Neo Classic


Angst and action abound in Advent Children.

Debuting last E3 2005 was a brand-new trailer for Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, and it was pretty awesome. The trailer was a sight for sore eyes as the last new footage of the upcoming Square CG movie based on the classic PSOne RPG was months and months ago. Well, the wait was worth it as we saw new scenes aplenty- a slightly closer look at the man in the wheelchair (I'm really thinking this is Rufus Shinra back from the dead, or in rehabilitation after almost getting fried by Diamond Weapon), more action between Cloud and the SHM (Silver-haired Men), more from the fight between Tifa and the silver-haired bruiser in the Flower Garden, the whole FFVII gang battling a summoned monster (Coolest moment, Yuffie the ninja throwing her humongous shuriken), the return of the Highwind airship and what appears to be Sephiroth himself finally returned?!

From some articles and interviews I've read, the original FFVII Advent Children project was just an experiment- probably Squaresoft was treading lightly after their initial disastrous venture into CG movies (care of the crappy Spirits Within flick). AC was meant to be a very short feature- about 30 or so minutes. Perhaps they just wanted a few scenes showing Cloud after the game, giving a few hints of what life he was leading, the signs of a new threat and then perhaps the FFVII hero regaining his guts to fight and then, THE END.


Questions will be answered.

However, audience and fan response apparently proved overwhelmingly high, and soon the project began to grow. People didn't want a teaser movie- they wanted the whole kit and caboodle. They wanted all the FF gang back, whether they were alive or dead at the end of the game (cue Aeris theme), somehow, someway. They wanted an adventure to wash away the bitter bile taste of Spirits Within. And that may just very well be this movie. From a thirty-minute teaser demo, FFVII Advent Children will supposedly be 100 minutes long when it's finished- a full length feature, bringing to life a world, storyline and characters once seen only as a PS videogame with teeny-tiny cute sprites and simple first-gen CG cinematics. HELL YEAH.


Sephiroth-wannabees are on the rampage.


Yuffie shows off her ninja skills.


Remember the Turks? They're back too. Where's Elena though?

They say it's coming in September, but we can only cross our fingers and hope. I for one have been waiting for this since the mid-nineties, after finishing the game the first time. I want this movie. I NEED this movie.

We've still got a ways to go, but darn... this early I think the wait's gonna be worth it.

This means WAR

The upcoming cataclysmic War of the Worlds remake by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise has me interested. After three teasers, the trailer has hit online but still they insist on keeping the aliens... the movie's draw... teasingly hidden mostly from view. What we do see are scenes of mass carnage, fear (mostly on the face of the talented child actress Dakota Fanning) and destruction on a massive scale (though apparently mostly in middle America). There are some scenes with military forces engaging in battle, and some peeks at some large, tentacled thing.

Overall, it reminds me of Signs, the M. Night Shaymalan thriller with Mel Gibson... focus on a father trying to protect his family amidst an alien invasion. Well, Spielberg has proven he can get great performances out of kids, and in staging huge scenes with great numbers of people. This should be a spectacle to see. The War begins on June 29 in the US.

The Gaming Channel

The circle is complete! Not only does USA Solar/Jack TV (Channel 17 for Sky Cable) carry the gaming and tech shows Cheat! and Filter, my old favorite and long-lost gaming staple X-Play is also on offer! Yeah, gamers can now once again enjoy the often humorous reviews of various videogames from hosts Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb. Thankfully, while these shows are normally shown on weekdays in the afternoon, apparently the week's episodes are replayed on weekends. Filling up the Saturday afternoon are Cheat and Filter, while X-Play and the sports title-centric Sweat are replayed on Sundays (4-5pm).
It seems that Jack TV really is stocking up on the G4 TV shows. T&A, raunchy cartoons, comedy skits, mature language, wrestling and now... gaming. Darn, Jack TV is my favorite channel! The only thing missing is a fast food review show. Hoho!

K.I.A. : Killer Interview Accessible


Kai speaks her mind.

Writers Pepe Diokno and James Gabrillo risk life and limb to interview the Unkillable Agent K! See the whole article in tomorrow's (May 28) Saturday edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, in the trendy Super! section.

But if you can't be bothered to rush to the newsstand to get a paper, you can just click this link for the whole story. Fun stuff!

As again, K.I.A. - Kai: Indomitable Assassin is available at all Comic Quest branches for only Php195. That's 160 pages of sexy action from some of the best names in local comics. Get your copy now!

Movie Meme

Passed to me by Vin.

Total number of films I own on DVD/Video:

About a shelf-full of dvds, mixing both bootlegs and some choice, prized originals such as the entire Lord of the Rings Extended DVD Sets. A cabinet more of crappy VCDs and a couple of boxes worth of VHS anime (a holdout from the early 90s).

The Last Film I Bought:

VCDs of Raiders of the Lost Ark (a steal for P75!) and Doll Master (SUCKS).

Films that I watch or mean a LOT to me:

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
What can I say? The perfect adaptation of one of the best fantasy sagas of our time. I've always said in my youth, I've never seen a film that really captures the images that I myself see in my head when I imagine high fantasy. That was before I saw Peter Jackson's interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien's visions on the screen. Magnificent.

Raiders of the Lost Ark
The perfect action-adventure film. Nuff said.

Battle Royale
This film just blew me away the first time I saw it. Still does today. I love this for the courage, the starkness and the sheer Japanese-y balls that made it happen. Which is probably why I can't bring myself to watch the watered-down sequel.

Kung Fu Hustle
Stephen Chow's martial arts opus is just a riot. Dancing gangsters? Death by Harp? Hidden warriors? Martial arts magic up the wazoo? Sold. The film that proved that not all Asian kung fu epics have to be serious Wuxia dramas.

The Fifth Element
A live action anime if I ever saw one. Good-natured adventure and fun with incredible visuals, a cool story and Milla Jovovich in nothing but bandages. Yum.

Twister
Guilty pleasure fun. Mindless action with lots of gravy (literally, too). Just turn off brain. Watch.

Ninja Scroll
THE anime movie to watch in the 90s stilll holds up excellently today. Incredible action and animation that should convert anyone who thinks that cartoons are just for kids. Bloody incredible and still unequalled in many ways today even by the latest anime features.

Sneakers
Lovely, funny and cool caper movie and one of my old faves back in my college days. Really cool music too.

Dungeons and Dragons
I keep a copy to remind me how NOT to do a fantasy film. Watching LOTR afterwards is even more pleasurable.

The Princess Bride
Understated classic. Perfect casting, nice laughs, great dialogue and action, and perhaps one of the coolest lines in film. "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Silence of the Lambs
The first film that introduced us to Hannibal Lecter is still the best despite a couple of sequel/prequels. Fascinating, scary and gripping from beginning to end. The perfect thriller.

Who would I pass this to? Well, most of them have already answered this meme. Anyway, I guess I could pass it to Jeremy and Budjette. Ah, movies. What's next after Episode 3? Well, Sin City and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, both out this June.

Little Pleasures


Got it.

Yesterday, right on the dot I left the office at quitting time and hied off to Park Square to get my own O2 XDA II Mini pocket pc phone. I went in a rush, not wanting to stay for long with a wad of cash in my pockets. When I finally unloaded and got my new mobile, it was a mix of relief and tech-glee. It's been a bit of a trick to decide how, where and when to get my new toy- the device is HOT right now, so it's pretty pricey at just beneath 39K. But then, chances are I would be staying with this device for the long run (Yes, Damn it) so I sprang for a brand-new model with warranty and all the trimmings. You can't really take chances with something like this- a used one may save me a couple of thousand pisetas, but if it has a messy OS or some unknown glitch or defect, I have little defense.

Anyway, got it and rushed off home. Spent the night with the Mini plugged in for the initial 8-hour battery charge. Along the way I started customizing it, loading some themes and wallpapers, loading several games and my fave app Pocket TV. I'll add more as I weigh the capacity of the somewhat lesser RAM and ROM (half that of the XDA II).

What can I say? It's GORGEOUS. The thing is also freaking tiny. How tiny? See for yourself...


Comparing the XDA II with the Mini and a Nokia 7610.

The Mini isn't light as a feather- it's substantially weighty, but not overly so. The size is amazing, and it just fits so well in the hand (granted I have a big hand). The 2.8" screen is lovely- just perfect for looking at photos or watching vids. And wallpapers as well, so it was a treat to just select what wallpaper I would use for the moment.

In terms of features and apps, the Mini seems to accept most of the programs I used for the XDA II... though a message would pop up warning of possible incompatibility. The interface and general handling is almost the same- though I have to get used to a plethora of little tweaks and some new elements, such as a more complex playlist system for the embedded Windows Media 10 Player, and the ability to switch to landscape mode at the touch of a button (great for looking at text and webpages, I hear).

One gripe I guess is the Megapixel camera- which, in low lighting, suddenly breaks out with irritating snow. It's not as much of a problem in well-lit places or outdoors, but in The Sanctum, with just the ceiling light, things were flaked with white dots. Not nice, but a little tweak of the camera settings is supposed to remedy this problem a bit. Otherwise though, the camera is nice and a step up from the VGA cam of the XDA II.
Oh well. It's actually not that much of a thrill as it is a pleasurable reunion since I'm pretty familiar with most of the features and interface. Still, it's great to be able to have my mobile multimedia back. Next step is to get a decent belt holster with loop and a charge-sync cable. Things are just peachy. Hoho!

I am an Aga Muhlach-soundalike.


"Chickenjoy..."

I've had a third person tell me this. Only talked to this person twice, and she commented it a while ago. The first person who told me this is one of my officemates who once worked with the actor on a shoot, and met him in person.

I guess I probably DO sound like Mr. Muhlach.

Maybe I can charge for fees as a radio or voice talent stand-in for him? Maybe someday I'll end up with a girl who sounds just like Charlene. Hoho!

