Wow, I Had Forgotten About This Sucker

Nothing new going on, lately.
I think I'm getting back together with my ex, which I am pretty happy about. So yay for me.

On to other things it has sort of been a slow year and a bit since I last posted on here. Appleseed Ex Machina came out (I have not seen it, yet). In addition, the rights to a film based on my favourite book The Wheel of Time, have been gained and so now I get to sit here and wait and see just how terribly they can butcher it. More than ten books condensed into three films, with massive over-arcing storylines and numerous characters. Fantastic.

What else. I saw Taken last night. Terrible movie, of course, but Liam Neeson makes up for it by kicking so much ass.

Several new games came out this year, as well, but nothing that really grabbed my attention or sucked me in completely. Currently, I am plugging away at Star Ocean: The Last Hope.

That's about all I have to write for now, so I'll take my leave of all the people who aren't reading this.

Appleseed: Ex Machina to premier at Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival

Appleseed's brand new film, Ex Machina, is due to premier in Los Angeles on December 15 at the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival. Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell creator Masamune Shirow, producer John Woo and director Shinji Aramaki have teamed up to provide an anime experience unlike any other.

The Festival runs from December 5 through the 15th.

Layout in Development

I've begun working on the actual portion of the website. Once that is complete, this blog will become the website's official blog.

Stay tuned for more.

Tales of Symphonia

Fans of the popular GameCube RPG, Tales of Symphonia, will be treated to a brand new anime based off the plotline from the game. Episode 1 (of four OVAs, which will be released every two months) of Tales of Symphonia: The Animation (テイルズ・オブ・シンフォニア) was released June 8, 2007.



Just a heads up for any fans of the game.
Official Tales of Symphonia Website

Review: Full Metal Panic! Volumes 1 & 2

Though already four years old, I still consider Full Metal Panic! a benchmark in Japanese animation. Combining fantastic mech designs and battles with the input of CGI development, the series is visually astounding. Clean-looking, colourful characters and environments, and fantastic music are just a small part of why Full Metal Panic! is such a truly entertaining series.

It’s a meshing of genres, from giant robots, comedy and romance, though the latter of which is only really hinted to in the first two volumes, and nothing much happens. Obviously the romantic qualities would be set upon young Mithril Sergeant Sousuke Sagara and Japanese school girl Kaname Chidori, yet even after the first eight episodes, it’s a distant relationship that only ever really shows any sort of emotion when Sousuke is struggling to save Kaname every few episodes. And yet, this relationship is one of Full Metal Panic!’s shining points, as their relationship isn’t a direct romance, but rather something that could (or could not) arise, being forestalled by Sousuke’s baffling ineptitude at settling into Japanese society, and time and again causing one to smile and laugh. And for that reason alone, I love how their romance can’t even begin, instead making one giggle at just how opposite the two are.

Even in Volume 1 it was clearly evident Sousuke had no idea what he was doing unless he was in the cockpit of a giant robot, and the same stays true in Volume 2. During this outing, however, things heat up as the terrorists are still on Kaname’s trail, hoping to kidnap her and learn more about her special “abilities” (which at this point are still unknown to the viewer). Sousuke, assigned by Mithril to protect Kaname and her abilities from the terrorists, once again finds him waist deep in trouble as the terrorists make another move.

Audio is one of my favourite parts of Full Metal Panic!, from the opening credits, through the intense fights and their sound effects, right down to the soft, closing melody. Voiceovers are still some of my favourite in any anime, featuring the voices of talented actors such as one of my favourites, Allison Keith (Melissa Mao), best known for her work as Asuka in Evangelion. Vic Mignogna voices Kurz Weber perfectly as the womanizing, perverted comedy-relief character he is, Kyle Hebert portrays Sousuke Sagara well as the uptight soldier, and Luci Christian as the cute high school girl, Kaname Chidori. To be frank, few people ever prefer the English voiceovers to the Japanese, but in this case, I do.

Visuals, I’ve already said it, but, they’re fantastic, and some of the most eye-appealing and colourful I’ve seen in years. The character designs, the robots, the battle damage and explosions are all fantastic. Really, there’s little else to say. Full Metal Panic! is a treat for the eyes.

Full Metal Panic! provides enough laughs, explosions and close-romantic-encounters to satisfy pretty much anybody through the duration of only four episodes. Makes one antsy with anticipation to continue on with Volume 3.

