What do think about all this crap?
Send me an email; I don't have any communication
with other anime fans out here, so lemmie know what your thoughts are.
I promise I'll reply or make some rude remark on this site!
24-Sep-2004 10:37PM
Hey everybody!
This is the first mid-air update I've ever written for this web page. Currently I'm in a Boeing 737-800 at approx.
37000 feet above the ground, probably somewhere over Nevada.
And I am now officially done with all my Navy training commands (training, of course, always continues). I really
don't have much else to say now (and this update will not get onto the page for a while; until I get onto one of my
friends wireless networks).
For my peeps in Cali - I will be around until next sunday (Oct 3) evening and probably be annoying everyone to
hang out and waste time. So, humor me since it's probably the last time I'll be in Cali until ~February. Oh, and
I'm definitely seeing Innocence somewhere in a theater; I'll drive wherever I have to go and however long it
takes - And I'm dragging some of you effer's with me.
Now, back to listening to Zwan and hoping my luggage made it with me.
23-Sep-2004 11:04AM
Alright, let's see how this goes. I'm attempting to setup a comment system via www.enetation.co.uk (same system
as used on the infamous sites of Zarthsan and the PiyoPiyo Diaries).
Here goes nothing.
Success! I'm now gonna go back through some old posts and stick a few comment boxes in here and there
so check it out and make your rude/inappropriate comments right here.
So, my thought process, was "well, I'm not gonna update in forever starting in a few weeks, so might at as well
at least get a good amount of new content up now." Still, I'll try to at least do a weekly update once I get back
into a regular work schedule (that is, 90+ hours a week when not deployed and working 168 hours a week).
I promised friend Shinji of AMO Tokyo that I'd right up something
on the two most important anime works in America: Akira and Ghost in the Shell.
Akira - this was the first 'anime' I ever saw; that is something I watched that I knew specifically to be anime. My
favorite show as a kid was Voltron, but I didn't know it as anime; I just knew there was something seriously
wierd with the green kid's voice. I have never been a Di$ney (note the cute usage of the '$' in place of a 's') fan,
even in childhood I saw their movies as something cheap and abusing of animation to talk down to children and
tell them what they should do.
Akira blew my __king mind. I was twelve when I first saw it; and I watched it at least 5 times within the first week
I saw it. It was something that spoke to me; it was animation and it was not 'kid stuff'; it had a purpose, a
philosophy and it wasn't some POS musical. Once I saw that I knew that I had finally seen animation that lived up
to its possibility - a film, something that could be enjoyed and appreciated by all people.
Evidently, I was not the only person who saw this. Unfortunately, sales info on anime is not the easiest thing to come
by; but Akira has always been promoted as "the most popular anime in america"; I really can't back that up; but
until Ghost in the Shell came out, Akira was the one thing that everyone who was an anime fan had seen - and many
non-anime fans as well had seen or heard of it. It was also the film that got everyone into anime for most of the 90's.
I'm really having a hard time expressing the importance of this movie... I guess I could go with the 'Star Wars of
Anime' line, but I really hate that line and don't think it's accurate at all. After all, the movie wasn't theatrically
released in the US in any major way at all until they did the special edition (in which they just improved print quality,
made 5.1 audio and did not change the movie) release in 2001.
Ghost in the Shell - This movie was an important movie in many aspects; the most important of which was it's
production. Rolling on the increasing amount of anime fans in the US, this was the first movie to be co-produced
by a US company - the first anime to be made with US money from the beginning. As we see now, a huge number
of anime are produced with American (double) dollars, I can't say for certain, but I would not be surprised if a
majority of the new shows produced every year have American dollars invested before airing.
The other piece of importance is that this was the first widely distributed anime movie. I actually saw this movie in
a theater (hell, I've only seen a handfull in the theater in the decade since then). It was also the first anime to
recieve a (nearly) simultaneous release in Japan, US and UK; the producers had hoped to widely open the anime market
in the US with it. I don't think that happened, but it was still quite an accomplishment to actually get an anime into
theaters. Like Akira, Ghost in the Shell found enormous success in VHS (and later DVD) sales. It was a work
that got critical acclaim and helped to remove the stigma that everything was tenticle rape. Hell, you can clearly
see it playing in the TV in the background in Good Will Hunting. Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms, yo.
Now, for me personally, both of these movie have had a profound affect on my life. If not for these I would
probably not the otaku that I am today (and probably wouldn't know what the hell the term 'otaku' means). I really
can't express in words how much these movies have affected my life, because I can't imagine who I'd be if I hadn't
seen these. In my later days of high school I'd always hang out with the same two friends and we'd only have a few
tough choices to make:
what are we drinking?
and
are we going to watch Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll or Castle of Cagliostro tonight?
Seriously; every Friday and Saturday night for damn near a year we would put on one of those four movies - with
Castle o' probably being the most watched movie and Foster's the most drunk beer.
Well, I don't know if I've done anything to help anyone's appreciation for these great films; but I hope you can at least
see the passion I have for them by the words I have written. It can never be proved, but I think if Akira had not come
out when it did that anime would not be 1/10th as popular as it is currently in the US; it's that important a movie to US
fans. Not just for the money it made, but because without it there wouldn't have been nearly as much awareness of
anime and record of profitability; without which Ghost in the Shell would have been made completely differently and
things could have started getting popular later; let's say after the economic crash in 2000 or after 9/11 - at which point
there certainly would have been fewer people looking to get into something new, and less money for people to start
up companies and put money into untested waters.
22-Sep-2004 7:35PM
Just finished watching the last disc of Haibane Renmei; what a wierd show... It has its own very distinct feel.
It starts off feeling like a 'healing type' anime, but quickly drops into something much different. I'm not quite sure
whether it's a really great show, or just an excellently crafted show; I think the reason I have this difficulty with
the show is that I really don't understand far too many of the characters. It's not like Figure 17 where I dislike
the main character, I just don't get Rakka, Reki and Midori.
*SPOILER* (for ~ep 6)
I was really bugged by Rakka's reaction to Kuu's disappearance; I understand grieving and loss, but she just
lost her friggin' mind.
*END SPOILER*
Please share with the group if you can explain to this show (send me an email and I'll post it if you want me to)
And now for something completely different...
Remember when I said I'd write something about the internet and communication "Let's Communication"
(from the video game competition episode of Niea). The internet has created a new type of communication
and a new type of society and social gathering. It has created a disconnection community; one where you
can be part of a group of people you have never met. In my own forum and weblog crawling I feel I have
gotten to 'know' some people without ever meeting them, or develop different opinions on people based on
their web writings.
Through internet writing people come off as one of two ways: too dumb/stupid/
moronic or too smart/intelligent/wise-assed. I'm pretty sure I usually come off as too smart/wise-assed which
is why I try to make my share of dumb comments and bring down your inflated thoughts of me. As Kevin
Smith wrote in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, "The internet has given everyone a voice; and, evidently, everyone
has chosen to bitch about movies." He got it correct there (as he has about a great many things), the point I'm
trying to raise is that the person you 'know' on the internet is often a much different person from the person
you would meet in real life. In some ways it's good; people are judged on the strength of their words and
arguments, not their picture or smile. But, there always remains the question of a persons honesty, you can't
see a lie written on someone's face if there's no face to go with the lie. And, from personal frustration, sarcasm
just doesn't work as well in the written word (well, at least I'm not a good enough writer to make it work).
The influence that the internet will have on society is still not clear - I have no idea what it's impact will be in
ten years. Will 'traditional' news media retreat further? Will all the old people just spend all day on internet
forums whining about arthritis and how the young kids are ruining the country?
Maybe I'm thinking too much into thing that will just happen with time, but I can't help but wonder what the
future holds in store.
And Bush and Co. are still the largest threat this country faces - foriegn or domestic. Look at what
*EVERYONE* is now saying about Iraq. Current news is that Bushy now wants to invade Iran, and
take back Falluja and Najar - all of which will be high casualty situations. (sarcasm) Surprisingly, Bush
wants to wait until mid-November to attempt these horrific military operations (end sarcasm). Thank
goodness he acting whent he should rather than waiting for some kind of large political event (whoops,
seems there was some sarcasm left).
Please, register, vote and vote that regime out of office. Even if you think your vote won't count because
you live in a state that is traditionally democratic or republican vote anyways. It will still send a message of
strength and disapproval to the administration. I can only hope that the country will not be neo-conned for
another four years.
Here's a sweet link and easy way to waste more time on the internet.
Now, after seeing all that and reading the interview I am left with the conclusion that Lucas is actually a demon sent
from hell to torment us; the phoenix of hell.
And, for the record, I will not buy that set on general principle. I love the original movies dearly, and would gladly
pay out my ass for an unadultered copy, but will not buy these crap-festivals. The main reasons I will not entertain
these notions is as follows:
- The movie was made and done, Lucas cann whine (model for all whining Star Wars fanboys) all he wants that they
released incomplete movies; but that's what is out there. Life is compromise and acceptance; Lucas has no reasonable
sense of either. I want the original movies with all their mistakes and problems. I love 5.1 audio remixes; but I love it
when they put the original 2.0/mono release on the same disc - see the Evangelion Renewal box set, Honneamise and
the R2 Patlabor movies (the dialogue for the Patlabor movies and Honneamise was entirely re-recorded for their 5.1
release, however, the dvd's include the original 2.0 mixes as well, kudos).
- the original story had a gritty feel tto it; Mos Eisley (or however it's spelled) was not a clean place you wanted to go
to. However, with Lucas's new revision of the past he's cleaned up the streets to make it match with the uber-clean
world he has created for the new movies.
It's like New York in the 70's versus 00's : it's the same place, but it's been cleaned up. However, no one there tries
to go through and digitally edit old photos to make them look cleaner.
Basically, I'm trying to say Lucas is a __king dead man.
And end to a road -
This afternoon I finally watched the last of the KOR (Kimagure Orange Road for you non-great anime loving
readers out there) OVA's and, thus, the last of KOR. Wow, damn great stuff. All eight episodes of the OVA
series are really good. They seem to have more gratuitous scenes than the TV series (Madoka in skimpy
outfits and many glorious trips to the pool), but that's why they made the OVA series (that and the TV series
was crazy popular). The last episode (Message in Rouge) actually had some good sense of conclusion to it; not
like the movie, but just as a great episode that had all the elements in it that made you fall in love with the series
from the first 30 seconds you saw it (at least that happened to me).
I'm still patiently awaiting a remastered (or not) R2 box of the series after Animeigo's less than spectacular
release of the TV series.
If you like the TV series I highly reccomend the two discs of OVA's (called ova series discs 1 and 2, disc 3 is the
movie); I also highly recommend the movie. I love the movie, but many people really didn't like it (some with
much stronger words than that) because of the way it concluded the love triangle.
Friend Ben may be putting up some commentary on my thoughts on Azumanga Daioh from a few days ago, so
be sure to check it out! (plus pics of his place in Japan - what the hell is up the walls?)
Oh, and I did a major update to my links section, so ch-ch-check it out if you don't have enough places to
waste time on the internet.
19-Sep-2004 10:52PM
Only 38 minutes until new (I think) Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. And then only a little more until
more AQHF (which I will not fall asleep before this time).
NYC was great yesterday, I'd upload some pics (I actually took a few decent pics), but my connection
licks raccoon nut sack. We (me and the friend I went with) hit the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, the
Metropolitain Museam of Art, Yankee Stadium and the area around Times Square. I could write
forever on my adventures, but I'll keep it to one interesting story:
On the fairy ride out to the Statue of Liberty, my hat was blown into the water by a sudden gust of
wind; and later in the day it decided to rain, thus neccessitating I purchase a new hat to keep said
moisture off my head. So, I head into the Champs Sports right off Times Square to look for (what
else) a Giants hat; however, to my dismay there were no Giants hats in the damn store. And no
Cardinals hats. And no Athletics hats. So I had to go to my third choice.
Boston Red Sox. Now, if you aren't much of a sports fan you may not be aware of how strongly
some people feel about sports rivalries, however just imagine the SF - LA rivalry (which penetrates
into baseball via the Giants - Dodgers rivalry) and multiply that animosity by about 10x and you've
got the Red Sox - Yankees rivalry. Now, add in that the Red Sox are rapidly catching up to the
faultering Yankees, and that they are in the midst of playing a three game series at Yankee Stadium.
So, now I'm walking around Manhattan in a Red Sox hat, recieving the glares and rude comments
of a multitude of Yankee fans as they walk by me.
So, what do we do next?
We take the subway to Yankee Stadium - located in a *scenic* portion of the Bronx.
About 1/3 of the way there I noticed that not only was I the only person on the subway car wearing
any sports memorabilia that did not bear the Yankees name (as I was wear the hat of their most
hated rival), but my friend and I were the only honkees on the whole car.
In summary; four of them went to hospital and I will need to start looking for a new pair of pants,
watch and a significant chunk of my hair.
.
.
.
.
.
Just kidding (but you knew that). After telling this story to another friend (who's from NYC) he
looked at me as though he were looking at a ghost and said I was a braver man than he.
So, in (truthful) summary, what did we learn: it's probably not the best idea to antagonize people
in a city known to be full of desparate lunatics.
And now for my thoughts on Patlabor Movie 3 (just watched tonight)
I'm really curious as to how this movie was made; afterall, anime is not a medium known for
returning to productions once they are stopped. The last Patlabor made was about a decade
before the production of this and they went back to make another movie, with almost an
entirely different production crew.
Well, if you haven't seen the movie I certainly give it an 'A' recommendation. It is definitely a
worthy addition to the Patlabor mythos. In fact, this movie was done in such a way that you
could enjoy this movie without knowing anything about Patlabor (as a friend of mine did).
The character designs for the SVII crew are really different (for the short time you do see them);
they're quite round and smooth; I'm not sure if I like them or not, I'd have to see more to make
a decision.
Well, it's Birdman time; which means I'm done here.
Oh, here's a quick recipe for the best sandwhich I have ever had in my life (had one in a NYC deli):
-baugette
-turkey
-brie
-thin sliced green apples (sliced like ccucumbers)
-watercress (a dark, leafy green)
-honey mustard
Give it a try, I promise it's great (unless you hate turkey or brie or have chilled cranberries running
through your veins).
17-Sep-2004 11:14PM
Wow.
He finally did it.
700 home runs.
Congratulations Barry.
17-Sep-2004 10:32PM
Konbanwa minna-san. It's Friday night, which means I must be sitting in my room listening to some
music after having watched some anime and taking a nap.
Health Warning : Drinking is Bad for your Health. Yes, I know there have been many scientific
studies to the contrary, but from my own experience after last night's drinking binging I can once and
for all say that drinking is, indeed, bad for your health. I had a lovely morning spent vomiting and
laying in bed with a moist towel on my head with Sportcenter on in the background for four hours.
The End of Patlabor TV : after watching this show a whole lot over the past year, I have finally
watched to the end of Patlabor TV. And the ending does not disappoint. I could always say I wished
they had done a few things differently, but it's done (and has been for nearly 15 years) and they
did it excellently.
So, I said I watched some anime tonight; and the dish was a delicious plate of Gunparade March vol 2
(eps 5-8). Damn, that show is really great. JC Staff really has established themselves as one of the
best TV studios out there, and they only started making TV shows in 1997 (Utena was their first TV
series).
I'm going into NYC tomorrow, gonna hit up Statue of Liberty, Yankee Stadium (I will spit on it too),
and then probably just screw around in the Times Square area; maybe I'll go out to the Met for a while.
Should be a good time, just hope the weather holds out. Hmm... maybe I'll try and go see Innocence.
Urusei Yatsura Movie 2 : Beautiful Dreamer - I highly recommend this movie (the new re-release of it)
to any anime fan; and certainly any UY or Oshii fan. The movie itself is one of the first productions that
really had a philosophy behind it that was defined by the creation process; hmm... I don't think I quite
put that the way I wanted to, but when you watch it you'll understand what I mean.
