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Friday, December 10, 2010

Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad Review



Synopsis:
Koyuki is a 14 year old boy that is going through a somewhat rough patch in his life.  Everyday he wakes up feeling more and more disconnected from his life.  He is your normal nerd-ish teen.  Socially awkward,  no luck with women since he has no any self-confidence to speak of.  The only thing he really enjoys is his J-Pop music. All this changes when he saves an odd looking dog from a group of young hoodlums.  Because of this chance meeting with said dog, he meets a guitar genius named Ryuunosuke, and his life will never be the same again.  His new friend Ryuunosuke at his side, Koyuki is introduced to the world famous rock band Dying Breed.  Gaining new found confidence in himself thanks to his new friend, Koyuki uses his natural signing skills, and his beginner skills at the guitar, to join up with the Indy start-up band Beck.  Kyouki's world is changed, and he begins to learn how to live a life that is completely new and wild to him.



----------Possible Spoilers Ahead!!----------







Story: B+
Like I said before, I am not a huge fan of music oriented anime.  But this one blew my mind.  The idea seemed simple enough: Boy hits it big, thus overcoming his confidence issues and loneliness.  Seems simple right?  Wrong.  After a few episodes of set up (nothing wrong with that), the story gets deep and involving.  You start to feel for the characters.  The attention to detail that allows them to make a realistic musical world, and fantastic character creation, allows the story to take center stage in this one.

The story is laid out for you in pretty much black and white.  Usually I don't find that a good thing but in this case it was amazing.  No fancy tricks or gimmicks with this anime.  It was all about great characters and great plot.  It need nothing else. The drama is intricate and refreshing, no soap Oprah-ish like I was afraid it would be. Not once does this series lose pace or divert into silly unrelated subplots in order to bulk up the mid section. If anything, the level of entertainment rises consistently until the very satisfying climax.

Animation:   B
The animation in Beck is defiantly different.  It does not strive to impress you.  It doesn't need to.  There are no bold colors, no flashy movements, none of that.  Beck goes against the norm in this case.  Presenting us with a world that is fantastically realistic in the way it is drawn out.  

The one aspect that impressed me the most were the CG shots of the characters playing their instruments.  This blew me away, mainly for the fact that it wasn't expected!  It was so clean looking that one could swear it was a real person playing that guitar.

Sound:  A
If you haven't figured it out by now, this anime is all about sound, and they did a damn good job!  All the characters want to do in this anime is make beautiful sound, and the did just that.  The opening, ending, and all the music chosen for Beck matched perfectly for what they were going for, and Indy feel.  

I am by no means a fan of Indy Rock, I actually don't like it much at all.  That is why this anime shocked me so much!  I didn't think I would enjoy a show with a bunch of Indy beats abusing my ears, but I couldn't have been further from the truth!  I found myself bobing my head more then once to some of the tracks, and searching YouTube for others!

Characters:   B+
 What can I say?  The characters, in every way possible, make this anime so great.  The approach at character creation was a breath of fresh air.  There are no stereotypical norms in this show, well expect maybe for Koyuki, but even that works out greatly.  The way all the characters interact, their own personalities, habbits etc. makes for the effect that these people could be real.  They are just that well made. 


Overall:  B+
The idea of this anime is nothing new.  You can find loads of musical, coming of age, nobody becoming somebody, animes out there.  So what makes this one so special?  The attention to detail.  The characters are so rich and entertaining, the story is involving, and the music is extent.  Beck is a brilliant piece of work
  


 

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad.


So, I am finally getting around to watching Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad

This is an odd one for me actually.  As big of a music fan as I am, I usually do not find music oriented animes very appealing.  With that being said, you might be wondering "Why are you watching this then?"  The answer? Oh that is a simple one.  To get my freaking friend off my back! That's why!

A couple weeks ago, a close friend of mine finished this series.  He has a lot of time on his hands, so he was able to finish it all in one day.  He was hooked right away, or so he says.  For the next week all he could talk about was "Beck this" and "Beck that" and "DUDE why haven't you watched this yet?!"  He started to quiet down about it after a long period of me wanting to stab him with a drum stick, until earlier this evening.

