chrno_the_sinner

Member
  • Posts

    23
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by chrno_the_sinner

  1. So, episode 11 of TLP was supposed to go up Friday.... but all of us have had a month of basically hell, so it was going to be delayed until this Sunday.

    ...And this Friday, when we all got ready to record... Kellen's laptop, containing all of his notes and is what we generally use to record on... overheats.

    ...so we go out for food, return, set up the laptop again for recording... and the power goes out on our block, which ALSO triggers an alarm right outside our apartment.

    Which leads to this:

    Suffice to say, there will be a bit of a delay on episode 11, but only because EVERYTHING went wrong last night.

  2. I just finished episode 9 of Clannad, which finished off the first girl (Fuuko)'s storyline. It was definitely nice and sad, which I expected from a Key game adaptation. It's not the same kind of sad as Air, but a heartwarming sad. Anyways, highly reccomended. I'm playing through the game as well, and I hope to finish the game before the anime ends.

    Besides that, I'm just not-so-patiently waiting for the new Gunslinger Girl to air. I could probably watch it raw, what with having read the manga up to volume 5. There's not too much coming out this season though.

    Spring 2008 will be where it's at though. New Geass, Macross Frontier (w00t!!!!!), Possibly a new Haruhi, SA, and who knows what else. Spring 2006 got me back into absolutely loving anime again (with Haruhi, Ouran, Utawarerumono, Simoun, NANA, and Higurashi being the stand-outs), so I'm hoping for it to happen again.

  3. The Inital D dub is an abomination and Tokyopop should never try to adapt/americanize anything ever. I cite the horrid Giffenizations of Battle Royale and Ikkitousen (Battle Vixens). "F*** a Duck"? Changing "It was either you kill me or I kill you" to "Oh..... and red? Most definitely NOT your color." REALLY?!?

    For a 13 year old who likes Death Note... I'd reccomend Monster. It's most certainly a more mature read, but it's suspense storytelling at it's ABSOLUTE finest. 20th Century Boys will be released after Monster, and that's an even more fantastic read.

    Regardless of Age or Gender, Fruits Basket is a very upbeat show that will almost always put a smile on your face.

    Cowboy Bebop is a decent show, but I wouldn't put it too high on my list. I found other action shows to be more appealing to me. R.O.D. The TV and the Read or Die OVA are excellent action shows with overarching plots. Bebop was a little too detached for my liking.

    I was around your age when I first started really watching anime, and Chrno/Chrono Crusade was in many ways my gateway drug. Many describe it as 'Hellsing Lite', but it's excellent, and the ending is well done as well, and nearly had me in tears.

    As far as Shonen shows go, One Piece is undoubtably the way to go. It starts off very, VERY slowly, but once the fourth arc occurs (Arlong Park and Nami's past), the series continues to get better and better, never feeling repetitive, even with it's 40+ volumes. I also like Bleach, but in a guilty pleasure way. I can only think of one truly great fight in the series so far (I only buy the releases as they come to the US, and it's almost out of habit now).

    And if you're up for angsty angst with a large dash of angst of the side, covered in angst sauce, try the manga Life.

  4. I just bought the last DVD of AIR, and.... I cried. Cried is even too manly of a term. I bawled. It was sad.

    Genshiken was a series I kept up with in the manga, so I'm not in a rush to see it again. Code Geass was amazing too. I HATE HATE HATE that cliffhanger at the end of 25 though.

    I'm watching Gurren Lagann, Clannad, Myself; Yourself, and Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai right now. GL is filled with EPIC and WIN, Clannad will end up with me crying, Higurashi is a great watch, and Myself; Yourself was a surprise hit with me.

    I just recently finished Baccano. It was an incredibly good watch, with no stops along the way.

    In terms of manga, I'm reading BECK, Bleach, Alive, Drifting Classroom, EDEN, Fruits Basket, Gunslinger Girl, Gakuen Alice, Hibiki's Magic, Kashimashi -Girl Meets Girl-, Life, Monster, MPD Psycho, NANA, Negima, Evangelion, Tsubasa, Welcome to the NHK, and Yotsuba&. In terms of Anime-related novels, I'm reading the Welcome to the NHK novel, Calling You, Kino no Tabi, Scrapped Princess, Missing, Twelve Kingdoms, and Good Witch of the West. I'm enjoying all of them, with a STRONG emphasis on Monster, EDEN, Life, and BECK.

