Friday, December 30, 2005
Best of 2005
Best Movies I've Seen
Batman Begins
Sin City
Steamboy
Oldboy
Good Night & Good Luck
King Kong
Capote
The Elephant Warrior
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
A History of Violence
Special Addition: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Best Videogames I've Played
Resident Evil 4
Shadow of the Colossus
Burnout Revenge
Dragon Quest VIII
Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest 2
We <3 Katamari
Mario Kart DS
Meteos
Guitar Hero
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Special Addition: Half-Life 2
DVD Reflection: Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
With only two real action scenes to speak of the story of Innocence trudges at a melancholy, even languid pace culminating in a goofy freeze frame after a heavyhanded reminder of humanity's egotism and mortality, in case you forget these existential themes during the rampant philisophizing of cyborgs seeking souls and answers.
Sounds boring and pretentious but why then do I love it? Essentially, Innocence is Blade Runner the Animated Movie. Blade Runner Redux. Noir cyborg cop goes after renegade androids, jazz and speeches ensue. But if Blade Runner was a sermon (with pastor Roy Batty perhaps?) then Innocence is a whirlwind seminar, a professor that drops names, concepts, titles, authors, dares you to look it all up then leaves you confused or irritated. At the very least, director Mamoru Oshii encourages you to read.
But cold idea exchange is nothing compared to Batou's lonely care for his dog Gabriel. Lonely, bitter, wanting, Batou would pass Deckard's Voigt-Kampff test with flying colors.
Batman Begins
Sin City
Steamboy
Oldboy
Good Night & Good Luck
King Kong
Capote
The Elephant Warrior
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
A History of Violence
Special Addition: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Best Videogames I've Played
Resident Evil 4
Shadow of the Colossus
Burnout Revenge
Dragon Quest VIII
Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest 2
We <3 Katamari
Mario Kart DS
Meteos
Guitar Hero
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Special Addition: Half-Life 2
DVD Reflection: Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
With only two real action scenes to speak of the story of Innocence trudges at a melancholy, even languid pace culminating in a goofy freeze frame after a heavyhanded reminder of humanity's egotism and mortality, in case you forget these existential themes during the rampant philisophizing of cyborgs seeking souls and answers.
Sounds boring and pretentious but why then do I love it? Essentially, Innocence is Blade Runner the Animated Movie. Blade Runner Redux. Noir cyborg cop goes after renegade androids, jazz and speeches ensue. But if Blade Runner was a sermon (with pastor Roy Batty perhaps?) then Innocence is a whirlwind seminar, a professor that drops names, concepts, titles, authors, dares you to look it all up then leaves you confused or irritated. At the very least, director Mamoru Oshii encourages you to read.
But cold idea exchange is nothing compared to Batou's lonely care for his dog Gabriel. Lonely, bitter, wanting, Batou would pass Deckard's Voigt-Kampff test with flying colors.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Kom Susser Flod
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?id=33604
Eva is required viewing for humanity, absolutely, and a popular live-action feature will definitely get the job done, "spread the message" and whatnot.
Damn, it better be brilliant. Brilliance or bust.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
How gay am I?!
Thought that Reno result was weird? Look at THIS:
The following table divides a general personality into four aspects.
Your personality aspects are shown in the middle column of the table.
Each aspect's compatiblity with Rei is shown in the far-right column,
and you can look at these to get a rough idea of your overall compatiblity.
Your Personality Aspects:
| Aspect Category | Your Aspect | Compatibility With Rei |
| Abstract/Concrete | CONCRETE | INCOMPATIBLE |
| Introvert/Extrovert | INTROVERT | COMPATIBLE |
| Logical/Emotional | LOGICAL | COMPATIBLE |
| Dominant/Submissive | SUBMISSIVE | COMPATIBLE |
You are most like the Evangelion character: Rei Ayanami
You are almost like Rei in the major personality aspects.
As far as relating to each other as people, you would be able
to work well with Rei and be good friends with her as well.
However, the problem with most Submissive Introverts like yourself
and Rei is initiating a relationship (since the both of you are
rather people-shy). Once you take the first step toward Rei, you'll find
that the both of you have a lot in common.
You are 89% compatible with Rei.
...I don't want to be made of straw anymore. =( ....and I have no idea how to get rid of the GODDAMN gap under "Your Personality Aspects."
