Okay, Internet. I get it, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan is awesomely awesome, and no 'mecha' series will ever be as awesome as GL, especially considering how much awesomer GL is compared to every other action series.
My cynicism makes it sounds like I'm being sarcastic, but now that I can see GL legally, you would be surprised to know I like it.
However, I've noticed something. There are some anime properties that people Won't. FUCKING. SHUT. UP. about. GL is one of them. I've noticed something about any of these series popular over the internet. They are always one of two things: they actually are as good as everyone says it is, (Haruhi, Motherfucking Death Note.) or they suck, are overrated, and only beloved by IDIOTS. (Code Geass, nearly every anime from the 1990's.) Luckily, GL belongs in the former.
I saw the first two episodes dubbed in English not too long ago. Now, I was able to compare one of the voices to the Japanese original, that of manly man Kamina. To be honest, he sounds more his part in Japanese. In English, he stills sounds manly, just more subdued. He doesn't sound bad in English, but he could've been better. Of course, that won't stop from people being nit-picky about things, especially dub haters. Many of the other characters sounded good enough, but the highlight was Leeron, who, in English, is played by Steven Blum. Oh my god, he is hilarious! I had no idea he could play the part of a stereotypical gay guy so well! I didn't even know it was him until I fact checked on the web! Still, I would like to see this series in Japanese, without fansubs. I just wanna see if it really sounds better in Japanese, overall.
But enough about dub vs. original broadcast. Gurren Lagaan isn't even that much about dialog, anyways. It's about action. Non stop action. Balls to the wall fury. This is a show for your eyes, not your ears. Practically all exposition is done through imagery. The dialog between characters is mainly just them pointing out things. ("I don't know how to work this thing!" "I don't know how to work it either, but you don't see me whining about it!") The whole show is action, action, action. Nothing slows down for a second. Sure, you might have a breather now, then all of a sudden Gunmen show up and then more action. The show has elements of comedy, and a few dramatic moments, but it is mainly about action, and not much else. It's perhaps as action-packed as an action videogame. Yeah, like that. Don't look away for a second, or you might miss something.
That said, keep in mind, GL is low art. It is not high art, nor middle art. It's a show made primarily for teenage boys. Turn off all higher thinking when you watch Gurren Lagaan, because it's not very complex.
Next time I talk about GL, I think I'll do it in my adolescent teen voice, because this is one of those shows. I can't do it now, because I wanted to point out that the dub, while probably not as good as the Japanese original, is at least not 4kids quality, and also I wanted to issue a disclaimer that GL can't be taken seriously. That said, next time, you'll know just how much I really like GL. But that won't come 'til next week.
P.S. You might've noticed that when referencing to Motherfucking Death Note, that I make the title stand out more. Well, it is my second-favorite animated tv show of all time. Why wouldn't I highlight it like so?
LATE EDIT: More like third favorite animated tv series of all time, but whatever.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Look out! It's a girl who's unarmed and can't fight!
The title alludes to Pacifica from Scrapped Princess. She can't defend herself by conventional means, yet everyone fears her. Why? Watch the show and find out.
I finished watching SP, and, I really enjoyed it. It gets better the farther along in the series you get. And the best part? No filler. None at all. The plot always moves. The only boring episode is . . . the first episode. All the first episode does is introduce the characters. Things don't really get started until episode 2. Don't get discouraged, viewers.
I don't feel like discussing the plot, because from what I can tell, SP isn't very popular, and chances are, you don't know anything about it, so I shouldn't spoil anything. I will, however, mention other high points. One, the character designs are beautiful. Everyone has their own distinctive look. It's easy to tell who's who. And, between you and me, Pacifica and her older sister Raquel are pretty. Just don't get too distracted.
Another plus is the ending is a good one. Anime series are notorious for bad series endings. Now, I think this is somewhat undeserved. Most anime conclusions I've seen were okay, but not necessarily bad. (of course, this could be because I avoid any anime series that gives me the sensation to cut myself. By the way, is the ending to Fruits Basket any good? I don't know; you tell me.) But SP though has a really good ending, trust me.
Also, a little bit of voiceover trivia here, I didn't recognize him at first, but there's this character named Furet, and in English, he's played by Liam O'Brien. His portrayal as Furet sounds so different from his other characters, but he's still great. Furet and Leo are my favorite characters in SP.
My only dislike is the music. The opening theme is forgettable, and the background music is just, there. It's not bad, but you don't ever notice it. It's like it takes up space. On the other hand, I like the ending theme. It sounds nice.
So, in comparison to other anime series I like, Scrapped Princess may lack 'teh funnies' of Haruhi, may lack the dark beauty of Trinity Blood, may lack the warmth of Cardcaptor Sakura, and certainly lacks the psychological intensity of Motherfucking Death Note, but it's really good. I'd say it's slightly better than Trigun, but my (self-imposed) review scale doesn't allow for an 8.5, so an 8 will have to do.
Scrapped Princess.
Good stuff: It's fantasy fluff with a twist, beautiful character art, strong English dubbing, no filler.
Bad stuff: The first episode sucks, weak music.
Final score: 8 out of 10.
(switching over to unseen narrator mode.)
Next time, on xm0123's Domain:
"JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AAAAAMMMMMM!!!!?!?!?"
That is all. Tune in for the next update!
I finished watching SP, and, I really enjoyed it. It gets better the farther along in the series you get. And the best part? No filler. None at all. The plot always moves. The only boring episode is . . . the first episode. All the first episode does is introduce the characters. Things don't really get started until episode 2. Don't get discouraged, viewers.
I don't feel like discussing the plot, because from what I can tell, SP isn't very popular, and chances are, you don't know anything about it, so I shouldn't spoil anything. I will, however, mention other high points. One, the character designs are beautiful. Everyone has their own distinctive look. It's easy to tell who's who. And, between you and me, Pacifica and her older sister Raquel are pretty. Just don't get too distracted.
Another plus is the ending is a good one. Anime series are notorious for bad series endings. Now, I think this is somewhat undeserved. Most anime conclusions I've seen were okay, but not necessarily bad. (of course, this could be because I avoid any anime series that gives me the sensation to cut myself. By the way, is the ending to Fruits Basket any good? I don't know; you tell me.) But SP though has a really good ending, trust me.
Also, a little bit of voiceover trivia here, I didn't recognize him at first, but there's this character named Furet, and in English, he's played by Liam O'Brien. His portrayal as Furet sounds so different from his other characters, but he's still great. Furet and Leo are my favorite characters in SP.
My only dislike is the music. The opening theme is forgettable, and the background music is just, there. It's not bad, but you don't ever notice it. It's like it takes up space. On the other hand, I like the ending theme. It sounds nice.
So, in comparison to other anime series I like, Scrapped Princess may lack 'teh funnies' of Haruhi, may lack the dark beauty of Trinity Blood, may lack the warmth of Cardcaptor Sakura, and certainly lacks the psychological intensity of Motherfucking Death Note, but it's really good. I'd say it's slightly better than Trigun, but my (self-imposed) review scale doesn't allow for an 8.5, so an 8 will have to do.
Scrapped Princess.
Good stuff: It's fantasy fluff with a twist, beautiful character art, strong English dubbing, no filler.
Bad stuff: The first episode sucks, weak music.
Final score: 8 out of 10.
(switching over to unseen narrator mode.)
Next time, on xm0123's Domain:
"JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AAAAAMMMMMM!!!!?!?!?"
That is all. Tune in for the next update!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
A poison? To what, though?
Heya, Internet. Being on break for a long time makes you do a lot of things.
Like watch Japanese animation.
Yeah, I found another anime series to watch. But can you blame me, though? I only discovered good anime about a year ago, and there's still a few series and movies I'd like to watch. Trust me, I am not that much of a fanboy.
Although I can say I'm a fan of Scrapped Princess.
Now, at first glance, SP may appear to be a medieval RPG in tv format, and the first episode certainly reinforces that image, but by episode 2, it becomes apparent that this is more than your average action-adventure. I don't wanna go into massive detail about the series right now, but rest assured, it's very watchable.
However, I really just felt like writing this because I'm watching SP dubbed, (Take that, dub haters!) and this is a very professional dub job. And when I approve of good dubs, I like to indulge in . . .
VOICEOVER TRIVIA!!!!!
Holy smokes, if Japanese cartoons and videogames were more mainstream, the cast of SP would be freakin' megastars by now. However, much like with the last show I watched, Chobits, it seems like just about everyone from that show is in Scrapped Princess as well. Let's see . . . Crispin Freeman, who was Hideki, is Shannon in SP. Michelle Ruff, who was Chii, is Winia in SP. Bridget Hoffman, who was Chitose, is Raquel. Wendee Lee, who was Hideki's teacher, is . . . several characters in SP, including the Beast Princess. And if you listen closely enough, you'll also recognize the vocal talents of Kari Wahlgren, Yuri Lowenthal (whose performance as Leo in SP is one of my favorite roles of his), Steve Staley, Kirk Thorton, Lia Sargent, Steve Blum, Michael McConnohie, and Dave Wittenberg, among others.
Yeah, I seem to like being able to recognize people, even if it's only by voice. But watch Scrapped Princess if you're bored enough. It's really good, trust me.
Like watch Japanese animation.
Yeah, I found another anime series to watch. But can you blame me, though? I only discovered good anime about a year ago, and there's still a few series and movies I'd like to watch. Trust me, I am not that much of a fanboy.
Although I can say I'm a fan of Scrapped Princess.
Now, at first glance, SP may appear to be a medieval RPG in tv format, and the first episode certainly reinforces that image, but by episode 2, it becomes apparent that this is more than your average action-adventure. I don't wanna go into massive detail about the series right now, but rest assured, it's very watchable.
However, I really just felt like writing this because I'm watching SP dubbed, (Take that, dub haters!) and this is a very professional dub job. And when I approve of good dubs, I like to indulge in . . .
VOICEOVER TRIVIA!!!!!
Holy smokes, if Japanese cartoons and videogames were more mainstream, the cast of SP would be freakin' megastars by now. However, much like with the last show I watched, Chobits, it seems like just about everyone from that show is in Scrapped Princess as well. Let's see . . . Crispin Freeman, who was Hideki, is Shannon in SP. Michelle Ruff, who was Chii, is Winia in SP. Bridget Hoffman, who was Chitose, is Raquel. Wendee Lee, who was Hideki's teacher, is . . . several characters in SP, including the Beast Princess. And if you listen closely enough, you'll also recognize the vocal talents of Kari Wahlgren, Yuri Lowenthal (whose performance as Leo in SP is one of my favorite roles of his), Steve Staley, Kirk Thorton, Lia Sargent, Steve Blum, Michael McConnohie, and Dave Wittenberg, among others.
Yeah, I seem to like being able to recognize people, even if it's only by voice. But watch Scrapped Princess if you're bored enough. It's really good, trust me.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Let's return to something I don't hate
Alright, alright, what volume of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronlicle am I at now?
Number 12.
I just can't stop. This is the best CLAMP series I has witnessed thus far! I also just finished a fantastic arc, too! The gang was in this world called Piffle World, and everyone participated in a race where you race in these vehicles called Dragonflies, which are like the Gliders from Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, Sakura-hime channels Nausicaa when she flies, and the event is sponsored by an alternate-reality version of Tomoyo-chan!
Oh boy, the Piffle World Tomoyo is just like CCS Tomoyo; she adores Sakura, she makes a costume for her, she videotapes the race, and she stills carries an air of elegance about her. A nice bit of fanservice for CCS lovers, I say. And, also, the characters at this point have demonstrated some growth. I won't go into too much detail, but I gotta say, this series just hooks me more the more I read it!
Only thing is, it'll be a while before I can save up more allowance for more books. But remember that time when I said Tsubasa was a lot like Kingdom Hearts? Kingdom Hearts has fun gameplay and interactivity, being a game afterall, but Tsubasa has the better story. Tsubasa probably wouldn't translate well into a videogame, but it definitely has better writing than the KH games. And I realize that many nerds, being whores of FF references and/or Square, will not be pleased with me saying that the story in KH1 was okay at best, and the story in KH2 was lackluster. Yeah, even with all the great Disney characters, KH can't compare to the plot twists and characterizations of the Tsubasa manga, even thought they're both practically the same thing.
Wanna see dimesion-crossing with established characters and alternate-reality versions of established characters having adventures and getting wasted on sake done right? Check out the Tsubasa manga. You won't regret it.
P.S. See, that wasn't as fun as my last entry. Dang, man, I sounded so different when I ripped Code Geass a new one. Here, I was like, "Oh, Tomoyo-chan! Character development! Cool black-and-white pictures!" And in my last entry, I was like, "IDIOTS! IDIOTS! IDIOTS!" (Say it in Lewis Black's voice). I think I might have wild mood swings.
Number 12.
I just can't stop. This is the best CLAMP series I has witnessed thus far! I also just finished a fantastic arc, too! The gang was in this world called Piffle World, and everyone participated in a race where you race in these vehicles called Dragonflies, which are like the Gliders from Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, Sakura-hime channels Nausicaa when she flies, and the event is sponsored by an alternate-reality version of Tomoyo-chan!