  5. So in the small batch of DC comics I got, this ad came up:

    t_Robin170-house-ad.jpg

    Looks like Spoiler's coming back. Actually, she already has, in Gotham Underground #2. The question is whether or not it's Steph or not. It could partially redeem Leslie's character if she faked the death.

    Edit: Here's the solicitation for the issue

    After a life-changing battle with Ra's al Ghul in Nanda Parbat, Robin comes home to Gotham to find there's a new girl in town, wearing a color he can't ignore. The new vigilante calls herself Violet, and she steals from the rich to keep for herself...and Robin's going to find out that's not all she's playing for. Plus, the return of an old friend with something to hide!

    Admittedly, I've only just got into comics and only started Robin with the Teenage Wasteland TP and 167 onwards, so I don't know a whole lot about everything.

  6. As long as it's Avatar: The Last Airbender or Avatar: The Legend of Aang (UK title), I doubt there'd be a problem. Failing that, they could just go with TLAB or TLoA.

    And M. Night also wrote Stuart Little, which was free of twists as far as I know. He's at least capable of writing family fare.

  7. I personally LOVED Stranger than Fiction. Ferrell's acting was nicely subdued, and the supporting cast was good as well. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. There's a nice message in it too. I really recommend seeing it, for Ferrell showing us that he can be a decent serious actor if nothing else.

  8. If it was West, the "Pandora's Box" could be the dark path he's now set himself on.

    I just watched that scene of the shooter walking away about 50 times. He's too tall and heavier built to be West, who's a slim kid. He's also white, which rules out the Haitian. My bet stays with Future Peter, Noah, Mr. Petrelli, or possibly Future Sylar. The build seems too slim to be Noah, but the possibility's still there.

  9. Brokeback Rouges was one of the major pluses that Countdown had going for it. Now that it's pretty much over, There's not too much to look forward to.

    Myself just getting into comics, I didn't see too much wrong with Countdown.... until I read the first three issues of 52 in Chapters while passing the time and realizing how much ground 52 covered in those isssues and how much ground Countdown didn't cover.

  10. Hopefully Peter will realize his blood might have healing powers as well. The creators did say two characters would die though, so Nathan might have bit it, as much as that would suck. I did like how Maya interacted with the other characters though (well, Molly). Her character could become likable with more development.

    As long as Villains takes place directly after this episode, I'll be a happy camper. Apparently, they re-shot the ending of this episode to be more conclusive, so I hate to think of what the cliffhanger ending would've been like, considering how this one ended.

    My guess for the shooter is Noah. It looked like him and others have seconded this opinion.

  11. Just listened to this today and wanted to point something out.

    Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow Soft cover is not a manga, but a fantasy novel, and a damn good one at that. Like most first novels in a fantasy series, it's not the best of the series, but it's still damn good. I recommend it to any fan of fantasy. There aren't many foreign names to remember, most are fantasy names.

  12. There's only one real part I didn't care for, among all the time-paradoxes...

    They made the entirety of Jurassic Bark redundant. Killing Fry's dog with the blast was not too good. Jurassic Bark was one of the few episodes that can bring almost anyone to tears (or close to it).

    Besides that, I love the fact that they brought back so many characters, like Santa and whatnot. That opening scene was also awesome with the Box Network.

    I'm definitely looking forward to the next three movies.

  13. In recent interviews and news, subtitling has continued for unreleased Geneon acquisitions The Familiar of Zero and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (both of which are great but I wholeheartedly endorse the latter). Dubbing has also continued for most of Geneon's shows, Black Lagoon and When They Cry being the most prominent. I don't see why a company wouldn't want to pick up a series with a dub ready to go.

    Geneon's had a lot of problems over the years as well. They've had the highest prices for anime until recently and their wholesale prices for retailers were still larger than normal. Extras for most Geneon shows have been scarce. There weren't even clean opening and closing segments for their Higurashi release.

    And about the whole fansub argument. I will say this. I would never have gotten as far into the anime community as I did if not for fansubs. From the fansub group who did uncut Digimon I aquired Chrno Crusade (hence the username). And I just got further from there. Now, I own around 100 or more DVDs and 300-400 manga. I will not deny fansubs do harm to the industry, but in a way, they've let anime become more accessible to the mainstream. No way we would've gotten the Haruhi LEs without the hype obtained from fansubs.

