Detective Conan

27Oct09

Synopsis: Kudo Shinichi is a seventeen year-old high school detective whom people call the “Modern Sherlock Holmes.” However, one night after a date with his childhood sweetheart, Ran, Shinichi witnessed an illegal trade and, caught off his guard, was knocked unconscious and fed a drug that was supposed to kill him… but he woke up and found himself shrunken to a seven year-old. In order to track down the men who did this to him, Shinichi hid his identity and lived with Ran, whose father happened to be a hopeless detective, and with that came a series of murders and mysteries that he must solve.

Detective Conan

Kay i know i usually write about shows and movies that i’ve completed in watching. But heck, i don’t think Detective Conan will end anytime soon, and for good reason. It’s listed as #6 in a recent best all around anime of all time in Japan 2009. It’s one of those shows that will keep you captivated. Along with Doraemon and One Piece. Onto Detective Conan, or better known as Case Closed in the western world due to the copyright usage of the word “Conan” how ridiculous is that. Sometimes i think copyrights go to far. Anyways, the story is simple, like read in the synopsis is about Shinichi trying to find the black organization, the ones who tried to kill him. His appearance is that of a 7 year old which deceives everyone as he still retains all the knowledge as when he was a teenager. I recommended this anime to my friend because it was really good, but they declined claiming it was too childish, well the stylistics of it. However in my opinion i can’t see how Detective Conan is childish. The style of drawing is just old, classic old. The main character may look childish because he is a child. But that’s about all. Along with Conan are four other children with one other being the same as Conan, an adult revered into a child-like body attending elementary to avoid suspicion. It should be hard to stop suspicion though, considering everywhere Conan goes there is a murder committed. Half the times these murders are made to look like suicides only to be revealed by Conan. What’s disturbing is that everytime Conan is with his classmates a murder occurs and they witness the corpse. These are some strong 7 year olds. To have a mind being able to view 30+ corpses and not break down. As for Conan i understand it’s okay for him cause he’s a brilliant teenage detective once adorned by the municipal police. But as a child, where ever he is death occurs. Even the police chief begins to sigh every time a murder happens and Conan and his guardian and friends appear. The excuse from the guardian Mouri the now made famous detective by Conan always says “coincidence, coincidence” while the chiefs response “not coincidence, more like again, and again” And although these deaths may all be coincidences that they happen during Conan’s search for the black organization. One can’t help but to think he is very unlucky. However in his case he may see it as being Lucky. He enjoys what he does and that’s solving mysteries, specifically murder mysteries. In one episode he was trying to solve a case which happened to be a robbery, but he couldn’t understand the lack of dept in the robbery as Conan often thinks of the possibility in murders, that he was unable to see that a robbery did not involve the same depth as a murder case. Being that the robbery was not premeditated and sort of out of the blue with no real backing. Despite this i think Conan enjoys the death around him, as long as it isn’t his family, his love or well anyone he knows. He’ll solve your death, but won’t so much as to stop it even when he see/feel through premonition a premeditated murder about to happen.

Detective Conan 9/10
For giving me some 500+ episodes to watch.
And for thinking interesting ways of killing people :-/

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Avatar: The Last Airbender

26Oct09

Synopsis: The series follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating the evil Fire Lord and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation. One hundred years before the start of the series, a 12-year-old Airbender Aang learns that he is the new Avatar. Fearful of the heavy responsibilities of being the Avatar, this coupled with the coming separation from his beloved mentor Monk Gyatso, in order to complete his training. Aang then flees from home on his flying bison Appa. During a fierce storm, they crash into the ocean, and Aang’s Avatar state freezes them with waterbending in a state of suspended animation inside an iceberg.

