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ファイト／ステイナイト 
September 30, 2007 | 
5 Comments
Yeah, I'm crawling to the finish line. I think my problem is not so much with the actual series but finding the motivation to watch it. This episode seems to be the 'calm before the storm' kind of episode. I really enjoyed the simple and almost slice-of-life style of the 2/3 of the episode. The last 1/3 of the episode is also exciting because the series is finally heading towards the final confrontation. What I fear seems to be happening though. The series does not bother to give more information about the Organization. It simply states that just like any other organizations, it uses people like chess pieces. I guess it makes them more mysterious but at the same time, it makes me wonder why the Organization was conceived in the first place. Also, how did they get so much power to the point that they can override authorities and government.
September 27, 2007 | 6 Comments
Trailer | World Transition | Stairwell
I don't think these are new trailers but I haven't seen them before and I love the game so I thought I should feature it. I know that Silent Hill 4 was a bit of a disappointment but I can't help but being excited about this new game. I love the sense of dread that comes into me everytime I'm about to enter a new room or a new building. I feel like I don't want to enter the place and want to wake up from this nightmare. I think that's why the game works so well because you do feel sorry for the protagonists and want to help them to get out of the creepy environments. I also like that most of the protagonist, like Harry and Henry, are far more vulnerable than a typical character from Resident Evil/Biohazard series. Anyway, not much is known about this game apart from the fact that the main character is called Alex and he's looking for his missing little brother.
The first thing that I noticed from all of these trailers is that the new installment borrows a lot of the visual cues from Silent Hill movie. You can see it in the new design of the Psycho Nurse as well as the way the normal world morphs into the Hell world. I am slightly concerned with how certain game events look similar to other Silent Hill games but I hope there are still some surprise left in store. I think I have said this before but I'll happily admit that I'm a graphic whore. One thing that I think is missing from all of the Silent Hill series is high polygon character design. Sure, they look wonderful during cut scenes but they don't look that good during the actual gameplay. This is something that I hope will change now that the game is on next gen consoles. No more dust filter to hide the fact that the polygon count is low.
September 24, 2007 | 10 Comments
This is a rather intense episode which concludes the MI6 part of the story. I think while the episode was pretty good, I'm not quite satisfied with how things are left unanswered. The thing is, I am not sure if the writers will have enough time to give the Organisation the back story it deserves or to explain how Hell's gate came into existence in the first place. With the focus stays on Hei's attempt to stop Evening Primrose or maybe helping them with whatever they are going to do, they don't have much time left to cover the above issues. I think the only things that the story will be able to cover in such short amount of time is the fate of the characters in the series. I just hope they do a good job at it.
September 21, 2007 | 18 Comments
Well, Miyajima/Itsukushima Island was beautiful but I find out that I'm an internet addict. I was restless while I was there because the place where I stay didn't have internet connection. Well, now that I do, I already miss 3 episodes of Darker than Black. Oh well, let's just start with something simple like the latest MGS4 trailer. I think it's funny (even with the diarrhea joke) although I could do without Eva calling herself "Big Mama" again. You can download the trailer from Game Trailers if you want. I would like to know what Kojima was thinking when he came up with that final scene in the trailer.
The biggest news here in Japan, however, is about this 16 year old Kyoto girl who killed her father. It actually caused School Days to be postponed as a result of this incident since the series featured an ending not too different from this murder case. If that's not bad enough, someone from 2ch made a joke about how the events Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is similar to the murder case. D'oh! Of course the media found out about it and made a big case about it. Now Higurashi episode 12 has also been replaced by a documentary. I do love Japanese documentary though, especially where they travel to some far-off areas and eat local foods while pretending that everything is delicious.
September 11, 2007 | 8 Comments
Well, this is pretty good. The start was a bit slow but it's well compensated by the well-executed fights toward the end of the episode. I also like the way Hei and his group work together in a mission. It seems after the previous episode's incident, their teamwork becomes a lot more effective. Plot-wise, I like how everything is heading towards a climax involving the end of the Great Sunspot. I do wonder, however, if we'll ever find out about the diffection factions that exist in this story and their intention in regards to Contractors and the Gate. One thing that I feel is a bit extraneous is Misaki and her subordinates. I guess they need several characters to represent the normal human factions but at times they feel so removed from the general plot. Of course it doesn't help that they're always late and miss out on crucial informations.
September 8, 2007 | 6 Comments
Sorry for the extremely late entry but for some reason I find it hard to go back into the routine of watching the series. Upon watching this, however, I remember why this is the case. The story while pretty good, is also quite depressing. It's like a chronicle of a group of people who could never find happiness and everything from the narrative style to the ending song are used to emphasize this. On a more positive side, the story contains some interesting discussion about the difference between humans and Contractors. There's also an interesting twist that I didn't expect although I'm not sure if it's a good thing for Huang's character. In a way, it actually made him look like a fool and erased the justification that he had on the previous episode for hating Contractors in general. On an unrelated note, I've updated Kongetsu as usual.
September 4, 2007 | 24 Comments
I feel a little bit bad for not posting much lately but I'll try to rectify that tomorrow night. I did, however, manage to update Kongetsu with a new post. In other note, I am really worried about my lack of interest in Anime. I actually went to Akihabara 2 days ago and I was stunned at my own lack of interest in buying any of the merchandise shown in various anime shops. The only thing that I want to buy right now is just this special DVD boxset of live action Nodame Cantabile. I feel a bit weirded out by this latest development because prior to this, I can't remember the time when I don't at least want to buy an anime-related magazine. Maybe it's the knowledge that I can get most of the things that I want in my country or at least get them cheaper online. I also don't feel obsessive enough to buy that Evangelion-branded coffee.
September 1, 2007 | 48 Comments
Okay, this is a really rough first impression of the new movie. Overall, the movie is okay but it's not extraordinary. I think the only ones who'll get a kick out of this are mostly hard-core Evangelion fans. Having said that, I have to say that I was surprised at the amount of interest generated by the film. The theatre was packed and I was lucky that I watched it at 12PM or otherwise I'd have to wait in a queue to see it. I also noticed that the majority of the viewers were not the Otaku kind of viewers. There were a lot of Otaku and you can easily identify them by the way they dressed but most people who came and saw it were just your average Japanese people. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of merchandise to milk every yen out of the fans but I managed to restrain myself and only purchased the booklet. As a side note, sorry for the low quality of the images but they're taken in a hurry and I'n still tired due to the flight.
Packed theatre
Booklet Cover
Booklet Content 01
Booklet Content 02