    I am quite happy that I got a lot of Geneon shows from the recent sales on The Right Stuf International. The only ones I still really need are Samurai Champloo, Lain, and Niea_7.

    It's just time to play the waiting game now. Lucrative shows like Rozen Maiden, When They Cry, and Hellsing won't go unreleased for long.

  14. I saw it more as Rigg couldn't tear himself away from his job to focus on his marriage at all. She wanted him to go with her for once rather than focus on work, like he presumably always does.

    Again, she asked him to come. That's the key point. Had this been a rift she wouldn't have asked him at all.

    To me, it seemed like she was actively trying to save her marriage. She wants to like Rigg, much like you want to like SAW or Countdown.

    They did hear each other. Straum heard the gunshots from Jeff, and left in that direction, while Rigg left in another.

    And that's why the whole idea is stupid. Why would Jigsaw risk sending cops with loud guns into a building where another "game" is taking place? If one bullet is fired, everything could fall apart.

    Could be that Straum wasn't anticipated and Perez got her face blowed off to keep Straum with her, but that's pushing it.

    She was the one he was with throughout the movie, and she carried him out. I'm sure he'd remember at least that much before passing out completely. The cops should've been able to add two and two together.

    Though you have a point, it wasn't said. We shouldn't have to make these leaps in logic. I'm not asking for movies to hold our hands, but sometimes films do need to outline how characters know certain bits of information -- especially cops. It would have been very easy to script something like:

    Cop 1: "Are we sure Amanda is working with Jigsaw?"

    Cop 2: "Yeah. Daniel Matthews said she abducted him."

    Bang. Two lines and we know how the cops know Amanda is part of the killings.

    In any case, I'd place money on Perez being an apprentice. It could've been she honestly didn't know about the doll having a bomb in it

    I still doubt it.

    Fair enough.

    And the hooker propositioning John for sex wasn't the only continuity thing placed in the SAW movies. In III, when Jigsaw gets the flashbacks of his ex-wife during brain surgery, the man from SAW II who helped kidnap everyone and was burned alive is walking in the background.

  15. - She asked him to come along, so I don't see that as a rift. A rift is her leaving in a huff or without asking.

    She didn't just ask. She damn well near begged him to tear himself away from the job, which he refused to do.

    Right, which means she really wanted him to come. Hence, no rift.

    I saw it more as Rigg couldn't tear himself away from his job to focus on his marriage at all. She wanted him to go with her for once rather than focus on work, like he presumably always does.

    Well, it is a fairly large building. Jeff was locked away in a different area inside the warehouse. Straum and Rigg had the highest chance of running into each other, but Straum likely headed in a different direction when he heard the gunshot from Amanda and Jeff.

    I still don't buy it. It would have to be several square miles for those people not to hear one another.

    They did hear each other. Straum heard the gunshots from Jeff, and left in that direction, while Rigg left in another.

    I was referring to the end of SAW II, after Big Scary Black Guy got his throat slashed with the saw. Only Amanda and the son remained. Amanda opened the safe, knowing the combo, and used the syringe on the son. Amanda had the antidote in the first place, since she never looked sick throughout the movie. When Amanda brought the son to Jigsaw's lab to put him in a 'safe place', she wasn't wearing a mask.

    Did the boy ever clearly see her or was he groggy? I can't recall.

    She was the one he was with throughout the movie, and she carried him out. I'm sure he'd remember at least that much before passing out completely. The cops should've been able to add two and two together.

    If she was with Jigsaw, why did she look into the doll like an idiot?

    To avoid suspicion. Any cop investigating Jigsaw should KNOW not to go near anything Jigsaw sets up. Her interpretation of the scene of the rapist's trap was far too suspicious.

    Allowing your face and neck to be blown to shreds seems a bit, I don't know, extreme.

    In any case, I'd place money on Perez being an apprentice. It could've been she honestly didn't know about the doll having a bomb in it

  16. - She asked him to come along, so I don't see that as a rift. A rift is her leaving in a huff or without asking.

    She didn't just ask. She damn well near begged him to tear himself away from the job, which he refused to do.

