had stuck with it and never seen what other characters were up to except when mort himself saw them… well that can make for an interesting narrative. In fact all the chapters that had 3rd person bits felt unnecessary.
Also how far ahead from the event and who the story is being told to isn’t explained… at least not in the first book… but that leads to another problem… if mort is telling the story…. we know he wont die… because he has to tell the story from a later date.
Finally everything is far to easy for mort, the magic, the money, the power, even the girl… he works hard for things yes but it comes much to easily in my opinion.
STILL this is the authors first book, i’m sure with time and an editor to tell him “telling the audience how brilliant your character is constantly will only serve to piss them off” and more experience with writing he could really be good, i enjoyed his magic system a lot and i love the little except from ‘marcus the hieratic’ at the start of every chapter though i feel like if i read only those in order it would just around a little too much… still overall is has potential…. maybe once he has a few more books under his belt i’ll give him another shot…. for now though…. it’s time to read Ghost trackers 2…. looking forward to that.
I Love fantasy, when it comes to novels it’s the Genre i tend to default to. I love seeing authors interpretations of magic systems, or how they deal with things if there are other beings like elves or fairies with humans, most of all i just tend to like the characters.
Things that i don’t tend to like? Inconsistencies.
Maybe i’m just too stubborn but i hate when things don’t pick a format and stick with it.
So with that preamble out of the way…. onto the review.
AT the beginning there is a little prologue explaining how a castle was attacked and how all but a few were killed, one was a baby the other was someone in the dungeon but we don’t find out about that till much later and it’s not really ever flushed out.
The book proper starts with us being introduced to a young boy who eventually tells us, yes this book is in first person, that his name is Mordecai just in case he hadn’t mentioned it before…. so it’s first person and he is telling US… the reader.
We meet his friend Marc who is the son of a Lord and they just happen to be friends because….. it furthers the plot… to be fair to do give some reason but i can’t remember.
Marc, after seeing his friend save a drowning horse with what only could be magic, convinces Mort (yes thats the same he goes by…) to come by his home and stay for the festivities and even pretend to be a lord.
yeah that can’t go wrong.
soon were introduced to main love interest Penny and Tough guy guard Dorian, the 4 are all childhood friends despite their difference positions in the class system.
so eventually other guests arrive… a girl names rose who seems to know more then she ever lets on, a jerk name Devon who’s sole purpose in life is to be a Asshole and our main adversary… Mort notices he’s got a nasty feeling purple aura… in fact mort notices he can see many odd auras on people and objects.
Devon has it in for Mort right away and does everything he can to embarrass and possibly even kill him.
parallel to this we have Mort finding a book that describes magic…. which he proceeds to read, fully understand and even experiment with…. Without a teacher.
Then suddenly we are in 3rd person….
wait….. what?
nearing the halfway mark of the book we suddenly get views from other characters were are in 3rd person. so wait is he still telling us this? how does he know what happened when he wasn’t around? i doubt Devon would tell him after the fact so mort could tell other people…
then suddenly chapters get names…. while up to a point they were just standard “chapter 1” and so on….
And thus we have hit on my main issue with this book.
It had such potential…. i hate first person but if it had stuck with it and never seen what other characters were up to except when mort himself saw them… well that can make for an interesting narrative. In fact all the chapters that had 3rd person bits felt unnecessary.
Also how far ahead from the event and who the story is being told to isn’t explained… at least not in the first book… but that leads to another problem… if mort is telling the story…. we know he wont die… because he has to tell the story from a later date.
Finally everything is far to easy for mort, the magic, the money, the power, even the girl… he works hard for things yes but it comes much to easily in my opinion.
STILL this is the authors first book, i’m sure with time and an editor to tell him “telling the audience how brilliant your character is constantly will only serve to piss them off” and more experience with writing he could really be good, i enjoyed his magic system a lot and i love the little except from ‘marcus the hieratic’ at the start of every chapter though i feel like if i read only those in order it would just around a little too much… still overall is has potential…. maybe once he has a few more books under his belt i’ll give him another shot…. for now though…. it’s time to read Ghost trackers 2…. looking forward to that.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Completed: Batman Year 1
Originally posted September 15, 2011 on tumblr
… i have nothing against Comic books in theory…. but i think i really don’t like frank miller as a writer… just doesn’t suit my personal taste…. so i really didn’t enjoy this and i only read it cause it was homework… hopefully Maus, apollo’s song and watchman will all be more enjoyable then this. luckily the course focuses more one the structure of the comic books and not the comics themselves….
… i have nothing against Comic books in theory…. but i think i really don’t like frank miller as a writer… just doesn’t suit my personal taste…. so i really didn’t enjoy this and i only read it cause it was homework… hopefully Maus, apollo’s song and watchman will all be more enjoyable then this. luckily the course focuses more one the structure of the comic books and not the comics themselves….
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Kenji -From Start to Finish-
This is the second of a six image series where i will be using colour psychology to help focus the content.
Green gives off a sense of harmony and refreshment. it gives us more rest and makes us feel more at piece. because of nature it's also seen as growth and fertility. you have to be careful with green though since they wrong shade will make you think of being sick or untrustworth.
i went for the relaxing theme with my character kenji.
now these pieces part a lot bigger then i'm used to working... so to have a close shot on a 14x20 canvas was really hard for me.... but i had a lot of fun with it.... originally it was going to be half of his body but after the composition sketch in small scale i figured out it looked more appealing close up. you can still see all my pencil in this shot.... dunno why i took the pic before i erased it...
anyways...
this is a little under the midway point.... i took the shot in the worst possible lighting conditions then tried to skew it so it didn't look so odd.... yeah that didn't work but still at this point i had been working about an hour... maybe an hour and a half.... i think i was more confident with this one so i was a bit quicker... then after another hour or so of just buckling down and getting this done...
took this one in better lighting.... though i really should get a set up so i can photograph larger pieces.
i really enjoyed doing this and i'm actually pretty pumped to get started on the next one... plus it was fun drawing a character whom barely ever gets any attention....
Kenji, goes by Ken. Second child in a family of 4.... has an older brother, a younger brother and a younger half sister. His stone is Jadeite and he's one of my more carefree characters...
or is he? dun dun dunnnnnnn
alright so my remaining colours are red, orange, yellow and blue.... i may do more after but for now i need to get one of each colour done.
So it can be purchased as either a print or an iphone case at Red Bubble
Green gives off a sense of harmony and refreshment. it gives us more rest and makes us feel more at piece. because of nature it's also seen as growth and fertility. you have to be careful with green though since they wrong shade will make you think of being sick or untrustworth.
i went for the relaxing theme with my character kenji.
anyways...
i really enjoyed doing this and i'm actually pretty pumped to get started on the next one... plus it was fun drawing a character whom barely ever gets any attention....
Kenji, goes by Ken. Second child in a family of 4.... has an older brother, a younger brother and a younger half sister. His stone is Jadeite and he's one of my more carefree characters...
or is he? dun dun dunnnnnnn
alright so my remaining colours are red, orange, yellow and blue.... i may do more after but for now i need to get one of each colour done.
So it can be purchased as either a print or an iphone case at Red Bubble
Completed: Stiens; Gate
Originally posted September 14, 2011 on Tumblr
loved this show, one of the best of the season And one of the best time travel plot lines i’ve ever seen. if i say much more then that i’ll spoil everything.
so yeah go watch it.
loved this show, one of the best of the season And one of the best time travel plot lines i’ve ever seen. if i say much more then that i’ll spoil everything.
so yeah go watch it.
Monday, 20 February 2012
Completed: Professor layton: and the Diabolical Box
Originally posted July 31, 2011 on tumblr
this one had such a cute story… a lot more slider puzzles but still this game was a great deal of fun… and that final puzzle when it clicked (which didn’t take very long) made me cry out “you son of a bitch… i would never have guessed that…. except i did… hmm”
great game…. probably going to be KH BBS then go back to it…. good to take breaks from puzzle games
also the music is great…. just saying.
this one had such a cute story… a lot more slider puzzles but still this game was a great deal of fun… and that final puzzle when it clicked (which didn’t take very long) made me cry out “you son of a bitch… i would never have guessed that…. except i did… hmm”
great game…. probably going to be KH BBS then go back to it…. good to take breaks from puzzle games
also the music is great…. just saying.
Completed: The Secret World of Arrietty
Know the plot for "the borrowers" ?
great... now imagine that story with stunning visuals and an amazing score...
yeah that's pretty much this film in a nutshell.
I personally haven't seen every Hayao Miyazaki film. I was first introduced to him about ten years ago when my friend showed me Princess Mononoke... i think i saw spirited away shortly before or shortly after but i knew i liked the look of his films. Eventually i saw Naussica, castle in the sky and Howls moving castle.... all which i enjoyed.... Then i saw ponyo.
while i didn't hate ponyo i was kinda expecting a darker then the disney version of little mermaid and i got a much cuter and probably even more child friendly telling of the story... which is fine but since it wasn't what i expected i was a little disappointed. Again it wasn't bad but i never had been exposed to his 'kid movies'... hell i started with princess mononoke which is actually quite dark... anyways. next i saw kiki's delivery service.... which was cute but the pacing was a bit odd and i kinda wish there was more of a running plot.... still it was very slice of life so i enjoyed it. and now we get to arrietty....
if i had to rank hayao miyazaki films that i have seen.... it would probably be...
but once again... none of these films are bad.
I really enjoyed Arrietty... maybe after i watch it in Japanese without the disney engrish songs it'll bump princess mononoke.... but for now it's a close second.
the good?
The backgrounds are lovely
the characters and their design is believable and interesting.
The music is stunning and i will be looking to get the soundtrack either on iTunes or on cd.... i don't care i just want it.
the story is cute, yes it's been told before but i don't care it had it's happy moments and it's sadder moments.... it didn't get me to cry but it was pretty close.
things that make it a close second?
The voice acting... it's okay.... but the dialogue... i dunno just a little forced? it was better then most of the other disney dubs but not as good as the mononoke dub. I look forward to hearing it in it's original form.... i kinda wish disney would just put out a sub version.... but i guess asking children to read is a bit much.... and apparently all animation is for kids...
the pacing is a bit odd... again that seems to be common in his films so it didn't bug me too much but it's something to mention.
there are some cg backgrounds... they didn't bug me but my friend whom i saw it with didn't like how the two meshed so i figured it is worth mentioning.
so yeah i really enjoyed this, i think it's one of his better works.... granted i don't think i've seen even half of his catalogue so who am i to judge.
go see it in theaters if you've liked any of his other films or are just an anime fan in general.
great... now imagine that story with stunning visuals and an amazing score...
yeah that's pretty much this film in a nutshell.
I personally haven't seen every Hayao Miyazaki film. I was first introduced to him about ten years ago when my friend showed me Princess Mononoke... i think i saw spirited away shortly before or shortly after but i knew i liked the look of his films. Eventually i saw Naussica, castle in the sky and Howls moving castle.... all which i enjoyed.... Then i saw ponyo.
while i didn't hate ponyo i was kinda expecting a darker then the disney version of little mermaid and i got a much cuter and probably even more child friendly telling of the story... which is fine but since it wasn't what i expected i was a little disappointed. Again it wasn't bad but i never had been exposed to his 'kid movies'... hell i started with princess mononoke which is actually quite dark... anyways. next i saw kiki's delivery service.... which was cute but the pacing was a bit odd and i kinda wish there was more of a running plot.... still it was very slice of life so i enjoyed it. and now we get to arrietty....
if i had to rank hayao miyazaki films that i have seen.... it would probably be...
- Princess mononoke
- Arrietty
- Howls moving castle
- spirited away
- nausicca
- Castle in the sky
- Kiki's delivery service
- Ponyo
but once again... none of these films are bad.
I really enjoyed Arrietty... maybe after i watch it in Japanese without the disney engrish songs it'll bump princess mononoke.... but for now it's a close second.
the good?
The backgrounds are lovely
the characters and their design is believable and interesting.
The music is stunning and i will be looking to get the soundtrack either on iTunes or on cd.... i don't care i just want it.
the story is cute, yes it's been told before but i don't care it had it's happy moments and it's sadder moments.... it didn't get me to cry but it was pretty close.
things that make it a close second?
The voice acting... it's okay.... but the dialogue... i dunno just a little forced? it was better then most of the other disney dubs but not as good as the mononoke dub. I look forward to hearing it in it's original form.... i kinda wish disney would just put out a sub version.... but i guess asking children to read is a bit much.... and apparently all animation is for kids...
the pacing is a bit odd... again that seems to be common in his films so it didn't bug me too much but it's something to mention.
there are some cg backgrounds... they didn't bug me but my friend whom i saw it with didn't like how the two meshed so i figured it is worth mentioning.
so yeah i really enjoyed this, i think it's one of his better works.... granted i don't think i've seen even half of his catalogue so who am i to judge.
go see it in theaters if you've liked any of his other films or are just an anime fan in general.
