It's a New Post! Plus...Meet Baby Vash! ^_^

So....first, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!  As with many in the US, my thoughts, prayers, and tears are with Newtown, CT, and Sandy Hook Elementary School.  It's unimaginable to think what those kids and families are coping with, and there truly are no right words one can say.

It's been a while since I've written about writing.  Since finishing my absolute final draft of The Arrival, I've been in a lull.  My focus has been on my one page synopsis and individualizing query letters, and while I've read bits and pieces of #2 and jotted notes for #3, I haven't set aside any time to write.  I've wanted to, really.  Temptation seems to draw me elsewhere.

For instance, the sequel to Dead Island, Dead Island Riptide (mature content), will allow players to carry over their inventory from a saved game.  Awesome!  I love seeing game publishers reward loyalty with perks like this.  However, after finishing the game the first time, I started a new game...which also allowed me to keep my inventory...and then stopped some point after reaching the city.  I'm certain I was pulled away to finish Assassin's Creed Brotherhood so I could start Assassin's Creed Revelations...but, long story short (too late! - Clue), I picked up Dead Island again to finish it with intentions on rushing through to get it done and have my inventory.  Only...I forgot how much fun the game is and keep slumming around the city and island in search of items I don't really need.  :-/  At least I've made it to the jungle, so I'm not too far off from the end.  Call me a fan of large, immersible worlds in which I can roam to my heart's content while felling zombies with my flaming (or electrified) machete.

Alas!  My large, immersible world doesn't need zombies to hold my attention.  Assassin's Creed does a wonderful job as well and I never tire of searching for treasure or taking over the Templar strongholds and running over rooftops.  Fans of the series can guess that I've reached beyond Brotherhood into Revelation.  I have until sometime in 2013 to finish Dead Island, but I think Santa is bringing me Assassin's Creed III and I cannot wait!  Temptation from writing #1 = video games.

Since having my surgery in November, I've spent time in bed watching anime and reading manga, too.  I bought season two for Black Butler, which received mixed reviews from fans, and dug in to the meat of the set.  I have yet to watch the bonus material.  I also re-watched the Trigun series and have started Hellsing Ultimate, which I got for my birthday.  As for BB #2...I can't say that I saw where a lot of the negative reviews I read were coming from, but I felt it was a rushed season that held promise.  It got dirtier and grittier than the original, which I liked, but I wish more time and care had been taken to make it cohesive.  It's a fine addition any fan's collection, but it could have been more than it is.  Of course, the original season, when compared to the books, also could have been more than it was.  Hellsing, as any fan could and should expect, is spectacular, and I am only too happy to listen to Crispin Freeman's voice.  I do like how this one follows the books, unlike the original.  Some time has passed between watching the original, reading the books, and seeing this, so there were parts I looked forward to that that never came to be.  My only complaint is that same complaint I had with the books - the Major talks too much!  Ugh.  It sucked to read the accent and now it sucks to listen to him yammer on.  Shut him up and give Crispin more lines!  But that's minor, really.  I have yet to finish it or watch the remainder of the material that came with the sets.  Otherwise recent manga acquisitions include Bleach, Vampire Knight, Sailor Moon, and Black Butler.  Temptation from writing #2 = anime and manga.

And then...while researching an agent, I discovered one of his clients and rushed out to the store to buy her book.  It's the first time I've ever purchased a hard-cover book (non text book) and the first time in recent memory that a "real" book has captured my attention - let alone a YA novel.  Now, I am thoroughly contented with manga counting as real books, but others consider them glorified comics, so...hence "real" book.  Rachel Hartman's Seraphina - check it out.  Temptation from writing #3 = reading "real" books.

Of course, then there's the new baby in the house...Vash (the Stampede) - yes, an obvious homage to Trigun's main character, to which I also pay homage in my second manuscript.  He's a whopping 9 weeks old and sweet as can be, with an unusual black smoke pattern (black stripes and swirls over nearly-black fur).  He can be a hellion when he's awake - I took a kitten-size Chuck Norris round house to the nose the other night.  There's a picture of Vash below.  We chose to name him from Trigun in memory of Neko, who was loosely named after the Kuro Neko (black cat) in Trigun.  Temptation from writing #4 = kitten.

Finally, I don't know where I've been for the last few years, but I'm in love with Castle.  I first fell "in love" with Nathan Fillion when he was Johnny on Two Guys and Girl and a Pizza Place and have seen him in other offerings since (to include Captain Hammer in Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog).  Temptation from writing #5 = Nathan Fil...I mean...Castle.

Now I'm blogging instead of writing, even while thinking about how much I want to write.  It's funny, in a way, since I'm technically writing...  I don't believe one should force oneself to write.  I believe it can result in stilted, uninspired writing.  However, I'm not sure what to make of these feelings that I want to write, but don't or can't or won't.  I listen to music that I know will inspire the story to flow through me, which works, but I still don't get on the laptop.  I jot down notes in my notebook and get all fired up...but my manuscript remains untouched.  I play scenes through my head and focus on Alex, a character who exists in the first manuscript but isn't introduced until the second story, and where I now want to take him...but he stands still as ink on paper.  Why is this?  Have I subconsciously decided that all energy needs to go into my agent hunt, leaving none for my other projects?  Perhaps I worry that diverting attention away from the agent hunt will interfere.  But that makes little sense when I literally send out one or two queries at a time and research one or two agents afterward in anticipation of the next round.  Well, I've sent another query off and have an idea of someone I'd like to reach out to next...but I have to decide if I want to wait for a particular agent who isn't accepting queries right now, or write to one in the agency who is.  I understand that querying an agency can be, but usually isn't, the same as querying an individual agent, so I have to weigh my pros and cons. 

