first off, thank you all belatedly for your christmas wishes. and a very special thank you to Harn who got me the Studio Ghibli collection as an xmas pressie :)!
14 anime movies for me to watch! i spent fri nite watching 'totoro' and this afternoon watching 'only yesterday'... and they were both good, although in different ways.
[this is a spoiler free entry. i just want to rave about the genius of miyazaki hayao :P]
if you like something more meaningful and deeper than your standard 'shonen' and 'shoujo' anime, i suggest Studio Ghibli productions. so far i've not been disappointed. and i don't expect to be.
on an unrelated note, blessed '08 to all you people out there!
Showing posts with label anime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anime. Show all posts
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
jigoku shoujo - pull the red string?
one of the anime series i m currently following (as much as i can, thankfully the show starts late at 10.30pm weeknights) is jigoku shoujo season 2, better known as jigoku shoujo futakomori.
sometimes my sibs join me when i watch this show, but mostly they complain about how slowly the episodes move.
nevertheless, i like the series and i loved the first season - the premise is simple.
there is a hotline to hell (or rather a website), and if you access the website at 12 midnight, you will be able to enter the name of the person whom you wish to send to hell. then enma ai, the girl from hell- who has extremely red eyes - will appear and give you a black doll with a red string. in typical lawyer fashion, she explains that if you pull the red string, you enter into an official contract with her and that the consideration for the service of dragging your hated foe to hell immediately (she even refers to you as her 'client') is that your soul will also be sent to hell. but only when you die, of course.
enma ai has 3 followers - wannyudou, hone onna and ichimoku ren, who help her to investigate the surrounding circumstances behind the request for revenge. see? she even does background checks on her client, just like a real lawyer would!
i've seen so many characters get sent to hell, but the most interesting episodes are the ones where you're not sure if the person should actually be sent to hell or not. the grey ones, the ambiguous cases. obvious ones i.e. where the 'victim' was wicked or seemed to deserve it are not as compelling - besides, in real life, it's hard to see so clearly who is bad and good. my personal fave was the one where the politician was sent to hell.
is revenge the answer? you will be satisfied, since your target will suffer at once - but think of the black mark which appears on your collarbone, marking you as destined for hell when you die. so when is revenge worth it? to pull or not to pull?
having said that i like the black doll and i've even drawn a little jigoku shoujo doll on my space in the chambers whiteboard, complete with red string. hehe.but i m not sending anyone to hell.
sometimes my sibs join me when i watch this show, but mostly they complain about how slowly the episodes move.
nevertheless, i like the series and i loved the first season - the premise is simple.
there is a hotline to hell (or rather a website), and if you access the website at 12 midnight, you will be able to enter the name of the person whom you wish to send to hell. then enma ai, the girl from hell- who has extremely red eyes - will appear and give you a black doll with a red string. in typical lawyer fashion, she explains that if you pull the red string, you enter into an official contract with her and that the consideration for the service of dragging your hated foe to hell immediately (she even refers to you as her 'client') is that your soul will also be sent to hell. but only when you die, of course.
enma ai has 3 followers - wannyudou, hone onna and ichimoku ren, who help her to investigate the surrounding circumstances behind the request for revenge. see? she even does background checks on her client, just like a real lawyer would!
i've seen so many characters get sent to hell, but the most interesting episodes are the ones where you're not sure if the person should actually be sent to hell or not. the grey ones, the ambiguous cases. obvious ones i.e. where the 'victim' was wicked or seemed to deserve it are not as compelling - besides, in real life, it's hard to see so clearly who is bad and good. my personal fave was the one where the politician was sent to hell.
is revenge the answer? you will be satisfied, since your target will suffer at once - but think of the black mark which appears on your collarbone, marking you as destined for hell when you die. so when is revenge worth it? to pull or not to pull?
having said that i like the black doll and i've even drawn a little jigoku shoujo doll on my space in the chambers whiteboard, complete with red string. hehe.but i m not sending anyone to hell.
