Review: Star Trek (2009)

My friends are always shocked and appalled at just how much modern pop culture I seem to have missed out on. Music, movies, and a few decades worth of references and jokes all go over my head. Before this, I had never seen a Star Trek movie. It wasn't avoidance; it was just a matter of no one ever sitting me down in front of a TV and saying, "Hey! Watch this movie!" I had seen an episode or two of Next Generation once while wasting time in my roommate's room, but that was about it. I liked that episode or two (because Patrick Stewert is kind of awesome), but it wasn't enough to make me go out of my way to see more of it, especially since I don't have a TV myself.

The aforementioned roommate is actually a closet Trekkie, but I guess "closet" negates any evangelical aspect. Still, roomie's [also Trekkie] parents were in town last weekend and offered to treat, so why the hell not? Let's go see a movie. Who cares if it's finals weekend?

(this review contains no spoilers!)

Star Trek

STORY & PACING - The story starts off hard and fast, but it's straightforward and easy to follow. The introduction builds up rather quickly, advancing through several years and characters in a short span of time, but despite me literally not knowing anything about this extensive franchise before walking into the theatre, I was never lost or confused. Everything that happens is intriguing, and the fast pace keeps you continually entertained -- there is never, ever a dull moment and everything connects together wonderfully. Star Trek takes itself seriously, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of hilarious shenanigans either. The kind of hook the movie has is impressive in itself, but I was mostly happy with the fact that I could follow it perfectly so well without any prior knowledge -- something that I always worry about for movies with established fanbases.

Of course, I couldn't personally catch all of the bones they were tossing the existing fans, but the others I saw it with definitely could and spent the car ride back from the theatre raving about it. So not only was the movie completely accessible to a new fan, but older fans had the pleasure of catching tons of references and seeing their favorite characters on a shiny new screen full of shiny new effects.

As the story goes along, a few plot holes inevitably come up because of the nature of the story, but the excellent pacing disguises those holes well enough that you don't really think about them until well after the fact. That makes the story solid enough on its own, especially since it's a very character-driven narrative. What actually happens to the characters is secondary to their personal development and emotional pull you get from them, and those are always my favorite kinds of stories.

CHARACTER & ACTING - My friends tell me that the casting job for this movie was amazing. They had the previous versions of the characters to consider, but even without knowing those, I could tell that the casting job here was amazing. As far as physical appearances go, I could kind-of recall what the original actors for Spock and Sulu looked like and found their new actors to be incredibly impressive, fitting, updated versions of their previous incarnations. I didn't bother doing post-movie comparisons of the others since I seriously had no knowledge of what the others looked like (yes, including Shatner's Captain Kirk because I lived under a really, really big rock). Appearance isn't as important as personality anyway, right?

My friends tell me that the acting was pretty spot on as well. My roommate mentioned Bones being a particularly well done portrayal, and numerous others cite Spock. For me, I just enjoyed the characters and acting for what they were. All of the actors portraying characters aboard the Enterprise succeeded in making their roles engaging and interesting. I would have liked to know more about Kirk's childhood, but his development from late teens and onward was very well done, especially considering how little of it we actually see. Spock is probably the most interesting character in the movie though -- we see more of his childhood and consequently, his conflicts and personality are easier to understand and relate to. (Halfling characters are also supremely sympathetic by nature.) Nevertheless, Spock and Kirk mature and grow equally as characters, and their interacting is probably what makes the movie's finale as awesome as it was.

The only character that I had issues with was Captain Nero, who contributed most of the plot holes in the movie thanks to the huge gaps in his logic. He was too much of a stereotypical villain -- the awkward timeframe made the beginning of the movie more forgiving than the end in terms of motivation, but it was just all around pretty plain. Still, with so much of the movie focused on the development of Kirk and Spock, the fact that they had quite the lacking antagonist wasn't that important.

The rest of the supporting cast was a lot of fun. Having an Asian, a black woman, a Scot, and a Russian on board was hilarious in its own right, especially since the former two had outrageous accents. It's a cast that's reminiscent of the time the franchise was conceived, but the humor that comes with such a cast is one that has successfully transcended time. All the stereotypes were positive and tongue-in-cheek stereotypes, making all the characters positively endearing. Good times.

ART & ANIMATION - This is a beautiful movie. Most of the special effects looked amazing without being so over-the-top and extravagant that it distracted you from the issues at hand. The ships all looked great; the lasers, the warping -- seriously, everything looked gorgeous. The only two things I can think to nitpick are 1) lens flare made a huge comeback in this movie. But if you wanna technical, sunlight would be a helluva lot more prominent in space, so it makes sense there?? Sorta kinda maybe? And 2) the Romulan ship looked similar to many casual 3d renders I've seen people make -- it's mostly just shininess with very little comprehensible structure. The zoomed in views of the ship looked markedly better, but it still didn't make a lot of structural sense to me. Oh well. Aliens, right?

The aliens themselves were all well integrated into the cast. Whether or not they were important characters, none of them seemed too out of place or particularly ridiculous. Like many other things, I understand that a lot of the aliens were probably cameos, thrown out as treats to the established fans, but for a newcomer, these things weren't distracting at all. Star Trek took itself seriously, but that didn't hurt it one bit. Yeah, most of the important races are just humans with funny ears, but believability was never an issue. It looked great.

MUSIC - Excellent. Star Trek has one hell of an epic soundtrack. For movies with lots of action, it isn't unusual for me to be so engrossed in what's going on that I completely forget to take note of the music, but the soundtrack here was impossible to ignore. It was very strong and almost overpowering for some scenes, making everything that much more amazing to watch and look at. The music for the less adrenaline-pumped sequences is a little less memorable, but such is the nature of the beast... not that there were all that many scenes that weren't action anyway.

OVERALL - Going into it, I already knew that the general consensus amongst fans was that this movie was fantastic, which would likely translate well for a newcomer. Despite that though, it's always weird walking into a movie blind -- I don't know what I was expecting. Suffice to say that I was blown away. I wanted to see the movie again as soon as the credits started rolling. The positives far outweighed the negatives here, and I would recommend this to anyone. Read the rest of this entry...

Dropped: Shangri-La

Took me long enough, right? Seriously, who else is still actually watching this crap?

I really hope this doesn't become some kind of annoying trend. Aside from this season's two big remakes (FMA and DBK), Shangri-La was the only series I picked up. And like last season's Kurokami, it's now getting its lame ass dropped for pretty much all the same reasons.

When I read over all the summaries of the series set to debut for spring, Shangri-La was the only thing that really caught my eye. It's premise sounded really interesting, and you can't say the idea of using a country's carbon emissions as a currency isn't awesome. Unfortunately, that's this series one and only merit. The premise doesn't even translate into a plot because I watched seven, long and arduous episodes, and I still don't know what the plot is. That's the only reason I stuck with it so long -- I really, really wanted to know what the plot was, but I guess if I can't find it in seven episodes, then the whole thing's just a waste of time.

