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| Manga Mentions 5.08 | |
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5.15.2008
7:50 AM | Link |
 Another month, another five volumes enjoyed! I wish I had time to read more than that, because I can always use a manga escape every now and then. Here's this month's report!Monster Vol 10: Although my interest in this manga has toned down a little, it's still one of the most amazing suspense stories I've ever read, so even though I'm behind the current release, I still can't put a volume down once I start it! This time we're introduced to Grimmer, a new character who's a former spy investigating the creepy 511 Kinderheim experiments, and there really isn't much of Tenma to be seen. Johan's sister is getting pretty scary, though! Phoenix Vol 12: I was completely shocked to discover this bonus volume of my beloved Hi no Tori was available, since the last official story was Vol 11! This is a collection of serialized children's stories that star the Phoenix, mostly as a baby named Chirol, focusing on ancient Egypt and Rome, so familiar plots like the Trojan Horse are included. It was fascinating to read these light-hearted yet dramatic stories and still recognize the main characteristics of my favorite manga series! Death Note 13: On the subject of bonus volumes, here's another unexpected treat! This extra addition to this fantastic series is titled How to Read, and it's basically a encyclopedia of every detail, large and small, about the story. There are long discussions with the creators, detailed explanations about every plot twist, an exhaustive Death Note rules list, character studies, and so on - it's an obsessive geek's delight! The first Death Note pilot story is included as well, with the original idea that erasing a name would bring the person back to life! Nodame Cantabile Vol 4: I enjoyed this volume mostly because I was engrossed in the live-action drama of this series at the same time, so it's lots of fun to compare the plots as they unfold, but I'm definitely devoted to sticking with the manga all the way. This volume includes the Nagano Music Festival, with a quick and funny stop at the beach, plus an extra story about Nodame's childhood and her first piano teacher, which was really sweet. Yotsuba Vol 5: Finally, it was wonderful to get back to this gentle, heart-warming series again, which should receive simultaneous awards for "quickest read" and "most laughs out loud"! This time Yotsuba has fun star gazing, playing in the rain and at the beach, and gets fooled by a robot costume. Even though it's so simple, this series always makes me feel wonderful - its motto of "Enjoy everything" is so poignant and true! |
| Amazon tweaking habit | |
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5.14.2008
10:22 PM | Link |
Lately my main time-wasting addiction has become adjusting my Amazon Wish Lists and recommendations. I have several lists going, including one I use for things that I want to buy really soon, so I'm constantly looking over my items and figuring what to move around. For example, when I finish a manga volume, I probably already have the next volume of the series on my Manga list, so I find it and move it to my Order Soon list. I also like looking over some of my long lists and deleting things that I've decided not to buy - it's nice to keep something on a list for a while, rather than make an impulse purchase, and then later realize that I really don't want it so much. But besides list management, I absolutely love digging through Amazon recommendations, since I can mark things as "not interested" or rate items I already own. I have discovered so many new books and DVDs before their release date that way, since Amazon does a good job of recommending what I like (thanks to their huge customer base and collaborative filtering). Sometimes I go crazy and even look as far as 500 items of recommendations, and things get pretty silly at that point, but it's still fun. I guess it's just a way to curb my shopping cravings without spending money all the time! Labels: life |
| Speed Racer : 5 of 5 | |
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5.13.2008
7:13 AM | Link |
 I've been a fan of the Speed Racer anime since I was little, and it was practically my introduction into Japanese entertainment, so I've been looking forward to this movie for quite a while, even though I was skeptical about bringing this classic cartoon to the big screen. The film has received lots of mixed reviews, but for a fan of the original show like me, all of the reasons that critics have found to fault the movie are the exact reasons that I loved it! Instead of trying to bring the plot into modern times, the Wachowski brothers chose to keep the nostalgic, other-worldly style of the cartoon intact, only updating the presentation into a glorious explosion of video game color. The action is fantastic, and the visuals are filled with so much detail that I want to watch it over and over again to take it all in! Most of the casting is surprisingly good - Speed's hair is just right, Trixie is sassy, and I'm so glad they used a real monkey for Chim-Chim! On the subject of acting, there are a few unexpected touching moments between Speed and Pops and his mom which really add a nice dimension not seen in the cartoon. If I had to mention a couple minor negatives, it would have to be the new Sparky, who just didn't work for me, and they changed the use of some of the buttons on the Mach 5, which is actually the Mach 6 for racing, so I guess that's just fan nitpicking on my part! But there are so many other good things to mention - the liberal use of the classic theme song, the inclusion of several villains like Crusher Block and Snake Oiler, the nod to the Mammoth Car episode, the joke about Speed's red socks, and how about Racer X's voice? I thought the delivery was uncanny! I'm convinced that Speed Racer fans, if they embrace the spirit and fun of the original series, will really enjoy this movie. I certainly did, and I'm already dying for the DVD!Labels: movies |
