Mosquito On Foil
The mosquito was nearly invisible, its black body blending with the surface that bended light. I only noticed its presence due to the clashing of foil upon limbs.
Eating my sushi, I was tempted to use the chopsticks to catch it, like in the movie Karate Kid. But I had no illusions of precision. And so I tried to swat it with my hand but merely drove it away.
Ninja Turtle
One of these days, I'll be mistaken for one because of the heavy bag I'm carrying, and crooked back that's forming.
For one thing, today was our midterms in Books of the Century. Bringing around half a dozen books (and photocopied novels aren't exactly light nor portable) has its toll.
And I was also supposed to meet Arcina right after my exam since she was borrowing the second season of Saint Seiya, as well as a number of Robin Hobb books. Of course she cancelled but I still had to lug those stuff home.
TV
Lately, I've been tuning on to the TV, mainly because of anime and Meteor Garden. I mean a few months ago, the only shows I watched on TV were C.S.I. and Fight School. Now with the "new" anime on TV, well, I have more reason to actually turn on the television.
First off, Meteor Garden is getting relegated to a new timeslot, before TV Patrol. Second, GMA 7 is going to air Shaman King next week.
Guilty Pleasures
Anyway, here's the anime I'm watching on TV nowadays:
Meteor Garden - Taiwanese soap opera based on a Japanese manga/anime dubbed in Filipino with Chinese subtitles. One wonders how the translation is kept intact.
On a side note, to those learning Chinese, one might find some characters vaguely familiar but not quite right. That's because China Chinese has a slight difference from Taiwan Chinese, at least in terms of writing. I was looking at the basic Chinese a classmate was taking in Ateneo and they're using the Pin Yin system (Roman characters) as well as the China-Chinese character system, which made me wonder at some characters since I am the product of grade school/high school Chinese (which often uses Taiwan-Chinese characters).
Ippo - Well, this boxing anime isn't just "another" sports anime. While the protagonist is the typical optimistic Japanese, the series is serious enough where not all the endings are good ones (and of course, there are also lasting consequences of previous actions). Typical sequence is one episode is spent introducing the next opponent, another episode or two training (either a technique or a new special move), and somewhere between one to three episodes spent in fighting the opponent.
Of course training involves specifics, such as the "Gazelle Punch", rather than vague generalities of "increasing one's power" common to shows like Dragonball Z or Yu Yu Hakusho. And special moves are realistic (no fireballs, flaming fists, and other impossible maneuvers) and actually possible (unlike Kenshin where special moves are performed due to flawed logic), and so far, there's nothing new since most of it is based on boxing history (but mostly derived from the US).
Rave - I'm a sucker for fantasy/RPG- setting type anime. Unfortunately the genre is dominated by fantasy-comedy (like Slayers and Shadow Skill to name a few) and because of this, a lot of jokes and elements are recycled. (So far, the only popular serious fantasy anime I know of is Record of the Lodoss War.) Rave isn't an exception but what keeps me interested is the main storyline (although it's a dead end since the manga isn't finished yet). Admittedly there are days when I feel I've wasted my time watching an ep or two (these are usually the episodes where nothing happens but slapstick comedy and satire) and the "cliffhanger" ending at each episode can be annoying at times. Then again, this is a guilty pleasure so...
Digimon Tamers - A vast improvement over its two predecessors, which involved "monster-of-the-week" scenarios, lots of random plugs for various Digimons, and typical characters and storylines. It helps that the cast has been reduced to three main characters and character development is explored. It's also not reduced to "fight of the day" as mundane scenarios are involved, such as hiding a Digimon from the human populace, especially when it's ten feet tall. Of course this can be dragging to some and children might quickly lose interest because of too much characterization but at least the show has depth.
Zoids: New Century - Absolutely a guilty pleasure. You won't gain IQ points here and its predecessor had better transitions for characters and Zoids but I'm a kid at heart and love action.
Crush Gear Turbo - So far, it has the most depth among what I term the "hobby-propaganda-anime" like Let's & Go (Tamiya Mini-4WD) and Beyblade (Beyblades). For a hobby-related anime, it actually spends a lot of time on characterization rather than the Crush Gears, which is a good thing. Characters also aren't two-dimensional (usually the optimistic and naive types who "fight for friendship") or fall under the stereotype. Not that it's on the level of say Ippo or Digimon Tamers but has a better sensibility than, say, Zoids.
Matrix: Reloaded
Well, apparently a lot of people either like it or don't like it. For the most part, the former applies to me, although I am aware of its many faults.
I guess the biggest difference is upon expectations. Since I had none, the film was fine for me. I mean I wasn't even raving about the original Matrix (probably because I didn't catch it on theaters and only got to watch it on a small TV inside a bus heading for Neuva Ecija as my entire class was headed for our immersion and we were all wearing orange shirts...).
Of course if you're expecting it to stimulate your brain nerves like the first movie, well, you'll be disappointed. Matrix: Reloaded is an action flick with lots of eye candy more than anything else.
Why I Have Four Blogs
Well, I only used to have two: one for my regular musings, and one for my longer entries, which used to be for my longer entries, namely essays and nonfiction. Of course the latter I expanded to include feature articles and anything under the sun that was just too long.
I have a Livejournal which I originally used so that I could read the locked entries of some friends but well, that's not using the full potential of lj. So if you want to read my reviews of books and movies, that's where you want to visit.
Lastly, Blurty was tempting since it was still free unlike Livejournal in which membership was restricted. Got one and with nothing else better to do, converted it to a "Stalker Journal", which is just an excuse to talk about the human condition.