Sometimes I wonder if I should stop being old fashioned and just send out a bunch of queries...but then I remember that personalized rejections can offer insight and are worth waiting for.  I've probably mentioned before that I've trained myself to expect rejections.  It makes them easier to handle.  But this time, I think given my excitement over the book I found, I have a spark of hope that I am trying desperately to snuff.  After I received my first rejection, I wandered around my garden for about an hour, singing a song over and over in my head, trying to convince myself that it wasn't a big deal.  It was just the first one.  There would be many others.  But, it was the first one and it did hurt.  It's perfectly fine to be disappointed that an agent I liked sent me a rejection, but when I really want that agent to see the potential of my story and feel that hope growing...I know I'm going to feel that hurt again.  That's the life of a writer, though.  Just how it is.  And I'd never give it up.

I love my characters.  I love their world.  I love spending time with them, both the good and the bad, the happy and the gutwrenching.  I love that two and a half novels have spilled from my mind to paper, allowing me to share them with people close to me.  I even love that uncertainty of putting them out in the world for judgment. 

  

Movie Review Part Dos! (White - Korean Horror) Anime Reivew! (Kaze No Stigma) Loco Rambling!

'Twould seem a weekend in bed is driving me little a little crazier than usual.  I've gotten out of bed a handful of times and only left the room twice...today.  Yesterday...maybe I left the room four times.  Hooray for math.  I can count.

So today I streamed White, a Korean Horror flick (subtitled) and watched the entire Kaze no Stigma anime series (24 episodes).  Of course, I also talked with the vet and asked that they run a comprehensive blood panel on Neko, not only to search for a possible culprit, but also to check on her kidney and liver function since dehydration could cause issues.  And my dad called to check on me, which was sweet, but I couldn't talk long since I was waiting on the vet to call and I'm a cheapskate who won't pay for call-waiting on my home line.  I hate land lines and, since I mentioned it, I'm feeling better than I was, but still not great, still have an awful headache, and didn't need to take any of the pain meds I was given on Friday.

Okay, so the reviews!  #1 - White.  This subbed Korean horror movie is about an all girl idol group who have hit bottom and live in the shadow of a popular group.  That all changes when one member discovers a song called 'White,' complete with choreography, and the group takes it on as their own.  However, as they find more and more fame, and begin fighting with one another for the "main" spot, tragedy begins to strike and the member who found the song begins to wonder if it isn't cursed.  The plot may sound a bit hokey and anyone familiar with vengeful Japanese/Korean/Asian ghost-story horror movies may guess how it plays out with ease, but it was still an entertaining movie.  I won't say it was gripping or even scary - it isn't capable of grabbing the audience in the ways that The Grudge or The Ring could - but there was at least one moment where my jaw dropped open and I thought the constant bickering and bullying among the girls was realistic.  I'm more familiar with Japanese culture and the problems with bullying there, but given this film's deeper meaning, I found their cruel and degrading treatment toward each other and one member in particular very believable.  There were a few moments of beautiful artistry, especially near the end, when White emerges - I love her solo poster - and there are a few moments where I was confused.  I'm not certain if I missed something, if something wasn't translated, or if it's an insider thing specific to the music industry, but they refer to a video tape a lot and when they begin to analyze it for a specific thing, it's that specific thing that lost me.  But even so, it's been a while since my brain has tried to solve a movie while I watched and I was right on top of this one (again, anyone familiar with these types of films probably won't find it that difficult - it just felt good to be watching and solving again, instead watching and mindless).  Anyway, I enjoyed it and liked it.  I liked the way the main character was handled throughout the movie and especially in the end.  POSSIBLE SPOILER DEPENDING ON HOW YOU VIEW SPOILERS - I like that while she did get a little snobbish after gaining popularity, she still treated her best friend  well (even if she did call her an "acquaintance" in an interview), and how she signed the cd for her friend - I think there are subtleties in her actions toward her friend that speak more toward her character than the words she uses.  Anyway, that's my take and I liked that attention to detail with the character.

I do have one minor issue with the movie, but stating it here would, in my opinion, be a major spoiler, so I won't say anything at all.  Things just...happen in a rather convenient way for the plot to advance and that doesn't mesh very well with the typical ghost story.

