今天天氣: 晴時多雲偶陣雪
這個冬天目前為止就數這次的雪最大, 20幾公分而已, 遠不及去年某次。不過已經足夠讓我被強制上班請假了。
(中午過後的路況似乎沒啥問題, 可是我不想為了三個小時而開/塞一個小時半來回 -__-)
早上還沒被禁止出門前, 很認命地在飛舞的雪花中剷雪。看著一片白茫茫的積雪, 邊剷邊希望我也能有個秋子阿姨幫忙剷啊... 這裡應該沒有他們那裡冷, 路邊也沒有供應防滑的砂子。不過我有一次因為車子非加油不可, 晚上下班的時候用微波爐熱了一杯水, 澆在加油孔的蓋子上融冰, 不然打不開沒辦法加油。
但是話說回來, 名雪學校的制服真的設計很怪, 那麼冷還是穿短裙, 連那個萬年感冒的傢伙都穿那麼薄。女性角色設定跟地方天氣實在一點都不協調啊...
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Continue on my view in response to a previous post, here's my take on the music front.
I'm never one for pop or secular music, but I consider my music taste normal enough. At the very least, I know there's a lot of people out there listening to similar genres. Unfortunately yet again, anime and game OSTs are rarities here, and anime theme/character songs CDs and seiyuu CDs are by and large impossible to find. Not to mention that doujin music, which I've taken a liking to lately, circulates only within the island of Japan.
So ACG music-wise, Internet is my main source. My taste in music has been greatly broadened these past few years thanks to the downloads. I've only bought a few seiyuu CD and an old doujin bootleg CD (I think this one's out of print already) so far, but I do have a long list of CDs on my shopping list. It'll be a while before I get a chance to go to Taiwan or Japan though...
Are those downloads lost sales for the music industry? I can assure you not. Growing up, I wasn't a music listener to begin with. In fact, the only music I could stand and amuse myself with was BGM from various NES games. In short, I didn't care for music at all.
But the anime and music downloads have changed the scene. If I've never seen/heard them, I'd never know of them, and I'd never buy them. Even if I haven't bought them all, those are all potential sales. Availability is the number one deterrer for me. This is why I don't download Christian music CDs because I can buy them in the store.
On a side note, I discovered Songza recently, and I love it! The interface is excellent and intuitive, and the search speed is "Google fast." I was able to pull out quite a few songs and artists during the test drive, but those accounted for only a fraction of what I'd like to listen to. It's definitely worth trying and using.
My bottom line for music is this: I download music, and I buy the ones I like, or wait 'til I have the chance. I won't buy it if I've never heard it or if there's only one or two good tracks on it. I didn't used to listen to music at all, and I can just easily live without it. I do have my piles of Christian music CDs to pick from, after all. I see a very slime or no chance for the type of music I'm mostly interested in (seiyuu, drama CD, doujin music) to enter the market here, so these pretty much have to be imported. The Japanese music industry and artists may not be getting the money now, as much as I'd like to pay them, but they have someone who'd potentially spend lots. If only I get the chance to go to Taiwan (I heard some stores would order from Japan for you) or Japan...
I'm never one for pop or secular music, but I consider my music taste normal enough. At the very least, I know there's a lot of people out there listening to similar genres. Unfortunately yet again, anime and game OSTs are rarities here, and anime theme/character songs CDs and seiyuu CDs are by and large impossible to find. Not to mention that doujin music, which I've taken a liking to lately, circulates only within the island of Japan.
So ACG music-wise, Internet is my main source. My taste in music has been greatly broadened these past few years thanks to the downloads. I've only bought a few seiyuu CD and an old doujin bootleg CD (I think this one's out of print already) so far, but I do have a long list of CDs on my shopping list. It'll be a while before I get a chance to go to Taiwan or Japan though...
Are those downloads lost sales for the music industry? I can assure you not. Growing up, I wasn't a music listener to begin with. In fact, the only music I could stand and amuse myself with was BGM from various NES games. In short, I didn't care for music at all.
But the anime and music downloads have changed the scene. If I've never seen/heard them, I'd never know of them, and I'd never buy them. Even if I haven't bought them all, those are all potential sales. Availability is the number one deterrer for me. This is why I don't download Christian music CDs because I can buy them in the store.