The mosquito was nearly invisible, its black body blending with the surface that bended light. I only noticed its presence due to the clashing of foil upon limbs.
Eating my sushi, I was tempted to use the chopsticks to catch it, like in the movie Karate Kid. But I had no illusions of precision. And so I tried to swat it with my hand but merely drove it away.
Ninja Turtle
One of these days, I'll be mistaken for one because of the heavy bag I'm carrying, and crooked back that's forming.
For one thing, today was our midterms in Books of the Century. Bringing around half a dozen books (and photocopied novels aren't exactly light nor portable) has its toll.
And I was also supposed to meet Arcina right after my exam since she was borrowing the second season of Saint Seiya, as well as a number of Robin Hobb books. Of course she cancelled but I still had to lug those stuff home.
TV
Lately, I've been tuning on to the TV, mainly because of anime and Meteor Garden. I mean a few months ago, the only shows I watched on TV were C.S.I. and Fight School. Now with the "new" anime on TV, well, I have more reason to actually turn on the television.
First off, Meteor Garden is getting relegated to a new timeslot, before TV Patrol. Second, GMA 7 is going to air Shaman King next week.
Guilty Pleasures
Anyway, here's the anime I'm watching on TV nowadays:
Meteor Garden - Taiwanese soap opera based on a Japanese manga/anime dubbed in Filipino with Chinese subtitles. One wonders how the translation is kept intact.
On a side note, to those learning Chinese, one might find some characters vaguely familiar but not quite right. That's because China Chinese has a slight difference from Taiwan Chinese, at least in terms of writing. I was looking at the basic Chinese a classmate was taking in Ateneo and they're using the Pin Yin system (Roman characters) as well as the China-Chinese character system, which made me wonder at some characters since I am the product of grade school/high school Chinese (which often uses Taiwan-Chinese characters).
Ippo - Well, this boxing anime isn't just "another" sports anime. While the protagonist is the typical optimistic Japanese, the series is serious enough where not all the endings are good ones (and of course, there are also lasting consequences of previous actions). Typical sequence is one episode is spent introducing the next opponent, another episode or two training (either a technique or a new special move), and somewhere between one to three episodes spent in fighting the opponent.
Of course training involves specifics, such as the "Gazelle Punch", rather than vague generalities of "increasing one's power" common to shows like Dragonball Z or Yu Yu Hakusho. And special moves are realistic (no fireballs, flaming fists, and other impossible maneuvers) and actually possible (unlike Kenshin where special moves are performed due to flawed logic), and so far, there's nothing new since most of it is based on boxing history (but mostly derived from the US).
Rave - I'm a sucker for fantasy/RPG- setting type anime. Unfortunately the genre is dominated by fantasy-comedy (like Slayers and Shadow Skill to name a few) and because of this, a lot of jokes and elements are recycled. (So far, the only popular serious fantasy anime I know of is Record of the Lodoss War.) Rave isn't an exception but what keeps me interested is the main storyline (although it's a dead end since the manga isn't finished yet). Admittedly there are days when I feel I've wasted my time watching an ep or two (these are usually the episodes where nothing happens but slapstick comedy and satire) and the "cliffhanger" ending at each episode can be annoying at times. Then again, this is a guilty pleasure so...
Digimon Tamers - A vast improvement over its two predecessors, which involved "monster-of-the-week" scenarios, lots of random plugs for various Digimons, and typical characters and storylines. It helps that the cast has been reduced to three main characters and character development is explored. It's also not reduced to "fight of the day" as mundane scenarios are involved, such as hiding a Digimon from the human populace, especially when it's ten feet tall. Of course this can be dragging to some and children might quickly lose interest because of too much characterization but at least the show has depth.
Zoids: New Century - Absolutely a guilty pleasure. You won't gain IQ points here and its predecessor had better transitions for characters and Zoids but I'm a kid at heart and love action.
Crush Gear Turbo - So far, it has the most depth among what I term the "hobby-propaganda-anime" like Let's & Go (Tamiya Mini-4WD) and Beyblade (Beyblades). For a hobby-related anime, it actually spends a lot of time on characterization rather than the Crush Gears, which is a good thing. Characters also aren't two-dimensional (usually the optimistic and naive types who "fight for friendship") or fall under the stereotype. Not that it's on the level of say Ippo or Digimon Tamers but has a better sensibility than, say, Zoids.
Matrix: Reloaded
Well, apparently a lot of people either like it or don't like it. For the most part, the former applies to me, although I am aware of its many faults.
I guess the biggest difference is upon expectations. Since I had none, the film was fine for me. I mean I wasn't even raving about the original Matrix (probably because I didn't catch it on theaters and only got to watch it on a small TV inside a bus heading for Neuva Ecija as my entire class was headed for our immersion and we were all wearing orange shirts...).
Of course if you're expecting it to stimulate your brain nerves like the first movie, well, you'll be disappointed. Matrix: Reloaded is an action flick with lots of eye candy more than anything else.
Why I Have Four Blogs
Well, I only used to have two: one for my regular musings, and one for my longer entries, which used to be for my longer entries, namely essays and nonfiction. Of course the latter I expanded to include feature articles and anything under the sun that was just too long.
I have a Livejournal which I originally used so that I could read the locked entries of some friends but well, that's not using the full potential of lj. So if you want to read my reviews of books and movies, that's where you want to visit.
Lastly, Blurty was tempting since it was still free unlike Livejournal in which membership was restricted. Got one and with nothing else better to do, converted it to a "Stalker Journal", which is just an excuse to talk about the human condition.
posted by Charles at 3:59 AM
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