Moon Phase

Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase is a 25 episode series, with a 26th bonus episode (unrelated to the main story). FUNimation released the series as Moon Phase.

Moon Phase is a vampire anime. But instead of being totally bad ass like Hellsing, or sexy and Gothic like Vampire Knight, it's sickeningly cute (or it tries to be) but also too serious for its own good. I would have enjoyed it far better without the young vampire Hazuki/Luna, but then there wouldn't really be a story. Actually, I think there would, because the other characters are really interesting, there just wouldn't be a focus or a catalyst.

My problem with the show lies in its failed effort to balance overly cute characters with a serious story line. Ditch the idiotic and pointless random cat ears (and sometimes tails), have Hazuki look older than a 12-year-old (and act older than a 5-year-old), and it might actually be a decent show. The darker sides of the story (particulary Elfriede's past, Kouhei's latent powers, the disappearance of Kouhei's mother which I don't recall ever having been fully explained, or the also rather unexplained death of Hazuki's mother) would make a great show on their own, but they're over shadowed by too many goofy and over dramatic scenes.

Moon Phase follows freelance paranormal photographer Kouhei, who appears to be in his early 20s, and is a magnet for paranormal activity, even though he can't interact with it in any way himself. He can't even see the spirits that tend to congregate around him. He is also what is called the Vampire's Lover, which means he can't become a vampire's slave, and his blood has the power to free other vampires from their masters. While on a photo shoot of an old German castle he runs into Hazuki (also known as Luna, her more malignant alter ego), a teenage vampire who is being held captive in the castle. By drinking Kouhei's blood she frees herself and is able to escape the castle. As she is basically just a child, Kouhei takes her to his home to live with him and his grandfather Ryuuhei who owns an antique shop, and who is also a powerful spiritualist and exorcist. Many vampires are out to get Hazuki both for her power, and to bring her back under control at the castle. Kouhei and his family (which includes his grandfather, his cousin Seiji, his fiancee (by an arranged marriage) Kaoru, Kaoru's twin sister Hikaru (engaged to Seiji), and Yayoi, a power exorcist in the family) work to protect Hazuki from those who are out to get her. Along the way the vampire Elfriede, who once worked to capture Hazuki, switches sides and also helps to protect her.

I'm a bit bothered by how actively Kaoru and Hikaru, who look to be about 12-years-old, pursue their affections for the much older Seiji and Kouhei (particularly by Kaoru's persistent attempts to pull Kouhei's attention away from Hazuki by acting like a cat). On top of the obvious romantic sensibilities between 14-year-old Hazuki and Kouhei. I know that these sorts of relationships aren't as big of a deal in Japan as they are here, but it doesn't make me any less disturbed by them. Though I don't suppose a brother-sister relationship is really appropriate when the girl in question is "kissing" you once a month so she can suck your blood. I was also kind of annoyed by how often the story needlessly draws out certain plot twists or secrets, especially when they're so painfully obvious to the audience. Hiding it from the characters is one thing, but continuing to try and make it some absurd mystery to the audience when they already know the answer is unnecessary.

The animation is quite good, at least. Though it's got to have one of the most annoying opening songs I've ever heard. I also must mention again how much the cat ears that appear on the heads of various characters (mostly Hazuki) for no real reason (other than to look cute, I assume), and on random pieces of scenery, really annoyed me. Moon Phase isn't horrible, though it could be much better. Maybe the balance is better in the manga, but I doubt it. I wouldn't watch it in English though. Hazuki's English voice is probably one of the reasons I disliked her so much, and the same goes for Kaoru. I also wondered why "cute animal-like side kick" equals "speech impediment." I watched it on the FUNimation channel, so I didn't have the option to listen to it in Japanese. Unless annoyingly cute vampire lolita girls are your thing though, I wouldn't really bother.

School Rumble

School Rumble is a high school romantic comedy. To be frank, I don't think it has many merits. Jay, you probably shouldn't read this one; I may be about to rip it a new one and I know it's one of your favorites.

It's not a total failure. It does have some funny moments, though most are at the risk of complete absurdity. In fact, as the show goes on, it gets increasingly more absurd. I know it's difficult to discuss anime in the realm of reality, but School Rumble is a realistic show as far as anime is concerned (no magical girls, demon hunters, robots, or ninjas), but it also strays from reality so often that the show doesn't even make any sense for the most part.

