Chobits, Vol. 1 of 7
Boma at 10:52 PM
Here is a series by Japan's all-woman artist group CLAMP. Chobits can be seen in different ways. At first the most obvious is the cutesy little robot in the frilly dresses living with a horny, almost-in-college guy. Then you can stop right there after hearing the first "Chiiii?" But then watching more, getting into it more you can start to see the levels. Human or robot? Which is better? This is the question that is bombarded at Hideki Motosuwa throughout the series as Chi developes and becomes more coherent and emotional. This is exemplified through the surrounding characters. They all have stories/ backgrounds that reflect the issue. Hiromu Shinbo (Hideki's helpful neighbor), Chitose Hibiya (manager of the apartment building), Minoru Kokubunji (persocom expert), Yuzuki (Minoru's custom-made persocom made to be like his deceased sister), Yumi Omura (friend and co-worker at the Japanese Pub "My Pleasure"), Takako Shimizu (prep school teacher), and Manager Ueda ( Manager at Tirol where Chi works). It is like a series of stories that support the main by how you are ushered through each stage with each couple until you get to the end where Hideki makes his decision.
I did like this series. Chi is sweet and innocent as she explores the world and Hideki explains to the best of his ability. Hideki, (you'd think he'd bleed to death by the end with all the bloody noses he gets) even though he likes his "magazines" and didn't make it into college, has his heart in the right place. He gives sage advice (even though he's either half asleep or half starved when he gives it) and wants the best for everyone.
The characters develope very well through this series. The one thing, a minor detail, is the ending. I won't go into detail but it could have been extended a bit for the added characters. It was pretty much for the closure, how they handled it, to wrap things up. All in all it wasn't bad, just longer. There is manga available so that would probably go into further detail.
Boma at 9:28 PM
Added a link to my dvd collection listing. I have a few more to add that I had gotten on my b-day, I'll do that later, though. Happy Browsing!
Boma at 11:47 PM
The Cat Returns
Boma at 5:37 PM
The Cat Returns is one of the newly released batch of three from Studio Ghibli (along with Porco Rosso and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind). Even though this is a Studio Ghibli film Hayao Miyazaki created the original concept while the director is Hiroyuki Morita. But you don't have to look at the credits to tell, the animation style is clearly different. But this movie is excellent. The animation shows the individuality between the directors. The music gives the atmosphere a grander feeling such as when Haru is entering the Cat King's castle. And instead of the environmental and coming of age themes this is one is believing/ having faith in yourself. Sometimes you don't feel like you belong, you have the worst luck at things and you just want to give up. This is how Haru is at the beginning of the film. She saves the Cat King's only son one day and now the whole kingdom wants to repay her (with hilarious results) finally the cats kidnap her in wanting her to marry the prince. Luckily Haru had contacted the Baron at the Cat Bureau who comes to her rescue along with Muta and Toto. This is quite an enjoyable movie, good for kids. The one thing I don't care for is how Disney is inserting their own actors into the Ghibli movies, granted they do a decent job, but if I hear Hilary Duff as a voice in a future release I'm gonna be seriously ticked.
Boma at 4:54 PM
ok, I just added a whole bunch of wallpapers. I went through my screencaps and enlarged the ones I liked. I also did them all bigger, so hopefully it'll fit screens better. Let's see there are one's to Angel Sanctuary, Azumanga Daioh, DBZ, Cowboy Bebop, Get BAckers, Dragon Drive, Escaflowne, Fruits Basket, Galerians: Rion, Twelve Kingdoms, Inuyasha, Knight Hunters: Eternity, Saiyuki, Magic User's Club, and Tenchi. heh heh heh, That's all I've been doing all day, not that they're really technical, but I liked the pics and wanted them for my screen as well. Let me know what you think. Oh, and by the way, Happy Birthday To ME!!
Boma at 12:58 AM
Ok, I think I'm gonna take a mini break from reviewing and make some wallpapers. I have a bunch of screencaps and pics I found that I want to play around with. The next review though will be The Cat Returns and then Chobits.
Boma at 2:34 PM
The Castle of Cagliostro
Boma at 2:30 PM
Heh, this movie is great! I've watched some of the Lupin III series and enjoyed it but when I tried the movies they were . . . well . . . subpar. I did enjoy Twilight of the Gemini, but I like the Lupin sereis better than the movies. Here though is the exception. The Castle of Cagliostro is the great combination of Hayao Miyazaki and Katou Kazuhiko a.k.a. Monkey Punch. Based Monkey Punch's works, Miyazaki has Lupin help the Princess Clarisse who is being forced to marry the Count Cagliostro. The reason for this marriage iiiiiiiiiis? Anyone? . . . TREASURE!! When the two goat rings are joined it forms a clue to uncovering the hidden treasure of Cagliostro. Also while investigating the catacombs under the Cagliostro castle Lupin uncovers a money forging operation. And of course the whole gang is here Zenigata, Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko even though the film focuses more on Lupin than the other characters. What I like the most is seeing the blend of animation styles, of the traditional Kazuhiko's Lupin (for example) and Miyazaki's style of animation. I had first seen this movie at BAAF, Big Apple Anime Fest in 2003 and the whole audience would burst out laughing. For one thing that is humorous is practically every movement has it's own sound to it. Example, when Lupin is on the roof of the castle, he slips and starts running down the slope going faster and faster. When he gets to the end he jumps stretching to a split, there's this boi-oing sound. I can't explain it well, suffice it to say though that this is a must have for any anime collector.
