i will specify that this is the anime.... though i'm like... one dungeon away from beating the game as well.... and the two are pretty much the exact same thing....
Also looks like i've gotten through that huge queue of old reviews, this means they probably wont come daily anymore but i'll try to keep the blog active with sketches and such.
So.... my history with Persona.
Back in the olden days of highschool my friends were all abuzz with a new game that had coem out called Persona 3, when i asked them what kind of game it was all they could really say was "it's a life sim/dating game/turn based roleplaying dungeon crawler..... and it takes place over a year of ingame time... and you fight by shooting yourself in the head."
well.... naturally i called bullshit cause nothing could be that crazy... and just kind of brushed it off to the side until Persona 3 FES came out shortly after.... my friend had already bought it and after lookign at the cover and the opening song i decided.... ok why not give this a try.
first thing, i scoffed at the "80 hours of gameplay" on the back cause...
a) i just couldn't fathom the game being so long.... yes it takes place over a year but thats in game time and sometimes chunks of weeks are skipped.
b) i have a tendency to beat games quickly.
so...... 80 hours later i get to the final boss... which in and of itself takes an hour to two to beat (lets just say you'll hate tarot cards after this match) and then i get to the end which to my surprise.... after all that wasn't terribly happy.
this made my day cause i like bitter sweet or unhappy endings and Persona 4 had been announced and would be released in a bit.
Now despite the whole shoot yourself in the head thing i really liked everything about this game and i looked forward to what they would do in the next one... i probably should have played the extra game fes added known as "The answer" but it claimed to be another 30 hours and i did have other things i wanted to play..... if i ever do go back and play it i will give 3 a full review but for now just understand that i really liked it.
SO.... persona 4 gets released and i get the preorder bonus of a little art book.
normally i would be happy about the little artbook but i made the mistake of looking through it on the way home from the game store.... this is when i spoiled the ending for myself.... that kind of sucked.
so i played it like crazy, it felt a bit faster paced then the first one cause instead of things being determined by the full moon you had to worry more about the weather which felt like it was a bit faster.... i don't think it actually is but there was more a sense of urgency.
then i got to kenji's dungeon and i kept getting one hit killed, see if Protagonist dies it' game over.... the enemies know this and target him with light and dark attacks which are both insta kills.
so.... i put down the game for a long time, last summer before i started work i went back to playing it and like i said got to the second to last dungeon...
so when the anime started playing i started telling myself "better beat the game before i watch the show.... even though i know who the big bad is"
yeah i never did....
also before i start getting to the actual review... i do own persona 1 and 2...
1 i don't understand what the hell is going on.... i will beat it eventually but it's not really fun when your in the first area and have no idea what your suppose to do.... two i'm just past the tutorial.... but then i got into the Ys and Legend of Heroes series so yeah.... i will go back to it one day... maybe.
onto the show....
we start with Protagonist who has been given a real name! Yu Narukami, he's just moved into town to stay with relatives because the plot says so.... he's only staying for one school year.
he makes some friends really quickly but these strange things start happening in town.... on days where there is fog, people who had vanished shortly before show up dead and hanged upside down.... you also find out that you have the ability to go through the television....
Unfortunately when you make it to the other world you can't see properly thanks to the fog, and your being attacked by strange shadows.
luckily you are helped out by the punniest Bear around, he gives you glasses and you find the inner strength to draw forth your first persona.
so that's the basic set up, you are able to call forth the personas so maybe you can help solve the mystery....
But you don't have to do this alone, when you bring your friends in while you search for those who have disappeared your friends end up facing their personal shadow, things that they hide deep in their heart... this ranges from things as simple as a hero complex, to things as complicated and sensitive as Gender confusion. and each one of them is handled really well... with each saved person you get a new party member
I love how the show uses things from the games like the calendar or the emoticons and of course the music. it was all just so fun and a great option in case you don't want to plug 80+ hours into a game... a really hard game at that...
so i say go watch it, it's over at Anime Network on demand online for free.
alright back to painting, i may even finish it soon at the rate i'm going~ probably not though....
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Completed: Red Tails
Originally published January 28, 2012 on tumblr
this is my last old review, from this point on i probably wont update every day but i'll try to do my best and update as much as possible
Dear Mister Lucas,
Thank you for producing this film, it showed me an interesting piece of American history which i don’t know too much about being that i am Canadian… I know some of the facts were changed around to make for a better story… but still i enjoyed the film. I understand that if was really hard to get this to theaters but thank you for pushing so hard…
That being said…
Whomever does your editing needs to be fired, or at least teach them that there is more then just the Fade option to go between scenes… it seriously got distracting. The best editing should never be noticed.
Yes it looks cool when a wing rips off a plane…. the first time…. hell maybe even the second time…. but i swear you used that same wing rip at least 4 times if not more… i get it… you didn’t have a lot of money since it was coming out of your pocket… but i still think you could have done better.
While were on the subject of graphics… the whole thing felt extremely video game… again i understand money was tight but the effects looked really poor and again distracted from the overall film.
Side note, who thought helvetica was a good option to do your opening credits in? Maybe this is just a few years of typography based classes being drilled into my head but seriously… Helvetica didn’t fit the mood of bomber planes dropping out of the sky at all.
The pacing was also off… not sure if the film needed to be cut a little but something made it drag a little at the end…. and the writing wasn’t the best… and the acting hammy…
But in the end… i did enjoy the film… yes it’s flawed but it was fairly interesting. As interesting as war films can get i guess.
anyways mister Lucas… Thank you for your time despite the fact i know you’ll never read this.
Sincerely,
some random person on the internet.
Completely random side note based of the films previews.
NO i will NOT be seeing Star Wars Ep 1 in 3d… i saw it in theaters when it was first released…. where it promptly sucked… so do i want to go watch it in Pain-o-vision? no… NEVER… would i see ep 4-6 in 3d? probably not but i would go find it in 2d just cause i didn’t get to see those ones in theater… and those one don’t suck.
Battleship…. i knew about this for a long time but still… Battleship? i played the game once or twice… i sure as hell don’t remember force fields or bombs with outreaching chain tentacle things….
and those are the only two previews i remember.
i probably should have been painting instead of watching a movie but i’m glad i took a break… alas… there is still work to do~
this is my last old review, from this point on i probably wont update every day but i'll try to do my best and update as much as possible
Dear Mister Lucas,
Thank you for producing this film, it showed me an interesting piece of American history which i don’t know too much about being that i am Canadian… I know some of the facts were changed around to make for a better story… but still i enjoyed the film. I understand that if was really hard to get this to theaters but thank you for pushing so hard…
That being said…
Whomever does your editing needs to be fired, or at least teach them that there is more then just the Fade option to go between scenes… it seriously got distracting. The best editing should never be noticed.
Yes it looks cool when a wing rips off a plane…. the first time…. hell maybe even the second time…. but i swear you used that same wing rip at least 4 times if not more… i get it… you didn’t have a lot of money since it was coming out of your pocket… but i still think you could have done better.
While were on the subject of graphics… the whole thing felt extremely video game… again i understand money was tight but the effects looked really poor and again distracted from the overall film.
Side note, who thought helvetica was a good option to do your opening credits in? Maybe this is just a few years of typography based classes being drilled into my head but seriously… Helvetica didn’t fit the mood of bomber planes dropping out of the sky at all.
The pacing was also off… not sure if the film needed to be cut a little but something made it drag a little at the end…. and the writing wasn’t the best… and the acting hammy…
But in the end… i did enjoy the film… yes it’s flawed but it was fairly interesting. As interesting as war films can get i guess.
anyways mister Lucas… Thank you for your time despite the fact i know you’ll never read this.
Sincerely,
some random person on the internet.
Completely random side note based of the films previews.
NO i will NOT be seeing Star Wars Ep 1 in 3d… i saw it in theaters when it was first released…. where it promptly sucked… so do i want to go watch it in Pain-o-vision? no… NEVER… would i see ep 4-6 in 3d? probably not but i would go find it in 2d just cause i didn’t get to see those ones in theater… and those one don’t suck.
Battleship…. i knew about this for a long time but still… Battleship? i played the game once or twice… i sure as hell don’t remember force fields or bombs with outreaching chain tentacle things….
and those are the only two previews i remember.
i probably should have been painting instead of watching a movie but i’m glad i took a break… alas… there is still work to do~
Friday, 30 March 2012
Completed?: Brave 10
um.... the reason i'm unsure if this is finished or not is simple.... the show leaves itself wide open for a sequel but also says Fin at the end....
i kind of hope it isn't the end cause that ending was.... kinda lame....
granted the show as a whole.... not the best thing i've ever seen.... the character design is nice and the ending song is really catchy....
but otherwise? i dunno.... kinda forgettable... if it gets another season i may give it a shot now that everyone is introduced.... but if the story continues to go nowhere then yeah.... don't really care...
still it's viewable on crunchyroll so go watch it if you like.... um.... magical warriors in ancient japan? yeah that's close enough....
and yes... if the music is good enough i can push through mediocre shows.... i'm odd like that
i kind of hope it isn't the end cause that ending was.... kinda lame....
granted the show as a whole.... not the best thing i've ever seen.... the character design is nice and the ending song is really catchy....
but otherwise? i dunno.... kinda forgettable... if it gets another season i may give it a shot now that everyone is introduced.... but if the story continues to go nowhere then yeah.... don't really care...
still it's viewable on crunchyroll so go watch it if you like.... um.... magical warriors in ancient japan? yeah that's close enough....
and yes... if the music is good enough i can push through mediocre shows.... i'm odd like that
Completed: Le Portrait de Petit Cossette
Originally published January 24, 2012 on tumblr
….
….
…
..
.
Yeah…. i don’t really know where to start.
Um…. ok… so it’s about a boy named Eiri who can see a girl in these glasses he acquired…. then he sees her and somehow makes a blood pact with her…
and then he turns into a demon… and…. yeah that's about the time when i got lost…
but that's not really what the story is about…. it’s really about this Arist Marchello who would paint the young Cossette… one day in a state of madness he murders her and her entire family… her possessions witness this and get mad and vow revenge on Marchello’s soul.
then again…. i’m not sure if that's what this show is about… hm…. okay i got this
This show is about being as artsy in 3 episodes as humanly possible.
yeah that pretty much sums it up.
so yeah if you hadn’t gathered yet…. i didn’t really like it…. now it’s not bad… it’s just not something i enjoy… it reminds me a lot of the story Lolita which creeps me out… when marchello is cornering cossette and saying things like “why do you insist on getting older?” yeah…. that’s horrifying… to many people i could see that being the moment where people really enjoy the show… i just found it way too creepy.
which the anime is pretty decent i really hate that faux realism some anime tries to accomplish… and the eyes just look so dead… and yeah that’s kind of the point but just cause something is meant to be that way doesn’t mean i have to like it. Also the whole show seems to be drawn at a dutch angle or from angles where we can see up the characters nose… i personally don’t like when those angles are used to a point where you can notice how much they are being used…
also the story made no sense…. i can’t even begin to describe the last episode… yeah tons of symbolism but i didn’t care enough and it all just felt forced…
music was pretty interesting though.
i have known about this series for a long time thanks to the music, my friend played it once in the car… and he did say i probably would like the show… now i understand why…
but yeah it’s not Bad… it’s not bad at all… i just don’t like those kind of stories.
….
….
…
..
.
Yeah…. i don’t really know where to start.
Um…. ok… so it’s about a boy named Eiri who can see a girl in these glasses he acquired…. then he sees her and somehow makes a blood pact with her…
and then he turns into a demon… and…. yeah that's about the time when i got lost…
but that's not really what the story is about…. it’s really about this Arist Marchello who would paint the young Cossette… one day in a state of madness he murders her and her entire family… her possessions witness this and get mad and vow revenge on Marchello’s soul.
then again…. i’m not sure if that's what this show is about… hm…. okay i got this
This show is about being as artsy in 3 episodes as humanly possible.
yeah that pretty much sums it up.
so yeah if you hadn’t gathered yet…. i didn’t really like it…. now it’s not bad… it’s just not something i enjoy… it reminds me a lot of the story Lolita which creeps me out… when marchello is cornering cossette and saying things like “why do you insist on getting older?” yeah…. that’s horrifying… to many people i could see that being the moment where people really enjoy the show… i just found it way too creepy.
which the anime is pretty decent i really hate that faux realism some anime tries to accomplish… and the eyes just look so dead… and yeah that’s kind of the point but just cause something is meant to be that way doesn’t mean i have to like it. Also the whole show seems to be drawn at a dutch angle or from angles where we can see up the characters nose… i personally don’t like when those angles are used to a point where you can notice how much they are being used…
also the story made no sense…. i can’t even begin to describe the last episode… yeah tons of symbolism but i didn’t care enough and it all just felt forced…
music was pretty interesting though.
i have known about this series for a long time thanks to the music, my friend played it once in the car… and he did say i probably would like the show… now i understand why…
but yeah it’s not Bad… it’s not bad at all… i just don’t like those kind of stories.
Completed: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC
Originally pubished January 17, 2012 on tumblr
FC stands for first chapter… anyways… yet another Falcom game…
Before getting into anything i would just like to mention that the Legend of heroes series has a mighty screwed up release history in north america.
I have only played Legend of heroes 4: a tear of vermillion before this… a game i only picked up because i had played the Ys games and enjoyed them… when i finished that game i did a little research cause i hadn’t heard of LOH1-3 or 5+ because at the end it said it was part two of a trilogy.
from what i could gather the two first LOH games are connected, then the next three are there own trilogy but can technically played in ‘any’ order since from what i could gather they all take place on different continents that can’t meet each other due to weather. it’s called the Gagharv Trilogy… would love to play the other games…. but as far as i can find out… that's not gunna happen any time soon… these games are rare and from what i understand i was lucky to get 4 for such a low price…. plus they are old now… and apparently they screwed up the order in which they were released here…. but that's fine
next is this series and here's where my brain starts to implode
trails in the sky is a trilogy…. with 4 and possibly even 5 games.
trails in the sky is spread out over 3 games making it it’s own trilogy…. game 4 is a sequel sat in the same world, possible with same characters or allusions to them but seems to be counted as part of the trails in the sky (sora no kiseki) trilogy…
and the series continues… and my head continues to feel nothing but pain… anyways onto the actual review
We start off the game in the past, little Estelle is waiting for her father to come home from work, seems like she’s been home alone for a few days now.
Soon enough he bursts through the door carrying something in a blanket, a boy about the same age as estelle… about 11. The boy is injured but fighting with the girls father “you don’t know what your getting into!” he complained but the man doesn’t seem to care and introduces his daughter.
when he tries to argue with her she jumps on his bed in hopes to scare him into shutting up and resting.
now actually fearing for his life he shuts up and eventually rests… fast forward 5 years.
they have grown up together as brother and sister (since her father adopted him) and now have finally completed their training to be Bracers. Hired Mercenaries who help the people… be it fetch quests or eliminating monsters that are causing a problem.
right around this time their father who is a fairly well known bracer himself gets called away…. unfortunately he happens to be on a airship that gets kidnapped by bandits, Estelle and Joshua (the boy) being worried for their father work to help find him and that starts there long and complicated journey.
along the way they work with one of the people who trained them… a sadist named Sherazade.
They also meet other bracers, each with different levels of crazy personalities… a wandering bard who fights with a gun and hits on anything pretty…. he doesn’t care about gender at all. the granddaughter of the man who essentially created the technology they all use to have magic and such. a student a the royal academy who just wants to help the local orphanage… as well as a man who always seems to get into trouble and a reporter who always wants the biggest scoop.
Now what did i think? my biggest complaint about 4 was it was predictable…. this one isn’t as predictable as there are some things i didn’t see coming… but certain characters i saw and went “ah…. you’re evil” one because he was blond (i’m sorry but in games and anime silver hair always = bad guy or good guy being tricked to be bad) and the other because he looked too nice… (if it’s too good to be true it probably is and all that) so in that department i was fairly pleased.
characters were interesting and fairly funny, after having one character reveal who they really are thinking back to certain parts in the game the reactions they give make more sense and actually make me sympathize with them more.
the ending was really good, really glad that they are bringing over the sequel cause i would be annoyed if they left where they did (and i have been told that SC starts the very next day from FC)
The music isn’t as good as other falcom games… but there are some great pieces…. specifically the opening song (trails in the sky) a song near the end of the game (Hollow light of the Sealed Land) the end credit song (the Whereabouts of Light) and the everything is peaceful now song (Dancing with the Wind)… but that's only 4 stand out songs that i would listen to out of context on a cd with 33 other songs (yeah thank you falcom for putting cds with your games…. that makes me happy) but yeah…. ys 7 and 3 almost every song is pure gold so…. didn’t quite measure up in my mind.
game play is an improvement on LOH4… feels way less stiff but oh my god so many monsters self destruct… that’s annoying.
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the sky FC shouldn’t be too hard to find but if you buy it i suggest getting the special edition… for 10 extra bucks you get a CD, a double sided poster and a Bracer Pin… not to mention this really fun game…
it is a long game…. i didn’t beat the prologue till about 8 hours in…. so thats a warning.
Legend of heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter has been licensed and is in development…. but apparently it’s even bigger then FC so it may be a while yet.
Final note? To the person who made dialogue for every single chest you look in that’s empty….. Bravo, i had so many laughs thanks to that…. i didn’t check every chest twice but i really should have.
Also new game plus FTW…
good game… go check it out
FC stands for first chapter… anyways… yet another Falcom game…
Before getting into anything i would just like to mention that the Legend of heroes series has a mighty screwed up release history in north america.
