"I feel the gravity of it all..."
I just watched how a lot of people were having a good time in Helsinki. According to my sister, who lives quite a long way from the spot where the celebration was taking place, the noise of thousands of people, special effects etc. could be heard even where she was living. There are literally thousands of people partying at the moment, and I think the number of people exceeds even that of those who attended to Mannerheim's funeral way back then, and that means there's a lot of people. Lordi had a great show, and the people listening to him were quite excited as they should be. Too bad I wasn't at the spot to witness the event, because clearly these kind of days aren't that common, maybe only an event of a lifetime, who knows. It's nice how a lot of Finns have been encouraging Lordi, and it's nice that Finland finally won the Eurovision Song Contest.
MoonZapdos has returned to tGA to the amusement (and horror) of many people, but this time he's under a new alias. I wonder if he forgot the password of his old account or if he just wanted to start everything from scratch. Whatever the case, his new character profile turned out to be quite interesting, and I after I had conversations with a few people, I finally put my comments on it. I hope he checks the profile soon and makes the necessary edits there to make the profile better, but we'll see what happens. I also wrote a bit of tGA stuff down so that I can use those ideas once the RP gets going again.
I finally managed to watch the remaining episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion. Although I was a bit worried about the final episodes of the series (as well as a few preceding ones), they didn't turn out to be that bad; instead they were quite clever in their use of psychology and how they really went into the human psyche. I was especially glad to hear lots of those famous classic choral moments in the soundtrack, which also helped me to get both the epic feel and the more intimate feel, two aspects of the series. The final episode of the series was quite moving (although there were some others too, the one involving Rei and the other with Tabris who I actually felt sorry for despite who he was). I really liked how they ended the series (SPOILERS AHEAD!): when Shinji finally recognizes his individuality and how he's part of the world and how everyone's congratulating him. Although the episode took place in Shinji's head, it was full of symbolism and showed that hope might not be lost (if you're like me and think that the best alternative took place when Shinji was confronted with the consequencies of the Human Instrumentality Project). Plain text was used in a clever way to portray thoughts and make the episode feel quite "firm" and to get a sinister feel to it, and yet I was happy to see the outcome with the emotional instrumental version of the opening theme "Cruel Angel's Thesis" playing in the background. I was also very surprised how a lot of the elements in the final episodes were directly taken from my Refan posts at tGA (when that sinister voice inside Refan is telling him what to do, if any of you have noticed the "dark voices" mentioned in the posts). In that way Shinji and Refan are surprisingly much alike, and it's quite alarming because I had already developed that conflict before I had even heard of NGE. Still, it's nice to spot these kind of similarities, and it shows how interesting character Refan has become, at least in my opinion.
All in all the series was alright with all of its mind-raping episodes, the soundtrack worked well, the characters had those interesting conflicts and the Angels were interesting although they should've had more screen time. Thus my main concern is that the series should've been a bit longer, because obviously the people behind it had great plans but couldn't make them all happen due to limited budget and whatever. I would've liked Kaworu to be introduced a lot earlier so that the full impact of his actions would've been more dramatic. Likewise there should've been more screen time for Angels, because now they were killed off quickly and I never felt they were that serious a threat. Sure, the main point of the series wasn't really fighting Angels, but why waste such interesting characters when you can do a lot more with them? Still, Gendo Ikari was a very interesting person, and I was quite shocked about a few of the subtle revelations (like the whole affair thing between Ritsuko and Gendo and their very sinister conversation in one of the latter episodes). So, my final conclusion is that the series is worth watching if you enjoy psychology, monsters (both human and not-so-human) and complex stories.