Oh boy, the Piffle World Tomoyo is just like CCS Tomoyo; she adores Sakura, she makes a costume for her, she videotapes the race, and she stills carries an air of elegance about her. A nice bit of fanservice for CCS lovers, I say. And, also, the characters at this point have demonstrated some growth. I won't go into too much detail, but I gotta say, this series just hooks me more the more I read it!
Only thing is, it'll be a while before I can save up more allowance for more books. But remember that time when I said Tsubasa was a lot like Kingdom Hearts? Kingdom Hearts has fun gameplay and interactivity, being a game afterall, but Tsubasa has the better story. Tsubasa probably wouldn't translate well into a videogame, but it definitely has better writing than the KH games. And I realize that many nerds, being whores of FF references and/or Square, will not be pleased with me saying that the story in KH1 was okay at best, and the story in KH2 was lackluster. Yeah, even with all the great Disney characters, KH can't compare to the plot twists and characterizations of the Tsubasa manga, even thought they're both practically the same thing.
Wanna see dimesion-crossing with established characters and alternate-reality versions of established characters having adventures and getting wasted on sake done right? Check out the Tsubasa manga. You won't regret it.
P.S. See, that wasn't as fun as my last entry. Dang, man, I sounded so different when I ripped Code Geass a new one. Here, I was like, "Oh, Tomoyo-chan! Character development! Cool black-and-white pictures!" And in my last entry, I was like, "IDIOTS! IDIOTS! IDIOTS!" (Say it in Lewis Black's voice). I think I might have wild mood swings.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
More hate, EXPOSED!
Well now, look back at my entries. You may've noticed that when it comes to newer anime series, I'm not too fond of Code Geass. I mentioned in the NPF that my reason for hating Code Geass is because, and this is verbatim, "It is an embodiment of everything I hate in anime."
"Wait, how could you know that, xm? Your blog says you lost interest after one episode. How could you know that for certain?"
Well, I did this off the record, but for a while, I watched a few more episodes of Code Geass on Adult Swim.com. Even though I knew the series was pure crap, I had to find out, why do so many people like Code Geass to begin with? And I have my answer:
Because people are idiots.
I mean, seriously, the only thing going for Code Geass is the animation during the battle sequences. That's IT. And I can get cool robot fights in Eureka 7, without the retardation that pervades CG. If that's the only good thing I can find in CG, that's gotta be pretty bad. I'm gonna list my grievances from my last post, as well as some new grievances.
-The whole thing is a ripoff of V for Vendetta. Let's see, mysterious figure who has a bone to pick with an oppressive regime dons a costume, and launches terrorist attacks against said regime. Not a bad concept, but it's been done before.
-Blatant over-acting. Now, maybe this is just because I only saw the English dubbed version, but every character except for that Britannian scientist with the glasses sounds like they were characters from a retro '90's Saturday Morning cartoon that totally ripped off G.I. Joe. And that's bad. I know Bandai can do better than this, and I know the cast can do better than this.
-The whole show moves too fast. This was a problem in the earlier episodes. In the last three or so episodes I saw, the pacing slowed down a bit, and I appreciated that. Okay, I guess you can cross this one off.
-Fugly character designs. Okay, something's wrong here. CLAMP did the character art for CG. I personally like some of the character designs in CCS, Tsubasa, and Chobits. And yet, I take one gander at any one of the peoples in CG, and I go, "OW! MY VIRGIN EYES!" Why have you forsaken me, CLAMP?
And now, some new grievances.
-WHOLLY UNNECESSARY SCENES OF SEXUAL FANSERVICE. I don't mind if it somehow makes sense in the story, but the sexual fanservice in CG DOES NOT! I don't wanna stare at that pink-haired woman's ass if I don't have to!
-Pathetic attempts at humor. At times, CG tries to inject humor. Only problem is, nobody actually tries to make any of the supposed humor actually funny. The 'jokes' in CG works like a formula I saw on a video on the web: Not Funny + Not Funny = NOT FUCKING FUNNY!
-Lelouch's Best Friend(tm), Suzaku, is also his Worst Enemy(tm). And Suzaku's Best Friend(tm), Lelouch, is also his Worst Enemy(tm). Now, how many times has this been done in anime? Well, let's just say, it's a dead horse now, and it's illogical that the both of them go as long as they do not knowing the truth about each other.
And the whole thing is just stupid as fuck. Lelouch beats a guy at chess by making an illegal move, ("I place my king next to yours, putting you in check, for it is my believe that a leader should take charge like his soldiers." "But sir, you can't place your own king in check-" "-FUCK YOU! THAT'S HOW WE PLAYED IT IN BRITANNIA, NOW FORFEIT ALREADY!") most of the girls at Lelouch's school are stereotypical bimbos, Lelouch's sister is a blatant appeal to the moe fanbase, (now, personally, I do believe a moe girl can be a well-written character. I didn't mind Mikuru nor Chii in their respective series, but Lelouch's sister does little more than be happy and helpless at the same time. Real nice.) the Emperor of Britannia is a one-dimensional villainous dictator, and it makes me wish Cartoon Network had licensed something other than Code Geass.
After checking Wikipedia, I know that I saw the first eight episodes before I couldn't take the stupidity any longer. By the time the 9th episode aired, I was watching Cardcaptor Sakura on veoh. An anime series with artwork by CLAMP that actually is good saved me from the madness of CG. I didn't have time to watch anymore CG, and I missed episodes because of this. Thank you, Kero-chan!
You wanna know even more bad news? There's a second season of CG out. And the second season is set to come out here in America, also. Why, world? Why must you replace Death Note with this bullshit? How come this has such a large fanbase? Why would Johnny Yong Bosch work on something like this? I can't take it anymore!
FUCK CODE GEASS!
In previous entries, I tried to act like CG didn't exist. Of course, it was just a joke of mine; deny, deny, deny. But in reality, why deny, when you can troll on a blog!?
So NPFers, if you're wondering what I meant when I said CG embodies everything I hate in anime, now ya know.
"But, what would be something that embodies everything you love about anime?"
Well, any series or movie that is the exact opposite of Code Geass in terms of quality. That would be the sufficient answer.
"Wait, how could you know that, xm? Your blog says you lost interest after one episode. How could you know that for certain?"
Well, I did this off the record, but for a while, I watched a few more episodes of Code Geass on Adult Swim.com. Even though I knew the series was pure crap, I had to find out, why do so many people like Code Geass to begin with? And I have my answer:
Because people are idiots.
I mean, seriously, the only thing going for Code Geass is the animation during the battle sequences. That's IT. And I can get cool robot fights in Eureka 7, without the retardation that pervades CG. If that's the only good thing I can find in CG, that's gotta be pretty bad. I'm gonna list my grievances from my last post, as well as some new grievances.
-The whole thing is a ripoff of V for Vendetta. Let's see, mysterious figure who has a bone to pick with an oppressive regime dons a costume, and launches terrorist attacks against said regime. Not a bad concept, but it's been done before.
-Blatant over-acting. Now, maybe this is just because I only saw the English dubbed version, but every character except for that Britannian scientist with the glasses sounds like they were characters from a retro '90's Saturday Morning cartoon that totally ripped off G.I. Joe. And that's bad. I know Bandai can do better than this, and I know the cast can do better than this.
-The whole show moves too fast. This was a problem in the earlier episodes. In the last three or so episodes I saw, the pacing slowed down a bit, and I appreciated that. Okay, I guess you can cross this one off.
-Fugly character designs. Okay, something's wrong here. CLAMP did the character art for CG. I personally like some of the character designs in CCS, Tsubasa, and Chobits. And yet, I take one gander at any one of the peoples in CG, and I go, "OW! MY VIRGIN EYES!" Why have you forsaken me, CLAMP?
And now, some new grievances.
-WHOLLY UNNECESSARY SCENES OF SEXUAL FANSERVICE. I don't mind if it somehow makes sense in the story, but the sexual fanservice in CG DOES NOT! I don't wanna stare at that pink-haired woman's ass if I don't have to!
-Pathetic attempts at humor. At times, CG tries to inject humor. Only problem is, nobody actually tries to make any of the supposed humor actually funny. The 'jokes' in CG works like a formula I saw on a video on the web: Not Funny + Not Funny = NOT FUCKING FUNNY!
-Lelouch's Best Friend(tm), Suzaku, is also his Worst Enemy(tm). And Suzaku's Best Friend(tm), Lelouch, is also his Worst Enemy(tm). Now, how many times has this been done in anime? Well, let's just say, it's a dead horse now, and it's illogical that the both of them go as long as they do not knowing the truth about each other.
And the whole thing is just stupid as fuck. Lelouch beats a guy at chess by making an illegal move, ("I place my king next to yours, putting you in check, for it is my believe that a leader should take charge like his soldiers." "But sir, you can't place your own king in check-" "-FUCK YOU! THAT'S HOW WE PLAYED IT IN BRITANNIA, NOW FORFEIT ALREADY!") most of the girls at Lelouch's school are stereotypical bimbos, Lelouch's sister is a blatant appeal to the moe fanbase, (now, personally, I do believe a moe girl can be a well-written character. I didn't mind Mikuru nor Chii in their respective series, but Lelouch's sister does little more than be happy and helpless at the same time. Real nice.) the Emperor of Britannia is a one-dimensional villainous dictator, and it makes me wish Cartoon Network had licensed something other than Code Geass.
After checking Wikipedia, I know that I saw the first eight episodes before I couldn't take the stupidity any longer. By the time the 9th episode aired, I was watching Cardcaptor Sakura on veoh. An anime series with artwork by CLAMP that actually is good saved me from the madness of CG. I didn't have time to watch anymore CG, and I missed episodes because of this. Thank you, Kero-chan!
You wanna know even more bad news? There's a second season of CG out. And the second season is set to come out here in America, also. Why, world? Why must you replace Death Note with this bullshit? How come this has such a large fanbase? Why would Johnny Yong Bosch work on something like this? I can't take it anymore!
FUCK CODE GEASS!
In previous entries, I tried to act like CG didn't exist. Of course, it was just a joke of mine; deny, deny, deny. But in reality, why deny, when you can troll on a blog!?
So NPFers, if you're wondering what I meant when I said CG embodies everything I hate in anime, now ya know.
"But, what would be something that embodies everything you love about anime?"
Well, any series or movie that is the exact opposite of Code Geass in terms of quality. That would be the sufficient answer.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
a total 180
Well now, I've seen all of Chobits. Wow. That was a huge change in tone, once we learned more about Hideki's teacher. Everything after that is so serious, but somehow, it works. The backstories were touching.
However, Chobits isn't a favorite series of mine. It's funny, but not incredibly funny. It's romantic, but not extremely romantic. Hideki matures throughout the series, but he's the only great character, though. The animation wasn't great. Neither was the music. The ending wasn't great. Nothing like the ending of Death Note, that's for certain.
Of course, it's possible that the Chobits anime is inferior to the Chobits manga. Then again, it may not be all that great, either. Chobits isn't bad. It's not stupid like many other romance series, and it does raise questions about mechanical people, and what role would they play in society, and that love between a human and a robot is apparently possible, but it wasn't that great, though. Oh well. As least the dub sounded great.
Although I still would've chosen Chitose over the others. Her hair is just lovely, and even her voice is pretty! Hideki doesn't know what he's missing! Or so I think.
Personally, I can't see myself loving a robot. Maybe that's why I don't think Chii is more than Mildly Cute. If we ever have human-esque robots in our lives, and you wanna snuggle with one, I won't stop you. But I can't see myself loving one. I could see myself being charmed by a robot girl, though, but not in love. By the way, just because Sumomo is tiny, has pink hair, and an extremely high-pitched voice doesn't automatically mean she's cute. Because she's not. Oh, Kotoko also appears in Tsubasa in an alternate-reality guise.
Chobits Final Score: 7 out of 10. Interesting take on a romance series, but nothing spectacular. Has some touching scenes later on in the series, though.
However, Chobits isn't a favorite series of mine. It's funny, but not incredibly funny. It's romantic, but not extremely romantic. Hideki matures throughout the series, but he's the only great character, though. The animation wasn't great. Neither was the music. The ending wasn't great. Nothing like the ending of Death Note, that's for certain.
Of course, it's possible that the Chobits anime is inferior to the Chobits manga. Then again, it may not be all that great, either. Chobits isn't bad. It's not stupid like many other romance series, and it does raise questions about mechanical people, and what role would they play in society, and that love between a human and a robot is apparently possible, but it wasn't that great, though. Oh well. As least the dub sounded great.
Although I still would've chosen Chitose over the others. Her hair is just lovely, and even her voice is pretty! Hideki doesn't know what he's missing! Or so I think.
Personally, I can't see myself loving a robot. Maybe that's why I don't think Chii is more than Mildly Cute. If we ever have human-esque robots in our lives, and you wanna snuggle with one, I won't stop you. But I can't see myself loving one. I could see myself being charmed by a robot girl, though, but not in love. By the way, just because Sumomo is tiny, has pink hair, and an extremely high-pitched voice doesn't automatically mean she's cute. Because she's not. Oh, Kotoko also appears in Tsubasa in an alternate-reality guise.
