Hey, long time no see. As if I'd see anyone around here anyway. I really should be doing other things right now, but I rambled this out a few days ago and felt like procrastinating, so it's going here.
~
I frequently use the description that a show/book/game ((from here on I'll reference a "show")) "knows [exactly] what it is." It's a quality that's difficult to define as the it involves first, the circular notion that something "is what it is." But it is pretty recognizable in my book, with a little training. Generally, this kind of show holds a quality of being cliche and/or shameless, but does so in just the right way. It's cliches then become a reason-- if not the main reason-- for liking it. It also may exhibit some genre-savvy and, in more comedic moments, even reference itself as such in a 4th-wall breaking way. This kind of show was created, not to be profound or original or push boundaries, but to be very good at "what it is." It ends up excelling at being a confident genre piece and tends to leave a bit of room for thought by the time it's finished. In a sense, if the show were personified, it would have very high, but modest, self-confidence and would strut the world being itself for all it's worth-- and possibly more.
More often than not, this statement has more to do with characters and writing than production quality, but it shows all the more if the production is good, too. Generally if a show "knows what it is," it's a sign that the production staff knows "what it is" and have consequently put forth the effort to make it the best "what it is" that the show can be.
I think it was first used in my circle ((I think I got the description from one of my friends)) to describe Devil May Cry (game/anime/manga/novel/etc., 2001-present) and Star Driver (anime, 2010). It applies to things like Highlander (movie/TV/anime, 1986-2007), Firefly (TV, 2002-2003), and Slayers (anime, 1995-2009). I've most recently used it on Bloody Monday (J-Drama, 2008, 2010). I think it can also apply to Mackerel Run (K-Drama, 2007) on the writing and production end, but from the politics surrounding the show and some signs that it may have been prematurely cut, it seems that the marketing and producers themselves weren't quite sure what they were dealing with. Mackerel Run is also an example that something doesn't have to be flashy or expensive to show it's colors.
Faith (a.k.a. "신의" [Shinui] or "The Great Doctor," K-Drama, 2012) could almost be described this way, however, as a bit of a counter example. Sometimes it knew, and sometimes it didn't. Overall, it either didn't really know that it was "what it was" or didn't want to be "what it was," and lost steam. "What it was," was a video game/anime-like piece of period fantasy; what it wanted to be, was a time traveling love story. One of the reviews on MyDramaList.com states, rather accurately, that Faith "doesn't seem to know how good it is." It could have been an awesome, super-powered fantasy with political intrigue. It didn't quite seem to have the courage for that. In other words, the show didn't want to be itself. Don't get me wrong; it was still pretty good. But often the most disappointing things are those that were good enough that you know they could have been better. I loved it anyway; if not for what it was, what it could have been... and Choi Young.
In my book, a show "knowing what it is" is a good-- nay, EXCELLENT quality. It is a point of high praise. However, these pieces tend to have cult followings, and may be very prone to developing anti-fans, probably most often because of their genre specificity and cliche-ness. I understand this type of show is not for everyone, but more often than not, it's what I look for these days.
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Sengoku Basara: Ridiculous Cast List
I discovered this anime. It's like a Samurai 7 x Rorouni Kenshin crossover on massive quantities of shounen and steroids (and no, those are not the same thing).
Sengoku Basara, 12-13 eps, 2009, FUNimation
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10271
Check out this cast:
Prominent Characters
John Swasey, Johnny Yong Bosch; Chris Ayres, Greg Ayres, Laura Bailey, Liam O'Brien, Maxey Whitehead, Patrick Seitz, Sam Regal, Travis Willingham, Vic Mignogna; Chuck Huber, Eric Vale, Kent Williams, Sean Michael Teague
Incidentals
Caitlin Glass, Cynthia Cranz, Wendy Powell
Production credits also have Justin Cook and John Burgmeir.
Re-fuckin'-diculous.
and Johny Young Bosch is ANGRY!!!! (that was a TotA Asch joke. If you don't get it, please dismiss.)
Only seen about one episode, but fun so far. I've been missing my kick-ass shounen. I got on a kick after Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist). But I ran out of episodes, so I found the thing in the add in Blue Exorcist. See? Moral of the story: watch anime adds. Actually, it had already been on my radar, but still...
Sengoku Basara, 12-13 eps, 2009, FUNimation
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10271
Check out this cast:
Prominent Characters
John Swasey, Johnny Yong Bosch; Chris Ayres, Greg Ayres, Laura Bailey, Liam O'Brien, Maxey Whitehead, Patrick Seitz, Sam Regal, Travis Willingham, Vic Mignogna; Chuck Huber, Eric Vale, Kent Williams, Sean Michael Teague
Incidentals
Caitlin Glass, Cynthia Cranz, Wendy Powell
Production credits also have Justin Cook and John Burgmeir.