    - Freddy and Jason believe they're right, too. Basically it comes down to this: John doesn't want to help these people. What he wants is revenge on society for screwing with his plans / life. The junkies and whores are being killed for putting his wife in danger, and the police for not cleaning the streets. He can ride the moral high horse if he wants, but it all comes down to revenge.

    I agree, and I think it's one of the points the movie tried to show. Jigsaw didn't want to help people from the 'goodness' of his heart. It was to avenge his carefully planned child. The first signs of Jigsaw's corruptness was the first trap in SAW II, the informant, which made no sense.

    Hoffman might have pegged that as "the beginning," but I still don't buy Rigg instantly knowing that was where he was supposed to go.

    I don't quite either, but I may remember a photo of the principle or something, but that might be the "stylish" flashback scenes, which I dislike as much as anyone.

    I thought Zep helped him in some regard.

    He helped because that was his test. If he saw it through to the end, Jigsaw would give him the antidote. Which begs the question "Why not go to a hospital." Also, testing one of the only people at the hospital that was nice to you is stupid as well.

    - I refuse to believe that Jigsaw would willingly hand his legacy over to someone who hasn't been fully tested. He's too anal for that.

    - No. I mark that as poor filmmaking. :D

    -That's a fair assumption to make, and there is the possibility that another apprentice has already been fully tested, and has the necessary mind set to continue the work, and Hoffman is still in need of testing.

    Do you realize how huge that place would have to be for them not to hear and see each other?

    Well, it is a fairly large building. Jeff was locked away in a different area inside the warehouse. Straum and Rigg had the highest chance of running into each other, but Straum likely headed in a different direction when he heard the gunshot from Amanda and Jeff.

    Possibly, but doubtful. Whenever someone is abducted, the pig mask is being worn. Why would that abduction have been any different?

    I was referring to the end of SAW II, after Big Scary Black Guy got his throat slashed with the saw. Only Amanda and the son remained. Amanda opened the safe, knowing the combo, and used the syringe on the son. Amanda had the antidote in the first place, since she never looked sick throughout the movie. When Amanda brought the son to Jigsaw's lab to put him in a 'safe place', she wasn't wearing a mask.

    The point remains, the police would have to be inept to not realize Hoffman is the man behind the recent killings. Rigg is dying (dead?) on the floor, Detective Matthews is dead, Art the lawyer is dead, Jigsaw and Amanda are dead. Who's that leave? Oh yeah, Hoffman who was "trapped." Even if he tries to pretend like he escaped the trap, an expert will quickly realize that's impossible. Not only was it not really connected to the electrical source, the trap was triggered (by Detective Matthews). If the trap went off, where's Hoffman's body? See, they better realize Hoffman is the mole by the next picture.

    I agree completely. The cops were hot on the trail, so Rigg should've been able to survive. If he didn't, it's stupid. Likewise with the forensics examining the trap. I believe that Hoffman's scene with the tape was before forensics on the trap was completed. If Hoffman isn't outed within the first cop exposition scene, I'd be greatly disappointed.

    If she was with Jigsaw, why did she look into the doll like an idiot?

    To avoid suspicion. Any cop investigating Jigsaw should KNOW not to go near anything Jigsaw sets up. Her interpretation of the scene of the rapist's trap was far too suspicious.

    But that's the thing: it's not intellectual, pseudo-intellectual or anything-intellectual. It thinks it is, but, if it was, it wouldn't have to explain itself by the end.

    I think the franchise would have been much better off without the flashy reveal scene. It doesn't even really need it. It assumes it's audience is braindead and needs to be reminded what happens not minutes before. Most movies with a twist do a flashback scene (The Sixth Sense comes to mind) to show the viewer what really happened. The way SAW does it is too flashy and forced.

    What I'd really like to see from the franchise is something that breaks from the norm somehow. I'm looking forward to the new director and writer that should come in with V. Hopefully they'll be able to make the concept fresh somehow. And dammit, show what the hell happened to Dr. Lawrence.

  17. Ok, so first post here, but I've done some podcasts with Kellen before.

    I just watched SAW IV this weekend, After having seen the first three again the Thursday before (but I slept though the first) at a friend's house. My friends enjoy the franchise a lot more than I do, but I think it's still somewhat decent, if only just. Before seeing it, I did read the plot twists, not really intending to see it right away. Knowing the twists (concerning Hoffman and "The-Beginning-Is-The-End" certainly made the movie slightly more enjoyable, especially after seeing SAW III, since this movie is essentially SAW 3.5.

