Shopping Loots! Monoke Hime & Girly stuffs!

I think my life is so horrendously boring -__-;; I can’t even remember when was the last time I hung out with friends on a weekend. This blog entry will be highly incoherent and full of random photos.

 

On a totally different note, I am currently blogging while watching for the Nth time “Mononoke Hime”. In case you don’t know, Mononoke Hime is a 1997 animated movie by Studio Ghibli. I never had the chance to watch the movie when it first came out, I’ve only watched it like last year. But I’m so in love with the whole production*_*

 

And I really liked the main lead; Ashitaka. The last prince of his tribe who was forced to leave his village after he killed a monster boar and was cursed. Ashitaka is an old fashioned sort of anime guy. Very masculine/boyish looking , full of righteousness , chivalry and very gentle to everyone. I like guys like that ^////^;;; Unfortunately they only exist in the fictitious world u_u;

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion (fangirl ramble)

Ok. So I watched the movie yesterday and had some time to think through so I'm here with my fangirl rambles. If you want a spoiler free overview and some event photos of the exclusive screening at SIngapore Orchard Cineleisure, pop over to the TheCosplayChronicles by clicking here.

 

Take note that this entry is ladened with spoilers , if you don't want to be spoilt don't read on.

 

Ok. I feel so torn with my opinions and the ending. Overall I thought it was a good movie and the graphics are stunning. I really liked the team work and happy-go-lucky life in the beginning. It might be a labyrinth but it was satisfying to watch.

I kinda feel like I might have misunderstood some parts and definitely look forward to rewatching it again. There's so much twists and big ideologies I think I had trouble understanding. 

But why did homura had to do that?! I found her final action unnecessarily extreme and yes I am a Homura fan but this movie made her out to be so selfish! Throughout the beginning of the show, you see homura desperately trying to uncover the truth behind the perfect world they live in. Getting into a cut throat fight with Mami and Sayaka only to discover at the end of her investigation that she was the witch that created this labyrinth and trapped the others within it.

Thefight between magi and homura was pretty epic and exciting. I kinda wish it was a bit slower though then I'll have more time to catch up with the movement. I always found it weird that Homura uses normal human weapons against witches. Aren't those witches supposed to be a manifestation of intensely negative emotions? 

I really liked how the animators did this part though. They allowed the viewers to slowly peel the truth apart along with Homura. It really allowed us to feel Homura's sadness and desperation on a personal level and took us by surprise. At that point it was hard not to sympathise with the strong and level headed girl who had been trying her best to protect madoka only to discover that in all her loneliness, she had unconsciously slipped into those she hunt. A witch.
Then the whole conspiracy with kyubeh comes in and blahblahblah. Kyubeh is as evil as ever=_=. I found the whole theory of a magical girl being able to reach her finalised form and still take victims from the world while trapped in the isolated void hard to comprehend. Yes yes kyubeh says it is by invitations only but if your body and spirit is trapped in an isolated capsule how do you reach out to invite?!

Am I missing something?

 
Photo credit: Desu Ex Machina

The fight between Mami and Homura was pretty epic too. I've always wondered how Homura's weapons work as it seems like she is just using normal human weapons (we saw her stealing them in the anime) against her foes. But aren't her enemies witches? And aren't witches and wraiths the manifestation of intensely negative emotions (and Magical girls)? And if so aren't they supposed to be a spiritual sort of being that technically cannot be penetrated by bullets?

 

 
Photo credit: GeekXchange

 

What about Magical girls? can they be physically hurt too? As demonstrated by Sayaka in the anime it seemed like magical girls possesses some zombie like abilities and won't die from physical wounds. If so then why did Homura have to take the trouble to shoot Mami's leg when she can self regenerate in less than 10 minutes? And why was Mami was worried about Homura shooting herself? That 'suicidal' scene was very good though and a very smart attempt at getting away from Mami's ribbon. Though the screen was too fast for me to figure out how the bullet hit mami's ribbon and how Homura was hit but then later appears totally ok. Can someone fill me in on these ?

She looks fine to me…

 

Mami had a much bigger role this time and we finally had more chance to get to know her. It does appear that Mami is the strongest in combat amongst them all. I love how she managed to get away from Homura’s bullet and even captured Homura with her ribbons.

 
Photo credit: Desu Ex Machina

 

Oh and sayaka! It's very good to see her walk out of her attachment to Kyosuke and even "gained life experience". She played a much bigger role in this movie and like I mentioned in my overview review on TCC , it was nice to see the real sayaka beneath all those anger and frustrations shown in the anime. And it was nice to see how she seemed to be able to harness her witch power as needed and still keep it under control.  It was also very nice to see her reciprocating Kyoko at the end. Kyoko was much more lovable in this movie and felt like a very reliable friend.