#2.  Kaze No Stigma - an anime series about elemental martial arts magic users that focuses mainly on a high powered fire-using family who banished their son, Kazuma, because he couldn't harness the power of fire.  As an adult, Kazuma returns, having gained the power of wind, and joins forces with his former family in their fight against evil.  Okay - that is a super simplified version of the plot, but it's better than the one Netflix provides, which makes it sound like something for kids.  Teens, yeah, ok.  But not little kids.  First - the coloring is excellent and the voice acting is excellent (dub), with a lot of familiar voices.  Second - Kazuma was SO MUCH like Phantom in the second part of Phantom: Requiem for Phantom (Zwei) after he accepts his fate, that it was eerie.  For the first couple of episodes, if it wasn't for the wind and fire magic, and screeching teenage redhead, I'd think I was watching Phantom.  They aren't voiced by the same person, but I swear they are similar.  Anyway, the first part of the series focuses on Kazuma's relationship with his family and his partnership with Ayano (the screeching teenage redhead).  At first they mostly go about one or two episode monster hunts until the story begins to evolve and form a linear, continuous plot.  This plot delves into Kazuma's past, is sad and tragic, is interesting, and makes me really wish there would be another season.  However, according to a quick bit of research, the creator for this story is now deceased and it appears the project has been cancelled.  I haven't confirmed any of that as true, but given that the anime aired in 2007 and it's now 5 years later...I think they (Gonzo) have moved on.  My thoughts.  Kazuma is a serious fellow and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of him throughout the anime.  He is one of those unflinching, unwavering, and unbeatable guys with a tortured heart beating at the center of his chest.  He made me want to watch this anime.  He is why I watched the whole thing in a day.  The rest...okay, so the rest is fine, except that I wish the rest had stayed at Kazuma's level.  But maybe that was their way of showing the difference of maturity in their characters - I don't really know.  Ayano had moments of maturity, but overall was rather annoying and I wanted more seriousness and maturity from her.  Overall, I wanted more seriousness and maturity from the whole anime.  The other supporting characters, like Kazuma's brother, Ren, his uncle, and his father, and the villains and whatnot where all fine.  I actually really liked Ren.  He was a cute character and I loved his interactions with his friends.  But the seriousness and maturity level extends to the anime itself.  There's a lot of fan service going on here - panty shots, wind blowing skirts up, torn up clothes, big breasts, unnecessary boob jiggling (and I mean it - boobs jiggling in the scene just to have them jiggle).  The story gets really serious once the relationships are established and this just doesn't go with the maturity level that the anime sets for itself.  That was kind of disappointing.  I wanted more from it.  If it hadn't gotten so serious, if Kazuma was a little goofier - maybe like Vash - I don't know - maybe the lighter side would've been easier to accept.  But as it is, this seems like two animes trying to meld into one that kind of mostly works, but leaves you wishing it was a little bit better.  So that's it.  I enjoyed it.  I wish there's more to it.  I want to know what happens, what the whole story is, and I wish it was more serious.  But even with all that, this is a title I would put on my buy list.  It wouldn't be at the top, but if I saw it for a good price tomorrow, I'd pick it up.  I can enjoy goof, silly anime (I LOVE Cromartie High and Azumanga Daioh), and I can appreciate lighthearted characters juxtaposed with serious characters (take xxxHolic or Fruits Basket, for example) when done well.  However, here, the juxtaposition doesn't sit well.  But if you can overlook that, or if you like jiggling boobs and panty shots along with lots teenage girls, fighting, monsters, and fire/wind magic, then check this title out.

When I sat down to write this, I realized that what I should be reviewing is my new laptop.  Is it ironic that I work in I.T. and choose to review movies and anime instead of my new HP Pavilion M6 with its 3rd gen (yes, Ivy Bridge...woot!) Intel i5 processor and 8gb DDR3 ram and 700 gb hdd?  The M6 is HP's replacement for their DV6 line, which is my other laptop, running a measly core two duo with 4gb ddr 3 and a 500 gb hdd.  It's going to get a ram upgrade and become my husband's laptop since his Dell is dead and will soon have a greater metal-to-lead ratio (read: he's going to shoot it).  We have an even older HP Pavilion, from one of the dinosaur-eras from whence XP was born, that we upgraded as a spare for my father-in-law to use when he house sits for us.  We added a one-gig stick of ram and that thing is speeding along now.  I'm looking forward to upgrading my DV6.  Maybe one of these days I'll review this M6. 

Sorry for any typos.  I've already taken my meds and vertigo is setting in, so re-reading this is out of the question now.  Have a good night!

Movie Reviews! The Caller, Audition, The Perfect Host ... Quick Anime Review Notes ... and Some Rambling!

I've been wanting to blog.  But not about any one thing in particular.  And I realize that I tend to not only write long posts, but also ramble on about topics completely unrelated from one another.

So, for starters, So You Think You Can Dance is done.  Chehon and Eliana won.  YAY!  (Even though I'm sad for Cyrus. Boo!)  I found a lot of music through the season and through the "if you like this, you might this" feature on Amazon, so I have a "brand new" 6-hour playlist filled with a range of music from classical, dubsteb, and electronica.  Woot!  I even bought a cd - Gus Gus Arabian Horse.  I < 3 them!  (yes, I just did that.  Check them out...I fell in love first with Believe (not on Arabian Horse) and Over (track 3 on Arabian Horse))

What else is new in the world as I see it?  Well, my cat Neko (occasional substitute blogger whose name is the same as the Japanese word for cat even though we pronounce it with a long ee...see rambling?) - anyway, my cat Neko had to go to the emergency clinic the Thursday night before last and then to our local animal hospital on last Saturday morning, which is where she has resided ever since.  She presented with bloody diarrhea and impacted anal glands.  She was in a lot of pain.  She is doing better, but is on three anti-biotics, subcu-IV fluids, and isn't in any shape to come home yet.  :-(

In addition, Lucien, our alpha male (who is the biggest baby), had a bladder infection and the antibiotics made him sick.  He spent over 6 days/nights in the hospital on two occasions (total) waiting for urine samples because he is such a stubborn little guy.  He finally came home today with the okay to stop treatment and keep an eye on him.  He's been cuddling ever since.

So, speaking of cuddling and health issues, I had to go to the doctor again yesterday and am in the process of setting up a potential surgical consult to follow the procedure I'm having done in a few weeks.  SO, I've spent the day in bed cuddling with Lu and streaming Netflix while Tim and G-man work the Illini game.

Which leads to why I actually decided to write this post.  I watched three movies today and as I write this, I'm starting an anime series (which I will restart to give it a proper watching):  Kaze no Stigma (Stigma of the Wind, I believe).  I recognize many of the voices, so while I'm not paying a lot of attention to it, I'm already intrigued just because of that.

