Ultimate Phonewhore

I got it.

I left the house in the afternoon, packing my Nokia 7610's accessories, manual and everything back into the box and loading it all in a plastic bag. I went to Greenhillls hoping, but not expecting success. But LO, I came away lugging a different bag with an altogether different phone. Yep, I've switched to the Sony Ericsson P910i, and it's FRICKIN' AMAZING. Looking at it in pics on the web really doesn't do this slick piece of tech justice. The screen is gorgeous and HUGE, and I just know I'll have a ball watching videos on this sucker.
As with all my mobile upgrading, I traded in my previous phone to reduce the price of my new one. The 7610 sheared off almost half the cash price off, but still I had to go through the nerve-wracking experience of withdrawing several thousand pesos from an ATM machine in increments. With my pocket literally bursting with bills, I paid the seller, bade goodbye to my lovely Nokia, and embraced Sony Ericsson's latest and greatest smartphone.
Looking back, I will indeed miss the 7610's megapixel muscle and the cool video recording functions, but the multimedia options available in the P910i (HUGE screen for viewing Smartmovie, a gig of memory space) convinced me long ago. Anyway, the fashionista Nokia I guess was too dressy for me... the techy, sexy P910i will probably suit me a lot better. No, it WILL, dammit. It's my phone now, and despite the fact that none of the gang will believe me, I do intend that this be the last time I switch. This year. Heh.

ANYWAY... The box is pretty big, and came bursting full of stuff, from the manual and software CDs to an extra stylus, the cool docking station (Yes, the Enterprise needs a Spaceport), a handstrap (which I will probably never use), the charger and other little doodads and doohickies. The manual is large and thick; taking it all in will take a while, but really, a lot of the functions are pretty easy to go through. All I need for now is to learn how to call and text, and then how to personalize the wallpapers and then, to see if Smartmovie works and how many vids I can stick in the meager memory (for now). I'll post a more in-depth review of my new mobile soon, once I get jiggly with it in a day or two.

Framed

After I broke my glasses a couple of days ago, I had to revert to my old pair of specs. Unfortunately, my old pair was a wire-frame pair that wasn't wide enough for my head. The stiff metal frame was tight, and the stems were literally biting into my temples. I was able to stand this a long time ago, before I finally changed to my present pair... so I thought I could stand two weeks with them on.
I lasted two days before I finally threw up my hands. The constant irritating pain on the temples simply would not stop, so I just said "Enough is enough" and walked into Sarabia Optical in Megamall.
At first I was just asking if I could have the stems replaced, but in the end I bought a new frame altogether. Luckily, it wasn't hard to find a similarly-shaped frame, but this time with the nice adjustable stems which yielded to the shape of your face. AND it only cost me less than P500, instead of the 2k+ price I was being given in Vision Express (DAMN... Maybe I should have had my glasses made there instead... GRRRR...). Anyway, I had to walk around a bit sans glasses again for a bit before finally getting my new temporary glasses.
Actually I feel pretty good with my new pair- they look good and they fit me great now, so I now have a nice backup pair of specs when I get my present glasses back in a couple of weeks. Coolness.

Final Rant

They're showing the Spirits Within movie on Animax. It still boggles my mind how this crappy Alien rip-off made it into reality. What was going through Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi when he came up with it?

Now that Final Fantasy has captured the imagination and hearts of gamers everywhere, we will immortalize the game in movie form! But true to Square tradition, we will NOT give the fans what they want. We will not use the beloved and familiar settings and characters from previous FF games.
Here's the BIG IDEA! We will throw away the fantasy elements, magic, midieval worlds full of wonder and mystery, evil villains with grandiose plans of world domination, powerful magic, weapons and summoning spells. Basically, everything that makes Final Fantasy a FANTASY, we will throw out.
Let us instead place the spotlight on the cool tech demos featuring our new animation studios' generic character models. I love Aliens and tech crap, so let's make it as close as we can to those movies. Let's make most of the heroes expendable marines. Death is good! Heroes dying is cool! A little death never hurt anybody! Anyway, kids will surely dig these faceless grunts since we're going to hire famous Hollywood actors to give them character!

Of course, our heroine has got to be gorgeous. She's gotta have great hair. The hair's gotta be perfect. That's because that's the only part of her body we're gonna show off. We haven't fully developed female character models yet, so we can't really show her off that much. It's OK, since we're getting the actress who played CHUN-LI in the Street Fighter movie to voice her! WOOHOO! When we finally pirate some guys from Tecmo's Team NInja, maybe then we can slip in a second or two of our heroine in her lingerie. Maybe even a volleyball game. Mmm. Nah.

Anyway, we'll set the story in a ruined Earth. There's an Alien threat, and our heroes are working to beat it. That's all I can say since I really have no idea how to work it all out. Let's just kill off most of the heroes since drama is always good. And put in LOTS and LOTS of tech crap and machines. That's what Final Fantasy is all about, after all. Machines and mecha and tech crap.

(After watching the rough cut)
Damn, it's depressing. Almost everyone dies, it's all about spirituality and faith and there are no great action sequences or magic or stuff that makes for exciting adventure. I LIKE IT!!! It's PROFOUND!!!

But I guess we need to add in some Final Fantasy stuff after all. Okay, let's change the name of one of the characters to Cid, since ALL the FF games have a character named Cid in them. (Note: Change Doctor Baba-Uta's name to Cid). I guess that will satisfy fans, right? RIGHT! YEAH! Okay, send it out the theaters! YYYEEEAAAAHHH!!! We're gonna rake it in!"

End result. Without the Fantasy, the Spirits Within movie was just... Final. The movie was a colossal flop, even into the home video market. It did so bad, Square Animation pretty much died soon after the theatrical release of this flop. Sakaguchi lost his job as VP of Square (he has since gone off to form a small game studio called Mist Walker) and it seemed that the beloved title had lost a bit of its luster.

Well, not really. Gamers still bought the games and their love of the characters moved Square to finally break their STOOPID tradition of never revisiting their past games. Final Fantasy X was popular enough to warrant a sequel, and soon, after all these years, a return to the most beloved of FF's, Final Fantasy VII, is about to happen in cinematic splendour with the CG movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. No crappy space marines. No tech crap. No faceless generic monsters. No spiritualist mumbo-jumbo. Okay, maybe a little, since this IS from Japan. But everything is in; Summoning Spells, Gunblades, spiky-haired heroes, hauntingly beautiful Flower Girls, silver-haired villains and LOTS of action.

Ah. All things come to those who wait. And we've waited a long time.

Game Boy

Last weekend I went with my sister to get a Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP. It's a pretty funny story actually. Some time ago, my nephew David celebrated his birthday. Of course, his doting Granny (my sister's husband's mom) asked him what he wanted for his bday gift. Despite being raised like Puritans by my sis (heh), the kid asked for the coolest toy a kid could have these days- a Gameboy Advance SP.
So that would have been easy, right? Well, no. Granny went off to a store in Rockwell, lugging along David's older sibling Catheriine to point out the toy. Well, for some weird reason that I can not to this day comprehend, the girl picked out a pack of Gameboy Advance Accessories worth P700 and said that THAT was a Gameboy Advance SP. Never mind that the package did NOT in any way have any label saying it was a portable gaming console- they didn't even look or test the device, which would at least show that there's no game in the thing. I can't even fathom WHY the salespeople of that store sold an accessory pack instead of a whole gaming unit. I guess they all left their brains at home, the lot of them.

Anyway, it ended of course with poor David opening the gift he got from Granny, expecting a spiffy new Gameboy Advance SP and finding only... accessories for the older Gameboy Advance. TOTALLY USELESS. Can you say... TOTAL letdown? Yep, the kid was devastated. It had me in stitches though. MAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

Okay, before you all think I'm the most horrible uncle on Earth (which I aspire to), I went with my sister of course to Greenhills to get the darn toy. Of course, my sister wouldn't even consider asking Granny to get the real thing (so she got off this year spending just P700 bucks... Feh) as I recommended, so she had to shell out the cash herself to save David from becoming a bitter youth. My sis is probably the most frugal person I know, and she was considering just getting a Gameboy Advance instead of the SP. I of course recommended the newer, cooler clamshell SP since it had it's own backlight, better and longer batteries, yadda-yadda-yadda. So, to seal the deal I pitched in and paid for about a third of the price so David and his siblings wouldn't be wanting for a great toy. Am I great or what? Heh. I wonder if my sis is considering my suggestion of taking out the price of the Gameboy SP out of Catherine's trust fund? Hoho...

NEVER try anything concerning gaming without consulting the resident game guru. You'll save money.

The Gameboy Advance SP is a pretty cool plaything. I actually wanted to get one months ago, but balked. Seeing it again gave me temptations again, but I won't bite. Nintendo really isn't my bag. It's the Playstation Portable or PSP that has my name written all over it. For those of you who love the big N though, you'll be glad to know that Nintendo's next gen handheld, the Nintendo DS will be coming out this November in the US (and probably soon here as well). The thing is a clamshell like the SP, but sports two screens (hence the DS monicker). The game lineup is long and filled with big names, but until I see the words 'Tekken' or 'Dead or Alive' on the roster, I'm not biting.

Ah, toys. So many toys, so little time. And cash. Oh well.

Gaming For Grownups

I realized that a lot of the games I am looking forward to in the next few weeks and months are rated Mature, thanks to elements of sexuality, violence and other mature issues. Dead or Alive Ultimate and Rumble Roses provide CG skin, while Mortal Kombat Deception and Resident Evil provide digital blood and gore. This year as well seems to be the first time a wave of games like The Guy Game, an updated Leisure Suit Larry and other nudity-promising titles are coming en masse. Interactive entertainment is worth billions (now in the league or perhaps even surpassing film and movies), and a great chunk of the audience are people who earn money and pay big bucks for games to take their minds off the daily grind.

Gaming really isn't just for kids, though that is probably not something fully understandable to a lot of parents. I remember being at Toy Kingdom a few years ago and I saw a father buying Resident Evil for a little kid. Which is probably one of the factors that make this generation the most desensitized of the lot.

