leGASP! Is this true?! Yes, it's true!

Come October 2008 there will be more gyaboooo~! Read more, mukyaaaa!

According to Anime News Network

The official Japanese website of the Nodame Cantabile anime series has announced the October premiere of the Nodame Cantabile Pari-Hen (Nodame Cantabile: Paris Chapter) sequel. The new story arc will run in Nodame Cantabile's former late-night Noitamina timeslot in Japan. Both Tomoko Ninomiya's original manga . . . and the 2006-2008 live-action drama adaptation have already set their later stories in Paris. All versions of Nodame Cantabile have the common plot threads of two music students who drive themselves and each other to greater artistic heights in Japan and later Europe.

Mukyaaa! Hehe. I'm sure all of you already know how much I love the Nodame Cantabile manga, and how much I enjoyed the Nodame Cantabile TV renditions.

I liked how that anime ended, actually, and I wasn't expecting a second season. But, hey, I'm not complaining! I can't wait! *giddily excited* ^_^

Labels: anime, manga, nodame cantabile, tv

Posted by sarah at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Since my HanaKimi TV post last year has been, as it turns out, helping a lot of people in deciding which HanaKimi rendition to watch, I thought I'd write a similar post for another one of my favorite manga, whose TV renditions I absolutely adore.

I've written a short Nodame Cantabile review, actually, so let's consider this a part 2.

Extremely talented pianist and naturally gifted conductor. Another extremely talented pianist and your all-around weird girl. Put them together and what do you get? An impossibly addicting manga on classical music, love, and the love of music. And, yes, it's hilarious, too.

Obviously, the main ingredient of this manga is music, but non-musicians should not shy away! No, no, you won't drown in jargon, and, believe me, this series will enrich your knowledge in music. Also, there is an ample amount of comedy and a dash of romance to taste. Read full post...

Nodame Cantabile is originally a manga by Ninomiya Tomoko, running since 2001 and is currently ongoing. It now has a J-drama adaptation, an anime series, and a handful of OSTs. The anime and regular J-drama season both take from the manga's first to ninth volume. The J-drama, though, has a Special, which follows the manga a little bit further.

Most people know that I usually say that manga is the best, and, I guess, I think the same applies for Nodame Cantabile. But I think both the anime and the J-drama are a couple of must-watch renditions. Both have their pros and cons, though...

Cast and Characterization
Both anime and drama were SUPERB. I mean, seriously. The art in the anime was easy enough to adapt from the manga, but I just have to say that the voice dubbing was excellent.

As for the J-drama... ARGH! PERFECT! When I first saw the photos, I was, like, "Whoa! Nodame came to life!!!" But it doesn't stop there. When I watched the J-drama, right from the first episode, Ueno Juri and Hiroshi Tamaki (and everybody else, really) acted exactly as I imagined Nodame and Chiaki (and everybody else) to act. Not only did they capture the characters' look, but also their personalities, attitudes, mannerisms, speaking patters, everything! Kudos to the cast, and especially the director, Takeuchi Hideki-san!


Plot execution
The anime is, from start to finish, faithful to the manga; the pages were literally transferred to the screen. As for the drama, it's also as faithful as live dramas can go. Okay, sure, there were tiny tweaks here and there (some characters appeared earlier than they should, some events were merged into one, some pieces were performed at a different time) but I suppose it's understandable, since they had to make adjustments to fit 9 volumes of manga into 11 episodes. Still, there's only a hairsbreadth of difference, small enough for me, a purist, to actually let it go. About the J-drama Special... Hm... Now this one takes more events out of the plot, but, again, I'm willing to let it slide, since the parts they focused on were important, and the story flow wasn't disrupted.

Music
The drama, I think, is the best version to watch the performances. Not only do you actually see them playing the instruments, but the emotion is also seen better in the performers' faces. But in the anime, since it's understandably hard to animate people to move as they would in real life, the majority of the performances are just stills of the musicians playing. There are, however, exceptionally amazing concert sequences where you can really see the musicians' fingers hitting the right keys at the right time in the right tempo. Those are awesome, awesome sequences, but they rarely happen. In the anime, though, the shown/played excerpts of the music pieces are longer than the ones in the drama's regular season. (In the Special Lessons, though, the musical sequences are longer. Wheeeee~)


In summary:

• The anime has 26 episodes (about 25 minutes each ) plus one Summer Detour (15 minutes). The drama has 11 episodes (about 1 hour each) plus 2 specials (about 2 hours each).
• The anime is exactly the manga, just moving. The drama changes a few things here and there.
• The anime characters can't really move like real people all the time. The drama's cast is composed of real, living, breathing people (like, duh).
• The music is the same.
• The story is the same.
• The level of comedy is the same.

