Last Post

For my 30th and last post in this media journal, I'm copying one of my favorite clips from Kamen Rider Faiz. In this clip, Takumi (the guy) is still indecisive about whether he can fight as a human and as Faiz. In an attempt to protect him, his friends Mari and Rina come and attempt to transform and fight. It's rather unsuccessful, but it does inspire Takumi to fight as Faiz. It's good stuff.

Boredom

So I'm a little bored with American television at the moment. Other than Heroes, the rest of my viewing line-up has sort of gone down in quality. Lost was pretty good, but now it's on its hiatus until February. So there won't be a whole lot of interest there until right before it's going to come back. Survivor's getting boring. There hasn't been anything new and worthwhile in a long time. I used to look forward to it each week. The last season or two though, I just watch it half-heartedly. It's just not as interesting as it once was. They need some better twists. I'm sorry tribes temporarily divided along racial lines doesn't cut it. Re-using Exile Island doesn't cut it either. Heck if you're going to re-use a twist, re-use the Ghost Tribe one. At least that one was sort of interesting and caused some controversy. As far as Smallville goes, it's okay but not spectacular. There's a lot of stuff I don't like (i.e. the whole Lana getting pregnant and possibly getting engaged to Lex thing). Most of the Green Arrow stuff has been pretty good, but on the whole the show is just so-so. Plus there wasn't a whole lot of tension/surprise with the mid-season cliffhanger this time. If you can't get me pumped and wishing it was already the next episode, then you're not doing your job well enough. The final show I watch, Battlestar Galactica, has also sort of been going down in my opinion over the course of this season. The first few episodes were just awesome, some of the best television I've seen. The last two episodes though, particularly this last one, have been dragging. They're not nearly as interesting as the start of the season. Sure it's interesting to know what might have provoked the Cylons into attacking the humans, but there needs to be more than just that. Some people are liking these latest episodes because they are so character-driven, but to me they just seemed like needless filler. Get to the good stuff already.

I did write an exception for Heroes in my opening though. Heroes for me is consistently getting better with each week. It's the only show on TV here that I look forward to a whole lot each week. I mean there are too many interesting characters and there's just a lot going on. Hiro's my favorite, and even though he didn't play any sort of role in yesterday's episode, it was still a great episode. I don't know what it is, but Heroes is doing something right if it's got me consistently wanting more. I wish I could say the same for the other shows I watch.

God Speed Love Theme

I was looking through YouTube for the theme used in God Speed Love. I've been listening to it a lot lately, and there's something I like about it. Something about how it talks about there being only one world (in fact it's even titled "One World") just sticks in my head. Unfortunately I could only find small clips from the trailer with the song. I did find a music video a guy did though using clips from the trailer and commercials to an alternate version of the theme. It's not exactly the same (the instrumentals are a little different), but it's still pretty close.

An interesting thought

I post this for two reasons: First, I really like the song (and it's good to see the guy performing it live). Second, at the end (when the guy comes out), he does the gesture which I'm going to discuss in this post. So yeah, watch it and then come back.



Okay, so you've watched it and all. So I was thinking today about the way television affects people in how they speak and interact with people. I started wondering how much people adopt the language style and body language of the characters they see on television. I probably would have been one of the people would have denied that kind of effect. I would have said something like my spoken and written languages was more affected by the things I've read rather than the things I've seen. Then I realized that I had picked up at least one little thing from a show, in particular a Japanese show. The show was Kamen Ridre Hibiki, from which this song is from. I picked up a phrase and gesture from the main character, Hibiki, in this series. When Hibiki first sees someone, he typically says "yo" and does a sort of pointing hand gesture (which you can see towards the end of this video when he comes out). Now I wasn't typically saying "yo" but I was often doing the hand gesture. I wasn't even consciously aware of it. It was just something I did. It came naturally. I think that says quite a bit about the effect and power of television. I wonder what other sort of things I (and others) have picked up from television shows.

Garo 2nd Opening

So I think I like the 2nd opening for Garo a little bit better than the first. Something about the lyrics, particularly the line "Go, move like the wind, Makai Knight. Put your soul into it. Smash that furious blade in. Make the era shine." I don't know. It just evokes an image in my mind, one aside from the image already present in the footage. Of course I'm just a crazy nerd, so what do I know? Enjoy the 2nd opening though.

God Speed Love, Kabuto Episode 41, Akihabara@deep Episode 10

So I spent yesterday evening/this morning watching Japanese stuff. The first thing I watched was God Speed Love. I have to say this was the best Kamen Rider movie so far, and I wish I had been able to see it on the big screen. The movie mostly takes place in alternate timeline where a large meteor hit the world, more or less drying up the oceans. This is different than the TV series where a small meteor hit and only took out Shibuya. A group called Zect forms to a) deal with the water crisis afterwards (they do this by capturing frozen asteroids and drilling them for water) and b) deal with a sort of monster breed that has become prevalent since the meteor crash. The whole rest of the movie deals with an interaction between Zect, a splinter group called Neo-Zect, the monsters (known as Worms), and the main character Tendou Souji (whose name literally translates to "walking the path of heaven, ruler of everything). The movie actually ends with Tendou getting a new device that allows him to alter time. When another meteor threatens Earth, he pushes it back through time, colliding with the original meteor. This is why instead of a large one hitting in the TV series, only a small splinter hit Shibuya. He then goes and gives his former self some advice, which sort of makes sense in terms of the TV series and what the main character knows from the start. It's pretty interesting though, as it takes a lot of the good elements of the TV show and adds to them. It is a short movie like most Kamen Rider ones though, at only 65 minutes. I was glad that it tied to the TV series though.

