I am so stoked to be able to bring you this review. I’ve been waiting for Black Butler to be translated into English for over a year.

A short distance from London, just beyond the fog-cloaked forest, there stands a well-kept manor house.

Kuroshitsuji, or Black Butler, is an awesome gothic tale about a butler who can do absolutely anything. The art in the manga is the best gothic craftsmanship I have ever seen. In fact, before the English translation came out, I had to talk myself out of buying the Japanese version several times because I loved the art so much. I just wanted to hold such beauty in my hands and study the details even, if I couldn’t read the darned thing!

I just finished the English translation version and I am not disappointed in the least. The story and characters live up to the awesome artwork. So, what’s it about?

The Black Butler, Sebastian, is the kind of man anyone could use around the house. He can clean, garden, make the most delicious sweets, and even rescue you from kidnappers. Most would say that his type of know-how is impossible in a mortal and they would be right. Sebastian’s master Earl Phantomville, a twelve-year-old boy named Ceil who is obsessed with games. Being the head of the family that owns Funtom, Britain’s leading confection and toy making manufacturer, liking games is a must.

The other servants of the house are comical, but useless. After all, who needs maids, gardeners, and man servants when one has Sebastian the greatest butler of all time? These other servants make it difficult for Sebastian to do his job by constantly messing things up, destroying china sets, poisoning the garden, and eating the Earl’s desserts. The Black Butler always saves the day with his quick wit, speedy service, and ultimate all around wonderfulness.

My favorite scene is when Sebastian is riddled with bullets and then stands, his coattails all in tatters and looks at the bullets in his hand. Then he throws all the bullets back at the baddies, effectively sending them to their graves. After the fight, he picks up his master and calmly walks for the room while apologizing that dinner has not been prepared.

As I have said, this artist is awesome. I haven’t been this excited about a manga artist since Kaori Yuki’s Godchild. From ruffled cravats and tailored suits to ornamented chandeliers and elaborate tea servings, every detail is beautiful. Even the chibi portions of this manga are well done.

A fun detail is that each chapter, Sebastian makes a special dessert for Earl Phantomville. The dessert is shown up close with a banner stating things such as:

Today’s Dessert: Apricot and green tea mille-feuille.

This awesome book includes seven pages of author notes with translation notes outlining everything you’d like to know about what is described in the book, including what mille-feuille is.

The author is definitely into portraying authentic Victorian England settings and clothing, but I’ve never seen a manga artist pay this much attention to customs, history of the time, and even what people might have been talking about during dinner.

I’ll leave you with a quote from the author:

I like black…
…It’s a color that can’t be violated by any other colors.
It’s a color that simply keeps being itself.
A color that sinks more somberly than any other…
…It’s a passionate, gallant color.
Anything is wonderful if it transcends things, rather than being halfway.

If you haven’t bought a manga yet, this is the one to start with. Few others are in it’s league. You can find out more about Black Butler at Amazon.com.

Related posts

• Manga Review: Rozen Maiden by Peach-Pit (2)
• Speculative Fiction Today #429 “Diary of a Flashing Vampire” (0)
• Review: Dead Is The New Black by Marlene Perez (0)
• Review of: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (1)
• Manga Review: Red Angel by Makoto Tateno (0)

After Avatar premiered on the big screen I noticed it having a strange effect in some of those around me.  Then the headlines pointing out how there was a rise in depression from some who watched the movie.  This cause was pinned on the movie being “a little too real” CNN with that being followed up by pinning it on the intense visuals.

This left me curious, there is a real effect being caused but the explanation of visuals for the cause did not make sense.  After watching Avatar Eric and I talked about the experience and the feelings left behind and he pointed out the cause.

The Cause

Experiencing Avatar gives one a religious experience stimulating metaphysical urges.  If lacking in one’s life this will leave a longing, drawing attention to the emptiness that already exists in their life.  Due to our secular society this whole event is felt but probably not realized on a conscious level.