The basic storyline is a series of love triangles (and quadrangles) involving the main characters. Tenma (the hyperactive ditzy heroine) is in love with Karasuma (a quiet mysterious boy), Harima is in love with Tenma (the "hero" of the show and a delinquent), Tenma's close friend Eri (a rich girl and, to be honest, a real bitch) is in love with Harima, Yakumo (Tenma's younger sister, a quiet girl who can read people's surface thoughts...or something) who also likes Harima, and Hanai (a hotheaded martial arts expert) who is in love with Yakumo. There's also Mikoto (a friend of Tenma's and another martial artist) and Akira (another friend of Tenma's with little going on). There are other characters with less focus, though they also add to the love triangles, as if there weren't enough (another boy in love with Tenma, a girl in love with a boy who loves Mikoto, and some crazy Mexican wrestling girl).

For a girl who holds the interest of two guys (one of them obsessively), Tenma has no special qualities to speak of. In fact she has no redeeming qualities at all, really. She's unintelligent (which is a nice way of saying she's a moron), one of the worst older sisters I've ever seen, a ditz, a klutz, completely dense, mostly useless, very plain, and unfortunately meddlesome. At least she's a decent friend (in that she cares about them). It's hard to see what the other guys see in her, though to best honest Harima isn't exactly a catch himself. He's a delinquent, gets into fights all the time, has a short temper, jumps to conclusions easily, gets caught in way too many unfortunate situations, and fulfills his fantasies with Tenma by drawing them out in a comic book instead of growing a backbone and just confessing to her already.

The story in School Rumble follows these characters through their day-to-day lives. Mostly it deals with unrequited love, incomplete confessions, great misunderstandings, school functions (like festivals and field trips).... Well mostly Harima's attempts to convey his feelings to Tenma, and Tenma's attempts to gain Karasuma's attentions. The rest of the show sort of revolves around the consequences of the actions (or inactions) the two main characters perpetrate.

26 episodes and nothing freaking happens. Relationships don't progress, no one confesses anything, story lines don't wrap up. Things just get more ridiculous and more complicated. Which is why, I assume, there are 2 more seasons. Though there's no reason it couldn't all have been resolved in a single season considering all the useless stuff that's in there that wouldn't be missed if it was removed (meaning it wouldn't really affect the story). There's no way I could sit through 2 more seasons of this stuff though, so I have no idea what ends up happening to everyone. Although looking over it...the third season is unanimated? Except for a couple of OVA episodes, it seems.

I'm willing to believe that part of the reason I have such a great dislike for this show is that I was only able to watch it in English on the Funimation channel. Because they don't hard sub their shows for television (I don't mean the dialog but the kanji and hiragana onscreen), I miss out on a lot of the Japanese characters that are scattered frequently throughout the series (like the thoughts Yakumo sees, or random word bubbles). On top of that the English dubbing is considerably less than spectacular, specifically for Tenma. At least they left the songs in Japanese. If you're interested, Funimation is hosting some of the episodes (including the first 8 of S1) from the first and second seasons on their website. They started releasing the second season of School Rumble on DVD late last year.

As for me, I'll stick with Azumanga Daioh.

First Rant of 2009

Sorry, I have some things I want to rant and rave about. :)

Number 1: Some crazy Senator from South Carolina wants to outlaw profanity. Like, everywhere. In public, in video games, in movies, in books, on TV....
The law would make it illegal "for a person in a public forum or place of public accommodation wilfully and knowingly to publish orally or in writing, exhibit, or otherwise make available material containing words, language, or actions of a profane, vulgar, lewd, lascivious, or indecent nature."
Which would basically ban...almost everything in existence from the state of South Carolina. This would make these acts a felony, with a maximum $5,000 fine or up to 5 years in prison.
Talk about having a stick up your ass. How would that even be enforceable? You know, if it wasn't in total violation of the First Amendment.
If you live in South Carolina, I suggest sending this guy a nice letter telling him to fuck off. I bet that would totally make his day.

