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Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni! バカとテストと召喚獣にっ! (2011)

2012-01-30T12:00:00.000+08:00

the story continued after Season 1 (2010), following a student named Akihisa, who was known as the Baka (idiot) in the anime. he attended a high school where students were divided based on their academic scores. classes were divided into A-F. class A was filled with air-conditioner, cushions, laptops; while class F was the complete opposite. with a teacher's authorization, students may called forth Shoukanjuu (Summoned Beings) and battle for an exchange of classrooms or any approved goals.

there weren't much difference between Season 1 (2010) and Season 2 (2011), it remained funny despite the lack of plot development. its storyline random, sometimes even a serious scene every now and then. summoning came a little later in this season, used for reasons more absurd than appropriate. Akihisa and his friends went as far as uncovering the flaws of the battle just to get by without being caught. all in all, the anime was good, but unfortunately, not as good as Season 1 (2010).

some background on the anime:
- episodes: 13
- director: Shin Oonuma (大沼心)
- released: 2011
- language: Japanese
- genre: Comedy/Fantasy

sequels:
- Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu (2010)
- Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu: Matsuri (2011)
- Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni! (2011)

Women of the Otherworld #4: Industrial Magic (2004)

2012-01-29T12:00:00.000+08:00

murders targeting supernatural children were at lurk, although Paige had been thrown out of her Coven of witches, she joined Lucas, her sorcerer boyfriend, with the attempt to track down the mysterious killer. Benicio, the head of the Cortez Cabal, also the father of Lucas, got involved when some of the children killed belonged to his employees. Paige was also concerned over the safety of Savannah, a 13-year-old witch whom she took care of. to know more about the mysterious killer, Paige got in contact with Jaime, a celebrity necromancer, and Cassandra the vampire.

4th book into the series, Industrial Magic (2004) was by far the most difficult to read. the first half of the book had me dragged so far into some random wild goose chase, where i found myself skipping lines again. the second half however, was simply engaging! especially when things started picking up pace, pieces stitching together, even the actions became more meaningful. as heated as it was in Dime Store Magic (2004), where Paige first started working with Lucas, Industrial Magic (2004) steered clear of romance. which wasn't a let down as i started to see some growth in Paige, other than being the rebellious witch, often overly protected by her mother.

author: Kelley Armstrong
published: 2004
genre: Fantasy

Women of the Otherworld series:
- Bitten (2001)
- Stolen (2003)
- Dime Store Magic (2004)
- Industrial Magic (2004)
- Haunted (2005)
- Broken (2006)
- No Humans Involved (2007)
- Personal Demon (2008)
- Living with the Dead (2008)
- Frostbitten (2009)
- Waking the Witch (2010)
- Spellbound (2011)
- Thirteen (2012)

Wall-E (2008)

2012-01-28T12:00:00.000+08:00

the story took place in the far future where Earth was an abandoned planet covered with mountains and mountains of trash. the air was too toxic for any life-form, forcing humans to live in space instead. an army of trash compactor robots called Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth Class) was left behind to clean up. one day, the last Wall-E met with a cockroach and they became friends. he also discovered a plant growing among the trash and brought it home to his truck. some time later, a spaceship landed and an advanced robot called Eve (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) was deployed, with the aim to search for signs of life. Wall-E immediately fell in love with Eve, who also gradually softens and accepted him. when the spaceship came to retrieve Eve, Wall-E clung to the spaceship as they were returned into space. Wall-E followed Eve to the bridge of the spaceship, where the captain leaved the control of the ship to a robotic autopilot called Auto. with the mind of its own, Auto stole the specimen that Eve collected on Earth, not wanting humans to return living on Earth. Wall-E tried protecting Eve when she was declared defective because of losing the specimen.

