So Many Secret Things
My brother fails at life. Twice this week, he has movie-blocked me with his usage of the car. Once on Tuesday, when I tried to see Frost/Nixon (I saw it two days ago, so that's not so bad) And now again today. He decided on a spur of the moment that he would be going to Santa Barbara for the weekend, and so he had me drop him off at his friend's place before I went to Bart. I was planning on seeing Waltz With Bashir at the one theater that it is playing at in SF, but in my haste to leave the house, I forgot the directions I had written down, and almost, but didn't quite remember them, so I went to the city on what essentially ended up as a wild goose chase. It's not so bad, though. I'm going to the city again with my mother tomorrow to see Dana Carvey and Robert Smigel Cobb's Comedy Club, which is quite close to the theater I want to go to, so that will hopefully be fruitful.
At long last, my reactions to a bunch of anime I finished watching:
This was a somewhat funny school comedy about a bunch of cute girls and a couple of marginally interesting guys. This is a prime example of a series that's a little bit of light fun when you're watching it, but it's not even close to good enough for rewatching or showing to anyone else. It's basically Azumanga Daioh with less original humor and a bigger cast. Yeah, not much to say on this one.
Now here we have a very worthwhile show- It's based on the Noh play of the same name, except there's vampires and insane SCIENtists. The action sequences are sublime, what little comedy is injected into this bleak, dystopian tale of love, loss and tragedy never feels awkward and the scenery is breathtaking. Amazing show.
This was directed by the guy that directed the first 4 episodes of Lucky Star before KyoAni fired him for some reason. It has a similar sense of humor, but with a slight supernatural twist. While I don't necessarily have much desire to watch this again, this show was very cute and well-told. I kind of hope there's a second season at some point, maybe after the manga ends (assuming the author gets out of the hospital soon) because it feels like it could use a better conclusion
This was a very olde school series with lots of pretty girls, pretty boys, pretty fairies and shojo sparkles. It was somewhat enjoyable, but I feel as though it might have been more so if it were longer. Like so many shows that are getting made, this was based on a series of light novels, and with so much material to adapt, it's a wonder they didn't opt for a half-year of episodes. Budget issues perhaps? In any case, more of this series would be good. It certainly feels like they could go for a while and not get stagnant.
Ugh, why did I watch this... To quote my favorite secret Asian man this show was almost good. It was directed by the same gentleman that was behind the screen of one of the best shows I watched in 2008, Kure-nai, and it was also adapted from a manga that I enjoyed, mainly for the art, so I wanted to give it a chance, but it suffered from a few problems. No widescreen/HD release in the initial airing (2/19 can't come soon enough, people...), not enough manga to adapt from, and no decent group was willing to sub it. And yet I watched all of it. Even the fight scenes were lacking. What I enjoyed about the manga was that even when there wasn't a bunch of action happening, the art was so good that I had enough to distract me from any of the other problems. For whatever reason, this didn't quite translate to the anime. Maybe if they'd gotten the guy that did Kaiba. Jeez, I sure wrote a lot about that. Amazing how one can go on about something that's only mediocre.
Another gem from the fall season. Action, yuri, betrayal, suspense- there's nothing Ga-Rei -Zero- doesn't have. This show is something one doesn't see often- a prequel to an existing manga series. That's what most of it is anyway. It tells the story of a team that looks into supernatural menaces, which can be anything from near-harmless zombies to gigantic turtles made of fire. The real story is in the relationship that the two female leads have- how they develop a friendship and how it becomes... something else, shall we say. This one is certainly worth a look. The first episode alone had many hooked, with its genius misdirection and cliffhanger ending.
Lastly, we have a show based on a visual novel about a shut-in living in the Japanese equivalent of a trailer who gets involved in a conspiracy with a bunch of cute girls that adversely affects all of Japan, causing people to be deluded and be randomly violent. The story is very convoluted, and a lot of the time it feels like the main character is simply deluding himself into believing a fantasy-suspense story... While it was gripping at times, my biggest complaint about the show- it's near-impossible to believe that it's really happening. It's kind of like Higurashi with magic and a lot less gore... and in Tokyo.