I have only played Legend of heroes 4: a tear of vermillion before this… a game i only picked up because i had played the Ys games and enjoyed them… when i finished that game i did a little research cause i hadn’t heard of LOH1-3 or 5+ because at the end it said it was part two of a trilogy.
from what i could gather the two first LOH games are connected, then the next three are there own trilogy but can technically played in ‘any’ order since from what i could gather they all take place on different continents that can’t meet each other due to weather. it’s called the Gagharv Trilogy… would love to play the other games…. but as far as i can find out… that's not gunna happen any time soon… these games are rare and from what i understand i was lucky to get 4 for such a low price…. plus they are old now… and apparently they screwed up the order in which they were released here…. but that's fine
next is this series and here's where my brain starts to implode
trails in the sky is a trilogy…. with 4 and possibly even 5 games.
trails in the sky is spread out over 3 games making it it’s own trilogy…. game 4 is a sequel sat in the same world, possible with same characters or allusions to them but seems to be counted as part of the trails in the sky (sora no kiseki) trilogy…
and the series continues… and my head continues to feel nothing but pain… anyways onto the actual review
We start off the game in the past, little Estelle is waiting for her father to come home from work, seems like she’s been home alone for a few days now.
Soon enough he bursts through the door carrying something in a blanket, a boy about the same age as estelle… about 11. The boy is injured but fighting with the girls father “you don’t know what your getting into!” he complained but the man doesn’t seem to care and introduces his daughter.
when he tries to argue with her she jumps on his bed in hopes to scare him into shutting up and resting.
now actually fearing for his life he shuts up and eventually rests… fast forward 5 years.
they have grown up together as brother and sister (since her father adopted him) and now have finally completed their training to be Bracers. Hired Mercenaries who help the people… be it fetch quests or eliminating monsters that are causing a problem.
right around this time their father who is a fairly well known bracer himself gets called away…. unfortunately he happens to be on a airship that gets kidnapped by bandits, Estelle and Joshua (the boy) being worried for their father work to help find him and that starts there long and complicated journey.
along the way they work with one of the people who trained them… a sadist named Sherazade.
They also meet other bracers, each with different levels of crazy personalities… a wandering bard who fights with a gun and hits on anything pretty…. he doesn’t care about gender at all. the granddaughter of the man who essentially created the technology they all use to have magic and such. a student a the royal academy who just wants to help the local orphanage… as well as a man who always seems to get into trouble and a reporter who always wants the biggest scoop.
Now what did i think? my biggest complaint about 4 was it was predictable…. this one isn’t as predictable as there are some things i didn’t see coming… but certain characters i saw and went “ah…. you’re evil” one because he was blond (i’m sorry but in games and anime silver hair always = bad guy or good guy being tricked to be bad) and the other because he looked too nice… (if it’s too good to be true it probably is and all that) so in that department i was fairly pleased.
characters were interesting and fairly funny, after having one character reveal who they really are thinking back to certain parts in the game the reactions they give make more sense and actually make me sympathize with them more.
the ending was really good, really glad that they are bringing over the sequel cause i would be annoyed if they left where they did (and i have been told that SC starts the very next day from FC)
The music isn’t as good as other falcom games… but there are some great pieces…. specifically the opening song (trails in the sky) a song near the end of the game (Hollow light of the Sealed Land) the end credit song (the Whereabouts of Light) and the everything is peaceful now song (Dancing with the Wind)… but that's only 4 stand out songs that i would listen to out of context on a cd with 33 other songs (yeah thank you falcom for putting cds with your games…. that makes me happy) but yeah…. ys 7 and 3 almost every song is pure gold so…. didn’t quite measure up in my mind.
game play is an improvement on LOH4… feels way less stiff but oh my god so many monsters self destruct… that’s annoying.
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the sky FC shouldn’t be too hard to find but if you buy it i suggest getting the special edition… for 10 extra bucks you get a CD, a double sided poster and a Bracer Pin… not to mention this really fun game…
it is a long game…. i didn’t beat the prologue till about 8 hours in…. so thats a warning.
Legend of heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter has been licensed and is in development…. but apparently it’s even bigger then FC so it may be a while yet.
Final note? To the person who made dialogue for every single chest you look in that’s empty….. Bravo, i had so many laughs thanks to that…. i didn’t check every chest twice but i really should have.
Also new game plus FTW…
good game… go check it out
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Completed: Inu x Boku SS
Like i said... Everything is ending this week.
So.... Inu x Boku SS (said Inu Boku Secret service.... yeah the x is silent... no i don't know why... )
Um.... hm... well i'd call this a Romantic comedy with supernatural elements.
The main character, Ririchiyo, is a kind hearted person.... who can only communicate in cold sarcastic tones... she's in a constant war with herself trying to say what she means without being a bitch and failing damn near every time.
Enter Miketsukami, he is apparently her body guard and he dotes on her... no matter how cold she is or ow mean he always continues to smile.
oh and did i mention that they are all reborn ancient spirits of Japanese Demons? yeah...
anyways it's a 12 episode series that pretty much only focuses on ririchiyo opening up slowly. we find out more about everyone's past and how this ancestor blood has been more of a curse then anything else.
um.... i will say that i felt like the whole "we are reborn demons" thing could have been used more.... i think the main characters only change into that form a handful of times... it just felt like "well we need a gimmick so.... lets do that then barely ever mention it"
that doesn't mean the show is bad, i really liked it... it was just not as well done as i think it could have been....
also.... love Ririchiyo's 'fiancee'.... dude says everything is either a S or M to the point where his ending song categorizes everyone for you.... it's so funny.
and yeah... there are quite a few different ending songs depending on which character was the main focus.... i personally love Miketsukami's and the intro song... which is used used as an ending a few times...
but yeah.... the entire season is on Crunchyroll and i believe it's being aired weekly on Anime Network on demand.
So.... Inu x Boku SS (said Inu Boku Secret service.... yeah the x is silent... no i don't know why... )
Um.... hm... well i'd call this a Romantic comedy with supernatural elements.
The main character, Ririchiyo, is a kind hearted person.... who can only communicate in cold sarcastic tones... she's in a constant war with herself trying to say what she means without being a bitch and failing damn near every time.
Enter Miketsukami, he is apparently her body guard and he dotes on her... no matter how cold she is or ow mean he always continues to smile.
oh and did i mention that they are all reborn ancient spirits of Japanese Demons? yeah...
anyways it's a 12 episode series that pretty much only focuses on ririchiyo opening up slowly. we find out more about everyone's past and how this ancestor blood has been more of a curse then anything else.
um.... i will say that i felt like the whole "we are reborn demons" thing could have been used more.... i think the main characters only change into that form a handful of times... it just felt like "well we need a gimmick so.... lets do that then barely ever mention it"
that doesn't mean the show is bad, i really liked it... it was just not as well done as i think it could have been....
also.... love Ririchiyo's 'fiancee'.... dude says everything is either a S or M to the point where his ending song categorizes everyone for you.... it's so funny.
and yeah... there are quite a few different ending songs depending on which character was the main focus.... i personally love Miketsukami's and the intro song... which is used used as an ending a few times...
but yeah.... the entire season is on Crunchyroll and i believe it's being aired weekly on Anime Network on demand.
Completed: Kowarekake no Orgel (spoilers)
Originally published January 12, 2012 on tumblr
aka My half broken music box.
a 1 episode OVA that at first glance looks like chobits….(spoilers ahead… can’t talk about 1 ep without it unfortunately)
and it is…. but i think i would take this 1 episode over all 26 of chobits.
We start off with the main character finding this computer robot (known as a parent) in a dump when he dropped something off.
well obviously she’s been thrown away so he picks her up and brings her to a mechanic.
unfortunately she’s an old model and they can’t get parts for her…. he plans to put her back in the dump come morning.
however he wakes up to the robot having turned on and she has made him a rice omelet…. with a bottle of Tabasco sauce in it.
anyways she gets to work cleaning and he realizes she’s odd for a computer… she can’t calculate quickly and she forgets things so he buys her a picture journal for her to fill in.
they do lots of things, go to festivals, buy watermelon… he teaches her to ride a bike (a fundamental computer skill if you ask me) he even tries to get her to make friends.
the newest thing she wants is to go to the sea… but unfortunately whatever shut her down the first time seems to be at work again. shes having a hard time staying out of sleep mode and some of her gears are not moving the way they should…
after hearing on the news that beach season is over The robot (whom he names Flower) is heartbroken… quite literally…. she tried to calm down and say “well i’ll always be with you so there is always next year” but shortly after her system crashes and she powers down.
again he goes to the mechanic but there is nothing to be done. He knows this is the end so he brings her to the beach despite the time and weather. as he sits there with her he looks through the picture diary. it talks about every day and always ends with “it was fun”
except the last page which simply states. “i don’t want to be lonely”
through the episode she wanted to hear him play his guitar but ever since an accident took his family he’s never had the inspiration and it forced him to quit his band…. still he brought it to the beach and tries to play… suddenly flower starts humming a song she found thanks to his computer.
they sit there while she hums and finally turns off for good.
fast forward a little… he has rejoined his band and he is holding a music box that has been made from Flowers parts. so in the end they will always be together.
she had earphones on and he left those on a flower stock near the sea.
I just found the show very sweet… there is apparently a movie version which is longer and slightly different.
but yeah in my opinion this was chobits done right…. i liked chobits…. it got a few laughs BUT i did get annoyed that the whole show was “look how horrible relying on computers can be… some people are even falling in love with these things and it’s destroying their friendships with others….” then at the end he picks the robot…. i dunno it just always irked me.
this show though has a sweetness and instead of showing computers as good or bad he shows that yes it’s sad to lose people and yes you will eventually lose people but it’s how you deal with the present and work to have fun every day that’s truly important. it just had a much better message and i love that even though she was done he took what he could to make something new and to essentially make sure she wouldn’t be lonely.
aka My half broken music box.
a 1 episode OVA that at first glance looks like chobits….(spoilers ahead… can’t talk about 1 ep without it unfortunately)
and it is…. but i think i would take this 1 episode over all 26 of chobits.
We start off with the main character finding this computer robot (known as a parent) in a dump when he dropped something off.
well obviously she’s been thrown away so he picks her up and brings her to a mechanic.
unfortunately she’s an old model and they can’t get parts for her…. he plans to put her back in the dump come morning.
however he wakes up to the robot having turned on and she has made him a rice omelet…. with a bottle of Tabasco sauce in it.
anyways she gets to work cleaning and he realizes she’s odd for a computer… she can’t calculate quickly and she forgets things so he buys her a picture journal for her to fill in.
they do lots of things, go to festivals, buy watermelon… he teaches her to ride a bike (a fundamental computer skill if you ask me) he even tries to get her to make friends.
the newest thing she wants is to go to the sea… but unfortunately whatever shut her down the first time seems to be at work again. shes having a hard time staying out of sleep mode and some of her gears are not moving the way they should…
after hearing on the news that beach season is over The robot (whom he names Flower) is heartbroken… quite literally…. she tried to calm down and say “well i’ll always be with you so there is always next year” but shortly after her system crashes and she powers down.
again he goes to the mechanic but there is nothing to be done. He knows this is the end so he brings her to the beach despite the time and weather. as he sits there with her he looks through the picture diary. it talks about every day and always ends with “it was fun”
except the last page which simply states. “i don’t want to be lonely”
through the episode she wanted to hear him play his guitar but ever since an accident took his family he’s never had the inspiration and it forced him to quit his band…. still he brought it to the beach and tries to play… suddenly flower starts humming a song she found thanks to his computer.
they sit there while she hums and finally turns off for good.
fast forward a little… he has rejoined his band and he is holding a music box that has been made from Flowers parts. so in the end they will always be together.
she had earphones on and he left those on a flower stock near the sea.
I just found the show very sweet… there is apparently a movie version which is longer and slightly different.
but yeah in my opinion this was chobits done right…. i liked chobits…. it got a few laughs BUT i did get annoyed that the whole show was “look how horrible relying on computers can be… some people are even falling in love with these things and it’s destroying their friendships with others….” then at the end he picks the robot…. i dunno it just always irked me.
this show though has a sweetness and instead of showing computers as good or bad he shows that yes it’s sad to lose people and yes you will eventually lose people but it’s how you deal with the present and work to have fun every day that’s truly important. it just had a much better message and i love that even though she was done he took what he could to make something new and to essentially make sure she wouldn’t be lonely.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Compelted: Ano Natsu de Matteru
yes.... almost all the shows i'm watching end this week so i'm making quite of a few of these.
So Ano Natsu de Matter, it's a cute little slice of life show that uses comedy and sci-fi as well as a lot of romance.... lets just say it takes he likes her but she likes him and he likes someone else to a new level.
um... apparently it's directed by the same person who made Onegai Teacher/twins.
i will be honest.... i've only seen half an ep of teacher and none of twins.... i hear it's pretty good but the anime club at my high school wanted to watch Great Teacher Onizuka instead....
so as far as that goes i can't make comparisons other then there seems to be a similar style and apparently some throw back jokes to the previous series.
Did i like the show? yeah it's pretty cute, Alien crash lands on earth and ends up living with the boy she nearly killed.... typical plot right?
well it is more complex, she's a senior at his school and he seems really interested thanks to the vague flashbacks he has of nearly dying... but he can't remember... so he just asks her to be in the movie they are filming that summer.
if you like a fun show then this is definitely one to watch, it streams for free on Crunchyroll and it's only 12 episodes long.
plus the music is really good.... which is surprisingly important to whether i like a show or not...
So Ano Natsu de Matter, it's a cute little slice of life show that uses comedy and sci-fi as well as a lot of romance.... lets just say it takes he likes her but she likes him and he likes someone else to a new level.
um... apparently it's directed by the same person who made Onegai Teacher/twins.
i will be honest.... i've only seen half an ep of teacher and none of twins.... i hear it's pretty good but the anime club at my high school wanted to watch Great Teacher Onizuka instead....
so as far as that goes i can't make comparisons other then there seems to be a similar style and apparently some throw back jokes to the previous series.
Did i like the show? yeah it's pretty cute, Alien crash lands on earth and ends up living with the boy she nearly killed.... typical plot right?
well it is more complex, she's a senior at his school and he seems really interested thanks to the vague flashbacks he has of nearly dying... but he can't remember... so he just asks her to be in the movie they are filming that summer.
if you like a fun show then this is definitely one to watch, it streams for free on Crunchyroll and it's only 12 episodes long.
plus the music is really good.... which is surprisingly important to whether i like a show or not...
Completed: Akira
Originally published January 15, 2012 on tumblr
okay…. i know it’s damn near blasphemy to be a fan of Anime and yet never having seen this film.
but i have known about it since i was a kid, my dad even has a figure of the iconic red bike. We never owned it VHS and if we did it probably got ruined over the years…. anyways he didn’t see the need to own it on dvd… he had seen it…
but i hadn’t.
so about a year after geneon went out of business i was at a con and they were selling Akira really cheap…. like 5 or 10 dollars. so i said “you know what…. it’s iconic and i want to see it and if that means buying it then fine… gladly”
so i did… and brought it home and dad went “oh cool, let me borrow this… “
so for many years it sat in the computer room where dad had watched it…. and i forgot about it cause i don’t go down there if i don't have to… i have a comp in my room so there is no need.
anyways he did recently give it back…. but i was swamped with classes so once again it got put in the “need to watch/read” pile where it stayed.
Now…. last week was my first week back from break, my web images class told us we needed to watch a movie from a list of 5….
after picking a group an the movie inception (i swear this IS relevant) we decided why not come to my place… watch it AND watch black swan which i hadn’t seen and neither had another group member… seeing as my boyfriend hadn’t seen it either we invited him as well and had essentially a movie marathon…. started with black swan… then right into inception.
then at the end of inception when they are limbo my boyfriend states. “ah this scene is right out of Akira with the water and the crumbling buildings… i just love the look” he probably mentioned it cause we commented how the earlier gravity defying hallway reminds us of a scene in Paprika…
anyways that reminded me that i still owned that damn movie and still hadn’t seen it…
well i was done putting it off… and my group member whom is also my friend hadn’t seen it either… so when my BF had to leave she stayed and we watched it.
(see…. told you the tangent was relevant)
so after all that… what did i think?
two things
wow…. that was really good, everything was really engaging… okay i really didn’t like the music but it worked so not too many complaints.
and
omg jonny young bosche is in everything…
well not everything but the version of akira i have has him as the main character… and then i put in gankutsuou…. where he plays Albert… so off to imdb we went… and yeah…. he’s done a lot… mostly main characters on top of all that… easily impressive.
so yeah…. go watch it…. even considering how old it is… the animation is gorgeous… simply amazing.
okay…. i know it’s damn near blasphemy to be a fan of Anime and yet never having seen this film.
but i have known about it since i was a kid, my dad even has a figure of the iconic red bike. We never owned it VHS and if we did it probably got ruined over the years…. anyways he didn’t see the need to own it on dvd… he had seen it…
but i hadn’t.
so about a year after geneon went out of business i was at a con and they were selling Akira really cheap…. like 5 or 10 dollars. so i said “you know what…. it’s iconic and i want to see it and if that means buying it then fine… gladly”
so i did… and brought it home and dad went “oh cool, let me borrow this… “
so for many years it sat in the computer room where dad had watched it…. and i forgot about it cause i don’t go down there if i don't have to… i have a comp in my room so there is no need.
anyways he did recently give it back…. but i was swamped with classes so once again it got put in the “need to watch/read” pile where it stayed.
Now…. last week was my first week back from break, my web images class told us we needed to watch a movie from a list of 5….
after picking a group an the movie inception (i swear this IS relevant) we decided why not come to my place… watch it AND watch black swan which i hadn’t seen and neither had another group member… seeing as my boyfriend hadn’t seen it either we invited him as well and had essentially a movie marathon…. started with black swan… then right into inception.
then at the end of inception when they are limbo my boyfriend states. “ah this scene is right out of Akira with the water and the crumbling buildings… i just love the look” he probably mentioned it cause we commented how the earlier gravity defying hallway reminds us of a scene in Paprika…
anyways that reminded me that i still owned that damn movie and still hadn’t seen it…
well i was done putting it off… and my group member whom is also my friend hadn’t seen it either… so when my BF had to leave she stayed and we watched it.
