You are currently viewing archive for October 2005
OK guys, here's a deal if they honor it.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Platinum Edition Box Set for $6.63+$1.40 shipping!
Will go fast so I'd see if you can get it. Worth a shot even if they cancel it.
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Deal is no longer listed ... has not been cancled yet, but bet it well at some point.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Platinum Edition Box Set for $6.63+$1.40 shipping!
Will go fast so I'd see if you can get it. Worth a shot even if they cancel it.
-----
Deal is no longer listed ... has not been cancled yet, but bet it well at some point.
I'm here, I'm watching stuff, I'm just not writing enough.
Part of the problem is that I have been watching such a variety of things lately, that I can't seem to find my voice on any one thing ... Except for the idea that cleaning off a DVR is hard work. In the past week, I have watched about 3 hours of Justice League Unlimited (the new season was great, love the Legion of Doom, must have more) 3 hours of The Batman, several episodes of Family Guy, and a smattering of other things.
The DVR is now only 50% full. An improvement from 90%, but its still a bitch to get through.
All that remains is some random shows to comment on such as Loonatics Unleashed, BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo, more Family Guy, and of course more Naruto. I'm hoping I can polish this stuff off by the time Comcast shows up for the broken DVR swap, but at least the priority stuff is done.
Random notes: things to watch for on CN. Boondocks starts next week on Adult Swim and IGPX on Toonami.
Part of the problem is that I have been watching such a variety of things lately, that I can't seem to find my voice on any one thing ... Except for the idea that cleaning off a DVR is hard work. In the past week, I have watched about 3 hours of Justice League Unlimited (the new season was great, love the Legion of Doom, must have more) 3 hours of The Batman, several episodes of Family Guy, and a smattering of other things.
The DVR is now only 50% full. An improvement from 90%, but its still a bitch to get through.
All that remains is some random shows to comment on such as Loonatics Unleashed, BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo, more Family Guy, and of course more Naruto. I'm hoping I can polish this stuff off by the time Comcast shows up for the broken DVR swap, but at least the priority stuff is done.
Random notes: things to watch for on CN. Boondocks starts next week on Adult Swim and IGPX on Toonami.
/rant on
WTF happened?
I watched the first four episodes of the new Teen Titans season last night in my fight to clean off the DVR. The last season ended with such a bang I was really looking forward to the batch of new episodes. Then they go and give me this crap?
Homecoming 1&2 introduces Beast Boy's old team, the Doom Patrol, and their arch nemesis, the Brotherhood of Evil. The Doom Patrol is, what I assume, DC's version of the Fantastic 4. It appears that Beast Boy was raised by them and left the team for unknown reasons. Well, he left for no explicit reasons, but I can name at least one: the team is made up of a bunch of unlikable jackasses.
We have to sit through two episodes of posturing by Beast Boy's surrogate father Mento (who uses mental powers and a huge ego), the Doom Patrol leader who really seems like he could not lead his way out of a wet paper bag. Throw in Elasti-Girl (another plastic superhero), Negative Man (negative in personalty as well as charge), and Robotman (wonder what he is) and you have a group of superheros that does not seem to know how to work as a team. To make matters worse, they dismiss the rest of the Teen Titans because the are "a bunch of kids."
It's no freaking wonder the Brotherhood of Evil was able to rebuild their black hole device a second time.
For their part, the Brotherhood of Evil is a grating and uninteresting group of villains: the Brain (just a brain in a robot body with an annoying robot voice), General Immortus (some zombie that has trained all the great generals in history), Monsieur Mallah (a smart ape man), and Madame Rouge (another elastic/waxlike woman). There is nothing fun or interesting about these characters, or the first 2 episodes. In the end, the Brotherhood of Evil is defeated by the Titans ... and they decide they have a new enemy and vow to destroy the young superheros.
Episode 3, Trust, is even worse in some ways. The Brotherhood of Evil decides they need to steal a Titan's communicator to eavesdrop on the heros, and goes about trying to get one from some of the honorary members. Madame Rouge sets her sights on Hot Spot, and a strange game of cat and mouse ensues. Robin gets involved as well, and neither he nor Hot Spot seem to show any bit of intellect in dealing with the "sneaky" Madame Rouge. Robin is uncharacteristically dense and ends up being fooled by her disguises. All-in-all, it's a very annoying episode as well.