Avatar Aang

Although it incorporates Japanese styled animation i still would classify this as Cartoon, simply cause it’s american produced and well not dubbed. It was probably one of the best Cartoons i’ve seen. One that’s not too childish and has pretty good visuals. Releasing soon is a Live action film produced by Hollywood. One of the reason i finally vouched to watch Avatar the cartoon. Cause you can’t really critic something you haven’t seen. And from what i’ve seen all three seasons it was pretty good. Storyline, concept and character development were all outstanding. For me i don’t really see how this show is a demographic for children. I mean if you think about it, the fact that the air benders all died out due to the fire nation. That’s genocide. I mean it’s not uber subtle, the deaths, the relationship, and events. Example the unnecessary killings that go on. Although you don’t see blood, it’s implied. Situations: Aang has to determine whether or not to kill the fire nation emperor in order to stop the chaos. However he can’t bring himself to kill him. Sounds familiar, oh right Fullmetal Alchemist. The murder of the two water nations’ mother. I guess the only children like-ness, are the character themselves. How they finally realize that they have to save the world. And that being children is nothing but wishful thinking. I mean the moral of the story is good, makes you feel lucky you’re a kid not living in that kind of world *cough* world war II.

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FullMetal Alchemist

25Oct09

Synopsis: After losing their mother, Alphonse and Edward Elric attempt to bring her back using the forbidden science of human alchemy. However, alchemy operates on the theory of equivalent trade, and breaking the human alchemy taboo carries a heavy price. Ed loses his leg, and Al loses his body. Ed is able to seal Al’s soul inside of a huge suit of armor, at the cost of his arm. Years later, Ed (now with two mechanical limbs) and Al (still trapped in the armor) leave their childhood home, each brother concerned with the other’s happiness. Ed, who has a natural talent and skill for alchemy, becomes nationally certified and is soon known everywhere as the “Fullmetal Alchemist.” Their true objective is to search for any information on the fabled Philosopher’s Stone, hoping it will allow them to regain their old bodies. All of their hopes rest with this mythical stone, which may not even exist at all. However, the brothers soon learn that they are not the only ones after the powerful stone.

Full Metal Alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist or better known as the abbreviated fma, cause apparently it’s a mouth full to pronounce. The anime itself always seemed overated. I recall people always going oh fma is awesome! The best anime ever! It’ll blow your mind! And ofcourse the more people say this it hypes the series. However i did not feel like watching fma for a very long time due to two concepts and a bad experience. First concept; two brothers. Secondly alchemy, seriously alchemy, it’s not science damnit. And for the bad experience was back in 2005 or 2006 i can’t quite remember i saw a glimpse of it on television. Yes on television, and it was dubbed. Oh the terror. I’ll admit that fma was actually better than i had anticipated. The beginning episodes were actual quite decent. However more towards the middle it fell apart. I know it doesn’t follow the manga in the later parts, but it was exceptional. However one thing i disliked about the characters of both brothers were their indecisiveness. I mean 1. if you’re going to kill, kill. Do not hesitate infront of the victim weighing the pros and cons. 2. I know you’re brothers but seriously stop inferring your morals over the other. Those were the only things along with the constant whining of Al that bugged me. For me the anime of this really picked up at the end. The very very final end. When all and all was done, finding out that equivalent trade does not work, and that the beyond the gate was pre-World War II Germany. That indeed it was parallel worlds. And the fact that both brothers were now separated by a gate; one in Germany the other in a parallel Germany known only as Central. It was pretty clear what was happening. The fact that in Central the head of the army was known as the Fuhrer. This obviously parallels to Hitler. Along with other details inwhich at the moment i can not list as it’s 3:00 AM. The best part of fma was the movie that followed. It follows Edward in Germany during the beerfest coupe. The graphics, along with the storyline was captivating.

Fullmetal Alchemist: 5.5/10
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie – Conqueror of Shamballa 8/10

one movie sequel does make a difference.

