So... this show.
Where to even begin...
Okay well considering how much i'm not a fan of Sci-fi.... and this is technically a sci-fi anime... that no one has ever heard of.... why do i own it?
The answer is pretty simple.
Some years ago, can't remember when exactly but it doesn't matter, I went to a convention where they had a "name that tune"
I didn't win (cause i crack under pressure so even though i knew the songs i couldn't remember... which is sad cause one of them was Eva... while it's not my fav show ever it sure as hell has iconic music... anyways) but i did make it to the final round or something... as a 'consolation prize' they handed me a volume of Solty Rei.
I'm not gunna turn down free anime... even if it looked really dumb...
but i'm also not gunna just own one volume of something.... so since i was at the con i looked around to see how many volumes there were (this was around the time they were started to go with 6 instead of 7) and how much the rest would cost me.... if it was full price i'd decide after watching the disk... if it was a good price i'd just buy and take the gamble.
it was selling anywhere from 2 bucks each to 5.....
so i got it even though i had a feeling it was going to be terrible.
-some spoilers from here on out-
Normally around this part i talk about the plot... It's kinda hard for this show... cause the plot changes constantly. Imagine if you will ever sci-fi staple.
SO we have augmented humans do to a horrible even that hurt a lot of people and forced them to get robotic limbs making people wonder at what point do you stop being human.
we have a class system where registered people have the ability to live happy lives in the sun while unregistered are underground and have to resort to theivery.
We have a bounty hunter who used to be a cop and is looking for his daughter who may or may not be alive.
we have a mysterious girl who later is revealed to be an Android with sentient thought and extrodanry power but she just wants to be a happy normal girl.
you've got you power hungry guy who knows more then everyone around him...
you've got girls who were genetically modified by nano machines to be super human.
and just when you think they can't cram in anymore they have my two least fav sci fi things ever.
i was going to start this review off "well at least it never goes into space!"
then it tells us that not only is there an element of space but the planet they live on was originally not suited for human life which is why theres this 'aurora shield' that acts as an atmosphere.
so after that i was going to be like. "well at least there wasn't some plague that wiped all the people on the ship out!"
and then there was a plague that wiped everyone on the ship out....
Luckily it was mentioned in passing but i was just flabbergasted.... it was like they were looking at sci-fi tropes and wondered. "how many can we put in before it's too much"
thing is i'm not done...
theres a computer controlling the city that can even control those with robotic parts.
computer systems that are willing to destroy everything since they see it as being for the greater good.
a character is brought back from the dead or was only mostly dead when she was found i dn't know cause it's NEVER explained... just "oh hey didn't you die?" "actually i work for the company now"
hey lets tack that onto the list.
There is a single company that controls all aspects of life in the city and the reason for the class system.
Mech suits that for some reaso contour to ever curve of the female anatomy yet still allow for jiggle.... but the art of this show is a whole other can of worms that i plan to deal with later.
OH OH OH theres also this guy who happens to live way far out of town and is the key to everything...
a Kid that loves flying despite the fact that if you go to high you are shot down by lightning (and apparently if you even think of going too high you are preemptively shot down by this sentient lightning.
a chip that shuts down an entire system... cause... thats how i want my supercomputers to run...
there is just so much that in the end it ends up being about nothing at all... the closest thing to an over all plot is "this is the dynamic between the guy who lost his daughter and the android."
and if you ask me thats a pretty boring plot.
now again i'm pretty biased.... i dislike sci-fi....
but then again this hsow has only the barest scifi elements (which is amazing considering the amount of tropes) until the last few episodes.
so... yeah....
The good:
hm.... something good...
Okay.... as i mentioned before some characters die.... it's nice cause no one feels safe.... but even better then that the way the characters are depicted as mourning is really really well done.
also the intro song "Clover by Meg Rock" is really really good
The not so good:
complete lack of direction, lots of characters that i could care less about and plot threads that are mentioned but not cleaned up till thesetwo side episodes at the end of the show that take place somewhere near the middle.
so many problems that could have been solved just by talking about them....
The bad:
I think this is an issue with funimation but i've never had the problem before so i don't know... the sound mixing for this show is terrible.... the music is incredibly loud while all the voice actors whisper their lines... I had to turn the volume up twice as high as normal just to hear anyone... i thought it was maybe just my tv cause it's a bit new.... but no trying it on different tvs and sound set ups one things was clear... the mixing was just off... and it's annoying cause the subtitles are of the japanese dialogue so.... when your watching a dub it doesn't help at all.
The animation... wow.... it's really bad.... eyes travel all over faces.... and even though the designer obviously had a lot of fun drawing low angle shots of girls from behind.... he's obviously never actually looked at someone from that angle.... cause clothing doesn't work like that, Gluteus maximus doesn't work like that, hips down work like that, the gap between thighs REALLY doesn't work like that and no woman would wear something that tight in that area of her anatomy... also for the warriors... you are fighting but the suit allows for jiggle? NO... that makes no sense... you want those tucked away and tight as possible so you have free range of movement.
but yeah most of the show is cropped at ass level... two characters will be talking and we'll be foused in on Soltys Bum which looks like someone inflated balloons... there sould be a kind of teardrop shape to them not these perfect spheres... also when flying gets introduced we get a tone of between the legs angles... and it's just so bad... i think they did it for fanservice but it's just so horrifying to look at i doubt they accomplished their goal. Granted i'm not the target audience.