Chobits Final Score: 7 out of 10. Interesting take on a romance series, but nothing spectacular. Has some touching scenes later on in the series, though.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
"Hideki is a pervert."
Actually, scratch that last post. My favorite episode of Chobits is the one where Chii gets a job . . . in a strip club. It was funny, but also disturbing in how someone like Chii could be taken advantage of. I love the English voices of this show. Maybe it's because it's all voice actors I can recognize, but somehow, the characters sound really nuanced. I love the way Hideki screams in the anime. Example, "Chii knows about bath house. Chii read about them in Hideki's magazines." *shows images of nude women in hot tubs* "NOOOOOOOO!"
Also, the title of this entry couldn't be more true. Man, this guy's got raging hormones. I only hope his attitude changes later on. How girl crazy can a guy be, anyways?
Now switching gears,
I didn't notice at first, but there's an alternate reality version of Chitose in Tsubasa. (In case you forgot, Chitose=cute apartment manager from Chobits.) You can see her in volume 7. According to my sources, I have also seen alternate-reality versions of characters from RG Veda, Clover, and Magic Knight Rayearth. Only problem is, I know absolutely nothing about these series. Absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch. Trying to read about them on Wikipedia only yields more confusion. "RG Veda was the first manga series published by CLAMP." Um, okay, first series by the authors and artists that eventually gave us CCS and X/1999, right? Other than that, I know nothing. I am ignorant. Also, "Magic Knight Rayearth was the first series publsihed by CLAMP that was a hit." A hit? Are you sure? How come I don't know anything about it? And Clover . . . I know the manga version ran for four volumes, must be a pretty short series. You gotta understand; I've been around some of the most fuckin' hardcore otaku in my life, both in Real World, and Internet World, and absolutely no one has mentioned anything about any of these three series.
And, unlike some people, I will admit to my own ignorance of something. After all, the first step to getting smarter is simply acknowledging that you do not know. Did wonders for Socrates, apparently. And, since I don't like to bullshit people, I have only one respnse to the following question, "What can you tell me about Magic Knight Rayearth?" My response is this:
"I have no clue whatsoever. You tell me."
Well, okay, I could say, "a character from Rayearth has a cameo spot in the second volume of Tsubasa, but otherwise, I don't really know anything else." Strange. I knew quite a bit about FMA before I got into that.
Before I go, I would also like to check out the manga version of Chobits. I here it's better than the anime. Only problem is, considering that Chobits is adult-oriented, I don't think I could get away with reading that in the bookstore. I live in America, the land where cutting people's heads off is alright, so long as no one is flashing in public. Maybe if the library wasn't wiped out of its comic books right now, I could check it out, but someone's gonna see me carrying that in the library, and when I'm walking to the car, and I know how prudish some Americans are, on the subject of nekkid chicks. Come on, it's only a book! I'm nowhere near as perverse as Hideki! Honest!
Also, the title of this entry couldn't be more true. Man, this guy's got raging hormones. I only hope his attitude changes later on. How girl crazy can a guy be, anyways?
Now switching gears,
I didn't notice at first, but there's an alternate reality version of Chitose in Tsubasa. (In case you forgot, Chitose=cute apartment manager from Chobits.) You can see her in volume 7. According to my sources, I have also seen alternate-reality versions of characters from RG Veda, Clover, and Magic Knight Rayearth. Only problem is, I know absolutely nothing about these series. Absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch. Trying to read about them on Wikipedia only yields more confusion. "RG Veda was the first manga series published by CLAMP." Um, okay, first series by the authors and artists that eventually gave us CCS and X/1999, right? Other than that, I know nothing. I am ignorant. Also, "Magic Knight Rayearth was the first series publsihed by CLAMP that was a hit." A hit? Are you sure? How come I don't know anything about it? And Clover . . . I know the manga version ran for four volumes, must be a pretty short series. You gotta understand; I've been around some of the most fuckin' hardcore otaku in my life, both in Real World, and Internet World, and absolutely no one has mentioned anything about any of these three series.
And, unlike some people, I will admit to my own ignorance of something. After all, the first step to getting smarter is simply acknowledging that you do not know. Did wonders for Socrates, apparently. And, since I don't like to bullshit people, I have only one respnse to the following question, "What can you tell me about Magic Knight Rayearth?" My response is this:
"I have no clue whatsoever. You tell me."
Well, okay, I could say, "a character from Rayearth has a cameo spot in the second volume of Tsubasa, but otherwise, I don't really know anything else." Strange. I knew quite a bit about FMA before I got into that.
Before I go, I would also like to check out the manga version of Chobits. I here it's better than the anime. Only problem is, considering that Chobits is adult-oriented, I don't think I could get away with reading that in the bookstore. I live in America, the land where cutting people's heads off is alright, so long as no one is flashing in public. Maybe if the library wasn't wiped out of its comic books right now, I could check it out, but someone's gonna see me carrying that in the library, and when I'm walking to the car, and I know how prudish some Americans are, on the subject of nekkid chicks. Come on, it's only a book! I'm nowhere near as perverse as Hideki! Honest!
Monday, July 21, 2008
It's great to be in a rebellious mood
Well well, Internet. I have a surprise for you. Today, I actually found something to watch online, while I'm still on break. Would you like to know what I've been watching? Simple. I have been watching Chobits.
"Chii?"
Yes, I have been watching the anime version of Chobits. I like it. It's funny. Hideki is so awkward around women, it's absurd. I would say this is the second-funniest anime series I've seen, behind only Haruhi. But, I am aware that this is a series from CLAMP, and that not all people are fans of CLAMP. So in a sense, by watching, and enjoying Chobits, I am being rebellious towards CLAMP haters.
Also, I've been watching the English dubbed version. It sounds really good, and in doing so, I also rebel against the dreaded dub haters.
"Chii!" *gets groped by a robot girl*
But, ya know, some of the characters I've seen in Chobits also appear in Tsubasa. There is an alternate reality version of Chii in Tsubasa, as well as Sumomo. Also, the robot maids that that one kid owns also appear in Tsubasa, but their Tsubasa counterparts are better dressed, and don't have ridiculously huge bosoms.
But getting back, my favorite episode so far is the one where Chii buys underpants. I never knew buying women's undergarments would be so difficult.
Before I go watch more, I will say this; Chii is . . . mildly cute. Sorry, but she's not really my type, but, for all you anime junkies, I will say, better Chii than Lina. Still, I think if I were in Hideki's position, I'd be more partial to the apartment manager. Now she's cute! But hey, that's just me.
"Chii?"
Yes, I have been watching the anime version of Chobits. I like it. It's funny. Hideki is so awkward around women, it's absurd. I would say this is the second-funniest anime series I've seen, behind only Haruhi. But, I am aware that this is a series from CLAMP, and that not all people are fans of CLAMP. So in a sense, by watching, and enjoying Chobits, I am being rebellious towards CLAMP haters.
Also, I've been watching the English dubbed version. It sounds really good, and in doing so, I also rebel against the dreaded dub haters.
"Chii!" *gets groped by a robot girl*
But, ya know, some of the characters I've seen in Chobits also appear in Tsubasa. There is an alternate reality version of Chii in Tsubasa, as well as Sumomo. Also, the robot maids that that one kid owns also appear in Tsubasa, but their Tsubasa counterparts are better dressed, and don't have ridiculously huge bosoms.
But getting back, my favorite episode so far is the one where Chii buys underpants. I never knew buying women's undergarments would be so difficult.
Before I go watch more, I will say this; Chii is . . . mildly cute. Sorry, but she's not really my type, but, for all you anime junkies, I will say, better Chii than Lina. Still, I think if I were in Hideki's position, I'd be more partial to the apartment manager. Now she's cute! But hey, that's just me.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
"It was incredible! I didn't think his body would hold it!"
So, having completed DBZ: Legendary Super Warriors, I have now acquired another Dragonball game for my emulator: Dragonball Advance Adventure.
This is a 2D platformer for the GBA that lets you re-enact the original DB series. You are Goku, when he still had a tail. He may be a kid who can't go Super Saiyan, but you can use the Kamehameha. You fight enemies with a simplistic fighting game engines, using punches, jump kicks, and Goku's extendable pole on enemies. There are times when you fight a boss where the mechanics shift to that of a real fighting game, where you must knock someone out Budokai style. Overall, the game is very fun. It's a throwback to the 2D games of my childhood, the kind of games that dominated the lineup of the SNES and the Genesis.
And boy howdy, it sure is a huge jump going from a GBC game to a GBA game. The colors are way better, the animation is way better, the sound is in stereo instead of mono, and it even looks better than many of my SNES games! I'm still amazed that there are portable systems that can outdo the 2D splendor of the SNES and PS1. It also plays faster than GB and GBC games.
I don't know a whole lot about original DB, but I will say this; Oolong is a pig. In more ways than one. I think you know what I mean. By the way, tune in tomorrow (assuming my internet doesn't fail me) for a surprise . . . and it's not Dragonball-related, but it will be a surprise . . .
This is a 2D platformer for the GBA that lets you re-enact the original DB series. You are Goku, when he still had a tail. He may be a kid who can't go Super Saiyan, but you can use the Kamehameha. You fight enemies with a simplistic fighting game engines, using punches, jump kicks, and Goku's extendable pole on enemies. There are times when you fight a boss where the mechanics shift to that of a real fighting game, where you must knock someone out Budokai style. Overall, the game is very fun. It's a throwback to the 2D games of my childhood, the kind of games that dominated the lineup of the SNES and the Genesis.
And boy howdy, it sure is a huge jump going from a GBC game to a GBA game. The colors are way better, the animation is way better, the sound is in stereo instead of mono, and it even looks better than many of my SNES games! I'm still amazed that there are portable systems that can outdo the 2D splendor of the SNES and PS1. It also plays faster than GB and GBC games.
I don't know a whole lot about original DB, but I will say this; Oolong is a pig. In more ways than one. I think you know what I mean. By the way, tune in tomorrow (assuming my internet doesn't fail me) for a surprise . . . and it's not Dragonball-related, but it will be a surprise . . .
Thursday, July 17, 2008
An important chat with my mother
So, a few months ago, I got to talking with Mom about something, and she taught me something I wasn't aware of until now. She told me it's entirely possible to have a non-sexual and non-romantic attraction to somebody, a crush if you will. "But, I thought a crush meant you were in love with somebody!" I said in protest. Mom said that being in love is like a crush, except that your liking of said person is multiplied by a factor of 30.
ooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Yeah, looking at it like this, I can say that I haven't been in love with a lot of girls in my life, however, I have formed several crushes in my time. A few of my crushes are on celebrities (I will not say who at this moment, though), and others on people I know, usually cute girls. Heck, I had a crush on a girl last semester, but can you blame me though? She had really pretty brown eyes and hair, and you know I like well-mannered brunettes with brown eyes! But, it was only that, a crush. My attraction wasn't great enough that I wanted to be close to her.
But, to make things interesting, looking back (and I'm sure astute readers have already picked up on this), I can say I've even developed non-romantic likings for girls from works of fiction.
Yeah, remember when I said my favorite character from Persona 3 was Yukari, but I claimed I didn't have a crush on her? Actually, I lied. Well, lied out of ignorance. What I was trying to say is, I can't be in love with someone who's not real, but I can certainly take a liking to them nonetheless. And I still say Yukari-chan was delightful. This also explains how Tron Bonne from Megaman Legends and Arche Klaine from Tales of Phantasia were my favorite characters from said games. Simple; I had a non-sexual, non-romantic crush on both! And still do!
And also, in my current manga series I'm reading, Tsubasa, I always feel happy whenever I see Sakura-hime in high spirits. By the way, from now on, when I say Sakura-hime, I am referring to the Sakura from Tsubasa. If I don't, then I'm referring to the Sakura from CCS. Anyways, Sakura-chan is a little too young to be having a crush on. Sure, she's Insanely Cute, and is fun to watch, but she is just a child. Sakura-hime, meanwhile, is a little older, a little more mature, but is still very sweet. I can see why Shaoran-kun is going on this journey. Yes, it's true; my latest non-sexual crush is on Sakura-hime! But, just like with Yukari-chan, I can't help myself! She is just too cute for words!
Thanks, Mom. Now I sound like a stereotypical 21st century nerd, now. But try as they might, I would still prefer a crush in the real world over a crush from a game or a comic. And of course, a love interest trumps all crushes. Yeah, isn't it interesting, how we as humans develops different levels of attachment to different kinds of people? Yeah, it is.
ooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Yeah, looking at it like this, I can say that I haven't been in love with a lot of girls in my life, however, I have formed several crushes in my time. A few of my crushes are on celebrities (I will not say who at this moment, though), and others on people I know, usually cute girls. Heck, I had a crush on a girl last semester, but can you blame me though? She had really pretty brown eyes and hair, and you know I like well-mannered brunettes with brown eyes! But, it was only that, a crush. My attraction wasn't great enough that I wanted to be close to her.
