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Friday 30 April 2010

Manga Review: Chokkoto Hime

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Title: Chokotto Hime
Author: Kazami Ayami
Release: Monthly
Status: Complete
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy
Art: S+
Originality: S
Story: B
Characters: S
Humor: A
Action: B

Impression: There are times in life where you absolutely cannot provide an unbiased about something. This is one of those times. Chokkoto Hime is about the antics of a small little kitten that is sometimes portrayed as an anamorphic character as a slightly spoiled, careless and airheaded catgirl to an exceedingly powerful effect. This is what Yotsubato is to Slice of Life to the concept of "Adorable". That basically means that there is a dangerous amount of cuteness in this series that it will drive you mad with all the fluffiness it provides and will send you running off to go a find a cat to hug and pet affectionately. This manga will melt the frozen hearts of cynics everywhere and threatens to turn Dog lovers into Cat people. GAH! THIS! IS! TOO! DAMN! CUUUUTE! ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!

Manga Reviews Index

Monday 26 April 2010

Manga Review: Yamanko

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Title: Yamanko
Author: Zappa Go, Itou Ryou
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, Supernatural, Yuri
Art: A
Originality: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is the story of three girls who meet each other due to one of them being afflicted with a curse that turns her into a cat girl. That girl now has to move in with her aunt in the other two’s town and live with her so she can manage her supernatural affliction. It’s not amazing in any way but it’s not bad either. I’d have to say it’s just a bit better than mediocre so it makes for a decent read. I like pretty much all of Zappa Go's work and this one is no exception but sadly I don't see enough Yuri going on here.

Manga Reviews Index

Sunday 25 April 2010

Manga Review: Makaidou

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Title: Makaidou
Author: Owada Hideki
Release: Monthly
Status: Owada Hideki
Genre: Shonen, Comedy, Sci-fi
Art: C
Originality: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This comes from the author of Gundam Sousei and The Legend of Koizumi and as such I was expecting more of his over the top GAR-silliness that he’s got going but alas this publication seems to be one from before he had developed it into his signature style. Basically this is about a no good punk who one day finds a catalog that will change his life for better or worse. Prior to finding this catalog he was warned by some old coot that the book was the handiwork of the devil but he goes and ignores the warning anyway only to find out that it’s a catalog that sends him future gadgets from the past so that he can become one hell of a prime minister in the future. Yes, this does appear to a re-hash of Doraemon only a lot less charming and a lot more over the top. That being said, I do see some potential for this series but that probably won’t happen unless the mangaka got his style together during the course of this publication which doesn’t seem likely. Only the first few chapters are out in English for this series so I don’t know whether or not this will live up to the potential I see in it but I do have to say the latter half of the scanlated chapters are better than the first few so who knows.

Manga Reviews Index

Saturday 24 April 2010

Manga Review: Homunculus

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Title: Homunculus
Author: Yamamoto Hideo
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Psychological, Seinen
Art: A
Originality: S+
Story: A
Characters: S+
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This story focuses on a man who lives in his car parked halfway between a 5-star hotel and park where the homeless gather. When he finds himself strapped for cash, he is offered the money he needs by a queer looking man in exchange for taking part in an experimental study concerning an obscure surgery. He takes the surgery but soon after having done so, the man finds that by closing one of his eyes he is literally able to see the world in a new way. The inhumanly distorted monsters take the place of various people and the forms that these monsters take are based on the insecurities and issues that person struggles with. This is an incredibly fascinating read with how the original concept of the Hommunculus is played with. Naturally with a premise like this, characters are fleshed out a great deal to the point where it REALLY feels like TOO much information. I don’t mean all the psychobabble but rather the ugly parts of the individuals in this series. The author does not pull punches when it comes exposing the readers to that ugliness and you will definitely balk at some of the squick he throws in there. Seriously, the main character has one vice that grosses the hell out of me and as much as I’d like to tell you what that is, it is a big plot point. In any case if you think you can stomach the ewwww that this story throws at you then you should check this out. Additionally, if you liked the fantastic Ghost Hound anime from a few years back or have an inclination towards the way people think then this amazing series is an absolute must read.

