Ultimate Nullifier

Comic Convention: Day 2

2006-09-05T15:27:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay, took me a while to get all the materials ready.

The most interesting event on the second day has to be the masquerade. Unfortunately for us they screwed up big time this year and we didn't get to watch it. From what I've heard they were suppose to give out tickets for the masquerade at a certain time. But for some reason they started giving them out hours before the scheduled time, leaving the crowd in a state of confusion and chaos.

What we did instead is simply walk around the masquerade area and take pictures of those with the courage to dress up as their favorite character.

Lets start with something refreshing!

No wonder people said this guy can use up to 90% of his brain.

Logan: Why Jean? Why do you have to be so heavy!

Trust me, I had to risk my life to take this picture. It eats children for fun!

"These ninjas and samurais are no match against me!"

I'm more curious about what the guy behind is staring at

A hardcore Earthbound and Ness fan

Now thats the definition of HARDCORE

I am your master! Now serve me bi**hes!

and last but not least

Never in the history of mankind have we seen 3 human beings so dangerous teaming up!

Comic Convention: Day 1

2006-09-02T01:50:00.000-04:00

Today (as in fri sept 1st) is the first day of the anual fan expo (which involves anime, comics, sci fi, horror, and games)

After waiting in line for about an hour we finally got in. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to look around as I have to take off to see the much anticipated Video Game music concert.

The first 10-15 mins of was sort of like an intro to the concert as they played music from old school games like Duck hunt, Ghouls and Ghost, Pong, etc.... they spend roughly 1-2 mins per game.

They then moved on to longer segments featuring music from more recent games. This includes metal gear solid, god of war, kingdom hearts, halo (and a few other ones which slip my mind). And of course other classic songs are included as well such as sonic, warcraft, castlevania, mario, and zelda.

Throughout the whole show, they showed clips of the respective game on the big screen to give the audience an idea of what the game is like (if they haven't played it already). However I feel they didn't do a really good job putting the video together. A lot of the clips they used are the most recent carnation of the games. For example, when they are playing music from warcarft, all you see on the screen are clips from world of warcraft, showing no respect for the older versions which started it all. They actually have the guts to not show a single clip featuring the original nes super mario bros (its all from snes and later). Then again, the video is not the main feature of the show so i can deal with that.

Personally I really enjoyed those classic game songs. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the more recent ones. They don't seem to understand that some music works great with an intense action scene but doesn't cut it when its on its own (eg. metal gear solid). Or some song sounds almost identical to the ones from the actual game as if they've forgotten that a good amount of game music these days are done by orchestra in the first place....

They did give us a pleasent surprise by inviting a really special guest to the show. I'm sure some of you have seen video clips online of this dude playing mario music on his piano while blindfolded. Well, he was there and he proved that he is indeed a beast by playing main themes from various final fantasy, tetris, and mario.
Throughout the night there was a guy in the audience who kept requesting earthworm jim. The orchestra doesn't know that song so he is out of luck....or is he? The host joked that the piano dude probably knows it and guess what, this guy played a sick earthworm jim song on the piano.

Before the show started I jokingly predicted that Halo will be featured as the "main event" and stated that we should walk out immediately if that was the case.
We were the first people to leave the building....

Day 2 should be more interesting (will feature pictures). Bring on the costumes, nerds, and fan girls!

The man who slaughters demons while wearing only his underwear

2006-08-28T02:40:00.000-04:00

In case you have no clue as to what I'm talking about, this is about the new psp game: Ultimate Ghouls and Ghost.

After 15 years, Arthur has once again entered the demons village (a rough translation of makaimura) to save the princess. But what exactly did he do during these past 15 years? Find out for yourself (note that the video is in japanese)

I do own the game. However I don't believe a review is necessary for this game. The basic concept of this game is almost identical to the previous ones. Meaning its extremely hard and frustrating. If one day I manage to beat this game without cheating, then I'll write something about it.

anime review (finally?): Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu

2006-08-23T01:33:00.000-04:00

Finally! Rickstar has come back to the Nullifier!

Yes, I have not forgotten about this place, but it does not change the fact that I've abandon my duties for over 5 months . I apologize for that.

Note that the following review contains spoilers for this specific anime.

What we got here today is a recent anime that was (and still is) a hit amongst anime viewers. It captured the heart of manys with its characters and unique story line.

The story revolves around the SOS brigade, consisting of 5 highschool students each with unique capabilites and past, going through numerous and sometime stragne events. It ranges from playing baseball to fighting aliens. Of course there is a twist to it, otherwise it wouldn't be that popular.

Although this anime is named after the heroine, Suzumiya Haruhi. The actual main character is in fact a normal high school student (male) named Kyon. The entire show is seen from his perspective.

Of the 5 members, Kyon is....well, lets just say the most normal one. He often acts as the common sense of the group and prevent the group from going out of control. What makes him so interesting is that as the ep goes on, he often narrates (in his mind) the situation, in a down to earth yet not so positive manner. For example, when other characters says they want to go look for UFO and aliens, he'll think "what in gods name is she doing. Theres no way such thing exist, just give it up." In a sense it makes fun of the typical comedy anime characters and story.

Suzumiya Haruhi on the other hand is outrageous, unresonable, dangerous, etc....
She sees the world as something boring and is constantly in search for something fun and entertaining. However, her idea of fun is not something a normal human being can handle. Stuff like a murder at an isolated island, aliens, espers, time travellers, etc.... are what she considers fun. The main problem is that it was hinted (and somewhat proven) that she could be the creator of their world and can alter reality according to her desire. If she really wants someone to be able to shoot laser beam out of their eyes, it could happen. However, she is unaware of this ability and thus not able to create/alter everything she wishes for.

The remaining 3 members are basically the result of Haruhi's wishes. Before she form the SOS brigade, she stated that she wanted to meet and hang out with aliens, time traveller, and esper.

Asahina Mikuru is a cute and sexy (according to the show) looking girl who happens to be a time traveller who came back in time to observe Haruhi. She is the mascot of the brigade and is often forced (by Haruhi) to put on various costume for various reasons. Other then that, she is fairly useless.

Nagato Yuki is a alien made human(oid) to observe Haruhi. She is a quiet person who usually just sits at a corner and read novels. However she is usually the one who saves kyon or the group from trouble. In terms of ability, if Haruhi is rated as god level, then Yuki will be Jesus level. She has the ability to change the "info" of our world and alter her surroundings at will. Think Neo from Matrix and you'll understand.

Koizumi Itsuki is also here to observe Haruhi. And as you can guess, he is the esper Haruhi desires. He is the one who provides most of the info regarding Haruhi as his ability is related to her. His esper ability is mainly for combat and can only be used at a certain time and place. Judging from a few eps, I'd assume that he is the bishounen (good looking dude) of the group.

Overall this is a very interesting anime as it steps away from your typical comedy and looks at all these sci fi/fantasy events and characters from a different point of view. The quality of the animation and attention to details is amazing as well. Parodys of other anime are often found as well.

The character design (appearance wise) isn't something impressive and earth shattering. It has a strong anime feel to it but works pretty well along with the comedy.

After the first few eps you'll notice that the eps are not shown in chronological order. Ep 1 is in fact ep11, ep 10 is actually 4, ep 6 is 9, etc....though confusing at times, it actually generates a sense of curiosity. Ep 1-6 reveals most of the background story of characters and later eps focus on them going through various events as a group, which often touches on certain events from the not yet shown earlier eps.

I would give it 4.5 Rickstars out of 5. A breath of fresh air in the field of comedy with a unique presentation. The only downfall is some story and events are somewhat predictable (meaning it has been done before)

Highly recommended

Sequential Narrative and Information Design Solutions : part one

2006-08-17T12:38:00.000-04:00

(alternative title: the Grand Comics Unified Theory of Awesomeness)

Over the next few weeks I'll be putting up a research essay I made earlier this year for my Design class. I thought it might be neat putting this up on U.N. since it allows images and links, which makes for an interesting read versus a stuffy old essay paper.

Theres alot of ground to cover so lets get right down to the nitty-gritty. Part One deals with the Thesis, introduction to terms and the first arguement.

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The legitimacy of comic books has in recent years been a topic of much heated debate. This has been further compounded given the mass media attention and growth in the variety of content and talent in the field. This essay does not attempt to defend or stake the claim of the medium as being Art, to say nothing of comics as being simply worthy of academic study. Instead the intent of the following pages is to examine the similar solutions that are found both in the medium of comics and the discipline of graphic design.

By examining the core problem inherent in both comics and graphic design, and then by citing analogous solutions offered by Edward R. Tufte’s, Envisioning Information and Scott McCloud’s, Understanding Comics, the argument ‘ Comics and Graphic Design Utilize the same solutions’ will be proven true. An analysis of Tufte’s solutions will draw direct comparison to McCloud’s comics theory, specifically, ‘Small Multiples’ and Blood in the Gutter, ‘Layering and Separation’ and Show and tell and finally, ‘Micro/Macro Readings’ and the complete comics package. These principals will be demonstrated to be evident in the case study of Alan Moore’s, Watchmen, with accompanying examples provided by Jeff Smith’s, Bone and Paul Pope‘s Escapo.

Definitions

It would first prove useful to establish the terms that will be used throughout the paper. The concern here is to define what comics and graphic/information design is, so that the common links between them can be found.
Comics
Scott McCloud spends much of the 215 page work, Understanding Comics defining the medium. The extensive examination breaks down comics into its various parts, which will then be discussed in the following pages. For the purposes of defining ‘what is comics’ McCloud provides this description:
comics - juxtaposed pictoral and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce and aesthetic response in the viewer ( pg 9, McCloud )

It should be noted that McCloud includes the written word, or language as image as well - branding type as a kind of ‘icon’ (pg 161. McCloud). McCloud neatly summarizes the above explanation for comics as ‘Sequential Art’.

Graphic Design/Information Design

Graphic or Information Design is described as visual communication, choosing and making marks on a plain to communicate a message. The marks may be letterforms (typography) or of other media such as illustration or photography.

The two definitions suggest that both disciplines involve communication through the use of word and image - it is this shared link that ties both graphic design and comics together. If it can be said that the essential end goals are the same - then the problems that they face in reaching the objective should be the same as well.

Problem

According to Tufte, there is ultimately only one problem that the graphic designer must face, ‘escaping flatland’ (Tufte pg 12):

Escaping this flatland is the essential task of envisioning information - for all the interesting worlds, (physical, biological, imaginary, human) that we seek to understand are inevitably and happily multivariate in nature. Not flatlands. (Tufte pg 12)

Tufte refers to the single plain that a designer faces either working on the page or screen. The problem in other words, is how to display information on a surface - whilst being clear, efficient, but more over than that to connect with the viewer and relate to the complexities of life. Articulating this information is the responsibility of the graphic designer.

The same problem exists for those who wish to create comics. The writer and artist (sometimes the same person) must also work towards escaping the flatland of the printed page. The comics creator attempts to construct all the components that compose form our lives, just as Tufte suggests, ‘physical, biological, imaginary, human’ to which we might add power and fantasy, emotion, architecture as well as anything else that can be placed into comics. Interestingly enough, comics creator Paul Pope describes the medium as being a design container, in which a multitude of things can be placed. (Pope pg 14)

Broadly speaking, to bestow a piece of design or a work in comics with a sense of life and humanity requires adding a greater sense of dimension then the singular flatland of the page. The goal is to add a sense of depth and form to the page, not through illustrating proper perspective, but by utilising the tools that are unique to design and comics offered by Tufte and McCloud, which the following will further discuss, starting with Small Multiples (Tufte) or Blood in the Gutter (McCloud).

Small Multiples or Blood in the Gutter

If the problem that both Graphic/Information Design and Comics share is that of, ‘how to display dimension and time to flatland’, then one of the possible solutions suggested in the early chapters of Tufte’s, Envisioning Information, ‘Small Multiples’, is a useful starting point for discussion. ‘Small Multiples’, can be favourably compared to McClouds chapter ‘Blood in the Gutter’ in, Understanding Comics.

This is an example of what Tufte describes as, ‘Small Multiples’, he goes on to describe the concept as a large body of possibilities (Tufte 68). Repetition and consistency are key in relating one image to the next, a necessity to orient the viewer. This repetition also serves to exaggerate the small differences from panel to panel, muting the constant forms and highlighting the variations. These differences are often small, incremental changes. The example not only is the kana character demonstrated in progressive steps, but also shown from an alternate view point - the above showing the character’s creation (an example of how the characters should look) but also another perspective to indicate the required pressure necessary to execute the letterform. A collection of options that when strung together show progress - ‘small multiples’.

Similarly, McCloud in chapter 3 of, Understanding Comics discusses what is at the heart of comics, panel construction or rather the space between, ‘Blood in the Gutter’.

McCloud offers six variations on how to parse out panel to panel transitions. Movement to Movement(1) and Action to Action(2) most immediately resemble Tufte’s kanna example. The following transition categories closely resembles Tufte’s, ’small multiples’ : subject to subject, scene to scene, aspect to aspect and the non-sequitur offer a variety of perspectives and options on the same information (or specifically in the case of comics, narrative) which in turn generate a greater understanding of the larger work. This will be explored further in the final section, the culmination of all of these principals entitled , ’Micro/Macro Readings’.

In chapter 8 of Alan Moore’s, Watchmen, entitled ‘Old Ghosts’ the same panel layout is used to establish a sense of rhythm, or to situate the reader. Much of the comic utilizes a nine panel grid, ‘Old Ghosts’ adheres to this format with the exception of the above selected sequence, instead adopting a six panel grid that accompanies a large ‘wide-screen’ panel at the bottom of the page.

This format continues for seven consecutive pages, each time, the above, cramped panels contain the confined claustrophobic life of tired city dwellers, and more appropriately, the restricted living situation of prison inmates. Each of the larger panels describe the events of the two ’larger than life’ heroes, and the fantastic air craft which will soon assist in liberating one of their imprisoned comrades. ‘Small Multiples’, are at work by first acclimatizing the reader to the mundane squalor of life in the grim, futuristic New York, and then accenting or interrupting this rhythm with the grand super-heroics of the larger panel. According to McCloud’s panel to panel transitions, this sequence would fit under category four, ‘Scene-to-Scene’:

Deductive reasoning is often required in reading comics such as in these scene-to-scene transitions, which transport us across significant distances of time and space. (McCloud 71)

The use of time and space is a required component if design and comics are to escape flatland - small multiples or the six categories of panel to panel transitions is just one of the ways in which the solutions resemble each other for comics and graphic design.

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OK! Well thats it for this post, stay tuned in the following weeks for part two: ‘Layering and Separation’ and 'Show and Tell'.

Cosplay hits the World/Universal Stage

2006-07-26T19:13:00.000-04:00

I find the Miss Universe pageant strangely compelling.

On one hand, its devastatingly redundant, with toothsome smiles, pre-packaged questions, poor choreography and annoying hosts.

Then again, theres alot of attractive women, so the two almost cancel each other out. Almost.

If you watched this years show, you may have taken notice of Miss Japan's national costume. Typically, this is an oppurtunity for the delagates to get up in something representative of thier country - which usually results in floatilla-like affairs.

(i tried to find a suitable picture to demonstrate what I'm talking about but looks like good ol' google is letting me down)

Which is why Japan's ninjasamuraibikinithingamajigger stands out so much:

Less about how much crap you could stick on a dress and more about having a cool design and approach. Plus - she has a kitana.

I suspect Capcom created her costume and we'll soon be seeing a game featuring her slicing demon delagates next year.

WE HAVE NOT BEEN NULLIFIED

2006-07-16T23:23:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody, after several months of non-posting, we're back.

Despite the various responsibilities and distractions I've had, the Nullifier hasn't been far from my thoughts. There are a handfull of in-progress articles and reviews that have been started over the past months, and in the coming weeks we'll be making an effort to get back to regular content.

Notes

2006-06-19T13:11:00.000-04:00

In preparation for a series based on graphic design and comic books, I'm including the bibliographical notes made when this was submitted as an essay. This is more or less for the sake of keeping things on the academic 'up and up', although in the wild frontier of the internet, this type of hoop jumping is entirley unecessary thanks to linking to sources.

It'd be nice if one day we do away with this stuffy process of citing works and embrace the advantages we have in the digital age.

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McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: Paradox Press, 1993.

Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. New York: DC Comics, 1987.

Pope, Paul. Escapo. Ohio: Horse Press, 1998

Smith, Jeff. Bone: Eyes of the Storm. Ohio: Cartoon Books, 1996

Tufte, Edward R. Envisioning Information. Connecticut: Graphics Press, 1990.

Bernard, Mark and James Bucky Carter. Alan Moore and the Graphic Novel: Confronting the Fourth Dimension. ImagedText: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies. 2004. http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/volume1/issue2/bc/

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Random rant: video games.....and more video games

2006-03-06T22:46:00.000-05:00

I actually considered doing a review, but simply couldn't find the time (too lazy in other words)

I recently started playing Disgaea 2 for PS2. After hearing from various people and sites that Disgaea is a decent game and realizing how popular it is in Japan, I decided to give it a shot. Not having played the first Disgaea I was a bit worried if I'll have trouble understanding the story line. Luckily the story of Disgaea 1 and 2 are seperate. Though some characters from the first game does show up.