The show isn't the worst thing i've ever seen (landlock or school days wins that particular trophy) but it is a completely misguided show that has no idea what it wants to actually be able so instead it'll be about everything... and therefor nothing.
also the end is a cop out.
why is he there?
how did they get there?
how do they suddenly have this technology... i mean they say a lot of time has passed but for a world that had no inspiration to go there boy they work quick.
why is there still an atmosphere when the thing that was creating it vanished?
why she able to do 'that' when she's essentially turned off/ THERE IS NO SOUND IN SPACE so how can they ever hear her.
so yeah not terrible but also not good.... even though i only spent about 20 bucks on the whole thing i still feel kinda ripped off...
but again i don't like sci-fi so it's entirely possible that i just don't get this show. if you have the chance to see it then give it a shot and make your own opinion but in my opinion it was a waste of time.
okay time to watch some other shows i started by never finished.... which should i do next... samurai 7 or Paranoia agent... hmm...
Showing posts with label sci-fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sci-fi. Show all posts
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Completed: Super Dimension Fortress Macross
aka: Macross, Robotech (technically) and what i like to call it mah-KU-ross (watch the intro song and you'll understand....)
So yeah, i guess i have a little story time to go with this. When my father was a kid he used to watch this show (again it was technically robotech but it's pretty much the same thing...) and i would constantly hear him talk about it though at the time i had no idea he was talking about an anime.
Fast forward many years and my friend lends me a boxset and sais "it's good, you'll like it"
I was weary cause i have never been a fan of sci-fi.... but maybe they wouldn't go into space and i'd be fine with it...
then they went into space.... but oddly it didn't bug me.
Most of the story takes place on the bridge or in the town inside the Macross and the space battles aren't that often.... they don't supernova anything or go anywher near a black hole.... sure they technically destroy a few planets but at least in one case they do their best to fix it after.... this is probably the only sci-fi show i have ever watched that i'm completely fine with.
if i were to make a bar grading where sci-fi shows end up it would be.
Macross--->Voices of a distant star---> Gurren Lagaan---> Gunbester
so pretty much Macross as perfectly fine and gunbuster as having to leave the room and have panic attacks while it's playing.
but yeah it's odd cause Macross is actually pretty horrific, there are lots of dead bodies show or people getting blown up is terrible ways.... but i think i know why i'm not bothered by it.
The animation is some of the worst animation i've ever seen... people bitch about gurren lagaan's 4th episode being done at like 4 framed per second.... that is nothing.... multiple episodes of Macross are at an abysmal frame rate where people are pretty much teleporting across room.
There is re-used animation is almost every episode... you know that zentradi ship that gets blown up in the intro? you'll see it at least 5 more times... if not more.
Enjoyed Minmei's my boyfriends a pilot animation? at least three mroe times and i think another time but at least they changed the outfit.
characters stare off in different directions pretty much 85% of the time... seriously... eyes don't work like that.... also the shines they use are odd and distracting.
Some frames have bits wrongly coloured? good thing it was used during bits where characters are talking so the colours can flash with every lip movement.
it's hilarious how bad the animation is.... cause you can tell they were trying so hard and some things have the possibility of being good.... it's just not realized as often as it needed to be.
animation quirks aside what is it about?
The macross landed on an island many years ago and after all of earth unified thanks to the cleverly named Unification War the army tries to fix up the alien battleship in order to possibly go into space.
Unfortunately right when the macross is set to make it's maiden voyage another group of aliens come into earths airspace and the ship auto attacks..... essentially starting a war... way to go ship.
still the macross needs to get away from the town so they use something called the Space Fold which allow them to get away...
yeah too bad they bring the entire town with them.... luckily the shelters the civilians ran to are all super strong and they didn't die immediately being exposed to the vacuum of space...
anyways the city is essentially bought on bored and rebuild within the warship.
Meanwhile Hikaru Ichijo had been invited to the celebration by his Sempai Roy Foker and ends up in one of the military planes and soon after he bumps into Lynn Minmei (the show changes the spelling of this a few times but thats the one that i will use) and they work together to get back on the ship after they are flung into space as well... again good thing hikaru's ship is strong enough to withstand the vacuum of space... all very convenient.
after getting back to the city within the ship Hikaru is eventually convinced to join the military by his sempai because he's sucha good pilot and they need all the help they can get. He's against killing people but h wants to keep the town safe so he agrees.
some things to note before i go on.
I feel this entire show is just one giant social commentary on japanese society (at least them in the 80s). Japan is known for being fairly sexist (a different kind of sexist then north america but sexist none the less) extremely Xenophobic and extremely against Public displays of affection.
So we have a bridge that is almost completely run by women.... All top of their respective fields and in positions of power.
The bridge crew all hail from different parts of the world and none of them are stereotypes.
and main weapon they use against the enemy is, and i kinda wish i was kidding, public displays on affection. The fact that men and women are even near each other is a culture shock to the aliens...
so yeah.... just wanted to point that out before getting to the good and the bad.
The good:
The story, i really like it... it could have gone more indepth about a civilian becoming a soldier but they come back to it by the end.
The fact that it was cancelled and then brought back.
from what i understand it was supposed to end at 26 episodes... so all those plot threads were tied up.... but then something happened and it got another 10 episodes.... those ten episodes are great because it doesn't feel like "fight of the week" we learn about other characters and get perfect Pairings and a certain character gets whats coming to them. more on that later.
no character is safe, this is war and in war people die.
The not so good:
again animation is so bad it's funny.... but it's something to know going in and by the end it shouldn't bug you.
Lynn Kaifune (as far as i can tell they don't spell his so thats how i'm gunan spell it) this guy... oh he's annoying... "it's the militaries fault, don't give into them!" yeah what are you doing with your life thats making such a difference? being you cousins agent? yeah that'll really end the war.
also despite the many tries to avoid being sexist there is still a lot of "well you should get back to the kitchen" lines....