Pixar did a great job portraying the lonely life that Wall-E had, at the same time building a lovable character for us viewers. even the most impossible love story between Wall-E and Eve made the whole cinema go "aw..." . effortlessly, they earned everyone's empathy by being pure and believable. the animation relied heavily on communicating visually, words and voices only came at the second half, when the humans were involved. it was one thrilling ride, with spectacular scenes to take our breath away! it was so colorful and vibrant, making it all so exciting while we not only watched but also felt what the characters were feeling. who would have thought one would shed a tear or two for a love story between 2 robots?

some backgrounds on the movie:
- director: Andrew Stanton
- released: 2008
- casts: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, MacInTalk, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy
- language: English
- genre: Animation/Comedy

Dolor.

2012-01-27T12:00:00.000+08:00

outside the door, he was quiet for a moment. she listened to his breathing, heard it skipped as he swallowed. then he made a low rumble of anguish that became a growl of grief. his shoes squealed as he turned suddenly, then slammed his fist against the far wall. a shower of plaster chunks fell to the floor, followed by the slamming of his bedroom door. then another crash, something larger this time, a nightstand or a lamp hurled into the wall. in her head, she followed the path of his rampage, seeing each piece of furniture smash into bits and wishing she could do the same. she felt the pain in her hand striking the wall, lashed out at everything until she was swallowed by exhaustion. yet some rational part of her brain held her back.

物事をののしること。

Shakugan no Shana 灼眼のシャナ III Final (2011)

2012-01-26T12:00:00.000+08:00

the anime was a continuation of Shakugan no Shana Second (2007), where Shana and Kazumi were waiting for Yuji to make a selection between them, only to discover that Yuji had disappeared, erasing his existence. only a handful of people can remember he was among them. however, letters that he left behind gave them hope of his continued existence. soon Yuji reappeared in front of them as the leader of the Bal Masqué. left with no choice, Shana was forced to confront Yuji on the battlefield.

for the first half of the anime, it took a slow motion of reintroducing the characters back in the last 2 seasons, including both the good and bad guys. Yuji's transformation, being Shana's strongest enemy was clearly unexpected. after being left hanging at the end of last season: Shakugan no Shana Second (2007), the transformation left us feeling slightly overwhelmed, and not in a good way. it didn't make sense how he could just disappear and became the enemy.

some background on the anime:
- episodes: 24
- director: Takashi Watanabe (渡部高志)
- released: 2011
- language: Japanese
- genre: Action/Supernatural

sequels:
- Shakugan no Shana (2005)
- Shakugan no Shana Second (2007)
- Shakugan no Shana III (2011)

Women of the Otherworld #3: Dime Store Magic (2004)

2012-01-25T12:00:00.000+08:00

instead of continuing the story on Elena the werewolf, the third book of the Women of the Otherworld (2001-2012) series followed the story of Paige the witch. 9 months after the incident of rescuing Elena and Savannah from being held captive, Paige's life returned to anything but peaceful. she received complaints from the Elders of her Coven that she was drawing too much attention to herself by adopting Savannah, the daughter of the sorcerer and a dark witch. she also received a custody petition from Leah, a telekinetic half-demon that betrayed them during the last escape. Paige had to protect Savannah from her powerful sorcerer father, who was proven to be influential enough to control the result.

despite her unpleasant character in Stolen (2003), it was absolutely easy to get hooked with Paige's life. she was nothing like her character in Stolen (2003), controlling maybe, self-absorb maybe, but she was still able to creep slowly into my heart and made me love and sympathize her as she tried to adjust herself with the situation that she was thrown into. the book felt so realistic with the humans' objections towards witchery but unfortunately, also made fun of the modern day Wiccans. the story line was original and engaging. it was interesting to know that witches will only receive their full power after going through a ceremony after their first menses. it was definitely an enjoyable read, passing down enough knowledge and adding in sufficient actions to make it irresistible.