(see…. told you the tangent was relevant)
so after all that… what did i think?
two things
wow…. that was really good, everything was really engaging… okay i really didn’t like the music but it worked so not too many complaints.
and
omg jonny young bosche is in everything…
well not everything but the version of akira i have has him as the main character… and then i put in gankutsuou…. where he plays Albert… so off to imdb we went… and yeah…. he’s done a lot… mostly main characters on top of all that… easily impressive.
so yeah…. go watch it…. even considering how old it is… the animation is gorgeous… simply amazing.
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Completed: Chihaya Furu
I normally dislike anime about sports cause almost always the main character wins everything.
This show is an exception.
We start the series with a girl named Chihaya and she is extremely pretty.... as well as fairly dense.... mostly because ever waking moment of her time is spent on Karuta
what is Karuta? it's an old Japanese card game that's kind of like memory on crack.
there are 100 poems each split into two cards... one gets read while the other is on the playing field. players have to find and take/knock away the match to the card being read.
the goal of the game is to clear your side of the field of cards.... so if you take a card from the opponents side you give them a card from yours or if they make a mistake you give them one of your cards.
Chihaya is introduced to the game in elementary school when Arata, the new kid who's being bullied but she stands up for, invites her over and she finds a desk... he asks her to play...
and promptly wipes the floor with her, this kid is so good when he hits the cards they are imbedded in the wall.
Chihaya fights in vain to try and get even one card from him... and she does.... she remember the card because it starts with Chiha like her name...
the amount of fun the two have together and the new friendship helps her love the game.... her other friend Taichi still wants to bully Arata so when the school holds it annual Karuta tournament Taichi takes Arata's glasses.... Arata tries his best to play based on memory but at the cards get moved around it's impossible.... Chihaya pushes her way into playing the match for Arata.... she loses again cause she's not good but Arata appreciates the gesture... and soon all three are friends. they join a local Karuta society and start to practice... they even try to win a competition.... but just as they are all getting to be closer... Arata's grandfather becomes Ill and Arata need to move again.
Fast forward to highschool.
Karuta isn't particularly cool but Chihaya wants to make a club for the school... they need a minimum of 5 members. the show is mainly about how she acquires more members and how each person plays the game a little different... some more with technical skill, others with gut feelings and some who just love the poetry aspect of the game.
I really liked this show... yes it is about a sport that as someone who isn't Japanese i know NOTHING about... but the show knows that may be the case and introduces the rules fairly slowly.... in fact we don't even start with any rule other the pick the matching card till after the required members are brought it.... which means about halfway through the show. And while the main focus is the sport there is so much character development that i found it extremely enjoyable.
it's lovely to look at and is really quite touching in some scenes... i will admit it made me cry quite easily.... especially in the beginning.... and the middle.... and i guess the end too.... hmmmmmmm.
but it made me cry so much because when the character were in pain i could feel it, i cared about these people and wanted them to keep fighting even when things seemed impossible.
also they seem to have left it open for a second season... here's hoping.
This show is an exception.
We start the series with a girl named Chihaya and she is extremely pretty.... as well as fairly dense.... mostly because ever waking moment of her time is spent on Karuta
what is Karuta? it's an old Japanese card game that's kind of like memory on crack.
there are 100 poems each split into two cards... one gets read while the other is on the playing field. players have to find and take/knock away the match to the card being read.
the goal of the game is to clear your side of the field of cards.... so if you take a card from the opponents side you give them a card from yours or if they make a mistake you give them one of your cards.
Chihaya is introduced to the game in elementary school when Arata, the new kid who's being bullied but she stands up for, invites her over and she finds a desk... he asks her to play...
and promptly wipes the floor with her, this kid is so good when he hits the cards they are imbedded in the wall.
Chihaya fights in vain to try and get even one card from him... and she does.... she remember the card because it starts with Chiha like her name...
the amount of fun the two have together and the new friendship helps her love the game.... her other friend Taichi still wants to bully Arata so when the school holds it annual Karuta tournament Taichi takes Arata's glasses.... Arata tries his best to play based on memory but at the cards get moved around it's impossible.... Chihaya pushes her way into playing the match for Arata.... she loses again cause she's not good but Arata appreciates the gesture... and soon all three are friends. they join a local Karuta society and start to practice... they even try to win a competition.... but just as they are all getting to be closer... Arata's grandfather becomes Ill and Arata need to move again.
Fast forward to highschool.
Karuta isn't particularly cool but Chihaya wants to make a club for the school... they need a minimum of 5 members. the show is mainly about how she acquires more members and how each person plays the game a little different... some more with technical skill, others with gut feelings and some who just love the poetry aspect of the game.
I really liked this show... yes it is about a sport that as someone who isn't Japanese i know NOTHING about... but the show knows that may be the case and introduces the rules fairly slowly.... in fact we don't even start with any rule other the pick the matching card till after the required members are brought it.... which means about halfway through the show. And while the main focus is the sport there is so much character development that i found it extremely enjoyable.
it's lovely to look at and is really quite touching in some scenes... i will admit it made me cry quite easily.... especially in the beginning.... and the middle.... and i guess the end too.... hmmmmmmm.
but it made me cry so much because when the character were in pain i could feel it, i cared about these people and wanted them to keep fighting even when things seemed impossible.
also they seem to have left it open for a second season... here's hoping.
Completed: Hugo in 3d (spoilers)
Originally published January 7, 2012 on tumblr
first…. sitting in a theater when your back/leg/arm hurt is a bad idea…. you would think it would be fine cause your not moving but see that’s the problem. you can’t really move and your kind of limited to the way you can sit…
Second… i HATE 3d
Third the only option to see it not in 3d was about an hour away…. and this was a spur of the moment thing my family decided so we didn’t want to go very far.
Okay i think that sets the stage for this fairly jaded review…. granted being in a better mood would not change the fact that this movie isn’t very good.
so yeah…. guess that's my shortened TL; DR.
anyways…. a while ago… a month or two out of nowhere came trailers for a really interesting looking movie called hugo
no one seemed to know much about it or what it was about but every agreed that it had an interesting look.
I was really looking forward to seeing it, i avoided reviews that could cloud my opinion and potentially spoil things.. i went into only having heard that many people feel like it was two separate films.
And after having seen it yeah… it feels like two movies.
the first half deals with a boy named Hugo running around the walls of the Paris train station making sure all the clocks are wound, That he manages to steal enough food to live and that he gets some spare parts for this clockwork puppet (automaton? i think that's what they called it) eventually he gets caught and a man makes him empty his pockets…. he just has some spare parts and a notebook…. after a quick flip through the book the man gets very upset and tries to get the kid caught by the guard.
ah but this kid is stubborn, after giving the guard the slip he goes back to the man and demands his notebook.
of course the man is stubborn two and brings it back and claims he’s going to burn it.
he follows him home and bumps into the mans god daughter whom he befriends.
then he goes back… tries to fix his doll and tries to get the notebook back…. we find out the book and the doll are the last remaining things he has that belonged to his dad who died by plot…. i mean fire. We find out he has been taken in by his crummy uncle who winds the clocks in the station…. but the mans a drunk and with hugo around now he can go off drinking.
so now he hangs out with the god daughter and they pretend like things are adventures and he eventually shows her the doll, she has a key that fits in the back and they turn it
and then the film changes.
i have a feeling many things end up on the cutting room floor…. because so much is unresolved from this point.
we find out the old man who took the notebook was the one who made the doll, he’s also an accomplished filmmaker, and an artist but for some reason (film blames the war…. i blame Thomas Edison) he had to give up making films, melt down all his film to make soles for shoes and with the little bit of money he made from selling the film he buys a toy shop….
but through hope and caring and whatever other positive feeling you want to shove in he realizes remembering the past isn’t so bad and they find that many of his films weren’t destroyed and now they are honouring him and he just wishes he still had the doll he made
so then hugo goes “i’ll brb” and runs off and oh no he gets caught by the guard who enjoys sending orphans to the orphanage. oh but he goes free cause he’s good at tinkering…. then he runs away but there's a chase and then he gets the doll but just as he’s about to be free he gets caught again and the doll goes flying onto the railroad
but this is a family movie so that doesn’t end badly and the man who took the notebook (which is never brought up again unless i missed something when i went to the washroom) says “oh he’s my child now so you can’t send him to the orphanage : ( sorry for you” and all is happily every after.
so yeah…. may as well start off with a positive.
i liked the look of this film…. it felt very steampunk with some of the designs.
….. um… yeah that's really it.
now why did i dislike this film
again…. i HATE 3d…. and whats worse… this film had no business being shot in 3d, would i have enjoyed it more in 2d? probably not but at least i would have been able to look at it without getting a migraine. let me clarify that i can watch 3d that's done well… this 3d wasn’t done well… too many things that were out of focus that my eye wanted to focus on…. too many things trying to come close to the screen and when you have really quick shots it really screws with your head in 3d… plus the film can get really dark… 3d films need to be bright and colourful.
The story isn’t very good…. this film is around 2 hours but it felt like 4…. i didn’t care about any of the side characters and honestly their presence wasn’t needed at all. Hugo as a character is interesting but the film isn’t about him…. it’s about papa George (guy who took the notebook) and how he was such an important part of the film making process. Hugo’s only purpose is the fix the doll and be adorable but in all truth he really isn’t the focus of the story.
This film does have a really cool look but it’s still an art film… which can be find but i don’t tend to like them… they have their place but just cause something it artsy doesn’t make it good… you need things like plot and character to have a good artsy film.
and i was so looking forward to this film… that’s probably whats got me the most upset…. i was looking forward to this…. and it was just such a disappointment.
alright…. think i have bitched enough for one night, i’m sure many people will like this film… it got 94% on rotten tomatoes. hell people are even saying the 3d was done well… yeah watch the running through the crowd scene and tell me it doesn’t make your eyes hurt. I think it’s mainly got such a high rating cause
a) it’s an art film… critics love art films
b) it’s Martin Scorsese… critics love Martin Scorsese… and after a quick glance at his filmography i can see i don’t like a lot of his film….that's just my personal opinion
c) it is, as many people have said, a love letter to cinema… and that aspect i liked but it did feel a bit forced at times
So yeah… i’m biased…. i like what i like and i didn’t like this…. sure others did and that’s fine i’m hoping once the hype goes away people will realize hey maybe it’s not as good as you first thought.
Or maybe it is just as good as you remember and i’m just wrong and that’s fine too.
Edit: i hear a lot of people bitching about the fact that it’s a family film and i didn’t make that clear (cause i wrote this just before midnight) that i didn’t care that it was a family film… there were a lot of children in the theater and you know what that made me happy cause it means they weren’t seeing crap like Chipwreked or whichever flavor of the week kid film that's just dull and stupid. my issue was mainly with the execution of the plot, the main character not really being the main character (i have this issue with a few films) and the 3d which i don’t care how many people say it was done well…. my migraine begs to differ.
double edit fun time: according to the oscars and the fact that this film nearly swept the show.... i am apparently the only human being on the face of the planet that feels this film isn't terribly good... hm...
first…. sitting in a theater when your back/leg/arm hurt is a bad idea…. you would think it would be fine cause your not moving but see that’s the problem. you can’t really move and your kind of limited to the way you can sit…
Second… i HATE 3d
Third the only option to see it not in 3d was about an hour away…. and this was a spur of the moment thing my family decided so we didn’t want to go very far.
Okay i think that sets the stage for this fairly jaded review…. granted being in a better mood would not change the fact that this movie isn’t very good.
so yeah…. guess that's my shortened TL; DR.
anyways…. a while ago… a month or two out of nowhere came trailers for a really interesting looking movie called hugo
no one seemed to know much about it or what it was about but every agreed that it had an interesting look.
I was really looking forward to seeing it, i avoided reviews that could cloud my opinion and potentially spoil things.. i went into only having heard that many people feel like it was two separate films.
And after having seen it yeah… it feels like two movies.
the first half deals with a boy named Hugo running around the walls of the Paris train station making sure all the clocks are wound, That he manages to steal enough food to live and that he gets some spare parts for this clockwork puppet (automaton? i think that's what they called it) eventually he gets caught and a man makes him empty his pockets…. he just has some spare parts and a notebook…. after a quick flip through the book the man gets very upset and tries to get the kid caught by the guard.
ah but this kid is stubborn, after giving the guard the slip he goes back to the man and demands his notebook.
of course the man is stubborn two and brings it back and claims he’s going to burn it.
he follows him home and bumps into the mans god daughter whom he befriends.
then he goes back… tries to fix his doll and tries to get the notebook back…. we find out the book and the doll are the last remaining things he has that belonged to his dad who died by plot…. i mean fire. We find out he has been taken in by his crummy uncle who winds the clocks in the station…. but the mans a drunk and with hugo around now he can go off drinking.
so now he hangs out with the god daughter and they pretend like things are adventures and he eventually shows her the doll, she has a key that fits in the back and they turn it
and then the film changes.
i have a feeling many things end up on the cutting room floor…. because so much is unresolved from this point.
we find out the old man who took the notebook was the one who made the doll, he’s also an accomplished filmmaker, and an artist but for some reason (film blames the war…. i blame Thomas Edison) he had to give up making films, melt down all his film to make soles for shoes and with the little bit of money he made from selling the film he buys a toy shop….
but through hope and caring and whatever other positive feeling you want to shove in he realizes remembering the past isn’t so bad and they find that many of his films weren’t destroyed and now they are honouring him and he just wishes he still had the doll he made
so then hugo goes “i’ll brb” and runs off and oh no he gets caught by the guard who enjoys sending orphans to the orphanage. oh but he goes free cause he’s good at tinkering…. then he runs away but there's a chase and then he gets the doll but just as he’s about to be free he gets caught again and the doll goes flying onto the railroad
but this is a family movie so that doesn’t end badly and the man who took the notebook (which is never brought up again unless i missed something when i went to the washroom) says “oh he’s my child now so you can’t send him to the orphanage : ( sorry for you” and all is happily every after.
so yeah…. may as well start off with a positive.
i liked the look of this film…. it felt very steampunk with some of the designs.
….. um… yeah that's really it.
now why did i dislike this film
again…. i HATE 3d…. and whats worse… this film had no business being shot in 3d, would i have enjoyed it more in 2d? probably not but at least i would have been able to look at it without getting a migraine. let me clarify that i can watch 3d that's done well… this 3d wasn’t done well… too many things that were out of focus that my eye wanted to focus on…. too many things trying to come close to the screen and when you have really quick shots it really screws with your head in 3d… plus the film can get really dark… 3d films need to be bright and colourful.
The story isn’t very good…. this film is around 2 hours but it felt like 4…. i didn’t care about any of the side characters and honestly their presence wasn’t needed at all. Hugo as a character is interesting but the film isn’t about him…. it’s about papa George (guy who took the notebook) and how he was such an important part of the film making process. Hugo’s only purpose is the fix the doll and be adorable but in all truth he really isn’t the focus of the story.
This film does have a really cool look but it’s still an art film… which can be find but i don’t tend to like them… they have their place but just cause something it artsy doesn’t make it good… you need things like plot and character to have a good artsy film.
and i was so looking forward to this film… that’s probably whats got me the most upset…. i was looking forward to this…. and it was just such a disappointment.
alright…. think i have bitched enough for one night, i’m sure many people will like this film… it got 94% on rotten tomatoes. hell people are even saying the 3d was done well… yeah watch the running through the crowd scene and tell me it doesn’t make your eyes hurt. I think it’s mainly got such a high rating cause
a) it’s an art film… critics love art films
b) it’s Martin Scorsese… critics love Martin Scorsese… and after a quick glance at his filmography i can see i don’t like a lot of his film….that's just my personal opinion
c) it is, as many people have said, a love letter to cinema… and that aspect i liked but it did feel a bit forced at times
So yeah… i’m biased…. i like what i like and i didn’t like this…. sure others did and that’s fine i’m hoping once the hype goes away people will realize hey maybe it’s not as good as you first thought.
Or maybe it is just as good as you remember and i’m just wrong and that’s fine too.
Edit: i hear a lot of people bitching about the fact that it’s a family film and i didn’t make that clear (cause i wrote this just before midnight) that i didn’t care that it was a family film… there were a lot of children in the theater and you know what that made me happy cause it means they weren’t seeing crap like Chipwreked or whichever flavor of the week kid film that's just dull and stupid. my issue was mainly with the execution of the plot, the main character not really being the main character (i have this issue with a few films) and the 3d which i don’t care how many people say it was done well…. my migraine begs to differ.
double edit fun time: according to the oscars and the fact that this film nearly swept the show.... i am apparently the only human being on the face of the planet that feels this film isn't terribly good... hm...
Monday, 26 March 2012
Completed: Another
I have been on the fence about this show the entire time...
i find it hard to get into murder mysteries since i just want to know why/how things are happening and the payoff almost never lives up to it.
while i didn't see the ending coming i still think this show is just Okay. I mean.... the whole premise is that there is one dead person in class 3 and someone will die every month if they are connected to class 3. However they want to do whatever they can to stop the calamity.... and the people who have stopped it years passed don't remember it at all.
the show would have been better had there been more focus on the original curse OR if the dead person was more active in stopping people from finding out it's them.... though the thinking is they don't even know they are dead.
The she had some ridiculous and frankly stupid death scenes. Umbrellas and speedboats i buy but having a chandelier fall on you, getting free to have a column fall on top of you? or getting tangled in wires and then the ceiling breaks making those wires go up and it pretty much hangs you? it's just a little too silly in my opinion....
Also they have this thing with dolls and it's NEVER expanded upon.... it's in the first few episodes then never again.
is the show good? not really... it's not bad but i'll will soon forget it...
hey.... maybe that was the whole point.... hmm...
i find it hard to get into murder mysteries since i just want to know why/how things are happening and the payoff almost never lives up to it.
while i didn't see the ending coming i still think this show is just Okay. I mean.... the whole premise is that there is one dead person in class 3 and someone will die every month if they are connected to class 3. However they want to do whatever they can to stop the calamity.... and the people who have stopped it years passed don't remember it at all.
the show would have been better had there been more focus on the original curse OR if the dead person was more active in stopping people from finding out it's them.... though the thinking is they don't even know they are dead.
