Words at Random #1: What
Introducing a new weekly feature! Just for kicks, I’ll be choosing a word at random and sending it through Google.. and posting the wierd, strange, and puzzling query result here.. such as the one above. Not very thought provoking, however its worth a laugh. Enjoy!
Weekly Wallpaper #3: Medusa
This simple but stunning wallpaper features the cunning witch, Medusa, from the anime Soul Eater. One of the most powerful witches in the whole series, she plays a key role in the Kishin’s revival and causes an immense amount of damage and chaos to Death City. She uses powerful spells that redirect her opponents and arrows that ricochet off any surface. She pushes the most powerful Meisters to their limits and is most deserving of this gorgeous wallpaper. Showcasing her in her child form just emphasizes how manipulative she can be.
The wallpaper is featured on www.animepaper.net and is designed by Kyle Silverwind. You can see more of this artist’s work here.
If you’re interested in the anime, the full series can be found at our friends, Anime Season.
On a serious note…
I’ve never been very religious or considered myself so. I was raised in a southern Baptist church and encouraged and coached to believe in Christ. I have been baptised. I have read the Bible. I don’t know that I can buy in or believe in that with all of my being. I certainly don’t like to be associated with most of the people who call themselves christians.
I’ve been in the church scene and know how absolutely judgemental that can be. My wife endeavoured to find a church she felt comfortable in a few years back. Since I am normally working on Sunday, she went by herself, taking our kids with her. She felt as though she was being sized up and categorized immediately upon hitting the doors. Single mom. Two kids. Poor thing. I have visited other churches and the zealous eagerness that permeates each smiling face is more than off-putting, it’s overwhelming.
It’s one thing to believe in something, it’s another thing entirely to judge someone less or try to pressure someone to believe “your way” just because they are of a differing opinion. I have had friends who I just stopped talking to because every time I came around them, that is all they wanted to talk to me about. Your religion can and should be an important part of who you are, but letting it be everything you are… Nothing should consume you that totally and wholly, especially something that is as easy to misconstrue as religious doctrine. Just the fact that the Bible has been translated through several different languages is enough to worry me, much less having someone on a pulpit telling me what he thinks it means.
I don’t say all this to criticize people who follow Jesus or any other religion. I encourage everyone to use the mind that they were given to find their own path. I myself am a bit agnostic. I feel I am cognizant enough to recognize that everything didn’t happen as some sort of domino effect and that we aren’t left alone to our own devices. I have seen too much and witnessed to many strange and wonderful things to feel otherwise. I believe there is some guiding force, some higher power. I personally call this presence God. I worship God in my own way and pray to him on my own time.
Think for yourself and believe what you feel is the truth. That’s the choice we were given to make.. don’t let someone else impact your choice.
Weekly Wallpaper #2: Hellsing Ultimate
This week’s wallpaper comes from the OVA, Hellsing Ultimate. A still ongoing series, it is full of vivid characters, full throttle fight scenes and a thoroughly engaging plot. The OVA is currently on episode 7, which is due out December or January. If you are new to OVAs, they are best considered to be a long film that is broken up in several parts. Where as a syndicated anime series will have several short stories and fillers, OVAs typically have one continuous plot they follow. A little refreshing, after hitting block after block of fillers.
The anime follows an organization called Hellsing, which was founded to eliminate vampires. It’s deadliest weapon, ironically, is the eccentric vampire Alucard, who is featured in our wallpaper. He has a very peculiar personality, sometimes seeming quite insane and does things on his whim, though his loyalty is without a doubt to Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, leader of the organization.
Alucard creates a servant, a police woman named Seras Victoria. Together, they work for Hellsing in uncovering the mystery of a group called Millenium. Finding out what they are up to and constantly crossing swords with the Vatican’s own group, Iscariot, makes for a thrilling plot and some truly epic fight scenes. If you’re interested, the six current episodes can be seen here on Anime Season.
Weekly Wallpaper #1: Samurai Champloo
From one of my favorite anime, Samurai Champloo, this breath-taking wallpaper depicts our quiet hero on a cliff overlooking a large city. A waterfall splashes down from the mountain behind him and a mythological figure is inked on a nearby ledge.
The overall feeling is clean and mellow. Bright tones but muted colors and the art style is fantastic. Of course I would love this paper anyway, because I’m a huge fan of the anime and of Jin himself.
Review: Blood – The Last Vampire
“A great adaptation of a solid anime.”
I have to admit… Live Action Animes tend to scare me a bit. They have such potential for utter failure that it’s really hard for them to do otherwise. The type of imagery and visuals that a lot of animes are full of just won’t come across on-screen the same way. Fights that are intense and epic in ink may seem overdone on camera; or worse, rendered in poorly executed CG. Read more…
Review: Cowboy Bebop
“Cowboy Bebop – the work that will become a genre in itself.”
Recently my wife and I watched Shinichirō Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop. I convinced her to watch it after stating it was directed by the same man as Samurai Champloo, which is an anime we both loved. (No review for that one yet, it has been a while since I watched it.) So on my days off, we watched several episodes at a time until we finally finished the series.
The anime follows Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter (called a “cowboy”) who is a former member of the Red Dragon Syndicate. As Shinichirō did with Samurai Champloo, the focus is more on the characters rather than any sort of ongoing plot. The crew aboard the Bebop consists of the owner and former ISSP Jet Black, a mysterious woman who can’t remember her past known as Faye Valentine, a data dog known as Ein, and a red-haired girl known as Ed. Each episode sees our crew either chasing the next bounty, scraping for money, or revisiting their past.
Review: Samurai 7
Akira Kurosawa’s classic movie, Seven Samurai, retold as a stunning and cleverly written anime.
The premise of the story is roughly the same as the classic. A farming village is being raided by bandits, so they hire ronin samurai to defend them. The bandits in the anime are samurai who have forsaken their honor and turned themselves into machines during the last war. The plot is well written and flows well, involving character development in most of the main characters and several supporting ones. I don’t want to give everything away, but keep your eye on Ukyo.. He’s much more cunning than he looks.
Each samurai interacts with the farmers in different ways. As you learn more about their pasts, you are able to relate and understand their feelings and reasons for helping the farmers, which vary from having come from a farming community to trying to cleanse the blood on their hands by doing good deeds. The farmers can only pay the samurai in rice, so the battle is taken up strictly for personal reasons.