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Scrubs

15Oct09

Synopsis: Scrubs is an American comedy-drama created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced dialogue, slapstick, and surreal vignettes presented mostly as the daydreams of the central character, Dr. John “J.D.” Dorian

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I remember watching the first season back in ’01 and thought hey this is pretty funny. In the inital season things were light, in terms of the patients being cared for. Relationship between staff was rocky, but that’s what made it funny. As the seasons progressed J.D. began to progress as the doctor he is. Learning valuable lessons medically and emotionally. One thing that became clear towards the end of season 8 was how J.D. really aged. From his clean shaven, skinny figure, to his now plump, scruffy beard looking self. Aside from the comedy which was top notch, Scrubs had guest characters who became somewhat part of the show whether being a patient or being part of their personal life. Example being J.D’s brother, the spoiled older brother. What caught me off guard was how those two could really be brothers in real life and no one would doubt it. Additionally, the fact that the two are hilarious comedics. Both starred as the lead in their series; Scrubs and Ed respectively. Scrubs ran for approximately 8 years, and ultimately it ended with characters not living happily ever after, but just ever after.

8.5/10

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Lovely Complex

13Oct09

Synopsis: Risa Koizumi, taller than the average girl, and Atsushi Ootani, shorter than the average guy – their constant bickering and comical love-hate relationship is well-known throughout the school. They act similarly and love the same music, and their friendship is full of laughing, shouting at each other, and of course, lots of jokes about one another’s height. But when Risa notices her feelings for Ootani growing, she’s worried. She doesn’t know if he can ever see her as more than a friend. With her friends rooting for her, she struggles to make him see how she feels about him, and that a romantic relationship between a tall girl and a short guy can work. Oblivious Ootani doesn’t make things easy for her, but she stubbornly perseveres in her own unconventional way, determined for her feelings to get through to him, and finally be returned. If only she could do it without driving herself and everyone else crazy in the process…

Lovely Complex

I can see how society views this very differently. Risa who’s 5’7 and Ootani 5’1. It looks bad cause stereotypically the male should be taller. This sticks because female claim they want tall, dark, and handsome. But at some point it went terribly wrong. I remember ranting about this on my other blog, so i’m not going to get into the details. This anime was lovely. I’m using that word way to much. I was also told guys don’t use that word. But what do i care, i’m tea drinking dorama watching paranoid man. Right…the anime. The graphics was very bright, cheerful like. It was colorful and the way it was designed reminded me of another similar romance anime. It had it’s comedic time as well as some sad moments. Not sad as in i’m going to cry sad, but sad as in wow society is like this sad.

7.5/10

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Persona -Trinity Soul-

13Oct09

Plot Summary: The stage is Ayanagi City, a city near the Japan Sea. It is a futuristic city that was built to carry out the recovery from the calamity caused by the “Apathy Syndrome” ten years previous. High school student Shin Kanzato with his little brother Jun, meet with their elder brother Ryō, who is the chief of the Ayanagi City Police, again after ten years. At that time, a series of strange incidents happen in Ayanagi City such as the crew of a submarine that suddenly disappears while in their submarine, or a spiritless symptom which disturbs the world after ten years, or the case of the inside out corpse where a student took on a cruel appearance. Ryō tracks down the organization behind the string of incidents, and having become involved in the incidents, Shin awakens the “Persona”.

I didn’t quite understand this one. It’s a psychological thriller, but it’s very convoluted. The visual graphics was nice. The character design such as Jun’s spirit was cool. But the way the events unfolded was questionable.

7/10

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Shion no Ou

13Oct09

Plot Summary: As a child, Shion Ishiwatari’s parents were murdered in their own home. Shion escaped unharmed, yet the trauma caused her to lose her voice. The only evidence police found was a shougi board and one piece “the King”. Neighbours and close friends of the family, Shinji and Sachiko Yasuoka, adopted Shion and taught Shion how to play shougi. As the years passed, she became known as a genius and quite a famous player. Now, as her fame rises, her past resurfaces and she discovers that being a professional shogi player may just lead to finding her parents’ killer.

When i first saw this anime and i saw Shogi i thought it would be dull. I’ve not a clue about Shogi, well i have a clue but am not that entirely familiar with the game. I learned a little more about the game through Shion No Ou. What caught my attention was the Murder of Shion’s parents. The fact that Shion is a mute. The anime had a disturbing twist. The whole death of her parents was planned, to strengthen her resolve to play Shogi. But why? The killer wanted to mold the best Shogi player in existence. The last few episodes are captivating.