Since there's no actual plot, each episode is just a string of events about uninteresting characters that the audience is unfortunate enough to be following. This was especially painful for me since I much, much prefer character-driven stories over plot-driven stories, but I didn't give a damn about a vast majority of the ensemble cast, and the few that do seem kindasorta interesting don't have very many scenes. I could not sympathize with Kuniko, especially since she seemed so purposeless while also being popular for no reason. It didn't make sense to me, and all her subsequent struggles were just incredibly boring.

Her supporting cast was similarly unsympathetic, especially since we're given no background on how the current government system has been mistreating the populous. Nobody's motivation was clear. The grandmother's secrecy and decision not to tell Kuniko anything was a frustrating and probably pointless excuse to delay the plot. Ryoko was more of a poorly done evil caricature than an actual character. It really annoyed me that they created another character named Major Kusanagi. Momoko's antics seemed too forceful to be humorous.

The only character that interested me was the lolipop girl; unsurprisingly, that was because she was the only one that seemed to be involved with the plot, whatever it is. Naturally, she only ever shows up briefly and is cryptic with a lot of things she says. Like Kurokami, the main problem with Shangri-La is that it's difficult to relate to or sympathize with any of the characters. What makes Shangri-La worse than Kurokami is the fact that we don't even know most of the characters' motivations. Why are they doing what they're doing? What are they trying to accomplish? Why should we care?

You can maybe infer that Metal-Age is trying to expose whatever government conspiracy took place however long ago, and you can also maybe say that Kuniko wants to find a way for everyone to "live happily," but the former is too much of a given, and the latter is too general to be interesting.

I guess GONZO really is ready to kick the bucket then. Maybe I should have known it would be bad when we get really bad fanservice in the very first scene of the first episode? What a disappointment. Crunchyroll's subs were good, too, and even though the character designs were kind of shoddy (Japan, please stop trying to pass twelve year-olds off as legal), the animation was pretty nice, and the music was decent too. But we all know that those things don't hold up a show. Read the rest of this entry...

Review: HYDE's HYDE

HYDE

HYDE's 1st compilation album
18th March, 2009

Usually my album reviews are labeled "first impressions" instead of "reviews" because I think it's an interesting angle to compile my first thoughts on an album during my initial hearing of it; impressions of music are more prone to changing over time and a tenth hearing may very well be different from a second hearing. But that theme doesn't really apply here as its a compilation album! HYDE's first solo compilation album, uninspiredly entitled HYDE, contains all of his singles, as well as a few popular tracks from his four existing albums.

So that portion of his discography isn't really isn't something I listen to often. There are a few songs I like, sure, but the majority is kind of just "eh." Still, compilation albums are a good way to revisit things, right? I figure, what the hell.

TRACK 01: Made in Heaven
As Faith is my least favorite HYDE album, I don't remember this song very well at all. There's a nice guitar opening; intro vocals are pretty typical of HYDE's solo work, though a bit rough and forceful. This is in Engrish, but I can't understand much beyond a word here and there. I kinda feel bad because it sounds like he's trying so hard. The chorus doesn't stand out much and sounds pretty awkward with the poor Engrish. It leads into the second verse with little pause; meanwhile, the music in the background isn't very interesting as it isn't changing up much. Most of this song blurs together for me, including the end.

TRACK 02: It's Sad
Another song from Faith. Really neat guitar opening... opening vocals are again forced and rough, not my favorite style for HYDE, but the guitars remain interesting, uptight, and suspenseful. Chorus is a more typical sound, but I'm much more interested in the guitars at the moment. Vocals lighten up a bit in the second verse; the Engrish feels more casual and confident, but I still can't understand most of it without a lyrics sheet. Bridge includes a female vocal mixed in with some speaking parts from HYDE and then another chorus. I find it more jarring than anything else though; HYDE's goal with Faith was to stir some deep, soul-felt emotions, but I'm too caught up in the technicalities here. This is not HYDE's best vocal work, and the guitars don't really save it in the end.

TRACK 03: Evergreen [Dist.]
"Evergreen" from ROENTGEN is actually a solo song I like! And the Engrish version from ROENTGEN.english is actually mostly understandable. This rock version is also in Engrish and was first released as a B-side on the "Countdown" single. All the guitar distortion masks over the vocals though, making it harder to hear. Not sure if I like that, but it does give the guitars a solid limelight. The chorus guitars seem to be a little off from the vocals. ...It really bothers me that HYDE doesn't pronounce the "m" in memory... it's kind of an important sound. There are some drawn-out sounds in the bridge and it fades into a nice guitar solo and then end. Ehh, neat, but not my favorite version of Evergreen. I'll stick with the original.

TRACK 04: Jesus Christ (YouTube it)
Another one from Faith. I've always remembered this one as my least favorite from the album. The Engrish is also pretty understandable in this one, but that makes me uncomfortable to some extent since I'm not too fond of the subject matter. The vocals don't seem to match up well with the music and there doesn't seem to be much of a melody. The falsetto in the chorus is beautiful, but there's still no melody. There's a lenghty solo between the first chorus and the second verse, and then they add a nice piano tune. Unfortunately, the piano really just adds to the chaos of other sounds and still, nothing sounds particularly cohesive. Still... as we move into the second chorus and that lovely falsetto, the emotional power of the song starts to really seep through. HYDE is really into it and that shows. I'm not into religious music, but I guess it is somewhat moving to hear someone else invest so much energy into it.

TRACK 05: Countdown (YouTube it)
Next song on Faith. Geez, way too much of this album is stuff from Faith! D: This is the first song with Japanese in it though, so hurray for that. I much prefer HYDE's vocals in Japanese because they sound infinitely more natural and therefore not distracting. That isn't to say there isn't still Engrish here, but it isn't overwhelming... and because there is Japanese, we can pretend that his Engrish is still Japanese and not try to decipher his words. Vocals are pretty typical here and don't change much as the song progresses. I'm not too fond of the music here; it's like the previous song in its mish-mash of sounds without a distinct melody. Outro has some spoken parts that are out of place, then buzz out to end. I'm remembering why Faith is my least favorite album.

TRACK 06: The Other Side
Hey, I have no idea where this song is from! Hard guitar intro, though it still sounds muddied. Strong vocal intro, but the energy fades quickly. Melody is a bit clearer now though, and the first verse sounds pretty nice. Guitar and vocals match up nicely; lyrics are in Engrish, but fairly understandable (not quite up to Evergreen's level though). Chorus is forceful and energetic, but I don't like the music there until the vocals end and it's a solo to the second verse. Vocals and Engrish are very clear at the second verse; I really like the rhytmn guitar here, but the lead is distracting. Second chorus is slightly less conflicting than the first as the music in the background matches up a bit better. Buzz out to end. Wish I knew where this song was from?

TRACK 07: Shining Over You (YouTube it)
Finally! A song from 666, my favorite HYDE solo album! (Is it too ironic that my favorite and least favorite HYDE albums should be titled as they are?) Awesome violin intro and sweet vocals full of falsetto. There's a nice countermelody in the background music to match the main melody of the vocals. Verse is Japanese to counter the Engrish in the chorus, which is actually what the song starts off with, and there are some pretty awesome parts where HYDE is harmonizing with himself. Again, I enjoy the Japanese a lot more than the Engrish, and the Engrish goes back and forth a lot in this song -- sometimes it's pretty clear, and sometimes I have no idea what he's saying. There are some neat bass lines in the verses too though. Bridge is kind of drawn out; slow outro and then fade out. Oh, hey, this thing is six minutes long, but I didn't notice at all.