A small bright spot comes in the episode For Real. It's a funny bit with Control Freak as the antagonist, fighting against the Titans East who are housesitting for the main Titans team. There are some good bits and smacks at Fanboys in there, and it was a welcome relief from the horrid first 3 episodes of the season.
Honestly, I just hope the rest of the season does not go like this, it's a very unwelcome change for a very good show. It's too early to call, but the Titans may have "Jumped the shark" with the Season 5 opener. Let's hope the shows get better.
/rant off
Grade: C-
Reviewed by Johaan
WTF happened?
I watched the first four episodes of the new Teen Titans season last night in my fight to clean off the DVR. The last season ended with such a bang I was really looking forward to the batch of new episodes. Then they go and give me this crap?
Homecoming 1&2 introduces Beast Boy's old team, the Doom Patrol, and their arch nemesis, the Brotherhood of Evil. The Doom Patrol is, what I assume, DC's version of the Fantastic 4. It appears that Beast Boy was raised by them and left the team for unknown reasons. Well, he left for no explicit reasons, but I can name at least one: the team is made up of a bunch of unlikable jackasses.
We have to sit through two episodes of posturing by Beast Boy's surrogate father Mento (who uses mental powers and a huge ego), the Doom Patrol leader who really seems like he could not lead his way out of a wet paper bag. Throw in Elasti-Girl (another plastic superhero), Negative Man (negative in personalty as well as charge), and Robotman (wonder what he is) and you have a group of superheros that does not seem to know how to work as a team. To make matters worse, they dismiss the rest of the Teen Titans because the are "a bunch of kids."
It's no freaking wonder the Brotherhood of Evil was able to rebuild their black hole device a second time.
For their part, the Brotherhood of Evil is a grating and uninteresting group of villains: the Brain (just a brain in a robot body with an annoying robot voice), General Immortus (some zombie that has trained all the great generals in history), Monsieur Mallah (a smart ape man), and Madame Rouge (another elastic/waxlike woman). There is nothing fun or interesting about these characters, or the first 2 episodes. In the end, the Brotherhood of Evil is defeated by the Titans ... and they decide they have a new enemy and vow to destroy the young superheros.
Episode 3, Trust, is even worse in some ways. The Brotherhood of Evil decides they need to steal a Titan's communicator to eavesdrop on the heros, and goes about trying to get one from some of the honorary members. Madame Rouge sets her sights on Hot Spot, and a strange game of cat and mouse ensues. Robin gets involved as well, and neither he nor Hot Spot seem to show any bit of intellect in dealing with the "sneaky" Madame Rouge. Robin is uncharacteristically dense and ends up being fooled by her disguises. All-in-all, it's a very annoying episode as well.
A small bright spot comes in the episode For Real. It's a funny bit with Control Freak as the antagonist, fighting against the Titans East who are housesitting for the main Titans team. There are some good bits and smacks at Fanboys in there, and it was a welcome relief from the horrid first 3 episodes of the season.
Honestly, I just hope the rest of the season does not go like this, it's a very unwelcome change for a very good show. It's too early to call, but the Titans may have "Jumped the shark" with the Season 5 opener. Let's hope the shows get better.
/rant off
Grade: C-
Reviewed by Johaan
There is one distinct problem with DVRs. If you ever, EVER have a problem with one ... you'll lose everything on it when they replace it.
My DVR missed a recording this week. It is the third time it's happened as of late, and it happened to miss Desperate Housewives. For me it'd be no big deal, I don't watch the show. But, to keep my housewife from becoming desperate, I can't have her miss any more episodes.
So now I have to go through and watch as much of my backlogged shows as I can before they come out to replace the damn thing. Teen Titans, Batman, Justice League, Loonatics, Family Guy ... everything must go! So, if there were every anything to break me out of my Naruto binge, this is it.
And speaking of Naruto, I just finished off the fansub of season 3 (dipping slightly into season 4). I've got to say, the show just keeps getting better. We finally get to see foxboy fight for real, and the results are pretty wild. I've watched ~80 episodes since I started last month and it has been a great ride.
I even watched last week's dubbed episode on Toonami. Viz is doing better, I did not catch any cuts on the first pass through it ... and that's something I can't say for the eariler episodes. Oh, that reminds me, I'll be posting screencaps in the near future of scenes cut from the American version of Naruto. It's an opportunity too good to pass up, just excuse the hardsubs.
