Finished reading Mushishi

Finished reading Mushishi (1999) on 9/10/2014.

Story and art by Urushibara Yuki.

50 chapters.

Ginko is a wandering doctor. And the ailments he treats are that of a supernatural nature caused by tiny, shy, spirit-like beings known as mushi, which despite their size can be the cause of large-scale, devastating phenomena.

7.5/10 – This manga has a very interesting concept and is presented in a magically nostalgic and melodramatic way that connects with me in a weird, scary, yet gentle manner. However, even though I'm happy with getting into Ginko's past and how he became a mushishi I still think the story had a lot more potential for a deeper complexity that it never really reached aside from some exposition. Most of the stories were self-contained and at one point they got really repetitive to the point where I almost gave up. The final story was also a sort of self-contained two parter that almost made me think that Ginko was going to become something more. But he didn't, and I wasn't aware that that was the end of the manga until the last page where the author says 'farewell'. Still, this is one of the best manga I've read so far and the idea is very original. I just really wish the story would've gotten more interesting.

Finished watching Space Pirate Captain Harlock: Outside Legend - The Endless Odyssey

Finished watching Space Pirate Captain Harlock: Outside Legend - The Endless Odyssey (2002, Madhouse, 13 ep.) on 9/7/2014.

In this alternate reality sequel of the original series, Prof. Daiba unleashes the Noo, an ancient alien threat from its confines during an archeological mission to the end of the universe. Five years later, this threat reaches earth throwing into motion a reunion of Arcadia's Captain Harlockand his old crew.

7.5/10 - This sequel to the original series, if I can call it that, was actually pretty decent. At least comparing to that piece of garbage prequel known as Gun Frontier. So I guess that means I'll be comparing them both. Why? Because I know there are other shows and movies in the franchise and from what I heard none of them are very consistent with each other so I'm not even going to bother with them. That's why I'm sticking with only these two. Even Outside Legend was a little wonky in terms of continuity, but that's as far as my patience can go. Don't get me wrong, I think the whole Captain Harlock idea is pretty epic, but Leiji Matsumoto keeps annoying me with his inconsistency in this franchise. However, I'm willing to bet this series is the best Captain Harlock spinoff. Now, the reason why I'm not sure whether to call this show a sequel or not is because it behaves like both a sequel and a reboot. The reason why I say this is because the show is supposed to take place after the Mazone arc. Even Yattaran mentions fighting the Mazone in the past, but at the same time the show starts with Pr. Daiba still alive and his son, Daiba yet to meet Harlock for the first time. So basically Harlock defeated the Mazone without Daiba as part of the crew and Pr. Daiba was never killed by the Mazone, but instead... by the new threat known as the Noo. In 13 good looking episodes Harlock pursues this new enemy and I have to say, as a fan I was pretty pleased with the quality of the show. I never got bored, there was always something new happening each episode and the art was clean and crisp. The animation was also well done, specially with the Arcadia turning in some scenes to dodge laser canons. I do think that some other scenes didn't have to be so static though. It would've been nice to see Harlock exchanging a few blows with one of the bad guys as they exchanged a conversation between eachother. Other than what I've mention I really don't have much to complain about with this show. It was very awesome to see the old characters reunite in an updated art quality that would match that of today's anime shows. And as my last visit in my Harlock voyage as a true man, I shall move onto to watching the CG movie that was released recently. Til, then, may the hearts of passionate souls guide you through the stars of the universe.

Finished watching Gun Frontier

On July 10th, 2014 I finished watching Gun Frontier (2002, Vega Entertainment, 13 epi.) 10/07/2014.

Follow best friends Tochirou and Harlock in this comedic adventure as they travel the perilous Western Frontier of the United States looking for Tochirou's lost clan of Japanese immigrants. Along the way they pick up a mysterious young woman named Sinunora and together they challenge all sorts of wild west baddies and corrupt officials.

5/10 - Now, I don't know about the manga, but this show was absolute crud compared to what I was expecting out of a Leiji Matsumoto product. I came into it thinking it was going to lead up to the Space Pirate Captain Harlock events. But, no! There's no sort of connection whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned this was just a show with two characters who just happen to look like and have the same names as the ones from SPCH. Not only does it not lead up to that show but most of the episodes are just ridiculous with its pointless, blatant nudity from Sinunora. Most of the time she ends up getting naked for no reason whatsoever. If you asked her to strip in front of you in the middle of the street, she would, with no hesitation, with the most stoic face you'll ever see in your life. Oh, and did I mention how the women in this show have no nipples? What lines are you trying not to cross here? You already have blatant nudity on almost every episode, might as well just save me the cringe and add the damn nipples. The only thing that sort of saves this show is the art and animation quality. The lineart tends to be varied in value, which is rare to see in an animated show. Probably because it makes it difficult to animate. But even if I had watched this show for just what it is, I still don't think I would've liked it very much. The ending wasn't lead up to very well and wasn't that well written either. Definitely not one of my favorites.

Finished playing Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland

Finished playing Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland (2002, HAL Laboratory, Game Boy Advance) on 07/20/2014.

Kirby finds himself sleeping with no dreams. When he checks on the Fountain of Dreams, he finds that King DeDeDe has broken the Star Rod into seven pieces and scattered them throughout Dreamland, guarded by his minions and one piece for himself. Kirby must retrieve all the piece and put the rod back together! Or no more dreams will ever be dreamt in Dreamland!

9/10 - It's a very nice remake of the original NES Kirby game with the addition of the equally wonderful mini-games. I've no complaints about it aside from it being a short game, even with the Extra mode option. Now, of course, and probably to be expected, I was really excited to play the Meta Knightmare game which is unlocked after beating Extra mode. In Meta Knightmare you play as Meta Knight through the same levels you do with Kirby with the exception that you cannot save your progress, you only have 3 points of health, you cannot play the mini-games for extra lives and pushing the big star buttons hidden throughout the levels does not count toward the 100% completion of the game. This mode was quite challenging and I only made it half-way through, but playing as Meta Knight feels really badass... as it should. He runs faster than Kirby, which can be counterintuitive if you're not careful, and his sword can break all breakable blocks. The sword can be thrusted upwards and used to "drop-stab" while airborne. Of course, he just can't suck up or swallow enemies for their abilities. This was a great game overall, onto the next one.