http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:BTIsaac&section=today deviantART RSS for by:BTIsaac en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:29:50 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28779182/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28779182/ Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:29:52 PST
Agatha Cristie's great detectives: Poirot and Marple
Ayakashi Ayashi
Azumanga Daioh
Berserk
Blood+
Bokusatsu Tenshi: Dokuro Chan
Darkstalkers - Night Warriors
Death Note
Dragonball
Elfen Lied
Excel Saga + Puni Puni Poemi
Full Metal Panic
Kamichama Karin
Kamichu
Karin
Lucky Star
Higurashi no naku koro ni (first season only, will review when finished)
Makai Senki Disgaea
Midori no Hibi
Naruto
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Noir
Rozen Maiden
Ruroni Kenshin
Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei
Seto no Hanayome
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi (first season + the two super deformed spinoffs)
YuGiOh Shadow Games (few more eps left, will review when finished)

Now Watching:
Bleach
Dragonball Z
Dragonball KAI
Naruto Shippuuden (on hiatus)

Following:
Higurashi no naku koro ni (seasons 2 and 3)
Spice and Wolf
Samurai Champloo
Chobits
Clannad
Full Metal Alchemist (first series)
Sengoku Basara
Hellsing
Soul Eater
Mushishi
One more I took note of but can't remember it's name for now
And several others I won't list just now.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28628993/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28628993/ Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:45:45 PST
This is a very short series released for video, yet there's still plenty of things to say about it, but I'll try to keep short.

The story starts with dark lord Demitry Maximoff, preparing to settle a score with his old enemy Morrigan Aenslaed, and attempt to claim lordship over the Demon World. His opressed human subjects decide to take the opportunity, to rebel. The confrontation is cut short with the appearance of an army of phobos, ancient machines of unknown origin, that immediately begin exterminating Earth's population. The sudden development ignites the tension between humanity and the creatures of darkness, leading to open war. Caught between the mechanical invaders, and the high and mighty military, the innocents' place all their hopes in a catgirl and a werewolf to protect them from certain destruction. All the while, one lone halfblood and two undead sisters hunt for the source of the upcoming apocalypse.
That's the story in a nutshell. Night Warriors is a 160 minute direct-to video adaption of the popular Capcom fighting game, Darkstalkers, finally giving the games an adaption it deserves (after a ridiculous, goofy, cheap and so bad it's hillarious american cartoon).
I admit to never playing the game. But I'm familiar with the characters, thanks to MUGEN.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28464403/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28464403/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:55:07 PST I'm not gonna go into too many details. So here are a few pictures I uploaded to Photobucket.
[link]
[link]
These are pictures taken from the Headquarters. The CPJ is based on the second floor of the building (the first one is a Beauty Saloon regularly visited by old ladies of 60 and above). Recently, the Seireitei Manga CLub has also moved in to the same place, and they brought their collection with them, which can be seen in the second picture.
[link]
[link]
These were taken from a workshop course a week before the beginning of the Culture Festival. We made those funny little charms I posted a picture about.
[link]
[link]
[link]
I took these on the meeting right before the Culture Festival. We were making preparations for the opening ceremony. The items feature several pieces of origami, made by one of the members, and a paper-craft castle made by another regular, with an engineering degree. The people sitting at the table are mister Kawai, the foreman, Minodora, our secretary, two other members, and a regular girl who's name I just keep forgetting.
[link]
This was taken at the opening ceremony. New faces include the principal of David Prodan general school and mister Marinescu, a Romanian haiku writer who writes 'free haiku' that don't follow the 5-7-5 rule (don't ask), and has an ego about the size of the whole room (But enough about that - I may not like him, but I really shouldn't be talking behind his back). I don't remember the third guy, but He could've been one of his colleagues.
[link]
[link]
The day after the opening ceremony. A guest called professor Sasaki explained her impressions about the country. The other guests, Junko and Naoko, also performed a song.
[link]
The day I left for home after the first week. professor Sasaki was showing us how to make these cards. Minodora's sister is working with a piece of origami paper I salvaged from one of my failed attempts.
[link]
I was more successful with the origami we made the following week. The Kusudama I'm holding was made entirely by me. But now that I think about it, I should've used some deeper colors instead. The girls are a regular, and a guest (no names, my memory is terribly leaky).
[link]
This was taken directly after the Origami course when most of the visitors left. Mister and Mrs Kawai are talking with Junko and Naoko. Minodora is serving tea. The girl in pink is a member of Seireitei if I recall correctly.
This concludes the pictures. I'll be posting more here on DA tomorrow. Too bad I couldn't take any at the closing ceremony. We had another guest, mister Takagi, who also got an introduction on the night after the closing ceremony. That was another joint meeting with the Seireitei. Luckly, I managed to endure it however. And the treats (including Dango) served after that were compensation enough.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28435150/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28435150/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:23:38 PST
So what is this about?
Kamichu starts with a girl called Hitosubashi Yurie announcing that she became a goddess. How it happened and how she found out, we have no idea, nor is it important. People get used to it easily. But from that day forward, her life gets pretty hard. While being overwhelmed by schoolwork, she has to fulfill her divine duties and advise her schoolmates, thanks to the campaigning of her loud mouthed 'manager', Matsuri. Not mentioning the various favors people are asking from her, such as reviving old beach spots, recovering the remains of an old battleship, negotiating with cute aliens, bringing the towns cats back from the Cat-club (first rule of which is that you do NOT talk about the Cat-club), not to mention attending important events such as Kami-con. All the while, having to look out for her friends and family, and trying to get hooked up with the guy she likes.

Kamichu is mainly an average slice of life anime with supernatural elements, but features elements that rarely show up in these shows. For one, there IS romance in it, featuring at least one couple besides the main character and her love interest. Also, the scenery is modeled entirely after existing places in an existing town. Many of the deities and spirits that appear have unique and original, sometimes humorous designs, probably the most spectacular being the Seven Lucky Gods, as a J-pop band. The spirit world itself has a very lively atmosphere, reminiscent of old Japanese prints.

Beautifully detailed and animated, with lovable characters (even the closest thing the series has for a villain turns out to be a pretty swell guy once he gets some sense beaten into him), outstanding designs and a simple yet cute story, Kamichu is bound to be quite a treat when you want to watch something while taking it easy.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28338957/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28338957/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:25:34 PST
For those who don't know, this is a 2d side scrolling curtain shooter, where your goal is to maneuver across seemingly endless waves and patterns of bullets of varying sizes and colors, trying to stay alive, make it to the boss and beat her (yes, all characters are girls for some reason). Easier said than done, seeing how you will not be able to make it through the first level in easy mode without getting hit at least once, if you look away even for a second. I've been playing it for a month now and I think I'm getting to hang of it. I'm by no means a hardcore player, but at least just now, I managed to beat easy mode in TH10 without using any 'continues'. That's gotta mean something (Yeah, it means I'm a noob can we get over it now?).

So here's how the game goes. Hakurei Reimu is a shrine maiden (that's pretty much why I first got interested) of a shrine that serves as a gate to the world of Gensokyo, a dimension populated by humans, and various supernatural creatures (all girls and only one MAN in the extended universe). Various incidents occur every now and then, and she sets out every single time, to find the culprit, and beat up everyone in her path. The player takes on her role, or the role of her friend, a witch called Kirisame Marisa, and occasionally, a knife-nut maid, Izayoi Sakuya. Other important characters include the puppeteer Alice Margatroid, the dimensional shifter, Yakumo Yukari, the demon Remilia Scarlet and her servants, Hong Meirin and Patchouli Knowledge (besides the above mentioned maid), a half ghost swordswoman, Youmou Konpaku, and a reporter whose name I've given up trying to pronounce.

Most, if not all of the characters are based on creatures or characters from Japanese folklore. Attack patterns are all unique and thematic, and the player must work out a different strategy for each one. Sometimes, there are blind spots that must be found. Sometimes gaps show up for a second, and vanish. And sometimes, you just have to be lucky. Or if all else fails, you carry a few spells (set number in earlier games, or cast at the expense of your power-level in later ones) that will wipe most of the area clean for you, along with providing other secondary effects.

But the game's main attraction is the soundtrack, featuring several awesome and pleasant songs that will reduce the stress from the repeated failures and keep you playing for hours.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28068383/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/28068383/ Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:28:57 PDT
Let's see the review I've been putting off for the past few days.
This concerns the third Bleach movie. Right now I'm laughing on all the people who decided against watching it because 'they heard it will suck'. Well, not only it didn't suck, it was much better than Diamond Dust Rebellion. In fact, I don't think I saw an anime movie this good since the first Naruto movie. Most of the main cast didn't get a single frame, true, but I was willing to put up with that.
--------
SPOILERS
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So what exactly is this about? The whole thing starts with two intruders appearing in Mayuri's lab and sabotaging his latest experiment. The madman wakes up with all of his memories gone, and panicking, while the malfunctioning machines release a substance that covers most of the city before crystallizing. In the ensuing panic, the culprits kidnap Rukia.
Back on Earth, Ichigo experiences a temporary lapse in memory, and seeks out Urahara for advice, but when he brings up Rukia, his teacher doesn't seem to remember her. Being the smart guy he is, Urahara checks his notes (Hang on? Who is this guy? Riff?), which have Rukia's name, he immediately deduces, that all of his memories of her were somehow erased. Ichigo (accompanied by Kon) runs to Soul Society for answers, and finds the Court of Pure Souls in disarray. On top of that, no one seems to remember neither him nor Rukia, and after a confrontation with Renji, he's forced to leave, but not before accidentally mentioning Renji's Bankai, which also seems to be missing from his mind.
In the meantime, Rukia wakes up in a house and is greeted by two siblings she seems to know from her childhood. The two apparently hold a grudge against Soul Reapers, for taking Rukia away from them, and have erased the past hundred years from her mind to keep her from remembering them. After a meeting with Ichigo, however, her memories start coming back, and the siblings decide to wipe out the Court, before Rukia decides to go back there.
After being confronted by his spirit, Zabimaru (who was still a male baboon back then), who confirms that he really does have a Bankai, Renji realizes that his memories were altered, and seeks out Ichigo, deciding to help him out. Hitsugaya, Ikkaku and Yumichika also decide to help. The other captains suddenly show up, but Urahara arrives in time to break up the fight and explain his findings. Rukia's memories, along with peoples' memories of her and everything connected to her, were apparently "erased" by a memory consuming parasite, that escaped from his lab a hundred years ago.
Back in the Court, the siblings use the same experiment as before, to awaken an eldritch horror, that attacks the city. As all the 13 Court Guard Divisions mobilize to destroy it, Ichigo and Renji track down the culprits, who suddenly fuse with Rukia, triggering a Hollow transformation. Ichigo fights "Dark Rukia" and recalls the time they first met, and she gave him her powers by stabbing him through the heart. Ichigo now does the same, separating Rukia, the two siblings, and the true mastermind, the parasite, that was posessing the two siblings, and eventually disintegrates, unable to survive without a host. Finally being reunited with Rukia, the siblings are given names, before passing on.
With the shutdown of the giant machine in Mayuri's lab, the monstrosity is destroyed, and there is much rejoicing, since all problems are finally resolved. Except for one. Kon is still stuck in a crystal block he somehow got caught in.
--------
SPOILERS
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The movie was pretty enjoyable. Even if a few details were completely out of the place (Komamura going Bankai against Ichigo without any buildup; Hanataro showing up to heal Ichigo after the encounter, only to point out that even he can't remember him). The graphics were movie quality, even better, most of the time, and this was a problem, especially with deep shaded dark room scenes, where the extra detail, coupled with the regular style pushed all characters (but especially Rukia) into the Uncanny Valley. And about midway through the movie, the characters went off model, and remained like that for quite awhile.
The action scenes were good, and not as forced as they were in DDR. Even Kenpachi got a moment to shine. And yuri fanboys were also treated to more of the entirely not overdone Yoruichi/Shu... ]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/27816679/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/27816679/ Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:18:20 PDT This is the story of two girls who work as hired assassins under the title Noir, the word which may be the answer to the mysteries from their dark past. Little do they know what carrying this title truly means.
They inevitably clash with worlds most powerful organization, and get caught up in it's internal conflict.

Lots of shooting and knifing. Plenty of action and drama. Surprisingly little blood. Surprisingly little fanservice. Surprisingly accurately depicted shuriken (even Naruto, with it's drastic deconstruction of ninja stereotypes didn't touch that). Excellent soundtracks (including an intro from Ali Project). Overall it would be a good series, except for one thing that bothered me. The overall depressing atmosphere that was present in every single scene of every single episode. Even though it was pretty fitting of the theme, I didn't like the fact that the whole thing was so... dead.