TRACK 08: Horizon
Another one from 666. Nice and calm intro with relaxed guitars and a strong voice; lyrics are in Japanese. I like the forcefulness of HYDE's voice here -- in songs like "It's Sad," I feel like he's trying too hard, but here, he just sounds really, really into it. Verses have some gorgeous falsetto, and I really like the beginning of the chorus. Love, love, love the guitars in the bridge; the drums there are pretty fun too. The verse after the bridge is probably the best part of the song. There's some vocal distortion and canon leading into the final chorus that's pretty badass too. Not too fond of the repeating lyrics in the outro, but ah well.

TRACK 09: Season's Call
Back to Faith. This is the fifth song from Faith and we're only on track nine. Oh well. "Season's Call" has a nice, soft guitar opening that leads into some more energetic riffs. Opening vocals are also good, energetic in that reserved kind of way. HYDE's voice is really beautiful here; lyrics are in Japanese. Falsetto seems kind of random though, and I'm not too fond of the melody as we get halfway through the verse. It just sounds kind of awkward. Kind of blah chorus, but once we get to the second verse, everything's spiffy again... until about halfway through! Oh, weird, random Engrish after the second chorus as we get into the bridge... the sounds in the background are getting chaotic again. It's creates an uncomfortable, kind of itchy-scratchy feeling. Ugh, not fond of the continued Engrish. Kind of just want the song to end now... why is this five and a half minutes long.

TRACK 10: Sweet Vanilla
Back to 666. Rock guitars are rockin' out. Oh, man, I love how the vocals in this open. It's Engrish, but wonderfully understandable, and then it moves back to Japanese. The difference in sound between this and the previous are so obvious, and it's the difference between the two albums. The chorus goes back to Engrish, but again, it's understandable, and the lyrics are really sweet in that cute sort of way, which is particularly amusing since the Japanese portions of the verses are really badass sounding. The vocals in this song are pretty much everything I love most about HYDE's voice. Everything sounds genuine. The "believe me, believe me," are probably the best part. The guitar melody in the bridge isn't really that interesting, but it's fun and works well for the mood of the song. Final chorus ends on kind of a forceful note and the song ends soon after that, but I definitely remember this being a great opening track for 666. I still like it a lot.

TRACK 11: HELLO (YouTube it)
This is the second track on 666 and thus correct follows the previous song. Annnd... "Hello" is my favorite HYDE song overall. I love the energetic guitar intro and the mood it creates -- it's very nostalgic feeling. HYDE's opening vocals really pick up that mood well; it's forceful in bursts, but eases into more relaxed notes in between. The lyrics are in Japanese and just feel good. I love the way it moves into the chorus here~. <3 The melody in the chorus is also very memorable. The verses here really show off HYDE's lower registers, so it's a nice break from his falsettos. Second verse leads into a bit of distortion and some typical synth stuff, but it's a nice intermission before we get to the build up to the final chorus which contains a bit of Engrish. The final chorus feels a little less energetic than those before it, but the sincerity of the voice doesn't fade. Wind down, wind down. Ends with the name of the song.

TRACK 12: Hideaway
This is the closing track for 666, now we're even with five and five for both Faith and 666. This opens with a really homely sound. Japanese and Engrish interchanged frequently; love the energy, liveliness, and sincerity here. Guitars are simple but effective. Some steady drums into the second verse. The Engrish is only understandable in bursts, but it isn't very distracting. The overall feel of this song is very American punk rock to me. It has the same kind of challenge the world mood to it somehow, and honestly, the lyrics don't make it seem that far off. Really enjoyable song overall.

TRACK 13: Prayer
Sixth song from 666 now, oh snap! Kind of an awkward opening: heavy guitar in between long silences. Then, consistent heavy guitars and a vocal intro you don't really notice until several seconds in. Serious business kind of sound... at least until the next punctuated silence, then it just sounds kind of normal? Still lovin' the vocal quality here, though the Engrish lyrics aren't as nice as far as understanding go. Subject matter-wise, this song probably wouldn't do too terribly on Faith, but the sound is much more classic HYDE than the rest of the stuff on Faith. The melody is solid and cohesive, though the guitars aren't all that interesting. Really... even though HYDE's vocals are pretty nice here, the rest of the song really bores me.

TRACK 14: Midnight Celebration
Seventh song from 666! As much as I do like 666, this is kind of silly since 666 is only a ten-track album! I've always found "Midnight Celebration" to be kind of a hilarious song because it's just so stereotypically... vampiric. Still, it's a fun and energetic song with a strong opening and very understandable Engrish lyrics. The chorus is my favorite part; it's great 'cause HYDE sounds so darn serious, but the vampiric overtones of the entire song just make me laugh. Bridge is pretty typical, but the guitars are nice to listen to regardless. The energy throughout the last round of choruses wraps things up nice and neat at the end too.

TRACK 15: Unexpected [Dist.]
Rock version of the original song on ROENTGEN; similar to the version of "Evergreen" above, this version was released as a B-side on the "Season's Call" single. Kind of a boring intro that leads into some awkward, distorted vocals. Vocals remain distorted and music remains boring -- it's really hard to even tell if the lyrics are in Japanese or Engrish, but I know them to be Engrish. Finally get to something resembling a chorus about halfway through the song; vocals become undistorted, but the Engrish is still difficult to understand. The vocals do have some nice energy here, but the music isn't really helping. It slows down significantly again and almost seems to end, but then it leads on into the bridge, which sounds kind of odd because it actually has a decent melody. HYDE's vocals echo through it, but the longer the bridge goes on for, the more boring it gets? Kind of just want it to end now, but it's another five minute song. Argh. Outro takes forever to fade out too.

TRACK 16: The Cape of Storms
Third song from ROENTGEN, but not a later released rock version. Intro has a very classic feel to it. Lyrics are in Engrish and pretty hard to decipher except for a word here or there. Melody and vocal quality are pretty nice here, though I also find the melody to be kind of plain and uninteresting. Tempo slows significantly as we get into the first verse; mood gets very mysterious and suspenseful. There's some interesting use of different instruments here as well, like harmonica and something that sounds kind of like a marimba? Chorus returns with the uninteresting melody; HYDE's vocals are emotional and feel sincere enough, but it's bordering on that "trying too hard" kind of feeling. Second verse is slow and I'm really getting bored. Five minute and forty-five second song is so long~. D;

TRACK 17: glamorous sky [English version] (YouTube it)
This is probably the song I was most excited about when I glanced over the track list. I love "glamorous sky." I love Mika Nakashima's vocals on it, but hearing HYDE sing the song was really interesting too. I didn't know there was an English version of it though?? Excitement here! Intro is odd and disorienting for all of a moment, and then the vocals start. The sound is very, very different here -- the music is much more rockish, the tempo's faster, and HYDE's vocals are weird! The lyrics are strange and I can't understand anything that wasn't already Engrish in the original. Well, I guess "ano" in the choruses turned into "I know" something, but beyond that is beyond me. The difference in the guitars in the back is really, really throwing me off -- it sounds a lot more like a DDR song because the melody is so much more forceful. I have mixed feelings about the vocals; the quality really isn't HYDE's best and the lyrics continue to sound strange.

