Beowulf

Movie: Theatrical Release
Release: 16 November 2007 (USA)
Page at IMDB
Rating: All Right

A friend of mine took me to see Gaimon's adaption of Beowolf. I found the adaption to be more entertaining than the written story (old English is not something I enjoy reading), and far better than any adaption I have seen to date. The CGI was quite impressive, I often found myself forgetting that the characters on the screen were not real people. When Angelina Jolie appeared, I was immersed enough that I reacted as if the actual person were present on the screen.

One of the big selling points for the movie was that it was in 3-d. They issued some glasses which fit fairly well over my own, however I really didn't see what was added by the effects. For the most part the effects annoyed me as they kept appearing in my lower periphery, an event which distracted me from the movie as I continually turned my head to locate the new "threat."

I recommend seeing this movie, on DVD, though I didn't feel ripped off from having seen it in the theater.

Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito

Hatsumi & Hatsuki

Fansub Anime: 13 episodes
Original Air Dates: 2003-10-02 to 2003-12-25
Page at Anime News Network
Rating: All Right

Hatsuki

You know the standard plot device where boy loves girl, boy loses girl, so boy goes in search of girl? Well, this 13 episode anime has a similar plot basis, except that the girl is actually "Eve," the trans-dimensional mother of all humanity, & she has been traveling the universe for some time. The plot is complicated by Eve's sister being annoyed at having to watch the "Library", where every book is a world, while her sister plays. Another complication is Gargantua, who killed Eve when she was on his world and who has dedicated himself to capturing her as the supreme source of eternal life. Oh yes, the final wrinkle is that the boy doing the searching as actually a girl named Hasuki. Evidently, Japanese lesbians are just as angst ridden as Japanese men.

Hatsumi

This anime is another adaption from a game. The translator's notes explain that the anime can be difficult to follow without the background information. Thankfully, it then gives the background info. I did not find it very compelling for the first 5 episodes. I enjoyed the artwork and the story was good enough -- or perhaps it was because it was the Yuri -- so I persevered. Episode six is where it all gelled together, the plot threads unified and I found that I had to finish watching the anime (by staying up until 2:30 am).

The synopsis is fairly simple, it is derived from a game after all. A force called Adam created reality. Riseru was created to manage it. Adam wanted people so he created Eve who caused people to populate the dimensions. After this, the gods arose and started warring, so the great library was created to preserve the worlds. Each book in the library is another world. Yami was created to care for the library.

Hatsuki

Evidently, Eve became bored and left the library to incarnate in the various worlds. Being the source of life, she imprints each world rather strongly. Her older sister Riseru is upset at having to work while Eve is playing and sets out to force her to return. Eve is only present in each world for 16 years. At midnight, when she turns 16, she dematerializes, unless she is killed before that, in which case she dematerializes when slain.

The adventure starts out with Hatsuki trying desperately to show her love for Hatsumi, who is Eve's incarnation in her world. Her frustration causes her to act erratically at times. Later episodes show that both characters are having troubles admitting to the other how much they love each other. Hatsuki is present in Hatsumi's bedroom when midnight strikes and sees Hatsumi disappear. Shortly thereafter a fat parakeet, who is Riseru's agent, appears. Thus begins the quest across dimensions for Hatsuki to find her lost love, Hatsumi.

The Kiss

The other thread involves Gargantua who desired Eve's power of life. He knew her as Jira. While acting rashly, he stabbed Jira, thus ending her life. He deals with his guilt by dedicating himself to capturing the source of eternal life (which he later discovers is Eve/Jira). He and another girl, who was present when Jira was slain, have a form of immortality. In his pursuit, he offers a soul to Riseru (who has the hots for him). She promised him Eve, but since she cannot give him that, she gives him a "blank book" which is a dimension that he can create from his imagination. From here he searches for Eve.

Redemption, re-evaluation and the like figure prominently, as does the idea of love for that which is unattainable. The ending was odd, a bit unsatisfying, but not overwhelmingly so. All Right.

Falling

Da Capo, Second Season

Nemu & Junichi

Fansub Anime: 26 episodes
Original Air Dates: 2005-07-02 to 2005-12-24
Page at Anime News Network
Rating: Recommended

After enjoying Da Capo's first season so much, I eagerly downloaded its second season. As is usual when a story line ends, it seemed to stumble a bit switching us from the first season to the second. I just have to say, up front, that were I Jun'ichi, I would have dismembered and burnt every last scrap of that magical cherry tree shortly after season one ended.