Next on list: I started Kamichu as my morning series; that's more my type anyway... no, really! For night shifts, (seeing as I ran out of DB-Kai, and I'm watching DBZ in the Big City) I'm switching to... well let's see... Higurashi. So I'd better come prepared. I only hope it won't give me nightmares.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/27688500/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/27688500/ Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:41:53 PDT
Now on to the point.

Another meeting with the CPJ. This time it's the Start-Season meeting. The foreman couldn't make it (that happens a lot), so Mino (she's the secretary) had to hold the line again. The subject of the meeting was basically a summary of the club's activities so far, and a presentation of the events they used to organize. And suddenly I realized something. It's been almost two years since I first met these guys (I first wrote about them in this [link] entry), and now I'm a regular member. I officially joined last year, in December, and have been to most of their meetings since then. Back in those days, we still held our meetings in Yume tea-house (that's the Seireitei manga club's territory), but by now, the group has it's own place to stay, complete with a meeting room, kitchen, two restrooms an office and a reading corner (that's my regular spot).
Interesting changes took place while I was away. The first thing I noticed when I entered was a large bookshelf filled with manga. I immediately recognized it as the Seireitei's collection (and bookshelf), and guess what? Yume tea-house is dismissed, and the foreman decided to invite Seireitei to join us. I have reasons to feel prejudiced against these guys, reasons I won't start getting into, but if you've seen the ad for Sakuracon 2009, you'll pretty much understand these reasons. And I'm not gonna link that horrible thing to MY journal. Look it up yourselves, and watch it at your own risk. Or better yet, take my word for it and DON'T watch it.
Anyway, we also looked through a lot of pictures that were taken at the previous meetings. My great suikawari achievement chronicled in this [link] entry, was once again brought up. Some older pictures still taken in Yume tea-house (more specifically from this [link] meeting) were also there, including one that featured a large hulking thug with a thick beard and long hair - took me awhile till I recognized myself.
Good memories overall.
Now the way home wasn't as eventful as it usually is, mainly because I was simply too tired to go on foot, especially with the large bag I brought to the big city with me. So instead, I walked with the others to the bus. I generally enjoy talking, but I don't like to go though the trouble to actually start conversations, so I was very thankful when one of the girls (her name is Ayako by the way), left a little out of the loop when the others were discussing something, asked me why I'm carrying that thing on my back. We had a nice chat on the way to the station. I rarely get to talk to people, so I really enjoyed it.

Now I know I should've reviewed Kamichama Karin a long time ago. But that topic has grown too old, and reviewing it now would be too forced. Suffice to say, it's a magical girl anime, and the first of that genre I ever watched. It was, how should I say, girly. Cute, funny, sometimes tear-jerking, but very, very girly. However it did have a funny character I almost fell in love with at first sight - and I would if he was an actual person (yes it's a guy, and no, I'm not gay but you should already know that). I faved this [link] stamp for a reason, you know.

Anyway, that's it for today. Writing this journal took me a whole hour, and I feel like playing something before going to bed.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/27487348/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/27487348/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:27:32 PDT
Ice cream: 500 Ft
Registration Fee: 300 Ft
Two sushi rolls: 2150 Ft
Three FMA trading card decks with a buy two get one free offer: 1000 Ft
Kurosaki Ichigo figure: 1100 Ft
One bottle of tea: 200 Ft
One Anime Stars Magazine: 1000 Ft
One Yasutora Sado bagde: 300 Ft
One set of chopsticks: 800 Ft

Total: 7250 Ft

Available cash on entry: 6000 Ft
Remaining cash on leave: 1500 Ft

Reason: None available. The only rational explanation I can come up with is that one of the vendors gave me the change and the item, and forgot to take the price. It didn't bother them much when I went back to ask about it.

Okay, so what is this about anyway?
J-cult fest is something of a mini-con in a Budapest school, organized by some group called the MAJA. It's pretty much what it says on the can. The con included Japan related exhibitions, films, presentations and activities. Among other things, demonstrations were held by two sports clubs (the Phoenix Kendo Club and some archery club that's name I don't remember), and a drum ensemble.
The corridors were filled with vendors, selling all sorts of stuff from anime merchandise to books, magazines and various other random stuff. And since I had money to spend, I bought all sorts of stuff, and somehow, managed to spend more cash than what I had on me. Not much else happened. I'll post pictures sometime this week.

I have a review waiting to be written. I'll get to that too.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/27238779/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/27238779/ Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:13:06 PDT
Yesterday... I mean early this morning, I watched Naruto: Bonds, fifth film based on Naruto. While it had a lot to be desired, it far surpassed that pukewalanche they called Naruto Shippuuden: The Movie, which was a complete wastenado of my timefoon.
First, let's see what it was all about:

[SPOILERS]
A large fleet of steampunk warships approach the land of the fire, and start bombarding, in what appears to be a remake of Pearl Harbor. Entire squadrons of soldiers called Sky-nins leave the decks, and use chakra powered wings to fly over the Hidden Leaf, and begin shooting people and buildings using guns that shoot knives, and some weird balls that look like hand grenades. They eventually leave to restock, and prepare for a second run. Shikamaru and Neji observe their movements, determine the location of their base, and move out along with Kakashi and Sai, for a surprise attack.
Meanwhile, Naruto, Hinata and Sakura are tasked with escorting a doctor who helped treat the injured, and his apprentice (Amaru), back home. After a dangerous trek through a jungle, (during which Naruto makes friends with Amaru as they save each others lives, and he finds out more about HER past with doctor Sinno), they finally arrive to the village, which has been raised. Desperately looking for survivors, Amaru accidentally triggers a booby trap, but the good doctor saves her in the nick of time and gets impaled by a volley of knives. After burying his body, the party splits up to look for survivors. Hinata is captured, apparently, while Naruto and Sakura have a run-in with the Notails (yes, they added another beast, even though there are only 9 of them). The beast apparently possessed Amaru, because of her despair over the loss of her teacher. After dealing with his own inner demon, who really wants to have a go with it's long lost relative, Naruto manages to get to Amaru and help her exorcise the demon. Sakura goes looking for Hinata and the villagers, while Naruto and Amaru explore the ruins, which turn out to be a flying fortess called the Ancor Vantian, and manned by the leader of the Sky-nins, who is none other than doctor Sinno himself. Turns out, he didn't die, he just staged his own death, to manipulate Amaru's emotions. Something he's been doing all this time. He did this so the Notails could feed off her negative emotions, and convert it into dark chakra, that eventually allows him to go Super Saiyan, and beat Naruto Dragon Ball style. Then Sasuke, who has been following Sinno, on Orochimaru's orders, shows up to break the fight, and disables the villainous old man. Sinno escapes, and Naruto along with Sasuke, chase him through the Vantian while Amaru goes to rescue the prisoners. An epic showdown takes place in the core of the Vantian, where Sinno fuses with the Notails, going all mutatey on them and starts draining their chakra. But he's in for more that he bargained for, as the large amount of chakra he absorbs results in a meltdown, leaving him vulnerable to the finishing moves of the two youngsters. Amaru rescues the prisoners (Including Hinata and Sakura, who were captured at one point), and they all escape in a flying machine, while Naruto stays behind to blast the Vantian into oblivion.
All the while, Shikamaru's team successfully decommission the enemy fleet, by infesting the ships with Shino's bugs.
[/SPOILERS]

Epic battles at sky and sea made this film really worth watching. The graphics were a little too cartoony, but the animation was good at least. The story got a little hard to follow at some points, but besides all this, it was enjoyable. It didn't beat the first one, but it's a close second.

Now off to packing. I need to get ready for the big trip i mentioned.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26832080/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26832080/ Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:06:12 PDT
This is the story of a cute schoolgirl, and her creepy looking but very nice boyfriend. Together, they go to school in the morning, and work at a restaurant in the afternoon, and since the poor guy can't afford to buy lunch, she prepares box lunches for both of them. The catch? The girl is a vampire. No scratch that. Make it an UNpire. What does that mean you ask? Well, first off, she doesn't need blood to stay alive, and her skin isn't sensitive to sunlight. The drawback is, that she produces an excess amount of blood, and nosebleeds a lot. The bigger problem is, her boyfriend pretty much matches her preference in blood, being a very unhappy guy, causing her blood to react to him... and spray out of her nose with high pressure.

Of course this pretty much makes it a sitcom. So, enter the incompetent vampire hunter, who happens to be the first guy she ever bit. The poor loser thinks it was some sort of romantic dream, and believes her to be his first true love, while being completely oblivious to her nature. Then come his grandpa, who has a long standing grudge with the friendly neighborhood vampires, and the vampire girl's grandma, who wants to turn her granddaughter into a normal vampire. All is hyped up to a big climax, and suddenly...
THE LAST 10 MINUTES GET F*CKED UP WITH THE BIGGEST DEUS EX MACHINA IN ANIME HISTORY. It pretty much involved an unlikely wardrobe malfunction, and disney death [link]

Yes, up until the last 10 minutes, Chibi Vampire Karin was a good anime. Cute, funny, with occasional drama. It's a shame that something this good was ruined with such a stupid ending.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26726814/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26726814/ Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:56:46 PDT
In a different world, where magic is real, animals talk and technology comes packed in tiny capsules, a strange little monkey boy sets out on an adventure of epic proportions, to recover seven mystical crystal balls, that when assembled, summon a powerful dragon capable of granting any wish (one at a time). on his journey, he's accompanied by an obnoxious teenage girl, a talking pig, a handsome bandit and a cute flying cat. His dream, is to become the greatest fighter in the universe, saving the world every now and then, defeating dangerous foes, and meeting interesting friends on the way.

This, is Dragonball, a manga series created by Toriyama Akira, and it's anime adaption. Not necessarily the best, but doubtlessly the most important work in it's genre, inspiring Jump's three flagship series, and pretty much setting the standards for fighting manga and anime.

I recently finished the plain Dragonball (with Hungarian dubbing, which pretty much sucked, since it was re-dubbed from French) and moved on to Z. The fillers pretty much killed it for me though, so I picked up Kai instead, but I still keep watching Z, with original voices and WHITHOUT any subtitles just to practice the language. I'm making progress.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26639409/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26639409/ Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:43:21 PDT
]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26526967/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26526967/ Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:33:12 PDT The boy who was once a simple digger, now became a hero, and leader of all mankind. The empire he built, however attracts the attention of an enemy unlike anything he ever faced before, threatening to destroy all he struggled to build, and turning his friends into enemies. Unphased by his misfortune, he stands stout, and when faith conspires against him, he punches it in the face. Regaining the trust of his friends, and earning the respect of his former enemies, He sets out to fight one last battle, and succeed where everyone else has failed. Standing over all creation, he will shout into the void: "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!?" as he changes the fate of the entire universe.

Humongous mecha within humongous mecha. An epic battle that will shake the very foundations of the universe. That is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, another masterpiece of Studio Gainax. Oh. It also has a cute animal.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26464853/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26464853/ Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:10:24 PDT Here it goes.

Agatha Cristie's great detectives: Poirot and Marple
Ayakashi Ayashi
Azumanga Daioh
Berserk
Blood+
Bokusatsu Tenshi: Dokuro Chan
Death Note
Elfen Lied
Excel Saga + Puni Puni Poemi
Full Metal Panic
Lucky Star
Makai Seiki Disgaea
Midori no Hibi
Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden (up to a certain point)
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Rozen Maiden
Ruroni Kenshin
Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi (first season + the two super deformed spinoffs)

Now watching:
Bleach (as it comes out)
Dragonball (Hungarian dubbing, that was adapted from the frenchmen)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

On the list:
Hellsing
Karin
Kamichama Karin

Possible future choices:
Gundam
Higurashi
Noir
Haruhi's second season (although I heard really bad things about it)

Quite a list, don't you agree?