Re-fuckin'-diculous.
and Johny Young Bosch is ANGRY!!!! (that was a TotA Asch joke. If you don't get it, please dismiss.)
Only seen about one episode, but fun so far. I've been missing my kick-ass shounen. I got on a kick after Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist). But I ran out of episodes, so I found the thing in the add in Blue Exorcist. See? Moral of the story: watch anime adds. Actually, it had already been on my radar, but still...
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Soul Eater - "Guitar vs Piano" or "Guitar FOR Piano"?
11/21/2010
Soul Eater - "Guitar vs Piano" or "Guitar FOR Piano"?
Ohkubo Atsushi's "Soul Eater" is a stunning manga (later, anime) in several aspects. One of the area's I have a particular liking for are it's musical and sound references, puns, and analogies. (Both his series, B.Ichi and Soul Eater, are loaded with these.)
In the musical spirit of this manga, I posted to YouTube my first, and so far only, AMV (Anime Music Video) featuring Soul and Maka to the Goukisan's song, Guitar Vs Piano. It was too perfect; I just couldn't resist.
(Shameless Plug but also for reference-- The video, it's notes, and community commentary can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FjPHoQTv9A)
About two weeks ago, someone going by "Magnenntae" posted the following comment:
I have to say, the symbolism of the piano in the series has never bothered me. The piano is a versatile and classic instrument, perhaps THE classic instrument, with a proud history; Soul himself is rather similar. (The manga makes this more clear, going more into his family's history.) It can be played classically, in hard rock, or even in pop; even songs not originally meant for it sound right on it. I'm particularly fond of modern piano, keeping it's sense of class and nobility while maintaining the strength and fullness of modern music. It's also one of the few instruments on which two or more parts can be played simultaneously; one person can play a whole song, both harmony and melody. Yet it still cooperates well with other instruments. It can be featured or can be accompaniment to highlight other instruments, like voice. You get the picture.
One interesting thing is that Soul's family is not a family of weapons; there's no history of the trait anywhere. While we see Soul's piano as a distinguishing or even odd feature, in his family, it's the weapon trait, not his musical ability that distinguishes him-- they're all world-class musicians. (His brother plays the violin.) What's more, his family seems to be classical musicians, but his preference is to jazz and funk*. It just kind of goes to show that even his "cool" personality can be fitted to a piano. It's also been alluded to that his own compositions are less classical but more dark and mysterious, even disturbing. I think he kind of struggles with the disparity between others' image of a piano and his own.
On the other hand, the guitar is only slightly less classic and versatile. An acoustic guitar is only second to the piano in "gateway instruments," especially for musicians interested in or partial to voice. The only real difference for our purposes is the electric guitar, which unlike it's piano equivalent, lends it's own feel to anything played on or with it. See Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) and Savatage. (The two are essentially the same group of people, but TSO is more of an artistic project, while Savatage is more of a local circuit band. Their sound, mission, and technique are similar.) These bands use electric guitars and other rock instruments in some VERY classical music and styles (like Beethoven and Mozart classical), but the sound is very unique and the entire atmosphere is different for it. You could play "Flight of the Bumble Bee" on strings, as originally intended; on a brass band, as in the movie Drumline; or on electric guitars, as in Beethoven's Last Night by TSO. (Incidentally, I don't believe Bumble Bee is Beethoven, but homage is paid to several other artists in that opera.)
This is where Maka comes in. Interestingly enough, Maka is in NO way musical. She doesn't even APPRECIATE music, let alone "understand" it, as she puts it. She can't dance, can't sing, can't play an instrument; doesn't even really find enjoyment in listening to it. Because of this, she is particularly jealous of Soul, but it's also because of Soul that she even cares. She knows that music is important to Soul and wants to find it important as well, if even for no other reason than to understand HIM better.
We also have the guitar-vs-amp analogy. I actually found that analogy more flawed. Weapons are BORN Weapons. We're not sure if the same is true of Technicians, but other Weapons can be Technicians as well (see Liz and Pati). Weapons will be Weapons, regardless of whether or not there is anyone to wield them. At the same time, it seems that just about anyone with half an inclination could be a Technician. This makes the Weapon the unique highlight of any set but since a Weapon can't traditionally wield itself, it's the Technician's job to make them look good. In any extended sense, Soul would be the guitar in that analogy and Maka the amp (except for the fact that they were really trying to illustrate the interaction of the "soul waves" (heehee, soul waves, sound waves; it just goes on), which may indeed originate from the Technician).
Maka gets to deal with this dilemma on a regular basis. If she can't keep up with Soul, he can't fulfill his potential. You wouldn't want a really awesome guitar to sound sh__y because of a bad amp, now would you? You'd replace the amp. And Technicians are, theoretically, SO replaceable. (Yes, I know about the whole Soul-BlackStar thing, so they can't be replaced by just ANYONE, but still can be replaced.) And if Soul simply WON'T replace her, that would make her feel even worse.