After going through the tutorial and playing a few hours of the actual game, I realized I might never finish this game as it consumes way too much time. For most rpg games, the highest level your characters can go is 99. This damn game goes way beyond that number. It is possible to go into the hundreds or even THOUSANDS!. Thats right folks, you can level up your character all the way to say lv 1500.

The game itself is a turn base strategy game which works very similar to the liks of FF Tactics. The character and maps are mostly hand drawn (meaning 2d). Like other games, you go through stages/maps defeating enemies and going through the story. Seeing how characters can go up to lv 1000, its obvious that players can revisit previous stages to lv up.

Other then the normal maps, they added this thing known as item world. Each item (weapons and armours) has its own world which consists of 30 maps. What makes it harder is the fact that you can not leave nor save while going through those 3o maps unless you have a certain item.

Another thing I really like is you actually have to work for better items. In most games, you get better items as the story progresses. But in disgaea you have to propose this to the demon senate. If they approve then you'll get to purchase better items. There are many other weird suggestions you can propose to them. Since they are all demons and monsters, theres no such thing as illegal or playing dirty. Bribe them, beat them up, do whatever you want to get the senate on your side.

I'll save my thought and impression on the character design for next month when the anime version comes out in April.

hmm.....felt like I could've just copy and paste the reviews from some video game sites.......

Atlus has become one of my fav video game company ever since they announced they are releasing Super Robot Wars OG 1 &2 in NA. If you like turn base strategy or mechs or both, please give this game a try.

Rez

2006-01-31T20:50:00.000-05:00

Today I'd like to discuss Rez. For those of you already in the know - this is passe', but for the uninitiated, I'm hoping that this will be timely given the current status of the video game industry. Specifically, Rez is an interesting example when considering current genre popularity and consequently graphics and the often discussed 'next-generation'.

Released originally for the Dreamcast and designed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, in 2002 Rez made it's way to the Playstation 2, sometime close to the debut of Sony's new system. As is often the case with games and other media (commercial or otherwise) that attempt to push boundries, Rez went largely unnoticed by the general public. Likely due to the fact that Rez didn't feature those 'next gen' (at the time) graphics that everyone was looking for, instead turning to games that strived for a greater sense of representationalism that every new game system promises.

The same thing happened to Nintendo's latest iteration of Zelda, 'Wind Waker'. By now the story is infamous : when Nintendo released the first video images of thier (then) new system, The GameCube, fans were dazzled by what they saw. In particular, a brief clip of what appeared to be the next Zelda game. It was like Pixar had taken Toy Story and removed all the toys and Randy Newman, substituting them with a Green Elf-Man and Ganon. Maybe this was a kind of validation for all those who had held on to Zelda for so long - that maybe if he looked 'realistic' it would justify liking these games. Thats why when 'Wind Waker' dropped, the collective hearts of the Nintendophiles sank - it was like a spit in the face. It was the exact inverse of what the democlip had falsely promised, Link was a Adventurous Little Elf-Boy rather than the Glorious Green Elf-Man, the world was bright and cartoony - 'Wind Waker' was obviously made for kids. Much posting of outrage on message boards followed, but it didn't change the fact that WindWaker, while beautiful in it's own cel-shaded way - wasn't 'keepin' it real' and therefore was something to be abhored and avoided. *

The story of Rez and Wind Waker sum up nicely the state of affairs regarding the current generation: it just doesn't pay to try and make a highly abstracted visual representation of the world in games.

Fast forward to 2005/2006, now on the verge of a new era of gaming - and you might find that sensibilities are swinging in the favour of Rez and Wind Waker.

In a funny turn of events, the same reasons why people were turned off by Rez are probably the same reason why it is held in such high regard today. I don't know if you noticed or not, but there are alot of shooters in the market today, if your not trying to be a HALO killer, your likely sports related, or (shudder) urban. Which is all well and good for the industry - in the sense that it rakes in the dough - however, people are getting burnt out by the same ol' same ol.

Video Games had become stagnant.

When Katamari Damacy hit, myself, along with many of the gaming community, and the general public, found it to be a breath of fresh air. But after playing the shit out of it, there really wasn't anywhere else to go. I was hungry for more - not more Katamari, but more that feeling of newness, something original and exciting.

Enter Synasthesia, the fictional landscape (or cyberspace?) that Rez contains within:

Hey - there's something wrong with my game! It's all wire frame graphics, the textures and mapping, it's mising!

At the root of Rez is a tangent that branched off from the old school history of games.

Rember those old Marvel comics, 'What If?', each comic was a contained story, with stories like 'What If Captain America became President?'. Wikipedia describes the concept as:

(having) proceeded from a particular point (a 'point of divergence') depicted in Marvels comic line and extrapolated what would happen as a result of that changed event

Rez asks the question, 'What If Video Games developed into a sensory experience?'. Rather then progressively moving towards narrative and cinema (video games as we know them today), what would have happened had games taken the example first set by Centipede, Tempest and Asteroids? These games were graphically stark and abstract due to the limitions of the technology. Rez proposes a game where abstraction is not an imposistion of the hardware but rather an asthetic choice - one that feeds into the theme of the game, sensory experience.

As mentioned above, Rez doesn't take place on earth, or the mushroom kingdom, rather a tecnological/conceptual world called 'Synaesthesia' - this is the first hint at the thematic goals of the game. Synaesthesia, refers to the application of the senses parallel and in compliment to one another. The idea of associating feelings of pain with the colour red and a shrill sound is an example of synaesthesia.

Rez endeavours to employ senses when you play (minus smell and taste). While you marvel at the pulsating graphics you are also reacting to the vibrating controller which is in synch with the techno-beats playing in the background. The senses are stimulated all in unison, subconciously your mind begins to make the connections between sight, touch, and sound and by extention the concept of Rez is illuminated.

Taken in as a whole, the seperate elements that compose Rez, the audio, visuals and the tactile form a satisfying sense of unity. Amongst the luminous examples of great literature, true cinema and moving music, you will find the same comprehensive commitment to harmony. That being said, it is worth disecting Rez once more, this time in terms of it's secondary theme, Layers.

At this point it would be appropriate to describe the gameplay of Rez. Every stage starts off in a similar fashion, you enter the stage - floating as the stage moves across a set path.Visually, the screen is vast empty black space. A dull beat begins, constant and droning, and soon a few enemies appear - clearly the need to be shot down. Pretty straight forward, maybe even boring stuff. This changes when you lock onto your first set of targets, fire off your laser and take down those first few adversaries, suddenly the concept becomes evident. At every point, from the locking on, to the firing of lasers and destruction, there is a seperate and distinct sound for each which then somehow matches the beat of playing in the background.

Soon the tempo changes, quickening , the enemies increase cluttering your vision, your grip on the controller might increase, as it seemingly wants to leap from your hands at every beat, and the graphics become progressively more complex. As Rez deliberatly evolves in its aural and ocular intricacy, so too will your onscreen avatar. Initially a humanoid form, you advance to newer forms, eventually into a posture resembling Buddhist prayer. The idea of progressing both through the stage in levels, deeper into the fictionalized system and complexity is echoed by the same evolution that takes place with your changing character. Interstingly - the game calls both of these examples 'levels', - further reinforcing the theme of unity through layers.

The idea of layers takes on further importance when you consider the narrative, visual and musical choices in Rez.

Although plot and storyline are never explained at length, the instruction manual alludes to an intelligent computer system, and a need to crack it. Its the kind of post - Blade Runner plot that has become all the rage in recent years. Broadly speaking, a fear that an increase in technological sophistication might spell doom for humanity.

Rez supports it's story with complementary visuals, at once drawing upon Tron,Hackers and The Matrix for it's computer interface/streaming code/vector art aesthetic. Furthermore, as players progress through the stages, an added sophistication of the imagery emerges.

Similarly, the music always starts at a simple, droning pace which progresses in levels, introducing new synthesized sounds culminating in the maturation of a full on piece of music (which the player is a participant in creating as he plays). Music is worth further examination as Mizuguchi has always been an advocate for synergistic relationships between it and gameplay. This, compounded by the fact that Rez is a game based around Techno/Electronica implies layers in its construction.

It is fitting then, that a video game meant to explore the possiblities of the medium would include the idea of 'levels' not only in the design of gameplay areas, but as a current that runs through every facet of it's architecture, visually, sonically, and in tactillity.

As our current generation of video games comes to a close, it would benifit game designers to look at this past cycle and examine both it's sucesses and failures.Where Rez might have failed as a commercial product, it succeeded not meerly as an experiment, but as a complete experience.

For further information on Rez I'd recommend Gamegirl Advance (for further examination into the tactile side of things) and also IGN for some great images from the game.

* Personally, I enjoyed Windwaker almost soley upon the merits of its visuals, since gameplay wise there were a few problems.

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"Watching TV" and "Watching anime"

2006-01-31T04:49:00.000-05:00

I'm sure all of you have been asked the question "what are you doing now" or "what are you up to". Most of you must have answered "watching tv" at least once in your life. But what exactly does "watching tv" refer to?

This is something that has poped up in my mind before but haven't given it any detailed thought. So I figured its time to dig into the meaning of "watching tv" and "watching anime".

If someone asks you what "watching tv" means or what it consist of, most of you will probably give a list of the types of shows that are available.
The list will look something like:
- sports
- drama
- romance
- reality
- adult (you know what I mean)
- comedy
- cartoon for kids
- cartoon for adults (family guy, south part, etc...)
- horror
- sci fi
- informative (news, weather, discovery, etc....)
- anime
- action
- fantasy

Based on this list, "anime" can be considered an answer for "what are you watching"

Now we move on to what anime consist of.
Based on the 10+ years I've spent watching anime, I believe I can provide a fairly good list regarding types of anime out there.
- sports (though most of them barely qualify as sports)
- comedy
- romance
- horror
- sci fi
- drama
- action
- adult
- kids
- fantasy

If we compare the two lists, you will notice a lot of similarities between the two. Hence making "anime" a somewhat awkward answer for the question stated earlier. What this tells us is that anime has developed to the point where it holds the same amount of variety as live action shows does. What I'm trying to say is that the general public has very little to no knowledge on what anime consist of. Most parents or even younger kids are unaware of the other 80% of anime which didn't make it to the NA market. They assume anime is basically characters with big eyes and fancy outfits and they fight using some sort of super natural abilities, which is not true at all.

With that being said, I believe the way we view tv and anime should be changed. Instead of anime being part of "TV". I believe TV should be branched into live action and animated, as illustrated in the diagram below.

And both live action and animated will have their own types of shows.

Without going totally off topic, I'll like to share a recent conversation between myself and Okama_King, the owner of this blog. We were discussing about this very same topic and I mentioned that if there are anime convention then why not live action convention. Okama replies saying there are ones for star trek, buffy, and xena, just not live action in general. He went on to state that anime is different becuase it lets its viewers to cosplay as the characters in the show. Meaning that anime has more unique looking characters and costume. However, that is a misconception of what anime is. If you pay close attention to the cosplayers (I know that may or may not be entertaining), you will notice most cosplayed characters comes from only a hand full of series out of 20-30 of them. Similar to live action, a good portion of anime character are dressed in normal clothing, making it pointless to cosplay.

So, what I wanted to tell you guys is that anime is no longer about fancy clothing and super natural power battles only but a mixture of everything and should be treated equally with live action.

Fate/Stay Night

2006-01-23T01:25:00.000-05:00

After taking a month long break, I've finally decided to contribute to this blog once again. Call me a lazy bum if you will, I won't deny it.

Yesterday was a historic day for Kobe, the Raptors, and the NBA as Kobe drops 81 pts on the Raptors. During the game I wasn't rooting for the Lakers nor the Raptors, but for Kobe only. It was truely a historic game.

A few anime series ended in the past week or two, thus giving us some new series once again. One of them being Fate/Stay Night. For those who are unfamiliar with this title, this is created by Type-Moon, the same people who brought you Tsukihime. Although Fate/Stay Night does exist in the same universe as Tsukihime but there are no links between the two story. So don't expect to see any characters from Tsukihime in Fate/Stay Night or vice versa.

Similar to Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night originated in the form of a PC H-game. But with its unique and entertaining characters, it became a big hit. Not just amongst H-game fan but anime/manga fan in general. Though the story itself does hold some entertainment values, but the main focus is on the characters, or the female leads to be exact.

The show starts by introducing the whole "war for the holy grail" concept. Like many legends, this grail will grant a person fame and fortune or even any wishes he/she has. In Fate/Stay Night, only seven people have the chance of obtaining this grail. Each of these seven people will be granted one of the following seven types of "servant": Saber, Lancer, Archer, Berserker, Caster, Assasin, and Rider. Well, the word "granted" is not exactly correct since they have to summon these servants through magical means. Meaning if you lack the skills in the field of magic, the chances is your servant won't retain the proper abilities he/she has. The main objective is to eliminate all but your own servant. When that occurs the grail will accept you as the one worthy of being its owner.

Emiya Shirou, the main male lead of the show, was shown to be involved in certain incident when he was still a kid. He was badly injured but fortunately was resuced by a man who later adopted him. This man is later revealed (well, in the first ep) to be a sorcerer. Whether he knows anything or was involved in the previous war for the grail is unknown for the moment. After being rescued by his new "father", Shirou decided to study magic and become the ally of justice. It does sounds corny but its something he truly believes in. A very respectable goal I must say. If only he lives in the world of super robots...Unfortunately, Shirou has close to no talent when it comes to magic. As most of you can guess, he somehow becomes one of the participant for the war for the grail and his servant turns out to be a beautiful looking female.
Now they must go on to face the other 6 pairs of participants.

As I said before, the story is not the selling point of this anime but rather the characters themselves. I'm not trying to take anything away from the actual story line, but the relationship between characters seems to be more entertaining. If you are sick of those typical romance comedy anime but wants a harem anime with a serious/darker story along with fighting and killings, this will be the one to go for.

Tiempos Finales (End Times)

2006-01-22T10:01:00.000-05:00

(note: this was originaly posted during the holiday season but had to be uploaded and re-edited again due to some font problems)

Seeing as how it's the holiday season, what better way to celebrate then to discuss a comic about a Chilean demon hunter? Today, we'll be looking at Sam Hiti's, 'Tiempos Finales: End Times'.

Talking at length about End Times betrays the spirit of the book, which is told mostly through pure image. It's a testament to the power of Hiti's art that he can communicate story, pacing and mood without using words.

Hiti takes his time, the above page is part of an 8 page sequence where Mario Roman, our hero, makes his way down to the town of San Pablo to tussle with some demons. Sometimes going the wordless route can be a tricky thing, as a reader, you can blaze through the pages and ultimately, your left unsatisfied. This promlem is something inherent in all comics, regardless if they are wordless or not - it is the disconnect between the time spent reading, versus the time spent creating. Frank Miller get's around this by creating stark black and white imags, sometimes confusing, that way the reader has to stop and 'figure out' what he's looking at. Hiti manages to avoid this problem by creating beautifully composed panel and sequences, so that you can't help but pause for a moment and appreciate the...telephone pole?

I suppose I could have scanned in something more appropriate, or grand, but there is something elegant about the way Hiti introduces you to the world of Tiempos Finales. Telephone poles, cobble stone streets, rock formations, all of them are illustrated with a sense of mood and character. This is in preparation for the introduction to the main man, Mario Roman:

Lets see, epic handle bar mustache? Check. Cape with Buckles? Check. Strong, Silent Type? Check. Looks like we've got a badass on our hands.

Not depicted: his gun strap that holds not a firearm, but a pocket bible that morphs into weapons when he quotes from the scripture.

Thats pretty much a deal breaker right there. His bible.morphs.weapons.awesome. Of course, the demon(s) that he fights are equally as impressive. But I think thats a real treat of the book, check it out for yourselves. So, if you can find Sam Hiti's End Times (because his site says supplies are running low) then the power of Christ compels you to pick it up.

Manga review: The best maid related manga in existence

2005-12-14T22:31:00.000-05:00

Today we will dive into the realm of maid mangas. As you may or may not know, Japanese males have a thing for maids and/or young beautiful females in maid outfit. Because of such unique interest, there are numerous mangas in the market that involves a young man being served by maid(s). The most common formular is to stick a very pathetic, whimpy, and hopeless loser kid together with some stunningly beautiful maids. These male leads are often a failure at life but can always win the hearts of these female maids with his kind heart. Just like their cousin, romance comedy, the story often involves fanservice scenes (perverted scenes to be specific) where the male lead accidently touches the maid in the wrong area or sees her/them changing. Since these females are all very loving and forgiving beings, the lucky kid usually won't get punished for his actions, maybe a punch or a bucket in the head at the most. Unrealistic? Yes. Total BS? Definitely.

Now that you know what the typical maid manga is like, lets check out this "best maid related manga" I mentioned in the title. I recently decided to do a little online shopping and got myself some manga. After spending an hour or so going through what they had to offer, I decided to pick up this manga call Kamen no Maid Guy (the masked maid guy). To be honest, this is a purchase I will never regret. This manga has one of the most messed up yet cool character I've ever seen. As you can guess from the title, the maid in this manga is a male. Before all the fan girls get excited, no this is not yaoi as the master he serves is a female, plus the maid guy himself is far from being your beloved "pretty boy".