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26403409/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26403409/ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:43:03 PDT Anyway, I finished watching the Disgaea, anime. An attempt at turning a 40 hour long game (one I'm intended to acquire as soon as I get a PSP) into a 12 episode anime. It didn't really work, however, it does have it's moments. Not to mention it has three lovable main characters, Laharl, a cute little brat who is also a powerful demon overlord, out to rule the netherworld, Flonne, am ultra cute little angel you just can't stay mad at, no matter how annoying she can get, and Etna. Well, Etna is my favorite, but for some reason, I find it funny if I just pin her name at the end. Trailing them on their journey, is a funny looking girly man (who is quite obviously, the protagonist's thought to be dead father), and of course CAPTAIN GORDON, DEFENDER OF EARTH. Their enemies include an evil human general, a band of bounty hunters, an evil ventriloquist bunny, with a life sized dummy, a scheming angel, with a VERY impressive mustache, and a woman who is most likely worlds greatest demon hunter. Or not. Oh. Did I mention there are also a bunch of penguins, dood?
Well, it's a cheap one. Sure. And most likely nothing special for people who have already played the game. For me, though, the characters made it worth watching.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26231309/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26231309/ Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:10:34 PDT Based on the works of Agatha Christie, the anime Poirot and Marple is a unique approach on the adventures of the two detectives. It follows the life of Miss Marple's grandniece, Maybelle, who becomes the assistant of the famous Hercule Poirot. Usually following Poirot and Hastings on their investigations, Maybelle sometimes returns to her great-aunt's house whenever she takes a break, having the opportunity to see both detectives at work, and sometimes actively taking part in their investigations, even putting her own life on the line on one occasion. While she does have her moments sometimes, mostly she could come off as a mary sue to people watching the show with critical eyes.
The anime itself consists of short arcs of 2-4 episodes, each focusing on one of Poirot's cases, with occasional one shots featuring either him, or Miss Marple, who herself gets two major arcs in the second half of the series.
Poirot and Marple is a good anime. It's no means great. It's may interest people who are fans of Agatha Christie. I would also warn these people not to expect anything special. It may sound discouraging, but better to expect less than be disappointed in the end.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26123061/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26123061/ Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:47:41 PDT He is a cyborg gunslinger pirate from a steampunk world, riding a sarcastic unicorn.
They fight crime...
IN SPACE!!!
...
Now with 60% more Yaoi.
...
...
Complete with Gainax Ending!

And that's why Strong Bad said that too much of an awesome thing is really, really dumb.
Although now that I think about it, it really DOES sound awesome.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26066913/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/26066913/ Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:36:41 PDT The picnic itself took place in a remote corner of the Big City, thus, I was forced to use a taxi and spend the money I was going to use for ticket money to get back home. Lucky that didn't spoil the fun. Apparently, the foreman had some friends here (a retired couple to be precise) who allowed us to set up a barbecue on their land. Nothing noteworthy really happened at first, as I'm not one to participate in group activity, but I just couldn't miss the game of Suikawari they've set up, and was the second to take a turn in an attempt to split open that watermelon. Now the language instructor wasn't very helpful when giving hints, and was trying to direct me towards the shoulder bag I used to carry with me at all times. Thankfully my senses of direction rarely fail me, so I managed to whack that melon, opening a crack and also, breaking the stick. Must've been an old one, huh? Well, after eating some watermelon, I decided to pack some of the leftover food, including a rice ball, grilled corn, and some chicken. I played some badminton with one of the guests while the foreman (being the hyperactive little man he is) played volleyball with the girls.
Now the way home was pretty interesting. After everyone went their own way, I set out to find the way back to my residence. Note that I had no idea where I was going and it was pretty dark. And it figures, that no late night big city adventure of mine is ever complete without a painful diarrhea. Lucky for me, I accidentally found a restaurant which was still open because of a wedding. So I found my way in and occupied the restroom. I resumed the journey afterward. It was already 11:00 PM. By this time I already found a road to follow to the City Center. It took me 20 minutes until I recognized a landmark. This was the beer factory, from which it took me another 20 minutes to get to the center. And another 20 minutes to get home. Just when I thought it's over, I had to run into the exterminators. Twice. By the time I entered the apartment, it was way past midnight, and I was covered in bug killer.
Next day, dad sent me some money with the same bus I came back home. I had the leftovers from last day's picnic for breakfast while waiting for it. I spent most of the time standing in the rain while waiting to get on board, and when I did, hoping to finally get some sleep, some gypsies ended up right next to me and were talking all the way home.
However, I'm thankful for eventful weekends like this one. If anything, they add a little color to life. Don't you all agree?

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/25880992/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/25880992/ Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:55:41 PDT
Now let's see

Dear BT
It's been awhile since the last BTLOG. (yup, it sure has!) Are there any problems? Have you ran out of Anime to watch? I could recomend a few.
With crap (ugh seriously you guys!)
Andy West, UK
(Andy Westminster, Yuck)

(Hmm Westminster? Looks important!)
Have I run out of Anime to watch, Andy? No WAI! I mean, I'm just trying to chew myself through this long list I have. It's so long, I had to create a separate bookmark folder for first episode anime videos on Youtube. See here... (opens Bookmarks menu to show the Youtube folder).
And I most certainly did not pause my daily routine just because I'm a lazy bum. Because I'm most certainly isn't...

(Hey, what the...?!)
(OOPS! *hides*)
(Okay, who turned my journal into a sbemail parody?! Eh nevermind. I'll just delete this first part before I post the entry.)

AAAAAAAAND,... I'm back! Provided I still have a few small matters to settle in the Big City, but I'm pretty much free now. The second anniversary of The FAN is approaching, and it happens to coincide with the day I'll post the cover page for the second part of the current episode. If you read my webcomic, you'll know what I mean. If you don't... *creepy, threatening stare, tense silence*
The end of June also marks the long dreaded one year anniversary of PC's last reformat, and I'm afraid of what nasty events that day has in store for me. At the very least, the anti-virus license is very likely to expire around that time, and I have no real idea as to what I'll do when that happens.
Okay. On to more important things. Like the newest review. Ready? Here it goes!

What happens when you take a dadaist manga that was meant to parody various manga genres, and give it to the crackiest director who ever worked in the anime industry?
An epic story of world conquest, romance, horror, big hammy moments, cute animals and teddy bear shaped alien invaders, Excel Saga tells the story of the kah-razy redhead, Excel Excel, who applied for a job at the world dominating organization Across, and immediately fell in love with it's charismatic leader, Il Palazzo. Hyatt, a sick girl who dies twice every episode also joins in, and the quest to take over the city, begins. Every single time, the girls run into some sort of conflict, which they are forced to solve, while they loose track of their original objective. Also hindering them in their efforts, is a highly incompetent band of superheroes (who happen to be their next door neighbours), their corrupt and funny looking sponsor, and the fellow mad scientist, who likes kids a bit too much. And when Across DOES succeed in it's plan, all hell breaks loose, and things take a turn to the serious.
All the while, a wondering couple of father and son, and their mighty Afro Headed mentor, who is non other than the director himself, fight for the fate of the entire universe. And one lone dog wanders the earth, seeking revenge on her original owner, who betrayed her and and killed her only real friends.

Random, weird, strangely hilarious, and packed with tons of parodies of classic titles, Excel Saga is THE archetypal widget series, recommended for everyone who loves things that just don't make any sense.

(Okay, time to remove that silly first... What! STO.......

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/25554937/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/25554937/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:42:22 PDT
Besides that, the week was pretty plain. Well, except for the CPJ meeting that took place on Wednesday. The foreman has invited an animator to drop in for a visit. The guy's called Tsujita, and has a channel on youtube [link] by the way. Wel, anyway, he also brought this to the attention of the Seireitei Manga Club, so the whole meeting room was flooded with otaku. Whatever could they have been expecting I wonder.

I can also see that I'm approaching 9000 views. Hopefully this time, I'll be able to post something when the time is right. If I'm gonna post anything this weekend, I'd better get to work ASAP.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/25426149/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/25426149/ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:42:32 PDT
First off, the older things I didn't mention before. In the past months, I started taking language courses in Japanese. I really wanted to keep this a secret, so it wouldn't look like I'm showing off. Problem is, my sister guessed it on her own, and since then, everyone I know, knows about it.

Secondly, I'm trying to resume working on The FAN, but I was completely idle during the past weeks, and what's worse, I may have fallen out of practice.

Finally, the series I'm trying to watch are beginning to pile up. It's like for every one I finish, there's another two or three popping up.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/25062833/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/25062833/ Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:11:10 PDT It all seems to be just fun and games, until a fated field trip, during which the plane they were on gets hijacked by terrorists. Sagara is surprised to recognize one of the enemy soldiers, who is apparently his thought-to-be-dead arch nemesis, and psychotic terrorist for hire, Gaul. Mithrill intervenes, and saves the class, while Sagara and his long time best friend, Weber rescue Chidori. It looks like they're in for a Bolivian Army ending, but Mithrill sends an unusual machine, the Arbalest, to aid them.
With Chidori knowing Sagara's secret, the two get closer to each other, and life is never the same again. Sagara is often called in for missions, while he also has his school duties to pay attention to. In the meantime, terrorists keep coming and war keeps on going all over the world. Not to mention Gaul keeps showing up just to prove that he cannot be killed.
Based on a series of novels written by Gato Shoji, Full Metal Panic is an anime series spanning 3 seasons. The first season, follows Sagara's life, the missions he must undertake and his conflict with Gaul who crosses his path on several occasions. The second season breaks away from the plot and focuses on the everyday school life, as well as Sagara's exploits as the mysterious mouse-like vigilante, Bonta kun, while introducing a few extra characters. The third season (also known as The Second Raid) introduces Mithrill's enemy, the terrorist organisation Amalgam, and their attempt to instigate a civil war in China. The series ends with many plot threads unresolved, but it's not likely the studio will continue it. I AM thinking about buying the books if I can.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24902010/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24902010/ Sat, 23 May 2009 05:47:29 PDT
On a completely unrelated note, I watched Berserk, and I seriously regret doing so. First time I felt like it. After putting it off for almost a week now, I decided not to review it in depth. Thing is, it was, in my opinion the worst anime I saw, and I don't mean stupid worst or worst quality. I mean it was so unrealistic, I was unable to enjoy it, no matter how hard I tried. And no, 'fantasy' is no excuse for ruining my suspension of disbelief. Maybe it had some sort of message, but it got lost in the unrealistically dark and violent presentation. I was unable to sympathize with any of the main characters. I was unable to take the human antagonists seriously (mainly because at least half of them are pedophiles - it's getting too old and overdone). And I most certainly wasn't emotionally scarred while watching the last few episodes, which was probably the worst collection of Brain Farts I ever saw.
I'm not going to go into this any further, to avoid turning this into some sort of hate fueled rant. Someone who didn't saw it yet may take whatever I say seriously, and not watch it, even though they'd like it otherwise. So far, every person (who gives a damn about anime) I spoke to, likes it. I'm the only one who doesn't.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24764193/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24764193/ Fri, 15 May 2009 03:08:22 PDT
That aside, I finally watched the first Rebuild of Evangelion movie. It was fantastic. I was even thinking of buying it on DVD, when I have the chance. But I'll wait with that till all four are out.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24440647/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24440647/ Sun, 26 Apr 2009 07:12:42 PDT I don't know how can someone, no, ANYONE screw up a story with such an awesome premise but apparently, you can ruin everything by including miss painfully obvious Mary Sue.
Of course if a story features vampires that aren't mindless animals who want to drink everybody's blood, they don't burn in sunlight (instead, they SPARKLE!), you can't kill them by pricking them with a pencil or waving a flashlight at them, and aren't evil, just painful jerks at their worst, you need something HORRIBLE to balance out all this good stuff.
The family baseball scene was probably the best, if not the only good part in the whole film. Every time the main character spoke, I felt like my brain is being raped by a chainsaw wielding clown, it was SO unrealistic. In general, the entire movie felt like a shortened Italian soap opera. In AMERICA.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24387240/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24387240/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:17:52 PDT
The main character, Sakurada Jun, is a reclusive young boy, who refuses to go to school, or even leave the house, or his room. His only hobby is looking for questionable items on line and purchasing them. No, not those kind of items. Objects which are supposedly cursed. One day, he receives a strange letter, with an even stranger question. "Do you wind? Yes/No." He underlines yes, and puts the letter in his drawer. In only a few minutes, the letter is gone, and an ornate suitcase appears in the middle of his room, containing a surprisingly well crafted wind-up doll. Remembering the letter, Jun winds up the doll, which suddenly comes to life and bitch-slaps him for holding her inappropriately.
The Doll is called Shinku, and belongs to the Rozen Maiden series of magical dolls, created by an enigmatic dollmaker, Rozen. They are destined to forever fight to claim each others' Roza Misticae, the source of their lives, to become Alice, the ideal girl Rozen wished to create. Jun agrees to become her medium, and is dragged into the magical world of the Rozen Maiden dolls. In time, more dolls arrive, and slowly, they help Jun overcome his inner demons, and come out of his shell.
Life with the Rozen Maidens isn't always fun and games though. One day, Shinku's eldest sister, Suigintou shows up, determined to become alice, to earn the creator's love by becoming alice, through any means necessary.