Anyway, that's why with all the lovely gaming consoles in The Sanctum, my little nephews and nieces will probably never see me kicking back and kicking arse. A huge library of titles, and not one of them has the word 'Mario' or 'Sonic' on them. Heh. I wonder how long gaming will interest me? Into my forties and fifties, perhaps? Who knows. Since entertainment has a lot to do with drive, perhaps as long as I can feel pleasure, I will be a gamer. Because if you can't enjoy something, why play at all?

It's HEEEEEEEERE...



Yep, the Sony Ericsson P910, the proverbial Death Star of Mobile Phones, is in Manila.

I swung by Megamall's Cyberzone and at least four shops had SE's latest and greatest displayed on their storefronts. At a lofty 45K (one shop though had it at 44,990... BAH!) it's beyond my reach for now... at least until it becomes available at a store that accepts trade-ins. Anyway, with my 7610 probably tradeable at a 20K value, I'd better wait a bit until the price goes down in a few weeks to a month or so. If all else fails, I can always get it as a Christmas gift for myself. HOHO!

Anyway, there's a nice review/article on the P910i (the local model released in Asia) here.

Ninja, VANISH!

And so, Kunoichi Boy remains in shadow.

Apparently, there have been many upheavals in Questor, which apparently have affected the coming releases of Questor Extreme Mangamania, the manga arm of the local anime and manga mag. My Kunoichi Boy was supposed to come out in the pages of QM, but it appears that the rumors I have heard are true. QM is no more, or at least, on indefinite hold until sales of it's parent mag pick up. At best, a single story from the QM lineup (along with Streetsweepers, Free Spirits and Camp Big V) will be featured or released as an insert with each issue of Questor. The latest issue of Questor contains the conclusion of David Hontiveros' supernatural thriller, Cante Ista, in ashcan form.

So just when the first installment of Kunoichi Boy will be available is up in the air, along with what form it will take or it's future. I haven't been contacted recently or of late by the editor, so I am pretty much in the dark (like a ninja). Well, I've got other things on my plate so if this isn't worth my time I'll just take my title and go my own road.

We'll see.

What's Next?

With Siglo: Passion finally done on my end, I can finally set my sights on other matters. Specifically, the acquisition of my latest object of lust. The Sony Ericsson P910. This software and hardware upgrade of the best-selling P900 is...

Head suddenly locked in a death-grip from behind

As I was saying, specifically, the production and release of K.I.A., the Angel Ace spin-off book that stars the lovely, sexy, gorgeous and extremely patient and forgiving super-assassin Kai Mishima. The page count of this BOOK has already hit the 160+ mark, and will contain stories and art from some pretty cool people in the field of local comics. The content has been upped a bit, and apart from the upcoming pages from Jennyson Rosero, I have a couple of requirements that need filling. These things are what will be taking up my time from now on, and hopefully we'll be seeing this book at the printers by November or so. If and when there's a big event at the end of the year, we'll try to have a presence with our favorite femme fatale.

Okay... Kai... you can let go now... Kai... Aaaahh...

Rumble Roses


Sexy Slams and Submissions Galore

With Dead or Alive Ultimate and it's lush wardrobe of active gear and swimwear on the way, hot-blooded gamers can look forward to another game that features digital divas created just to titillate. Rumble Roses is an all-female wrestling game for the PS2 from Konami (the makers of Metal Gear and Silent Hill). The game will star nine to ten selectable grapplers, each of which fits a fan service requirement and stereotype.
There's Reiko, the short-haired Japanese angel who's fast, skilled and as cute as a button. Dixie Clemets fills in the slot for big, blonde and busty American cowgirl, while dusky-skinned Aisha dances like she's auditioning for Showgirls. Like a bit of mystery with your girl? There's Evil Rose, who comes into the ring fully covered in a leather devil-suit. Bloody Shadow is a ninja-themed wrestler whose costume leaves little hidden. The latest revealed members of the roster include Anasthesia, a vixen in a nurse's outfit who dispenses pain instead of first aid; Aigle, a pigtained cutie, and Makoto, a lovely martial artist who comes complete in a barely-there gi.

Aside from the usual modes of play expected in a wrestling game, RR gains the dubious distinction of having the first-ever mud wrestling mode in a mainstream wrestling videogame. Yep, the girls strip down to their bikinis and have it out in slick pools of mud that actually coats the ladies' polygonal bods. Similar to DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball, there will also be a Watch Mode where gamers can take a break watching the girls do the same- which amounts to lolling and bouncing around in their swimsuits. Mmmm.
Also recently revealed were more details of the game's Story Mode, which will involve the unlocking of the girls' dark sides. This typically involves the said girl going through a series of unfortunate events which end up with them taking up the skimpier outfits of EVIL and becoming Bad-Ass Heels. Once unlocked, the Heel Personas are pretty much unique wrestlers themselves, which will effectively double the selectable roster- great if you thought that nine or ten was a pretty thin number.
Perhaps the most provocative aspect of RR's gameplay is the inclusion of Humiliation Moves in the girls' arsenals, which are triggered by performing certain conditions during matches. Can you say... spanking?'

It may seem that Konami is directly challenging the sex appeal and babe factor of Tecmo's Dead or Alive, even surpassing the already sexist lines of DOA with some pretty risque elements (and an equally risque marketing campaign). Whether Konami's wrassler becomes as much a classic as Dead or Alive though, rests on the quality of the gameplay and content... since they already seem to have the graphics and animation on the right track. Mmmm.

Rumble Roses is set for a November 2004 release.

Photo Finish

DONE!!!!

MAHAHAHA!!!

I've finally finished my Siglo: Passion pages. Now all that's left is to deliver the finished pages to editors Vin and Dean. DAMN I do work best under pressure. HOHO...

Dance


My story in Siglo Passion is set in the 1950s.

If there's one thing I can feel good about right now, it's that I am well on my way to finishing my art requirments for Siglo: Passion. From a story by Jason Banico, I drew up the pages for my first colored art to appear in a major comic project. Set in the 1950s, the story is about a star-crossed romance, the Hukbalahap rebels, standing up for your beliefs and of course, the dance called the Mambo. It's just one of the many stories to be featured in the second anthology from our ever-growing group in Siglo, scheduled for a Christmas release from Nautilus Comics. Wait for it!

Cracking Up

GGGRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!!

That's it. I am positive that the lobby of my office building is JINXED.

A couple of weeks ago, it was my laptop. It fell to the floor and got dented.

Today, my glasses fell and the right lens got CRACKED.

MY GLASSES!!! My fricking super-thin, scratch-proof, super-thin glasses. I was told they were pretty strong, and they were... I've dropped them before but never did they crack. Well, I guess I used up their lives with this final drop.

AAAACCCCCCCHHHH!!!! I had to more or less make my way half-blind to Megamall to have them replaced. The bad news is, it will take a couple of weeks since the lens have to be special-ordered overseas. GODDAMMIT!!!!! Afterwards, I had to make do without any eye-aids through lunch and the trip home. It really wasn't hard, since I can still see without my glasses- it's just super blurry and unfocused (I am myopic, or near-sighted) so I can't read much and recognize people from afar unless I recognize their shape. Si, while I got off work today, I can't enjoy it by going to any mall since I can't see for shit. Just had to go home and find my old pair of glasses, and start getting used to the old pair again.

Well, at least I don't have to worry about 7 years of bad luck since I don't think my glasses count as mirrors. But, DAMN! The last time I broke a lens in my glasses was back when I was in Grade Three. Since then, I used plastic lenses, which are unbreakable but scratch rather easily. My latest pair was glass- scratch resistant and thin, but apparently glass is still glass. I will have to be extra careful when I get them again, since this is pretty expensive. Or I should start thinking about getting contacts again.

GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGHHHH!!!!!!

Alias Anime


Sydney Bristow in cartoon form.

No, we won't be seeing Sydney Bristow's adventures redone by Gonzo Animation (But DAMN that would be cool). An ALIAS animated feature will be included in the DVD set of the 3rd season of the acclaimed spy-action drama series. The feature will reveal the 'lost years' of Sydney's life, when she seemed to vanish off the face of the earth at the end of Season Two. Presumably Jennifer Garner and the rest of the ALIAS cast will pitch in for voicework on this cool dvd extra. I'll be looking out for this.

Ultimate Delay


Bikini fighting on the Xbox postponed for a couple of weeks.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Tecmo of Japan has posted a short press release online that the Japanese version of Dead or Alive Ultimate has been pushed back from October 7 to October 28, 2004. The reason for the delay is for the ironing out of issues with the online component. The release of the US version of the game seems to have been affected as well- online retailers are currently pegging an October 18 release of the Xbox-Live enabled fighting game.
This is quite a downer for fans of the sexy fighting game franchise, one reason for which that with the delay, Mortal Kombat Deception will now be bagging the title for "First 3-D fighter online".

DAMN IT!!! It's just like Tecmo and Team Ninja to do this (as they have with pretty much every DOA game). I am hoping that this new estimated release date sticks... DOAU has been in development for more than a year... that's a loooong time to be waiting for a game. And with the last DOA game (Xbox's DOA3) almost 3 years old now, gamers are SPOILING for a new brawler to get their grimy hands on. GAH...

DOA Ultimate is a 2-disc compilation for the Xbox, containing a pixel-perfect translation of the Saturn version of Dead or Alive, and a graphically-enhanced Dead or Alive 2 featuring all-new stages, moves, costumes and tweaked gameplay. Both games will be playable on Xbox Live, allowing players to challenge and fight gamers across the country, or perhaps even the world.

Well, I guess I just have to keep busy and hope no more delays torture me even more. Crossing fingers...

Pressure Cooker

This weekend I'll be locking myself in The Sanctum and doing a sprint to finish my art chores for Siglo Passion. I've been putting it aside because of other matters for far too long. It's do or die for two days to finish all the remaining pencils, inks, colors and lettering. Well, I work best under pressure, I've always said. Here's a chance to put my money where my mouth is. I finish it all this weekend or I don't finish it at all.

I will, of course. Promise.

Dot's Entertainment


Mmm... many colors...