| Batman Chronicles / Vol 2 : 3 of 5 | |
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5.12.2008
8:22 PM | Link |
 After enjoying the first volume of Batman Chronicles so much, I decided I had to continue with this series, since I'm fascinated by the extremely early adventures of this iconic hero, this time from 1940. The stories in this volume begin to take a different tone, since Robin is usually there to pal around with, and Bruce seems to really enjoy his pipe-smoking bachelor lifestyle, although a few plots include his fiancee Julie (which was news to me!). Besides the Joker, there are a few more villain introductions, although they are definitely different than we know them today. Catwoman wears a full cat-head mask, which looks pretty silly, and Clayface is simply an actor in makeup (for now!). The cool thing about these stories is most of them are actually presented as mysteries - lots of suspects are introduced, and Batman really gets to be a detective and solve the crime. But along with the intellectual side comes some extreme violence, with bad guys being tossed around and even slammed into walls (which the narrator loves to call a "sickening thud" over and over again). Robin often uses a sling as his weapon (always with a David & Goliath reference), the Batplane shows up a few times, but there's still no official Batmobile - I'm looking forward to its introduction. If I didn't have so many other books waiting for me to read, I would already be buying the next volume of this series by now!
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| Iron Man : 5 of 5 | |
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5.11.2008
7:43 AM | Link |
 Although I'm not totally immersed in the comic book adventures of Iron Man, I've certainly read enough of his stories both alone and with the Avengers (plus watched the cartoon TV series!) to be somewhat of a fan, so I was really excited to see this movie. Along with movies like the first Spider-Man and Batman Begins, Iron Man is a truly fantastic superhero movie that manages to keep both comic book geeks and general movie-goers happy, and I loved it! The first few scenes to establish the playboy character of Tony Stark are absolutely hilarious, and Robert Downey Jr. does a great job playing him, and later in the film really shines when he turns around Stark's emotions to reveal his new life purpose as a hero. It was nice to Gwenyth Paltrow again, and the short romance scenes had nice chemistry, I thought. But of course, the real star is the Iron Man suit (as well as Tony's other gadgets), which includes a fantastic progression of development and testing sequences (perfectly played for laughs), and watching Iron Man blaze across the sky (especially when pursued by other jets) is thrilling! The origin story has been updated to Afghanistan, but all of the elements are there so I think comic book purists are satisfied. As for me, I'm just glad I noticed the cartoon series theme song as a cell phone ringtone! I'm definitely excited about seeing future movies in this series, especially if they start to involve SHIELD more, or even the Avengers (as they hinted in the bonus scene at the end of the credits!). It's amazing to look at a great movie like Iron Man compared to crap like Fantastic Four - I'm just thankful someone in Hollywood can do superheroes right!Labels: movies |
| Warukunai desu yo | |
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5.10.2008
3:40 PM | Link |
You may remember that I was a disappointed in my scores on the 2007 Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 3, but since then I've been really curious to find out how the rest of the world did on the same exam. Every year they publish a set of statistics with that information, and this week I noticed the results were finally available online, so at last I can compare myself with the rest of the world! The numbers I'm interested in are the average scores for overseas examinees, and there were around 113,000 of them last year. I'm really happy to say that my scores were above average in all three parts of the test, so I feel much better now! My writing/vocabulary score was 84, while the average was only 69, and my reading/grammar score was 163, while the average was 126. Best of all, now I have proof that the 2007 listening comprehension section was really terrible - the average score was a mere 39 points, which makes my score of 48 seem much better! So overall, my total score of 295 looks nice compared to the average score of 235. I've really been enjoying my Japanese studies this year, and now it feels even better to know that my Level 3 results were definitely OK since the test was pretty difficult. Now I have new determination to pass Level 2 someday, most likely in 2009 - I'm definitely going to spend this year enjoying Japanese without cramming for the exam! While I'm on the subject, this week I had my last lesson with my tutor Mikie, who is moving to California soon. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher at this stage of my studies - her kindness really helped me through some tough spots and encouraged me to continue studying! I'm thankful that my pal Kumiko is my new tutor, and we are making fantastic progress and having fun, but I'm definitely going to miss Mikie-sensei! |
| I can't stop watching Disney Musume! | |
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5.09.2008
12:40 PM | Link |