Haha, "nemurenai yo" turned into "I won't be sleeping." I guess that works out?? It's always interesting to see how much of the original meaning carries over since they're usually more concerned about preserving syllables than translation. The bridge sounds really weird this sped up; the lyrics get a little more understandable, but ... not really. The parts that match up well with the original translation are the parts I pick up more easily. The last round of choruses are all right; the slightly slowed tempo doesn't particularly help the awkwardness of both the lyrics and the guitars though. What a weird way to end this album. What I really want to hear now is Mika Nakashima singing this version of the song though... and perhaps we can wrestle some kind of duet out of them. That would be hot.

OVERALL: Really, I don't know what the point of releasing this compilation album was... HYDE only has three albums to his solo name! This compilation was unnecessarily long and contains more than half of both 666 and Faith. Really, you might as well pick up those original two albums! It doesn't have nearly as much as ROENTGEN, which might be legitimately harder to find, except that two of three included tracks were re-released rock versions, so that's kind of a moot point? The only real point of interest was the last track, which would have probably done just as well released as a special single or as a B-side to another single. The timing of this release also feels weird -- I mean, HYDE just got together with K.A.Z to make VAMPS and they're touring, so why's he reminding fans of old stuff instead of pushing his new stuff? (Oh, man, VAMPS cover of "glamorous sky," why is this so awesome.)

Oh, well. It's not a bad album if you're looking to hear a decent cross section of HYDE's solo work, but if you're already familiar with his solo work, then there isn't really a long enough history to reminisce over here. Read the rest of this entry...

Review: Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Menace

Bucky O'Hare was one of those awesome cartoons from the 90's that almost no one seems to remember nowadays. Bucky was the underdog beating up toads in space while the Ninja Turtles beat up foot soldiers in Manhattan. I have many fond memories of it, though I don't think I actually ever saw the entirety of the thirteen-episode series back in the day. Still, the fondness stayed with me, and I was excited when I found out that the TV show was based on a comic series.

The comic was written by Larry Hama and penciled by Michael Golden. Hama is a third-generation Japanese-American, but that doesn't really explain why I've always thought Bucky O'Hare had a very anime/manga feel to it. The original comic ran in the late 80's and only had one plotline; more were written to coincide with the TV series when it debuted in 1990. The original comic along with two of the later, additional issues were collected together in a manga-like graphic novel released by Vanguard in 2007. I have no idea why they didn't include the rest of the additional issues, but it doesn't really matter. I ordered my copy of Vanguard's release of Bucky O'Hare when I ordered my copy of Viz's releaseof DOGS vol. 0, and I gotta say: Bucky's comic is very disappointing.

(this review contains no spoilers!)

Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars

STORY - Bucky O'Hare presents an intriguing story. In an alternate universe populated by various anthropomorphic animals, the toads have developed their own Skynet named KOMPLEX which then proceeds to enslave not only their race, but uses them them to begin enslaving the rest of the universe. The mammals are bound together by a haphazard political system that refuses to recognize the severity of the toads' threat; thus, they are only willing to fund one defense ship: Bucky's ship, The Righteous Indignation. Of course, there's also lots of other weird stuff, including your human that's transported from our world for one reason or another, but hey, it was the 80's!

For the most part, the first two or three episodes of the TV series followed the comic's original plotline, which is very engaging and fun. The comic's conclusion for the arc differs greatly, however, and honestly, I found the comic's ending to be pretty weak, far-fetched and anticlimatic, but that could just be my bias towards the TV show. The two additional issues that are also included in the volume follow various things that were introduced in the TV show, but they don't connect very well to where the original story left off, so I really wonder why they bothered? Especially since they didn't include the other ten issues that were produced and it doesn't really seem like they have plans to.

The things that struck me most about the story though, was just how it was told in the comic. The "chapters" within the original arc seem to mimic episodes of a television series in that they had recaps at the beginning of every chapter that repeated the same half dozen panels of the previous chapter. This threw me off so much when I read the chapters back to back and saw the repeated panels, which were often reframed so that they were cropped or zoomed in differently. Even if the comic was published in separate issues originally, I find the practice of reframing panels really strange -- Western comics don't do that. You either bought the previous issue or you didn't! Maybe you'll have a quick textual recap on the opening credits page, but not the exact panels from the last issue! What kind of lazy filler crap is that??

There were also really, really awkward two-page spreads. Awkward as in, you had to turn the book around sideways because they were giant, vertical panels. It is so incredibly jarring to be reading through and suddenly there's a huge spread's sideways. Who's bright idea was this?

CHARACTER - Most of the characters don't really get a chance to develop in the original arc. In fact, I found it woefully ironic that Bucky was probably the least interesting of the lot. He's the captain of the ship! And... that's about it. There's very little character beyond that -- he takes information offered by his crew and makes predictable decisions, failing to demonstrate any higher thinking or commanding abilities that have him earn our respect. Thinking back, the show's version of Bucky wasn't that much different to begin with, but he developed a lot more as the series progressed -- should I hold it against the original that it wasn't long enough to work that out?

Willy faced a similar problem and felt like a huge Gary Stu character admist the animals. Blinky seemed like more of a gimmicky mascot than a character. The Air Marshall and most of the toads were also rather flat, and the creepy mouse was just creepy and unexplainable. The most interesting characters in the comic were Deadeye and Jenny, who actually exhibited personality. They had an interesting dynamic between them that suggested backstory, and in Jenny's case, she got further backstory via her "witch powers," which begged many questions and therefore made her interesting. If the duck and the cat could get that kind of thought and treatment, then why not everyone else? Further irony? Deadeye and Jenny are the least developed characters in the handful of episodes of the TV series that mirror the comic.

Vanguard's release inserted short character files in between some of the chapters that included characters' full name, rank, and weapon of choice, as well as a completely stupid, pointless, and superfluous "biography."

ART - Michael Golden's style is a strange blend of Western and Eastern, which is pretty peculiar considering Bucky's age. That style conflict is something we talk about frequently now, but back in the 80's? Most of the animal characters have gigantic eyes and outrageous expressions and the backgrounds, props, and environments are exhaustively detailed. The graphic novel is in plain black and white; the inking job is very Eastern. With minimal spot blacks in most panels, it really seems like it'd be suited for tones. For the most part, the art is enjoyable, but many of the zoomed out long shots are confusing because of the detail.

Here's the thing that disappointed me the most with the comic though: in addition to the aforementioned repeated panels at the beginning and end of chapters, and in addition the sprawling, awkward vertical spreads, several panels are recycled throughout the volume. These panels were not reused to rehash events in the last chapter. They were flat out reused because the artist was too damn lazy to draw the same or similar expression again. The first time it happened, I did a double take. It was a, "Wait, didn't I see this exact panel several pages earlier...? Holy shit, I did!" moment. And I would flip back and forth, confirming that it was indeed the same panel, just flipped over, as if that would make it less obvious. And the worst of it? Sometimes panels were repeated not only once, but twice, and for this one shot of Jenny, it was repeated THREE TIMES after its initial debut. Are you freakin' kidding me??