author: Kelley Armstrong
published: 2004
genre: Fantasy

Women of the Otherworld series:
- Bitten (2001)
- Stolen (2003)
- Dime Store Magic (2004)
- Industrial Magic (2004)
- Haunted (2005)
- Broken (2006)
- No Humans Involved (2007)
- Personal Demon (2008)
- Living with the Dead (2008)
- Frostbitten (2009)
- Waking the Witch (2010)
- Spellbound (2011)
- Thirteen (2012)

Disturbia (2007)

2012-01-24T12:00:00.000+08:00

Kale was under house arrest for 3 months for attacking a teacher. with his video games all canceled and kept, he fought boredom by spying upon the neighborhood, especially his new neighbor Ashley. after watching a few weird occurrences at another neighbor named Robert's house, Kale suspected Robert to be a serial killer. Kale and his best friend Ronnie began researching for information on Robert and his victims. Ashley soon joined the gang, helping them to investigate. one night, while watching Robert through his binocular, Kale found Robert looking straight at him. things got worst when he found Robert in his house the next morning, flirting with his mum. that night, they saw Robert dragged a heavy bag into his garage with blood on it. when Ronnie broke into the garage with Ashley standing guard, Robert appeared out of nowhere and Kale had to do something to save them despite his house arrest.

for a movie not having excessive gore, Disturbia was a successful thriller solely relying on mood and suspense. even though the story was predictable and familiar, it managed to stay intense and creepy, giving occasional fright to keep us engaged. thanks to his popularity earned through the Transformers (2007-2011) series, Shia LaBeouf may not be a handsome lead cast, he was believable enough. even though the movie wasn't exactly unique and its characters were mostly underused, it was still quite entertaining.

some backgrounds on the movie:
- director: D.J. Caruso
- released: 2007
- casts: Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Roemer, Carrie-Anne Moss, David Morse, Aaron Yoo, Jose Pablo Cantillo
- language: English
- genre: Mystery/Thriller

Eschew.

2012-01-23T12:00:00.000+08:00

he put his arm around her waist and leaned down, reflectively she squirmed out of his grasp. he reached for her again, mouth opening to say something. but she turned away too fast for him to do so and headed down the street. after a few steps he jogged up beside her, an unreadable expression on his face. the walk back to the parking lot was a blissfully quiet one. yet inside her head was the exact opposite, thoughts yelling at each other so loud that she couldn't help stealing a glance at him seeing if he could hear them as clearly.

現実を逃れる。

Blood-C (2011)

2012-01-22T12:00:00.000+08:00

Saya seemed like an average high-school girl who was kind yet clumsy. her father was the head of a shrine, teaching her the art of sword, using a katana passed down by the shrine, named Goshintou. she was faced with various kind of trials, having to defend her hometown from demons known as Furikimono that preyed on unnoticed humans.

first of all, Saya's combination of being both clumsy and talented with sword turned out to be a huge contradiction far from our acceptable or understandable range. the anime pushed this logic so far that made Saya seemed like a fake in front of her friends. for the first few episodes, the sequence of going through a normal day in the morning and fighting demonic creatures at night failed to engage us. as for the remaining anime, it was just sitting back and dragging ourselves through the anime waiting for its climax. the gruesome deaths of many seemingly unimportant characters were interesting to watch, putting the spotlight on people not being who they appeared to be.

some background on the anime:
- episodes: 12
- director: Tsutomu Mizushima (水島努)
- released: 2011
- language: Japanese
- genre: Action/Supernatural

sequels:
- Blood-C (2011)
- Blood-C: The Last Dark (2012)

Women of the Otherworld #2: Stolen (2003)

2012-01-21T12:00:00.000+08:00

when Elena came across Paige who claimed to be a witch, she ignored her warning of humans kidnapping the supernaturals. she couldn't find herself believing that there were other supernaturals out there other than werewolves. however, she was soon forced to confront the truth when she was kidnapped and thrown into a transparent cell that allowed her to be studied by her captors. not only witches, there were sorcerers, half demons, even vampires. the terror didn't start with the amount of supernaturals being gathered in one place, but the greedy humans that did the collecting in thirst of new power and knowledge.