The bad:
Lynn Minmei.
when i first saw the show i hated her, she was annoying and constantly trying to manipulate those around her and the second some stops showing her attention she gets pissy.
having rewatched it.... i still dislike her... but for completely different reasons.... she wasn't trying to use Hikaru's feelings for her.... she was Naive... nothing more nothing less.... she only saw him as a friend and not a lover.... so when she does realize how she feels about anyone it's too late cause of her naivete. She lived in this world where everything has gone her way and finally real life is creeping up on her and she doesn't know how to handle it..... i dislike her now not because she's a bitch like i originally thought... i dislike her cause she's weak and pathetic and until the end unable to stand tall on her own.
however without her being like that my OTP wouldn't have been realized so... i guess she's not so bad.
but anyways i really enjoy this show.... unfortunately since ADV went under it's not the easiest series to get a hold of, the box set i spent 40 bucks for now goes for more then 100.. but still if you get a chance you should watch it cause it's really good.
So yeah, i guess i have a little story time to go with this. When my father was a kid he used to watch this show (again it was technically robotech but it's pretty much the same thing...) and i would constantly hear him talk about it though at the time i had no idea he was talking about an anime.
Fast forward many years and my friend lends me a boxset and sais "it's good, you'll like it"
I was weary cause i have never been a fan of sci-fi.... but maybe they wouldn't go into space and i'd be fine with it...
then they went into space.... but oddly it didn't bug me.
Most of the story takes place on the bridge or in the town inside the Macross and the space battles aren't that often.... they don't supernova anything or go anywher near a black hole.... sure they technically destroy a few planets but at least in one case they do their best to fix it after.... this is probably the only sci-fi show i have ever watched that i'm completely fine with.
if i were to make a bar grading where sci-fi shows end up it would be.
Macross--->Voices of a distant star---> Gurren Lagaan---> Gunbester
so pretty much Macross as perfectly fine and gunbuster as having to leave the room and have panic attacks while it's playing.
but yeah it's odd cause Macross is actually pretty horrific, there are lots of dead bodies show or people getting blown up is terrible ways.... but i think i know why i'm not bothered by it.
The animation is some of the worst animation i've ever seen... people bitch about gurren lagaan's 4th episode being done at like 4 framed per second.... that is nothing.... multiple episodes of Macross are at an abysmal frame rate where people are pretty much teleporting across room.
There is re-used animation is almost every episode... you know that zentradi ship that gets blown up in the intro? you'll see it at least 5 more times... if not more.
Enjoyed Minmei's my boyfriends a pilot animation? at least three mroe times and i think another time but at least they changed the outfit.
characters stare off in different directions pretty much 85% of the time... seriously... eyes don't work like that.... also the shines they use are odd and distracting.
Some frames have bits wrongly coloured? good thing it was used during bits where characters are talking so the colours can flash with every lip movement.
it's hilarious how bad the animation is.... cause you can tell they were trying so hard and some things have the possibility of being good.... it's just not realized as often as it needed to be.
animation quirks aside what is it about?
The macross landed on an island many years ago and after all of earth unified thanks to the cleverly named Unification War the army tries to fix up the alien battleship in order to possibly go into space.
Unfortunately right when the macross is set to make it's maiden voyage another group of aliens come into earths airspace and the ship auto attacks..... essentially starting a war... way to go ship.
still the macross needs to get away from the town so they use something called the Space Fold which allow them to get away...
yeah too bad they bring the entire town with them.... luckily the shelters the civilians ran to are all super strong and they didn't die immediately being exposed to the vacuum of space...
anyways the city is essentially bought on bored and rebuild within the warship.
Meanwhile Hikaru Ichijo had been invited to the celebration by his Sempai Roy Foker and ends up in one of the military planes and soon after he bumps into Lynn Minmei (the show changes the spelling of this a few times but thats the one that i will use) and they work together to get back on the ship after they are flung into space as well... again good thing hikaru's ship is strong enough to withstand the vacuum of space... all very convenient.
after getting back to the city within the ship Hikaru is eventually convinced to join the military by his sempai because he's sucha good pilot and they need all the help they can get. He's against killing people but h wants to keep the town safe so he agrees.
some things to note before i go on.
I feel this entire show is just one giant social commentary on japanese society (at least them in the 80s). Japan is known for being fairly sexist (a different kind of sexist then north america but sexist none the less) extremely Xenophobic and extremely against Public displays of affection.
So we have a bridge that is almost completely run by women.... All top of their respective fields and in positions of power.
The bridge crew all hail from different parts of the world and none of them are stereotypes.
and main weapon they use against the enemy is, and i kinda wish i was kidding, public displays on affection. The fact that men and women are even near each other is a culture shock to the aliens...
so yeah.... just wanted to point that out before getting to the good and the bad.
The good:
The story, i really like it... it could have gone more indepth about a civilian becoming a soldier but they come back to it by the end.
The fact that it was cancelled and then brought back.
from what i understand it was supposed to end at 26 episodes... so all those plot threads were tied up.... but then something happened and it got another 10 episodes.... those ten episodes are great because it doesn't feel like "fight of the week" we learn about other characters and get perfect Pairings and a certain character gets whats coming to them. more on that later.
no character is safe, this is war and in war people die.
The not so good:
again animation is so bad it's funny.... but it's something to know going in and by the end it shouldn't bug you.
Lynn Kaifune (as far as i can tell they don't spell his so thats how i'm gunan spell it) this guy... oh he's annoying... "it's the militaries fault, don't give into them!" yeah what are you doing with your life thats making such a difference? being you cousins agent? yeah that'll really end the war.
also despite the many tries to avoid being sexist there is still a lot of "well you should get back to the kitchen" lines....