The story starts by introducing our famle lead, Fujihara Naeka, and her younger brother Kousuke. Unlike most highschool girls, Naeka has a strong passion for kendo and bushido while her brother is your typical nerdy fat kid. They are both the grandchildren of a billionaire. What Naeka doesn't know is that she will inherit all those money on the day she turns 18 (she is currently 17). Sounds good for the lucky girl right? Not so much when all your relatives are planning to assasinate your butt to steal all the money. With this in mind her grandfather hired two maids/bodyguards/agents to help them. Since this sis and bro are living by themselves, it gives the old billionaire a good excuse to stick two maids with them saying they can help take care of the house. Of course he won't hire any random maids. In order to please his grandchildren, he picked two maids who matches their hobby and interest. So what they got is a beautiful female maid, Fubuki, who is literally an all purpose maid (including fighting) and the all mighty Maid Guy Kogarashi. Typically, maids are suppose to make sure their master enjoys his/her daily life without and pain and suffering. Maid Guy Kogarashi, on the other hand, doesn't work that way. During a few incidents where Naeka needs help on school work or kendo practice, Kogarashi will beat and torture her in order to keep her going. An ideal maid I must say.

What makes maid guy Kogarashi so special is the way he serves his master through his strange yet useful abilities. The one he uses the most often is his Maid Guy Eye. "Maid Guy Eye! It allows me to see through everything! Even if you are wearing clothes, you are no better than being naked in front of me, hahahaha!!!" He will use this ability on anyone, and I mean anyone, male or female. Its mainly used to detect whether that person is hiding anything that could post a threat to his master.
Another ability he usually uses along with his Maid Guy Eye is Maid Guy Scan. "kukuku, with my Maid Guy Scan I can instantly get all the info regarding your body condition." Unfortunatley for the females, he always use this ability to remind them of their body weight...
There are many other odd ball abilities and tools he uses such as Maid Guy Super Vibrating Claw, Maid Guy Levitation, Maid Guy Badge, Maid Guy Ear, Maid Guy Copy, Maid Guy Healing Dance, Maid Guy Road, etc....

Maid Guy Scan in action

This is definitely one of the best manga I've ever read in my life (although it still doesn't top GTO). Hopefully they will make an anime version of this in the near future.

Rozen Maiden Traumend

2005-12-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

Its been a while since I've wrote anything anime related (and I'm suppose to be the anime guy). So I figured its about time I get back into the world of animated goodness. What we got here is a sequel/second season of Rozen Maiden. For those who've seen the first season, you probably won't find any surprises in this sequel. That means if you enjoyed what it had to offer in the first season, you should definitely check this out as well. If you've never seen this show, its basically about the life of a teenager and a bunch of dolls that and walk and talk.

Just like the first season, you have your main male lead as in Sakuraba Jun. There seems to be less focus on him this time around since he has already over come his demons in the first season. From what I've seen so far his main role seems to be to explore the history behind the dolls and their creator. The dolls on the other hand gets more airtime. They brought back/introduce all the other dolls and is finally going to deal with the whole Alice Game thing. For those unfamiliar with this anime, Alice Game is basically a battle royale for the dolls to decide who will become Alice, the ideal and most beautiful doll, which their creator desires.

A good portion of the series is actually comedy based rather than being action/drama. We are often treated to events where the dolls watches a kids detective show and scream when the detective (which is a dog) is in a pinch or one particular doll pulls a prank on others. Interestingly enough this comedy element is actually the main selling point of this show rather than the story. Of course, the cute looking dolls and their unique personality are part of the selling point as well.

If you are looking for a all in one show as in having comedy, action, and drama, this is not a bad choice. Personally I was never a big fan of such shows where they try to have everything. A lot of the times these elements (comedy, action, and drama) just don't mix and ends up giving a sense that the story is forced together. But Rozen Maiden manages to avoid some of those problems. Its not perfect but the change in mood between eps is acceptable. One more thing I really like about this show is that it dives into the whole concept of what true beauty is.

Out of all the anime released this season, I believe Rozen Maiden has the best opening video. Its got a very fantasy/fairy tale feel to it which really suits the theme of the series.

Parents and Games

2005-12-05T01:58:00.000-05:00

There is something I'd like to share. I recently visited a certain store that sells video game related goods. As I was looking around I over heard something that caught my attention. There is this couple, probably in their mid to late 30s, looking to purchase a game. They asked the sales clerk "there is this game for the playstation call Shadow something......" the clerk responded "Shadow of the Colossus?" "Yes! How much is the game?" the parents asked and proceed to purchase the game. At first I was very happy to see peoply getting this game, but after some thought I realized this transaction is somewhat odd. Judging from their age and their lack of knowledge of games, I believe it is safe to assume the game is a gift for their kid who is very likely to be of a relatively young age. So I thought to myself whether a kid that young will be able to appreciate such a game and why would any parents purchase such a game. Then I remember there is in fact another game that starts with the word "Shadow". My conclusion is that this couple meant to purchase Shadow the Hedgehog for their precious child but instead bought Shadow of the Colossus. So did I tell that couple of the possible mistake they made? Nope. If my guess is indeed correct, then I believe that couple deserves a little punishment. I'm hoping through this incident they will pay more attention to what their child is exposed to and have a better understanding of their kids hobbys and interest. If Shadow of the Colossus is indeed their desired game, they have my respect and I hope the kid will enjoy it as much as I did.

History of Super Robot Wars: Part 2

2005-12-04T02:04:00.000-05:00

Super Robot Wars 3

Great Mazinger
Grendaizer
Getter Robo
Getter Robo G
Combattler V
Raideen
Daitarn 3
Gundam
Gundam 0083 Stardust Memory
Z Gundam
ZZ Gundam
Gundam Chars Counter Attack
Gundam F91
Banpresto Original

As some of you might have noticed that there isn't much details in story for srw2. This is because it doesn't have much of a story. You are literally treated to a bunch of levels where you simply fight random enemies. Looking back at it, srw2 wasn't that great of a game lol. But just the idea of seeing all the mechs we used to watch and love fighting along side each other is good enough for me to play it.

srw3 is released for snes and with its superior performance over nes and gb, the graphics improved by alot. Altough it barely touches the full potential of snes, its still a very pleasing sight for us players. Unlike srw2, they actually used more story and events from various anime although the main focus is still on the original enemies.

What is worth noting is that srw3 introduces one of the most godly unit in srw history. That being the invinsible Daitarn 3. Ok, that was an exaggeration, but a great addition for us nonetheless. I still remember that damn thing saving my butt countless times back in the days. The fact that the pilot (Haran Banjou) is a pimping badass makes it that much better.

The story takes place 6 months after the events of srw2. With the help of the Zabi family (villains from gundam) DC is able to regain its powers. Seeing the growth in strength of DC, the world deems it neccessary to unite and prepare for any possible threat thus creating the Earth Federation (also from gundam). In a sense Bians wish of uniting the world has come true. What of the super robots who defeated Bian in the DC war? They were assigned to a task forced called Londo Bell (from chars counter attack) and their main duty is to patrol and eliminate any threat(mainly DC) on sight. Yet, the Londo Bell wasn't able to prevent the rapid increase in strength of DC. GP 02 (a gundam equiped with nuke) being stolen is solid prove of the situation.

One day Londo Bell received an order to investigate the reason behind the sudden disappearance of EF (Earth Federation) troops. It turns out that Bian was right about there being a threat from outer space. Aliens which they refer to as Inspectors are responsible for the on going disappearance of troops. Thus the three way battle amongst the EF, DC, and the Inspector has begun. With Londo Bell as their core, the EF managed to take back many vital strategic areas/base. And once again, Cybuster showed up as our ally to aid us in the battle against DC and Inspectors. Of course, the Inspectors wouldn't plan an invasion without any super weapons. They brought with them the 4 generals who all has their own customized mech which possess incredible firepower, making battles more dangerous and chaotic.

As if the situation isn't bad enough, the different in ideal between the Zabi family members and the involvment of Paptimus Sirocco made things more confusing. Now half of the DC forces has sided with Inspectors while the other half is fighting both EF and Inspectors. Things are not any less confusing for Londo Bell either as Shu and his Granzon appeared as an ally despite many members not satisfied with this addition. But given the situation they are in, they have no choice but to accept Shu into their forces.

Eventually Londo Bell managed to eliminate DC from this war and can now concentrate on the Inspector forces. Through the actions of Haran Banjou (pilot of Daitarn 3), Mekiboss (one of the 4 general) believes that it is possible for the 2 race to co-exist and leaves the battle field. Unfortunately, the other 3 generals don't feel the same and were all KIA. With the generals gone, Londo Bell can now confront Windlo, the leader of the Inspector. During the battle, Windlo revealed the reason for their invasion. He claims that humans posses great power but are not mature enough to weild such power, therefore humans must either be eliminated or be controled before they become a threat to the universe. Mekiboss appears and comments on how humans are actually more matured than they first thought and attempts to stop the battle but in return is taken down (very easily I must say) by Windlo (who also happens to be his bro). Although it wasn't easy, but Londo Bell managed to defeat Windlo to end the war, or so they thought.....

Note that the following part is actually a secret in the game. If the player doesn't fulfill certain requirements they wouldn't get to play that stage. And I must say this secret boss is TOUGH.

Shu laughs coldly as the battle with the Inspector ended. He fused his Granzon with magical powers from Volkruss to form the Neo Granzon (sounds like something from yugioh lol). On top of him upgrading his Granzon, he also summoned (no clue how he did it) several Valsions to aid him in the battle. Despite the overwhelming power displayed by Shu, Londo Bell emerges victorious without any casualty (thats storyline wise, he took down enough units when I played).

The end of SRW3

I orginally planned to include SRW EX in this post, but that will make this post relatively lengthy. No choice but to split them up. And I actually thought I can deal with this timeline with 2 posts. At this rate it will probably take up to 4 posts.

History of Super Robot Wars: Part 1

2005-11-16T23:54:00.000-05:00

After some consideration, I decided to write the history of Super Robot Wars instead of a review for alpha 3. To be honest, I'm not sure how long or how many post this will take. I'm planning on having 6 post at the moment but that could change as I go on.

For those who've never played or heard of this game, this is a game that includes mechs from all sorts of anime and mixes their respective story together. Think of it as a huge fanfiction. Its basically a turn base strategy game (think FF Tatics) except that when an attack is launched, it switches to a battle animation screen where the attack is executed.

My plan is as follows:
2 post on the main story line which consist of robot wars 2, 3, ex, 4 (F/FF), and LOE
2 post on the alpha timeline (robot wars alpha, alpha gaiden, alpha2, alpha3)
2 post on the stand alone story. (robot wars 1, neo, 64, A, R, D, compact1-3, impact, MX, GC, SC, J, OG1-2)

One thing I must mention before I start is that there are a few Stand alone ones I've never played or didn't finish, so I can't provide any details for those games.

For the sake of convenience, Super Robot wars = srw. so if you see srw3 then you know its robot wars 3.

Now that the intro is done, lets get started with this ambitious project of mine.

SRW Gaiden (side story): Lord of Elementals (LOE)
This game consist of only Banpresto Originals. Meaning all the mechs are made up for the game rather than from anime.
Although this game was released after srw4, the first half of LOE actually takes place before srw2. In order to explain everything chronologically, I'll have to go into the story of LOE first.

The story takes place in an alternate dimension called La Gias. Normal humans can't acess this plcae unless they are "summoned". The setting of La Gias is rather interesting. The level of their technology is relatively high. I'd say they are almost on par with the gundam world. But science and tech is not what makes everything run in their land. Magic and alchemy seems to be their biggest strength. The mechs they create uses all 3 elements. The outer shell seems to be made by normal armor mixed with some alchemy and the weapons are more swords and magic based. The main power source of these mechs is human energy as in aura or chi/ki. Since the local resident of La Gias has a rather low level of aura, they have to summon people from the surface dimension (our world). Also worth noting is that each mech has a guardian elemental spirit. The type of guardian spirit often affects the performance of the machine. There are mechs that isn't made and run that way, but they are not vital to the story at this point so I'll ignore them for now. One thing I'm not sure of is how they control these mechs. Since most of the masouki pilots are expert in some form of close combat technique and some of them are constantly training to becoe better swordsman, I'm assuming that it works similarly to the likes of G Gundam or Nadesico.

La Gias is split into a few countries (around 10, correct me if I'm wrong). Our main character, Masaki Andou, resides in Lan Gran (sp?) one of the biggest country in that world. There was a prediction in Lan Gran that there will soon be a coming of great evil. What exactly is this evil is unknown. As the government and the royal family are freaking out, they decided to start a Masouki (elemental machines) project. This project consist of building 16 mechs that will serve as guardians for their country. Amonst the 16 machines, 4 of them are called the lord/god of elementals (Masoukishin) as they have a high class guardian spirit and possess immense power in battle. To become the pilot of the Masoukishins, the guardian spirit must acknowlege you as the pilot first. Its a pain in the ass if you ask me, why can't they just build some mechs with easier access...

The story starts off with Masaki being summoned to Lan Gran and immediately got involved in a battle. He wanders into the hangar and hops onto a Masouki and joined the battle and eventually became a Masouki pilot. As the story progresses, Masaki became the pilot of Cybuster, one of the Masoukishin. Shortly after Masaki became Cybusters pilot, he encounters Shu Shirakawa along with his Granzon. Despite their meeting being on Earth (meaning not in La Gias) Shu seems to know what the Cybuster is and all seems rather mysterious about this person. It is later revealed that Shu is in fact from La Gias and was suppose to be the next in line as the king but he betrayed his country and disappeared. As everything seems to be going well, Shu showed up with his Granzon and displays strength that surpasses even those of the masoukishins. Shu left La Gias after killing Masakis father* and declaring war on Lan Gran. After the destruction of Lan Gran at the hands of their neighbour country, Masaki left La Gias to chase after Shu as he believes Shu is the main cause for all the chaos.

This marks the end of the first half of LOE

*He is not Masakis real father. Masaki is an Orphan when he arrived at La Gias and is adopted by this person. He is considered the best swordsman in La Gias and holds the name of "king of swords"

on the left is Cybuster and Granzon on the right

Super Robot Wars 2
Mech list:
Mobile Suit Gundam
Z Gundam
ZZ Gundam
Gundam Chars counter attack
Gundam F91
Getter Robo
Getter Robo G
Mazinger Z
Great Mazinger
Grendaizer
Banpresto Original

This is the first srw that has pilots for the mechs. In the original game the mechs has a mind of their own and they do their own thing. Also worth noting is that this is the first time they included original mechs that they made up just for the game.
SRW2, or later known as the DC war, is the beginning of an epic war between humans, aliens, monsters, invaders from different dimension, etc....It all started with a man named Bian Zoldark. He realizes that a threat from outer space exist and knows that the current military capabilities of human beings aren't enough to protect themselves from such invaders. So he decided to form his own army known as the Divine Crusaders (DC). His goal is to unite all military powers on earth so that they can prepare for the up coming threat. Although his intention is noble, but his methods are greatly flawed. Instead of communicating with the leaders of their respective countries, he simply took over them by forced. Because of this, a fair amount of villain willingly join forces with Bian assuming that they are on the path to ruling the world. Its true that he is gaining streght at great speed with this method, but resistance are also being formed becuase of such actions. Whats worth noting is that the players (us) don't know Bians true intention until the very end.

This is where the game starts for us. You are playing as the core of the resistance group, which consist of Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, and Gundam. They travel around the world in the White Base, attempting to release cities from Bians control as well as gain strength by rescuing allies. As the war becomes more intense, more allies joins your force in their desperate attempt to save the world from Bians control. During an mission, Bian shows up in his Valsion and displays its unrivaled power. What came to your rescue at that moment is none other than Cybuster, the first original mech made for srw. Shu and his Granzon later showed up along side Bian, aiding in his goal to unite the world.
After an gruesome battle, they finally managed to take down Bian. Before his death, Bian told us the reason for his actions and entrust the future of the earth in the hands of our hero.

End of srw2

can't mess with the good old nes graphics.

Games, Manga, Wrestling

2005-11-14T23:57:00.000-05:00

It is a sad day in the professional wrestling industry, as it has lost someone who is a great wrestler, a great performer, and a great man.
RIP Eddie Guerrero, You will be missed.

After being exposed to the sheer awesomeness of Shadow of the Colossus, I had to pick up a copy myself. Hence my life as a colossus killer has begun. I recently visited Rey and observed them taking down all 16 colossus in one sitting.....on a projector to boot! Its a fortunate yet unfortunate experience for me. Why unfortunate? Its tough going back to normal tv after being in front of a projector screen for hours. And now that I've seen them take down the Colossus, its not as challenging for me. So I've decided to dedicate myself to discover and invent some unimaginable ways of destroying those colossus. Just like Mwu La Flaga, the man who managed to deflect a positron cannon with a beam coating/beam reflector, I shall become the man who can make the impossible possible.
As mentioned in Reys review for this great game, the ending does not give you the feeling that you've "beaten" the game. It shows you that one must be responsible for his own actions. Throughout the game, the colossus gave me a feeling that they are a part of the nature. Whenever one of them goes down, it gives me a sense of satisfaction but at the same time I feel somewhat bad about it. To me, the giant shadowy figure released after all colossus are destroyed reflects our current situation. For our own benefits, we tend to abuse and destroy our natural surroundings. The end result of our action will very likely be life threatning to us in the form of pollution, which Dormin really reminds me off. This game has a message in it that says clearly that no matter how noble a reason you have, there will always be consequences.
With all the "cool" and "badass" games out in the market right now, Shadow of the Colossus is a refreshing piece that demonstrates video game is not always about sex and violence but could be a beautiful piece of art work (literally) and carries a meaningful message for all the youngsters.