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Completed: Gods Tomorrow (ghost targets 1)
Originally posted August 29, 2011 on tumblr
yet another book by Aaron Pogue…. it’s always fun finding new fav authors.
so yeah… to start off i’m not a huge fan of Sci-fi…. it has it’s place and i enjoy it from time to time but i’ll almost always pick fantasy over it.
so going back to Taming fire, same author i was all excited to see he had written another series that i could read while i way for the dragon prince series to continue…. my excitement lasted until i saw it was sci-fi….
then i read another book… the gatekeeper… which really wasn’t my cup of tea… so i said… screw it i wanna at least try the other series.
and i was pleasantly surprised… At first glance seems like a big brother-esque kind of setting where this system named Hathor watches and records everything. and while that is a little accurate… it’s more like if big brother/capitalism had a baby…. yes the system watches and records every move so that if a crime is committed the past recordings can be used as evidence but it (on the surface at least) believes that innocent until proven guilty….. but of course… money can sway things (granted it seems to take a lot of money)… as well as those with the ability to hide from the system going around committing crimes (known as Ghosts) there’s a special unit of the FBI that works on finding and apprehending these ‘ghosts’ and our story revolves around the new recruit, Katie Pratt, who is a bit intimidated by going from top dog of the police to lowest flea of the FBI.
so yeah the story is sci-fi but honestly it doesn’t feel like it’s too far off…. there area few points where she can’t look at this handheld that she (and everyone) else carries… and it practically kills her… she feels cut off from the real world… it’s more subtle then that but really made me think of ‘oh god what would happen if Iphones got to this level…. getting to a point where people trust the computers judgement more then their own. but it’s not played like “omg the evils of technology!” (well not in the first book at least) more like…. “omg the evils of the people who made/abuse technologies who consider themselves more then men” and that i really enjoyed.
also the pacing felt a little better then taming fire… i enjoyed taming fire more overall but yeah… i prefer fantasy… that's just my bias.so yeah…. really good book, really good author…. looking forward to more works in the future.
as far as i can see one if not 2 more books of this series are available… but for now i’m going to go back to fantasy… even if only for a little bit.
yet another book by Aaron Pogue…. it’s always fun finding new fav authors.
so yeah… to start off i’m not a huge fan of Sci-fi…. it has it’s place and i enjoy it from time to time but i’ll almost always pick fantasy over it.
so going back to Taming fire, same author i was all excited to see he had written another series that i could read while i way for the dragon prince series to continue…. my excitement lasted until i saw it was sci-fi….
then i read another book… the gatekeeper… which really wasn’t my cup of tea… so i said… screw it i wanna at least try the other series.
and i was pleasantly surprised… At first glance seems like a big brother-esque kind of setting where this system named Hathor watches and records everything. and while that is a little accurate… it’s more like if big brother/capitalism had a baby…. yes the system watches and records every move so that if a crime is committed the past recordings can be used as evidence but it (on the surface at least) believes that innocent until proven guilty….. but of course… money can sway things (granted it seems to take a lot of money)… as well as those with the ability to hide from the system going around committing crimes (known as Ghosts) there’s a special unit of the FBI that works on finding and apprehending these ‘ghosts’ and our story revolves around the new recruit, Katie Pratt, who is a bit intimidated by going from top dog of the police to lowest flea of the FBI.
so yeah the story is sci-fi but honestly it doesn’t feel like it’s too far off…. there area few points where she can’t look at this handheld that she (and everyone) else carries… and it practically kills her… she feels cut off from the real world… it’s more subtle then that but really made me think of ‘oh god what would happen if Iphones got to this level…. getting to a point where people trust the computers judgement more then their own. but it’s not played like “omg the evils of technology!” (well not in the first book at least) more like…. “omg the evils of the people who made/abuse technologies who consider themselves more then men” and that i really enjoyed.
also the pacing felt a little better then taming fire… i enjoyed taming fire more overall but yeah… i prefer fantasy… that's just my bias.so yeah…. really good book, really good author…. looking forward to more works in the future.
as far as i can see one if not 2 more books of this series are available… but for now i’m going to go back to fantasy… even if only for a little bit.
Saturday, 18 February 2012
My Personal Issue With 3D
i'll try and make this short... emphasis on Try.
3d in film.
I pretty much hate 3d movies... why?
1) even though i'm a college student not all the theaters around me have a student rate so if i want to go to movie it's gunna cost around 13.... 3d films however will charge around 2 dollars more for the pleasure of wearing some stupid looking sunglasses... if doesn't matter if you bring your own 3d glasses... the charge is still there. also if you want to see a film in imax 3d... you'll probably be charged an extra 5 bucks cause imax is expensive....
2) when not done well it's actually painful... i've sat through a few 3d films that didn't give me massive migraines but most (about 90% of the ones i've seen) do.... i don't get motion sickness so i have no idea why it affects me so badly but it does.
3) it's a gimmick so films that are like "omg we're in 3d cause it's cool and stuff" will almost always have a 'something coming at the screen' shot.
4) those something coming at the screen shots almost alwasy fail cause 3d doesn't ever actually jump out at you... the best you'll get is something coming forward a little but more likely then not 3d just gives the illusion that there is more depth in the screen.... not that things are coming out of the screen... if you want things to come out at you go to those lazer shows in science centers.... i know when i was a kid... not sure if they are still around.
5) films that focus on the 3d tend to forget that there is a thing called story and yeah it's nice when what we are looking is cool.... but we need plot and characters or we just wont care.
so yeah.... i actually endeavor to avoid films in 3d cause i do not want the industry moving that way.
but why bring this up?
well i own a 3ds.
3d in games
i love this little nintendo handheld.... the only thing i dislike? the 3d....
yeah the main selling feature i only turn on when it's necessary to solve a puzzle. *glares at super mario world.* but the thing is... i want to like the 3d... it's glasses free and very rarely shoves things in your face it really just focuses on giving more depth in the screen.
so why do i hate it?
1) you have to be in the perfect position to have the 3d work with no ghosting or pain... this being a handheld device means that finding the perfect position and then holding it for the duration of the game... it's not the easiest task.
2) other then one game where again it was necessary for some puzzles.... it's not useful at all. it makes the screen darker and the image a bit more blurry.... it's just easier to play with the slider set to 2d.
granted.... the system hasn't been out long and more games that better utilize the 3d will come out...
i seriously hope this whole 3d thing goes away soon... or they fix all the problems with it and start focusing on story again.
looks like i wasn't able to keep this short after all... sorry
3d in film.
I pretty much hate 3d movies... why?
1) even though i'm a college student not all the theaters around me have a student rate so if i want to go to movie it's gunna cost around 13.... 3d films however will charge around 2 dollars more for the pleasure of wearing some stupid looking sunglasses... if doesn't matter if you bring your own 3d glasses... the charge is still there. also if you want to see a film in imax 3d... you'll probably be charged an extra 5 bucks cause imax is expensive....
2) when not done well it's actually painful... i've sat through a few 3d films that didn't give me massive migraines but most (about 90% of the ones i've seen) do.... i don't get motion sickness so i have no idea why it affects me so badly but it does.
3) it's a gimmick so films that are like "omg we're in 3d cause it's cool and stuff" will almost always have a 'something coming at the screen' shot.
4) those something coming at the screen shots almost alwasy fail cause 3d doesn't ever actually jump out at you... the best you'll get is something coming forward a little but more likely then not 3d just gives the illusion that there is more depth in the screen.... not that things are coming out of the screen... if you want things to come out at you go to those lazer shows in science centers.... i know when i was a kid... not sure if they are still around.
5) films that focus on the 3d tend to forget that there is a thing called story and yeah it's nice when what we are looking is cool.... but we need plot and characters or we just wont care.
so yeah.... i actually endeavor to avoid films in 3d cause i do not want the industry moving that way.
but why bring this up?
well i own a 3ds.
3d in games
i love this little nintendo handheld.... the only thing i dislike? the 3d....
yeah the main selling feature i only turn on when it's necessary to solve a puzzle. *glares at super mario world.* but the thing is... i want to like the 3d... it's glasses free and very rarely shoves things in your face it really just focuses on giving more depth in the screen.
so why do i hate it?
1) you have to be in the perfect position to have the 3d work with no ghosting or pain... this being a handheld device means that finding the perfect position and then holding it for the duration of the game... it's not the easiest task.
2) other then one game where again it was necessary for some puzzles.... it's not useful at all. it makes the screen darker and the image a bit more blurry.... it's just easier to play with the slider set to 2d.
granted.... the system hasn't been out long and more games that better utilize the 3d will come out...
i seriously hope this whole 3d thing goes away soon... or they fix all the problems with it and start focusing on story again.
looks like i wasn't able to keep this short after all... sorry
Completed: The Gateway
originally posted August 26, 2011on tumblr
Harbinger of doom vol 1
this was that free book i was excited about a few days ago…
ok… written by Glenn G. Thater. this is a fairly short fantasy novel with a pretty straightforward concept…. and i’m about to drastically over simplify it.
Imagine a world where things that we consider to be myth, legend or religious readings to be 100% truth…. all of it… and while that's not really the entire concept it’s the easiest way to describe it.
The story begins by introducing his main concept and stating that an odd figure known as Theta appears in lots of different reading material from all over the world but historians don’t care but he did lots of research to try and make an interesting story with him as the focus. I don’t mind when books have prefaces BUT…. i honestly felt like he could have trusted his audience to either….
a) looked up info on Theta themselves… that way they enrich the story in their own way instead of being told information that we don’t care about since we haven’t even met Theta yet
b) know a bit about mythology and theta before even going into the book.
or..
c) write interesting characters so all that back story, while helping to enrich the character, isn’t necessary
when the actual story starts we are with some people who we (at the time) know nothing about getting surrounded by fog and getting murdered.
then we follow the murdered mans son who is kinda upset that his dad hasn’t come back from this odd Fog.
Enter Gabriel (yeah i’m pretty sure it’s ‘that’ Gabriel) a mysterious man who is amazing with weaponry and has never been bested by anyone/ anything.
then eventually enter Theta, a mysterious man who is amazing at everything and seems to be able to pull whatever out of his magic bag…i didn’t enjoy his character too much if you couldn’t tell.
so they all go out with an army, find out the fog is demonic and caused by cultists to summon lords of choas and then the story begins proper… kind of.
I really wanted to like this book, it was free o nthe kindle store and i thought there was no way i could be disappointed with something free.
Granted it is Written well enough and it has a good concept but in the end…. i didn’t give a shit about anyone. At all….. ever.
Theta especially is an annoying god moding prick who is never challenged therefor nullifying any and all conflict… he either uses magic or strength but he is way too perfect. i know this is book 1 of a series but we barely learn anything about him at all and what we do learn we either don’t care about or already guessed.
Also it seems to be stuck in an odd place… the story throws you into the middle but never really moves forward…. it felt like we barely got through the 1st threshold in all it’s 100-200 pages… normally i liek being thrown into the middle but there are rules… you have to revela some things about the characters past… you have to move the story forward and most of all WE HAVE TO CARE ABOUT THE CHARACTER
there was one moment in book that actually got me quite irate…. lets see if we can tell why…
finally as the book ends you get a glossary… again i felt a little insulted because I already knew what most of the mythological references were… i didn’t need to be told afterwards…. i would hope most people would know about them… just from common use not even from study. I personally felt like the author just didn’t trust his audience that that just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Granted this is all personal opinion…. it is a fine enough book… it’s not the kind of book i get into since i really invest in characters… but if you like well written mythology based stories with heavy descriptions and lots of gore… then yeah, please go for this… like i said it’s free on the kindle store so for some people it may be worth a shot… i’m sure it probably gets better as the series goes on… i will probably never know.
Harbinger of doom vol 1
this was that free book i was excited about a few days ago…
ok… written by Glenn G. Thater. this is a fairly short fantasy novel with a pretty straightforward concept…. and i’m about to drastically over simplify it.
Imagine a world where things that we consider to be myth, legend or religious readings to be 100% truth…. all of it… and while that's not really the entire concept it’s the easiest way to describe it.
The story begins by introducing his main concept and stating that an odd figure known as Theta appears in lots of different reading material from all over the world but historians don’t care but he did lots of research to try and make an interesting story with him as the focus. I don’t mind when books have prefaces BUT…. i honestly felt like he could have trusted his audience to either….
a) looked up info on Theta themselves… that way they enrich the story in their own way instead of being told information that we don’t care about since we haven’t even met Theta yet
b) know a bit about mythology and theta before even going into the book.
or..
c) write interesting characters so all that back story, while helping to enrich the character, isn’t necessary
when the actual story starts we are with some people who we (at the time) know nothing about getting surrounded by fog and getting murdered.
then we follow the murdered mans son who is kinda upset that his dad hasn’t come back from this odd Fog.
Enter Gabriel (yeah i’m pretty sure it’s ‘that’ Gabriel) a mysterious man who is amazing with weaponry and has never been bested by anyone/ anything.
then eventually enter Theta, a mysterious man who is amazing at everything and seems to be able to pull whatever out of his magic bag…i didn’t enjoy his character too much if you couldn’t tell.
so they all go out with an army, find out the fog is demonic and caused by cultists to summon lords of choas and then the story begins proper… kind of.
I really wanted to like this book, it was free o nthe kindle store and i thought there was no way i could be disappointed with something free.
Granted it is Written well enough and it has a good concept but in the end…. i didn’t give a shit about anyone. At all….. ever.
Theta especially is an annoying god moding prick who is never challenged therefor nullifying any and all conflict… he either uses magic or strength but he is way too perfect. i know this is book 1 of a series but we barely learn anything about him at all and what we do learn we either don’t care about or already guessed.
Also it seems to be stuck in an odd place… the story throws you into the middle but never really moves forward…. it felt like we barely got through the 1st threshold in all it’s 100-200 pages… normally i liek being thrown into the middle but there are rules… you have to revela some things about the characters past… you have to move the story forward and most of all WE HAVE TO CARE ABOUT THE CHARACTER
there was one moment in book that actually got me quite irate…. lets see if we can tell why…
“I am Brother Claradon Eotrue, Lord of Dor Eotrus” he shouted. “you killed my father; For this you die!”not even paraphrasing…. that's the exact passage. i mean… really? unfortunately if you say the like “you killed my father” and it’s going to automatically bring up comparisons to Princess Bride… but this seems to take it the step further and i had a little rage moment.
finally as the book ends you get a glossary… again i felt a little insulted because I already knew what most of the mythological references were… i didn’t need to be told afterwards…. i would hope most people would know about them… just from common use not even from study. I personally felt like the author just didn’t trust his audience that that just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Granted this is all personal opinion…. it is a fine enough book… it’s not the kind of book i get into since i really invest in characters… but if you like well written mythology based stories with heavy descriptions and lots of gore… then yeah, please go for this… like i said it’s free on the kindle store so for some people it may be worth a shot… i’m sure it probably gets better as the series goes on… i will probably never know.