The second season starts two years later. I am not familiar enough with the Japanese school system to follow, as I thought they were 15 or so in season one, but Nemu left once she stopped spitting out cherry blossoms to become a nurse. All of the human friends from season one (& some new ones) have formed the Jun'ichi Asakura Support Team to help poor onii-san survive without Nemu. All of the girls still have their crushes on Jun'ichi, however they all know that he is devoted to Nemu.

The newest significant character is Aisia, a girl from Northern Europe who has magical ability. She has come seeking Jun'ichi's grandmother to teach her magic. Her assumption that Jun'ichi is hiding his abilities and her resulting attempts to force him into displaying them are a bit tiresome but are also fairly short lived. Just as that is settled, Nemu comes back. Her surprise appearance backfires as she has not talked or communicated to Jun'ichi for the two years in which she was gone. Their pain and jealousy is also rather short lived and all is going well, except....

Sakura. She is lecturing Aisia.

Aisia firmly believes that magic is for "making the greatest number of people happy." She also realizes how much everyone loves Jun'ichi (including herself) and feels that it is unfair for the only person who is "happy" (i.e. getting what they want) is Nemu. Sakura also comes back, and Aisia tries to get Sakura to teach her magic. Sakura refuses because Aisia refuses to recognize the danger of magic -- and the danger of trying to make everyone "happy."

Aisia wakes the tree. As expected, pain and suffering ensue for both Jun'ichi and Nemu, but the moral is that it is also hurting everyone else. Since everyone knew how close Jun'ichi and Nemu are, they could accept that they could not have him. With Nemu being "just a sibling" they cannot happily accept that they aren't the one to be with Jun'ichi. Add to this the pain of loss that both Nemu and Jun'ichi suffer as they realize and then forget their love for each other again and again. Everything becomes dull and lifeless, not just for Jun'ichi and Nemu, but for everyone involved (except, Sakura, Aisia &, interestingly, Suiginami).

Suiginami, Junichi, Nemu & Kotori.
Junichi & Nemu are caught in a cycle of realizing their love (due to the letter)
and being forced to forget it (because of the tree).

With this season, the story of Jun'ichi and Nemu come to a close. She made a wonderful bride. Da Capo II is set 53 years later and revolves around the grandchildren. I am waiting for all the episodes to be available from Fansub before watching it.

Finally.

Triangle Heart OVA "Sweet Songs Forever"

Erisu meditating on her pistol

Fansub Anime: 4 episodes.
Original Air Dates: 2000-08-28 to 2003-12-26
Page at Anime News Network
Rating: Recommended

The bouquet of roses is dripping a lot of blood

I downloaded this 4 episode OVA as it has Nanoha (as in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha) in it. Nanoha is just the youngest child of the family from which the protagonist derives -- though she is a cute little 12 year old.

Nanoha, age 12, prior to becoming a Magical Girl

This is another OVA derived from a game, taking place after the events in Triangle Hearts 3. The story line of TH3 is unrelated to TH2. I haven't played the game, but it evidently involves parents dying by the hands of a terrorist organization who has returned to try and grab Fiasse in order to gain her "Bestow" which is assumed to be valuable in a tangible sense by the bad guys. Erisu, the daughter of one of the dead bodyguards, is Fiasse's bodyguard and has an antipathy toward sword use, mainly because of the incident where her father died. The protagonist, Kyōya Takamachi, took a different route and learned the fighting style of his father to vindicate him.

Girls in the Coffee Shop run by the family of the protagonist

There is some fun sword fights, rather sappy morals, but the animation is good and the story is surprisingly engaging given the weakness of the underlying plot. I do recommend this anime. Even though it has Nanoha Takamachi, as far as I can tell, its story is divorced from that in Magical Girl Lyrical Strikers, so it can be watched at any time. From what I have read, the same goes for the other Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series as well.

Part of Title sequence (Riasse & Erisu as Children)

One more interesting tidbit. In the Erisu flashbacks, they "Westernized" her by having her be rude. I just found that hilarious.

Erisu all grown up

Writer's Cafe

Writer's Cafe: Scrapbook list on Left, notebook ToC in main (right) pane.

Shareware
Current Version: 1.28
Home page
Rating: Recommended.