Contrary to how living dolls are usually depicted in fiction, the characters of Rozen Maiden are immensely cute and lovable. Their intricate clothing and hair designs are a rare sight. The animators did a wonderful job as both the art and the animation are top notch. this, along with the heart warming story, and the wonderful music make Rozen Maiden one of the most beautiful animes ever created.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24289792/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24289792/ Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:46:08 PDT
Flores was a decorated war hero, who fought for the liberation of Croatia in 1991, as the leader of the special forces. He was the kind of guy Hollywood used to depict WW2 US soldiers, only for real. After the war, he documented his experiences and published them in his autobiographic novel 'Mocskos Háború' (lit. Dirty War).

He, along with the Transylvanian Magyarosi Árpád and the Irish Dwyer Michael Martin was apparently involved in a plot to assasinate Evo Morales, and as such, he was ordered to death. The police claims they wanted to arrest them, and the three fought back. Evidence suggests that this may not be true. According to the footage, the three men were unarmed. For some odd reason, the Irish was the only survivor.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24144134/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/24144134/ Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:40:44 PDT
As if I have to repeat myself, I AM NOT MOST PEOPLE.

Before the world as we know it was formed, two primordial beings were born. One of them, Lilith, became the source of all life, while the other one, Adam, remained dormant, until the year 2000, when some meddling scientists had to awaken it, triggering an event that wiped out most of humanity. The remaining humans began to rebuild their civilization, establishing NERV, an organization apparently dedicated to prevent another similar incident.
In 2015, a humongous creature appears in the city of Tokyo3, and starts making it's way to the NERV HQ, looking for something. NERV's commander, Ikari Gendo, sends his 15 year old son, Shingi to stop it, with the help of what appears to be a humongous mecha, EVA01.
Over time, more of the creatures appear, each possessing a unique appearance and completely different, nature-defying properties. NERV calls them Angels, and they apparently seek to reunite with their progenitor, Adam, or with Lilith, an act that would change the world forever and make the successful angel the sole inheritor of the planet.
Ikari Shingi, now teamed up with the near-insane Soryou Asuka Langley, and the mysterious Ayanami Rei, becomes humanity's last hope. All the while, angels keep coming, and the EVA pilots encountering them are forced to reevaluate their own shattered lives, losing the inner peace they achieved through repeatedly fooling themselves.
Shingi's life slowly falls apart, as his desire for a normal life comes in conflict with his desire to earn recognition. He slowly isolates himself from others hoping that this way he will not hurt them, but things only get worse, and after he's forced to kill his best friend and fellow EVA pilot in order to destroy the angel possessing his EVA, he breaks, and his descent into depression begins. He briefly finds peace, falling in love with an angel, of all people, and a reincarnation of Adam, who takes the form of a young man called Kaoru. Despite nearly succeeding in his quest, Kaoru decides to spare humanity and asks Shingi to kill him.
The series end with two episodes in which the main characters finally settle their inner conflicts and find inner peace.
The "End of Evangelion" concludes the series, revealing the ultimate fate of the world. NERV has ulterior motives for the EVA project. The men behind NERV, a shadowy council called SEELE, seeks to reunite humanity with their ancestral mother Lilith, while Gendo seeks to unite the embryonic form of Adam's body, now embedded into his right hand, with Lilith, in order to ascend to a higher plane of existence so he can be with his wife again, and is willing to sacrifice humanity just to achieve the goal. The conflict between Gendo and SEELE lead to a bloody confrontation, that brings about the end of the world.
After a close encounter with an angel, her subsequent death and forced revival, Ayanami Rei discovers her true nature, and rejects Gendo, returning into the original body of Lilith. Amidst the battle between NERV and SEELE, Humanity's progenitor rises out of the ground in her full glory, and merges all individual living beings on the planet into a single sea of primordial fluid, with a single, collective mind. Shingi rejects such an existence, and encounters Kaoru and Rei (Adam and Lilith) in a dream. The two reveal that anyone with a strong will to live can break away any time they wish. Their work done, the life of the two progenitors ends, as they finally find peace after thousands of years worth of struggle. Shingi, along with Asuka, reforms from the primordial sea, apparently as the last man and woman, in the new world brought about by all that happened so far. The choices of their fellow humans are never revealed, and we may never know if they ever chose to return to the way they were before.

Well, that's how I understood anyway. Surely there are hundreds of other interpretations, but for me, this is the way I see it.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23967289/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23967289/ Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:04:16 PDT
In other news, I'm back in full swing anime-vise, once again watching two series simultaneously. One's a landmark vintage, the other is ... a ... well, I'm not sure what to call it. Anyway, more on them once I'm done. Until then ... whatever.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23863374/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23863374/ Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:49:25 PDT
This story details the conflict between two races, both driven by their nature to eradicate the other one, and the tragedies this conflict results in. There are no heroes and villains in Elfen Lied, only the evil that fuels Human's and Diclonius' hatred towards each other and drives them and even their youngest children to forever hunt each other, and the innocents who's desire to find happiness is caught in the way of the endless bloodshed. Lives are ruined, families are shattered, and those who suffered the most will eventually lose their innocence and become ruthless killers, destined to spread death and destruction as long as their short lives last and they meet their inevitable demise.
Elfen Lied is not a light-hearted series. It's thirteen episodes rarely let the heroes find any happiness at all, when they do, it's just so they can loose it again. At the end of the last episode, the plot comes to a cliffhanger, leaving the ending to the viewer to decide but every moment so far serves to reassure, that there can be no happy ending regardless of the outcome.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23842378/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23842378/ Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:23:37 PDT
Anyway, I decided to watch the animated series, to see what inspired the game. it's every bit as bloody and morbid as the game is (sans strippers). In short, the story goes down like this. In a world that looks like a steampunk version of feudal japan, with robots, cellphones and RPG's, there are two headbands (there may have been more at one point, but for now there are only two), marked #1 and #2 respectively. Wearing the number one headband means you're the number one badass on the planet. Plus, no one can challenge you, unless they are wearing the number two headband. But anyone can challenge the number two. This means, that after a person becomes number one, their life will turn quite boring, and they'll have nothing else to do but sit in their throne and wait while hundreds of people are killing each other for the title of number two. And by the time someone actually manages to reach you, you're either dead, or so out of it that they'll pwn you with one hand tied to their back. This is pretty much what happened to the main character's farther. The boy then (now called Afro), sets out on a bloody path, to claim the number 2 headband and challenge the killer. On his path, he encounters bounty hunters, former friends from his past who try to stop him, and crazy monks who want to take the headband from him. In the meantime, his past is also explored through a series of flashbacks.

Well, the graphics were pretty good, maybe even a bit unique. The animation quality looked nice too. Of course it's pretty violent, and I wouldn't really recommend it unless you can handle that. Nevertheless, I found it entertaining. Short, compact (5 episodes not counting the later season, which I haven't seen yet), but easy to follow, and even enjoyable, to some degree.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23723989/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23723989/ Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:47:55 PDT [link]
Someone posted this chart on a forum I'm visiting, but by the time I had a chance to express my thoughts, the thread was locked due to a heated debate. It appears the guy who posted it (seems like a major jerk most of the times) was adamant on believing that Christianity was the cause of all of humanity's problems, that all Christians are fundamentalists, fanatics and want to force their 'superstitions' on everyone, while he was entirely ignoring the 6 or 7 non fundamentalist Christians who were trying to convince him otherwise.

That's not the point though. What I want to talk about is the chart, and it's many flaws.
I'm gonna disregard the fact that the fear of excommunication/witchburns/eternal damnation, was the only thing that kept the superstitious medieval men from killing each other, and not the 'humanism' or 'utilitarianism' atheists like so much.
First off, assuming the chart is correct, it clearly shows that the Roman Empire became most advanced after they took up Christianity.
Secondly, it blames the fall of the Roman Empire on Christianity, when everyone knows it was caused by barbarians, most notably the Huns (give us some credit you dirty racists!).
Thirdly, I have no idea what measurement "Technological Advancement" is. I mean what's Technological Advancement's unit of measure? Did I miss something? Is it possible to measure it? Cause otherwise, there's no way you can display it on a chart.

Finally, a lot of people won't accept this but even if the chart is correct, nothing good will come out of this. Let's assume that such technological advancement is possible and we'd be living like the Jetsons (DO NOT WANT). But truth is, due to limited resources, there's a peak which technology can reach, and it's downhill from that point (back to the middle ages). If the chart is really correct, then we'd all be sitting in a medieval tavern listening to the bard singing of the 'lost El Dorado', instead of sitting in front of our computers watching documentaries on YouTube and discussing stuff on forums.

Thoughts?

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23688521/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23688521/ Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:25:19 PDT
Today I finished the second season of Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei. A mind screwing series about a depressed, suicidal teacher and an entire class full of students with various mental issues, which was meant to make fun of various aspects of society. The story features Itoshiki Nozomu, a suicidal guy from a messed up family, from a messed up village, who one day, ends up with teaching a class including an extremely optimistic schizophrenic, a perfectionist who likes to do EVERYTHING properly, an obsessive stalker, a masochistic animal abuser, a shy girl who only communicates through written messages, one with split personalities, another who apologizes for everything, a really mean girl with evil looking eyes, an illegal immigrant, a professional storyteller and a guy nobody notices for some reason. Other characters include a lesbian psychologist, a Yakuza, a hermit who sold his identity, the teacher's entire family, most notably his cute little nephew, and a cute girl who shows up in random closets and apparently likes to play with the later (if you know what I mean).
Oh. And don't forget the photo of the show's producer that keeps showing up on the most inappropriate places.
And the penguins.
Lots and lots of penguins.
You can only guess what can come out of all this.
Most episodes follow a very simple pattern. An intro showing random texts and anatomical or bondage illustrations, with an awesome intro song. This is followed by a full episode or a number of shorts, Most of them focusing on a different character/and or a different aspect of society, usually ending in an unexpected way, that has almost nothing to do with the plot. Most of the show is rather grotesque, or sometimes outright scary, but mostly it stays on the level of dark comedy.
Every episode features a great deal of subliminal messages, many of which are a reference to other anime, most obvious of which is (of all the shows out there) Lucky Star.

I guess it's only fitting that this is the last anime I watch on YouTube for awhile. Sad fact is, even though I do have a few shows I'd like to see, none of them are accessible at the moment. Maybe I could re-watch Bleach? Maybe.

Anyway, this seems like a good time to once again list all the animes I've watched up to now.
Here they are:

Ayakashi Ayashi
Azumanga Daioh
BLOOD+
Bokusatsu Tenshi: Dokuro Chan
Death Note
Lucky Star
Midori no Hibi
Naruto
Ruroni Kenshin
Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi

And currently up to date with the following:
Bleach
Naruto Shippuuden

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23643464/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23643464/ Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:32:38 PDT When I saw the teasers in the intro and saw a short review (courtesy of Wikipedia, my primary source of spoilers) I was expecting something a lot better.
I mean, what would you expect from a movie that features some dark conspiracy, involving an ancient demon, an evil mastermind and an army of stone, that threatens to end the world, and your favorite idiot putting a stop to it all, while supposedly cheating death with the help of an enigmatic priestess.