Its been almost 3 and a half months since Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 came out, so I'm thinking to myself that I should write a review for it. Although its no where near being a popular game in the north America video game market, but it definitely deserves some love. Consider this my desperate attempt to inform others of the existence of such a game.

I recently ordered some (12 to be exact) mangas and some of them have already arrived. Since I've been rather busy these days, I only managed to read 3 of them. After watching Shakugan no Shana, I'm rather interested in the manga as it has an interesting story. My immediate impression of the manga is "this Shana looks more.....loli then the anime version". They even made fun of her child like appearance in the manga. In some point in the vol she states that if the main character (Sakai Yuji) tries anything funny she'll cut him up. The reply she got? "I'm not into weird hobbys like that". Once I get my scanner working I might post more pics.

The other Manga I read is SumomomoMomomo The Strongest Bride In The World, a action/comedy/romance manga. Since I read the 3rd vol before reading the first 2, I don't really know whats going on. But from the 3rd alone, it seems to be a fun series. Some character designs are awesome as they definitely look like someone you don't want to mess with. I'll try to have some pics of those characters soon.

The 3rd one I read is the 8th vol of Honey and Clover. After seeing how the tv series doesn't give us an actual ending, I decided to pick up the manga to find out what happens after. Kinda sad to see how the art element is slowly being forgotten and becomes a frustrating romance manga. Yet its something I really enjoyed....

Nothing on anime this time. I'll probably write a review for either Blood+ or Rozen Maiden Traumend before I start my robot wars review.

My Bookshelf is Swollen with Comics Goodness

2005-11-10T02:10:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone

I thought it might be fun to show off my collection of comics and graphic novels, this being an oppurtune time since I have picked up a few more at The Harbourfront Panel discussion which happened a few weeks back. The addition of Seth's 'Wimbledon Green', Yoshihiro Tatsumi's 'The Push Man and other stories' , and Chip Kidds 'The Cheese Monkeys' (gasp! a real book!) marks the critical mass point for my bookshelf.
Flickr Notes GO!

As you can see in some of the images, the chipboard shelves are bowing to my comic collections collective girth.

Flickr Notes Activate!

I also have a little dvd collection, I really need to get more shelves...

Thats about it folks. If you click on the images it should take you to the flicker image with further notes on specifically what those books and dvds are.

Flickr it up

Projecting into the futre, up next is a review of Tiempos Finales, followed by The Push Man, as well as some thoughts on The Harbourfront talk with Kidd, Burns, Ware and Seth.

Some Mountains are Scaled, Others are Slain : Shadow of the Colossus Review

2005-11-10T00:42:00.000-05:00

Reading week has come and gone, and while I didn't do as much homework as I had originally set out to do, I did take the time to do alot of reading, sketchbooking, gallery-seeing, and not the least of which, playing Fumito Ueda's 'Shadow of the Colossus'.

In fact, I'm quite certain theres a direct co-relation between time spent with, 'Shadow of the Colossus' (henceforth abreviated to, 'Colossus'), relative to time spent on homework (or lack of).

But I don't feel terribly guilty about spending as much time as I did with 'Colossus'.Like it or not, this game can be ranked amongst a short list critics and ludologists call, 'Art'. Which in itself, has garnered a fair share of controversy, 'can video games become Art - with a capital 'A'?'. Comics are currently undergoing similar scrutiny, and events like the recent 'Festival of Authors Panel Discussion', and Seth's gallery in AGO work towards favouring the arguement in the positive. Video Games are undergoing a similar arc, and its something that I'll be looking at more indepth at a later date. I guess I have a little bit of a fascination with 'bastard media', and it's something of a theme for my writing here on Ultimate Nullifier.

I think when this arguement of Art in Games and Comics arises, what they are really trying to say is, 'Is this thing worth looking at, critically, and analytically?'. Because, if you start getting into 'what it art' thats opening up a whole other can of worms.

That being established, we can look at, 'Colossus' itself. The game, directed by Fumito Ueda, is his second, the first being the critical darling, yet financial flop, 'Ico' - which along with kicking off the PS2's launch, marked one of the first instances where a game was being described as 'Art'. It's suprising to think that a game so eloquently designed as 'Ico' was Ueda's first effort in the director's chair, and that, 'Shadow', which took four years to complete, is his second, here at the end of the system's life cycle. Theres something entirely fitting that, 'Ico' should start the generation, and that, 'Shadow' should close out the generation.

Both games stand as powerful statements on what gaming can aspire towards.

Within the game itself, the idea of a cycle is an important theme. You go from each lumbering, towering creature to the next, spanning vast expanses of gorgeous terrain to get there. You repeat this process, but you don't really question 'the why' of it all.

Your hero, un-named (although the voice actor is credited for doing 'Wander)', has come to barren wasteland, with nothing more than a sword (of the magical variety, of course) a bow, his loyal, if sometimes stubborn Agro, to resurrect his dead lady-friend. Your base of operations is a large temple, presumably home to 'the disembodied voice', with whom you make a deal with, which is in typical video gamey fashion is something to the effect of: 'kill all sixteen colossi and then I'll see what I can do'.

And then away you go. For the better part of the game, plot sits on the side lines, patiently waiting while you go about roughing up these flesh and stone (and convientiently grippable) fur monstrosities.

Gameplay wise, 'Colossus' follows in the footsteps of 'Ico's' design goals, that of 'simplicity', or, 'design by subtraction'. As noted in other interviews, Ueda, frustrated by games where NPCs (non-playable characters) often repeat the same information ad-nauseam, went about finding a solution for 'Colossus'. The answer? not to re-work and re-invent clever new A.I. protocols, but instead, delete all other human interaction in the game, and instead, any relevant information would be shown through other methods. Most effective, is your sword, which focuses ray's of light, pointing you in the direction you are supposed to head towards. The sword has a another purpose as well, (aside from something used to poke colossi) it is a hint system, when battling these behemoths, shinning your sword on them will indicate key areas you should work towards reaching.

As mentioned above, 'getting to' a colossus can be a fulflilling experience in itself. You mind find yourself stopping by a particularly picturesque valley, or waterfall, and then it might occur to you, that the designers included these things purely for you to stop and notice. That element of reflection, of stopping to smell the roses, or to pick the fruit, or to shoot the lizards, might make you question, how much of this really is a game? Shouldn't you be collecting coins? Getting more experience by killing off some goblins? Again this is an instance of minimalist design, Ueda challenges our thoughts of what a video game should be, it's such a standard norm that there should be, 'baddies' to stomp, that thier abscense becomes something of a revelation in itself.

We don't need a 1UP.

Admitantly, picking at fruit and eating lizard tails provides upgrades to your health and stamina, but it isn't something that the game ever explicitly tells you to do, and in fact you can complete the game having never climbed a tree or munching on tail. It's simply something for you to discover, along with a number of other extra horse tricks, and other such stunts, none of which provide an element of strategy, it's all there for you two find and say, 'hey, thats kind of cool'. Ueda admits himself, that if there was any main drive in making this game, it was to create a strong visual experience, and you can't help but feel a sudden swell in emotion as you stand on your horse, full-gallop, as rays of light emanate from your sword. It's a very 'thundercats ho!' kind of moment.

Visuals also point out my only real complaint about, 'Colossus'. That the they sometimes lose sight of any useful design or purpose. While it might be an evocative sight, to straddle the horse along it's sides, it doesn't really do anything. All of those interesting flourishes would have felt all the more impactful, had they offered some kind of use to the actual gameplay at large.

Then again, you could argue that while you don't have to stand on your horse while launching arrows at a flying colossus, but it certainly is more interesting visually, which might have been the point. It does take a fair amount of skill to accomplish said feat, which also makes me think about how playing a video game really well, is not unlike being skilled with a musical instrument. Displaying your video game prowess, showing your expertise and your ability to manipulate it, and performing, is another aspect of, 'art' that I believe games are capable of. Just look at the Speed Demo of Super Mario Bros.

Playing the game more like an instrument rather than a toy.

If performing a run on Super Mario Bros. is like playing a piece of Brahms, then Katamari Damacy, as Kieta Takahashi notes, ' video games should be punk rock', is like The Ramones, something reactionary and new to its time. Ueda's, 'Colossus' evokes something of a classic sensibility, which would place it in our theorical chart somewhere in the ranks of 'The Beatles', new and fresh, yet owing itself to what had come before it.

There is a clear rock and roll esthetic when you battle the Colossus, after the stillness of traversing a baren wasteland, you confront another living creature, so large the screen cannot hope to capture their terrible wholeness.

You might utter to yourself, 'oh shit'.

Then the music kicks in, an orchestral score. The music, which is cued to specific phases of the battles, is in turn mysterious, frieghtening, uplifting and adventerous, and as you down your opponent, sad and mournful. Battling each colossus is an event itself, it's epic nature only further heightened by the relative stillness you've expereinced to get there. There is a cinematic quality, to these fights, the camera swoops in, pulls out and in, as these beasts rear thier heads, trying to shake you off, movements become blurry, particle effects and debris kick up every step the Colossus makes. Play this game with friends, force people who hate video games to watch, make them believers.

You will hold on to R1, your grip metre, for dear life.

The grip metre, I initiall had a problem with, seemingly feeling contrived, why do I need to manipulate two buttons at the same time, as well as the analogue? Mario just climbs up ladders when I move towards it. It's only until you battle the colossus, and they buck and rear, that you realize, holding onto that button, feels alot like gripping onto life itself. It's an effective bit of design, how Ueda has streamlined the gripping, breathing, sword strength and bow tension gameplay elements all into that pink circle.

It's too bad that it's a noticible, and distracting pink circle, for a game that is concerned about it's visual esthetic, it is a little disappointing that the life bar, grip metre, and your item box is just so damn 'video gamey'. If they weren't there, and instead a streamlined approach was taken, similar to the sword/hint system, Colossus would have become a fully engrossing experience, something inescapable, kinda like...'The Never-Ending Story'.

Which brings us nicely back to the story of 'Colossus'. As mentioned above, the game goes on in a kind of blissful ignorance. Why bother with plot when killing Colossi is so damn fun? Additionaly, the collective video game culture has been conditioned, ever since the days of Zelda to assume that we are supposed to kill the bad guys because, well, just because.

This encapsulates the theme of 'Colossus', which is 'Perspective', and 'Consequence'.

If Ueda claims that his focus was that of 'visual beauty' then much of that can be attributed to a sense of perspective. You could also call it scale, between you and your horse, and the two of you and the vast landscape you dash around, and then your character relative to the massive Colossus. Perspective. However, you can apply the same logic to plot, which again shows off the game's consistant design sense.

Gradually, a feeling of dread creeps up on you, as you progress through the game, and as a number of reviews had mentioned, you'll ask, 'why the hell am I doing this, anyways?'. Suddenly, beating up bad guys, saving the girl, doesn't seem as noble as it once did, it ceases to be a valid explanation for your actions . This marks the first shift in perspective that the game takes you through. No longer are you the generic, faceless video game hero from the past, out to get coins and level ups. That question will stick in your mind, and when you deliever the final blow to the next beast, you'll still find yourself asking that question. This isn't any personal imposistion on the game, as Im certain it's crafted and designed as such, especially given the mysterious cut scenes inbetween battles, and also the morose music played when you execute a colossus. It's all designed to get you in that frame of mind, slowly, that theres something else going on here, something bigger than you.

For me, this shift in gaming ethics occured with the fourteenth colossus. At the outset of the battle, the creature is vicious, a bundle of muscle, stone and claws that topples columns. By the end, the same colossus is reduced to a gasping, pathetic thing, the same columns that it destoryed, now topple the colossus instead. It lays there flat and deflated, and you see that beneath it all, it's just fur and flesh, and you think, I've been calling these things Colossus' and Monsters, but really, this four legged thing, its just an animal. It reminded me of Christopher Gans' , 'Brotherhood of the Wolf', with at similar reveal of the mystery monster.

It was probably the first instance in a video game, where I took a brief moment to ask, 'do I really have to kill this thing?'. I realized, that there are consequences for my actions. All of the past Colossus, were now cast in a different light, and all of my past pixelated conquests, from Goombas to the the Covenant seemed so lacking now in comparison to the death of a Colossus.

This is where the game becomes difficult to analyze, since much of themes of the game are fully expressed at the end. You'll have to forgive me if I begin to talk in an eliptical fashion, skirting the issue, in other words.

When you reach the end game, the themes of 'Perspective' and 'Consequence' now are made clear and evident. As the player, you'll go through a final shift in perpective, something that works on both a literal level but also in ethical terms.

The ending of 'Shadow' marks one of the first times where the end of the game you still 'play' ather than passively watch. Insert Credit goes into further detail about video game endings, and cites Earthbound as another example of interactive game endings. It is important to note this distinction, involving the player in the end sequences summarizes the themes of the game as a whole.

By the time you've reached the end credits, the themes of 'Perspective' and 'Consequence' will made perfectly clear to you. It's a revelation on one hand, forcing you to look back at your past actions in the game, and on a metaphysical level, the game works cleverly on a 'painting in a painting in a painting' kind of way, regarding control. More over than that, the game might leave you a little humbled, maybe even drained. Typically, video games are excercises in conquest, you beat Bowser and save the princess, each flag that you raise over a castle is a territory you've conquered.

'Colossus' is the first game I've encountered in which this feeling is absent. You don't beat 'Shadow', instead, the opposite happens, it beats you. You may have thought that with each felled colossus, you were closer to beating the game, but the whole time the game is working towards subverting your aspirations. This may be why some of the online community has reacted negatively towards the ending.

The first time I read Alan Moore's Watchmen, I had asked a friend if the comic could be successfully translated into a movie. Instead of a straight up yes or no answer, he said, ' I think thats why they call it the best comic book ever made, because it exists purely as a comic book'. I think 'Shadow of the Colossus' exists purely as a videogame, an experience that would loose much of its impact if became a book, comic, movie or broadway play. If there is any artistry in utilizing a medium to its full potential, then I offer 'Shadow of the Colossus' as and example of Art in Video Games.

For more information on Fumito Ueda and his games and influences, I recommend checking out 1up's exhaustive coverage on , 'Shadow' at : http://shadow.1up.com/

Random rant + review(?): magical girl anime

2005-11-09T22:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry again for the lack of updates, blame Chicken Little if you want an excuse from me. Why Chicken Little? I work at a theatre......
As you can tell from the title, no actual reivew today, just some random rants and thoughts on this show I watched recently. In fact, the new season has just started few weeks ago. For those who keep up with new anime should know what I'm talking about here. Yes, its Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (A's). Yep, the name sounds scary (at least to those who dispise magical girl shows). After browsing through a few japanese anime sites, I realized this magical girl is rahter popular. I thought to myself that the cardcaptor movie will be the last magical girl show I'll ever watch, but there seems to be no reason why I shouldn't give Nanoha a shot.
Just a side note, I watched the first ep of the second season first, so I have no clue on what the settings for the series is like nor the characters and their personality. All I know is this show consist of lots of cute underage kids (mainly female) and it some how involves magic.
Few minutes into the ep, I see the main character (Nanoha) practicing her magic. My immediate reaction is "whoa, pink magic missles!" Thats a good start. Can't go wrong with magic missles. After some talking (which means nothing to me at this point, not until I watched the first season) the battle finally starts. Wait, did I say battle? In a magical girl show? Yup, no mistake about it. Nanoha is attacked by another magical girl for no particular reason, from her perspective at least. We are treated to some interesting scenes where the two girls fly around the city blasting magic missles and lasers at each other. Yes! More magic missles! Mind you those magic aren't just for show, they can knock people flying into buildings through walls. The ep ends with more magical girls and boys showing up ready for battle.
One thing I must mention is that the transformation scene is rather awkward for me. It spells loli all over it. Definitely not an area I would like to get into.
Unfortunately I can't comment on the story yet. If I was to judge it simply on its action, I must say I'm satisfied. If only they replace the little girls with more grown up ones....
Call me stupid or weird or whatever you want, but after an ep of Nanoha I usually have to watch some hotblood mech shows to balance things out (namely Gaogaigar)

definitely don't want to get hit by this kind of magic

Not a magic missle, but a missle hammer. pretty neat I must say

New anime series: Mai-ZHime

2005-10-30T02:10:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates in the past few weeks, got distracted by none other then video games...Anyways, onto todays review. What we have today is Mai-ZHime (pronounced Mai-Otome).