I've been using "Jotting/Outlining" software for years now. As I have become more serious about writing, I started to cast about for some software to assist me in organizing my ideas (as Jotting software does) and allowing me to re-arrange my story ideas (e.g. mind-map type software).

Normally, I tend to focus on free & open source software (FOSS). While on deployment to Kuwait, I had along my laptop, which for various reasons, was running Windows rather than Linux. Since FOSS is less common on Windows, I didn't use it in my search criteria, and this allowed me to find Writer's Cafe.

Writer's Cafe is actually two applications, the first is the Cafe, which has three main components: a scrapbook, a journal and a notebook. The scrapbook allows one to store text, web links, images, etc. in a nice hierarchical format. This is a replacement for my "Jots" program -- in fact it is more versatile than the Jots program I was using. The Journal is meant to be utilized as a diary of sorts, entering in the day to day events, thoughts, etc. The Notebook is more free form, and I tend to use it for various writings and what not.

While I do not know if my usage is canonical, I tend to store everything in the scraps. Notes, ideas and works in progress. I use the Journal for daily notes, dream entries and for chronicling various practices I engage in over the day. The Notebook is where I write poems, short stories and the like. If they are good enough, I then move them into a scrap (if the idea needs expanding).

The other part of Writer's Cafe is called "Storylines." Evidently authors would often write ideas on 3x5 index cards and shuffle them into the order they needed to write their story. This idea is expanded upon for Storylines. You break down your outline (whether actual or mental) into the cards, arrange them as you wish and then flesh them out. Once you have the draft in place, you can export it out as a file (Open Office is supported) and then finish the draft conventionally.

It is interesting, I am pretty sure I am only scratching the surface with Storylines (these reviews are short enough that I have not put them into Storylines for development), so I may have to come back at a later date with a second review. The plus side is that it is shareware, so you can download an evaluation copy. I actually purchased mine, let that speak volumes for how much I like this product.

Writer's Cafe, showing my scrapbook

Saishū Shiken Kujira

Fansub Anime: 12 episodes.
Original Air Dates: 2007-09-29 (?)
Page at Anime News Network
Rating: All-Right

These Vignettes are about 5 minutes each. If you tracked down the Da Capo series, you will find that these characters seem eerily similar. It is done by Circus, who also did the Da Capo series. Due to their shortness, the continuity is a bit difficult, and there seems to be some mirroring of the Da Capo episodes as well (e.g. the beach episode). For the most part, they are cute, short and endearing in their own right. I would recommend watching season one of Da Capo first.

Da Capo, Season One

the future with cherry blossoms, love and dreams

Fansub Anime: 26 episodes.
Original Air Dates: 2003-07-05 to 2003-12-27
Page at Anime News Network
Rating: Recommended.
Da Capo is a musical term which means "from the beginning."

At first I thought this was going to be a fairly standard harem anime, and perhaps it is, but it is unlike any harem anime I have seen before (e.g. Tenshi Muyo). This compelling drama places a young man, Asakura Junnichi, and his "sister," Nemu, in the center of "the future with cherry blossoms, love and dreams." It was referenced as an aside in another persons review of Saishuu Shiken Kujira which has similar characters as Da Capo.

On the island of Hatsune-jima, the cherry trees blossom continually. A wish made under a blossoming cherry tree will come true. Note the foreshadowing. The central character is Jun'ichi Asakura, a student (I am confused as to his age, as I thought they were in 9th grade, but two years later, he is in University & Nemu, who is the same age, is a Nursing Student). He has a sister with whom he lives (their parents are just off somewhere). Due to their age, everyone thinks they are twins, however the truth is that Nemu's parent's died when she was little and the Asakura's took her in. Besides Nemu, Jun'ichi's cousin, Sakura, returns forming a love triangle.

Sakura (blonde) & Nemu (Brunette)

Jun'ichi & Sakura's grandmother was a powerful magician, and she planted the wish fulfilling cherry tree for Sakura, however it has bestowed its gifts to the many inhabitants of Hatsunejima. Some examples are Koteri's ability to read minds, Moe's communion with her dead friend in dreams, Android Miharu's ability to access the memories of the real Miharu & the changing of Yoriko from a cat into a cat-eared maid.

Who wouldn't be?

Sakura and Nemu engage in some intense rivalry. When it becomes apparant that Jun'ichi has chosen Nemu, a heart-broken Sakura wishes that Nemu would just die. As Nemu begins to waste away, Sakura realizes how much she is hurting Jun'ichi and resolves to kill the tree. However, her fear of losing Jun'ichi causes her to hold back in the depths of her heart. While Nemu is no longer dying, she is losing her memory and the tree will not die.