the involvement of humans and organization made the story slightly less interesting than Bitten (2001). the greed towards power and knowledge was a familiar plot used so often that it almost became predictable. fortunately, Elena's world was anything but predictable. as i was aching for action, as eager for rebellion as Elena, things started to favor her. as hateful as the sadistic billionaire Ty was, he made the the book stood out from the typical, focusing his interest and directing a giant spotlight at Elena. Stolen (2003) was like an expanded version following Bitten (2001). while Bitten (2001) focused the story solely on werewolves, Stolen (2003) introduced a wider range of supernaturals, pulling in characters i bet will appear in the coming installments.

author: Kelley Armstrong
published: 2003
genre: Fantasy

Women of the Otherworld series:
- Bitten (2001)
- Stolen (2003)
- Dime Store Magic (2004)
- Industrial Magic (2004)
- Haunted (2005)
- Broken (2006)
- No Humans Involved (2007)
- Personal Demon (2008)
- Living with the Dead (2008)
- Frostbitten (2009)
- Waking the Witch (2010)
- Spellbound (2011)
- Thirteen (2012)

Teeth (2007)

2012-01-20T12:00:00.000+08:00

Dawn was a spokesperson for a Christian group. during one of their gatherings, she met with Tobey whom she found attractive. secretly they met beside a pond in the forest. they swam into the cave nearby and started making out. feeling uncomfortable, Dawn tried to convinced Tobey to head back. but Tobey became aggressive and wanted to rape her. Dawn fought back with all her might and upon inserting his part into her, it got bit off instead. horrified, she fled. she researched on her situation and realized she had "vagina dentata" (toothed vagina), often told as cautionary folktales warning of the danger of sleeping with strange women.

the plot was undeniably original, unused probably for its absurdity and goriness while being difficult to tackle in many angles. the story started out slow, dragging its way until she discovered her "uniqueness" and started transformed from an innocent Christian girl into some bizarre revenge-seeking thing. it was like some black comedy that only the main character was having fun while the rest of us watched in dread. horror wise, the film could do better other than just giving us viewers some halfhearted visuals with the hope of spooking us. hopefully at least those who sleep around could have a food for thought by watching this film, else it really would have given no impact whatsoever.

some backgrounds on the movie:
- director: Mitchell Lichtenstein
- released: 2007
- casts: Jess Weixler, Hale Appleman, John Hensley, Josh Pais, Lenny von Dohlen, Vivienne Benesch, Hale Appleman
- language: English
- genre: Comedy/Horror

Lustrous.

2012-01-19T12:00:00.000+08:00

she stood on the bulky rock, humming in a voice so sweet known to draw gazes on her. shifting closer to the edge, her toes wrapped around the rock as if caressing it. she bounced, ponytail bobbing, cheeks puffing, the she dove. it was sleek, a usual effort she made to blend in with the water. she popped back up, like a seal. she saw him watching, laughed and dove in again. she was the best swimmer he had ever seen, she had to be the best! but swimming wasn't quite his thing. he liked sitting on the rock, bare feet dangling while watching her having her way in the crystal clear lake, basking in her glorious laugh that seemed to float in the air surrounding him.

遊び心のシールのような。

Natsume Yuujin-Chou San 夏目友人帳参 (2011)

2012-01-18T12:00:00.000+08:00

Natsume had the ability to see spirits, a power he inherited from his grandmother Reiko. when Reiko was alive, she challenged many spirits, making them write their name in the Yuujin-Chou (the Book of Friends). Yuujin-chou was a prized item in the spirit world, the owner having the power to control the spirits whose name was written in it. Yuujin-chou was passed down to Natsume, where he released the spirits who came to him for their names. some tried to kill him, but Madara who served as Natsume's bodyguard protected him when things got too dangerous for a human to handle.