It’s Human nature

It’s human nature to feel the need for a connection.  This need is what drives us as a species to be social creatures.  This is not only one sought between each other but also between our environment around us and to a greater universe.

This is the deeper purpose that mythology and religion serve as they help us to get connected to one another, our environment and the greater universe.

Without it one is left with a restless longing.  This longing can be ignored or temporally filled but it still persists if those connections are not made.  Our secular society has become quite adept at even distracting ourselves so much that the longing is numbed.

How Avatar stimulates it

Avatar does something amazing by giving the viewer an experience of a beautiful setting in which the characters have a deep connection to each other, the environment around them and to a greater universe giving immediate validation of that connection.

This starts with the viewer being able to relate to Jake who through a dreaming state gets a direct neural transmitted connection to a Na’vi.  Through the Na’vi we are connected to the rest of the world around.

A Na’vi does not just climb on a mount and ride around or fly around on it.  They make a neural connection to the mount, a bond that is very deep and reciprocal.  It is a connection that has immediate reward and shown true through the creatures response.

They connect with those that came before them through the Tree of Voices.  This connects the Na’vi to their ancestors and validates this afterlife with immediate feedback.  Connecting to the Tree of Voices they can hear the voices of their ancestors.

The connection to a greater universe is shown through Eywa and the Tree of Souls.  Through this experience we see the validation of a person’s soul and it’s ability to transfer from one back into nature and even it’s ability to reincarnate transferring from one body to a new one.

The validation goes so far that even Eywa validates the prayers of the people.

The result

While experiencing the movie we also experience the deep connection and the validation of that experience.  Once the movie ends so does the experience.  The audience member returns to their life and if they have a longing it is made apparent and thus the feelings of depression and a strong desire to return to the Na’vi.

The sad thing is because we live in such a secular society many will not realize on a conscious level those metaphysical urges were stimulated.  Then the distractions set in and attempts to ignore the feelings.  Pushing the longing back down into the unconsciousness and Missing the opportunity to take edifying action.

Exploring Avatar’s Religious Elements

Eywa

Eywa is the great spirit of Pandora revered by the Na’vi and represented through the interconnectedness amongst all of the flora, fauna and indigenous peoples.  The Eywa is most represented through the Tree of Souls, Tree of Voices and the Atokirina which are little floating airborne jellyfish like creatures.

Emissaries of Eywa

The Atokirina’ are seeds from the Tree of souls that float around on the air of Pandora.  They are viewed and revered by the Na’vi as spirits sent from Eywa.  Their presence is viewed as a sign to the people to help them and guide them.

Tree of Voices

The Utral Aymokriyä is a tree kind of like a weeping willow but the branches hanging down are full of neural connections.  These trees are viewed as a sacred space.  The Na’vi can connect to the branches and hear the voices of their ancestors, kind of like a prayer space.  They also partake of the more sacred rights under the branches of the tree like marriage rights.

Tree of Souls

The Ayvitrayä Ramunong is a tree similar in appearance to the Tree of Voices except it has a massive root structure that is close to the surface.  The Tree of Souls can make neural connections to the Na’vi and other creatures around it by sending out many small tendrils.  Through that connection one can get a direct experience of Eywa.  They can even transfer souls from one body through Eywa and back into another body.

Related posts

• Vision of a Fan Based Economy (0)
• Theater or Renter: December 2009 (2)
• Speculative Fiction Today #418 “Boff you Before I Cliff You” (0)
• Speculative Fiction Today #417 “Snooch To The Mez-Its” (6)
• P:SI #37 – “EVE Pwns Windows” (0)

Leaving the theater I was disappointed in Avatar’s marketing efforts.  If only they told me this movie was a Planetary Romance I would have had much more interest in watching it.  Avatar is the first good Planetary Romance in a long time.  They are hard to pull off with the last really good example being Dune.