On a side note, I discovered Songza recently, and I love it! The interface is excellent and intuitive, and the search speed is "Google fast." I was able to pull out quite a few songs and artists during the test drive, but those accounted for only a fraction of what I'd like to listen to. It's definitely worth trying and using.
My bottom line for music is this: I download music, and I buy the ones I like, or wait 'til I have the chance. I won't buy it if I've never heard it or if there's only one or two good tracks on it. I didn't used to listen to music at all, and I can just easily live without it. I do have my piles of Christian music CDs to pick from, after all. I see a very slime or no chance for the type of music I'm mostly interested in (seiyuu, drama CD, doujin music) to enter the market here, so these pretty much have to be imported. The Japanese music industry and artists may not be getting the money now, as much as I'd like to pay them, but they have someone who'd potentially spend lots. If only I get the chance to go to Taiwan (I heard some stores would order from Japan for you) or Japan...
Friday, January 25, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
劇場版AIR... こんなのAIRじゃない～～～～～～（≧ヘ≦）
Just finished watching the movie version of AIR... and I felt like betrayed. Give me back my youth (wrong)!! I already knew the movie is nothing like the original game or the anime from ja.wikipedia, but it was still a big let down for me, especially considering that I gave the anime series a grade of A-~A and the Summer Specials a B+.
Given the relatively short time frame of a film, it's understandable that the story line would have to be narrowed down to focus on only few characters. However, the pace still seemed rushed, and the love relationship just blossomed too abruptly and felt forced. I mean, a week? They didn't even talk or interact that much. Not to mention that both the plot and the characters were altered quite drastically, for the worse.
While it cleverly weaved the Summer episode with the present through Misuzu's field work research, the story for the mutated Summer episode was so lame, it reflected on the present plot line and killed much of the emotional elements that made the title. I didn't shed a single drop of tear, nor did my eyes get moist during the movie. The festival day was pretty good, though.
The character design deviated a lot from the anime version that I was so used to, and I never got around that to the very end. It just looked generic to me for some reason. Design style aside, the art was good when it's good and bad when it's bad. And by bad, I mean bad. The difference between the good and the bad was so great that you'd think it's produced by two separate teams. Toei Animation is clearly no Kyoto Animation, and the artistic gap is painfully apparent when they both make the same title. It also didn't help that I watched the Summer Specials right before watching the movie... Orz
The overall film was rather static, and quite a few of the 'action' scenes resided on the bad side. I did find the use of the traditional art board drawing a nice and interesting touch.
The seiyuu cast and the music were the only highlights for the film, though those were basically from the original game/anime and weren't enough to save the film adaptation for me. Midorikawa Hikaru's Yukito felt a bit like Zelgadiss, gloomy and people/self-loathing, while Ono Daisuke's Yukito had more spunk. Not having played the game, I can't say which is closer to the original Yukito. But then again, the main character of an H-game is usually invisible anyway, since the player is him... I was also pleasantly surprised to hear Miki Shinichirou and Okiayu Ryoutarou.
I'd go see it in the theatre, but not buy the DVD. I can imagine people watching this because they had played the game or seen AIR TV, but I can't imagine people get converted because of this. I gave the film a grade of B-, which, despite all the above bashing, is still a decent score. I don't see myself watching this again, RIP...
Just finished watching the movie version of AIR... and I felt like betrayed. Give me back my youth (wrong)!! I already knew the movie is nothing like the original game or the anime from ja.wikipedia, but it was still a big let down for me, especially considering that I gave the anime series a grade of A-~A and the Summer Specials a B+.
Given the relatively short time frame of a film, it's understandable that the story line would have to be narrowed down to focus on only few characters. However, the pace still seemed rushed, and the love relationship just blossomed too abruptly and felt forced. I mean, a week? They didn't even talk or interact that much. Not to mention that both the plot and the characters were altered quite drastically, for the worse.
While it cleverly weaved the Summer episode with the present through Misuzu's field work research, the story for the mutated Summer episode was so lame, it reflected on the present plot line and killed much of the emotional elements that made the title. I didn't shed a single drop of tear, nor did my eyes get moist during the movie. The festival day was pretty good, though.