For those who have seen Mai-Hime and enjoyed it should check it out. Although the setting and story is totally different, most of the characters are ones from Mai-Hime. Some of you might be asking "so are they the same person?". The answer is no. They are totally different characters, its just that they look identical to the ones from Mai-Hime. Well, their personality and relationship are rather similar to Mai-Hime as well. The settings of this series is more towards the fantasy side. Technology seems to exceeds what we have today, but the structure of their society seems rather old fashion. Most if not all countries are heavily influenced by a royal family (think England or Japan). The leader of each country has what they call an Otome by their side. Otomes are basically maids that act as maids (duh) as well as bodyguard.

The story evolves around a girl named Yumemiya Arika who is aiming to become an Otome. In order to do so she must enter the school that trains females (yes, only females) to become Otomes. Most part of the story focus on her life in the school, which is usually comedy based. Arika is your typical energetic (or hyper active) girl with an innocent heart, but is very ignorant at times. If she exists in a super robot anime she will actually be a decent pilot. Getting back on track, the other characters doesn't really need an introduction or description since they are all the same from Mai-Hime. What if you've never seen Mai-Hime? Go watch it now! Just kidding, you shouldn't have any trouble understanding the characters even if you've never watch Mai-Hime, its just that you can get more out of this series if you know who the characters are before hand. Just like Mai-Hime, all the girls do get super natural powers. They all have gems (usually in the form or earing) which allows them to "summon" body suits . These body suits grants them abilities such as flying, super strength, moving in high speed, etc....So far it seems all the students have identical gems, but once they become an official Otome they get their own customize one.

The animation quality is above average. Thats no surprise considering it is made by the same crew who worked on Mai-Hime. The art style is identical to its predecessor. To be honesst, after seeing the last 2 eps of Mai-Hime, I'm not expecting too much story wise. As long as it gives me a good laugh once in a while and some good action, I'll be satisfied. So the verdict? Its definitely worth watching if you've got nothing else to do or you really enjoyed the previous series.

I'll add some pics soon

This is The Gun of The Future - WE3 review

2005-10-27T13:18:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone, appologies for the lateness of this post. I haven't been neglecting Ultimate Nullifier, the sad truth is, I've been working on this review for over a month now. Excuses, excuses, on with the review of Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly's 'WE3'.

I had first read WE3 on a train ride back from Toronto. The collected editionis fairly lean, and the comic itself is paced in such a way that you cannot help but immitate the same rhythm as you read it. When I finished reading WE3, all I could say was, 'kinda short, huh?'.

I liked it, inititally appealing to my 'explosions and gore' side. But there was something else to WE3, the images of three lost house pets, twisted and mutilated for the purposes of military gain stayed in my mind.

There have been quite a few blogs out there that have analyzed WE3, so going into great length about it's merits would be redundant. I'd rather direct you to Pieratikos, where there are a couple of interesting posts examining the work.

Instead of full on review/analysis, I'll just be tossing around half-hazzardly some thoughts about WE3. I'd like to discuss Morrison's various comments on the work. Morrison likes his thought provoking and sometimes inflamatory phrases, we'll be looking at how some comments apply to WE3:

'Its like Disney With Fangs'

The previews of WE3 at newsarama featured an interview with Morrison, in which he described his various influences on the work. Matt Brady asks whether, 'The Incredible Journey' was a point of reference for WE3, which Morrison replies by offereing a laundry list of other relevant movies that informed the work.

Morrison cites 'Watership Down', 'The Rats of NIMH',(The Secret of NIMH to Canucks and Yanks) and 'Chicken Run'. In a sense, these animated movies embody a kind of 'Disney with Fangs' mentality.

The first time I watched Don Bluth's, 'The Secret of NIMH', I was enthralled. there was a quality about the movie that was captivating, these pleasing shapes and figures, not unlike the characters found in a Disney film, yet placed in situations that seemed at once alien but also more real. These mice and rats, little creatures, were in frighteningly real situations. Something sinister and dark about their surroundings made me feel as though death was a threat that loomed over thier cartoon heads. 'The Secret of NIMH', scared the shit out of me, although I couldn't precisely articulate why it should be that way.

'WE3', scares the shit out of me in a similar fashion.

'WE3', like 'NIMH', offers a kind of heightened reality. The backdrop is familiar enough, but there's a quality to it that makes the world feel, 'other'. It's as if the world in 'WE3', is on the border of the present and the future. However, Queitly is nto illustrating a science fiction world. The disturbing quality of WE3 lies in the belief that, if given half the chance, the government could create such poor and tragic monstrosities. The dog, bunny and cat trio of WE3 represents the terrifying truth, even the sweet and innocent, life soft and comforting Disney cartoons, can become, 'The Gun of the Future'.

'This is the Gun of the Future'

Early on in WE3, one of the scientists responsible for the project makes this comment, while holding the object shown below:

It got me thinking about manipulation, a common thread amongst Morrison's oeuvre. The complete quote reads:

'...and out wars of tommorow will be fought by remote-controlled animals, like these...living weapons senator'.

You can come to your own conclusions as to how 'WE3' relates to our current political climate. I'd rather look at how this image connects with something Morrison had mentioned in an interview over at PopImage:

'Comics are so far in advance of any other popular entertainment form - they're more relevant and modern than movies and still just about edging out video games for interactivity and sophistication'

Sure, the man is biased. What is interesting here is the association Morrison makes between video games and comics - something of pet project of mine in terms of research. Are comics really interactive? At first glace, they don't seem terribly interactive.

Flip the page.
Read, look, read.
Flip the page.

Is this the extent of comics interactivity?

The answer is yes, although its a bit more complex than that. In Scott Mcloud's 'Understanding Comics', he suggests that one of the unique properties that comics have, is the relationship it establishes between time and space. Simply put, the comic, due to its format (tactile and intimate), and it's techniques (framing, composistion) promotes oppurtunities where going back and forth through a narrative can be a seamless experience.

Conversely, if im watching a movie, I absolutely hate it when someone asks to rewind back to catch something (s)he missed the first time.

Have you ever read a comic, and then in the middle said, 'ohwaitasec' and then flipped back two pages earlier? Have you ever flipped to the next page, only to be treated to an explose spread? Did that spread have a poor bastard getting torn apart by suspended 'bullet time' ammunition drifting into the depth of the page? Did you then go back to the pages earlier to see what the hell just happened? Seemless.

While most comics are content on 'meat and potatoes', story telling, there are of course some luminious examples in the medium. Alan Moore's, 'Watchmen', is a textbook in comics interactivity. Morrison is another.

Grant Morrison's WE3 is filled with 'interactive' moments that heighten the reading experience, making it more of an engaged process not unlike playing with a puzzle. You'll often find yourself staring at a spread for awhile, 'figuring it out' rather than just straight up 'reading' it. (Pieratikos once again, for specific examples of these puzzles).

In this sense, WE3 can be called a challenging work, although Morrison claims it is his most straight forward, and linear work yet. However, Morrison's simplest shouldn't be confused with Archie, instead, you might do well to call it, a kind of 'Western Manga'.

'So basically , we gave the popular old 'animal quest' idea a sci-fi coat of paint, spliced it with Miike Takashi uber-violence, and created a vehicle to demonstrate the 'Western Manga', storytelling style Frank and I are trying to develop.'

It would seem as though Queitly and Morrison intend to further explore this, 'Western Manga', WE3 beign their first example. But what does, 'Western Manga' even mean? If WE3 is supposed to be manga, then where are my big eyes? the baby faces of adult bodies? where are my speedlines goddammit!?!

Lets make a distinction between Morrison and Queitly's new genre, and 'Westerners doing manga'. Antartic Press, has been at it for 20 years, creating comics resembling outwardly some common manga visual cues. In other words, a bunch of gaijins drawing like Akira Toriyama or Masamune Shirow, or at least, trying to. Coming from an art college, you get used to alot of that. Some of it feels legit, other times, it ends up looking kind of cheap. More widely known, 90's comic stars J. Scott Campbell and Joe Madureira gained popularity for appropriating the look of manga/anime and applying it to American comics. What makes Frank Queitly different (other than being a Brit)? It has something to do with the application of storytelling techniques, pacing and structure in Manga, rather than any outward, superficial resemblance. This lumps Quietly's work on WE3 more in line with Paul Pope and Frank Miller than say...this (check it out! a kitana! and a Girly Looking Guy!). In the case of both Pope, Miller and Queitly, we have artists who are not imitating manga, instead they are employing manga theory and techinique, on a conceptual scale. For a better dissection of manga storytelling versus American, again I'll refer you to Understanding Comics.

Both Queitly and Morrison aren't content with workign in these established methods, and instead, decide to up up thier own rules, 'Western Manga'. Using the slower, protracted moments, stretched over panels and pages, what McCloud calls 'Subjective Motion', and 'Aspect to Aspect transistions' common in manga but layering an editional level of complexity. Filtering manga through the prism of film, cartoons and even video games, WE3 becomes a new kind of beast.

'Western Manga', is a new mutant, appropriate for the bastard medium of comics - a mobius strip of influences and refrences that converge an loop back in and of itself. Morrison and Quietly's genre is not unlike the biorg trio of WE3, a new monster, beautiful and terrifying in its potential, Comics of the Future.

New anime series: Angel Heart

2005-10-14T02:30:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past few days, was busy with hw and work. If you remember what City Hunter is and/or is a fan of it, you definitely have to check this out. Thats right people, Angel Heart is a sequal to City Hunter. All but one of the all character will be there. Interestingly enough, the missing charater is vital to the story. Since I don't want to spoil any important storyline, I can't tell you who this person is. And don't worry, that missing person is not Saeba Ryo. There aren't much story so far other then (re)introducing the characters, so can't comment on whether the story will be good or not or what dirention its heading. Unlike City Hunter, the series has a rather dark/serious feel to it despite the few comedy bits put on by Ryo.

As I mentioned earlier, most if not all main characters are returning ones from the original series. So if you've seen it, there is no need to worry about knowing the characters. For those who haven't seen it, heres a quick rundown on what the main dude is like (can't give info regarding others, it might spoil the story). The main character Ryo is extremely perverted, lazy at times, and has amazing skills when dealing with guns or close combat. Think Vash or Spike and you'll get the basic idea of what Ryo's character is like. Well, the only difference is that women do fall for him.

The art is almost identical to that of City Hunter. It is created by the same person after all. So other than minor details, the art and style is exactly the same. Unfortunately the animation is a bit disappointing. I wouldn't say its bad, but considering its a sequal to City Hunter, I'd figure they'll put more effort in it (gotta show some respect).
Would I recommend this series? It is a must for those who've seen the old one. Even if you know nothing about City Hunter, its still worth while as it has a decent story.

New anime series: Shakugan no Shana

2005-10-11T01:13:00.000-04:00

Hello all, hope you all had a wonderful Thanks Giving (given that you live in Canada). But after sacrifising a turkey for our happiness, its time to get back to work.

As you can see, the review today will be on Shakugan no Shana. The opening itself should be enough to tell its viewers that this will be a "killing monsters with super powers" series. The overall feel I got from the opening is that this will be a rather typical anime. But it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot. Few minutes into the ep they get right into action. Monsters appears! Lots of people got killed! Main character is in trouble! Heroine shows up and quickly takes care of monster.....and the main character. "That was fast!" was my immediate thought after seeing that. Then they head back a few hours and show us exactly what happened in detail (including the whole fight scene from the beginning). Unfortunately the first ep alone doesn't give me enough info to figure out what this show is about (other then killing monsters) or what direction its heading.

The design of the character is more towards the cute anime look (refer to pic below). It really reminds me of those pc games where you date those underage looking females when they are in fact legal. But I've learned not to judge a series based on looks after watching Air. Not much are revealed about the characters. The only things we know are their name and perhaps personality. The main character Sakai is one of those very ordinary dudes who isn't a complete loser nor some over active kids. Even his appearance is very ordinary....Not much can be said about the heroine, Shana, as of yet since she only got a few minutes of screen time and she was too busy slicing up monsters during those few minutes. Well, its not that she didn't show any emotion during the ep, its just that her personality seems rather different during the op and the ep. So a few more ep is required before I can say anthing. She does look pretty neat when she is in the monster killing mode as her eyes and hair becomes flaming red. The monster is surprisingly scary/weird looking but it somehow suits the overall feel of the show.

For a tv series that consist of so much action, the quality of the animation is impressive. Although its no Air or Gankutsuou, but its still pleasing to watch.
After watching the first ep, I have to say that this is one of the better ones out of all the new series. So give it a shot if you get the chance.

New anime series: Immortal Grand Prix

2005-10-09T17:01:00.000-04:00

Since you all should know whats going on by now, so I'll skip the greetings and head straight to reviews. Most of you should be able to guess what the series is about based on the name. Thats right people, this is a show that focus on racing. I'm sure you are all wondering what "Immortal" refers to in the title. Heres the shows biggest attraction. Instead of ordinary race w/ cool looking cars, people race using mechs. You heard me right, they race w/ mechs. In a normal race, there'll be 30+ cars representing different teams. In a IGPX (Immortal Grand Prix) race, only two teams compete at a time and each team will have 3 members racing on the track. From what they showed in the first ep, one of the member act as a forward and the other two as support. The forwards main objective is to cross the finish line while the other two must slow down their opponents. In other words, they beat the crap outta each other during the race. A pretty neat idea I must say.
They introduced a bit too many characters in the first ep, so it gets confusing at times. Other than that problem, the character and their personality seems to be fairly well designed. They've also done a good job in putting the group of characters together, making it very entertaining to watch. Think Patlabor or Nadesico then you'll understand. The character design (as in looks) of this series is relatively typical. None of the character gives you the "wow, this dude looks different yet cool" feel but they don't look too typical that it becomes boring either.
The race and the mechs are done in CG. For a TV series, the quality of CG is surprisingly good. The animation itself is average. Whats worth noting is that there are a few scenes where the quality goes up by a lot. To be honest, I'd rather have a better overall quality than a few scene with good quality. Well, this is only the first ep after all, so we'll see if they change anything in the later eps.

New anime series: Aria the animation

2005-10-08T15:52:00.000-04:00

Since the previous series involves lots of action, lets switch to something more relaxing this time. As you can see, todays update will be on Aria the animation. To be honest, I got Aria and Iria mixed up when I first saw the name, so I was thinking to myself "wow, they are making another Iria anime?" and of course went "wtf is this" when I watch the ep. The story is extremely ordinary or even pointless, but its somehow enjoyable. The background settings of this series is fairly important in order to understand the story. According to the first ep, human beings have began living in other planets. Whether they are located in the same solar system as Earth is unknown as of yet. The story takes place in a planet named Aqua where a good portion of the planet is covered by water. Although there are planes (or spaceships) flying around, the main means of transportation are boats (as shown in the pics below). The basic story focus on Acali, a girl who resides in this placed called Aria company. The purpose of this company is to act as guides for tourist or sometimes as a mean of entertainment for local citizens. So what do they do exactly? Row their boats around the city...The heart and soul of this series are the characters. Much of the show depends on the relationship of characters and how they communicate. Basically the everyday life of the people in Aria company (I wanted to say girls, but there might be males there as well).
This show gives its viewers a very relaxing and soothing feel. The texture of the art is relatively soft compared to most series. If I have to compare, its similar to Honey and Clover. The animation itself is average. Since there aren't much movements other than rolling their boats, the lack of detailed animation doesn't affect the show.
If you are looking for something thats very relaxing, pretty, and cute, this seires is a pretty good choice.

New anime series

2005-10-07T01:40:00.000-04:00

Hello all, hope you enjoyed my previous post. There are a good number of new seires coming out (or came out) this week, so in the next few days I'll keep you guys updated on whats out and whats worth watching.
Lets start off with some action shall we. This new series is called Fighting Beauty Wulong. As I mentioned this is an action series, with chicks that is. The main character, Mou lan, is an expert in martial arts and obviously a female. The first ep is spent to develop the fact that the main character kicks ass. She basically just goes arounds saving peoples butts, showing off her mad kung fu skills. At the end of the ep it gives us hints that there will be some kind of tournament going on. That sounds good at first but unfortunately its not as good as it could've been. Since this is a action series with females, unneccessary fan service is a must. To be honest I don't enjoy them as it degrades the whole series. Seriously, if I want to look at girls I'll go for something more practical....ahem. The art and animation is somewhat dissapointing as well. The drawings just don't give the viewer a very "clean" look and the proportion of the characters are sometimes not drawn properly. The animation is relatively choopy, although the quality does increase slightly when fighting is involved. So my verdict is don't watch it unless you have absolutely nothing else to do. Even so, if you want to watch some action series with girls you are better off watching Ikkitousen or Tenjo Tenge.

All new Pokemon manga

2005-10-04T02:04:00.000-04:00

Its been a while everyone. Due to my recent trouble with my computer I haven't been able to write any reviews. In fact, its still not functioning properly as I speak. Luckily I got a laptop around.
Onto todays topic, I've received news that there will be a new pokemon manga coming out very soon. Most of you might be thinking "pfff, its only pokemon, how good can it be" but you are wrong my friends. In fact I was in the same mind set reading the news article regarding the manga, but as I read on I realized that this is something special. In the manga you have your usual main character as in Ash and Pikachu, both traveling around the world to collect pokemons and have friendly battles with other pokemon collectors. What sets this manga aside from the usual anime/manga is the style. The most obvious change is the art. Instead of the very kiddy and anime drawings, they used a more grown up (or manly) and realistic art (this can be seen from the cover of the first vol). I was really impressed just from the art alone, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. What really shocked me is the action scene. Normally you'll have cute little pokemons shooting thunder bolts or fireballs at each other and when they are KO'd they simply return to their pokeball. The pokeball part remains the same, BUT the fighting scene itself is a different story. The pokemons will go at it tearing each other apart with blood and guts! Plus those pokemons ain't your cute looking ones either (refer to the pic below). More than often, the owner of the pokemon will get involved in the action as well, which usually doesn't turn out to be a pretty sight.
This manga is set to be released in late 2005. No exact date has been confirmed.