The bad:
Lynn Minmei.
when i first saw the show i hated her, she was annoying and constantly trying to manipulate those around her and the second some stops showing her attention she gets pissy.
having rewatched it.... i still dislike her... but for completely different reasons.... she wasn't trying to use Hikaru's feelings for her.... she was Naive... nothing more nothing less.... she only saw him as a friend and not a lover.... so when she does realize how she feels about anyone it's too late cause of her naivete. She lived in this world where everything has gone her way and finally real life is creeping up on her and she doesn't know how to handle it..... i dislike her now not because she's a bitch like i originally thought... i dislike her cause she's weak and pathetic and until the end unable to stand tall on her own.
however without her being like that my OTP wouldn't have been realized so... i guess she's not so bad.
but anyways i really enjoy this show.... unfortunately since ADV went under it's not the easiest series to get a hold of, the box set i spent 40 bucks for now goes for more then 100.. but still if you get a chance you should watch it cause it's really good.
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...
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Completed: Camouflage (Ghost Targets #4) By Aaron Pogue
This is the 4th book in his ghost targets Sci-fi series.
and i learned the only thing that can stop me from reading a novel (by any author apparently) are the Haruhi suzumiya books... who knew?
Alright, we continue our adventures with Katie Pratt as she fights to help catch criminals that are able to hide from the watchful gaze of Hathor (the omnipresent network that allows to to access everything you can think of from a handheld, an ear piece and a watch... like if Ipads went on crack).
thought this one takes a different approach.... for the most part it's more a failure of the system instead of someone ghosting themselves from the system... also it starts showing how desperate people can get for privacy... as well as how dependent people are on technology...
now i did like this one but much like volume two... it feels like it's more of a set up novel.... like it's themes were interesting but only a portion of it will effect the overarching plot. It's not a bad thing.... just an observation.
Also.... Eddie.... yeah i didn't care much about him at all.... i thought he could be interesting but then something happened and i felt like it needed to happen at that point... but the fact that it happened then made me care even less about him... however again it's probably setting up things for the next novels.
However i still really enjoyed it, i'm not sure when his next books are coming out... hopefully soon (but not too soon... i have the year end gallery show to worry about.) but i'll be excited when they are done.
If you own a Kindle, go check out his books, they range from .99 cents to just under 5 bucks... worth every penny.
if you don't have a kindle i think he sells paper back versions of his novels through amazon.
so yeah.... unless something else looks interesting it's back to reading the count of monte cristo.
and i learned the only thing that can stop me from reading a novel (by any author apparently) are the Haruhi suzumiya books... who knew?
Alright, we continue our adventures with Katie Pratt as she fights to help catch criminals that are able to hide from the watchful gaze of Hathor (the omnipresent network that allows to to access everything you can think of from a handheld, an ear piece and a watch... like if Ipads went on crack).
thought this one takes a different approach.... for the most part it's more a failure of the system instead of someone ghosting themselves from the system... also it starts showing how desperate people can get for privacy... as well as how dependent people are on technology...
now i did like this one but much like volume two... it feels like it's more of a set up novel.... like it's themes were interesting but only a portion of it will effect the overarching plot. It's not a bad thing.... just an observation.
Also.... Eddie.... yeah i didn't care much about him at all.... i thought he could be interesting but then something happened and i felt like it needed to happen at that point... but the fact that it happened then made me care even less about him... however again it's probably setting up things for the next novels.
However i still really enjoyed it, i'm not sure when his next books are coming out... hopefully soon (but not too soon... i have the year end gallery show to worry about.) but i'll be excited when they are done.
If you own a Kindle, go check out his books, they range from .99 cents to just under 5 bucks... worth every penny.
if you don't have a kindle i think he sells paper back versions of his novels through amazon.
so yeah.... unless something else looks interesting it's back to reading the count of monte cristo.
Completed: Alien
Originally published December 3, 2011 on Tumblr
So yesterday not only did i see Kiki’s deliver service for the first time…. i also saw Alien…. our school has a theater and every friday they open it up and watch movies.
so some things to keep in mind about me while you read this.
I’m not a huge sci-fi fan if only for the reason that it takes place, most of the time at least, in space… i don’t like space very much… which is odd cause i love stars and planets and the whatnot…
Also i don’t like horror because i can’t find it scary (unless it’s a plague horror…. those things scare the shit out of me)… i focus too much on the “they did this effect like this” or “wow they did a good/bad job on the blood” to actually get immersed and scared.
So…. thats brings us to Alien.the version we watched was the ‘original 1979 theatrical version’ according to the Blue ray disk…
I would call this film a deserted Island sci-fi horror. We start with a title screen slowly coming to light over title cards…. then we are introduced to the ship which has a crew of 7 and a cat.
They all wake up from freezing expecting to be brought to earth but they seem to have gone way off course.
Captain Dallas goes to the computer system, MOTHER, and asks what is going on…. apparently there was a 12 second loop that they think is a distress call and their company protocol is to check it out or forfeit their ship.
so they go to this planet and three of them try to go find the source of the loop. Back on the ship Ridley, played by a very young Sigourney Weaver, checks over the message and finds out it doesn’t seem to be an SOS…. it sounds more like a warning…
oh this can only end well.
anyways one of the three guys comes across some odd looking eggs…. one opens up and we are introduced to the face huggers. they bring the guy with Alien stuck to his head on board, breaking all the quarantine rules, and try to treat him.
again… nothing could possibly go wrong…
so apparently these aliens bleed acid and will not let go on the guys face… but the guy doesn’t seem to be dying… just comatose and paralyzed. Eventually they even see that the face hugger has let go and it somewhere in the room.
