End of the Line

It’s been bugging me that I haven’t officially closed the blog for a while now. Perhaps I thought I’d eventually dive back in head first  and resurrect like  a pheonix from old, old, oooooold ashes. But in any case, the chances of that happening are ridiculously miniscule. I have come back to do this one thing though, since I know I’ll regret it if I don’t. And at least then there’d be a reason to remove the site from my bookmarks.

The Language Barrier: Musical Resonance in Anime

“Don’t wake me when I land, where they barely understand what I speak but they nod to my beats.” – Lupe Fiasco, Paris;Tokyo

I’ve always liked the way music works with anime. It’s kind of amazing to me that so many good soundtracks and original compositions can come from it (then again, I’m always amazed at how innovative and different music can be in general). Even if the music doesn’t stand out to me, most soundtracks do a good job within the context of the show. There are very few shows which have bad or ill-fiiting music; a lot of times you can say “Well, the show was pretty bad but at least the music was okay”. Or perhaps that’s just me and my inability to dislike most styles of music.

On Our Backs, In Our Hearts

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Seems like I’ve suddenly turned into someone who looks at the trends in shounen anime…

“I Don’t Care If You’re A Million Times Stronger Than Me!” : True Heroes Never Go Down

I’m a complete action fanboy. And being a fanboy means that I love good shounen. The first anime I can remember being exposed to was Dragonball Z back around when I was 11. Me and my friend always used to talk about how awesome the show was, but took two very different paths: he got into gymnastics/fighting/general awesomeness (as his love of DBZ was less a love for anime and more a love for all things martial arts) and I just kept watching more anime. DBZ was just a gateway drug, and although it’ll always be with me as a part of my childhood, these days I easily dismiss it for not being all that good. But that’s not really the point.

Badass Cover Recommendations: Me and the Devil Blues

Goddamnit, look at this cover, this has got to be one of the funkiest, coolest motherfucking thing you’ve ever seen. Look at this guy’s soulless, chilling eyes, he looks like he’s staring into your goddamn soul and you can’d do a fucking thing to stop him. You see this art style? This is some freaking heavy, realistic shit right here, none of that simplisitic, spastic crap you get with every other goddamn genre of anime these days. No huge eyes which scream AIDS, no ridiculously long hair or stupid ass clothing, just a guy with a white shirt on looking at the reader with the eyes of a fucking DEMON. The tone of this cover is so fucking amazing, just this jazzy, groovy hue of blue that echoes of a cold and dangerous world. The second you see this cover you know this guy is a fucking GOD and this manga’s going to be one of the best things you ever read. And I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet – the goddamn name.

Holy shit, this is the best name for anything since motherfucking Lesbian Vampire Killers. “Me and the Devil Blues”. Fuck, just repeat that to yourself in the coolest black guy voice you can think of. James Earl Jones, Samuel L Jackson, whatever. That sounds so fucking awesome. God, it instantly conjures up images of a man haunted by music and the power of the blues to capture people’s souls and never let them go. Jesus christ, I haven’t read a single fucking page of this manga and already I’m hooked on it.

Fuck, that name.

It’s All In The Execution: Why Durarara!!’s So Entertaining

Even though the new season is very much underway, Durarara!! still stands out as one of the best shows currently airing. Whenever I think of my favourite series, I can always point out the single element that had me completely hooked. There was just something that series did so well that made it stand out to me, be it excellent direction, dialogue or character development. Though I love Durarara!!, the show hasn’t shown itself to have that one quality that instantly makes it a must watch. Even so, it’s still an excellent show and easily one of my favourite series. And I think it’s due to the fact it doesn’t have a single element that stands out because everything is so high quality – all of it is done so well.