Saturday, September 2, 2006

   The Return
Finally returned from Japan a few days ago. It is definitely a place you must visit at least once in your lifetime. From funky fashion to funky commercials to funky car names. Oh and did I mention automatic toilets? Now I've seen everything...

Anyway I'll post something a little more meaty when I have more time.

Enjoy.
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Monday, July 31, 2006

   Ninja Scroll and off to Japan
So on the anime front, I managed to watch one of the greatest classics--Ninja Scroll. I definitely give this movie a thumbs up in terms of action and story. For those that may be interested in watching the movie please do be advised that it is sexually graphic aside from being extremely bloody. This is definitely one of the best anime movies I've seen so far and definitely worthy of its fame.

On the real life side of things, I leave for Japan today. I'll make sure I do some reporting and take a ton of pictures.

Massin out.
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Thursday, July 27, 2006

   Arigatou
So to let everyone know, I will be travelling to Nihon (Japan) from July 31st to August 24th. It will be a very exciting adventure for me and I'll be reporting in from time to time with my discoveries.

So in the spirit of the adventure I have created The Match Game on my spare time. I haven't had time to refine it. Your computer must be able to display East-asian characters to be able to play the game. I have not made images for those characters (yet at least). You'll also need a relatively decent browser to play it. Anything in the last few years should suffice. The rules are as follows:

- Match similar Romanji, Katakana or Hiragana characters based on how you've configured the game.
- Press toggle to play the game with all characters visible.
- Press list group to display all the possible group matches from the character sets chosen (even those that were not selected for that particular game)

Now without further adieu:

The Match Game

Please do remember that its a very rough coding job so it could mess up if you try to do something unusual. If all else fails just refresh the page. Please do enjoy and any constructive comments are always welcome.
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Wednesday, July 5, 2006

   Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust
Impression: I had big hopes for this movie. Basically I felt that there were some cool parts like how they could kill people by attacking their shadow. On the other hand there wasn't a whole lot of action. Most of the action came from the other vampire hunters. D on the other hand was the "one hit wonder of the world" as my brother's friend put it. You didn't see much struggle. The animation was pretty good and the story was very blade-esque. I think I would have preferred the action parts to be longer and some of the talking parts be shorter. Many because you never actually get to see anything really happen. You just see the end of every situation. Oh well that's my thoughts anyway. I definitely felt the movie was almost there, but just missed the mark.

Next on the list:

Ninja Scroll (Movie)
Spriggan (Movie)
Ghost in the Shell (Movie)
RahXephon (Series/Movie, Still waiting on it)
Tekkaman: Blade 2 (Series)
Street Fighter 2 V (Series, I have it but haven't decided if I wanna watch it)
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Wednesday, June 28, 2006

   Hmm... Street Fighter 2 (Movie)
Impression: I'd have to say it was the worst anime I've completely watched so far. Not to say it was terrible, but considering the previous list, this one just doesn't compare. On the up side, I liked the number of and choice of characters in the movie. Just overall, the animation was not my favourite style and the english voice-overs were terrible. I have no idea if the voicing was better in Japanese. To give some perspective on the voice problem, E. Honda is a Japanese sumo but sounded like a cowboy. Picture "Us Japanese guys have to stick together," but with a cowboy accent. There is also an "interesting" Chun-Li scene if your into that kind of thing. I would not suggest this movie unless you really like Street Fighter 2 characters.
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Friday, June 23, 2006

   Finally began watching some anime :D
So as a start into the world of anime I will begin by listing some of the anime I've seen since the beginning of the summer:

1. Gundam Wing (49 OVA Series)
Impression: Probably my favourite series so far. I was dissapointed with the frequent reuse of animation, especially during battle scenes, but in my mind the story and characters were well done. I find that people who don't like the story of this show don't realize that almost every character has a unique vision of life and for me it makes the show that much more human. It can be frustrating at times to see the characters disagree so often but that is what happens in real life.

2. Gundam Wing - Endless Waltz (Movie)
Impression: I enjoyed this one as well. I think this movie "saved" the philosophy of Gundam Wing for those who didn't like the philosophy at the end of the OVA series. Definitely worth a watch.

3. Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children (Movie)
Impression: The most beautifully animated movie I've ever seen. Simple as that. At times I thought I was watching a live-action film. I thought there was a good balance between action and story. Some diehard FF7 fans may feel a little cheated because the rest of the FF7 characters only make an appearance for 20 minutes or so and don't really do anything. If you like Cloud, then this is the movie for you.

4. Escaflowne (26 OVA Series)
Impression: This series is OK. There are parts where it gets boring and the story is alright. I remember watching when it first came out in North America and it was better in my memory than on the screen. I think they could've taken more advantage of the mecha genre to help make it more interesting.

5. Escaflowne (Movie)
Impression: This is completely different from the series. People say its the series in a nutshell but don't be fooled. It just the same characters transplanted into a different story. The movie is good to watch even though there is very little explanation of anything. You have to draw your own conclusions along the way. I would have prefered if there fighting was a little longer or happened a little more than it did. I'd say this was more entertaining than the series overall.

6. Karas - The Prophecy (Movie)
Impression: Great anime. Ranks up there in the top 5 for me. The unusual style of animation is refreshing for me and the combination of 2D and 3D animation is almost seemless. This is 1 of a 3-part series of movie to come out. At this point in time the next one is slated to come out in September or October 2006.

7. Neon Genesis Evangelion (26 OVA Series)
Impression: Well here we have come to one of the most well liked and most hated animes I can think of. My impression, It kinda lost its appeal toward the end. The second season just went downhill in my mind. Not because I didn't understand what was going on. But more because it stopped progressing. I found the evolution of the story around the Evas more compelling than the story around the characters.

8. Neon Genesis Evangelion - The End of Evangelion (Movie)
Impression: Definitely a more entertaining ending to the saga. The final scene is still unclear, even for those who study this anime religiously. I'd say its definitely worth a watch.

9. Appleseed (Movie)
Impression: Another cool movie. I definitely love that cell shading animation. The story is interesting and the plot reveals itself even to those who have no prior knowledge of the movie. That's always a plus. The ending doesn't completely tie up all the loose ends but I still suggest it as a great movie to watch.


Coming Soon:

1. Street Fighter 2 (Movie)
2. Street Fighter 2 V (Series)
3. RahXephon (Series)

If you got a suggestion no need to shy away.
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