Archive for 2005
Yoru
Looking through my anime download directory (as monolothic as it is), I thought I summarise what is essentially a decidedly mediocre season so far.
Sousei no Aquarion
Another “reluctant-boy-gets-into-mecha” series, and the only thing which drew me to this series is the fact that Ms. Kanno has decided to grace this with her music. Three episodes in and the series has moved at a surprisingly quick pace though I get the feeling that this may be temporary. Characters are fairly cookie-cutter and the mecha action is suitably overblown and CG to be interesting but that could change quickly. Unless they start bolting on some backstory or mind-boggling character development this may be one to avoid.
Speed Grapher
Once again GONZO decend from on high and put their suitable animation talent to work on ANOTHER series that has rubbish story and slick (enough) animation. The anime screams retro from the “Girls on Film” opening to the old-school styling on the characters. So far very little has been revealed, but what has been is remarkably lacklustre and without any kind of imagination. Another one to the avoid if allergic to boredom.
Tsubasa Chronicle
CLAMP went down a notch in my estimations with this first episode. The round-table meeting for this series planning evidently degenerated into “put existing characters into a suitable fantasy setting and rub our hands with all the money we’ll make from it”. The animation is strenuously basic, especially when we’ve been spoiled with the behemoth of Madhouse and the X TV series; even Chobits manage to best this. Boring start and what is apparently an even more boring continuation.
Ichigo 100%
I read about the first two volumes of the manga after reading good things about it and I’m sorry to say the anime pretty much follows the manga to the letter. A slight (VERY slight) twist on the harem anime stereotype but follows everything else to a “T”: deadbeat male character attracts numerous female groupies. Rinse, repeat.
Eureka Seven
Bones Bones Bones. Has Bones ever produced an anime with less than stellar animation? Escaflowne Movie, Cowboy Bebop movie, Wolf’s Rain, Kurau Phantom Memory, FMA… This looks to follow in the footsteps as far as animation is concerned, though so far, that’s all it has going for it. Blah blah, mecha, particles, “waves”, kids idolises supposed criminal mecha piloting hero. The format got old a while ago, and switching the names around won’t hide a mediocre anime, so I’m hoping this won’t follow in others footsteps.
Futakoi Alternative
The raw energy displayed in the first episode reminded me of Excel Saga’s early days and with this sort of styling you can’t go wrong. While the second episode toned things down a bit, the humour and offbeat presentation remain which is what makes this show standout. It’s a shame this doesn’t evoke more of a fanboy reaction in me, as otherwise this would likely be my Anime of the Moment ©.
Bleach
Yeah it started last season but it’s still going. Unfortunately I’m now far too invested in it to stop watching, and it would take a monumental downturn in the series to force me to stop watching it. It started so well with a fast pace, good characters and a thoroughly interesting environment, it’s a shame it’s degenerated into most shounen anime in the constant introversion and the fights which last numerous episodes. Thankfully the next episode seems to have a “big” fight of sorts, though I’ll save my adulation for it when (if) it actually materialises.
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Genshiken
This was either last season or the season before, and is one I only heard about after whispers on the forums. It’s anime about otaku, which to me seems a bit counter-prodctive, but Genshiken manages to pull of an interesting “slice of life” style show about the otaku lifestyle. Some of the plot elements are a little contrived, such as the female’s presence simply to provide a “narrator” to the ongoing antics and perhaps a counterpoint to the reckless nerd-dom that ravages the show. The anime within the anime, Kujibiki Unbalance stands out though, more than likely because of the opening theme tune and also the reverence paid to it during Genshiken. Overall a worthy show to watch, if not just to reassure yourself of your otaku standing.
Kurau Phantom Memory
Another last season show but by the aforementioned Bones doing the animation. The only way I can really describe KPM is slow-burning. It never really seems to kick it into high-gear, so to speak, just idles along with it’s good story and well-rounded characters and never panders to anyone. The protagonist is refreshingly flat-chested and proactive, though I thing the main problem is the lack of a solid antagonist to really drive the series. There is the nebulous “GPO”, but that fell flat half-way through. I’ve yet to see the ending, though I get the feeling this is a series to watch over tea and crumpets rather than popcorn.
Kodoku
The whole “3 wishes” business really is a joke. As we all know, anything which can offer an indeterminate amount of “wishes” is inherently a trickster; genies, bored deities and the like. So for instance, when you say: “I’d like a million pounds” (if your local currency is different, bear with me).