"So," you ask, "which do you recommend I watch, Sarah? Anime, or drama?"

My answer: BOTH.

I mean, really. I've read the manga, watched the anime, and watched the drama. And I still laugh. Every. Single. Time. Although, of course, you can chalk it up to the fact that I love the series, but it's just that each version offers something unique while still remaining so very... Nodame.

So, really, whichever rendition you pick, as long as it's Nodame Cantabile, I guarantee enjoyment. ^^

Labels: anime, manga, nodame cantabile, reviews, tv

Posted by sarah at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Last week, I found out that the last episode of the Jdrama (Japanese drama) of Hanazakiri no Kimitachi e, a live action TV series based on the manga of the same title, was out. It started in Japan in June this year, and ended just a few days ago.

The manga Hanazakiri no Kimitachi e ("For You In Full Blossom", also known as "HanaKimi") was written by Hisaya Nakajo way back in 1996, and ended in 2004... right about the time I first started reading it.

The story revolves around Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl who grew up in the States. One day when watching a track and field competition, she sees Izumi Sano competing in the high jump. She begins to idolize him for the way he jumps, and also for the way he lives. Eventually she transfers to Japan in order to attend the same school that Sano attends. It's not just any school, though: it's an all-boys high school!

Even though I absolutely love the manga series, I tried not to watch the J-drama first... Partly because I was never a "manga turned live action" fan -- I've got nothing against it, though -- and partly because I wanted to marathon it. Harhar. (And also partly because I was too busy to bother with it.)

So, this weekend, I decided to marathon all 12 episodes.

And, suprisingly... Read full post...

I was slightly disappointed.

*sigh*

"But why?!" you ask. "Isn't the acting good?"

It was, actually.

"Isn't the casting good?"

Argh. Near perfect. I think everyone fit their characters well! Tomo Ikuta (playing Nakatsu) is, like, a scene stealer. Haha! But still everyone did an awesome job.
"Isn't the story good?"

Hmm... Well... Er...

*ahem*

The story is , I suppose. That is, if you completely forget the manga. True, the J-drama followed the original general plot, and they kept the characters as they were (that is, if you ignore the additional characters inserted here and there), but the events in the story were too different.

I also felt kind of rushed... The development of chemistry between Mizuki and the Dorm 2 boys was a bit sudden, the whole "Sano going back to high jump" issue wasn't simmered, and the Sano+Mizuki build-up was a bit off in the beginning... Argh. And I missed Umeda-sensei's bishieness (and ecchiness. LOL!)

Of course, this is all me.

And, I suppose if I DID forget the manga, maybe I'd be thinking differently.

And so, after watching for 12 hours (not continuous, though, as I had to eat and have a life) and finished a bit disappointed, I was driven into checking out the 2006 Taiwanese version.
That made Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu the first Taiwanese drama I ever watched. Whoopee. (No. Unlike the rest of the Philippine female population, I did NOT watch Meteor Garden.)

At first I was raising my eyebrows because of Ella, the girl acting as Rui Xi (the Taiwanese counterpart of Mizuki). I mean, hey, no offense to Ella or anything, but Mizuki had to look like a pretty girl and a cute boy. At the same time. Now, Ella's actually pretty and all, but when Rui Xi was acting like a boy, she looked too... tomboyish. They seemed to forget that, even though Mizuki had the whole school fooled, she was still supposed to fail at acting like a boy, and she was supposed to look immensely girly that a lot of guys thought she was a girly boy, and it should be a wonder why everyone else didn't become seriously suspicious of her.

As the series progressed, though, I began to warm up to her. But still I maintain that the haircut could've been better, and the acting might have been more fitting... Horikita Maki did an awesome job in the Japanese version, so... Yeah. I'm comparing. Heh.

The rest of the cast was okay. Quan (TW counter of Sano) was a bit too smiley too early for me, though. Hm. Then again, Shun Oguri's Sano was a bit too... frowny.

The best part about the Taiwanese series, though, is how faithful it was to the manga. Sure, a lot of the original events were omitted (unavoidable, unless we want a LONG series), but still, it was as faithful as they can make it. And they even gave some scenes nice twists of their own.

