October 2004
Friday, October 29, 2004 5:34 PM
Sorry for posting my review of "Jing: King of Bandits - Twilight Tales" late today, but my internet has been down for a few days. This review is an essecially import review to read since it will spare fans of Jing from wasting money on a sequel that they won't like. I won't have a new review up on Monday, but I will update the site with something better (really). Yeah, I know you guys are disapointed by the lack of a review on Monday, but the election is just a few days away, and I can't be spending time writting a review, I need to spend time researching what bills I'm going to vote for come November 2nd. I'll let you all know who I'm voting for AFTER the election, as I don't want to get spammed from either the Republican's or the Democrat's (the Green Party doesn't scare me)! And just to let people know ahead of time I HAVE seen "Fahrenheit 9/11!" So don't e-mail me suggesting I should see that movie. On another topic I'm going to reveil a deep dark secret I have: I worry about the reviews I write. I'm going to be honest with you: I LOVE writing reviews! To me it's one of the greatest hobbies I have. I love it so much that I would love to write reviews for a living one day (but even if I can't I'll still be writing them), however I always worry that no one notices my reviews, and that I'll never make money with my writing. I won't ever quit writing because I love it too much, but I always wonder whether or not I'm really making much of a difference or not. Today I think I got a sign that there is hope for me to make money doing what I love.
When I got home from work today (BTW, I FINALLY got a job) I opened my mailbox and saw a package from Amazon.com in the box. While I am definetly one of Amazon's biggest customers (as evident by how many links I put up on this site) I was puzzled as I didn't order anything from Amazon for awhile, nor did I get an e-mail confirmation of anything that had shipped. When I opened it up I KNEW I didn't buy anything, as inside was the DVD "Around The World In 80 Days" starring Jackie Chan, which is a movie I had not seen and did not plan to buy! Along with the DVD was a letter from Amazon, saying that since I was one of their best reviewers (yes, I write reviews on Amazon too) that they were providing me with a free advance copy of this movie, which won't even be available to the public until November 2nd (Election day....talk about bad timing)! Well this letter definetly made my day, as it now seems I may actually have a chance to achive my dream. What's my dream? My dream is that one day my reviews will be popular enough that I can publish them in books and credit more then one review site. I want to create spin-off movie and video game review sites (amoung others), and I just want to make a living off writing reviews of all sorts of things. Of course, by then I'll most likely have other staff reviewers, but that's okay by me (even I know that it would be hard writing reviews for more then one site at a time). Will this dream come true? It might. I certainly have more confidense in my writing ability now more then ever. So maybe someday I'll make my dream come true. In the mean time enjoy the reviews I'm writing for you now, as my main goal at the moment is to entertain everyone with my writing. See you on Monday.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 5:13 PM
Man, I can't believe I've been updating this site as much as I have been these past couple days, but there's just so much interesting stuff happening online. Today I want to report on a very curious poll that has shown up on Viz's website. That's all, but what this poll might meen is exciting when I think about it.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004 2:17 PM
I normally don't do this sort of thing, but Animefringe is right now taking votes for "The Top 25 Best Anime Sites," and I'm pretty sure my site qualifies for this since I have a good portion of manga reviews under my belt. So if you guys don't mind, would you consider voting for me in this poll. You can also vote for two other websites, and I personally recomend also voting for Anime Jump and Lister X. Don't worry too much about voting for Anime on DVD or Anime News Network, they get more traffic then most of the sites that make it on that list combined, so they're doing just fine without this honor.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004 1:30 AM
Just figured I post this while I was online:
SEVEN SEAS LAUNCHES GOMANGA.COM |
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Tuesday, October 26, 2004 0:31 AM
My two cents for "Kare Kano" is up. Why did it take me so long to finish this review? Well, it's a funny thing really: After I was finished with the review I didn't like it, so I scrapped a good 90% of the review and basically re-wrote the whole thing. I am now sick and tired of looking at that review, and this is the one review I most likely won't EVER be re-reading! If you got the newest issue of "Shonen Jump" you may notice that Viz has renamed Zoro to "Zolo" in order to keep the names matched up with the "One Piece" anime that is being shown on 4Kids flop of a children's TV block Fox Box. Because of this turn of events, a new editorial will soon be making its way to this website. Anyway, there's my sneek preview for today. See you on Friday with a new review.
Monday, October 25, 2004 0:09 AM
The new review will be posted tomarrow. Sorry for the delay.
