hontou ni Stripey Insists Sisters Cry Oniichan Now

Gurren Lagann – Closing thoughts

Simon is GAR. Not because he can summon all those ridiculous amount of Spiral power almost instantaneously by willpower alone but he was man enough to live with a choice that I wouldn't have the testicular fortitude to make.

Frankly, the first 'GAR' shouldn't be unfamiliar to the Singaporean who've gone through the army or military folks. From the final 600 meters of the Standard obstacle course (SOC) to that final assault up that knoll-objective, I remember how many hot-blooded 19 yr olds give their all and more. The pain, while magnified by fatigue, was numbed by an intoxicating spirit (being intoxicated helps too) to see the end of the exercise. There was no magical manifestations of giant drills to obliterate our instructors our enemies. Even after overcoming our challenges with sweat, pain and sometime blood, there was the still unglamourous trek down the hill and back to the logistic nightmare that is the aftermath of every training. No, Dai Gurren Dan's bursts of GAR doesn't impress. In fact, I think it's kind of irresponsible that they propagate the idea that anything is achievable with a spurt of burning passion when really the key to most successes is enduring persistence (I admire their audacity to challenge the impossible though.) But respect I have for Simon and he's the ONLY character I would ascribe GAR to.

Simon embodies the True Gar as described in my previous post, although this was manifested only in the final episode when we realised the terrible, terrible loss he's incurred for the sake of mankind. The choice to do the right thing while sacrificing self or love ones is the kind of GAR I seldom see in RL. Surprisingly, the next GAR-est character would have been Rossiu if only he hadn't attempted to kill himself. Living with the consequence of your choices is an aspect of GARness. Rossiu was admirable in that he managed some sound decisions in impossible circumstances even though he still lacked sensibilities that needs to be balanced by the good use of both the heart and head.

GAR aside, TTGL is surely Gainax at its finest. I love the pace (although the speed did nerf the emotional impact of most deaths) and the dialogue (would be repeating some of these gems to my descendents, if any). This has also got to be the MOST EPIC series I've seen, at least in terms of scope. Okay, it's got way over the top towards the end with hurling planets and frisbee-ing galaxies. Still the tale of TTGL goes beyond GRAND. On the lighter side of things, I was derailed by Darry myself. Man, anime girls all grow up fabulous don't they? I suppose it'd be appropriate now to list my 5 reasons for watching TTGL (character version).

Reason #5 - Rossiu: The Anti-Spiral arc really filled out his character and made the show even more interesting to pursue.

Reason #4 - Darry: We need more lolicious pink hair mecha pilots!

Reason #3 - Simon: While he didn't have the showmanship of Kamina, he's definitely surpassed his Aniki in GAR, I'd say even before ep 8.

Reason #2 - Nia: She remained much loved even after she lost her lolicious form.

Reason #1 - Yoko: Sensei! One who has her priorities right. And yes, that body has to be testament to the power of evolution (spiral energy).

Overall, a great ride. Not Mai-HiME great but earned a very respectable 9 on myanimelist grading. Wouldn't be getting the DVDs though.

[Series aftermath] ef ~ a tale of memories

If you had asked me about ef at ep 10, I'd tell you it's a good but "could be better" series. Now that I've completed the series. I wished it had just been an OVA on Renji and Chihiro since by itself, the series would have been a masterpiece.

I was one of those who was put off by the visual style that cluttered ep 1. Oh yes, I get it. They are meant to accentuate mood, emotions and the less tangible aspectsof the plot/interaction in an artistic, sometimes abstract manner etc etc. The problem was that it was overdone, to the point that it was self-indulgent and distracting. Thankfully, the intensity tapered off within episodes and a nice balance was struck between the story and symbolisms. (Of course it still rears its ugly head sometimes like the second by second count-down for Miyako's call in ep 10. Well, I'm sure it did wonders for the budget.)

Surprisingly, I didn't enjoyed the Miyako-Kei-Hiro triangle as much as I thought I would. It's still a great story; well executed with some really powerful dialogue complete with faux-siscon. But I thought the characters to be rather flat with merely a singularity in their past defining their current motivations. Or maybe it was because I found myself not able to rooting for any of the girls. Miyako is emotionally too unstable to forge a healthy relationship. She needed first to learn to cherish herself/gain self-worth before she can enter a symbiotic, loving relationship. Hiro had better have a great deal of emotional capital to help overcome her relational handicap. Kei on the other hand had too selfish a love that focused on her own needs instead of Hiro's. Honestly, I thought a good end would be for Hiro to choose neither and maintain status quo until either matures sufficiently for a decent relationship. But alas....