I'm just annoyed that Rui Xi didn't look (and, sometimes, act) like Mizuki. If Rui Xi was another girl who is NOT Mizuki, it'd be fine. But no. She's supposed to be Mizuki, just with another name. Rawr. Quan got an awesome Wu Chun, though. *insert fangirl screech here* Heeheehee.

So, in summary....

HanaKimi J-drama: awesome casting, awesome acting, but diverges from the manga.

Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu: okay adaptation, but a bit overacted Rui Xi >_<>

Labels: anime, hanakimi, hanazakiri no kimitachi e, manga, reviews, tv

Posted by sarah at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

*gasp* Newtype said it was so. Therefore it must be true!

Yep, that's right, folks! The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi gets a second season! It's going to be announced officially on the magazine in August (and in the website on July 7th), but fans get an early celebration from Newtype's... well... early edition. Hehehe.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi) is an anime series based on light novels entitled (er...surprise, surprise?) Suzumiya Haruhi. The fourteen episode anime series premiered in Japan on April 2006 and ran until July 2006.

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi revolves around the story of a high school girl named (er... another surprise?) Haruhi. She's a very, very, veryveryvery (did I say VERY?) eccentric girl, obsessed with ESPers, aliens and time travellers, and is always looking for something interesting to do. (Which is, basically, looking for ESPers, aliens and time travellers.) The story is told Greek-chorus style by Kyon, one of Haruhi's classmates. He's realistic, cynical, apathetic and sarcastic, and he's pretty much dragged (literally) by Haruhi into chaos in the form of the SOS Brigade, a club which Haruhi formed focused on — you guessed it — looking for ESPers, aliens, and time travelers.

What's so fun about the series is Haruhi's enthusiasm and the contagious insanity of everything she does. Even if you avoid her at first, you'll learn to love her, just like what happened to poor ol' Kyon. The insanity is so contagious, it even seeped into the way the series was broadcasted. Haha! The TV episodes were NOT released in chronological order. It's a bit confusing at first, but you'll get the hang of it. I personally think that the anachronic order is WAY better than the chronological one: it's more fun that way, and the presentation is just... genius.

If you haven't checked the series out, go and grab a DVD (or leech from torrent sites. Haha!). Episode 1 (aka Episode 11) may look weird, but I implore you, watch Episode 2 (aka Episode 1), too. It's hilarious, I tells ya, and I'm sure you'll love it, especially if you like crazy anime comedies like Azumanga Daioh or Lucky Star. But it's not ALL craziness, either. There's actually a story, and the players get their character developments, too. Sorta like Ouran High School Host Club, but with less bishounen and drama (what minimal drama Ouran has). It does involve high school girls in bunny suits at one point, though, if that'll make up for the lack of bishounen. Hehe.


Oyeah: about the second season. The broadcast dates and other information will be anounced later, I suppose. I'll update you on that when I get info.

Meanwhile, enjoy this Gundam doing the Haruhi dance video. Heeeheeeheee.

Labels: anime, reviews, the melancholy of suzumiya haruhi, tv

Posted by sarah at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed the recent wave — no, tsunami — of revivals recently. Be it in fashion, music, tv or movies, the oldies are back. Bangles, gypsy earrings and Chucks look cool again (but shoulder pads, big hair and silver gloves do not, thank God). Jazz is resurfacing in the airwaves, whether old school or in a new, poppish sound. Old comic books and TV series are getting reboots and do-overs... Batman, Spiderman, TMNT, Fantastic 4, and Transformers, just to name a few. It's already out in the news that Alvin and the Chipmunks is being made (if not finished yet), and The Smurfs and Voltron are rumored to have scripts completed.

Well, it seems like a couple more of those are going to jump in and join the party.

By the power of Grayskull!!!
It had been set aside to be a possible rumor, but in May 23, the news was finally confirmed: producer Joel Silver and the Warner Brothers studio are teaming up for a new big-screen version of He Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Originally a toy by Mattel, He-man became a minicomic in 1981, got DC Comics pages in 1982, and then an animated series that ran from 1983 - 1985 (though I think I got to watch it in the '90s). I distinctly remember my brothers and I playing pretend for it. Of course, being the only girl out of the four of us, I was either Teela or Adora, depending on who was in the scene.