For the longest time I thought that Dippin' Dots was just your regular ice cream with candy sprinkles or whatever. Well, I was wrong of course. It took an episode of Oprah for me to find out that the 'dots' are actually individual ice cream scoops/spheres that have gone through a super-freezing process. So it's pretty cool to have this cup of dots and see the little things stick to your spoon and feel them roll in your mouth. The flavors are interesting, and apparently you can pick several flavors to put in your cup. It's an interesting take on your usual ice cream.
However, it's a bit pricey, but I guess it's a nice treat every now and then. Or something for someone who loves cute things in their mouths. Heh.

Bodyguard

That's what I look like today, since we all have to get dressed up formal for the arrival of a VIP at the workplace. So, break out the barongs and shine those shoes! Well, at least I'm wearing my new DMs, so that's fine. The black pants are kinda iffy, but I'd rather wear them now that have to lug them around until the big hooplah tonight. I gotta put myself in a mingling mood for tonight. Heh.

My Kind of Game

Evil Genius by Vivendi Universal is one of the hottest upcoming games on the PC right now. The premise is simply awesome; you don the white lab coat and monicle of an underworld mastermind, ready to take over this little mudball with your armies of thugs, sleazy femme fatales, crazed hitmen and the weirdest schemes this side of Dr. Drakken. Yep, you get the play the evil genius, via a hilarious RTS/Strategy game. Though this kind of twisted anti-hero theme isn't totally new- Dungeon Keeper had you as the master of a dark stronghold, breeding goblins and demons as you strive to do away with any party of adventurers and goody-goody knights that come wandering in. But the novel theme of being a James Bond-esque baddie is so choice... finally, we can all live out our megalomaniacal fantasies as our own image of Ernst Stavros Blofeld and SPECTRE... and this time, YOU get to torture 00's to your pleasure. Mehehehehehe.... MMmmm... I wonder if this game comes with laser-beam equipped man-eating sharks? HOHO...

Band of Brothers videogame


Retake German-occupied Carentan in the amazing WWII FPS, Brothers In Arms.

Last night, before turning in I decided to take a look at the free dvd included with the latest Official Xbox Magazine. I looked at the only feature on the disc I haven't seen yet- a demo video on Brothers In Arms. Now, I am the first person to say that I really am not a fan of first-person shooters, but the BIA demo simply blew me away.

If you are one of the many who watched and gaped at the gritty, realistic and gripping action in the World War II era HBO mini-series, Band of Brothers, you may like this game. It's a FPS set in Europe during the Normandy Landing, specifically in the City of Carentan. In the Band of Brothers series, Easy Company participated in the taking of this strategic town... but in Brothers In Arms, you don't have a whole batallion at your disposal. The game is a squad-based shooter, with you at the helm of two fire-teams; crack American GIs who are tasked with taking back Carentan from the Germans, one house at a time if need be.
Aside from controlling your own personal character, Major Baker, you will also be responsible for six other soldiers- the members of your two assault teams. If the prospect of having to control multiple characters in the thick of a firefight with Nazi stormtroopers sounds like a nightmare, take heart; your boys aren't stupid, and have enough A.I. and army tactics training to take care of themselves for the most part, seeking cover wherever it is available, shooting at enemy soldiers and giving each other covering fire. All it takes are simple commands for you to deploy your men into various positions.

I watched the video, often with open-mouthed amazement at the detail, the incredible sound effects, and the realistic action being portrayed onscreen. I watch as the programmers move their men to flank a group of well-dug in Germans, laboring to fight their way to a bombed-out house with a machine gun nest on the second floor. An improperly-covered street crossing results in a stinging death of one fire team member, but the GIs take out Nazis in vengeance. The team leader himself, controlled by the player, is finally able to get to the back of the house after taking out several more nazis in a cool firefight. But again, an ill-advised decision. Instead of taking an easy shot and killing the nazi machinegunner on the second floor from afar, the player sends in his two GI buddies to storm the house. Both team members are killed trying to get up the stairs. The player finally brings down the enemy but the cost is far too high.
Once in control of the machine gun, it seems all done deal as Krauts fall to the withering automatic fire. But suddenly, a German tank rolls in through the wall of a nearby farm, and more GIs begin to fall. The armored Panzer directs it's fire to atop the house and suddenly, abruptly, everything turns red...

DAMN. That was incredible. The graphics, the sound, the gameplay... It was like something out of Band of Brothers. And it was a GAME. But little wonder- the team, Gearbox Software, spent a lot of effort to capture the actual sights and sounds of World War II Carentan, down to the streets and houses and layouts of the many battle arenas. They even have a retired veteran on their staff! This game really seems to look, feel and sound authentic, and I am intrigued.

The last time I felt like this was during my first time playing the classic Medal of Honor for the old PSOne. I'll see about getting myself a copy of Brothers In Arms when the game ships this October. Some good ol' fashioned guy-action to go with the DOA girls on the Xbox. Heh.

Mega Phone Lust


My future phone: The Sony Ericsson P910.

Yet again, phonelust rears its ugly head. An officemate of mine got himself a spiffy new P900, and it's the first time I really got to look at the model up close. Of course, there's no way in the world that I am replacing my 7610 with the P900... the memory is much too small- it only supports Memory Stick Duo, which has a max capacity of 128 MB. But I have to say I love the HUGE screen. It makes it a natural wonder to play my fave Symbian app, Smartmovie on. Even just videos recorded with the P900 look a lot better, and can be viewed fullscreen at any time.
Well, while the P900 is not tempting me, its upcoming predecessor IS. The Sony Ericsson P910 is the smartphone's successor; a slight hardware and software-upgraded model which is basically a P900 with a much better screen (262K as opposed to the 65K of the P900), added QWERTY keyboard and best of all, upgraded memory capacity. The P910 has about 96 MB combined onboard memory, and it is compatible with Memory Stick PRO, which has capacities reaching into the 1 Gigabyte or more capacities. A GIG of data space. DAAMNN!!! That's a whole lot of videos, music, pictures and data to carry with you.
Just think. 1000 MB means literally dozens of anime episodes anytime, anywhere. The whole LOTR trilogy could fit with tons of space to spare. Whole seasons worth of entertainment in your pocket. Hours of trailers and game videos. Countless PORN. Heh.

And it's coming. The P910 is slated to come to Philippine phone shops by next month or so from the official source, Sony Ericsson. I am not sure, but rumors have already been spreading of local P910 sightings already (and some bigshots at the Telecom companies probably already have it by now). Well, I haven't seen any yet in the ol' haunts. Not yet.
But really, it's not like I can buy one at the drop of a hat... It's bound to come at an UNHOLY price, and the price of a 1 Gigabyte Memory Stick won't be something easy to swallow, either. Especially when I have projects like K.I.A. and Angel Ace in the works. No, this is something that I have to dream about for the time being, but I'm almost certain that if I change phones again, it'll be for this monster.

If and when I have the means... we'll see. Mmmm....

The Art of Anticipation

What's often a lot better than movies? The trailers, of course.

Sometimes, or more often than not, watching these slickly edited spots entertains us in the several minutes they appear than the hour and a half of the actual movie. It's funny to look at the early movie spots and see that it wasn't always like this... good trailers didn't really start appearing until the nineties (I think), and it really took off with the magnificent trailer to the Stallone movie, Cliffhanger.
The Cliffhanger spot was, and I believe still is, the benchmark for trailer magnificence. It was also the first film, I believe, to start the style of setting the trailer to the tune of classical music or orchestral scores.
Set to such epic music, we were treated to a hodgepodge of cuts showing the story of Walker (Sylvester Stallone at his 90s best), a rugged mountaineering expert as he has to battle what appears to be a gang of hi-tech thieves led by Qualen (John Lithgow, years and years before he shrinks to play Lord Farquaad in Shrek). The images are spectacular and intense- life and death battles, heroes running amidst hails of gunfire, helicopters crashing, thugs approaching menacingly and death-defying leaps into seeming oblivion. DAMN. After watching the CF trailer, how could you NOT want to watch this film?

Well, in the end the trailer WAS a lot better than the actual film... while Cliffhanger wasn't a horrible film in any case, it paled in comparison to the spot that preceded it. Perhaps the trailer was TOO good.

These days, epic movie commercials come one after the other. The last great trailers I've seen were ALL from the Lord of the Ring flicks. Lots of poseurs and wannabee epics in between. Maybe someday someone will revolutionize how trailers are made again. Or maybe not.

If you don't remember the greatness that was the Cliffhanger trailer, you can download the whole thing here. It's pretty big, but worth revisiting to get the ol' blood pumping again. Heh.

Scares Sell

Incredibly enough, the campy "Horror-reality" TV show Nginiig: The Hidden Files is now available on VCD. It seems that this show has proven to be a hit to Pinoys, having apparently found the niche of providing Filipinos with creepy scares every week. Despite the thoroughly irritating interface with teen-star hosts and hokey psychics, Nginiig shows off creepy vignettes of hauntings which are actually quite well done in terms of production values- a step above the classic Magandang Gabi, Bayan Halloween Specials I used to wait for every year.
Which brings me to a bit of an epiphany. Scares sell... I wonder if it would be cool to have a scary manga series? Something like the Ghosts At School anime on Animax. What comes to mind first is my old, old, old unpublished title, Smoke and Mirrors, which was about an eccentric and beautiful psychic and her new assistant as they hunt supernatural cases. Another possibility is to just continue doing Nikki Alfar's K.C. Strange, our already-published street-smart detective and mystic. Or maybe, I should just do something totally new.

Well, whatever. We'll see what we can do after I tidy up my plate.

Wandering with Anime


Quirky animated samurai action.

I posted about this short but cool series before, and have recently rediscovered it for conversion to portable viewing. Tsukikage Ran, or Wandering with the Wind, is a 13-episode samurai action anime starring a duo of mismatched but formidable heroines. Ran is a female samurai- beautiful and inexplicably invincible with the katana, and about as alcoholic as they come. She basically just seems to travel aimlessly throughout ancient Japan, with little more than her sword and unquenchable thirst for sake in her possession. Trailing this mysterious warrior woman is Myao, a young girl and expert in the Cat Style of Kung Fu. Thoroughly talkative, inquisitive and impulsive, Myao strikes up a more or less one-sided friendship with Ran at the start of the series, but eventually the stoic samurai woman livens up to her since she usually has money to spend.
The series is basically an animated version of samurai dramas popular in Japan- one shot episodes that basically has Ran and Myao getting involved in some evil plot or oppression. The show invariably ends with the two femme fatales thoroughly kicking butt and cleaning house.
Despite having anb old-style look to it, Tsukikage Ran is surprisingly well-animated, with the action-packed finales of each episode showcasing the heroines' individual fighting styles excellently- Ran with her lightning-quick killer slashes and samurai stances, and Myao with her super-quick acrobatic Cat-Fu.