A planetary romance is a story style where the setting becomes the main character.  In Avatar we get to explore Pandora, it’s inhabitants, and the unique interconnectedness of everything on the planet.

I was so proud with the introduction into the depth of the setting.  This begins with a subtle clue from the scene where Dr. Grace and Norm studying the root structure of a tree and noticing how vast that structure stretches and how interconnected it is with all other plant roots in the area.  The big reveal after Jake slowed down listening to Neytiri and actually looked around is a breathtaking scene with all the plants glowing and even the moss lighting up with each foot steep.

Na’vi

The Na’vi are the indigenous species of Pandora.  9 to 12 feet tall, blue skin with bipedal humanoid features. One of the most distinctive feature is the series of tendrils that protrude from the back of their head masked by their hair which is in a long braid.  These tendrils are used to make a neural connection with the Pandora’s plants and animals.  This gives the Na’vi a more direct means of communicating with their environment and even leaving impressions upon the fauna that can be recalled by latter generations.

Pa’li

Called a Direhorse by the humans.  It is used by the Na’vi like a horse as a mount to ride around on.  Standing in at 13 feet tall and 14 feet long, mostly grey in color with blue stripes.  The Pa’li has two long antennae that the rider connects to the tendrils in the end of their hair.  Through that connection the rider can direct the mount through mental commands.  This makes the training process very quick because once the connection is made all the rider has to do is think stop, go, slow down and gets the desired result.  The tricky part in riding is for the rider to realize the Pa’li is like an extension of self rather than this other thing to be ordered around.

Ikran

Called a Mountain Banshee by the humans.  The Ikran are a flying predator with four wings used as a mount by only the strongest of the Na’vi warriors.  Like the Pa’li they make a neural connection through the Iran’s antennae but this is a life long connection meaning an Ikran will have only one rider.

This process is a dangerous one performed alone in front of the other warriors.  This part of the movie has many similarities with Dune and the Fremen sandworm riders who go through a similar ritual to become a true warrior and one of the tribe.

Toruk

The Ikran are mythically like the Sandworms in Dune leaving the Toruk like Shai-Hulud.  I loved how the name means last shadow because it’s the greatest predator of the skies with nothing as large or as fierce as it.  The Toruk has only been tamed five times before.  Those instances were at times of great trouble where their riders brought the tribes of Pandora together to overcome the adversity.  The Na’vi celebrate the Trouk in dance, song, and with elaborate totems that symbolizes both the fear and respect accorded to the creature.

Toruk is massive in size, scarlet in color with black stripes and a midnight blue crest on top of the head and on the lower jaw.

Eywa

Eywa is the great spirit of Pandora revered by the Na’vi and represented through the interconnectedness among all the flora, fauna and indigenous peoples.  The Eywa is most represented through the Tree of Souls, Tree of Voices and the Atokirina which are little floating airborne jellyfish like creatures.  For more on the interconnectedness read Avatar’s Religious Experience.

Related posts

• Exploring: Avatar (0)
• Vision of a Fan Based Economy (0)
• Theater or Renter: December 2009 (2)
• Speculative Fiction Today #418 “Boff you Before I Cliff You” (0)
• Speculative Fiction Today #417 “Snooch To The Mez-Its” (6)

Blessed be the Dunecat and all His cuteness. Bless the coming and going of Him, May His passing ease the world. May He keep the world smiling for all his people.

(via Dark Vision Hardware)

Related posts

• What makes a fan a fan? (0)
• What is Progressive Speculative Fiction? (0)
• What Improvement Could a Dune Remake Bring? (0)
• The John Hodgman SF Fan Test (0)
• Project:Shadow 2007 December Newsletter (0)

Horrorfest III: Tales of Terror

A Second Life Convention presented by Bookstacks

Notice By Kghia Gherardi, Organizer

This month on the thirteenth, Bookstacks will commence Horrorfest III: Tales of Terror. You might not live to see the Ides of March this year! We will have a full schedule of events with numerous authors reading their works, including Mike Stackpole. The survivors will continue on the fourteenth when, amongst other events, Tobias Buckell will make one of his rare appearances in-world to read “Spurn Babylon.”