Friday, 17 February 2012
Completed: Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of vengeance (probably spoilers)
this.... this was a joke right?
i mean.... it's just not possible...
ok let me set the scene.
it's approaching dinner time... and i'm getting hungry.... i head downstairs to ask my family what dinner plans are to be informed that we are infact going out for dinner.
we don't often go out so i'm all excited... until they add "and then we'll go see ghost rider 2 cause your brother wants to"
ugh... so yeah.... i don't like nic cage films.... i have nothing against him as a person... eh seems to have a sense of humor about himself and that's all well and good i just can't think of a single film he's in that i've enjoyed.
the reason i went even though i knew i wasn't going to like it? he was paying....
so yeah.... got some sushi then off to the film.
I think someone just figured out how to make motion graphics in after effects cause that's pretty much half of the film...
so yeah... i did see the original ghost rider.... other then him making a deal with the devil i don't remember anything about it.... other then i didn't like it... so i was surprised when 2 was announced cause all i could think was how bad the first one was.
oh well... so yeah.... spoilers ahead.
.
.
.
the entire point of the film is to give ghost rider a pallet swap.
i'm not even kidding...
i wish i was kidding...
oh and that kid is gunna cause problems in ghost rider 3.... i can see it now... *sighs*
i really don't have much else to say other then it made me think of blue exorcist more then once.... *sigh*
edit: i have been informed that the kid whom i figured would cause problems in 3 is the second ghost rider in the comic.... well that would probably be more interesting.... cause i wouldn't have to deal with nic cage's crazy face.... seriously the guy is really good at looking like an insane lunatic....
i mean.... it's just not possible...
ok let me set the scene.
it's approaching dinner time... and i'm getting hungry.... i head downstairs to ask my family what dinner plans are to be informed that we are infact going out for dinner.
we don't often go out so i'm all excited... until they add "and then we'll go see ghost rider 2 cause your brother wants to"
ugh... so yeah.... i don't like nic cage films.... i have nothing against him as a person... eh seems to have a sense of humor about himself and that's all well and good i just can't think of a single film he's in that i've enjoyed.
the reason i went even though i knew i wasn't going to like it? he was paying....
so yeah.... got some sushi then off to the film.
I think someone just figured out how to make motion graphics in after effects cause that's pretty much half of the film...
so yeah... i did see the original ghost rider.... other then him making a deal with the devil i don't remember anything about it.... other then i didn't like it... so i was surprised when 2 was announced cause all i could think was how bad the first one was.
oh well... so yeah.... spoilers ahead.
.
.
.
the entire point of the film is to give ghost rider a pallet swap.
i'm not even kidding...
i wish i was kidding...
oh and that kid is gunna cause problems in ghost rider 3.... i can see it now... *sighs*
i really don't have much else to say other then it made me think of blue exorcist more then once.... *sigh*
edit: i have been informed that the kid whom i figured would cause problems in 3 is the second ghost rider in the comic.... well that would probably be more interesting.... cause i wouldn't have to deal with nic cage's crazy face.... seriously the guy is really good at looking like an insane lunatic....
Completed: Taming Fire
Originally posted August 23, 2011 on tumblr
So yeah…. i’ve been reading a lot lately… thanks to the fact that it takes forever to get home in rush hour i’ve been able to get through quite a bit….
so yeah… Taming Fire by Aaron Pogue.
Holy shit this book was good. It only cost .99 cents on the kindle store but i feel like i want to pay more to support the author. i’ll probably read his other books while i wait for book 2 and 3 to come out for this series…. granted sci-fi isn’t really my thing… anyways getting off topic…
We follow the story of Davin of many names… no seriously he has a bazillion titles throught the book. however this story begins with him as Simply Daven. he’s a young shepard helpign his master who has shown him great kindness. he enjoys spending his free time sparring wiht other boy around his age and uses a spell that can detect a ‘fatal hit’ without any actual death happening.
one day after one of the boy says he’s going to join the guard a member of the kings royal guard approaches Daven saying he’s been searching for him and through an exchange of words begin to spar.
Miraculously Daven wins and the guard is pissed, ready to kill the man…. however he is frozen by some crazy old wizard who mentions he’s looking for him as well…
so he is ripped from the comfortable world he knows into a world where he is to be hated… and to become a weapon to fight against some currently unseen threat.
of course nothing is so easy…. and the story unfolds from there…. and i loved every moment of it. I felt overall the dragons should have been introduced a bit more earlier on but that is such a minor complaint… and even i know it’s a bit unfair since they are introduced pretty early…. but yeah…. the pacing of that one little plot point felt off to me is all i’m trying to say.
Also after reading books with lots of swearing and darker gritty situations it was so nice and refreshing to read something that didn’t rely on grit… it gets dark in some points and you really feel for the characters but it never goes for the gross out effect. well other that that one guy who gets killed near the start… but i’m starting to see i get squeamish when eyes and sharp things meet. also this book doesn’t glorify killing… the main character tries really hard to avoid it at all cost and that was great
plus i loved the magic system… it’s really well described and easy to see in my head.
so yeah if you like fantasy give the book a try… second volume comes out in December (oh i hate waiting…….)
So yeah…. i’ve been reading a lot lately… thanks to the fact that it takes forever to get home in rush hour i’ve been able to get through quite a bit….
so yeah… Taming Fire by Aaron Pogue.
Holy shit this book was good. It only cost .99 cents on the kindle store but i feel like i want to pay more to support the author. i’ll probably read his other books while i wait for book 2 and 3 to come out for this series…. granted sci-fi isn’t really my thing… anyways getting off topic…
We follow the story of Davin of many names… no seriously he has a bazillion titles throught the book. however this story begins with him as Simply Daven. he’s a young shepard helpign his master who has shown him great kindness. he enjoys spending his free time sparring wiht other boy around his age and uses a spell that can detect a ‘fatal hit’ without any actual death happening.
one day after one of the boy says he’s going to join the guard a member of the kings royal guard approaches Daven saying he’s been searching for him and through an exchange of words begin to spar.
Miraculously Daven wins and the guard is pissed, ready to kill the man…. however he is frozen by some crazy old wizard who mentions he’s looking for him as well…
so he is ripped from the comfortable world he knows into a world where he is to be hated… and to become a weapon to fight against some currently unseen threat.
of course nothing is so easy…. and the story unfolds from there…. and i loved every moment of it. I felt overall the dragons should have been introduced a bit more earlier on but that is such a minor complaint… and even i know it’s a bit unfair since they are introduced pretty early…. but yeah…. the pacing of that one little plot point felt off to me is all i’m trying to say.
Also after reading books with lots of swearing and darker gritty situations it was so nice and refreshing to read something that didn’t rely on grit… it gets dark in some points and you really feel for the characters but it never goes for the gross out effect. well other that that one guy who gets killed near the start… but i’m starting to see i get squeamish when eyes and sharp things meet. also this book doesn’t glorify killing… the main character tries really hard to avoid it at all cost and that was great
plus i loved the magic system… it’s really well described and easy to see in my head.
so yeah if you like fantasy give the book a try… second volume comes out in December (oh i hate waiting…….)
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Completed: Perfect Shadow
originally posted August 22, 2011 on tumblr
Yeah this is also another reason why i probably didn’t enjoy a dance of cloaks as much as i could have…. i knew i would be reading this right after… and i’ve been waiting for this book for a while now… it’s a Novella by Brent Weeks about How Durzo Blint became the man he is.
and it was sooo good
it was hard to follow the jumping timelines and it was odd for someone who tends to have a crazy amount of chapters to have none at all but i don’t care… it was so good and i kinda wanna re-read the other books and see how it colours my view of his character… granted i love that series and enjoy re-reading it for fun.
it’s short and sweet and i loved every moment of it… even if it took so little time to read *sobs*
unfortunately it’s only in ebook form : (
Edit: he is selling a very limited edition of this in paperback on his website www.brentweeks.com so if your interested you should take a look.
Yeah this is also another reason why i probably didn’t enjoy a dance of cloaks as much as i could have…. i knew i would be reading this right after… and i’ve been waiting for this book for a while now… it’s a Novella by Brent Weeks about How Durzo Blint became the man he is.
and it was sooo good
it was hard to follow the jumping timelines and it was odd for someone who tends to have a crazy amount of chapters to have none at all but i don’t care… it was so good and i kinda wanna re-read the other books and see how it colours my view of his character… granted i love that series and enjoy re-reading it for fun.
it’s short and sweet and i loved every moment of it… even if it took so little time to read *sobs*
unfortunately it’s only in ebook form : (
Edit: he is selling a very limited edition of this in paperback on his website www.brentweeks.com so if your interested you should take a look.
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Completed: A Dance of Cloaks
Originally posted August 21, 2011 on tumblr
so recently i got myself a kindle so that i can easily have reading material in my purse at any given moment
While looking to buy “perfect Shadow” by brent weeks this book “a dance of cloaks” by David Dalglish
so i thought… looks interesting… they are suggesting alogn side Brent weeks so maybe i’ll be different but good.
well it had it’s good bits.
but it had some major problems in my eyes.
We start our story with a prolog stating the guild master of the Spider guild has been defeated, his son is also tryin to overthrow him but Aaron his other son kills his bother… then we get thrown from a nobleman's daughter getting thrown in a dungeon by her own daddy and half tortured to death to a teacher for the murderous little boy… to that boy escaped and being helped by a girl who's a spy… to these cloaked woman who help the daughter get out of the dungeon to *gasps for air*
ok so this book is all over the place… normally i don;t mind that as long as the main focus is on the main character… who in my eyes is Aaron… not the guild master theron… infact Theron is the buy guy in my opinion… yet i think we spend the most time with him and the least time with his son.
it written fairly well and it is suspenseful…. however there is a lot of sex/murder/rape…. in fact one point someone killed someone else and tried going at it with the corpse and all i can think is “really…. again?” I personally hate rape in books and this book brought it too a whole new level. i get that it’s supposed to make you feel uncomfortable but these are no name characters doing horrible deeds that do not affect the plot one single iota.
and it’s sad cause i want to know Aaron’s story but i don’t know if i’ll read any of the other books in the series… i only finished this one cause it was short and i had already bought it….
i hate feeling this way about a book, i know the author worked his ass off and overall it was good it’s just there are some things that are deal breakers for me and that is one of them…
now i’m all sad…
so recently i got myself a kindle so that i can easily have reading material in my purse at any given moment
While looking to buy “perfect Shadow” by brent weeks this book “a dance of cloaks” by David Dalglish
so i thought… looks interesting… they are suggesting alogn side Brent weeks so maybe i’ll be different but good.
well it had it’s good bits.
but it had some major problems in my eyes.
We start our story with a prolog stating the guild master of the Spider guild has been defeated, his son is also tryin to overthrow him but Aaron his other son kills his bother… then we get thrown from a nobleman's daughter getting thrown in a dungeon by her own daddy and half tortured to death to a teacher for the murderous little boy… to that boy escaped and being helped by a girl who's a spy… to these cloaked woman who help the daughter get out of the dungeon to *gasps for air*
ok so this book is all over the place… normally i don;t mind that as long as the main focus is on the main character… who in my eyes is Aaron… not the guild master theron… infact Theron is the buy guy in my opinion… yet i think we spend the most time with him and the least time with his son.
it written fairly well and it is suspenseful…. however there is a lot of sex/murder/rape…. in fact one point someone killed someone else and tried going at it with the corpse and all i can think is “really…. again?” I personally hate rape in books and this book brought it too a whole new level. i get that it’s supposed to make you feel uncomfortable but these are no name characters doing horrible deeds that do not affect the plot one single iota.
and it’s sad cause i want to know Aaron’s story but i don’t know if i’ll read any of the other books in the series… i only finished this one cause it was short and i had already bought it….
i hate feeling this way about a book, i know the author worked his ass off and overall it was good it’s just there are some things that are deal breakers for me and that is one of them…
now i’m all sad…
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Completed: Kingdom Hearts Birth by sleep… all of it… kinda
Originally posted August 14, 2011 on tumblr
so i played through this entire damn game working really hard to get the secret ending…. but i missed 1 report cause i didn’t really ever go to the arena
i tried to go after i had beaten the game with that character but the game literally looked at me and said “yeah this is how you get that report… but you beat the game already… so we wont give it to you…. and by the way…. if you want it you have to replay terra’s chapter all over again…. cause i’m cool like this.”
And this my friends is my main gripe with the Kingdom heart series.