Also, this movie has a fantastic commentary track by Oshii-sama where he goes from talking about the
creation of the movie, to the philosophic comments he was trying to make in the film, to how he feels
about it and what Rumiko Takahashi thought about it (and Oshii's opinions as to why she really didn't
like the movie).
Super Recommend.
I'm really jonzing for some Patlabor tonight (as if there's been a night that hasn't happened for in the
last year) so I think I may watch one of the movies.... Hmm.... movie 1,2 or 3... I'm thinking I'll go
for three.
Have a great weekend everyone.
16-Sep-2004 10:20AM
Well, I finally took my last test while at a training command. Now it's off to my boat to see just how
little of what I'm supposed to know I actually do.
"Oh well, nowhere to go but straight ahead." - me (aka The Great One)
Yeah, it's always great when some random comment you make in an email to a friend sums up your
life so suscinctly.
And I'm pissed as hell that I fell asleep FIVE __KING MINUTES BEFORE NEW ATHF on Sunday.
Dammit. Seriously, now it's gonna be forever until I see that episode. Testicles. Rectum.
Since my summer is almost over (and, thus, my life for the next three years) I'm pretty happy at the
progress I've made into my viewing and reading lists. Didn't quite get all the games played that I
wanted to, but at least I beat a couple of them (and bought the rest).
First there was Manfaye, now there's Mandonna.
Seriously, you've gotta check it out. They've got videos, but my connection sucks nutz so I can't watch.
So, since I have both jack and shit to do today I think I will finally finish watching Patlabor TV. This'll
leave me with just the second OVA series remaining. Doh, and Yeah! at the same time.
And I'm still pissed that The Smashing Pumpkins broke up, and equally pissed that Zwan broke up.
Come on Mr. Corgan, I need new music!
Well, that's all for this AM update, more to follow.
13-Sep-2004 8:48PM
Konnichiwa Minna-san! I know, I know; it's been a while again since my last update. But,
I have (stupid) excuses!
Excuse #1 - a whole bunch of shitty tests at work
Excuse #2 - I'm a lazy prick
Excuse #3 - Star Ocean: Until The End of Time - see post philosophical ramblings for thoughts
And now for something completely different...
Here's a few brief thoughts I had on a couple of Gundam series (taken from an email
correspondence with Shinji of the glorious store AMO Tokyo).
<<
V Gundam has a lot of the same feel as Tomino's newer work (Brain Powerd and
later); a sense of 'peace and tranquility even in war' (my own words), and
yet it still retains some of the more 80's style plot developments. Really
great stuff throughout with an unbelievably awesome soundtrack.
>>
<<
> Also, Tomino hate Z Gundam as his work. Maybe, I guess he would like to
> revenge! (^_^);;
I didn't know that Tomino didn't like Zeta; it definitely seems like his
angriest work. While Ideon is as bloody and tragic, there is still some
hope and beauty in it - however, I found Zeta to be a bleak perspective with
a focus on failed hopes and dreams.
>>
And now onto something else completely different...
I'd now like to have a philosophical discussion (one way... god, it's the dumbest things I've
ever heard of) of a anime/manga that generally is not thought of in a highly philosophical way:
I just watched the fourth US disc tonight (eps 15-19) and for some reason really drawn to think
about it philosophically. The show has a definite philosophy and 'desire' it shows; a lot of that is
shown through the things which are not in the show : outside world, parents, news, crime,
unmemorable events. Now, you may be thinking that that is cerainly not uncommon, but think of
how many shows/books/anything that are made without a major conflict - whether external
(war/aliens/relationships) or internal (psychological demons/fears/disorders/relationships) - I can't
think of any other shows without a major struggle. Even most of the so-called 'healing type'
anime (Niea, Kokoro Toshokan, etc) have some problems or issues they deal with and
overcome.
Here we see the characters stuck in a repeating cycle of happiness - almost identical to that
presented by Oshii in Urusei Yatsura Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer (which I will discuss in detail
later). The difference here is that no one points it out, or sees the repetition; if they do see it -
as the characters are given in episode 19 (the yawning episode). In this episode (19) Kagura
questions their 'freedom' by her restriction (self imposed due to athletic training), the episode
progresses to see what the characters do about their new found ability to see the world from a
different point of view.
The characters all seek to fall deeper into their creators world of unending happyness - Oosaka
sleeps, Yomi studies with Tomo reading until late at night, Chiyo-chan goes out to get an eraser
and becomes more and more Tomo-rashiku(like) by running between the dark places inbetween
the street lights. Chiyo is the character easiest to analyze with a distinct perspective to the
endless repetition; as she is an outsider to the group at the beginning - someone who was forced
out of her old world where she had to be the adult - and into a world where she saw another
option, the option to regress and actually be a child (a position you can certainly not see her
taking at home (around adults) or around a group of people here own age; she would have to
take an authoritative role to not lose face/respect/esteem). In this group of people as mentally
developed as she is, a few years her senior, who behave more 'child-like' (not to say
irresponsible) than she has ever allowed her self to be; she sees that she is able to have a
childhood and actually grow up.
We also see the treachers in the same place (physically as well as psychologically) as the
students - people who do not want to grow up, as we see by Nyamo and Yukari-sensei's strict
adherence to a lifestyle that does not allow for growth or change - and their fierce repulsion at
any outside attempt to change that lifestyle. (In eps 19) we see an outside friend try to give
Nyamo a much higher paying job and get both Nyamo and Yukari boyfriends/laid/outside
relationships and their prompt refusal to even consider either. Altough we do not hear whatever
it was Yukari said to get rid of the boys and we hear Nyamo's very false attempt to show
disapproval of Yukari's actions we see that they both go back to the bottle (a centerpiece of
their lives) and drink to completely forget the event - that is, to completely forget that they ever
saw something outside of their moebius strip of reality.
To conclude tonights rants on this I ask, "why does this matter, how does this apply to reality?"
Well, if you think about your own life I'm sure you see that you (and most certainly I) live in
worlds very similar to that of the characters. With they exception that we sometimes see these
other outside influences (bosses/parents/work/assholes on the street/etc) and our situations are
sometimes forcibly changed. In Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (which I
place on my top 10 list of books all-time) he states that Anna Karenina (a female dog) is happy
because it experiences 'eternal return'; she is always joyed to see her master, and as overjoyed
as though she hadn't seen her master in 10 years. Anyone with a pet can attest to the same thing
- happiness in repetition. As humans, with our unfortunately long memories, we are not alloted
this chance at happiness directly; so we fantasize about it and dream of "being back in high
school/college/that party/in that relationship", the rose-colored glasses (now think about Utena
for a minute with that thought rolling through your head) of time and space. The idillic repetition.
Azumanga dives further into that repeptition than just about any production in the last 15 years
- people unconsciously see and desire this - which leads to its astonishing popularity in both
Japan and the US.
My question is to ask whether or not this is a good thing? Is it good to want to eternally repeat
something? Would it be healthy to do so? Are we (humans) even capable of doing such a
thing, or do our self destructive dendicies prevent this from happening? I have my answers at this
time, as I'm sure you have yours. However, since this is my webpage I'll write mine and let you
compare in the deafening silence that is the noise of the internet (a discussion for another day).
I say it's not possible to do, but I wish to hell I could. I find myself living a life very similar to
Yukari; I have my routines, whether I am happy with them or not does not matter - they are set
and I will go for the throat of anyone who would dare try and wake me from my dreams. I don't
think it would be healthy to eternally repeat something, that was essentially life in the middle ages
(your father was a carpenter so you'll be a carpenter and so will your son), it's unhealthy
because it leads to stagnation - which is the death of capitalism - and thus if we could 'achieve'
happiness rather than just eternally persue it our society would collapse on itself (a variation on
this is often shown in Sci-fi where machines take over the world after humans leave all the work
to machines).
Nevertheless, I sure as shit wish I could be stuck eternally repeating my collegiate days in SLO.
I think I might actually appreciate them now (a common statement made by crusty old fogeys
who are as dead to the world as I am).
The above philosophical writings were greatly influenced by Mamoru Oshii's commentary track
on the new US release of Urusei Yatsura Movie 2 : Beautiful Dreamer (5 star recommendation)
and this essay on Evangelion.
I've always thought it would be really cool to have a gathering where people watched some anime
and gathered to discuss it in a serious forum - whether about philosophical intent or animation style
or something else - on a regular basis. I guess the best way to do that on the internet would be some
IRC chatroom or IM group thing, although live, in person is really the best way to do something like
that. If anyone else is interested in said things, please email/phone me and lets see what we can work
out. I think Minna No Manga kinda had that, but it was too unstructured, but we still had some
great conversations. Damn, I really wish I had been able to keep that going and that there was
something like that in every city.
I originally had this game description/thoughts at the beginning, but I'd really rather that you read the
philosophical rants than my own personal thoughts on a game.
Explanation of #3 - I bought this game (and Phantom Brave - the newest game from the makers
of the Disgaea) last Saturday night and from Sunday morning through last Sunday (1 week) I
put in over 50 hours in the game and beat it. Yes, I am obsessive-compulsive. But, now that it's
done I can have my life back.
Thoughts on the game : really good traditional RPG. The whole game reminds me of Tales of
Destiny 2 (the Japanese PS2 game that was never released in the US - argh... what a great game
to never bring over). From the setting (mostly midevil with some people having hyper
technology and space travel stuff), to the sheer amount of voices (at least 90% of all dialogue is
fully voice acted) and the battle system.
The battle system is very similar to that used in Star Ocean 2 (PSX); which is to say, a free
flowing, non-turn based, 3D battle system. If you haven't played a Star Ocean (SO) or Tales
game the closest game I can think of in terms of 'general' style is Vagrant Story (PSX). My
only real problem with the battle system is that you don't have enough control over the player
controlled characters - Tales games give you many more options and in general better AI player
control. It bugs me that AI controlled characters will cast magic seemingly endlessly unless you
completely disallow that spell from being cast. The skill system and skill leveling system is,
roughly, similar to Xenosaga; you have a reasonably limited number of skill, they level up with
usage and you have a limited number of abilities you are able to have available simultaneously.
Story - good. Not great, certainly not phenomenal, but good. It has enough of the standard
stuff and enought twists to keep it fun to play. The pacing and split between dungeon/dialogue is
well done and it never feels like you're watching a movie. My one real annoyance is that
throughout a lot of the plot, and especially late in the game you are tracking down one person or
another being led around by someone - however, each time you get to the place where that
person is supposed to be you get Mario'd "But our princess is in another castle". That really
pissed me off; I wanted to scream at the person leading the story, "You know, if you knew
we'd have to come here you could've at least given me an overall idea of what would be going
on, jackass."
Graphics - wow. Especially for a 2 year old game. Wow. Seriously, some of the best graphics
and CG I've seen on the PS2; snow and background effects are awesome. Battle attacks are
sweet, no slowdown and lots of cool attacks and effects.
Overall - great game, recommended to anyone looking for a non-strategy RPG. I actually like
most of the voices (the whole game is in english); with the, unfortunate, exception of Sophia (who
has a fair amount of dialogue) - I really wish I had the Japanese version for her voice : Atsuko Enomoto(Kurumi, Yukinon).
So, I end this update anti-climatically tonight. Remind me to put up my thoughts on UY next time.
That's enough writing for tonight; have a good week everyone.
30-Aug-2004 10:40PM
Didn't realize it's been five days since my last update; so I guess I need to fill you people
in with the knowledge that the "In The Know" people know (that's me... ha ha ha).
Books Read:
Remembering the Kanji Vol 1, James W. Heisig : GREAT! WONDERFUL! YOU ARE
NUMBER ONE! Seriously; anyone who wants to learn kanji needs this book (and
probably this book alone). Heisig has a system for learning kanji; and it works. The book
is designed for people who want to learn the kanji (2000+) efficiently and through
self-study. Go buy your copy now. Tonight. I'm serious.
Evangelion Vol 4 (Viz) : really great manga adaptation. Sadamoto does as good a job
adapting Eva to manga as YAS does with Gundam: The Origin (which is to say,
phenomenal). He keeps the overall characters and story the same, but has many events
play out it really interesting and unexpected ways. Super Recommend (even if you're like
me and have watched the anime up-teen times)
Stuff Watched:
Starsky & Hutch : It's hard to say I wasn't disappointed by this movie; mostly because the
directors last movie was Old School (one of the 5 funniest movies I've ever seen). But, it
was still enjoyable and had some great parts in it. Snoop Dogg really stole the movie, he
was phenomenal as Huggy Bear. Netflix it.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, eps 1-4 (Bandai) : Wow. I saw the first ep a
year or so ago (on digi-shit) and was upset cuz I thought the animation wasn't very good.
Well, that's the last time I judge a show on what it looks like on digi. This show has
awesome animation, story, characters, style, music, Tachikoma's, everything is awesome.
I really can't recommend it enough. The show is a lot different from the movie; more like
some of the manga - individual detective stories. Excellently written too. I can't wait
for the next disc. Buy the Special Edition now.
The Big O eps 5 - 10 : Damn. This show is great. I'm anxiously awaiting the next (last)
vol and then Big O II (which I have heard really isn't as good as the first series,
unfortunalely). Dorothy continues to be the coolest android in history; I really think they
made her character so interesting and phenomenally multifasceted.
And in thinking about the setting "A city without memories"...I really like it. It gives me
a similar feeling to GPM in the sense that not everything is explained, and I'm fine with
that. When thinking about how it happened, and how everyone is searching for lost
memories; one can't help but think that maybe they're better off not knowing. There
must have been some major reason for them to cut off their memories, and seeing the
things that have been created or revived by people who have recalled memories could
easily be convinced that they were better off without their memories.
The premise works on the surface too, but I started to think: if you had enough books
and time you could reassemble the world as it was; but that demands that you have
the linguistic skills to decipher the written words and communicate with others. According
to episode 10 at least some languages have died off, or at least are underground and
unknown to even highly educated men with access to such knowledge. Unless, of
course, that knowledge is controlled by "The Parent Company".
Kino's Journey (Kino no Tabi) eps 1-13 (All) (ADV) : Great show. I really loved this
show when I bought the first 3 (of 6) R2's when they came out last year about this time.
I guess I just got too busy and cheap to be the rest at that time (plus, they didn't have
any fabulous extras or packaging and I knew ADV would be releasing it real soon).
I wonder if I can end this phenomenal sentence with the word 'time'?
Anyways... Kino's is great, and it really does make you want to go on a journey. The
show does not have much of a beginning, middle or ending; but it didn't need it and it
had what it needed.
A criticism I have heard of this show is that it can be 'preachy' or that it forces it's
philosophy to strongly through the script. I am it total disagreement. The script is
certainly more vocally philosophical than damn near any other show I've seen; but
that was the part of the purpose too; to just put it out there and see what you think.
As Kino is about the most neutrally acting main lead character in an anime, you
are not forced to really agree with Kino and Kino's decisions. Also, the show
doesn't just stick on one issue and try to force that issue until you feel like you've
been watching Fox News; it has various issues, and there are plenty of other issues
and side issues within each country which makes it interesting and unique.
Also, the music is great, and I totally love the art style. From the unique character
designs and background work to the cool to the digital fuzz they added (which many
people do not like).
Orgazmo (not out on dvd yet, ARGH!) : So, I finally watched this gargantuan, mammoth,
throbbing, juicy movie. And damn it was great. I gotta watch it again this week. So
many awesome lines, and fights, and scenes and randomly funny shit. See this movie
any way you can. (movie written/directed/starring Trey Parker or South Park).
And...
More Patlabor TV...
Patlabor TV thru ep 32 : Wow. Really damn great. The show definitely gets a different
feel to it after ep 22; and after 27 it becomes a lot more continuous as it does some really
great adaptations of Yuuki Masami's manga stories. Really great adaptations, they take
what he did in the manga and expand on it and make the stories fit in with the TV series.