Movie #1:  The Caller - psychological horror/thriller.  A woman going through a divorce moves into an apartment whose phone receives calls from a woman living in 1979.  They strike up a friendship that soon turns sour...with dire consequences in the past and present.  I liked it.  The lighting, camera work, and coloring were all excellent at creating the atmosphere and setting the mood.  I didn't really cringe every time the phone rang, which I imagine is what the director intended, but there was so much going on in the story, that the phone almost fell into the background.  The movie has some heart-wrenching moments and others that make you just stop for a second, but it doesn't allow you much time to mourn or wonder because it keeps moving forward.  The movie seems simple on the surface, but it's multilayered and intriguing.  The mystery behind the caller is never explained.  I like that because anything they came up would seem contrived and ruin the story.  There were a few spots where I questioned why she didn't call the police, but those were easy to brush aside for the sake of the story.  In the end, what needs to be explained has been explained and the story comes together in a near perfect way.  It is tragic and beautiful with all of the layers, and even more so when extra time is taken to think about those layers.  I can't make a call on the Nerdgirl scary scale - I don't think it's scary, especially not in the spooky sense, but there are a few places that could make someone jump (it is more psychological after all).  There aren't any monsters and the only paranormal events are the phone calls.  Everything else involves people (for example:  the main character's abusive ex-husband).  There are a few violent scenes, but they tend to build up and pass quickly, and I don't remember seeing a lot of blood, except in one scene, but even that is brief.

Movie #2:  Audition - Japanese Horror (subtitled).  Okay - so this movie has a cult following for the supposedly gratuitous and graphic torture scenes that (according to Wikipedia, so take that for whatever it's worth) made the movie hard for even Rob Zombie to enjoy.  I've been curious.  The Japanese are known for going over the top and I've seen some crazy torture stuff in anime, so I was more than a little curious about Audition.  I just needed to know if I could stomach it.  I decided to try.  The movie runs about an hour an a half, and most of it focuses on the central story:  a widower, 7-years after his wife's death, is urged by his teenage son to remarry.  Together with a friend in the movie production business, he holds auditions to find the perfect woman.  Of course, as you can probably guess, he doesn't choose wisely.  However, since most of the movie focuses on him, his loneliness, his son, his son's ambitions, and then his excitement at falling in love with the perfect woman, I found myself relating to him and empathizing with him.  Perhaps I would have been drawn in more had I not known anything about the woman.  The parts that have made the movie so popular don't occur until the last 30 or even 20-minutes of the film, and the famous, "graphic" torture sequence is among the last in the film, and most of it is spent showing more of how much she's enjoying it than it is actually showing the torture.  Okay, so here's my take on it - I'm very sensitive to things.  I hate torture in movies, will not watch domestic or sexual violence, hate seeing animals get hurt or killed, etc.  But I was almost laughing during the torture scene.  It just seemed so out of place.  Her character had shifted so drastically and without explanation, that her torture getup and her devices - the whole thing just seemed really out of left field (pardon the lack of a better expression).  (Before anyone says anything about the "love only me" thing, I get that, and I get that she snapped when she saw the picture of his late wife, but even with that, it was a drastic shift.)  And then the torture itself, by today's standards, with the Saw movies and whatnot, was VERY tame.  There was hardly any blood and it really was more about her enjoying his pain and what she was doing than actually showing what she was doing.  In my opinion, this will stay a cult hit, because it is one, but time has done the damage because movies have only gotten more violent.  I've been more disturbed by the violence in the newest Bond films than I was by anything in Audition.  Now, that said, because of that, I was able to enjoy the movie.  I can see where the shock and awe factors were supposed to be, but in the end, I felt horrible for the widower and I felt sorry for her.  But her story wasn't adequately told or something was lost in translation to bring about anything more than surface feelings for her because her end character did not match the character she had been throughout the movie.  Even given that what I say is "tame torture" by today's standards...LATE EDIT:  I've removed the Nerdgirl scary scale comment because I realized that I don't honestly know how she would rate this movie and she has a much stronger stomach than I do.  So I've decided to rate this on my own scale, which makes more sense since I described my own tastes.  This is not a movie that people like me or people sensitive to violence should watch.  It is still sadistic.  It is still torture.  It is sad and tragic.  I was only able to make it through because I researched the movie ahead of time, knew what to expect, had some previous experience with the genre in animated form, and got myself into a frame of mind to see it completely as a work of fiction (much easier to do with an anime, I have to say).  If I had gone in blind and not prepared, I am certain parts of the movie and the end would have bothered me.  However, even with all that, I stand by the my review.

Movie #3 The Perfect Host - dark comedy/thriller.  Starring David Hyde Pierce, The Perfect Host has been on my watch list for a while, but I kept forgetting about it.  A bank robber on the run crashes the wrong dinner party and regrets it...a lot.  Skipping ahead - Nerdgirl - watch this!!  This movie is so  dark and hilarious, and David Hyde Pierce is absolutely perfect in his role.  This movie was made for him.  Just when the robber thinks he has control...um, no sir.  You've just entered the Twilight Zone mind of a violent schizophrenic who likes to party.  Between the drinking and the singing and the conga line and the dancing, and then the pool...there is so much to this "dinner party" as seen through the eyes of the robber and the eyes of Pierce that it's hard not to get swept up and just enjoy the "fun."  Sometimes I wasn't sure how dark it was actually going to go, but that was part of how good it was.  And there was more going on in the background, as well, such as flashbacks regarding the robber's life and why he robbed the bank, and discoveries detectives were making about his case.  The former served to help the viewer feel sorry for the robber, since he appears initially as a cold-hearted jackass, while the latter seems misplaced and forced into the story because it needs to be there until everything is neatly tied together in the end.  The thing about these other two parts is that while I was enjoying the dinner party and not trying to solve the case or look for twists, there were certain things that my mind would grab onto - little tidbits of information that only existed in the story because they were pertinent in some way.  That is, after all, one of the first things we learn as writers - only add what's necessary (unless its a deliberate distraction, but hey, even that's necessary, right?).  So I deliberately ignored those tidbits, just so I could enjoy the movie without solving it.  And I'm glad I did because it was so much better that way.  Excellent movie.  I can't say that enough.