The first one i didn’t get the secret ending cause i was way too lazy to do a 100% run… i’m sorry but no… also i didn’t know about it…. it was secret and all…
the second one i knew it was there so i played the game, trying to find out how to get it on my own… only to beat the game and find out that i missed 1 chest as Roxas and i can’t get it and therefor can’t get the secret ending… again not replaying an entire game for one thing i missed… that’s what you tube is for.
so now we have come to birth by sleep… i enjoyed Terra’s story more then the other two… even more then Ventus who i really enjoyed…. i hated playing aqua… she was so weak and really until the bonus chapter that i never got to play she adds NOTHING to the story… just “well… darkness is bad and light is good and there is no middle ground” despite EVERYONE around her trying to show her that there needs to be a balance of dark and light and one cannot be around without the other.
another reason why i don’t feel too bad about being screwed out of the bonus chapter is cause aqua is the only playable character… and i was happy never to need to use her again.
anyways enough bitching about always missing one thing for the secret stuff…
Terra story was great cause it was a bit darker then the other two… the boy seriously needs to learn when he’s being lied to but in the end it worked out in my opinion… out of the three he has the best twist and his story contained soem plot points that i didn’t see coming at all unlike the other two which were fairly predictable.
however his story felt shorter then the other two… maybe because he is way overpowered i got through areas faster but i also feel like his plot points were shorter.
either way it was in the end an ok game… the load times, even after installing the game, were ridiculously long. the plot convoluted as all hell especially considering it’s meshing 3 time lines… 7 if you count mickey, sora, riku and kairi part in the story. and for a square disney crossover…. where are all the final fantasy characters… and no… sora, riku, kairi and all the Characetrs specific to the series DO NOT COUNT. there is only one that i can think of… Zack…. which was great and made me very happy but this is supposed to be a cross over…. maybe because you never really have a disney character partner in this game they decided to no use FF characters…. but still… kinda disappointed…
so yeah… if your a fan of the series go play but you probably have already…. if kingdom hearts never did anything for you this wont change you mind.
*still bitter about the secret ending bullshit even though she’s ranted*
so i played through this entire damn game working really hard to get the secret ending…. but i missed 1 report cause i didn’t really ever go to the arena
i tried to go after i had beaten the game with that character but the game literally looked at me and said “yeah this is how you get that report… but you beat the game already… so we wont give it to you…. and by the way…. if you want it you have to replay terra’s chapter all over again…. cause i’m cool like this.”
And this my friends is my main gripe with the Kingdom heart series.
The first one i didn’t get the secret ending cause i was way too lazy to do a 100% run… i’m sorry but no… also i didn’t know about it…. it was secret and all…
the second one i knew it was there so i played the game, trying to find out how to get it on my own… only to beat the game and find out that i missed 1 chest as Roxas and i can’t get it and therefor can’t get the secret ending… again not replaying an entire game for one thing i missed… that’s what you tube is for.
so now we have come to birth by sleep… i enjoyed Terra’s story more then the other two… even more then Ventus who i really enjoyed…. i hated playing aqua… she was so weak and really until the bonus chapter that i never got to play she adds NOTHING to the story… just “well… darkness is bad and light is good and there is no middle ground” despite EVERYONE around her trying to show her that there needs to be a balance of dark and light and one cannot be around without the other.
another reason why i don’t feel too bad about being screwed out of the bonus chapter is cause aqua is the only playable character… and i was happy never to need to use her again.
anyways enough bitching about always missing one thing for the secret stuff…
Terra story was great cause it was a bit darker then the other two… the boy seriously needs to learn when he’s being lied to but in the end it worked out in my opinion… out of the three he has the best twist and his story contained soem plot points that i didn’t see coming at all unlike the other two which were fairly predictable.
however his story felt shorter then the other two… maybe because he is way overpowered i got through areas faster but i also feel like his plot points were shorter.
either way it was in the end an ok game… the load times, even after installing the game, were ridiculously long. the plot convoluted as all hell especially considering it’s meshing 3 time lines… 7 if you count mickey, sora, riku and kairi part in the story. and for a square disney crossover…. where are all the final fantasy characters… and no… sora, riku, kairi and all the Characetrs specific to the series DO NOT COUNT. there is only one that i can think of… Zack…. which was great and made me very happy but this is supposed to be a cross over…. maybe because you never really have a disney character partner in this game they decided to no use FF characters…. but still… kinda disappointed…
so yeah… if your a fan of the series go play but you probably have already…. if kingdom hearts never did anything for you this wont change you mind.
*still bitter about the secret ending bullshit even though she’s ranted*
Monday, 13 February 2012
Completed Rewatching: Kaleido Star
Originally posted on july 14 2011 on tumblr
I should clarify
I will be talkign about Kaleido Star, Kaleido star New wings and the little OVA at the end of new wings (ep 26)
so yeah… since i’m talkign about so much there will be spoilers… but i will keep it to a minimum
Kaleido Star:
I’ll start of by saying i really enjoy this series, i have watched it three times in english (i really like to re-watch things) and once in Japanese.
The story follows Sora Naegino, a young girl from japan, as she arrives in LA in hopes of auditioning and joining the circus troope there The Kaleido Stage.
However due to a man trying to steal her luggage after she’s already gotten herself lost in town she ends up being late for the audition. Ken, a stage hand who has become quite smitten with Sora, shows her around before she’s supposed to fly back to japan. When another performer Is injured (well you can call it injured i guess) The boss, who saw sora outside of the stage on her way using gymnastic techniques to catch the earlier mentioned mugger, tells her to replace the performer and go onstage.
Of course she isn’t great at first, hit by nerves and a choreography that she hasn’t had time to practice. Soon enough she gets into the groove and realizes how much she loves the stage…. too bad she has to go back home because she missed the audition….
Oh we all know how this goes… the boss passes her and she’s a new member of the circus. However she keeps hearing this odd voice who calls himself fool.
The ‘hallucination’ introduces himself as a spirit of the stage and that she has been chosen to do “the legendary great maneuver”. However she’s not ready to try it so he can’t tell her about it. From there the story goes from Sora’s start at the bottom and follows her through her journey to the top and eventually attempting that “legendary great maneuver”
Pros:
The series is cute and harmless. other then some of the moves they try are not physically possible and fool the show has a heavy base in realism. Even though sora is chosen for the stage she still has to train constantly to even be competant at any give move or trick. Sure she seems to be able to learn an amazing amount in only 3 days (i swear every move has a 3 day deadline.. why?) but she does work hard so you buy it.
The characters are enjoyable, sora can be a bit too cheery but thast just my personal hatred for perma happy characters… and the reason i can tolerate it is because she isn’t always cheery… this show has it’s sad moment and for anyone who has ever performed anything it’s very easy to relate to.
The music, specifically the training and battle music… it’s stunning, it can easily inspire me just hearing that change from the harsher quick strokes of violin to the more melodic bit in the middle.
Con:
Animation can be a bit inconsistent… the animation is always good but there are some eps that focus on too many upclose face shots and other that focus on too many unflattering angles…. the show is targeted to girls so why is there so much damn fan service.
The happy music… it’s just not memorable.
Not enough time spent with fools backstory, why does he search for someone to do this maneuver (yes we eventually do get an answer kinda but more on that later) I love his character but we know so little about him in the first season.
Ok here come the spoilers
Kaleido Star: new wings
So we’ve done the legendary great maneuver, gotten the stage back becuase it was bought out in the last season and The main star has had to leave due to injury. Sora, Now the top star, is finding it hard to draw a crowd with her name alone. The Owner calls in Leon Oswald, A french trapeze (any anything else you can find in this circus) artist. his name is drawing crwds easily…. too bad he’s a jerk and he doesn’t accept Sora. infact in their debut performance of Saiyuki he outrigth walks off in the middle of the performance forcing sora to play both the hero and the heroin…. which will be tricky for the love scene later.
Anyways it all seems to be going well, Sora is tried from not having any breaks thanks to playing both parts and finally the love scene arrives…. and the crowd begins to boo… they came to see leon. Suddenly a mysterious girl jumps onstage and clames to be better then sora and they start fight in the middle of the stage to become leons partner. The girl is May (sp? i never know how to spell this) Wong and she scored the highest of all those who auditioned in the last batch.
This season focuses on sora’s struggle to stay on top and deal with other peoples feelings about the stage and competition in general. Fool is still around, now he wants to see a true star being born.
Pro’s:
A lot more real issues in this… it’s no longer “can i perform this trick in this amount of time” but instead “how can i be on a stage that is making people miserable” or “how can i please certain people while showing them a new way to look at things”
This season maneuver has a better name…. i mean… angel’s maneuver vs Legendary great maneuver…. hmmm tough call.
Still has great music, especially the intro song.
Con’s:
May Wong, her character is annoying and remember how i said sora worked her ass off to perfect moves… well mei does too but she’s a bitch about it… not sharing equipment and just always being negative. granted by he end she is a better character but still the first half i just want to punch her.
We get even less of fool…. i love this guy… and all he does is mumble about constalations from time to time…. i want to knwo more about him…
Ken…. SPOILER
Why doesn’t he ever get the girl…. this makes no sense…. mayeb he does in the mange but i wanted him to get sora in the show… they were so cute together.
finally
ep 26 of new wings.
It’s kind of like an OVA. Rosetta, a girl who’s shown through both series, is the new one to be chosen for the stage, she is workign hard to continue perfecting trapeze while still goign back to her forte from time to time. The new show will have her as the lead along with sora. It’s about a girl who will not smile and a clown (or fool) who does everything in his power to make her smile. it’s half based on a painting where… surprise surprise the princess looks like rosetta and the clown looks like…. Fool?
Pros:
The animation is more fluid and very pretty
FINALLY we find out a little about fool and his back story. it’s really good… the best part of both series in my opinion.
Cons:
What the hell is with the fan service in this? there are some really awkward shots in the intro song and it’s creepy due to rosetta’s age. also all the ass shots…. it just comes out of nowhere…. again this show will only appeal to girls so why the fan service…
WHY is it only one ep…. fool should have gotten a full season or at least a full arc…. his story is interesting and would have added to the show…. it just felt a little rushed.
why is sora the prince… they have male cast members…. hell they even have Leon still… well whatever.
Overall i love this series or i wouldn’t watch it so much…. it’s got it’s good and it’s bad and at time it can be really girly and sappy but i enjoy that…. Now go watch if this sounds like your kind of show!
I should clarify
I will be talkign about Kaleido Star, Kaleido star New wings and the little OVA at the end of new wings (ep 26)
so yeah… since i’m talkign about so much there will be spoilers… but i will keep it to a minimum
Kaleido Star:
I’ll start of by saying i really enjoy this series, i have watched it three times in english (i really like to re-watch things) and once in Japanese.
The story follows Sora Naegino, a young girl from japan, as she arrives in LA in hopes of auditioning and joining the circus troope there The Kaleido Stage.
However due to a man trying to steal her luggage after she’s already gotten herself lost in town she ends up being late for the audition. Ken, a stage hand who has become quite smitten with Sora, shows her around before she’s supposed to fly back to japan. When another performer Is injured (well you can call it injured i guess) The boss, who saw sora outside of the stage on her way using gymnastic techniques to catch the earlier mentioned mugger, tells her to replace the performer and go onstage.
Of course she isn’t great at first, hit by nerves and a choreography that she hasn’t had time to practice. Soon enough she gets into the groove and realizes how much she loves the stage…. too bad she has to go back home because she missed the audition….
Oh we all know how this goes… the boss passes her and she’s a new member of the circus. However she keeps hearing this odd voice who calls himself fool.
The ‘hallucination’ introduces himself as a spirit of the stage and that she has been chosen to do “the legendary great maneuver”. However she’s not ready to try it so he can’t tell her about it. From there the story goes from Sora’s start at the bottom and follows her through her journey to the top and eventually attempting that “legendary great maneuver”
Pros:
The series is cute and harmless. other then some of the moves they try are not physically possible and fool the show has a heavy base in realism. Even though sora is chosen for the stage she still has to train constantly to even be competant at any give move or trick. Sure she seems to be able to learn an amazing amount in only 3 days (i swear every move has a 3 day deadline.. why?) but she does work hard so you buy it.
The characters are enjoyable, sora can be a bit too cheery but thast just my personal hatred for perma happy characters… and the reason i can tolerate it is because she isn’t always cheery… this show has it’s sad moment and for anyone who has ever performed anything it’s very easy to relate to.
The music, specifically the training and battle music… it’s stunning, it can easily inspire me just hearing that change from the harsher quick strokes of violin to the more melodic bit in the middle.
Con:
Animation can be a bit inconsistent… the animation is always good but there are some eps that focus on too many upclose face shots and other that focus on too many unflattering angles…. the show is targeted to girls so why is there so much damn fan service.
The happy music… it’s just not memorable.
Not enough time spent with fools backstory, why does he search for someone to do this maneuver (yes we eventually do get an answer kinda but more on that later) I love his character but we know so little about him in the first season.
Ok here come the spoilers
Kaleido Star: new wings
So we’ve done the legendary great maneuver, gotten the stage back becuase it was bought out in the last season and The main star has had to leave due to injury. Sora, Now the top star, is finding it hard to draw a crowd with her name alone. The Owner calls in Leon Oswald, A french trapeze (any anything else you can find in this circus) artist. his name is drawing crwds easily…. too bad he’s a jerk and he doesn’t accept Sora. infact in their debut performance of Saiyuki he outrigth walks off in the middle of the performance forcing sora to play both the hero and the heroin…. which will be tricky for the love scene later.
Anyways it all seems to be going well, Sora is tried from not having any breaks thanks to playing both parts and finally the love scene arrives…. and the crowd begins to boo… they came to see leon. Suddenly a mysterious girl jumps onstage and clames to be better then sora and they start fight in the middle of the stage to become leons partner. The girl is May (sp? i never know how to spell this) Wong and she scored the highest of all those who auditioned in the last batch.
This season focuses on sora’s struggle to stay on top and deal with other peoples feelings about the stage and competition in general. Fool is still around, now he wants to see a true star being born.
Pro’s:
A lot more real issues in this… it’s no longer “can i perform this trick in this amount of time” but instead “how can i be on a stage that is making people miserable” or “how can i please certain people while showing them a new way to look at things”
This season maneuver has a better name…. i mean… angel’s maneuver vs Legendary great maneuver…. hmmm tough call.