The she had some ridiculous and frankly stupid death scenes. Umbrellas and speedboats i buy but having a chandelier fall on you, getting free to have a column fall on top of you? or getting tangled in wires and then the ceiling breaks making those wires go up and it pretty much hangs you? it's just a little too silly in my opinion....
Also they have this thing with dolls and it's NEVER expanded upon.... it's in the first few episodes then never again.
is the show good? not really... it's not bad but i'll will soon forget it...
hey.... maybe that was the whole point.... hmm...
Completed: Natsume Yuujinchou (season 4)
...
...
...
why are you still here? go watch it over on crunchyroll.com ...
go..... now....
ok in all seriousness it's really good.... the last episode claimed to be 'the end' but considering how nothing is really finished.
we still have names to give, still have more to find out about Reiko... we have to have natsume dealing with the fact that he can see spirits and possible telling his family....
oh and i want to know why there are picture of natsume floating around for a story arc that has yet to be animated.... show can't end until that's all wrapped up
.... i wouldn't be surprised at all by a 5th season.... but considering it was a 3 year gap between season 2 and 3.... it may be a while...
but yeah, if you like slice of life that doesn't focus on romance and has some action? this is pretty much the perfect show for that....
now because two things finished today....
...
...
why are you still here? go watch it over on crunchyroll.com ...
go..... now....
ok in all seriousness it's really good.... the last episode claimed to be 'the end' but considering how nothing is really finished.
we still have names to give, still have more to find out about Reiko... we have to have natsume dealing with the fact that he can see spirits and possible telling his family....
oh and i want to know why there are picture of natsume floating around for a story arc that has yet to be animated.... show can't end until that's all wrapped up
.... i wouldn't be surprised at all by a 5th season.... but considering it was a 3 year gap between season 2 and 3.... it may be a while...
but yeah, if you like slice of life that doesn't focus on romance and has some action? this is pretty much the perfect show for that....
now because two things finished today....
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Versus: Spiral: ~The Bonds of reasoning~
Originally published January 6, 2012 on tumblr
A new series that people probably wont care about…. yay.
a long time ago, i honestly don’t even know when…. after 2002 but i think before 2004… a friend of mine…. the same one who suggested i watch Air… told me about a show called Spiral that was really good and had an interesting mystery.
Normally i’m indifferent about mystery shows… Don’t know why they just never did it for me.
However when i saw the character design…
I thought…. you know what he looks really pretty…. i will give this show a chance.
yes i am incredibly vain and will give things a chance if they ‘look’ nice.
the show was 25 episode long (it’s been a long time since i re watched it) with a kickass intro song…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO7Roa5Ab34 kibouhou by strawberry jam (btw love the simplistic vector style of the intro… such impressive use of shape…. anyways back on topic) and after finishing the series i felt one thing.
Disappointment.
Nothing is resolved…
The plot focuses around these ‘cursed’ children known as the blade children. They are all extremely smart and talented and really deadly. However Ayumu Narumi, the main character, is also really damn smart. in the first episode (or first few eps…. it’s been so long since i got the veridian collection) he manages to show that a suicide was actually a murder and he gets thrown into this situation with the blade children who try to kill him multiple times.
BUT even though these children try to kill him they claim that they don’t want him to die sicne he will be there salvation according to Narumi’s older brother who vanished a few years prior leaving a cryptic message of “gone to deal with blade children bye byes”… okay it was more serious then that but you get the point…
so he solves mysteries and avoids death and then…. it kinda…. just…. ends…
My theory on this is that the show wasn’t popular enough for a second season…. it finishes right around the time Kanon is introduced which is a good place to end the season…. but not the entire show… so they must have been counting on getting picked up again…. that was almost 10 years ago so i think it’s safe to say chances of season two are slim to none.
not impossible of course…. just unlikely.
Still while the show was on i really liked it…. it ended up being more of a thriller mind game then a mystery series and that appealed to me more…. so many years later i saw in my Comic preview book that Yen Press was selling spiral… this was around the time volume 4 was out.
Yen Press is good but they tend to only sell a little bit of a book and very rarely will they make another print… broccoli is also fond of this “get it while you can” mentality. So i was warned by the place i buy my manga from that it will be tricky to get the first few volumes but they would try…
and they succeeded.
Unlike the anime the Manga is quite long…. 15 volumes.
and kanon is introduced about halfway. so i’m loving that there finally feels like there is more to the story.
yes parts of the book felt like deathnote tennis talk to me… by that i mean
The main character thinks to himself “if i do this they’ll think that so i’ll do this other thing instead”
The villain smirks “ah he’s thinking that if he does that it’ll be too obvious so he’s going to do this other thing… will do this to counter that”
ect… i hate when stories do this…. i get its a necessary evil but it still annoys me.
but still i was enjoying the story and learning more about the blade children, Ayumu and his brother as well as the girl who always follows ayumu around.
so i got pretty much exactly what i wanted… there is a lot of talk of gods, devils, demons, fate and so on near the end but the fact that the whole series is pretty much ayumu going “i don’t care about fate i will make my own choices in life” makes all that fate talk bearable.
i do have to say i saw the twist of who/what Ayumu is coming from a mile away. But in the end…. so did Ayumu so i guess we were supposed to figure it out? maybe…
and while in the end the blade children aren’t really saved (though they are on the path) and maybe things are uncertain about many characters i felt like the ending was the perfect way to finish it….
So i called this segment Versus because i wanted to compare the two right? (hopefully i’ll remember all these questions when i do this again…. if i do it again)
When it comes to story the Manga wins hands down since it actually gets to tell one.
When it comes to Art i have it give it to the anime just because the show is really pretty.
when it comes to characters again i have to give it to the anime… yes none of the characters get to be fully developed but the blade children get more development in 25 episodes of the show then they do in 15 volumes of the manga. they just don’t get to complete their arc.
How similar are they to each other? almost exact duplicates… a few stories are added in for the Anime that show the blade children as being evil when necessary but overall when they tell the same plot they are exactly the same.
If You can only pick up one then get the manga… only because it actually tells the story and doesn’t leave you hanging.
Which one did i like more…. i don’t know why… maybe cause i saw it first… but the Anime…. even though it’s not really complete i think it’s really good for the 25 episodes that are there.
Ah this was fun…
Okay so how to get it…
The anime is being distributed by Funimation, there is a Verdian Collection version which is nice and compact and really friendly on your wallet BUT since the entire case and everything holding the disk in is paper (well some kind of cardstock but still) if your not careful it’s possible to scratch the disk so it’s a bit nerve wracking.
The manga was originally licensed by Tokyopop but Yen Press currently has the rights, it may be trickier to find earlier volumes but this show is surprisingly popular despite being old so you may be able to get yours hands on it….
and yeah…. i think that's good enough for now… like i said i may do this again…. maybe for dub versus sub… it’s all just for fun in the end.
A new series that people probably wont care about…. yay.
a long time ago, i honestly don’t even know when…. after 2002 but i think before 2004… a friend of mine…. the same one who suggested i watch Air… told me about a show called Spiral that was really good and had an interesting mystery.
Normally i’m indifferent about mystery shows… Don’t know why they just never did it for me.
However when i saw the character design…
I thought…. you know what he looks really pretty…. i will give this show a chance.
yes i am incredibly vain and will give things a chance if they ‘look’ nice.
the show was 25 episode long (it’s been a long time since i re watched it) with a kickass intro song…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO7Roa5Ab34 kibouhou by strawberry jam (btw love the simplistic vector style of the intro… such impressive use of shape…. anyways back on topic) and after finishing the series i felt one thing.
Disappointment.
Nothing is resolved…
The plot focuses around these ‘cursed’ children known as the blade children. They are all extremely smart and talented and really deadly. However Ayumu Narumi, the main character, is also really damn smart. in the first episode (or first few eps…. it’s been so long since i got the veridian collection) he manages to show that a suicide was actually a murder and he gets thrown into this situation with the blade children who try to kill him multiple times.
BUT even though these children try to kill him they claim that they don’t want him to die sicne he will be there salvation according to Narumi’s older brother who vanished a few years prior leaving a cryptic message of “gone to deal with blade children bye byes”… okay it was more serious then that but you get the point…
so he solves mysteries and avoids death and then…. it kinda…. just…. ends…
My theory on this is that the show wasn’t popular enough for a second season…. it finishes right around the time Kanon is introduced which is a good place to end the season…. but not the entire show… so they must have been counting on getting picked up again…. that was almost 10 years ago so i think it’s safe to say chances of season two are slim to none.
not impossible of course…. just unlikely.
Still while the show was on i really liked it…. it ended up being more of a thriller mind game then a mystery series and that appealed to me more…. so many years later i saw in my Comic preview book that Yen Press was selling spiral… this was around the time volume 4 was out.
Yen Press is good but they tend to only sell a little bit of a book and very rarely will they make another print… broccoli is also fond of this “get it while you can” mentality. So i was warned by the place i buy my manga from that it will be tricky to get the first few volumes but they would try…
and they succeeded.
Unlike the anime the Manga is quite long…. 15 volumes.
and kanon is introduced about halfway. so i’m loving that there finally feels like there is more to the story.
yes parts of the book felt like deathnote tennis talk to me… by that i mean
The main character thinks to himself “if i do this they’ll think that so i’ll do this other thing instead”
The villain smirks “ah he’s thinking that if he does that it’ll be too obvious so he’s going to do this other thing… will do this to counter that”
ect… i hate when stories do this…. i get its a necessary evil but it still annoys me.
but still i was enjoying the story and learning more about the blade children, Ayumu and his brother as well as the girl who always follows ayumu around.
so i got pretty much exactly what i wanted… there is a lot of talk of gods, devils, demons, fate and so on near the end but the fact that the whole series is pretty much ayumu going “i don’t care about fate i will make my own choices in life” makes all that fate talk bearable.
i do have to say i saw the twist of who/what Ayumu is coming from a mile away. But in the end…. so did Ayumu so i guess we were supposed to figure it out? maybe…
and while in the end the blade children aren’t really saved (though they are on the path) and maybe things are uncertain about many characters i felt like the ending was the perfect way to finish it….
So i called this segment Versus because i wanted to compare the two right? (hopefully i’ll remember all these questions when i do this again…. if i do it again)
When it comes to story the Manga wins hands down since it actually gets to tell one.
When it comes to Art i have it give it to the anime just because the show is really pretty.
when it comes to characters again i have to give it to the anime… yes none of the characters get to be fully developed but the blade children get more development in 25 episodes of the show then they do in 15 volumes of the manga. they just don’t get to complete their arc.
How similar are they to each other? almost exact duplicates… a few stories are added in for the Anime that show the blade children as being evil when necessary but overall when they tell the same plot they are exactly the same.
If You can only pick up one then get the manga… only because it actually tells the story and doesn’t leave you hanging.
Which one did i like more…. i don’t know why… maybe cause i saw it first… but the Anime…. even though it’s not really complete i think it’s really good for the 25 episodes that are there.
Ah this was fun…
Okay so how to get it…
The anime is being distributed by Funimation, there is a Verdian Collection version which is nice and compact and really friendly on your wallet BUT since the entire case and everything holding the disk in is paper (well some kind of cardstock but still) if your not careful it’s possible to scratch the disk so it’s a bit nerve wracking.
The manga was originally licensed by Tokyopop but Yen Press currently has the rights, it may be trickier to find earlier volumes but this show is surprisingly popular despite being old so you may be able to get yours hands on it….
and yeah…. i think that's good enough for now… like i said i may do this again…. maybe for dub versus sub… it’s all just for fun in the end.
Saturday, 24 March 2012
Completed: Air Tv (spoilers cause the show is pretty old)
Originally published January 3, 2012on tumblr
this was my 3rd chem re-watching it… possibly my 4th….
how i cam across this show. a friend of mine from class liked anime and wondered if i had seen a show called Air. He described it as a show that looked really pretty and had a kind of interesting mystery plot.
i had never downloaded anything and was skeptical but i eventually caved and watched it.
And thus i was introduced to the world of Visual arts/ Key.
Now i will say this… the show has not aged well at all… the eyes look extremely odd and are too far apart…. the character have chins that could be used as weapons they are so large… BUT the animation is still really nice and fluid. The music is memorable and characters for the most part are well designed.
To date (as far as i know) there have been three adaptations of Visual Art/Key games. Kanon (which was adapted both in 2000 and 2006), Air (which got a tv show and a movie) and Clannad (which got two seasons and a movie. ) and out of all of that…. Air is probably my least favorite. It’s still good but boy does it have problems.
out of the three it is the shortest (i didn’t see kanon 2000 which i think is also 13 eps but in this case i’m not counting it) and each story is told in fairly concise arcs.
First we have Kano’s arc which takes place over 3-4 episodes…. she seems to have multiple personality disorder thanks to touching a magic feather when she was young. Yukito, the main male character, eventually uses some of his telekinetic ability to heal her or something….
Then we have Minagi’s arc which the bulk of it takes place over 2 eps but goes on at the same time as the Kano arc…. so i’d say again 3-4 eps… more tragic then Kano’s story in my opinion… she is always found playing with her younger best friend Minagi since her mother is going through trauma after having a miscarriage. this is that baby would have been called Michiru and the mother even has forgotten about Minagi and is calling her Michiru…. but it gets better… the young best friend Michiru really is the dead baby who asked for life from the girl with wings…. but due to…. whatever it’s time for her to go… the scene where she leaves always brings tears to my eyes. it’s really well done.
Next is Yukito’s arc where we learn more about why he searches for a girl with wings…. again this lasts most of the show but is focused on in 2 episodes… as Misuzu, the main girl, continues to have dreams and gets weaker he tries to leave her to avoid getting ill himself…. however he learns that he doesn’t care anymore and goes back to her side…. again through means that aren’t ever completely explained he gives up his life through a single wish to try and help her.
The we have the winger being arc…. lasts 2 eps (not including the special episodes) and we learn more about the winged beings, the curse and why yukito has powers….
then we get what i call the crow arc…. because we start back at the beginning of the show but instead Yukito is a crow…. human yukito is there as well but we never see his face… we get an exteremly condences recap but instead we see there's a crow with misuzu…. which is odd cause throughout the show we see this crow but now it’s not in the same place and…. ugh my head.
the crow arc lasts till the end of the show… other then one instance Yukito never comes back and misses out on the last episode drama. The last episode… though not the saddest key/visual arts moment is pretty high up there. in fact i think this is the only key/visual arts story where there isn’t a later retcon to being someone (or multiple someones)back from the dead.
so then the story ends on disk three….. but wait i have another volume…. special episodes…. one that can be called misuzu’s arc (it’s just everything from misuzu’s perspective with both yukito’s story and the crows mixed together…. so a glorified clip show) then two episodes to go more indepth into the past.
so by the end of this show…. it’s recapped 3 times.
That is probably my biggest issue with this show…. second issue is the fact that yukito… who is the main character in my opinion isn’t technically there…. yes he’s a crow but thats not good enough in my opinion. A lot of things think they are explained… but they aren’t…
why does michiru suddenly have to go? why does Kano have a mark on her wrist and was it there before she tried to commit suicide? how does Misuzu know that that one night was her last dream, why does yukito turn into a crow of all things… i get that's it’s for him to have wings but why specifically a crow which tends to be a bad omen. why does the dog say “piko”?
and why does it need to recap so much? granted it doesn’t recap 8 times (no i will never let that go) but still it’s too much for such a short show.
It is still a good show…. you can tell it’s one of the first titles from a company (dunno where it falls in game wish but i know the anime was done after Kanon so i will assume the game came after kanon as well) and you can tell they wanted to try new things. i also love how fluid the animation is even though the faces can look really funny.
also between air, Kanon and Clannad i’d say this show has the best intro song next to After story’s intro.
if you get a chance pic this show up… it was licensed by ADV before they went down but i think Funimation holds the rights now… shouldn’t be too expensive. if you want a shorter summation then get the movie… it’s pretty much a retelling of the anime but with more focus on the past….
it is odd to think that this is based off a hentai game since
a) the girls are a little young
b) i don’t see where it could really fit in other then the arc in the past.
the game has been released many times in japan…. it’ll probably never come over to North American soil cause there doesn’t seem to be as much of a market for it…
also these things keep getting longer and longer…. oh boy
this was my 3rd chem re-watching it… possibly my 4th….
how i cam across this show. a friend of mine from class liked anime and wondered if i had seen a show called Air. He described it as a show that looked really pretty and had a kind of interesting mystery plot.
i had never downloaded anything and was skeptical but i eventually caved and watched it.
And thus i was introduced to the world of Visual arts/ Key.
Now i will say this… the show has not aged well at all… the eyes look extremely odd and are too far apart…. the character have chins that could be used as weapons they are so large… BUT the animation is still really nice and fluid. The music is memorable and characters for the most part are well designed.
To date (as far as i know) there have been three adaptations of Visual Art/Key games. Kanon (which was adapted both in 2000 and 2006), Air (which got a tv show and a movie) and Clannad (which got two seasons and a movie. ) and out of all of that…. Air is probably my least favorite. It’s still good but boy does it have problems.
out of the three it is the shortest (i didn’t see kanon 2000 which i think is also 13 eps but in this case i’m not counting it) and each story is told in fairly concise arcs.
First we have Kano’s arc which takes place over 3-4 episodes…. she seems to have multiple personality disorder thanks to touching a magic feather when she was young. Yukito, the main male character, eventually uses some of his telekinetic ability to heal her or something….
Then we have Minagi’s arc which the bulk of it takes place over 2 eps but goes on at the same time as the Kano arc…. so i’d say again 3-4 eps… more tragic then Kano’s story in my opinion… she is always found playing with her younger best friend Minagi since her mother is going through trauma after having a miscarriage. this is that baby would have been called Michiru and the mother even has forgotten about Minagi and is calling her Michiru…. but it gets better… the young best friend Michiru really is the dead baby who asked for life from the girl with wings…. but due to…. whatever it’s time for her to go… the scene where she leaves always brings tears to my eyes. it’s really well done.