despite being the third continuous season of Natsume Yuujin-Chou (2008), the anime remained highly entertaining and ended without a closure as usual. Madara, in both his cat form as well as spirit form, appeared more in this season than the previous. he was absolutely fun to watch, despite ordering Natsume around, blaming him for releasing the name of the spirits, still he would protect Natsume without as much as a second thought during crisis. Natsume on the other hand, had a growing connection with humans, which he lacked in childhood. his growth was indeed a welcoming scene compared to his struggles in the previous seasons.

some background on the anime:
- episodes: 13
- director: Takahiro Omori (大森貴弘)
- released: 2011
- language: Japanese
- genre: Comedy/Supernatural

sequels:
- Natsume Yuujin-Chou (2008)
- Zoku Natsume Yuujin-Chou (2009)
- Natsume Yuujin-Chou San (2011)
- Natsume Yuujin-Chou Shi (2012)

Women of the Otherworld #1: Bitten (2001)

2012-01-17T12:00:00.000+08:00

Elena not only survived being bitten by Clay, a werewolf ex-boyfriend that she never quite gotten over with, she was also the only female werewolf, giving her a very special place in the werewolf world. she struggled to blend back into her human world by escaping the Pack, travelling from Stonehaven to Toronto, and worked as a journalist for a popular newspaper. when Jeremy, the Pack Alpha called, requesting for her aid in the uprising mutt trouble, she flew back to Stonehaven, convincing herself that she owed it to them. as she got herself comfortable fitting into the old patterns of her life without the fear of exposure or judgement, Mutts were coming after her pack-brothers, killing them to get to her.

the first half of the book got me dragged myself through, with so much details on Elena, i even doubted if it would be worth the effort. but it wasn't long before i was completely absorbed into her life. watching Elena struggled with her werewolf-self was awkward, but not half as awkward as it was when it came to Clay. as much as she yearned for a normal life with Philip, her human boyfriend; Clay reminded her of the passion and heat they shared so eagerly. the werewolves were not being exaggerated into immortal-like characters, making them surprisingly believable. the fights for their lives and territory was so heart-wrenching, where some of the pack members were sacrificed though unwillingly. Bitten (2011) was definitely a good read, the character development was so in depth, the plot fresh and engaging, making not continuing my read with Stolen (2003) completely impossible!

author: Kelley Armstrong
published: 2001
genre: Fantasy

Women of the Otherworld series:
- Bitten (2001)
- Stolen (2003)
- Dime Store Magic (2004)
- Industrial Magic (2004)
- Haunted (2005)
- Broken (2006)
- No Humans Involved (2007)
- Personal Demon (2008)
- Living with the Dead (2008)
- Frostbitten (2009)
- Waking the Witch (2010)
- Spellbound (2011)
- Thirteen (2012)

Indiana Jones n the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

2012-01-16T12:00:00.000+08:00

WWII hero, Indiana Jones was kidnapped together with his partner, Mac, by a group of Soviet agents led by Dr. Irina. the soviet forced Indiana to find a crate that contained the remains of an extraterrestrial being that crashed 10 years ago. after the crate was found, Mac betrayed Indiana n joined the soviets. Indiana managed to escape n came across Mutt, who led him to the legendary skull found in a mystical city. whoever returned the skull to the city would be given control over its power. Indiana have to solve the riddle n find more clues before the skull fall into the hands of Dr. Irina. it was a typical adventurous film, with exaggerated fights n supernatural occurrences, which felt a little old.

some backgrounds on the movie:
- director: Steven Spielberg
- released: 2008
- casts: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, John Hurt
- language: English
- genre: Action/Adventure

sequels:
- Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Conticent.

