Anime West

Spammed!

2005-09-11T22:37:00.000-05:00

I haven't checked this blogsite for a while... and when I come back, I noticed there was a comment on the last post. And boy, was I surprised to see that it was actually a spam regarding a market stock. Geez... I didn't expect that on a blogsite. Much to my disappointment, I can't seem to find the option to delete the comment. Oh well... guess I'll just leave it be.

For The Love of Life

2004-11-18T23:24:00.000-06:00

by David Sylvian
Monster End Theme OST

And slowly, you come to realize
It's all as it should be
You can only do so much

If you're game enough
You could place your trust in me

For the love of life
There's a trade off
We could lose it all
But we'll go down fighting

(full version continues below)

And what of the children?
Surely they can't be blamed
For our mistakes?

And slowly I've come to realize
It's all as it should be

That hiding space
A lonely place

How can the right thing be so wrong?
I've found mistakes
Where they don't belong

For the love of life
We'll defeat this
They may tear us down
But we'll go down fighting

Won't we?

Daa! ^3

2004-10-17T13:11:00.000-05:00

Equals Daa! Daa! Daa!

A comedy-romance anime based on the manga by Kawamura Mika tells the story of two unrelated teens who become guardians to an alien baby and it's baby sitter. Although at first, it may seem childish, much like BuBuChaCha, it's actually not. I'd say it's a little Ranma 1/2 minus the martial arts and weirdness, a little Kare Kano minus the drama and monologues, and a whole new world of its own.

Basically, Miyu's parents had to leave for the US to work for NASA, and thus left her with their family friend, Saionji and his son Kanata. However, fate had it that Saionji also had to leave for India to undergo training, and so now, the teens are left to fend for themselves. To make matters worse, an alien baby, Ruu, and his babysitter, Wanya crash lands on Kanata's home, which is a shrine by the way. Having nowhere else to go, and fearing for their safety, they were hopelessly taken in by the teens.

I'll stop there, so as not to spoil anything for future viewers. If you're looking for something relaxing, funny, with a little romance, you should consider watching this.

Trains in Space

2004-10-13T21:03:00.000-05:00

Leave it to Leiji Matsumoto to put trains into actions anywhere and everywhere. For those not familiar with his work, he's known for using the same "universe" in almost every anime he creates. Although the plot varies greatly from one series to the other, there always seems to be a threat to the home world, and a mysterious woman. One thing is common though: trains galore! It could be just your regular chug-chug train, a passenger train, combat train, or even a space fortress train. He's just insanely obsessed with trains.
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His newest anime series, Galaxy Railways, seems to be okay especially if you just ignore the weirdness of a train in space. Just think it's a good idea to put a long hauler into space. Think it's more practical than a starship. Think that a train looks nice in outer space... with smoke puffing out. Damn it, just pretend it's normal!

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The story of Galaxy Railways follows the exploits of young Yuuki Manabu as he joined the Space Defense Force to safeguard the Galaxy Railways, the means to get from end of the galaxy to the other. His father and brother both served and died on the SDF, and it's his ambition to honorably serve just as they did. Currently, he's one of the two rookies assigned to the Sirius Platoon, which utilizes the train Big One.

Each episode has a moral lesson, which is supported by the drama throughout the show. And each episode seems to center more and more on Manabu, and the destiny that lies before him.

Blogging Template

2004-10-09T08:41:00.000-05:00

Just changed the look and feel of this blog spot. It's just the start though, I'd be making more updates in the couple of days... hopefully.
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Speaking of which, I'm just too lazy to do a search on the class types. Would somebody be so kind as to provide the class and item to generate the Blog Spot link list for the people who comment or visit the blog site? Most of you know what I'm talking about... but to those who don't, (in case I'm being vague or using the wrong terminology) it should look something like this:

Blog Links

Brooding Pit
For the Mail!
Garden Fresh
the jembunao experience
life, the universe, and everything
Purple World
The Raven and the Stormcrow *
Sakura Mind Speaks
So Lovely
The Wandering Geek
ultraelectromagneticblog

... with the working links of course.

Ebichuman

2004-10-06T17:54:00.000-05:00

Ebichu, the House-Keeping Hamster.
At first, the anime seems innocent and kiddy. But as you watch the first few minutes, you'll get the idea that this is actually R-18 at the least. With intense blood-spilling and uncensored sexual activities, this is close to being classified as either dark or as hentai. But, those scenes are actually one of the most funniest moments in the episodes. And the anime is indeed quite humorous, especially if you can grasp the Japanese word play... which is explained in about 2 minutes at the start of the episodes in fan subbed versions. And I think I forgot to mention that this anime was produced by Hideaki Anno... same guy who made Evangelion and Kare-Kano.
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I kinda feel sorry for Ebichu sometimes for sustaining massive injuries because of her tactless behaviour. Can't believe she's still alive and well... considering how she's being treated by her master.

Abandoned?

2004-10-04T21:12:00.000-05:00

I felt I've completely abandoned this blog... I forgot all about it. Someone just mentioned it to me a week ago, and so, now I'm back into writing. And yes, Celedor, I was Exiled in a way. Actually, I still haven't finished Last Exile because the last two DVDs haven't come out yet... and it's more and more tempting to just download it off the torrents.

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So, what did I do in my absence from this blog? Well, first, I've finished the mini-series Chrno Crusade. I'd say the anime was pretty good at the start, with a steady build-up of exitement accompanied by the unraveling of the mystery, and the improving fight scenes. Nobody would ever have imagined me to watch something so based on religion, particularly the Catholic faith... but even I surprise myself sometimes. After episode 24 though, it was all downhill... or maybe it was just me, and I expected a different end.