They do find it… and it’s dead…. hm… that didn’t seem so scary…. oh… except now there's a freaky alien bursting from the guys chest…. that can’t be good.
so now they have this vicious killer alien on the ship and people start getting killed off… eventually we find out that one of the crew members is a robot that was told to bring the alien back alive even if it was at the crews expense.
so the remaining crew + 1 cat end up trying to kill the alien with no luck and eventually decide blowing up the ship is the best course of action.
after a lot of painful flashing and a few more deaths only Ridley and cat are left, they make it to the escape pod and the ship blows up 3 times… too bad the alien made it onto the ship as well…. but it just seems to want to survive and doesn’t seem to be out to kill her right now…. still she dons a suit that’ll give her air and puts the cat in the freezing thing then gets the alien to go to the airlock… then shoots it with a grappling hook and when it tried to get back in through the thruster she turns them on and burns it to a crisp.
so… seeing as she’s the only survivor she does her report and goes to sleep and hopes one of the scanners will find her ship.
The end~
now i know that's a lot of spoiler but honestly…. if you haven’t seen a movie this old then you deserve to get spoilers…. i’m surprised i hadn’t heard any spoilers to be honest….
but yeah… what did i think?
I liked it…. the practical effects looks amazing even by todays standards…. except the robot head…. that looked so bad that when it switched from prop to actor the entire audience laughed. also the explosion looked like a drawing but that's okay… it was the 70’s…. but the face hugger looked like real flesh and the alien had this crazy sheen on it and the sets were great.
the story was pretty good…. i mean like i said i don’t like sci-fi or horror but this was enjoyable. unfortunately i already knew ripley survived cause i’ve heard she’s in the second one so that took a little suspense out of it.
things i didn’t like… The flashing… in a dark room it was just painful to look at everyone had to put a hand over their eyes to be able to avoid headaches. oh and i guess there was a tone of sexual imagery that just seemed silly… but otherwise a pretty good film…. i’ll eventually see Aliens as i’ve heard argued that it’s the better of the two films….
but for now…. i need some princess tutu~
So yesterday not only did i see Kiki’s deliver service for the first time…. i also saw Alien…. our school has a theater and every friday they open it up and watch movies.
so some things to keep in mind about me while you read this.
I’m not a huge sci-fi fan if only for the reason that it takes place, most of the time at least, in space… i don’t like space very much… which is odd cause i love stars and planets and the whatnot…
Also i don’t like horror because i can’t find it scary (unless it’s a plague horror…. those things scare the shit out of me)… i focus too much on the “they did this effect like this” or “wow they did a good/bad job on the blood” to actually get immersed and scared.
So…. thats brings us to Alien.the version we watched was the ‘original 1979 theatrical version’ according to the Blue ray disk…
I would call this film a deserted Island sci-fi horror. We start with a title screen slowly coming to light over title cards…. then we are introduced to the ship which has a crew of 7 and a cat.
They all wake up from freezing expecting to be brought to earth but they seem to have gone way off course.
Captain Dallas goes to the computer system, MOTHER, and asks what is going on…. apparently there was a 12 second loop that they think is a distress call and their company protocol is to check it out or forfeit their ship.
so they go to this planet and three of them try to go find the source of the loop. Back on the ship Ridley, played by a very young Sigourney Weaver, checks over the message and finds out it doesn’t seem to be an SOS…. it sounds more like a warning…
oh this can only end well.
anyways one of the three guys comes across some odd looking eggs…. one opens up and we are introduced to the face huggers. they bring the guy with Alien stuck to his head on board, breaking all the quarantine rules, and try to treat him.
again… nothing could possibly go wrong…
so apparently these aliens bleed acid and will not let go on the guys face… but the guy doesn’t seem to be dying… just comatose and paralyzed. Eventually they even see that the face hugger has let go and it somewhere in the room.
They do find it… and it’s dead…. hm… that didn’t seem so scary…. oh… except now there's a freaky alien bursting from the guys chest…. that can’t be good.
so now they have this vicious killer alien on the ship and people start getting killed off… eventually we find out that one of the crew members is a robot that was told to bring the alien back alive even if it was at the crews expense.
so the remaining crew + 1 cat end up trying to kill the alien with no luck and eventually decide blowing up the ship is the best course of action.
after a lot of painful flashing and a few more deaths only Ridley and cat are left, they make it to the escape pod and the ship blows up 3 times… too bad the alien made it onto the ship as well…. but it just seems to want to survive and doesn’t seem to be out to kill her right now…. still she dons a suit that’ll give her air and puts the cat in the freezing thing then gets the alien to go to the airlock… then shoots it with a grappling hook and when it tried to get back in through the thruster she turns them on and burns it to a crisp.
so… seeing as she’s the only survivor she does her report and goes to sleep and hopes one of the scanners will find her ship.
The end~
now i know that's a lot of spoiler but honestly…. if you haven’t seen a movie this old then you deserve to get spoilers…. i’m surprised i hadn’t heard any spoilers to be honest….
but yeah… what did i think?
I liked it…. the practical effects looks amazing even by todays standards…. except the robot head…. that looked so bad that when it switched from prop to actor the entire audience laughed. also the explosion looked like a drawing but that's okay… it was the 70’s…. but the face hugger looked like real flesh and the alien had this crazy sheen on it and the sets were great.
the story was pretty good…. i mean like i said i don’t like sci-fi or horror but this was enjoyable. unfortunately i already knew ripley survived cause i’ve heard she’s in the second one so that took a little suspense out of it.
things i didn’t like… The flashing… in a dark room it was just painful to look at everyone had to put a hand over their eyes to be able to avoid headaches. oh and i guess there was a tone of sexual imagery that just seemed silly… but otherwise a pretty good film…. i’ll eventually see Aliens as i’ve heard argued that it’s the better of the two films….
but for now…. i need some princess tutu~
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Completed: Gunbuster
Originally published October 22, 2011on tumblr
I’ll start off saying that this is a good show… i just didn’t like it… it deals with black holes which scare the shit out of me.
And it gets too fanservicy for my personal taste… and it’s unnecessary fan service.
