Nyan Koi! *meow, meow, meow*

I have a stack of anime to watch which i have not been watching. From Naruto, to FMA and to a few more, it's been like TV watching me for the past few weeks. I wonder if the TV knows i snore ... *hehehe* .... Anyway, i manage to pick up this Nyan Koi anime some time back. I saw it a few times in the shop. Had this, should i should i not reason not to buy it. I didn't want it to be some bimbo shows that some anime are but the cat pics keep catching my eye and after reading the back cover, the story was pretty interesting as well.


This is another manga based anime that... like Kimi Ni Todoke, will have a season 2. The anime made it's way to the TV in Oct 2009.  I must say anything cat based in the story, is normally quite attractive to me.

It's a story about a boy who has allergies to cats. Junpei Kosaka is unfortunately surrounded by cats and people who have cats.  Worse still, he's secretly having a crush on a girl in school who looks like a golden retriever but is quite a cat fan! Of course being a harem comedy, there is some other girl in school that has a secret crush on him! Complicated!

His luck worsens when he angers a local cat deity when he kicks a can on a neko-jizo-sama, inducing the deity's head to ... drop off. He is then cursed with the ability to understand and speak cat - speak. And to top it off,  he has to do a 100 good cat deeds otherwise he will turn into a cat himself!

Junpei is helped along the way by a few cat friends like Nyamsus, his cranky house cat, who becomes his friend in the end. The story sees how Junpei overcomes his allergy and his dislike for cats, to someone who comes to like them despite sneezing till the cows come home. He's is also surrounded by women who some how come to like him and all have cats. It's definitely a harem anime/comedy here.

This is quite a light-hearted show, a departure from my usual dark, bloody and some times vampire-ish animes i like to follow. It's not a deep thinking show, yet it is addictive enough for you to keep watching and wonder will Junpei be able to free himself from the curse. And his harem of ladies keep you entertained either with their daffiness or their antics.

Watch out for the last bit of each show where they have the characters appear in a short skit.


What's good?
* Cats of course, in all shapes and sizes. And they talk, talk and talk. Check out how they appear when they introduce the next segment within the show, they go "meow,meow,meow, meow. If my d
* It's a good story if you don't want shows that are deep and dark. Light-hearted fluffy stuff.
* Junpei has a good heart, despite hating cats, he helps them out and practically almost everyone that comes to him for help.


What's not so good?
* Too many characters, only some get good character development stories.
* I frankly cannot stand the tomboy character in the show, she is nothing but an annoying distraction.
* Of course, there is no real end to Season 1, there will be a season 2. I hate cliffhangers like this.

Does he ever get out of his curse? Well, we need to find out in Season 2. Check out Nyan Koi if you are looking for some light hearted relief. 

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Edward Elric-Oh Chibi Chan!!

I think after Kyo Sohma (kyon-kyon), Edward Elric is one of my most favorite Anime characters. Before i start the review of FMA:Brotherhood, it's nice to write about one of the key main characters of the show. That's my Square Enix figurine by the way...

If you don't already know, FMA is one of the best anime series around and is 2009's most anticipated anime. After a 5 year stop, we get to watch the continuation of FMA. While i won't delve too much on the storyline yet, i want to touch more on the character Edward. With his younger brother Alphonse, both these 2 youngsters are the country's youngest alchemist practitioners, set in a 1940s background ( it looks a bit like Germany )

 

Ah... ignore the karaoke subtitles lah....

Edward is undeniably short for a 12 year old when he first joined the state alchemist ( and even as the series progress at the age of 17)  and is often mistaken for being the younger brother of the pair compared to a towering metallic Al. However, the 12 year old packs a punch not only in terms of his martial arts skill but his ability to think fast on his feet, making him a formidable enemy to anyone. The pair's journey in the whole story is to look for the Philosopher's Stone and Edward's one true goal is to restore Alphonse ( his metallic younger brother )'s body to his natural body. Edward's greatest regret is the pain and harm caused to his younger brother and will do whatever he can to protect his younger ( and most self -reliant younger brother that is ) from harm - sometimes to the point where he is pretty much blinded by this.  And you will see his determination to beat his disability when he fits himself with Automail ( kinda like prosthetics ) and how he bore the pain through the process, for a 12 year old, it's far more mature than his age. I also suspect Ed has fallen in love with Winry but is too proud to admit it. My take is Ed does not want Winry to be involved in their issues simply because he does not want her hurt in the process, hence does not tells her a lot of things and that annoys her till no bounds.

