SJ7

2010-02-26T02:30:00.000-08:00

'The healthy human mind doesn't wake up in the morning thinking this is it's last day on earth. But I think that's a luxury, not a curse. Knowing you're close to the end is a kind of freedom. Good time to take... inventory. Outgunned. Outnumbered. Out of our minds. On a suicide mission. But the sand and rocks here stained with thousands of years of warfare. They will remember us. For this. Because out of all our vast array of nightmares this is the one we choose for ourselves. We go forward like a breath exhaled from the earth. With vigor in our hearts and one goal in sight.'

-Captain John Price

Alot of things have happened to me over these few days and after a tiring week, its time to....take inventory...

The Apologist:

def: The apologist is a person who find its a perpetual need to apologize for every. single. thing. that he says or does. He will apologize incessantly irregardless of how little you care or how little the situation is. He will continue to beat himself up over the incident despite the fact that it matters very little to you and after a while of listening to him trying to apologize ("oh dear, sorry about that, I hope I haven't pissed you off or anything.) you have a sudden urge to smash the apologist with a nice large bulky item....like a copy of War and Peace.

'By the way, you need a stronger lock. That new one broke after one shove.'-Rorschach, Watchmen

2009-09-26T05:23:00.000-07:00

Big Time in Little Street

Having that 'Made in Singapore' brand on it can either incite sensations of curiosity as to what new kind of 'avant garde' brand of drama can Singapore's wunderkind create, or sensations of morbid cynicism. After all, Singapore has a history of hits and misses, from sleeper hits like 'Chicken Rice War', 'Army Daze' to sheer disasters like 'First Class', 'Cosmo and George' and so on. So it was no surprised when this little telemovie 'Big Time in Little Street' was advertised on Channel 5 to little enthusiasm (despite its witty name). But this short 1-hr + telemovie may have in it to be one of Singapore's 'classic' movies.

Story:

So the story is not one of the most original. Jimmy Tong is a man obsessed with finding his long lost family treasure and striking it rich, but a man who neglects his job, his wife and in the end ends up in prison. Now, 2 years later, after being released, Jimmy still pursues the dream fervently, with the help of his 3 childhood and debt-ridden friends, who seek the treasure to turn their lives around, all the while under the nose of Jimmy's wife.

Not exactly Oscar material, but it is a heart warming yarn that only Singapore writers can spin. The usual themes of love, friendship and redemption are present, and it seems almost cliched at times, but its still heart warming all the same. The twists are easy to see coming and predictable but they contribute to the atmosphere of the telemovie, rather than deflate the plot. But in the end, everything turns up for the better, as expected.

Presentation:

Like 'Army Daze', 'Big Time in Little Street' employs a small but talented group of actors and actresses. The lines are delivered with aplomb but the lack of emotion in the voices can be a drag and the purposeful peppering of the script with Singlish terms like 'abang', 'diam lah!' and so on. While it does add a sense of personality to the script, it tends to sound of place. And speaking of the script, the script is extremely average and lacks that certain flair. However, still kudos to the actor for carrying the story despite the lacklustre script.

In terms of audio, the soundtrack selected is appropriate and ties in the campy mood of the entire show.

Conclusion:

While it may not add up to the flair of 'Chicken Rice War' or the satirical genius of 'Army Daze', 'Big Time in Little Street' still puts up a decent effort at creating a heart-warming tale.

Rating: 3/5

2009-09-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

Due to my inability to come up with topics to blog about, I've decided to switch to writing something that I actually enjoy writing, reviews. So I will be doing stuff like anime reviews, movie reviews and game reviews. So I don't have to strain myself to come up with interesting topics for you people to read and you guys won't need to keep checking my blog for updates.

*Disclaimer: All the opinions and views here are purely my own and should not be taken as the gospel truth. If I have been extremely venomous in my reviews and have offended anyone, I apologize in advance. Any reference to any being, living or dead, is purely unintentional and deeply regretted. (shit I suck at writing disclaimers).

So here is my very first review

Strike Witches

So here's my theory about how this anime was conceived.