Still has great music, especially the intro song.
Con’s:
May Wong, her character is annoying and remember how i said sora worked her ass off to perfect moves… well mei does too but she’s a bitch about it… not sharing equipment and just always being negative. granted by he end she is a better character but still the first half i just want to punch her.
We get even less of fool…. i love this guy… and all he does is mumble about constalations from time to time…. i want to knwo more about him…
Ken…. SPOILER
Why doesn’t he ever get the girl…. this makes no sense…. mayeb he does in the mange but i wanted him to get sora in the show… they were so cute together.
finally
ep 26 of new wings.
It’s kind of like an OVA. Rosetta, a girl who’s shown through both series, is the new one to be chosen for the stage, she is workign hard to continue perfecting trapeze while still goign back to her forte from time to time. The new show will have her as the lead along with sora. It’s about a girl who will not smile and a clown (or fool) who does everything in his power to make her smile. it’s half based on a painting where… surprise surprise the princess looks like rosetta and the clown looks like…. Fool?
Pros:
The animation is more fluid and very pretty
FINALLY we find out a little about fool and his back story. it’s really good… the best part of both series in my opinion.
Cons:
What the hell is with the fan service in this? there are some really awkward shots in the intro song and it’s creepy due to rosetta’s age. also all the ass shots…. it just comes out of nowhere…. again this show will only appeal to girls so why the fan service…
WHY is it only one ep…. fool should have gotten a full season or at least a full arc…. his story is interesting and would have added to the show…. it just felt a little rushed.
why is sora the prince… they have male cast members…. hell they even have Leon still… well whatever.
Overall i love this series or i wouldn’t watch it so much…. it’s got it’s good and it’s bad and at time it can be really girly and sappy but i enjoy that…. Now go watch if this sounds like your kind of show!
Sunday, 12 February 2012
The good and bad of art college
the good:
Learn lots of new technique from artist who practice in the field.
The bed:
Having stupid classes that are really just there to fill out the semester.
I'm in my final semester... i only have about 8 or 9 weeks left then i am done...
I love almost all my classes.... or at least i did last semester.... we had Drawing, painting, sculpting, an elective, web design and photography.... it was great...
this semester changed it up a bit... now we have drawing, painting, sculpting... so far so good... Web images (which should be called After effects 101.. but i love this one) good good... okay what else... buisness... not fun but at least it's useful... and finally Digital imagery... well that doesn't sound so bad.
except it's the wrong title for the class... it's should be called Digital and Traditional cross over.
in theory it's not a bed thing to teach artist... especially since not everyone in our class is good with a computer so teaching them that they can use the two to aid each other in either direction isn't a bad thing.... but it feel like a year 1 class... not a final year one.
also... and this is my biggest issue... i'm not learning a damn thing
it's literally just a class to make sure we have a lot of work to do at home... or at least we would if we didn't do it all while the teachers 'tried' to give lectures about projects that we aren't even starting for another few weeks.
To add insult to injury the entire year (cause in our college program we all have the same course load no matter what) in the same class... kinda... see the 49 of us left were split into 2 groups (eventually a third was added but i think there are only 12 in it)... so week two comes along... group one is in the digital lab.... but group two is in the painting room.
now i don't even mind that idea the problem i have is that group two got kinda screwed... we had to start projects in a different order so we technically lost a week to get out images checked before we had them printed.. yes we had an extra week on our panorama but we couldn't really do anything with it.
i honestly don't mind the class overall... i do with it were in year one instead of 2d design or maybe along with 2d design but the fact that it's one of the last classes i'll ever have here AND i'm not learning anything? that's upsetting.
oh well... come april i'll be free to go work or travel...
Side note~ i hate when teachers assume that my generation hates reading... maybe next time you make a broad generalization you think to ask if people like to read or not...
other side note ~ if you dont want an honest opinion... don't ask for it... we had a project that was literally "experiment with photoshop" and she asked if it was useful... one girl spoke out and said it wasn't and the teacher replies with "well i think it is"
THEN WHY ASK.... news flash... experimenting in photoshop is fine for a beginner course.... were in third year and most of use have been using photoshop for a while and the others all had an intro class to it last year. so yeah... this project wasn't useful... if you think otherwise that's fine you are entitled to your opinion... just don't bother asking us for ours then.
Learn lots of new technique from artist who practice in the field.
The bed:
Having stupid classes that are really just there to fill out the semester.
I'm in my final semester... i only have about 8 or 9 weeks left then i am done...
I love almost all my classes.... or at least i did last semester.... we had Drawing, painting, sculpting, an elective, web design and photography.... it was great...
this semester changed it up a bit... now we have drawing, painting, sculpting... so far so good... Web images (which should be called After effects 101.. but i love this one) good good... okay what else... buisness... not fun but at least it's useful... and finally Digital imagery... well that doesn't sound so bad.
except it's the wrong title for the class... it's should be called Digital and Traditional cross over.
in theory it's not a bed thing to teach artist... especially since not everyone in our class is good with a computer so teaching them that they can use the two to aid each other in either direction isn't a bad thing.... but it feel like a year 1 class... not a final year one.
also... and this is my biggest issue... i'm not learning a damn thing
it's literally just a class to make sure we have a lot of work to do at home... or at least we would if we didn't do it all while the teachers 'tried' to give lectures about projects that we aren't even starting for another few weeks.
To add insult to injury the entire year (cause in our college program we all have the same course load no matter what) in the same class... kinda... see the 49 of us left were split into 2 groups (eventually a third was added but i think there are only 12 in it)... so week two comes along... group one is in the digital lab.... but group two is in the painting room.
now i don't even mind that idea the problem i have is that group two got kinda screwed... we had to start projects in a different order so we technically lost a week to get out images checked before we had them printed.. yes we had an extra week on our panorama but we couldn't really do anything with it.
i honestly don't mind the class overall... i do with it were in year one instead of 2d design or maybe along with 2d design but the fact that it's one of the last classes i'll ever have here AND i'm not learning anything? that's upsetting.
oh well... come april i'll be free to go work or travel...
Side note~ i hate when teachers assume that my generation hates reading... maybe next time you make a broad generalization you think to ask if people like to read or not...
other side note ~ if you dont want an honest opinion... don't ask for it... we had a project that was literally "experiment with photoshop" and she asked if it was useful... one girl spoke out and said it wasn't and the teacher replies with "well i think it is"
THEN WHY ASK.... news flash... experimenting in photoshop is fine for a beginner course.... were in third year and most of use have been using photoshop for a while and the others all had an intro class to it last year. so yeah... this project wasn't useful... if you think otherwise that's fine you are entitled to your opinion... just don't bother asking us for ours then.
Complete: The Legend of Heroes: a Tear or Vermillion
Originally posted July 10, 2011 on Tumblr
Ok…. this game has one hell of a history lesson attached…. i’ll try to get all the facts straight but honestly… i make no promises.
Released in 2005 by Bandai this was the first “Legend of Heroes” game to hit North American Soil…. but it’s full Japanese title (which is shown at the end of the game) states that not only is it part 4 of the series…. but it’s also part of a trilogy, i think it’s the second game of that trilogy but i’m getting mixed info… so not sure on that one. Originally the game was made in 1996 for a system i know nothing about called the NEC PC-9801… anyways things were made more confusing over here when they released the 3rd game in the series (which they called legend of heroes II even though it’s the first game in that trilogy…but this one takes place as a prequel…. ouch my head…) the next year in North America.
Anyways i knew none of that when i found the game in a place that seems to collect oddities. To be honest i had never heard of the series…. all i knew was that i was nearly done a game made by the same producers “Falcom” and i knew there were more games in the ys series… i thought it could have been one of them but it wasn’t. Still i am glad i picked it up.
First i’ll start with the positive.
The music is really really pretty, epic when needed, sad at the drop of a hat and just overall perfect for the mood. This is a game i look forward to getting the soundtrack to.
The characters are lovable and for the most part feel very real, you feel bad when certain events happen, you laugh with others. Nothing feels too forced and their overall design is very nice even if some of the stills look awkward… no… stay on the positive.
No random encounters. It’s a game where you can see the enemy and if you choose to walk up and touch them only then will the fight start. monsters that wont give good exp or that can be defeated easily tend to run from you while stronger ones come charging. It’s really nice when your just not in the mood to fight to be able to avoid it completely.
For a game with pixel sprites…. it’s violent. I mean some bad guys get knocked off cliffs, a character gets hit against as wall falls… he has left blood on the wall then a pool of blood falls around him… it was just a nice welcome surprise
Finally the ending is good, a bit long but it made me feel like all that work really paid off.
However this game has a lot of very obvious flaws…
The translation and placing of text is atrocious.
ex. When you get a new spell it says. “Avin was Double-Attack Mastered!”
That particular example is the worst one in the entire game HOWEVER you see it every time someone gets any new spell.
also you get a lot of words being cut in odd places or just completely going out of text boxes (happens a lot for inns) nothing too bad but it does take you out of the game.
No auto targeting closest enemies in battles and if a monster your trying to cast a spell on dies your character loses out on the turn. I hate both of these…. if the character can’t attack something cause it’s too far then please just auto go for the nearest monster. same this with spells… just send them to someone else.
Some dungeons make you warp out or they will warp you back when you don’t want it…. i complained about this the other day…. i just feel have a teleporty thingy where the boss used to be and everyone is happy. and don’t make me walk back to the place you just teleported me away from… that’s just mean
You never get to choose your party.
Not even at the end of the game when every possible party character is gathered…. i don’t mind the party i’m given but in the final fight i want a little choice.
no New game plus : ( not really a bad point but it does make me sad.
Set up for sequel but flakes out… unless whats mentioned is what happens in the next game but then we already know how that ends too… hmmmmmmm
Lastly…. it’s predictable…. there were one or two things that caught me off guard (more that it happened sooner then i expected then that i didn’t expect it at all) but overall i knew exactly what was going to happen next beat for beat, line for line…. hell i could even tell what characters were going to say next. The story is good but it climbed to the top of the tropes tree, fell down and hit every branch on the way down.
Granted it did avoid one trope. The main character is a normal person on a mission… not a chosen one… nothing special…. his sister is but he is not… and that was extremely refreshing. so i guess that’s one more positive to add to the list. also i love how the main pair are called out on their young age the entire series.
Anyways i know a new game in this series was released here within the past few months…. and i hope one day to get game LoH3 and 5… which is really game 2 and 3 out here…. damn you chronologically confusing things. so yeah…. possibly more Falcom games to come. (granted from what i’m reading…. LoH1 was released a long time ago so i will probably never find it… and two was never released in north America…. bummer)
wow longer then usual…. guess i had lots to say. overall really did enjoy the game, it’s not terribly long but i feel satisfied and i love being exposed to new rpgs…
ok onto the next thing!
Ok…. this game has one hell of a history lesson attached…. i’ll try to get all the facts straight but honestly… i make no promises.
Released in 2005 by Bandai this was the first “Legend of Heroes” game to hit North American Soil…. but it’s full Japanese title (which is shown at the end of the game) states that not only is it part 4 of the series…. but it’s also part of a trilogy, i think it’s the second game of that trilogy but i’m getting mixed info… so not sure on that one. Originally the game was made in 1996 for a system i know nothing about called the NEC PC-9801… anyways things were made more confusing over here when they released the 3rd game in the series (which they called legend of heroes II even though it’s the first game in that trilogy…but this one takes place as a prequel…. ouch my head…) the next year in North America.
Anyways i knew none of that when i found the game in a place that seems to collect oddities. To be honest i had never heard of the series…. all i knew was that i was nearly done a game made by the same producers “Falcom” and i knew there were more games in the ys series… i thought it could have been one of them but it wasn’t. Still i am glad i picked it up.
First i’ll start with the positive.
The music is really really pretty, epic when needed, sad at the drop of a hat and just overall perfect for the mood. This is a game i look forward to getting the soundtrack to.
The characters are lovable and for the most part feel very real, you feel bad when certain events happen, you laugh with others. Nothing feels too forced and their overall design is very nice even if some of the stills look awkward… no… stay on the positive.
No random encounters. It’s a game where you can see the enemy and if you choose to walk up and touch them only then will the fight start. monsters that wont give good exp or that can be defeated easily tend to run from you while stronger ones come charging. It’s really nice when your just not in the mood to fight to be able to avoid it completely.
For a game with pixel sprites…. it’s violent. I mean some bad guys get knocked off cliffs, a character gets hit against as wall falls… he has left blood on the wall then a pool of blood falls around him… it was just a nice welcome surprise
Finally the ending is good, a bit long but it made me feel like all that work really paid off.
However this game has a lot of very obvious flaws…
The translation and placing of text is atrocious.
ex. When you get a new spell it says. “Avin was Double-Attack Mastered!”
That particular example is the worst one in the entire game HOWEVER you see it every time someone gets any new spell.
also you get a lot of words being cut in odd places or just completely going out of text boxes (happens a lot for inns) nothing too bad but it does take you out of the game.
No auto targeting closest enemies in battles and if a monster your trying to cast a spell on dies your character loses out on the turn. I hate both of these…. if the character can’t attack something cause it’s too far then please just auto go for the nearest monster. same this with spells… just send them to someone else.
Some dungeons make you warp out or they will warp you back when you don’t want it…. i complained about this the other day…. i just feel have a teleporty thingy where the boss used to be and everyone is happy. and don’t make me walk back to the place you just teleported me away from… that’s just mean
You never get to choose your party.
Not even at the end of the game when every possible party character is gathered…. i don’t mind the party i’m given but in the final fight i want a little choice.
no New game plus : ( not really a bad point but it does make me sad.