Not only is this just ridiculous, but it also emphasizes that Golden really didn't have too many ways to draw the same kind of expression -- even when he did actually draw a new panel, many of them were remarkably reminiscent of others previous. It's like watching a one-trick pony. He'll perform the trick multiple times and usually there will be slight variations, but you know, at the end of the day, it's still the same damn trick. Super, super disappointing.

The two issues in the back by a different team of artists don't suffer this problem and they mimic Golden's style all right; still, the inks are noticably thicker and there are far less details.

OVERALL - The Bucky O'Hare comic has become one of those things that I'm glad I personally bought and read, but that I would never recommend to others. I was curious and now my curiosity is satisfied; I do vaguely wonder about those other ten issues that were adapted from the TV series, but it's not a burning curiosity. The best thing that the comic had going for it was undoubtedly its premise and concept, which was successfully adapted into a wonderful TV series, so that's what everyone should check out. The story in the television show is much better thought out because there was more room; similarly, the show's characters were more three-dimensional and well thought out. The comic's art is impressive in its detail and style, but I don't think I can forgive Golden for his lazy, recycled panels. The cartoon's art is much simpler and decidedly not impressive to any degree, but it wasn't terrible, so whatever, eh? Read the rest of this entry...

Picking Favorites

So I have this problem with the listed favorites in my MAL profile (the anime moreso than the manga). I feel like the list is out of date because I haven't really updated it since I joined the site last June, and I've seen at least a dozen very good series since then. So many series could easily move into that empty fifth slot, and so many other series seem like they're viable contenders for the titles that are already there. How do you go about choosing? Which factors are more relevant than others? And for a public listing, how much are you going to invest in using your declared favorites to brand yourself?

As far as the branding goes, my favorites list kind of makes me laugh. The only real point of unity is mecha, which I didn't realize was something I cared for as much as I do until I compiled the list in the first place. What kind of person do I come across with such a list? Gurren Lagann is almost a cop out because there are very few people that don't care for it; perhaps having it there makes me ordinary. Code Geass is something that might start some polarizing debates on the aniblogosphere, but the first season is almost universally accepted to be more worthy than the second. So maybe that makes me oridinary also. Gundam SEED seems to be hated on a grand scale and many Gundam fans seem to associate liking it with being ignorant. Stand Alone Complex is another title that faces little criticism, but a few dislike it for its rampant politics. So maybe having it there makes me look smart.

So, what does this list say about me on the whole? I am mostly an ordinary mecha fan that enjoys both testosterone-filled gar and intelligent political drama, but is ignorant towards the Gundam franchise. Not really sure if that's the exact branding I would choose for myself, but I wouldn't say the description is wildly inaccurate either.

Self-branding is an interesting thing, particularly when it's of a social consequence and not a commercial one. Sites like MAL allow for the traditional judging that used to take place when you took a look at the books on someone's shelf or what they're reading on the bus. It might be bad to judge based on negative stereotypes, but the judging that takes place when you glance over someone's favorites list is something that I'd consider to be nearly always useful. Whether comparing lists comes up with more similarities or differences is largely irrelevant as long as you aren't derisively writing someone off completely for holding whatever series in high regard (that would be negatively stereotyping). There's a difference between thinking, "Oh, this person likes mostly sappy shoujo titles, I guess we don't have much in common," and thinking, "lol, this idiot only likes mainstream shounen, what a useless newb."

If there are only differences, well, no loss, and you've saved everyone time by not pursuing a conversation that would have likely led no where. If there are only similarities, then perhaps you've found a fangasm buddy with which you can merrily spout fanboyish or fangirlish nonsense with. The best list comparisons come up with both similarities and differences; they are the things that prompt conversations like, "I see you like such and such also, but also that you enjoyed so and so -- what was it about so and so that you liked? I didn't find it very satisfying." And lovely discussions (or interesting debates) ensue and friendship, rivalry, and comraderie spreads across the Internet! Hurray! Judging is built into our social structure for a reason; it'd be a shame to cast it off completely.

It does make the self-conscious even more self-conscious though. Even online, you have an appearance. Picking the series that go on your favorites list is like picking a fashion to wear. And you have to find something that both satisfy you and your desire to be presentable to the public. Luckily, I've never been too bothered by the latter, so I'm fine with people thinking I'm an ignorant Gundam fan for having SEED as my favorite. When I commented on his aforementioned related post, ghostlightning mentioned that all the titles on my list are fairly recent, which might indicate that I'm a newer fan. I'm not, really, but oddly enough, the nostalgia factor hasn't been that big for me. My old favorites include Gundam Wing, Yu Yu Hakusho, BECK, Dragonball Z, Cowboy Bebop (you know, the Toonami golden days!), and My Neighbor Totoro, but I can see that my love for them is mostly because of nostalgia and not because they're actually better series than what's on the list now. It might be unconventional to consider the new better on all aspects than the old, so maybe I'll seem even more like an ignorant newbie, but hey, whatever, man.

My only problem is deciding what my "real" favorites are and correctly representing them on this damned list.

Back to my dilemma, huh? That favorites list needs updating. Who gets the empty fifth slot? And is there anyone already on the list that needs to be ousted? Here are the new contenders: Ouran High School Host Club, Nodame Cantabile, Mushishi, Planetes, and maybe even Lovely Complex. Score-wise, all of those series I've reviewed and scored with a 9 overall, except Love*Com, which has an 8. All of the series currently on the list are also 9's, except for TTGL, which is the only anime I've scored with a 10. Sometimes I wonder about that 10, but if anything else, TTGL is the only series thus far mentioned that I watched three times consecutively in a month. I guess it still deserves that top spot.

Since Love*Com is the lone 8 here, maybe it should be dropped from consideration (especially since there are a lot of other series I've scored with 9's that aren't up for consideration here), but even though both its technical merits and story/character merits are lower than the competition, it's a series that I've been rewatching random episodes from a lot lately -- what does that count for? Perhaps it's just a weird mood I've been in; after all, I don't usually take so readily to standard shoujo. Should a favorites list represent a more stable subset of favorites, or should it be more flexible? Should Love*Com be represented above the others just because I've really taken to it lately? Should it change and drop off as soon as I get out of this phase? That begs the question of, just how often should a favorites list be updated? Is there really anyone e-stalkerish enough to check that often? Or is it more for your own satisfaction?

Personally, I think I prefer the more stable route. It's too much trouble to constantly update something based on recent whims. Besides, the list is a better branding tool if it has series that stand up to the test of time, right? So Love*Com, as much as I love it, is out. That leaves four other series. What's the next factor to consider? Mushishi and Ouran probably have the highest rewatch value out of those four. Both series are fairly episodic and allow for better casual watching. Planetes and Nodame are both wonderful, but even though Nodame is largely slice of life, it does have a linear story, which hurts its rewatch potential to some extent since it's harder to jump in the middle. Planetes's first dozen episodes are also pretty episodic, but the latter half gets very character-involved and plot-heavy. How important do I want rewatch value to be?

