(no subject)
I'm off to Stratford-upon-Avon early tomorrow, and don't get back until late Friday evening. Off to see Hamlet, and do some touristy stuff. *nods*
For the Bleachers on my flist that have read both the Aizen fic and Ishida fic which did you prefer? I haven't got enough distance yet to pick which one I want to put in for the contest this week.
Anime
I am in desperate need for anime recs - I've not had luck of late finding something that PLB is willing to watch with me. He recently tried the first episode of Kaiba, which I think is gorgeous, but PLB found the animation style difficult, and Read or Die which both of us found annoying, and I'm kinda stuck.
PLB has watched Monster, Death Note, Black Lagoon, Darker than Black and Paranoia Agent with me and enjoyed them - and he stuck out a few episodes of GANTZ and Elfen Lied, but didn't find enough in them to continue with.
Suggestions??
Gintama
Kyuubei arc: with one episode left to go, I can say that I much preferred the Benizakura Arc - although episode 79 is absolute scream. I think my problem was just the initial set-up: Otae clearly is doing something that she feels duty-bound to pursue - and yet Shinpachi, usually Mr. Straight and logical man, NEVER ASKS HER WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON FOR HER. Otae herself seems inconsistent - those initial scenes don't fit with her behaviour in 80. I might have to watch this again. For a series that is usually okay with the gender roles, and in a story which has some great comments on gender roles, Otae's behaviour is a let down, and then the let down is compounded by the boys ignoring her and fighting to "bring her back". Property, much?
The parallels between Ogii-san and Yoda from the more recent Star Wars trilogy were a hoot though.
But why are the boys all half naked, or just in their underpants, in the closing credits? I'm not complaining, but just who is the target audience here?!?
Gravitation
Crack. Craaaack. From the quotes on wiki, it appears that the manga version of Eiri is more caustic, which I like the sound of. Wish they'd used a bit more of it in the anime. Eiri is by far my favourite character - but I don't completely understand some of what's going on for him in his relationship with Shuichi. There are times where it appears he thinks he's about to damage Shuichi, like he was damaged by Yuki #1 - but there's no indication that he'll do that if he also thinks he caused Yuki #1's death by pushing him into a corner... I know characters can have messed up internal logic, but there was something about this that made it seem poorly plotted, rather than intentional. Anyway, I'm *not* transfering to the Manga. Nope. Stopping after I watch the OVA....
D. Gray-man.
When ldybastet suggested I might like Kanda, for some reason I was expecting him to be a character introduced later in the season, not right up front in ep 2. Looks a bit like Kyuubei from Gintama, which is exceptionally funny for the wrong reasons. Thoughts ran like this: Kanda. hmmm. pretty. nice voice. Who's the seiyuu? Oh goddammit: Takahiro Sakurai. >-<.
And yet I didn't pick Kira or Misaki there at all.
Bleach Movie #2.
*sigh* I was amused/disappointed by how much of the animation, as spectacularly poor as a lot of it was (Matsumoto *never* looked right), had been reused and dropped into the filler series. Plot? What Plot? Did I miss something? How did the whole resurrection thing with the antagonist work? Brain...broken.
And I'd thought the first film was weak. Fingers crossed - third time lucky???
Kaiba
Watched 4 episodes now, and the initial 'I'm not getting this' from episode one has been eased, and replaced with love. I've downloaded the soundtrack already.
Live Action TV and films
The London Film Festival is fast approaching. How many films? This many films. It's a mammoth undertaking just working out the shortlist, let alone what ones we'll actually go and see. Woody's latest film is a given.
Really wanted to see Slumdog Millionaire, but it was a gala screening, and thus stupidly priced. We'll wait for an ordinary cinema release for that one. I'll post the list of films when we've got the tickets - they don't go on sale for a week or so, unless you have BFI membership, which PLB's seriously considering.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (made to watch such a film). Daniel Day Lewis is creepy. Narrative purpose unclear. Long film is long. Judicious editing would have been nice.
Sarah Connor Chronicles. How much time does Shirley Manson hang around in men's urinals? Was that her mouth? Did he just pee in her mouth?
Yeah, I called Shirley the moment I saw her. And the ants monologue was a giveaway. But her speech - when she's not pretending to be human, is still driven by emotion. THIS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE - unless they're trying to say she's yet another even newer model.