Manga Reviews Index

Friday 23 April 2010

Background Change Once More!!

Figured my new background was too shiny looking so I decided to add in a bit more color to the pillars and watermark my old background image into the middle. Looks pretty good if you ask me and hopefully you think so too.

Thursday 22 April 2010

Manga Review: Puchi Houndo

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Title: Puchi Houndo
Author: Neko Neko
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy
Art: B
Originality: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Humor: C
Action: C

Impression: This is the story of a guy who comes to attend this government academy that trains demon hunters so he can get certified as one. However, he arrives too early on the first day so he decides to wander around in the woods to hunt down demons for money to pass time but finds human-like dog demon girl wearing his school's uniform. He wonders whether to shoot it or not but then that demon girl's friend swoops in to protect her. It's not a very original series and the rest of it is rather mediocre. Action scenes don't feel exciting and the story's pacing is a bit too complacent for one trying to involve secret groups and hidden controversies in the ways of the hunting demons. It's not really worth hunting down this manga either as I think it to be too generic to live up to its potential.

Manga Reviews Index

Wednesday 21 April 2010

Manga Review: Shiharu no Genesis

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Title: Shiharu no Genesis
Author: Kondoh Rururu
Release: Monthly
Status: Finished
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, Fantasy
Art: B
Originality: A
Story: B
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is the story of a innocent but hapless young girl who happens to be the reincarnation of Lucifer and unbeknownst to her, her childhood friend happens to be an angel who is watching over to make sure she doesn't find out who she really is. It's an interesting take on a biblical story but I am saddened by the fact that despite demons and angels showing up as girls in a school, mangaupdates does not list this as yuri even though there's certainly some undertones in there. Hopefully that's a mistake as this kind of manga could really be improved with a yuri tag to it. In any case, it's a nice little slice of life manga and I'm hoping to see someone pick up the rest of the chapters for scanlating.

Manga Reviews Index

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Manga Review: Team Medical Dragon

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Title: Team Medical Dragon
Author: Nagai Akira, Nogizaka Tarou
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Seinen, Psychological
Art: B
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: S
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: This is the story of a down and out surgeon who has been outed by the medical society of Japan because of his unconventional work ethics and as such he has become a degenerate living off his girlfriend. However, he is given the chance to work again when the assistant professor of a famed university hospital comes to recruit him for his legendary operating skills. In exchange for his new job, the assistant professor wants him to be on her staff to establish a radical new operating procedure and revolutionize Japan’s healthcare system. This series really knows how to pull you into its intense pace and mood with all the political and psychological warfare going on in and out of the operations. The first chapter doesn’t really give many reasons to continue and many reasons not to, however, by the time you finish of the first volume you’re already hooked onto this series. The cast is filled with strong characters of various personalities and backgrounds and each one feels no less important than the rest. While the genius surgeon is supposed to be the protagonist, I would have to say the constantly stressed out intern he takes under wing is the actual main character as he is the one who develops the most as a character and probably gets more screen time than his own mentor. I really recommend this one to anyone who likes medical and political dramas as it does exceedingly well in these settings.

Manga Reviews Index

Sunday 18 April 2010

New Background!

Okay I've finally put up a new background. I'm not quite satisfied with it so I'd like some feedback on this. Please leave your comments in chatbox.

[EDIT]: Removed all the explanation images from my manga reviews as the make good thumbnails on RSS related widgets. Now working on separating each of the original three series format reviews into single series format so I get an accurate number for how many reviews I've done. This will be a bitch.

Saturday 17 April 2010

Movie Review: Date Night

The other day I went to watch this movie with my cousins as I had been hoping to catch it after having seen the trailer when I went to watch the mindnumbing Clash of the Titans. This pseudo chick flick(I say pseudo chick flick as my cousin had somehow pegged it as such even after having seen the trailer and knowing the cast list) stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey of the hit comedy shows “The Office” and “30 Rock” and it’s about a married couple who are in a bit of a rut in the romance department and one night, they decide to try new things to spice things up. As one would expect with names like these involved, the movie follows the couple’s antics through Manhattan as they try to sort themselves out of a catastrophic misunderstanding with some bad men.