 It's time for some serious fan gushing, because this morning I just discovered the incredible music video of the classic Mickey Mouse March that Morning Musume made for a recent NHK special! It features all the girls dancing around Toontown in Tokyo Disneyland, right along with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Chip & Dale! Since I'm a huge Disney fan, and a huge Morning Musume fan, I just can't get enough of this video (as ridiculous as that sounds) - my favorite things are all here like toppings on an ice cream sundae and I'm overwhelmed by the cute explosion! On the Disney side, Toontown looks great, Mickey's costume is fresh and unique, and the crazy instrumentation of the song definitely has that Disney touch. On the Morning Musume side, their matching costumes are wonderful, the kawaii-experts like Sayumi look so at home in Disneyland, and everyone's little interjections are cool (of course, I love hearing phrases like "Let's dancing!", because it makes it even more adorable!). It even has on-screen Japanese lyrics, which I have pretty much memorized already! After watching the video (over and over) on YouTube, I found some high-quality versions on the Hello!Online tracker, and now I have it on my iPhone so I can get an emergency fix anytime I want! Watch video: Morning Musume / Mickey Mouse MarchLabels: disney, jpop, morning musume |
| Disneyland Resort: Imagineering the Magic : 3 of 5 | |
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5.08.2008
7:38 AM | Link |
 This is a new two-disc DVD set available only at the Disney parks, but I was lucky enough to read about it and order it directly from Disneyland! When I first looked at the packaging, I was worried that this would be a simple rehash of the material included on the Disneyland: Secrets, Stories & Magic DVD set, but it's actually all new material organized into each of the Disneyland lands with brief Imagineer interview clips. There were no new surprising facts revealed for me here (this is kind of a "junior" look at Imagineering), but I was amazed by some vintage black & white footage that I had never seen before that was pretty spectacular! My favorites were watching test rides of Peter Pan's Flight (when it was just the seats suspended from the track), as well as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (without all the flats separating the building into rooms). My only complaint about the documentary is that several old clips are presented in the wrong aspect ratio - I guess they wanted the whole show to fill the screen on HDTVs, but I hate seeing squashed video. Besides the hour-long feature, there are some bonus segments on the second disc about new attractions (unfortunately all old news, since everything is already open, even though this is a brand new DVD!) and a ridiculously easy quiz, plus a quick look at Disney's California Adventure, which will all be irrelevant someday as they redesign the park. I really enjoyed watching this DVD (most of it with my Disney pal Melinda), so I'd definitely recommend it to Disney park maniacs just getting started on their obsession with Imagineering!
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| Cat Girl Kiki : 2 of 5 | |
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5.07.2008
6:36 PM | Link |
 I guess I'm continuing with this embarrassing trilogy that started with Legend of the Doll, but at least these movies are short and silly enough to get through quickly! This movie has a really similar plot to the last one, featuring a lonely guy who takes in a stray cat, only to find it transformed into a cat-girl (fully human with kitty ears, but no tail) named Kiki. The first half of the movie is just what you would expect - drinking milk, playing with toys, and even learning how to speak (and don't forget trying on a maid costume), but then the plot quickly changes as we realize the guy is a shut-in whose life has fallen apart, and it becomes apparent that no one else can see Kiki. It's crazy how dramatic it gets, and the acting isn't half-bad actually, since the guy really stirs up a lot of emotion. This movie definitely has an amateur feel to it, but not as bad as Legend of the Doll - I'm pretty sure it was shot on video, but at least they used high-quality cameras and tripods this time! The editing and camera angles are better, too. Discussing the filming techniques of a simple otaku fantasy flick makes me sound like I'm trying to turn Cat Girl Kiki into art, but I'm definitely not! I just enjoyed watching it because it's fun to see the stereotypes of Japanese culture portrayed so boldly, which will be my same excuse for watching the third and final movie in this series soon.Labels: dvds |
| All Monsters Attack : 3 of 5 | |
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5.06.2008
7:56 AM | Link |
 After a long pause in their release schedule, Classic Media is back with more definitive Godzilla DVD releases, which I bought as soon as they were available! I decided to watch All Monsters Attack first, even though it has a bad reputation as the worst Godzilla movie ever made, and I can see why. This particular film was actually targeted at kids, so it has a young boy as the main character Ichiro, who lives his life as a latchkey kid who has a scuffle with some bank robbers. All of the monster action takes place in Ichiro's fantasy world (on Monster Island), where he dreams of watching huge battles with his pal Minilla (the goofy son of Godzilla), and then uses various fighting techniques he observes to outwit the robbers (and a bully who has been giving him trouble) in a kind of Home Alone style! To top it off, most of the monster battle footage was lifted from previous Godzilla films, so there are crazy inconsistencies like three different Godzilla costumes (the changes are subtle, but you can definitely tell!). Thankfully, Classic Media can make even a so-so movie like this one into a fantastic experience, since it's always fun to see these movies in the original Japanese, and their commentary tracks simply cannot be topped. This time the commentary discusses where all of the reused footage comes from, and talks directly about each scene as we watch it, mentioning lighting, sets, and so on. There's also a brief documentary on director Ishiro Honda included. Actually, I still had a blast watching this film - the child acting is pretty amazing to me, and I certainly don't mind a silly movie from time to time. I'm just glad there are new DVDs for a Godzilla fan like me to devour!