So I'll stop there.  I have a two queries out and am working on a one-page synopsis.  One.  Page.  X_X  Ug.

Until my next ramble.  Goodnight.  Oh - it's a Bleach night!  Yay!  ^_^   Until then, back to Kaze No Stigma.  Oh, and, although been it's on my watch list for awhile, since Adult Swim acquired the rights to show it, I've been watching Samurai 7 - it's starting out slow and one character in particular is rather annoying, but it's enjoyable.  Plus it's based on Akira Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai, which the Bare Naked Ladies sung about in One Week (and Sailor Moon, too!).  I'm not really a big BNL fan, though.  I've also been forcing myself through Casshern Sins and that's starting to pay off.  I think they could have tossed half of the eps and been better off.  I've never seen the original.  Other anime titles that I've watched and enjoyed lately (read: within the last year or so) include Gun X Sword (come on, its like Spike from Cowboy Bebop piloting Big O with a wee bit of Trigun mixed in there somewhere.  How can that not be awesome?), Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne (adult title) - despite the gratuitous nature of adult titles, this one included, I liked the story and actually cried at the tragic turn, Trigun: Badlands Rumble? (the new movie) - awesome - NEW Trigun based on the Maximum manga series - a must see (and must read) for any Trigun fan or Vash fanatic (like me, even though I'm horrible with titles right now), Claymore - it's been a while, but I liked it - not one that would top my buy list, but I would buy it some day - another sad, tragic tale and I'm drawn to sad, tragic tales - this one reminded me of D's plight in Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, but the two are in no way similar in any other way - Claymores are female warriors and there are no vampires here, Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom - phenomenal - foreign travelers brainwashed into becoming master assassins for a Japanese mafia-type.  The story is deep and layered (I'm into layers) and goes throughout years of their lives and how their "job" affects them.  It centers on the male lead and his desire for freedom, but as we Americans like to say, "Freedom isn't Free" and that's exactly what he learns.  I'd have to say that Phantom reminded me of Darker than Black, although they are a bit different.  I'd have to watch DTB again, but right now I'd say Phantom is the better of the two.  Bleach:  Fade to Black - the 3rd movie in the Bleach series.  Okay - so first, it's Bleach, so it's awesome, and second it focuses on Rukia, so Byakuya's in it, too - double awesome (I clearly have a thing for fake, hot guys).  I've liked all of the Bleach movies, but this is my favorite so far - it let us further into the Kuchiki world than we've gotten and I love that Byakuya came around because of his late wife.  We don't see much humanity or emotion from him, so that scene is one of my favorites.

Oh my gosh.  I've done it again.  Good grief.  See?  I can just go on, and on, and on.  Finally, I bought Halloween socks with a bat on them that kind of resembles the bat symbol.  How cool is that?  Totally what I thought.  Time for me to shut up.

FINALLY

I finished my "Anime (and Manga) in Review! (super long!)" entry (kind of). It published under the date of January 18th, 2011, though, so it's back a ways if you're interested. It can also be found under the label "Anime Reviews" and is only half of what I initially had planned. Soooo...another installment will follow! ^_- When it comes to anime, I can go on and on and on...

Anime (and Manga) in Review! (super long!)

(Update: I started this months ago, so I'm posting as is, with some additions or updates. Please forgive any typos or just plain poorly done grammar! If you aren't an anime person, skip this entry, because that's all there is!!)

So, as I shove my last Pocky Stick into my mouth, a few more titles come to mind: Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars and Code Geass: LeLouch of the Rebellion. Whoopity doo. This post is going to be even longer. (Update: that's not a lie)

Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars. Old anime, hard to find, and never sold domestically. When Geneon allowed the rights to the Sailor Moon series expire, meaning, for the most past, no more domestic Sailor Moon purchasing outside of ebay, Sailor Moon fans everywhere knew Sailor Stars would never see US soil. To say it drove me nuts is like saying mud is brown. I scavenged the net looking for the most comprehensive, in depth episode summaries I could find. I then printed them out and read them like a book. At last! I couldn't see the final chapter, but I knew how it ended. Years passed. By chance, I found an English Sub for sale from a dealer in Hong Kong. Did I dare? I dared. And it was awesome. To be fair, there are parts where the subbing is off and some places where whole scenes aren't subbed at all. But that's ok. I finally got to see Sailor Stars, on US Soil, on MY tv, and I could see it and understand it. Yay! This isn't to say that Sailor Stars is the best of the series. It was enjoyable and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves the series, but it wasn't as good as some of the previous seasons. The redundancy of the transformation and attack animations was worse, some beloved characters rarely showed up, and the plot in and of itself was sillier than most. But still. It's Sailor Moon. Love it. Moving on. (Update: Kodansha has acquired the rights to Sailor Moon and Sailor V and will be releasing manga/comics later this year!!!)