I'll have to buy all the US releases of this show so I can see it all subtitled and get the rest
of the details and subtleties that are lost on my non-fluent ass.
Here is Greeeeenwoooood (eps 1, again for about the 15th time) : So, I was at Best Buy
(where else) this weekend and saw GitS:SAC, Wolf Rain vol 2, Futurama season 4, South
Park season 4, Reno 911, Chapelle Show and a million other things I haven't already
purchased the R2's of and watched up-teen thousand times all sitting on the shelves.
So, what do I purchase: Here is Greenwood, a 15 year old ova series. And dammit,
watching that first episode again, I'm damn glad I did. Greenwood really is one of my all-
time favorite shows; another phenomenal work by Tomomi Mochizuki - one of my
most loved creators and directors. His stuff is always really well done; quality productions
where you can just feel the effort the animators and whole staff put into the work; he
must be a really great person to work for. I really want to see "Futatsu no Spica"
(Mochizuki's newest work); hopefully it's as great as the rest of his stuff.
Well, I think I'll call it a day there (an hour spent writing up this crap is more than enough).
Have a great week everyone; expect a review of Wolf Rain vol 2 (eps 6-10) in the next
couple of days.
Oh, and as a last note I hereby copyright (and freely share with everyone) my newest term
for Our Esteemed President:
"Grinning Idiot"
Great stuff, ain't it? Feel free to use it and spread it like butter to everyone that GWB is a
huge friggin' idiot, liar, cheat, drunkard and should not be allowed to drive; let alone be the
leader of the "free world" for another four years. He stole the election last time; lets not
let it happen again.
Watched "Serpico" tonight. Not bad at all; and I'm sure it was a lot more 'edgy' when it
first came out. It really was the movie that established Al Pacino as a leading man.
And new Reno 911! is on right now, so that's all for tonight.
24-Aug-2004 10:01PM
Not much in the world known as a military base in the ole' CT.
I didn't watch much anime this weekend, but I did watch a few things in the last few
days:
Ikki Tousen (eps 1-4) : hmm... I feel a little shameless in saying this but, I like this show.
I know, I know; it's pretty lame and uber gratuitous panty shot stuff, but it's still quite
enjoyable. I recommend it for Netflix, and will watch the rest of the show that way. I won't
recommend that you purchase it without having seen any, and I can certainly understand
if you don't like the show. The show kinda gives me the same feel as Hakaima Sadamitsu
(Sadamitsu the Destroyer).
Ah damn, I'm watching Chapelle's Show on Comedy Central and I'm laughing so hard I
can't type.
And here's some other great new news for all you ota-king's in training out there:
# Dragon Drive Vol. #04 - 75 minutes - $24.98 - 11/09/2004
# Fancy Lala Complete Collection - 650 minutes - $49.98 - 11/09/2004
# Galaxy Angels Z Vol. #1 - 90 minutes - $29.98 - 11/09/2004
# Kikaider Perfect Collection - 425 minutes - $59.98 - 11/09/2004
# Mobile Suit Gundam F-91 - 118 minutes - $29.98 - 11/09/2004
# s-CRY-ed Complete Collection - 650 minutes - $149.98 - 11/09/2004
# Tsukikage Ran Complete Collection - 325 minutes - $39.98 - 11/09/2004
# UC Gundam Movie Pack - 616 minutes - $69.98 - 11/09/2004
# Zentrix Collection 2 - 325 minutes - $44.98 - 11/09/2004
(from AnimeOnDVD.com)
Of those I will recommend the following:
Argentosoma
Fancy Lala (honestly, how can you pass up this uber show, 26eps for $50!!!)
MSG F-91 : now, lots of people have there problems with this movie, as do I, but I still
don't thing they make it unenjoyable. Plus, it's damn near the last this (if not the last) that
YAS did character designs for (and his last Gundam designs, tears).
S-CRY-ed : cool show, definitely at that price
UC Gundam Movie Pack : Movie 1-3, Char's and Miller's Report; I haven't seen Millar's
report, but I haven't heard much good about it before. But the first 4 are some of the best
movies ever made.
Now back to the stuff I've been watching:
Tokyo Raiders : cool HK movie that was mostly made in Japan and is spoken about half
in Japanese. It's a light hearted action movie with chases, fighting and cute Chinese and
Japanese girls in it. Basically everything you could want in a movie.
The Big O (eps 1-4) : I haven't seen this on TV ever and had heard various things about it
throughout the last few years. After watching the first four eps, I have the following statement
to make:
"Big O, Showtime"
Damn, this show rocks. Kazuyoshi Katayama really is one of my favorite directors/creators.
The show's art style does take some from the Batman animated series (which was the best
animation produced in the US in the 90's), but they don't copy it, and their character designs
are done really well.
R Dorothy Wayneright is the coolest android ever (that I can think of right now). Aside from
having a sexy character design and being android-rific, she's also an interesting character.
She isn't a mindless zombie, she has her own will, desires and reasons for action and her
seiyuu does such a great job it's really... great.
Now onto the non-anime stuff I've been up to:
Manga: (all of the following is released in the US and has been read in english)
Aria (vol 2, ADV Manga) : super sweet. This is the epitomy of 'healing type' manga. Nice
artwork, interesting stories and a plesant pace. I'm really not sure about where this originally
ran in Japan, but I think it's pretty new over there too (started 2003). Highly Recommended
GTO (vol 15, Tokyopop) : 37 million Japanese can't be wrong (well they can, but not on
this). GTO is uber popular in Japan, and with good reason. It's well written, intelligent,
a slew of great characters, sexy, sexy girls and Onizuka. If you haven't read GTO yet, go
now down to wherever it is available and start enjoying.
And no, I don't have a favorite girl from the series, but now that I've brought it up I think
about it for a few days and come up with an answer.
Hot Gimmick (vol 5, Viz) : I've heard that this is based off of some H-game/something, I
haven't verified this but would certainly believe it. Really great art and interesting story, its
roughly a reverse-harem story (many guys for one girl) but they make some interesting pulls.
There's the older brother, the feared neighbor, and the childhood sweetheart; and then they
make some interesting tweaks. I recommend you give the first vol a read; if you like that
you'll like the rest.
Bleach (vol 2, Viz: shonen jump) : this manga gives me the same feel that Kenshin did when
I first saw it. Great cast, awesome art, good story and a good progression; I wish the damn
thing was coming out faster stateside. According to AnimeNewsNetwork, there is an TV
series in production; Studio Pierrot, Fumio Orikasa as Rukia (geki yabee, she's great) should
start airing on Oct 5 at 6:30pm (WOW! something showing during normal human hours, they
must have really high expectations for it).
Chrono Crusade (vol 2, ADV Manga) : I got this because I had heard about the anime and
liked the character designs. The manga is pretty good, and the 'catch' is quite well done, it
certainly gets you curious about it and wanting to see more. Solid character designs, layout
and action (well, the action isn't particularly spectacular, but it's not bad either) and nice
characters make this an easy manga to read anytime. Not at the top of my list, but I'll
certainly pickup and read the rest of this as it comes out; I could certainly see this becoming
really great.
Trigun Maximum (vol 1, Darkhorse) : This manga is a continuation from the original series, I
think the renaming and numeration was due to a shift in which magazine the series ran in. That
said, Trigun is still Trigun; which is to say, absolutely wonderful. Inventive art, stories,
characters, great writing and everything about it. If you don't like Trigun you might as well
punch yourself in the sack.
Between the Sheets (Erica Sakurazawa) (Tokyopop) : Sakurazawa-sensei writes primarily
one vol books about adult relationships gone wrong. I really love her work. Her stuff is
always sexual, sensual and written by an adult for adults. It's not gratuitous is any way, but
there is sex shown and drawn (excellently, her art is so damn good). If you haven't read
anything of hers, I highly recommend you find and read one of her books.
Okay, now the Daily Show is on and I'm having fits...The Daily Show is the only news show
I get news from that I actually trust - which says something about the state of the news media
in this country. Godammit... now I'm all pissed off at the media, oil companies and our stoopid
Cock-in-Cheek (Il Presidenti). ARGH!
Back to my update...
Music:
Brian Eno : Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, Here Come the Jets, Another Green World
Of of the most infamous artsy-fartsy-rockers from the 70's, the above three albums rock.
They really rock. A lot. Super Recommend.
Television : Marquee Moon - Another great triumph of Punk in the 70's.
Okay, I can't write anymore; Kerry is on the Daily Show, you should watch it.
20-Aug-2004 6:48PM
I had another thought on Hellsing:
I think the show could've looked really damn sweet had it been made with cell
animation
Just some quick 'props' out to a great site for anime recommendations:
(also, there is the best writing I have ever read on Evangelion on there too)
POTENTIALLY MAJOR SITE ADDITION!!!
I had an idea I think is really funny and I wanna test it out and see if it is
enjoyed (I may continue it even if you guys think its lame 'cuz I think it's
hilarious).
WQYX 107 "The Rock" : The answer to listening to cd's/mp3's all day and
not hearing crappy rock/rap/classical deejays. Here's the idea; just dispurse
these files in with your usual playlist for a little break once in a while.
Here's my ultimate goal : I want you (yes, this does mean you reading this page;
there aren't that many of you) to request songs you want lead-ins done to (send
the request any way you want, as just a song, or if you want to record your part
that's cool too, or I can just make up a stupid voice and pretend it's you speaking.
So, here are the pilot files: (~6megs total).
The First One. A lead in to Blink 182. Politics and Rock don't mix, unless you add some alcohol and
start screaming your views at those around you and damn near get in a fight.
Speaking of Requests here's one that is well... Monday, this is really funny if you've ever listened to KSJO on Monday. Rock can be very disorienting.
ATypical drive time jingle. Tuesday has finally come, fortunately it's brough the rock with it. A Traditional lead-in, with some good jingling on the backside. (radiospeak)
The Science of Rock? Science is Rock! Wednesday is indeed a goliath of a day. Too Much Rock? As if it could happen...
So, that's everything I've made so far. PLEASE GIVE ME FEEDBACK!!!!!
Honestly, I have no idea if I'm just sucking my own dick here or if some of that
(obviously not all, but I think part of it is funny specifically because it isn't directly
funny) stuff is actually funny.
Oh, and it was a huge effing pain in the ass to upload and setup this crap on a
stupid dial up connection.
Here's a bonus link (and old one, but still great): Car + Snow = Fun
And some huge props to "The Roots"; their album "The Tripping Point" is brilliant.
I'm not a rap/hip-hop fan, but these boys rock; plus they PLAY THEIR OWN
INSTRUMENTS. Seriously, I've seen them on TV out there with the horns, guitars,
drums, bass guitars, etc.
18-Aug-2004 8:57PM
And I'm back... again
Not much new to write, so I'll just write about whatever the hell I want to.
I've started watching Patlabor TV again (about the 5th time in the last year I've
watched through ep ~20). For me, Patlabor is a show that is just too good; it
has an incredibly diverse cast of characters who are all well developed and
multi-fasceted. Then there are the scripts...gah... written by many of the best
writers/creators in anime for the last 20 years they truly bring out the cast's
various strengths. I know I have written more than enough about Patlabor
on this page, but everytime I start watching it I just want to write more and
more about how great it is in every way.
An interesting note to make about differences in the various incarnations of
Patlabor is that in the TV series Shinohara takes a long "love at first sight"
pause when he first sees Noa walk by in episode one. This scene is a
fairly uncommon one in Patlabor; they usually don't use such obvious
romantic ploys (one of the reasons I love the show). However, I don't
think it spoils the TV series or makes it any worse than any of the other
Patlabor incarnations - it is not something which is particularly important
or used excessively, the relationship between Noa and Asuma plays out
wonderfully in the TV series (my favorite relationship in any anime).
And now onto:
Hellsing
I first saw part of the first episode back when it was airing in Japan and I
really wasn't interested, but after hearing good stuff about it from everyone
at club and a few other people I know I stuck it at the top of my Netflix list.
After watching all of it (2 weeks to get and watch all the discs) I definitely
think its a 'good' show. There are many aspects of it I really like, nothing I
didn't like - just some other parts I would've like to have seen more
developed.
Best parts:
Previews : probably the coolest previews since Nadesico;
the show's worth watching just to see them. They could do a really great
Hellsing Gaiden (outer story) using all the preview stuff.
Seras : from seiyuu (Orikasa-sama) to character design she is one super-
sexy-vampire-cop-with-the-most-phallic-gun-ever. She really makes this
show interesting; and since I find her so fascinating I really wish they took
her character further.
Integra Windgates Hellsing : aside from having a sweet name she is voiced
by Sakikabara-sama (uhh... Nagumo Shinobu from you-know-what)) and is
also uber sexy and a totally bizarre character. She was great.
Scripts : well written dialogue by Mr. Konada (if you don't know his name...
sheesh... what are you doing reading my webpage...). Solid stuff, I believe
the dialogue for the US dvd's is the same as for the Japanese DVD release
- called 'Rescript' - I'm not sure how/wwhat was changed but it sounds like
a winner to me.
Sex Appeal : as I've said before, many shows are just fan service/gratuitous
sex stuff - but this show seemed to really have the whole sex/violence/
vampire thing down well. The show certainly had its share of sex appeal,
and shockingly graphic sexual depictions; but at the same time, the sex
wasn't gratuitous - it had its purpose and a sense where you watched it
and were drawn into the show more by it (rather than drawn out of the
show's reality because it just didn't fit).
Wish list:
My primary complaint is the same I have for most 13 ep shows : MORE!
I really like all the characters they introduced, but there was so much that
was left open; and I'm not just talking about huge galaxy-wide battles to
be fought, there seemed to be a lot of interrelations between main
characters that I would like to see more of.
I really don't have much else in the way of complaints about the show,
it was a solid show - nothing extraordinary, but still a show certainly
worth watching. I would probably buy it if it still weren't a freakin'
hundred twenty for the show.
Other Things...
Texas Hold 'em Poker
I played a bunch of folks tonight ($10 buy in), and lost, but had a good
time. I'm not much a card player, I'm about 1/6 of the way decent, but
I really don't play enough to get a good sense for the game. Also, a lot
of the game is reading other players and how they play. I'm really quite
bad at reading people, and it's just not something I like to do.
I try to straight forward and honest with people, and I don't go out
looking for other people to screw me over. I figure, if they want to sneak
something by me and take me for a ride they're gonna do it; eventually
I'll get wise and then eff them over at any opportunity and hold them in
the contempt at every opportunity.
So, I'm really not good at faking people out and figuring out when people
are screwing me. But, I'm okay, know how to play a decent hand and
enjoy playing once in a while.
Limited Release Completed, See You Next Time Space Vampire...
16-Aug-2004 3:27PM
So, after many, many long months of working my ass to the bone day and
night and then day again I decided to update. Don't know for how long I'll
keep this up this time, but we'll see how it goes.
Obviously, it took something inspiring for me to actually write something.
And that something was what I watched last weekend:
Friday: Coming to America, Gunparade March eps9-12(end)
Saturday: Gundam SEED eps 5-20, Utena eps 1-12
Sunday: Utena eps 13-39 (yes, that's the whole series)
As is obvious, I am a serious anime addict. I love the stuff, I watch it
all day and all I want to do the next day is watch more. I can't really
say why without writing an attack against anyone who doesn't love the
stuff as much as I do, so I won't bother. (And, yes, Gundam SEED and
Utena were watched from legally imported Japanese DVD's, the GPM
was from the US discs; which look to be pretty nice quality.)
Still, I am able to see differences in production quality and differentiate
between 'okay', 'good' and 'great'. And then there are the few productions
which achieve something above 'great', or 'excellent!' or any of those other
words they put on billboards to sell stuff; these few productions achieve the
status of 'art' and 'beauty'.