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| High School Musical 2 : 3 of 5 | |
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5.05.2008
7:38 PM | Link |
 For a Disney fan like me, it's taken way too long for me to get caught up the huge High School Musical phenomenon, but now I can say I'm ready for the third movie when it comes out! I completely forgot to review the original movie, but I promise I did rent it soon after seeing the local stage production, and I thought it was really fun - I especially loved the fact that Kenny Ortega, who worked so hard on the Disney bomb yet cult favorite Newsies, finally has a real hit on his hands. This second movie pretty much takes the plot turns you would expect - after high school, you've got to have summer vacation, and after Sharpay lost Troy to Gabriella, of course she has to spend the whole movie trying to get him back. The location for everyone's summer job is a gorgeous country club with some spectacular scenery, and the outdoor shots really have a fantastic color palette! There are some great songs this time around, such You Are the Music in Me, which is a nice ballad that gets hilariously Sharpay-ized, and I was also really impressed by Bet On It, since Zac really knows how to go all out on his performance (and if anyone can offer me his hair, I will pay out the nose). Unfortunately, there are some total dud songs, too, like I Don't Dance (singing on the baseball field just doesn't work), and the goofy Hawaiian number (apparently only available on the DVD version) is flat-out embarrasing. The whole thing is just under two full hours, which is pretty long for a Disney Channel movie (which still has the annoying pauses for commercials), but I had a great time watching the whole thing. It definitely made me want to get outside in the sun and pretend I'm one of the cool kids!
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| Hello! Project 2008 Winter / Kettei! Haropuro Award '08 : 4 of 5 | |
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5.04.2008
7:59 AM | Link |
 After being a little disappointed with Morning Musume's fall concert, I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed this giant winter concert by the full Hello! Project arsenal. This is the kind of show I wanted to see, held in a giant arena overflowing with fans, and the moment all the girls started filling the "race track" stage gave me goosebumps! Seeing old timers like Nacchi and Yuko singing side-by-side with Berryz Koubou is so sweet, and gave the concert a nice sense of history. The camera work was pretty good, and I love the fact that the girls definitely know where the cameras are so they can ham it up! There were lots of earpiece monitors in use, but that sure didn't stop them from lip synching way too much. Of course, Aya and Nacchi completely out-class everyone else by sounding terrific totally on their own, but I still enjoyed everyone else's performances, too. In "news from the past", Biyuden makes a quick apology for their sudden breakup, and Ongaku Gatas announces their new album. The concert is themed as an awards show, so the usual MCs Makoto and Mari go through these goofy announcements for categories like Best Smile and even Best Yay Yay. Morning Musume gives a nice performance of Love and Peace (with plenty of cute kisses), and it's really fun to see Lin Lin and Jun Jun speaking Chinese, since they can really rattle it off. During the finale, I always enjoy seeing the older Musumes get emotional and let a few tears fall - it really reminds me that these performers for the most part really love what they do, give it their best, and are actually thankful to their fans and staff for the opportunity to sing and dance in such a huge show! It's this kind of mutual fan/performer admiration that makes Jpop my favorite form of musical entertainment!Labels: dvds, jpop, morning musume |
| Triple event weekend | |
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5.03.2008
9:23 PM | Link |
 This has been a jam-packed weekend so far, and tons of fun! Friday night there was a bachelor dinner in honor of Jonathan's wedding (coming up in a couple weeks!), so all of gathered for a long meal at the Clay Pit with plenty of drinking, story telling, and lots of laughter. After dinner we decided to walk to the Cloak Room, which is one of Jonathan's secret late-night haunts. Most of us had never been there before, and it was cool to discover this tiny, dark bar that's famous for being filled with Texas legislators (since it's right at the foot of the Capitol). It was a really fun evening!Today I got up early to get my weekend chores done so I could head out to enjoy Free Comic Book Day! Matt decided he wanted to check it out also, so we went to Capstone Comics (a really nice place that I'll definitely revisit) and