In other events you will be able to swap poetry with author Emerian Rich in the graveyard. Or learn about real life horrors with Mark Eller. Find out how to incorporate horror sound effects to your own shows. Sample Crap Mariner’s short shorts. Participate in a costume contest and attend a fashion show for the fashionably undead. And that’s not all! Bookstacks will be running all its normal events, usually with a twist…a twist of Terror.

Saturday, March 13
•9:00 am – Horrorfest opens with new and classic tales read by West of Ireland storyteller Gyro Muggins.
•10:00 am - Emerian Rich, author and host of the Horror Addicts podcast, hosts a workshop on creating horror sounds for podcasts…or simply to scare your friends next Halloween.
•11:00 am – Simeon Beresford serves as quiz master for a horrific game of Book Trivia. The winner of the game will take home 500 lindens, and the person in the best costume in the theme will also win 500 lindens.
•1:00 pm – Emerain Rich reads from the sequel to Night’s Knights
•2:00 pm – Science Fiction Saturday
•3:00 pm – NYT bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole will give you nightmares when he reads one of his scary tales
•4:00 pm – Join Emerian Rich for the annual sharing of scary poetry in the graveyard. There is more out there than “The Raven”
•5:00 pm – Crap Mariner offers his own take on terror with his 100 word stories and scary shorts
•6:00 pm – Author and host of the Hell Hole Tavern podcast, Mark Eller, will remind us that not all horror is fictional with his real life tales.
•7:00 pm – Live performance by Scream Machine*

Sunday, March 14 (please note: Daylight Savings Time begins in the US)
•11:00 am – Henry Snider reads from one of his stories about occult, parapsychology and esoteric studies
•1:00 pm – Off the Shelf interviews Mark Eller, author and host of the Hell Hole Tavern podcast
•3:00 pm – Poetry Libre’s Open Mic
•4:00 pm – Award-winning author Tobias Buckell reads “Spurn Babylon”
•5:00 pm – “Twenty Ten Horror and Chills Couture Event” – Fashion Show for the Fashionably Undead from the Infinite Focus Fashion Agency
* Scream Machine is brought to us by Grave Concerns Ezine

Related posts

• P:SI #324 “Fanboys, Giant Snakes and Buttons” (0)
• Breaking News: Autumn Writers Exhibition On Second life (0)
• What is Supernatural Horror (0)
• Ways To Build Your Writing Career In Second Life (2)
• Testing a Setting (0)

The technology behind the Avatar program turned out to be more interesting then originally believed.  From all of the trailers I expected the Avatar’s to be like a big mech suit or something, thankfully I was wrong.

The Avatar’s are a biological creation made up from a blending of human DNA and Na’vi DNA.  This creates an avatar for the human to operate that would be entirely biological and can function within the same environment as the Na’vi.

They use a machine that not only uplink the human to it’s avatar but makes a much deeper connection.  The tube that the human sits in gives full neural feedback so the Human feels what the Na’vi feels.  This is like experiencing things in a dream state.

On the plus side if your avatar dies you don’t necessarily die.  But as shown through Norm’s experience the death of the avatar does put a great shock to ones system.

I really loved how the Na’vi viewed the avatars.  They called them dream walkers and demons.  Dream walkers is very fitting first because of the obvious reasons of how unlinking and downloading from the avatar is like falling asleep.

One thing that bothered me some was the need to have the avatar genetically matched.  They introduce this concept early on which at first seems ok.  Unfortunately there is no more justification for this particular need.  I was left with the feeling that the matching was only required to justify why Jake was brought into the program.

What do you think about the genetic requirement?