In the end, it turns out being a story of Maka trying to BECOME the guitar to Soul's piano. She not only wants to be able to properly highlight him on the stage (BlackStar would be crying right now), but wants to understand him more on a personal level and loosen up a bit; become more wild and "cool" like the guitar.
*an interesting moment in translation is when the kids ask Soul to supply music for their party. Due to the Japanese alphabet and transliteration of certain English words to Japanese, he may have brought "funk" or "punk" which doesn't even amount to a whole letter's difference in sound. (funk = ファンク punk = プァンク = パンク) Interesting side note, Ohkubo seems partial to metal, himself.
Soul Eater - "Guitar vs Piano" or "Guitar FOR Piano"?
Ohkubo Atsushi's "Soul Eater" is a stunning manga (later, anime) in several aspects. One of the area's I have a particular liking for are it's musical and sound references, puns, and analogies. (Both his series, B.Ichi and Soul Eater, are loaded with these.)
In the musical spirit of this manga, I posted to YouTube my first, and so far only, AMV (Anime Music Video) featuring Soul and Maka to the Goukisan's song, Guitar Vs Piano. It was too perfect; I just couldn't resist.
(Shameless Plug but also for reference-- The video, it's notes, and community commentary can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FjPHoQTv9A)
About two weeks ago, someone going by "Magnenntae" posted the following comment:
Stumbling across it again, I couldn't help but respond. But being the wordy person I am I just can't limit it to a comment-- I need an essay. Not that I mean to tear down the comment; it's a good observation and I actually appreciate the discussion. It helps when someone legitimately challenges something I just sort of took for granted and it make for a good prompt. Of course, this is all my own interpretation based on various scenes and facts set forth in the series, mainly the manga.
"I find it strange that Soul plays the Piano and that Maka plays the Eletric Guitar, only because Soul is more crazy, headstrong and overall unpredictable, while Maka seems more refined and somehow elegant, similar to the piano. I suppose it's only because I expect an instrument to resemble it's musician for some reason."
I have to say, the symbolism of the piano in the series has never bothered me. The piano is a versatile and classic instrument, perhaps THE classic instrument, with a proud history; Soul himself is rather similar. (The manga makes this more clear, going more into his family's history.) It can be played classically, in hard rock, or even in pop; even songs not originally meant for it sound right on it. I'm particularly fond of modern piano, keeping it's sense of class and nobility while maintaining the strength and fullness of modern music. It's also one of the few instruments on which two or more parts can be played simultaneously; one person can play a whole song, both harmony and melody. Yet it still cooperates well with other instruments. It can be featured or can be accompaniment to highlight other instruments, like voice. You get the picture.
One interesting thing is that Soul's family is not a family of weapons; there's no history of the trait anywhere. While we see Soul's piano as a distinguishing or even odd feature, in his family, it's the weapon trait, not his musical ability that distinguishes him-- they're all world-class musicians. (His brother plays the violin.) What's more, his family seems to be classical musicians, but his preference is to jazz and funk*. It just kind of goes to show that even his "cool" personality can be fitted to a piano. It's also been alluded to that his own compositions are less classical but more dark and mysterious, even disturbing. I think he kind of struggles with the disparity between others' image of a piano and his own.
On the other hand, the guitar is only slightly less classic and versatile. An acoustic guitar is only second to the piano in "gateway instruments," especially for musicians interested in or partial to voice. The only real difference for our purposes is the electric guitar, which unlike it's piano equivalent, lends it's own feel to anything played on or with it. See Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) and Savatage. (The two are essentially the same group of people, but TSO is more of an artistic project, while Savatage is more of a local circuit band. Their sound, mission, and technique are similar.) These bands use electric guitars and other rock instruments in some VERY classical music and styles (like Beethoven and Mozart classical), but the sound is very unique and the entire atmosphere is different for it. You could play "Flight of the Bumble Bee" on strings, as originally intended; on a brass band, as in the movie Drumline; or on electric guitars, as in Beethoven's Last Night by TSO. (Incidentally, I don't believe Bumble Bee is Beethoven, but homage is paid to several other artists in that opera.)
This is where Maka comes in. Interestingly enough, Maka is in NO way musical. She doesn't even APPRECIATE music, let alone "understand" it, as she puts it. She can't dance, can't sing, can't play an instrument; doesn't even really find enjoyment in listening to it. Because of this, she is particularly jealous of Soul, but it's also because of Soul that she even cares. She knows that music is important to Soul and wants to find it important as well, if even for no other reason than to understand HIM better.