Alex Ross's Masterpiece

2005-10-01T08:30:00.000-04:00

Yes yes, we all know about Kingdom Come and Marvels. But Alex Ross hadn't painted his masterpiece until now. Fifty years from now, art historians will study this work just like they do Picasso's Guernica today.

Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you....SuperGrover.

whatever happened to 'comics?'

2005-09-29T00:04:00.000-04:00

This past wednesday, I had the chance to check out, 'Imaged Text', a gallery exhibition at The Harbourfront. 'Imaged Text' formed one/half of my comic book themed evening, the other half being a signing with Sam Hiti at the Beguiling. Today's post is a review of the gallery exhibit.

When you enter Imaged Text, you are greeted by a large mural by a mini-comic artist (whose name I didn't take note of, anybody want to chime in with a correction?). It's a quirky reversal of the mini-comic's natural state, to see something so small turned into something grand. I also found it to be a nice introduction into the gallery as a whole, indicative of the message that Imaged Text is trying to convey, which in summation is something to the effect of, 'Hey! Notice Us!'.

Part of this message then, is embodied in the fact that such an exhibition even exists. But I think Im getting ahead of myself here, let's first take a look at the statement for Imaged Text...

Curiously, for an exhibition about the comics form, the statement mentions that term once. Instead, the term 'graphic novel' is used. An arguement can be made that the graphic novel is a more accurate description for the long form work that these creator's produce. However it's worth pointing out that in most instances, the artwork displayed was from works that were originally produced in single issue format, and then collected at a later date (Dave Sim and Gerard's Cerebus for example). Some artwork even predates the invention of that term (Windsor McCay and George Herriman's).

The choice to use, 'graphic novel' (and graphic novelists) over 'comics' was semantic, in order to grab the attention and respect of a wider audience. As we all know, there is a certain stigma attached to comics, and it has become something of a trend to rebrand comics as a whole as something more literate - hence the term graphic novel.

In my mind, it's a little irritating, and a little pretentious (wholeheartedly admitting that I could be branded likewise). Whatever it is that we all love, be it 'sequential art',or 'graphic novels' , the art form in will always in my heart be 'comics', although the format might be called something else.

Having established that 'Imaged Text' wants you notice comics (and who can blame them, this is an exhibit after all), we now move on to what is hanging on the walls.

The exhibition offers a wide range of comic examples, Paul Pope's work and Gerard being the two examples that struck me the most. Pope complete's his work on massive illustration board, I'm curious how he goes about scanning them for reproduction. It was fascinating to look at the brush strokes and even the masses of black ink not only for Pope but all the artist's work. Looking at the original boards was interesting in that you really got to see the humanity in the work.

'Imaged Text' was an oppurtunity to observe the process of making a comic.

It is easy to take comics for granted. How long do we linger on a single panel? Two seconds if it's particularly lovely. How long did it take for that artist to create that panel? Possibly hours. 'Imaged Text' was succesful in showing the time and planning that is put into those panels that we take for granted.

You can see the corrections made to the lettering, often made with large ghastly smears of white out. You can see the stained and yellowed glue marks where images were pasted in place. Inked figures often have multiple legs drawn in non-repro blue underneath, indicating where a character's originally intended posistion.

This brings up an intersting point about intent. What I mean is that these creator's never really intended for the inked boards to be mounted and framed in a gallery setting. These images were simply a means to an end, part of the process that ends in reproduction ( explaining the disconcern for cleanliness or high polish in these boards). In a sense the work is only complete when you hold the final product in your hand. The problem then becomes how to showcase a complete comic work in a gallery format?

Having these seperate and unrelated pages displayed forces one to appreciate the work on a surface level. It is difficult to appreciate the construction and pacing of a comic without appropriate context of what has come before or what will come after it. Instead your eye looks towards the mark making and illustrative style - which is important however it is only a part of what makes comics. I should note that the gallery did not limit themselves to showing these comic panels, but also show cased some fine paintings by Gerard as well as a small sample of the whole vinyl toy craze.

The idea of transferring the comics into different media was also explored. Projected onto a wall was the movie 'sin city' as well as the game 'XIII'. This also helps to reinforce the idea of exposure and how comics have become more widespread in our north american culture.

'Imaged Text' was a sucessfull exhibition as far as showcasing comics as a form of media as worthy as attention and examination as books, movies, painters or music. Having established this, curators need to consider how to go about properly disecting and researching the genetic material that make up this art form.

Challenge for mech fans

2005-09-27T00:21:00.000-04:00

For those who believes he/she know everything about mechs, heres a little challenge for you. Try and name all the mechs in the following picture.
I can tell u right now that I couldn't do it. Even after resorting to certain method, theres still 4 I didn't get. Have fun!

Anime review Sept 22nd

2005-09-22T04:43:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. I know its been a while since I've posted anything, have been somewhat busy in the past week. Anyways, on to todays goodies. As I was organizing all the files in my computer (or hard drive if you want to be technical) I stumbled upon some relatively old stuff that I really enjoyed. Well, its only a few years old but.....well, you get the idea. So I'm thinking to myself "why not write a review on this". What I'm talking about is Yushaoh (king of braves) Gaogaigar. This anime is basically a super robot show. In case you have no clue what a super robot is, they are super unrealistic mechs that defies all laws of physics. A really blocky mech that can somehow fly around and shoot beams out of its eyes and chest is a perfect example of what a super robot is. So what do we call the mechs like gundam, votoms, valkyries, etc....? Real robots. Although there are a few that are neither, think G gundam and you'll understand. Ok, enough with my mechs lecture, onto the review.
The basic story is to fight aliens, plain and simple. You have your main character, Shishiou Gai/Guy who was involved in an accident which lead to him becoming a cyborg. Whats worth noting is that Gai's power source is from this thing call G stone, an object of unknown origins, but produces extremely high energy output. Although he is a cyborg, his body still looks very human, but when engaging in battle, he'll be equip with this nice golden/yellow armor. Also worth noting is that his hand to hand combat is nothing to be laugh at, he is a cybord after all. Of course you have your secret base/lab, but unlike other super robot shows, their base is actually related to the government and acts more like an organization rather than a personal lab. Most of the crew are very super robot like too, meaning they tend to scream a lot even if its not necessary, but I like it, it pumps me up and gets my blood boiling lol. The villains are your typical mysterious boss controlling a few general like enemies who goes and sends out the "monster of the day". Instead of creating a monster out of no where, they use human as the core. The neat thing is these monsters are powered by the dark side (or evil side in case fans of certain movie gets mad) of human nature, meaning anger, jealousy, greed, lust, etc.....So are these people screwed once they turned into monsters? Well, this is when the other main character, Amami Mamoru comes in play. He is a little kid who has the ability to purify these poor people as well as detecting/predicting if one of those baddies shows up.
The mechs are pretty interesting as well. The usual super robot are composed of few smaller robots, vehicles, planes, or animal bots. I'm guessing the designer must be like "hey, why not use them all?" when he designed Gaogaigar. First theres the mech lion which moves on its own will. When needed, it'll fuse with Gai to form a humanoid mech call Gaigar. Of course thats not the end of it. Under serious situation (which happens every ep) the commander will give permission for "Final Fusion" which lets Gaigar combine with a bullet train, a stealth jet, and a truck (?) with drills and forms the almighty powe....I mean Gaogaigar. Weapon wise its also a bit different from the conventional super robot. No eye beams, no flaming swords coming out of the chest. In fact, Gaogaigars weapon is rather simple. Both its hands have its respective function. The right hand is basically a rocket punch, surrounded by a pinkish energy. Its left hand can create a barrier which nullifies most attacks. Add a pair of drills on its knees then you have Gaogaigars basic weapons. Note I said basic, just like all super robots, Gaogaigar also have its finisher, Hell and Heaven (yup, thats the name of the attack) which is used in every ep to finish off the enemy. It puts its hands together, combining both the offensive and defensive energy from both hands to crush the enemy. And obviously, there are lots of screaming involved when the attack is performed. Despite Gaogaigar being all cool and powerful, it can't take on all enemies alone, so they gave him some buddies. What we got here are autobots my friends. Yes, mechs that can transform into trucks and has a mind of its own (AI if you want to be specific). As the show goes on, they introduce more mechs. A ninja one and one that uses music as its weapon (a damn powerful weapon I must say)
As shown in the first ep, having two giant mechs fighting in the city is not a pretty sight. So they came up with a tool call DI-VAI-DINGU DULAIVAAAA! ahem...the dividing driver which can bend space and dimension, creating an empty space for the mechs to go at it. Of course, more tools will be introduced as the show goes on, such as an oversize hammer that can destroy pretty much anything.
Overall, the show is aimed for a younger audience. The character design is relatively unrealistic and colorful, making it easier for kids to enjoy. But it also has its elements that can satisfy adults, well, limiting to super robot fans.....The story is nothing to be excited about, not until the last 3-4 eps of the first story arc and the later half of the second arc. As you can guess, most eps follows the pattern of "monster shows up, hero fights it and beats it with its fancy finisher". Plot twist and surprises simple doesn't exist in the show. One more thing that I must mention is that this show has one of the catchiest theme in anime history. As soon as you hear " ga-ga-ga ga-ga-ga Gaogaigar~ ga-ga-ga ga-ga-ga-ga Gaogaigar~" you'll know where that song is from.

I'll give this show 5 Rickstars out of 10. Its not a show for everyone, not even all kids will enjoy it. But if you're into super robots and enjoy some extreme screaming, this is the show you must check out.
And one thing I learned from this show is that victory always goes to the ones with courage!

The Science-Fighters Are On Thier Way!

2005-09-20T09:05:00.000-04:00

Today's review is on Alan Moore and Gene Ha's 'Top Ten: The Forty-Niners'. Reviewing a work by Moore is something of an intimidating prospect, the man is responsible for many of the best examples in the medium. Aren't we supposed to assume that all of his works are simply gold and get on with our lives? Do I really need to convince you that 'The Forty-Niners' is worth your time?

No, not really. Especially when Gene Ha is at the top of his game, illustrated perfectly in the above image. For the sake of the blog (and having a few hours before class)let's just pretend like you need a bit more of a nudge.

For this volume,Ha works with colorist Art Lyon to evoke a sense of nostalgia, as if we were looking at washed-out, old photographs of the ficticious city of Neopolis. This isn't the Neopolis that we know from the past two volumes of Top Ten, it is a post-war city just beginning to stand up on it's own legs. Ha displays Neopolis, from it's buildings to the vehicles and citizens in elaborate and convincing detail.

Ha and Moore manage to draw parrallels in the work with historical events. World War II for instance, was aided by 'Science-Heroes', who fought for both sides. This serves as a back drop for much of the tensions that occur in Neopolis, where all of the heroes (and villains) from the war are relocated.

The Top-Ten series as a whole, deals with predjudice (or rather, the challege between acceptible and unacceptible values/ideas), the past volumes took on the issues of pedophilia, robot racism (robotism?), and (to a lesser degree) beastiality. These examples, are extreme, however in Moore's deft hands, he approaches these issues delicatly and composes them in such a way you'll find yourself involved in the characters rather than the issues.

'The Forty-Niners' carries on where the last volume left off, with the relationship between 'Jetlad' Steven Traynor and Wulf of the, 'Skysharks'. We now get to see Steven in his younger years, as he begins to realize his own sexuality. Gay superhero's seems at first a silly proposistion, we can thank Ace and Gary for that, or Dr. Fredrick Wertham. However Moore manages to make the relationship between Steven and Wulf almost low key and modest at times.

It's a sly trick of misdirection on Moore's part, the reason why a gay relationship in the 40's (arguably at a time when when such thoughts would have been met with hatred and ignorance) seems so regular is due to the nature of Neopolis itself. Two humans who have an affection for eachother is a little 'ho-hum' when you've got a vampire mafia,robot ghettos and time travelling villains.

As a point of comparison, Moore introduces side stories that parallel Steven's dilemma . The aforementioned Vampire Mafia (although don't call them the 'v' word), and the growing unease between humans and robots. More than simply making Neopolis feel more real, these secondary plot points help to reinforce the main theme of the book.

Moore's body of work brands him as something of an idea machine, dealing with heady concepts in his works. However without the grounding of real and relatable characters, idea's can get smothered by thier own weight. Luckily 'The Forty-Niners' features such likable characters like Leni Muller the 'Skywitch', and Frank Chambers, 'SteelGauntlet'.

It should be pointed out that Moore isn't above tossing in a few ideas simply for the sake of novelty. In one memorable sequence, two police officers bring in Puzzleman. His gimmick you see, is that he speaks in 'crossword' offering only the questions and leaving it up to the listener (and reader) to figure out what he means. For the life of me, i can't figure out what he's saying in this panel:

Not even Jess Nevins ( a regular annotater or Moore's oeuvre) has as yet to figure it out. I'm officially opening up a challege to the great and grand internets, should anybody be able to figure it out you'll get a wonderful prize from me (void where prohibited, ie. everywhere). The top of the panel says , 'Hit him again, G.G! Looks like Puzzleman really doesn't have a clue!' , to which Puzzleman replies, 'Exclamation suggests no odour of sanctity about this. (4,4)'

The one problem that I'd have with the book would be the time travel plot point, Moore and Ha employ a visual trick regarding cropping, however within the 'logic' of a comic book I felt like a little forced.

Aside from the above mentioned points, what else is there to know about 'The Forty-Niners'? Well, there's a couple of explosions, a dog fight in the air, a girl who's skirt is a bit too short, and time travel...Its Alan Moore for chissakes, what do you want from me? Get it.

Chiggers! Jimmy Corrigan in Town!?!

2005-09-16T18:03:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone - to anybody who's a lives around the GTA, theres some pretty snazzy news floating around. Head on down to Chris Butcher's blog to get the full skinny.

If you want to get a gander at the pretty pictures created by such comics luminaries such as Chris Ware, Adrian Tomine and Seth (amongst others), then head on down to The Harbourfront. It'll be up for awhile, so please don't rush and step over one another.

Should be a pretty cool gallery show, I skipped one my program instructor's gallery show last night since I had a hunch something more my speed was going down soon.

Cheers

Rey O

Video Games and Information

2005-09-14T01:23:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone, first let me appologize for the lateness of this post. It's been awhile, mostly due to moving back to Oakville, and getting back into the swing of things with school. I've been reading a few intersting books that are on the recommended reading list for my Information Illustration course, ' The Art of Looking Sideways' and 'Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative'. Although not intended specificically for the pursposes of comics or cartoons or video games, alot of the theories contained therein can be successfully applied.

First though, I want to show you something really funny found in Edward Tufte's 'Visual Explanations':

If this image doesn't make you laugh, then you probably don't know the joy of rolling up a satisfying clump of souls.

How Disturbing....

I wouldn't put it past Keita Takahashi to have used this painting by Rudolf Stahel as some sort of point of reference for his standout game of 2004 - he was afterall, a student of the arts. Religious imagery does have a tendancy to follow a strict visual lexicon - so if not this piece specifically, he may have come across something similar.

I'm not going to get into the whole King of Cosmo's, Prince and God and Son of God thing, I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that. The point I'd like to make is that you can find and draw comparisons anywhere, sometimes it's valid, other times just quirky coincidences. But it is worth while opening yourself up to a wider array of influences - rather than simply looking at existing anime or manga as your main influences for your own manga, why not look into fine art, or literature? It's something that one of my instructors has mentioned and something that I've taken to heart.

That takes me to Tufte's 'Visual Explanations', as I had mentioned earlier, his observations can be applied our favorite popular media. After all, what is a video game but visual interactive information? A comic encompasses much of Tufte's theories, does a comic not have to be clear and understandable in it's visual information?

This article will examine primarily video games and it's relation to 'Visual Explanations'. Tufte early on establishes some of the methods in order to display comparitive illustration. Amongst these include scale - and it occured to me that amongst some of my favorite games, scale is a very important feature.

Lets look at the aforementioned Katamari Damacy:

The point of KD is to simply collect stuff (from bugs to cars to people to buildings and even whole land masses. Scale plays and important roll in the game, as you start most stages off not larger than say... a wallet or mug, and progressively you work your way up to epic heights. The relative size you start off as and the eventual size you end up with is key to the enjoyment of the game. How many times have you been tossed about by those self-righteous cats and dogs, only to later return, brimming with Katamari fury, 'AHAHAHAHAHA YOU STUPID DOG, WHO'S THE MAN NOW!?!? GET-IN-MY-BELLY!' - well, maybe thats just me. But it embodies how scale is employed in a satisfying fashion. With regards to information, this sense of scale is made real via touch (your katamari is light and nimble when you start and ungainly and cumbersome towards the end), relation (to the other objects), and perspective (notice how the camera shifts everytime to provide a better sense of scale).