My DVR missed a recording this week. It is the third time it's happened as of late, and it happened to miss Desperate Housewives. For me it'd be no big deal, I don't watch the show. But, to keep my housewife from becoming desperate, I can't have her miss any more episodes.
So now I have to go through and watch as much of my backlogged shows as I can before they come out to replace the damn thing. Teen Titans, Batman, Justice League, Loonatics, Family Guy ... everything must go! So, if there were every anything to break me out of my Naruto binge, this is it.
And speaking of Naruto, I just finished off the fansub of season 3 (dipping slightly into season 4). I've got to say, the show just keeps getting better. We finally get to see foxboy fight for real, and the results are pretty wild. I've watched ~80 episodes since I started last month and it has been a great ride.
I even watched last week's dubbed episode on Toonami. Viz is doing better, I did not catch any cuts on the first pass through it ... and that's something I can't say for the eariler episodes. Oh, that reminds me, I'll be posting screencaps in the near future of scenes cut from the American version of Naruto. It's an opportunity too good to pass up, just excuse the hardsubs.
Studio Summary
A country boy from Hokkaido, Hideki arrives in the big city (Tokyo) to go to college. Instantly, he is shocked and amazed by the variety and prevalence of Persocoms: personal computers designed to look and act like animals or even people! Too poor to afford one of his own, Hideki is overjoyed to discover a discarded Persocom in a trash heap. However, this gift of fate turns into a mystery as his Persocom, Chi, appears to be able to operate without her OS... How real is real?
Includes all 24 epidodes and original CD soundtrack.
DVD Features: Anamorphic Widescreen, Signs Only Subtitle streams, CD Soundtrack, Chibits featurette. Non-Credit Opening Animation, Non-Credit Ending Animation versions #1 and #2, the 3 digest episodes, Full Color Art Gallery.
Spoken Languages: English, Japanese, English Subtitles.
Grades
Video: A+
Audio: A
Dub/script/VAs: A
Theme song/opening credits: A
Story: A
Overall: A
Buy Chobits in our online store!
Review
In the future, boys will be boys ... and girls will be robots.
Chobits, the romantic comedy hit from Clamp (based on the manga of the same name), was a joy to watch. There are plenty of surprises to be had, though all in all it follows the true pattern of anime romantic comedies: hit them hard with laughs in the beginning, hook 'em good in the middle with trouble trouble trouble, and keep them guessing on how things will all end up. It's really not a bad thing when it is done well, and Chobits does it better than most.
Hideki is your typical country bumpkin. He does not know much about the big city, computers, or even girls. The two things he does know are: 1) He is determined to get into college next year and 2) he really wishes he had a Persocom. Persocoms, tricked-out personal computers rolled up into a cute robotic packages, are all the rage in Tokyo. They could look like just about anything, but most of them look like ideal girlfriends and boyfriends. They can be used for just about anything, from surfing the internet for all those "great p0rn sites," to taking phone calls, to joining online roleplaying games.
But they are expensive, and poor Hideki can barely afford raman. Imagine his delight when finds a Persocom discarded in the trash not far from his apartment ... and a really cute one too! The only thing is, she seems to operate without an OS (whatever that means) ... and the only thing she can say is "Chi!" Could she be broken? How will he be able to teach her all of the things she needs to know to get around in the big city if all she says is Chi? Getting there is half the fun.
Thus begins the adventures of Chi and Hideki. The first few episodes really smack you in the face with some good racy comedy. It may be rated 16+, but I don't think I've ever seen a show refer to p0rn so much within the first few episodes without being true hentai. However, Chobits is not that kind of show. In fact, with all of mention of p0rn and sex, the show is actually fairly chaste. That's not a bad thing either, it helps keep Chobits honest as a romantic comedy.
The animation is drop-dead gorgeous, as are the character models, and the characters themselves have very attractive personalities. There is a mystery surrounding Chi. Who built her, and why was she discarded? Why does she not remember anything at all? Do people really fall in love with their Persocoms? Most of the main characters are tied into helping Hideki unravel the mystery, but each of them has their own story to tell. In the end, it becomes a rich tapestry of mingling love stories. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Johaan
A country boy from Hokkaido, Hideki arrives in the big city (Tokyo) to go to college. Instantly, he is shocked and amazed by the variety and prevalence of Persocoms: personal computers designed to look and act like animals or even people! Too poor to afford one of his own, Hideki is overjoyed to discover a discarded Persocom in a trash heap. However, this gift of fate turns into a mystery as his Persocom, Chi, appears to be able to operate without her OS... How real is real?Includes all 24 epidodes and original CD soundtrack.