We also have the guitar-vs-amp analogy. I actually found that analogy more flawed. Weapons are BORN Weapons. We're not sure if the same is true of Technicians, but other Weapons can be Technicians as well (see Liz and Pati). Weapons will be Weapons, regardless of whether or not there is anyone to wield them. At the same time, it seems that just about anyone with half an inclination could be a Technician. This makes the Weapon the unique highlight of any set but since a Weapon can't traditionally wield itself, it's the Technician's job to make them look good. In any extended sense, Soul would be the guitar in that analogy and Maka the amp (except for the fact that they were really trying to illustrate the interaction of the "soul waves" (heehee, soul waves, sound waves; it just goes on), which may indeed originate from the Technician).
Maka gets to deal with this dilemma on a regular basis. If she can't keep up with Soul, he can't fulfill his potential. You wouldn't want a really awesome guitar to sound sh__y because of a bad amp, now would you? You'd replace the amp. And Technicians are, theoretically, SO replaceable. (Yes, I know about the whole Soul-BlackStar thing, so they can't be replaced by just ANYONE, but still can be replaced.) And if Soul simply WON'T replace her, that would make her feel even worse.
In the end, it turns out being a story of Maka trying to BECOME the guitar to Soul's piano. She not only wants to be able to properly highlight him on the stage (BlackStar would be crying right now), but wants to understand him more on a personal level and loosen up a bit; become more wild and "cool" like the guitar.
*an interesting moment in translation is when the kids ask Soul to supply music for their party. Due to the Japanese alphabet and transliteration of certain English words to Japanese, he may have brought "funk" or "punk" which doesn't even amount to a whole letter's difference in sound. (funk = ファンク punk = プァンク = パンク) Interesting side note, Ohkubo seems partial to metal, himself.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Trinity Blood: RAGE!
So I finished watching Trinity Blood with the anime club I help run. I haven't been so infuriated with an anime since Tokyo Underground; actually more so. Tokyo Underground is such a notably mundane anime, you can't even get on it's case about how bad it is. It just is, in all of it's mundane, cliche, and predictable glory. It was so average and un-noteworthy, it was a genuine time sink; It wasn't even bad enough to convince me to stop watching it. I want my nine hours back.
Trinity Blood, on the other hand, has a similar but much more pronounced problem. The issue with this series is not how bad it is, but how good it COULD be. It has the gaul to start off with an awesome first episode posing the question of the day: "if humans prey on animals, and vampires prey on humans, how terrifying must the creature that preys on vampires be? Seriously, what kind of bada-- freaking EATS VAMPIRES?! The main character of Trinity Blood, that's who. At least you'd think the show would be freaking awesome after an episode like that.
We then spend the next three or four episodes (keep in mind, this is a 26 ep series) SETTING THE SCENE in peaceful, futuristic European and Catholic hotspots-- Rome, Vatican, London, you get the picture-- and exposing an intricate religious-political drama. OK. Fine. I can deal with that; I like conspiracy theories. But I was promised vampires-- non-sparkly ones at that (well, maybe they're a little shiny, but more in an "aura of deadly crackling lightning" sort of way)-- vampires, vampire-eating monsters, aircraft with LASER BEAMS, guns, nano-bots, giant scythes, and BLOOD.
Anyway, this mini-arc has a girl-of-the-week kind of feel, mixed with a slice-of-life, and occasionally some bad guys get shot-- not by the main character, I might add; he spends more of his time smiling stupidly and asking young girls not to take revenge on those who have seriously wronged them, and more pointedly, will continue to wrong others in the form of BLOWING UP innocent cities.
Enter Rosette-- sorry, wrong nun-with-gun-- I mean, Colette-- oh, wait, that's that fail chick from Tales of Symphonia-- I mean, Estelle-- sorry, ESTER-- because that STAR-shaped birthmark on her butt-- sorry LOWER BACK-- has ABSOLUTELY NO INFLUENCE on her name whatsoever (stupid English translators).* So, now that I can remember her name (Ester, for those who couldn't decipher that), we meet Ester (this is killing me), a package deal of fail-sauce and boobs. Jing has his girl-of-the-week, Kino has hers, Father Nightroad (that's our main character) has his. I can deal with her whiney stupidity because she'll be gone by the end of the epis-- oh, it's a multi-parter. Ok, well, she'll bec=gone at the end of the ar-- she's going WITH him… Of all the girls, SHE'S the one that stays. WHY?! By the way, that whole nun-with-gun thing, her only semi-redeeming quality, you never see that again. Even though she's in more dangerous situations that ever, traveling with a priest that hunts vampires-- who, might I point out, hasn't done ANYTHING cool since the first episode-- NEVER makes a move to defend herself again.
We get a few more incidental characters-- a robotic paladin, a real paladin and his right hand lady (who's cooler than her is), a backgroundless but nonetheless badass swordsman-- and a few recurring characters-- palace guard/ex-crusader, Pope Fail, some vampire nobility, and, my favorite, the pincushion. We go through the rest of the extremely slow exposition (yes, the most of the show is exposition) and about once a disc, the show builds up to some form of fight or bada--ery, which usually comes out to a grand total of about three minutes. The build is ridiculously slow and boring (most of which I couldn't recount to any who asked by the next week), and the action, though cool, was short-lived and frequently cut short or alluded to more than seen.