The series doesn't seem to have any far-reaching plot, nor does it try to explain much of Ran and Myao's motivations. As the title says, they're pretty much just going with the flow, letting themselves go wherever the wind blows. But when it comes to exterminating some baddies, nobody dispenses justice quite like these two. Tsukikage Ran is a nice, understated but surprisingly cool show to catch every now and then... light and quirky anime action that's fresh as a breeze when the time is right.

Spent

Right after lunch, instead of lolling aroung luxuriously in The Sanctum, I had to dress up so I could go with my sister and her kids. I had to have my PC fixed since it conked out a few days ago, apparently having a broken fuse or power supply. The PC is still my media center and art workstation, so I can't let it stay broken for long.
So I got to Greenhills at a relatively early time. The repairs cost about 1K, so it wasn't too bad... though I have to get an AVR unit to prevent my fuse from shorting out again. And maybe a new extension cord since the old one's acting iffy. Nothing really new at the Black Market... no sign of the Inu Yasha finale yet, or any new games of note. But I DID get Cold Mountain on DVD for my mom.

Anyway, I got doused a bit by rain, which is pretty irritating since we had THREE umbrellas in the car, and me and the driver didn't bring a single one since it didn't look like rain. Funny... usually the downpours start late in the afternoon. I have a suspicion that the rain just came early to annoy me. Bah.

Anyway, the PC should be fixed and I should be doing pages for Siglo: Passion tomorrow. The Cable TV's on the fritz- totally horrible signal because of some repairs being done... I hope it doesn't last too long. I missed my Detective School Q!!! DARN!!!

Oh well. The night's young. Let's see what I can do with the remainder of this day.

Revision of the Jedi


The revised ending in the just-released Star Wars DVDs has Hayden Christensen's younger Anakin replacing the older version played by actor Sebastian Shaw. HOLY revisionist, Batman!

I'm no stranger to revisions. I've personally revised my own comics project, Angel Ace at LEAST four or five times. And of course, the more recent Angel Ace Again comics are a remake of the original Angel Ace story. But I operated under the anime/manga principle of having a different take on the same characters for different medium- If Angel Ace the original issues were the OAVs, the Again books are the TV series adventures of Angela Gale and friends.
Well, it seems that George Lucas himself is quite the re-writer of cinema. But for him, it's not a remake as much as it is a correction. With the magic of digital retouching and CG, Lucas has gone out of his way to change the the original Star Wars Trilogies to fit with the more recent SW prequels. Purists and fans of the original films will scream bloody murder and FOUL, but the deed is done. Fortunately, aside from restoring much of the glory of the old films, the actual changes aren't as pervasive and numerous as once feared.

1. There are Gungans cheering on Coruscant once the Empire is defeated. "Weesa Free! Weesa Free!"

2. Temeura Morrison's voice is now given to Boba Fett, although we never see his face in the original trilogy, as should be.

3. Ian McDiarmid now replaces the old Emperor (said to be the biggest change).

4. A new Jabba the Hut replaces the awkward 1997 version

5. Luke Skywalker's girly scream is removed from the scene where he jumps off from Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back.

6. And, of course, actor Sebastian Shaw (The Black King?) is replaced in the ending by Hayden Christensen, though gladly he still retains his scene as the aging Darth Vader (sans eyebrows).

There are lots more changes and little details throughout. Why the young Anakin in the ending? Is it because the Jedi keep their forms once they die AS Jedi? So Darth Vader gets to be young and virile in the afterlife while Obi Wan stays Alec Guinness old. Is that fair? Hmmm.
I really can't say what I feel about the changes. On the one hand, it's pretty creepy how Lucas can just do that, changing stuff for his whims- Well, it's HIS anyway and he has the frickin' millions to spend on it. On the other hand though, it's making the saga new and updated to the next generation. All I can say is, hold on to those old Star Wars VHS and DVDs of the original films if you want your version true to the original.

Well, at least Lucas didn't update the Obi-Wan and Darth Vader fight in New Hope new acrobatic moves, as we feared he would. Heheh.

Info and News from Ain't It Cool

Never Final


Vincent gets to shine in his own game...

If you thought the upcoming Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is the last word in the FF7 franchise, you're dead wrong. There's a lot of life brewing in Square's most beloved FF world aside from the sequel movie to the PS classic. In the pipes is a cellphone-based game called Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis, which puts players in the boots and suits of members of The Turks, the feared hatchetmen of the powerful Shinra Electric Power Company. Players actually form a network and can aid each other through play with their cellphones, battling monsters and going on operations just like in an action RPG. This game was first supposed to be for Japan only, but it has now been approved for release in the US and other countries. Will it reach here in the Philippines? Who knows.
Another release in the FF7 vein is Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, a game that will star the popular character Vincent Valentine, former Turk-turned shapechanging superbeing/gunner. It's not yet known what the game is all about, or even how it's going to play. But it will surely be something to look at once FF7 fever hits again with the release of Advent Children.

Eyes Wide Shut

Just a scant couple of years ago, all I had to give me information about upcoming things like movies, comics and videogames were magazines, which came loaded with news and stuff that's at LEAST a month or so late in itself (that's the reality of print). These days, when I need to find out the latest developments with my interests, all I have to do is surf online and I can literally see the up-to-the-minute latest developments in the thing I'm looking for, thanks to BBS Groups, Forums and Special Interest Websites.
The CRAPPY thing is, you now actually FEEL every single SECOND and HOUR and DAY of waiting. And when you wait, things happen. For example, I'm waiting for the next Dead or Alive game, Dead or Alive Ultimate, and it's SUPPOSED to come out in a couple of weeks. Then someone on the message boards posts that the game's going to be delayed a month. No proof, no official confirmation... just some asshole posting that some guy in some company told him so and so. And NOW, everyone's getting antsy and worried about a possible delay. Including ME!!! AAAARRRGHHHH...

It's a double-edged sword, this age of hi-speed communications and world-wide networks. We learn about stuff faster, quicker and deeper. But we still have to wait and wait and sweat it out all the same. In fact, we sweat it out more these days. That's the price of knowledge... paranoia and obsession. Darn. I should just keep myself busy with stuff and just lay off the lurking and the surfing... it's not like I don't have tons of stuff to do. Sigh.

The world may have gotten smaller, but it still turns just as slow. Heh.

Second Run

I picked up the second trade paperback of the acclaimed Runaways comic by Marvel last night. The title is all about a group of super-powered teens who find out one night that their parents are super villains. The ensuing chase, the development of their powers and relationships, the uncovering of their folks' true intentions and the possibility of a traitor in their midst makes this title one of the more sought-after books these days.
Unfortunately, like a growing bunch of other recently-purchased comics, it will have to go on the waiting list while I try to sort out my schedule. I've got a deadline tighter than a pair of shrunk-to-fit jeans looming on me, and I think I have to break out the adrenaline syringe to get myself cracking on it. Now THAT'S going to be a run...

The Death of 2-D?

Capcom calls quits on 2-D fighters
Noritaka Funamizu, the creator of Capcom's legendary 2D fighting series Street Fighter has left Capcom to begin his own games studio. Funamizu's credits also include recent Capcom classics such as Resident Evil Outbreak and Monster Hunter, but it seems that the 2D fighting scene is where he belongs.
Capcom announced that after Capcom Fighting Jam they will not produce any more 2D fighting games, and perhaps it is this which has led for Funamizu to decide to leave. Currently, his new company Craft and Meister have no games in development, and are looking for more recruits. It'll be interesting to see what they produce.
Source: NewsOr

Now THIS is a downer. Even in these days of 3-D games and lifelike polygons, there will always be a certain mystique and grace to 2-D, sprite-based characters. And no other 2-D fighter is as great as the Street Fighter games. If this news item is true, then I guess Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike was IT. It's sad to think that there may not be a Street Fighter 4 in the near future, but who knows? SNK-Playmore is still around as a 2-D games advocate, but without Capcom it just isn't the same. But if there's anything sure about the videogaming world, it's the fact that nothing is for sure. I'm hoping for more 2-D shoryukens somehow, someday.

But give me a my Ibuki in 3-D and I'll be happy as a clam. heh.

Black and White and Yellow and Red


YES, it's Sin City. YES, it's Jessica Alba.

Ever since comic books started becoming movies, I always thought that somehow, someway despite the change in medium there are things that the film version should not compromise. That's why movies like the X-Men films, Daredevil and the upcoming Elektra movie come up way too short for the hardcore comic geek in me. The LOOK. YES, Cyclops, we WANT to see yellow spandex. Where is the DAMN red ninja costume? If you're not going to capture the look and feel of a comic, why even take from the comic at all?
Well, it seems at least that comic fans will soon be seeing a graphic novel jump out at them seemingly from page to celluloid without much change, at least in visual style and graphic punch. I just watched the first footage from the upcoming Sin City translation, and it... looks... brilliant. Black and white for most (except when the Yellow Bastard or the Lady in Red appears), the film looks to be a VERY faithful recreation of the series of graphic novels... and it SHOULD, seeing as how Frank Miller (master of Sin City himself) is on board with director Robert Rodriguez to bring the blood-spattered, leather-bound, bullet-riddled, black-and-white stories of crime and passion to onscreen life. I haven't read much of the series, but I know of it, and now I just may get into it.

Check out a glimpse into the comic-book crimeworld of Sin City here in this Comic Con Promo and revel in the starkness of glorious MP4 (So grab the latest Quicktime before you try). Man, this is going to be something to look forward to.