Well the ending was... I don't know. I guess I can't say I love it.

 

 

I honestly felt that if they had ended it with Homura as a witch and then being rescued by Madokami and the other girls, it would have sat better with me. But of course, this is pmmm and they like being rebelliously weird and they like to troll people so they just had to twist the plot again.

I felt it was very selfish of Homura to take a part of Madokami away to stay with her in this enclosed space, and along the way taking sayaka , bebe , kyoko , mami and the rest of the usual gang in. I can't help thinking that what Devil Homura did was like coming back to what the Witch Homura did ...only now she had power even over the Incubator (Kyubeh) and in her (Homura) own opinion, she protected Madoka.

Homura mentioned that she only took the part that identifies Kaname Madoka but I seriously dont get how it all works out. How do you take a part of a supposed higher being away ? Even if she claims to be the devil...I don't know, in my religion, my God is all mighty and the devil stand no chance lol.

Ok so Homura transformed beyond a witch in her enclosed space and became a devil due to her immense love for Madoka. She could do that because she holds this emotion that no one else can understand.  When it came to this part I rolled my eyes lol. Love as an emotion is not exclusive to you lei Homura,  maybe your weird lust for madoka lah but =_=;;

Was it because she jumped time periods so many times it increased the 'unfortunate' in her own fate? Coupled with the loneliness of her knowledge and then pushed by her extreme passion. Did all those negative emotions accumulate into immensely high and destructive Mana? Was these what made her the devil equivalent ? Coming here with my blog entry I realise... that those are also the very same factors that turns human into demons =\ 

Oh and the final part, I thought Madoka was going to remember her true form!!! But she ended up not /_\ I think I’ve written too much and I should stop LOL. And oddly enough, I  feel like cosplaying the devil version of Homura XD

Kyoukai no Kanata ep 12 ( final ) fangirl rants

OK Spoilers alert! If you haven't watched episode 12, don't read!

Edit: Added more rants because I forgot them in the original haha

The final episode means end Liao T. T so sad :( why do they not make longer Animes anymore ? Series these days are getting shorter and shorter. While I appreciate the non- draggy story pace , I could do with more KNK moments><

I honestly liked ep 12 and was so glad Mirai came back at the end. I might cry if she didn't eventually ended up with akkey. Lol. 

But I must admit it wasn't as good as I hoped for it to be. Maybe ep 11 had surpassed my anticipation and had ended with such a blast both cinematically and emotionally that episode 12 seems rather bland and haphazardly put together. 

There were attempts to inject some light hearted moments into it such as the part where they yelled at Beyond the Bound lol. Typical KNK silliness but I'm glad that joke was only pulled once. 

I did however liked and was surprised at Akkey's very direct confession at the beginning. I love how KyoAni animated the couple's little reaction subtlety which made the scene more romantic and lovable. Reddening ears are cute okay ! Hahaha. And I was like way to go akkey! Get her !!! Hahahha

Hiyoooo I want more Mirai and Akkey larhhhhhh >w<!!! *fangirl wimbles*

I also liked how akkey was given a lot of attention and scenes this episode. Letting him confront his inner darkness was a very nice touch since in most episodes he was treated as a clown. I must admit I like Boys like Akkey who is usually calm and nice. So it makes the akkey with darkness that he so desperately wanted to contain double empathetical. 

I did however felt that portion was done too hastily with out enough emphasis on the solemnness of this emotion. Akkey's calm demeanor to his inner fears were applaudable and sets him apart from other anime characters who would probably go berserk.  But without a more melodramatic reaction from him prior ,the significance of the calm demeanor is reduced. 

And why did Mirai return ?! Let me rephrase. HOW DID SHE RETURN ?!!? Didn't she say she would disappear as she ceased to exist ?! Damn! This needs another season to explain! I DEMAND MORE KNKKKKK!!!! 

OH! AND WHY WAS THERE NO LAST/FIRST KISS? NO HUGS???? WAIIIIII I was so ready for their lips to lock or for them to chest bump but it never happened =(

That's good on certain level too I guess =\ Since that leaves much to the imagination lol.However I do want to commend KyoAni for keeping the Anime so Fanservice free! Despite the multitude of opportunities, I never once saw a panty shot. No up skirt, no lewd scenes.... even though Hiromi and Akkey have pretty weird fetishes that they openly declare . Okay and that bikini scene but generally its very Safe for Family! LOL

Hotarubi no Mori

Finally finished watching Hotarubi no Mori. Reiko had raved about it  when the short video came out in 2011. When I went to Animate @ Ikebukuro in 2011, they also had a shelf to promote it. 

