Thursday, October 7, 2004

   Guten Morgen, Bonjour, G'day, and top o' da mornin to ya all...
yes, its 9:30 AM British Summer Time and im in Mus Tech. Im gonna be here ALL FREAKIN DAY! *sighs*

For some reason my GB is doing that weird thing where the number goes down... it was on 121. now its on 118. but i really cant be bothered to count them all. are people being deleted???

anyway...

whats in my bag today?
one lunch (vitally important)
one homework (should I get REALLY bored)
one Azumanga Daioh vol. 1 manga.
two Saikano DVDs
one sketch pad
a buncha other random crud...

I managed to watch ALL of Metropolis last night on Sky Movies3 and i recorded it on the VCR. whats so hard about the VCR btw? why do people have so much trouble with it???


ANIME REVIEW: METROPOLIS
brought to you by the same guys who brought you Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, this anime is an adaption of the classic manga by Osamu Tezuka, who is considered to be the Godfather of Japanese Anime.
And it shows. The character designs are similar to those in his best known work, Astro Boy, with deformed cartoony like features. However, the story line is anything but cartoony. There is a lot of politics and intrigue involved and it is one of the best written animes I have ever seen. I'll admit the cartoony characters put me off initially, but the story got me hooked.
Metropolis is a city, the most advanced civilisation on Earth in the future. However, despite its advanced nature (the city spans nearly a mile or two from the very bottom to the very tip and covers a vast area) and its wide use of robots, everything seems to be set in the late 30's. Clothing, peoples general attiudes, even the soundtrack has its basis in 30s style music.
The story follows the Young Kenichi and his Uncle, a Private detective called Hunsaku Ban who have come to Metropolis looking for a wanted scientist called Dr. Laughton. However, Dr. Laughton is under contract by Duke Red, who has just completed this huge tower called a Ziggurat, within which lies a secret weapon. To fully utilise this weapon he has ordered the construction of a super human android called Tima, based on his deceased daughter, to take control and be in charge of Earth. However, Duke Red's adopted son, Rock, who is a member of the Mardukes, who taske care of rogue robots, doesnt trust Tima and tries to destroy her before she is activated by killing Laughton and burning down the lab. However, during the confusion, Tima is activated. Kenichi and his uncle are seperated in the confusion and Kenichi finds Tima.

The story continues on with Rock trying to destroy Tima, Duke Red trying to reclaim her and Kenichi trying to return to his uncle.
Along the way they meet a colourful managere of characters, each with their own perks and flaws. It finally all finishes in the Ziggurat...

Apart form the characters, which are endearing in their own right, the animation is superb, with a nice blend of CG and traditional methods. The music is well placed, Jazzy and upbeat for most of the film.

My one gripe is that the ending is a bit weak (except for the last couple of frames), however, i dont think that an ending should be the thing that defines how good an anime is. The rest of the movie makes up for it.
The one thing Metropolis does really well is give you a sense of the city. If you put all the major cities in the world together, you might get a small feel for what Metropolis is like. There where certain scenes that reminded me of Midgar (FF7) and that ambience you get when Cloud is running around the slums. Metropolis is alot like that.
Metropolis is an excellent piece of work. i would fully recommend it to slightly experianced anime watchers. Not really one for beginners, you have to be able to look past the animation to see its true beauty.

and thats all from me today. Off to visit your sites now. TTFN.

*takes to the air*

now where am i again...um...

*flies off in a vague direction*


EDIT:
*flutters in like a drunk butterfly*
hey, i've just finished my homework! or at least, the bit I had with me...
ima gonna go and read some of my downloaded Midori stuff now. or start writing the next chappy of see no evil. later. *time is 20 mins past miday here*

*stretches wings and takes to the sky.* meh, im hot. its getting really warm here...
*flutters off in a random direction*

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