By the last disc, I was ready to roll over dead. By the end of the disc, I was ready to KILL. I figured, this, at least would justify my forced patience. The first episode was epic, surely the finale would live up to that, at the very least. F--- no. Trinity Blood says "You wanted what? B---- please." It harbored the same slow build and teasing action the rest of the series but in less time. Sure, a bunch of awesome one-shot characters and few minor ones step up to the plate only to have their epicness alluded to while we get to listen to our token-vagina/kidnap-bait fail increasingly in previously inconceivable manners and then cry over said failures.
Why couldn't you have just STAYED in the bomb shelter, like he told you. Even The Child Pope Failure, grew a spine in the course of this show. Where were you? The 12-year-old Peter Pan references kicked more ass than you, and whined about it less, at that. ALL of our allies have pulled out every single stop and are off being bada--, and we're stuck watching this girl sitting in front of a coffin CRYING about what she's NOT out there doing, because she's in here, crying. WHY did we follow this character? Oh right, the crazy birthmark says she's the queen. Who DIDN'T see that coming? She certainly didn't, not that I'm surprised.
The worst part about this is how good it all could have been. The animation was pretty, not gorgeous, but it was trying. The computer graphics were kind of distracting to me, but it made for some pretty cool effects, like the lighting and blood. There WERE kick-a-- characters, even the non-martial ones, but we never got to see them in action for more than about three minutes or a few lines at a time. The intrigue and drama were genuine, but cut short and intermittent, in favor of one-shot or impertinent story arcs, no less.
People have been raving about Trinity Blood for a while. I wouldn't normally fault them; there was a good concept there, and SOME people were trying, but were quickly overshadowed. I was furious, literally throwing things at the TV. I would honestly like to see the sequel, or even the prequel; what little background was given to the true hero of the story revealed the character's younger self to be much better than his current personality and situation, and would lend itself to a beautiful drama; the story's wrap-up sends my two favorite characters, a newly resolved Father Night Road and the now spine-wielding pincushion, off on an epic man-hunt-- excuse me, vampire-eater-hunt-- out in the world withOUT the freshly crowned Queen Failsauce. I'd watch that if it were given ANY more care than it's predecessor.
*Those who don't quite get the Estelle/Ester thing: In Japanese, both Ester and Estelle would be spelled エステル. Whether this is interpreted as "E-SU-TE-RU"-- "Ester"-- or "E-SU-TE-LU"-- Estelle-- is completely up to which makes more sense; it's kind of like the Alucard/Arucard thing-- the former is "Dracula" spelled backward, fitting of a monstrous ancient vampire creature, and the latter is… nothing. Or a swordsman named "Zoro" (Zorro) having his name changed to "Zolo." I naturally assumed, because of the star-shaped mark on her and various references to a "Star Queen" that the name was "Estelle" but subtitles say "no." Even after one of the characters informs her that her name means "star" in the ancient language of their country (aka Latin or Italian), the translators refuse to budge.
Trinity Blood, on the other hand, has a similar but much more pronounced problem. The issue with this series is not how bad it is, but how good it COULD be. It has the gaul to start off with an awesome first episode posing the question of the day: "if humans prey on animals, and vampires prey on humans, how terrifying must the creature that preys on vampires be? Seriously, what kind of bada-- freaking EATS VAMPIRES?! The main character of Trinity Blood, that's who. At least you'd think the show would be freaking awesome after an episode like that.
We then spend the next three or four episodes (keep in mind, this is a 26 ep series) SETTING THE SCENE in peaceful, futuristic European and Catholic hotspots-- Rome, Vatican, London, you get the picture-- and exposing an intricate religious-political drama. OK. Fine. I can deal with that; I like conspiracy theories. But I was promised vampires-- non-sparkly ones at that (well, maybe they're a little shiny, but more in an "aura of deadly crackling lightning" sort of way)-- vampires, vampire-eating monsters, aircraft with LASER BEAMS, guns, nano-bots, giant scythes, and BLOOD.
Anyway, this mini-arc has a girl-of-the-week kind of feel, mixed with a slice-of-life, and occasionally some bad guys get shot-- not by the main character, I might add; he spends more of his time smiling stupidly and asking young girls not to take revenge on those who have seriously wronged them, and more pointedly, will continue to wrong others in the form of BLOWING UP innocent cities.