Distraction



While I'm waiting to get my next mobile, it's natural that I could be vulnerable to some... detours. Just the other day I found myself ogling and enamoured in the O2 Xphone II. While I've been through a lot of 'smart' phones using the Symbian platform, I was actually quite surprised by the concept of a Windows-based smartphone. These are phones that have PDA/PIM functions, but lack the touchscreen and basic apps of true Pocket PCs. I actually found myself considering getting an Xphone II.
I went to a local forum/website and the Filipino smartphoners are going all wild over the Xphone II, which is apparently coming into the country very shortly. Their enthusiasm for the device was contagious, and I found myself lusting for the device.
The PROs are: It is very small and handy and is a real phone device, with a numeric keypad to make texting easy. The Windows OS gives me apps that I like, including games and a version of Pocket TV. The battery life is very good, at about three days of normal use (supposedly). And darn, the phone looks slick. All that for about 20K, almost half what I would spend for an XDA2 Mini.

But then, I finally realized stuff. There are the CONs. Big glaring CONS. No touchscreen. Far smaller screen (176 x 220) means tiny videos which I haven't suffered through since owning a 7610. No Pocket Word or Notes to easily scribble down stuff. Requires third-party apps to be able to send or receive files though Bluetooth. Worse of all, the Xphone II only uses mini-SD cards for memory expansion, limiting extra storage space to just 512 MB. I need my Gig of space!!!

I realized that the Xphone II was just a shortcut... a stopgap... an inferior substitute for what I really wanted.

And so, no deal. I was distracted for a bit, but no. It's the Mini or nothing.

Well, in the end it was just a little wavering in the faith. It was a harmless distraction, and looking on the bright side it was a good way to occupy my interest for a bit. I could not have gotten the Xphone II now even if I wanted to, since the phone hasn't arrived here yet. So, it's back to lusting and pining for my lovely, future O2 XDA2 Mini.

I'll be having my new toy soon enough. Stay tuned. Heh.

Because Vinnie Asked...

... I will cite that one scene both of us liked in Episode III was the scene where Mace Windu (Samuel Jackson) meets his fate. I never really liked Windu in the previous prequels- he was just too distant, always just standing back and rubbing his chin. It took that appearance in the Clone Wars cartoons (where he basically beats up an entire droid army by himself) to make me kinda like him. His part in ROTS made me like him even more- not only because he was able to kick Palpatine's butt, but he was actually the turning point of the entire conflict. If ONLY Anakin stayed true to him- earned his trust and obeyed that simple order to stay put- the Sith Lord would be dead and the galaxy saved. Maybe.

Anyway, I'd like to think that maybe Master Windu survived his getting blasted by evil electricity and thrown off into the wild blue yonder. Yep... crippled but alive, he slinks off to retire in exile, and have a son... named Lando (who changes his last name to Calrissian since Lando Windu just sounds wrong). Heh.

Strike Three


Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) cackles his way to power in Revenge of the Sith.

I really wanted this, the final Star Wars prequel, to be great. No, not even great. I just wanted it to be at least good. I mean, I’ve always maintained that the first two Episodes were misses that left the SW fan in me wanting. Surely, the finale, the crescendo, the climax of this saga of tragic destiny would at the very least be the best of this controversial trilogy. Was it?

SPOILERS AHEAD

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith has young Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) being seduced into the Dark Side of the Force by the now-revealed Sith Lord, Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). Amidst the final moments of the Sith-orchestrated and manipulated Clone Wars, the Master of the Dark Side turns Anakin into his new apprentice and instrument to eradicate the Jedi Order and take control of the galaxy.
We all know the story; In his quest to save his secret wife Padme (Natalie Portman) from a premonition of death, Anakin turns to the one sympathetic ear and voice- that of Palpatine, who promises that the Dark Side holds the secret of Immortality. Once he has his new apprentice, the new Emperor enacts Order 66, a silent command ingrained in every clone trooper’s programming. Throughout the galaxy, Jedi are slaughtered by the very troops they’ve led all these years in the war. Obi Wan and Yoda, seemingly the only survivors, make one last try to stop the Sith from totally sweeping the board clean.

Of course, we all know that they inevitably fail, evil triumphs and everything goes to sith, er shit, in the end. Though there is of course hope in the form of twin infants, born to eventually become the retro-heroes of the retro future Star Wars movies.

Despite knowing all this, most of us probably still go into the theater expecting a great time, with tons of eye candy CG battles to go ga-ga over, drama to make us gasp and tragedy to make us want to stick in those original Star Wars trilogy dvds into the player to continue the saga and have a happy ever after.

Alas, I have to sadly say that watching Episode III was not all that.

What could have been the best of the three prequel chapters is marred by even more of the trilogy’s painful dialogue, a dragging middle and yet again, inadequate acting on the part of the lead and a plethora of unintentionally-funny moments. I’ve never seen a movie with so many horrible, irritating sound effects and bad selection of voices in all my life. Sure, Star Wars has always had the weird alien accents and funny droid voices- but here, it’s all horribly overdone to the point of fingers-on-blackboard excruciation.
The bad streak continues throughout the film, with wooden lines and clichéd dialogue spouting from almost everyone’s mouth from beginning to end. In fact, the dialogue was so bad that four of our group of six left the theater without finishing the movie!
Anyway… Vin and I were the only ones brave enough to sit through to the end, since we’re both suckers for eye candy. We had to bear through the silliness. Sigh.

Most painful spots…

Grievous showing off his four lightsabres then getting easily disarmed after a few seconds. Why is real-life Grievous nowhere near as KICK-ASS as his cartoon incarnation?

The whole drawn-out landing scene after Dooku (Christopher Lee) gets his should have just been cut entirely from the film.

Palpatine showing his true, grotesque prune face and thereafter going through what seems to be an endless amount of belching, groaning, wheezing and voice changing. Well, he overacted in Return of the Jedi…. He’s just being consistent…

Yoda using the force to throw Palpatine backward- the Sith Lord falls over his table, legs flailing so awkwardly it seemed like a scene from some amateur fan film.

Every scene between Anakin and Padme with dialogue.

Vader going “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” as the camera zooms out…

Lots more.

Were there good scenes? Well, the Jedi massacre was kinda neat, and it sort of reminded me of massacre scenes from The Godfather.

The juxtaposition of Vader’s reconstruction and the birth of the twins was a good touch.

Anakin going extra-crispy!

So… How do I find Episode III compared to the first two prequels? Phantom Menace still reeks as the absolute worst. Revenge of the Sith ends up only being slightly better than Episode II. And of course, the Clone Wars cartoons kick the asses of ALL these prequel films. Seriously.

Of course, there is still a lot of CG-enhanced action that's worth seeing- lots of cool space battles and pitched fights between Separatist Droids and Clone troops; The final Grievous-Obi Wan fight was pretty cool, and the dual-finale duels between The Emperor and Yoda/Anakin and Obi Wan were the highlights of the film. Palpatine makes a creepily cool and menacing fighter, which makes me kinda sad that he didn't take up a lightsabre in Return of the Jedi.

Of the performers, Ewan McGregor rises head and shoulders above pretty much everyone… at least I do see Alec Guiness in his performance, and that’s good. Ian McDiarmid is cackly and evil and over-the-top evil... which is fine. Christopher Lee and Jimmy Smits make the most out of their relatively tiny appearances in the film. Again, the point of controversy will be without a doubt Hayden Christensen, on whose performance much of the film's validity will revolve. For me, he probably gives it his all, but he just comes out as a mumbly frustrated brat. If that's what Lucas wanted, well, good for him.

Of course, SW geeks can freak out at the loads of in-jokes and little details... yeah, Chewbacca is in there, as is a young Grand Moff Tarkin and the Blockade Runner from the original Star Wars… these little touches are not enough to save this clunky, heavy-handed finale however. Darn, it could have been so much better. Oh well.

What an end to such a beloved franchise. On the one positive note, watching it DID make me want to break out the original trilogy films.

OH! And I was able to touch and handle an O2 XDA II Mini at the funky-smelling Globe Hub at The Podium. That was nice.

Gah.

Salty Smiles

Despite this whole week passing by as a blur of overtime, mixed-up responsibilities and converging deadlines in the ol' Salt Mines, I feel pretty glad that I am where I am. For me, a workplace is good if during any breaks or lulls in active creative output or elbow grease, you spend the time laughing your head off.

I remember my second and third jobs were great places and companies to work with, both learning experiences and almost a second home.
My first real taste of being an actual advertising creative person started in the now-defunct Cid/Henares and Associates, Inc., a small boutique-type ad agency. There were only about a dozen of us in the entire agency- the two bosses (Vilma Santos-lookalike Mildred Cid and sassy Rosanna Henares), four creative people (including me), a couple of account people, a couple of accountants, a media person (a one-man media department named Jojo) and a messenger/runner. It was hard work since we all had multiple responsibilities (I was both main copywriter and storyboard artist), including occasionally bringing our ad materials to production houses and printers AND cleaning up after ourselves after meals and keeping the office clean. At the time, I called it Jedi Training.
Anyway, often the day would consist of us four creatives spending the day on our workstations, our backs to each other. It would be maddening if not for the fact that all of us were pretty crazy individuals and jokes, barbs, stories, anecdotes and pranks (usually against one guy in particular) being thrown in rapid succession. Yeah, we still got work done and had fun doing it. And in the afternoons, we'd go out to the nearby sari-sari store and have fishballs and kwek-kwek (quail eggs deep-fried in batter) for merienda. That was the life.

Well, after a couple of years we all grew out of the small agency. We went our separate ways and I found myself in my third job and perhaps my best work experience ever. It was at Ogilvy and Mather that I got to work in one of the most fun, colorful and stimulating creative departments in Manila. I met the ad guru himself, David Guerrero, and worked under him with pleasure for almost three years. Alongside I had the good fortune to be with hip and wonderful people like Cynthia Bauzon, Edsel Tolentino and a whole gang of other cool dudes and dudettes. It was so fun, in the evenings people would just stay and sit in the corridors to talk about the past day, to share insights, to comment and applaud good ads and just chill. Sometimes it was hard work, but it was a great learning experience and I can say that what I got there I still use to this day.

Since then, I've been to several more agencies... a return engagement with David G. in his new (then) agency BBDO Guerrero-Ortega, a second tour of duty with Ogilvy and some short tenures at some other agencies.