Xbox Under Fire

Last night I acquired a copy of Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders for the Xbox. Whereas the original KUF was a mediocre and unbalanced fantasy RTS and Warhammer clone, the xbox game looks pretty special. Instead of the usual god's eye view, you're much closer to your units, and you control heroes and major fighters surrounded by their troops as they march into battle. The graphics are pretty amazing, with detailed character models despite having to show literally dozens of warriors onscreen, making for some spectacular battles between dark elves, knights and orcs. It's sort of like the Dynasty Warriors games, but with a fantasy twist and an RTS sensibility. So far, I haven't been able to wage any campaigns yet, but I'll post comments once I conquer a few kingdoms.

Farewell


Will there be a happy ending someday for these two? For now, a happy status quo will have to suffice.

Today, the final episodes of the Inu Yasha anime were shown in Japan. The one-hour special, The Bond Between the Two, Using the Shard of Shikon, ends the anime run, though the actual saga of the half-dog demon, half human warrior, the girl from the present and their allies is not yet over. Naraku and his spawn are still out there, and the final battle is still to be fought.
The IY manga itself is still running, and winding down as well to the finale. There's still a great possibility, if not a certainty, that the anime will continue in some shape or form someday. It's been a great run, and I can easily say that the Inu Yasha anime's quality has been excellent from beginning to end- 167 episodes, and all great. Take a bow, dog-boy and company. It's been great.

Tekken the Motion Picture

Another retro anime I found on the DVD bins is Tekken: The Motion Picture. This came out years ago, during the prime of the videogame's popularity, and I hate to say it but it really didn't do much good for the franchise. The overall quality is iffy, about the same level as the lamentable Tekken Forever comics that came and went with a whimper. The anime version takes the basic Tekken story of fighter Kazuya Mishima (He of the HEAVY eyebrows) seeking revenge on his billionaire father Heihachi, for throwing him off a cliff when he was a boy. The venue for the whole story is a remote island where fighters vying for the billion-dollar prize battle until the lone survivor emerges to face Heihachi himself in a final duel.
Tekken 2 character Jun Kazama is a nature lover and environmentalist/secret agent working with an international agency tracking down the Mishima Zaibatsu's evil plots. When they detect some traces of forbidden genetic engineering back to Mishima, they send Jun and a cocky kung fu cop Lei Wulong (another Tekken 2 veteran) to join the fighting tournament. Jun's main motivation in joining though is finding Kazuya, whom she met as a child, and steering him away from killing his father in cold blood- and falling to the DARK SIDE.

You really have to watch the ENGLISH DUB to fully appreciate how lame this feature is. Among the hilarious elements shown are Heihachi catching a thrown tomahawk with his MOUTH and chewing it to pieces, villain Lee Chaolan talking with a lisp, a plan to sell genetically-engineered INVISIBLE DINOSAURS as the weapon of the future!

With the fights being short or often one-sided or unsatisfactory, popular characters such as Paul Pheonix, King and Yoshimitsu limited to mere cameos (the Boxing Kangaroo had more exposure) and lots of silly monologues about martial arts mumbo-jumbo and preachy talk from Jun about a bobcat and a rabbit, this feature is something that fans of the game would rather just forget ever happened.
But like the Street Fighter movie, I think it's still great to see for a laugh, every now and then. And it's a good way to bring down Namco a peg or two in case they ever become too popular. Heh.

Female GTO


Gokusen the anime.

Kumiko Yamaguchi isn't your usual young lady. At 23 years old, she's quite attractive and naturally pretty, but she dresses unfashionably, keeps her hair in ponytails that make her look younger, wears glasses and views the world in an optimistic (if often naive) way. When she is hired to teach math in an all boys' school, she's thrown at a class of delinquents and bullies who would like nothing better than to force this geeky-looking new teacher to quit.
But unknown to the students and faculty of the school, Kumiko is the 4th generation heir to a notorious Yakuza family, and she's no stranger to handling threats and attack. So when she gets riled up, Kumiko breaks out the Yakuza tactics and doles out some school justice in her own way. Adding to the frenzy is Kumiko's own Yakuza family, who try in their own twisted fashion to 'help' Kumiko. But Kumiko has to walk a fine line and keep her past a secret, or her dream to live a good, honest living will all be for naught.

While Gokusen's general storyline is similar to the more popular GTO (teacher with a shady past teaching delinquents), there are quite a few significant differences. Eikichi Onizuka was a biker gang member- Kumiko is an actual Yakuza heiress- sorta like O-ren Ishii from Kill BIll- and packs a mean punch and a kick when she deals with her own 'family' of thugs and scoundrels. Second, Gokusen is set in an all-boy's school, and Kumiko is a GIRL, so these add in a lot of different factors, such as love interests and dealing with situations in specific ways. And of course, Kumiko's a pretty sober and level-headed character- at least until she switches to Yakuza mode- and then she's all street criminal tough and savvy.
The animation is pretty good- exceptionally so, I'd say... and the art style has that more Japanese-sy look (characters actually look Japanese) instead of the usual anime big-eyed mold. While most of the characters look like caricatures, at least Kumiko herself is pretty and pleasing to look at, if in a slightly geeky, offbeat way.

After watching the first two episodes, I came off with a positive feel for this series, and I'll probably check out the rest of the episodes soon... or at least make it a point to watch the show on Animax later this month.


The anime is based on a live-action drama series. Here's the LIVE version of Kumiko... Gosh she's cute.

Phone Movie

If you've been watching movies lately in theaters, you may have seen the trailer to Cellular, a suspense movie about a new Nokia 6600 owner (Chris Evans) who picks up a call from a kidnap victim played by Kim Basinger. Convinced of the victim's plight, the phone-wielding Samaritan must run a gauntlet of obstacles including low battery charges, dead zones, crossed-signals, disbelieving police and of course, a ruthless kidnapper.

Seeing the trailer the first time actually made me think it was all a cellphone commercial (which it IS, in any case) for the 6600, and surely after watching this 6600 owners will probably get extremely proud of their mobiles, and everyone else will probably make it a point to always keep their phones fully-charged. I'll probaby identify a bit if and when I ever watch this, being a former owner of the chubby model. I guess 7610s are too fashionable for gritty suspense action. Heh.

CSI: Anime-Style

I have to admit that my favorite Animax show these days is Detective School Q, the series about a group of exceptional students in the famous Dan Detective School in Japan. The group consists of main hero Kyu (who may in another life have been a young Super Chef, Super Angler or Super Sports protege), love interest/fan service provider/photographic memory-enabled Megumi, bishonen effete smartypants Ryu, underaged computer genius Kazuma and martial artist Kinta (who's really around just to protect the rest with his muscle). The cases they tackle often involve murder through mysterious means (often impractically so), and solving it usually takes a couple or more episodes.
The creepy circumstances of the cases, the odd clues and the often flabbergastingly intricate solutions are often over-the-top impractical, but quite interesting to see since they DO have logic to them. The most maddening thing is that the episodes often end at cliffhangers, leaving you hanging bur having to wait till next week to find out the answer to the case. Well, it's not really a question WHO rather than HOW the murders are usually committed. So I guess it's all like a puzzle that viewers are challenged to figure out before the onscreen sleuths do.

I think that detective novels and shows, including some sleuthing game shows, are very popular in Japan, hence this title (and similar titles like Files of Young Kindaichi and Detective Conan. Maybe I should look those other titles over and delve deeper into the anime mystery genre. We'll see what I can dig up. Heh.

Retro Anime


Go on a voyage with Captain Tita and her crew in Plastic Little.

I was looking through the dvd stalls recently, and I am pleased to see that anime is finally trickling into the mainstream selections. A good double-feature DVD I got features two titles by Satoshi Urushihara, a manga-ka known for his incredibly cute yet sexy art style and work in various RPGs such as Langrisser on the older consoles and PCs. The two features are Plastic Little and Legend of Lemnear.

Plastic Little is set in a world dominated by a vast, cloud-filled sea; within this sea of clouds are various colonies that float in the very air. Plying the trade of pet-shop hunter is the good ship Cha Cha Maru, an exceptional vessel commanded and owned by the feisty and lovely 17-year old, Tita. Tita is accompanied by her small but selflessly loyal and loving crew, and together they go on various adventures in the sea of clouds, at least in the manga version.
The anime version of Tita's adventures is a 40 minute or so OAV feature which is beautifully animated, tightly written and brilliantly designed with great characters, mecha and action sequences. It's a compact movie that tells of how Tita and her crew gets involved with a beautiful young fugitive, an evil military plot to topple the government and a climactic battle with a hundred to one odds. All this AND lots of gratuitous, well-animated naked breasts. Hoho! Mr. Urushihara's work, I have to add, is often laced with ecchi and fanservice to the extreme.
The other feature in the Urushihara double-feature is Legend of Lemnear, a fantasy-action adventure set in a gritty, swords-and-sorcery world where an evil force is taking over the realm. The only ones who have a hope of defeating this great evil are the chosen Champions... one of which, Lemnear, the Champion of Silver, is a beautiful young woman who has grown up as a warrior seeking revenge for her slain people. Can she find her allies and save her world from ruin? Or will she just become an evil sorcerer's plaything in a steamy harem? Well, actually, BOTH of these things happen, though fortunately not in that order. Heh.

While both features are pretty old, they stand up quite well even to more recent anime, particularly Plastic Little, which still looks gorgeous. I highly recommend these titles for mature anime enthusiasts; the amount of bobbly flesh and bouncy breasts ensure that these are not for young kids, but there's a good story and great action behind all the skin. Check 'em out.

One last note. I have NO IDEA what the title 'Plastic Little' means.

Inu Yasha the Movie 3


The third Inu Yasha theatrical feature is finally here.

I came over to Megamall expecting little more than dinner, but I left with nothing less than VCD copies of the 3rd Inu Yasha theatrical feature, Inu Yasha the Movie 3: The Sword of World Conquest!
Like the first movie, the 3rd Inu Yasha movie delves once more into the past of Inu Yasha, particularly with his father, the Great Inu No Taicho, his forbidden love with the human princess Izayoi, the birth of his hanyou (half-human, half youkai) son Inu Yasha, and the path of his full-blooded youkai son, Sesshomarou. As the title mentions, the movie is also about the Inu family's swords- Tessaiga, the blade given to Inu Yasha; Tenseiga, the life-giving sword given to Sesshomarou; and finally Souunga, Inu No Taichi's blade, an evil sword whose power could conquer the world.
When Souunga's seal wears out (having a 700 year life span), it promptly starts to wreak havoc. With their father's bitter enemy resurrected and wielding Souunga's might, the two dog-demon brothers and fierce rivals must somehow find it in themselves to fight together against an enemy of unequalled power and hatred.