End of Evangelion was quite a mess, to say it bluntly. Herein be spoilers. The movie was certainly useful in describing what happened during those final episodes (because the series concentrated on Shinji in the latter episodes, the major conflict was left unexplained in the series, and thus EoE was made to fill that gap). There were a lot of interesting scenes like those mass-produced EVAs slaughtering Unit 02, Rei/Lilith stuff, Gendo's reasons for doing what he does, tragic death scenes, some very disturbing sexual scenes, the passionate kiss between Misato and Shinji (I had waited for that one quite a while, actually, and it was sad to know what happened afterwards) etc. The conclusion was surprising to say the least (especially the very final line of dialogue in the movie, but I later on formed a theory why Asuka said those particular words). The movie is more upsetting than the series and doesn't end in as "happy" way as the series does, although it's probable that everything returns to normal as mentioned in the movie. I was quite pleased to see the movie reveal quite a few things about all the characters, and I managed to sit through even the most disturbing scenes which really mess up your mind. I also suspect that Gendo said something to the effect that he loves Ritsuko (right before he shoots her when his words are muted), because this kind of thing would make sense because of various reasons implied in the series and would also explain Ritsuko's reaction and answer "Liar". In any case one of the strengths of both the movie and the series is that it leaves quite a lot to interpretation. Thus there might not be a certain truth, and that adds to the charm of NGE in general. In any case I'll give End of Evangelion 3+ stars out of 5, because it has its moments.
After watching NGE stuff I watched all the 30 episodes of Wolf's Rain, and I have to say that I was positively surprised by that series. First, surprisingly enough both the opening and ending titles are excellent, which is rare in anime shows (usually either the opening or ending songs pale in comparison to their counterpart, but this time both are equal). The animation of wolves and humans (among other things) is beautiful, and the music by Yoko Kanno is beautifully and more memorable than in other anime shows her music is heard in. The plot, albeit somewhat predictable, offers quite a few surprises and plot twists and works quite well. The real stars are, however, the characters themselves who I really liked and felt sorry for. Kiba, Tsume, Hige, Toboe, Blue and others are wonderful in their own way, and each character has his or her crisis which is solved as the series progresses. Yes, there is surprisingly much character development, and the journey of these different individuals makes for an interesting story. The ending is quite somber, but that kind of ending works really well in this kind of series (the final four episodes are truly heartbreaking, and even I had a hard time watching them while trying to hold tears back; the overall mood of these final episodes just hits the nail on the head in the perfect way possible).
My two complaints come from the series being a bit too short for its own good, because certain things should've been explained and certain villains weren't used to their full potential. Also, the whole Lord Darcia affair is confusing (SPOILERS!!!): first he seems like a true villain when he kidnaps Cheza, then he turns out to be a shady kind of person, next he's a tragic hero who only did bad things to save the girl he loves, and in a surprising plot twist he turns into one of the most badass villains ever in the final episodes). The change in attitude doesn't make as much sense as it should, and I think the creators had to rush through that stuff and didn't get to explain it in as much detail as they'd probably planned to. Luckily the end result works for the most part and at least serves the fans by giving some of the most dramatic scenes ever (Darcia's other form is truly marvelous in many ways). It was also funny to hear Sora's (from Kingdom Hearts) Japanese voice actor in the series. My favourite character (a hard choice, because I liked all the characters, which is rare, because usually anime shows have at least one person I don't like at all) is probably Toboe, because he's adorable, has an interesting personality and has something which makes him such a sad figure. All in all Wolf's Rain is a very good series and a must see for anyone interested in post-apocalyptic fiction, good stories about a group with people who are quite different from each other, interesting villains, touching music and beautiful animation. Wolf's Rain turned out to be one of the best anime series I've seen for the reasons mentioned here and because of many other reasons. It also helped that many of the characters resembled those from tGA (Darcia = Zarnagon is a good example). If you have a chance to watch the series, by all means do so. I hope others enjoy (or have enjoyed as the case might be) it as much as I have. ^^
It's been fun watching these anime series; I need something to keep me relaxed while I read for the coming exams. Heh, I've probably read over a thousand pages in this limited amount of time already, and I still have quite a few books to deal with. Right now I've been concentrating on reading for the Finnish literature exam, and I also need to write a few timelines and summaries and also send my creative writings to our teacher. Heh, only about two weeks left, and then my summer holiday begins. Time flies by, and I hope I'll get a chance to read the books I've wanted to read during the holiday. In the meantime I can listen to "Gravity" from Wolf's Rain, a very nice ending song, one of the most beautiful ending songs out there in my opinion. It reminds me of Refan in many ways, and it has a catchy melody (not to mention the awesome combination of strings and piano which always make these kind of songs even better, e.g. from 02:24 onward where it sounds a lot like one of those sad Disney melodies in Disney's animated movies) which works especially in gloomy days when you want to relax.
