Kris' Ramblings

I keep forgetting to talk about the "Gamera: Rebirth" series. Not because it wasn't good, but because I watched it around the time a new kitten fell into my lap and turned everything upside-down for a bit.

Anyway, while not perfect story or animation-wise, I really enjoyed it. It combined every era of Gamera. Zigra, Jiger, Guiron, and Viras appeared for the first time since the Showa era with fantastically updated designs. The tone was very Heisei era. And, the handling of the child characters was in the vein of "Gamera, the Brave", keeping them well-written as characters and part of the story for logical plot reasons. There were a lot of smaller nods to past movies to enjoy as well. Some very spoilery, so I won't get into that. The kaiju fights were fantastic with some clever powers and counters to them. Also, it had the absolute best use of tanks in a kaiju movie I've seen. Of course, it should have after the tank division's constant random cameos every episode. Anyway, for once, they didn't stand still to get picked off but took evasive maneuvers and were surprisingly effective against the Hyper Gyaos. Plus, the commander being properly awesome after all his build-up.

And, I absolutely love Gamera's new theme. Very reminiscent of "Pacific Rim". I approve ;) ...Though the acoustic guitar arrangement of the old Gamera march in the final credits was oddly enjoyable too. Even if it did put the original ear-worm in my head again.

So, yeah. Good series. I'd happily watch more if they make it, and I'm definitely ready for a new movie.

Now, to get myself to a showing of "Godzilla Minus One"....

So, some quick reaction comments on the latest chapter of Ao no/Blue Exorcist, Chapter 110.

Spoilers will follow.

First, is my timing good or what? I got out a ficlet about Shiemi's plight just before the manga re-visited it! Though there's no conclusion yet, so... C'mon, Shiemi! There's still time to pull a Rin on them!

Second, am I the only one who feels like Yukio is following the same storyline as the anime with only a few changes and over a much longer period? He became conflicted and wanted answers about his and Rin's heritage. A shady character offered him answers. So, he ran off and joined that shady character's more-than-shady group that's experimenting with mixing magic and technology. Oh, and they opened a Gehenna Gate. Now, the leader of that group is offering him new handguns with a dangerous power.

...I can't decide if I like this or not. But, I'll squee for days if the twist is that this is yet another of Yukio's ploys. C'mon, Yukio. You need to pull a T-Bone (SWAT Kat fans will get this), secretly pepper that airship with bombs, shoot Lucifer in the face with one of those demon negation guns as a parting gift, and then go use your own blue fire negation powers to help Rin put his alternate demon self down for good.

I need to write another drabble.

Real life hasn't been fun lately, but at least there's been some fannish goodness going on.

For starters, the birthday happened, and I received this wondermous collection of Kazue Kato's color art. Finally a full-size artbook from one of my favorite manga artists! And, naturally, it's mostly Ao no/Blue Exorcist" material with some gorgeous color spreads from her older "Robo to Usakichi" series too. It's provided many an art squee. And, made me wish more than ever that I could find more than the first chapter of "Robo" translated. The opening is really interesting, and I absolutely must know how a robot child grows into a teenager. Especially when he's apparently a special design and his creator is dead.

Also, his technology-ness, my brother, got me a blu-ray player at last, which has facilitated more forays into the world of Godzilla movies. But, I'll jabber more about them in a later post.

Somewhere in the midst of it all, I got a Twitter account, mostly to follow the updates in the SWAT Kat fandom. Though I am cross-posting any announcements/links to fannish posts - new fic and art, website updates - there too. And, because my Twitter account needed a pretty fall banner, I updated my fall image with bonus TurboKat.

Lastly, things are happening in Ao no/Blue Exorcist!
( Spoilery babble behind the cut... )

And, now for some slightly belated fangirling over things I've watched recently:

How can there be only two episodes of Ao no/Blue Exorcist's Kyoto Saga left?! Nooooo! I don't want it to be over yet. It's been such an incredible ride. I loved this arc in the manga, and I love it even more animated.

The last few episodes in particular have been amazing. And, not just because they touched on favorite moments like Yukio's brief display of demon powers and Rin and Suguro cementing their Vitriolic Best Buds status before Rin finally unlocked his sword and awesome happened. (Though those were a treat. Seriously, there's so much win right here.) But, even moments that never really stood out for me in the manga have been given new life through the voice-acting, the music, and the fantastic animation. Toudo dueling Juuzou's squad is a special highlight. That glorious full-body fight animation!

Please, please let this season be a hit so we can get more!