The series has had several incarnations, actually, including The New Adventures of He-man in 1990, and the new He-man animated series in 2002, shown in Cartoon Network. There's also been a previous live action Masters of the Universe film in 1987. I didn't get to watch the movie, but when I saw a photo of a well-oiled He-man, I'm actually happy that I didn't. (What is it with the 80s and oiled bodies and hair?!)

Looking at the photos, I couldn't help think how cheesy they looked. (But in the 1980s, people might have thought that it was high tech.) Now, with all the awesome make-up artists, costume designers and the amazing powers of CGI, I'm kind of thinking that they just might be able to pull it off. (I'm excited to see how they'll do Skeletor. Heeheehee.) Still, I'm hearing loyalists saying that the the film probably won't do the original animated series justice. Ah, well, we'll have to see.

I'm just hoping they'd not oil the actors. I mean, Warner Brothers pulled it off in 300, right?

Read more in the Variety article: He-man Returns to the Big Screen.


Thun-der, Thun-der, THUNDERCATS!!!
Ah, yes. Yet another 80s animated series to be revived, according to Variety (and a couple more movie news sites) two days ago. The challenge here, now, is not how to present macho guys without looking narcissistic or — God forbid — gay. I think it's in selecting the perfect cast for Lion-O, Panthro, Cheetara and their mutant-feline clan, as well as Mumm-Ra.

With the magnificent recent film rendition of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by Disney and Walden Media, I wouldn't be surprised if the Thundercats would look so realistic, we'd all believe they actually existed in the real world. Ah, yes. Thank God for technology.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the action scenes are great. I just hope that it won't be an all-effects, all-action movie. I hope they come up with a good storyline for it.

Again, Warner Brothers takes care of this film. The screenplay will be by Paul Sopocy. Producers will be Paula Weinstein (Blood Diamond), along with Dick Robertson and Lew Korman.

Read more in the Variety article: Warner Purrs for Thundercats.

Labels: he-man, masters of the universe, movies, thundercats, tv

Posted by sarah at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I've been wanting to watch Fushigi Yuugi Eikoden for years, ever since I found out it existed. Well, guess what: I finally got to watch it last night. (Or, to say it strictly, about an hour ago.)

At first I was psyched. Fushigi Yuugi being one of my favorite anime ever for all its twists and unpredictable moments (and of course, Le Bishies), I couldn't wait to see what was ahead. Although I DID keep telling myself not to expect anything. That was the best way I enjoy movies and series, anyway.

The OAV started out fine. The beginning was a bit confusing, but it was fine. After all, the story was only then unfolding. And so I sat and watched and waited.

Then, the action began to happen. The Book was opened, someone got sucked in, someone else fainted making everybody else worry, and some other people sat at the edge of their seats as they read the Book.

And then... I... got bored. Really. I'm serious.

I would have wanted to say that the four-plus years of waiting to finally watch the conclusion to the Fushigi Yuugi animated series was worth it... Really, I DO want to say that it was worth it. And maybe it is.

Sort of.

But not quite.

Let me take this time to warn thee. From this point on, possible spoilers abound. Do not read on if you haven't watched Eikoden. I repeat: spoilers ABOUND. Well, OK. maybe they're not spoilers, but you won't know what the hell I'm talking about if you haven't watched the OAV. If you wish to be wise and skip the spoilers, scroll down really quickly and look for "SAFE ZONE" marker.

Moving on.

Perhaps you're wondering why I have contradicting feelings towards the OAV. Let me explain, then.

There were a lot of funny scenes. Some where I literally laughed out loud. Like, Chiriko suddenly talking. And Mitsukake's childishness. Nuriko was cute, of course, and Hotohori was a bishie, as usual. Predictably, Boushin looked like him. Tasuki has THE best lines, and I think I Taka was cooler here than in the last OAV (maybe because of the minimized Miaka-Taka over-mushiness). Huh. Obviously, the Fushigi Yuugi bishounen have NOT lost their touch.

The fight scenes were good. Hotohori appearing out of nowhere to help out was a nice touch. Tasuki was funny and effective as well. As I said, the fight scenes were good. Good, but not awesomely great. Good enough for me not to say that they sucked.

"So, Sarah," you might say, "what's all the negative talk about then?"

"Well," I answer, "there are a few disappointing factors..."

Like, Chichiri didn't appear to be as powerful as he actually was (unless they wanted to make it look like he was getting old, thus his diminishing coolness). And Hotohori's "return" was simply an "Sheeeeesh, come ON" moment. Complete with the sweatdrop and the eye-roll. I mean, really. And what was Saori there for? I mean, she did nothing! No-thing. Her being Mayo's best friend wasn't even established enough, nor was it enforced.