Later I watched the newest episode of Kamen Rider Kabuto (the one that aired Sunday morning in Japan). It was really good as it involved a new higher level Worm who can actually stop time, which stops the near ultimate Hyper Kabuto (who is the time traveling one). Unfortunately, one minute of the show actually ruined the connection between the TV series and God Speed Love. In that minute, it sort of refuted the part of God Speed Love where Tendou goes back in time and give himself stuff. I was sort of disappointed as things were a lot more coherent with God Speed Love tying in. Now that it doesn't tie in, it doesn't flow as well. Aside from that minute though, the rest of the episode was good and really interesting. The preview for the next episode looks interesting as well, as it has one of the other Riders versus the new higher level Worm and Tendou versus the dark version of himself from the alternate dimension (who may or may not be a Worm or may or may not be God Speed Love Tendou). I look forward to it quite a bit. The series is starting to wind down though, as it'll probably end at episode 50 (if typical Rider standards are followed). Hopefully they'll tie up the rest of the loose ends by the end. We'll see though.

Finally I watched the newest Akihabara@deep. I never realized a series of this type could go that serious and that deep. It was revealed at the end of last episode that Yui (the person who had brought Akihabara@deep together) had dated and worked with Nakagomi (the head of the big and powerful DigiCap who has plotted many of the things that Akihabara@deep have had to fight again). At the same time, an Yui's AI has advanced even further, no longer just simulating a text conversation with the deceased Yui but now showing an image of her and actually talking. This episode started with Nakagomi hearing about this second hand and deciding that he needed to get it at all costs (because a) he thinks he can use the AI in his fancy search engine and thus make more money and b) he misses Yui and wants to be with her again). He offers Akihabara@deep some individualized prizes (tailored towards their interests) as well as 100,000,000 yen (roughly $1 million). They reject the offer though, because Yui is invaluable to them. So of course Nakagomi being rich and powerful decides that he'll do whatever it takes to get it. He waits until almost the entire team is gone and then sends in a team of goons to trash the place and steal the computers. Daruma is the only one there and he tries to stop them, but he gets beaten up (to point where he's in a hospital bed unconscious for the rest of the episode). The whole rest of the episode deals with the reprecussions of this. Akihabara@deep ends up splitting apart, because Page (the leader) is afraid if they try to fight Nakagomi they'll all end up like Daruma. At the same time, the Yui AI is resisting Nakagomi. Someone within DigiCap (who has ties to one of the @deep members) is working to foil Nakagomi, proving he committed crimes (possibly fraud). Akira at the end of the episode sneaks into DigiCap and finds the computer with Yui. It tries to warn her that she's in danger, but it's too late. Nakagomi knocks her out. That's how it ends. It's building up to a big conclusion in the next episode (as the series is ending). It's interesting how everything interrelates and how deep all the characters are. My little description here hasn't done the thing justice. I love this series though. It's just excellent. I can't sing its praises enough.

God Speed Love

So a friend in Japan hooked me up with a copy of the Kamen Rider Kabuto movie, God Speed Love. It's a compressed file typically suited for viewing on the computer. I've gone about decompressing it and burning it to a DVD though so that I can watch it on my TV. This is the movie I've been anticipating for a while. I missed its theatrical release in Japan by like a week, so I was sort of disappointed. I'm not sure how my friend in Japan got a hold of it (maybe bootleg in Akihabara?) as the official Region 2 DVD doesn't come out until January (I know as my preorder for it has been in place for like a month). Still I'm eager to see it. I mean come one. I love Kamen Rider shows and typically the movies are a compressed awesome form of that (at least judging from the Agito, Faiz, Blade, and Hibiki movies; I haven't seen the Ryuki movie or special yet). From the commercials and trailers I saw in Japan, the movie looked to be even better than any of the other movies. I mean a) it had riders in space for crying out loud and b) supposedly the end of the movie involves the main character time traveling, changing the present, and leading to the current TV series timeline (by changing a few key events). It's all sorts of awesome. I'm so excited. Come on DVD, finish burning already.

You know you're a nerd when...