2012-01-15T12:00:00.000+08:00

after midnight, the house was still and silent. too still, too silent. every creaking floorboard sounded like a gunshot. in an old house, most boards creaked. she followed him into the kitchen, took out the milk carton and set it on the table, just within reach. he had checked out the lock a week ago. it was just a regular key lock he said, the kind that can be easily picked with a random pin. she never had any reason to open a lock, but she watched and took mental notes anyway. all part of gaining life experiences.

ロックを開く。

Hunter X Hunter (2011)

2012-01-14T12:00:00.000+08:00

after more than 10 years, Hunter X Hunter (2011) returned with a remake. the characters remained but with a slightly changed storyline. the anime followed the adventures of a boy name Gon. he wanted to become a Hunter, knowing that his father Ging was one of the best Hunter in the world and might be still alive. he set out on a journey, met with Killua, Leorio and Kurapika during the Hunter Exam. very few will pass the exam to be recognized as a Hunter. they had to find treasures, defend themselves against weird creatures, and sometimes, even fighting among the candidates.

instead of making a continuous season, they decided to remake the original season. making it more beautiful, more detailed, yet fully reminded us of what we would expect in Hunter X Hunter (1999). but unlike Hunter X Hunter (1999), it focused less on the battles, and more on character developments. since the anime started out right from its beginning, it didn't matter if one didn't watch the original season. but like its original season, Hunter X Hunter (2011) may looked innocent and battle oriented, but in depth it has a darker theme to it.

some background on the anime:
- episodes: TBA
- director: Hiroshi Koujina (神志那弘志)
- released: 2011
- language: Japanese
- genre: Adventure/Fantasy

sequels:
- Hunter X Hunter (1999)
- Hunter X Hunter OAV (2002)
- Hunter X Hunter: Greed Island OAV (2003)
- Hunter X Hunter: G I Final OAV (2004)
- Hunter X Hunter (2011)

Darkest Rising #1: The Gathering (2011)

2012-01-13T12:00:00.000+08:00

Maya lived in a small medical-research town called Salmon Creek, a town built for its employees and their families. Maya was the adopted daughter of a park ranger. a year ago, Serena, Maya's best friend and captain of their highschool swimming team, was drown. a year later, Maya was celebrating her 16th birthday by trying to get a tattoo over her paw-print birthmark. she was called a witch by an old lady out of the blue. when she invited a new boy at school, Rafe to her birthday party, an incident took place and they realized that her drink was spiked.

having found no connection with the Darkest Powers (2008-2010) trilogy, the slow moving plot had me greatly agitated during my read. the love triangle between Maya, Daniel, and Rafe however, reminded me of Chloe, Derek, and Simon. the everyday life of Maya was an interesting read, but having known the direction of where the story was going, it only made me even more impatient by just waiting for the characters to catch on. the truth was only revealed, with Maya struggling to accept, at the almost end of the book. and when it did, the book had come to an end. not exactly what i anticipated after finishing the Darkest Powers (2008-2010) trilogy with huge satisfaction!

author: Kelley Armstrong
published: 2011
genre: Fantasy

the Darkest Powers trilogy:
- The Summoning (2008)
- The Awakening (2009)
- The Reckoning (2010)

the Darkness Rising trilogy:
- The Gathering (2011)
- The Calling (2012)
- TBA

Halloween (2007)

2012-01-12T12:00:00.000+08:00

Michael showed signs of being a psychopath even at the age of 10-year-old, where he murdered a school bully, her sister and her boyfriend, and her mother's lover. after a long trial, he was found guilty and sent to the Sanitarium under the care of a child psychologist Dr. Loomis. Michael became obsessed with his masks, closing himself from everyone. for the next 15 years he remained withdrawn and Dr. Loomis decided to close Michael's case. later while being transfer to a closure with maximum security, Michael escaped by killing everyone on the way. he arrived back at his old home and started the massacre.