But, to make things interesting, looking back (and I'm sure astute readers have already picked up on this), I can say I've even developed non-romantic likings for girls from works of fiction.
Yeah, remember when I said my favorite character from Persona 3 was Yukari, but I claimed I didn't have a crush on her? Actually, I lied. Well, lied out of ignorance. What I was trying to say is, I can't be in love with someone who's not real, but I can certainly take a liking to them nonetheless. And I still say Yukari-chan was delightful. This also explains how Tron Bonne from Megaman Legends and Arche Klaine from Tales of Phantasia were my favorite characters from said games. Simple; I had a non-sexual, non-romantic crush on both! And still do!
And also, in my current manga series I'm reading, Tsubasa, I always feel happy whenever I see Sakura-hime in high spirits. By the way, from now on, when I say Sakura-hime, I am referring to the Sakura from Tsubasa. If I don't, then I'm referring to the Sakura from CCS. Anyways, Sakura-chan is a little too young to be having a crush on. Sure, she's Insanely Cute, and is fun to watch, but she is just a child. Sakura-hime, meanwhile, is a little older, a little more mature, but is still very sweet. I can see why Shaoran-kun is going on this journey. Yes, it's true; my latest non-sexual crush is on Sakura-hime! But, just like with Yukari-chan, I can't help myself! She is just too cute for words!
Thanks, Mom. Now I sound like a stereotypical 21st century nerd, now. But try as they might, I would still prefer a crush in the real world over a crush from a game or a comic. And of course, a love interest trumps all crushes. Yeah, isn't it interesting, how we as humans develops different levels of attachment to different kinds of people? Yeah, it is.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
"THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS GOING TO DIE!"
Do you know how I even discovered those DBZ parodies?
Well, one day, I was watching youtube vids. I was watching playthroughs of various videogames. One of the games I watched was DBZ: The Legacy of Goku II. I thought, "Hey, this game looks pretty good. It's a Zelda clone, for sure, but it looks like I might actually like it." Sometime later, I wanted to look up those DBZ playthroughs again, so I punched in, "Dragonball Z" but one of the matches was for an abridged series, I watched it, and I liked it.
But I also saw a playthrough of another DBZ game. One called Dragonball Z: Legendary Super Warriors for the Gameboy Color. This game actually looked really good. I have attempted emulation of Gameboy games before. Although I deleted my GB/C/A emulator and ROMs a long time ago*, I was inspired. I downloaded the latest build of VisualBoyAdvance, went looking for ROMs, and miracle of miracles, I found a working DBZ: LSW ROM in a surprisingly short amount of time.
LSW, being a GBC game, lacks stereo sound, and has the graphical quality of a latter NES game. Nonetheless, it's great fun. LSW is a turned-based strategy game where you re-enact the most famous fight scenes from the entire DBZ tv series. (Yes, the entire series. It starts with when Vegeta was a full-blown villain, and ends with Kid Buu, and every alien overlord and android in-between.) The game is card-based. You draw a card to attack your foe, move around, block or evade an attack, raise one of your stats, lower one of your enemies' stats, and "power up". I don't think it's based off the DBZ trading card game, though. I'm pretty sure these are original cards. Anyways, there's a good amount of depth to this game. It's not always as simple as unleashing a kick combo or a Spirit Bomb every chance you get. Your opponents will read your moves, fake you out, and exploit your character's weaknesses. Luckily, you can do the same. You play as all of the Z fighters, including Goku, my favorite Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks, Vegeta, among others. You can level up your characters in an RPG-like manner, and you can actually choose which stat to build up when you gain a level. Putting more of the role in roleplaying. Part of the strategy is knowing which cards to use in battle. You can only use so many cards. Also, some cards can't be used by some characters. Goku can't use Piccolo's regeneration ability. Likewise, the Saiyans can't use Super Beam Cannon.
The game is rather challenging; the AI doesn't hold back. Also, luck is a factor. Having save states makes the game easier, but also allows for cheating, which ruins the fun, I think. However, I have read that this game has a "New Game+" feature, meaning you can replay the game with every character you've played as, at heightened levels, and with every card you've collected. Theoretically, on your second playthrough, you could fight Nappa as Gotenks. In SS3 form. Talk about overkill.
It is a great game, and makes the fight scenes a lot shorter than they were in the anime. My only gripe is the dialogue was poorly translated. Characters sometimes speak in NES-era broken English, this, depsite the fact that the game came out in 2002! Hey, shortly after the release of the GBA, how quaint. So, just skip all the story sequences, and you'll be fine. Another example of a licensed game done right.
But now I wanna try out The Legacy of Goku II. My emulator does play GBA games.
*I had downloaded VBA back in early 2005, and I found a website with GBA ROMs. With this, I played Megaman Zero 2, 3, and Sonic Advance 3 on my PC. Sadly, the ROM site went under, and I couldn't find any other reliable sites back then. Also, I got bored with my few games, so I baleeted them and the emulator. I mean, can you compare MMZ3 with MM3, or SA3 with S3&K? I can't. But now, that might change, especially since I haven't played MMZ4 yet . . .
And, now that I seem to have become some kind of bizarro DragonBall fan, who only likes DB videogames and fan parodies, I now end this in a mockery of a typical DBZ episode:
(sounding like DBZ narrator) Next time, xm0123 reveals an enlightening chat he had with his mother in the real world. What does the chat hold in store for our heroic scholar of the 21st century? And what it have to do with the latest manga series xm is into? What is the connection between xm's mom and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle? Find out . . . in the next installment of . . . . . . . . . .XM0123'S . . . . . . DO . . . . . . . . . MAIN! *insert electronic keyboard riff*
P.S. You can add Bulma and Android No. 18 to my list of "Anime chicks who are Not Cute." Yes, there are some people out there who seem to regard Bulma and 18 with Krillen's mindset. God damn fanboys! You have no taste at all!
Well, one day, I was watching youtube vids. I was watching playthroughs of various videogames. One of the games I watched was DBZ: The Legacy of Goku II. I thought, "Hey, this game looks pretty good. It's a Zelda clone, for sure, but it looks like I might actually like it." Sometime later, I wanted to look up those DBZ playthroughs again, so I punched in, "Dragonball Z" but one of the matches was for an abridged series, I watched it, and I liked it.
But I also saw a playthrough of another DBZ game. One called Dragonball Z: Legendary Super Warriors for the Gameboy Color. This game actually looked really good. I have attempted emulation of Gameboy games before. Although I deleted my GB/C/A emulator and ROMs a long time ago*, I was inspired. I downloaded the latest build of VisualBoyAdvance, went looking for ROMs, and miracle of miracles, I found a working DBZ: LSW ROM in a surprisingly short amount of time.
LSW, being a GBC game, lacks stereo sound, and has the graphical quality of a latter NES game. Nonetheless, it's great fun. LSW is a turned-based strategy game where you re-enact the most famous fight scenes from the entire DBZ tv series. (Yes, the entire series. It starts with when Vegeta was a full-blown villain, and ends with Kid Buu, and every alien overlord and android in-between.) The game is card-based. You draw a card to attack your foe, move around, block or evade an attack, raise one of your stats, lower one of your enemies' stats, and "power up". I don't think it's based off the DBZ trading card game, though. I'm pretty sure these are original cards. Anyways, there's a good amount of depth to this game. It's not always as simple as unleashing a kick combo or a Spirit Bomb every chance you get. Your opponents will read your moves, fake you out, and exploit your character's weaknesses. Luckily, you can do the same. You play as all of the Z fighters, including Goku, my favorite Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks, Vegeta, among others. You can level up your characters in an RPG-like manner, and you can actually choose which stat to build up when you gain a level. Putting more of the role in roleplaying. Part of the strategy is knowing which cards to use in battle. You can only use so many cards. Also, some cards can't be used by some characters. Goku can't use Piccolo's regeneration ability. Likewise, the Saiyans can't use Super Beam Cannon.
The game is rather challenging; the AI doesn't hold back. Also, luck is a factor. Having save states makes the game easier, but also allows for cheating, which ruins the fun, I think. However, I have read that this game has a "New Game+" feature, meaning you can replay the game with every character you've played as, at heightened levels, and with every card you've collected. Theoretically, on your second playthrough, you could fight Nappa as Gotenks. In SS3 form. Talk about overkill.
It is a great game, and makes the fight scenes a lot shorter than they were in the anime. My only gripe is the dialogue was poorly translated. Characters sometimes speak in NES-era broken English, this, depsite the fact that the game came out in 2002! Hey, shortly after the release of the GBA, how quaint. So, just skip all the story sequences, and you'll be fine. Another example of a licensed game done right.
But now I wanna try out The Legacy of Goku II. My emulator does play GBA games.
*I had downloaded VBA back in early 2005, and I found a website with GBA ROMs. With this, I played Megaman Zero 2, 3, and Sonic Advance 3 on my PC. Sadly, the ROM site went under, and I couldn't find any other reliable sites back then. Also, I got bored with my few games, so I baleeted them and the emulator. I mean, can you compare MMZ3 with MM3, or SA3 with S3&K? I can't. But now, that might change, especially since I haven't played MMZ4 yet . . .
And, now that I seem to have become some kind of bizarro DragonBall fan, who only likes DB videogames and fan parodies, I now end this in a mockery of a typical DBZ episode:
(sounding like DBZ narrator) Next time, xm0123 reveals an enlightening chat he had with his mother in the real world. What does the chat hold in store for our heroic scholar of the 21st century? And what it have to do with the latest manga series xm is into? What is the connection between xm's mom and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle? Find out . . . in the next installment of . . . . . . . . . .XM0123'S . . . . . . DO . . . . . . . . . MAIN! *insert electronic keyboard riff*
P.S. You can add Bulma and Android No. 18 to my list of "Anime chicks who are Not Cute." Yes, there are some people out there who seem to regard Bulma and 18 with Krillen's mindset. God damn fanboys! You have no taste at all!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
"The Balls are inert."
I really wanted to like Dragonball. Honestly, I did. Unfortunately, Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT are just too stupid, too full of plot holes, too full of contradictions to be enjoyable. That's too bad. On the plus side, because of the wackiness of DB, it does translate into videogames much better than it does a manga or anime series. And, ya know, I like Gohan, he's cool, but the DB madness continues to baffle me. Especially since Naruto and Bleach do the same exact thing, except better.
Well believe it or not, I have discovered something pertaining to Dragonball Z that I find enjoyable. Something other than powning Frieza as kid Gohan in a PS2 fighting game.
I direct you to this Youtube vid. EDIT: That link's dead. Whatever. Just go to youtube and punch "Dragonball Z Abridged" to see what I'm talking about.
Now, this isn't the first time someone's done a fandubbing of DBZ, and certainly isn't the first time it was a parody fandub. But this abridged series, oh man, it's just too hilarious! As of right now, two episodes are up, as well as a few short vids, including one making fun of a certain someone's power level. The voices sound surprising close to the actual English dub voices, and, well, it's just funny! Of the three DB series, DBZ is the one I'm most familiar with, and although I haven't seen any of the anime in years, I do remember one important detail; Goku is an idiot. In this abridged series, he's even more of an idiot. Also, Krillen is even more of a wimp. I've always felt sorry for him.
I've heard that this is the best abridged series since the parody of Yu-Gi-Oh from a while back. ("Screw the rules! I have money!") I don't normally watch parody stuff, but yeah, this parody of DBZ has made it enjoyable even for me.
Can't wait for more.
Well believe it or not, I have discovered something pertaining to Dragonball Z that I find enjoyable. Something other than powning Frieza as kid Gohan in a PS2 fighting game.
I direct you to this Youtube vid. EDIT: That link's dead. Whatever. Just go to youtube and punch "Dragonball Z Abridged" to see what I'm talking about.
Now, this isn't the first time someone's done a fandubbing of DBZ, and certainly isn't the first time it was a parody fandub. But this abridged series, oh man, it's just too hilarious! As of right now, two episodes are up, as well as a few short vids, including one making fun of a certain someone's power level. The voices sound surprising close to the actual English dub voices, and, well, it's just funny! Of the three DB series, DBZ is the one I'm most familiar with, and although I haven't seen any of the anime in years, I do remember one important detail; Goku is an idiot. In this abridged series, he's even more of an idiot. Also, Krillen is even more of a wimp. I've always felt sorry for him.
I've heard that this is the best abridged series since the parody of Yu-Gi-Oh from a while back. ("Screw the rules! I have money!") I don't normally watch parody stuff, but yeah, this parody of DBZ has made it enjoyable even for me.
Can't wait for more.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Come on, come on! Come on, come on! Do the Donkey Kong!
Anybody who calls themselves a gamer surely has heard of Donkey Kong, the arcade game that put Nintendo on the map, and introduced Mario and DK to the world. I played the NES port when I was a kid, and I also played a special version of Donkey Kong when I was young.
I played Donkey Kong in the real world.