Here's a nice wallpaper of Chro Crusade:

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After Chrno, I was kinda depressed, so I started watching Daa! Daa! Daa!, a not-so-popular anime based on two unrelated teens who had to look after an alien baby and it's babysitter after they were left by their parents in a single house unwillingly. I just finished 1 episode, so I really don't know much about the series. Makes you kinda think, if it really is freaky to be left alone in a house with a member of the opposite sex whom you really don't know much about, and at that time of your life where your hormones are just blazin'. Wonder what'll happen...

Exiled

2004-08-17T17:50:00.000-05:00

To take my mind off Naruto for a bit, I started watching the anime mini-series, Last Exile. So far, I only have a faint idea why the title is Last Exile, which I think has something to do with the battleship Silvana.

So far, it has been promising. Reminds me of Castle in the Sky when it comes to creativity and environment. The digital animation has helped put perspectives into the right place, but also made some aircraft motion scenes too unrealistic. The personalities of Claus and Lavie, the primary characters, seem rich, although not much has been told about their past in the first DVD. Hopefully, we'll get more character developments as they become part of a massive aerial battles.

That's it for now, got to go... and watch.

I Can't Wait...

2004-08-04T17:44:00.000-05:00

This sucks. Episode 94, the last available episode online is part of a bigger story arc. And it's in the middle, meaning heightened suspense and ultimate mind boggling effects. They need to rush things a bit more. Having 10-20 episodes for an arc is ridiculous... and the end to all things mysterious is in the last episode! Argh!

The current arc, focusing on the Sannin Tsunade started on Episode 81. So by interpolation, it should end more or less on Episode 100, hopefully. But still, that's a long way to go. I've heard that 95-96 will be a one hour special, so, at least that takes out a week in the wait.

Will she be the Fifth Hokage? Will she heal Orochimaru? And what will happen to Sasuke and Lee? The answer lies in the manga. But the manga isn't finished either... so what good will it be, to read through the manga, and get stuck again on another arc? I think I'll just patiently wait for the anime. DAMN!

Naruto Again

2004-07-25T13:25:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I actually watch 18 straight episodes of Naruto last night. And the horrible thing was, it kept reminding me of the slow-paced action sequences of Dragon Ball Z. Battles that span 5-10 episodes, with a quarter being replays of the previous episode. But the urge to keep on watching still raged, awaiting what will happen next, and how it will end.

It's sort of addictive in that way. If it weren't for the time (3:00am), I would have kept on watching. And today, I shall continue, hopefully, my downloads will be able to keep up with me. (i'm still in the process of downloading episodes 31 - 40... then, 41 - 50, 'til I complete them all)

Naruto

2004-07-21T18:58:00.000-05:00

Just finished watching Naruto episode 2... it was a blast. My favorite move is the Sexy No Jitsu... very very dangerous stuff. =P

The mix of comedy and drama is in good taste. I would like to invite folks to watch it, especially those old Ranma 1/2 fans. It can be downloaded free on www.narutomania.com, and as far as I know, it's perfectly legal.

Remembering the Titan

2004-07-15T22:05:00.000-05:00

Macross (the first movie and the first series)

I remember having notebooks that had Robotech (American version of Macross) covers. I don't know if they had permission from Harmony Gold, but as far as I'm concerned they look really cool. With it's breath-taking dog fights, awesome missile trails, and massive space explosions, this anime surely made an impression on me. What makes it so interesting aside from the super-dimersional fortress called Macross and the multi-mode veritechs? Well, that's where the story comes in. The movie version is of course the condensed story line, but in itself, shows both the complexity of the plot, and the simplicity of the idea, which is by far unique before it's time.

And as far as I know, Macross was running at the same time Transformers was... (of course in different parts of the world)... but you can't even compare the two. The first series of Transformers was too kiddy and usually revolved around the idea that the Autobots were good, and the Decepticons will always do something evil. Macross on the other hand did not implicitly implied that the aliens were villains. In fact, as the story progresses, it seems that both sides were fighting for survival, and that sympathy can also be warranted to the Zentraedi.

If you haven't seen Macross, you should sit down and watch it, at the least the movie if you don't have time to watch the series. Anime fan or not, Macross will definitely leave an impression.

Oh yeah, just in case you were wondering about the title and it's relation to Macross, I've got an answer: Titan = Super Dimensional Fortress (think of a really big fortress transforming robot).

Just another blog?

2004-07-14T22:18:00.000-05:00

I hope not. I've been trying to get myself to write more often, but unfortunately I just couldn't find the write topic. At first, I was thinking of making a Think Tank blog, but, I fail to see the point of expressing random ideas. The blog needs to have a central theme.

I began looking around my room for some ideas. Warcraft blog? Nah... I'll just be blogging about custom games... and that'll be no fun since there's like a thousand or more custom games, with a thousand and more fan sites for them. Still looking around. Movies? Too broad... and people would just hate me for bashing particular actors and actresses.

And then, my eyes happened to glance upon a DVD which happens to be included in my DVD movie collection. The DVD title: "The Secret of the Twilight Gemini"... an anime movie of the popular series Lupin III. Aha! Now we're getting somewhere.

Last month, I was just thinking of making an Anime Fan Site, but was just too lazy start designing the GUI. Now we're definitely getting somewhere. =D

What's with the "West" part? Maybe someday I'll spill it out.