I also wanted to comment on the increasing practice of releasing game demos as a pre-order bonus. Mostly I wanted to say...that it doesn't make any sense what-so-ever. The reasons I am seeing to justify this are that it creates your own personal army of game supporters, to go out and spread the word about how awesome your game is. Or that a company is so confident in their game that they want to show it to you early, even though you already decided to buy the game. Which is what confuses me. Why give your demo only to people who are already planning to purchase the game? Sure you can argue that you mostly just have to put 5 bucks down on these things, and you can switch that over to another reserve, or cancel the reserve, or whatever. Which is contrary to the purpose. Because I'm sure these companies expect that a pre-order = a purchase. Unless what they're saying is that they trust in their product so much that they're confident they can show you the game early, confident that this will make you more impassioned (for a game you already decided to buy), and will be...more sure to buy it? As opposed to...the demo being crap and you canceling your order? But...wouldn't you want as many people as possible able to check out your game, so that there are even MORE people who will immediately go out and buy the game? I should make it clear that what I'm talking about here are demo exclusives. Like the Killzone 2 demo being available only to those who pre-order the game from GameStop. Until one day before the game's release, when it will be released free to the public.
Which is fine. I mean, you don't really need to play a demo so far in advance of the game's release. The game won't be going anywhere once it comes out. It's just that the concept of handing out your demo only to people who are already planning to buy the game doesn't make any sense.

Next on my list is just a bit of news. Final Fantasy XIII won't see an American release until 2010. Kotaku has a nicely made image to go along with this announcement. I can't say I'm surprised it's getting delayed, though I was sure Square had mentioned at E3 that the game would get a simultaneous US/Japan release. And this contradicts that statement. But it's possible I'm imagining that promise and instead recalling a similar promise for the releases of Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant. Or that they simply said it would release simultaneously on the PS3 and 360 in America. Still.... They are porting the game to the 360 (which they've said they won't even start until the PS3 version in completed). And then there's the whole translating the game into English and redubbing everything. So I realize these games take a long time to make, but I also recall this game being announced back in like...2004.

Let's see.... Wrap things up here.... Circuit City is liquidating all of their stores, so go take advantage of their misfortune!
Also, please keep Keanu Reeves out of my Cowboy Bebop! I think the movie itself is pretty much confirmed, though it's still unclear whether Keanu is confirmed for the role or if he's just running around saying that he wants the role (more likely). I don't really mind the guy. He's a bad actor, but at least he knows he is. And for that reason I wish he'd stay away from the movie.

A slow start

If my lovely readers are still checking in, I'm sorry for a slow few weeks. I'm in the middle of several things, and once they're done I'll have some things to talk about again. Moon Phase and School Rumble are within a week or 2 of completion (Jay, I did decide to finish them, despite my early grumblings). Though due to some mail box and post office shenanigans the shows coming through on my Netflix list have been slow and a little mixed up. Was hoping to have both .hack//Sign and .hack//Legend of Twilight finished by now, but it's going to take a bit longer before I can get started on The Twelve Kingdoms.

The FUNimation channel is premiering a Tenchi Muyo spin off starting Monday morning: Sasami Magical Girls Club (9 am Eastern in between Peach Girl and Suzuka). Will be checking that out, and Suzuka when it comes around to the first episode again.

I still want to talk about Kuroshitsuji, and will do that later today or tomorrow. Also Telepathy Shojou Ran (I don't think I ever did a full review of the show), which I just finished. And I also want to make mention of Natsume Yuujinchou, a series with a second season now being shown on the website Crunchyroll (the first season should be hosted there as well). So I really do have plenty of things to talk about, I just need to put down the Xbox controller long enough to do so.

It's 2009!

Don't really have a lot to discuss today, but I'll go one by one here and talk about a couple things.

Finally sat down and watched the Iron Man movie. Robert Downey Jr. was very charming, and the movie was really well made. I enjoyed it, and I don't even like Tony Stark. In fact, I loathe him as a character. He's one of Marvel Universe's top 5 douche bags, right up there with Reed Richards the work-a-holic and Hank Pym the wife beater. Still, good movie, great origins set up. Though I did find the after credits ending with Nick Fury rather cheesy, and it felt really tacked on (it probably was). Sammy L. has really got the look down though, and seeing as how the Ultimates version of Fury was based on Sammy L. it wouldn't make sense if he didn't have the look right. Can't wait to see what they do down the line, particularly with their Kenneth Branagh directed Thor film. I could do without Ant Man, though....