And now, I'm in my present company. In my early thirties, an Associate Creative Director and all-around smart alec.

It's kinda like a mix of my first two great workplaces- a multinational agency yet having a small and close-knit creative department. The people are cool and we get along great. In the afternoons, we might not be able to go out and get fishballs, but instead we take a walk to the building's 7-11 to have merienda. Last night, while doing overtime we ate KFc and just enjoyed a long chat about B-movies and all that jazz. Funny stuff.

It's been a long week. I'm glad it's over. But I can honestly say, I am quite okay with getting back to work next week. And that, I have to say, is a mark that I love where I work. Yeah, I'm a lucky bastard when it comes to workplaces. But then, I'm nearsighted and I don't have movie-star good locks so that balances out.

Still, I'm gonna damn well squeeze every bit of R&R I can get from this weekend. Damn straight. Heh.

Extended Work Week

It's... almost... Saturday...

The weekend's practically here and I'm still at the office. No Friday night out. No bloodletting at the Blood Bank. No ogling XDA Minis at the mall since Tuesday. GAH! Well, we had to finish stuff that's crazily due first thing Monday, so what can you do? Anyway, I'll be heading off home soon (I hope) and I think the rest of the weekend is mine. Got lots of things to catch up on, to do and to plan. Next week should be less hectic, yet much more rewarding (a Mini reward... Heh). Well, crossing fingers. Expect a review of Episode III soon as the gang goes into Star Wars mode. That is, if I get myself out of the bed in time. Heh.

Pit Stop

Whew! After several days straight of overtime and working the grey matter to the bone, the payoff came in the form of a good presentation with receptive clients (and a nice lunch afterwards at The Good Earth at The Fort). We won't know immediately if we won the account, but hopefully our efforts will come with even more rewards soon.
Anyway, for me, just getting it all out is a big relief. I just want to take a break already and finish this hectic period. First on my agenda- proper sleep. Then my first watch of Episode III, of which I've received one text message from someone expressing disappointment, and another saying it rocks. Well, I'll just have to see for myself.

Yay! Weekend! Yay!

Extra-sucky

It's been a long time since my last food post, so here goes.

A couple of night ago, I left the office at about 10 PM. I still haven't had dinner and I was craving a meal at KFC. I remembered that there was a newly-opened outlet just across the street from the building, so I made a beeline for it after getting off.

I made my order. A two-piece meal with rolls, chocolate mousse dessert and a sandwich.

I was damn hungry, and you have to understand that people are at their most impatient when they're hungry.

When I looked at my meal, I was pretty pissed that both pieces of chicken I got were wings. Now, I love wings- they're delicious, but you don't get your money's worth from two wings. I stared at the little gravy dish and it had cold gravy that didn't even fill half the little dish.

Then my sandwich was delayed for an unreasonable amount of time.

So it was that I was really pissed and mouthing my dismay at the waiter, who just replied 'Sorry sir, di ko alam. Bago ako eh", and he just walked off. This was pretty much the same thing with the cashier/waittress who just stammered out a reply when I questioned about the pieces/delay with my sandwich.

Frickin' irritaing.

So they're all new. So it's a new branch. It's no excuse. You train your crew well or you will get flack for it.

It's just good for KFC that I damn love their chicken. But their service sucks, even in their more-established branches. If only their chicken wasn't so damn good, their gravy so tasty, their stuff so guilty pleasurably delicious.

Damn I'm hungry. I want a KFC. Damn it.

Revenge

As early as yesterday, some theaters in the Metro were already showing Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

I expect to watch the third and supposedly last Star Wars prequel at least twice this weekend, once with the Comic Quest gang, and another with the college buds. I hope I finish the load for work so as to clear my schedules for a worry-free watch during the breather.
Anyway, word on the latest Episode has been good. I expect to have a good watch, despite the third film being about the fall of the Jedi and the 'bad guys' winning the day. I really can't shed too many tears for the Jedi, who really didn't impress on me that they were great forces of good in the two lackluster SW prequels. All I saw was a bunch of extras and wannabees in robes, twirling lightsabres. With the exception of Obi wan and Yoda (and I guess Qui-Gon), I really don't care much for the Jedi. Their order is stiff, distrustful, arrogant and a bit wussy... I'm not sorry to see them go. Which may be a point of why Anakin Skywalker was to bring 'balance' to the Force. Whatever.

I think it would be safe to say though that the Star Wars universe will continue in some form in the theaters, be it a continuation of the New Hope characters' stories or perhaps an all-new cast altogether. This is a goldmine of a franchise, despite the fool's gold of a couple of movies. And we, of course, will always be drawn to it like moths to a flame. Ouch.

Review of ROTS to be posted as soon as I get a watch. Heh.

E3 Wrap-up

Just a bit more gaming bits as E3 finishes for this year.

Will we be seeing Final Fantasy VII remade for the next Playstation? The lovely new CG tech demo for FFVII, shown at E3, gave hints that we just may be seeing the classic PSOne game remade for Sony's next-gen system, but with totally redone graphics and movies. This makes sense to bring what probably is the BEST Final Fantasy to the young gamers who probably can't figure out why a generation of players were so affected by the original game.

DOAX2 is in the works. Yep, a sequel to the crazy DOA sports-spinoff, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball is in the works. DOA creator Tomonobu Itagaki revealed in an interview that the sequel is actually complete enough to run on a regular Xbox, but will continue to be developed for release on the Xbox360. What can we expect? More volleyball, more customization and sexy swimsuits and accessories to collect, and perhaps even a new sport for the fighting babes of DOA to take on. And better breast physics. Expect this to come in well after the launch of Xbox360, perhaps in mid-2006.

As for the main Dead or Alive 4 game that's coming with the launch of Xbox360, some more new info on the new characters. The girl with long, dark hair is Kokoro, and she uses the Hakkyoku-Ken style of martial arts- the same style used by Akira Yuki in the Virtua Fighter series. The blonde-haired youth is Elliot, and his Keii Ken style emphasizes strong single hits and palm strikes. As for the 'mystery wrestler' shown fighting Bass in the trailer, Itagaki hasn't revealed who she is yet, though we're fairly certain this is Lisa from DOAX. She apparently uses a mix of pro-wrestling moves and capoeria kickfighting. DOA4 is being touted as one of Xbox360's launch titles in late 2005.

Metal Gear 4 is coming to PS3, and despite some earlier news stating the contrary, original game creator Hideo Kojima will be returning in the director's chair. Also, Solid Snake will be the main character (though expect pretty-boy Raiden to appear in some form). No word yet on the story, but there will be a reunion of sorts of returning characters such as Revolver Ocelot, Meryl and Otacon. Expect this to sneak into stores with PS3s in 2006.

A Tekken movie is in the works with Sony signing on to distribute the film in the US. Based on the Namco videogame series, the film will revolve around two friends who join a martial arts tournament and eventually discover the secrets within the Tekken Corporation.
According to screenwriter Mike Werb, "The idea here is to make a realistic movie out of an unrealistic stencil… What we hope to do with Tekken is to entertain both those who have played the game, and those that haven't – there's got to be more than effects and skirmishes on screen to hold an audience."
Sounds like yet another Streetfighter debacle in the works for me- giving this game to another non-believer who's going to over-rationalize everything and ruin the franchise. Just give the damn thing to Stephen Chow so it'll be great and true to it's martial arts fantasy roots.

Gotta keep saving those quarters. Lots of gaming goodness coming next year. Woohoo!

Hellish

Darn, things are crazy in The Salt Mines these days.

I'm thinking of several big things at the same time, along with several little things nibbling at my sides.

Better focus or I won't be able to think of anything.

Gotta get things done.

The weekend's reserved for good stuff. Watching ROTS with the gang(s), one week closer to my O2 XDA II Mini, and much-needed rest for the wicked.

Just have to get through the next couple of days, dammit.

The Future of Gaming


Dead or Alive 4 on the Xbox360.

My gosh.

Go online with a good broadband connection and just suck in all the E3 goodness. There's so much next-gen gaming eye candy and mind-bliss floating around, gamers' heads will be spinning afterwards... I know mine is. This early, start saving up those quarters. Start racking up those rackets and earmark those bonuses. Any hardcore gamer will NEED to have an Xbox 360 and a PS3 by 2005's end.

Some of the sights and teasers shown online...

A peek at Tekken 6 (yes, 6) which is basically just a look at a VERY lifelike Jin Kazama flexing and doing some wicked moves. The tagline 'A New Reality' hints at visuals and action a level above what we've yet seen.

As I've mentioned earlier, Dead or Alive 4 has been announced. Just saw the TRAILER, and it's full of sexy gaming goodness. The veteran fighters are back alongside new faces and bodies, including dusky-skinned Lisa whose mysterious fighting art is apparently luchadore wrestling. The stages in DOA4 look positively AWESOME, and include obstacles and elements where fighters can get slammed into and knocked over. In one stage, fighters can be thrown onto a raging freeway with cars speeding to and fro, threatening to clobber characters unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The animation seems fuller, with new moves and tactics (guard breaks). This will sell a LOT of Xbox360s, mark my words.

A new Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children trailer was shown, showing off more footage that will have fans of the classic FF foaming at the mouth to have a copy of this upcoming CG movie. Lots of new scenes including more action with Tifa and the rest of the FFVII cast (even some Turks action) and a certain one-winged angel showing his silver-haired presence...

Still on FFVII, a tech demo of the classic game was shown, recreating the opening cinema of the PSOne original, except with PS3 graphics. All I can say is... MY GOSH.

It's never been this good to be a gamer ever. Heh.

Dead or Alive 4, Part Deux

The E3 Entertainment Expo is starting off with Sony officially announced the PS3 as their next-gen console, to take on the recently-revealed Xbox 360.

Dead or Alive 4 has finally been announced officially by Tecmo of Japan for a late holiday 2005 release on Microsoft's Next-Gen console. The game will feature even more of the gaming goodness first seen in Dead or Alive Ultimate, including more options for online gaming, the return of DOA3 characters Christie and Brad Wong, the debut of new fighters and- get this- tons more skimpy outfits for the sexy DOA babes. Also, the latest installment of the popular fighting game series will push forward the individual stories of the characters through incredible CG cinematics.