Next is Yukito’s arc where we learn more about why he searches for a girl with wings…. again this lasts most of the show but is focused on in 2 episodes… as Misuzu, the main girl, continues to have dreams and gets weaker he tries to leave her to avoid getting ill himself…. however he learns that he doesn’t care anymore and goes back to her side…. again through means that aren’t ever completely explained he gives up his life through a single wish to try and help her.
The we have the winger being arc…. lasts 2 eps (not including the special episodes) and we learn more about the winged beings, the curse and why yukito has powers….
then we get what i call the crow arc…. because we start back at the beginning of the show but instead Yukito is a crow…. human yukito is there as well but we never see his face… we get an exteremly condences recap but instead we see there's a crow with misuzu…. which is odd cause throughout the show we see this crow but now it’s not in the same place and…. ugh my head.
the crow arc lasts till the end of the show… other then one instance Yukito never comes back and misses out on the last episode drama. The last episode… though not the saddest key/visual arts moment is pretty high up there. in fact i think this is the only key/visual arts story where there isn’t a later retcon to being someone (or multiple someones)back from the dead.
so then the story ends on disk three….. but wait i have another volume…. special episodes…. one that can be called misuzu’s arc (it’s just everything from misuzu’s perspective with both yukito’s story and the crows mixed together…. so a glorified clip show) then two episodes to go more indepth into the past.
so by the end of this show…. it’s recapped 3 times.
That is probably my biggest issue with this show…. second issue is the fact that yukito… who is the main character in my opinion isn’t technically there…. yes he’s a crow but thats not good enough in my opinion. A lot of things think they are explained… but they aren’t…
why does michiru suddenly have to go? why does Kano have a mark on her wrist and was it there before she tried to commit suicide? how does Misuzu know that that one night was her last dream, why does yukito turn into a crow of all things… i get that's it’s for him to have wings but why specifically a crow which tends to be a bad omen. why does the dog say “piko”?
and why does it need to recap so much? granted it doesn’t recap 8 times (no i will never let that go) but still it’s too much for such a short show.
It is still a good show…. you can tell it’s one of the first titles from a company (dunno where it falls in game wish but i know the anime was done after Kanon so i will assume the game came after kanon as well) and you can tell they wanted to try new things. i also love how fluid the animation is even though the faces can look really funny.
also between air, Kanon and Clannad i’d say this show has the best intro song next to After story’s intro.
if you get a chance pic this show up… it was licensed by ADV before they went down but i think Funimation holds the rights now… shouldn’t be too expensive. if you want a shorter summation then get the movie… it’s pretty much a retelling of the anime but with more focus on the past….
it is odd to think that this is based off a hentai game since
a) the girls are a little young
b) i don’t see where it could really fit in other then the arc in the past.
the game has been released many times in japan…. it’ll probably never come over to North American soil cause there doesn’t seem to be as much of a market for it…
also these things keep getting longer and longer…. oh boy
Friday, 23 March 2012
Completed: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2
Originally published January 2, 2012 on tumblr
32 times….. that's how many times i have sat through endless 8… 16 times in japanese and now once in English….
anyways…. i have a major love hate relationship with this show.
may as well start at the beginning… so way back in…. 2006? yeah i thinks thats when it first aired…. anyways my friend told me “hey this show is great…. i think you’ll like it…” granted this is the same person who said princess tutu was stupid based off episode 1 but still he did know my taste and most of the time he recommended good shows…. so he put on episode 00…. and i just kind of stared at him and sighed.
“what the hell is this?” i asked as i stared at my friend
“trust me and watch the next episode… that episode is supposed to make you think wtf”
so i sighed and watched the next episode…. and then i understood.
however the show had a really long title that i had a hard time remembering (suzumiya haruhi no yuutsu) so when i got home i forgot about it for a while… eventually…. like a month or so later i got curious and asked him what the show was called and where i could see it and i got that info and watched it…. and it became one of my favorite shows of all time.
the very second it came out on dvd i bought it…. in fact i was one of those fools who bought the 70 buck special edition (granted i only paid 70 for the first part…. i payed closer to 40 for the other 3 parts)
i loved everything about this show, the animation is pretty, the music is fitting, the character design is fun and i loved the characters… specifically the titular character and Kyon. i was so excited for season 2 because the story in both orders just kinda ends (more so in chronological order)
so a year passes…. nothing
another year…. still nothing….
rumors rumors rumors and finally in 2009 they start re-airing the first season…. which in japan is odd…. they are notorious for no reruns….
they were showing it in chronological order and i think it was after the melancholy arc we got a new episode “Bamboo leaf Rhapsody” and it was really good… interesting plot, great animation and we see more of the characters powers….
then it went back to season 1 episodes…. it was clear… we were going through this watching with both seasons mixed together to make the chronological order make more sense.
The next episode probably brought on so much fan rage i’m surprised the building was left intact…. they did receive threats…. but i should explain.
endless 8 started as a fun summer episode where haruhi orders everyone around in the last two weeks or summer so they can have the best summer ever
however by the end of the list she wonders if they did enough. oh well they did do a lot of things…. she hands kyon the bill and leaves….
end of episode.
not so bad right? nice filler episode right? wrong.
they repeat this episode the next week…. only this time it’s a little different and the characters start having a sense of deja vu
they find out that they are in a time loop and have repeated the same two weeks for 595 years. one of them remembers all of this… the Alien Yuki Nagato… however since her purpose is only to observe she didn’t tell them earlier.
ok that's still fine though… i mean… it’s a good way to show that they are repeating time…. since once again haruhi isn’t satisfied…. it’ll all be finished the next episode right? i mean…. everything in threes right?
NOPE.
cause see the title of the episode is endless EIGHT…. some retard thought it would be a brilliant idea to have this season… which is 13 (or 14… don’t remember) episodes long…. and make 8 of them the same thing.
so…. each episode is 22 minutes long…. times 8
nearly 3 HOURS of the same thing repeating with SLIGHT changes. this arc went on for around 2 months of airtime cause there is only one episode per week
so…. understandably so…. people were angry…. we waited 3+ years to get 8 episodes of the same thing. and to be fair…. this was based on a 30 page chapter in the original novel which only went through the final loop. the studio was of course unapologetic….
on the 8th episode it’s all solved…. Kyon just needed to finish his homework : D
so…. i think there was an ep or two of old episodes and then we get the sigh of haruhi suzumiya….
which is probably my favorite arc of the show so far.
it deals with all the chaos that ensued when they were shooting the movie which is episode 00
it’s brilliant…. it renewed my love in the show and even though it ends and we are still in season 1…. i didn’t care… i was happy…. and the movie had been announced at the point. so i could deal with all the bullshit.
so last Wednesday i went and finally picked up season 2 for a decent price… and a few days before bandai closed down so that was lucky….
I thought about abridging it and only watching 3 episodes of endless 8…. but i watched to watch the whole thing… and to be fair…. when it’s just 3 hours of the same thing instead of 2 months of it… it’s actually quite effective… you really do feel that this is endless so the resolution really does fell great….
still mad about the whole endless eight thing but you know what…. i can’t help but love this show…. i feel like a puppy that's been beaten yet i still come back….
also the movie “the disappearance of haruhi suzumiya” is really good and if bandai hasn’t licensed/released it yet i hope someone else will since bandai is no more : (
alright…. natsume yuujinchou season 4 is about to air…. so off to crunchyroll ^^
32 times….. that's how many times i have sat through endless 8… 16 times in japanese and now once in English….
anyways…. i have a major love hate relationship with this show.
may as well start at the beginning… so way back in…. 2006? yeah i thinks thats when it first aired…. anyways my friend told me “hey this show is great…. i think you’ll like it…” granted this is the same person who said princess tutu was stupid based off episode 1 but still he did know my taste and most of the time he recommended good shows…. so he put on episode 00…. and i just kind of stared at him and sighed.
“what the hell is this?” i asked as i stared at my friend
“trust me and watch the next episode… that episode is supposed to make you think wtf”
so i sighed and watched the next episode…. and then i understood.
however the show had a really long title that i had a hard time remembering (suzumiya haruhi no yuutsu) so when i got home i forgot about it for a while… eventually…. like a month or so later i got curious and asked him what the show was called and where i could see it and i got that info and watched it…. and it became one of my favorite shows of all time.
the very second it came out on dvd i bought it…. in fact i was one of those fools who bought the 70 buck special edition (granted i only paid 70 for the first part…. i payed closer to 40 for the other 3 parts)
i loved everything about this show, the animation is pretty, the music is fitting, the character design is fun and i loved the characters… specifically the titular character and Kyon. i was so excited for season 2 because the story in both orders just kinda ends (more so in chronological order)
so a year passes…. nothing
another year…. still nothing….
rumors rumors rumors and finally in 2009 they start re-airing the first season…. which in japan is odd…. they are notorious for no reruns….
they were showing it in chronological order and i think it was after the melancholy arc we got a new episode “Bamboo leaf Rhapsody” and it was really good… interesting plot, great animation and we see more of the characters powers….
then it went back to season 1 episodes…. it was clear… we were going through this watching with both seasons mixed together to make the chronological order make more sense.
The next episode probably brought on so much fan rage i’m surprised the building was left intact…. they did receive threats…. but i should explain.
endless 8 started as a fun summer episode where haruhi orders everyone around in the last two weeks or summer so they can have the best summer ever
however by the end of the list she wonders if they did enough. oh well they did do a lot of things…. she hands kyon the bill and leaves….
end of episode.
not so bad right? nice filler episode right? wrong.
they repeat this episode the next week…. only this time it’s a little different and the characters start having a sense of deja vu
they find out that they are in a time loop and have repeated the same two weeks for 595 years. one of them remembers all of this… the Alien Yuki Nagato… however since her purpose is only to observe she didn’t tell them earlier.
ok that's still fine though… i mean… it’s a good way to show that they are repeating time…. since once again haruhi isn’t satisfied…. it’ll all be finished the next episode right? i mean…. everything in threes right?
NOPE.
cause see the title of the episode is endless EIGHT…. some retard thought it would be a brilliant idea to have this season… which is 13 (or 14… don’t remember) episodes long…. and make 8 of them the same thing.
so…. each episode is 22 minutes long…. times 8
nearly 3 HOURS of the same thing repeating with SLIGHT changes. this arc went on for around 2 months of airtime cause there is only one episode per week
so…. understandably so…. people were angry…. we waited 3+ years to get 8 episodes of the same thing. and to be fair…. this was based on a 30 page chapter in the original novel which only went through the final loop. the studio was of course unapologetic….
on the 8th episode it’s all solved…. Kyon just needed to finish his homework : D
so…. i think there was an ep or two of old episodes and then we get the sigh of haruhi suzumiya….
which is probably my favorite arc of the show so far.
it deals with all the chaos that ensued when they were shooting the movie which is episode 00
it’s brilliant…. it renewed my love in the show and even though it ends and we are still in season 1…. i didn’t care… i was happy…. and the movie had been announced at the point. so i could deal with all the bullshit.
so last Wednesday i went and finally picked up season 2 for a decent price… and a few days before bandai closed down so that was lucky….
I thought about abridging it and only watching 3 episodes of endless 8…. but i watched to watch the whole thing… and to be fair…. when it’s just 3 hours of the same thing instead of 2 months of it… it’s actually quite effective… you really do feel that this is endless so the resolution really does fell great….
still mad about the whole endless eight thing but you know what…. i can’t help but love this show…. i feel like a puppy that's been beaten yet i still come back….
also the movie “the disappearance of haruhi suzumiya” is really good and if bandai hasn’t licensed/released it yet i hope someone else will since bandai is no more : (
alright…. natsume yuujinchou season 4 is about to air…. so off to crunchyroll ^^
Mungyo Soft Pastel
It's not uncommon for things like pencil crayons or paints to have a statement about themselves somewhere on their packaging...
but this one.... it's just so amusing!
First of all it's on the inside of the packaging so it's not like it's there to make you want to buy the product more.... hell the only reason i did buy i was because it was fairly cheap and even though the sticks were pretty small it came in a lot of colours... so when i did open it up i kind of just burst out laughing.
ok i will say these seem to be Korean so yeah it's a bit low to be poking fun of the Engrish but i'm not trying to be mean... it just amuses me more then it probably should and i really wanted to share it.
okay now i better go reflect the delicate feelings of my work through my fingers....
but this one.... it's just so amusing!
First of all it's on the inside of the packaging so it's not like it's there to make you want to buy the product more.... hell the only reason i did buy i was because it was fairly cheap and even though the sticks were pretty small it came in a lot of colours... so when i did open it up i kind of just burst out laughing.
MUNGYO SOFT PASTEL
MUNGYO soft pastels, made from the finest and softest materials available, are smooth touch and responsiveness, and proper art Materials for embodiment of Brilliant & clear perspective.
As Artists themselves take the pastel sticks in their fingers during application, they are able to feel the delight their own delicate feelings reflected to works directly throughout their fingers.
The printing and drawings with MUNGYO soft pastels remain without any discolouration forever due to priority of highest degree of lightness
MUNGYO soft pastels are very extensive range of colors As a result, no need to mix the colors and typical sense of pastel colors can be materialized easily. Moreover ,Pastels can be used together with other art materials and by rubbing pastel colors into one another, amazing color nuances are created.
ok i will say these seem to be Korean so yeah it's a bit low to be poking fun of the Engrish but i'm not trying to be mean... it just amuses me more then it probably should and i really wanted to share it.
okay now i better go reflect the delicate feelings of my work through my fingers....
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Completed: The Witches of Oz
i’m not goign to waste my time describing the plot…. all i’ll say is DO NOT SEE THE FILM FOR ANY REASON
Character - all except billy boyd are terrible
costume - badly made
music - unremarkable
Story - Terrible…. takes everything good about every other version of the wizard of oz and ruins it.
Acting - everyoene except billy just does everythign so over the top it’s just insanely stupid
and the kicker? 2 hours and 40 munutes long…. good thing i did other things while it was on…. cause damn that was painful.
Character - all except billy boyd are terrible
costume - badly made
music - unremarkable
Story - Terrible…. takes everything good about every other version of the wizard of oz and ruins it.
Acting - everyoene except billy just does everythign so over the top it’s just insanely stupid
and the kicker? 2 hours and 40 munutes long…. good thing i did other things while it was on…. cause damn that was painful.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Completed: Peach Girl
Originally Publushed December 24, 2011 on tumblr
this is my second time watching the show…. and i used to like it…. but this time…. i actually got little annoyed
first there is a little controversy with some of the art relating to the show… unfortunately i can’t find the link but there are issues of stocks being used and if they were paid for or not…. but i can’t find the link so i can’t be sure if it was this series or her next project pappillon so i wont discuss it further.
the plot in a nutshell? Main girl Momo has been in love with middle school friend Toji but she was told he doesn’t like tan girls… and she was on the swim team and has a lot of melanin and therefor has enough of a tan where people think she’s a Gal. So she has told herself she will confess once she’s paler then him….
but that’s not complicated enough is it…. okay…. her ‘best friend’ Sae is a major copycat…. copies everything momo plans to do… but she does it in a way where she looks like the one with all the taste…. plus she’s small and pale and very cute… for some reason momo continues to deal with her even when Sae blatantly asks who Momo likes…. and after she points to the local in their year Hottie, named Kairi, Sae saunters up to him and tries to confess…. not even missing a beat or going behind momo’s back. so we see why Sae can’t know that Toji is who she really likes.
again though…. this is shoujo…. not complicated enough.
after Sae is rejected by Kairi rumors are spread about Momo kissing Kairi… this boy apparently has the standard crazy japanese fan club that beats up other girls that threaten their position…. that we see in so much shoujo… anyways they go to beat momo up and Kairi comes in to…. sit down and watch the cat-fight. This, rightfully, pissed Momo off and she rushes over and punches him…. he laughs and the fan girls run away cause it seems a girl who swam every day is actually pretty strong.
So momo is pissed about this rumor, she thinks her love will never think about her now since she is the school slut and she didn’t even do anything.
kairi has a plan to fix everything though… the rumor is that they kissed? well the way to fix it is obviously to make it true so he grabs her and kisses her.
oh we are so close….. but the setup is’t perfect yet…. oh i know
Toji overhears Momo and Kairi talking about how Momo likes Toji but he doesn’t like tan girls…. later of course he goes up to her and mentions that he doesn’t care if she’s tan he likes her anyways… and they start dating.
and that concludes the first episode.
i’m not kidding…. that's the set up….
this get more complex as the two date, Sae finds out and does everything in her power to break them up…. up to and including nearly getting momo raped (nothing happens) and blackmailing her boyfriend into dumping her and then making him date her even though he hates her. so momo starts goign out with Kairi who she built a friendship with over time…. Kairi sees through all sae’s lies and seems to keep her away so that works…. then they start goign out….. but oh no Kairi actually is still in love with his first love…. but he loves momo too but he can’t decide…. so he goes on a spirit journey thing to discover himself….
momo gives him a deadline and sais she’ll wait 5 mins…. does to shit happening to his family he can’t…. she thinks it measn he doesn’t love her….. but no he followed her thought a typhoon on foot… but she needed up going away with toji who is no longer being blackmailed because sae found her true love in kairi’s older brother who is an asshole…. so kairi gives up…. then he doesn’t…. then she’s forced to pick and oh no who should she choose? the boy who protected her without her knowing or the one who….. who…. um…. well i guess kairi makes her laugh and happy…we’ll go with that.
so yeah….. this series gets unnecessarily complex. but normally i like that stupid ocmplex bullshit in shoujo…. it’s half the fun.
but this being my second run through…. i realized i hate all the characters.
Momo is really a bitch who flip flops between two really amazing guys and seems to always worry more about how she feels then how her indecisiveness makes them feel…. also she’s rash… in one scene where Toji is not believing Momo and instead is listening to Sae’s lies she goes to his hospital window (cause he got appendicitis) which is three floors up and threatens to not come back in unless he listens to her.