For Christmas I received Beck Mongolian Chop Squad on DVD, which I have already reviewed here, and the first half of Ouran High School Host Club (which I don't think I've talked about yet). I won't do a full review of it now, but I do want to make note of the English voice overs, courtesy of FUNimation. Some of the characters, like the heroine Haruhi and the cool Kyoya are spot on. Others, like lead male Tamaki, are completely off. Also, in what I can only assume is an attempt to reach a larger audience, they re-recorded the opening and ending in English...and once again it sounds awful. I wish they would stop doing that, though I understand why it's done. Doesn't make it any less annoying.

Got a couple of new games. Several Sims 2 expansions (to be honest, I don't ever really play the game, I just build stuff). Chrono Trigger for the DS which I haven't gotten around to yet because I'm trying to finish Golden Sun 2 first. My fiancee got Civilization Revolution for the 360, and I've been messing around on that. It's a super simplified version of the game you play on the PC. His son got Guitar Hero World Tour with two guitars (we won't be getting the full kit), which I've played off an on. Got some books (A Lion Among Men, The Tales of Beedle the Bard) and movies (Get Smart, Sleeping Beauty, Sweeney Todd, The Red Curtain Trilogy, Stardust) and a copy of Lost Odyssey. Some cash and gift cards. Did pretty well, I think, though I haven't managed to get everything that was on my list. Missing Last Remnant and Prince of Persia, and the new Tolkien book.

Well, I hope everyone has a great 2009! I know 2008 ended pretty poorly, and 2009 has started out with a bang (literally), but I hope it gets better. At the very least, Bush will be out of the White House, and that's got to count for something. My fiancee is also quitting smoking, which is wonderful (it drives my allergies nuts). I don't have any particular goals yet for myself this year. Though I would like to get myself to read more novels, and get up off my butt every now and then. Anybody else do New Year's resolutions?

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

What can I say about Tsubasa Chronicle other than talk about how charming and fantastic it is. Every single episode is completely heartbreaking, yet it's a real joy to watch for just that reason.

Princess Sakura and young Syaoran are childhood friends (and you know where that tends to lead, and this series is no different). Syaoran's adoptive father was an archeologist for Sakura's kingdom but he died prior to the events in the series, and Syaoran has since taken up his father's work uncovering a set of vast ruins not far from the castle. One night as Syaoran is investigating some deeper parts of the ruins, Sakura appears, called there by some mysterious force. Syaoran thinks little of it, and is indeed happy to see her, until she activates some sort of seal and vanishes. Syaoran runs through the ruins to find Sakura floating in front of a similar seal, and arrives just in time to see wings sprout from her back. As she begins to slowly be absorbed by a dimensional portal, Syaoran jumps up to save her, knocking her to the ground and causing the feathers on her wings to scatter. Sakura falls into a coma and Syaoran learns that the feathers were Sakura's spirit, or more specifically, her memories. Without them she will fade and die. The king's adviser Yukito sends Syaoran off to visit the Dimensional Witch, where he arrives simultaneously with a mage named Fay and a warrior named Kurogane, both from separate dimensions.

The Dimensional Witch offers to aid the three (four if you count Sakura, but she's not the one asking for aid since she's unconscious). Syaoran wants to recover Sakura's feathers, Fay is running away from something, and Kurogane wants to return home. However the Witch doesn't do anything for free, and so she asks a steep price from each of them - the thing they value the most. Fay gives up a strange tattoo on his back, Kurogane gives up his sword, and (and this is the worst of all), Syaoran gives up all of Sakura's memories of him. This means that no matter how many feathers they find, and even once they have all of them, Sakura will NEVER remember who Syaoran really is, and will never remember the time they spent together. The Witch gives them a creature named Mokona in exchange, which teleports them across dimensions and can also detect the presence of Sakura's feathers.

What makes the series so heartbreaking is that Sakura really can't remember Syaoran at all. Often when a feather is returned to her, the memory associated with it will play in her mind...with a specific person conspicuously absent. She knows someone should be there, because she'll remember speaking to someone, but it's like she's talking to the air, or an empty chair. And anytime she starts to remember him, or tries to remember him, her mind locks up and she forgets what she was trying to remember in the first place. Nearly every episode brings tears to my eyes.

Aside from a really lovely story, the show is very well animated. It's a CLAMP series, and there are a lot of cross over characters from series like Cardcaptor Sakura, xxxHolic, Angelic Layer, X and Tokyo Babylon. The music is composed by Yuki Kajiura, who is probably best known as the composer for the Xenosaga video games (episodes 2 and 3), and the various .hack// anime series. In my experience with her music, she seems to be a bit of a one trick pony, using the same musical tricks and stylings over and over again in everything she does. Now, she does this VERY well, don't get me wrong; but it seems to be about the only thing she can do. Still, it's effective in this series, even if various themes are overused from time to time.