Well, I most certainly expected something more than this:


The movie begins with Naruto supposedly dieing. Then, time rewinds, to show how it all happened. Five men approach a shrine. Their leader, who's apparently some mad scientist, and likes to explain everything he does, as if the viewers are all idiots, uses some leech like creatures, to inject his subordinates with stimulants ("Applying my dark medical ninjutsu... Chakra injections successful"), then lets them take over. The four villains attack the shrine while using techniques whose names start with "Katon/Suiton/etc Ninpo". A second thing that made me look like WTF, since as far as I can recall, in the Naruto world, the "Ninpo" (Ninja art) qualifier, is used for non-elemental techniques while "Katon" (fire element), "Suiton" (water element) etc appear in the names of elemental attacks. Anyway, the baddies clear the guards (why can't people employ ninjas for guard duty; simple armed guards always get killed by the dozens by a single ninja), then the leader goes in and releases ("Unsealing ritual successful") an ancient demon called Moryo, then cuts up his on chest to allow him to take up residence in his body (While saying "I will let you take my body. I shall use my dark medical ninjutsu..."). After that, he raises a stone army and sends them to ravage the lands while the four lackeys kill a certain person.
Cut to the Hidden Leaf, that sends out almost everyone to stop the stone army, and Naruto, Sakura, Neji and (of all people) Rock Lee, to escort a priestess from her hometown, to a certain shrine where Moryo's body is held. The priestess turns out to be a really annoying big brat, who doesn't seem to care about how many people die for her. She also predicts that Naruto will die, but no one seems to care about that. the mission starts, and the priestess' bodyguard goes with them but after revealing a few details of the priestess' childhood (guess who will relate to that), he's forced to leave. After an attack by the four baddies, who seem like a group of drug addicted medics, always asking for their (Chakra) injections, they are forced to split up. Lee takes out his opponent, after discovering that he's on steroids, by... by getting himself drunk from a liquor filled chocolate bonbon. Please.
Anyway, the fights end, and the priestess seems dead. Nope. It turns out the bodyguard took her place, at some unspecified point in time, after they all split up, and before Sakura met the Dragon. Well, wall banging plothole aside, barely did the team reunite, they split off once more, Naruto going with the priestess, while the others take on the stoners, and finish them off before they have a chance to take their injections. Meanwhile, Naruto and the priestess reach the shrine, only to find it guarded by the army of stone. After realising the priestess isn't such a bad person after all, and proving to his fans that he can look pretty sexy when he's all serious and isn't wearing his headband, he holds a long speech about changing destiny, and they set out again, outsmarting the stonies, and entering the shrine.
And this is as long as I could follow. The rest is kinda blurry, but it went down something like this: The priestess encounters the leader, and attempts to seal the demon, who breaks loose due to a confusing existentialist paradox and a confusion over the geometry of the altar. He emerges as a many headed nether dragon of doom, and attempts to kill Naruto. The priestess uses the power of love or something like that and alter the past, giving Naruto a charm that apparently saves his life, then tries to sacrifice herself to kill Moryo. Naruto jumps in, then destroys the entire mountain with yet another upgraded Rasengan. Then the end credits roll, followed by a single end scene that besides showing that Both Naruto and the priestess survived, was made to give Kakashi, Mighty Guy and Temari (who's presence is never fully explained) a speaking line.


Why is this happening. The first movie was awesome. The next two were just what I expected from them. But this didn't even live up to my expectations. How can anyone make such a mess from a story with such an awesome premise, is a mystery to me, but I'm pretty sure it takes great effort to suck this much.
Even the the third movie was a lot more enjoyable, and it was... ]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23637607/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23637607/ Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:54:33 PDT
Naruto's 16 minute quest for the red four leaf clover was shown on Jump Festa 2003, according to Wikipedia. The animation takes place before the exam arc and gives Naruto's little friend, Konohamaru, some time to shine.
The Mission to protect the waterfall village, which was shown at Jump Festa 2004, takes Naruto and his friends to the waterfall village, which they must protect from and army of invaders (consisting of a Big Bad, four subordinates, and 9 redshirts).
The third short was included with the game Ultimate Ninja 3, and contains clues to play the game's RPG mode. It is notable for containing a whole bunch of cameos of characters, both alive and dead.
The fourth short, a little bonus included with one of the movies, was only 10 minutes long and featured the goofy hero's failed attempts to go to the bathroom, in the middle of a sport's I tournament. The poor guy ends up on the end of a line made up of the architect and his family and Gato's men from the first arc, the rain brothers from the exam arc, every single one of Orochimaru's subordinates, several high ranking ninjas from multiple villages, even Itachi and Kisame, and for some odd reason, Minato Namikaze, who was dead all along. For his second attempt, Naruto tries to take the girls' bathroom, only to run into Hinata who tries to wish him good luck. This takes so long that the next event begins, after which, he tries the outhouses, which are promptly destroyed by Choji. Probably his worst tactic was getting replicas to stand in line for him. These guys immediately occupy every single cubicle, then Naruto unsummons them, only to realize that they locked the doors from the inside. The only cubicle that is still usable, is currently taken by, of all people, Shino, who immediately pics up the poor guy and drags him back on the field for the relay race. The worst is yet to come, as after the relay race, Shikamaru, foils his last attempt to escape, and pulls him back to the end ceremonies. Little does he know how much he will regret this decision.

I'll wait for awhile with the Movie, otherwise this journal will end up even longer than most. Not to mention I have bunch of things to do today. Most of which may not even work out.

Dammit.
I'll be having problems this year too. I simply can't make it to the courses in time, because I can't wake up before 12:00. Hopefully if all goes well today, I'll be able to set things up and get some sort of job. At least then I'll be more secure financially.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23553079/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23553079/ Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:38:13 PST
Well, enough of the food talk. Let's get to the mandatory reviewing. And speaking of Ramen, let's get back to the hurricane chronicles.

When I last spoke of Naruto, I was about to start the Fire Temple saga. If there's one thin I hate about Naruto fillers, is that they lack the most important concept of Naruto. Someone needs to tell the story writers at the STU-G-Oh, that you can't imitate Kishimoto by recycling his older ideas. The main key to Naruto's success is 1. Keeping the story simple and straightforward, and 2. never recycle old story elements. After all, probably the greatest bit of originality Naruto had is that Kishimoto never copied himself. So copying Kishimoto and reusing any plot elements he already played out (original or otherwise) will break the franchise' most important pillar.
Well, at least this story was worked into the canon, as it introduces a few characters who will become significant later on in the official storyline. You can barely see the transition between official and filler, unless you read the manga (which I haven't - yet).

SPOILERS START HERE:

But what's this story about? Sora, a boy struggling with his inner demon (seriously, it's not even funny anymore), is training at the Temple of Fire, hoping to avenge the death of his father, who was killed when getting involved in some sort of conspiracy. Some grave robbers steal the bodies of four of the local Feudal Lord's bodyguards. Naruto and his comrades are joined by Sora on their mission to recover the bodies. They have a run in with the four baddies, who seem to be after Sora, most specifically his inner demon. After the initial encounter, they return to the village, and take the new guy with them to temporarily replace the injured Sai. Sarutobi Asuma reveals that he was one of the Feudal Lord's bodyguards, along with the head of the Fire Temple and Sora's father (a man called Kazuma), and that he killed Sora's father for revolting against the Hokage. The grave robbers attack the village. This new quirky miniboss band includes a geomancer (who can also raise the dead), a master architect who can design various structures with various powers (which then must be constructed with the right techniques) and a body snatching vampire, who can use elemental magic of all kinds, all of these being lead by ... a man with an extensible iron stick, who not only looks like Kazuma, but intends to pull off the same putsch Kazuma originally intended. Naturally, everyone gets their own opponent, Naruto taking on the vampire who simply refuses to stay ash-ified, as long as her hair is intact, Sakura uses a single punch to reduce the architect to orange juice, captain Yamato takes on the geomancer, and defeats him by... by making a large tree grow on top of him, and finally, Asuma takes on Mr Head Grawerobber, who is revealed to be *gasp* Kazuma himself, still alive and well, for some reason (now who could've guessed it). But the final boss fight is a lot more surreal. As it turns out, the real final boss is none other then an artificially created copy of the Ninetails, that was created from the remnants of the original and was sealed away in Sora's body all this time. Seriously. They aren't even trying anymore. Of course, in the end, Sora resists the demon and with Naruto's help, defeats it. Don't tell me you didn't see that coming.

Well, Filler or not, it;s over now, and the main story moves on with Naruto working on what is meant to be the most kickass technique ever created. In the meantime, Akatsuki acquires another beast, and the leader, who is finally no longer a creepy shadow guy, finally reveals his oh so mysterious plan. It comes down to three easy steps: 1: Get rich. 2: Acquire the power of the nine demon beasts; establish a military organization, use all the money and power to start a huge war, then offer their support to anyone at a low price, putting the hidden villages out of business, effectively becoming the world's only military power. 3: Take over the world.
Well, you got to hand it to this guy, he's a lot smarter than the typical evil overlords. Most would simply use the beasts to create a doomsday device that would enslave the world, and keep it in reserve long enough for a guy and a girl who can't stand each other and a mandatory comic relief character, who always tags along, fight through his gradually stronger minions, infiltrate his ventilation shafts, push the red button that has 'D... ]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23508126/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23508126/ Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:01:16 PST
Midori no Hibi starts with the introduction of Sawamura Seiji, a though guy in high school, who likes to pick fights with bullies. He's especially famous for his right hand, which is rumored to be strong enough to cars in a single hit. His only problem is, that he's over 17, and no girl would go out with him (the little grade-schooler from across the street doesn't count). He's contemplating just this, when he suddenly notices that his right hand somehow turned into a girl. Get that? His RIGHT HAND, turned into a GIRL. To complicate matters, it turns out that she is called Midori, she comes from an elite junior high school, and had a crush on Seiji for a long time, but wasn't brave enough to admit it. No one knows how she ended up on Seiji's right hand.
And of course the funny begins. The two have a lot of trouble getting used to this new situation, while trying to keep it a secret. Interestingly, despite her being so painfully obvious, only two people find out about her: Seiji's drunk and aggressive but loving older sister, and, of all people, a creepy doll collector. Everyone else who ever notices her, assumes she's just a doll. Despite all the inconveniences, Midori looks very happy, for finally being able to stay with her beloved Seiji; Seiji is really bothered by the fact that his once feared right hand now has a pair of shiny blue eyes and a cute giggle (not mentioning other "accessories"), although sometimes, she does prove helpful (no not that way ye damn perverts!); all the while, Midori's real body is lying unconscious in her bedroom, with both her mother and her best friend worrying about her well being. And let's not forget about the girl sitting directly next to Seiji in school, who slowly develops a crush on him, and comes up with ridiculously surreal and complicated plans to seduce him. You can only guess what will come out of all this.
The anime was pretty short, but it was fun while it lasted. And I really did enjoy both the funny and the tear jerking scenes. The quality looked fine, though it was hard to notice, YouTube being the way it is.
One last thing I should point out was regarding what some people may call 'fanservice'. For any nude scenes, all those ridiculously retarded forms of censorship like barbie doll anatomy, incredibly thick steam that comes put of nowhere, lame camera angles where random props end up on convenient location, or the producer's portrait showing up everywhere on the screen (please... don't ask) were avoided, and instead, characters were shown casually, something that, in my opinion at least, looks a lot more realistic, not to mention a lot less teasing.
Well, that's pretty much what I will say about this anime. I'd say you should check it out. I'll just remind you one last time about instances of NSFWness just in case you decide to watch it in the office, or you're one of those people who (for some reason I will never fully understand) finds that sort of stuff offensive.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23271696/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23271696/ Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:29:17 PST
I mean let's take a look at what this is all about. The main character is a blue haired geek girl called Konata, who likes to play games of the mmorpg and eroge genres. Her friends include a couple of twins, one cute girl and one though girl, with a huge family, and a clumsy girl with glasses, and an even clumsier mom. She has a little cousin, who also has her own circle of friends, complete with a yaoi obsessed fanfic writer, an american and a Sakaki (for lack of a better word for the tall silent and good natured girl who likes to patronize the smaller ones). Toss in a pair of toothy girls, a teacher who likes to play computer games, a crazy cop and a somewhat perverted but overprotective father, and don't forget to overload the whole thing with sugary cuteness and vibrant colors and draw every single character in lolicon style, to distract the viewers from the lack of plot. For laughs, you can always make voice actor Minoru Shiraishi the butt of all jokes, and just for fun, make the same guy do the voices of every single supporting character regardless of age or gender. And if the show is over in only 18 minutes, toss in Lucky Chanel, a little bonus, with a really annoying host, that follows the original's tradition of not-being-about-anythingness. If you don't have an ending theme, never fear, Minoru san will perform a random song, in the flesh, while the end credits run down.
And don't forget the cameos. Lots and lots of cameos. From animes made by the same studio. Most notably Haruhi. Those were funny.

Well, it was cute, it was funny, but now, it's over, and it's also time for me to move on to the next on the list. Which will either be the with the suicidal teacher and his class of weirdos, or the guy who has a girl for a right hand.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23187837/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/23187837/ Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:45:33 PST I'm midway through Lucky Star, so it will be awhile till I can review it, so I'll take this chance to further talk about my nighttime series, Naruto Shippuden.

I started watching Naruto at the end of June, with the intent of learning the secret of it's success, and to form an unprejudiced opinion of it. After 135 long episodes, 85 long fillers and three movies (and I didn't even see the OVA's), I have finally gotten to the good part. Looks like Kishimoto has been holding out on me.

