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ローゼンメイデン 
"Kyrie Ignis Divine Eleison" - Our Lord, the Divine Fire, have mercy
Well, now I know which story Gainax 'ripped off' to create This Ugly and Beautiful World. Elfen Lied (Elfen Song) contains many of the same elements/themes that Kono Minikuku presented but the difference is that Elfen Lied seems to have a stronger direction and narrative than that new Gainax series. Let's get the most important thing out of the way though: this show is violent with capital V. Some of the things that happened in this show are really stomach-turning. It doesn't skimp on blood either and bucketloads have been splashed generously over the first episode. The show also contains a lot of nudity and various fanservice. So far it is quite tasteful but if it ever descended to Kono Minikuku's level, I'll probably get turned off by it. Another impressive thing about the show is its opening theme, Lilium, a haunting old latin/opera-styled song.
Well, here it is: the final chapter of Midori no Hibi manga. I am not really sure the number of this chapter because I missed out on some chapters and Shounen Sunday magazine had a double-issue edition a couple of weeks ago. Having said that, if my calculation is correct, I think this is supposed to be chapter 85. Anyway, it turns out the manga does not end any different from the anime. There are some small differences but definitely not enough to make it stand out more than the anime. The only thing that the manga has that the anime lack is Seiji telling Midori that he loves her too. So if you were one of those people who were annoyed that Seiji didn't say the S word (Suki) to Midori in the anime, you probably like this one better.
I actually wonder sometimes if I'm the only one who's following this anime. It seems to me not many people are interested in this series and that is unfortunate because this is a very good psychological/suspense series on human behaviour. Admittedly the series is not as flashy....wait, scrath that, the series is not flashy at all. Having said that, the excellent story and characterisation are more than enough to make up for this shortcoming. I do wonder though if the lack of interest in the anime is mostly because people have already read the manga beforehand. If that is the case, then I'll try my best to stay away from them because at the moment, I'm really tempted to read them all so I can get more clues about the story's direction. Anyway, the episodes themselves are good as usual. The supporting characters actually get good amounts of development in these two episodes.
Awesome. That's the only word that came into my mind when I saw the trailer for this live action film starring Zhang Zi Yi and Takeshi Kaneshiro. The film, which is also known as House of Flying Daggers, is directed by Zhang Yimou, the famous director of Hero and Raise the Red Lantern. The story is about a revolutionary alliance called House of Flying Dagers that attempts to oppose the opressive Tang Dynasty in the year 859. Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is dispatched to capture a beautiful dancer called Mei (Zhang Zi Yi) since she's suspected to be the daughter of the alliance leader. Because of this, Jin pretends to be a lone warrior who tries to help her. Unknown to him, however, there is more to Mei than meets the eye. And to make matters worse, it seems both end up falling in love with one another for real.
Since I'm obsessed with Naruto lately, I think I'll pimp this artbook a little bit. Uzumaki is the new artbook from Masashi Kishimoto, the author and designer of the series. This is actually a collection of the manga colour illustrations that appeared ever since the series started. So don't expect any anime images here. In addition to this, there aren't that many new and original illustrations on this book. If you have been following Naruto, you probably have seen the majority of these images somewhere. There are some exception to these such as the first image that I included below. But apart from that, they're just collections of previous images that have appeared in the weekly Shounen Jump. These includes those character ranking images as well as the complete manga covers.
Oh yeah, I'm still alive all right. I've just been a bit busy with other things lately that I've been neglecting the blog a bit. This show, on the other hand, feels dead and stagnant. I actually wonder when it will end halfway through watching the episode. There are still some good jokes from time to time but in comparison to the previous episode, this one feels weak in comparison. I also never knew that Christmas party and New Year celebration can be dull. But this show proved me wrong. I actually feel sorry for the characters for having to endure such a boring party. To make things worse, the new girl, whom I expect to make things more interesting doesn't seem to be that interesting after all.
I feel that lately my interest in this manga is kind of muted. This is partly because I've been a bit obsessed with Naruto at the moment and can't get my mind off that series. But it's also because nothing much have happened thus far with this series. There have been some good character development lately but as far as storyline goes, I feel that it still remains as the way it was when the last New Year's Eve story happened. And that was already quite a long time ago. Anyway, unlike the last chapter, this one seems to focus on multitude of characters for a change. The chapter also ends in a non-cliffhanger note just like the last one. This is good because the next chapter won't come out until next month so it will be annoying if a cliffhanger happens at the end of this chapter and the story is postponed for one month.
I think the show is on a roll at the moment because I've been enjoying every single one of the last three episodes. This episode itself contains a rather surprising development that I think will make the show far more dynamic. At the very least, this will give the show an angle that a fugitive show such as The Nowhere Man, never attempted. Having said that, I hope that they can make the pacing a little bit faster. There are occassions where the camera lingers on for far too long on a particular scene to the point where I have to use the fast forward button because the suspense was killing me. Yeah, I'm a bit impatient but when the storyline deals with a life and death situation and I'm forced to look at a shot of a house for a long time before I get to see what happens to the characters, I can't help but feeling this way.
Well, I watched these last three episodes with the expectation that I'll be disappointed by it. That turns out to not be the case. There are some holes in the storylines but in general this is a well-crafted series with a good ending. In fact, the resolution to the series almost made me want to shed a tear or two and I don't get sad that easily. I am also impressed with the character design for the show. I haven't done my research just yet but I intend to keep a close eye on the character designer's work after this. The final episode also shows remarkable animation where it seems as if the animators went for broke. The final fight between the Peacemakers and the Dragoon/Gigas is especially memorable mostly because of the action and the stirring soundtrack titled Dragoon no Tatakai. It's unfortunate that the overall soundtrack is a mixed bag. But I did manage to find some favourites that remind me of some of the best RPG soundtrack I've ever had the pleasure to listen.
In case you guys wonder why I haven't done a summary for any of the summer anime, it's because I can't seem to find one that I like. I am not a big fan of Samurai genre so that rules out Samurai Champloo and Samurai 7. Kurau Phantom Memory looks okay but the first two episodes didn't impress me and I can't seem to like any of the characters. The last time I got this kind of feeling was when I watched This Ugly and Beautiful World. And I still remember how that one went. So now if I watch a long-running series, I want to make sure that at the very least I like the characters. In the case that the story gone haywired somewhere down the line, at least I still have something that makes me want to continue watching the series until the end. That leaves me with, surprisingly, Teizokurei Daydream. To be honest, there is nothing Earth-shattering about this one. However, the storyline appeals to me and the characters are very endearing in my opinion. I actually want to check out the manga now to see where the storyline differs.
My slow crawl to finish this series is almost close to the end. With three more episodes to go after this, I am well-prepared for the ending. Upon seeing these three episodes, I have to say that so far the series has done a good job of maintaining the tension and the tight plotting. There are also some drool-worthy battle scenes presented in these episodes, presumably to entice the viewers to anticipate the finale. These episodes also show some interesting character development, although strangely, these development are not of the main characters. Come to think of it, so far the most developed characters in this series are actually the side characters. I simply assume that this is because the main characters started the series with little to no flaw and therefore there isn't much development that can be given to them. Anyway, as I promised, this is one of the series where I'll maintain the essay-like summary so I hope you enjoy it.