Battlestar Galactica is back on tonight. My sleep schedule being what it's been lately, I have a can of Red Bull at the ready. No way in hell I missing what many are touting to be an early contender for one of the best hours of television of 2009.
At long last, my reactions to a bunch of anime I finished watching:
This was a somewhat funny school comedy about a bunch of cute girls and a couple of marginally interesting guys. This is a prime example of a series that's a little bit of light fun when you're watching it, but it's not even close to good enough for rewatching or showing to anyone else. It's basically Azumanga Daioh with less original humor and a bigger cast. Yeah, not much to say on this one.
Now here we have a very worthwhile show- It's based on the Noh play of the same name, except there's vampires and insane SCIENtists. The action sequences are sublime, what little comedy is injected into this bleak, dystopian tale of love, loss and tragedy never feels awkward and the scenery is breathtaking. Amazing show.
This was directed by the guy that directed the first 4 episodes of Lucky Star before KyoAni fired him for some reason. It has a similar sense of humor, but with a slight supernatural twist. While I don't necessarily have much desire to watch this again, this show was very cute and well-told. I kind of hope there's a second season at some point, maybe after the manga ends (assuming the author gets out of the hospital soon) because it feels like it could use a better conclusion
This was a very olde school series with lots of pretty girls, pretty boys, pretty fairies and shojo sparkles. It was somewhat enjoyable, but I feel as though it might have been more so if it were longer. Like so many shows that are getting made, this was based on a series of light novels, and with so much material to adapt, it's a wonder they didn't opt for a half-year of episodes. Budget issues perhaps? In any case, more of this series would be good. It certainly feels like they could go for a while and not get stagnant.
Ugh, why did I watch this... To quote my favorite secret Asian man this show was almost good. It was directed by the same gentleman that was behind the screen of one of the best shows I watched in 2008, Kure-nai, and it was also adapted from a manga that I enjoyed, mainly for the art, so I wanted to give it a chance, but it suffered from a few problems. No widescreen/HD release in the initial airing (2/19 can't come soon enough, people...), not enough manga to adapt from, and no decent group was willing to sub it. And yet I watched all of it. Even the fight scenes were lacking. What I enjoyed about the manga was that even when there wasn't a bunch of action happening, the art was so good that I had enough to distract me from any of the other problems. For whatever reason, this didn't quite translate to the anime. Maybe if they'd gotten the guy that did Kaiba. Jeez, I sure wrote a lot about that. Amazing how one can go on about something that's only mediocre.
Another gem from the fall season. Action, yuri, betrayal, suspense- there's nothing Ga-Rei -Zero- doesn't have. This show is something one doesn't see often- a prequel to an existing manga series. That's what most of it is anyway. It tells the story of a team that looks into supernatural menaces, which can be anything from near-harmless zombies to gigantic turtles made of fire. The real story is in the relationship that the two female leads have- how they develop a friendship and how it becomes... something else, shall we say. This one is certainly worth a look. The first episode alone had many hooked, with its genius misdirection and cliffhanger ending.
Lastly, we have a show based on a visual novel about a shut-in living in the Japanese equivalent of a trailer who gets involved in a conspiracy with a bunch of cute girls that adversely affects all of Japan, causing people to be deluded and be randomly violent. The story is very convoluted, and a lot of the time it feels like the main character is simply deluding himself into believing a fantasy-suspense story... While it was gripping at times, my biggest complaint about the show- it's near-impossible to believe that it's really happening. It's kind of like Higurashi with magic and a lot less gore... and in Tokyo.
Battlestar Galactica is back on tonight. My sleep schedule being what it's been lately, I have a can of Red Bull at the ready. No way in hell I missing what many are touting to be an early contender for one of the best hours of television of 2009.