Saturday, November 29, 2008

Twilight Review



(Yeah, I know, not anime or manga)

Twilight. If I didn’t want to see this movie, my sister would have tied me up and made me watch it anyway. So I went quietly, and actually found it to be a pretty entertaining film. It definitely was not the best vampire story I’ve ever seen, and it wasn’t exactly perfect, but it was a fun watch.

Characters: Main character, Bella Swan, is blah. I don’t really have any reason to understand her actions…. She just doesn’t make sense. She’s way too trusting of people… like right after a vampire admits he’s the perfect hunter, with every tool to bring down a human from super seduction to super speed, she COMPLETELY trusts the guy. What the hell? Other than that, she’s the standard teenager. Kinda boring. Then we have Edward, Mr. Sexy guy who’s in every movie. He’s handsome, strong, smells nice, so dreamy he makes me wanna vomit. Also, he’s a vampire…. Which is AWESOME… but he doesn’t suck human’s blood, which makes him a bit less awesome. He has some funny moments. Then we have Bella’s dad, who is pretty cool, thanks to the shotgun scene. Other than that, he’s a police sheriff and a single father, in a small town. Other characters are mainly minor, like the vampire family. There’s the really hawt girl with the short hair, the awkward guy, the incredibly handsome fatherly figure, and the mother.

The movie has an okay cast, aside from the main character. They have nice chemistry, and they make the scenes flow very nicely. Vampires in this universe aren’t really like the vampires in other universes. They don’t sleep at all, (no coffins) they don’t get killed by daylight (something happens to make them avoid daylight, but it’s facepalm-worthy at best) The only way to kill them is to tear them to shreds and burn the pieces. Also, they have super speed and strength, giving them enough super powers to make superman blush. On top of all that, their all total sex magnets, with perfect bodies, and hair that looks like they’re getting ready for an anime convention (seriously, it’s always spiked just right, in ways that defy gravity.) At least they suck blood…. But none of the main characters suck human blood, and the evil vampires don’t do it onscreen. I only saw one neck get bitten during this entire movie, and it was a minor flash. GAH! Definitely not my favorite vampire mythology.

Plot: Eh, I’ve seen this done in SO many anime it’s ridiculous. It’s a love story about Bella Swan falling in love with the irresistible Edward, who’s eyes glow and has sparkles coming off his skin. Edward, as a vampire, thinks she’s really hot and wants to suck her blood. But he can’t, because he’ll lose control, and won’t be able to stop sucking until it’s too late. Also, he’s a creepy stalker who follows her around. However, he’s so fabulously uber sexy that she finds it charming. It had some extremely funny moments (I’m not sure if they were intentional) and it was fun to watch. I guess it’s like the mindless action movie of chick flicks. You’re exited by it. But when you really analyze it, it looks a little dumb.

Conclusion:
Go ahead and watch it (Actually, most people already have) Don’t take it as seriously as the fangirls are taking it and you may enjoy yourself. Also, it’s a GREAT movie for a date. Seriously, what else are you doing right now that’s so important?

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Fruits Basket 21 review


Well, I’ve been really busy studying and playing NeverWinter Nights, so I haven’t been able to update this blogue. Fear not, for Winter Break is coming up, and I should not only have more Manga and Anime reviews, and I may even find the time and inspiration to write some Dungeons and Dragons stuff… YAY!

SPOILERS for Fruits Basket 1-20 YE HATH BEEN WARNED

Well, actually you should have read those if you we’re planning on buying this one. Not that I’d be able to stop you from buying it. Anyhow, Fruits basket is getting closer to it’s climax, as made obvious by such signs as the curse weakening, and Akito going bat-**** crazy about it. Its getting good, although I would like a good reason for the curse weakening

This one’s been pretty exiting, but really, it’s been picking up speed ever since Haru attacked Akito. Shigure’s proving himself to be evil to the core, Akito has been getting actual DEVELOPMENT, rather than being a malevolent force, Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru all grew spines, and Haru wants pizza. Rin has sadly been contributing NOTHING to the plot, which is a shame, because I liked her character. She seemed kind of relevant, but she’s in the background doing nothing. I guess that happens when you have a cast that’s only second in size to Negima. Well, that is if you spend as much time developing them as Fruits Basket does.

In this volume in particular, we get more development for Tohru and Akito. Also, we get a bit of backstory between Kyoko and Kyo, and Yuki has a discussion with Kyo about their relationship. No Yaoi though, obviously.

Well, I like Fruits Basket, and this is definitely not a good starting point, and really if you’ve come this far in a series, might as go all the way, right? I’ll have more to write about for the climax when it comes out, and if it keeps going like this, it should be quite good.

Overview: Good, but everybody who has come this far will read it no matter what, so who cares what I say?

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

XXXHolic Volume 1


Wow, I’m broke. Well, not really broke, cuz I can still pay the bills, and buying people Christmas presents shouldn’t be much of a problem. Actually, I just don’t have enough spare money to go blow on a ton of Manga. However, since I AM the guy who wrote “Dude, you’re paying too much for anime”, I really shouldn’t make a fuss about this. No, instead I used my massive resourcefulness to conjure up manga from nowhere. Nowhere, in this case meaning a library I normally don’t borrow from, and some stuff I have lying around I haven’t got to watching.

Bringing us to the title of this post, XXXHolic. I picked this up from ye local library, and am currently at the mercy of whoever is borrowing it if I want more. They only had the first volume, and if they actually carry the second, it is probably in the hands of some creepy CLAMP fangirl/boy. *shudders*

Which may force me to go borrow the next few volumes, because this looks like it could go somewhere. Maybe. As a first volume, not much happens, we start with a plot, introduce some characters, yada yada yada. Our lead appears to be spineless boy #3012, who has a crush on cute girl #7123. Spineless boy has the unique feature of being able to see spirits, who bother him greatly. He really wants to get rid of them , leading him to Yuko, the hawt hermit/witch. She claims to be capable of removing his little curse, but it will cost him… HIS SOUL! MWAHAHAHAHA!

After selling his soul to our hawt creepy witch, he gets to endure the strenuous torture of working for her as an assistant. Now he is forced to help her in her shop where she grants people favors in exchange for things that they find valuable. This could lead somewhere interesting, as we have one interesting cast member, and the potential for a great deal of interesting stuff to happen. Alas, my library only had volume 1, so I can’t tell you any farther. Tune in tomorrow for my views on Fruits Basket 21!

Opinion: Might go somewhere, might not.

Related stuff:
X (another project by CLAMP)