While it was a bummer that once again this movie takes another side story instead of continuing the heroes' quest for the Shikon and the Hunt for Naraku, it's a pretty cool story. The Inu Yasha-Sesshomarou rivalry has always been one of the series' stronger plot points, and the film makes full use of it to tell a pretty good adventure. And it WOULD have to be a movie with high quality animation to fully show off the high-level magical attacks and mammoth firepower thrown off in the many battles. This is easily the best of the IY movies so far, in terms of story and animation. Inu Yasha fans should make for their anime shops and scoop this one up fast, along with the final leg of episodes for the TV series.

In Vogue


The Sony Ericsson K700i. Multimedia Powerhouse.

The Sony Ericsson k700i seems to be getting popular these days. At least three people I know have gotten this slick new mobile- an officemate, a friend's girlfriend and my brother.
Which is not puzzling at all since the K700 is a pretty good model. Apparently being the real successor to the classic T610 model, the K700 is much more of a leap than the slight upgrade the T630 was (which was really just a monochromatic repackaging of the T610, with a better screen). The K700 is a multimedia powerhouse, with a big, beautiful and bright screen, an excellent (albeit still VGA) camera and video capability, enhanced user interface (UI), an FM radio and MP3 playing capability, and 41 MB of memory to stuff photos, video and data with.
The phone is small, smaller than all the recent Nokia best-sellers (6600 and 7610), and even slightly smaller than its predecessors from SE. It's compact and looks so hi-tech with its silver-metal finish. The back (or the OTHER front, according to Sony marketing) has a large receptacle, making the phone look more like a digicam from that direction (which is the thrust of SE's phones). So, really, the K700 looks and plays great.

In fact, it's so good that if I wasn't such a fanatic for Symbian OS-powered smartphones and the fact that the K700 has pretty limited memory for me, this would probably be my phone right now. But no, I'm still with my megapixel mobile. The only thing that can possibly move me at present is the prospect of the Sony Ericsson P910, with its potential Gigabyte of memory space... Mmmm... Aaaahhh... Someday... SOMEDAY... Hahahaha... Sigh.

Speaking of Cash Drains...

... I'm looking forward to quite a few comics this coming Stock Day at Comic Quest. The latest issues of Blade of the Immortal, Fallen Angel and Bite Club are coming, and they're some of the few titles I'm really into these days. I haven't been able to check out a lot of my recent purchases, but I've looked through Suikoden III part 3, and it still maintains the manga version's pretty straight translation of the RPG story. The art's still great, the action a bit more easygoing this time around as the focus is on the mercenary Geddoe and his band of card-named cohorts, and on the life at Budehuc castle, a quiet little stronghold destined for greatness in the volumes ahead.

Yeah, I have to cut down on spending... but how hot can an engine burn without fuel? Hehehe... Screw you, Vinnie!!! (In my best Arnold Schwarzennegger impression).

Boots are made for Walking

Last night I scoured Megamall for a nice, good pair of everyday walking shoes. At first, I looked in Shoemart, and ALMOST got tempted into buying a pair of Hush Puppies. However, I really had only one brand in mind- Doc Marten's. The last time I had DM's was waaaaaaaay back in college, when my mom gave me a pair she bought from the States. I was immediately impressed by the soft, supple yet strong leather and soles, and the solid and cool look they had. I wore that pair for years and years. This is the first time since finally retiring my old pair that I've gotten Docs again, and it feels good. I'm going to be doing a lot of walking in them from now on.
And it's just as well- I've decided to cut down on expenses, and one of the bigger drains on my cash is my taking a cab to work everyday in the morning. It started about a month or two ago, and it's really a habit that's hard to break. It's so easy to just throw money at a problem- this particular being my dislike at walking too much and crowding into MRTs with other people. But if I'm going to have the money for K.I.A later this year, I'm going to have to tighten the ol' belt. Anyway, I really need the exercise, and riding in cabs all the time in the morning makes me prone to dozing off in the taxis, and that just makes me all sluggish and sleepy the whole day.
And so, it's back to walking the beat. Get up early in the morning, take my vitamins, walk the walk, then talk the talk and earn the pay so that we get to enjoy at the end of the day. That's the ticket. Heh.

Good Old-fashioned Mystery

Whenever I see a re-run of Believe it or Not on AXN these days, it just makes me remember the good old days of the show, back when it was GOOD. More a show about wonders and mystery rather than a freak show laced with cheap T&A.

Years ago, I remember as a kid seeing the first Ripley’s Believe it or Not show, which started off with a really beautiful title sequence, with animated versions of the Ripley’s cartoons whizzing by to a great musical score that started off creepy and teasing, then becoming more wondrous as the title of the show came on. The show then was hosted by Jack Palance, who was OLD even then. He of the hissing, wheezing voice was actually cool, despite a pretty painful prologue sequence where he acted out the entire assassination of the Russian monk Rasputin all by his lonesome.
Back then, the shows were more about mystery, natural and historical weirdness, ghost stories and monsters, or science oddities. Any human wonders were far more interesting than what we see in contemporary shows. Well, I guess the shows had to update to the times… and the present times just aren’t as magical as the older days.

It’s the same with other shows of the same vein. When That’s Incredible started off, I LOVED it best for the really creepy ghost stories they would feature, such as the story of Resurrection Mary, the Amytiville Horror and other American spooks. Eventually though, like Believe it or Not, the show began to focus more on stunts and more mundane feats.

Another favorite of mine was the often creepy In Search Of shows, an old, hard-to-find series hosted by Leonard Nimoy. The show dealt primarily with myths and monsters, legends and mysteries that included Bigfoot, Nazi Gold, The Bermuda Triangle and more. That was a good, spine-tingling series that you just don’t see these days.
Today, we see guys with bee beards, lingerie made of Heaven-knows-what, the biggest house of cards, and guys who suck things up with their eyes. For creepy mystery, all we have is… Nginiig: The Hidden Files.

Sigh. Oh well. All things come around and go around. Maybe someday we’ll have a return to really good mystery shows. I just hope that I’m not as old as Jack Palance when it happens. Heh.


Mystery Pic


Tekken 5’s new Boss may be this sinister figure.

Speaking of mystery, who is THIS in this screenshot from a new cinematic from Tekken 5? From the clothing and the twin spikes atop the figure’s head, it appears to be Heihachi Mishima, who has been reported DEAD in the Tekken 5 story. Upon close inspection, the figure seems to be actually aflame, and has shiny, metallic skin. It does not even look totally human. Recent literature released by Namco also mention that this creature seems to have been chained and imprisoned in Heihachi’s Honmaru shrine long before the explosion after the Jack Robot attack, so it is likely not the senior Mishima. After the destruction of the shrine, something (this thing) apparently escaped from the debris, unseen into the night.
News of Heihachi’s death have had many speculating that this was the end of Mishima Karetsu, but someone else has apparently taken over immediately after, so it was all business as usual. Taken over by whom?

Is this figure, called by some speculators as “Ogre Hei” Tekken 5’s new boss?

We’ll see as Tekken 5 is released in arcades this October.

Advent Rising

Recently, footage from the much-anticipated CG movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was screened in a special showing in Venice, Italy. The movie, based on a Playstation game that is at least 7 years old, received glowing reviews from the press and gaming crowd present.
From the many reports online, this CG movie is going to give fans of the classic RPG what they've been waiting years for- a chance to see the beloved characters of FFVII as never before and most importantly, see closure in the story's most emotional issues. The pay-offs for die-hard FF fans seems as fruitful and efficient as a checklist- Return of Cloud and the other heroes? Check. Return of Shinra baddies as well as new villains? Check. Return of a certain Flower Girl? CHECK. Return of a certain silver-haired one-winged angel? DOUBLE CHECK. Heheh.

Some good news and bad news. The Good News is that producer/character designer Tetsuya Nomura has revealed that the final movie will be four times the length of the 24-minute preview shown in Venice... placing Advent Children in the length of a full feature film. So, no short OAV feature will AC be... this is a true film that will tell a whole story and hopefully give closure to the saga. The Bad News? The film, which is still in production even at this time, has been given a release date tentatively for Spring 2005. Oh well, it should be worth the wait.

Final Fantasy VII, the first Final Fantasy game on the PSOne, tells of the story of Cloud Stryfe, a mysterious young mercenary who joins a rebel group known as Avalanche in order to fight the monopolistic, world-dominating and corrupt might of the Shinra Electric Power Company. This multi-layered and complex story eventually sends Cloud and his allies into direct conflict with Sephiroth, Shinra's Ultimate Warrior who himself is on a quest to discover his identity and destiny. When Sephiroth's goals lead him to revenge against all life and causing the destruction of the world, Cloud moves to stop him. The conflict is made personal by Sephiroth's murder of Aerith, one of Cloud's close friends and the last of an elder race that protected the planet. Eventually, Cloud gains the strength to battle his seemingly omnipotent foe, and with a summoned Meteor heading for the world, he destroys Sephiroth in a climactic battle. To save the world itself from the impending comet, the very planet's life force surges up and ends the crisis in a final, miraculous event.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is set two years after the end of the game. With a seemingly incurable disease striking the populace and a sinister group of silver-haired youths on the offensive, Cloud must once again take up his sword (with a little help from his friends) and save the planet again.

K.I.A. Update

Will delays never cease with the K.I.A. book?