One thing i noticed… cause i didn’t really focus on the plot at all…. was the fact that some characters reminded me of Macross… specifically the main girl looked like she had Minmei eyes… so for once i did a little research and came across this from wikipedia (i know it’s not the best place to get info but in this case i’m counting it)
The characters were originally designed by Haruhiko Mikimoto, who also did likewise on The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunbuster )
Part of my loves being able to make connections like that… it’s not a great skill but it gives you the satisfaction when you look it up and find out you’re right…
oh right… gunbester…. um…. i wont be seeing the second one…. everyone i’ve spoken to says it’s not as good as the first AND i couldn’t get into the first so yeah…. no point.
BUT if you like sci-fi and don’t mind some fan service AND enjoy 80’s cliches like montages and super dramatic things which really aren’t that dramatic…. this is the series for you… it’s almost a joke on the entire mech genre but it does some things really well… especially the time dilation thing… which i’ve only seen done in the anime Voices of a distant star.
so yeah…. good show… i hated it… if that makes sense…
I’ll start off saying that this is a good show… i just didn’t like it… it deals with black holes which scare the shit out of me.
And it gets too fanservicy for my personal taste… and it’s unnecessary fan service.
One thing i noticed… cause i didn’t really focus on the plot at all…. was the fact that some characters reminded me of Macross… specifically the main girl looked like she had Minmei eyes… so for once i did a little research and came across this from wikipedia (i know it’s not the best place to get info but in this case i’m counting it)
The characters were originally designed by Haruhiko Mikimoto, who also did likewise on The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunbuster )
Part of my loves being able to make connections like that… it’s not a great skill but it gives you the satisfaction when you look it up and find out you’re right…
oh right… gunbester…. um…. i wont be seeing the second one…. everyone i’ve spoken to says it’s not as good as the first AND i couldn’t get into the first so yeah…. no point.
BUT if you like sci-fi and don’t mind some fan service AND enjoy 80’s cliches like montages and super dramatic things which really aren’t that dramatic…. this is the series for you… it’s almost a joke on the entire mech genre but it does some things really well… especially the time dilation thing… which i’ve only seen done in the anime Voices of a distant star.
so yeah…. good show… i hated it… if that makes sense…
Monday, 27 February 2012
Completed: Restraint (Ghost Targets #3) by Aaron Pogue
Originally published September 29, 2011 on tumblr
a) love this setting, this volume starts showing more of the flaws within the hathor system and hints at something more sinister then what the system has been portrayed as in the other two books.
b) love the writer cause by the looks of it he works really fast….. Book two of the dragon prince series i think is supposed to be released in December…. and then book 4 of this series will be released in February… so it’s giving me lots of things to read while i wait for book two of the Lightbringer trilogy
c) I love that this didn’t feel like an ending…. most of the time book three (oh most any series) tends to close a lot of plot threads… this one actually leaves a few open…
what is the evil mastermind really planning?
is letting technology run so much of our lives good or detrimental?
what will happen with the main character and the main love interest?
why do certain characters seem to hate each other but also seem to help the main character when they can.
WHAT WILL THE NEXT CASE BE? (most important question of course)
ok, yes this book makes book 2 look inconsequential to the plot other then a few hints but i have a feeling it’ll come more into play with time and more books…. for now i just plan to happily enjoy.
now off to read a book a friend recommended…. i trust her taste so i’m looking forward to it… even if it’s in first person… which i am not looking forward to…. oh well..
a) love this setting, this volume starts showing more of the flaws within the hathor system and hints at something more sinister then what the system has been portrayed as in the other two books.
b) love the writer cause by the looks of it he works really fast….. Book two of the dragon prince series i think is supposed to be released in December…. and then book 4 of this series will be released in February… so it’s giving me lots of things to read while i wait for book two of the Lightbringer trilogy
c) I love that this didn’t feel like an ending…. most of the time book three (oh most any series) tends to close a lot of plot threads… this one actually leaves a few open…
what is the evil mastermind really planning?
is letting technology run so much of our lives good or detrimental?
what will happen with the main character and the main love interest?
why do certain characters seem to hate each other but also seem to help the main character when they can.
WHAT WILL THE NEXT CASE BE? (most important question of course)
ok, yes this book makes book 2 look inconsequential to the plot other then a few hints but i have a feeling it’ll come more into play with time and more books…. for now i just plan to happily enjoy.
now off to read a book a friend recommended…. i trust her taste so i’m looking forward to it… even if it’s in first person… which i am not looking forward to…. oh well..
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Completed: Expectations (Ghost Targets #2) by Aaron Pogue
Originally posted September 24, 2011on tumblr
it’s just not fair…. how can such a good author have so few books out.
so this is the follow up to Gods Tomorrow, a sci-fi novel that essentially asks the question what happens if smart phones go on crack and do EVERYTHING and the world is monitored by cameras covering every inch of the world.
Now that sounds quite big brother and when i first picked up this series that’s what i was expecting… and it has those elements… but it’s not quite so malicious. In the first book we dealt with the fact that people were dropping off the grid and committing crimes in ways the computer couldn’t detect and special FBI agents known as Ghost trackers were set to figure these crimes out.
This one follows up with Agent Katie Pratt, having just recovered from her adventure in the previous story she heads back to work to find out her department is under an investigation. During all this another case drops on them, the doctor who has found the cure for aging has fallen into a coma and some people think it’s foul play.
Story wise i personally liked the first one a bit better, it set up Katie’s character really well and she was the main focus, the ending was a bit less predictable and i really enjoyed a certain character that seems to be more trouble then he’s worth who’s role is a bit more pushed to the side in this one.