Well, you see, my older brother was also familiar with Donkey Kong, and one day during vacation from school, I got this idea; we play Donkey Kong, I would be the role of Mario, my brother would be DK, and instead of throwing barrels, he would throw pillows, 'cause, you know, I don't anyone to get hurt. The 'stage' was my bedroom. My brother, as DK, would be on my bed. I had to get to his level to win. (Sorry, but Pauline doesn't exist in my version of DK.) To simulate climbing up the ladders, I would go in a direction that wasn't towards the bed, and when I got to the end, I wold move up towards "DK" like I was climbing a ladder, then I would move laterally again, then go up again, and I would keep going until I was on the same lateral level as the bed. I jump on the bed, I win. I get hit by a pillow, I die.
My brother enjoyed this, because I made it a lot harder on myself, and ridiculously easy for him. I had the 'stage' visualized on my mind. There was one problem though, I was applying 2D mechanics to a 3D world. Therefore, my brother didn't roll barrels at me, no, He threw them directly at me 100 percent of the time! And not only that, he knew that when I went up a "ladder", I was dead meat. And you know why else my brother enjoyed this? Because, when I played, I tried to imitate the sound effects with my mouth as I played, as to give an authentic DK experience. Observe.
"Doot doo doo doo doo doo doo, doo doodoodoodoodoo." And every step I took, I went, "doot doo doot doot doot doot doot doot." And when I climbed a ladder, I went, "Doot doot doot doo doo." And when I "died" which was quite frequent, I would spin around, and fall on my back, and as I did, I went, "A wee wee wee wee wee wee wee wee, doo doo doo doooooo." Then I would start from the beginning, because I am a masochist.
However, I did have two tricks up my sleeve. One, I could dodge the pillows however I wanted. So long as I didn't go up or down on the "Stage", I could dodge pillows however I wanted. I juked left and right. I ducked under pillows. And I even jumped over pillows aimed for my legs. And I had one other trick. You see, I had a cartoon mallet toy. It was inflatable, and therefore, practically harmless, but it would serve as my Super Hammer! Yes, after the first "ladder", and after several defeats and several days of humiliating defeat, I added a hammer on the second part of the "stage." And when I had it, I did the hammer theme in a capella, and since that mallet toy was fairly large, (well, for a 9 year old child,) I could smash those pillows to kingdom come. Of course, because of my self-imposed rules, I couldn't climb the next "ladder" until I got rid of the hammer, but it made things do-able.
Now then, you're probably asking, "Did you ever actually win?" Yes. One time, I did. To my brother's astonishment, I got up to DK's level, jumped onto the bed, and won. However, there were more times when I got up to DK's level, and all I had to do was jump on the bed, but I was so close to him, that he could nail me mid-flight. Oh yes, this was a version of Donkey Kong where the closer you get to DK, the more dangerous he became.
It was fun, my brother was a good DK, and I did my best as Mario, despite my limitations. But it goes to show, with a little imagination, you can play anything, including videogames in the real world.
I played Donkey Kong in the real world.
Well, you see, my older brother was also familiar with Donkey Kong, and one day during vacation from school, I got this idea; we play Donkey Kong, I would be the role of Mario, my brother would be DK, and instead of throwing barrels, he would throw pillows, 'cause, you know, I don't anyone to get hurt. The 'stage' was my bedroom. My brother, as DK, would be on my bed. I had to get to his level to win. (Sorry, but Pauline doesn't exist in my version of DK.) To simulate climbing up the ladders, I would go in a direction that wasn't towards the bed, and when I got to the end, I wold move up towards "DK" like I was climbing a ladder, then I would move laterally again, then go up again, and I would keep going until I was on the same lateral level as the bed. I jump on the bed, I win. I get hit by a pillow, I die.
My brother enjoyed this, because I made it a lot harder on myself, and ridiculously easy for him. I had the 'stage' visualized on my mind. There was one problem though, I was applying 2D mechanics to a 3D world. Therefore, my brother didn't roll barrels at me, no, He threw them directly at me 100 percent of the time! And not only that, he knew that when I went up a "ladder", I was dead meat. And you know why else my brother enjoyed this? Because, when I played, I tried to imitate the sound effects with my mouth as I played, as to give an authentic DK experience. Observe.
"Doot doo doo doo doo doo doo, doo doodoodoodoodoo." And every step I took, I went, "doot doo doot doot doot doot doot doot." And when I climbed a ladder, I went, "Doot doot doot doo doo." And when I "died" which was quite frequent, I would spin around, and fall on my back, and as I did, I went, "A wee wee wee wee wee wee wee wee, doo doo doo doooooo." Then I would start from the beginning, because I am a masochist.
However, I did have two tricks up my sleeve. One, I could dodge the pillows however I wanted. So long as I didn't go up or down on the "Stage", I could dodge pillows however I wanted. I juked left and right. I ducked under pillows. And I even jumped over pillows aimed for my legs. And I had one other trick. You see, I had a cartoon mallet toy. It was inflatable, and therefore, practically harmless, but it would serve as my Super Hammer! Yes, after the first "ladder", and after several defeats and several days of humiliating defeat, I added a hammer on the second part of the "stage." And when I had it, I did the hammer theme in a capella, and since that mallet toy was fairly large, (well, for a 9 year old child,) I could smash those pillows to kingdom come. Of course, because of my self-imposed rules, I couldn't climb the next "ladder" until I got rid of the hammer, but it made things do-able.
Now then, you're probably asking, "Did you ever actually win?" Yes. One time, I did. To my brother's astonishment, I got up to DK's level, jumped onto the bed, and won. However, there were more times when I got up to DK's level, and all I had to do was jump on the bed, but I was so close to him, that he could nail me mid-flight. Oh yes, this was a version of Donkey Kong where the closer you get to DK, the more dangerous he became.
It was fun, my brother was a good DK, and I did my best as Mario, despite my limitations. But it goes to show, with a little imagination, you can play anything, including videogames in the real world.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
How dare I compare angel feathers to heartless beings!
So, Tsubasa, it's proven itself to be a really enjoyable manga. However, Tsubasa reminds me of something.
Look at this, the premise of Tsubasa is characters from CLAMP series travel to all these different dimensions, many of which based off older CLAMP series, to look for angel feathers that belong to the Tsubasa version of Sakura. In the meantime, the gang encounters characters that are from other CLAMP series, or alternate reality versions of CLAMP characters. Consequently, the two lead protagonists, Shaoran and Sakura, are alternate reality versions of characters from Cardcaptor Sakura. Throw in a few original characters (Fai and Kurogane) to make the series its own, and BAM! You have the premise of Tsubasa.
But, this whole visiting worlds from other comic series sounds an awful lot like the premise of a series of videogames I played on my PS2 not too long ago.
This game series I'm thinking of has you traveling to other universes to do things. One of your characters is all original, while the others are alternate reality versions of old characters. Every universe is based off a movie, and features the actual characters from said movies. Also, you sometimes encounter characters from a videogame franchise, and these videogame characters are alternate reality versions of said characters from their own games. Gee, that sounds an awful lot like Kingdom Hearts, doesn't it?
Oh my God. Tsubasa is Kingdom Hearts redone with CLAMP characters and worlds! What have I gotten myself into!?
And I like both Tsubasa and KH. Which one is better? Well, the child within me says "KH!" as well as the gamer within me, while the comic enthusiast says, "Tsubasa!" Hmm. Isn't that something, readers?
Look at this, the premise of Tsubasa is characters from CLAMP series travel to all these different dimensions, many of which based off older CLAMP series, to look for angel feathers that belong to the Tsubasa version of Sakura. In the meantime, the gang encounters characters that are from other CLAMP series, or alternate reality versions of CLAMP characters. Consequently, the two lead protagonists, Shaoran and Sakura, are alternate reality versions of characters from Cardcaptor Sakura. Throw in a few original characters (Fai and Kurogane) to make the series its own, and BAM! You have the premise of Tsubasa.
But, this whole visiting worlds from other comic series sounds an awful lot like the premise of a series of videogames I played on my PS2 not too long ago.
This game series I'm thinking of has you traveling to other universes to do things. One of your characters is all original, while the others are alternate reality versions of old characters. Every universe is based off a movie, and features the actual characters from said movies. Also, you sometimes encounter characters from a videogame franchise, and these videogame characters are alternate reality versions of said characters from their own games. Gee, that sounds an awful lot like Kingdom Hearts, doesn't it?
Oh my God. Tsubasa is Kingdom Hearts redone with CLAMP characters and worlds! What have I gotten myself into!?
And I like both Tsubasa and KH. Which one is better? Well, the child within me says "KH!" as well as the gamer within me, while the comic enthusiast says, "Tsubasa!" Hmm. Isn't that something, readers?
Friday, July 11, 2008
cast o' characters, eh?
Well then, since I'm still off, I've had a lot of free time, still. And I've noticed; people sure like it when a story has memorable characterization. Some say the characters are what's most important in a story, be it a fictional story, or a real-life story.
And doing some analysis, I think there might be some truth to this. Take for example Final Fantasy 9, my favorite game in the FF franchise. That game has the best cast of characters for a FF game, surpassing the characters from FF4, 6, and 10, which is no small feat. Perhaps that's one reason I enjoy FF9 more than the others, because you got people like Zidane, Vivi, and Steiner.
Also, my favorite story in a videogame of all time is the one in Grim Fandango. One thing I've noticed about Grim Fandango is that I don't hate any of the characters. All of them are great, all of them. Again, that must mean something.
Now, this is something I mentioned elsewhere on the net, and something I still believe. Now, let us look at one of the worst tv shows of all time; Pokemon. Is there any character I like in Pokemon? No sir. Not a one. I hate EVERY-FUCKING-BODY in the Pokemon anime. Perhaps this explains why I feel physically disgusted every time I seen anything pertaining to the Pokemon anime these days.
So, when you're writing a story, you can't skip out on the characters. You can have an original setting and a great plot, but place forgettable characters and you'll lose the audience.
Why do I mention this? Well, this is because I took my mom's advice. I told her about the time I read the first volume of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, and she said, "If it's as good as you said, maybe you should buy it." And I was like, "But, starting another comic book series*, I don't think I can do that!"
*Remember, I don't use the terms, "manga" and "anime" in the real world.
Well, yesterday, I went back to the book store. And I started reading volume 2 of Tsubasa. After the first chapter, something clicked in my head and said, "Hey, Mom's right! This is good enough to own! Come on, would you rather spend your allowance on street drugs?" Of course not! So I bought some Tsubasa books, ladies and gentlemen. Anybody who dislikes CLAMP in general can stick it! They know their stuff! (Again, I am ignoring the character designs from Code Geass. Join with me in the denial, Internet, and then it should go away . . . . . . sometime . . .)
And you see, one of the things I like about Tsubasa are the characters. Both the major characters and the minor ones stick out in your mind. I like that.
However, because of this development, I am now taking a break from Bleach the manga. I went up to volume 12 of Bleach before (as of this writing) switching over to Tsubasa. Sorry, Ichigo, but it looks like some archaeologist kid has beaten you for the time being.
P.S. the anime version of Tsubasa SUCKS! Good god, they make the scenes like 16 times longer than they were in the manga! And sometimes, it felt more like I was watching a pop music video rather than a cartoon series! You really need to stick with the Tsubasa manga if you want something enjoyable.
And doing some analysis, I think there might be some truth to this. Take for example Final Fantasy 9, my favorite game in the FF franchise. That game has the best cast of characters for a FF game, surpassing the characters from FF4, 6, and 10, which is no small feat. Perhaps that's one reason I enjoy FF9 more than the others, because you got people like Zidane, Vivi, and Steiner.
Also, my favorite story in a videogame of all time is the one in Grim Fandango. One thing I've noticed about Grim Fandango is that I don't hate any of the characters. All of them are great, all of them. Again, that must mean something.
Now, this is something I mentioned elsewhere on the net, and something I still believe. Now, let us look at one of the worst tv shows of all time; Pokemon. Is there any character I like in Pokemon? No sir. Not a one. I hate EVERY-FUCKING-BODY in the Pokemon anime. Perhaps this explains why I feel physically disgusted every time I seen anything pertaining to the Pokemon anime these days.
So, when you're writing a story, you can't skip out on the characters. You can have an original setting and a great plot, but place forgettable characters and you'll lose the audience.
Why do I mention this? Well, this is because I took my mom's advice. I told her about the time I read the first volume of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, and she said, "If it's as good as you said, maybe you should buy it." And I was like, "But, starting another comic book series*, I don't think I can do that!"
*Remember, I don't use the terms, "manga" and "anime" in the real world.
Well, yesterday, I went back to the book store. And I started reading volume 2 of Tsubasa. After the first chapter, something clicked in my head and said, "Hey, Mom's right! This is good enough to own! Come on, would you rather spend your allowance on street drugs?" Of course not! So I bought some Tsubasa books, ladies and gentlemen. Anybody who dislikes CLAMP in general can stick it! They know their stuff! (Again, I am ignoring the character designs from Code Geass. Join with me in the denial, Internet, and then it should go away . . . . . . sometime . . .)
