I hope it comes out on DVD at some point fairly soon.  My roommate rented the first few (wholly overpriced) episodes from the PlayStation Network, and it was pretty good, from what I saw.  I hope it hits DVD at some point so I can finish watching it. 

Posted by: Arson55 at 10:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I watched the dub again, just because I've been sick, and I didn't want the added difficulty of subtitles.  But damn, the ending is still as beautifully tragic as it was the first time I saw it.  Overall, I don't know that the whole show holds up as well, there were a few parts near the beginning where I thought to myself, "This is good, but not as great as I remember."  But towards the end, I saw again why the show was so marvelous.  Still, I don't think it is on the same level of Utena or RahXephon to me, but I'm not sure there are many other shows I'd rank higher.  Maybe Crest of the Stars, I don't know, I guess I'll have to watch it again to be sure, but currently I'm putting F/SN ahead. 

Of course being such a fan of the show I wanted to get the game to see how it compared...and ultimately decided that wasn't an option.  The only place I found where I could buy the game, it was going to cost over $90.  And I'm not one for illegal downloads of games or shows...though I've never been so tempted.  Besides, I'm not sure where I could download it safely any way. (No, bad Arson!  No illegal downloads!)

I love Rin and Saber, they're two of the most gorgeous, compelling anime females in any show I've seen.  As far as the whole package goes (looks, personality, general awesomeness), they don't quite match Utena or Lafiel.  But they might have them both beat on looks, and the rest of the package isn't too shabby either.  It's amazing that they're both in one show. 

Grr...I really, really want to play the game.  And it makes me sad that I likely won't get a chance unless I go completely brain-dead and drop an insane amount of money for it.  I have other things I have to spend my money on, like improving my collection of anime, which is rather sad and pathetic.  Most of what I've watched I've actually only watched with friends.  Outside of a few mediocre shows like Orphen, Gasaraki, and Witch Hunter Robin (ugh, I have not had great luck picking shows to purchase on my own have I?), I don't have all that much as far as series go.  Heck, the only one of my top tier shows I've got complete is Utena (I still haven't gotten all of RahXephon).  Oh and there is also the matter of rent and food and stuff.  So I guess, I'll probably never know of what happens in the Ultimate Blade Works route or the Heaven's Feel route because I'll still avoid reading spoilers despite having given up on playing the game because...I'm an idiot I guess. 

Oh well, I'll just have to treat F/SN as any other good show with nothing connected to it: be sad it's over and then move on.

Update:  I forgot Generator Gawl (solid, fun middle tier show) and Nadesico in the lists of complete series I have.  Still, not a great collection.

Posted by: Arson55 at 09:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Wow.  Was part two ever better than part one.  That was what it was supposed to be.  Away from the boring space battles (how messed up is that?) and onto well, anything else.

Jinto and Lafiel handling things their way, Jinto and Lafiel's relationship actually progressing: greatness. I'm glad I didn't just give up on it. 

Posted by: Arson55 at 01:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I think it is due for a re-watch also.  But I'll add it onto the list.  I have to finish Banner of the Stars and re-watch Fate/ Stay Night first. 

And I have to get back to writing.  So many things to do, but I'll have a hard time getting myself to do any of them.  I've gotten back to playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2 online again.  It's eating into my time. 

Plus, I'm lazy.  And I've got a bit of writer's block (not new for me).  I know I should write through it, but I lack willpower.

Posted by: Arson55 at 02:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm thinking I should do a more in depth post about Fate/Stay Night.  Of the shows I've watched recently, it was the best.  Of course, it won't get the same glowing sort of piece as my Utena rewatch did.  But hey, it was a good show.  They can't all be superstars like Utena.

Of course, now the problem is that since F/SN We've watched Elfen Lied, Serial Experiments Lain, and Moon Phase. 

That might call for a rewatch...

...yes, that is mostly an excuse.  Maybe this time I'll watch it with the Japanese language track...even though the English dub was actually pretty good, like most things dealing with Fate/Stay Night, well above average. 

Then again, I'll be watching it on my own time since my roommates won't want to watch it again so soon, not when there are so many others to get caught up on.  Besides...I can't give up completely on Banner of the Stars.  I need to watch the next part.  Crest of the Stars was too good.  But at some point I'll do a more in depth post on Fate/Stay Night. 

...now to bed.  I've been up way too late tonight anyway.

Posted by: Arson55 at 03:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I was looking through some of the reviews on chizumatic.  And I just confirmed something I always knew.  Steven Den Beste and I have fundamentally different tastes in anime.  Lain is one of his four star series and it barely makes my middle tier.  I enjoyed Moon Phase virtually the whole way through, and he couldn't get past the first disc.  He hated the ending of Cowboy Bebop, and I thought the last two episodes were some of the best in all of anime.  Some other series I like, some of my favorites like Utena and Rah-Xephon, are ones that he just wouldn't enjoy at all. 