Related posts

• Vision of a Fan Based Economy (0)
• Theater or Renter: December 2009 (2)
• Speculative Fiction Today #418 “Boff you Before I Cliff You” (0)
• Speculative Fiction Today #417 “Snooch To The Mez-Its” (6)
• P:SI #37 – “EVE Pwns Windows” (0)

James Cameron’s Avatar gets two overall ratings a 10 and a 3.  The 10 rating is for the Na’vi parts of the movie that were so well done the 3 is for the human parts that were worse than a Sci-Fi original movie.  Overall Avatar is a visually beautiful planetary romance that is worth watching.

This is the first good planetary romance in a long time.  Planetary romances are hard to pull off with the last really good example being Dune.  For more read Avatar The Planetary Romance.

The beginning of the movie is too slow, the first hook was terrible and I was glad once they got to Pandora.  It’s offensive to use a wounded vet with a dead brother to make me feel sad and to peak my interest in a movie.  Then to use a “genetic match” excuse that has no further explanation as to why it was so important… weak.

The saddest thing is that this movie would not make it past the studio’s slush pile if someone other than James Cameron sent in the script.  The studios would have read the first few pages, printed a rejection letter and tossed the script into the trash.  Thankfully this was not the case.

The tech behind the avatar program is more interesting than originally believed.  I loved how the Na’vi called them the dream walkers.  for more read Concept and Tech of the Avatar Program.

Avatar’s Immaculate reality issues made watching it harsh.   I felt like Jake  fully immersed in the immaculate reality exploring and enjoying the depths and wonder of Pandora only to have the red button mashed ripping me back to reality sitting in a theater watching a movie. This back and forth was jarring and upsetting because James Cameron was able to reestablish the immaculate reality, which is not easily done once broken, only to break it again every time we went back to the human parts.

The parts with the Na’vi exploring the wonders of Pandora were so well done.  The animation makes everything seem so life-like.  All of the characters and setting elements have such depth that their reactions and interactions are so believable.  Watching these parts I wish the movie was two hours longer.

The human parts on the other hand is why the movie was an hour too long.  They were so bad it even dipped below the quality of a sci-fi original movie.  The characters are flat, poorly acted, stock characters taken from other sci-fi and westerns.  This flat, lack of depth issue in the humans parts of the movie is exacerbated with the overuse of the desaturation effect used on those scenes.

Confusion is added to the human parts because they aren’t clear if the soldiers are actual military or private contractors a la Blackwater style.  A small effort would have cleared this issue up.  This may seem like a small point but it is distracting taking the attention away from the experience.

Avatar’s religious experience is a more insidious issue brought up by experiencing this movie.  For more read Avatar’s Religious Experience.  This heightens the absence of that connectedness in our own lives even if not realized on a conscious level. Thus many leave the movie longing to return and with a sadness over their own situation.

The sad thing is produced in any other culture other than the U.S. we wouldn’t have had to deal with the human parts and Avatar would have been an amazing animated movie.  Unfortunately due to the prejudices of the American audience we had to have human parts in the movie so that Avatar could be classified as a movie with special effects.  This is a must see movie and probably an owner for me.

Plot / Story:

A planetary romance about Pandora and the indigenous people the Na’vi as they struggle against the Human corporation that wants to strip mine their homeland.

Likes

• Visually beautiful
• Planetary Romance
• Concept and Tech of the Avatar Program
• The Na’vi parts were so well done

Dislikes / Concerns

• Concept and Tech of the Avatar Program
• unobtanium
• Issues with Immaculate Reality
• The human parts
• The Military confusion
• The use of desaturation effect on humans
• Genetically matching the Avatar
• Beginning and first hook

• More Avatar on dashPunk

Get your shopping at: Amazon.com, iTunes Music Store, iTunes TV Showsand iTunes Audiobooks

Netflix lets you rent, watch and return DVDs from home - Try free for 2 weeks

Don't wait. Guarantee your seat before you go and avoid a sold out show. Skip the box office lines and buy movie tickets at Fandango.com.