Now when you say this, you obviously mean a million pounds in money, but whose to say the entity granting you this wish is going to know that or is going to follow such a language quirk. You could get a million pounds of a random material, like coal, or squirrels or something. So, you would have to say: “I’d like a million pounds in British sterling.” This of course would be fine though there is no denomination attached, so getting a million pounds in coppers wouldn’t exactly be what you had in mind. So your wish no becomes “I’d like a million pounds in British sterling in 20 pound notes.” Getting a bit weighty on language but you want to make it clear to this deviant creature that they’ll bend space and time the way YOU want it. Of course, being able to control space and time means you could well be in possession of 20 pound notes from the far future or perhaps the distant past, which are essentially worthless now. “I’d like a million pounds in British sterling in 20 pound notes that are viable currency for this time period.” Then of course there is the source of the notes, whose to say these notes won’t be magicked out of a nearby bank vault, suddenly you’re a phantasmal bank robber. There are all kinds of pit falls like this, like there is no stipulation that the notes have to be whole and in tact. Maybe you don’t want the money in physical form at all and just a nice 1 million pound wire transfer from an indeterminate location which gets flagged up as a computer hacking attempt and suddenly you’re clapped in irons accused of being in a drug smuggling ring. With all these in mind, you suddenly have to get your genie/magic-hand/naughty god to sign a carefully constructed contract just for one wish.
This is where I think lawyers came from.
Inverted Fairytale
I feel I should really say something about Devil May Cry 3, especially seeing as it’s been taking up an increasing amount of my free time as of late, and with Jade Empire on the way, I really should get it finished. Devil May Cry 3 is arguably one of the coolest games I have ever played, and when it comes to cut scenes, it’s basically sex on legs. Capacom have crafted a masterstroke in making Danté cool and arrogant enough to be amusing, but never grating. Vergil does a surprisingly good cool and evil act, while Arkham does a decent “I’m superbly evil” part. Lady however is in a league all of her own. Her full-comabt introduction is ridiculously cool, and trumps the first Matrix film’s Lobby Sequence for all round excellent moment. The control system is spot on, and Danté feels nimble enough to be nice to handle, but weighty enough to be able to swing that sword around. This is at odds with something like Ninja Gaiden, where Ryu may as well be a blob of quicksilver the way he runs across walls. When it gets right down to it, DMC3 excels at cut-scene style fighting, except you’re controlling things. The two fights (so far) with Vergil have left my hands aching with the speed dodging and thrusting you do (sounds kinky huh?). I must admin to playing it through on easy from Level 8 after normal caused me to buy far too many Green regenerative stones so now the price is a bit prohibitive. Once I’ve upgraded all the weapons however, I may be a little better off; I’ve already aced Swordmaster, so gunslinger is next on the agenda.
Jade Empire is a bit of an indulgence, especially seeing as I’m forking out the extra £10 for the special edition. The game comes out two days (22nd) after my operation, which means it’s my recovery present. After watching a couple of videos of it, I was convinced it was another Bioware RPG right down to the core, hence, enjoyment is almost guaranteed.
Monochrome Ethics
I have an uneasy calm washing over me at the minute, which is peculiar for me as I have a really big Life Event © coming up in the form of an operation. A little over two weeks yesterday and I’ll (hopefully) be lying in a hospital bed receovering after having had my head under the knife.
In actuality, I’m looking forward to it simply because I want some perspective on things that I don’t have at the moment. I feel I’m in a kind of malaise or reverie at the moment, lurching from one day to the next without any real purpose or outlook on events transpiring around me. It’s an odd feeling, but it doesn’t protrude into my conciousness all that often. I’m hoping being under general anaesthetic and having part of my skull removed will be able to knock some clarity into me.
Essentially my life is good at the moment. I have a stable job, fanatastic girlfriend etc. etc. My job is what I’m good at, unfortunately I realise that it’s also not what I want to do, at least not in the current area. I used to gain a real creative glow after designing a webpage or doing something “cool” with new technologies. Now though, I feel I’m really in too deep to enjoy things. I haven’t personally designed a page I’m happy with in over a year now and I feel that perhaps I’ve lost that ability. Everything is the same old shit regurgitated and rebranded to fit the latest business logic changes. I get genuinely annoyed when people change terminology of web applications I’ve worked on, it puts my own little microcosm of logic into disarray.
This is why I would never make a good programmer. I’m far too utilitarian to do good programming as well as my constant knowledge that out in the world there are thousands of programmers more skilled and who actually enjoy what they do. This really leads me on to what to do to get me out of this self-imposed rut. The one thing which still genuinely and constantly fills me with joy and aspiration is the video games industry. I left behind my proclivities long ago about who I tell that to, life’s too short and all that. But I’ve already tactically-nuked the idea of becoming a programmer, and with conditions what they are (*waves to EA programmers*) I’m not sure that’s an avenue I’d care to explore. Websites are still on the cards, hell, I have experience with that so that could always be an entry point.
Of course, blue-sky would be to be a writer for games (isn’t that an oxymoron?). Of course, gut feeling tells me that I would never get to the stellar levels of games like Silent Hill (ah how I miss thee).