8/10

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Spice and Wolf

13Oct09

Plot Summary: Kraft Lawrence, a 25 year old peddler travelling from town to town selling and buying various things to make a living during a period much like Europe in the Middle Ages. One night when stopped at the town of Pasroe, he finds in his wagon a 250 year old pagan wolf deity girl named Holo. She appears to be that of a 15 year old girl, except for a wolf tail and ears. She introduces herself as the town’s goddess of harvest who has kept it blessed with good harvests of wheat for many years. Despite having the responsibility to watch over the town, she wants to go back to her homeland in the north called Yoitsu, she believes the people have already forsaken her anyway and that she has kept her promise to maintain the good harvests. She manages to bargain her way out of the village by making a deal with Lawrence to take her with him. As they travel, her wisdom helps increase his profits, but at the same time, her true nature draws unwanted attention from the church.

Spice And Wolf

One word; Kawaii~ the moment i saw Horo, i had that in my mind. The very basic concept of if man can fall in love with an immortal. Although this isn’t answered in either season. The anime covered economic grounds which was interesting. I think i learned something. The journey to Horo’s home land isn’t a smooth ride. She’s faced with how the world changed and that creatures like her are considered to be Pagan mythology. Lawrence is no different in that although he is a well experience merchant. He proves that even with the most experience in the world there are somethings that are inevitable.

A kind anime of a man and wolf
9/10

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xxxHolic Kei

13Oct09

Synopsis: xxxHolic Kei the continuation of the previous season xxxholic. Kimihiro Watanuki is a high school student plagued by Yokai spirits. He gets help to rid these hauntings from a witch. In return he is to do favors to pay off his debt. It’s depth is that Watanuki is a very kind man. He may seem like he Domeki but really admires.

I thought the anime was interesting. I’m a fan of CLAMP, not a die hard one though. Just whatever anime there is. Their stylistic drawings are very easy on the eyes. The concept of the story is interesting, in that it’s science fiction. It draws its uniqueness from past stories. Example breaking a spiders’ web will result in a curse. Basically it’s a price paid for destroying their home, their work.

8/10

xxxHolic Kei

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News no Onna

16Feb09

Title: ニュースの女
Title (romaji): News no Onna
Also known as: Newswoman / Channel 2
Episodes: 11
Broadcast period: 1998-Jan-07 to 1998-Mar-18

Synopsis: Honami plays a newscaster, a tough pro who is capable of stonily reporting even her own husband’s death in an traffic accident on air. The plot revolves around Honami’s relationship with her late husband’s teenage son who she is forced to take in. The show stars popular Kyozo Nagatsuka as the boy’s lawyer and her romantic interest. The series also includes a lot of behind-the-scenes newsroom action and depicts the rivalry between the show’s director and producer, who are locked in a constant debate over whether new and variety are, or should be, one and the same.

News no Onna

For some reason i really like this dorama. I realize over these past few months i haven’t even posted or anything, and the dramas i watched lessened. This dorama news no onna was very heartfelt. I liked the how the storyline went and the end, it wasn’t a generic ending. Each episode had a profound meaning, and like the last episode it wasn’t always what you expected. Aso Tamaki the newscaster played by Suzuki Honami was really good. She was also really really pretty in my eyes. Although this drama is well over 10 years ago, portrayal of her was beautiful. And as i wikipedia her it seems news no onna was her second last drama, and it seems she just faded away sadly. It also came to my attention, that jdramas just aren’t what they used to be anymore for the most part. As time progresses, the viewers want something different and i guess that happens. There just doesn’t seem to be any heartfelt ones about everyday life as Hero, Slow Dance or Love Generation. It seems to me after a certain period from early 1990s to early 2000s the quality of Dramas aren’t as epic.

8.5/10

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