Friday, October 22, 2004 0:49 AM
I have uploaded my review for the lousy "Snow Drop" in the reviews section. I swear, if the majority of Korean comics are like "Snow Drop" and "Demon Diary" then I might just drop manwha like that. Someone over at AoD must have been reading my mind (or website) when I wrote my comments on the lack of "Case Closed" reviews on the net, because the two days later AoD posted their own review of "Case Closed." However that's not the most entertaining thing about the review. You see, whenever AoD writes a review they ask people to give their opinions on what they thought about the release in a poll on their overcrowded message board. For months now AoD message board members have been complaining about the name changes in "Case Closed" (get over it people, it's not a big deal), however this review pointed out something that is giving the AoD posters a chance to complain about something NEW in the series! Apparently some of the original Japanese names slipped by and made their way into the manga, and because of this the AoD posters are complaining that the name editing isn't THOROUGH ENOUGH!!! And what else? Well it appears the different uses of Japanese and English is "confusing" to them. NO IT IS NOT!!! The use of a couple of Japanese names that were changed was a MISTAKE people! Nothing more, nothing less. Why can't you guys just laugh at this mistake and move on instead of complaining about it on your stupid message board? Heck, since you guys hate the English names so much you should consider this a small blessing. But no, this is a confusing situation. However what I'd like to know is why is everyone complaining about the uses of the Japanese names when they hate the English names to begin with? I don't get it.
But I digress, at least the review is posted and that's ultimately all that matters to me (I think). Also it turns out Lister X DID review "Case Closed!" However they didn't review the Viz version of the manga, they reviewed the imported "Detective Conan" mangas (which is the exact same thing despite what AoD posters tell you). Well, time for me to go celibrate Christmas early with Ben Affleck's new movie "Surviving Christmas," which opens today. See you all on Monday!
Monday, October 18, 2004 0:27 AM
Posted my two cents for "Lupin III: World's Most Wanted." I had another review I was going to post, but I haven't really finished it yet, so maybe on Friday you'll see it. I don't know if anyone here noticed this, but I think my website is the only manga review site to have reviewed "Cased Closed." Not even "Anime on DVD's" manga spin off has reviewed this. Anime News Network? Nope. Lister X? Haven't seen it yet. Mangabits.com? Well...they haven't reviewed anything for a few months, so maybe they don't count at the moment. Keep in mind I'm not putting these sites down (as I enjoy reading the reviews and articles these fine sites have to offer), but I find it odd that out of ALL the popular anime/manga sites out there, and out of ALL the websites that get ten times more hits then I do, I find it strange that I'M the only site that happens to have the only real review of "Case Closed" available! How odd. Maybe someone can explain how this has managed to happen, as I'm particulary disapointed that no else seems to be giving everyone their two cents on the series. If you visit my site regularly you'll know that I've been plugging "Case Closed" since it premiered, mainly because I think it's one of the best new shows and manga's to come out in a LONG time! Since I've become such a huge fan of the show I was looking forward to reading reviews for this series more then any other series. However that doesn't appear to be the "case" (get it). Are all the manga review sites avoiding promoting this title because a few lousy names were changed? I'm honestly at a dead end here. But if anyone from the above sites happens to read this update (fat chance) then PLEASE make a note to review "Case Closed" soon! Consider this a request from a frequent visitor of your fine sites.
Friday, October 15, 2004 0:02 AM
A couple of the special features I was working on didn't get didn't get finished in time for this update, so you'll have to deal with my review of "Initial D" for now (bummer huh? *sarcasim*). I'm always thinking of strange new ways to keep this site interesting. I'm weird in what idea's I have though, so I'm going to share them with you and see what you guys think of them instead. How about theme's month? Like for a whole month I'll just write reviews for a certain genre, whether that be romance, comedy, or action. That would mean that once November came along you would see nothing but action reviews for the month (for example). After that things would return to normal, but wouldn't it be cool to do something like that? Another idea I have is "Confidential Confessions" month. I have reviewed the first two books of the series. I have revews for books 3 and 4 in the can, but for some reason I'm holding off for the rest of the series to be completed so that I could post the reviews for the rest of the series in one swoop. What about that idea? Yes, I know, my idea's are pretty weird, but just deal with me for awhile since my life is essential weird in itself.
Monday, October 11, 2004 0:08 AM
Posted my review for the movie "Batman: Mask of The Phantasm." I would like to encourage all you site visitors to sign up and start posting on the message board. Also keep your eye open this week and the following week for some special features that will be hosted while the reviews take a very short hiatus. Other then that enjoy the review.
Friday, October 8, 2004 0:02 AM
I've posted my review of "Tokyo Babylon" for your reading pleasure. I was browsing through Waldenbooks yesterday (something I do at least once a week), and I noticed that on the new releases shelf was volume five of "Fruits Basket." It didn't bother me that the Walden's had put the book on the shelf before they were supposed to (this works out to my advantage sometimes). No, the thing that bugged me about the book is that Tokyopop has decided to include a starburst on the cover that says "The #1shoujo in America." I want everyone to keep in mind that just because "Fruits Basket" is the best selling shoujo manga on the market that doesn't mean it's any good. There was something else I noticed while browing the bookstore though: There was an AWEFUL lot of new titles on the shelf! I look at all the stuff that I haven't gotten around to reading yet, I realize that I have my work cut out for me...and I have a wallet I need to put on a leash. I also added up how much manga costs me that I never think about. For example let's take "Lupin III." I have all 14 books of the first series bought. Assuming none of those books were part of the "Buy 4 Get The 5th Free" sale, then I will have spent...at least $135.00 on "Lupin III" (keep in mind I get 10% off the books with my Preffered Reader card). That's an aweful lot to spend on one series. And what about "Dragon Ball?" So far I'm bought 20 books of "Dragon Ball," and the series will be 44 books long when it ends. That's about...sheesh, that's more then $300 for "Dragon Ball," and the scary thing is that "Dragon Ball" costs $2 LESS per book! You might be wondering if there's a point to this, and there is: The point is DON'T think about how much your spending on your hobby, because it might scare you!
