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ファイト／ステイナイト 
November 28, 2003 | 
2 Comments
I accidentally stumbled upon a trailer for this new game and find it to be quite creepy in that Silent Hill way. It turns out this game was directed by Keiichiro Toyama, the same person who was responsible for the idea and direction of Silent Hill 1. Judging from the trailer, the polygon and the texture of the game don't look that impressive. But the eerie atmosphere seems to make up for these deficiencies. It looks like the game is inspired by various Japanese horror films such as Ringu (The Ring), as well as some horror manga like Uzumaki (Spiral into Terror).
November 25, 2003 | 0 Comments
At this point in time, Gainax probably sees Neon Genesis Evangelion as the big fat cashcow that they can milk as often as they like. But I have to admit that they do a very good job at it that I find it hard to resist the juggernaut. The Renewal of Evangelion DVD release is a good example of this. This is such a highly publicised PR event where they manage to grab headlines/covers on Anime magazine (such as the December 2003 issue of Newtype Japan). And IMO, they deserve all of these attentions. The renewal of EVA DVD for R2 is one of the best remastering job out there. They have removed so many problems (such as the jitters) that plagued the original release of Evangelion.
November 22, 2003 | 0 Comments
Well, not really. But that is the case in the penultimade episodes of X: the Series. For those who don't know about the series, X is basically an end of the world story which has its origin from a manga created by CLAMP. It chronicles the lives of 7 people who are chosen to defend humanity and another 7 who are chosen to destroy humanity which has ruined the Earth to the point of no return. The TV series is an attempt to re-tell this story using different perspectives from the one used on the movie version called X/1999. The following is a discussion about the ending. But before I say anything further, I better cut this entry to avoid the wrath of unspoiled viewers.
November 20, 2003 | 1 Comments
aka Zone of the Enders: the Second Runner is one of the most enjoyable and coolest games I've had the pleasure to play. The game is presented in pseudo cell-shading look while the cut scene is presented in Anime form. Despite the difference in the two art styles, they strangely blend quite well with one another. This is achieved through effective use of cuts and editing, clever implementation of the colour schemes (which mostly limited to the blue/green hues), and the previously mentioned pseudo cell-shading of the 3D elements. The special effects that pops out everytime the mecha battles each other have to be seen to be believed. And the whole gaming experience makes it feel as if you are the one who's actually piloting the mecha.
November 16, 2003 | 0 Comments
Well, I just had a chance to play this. It's basically a game in the vein of Grand Theft Auto style (free roaming, hijack any cars, etc). This one is quite different though. Because instead of playing as a thug, you're actually playing as a cop. So there are certain things that you can't (or can, I suppose, if you want to be a 'bad cop') do such as...well, shooting/hit & run too many of those poor pedestrians walking around inside the games. But don't worry about it not being fun because like I said, you do have the option of becoming a 'bad cop' if you choose to do so.
I just finished watching the first episode of Ghost in the Shell TV series, subtitled "Stand Alone Complex". The first episode does present some nice, futuristic ideas such as electronic informations that are displayed right in front of your eyes by connecting a PDA like object to the cortex. It seems in this universe, human bodies have been equipped with various cybernetic enhancements which make them capable of interacting with other electronic devices. I think that's an interesting idea in a creepy kind of way.
Having said that, the series itself seems a bit dull and I find the characters (which includes Major Kusanagi from "Ghost in the Shell" movie) just don't have as much personality as they should. I also don't like the general look of the series which seems like a mish mash of 2D and 3D animation without the smooth transition between the two art styles. As a result, the 3D elements stick out like a sore thumb (here's looking at you, Tachikoma!).
November 14, 2003 | 0 Comments
I just found out that the teaser trailer for the third installment of Harry Potter adventure is out. And it's very nice. The movie has a rather...European film look to it. It also feels a bit darker in moods than the first 2 films just by looking at the trailer. I'm personally excited what Alfonso Cuaron ("Y tu mam� tambi�n") can do with this particular installment. Plus, it will be fun to see Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, and Alan Rickman acting within one film. The kids do look a bit older than what 13 year olds are supposed to look but well, I supposed what else can they do? Recasting the kids would have been a much worse alternative especially since most of the actors are now nicely settling into their roles.