Sakura has to decide if she can be happy when she is causing Nemu &, by extension, Jun'ichi, such pain, and whether having Jun'ichi's love as his friend and cousin is enough.

One of the interesting aspects of the first season is the inclusion of several artistic vignettes which are called "Side Episodes." They bear little relation to the larger story, even having feuding characters present with no animosity. Ranging from whimsical to dramatic, they present an insight into the creative process of the Da Capo creators. Despite the fact that it took time that could have been devoted to the main storyline, I enjoyed them greatly.

Da Capo, First Season: if it is licensed in the US, I will be buying a copy. I almost added a new rating for this anime, Highly Recommended, but resisted, just as I am resisting the urge to watch it over and over again.

Commercial Break featuring Utamaru.

Death in June - The Phoenix has Risen

Commercial CD: 1 disc (Album)
Released: 2006
Page at Discogs
Rating: All right

I love neofolk. I've been listening to it since about 1990. It wasn't called neofolk then, the names kept cycling around, with Apocalyptic Folk being quite popular for the particular blend of Dark/Militant/Ritual Ambient Soundscapes and Acoustic Instrumentation. Fast forward about 17years and now there are many different genres. I refer to all of them as either dark ambient (Arditi, Triarii), neofolk (DiJ, Sol Invictus, Cawatana) or "E3" (Ordo Equilibrio). Anyway, I picked up Death in June's archival release The Phoenix has Risen.

I feel slightly heretical here, however this album is more for completion than enjoyment. This album consists of a 1983 Demo tape and a live show (also from 1983) which was originally released as a bootleg. Sound Quality is atrocious and, for the most part, there is nothing really novel about this album. Imagine Night & Fog without the treatments that Douglas P. & David Tibet gave to certain songs, a recreation which caused one to endure the horrible sound quality. I cannot really recommend this album. In fact, it is only all right because I cannot bring myself to dismiss it completely.

Tales of Eternia

Title Screen

Fansub Anime: 13 episodes.
Original Air Dates: 2001-01-08 through 2001-03-26
Page at Anime News Network
Rating: All right.

It seems to be fairly common to base anime on computer games. It seems to work, the adaptions are better than most Game into Movie adaptions I see in the West. Be that as it may, this is a rather simplistic anime, aimed mostly at children. I can easily see my children watching this, especially if it were dubbed into English. Stylistically, it seems to be a combination of the personal dynamics present in Pokemon or Digimon mixed with a rather "He Man" style universe. Nothing really exciting here, though there is a bit of amusement at the "Celestians" being the bad guys who worship Neriod, the god of destruction, and the "Infernians" being the good guys worshipping the god of creation.

Pass unless you are trying to get your children hooked on anime, subtitled shows or learning Japanese.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ready for Battle.

Fansub Anime: 26 episodes.
Original Air Dates: 2007-04-01 through 2007-09-23
Page at Anime News Network
Rating: Recommended.

Fate, Nanoha's partner (both at work and at home)

At first, I was a bit leery of watching a "magical girl" anime. My prior exposure to the genre was Sailor Moon (which I liked) and Saint Tail (shoujo). Neither of these prepared me for the reality of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS. First off, it is aimed at a more mature audience than Saint Tail or the dubbed Sailor Moon, being targeted at teens/adults, and seemed to be aimed at either a mixed or masculine audience. There are elements of Yuri (not that it is a major theme, but it is present, & obvious), cyborgs, mages, clones of mages, & robotic drones all operating within a backdrop of a bickering trans-dimensional bureaucracy. I have found out that this is the third storyline involving the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha universe.

The main protagonist of the third series, Subaru, with her idol, Nanoha, in the background

The nutshell plot has the Strikers team created officially to locate "Lost Logia" (or powerful magical artifacts) but in reality they are to stave off a prophecy regarding the destruction of their world. The story centers around two teen recruits (Strikers) for the team (Subaru and Teana). Themes of growth, personal responsibility and loyalty abound. It is an enjoyable anime. The two prior series, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha & Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Alpha have been licensed for the US, so I have not found them on the fansub torrents. I do intend on watching the when they are released, hopefully this will be soon.

The entire Strikers team: Caro Ru Lushe, Erio Mondial, Subaru Nakajima & Teana Lanster