It was also strange now that Suzaku has two priestesses. Is that even allowed? I mean, Taka and Miaka calling Suzaku together had already been a bit forced to me, but now they have another girl there? Come on. Besides, if Suzaku was going to have another priestess, wasn't Miaka supposed to disappear? Or was Mayo never really a priestess because she was simply a medium to call on Suzaku? That part was somewhat a loophole for me. I've been thinking about that for ages now. That, and why (oh why?) Suzaku seemed to be the leader of the rebelling gods.

And I couldn't understand why Houki and Boushin didn't see that Mayo was clearly lying. And where did Mayo get her spy orb thingy? It just appeared out of nowhere. And WHY did Taka's phone ring when Keisuke wasn't even using the phone when they were talking? Before, Miaka heard Keisuke's voice in her head, so what makes it different now?

And, really. Taka simply wasn't stressed enough when Miaka was giving birth.

In all fairness, though, Mayo's turnaround was a bit convincing. It wasn't too sudden (unlike Hotohori's brother was). Although it was still pretty hard to care for the girl by the time when the story wants us to, due to the fact that her antagonist side was pretty perfectly antagonistic. Her bad side was so perfectly done that it was hard (VERY hard) to see her otherwise. And I was a bit concerned about her feelings for Taka. That was never settled, I think. I mean, OK, so she was repentant and all that and sort of accepted that Taka was Miaka's, but...I dunno. She didn't say it out loud. It was implied, I suppose, but I don't think that was enough. Sure, she apologized to him but ARGH. I think it would've been better to say "I love you" then "I'm sorry" than the other way around.

Although most (maybe 90%) of Miaka's screentime was her being unconscious, I loved it that she was still instrumental to everything going around her, from beginning to end. I think she was still the heroine despite her lack of part in the action. Houki's story was nice. It actually gave her a bit more depth (so she wouldn't stay as "the girl who looks like Nuriko, the one whom Hotohori married").

***********************

SAFE ZONE

***********************

The explanation about why there was yet another fiasco inside the book was pretty well-done. I couldn't find a crack in there.

I suppose, with all the little details ignored, my problem with this OAV is mainly the character developments, and the conclusion of things. I kind of got the feeling that the time wasn't enough. They crammed so many things together that some parts weren't as effective as it could've been. I think they should have made each episode a 30-minute one. As in 30 minutes without the commercial breaks.

The animation was beautiful, though. As in gorgeous. The CGI was a bit over the top, though. OK, so it was done to differentiate the evil gods from the real gods, but I think it wasn't really necessary. Plus it didn't flow with the rest of the animation.

The score was great, and the opening theme was awesomely enchanting. It got me hooked. The closing theme was OK... I think they could've done better, but I'm not going to the mattresses because of it.

To wrap things up, I'd say that Fushigi Yuugi Eikoden was good, but not great. Die-hard fans (or maybe even the not-so-die-hard ones) will most likely be disappointed to a certain degree, and newbies... well... Newbies will NOT be motivated to watch the main series if they watch the OAV first. Fushigi Yuugi could've done fine with out this OAV. I'm not saying that it was better off without it (then again, maybe it was), but I'm saying that the title is fine if Eikoden didn't exist.

For me, the second OAV set was enough, as it was also the manga's ending. Okay, so Eikoden was one of the novels published after the manga, but...yeah. For me, the story would've been fine if it stopped at Volume 18 of the manga.

If the producers or whoever else suddenly decides to make yet another sequel, I'm still probably going to watch it for the sake of watching it. But I'm not going to be so excited about it anymore.

Labels: fushigi yuugi, reviews, tv

Posted by sarah at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Mood:
Reading: The Silent One - Joy Cowley
Watching: Alias season 4 DVD menu
Listening to: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles

Argh. Arrrrrrrrrrgh!!!!! I KNEW IT! I freakin' knew it. I should never have watched that stupid last episode!

Lesson learned (for the fourth time) : Do NOT watch a season ender unless you have at least the first episode of the next season.

Arrrrrggggh!!!!!

And Alias season 5 is coming out...when? OCTOBER?!

*dies*

to those who visit my DA and/or Xanga account: yes, i know. i posted this there, too. actually, i posted this there first. just goes to show how much i'm hating this right now.

Labels: tv

Posted by sarah at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post