And you see, one of the things I like about Tsubasa are the characters. Both the major characters and the minor ones stick out in your mind. I like that.
However, because of this development, I am now taking a break from Bleach the manga. I went up to volume 12 of Bleach before (as of this writing) switching over to Tsubasa. Sorry, Ichigo, but it looks like some archaeologist kid has beaten you for the time being.
P.S. the anime version of Tsubasa SUCKS! Good god, they make the scenes like 16 times longer than they were in the manga! And sometimes, it felt more like I was watching a pop music video rather than a cartoon series! You really need to stick with the Tsubasa manga if you want something enjoyable.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Spite
That's the one thing the internet's never short on; spite. Even I unleash spite every now and then. (FUCK SLAYERS!)
However, do you think someone, somewhere out there has read my blog, and written entries on his (we'll assume he's a guy) own blog, just to spite me?
I'll guarantee you that I've upset at least one guy with my list of anime girls who are cute and not cute. I can see it now; this troll will write up his own list, and, by sheer coincidence, every chick under the "Not Cute" list will be every anime girl I have ever thought was Insanely Cute. I guarantee someone somewhere out there has said that; has slandered Arche, Sakura, Yukari, and everyone else. And then on his cute list, he'll, by coincidence, list every anime chick from either a series/movie I abhor, and/or someone I don't think is cute. Go ahead, declare your undying love for Lina Inverse. I dear you.
And then he will write about how I am a horrible human being who deserves to die and that I am a repressed gay furry because he says so and that I exist only to take up space. I just know someone out there is making these ad hominem attacks unbeknowst to me.
Or maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe my mind is only imagining the worst case scenario. Maybe it's the opposite; maybe I have not inspired spite, but rather, agreement. Maybe someone's writing, "I <3 Tron too!" Who knows? I keep myself isolated here on this blog. Bear in mind, I have my reasons.
However, do you think someone, somewhere out there has read my blog, and written entries on his (we'll assume he's a guy) own blog, just to spite me?
I'll guarantee you that I've upset at least one guy with my list of anime girls who are cute and not cute. I can see it now; this troll will write up his own list, and, by sheer coincidence, every chick under the "Not Cute" list will be every anime girl I have ever thought was Insanely Cute. I guarantee someone somewhere out there has said that; has slandered Arche, Sakura, Yukari, and everyone else. And then on his cute list, he'll, by coincidence, list every anime chick from either a series/movie I abhor, and/or someone I don't think is cute. Go ahead, declare your undying love for Lina Inverse. I dear you.
And then he will write about how I am a horrible human being who deserves to die and that I am a repressed gay furry because he says so and that I exist only to take up space. I just know someone out there is making these ad hominem attacks unbeknowst to me.
Or maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe my mind is only imagining the worst case scenario. Maybe it's the opposite; maybe I have not inspired spite, but rather, agreement. Maybe someone's writing, "I <3 Tron too!" Who knows? I keep myself isolated here on this blog. Bear in mind, I have my reasons.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Man, I should know better by now.
"xm0123, you didn't watch all of Neon Genesis Evangelion."
Yeah. I got bored of it. And lots of people said it only got worse after the 20th episode.
"So you ran away."
Ran away? What?
"You ran away, because you're a coward."
What is this, are you trying to compare me to Shinji? Sorry, but I kicked my depression back when I was 15, and I also got over my brief relapse of depression last year, too. I don't think I'm scared.
"You're scared, because you don't want people to compare you to otaku."
That's not it! I lost interest!
"By the time school starts, you may never see the end ever again."
Oh snap! You're right!
And thus, starting yesterday, and finishing today, I watched the rest of the Evangelion tv series. And, for the most part, it was as I feared: a disjointed, confusing mess, coupled with psychobabble, really depressing stuff, and not as much action as the earlier part of the series.
And no, I don't love the ending.
However, I felt it was worth it. Although I don't like the ending, in general, there were two part of the last episode that I liked. The first part I liked was when Shinji imagined life without Evas. It was the funniest part of the entire series. Shinji's parents were like normal parents, Asuka was still a brat, but was a little more helpful to to Shinji than before, Rei actually demonstrated some cheerfulness as "The Mysterious Transfer Student." and Touji, Kensuke, AND Shinji all ogled their lovely teacher, Miss Misato Katsuragi, who still drives like a maniac. Asuka complains about boys, and then all is well.
And the next part I liked. When Shinji sees that life doesn't always have to be a negative experience, he sort of channels Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life, but instead of George Bailey saying, "Clarence! I want to live again! I want to live again!" we get Shinji-kun saying, "Yes! I want to live in the real world again! I want everybody to live again!" And everyone he knows congratulates him . . . and that's it.
What happened? Did he save the world because he didn't wanna hate himself anymore? Did he die and now he's in his version of Heaven now? Was it all just a dream? Or a mass hallucination? I don't know. True to anything suffering from Evangelion Syndrome, *snicker* any conclusion I make could make sense, but also not make sense. I feel a sense of dissatisfaction, not knowing what truly happened, and also because there's some things I still don't understand. On the other hand, Eva has a better ending than the Inuyasha magna. BURNED!
Yes, Eva's ending is one I love and hate. My score of 7 out of 10 still stands. I feel Eva has potential, and there were some good scenes, but it's just short of excellence. My favorite episode was #18. Everything after that is lackluster, except for the second half of 26. It makes up for all the weirdness. Kind of.
But, there's still the Eva manga. And there's still the Eva movies that are currently in production. DUN DUN dun dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!
P.S. I have no interest in watching the two Eva movies which supposedly shows what happened in the outside world during the last two episodes. As dissed as the tv ending was, the "End of Evangelion" ending was even more hated, from my observations. So there.
Yeah. I got bored of it. And lots of people said it only got worse after the 20th episode.
"So you ran away."
Ran away? What?
"You ran away, because you're a coward."
What is this, are you trying to compare me to Shinji? Sorry, but I kicked my depression back when I was 15, and I also got over my brief relapse of depression last year, too. I don't think I'm scared.
"You're scared, because you don't want people to compare you to otaku."
That's not it! I lost interest!
"By the time school starts, you may never see the end ever again."
Oh snap! You're right!
And thus, starting yesterday, and finishing today, I watched the rest of the Evangelion tv series. And, for the most part, it was as I feared: a disjointed, confusing mess, coupled with psychobabble, really depressing stuff, and not as much action as the earlier part of the series.
And no, I don't love the ending.
However, I felt it was worth it. Although I don't like the ending, in general, there were two part of the last episode that I liked. The first part I liked was when Shinji imagined life without Evas. It was the funniest part of the entire series. Shinji's parents were like normal parents, Asuka was still a brat, but was a little more helpful to to Shinji than before, Rei actually demonstrated some cheerfulness as "The Mysterious Transfer Student." and Touji, Kensuke, AND Shinji all ogled their lovely teacher, Miss Misato Katsuragi, who still drives like a maniac. Asuka complains about boys, and then all is well.
And the next part I liked. When Shinji sees that life doesn't always have to be a negative experience, he sort of channels Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life, but instead of George Bailey saying, "Clarence! I want to live again! I want to live again!" we get Shinji-kun saying, "Yes! I want to live in the real world again! I want everybody to live again!" And everyone he knows congratulates him . . . and that's it.
What happened? Did he save the world because he didn't wanna hate himself anymore? Did he die and now he's in his version of Heaven now? Was it all just a dream? Or a mass hallucination? I don't know. True to anything suffering from Evangelion Syndrome, *snicker* any conclusion I make could make sense, but also not make sense. I feel a sense of dissatisfaction, not knowing what truly happened, and also because there's some things I still don't understand. On the other hand, Eva has a better ending than the Inuyasha magna. BURNED!
Yes, Eva's ending is one I love and hate. My score of 7 out of 10 still stands. I feel Eva has potential, and there were some good scenes, but it's just short of excellence. My favorite episode was #18. Everything after that is lackluster, except for the second half of 26. It makes up for all the weirdness. Kind of.
But, there's still the Eva manga. And there's still the Eva movies that are currently in production. DUN DUN dun dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!
P.S. I have no interest in watching the two Eva movies which supposedly shows what happened in the outside world during the last two episodes. As dissed as the tv ending was, the "End of Evangelion" ending was even more hated, from my observations. So there.
Monday, July 7, 2008
The four degrees of cuteness, as transcribed by me
So, what is cute? Well, it depends on who you ask. Everyone has their own opinion as to what is cute, and what is not cute. And, I have my own opinions as to what is cute and what is not cute.
You see, their are four degrees of cuteness. Everything in the universe can fall under one of these four categories: Not Cute, Mildly Cute, Moderately Cute, and Insanely Cute. Many people think things like baby dogs, baby cats, baby humans, and baby whatever else are Insanely Cute, just because they're little. Well, to me, such things usually range between Not Cute to Mildly Cute.
Also, I am normally immune to cute. However, if exposed to something Insanely Cute, it will elicit a reaction from me. Sometimes, a big reaction. However, from my experience, almost everything that is Insanely Cute all have one thing in common; they're girls.
Yes, I know a few girls (typically close to my age, thank-you-very-much) in the real world who are Insanely Cute. At least one girl I have ever been in love with was Insanely Cute. I gravitate towards cute girls over sexy girls, if you can believe that.
And also, the rule of cute doesn't just apply to girls in the real world. I have seen a few fictional girls who are also Insanely Cute. You know I've already mentioned this in the past, regarding a certain somebody from a certain PS2 RPG, and also a certain somebody from two certain manga/anime series.
Which now brings me to this: anime is reputed to have a lot of cute girls in it. Apparently, lots of people think girls with huge eyes, tiny noses, and oddly colored hair are just too cute for words. Well, now that I'm more familiar with anime than ever before, I can confirm that a few anime girls actually are Insanely Cute. However, most of the time, they're Not Cute, or only Midly Cute, or perhaps Moderately Cute, but not Insanely Cute. However, sometimes, this bothers me. Too often I have seen somebody say, "OMG! So and So is just Kawaii!" And I look, and I say, "God damn it! No she's not! She's not cute at all!"
So, since I'm winding down from watching a bunch of anime series on veoh and adult swim, I thought I'd conclude the madness by making a list of a bunch of different anime girls, and seeing where they belong in The Four Degrees of Cuteness. Oh, also, this list also includes videogame girls who were drawn in the anime style, since, you know, I know more about games than anything else.
EDIT: The list was updated, for the last time, on September 8th, 2011.
Before I move on to the list, let me describe what the four degrees of cuteness mean for me.
Not Cute: "GOD DAMN IT! STOP FAWNING OVER SOMETHING SO STUPID/HIDEOUS/LAME ALREADY!!!!!!!
Mildly Cute: "What are you talking about!? She's not even that cute! Get a hold of yourself!"
Moderately Cute: "I guess she's kind of cute."
Insanely Cute: *plants palms of hands on cheeks* OH MY GOSH! THESE GIRLS ARE JUST ADORABLE! I COULD SNUGGLE WITH THEM FOREVER!
Lastly, this only covers characters made my Japanese authors only. If you're wondering why a Certain Tera Guardian and a Certain German Girl aren't on here, it's because they were made by Korean authors. Rest assured, I will make a list for miscellaneous characters someday. For now, the original list.
The following are Not Cute, God damn it! Get over yourselves already!:
Rei Ayanami.*
Misa Amane.
Konata Izumi.
Norma Beatty.**
Misty.***
Bulma.
Lina Inverse.
Yuki Nagato.
Nunnally Lamperouge.****
Tohru Honda.*****
A disclaimer before I go on: Although I dislike many of the characters on my Not Cute list, I don't dislike all of them. I like Kona-chan, I like Yuki Nagato, and I like the manga version of Rei. It's just that their "cuteness" is often exaggerated by fans.
The Following are Mildly Cute, now we see some improvement.:
Chiyo Mihama, AKA Chiyo-chan.
Mikuru Asahina.
Orihime Inoue.
Miyuki Itsumi.
Chii.
Tenten.
The Following are Moderately Cute, this is where it gets interesting.:
Winry Rockbell.
Haruhi Suzumiya.
Chitose Hibiya. (I can add adult women if I want!)
Pacifica Casull.
Rosette Christopher.
Sophia Esteed.
Yotsuba Koiwai.
Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga.
Suika Ibuki.
Rachel Alucard.
Akiha Tohno.
The Following are Insanely Cute, and are just deserving of a big hug!:
Arche Klaine.
Sakura Kinomoto. Both the CCS Sakura, AND the Tsubasa Sakura.
May Chang.
Yukari Takeba.
Meiling Li.
Tron Bonne.
Himawari Kunogi. But only the manga Himawari.
Nia Teppelin.
Tomoyo Daidouji. The ones from CCS and Piffle World anyways.
Yutaka Kobayakawa.
Hatoko Kobayashi.
Hotaru Tomoe, AKA Sailor Saturn.
Ami Mizuno, AKA Sailor Mercury.
Minako Aino, AKA Sailor Venus.
Taokaka, not so much in her appearance, but definitely in her voice and personality.
Vita.