The character design deviated a lot from the anime version that I was so used to, and I never got around that to the very end. It just looked generic to me for some reason. Design style aside, the art was good when it's good and bad when it's bad. And by bad, I mean bad. The difference between the good and the bad was so great that you'd think it's produced by two separate teams. Toei Animation is clearly no Kyoto Animation, and the artistic gap is painfully apparent when they both make the same title. It also didn't help that I watched the Summer Specials right before watching the movie... Orz
The overall film was rather static, and quite a few of the 'action' scenes resided on the bad side. I did find the use of the traditional art board drawing a nice and interesting touch.
The seiyuu cast and the music were the only highlights for the film, though those were basically from the original game/anime and weren't enough to save the film adaptation for me. Midorikawa Hikaru's Yukito felt a bit like Zelgadiss, gloomy and people/self-loathing, while Ono Daisuke's Yukito had more spunk. Not having played the game, I can't say which is closer to the original Yukito. But then again, the main character of an H-game is usually invisible anyway, since the player is him... I was also pleasantly surprised to hear Miki Shinichirou and Okiayu Ryoutarou.
I'd go see it in the theatre, but not buy the DVD. I can imagine people watching this because they had played the game or seen AIR TV, but I can't imagine people get converted because of this. I gave the film a grade of B-, which, despite all the above bashing, is still a decent score. I don't see myself watching this again, RIP...
Friday, January 18, 2008
Honey & Clover drama ep.01
I wasn't planning on watching it so soon, but I couldn't resist. After all, the anime was what introduced me to the world of H&C and is on my list of top 5 anime. I was stung once before by the movie version, so when I saw the news of the series being dramatized, I was excited and afraid at the same time. I recognized a few names in the cast list (after linking out to their ja.wikipedia pages for the list of roles), but that did nothing to pacify my anxiety. So with much tentative anticipation, I rolled the video.
And the 1st episode left me with mixed feelings.
Of course the casting wouldn't even be close to that of the original, and I feared for the worst. The drastic opening only aided in building up dread. It was relatively easy to get used to the drama Takemoto, although I find his monologue lacking. I do remind myself, however, that I'm comparing the drama against the anime version with professional seiyuu, so this can be overlooked.
It took me almost half-way to acknowledge Mayama and Hagu, but I find them well suited and have high hopes for them. Romaiya-senpai is interestingly different, but he doesn't seem to have a big enough build for the amusement park mascot role. XD Rika looks physically able and not as fragile as in the original (she even appears a little too not fragile), but I think she's got the Rika role right. Miyako doesn't seem as eccentric, but that could change when her air time increases. Nomiya... I can't tell from the less than one-minute screen time he has. XD
Notice that I left out two main characters? That's right. Morita and Yamada, my favourite male and female from the series. Morita is probably one of the most difficult characters in the series to portray. I think the drama Morita is doing a good job, but he's still a bit too refined and not crazy enough for me. XD Yamada, on the other hand, just doesn't have the air as the original. Except when she kicks. In other words, she has all the tsun but none of the tere. The drama Yamada also looks older than the rest of the main student cast. I even think Takahashi Mikako would be a much better Yamada...
The story includes some episodes from various stages in the original and adds its own ingredients and flavours. How that'll turn out, only time can tell. This is only the 1st episode, after all. As the 1st episode usually provides the story and character backdrop, it's too early to say anything at this point. I shall continue to follow the series.
I wasn't planning on watching it so soon, but I couldn't resist. After all, the anime was what introduced me to the world of H&C and is on my list of top 5 anime. I was stung once before by the movie version, so when I saw the news of the series being dramatized, I was excited and afraid at the same time. I recognized a few names in the cast list (after linking out to their ja.wikipedia pages for the list of roles), but that did nothing to pacify my anxiety. So with much tentative anticipation, I rolled the video.
And the 1st episode left me with mixed feelings.
Of course the casting wouldn't even be close to that of the original, and I feared for the worst. The drastic opening only aided in building up dread. It was relatively easy to get used to the drama Takemoto, although I find his monologue lacking. I do remind myself, however, that I'm comparing the drama against the anime version with professional seiyuu, so this can be overlooked.