The scene: 8:00pm U.S. central time.  Me sitting on my computer after a long soul sucking day at work, trollin' the ol' Facebook.  A few moments go by, and then BAM "DUDE WATCH BECK!!!" I stare at my computer screen.  "Did he really do that?" I wonder.  "After I threatened to stab him in the temple with a drum stick? He has the nerve?!" As I stare at the chat message, rage building, he chimes in with this little note: "Dammit dude, just watch the anime.  I will leave you alone and I know you will like it."  That's all it took.  Suddenly the rage left me, and I noticed that I have been looking for an anime to watch.  So, I have decided to give it a shot.

Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad is 26 episodes long.  With as little free time as I have, it might take me awhile to watch all of this one.  Never the less, I shall en devour to have a rather in depth review for it written up and posted by or on Wednesday Dec. 8th.  

If not, well you guys can grab your pitchforks and torches, and riot or something!  

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Winter 2010 Anime Season

A bit late with this one.  But here is the what you can look for with the upcoming winter 2010 anime season. 

What I will be watching:
Wolverine
Infinite Stratos

Yep....that's it.  So far the winter season is looking kinda bland.  I am interested in Wolverine only because I am a fan of the X-Men.  Infinite Stratos looks interesting to me because Sci-Fi is one of my favorite genres.  Oh well.  Maybe they will add some more further on down the road.

So, what, if anything, are you planning on watching this anime winter season?  

Project A-Kon 22: Part 1

(Link to the A-Kon 22 Site)

Ah yes A-Kon.  One of the longest running cons in the world.  Its the largest in the south, and one of the biggest in the country I would assume (and we all know what assuming does!).  It is held in Dallas Texas, and as the banner above says, it is happening on June 10-12 of next year. 
"Next year?!" You ask with shock and alarm.  "But that is so far away!"  It is indeed very far away (7 months or so) but here is a little known fact about me, I really love to plan trips.  This is the biggest, and farthest away, con that I will have ever been to.  So I figure that of all the trips I have planned in the past (not many), THIS one deserves a bit of attention.

So in the coming months leading up to this epic trip of epicness I am going to start a new segment in this blog called "Project A-Kon 22".  In these posts I will let you in on what I am doing to get prepared, where I am at on the saving aspect of the trip, announcements about the con, and anything else I find relevant to the con going process.

I hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

I'm back, and starting over.

I'm back. 

*Que thunderous applause*

Ok, so maybe no one missed me. But you know what?  I missed all of YOU!  I'm back, and this time I am going to stay!

If I had to sum up in one word my life during the past few months it would have to be HECTIC.  I have been so insanely busy that I haven't had time for anything or anyone.  A fact that has made me very, very sad.  But now that things seem to be finally calming down a bit,  I figured I would re-open this blog.  But start with a clean slate.

Let me give you a little background as to why life has taken me for a ride.  I was jobless for six months, hence the reason I started this blog in the first place.  Back then I had all the time in the world for my hobbies (Not so much the $$ aspect though).  I love anime, gaming, and music.  So I thought, "Hey! There might be some people out there that might actually want to read about my geeky hobbies!" So BAM this blog was created.

Fast forward to the present.  I have a job in retail.  All of the sudden I went from spending 40 hours a week on my hobbies, to working 40-50.  Now it might sound like I am complaining, but I can assure you there is nothing farther from the truth.  These days, I am just happy that I have a job.  Even if it is in retail, which is very, VERY evil mind you.

The next few months are going to be rather busy for me.  'Tis the holiday season.  And for any of you that know anything about retail, that means crazy crazy times ahead.  I will be lucky to make it out alive!

Anyway, I am sure most of you are sick of my excuses by now.  But I am back! And this time I am going to stay! 

So stay tuned for some interesting (hopefully) stuff about all things AWESOME!!!!!