But of even more substance is the announcement that the DOA fighting system will be overhauled for DOA4, incorporating the most complex and in-depth countering system ever for the series. Despite this, Tecmo assures that the series will retain the fun, easy-to-pick-up-and-play style of gameplay for accessibility for all skill levels of gamers.

Sounds awesome. More DOA4 info will be revealed as the E3 Expo gets underway later this week.

Powerless



Okay, don't get me wrong.

I'm really glad that Dean let me borrow his old Nokia 3100 to use while I'm waiting to get my next super phone. And really, it's a very nice little phone and the ease of use, battery life and cute form factor is just testament to the best of Nokia's designs. But darn...

No camera.

No videos or music.

No games except Snake.

No themes or wallpapers (that I actually want to look at).

No touchscreen to fiddle with.

No synching with the PC.

No notes or sketching with the stylus.

No pocket apps.

No POWER.

This is probably how Sauron felt, right after Isildur cut the One Ring from his fingers. Reduced to a shadow of his former self, a mere phantom. A festering eye that can do naught but stare and look about in longing.

Heh. I'm exaggerating of course. Really.

Well, for now all I can do is muster in my tower, have my orcs multiply and prepare for the day when absolute power is in my hands again. Soon. SOON.

Cooling Off

As if in answer to the heat, my college buds came around in the afternoon and we went off to enjoy the free climate controlled temp of the mall. We headed off to Greenhills and walked around, eyeing this and that. In particular I bought some anime- the first couple of episodes of some of GONZO's latest- the supernatural ninja action series Basilik and the sci-fi vampire-fighting title Trinity Blood. Also got myself pretty much the whole Tenjo Tenge anime, from the TV series to the OAV follow up. On the gaming side, I got a couple of new titles- Jade Empire is a martial arts-based action rpg from the creators of KOTOR, while Brothers in Arms is a World War II simulation that puts you in command of a squad of US soldiers out to take back Europe from the Nazis one street at a time.

Lots of stuff to watch and play with... when I get time to enjoy them, though. The night should end with pizza and soda (no chicharon though), winding down with some TV and perhaps getting started on an article I have to write for work. Oh well.

GOD DAMN IT'S FRICKING HOT.

I don't wanna turn on the airconditioning to conserve a bit of electricity. Also worried that the cooler might just give up from the heat. The laptop's giving off so much warmth, I feel like I'm typing on a toaster. Sweating like a glass of cold water, without the cold. I watch a crappy San Miguel commercial featuring Kris Aquino. What the heck was that spot supposed to be about? My gosh. Maybe I should just get out and watch a movie. Or just go and enjoy the climate control in some mall. Or go window-shopping and ogling my future O2 Mini. Mmmm. Well, whatever. I want a shower, damn it.

Downgrade

Today, I sold off my lovely O2 XDA II. This is in preparation for my upgrade to the O2 XDA II Mini, but I won't be able to get my next Pocket PC phone for a bit- perhaps a week or two- so in the meantime I will be using a simpler Nokia 3100 to keep in touch with the world.

I dare say it will be a bit of a jar for me to suddenly be back in the world of one-handed texting with a solid, real numerical keypad and looking at a tiny, non-touch sensitive screen. But then, I'll be back into the hi-tech world of portable computing and multimedia soon enough.
Anyway, the day for me was genuinely pleasurable, since I bequeathed my former PPC phone to my good friend Dean, whom I dare say deserves to have a nice toy to play with in between his hard work as the GM of his own company. It was really cool to show someone the wonders of a field or a world that you have come to enjoy yourself. With the XDA II, he can do stuff that he previously could only do with his laptop or a variety of devices. Now, with the phone he can do guerrilla writing, note-taking, taking snapshots and vids, doodling, playing games, surf the web, read documents, watching whole episodes of favorite shows... Darn, technology is so amazing these days, and that I was able to give someone the same pleasure just makes my day.

In the meantime, I'll be keeping myself occupied as well. Encoding videos, making new wallpapers and looking for more stuff and goodies for my upcoming new phone. In between staring at the O2 XDA II Mini review in the latest issue of T3, that is. Heh. The days should pass fairly quickly. Really.

Everything comes to he who waits. Soon.


Soon...

Super-Deformed MADman

Elbert has been on a roll recently, doing SD portraits of the gang for his blog. Well, it was inevitable that after he finished with the baldies (Dean, Vin and Andrew), he'd go after the rest of us.

What do I look like in SD? Check out El's rendition here!

Doing a 360

Microsoft has just officially revealed their next generation system- The Xbox 360. This super-system look slick, and will feature lots of customizeable options (which are really just waffle to real gamers), wireless controllers and of course, the ability to create damn super graphics. Okay, that's pretty much simplifying it but come on- who can frickin' understand all em billions of pixels mapping gobbledygoo? Anyway, Dead or Alive 4 is pretty much for sure as a launch or first-gen title, so this is SOLD for me. Heh. Expect it to come in late 2005. If we're lucky, we'll be playing 360 games for Christmas.

Dead or Alive 4 Leaked

Updated

I posted some supposed pics of Dead or Alive 4 here recently, but apparently, according to Tecmo these images are not official images of DOA4, and were not supposed to be released. Supporter of Tecmo and the DOA series that I am, I've taken the pics down since they are not indicative of the upcoming game.
What does this mean? Perhaps they were just works in progress- perhaps a DOA3.5 or some other stuff. The pics DID have a bit of a 'raw' quality to them- the kimono girl for example didn't seem quite right (her hair didn't jive with her face), and overall the quality didn't seem that different or advanced from DOA Ultimate. Anyway, according to DOA Neotaku, a very reliable Dead or Alive fansite, Tecmo will reveal the real images and information on the next huge installment of this sexy fighting game franchise during the E3 Entertainment Expo next week.

Which remains though the questions left from seeing the 'leaked' pics. Will the new characters seen in the bootleg pics appear in the final game? Was Lisa the luchadore masked girl? Was the blonde kung fu kid related to Helena? Questions, questions. Without a doubt, DOA fans can't wait for next week.

Aaaanyway... If you still want to see the leaked pics of DOA4, check here.

Happy Ending

I watched the two-hour season finale of The Amazing Race. The three remaining teams were dashing for the finish and... SPOILER WARNING...

The big winners were the husband-wife team of Uchenna and Joyce! It's been a great show to watch and I have to say, I've honestly been hoping that these two would win. When they finally made it to the finish line I stood up and clapped. They're just such decent, kind and friendly people, and the stuff that they went through (Joyce getting her head shaved) just HAD to have some kind of return.

I have to admit that I started off as a Rob and Amber fan, though I kinda lost my favor to them with that incident in Africa with the brothers' car taking a tumble (would it really have hurt to even slow down a bit?). Anyway, the Survivor couple already have a million in the bank, plus a gazillion prizes won over the course of the season.

Great show. I wonder how the next Amazing Race will be?

Advent Children

The long-awaited, much-delayed Final Fantasy VII Advent Children CG movie has been given a date in Japan. The DVD video will be released on September 14, 2005. Apparently, the movie's 95 percent finished. No date yet for the UMD release or when this long-awaited sequel to the beloved PSOne RPG will hit the US.

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children continues where the events in the RPG game left off. Main hero Cloud Stryfe, now working as a courier, must somehow rise from his depression and take up the sword once again when dangerous new enemies appear in the midst of a deadly plague striking the people of Midgard. Darn... I've been waiting for this forever.

Rain Man

Last night there was a freak rainstorm. Leading up to it was a pretty spectacular light show in the heavens- sheet lightning flashed every minute, as if God was taking pictures of the shrivelled Philippines before he gave it relief. I could smell the rain in the air but thankfully, it waited for me to get home and rest a bit before the drops fell.

A slight drizzle gave way to am heavy torrent, and hearing it as I sat sweltering in The Sanctum, I just couldn't resist. I dashed out into the garden and just stood there in the rain. I stood, then sat, the large droplets feeling like jabs of ice against my back. I've always believed that rainwater has special properties that make it different from regular tap... my hair always seems softer when I rinse after a bath in the rain, and skin seems fresher. I know there's an old Filipino belief that says that rainwater is a great remedy against skin problems. Maybe it's because the water's been charged with electricity from the lightning. Or perhaps it's the minerals from far and wide carried into the rainclouds.

I certainly hope it's not just cat poo carried from the roof gutters, so I kept my distance away from the edge of the house. I remained there as the rain went on for a few minutes. Luckily, the folks were all in bed, and the walls of the compound (probably) kept prying eyes from seeing a half-naked weirdo having an outdoors shower. Well, who knows- maybe one of my pamangkins happened to peek out of the window and saw his odd uncle in the rain. Well, that's something to remember.

I thought how it would be great to have a 'rain bed' in the garden, so I could just lie there during drizzles and soak up. It was pretty soothing and relaxing, occasional lightning flash regardless.

Afterwards, I showered inside and towelled off. Gosh, I hope that last night's shower was a sign that the heat wave of summer is about to end. One can only take the heat for so long. Whew. I need a drink.

Agent Smith has a Vendetta

The upcoming V for Vendetta movie from The Wachowski Brothers and Joel Silver has gotten a new lead actor in the form of Hugo Weaving. He replaces former lead James Purefoy, who left the production for so far unknown reasons.
Wow. He's played a transvestite, an evil computer program and a noble elf, and has been part of two of the most famous film trilogies in movies today. Hugo Weaving should certainly be able to do great stuff in this comic-to-film translation. Can't wait to see it.

V for Vendetta is slated for a November 2005 release.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble... Fish?


There's no fish, er, peace on these streets...

I picked up The Rumble Fish for the PS2 over the weekend. It's a 2-D fighting game from Sammy, the same guys who did the popular Guilty Gear fighting game series. Rumble Fish has a unique look thanks to how the individual body parts of the characters are separately rendered and animated, giving the animation very fluid movements. Aside from the bright, well-animated fighters, the game boasts of a fighting system with quite a few elements such as guard breaks, super combos and desperation moves, air combos and advanced moves.
Which basically translates to lots of stuff you have to figure out if you want to beat this game. Button mashers and newbies may get through several of the CPU opponents, but most probably you'll meet a roadblock in the form of a fighter who will overwhelm you with combos and throws. ARGH! Anyway, I managed to reach the boss and got my ass totally kicked every time. BAH. Cheap supercombo no-lag high priority bastard. Almost as bad as SNK bosses. What's the story behind all the fighting? Who knows.