Touch is especially important, in an interview, Takahashi mentions that in his art school days, he valued the tactile sense of shaping an object with his hands -perhaps he has taken his experience and has transfered it over into video games. Playing this game reminded me of playing Super Mario Bros. with my mom when I was a wee lad. You might be familar with this phenomena when you watch an inexperienced video game player try a game out: when Mario needs to cross a gap, the amateur player might lift his control in the air in a jerking motion, his/her body slightly lunging forward as Mario traverses the gap - it's as if their physical movements might somehow affect our pixelated plumber. When my katamari reaches apocalyptic scale, I'm usually twisting my face in knots and grunting as it lumbers along, trying to engulf buildings and traverese large land masses.

Scale is a defining feature in another game who is well known amongst video game connoisseurs, Ico:

Fumito Ueda's Ico present's the use of scale in a similar fashion to Katamari Damacy. Early on in the game it is established that you (Ico) are a small boy in a massive castle - a typical premise for the medium. What differentiates Ico from say, Milon's Castle is in it's use of scale. Yes, we know the castle is large, but it is only through experiencing the scale do we realize how huge it is. Remember the large stair case that seemed to never stop?

Scale.

The game is a textbook on scale - Ueda takes this concept and pushes it further with his latest entry, 'Shadow of the Colossus'. The name gives away something of it's intent and design, and pictures only further this claim. Having played the demo, I can say that seeing the game in motion, and interacting with the Colussus, accuratley convey the terrifying scale of these monsters.

Concerning Information Design

Ueda's Ico is again a textbook example of excellent game design. Tufte's book cites numerous examples of poor information and diagram design, often cluttered works that only work towards confusing it's reader. Those of you who have watched the news will understand this visual noise - eg. streaming NASDAQ ticker, weather reports and live footage. In my Information Illustration class we call it 'Information Anxiety'.

What I am suggesting is that this anxiety is partially responsible for the alienating feelings that come with both comics and video games. Both media utilize a unique vocabulary that someone who is unaccustomed to it may find it incomprehensible. Not unlike going to a foriegn country and not knowing the native tongue. Comics may have it slightly easier in this regard, in one way or another the general public has been exposed to traditional comics techniques, word bubbles for example, occur in print media, advertising, and television. However, taken as a whole, I think comics reading might be somewhat jarring for some who like thier pictures to stay in t.v's and walls, and thier words in books and magazines.

Video games suffer the most from 'Information Anxiety'. Recently, I have been playing my roomates copy of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (with the bongo's of course). It's a riotous game, aside from the appeal of playing a platforming game just by hitting toy bongo's, what appeals to me about Jungle Beat is it's candy colored world. 'Busy' would be an effective opperative word to describe the imagery in this game. For those who are accustomed to this look, the effect is hypnotic. For those who are not used to the Las Vegas-esque imagery inherent in many video games (dating as far back as even Mario, but most explicit in games like Sonic the Hedgehog), it can be a bit off-putting. In at least two seperate instances, my housemates had seen the game, and then remarked on how 'crazy' it was, specifically noting the vivid colours and wild movements. In a sense, the game is promoting a sense of cluttered madness which is appropriate for it's type (a bongo game isn't the place to look for thoughtful, deep gameplay after all).

Perhaps the biggest culprit of 'Information Anxiety' would be the RPG genre. Some games are so cluttered with information that the visual's of the game are secondary. The Final Fantasy series, while priding itself on it's graphical prowess, often mar's it's pretty face with an abundance of big and distracting visual information. Hitting an opponent produces numbers to emerge from thier bodies, the bottom half of the screen is almost exclusively dedicated to the names of your characters, the villains, your time bar, and your magic and health points. Imagine if you were a person who knew nothing of how Final Fantasy and RPG's would work, what would this game look like to you? It hardly looks like a game so much as it does a fancy statistics analyzer.

This brings us back to Ueda, and his work on Ico. Ico is getting alot of play these day's at our house, partially because I can't stop telling people about Shadow of the Colossus (and subsequently Ico) but also because it is a game that is beautifully designed. The information that Ico convey's is composed in such a way that you never have to deal with meters and bars and numbers, menu's (except for pausing/saving) or maps. Everything you need to know about Ico as a game happens on the whole of the screen as a playable image. To do this, Ueda severly streamlined all aspects of the game, from the fighting system (consisting of one button), to the health/lives of ico (he's pretty much invincible). This minimalist design extends beyond gameplay and into the music (there isn't any really) and graphics (washed out and faded vs. the glitz and glamour of donkey kong). Ico's simplicity equates to a kind of accesibility that other games can only dream of. When the same housemate who was turned-off by Jungle Beat's visual noise watched Ico in action, he mentioned that this other game was more pleasing to the eye, and easier to follow. This may be due in some part to the streamlined information design.

For video games to gain wider recognition, designers will need to cast thier net wider. The current video game playing public/designer relationship is entrenched in a visual language that is dated and fails to utilize the full potential of the medium. In other words, it's time to start speaking in more broader, universal terms - examples like Ico help to bridge this gap in creating games that everyone can understand and enjoy.

Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children

2005-09-12T17:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. As you can see, I'll will write a summary/review on Final Fantasy 7 Advent children. Thats right people, its the FF7 movie we've all been waiting for years. And note that there will be major spoilers, so read on only if you really want to.
The movie starts off with the ending of the FF7 game, as in the descendents of Red XIII running onto a mountain, looking at what used to be Midgard. Then it goes back 498 years, which I believe is 2 years after the game. What you see there is the crater at the north pole. A Shinra chopper flew into it, hear some talking and gun shots, then the chopper flys away from it. As to who is piloting the chopper, I'll let the pictures answer that.

Now we have Malin (the girl Bullet/Barret takes care of) giving us a brief summary on what happened in the game, from the background of Shinra company to the death of Aerith and the whole life stream thing. She also tells us that a unknown disease emerges out of no where in the past two years, taking the lifes of many people. And it seems a large portion of the ones infected by the disease are children. The next few minutes gives the viewers a good look at what Tifa looks like. And to be honest, she looks damn good.

On to action we go. Both Cloud and the trio of villains are introduced here. For those who are curious, the one with the katana is Kadaj, the one with guns is Razoo, and the other one is Loz. and they head straight into action. What we got here is a really unrealistic yet cool looking fight involving bikes, swords, guns, and monsters. Things settles down after a few minutes of intense action and non stop "where is mother" questions from the trio. Cloud goes on to meet a certain someone accompanied by 2 members of Turks. After some talking, that mysterious man got a visit from one of the trio.

With 10+ minutes of talking in the books, its time to go back to action. Tifa and Malin hangs out at the church and encounters Loz. Of course, they engage in battle, beating the she*t out of each other. One thing worth noting here is that the "victory song" makes an appearance here.

Now on to some kidnapping (or should I say mind control) action by the pretty boy trio. Cloud chases after them and we are treated to another intense fight. It all came to a halt when a man with red cape who uses a gun interferes.

Little chit chat takes place then the scene cuts to the villains summoning monsters to attack everyone on the street of Midgard. They are later joined by a certain materia summoned beast, wreaking more havoc. Just when it seems its hopeless, everyone shows up. Yes, I mean everyone. They all proceed to fight the summon and destroys lots of building in the process :)

OK, time for more bike actions. Kadaj took "mother" and ran off. Cloud chases him on his bike. The other two baddies follows. That gives us another insanely unrealistic road rage. After lots of explosions (which involves a rather fun scene with the Turks) Cloud caught up to Kadaj. One on one sword fight! The music! Jenova theme!

Most of you should be able to guess what happens next, but just in case, I'll have to give you guys a final major major spoiler warning. So read on at your own risk.

Cloud defeats Kadaj, he then grabs "mother" and fuses with it. A long katana, long silver hair, and that theme! Who can it be! Its none other than Sephiroth! Its time for one last sword fight. One crazy one to boot. The two of them jump/fly around the city accompanied by chunks of building getting blown up and sliced in half. Of course, Cloud emerges as the victor and everyone is happy.

The End

The overall story is rather disappointing. Before watching the movie, I figure they will put more time and focus on the whole Jenova story as well as the background of the Villains. Instead, this movie is used to further Develop Clouds character, which seems somewhat redundant since he already dealt with his past and decides to live on at the end of the game. Jenova is basically there to give them an excuse to bring back Sephiroth and the trio are simply past on as clones of Sephi, giving us no plot twist or any surprise at all. The rest of the crew are somewhat useless as well. You could remove them from the movie and not affect the story, well, other than Vincent and the Turks. In a sense, the structure of this movie is really similar to Matrix Reloaded where they had a pattern of 10-15 mins talking, some action, back to talking, on to action, etc....everything just feels forced together. So, the main attractions of this film is basically the graphics and the action. To be honest, I really didn't want the movie to turn out this way especially when the original story was so deep and interesting. Just imagine this being a live action movie and you'll realize how pathetic it is. In short, this film is one big fan service video, with some stunning graphic and action that is.
For those who have played the game, you should have lots of fun watching this movie. Of course the characters are great to watch, but the little details they put in should satisfy your expectations as well. What I mean is the background and the music. Most events takes place at certain location from the game, such as the crater, the hotel right outside of Midgard, the church etc...And a good portion of the music (mostly battle themes) are remix of the ones from the game, which is really neat.

I give this movie 7 Rickstars out of 10. I really want to give it a higher score, but the story gave me no choice.

Anime Review Sept 08th

2005-09-08T18:57:00.000-04:00

Hello all, its been a few days since I've wrote anything. Got distracted by a game in the past few days. Those who knows me probably knows what game it is. Anyways, on to todays review. What we got here today is the third season of a fairly popular series called Full Metal Panic. The official name of this third season is "Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid" in case you're wondering.

For those who have seen the first and second (or one of the two) will notice that TSR (the second raid) is much more serious and darker than the previous seasons. It focuses more on the missions and battles. It also reveals more about the whole mithril organization.
For those who has never seen the first nor second season, heres a quick rundown on what this show is about. Basically you have your main male lead as in Sagara Sousuke who was raised in the middle east area. Due to living his childhood days in that sort of environment, he became a teenager who knows only how to survive in a war like situation. That didn't really affect him since he got picked up by an organization called Mithril, whose objective is basically become peace keeper of the world (therefore they don't belong to any country). So Sousuke lives his life as a soldier until he got a mission that sends him to Japan to protect a certain girl while disguising himself as a normal highschool students. Why protect that girl? That you'll have to find out yourself. The main attraction of this show (for the first two season at least) is to watch Sousuke living in a normal environment, which usually ends up with him using bombs or guns.....
So back to TSR. The amount of comedy got reduced significantly, focusing mainly on battles and missions. They've added a lot more killings (brutal ones too I must say) and at times, fan service (say hello to lesbian incest). The quality of the animation is surprisingly good, considering this is only a tv series. The only tv series I've seen that has equally good, if not better, animation is Air. Since only a few eps have been released, not much can be said about the story. Judging from what I've seen, the story seems somewhat typical and predictable, but the action scenes more than makes up for it.
I'll give this 8 Rickstars out of 10

Gundam Seed Destiny ep 46

2005-09-03T17:11:00.000-04:00

Before you guys read on, have to warn you that the following post contains spoilers for Seed Destiny ep 46. And note that this isn't really a review, its more like my after thoughts of the ep, so I could be somewhat bias at times...and instead of the summary of the ep, I tend to focus on certain scenes that caught my attention.

"I didn't think you will actually get shot down by Shinn, thats a big surprised"
Well said, Athrun. And Kira with his excuses "O, I was hesitant during that battle since I don't really want to fight Zaft." Yeah, whatever.

Ok, of all the things they can do, they go shopping, when they know very well that "someone" is trying to get rid of their precious princess.
There you see Lacus having fun trying on different clothes. What made it better was Kira's reaction to her wearing different clothes.
Lacus: So what do you think, Kira?
Kira: Its good.
Lacus: What about this one?
Kira: Its good.
Lacus: ....is there anything that you don't consider it being good? :(
Way to go Mr. Yamato, the proper way to please a girl.

Ok, so they got a message saying Meer is in trouble and they know for a fact that its a trap. So what does Kira and Lacus decide to do? Lets go meet her when everyone here but Athrun knows nothing about fighting. And Kira with his "don't worry, everything will be fine" made it even more ridiculous.

As expected, they got attacked. The poor guy Athrun has to do ALL the work. It still amazes me how good Athrun is with guns and hand to hand combat. He might as well ditch his I-Justice and go fight MS with his hand gun and kung fu.

Anime review Sept 1st

2005-09-01T16:18:00.000-04:00

Whats up everyone. I was planning on writing something earlier today, but got called in to work...well, thats life. Anyways, I added some pics for my previous anime reviews (check anime review aug 29th). The quality of the pictures aren't that good, but with my limited skills, thats all I can give right now. Now, lets move on to todays anime review. What we got here today is again an on-going series in Japan.

Koukyoshihen Eureka Seven
One of the better shows out there in my opinion. The opening video gives its viewers a pretty good idea of what the style of the show is like. From its "mechs flying around using surfboards" you can tell its a mech related show (duh!). Whats also worth noting after watching the opening video is that Bones is involved in the production of this anime. In case some of you didn't know, Bones is famous for taking part in the creation of Full Metal Alchemist, so the quality of this series should be something to look forward to. Despite having all those mechs and surdboard, this series seems to concentrate more on character development. In short, the mechs are there to help develop the story and characters rather than having the story and characters to complement the coolness of the mechs. The story starts with the main character, Renton, living his daily life, trying to become better at the "flying surfboard" sport. As we find out later in the episode, his family isn't any ordinary family. His father is apparently a heroic figure who was involved in the mechs and certain technology. Because of that, Renton got involved in the battle between the government and Gekko State (which, from what I've seen, its true objective is unknown). Renton then goes on to join Gekko State and starts his new life there, partly because he feels he is responsible to look after an item his father made (its used for a mech in case you
re wondering). So whats his main reason for joining? The girl he likes asked him to. Have to respect that.
They've done a very good job when it comes to character design. Each crew member has his/her unique personality and appearance, making it very easy for viewers to distinguish who is who. And they've put in a good mix of characters, making the interaction between characters more realistic and interesting. What kinda of character you ask? That you'll have to find out on your own.(too lazy to list them all)
The mechs in this show has a rather unique design. If I really have to compare it to something, I'll say it looks similar to tekkaman. It has a relatively slim body, but has very limited fan service parts as in spikes or wings. All the mechs carry around a "surfboard" that lets them fly around. And judging from the battles, those surfboards has great mobility as the mechs dodges missiles and stuff easily, well, if its in the hands of a good pilot. Despite having those fancy surfboards, their weapons are surprisingly down to earth. So far they've only used missiles, knifes, a boomerang like weapon, and laser/beam cannons for battle ships. One other thing worth noting is that all of the good guys (as in Gekko state) mechs can transform into cars. Pretty neat I must say.

Since I've only seen 12 eps, I can't say if the story actually gets better or not, but from what I've seen so far, its definitely a great show that shouldn't be missed. I'll give it 9 Rickstars at the moment

An 'Impeccable' Comic - A Spiral-Bound review

2005-09-01T01:40:00.000-04:00

Hi there everyone - before I get to the review I'd like to point out that there likely won't be any content from me until early September. I'll be moving back to Oakville and the 'net guy's come in on the 7th. Until then, enjoy Rickstar content as well as the links to other great web logs.

The first thing that will catch your eye about Spiral-Bound is it's design sensiblity. Starting with the cover illustration, the book gives off the impression that it is exactly as the title describes, a simple spiral-bound note book. This concept is applied through the entire work, the spine has an image of coils, which contain inside a pencil with title, publisher and author information printed on it. Even within the book itself, the pages are framed with those familiar note book lined sheets. The total effect is one of familiarity, everyone in thier younger years, or even now, has been in possession of a ratty old note book like the one depicted in Spiral-Bound.

I really didn't know anything else about the book other than it's terrific design and that alot of other creators that I admire showered high praise on it. You can go ahead and accuse me of judging a book by it's cover if you want, I am after all trained in the visual arts so it's not too far from the truth. With nothing more than a cover and some compliments to go on - I was expecting some pretty light hearted fair, mostly geared towards kids.

For the most part, my expectations were met, and in some cases exceeded. The first surprise comes within the first few pages, when our main character, an elephant named Turnip and his pal, Stucky Hound head on down to a rock concert featuring Kodiak and Calico (I wonder if Renier is a fan of Coheed and Cambria?). Up until that point, I was content to believe that the fashion sensiblity of our cute characters was modeled after say, Pooh, a smart little black blazer for Turnip, and a sensible collared shirt for Stucky. When they both arrive at 'The June Bug' (a bar? coffee shop?) you'll realize that the town of Estabrook is alot more contemporary than initially percieved. The patrons at The June Bug are pretty punked out, I laughed when I saw the giraffe with the skull hoodie and spiked collar. If they weren't rockin' the spikes and chains, then they likely had a bohemian art student thing going on, you know the type, scarves, a single strapped bag with buttons, big floppy bunny ears.

And then some are huge whales in glass domes mounted on tractors.