GameFly delivers the best video games to your door! Start for only $8.95 or Try for free

Related posts

• Avatar The Planetary Romance (1)
• Vision of a Fan Based Economy (0)
• Theater or Renter: December 2009 (2)
• Speculative Fiction Today #418 “Boff you Before I Cliff You” (0)
• Speculative Fiction Today #417 “Snooch To The Mez-Its” (6)

Out this week we have one DVD to feature:  Planet 51.  Do we Love It, Rent it, or Avoid Like Plague?

Renter

• Planet 51:  The premise makes me laugh.  The voice cast is outstanding: Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Seann William Scott, Gary Oldman, and John Cleese.  I’m looking forward to watch this movie.
  • Buy it / Rent it
  • More Planet 51 on dashPunk

Related posts

• Theater or Renter: November 2009 (3)
• Theater or Renter: March 2009 (2)
• The Tooth Fairy Trailer 1 (HD) (0)
• Speculative Fiction Today #421 “Trippy Groovy On My Bongo Man” (0)
• Review: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1)

Xavier Institute for Higher Learning Meet Your British Counterpart.  A Ribble Valley businessman put in a bid to buy the Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales.

His intentions is to open up a school or retreat for the psychically gifted.

“It has always been one of my ambitions to open a psychic retreat somewhere and this would work on several fronts.

It will be somewhere where psychics can go to meet like-minded people, to further their interests and develop their psychic senses.” He said.

(via Lancashire Telegraph)

Related posts

• Speculative Fiction Today #382 “X-Men Done Right” (0)
• DVD Releases: April 28th, 2009 (0)
• Wolverine’s Origin Involves Gambit? (0)
• Why Wolverine’s Claws Might Not Be a Good Idea (0)
• Vision of a Fan Based Economy (0)

Red Angel is a masterfully drawn manga with an awesome color cover that gives just a hint at the gothic art inside. Author and manga artist, Makoto Tateno, brings to life the story of Mika & Eru who are brother and sister vampires.

For those of you who might have read her other works Happy Boys or Yellow and didn’t like them, I believe that Red Angel deserves a chance.  You see, Mika & Eru are not like other vampire brothers and sisters. They have one unique quality that sets them away from the bunch. They just happen to reside in the same body.

Reminiscent of the novel, The Need by Andrew Neiderman, the brother and sister pair have a problem… whatever one of them does, the other has to live with. In Red Angel, this has to do with them moving constantly to keep their secret. Their crimson wings often leave mortals in a state of awe. Whether they feed or not, they usually cause death somehow and flee the scene.

Artwork in this book is beautiful with a nice dark feel throughout and gothic vignettes portraying a couple enjoying a kiss as massive wings shelter them or a flight of crows bordered by intricate crosses and lace. Tateno has a way of portraying action in the still shot so convincingly that the reader can almost feel the wind whip around them as wings flap, causing feathers to float by.

Each chapter is a different town and the vampire pair is not always the focus. We get to meet a couple of “bat men” who turn into bats but are not vampires, and Anney, who is holy and able to suck energy from vamps. Mika meets another vampire and finds out the hidden truth behind who she is and where she fits into creation.

There is a four-page extra in the back by the author, explaining the characters, ideas, and how the book was first published. Categorized as a Yaoi, I disagree. Perhaps it is just stuck into that category because of the woman and man in the same body. I find that the story is very unlike many Yaoi and the difference between the brother and sister is so definite, the reader really believes they are two different people simply sharing the same mortal-like shell.

You can find out more about Red Angel at Amazon.com.

Related posts

• Sanctuary Season 2 (3)
• Review: Dead Is The New Black by Marlene Perez (0)
• Review of: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (1)
• Meet Author Emerian Rich (0)
• Manga Review: Rozen Maiden by Peach-Pit (2)