Code Geass: LeLouch of the Rebellion. This premiered on Adult Swim's Saturday night block and starred Johnny Yong Bosch as LeLouch. On a side note, many who know me know that Crispin Freeman is my favorite voice actor, one of few that I would recognize on the street - something that actually happened while vacationing in Salem, Mass several years ago. (Yay!) When I truly like an actor's work, I look into them a bit - for example: to see what other titles they've done that I'd like to check out - and often times, a photo and some biographical information are present. Johnny is another one of my favorites (ever since his stint as Vash in Trigun and even more as Ichigo in Bleach) and, like Crispin Freeman, is one that I will watch a series he's in just because he's in it. Hence the reason I stuck with Code Geass despite initial misgivings...and now we are back on topic. Code Geass has an awesome and very intriguing story that mixes deep emotion and drama with very silly antics. You have to give it it's silly moments - like the cat running off with Zero's mask or the kissing episode. And then there are the truly weird moments where you're kind of like, did I just see what I think I saw? On tv? Yes. You did. And yes, it's weird and random, but it works for that character in a weird and random way. This one's not for everyone, but it's got a bit of everything in it. Robots, the end of the world, fantasy, silliness, quirks, high school life, military battles, knights, royalty, cats, a giant pizza, etc. When I think of Code Geass, I think of Eureka 7 (yet another title that I forgot), the more recent Gundams, Ouran High School Host Club, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Bleach, and King Arthur and chess, which aren't anime, of course, but still applicable. Definitely an odd collection of sorts, but fitting for an odd anime. It's one that I liked and may add to my collection at some point, but it took a really weird leap between seasons that I had issues with, so it's low on the buy list. I'd still recommend a viewing, though, if it sounds interesting to you.

Just to touch on it, Eureka 7, which I watched only because Crispin Freeman was in it, also ran on the Saturday night block of Adult Swim. I really didn't care much for it. I hated the way they pronounced Eureka and there wasn't anything that drove me to care about the story. In fact, without looking, I couldn't tell you what it was about now. I remember air ships and battles and some weird world, but that's about it.

Another quick touch upon title: Rave Master (or Ravemaster, whatever). I'm not sure what the target audience is in its native Japan, but here it is targeted at kids and isn't something I'd normally watch. BUT. Crispin Freeman is in it and it was running on a freebie block, so I gave it a shot. Ug. I wish I could have shot my television. And yes, I do realize that it's not my tv's fault that what I was watching was crap. Sorry Mr. Freeman, but not even your voice can make me care what happens in Hip Hop City. I forced myself to watch three episodes and just couldn't do it anymore. It. Is. Awful.

Red Garden. I found this one on our cable company's freebie trial of the Anime Network (which they no longer offer, unfortunately). It's about a group of seemingly random girls who are killed, but then wake up to discover they are basically immortal. Not only that, but they are now part of a group of women who have been fighting with a clan of men that turn into beast-like creatures. It can be seen as a twist on the typical vampire vs. werewolf plot, except there is no blood drinking or howling at the moon. These girls must come to terms with what's happened to them and choose to accept their destiny or fight it, all while trying to live their normal lives at home and at school. I finished most of the episodes through Netflix and then pre-ordered the box set from Rightstuf because the last disc wasn't available yet. It is an awesome story packed with emotion, but not too deep that a casual viewer couldn't enjoy it for its surface value. You feel for the girls and their plight, and you can feel the main "villain's" pain and feel a sense of sorrow for the men. Awesome, awesome, awesome. And the music is fantastic. The theme song, Jolly Jolly, is sung by the Jill Decoy Association, and is catchy and fantastic. Of additional greatness, the final disc contains an OVA loosely based on the aftermath of the series. In some ways, you can't look at it strictly as a sequel, but it's darn close, and by itself is another awesome story.

Loveless. This one I happened to see at Best Buy and bought it because it looked interesting. The characters in this story are people with cat ears and cat tails, but it is implied that they lose these attributes when they lose their virginity. The story centers on a boy whose brother burnt to death while seated at the boy's desk at his previous school. His mother is crazy and abusive, and insists that he is not who he was before, so much so that the boy is in the middle of an identity crisis. He speaks with a therapist and tries to figure out who he is, all while keeping quiet about his mother's abuse because he thinks he is at fault. Then a man appears one day after school claiming to have been a friend of the boy's brother. What follows widens the boy's reclusive world to include finding friendship and developing trust in difficult situations while trying to accept the nature of his brother's friend. Suddenly magic is real and all is not as it appears. The boy and the stranger find themselves in battles where spells are cast and words alone can do lethal damage. I love Loveless. I loved it so much that I bought the manga and am eagerly awaiting the next release. I'd compare this anime to others like Pokemon or Yugi-oh, for the battle aspects alone, except that the undertones are much more adult and I wouldn't recommend it for children. Card Captor Sakura may be more apt, but still not quite the same and still far to innocent for a strict comparison. I read a review of Loveless at Wiki and saw someone note that it was like an introduction to yaoi - so be forewarned that this can be seen as a boys-love manga/anime, although it is not graphic in nature. But, it's something to note because it may not be for everyone. Still. I love it.

Hellsing. I love Hellsing, but I'm only going to quickly touch on it here solely because there was a two year (or more) delay in the last of the series being published. I bought the anime and the available manga volumes years ago, and loved the manga so much that I read fanslations online as the other volumes became available. Before there's an uproar - I did buy the books as soon as they were published domestically, so I did support my artist. I have yet to see Hellsing Ultimate, which supposedly follows the manga more closely than the original anime did, but given the issues with the production company, I've been putting it off until a box set is available. Love Hellsing. Vampires fighting Nazis. What's not to love?