Look sweety…. if your boyfriend is taking your friends words over your own…. either try to explain the situation calmly OR dump him… no need for nearly falling out a window.
Next~
Toji. he is so perfect it’s sickening. this guy can do no wrong…. he doesn’t pressure her into sex even though they have the house to themselves. he buys her the best birthday present, he is good at school and sports, he stands up for everyone and he is just perfect in every way…. and even when he is breakign up with momo in the meanest way possible he still cries cause he is sadface…. he’s just too damn perfect that he has no personality….. yes he tries to force himself on momo a bit more near the end but she’s being a bitch and he’s worried about how indecisive she is…. but that's the only time we see him not be perfect….
Next~~
Kairi…. well at least he goes through a character arc…. and he has more of a character then Toji but i don’t get why he doesn’t just say “pick me, i walked through a typhoon for you”…. dramatic tension i guess….
Next~~~
Sae…. why would anyone be friends with her? they do deal with that question but still she is terrible….. still she also goes through a character arc. so i have to give her credit there…. hell she may even be one of the best characters.
but yeah…. mom is just terrible and as a main character she never really has to work for anything… except when she changes herself to better suit the guy in the start of the story…. i mean she gives up swimming which she loves just so she wont tan….. argh
so yeah…. used to like this series and it still has it’s cute moments but damn it’s annoying.
this is my second time watching the show…. and i used to like it…. but this time…. i actually got little annoyed
first there is a little controversy with some of the art relating to the show… unfortunately i can’t find the link but there are issues of stocks being used and if they were paid for or not…. but i can’t find the link so i can’t be sure if it was this series or her next project pappillon so i wont discuss it further.
the plot in a nutshell? Main girl Momo has been in love with middle school friend Toji but she was told he doesn’t like tan girls… and she was on the swim team and has a lot of melanin and therefor has enough of a tan where people think she’s a Gal. So she has told herself she will confess once she’s paler then him….
but that’s not complicated enough is it…. okay…. her ‘best friend’ Sae is a major copycat…. copies everything momo plans to do… but she does it in a way where she looks like the one with all the taste…. plus she’s small and pale and very cute… for some reason momo continues to deal with her even when Sae blatantly asks who Momo likes…. and after she points to the local in their year Hottie, named Kairi, Sae saunters up to him and tries to confess…. not even missing a beat or going behind momo’s back. so we see why Sae can’t know that Toji is who she really likes.
again though…. this is shoujo…. not complicated enough.
after Sae is rejected by Kairi rumors are spread about Momo kissing Kairi… this boy apparently has the standard crazy japanese fan club that beats up other girls that threaten their position…. that we see in so much shoujo… anyways they go to beat momo up and Kairi comes in to…. sit down and watch the cat-fight. This, rightfully, pissed Momo off and she rushes over and punches him…. he laughs and the fan girls run away cause it seems a girl who swam every day is actually pretty strong.
So momo is pissed about this rumor, she thinks her love will never think about her now since she is the school slut and she didn’t even do anything.
kairi has a plan to fix everything though… the rumor is that they kissed? well the way to fix it is obviously to make it true so he grabs her and kisses her.
oh we are so close….. but the setup is’t perfect yet…. oh i know
Toji overhears Momo and Kairi talking about how Momo likes Toji but he doesn’t like tan girls…. later of course he goes up to her and mentions that he doesn’t care if she’s tan he likes her anyways… and they start dating.
and that concludes the first episode.
i’m not kidding…. that's the set up….
this get more complex as the two date, Sae finds out and does everything in her power to break them up…. up to and including nearly getting momo raped (nothing happens) and blackmailing her boyfriend into dumping her and then making him date her even though he hates her. so momo starts goign out with Kairi who she built a friendship with over time…. Kairi sees through all sae’s lies and seems to keep her away so that works…. then they start goign out….. but oh no Kairi actually is still in love with his first love…. but he loves momo too but he can’t decide…. so he goes on a spirit journey thing to discover himself….
momo gives him a deadline and sais she’ll wait 5 mins…. does to shit happening to his family he can’t…. she thinks it measn he doesn’t love her….. but no he followed her thought a typhoon on foot… but she needed up going away with toji who is no longer being blackmailed because sae found her true love in kairi’s older brother who is an asshole…. so kairi gives up…. then he doesn’t…. then she’s forced to pick and oh no who should she choose? the boy who protected her without her knowing or the one who….. who…. um…. well i guess kairi makes her laugh and happy…we’ll go with that.
so yeah….. this series gets unnecessarily complex. but normally i like that stupid ocmplex bullshit in shoujo…. it’s half the fun.
but this being my second run through…. i realized i hate all the characters.
Momo is really a bitch who flip flops between two really amazing guys and seems to always worry more about how she feels then how her indecisiveness makes them feel…. also she’s rash… in one scene where Toji is not believing Momo and instead is listening to Sae’s lies she goes to his hospital window (cause he got appendicitis) which is three floors up and threatens to not come back in unless he listens to her.
Look sweety…. if your boyfriend is taking your friends words over your own…. either try to explain the situation calmly OR dump him… no need for nearly falling out a window.
Next~
Toji. he is so perfect it’s sickening. this guy can do no wrong…. he doesn’t pressure her into sex even though they have the house to themselves. he buys her the best birthday present, he is good at school and sports, he stands up for everyone and he is just perfect in every way…. and even when he is breakign up with momo in the meanest way possible he still cries cause he is sadface…. he’s just too damn perfect that he has no personality….. yes he tries to force himself on momo a bit more near the end but she’s being a bitch and he’s worried about how indecisive she is…. but that's the only time we see him not be perfect….
Next~~
Kairi…. well at least he goes through a character arc…. and he has more of a character then Toji but i don’t get why he doesn’t just say “pick me, i walked through a typhoon for you”…. dramatic tension i guess….
Next~~~
Sae…. why would anyone be friends with her? they do deal with that question but still she is terrible….. still she also goes through a character arc. so i have to give her credit there…. hell she may even be one of the best characters.
but yeah…. mom is just terrible and as a main character she never really has to work for anything… except when she changes herself to better suit the guy in the start of the story…. i mean she gives up swimming which she loves just so she wont tan….. argh
so yeah…. used to like this series and it still has it’s cute moments but damn it’s annoying.
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Completed: Neverland
Originally published December 24, 2011 on tumblr
this is why i have to do these right away or they get all piled up….
2 part mini series that aired on space with Reese Ifans.
it’s was pretty good…. think of it as the prequel to peter pan and some of the ideas were interesting and well done
CG was terrible…. never looked real enough to immerse you in this fantasy world… worst graphics had to do with Flying…. which is kinda important to peter pan BUT i did think it was fun overall and i’m glad i saw it.
but i’ll always associate peter pan with that live action version….. that was the only version i had ever seen till i was older and finally watched the Disney version.
this is why i have to do these right away or they get all piled up….
2 part mini series that aired on space with Reese Ifans.
it’s was pretty good…. think of it as the prequel to peter pan and some of the ideas were interesting and well done
CG was terrible…. never looked real enough to immerse you in this fantasy world… worst graphics had to do with Flying…. which is kinda important to peter pan BUT i did think it was fun overall and i’m glad i saw it.
but i’ll always associate peter pan with that live action version….. that was the only version i had ever seen till i was older and finally watched the Disney version.
Completed: Tales of Phantasia (OVA) (spoilers)
Many years ago, 8 or so, a friend of me felt i should broaden my RPG knowledge away from mainstream games like Final Fantasy, he suggested I play a RPG that had been released for the SNES a long time ago "Tales of Phantasia". Seeing as how at this point it had never been released to North America he set me up with an emulator and the fan translated game.
I Loved the game, it quickly became a favorite and I played it till i get 100% of everything.... except levels... i think i was only around 95 or 98. Anyways it was the only time i ever played an emulator but it left an impression on me.
Why bring this up? There's a bit of controversy with the character names among fans... see when they eventually did get a version of the game to North America on the GBA the official game had some changes to the names.
Cless became Cress
Klarth became Clause.
the others pretty much all stayed the same.
However to two little tiny changes can cause a huge uproar among fans, What is my stance on the issue? Well considering Japanese is a phonetic language it's really hard to have a translation for words that everyone can agree on.
ex. Natsume Yuujinchou, Natsume Yuujin-cho, Natsume Yujin-cho
or
shoujo, Shojo / Shounen, Shonen
I think it's Less an issue of which one is right and more an issue of which one you are used to... for that reason in this review I will be referring to the two characters as Cless and Klarth... be it right or wrong, i don't care it's what i'm used to calling them.
Now that's out of the way, onto the next story.
As mentioned above I loved the game, so in 2004 when The first episode of the OVA was released i was extremely happy. Watching it had the memories flooding back to me, it was exactly like the game... by the time all 4 episodes were released (which took two years) I was so happy, yeah they cut out some of my favorite scenes from the game but it's a long game and only 4 episodes... they did manage to keep a lot though...
But.... i started to think.... did i only like the show cause i loved the game?
Fast forward a few years, Geneon releases all 4 episodes on one disk and i scoop it up right away, luckily too since not too long after that Geneon closed their doors....
Fast forward to earlier the year, thanks to this completed series i've really enjoyed re-watching shows, i saw the disk and thought. "hey, why not? it's only 4 episodes long"
So i watched it again and i still loved it.... but now i really wondered if i only liked it cause i played the game.
So i posed an experiment, I have a Friend who when she was younger didn't get to play many games... if any at all.... she had never played ANY of the tales of games and had no prior knowledge of stories/characters/controversies.... SO i lent it to her with the stipulation that she must watch all 4 episodes, no matter what.
So she did and she came back to me "i like it but the last episode confused me"
I was stunned, it was not the result i was expecting, i was POSITIVE it would make no sense... but no after asking her to tell me the plot she got pretty much all of it right till the last episode, she didn't understand the point of the ninja girl and the whole revelation around Dhaos of left her wondering why she should care.
So i got ready to write the review when my other friend sees the dvd and goes "hey, is that related to Tales of Symphonia? i loved that game"
The answer is yes, Phantasia takes place 4000 years after Symphonia so the two are very loosely connected... anyways it got me thinking, would someone who had a little bit of knowledge of the game enjoy it? She doesn't watch as much anime as me or play as many games so it was a perfect middle ground between me and my first test subject.
So i lend it to her but i don't say she has to watch all 4 episodes.
So after a few weeks of no news about it i ask her "have you watched any? what did you think"
"It makes no sense, i even had a friend over and we tried to make sense of it but we couldn't"
See that's the reaction I was expecting... and i got it from an expected place. however with that knowledge in place i think i should FINALLY get to the review.
Tales of Phantasia is about Cless Alvein a Swordsman who has hid hometown destroyed because of a trinket he carries from his father, Mint Anadade a Cleric who gets taken from her family for a trinket she possesses and Chester Barklight a archer who lost his family and little sister because of the destruction of Cless' hometown.
Apparently their necklaces (which are exspheres... tee hee hee) are the Key to releasing Dhaos, the Big bad of this series who had been sealed for almost 1000 years.
So Dhaos is released and the only key to stopping him is magic.... too bad in this time the Tree Yggdrasil is a rotting mess and seeing as it's the source of all magic that means the only people who possess any form of magic are Clerics.... yeah too bad they aren't terribly offensive.
So a Mage who happens to be there when Dhaos is awakened send Cless and Mint to the past, poor little Chester is left behind to serve as a distraction.
Why the past? oh because at this point in time Magic uses still exist, they are tasked to find Arche Klien, the half elf Mage and Klarth. F. Lester a Summoner.
so they do, they help protect a town that has technology that can send them back to their own time. Unfortunately the town also has this Canon that uses up all the mana in the area and it is the reason why there's not enough mana for the future. hence no magic users...
Dhaos doesn't seem too trilled by the canon and does his best to try and stop it from firing, he fails and then the Tree that is the source of all Mana starts to die. Mint who has Martel, the spirit within the tree, calling to her goes to heal the tree... and is helped by an unlikely source... Dhaos also does his best to feed mana into the tree.
Well that's odd... anyways they eventually get back to their time and fight Dhaos, but he gets away.... damn him and his time travel abilities. Well they have no idea where he went so their job is done right? Wrong.
someone from the future come to the past looking for the Time Traveling heroes.... Chester tags along despite being much weaker then the others and they go on an adventure to find a way to keep Dhaos in one time....
Apparently they need the Origin Sword that the Summon spirit Origin can create. it's guarded by the elven village.... which Arche can't enter.
anyways they do get the sword and the contract for Klarth... now off to Dhaos' castle which the sword leads them to.
here is where suzu comes in, in the version i played she was a side character who had her parents controlled and she eventually has to kill them.... in later versions she's a playable character... though in this her role seems to be closer to what i described and it really doesn't add anything to the story.
So they go and fight Dhaos with their magic, they win and oh crap... thanks to you killing him his entire planet is going to die, see this world screwed up the flow of mana when the tree died and that completely screwed Dhaos home world over since the two are connected.
well that sucks.... oh well....
everyone goes back to their own time, Arche manages to see them all again in present day since she's a half elf but Klarth can't cause.... yeah he's probably dead. anyways the work hard to try and help the tree get healthy again since mint helping in the past seems to have done something.
It's a really pretty Anime... it's really well animated and it's fun seeing the characters i love so much with so much life. However as my experiments proved.... without prior knowledge of the series as a whole it's damn near impossible to understand... it jumps all over the place... and even if you get most to a point the ending will leave you baffled.
So with a heavy heart i know it's not a good show.... but i still love it... i kind of wish they had done the unicorn scene from the game but i understand why they didn't fit it in...
I do however recommend the game if you can find the GBA version... it's not the best port in the world and the audio is terrible due to limitations of the hardware but still... great story. i know there's a PSP version as well but i'm not clear on if it was released to North America or not.
Alright, wow didn't mean for this to be so long.... oh well~
I Loved the game, it quickly became a favorite and I played it till i get 100% of everything.... except levels... i think i was only around 95 or 98. Anyways it was the only time i ever played an emulator but it left an impression on me.
Why bring this up? There's a bit of controversy with the character names among fans... see when they eventually did get a version of the game to North America on the GBA the official game had some changes to the names.
Cless became Cress
Klarth became Clause.
the others pretty much all stayed the same.
However to two little tiny changes can cause a huge uproar among fans, What is my stance on the issue? Well considering Japanese is a phonetic language it's really hard to have a translation for words that everyone can agree on.
ex. Natsume Yuujinchou, Natsume Yuujin-cho, Natsume Yujin-cho
or
shoujo, Shojo / Shounen, Shonen
I think it's Less an issue of which one is right and more an issue of which one you are used to... for that reason in this review I will be referring to the two characters as Cless and Klarth... be it right or wrong, i don't care it's what i'm used to calling them.
Now that's out of the way, onto the next story.
As mentioned above I loved the game, so in 2004 when The first episode of the OVA was released i was extremely happy. Watching it had the memories flooding back to me, it was exactly like the game... by the time all 4 episodes were released (which took two years) I was so happy, yeah they cut out some of my favorite scenes from the game but it's a long game and only 4 episodes... they did manage to keep a lot though...
But.... i started to think.... did i only like the show cause i loved the game?
Fast forward a few years, Geneon releases all 4 episodes on one disk and i scoop it up right away, luckily too since not too long after that Geneon closed their doors....
Fast forward to earlier the year, thanks to this completed series i've really enjoyed re-watching shows, i saw the disk and thought. "hey, why not? it's only 4 episodes long"
So i watched it again and i still loved it.... but now i really wondered if i only liked it cause i played the game.
So i posed an experiment, I have a Friend who when she was younger didn't get to play many games... if any at all.... she had never played ANY of the tales of games and had no prior knowledge of stories/characters/controversies.... SO i lent it to her with the stipulation that she must watch all 4 episodes, no matter what.
So she did and she came back to me "i like it but the last episode confused me"
I was stunned, it was not the result i was expecting, i was POSITIVE it would make no sense... but no after asking her to tell me the plot she got pretty much all of it right till the last episode, she didn't understand the point of the ninja girl and the whole revelation around Dhaos of left her wondering why she should care.
So i got ready to write the review when my other friend sees the dvd and goes "hey, is that related to Tales of Symphonia? i loved that game"
The answer is yes, Phantasia takes place 4000 years after Symphonia so the two are very loosely connected... anyways it got me thinking, would someone who had a little bit of knowledge of the game enjoy it? She doesn't watch as much anime as me or play as many games so it was a perfect middle ground between me and my first test subject.
So i lend it to her but i don't say she has to watch all 4 episodes.
So after a few weeks of no news about it i ask her "have you watched any? what did you think"
"It makes no sense, i even had a friend over and we tried to make sense of it but we couldn't"
See that's the reaction I was expecting... and i got it from an expected place. however with that knowledge in place i think i should FINALLY get to the review.
Tales of Phantasia is about Cless Alvein a Swordsman who has hid hometown destroyed because of a trinket he carries from his father, Mint Anadade a Cleric who gets taken from her family for a trinket she possesses and Chester Barklight a archer who lost his family and little sister because of the destruction of Cless' hometown.
Apparently their necklaces (which are exspheres... tee hee hee) are the Key to releasing Dhaos, the Big bad of this series who had been sealed for almost 1000 years.
So Dhaos is released and the only key to stopping him is magic.... too bad in this time the Tree Yggdrasil is a rotting mess and seeing as it's the source of all magic that means the only people who possess any form of magic are Clerics.... yeah too bad they aren't terribly offensive.
So a Mage who happens to be there when Dhaos is awakened send Cless and Mint to the past, poor little Chester is left behind to serve as a distraction.
Why the past? oh because at this point in time Magic uses still exist, they are tasked to find Arche Klien, the half elf Mage and Klarth. F. Lester a Summoner.
so they do, they help protect a town that has technology that can send them back to their own time. Unfortunately the town also has this Canon that uses up all the mana in the area and it is the reason why there's not enough mana for the future. hence no magic users...