Actually, i never knew this i always thought Ed being short and Alphonse being one hulk of a metal was just purely coincidence but in FMA:Brotherhood, there was an explanation of why these are 2 like this. Though Winry will tend to disagree that it's the lack of milk ( which Ed hates ) that causes the lack of growth.

It's all not punctuated with doom and gloom, one thing FMA excels is the hilarious funny moments that fills the show and also Edward and Alphonses( at time - see the header ) funny faces! It's a riot at times.

I think Ed kicked-ass his Dad

When i first watched Full Metal Alchemist ( Season 1 ), Edward was the ultimate character for me. Strong, resilient and family comes first attitude is something that attracted my attention and a lot of viewers attention. Good acting from the seiyuu ( Romi Park ) also gives Edward a lot of depth. I cried tonnes/buckets when his mother died and Ed bore the responsibility of looking after his younger brother with a practically non existent father nowhere to be found. I think he found he almost had a father figure in Maes Hughes, one of the army people he meets along the way, and whom in turn takes care of the Elric brothers like sons. Be prepared for some heart wrenching moments here as the story develops. Edward wins a lot of people over in this show.

I hope you are tempted enough to start picking up FMA if you have not. Will be doing some reviews on Al next.

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Next in Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

2009's most anticipated Anime. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Oh Chibi-chan, you are up next in review.

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Valkyria Chronicles

Top Left-Right(The good guys: Homer Peron, Faldio Landzaat, Edy Nelson, Irene Ellet, Largo Potter, Hans the Pig, Elenaor Varrot, Ramal Valt, Jann Walker, Welkin Gunther, Isara Gunther, Marina Wulfstan, Susie Evans, Rosie Stark, Zaka and Princess Cordelia )                        

More often than not, i get caught up in my animes. ( No, my life is not sad ) The characters placed in the anime are sometimes gets your guts far more than any academy award actor/actoress would. So, that goes by saying how good a job a seiyuu has done for that character (Seiyuu- Voice Actor) One of the shows that got me hooked on this year is Valkyria Chronicles. I could not believe i almost passed it up in the beginning. I am totally hooked on Faldio Landzaat's character.

Valkyria Chronicles is based on a Sega game which is now converted to an anime ( yeah they run out of things to draw about sometimes ) and i must say so far this is the best conversion anime i have seen. The anime is loosely based on this game itself and debut in Japan April 2009.

    Alicia Melchiott

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Cat Shit One!

Ok, not the real cat shit but bro introduced this to me over the weekend and i am sort hooked on gun totting rabbits man. Watership down gone bad! It's based on the manga Apocalypse Meow but based in Iraq. If you wonder how they get rabbits for americans and different races representing different animals- check this out on wiki. Hehehe. This is due out in 2010 as a anime series about 12 episodes i think. Who thought that bunnies were soft - think again.

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Confusion

I so don't understand pirates of the caribbean @ world's end....

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Batman - The Dark Knight

I am so in love..................... with Christian Bale. After watching this show, i realized how much i miss watching him. My first screen encounter with him was in Little Woman, i was already in love with Laurie the character in the book then on screen. *Sigh* Lup -leh....

Anyway, anyway i will stop drooling first but today's topic is about BATMAN- The dark knight. I am never a fan of batman. In fact even Batman Begins, i did not watch even though Bale was there. So since Lil Bro promised he will watch The Mummy with me, i will return the favor with Batman. Boy did he regret it. Cause i fell in love with Christian Bale- LOL....

BTDK is a continuation of Batman Begins, continuing on the Caped Crusaders work in cleaning up Gotham city. It is not a very easy task as people take him for granted. After awhile, it is like working in my current company, you feel tired and want a change. That is when a new star in the war of cleaning up the city's crap - Harvey Dent appears. He is the DA in the town and takes on the roll of being the town's hero.