It must be important if it's one of the reasons TTGL has the top spot, and even though it's not the second season that's on the list, Code Geass R2 is the only series I've followed as it aired that I watched three times per episode... one for every sub release (Chihiro/Nightspeed, gg, and Eclipse) because I was just that much of a fantard. And dammit if each rewatch wasn't still fun. I've also seen the second half of Gundam SEED an obscene number of times... SAC I like to catch sometimes when it reruns, but since I stopped watching TV altogether, that doesn't happen much anymore. Maybe SAC is the candidate for removal then...? If I swap out SAC, then I could add both Mushishi and Ouran, but there's gotta be other factors, right? And even if I do do that, which of the new listees should be ranked higher?

I always gravitate towards character-driven series, so maybe series with characters I like better should have preference. All the series on the current list have strong characters that I love, though it might be worth noting that there are no TTGL characters on my top ten favorite characters list (then again, I also have problems with the items on that list; that can be another discussion altogether, though it would probably be very redundant). Mushishi would be out if it's a question of character, not because Ginko is a weak character, but just because he's very simple and doesn't go through a lot of changes. It's a hard fight between Ouran, Planetes, and Nodame, but I'd probably also drop Ouran there. Great, so the series with the greater rewatch value are exactly opposite those with the stronger characters. Woe!

This entry has gone on long enough; I'll spare you the rest of my inner debate. But you understand my problem, right? I obviously haven't updated my favorites list yet. I really don't know when I'll be able to figure it out. Picking favorites really sucks; I love all of these series! But I can't very well not have any, can I? What would you think of me then?? Read the rest of this entry...

5 Webcomics I Feel Like Recommending

There are a ton of webcomics on the Internet. Most of them suck. Most of them never update when they're supposed to. Most of them get dropped whether officially or unofficially because their creators either decide that they don't have time anymore or life decides that they don't have time anymore for them. The latter bugs me the most, as I seem to have a knack for finding great webcomics that go on mysterious hiatuses as soon as I pick them up, but really, all three of those ailments are very annoying.

So here are five webcomics that 1) don't suck, 2) almost always update when they're supposed to, and 3) are currently running. There are also four runner-ups that occasionally fail to meet one of those requirements, usually the updating thing, but they're far from being dead.

5. Anime News Nina by Robin Sevakis

This is the Anime News Network's official webcomic and ventures to mock and satirize various aspects of otaku culture, usually in a good-natured way; after all, otaku are undoubtedly its intended audience. Occasionally, I do see things that some people might get upset over, but I doubt Sevakis ever intends the comic to be insulting towards the reasonable members of society. Each strip is can be standalone, but many strips also tie together in short story arcs.

The art is in full color and pretty simple, but Sevakis doesn't shy away from grand exaggerations of expression and action, which always results in chaos and hilarity. She also mimics styles from specific series to emphasize punch lines involving art. Good times. ANN updates every Wednesday with few exceptions.

Content: 4/5
Artwork: 4/5
Updates: 4/5

4. Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell

Gunnerkrigg Court, with little exception, will probably remind you initially of Harry Potter. This is thanks mostly to its British-style boarding school setting and magical inclinations, but that's really where the similarities end. As a continuing story, it starts off fairly whimsically and builds steadily towards a more involved, overarching plot that draws inspiration from an impressive number and range of world myths. The end of many chapters also include silly gag pages or informative explanations, and Siddell's one-liners that accompany every page are always amusing.

The full color art is unimpressive to begin with, but evolves significantly during the course of its run. Siddell ventures back and forth from very detailed scenes and very simple characters, but the style is unique and really grows on you after a couple of chapters. Gunnerkrigg Court updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and has never missed an update in the time I've been following it; in fact, Siddell reportedly works two or three months ahead of the current pages to ensure that he is never late even if he ends up sick or otherwise incapacitated for a few weeks. That's dedication, man.

Content: 4/5
Artwork: 4/5
Updates: 5/5

3. Today Nothing Happened by Shazzbaa

This is probably the least known comic on the entire list, including runner-ups. Shazzbaa is a friend of mine and will be graduating with her Sequential Art FUNNY BOOKS degree in three weeks. Today Nothing Happened is her journal comic, and as such, all events told are true and real and absolutely hilarious. You certainly don't need to know her to enjoy it, though you will find yourself knowing her better and better as you read through. Journal comics seem to be a big thing in the department as one of the professors loves and encourages them hardcore, but of all the ones I've read, TNH is my favorite, no contest. The life of an art kid! You know you want to read about it.

Shazz's art for TNH is black and white (with occasional color) and endearingly cartoony while maintaining wonderful likenesses of the real people she's depicting. If you read her comic before you meet her, you will be able to recognize her at your first meeting based on her caricatures alone. It's pretty awesome. TNH updates every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and Shazz takes great pains to ensure that this is the case. Even if she isn't quite done with a comic at midnight, she will upload and post the unfinished page as filler until the final is done. Pretty impressive. What makes it even more impressive though, is that every update also comes with a new voting incentive for Top Webcomics, so you are, effectively, getting two comics per update, three times a week. Rock on.

Content: 4/5
Artwork: 4.5/5
Updates: 5/5

2. Sinfest by Tatsuya Ishida
Sinfest just might be the longest running webcomic strips on the Internet. It is a daily strip and updates every, single, freakin' day. In the past, there have been a few stretches where he fails to update, but this hasn't happened again since I started reading it. Each strip is standalone, but Ishida often has week-long series or repeatative themes, very much like traditional newspaper strips, though its unlikely that Sinfest will ever grace the pages of a family newspaper. Sinfest is sacreligious and hilarious, but does not stop only to poke fun at Christianity. Devil worship and all manner of other beliefs and customs are also satirized every day. God is an asshole, but Jesus is a pretty nice guy. And since the 2008 election, Sinfest has also touched on various political subjects, but always in a humorous manner. Honestly, no matter what your religious and political beliefs, if you're open-minded to any degree, you can enjoy this comic.

Ishida's style is simple, clean, and very effective. Daily strips are black and white with the occasional tones; Sunday strips are huge and in color. Honestly, there's not much to say, but for a comedic strip, expressions are wildly important, and Ishida always makes them perfect.

Content: 4.5/5
Artwork: 4.5/5
Updates: 5/5

1. xkcd by Randall Munroe

This is my favorite webcomic. Period. As the site describes, xkcd is a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. That's a pretty wide range of nerdy topics, and thus, xkcd has covered everything from 4chan to raptors to nuclear physics to flying kites. The comic also consequently covers a lot of esoteric subjects, but the ex-computer science major in me is always happy when there programming and science-related things that I still understand and find hilarious. And they are always hilarious. If it isn't hilarious, then it's because you don't understand enough dammit. Each strip also features a tooltip caption (hover over the image for it); occasionally, this accompanying caption is more hilarious than the comic itself. The comics are generally standalone, but do feature a handful of reoccurring characters and the occasional multi-strip storyline.