Anyway, the roster is kinda smalll- about nine regular guys and gals that range from your standard 'Ryu' hero character Zen, two girls dressed in traditional kimonos and hakamas (Kaya is the demure, mysterious one while red-haired Hikari is the more open and tomboyish), a big bruiser named Orville, an old man, a kid, a street punk, a bishonen and finally a busty nurse named Garnet rounds out the cast. The art for the game is very anime-esque and cool, which is one of the reasons why I picked this up. Still, it seems to be a pretty slick game, so I'll try to figure out the system and try to unlock the stuff that this game has to offer. Hope a US version is on the way though... whole lotta kanji...

Kingdom of Heaven


Bloom gets bloody in this Crusader epic.

Yesterday, me and my friend Pot made a pilgrimage to the shopping holy land of Greenhills to watch the new Ridley Scott chainmail epic, Kingdom of Heaven, starring Orlando Bloom. Through the sweltering heat we ranged through the tiangge stalls and various shops in preparation for the long watch. Then, as screening time approached we armed ourselves with popcorn tumblers and sodas and were off to medieval Jerusalem.

Kingdom of Heaven tells the tale of young blacksmith-turned crusader Bailen (Orlando Bloom playing yet ANOTHER blacksmith) who is eventually, through fate and machination, thrown into the role of Defender of Jerusalem from the Saracen hordes. The trailers of this movie promised massive battle scenes with literally hundreds of thousands of warriors clashing in deadly, brutal medieval combat. And it does deliver on that end- Ridley Scott certainly knows how to do these big clashes (certainly after his stuff with Gladiator). The many battle scenes, from an initial skirmish between some soldiers after Bailen and the retainers of Baron Godfrey of Ibelim (played by Liam Neeson, in yet another sword-wielding mentor role) to the final mammoth siege of Jerusalem are brought to terrifying life (and death) with powerful imagery that rivals the CG carnage from The Return of the King.

But despite having a capable cast with good showings from Jeremy Irons (as the scarred Tiberius, Marshall of Jerusalem), David Thewlis (as a wise Knight Hospitaler), Brendan Gleeson (playing the gleefully evil Templar Reynald de Chatillon), Martin Csoskas (overzealous baddie Guy de Lusignan), Edward Norton (who spends near the whole movie in a mask as the noble, leper-afflicted King Baldwin) and the lovely Eva Green(Princess Sybilla of Jerusalem), this would-be epic falters a bit. The film is leisurely, almost sluggish, in pace until near halfway the more than two-hour movie, and many people may find it a chore to watch.

But my biggest gripe would have to be with the hero Bailen himself- not necessarily Orlando Bloom, who for his credit gives his all to the role and goes through the film smoothly enough without ever picking up a bow and arrow.
No, I think it’s just how the script has this young blacksmith turning into a warrior of almost superhuman prowess after only just one swordfighting lesson (that was cut short, mind you, by an attack).
Yes, after just being taught by Liam Neeson to only use a high guard with the sword, Bailen afterwards shows great skill in geology and irrigation (turning an arid wasteland into a blooming oasis), horsemanship and tactics, siege warfare and ballistics and lovemaking as well! In just a few short weeks, he goes from being a fugitive and murderer to the savior of Jerusalem, thanks just to his brave heart, unfailing honor and purity and untiring sword arm. And he gets the girl too.

Believable? Well, perhaps along the way unseen and offscreen, Bailen mastered all these skills (in a few weeks). Or maybe he was a natural genius or prodigy. But well, maybe as the title implies, we should just give up trying to rationalize and just have faith.

In any case, the cast is good, the film gorgeous and deserving to be seen on the big, big screen, and the story working hard to convey a stalwart anti-war message of unity between all men, be they Christian or Moslem. All this in the chainmail-clad, blood encrusted guise of a medieval epic. That’s really not something you see every day. And something well worth gathering a party together and sallying forth to the theaters to.

Kingdom of Heaven is now showing in Metro Manila theaters.

10 Things About My Mom

1. Mom's the one who usually drives the car when my parents go to and from work. This is more because she's got more endurance than my Dad. A long time ago, during a horrible traffic jam/flood on the way home from an airport, mom was on the wheel for almost nine hours straight, without ever buckling. Lots of strong women in my family, including my Lola and yes, my Mom.

2. She's never wrong. It's funny often when she gets something off or I have to correct her, Mom always just gets by simply by laughing the matter of.

3. She has no sense of smell... which also impairs her sense of taste. This doesn't affect though how she can cook up THE most delicious spaghetti sauce you'll ever taste.

4. When she orders from McDonald's, she orders a plain hamburger. No catsup, no mayonnaise, no cheese. Just. Plain. Hamburger.

5. She's got a green thumb. During the Bonsai Revolution in the eighties and nineties, she was known as The Kalyos Queen, since she could make bonsai out of the infamously hard-to-take-care-of breed of tree. She once had a Kalyos bonsai tree which I heard some rich guy wanted to trade for a Pajero. We've had to give away family dogs since they persisted in digging up her prize plants.

6. Mom loves her castle. From a small single main house on a large lot, our home has turned into a three-house complex/compound that is continually improving thanks to Mom's expertise in handling workers and construction budgets. Someday I'll build my own house on the lot. With Mom's help, I guess.

7. Mom's the life of the party among her amigas. Maybe because she's such a lively, fun person. I've never seen her with her friends, but I can tell they're as wild as we are in their own way.

8. Mom's the techie one. She appreciates cell phones more. Someday, I'll buy her a really neat Nokia with a cool camera and other bells and whistles. Let's see this Christmas.

9. She's got two names. On her birth certificate, she has her real name. But she was baptized with another name. Eh?

10. Someday, she wants to go tour the Holy Land of Jerusalem.

She's got her quirks no question, but I wouldn't have her any other way. Happy Mother's Day!

Traces of Sin

Hooray! I finally saw a large poster of Sin City at the Megamall cinemas. It says "Coming Soon", so at least while we Pinoys had to wait several weeks, we can look forward to some monochromatic sex and violence, graphic novel style, in the near future. Yay!

Solar Power

Solar USA is fast becoming my favorite channel these days. Not only has it returned the crass class of the WWE to my life, the recent additions of its new Jack TV block have given reality gag shows aplenty, raunchy and action-packed cartoons and finally... FINALLY... some tech and videogame programs. Today, I caught Cheat and Filter in the afternoon, both shows apparently from G4 TechTV (which presently has my lost favorite Extended Play/X-Play in it's lineup. And while I still miss Morgan Webb and Adam Sessler, the new shows show off quite a lot of game footage, strategies AND techie goodies up the wazoo. This is a GREAT leap over having to watch the same THREE episodes of Evolver over and over and over again. I just hope that these showings are the start of a regular program instead of just flukes.

Aside from Solar, my other fave channels these days are ETC, though not for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy or those raunchy dating shows. Nope, ETC gives me my daily fix of Hollywood, through The Late Show and Conan O' Brien, and with Entertainment Tonight (though it's so tabloid-y... is that a word?).
Then there are my eternal staples: AXN, Discovery Channel and Animax (despite the latter having some ho-hum series lately).

With so much to watch, it's no wonder that I haven't been to any DVD stalls lately. Or to the anime shop. But then, that should change. I gotta keep my otaku and criminal sides healthy too, to keep myself well-rounded. Heheh.

Incontinent Jones

There's a fourth Indiana Jones film coming, according to various websites, including IGN and Ain't It Cool. At the very least, a script has been finalized and director Steven Spielberg has committed to filming it next year. Perhaps even George Lucas himself will take a hand in it seeing as how Star Wars is over and done.

Which leads me to thinking about what this extension of the classic pulp-action adventure series will be about? For one thing, Indy cannot be played by any other actor other than Harrison Ford. It just simply won't be Indy without him. Well, the former space scoundrel and whip-cracking hero is now a bit on the senior side, playing older characters in films like Six Days, Seven Nights and a very mature Jack Ryan in the earlier Tom Clancy adaptation films. Heck, he even played the US President in Air Force One. So how's an older Indy going to figure in the next one?

Will Indy 4 have a retired, aging Indy get called back out into action? Will he be married (hopefully to his first and best flame, Marion Ravenwood played by Nancy Allen) and have any kids? Perhaps the movie will involve a son or daughter also into archaeology- a great way to reverse the storyline from Last Crusade.

Will he still be fighting Nazis? Certainly, Jones doesn't need to be always fighting evil Germans to make a good film- he fought Thugees after all in Temple of Doom. But it may be kinda weird to have Indy fighting Al Qaeda.

As for the quest itself, what could it be? How do you top the Lost Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail and the Sankara Stones? Perhaps the Dead Sea Scrolls? The Longinus Lance? The Cross of Christ? Hey... I'm waxing Evangelion here. Who knows, Indy may be fighting UFOs. Or maybe even clones. Yikes.

Well, all I can say is that I'm all for it. It'll be cool to have Indy have at it one last time. And maybe even to bequeath the old felt hat onto another adventurer's head- a great way to continue the series. I just hope they don't kill him off like Kirk in Star Trek Generations. That just stank. Perhaps the best way for Indy to end is to eventually die of old age and then end up in a museum. Heh. Well, whatever... the wait is gonna be a long one. Let's just all wait and see.

Phone Lust Rising...


I still want one.

It's been at least five months since I last switched phones/communicators. It's a boon to my wallet that my graduation to a Pocket PC Phone in my XDA II has pretty much limited me to lusting for that very particular range of devices. Yeah, despite some rather nice models from Nokia and Sony Ericsson, they are pretty much beneath my notice. Once you see the loveliness of PPC software, apps and games, there's no going back to Symbian. And yes, once you get used to watching your movies in Windows Media Player, or even better, Pocket TV, even the once-perfect Smartmovie now comes off as pale and inferior when you compare the AVIs to real WMVs and MPEGs.

