*true story

I've been buying anime from amazon .... and this is what they have to say to me.

lol apparently there is an anime called strait jacket ....

sorry amazon ... you guessed wrong. it doesn't really look like my kinda thing.

'mamamia' is also on the list ........ err ........ NO.

I think I would be more offended if amazon where trying to offer me mamamia than a strait jacket.

So yeh ... I bought 2 DVDs from amazon ... a couple of weeks back ... but they only got to my door on tuesday ... because I don't own a letter box and I've been 'out' when they've been bought to my door. when I was actually out on tuesday - I came back to them sitting outside the door. lol .. I guess they'd given up lugging them upstairs so many times.

umm the films are ok. I don't mean they're bad ... but I'm going going to say "I LOVED THEM SO MUCH THEY'RE MAH FAVE EVAEVAEVA!" ... because ... well ... they're not. but I did enjoy them.

umm ... they're not really spoilers ... more like reviews .... (but please don't shout if you've not seen them and plan to)

Origin: spirits of the past. 1st thing I think I noticed ... the opening song is amazing ... and the opening animation ..... I keep watching it actually .... the film overall has a similar story to nausica ... but it is different ... I'm not saying "ugg they've just remade nausica whats the point" ... I mean .. its similar, but its kinda been contemporary-fied and updated from what we now know the world has turned into so far in the 21st century. but ... theres a couple things I dislike about the main female character .... she doesn't seem like someone from the same postmodern world as I am in now. she doesn't really act properly. There are also bits of the movie which are visually like an organic version of akira ... (you probably know which bits I'm talking about if you've seen both films) ........ and then theres the whole "postwar" fear ... mushroom cloud imagry blaa blaa blaa which people always say when talking in a academic way about japanese fim/books/etc. I've never really been too keen on obvious 3D animation used with 2D ... its not too bad here ... I've seem much worse ... but I have seem much better also.

The girl who leapt through time .... was great .. minus a couple of sections which don't move at all ... which I probably should just expect from animes key point of limited animation ... but it just makes me feel a little cheated that DVDs are so expensive and nothing on the screen is moving. plus it being about time travel means that a lot of the scenes are repeated with slight differences. so I DO feel rather cheated. I do like the backgrounds and overall fashionable pastel colours ... even if the characters cell shading is fairly flat in comparison to other films. (but I guess you can over do tones) story wise it was interesting. but I think its particularly girly. (even if the main character plays sport rather than hanging round with other girls to do girly things) ....

sorry if I sound harsh .. I know I couldn't do better than either. but I think ... part of my improvement is to really see what does and doesn't work well. find out what I need to contribute to the world. I mean ... theres one thing to say "that was the crappiest film I've ever seen" with no REAL explaination ... like how people gang up on naruto because theres comic world snobbery that its uncool to like it. but if someone says its crap ... and they have valuable points to make ... then I think thats kinda ok.

if you want my personal opinion on naruto. I read the 1st couple of mangas - and I believe they where great for what I think the target audience is - basically older children and younger teens. I don't think its aimed at people who are smart enough to figure out that bright orange isn't really suitable for sneaking about like ninjas do best. (I personally think bright yellow hair and orange clothes looks awesome for a childrens cartoon character - SUCH AWESOME COMPOSITIONAL SKILLZ) HOWEVER. the naruto anime ... is limited animation (obviously - its a long series) ... and I don't really like many anime series because of limited animation. and I think we all know "believe it!" is pretty irritating after 2 minutes of the program. plus to my annoyance ... a naruto movie I watched didn't seem technically much better than the program.

I think overall ... I have bad eyesight ... so if I'm going to watch cartoons - I only want to watch the good ones. I don't have the time or money to be watching stuff that makes me personally cringe.

but my 2 new DVDs where a good buy. I do recommend seeing them. I basically crit everything I see now ... in order to learn what makes things awesome.

books wise ...

I'm currently counting down the weeks/days until I can get my hands on scott pilgrim 5. Its really exciting learning about the film gradually too. I don't think I've ever found out about a film in such early stages like this. part of me is incredibly worried and the other parts like "ITS GOING TO BE SO AWESOME" ..... I think if it wasn't edgar wright working on the film I would be seriously worried. so basically, I'm enjoying a re-read while I cook waffles.

I finished the illustrated mum. all 222 pages. I know its a kids book ... but it feels like an achievement .. and gave me a little more confidence to read more novels. I think for me if was a great one to start with.

now I feel a little dumb after critising those epic anime titles when I can't even read well.

I'm not 'dyslexic' ... but I've always had low 'reading age' 'spelling age' ... they used to give me extra help and stuff. not sure it worked. so the thought of a book full of words is pretty daunting. (I know this book has about 12 small illustrations in the book as well)

ummm ... and I've started reading alice in wonderland ... which I've never read before .. and I barely remember the disney film. so ... its interesting. reading it in combination with my lectures makes me think a little 3 dimensionally. I've recently discovered how important ideology and contexts are to creating jokes. I would like to go into creating funny comics - so understanding this kinda stuff is very important.

I can't believe I'm writing so much. I think thats because the only conversations I've had today are ...
"good morning"
"please can I get a freshly brewed coffee"
"I was just wondering if I could get my fringe trimmed"

and chatting with people over facebook

I'm such a loser really.

awh well ...

hope you're all ok ... and I hope these 'reviews' are good conversation starters.

I'm too lazy/busy to be bothered to put bold on so you only had to skim read. sorry.



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stuff

events coming up

- Manga Jiman 150 Competition Exhibition
- Bristol Comics Expo 2009

links

- mangazebra.co.uk
- inspired (comic collective with friends)
- myspace
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manga

you can find my most recent manga at ...

- mangazebra.co.uk (click manga)
- webcomic shorts


currently working on

- personal project for university (which WILL be awesome!)

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