Set up for sequel but flakes out… unless whats mentioned is what happens in the next game but then we already know how that ends too… hmmmmmmm
Lastly…. it’s predictable…. there were one or two things that caught me off guard (more that it happened sooner then i expected then that i didn’t expect it at all) but overall i knew exactly what was going to happen next beat for beat, line for line…. hell i could even tell what characters were going to say next. The story is good but it climbed to the top of the tropes tree, fell down and hit every branch on the way down.
Granted it did avoid one trope. The main character is a normal person on a mission… not a chosen one… nothing special…. his sister is but he is not… and that was extremely refreshing. so i guess that’s one more positive to add to the list. also i love how the main pair are called out on their young age the entire series.
Anyways i know a new game in this series was released here within the past few months…. and i hope one day to get game LoH3 and 5… which is really game 2 and 3 out here…. damn you chronologically confusing things. so yeah…. possibly more Falcom games to come. (granted from what i’m reading…. LoH1 was released a long time ago so i will probably never find it… and two was never released in north America…. bummer)
wow longer then usual…. guess i had lots to say. overall really did enjoy the game, it’s not terribly long but i feel satisfied and i love being exposed to new rpgs…
ok onto the next thing!
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Completed: L: Change the World
originally posted June 25, 2011 on tumblr
Some minor spoilers…. but i think everyone knows anything i’ll say so yeah…
so when it comes to death note i enjoyed it but felt it was majorly overrated…. i started reading it a little before it got incredibly popular but still it was an interesting concept.
However I felt kinda jipped when L died the way he did in the manga and anime. it was just kind of pathetic…
Then i watched the live action movies… the first one was okay… retread of some of the first plot points of the manga with a few changes to make it more interesting… i didn’t hold high hopes for the second one… i figured it would be more of the same
boy was i wrong.
It is same to a point… when light tries to write L’s name down to silence him L turns the table around and shows that he’s already written his name down and will die 23 days later… this proves light is kira and L wins…. yay
but L still has to die in 23 days. and that's the focus of this movie.
I do have to say this movie isn’t as good as the second movie but i’m biased… it’s main plot thread is that they have a virus that's essentially Ebola crossed with the flu.
I hate plague films.
Also this really has nothing to do with death note… it’s burned within the first 20 mins…. the most reference we get to death note comes in the beginning with cameos and mentions of other cases like the BB murder (which i know very little about and care even less) and at the end with another mention of a character from the manga. this really could have been called anything since it’s plot is “man has only a little time left to live but he can use that time to save the world from the nasty virus”
Still i enjoyed seeing how L was played… the actor did a great job…. and he spoke lovely English, french and Italian to boot.
so yeah as a stand alone movie L: Change the world is a decent if not predictable film, with a run time of just over 2 hours it can be a little taxing to sit through but in the end it’s still watchable. As the 3rd death note movie it’s a nice conclusion and a good way to show how the series should have ended.
Some minor spoilers…. but i think everyone knows anything i’ll say so yeah…
so when it comes to death note i enjoyed it but felt it was majorly overrated…. i started reading it a little before it got incredibly popular but still it was an interesting concept.
However I felt kinda jipped when L died the way he did in the manga and anime. it was just kind of pathetic…
Then i watched the live action movies… the first one was okay… retread of some of the first plot points of the manga with a few changes to make it more interesting… i didn’t hold high hopes for the second one… i figured it would be more of the same
boy was i wrong.
It is same to a point… when light tries to write L’s name down to silence him L turns the table around and shows that he’s already written his name down and will die 23 days later… this proves light is kira and L wins…. yay
but L still has to die in 23 days. and that's the focus of this movie.
I do have to say this movie isn’t as good as the second movie but i’m biased… it’s main plot thread is that they have a virus that's essentially Ebola crossed with the flu.
I hate plague films.
Also this really has nothing to do with death note… it’s burned within the first 20 mins…. the most reference we get to death note comes in the beginning with cameos and mentions of other cases like the BB murder (which i know very little about and care even less) and at the end with another mention of a character from the manga. this really could have been called anything since it’s plot is “man has only a little time left to live but he can use that time to save the world from the nasty virus”
Still i enjoyed seeing how L was played… the actor did a great job…. and he spoke lovely English, french and Italian to boot.
so yeah as a stand alone movie L: Change the world is a decent if not predictable film, with a run time of just over 2 hours it can be a little taxing to sit through but in the end it’s still watchable. As the 3rd death note movie it’s a nice conclusion and a good way to show how the series should have ended.
Completed: From Embers By Aaron Pogue
before i started reading this short story/prequel to Taming fire I started to have my suspicions that Aaron Pogue has a lot of stories written already... or at least 3/4 of the way written cause he is able put out a lot of stories in a short time and my suspicions were somewhat confirms in his afterword so i'm looking forward to seeing many more titles by him in the future.
So From Embers is a novella (5000 words) set in the world of taming fire but before the main story...
I liked it, it felt about the length of a prologue which at the end you find out that's what it originally was. I can't really tell you what it's about because it is really short... all i'll say is that if you have read and enjoyed the Dragon Prince Trilogy (well whats out so far) then you'll probably like this little story that helps establish the world.
Alright back to painting/sculpting/drawing... then probably more reading... cause i seem to be hopelessly addicted to it.
Aaron Pogue's website: http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/
So From Embers is a novella (5000 words) set in the world of taming fire but before the main story...
I liked it, it felt about the length of a prologue which at the end you find out that's what it originally was. I can't really tell you what it's about because it is really short... all i'll say is that if you have read and enjoyed the Dragon Prince Trilogy (well whats out so far) then you'll probably like this little story that helps establish the world.
Alright back to painting/sculpting/drawing... then probably more reading... cause i seem to be hopelessly addicted to it.
Aaron Pogue's website: http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/
Completed: Return of the Dragon Riders by Kristian Alva
Book 2 of the Dragon Stone Saga.
I have got to slow down with the books... cause now i have to wait till the end of april for Book 3....
I'm not the biggest fan of waiting.
Oh well, we continue our story with Elias as he travels all over to find safety from everyone who's hunting him and the power he doesn't even know he has.
yes.... that's all the description your getting from me... i really don't want to spoil anything and seeing as how this is the second book in the series that's really hard to do... so if you like fantasy and/or dragons. Give this series a read.
it was longer then the first book but still pretty short... just over 300 pages... at first i felt like it was falling into 'middle book' traps but in the end i felt like it had enough action to hold it's own and i am looking forward to the next installment.
Also once again she knows how to write a really interesting ending that hooks you for the next book. which is both great cause i'm excited to read more in this world but it also sucks cause i have to wait for it... oh well... already purchased two new titles on my kindle (one is a novella so that will probably be up tomorrow... unless i'm a good girl and finish the mountain of homework i have piling up) and i can't wait to get started.... hm... it's only midnight... that's plenty of time to get started...
once again for good measure here is her website http://www.kristianalva.com/index.html
this book cost me $3.58 on the kindle and it was completely worth it. Book one is .99 cents and is pretty much a steal.
I have got to slow down with the books... cause now i have to wait till the end of april for Book 3....
I'm not the biggest fan of waiting.
Oh well, we continue our story with Elias as he travels all over to find safety from everyone who's hunting him and the power he doesn't even know he has.
yes.... that's all the description your getting from me... i really don't want to spoil anything and seeing as how this is the second book in the series that's really hard to do... so if you like fantasy and/or dragons. Give this series a read.
it was longer then the first book but still pretty short... just over 300 pages... at first i felt like it was falling into 'middle book' traps but in the end i felt like it had enough action to hold it's own and i am looking forward to the next installment.
Also once again she knows how to write a really interesting ending that hooks you for the next book. which is both great cause i'm excited to read more in this world but it also sucks cause i have to wait for it... oh well... already purchased two new titles on my kindle (one is a novella so that will probably be up tomorrow... unless i'm a good girl and finish the mountain of homework i have piling up) and i can't wait to get started.... hm... it's only midnight... that's plenty of time to get started...
once again for good measure here is her website http://www.kristianalva.com/index.html
this book cost me $3.58 on the kindle and it was completely worth it. Book one is .99 cents and is pretty much a steal.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Completed Ano hana
Originally posted June 24, 2011 on tumblr
you found me…… *outright sobs*
god this show is sad…. not quite clannad level sad but to be fair clannad has 50 eps to get all the sadness it can possibly get when Ano Hana only has 11…
so yeah… i hope this show gets licensed (if it hasn’t already) so i can own it… i really really enjoyed it despite it being so short.
so yeah…. go watch but be warned it’ll probably make you cry….
you found me…… *outright sobs*
god this show is sad…. not quite clannad level sad but to be fair clannad has 50 eps to get all the sadness it can possibly get when Ano Hana only has 11…
so yeah… i hope this show gets licensed (if it hasn’t already) so i can own it… i really really enjoyed it despite it being so short.
so yeah…. go watch but be warned it’ll probably make you cry….
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Adara -From Start to Finish-
In my final year of college our painting class has been assigned a 28 week project.... the first semester focuses on the proposal and the second on the execution of said proposal.
it had to be a series of 6 images but NOT a image comprised of 6 panels... the panels needed to work both separate and together.
My proposal deals with Colour and the psychology that goes along with it.
so the six colour i plan to do will be Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, blue and Purple....
well that was the plan... in the end i may just do a bunch and pick the 6 i like no matter what colour they are. hell i may even try black and white cause while they aren't technically colours they do have psychology attached to them...
so I tried to document the process.... the panel is large (14x20 hot pressed watercolour paper)... at least larger then what i'm comfortable using... so there are some anatomy problems but like i said i hope to make more then 6 and pick the best ones.
I also decided to make the panels featuring my characters cause then i don't have to try and figure out what the person in my paintings look like... so this one is Adara, her stone is the amethyst and therefor i made her colour Purple.
Purple is assosicated with Royalty (due to the fact it was an incredibly difficult pigment to find and only royals could afford it) as well wealth, wisdom, Spirituality (again probably because it's so rare to findin nature)
Due to it's rarity it's often seen as being artificial or exotic. It is said to promote good vision and it gives a sense of power.
so from all of that i created my piece
so yeah... 1 down... 5 more to go... at least...
So it can be purchased as either a print or an iphone case at Red Bubble
Complete: Legacy of Y’s: Book I and II
Originally posted june 11, 2011 on Tumblr
So yeah…. A time not too long ago i had an Atlus licensed in every single console i owned…. Rivera in my GBA slot… Person in my psp…. Persona 4 in my ps2…. can’t remember what was in my wii…. and Legacy of Y’s in my DS
Now Atlus Games tend to be on the hard side…. and this one is…. but for the wrong reasons… see in Book 1 (which i beat a long time ago) the level cap is 24…. and i reached it just before the second boss…. so other then needing to get stronger weapons the game was really really easy…… other then the fact that there is no recovery time after being hit….. even at full health you can have your entire health drained from 1 dm hits in seconds just from being unable to move…. but yeah… beat that… no problem….
Book 2 has that same issue but your knocked back more so the no recovery thing doesn’t hurt as much… plus the level cap is 55 which i didn’t reach till the second to last boss… still it did glitch on me just in the last little chunk where i had to restart the game… yay for being stuck in the bridge…
Also the final boss is too easy… by this point you should have the claria sword, shield and armor, be the may level…. have the goddess ring and the shield spell…. all thing that make the final boss unable to damage you…. at all…. so you just slash slash slash away and soon enough it’s dead…. the ending was pretty satisfying so yeah…. it’s a good game that's fairly short and has a few flaws but they aren’t game breakers. give it a shot if you find this DS game
So yeah…. A time not too long ago i had an Atlus licensed in every single console i owned…. Rivera in my GBA slot… Person in my psp…. Persona 4 in my ps2…. can’t remember what was in my wii…. and Legacy of Y’s in my DS
Now Atlus Games tend to be on the hard side…. and this one is…. but for the wrong reasons… see in Book 1 (which i beat a long time ago) the level cap is 24…. and i reached it just before the second boss…. so other then needing to get stronger weapons the game was really really easy…… other then the fact that there is no recovery time after being hit….. even at full health you can have your entire health drained from 1 dm hits in seconds just from being unable to move…. but yeah… beat that… no problem….
Book 2 has that same issue but your knocked back more so the no recovery thing doesn’t hurt as much… plus the level cap is 55 which i didn’t reach till the second to last boss… still it did glitch on me just in the last little chunk where i had to restart the game… yay for being stuck in the bridge…
Also the final boss is too easy… by this point you should have the claria sword, shield and armor, be the may level…. have the goddess ring and the shield spell…. all thing that make the final boss unable to damage you…. at all…. so you just slash slash slash away and soon enough it’s dead…. the ending was pretty satisfying so yeah…. it’s a good game that's fairly short and has a few flaws but they aren’t game breakers. give it a shot if you find this DS game
Completed: Dragon Stone By Kristian Alva
This is book 1 of the Dragon Stone saga.
First things first.
Dear Kristian Alva,
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Rai
I really enjoyed this book, after only a few chapters the foul mood that the last book i tried to read put me in completely vanished.
I love the characters, they were fleshed out and believable. Yes they give a lot of exposition but it's expertly weaved into the narrative that I completely accept being told so much info in such a short time in the disguise of a grandmother telling stories to her grandson.
I love the world that's been set up, the different races all seem to have purpose to their actions and there's nothing that makes me go "well why are they like that?"
The biggest surprise to me though was the fact that i really liked how the dragons were handled... I don't tend to dislike stories with dragons i just find they can be overpowered but i didn't feel that in this.