I've gotten into a debate about this before, but I will stand by my opinion that Mr. Munroe draws the best damned stick figures I've ever seen. All the circle heads close and are nicely rounded and limbs are generally of reasonable sizes and proportions. The accessories he gives certain characters to tell them apart are consistent and easy to recognize. Everything is effective and has just enough detail that they are unquestionably what they are. Computers and TVs do not look identical. There are occasionally backgrounds. Mr. Munroe draws some damn sweet diagrams and maps too. The man can draw; he just chooses simplicity.

xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with occasional weeks where there's an update every weekday in a continuous story (like this past week). It has also never missed an update as long as I've followed it.

Content: 5/5
Artwork: 5/5
Updates: 5/5

~

Runner Up: A Softer World by Joey Comeau and Emily Horne
Content: 4/5
Artwork: 3.5/5
Updates: 5/5

Runner Up: Sin Titulo by Cameron Stewart
Content: 5/5
Artwork: 5/5
Updates: 3.5/5

Runner Up: Lackadaisy by Tracy Butler
Content: 5/5
Artwork: 5/5
Updates: 3/5

Runner Up: Evil Diva by Team Diva
Content: 4/5
Artwork: 4.5/5
Updates: 4.5/5 Read the rest of this entry...

Viz Original Comics: A Question of Style

Editors' Day is a small, annual event the Sequential Art department at SCAD puts on. Editors from various comic publishers came to discuss various topics and answer questions at a panel on Thursday, and then spent all day Friday reviewing portfolios from students. Discluding Dark Horse and Oni Press who were supposed to come but have rescheduled, this year we had representatives from Marvel, DC (and Vertigo), Slave Labor Graphics, Nickelodeon Magazine, and... Viz Media.
I was surprised that Viz ended coming after all. A few months back, a professor mentioned that Viz had canceled for Editors' Day, which was kind of expected considering the whole VP of Original Publishing leaving the company thing in February despite various announcements about Viz's upcoming original comics line last summer. The whole idea seemed like it was going to collapse, though I wouldn't really blame Viz for it, especially after all the controversy and criticism TOKYOPOP got the same summer for screwing over many of their original creators. The OEL bubble had always seemed like a precarious thing, but everyone agrees that the economy isn't helping.

But Viz showed up after all, represented by Eric Searleman, the senior editor that was working with Marc Weidenbaum (the aforementioned VP) on the original publishing line. So it seems that the venture hasn't quite died yet. It's worth noting though, that while Viz's website declares that they aren't accepting unsolicited submissions, they don't say that the original comics program is dead or on any kind of hiatus. It's also worth noting that several days after the announcement that Weidenbaum had left Viz, there was a post on Viz's official blog directed towards original creators, suggesting that they still had plans to accept submissions eventually, even if things might be significantly delayed with Weidenbaum's departure.

The panel discussion covered some pretty general topics, mostly aimed towards artists and writers trying to break into the industry. Mr. Searleman was relatively quiet compared to the rest of the lot, but seemed much more optimistic on subjects like the economy and pitching projects to companies. Some worthy tidbits include his mentioning that any project pitched to Viz should expect to go through heavy editorial input and that women seemed to represent a majority of those attracted to manga. The entire panel was supposedly recorded and should be featured on Monday's scheduled podcast at SEQALAB, if anyone's interested.

What interested me the most about the entire panel though was, and the belatedly-introduced, actual topic of this post is, a question someone asked at the end of the panel, in conjunction with something else Mr. Searleman said earlier. Is Viz specifically looking for projects in the "manga style"? Like some, I would would prefer "manga" to be a word synonymous with "comics," but the general population does not treat it as such, so it isn't so. But both the person who asked the question and Mr. Searleman seemed to agree that it doesn't really matter what style something is in as long as it can tell a good story, and Viz is out to "publish good stories." Presumably, this translates to, "No, Viz is not only specifically looking for manga-styled pitches," but I have to wonder if that's a good or bad thing, marketing-wise.

I have always disagreed with those who have labeled American artists drawing in a perceived anime/manga style to be wannabes or rip-offs. The only weakness comes when artists take no interest in studying reality and base all of their stylistic choices off of pre-existing ones. But that isn't an exclusively American (or otherwise non-Japanese) weakness. Young Japanese artists who surround themselves with manga undoubtedly go through the same steps -- they mimic what's around them. American artists who surround themselves with the same manga are really no different. Similarly, artists of whatever origin who surround themselves with Western comics will mimic the styles that they see and read and admire. If you label one set of them wannabes or rip-offs, you'll have to label all of them wannabes and rip-offs, but without them, there would never be a new generation of artists.

Nevertheless, most non-Japanese fans of manga still end up drawing quite a bit differently from Japanese natives, probably because it's impossible to ignore all of the other cultural influences around them, no matter how much they delve into the foreign media. So their styles don't get be to called straight up "manga," only "manga-styled" or "manga-influenced." I have mixed feelings about that since I don't consider "manga-styled" to be a very specific term. Astro Boy and Akira are both "manga-styled," but you'd never mistake one for the other. I guess the most significant thing though, is that you'd never mistake either for a non-Japanese-related comic. Everyone expects something when they hear "manga" or "manga-styled" or "OEL."

Or "Viz."

Viz publishes manga. If Viz is to finally venture into original comics, everyone will expect that they end up publishing "manga-styled" original comics.

Mr. Searleman said so himself, but as previously stated, he also mentioned being interested in any good story. I wonder what would happen if Viz actually published an original comic that was vastly, vastly different from what people would expect from "manga"? What if Viz published something that looked really American indie? Or even American superhero? It's easy to say that people will want to read anything that has a good story, but it's hard to deny that for comics -- art is a huge factor and always serves as the first impression. I would like to think that most people are drawn to manga for the stories more than the art, but it is always interesting to see just how big the divide sometimes is between manga fans and Western comic fans. If the stories are equally good, why the hate? Each side stereotypes the other. The stories on the other side aren't better, they say. The former only see the repetitive and continuously retconned superheros and the latter only see the androgynous gay boys and lolicon. Or something.

Viz is a powerful brand within the community; would people be confused or put off to see a Jack Kirby or even Adam Hughes-esque cover on something with Viz's label on the spine? Would they be shocked and appalled if Viz published a superhero story? A good superhero story, perhaps, but a superhero story all the same? Breaking down the barrier! Bridging and crossing the divide! Say it ain't so! Then again, Dark Horse publishes a good amount of both already, and almost all Western comic book publishers at this point have tapped into the "manga-style" in some way. Those announcements all seem to be met with derision and scorn, but I don't know a damn thing about the sales on say, the shounen Wolverine or freaky shoujo X-Men manga. Do these things actually work? Are people actually buying these titles because the art drew them to it? Or are all these companies' various marketing departments retarded?

If these adaptations are actually selling, would the reverse work? Would seeing an Western-style comic published by a manga publisher attract fans from the other side? Or would such a venture attract the same kind of derision and scorn?