Things that I like, shows that grow dark as they progress (or hell, start dark), or powerful, well done, but sad endings, turn him off.  And he likes cuter shows that I probably couldn't stand (or I might be able to roll with it...Moon Phase certainly gets cutey at times, but still...)

And yet there is some overlap.  Movies like the Ah! My Goddess and Princess Mononoke we agree are good. 

As far as series that we both seem to like I guess the one that really stands out is Crest of the Stars.  There are others that I liked that have decent scores, but in many cases, reading the actual reviews, I just seemed to enjoy the shows much more. 

Any point to this?  Not really.  Just an observation.  And that is really all this blog is are observations from me, and my opinions on random stuff.  Just wanted to point out that it probably shows something about the quality of Steven Den Beste's thought and writing that I still frequent his blog despite our differing opinions on the main subject matter.

Posted by: Arson55 at 03:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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For the love of all that is holy, DO NOT WATCH AQUARION!!

If I have ever seen a worse first episode to a show, I wouldn't know what it was.  Holy crap! Was that bad.  Seriously.  The show opens with an introduction that tells you what the show is about.  First, that's sloppy story telling.  That you should be able to get through during the course of the show...and they do.  With some of the worst pieces of expository dialogue that I've ever seen...even in anime...which tends to be hamfisted in the exposition to begin with.  Add in the lame sort of combining mecha that should have gone out with Voltron...and well, you get miserable crap that should be watched by no one.  I will never see the second episode.  I'm glad I'm not the one who payed money for that atrocity.

Posted by: Arson55 at 02:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Yep.  A solid middle tier show.  No great depth, just largely a fun, enjoyable show with lots of humor.

And yes, my middle tier is very broad.  Moon Phase is in the upper half.  With shows like Slayers and Full Metal Panic.

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Hmm...well I didn't see that coming.  We're now through disc 4 of Moon Phase.  And something weird happened.  It's a spoiler so down in the bottom it goes.
more...

Posted by: Arson55 at 01:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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No guarantees that this is more than a one off thing...not that anyone actually freakin' reads this blog.  But I've recently watched a few more animes of late, plus some that I watched awhile back that never made it on the first list.  Time to update the list:  Now with note on which language I watched. Generally if I watched with my roommates it was dubbed, by myself, subbed.
more...

Posted by: Arson55 at 12:52 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I only recently got the whole Revolutionary Girl Utena series. For a long time, I had only the last two thirds. But I got the first 13 episodes and was finally able to re-watch it. Before I started watching it again, I was afraid it wouldn’t mean as much to me now. It had been at least two years since I saw it last. And though I haven’t personally changed much in that time, I was still afraid it wouldn’t resonate with me the same way. And I was right in a sense, but I severely underestimated the series.

If anything, it means more to me now than it did the first time I watched it. I don’t know why that is. Perhaps, because the series inspired my writing. The furthest I’ve ever gotten in any of my attempts at writing a novel is one where the initial basis for writing the novel was based on a thought that I had when watching the series the first time (and yes I'm still making, admittedly slow, progress). The only real resemblance to the Utena story is that there is a woman who is engaged to the champion of a series of duels, and that the winner is another woman. Or it could be that this time I watched it with the inherently superior Japanese language track instead of the inconsistent English dub (I’ll cover that in more depth in a moment). It could simply be that knowing where the whole thing was heading, being aware of how marvelous the last several episodes of the series were, allowed me to overlook the flaws that irritated me in the initial viewing. Likely, it is a combination of all these things. Because I know the last was certainly a factor.

The first time I watched the series I watched the English language dub, being decidedly neutral on the issue of whether or not the subtitled versions of animes are inherently superior to the dubbed version. Yes, I tend to watch the dubbed language tracks, but that is simply because it is the initial setting, and I usually just don’t care. But Utena, well Utena has the most psychotically uneven dub I think I’ve ever heard. Rachel Lillis, Crispin Freeman, and Josh Mosby, voices of Utena, Touga, and Akio respectively, do fairly decent jobs. They’re a little hit-and-miss at times; they occasionally come off a little flat. But overall I have no major complaints with their performances. Most of the others come off rather flat overall with a few exceptions (the voice of Wakaba is usually solid). But Jimmy Zoppi and Sharon Becker are both maddening, but for different reasons. I said the dub was probably the most uneven I’ve ever heard, and Jimmy Zoppi as Miki is the very embodiment of that insanity. In a space of five lines, he can deliver one perfectly, one solid, two flat, and one simply awful. It is maddening. Sharon Becker as Anthy on the other hand, is just terrible throughout. Admittedly, it is a difficult part but Fuchizaki Yuriko put in an absolutely remarkable performance. Especially when one considers the difficulty of the part.