Learn more about the show here -->> http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotarubi_no_Mori_e

I'm a fan of Natsume Yuujinchou so it wasn't difficult for me to want to watch it. It was however difficult to find time to sit down and watch. I'm now on flight back from Sydney via Scoot Airline. Budget airline has no free inflight entertainment and I have to bring my own.  So I watched this video that I've transferred to my laptop eons ago to watch on other flight trips. 

It's freezing btw ><|||| And i can't wait to get home to my familiar bed. 

And I'm so thinking of changing to a Macbook air. The battery life of my Sony Vaio is atrociously bad :(

The story was very straight forward. There's no twist and no awkward characters. There is however awkward relationships and situations. And the ending leaves you with a deep sigh on your lips   . The video is only 45minutes long. 

Ok spoilers alert! I'm gonna start talking about scenes in the show now ! 

Is it just me or does the beginning feel a little awkward ? Lol the word pedophile kept popping up in my head xD Hotaru is such a lively little girl though. 

But it was nice to watch their interactions and growth in relationship. Gin feels like such a gentle guy. 

I especially feel both weird out and touched ( such contradicting emotions ) at the 2 different scenes when Kid Hotaru and Teenager Hotaru was joking that " this feels like a date" and Gin responded so differently each time. 

Ahhhhh I think the scene where gin responded cutesy-ly "ahh yes it is a date~" to Hotaru was very cute. Aiyoo fangirl tokidoki moment ! It helps that he looks like Natsume xD <3

I cannot make up my mind whether if the ending was abrupt or well timed. 

It seemed well timed because Gin had finally had the chance to invite Hotaru to the Spirit's Natsu Matsuri and the longing-ness and maybe even loneliness in him was taking over him. So the ending though unsatisfying , was timely. 

He said he couldn't wait for another summer ... I wonder what that meant. Is his spiritual body giving way ? 

The part with him passing his mask to Hotaru and then kissing her on it was so beautifully done too T. T so simple yet so touching. 

On the other end, the ending felt abrupt because well I don't know ... I guess I just think more can be told about them ? *shrug*

I was half expecting an evil yokai (demon spirit) to appear to harm either of them and then places Gin in some unexpected situation of touching Hotaru. But it had to be him helping a random child who was tripping -_-; I think if I was Hotaru I would be pretty pissed with the kids for randomly running around. 

I think Hotaru is amazing. She is so in love and had so much courage to go beyond all odds. Even thinking of moving there (which I assume is a rural area ) so as to be closer to Gin. That's a lot of sacrifice, courage and blindness all rolled into one. The logical part of me felt so twist up watching them because I know there can be no true happiness for them because of their fundamental difference. Sigh. 

But I guess like they say, love is blind. And this is fictional. 

That said though , some times Animes make me feel meh. 

Its like a slapping reminder that even a 2d character has a more interesting life than me lol. 

Psycho Pass (Anime)

And so, I finally jumped on the bandwagon of following a series before its broadcast completion. I don't think I've ever done that before ... Well except Shakugan no Shana iii (final) but even that , I took forever to finish the final few episodes ( I couldn't bear for it to end T. T).

But for Sci Fi thrillers like Psycho Pass and Higashi no Eden, it only took me a few days to finish most of it.

Anyway , psycho pass is cool. Way too gore for my liking yet I cannot stop myself from hankering after it because like most thrillers, it keeps you at the edge of your seat. Yes, I have a spot for detective / investigative stories even though I don't follow a lot of it.

I still feel a little creeped out by it -.- images of the bodies and the scenarios accompanied me to bed last night. And I found myself looking out of the windows and half expecting something to jump in :x

Anyway, I wonder why would happen to Akane. I hope she stays saint and pure T. T I'm actually pretty angry with her in Ep 11. I mean come on , you may be nice but you are a law enforcer. You signed up knowing what you would need it do. Because of her hesitation , she allowed her innocent good friend to be killed in front of her. Sigh. What would you do if you were her ? Am I too rash to say I'd definitely pick up the rifle and shoot the guy ?

I guess most of us have to thank God we aren't put into such difficult situations. The task of deciding and sculpting a life is harder than we think. Which is also what makes the job of a mother, a father, a guardian and a teacher so important.

Did I talk too much again ? Ok I'm sorry. Look, here's some nice fruit tarts to make up for it.