eveninghawk’s links

I finally got a chance to check out Tokyo Godfathers, a film from Satoshi Kon. I love this kind of movie because it’s layered in a haphazard way that unravels throughout the film. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the movie gives you just a little more.

The film is based on the 1948 movie “3 Godfathers,” and what better than this beautiful little plot premise:

Three homeless people — an embittered alcoholic, a middle-aged transvestite and a teenage runaway — find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I just can’t get enough good looking anime wallpapers. I suppose I’m a desktop wallpaper slut… I change them all the time and I just can’t get enough of them. That said, if this is the type of stuff that floats your boat, but you have discriminating tastes, I highly recommend DA! Desktop Anime + v.6.

I watched the DVD release of Get Backers vol 1 last night. The series is really a lot of fun. It’s a little frustrating that so early in the series there is a 3 episode adventure, since it seems a little detailed that early in the game, but the characters are quirky enough for it all to be worth it.

If you’re good with Japanese, you can check out TBS’s site on their series.

Last night I watched the last DVD in the Samurai X collection, titled Reflections.

All I can say is that the writing was good, it was a romance that was utterly tragic yet beautiful, and the artwork was great. One of the things I’ve really appreciated about the whole OVA/movie thing is that there’s a different artistic approach in each of them, a different style with the same characters, so a different visual exploration in each piece.

This last one was particulary neat because there are flashbacks to stories that take place in the original series (which I realized is airing Saturday nights on Cartoon Network at 10:30PM). The flashback is all reanimated using the style in Reflections, so it has a new feel, a new perspective.

Reflections is certainly more serious than the original series, as is the whole OVA collection, and I think it’s a fantastic set. The start with the history of Kenshin, and then an exploration of the final redemption of the character.

I have finished watching the OVA for Rurouni Kenshin, and watched the movie. I like the idea that this sequel is really a prequel, “finishing” some really interesting historical (for the character) information, and giving more complete character to a really exciting guy.

Finishing up with the movie was a good bonus for me, partly because it’s very pretty high quality animation.

Best of all, the whole thing leaves me with a real curiosity for how interesting Kawakami Gensai was, as he was the basis for the character Himura Kenshin.

I have had the chance to watch the first disc of Rouroni Kenshin Samurai X. The style departs from the original series to something more serious and in some ways darker. I like the focus of the story and the cross of history with fiction. There’s not too much for me to say except that I am drawn to interesting tales of mysterious swordsmen.

I did have a good reminder as I watched the dvd: the wonder of dvd is that the viewer can fiddle with language/subtitle settings. I still find myself confused and thrown by the language choice and voice talent choice for anime dubbing. The text is different from the subtitles, and seems to miss some of the subtleties. I may sound like a purist, because I know how annoying it can be to be distracted by reading subtitles, but I have run into this with all the languages I am capable of. Hollywood movies sound a bit absurd in their Spanish dubbing, and they sound equally strange with Chinese dubbing. Chinese movies sound abysmal dubbed into English, and much of the linguistic nuances are lost.

I imagine the same thing happens in trying to translate Shakespeare, for example. There are so many subtleties to the language that have to be tossed out the window for the sake of economy.

So I will state my bias right here: I don’t like it. I want the original “feel” with a key to try and gain my own insight and understanding. Then from there I have more of a chance to make sense of things for myself.

I started watching Get Backers on Anime Network’s On Demand selection, but I’ve tagged that onto my Netflix rental list, because I think I would be more excited by the original voices, and once I get my hands on the dvds I can try that out.

Today has been most exciting. First off Randy has made his goal and can quit his job to do Something Positive full time. That’s just too neat for words, and says a lot, to me, about the power of fans as well as the wonder of webcomics.

He also got mentioned in Neil Gaiman’s journal, which is neat and only enforces my point above about the wonder of webcomics.

What Neil also mentioned, if you go through that post, is some info about Howl’s Moving Castle, Miyazaki’s up and coming summer or fall movie. For me, this is bigger than any Hollywood movie news I could hope to see, so I’m pretty excited.

I will certainly be keeping an eye on nausicaa.net’s news updates to see what is going on.

I have watched eight episodes of Jubei-chan. It’s a very cute anime. The premise is yet another magical girl opening, and she has the pleasure to be linked with a samurai of 300 years ago. Of course, much fun ensues. What really draws me to this piece is that she’s a reluctant hero, and once transformed she looks like a pirate. The only remnant of cuteness is the heat-shaped eyepatch.

Another bit that I like here is the flexibility in animation style. The characters’ style varies with both importance and emoton. This is usually the case with SD, but here this reverts not only to SD forms, but also ultra simple sketch like forms more typical to Doraemon, and other cartoons from the 60s & 70s in Japan. (two other such shows are Xiao Xin and Xiao Wanzi, but I only know the Chinese names as I watch these shows in the afternoon here in Shanghai) This is something that feels fresh in its revival and gives another dimension to the storytelling.

My favorite character is Koinosuke. I know that he’s a pain through most of the series, but he has a tough tak trying to understand the modern world and honor his master while establishing a close friendship with Jubei-chan. Also, he doesn’t have a ridiculous ending. At the start of the series he wants to complete his mission and die. In the end, he completes his mission and dies. It seems like a fitting conclusion after more than 300 years roaming around. I like a man who can stick to his passions, even in the face of enormous “bon bons.”

Fine, he returns in the manga, but one can always leave things in the wonderful world of the first series.

Well well well, a blog that seems to tell things like they are. If you want to keep up on someone’s view of how things are going (and things do look pretty good), then take a gander at tokyojupiter: blog. Mighty interesting. Today there are shots from a Sailor Moon live action series. *runs and hides under bed*