It took me almost half-way to acknowledge Mayama and Hagu, but I find them well suited and have high hopes for them. Romaiya-senpai is interestingly different, but he doesn't seem to have a big enough build for the amusement park mascot role. XD Rika looks physically able and not as fragile as in the original (she even appears a little too not fragile), but I think she's got the Rika role right. Miyako doesn't seem as eccentric, but that could change when her air time increases. Nomiya... I can't tell from the less than one-minute screen time he has. XD
Notice that I left out two main characters? That's right. Morita and Yamada, my favourite male and female from the series. Morita is probably one of the most difficult characters in the series to portray. I think the drama Morita is doing a good job, but he's still a bit too refined and not crazy enough for me. XD Yamada, on the other hand, just doesn't have the air as the original. Except when she kicks. In other words, she has all the tsun but none of the tere. The drama Yamada also looks older than the rest of the main student cast. I even think Takahashi Mikako would be a much better Yamada...
The story includes some episodes from various stages in the original and adds its own ingredients and flavours. How that'll turn out, only time can tell. This is only the 1st episode, after all. As the 1st episode usually provides the story and character backdrop, it's too early to say anything at this point. I shall continue to follow the series.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
I was reading (again, trying futilely to catch up) my RSS feeds when I came across a Bits Debate on the topic of copyright and technology, the first in the weekly series.
The arguments from both sides, while valid at times, seem a bit vague and general. Maybe just warming up for the first day? In any case, the comments are what's really worth reading and provide much insights for both parties, especially the nay side. I haven't the time to go through all of them, but the ones I've read so far spurred me to write a little on this matter myself.
Granted, I am no business major nor am I expert in law and history and whatever may be affected by the issue. I can only offer my meagre two cents based on my experience and practice as a consumer/end user, within the confines of anime (video), music, software, and touching a bit on books. Seeing how I tend to rant on and on, I'll break this into several posts over the next few days, each pertaining to one category.
[Anime (Video)]
Living far away from the land of the rising sun and its yam-shaped island neighbour, anime-related stuff are hard to come by. Even when they do, they're usually charged for a premium. Quite a few of my friends know that I watch anime and fewer still share similar interests (eg. Japanese/Taiwanese/Korean drama and Tokusatsu). As a result, I can't rely on friends for anime support and have to buy them myself.
With the wide range of anime genre and the sheer number of titles, picking out ones I'd like while not emptying my bank account is no easy feat. Due to the high price tag for anime DVDs, I generally only shell out for the sure bets. Nine out of ten times, the sure bets are series that I've already seen. The odd deviations so far are G Gundam, Zeta Gundam, and Char's Counterattack. Yeah, they're all from the Gundam family. Go figure, eh?
So how do I get to watch a series before the DVD purchase? Fan subs. I can't speak for the other people, but my anime DVD collection has grown from nil to close to a hundred ever since I started watching fan subs. Sure, YTV's been showing a few anime these past few years, but those offerings, with the sole exception of Gundam Wing and Fullmetal Alchemist, haven't been successful in keeping me in front of the TV at all. I couldn't really stand the English voice acting for a lot of the other series, and I stopped watching all together after the 1st re-run of Bleach about a dozen or so episodes in. I much prefer my anime in Japanese.
As far as I know, all North American anime DVD releases have to have the English audio track. I imagine that's included in the price tag and thus the reason of them being more expensive than their Taiwanese counterpart, which only has the Japanese audio track. If it wasn't for the region code issue, I'd import a whole bunch of them from Taiwan. Not to mention that there's way more choices and stock over there.
With the high cost and less than scarce availability of anime titles (I'm still bitter that Geneon ceased distributing Fafner in the local retail stores here without ever releasing all the volumes), I'm not spending my hard earned cash blindly. Because of fan subs, I know what I'm getting when I put down the money for my anime purchases, and I'd happily and readily contribute to the North American anime industry. Because of fan subs, I absolutely refuse to buy bootleg anime DVDs, no matter how cheap or how fast they can come out, and I strongly encourage my friends to only buy legitimate discs. While it's not exactly legal to download and watch fan subs, it makes no sense to help fatten the pocket of bootleggers if you're going to pay.
Fan subbing has done wonders in North America for the anime industry in general. Not only does it help drive DVD sales and related products like model kits, figurines, and accessories, it's also free and viral marketing. Neko-kun mentioned in a blog post that during an anime convention panel session, the seiyuu Yukana was asked by someone from the audience about the future development of Code Geass. The question greatly surprised her since the series is not released in North America yet. I can bet you, though, that a lot more fan sub watchers will buy the DVDs when they come out than people whose only source of anime is Cartoon Network (US) or YTV (Canada).