I think too many people believe that just because someone slapped some
paint on a canvas that it's immediately 'art'. Bullshit. And just because it
happens to be old and dusty and from Spain doesn't make it art. I'm not
trying to make an assault upon our institutions of art, I just want to make
a distinction between "Professional Quality Work" and 'art'. Art is not
something you can purposely set out to make, it comes out of itself and
dedication to the project, love of the work.
With that sense in mind there are very few pieces of anime (or film in
general) which are 'art'.
Shoujo Kakumei Utena is one of these pieces.
It takes an established genre and completely revolutionizes it. If you
have seen Utena, you understand what I am talking about; it not, go
and get a copy of the show today and start watching.
While watching this show I realized had many thoughts about why that
show shines so much brighter than damn near anything else I've seen.
It does not have a very high cell count; but, every damn cell is drawn
excellently. For the last ~10 eps of the show the cell quality was so high
that many of the cells from the show could have been used, unedited, as
promotional art.
I place the blame for some of this squarely on the shoulders of one of my
most admired anime creators of all time: Kobayashi Shichiro.
Who? Yes, I know many people don't know this man's name; but he's
worked on many of your favorite shows over many, many years of work:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=251
Out of that long list here are my favorites:
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
Berserk
Here is Greenwood
Utena TV/Movie
He is always listed as the "Art Director"; now, I'm not exactly sure
what that entails but here's my guess. He's the most hands on person
ensuring cell quality. The reason his work is great and has remained
great throughout the years is that he understands what makes anime
so wonderful and distinct from American animation. His works
have always had the highest cell quality I have ever seen. Cell
quality, not cell quantity.
American animation often fall flat and looks bad because the animators
try too much to copy real life and realisitic motion. It doesn't work; it
just looks wierd and as though everyone has some strange fluid flowing
through them at all times. Even the most fluidly animated anime movie,
and one that is often criticized for not looking 'anime' enough, still is
far from this faulty quality (the movie I'm citing is Akira).
So, just to end this because I'm tired of typing (probably less than you
are of reading) I'll stop ranting here.
Here's my viewing homework assignment:
Gunparade March : The best anime adaptation of a game (and extensive
drama cd series) that I can remember. 5 stars
Shoujo Kakumei Utena : I think I've said enough, but
even if you've watched it before it's well worth taking a weekend to watch
it. Plus, it's all out on dvd in the US (finally) so you can watch it in good
quality and finally see what I'm talking about. 6(of 5) Stars
Miami Guns : vol 2 just came out and damn if it isn't as funny (possibly funnier
than) the first volume.
Lets see if it takes me as long to update this time as last time. (ha ha ha)
You know, it actually felt pretty good writing that crap; I'll probably have
something of actual substance (and possibly even keep to my original
point) next time.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Oh, what's that, you're still here? well, I guess I'll put up a collection of
various things I've written over that last months that I haven't been
putting anything up here. Bear in mind that most stuff will be out of
context because it was written in response to something said/written
by someone who is not me (and thus I will not post their writing without
express written permission). After a few of these I may have written
some new commentary. GEKI YABEE LE RELEASE NEW
COMMENTARY!!! (that's the selling point)
From 4/24/2004 1:14PM
<<
just for my two cents on this (at too let the 'outside' world know that I
am, indeed, alive). Here's what I have to say:
FSS - Fucking Awesome Manga. One of the 5 best I have ever read. To steal
something that was created for that is horrible and I absolutely protest any
action to that end.
.
.
Now, it's Friday afternoon, I don't work tomorrow (amazingly) so I need to
get to some serious drinking.
-dylan
>>
Commentary : sounds like a typical day at the end of the cycle at NPTU
From 5/26/2004 9:19PM
<<
yo,
Mystery member here with some input on the various lists.
Public support and interest in a show is good, especially if it is a continuing
show (ala banner, Patlabor, Inuyasha) - it shows that people have seen some
and are interested in coming to club to see more.
As for the rest, some public support is good; but I wouldn't be overly reliant on it.
I think a lot of the time some shows get put high on the list because people have
seen them already (excel saga; which for the record was shown during various
hours, some eps during normal hours most during after hours and some episodes
shown multiple times) or have heard an excessive hype about them (Rahxephon
- which is an 'okay' show, but I really think there's much better stuff out there).
I think a few popular choice shows are a good idea, but don't get carried away;
here are some shows that ended up being really popular, but weren't well
known/support when they made it into the schedule: Cowboy Bebop (this is true,
I forced this show to be shown, nobody else was really interested in it before we
put it on), Berserk, Crest o', Patlabor, etc... True, not every unknown show has
been a huge hit, but no one's hit over .400 in a few years either.
I have the same opinion about older shows; put on one or two, more than that
and you're going to lose the audience. I may be completely out of touch with
what people have and haven't seen, but I figured everyone and their mama
had seen Lodoss War at least 14 times by now...
-dylan
>>
Commentary : While this is relating to a discussion of what shows to put on at
MNA next year, it's entirely my thoughts on how to put together a schedule. Of
course, I'm liable to change that opinion and attempt to back up my new opinion
with a completely different set of arguments and ideals at any time...
From 5/29/2004 3:27PM
<<
I promise I'll start updating the site once I get qualified (hopefully this Thursday)
>>
Commentary : damn... okay, so I guess I didn't start updating as soon as originally
planned; also I didn't get qualified for a week after that (I think, it's hard to tell since
I did my best to black out that year+ from my memory permanently).
From 6/15/2004 2:17PM
<<
yo,
...
Q: What is a show people's mother's have seen?
A: What is Record of Lodoss War
...
This show (Princess Nine) is really good. It's kinda like Battle Athletes Victory,
except better in every way. I have seen the whole show, and it stays good
throughout. The whole show is available for <$40 from BestPrices
(http://www.uln.com/cgi-bin/vlink/702727060526IE.html); a cheap pickup for the club.
The show is also available from Netflix (how I watched it).
I recall someone mentioning "Slayers Next" before; if you want a
magic-comedy-slight-drama I think "Those Who Hunt Elves". It's really damn funny,
dirt cheap and the first season is 12 eps (second season is 12 eps as well). Hell, I
reccomend putting that show on regardless of genre desired.
-dylan
>>
Commentary : Princess Nine is still a good show, and certainly not common type either,
they really don't make many female gekiga shows (if that is even a genre...)
And Those Who Hunt Elves is damn funny, the manga's great too; I'm pretty sure through
at least vol 5 is out in the US.
And of all the Slayers, Next was my favorite. Pretty much entirely because of Xellos, he's
cool. But, if you like kinda-evil-good-bad-guy-"That's a secret" type guys just watch Utena,
I really can't think of a guy in that show who doesn't fit that genre (and also be a much more
developed and interesting character than Xellos). Of course Xellos and Filia were really damn
funny together in Try...
From 6/29/2004 1:53PM
<<
yo,
Just to incense people, I still think Rahxephon sucks. It has some great episodes, but it lacks
consistency. And it is a complete f-ing Eva clone, just not as good at all.
Kino no Tabi (Kino's Journey) - Awesometacular. I really love this show, it is directed by
Ryutaro Nakamura (Lain, Colorful) and script written by Sadayuki Murai (Millenium
Actress, a million other great things). I think Annalise's (sp?) description is accurate for
the show, however she forgot to mention that is has one of the sexiest opening songs I've
ever heard.
Fancy Lala - I know you people are dead set against this show, and that you are dead
wrong. This way, when you people actually watch the show you will know that I was
right all along.
RoLW - I was the originator of the comment about people's mothers. 'nuff said.
Tehxnolyzyzye - I've seen a few eps of this show and am intrigued, I also know that is
gets a "Super Reccomend" from Shinji of AMOTokyo which goes a long way in my book.
And I have no comment on GPM as I have not seen it.
Now back to playing Melty Blood ReAct
-dylan
>>
Commentary : The "no comment on GPM" (Gunparade March) was in reference to a series of
exceedingly heated exchanges between the supporters of the 5121 and the LORDS OF ALL
THAT IS EVIL AND BAD AND STUFF THAT IS NOT GOOD. (As you can tell, I am part
of the forces for light and good and justice and the 5121 (platoon number of the folks in GPM.)
And I have to totally agree with Jamshid's comments from the email on 6/27/2004 "Tag me in
mofo, nobody disses GPM."
From 7/7/2004 11:33PM
<<
yo,
...
And please remove me from this list.
...
-Dylan Hall : my final email to the offiicers list. Please contact me via the members list
or via my personal email from now on.
>>
Commentary : This is an (edited) version of my final email to the MNA officers email list
(of which I was a co-creator). I edited this because the only people who need to know
the reason why I would sign off in such a way already know.
I'm not happy that I had to remove myself from the list like that, but my time to go was
certainly past. I wish the best to the folks to run the club and hope that they run it in the
(legal and ethical) way they see best fit.
It turns out working for 13-14 hours a day leaves little time for web
page updates; sorry about that. I'll try to make up for it with some
good updates this weekend.
In the meantime here's this (taken from the Howard Stern web page):
George W. Bush's 50 greatest accomplishments
1. I attacked and took over two countries.
2. I spent the US surplus and bankrupted the US treasury.
3. I shattered the record for the biggest annual deficit in history
(not easy)
4. I set an economic for the most personal bankruptcies filed in
any 12 month period.
5. I set all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the
stock market.
6. I am the first president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
7. I am the first president in US history to enter office with a
criminal record.
8. In my first year in office I set the all-time record for the most
days on vacation by any president in US history. (tough to beat my dad's,
but I did)
9. After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided
over the worst security failure in US history.
10. I set the record for most campaign raising trips by an president in
US history.
11. In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs.
12. I cut unemployment benefits for more out-of-work Americans than
any other president in US history.
13. I set the all-time record for most real estate foreclosures in a
12-month period.
14. I appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions
than any other president in US history.
15. I set the record for fewest press conferences of any president since
the advent of TV.
16. I presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and
refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
17. I signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution
than any other US president in history.
18. I cut health-care benefits for war veterans.
19. I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously
take to the streets to protest me (15 million people) shattering the record
for protest against ant person in the history of mankind.
20. I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.
21. I've made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in
US history.
22. Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history.
(the poorest multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker
named after her)
23. I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states of the
union simultaneously struggle against bankruptcy.
24. I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any market
in any country in the history of the world.
25. I am the first president in US history to order a US attack and military
occupation of a sovereign nation, and I did so against the will of the
United Nations and the vast majority of the international community.
26. I have created the largest government department bureaucracy in the
history of the US.
27. I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases,
more than any other president in US history (Reagan was hard to beat,
but I did it!!!)
28. I am the first president in US history to compel the United Nations
to remove the US from the HnmanRights Commission.
29. I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations
remove the US from Elections Monitoring Board.
30. I removed more checks and balances and have the least congressional
oversight of any presidential administration in US history.
31. I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
32. I withdrew from the World Court Of Law.
33. I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default
no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.
34. I am the first president in US history to refuse United Nations election
inspectors access during the 2002 elections.
35. I am the all-time US (and world) record holder for the most corporate
campaign donations.
36. The biggest lifetime contributor to my campaign, who is also one
of my best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy
frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of EnronCorporation)
37. I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president
in US history.
38. I am the first president to run and hide when the US came under attack
( and then lied, saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1).
39. I am the first US president to establish a secret shadow government.
40. I took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11, and in less
than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly
the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).
41. I am the first US president in history to have a majority of the
people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to
world peace and stability.
42. I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government
contracts.
43. I set the all-time record for the number of administration appointees
who violated US laws by not selling their huge investments in corporations
that later made bids for gov contracts.
44. I have removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than
any other president in US history.
45. I have created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most
divided that the US has been since the Civil War.
46. I entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less
than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.
47. I have at at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine ( Texas
driving record has been erased and is not available).
48. I was AWOL from the National Guard and deserted the military during
time of war. I refused to take a drug test or even answer any questions
about drug use.
49. All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away
to my father's library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
All records of any SEC investigation into my insider trading or bankrupt
companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
50. All minutes of meetings of any public corporations for which I served
on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. Any
records or minutes from meeting I ( or my VP ) attended regarding public
energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.
Now, of course, I can't verify all of these (nor do I have the time); however,
you people who have finals and spring break certainly have more than enough
time to do so. Some of those statements are just random attacks, but from
my quick reading I'd say that at least 80% are very quickly verifiable facts.
The rest are possibly true, but probably harder to verify.
Who can say that Kerry is any better? I can't for certain, but he at least
didn't get his daddy's money to get out of going to Vietnam. And he has
made plenty of money (I hear he has ~$500 million); which is certainly
better than Bankrupting Bush.
Oh, to any Seinfeld fan - super recommend of the show "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
it's a new(er) show by Larry David (co-creator of Seinfeld, and George in
real life) that follows him around in a very documentary style. It's really
funny and has that same witty/bizzare humor sense that Seinfeld had. Go
buy/rent/Netflix the discs now.
The government is out of control. Spread the word. Stop Bush and the
'Religious Right'. Stop the censorship of information. Stop the Patriot Act.
Vote Bush out of office. Send a message. Contact your senators. Tell your
friends. If we don't stop this insanity our constitution will be trampled to
and our rights as citizens smothered.
And, no, this is not just about Howard Stern - but he is a focal point of
the attack. Don't let the issue get confused; this is about all our freedoms
and our constitution.
In case you don't know me, I am a officer in the US Navy (as opposed to some
other Navy). I'm generally conservative and have been working 80 hours a week
since June, I believe in the USA and what we stand for, but I can't support
a regime that is trying to destroy the very country for which I am serving.
While reading the above articles I suggest you put on some Rage Against The
Machine really fucking loud. Helps put you in that 'Fuck You Government/
Authority Figure" mood.
Now back to the usual fun stuff:
Futurama Season 3 - more great stuff, I don't think it's quite as good as
second season, but it's still great. I love the ep where Bender adopted
the orphanage.
Fancy Lala - I finally got in another couple of volumes. And it's still
just as wonderful as it ever was. Really, I can't recommend this show
enough to everyone, especially at the price.
Ryvius - Uh Ryvius, can ya' feel it? I can feel it. Geki Yabee. I just
wish Bandai would release this show faster.
Anyone else notice that the only US anime discs I buy are Bandai discs?
It's not really a quality issue, they just have the shows I find worth
purchasing. Of course, there was a period where damn near everything
I bought was ADV - it just changes with what's coming out.
Yukikaze - I actually haven't watched my US dvd yet, but I'm just
gonna go on the asumption that the encode is good. I'm looking
forward to the DTS audio. Yukikaze is a very polar show - folks either
really love it (me) or just don't like it; I say, watch it and enjoy.
I have also decided to make update my Anime Favorites list.
I'm adding my favorite Openings and Endings and making a few other edits.
Have a good day, and fuck Bush.
11-Mar-2004 3:40AM
Sorry for the long update free time, but I've been working so much lately
the FCC is suing me for indecency.