Monday, June 25, 2007
cheap thing no good...
actually the full saying, as my grandfather loves to say is "cheap thing no good, good thing no cheap".
and this was amply borne out by the Bleach chap 1-20 dvd i bought the other day. i was attracted by the super low price of rm16.90, and i thought there was a catch.
ok so it's in japanese only. nevermind, as long as there's english subtitles.
ah, THAT turned out to be the catch. simply appalling translations in the subtitles which totally grated on my nerves. things like typo errors e.g. 'shinning' for 'shining' or even translating 'shinigami' as 'you are the Death' are still ok.
but definitely NOT 'how dare you touch his down there?!'
it sounded so wrong. ...
in the end, i had to fall back on my rudimentary Japanese knowledge, as well as my manga readings to get any sense out of the subtitles. bleargh!
so the moral of the story is 'cheap thing no good, good thing no cheap.' i think i'll stick to buying the 5 chap a piece dvd from now on.
and this was amply borne out by the Bleach chap 1-20 dvd i bought the other day. i was attracted by the super low price of rm16.90, and i thought there was a catch.
ok so it's in japanese only. nevermind, as long as there's english subtitles.
ah, THAT turned out to be the catch. simply appalling translations in the subtitles which totally grated on my nerves. things like typo errors e.g. 'shinning' for 'shining' or even translating 'shinigami' as 'you are the Death' are still ok.
but definitely NOT 'how dare you touch his down there?!'
it sounded so wrong. ...
in the end, i had to fall back on my rudimentary Japanese knowledge, as well as my manga readings to get any sense out of the subtitles. bleargh!
so the moral of the story is 'cheap thing no good, good thing no cheap.' i think i'll stick to buying the 5 chap a piece dvd from now on.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
the petrina7 experience of watching anime
as most of you now know, i have developed a great liking for anime and manga as of late last year. this is something some of you cannot understand, but i'll leave it at that.
on to the petrina7 experience of watching anime at home...
i turn on the tv, remote control in hand. the theme music of the anime plays.
i am enjoying myself.
then someone (i think it's my sister or mother) expresses doubt as to whether i understand japanese - because i prefer watching anime in the original japanese, rather than mostly passable english dubs or horrendous malay dubs.
pointed reply : there is such a thing as subtitles, you know. my sarkiness is ignored.
my brother walks by, and he says that 'the fellow with the deep voice is sure to be the bad guy'. actually he's not wrong most of the time.
there is a distinct sensation of my sister's eyeballs rolling in their sockets Absurd she says.
and the feeling of a group of sane people humouring a lunatic with infinite patience ...
ah! this sums up the petrina7 experience of watching anime at home. :)
on to the petrina7 experience of watching anime at home...
i turn on the tv, remote control in hand. the theme music of the anime plays.
i am enjoying myself.
then someone (i think it's my sister or mother) expresses doubt as to whether i understand japanese - because i prefer watching anime in the original japanese, rather than mostly passable english dubs or horrendous malay dubs.
pointed reply : there is such a thing as subtitles, you know. my sarkiness is ignored.
my brother walks by, and he says that 'the fellow with the deep voice is sure to be the bad guy'. actually he's not wrong most of the time.
there is a distinct sensation of my sister's eyeballs rolling in their sockets Absurd she says.
and the feeling of a group of sane people humouring a lunatic with infinite patience ...
ah! this sums up the petrina7 experience of watching anime at home. :)
Sunday, December 24, 2006
xxx-Holic manga review
reading the Tsubasa Chronicles manga would be incomplete without reading xxx-Holic for a fuller understanding because they are cross-over series - a fact i discovered recently when i decided to start on the xxx-Holic series.
the first thing that comes to mind is the gorgeous artwork, CLAMP delivers once again as expected. the many details that spring out every time you re-read the series, and the rendition of the characters' emotions - so exact, so accurate ...
and the second is the intriguing storyline of Watanuki who is 'tricked' into becoming a manservant of the Dimensional Witch, Yuuko and the manga shows us the many adventures of Yuuko, Watanuki, the black Mokona. Hiwamari, Doumeki and the twins as they work to fulfil wishes. the premise is simple - Yuuko will grant you your deepest desire ... at an appropriate price, of course.
the episodic feel of the series does not detract from the overall plot development and from the outset, the reader is presented with a number of interesting concepts and questions which are slowly answered, as the story unfolds. i find the pace just right.