So yes, this is my melancholy rant. Slow, steady and focused.
Passive
Calling all work-releated e-mail people, rules for e-mailing me:
1. Setting a priority on your e-mail will do the exact opposite of what you intend. If you cannot convey through text how important your e-mail is, then don’t bother. That little red exlaimation mark in Microsoft Outlook tells me I should ideally wait at least a day before dealing with your e-mail. You’ll be lucky if I even read it.
2. You are typing at a fully fledged keyboard with all the letters of the english alphabet at your very fingertips. If you must speak in abbreviated form such as the “cool kids” are doing in text messages, your message will be subject to at least a days delay when such a time comes as I can faithfully translate your e-mail. Being on a “Blackberry” is no excuse, don’t send e-mails unless you can take the time to type in full. Text messages have limited character limits, e-mail does not.
3. Always subject your e-mails appropriately, perhaps with mind as to who, past your initial recipient, will be receiving the e-mail. Simply putting “Website” in the subject line is a sure fire way to engage confusion. 13 recipients down the line, there I am, wondering which website this referrs to. Newsflash people, I deal with websites on a daily basis, try prefixing “Website” with a name perhaps?
4. Being absolutely clear in what you are asking me to do. Imagine yourself as a cleaner, janitor or maybe a PE Teacher and read over your e-mail in this mindset. Simply putting “please put on the website” means absolutely jack-all unless it is absolutely crystal clear what needs to go where, and they come along once every blue moon. If you start using words you don’t understand, clarify them at least. “Please put in latest news” means nothing to me when there is a latest news column, page and section to your site.
5. Chop your e-mails to what is relevant to what you have sent me. Having to scroll through 14 replies (all indented with >) to either get to your message or to find out what you mean (see 4. above) is compounded by people’s lack of even being able to chop off their automatically added disclaimer. I don’t care if your e-mail was virus free when it left GSi, I would openly chastise you if it wasn’t.
6. Attachment-happy people, e-mail was never ever designed to send files, and it’s a damn shame that someone made Base-64 so that they can be sent. If your file can in any possible, conceivable way be made smaller, MAKE IT SMALLER. Sending hi-res artwork, 4meg word document files and lord knows what else to me is a sure-fire way for me to spend the next hour shrinking your files. Think, this could have been the hour that your e-mail was dealt with.
Thank you for your attention.
Something Witty….
When watching TV (an odd occurance I know) last night while having tea, there was a program on BBC1 called “Inside Out” which was examining the problem of teen drinking. The main highlight of the feature was an on-site report in Devon of a large group of teenagers drinking and getting blasted out of their brains when they’re only about 12-14. I’m not about to condone teenage drinking, especially in the quantity they were consuming (which caused two ambulances to be called), but I’m not going to get high and mighty and say that I didn’t drink while underage. Lord knows I came to university when I was 17, so for my entire first year of Uni I was drinking underage.
The teens however were getting fake IDs from the internet by sending a passport photo and a tenner to a company which then did the card. They tried interviewing one of the people who ran the company who continued walking and looked a little flustered when answering the questions. I commented at the time that he should have just stopped, and done a proper, formal interview with the cameras rather than trying to continually walk away and having problems answering the questions.
In retrospect, what the program was doing was creating a flase monster out of the company and the man. They completely absolved any guilt the children, parents, shops or anybody else had when contributing to the underage drinking. Yes the man was essentially selling fake IDs (he called them “novelty cards” which is an argument in semantics), but like he said, he is not responsible for what the kids do with the cards. His site didn’t say the cards were to be used for buying alcohol. Again I find myself asking: WHERE THE HELL ARE THE PARENTS? Why the hell aren’t these kids parents telling their kids that they shouldn’t drink, that it can essentially cause them to die with the amounts they are drinking. This is the same argument for kids who go loco because of video games. These kids are not being brought up correctly by their parents as they are not having strong moral and ethica values imprinted upon them. Good parenting rarely leads to problem children.
And what about the police? Why weren’t they routinely called to disperse these underage drinking parties, who are doing it in the middle of a park in damn near broad daylight? What about the shops? Shop attendants are not given the legal backing to be able to outright refuse sale to people underage if they produce “proof”. If they refuse sale and the card is proven to be fake, then kudos all round, but if not, then the sale attendant gets a slap on the wrist and all kinds of litigious crap breaks loose.
This is of course not to mention the kids responsibility. At that age, yes, they’re going to do what their peers do, but if any of them had any kind of sense, they would moderate their drinking or not goddamn do it at all.
In all, the feature was remarkably bias and left a lot to answer for. It came across as a bunch of journalists who were hungry for a story and focused in on something which has been thrust into the spotlight. It seems once again I’ve been let down by a lack of perspective and also a lack of getting to the root of the problem.