Awesome Actor you are heath, sorely missed

Now, in a city full of crap, there is always a villian and who is Batman's number 1 villian, it's ... the joker. Yeap. Here comes the late heath ledger. I must say one of the reasons why i love this show is because of Heath as well. What a brilliant actor. Without the face make up, he does not fit a JOKER personality but when watching this show, he is born to be the Joker. He plays it with such brilliance ( i truly feared him in the show ) that i feel in my books surpasses Jack Nicholson. What saddens me, this will be the last time we see this brilliance.

For batman, this is an action packed show, aside for the 1st hour i was a bit sleepy ( it is the 11:30pm show leh ) i did not fall asleep in the rest of the show. WOOT acheivement for me.

Anyway it is my recommended watch for summer 2008. Ooh, ooh, if you blink, you might see edison Chen. Very very fast. Now, back to drooling, sigh... pity Christian Bale is married- Bah,humbug.

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I am Legend

Wow, i just realized that i have not updated this for a long time. True to what Tan Kia Su says, it is really tough to maintain 2 blogs. :P Hehehehe. Anyway, let's get to business of the review.

I was supposed to watch The warlords with Lil Bro, but we were early that day and the next show was I am Legend, some quick decision, we decided to watch this show. We've been big fans of Will Smith since Fresh Prince of Bel Air, so it was an easy choice.

Anyway, we heard IAL is about 2 hours long, and yes it was. The premise of the story is that Will, who plays Robert Neville, a virologist is the only person left alive on earth. The earth is infected by a virus that turns people into vampire like creatures. Robert spends his time broadcasting daily on his radio - to see if there is survivors there and the rest of his days in NY, adding on rations, waiting at the pier for any potential survivors to meet up with him.

However, by 6 in the evening, both him and Sam ( the dog ) have to go back in doors and ensure the doors are tightly locked. Why? Because the Vampires come out to play...................

Now, though it is 2 hours long, this show is a pretty good show. I mean, you know the typical will smith shows, with his simple brand of humor and he is quite the action hero. You also get to see how being alone for 1001 days starts to play tricks on your Sanity. In fact- because one bit with "Fred", gets you wondering who on earth set that trap for Robert. If it were me, i would have gone insane on the 10th day. Robert is driven to actually eliminate the virus and spends most of his time experimenting on the "vampires" to find a cure for this plague.

Not to be overshadowed, the dog Sam is excellent. This is the first time, a non human shares enough screen time with the main actor. She is not only the cute side kick but an equivalent partner with Robert. She is the cutest and smartest dog i have ever seen on screen. Be prepared for some tears for a certain part in the show.

Would i recommend you this show? Yes. It's a good watch - albeit a bit long. However, there may be some who find the ending not so typical of will smith movies.

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Resident Evil: Extinction

You might think a person like me is not necessary interested in gory, bloody movies but surprisingly, me likes! (^_^)V. Lil Bro and myself are big fans of er gaming horror movies and we trooped along after work that day to watch Resident Evil: Extinction. My brother's motives in watching this is just more than his favourite PS2 game, it is a chance for him to drool @ Milla Jovovich. For me, it is mindless relaxation.

Resident Evil is based on that game from PS2 though the only thing in common it has with the game is undead people. Yes, undead people. People that are infected by a virus that turns them into mindless flesh eating zombies. Only very few people are surviving and they are running from place to place to look for food, water and finally the cure.

The hero ( or -ine ) in this show, is Alice(Milla) and she is actually the only person who can overcome this infection. She roams around the US looking for a cure and running away from the people in the Umbrella Group, who are out to get her and harvest her blood to look for a cure. Alice has special powers compared to other humans, in which you will see in the show later.

While on the really humans portion, there is a group of people led by Claire Redfield, that rounds up remaining living people in search for a cure for the diseases.

Along the way, they kick a** zombies and meet up with Alice. They team up and try to find away to get to Alaska, where it seems the infection never hit.

Now, what's great about it? If you like action movies, i can't say this doesn't have any. Frankly, aside from Alice being pretty, she really knows how to knock people off. It's refreshing to see ladies kick butts. Besides Alice, there is Claire Redfield played by Ali Larter from Heroes fame as well as Betty ( one of the caravan followers ) played by Ashanti. The best scene in the whole show is the one where all the black crows were surrounding them. Cool!!!

Not so great part? Hmm- the story line is weak. Not much plotting, you can predict the outcome in about 1/2 way through the show.

But watch if it, if mindless violence let's you destress and if you are true Milla Jovovich fan.

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