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wMar 18, 2007 | |
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the end. Right. So. Blogging more often. This weekend has been nice. I already wrote about Friday night. Since then, I've washed a load of laundry, changed the sheets on my bed, and have gone to church. Princess Tutu I finished watching the anime Princess Tutu. You may remember that I have squeed about it before. After watching the entire series (through Netflix), though, was it worth it? YES! The ending was excellent, and I ended up caring for characters for whom I previously hadn't. One of the cute things that I love about this series is that each episode is named after a different ballet/opera, and then features the musical score from that piece throughout the episode. I wasn't familiar with all of the storylines, but in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," for example, I noticed that several side characters were named after the ones in Shakespeare's play, and many actions and plot-points were lifted from the source material. All of my good comments were already made by me in the link I just gave, after watching the first DVD (I don't want to give spoilers!). I guess that the only critique I have of the series is the animation quality. The colors are just right, and the lines are crisp - it's not the drawing that's bad, but rather the motion, or general lack-thereof. When the characters dance, it's generally very beautiful. But otherwise, the camera moves around zooming on people's faces or panning across a background instead of having a character move. I expect it's a technique used to make money. In the same vein, the series gets pretty flashback-heavy toward the last few episodes, but it's tastefully done and adds to the story, so I forgive it. If you're looking for a new (but slightly old) series, then I recommend this one. Series Currently Airing in Japan I haven't seen enough of either series to make much of a comment about them, but we had a "sampler" evening during movie-time this week at Anime Club, and I found two series that I liked a lot: Pumpkin Scissors and Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi. I was already watching the series Nodame Cantabile before Saturday (it's pretty fun, but not gripping enough for me to devote time to stay caught up when I should be doing homework), and I found Saiunkoku Monogatari to be pretty "meh" despite the raving reviews I've heard from everyone and their mom. It's pretty, but....meh. Too bad I don't have time to watch any of these series!! Anyway, I've wasted lots of time somehow, and all I wrote about was anime series. How lame. Good night. Labels: anime: nodame cantabile, anime: princess tutu, anime: saiunkoku monogatari, anime: tenpou ibun ayakashi ayashi scribbled mystickeeper at 11:25 PM 
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wJan 10, 2007 | |
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Wheee! Today has been pretty good so far! I went to the dentist, had a hair cut, and paid my credit card bill. I am a new woman! (Actually, no....) Last night, I went to see Children of Men at the movie theatre with Jason and Tom. It was a pretty good movie. It has a slightly sci-fi premise, but it's very much grounded in a reality, and relevant to today's current geo-political events. Parts of the plot don't make sense, but there's enough there to make it enjoyable and exciting. I wouldn't recommend the movie if you don't like gore, though. Still, the characterization and themes make the movie worth seeing - the camera-work and craftsmanship make it outstanding. If you're looking for something different, I recommend it! After that, I hung out with Jason and Tom for a while, which was nice. We only rarely get to see each other, but as I've said many times in this blog - some people will always be your friends. Also, Jason and I were very excited to discover that we both love the band Tool, and specifically the song "The Pot." Anime Series: Princess Tutu Can I please tell you how much I love this anime?! I got the first DVD in the mail from Netflix, which contains the first 5 episodes of the series, and I have watched them all. It is so CUTE and so awesome! I would squee way too much, so I'll use Wikipedia to provide you with a coherent summary. "In many ways, Princess Tutu can be categorized as a typical shoujo anime and manga. The main character, Arima Ahiru ("ahiru" means "duck" in Japanese), gains a special brooch that allows her to sense when something is amiss, and turn into Princess Tutu to handle the situation. As typical with other shoujo series, the chapters and episodes for the most part follow a distinct pattern, in which the main character transforms into Princess Tutu and saves the day with her dancing." Jackie Squee: Yes, that's right. In this anime, there is no fighting with weapons or magical kaleidoscopes: they DANCE! Bwahahaha! Also, the voice actress for Ahiru really makes her voice sound just like a duck! However, although the anime appears to be a magical girl show, it is actually more a fairy tale and meta-fairy tale, which adds a twist to the formal structure. It draws together many disparate elements of myth, fairy tale, ballet, and opera. Like many fairy tales, it's rich in wordplay, with names and terms are assign different layers of meaning, often across multiple languages (particularly English, German, and Italian). The soundtrack is classical and romantic, and episodes are often named for their most prominently featured ballet movements. Princess Tutu is in many ways your typical shoujo title, it's also something more: like Revolutionary Girl Utena, it inhabits a world of both magic and myth. It also shares Utena's strong feminist themes and undertones -- Princess Tutu remains one of the few anime series that never panders to a poorly stereotypical portrayal of any kind of characters, good or evil. The heroine successfully blends the traits of a true hero and an ordinary person, until eventually there is no line in between the two. The major female antagonist defies genre categorizing, being simultaneously villainous, heartbreaking and heroic in her own way." This series makes me want to be a ballerina! I think that once I graduate from college and have a job, I'd like to take some kind of dance class, as well as sword-fighting or some kind of martial arts. Labels: anime, anime: princess tutu, friends, goals, movies scribbled mystickeeper at 2:42 PM
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