Boma at 8:51 PM
Castle in the Sky
Boma at 10:00 PM
Castly in the Sky is one of my favorites by Hayao Miyazaki. It is about Sheeta, a mysterious girl who fell from the sky, and Pazu, an orphen who helps out in the mines. Sheeta has a crystal necklace that was passed down in her family that contains a mysterious power, a which the Dola Pirate Gang and the Military want and are chasing her down for. Pazu gets caught up in the middle of the chase but does not want to abandon her. Everything though is connected to the flying castle Laputa. The Pirates and the Military want the legendary treasure, Pazu wants to prove that his father was right about the castle, Sheeta wants to learn about her heritage and Col. Muska wants the world conquering power that Laputa wields. This movie was made in 1986 but the animation is very well done. I can just imagine Miyazaki having a lot of fun with this movie, he loves aviation and it shows in this movie (as well as Porco Rosso) with his creative air ship designs, beautiful backgrounds and landscapes, and the detail put into the flying castle. Each character is developed and follows their own personality, of which I like the bumbling Pirates the best (they're a riot!). I highly recommend this movie, clean animation, thorough story, and likable characters round out this one nicely.
Boma at 9:22 PM
Blue Seed: Beyond
Boma at 12:14 AM
ugh, I was so excited when I heard this was coming out. It was such a disappointment. It's only three episodes, that's it. Basically it takes place 2 years after the original Blue Seed and Aragami start to reappear. The T.A.C. discover that there are new man made aragami running around that were created in San Francisco. So they all troop over to the U.S. and have these monlogues about the power hungry U.S. And the American Navy representative is a sexist, rascist idiot. Now usually I take these U.S. put downs etc. with stride, but in here it really pushed my buttons. I can take the rags in R.O.D. better than this. blech. ANYWAY, They go, they talk, they get rid of the Aragami, then they troop back to Japan. In the meantime, there's a new chickie who joins the group, she also has a mitama like Kusanagi, she also has powers like Kusanagi, BUT she spontaniously bursts out of all her clothes to change, jiggling all the way. The San Francisco arc is 2 of the 3 episodes. The last episode is the girls in a hot spring with a bomb. The end kinda leaves you hanging, but not really. It's a pointless episode, that only serves to show off skin and compare bust sizes. Maybe if there was more to Beyond than the three episodes I'd get beyond my initial dislike, but I haven't seen anything. ugh, I say don't waste your money on this. If all you want is boobs though, knock yourself out, otherwise don't waste your time either on this. The only thread that's saving this is that there's Kusanagi in a speedo, but even that won't save it for long.
Boma at 11:15 PM
Blue Seed: Perfect Collection
Boma at 7:30 PM
Ah, finally finished Blue Seed. This was the first full series I purchased. It came as a brick and was a reasonable price 30-ish. They have re-released the series as a new set. Anywho, there really isn't anything special or spectacular about this series. It's pretty generic. It was released in 1994 to give you a frame of reference. You have Momiji Fugimiya, who's a typical high school student until she discovers she has a twin sister and that she is the Kushinada, a woman who's sacrifice would put the Aragami to sleep and save Japan. Well, her sister became disposed of and so the T.A.C. (a secret agancy organized to fight the Aragami) come to get her and protect her. The Aragami are these plant/animal monsters wanting to destroy the human race. To make sure that the humans wouldn't sacrifice the Kushinada, they created Kusanagi, who was human turned into am aragami, to protect the kushinada. As time goes by a ceramic field was discovered that would bind the kushinada's power. The Aragami got their tentacles on it and are notw bent on killing momiji and now Kusanagi who has betrayed the Aragami. So basically it's a screaming girl with monsters after her. But it's enjoyable, with the love tension between Momiji and Kusanagi. There's plenty of action and even a bit of blood. There's more to the story than what I'm saying here, it's heavily into environmental themes and Japanese mythology which makes you want to go out and read up on some of the characters. The main characters are Momiji (she's a screamer, love sick, clutzy girl who's determined to do her best to save Japan), Kaede (Momiji's older twin sister who mysteriously disappeared), Kunikida (head of the T.A.C., adoptive father of Kaede and later guardian of Momiji, makes bad puns, and is dedicated to protecting the Kushinada and ridding Japan of the Aragami), Takeuchi (former police woman, and secretly in love with Kunikida), Kome (was transffered from the air force, has the ability to find out where guns and weapons of mass destruction are to add to her collection, She's loud and straightforward), Matsudaira (work a holic woman who had gotten a divorce because of her focus on her work), Sakura (phsycic who was taken to the U.S. after her mother was killed and now works for the C.I.A., She's loud and obnoxious and always wants to be the center of attention) and Kusanagi (Aragami killed his family when he was a baby and then implanted 7 blue seeds that turned him into an Aragami and was given the duty to protect the Kushinada. He's cool but as Sakura says "Kusanagi, you're cute but dense as a bag of bricks." He's quick on everything except the female mind, lol) Fun characters, interesting story, typical animation. It's a fun series but probably nothing you haven't seen somewhere else.
Boma at 6:22 PM
Ugh! Haven't posted in a while. SORRY! I've been spending every minute playing Xenosaga so I can start the second one. Can't wait! Eventually, though, the next review will be on Blue Seed. Once I get around to watching it again. I'm also going to make a Juvenile Orion wallpaper, once I get off my butt and get the scans done. La La Laaaaaa . . . I think that's it. I had started to watch Soul Taker until I noticed I bought the 2nd dvd instead of the first so that backlogged. Oh, Well. Now that's it. Until then.
Boma at 10:56 PM