The only thing that made me sad about the book was the length... my kindle says it's just under 200 pages and it's just sad when something is so good but so short.
HOWEVER this isn't really an issue cause book 2 is already out (Return of the Dragon Riders) and it is longer.
Finally i have to give Kristian Alva major credit for that last line. I loved it...
hmm guess i haven't talked much about the plot... ok... i'll try not to spoil anything.
Elias is a young boy in a small town living with his grandmother. They both have some magical ability but because the emperor wants all the mages in the land to himself they do their best to keep it hidden. One day when gathering mushrooms Elias comes across an emerald which seems to have the carving of a Dragon in it. After bringing it to his grandmother she confirms that it's a dragon stone and even though it's technically worth a lot of money it may bring great danger to the house. And from their the adventure begins.... i don't want to say anymore cause that takes the fun out of it.
The book cost a buck on the kindle and it's sequel is 3.58... book three isn't out yet but hopefully will come out soon (according to her blog around April) and she has another series planned for 2013
Her website is http://www.kristianalva.com/
so yeah if you like fantasy I think you will really enjoy this book... I know I did.
First things first.
Dear Kristian Alva,
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Rai
I really enjoyed this book, after only a few chapters the foul mood that the last book i tried to read put me in completely vanished.
I love the characters, they were fleshed out and believable. Yes they give a lot of exposition but it's expertly weaved into the narrative that I completely accept being told so much info in such a short time in the disguise of a grandmother telling stories to her grandson.
I love the world that's been set up, the different races all seem to have purpose to their actions and there's nothing that makes me go "well why are they like that?"
The biggest surprise to me though was the fact that i really liked how the dragons were handled... I don't tend to dislike stories with dragons i just find they can be overpowered but i didn't feel that in this.
The only thing that made me sad about the book was the length... my kindle says it's just under 200 pages and it's just sad when something is so good but so short.
HOWEVER this isn't really an issue cause book 2 is already out (Return of the Dragon Riders) and it is longer.
Finally i have to give Kristian Alva major credit for that last line. I loved it...
hmm guess i haven't talked much about the plot... ok... i'll try not to spoil anything.
Elias is a young boy in a small town living with his grandmother. They both have some magical ability but because the emperor wants all the mages in the land to himself they do their best to keep it hidden. One day when gathering mushrooms Elias comes across an emerald which seems to have the carving of a Dragon in it. After bringing it to his grandmother she confirms that it's a dragon stone and even though it's technically worth a lot of money it may bring great danger to the house. And from their the adventure begins.... i don't want to say anymore cause that takes the fun out of it.
The book cost a buck on the kindle and it's sequel is 3.58... book three isn't out yet but hopefully will come out soon (according to her blog around April) and she has another series planned for 2013
Her website is http://www.kristianalva.com/
so yeah if you like fantasy I think you will really enjoy this book... I know I did.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Completed: Cowboy Bebop
Originally posted June 5, 2011 on tumblr
Seriously? the show is from 1998 and i’ve just completed it now?
Well long story short when it first came out i was still only watching anime on TV as i was young and didn’t realize the world of anime was bigger then Sailor moon, Pokemon and cardcaptors.
so in about 2007 or 8 (i can’t remember which… Within a year of Geneon going down) i bought the remix box set of cowboy bebop because I had always heard how great cowboy bebop was and i had seen the movie in 2003 and loved it. Also i had just finished watching Trigun, another popular anime from the same year.
Normally I tend to lean towards girly or slice of life shows but i always wanted to see the show that the movie connected to. So i started watching it with a friend…. then my friendship faded away and i forgot about bebop for a few…. well years.
Fast forward to now. I look at the box set and tell myself i really need to just finish it… but i couldn’t remember how far i had gotten…. so i re-watched the whole thing. (turns out i had just finished disk 5 when i stopped all those years ago but still glad i re-watched it)
So yeah everything i’m about to say is opinion, i know the show is considered a classic… but even classics are allowed to have flaws.
Overall i liked it, the music is great, the characters are so interesting and the animation is pretty intense…. especially during fight scenes.
It did feel like a lot of filler, i was more interested in the Julia/Vicious arc and Faye’s past but both things don’t get more then 4 eps each… Ed… one of the more interesting characters gets pushed off to the side and what happens with her near the end kinda came out of nowhere for me. Jet did get some good character development but his arc wasn’t as interesting in my opinion… plus it really only gets 1 ep….
Also it leaves a lot of things unexplained…. now i know that’s kinda the point since there can be debates over what happens… especially at the end… but it left me more confused…. the movie came out in 2001… three years after the show ended the time frame of 2071 matches for both…. does the movie take place during or after the show? is it even related to the show at all…. maybe if i re-watch it it’ll make more sense? somehow i doubt that…
alas i digress. Again i did like it… not love but still…. i keep comparing it to the series i mentioned Trigun…. Now i could be biased towards trigun because….
a) i saw trigun first and it cost me much less over all to get the whole season… thank you geneon
b) Yes it does have things that take place in space…. but i seem to recall not as much…. and i have this weird fear of space… so there was a lot of me cringing while watching bebop…. cringing doesn’t make for good viewing experience…
Still even though i think some people hype it a bit too much… i think people should see it and make their own opinion… i have some friends who love it and some who hate it… Make sure to check out the movie if you can… it’s really really cool…. from what i remember anyways… i haven’t seen it in years
Anyways i think the most cliche way to end this is pretty obvious…
See You Space Cowboy
Seriously? the show is from 1998 and i’ve just completed it now?
Well long story short when it first came out i was still only watching anime on TV as i was young and didn’t realize the world of anime was bigger then Sailor moon, Pokemon and cardcaptors.
so in about 2007 or 8 (i can’t remember which… Within a year of Geneon going down) i bought the remix box set of cowboy bebop because I had always heard how great cowboy bebop was and i had seen the movie in 2003 and loved it. Also i had just finished watching Trigun, another popular anime from the same year.
Normally I tend to lean towards girly or slice of life shows but i always wanted to see the show that the movie connected to. So i started watching it with a friend…. then my friendship faded away and i forgot about bebop for a few…. well years.
Fast forward to now. I look at the box set and tell myself i really need to just finish it… but i couldn’t remember how far i had gotten…. so i re-watched the whole thing. (turns out i had just finished disk 5 when i stopped all those years ago but still glad i re-watched it)
So yeah everything i’m about to say is opinion, i know the show is considered a classic… but even classics are allowed to have flaws.
Overall i liked it, the music is great, the characters are so interesting and the animation is pretty intense…. especially during fight scenes.
It did feel like a lot of filler, i was more interested in the Julia/Vicious arc and Faye’s past but both things don’t get more then 4 eps each… Ed… one of the more interesting characters gets pushed off to the side and what happens with her near the end kinda came out of nowhere for me. Jet did get some good character development but his arc wasn’t as interesting in my opinion… plus it really only gets 1 ep….
Also it leaves a lot of things unexplained…. now i know that’s kinda the point since there can be debates over what happens… especially at the end… but it left me more confused…. the movie came out in 2001… three years after the show ended the time frame of 2071 matches for both…. does the movie take place during or after the show? is it even related to the show at all…. maybe if i re-watch it it’ll make more sense? somehow i doubt that…
alas i digress. Again i did like it… not love but still…. i keep comparing it to the series i mentioned Trigun…. Now i could be biased towards trigun because….
a) i saw trigun first and it cost me much less over all to get the whole season… thank you geneon
b) Yes it does have things that take place in space…. but i seem to recall not as much…. and i have this weird fear of space… so there was a lot of me cringing while watching bebop…. cringing doesn’t make for good viewing experience…
Still even though i think some people hype it a bit too much… i think people should see it and make their own opinion… i have some friends who love it and some who hate it… Make sure to check out the movie if you can… it’s really really cool…. from what i remember anyways… i haven’t seen it in years
Anyways i think the most cliche way to end this is pretty obvious…
See You Space Cowboy
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Completed: Paper Mario
Originally posted may 12, 2011 on Tumblr
wait… isn’t that game like 10 years old?
so yeah a while back in he era where cartridges battled with CDs i was in the local video rental store and i picked up paper mario…. i only had it for a few days but i got about halfway.
then didn’t ever rent it for 10 years.
Eventually i ordered it on Virtual console and now it has finally been completed.
So yeah i really liked it, it was really easy but still pretty fun… maybe now i can go and get Thousand year door… but for now i have enough unfinished games on my shelf to last me a while.
I did find it a little funny that paper mario is being ported to 3ds… i thinks thats one of the reason i wanted to beat it cause i wasn’t going to buy it again… and besides i am currently 3dsless.. i refuse to buy a gen 1 handheld from nintendo… i learned my lesson with the original DS.
anyways i’ll probably do things like this in the future when i complete anything… but since this game is from 2001 i think doing a review is kinda pointless… still if you haven’t played it and own a 3ds the port should be pretty good ^^ hopefully.
Edit: apparently it’s not really a port… at least it doesn’t look like one based on the trailer… hmmm i guess time will tell.
wait… isn’t that game like 10 years old?
so yeah a while back in he era where cartridges battled with CDs i was in the local video rental store and i picked up paper mario…. i only had it for a few days but i got about halfway.
then didn’t ever rent it for 10 years.
Eventually i ordered it on Virtual console and now it has finally been completed.
So yeah i really liked it, it was really easy but still pretty fun… maybe now i can go and get Thousand year door… but for now i have enough unfinished games on my shelf to last me a while.
I did find it a little funny that paper mario is being ported to 3ds… i thinks thats one of the reason i wanted to beat it cause i wasn’t going to buy it again… and besides i am currently 3dsless.. i refuse to buy a gen 1 handheld from nintendo… i learned my lesson with the original DS.
anyways i’ll probably do things like this in the future when i complete anything… but since this game is from 2001 i think doing a review is kinda pointless… still if you haven’t played it and own a 3ds the port should be pretty good ^^ hopefully.
Edit: apparently it’s not really a port… at least it doesn’t look like one based on the trailer… hmmm i guess time will tell.
Dropped: Wizard Rising (A Five Kingdoms Novel) by Toby Neighbors
Those who know me.... know I'm stubborn to a fault... no matter how frustrating something is I'll work hard to finish it...
But sometimes.... I'm sorry I just can't do it
There will be spoilers.... but only up to where i stopped. This is also my personal opinion.
Alright... lets set the scene shall we?
After finishing A Touch of Magic By Gregory Mahan i was left in a fairly positive mood... the book wasn't the best thing I had ever read but it left me interested enough were i'm willing to read the sequel.... in fact I wanted to have more fantasy to read right there.... oh but what to pick?
My kindle gave me a few recommendations and Amazon did as well and this book jumped out at me.
Wizards rising... interesting title.... not a horribly designed cover (yes.... i judge books by their cover... I can't help it, it's the graphic designer in me) and a synopsis that promised adventure. it's rating was good... 4.5 stars...
.99 cents? yeah I can give it a shot.
It's been a long time since i've felt this ripped off. The last time was "THE GATEWAY" by Glenn G. Thater... and that book was free on the kindle....
Anyways I start the book and it's not the worst writing style I've ever seen... it felt very...
Zollin was a carpenter but Zollin sucked at it and Zollin's father, Quinn, was annoyed that Zollin sucked at carpentry so Quinn hired the tanners youngest son to fill the void cause Zollin sucked so much.
yes that is an extreme exaggeration but it's how I felt... things were repeated constantly and nothing felt fluid... it was all very stiff.
So not too far in Zollin, who sucks at carpentry, realized that he mad the handle of a bag levitate into his hand... and his reaction is. "Oh wow, I have magic.... I don't know how I know it's magic but I KNOW it's magic, oh all I have to do is say words and things happen... and I can feel the magic in other things... not only that but i can tell if it's good magic or bad magic."
In my last review I started quite clearly that i HATE when characters can do all these things with no training because it's unrealistic.... i don't mind if they don't have training as long as it's balanced with a lack of control and or strength...
Zollin on the other hand not only seem to have great control but he's also the most powerful wizard ever at the ripe age of... 14? 16?
So I'm looking for something to smash my head into when we cut to the Wizards of Torr, the men sense Zollin's birth but they take this long to actually pinpoint the boys location.. now these guys are obviously the villains since they want to control Zollin's power and one even wants to use him to overthrow their current master wizard.... there's some plot about how the wizards want to take over the kingdom but they already seem to be shadow kinds so.... I don't really see the point... anyways...
They find Zollin's village the day of Zollin's best friends marriage to the prettiest girl in town whom he hasn't spoken with much. The Wizards being jerks instead of bartering or appearing kind to Zollin to falsely gain the boys trust just threaten the entire village.... yeah thats a smart idea... you have a wizard who is strong and you threaten to kill the people he cares for... yeah i'm sure he'll go along with your evil plan.
Cause the thing about the best evil plans... the people who are doing them THINK they are doing good... Nobody... or at least no one who in an interesting character just goes "oh yes i'm evil, now i'll go kidnap a maiden and tie her to the railroad tracks".
ugh getting off topic again...
so at this point Zollin has obtained a willow belt that give +5 to magic and a Staff which give +30 (you read the book and tell me it doesn't feel like an rpg character equipping items...) and he manages to... ugh... Blast the wizards that have had DECADES of training and research off their horses and majorly injure them... enough where he can run away.
...
...
...