DVD Features: Anamorphic Widescreen, Signs Only Subtitle streams, CD Soundtrack, Chibits featurette. Non-Credit Opening Animation, Non-Credit Ending Animation versions #1 and #2, the 3 digest episodes, Full Color Art Gallery.
Spoken Languages: English, Japanese, English Subtitles.
Grades
Video: A+
Audio: A
Dub/script/VAs: A
Theme song/opening credits: A
Story: A
Overall: A
Buy Chobits in our online store!
Review
In the future, boys will be boys ... and girls will be robots.
Chobits, the romantic comedy hit from Clamp (based on the manga of the same name), was a joy to watch. There are plenty of surprises to be had, though all in all it follows the true pattern of anime romantic comedies: hit them hard with laughs in the beginning, hook 'em good in the middle with trouble trouble trouble, and keep them guessing on how things will all end up. It's really not a bad thing when it is done well, and Chobits does it better than most.
Hideki is your typical country bumpkin. He does not know much about the big city, computers, or even girls. The two things he does know are: 1) He is determined to get into college next year and 2) he really wishes he had a Persocom. Persocoms, tricked-out personal computers rolled up into a cute robotic packages, are all the rage in Tokyo. They could look like just about anything, but most of them look like ideal girlfriends and boyfriends. They can be used for just about anything, from surfing the internet for all those "great p0rn sites," to taking phone calls, to joining online roleplaying games.
But they are expensive, and poor Hideki can barely afford raman. Imagine his delight when finds a Persocom discarded in the trash not far from his apartment ... and a really cute one too! The only thing is, she seems to operate without an OS (whatever that means) ... and the only thing she can say is "Chi!" Could she be broken? How will he be able to teach her all of the things she needs to know to get around in the big city if all she says is Chi? Getting there is half the fun.
Thus begins the adventures of Chi and Hideki. The first few episodes really smack you in the face with some good racy comedy. It may be rated 16+, but I don't think I've ever seen a show refer to p0rn so much within the first few episodes without being true hentai. However, Chobits is not that kind of show. In fact, with all of mention of p0rn and sex, the show is actually fairly chaste. That's not a bad thing either, it helps keep Chobits honest as a romantic comedy.
The animation is drop-dead gorgeous, as are the character models, and the characters themselves have very attractive personalities. There is a mystery surrounding Chi. Who built her, and why was she discarded? Why does she not remember anything at all? Do people really fall in love with their Persocoms? Most of the main characters are tied into helping Hideki unravel the mystery, but each of them has their own story to tell. In the end, it becomes a rich tapestry of mingling love stories. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Johaan
I have not been posting much lately, but I sure have been watching a ton of anime. For the past 2 weeks, I have continued on a Naruto tear, I've blown through season 2 and am into season 3... this stuff is going to get good for you all. It will take a while for U.S. audiences to catch up, but once you do it will be well worth it.
And speaking of U.S. audiences, I am continuing to give the Naruto dub on Cartoon Network a shot. Fortunately, it has grown on me a bit ... but the edits still bug me. After watching season 2, I can say the edits will only get worse. Season 2 has a fair amount of blood, a hell of a lot more than season 1 ... so it's going to be diced to all hell. I did get some good news on this, I found out that Vis will be releasing this uncut on DVD, so purists should be happy with this news - me included.
I finally finished Chobits last night, so expect a full review soon. In the end it was not what I expected, but I enjoyed it greatly. Nothing like cute robots to finish off an evening.
The DVR is full, so I need to watch my backlogged Batman, JLU, Teen Titans, and Family Guy. Too much animation, too little time!
And speaking of U.S. audiences, I am continuing to give the Naruto dub on Cartoon Network a shot. Fortunately, it has grown on me a bit ... but the edits still bug me. After watching season 2, I can say the edits will only get worse. Season 2 has a fair amount of blood, a hell of a lot more than season 1 ... so it's going to be diced to all hell. I did get some good news on this, I found out that Vis will be releasing this uncut on DVD, so purists should be happy with this news - me included.
I finally finished Chobits last night, so expect a full review soon. In the end it was not what I expected, but I enjoyed it greatly. Nothing like cute robots to finish off an evening.
The DVR is full, so I need to watch my backlogged Batman, JLU, Teen Titans, and Family Guy. Too much animation, too little time!
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