    I'm typing this as I listen to the podcast, so bear with my random thoughts...

    -Hoffman was definitely obviously one of Jigsaw's apprentices since SAW III. The clues were everywhere in that initial scene.

    -Hoffman is holding a doll in the same scene where Rigg is watching the wife interview. Perez (or someone) asks if it's a boy or girl. Hoffman replies it's a girl and Perez says she didn't know he was married. Hoffman says "I'm not. It's a short story", thereby impling that it's for Jeff's daughter, who is most likely still alive, one way or the other. <<--Jeff's Daughter Explained

    -Rigg's wife wanted him to take his vacation time and not keep working. There could be implied rifts in the marriage. Rigg refused to take the time off the case because he's still obsessed over finding Mathews.

    -I had the same problem with the "Why the hell don't you shoot the hair!" aspect.

    -While I don't particularily like John's backstory, I think that he needed a bit of it. He's not the same as Freddy, Jason, et al. He's not just killing to avenge himself. He's killing because he believes he's right in his actions.

    -The trap for the fat man was simple. He could either gouge out BOTH his eyes, or his body would be torn apart. Man only got one eye out.

    -The pig mask, in retrospect, was completely pointless, and used only for the "becoming Jigsaw" factor.

    -Hooker girl who propositions John in the car was the girl in SAW II who was a dumbass and put her hands though the glass trying to get the syringe.

    -Jigsaw's motives come clear here. He sees that his wife 'failed' in helping these people, and only they can help themselves.

    -Hoffman could have gotten the information for Jigsaw for the pedo Principle. That was also the start of Rigg wanting to bring them to justice, not letting any victim go unsaved.

    -Why did Jigsaw know about anatomy? One answer could be Cary Elwes being an apprentice, though that's unlikely.

    -Pig mask origin was unneeded.

    -Lawyer was shot by Rigg, thinking it was Jigsaw

    -Jeff got the gun from his trap, putting it all together. The gun only had one bullet, which was used to kill Amanda.

    -Zepp was not an apprentice. He had a poison running though his body.

    -Amanda's real test was the entirety of SAW III. The first head trap was not the test. Hoffman could have been tested previously and the real test would be yet to come.

    -Hoffman's reaction at the end is part act and part actual surprise about having to be tested.

    -Jeff was in a different area at the time of SAW III and came though a second door. The only characters that could've met were Straum and Rigg.

    Jen's plot hole

    -Amanda could have been outed by Matthew's son, which is the most plausible explanation. Amanda probably injected the son before knocking him out.

    Mike's Plot Hole Explained

    Straum did not see Hoffman. Hoffman passed by the door and shut and locked it. Straum was likely too preocupied with these dead bodies, one of which is missing half a head, to notice a person passing by closing the door. It is not a lock that could only be opened with a key, as seen when Straum unlocked it before Jeff went crazy on him. The police force was hot on Straum's tail and would've unlocked the door quickly. Hoffman has NO time to remove him from the room at all. Even if the door couldn't have been unlocked, there's still the tool used to open the chain-man's door (welder? blowtorch?) that they could use.

    Other notes.

    -Perez is likely an apprentice. Note her interpretation of the eye-gouging trap and her 'romanticizing' of the crime. There are also keys. Amanda had one around her neck in SAW III, Perez carried the key Kerri had in her letter, and Hoffman held another key as well, though I don't quite remember where it came from.

    My plot hole is different. The rest of the police force are on the way, and Rigg wouldn't die that quickly. They should've found him before he succumbed to his wounds. Also, if it had ended any other way and Matthews would have missed Rigg, Hoffman would have been outed right away.

    I did not overly like nor overly dislike this series. SAW IV works mainly as an expansion to SAW III, but not much beyond that. John's backstory was too drawn out for my liking and was certainly my least favourite part of the movie. Still, I like it as a pseudo-intellectual thriller with gore that you can turn your brain off and enjoy. If I were to rate it, it'd be a 2.5-3.0 for me.

    Sorry for the overly long and drawn out post I just created.