So when I was in Japan, I visited Akihabara (the electronics district for nerds) quite a few times. I mean it was like a 20 minute walk + $1 total train ride. Not bad at all. So on one of my trips, I went to buy a new game that was out. It was called Magical Vacation: 5-tsu no Hoshi Ganarabutoki for the Nintendo DS, and it was the sequel to Magical Vacation for the Gameboy Advance. I bought it because I remembered Magical Vacation hadn't come out in the US and so I didn't expect the sequel to either. So I went and got it (actually at a discounted price despite it having just come out that day) and put it with my stuff to go home. I played the game for about an hour but quickly got busy with other stuff and so the game got put to the side. Here's a picture I took of the game after I got it:



So here's where I prove my nerdiness. I found a $50 giftcard on my desk under some papers and such. I decided to find a game to buy with it, something to entertain me on the few remaining weekends of the semester. I did some searches and all, checking out what games were good and interesting looking. At first I was leaning heavily towards Final Fantasy XII on the Playstation 2. Then I thought "Hmm, I wonder what's come out recently on the DS?" I checked my typical review site (IGN DS) and looked at the latest reviews. There was a game called Magical Starsign. The word magical at the start is what caught my eye. I opened up the review and was surprised to see that it was Magical Vacation: 5-tsu no Hoshi Ganarabutoki. It had actually received a new name and a full English translation. It had come out at the end of October, so it was sure to be available. I knew I had to buy it then, as it's a lot more enjoyable to be able to fully understand the game (my limited Japanese allows me to play games from Japan, but I don't always fully get every detail). So I went out on Thursday and bought this:



So yes, I hold the nerd title quite well. I'm one of only a small few who would buy both the Japanese and English version of a game.

Oh, and for the record, the picture below is why Akihabara is so crazy. You get free tissues with advertisements all over the place. The ones I got below were all received in my afternoon out getting that game. I also got a balloon too. Crazy Akihabara.

An explanation

I guess I never really thought to explain this before. With my posting of so many video clips from various Japanese shows though, I thought an explanation was in order. So here it goes.

There's a definite reason why I like a lot of Japanese shows/series, why I'm typically more excited about them than about their counterparts on American television. I'm not like a lot of these nerds addicted to anime who are just like "oh, big robot!" or "oh, nice special effects!" or whatever. Most of the reason I like these series so much is because these series typically nail characterization on the head a lot better than their American counterparts. Take for example the current iteration of Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Kabuto. Every character who is fighting in that show has a deep, personal reason why they are fighting. There is a reason for why they go through the things that they do. It's sort of like the whole thing about why Spider-Man is so great. It's because he gets put through so much, but you can understand how and why he reacts the way he does. Spider-Man has very good characterization. Many American shows lack this sort of stuff though. There's a lot of falling back on typical used stereotypes. I won't argue that some of the Japanese shows also rely on stereotypes, but they are mostly Japanese stereotypes (so to some extent they are still new and entertaining to me).

The other thing is I have a heavy interest in the Japanese culture. This interest (combined with my interest in Japanese history and my interest in Japanese video games and such) is what spurred me to go on my trip to Japan. I think it's partially because I feel detached from American society and culture. My mindset isn't in tune with the typical American one. I could list numerous examples of this, but that would make this post entirely too long (and it would be a whole separate tangent). Needless to say though, I don't connect well with the culture that is typically praised and supported by most American shows. While I don't totally connect with Japanese culture either, there are a few things that I latch onto and that I get. This gets fairly complicated quickly, so I think I'll just leave it at that.

Other than these things (which are the main ones) is just the fact that this is new stuff that I don't have tons of exposure to (I have more than most Americans, and maybe even more than many nerds, but I still don't have tons compared to my exposure to American stuff). With American television and movies, it's all the same stuff reiterated and reformatted. Sitcoms are particularly bad, because most times it's the same joke repackaged over and over again. Dramas aren't much better. It's only been in the last few years (with shows like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and most recently Heroes) that we've started to get into some somewhat new ground with television. Most American television though I find dull and repetitive. It's the reason that my TV stays off about 95% of the time. Not only do I not connect with the stuff, I'm bored with it by the time it even starts.

I hope this short post has given some insight into why I watch as much Japanese television as I do. Maybe it hasn't and it's just a bunch of disjointed ramblings. If that's the case, oh well.

Garo Addition

I should have mentioned this. The clip I posted was the introduction to a show called Garo. It was the first real tokusatsu show geared towards older teenagers and adults (most tokusatsu shows are geared towards children and young teenagers in attempts to sell merchandise like toys). It's a lot darker than most tokusatsu shows and features a lot of violence, some nudity, and a more adult storyline. It's an interesting show, and I hope that similar shows (i.e. adult tokusatsu) are produced.

Garo

Take a wild guess

キタ！

It came finally!



Even though I already finished the TV series (and the additional specials) last week, I was still looking forward to the book. I mean the TV stuff obviously deviates from the real life story somewhat. So I'm really interested in reading it. I laugh at the wording on the cover though: "The story of the Train Man who fell in love with the girl, Hermes." While it's a true sentence in the most basic of senses, there are so many things that that sentence is lacking. Funny stuff nonetheless though.

Kamen Rider Crazy

Kamen Rider Ryuki OP


Kamen Rider Blade 2nd OP


Kamen Rider Hibiki ED ("Keep the beat, keep your beat")