Yours,
Mikko
MoonZapdos has returned to tGA to the amusement (and horror) of many people, but this time he's under a new alias. I wonder if he forgot the password of his old account or if he just wanted to start everything from scratch. Whatever the case, his new character profile turned out to be quite interesting, and I after I had conversations with a few people, I finally put my comments on it. I hope he checks the profile soon and makes the necessary edits there to make the profile better, but we'll see what happens. I also wrote a bit of tGA stuff down so that I can use those ideas once the RP gets going again.
I finally managed to watch the remaining episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion. Although I was a bit worried about the final episodes of the series (as well as a few preceding ones), they didn't turn out to be that bad; instead they were quite clever in their use of psychology and how they really went into the human psyche. I was especially glad to hear lots of those famous classic choral moments in the soundtrack, which also helped me to get both the epic feel and the more intimate feel, two aspects of the series. The final episode of the series was quite moving (although there were some others too, the one involving Rei and the other with Tabris who I actually felt sorry for despite who he was). I really liked how they ended the series (SPOILERS AHEAD!): when Shinji finally recognizes his individuality and how he's part of the world and how everyone's congratulating him. Although the episode took place in Shinji's head, it was full of symbolism and showed that hope might not be lost (if you're like me and think that the best alternative took place when Shinji was confronted with the consequencies of the Human Instrumentality Project). Plain text was used in a clever way to portray thoughts and make the episode feel quite "firm" and to get a sinister feel to it, and yet I was happy to see the outcome with the emotional instrumental version of the opening theme "Cruel Angel's Thesis" playing in the background. I was also very surprised how a lot of the elements in the final episodes were directly taken from my Refan posts at tGA (when that sinister voice inside Refan is telling him what to do, if any of you have noticed the "dark voices" mentioned in the posts). In that way Shinji and Refan are surprisingly much alike, and it's quite alarming because I had already developed that conflict before I had even heard of NGE. Still, it's nice to spot these kind of similarities, and it shows how interesting character Refan has become, at least in my opinion.
All in all the series was alright with all of its mind-raping episodes, the soundtrack worked well, the characters had those interesting conflicts and the Angels were interesting although they should've had more screen time. Thus my main concern is that the series should've been a bit longer, because obviously the people behind it had great plans but couldn't make them all happen due to limited budget and whatever. I would've liked Kaworu to be introduced a lot earlier so that the full impact of his actions would've been more dramatic. Likewise there should've been more screen time for Angels, because now they were killed off quickly and I never felt they were that serious a threat. Sure, the main point of the series wasn't really fighting Angels, but why waste such interesting characters when you can do a lot more with them? Still, Gendo Ikari was a very interesting person, and I was quite shocked about a few of the subtle revelations (like the whole affair thing between Ritsuko and Gendo and their very sinister conversation in one of the latter episodes). So, my final conclusion is that the series is worth watching if you enjoy psychology, monsters (both human and not-so-human) and complex stories.
End of Evangelion was quite a mess, to say it bluntly. Herein be spoilers. The movie was certainly useful in describing what happened during those final episodes (because the series concentrated on Shinji in the latter episodes, the major conflict was left unexplained in the series, and thus EoE was made to fill that gap). There were a lot of interesting scenes like those mass-produced EVAs slaughtering Unit 02, Rei/Lilith stuff, Gendo's reasons for doing what he does, tragic death scenes, some very disturbing sexual scenes, the passionate kiss between Misato and Shinji (I had waited for that one quite a while, actually, and it was sad to know what happened afterwards) etc. The conclusion was surprising to say the least (especially the very final line of dialogue in the movie, but I later on formed a theory why Asuka said those particular words). The movie is more upsetting than the series and doesn't end in as "happy" way as the series does, although it's probable that everything returns to normal as mentioned in the movie. I was quite pleased to see the movie reveal quite a few things about all the characters, and I managed to sit through even the most disturbing scenes which really mess up your mind. I also suspect that Gendo said something to the effect that he loves Ritsuko (right before he shoots her when his words are muted), because this kind of thing would make sense because of various reasons implied in the series and would also explain Ritsuko's reaction and answer "Liar". In any case one of the strengths of both the movie and the series is that it leaves quite a lot to interpretation. Thus there might not be a certain truth, and that adds to the charm of NGE in general. In any case I'll give End of Evangelion 3+ stars out of 5, because it has its moments.
