Mutant DVD Player

It's not a name you'd normally associate with DVD players, but that didn't keep me from snagging a Sparkle DVD player with that very name just a couple of hours ago. My old DVD player-component set is about three to five years old, and it's been acting up lately. So I decided to enter the new year with a new player. And at just 2,500 pesos, it's a great package! Not only does the Sparkle player play any region DVDs, it can play either PAL or NTSC discs and has scads of options and output options. Best of all, unlike the more popular Next Base players, even if the remote gets busted, you won't have to go through life without being able to navigate through DVD menus since there are controls on the player itself. Great!

I'll still be keeping the components installed, and perhaps use the speakers to augment the new player's performance. And of course, the ol' Promac VCD players staying as well for episodic anime watches.

Speaking of anime, I picked up several new series to check out. Bleach is all about a hotheaded guy who suddenly finds out one day that invisible demons and demon hunters are battling it out in modern day Japan. He soon gets involved in this secret conflict when he suddenly finds himself wielding the powers of one of the demon hunters. Grenadier is a western-fantasy adventure, starring a busty blonde heroine who wields a mean gun. Slayers meets six-shooters? Looks like it. Finally, Beet the Vandel Buster looks like a swords-and-sorcery action title starring some young adventurers, led of course by the titular hero.
On the DVD movie front, picked up Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, an Asian film entitled City of Lost Children, and Mulan 2 for the kiddies. I'll be getting my copy of the extended cut set of Return of the King tomorrow, so that's something to look forward to. Yay!