Asahi Sakurai. (She's the girl beating up Johnny Cage here.)
Illyasviel von Einzbern.
Ponyo. (HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!)
Flonne. Well, at least in her angel form.
(Note: There are no Touhou characters listed on the Insanely Cute list here. To see every Touhou character I think is Insanely Cute, refer to this list. Including Touhou characters here would make it too slanted.)
(Further notice: Insanely Cute characters created by Key Visual Arts can now be found here.)
I hope you enjoyed my lists.
BUT WAIT! I also have; TOSS UPS!
Yeah, sometimes I can't decide whether I should put a girl on one list, or on the other. Let's check out a few toss ups, shall we?
Amber. (can't decide whether she's Moderately Cute or Insanely Cute)
Rena Ryuuguu.
Rin Natsume.
And now you know me better.
*I swear, man, what the fuck is wrong with the anime fanbase!? I've seen people get all gooey-eyed over Rei, of all people, ever since 2000-2001-ish, when I just first started hearing about Eva. You'd take Rei over Misato!? You and your taste in women! Well, at least now, I can understand it when someone says, "He's the kind of guy who has Rei Ayanami doujinshi for his wallpaper, if you catch my drift." Yeah, if by drift you mean screwed in the head!
**Oh man, puh-leeze don't remind me of her. Gawd, I fucking hate her.
***Do I really need to explain this one?
****tvropes says that she is "painfully cute and huggable." She. Is. NOT! How could a horrible caricature of a moe girl inspire me to wanna hug her!? I lose faith in thee, tvtropes.
*****No. Just no.
You see, their are four degrees of cuteness. Everything in the universe can fall under one of these four categories: Not Cute, Mildly Cute, Moderately Cute, and Insanely Cute. Many people think things like baby dogs, baby cats, baby humans, and baby whatever else are Insanely Cute, just because they're little. Well, to me, such things usually range between Not Cute to Mildly Cute.
Also, I am normally immune to cute. However, if exposed to something Insanely Cute, it will elicit a reaction from me. Sometimes, a big reaction. However, from my experience, almost everything that is Insanely Cute all have one thing in common; they're girls.
Yes, I know a few girls (typically close to my age, thank-you-very-much) in the real world who are Insanely Cute. At least one girl I have ever been in love with was Insanely Cute. I gravitate towards cute girls over sexy girls, if you can believe that.
And also, the rule of cute doesn't just apply to girls in the real world. I have seen a few fictional girls who are also Insanely Cute. You know I've already mentioned this in the past, regarding a certain somebody from a certain PS2 RPG, and also a certain somebody from two certain manga/anime series.
Which now brings me to this: anime is reputed to have a lot of cute girls in it. Apparently, lots of people think girls with huge eyes, tiny noses, and oddly colored hair are just too cute for words. Well, now that I'm more familiar with anime than ever before, I can confirm that a few anime girls actually are Insanely Cute. However, most of the time, they're Not Cute, or only Midly Cute, or perhaps Moderately Cute, but not Insanely Cute. However, sometimes, this bothers me. Too often I have seen somebody say, "OMG! So and So is just Kawaii!" And I look, and I say, "God damn it! No she's not! She's not cute at all!"
So, since I'm winding down from watching a bunch of anime series on veoh and adult swim, I thought I'd conclude the madness by making a list of a bunch of different anime girls, and seeing where they belong in The Four Degrees of Cuteness. Oh, also, this list also includes videogame girls who were drawn in the anime style, since, you know, I know more about games than anything else.
EDIT: The list was updated, for the last time, on September 8th, 2011.
Before I move on to the list, let me describe what the four degrees of cuteness mean for me.
Not Cute: "GOD DAMN IT! STOP FAWNING OVER SOMETHING SO STUPID/HIDEOUS/LAME ALREADY!!!!!!!
Mildly Cute: "What are you talking about!? She's not even that cute! Get a hold of yourself!"
Moderately Cute: "I guess she's kind of cute."
Insanely Cute: *plants palms of hands on cheeks* OH MY GOSH! THESE GIRLS ARE JUST ADORABLE! I COULD SNUGGLE WITH THEM FOREVER!
Lastly, this only covers characters made my Japanese authors only. If you're wondering why a Certain Tera Guardian and a Certain German Girl aren't on here, it's because they were made by Korean authors. Rest assured, I will make a list for miscellaneous characters someday. For now, the original list.
The following are Not Cute, God damn it! Get over yourselves already!:
Rei Ayanami.*
Misa Amane.
Konata Izumi.
Norma Beatty.**
Misty.***
Bulma.
Lina Inverse.
Yuki Nagato.
Nunnally Lamperouge.****
Tohru Honda.*****
A disclaimer before I go on: Although I dislike many of the characters on my Not Cute list, I don't dislike all of them. I like Kona-chan, I like Yuki Nagato, and I like the manga version of Rei. It's just that their "cuteness" is often exaggerated by fans.
The Following are Mildly Cute, now we see some improvement.:
Chiyo Mihama, AKA Chiyo-chan.
Mikuru Asahina.
Orihime Inoue.
Miyuki Itsumi.
Chii.
Tenten.
The Following are Moderately Cute, this is where it gets interesting.:
Winry Rockbell.
Haruhi Suzumiya.
Chitose Hibiya. (I can add adult women if I want!)
Pacifica Casull.
Rosette Christopher.
Sophia Esteed.
Yotsuba Koiwai.
Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga.
Suika Ibuki.
Rachel Alucard.
Akiha Tohno.
The Following are Insanely Cute, and are just deserving of a big hug!:
Arche Klaine.
Sakura Kinomoto. Both the CCS Sakura, AND the Tsubasa Sakura.
May Chang.
Yukari Takeba.
Meiling Li.
Tron Bonne.
Himawari Kunogi. But only the manga Himawari.
Nia Teppelin.
Tomoyo Daidouji. The ones from CCS and Piffle World anyways.
Yutaka Kobayakawa.
Hatoko Kobayashi.
Hotaru Tomoe, AKA Sailor Saturn.
Ami Mizuno, AKA Sailor Mercury.
Minako Aino, AKA Sailor Venus.
Taokaka, not so much in her appearance, but definitely in her voice and personality.
Vita.
Asahi Sakurai. (She's the girl beating up Johnny Cage here.)
Illyasviel von Einzbern.
Ponyo. (HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!)
Flonne. Well, at least in her angel form.
(Note: There are no Touhou characters listed on the Insanely Cute list here. To see every Touhou character I think is Insanely Cute, refer to this list. Including Touhou characters here would make it too slanted.)
(Further notice: Insanely Cute characters created by Key Visual Arts can now be found here.)
I hope you enjoyed my lists.
BUT WAIT! I also have; TOSS UPS!
Yeah, sometimes I can't decide whether I should put a girl on one list, or on the other. Let's check out a few toss ups, shall we?
Amber. (can't decide whether she's Moderately Cute or Insanely Cute)
Rena Ryuuguu.
Rin Natsume.
And now you know me better.
*I swear, man, what the fuck is wrong with the anime fanbase!? I've seen people get all gooey-eyed over Rei, of all people, ever since 2000-2001-ish, when I just first started hearing about Eva. You'd take Rei over Misato!? You and your taste in women! Well, at least now, I can understand it when someone says, "He's the kind of guy who has Rei Ayanami doujinshi for his wallpaper, if you catch my drift." Yeah, if by drift you mean screwed in the head!
**Oh man, puh-leeze don't remind me of her. Gawd, I fucking hate her.
***Do I really need to explain this one?
****tvropes says that she is "painfully cute and huggable." She. Is. NOT! How could a horrible caricature of a moe girl inspire me to wanna hug her!? I lose faith in thee, tvtropes.
*****No. Just no.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Horseless carriages? How delightfully absurd!
For those who have played the Gran Turismo games, you may remember that one of the upgrades you can buy for your car is a better muffler. Well, okay, it's an air filter, but it's also known as a muffler. If you buy the best one, it increases your car's horsepower significantly. How can that work, though? I don't know exactly how, but I know getting a good muffler in real life actually can improve the performance of your car.
For example, the first automobile I ever owned was a used 1990 Honda Accord. You know the ones: sub-compact, automatic, greenish-grey, and with a sunroof. I had one. However, there were some problems. One of the problems was the muffler was shot to Hell. My car sounded louder than it really should've. When I started it up, it sounded like a sports car. Swear to god, my Honda Accord roared like a Ferrari Testarossa at one time. Well, okay, not like a Ferrari, but close enough. However, about a year ago, I was going to receive a another car to drive from one of my grandmothers, a 1999 Saturn. She would give it to me, since she would no longer drive, (her driver's license is now expired) and also, out of all of her "Boys", I had the worst car. However, before I could get the Saturn, we had to sell the Honda. We wanted it to be in better condition than it was when I first got it. Enter my dad. He orders a brand new muffler over the internet. It gets delivered. We take the old one out, which was full of holes and burn marks, and put the new one in, which was beautiful in comparison to the old muffler. Now, not only did the Honda not try to sound like a sports car anymore, but with the new muffler, the air intake for the motor was vastly improved. I got better acceleration and engine response out of it. And eventually, one of my mom's co-workers bought the Honda, and now I drive a Saturn, which thankfully, doesn't have a worthless muffler.
So you see, don't disregard the muffler, fellow motorists. It can make a world of difference in your vehicle's performance. I know it does in real life, as well as in Gran Turismo 4.
For example, the first automobile I ever owned was a used 1990 Honda Accord. You know the ones: sub-compact, automatic, greenish-grey, and with a sunroof. I had one. However, there were some problems. One of the problems was the muffler was shot to Hell. My car sounded louder than it really should've. When I started it up, it sounded like a sports car. Swear to god, my Honda Accord roared like a Ferrari Testarossa at one time. Well, okay, not like a Ferrari, but close enough. However, about a year ago, I was going to receive a another car to drive from one of my grandmothers, a 1999 Saturn. She would give it to me, since she would no longer drive, (her driver's license is now expired) and also, out of all of her "Boys", I had the worst car. However, before I could get the Saturn, we had to sell the Honda. We wanted it to be in better condition than it was when I first got it. Enter my dad. He orders a brand new muffler over the internet. It gets delivered. We take the old one out, which was full of holes and burn marks, and put the new one in, which was beautiful in comparison to the old muffler. Now, not only did the Honda not try to sound like a sports car anymore, but with the new muffler, the air intake for the motor was vastly improved. I got better acceleration and engine response out of it. And eventually, one of my mom's co-workers bought the Honda, and now I drive a Saturn, which thankfully, doesn't have a worthless muffler.
So you see, don't disregard the muffler, fellow motorists. It can make a world of difference in your vehicle's performance. I know it does in real life, as well as in Gran Turismo 4.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
I need to vent. About something again.
This is an entry meant to attack dub haters. If you don't care about foreign animated film, then move on. But, if you do, or if you're just curious, stick around.
I have a rule when it comes to anime; only watch stuff that has been officially released in America in some capacity. This means I will only watch stuff that has an English dub, or was subtitled professionally. For you see, I don't trust fansubs.
I have a reason for not trusting fansubs. Mainly, because of this, "Hey, let's have him say mutherfucker in this sentence!" "But, does he really something like that in the Japanese script?" "Who cares!? It's not like we do this for a living!" Now, some fansubs are better than others. The fansubbed episodes of Naruto I have seen were better than the fansubbed episodes of Fruits Basket I was forced to endure by my assfuck "friends" from high school, of course that could simply be because Naruto is more watchable than FB. But still, the dialogue did not have a professional feel to it, unlike the English dubbed script. And this, despite the dub's removal of swear words. Holy cow!
However, the dub haters dislike the attitude fans like me have. The dub haters believe fansubs, being outside the influence of "evil" corporate entities, are not only closer to the original script, but are in fact canon. Even if a show or movie is subtitled, not dubbed, but subtitled, they will disregard the official version, simply because his name is spelt Goku, when it's SUPPOSED to be Son Gokou. Retards. And this irates me. This is one reason anime DVDs are not selling as well as they should be. It's not just because it's more convenient, not to mention more free, to download fansubs, but because they think it's BETTER fansubbed! Even if the fansubbers are failed Japanese majors who have never been to Japan and know nothing about Japanese culture beyond what they read in Azumanga Daioh comics. Okay, that's an assumption, but I think there's some truth to that.
Guys, girls, this isn't like the early '90's when every anime was Americanized to the point of not being the same show or movie. That rarely happens, now. Part of it was because of your constant (though rightful) complaints about edits and cuts. Well, the big wigs in charge took heart, and now we can see professionally subtitled versions of hits like Trigun, Cardcaptor Sakura, and of course, Death Note. And let's not forget how much better most dubs sound now. (I am disregarding Code Geass at the moment. Let's just pretend it doesn't exist . . .) It's okay. If you buy it legally, you're getting The Real McCoy. I know. I have Trinity Blood on DVD. Either dubbed or subbed, it feels just like how it should be. As do all my Ghibli movies on DVD.
This also explains why I don't read scanlations of manga volumes. And why I don't trust them either.