Enter Rosette-- sorry, wrong nun-with-gun-- I mean, Colette-- oh, wait, that's that fail chick from Tales of Symphonia-- I mean, Estelle-- sorry, ESTER-- because that STAR-shaped birthmark on her butt-- sorry LOWER BACK-- has ABSOLUTELY NO INFLUENCE on her name whatsoever (stupid English translators).* So, now that I can remember her name (Ester, for those who couldn't decipher that), we meet Ester (this is killing me), a package deal of fail-sauce and boobs. Jing has his girl-of-the-week, Kino has hers, Father Nightroad (that's our main character) has his. I can deal with her whiney stupidity because she'll be gone by the end of the epis-- oh, it's a multi-parter. Ok, well, she'll bec=gone at the end of the ar-- she's going WITH him… Of all the girls, SHE'S the one that stays. WHY?! By the way, that whole nun-with-gun thing, her only semi-redeeming quality, you never see that again. Even though she's in more dangerous situations that ever, traveling with a priest that hunts vampires-- who, might I point out, hasn't done ANYTHING cool since the first episode-- NEVER makes a move to defend herself again.
We get a few more incidental characters-- a robotic paladin, a real paladin and his right hand lady (who's cooler than her is), a backgroundless but nonetheless badass swordsman-- and a few recurring characters-- palace guard/ex-crusader, Pope Fail, some vampire nobility, and, my favorite, the pincushion. We go through the rest of the extremely slow exposition (yes, the most of the show is exposition) and about once a disc, the show builds up to some form of fight or bada--ery, which usually comes out to a grand total of about three minutes. The build is ridiculously slow and boring (most of which I couldn't recount to any who asked by the next week), and the action, though cool, was short-lived and frequently cut short or alluded to more than seen.
By the last disc, I was ready to roll over dead. By the end of the disc, I was ready to KILL. I figured, this, at least would justify my forced patience. The first episode was epic, surely the finale would live up to that, at the very least. F--- no. Trinity Blood says "You wanted what? B---- please." It harbored the same slow build and teasing action the rest of the series but in less time. Sure, a bunch of awesome one-shot characters and few minor ones step up to the plate only to have their epicness alluded to while we get to listen to our token-vagina/kidnap-bait fail increasingly in previously inconceivable manners and then cry over said failures.
Why couldn't you have just STAYED in the bomb shelter, like he told you. Even The Child Pope Failure, grew a spine in the course of this show. Where were you? The 12-year-old Peter Pan references kicked more ass than you, and whined about it less, at that. ALL of our allies have pulled out every single stop and are off being bada--, and we're stuck watching this girl sitting in front of a coffin CRYING about what she's NOT out there doing, because she's in here, crying. WHY did we follow this character? Oh right, the crazy birthmark says she's the queen. Who DIDN'T see that coming? She certainly didn't, not that I'm surprised.
The worst part about this is how good it all could have been. The animation was pretty, not gorgeous, but it was trying. The computer graphics were kind of distracting to me, but it made for some pretty cool effects, like the lighting and blood. There WERE kick-a-- characters, even the non-martial ones, but we never got to see them in action for more than about three minutes or a few lines at a time. The intrigue and drama were genuine, but cut short and intermittent, in favor of one-shot or impertinent story arcs, no less.
People have been raving about Trinity Blood for a while. I wouldn't normally fault them; there was a good concept there, and SOME people were trying, but were quickly overshadowed. I was furious, literally throwing things at the TV. I would honestly like to see the sequel, or even the prequel; what little background was given to the true hero of the story revealed the character's younger self to be much better than his current personality and situation, and would lend itself to a beautiful drama; the story's wrap-up sends my two favorite characters, a newly resolved Father Night Road and the now spine-wielding pincushion, off on an epic man-hunt-- excuse me, vampire-eater-hunt-- out in the world withOUT the freshly crowned Queen Failsauce. I'd watch that if it were given ANY more care than it's predecessor.
*Those who don't quite get the Estelle/Ester thing: In Japanese, both Ester and Estelle would be spelled エステル. Whether this is interpreted as "E-SU-TE-RU"-- "Ester"-- or "E-SU-TE-LU"-- Estelle-- is completely up to which makes more sense; it's kind of like the Alucard/Arucard thing-- the former is "Dracula" spelled backward, fitting of a monstrous ancient vampire creature, and the latter is… nothing. Or a swordsman named "Zoro" (Zorro) having his name changed to "Zolo." I naturally assumed, because of the star-shaped mark on her and various references to a "Star Queen" that the name was "Estelle" but subtitles say "no." Even after one of the characters informs her that her name means "star" in the ancient language of their country (aka Latin or Italian), the translators refuse to budge.
Monday, November 8, 2010
"I cast Magic Missile!"
11/8/2010
Just got back from Nano Con a small game con run by South Dakota State University's game club. My friend's dad runs the game club, so of course is responsible for the con. That's why all this is coming up late. I might just be drabbling for a while, but I WILL stay on top of my "one per day" thing.