Anyway, wanna see how much of a loser YOU are? Take the Rei Compatibility test here: http://www.lonelyangel.com/mainhtml.php?content=sections/compatibility_test.php
Slightly less depressing: I found the latest chapter of the Evangelion manga online some blog... thing is... it's dated March 7, 2005!!! What the heck is the hold-up?! =(
http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/archives/shinseiki_evangelion_ch65.html
Scans and impressions can be found there. I love what Sadamoto is doing with "his version" of the story. I hope he continues developing Rei into a warmer person than she's seen in the anime. Her scene with Shinji at the fountain is one of the more surprising new twists to the manga... and Kaworu is completely different! It should be interesting to see how he ends... frankly, I hope it's something fresh. The more endings to Eva, the better, I think. At this rate though we'll find out... by 2015. =
When I'll be... 29. Weird isn't it? We're the Second Impact generation.
lolz misato chil out k
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Sweet beats
Two weeks of HEEEELL until the semester is over. Then it's Dragon Quest VIII, movie making/editing and debauchery. Oh, and CHRISTMAS. :D
And perhaps even more Ghost in the Shell!!!!!!!11111
And perhaps even more Ghost in the Shell!!!!!!!11111
oh noz haxx0RZ
That's Dai on the right and my gnarled hands on the left. What a HANDSOME man!
If you ever wondered about Japan's fanta commercials...
Thursday, December 01, 2005
You are RENO. Yeah, admit it, you're a smart-ass.
What Final Fantasy VII character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
A dumb quiz, but HEY. I'm RENO.
So I talked to my Japanese culture professor today. He was at the Dai Sato/Azuma/McGray talk last night too. He thought Azuma came off as kind of a nationalist dick and that Eva is not the be-all, end-all of anime. He wanted more of a debate between the two as Azuma was more of a hardcore anime-is-Japanese-and-only-for-Japanese glory hog and Sato was more in league with Toshiya Ueno's naive 1960s-esque let-the-world's cultures-dance-together-in-harmony ideal.
My professor specifically used the word "naive." Of course anime is distinctly Japanese and of course us white boys will never be Japanese but what's really naive, in my opinion, is Azuma's notion that anime is central to one culture and one culture only. He insisted that us Westerners are only in love with the image of anime, not the history or identity behind it.
Even if Dai Sato never wrote an episode of Cowboy Bebop, Champloo or S.A.C. I think it's easy to see who would be the more popular of the two.
*is all goofy and shit with Rude lol*
Aeria gloris, aeria gloris
Earlier in the evening I met Dai Sato, the head screenwriter of anime series like Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop and latest obsession, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. He was accompanied by Hiroki Azuma, an anime critic/philosopher who wrote a book called Dobutsuka-suru Postmodern (Animalizing Postmodernity) which I should probably seek and read. He mentioned it often. Douglas McGray, whose Japanese pop culture-related articles appeared in NY Times Magazine, Wired, TIME Asia and several others, moderated the talk.
Here are the highlights! I'd go into detail but I got approximately four hours of sleep the past day and I aim to make it up somewhat by sleeping... now!
- Evangelion was mentioned often. Everyone agreed any discourse about otaku culture can't escape Evangelion. Azuma said something akin to "no anime can compare to Evangelion." Dai Sato didn't object. It's interesting I'm not the only one with Eva constantly in mind.
- A black/latino musician guy asked Dai Sato about Yoko Kanno. Everyone agreed: we all love Yoko Kanno.
- Dai Sato is the most generous, hospitable, patient anime screenwriter alive. I GOT TO TALK TO HIM AND GET HIS PICTURE AND AUUUGHHHHH
- Earler in the month Toshiya Ueno, another scholarly type interested in the otaku phenomenon, came ot my Japan Mass Culture class and gave an outrageously complicated whirlwind talk. After class we chat for a bit and he told me to tell his friend Dai Sato "hi." So I told Dai Sato "hi" for Toshiya Ueno and Dai Sato almost fell on the floor from surprise. In that Japanese way.
- I thanked him for the A- I got on my paper about The Man With 21 Faces incident. Basically, it's this crime that happened in mid-80s Japan when a "mystery man" kidnapped the president of the Glico food corporation. It began a bizarre and theatrical crime, inspired by a villain from a Edogawa Rampo story - the Man With 20 Faces. Dai Sato updated that caper with the Laughing Man story in Stand Alone Complex. He asked if I had the paper with me and I didn't. He looked disappointed then said to post it online.
- Then I told him how insightful and fantastic the Tachikoma Escapes, The Director's Dream episode was and that it's a favorite among me and my friends. He was very flattered. I wanted to go into how the Tachikoma and the girl and how the movie theater reflected the world and international culture exchange and idea and thought and Motoko's tears and Batou's lame pass but... I didn't want to overwhelm him. Especially with stuff he wrote.
- Dai Sato signed my Stand Alone Complex tin. In Japanese, in English and... the date. Hanae said that was important. She also took our picture. For now though, the tin:
He also said his work with Stand Alone Complex' third season was complete and it's up to the rest of the team now. "Look forward to an announcement next year."
Oh man. The only thing that could make this any better would be--
YES!!!
*falls over in that Japanese way*