No... I'm sorry.... stupid child with no training should never defeat the powerful wizard in one attack...
but thats not where i stopped...
so his best friend gets killed, zollin is unable to heal him... well no he does heal the skin but not the severed artery... His wife for a day Brianna doesn't even seem all that sad and she, along with his father and the apprentice leave town and head to the mountains figuring that the snow would protect them for a few months.
so they travel, get found, the one wizard tries to befriend Zollin but the boy goes. "i don't trust you... even though your acting nice and helped my friend the plot says i should trust you so i wont..." So the wizard tries to control their mind... but Brianna is immune....
oh right i didn't mention that... Zollin gave his best friends Fiancee a ring that makes her immune to magic.... becuase.... um.... the plot says so... but still... remember this for later...
anyways Brianna helps them snap out of it and when the wizard attacks Brianna and his fire spell bounces back and burns the man.
so more traveling and they bump into one of the other wizrds and he manages to kill the man.... a boy with no training kills one of the wizards without too much of a fight... so then they travel some more and they reach the mountain town that is supposed to keep them safe in the winter.
End of book one... wait what? i'm only 30ish% of the way through the book... maybe they meant Act 1 or Part 1... i mean... had i read that as a book i would have done my completed as one extremely angry customer.... which i guess isn't too different from what i'm doing now... hm...
Anyways i got pretty mad at the fact that the word Book 1 was used because to me when that happens it means two+ books were merged into one... and if that isn't the case then the words Part or Act would probably work better. however after a little bit of research still don't know if this war really a book that had 2 or 3 books in it or it was just a horrible choice in words cause like i said before... had that first part been it's own book i would have been mad. The climax was pitiful and there was no structure to the story at all... anyways...
Then something odd happened... in book two fairly early on he meets The Mentor Archetype. YAY finally! someone to teach this stupid child the ways of magic, what it's rules are and where it's from of course Brianna being the main love interest (who zollin refuses to be interested in cause it's his best friends Widow and thinking about her would tarnish his memory... a fact that is mentions MULTIPLE times almost every chapter) follows Zollin around... and at some point she nearly falls of her horse and he levitates her.
wait.... WAIT... what?! she has the ring that you gave her that makes NO MAGIC work on her.... you can't just.... change the rules like that... ugh.... off topic again...
anyways at this point i'm thinking "okay we've finally established the world and the magic system and maybe this will be interesting... i'm glad i pushed through...."
Reads the paragraph
First of that that is direct quote, no exaggerations... 52% of the way through the book at location 2544 of 4883 on my kindle... so yeah...
now keep in mind Kelvich (The Mentor) is an old hermit who prefers to study over everything else... he presents himself as a wise man.... i have hard time believing that anyone... let alone this wise old sorcerer would say that last line. that line doesn't add to the plot it doesn't need to be in the story and it was the last straw.
but like i said... i'm stubborn... I tried to read for a few more chapters but this was the point where i gave up...
so yeah.... in case you didn't gather.... I really didn't like this book... It may get better in the second half but i'm so far beyond not caring..
However... this is all just my opinion... i'm not saying i'm right i'm just saying this is how i felt while reading this.
If you have read this book and enjoyed it please tell me why cause I really want to see the potential that this story holds since so far the only interesting thing was the Hierarchy of magic he had in place.
Toby Neighbors website just because I didn't like it doesn't mean you will feel the same... so it's only fair that i post a link to his website.
now I have to find a book to renew my faith in the fantasy genre.... hm....
Also sorry this was so long.... I can talk a lot when i'm annoyed...
But sometimes.... I'm sorry I just can't do it
There will be spoilers.... but only up to where i stopped. This is also my personal opinion.
Alright... lets set the scene shall we?
After finishing A Touch of Magic By Gregory Mahan i was left in a fairly positive mood... the book wasn't the best thing I had ever read but it left me interested enough were i'm willing to read the sequel.... in fact I wanted to have more fantasy to read right there.... oh but what to pick?
My kindle gave me a few recommendations and Amazon did as well and this book jumped out at me.
Wizards rising... interesting title.... not a horribly designed cover (yes.... i judge books by their cover... I can't help it, it's the graphic designer in me) and a synopsis that promised adventure. it's rating was good... 4.5 stars...
.99 cents? yeah I can give it a shot.
It's been a long time since i've felt this ripped off. The last time was "THE GATEWAY" by Glenn G. Thater... and that book was free on the kindle....
Anyways I start the book and it's not the worst writing style I've ever seen... it felt very...
Zollin was a carpenter but Zollin sucked at it and Zollin's father, Quinn, was annoyed that Zollin sucked at carpentry so Quinn hired the tanners youngest son to fill the void cause Zollin sucked so much.
yes that is an extreme exaggeration but it's how I felt... things were repeated constantly and nothing felt fluid... it was all very stiff.
So not too far in Zollin, who sucks at carpentry, realized that he mad the handle of a bag levitate into his hand... and his reaction is. "Oh wow, I have magic.... I don't know how I know it's magic but I KNOW it's magic, oh all I have to do is say words and things happen... and I can feel the magic in other things... not only that but i can tell if it's good magic or bad magic."
In my last review I started quite clearly that i HATE when characters can do all these things with no training because it's unrealistic.... i don't mind if they don't have training as long as it's balanced with a lack of control and or strength...
Zollin on the other hand not only seem to have great control but he's also the most powerful wizard ever at the ripe age of... 14? 16?
So I'm looking for something to smash my head into when we cut to the Wizards of Torr, the men sense Zollin's birth but they take this long to actually pinpoint the boys location.. now these guys are obviously the villains since they want to control Zollin's power and one even wants to use him to overthrow their current master wizard.... there's some plot about how the wizards want to take over the kingdom but they already seem to be shadow kinds so.... I don't really see the point... anyways...
They find Zollin's village the day of Zollin's best friends marriage to the prettiest girl in town whom he hasn't spoken with much. The Wizards being jerks instead of bartering or appearing kind to Zollin to falsely gain the boys trust just threaten the entire village.... yeah thats a smart idea... you have a wizard who is strong and you threaten to kill the people he cares for... yeah i'm sure he'll go along with your evil plan.
Cause the thing about the best evil plans... the people who are doing them THINK they are doing good... Nobody... or at least no one who in an interesting character just goes "oh yes i'm evil, now i'll go kidnap a maiden and tie her to the railroad tracks".
ugh getting off topic again...
so at this point Zollin has obtained a willow belt that give +5 to magic and a Staff which give +30 (you read the book and tell me it doesn't feel like an rpg character equipping items...) and he manages to... ugh... Blast the wizards that have had DECADES of training and research off their horses and majorly injure them... enough where he can run away.
...
...
...
No... I'm sorry.... stupid child with no training should never defeat the powerful wizard in one attack...
but thats not where i stopped...
so his best friend gets killed, zollin is unable to heal him... well no he does heal the skin but not the severed artery... His wife for a day Brianna doesn't even seem all that sad and she, along with his father and the apprentice leave town and head to the mountains figuring that the snow would protect them for a few months.
so they travel, get found, the one wizard tries to befriend Zollin but the boy goes. "i don't trust you... even though your acting nice and helped my friend the plot says i should trust you so i wont..." So the wizard tries to control their mind... but Brianna is immune....
oh right i didn't mention that... Zollin gave his best friends Fiancee a ring that makes her immune to magic.... becuase.... um.... the plot says so... but still... remember this for later...
anyways Brianna helps them snap out of it and when the wizard attacks Brianna and his fire spell bounces back and burns the man.
so more traveling and they bump into one of the other wizrds and he manages to kill the man.... a boy with no training kills one of the wizards without too much of a fight... so then they travel some more and they reach the mountain town that is supposed to keep them safe in the winter.
End of book one... wait what? i'm only 30ish% of the way through the book... maybe they meant Act 1 or Part 1... i mean... had i read that as a book i would have done my completed as one extremely angry customer.... which i guess isn't too different from what i'm doing now... hm...
Anyways i got pretty mad at the fact that the word Book 1 was used because to me when that happens it means two+ books were merged into one... and if that isn't the case then the words Part or Act would probably work better. however after a little bit of research still don't know if this war really a book that had 2 or 3 books in it or it was just a horrible choice in words cause like i said before... had that first part been it's own book i would have been mad. The climax was pitiful and there was no structure to the story at all... anyways...
Then something odd happened... in book two fairly early on he meets The Mentor Archetype. YAY finally! someone to teach this stupid child the ways of magic, what it's rules are and where it's from of course Brianna being the main love interest (who zollin refuses to be interested in cause it's his best friends Widow and thinking about her would tarnish his memory... a fact that is mentions MULTIPLE times almost every chapter) follows Zollin around... and at some point she nearly falls of her horse and he levitates her.
wait.... WAIT... what?! she has the ring that you gave her that makes NO MAGIC work on her.... you can't just.... change the rules like that... ugh.... off topic again...
anyways at this point i'm thinking "okay we've finally established the world and the magic system and maybe this will be interesting... i'm glad i pushed through...."
Reads the paragraph
"Impressive," Kelvich said. "Most people can't sense the Augmire weed in its frozen state. Certain plants and herbs contain magic and can be used for healing, like the weed in this clearing. It's used to treat upset stomach and Digestive diseases."No.... no it's not okay.... where do i even start.
"Di- What?"
"Digestion is the function of your body to break down food into nutrients, and the rest is waste."
"what do you mean?"
"you can study anatomy later," Kelvich said. "Digestion is what happens to the food you eat as it passes through your body and crap it out. Okay?"
First of that that is direct quote, no exaggerations... 52% of the way through the book at location 2544 of 4883 on my kindle... so yeah...
now keep in mind Kelvich (The Mentor) is an old hermit who prefers to study over everything else... he presents himself as a wise man.... i have hard time believing that anyone... let alone this wise old sorcerer would say that last line. that line doesn't add to the plot it doesn't need to be in the story and it was the last straw.
but like i said... i'm stubborn... I tried to read for a few more chapters but this was the point where i gave up...
so yeah.... in case you didn't gather.... I really didn't like this book... It may get better in the second half but i'm so far beyond not caring..
However... this is all just my opinion... i'm not saying i'm right i'm just saying this is how i felt while reading this.
If you have read this book and enjoyed it please tell me why cause I really want to see the potential that this story holds since so far the only interesting thing was the Hierarchy of magic he had in place.
Toby Neighbors website just because I didn't like it doesn't mean you will feel the same... so it's only fair that i post a link to his website.
now I have to find a book to renew my faith in the fantasy genre.... hm....
Also sorry this was so long.... I can talk a lot when i'm annoyed...
Monday, 6 February 2012
Completed: Ace Attorney: Miles edgeworth: Investigations
Originally posted May 16, 2011 on tumblr
mouthful for a title… but yeah
great game, I love story driven games and i love point and click games so this game is pretty much perfect in my eyes….
yes there are some instances of grammatical and spelling errors. but it all works out in the end.
some episodes are better then others and i’m sad that it never goes into the courtroom but it works out.
so yeah… looking forward to it’s sequel and even more forward to the professor Layton crossover.
so yeah…. great game, it’s been out a while but still go pick it up if you haven’t!
but wow is that last chapter long or what….
mouthful for a title… but yeah
great game, I love story driven games and i love point and click games so this game is pretty much perfect in my eyes….
yes there are some instances of grammatical and spelling errors. but it all works out in the end.
some episodes are better then others and i’m sad that it never goes into the courtroom but it works out.
so yeah… looking forward to it’s sequel and even more forward to the professor Layton crossover.
so yeah…. great game, it’s been out a while but still go pick it up if you haven’t!
but wow is that last chapter long or what….
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Seafoam -From Start to Finish-
Another piece from sketch to completion cause... well why not?
This was for school actually, the assignment was appropriation... we had to take someone one of our classmates style and/or content and apply it to our own art. Most people just directly copied from the art they were given... which was fine but i (and the two members of my group) went in a slightly different approach. I decided to focus on process since the person i was appropriating has a very interestign way of painting.
what she does is a sketch and the colouring completely separate then she merges them in photoshop and the result can be pretty interesting.
i also made it a mermaid ebcause she had one piece She sells Sea Shells which i mistook to be a mermaid washed up on shore... she said it was supposed to be like a bedspread but yeah... we all end up taking our own interpretations from art....
I had a lot of fun with the inking, i tried to go fairly detailed since the colour would be completely separate, i based the idea on the story of the little mermaid... specifically the end when she turns to seafoam... I'm the type of person who enjoys sad endings as well as happy ones...
Now this is where it bot got fun and frustration.... this was also the moemnt that i discovered i'm kind of a control freak... i turned my desk, which is glass, into a light table.... but it wasn't a very bright one so i could barely see the lines through the watercolour paper.... still that is kind of the whole point and in the end this was the layer of just colour that i ended up getting...
5 minutes later in photoshop i got...
for the most part.... i was surprised how much ending up being in the lines... and i guess that's kind of the charm with her style. I may try something like this again in the future since i learned so much just from this one attempt.
and as a bonus the teacher liked it and even though i kinda skewed the project to fit what i wanted to do... but yeah good times.
i'm trying to document my work as i go more now so there may be more random things like this in the future... maybe.... just for fun.
um may as well give a shout out to Flowerface since it was her style that inspired this piece, go check her out
alright... it's about time i get back to painting, see you next time.
what she does is a sketch and the colouring completely separate then she merges them in photoshop and the result can be pretty interesting.
i also made it a mermaid ebcause she had one piece She sells Sea Shells which i mistook to be a mermaid washed up on shore... she said it was supposed to be like a bedspread but yeah... we all end up taking our own interpretations from art....
5 minutes later in photoshop i got...
and as a bonus the teacher liked it and even though i kinda skewed the project to fit what i wanted to do... but yeah good times.
i'm trying to document my work as i go more now so there may be more random things like this in the future... maybe.... just for fun.
um may as well give a shout out to Flowerface since it was her style that inspired this piece, go check her out
alright... it's about time i get back to painting, see you next time.
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