Finished: End of Harry Potter and Yakitate! Japan 0 lalalas
After about two days of intense reading, I've done reading the 7th book of Harry Potter. Well to be honest, it was a bit disappointing. Since I-don't-know-which-book, the series have been deteriorating gradually. I mean it's still a good read, but it isn't the first three books anymore. First of all, 740+ pages is too long. Sometimes nothing happens for too long, while sometimes too many happen at the same time. The archvillain, Voldemort is pretty disappointing in this book. He just becomes another ordinary villain, losing the mysterious coolness he exerted before his appearance. There were too many recycled stuff from previous books. The way the main characters act, it's not different from previous books - we don't learn anything new about the trio. And the conflicts - in this case, something about Dumbledore and some trivial, childish fight between trio (which is seen all too often in previous books) - felt strained and not deep enough to have any significant effect. Rowling seems to be reserved in pushing things beyond the borders, which I think would have made things more interesting. The maturation of the characters - mainly, the Trio - wasn't that significant. The way they speak, act, and analyse things is just like it was in the first book. So I guess my main point is that nothing much changes over the series, well concerning Harry and his friends, so it feels kinda repetitive after a while. And in this last installment, the turn of events weren't that dramatic, and even predictable at times. Besides Dumbledore, everybody's action seemed to lack subtlety. What I mean is that the scheming and the fight of wits seemed shallow and even laughable. There were some bright moments though, like the Hogwart's teacher showing their skills, Dumbledore's shady past (but Rowling watered it down a lot) and Harry getting chased by Death-Eaters in the beginning. And one thing I very beh-tahan is that the kids at Hogwarts can duel with the Death Eaters - adult wizards - wor. What the hell man? It's like asking a teenage to have a gun fight with a trained soldier, you get what I mean? In essence, what I'm trying to say here is that, this final book was alright, but it could have been so much better it's a slight letdown.
Now I'm gonna talk about Yakitate. It's been a pretty long trip for me. 69 episodes. I should have finished it while I was in Cyberjaya. But due to some unexpected delays, I couldn't and it took me a few days before I finally got to finish it. Finishing it is like saying good bye to an old friend. It's a pretty good anime, with outrageous events and plentiful parodies. Although really repetitive (Azuma's opponent getting all cocky >> Azuma gets his idea >> Competition day people amazed at Azuma's technique then at his opponent's and back and forth >> Opponent lets judge taste the bread + some reaction + opponent LC again >> Judge eats Azuma's bread + greater reaction >> Opponent couldn't take it bla bla...)and some useless characters (hint: Kawa~), it's really entertaining and refreshing. I especially loved the Lord of the Ring parody in ep. 68 - that's the best episode! Anyway, reluctant as I am, bye-bye to Yakitate nevertheless.
Now, what anime should I watch next??
Yakitate! Japan 0 lalalas
I'm currently watching and loving this anime. It's about a young boy, Azuma Kazuma who has "solar hands" and genius talent for making bread. Other countries have bread with their own name like "French bread" but Japan doesn't, so Azuma has a dream of making Japanese's own bread, "Japan" which is tastier than rice. This anime introduces many kinds of exotic bread which will make you drool. And it's so exaggerating that sometimes it's just plain ridiculous. But I guess it's one of the anime's charms. Because there's a limit of how only words can describe the delicious-ness of a bread, I think the overblown graphic reaction of the characters do a better job at showing people how good the bread is. Anyway, despite the anime's prevalent 废-ness, it does a good job at presenting some really touching plots. The main characters like Azuma are also portrayed in depth. Besides that, the characters are well drawn esp. Tsukino (drool drool..) and the anime does a decent job of not ruining the character's appearance as opposed to maybe Naruto and Saiyuki. (Anyway, Yukino is an exceptionally ugly biatch).
Definitely an anime that I recommend. And thanks to BenSen and Limys for introducing me to this anime.
Nankurunaisa 0 lalalas
It means that "everything will work out in time". And it is also the title of the last episode of Blood+
Since I have nothing better to do, I decided to pick up anime again. I chose Blood+ because... I don't really know why - maybe I remembered watching it more than a year ago and thought it was nice. It was. Very.
A nice Blood+ wallpaper with Saya, Hagi, and Solomon
Saya Otonashi is an average high-school girl who eats a lot and lives with her family in Okinawa. Following her encounter with a mysterious cello player named Hagi and the appearance of a murderous blood-sucking monster named Chiroptera in her high school, her past began to unfold. She, is anything but average. Is she a murderess herself or is she the saviour? As she learns of her strength and her role as a weapon against the onslaught of Chiroptera, she picks up her katana and fights her way to face her archnemesis, Diva? But, is Diva merely an enemy? What really happened in the past, in the massacre during the Vietnamese war?
It's a pretty engrossing anime. It took me about 4-5 days to finish this 50-episode series. It has a hot chick wielding a katana, off killing monsters. But honestly I don't really like the design of Chiropteras, because they all look generic and it seem as if the artist didn't bother to draw them so as to distinguish one Chiroptera from the other. Even some of the boss-type monsters weren't cool.
Anyway this anime has its fair share of touching moments about relationships, family love, friendship and those kind of stuff. It doesn't have as deep an emotional impact on me as say, Cowboy Bebop, Elfen Lied, or Gungrave, but it still manages to grab my heart sometimes, esp. at the later episodes. The fighting animation, while not the best, is fluid and good and there is no lacking in the spilling of blood. The gradual unravelling of Saya's dark past, as well as the mysterious nature of the events and conspiracies were captivating. But as expected, there were some cliched dialogues and scenarios (and emo stuff...zzzz...)
My conclusion: It's the shiznit! Recommended!
I have yet to watch it's prequel, Blood: The Last Vampire.
