WOW

It's been a long, long time since I posted anything here!

A New Entry?

I haven't blogged in a while so I thought I would today. See ya!

Burst Angel - DVD Vol 6 of 6

Burst Angel volume six is somewhat of a let down. Sure there is action and all that but the story just leaves something missing. At the end you kind of get the feeling that, okay, we knew all this was going to happen, but what about...? Perhaps there was to be more to the story and it was cut short. I don't know. It was enjoyable (i.e. not unwatchable) and the artwork was good for the most part. The CGI is fairly obvious but to too obtrusive. The characters are well drawn (even if their measurements vary per episode) but, they have no real depth to them. I left the show not really caring too much who lived or died and why.

All in all not entirely a waste of time but still not what I was expecting.

3 out of 5.

Fletcher's Eye Surgery

Fletcher had eye surgery today in order to attempt to get his right eye open. He has a ptosis that keeps him from opening his eye very far and so he mostly keeps it closed. He's had this surgery once before with the final results being a scar and nothing more. Bright and early this morning we headed to Children's Hospital to try once again. This time, in the recovery room, we could see more of his eye as he awoke. It's hard to tell yet since there is some swelling and things need to settle a little whether or not this one will work but it is looking good so far.

I had to leave early to take care of some stolen check business but NeeNee said that everything went well on the trip back and that she left him at the Children's Center on the verge of lala land.

I'd like to thank everyone for their prayers.

Burst Angel - DVD Vol 5 of 6

Volume five of Burst Angel starts to pick up the overall pace of things and the story arc concerning the glowing brains. This DVD contains four episodes - episodes 17 through 20 and episode 17 has commentary on it with the English director, Monica Rial and Colleen Clinkenbeard.

The mystery of Jo deepens in Dueling Angels when she meets the pilot of another cybot face to face. The Immortal Classmate is a side step into a filler episode featuring Kyohei - who otherwise has no purpose in this anime so far. 24-Hour Strategy features the return of Takane Katsu from Osaka and deals with another mysterious brain that controls people through transmitted signals - including Takane. RAPT cruisers go wild in the episode Highway Genocide providing more clues to the glowing brains for the gang.

This DVD provides plenty of action and a lot less fan service that the previous volume. I am glad to see that a little is being done to further the story plot. I am a little leery as to whether or not there will be a satisfying ending to it since nothing much has been done to make me care about the characters so far. The mysterious super-girl (or other amnesiac plug-in) thing has been so many times it's getting old. Perhaps there will be big surprises in store - we'll see in the last volume.

Still a 3 out of 5.

Burst Angel - DVD Vol 4 of 6

Volume four of the Burst Angel series contains four episodes. The first episode is the finale of the three part Osaka ordeal. The second episode is a flashback episode which shows us to the first time that Jo and Meg meet. It is apparent that there is more to Jo than meets the eye but, since she has amnesia, who knows... The third episode is an excuse for fan service galore with the gang vacationing at a new swim retreat. The final episode on this DVD is the beginning of another story arc which sees Jo on the run. She winds up in an abandoned village ready to battle the metal demon...

Things are getting a little better story wise as we're seeing a building story arc here. The fan service, as mentioned above, is going a little over the top. I don't mind a little but the amount this shows is mostly embarrassing.

Still a 3 out of 5.

Foundation's Triumph

The third book in the Second Foundation series ends with a fizzle. I don't really know what I was thinking about how these books should end. I especially didn't think that we would get a sermon on how every one must be alike in order to survive as a species. Regardless of whether or not the author truly believes this, the fundamental idea behind this is bad. I have to walk away from this series with the idea that humanity has been manipulated so much by Daneel and the robots that they can no longer take care of themselves as a whole. If they were left alone in the beginning, and no brain fever or chaos plagues (which in itself is ridiculous) would have manifested and humans would have grown on their own and at a much better pace. This is a disappointing story which accomplishes nothing other than to show just how fragile psychohistory is (compared to the original concept) and how dependant it is on human ignorance and pliability. Perhaps this is what Isaac Asimov had intended with his original stories. I don't know - I haven't read them since Junior High (some 25+ years ago) and after reading these don't really want to go back and re-read them either. They were worth the read but just not what I expected. They didn't match the greatness I remember from the original Foundation trilogy.