ran into George and his grandson Devin, which was nice since I love seeing kids getting excited about free comics. The store really went all out for the event with raffle drawings, guests artists signing things, and even guys in authentic Star Wars costumes! Next, after an hour or so of rest, the Greatest American Heroes drove to Temple to play a benefit for the American Cancer Society. We played in a high school football stadium, right on the 50-yard line, and although we were missing Chris on guitar and had a guest bassist, we had a great time and seemed to be well received. It was so refreshing to play outside in the beautiful weather, and then have an awesome meal together at a 50s themed diner. Now I'm finally home, a little sunburnt, and a lot tired, but I've enjoyed every minute of this crazy weekend! I'm definitely going to kick back tomorrow!  View photos: Jonathan's Bachelor Dinner View photos: Comics & Heroes
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| Yo-Yo Girl Cop : 3 of 5 | |
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5.02.2008
7:46 AM | Link |
 Even though I already downloaded and watched Sukeban Deka back in 2006, I was so surprised to see this movie get a US DVD release that I wanted to buy it just to support the cause! In case you don't know, Yo-Yo Girl Cop is an action-adventure about a yo-yo weapon-wielding school girl, staring the Jpop talents of Matsuura Aya and the Biyuden gals. I wasn't overly impressed with the movie the first time, but since then my Jpop fandom has grown and changed a little, so it was really fun to watch it again with new eyes. I also wanted to check out the "official" subtitles, since I thought the translations I had seen before were hilarious with tons of F-bombs, but the Japanese is just as loose this time around. I noticed many more genre techniques (like woosh sound effects for camera zooms!), and I thought Rika was much cooler than before (I guess I'm a bigger fan now!). Of course, I still enjoyed Aya's legs and her action scenes are great, but I was more impressed with Yui's acting - for her first (and maybe only) movie, she does a nice job playing such a sad introverted character! I was a little more moved by the brief dinner scene where Aya has dinner with her father (though she doesn't know he's her dad), so overall my movie watching experience was better this time. It was cool to watch the long Making Of segment with subtitles, and I think it's awesome that Aya did her own stunt work, even the difficult wire flying moves! The best part is watching Aya have a brief conversation with the actress who played the first Sukeban Deka, as they compare yo-yo props and talk about the difference in film making techniques. Yo-Yo Girl Cop isn't a great movie, but I'm glad I gave it a second chance - it's still a fun way to enjoy being a Jpop fan with a tokusatsu flair!
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| Japanese in MangaLand Vol 2 / Marc Bernabe : 3 of 5 | |
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5.01.2008
10:15 PM | Link |
 I can't believe I read this first volume of this series back in 2006, and I just now finally finished the second volume (guess I was really busy studying for the JLPT)! I really like the way this book concisely presents Japanese grammar - sometimes it has to bend the truth a little to avoid mentioning the many confusing exceptions that are lurking nearby, but I love the way it spells out grammar rules with confidence anyway. The selling point for this series is the manga examples, but truthfully they are the least helpful part of the book (but still fun to study). Even less helpful are the cultural/conversation chapters, which are just lists of sentences like a typical phrase book, which is pretty boring. The other weird thing about this book is it was originally written in Spanish, so this English version is actually a translation, which may be the reason some of the sentences are annoyingly full of complex grammar jargon. For example, "Potentiality and prohibition expressions in Japanese are not excessively hard to assimilate due to the relative simplicity of the verbal conjugations" is an actual sentence in the book! On the positive side, I really learned a few things that stuck with me, such as the origin of the crazy -chau conjugation, which is really a slang version of -te shimau (and now it finally makes sense!). There's also a nice set of "giving and receiving" diagrams (you can never have enough of those, trust me!). So even though this series has its drawbacks, I still want to get the third volume sometime soon! I wouldn't really recommend it for a total beginner, but it's been very useful for me as a refresher, with great exposure to many areas of the Japanese language.
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