Vampire Knight. Prepare thyself. I. Love. Vampire Knight!! I picked up the manga because it looked interesting at Barnes and Noble (I think I ordered it through Rightstuf, but still). It follows a girl named Yuki who was rescued from a vampire attack on one snowy night. She has no memory of how she got out into the snow or of anything prior to that moment. She is taken to a private school and raised by the headmaster, and becomes one of the school's guardians. The secret she guards? There are two classes: the day class and the night class. Her job is to keep the day class and the night class separate, or to supervise any interactions between the two. Unbeknownst to the day class, normal humans, the night class is made up entirely of vampires. The story delves into Yuki's past, present, and future, and her interactions with Zero, a boy the headmaster adopted shortly after Yuki was taken in, and Kaname, the boy/vampire who rescued her from the vicious vampire attack that snowy night. The story is well-paced and carefully thought out, and the artist's love for her characters shines throughout the story. I have some small issues with the anime, but they are all superficial. The anime follows the manga pretty closely. The first part is spread out over 3 discs, so it's short, but it continues in Vampire Knight: Guilty, which has yet to be released domestically. I cannot wait for the next manga installment or for Guilty to be released!!!! (update - I've received the first disc of Guilty and the next manga release and love it!! Still can't wait for the next!)

Captive Hearts. This is a manga spread over 5 books about the men of one family being cursed to be the servants of another family because of an ancestor who stole a sacred scroll for the family's ancestors. I bought it because it was an early series by the same artist doing Vampire Knight and I like her style. To be fair, I was expecting something a bit different. Something not quite so silly. Vampire Knight flows like reality, with real emotions, real attachments, and real reactions. Captive Hearts does not. However, since I've fallen in love with Ouran High School Host Club (covered later), I'm seeing Captive Hearts with different eyes. It deserves another read now. I think with my expectations cleared and enhanced due to Ouran, I can appreciate the artist's story instead of being disappointed because it wasn't what I wanted. It's a cute story and a little silly, but as you'll see, it's by and far tamer than Ouran. ^_^ Another recommended read!

Ouran High School Host Club. LOVE! Wow. I saw this anime for the first time at Best Buy and was curious. Did some looking into it and then saw that Rightstuf had a fantastic sale on it. So it joined my collection. It centers on a girl who gets into a prestigious private school on a scholarship of sorts. She looks boyish and wears baggy clothes, so she's mistaken as a boy. While looking for a quiet place to study (because rich kids don't care about studying and are noisy), she stumble upon music room 3 and the Ouran High School Host Club, a place where good looking rich boys with too much time on their hands entertain good looking rich girls with too much time on their hands. She accidentally breaks a vase worth 800 million yen and as payment joins the club to work off her debt. Eventually the club members figure out she's a girl, but she's a natural so she maintains the cover that she's a guy. They all fall for her in one way or another and keep her secret so that she can stay in the club. The story is one of the silliest I've ever seen, but the characters are so endearing that it's very fun to watch. It is just so perky and quirky and sweet...ah! Highly recommended! It possesses the qualities of Gravitation, Azamanga Daioh, Chobits, Cromartie High School, Loveless, etc. It's not boys-love, since the main character is a girl, but there are plenty of boys-love attributes, so again, be forewarned if that is an issue for you. I am presently waiting out Rightstuf for a sale so I can pick up the manga that's available domestically thus far. I can't wait. It is an instant fave. (Update: I have picked up the manga, up to volume 9, and love it because it's not exactly like the anime. The anime takes chapters of the anime and twists them around a bit, and then concludes, but as far as I know so far, the manga is on book 15 and doesn't include the anime's conclusion - I could be wrong, though. Still, I love Ouran and read it everyday.)

Texnolyze. Stop. Do a 180 from happy and silly. Watching this anime from beginning to end over a period of a few days left me in a depressed funk. Again, it was a spectacular deal from Rightstuf, so I bought the set. It's an apocalyptic-style anime that tells the story of the inhabitants of an underground city ruled by three rival gangs. In the opening episode, the main character's arm and leg are cut off. That pretty much sets the tone of the series. It's not gory to be gory and there's nothing gratuitous. Everything has a reason and an impact on the story, and the story is engrossing and touching, if not a bit confusing towards the end. This is definitely not for children and does contain some sexual material that may not be suitable for younger teens. This is all about anarchy and the human plight of suffering, and there's not much hope for anyone. I don't want to say much about the story because it unfolds at a deliberate pace and saying too much could ruin it. So, leave it at I liked it, I'm glad I bought it, but it's not one that I'll watch a whole lot. On the upside, the first disc came with the soundtrack, which is pretty good. Because I already owned the first disc and cd, I have a duplicate of each one. Yay for back up anime!

Bleach. Okay, okay, okay. Bleach isn't new and you probably already know that I think it's awesome. Bleach is awesome. Johnny Yong Bosch is awesome. Troy Baker is awesome. The whole freaking cast is awesome! And the creator, Tite Kubo is even more awesomer! I know that's not grammatically correct, but I don't care! I prefer the manga to the anime for the story only because of filler arcs that drag on and on and on...like the Bounts or the Captain Amagai arc (which is currently playing on Adult Swim (update, now we're back on the Arrancar - YES!)). Both have interesting stories, however, the Bount Arc in particular dragged on for way too long. Was it ever going to end? I like Troy Baker's voice, but come on...at least make it interesting. Half of that arc was full on boring. And now we're on Captain Amagai. Okay, so the story is moving at a quicker pace and is actually somewhat interesting, but the timing? Pardon my abbreviations, but WTF happened??? One minute Ichigo's embracing his hollowfication and fighting to rescue Orihime from the Arrancars, and then we go to reruns only to return to the Captain Amagai Arc, which has absolutely nothing to do with the main story. This is why I'm glad I've got the manga. I can still get ahead of the main story while this filler crap is on. The arc isn't bad, but the timing is awful. It doesn't fit in with the story at all. I've read others say that supposedly it can fit in prior to the Arrancar season starting, but that doesn't make sense either. Ichigo can hollowfy and can control it. Gah. Whatever. Bleach is awesome and I'm a nerd. We'll leave it at that. (Update: With the Amagai Arc over, the return to the Arrancars is fantastic. But...in typical form, some of the battles are taking too long. Come on Keni. Kick his butt already!!!)