Now I think I need to find the Movie to see how I would like it seen a second time. The first time, well, I didn’t like it. I don’t think that would change if I watched it again, but it would be interesting to confirm. At first, I was very impressed. It changed the story, but it didn’t bother me. It was interesting, and I have no problems with alternate retellings (as long as they are good). I did not like the change from Utena and Anthy being very close friends in the series to being lovers in the movie. I thought their relationship in the series was one of the strongest things about it. But that change alone wasn’t enough to drive me away. What drove me away, ultimately, was the end, when Utena turned into a car. It was too jarring; too absurd. That is why I don’t think another viewing will change my opinion on the movie. My issues with the series were in the main body of the series. The ending (as in the last six, or so, episodes) was powerful and moving. While with the Movie, the ending was the problem. I know it turns sour for me in the end.

Posted by: Arson55 at 01:37 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So that was the best Super Bowl I've seen.  And to make it better, the Patriots lost.  Unfortunately it was the Giants that did it, but I'll take what I can get. 

Posted by: Arson55 at 10:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I have a webcomic now: tWWE (the Worst Webcomic Ever)

http://www.drunkduck.com/tWWE/

Less danger of falling behind on that because I already have about 3 weeks of strips worked up, and once I think of a joke it only takes a few minutes to put a strip together.

Posted by: Arson55 at 05:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've been neglecting posting...but..eh.

Anyway, I just recently reread Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic Quartet and the Cirlce Opens Quartet as well as the following novel.  I had forgotten how much I like them.  I've been a fan of hers since...what, junior high?  Now I started reading adult novels first and hers are considered Young Adult, but whatever.  I've always enjoyed her writing. 

I have copies of her quartets: The Song of the Lioness, The Immortals, Protector of the Small, and the two Trickster books (Thank you, Science Fiction Book Club).  But I don't have copies of these (Damn you, Science Fiction Book Club).  And these really are my favorites of hers.  I really liked the Song of the Lioness (the first of hers that I read), and I liked the Trickster books.  The Immortals and the Protector of the Small were also enjoyable, but not as good.  Nevertheless, I never considerd Tamora Pierce one of my favorites, but after rereading these books after being away so long...well I might have to revise my opinion.  Now, authors like Kim Harrison, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, and Michael Stackpole still top the list, but Pierce could well be included, and it is all because of one character. 

Posted by: Arson55 at 01:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The best things in life are'nt things.

-First off, I'm just going to ignore the are'nt...okay, so I'm not.  Generally, when using an apostrophe in place of a letter for example, in a contraction such as aren't, the apostrophe goes in the spot where the letter has been removed.

-Second, no...the best things in life are things by simple defintion.  If it is one of the best things in life it must be a thing.  Thank you.  The lesson is over.

Posted by: Arson55 at 10:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And it makes me happy.  This is one of my all time favorite games, but I dislike the new translation.  And, really, as of now, I'm enjoying Jeanne D'Arc more (though I've been playing them both).  I expect that to change in time.  Once I beat Jeanne D'Arc, I expect my intrest to fade.

Posted by: Arson55 at 01:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A watched clock never boils. *

Posted by: Arson55 at 04:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I should really post more often.  If I don't start posting at least twice a week, you have my permission to hit me in the head...with something that won't be painful.

Posted by: Arson55 at 09:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Aj9kvbRRwK__l9YPqjvxbZ9DubYF?slug=ms-thegameface090707&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Scroll down to the bottom where he's responding to reader emails.  Now check out his response to Jared X. Thomas. 

I absolutely hate the sports writers that always fall back on the 'Well, I write professionally and talk to GMs.  My opinions are right, and you're not allowed to have yours' card.  I don't have problems responding harshly to an asshole emailer, but that kind of statement is an attack on all fans. 

My response to him below...

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You know what villains I hate?  Villains who lose because of utter incompetence.  Not just supreme villain arrogance (which is very old in and of itself).  But simple, outright, full-on, incompetence.

The most glaring example is from the anime Noir.  Now I never watched the whole series and after this particular scene I don't think I want to.  The main characters in the series are a pair of assassins.  One gets captured and she is in the middle of something in the realm of three dozen bad guys as they take her down the path off of the mountain.  The second waits for them at the base of the mountain.  All of the bad guys simply open up with their guns and none of them can hit her even though she is standing in the middle of the path with no cover!  None of them.  Even worse, instead of simply putting a bullet into the one in their midst, they ignore her and let her get a weapon to join in the killing of them.

 ...

Yeah...that scene totally turned me off of that show.

Posted by: Arson55 at 07:55 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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