Dhaos doesn't seem too trilled by the canon and does his best to try and stop it from firing, he fails and then the Tree that is the source of all Mana starts to die. Mint who has Martel, the spirit within the tree, calling to her goes to heal the tree... and is helped by an unlikely source... Dhaos also does his best to feed mana into the tree.
Well that's odd... anyways they eventually get back to their time and fight Dhaos, but he gets away.... damn him and his time travel abilities. Well they have no idea where he went so their job is done right? Wrong.
someone from the future come to the past looking for the Time Traveling heroes.... Chester tags along despite being much weaker then the others and they go on an adventure to find a way to keep Dhaos in one time....
Apparently they need the Origin Sword that the Summon spirit Origin can create. it's guarded by the elven village.... which Arche can't enter.
anyways they do get the sword and the contract for Klarth... now off to Dhaos' castle which the sword leads them to.
here is where suzu comes in, in the version i played she was a side character who had her parents controlled and she eventually has to kill them.... in later versions she's a playable character... though in this her role seems to be closer to what i described and it really doesn't add anything to the story.
So they go and fight Dhaos with their magic, they win and oh crap... thanks to you killing him his entire planet is going to die, see this world screwed up the flow of mana when the tree died and that completely screwed Dhaos home world over since the two are connected.
well that sucks.... oh well....
everyone goes back to their own time, Arche manages to see them all again in present day since she's a half elf but Klarth can't cause.... yeah he's probably dead. anyways the work hard to try and help the tree get healthy again since mint helping in the past seems to have done something.
It's a really pretty Anime... it's really well animated and it's fun seeing the characters i love so much with so much life. However as my experiments proved.... without prior knowledge of the series as a whole it's damn near impossible to understand... it jumps all over the place... and even if you get most to a point the ending will leave you baffled.
So with a heavy heart i know it's not a good show.... but i still love it... i kind of wish they had done the unicorn scene from the game but i understand why they didn't fit it in...
I do however recommend the game if you can find the GBA version... it's not the best port in the world and the audio is terrible due to limitations of the hardware but still... great story. i know there's a PSP version as well but i'm not clear on if it was released to North America or not.
Alright, wow didn't mean for this to be so long.... oh well~
Monday, 19 March 2012
Completed: North By NorthWest
Originally published December 22, 2011 on tumblr
so yeah… and older film….
and boy is it odd…
i saw it while dealing with a fever so i’ll probably glance over things… cause i barely remember it.
there’s a man who gets mistaken to be another man, he gets kidnapped…. nearly killed and when he tries to tell people what really happened no one believes him…. so he goes to find the man he had been mistaken for… funny thing no one seems to have met him.
even worse is that he seems to check out and travel far away just as the man who was mistaken for him is about to meet him.
so he chases him around, get framed for a UN murder and has to be very sneaky since all the cops everywhere are on his tail.anyways he bumps into a girl…. they sleep together… because…. why not? anyways she contacts the man that the main character was accused of being…. sends him to the middle of nowhere and we get the famous corn field plane shootout scene.
so omg the girl who he trusted after knowing for less then a day betrayed him…. oh snap…. so he goes to the hotel that the man was supposed to be out and wouldn’t you know it… he checked out… so he goes to the girls room…. because…. um….. the plot says so?
anyways i left to get a drink at the point so next thing i know they are at auction and the main character is trying to get himself arrested to protect his life from the bad guys who still think he’s the other guy.
however when the police say they got the UN murderer they get told to bring him to the airport and he is given to an older looking man who explains that the man who he was mistaken for never existed…. but if he could just pretend to be him for a day all would work out
he of course refuses cause he’s nearly been killed many times over…. but then it’s revealed that the girl he slept with was really working for the FBI and has fallen under suspicion… well he loves her so…. wait….. the girl who betrayed him and slept with him…. he’s in love with…. okay……
anyways he decided to go along with it…. there is a scene, she shoots him and runs off…. oh but the gun was filled with blanks…. now everyone is happy…. except no not really cause the girls going to go with the bad guys anyways and the main guy is locked in the hospital room to avoid suspicion… except one of the guys figures out that the gun was shooting blanks… and the main guy gets out of the hospital secretly…. he tires to save her…. they have a fight/chase scene on top of mt Rushmore….
oh no they are hanging off the edge, the girl only holding on by the man… he calls for help…. from the bad guy…. he goes to step on the mans foot and is shot by the fbi…. the federal secrets are kept safe…. yay!
however oh no they are still hanging… and she’ll fall…. but he turns on his sexy voice and pulls her up and now they are in the train where they met….. THE END
i’m not kidding…. the ending is abrupt
so what did i think?
what a silly movie…. i mean it’s good don’t get me wrong but soem of the set ups are just ridiculous. also i think it would have been fun had he really been the guy he was accused of begin all along… i just love films that do that…
also every girl in this film wants to sleep with him…. it’s a little silly.
but it;s good…. really long and the ending is rushed but still good…
so yeah… and older film….
and boy is it odd…
i saw it while dealing with a fever so i’ll probably glance over things… cause i barely remember it.
there’s a man who gets mistaken to be another man, he gets kidnapped…. nearly killed and when he tries to tell people what really happened no one believes him…. so he goes to find the man he had been mistaken for… funny thing no one seems to have met him.
even worse is that he seems to check out and travel far away just as the man who was mistaken for him is about to meet him.
so he chases him around, get framed for a UN murder and has to be very sneaky since all the cops everywhere are on his tail.anyways he bumps into a girl…. they sleep together… because…. why not? anyways she contacts the man that the main character was accused of being…. sends him to the middle of nowhere and we get the famous corn field plane shootout scene.
so omg the girl who he trusted after knowing for less then a day betrayed him…. oh snap…. so he goes to the hotel that the man was supposed to be out and wouldn’t you know it… he checked out… so he goes to the girls room…. because…. um….. the plot says so?
anyways i left to get a drink at the point so next thing i know they are at auction and the main character is trying to get himself arrested to protect his life from the bad guys who still think he’s the other guy.
however when the police say they got the UN murderer they get told to bring him to the airport and he is given to an older looking man who explains that the man who he was mistaken for never existed…. but if he could just pretend to be him for a day all would work out
he of course refuses cause he’s nearly been killed many times over…. but then it’s revealed that the girl he slept with was really working for the FBI and has fallen under suspicion… well he loves her so…. wait….. the girl who betrayed him and slept with him…. he’s in love with…. okay……
anyways he decided to go along with it…. there is a scene, she shoots him and runs off…. oh but the gun was filled with blanks…. now everyone is happy…. except no not really cause the girls going to go with the bad guys anyways and the main guy is locked in the hospital room to avoid suspicion… except one of the guys figures out that the gun was shooting blanks… and the main guy gets out of the hospital secretly…. he tires to save her…. they have a fight/chase scene on top of mt Rushmore….
oh no they are hanging off the edge, the girl only holding on by the man… he calls for help…. from the bad guy…. he goes to step on the mans foot and is shot by the fbi…. the federal secrets are kept safe…. yay!
however oh no they are still hanging… and she’ll fall…. but he turns on his sexy voice and pulls her up and now they are in the train where they met….. THE END
i’m not kidding…. the ending is abrupt
so what did i think?
what a silly movie…. i mean it’s good don’t get me wrong but soem of the set ups are just ridiculous. also i think it would have been fun had he really been the guy he was accused of begin all along… i just love films that do that…
also every girl in this film wants to sleep with him…. it’s a little silly.
but it;s good…. really long and the ending is rushed but still good…
Sunday, 18 March 2012
Completed: Blood of Requiem (song of dragons, book 1) by Daniel Arenson
Originally published December 18, 2011 on tumblr
wow the titles a mouthful…
ok so we start off with a war. Women and children are even present, it is revealed right away that these people are Vir Requis (aka weredragons) and they are fighting a man who hates them.
Benedictus, the king of the dragons fights against his brother Dies Irae who is older but was denied the dragon throne because he couldn’t change out of his human form.
dragons are dying left and right and Benedictus is defeated, he bites off his brothers arm and retreats.
Fast forward 10 or so years and Vir Requis are all but extinct…. anyone found alive is killed on the spot. despite having a human form they are fairly easy to find because of a plant known as Illbane which burns a virrequis but does nothing to humans.
Kyrie Eleison was a child when the war rages between the two brothers and he was thought to be dead… but a woman found him dying and protected him. as far as he knows he’s the last of his kind and is a bit bitter by it. Dies Irea visits the person who saved Kyrie randomly…. finds the boy, proves he’s a dragon and there is a fight which ends in Kyrie running off and his care taker dead.
soon he bumps into a woodsman whom he eventually realizes is Bendictus, after beinf found again and fighting beside the former king they eventually agree to fight against the tyrannical reign of Dies Irae… but first Benedictus must tell the others.
He meets his Wife, Lacrimosa and they fly to one of his daughters Agnus Die who has refused to ever take human form again and wishes to meet creatures who are dragons with no human forms.
we soon find out that Benedictus had another daughter Gloriae (i’m pretty sure thats a reference to something but i couldn’t find a link other then some singers) who was kidnapped by Dies Irae when she was young. over the years she has been turned into a violent monster.
anyways we go through the group of dragons getting chased, attacked, Lacrimosa eventually gets kidnapped and set up as a trap for bendictus. the group splits up… half looking for real dragons and bendictus walking into the trap.
and hey…. apparently those real dragons (salvanea) which everyone said was a lie really do exist…. but don’t really care about helping… eventually they are convinced and they join the fight…
fast forward to everyone getting to the trap. benedictus and his brother are fighting once again one on one and everyone seems to be watching to a point…. eventually benedictus wins, shows mercy and is betrayed for it… Kyrie attacks Dies Irae and wrestles a pendent that allows him to control griffins which then enemies all ride.
he sends them away, they save bendictus’ dragon form but he may not be able to shift for a while… the pendant is destroyed and they go to rebuild their hometown since Dies Irea is pretty much defeated.
but then gloriae (who during the course of the novel realized she could change into a dragon) released pure evil into the world and the book ends.
i saw some potential with this book…. but it just wasn’t as good as i was hoping… the chapter structure is odd, the name of the chapter tells you whos perspective that chapter is being told from… it was interesting at first but there are a lot of characters and some i didn’t care about or didn’t have enough impact on the story.
using names that mean something can be fun but i found it took me out of the experience too much. i would have liked to see a prequel were Dies Irae is shunned for not being able to change… that was a more interesting story, the younger dragons are annoying most of the time and the only purpose they serve is to get the dragons to come help.
it’s by no means a bad book it’s just not my kind of thing, i probably wont continue with this series but if you like dragons it could be for you…
wow the titles a mouthful…
ok so we start off with a war. Women and children are even present, it is revealed right away that these people are Vir Requis (aka weredragons) and they are fighting a man who hates them.
Benedictus, the king of the dragons fights against his brother Dies Irae who is older but was denied the dragon throne because he couldn’t change out of his human form.
dragons are dying left and right and Benedictus is defeated, he bites off his brothers arm and retreats.
Fast forward 10 or so years and Vir Requis are all but extinct…. anyone found alive is killed on the spot. despite having a human form they are fairly easy to find because of a plant known as Illbane which burns a virrequis but does nothing to humans.
Kyrie Eleison was a child when the war rages between the two brothers and he was thought to be dead… but a woman found him dying and protected him. as far as he knows he’s the last of his kind and is a bit bitter by it. Dies Irea visits the person who saved Kyrie randomly…. finds the boy, proves he’s a dragon and there is a fight which ends in Kyrie running off and his care taker dead.
soon he bumps into a woodsman whom he eventually realizes is Bendictus, after beinf found again and fighting beside the former king they eventually agree to fight against the tyrannical reign of Dies Irae… but first Benedictus must tell the others.
He meets his Wife, Lacrimosa and they fly to one of his daughters Agnus Die who has refused to ever take human form again and wishes to meet creatures who are dragons with no human forms.
we soon find out that Benedictus had another daughter Gloriae (i’m pretty sure thats a reference to something but i couldn’t find a link other then some singers) who was kidnapped by Dies Irae when she was young. over the years she has been turned into a violent monster.
anyways we go through the group of dragons getting chased, attacked, Lacrimosa eventually gets kidnapped and set up as a trap for bendictus. the group splits up… half looking for real dragons and bendictus walking into the trap.
and hey…. apparently those real dragons (salvanea) which everyone said was a lie really do exist…. but don’t really care about helping… eventually they are convinced and they join the fight…
fast forward to everyone getting to the trap. benedictus and his brother are fighting once again one on one and everyone seems to be watching to a point…. eventually benedictus wins, shows mercy and is betrayed for it… Kyrie attacks Dies Irae and wrestles a pendent that allows him to control griffins which then enemies all ride.
he sends them away, they save bendictus’ dragon form but he may not be able to shift for a while… the pendant is destroyed and they go to rebuild their hometown since Dies Irea is pretty much defeated.
but then gloriae (who during the course of the novel realized she could change into a dragon) released pure evil into the world and the book ends.
i saw some potential with this book…. but it just wasn’t as good as i was hoping… the chapter structure is odd, the name of the chapter tells you whos perspective that chapter is being told from… it was interesting at first but there are a lot of characters and some i didn’t care about or didn’t have enough impact on the story.
using names that mean something can be fun but i found it took me out of the experience too much. i would have liked to see a prequel were Dies Irae is shunned for not being able to change… that was a more interesting story, the younger dragons are annoying most of the time and the only purpose they serve is to get the dragons to come help.
it’s by no means a bad book it’s just not my kind of thing, i probably wont continue with this series but if you like dragons it could be for you…
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Completed: Being Erica
Originally published December 12, 2011 on tumblr
The beginning of a story is a happy accident, the end a fate for which it’s met.
-Adel, Princess tutu
Let me start off by saying i don’t watch a lot of life action TV. however 4 years ago there was an add for a show that looked kind of interesting.
It looked like it was about a
girl who could go back in time to fix her regrets… but honestly it ended up being so much more.
At first the show took a few episodes to hook me, we start with meeting the titular character who seems to just be in a rut. She explains through narration that every choice she’s made in her life has been a bad one. So after being fired (i think at least… i saw the show 4 years ago and never re watched it so going off memory here) from her job she wanders down a Toronto street and goes into a cafe (i think a Starbucks… not completely sure) they are giving out samples, she tries it then to her horror she finds out it has hazelnuts in it which she is deathly allergic to… she wakes up in the hospital…. lucky to be alive and a strange man is there. he hands her a card that seemed extremly simple.
“Dr. Tom
The only Therapy you’ll ever need
Results Guaranteed.”
Eventually she goes to his ‘office’ and he asks her to write down every regret and then Tom looks at the list, smiles and asks her about one…. after a short discussion he sends her back in the past to change what she feels she needs to.
And this is how it all started.
there were 4 seasons total, season one dealt with Erica getting used to the therapy, dealing with her sister who ends up hating her after certain events and eventually dealing with her brothers untimely death.
Season two’s focus shifts over to a character named Kai who is back dealing with a regret from the future. Erica leaves her stagnant relationship with a boy she’s liked since college and she continues to grow and even moves up in her company before her and her boss essentially get fired/quit and work together to make a new company.
Season three focuses on Group therapy where different clients help each other out, this is the start of doctor training essentially and we learn more about dr tom and the therapy in general.
The final season has her passing her final test to become a doctor and slowly she starts helping people around her as if they were patients… the final episode she gets her office and her first real patient… thus the cycle is started anew.
I adore this show, forget that it’s well made Canadian content (other then the atrocious product placement) Forget that it is a glorified soap opera that will use every weapon in it’s arsenal to make you sob (mostly in season 1 with the fight with her sister and dealing with the death of her brother) none of that matters. This show was well written, well shot, the characters were well done and developed over time. Yes Erica started out as being a horrible person but you do grow to like her as a character fault and all.
As far as i know it does stream on Netflix but that may only be in Canada…. i have no idea how the licensing works…. but if you do see it there give it a shot…. out of all 4 seasons 1 is the best… though Kai is adorable….
anyways a great show and i’m glad it’s finished…. though i’m sad to see it end…. then again i guess we all have to go through that door when we come to it.
The beginning of a story is a happy accident, the end a fate for which it’s met.
-Adel, Princess tutu
Let me start off by saying i don’t watch a lot of life action TV. however 4 years ago there was an add for a show that looked kind of interesting.
It looked like it was about a
girl who could go back in time to fix her regrets… but honestly it ended up being so much more.
At first the show took a few episodes to hook me, we start with meeting the titular character who seems to just be in a rut. She explains through narration that every choice she’s made in her life has been a bad one. So after being fired (i think at least… i saw the show 4 years ago and never re watched it so going off memory here) from her job she wanders down a Toronto street and goes into a cafe (i think a Starbucks… not completely sure) they are giving out samples, she tries it then to her horror she finds out it has hazelnuts in it which she is deathly allergic to… she wakes up in the hospital…. lucky to be alive and a strange man is there. he hands her a card that seemed extremly simple.
“Dr. Tom
The only Therapy you’ll ever need
Results Guaranteed.”
Eventually she goes to his ‘office’ and he asks her to write down every regret and then Tom looks at the list, smiles and asks her about one…. after a short discussion he sends her back in the past to change what she feels she needs to.
And this is how it all started.
there were 4 seasons total, season one dealt with Erica getting used to the therapy, dealing with her sister who ends up hating her after certain events and eventually dealing with her brothers untimely death.
Season two’s focus shifts over to a character named Kai who is back dealing with a regret from the future. Erica leaves her stagnant relationship with a boy she’s liked since college and she continues to grow and even moves up in her company before her and her boss essentially get fired/quit and work together to make a new company.
Season three focuses on Group therapy where different clients help each other out, this is the start of doctor training essentially and we learn more about dr tom and the therapy in general.
