Catching Up to Shangri-La
^giant boomerang
Sidenote: I got the Ranobe Cafe reviewing job :D – look forward to my light novel reviews :D
It might seem like a bit too much work, but I’ve set up a local wordpress on both of my computers to use as a sort of note database thing for my classes. I’ve really grown to like the system, and I can also use it to work on my writing. It seems a bit much, just for organizational purposes – but I’m really bad at organizing in general, so I’ll put in the extra effort to use something that’ll organize it for me. It’s why I use iTunes. I could really a better playback program, but the organization iTunes uses is perfect for me :) I suppose I could just use private postings and stuff – but since my school work has really absolutely nothing to do with this site, I don’t think I should associate them.
I’m about mid-way through reading the second arc of Kara no Kyoukai; it’s great, but so far not so different from the film so far (at least not that I’ve noticed) – plus the absence of Touko kind of makes me sad. I’ll finish up reading quickly and give more reviews and translate more songs (wasshoi!!). My posting has been a bit sparse, because I’ve just been a bit behind in half of my classes, 1st midterm exams are coming up, and I’ve been sick. I “recovered” yesterday by finishing 3 different anime series: Shangri-la, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei, and Serial Experiments Lain though :D
Shangri-la, is hilarious half the time, but requires a lot of patience in the mental department. All of us, watchers of anime, have learned to suspend our disbelief pretty well. Hammer space is nothing new, flying acrobatics and physics defying twists and strange sources of energy and the like. All these things are things we’ve come to accept easily. It’s nice when a series finds a happy medium between artistic anti-reality and reality, but even if that balance is a bit off – it’s ok. Shangri-la slaps that notion in the face. Dead people are brought back to life as if on whim – but at least you can argue for plausibility. Bullet catching – not too bad really. Dim witted main character makes an abundance of stupid decisions, killing her followers half the time, but somehow coming on top in the end – it hurts a little, but it’s believable. You jump on the wings of a jet plane and strike a missile out of the air with a boomerang. Not plausible but amazingly bad-ass, so it’s ok. Giant rocket powered boomerang… this is where it all ends. Running and hopping and skipping, with a 5 ton metal object that needs to be wheeled out on a dolly; flinging it around at a spiritual being and shooting it through a large “mother brain” computer. No. I DRAW THE LINE HERE. NO. NO! I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS! The story had some really cool points to it. It also had some gigantic holes. I’d like to blame Gonzo, and say that they just realized it wrong, but I don’t know. I saw a concept picture that depicted Kuniko as a muscular, acrobatic looking woman around the age of 20-22 – she even had fangs! Not a girl that looked like she was 8. Well I won’t know until I’ve read the book, and I don’t plan on it until I’ve at least read a few others, but I will hopefully expect it to be better. Shangri-la had some hilarious and cool moments, plus a fantastic concept, don’t get me wrong – but … it went too far on the unrealistic meter.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei, all in all is a pretty lame fanservice-filled arc set. I thought the last episode was pretty funny (I wholeheartedly appreciated the mahjong match), I enjoyed watching it, I liked the opening theme, still – if you’re not a fan you’ll probably hate it. Go watch Higurashi from the beginning and revel in its legendary story concept. Then go watch Umineko.
Serial Experiments Lain was pretty good. I heard it was awful from someone and that it was amazing from another – it’s pretty good. There is absolutely no plot. None. At all. I’m not sure if that’s one of it’s strong points, or one of its weak points, but the way the world and character develop simultaneously (the substitute for the plot if you will) was done very well. I’m not much a fan of the suicidal “I’ll erase myself from the world to make it a better place” theme, but at least she didn’t kill herself. I have to admit, I really wanted a LainxAlice scene, and I almost got it, but was disappointed in the end. :< At least they handled their “relationship” well. It had a lot of good points; a few points that bugged me – in the end it wasn’t one of my favorite shows but it was definitely worth my time to watch.
kafka-fuura 
No trackbacks yet.