First of all let me point out that this is not a comedy with plot tacked on but rather plot tacked on with good bits of comedy. Were it not for the fact that the main characters played their roles with their own brand of delightful humour, I would actually consider this to be a rather serious movie that really was a look into the troubles of middle aged couples. Thankfully there was still a great deal of chemistry and good writing that kept it from being too serious. After all, I went to see Michael and Liz star in an action packed comedy so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there was more to it than just that.

I hesitate to reveal what happens in the movie exactly as the plot was actually quite well done and managed to throw in a few twists that I was impressed at having been done. However, I do not hesitate to tell you that the awesome sports car you see in there will suffer a horrible fate as anyone with half a brain should already know that movie makers just love to crash the lovely automobiles that their backers paid for(I curse the 007 movies for this). At least we do get a great action scene when the car does get smashed and it’s handled rather impressively both in the comedy and action aspects.

I’d like to praise the actors, the writers and the director for being able to flesh out the characters so well. I don’t mean just the main characters but also the supporting cast for demonstrating such great interactions between them. I especially liked the black guy for managing to look so heartbroken as he shouted about the road only going one way and adding another layer of funny to that particular scene. I would like to know about that politicians’ broom gimmick though as they never really explained the reason behind that character’s particular fixation on his broom. Hopefully someone will post up a Word Of God entry into the movie’s TvTropes page concerning the broom.

All in all, this was a pretty good movie and it works in the same vein as the “Get Smart” movie that Steve Carell also starred in. I can’t say it’s a memorable one though as the only part that really stood out was the chase scene. That being said, I still think it’s worth your ticket money and the one and a half hours or so you spend in the cinema but don’t expect it to be a gold mine of comedy like I did. It’s really more of a silver mine in the comedy department but though it didn’t quite meet my expectation there, it was still a witty ride that had far more ups than downs.

Thursday 8 April 2010

Movie Review: Clash of the Titans

Hahahahahahaha!! I can’t believe I actually paid to see this movie and on a Sunday at that, the day when the tickets are at their most expensive at the mall with so many people around with time on their hands. Frankly, I only went to watch this movie because I haven’t hung out with my friends in a while so I figured I could sit through an hour and a half of a multi-million dollar investment in CG rather than a good writer. Heck, I bet they could’ve saved more if they just hired GOOD writers for these kinds of films.

Let me get straight to the biggest disappointment of this so called “Clash of the Titans”; there was clashing, there were titans but there was one sorely missed detail – the titans never clashed with each other. I’d say there were about 2.5 titans shown in this ridiculous attempt at epicness. Those were the Kraken, Medusa, the Rock Titan and the giant scorpions. The Kraken rightly deserves to be counted as a single titan but Medusa and the Rock Titan only count as half a titan each because medusa was only a little bigger than a human and the Rock Titan was out of commission. The scorpions count as half because I think there were seven in total but since two died I might as well round down the score. Speaking of which, the scorpions themselves count as a plot hole. It was hinted that the scorpions were created from the severed hand of Hades’ hitman but the leader of the army squad they sent said that they were part of the dessert as the Djinn were used to controlling them. Either I missed something or the writers did – I choose to say that the writers did and I doubt anyone would go to the trouble of correcting me if I was wrong.

Next up are the characters. What the hell Director Someone Something(I’m not even going to bother looking up their info. It just isn’t worth the effort)!!? This is supposed to be an epic based on greek myths that came with a title that promised us an epic fantasy experience and yet they literally gave me a snorefest. My friend sat there as a witness to crossing the border back and forth over the line between the zone of wakefulness and sandman’s land along with, to his misfortune, two couples in front and behind him snogging in the dark instead of watching the movie. I can tell you that there were more than any small number of people facebooking and twittering as the movie went on. The characters were poorly established, poorly developed and poorly killed off. Well most of them anyway, the old leader of the army squad got a pretty awesome send off. The worst offenders had to be Perseus and Hades, the Hero and the Villain themselves. Perseus was an initially whiny fisherman out of water who happened to be demi-god who later became a self-contradicting rebel without a clear cause or creed who happened to be the hero and a demi-god. Hades was actually a decent character but the way he was taken care of would have the heavens rage against the human who directed this movie. All of that build up as a powerful designated enemy who was slowly becoming powerful enough to take Olympus’ head’s place gets hit by a sword struck by lightning that was thrown so hard that he was knocked backed down into the underworld right miles away just as the undersea chasm was closing. I do not want to get into the details of what was so wrong with the physics and the inclusion of that scene so I will just say that I expected a boss fight but the game master gave the player character an instant kill weapon for a nigh invincible opponent.

