viernes, 28 de septiembre de 2007

Secret of the Cerulean Sand - Review



When I first started liking Japanese animation (Like a year and a half after I finished High school) I had the good fortune to be treated to unusual/mostly obscure series and movies. So, instead of the usual shit like Evangelion or the sort that first gets shoved into an anime newbie, I ended up seeing some others like Macross plus, Miyazaki's movies and others.

This was by no means one of the first I saw, but came shortly afterwards. I have fond memories of it, and would hate this series to be forgotten. I've always been a fan of Steampunk and Jules Verne inspired works, I myself am trying to get that adventury-feeling for the Videogame I'm producing. Secret of the Cerulean Sand manages to nail it and keep to it while pumping sweet doses of awesome adventure antics.

The story is as follows: Jane, a young lady of the buxton family is a jolly lassie whose biggest dream is to build a machine to fly trough the sky (as most steampunk characters). She's got a great family, lives in comfort and makes a haven out of his blissful existence.

But not for long. The arrival of a terrible letter informs her that George, her eldest and most beloved brother was executed for high treason to the crown. His stepbrother William leaves the family in anger and her father is charged for embezzling. The family suddenly is wrecked and left to wither.

But one day, Jane receives an envelope sent anonymously with a tiny piece of cerulean stone inside, that shows very mysterious proprieties.

Convinced that his brother might be alive, Jane embarks on a quest to find his missing brothers. A quest that will lead her to the far ends of the earth and the dark places below it.

The whole series is inspired by two of Jules Verne´s stories: "Facing the flag" and "City in the Sahara". The style is reminiscent of old series like Future boy conan and the character designs have the exact and healty combination of traditional anime and american flavour.

And It's a great series, it takes off slowly but the tiny details from the beginning (like the tempestous relationship between brothers and the strange complexes William exhibits) add to the outcome of an epic series that spans travels around a mythical 19th century world.

I really recommend this series. The old styled drawings and clumsy 3d might turn some away. The lack of distribution (both electronic and on DVD) will turn away most. But the series is a truly heartwarming epic that'll always stay in my heart. It's an endearing story for everyone.

Secret of the Cerulean Sand gets 4 out of 5 stars of adventuring girls with disobedience issues.

And you get the youtube previews:
Intro:

Ending:

Coraline



An upcoming Stop-Motion film based in the novella by Neil Gaiman.

Coraline is a young, bored girl who discovers that a bricked-up wall behind a door in her flat leads to another world, with another mother, and another father. When she tries to go back, she realizes that her other mother has kidknapped her real parents and she must fight to get them back.


The whole production of this movie sounds quite interesting. It's being shot stereoscopically in 3d for digital exhibition, and many new tools are being created for it.

Too bad we're gonna have to wait till January 2009 for it.

jueves, 27 de septiembre de 2007

Avatar Season Three


Hey there boys and girls! Avatar: The last airbender is back! Season three: Book of fire will wrap up all events that have lead to the final confrontation with the fire nation. I'm really hoping to be blown outta my socks.

It's really the best modern american epic animation series, so for 20 more episodes there's no reason to miss the conclusion.-

Anime Season Fall 2007


This season's series can be described in one simple word:

Shit.

Not only does everything look about the same, there's nothing really outstanding about the whole season. Really, We've had some great stuff lately! Chevalier D'eon, Claymore (good action at least), Dennou Coil and many others that were either great or had one special quirk that saved them from being called crap.

Really, the only things that look fairly interesting are Moonlight mile and that one about the mahjong players (at least the style is original). But Moonlight Mile is not a new series, it's a SECOND SEASON. After a truly wonderful animated year (so far) I'm truly dissapointed.

I do have a flint of hope for Ghost hound. Still, I guess the only ones that are happy for this shitload of crap are anime junkies, pervs, moe fans and lolicon freaks.