Monday, August 30, 2010

New Looks...and Satoshi Kon Dead!

First things first...Satoshi Kon has died of pancreatic cancer? WTF? check it out here. Madhouse are responsible for some of the more eccentric [and thus sometimes better] anime series of late, and Satoshi Kon has had some memorable features the often attempt to drag Anime away from the public perception of 'cartoons' [Western public]. He'll be sadly missed [especially at just 48].

In less interesting news...we went to a black presentation...because the green was bothering me.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

New SodaPop Minis...

Kisa & Isabeau Now Available!

SodaPop Miniatures released two more of there range today. The figures have been floating around in the sneak peeks for a while, but are now available for purchase.

And now for the bad news...pay day is still three weeks away.

Personally, I think I prefer the Isabeau Durand figure.

See them / Buy them here.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Ultramarines: The Movie

So, GW have finally got a CGI production company that has done something towards a Warhammer 40,000 movie.

See the first trailer here...

And then you can come back and comment.

I've been keeping track of development of this project for a while now. So far it looks a little clean, and it was always going to be a problem getting a decent story. Thankfully, Dan Abnett [Gaunt's Ghosts author] has come on board.

The trailer looks...OK, hopefully they will tidy up some of the really obvious problems before its goes to release.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

SodaPop Miniatures

The gauntlet has been verily thrown down...

Prompted by the enthusiasm of my good friend over at OzMecha, I have acquired some of the Relic Knights range of miniatures from SodaPop Miniatures. Once I have the lovely little pieces of pewter in my hands I will be able to paint them up and show you all some pickies...

The eventual aim? Once and for all I will prove that OzMecha is a much better painter than I am...But have a damn fun time in the process. At the very least give OzMecha an example to say 'This is how you DON'T paint the SodaPop Miniatures'

Stay tuned.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Anime 2010 Review : High school of the Dead [HOTD]

Anime 2010 Review

High school of the Dead [HOTD]

Origins: Originally a manga, first published in 2006, picked up and produced by Madhouse Studios, first screened July 2010.

Genre: Action, Zombie, Fan service, High School, Romance

Premise: Komoro Takashi, is the main male protagonist, he happens to witness the infection of the school grounds by some deranged outsider and thus manages to warn child hood friend Miyamoto Rei and her boyfriend. Survival instinct kicks in and Takashi and others manage to 'get out' of high school and start to 'survive' so to speak in a contaminated zombie world.

Beginning: First episode is good, establishing the infection and the main characters. Action is fluid, with plenty of fan service panty shots, similar in fashion to Ikki Tousen [so much so I researched if they were the same author...not to be].

The survival actions of the characters is almost believable, although there is an almost instantaneous lack of empathy towards the zombies [past school mates], although this is nicely explained in a few scenes where flight mechanism cuts in. Human nature be damned, untrained souls will push past their own grandmother to get away from something if the feel the need.

The solid group are two guys and three girls, plus a well endowed nurse. Action is inter-spliced with snippets from what is happening in the rest of the city, country, world, etc. Additional characters seem to have references that are not immediately built on, but there is some time yet to go.

Opinion: Watch it if you like:
- zombies [seriously, zombies is a genre],
- Ikki Tousen-esk panty and cleavage shots,
- The idea of a class geek getting nail-gun revenge on all and sundry [because they happen to now be zombies]

Middle: The characters have survived 7 episodes, and have managed to live through 2 nights of Zombie time. They also seem to have acquired a ring-in little girl, [for the sheer brutal cuteness of it all], and this has in turn re-affirmed their ability to empathise with remaining non-zombies [or at least defenceless cute pink haired little girls]. I feel that half way through the series we seem to be getting no where fast.

However, the group has made itself fairly solid, and has equipped itself with a Humvee [HMMWV], a large arsenal of semi and automatic weapons and a desire to kill any and all zombies that mess with them. With these accoutrements perhaps the ordeal of getting 'home' or to some sort of safe haven, may be expedited.

Episode 7 challenges all previous episodes with the amount of fan service, panty-shots, bouncing cleavage etc, seeming never ending during the episode. A friend of mine commented that this series only grows on you more if you have also watched 'Zombieland'...I tend to agree with him.



End: Pending