And so, the only logical step for me to ever upgrade is with the O2 XDA II Mini AKA the I-Mate JAM AKA the HTC Magician. I've been telling myself that I really don't NEED the upgrade, but dagnab it... I WANT it. The form factor just rocks and the smaller size will make it less visible under my shirt (my current XDA II stands out like a brick unless I wear black tees). The supposedly better battery life will be cool (the XDA II lasts only a day at best with normal use)... I'll be happy with two full days with normal use. On the minus side, the 1.3 megapixel camera of the Mini is supposedly not up to par with equivalent facilities on other cameraphones, but it will surely be better than VGA. However, that's really not important for me.
Lastly, the screen. I'll miss the huge screen of the XDA II, but with the same resolution, I should get used to it fast. Anyway, I lasted for quite a while with far smaller screens in all my past smartphones and the P910i.

This will be my next 'project'. It will be sometime till the next comic- be it Angel Ace: Heaven's Punishment or K.I.A. 2. I think I deserve to be a phone whore again.

This post to be continued in a couple of months, when I have my mini in my hands.

Lip Service


Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie) sets her sights in Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

I absolutely love Angelina Jolie. If there was one actress who can pull of sexy and tough, it's her. Perhaps it's that natural swagger. Those killer eyes. Those original pouty lips. That killer physique. Darn this lady is one classy femme fatale (darn, I'd kill to have her in an Agent K outfit). I've loved her since I first saw her in Hackers, years and years ago. I loved her in Tomb Raider, despite how horrid that movie turned out to be. And I still love her now. I wish it was her instead of Charlize Theron in Aeon Flux, but then, I guess Miss Jolie can't take ALL the action roles, right?

It's great though that despite starring in a string of flops (Sky Captain, Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life), she's still the hottest female lead in Hollywood. Well, hopefully her next film outing, the sexy action thriller Mr. and Mrs. Smith (with Brad Pitt) will be a hit (pun intended). The movie, about two married assassins gunning for each other, comes out this June.

Fallen


The sun sets for Lee, AKA the Fallen Angel.

Last night I got a couple of comics, one being the 4th issue of Shanna the She-Devil. The other was Fallen Angel 20, which is sadly the last issue of the title's run. I really love the character, the look and feel of the book, which is why I am really hoping that writer Peter David somehow pushes through with his plans to continue the series with another publisher. For now though, at least I have the satisfaction of having the entire 20-issue run completed (and the TPB as well). Once I have the time I'll just sit down with the lot and have a good, long read.

Fallen Angel was about the adventures of Lee, a shadowy, mysterious femme fatale and vigilante, sometimes fighting against, sometimes fighting for, the many dangerous factions and individuals in the dark, crime-infested city of Bete Noir. Written by Peter David, with art by David Lopez and Fernando Blanco.

Gateway



I had lunch at home today, in celebration of my parents' 43rd Wedding Anniversary. Yep, 43 years together and still going strong. And hopefully, they'll stay that way for a few more decades to come. Heh. Anyway, work beckoned afterwards, so I was off on the MRT right after the meal. The good thing was I finally had a chance to go through Cubao's Gateway Mall and walk through the now-open bridgeway connecting the Aurora MRT to the EDSA train. It was pretty neat- getting down at the station, walking through the classy and lovely mall and to Farmer's Plaza without ever reaching open sky. Unfortunately, the mall and the walkway aren't open when it's most important for me- during early rush hour. Oh well, I guess I can make do to enjoy the more accessible Gateway in the afternoon or evening, during the off-chance I don't spend my after-work hours at Megamall and The Blood Bank.

Thanks to the recent developments, Cubao- Araneta Center in particular- is spectacular. The only reservations are, of course, security seeing how some depressed areas are still just right outside the lighted mall areas and al fresco restos. But we may just find ourselves (the gang) having dinner sometime under the Cubao Night Sky. As long as we take care and avoid the areas that smell of piss, I think we should do fine. Heh.

English Duds

Months and months after, I'm still gritting my teeth in agony whenever I watch one of Animax's crappy english dubs. The worst for me so far is Stratos 4, with their Bwookwyn and gangster-accented voices and retarded deliveries and dead air. Then there's the horrible job they did on Chobits which pretty much killed the cuteness of the main character, Chii. It's irritating as well to hear the same voices on various shows- it's weird to hear the voice of wise Detective Dan from Detective School Q coming from the evil Emperor of the Zaibach Empire in Vision of Escaflowne, or young sleuth Kyu's voice also coming from the lips of the maniacal Dulandau. It's pretty tiresome to have every old man sound the same, every young girl sound the same and so on. The english dubs as well seem to degrade the quality of the series they infest... and it seems that Animax may be sensing this. Take for example Saiyuki Reload, which started off in english. They've since abruptly returned the show to the Japanese dub for some reason. Well, I'm not complaining.

My question is, how did Filipino voice acting (the accents are unmistakeable) suddenly get on Animax, via the Digimon series? Is it because Digimon is being promoted locally? Or are we going to see more and more shows being dubbed by the local Dragonball dubbers?

Oh God NO. A thousands times NO.

The day that tagalog-sounding dubbers start infesting the Animax series is the day I start a petition. BAH.

Woozy

It's been a whirlwind of work in The Salt Mines since Monday, which I recall was apparently declared a non-working holiday. Well, no matter that most of the working population was relaxing at home or enjoying their prolonged weekend... me and the crew at the office were working on a pitch which had us cooped up literally until the wee hours of the Tuesday morning.

Unfortunately, even after that, the day before me boded little rest. I had to attend a shoot for a pseudo-TV commercial. Now, shoots are usually cool things to attend, since agency people are usually treated like royalty. However, this shoot had rude and irritatingly self-serving crewmembers who hogged every seat and made it exceedingly hard to even get a good view of the monitor. Someone even stole my sandwich. SOMEONE STOLE MY FRICKIN' SANDWICH! Tama ba 'yon???!

GAH. Well, the only good thing was that the tail end of the shoot was held relatively near my homestead, so I didn't have any problem getting home in time to watch some primetime TV (instead of getting much-needed rest), particularly Encantadia, the new GMA7 Fantaserye (fantasy drama series) which I, amazingly enough, find quite enjoyable. Yes, despite some pedestrian acting and painful swordfighting choreography, Encantadia impresses with great (if derivative) costumes and sets, nice CG effects and best of all, a good pace to the precedings which so far has succeeded in keeping the show interesting and never dragging. What can I say? Encantadia rocks!

Also got to watch the newest shows on Channel 17 (USA Network), particularly the new shows on their Jack TV block. This includes a gaggle of reality gag shows and hidden camera skits, and some new cartoons like South Park and the raunchy Stripperella (voiced by Pamela Sue Anderson). Lots of interesting stuff- glad to see the channel has more than just WWE shows. Heh.

Well, the rest of the week doesn't look like it's going to let up... still got quite a bit more to go. But then, these things pay the bills and that's never bad. I'll also be paying off the balance for K.I.A. soon so that's behind me at least. Darn.

Can't wait for the weekend.

K.I.A. Review



'K.I.A.' pride
Posted 09:21pm (Mla time) May 01, 2005 By Ruel S. de Vera / Inquirer News Service Editor's
Note: Published on page D2 of the May 2, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=1&story_id=35584

"K.I.A. Vol. I, Kai: Indomitable Assassin"
Created by Marco Dimaano 2005, 160 pages

EVEN when Marco Dimaano introduced her as the preeminent rival to the titular begoggled super-heroine in his "Angel Ace" comic book, the raven-haired, flinty-eyed assassin Kai Mishima (a.k.a. Agent K) always stood out from her introduction very early in the series.

Unlike the cookie-cutter, super-powered protagonist, Kai had a darker, edgier side to her, as Agent K had lost her memory and was all business all the time. Dimaano portrayed her as a rather thoughtful, intelligent and ultimately tragic figure, one that seemingly met her doom near the end of the last arc, "Angel Ace Next."

Now Agent K steps into the limelight, obviously alive and very much kicking (and stabbing and chopping, among other deadly movements). The self-published "K.I.A. Vol. I, Kai: Indomitable Assassin" features 13 short stories plus pinups in an affordable, black-and-white manga-sized anthology.

Dimaano writes most of the stories and illustrates three of them. Meanwhile, he has assembled a talented roster of other writers and artists to join in what is effectively an assassin's jam: Gerry Alanguilan, Dean Alfar, Nikki Alfar, Jeremy Arambulo, Arnold Arre, Michael Banting, Chad Cabrera, Karen Cheung, Joel Chua, Andrew Drilon, Honoel Ibardolaza, Jon Mallari, Marvin del Mundo, Elbert Or, Jennyson Rosero, Michael Seludo, Edgar Tadeo, Taga-ilog, Wilson Tortosa and Anthony Yap, indeed a murderer's row of Filipino comic talent.

"K.I.A." effectively provides not only the further adventures of Agent K and a satisfying explanation of her otherwise surprising survival following her apparent death. In "K.I.A.," we see Agent K at her busiest, doing the one thing she knows: killing.

From ingenious new ways of getting to the target to having to dispose of entire gangs of opponents, "K.I.A." gives what amounts to a workaday view of Kai as the consummate professional. We will doubtlessly see more of these elements in the anthology's future installments as Dimaano uncovers more of Kai's back story.

Strong art

Dimaano's clean, strong art combines western comic book influences and a more obvious manga effect: the resulting product really is something else altogether. It is funny and sardonic at times, and grimly action-oriented at other times. Indeed, "K.I.A." is a survey of the hitperson at work, so it is fiercely, unapologetically violent with much bloodshed and graphic blade work.

It's always something else when Dimaano gets to write and illustrate the adventures of his darker creation. There is a fluidity, a focused intensity, even delight to Dimaano's handling of Kai's stories in "The New Girl," "Mouse Trap" and the essential "A Shock To The System," all welcome departures from the cheerful escapism of "Angel Ace."