After watching NGE stuff I watched all the 30 episodes of Wolf's Rain, and I have to say that I was positively surprised by that series. First, surprisingly enough both the opening and ending titles are excellent, which is rare in anime shows (usually either the opening or ending songs pale in comparison to their counterpart, but this time both are equal). The animation of wolves and humans (among other things) is beautiful, and the music by Yoko Kanno is beautifully and more memorable than in other anime shows her music is heard in. The plot, albeit somewhat predictable, offers quite a few surprises and plot twists and works quite well. The real stars are, however, the characters themselves who I really liked and felt sorry for. Kiba, Tsume, Hige, Toboe, Blue and others are wonderful in their own way, and each character has his or her crisis which is solved as the series progresses. Yes, there is surprisingly much character development, and the journey of these different individuals makes for an interesting story. The ending is quite somber, but that kind of ending works really well in this kind of series (the final four episodes are truly heartbreaking, and even I had a hard time watching them while trying to hold tears back; the overall mood of these final episodes just hits the nail on the head in the perfect way possible).
My two complaints come from the series being a bit too short for its own good, because certain things should've been explained and certain villains weren't used to their full potential. Also, the whole Lord Darcia affair is confusing (SPOILERS!!!): first he seems like a true villain when he kidnaps Cheza, then he turns out to be a shady kind of person, next he's a tragic hero who only did bad things to save the girl he loves, and in a surprising plot twist he turns into one of the most badass villains ever in the final episodes). The change in attitude doesn't make as much sense as it should, and I think the creators had to rush through that stuff and didn't get to explain it in as much detail as they'd probably planned to. Luckily the end result works for the most part and at least serves the fans by giving some of the most dramatic scenes ever (Darcia's other form is truly marvelous in many ways). It was also funny to hear Sora's (from Kingdom Hearts) Japanese voice actor in the series. My favourite character (a hard choice, because I liked all the characters, which is rare, because usually anime shows have at least one person I don't like at all) is probably Toboe, because he's adorable, has an interesting personality and has something which makes him such a sad figure. All in all Wolf's Rain is a very good series and a must see for anyone interested in post-apocalyptic fiction, good stories about a group with people who are quite different from each other, interesting villains, touching music and beautiful animation. Wolf's Rain turned out to be one of the best anime series I've seen for the reasons mentioned here and because of many other reasons. It also helped that many of the characters resembled those from tGA (Darcia = Zarnagon is a good example). If you have a chance to watch the series, by all means do so. I hope others enjoy (or have enjoyed as the case might be) it as much as I have. ^^
It's been fun watching these anime series; I need something to keep me relaxed while I read for the coming exams. Heh, I've probably read over a thousand pages in this limited amount of time already, and I still have quite a few books to deal with. Right now I've been concentrating on reading for the Finnish literature exam, and I also need to write a few timelines and summaries and also send my creative writings to our teacher. Heh, only about two weeks left, and then my summer holiday begins. Time flies by, and I hope I'll get a chance to read the books I've wanted to read during the holiday. In the meantime I can listen to "Gravity" from Wolf's Rain, a very nice ending song, one of the most beautiful ending songs out there in my opinion. It reminds me of Refan in many ways, and it has a catchy melody (not to mention the awesome combination of strings and piano which always make these kind of songs even better, e.g. from 02:24 onward where it sounds a lot like one of those sad Disney melodies in Disney's animated movies) which works especially in gloomy days when you want to relax.
Yours,
Mikko