Things of note:
New Computer - I finally ordered my new computer, here are the specs:
Item Description Qty Unit Price Price
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
84 Sager 8790-C Notebook: 8790-C 1 $2440.00 $2440.00
1006 Display: 17" WXGA+ LCD (WideScreen
1440 X 900)
1030 Processor: P4 3.0GHZ Northwood CPU
1009 Video: 256MB ATI Radeon Mobility 9700
(M11)
849 RAM: 1024MB 400DDR Dual Channel
(2-512MB)
730 Main Hard Dirve: 60GB 5400RPM
854 Media Drive: 2X DVD-RW/CD-RW
372 Bay 2 Hard Drive: No
372 RAID: No
702 Keyboard Layout: USA
1025 TV Tuner/Subwoofer: Subwoofer
372 Floppy Drive: No
1010 Modem: 56K RJ11 Phone Modem
853 Network Card: 10/100/1000 NIC
365 Operating System: Windows XP
Professional
1023 Battery: 8 Cell Li-Ion Smart battery
355 Case: Basic Black business case
372 Spare AC Power Adapter: No
372 Car adapter: No
372 Port Replicator: No
372 Spare Battery: No
1041 Wireless Network: Internal 802.11g
TURBO (108Mbps) wireless
852 Bluetooth: Internal Bluetooth
1028 Card Reader: Internal 7-in-1 Card
Reader
1029 Camera: Integrated Digital Video
Camera
372 Software Bundle: No
372 Office Software: No
356 Warranty: 1 year warranty, lifetime
tech support
372 Repair Transit Coverage: No
372 Export Coverage: No
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal $2440.00
UPS Ground
Total $2440.00
Basically, it's the motherfucker of all notebooks. I could've gotten a
slightly faster processor and hard drive, but they would've mostly just
produced more heat than increased computing ability. It should be shipping
to me in a week or so.
This now makes three computers I have purchased in my life; one in 1994,
1998 and 2004 - and all three have been within +/- $100 of $2400, no real
plot there, it has always just seemed that that amount of money has produced
the proper balance between performance and price.
Music recommendations - I don't think I've ever done many music recommendations
on here, which is kinda surprising considering I have more music and spend
more time listening to it than I do watching videos.
Some musicians are great song writers, some are great performers, others
are superb arrangers and others are inspirational artists who come out and
change what you think music can be.
And then there's Bob Dylan. Without a doubt he is one of the crowning
achievements of human evolution; a living, breathing Newtype (just to
relate it to something all you Gundam freaks can understand). No, not
everything he's ever done has been perfect and wonderful; but he's made
at least 15 albums that certainly pass that qualification. His lyrics,
musical sense, ability to change and come up with new sounds, styles
and genres is unsurpassed by any.
And damn if the remasters they've put out of his stuff aren't fucking
awesome, I'm gonna have to get a SACD player just to get the full
audiophile effect.
Really, I could recommend any album of his, but I'll limit it to a
couple here for brevity:
Blood on the Tracks
Blonde on Blonde
Highway 61 Revisited
Bootleg Series Vol 5 - 1975 The Rolling Thunder Revue
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Oh Mercy
Love and Theft
Since I'm on the topic of music here are some other great groups (I'll
try and limit it a couple of albums I know are great for groups with
large catalogs) whim whom you should go out and make yourself intimately
familiar:
The Band
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust, Alladin Sane
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation, Washing Machine, Murray Street
Meat Puppets - Too High Too Die
Joni Mitchell - Blue, Ladies of the Canyon
Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece, Moondance, Astral Weeks, Into the Music
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life, Talking Book, Innervisions
And now back to the usual videocy:
Futurama - I love this show. It may be my favorite American animation.
First season is good, but it really just gets better in second and
third season (third season just came out on dvd this week). I think
I like it because I realize that Fry lives the life I wish I did -
he has a job that doesn't take any effort, he hangs out with his
friends all the time and does what he wants, and he's gotten his
share of weird alien poontang. Really, what else do you need?
In some weird ways Futurama reminds me of Patlabor; the story line
is about the daily lives of a bunch of emotionally retarded people
who live and work together. Anyway, I highly recommend you all go
buy the dvd sets, they have awesome extras as well - full length
commentaries on every damn episode by the creators, voice actors,
writers and directors.
I'm gonna go watch an ep or two of Jerimiah before Stern comes on
(at 6am). Damn, my sleep schedule is seriously fucked up.
Oh, I got all my dvd catalogs up to date, I just have to do a little
formatting and I'll upload them later today (probably during Stern).
2-Mar-2004 5:30AM
Yes, it's 5:30 in the morning and no, I have not been to sleep yet. My
time clock is seriously disoriented. I think I have 'technically' two
days off (after working 7 straight 12+ hour days), but because of required
extra hours the only day I won't be at work at all is today (Tuesday, which
I kind of think of as tomorrow since I haven't been to sleep yet). See,
I wouldn't be all screwed up except that I'm coming off working swings
(12:00 to 00:00 - that's noon to midnight) and I'm going into working the
next 7 days shift in mids (1900 to 0700 - that's 7pm to 7am). However,
since the way they count points and hours I'm not technically going to
have any working time counted against me on Wednesday (that is, I'm not
technically making points on Wednesday, the workday starts on Thursday)
even though I have to spend ~5 hours at work on Wednesday.
I just thought I'd share my confusion with the rest of you all. If you can
figure out when I'm supposed to go to work, please tell me so I don't go
UA (unexcused absence).
Cool DVD picks:
Jeremiah Season 1 - a sweet "The Stand" kinda show made by J. Michael
Strazynski (Babylon 5 creator, writer) that aired on Showtime (so there's
cursing and some boobilation). Basic story: a disease comes through and
in 6 months kills every person on earth who had gone through puberty at
the time; fifteen years have passed and the scraps from the remnants of
society are finally drying up leaving the young populace trying to find
some way out.
It's really good, and builds well (I saw through ep ~7 back when it was
first on); I'm really jonzing to see the rest.
Oz Season 3 - finally it's out on dvd! more adventures of those wacky
kids as they try to solve mysteries with their goofy companions... Wait,
that's totally not Oz at all. If you haven't seen Oz at all, go put
the first season at the top of your Netflix list right now! It's one of
the best written shows I've ever seen (up there with Seinfeld and Babylon
5).
Also of note, is that Bandai is re-releasing most of their catalog at
some incredibly reduced prices. Shows of note:
Fancy Lala (6 vols) $10/disc retail (which means you can find it for
even less)
Gundam 0080 (2 discs) $15/
Gundam 0083 (4 discs) $15/
Brain Powerd (3 discs) $15/ (note that this show is 26 episodes
originally released as 3 separate 2 dvd sets for $45 each)
Silent Mobius (3 discs) $15/ (same as Brain Powerd)
Go check the press release at AOD if you want to see what else.
Also, I watched Rushmore again tonight (for probably the fifteenth time,
honestly) and I still love it just as much as when I first saw it; in
fact, I think I like that movie more each time I watch it. I'm am
seriously looking forward to Wes Anderson's next movie.
And now I think I'm gonna go to bed... ugh... I am seriously disoriented.
28-Feb-2004 12:20AM
Sorry for the lack of updates lately; but my work schedule just totally
changed and it's taken me a while to get used to it. Actually, my actual
work has changed a bit as well, which also takes some getting used to.
I don't really have anything serious to update, so I'll just ramble on
about some crap.
FUCK BUSH. Fuck that asshole. I hope he gets thrown out of office in
2004. Shit, I may actually register and vote just to get his ass out.
It's not that the Democrats are any better, it's just that it's a way to
send a message that this bullshit has got to stop. Exactly what bull
am I talking about?
1. Censorship
2. Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment
Censorship - I think censorship is ridiculous in form and function. If
we are too stupid not to listen to arguments and come to our own decisions
we should not be living in a country where one is allowed to vote. We
should just be honest about it and establish a dictatorship and relinquish
all rights to thought and privacy.
Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment - Let's get 'marriage' straight first; marriage
is a legal and tax issue. There are certain long standing ceremonies
commonly associated, but when it comes down to it you can just go to a
courthouse and be married without any of the pomp.
If two people can stand each other enough to say "I want to live with you
for the rest of my life" who the fuck cares whether it's a man and a woman
or a man and a man or a woman and a woman.
Quit forcing your morality on me; America is about freedom of choice, speech
and action - not forced morality. As long as your actions don't harm another
person or deprive them of their right to freedom of action, go ahead and do
whatever.
The only reason Bush is stirring up all this crap is because he is way down
in opinion polls and needs to distract the public from the horrendous mess
his regime has left the economy. Without performing any real research, I'm
pretty sure if you looked back in history you will find that the economy has
been the majority deciding factor in most elections. That is, if the economy
was good the incumbent wins; if it's bad he loses - unless there is some major
issue that takes precedence over the economy.
So, just to express myself once more before Bush passes an amendment nullifying
the Bill of Rights.
Fuck Bush. Fuck his regime of fear and terror. I want my damned country back
from these theocratic freaks that are running it into the ground.
I've actually been seriously thinking about trying to get involved in some way
politically and do something. I suggest everyone who reads this thinks about
doing the same - and I plead that you too act. Even if it's something as simple
as writing some crap on a web page that only a few people read, do something.
Do something to let others know that you're sick of this crap and don't want it
anymore.
Now, onto some more lighthearted stuff -
Princess Nine, Vol 2 - not quite as good as the first vol, but still
really damn good.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Sweet Fancy Moses! What an awesome movie.
I think I'm gonna go out to B&N and buy/read the book. This is definitely
a super recommend for anyone who likes to freak out once in a while.
Also, it's a surprisingly, albeit subtly, philosophic movie. You could
describe it as "Two guys going to Los Vegas to try and find the American
Dream," but that wouldn't be doing it justice.
Yukikaze Vol 4 - well, it doesn't come out for another month and some, but
I'm pretty damn jazzed about it.
US anime releases that you need:
Memories - bitchin' movie. Read the AOD review.
Kino's Journey - really awesome new TV series, I've discussssssed it
before, but now you can experience it.
And now to end with a quote from the funniest damn show ever:
"Watch this, I'm gonna horrify you into a coma." - Master Shake, ATHF
22-Feb-2004 1:45PM
I added a pictures section (located above) with some random pics I've
taken with my digi camera. I made the section pretty damn simple (in
keeping with the rest of the site) in the hopes that I'll then update
it often (adding and removing stuff).
22-Feb-2004 1:45PM
Hey everybody! Long time, no update.
Here's a super recommend for anyone who cares about the world they live
in:
"Bowling For Columbine"
Now, if you haven't seen this and have only heard the 'propaganda'
surrounding this documentary you have been fooled (as I was). This is
a great piece on how we, Americans, are controlled.
I also think this should be watched with caution, some parts of this
were created and edited to elicit a specific emotional response and
some numbers are presented in misleading ways; however, if you think
while watching this those parts will stand out and you will not be
mislead by them. I think the editing of the movie was disappointing
in this aspect; these overly emotional portions distract one from
the important aspects of this film.
For those of you who are too retarded to watch this, I'll present my
thoughts on its thesis and ideas:
Americans are controlled by fear. This fear is marketed by the news
media and political forces.
Just watch the nightly news: shootings, robbery, genetic engineering,
chemical hazards, "What you don't know may kill you, more at eleven."
Enough is enough. The biggest fear monger of them all is our illustrious
President Bush. He is a rich boy; he was born rich and will die rich.
He is so afraid of losing his wealth and encountering any way of life
that is at all contradictory to his that he will sacrifice our rights as
Americans.
Fuck Bush.
I hope he gets out in 2004. I haven't been following the presidential
race too much, but from what I can tell my preferential choice is
Howard Dean. Yes, I know his support has waned since his 'outburst',
but who gives a shit about that. He has proven himself to be an
effective governor and a passionate man who says what he believes in.
I doubt he would continue Bush's Theocratic state policies and bring
some sanity to the rest of the government.
Kerry also looks to be a pretty solid contender, I don't know too
much about him though.
Of course, neither of those two would probably work to hard to get
me a pay raise; but they would both be much better for the country
as a whole.
Since I'm being political, I'll just continue.
The war in Iraq - were we right to move in? did we have ample
evidence? did we act in accordance with international laws?
have we acted in accordance with our own laws? have our fears
let us violate citizen's constitutional rights? How long
should we stay in Iraq?
Frankly, I don't know enough to answer these questions with
anything more than a gut reaction. However, maybe that's good
enough.
Should we have invaded - I don't think we had ample evidence of
a credible threat; however, I think the threat was definitely there.
After all, we know Saddam had weapons - we gave them to him.
We did need to move in for one reason: to send a message that we
weren't going to passively wait for the next attack. And, the
attack was successful in conveying that message; why else would
Lybia show us their weapons program? They were scared that we
would just roll some of the 150,000 soldiers in Iraq right next
door and kick them out too.
That is the only positive way Bush's fear has worked for us - the
other crooked world leaders also think in some of the same terms
that Bush does, and thus, they too have a fear of losing everything.
International laws and the UN - The long term results of our actions
are not yet clear; we moved and showed the impotency of the UN.
AFAIK, our actions were a direct violation of the principles of
the UN and we acted just as much the part a rogue nation as Iraq.
Recently, the US has been more and more angered by the UN; this is
the result of the UN trying to act outside of the direct interests
of the US. Thus, we see it as a threat. Frankly, when we decided
to move on Iraq, the UN should have sent soldiers to intervene and
stop our soldiers. I'm glad they didn't, but in principle that may
go a long way to the dissolution of the UN. I'm not sure if the
dissolution of the UN would be a good thing or not, I really don't
think much would change.
Constitutional violations - To me, the most disturbing part of this
whole mess is the constitutional violations that the government has
been trying to force on us, the public. Their fears have made
everyone a suspect, the "Patriot Act" being the worst offender of
this. All this fear reminds me of what the government did to
Americans of Japanese descent during WWII - forced them into
concentration camps in the middle of the desert and illegally
imprisoned US citizens. The only difference here is that we
now suspect everyone. My only hope is that time will heal all
wounds and we will soon come to wake up and realize that our
actions violate the very principles we claim to be supporting
by them.
How long - It's certainly too late to turn back the clock on Iraq,
we're there and we're been there for a year now. The question is
now how long do we stay? I think we need to stay for the long
haul. If we leave now, we leave them in a worse position than
they were in previously and our situation will only have worsened.
We should stay for at least another 4 years, gradually lessening
our presence and making sure that there is someone reasonable
left in charge. How do we do that? I have not damn clue; it's
always harder to establish rule than it is to destroy it.
Well, it's been a fun little rant/rave day, I think I'm spent
for the day. I got in disc 2 of Princess Nine, so I'll watch
that today and post thoughts on it later.
Also, in HP formatting news, I moved all my pre-feb 2004 comments
into the "Random Ramblings" section of the page; it seemed to
be taking quite a while to load this page with all my big words.
18-Feb-2004 10:40PM
Just a couple of quick notes tonight:
Buy/Rent/Netflix the following:
Jerry Seifeld 'I'm Telling You for the Last Time' and 'Comedian' (in that
order). Both are really great; damn I miss Seinfeld.
Great news! Well, at least for video game/RPG fans.
Click here, link found via Gamefaqs.com.
17-Feb-2004 10:15PM
Nothing of note today, except that work was almost halfway not horrible.
Here's a few great, completely random stories; feel free to make them your
own:
Story #1
A few guys (actually, officers in the class before me) were out drinking
at some bars one night. Shot after shot were diligently downed, each man
boasting that he could out drink the others. Soon enough, one member had
had more than his share and valiantly dashed for the bathroom.
With great fortitude, he threw open a stall door and proceeded to vomit
profusely and without caution.
While catching his breath in between his violent upheavals, he happened
to look up only to see a man sitting in front of him.
On the toilet.
Relieving himself.
And covered in vomit.
Several tense moments passed; and then the true face of alcohol showed
itself as our aggressor came to enact his next few carefully thought out
actions.
Our inebriated hero proceeded to punch the man on the toilet in the face
and run out of the bar.
Yea, that we have seen evil and lived to tell of it.
Story #2
As told by the brother of the originator of this story:
"My brother is a real animal person, he loves them. He honestly does,
I'm not sure why but, he always has."
"I regularly talked to him on the phone while I was living in Florida;
just regular, boring stuff. However, one day he called and sounded
really bummed out. I asked what was wrong and he told me his tale
of woe."
"He had been driving home on his neighborhood's residential streets and
had been going a little too fast. He saw a cat dart out in front of him;
he tried to hit the brakes, but it was too late. WHAM. It sounded awful,
he knew there was no way the cat was going to be okay."