Rating:
Plot: 4/5
Art Direction: 5/5
Sound: 5/5
Overall: 4.8/5

Review: Death Note Volume 1

A phenomenon in Japan for the last few years, following the success of Tsugumi Ohba’s acclaimed manga, the first four episodes are finally about to hit North American shores in “Death Note Volume 1.”

With eleven of the twelve manga volumes now available in North America, thanks to Viz Media, and following two live-action films and even a novelization, many have clamored for the anime to be brought stateside. With the announcement of Death Note to be aired on Canada’s YTV (which was later rescheduled) and Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, on October 20, 2007, North American fans of the manga were finally able to feast their eyes on the first episode. In addition to the first episodes being aired stateside, episodes have already been available for download off IGN’s Direct2Drive for several weeks.

Yagami Light is a simple A student, living a simple life with his simple family. His mother and sister sit around, cooking, studying and watching t.v., while Light works hard at school, and his father works tediously on a new case that has surfaced regarding a mass-murderer named Kira.

After discovering a simple, black notebook outside his school, Light brings it home and opens up the cover. For obvious reasons, he is unsure of the notebook, believing it to be some sort of prank, after reading the inside cover, stating that the book is capable of taking the life of any person, so long as he knows their name and what they look like. Guidelines are also listed, including the manner in which victims should die, and how long the writer has to describe the deaths before the “default” setting takes effect and the victim dies of a heart attack.

After “testing” the book, something comes over Light and he soon loses the “simple, innocent” personality we are introduced to in the beginning. He decides to use the notebook to make the world a better place, by eliminating criminals, by killing anyone who causes others harm. However, as perfect as he believes his plan seems, it obviously goes to his head as he starts imagining himself as the “God” of a new world, a world he plans to bring to realization.

Shortly after, he meets Ryuk, the true owner of the notebook; Death God. Light is barely phased by meeting Ryuk when the Death God suddenly appears in his room, explaining how he dropped the notebook on purpose to see who might pick it up and hopefully cure the Death God of his boredom. Light quickly learns everything is just a game to this Death God, and that he has, in fact, found a way to entertain the boring life of the Death God.

From there on out, the plot intensifies, as even Light’s own father is brought into the investigation to unearth the root of the murders. The dialogue and plot stay faithful to the original manga, and the central characters, even within the first four episodes are amazingly well fleshed out. You find yourself rooting for numerous different characters at once, and at the same time, unsure of whom the protagonists and antagonists are. In essence, that’s yours to decide; it simply depends on which viewpoint you sympathize with more, which is a fascinating twist. You, as the viewer, are allowed to decide for yourself who the antagonist is, instead of being forced to cheer for someone else.

Art direction is excellent as well, depicting some of the moodiest work I’ve seen in an animated program in some time. It’s not that the art is well done in it’s own right (though it is) but that the direction taken really does set the mood, with darker-looking environments and characters. For example, Light’s room is always dark, and when you’re sitting there watching Light’s face glowing with the light from the t.v. or computer and you see Ryuk’s dark, menacing figure framed in the background against an even darker wall, you’ll feel as though you’re right there, as though you understand exactly what Light’s feeling.

It’s intense, and it’s wonderfully done. And although Death Note is no longer a “new” series in any kind of way, it certainly has an original plot, and intelligent, interesting characters, half of which work together to defeat the others. And through it all, nobody is ever sure that the other is actually their ally or their enemy, even though you, as the viewer usually know exactly who everyone is, which allows you to understand exactly the decisions that each character makes, in order to attempt to outsmart everyone else.

Yagami Light, Ryuk and all the characters introduced in the first four episodes of the anime are as well fleshed out as they are in the manga, and seeing them in motion, finally, is a real treat for longtime fans. In addition, Death Note Volume 1 comes unedited, with a collectible figurine, and of course, is bilingual with optional English and Japanese subtitles.

After seeing the first four episodes, and getting myself all riled up and ready to continue on, and see what’s available in the next volume, I can already tell that Death Note is going somewhere, and I’ve only just experienced a few mere episodes.

Death Note Volume 1 is now available on DVD from Viz Media.

Rating:
Plot: 5/5
Art Direction: 5/5
Sound: 5/5
Overall: 5/5