I was introduced to D&D 4th ed. Previously, I'd only played a little 3.5. I really took to 4th though. It was fun. I have this piddly little regenerated Eladrin Wizard that I feel kicked some serious a--. I've found that I don't really like building characters (yet anyway, takes too long if you don't know what you're doing), but I can definitely have fun with a random character or a pregenerated one. I especially like picking up the Character Builder, entering class and race, and hitting "generate character."
Wizards (well, magical (or "arcane, if you prefer) classes in general) used to be really hard to play, but it seems the new system has made fighters (martial classes) more like wizards to play and wizards more like fighters in usefulness.
I enjoyed it immensely, but I refuse to ever use the words "magic missile" again; I'm coming up with a much cooler name for that attack if it's the last thing I do. Can't we just change a wizard's "unarmed attack" to the effect of magic missile. 'Cause that's basically what I did. But i also learned some intricacies of the character's other abilities and that's when it really started to get fun. But I learned that even a simple strategy can be really effective.
It was a good weekend.
Just got back from Nano Con a small game con run by South Dakota State University's game club. My friend's dad runs the game club, so of course is responsible for the con. That's why all this is coming up late. I might just be drabbling for a while, but I WILL stay on top of my "one per day" thing.
I was introduced to D&D 4th ed. Previously, I'd only played a little 3.5. I really took to 4th though. It was fun. I have this piddly little regenerated Eladrin Wizard that I feel kicked some serious a--. I've found that I don't really like building characters (yet anyway, takes too long if you don't know what you're doing), but I can definitely have fun with a random character or a pregenerated one. I especially like picking up the Character Builder, entering class and race, and hitting "generate character."
Wizards (well, magical (or "arcane, if you prefer) classes in general) used to be really hard to play, but it seems the new system has made fighters (martial classes) more like wizards to play and wizards more like fighters in usefulness.
I enjoyed it immensely, but I refuse to ever use the words "magic missile" again; I'm coming up with a much cooler name for that attack if it's the last thing I do. Can't we just change a wizard's "unarmed attack" to the effect of magic missile. 'Cause that's basically what I did. But i also learned some intricacies of the character's other abilities and that's when it really started to get fun. But I learned that even a simple strategy can be really effective.
It was a good weekend.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Best FMA FanFic Ever!
11/6/2010
posted 11/8/2010
So I'm going to put this here, cause it's really been on my brain and it's about all i've got. At this con, I'm surrounded by D&D and and Magic The Gathering, and I've got Fullmetal Aalchemist (FMA) fanfiction running though my head. That's what I'm doin': learning/playing 4th ed during the day and reading fanfiction at night.
Now, I know, this fanfiction thing is a little sad. I got into it around junior high or high school and I quickly learned my lesson. As a matter of fact, half of my aversion to most everything I am averse to in anime comes from my fanfiction experiences. But at that time, that's what I had: Shounen Jump and fanfiction. Every now and then, I'll get on a kick for some show or series (not always anime) and after devouring everything in my path (and some things that just weren't fast enough to get out of my way) my obsession still isn't worn off, so I end up digging through fan fiction until I eventually just get sick of the "bad."
But, for once, this tactic just isn't working. Guess why… GOOD fanfiction… Say what?! Yeah. I found it. The legends are true. More than that, I found not only a good story, but a good AUTHOR! … and she writes a LOT. The first of hers I found was a 22,000-word ONE-SHOT. Go back and read that again for emphasis; it looks stupid if I type it again. Yeah. Tell me about it. 20k words in a one-chapter story. The NaNo WriMo definition of a "novel" is 50k words. But every one of those 22 thousand words was pristine, cannon, and beautiful. Even when the characters had to be out of character, they did it in character. I won't bother to type how that works. Ask me some day and I'll explain it to you in spoken word. If anyone besides my mom ever reads this, I have Skype, iChat, and gmail; this will be worked out somehow.
Granted, a lot of my favorite series have aged, and I've noticed a lot of the fanfiction has with it, so I have been finding progressively less retarded material, as a rule. Still-- I have no idea people's major malfunction is-- but the grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and sentence structure remains as sh--y as ever. I used to look at this with great wonder insisting there was no way these writers could be over 15, until I joined creative writing classes at my college. Yes, high school graduates, and even college seniors, have just as terrible writing skills as 13-year-old fan-brats, disappointing me even more (which I seriously didn't think was possible) in the human race. But i think that's a different rant for a different time.
Anyway, I've decided that this is the best FMA fanfiction written to date. I've even started reading more of this person's stuff and this still hangs on as the best. They go by Bookwrm389 on FanFiction.net and the story that flattened me to the ground with it's crushing awesome is called Shadow of a Doubt. My fan senses, triggered by the awesome story and marvelous editing, went off on full alert when I read their bio and saw the rest of their stories. Their approach to writing, fanfiction, and fandom is right in swing with mine. I especially liked when I saw the commentary on FMA: Brotherhood and the FMA fans that like to trash it after 2-5 episodes; it completely makes the point I've been trying to get across as well, almost word for word.