"So, he stopped the car and looked back. He saw a cat hobbling to the side
of the road to lay down. He was sure it was injured and he decided to
take it out of its misery."
"So, he opened his trunk and got out his tire iron. And he walked over to
the cat and started clubbing it; beating it to death. Now, being the
animal lover he was, he was practically crying and was profusely apologizing,
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" over and over again."
"While this crying, clubbing and apologizing was going on, the cat's owner
came running out screaming "What are you doing to my cat!". My brother
explained that he had hit the cat with his car and was trying to put the
cat out of its misery. The cat's owner, furious, yelled at him, telling him
that there could've been something else he could have done beside clubbing
his cat to death with a tire iron."
"My brother, wanting to show that the cat would've died from its injuries,
took the cat's owner over to the front of his car to show him where the
cat had hit his car."
"When they got there, they found another cat, dead, stuck in the grill."
And I'm spent. I'll take/post some more pictures after I read my manual
and figure out how the hell my camera works.
Feel free to take those stories and post them elsewhere; to the best of
my knowledge both of those are 100% true.
16-Feb-2004 10:15PM
As usual, I didn't update over the weekend; too busy uhh... drinking
and watching anime... whatever, I just don't ever feel like it on the
weekend. And damn, it was a nice 3 day weekend.
THE BEGINNING OF THE "BIG UPDATE"!
Hah! here's the first installment in what will be my continuing 'big
update' section.
The first pic from the inside of the V Gundam boxset. I finally watched
more of that show (through ep 10) and damn, it's really great. I had
heard rumor that the soundtrack was good; but holy shit.
I, officially, declare that Victory Gundam has the best soundtrack
of any Gundam. It's beautiful, wonderful, magnificent. I must order
them today. Damn, actually better than the original movies (which still
are great to listen to), Zeta (which has such memorable themes) and
Yoko Kanno's brilliance on Turn A Gundam. Now, admittedly I haven't listened
to the soundtrack throughout the whole show, nor have I listened to the
cd's at least 20+ times a piece (as I have with all the above listed);
but, it is truly impressive. The music gives the show a feeling of
calm that I don't think I've ever felt from a show before.
Aside from the music, Victory is a really great show; it starts off a
little confusing, but quickly draws you in. It's also a very uncensored
show - it's hard to explain what I'm trying to say without making the
show sound grotesque (which it isn't); but there are many scenes in which
I am greatly surprised that they made it on broadcast TV. The scenes
aren't violent, but they are certainly images that one isn't used to
seeing on TV; if I get some dvd drivers on my computer I may take
a screen cap to show you all what I mean.
Anyway, it's a really great show, you all should watch it.
What else I watched this weekend:
Office Space - damn, this movie is just scary. It makes me want to just
stop going to work and tell them to fuck off.
Nausicaa - damn. it turns out this movie is really great. Having previously
only seen it from a craptacular fansub I couldn't tell, but it is really
great. I love Sumi Shimamoto; she's such a wonderful voice actress.
12 Monkeys - Awesome scifi movie made for hardly any money. Definitely of
of the best scifi of the 90's.
Princess Nine (eps 1-5) - This show sucks, my money. Now I have to have it.
I didn't realize it was made by the folks who made Giant Robo (dir, music,
animation, etc) and that it was directed by Mochizuki (Ranma 1st season).
It's 'kinda' like Battle Athletes Victory, except better in every way; I
just put the rest up at the top of my Netflix list. I highly reccomend
everyone give the first volume a try and see if you like it.
Hyper Police (eps 13-14) - Kudos for an excellent quality dvd; they got some
kick ass masters for this show. I think Studio Pierrot takes really great
care of their masters; now if only they would do more shows I like (or do
a super high quality R2 release of Kimagure Orange Road).
Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different - a good compilation
of skits from the TV series. Nothing really more to say here, it's certainly a
fun rental.
Ariel (well, about 10 minutes) - that's all I could take. It sucks. Hard. I
only suggest this to people who want to be confused and needlessly annoyed.
Patlabor Movie 1 - I don't think I need to say any more about this do I?
Gundam: 0083 (the whole ova series) - Great early 90's OVA. Excellently written;
makes for an great transition between original (0079) Gundam and Zeta. The
animation is beyond pimptastic, plus it has a halfway decent 5.1 soundtrack.
I'm not sure if Bandai US encoded this themselves, or if they just got the
Japanese discs (and it doesn't matter), because these discs look fucking
spectacular. Hell, they're even mostly progressive.
The Big Lebowski - The funniest movie of the 90's. If you haven't seen it, I'm
almost jealous (because you get to go out tonight and watch it).
Lost in Translation - this should definitely win best picture. Sometimes, a
movie/tv/book/comic/sock just speaks to you as though it were made specifically
with you in mind. This movie is certainly that for me; more than anything else
this movie describes where I've been (mentally) for the past year.
If you haven't seen it yet (or in a while) go and rent it (with Lebowski).
So, yes, I finally bought a digital camera. I got the Nikon Coolpix 4300; and
it seems pretty good. I haven't played with it much beyond taking a few horrible
pictures of my stuff. I'll screw around with it later and start posting a few
pics now and then.
Dammit, I just realized that it was only due to my completely forgetting about
work that I have lulled myself into a state of peace and tranquility. Gah...
Why can't I be paid to just watch anime and write reviews "in the parlance of
our times" (Maude Lebowski).
As Dennis Leary says; "You think life sucks and then you die; but that's not
how it goes. Life sucks, and then you get cancer. You go into chemotherapy,
all your hair falls out and it has no effect. Then all of the sudden, it (the
cancer) goes into remission, you get out of the hospital and are feeling great.
You're walking down the street one day feeling fine when, WHAM, you're hit by
a bus. And then maybe, maybe, you die." (from "No Cure for Cancer" cd)
12-Feb-2004 9:55PM
Wow, another reasonably early update.
So, I watched eps 2 and 3 of Patlabor OVA with Oshii comments. Man,
he really goes on the assault making some quite strong comments - the
majority of which were not positive. Also, it's quite interesting to
hear his comments on the notorious episode 3 (the sea monter ep). I'm
going to restrain from making any direct comments on his commentary
for a few days so you all can go out and buy/rent/Netflix the disc
(all the commentaries are on disc 1) and hear them for yourself first.
Here's something from the archives. Taken
back in late July 2002; this is the entirety of my dvd collection.
I was quite stunned by how small it was; however I did remember that
this was right after I sold (basically gave away) ~40 R2's to a few
close friends and donated ~20 dvd's to the Minna no Anime video
library and sold another ~15 R1's. I've now built my collection
back up to sickening levels again. Although I didn't bother to
upload the picture of my cd's, that also looked remarkably pitiful.
Of course, I'm sure everyone will by appropriately horrified by my
collection now - after living in Charleston since last May, and having
nothing to do except buy/watch dvd's the size has expanded markedly.
As a side note (completely unrelated) I've already recieved more
visitors this month than all of last month! Wow, you really do love
me. Or at least my random chicken scratch. Or perhaps it was just
the promise of a "really cool update" that keeps bringing you back.
Whatever the reason, thanks for reading. As long as I keep getting
a few hits I'll keep updating regularly and trying to find new,
and perverse ways to entertain you.
My only promise to you is that I won't let this become some angst
ridden weblog; lord knows I don't want to know what I'm thinking
most of the time, let alone anyone else.
According to sources, the Patlabor movie re-releases are NOT a new
encode; which means that they remain non-progressive. BAH!!!
$75 per movie (LE) and no new encode. Cheap Bastards.
(BTW - I'm talking about the new R2 re-releases)
And, if it isn't grossly apparent by now; I have no clue how to
write decent HTML (or even any clue on php) so this is all the
fancy formatting you get.
10-Feb-2004 9:55PM
Some of tonight anime-doujour was the first ep of the Patlabor OVA
series (yet, again) - however this time it was the R1 version with
Mamoru Oshii's commentary. Very well done; they had an interviewer
ask some good questions and let Oshii just speak freely; I'm quite
looking forward to the next two episodes of commentary.
I'd have to say that the Patlabor OVA series ("The Original Series")
is probably the dvd deal of the year - a halfway decent encode, all
seven episodes of the best ova series ever made, the first ep of the
wonderful TV series and 3 episodes of commentary by the devine Oshii.
Here's a link to a rant by a fellow otaku, the owner/creator/yada yada
of Animephile - the best place to get quality video reviews of anime
anywhere. Really, this guy knows his shit when it comes to video and
that stuff.
9-Feb-2004 10:30PM
Ah! It's already this damn late! Dammit, I never get any friggin'
sleep.
It has been a very Patlabor last few days. Sunday I watched eps
5-7 of the original ova and then through tonight I watched eps
1-18 of the TV series (all the TV eps I have).
Damn... they really don't make 'em like they used to. Of course,
they never made 'em as well as Patlabor. Guess I'll have to hurry
up and order those R2 TV series boxsets soon.
As for the (long ago) promised "Big Update"; it's coming, just gimmie
some damn time. I've hardly got any time, and the time I've got I
spend drinking and watching Patlabor. You try working 70+ hours a
week and see how often you update your webpage!
R Type Final - Awesome game. A fine finish to a wonderful series,
42 out of 99 ships available now; thank Gamefaqs!
Metroid Zero - I get my copy tomorrow. Mmm... Metroid... Mmm...
Zero...
Work has been, as good as it gets (note sarcasm). Too many points
required, far too little time, plus they change our schedules around
all kinds everyday without notice. Makes it damn hard to make the
proper time to get the points. Oh well, soon enough I'll be on crew
working shift hours. I'm curious to see whether or not I can adjust
to the weekly schedule changes (working days, mids, swing shifts).
I almost ordered 13 cd's from animejungle tonight; I somehow suppressed
my urges and didn't order. Damn this "needing a new computer" thing.
PS - Patlabor is really fucking awesome. I, honestly, wish cancer on
anyone who doesn't love this show. For Serious.
7-Feb-2004 2:40PM
Well, I finally got my copy of Niea_7 back; and thus rewatched
the entire show this morning (straight through, of course).
Damn, I love that show. It's the most original show since Utena,
and its flows in such a wonderful way.
Also, watched "Lost in Translation" again (saw it once in the
theaters) last night. Wow. Holy shit. What a great movie, I
really hope it wins best picture and Bill Murray gets best
actor. I liked it even more watching it a second time, a lot
of the subtlety of the script, acting and direction came through
a lot clearer than watching it in the theater.
One line from that movie particularly stands out in my mind:
"The more you know about yourself, and the more you know what
you want, the less things bother you."
That pretty much sums up my life for the last year.
Also, mad props go out to Media Blasters for their work on the
R1's of Berserk. Aside from doing a great encode, they have the
best on disc extras I've seen.
They have real production sketches (not screen cap crap), the
funniest damn Dub outtakes I've ever heard and they managed to
get a 20 new audio interview with Kentarou Miura (The 'J'enius
creator of Berserk).
One of the interesting things that I learned from that interview
is that the script for every episode of the show was sent to
Miura for editing and revision before production (and he claims
to certainly have edited scripts heavily). I think that fact
alone goes a long way to explaining why Berserk TV turned out so
great; the original creator gave input throughout the whole show
and made sure things didn't get screwed up. Bravo Miura-sama!
For anyone interested in the Patlabor cosplay, here's what I've
found for coveralls.
That's just one type on the site, they have many others, but that
one looks pretty good for cosplay usage.
Hopefully they give it a proper localization and don't fuck with
it too much (yeah right, guess I'll have to do a proper mod on
my Gamecube).
Why is it that one day out of ~5 the weather is nice, and the
other 4 it's cold enough to freeze my sack to the inside of
my thigh? Funk 'dat!
3-Feb-2004 9:55PM
Props out to my man Ben L for updating his website (and claiming
to do so regularly from now on) and not telling me! You
slovenly fuck!
Hmm... I watched eps 10 through 12 of Berserk tonight (I finally
opened my R1 vol 3 - which I purchased when it originally came out
in late September 2002).
Wow.
There truly are no words to describe how wonderful Berserk is.
The manga is truly the best written thing I have ever read, in
any language. The anime is a phenomenally well done rendition of
a portion of that manga; they managed to add to the story without
molesting it.
If you haven't seen/read Berserk, go and do so now. If you haven't
seen/read Berserk in a while go and start over right now.
Dark Horse has released the first 2 volumes of the manga (I have
them but haven't read them yet so I can't make any comments as to
alterations or tranlation, but I trust Dark Horse not to fuck
with their stuff).
The whole TV series can be purchased for the cheaper than stolen
price of ~$90 (with the sweet box!). Individual discs can be
found for as cheap as $18 each online.
Watching the show after having gone through the last year of my
life; I appreciate it in a whole new way, seeing things that I
did not and could not see before. The show actually made me
remember who I was, who I wanted to be, and the vast difference
that is with who I am now.
I doubt what I've said above makes much sense to anyone, it's
just the external expression of something very personal. Think
about and try to understand it if you want, but the only way to
understand it is to have it happen to you. Wow, I'm making no
damn sense tonight.
Well, I'll leave you all with one of my favorite lines of all
time;
"It's never too late to get it all back again." - American Beauty
2-Feb-2004 10:25PM
I know I promised "something cool" and it's coming.
(links courtesy of Penny Arcade and the AOD forums)
28-Jan-2004 11:00PM
A last note for the day.
Since this month (Jan 2004) has been my highest visitor month
ever, I've decided to do something cool in honor of that.
So, my faithful readers be looking for something exceptionally
bizzare in the next few days.
28-Jan-2004 10:30PM
Well, my thoughts will be brief tonight since it's already
late.
Best Picture:
The Last Samurai - yeah, I know those academy fucks didn't
even nominate it. They can suck my dork and go to hell.
Last Samurai was at least 100x better than Return of the
King.
Honestly, I wasn't impressed by Return of the King; it
didn't have the sense of 'new' that Fellowship had and
it wasn't the polished masterpiece that Two Towers was;
it certainly wasn't bad, but I actually think it could
have used some more editing and a 'R' rating.
I haven't seen Mystic River, but I have heard lots of
great stuff about it. I'll watch it when it's out on
dvd and give my opinion.
Personally I hope Lost in Translation wins everything,
it was a really great movie that was outside of all the
restrictive lines of typical Hollywood productions.
Bill Murray should definitely win Best Actor, especially
after not winning (or even nominated?) for his best
work ever in the spectacular 'Rushmore'. Hell, Rushmore
should win best picture every year.
So, f-you to hollywood for not see thinking highly
enough of Last Samurai. I hope Katsuhiro wins Best
Supporting Actor; he was f-ing awesome.
Damn I'm tired...and I only have one more episode left
in OZ season 2... damn...
27-Jan-2004 10:58PM
I'll make my comments on the Oscar nominations tomorrow.
For tonight, I rest... (well at least for a few hours)
26-Jan-2004 10:35PM
here's a few random working definitions/philosophical
thoughts I like:
Knowledge versus Wisdom
Knowledge - learning from your own mistakes
Wisdom - learning from the mistakes of others
Knowledge can be obtained through thought, study and
meditation; wisdom can only be obtained through application.
While I may be 'knowledgable' in a few areas wisdom escapes me.
Dumb versus Stupid
Stupid - doing wrong when completely unaware or ignorant
Dumb - knowing better and still doing wrong
We all act dumb and claim it as stupidity.
That's all for tonight. Come back tomorrow where I may (or
may not) talk about how great a show 'OZ' is. It's a
"Super Reccomend" for anyone who like great writing, acting,
production, characters or anything in general.
23-Jan-2004 9:25PM
It's been a little while since I've updated, probably the
extensive work hours lately.
I just thought I'd give out some "Mad props" to one of my
favorite movies:
Macross: Do You Remember Love?