Ergo Proxy. Ergo Proxy has held my interest for a while, but I'm only now getting to watch it. I'm only two discs into this apocolyptic/futuristic utopia/gothic anime, but I love it already. Apparently it's extremely difficult to find the boxed sets unless you are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to ebayers, which I'm not, so I have a set on backorder from Rightstuf right now and I've put a hold on receiving further discs from Netflix. So...I'm missing Ergo Proxy!! The soundtrack is fantastic and the title sequence and theme together form one of the most phenomenal openings I've ever seen. The opening alone packs a lot of emotional power and the story doesn't disappoint (at least so far). It makes me think of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Texnolyze (though far less depressing), Ghost in the Shell, Bubble Gum Crisis Tokyo 2040, and something else that just isn't coming to mind (Update: Witch Hunter Robin). It may not be exactly like any of those and definitely stands out on its own, but at least that gives you a frame of reference for the type of story. Highly recommended. (Update: My order got canceled, so I had to buy it on Ebay. Got a good deal, though. I LOVE ERGO PROXY. It will be one of my all time favorites. Ever.)

Boogie Pop Phantom. I think I watched this through Netflix, either by disc or by streaming. I'd been curious for a while and finally gave it a try. I must admit upfront that I'm very confused by what I saw. I liked it, but I couldn't explain it. Not much of a review, I'm afraid. I need to watch it again. It's on my buy list, but it's low priority, so unless there's a fantastic sale, it might be awhile. Still, there's nothing objectionable in the story and it's interesting. It makes you think, that's for sure, because half the time you're trying to figure out what on Earth is going on.

X:1999. This is the movie version of the tv series X (follows below). Meh...if you're going to give this a shot, I recommend going with the tv series first. I watched the tv series first and then the movie, and was very disappointed in the movie. The voice acting wasn't as good, the story not as fleshed out, the animation not as nicely done...meh...

X - the series. Yet another apocalyptic-type anime, only in this one the apocalypse hasn't happened yet. The Dragons of Heaven must battle the Dragons of Earth to determine mankind's fate. They are referred to as dragons, but seeing them as angles versus demons is more apt. The story centers on a boy and his childhood friend, each of which could be the one to lead the Dragons of Heaven, and the ensuing battle of good versus evil. It's very nicely done with talented voice actors, nice artwork, and an engrossing story. Again, nothing objectionable, and the story, though it may get predictable in some areas, is touching. I picked this one up from Rightstuf when the individual discs were on clearance...awesome deal! Highly recommended.

Requiem for Darkness. This one runs off and on again on SyFy's Animonday block (update - which is now on Thursdays it appears). It's pretty violent and has some rather objectionable material in it, so even though it's shown on tv, it's not for kids. I watched the whole series because I thought it was interesting, but I didn't like the artwork. It was reminiscent of Samurai Champloo, but not in a good way. I love Samurai Champloo, from the story to the artwork to the voice acting to the modern soundtrack. Requiem seemed like it wanted to be something more and was missing an added oomph to the story and character development. I always felt like I wanted something more from it. It's dark and explores the evils that lurk in humanity's heart, but it leaves a lot to the viewer to interpret on a deeper basis, and it doesn't come off as being intentionally done. Most of the violence that is there seems to be gratuitous and just there to have it there. It's all right, but you wouldn't be missing much if you skipped it.

Gundam 00 Season 2. First, let me say that I am a huge Gundam fan. My car is named Heavy Arms after the Gundam piloted by Trowa Barton (voiced by the excellent Kirby Morrow) in Gundam Wing, and I have Gundam models and action figures and collector books.... I like Gundam. I love Gundam Wing and Endless Waltz, and I liked Gundam Seed. I've seen some of the older Gundam universes, but I'm not versed enough to offer any sort of criticism. Gundam 00 is yet another installment in the Gundam universe, and while I may have missed the first season, it does not disappoint. Excellent soundtrack, crisp colors and spot on detail in the animation, and a touching, engrossing story make this Gundam better than Seed, although it doesn't topple Wing from its spot in my heart. It's the usual "save the world" Gundam story, but as any fan knows, the plot may stay the same, but the story is always different. It's running off and on on SyFy Animonday. Highly Recommended.

Gurren Lagan. Gurren Lagan. Wow. Where to start? I love it, first and foremost. It's funny, it's sad, it's unique...it's really in a league of its own. I can't really come up with another anime that remotely comes close. Maybe Eureka 7 on a few levels (the better ones, of course), but other than that, it's just what it is. I never expected to find myself laughing as hard as I did or even wanting to cry, or getting pulled into a story that seemed absurdly silly in the beginning (a little manly combining anyone? Simon grab your drill!). Crisp colors in and nice action sequences, along with a talented cast, create a truly fantastic story about a futuristic Earth with robots and monsters. To Simon and the crew, manly combining indeed! I'd fly the Lagan flag any day. ^_^ Highly recommended.

Descendents of Darkness. I started with the anime (SyFy, I think)....

UPDATE: And I'll will continue Descendents during another installment, because I want to get this post out there after months of sitting in my draft folder!! For the record, I love Descendents, and will cover these titles in the next installment: Blood+ anime and manga, Blood The Last Vampire - anime and live action, Kekkaishi, Vampire Hunter D, Trigun Maximum (and for comparison, Trigun), Appleseed, Inuyasha, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, Macross Plus, Darker Than Black anime and manga, Please Save My Earth, and Black Butler anime and manga. Maybe more. We'll see how my memory holds out. ^_^