The story starts two and a half years after the original ended, with the title character, now grown a bit older, returning to his village. After a demonstration of his skills, he is reunited with his old team, (sans his old friend Sasuke, who's still deserting), and sent on a mission to aid the now allied people of the desert. The sand village has been attacked by two members of the dark wizard circle thingy of doom (Akatsuki), a deserter named Sasori, and his partner, the demolitions expert and self proclaimed artist, Deidara, who kidnap Gaara, the current leader of the village, so they can extract the demon from his body. Then, the goofy Might Guy and his followers follow them as reinforcements. A hardcore granny from the sand village joins in, and the adventures begin.
Two other Akatsuki members show up, for an epic fight, Uchiha Itachi, who is every bit of an asshole as his little brother (probably runs in the family), and Hishigaki Kisame, who looks like he was bitten by a radioactive shark near Chernobyl. After the epic battle, the two villains are seemingly killed, but it turns out they were possessing the bodies of two hired goons, so they survive. Anticlimactic, isn't it?
Might Guy and his team is tasked with the oh so difficult task of breaking the four seals that hide the cave where Akatsuki holds Gaara, and each end up fighting a doppelganger that copies all their strengths and weaknesses, effectively getting removed from the plot without leaving the spotlight. Pretty ridiculous, but the conclusion of their battles was pretty inspiring.
Meanwhile, Gaara dies while the beast is extracted from his body, going out with one of those lucid, why am I (insert name here) moments. Well, it was kinda sad. Akatsuki leaves, leaving Sasory and Deidara behind to dispose of the body. Naruto and Kakashi go after Deidara who runs off with the body, while Sakura and the Granny remain to deal with Sasori and his army of mechanical minions. Sasori ends up dead, while Kakashi uses his newly gained ability to create black holes to break Deidara's remaining arm (he lost the other one while trying to capture Gaara), who escapes by staging his death.
In the end, Granny, who is mortally wounded, arrives and sacrifices her remaining life force to bring Gaara back to life. With brothers reunited, wounds healed and the enemy driven off, a great celebration takes place, and the heroes return home.

However, the story isn't over yet. With Kakashi temporarily out of commision, Naruto and Sakura are the only available members of the team. Two new temporary members are assigned from the secret police, the creepy captain Yamato, and the socially inept Sai. They are now sent to meet with one of Sasori's spies, who is currently working under Orochimaru. Hilarity ensues, as Sai keeps making insulting remarks, Naruto getting back at him and Yamato assuming his creepy face to keep them in line.
Things quickly turn pretty bad, when the spy is revealed to be the mad scientist Kabuto, who had a change of heart long ago, and they walked right into a trap, initially set for Sasori. What are the odds of that happening? Upon seeing Orochimaru again, Naruto looses control, and the Ninetails takes over, destroying the environment.
After an unfortunate chain of events, the heroes end up in Orochimaru's nearest outpost where they once again meet Sasuke, who is even more of an asshole than he was before.
They are unable to convince him to return, and he's about to kill them all, but Orochimaru tells him to leave them alone and the bad guys all pull back. The heroes return home empty handed. Sai however changed a lot, and is now willing to befriend Naruto and his friends. Guess that's what happens to everyone who meets this guy, eh?

The first two seasons are now followed by a new set of fillers, which I'm currently watching. More on those later.

My overall impressions of Naruto have improved, a lot. My impressions with Fighting Shonen so far weren't the best. As it stands, most of them started suffering of Dragonball Z syndrome, slowly loosing their edge after their first epic storyline. Naruto seems to be some sort of inversion. Seeing how these later episodes are significantly better, though darker and a lot more more mature than the original ones. Sadly, at this rate, it may end up beating Bleach. I mean it's sad for Bleach and good for Naruto,... ]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22976575/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22976575/ Tue, 03 Feb 2009 03:04:32 PST
Just now, I finished watching The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. It was a challenge though, since the guy who uploaded them on YouTube had them posted in broadcast order, which was pretty messed up. Well, considering how boring the last episode was, I think it's understandable that they'd want something epic for a finale, but that could've been the culture festival episode, not the one from the middle of the story, where things are just being established.
The same mix up also caused the low budget 'movie' made by the main characters to be brought right into the beginning, with it's bloopers, mediocre acting crappy narration and ridiculously bad special effects. Something like that can easily discourage anyone trying to get into this show.

Well, Bad order or not, it's a good show, with a deep philosophical tone, some funny jokes, and even a bit of suspense. And let's not forget the characters. There's a good reason I was a Haruhi fan long before I even considered watching the anime.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22923641/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22923641/ Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:11:39 PST
Slice of Life.
Pick a simple setting, like high school. Now, get a hyperactive english teacher, and a group a six girls, including an obnoxious brat, a bookworm, an athlete, a tall cat lover with long hair, a creepy weirdo, and a young genius, barely in her teens. Add to this, a gym teacher whom everyone likes, a creepy pervert with his clumsy wife, a funny girl who... likes another girl, a huge dog, a gray cat that likes to bite people and a mysterious yellow feline creature who likes to show up in people's dreams, and other unlikely places, can fly, may be bullet proof, a great baseball player, and/or Santa Claus. Then let them live their lives in their natural element.

You getting this? I think it's getting pretty obvious that I speak of Azumanga Daioh, the cutest series ever to be animated. The characters are simply adorable, the story is simple, yet enjoyable, and let's not forget those deep scenes that can play with your heartstrings every single time you watch them. Take just the ending theme. the song alone is enough to lure tears into a person's eyes.
Not that I was crying or anything...
Honestly, I... I wasn't crying... at all.
Men don't... cry after-...all... ...
...
Yeah... now if... you'll excuse me...
I'll just go now... and... play that game where I slaughter those hordes of demons. Like the man I am.
Yeah.
...
...
Bye now.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22801588/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22801588/ Sun, 25 Jan 2009 11:25:36 PST Apparently, the battery in my motherboard is running low.
Several weeks ago, PC had trouble booting. Now, I restarted it to get rid of some temp files, and it refused to boot up. I had to disable Quick Booting for it to run properly. Not to mention the clock was reset to PC's date of birth, when I finally managed to restart windows. But that was no problem. It was fixed automatically, while I dealt with the security warnings I kept getting because of the time problem.

Well, disabling quick boot apparently solved the problem (it just takes longer to boot). But if the battery is dying, it may be a good idea to replace it at a point in the near future.

To be precise, I hope, that this was the case, and not some sort of virus. Although, if that was the case, disabling quick boot wouldn't have solved the problem.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22780843/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22780843/ Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:47:52 PST
Come to think of it, it's been almost 36 hours since I actually slept. Well, that didn't stop me from going to the CPJ tea party later this afternoon. Two regulars returned from Tokyo recently and shared their experiences of the exotic, which the CPJ seeks to bring into this god forsaken backwater. I'm glad I had some spare cash I was saving for the past weeks, otherwise I may not have been able to afford any drinks (and that money was originally meant for ... *shudder* ... a non digital Yu Gi Oh deck; Cuz apparently the computer game just isn't good enough for me).

In other news, since the 20th of January, everything I post on forums, or DA, every site I browse, and every information I exchange on the internet, as well as all my phone calls, are recorded by the providers. This information will be at the disposal of the SRI, who has the right to use it against me. Well done. As soon as Romania joins the EU, they immediately bring the old times back. After all, Democracy and freedom of speech seem to be an acceptable sacrifice for the noble cause. Which of course is ridding this country of the 'Bosgor' menace once and for all.

Heh. The fools were asking for it. This means that in just a few days, they will be swarmed by tons of Teenage livejournals, and emo blogs, and they will be required by law to read through all of them. God knows. They desreve it.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22651571/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22651571/ Sun, 18 Jan 2009 11:38:01 PST There was a time I didn't want to make a distinction between western animation and anime, but after so long, I finally see the difference. A pretty simple difference. Animation seems to be a lot more versatile media in the far east. The style varies from artist to artist, while western animation is either trying to be as realistic as possible, or when they try to be unique, they start imitating Pablo Picasso. Probably the best western animations I've seen were those of the animesque style.
Despite all this, most people I've met simply treat "anime style" as a single style that features big eyes, small noses and chromatic hair. My cousin takes this a step further saying the Japanese resent anyone who's trying to be original and breaks away from the conventions, which is why they only tolerate a single art style, which is considered to be conventional. I don't really want to get into this. I don't even know how much of all this is true or not. All I wish to say is, I've barely seen any other form of art this mistreated.

Alright, enough of that. I know people who would see this as an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge about the history of manga. If you feel like it, please don't. I'm a lot better informed about this subject than most people on DA, I just don't care to discuss this subject, as this is not the subject of this journal. I simply got carried away.
My actual intention is to compose a list of Anime I've watched or am currently watching. Consider this a summary of all the reviews I've previously posted.
So, here we go.

Completed:
--------- Ayakashi Ayashi: A band of misfits called the Bansha Aratamesho must defeat the monstrous weapons of the old gods that have been awakened by strong desires of humans that came in contact with the realm of the gods, before the group known as the Western Ones can seize control over them.
--------- BLOOD+ : The story follows the group known as the Red Shield, and their vampire ally, Otonashi Saya, as they fight Cinq Flèches, an evil organization that seeks to take over the world using artificial vampires created with the blood of Saya's sister.
--------- Bokusatsu Tenshi, Dokuro Chan: An odd mix of everyday life, magical girlfriend and hentai genres, with lots of gore, mild sexual content and a plenty of absurd and grotesque punchlines.
--------- Death Note: Two of the world's most brilliant minds clash as both seeks his own version of justice. In the end, they must both fall, and victory goes to the little nobodies, who show up to claim it. Depressing.
--------- Naruto: The adventures of a young boy as he makes friends and fights dangerous enemies on a quest to become leader of his village, in a world that mixes non conventional magic and slightly undeveloped technology.
- The Naruto Fillers: 90 episodes worth of consecutive side stories with little to no connection to the plot of the original.
--------- Ruroni Kenshin: A former assassin who served the imperialists during the Bakumatsu, seeks his place in the post-Meiji Japan. Kenshin must pick up his sword once again to defeat an anarchist who seeks to destroy the new government, and create a world where the strong rule and the week are oppressed. The anime was canceled after 30 fillers that followed the first of the two major story arcs. Interestingly, I also have the first 4 manga volumes of Ruroni Kenshin.

Now watching:
- Azumanga Daioh: the everyday lives of a group of high school girls. This anime is so full of cuteness, it will make your head explode in candy. Nothing less from Kyohiko Azuma, master of the Ultra Kawaii.
- Naruto Shippuden: A sequel to Naruto. The title character and his friends have grown. Now, they must face the shadowy ring of 'dark wizards' and prevent them from reaching their goals, whatever they may be. In the meantime, and old enemy is also beginning to resurface.

Up to date:
--------- Bleach: Due to an unfortunate turn of events, Ichigo Kurosaki, an ordinary schoolboy, is granted the power of a Soul Reaper. Ichigo dedicates himself to protecting the ones he cares for. However, he may be in for something far more than he bargained for. Along with his new found allies, he must save Soul Society from the forces of a magnificent Evil Overlord who seeks to fill the empty space in heaven.
- The Bount Saga: A Bleach spinoff, that aired as filler episodes after the conclusion of the first major arc. Ichigo and his friends must defeat Karia Jin and his fellow Bounts, who seek to destroy the Soul Society.
- The Tale of Captain Amagai: a man called Amagai Shusuke is chosen to replace a rogue soul reaper captain and he brings his subordina... ]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22616182/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22616182/ Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:39:18 PST
]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22544452/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22544452/ Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:07:03 PST
What I'm talking about is a cute but pretty naturalistic anime with lots of over the top violence and some mild sexual content as well, starring that cute blue haired girl. She's cute. She's sexy. And if you do something she doesn't like, she'll smash you to thousands of bloody bits with a huge steel club. In other words, the perfect girl; none other than the one, the only DOKURO CHAN, the Bludgeoning Angel.
A morbid comedy, that probably holds a world record of protagonist deaths, with the main character dying a particularly gruesome death about 3 times an episode, only to be resurrected seconds later and say "ouch, that hurts". It also features a wast series of style changes, with characters becoming more realistic in the more dramatic scenes, really old looking when they're in pain, ultra deformed during other times and in many cases the entire scene turns into a high school collage, with paper cutouts.
The story revolves around a guy called Sakura, who at some point in the future develops a technology that turns all human females into twelve year old girls and prevents them from aging, effectively making them immortal. Heaven sends Dokuro a psycho assassin girl armed with a steel club called Excaliborg, to kill Sakura in the past, then a second one called Sabato, when Dokuro falls in love with Sakura and decides not to kill him. So Sakura is now stuck with a psycho angel repeatedly killing and resurrecting him, a second psycho angel trying to kill him with a huge cattle prod, a male angel who keeps showing up everywhere just to pester him, and who by the way is also a psycho, a bunch of classmates, who don't find any of this weird at all, and a photo realistic monkey.
What makes this even funnier are a bunch of unexpected cameos and parodies. In the very first episode, the television in the background says the following: "Infrared scanners revealed that the black object on President Bush's back was a whiteboard eraser" and this is followed by a short appearance of Michael Jackson in a white jacket. Dokuro Chan smashes a number of cubicles in the boy's bathroom in the second episode, revealing an unusually gay looking Kubawara, from Yu Yu Hakusho. And let's not forget about Tony Tony Chopper from One Piece, who makes a brief appearance while Sakura is talking about Reindeer doctors in episode 6.
And all of this is just what I've seen. I'm still only halfway through.