Two Japs are in their apartment, just chilling, watching anime, hugging dakimakuras and drinking beer when one says to the other,

"Here's an idea for an anime. Its about girls in skimpy costumes.'

"Oh, you mean like Queens Blade."

"F*ck no. It'll be little loli girls, in skimpy pants, wielding these massive guns.'

"Oh, you mean like Gunslinger Girl."

"F*ck no. They'll be flying, in weird contraptions stuck to their legs."

"Oh. you mean like mecha musume."

"F*ck no. They'll be witches with magical powers. And the contraptions can be...called......called a....a Striker! So they'll be like the Strike Witches!"

"Shit. You need to lay off the beer man."

Or something like that.

Set in a world similiar to Earth in the mid 20th century, Strike Witches tells the story of a fight to protect mankind against the enigmatic Neuroi who appeared out of nowhere in the year 1939 and started to destroy continents and then devouring them through a substance called miasma. Enter Earth's last line of defense, a group of little girls with magical potentials called Witches, who use these special units called Strikers, which enable them to fly and tap into their magic potential to wield weaponry too powerful and heavy for an ordinary human being. The story begins with Miyafuji Yoshika, the daughter of Dr. Miyafuji, the creator of the Striker Unit, a budding witch who joins the Strike Witches to protect and help people from the Neuroi threat.

The premise of the story is intriguing and passable for a military science fiction anime. The simple yet solid setting adheres the storyline together in a manner that would keep people satisfied but won't leave people wanting to know more about the background. Its quite interesting how they put a spin on the archetypal 'aliens attack Earth' scenario by placing it in an alternate past rather than the near future, so kudos to them for originality.

In terms of storyline, Strike Witches will provide an enjoyable ride but would not leave you wanting more. The story is extremely simple, which is not an entirely bad thing, as most people watching it won't be confused, going 'Who the f*ck is that? What the hell is going on?" (read: Gundam 00 storyline), also, a simpler storyline would mean easier to pick up and watch.

What keeps the story going is more of the character development and the action sequences. The character development is pretty well done with each character's motivations, their purpose and their story is explain in a rather detailed fashion, which makes the characters more real and human-like, even if their stories can be a tad cliched at times, like losing a lover, or protecting a little sister etc. Each character is lovable and quirky in their own manners and rather unique in their own right, though some tend to drift into general anime stereotypes, from timid, 'I'm useless' girls to girls with big boobs. Perhaps the icing to the cake would be the excellent and solid voice acting of each of the characters, with the correct emotions delivered without being overdone or cliched.

In terms of action sequence, each scene is a beauty to watch, the animation is fluid and the bane of fighting animes, reused animations, is absent from this anime, which is a huge +. The action is not exactly high octane and action packed with set piece after set piece like say...Gundam 00 or Code Geass, but it does a stellar job for a science fiction anime. Interestingly enough, the weapons are real models of actual weapons from the same time period, from the German Fliegerhaust launcher to the Browning Model 34. The attention to detail is absolutely fantastic, almost to the point of obsession, with characters based of real life aces and the Striker units derived from real/fictional aircraft. Overall, the fight scenes, obviously meant to be the climax, does deliver on multiple levels and would leave most viewers satisfied.

In terms of presentation, the art style is crisp and detailed, but rather average on the whole. The soundtrack is also somewhat fitting and does help to provide the appropriate atmosphere to the correct scenes.

I suppose viewers must be cautioned that this anime is also labelled as 'ecchi' and will contain enormous amounts of fan service. The girls permanently wear panties with no skirts whatsoever and there is an episode where this girl loses her panties. Though note that these ecchi material are handled with some dignity and you won't see weird things like tentacle r*pe or something along those lines, and these ecchi material doesn't steal the limelight from the story, the characters and the action sequence, so that's good. To quote Charles, 'I don't care.'

So all in all, Strike Witches is one of the better animes that I have seen and is highly recommended if you are searching for a rather short anime (Strike Witches is only 12 episodes long) to kill time. With gorgeous action sequences, a decent story, lovable characters, this weird anime has smashed all my prejudices and has become one of my favorite animes.

Rating: 3.5/5