i simply love Yuuko, she is such a fascinating character - serious, knowledgeable and insightful by turns, drunk and disorderly and funny, mean and yet displaying compassion when you least expect it, cunning and sometimes so straightforward and she moves with a sinuous grace. she also has a very diverse and fashionable wardrobe which i admire...she looks good in almost anything! in reading this series, i began to understand the overall context in which Tsubasa Chronicles is set and just how important a role Yuuko plays there. the black Mokona is also very cute, and is as funny and good natured as its white counterpart in Tsubasa Chronicles.
i cannot leave out the indentured servant, Watanuki who, in stark contrast with his mistress, moves erratically and clumsily. he seems to always be in a temper ... a bit like Kurogane, come to think of it, but minus the cool looks and the swordfighting skills, ehhehe.
and Watanuki strikes me as slightly wimpy. what is the exact nature of his relationship with Doumeki? hmmmm ... and is there something a little 'off' about Hiwamari?
this is a series i am definitely going to follow up and i recommend it to readers who want adventure, humour, a strong story with mystery elements and some moral values (though they are not shoved down your throat) - check out the bit on divination and the Internet addicted housewife, those are among my fave scenes.
to end this review, i'll quote Yuuko "but in this world, there are no coincidences, there is only destiny/'hitsuzen'.
for the really particular, there are some subtle differences between the idea of destiny as generally understood and the Japanese concept of 'hitsuzen' but i won't go into that here.
believe me when i say that it was 'hitsuzen' that led you to get to know me, and read this blog...
a picture of Fay/Fye/Fai, Yuuko aka the Dimensional Witch/Time-Space Witch/Witch of the Far East/that b***h(if you're a certain grumpy ninja), and Kurogane - said grumpy ninja
from Clow Legacy
the first thing that comes to mind is the gorgeous artwork, CLAMP delivers once again as expected. the many details that spring out every time you re-read the series, and the rendition of the characters' emotions - so exact, so accurate ...
and the second is the intriguing storyline of Watanuki who is 'tricked' into becoming a manservant of the Dimensional Witch, Yuuko and the manga shows us the many adventures of Yuuko, Watanuki, the black Mokona. Hiwamari, Doumeki and the twins as they work to fulfil wishes. the premise is simple - Yuuko will grant you your deepest desire ... at an appropriate price, of course.
the episodic feel of the series does not detract from the overall plot development and from the outset, the reader is presented with a number of interesting concepts and questions which are slowly answered, as the story unfolds. i find the pace just right.
i simply love Yuuko, she is such a fascinating character - serious, knowledgeable and insightful by turns, drunk and disorderly and funny, mean and yet displaying compassion when you least expect it, cunning and sometimes so straightforward and she moves with a sinuous grace. she also has a very diverse and fashionable wardrobe which i admire...she looks good in almost anything! in reading this series, i began to understand the overall context in which Tsubasa Chronicles is set and just how important a role Yuuko plays there. the black Mokona is also very cute, and is as funny and good natured as its white counterpart in Tsubasa Chronicles.
i cannot leave out the indentured servant, Watanuki who, in stark contrast with his mistress, moves erratically and clumsily. he seems to always be in a temper ... a bit like Kurogane, come to think of it, but minus the cool looks and the swordfighting skills, ehhehe.
and Watanuki strikes me as slightly wimpy. what is the exact nature of his relationship with Doumeki? hmmmm ... and is there something a little 'off' about Hiwamari?
this is a series i am definitely going to follow up and i recommend it to readers who want adventure, humour, a strong story with mystery elements and some moral values (though they are not shoved down your throat) - check out the bit on divination and the Internet addicted housewife, those are among my fave scenes.
to end this review, i'll quote Yuuko "but in this world, there are no coincidences, there is only destiny/'hitsuzen'.
for the really particular, there are some subtle differences between the idea of destiny as generally understood and the Japanese concept of 'hitsuzen' but i won't go into that here.
believe me when i say that it was 'hitsuzen' that led you to get to know me, and read this blog...
a picture of Fay/Fye/Fai, Yuuko aka the Dimensional Witch/Time-Space Witch/Witch of the Far East/that b***h(if you're a certain grumpy ninja), and Kurogane - said grumpy ninja
from Clow Legacy
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