And, in a complete change of pace, I've been re-watching SWAT Kats with mintysage. Not all of my old favorites have stood the test of time, but SWAT Kats does. Maybe some of the first season animation is a little... off, but then episodes like "The PastMaster Always Rings Twice" and "Night of the Dark Kat" make up for it. Storywise, each episode still sucks me right in, and it's fun to see it all over again with fresh eyes after putting it away for a few years.

After peeking at the raw/untranslated version of Ao no/Blue Exorcist Chapter 77, I couldn't help cackling. It's like the story's come full circle back to the brothers' first mission together. And, Rin still isn't fond of Yukio's tactics ;)

( My spoilertastic thoughts on the translated chapter are behind the cut. )

And, while I'm fangirling, Shonen Jump posted an epic AnE cosplay with a pair of real life twins. They even have an adorable little black and white cat!

As is obvious, yes, I'm not dead. Life has just been a bit weird lately. But, I have made a few scrap posts as well as posting the proper opening to my FMA/AnE Fusionverse over on Mindtwins.

So, chapter 58 of "Blue Exorcist" finally arrived, and, regarding Rin and the zombies, I would just like to say: I called it!.

And, since I haven't actually spoken about the ongoing manga in ages, here's a smattering of impressions under the cut:

( Mind the Spoilers )

A couple weeks ago, seekersks brought over the second and third Bleach movies ("The Diamond Dust Rebellion" and "Fade to Black" respectively) for us to watch. I've fallen way behind on the Bleach anime, but the movies reminded me of everything I love about the series. Then, last night, I went to catch up on the manga, which I was about a month behind in.

( Cut for spoilers and much fangirl meltdown... of the unhappy kind... )

Blargh! I've spent the last few days half out of it thanks to allergies and such, but I think I'm finally winning. That or there's a lull in the pollen. But, I can work with that!

The allergy energy drain has made for very unproductive days, but I have gotten some sketching done. Mostly attempting to illustrate this little scene from jordannamorgan's fanfic Family. Please, please feel free to point out all eleventy billion things wrong with it. Al is slowly driving me to distraction since I know there's something wrong, just not exactly what. And, something weird is going on with the angles of Ed's book, but I can probably badger someone into holding a book for me.

And, of course, I finished "Inuyasha: The Final Act". And, the finale was everything I wanted. ( More fangirl babble behind the cut... )

Ah, it's that time again. seekersks and I have once again signed up for Otakon! Sadly, this year it's at the end of July, which means waiting to pick up our badges on Thursday afternoon will probably be like standing inside an oven. Ah, well. As is the norm for this early in the game, there aren't a lot of guests or events officially announced just yet. But, I see that "Jordanna's Ed", Vic Mignogna, is already on the guest list. Shame there's nothing in the FMA:B soundtrack to cajole him into singing (and why couldn't "Bratja/Brothers" be re-used in FMA:B? Or a new ballad for the brothers?). But, maybe he'll have some funny stories from the recording process.

In other fangirly news, FMA:B is moving into the final battle. Episode 50 just made me want to stand up and cheer as some familiar faces showed up again after a long absence and we began the prelude to some really awesome action. Yes, I know from the manga things are going to go south soon, but the tide is already turning in the most recent manga chapter, so I'm just going to enjoy the ride.

And, my plans for tonight are to sit down with the final three episodes of Inuyasha. Yes, I stopped watching it weekly so I could see the end all at once. "Final Act" has improved in leaps and bounds since its rocky beginning, so I expect to be a very happy fangirl by the end. But, a sad one too. Because this is it. The manga has ended, now the anime adaptation will have ended. ::sniffle:: No more Inuyasha. Hmm... I wonder if they've considered doing another movie. ....What? The fangirl needs more of her fix.

Well, I saw the first episode of "Inuyasha: The Final Act" tonight... and then I had to go and re-read the twelve chapters worth of the manga that it blitzed through on fast forward. I.... uhm... the animation was nice, and it was great to see everyone again and hear the old, familiar voice cast. But... but... I had little idea what was going on. The story picks up almost immediately where the original series left off (aside from the cutting of one short, self-contained storyline from the manga)... only it does so years after the end of the first series and years after I read the relevant chapters of the manga. A recap would have been nice, but... most of all, I just wished they hadn't put the plot on fast forward.

Maybe next week they'll at least slow down enough that it will make sense and characters won't seem to arbitrarily teleport into the scene as the plot demands and equally arbitrarily change their minds with no explanations. Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?

Ah well... at least it got me re-reading the manga, and the corresponding chapters were wholly enjoyable where the show... wasn't.