There's the tragic anime-flavored "Dreamkiller" and the cartoon-laced "Battery Included." The edgiest story is "Zindernuef," which refers to both Kai's inner fears and some of the unseen dynamics of the K.A.L.I. organization.

The book's depth is also derived from the fact that Kai herself is a compassionate lady liquidator-a contradiction she lives with constantly, particularly when it comes to the up-and-comers who seek her place as the top assassin. And the book's energy comes from Kai's acrobatic dance of death as her killer moves fly across the page like spinning shurikens.

Similarly, "K.I.A." also shines with the combined diversity of its cast of capable contributors, be they writers or artists. The varying styles and interpretations of Agent K maximize the power of this particular format, with something for everyone.

The revelation of "K.I.A" is artist Jennyson Rosero, whose story, "Intercept," vibrates with dynamism and elegance. A tale of Kai's escape with a purloined item from a well-guarded building, "Intercept" is the story that skews most closely to Japanese manga conventions as well as a taste of the evolution of a beloved character as portrayed by others, done to great effect.

With a few witty light moments thrown into the mix and Dimaano confidently leading the cast behind a fabulous character now deservedly on her own, "K.I.A. Vol. I" deploys solid, unabashed butt-kicking action in a world where the killer ladies have killer bodies, the battles are furious and all the roads available are forked.

Dimaano ties all the disparate stories together, weaving the tangents and the mythology into a very efficient book with different looks, much like Agent K herself, a hitwoman with all the right moves.

Available from all Comic Quest branches

Enchanted Realms


Sunshine Dizon stars as a fiery warrior in Encantadia.

Tonight I caught the tail end of the primer program for Encantadia, the newest fantaserye (fantasy drama series) from GMA 7. While I was quite skeptical from the start (and rightly so) with the much-hyped superhero crapper Darna, I am actually quite impressed with this new title.
Starring a host of lovely actresses/models as four princesses of four powerful kingdoms that make up the magical realm of Encantadia, the show boasts quite impressive visuals, in terms of costumes and sets; these are easily the equal of any Filipino fantasy movie (which is not saying much really but it's still surprisingly good). The show certainly looks pretty, but of course it all falls to the story, the performances and the characters to really show off the quality of the show.

However, the sight of armored warrior-vixens, dwarves, magical spells and some pretty nice-looking art direction has me wanting to catch the show already. I'm a sucker for both epic fantasy and local mythology, and I have enjoyed fantasy-tinged local films like Ang Panday, Once Upon A Time and even comedic clunkers like Pedro Penduko. And now, Encantadia. I have good vibes with this... Let's see how it goes. The show starts tomorrow on GMA7's primetime slot.

Angel Ace: Tenchu

'Tenchu' is a word that anyone who plays videogames should be familiar with, thanks to the ninja stealth-action series of the same name. The word means 'Heaven's Punishment', and that sounds like a very good subtitle to this particular Angel Ace story that I am now thinking of pushing through.

We ended Angel Ace Next with the tragic, sudden death of Kai at the hands of her commander, Seta. Of course, since then we know that Kai doesn't really stay dead- in fact, she emerges stronger than ever and has her own title, to boot. However, it remains a fact that Kai was liquidated and has since gone through hell (and back). And through all this, Angel is happy and care-free in Newhaven, with a new life and new friends and a bright future.

Well, not anymore.

What would Angel do if she found out that her best friend in the world, a person closer to her than a sister, someone who trusted her even when no one else would, was murdered in cold blood? How would she react? What would she do? How far would she go?

Tenchu will no doubt surprise, if even shock, readers who have to date seen Angel only as the smiling, ever-friendly and light-hearted girl-next-door. But then, we have to remember that angels aren't just cute winged infants that shoot arrows of love. They're also Heaven's soldiers, and it is to angels that Heaven's Punishment- or Tenchu- is assigned to dispense. Here's a side of Angel that has never been portrayed yet on the page.

I am quite excited at the prospect of doing this issue. The action and fight scenes should be the most intense yet, and it'll be pushing the character to her limits and beyond. Plus, I think this is a story that has to be told- vital to the relationship of both Angel and Kai, and their two respective titles and storylines. Needless to say, this issue should also push the overall Angel Ace plot forward (Jayce will be happy) by showing a lot of the series' villains and explaining some of the background of the 'master plan' unfolding behind the scenes.

More on this as it happens. I start writing the scripts and drawing the pages soon.

Brawl in the Sprawl


Namco does streetfighting.

Namco, the creators of Tekken and Soul Calibur, are coming up with a new fighting game called Urban Reign. Similar to Sega's Spikeout Extreme, this street brawler puts you (and up to three other friends) in leather streetwear out to bust some skulls in the mean streets of an urban sprawl.

There will be a large number of characters to choose from (up to SIXTY!), with various specialties and skills. Aside from beating up enemies all by your lonesome, you can team up for over 50 double attacks, 30 special attacks and 50 team attacks. Urban Reign hasn't been given an exact release date, but it IS expected within 2005 so it will definitely be on present consoles.


Urban Reign will have its share of tough but sexy babes.


Hey, it's Kadaj from Final Fantasy Advent Children!

I've seen the trailer for this game, and it looks cool, though Namco is plainly using stuff from their other games- there are moves from Tekken (one fighter was using Capoeria) and even Soul Calibur (weapon moves). I've never been a fan of these 'Final Fight' or 'Double Dragon' type of brawlers, since they tend to have shallow move lists and characters, and the drab (albeit detailed) urban settings kinda bore me. However, this IS by Namco so maybe there's more to it. If you can customize wardrobes and characters, have more options than your usual walk-and-beat 'em up game and have good animation and action, I may check this one out.


Ganging up on opponents is the way to win.

Megaphone


Good as gold for music lovers: The Nokia N91.

Nokia recently launched their new N91 mobile phone, their first music-oriented device. Yes, the phone comes with dedicated music buttons and is in effect a Series 60 platform device. Yes, the phone comes with video and a 2 Megapixel camera for really good pictures. But that's not all.

The clinker for this glamorous-looking mobile is that it comes with a 4 Gigabyte Hard Drive (OH MY GOSH) which will allow users to load up to 3000 songs. That's a lot of music... and supposedly, you'll be able to play tunes continuously for 12 hours from a full charge. WHOA. The N91 is most probably Nokia's answer to Sony Ericsson's Walkman Phone which is also coming very soon.

Well, the camera and the Series 60 stuff is good, but again, this is beneath me... I'd rather take a 4 Gig memory card instead. But DAMN... 4 Gigs on a PHONE! Boggles the mind at what can be possible in the next several months. Or next year. Hmmm. The Phone Whore in me is begining to rumble again. Heh.

Beyond Star Wars

Even though the Prequel trilogy ends with Revenge of the Sith, we can count on more adventures in the Star Wars universe from George Lucas, as revealed recently in the Star Wars Celebration event. There will be a new Clone Wars animated series, albeit this new series will feature full-length 30-minute episodes done in CG animation. Now, Genndy Tartarovsky set a high mark with the first Clone Wars cartoons, so it remains to be seen how Lucasfilm picks up the pace from the 2-D CW.
Moving on, there will also be a live-action Star Wars TV series! This series will be set in the time of the Empire, between ROTS and A New Hope. There will be few, if any, appearances of characters from the prequels; exact details are yet non-existent.

Hmm. The last time I remember Star Wars on TV was in that old, old, Star Wars Christmas special, and a Muppet Show episode featuring Mark Hamill. Needless to say, both were painful affairs to watch... fun, but painful. We'll see what happens when it happens.

Reel Deals

The classic Konami horror game Silent Hill will be creeping into theaters through Tri-Star Pictures. The game-to-film adaptation is already in production and will concern the investigation of a mother and daughter of the secrets in the ghostly titular town. Sean Bean of The Lord of the Rings and a shitload of cool movies has been signed on to play the female lead's husband. I'm hoping that Mr. Bean gets to play a good guy this time around, and perhaps someone who doesn't die before the end of the movie. Look for Silent Hill in moviehouses in 2006.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith kicks ass, at least according to comic big name Kevin Smith. The comic and movie scribe/actor posted a gushing review of the last Star Wars prequel after watching a special screening of the film held recently. Smith commented that ROTS is the film Star Wars prequel-haters have been waiting for (well, we'll see) and is many times darker than even the acclaimed Empire Strikes Back, and therefore benefits greatly from this. Silent Bob's early, spoiler-filled review can be seen here.

Another cool film to wait for is Kingdom of Heaven, according to our friend Ruey de Vera. Ruey already watched this Crusades-flick (lucky...) starring Orlando Bloom. The film features huge battle scenes that involve hundreds of thousands of combatants, placing it in the league of the LOTR battle scenes. As this is coming from Ridley Scott, we can expect grit and visuals that may parallel the director's past work in Black Hawk Down and Gladiator. KOH hits Manila theaters in the next couple of weeks.

Saw the latest Batman Begins trailer and I expect good things from this latest incarnation of the caped crusader on the big screen. Christian Bale looks good, Kati Holmes looks even better, and Ken Watanabe is bald and reminds me of John Lone. Hmmm. Anyway, this looks like a load of fun and I can't wait for June.

Still no word of Sin City hitting locally, which sucks...

Digital Manga

Seven Seas, the publisher of recent new manga titles worked on by some of our very own local artists like Honoel Ibardolaza, Jennyson Rosero and Kriss Sison, have taken a trailblazing step into digitizing the comic biz. The company has now made for FREE download samples of their titles (Blade for Barter, No Man's Land) in PSP format. Yep, the pages have been specially sized for viewing via the Playstation Portable's photo viewer. To date, Seven Seas has reported thousands of downloads of their new offering.

This is pretty cool new development! And the fact that some of our local artists are now viewable on such a widely-popular device such as the PSP is even cooler. Hopefully other manga and comic companies will follow suit and use the digital medium of phones and pocket pcs and PDAs for the distribution of grafiction.

You can check out the free PSP-format manga downloads at Seven Seas' website, here.

And I thought K.I.A. couldn't get any smalller... Heh.

Live and Kicking


Adam Warren and Rick Mays team up for Live Wires.