To be honest, I'm beginning to doubt my own mental stability. If I like to watch something this messed up, I may end up moving to 4chan sooner or later.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22463549/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22463549/ Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:19:10 PST Note that I had to watch them with, of all things, English dubbing. This means I had to put up with the usual bad pronounciation confusing inverted names, unmaching voices and the occasional reading-your-lines-from-the-paper-age. I prefer subs over dubs for a reason, unless it's Hungarian dubs wich is top quality.
Well, what can I say. At least it wasn't a 4kids dub.

Let's start with the first one. Legand of the Gelel Stone.


The movie starts with misterious invaders from the western continent attacking the Sand Country. Naturaly Gaara manages to vipe them out with the "Big Sand Burial". Honestly, with that effort, they could've named it "Big Bad Sand Buster". The surviving attackers escape aboard a gigantic Nautiloid warship.
Back in the Lands of Fire, Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru (about time too, I haven't seen him in action for months) are sent to recover a lost ferret, when they themselves are attacked by the invaders, and one of their oficers, a young man named Temujin (I swear I heard this name before). Naruto and Temujin fight and fall into a canyon, along with the ferret, and are eventually recovered by a group of nomads, whose leader happens to be the ferret's owner.
The nomads turn out to be the remnants of an ancient Aztec-like civilisation founded with the help of the gelel, a material that can provide infinite free energy (like Uranium!). Because of it's value, a destructive war broke out over who would own the Gelel Mines, and the powers of this wonderous stone was used to power weapons of war (Uranium?). After the fall of the empire, the gelel, despite it's many uses in everyday life, was labeled 'evil' (Uranium!) and the mines were sealed off permanently.
Now, Temujin's mentor, Haido, a Captain Nemo wanabe who looks suspiciously like the evil warlord that destroyed Temujin's home, has arived from the western continent with a fleet of warships and a gigantic Jules Verne-esque mobile fortress, to forcfully take over the Shinobi nations and unite them under his rule into a single country. Or as he likes to call it a Utopia where war is no longer necesary.
Naruto and his friends take up the fight with Haido and his shapeshifting disciples. Gaara and Kankuro also join the fight and both are given another chance to once again show off their pretty gruesome finishing moves (especially Kankuro).
In the Gelel Mines, Naruto faces off against Haido's Ultimate Boss Form, and beats him with two Rasengans, one fused with the red chakra of the Ninetails, and the other, with the teal energy from the Gelel (the guy was pretty resilient y'know). Of course, using so much energy may have been overkill, since the mines start collapsing, threathening to wipe out the entire continent with the massive amount of energy released (URANIUM!!!). Temujin, hoping to atone for his crimes, activates the mine's self destruct, which will open a time-space rift, removing the mines from this dimension (WELL WHY DIDN'T THEY DO THAT BEFORE?!).
The small amount of energy that escapes, heals the damage done by Haido's forces, and even revitalizes his wounded goons, who turn out to be brainwashed slaves. As for those who were already killed by Gaara in the intro... "OOPS. Let's forget those ever existed."
The movie ends with Temujin and the survivors returning home with Haido's remaining ships.


There isn't too much I can say about this movie. The story was that of a filler arc, put into a single film instead of four episodes. The animation was still beyond average, but it didn't beat that of the previous movie. Shikamaru's Shadow posession was improved from a living blob of black ink into a more realistic dark shroud. And it had a cute Ferret, Haido nearly kills, to show how evil he is. Cuz conquering nations and slaughtering innocents just isn't evil enough. He has to hurt the cute little animal.

Now, while the second movie didn't manage to catch up with the first, the third one, Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom, didn't even make an effort. In fact, it was nothing more than an obvious Disney rippoff. However, when watched with the eyes of a former Disney fan like myself, it was quite enjoyable.


The movie starts with a somewhat pointless intro narrated by Tsunade. Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Bushy Brow... I mean Lee (since we need three genin) are sent to meet with the prince of the Crescent Moon Kingdom and escort him back home. The prince not very bright, he's rather overweigh, and is also a big spender (well, if he has money to spend...). Did I mention that he has a geeky, socially inept son?
On the way to the Crescent Moon Kingdom, the Prince buys an entire circus, because his son takes liking to their tiger (who's willing to... ]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22374602/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22374602/ Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:24:47 PST
Probably the best anime movie I've seen so far ... well ... I kinda only saw 3, but I think it will be hard to beat.

So here's how it goes. (WARNING, THE ENTRY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

Team 7 are ordered to escort an actress to the scene of her next shot. The actress happens to be playing the main character in Naruto's favorite movie franchise, that had a large impact on his personality. The actress herself is a professional, but has a very cold and even rude personality due to a childhood trauma. And she's also a princess, and the niece of the Snow Country's tyrant. The people wishes her to return, while she prefers to stay away from her homeland.

That's pretty much what the story is about. The return to the Snow Country and it's eventual liberation.
The adventure involves a sea voyage, a battle of two gigantic Ice Elementals on the tip of a huge iceberg, steam powered snow mobiles, a big train packed for war (Naruto: "What's that sound?" Princess: "Oh no! It's a train!" Naruto: "What's a train? ... That thing? ... AIEEEEEE!!!") and an army of rebels revolting against their despot, all of this culminating in a brilliant remake of that scene from the Last Samurai.
And right after a dramatic death scene (no heroic sacrifice here, the guy was unable to make any changes, before he was brutally shot with a volley of knifes) and painful parting ("I can't cry without my eye-drops. Your heart turns into stone in the Land of Snow."), a huge airship shows up and two people are imprisoned (guess which are those two). So we get a usual Naruto moment and they escape their cells, then the rest of Team 7 arrives, and after two or three surprise plot twists, they manage to escape the large industrial complex before it collapses.
And we're already at the climax with Kakashi using his Lightning Edge to defeat the Dragon (I haven't seen that since his fight against Zabuza) while Sakura and Sasuke work together to beat his two cronies.
Naruto faces the Big Bad at the generator complex (which serves as the MacGuffin of the plot) and with a little help from Sasuke's Chidori, Beats him. During the final clash, the rainbow colored pillars of ice reflect the sunlight, making the rasengan resemble the Rainbow Chakra from the movie the princess used to play in.
Spoilers end here.

There's a somewhat original (or at least not so overdone) element that follows the whole story, from the beginning, till the end. The princess' boss and his filming crew accompanies the main cast throughout the movie filming their every action, helping a few characters out and even making fun comments.

The movie mixes classical Naruto elements with steampunk (whoever made the movie must have foreseen that I'll be watching it eventually) and puts it in a setting of ice and snow. Now imagine all this with an animation so wonderful it gives you instant ferret shock, and all the classic Naruto soundtracks I used to hum while watching the older episodes from the exam saga. Shigh. Those good old days. And keep in mind that I'm not even a major Narutard. I'm a Bleach fan. But even so, I say that Diamond Dust Rebellion was nowhere near this good.

And now, for the very first time I'm glad I didn't skipped the filler saga. Thanks to that, I was once again able to enjoy what I missed in them. Sakura was finally acting badass again and even though I prefer Hinata, I kinda missed her. Even Sasuke's presence was a treat on it's own. It's so easy to dislike that asshole when he takes up the spotlight and assumes his "Starting today, I'm evil!" face (which by the way is pretty ugly). But once he's missing for 90 episodes, you'll realize that Naruto just isn't Naruto without him.
As for the fillers themselves, they remind me of a comment Ino makes in a flashback, during her duel with Sakura. With them present, the rest of Naruto looks even better than it actually is.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22348314/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22348314/ Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:47:58 PST
So, what do I think of the fillers? Well, a few of them were worth watching, as for the rest... well... I... I don't really have anything to say about the rest.

I mentioned previously that I enjoy side stories that take small breaks from the main story, but this was just ridiculous. It was more or less than 20 standalone arcs, reusing elements that were used previously. And some of them are forcefully linked to the main story. In the first few arcs, almost every mission is by some weird logic tied to the main story. Jiraya sets out to find Sasuke in the very first one, and takes Naruto and Sakura with him. In the next one, Naruto goes with Hinata, Kiba and Shino, to find a rare bug that can lead them to Sasuke. Or the most messed up of all, a village is enslaved by a gang of bandits, led by a man who happens to be a swordsman from the Mist Village, just like Hoshigaki Kisame, who is best friends with Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's brother. This guy also happens to be traveling with a young boy who has a special ability, that caused him to become an outcast. Now wasn't this one of the central themes of the first saga? Well, at least after this one, the makers decided it's plain stupid to link every single story arc to Sasuke, and instead ignored him almost completely. To make things worse, they also decide to write Sakura out of the plot with the "Original Bubs, is totally behind that refrigerator" excuse (i.e. she stays home to practice healing techniques). So we get a ghost story, which was kinda cool and a bounty mission with a western theme, which was OK I guess.
There were two arcs that wrapped up some dangling plot threads. One featuring the return of Mizuki (the first villain from the very first episode, which no one remembers anymore) and the other one brings back Kabuto's companions, the infamous animeflagger123 (who keeps flagging anime videos on YouTube) and Stretch Armstrong. There were probably two or three stories that had a person with an inner demon (and of course Naruto will instantly sympathize with them), Two episodes with some sort of arrogant idiot (namely the son of a capitalist and a merchant with no respect for human life) who gets some sense beaten into him and two episodes with someone impersonating Might Guy getting beaten up and thrown out of the village Team Rocket style. Naruto, Kiba and Hinata encounter a group of doppelgangers in a short, two episode arc. And let's not forget the cooking ninjas and the postman ninjas each of whom gain a single episode.
The Star Village saga would've been a good story, but the star ninjas' fighting style (which involves summoning a purple aura and shaping it into various animal forms that can fly or fight) made the 'epic battles' very boring. Kiba's dog, Akamaru gets the rabies and grows twenty feet, after that, a yeti like animal befriends Naruto and refuses to get off his back, and finally, we get to see Shino laughing. It was creepy. Naruto and his companions than fight three bandits that attack a caravan. For some reason, most of the caravan's members vanish, and no one seems to notice. Maybe the artists were too lazy to draw them there. This story arc incidentally featured the most disturbing analogies I've ever seen. This is followed by a cute story about a chubby princess and a pretty big boned Elvis impersonator. And to balance the brightness of this episode, Naruto, Kiba and Hinata venture into a creepy castle with living walls and large mouths for doors. I was getting this strange Throne of Darkness vibe throughout this episode.
A very exciting story was the one involving an architect trying to blow up the village with bombs hidden in various places. This had a few interesting twists, but a very bad ending. The bombs turn out to be ridiculously weak. And why? Well, it's like this. The culprit decided not to blow up the village, because Naruto REMINDED HIM OF HIS GRANDSON, so instead, he had the group looking for firecrackers for the fun of it. I was like all "not again!" at this point. Then, Guy is kidnapped and forced to fight Lee by yet another goofy looking trio of brothers. Only these guys aren't bandits, just three guys who believe Guy killed their father. Despite this, their design sure was sinister. A recap episode reviews the top 5 fights from the main story, and after this, Kurenai gets her big scene, involving a clan of illusionists, a girl possessed by a REALLY CREEPY monster and a virtual reality this girl can modify, by making various paintings. This was at least an arc that made chills run through my spine. We get a sad tale of self sacrifice that made me cry following this. And in the very end, the old theme song... ]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22235408/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22235408/ Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:49:36 PST About two days ago, I finally saw the Dark Knight. It was a good movie, even though I'm not a fan of DC comics. Or Marvel, for that matter.

I also met my old High school friends (some of them at least). We visited a few of our old teachers, then went to a dance club to dance. Yeah. So apparently I, the infamous stick-in-the-mud, was dancing in a dance club. Don't ask. I'm not sure myself what I was thinking.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22179545/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22179545/ Thu, 25 Dec 2008 01:06:13 PST
I've been tagged with this meme by so here it comes.

1. Post rules in journal.

2. Each tagged person must post 8 facts about themselves in journal.

3. At the end,try to tag up to 8 people if you know anyone to tag, and hope that they find out that they have been tagged on their own.