I have a rule when it comes to anime; only watch stuff that has been officially released in America in some capacity. This means I will only watch stuff that has an English dub, or was subtitled professionally. For you see, I don't trust fansubs.
I have a reason for not trusting fansubs. Mainly, because of this, "Hey, let's have him say mutherfucker in this sentence!" "But, does he really something like that in the Japanese script?" "Who cares!? It's not like we do this for a living!" Now, some fansubs are better than others. The fansubbed episodes of Naruto I have seen were better than the fansubbed episodes of Fruits Basket I was forced to endure by my assfuck "friends" from high school, of course that could simply be because Naruto is more watchable than FB. But still, the dialogue did not have a professional feel to it, unlike the English dubbed script. And this, despite the dub's removal of swear words. Holy cow!
However, the dub haters dislike the attitude fans like me have. The dub haters believe fansubs, being outside the influence of "evil" corporate entities, are not only closer to the original script, but are in fact canon. Even if a show or movie is subtitled, not dubbed, but subtitled, they will disregard the official version, simply because his name is spelt Goku, when it's SUPPOSED to be Son Gokou. Retards. And this irates me. This is one reason anime DVDs are not selling as well as they should be. It's not just because it's more convenient, not to mention more free, to download fansubs, but because they think it's BETTER fansubbed! Even if the fansubbers are failed Japanese majors who have never been to Japan and know nothing about Japanese culture beyond what they read in Azumanga Daioh comics. Okay, that's an assumption, but I think there's some truth to that.
Guys, girls, this isn't like the early '90's when every anime was Americanized to the point of not being the same show or movie. That rarely happens, now. Part of it was because of your constant (though rightful) complaints about edits and cuts. Well, the big wigs in charge took heart, and now we can see professionally subtitled versions of hits like Trigun, Cardcaptor Sakura, and of course, Death Note. And let's not forget how much better most dubs sound now. (I am disregarding Code Geass at the moment. Let's just pretend it doesn't exist . . .) It's okay. If you buy it legally, you're getting The Real McCoy. I know. I have Trinity Blood on DVD. Either dubbed or subbed, it feels just like how it should be. As do all my Ghibli movies on DVD.
This also explains why I don't read scanlations of manga volumes. And why I don't trust them either.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Death Note anime: an overview
What if you could kill any person in the world, right here? Right now? Would you do it? Would you do it if you knew you could get away with it? Would you do it if the only catch was you had to know your target's full name?
Such is the premise of Death Note, a graphic novel series from Japan that has also been adapted into an animated tv series, and a live-action movie series. I will focus on the tv series, or anime for shorthand.
In the world of Death Note, Shinigami, or death gods, are real. All shinigami possess books called Death Notes. If you write a human's name in a Death Note, that person will die. If you specify when or how that person will die, it will happen, without fail. What if a human were to get his hands on a Death Note? One such person does. A shinigami named Ryuk comes to the human realm, seeking to ease his boredom. He leaves a Death Note on the ground. It is picked up by a Japanese high school student named Light Yagami. The Death Note has instructions on how to use it. Light doesn't believe it. Then, one day, he sees a news story going on; a criminal is holding children hostage. His name is shown. Light, out of curiosity, writes the man's name down in the Note book. Forty seconds later, the man is dead from a fatal heart attack. Light can't believe it, he thinks it's just a coincidence. Later, he uses the Death Note again to kill another criminal. He now realizes just what kind of power he now wields. He vows to kill all the people in the world he considers evil. Using tv and the internet, he writes down names of wanted criminals and convicts the world over.
After people in prison start dying off, the world is stunned. No one can figure out exactly what is happening. No one, except for a mystery man. There is a famous private investigator in the world known only as "L." Through his deductions, as well as a clever trap aimed at Light, he deduces that the killer, known in the media as "Kira", must be operating out of Tokyo, for the Kira slayings always coincide with Japanese newscasts, and that the first two killings happened in the Tokyo region. Joining forces with the Japanese police, L vows to stop Light however he can. And what follows is a psychological thriller worthy of Hitchcock. Light will not stop slaying criminals, but can't draw L's attention either. The manga version of Death Note is labeled a shonen series, and indeed, the rivalry between Light and L is a typical shonen rivalry, however, it's much more cerebral than the duels between Goku and Vegeta, or Naruto and Sasuke. What Light and L play is a cat-and-mouse game, a battle of wits that is far more intense than two guys flinging energy shots at each other.
And this is all accompanied by stellar production values. The animation is top-notch, the cinematography is fantastic (yes, animated film can have good cinematography,) the soundtrack is great, and the voiceovers for the English dubbed version of the show are quality performances. Something the anime is infamous for are scenes that are overdramatic on purpose. Personally, I didn't mind the dramatic flourishes, for it only served to draw me in further into the show.
Could anything be wrong with Death Note? Yes. If there is one flaw in the series, it's that the plot is very convoluted. You will need to be very sharp to keep up with everything that happens, and you may need to research some of the information of Death Note online to fully "get it." This is not a simplistic series. This is one that requires full concentration to enjoy properly. Another thing that bothered me was some of the things that happen are not impossible, but highly implausible. At times, it seems like Light and L are supernatural in their deductive abilities, almost figuring things out by either sheer luck, or perhaps psychic ability. This turns off some viewers, and if you dislike Death Note because of this or the complicated plot, I can fully understand.
Nonetheless, this is, as of this writing, my favorite anime series of all time. In fact, if you don't count animated sitcoms, Death Note is my favorite animated series of all time, period. It's gritty. It's mature. It's beautiful. It's occasionally funny. It will leave you gasping for more. Never have I seen a thriller tv series quite like Death Note. I can't count how many times my eyes were glued to the monitor, anxious to see how things play out. Gundams rise and pocket monsters fall, Saiyans come and magical girls go, but there will always be Kira.
Pros: The animation, the concept, the music, the voices, the characters, and the story are all otherworldly.
Cons: Becomes complicated, a few implausible plot twists, some find this series too dark.
Final score: 10 out of 10. The only anime series I haven given a 10 out of 10.
LATE EDIT: Yeah, still hadn't seen E7 to completion yet. But there's not very many anime I would compare to DN, either.
Such is the premise of Death Note, a graphic novel series from Japan that has also been adapted into an animated tv series, and a live-action movie series. I will focus on the tv series, or anime for shorthand.
In the world of Death Note, Shinigami, or death gods, are real. All shinigami possess books called Death Notes. If you write a human's name in a Death Note, that person will die. If you specify when or how that person will die, it will happen, without fail. What if a human were to get his hands on a Death Note? One such person does. A shinigami named Ryuk comes to the human realm, seeking to ease his boredom. He leaves a Death Note on the ground. It is picked up by a Japanese high school student named Light Yagami. The Death Note has instructions on how to use it. Light doesn't believe it. Then, one day, he sees a news story going on; a criminal is holding children hostage. His name is shown. Light, out of curiosity, writes the man's name down in the Note book. Forty seconds later, the man is dead from a fatal heart attack. Light can't believe it, he thinks it's just a coincidence. Later, he uses the Death Note again to kill another criminal. He now realizes just what kind of power he now wields. He vows to kill all the people in the world he considers evil. Using tv and the internet, he writes down names of wanted criminals and convicts the world over.
After people in prison start dying off, the world is stunned. No one can figure out exactly what is happening. No one, except for a mystery man. There is a famous private investigator in the world known only as "L." Through his deductions, as well as a clever trap aimed at Light, he deduces that the killer, known in the media as "Kira", must be operating out of Tokyo, for the Kira slayings always coincide with Japanese newscasts, and that the first two killings happened in the Tokyo region. Joining forces with the Japanese police, L vows to stop Light however he can. And what follows is a psychological thriller worthy of Hitchcock. Light will not stop slaying criminals, but can't draw L's attention either. The manga version of Death Note is labeled a shonen series, and indeed, the rivalry between Light and L is a typical shonen rivalry, however, it's much more cerebral than the duels between Goku and Vegeta, or Naruto and Sasuke. What Light and L play is a cat-and-mouse game, a battle of wits that is far more intense than two guys flinging energy shots at each other.
And this is all accompanied by stellar production values. The animation is top-notch, the cinematography is fantastic (yes, animated film can have good cinematography,) the soundtrack is great, and the voiceovers for the English dubbed version of the show are quality performances. Something the anime is infamous for are scenes that are overdramatic on purpose. Personally, I didn't mind the dramatic flourishes, for it only served to draw me in further into the show.
Could anything be wrong with Death Note? Yes. If there is one flaw in the series, it's that the plot is very convoluted. You will need to be very sharp to keep up with everything that happens, and you may need to research some of the information of Death Note online to fully "get it." This is not a simplistic series. This is one that requires full concentration to enjoy properly. Another thing that bothered me was some of the things that happen are not impossible, but highly implausible. At times, it seems like Light and L are supernatural in their deductive abilities, almost figuring things out by either sheer luck, or perhaps psychic ability. This turns off some viewers, and if you dislike Death Note because of this or the complicated plot, I can fully understand.
Nonetheless, this is, as of this writing, my favorite anime series of all time. In fact, if you don't count animated sitcoms, Death Note is my favorite animated series of all time, period. It's gritty. It's mature. It's beautiful. It's occasionally funny. It will leave you gasping for more. Never have I seen a thriller tv series quite like Death Note. I can't count how many times my eyes were glued to the monitor, anxious to see how things play out. Gundams rise and pocket monsters fall, Saiyans come and magical girls go, but there will always be Kira.
Pros: The animation, the concept, the music, the voices, the characters, and the story are all otherworldly.
Cons: Becomes complicated, a few implausible plot twists, some find this series too dark.
Final score: 10 out of 10. The only anime series I haven given a 10 out of 10.
LATE EDIT: Yeah, still hadn't seen E7 to completion yet. But there's not very many anime I would compare to DN, either.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Two days till the end
Two more days. Then it will be the Fourth of July. Then, the last episode of Death Note.
I cannot wait any longer!
EDIT: Kira has answered my prayers! Adult Swim updated its videos one day early this week! I have already seen the end of Death Note! All is right in the world!
LATER EDIT: Thank you, Adult Swim. Thank you so much for that.
I cannot wait any longer!
EDIT: Kira has answered my prayers! Adult Swim updated its videos one day early this week! I have already seen the end of Death Note! All is right in the world!
LATER EDIT: Thank you, Adult Swim. Thank you so much for that.
How rowdy can one get?
Now observe me speaking in my teenage boy voice.
Hey guys! I recently finished volume 11 of Bleach! Ichigo just doesn't know when to quit! No matter how much he bleeds, he just doesn't seem to wanna die! Man, what's up with him!? And not only that, but remember that part when he fought Renji, and Renji was like, "This won't be like when we fought in Karakura. In fact, when Soul Reapers enter your plane, our powers are suprressed, as to not draw the attention of spiritually aware ryoga. Here in the Soul Society, our powers are not supressed. I am four to five times stronger here!" And Ichigo was like, "Hoh SHIT!" I know I was!
And we learned a little more about Renji, too. In fact, I think he has the hots for Rukia. I mean, why else would he be thinking about her so much? Oh, can't have some punk kid steal her away, can he? So that explains his motive. Heh heh!
And I also bore witness to the founding of the Karakura Superheroes! Which is a sort of Justice League consisting of Ichigo's friends who are still on Earth, and still able to kick Hollow ass! It's so hilarious; the replacement Soul Reaper can't keep up with the likes of Karin, Jinta, Ururu, and their fearless leader Don Kanonji! BWA HA HA HA!
And now, I'm back to my usual voice. Although the Soul Society chapters don't have as much humor as the early chapters set in Karakura, it's still a fun read. Don't bash Bleach if you're only familiar with the anime version. You really should give the manga a try if you have the time.
Hey guys! I recently finished volume 11 of Bleach! Ichigo just doesn't know when to quit! No matter how much he bleeds, he just doesn't seem to wanna die! Man, what's up with him!? And not only that, but remember that part when he fought Renji, and Renji was like, "This won't be like when we fought in Karakura. In fact, when Soul Reapers enter your plane, our powers are suprressed, as to not draw the attention of spiritually aware ryoga. Here in the Soul Society, our powers are not supressed. I am four to five times stronger here!" And Ichigo was like, "Hoh SHIT!" I know I was!
And we learned a little more about Renji, too. In fact, I think he has the hots for Rukia. I mean, why else would he be thinking about her so much? Oh, can't have some punk kid steal her away, can he? So that explains his motive. Heh heh!
And I also bore witness to the founding of the Karakura Superheroes! Which is a sort of Justice League consisting of Ichigo's friends who are still on Earth, and still able to kick Hollow ass! It's so hilarious; the replacement Soul Reaper can't keep up with the likes of Karin, Jinta, Ururu, and their fearless leader Don Kanonji! BWA HA HA HA!
And now, I'm back to my usual voice. Although the Soul Society chapters don't have as much humor as the early chapters set in Karakura, it's still a fun read. Don't bash Bleach if you're only familiar with the anime version. You really should give the manga a try if you have the time.
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