Chobits finally here.

RANT

My Chobits finally arrived in the mail yesterday. I've ordered the collection from Tamarket on the 12th. Took them about 2 weeks to process the order and dispatch it. Not bad. Of course, going to a store and pick it up from there would be a lot faster, but it cost $120 at a store. So I rather wait. I've waited a year for the Boxset to come out, so what's an extra 2 weeks?

Excel Saga

REVIEW (Anime)

What it is about

The plot, if there is any, is simple. We are introduced to Excel Excel (yep, first name Excel, last name, Excel) who works for an organisation called ACROSS. It is headed by someone named Ilpalazzo who sets out to conquer the world. But before he can do that, he aims for something more achievable. He heads out to take over F city.

Throw in a constantly dying colleague Hyatt, a group of government servants, an edible dog, a bunch of very cute looking puuchus, an immigrant worker and a talking portal, you can be sure that insanity will reign the world of Excel Saga.

What I think of it

This is a truly hilarious anime. Each episode, Excel and Hyatt set out to complete a mission that is supposed to make the city an easier target. But like everything else in life, reality is always far from the ideal. And that is where a lot of the humour comes from. But the truly humorous moments in this anime is the clever use of parodies. From Dragon Ball, to Sailor Moon, to Tokimeki Memorial, to Aliens, you will always get a full screen of parody. Even Itchy and Scratchy rates a mention. One of the funniest moments was when Nabeshin, the self-inserted anime version of the director, turns into a Super Saiyan in one the later episodes. That had me laughing so hard that it hurts. Another involves the famous mecha, Gundam.

At the start of each episode, Rikudou Koushi, the author of the manga on which Excel Saga is based on will give his stamp of approval to turn the episode into a specific genre. On one episode, it could be an anime about sport, and on the next one, it could turn into a dating simulation game.

The inclusion of Ad-Vid(tm) notes is by far the most interesting feature I have seen on any anime DVD. Similar to Director's commentary, a Menchi bubble will pop up occasionally to explain the jokes, the parodies, and everything else in between. If the characters are playing a traditional Japanese game, Menchi will explain the rules. If a character from another anime makes an appearance, Menchi will point it out. And like the Director's commentary, it is best to watch the series at least once before turning on this feature.

Excel Saga is not without its flaws. The major one being the dialogue. Very often, two people will talk simultaneously. Reading one set of subtitle will definitely miss the other, or in some cases, mixed them up. Couple this with the quick talking Excel will make certain that the rewind and the pause buttons on your control get a serious work out. Some of the jokes are really a play on words which, obviously, requires the knowledge of Japanese.

Overall

Excel Saga is an almost plot-less anime. What holds it together is the insane amount of humour at the expense of other anime. Unfortunately parody is a double-edged sword. If you know what anime the parody is based on, you will be rolling on the floor laughing, otherwise, you will just be scratching your head.

If you can look past this, and excuse the almost plot-less plot, you will find that this anime is one of the funniest anime ever made.

Score (out of 10)

Music: 8
Animation: 7
Character: 7
Plot: 2

Overall: 7

The Eye 10

REVIEW (HK-Movie)

What it is about

After the sccuess of The Eye and The Eye 2, the Pang brothers decided to skip a few sequels and jump straight to The Eye 10. Okay, that's not true. The truth is that the '10' actually refers to the number of ways for a human to see ghosts. Two ways have already been explored in the previous films (ie. The cornea transplant and the suicidal pregnant woman). The reminding 8 ways were cramped into one movie. I won't disclose what they are, but I will tell you who tried it - 5 youths who were on holiday in Thailand.

After a couple of attempts to find a ghost, things got out of control. One of the youth went missing. It was then the story started to move forward. The rest of gang, obviously tried desparatly to their missing friend. And what's a better way to do it than using whatever methods they have left at their desposal.

What I think of it

To say it bluntly, I don't like it. I don't like the characters and I don't like the plot. The only good thing about it is probably the music. The characters are just a bunch of moronic idiots who have nothing else better to do than to play with fire, "oh, why don't we find a ghost or two to play with. That will be fun". A bunch of morons who deserved to be burnt.

The plot lacks consistency. I don't know what the Pang brothers are trying to achieve by putting in some humour into the movie. It turns out to be a half-baked horror, half-baked comedy, while not achieving any of them to any great length. Thus making this film a laughable horror.

There is no plot, only subplots being stringed together by a very loose cord. Nothing is ever explained. At the beginning of the film, the gang went past an accident scene, and one of the youth took pictures of the dead girl. Not surprsingly, the dead girl turned up at his house later. We don't know who she is, why she's there, and what she has to do with the plot.

Then there is the mother of one of the youth, who happened to be an exorcist. She knew what was going on, but she made no attempt to stop them, nor any attempt to help them when things went wrong. It's just so wrong.

Overall

What made the previous The Eye so successful is completely missing here. I must admit that I never liked horror, but I managed to watch through the previous two movies and be scared by it. This one is just plain stupid. The plot is paper thin, and there is no staples there to hold it together.

If you enjoyed the first two films, you will be gravely disappointed by this. This is the worst out of the three.

Music: 6
Setting: 5
Character: 2
Plot: 2

Overall: 2