Damn, what a great movie. Also, it has the best song I've ever
heard in anime (the titular song "Ai, Oboeteimasuka").
Seriously, big ups to everyone who worked on that movie.
If you haven't seen it I recommend you buy the R2 and watch it
like you were a jesus freak reading the bible.
A couple of things I watched this week:
"Venus Wars" - the movie from the manga of the same name (by THE
MAN Yasuhiro Yoshikazu). Great movie adaptation of an awesome
manga; unfortunately it was an early US Manga Corps encode and thus
sucks nutz. non-anamorphic, non-progressive, really wierd looking
poorly encoded. Oh well, a bad encode still can't take down a great
movie; some really great ~1990 animation and wonderful character
designs.
"Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko" - a pretty sweet ova; actually it's
2 separate 3 episode ova's on one dvd (poorly encoded, again).
The first ova series is really great, the second series is a decent
continuation. I got it from netflix, so you can too; also I believe
the dvd can be purchased for less than$20 anywhere and it's
definitely worth the money. Lots of big name seiyuu participated
and did great work.
Also, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force commentaries are worth the cost of
the dvd set alone (aside from the FACT that show kicks major ass).
Back to work! (sound of whip cracking)
19-Jan-2004 10:30AM
Anyone else notice that I always do my updates in the '10' hour.
Here's my weekend's non-activities:
Friday:
work sucked and held me an hour late because of some crap.
watched:
Babylon 5 Season 4 eps 1-6
Saturday:
Babylon 5 Season 4 eps 7-22 (yes, I watched the entire rest of
season 4, all 22 40 minute eps in a little over 24 hours)
Mimi o Sumaseba
Sunday:
Mimi o Sumaseba (finished watching)
OZ Season 1 eps 4-8 (hour long episodes, can't wait for Netflix
to send me season 2)
Equilibrium (sweet movie, definitely recommend for gun action
fans)
Figure 17 eps 1-3 (45 minute episodes)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force eps 1-4
Thoughts on Figure 17:
egh... I wanna like this show, but I don't. The direction, art,
animation, character designs and music are all great. I like
the story. I HATE Tsubasa (the main character); I can't stand
little whiny bitches who think they are pathetic and ARGH! She
just infuriates me, as I watched the episodes I almost turned
it off several times and kept hoping that one of the other
characters would just smack her.
Not my cup of tea. But, it is an excellent production and I
would recommend it to others who might be more forgiving than
I am; at any rate I definitely recommend picking up the first
disc from Netflix and giving it a go; you may find that you
love it. I'm just glad I held off on buying the R2s of this
show (they were damn expensive).
Props to CPM for putting out a great quality DVD thought, I'm
sure it helps that they got good source material and it's a new
digital show (althought the animation is great and it doesn't
even look like a digital animation), but they didn't f-up the
encode.
The show is anamorphic widescreen and the director uses the
aspect ratio quite well.
Well, I'm off to work (day off, but I need some points) for a
while.
Saraba yo!
14-Jan-2004 10:05PM
Hey Kids!
It's Wednesday!
And I'm tired like a motherfucker and wish it were Friday!
YEAH!!!!
It turns out, it is actually really tiring working a 12 hour
day where you are actively working - reading, going up and
down 3 flights of stairs repeatedly, working on computers,
mentally giving 100% - for 12 hours without more than a few
(probably only 3) 5 minute breaks the whole time. Yes,
technically there is 30 minutes scheduled for lunch, but
that's wasted time if you aren't reading while you eat and
figuring out your next plan of attack (honestly, you have to
do that here; plan your assaults in an effort to get points
and make the progress they demand).
Sleep. Time. Now.
"I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!" - Mugatu; Zoolander
12-Jan-2004 10:15PM
Hey Everybody! (Hey Dr. Nick)
I just thought of a group of people who rarely recieve the
thanks/acknowledgement they deserve: Music Supervisors.
I'm talking about the people who are responsible for the placement
of music in Anime/Tv/movies/games. The folks who have final say
over what piece plays where, for how long and how loud. Since
it's late I won't ramble on; but I do ask you to think about the
shows you've seen with great music and think about how much the
show was helped by its proper placement.
So, without further undulations I present my (first draft) list
of "Best Musical Placement" (in anything, just what I happen to
remember at the moment, no in any particular order unless
specifically noted):
Berserk - best placement ever, in anything. There was only ~30
minutes of OST made for the show, but the music never feels old
or repeated; truly great work (and it doesn't help that Susumu
wrote a motherfuc$er of a soundtrack).
Ghost in the Shell - the music definitely moves the movie and
draws you further into the world (damn, I can't wait for
Innocence and to see SAC)
Escaflowne - a great soundtrack, but the careful placement truly
makes the music stand out and draws you back into the world of
the show just by listening to a few tracks.
Cowboy Bebop - This may in fact be the best work in musical
placement. Simply because some of the tracks feel 'flat' and
just not a enjoyable when listened to as 'music' rather than as
part of the show. I know its blasphemy to say anything bad about
Bebop music, but I must make my opinion known (to the 5 people
who read this site).
American Beauty - aside from being damn near perfect in every
other way, this movie also uses its compositions to perfection.
Apocalypse Now - not only is the music in the background, it is
also in the forground and is a character in the movie (the
helicopters flying in with Wagner playing particularly shows this).
Rurouni Kenshin OVA (both Tsuiokuhen and Seisouhen) - I don't think
I need to say anything about these and their wonderful usage of
Taku Iwasaki's genious compositions.
Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums - yes, I know I love these movies
too much, but a large part of that comes from Wes Anderson's
excellence of music. With hardly any new compositions, he chooses
various pieces of music written 40 to 5 years ago and places them
as though they were written for the scene.
High Fidelity - Usage very similar to Wes Anderson, again done
to perfection. It is especially important the musical selections
were absolutely right for this movie, as so much of the characters
lives are based around music and the power it has over us.
Old School - I know, it does seem like an odd choice, but I think
what they did was great. They placed songs comedicly throughout
and did various re-recordings of 80's pop/rock stuff that just
worked too damn well. You gotta love their acoustic White Snake.
And finally...
Zoolander - again, great work using pre-existing material and
remixes of crappy old songs. I don't think anyone who has ever
seen the movie can forget the wonderful usage of crappy 80's
music which fits in perfectly with the "freak gasoline fight
accident".
That's all; it's now 10:40 and I'm late to get to sleep.
"I'm out baby, I'm out" - George Costanza
11-Jan-2004 10:00PM
I just had something of an epiphany (albeit a very minute one).
At the very least, a portion of the reason we seek out the
'erotic' is not sexually based. It's based more on our desire
to see people unincumbered; to see people acting as though there
were no shame and no reason to hold back anything. Part of what
we are looking for and looking for in the erotic is what we lack
in the rest of our lives - someone, something that is completely
free to look at us with the knowledge that nothing else matters.
We experience this so little and the moments we experience it are
so fleeting that we seek them out wherever, and whenever we can
find them. Thus, erotic pictures - a snapshot in time of someone
completely unable to hide anything and, in fact, showing a pride
to expose everything they are.
Wow... how philosophic; honestly, I'd love to hear any comments
on my thoughts here ([email protected] or my other address if you
know it :). Maybe I've just been listening to too much Cure music lately.
8-Jan-2004 10:30PM
Just a quick late (for me) Thursday night update.
I've been watching more of 3rd season Babylon 5 (through ep 15),
the quality continues to be consistently better than the previous
seasons; I'm gonna wait to buy season 4 until I finish watching
three; which may be this weekend.
First week at the new job is winding up; everyone gets out at 4PM
tomorrow (as opposed to the usual 7PM) which is nice. And it's
not required or even 'stronly suggested' to come in over the
weekend, chances are I will probably at least go in for a few
hours just so as to not get out of the routine. So far this job
seems as though it won't be as 'bad' as Nuke Power School.
I'm sure I'll eat those words later.
Hopefully I'll remember to finish updating my US dvd catalogs
this weekend, those are quite a bit behind.
BTW - for those of you too cheap to buy DVD's I highly
reccomend Netflix; they have everything, their dvd's are clean
(ie will play in your player) and they run a good business.
Only 14 days until V Gundam boxset!!!
6-Jan-2004 8:45PM
This update is in honor of my being named:
"The best pain in the ass you'll ever find" (see links section)
Wow... I'm so honored.
Oh yes, I also had a wonderful first day trying to do my new 'job'
('job' in the loosest sense of the word since its really training).
Here's what I have to now spend my day doing:
1. find something to study
2. lookup what I need to know in one book
3. reference that to another book which tells me what manuals the info
is in
4. find those manuals and extruciatingly extract the info
5. do so at a blindingly bizzare pace
Hopefully things look better with the morning light (which I won't
be seeing as I'll already be inside studying).
Friends don't let friends be Nukes.
4-Jan-2004 10:20PM
I finally watched some of my Babylon 5 season 3 boxset. I think the
video here is consistently better than that of season 2. Figured I
might as well watch it before season 4 comes out (should be in a week
or so). Damn, that show is really great; I've seen every ep probably
at least twice before and it's still really damn good.
Also, watched "Last Exile", a show with awesome Range Murata character
designs (he draws the sexiest women) and too much copied stuff from
Harlock, Laputa and Nausicaa. I dunno... It's nice looking and could
be a good show, I'm just not sure they have enough time to develop
everything they want to.
Certainly worth the Netflix rental though.
Here's to hoping I remember something about nuclear power, else this
is gonna be even more painful than necessary...
3-Jan-2004 1:10PM
I'm back!
After my long - 3 weeks - vacation its finally time to get back into
the swing of things here on the east coast.
Many a good time over the break, some highlights I remember:
The Last Samurai - yeah, its only a movie, but damn is it awesome
Ranma 1/2 drinking game - get ~5 people who know a little about Ranma
and start watching anywhere randomly in the series; start making up
rules such as "take a drink whenever the clock chimes" and be prepared
for war.
New Year's Party - another memorable/forgotten event. Apparently I was
quite belligerent and trying to get into fights. I wouldn't believe it
except that I have seen the pictures verifying this.
Seeing all my friends - great times were had, no matter how much/little
we did. I'll party again in June/July.
And now for the long awaited "BEST OF 2003" lists:
Best Album:
Zwan / Mary, Star of the Sea - released in late January this album
was a triumphant return for Billy Corgan and totally kicked ass.
Best Movie:
The Last Samurai - there were quite a few good action movies and some
other movies that were great, but this one takes the cake. I highly
recommend this movie to anyone who likes anything.
Best Comic:
Powers - by super-writer Brian Michael Bendis, this super-hero detective
story is truly great. Surprises with each issue, totally mature content,
no holds barred stuff. Also, the best letters column in any comic ever.
Hell, some issues I looked forward to the letters more than the issue
(and I'm not saying the issue was bad, just that the letters were that
good).
Best Video Game:
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness - was there ever even a question? I think not.
By far the best RPG on the PS2. Even in the middle of working 75+ hours
a week I managed to play this game 100+ hours in a month. This game has
everything I have ever wanted in a game, and very little of what I don't
want. Every other RPG company should take note of what this game does
and start trying to implement it in your own products.
And now on to the ANIME stuff:
Best US Series Release (not necessarily best show):
Noir - Bravo ADV, excellent job. Great packaging, nice insert books,
great video, a 5.1 Japanese track that kicks, seiyuu interviews and
an awesome show. Oh yeah, you also released it in 7 months, super
sweet.
Best US TV Series (best show):
Banner of the Stars/Banner II - Well, if you like Crest, there's plenty
more of it, and it's great too. With better animation. Unfortunately,
Bandai's translation kinda sucks
Best US Movie Release (see above)
Patlabor Movie III Special Edition - Sweet. You just saved my a million
dollars by not making me buy the Japanese lim ed and Mini-Pato. In fact,
this set gets best release just for Mini-Pato. And the movie is really
great too.
Best US Movie:
Millennium Actress - I don't need to say anymore on this movie. Go.
See. It. Now.
Best US OVA:
Patlabor The Original Series Collection - $45 for 7 eps of the best OVA
ever. Plus, commentary by Oshii and the first ep of the TV series. Go
buy it now and by forever changed.
Most inconsistent show:
Rahxephon - I've said my opinion on this show previously, but I'll
summarize here: it's good, and then it sucks simultaneously. Some stuff
is really good, and some parts are totally lame. It has some really,
really damn great eps and then others just don't have it. ADV again,
really did a nice production job on their release.
Honorable Mentions:
Maison Ikkoku - who would've thought that Viz would finally get this show
out... AND do a great job. Not much in the extras category, but they
got the remastered Japanese release and didn't screw up the encode to bad.
Thank You.
ArgentoSoma - I think this show is a love/hate thing. Some folks love it,
and some don't. Watch the first disc and make your call.
Aura Battler Dunbine - Another great release by ADV. Nothing is ever more
refreshing in this world of bishounen CG anime than a great early 80's
Tomino Sci-fi show. I highly recommend this show to anyone who likes anime,
not just the newest garbage.
Japanese Releases
Best Japanese Release:
Evangelion Renewal Box Set - Ahh the monolith... The most bizarre packaging
I've ever seen for anything. Also about the best encode I've ever seen on
anything. And the Best 5.1 track I've heard on anything. And one of the
best shows ever.
Best JP OVA:
Yukikaze - Yeah, it's not new this year, and they only put out 2 eps, but
it's really freakin' good! The US should be out in a month or two; so put
it on your list.
Best Opening Sequence:
Texnolyze - you have got to see the opening, it's super sweet.
Best JP Series Release:
GadGuard - great booklets and boxes and holocards (like the Ryvius first ed),
plus supersexy covers and a great show. Unfortunately it's really damn
expensive ($55 per 2 eps) so I'm gonna hold off for the R1.
Best JP TV Series:
Kino no Tabi (Kino's Journey) - co-produced by ADV (disc due out in a month or
so); this show is just too cool. Written by Sadayuki Murai (Boogiepop,
Millennium Actress, etc) this show trails Kino and Hermes (a motorcycle).
It's childish and adult, kiddy and violent, as they say in the show,
"The world is not beautiful, therefore it is".
Dylan's Obsessions for 2003(aka the things I was really into this year):
Five Star Stories - one of the best manga ever written, and the best English
language release for a manga ever. Go buy the first couple of vols at your
local comic shop and enjoy
Patlabor - Yeah, I kinda got a little obsessive over this production this year.
Right now it may actually be topping Gundam as my favorite 'universe'. Of course,
Patlabor would not have been made without Gundam, but that can be said for
anything. I think Patlabor really exemplifies what makes anime great.
Disgaea - already discussed above.
Castlevania of GBA (SP of course) - all three games are great; and they all seem
to just get better with each game. Go find and play them!!
That's all for now, I'll try to update at some regular interval - but you know
how work is (or maybe you don't).
5-Dec-2003 10:20PM
Well, another fun week at work... Things are ending up here, only the
Comp is left. Less than zero free time, so I haven't watched anything
in the last week aside from a few eps of my Ranma 1/2 ova boxset and
2 eps of Maison Ikkoku tonight.
I just spotted Kazuyoshi Katayama's name in the episode director credits
for Maison; you may know him better as the director/guru of the uber
cool show ArgentoSoma.
Well, I've gotta get up in the morning for another 12+ hour work day
tomorrow (and Sunday as well). Nothing is more fun than working 90+
hours a week.
27-Nov-2003 9:00PM
Happy Thanksgiving.
Hope you're with family and friends enjoying the good life.
23-Nov-2003 10:15PM
Another weekend over, back to work. Only a few weeks left here, then
I get a little leave... Thank Emperor.
Watched today/thoughts:
Infinite Ryvius : eps 6-10 : Damn! this show is so freakin' good it
should be illegal. Unfortunately, "Matsurinoato" (ep 11) wasn't on
this disc, so I have to wait to watch that ep; it's probably one of
my all time favorite single episodes of anime. Anyway, for anyone
who hasn't seen this show yet, go watch it now! it's really great
(this means you Ben).