November 10, 2003 | 1 Comments
Some things are worth waiting for. This DVD is one of those things. I've been holding off on buying Ayashi no Ceres aka Ceres: Celestial Legend DVD because the company that produced the DVD for the US market (Viz) did a lousy job on the packaging. They chose to slap the manga (Japanese comic books) illustration instead of the anime illustration on the cover of the original DVD release of this series. Now, Viz has decided to repackage the series by putting the entire series on 2 DVD boxes where each box comes with 2 discs. They've also redesigned the DVD covers and this time they've used some anime artworks on them. So these two are going on my 'must buy' list. I personally think they look very nice. See those white silks that scatter around the picture? They are actually imprinted on a plastic shell that covers the DVD box, producing this rather nice 3D effect on the DVD cover. I also like that the designer either intentionally or unintentionally chose these 2 pictures for the DVD covers. Because the pictures of the two couples represent the two running themes in the series: Love vs Obsession. While 'Love' and 'Obsession' sometimes look similar in appearance, they obviously are different. But people often believe that what they feel is love while in fact it's nothing more than obsession or selfishness.
As for the story itself, Ayashi no Ceres is based on the old legend that some of you may have heard. The old legend tells a story of a fisherman, who steals the wings/clothes of an angel/celestial being while that said celestial being was bathing on a lake. As a result, the poor celestial being could not return to heaven. Instead she stayed on Earth and became the fisherman's wife. It's impressive how Yuu Watase (the author of Ceres) turns this simple legend into an allegorical dark tale of women's oppression by men and the revenge that some women took on these men in retaliation. Ayashi no Ceres asked the questions that some of us may have pondered as kids after hearing the legend: "did the celestial being marry the fisherman because she loves him or because she was forced by the fisherman?". Because if she does love the fisherman, then why did she left her husband and children to return to heaven?
Discussions about the movie at kottke.org made me accept/fanwank explanations about some of the unexplainables within The Matrix Trilogy. I still do think that the film itself, Revolutions, is very flawed. And what I'm about to write is a good example as to why I don't like the film: because I and many other people are now forced to fanwank our own explanation.
The explanations require me to think that the entire trilogy happened within the Matrix, even 'the real world' scenarios. Some of the things that put me in this mindset are:
I have a headache. I want to see Kinji Fukasaku's infamous movie Battle Royale, especially since Chiaki Kuriyama (Go Go Yubari of "Kill Bill") was in it. But after looking at this Battle Royale fansite, I can't figure out which DVD version of that film I should get.
There are so many versions and none of them are perfect. Some have excellent transfer but no English subtitle, others have English subtitle but lousy transfer, etc. On top of it, when I was actually ready to make a purchase, I found out that the version that I want is already out of stock. Well, that's swell! Wonder if I should just buy the full-on Japanese version.
the most disappointing movie of the year goes to *drum rolls*.......The Matrix Revolutions. Feh. Just when I thought the entire trilogy couldn't be any worse, this film managed to exceed my expectation in the crappiness scale. It's on par in terms of bad storytelling with The Matrix Reloaded. The difference is, at least Reloaded was the second entry in the series. If things weren't explained then, I still have hope that they'll be explained in the final movie. *spoilers follow*
So I finally get to watch my Raiders DVD. IMO, the menu design is pretty ordinary. I am a bit disappointed with the choice that they've made for the menu. They have these usual montage of scenes from the movie done in photoshop filter way (I think it's the sketch filter). I like the overworld map part of the menu but the rest just looks a bit too Photoshop-ish to me.
But the film restoration itself was awesome! I've never seen Raiders looked this good beforehand. It's so pristine, you'll think it was shot on digital. And I'm surprised that even after all these years, I still love this film. It doesn't have this 'out of date' feel about it (which Star Wars seems to have) even though the film was clearly set around 1930s-1940s. Indiana Jones is still my favourite hero of all times and I think this must be Harrison Ford's best character that I can think of.
I think I've wasted 1 hour setting this blog up but it was worth it! Name-wise:
me-men-to n:
an object given or kept as a reminder of or in memory of somebody or something.