the film wasn't exactly scary nor realistic, but it was gory enough to spook. the child version of Michael however, was much more believing than the masked version. the part where he stalked his prey and be seen with the stalking itself, appearing and disappearing by walking away wasn't quite what we expected. especially the walking away part, which obviously removed all the thrills that was anticipated. despite being the iconic character of the Halloween sequels, Michael was less than what was expected. it was a typical slasher film, with a soulless and mindless man behind the expressionless mask that left us with no impressions at all.

some backgrounds on the movie:
- director: Rob Zombie
- released: 2007
- casts: Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton, Daeg Faerch, Sheri Moon Zombie, William Forsythe
- language: English
- genre: Science Fiction/Thriller

sequels:
- Halloween (1978)
- Halloween II (1981)
- Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
- Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
- Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
- Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers aka Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
- Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
- Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
- Halloween (2007)
- Halloween II (2009)

Avril Lavigne: Unnamed Album (2012)

2012-01-11T12:00:00.000+08:00

only 3 months (January 2011) after the release of Goodbye Lullaby (2011), Avril announced that the work for her fifth studio album had already begun, with eight songs written so far. the coming fifth album will be the opposite of Goodbye Lullaby (2011). she explained that Goodbye Lullaby (2011) was more matured and sentimental, but the next album will returned being pop and fun again. she even had songs that she knew would be selected as singles. 2 of the song titles are "Fine" and "Gone". these tracks were originally recorded for Goodbye Lullaby (2011) but never made the final cut. the album production started in January 2012.

Steins;Gate シュタインズ・ゲート (2011)

2012-01-10T12:00:00.000+08:00

Kyouma self-claimed to be a Mad Scientist. he believed that SERN, an international scientific organization was secretly reshaping the world. together with his friend, Daru, they created a gadget to send message to the past. this discovery led to the inventions of more gadgets that altered the past, eventually time-travel. however, Kyouma was the only person who remember the changes because of the Reading Steiner, an ability to retain memories from previous timelines. they were hunt down by SERN at some point that Kyouma was forced to return repetitively to save his lab members.

the anime was separated into 2 parts, the first half was mostly introductions of the time travelling concept, of Kyouma altering the timelines innocently. the second half was where the seemingly harmless alterations catastrophically affected the future, which led to the death of his lab members. despite the light comedy with a mixture of mystery, there were often hints that showed something darker approaching. we were impressed with how the story was told, going into convincing scientific details and delivering an unpredictable plot with tones of conflicts waiting to be resolved. the only downside of the anime was its slow start, the first half of the anime may caused some viewers to give up watching the entire series. but for those who held on, the experience changed so drastically that it would become an overwhelming ride that made all the waiting absolutely worthwhile.

some background on the anime:
- episodes: 24
- director: Hiroshi Hamasaki (浜崎博嗣)
- released: 2011
- language: Japanese
- genre: Comedy/Science Fiction

Unscathed.

2012-01-09T12:00:00.000+08:00

after numerous repetitive nights, she was finally tucked into bed and enjoying a deep, dreamless sleep. until a chuckle slid into her sleep and pulled her out of it. as she rose on her elbows, blinking and struggling to remember, a whisper snaked round her, voice unrecognized. she rubbed her eyes hastily, alerted. dull light shone through the windows, the room silent and still. just when she was about to ignore everything and went back to sleep, a rap on the window made her jump. these days, every branch scratching on the glass sounded like something was out there, watching her, clawing to get in. with the air so cool, she knew it must be past midnight. she thrown off the covers and walked towards the window.