Well, this time around however, it's all for the best. I've decided to push back the release by a month or so in order to add in some more content. Is ANY story worth such a big delay, you would ask? Well, yes... as long as the artist who's doing it is worth the wait. In particular, our cover artist Jennyson Rosero! Jennyson has given the Kai anthology a sleek and sexy look with his incredible cover artworks, so it would be totally bogus to have just a scant 8 pages from him inside the book. Well, we're working on fixing that. Crossing fingers, we're still hoping for a release within 2004, but I won't compromise quality just to catch a deadline... especially when I'm the boss. Heh. Let's all just hope for sooner rather than later, but K.I.A. IS coming. Count on it.

Dented

That's how I describe my laptop now, after I dropped it (luckily while it was in a bag) a couple of days ago.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

My beautiful, lovely, Powerbook...

It happened so fast. While fumbling with my backpack (after a checkpoint), umbrella and I.D., I lost hold of the WRONG thing and BAM... my bag fell to the floor. I couldn't believe it had happened, but it did. I picked up by bag and hurried up to the office. A quick look told me that the mac still worked, at least- the light on the front latch was on- but I had to look it over myself.
When I finally got to my workstation and took out the laptop, I was in for a shock.

There was a DENT. A FUCKING DENT.

AAAAAAAAARRRRHHHHHHHH!!!!!! DAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMNNNNN!!!! SHIIIIIIIIEEEETT!!!!!!

I tried opening the laptop. For a second it didn't seem to open... but then, it did. My imagination. The screen went on, and it still worked. Perfectly. I looked for a disc to fit into the DVD drive... it still fit. The drive still ran. But there was that FRICKIN' dent. It's not huge, but you can easily see it. My poor, poor laptop.
I've already checked. The warranty won't cover it, and to have the casing replaced would cost at least 12K. That's a monstrously large amount to spend just for a little cosmetic damage. And there are other things to spend that money on. Like a certain comic anthology that I have to work on. Like a good pair of new shoes. Like food.
So I'll just have to take it and like it. Anyway, really, the laptop's still a gosh-darned lovely thing. Yep, it's dented, but then I guess it just fits ME better, since I'm not flawless myself. How's that for being cosmic? Well, someday, when I have to have the thing upgraded or overhauled, I'll be glad to spend the extra bit to have the casing replaced and have my partner perfect again. Someday. Really.

But for now I'm still aghast.

GGIIIYYYYYYAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

Tekken 5

Aside from DOA Ultimate and Mortal Kombat Deception heating up home systems next month, gamers will also be able to take on the latest King of Iron Fist Tournament. Tekken 5 has finally been announced for general arcade release by Namco in October. Following the release will be various tournaments to promote the game, as Namco has always been aggressive in supporting the arcade crowd with their releases.

What does this mean for us here in the 'ol RP? There are really few, if any, arcades here in Metro Manila that still update their games (though there really haven't been any new games anyway), but a new Tekken is BIG. I'm sure there will be a presence here, hopefully sooner rather than later. As for a home version, a PS2 release for the game is expected in 2005.

MAD about Fighting Games


Fighting games have changed a lot since the original Street Fighter, haven't they?

Unless this is the first time you've come to my blog, you probably know one thing about me at least.

I love fighting videogames.

One-on-one fighting is my favorite genre in electronic gaming. Even more than RPGs (which come at a distant 2nd), Survival Horror and Action gaming. Strategy games (RTS games) take up the rear. But nothing really turns my head like a Beat 'em up. A brawler. A martial arts fighter. Perhaps I was Bruce Lee in my former life. Or a ninja.
I guess it all started with Final Fight on the Super Nintendo. I saw the game in the mall one time and afterwards I just had a hankering to take control of Haggar or Cody and beat the crap out of evil thugs. FF wasn't a one-on-one brawler, so it was just a warm-up for the real fight, which began with Street Fighter 2. Now THAT was a classic. The ability to select from a large roster of characters with different styles of combat was, at the time, a new concept, and it totally got me going. From there on, it was easy. I was a fighting game fanatic, and in the years to come I would be an arcade enthusiast, actually making weekly rounds to the Major Arcades in the Malls for the latest game to bust into the scene.

The list of fighting games that I have played is looooong and winding, and there are loads of crap and true classics.

Of course, I have my likes and dislikes, my preferences and areas of interest, even in this focused topic. Fighting games for me have to appeal in several fields. Appealing Characters. If I had a dream job aside from Superstar Manga-Ka, I'd be a Superstar Video Game Artist, designing martial arts warriors and kick-butt femme fatales. You have to realize that fighting games show off characters who must capture the interest of players, and be taken to heart. Character designs comprise everything from a fighter's looks, personality, fashion and fighting skills. There's a fine line from a great design to a generic pugilist who'll get forgotten in a second.
Of course, a fighting game has to play GREAT. If appealing characters and graphics pulls players in, the fighting is what will make them stay. I've played literally dozens of fighters... only a select few have the action that takes you back again and again and again and again.
Finally, a fighter has to have a niche. A certain unique thing they bring to the table. Something the others just don't give. All the great ones have something, from out-and-out fighting strategy and depth, to fantastic characters and moves to sex appeal. A gamer has many moods, and great fighting games work to try and catch these moods as best as they can.

I've found that I prefer 3-D fighters that exhibit realistic animation. Nothing is as incredible as seeing a complex grapple, throw or move. I don't find blood or gore U.S. gamers seem to love that appealing- I identify more with the Asian liking of realism and grace. Gimmicks and touches like breaking bones that penalize gameplay, blood and damage appearing on the fighters onscreen and ripping clothes are just novelties. In the end it's all about one guy against another guy (or girl) and the clash of bodies.

My Top Ten Favorite Fighters or, the ten games I would bring into my Secret Bunker in case of a Mutant Plague.

Tekken (PS) - The original King of Iron Fist Tournament for the PSOne still has that great appeal for me. Yeah, the graphics are dated now, the characters look like marionettes and the moves are nowhere as many as in the later installments, but the original for me is still untouchable. And it's when Nina Williams really stood out as the original blone bonebreaker. I'll always treasure my copy of this classic. This was actually the first-ever fighting game I got for the PS. First is still the best, I guess.

Dead or Alive (PS) - I guess I have a thing for retro games. The original DOA home translation for the PSOne started my whole fascination with the Tecmo brawling babes franchise. Tons of unlockable stuff, the best animation on the console, sexy appeal and great fighting action that just can't be beat.

Soul Edge (PS) - the game from which the current Soul Calibur games originated, the Playstation original still stands as one of the best home-translations ever, with tons of unlockable secrets, great gameplay and still one of the best CG intro animation cinematic in fighting games. This goes right up there with PS DOA and Tekken.

Bushido Blade (PS) - an innovative and addicting weapons-fighter that featured potential one-hit deaths, this game had realism (a bit impractical in some areas though), great animation, wide-open stages to run around and fight to the death in, and, morbidly enough, pretty cool death animations.

Virtua Fighter 2 - I own the Saturn translation of this, perhaps for me the best chapter of the hardcore martial arts fighter. An arcade-perfect PS2 translation is coming, and my hands are itching to get it. The arcade version of VF2 is where the action really ramped up, the characters coolest, and the fighting hottest. VF3 is an unwanted, unpleasant memory. VF4 has the advantages of the latest technology, but VF2 still rules.

Soul Calibur (DC) - The one game that could be a reason to buy a Dreamcast. Top-notch graphics, animation, gameplay, extras... the only thing missing are CG cinematics and fluff, but this was weapons-action at its finest.

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike - The whole 'III' series of Capcom's flagship beat 'em up has always been under-rated, but I feel it's the BEST out there in terms of 2-D fighting. GREAT character designs (Ibuki RULES as the best and cutest ninja babe in videogames), a huge roster of varied fighters, flawless gameplay and the most fluid and cool animation EVER in a fighting game make this my absolute favorite 2-D brawler. All other 2-D games can go to Hell, as long as I've got my 3rd Strike I'm happy. Take a hint- I've already got a Dreamcast version AND the recent PS2 release, and I'm still waiting for the Xbox translation. Heh.

Dead or Alive 3 (Xbox) - The first DOA on Xbox rules as having the best graphics ever for a fighter (though it will be surpassed soon by DOA Ultimate), improved action over the dozen-or-so installments of the previous Dead or Alive 2, and some incredible multi-tiered stages that will get you going 'AAAAHHH!' once you throw someone out a window and into a hundred-foot drop. Plus it has Hitomi, the sweetest and hottest karate fighter ever in videogaming. Heh.

Tekken 5 (PS2) - the upcoming Tekken looks to regain the lost polish the franchise lost with the forgettable Tekken 4. It's looking great, actually.

Dead or Alive Ultimate (Xbox) - this 2-disc compilation updates the DOA series for the Xbox library, with a perfect translation of the original Saturn Dead or Alive, and a better-than-DOA3/might as well be DOA4 remake of Dead or Alive 2. This is also a return to the fan-service unlockables of the original DOA home games, which is great. Bikini fights, anyone? Heh. This game is gonna rule.

Oddest-named Fighting Games

Eretzvaju (PS) - this 3D anime-themed brawler had cool, stylish animation, impressive magical attacks and a killer schoolgirl years and years before Go Go Yubari was ever even imagined. Pretty cool fighting action which revolved around a tournament and a powerful female end-boss/sorceress.

Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring (PS) - coming from Square, this run-and-fight game had some of the best graphics on the PSOne, and some cool fighting moves and character designs... which ironically were understated with the inclusion of popular Final Fantasy 7 characters Cloud, Tifa, Red XIII and Sephiroth as playable characters. Not a bad game, really.

Kakuto Chojin (Xbox) - the title means 'Fighting Supermen', which is ironic since this is a weak, mediocre fighter that started off as a much-hyped showcase game for the Xbox. In the end, it was just a tech demo at best... the fighting is shallow and repetitive after a while, the character designs are HORRIBLE and it all feels unfinished and rushed. This game also qualifies for the next category, which is...

The Cream of the Crap - There are TONS of bad fighters. These are worth mentioning...

Kensei: Sacred Fist (PS) - Konami makes great action games, but they just NEVER got fighting right. Their arcade venture Fighting Bujutsu had the looks, but not the moves, and this far-inferior home game just shows all the things I hate- boring and generic characters you have to work to unlock, as well as repetitive and shallow gameplay. A knockout combo that takes this game down for the count. PLUS, it also has in it's roster a character patterned after STEVEN SEAGAL. Now, if that isn't a sure sign of a crappy game, I don't know what is... Heh.