Here is what I really have to say about this movie – It IS a piss poor excuse of blockbuster and I’m not only recommending that you avoid it, I am advising you, the reader, with the purest intention of wanting to help you look for a good time, NOT to bother watching this movie. Save your ticket money and your preciously limited lifespan for something actually worth spending it on(I would recommend “How to Train Your Dragon” if it’s still showing in your area). If you were looking forward to eating some popcorn then just skip out on the movie and bring the popcorn home with you. I know I might seem very harsh and that I am overly eager to blast away at this film(I was in a good mood when I wrote this but know that this is my FAIR, UNBIASED impression of this movie. “Clash of the Titans” is bad but nowhere near bad enough to be “So Bad That It’s Good” meaning it’s not even worth watching just for the sake of mocking it. So my dear readers, go out and do something other than watching this movie and hope that Hollywood will learn to invest in writing rather and flashiness.

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Manga Review: My Lovely Ghost Kana

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Title: My Lovely Ghost Kana
Author: Tanaka Yutaka
Release: Monthly
Status: Finished
Genre: Supernatural, Romance, Ecchi, Slice of Life
Art: B
Originality: A
Story: B
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is the story of a young man who moves into a decrepit building as part of his new life and finds a ghost by the name of Kana right there in his new living place. The ghost doesn’t remember very much about her life before she died and doesn’t really care to know about it. The guy falls in love with her and the two live their daily lives together in peace as lovers. Seriously, that’s the plot. In between the slice of life bits, we get plenty of sex scenes in this one and it somehow ends being… well not exactly tasteful but they do come off sweeter and more relevant than regular smut. It’s a short and sweet story with a very likeable cast of characters and it’s worth taking a look at.

Manga Reviews Index

Friday 2 April 2010

My Name Is Doof And I'll Do What You Say. WHOOP WHOOP!

Found this 10 minute loop of the song Dr. Doofensmirchz(If I spelled this right that'd be amazing) of Phineas & Ferb made so he could brainwash people. As much of a doof the guy is, the song actually stays stuck in your head if you hear it enough times so I decided to feature this here. This is the challenge - watch this entire video and try NOT to sing this out loud for the rest of day. It's quite the challenge I tell you.



Whoop Whoop!

Thursday 1 April 2010

Manga Review: Kieli

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Title: Kieli
Author: Kabei Yukaku, Teshirogi Shiori
Release: Monthly
Status: Finished
Genre: Shoujo, Supernatural
Art: A
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: S
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is the story of a girl who can see and interact with the spirits of the dead set on a planet with 19th century-ish technology and architecture set in the distant future. She is withdrawn around the living and her only friend happens to be a ghost of a girl that used to occupy her room while she was alive. One day, she meets this man who not only sees the dead but is also one of the immortal zombie soldiers that government made long ago but now are hunting down. It’s based on a series of light novels and if I’m not mistaken, this only covers the first two volumes of the nine in the series. I found this be quite a wonderful read with its great characterization and moving story and was terribly disappointed when I realized that there was still a lot more material from the novels that didn’t get the chance to be shown. While there are hints at a much more ambitious plot here, the story itself is driven by the characters as most of the scenes are there to flesh out the characters and their relationships with each other. I also really liked the art style here as it's perfect for the setting and also for conveying the thoughts and emotions of the character. Like I said, this is a wonderful read so I do recommend that you give this a go if you haven't. It made my top manga list last year after all.

Manga Reviews Index
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