Still this case was great, seeing how clever/brave/reckless Katie can be is very exciting and some of the twists completely took me off guard. Also loved the fact that Reed got a bigger role…. even though he’s underused in the first one i really enjoyed his chemistry and this adds to that quite a lot…. so yeah… another good book… hope Mr Aaron Pogue is a fast writer because waiting for the next installment in the Dragon Prince Series (december 2011) and book two of the light bringer Trilogy (september 2012 *sobs*) may be the end of me…. great book… great series.
it’s just not fair…. how can such a good author have so few books out.
so this is the follow up to Gods Tomorrow, a sci-fi novel that essentially asks the question what happens if smart phones go on crack and do EVERYTHING and the world is monitored by cameras covering every inch of the world.
Now that sounds quite big brother and when i first picked up this series that’s what i was expecting… and it has those elements… but it’s not quite so malicious. In the first book we dealt with the fact that people were dropping off the grid and committing crimes in ways the computer couldn’t detect and special FBI agents known as Ghost trackers were set to figure these crimes out.
This one follows up with Agent Katie Pratt, having just recovered from her adventure in the previous story she heads back to work to find out her department is under an investigation. During all this another case drops on them, the doctor who has found the cure for aging has fallen into a coma and some people think it’s foul play.
Story wise i personally liked the first one a bit better, it set up Katie’s character really well and she was the main focus, the ending was a bit less predictable and i really enjoyed a certain character that seems to be more trouble then he’s worth who’s role is a bit more pushed to the side in this one.
Still this case was great, seeing how clever/brave/reckless Katie can be is very exciting and some of the twists completely took me off guard. Also loved the fact that Reed got a bigger role…. even though he’s underused in the first one i really enjoyed his chemistry and this adds to that quite a lot…. so yeah… another good book… hope Mr Aaron Pogue is a fast writer because waiting for the next installment in the Dragon Prince Series (december 2011) and book two of the light bringer Trilogy (september 2012 *sobs*) may be the end of me…. great book… great series.
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Completed: Stiens; Gate
Originally posted September 14, 2011 on Tumblr
loved this show, one of the best of the season And one of the best time travel plot lines i’ve ever seen. if i say much more then that i’ll spoil everything.
so yeah go watch it.
loved this show, one of the best of the season And one of the best time travel plot lines i’ve ever seen. if i say much more then that i’ll spoil everything.
so yeah go watch it.
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Completed: Gods Tomorrow (ghost targets 1)
Originally posted August 29, 2011 on tumblr
yet another book by Aaron Pogue…. it’s always fun finding new fav authors.
so yeah… to start off i’m not a huge fan of Sci-fi…. it has it’s place and i enjoy it from time to time but i’ll almost always pick fantasy over it.
so going back to Taming fire, same author i was all excited to see he had written another series that i could read while i way for the dragon prince series to continue…. my excitement lasted until i saw it was sci-fi….
then i read another book… the gatekeeper… which really wasn’t my cup of tea… so i said… screw it i wanna at least try the other series.
and i was pleasantly surprised… At first glance seems like a big brother-esque kind of setting where this system named Hathor watches and records everything. and while that is a little accurate… it’s more like if big brother/capitalism had a baby…. yes the system watches and records every move so that if a crime is committed the past recordings can be used as evidence but it (on the surface at least) believes that innocent until proven guilty….. but of course… money can sway things (granted it seems to take a lot of money)… as well as those with the ability to hide from the system going around committing crimes (known as Ghosts) there’s a special unit of the FBI that works on finding and apprehending these ‘ghosts’ and our story revolves around the new recruit, Katie Pratt, who is a bit intimidated by going from top dog of the police to lowest flea of the FBI.
so yeah the story is sci-fi but honestly it doesn’t feel like it’s too far off…. there area few points where she can’t look at this handheld that she (and everyone) else carries… and it practically kills her… she feels cut off from the real world… it’s more subtle then that but really made me think of ‘oh god what would happen if Iphones got to this level…. getting to a point where people trust the computers judgement more then their own. but it’s not played like “omg the evils of technology!” (well not in the first book at least) more like…. “omg the evils of the people who made/abuse technologies who consider themselves more then men” and that i really enjoyed.
also the pacing felt a little better then taming fire… i enjoyed taming fire more overall but yeah… i prefer fantasy… that's just my bias.so yeah…. really good book, really good author…. looking forward to more works in the future.
as far as i can see one if not 2 more books of this series are available… but for now i’m going to go back to fantasy… even if only for a little bit.
yet another book by Aaron Pogue…. it’s always fun finding new fav authors.
so yeah… to start off i’m not a huge fan of Sci-fi…. it has it’s place and i enjoy it from time to time but i’ll almost always pick fantasy over it.
so going back to Taming fire, same author i was all excited to see he had written another series that i could read while i way for the dragon prince series to continue…. my excitement lasted until i saw it was sci-fi….
then i read another book… the gatekeeper… which really wasn’t my cup of tea… so i said… screw it i wanna at least try the other series.
and i was pleasantly surprised… At first glance seems like a big brother-esque kind of setting where this system named Hathor watches and records everything. and while that is a little accurate… it’s more like if big brother/capitalism had a baby…. yes the system watches and records every move so that if a crime is committed the past recordings can be used as evidence but it (on the surface at least) believes that innocent until proven guilty….. but of course… money can sway things (granted it seems to take a lot of money)… as well as those with the ability to hide from the system going around committing crimes (known as Ghosts) there’s a special unit of the FBI that works on finding and apprehending these ‘ghosts’ and our story revolves around the new recruit, Katie Pratt, who is a bit intimidated by going from top dog of the police to lowest flea of the FBI.
so yeah the story is sci-fi but honestly it doesn’t feel like it’s too far off…. there area few points where she can’t look at this handheld that she (and everyone) else carries… and it practically kills her… she feels cut off from the real world… it’s more subtle then that but really made me think of ‘oh god what would happen if Iphones got to this level…. getting to a point where people trust the computers judgement more then their own. but it’s not played like “omg the evils of technology!” (well not in the first book at least) more like…. “omg the evils of the people who made/abuse technologies who consider themselves more then men” and that i really enjoyed.
also the pacing felt a little better then taming fire… i enjoyed taming fire more overall but yeah… i prefer fantasy… that's just my bias.so yeah…. really good book, really good author…. looking forward to more works in the future.
as far as i can see one if not 2 more books of this series are available… but for now i’m going to go back to fantasy… even if only for a little bit.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Completed: Cowboy Bebop
Originally posted June 5, 2011 on tumblr
Seriously? the show is from 1998 and i’ve just completed it now?