Maybe I'm just projecting, relating cute fuzzy's with my life my college career (bizaare as that may be). Then again, theres that whole Scott McCloud 'simplification = identification' thing. So if Spiral-Bound looks a little familiar, with its note book asthetic and simple cartoony characters, than Renier is doing his job, he's connecting with the reader in a very real way.

I genuinely related to Turnip and his predicament. Turnip, you see, is a bit shy, which doesn't help with his secret love for a mouse. The only way he can express himself is through art, which again, struck a chord. While I'm not yet making sandwich sculptures of my crushes, I can empathize with Turnip and his need to create something flawless and perfect.

Turnip is affraid, in particular of making mistakes. It's a recurring theme in Spiral-Bound, of error. Creation and destruction ( either intentional or accidental) of art in the quest for perfection. It was hearbreaking to see Turnip smash something that he had laboured over for hours, perfection is something that can destroy you if you become obsessed with it. I get the impression that Renier has gone through some similar times, it feels that honest.

Ultimatly, Turnip comes to realize that mistakes and imperfections are beautiful in thier own way. My painting teacher always tells me about 'happy accidents' when using water colours. It's the same sort of idea, just let it flow. Along the same lines, Turnip also becomes emboldned, and he's no longer affraid of the big, scary monsters in life, never mind the cute little mouses.

If I could make one criticism, it would be that Spiral-Bound, although wonderfully illustrated, is sometimes a bit too detailed.

The problem lies within focus. Since Renier uses the same line quality throughout the whole image, it's hard to make a distinction between foreground, middle and background. A good example of black and white art with good depth of field would be Jeff Smith's 'Bone' , who uses large areas of black's to frame an image and lead the readers eye. That being said, Renier has mentioned in an interview that Spiral-Bound had at first been made with a two-colour printing scheme set up, however due to printer limitations this idea was nixed. In an odd bit of congruency, the same day I picked up this book I had also bought Sam Hiti's Tiempos Finales , which uses a similar printing method to the one Renier describes. The finished product is very attractive, and I'll be reviewing the comic itself in the near future.

The last thing I'll mention is how well the design of Spiral-Bound feeds into the structure and story of the book. I had thought maybe this would have been a case of 'clever-art' and nothing more. Thankfully, Renier gives us substance over style - in a weird round about way, the book itself is an element in the story. It all helps to reinforce the connection that the book makes with its reader.

Aaron Renier's Spiral-Bound shows alot of promise and potential for this creator and future stories. As a piece of design, the work is successful, that it succeeds in telling a hilarious, joyus, and truely affecting story marks it as being one of the stand out hits this year. I'm definatly on board for whatever else comes out of Renier's note books.

Where my money went in the past weekend

2005-08-30T16:10:00.000-04:00

Its time to show off some of the goodies I got from the convention. Didn't bother taking any pictures of the comics i got, maybe next time.

I'll pay you in Bison Dollars! Mwuhahahahaha

This fight > any battles in history

One day he shall become our ruler

Shes only 15 years old.....or is it 14

Sexy! But not legal yet

The most powerful mech in anime history. Yes, thats a fact.

Cost 112 pts but only has a 9 attack? Hey, theres John steward at the bottom corner.

Its a shield! Its a bag! And I'm a Gundam!

Aye Aye, Seaguy! - A Seaguy Review

2005-08-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

I guess I should start with my initial gut reaction towards Grant Morrison's Seaguy. Actually, it wasn't even my reaction, but rather how others responded to this collected volume upon first site. At the convention, I had met up with some friends and upon inquiring what I had purchased, I presented from my bag-o'-junk Seaguy. 'Seaguy?', they said, sort of half-laughing at the ridiculous title. I have to admit, the name is pretty silly. The name Seaguy is analagous to DC hero Aquaman, extending this parody logically, one might assume then that the comic Seaguy is in fact played straight for jokes. In fact, even taking a passing glance through the first few pages would likely further perpetuate this impression - our titular hero (forever wearing his scuba gear)lives in a brightly coloured world, he even has a flowing fish friend named, 'Chubby da' Choona' who's keen catch phrase is 'Da Fug!'. When Seaguy initially was released in single issues, I dismissed this work for the reasons listed above. It just seemed kinda silly, and hell, I wanted to read something serious, danggit!

But I should have known better.

I should have known that Morrison wouldn't goof off - or rather I should say 'goof off' in a superficial way. Seaguy is a work of subversion, and it starts with the cover/name and ends with the back cover. Morrison and artist Cameron Stewart design the story in a way that makes you dismiss the work as a light hearted comic romp reminiscent to the formulative early years of comics. By the time you reach the third act, Seaguy has so slyly transformed into another beast you'll find yourself flipping back through the past pages thinking, 'what the hell?'.

This is a good thing. Your not 'double-you-tee-effing' because Seaguy just became so
incomprehensible that you want to throw it in the garbage and bash your head with frozen trout. Its more of an 'oh snap' kinda thing. Actually, it's more like, 'oh Snap, Crackle, Pop'.

This is because Seaguy is firmly established in a new kind of mythology, pop culture. Like those cute little elves on the cereal boxes, branding and mascots feature prominently in the story. Seaguy's main opposistion is an all encompassing corporation called 'Mickey Eye' - an allusion to Disney and Mickey Mouse (in this world, the company's mascot is a terrifying, mallicious eyeball with appendages). Without giving too much away, Mickey Eye is so prevalent in the world of Seaguy that it commands a massive army, and beyond that, it exerts control (hypnotic or otherwise) over the public.

Why does Mickey Eye have a beef with Seaguy and his fish friend? Well, its convuluted, but would you believe me if I told you that it's because Seaguy vommited to life a manufactured life form? Like I said, its mixed up.

Seaguy from an esthetic stand point, is mixed up. Like alot of our favorite pop culture obsessions, Seaguy borrows something old, something new, and alot of blew (as in 'your mind'). In this sense Seaguy shares a special kinsmenship with Starwars, and (despite Morrisons public denunciation of it) The Matrix. Lets take a look at what Morrison thows into the post-modernist pot (of stew or otherwise, your analogy of choice) : Jack Kirby Comics, Greek/Roman Mythology, Corporate Identity, Cartoons, Egyptian Pyramids and Mummy's, and Soda Pop. Theres that word again, pop, gee whiz, it's almost like Morrison is trying to make a point.

Assuming then that Morrison is creating a super-sigil of mythology by assembling all these seemingly disparate forces, we would do well to see how Seaguy then stacks up against Joseph Campbell's, 'The Hero With a Thousand Faces'. Campbell's theory in short, is that all stories, contain the same basic (and even specific) underpinnings. From Jesus, to Buddha, to Superman, all heroes follow a kind of pre-determined path, from the journey, to the death, and then re-birth (and we all know how often comic heros come back to life). Seaguy, as it turns out, takes Campbell's concepts quite literally. Our hero, really is the only (super) hero around these days. Long ago, the Superheroes of Seaguy's world had either died or retired after battling an epic menance (mostly mentioned in passing in the book). There simply isn't a need for heroics when the evil thread has been thwarted and an all encompassing eye watches over the whole of society. So Seaguy really is 'the one' since he's the only one left.

Which brings me to my last point. If 'the one' rings a bell, you might remember that title being tossed around these last few years, with that little art film known as 'The Matrix'. It's interesting to note how Morrison had proclaimed mass qualms with (the former) Los Bros. Wachowski, that thier movie had plagerized concepts from Morrisons older work, 'The Invisibles'. Now with Seaguy, things come full circle, as the last act bears at the very least, an artificial resemblance to the end of the sci-fi movie trilogy. Still, I'm not convinced this is entirely a sly 'fuck you' to 'the matrix', I'd rather believe that this feeds into Campbell's work. Since Morrison has mentioned elsewhere that we can expect two more volumes of Seaguy, it will be interesting to see how events conspire this second time around.

Oh! and remeber when I mentioned that Seaguy's subversion extends all the way to the back of the book cover? I wonder what this frame means:

A shadey future world or a future world with alot of shades in it?

Seaguy in both name and in narrative is alot like a magic trick, making you pay attention to gestures of one hand while the other hand palms the quarter behind your ear. If your interested in reading more Seaguy analysis, may I suggest Pieratikos?

Cheers

Rey O

anime reviews Aug 29th

2005-08-29T23:00:00.000-04:00

Wow, going to the con 3 days in a row is definitely not an easy task, considering I had an average of 3-4 hrs of sleep/night. Slept for 10+ hours today, really needed that. Anyways, its finally time for some anime reviews. Since there lots and lots of series out there, I'll just start with some on going series today.

Sousei no Aquarion
First look at this show really reminds me of series like Evangelion or Rahxephon. Its got the post apocolypse feeling to it, its got some mysterious robot. But as the first ep goes on, it clearly tells its viewers that this isn't a show w/ some whiner kid whos super emotional and the story doesn't try to be all weird and religious. I'll have to say it feels more like an old school super robot show. They have three planes combine to form a robot. They got their catch phrase when they combine, it almost feels like watching a high tech version of getter robo. And if they switch the planes into different positions, it becomes another mech w/ different abilities. Just like old school robot shows, each ep has a seperate story (think cowboy bebop). Most eps will concentrate on a certain character and develope them. Also, one thing worth noting is that all mech action are done in CG.
Characters in this show are relatively easy to distinguish (well, except for the twins). They all have unique body/facial features and wears very different clothing. The main character, Apollo, is your typical reckless, constantly screaming, never backs down from challenge type guy, or hot blood in the super robot language. The heroine, Silvia, is again your typical loud mouth, violent, never admits her true feelings type character. She also plays the ero role in this show ^_^ as she puts on "interesting" facial expression when the mech combines.
Although the show is similar to a super robot show, the mech itself is not big and bulky. In fact its the exact opposite, being really slim looking. Its not a bad look but I personally perfers those bulky designs from the 80s. Weapons wise its trully a super robot as it pulls weapons out of nowhere. Shurikens suddenly appears on its palms? Fist that extends infinitely? Bow and arrows appearing out of no where? Yes people, thats a super robot, it defies all laws of physics.

I'll give this show 6 Rickstars out of 10. But from a hardcore super robot fans point of view, it deserves 9 Rickstars

Honey and Clover
Now lets go from an action packed super robot show to a light hearted show. Despite its rather shoujo (as in stuff aimed for females) name and characters, its actually an entertaining show for most people. The story focus on a few art college students, and unlike most series, the whole group of them are equally important in the show, meaning there isn't one main character. Some ep will talk about their school life and their art work. Some other ep will focus more on their romance life. Most characters are very down to earth and are people who we can relate to. Again, each ep features a different story, which focus on different character(s) each time, letting the viewers understand them better. One thing that seperates this series from others is the style of the art. The color and lines feels rather light and the style of the characters feels more like a manga, which is rahter suiting for a show that focus on art students.

I'll give this one 8 Rickstars out of 10

anyways, thats it for today. I'll try to write more than two reviews next time, and I'll probably have some pictures from the comic con up by next time too, so be sure to check back.

Welcome to the world of anime/manga

2005-08-28T23:28:00.000-04:00

Hello all. As you can see, the man in the picture to the left is the one called Rickstar. From now on, I will provide top notch reviews and perhaps preview for anime/manga. How often will i write you ask? Could be daily, maybe weekly, it all depends if I feel like writing or not. For the series I enjoy (which is most likely mech related) I might write reviews and after thoughts for each eps, but beware of spoilers (I'll give a warning before hand). I'll probably write some reviews soon , so make sure to check back.

I also went to the Canada National Expo. Blew away lots of money (half is spent on useless things), barely got any sleep and ate anything in the past three days, but its worth it. Saw lots costumes there (good ones and bad ones), the best one is the prince from Katamari Damacy, how cool is that. Of course there are lots of ppl dressing up as characters from Naruto and inu yasha. And I noticed a huge increase in the number of alchemist and bleach cosplayers. Some pictures will probably be posted in a day or two, some are definitely worth taking a look. Went to check out the Name That Tune contest where contestants listen to 20-30 secs of a song and have to name which anime its from. Its a bit disappointing since they barely played any mech related songs. Next will be the music video contest. Most entries uses very typical pop culture songs and random clips of certain popular anime, so it becomes relatively dull after a few vids. But there are 2 which caught my attention. One uses footage from Azumanga Daioh (or Osaka to be exact) and the other one......i forgot which anime it used....it looks funny though. Well, thats it for now, I'll write about and post pics of the stuff i got next time (which consist of mostly figures/statues).

Hiya

2005-08-27T20:27:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone, this here is a place where I'll be posting comic reviews, as well as movies and anything else underneath the sun. Specifically, here is the content you can look forward too:

Comic Reviews : pseudo-intellectual jibber jabber on the funnies. Since this site will be primarily viewed by friends I feel no need to keep up with the current releases - so expect to see reviews of old stuff that most other folks have read and waxed philosophical about ages ago.
Wot I woulda Dun: this is my oppurtunity for some self serving, authoritative nit-picking of Movies, Comics, etc. through the safety of the internet I'll be able ravage movies and then rebuild them the way any self respecting nerd (is that an oxymoron?) would. You didn't like how the new Star Wars trilogy panned out? Well, here's a place to say, 'Wot I woulda Dun!'
Anime/Manga: these articles are handled by the Rickstar, who employs the ancient and sacred reviewing rating system of 'Rickstars'. This will be a good chance for folks who want to get the skinny on whats hot in Japan - thus enabling the reader to say 'pfffft. I heard about DragonBall Xtra Husky Super Stars months ago'.
AND MUCH MUCH MORE! : did you know, that whenever anyone writes, and much much more! they actually have nothing else to say or offer? ahem.

So hey lets just quite the chitter chatter and why don't you just put me in your favorites folder right now, you know you want to, c'mon, all the cool kids are doing it?

Canadian National Comicanimehorrorsci-figaming Expo

2005-08-27T17:58:00.000-04:00

I've been going to this couple of years now. It has been a great way to cap off a summer, meeting friends and being surrounded by all the things I've ever expressed the slightest interest in. To all of you guys who I met at the convention, you know who you are, it was really nice seeing you all again!

I'll try and post up some pictures of the con at a later date - it'll give you a better idea of what went down rather than my dry, flavourless text).

Sure theres drawbacks to the Expo (the least of which include being boxed in and crowded by a gaggle of large, sweaty, fleshy fans), but the good out-weighs the bad. For one thing, I'm genuinely happy to see the comic con grow as large as it has, now it spans the entire breadth of the convention centre.

Even though I didnt participate in any of the Warhammer fun, I thought it was awesome how much floor space good old GamesWorkshop had. They had some great gaming tables there and also a painting clinic. When I heard that GW was going to represent at the con I thought they might not have had a good reception. However, judging by the people checking out the booth and games as well as all the black GW bags I saw people carrying, I think they did alright for themselves.

Its also interesting to see how the comic nerds, anime otaku, horror freaks, gaming geeks and sci-fi philes attempt to co-exist with on another. Where else can you see a Klignon share elbow room with a zombie and Yuna all at the same time? In a way it kind of reminds me of highschool - except theres less teen pregnancies.

Personally, even though I go primarily for the comics, the coolest part of the con hands down was the horror section, 'The Festival of Fear'. Sure a cute booth babe might hand you out a sticker at other parts of the convention, but when your digging into a dish of buttons that is comfortably nestled inside a bloody and wounded cadaver (fake, of course) , thats a whole new level of freebie.

So what the hell did i buy anyways? Heres the rundown (expect full reviews as I read them):

Top Ten: The Forty Niners - Im a fan of Moores and I couldn't resist getting this newest collobaration between him and Gene Ha. I'd typically wait for the paperback version, but this is MOORE we're talking about people. Mo' Moore, Mo' Money (problems, for me that is). Anyways, the Forty Niners also sports a perky little book mark tassle. Between this and Chris Ware's Datebook, I've decided that book mark tassles are a good litmus test for comics quality. Your mom told you to not to judge a book by its cover, now I'm telling you to judge it by its tassles.
Animal Man: Origin of Species - Grant Morrison's name comes up more often than any other creators name in the entire comic blogosphere, whats up with that? This is part of an effort to find out what the big deal is, and I guess I should thank all those blogs who've ingrained his name in my head as well (Goodcomics, and Peiratikos in particular). I've read his marvel stuff, but this will be a look into the earlier parts of his career.
We3/Seaguy: Again more Morrison stuff. I had read We3 already from a friends copy and enjoyed it so much i had to get it myself. When Morrison described it as being a new look at manga techniques, he wasn't kidding. Seaguy I bought mostly for sake of keeping up this theme, and it was cheap too. I guess Morrisons work intrests me so much because of the unique thought process he applies to his stories, it is something that I've been researching and reading up on.
Spiral-Bound: Looks so goddamn cute that even nazis would wan't to coddle and breast feed it. I feel a spiritual kinsmenship with Aaron Renier, he's the type of guy who doodled in the margins of his note books, and here he is taking that concept to publishing stage! Awesome design asthetic, including the rounded corners.
Tiempos Finales - by Sam Hiti, I was introduced to his work by a peer, and while i fell in love with his illustrations, (in the first issue of wizard edge, he drew a super-fly Spider-Man) this is my first time reading his sequential work. Incedentally he'll be coming to the beguiling pretty soon wednesday sept 21st!