夢からびっくり。

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011)

2012-01-08T12:00:00.001+08:00

the Chipmunks and the Chipettes went on a cruise vacation with Dave. they turned the ship into their personal playground, causing trouble to the humans aboard. at one time, they messed up and landed on a deserted island. they were stranded, lost in the wilderness, waiting for Dave to save them. they met with the only human who lived on the island named Zoe, who turned out to be less innocent than she appeared to be. the six was forced to survive the wild by relying on themselves and teamwork.

the Chipmunks remained almost predictable throughout the sequels, with Alvin being the troublemaker, Simon the rational one, and Theodore the childlike figure. fortunately in this sequel, part of the characters were switched half way through the film, which made things fairly interesting! they were also generous with the singing and dancing, which entertain us further. on the down side, Dave and Ian were still a bunch of sad humans to look at. we never did like them, not the cartoon nor in the movies.

some backgrounds on the movie:
- director: Mike Mitchell
- released: 2011
- casts: Jason Lee, David Cross, Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Anna Faris, Amy Poehler, Christina Applegate, Alan Tudyk
- language: English
- genre: Comedy/Fantasy

sequels:
- Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)
- Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009)
- Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011)

Darkest Powers #3: The Reckoning (2010)

2012-01-07T12:00:00.000+08:00

Chloe with her gang formed by a werewolf, a sorcerer, a witch, and herself, a necromancer, finally arrived at a safe house owned by Andrew, a friend of Simon and Derek's father. or so they thought. being an ex-employee of the Edison Group, the group that experimented on genetically modified children, Andrew had more thoughts than what he was sharing. before long, a pack was sent to retrieve Derek, the werewolf. which happened to be the same bunch of werewolves that taunted them during their journey in The Awakening (2009). the people that they thought to entrust their future with turned out to be as dangerous as those they met back in the Edison Group. again, they had to rely on themselves in life threatening situations, to save themselves from the adults.

Chloe's growth was so tremendously impressive that she had me falling for her throughout the series. for being neither overly pretty, or exceptionally smart, she made a perfect heroin! she stumbled her way through being a necromancer, struggled with ways to make summoning the dead more in control than they were over her. like Derek, they were both imperfect, yet so perfectly together! i love the way that the book doesn't circled or get too sidetracked with romance. despite having the series' focus on surviving the moment, their romance bloomed and went the prefect direction that i absolutely adored. the Darkest Powers (2008-2010) trilogy was one of the most engaging series i had read. however, the story didn't exactly ended like expected. it was left open-ended, hopefully meaning there will be more adventures of theirs to read about!

author: Kelley Armstrong
published: 2010
genre: Fantasy

the Darkest Powers trilogy:
- The Summoning (2008)
- The Awakening (2009)
- The Reckoning (2010)

the Darkness Rising trilogy:
- The Gathering (2011)
- The Calling (2012)
- TBA

A Pillow Case of Mystery II 施公奇案II (2010)

2012-01-06T12:00:00.001+08:00

after losing 2 out of his 4 wives, Sailun became dispirited with the political world. he brought along his mother and the 2 remaining wives, spending all his time traveling around the country in search for fun. in one of the town, he met with Kwanyau, a con artist, who somehow got caught up in a mysterious murder case. it was originally not Sailun's case, but the moment a pillow came flying in his way, he was forced to look upon the case with the assistance from the pillow-spirit.

like most crime solving series that TVB came out with, it was highly entertaining. adding in humor made it not only fun but engaging. i wasn't a fan of Kwanyau due to her characteristic, but her being with Sailun made it a fun combination to watch. Sailun easily stood out as the story evolved around him, but we were not engaged in him as personally as we were with Kwanyau. although the pillow-spirit played a huge part in the crime solving part of the drama, he and his hints weren't as important as Sailun tried to portray it to be. in a way, crimes were solved as long as he went along with the flow. despite all these flaws, the drama was fun and easy to watch as it progressed from one case to another.

some backgrounds on the drama:
- episodes: 20
- producer: Lam Chi-wah (林志華)
- released: 2010
- casts: Bobby Au-yeung (欧阳震华), Jessica Hsuan (宣萱), Johnson Lee (李思捷), Joel Chan (陈山聪), Leila Tong (唐宁)
- language: Cantonese
- genre: Crime/Fantasy

sequels:
- A Pillow Case of Mystery (2006)
- A Pillow Case of Mystery II (2010)