*Does the dance of joy for SPN and the rest of the US Fall season openers*
*Does the bigger dance of joy for Hamlet tomorrow night*
For the Bleachers on my flist that have read both the Aizen fic and Ishida fic which did you prefer? I haven't got enough distance yet to pick which one I want to put in for the contest this week.
Anime
I am in desperate need for anime recs - I've not had luck of late finding something that PLB is willing to watch with me. He recently tried the first episode of Kaiba, which I think is gorgeous, but PLB found the animation style difficult, and Read or Die which both of us found annoying, and I'm kinda stuck.
PLB has watched Monster, Death Note, Black Lagoon, Darker than Black and Paranoia Agent with me and enjoyed them - and he stuck out a few episodes of GANTZ and Elfen Lied, but didn't find enough in them to continue with.
Suggestions??
Gintama
Kyuubei arc: with one episode left to go, I can say that I much preferred the Benizakura Arc - although episode 79 is absolute scream. I think my problem was just the initial set-up: Otae clearly is doing something that she feels duty-bound to pursue - and yet Shinpachi, usually Mr. Straight and logical man, NEVER ASKS HER WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON FOR HER. Otae herself seems inconsistent - those initial scenes don't fit with her behaviour in 80. I might have to watch this again. For a series that is usually okay with the gender roles, and in a story which has some great comments on gender roles, Otae's behaviour is a let down, and then the let down is compounded by the boys ignoring her and fighting to "bring her back". Property, much?
The parallels between Ogii-san and Yoda from the more recent Star Wars trilogy were a hoot though.
But why are the boys all half naked, or just in their underpants, in the closing credits? I'm not complaining, but just who is the target audience here?!?
Gravitation
Crack. Craaaack. From the quotes on wiki, it appears that the manga version of Eiri is more caustic, which I like the sound of. Wish they'd used a bit more of it in the anime. Eiri is by far my favourite character - but I don't completely understand some of what's going on for him in his relationship with Shuichi. There are times where it appears he thinks he's about to damage Shuichi, like he was damaged by Yuki #1 - but there's no indication that he'll do that if he also thinks he caused Yuki #1's death by pushing him into a corner... I know characters can have messed up internal logic, but there was something about this that made it seem poorly plotted, rather than intentional. Anyway, I'm *not* transfering to the Manga. Nope. Stopping after I watch the OVA....
D. Gray-man.
When ldybastet suggested I might like Kanda, for some reason I was expecting him to be a character introduced later in the season, not right up front in ep 2. Looks a bit like Kyuubei from Gintama, which is exceptionally funny for the wrong reasons. Thoughts ran like this: Kanda. hmmm. pretty. nice voice. Who's the seiyuu? Oh goddammit: Takahiro Sakurai. >-<.
And yet I didn't pick Kira or Misaki there at all.
Bleach Movie #2.
*sigh* I was amused/disappointed by how much of the animation, as spectacularly poor as a lot of it was (Matsumoto *never* looked right), had been reused and dropped into the filler series. Plot? What Plot? Did I miss something? How did the whole resurrection thing with the antagonist work? Brain...broken.
And I'd thought the first film was weak. Fingers crossed - third time lucky???
Kaiba
Watched 4 episodes now, and the initial 'I'm not getting this' from episode one has been eased, and replaced with love. I've downloaded the soundtrack already.
Live Action TV and films
The London Film Festival is fast approaching. How many films? This many films. It's a mammoth undertaking just working out the shortlist, let alone what ones we'll actually go and see. Woody's latest film is a given.
Really wanted to see Slumdog Millionaire, but it was a gala screening, and thus stupidly priced. We'll wait for an ordinary cinema release for that one. I'll post the list of films when we've got the tickets - they don't go on sale for a week or so, unless you have BFI membership, which PLB's seriously considering.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (made to watch such a film). Daniel Day Lewis is creepy. Narrative purpose unclear. Long film is long. Judicious editing would have been nice.
Sarah Connor Chronicles. How much time does Shirley Manson hang around in men's urinals? Was that her mouth? Did he just pee in her mouth?
Yeah, I called Shirley the moment I saw her. And the ants monologue was a giveaway. But her speech - when she's not pretending to be human, is still driven by emotion. THIS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE - unless they're trying to say she's yet another even newer model.
*Does the dance of joy for SPN and the rest of the US Fall season openers*
*Does the bigger dance of joy for Hamlet tomorrow night*