So far the series (in animated form) consists of 52 episodes (two 26 episode seasons), a three episode OVA, a movie, and another OVA that will appear in the spring of 2009. FUNimation has the license for the 52 episode series and the movie. FUNimation is still in the process of releasing the DVDs. Volume 10 will come out in just a few days, and covers up to episode 44. Volume 11 is scheduled for a February release. The movie has already been released alongside the xxxHolic film A Midsummer Night's Dream. To that effect, I have not seen the entire series. As usual, I watched it via the FUNimation channel, which only played the series through episode 26 (the end of the first season). Still, that was plenty enough to make me want to see the rest of the series. On that note, I should mention that the English dubbing is, for the greater part, well done. The only real objection I have is the voice of Sakura, which I have an extreme distaste for, particularly when she sings (it's Monica Rial, who seems to do fine when she's not doing airy, little girl voices). It's a strong show all around though, and I highly recommend at least checking out the first few episodes. The story secrets and plot twists are revealed very slowly throughout the series, and the pacing is pretty good, but this means you'll be a little clueless from time to time (and sometimes the characters are far slower on the uptake than you will be). If you're a CLAMP fan, then it's certainly a must see. I myself have only seen a few of their shows (Chobits, X, and now Tsubasa), and haven't yet read any of their manga (except a couple volumes of Chobits), but I've enjoyed each of them.

Image: Left to right are - Fay, Yuko (Dimension Witch), Black Mokona, Sakura, Syaoran, Mokona, Kurogane and Princess Tomoyo.

A Year of Disappointments

What is it with this year? The gaming industry has consistently failed to deliver. We were promised so many amazing games, teased with fantastic visuals and inventive ideas. But when they arrived, they were so much less than what we expected.

Fable 2 made lots of promises. Molyneux is a PR machine that is often out of control. Fable was lacking in many ways, and we were left wondering what had happened. Fable 2 was supposed to deliver what the first game missed, and some. What we got was the game that should have come out years before, and a lot of new features that fell flat. The on-line co-op was a disappointment, and the reasons offered (i.e.: Excuses) - mostly repetitions of "henchmen aren't heroes" - didn't make up for anything. Menu screen lags, a missing quick menu, a missing overhead map (meant to make the game easier for casual gamers...which doesn't make sense), more bugs and glitches than are acceptable, missing codes, and a list of other things. It was still a good game, but it should have been much more.

The Last Remnant is plagued by frame rate issues, long load times, and an over ambitious combat system.

Infinite Undiscovery just missed brilliance with it's overload of characters, unpolished cinematics, and an underused item creation system.

Animal Crossing was little more than a rehashing of a game that's already been done twice. The commercials make it look like the most boring game in existence. And if you're playing it for the third time, it might be an accurate depiction.

Mirror's Edge took a brilliant concept and dragged it through the mud with useless additions.

Prince of Persia at once returned to its roots and did away with them.

The Force Unleashed is entertaining but weak. Things we were promised, like bringing down entire star destroyers with the Force, flinging poor unsuspecting Storm Troopers off of ledges, and being a total unleashed bad ass, were less than fulfilling.

Lips, the 360's version of Sing Star, did not get the reviews I was expecting either. The basic summary is that it was very flashy and pretty, but it didn't incorporate the things that made the Sing Star games work so well. So it doesn't work as well.

Now I'm seeing disappointing reviews for Rise of the Argonauts. It could have been another God of War, but it seems to be plagued with too many problems. Nothing that should break the game or make it unplayable, but enough to make it not worth its $59.99 price tag. It might play better on the PC, where it's about 20 bucks cheaper. Otherwise it sounds like a fun game, that didn't quite meet expectations, and that would be worth picking up at some point after it drops in price. Which seems to be the case with a lot of games coming out this year, and that's very unfortunate and does not speak well for the industry.

One often wonders if they actually have people play test these things. And I mean people who actually play games and know what gamers like, not people who think they know what gamers like. Until companies learn that what they think gamers will like and what they really will like aren't the same thing, we'll continue to get mediocre releases and promising titles that just don't deliver. I hear GTA IV and Fallout 3 really rocked the house though, so there's still hope.