My bottom line for anime (video) is this: I watch fan subs, and I buy the DVDs if I like the series. I'm not buying it if I don't know whether I'll like it or not, because anime DVDs are expensive, much more so than movie DVDs. And bootleg is a definite no-no. In the North American setting where anime is niche market and far from being mainstream for the near future, fan subs actually help the industry and contribute greatly in terms of customers, sales, marketing, and overall anime evangelism. Fan subs downloaded are not lost sales.
The arguments from both sides, while valid at times, seem a bit vague and general. Maybe just warming up for the first day? In any case, the comments are what's really worth reading and provide much insights for both parties, especially the nay side. I haven't the time to go through all of them, but the ones I've read so far spurred me to write a little on this matter myself.
Granted, I am no business major nor am I expert in law and history and whatever may be affected by the issue. I can only offer my meagre two cents based on my experience and practice as a consumer/end user, within the confines of anime (video), music, software, and touching a bit on books. Seeing how I tend to rant on and on, I'll break this into several posts over the next few days, each pertaining to one category.
[Anime (Video)]
Living far away from the land of the rising sun and its yam-shaped island neighbour, anime-related stuff are hard to come by. Even when they do, they're usually charged for a premium. Quite a few of my friends know that I watch anime and fewer still share similar interests (eg. Japanese/Taiwanese/Korean drama and Tokusatsu). As a result, I can't rely on friends for anime support and have to buy them myself.
With the wide range of anime genre and the sheer number of titles, picking out ones I'd like while not emptying my bank account is no easy feat. Due to the high price tag for anime DVDs, I generally only shell out for the sure bets. Nine out of ten times, the sure bets are series that I've already seen. The odd deviations so far are G Gundam, Zeta Gundam, and Char's Counterattack. Yeah, they're all from the Gundam family. Go figure, eh?
So how do I get to watch a series before the DVD purchase? Fan subs. I can't speak for the other people, but my anime DVD collection has grown from nil to close to a hundred ever since I started watching fan subs. Sure, YTV's been showing a few anime these past few years, but those offerings, with the sole exception of Gundam Wing and Fullmetal Alchemist, haven't been successful in keeping me in front of the TV at all. I couldn't really stand the English voice acting for a lot of the other series, and I stopped watching all together after the 1st re-run of Bleach about a dozen or so episodes in. I much prefer my anime in Japanese.
As far as I know, all North American anime DVD releases have to have the English audio track. I imagine that's included in the price tag and thus the reason of them being more expensive than their Taiwanese counterpart, which only has the Japanese audio track. If it wasn't for the region code issue, I'd import a whole bunch of them from Taiwan. Not to mention that there's way more choices and stock over there.
With the high cost and less than scarce availability of anime titles (I'm still bitter that Geneon ceased distributing Fafner in the local retail stores here without ever releasing all the volumes), I'm not spending my hard earned cash blindly. Because of fan subs, I know what I'm getting when I put down the money for my anime purchases, and I'd happily and readily contribute to the North American anime industry. Because of fan subs, I absolutely refuse to buy bootleg anime DVDs, no matter how cheap or how fast they can come out, and I strongly encourage my friends to only buy legitimate discs. While it's not exactly legal to download and watch fan subs, it makes no sense to help fatten the pocket of bootleggers if you're going to pay.
Fan subbing has done wonders in North America for the anime industry in general. Not only does it help drive DVD sales and related products like model kits, figurines, and accessories, it's also free and viral marketing. Neko-kun mentioned in a blog post that during an anime convention panel session, the seiyuu Yukana was asked by someone from the audience about the future development of Code Geass. The question greatly surprised her since the series is not released in North America yet. I can bet you, though, that a lot more fan sub watchers will buy the DVDs when they come out than people whose only source of anime is Cartoon Network (US) or YTV (Canada).
My bottom line for anime (video) is this: I watch fan subs, and I buy the DVDs if I like the series. I'm not buying it if I don't know whether I'll like it or not, because anime DVDs are expensive, much more so than movie DVDs. And bootleg is a definite no-no. In the North American setting where anime is niche market and far from being mainstream for the near future, fan subs actually help the industry and contribute greatly in terms of customers, sales, marketing, and overall anime evangelism. Fan subs downloaded are not lost sales.
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