Stake (Xbox) - an Xbox game that can't even stand to the standards of even mediocre PS One fighters. Almost unplayable, with lagging gameplay and mechanics that just don't work. The only good thing about this game are the character art, which apes the much better Capcom game artworks. That, and the way the announcer says "Stake" at the game's title screen, which makes me feel hungry.

Tao Feng (Xbox) - hyped up to no end as the baby of John Tobias, one of the creators of Mortal Kombat, with characters that bruised and clothing that got torn as the battles wore on. Despite lots of T&A, it all boiled down to a game that just played as stiff as the badly-named characters, with a badly-written story of martial arts gobbledy-goo as the reason for all the action. AND it has an voiceover who suspiciously sounds FILIPINO...

The fighting genre has, sadly, declined quite a bit after the peak of interest in the mid-nineties. These days, new brawlers are usually installments of the stronger, popular franchises. The ability to go online is something being hyped and may just bring fighters to the fore again. But for me, fighting games wll always be tops, and really, while having a second player is cool, my best opponent is myself- trying to constantly improve and just enjoy the fight for the fight itself.

WHEW! That's that. Quite a long post, actually... I guess it's just a way of taking up time as I wait for the next wave of brawlers to arrive. Sigh.

Loaded

It's been barefly a day or two after pay day and I've already spent a bundle, thanks to the early deposit of our salaries and to the shizload of new stuff I just had to buy at Comic Quest. Yep, I'm pale from loss of blood... Aaaah...

Not one, but TWO darn issues of Official Xbox Magazine were on offer- the regular issue (which contains previews of the upcoming Halo 2 and other hot games) and the Holiday Preview Guide that adds a bit more info and pics. Irritatingly there are pitifully few new pics of my long-awaited Dead or Alive Ultimate- really just ONE new picture (but at least it has a bikini-clad Hitomi). BAH. Anyway, it'll make for good game reading. Also lightening my wallet are the newest issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePRO and Animerica. On the comic side, new issues of Fallen Angel, Blade of the Immortal, Street Fighter, Justice League Elite and the first issue of Fathom: Dawn of War. But of course, the crowning glory of the haul is the third issue of Suikoden III. WOOHOO!!!
On the actual gaming front, I finally got a copy of the 3-D KOF game, King of Fighters: Maximum Impact. First impressions- the graphics are pretty good, though not on par with the biggies (DOA3, VF4 and Tekken). The gameplay is quite close to the 2-D KOF games, in terms of moves and animations. However, there are the expected hiccups, such as abusable moves and combos, and an extremely CHEAP end boss. I'll post a more in-depth review once I log in the hours.

Darn, that's a lot. No wonder I'm drained. Well, lots of stuff to enjoy over the weekend. Goodies, goodies, all for me! Hoho!

Upgrade Complete

Like in some RTS, I finally was able to improve my phone's memory. Since my 7610 supports only the newly-introduced Reduced-Size Multimedia Cards (RS-MMC), it was HELL to find them in any of the usual malls and shopping centers. After several weeks, a 128 MB RSMMC finally appeared, but to someone who has tasted the spacious capacity of 256 MB memory cards (with my now long-gone 6600), that just wouldn't cut it. Well, eventually I gave in but it's just not the same. Budgeting space and having to compromise my videos and files was a chore.

But I finally found a solution online, from the Buyncell Forums, which was referred to me by my brother. I was able to contact this shop in Binondo, Manila that has memory cards and digital medium in the plenty- AND it has 256 MB RS-MMC Cards in stock, and at a price that's lower than the 128 MB cards in the malls! WOOHOO!!!
Of course, it WAS in Binondo... which is pretty much another world for me. Thankfully they deliver, so I was able to have my upgrade delivered to me right at the office... How's that for service?
Well, what can 256 MB mean to me? Well, I can carry around a whole MOVIE along with lots of other video clips, or up to six 25+ minute episodes of anime or whatever show I want. Of course, short features are preferred to full-length films since it really isn't good to stare at a small screen for extended periods of time... Recommendable loads include episodes of The Animatrix, or the Clone Wars cartoons (which come in at about 3 minutes a chapter), short OAVs and good single episodes or series debuts like Scrapped Princess. Having a theater in your pocket is a great way to beat boredom almost anywhere.
Just gotta remember to keep my battery charged. Always.

Anime Hits and Misses


Kai Doh Maru by Studio I.G. left me feeling... blah.

Yesterday, I was looking through the anime stockpiles and selecting stuff that I could convert to mini-AVIs that I could load onto my phone (which I'm upgrading with a 256 MB memory card soon... WOOHOO!!!). I've already gotten several anime episodes converted which I love to watch- the Ranma 1/2 OAVs, the first episode of Scrapped Princess and Louie the Rune Soldier, Sakura Wars OAVs, Gunsmith Cats and a gaggle of Aeon Flux episodes (which I acquired thanks to Buddha (Thanks, Andrew!).
Looking through the anime I've bought and NOT WATCHED AT ALL for the past few MONTHS, I was finally able to view some and comment on...

Kai Doh Maru is a not-quite-an-hour-long feature from Studio I.G., which is responsible for the Ghost in the Shell movie (and it shows since the main character looks like a much younger Motoko Kusanagi). It's set in Feudal Japan and is the story of a girl named Kintoki who is saved and adopted by a group of warriors known as the Great Four. She grows up to become one of the warriors, and they fight to keep the peace in a strife-ridden province of Japan. Kintoki seems to be doing well for herself- she's skilled (well, supposedly... but you never truly see her fight well at all) and is quite attracted to Raiko, the member of the Great Four who actually saved her life and is now her comrade. But that happy status quo will not last since a mysterious, mystical band of rebels is coming with Kintoki AKA Kai Doh Maru in their sights.
The animation of this feature is pretty unique- the animators seem to be emulating old Japanese artworks and prints from the era, which is fascinating... but the overall look is so washed-out and bland that you just have to question WHY they did it like that. Plus, there are some parts that look like CG backdrops from some Playstation game. Gah.
On the writing side of things, the story is vague and leaves a lot unsaid, especially how the story actually ends (though I suspect it ends badly). On the other hand, the action is pretty good- short but intense. Anyway, Kintoki herself turns out to be a pretty weak character in both physical and mental aspects, especially towards the end where she just seems to fall apart. I can't really recommend this anime and it just left me... blah. Maybe it will get better with more viewings, but... nah. I'm not touching that one again.

Burn Up Scramble seems to be the latest incarnation of the girl-power supercop series, Burn Up. Typically, this series is all about an all-female police unit led by a crazy blonde named Maki. What sets the past series apart from this latest series is wild, interesting character art, loud action and fan service. Scramble however just TURNED ME OFF in the first few seconds of the first episode. I can't describe it... the show just looks so generic and bland and totally without any character at all. It was so bad I just stopped the player, took out the disc, put it back with the five or so other discs of the series, and place them aside for later disposal.

Sakura Wars: Ecole De Paris is the latest OAV based on the Sakura Taisen franchise. This time, the action shifts from Japan to Paris, where the Parisian branch of demon-fighting babes is being put together. The members include Erica Fontaine, a machine gun-toting convent girl, and Glycine Bleumer, a young aristocrat, young circus performer Coquelicot and shy Japanese girl Hanabi Kitaooji. Also featured is Lobelia Carlini, a notorious thief who may or may not be totally human since she possesses some superhuman abilities.

The Paris girls are interesting, though comparing them to the more popular Hanagumi Kagekidan is inescapable. Erica is more or less Sakura Shinguuji with a gun and more air in her head, while Glycine is Sumire Kanzaki without the prima donna attitude. Lobelia, with her platinum blonde hair and glasses is a refreshing sight, and her character's pretty intriguing. All in all, it's a pretty cool show, with fairly good animation. Fans of the Sakura Wars anime would do well to take a look at this OAV.

Whew! That's that. And that's only the tip of the anime stockpile... Damn I really have to start watching the stuff I buy. Heh-heh...

Made in China

Remember the cool BB-pellet Assault Rifle I posted about a couple of months ago? Well, it's broken. Don't know how that happened... I just put it on display in The Sanctum, just below my anime collection, and just let it hang for a couple of weeks. Well, I picked it up yesterday and cocked it up... and it wouldn't cock. Something had gone wrong with the internal mechanism, and it the things that should click inside just won't click anymore, so now it's useless as a pellet-firing pseudo-weapon. Yeah, it still looks cool, but it's all for show now. No more bark or bite. And I swear, I never dropped it, got it damaged or anything. The last time I touched it, it still fired fine.

Quality craftmanship right there. BAH.

Streetfighter RPG


Hadoken!

Over the weekend I made perhaps one of the odder purchases I've done in the past few months. At one of the anime/toy shops I frequent I bought Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game. Yep, you read that right... an RPG based on the popular fighting game franchise from Capcom. Wanna play as Shotokan master Ryu or Ken? As kung-fu kicking Interpol agent Chun Li? You can with the SF RPG.
Actually, this really isn't new... in fact, this game came out perhaps up ten years ago... when Street Fighter popularity was on the rise. Among the many swags and merchandising crap that was released was an actual RPG, which should fulfill the dreams of SF fans who want to get deeper into the Capcom world than just playing the actual videogames.

Anyway, I got the main rulebook, Streetfighter: The Storytelling Game manual, the Player's Book, a Storyteller's Screen and a couple of supplementary modules- Secrets of Shadaloo (which reveals the facts behind the evil M. Bison's cartel... Oooh) and Perfect Weapon. I bought them all for a song, really... the anime shop guy has had the stuff in stock FOREVER, and he just wanted to get rid... ahem, find a better home for them. Well, SF fanatic and gamer that I am, I adopted them. Better than getting a stinky dog, I say.

So, what am I going to do with a set of Streetfighter RPG books? Well, I certainly won't be asking the gang to get together on weekends to fight the forces of Shadaloo... I just bought the stuff to read, to look at the crappy US artworks, to laugh at the absurdity of it all and just put them along with my other otaku material. I love this stuff. Heh.