4. Don't go to their page and send them a message they have been tagged if you don't want to.

5.Change the rules to your taste or whim.

A) I've been having weight issues when I was a kid.
B) I'm an introverted person said to be extremely selfish and possibly narcissistic.
C) It usually takes hours of convincing to get me to do anything, this includes work, study, drawing and video games.
D) I have my own webcomic, and despite all logic, believe that it will be popular one day.
E) I've been having a strong fascination with Japan and anything Japanese since I was little. I have no idea how it all started.
F) Despite apparently being a very pessimistic and sometimes cynical person, I'm in fact very optimistic, but prefer to hide that.
G) I'm very self confident when it comes to my future. otherwise, confidence is my weak spot.
H) Secretly, I'm a big sucker for attention, who came to the internet to make a name for himself. But as with anything, I suck at being an attention whore.

Now I won't tag anyone since (if memory serves well) everyone I know have already done this. If you read this journal and haven't done this before, consider yourself tagged.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22124178/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22124178/ Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:43:38 PST I'm talking about none other than...

...

(drums roll to create suspense)

...

Stardust.
This time, I won't post any spoilers, just in case you didn't see it. This movie was practically custom made for me. It had everything I call awesome. Well, maybe it didn't have samurais, giant robots, or epic space battles, but like Strong Bad used to say, "too much of a good thing is an awesome thing, nut too much of an awesome thing is very, very dumb. However, it had other dimensions, visitors from another world, magic, witches, ambitious princes who's dying father is played by Peter O'toole (who else can perform the role of an old dying king better than him anyway?), Magical animals, Transgender Transformations (involving none other than Rupert Grint), flying ships, gay pirates (in any possible sense), epic magical battles, necromancy, bad karma, sarcastic ghosts... The list is endless. Just go and watch it for yourself if you haven't already.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22018095/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/22018095/ Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:34:53 PST
Anyway, around the beginning of December, I finished watching the anime 'Ayakashi Ayashi'. The plot of this 25 episode series takes place in Edo (mostly) during the tempou era of Japan, and chronicles the deeds of a band of misfits called Bansha Aratamesho and unofficially referred to as "ayashi". The 25 episodes are grouped in a series of short, mainly independent story arcs, most of which focus on one particular member of the group.

The ayashi are an unlikely group, composed of various members, each with their own past and their own dark secrets which they like to keep from the public. Ya'know, cuz they're secret and all.
The leader is a man called Ogasawara Houzaburo, a samurai skilled in western studies.
The most powerful member, is called Ryudo Yukiatsu, a former ronin who was trapped in another dimension called 'Ikkai' for five years when he was a kid. During which he gained the ability to use ayagami (read the hidden meaning of a person's or object's name and turn this knowledge into a powerful weapon; like literally).
Ogasawara's attendant is a girl called Saizo, who used to dress up as a boy when she was little, so she can perform on stage. She's a professional dancer, and fights with a weapon I can only describe as a "Swiss army war-fan", creation of a genius inventor.
The muscle of the group is a man called Abi. A mountain tribesman skilled with the use of various spears and throwing weapons.
Sneaking around them and almost always smirking as if he's up to something, is the groups mandatory comic relief character, a gunman called Edo Genbatsu, or Edogen, who's also the cross dressing priest of a long forgotten (and quite possibly evil) deity (who may or may not be planning to return one day and take over the world).
Tagging along and always ready to help, are a few even more random characters. Such as Yukiatsu's demon friend Kumoshichi, and his dragon host Yukiwa (who happens to be the abandoned avatar of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl), Yukiwa's current owner, an Aztec girl called Atl, and the most unlikely of all, Kawanabe Kyosai.

In each story arc, The Bansha Aratamesho are ordered to fight huge monsters called Youi that are unintentionally summoned and controlled by the strong desires of people who had a previous encounter with the other dimension. There are several ways to defeat a Youi. One can either hit it with something sharp of blunt (and hopefully really heavy) until they stop moving (a method which never seem to work), blow them up (which worked once), or Yukiatsu's preferred method, pull out their ayagami (the source of their power) and either destroy it, or use it against them. Alternatively, a Youi can also be destroyed, controlled or revitalized with another person's ayagami.
Once defeated, the remains of a Youi are not only quite edible, they happen to be so tasty, they're out of this world (again, literally).

Of course to complicate matters, besides fighting the Youi, the Ayashi are forced to put up with the South Edo Magistrate and their corrupt leader Torii Yozo, and a rather troublesome family of foxes who like to perform on stage in their free time, while trying to find out more about that mysterious group of masked dark wizards (for lack of a better term) who keep showing up from time to time.

Ayakashi Ayashi has top quality graphics. There are barely any super-deformations, cross popping veins or over sized sweat-drops (Saizo is the only one who does this a few times after her story arc), something I've only seen in two other anime so far (BLOOD+ and Death Note). Not that said things are bad or anything, but something like this is usually meant for a serious anime, and compared to the previous two, this one had quite some humor. The animation is top notch, the special effects are pretty fancy, but enjoyable.
The characters are well developed, with each main character getting their own part in the story at one point like in a fighting shonen-series. However, considering all the fantasy elements, the setting, a plot involving the return of old dead gods and the story being the main focus, I'd say this is more high fantasy, no matter how odd that may sound.
And let's not forget the shonen elements, if I already mentioned them. I found weapons with properties that derive from a character in the owner's given name to be rather original.
However, Ayakashi Ayashi is far from being perfect. It had hundreds of WTF and In Your Face moments, an insupportable amount of political commentary and so many poltholes, even the good Professor [link] would think it's too much.

All in all, it... ]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21965131/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21965131/ Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:22:15 PST I had to return to the Big City, to attend to the dinner organized by the Circle in the Tokyo Restaurant. Well, I think this was the first time I ate an entire bowl of soup. And I also believe I found my new favorite. It happens to be the same infamous concoction with noodles eggs and slabs of meat in it, that weeaboos everywhere like to call "Naruto Food". You guessed it (or maybe you didn't but that's not my point), it's Ramen. And after that, some gyoza, which was also surprisingly good. Add to this, the two glasses of pepsi, and you'll understand why I had to pay 38 RON (that's around 12 dollars). I wasn't the only one who was displeased with the price, but seeing how this was the best thing we (well, me at least) ever had, we didn't really had any right to complain. I may have a little trouble going home though, but that's an issue for tomorrow.
Along with posting a 7000 hits pic, redoing my review of Ayakashi Ayashi, and beginning the essay I need for thursday.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21899242/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21899242/ Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:06:43 PST
I simply don't have the patience to rewrite a long review. Well, it wasn't as long as my last entry on Naruto, otherwise I'd go berserk and say a few really nasty words out loud.

On the other hand, I'm no reviewer, so it's not like I lost some really important intelectual property here.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21534810/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21534810/ Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:30:56 PST
But there are just too many thing I'd like to see. There's the Death Note film part 2, which I never got around watching. And there's this new series called "Soul Eater" I discovered only recently, but know next to nothing about. Or Yu Gi Oh abridged...
And speaking of abridged, I just saw 22 episodes of Naruto Abridged. And you know what I think? I say watch it. Even if you don't know the first thing about Naruto, that stuff is hilariously stupid. Or should I say, It's better than bad. It's good.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21495640/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21495640/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:08:14 PST Get a world with a bunch of people who were born with supernatural abilities. They have their very own institution where they are trained to use them. The institution is run by a badass old man, whose former student betrayed him and has become a snake themed villain, during his quest to gain immortality. Add to this, a young boy with a tragic past, who befriends a member of the staff, and his life is about to change. And of course, it falls to him to save the world from the serpentine Dark Lord.
Of course, as you've already guessed, I'm talking about...
Naruto.
What did you expect?

In all seriousness, I'm not saying Naruto is a HP ripoff, because it isn't (unlike some things I could name *cough*sky-high*cough*).
I just noted a few things that occasionally make e think of Naruto as the "Japanese Harry Potter".

Well, on to the subject at hand. I'm done with episodes 1-135 (corresponding to part one in the Manga). Many things happened since the last review I posted (wich was after I finished watching episode 52), so we might as well get to it.

First of, the exam finals, and the invasion of Konoha, which, in my opinion, had much to be desired. Naruto vs Neji was probably the best of it all. I loved seeing that arrogant jerk learn some manners. He became a lot more sympathetic after the fight. Sasuke vs Gaara, on the other hand war boring, and the fight between Orochimaru and Sarutobi was a major WTF. Especially the part where they move so fast, space begins to warp around them. And then, the fight becomes too stiff, with Sarutobi trying to pull out Orochimaru's soul, Orochimaru trying to impale Sarutobi, and the Monkey King trying to keep Orochimaru's sword from fully impaling Sarutobi. And that lasted through over 5 episodes. Of course during this, there's also the fight between Naruto and Gaara, where Gaara transforms into a huge moster with a southern accent (this is what Uncyclopedia says, and it's darn true) and Naruto summons a giant toad and together, they transform into a replica of the ninetails. I mean, major WTF moments. However, the part where Jiraya arrives and turns the tide of battle was acceptable.

Now that I mentioned, Ero-Sennin, I'd like to remark that he's one of my all time favorites. Yes, I say Jiraya is just plain hilarious. His personality and bad habit of running after girls, that usually gets him in trouble rarely fails to crack me up. Add this to his special ability to summon a variety of talking toads, and you get one of the funniest characters that ever appeared on screen.

And this brings us the the next thing I want to remark. The various animals people use for a number of purposes. Kakashi's dogs, Akamaru, And Shino's bugs vere the first ones to appear (if we disregard the Giant toad Minato is riding in the intro), followed by Orochimaru's snakes. It was pretty excusable, but then, I raised a brow when I saw Jiraya's toads, Tsunade's pet pig was weird too, but when I saw Tsunade summun a giant talking SLUG... let's just say there's no image macro for what I felt.

And speaking of Tsunade. That offer Orochimaru made her was probably the worst cliche I've seen so much, I'm sick and tired of it. I refer to it, and a few other bad cliches collectively as "the villain thing". I mean come on. "Heal my arms so I can use my evil powers once again to further my evil plans of world domination, and as a reward, I will force the people you love most, back from the dead, granting them a horrible undead existence." Every rational person would say "go to hell" when given such an offer, except for the lawfully stupid and emotionally unstable heroes with a tragic past, popularized by mass media as role models for children everywhere. I don't know if it's my word view that's flawed, or the rest of the world. But for some reason, I don't think stupidity and drama is heroic.

Well, that's pretty much what I think of the Tsunade arc. Next stop, the intermission. First off, there was the overly absurd episode 101, following Team 7's attempts at unmasking their fearless leader. Kakashi may look badass, but the fact that he's always wearing a mask (even on his childhood photos), makes it a little difficult to take this guy seriously. This episode was little more than a joke, with barely more than 8 minutes of content, with recurring scenes and pictures, most notable being the picture of a horse used to censor violence. I had a good laugh at the end, even though Wikipedia spoiled the punch line, and I knew Kakashi is wearing a second mask underneath the first. And the next day, when I finally understood another joke, where Kakashi replaces himself with a scarecrow, I had lol'd even more (Kakashi = Scarecrow).

This little episode was followed by a short, independent story. A pleasant break from the main storyline, that made me feel a bit nostalgic. The only other standalon... ]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21449640/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21449640/ Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:19:12 PST I'm trying to figure out what is causing this. I'm hoping it's not a virus or anything similar, but even though I have a fully updated Nod32 that finds nothing suspicious, I fear that is what I'm dealing with.
_____________________

OK, further experimentation revealed that there was nothing wrong with the driver. Considering the error message (USB device not recognized), I believe the problem is with the USB connection. I tried connecting the scanner to the other ports, but it's still isn't working. Also, I tested the port on the camera, and it was working fine, which leads me to believe that the problem lies within the scanner itself. I'll try asking tech support tomorrow. As long as nothing is wrong with the PC itself, I'll be fine.

]]> ~BTIsaac http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21431105/ http://BTIsaac.deviantart.com/journal/21431105/ Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:35:50 PST This blocking includes the following: Their off my watchlist, I can no longer fav or collect their works (collecting crashes firefox; How 'bout that), thankfully, I could still keep the previous favs, but I can no longer post any comemnts on their page or any of their works, or send them a note, so I can't even clarify what happened. Though I'm pretty sure this is some sort of a mistake. It's got to be.
Don't take this the wrong way, I don't blame anyone other than myself. I should've learned by now that some people are easily offended, and what is nothing more than an innocent joke to me, WILL offend some people. Maybe next time, I'll think twice before posting any comment of any sort.

]]> ~BTIsaac