Or is it all a moot point because no one that draws in such a Western style would approach Viz in the first place? Students had to sign up beforehand to meet with their editor of choice on Friday. Reading over the list, every name that I recognized was someone that had a decidedly "manga" style, myself included. Professors seem to like to say that the top reason project pitches are rejected is because the style of the pitch does not match the style of the company it's being pitched to. They tell us that Marvel would not look to hire someone with an indie style and that DC would not look to hire someone with a manga style. Those mantras may or may not be true (was all the X-Men manga pitched by an outside newbie?), but it might be enough to keep students away from companies that don't traditionally publish things in their style. The barriers have been breaking down, but it might not really matter when you're just breaking in. Read the rest of this entry...

It's Official! Pokémon Gold/Silver Remakes for DS!

Finally~~!

Naturally, the Pokémon community exploded today with this much, much anticipated announcement. It's something that pretty much everyone knew was coming, but I guess I was always one of those cautiously optimistic ones. I don't like putting too much faith into things until they're official, and even then, sometimes announcements don't follow through. I probably should have known better though. After all, Pokémon is never going to die! So no worries! HeartGold and SoulSilver are now official! And it will have a lot of new/updated features and other awesome things that will make people want to buy it more than they already do!

It's like the anticipation for the original Gold/Silver all over again. The glorious nostalgia returns! I think keeping up hardcore with the news back then for G/S is one of the reasons I consider G/S my favorite generation and one of the reasons I have the fondest memories of my Silver game. Even though all the rumors didn't follow through in the end (no male/female choice for instance), there was just such a huge upgrade between the second generation and the first generation that it was hard to be disappointed.

I don't expect that things will be quite as drastic this time around, but consider this: the original G/S (and Crystal) were the only games that featured the lands of the previous generation. Can you imagine how amazing it would be if the remake featured all four major islands? Kanto, Jhoto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, and probably a few extra feature islands too? I think all Pokéfans everywhere would just shit themselves with head-exploding happiness if that happened. Man, oh man. It's highly unlikely considering the complex map shenanigans they'd have to pull, but we can dream, right?

As of yet, we don't seem to have a projected release date or any hints towards what the newly added features might be, but I don't doubt it'll be fun following this news for the next however long it takes.

I absolutely cannot wait to have Totodile as my starter again, holy crap. You don't even know! Read the rest of this entry...

Another Live Action Death Note

I was really hoping that this would be some kind of joke, but it apparently isn't.

There's already been a live action adaptation of Death Note. Two of them, in fact, since the story isn't easily told in one. I might be in the few as far as thinking that they were both fantastic movies and worked wonderfully as adaptations (I swear I'll get around to reviewing them both), but the fact remains that it's already been done, not to mention that L spinoff movie, which I've yet to see. All three of those movies have been licensed and released Stateside, so why do we need Hollywood to make another one?

Of course, Hollywood re-making Japanese (and other Asian) films is nothing new, and there are many instances where those re-makes are wildly popular and subsequently profitable. The Ring comes to mind, but I've seen neither that nor Ringu, from which it was based. Even so, there's at least one adaptation that I found to be successful (The Departed, based on a Hong Kong film). But Death Note is not a J-horror and Death Note is not an action drama. And from what I can understand, Warner Brothers will not be basing their movie off of the existing movies, so Death Note isn't even a movie.

Death Note is a superntural, psychological, suspense thriller manga, and I have little faith that a Hollywood adaptation will 1) make any money, 2) treat the source material right, 3) be a decent movie on any kind of level. Well, at least it isn't Fox, right?

There are just so many potential problems with this that I can't imagine enough of them being conquered for this to work. I might draw up a full list later if I feel like putting forth the energy to rant about it (if you want though, Gia's already got at least five ways they can fuck it up), but for now, here is the biggest issues I see:

Audience Appeal

As fans, we have become jaded. It's hard to ignore and forget this kind of abomination, as much as we'd all like to try. Some people say that fans are too critical and can never be pleased, and that might be true to a certain extent, but I like to think that there are actually a lot of people that are willing to give things a chance if given a reason to be positive. After all, I have hope in the upcoming Cowboy Bebop adaptation, and I'm also cautiously hopeful about that Akira adaptation. And it isn't just the live action medium since, as I've mentioned, I love both already existing live action adaptations for Death Note. I was also kind of fond of the Speed Racer movie, if only because it refused to take itself seriously -- that works for Speed Racer. It would never work for Death Note.

This might be a more minor thing, but it might be worth mentioning that some fans, while still fans, have gotten sick of the title's supreme oversaturation across all markets. I mean, the manga finished in 2006. In the three short years since then, there has already been two live action movies, one spinoff, and an anime. Now there's going to be yet another movie? Geez.

As far as the general audience goes though, is Death Note even the sort of story that would fly in the States? I think the supernatural element would be a huge turn-off both because straight-up monster-looking things aren't that popular in [serious] American movies and because CG becomes an issue. Ryuk's design and translation into CG was already an issue for the Japanese adaptations, but if it's anything less than amazing this time around, people won't go for it because they will compare it to stuff like Pirates of the Caribbean and I doubt Death Note will have the budget to compete with that.

I wonder if the whole capital punishment theme would cause a stir at all, and if so, would it be positive or negative as far as ticket sales go? Consider that so many schools took issue when Death Note-like notebooks made rounds in middle schools with kids' "enemies'" names scrawled in the pages -- would they be afraid of more stuff like that happening as a result of a domestic movie's release? It's also worth noting that The Boondock Saints was a movie that had a similar theme: it had a limited release and poor reviews, but has garnered a cult following since. Death Note already has a cult following, but the cult is hypercritical. Would WB's Death Note create a new sublegion of fans? People that knew nothing of Death Note before seeing that version?

Warner Bros. must realize how big of a gamble this is. Speed Racer tanked. Dragonball Evolution tanked phenomenally. If they can't help but do more manga/anime adaptations for some explicable reason, I have to wonder why someone doesn't pick up a few shoujo titles and have at some chick flicks -- why all these crazy shounen and supernatural stuff? Shoujo is, by nature, much, much more suitable for live action. The Japanese understand this -- there are tons of dramas and movies based off shoujo. But none by Hollywood. Read the rest of this entry...

Review: Kanpai!

A month or two ago, BookCloseouts was having a $0.99 TOKYOPOP sale. Browsing through, there were a bunch of old, random titles I cared little about... along with Planetes vol. 1 and both volumes of Kanpai! The former was more of an impulse, but the latter was something I'd kindasorta wanted to check out for a while, but never wanted to put down the money for since I was half-certain that it would suck. I guess it's kind of sad that as much as I love Gravitation, I never had too much respect for Maki Murakami. Maybe it's because of her doujinshi. Maybe it's because of Gravitation EX. But yeah -- even though I liked the one-shot off which Kanpai! is based, I wasn't too inclined towards the title.

But come on, for ninety-nine cents? The whole order plus shipping cost less than a normally-priced TP manga. So here is a review.

I actually finished reading Kanpai! a few weeks ago but never got around to writing a review. I had to sit down and force myself to just do it tonight though since I'm bringing the two volumes with me to a departmental garage sale thing tomorrow -- if I'm lucky, I might actually profit a little from them, hahaha. Maybe I'll also be able to get rid of this copy of Catcher in the Rye. Read the rest of this entry...