I've always been a fan of Adam Warren, ever since I was blown away by his art for Dirty Pair: Fatal But Not Serious and later, the two Gen 13 mini-series he put together. I've always been struck by his distinct, cute big-eyes style, which boasts very clean lines and great action and detail (especially in his later works). I have some issues with his writing- how his stories are a bit too text heavy sometimes, and his characters don't just talk banter in the middle of fights- they talk whole volumes. Nevertheless, I love the man's work, along with all his anime-pop culture references and the sexy babes and his wacky, if sometimes dark, plots.
I first saw Rick Mays art in David Mack's Kabuki series, and again it just impressed me with his clean lines and lovely panels chock full of movement and detail.

Bring together these two and what do you get? Livewires, of course. This title, written and laid out by Warren with pencils by Mays is a 6-issue mini-series about a team of artificial life-forms, or constructs (Don't call them 'robots', it's impolite), created by a secret, ultra-black government lab for the express purpose of taking out other secret weapons projects.
At the start of the first issue, we find a young girl apparently being taken on for a ride with one of these construct super-mecha, code-named Cornfed (since he's basically white-trash). In a typically straight-faced Warren method of exposition, he explains the situation to the girl as he drives the humvee they're riding into a heavily-guarded complex complete with fiery giant robot guardians.
Soon we are introduced to the rest of the team. Social Butterfly is a shape-shifting female whose specialty is affecting human emotions and reactions. Gothic Lolita is the team's powerhouse; a bruiser in black lace and eyeshadow who can punch holes in armor plated walls with her bare hands and feet. Finally, there's Hollowpoint Ninja (gotta admit that's a damn cool name), the stealth and infiltration expert. Then of course, there's the hapless tag-along girl herself, who's a lot more than she first seems to be...

Wild code-names, over the top action and clever banter, lots of pop culture in-jabs and pretty cool tech stuff are what dominates this title, which means it's Warren at what he does best. The art is very much like Warren's own; Mays does a great job of emulating the more popular style of his writing partner, but there are some rough points every now and then. Overall though, the pages rock with vibrant color, non-stop action and eye candy, and come across with likeable characters that have that edge to be considered a 'Next Gen' title for Marvel. It's cool, it's pretty, it's techy and sexy and it's darn fun. My kind of book!

So far I've got three issues of this title, and it just gets getting better. I can only hope that Live Wires doesn't fizzle out after the sixth issue, and that Mr. Warren and Mr. Mays see fit to continue the adventures of these trigger-happy 'oids.. however, I fear that few, if any, of the characters will survive Warren's bonafide mean streak which often ends up killing off characters quite ruthlessly. All I can say is... KEEP GOTHIC LOLITA. And Hollowpoint since his name is damn cool.

Get your copy of Livewires at Comic Quest or other well-stocked comic shop in the Metro.

Pizza from the Windy City


Pizza, Chicago-style!

Today I escaped The Salt Mines for lunch out and after juggling various possibilities, settled down for a meal at Sbarro's. Now, I haven't eaten at this pasta and pizza place for months, but seeing a huge poster advertising Chicago Deep Dish Pizza just reeled me in. I saw this lavish, overstuffed, layered pie some time ago on the pizza episode of the show Follow that Food, and I've been curious about Deep Dish Pizza ever since.
Of course, despite the fact that the pizza is a slab that they give you, I still had to order a pasta dish on the side (I really should cut down on my multiple course meals). But my attention for the meal was squarely on the pizza. It's actually quite good as a meal in itself- lots of ham and sausage in every bite, and the thickness is just sinful. Perhaps a bit too excessive and much- I don't see myself getting another anytime soon. Still, it was an experience. Now, if only someone opened an authentic, oldworld pizzaria locally, I'd be interested. Heh.

Killer Elite



One of my chief sources for inspiration in doing action and fight scenes is anime. Some of the fiercest, coolest and most eye-popping fights and duels to the finish I've ever seen are in animated form, in various action anime. Magnificently visualized in some ways that live-action can't quite match, these are some of the most thrilling moments of action I've seen onscreen (in no particular order of importance)...

Mikura versus The Black Scissors (Mezzo DSA episode 1)
Pastel-clad, pigtailed super-sprite Mikura, the heroine of this action-packed anime takes on the Black Scissors assassins, a squad of big, mean, nasty killers in facemasks and black spandex. This fight is the first and best in the whole Mezzo DSA series, with fantastic animation that shows off Mikura's agile martial arts skills and gunplay. It's all done in fantastic fashion, with walls and bricks crumbling from punches, bodies getting smashed through walls and an explosive ending that has bodies and debris raining everywhere.

Kenshin versus Saito (Rurouni Kenshin episode 30)
Mild-mannered rurouni Kenshin Himura faces off with a ghost from his past, former Shinsengumi Third Squad Leader Saito Hajime. This is, in my opinion, the best fight in the entire RK TV series, a title known for impressive action. Other fights are just too long, too drawn-out and fantastic- this confrontation between Kenshin and Saito lasts only for less than an episode but what a duel. There is true tension, deadly moves and a truly menacing air of danger throughout.

Nausicaa versus Torumekian ShocktroopersA (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)
This isn't really a fight; it's more of a slaughter. In the post-apocalyptic environmental epic, the peaceful Valley of the Wind is invaded by an army from the hostile nation of Torumekia. Lead heroine Princess Nausicaa rushes home to find her father dead, a squad of rifle-toting soldiers standing over him. What follows is a terrific assault as Nausicca literally explodes at the assassins, laying waste to hardened troops in a few deadly seconds. It was this moment that inspired me as to how my own heroine, Angel Ace, could be when she really gets pissed.

Jubei versus Utsutsu Mujuro (Ninja Scroll)
Ninja Scroll is for many, me included, the definitive action anime film. One of the best fights in the movie is also the single formal duel, between two matchless swordsmen; Kibagami Jubei, the former ninja turned wanderer, against the blind swordsman Utsutsu, of the Eight Devils of Kimon. Again, a masterpiece of animation and action with great atmosphere (bamboo forests are great for swordfighting!), well-defined attacks and a solid (and final) resolution. Like real samurai swordfights, intense, brief and to the point.

Chun Li versus Vega (Streetfighter II: The Animated Movie)
Besides the obvious pleasure of seeing hot videogame/anime babe Chun Li in her undies throughout this vicious battle with the acrobatic 'Spanish Ninja', this long and drag-out fight pulls no punches and is simply awesome and I haven't seen its equal to date. The definitive girl vs guy anime fight. For best atmosphere, watch the one with the more somber, Japanese music score instead of the US dubbed version with rock music.

Ryu and Ken versus M. Bison (Streetfighter II: The Animated Movie)
The final showdown between the Shotokan boys and the Master of Shadaloo is often forgotten thanks to the Chun-Li/Vega fight, but I have to say that the two-on-one handicap match at the end of the SF2 movie simply rocks. The fight choreography is perfect, with the karate skills of the heroes put to the ultimate test against a seemingly unstoppable enemy. When Ken finally lands that first punch on Bison, you just have to cheer. Like the other SF2 anime fight, I prefer the version set to the original Japanese score, not the rock music US version.

Yu Ominae versus Fat Man (Spriggan)
The Spriggan movie should be a lot cooler than it really is; it's based on a pretty awesome manga. However, the best part is the first half of the film, as 'Spriggan' agent Yu Ominae and his comrades in ARKHAM take on the U.S. Mechanized Brigade, led by cyborgs Fatman and Little Boy. The climactic battle between Yu and his former boss Fatman is the high point of this anime feature, which is sad since it happens only at the middle of the movie; the rest of the time is then spent on boring scientific gobbledy-goo and a telekinetic brat with a baseball cap. Oh well, it's still a kick-ass fight.

A-Ko vs B-Ko (Project A-Ko)
This rivalry between childhood rivals escalates throughout this classic anime movie, between super-strong schoolgirl A-Ko and spoiled genius richgirl B-Ko, with the prize being the 'love' of the ditzy C-Ko. The final stage has A-Ko squaring off against B-Ko in her seemingly indestructible (and sexy) super-suit, set against the backdrop of an alien invasion (!). A bit dated now in terms of animation, but still this is anime fighting at its best and craziest.

The Paper versus Otto Lilienthal (Read Or Die OAV episode 1)
The Read Or Die OAV rocks, but really, the best part is the first episode (the next two episodes drag a bit). The climax is a truly masterful aerial action sequence between paper-flinging bookworm Yomiko Readman and crafty 'glider king' Otto Lilienthal (a true historical figure, btw) over the New York skyline. Perfect.

Jubei versus Gemma (Ninja Scroll)
It's only proper that one of the best anime action films has a suitably satisfying final battle, and this fight between Jubei and the leader of the Eight Devils of Kimon certainly qualifies. Bloody, bone-breaking, relentless and brutal from beginning to end, this deadly battle between vengeful swordsman and unkillable iron-armed fiend set on a burning ship features a great 'panning camera from behind a window grill' shot that blows me away everytime I see it. And the ending is just pure gold. Heh.

Try to check out these scenes for yourself. Next time, I'll go for best fights in live-action films! Heh.

Lazy Daze

Over the weekend a somewhat depleted gang (me, Vin and Andrew) spent the night at Chili's chilling. Talked about nonsense like reasoning behind the Jedi, the crappiness of the first two Star Wars prequels, and the upcoming Episode III movie, though admittedly I am actually kinda excited to see it. We also talked a bit about the storyline for the next Angel Ace comic, which was pretty cool to discuss. I intend to start writing down the actual script (which will be necessary this time around) in the next week or so. I want the next AA issue to be great. And I fully intend to draw the actual story pages myself- no shortcuts this time, I think.

Sunday was hot and stuffy, and I spent pretty much the whole day just cooped up in the climate-controlled borders of The Sanctum. Didn't write. Didn't do anything even vaguely productive. Just watched TV, watched an episode of Grenadier (Girl with Gun Anime in Ancient/Fantasy Japan which is pretty cool), played some rounds of Dead or Alive Ultimate and just vegged out. Which is pretty cool to do every now and then. Well, the week's in and it's back to the Salt Mines. Oh well.