Renji and Chihiro's tale on the other hand was spectacular. I particularly loved the image of Chihiro chained in the circle. SHAFT's visual approach worked much better for this segment of ef because their tale had a lot more depth for abstract representation. The struggles are powerful, their love tenacious and outward looking despite the impossible circumstances. I celebrated their love because both wanted only the best for the other hence the painful choices. I understand that their tale has been compared to "50 First Dates" but frankly ef is on such a higher plane in terms of depth and storytelling that anyone would who can't see ef's outright superiority must have a memory lasting less than 13 minutes.

In short, one of the best eroge conversions to date. I'll be waiting for the DVDs.

Black Lagoon 2 ~ the unbearable being of darkness

Back in my JC days (high school equivalent), I was in the outdoor activities club where we spent copious amount of night-time stumbling and fighting nocturnal bloodsuckers in nature reserves. Although there was no need to be tactical, except during surgical strikes on the girl's tents/dorms, a no-flashlight rule was enforced for the purpose of cultivating night vision on these treks. Somehow, I took a little longer than most to accustom to the darkness, much to the peril of my forehead/nose's structural integrity. However, once those pupils completely dilate, the menacing darkness that had sought payback for trepassing its domain instantly betrays the land and turns to become your best ally as it masks the full treachery of the terrain while granting insider knowledge of transversing it, baiting all to press on.

Black Lagoon 2 taught me that it is not darkness itself but the transition/motivations into it that is fearsome. In all 3 arcs of BL2, we encounter characters having very different impetus for entering darkness and how they embraced it; some with death, others far worse, with undeath.

Here's a tribute to these BL characters.

Final Fantasy 7 ~Advent Children~

I grew up with a sword in my hand. From the plastic one that I brought to school for show and tell to the fantastical 2-handed sword my AD&D fighter wielded during my teenage years, the sword has always been my way of ninja guided my path to manhood. (I used to think I must have been a swordman in my previous life and from the way I role-played in rpgs, I died young.) I have since progressed to idolising virtual swords in World of Warcraft. (Boy have I matured indeed. ) As such, I'm fascinated by all things affliated to The Weapon and ingested movies/animes series that had well choreographed swordfights with rabid voraocity (eg Tsui Hark movies, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Jubei chan 2, Samurai Champloo just to name a few). But nothing I have seen, NOTHING, comes close to heart-stopping, breathtaking swordfights in Advent Children.

The battle choreography of Advent Children blew me away.The sheer ingenuity of every fight, the graceful yet deadly poise of every sword swing/parry and the many superb aerial dances of death were flawlessly integrated to deliver a most potent concentration of visual ecstasy that brought rapturous tears to my eyes. (I have to admit my last joyeous tears of such intensity were shed for Kotori in MEGAMI ) The fights are beautifully complemented with marvelous music and FF fans will find the variations of the familiar in-game themes nostalgic yet refreshing.

On the story front, I know many had found the story to be weak or bewildering. While I disagree with that the claims of a feeble plot, I admit that the tale was rather confusing even to one who is somewhat familiar with FF7 lore, having played the game to its full (Yeah, I accidentally killed the final Sephiroth cos I forgot to unequip my counterattack materia ). Let me just say that Advent Children IS a sequel to FF7 and knowing the game predecessor's story would greatly enhance the understanding hence enjoyment of the animation's plot. (I took a refresher on the story and found my 2nd sitting through Advent Children even more entertaining.) I'm particularly impressed by the intiutive but subtle dialogue that is instrumental in Cloud's credible character development and effective in adding texture to the FF7 world. The wolf and handphone symbolism were also intriguing and injects flavour to Cloud's character even though I'm still postulating their true representations. There has also been some disappointment expressed over the mere cameos of the remaining FF7 cast. However, given the limited screentime, I'm just contended to have the characters faithfully portrayed as Square Enix had so done.

No amount of screencaps will do justice to the melee action in Advent Children. Like the pain of childbirth, the exhilarating action of Advent Children cannot be conveyed in words or pictures but is to be experienced first hand. An awesome production that truly captured the spirit of Final Fantasy.