The final season has her passing her final test to become a doctor and slowly she starts helping people around her as if they were patients… the final episode she gets her office and her first real patient… thus the cycle is started anew.
I adore this show, forget that it’s well made Canadian content (other then the atrocious product placement) Forget that it is a glorified soap opera that will use every weapon in it’s arsenal to make you sob (mostly in season 1 with the fight with her sister and dealing with the death of her brother) none of that matters. This show was well written, well shot, the characters were well done and developed over time. Yes Erica started out as being a horrible person but you do grow to like her as a character fault and all.
As far as i know it does stream on Netflix but that may only be in Canada…. i have no idea how the licensing works…. but if you do see it there give it a shot…. out of all 4 seasons 1 is the best… though Kai is adorable….
anyways a great show and i’m glad it’s finished…. though i’m sad to see it end…. then again i guess we all have to go through that door when we come to it.
Friday, 16 March 2012
Darious -From Start to Finish-
um... not as much process work withthis one cause i was in a bit of a rush and forgot to take pictures as i went... still... some is better then none i guess?
this is the third in a series of approximately 6 (may be more... in fact will probably be more)
This is Darious, his stone is chalcanthite and last time i drew him was 6-7 years ago...
his colour is Blue wish has trust, logic, coolness and stability attached to it.
anyways first i did a sketch.... then another sketch.... then a third sketch... and this looks nothing like any of those... sometimes thast just how it turns out.... anyways....
the lines were really shaky with this one, i did something to my arm apparently but it got better as i got through it all... still it was difficult knowing my deadline was coming quick and my arm wouldn't co-operate.
and here's the final product... i really should have taken more pictures but i really just needed to get it all done for class... the core shadow is really strong in this photograph but it's much softer in reality so not sure whats going on there.... in the end it was fun to draw him again and maybe i'll do a full body of his redesign.... right now i just need to finish this series ( i only have 4-5 weeks left...sounds like a long time.... yeah it's really not)
alright... next is orange.... then probably yellow with red being the final of the 6.... if i do more... well.... we'll get there when we get there....
again... sorry about the lack of documentation... once again it's a 14 x 20 watercolour on hot pressed paper. half way through this.... yay
So it can be purchased as either a print or an iphone case at Red Bubble
this is the third in a series of approximately 6 (may be more... in fact will probably be more)
This is Darious, his stone is chalcanthite and last time i drew him was 6-7 years ago...
his colour is Blue wish has trust, logic, coolness and stability attached to it.
anyways first i did a sketch.... then another sketch.... then a third sketch... and this looks nothing like any of those... sometimes thast just how it turns out.... anyways....
alright... next is orange.... then probably yellow with red being the final of the 6.... if i do more... well.... we'll get there when we get there....
again... sorry about the lack of documentation... once again it's a 14 x 20 watercolour on hot pressed paper. half way through this.... yay
So it can be purchased as either a print or an iphone case at Red Bubble
Completed: Princess Tutu… again
Originally published December 7, 2011on tumblr
well technically i wasn’t doing these completed segments when i finished the series back in 2006…. which on retrospect seems like a really long time ago.
*looks at time* 12:31 am…. i blame the dentist since my face just started to stop feeling frozen a little while ago… hell it still feels kinda funny….
this is probably my most rambly Completed so if you want the tl:dr ver it’s at the bottom…
anyways…. onto the story.
SO… onto the backstory.
One day… probably in 2005 but maybe 2006…. i guess it doesn’t matter… anyways i went to a con with a group of friends and we discussed what shows we had been watching.
He warned me that there was a really stupid show out there right now… even the title was stupid… “princess tutu” he mentioned how it had no plot and how this one character jumps out a window for no reason and also no pants… he said i should probably just stay away from it.
And based on that description…. i did…. i mean the title was bad enough but the whole thing sounded silly and honestly i didn’t see it around much so i never though about it until…
one day my mother noticed that there was a channel offered called “anime on demand” it was only 7 bucks a month to have and as long as i paid for it she was willing to activate it.
so i said sure… i figured i’d try it and if it didn’t work out i would cancel the subscription.
well it was pretty much all ADV titles… since i think they technically owned the company. one of the titles on the list was Princess Tutu…. i remembered my friend saying it was silly…. but there were 2-3… maybe even 4 eps up and i am forever curious.
So one day when a friend of mine is over we watch it.
and despite the overall silliness…. we both fell in love with the show…. or at least i did and i assumed cause she had a good time that she liked it as well… anyways… thats how we started watching it.
so…. onto the description right? um… i’ll do my best but i find describing this show is one of the hardest things to do…
however i’ll start at the beginning… which is more like the middle…. ugh ok…. try to simplify this.
We start off with a shot of a prince dancing on a lake, a girl seems to be watching him…. except she’s not a girl… she’s a Duck…. thats odd… she laments about his sad eyes which seem to harbour no emotion (yes i know i used an emotion to describe the lack of emotion but there’s no other way to describe it) anyways she wishes she could just dance with the prince… she awkes from the dream and fall out of bed.
Oh she’s a girl NAMED Duck… (or Ahiru in the japanese ver which means…. you guessed it…. duck) and oh my she has ballet class to get to…. in an hour… alas she is a little slow and rushes off anyways…. when she gets there she sees the boy, Mythos (said Mewtos… don't ask why i don’t have a clue) anyways she has disturbed his morning practice and gets flustered and tries to run off…. and trips over her own feet… Mythos dives and catches her but seems to minorly injure his ankle (i say it’s not a big deal cause over the course of the ep he seems to be pretty fine) Fakir soon comes in and scolds Mythos for leaving without his permission (controlling much?) and right after mythos leaves to go back to the room.
what a creep… anyways now it’s actually time for ducks class… and oh god does she just suck at ballet…. granted how good can you really be when your teacher is a giant cat…. oh i forgot to mention that didn’t i…. anyways he constantly threatens to make Duck marry him but she manages to get away.
ah but there is another character that has to be introduced. The ‘special’ Ballet class is giving a demonstration to the beginners…. and they are led by Rue… who also happens to be Mythos’ partner… theres no way Duck could compete with that…
so fast forward a little we learn that Mythos is crazy…. he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect someone else…. even at the cost of his own life. A bird cant seem to get the hang of flying while it’s siblings dance outside of mythos’ window…. so he does the logical thing and jumps out the window head first with no pants to grab the duck.
“oh no, it looks like our story will come to an early end” and eerie voice speaks to duck “you better remember who you are so you can save the prince.” this creepy voice belongs to drosslemier (oh look a ballet reference…. i’ll get into those at the end) who seems to be the one directing this story.
anyways Duck remembers that she is in fact Princess Tutu and with the help of her pendant she transforms and saves the prince by dancing…. and the bird is saved as well, she scampers off and realizes she’s changed into the duck in her dream….
and thast pretty much the end of the first episode.
and sadly…. that barely gives any idea of what the entire story is about…. but i needed to do that before i discuss the plot….
Spoilers possibly ahead but i’ll try to avoid it.
so…. the story is about a prince and a raven who were fighting inside a story when the author died…. they got tried of fighting forever and came out of the story. so they did the logical thing and came to the real world…. the prince sealed the raven by shattering his heart and losing his emotions…. but the story can’t go forward in conditions like that…
Enter Duck…. who is a Duck but also a girl Named Duck who is really Princess Tutu… she is the only one capable of finding and returning the princes shattered heart. she loves the prince so much but cannot confess her love because if she does she’ll vanish into a speck of light.
but not everyone wants her to return his heart… Fakir who is the knight who protects the prince in the story especially doesn’t want the story to move forward since his fate is to die in vain…
Also rue seems to know that mythos is a character in a book, if he regains his heart then he will grow further away from her since she is a girl who can confess her love all she wants but never will be loved in return.
Finally Drosslemier is constantly trying to guild the story to a tragic ending like he originally intended.
the overall story is split into two chapters (i felt it should have been three… but again… i’ll get to that at the end) The chapter of the Egg and The Chapter of the fledgling.
Egg mostly focuses on different stories which have come to life through the powers of heart shards… princess tutu dances and they go back to the prince…. with pretty sad outcomes since the emotions she seems to be finding are mostly negative.
At this point i was getting a little annoyed with the show since nothing really happened…. the episode 12 hit. not only did it introduce me to my favorite classical music piece but it also made me cry like a baby… anyways the story seems to end at episode 13…. it’s cute most things are resolved and people are happy… well the good guys at least…
so when episode 14 was posted on the list i was jumping for joy.
Fledgling takes a much darker approach and many of the characters start to show true colours which changes which side we think thye are on…. since most of the characters defied the fate they were supposed to suffer in Egg many of their roles change to fit this new tale…. it’s all going great too until the characters try to fight against the fate Drosslemier set before them…. ah it’s so dangerous not knowing your place.
i can’t say how the show ends without spoilers and i think i’ve done a good job of not giving anything away so yeah…. i will say the last few episodes did make me cry…. but i cry with sad stories…. and happy ones…. damn i just like to cry.
I think i’ll talk about those things i mentioned earlier….
every episode is based off either a ballet, an opera or just a simple piece of music… each episode carries themes from the title given (the German title that is…. since the Japanese and English don’t always match it) as well as having many of the music pieces…. Each character eventually gets their own theme though so near the end of the series you have many different music pieces.
Fakir for example is Scheherazade mov 2, Drosslemier is The nutcracker suit which makes sense since that's where the name comes from. i think duck’s theme is completely original but i could easily be wrong… i’m too tired to do research at the moment.
so why do i love the show?
the plot, the character, the music, the happy moments, the sad moments, the twists and turns as well as how it manipulates your emotions so you feel certain ways about certain characters… it is probably one of my favorite shows ever. it’s one i always worry about lending to people because it is silly and i worry that if people don;t like it they will question why i love it so much….
however the show isn’t perfect…
The look of the whole thing has caused some critics to dub it a childrens anime… which i will disagree with…. yes children can watch it and enjoy… and probably be terrified at certain points…. but i would not show this to someone under the age of 10…. and my definition of child ends at 10…. then it’s preteen and teenager…. so i guess i’m arguing semantics…
i also hate that EVERYTHING is solved with dancing…. later on it is handled much better but for the first half of the first chapter…. it’s just silly….
SO…. TL:DR i love princess tutu, if you have the chance give it a shot but watch the first 13 episodes… if you don’t like it by that point then stop
in my opinion the second half of the show is better then the first…. but you need to watch the first to get all the setup.
and remember…
The beginning of a story is a happy accident… the End is the fate for which its met… All stories must come to an end.
well technically i wasn’t doing these completed segments when i finished the series back in 2006…. which on retrospect seems like a really long time ago.
*looks at time* 12:31 am…. i blame the dentist since my face just started to stop feeling frozen a little while ago… hell it still feels kinda funny….
this is probably my most rambly Completed so if you want the tl:dr ver it’s at the bottom…
anyways…. onto the story.
SO… onto the backstory.
One day… probably in 2005 but maybe 2006…. i guess it doesn’t matter… anyways i went to a con with a group of friends and we discussed what shows we had been watching.
He warned me that there was a really stupid show out there right now… even the title was stupid… “princess tutu” he mentioned how it had no plot and how this one character jumps out a window for no reason and also no pants… he said i should probably just stay away from it.
And based on that description…. i did…. i mean the title was bad enough but the whole thing sounded silly and honestly i didn’t see it around much so i never though about it until…
one day my mother noticed that there was a channel offered called “anime on demand” it was only 7 bucks a month to have and as long as i paid for it she was willing to activate it.
so i said sure… i figured i’d try it and if it didn’t work out i would cancel the subscription.
well it was pretty much all ADV titles… since i think they technically owned the company. one of the titles on the list was Princess Tutu…. i remembered my friend saying it was silly…. but there were 2-3… maybe even 4 eps up and i am forever curious.
So one day when a friend of mine is over we watch it.
and despite the overall silliness…. we both fell in love with the show…. or at least i did and i assumed cause she had a good time that she liked it as well… anyways… thats how we started watching it.
so…. onto the description right? um… i’ll do my best but i find describing this show is one of the hardest things to do…
however i’ll start at the beginning… which is more like the middle…. ugh ok…. try to simplify this.
We start off with a shot of a prince dancing on a lake, a girl seems to be watching him…. except she’s not a girl… she’s a Duck…. thats odd… she laments about his sad eyes which seem to harbour no emotion (yes i know i used an emotion to describe the lack of emotion but there’s no other way to describe it) anyways she wishes she could just dance with the prince… she awkes from the dream and fall out of bed.
Oh she’s a girl NAMED Duck… (or Ahiru in the japanese ver which means…. you guessed it…. duck) and oh my she has ballet class to get to…. in an hour… alas she is a little slow and rushes off anyways…. when she gets there she sees the boy, Mythos (said Mewtos… don't ask why i don’t have a clue) anyways she has disturbed his morning practice and gets flustered and tries to run off…. and trips over her own feet… Mythos dives and catches her but seems to minorly injure his ankle (i say it’s not a big deal cause over the course of the ep he seems to be pretty fine) Fakir soon comes in and scolds Mythos for leaving without his permission (controlling much?) and right after mythos leaves to go back to the room.
what a creep… anyways now it’s actually time for ducks class… and oh god does she just suck at ballet…. granted how good can you really be when your teacher is a giant cat…. oh i forgot to mention that didn’t i…. anyways he constantly threatens to make Duck marry him but she manages to get away.
ah but there is another character that has to be introduced. The ‘special’ Ballet class is giving a demonstration to the beginners…. and they are led by Rue… who also happens to be Mythos’ partner… theres no way Duck could compete with that…
so fast forward a little we learn that Mythos is crazy…. he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect someone else…. even at the cost of his own life. A bird cant seem to get the hang of flying while it’s siblings dance outside of mythos’ window…. so he does the logical thing and jumps out the window head first with no pants to grab the duck.
“oh no, it looks like our story will come to an early end” and eerie voice speaks to duck “you better remember who you are so you can save the prince.” this creepy voice belongs to drosslemier (oh look a ballet reference…. i’ll get into those at the end) who seems to be the one directing this story.
anyways Duck remembers that she is in fact Princess Tutu and with the help of her pendant she transforms and saves the prince by dancing…. and the bird is saved as well, she scampers off and realizes she’s changed into the duck in her dream….
and thast pretty much the end of the first episode.
and sadly…. that barely gives any idea of what the entire story is about…. but i needed to do that before i discuss the plot….
Spoilers possibly ahead but i’ll try to avoid it.
so…. the story is about a prince and a raven who were fighting inside a story when the author died…. they got tried of fighting forever and came out of the story. so they did the logical thing and came to the real world…. the prince sealed the raven by shattering his heart and losing his emotions…. but the story can’t go forward in conditions like that…
Enter Duck…. who is a Duck but also a girl Named Duck who is really Princess Tutu… she is the only one capable of finding and returning the princes shattered heart. she loves the prince so much but cannot confess her love because if she does she’ll vanish into a speck of light.
but not everyone wants her to return his heart… Fakir who is the knight who protects the prince in the story especially doesn’t want the story to move forward since his fate is to die in vain…
Also rue seems to know that mythos is a character in a book, if he regains his heart then he will grow further away from her since she is a girl who can confess her love all she wants but never will be loved in return.
Finally Drosslemier is constantly trying to guild the story to a tragic ending like he originally intended.
the overall story is split into two chapters (i felt it should have been three… but again… i’ll get to that at the end) The chapter of the Egg and The Chapter of the fledgling.
Egg mostly focuses on different stories which have come to life through the powers of heart shards… princess tutu dances and they go back to the prince…. with pretty sad outcomes since the emotions she seems to be finding are mostly negative.
At this point i was getting a little annoyed with the show since nothing really happened…. the episode 12 hit. not only did it introduce me to my favorite classical music piece but it also made me cry like a baby… anyways the story seems to end at episode 13…. it’s cute most things are resolved and people are happy… well the good guys at least…
so when episode 14 was posted on the list i was jumping for joy.
Fledgling takes a much darker approach and many of the characters start to show true colours which changes which side we think thye are on…. since most of the characters defied the fate they were supposed to suffer in Egg many of their roles change to fit this new tale…. it’s all going great too until the characters try to fight against the fate Drosslemier set before them…. ah it’s so dangerous not knowing your place.
i can’t say how the show ends without spoilers and i think i’ve done a good job of not giving anything away so yeah…. i will say the last few episodes did make me cry…. but i cry with sad stories…. and happy ones…. damn i just like to cry.
I think i’ll talk about those things i mentioned earlier….
every episode is based off either a ballet, an opera or just a simple piece of music… each episode carries themes from the title given (the German title that is…. since the Japanese and English don’t always match it) as well as having many of the music pieces…. Each character eventually gets their own theme though so near the end of the series you have many different music pieces.
Fakir for example is Scheherazade mov 2, Drosslemier is The nutcracker suit which makes sense since that's where the name comes from. i think duck’s theme is completely original but i could easily be wrong… i’m too tired to do research at the moment.
so why do i love the show?
the plot, the character, the music, the happy moments, the sad moments, the twists and turns as well as how it manipulates your emotions so you feel certain ways about certain characters… it is probably one of my favorite shows ever. it’s one i always worry about lending to people because it is silly and i worry that if people don;t like it they will question why i love it so much….
however the show isn’t perfect…
The look of the whole thing has caused some critics to dub it a childrens anime… which i will disagree with…. yes children can watch it and enjoy… and probably be terrified at certain points…. but i would not show this to someone under the age of 10…. and my definition of child ends at 10…. then it’s preteen and teenager…. so i guess i’m arguing semantics…
i also hate that EVERYTHING is solved with dancing…. later on it is handled much better but for the first half of the first chapter…. it’s just silly….
SO…. TL:DR i love princess tutu, if you have the chance give it a shot but watch the first 13 episodes… if you don’t like it by that point then stop
in my opinion the second half of the show is better then the first…. but you need to watch the first to get all the setup.
and remember…
The beginning of a story is a happy accident… the End is the fate for which its met… All stories must come to an end.
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