Anyway, it's a brilliant, well constructed, whumping fic centering around Ed and Mustang portrayed with a really good NON-romantic relationship (omg! it exists! I'm SOOOOO happy!). If you have any interest in FMA, especially if you're sick of all the Roy-Ed slash, you should definitely check this out. It's brilliant.
posted 11/8/2010
The bottome line: FMA fans should check out Shadow of a Doubt by Bookwrm389
So I'm going to put this here, cause it's really been on my brain and it's about all i've got. At this con, I'm surrounded by D&D and and Magic The Gathering, and I've got Fullmetal Aalchemist (FMA) fanfiction running though my head. That's what I'm doin': learning/playing 4th ed during the day and reading fanfiction at night.
Now, I know, this fanfiction thing is a little sad. I got into it around junior high or high school and I quickly learned my lesson. As a matter of fact, half of my aversion to most everything I am averse to in anime comes from my fanfiction experiences. But at that time, that's what I had: Shounen Jump and fanfiction. Every now and then, I'll get on a kick for some show or series (not always anime) and after devouring everything in my path (and some things that just weren't fast enough to get out of my way) my obsession still isn't worn off, so I end up digging through fan fiction until I eventually just get sick of the "bad."
But, for once, this tactic just isn't working. Guess why… GOOD fanfiction… Say what?! Yeah. I found it. The legends are true. More than that, I found not only a good story, but a good AUTHOR! … and she writes a LOT. The first of hers I found was a 22,000-word ONE-SHOT. Go back and read that again for emphasis; it looks stupid if I type it again. Yeah. Tell me about it. 20k words in a one-chapter story. The NaNo WriMo definition of a "novel" is 50k words. But every one of those 22 thousand words was pristine, cannon, and beautiful. Even when the characters had to be out of character, they did it in character. I won't bother to type how that works. Ask me some day and I'll explain it to you in spoken word. If anyone besides my mom ever reads this, I have Skype, iChat, and gmail; this will be worked out somehow.
Granted, a lot of my favorite series have aged, and I've noticed a lot of the fanfiction has with it, so I have been finding progressively less retarded material, as a rule. Still-- I have no idea people's major malfunction is-- but the grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and sentence structure remains as sh--y as ever. I used to look at this with great wonder insisting there was no way these writers could be over 15, until I joined creative writing classes at my college. Yes, high school graduates, and even college seniors, have just as terrible writing skills as 13-year-old fan-brats, disappointing me even more (which I seriously didn't think was possible) in the human race. But i think that's a different rant for a different time.
Anyway, I've decided that this is the best FMA fanfiction written to date. I've even started reading more of this person's stuff and this still hangs on as the best. They go by Bookwrm389 on FanFiction.net and the story that flattened me to the ground with it's crushing awesome is called Shadow of a Doubt. My fan senses, triggered by the awesome story and marvelous editing, went off on full alert when I read their bio and saw the rest of their stories. Their approach to writing, fanfiction, and fandom is right in swing with mine. I especially liked when I saw the commentary on FMA: Brotherhood and the FMA fans that like to trash it after 2-5 episodes; it completely makes the point I've been trying to get across as well, almost word for word.
Anyway, it's a brilliant, well constructed, whumping fic centering around Ed and Mustang portrayed with a really good NON-romantic relationship (omg! it exists! I'm SOOOOO happy!). If you have any interest in FMA, especially if you're sick of all the Roy-Ed slash, you should definitely check this out. It's brilliant.
Friday, November 5, 2010
F---ing Flux!
11/5/2010
posted 11/8/2010
My friends took me to Nano Con, a small game con in South Dakota. The first night, they pulled out Flux, possibly one of the most frustrating card games on the face of the planet. The entire game is dedicated to systematically changing the rules and messing with your hand. I'd never played before, and I quickly realized there was no call for strategy; it simply does no good. Like many people at the table seemed to already know, the game is much more enjoyable when you just give up on trying to win and simply attempt to f--- with the rules in the most ridiculous and/or mutually frustrating way possible. A little masochism and a LOT of schadenfreude-- that's what takes to make this game some of the most companionable misery one can find.
posted 11/8/2010
My friends took me to Nano Con, a small game con in South Dakota. The first night, they pulled out Flux, possibly one of the most frustrating card games on the face of the planet. The entire game is dedicated to systematically changing the rules and messing with your hand. I'd never played before, and I quickly realized there was no call for strategy; it simply does no good. Like many people at the table seemed to already know, the game is much more enjoyable when you just give up on trying to win and simply attempt to f--- with the rules in the most ridiculous and/or mutually frustrating way possible. A little masochism and a LOT of schadenfreude-- that's what takes to make this game some of the most companionable misery one can find.
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