Well long story short when it first came out i was still only watching anime on TV as i was young and didn’t realize the world of anime was bigger then Sailor moon, Pokemon and cardcaptors.
so in about 2007 or 8 (i can’t remember which… Within a year of Geneon going down) i bought the remix box set of cowboy bebop because I had always heard how great cowboy bebop was and i had seen the movie in 2003 and loved it. Also i had just finished watching Trigun, another popular anime from the same year.
Normally I tend to lean towards girly or slice of life shows but i always wanted to see the show that the movie connected to. So i started watching it with a friend…. then my friendship faded away and i forgot about bebop for a few…. well years.
Fast forward to now. I look at the box set and tell myself i really need to just finish it… but i couldn’t remember how far i had gotten…. so i re-watched the whole thing. (turns out i had just finished disk 5 when i stopped all those years ago but still glad i re-watched it)
So yeah everything i’m about to say is opinion, i know the show is considered a classic… but even classics are allowed to have flaws.
Overall i liked it, the music is great, the characters are so interesting and the animation is pretty intense…. especially during fight scenes.
It did feel like a lot of filler, i was more interested in the Julia/Vicious arc and Faye’s past but both things don’t get more then 4 eps each… Ed… one of the more interesting characters gets pushed off to the side and what happens with her near the end kinda came out of nowhere for me. Jet did get some good character development but his arc wasn’t as interesting in my opinion… plus it really only gets 1 ep….
Also it leaves a lot of things unexplained…. now i know that’s kinda the point since there can be debates over what happens… especially at the end… but it left me more confused…. the movie came out in 2001… three years after the show ended the time frame of 2071 matches for both…. does the movie take place during or after the show? is it even related to the show at all…. maybe if i re-watch it it’ll make more sense? somehow i doubt that…
alas i digress. Again i did like it… not love but still…. i keep comparing it to the series i mentioned Trigun…. Now i could be biased towards trigun because….
a) i saw trigun first and it cost me much less over all to get the whole season… thank you geneon
b) Yes it does have things that take place in space…. but i seem to recall not as much…. and i have this weird fear of space… so there was a lot of me cringing while watching bebop…. cringing doesn’t make for good viewing experience…
Still even though i think some people hype it a bit too much… i think people should see it and make their own opinion… i have some friends who love it and some who hate it… Make sure to check out the movie if you can… it’s really really cool…. from what i remember anyways… i haven’t seen it in years
Anyways i think the most cliche way to end this is pretty obvious…
See You Space Cowboy
Seriously? the show is from 1998 and i’ve just completed it now?
Well long story short when it first came out i was still only watching anime on TV as i was young and didn’t realize the world of anime was bigger then Sailor moon, Pokemon and cardcaptors.
so in about 2007 or 8 (i can’t remember which… Within a year of Geneon going down) i bought the remix box set of cowboy bebop because I had always heard how great cowboy bebop was and i had seen the movie in 2003 and loved it. Also i had just finished watching Trigun, another popular anime from the same year.
Normally I tend to lean towards girly or slice of life shows but i always wanted to see the show that the movie connected to. So i started watching it with a friend…. then my friendship faded away and i forgot about bebop for a few…. well years.
Fast forward to now. I look at the box set and tell myself i really need to just finish it… but i couldn’t remember how far i had gotten…. so i re-watched the whole thing. (turns out i had just finished disk 5 when i stopped all those years ago but still glad i re-watched it)
So yeah everything i’m about to say is opinion, i know the show is considered a classic… but even classics are allowed to have flaws.
Overall i liked it, the music is great, the characters are so interesting and the animation is pretty intense…. especially during fight scenes.
It did feel like a lot of filler, i was more interested in the Julia/Vicious arc and Faye’s past but both things don’t get more then 4 eps each… Ed… one of the more interesting characters gets pushed off to the side and what happens with her near the end kinda came out of nowhere for me. Jet did get some good character development but his arc wasn’t as interesting in my opinion… plus it really only gets 1 ep….
Also it leaves a lot of things unexplained…. now i know that’s kinda the point since there can be debates over what happens… especially at the end… but it left me more confused…. the movie came out in 2001… three years after the show ended the time frame of 2071 matches for both…. does the movie take place during or after the show? is it even related to the show at all…. maybe if i re-watch it it’ll make more sense? somehow i doubt that…
alas i digress. Again i did like it… not love but still…. i keep comparing it to the series i mentioned Trigun…. Now i could be biased towards trigun because….
a) i saw trigun first and it cost me much less over all to get the whole season… thank you geneon
b) Yes it does have things that take place in space…. but i seem to recall not as much…. and i have this weird fear of space… so there was a lot of me cringing while watching bebop…. cringing doesn’t make for good viewing experience…
Still even though i think some people hype it a bit too much… i think people should see it and make their own opinion… i have some friends who love it and some who hate it… Make sure to check out the movie if you can… it’s really really cool…. from what i remember anyways… i haven’t seen it in years
Anyways i think the most cliche way to end this is pretty obvious…
See You Space Cowboy
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