Thursday, October 7, 2004 1:48 PM
Just a side note, I'd like to wish my cousen Ashley Happy Birthday today. Shame that she doesn't visit this site, but I wished her Happy Birthday none-the-less, so we're cool.
Monday, October 4, 2004 11:45 PM
ListerX needs your help:
Ok, big one here. We are looking for content admins, reviewers, ppl to handle licensing announcements, and one event admin. It would also be nice if we could get someone to write up articles. |
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If you guys would be interested in joining the staff of one of the biggest anime & manga database websites out there.
Monday, October 4, 2004 0:06 AM
After taking a week break from this site, I am back with a new review of "Saikano" for your reading pleasure. I was hanging out with a bunch of friends on Saturday night. We went to see "Shark Tale" (it would be my second time seeing it, but that was okay since I didn't go with them to watch the movie, but to hang out with friends), and afterwords we went out to eat at In-N-Out Burger (some of you back East may not know what In-N-Out Burger is, but it's a super good burger join that's real popular in California). On the way home I was talking to two of my friends about becoming mods for my website, and since we started talking about this website we started talking about anime and manga since they are big anime freaks. At one point "Rurouni Kenshin" came into the conversation and I was shocked to to hear them say that they don't like the manga. When I asked why they told me because they thought the artwork sucked. As my friend said "I know the art is bad when I know that I can draw better then the manga." My other friend told me that she couldn't even read a manga if the artwork was bad, which is why she's never actually read much of "Rurouni Kenshin," "Inu-Yasha," and "Trigun." I told her that with the exception of "Trigun" (which I do believe the artwork is questionable sometimes) that all the other series she mentioned had GOOD artwork, and that those series in no way represented the pits of manga artwork! Her answer was actually "When the anime looks better then the manga I can't get into it," and that line is what inspired me to do this rant. If you are comparing a manga to an anime then here's some advice: DON'T!!!
Seriously, a TV show and a manga series are completely different from each, and comparison's are stupid. I write a lot of manga reviews on this site, but very rarely do I ever compare the manga to the anime. Why? Because they are two completely different things, and they shouldn't be compared. An anime may be able to stand on its own two feet, but the manga might not. Likewise you may be totally used to the way the characters look in "Rurouni Kenshin," but by comparing the differences between the manga designs and the anime designs you're missing the point that the whole reason the manga was made was to be enjoyed by its own merrits, not as a comparison to the TV show. In fact, when you read a manga you should NOT think about the TV show at all because whether you like it or not, the manga came first and is the way the author INTENDED for the series to be read! So whether you like it or not, the anime is NOT the way to view the creation! Let's take "Inu-Yasha" for example. The manga looks different from the TV show, that much is obvious. The characters have slightly different eye's, their heads are shapped differently, and their bodies are more body fat then they are muscle. Even the backgrounds and the worl they walk around in has a weird look to it. The TV show on the other hand has characters with more angular faces, more muscular bodies, and the backgrounds are EXTREMELY detailed! When all is said and done the LOOK of the two look the same, yet they also look different! Does that mean that one of the two is better then the other? Maybe, depends on who you are. Do the designs you prefer automatically mean the other designs suck? Of course not. The manga designs for "Inu-Yasha" may be different then what you are used to seeing on TV, but that does not mean they suck, they are just unique in their own right. What's also disturbing is that from the way my friends were talking there can only be one "real" version of a franchise. Whatever.
Here's some advice to people who don't like manga because you think the anime looks better: The anime is, by all acounts, NOT the original story the way the manga was written! It is a gift, and the TV producers WILL make changes! And the manga will NEVER be the anime! The manga is completely in control of the manga, and the creator normally doens't involve himself or herself with the anime. That is why the anime and manga will always be different regardless of what you are watching/reading, and doing comparisons get a little silly. When you read a manga don't compare it to the TV right off the bat, and instead enjoy it for what is IS as a manga, and NOT what it is compared to the anime! With that in mind there's something I have to say to my anime loving but manga hating "Inu-Yasha" friend: Did you know that if you want to know how "Inu-Yasha" ends you'll have to read the manga? No kidding. Also make sure to buy "Aladdin," coming out for the first time ever on DVD this week. Trust me, it's FAR more entertaining then "Fahrenheit 9/11!" Also for those of you who are interested I'm selling some of my manga and DVD's on eBay right now.