Maison Ikkoku : eps 17-20 : wow... this show never ceases to amaze
me. Stunningly awesome. You know, Godai really makes himself
miserable; if he just went with the damn flow and would stop making
heart attacks for himself he'd be having a much better time (of
course, I say this with the upmost of hypocracy).
Kazuo Yamazaki is one of the best dramatic directors I have ever seen ,
that's probably why a lot of the newer Sunrise scifi stuff has such
great dramatic work in them; Kazuo has been working as staff at Sunrise
and worked on Ryvius, Argentosoma, and Seikai (if I'm not mistaken).
Ranma 1/2 OVA : ep 3 : Ranko and Panda-chan. Another great OVA episode ,
the animation is just wonderful and these are the best eps outside of
the better ones done in 1st and 2nd season. Atsuko Nakajima is really
great character designer/animation director; her stuff is always
wonderful.
So, I didn't watch that much stuff today; in fact I didn't even start
watching anything until ~4PM as I was at work and takin' care of
business. Oh well; I have a ton of great stuff to look forward to
watching next weekend.
I realize that I have really been on a anime binge for the last 4
months, it seems I just watch more and more each weekend and keep
wanting to watch it more and more. Fortunately there is a ton of
great stuff coming out and I have a enormous library to choose from.
Oh, mad props to Geneomon (or whatever they're called) for the US
release of Last Exile. The box and packaging stuff is cooler than
the R2 box. I almost bought it yesterday... probably a good thing
that I didn't, I didn't need to spend another $50 on dvd's this week.
This week's expenditures:
Ryvius V2
Maison Ikkoku Boxset 2(3 discs)
Two Towers super ultra omega box (4 discs)
Smashing Pumpkins 'Viewphoria'
Ranma 1/2 OVA boxset (R2, 4 discs)
Patlabor New OVA boxset (R2, 4 discs)
so, I got 28 episodes of R2 ova this week, suprisingly cheap though.
The Patlabor box is a supersexy jewel case box (I haven't broken
the plastic seal yet as I'm still undecided as to whether I'm going
to watch this before or after I watch through to the end of the TV
series).
I'm really looking forward to vol 4 of Aura Battler Dunbine next
weekend, it should be as great as the rest of the show (which is
f-ing awesome).
G'night and see you on the flipside.
23-Nov-2003 12:25AM
I figure I may try updating a little more regularly for a while.
Here's what I've watched thus far this weekend (and a few thoughts):
Chiichana Yukitsukai Sugar : eps 1-2 : ehhh... it's okay, frankly, I
much prefer Risky Safety. Who else has noticed all the similarities
between those two (note that Risky was out first as well as is much
cooler).
Fancy Lala : eps 1-5 : show about a 3rd grade girl who magically
transforms into a 16 year old and becomes a pop star. It's a really
awesome f-ing show. I'm serious. Who'd have guessed, but it is
really damn great. I recommend it for any anime fan, especially
any mahou-shoujo fan. Damn it's really great. The only question is
whether I buy the R1's (~$110) which are great quality, or the R2
boxset ($280) which is perfect quality (at least according to
aniphile, and I trust Ricky's word on that kind of stuff).
Coldplay Live in 2003 : these guys rock, have great songs and do an
awesome show. Dvd is nice too; 16x9, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1. My only
problem is that they don't crank up the bass loud enough and the
video cuts around too much; it is well done and is surprisingly
not too distracting, but I much prefer a more stable camera view.
Upright Citizens Brigade : eps 1-4 : Super Sweet. I love this
show and always thought it was the best American random comedy
show; right up there with Monty Python and Kids in the Hall.
"Say I'm your mama, say it!"
Apocalypse Now : Nothing to say. If you haven't seen it you are
about the most cinematically retarded person on the planet.
Maison Ikkoku : eps 13-16 : Damn, what a wonderful show. And
Viz's dvds look pretty good too. The second end looks very
washed out though... hmmm.... I wonder if they didn't get the
new masters for that; hopefully they didn't just get the good
masters for the first OP/ED...
If you haven't seen/read Maison Ikkoku, go and do so now. It's
one of my Top 5 manga series ever.
Ranma 1/2 OVA (R2) : eps 1-2 : Damn you Nik. I finally got my ova
boxset. What a wonderful show, and the animation is great.
Unfortunately the dvd isn't that wonderful, but at least the
source is decend looking. Ahh, who cares, I can live with it.
Argentosoma : eps 11-14 : another great Sunrise scifi show. I
think this show is horrifically underrated and got a bad wrap
somehow. I have really enjoyed each volume and the story builds
nicely.
I really dig Ryu Soma too; it's nice to see a main character who
is a complete asshole.
Well, that's it for now, maybe I'll write something more tomorrow.
26-Oct-2003 09:28 AM
Well, I guess I haven't updated in quite a while. Probably has something to do
with my working 75+ hours a week for the last 4 months.
All I updated was my dvd catalogs; that took a while; oh well, it's done now
The coolest of the new shows:
Gad Guard
I still need to watch more than 1 ep of Texhnolyze but that look pretty damn
cool too. Gonzo really did a great job on Gad Guard; too bad it's so damn
expensive, I'm gonna hold off until the R1's come out - even I am having
trouble justifying $55 a disc; besides there's a ton of great stuff coming
out in R1 in great quality, the best of these are:
Aura Battler Dunbine
Noir
Maison Ikkoku
Well, back to my weekend of no work - ahh, the joys of having one's wisdom
teeth removed...
13-Jul-2003 09:40 PM
So, I finally make a small update. Yes, school has started and thus I have no
free time. But, I wrote up a small review for the Revival of Evangelion dvd
set.
"Best Show Ever" (In Simpson's comic book store guy voice
22-Jun-2003 08:21 PM
Let's total up this weekend's viewings:
Babylon 5 season 2 (all 22 40 minute eps)
Niea_7 (eps 7-13)
Sennen Joyuu
Seikai no Senki II (eps 1-3, damn that show has confusing dialogue)
Galaxy Quest
Best of The Chris Rock Show vol 2 (more Nigga Please! please)
so, basically I could've watched all of Zeta Gundam and still had some time left
over...
I added a few snap reviews too.
22-Jun-2003 12:13 AM
wow, it's been a while since I last updated. Nothing major to add, just a snap
review for Apocalypse Now.
I got in a real 'sci-fi' mood this weekend; I watched 'Galaxy Quest' (damn funny
movie), the first few eps of Seikai no Senki II (kakkoi!!) and 12 eps of Babylon
5 season 2 (note that those eps are 40 minutes each).
Welcome back to the states Ben!
20-Jun-2003 06:36 AM
Added a few snap reviews for two great movies.
Thanks to Soultaker at Tokyo-shock for a great anitrader assisted trade. I
gave up some great stuff, but I'm getting great stuff in exchange.
19-Jun-2003 09:18 AM
I too have added my "Top ..." garbage to the vast idiocy of the internet.
18-Jun-2003 10:21 AM
Added my R1 movie and TV show list; peruse at your own risk.
18-Jun-2003 07:57 AM
I added my comic and manga collection; if anyone is interested in any of this
stuff I would be willing to listen to any offer. damn I have a lot of crap...
17-Jun-2003 11:43 PM
I was just searching through some links and found this.
Animefringe is actually an excellently produced online zine; I don't agree with
all their content, but some of it is actually decent.
17-Jun-2003 10:29 PM
What's your favoriteStudio Pierro show?
Let your opinion be known on their website! (Hmm... I could've sworn that "Koko
wa Greenwood" was a Studio Pierro production...)
17-Jun-2003 08:52 AM
"I don't want to keep up the anti-semite stuff, but the heater on the new Audi's
goes up to 700." - Adam Corolla on Howard Stern show, copyright and all who-yaas
copyright of The Howard Stern Show.
16-Jun-2003 06:52 PM
So, I just watched both Bubblegum Crisis (ep 5 - 8) and all of FLCL again; both
of which are excellent ova's. However, I came to a thought that I hadn't before
really considered:
SEXY versus SEXUAL
What the hell do I mean by this? I mean that there is a difference, and its
worth noting. FLCL is sexual; not at all sexy. I really have trouble thinking
of a 'sexy' scene in the show. However, the show is overflowing with sexuality.
I'm having a difficult time describing the difference; however I think it is
very easily understood if you watch FLCL and a 'sexy' show (which I will
proceed to describe next). Bubblegum Crisis, Noir, Cowboy Bebop, Taihou
Shichayozo (YUA) are all 'sexy' shows. There tends to be a lot more fan
service in sexy shows; but it really isn't necessary. Bebop is very 'sexy'
without a lot of skin.
Giving a show 'sexuality' takes a lot more work than does 'sexy'; precisely
because sexuality can't be attained by simply showing some skin or having
'cute' character designs. Sexuality can only be drawn out of the actual
drawings, voice acting and direction; I'm not even sure it can be put in a
script. The Seikai series (Crest/Banner) also has a lot of sexuality, while
maintaining a very low 'sexy factor'. There is a palpable sexual tension that
developes between Jinto and Lafiel, but the show keeps itself from becoming too
lascivious.
Why bother writing about this? Well, I'd say well over 80% of all human action
is devoted purely toward the persuit of sexual desires. It's not a very
optimistic view, but I've listened to way to much rock music to believe
otherwise. Sexual discussions and 'sex' in general are too often just made to
be backroom, side comments rather than something that is even discussed
publicly. Especially in anime; coming from such a sexually depraived coutry
as Japan (this is not a fact; just my opinion based on my 'knowledge' of Japan).
So, in anime sexual desire is usually just put into the basest 'Playboy' sense
and any real, important sexual issues are summarized with a panty shot. More
than anything it's the 'desire' for pleasure that drives sexual urge; rather
than the reciept of it.
"Right to the PURSUIT of happiness"; note it's not the right to actually attain
it, just keep looking for it. I think that's the major theme of FLCL; the
pursuit of happiness/desires/pleasure/companionship/love/etc. Maybe that's why
I always love Kawasumi-san's characters; her voice always leaves you desiring
more, so you keep having to come back to see if you get any closer than last
time. Perhaps that's why her bedroom scene in RahXephon was so thrilling; it
was as though I finally saw that next step with all of her characters, not just
Megumi.
At any rate, I'm always happy when a show treat sex and sexuality as an
important part of the character and lets that sexuality act itself out at times.
I really wish more shows would take this mature attitude as opposed to the leud,
taudry usage that most shows use. Speaking of which, I just got the sudden urge
to watch Colorful again... I guess that's my sexuality acting itself out.
16-Jun-2003 07:18 PM
I got off work early today, so I watched the last two episodes of both FLCL
and Bubblegum Crisis; my last week of fun in the sun...I added quite a 'rant'
to random ramblings. I also added a snap review for the best album of the
year (and tied with Love & Theft for best of the decade).
16-Jun-2003 11:10 AM
Well, I don't work until the afternoon this week, so I spent the morning
listening to Stern and making my R1 Anime Collection.
I'm working on some data extraction from all my anime dvd's; I just have to
put it together and format all my data correctly. Hmm... maybe I'll do it in
powerpoint...
15-Jun-2003 02:30 PM
Snap review update for Rahvangeliphon vol 2 (I just made up that name now, in
case you see it elsewhere). Anyone notice that my reviews just keep getting
longer and longer? Oh well, nothing better to do with my time. Of couse, I
still have to make my R1 dvd catalog... doh!
14-Jun-2003 11:27 PM
Last update for the day. Please read Snap Reviews for the one and true
gospel.
MIURA KENTAROU BANZAI! (doutte sukuridashitanda wakanaiya... mou juuyounen
kouridashitandane... ore no warui nihongo yurushitene?! Kyotoben warukattana)
14-Jun-2003 04:03 PM
Another big Snap Review update, and a little something in ramblings too.
Off to bestbuy to pickup vol 2 of raxephon! Hopefully vol 2 has more
Megumi in it...
14-Jun-2003 03:15 PM
After watching through ep 5 of Raxephon I thought, "damn I
have to know who played Megumi". So, I check the credits and
it's: AYAKO KAWASUMI. Seiyuu Megami. I would probably avert
my eyes if I ever met her in person; damn she's good. I put her
right up there with Mitsuishi Kotono, Ikeda Shuuichi, Furuya Tohru,
and the rest of the Sailor Moon cast. Damn... how the hell did they
assemble that cast... Kotono, Aya Hisakawa, Rika Fukami, Tohru...
damn that was a sinful show. Hisakawa-san is also really damn good
(and she's also great in Rahxephon).
13-Jun-2003 03:10 PM
To truly appreciate the term "flash flood" one must live in a place
that has that sort of weather. California is not; Charleston is.
Rain, lightning and thunder like you've never seen, and this is a
common occurance. Also, the streets here were designed horribly, so
they immediately flood upon recieving any rain... sigh... it's off to
Bestbuy to find some entertainment for tonight...
12-Jun-2003 08:47 PM
Decided to write some more after writing up the rest of the
reviews. I'm glad to have finally watched several shows done
with computer animation that don't look completely flat and
lifeless. It's still not as good as Cel animation, but the
animators are getting comfortable enough to try new things
and digital techniques; hopefully this continues to the point
that cel animators got to. Who knows what's next after computer
animation; I suppose we'd have to come up with some technology
to surpass the PC. Ghost in the Shell cyberbrains would be cool;
ugh... Stand Alone Complex dissapointed me visually, it was such
a let down after the movie's wonderful cell animation. I don't
know if digital will ever come to the point that they could
remake classics and not get that 'Ugh!' effect.
I don't think I ever want to hear about a digital Berserk project,
I don't care how much budget you throw at it; that show could
never be done correctly on a computer. Well, maybe if they did
a super high budget movie they could pull it off. I guess I get
a preview of that kind of thing when I see the Blame! dvd.
Un/Fortunaly that manga was never cell animated so I will have no
comparison with which to vomit at. I hope they get Susumu to do
the movie soundtrack for Blame!...
Ijou!
12-Jun-2003 08:00 PM
Decided to put something in here...
Well, I just finished watching Inuyasha v10, Princess Tutu V1
and Haibane Renmei V2 (yes, I know I've had them all for a while).
Hmm... comparative thoughts:
Inuyasha - just as wonderful as the first time I saw these eps
Tutu - sweet, great production value; however something about it
is just not for me. I'll probably pick up the R1's.
Haibane - I can only imagine how cool this show would look if it
had a real animation budget, still it's another great Abe/Tomokazu
show; I wonder if the rest of the first eds are still available...
Also, vol 1 comes with a data cd with 6 great 1200x1080 wallpapers
and some 3D character models, cool stuff; just doesn't run on my
old ass computer
Think I may watch Yukikaze again tonight (first time in 5.1 sound)
12-Jun-2003 08:44 PM
Lots of snap review updates. I'm quite enjoying writing them; I'll
probably continue to just write them as I watch stuff. I will probably
be continually adjusting my rating categories. Eventually I'll compile
and normalize all my ratings.
I also wrote some stuff in random ramblings.
11-Jun-2003 10:27 PM
added a few pics...why do I have to like all these expensive, long shows...
Aside - at least vol 10 (2shiki no 1) of Inuyasha is fully progressive video...
11-Jun-2003 08:03 PM
I decided to add a "Snap Reviews" section; a place for my
instantaneous thought on whatever I was just watching/listening to
11-Jun-2003 06:09 PM
R2 anime catalog updated as of today (hopefully changing soon though)
10-Jun-2003 08:53 PM
Somehow I ended up writing this at the same time as yesterday,
I uploaded and added a partial list of my R2 dvd's; I spent
about 3 hours making the list and updating it; still a little
left to go (then all my R1's and US movies).
Waiting for my Seikai no Senki II dvd's... Mmmm Senki...