Lucca Comics 2007 Cosplay

Ho deciso di postare un paio di foto dei CosPlayers di venerdì 02 novembre 2007 a Lucca Comics and Games. Peccato non aver visto la gara del sabato ma comunque c'erano dei costumi fantastici! I migliori della giornata visti erano il gruppo di Alba, il gruppo di DGrey, Shin di Dorohedoro, uno dei Kakashi e un Naruto. I Jedi erano tutti fatti bene, e anche Lupin III e Pollon che però non sono riuscito a fotografare.

Tutte le foto si possono trovare qui:

"Foto Lucca 02/11/2007"

Fruits Basket - Anime

Fruits basket is a story about a curse of the chinese zodiac. The Sohma family has for generations been living with the curse; when a member is born under the curse he or she turns into one of the animals of the zodiac when hugged by a person of the opposite sex. This causes social problems and leaves many of the cursed in a fragile and dark mental state.

Tohru Honda is a sweet girl who manages to smile and help people even though she is without any family. In the midst of her personal despair she suddenly finds herself an adopted part of the Sohma family and tries to understand them and help them. Although many of the Sohma are nice to Tohru, the curse is not something easy to deal with as scars and mystery shroud them.

A wonderful 2001 anime that has a series of great characters and storyline. Although taken from the Manga, the Anime finishes quite a way before the comic but luckily that does not affect the storyline or leave you wondering. A must see classic!

Solty Rei - Anime

12 years ago the disaster called "Blast Fall" changed the world; people disappeared, families were destroyed, and many suffered the loss of limbs or other vital parts. Thanks to the RUC's Resemble technology however, life has continued even if many scars lie just beneath the surface.

Roy Revant is a bounty hunter working with for his lost wives friend Miranda whilst looking for his missing daughter Rita. The arrival of Solty, a strange girl with powers and no memory turns his life, and all those around her into turmoil. However the RUC is not all it seems as it starts to target Solty and Roy...

Solty Rei is an 2005 Anime by Gonzo, and is exceedingly good (as are most of Gonzo's works), with a great sound score, excellent graphics and a very good story-line it is definitely one to watch. The episodes may sometimes be a little predictable but this does not affect the quality of the anime. Directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike (Saikano, Excel Saga, Vandred 2nd Stage) it is a sadly underrated anime which has many great features as well as a decent ending (a rarity nowadays!).

Links:
www.soltyrei.net
www.soltyrei.tv

Bartender

Bartender is a wonderful anime which follows the Bartender Ryu Sasakura, nicknamed the "Glass of God" in his bar, the Eden Hall in Ginza. Ryu's ability is not only mixing wonderful cocktails but creating the perfect cocktail for that instant which relieves, revives and brings happiness to every client.

There a number of narrators in the stories, other bartenders, friends or colleagues of the client as well as the main narrator who's job is to present the story behind every cocktail chosen by Ryu.

Aside its wonderful colours, its prefect representation of all the bottles (using scanned 3D) there is a wonderful soundtrack and a general feeling of peace and serenity as befits the idea behind Eden Hall.

This Anime is a must see most, but especially if you like spirits and cocktails! You can't help finding your cocktail book and wanting to try for yourself!

Link:
http://www.bartender-tv.com
(Well worth a visit!)

Anime recap 2007

Chrno Crusade

Chrono Crusade follows the adventures of Rosette (an demon exorcist for the church) and Chrono fighting in the 1930's to find her brother Joshua, as the Demon Aion tries to push the world into a mass of despair and fear...

Picking up pieces of roman catholic church history and demonology the series is actually well done and well worth watching.
Rating ***

Black Lagoon & Second Barrage

Black Lagoon follows the adventures of Okajima Rokuro, a japanese employee who happens to enter the world of crime and treachery by becoming a member of the mercenary group The Lagoon Company. Along with Revi and the two other members of the group Dutch and Benny, these 2 series follow the world of crime where the rules are very different to what he has grown up in.

Having heard so much hype about it i was expecting more, the stories are rather straight forward, the underlying trama is slow and boring and it doesn't even finish properly... Not bad but not good... If you have watched Noir, Burst Angel and other like it you can probably give it a miss, if not have a go!

Rating ***

Elfin Lied

Now already a classic Elfin Lied is a good, and graphically violent, anime revolving around the main character Kouta and his meeting with Nyuu... Just who and what is Nyu, and who is Lucy?

Rating ****

Jigoku Shoujo

Have you been hurt so badly that you can only dream of revenge? Will do you anything to obtain your revenge? If so all you have to do is access the Jigoku Shoujo website at midnight, and write the name of the person you want to send to Hell. Emma Ai and her team will do the rest....

I great first series, Emma Ai is a fabulous character and the story lines are nearly always good. They could have avoided the repetitions of her send them to hell, but that's the only minor defect in the series. Well worth watching.

Rating ****

Fate/Stay Night

A good anime where every so many years there is the fight for the holy grail. The marked magicians are allowed to evoke a fighter from the past to fight for them. These fighters and their magicians are linked for good or worse but in the end only one can triumph. Shirou Emiya finds himself completely unprepared for this war but somehow manages to evoke Saber to protect himself... However he still doesn't want to fight, but will that be enough to save himself?

Taken from the Manga, the storyline is rather different from it but still enjoyable.
Rating ***

Himiko Den

A 1999 anime about a war between two countries and cultures. The Queen was in the middle of being chosen by the sacred fire in Yamatai when the country was invaded by the evil empre Kune, disrupting the ceremony. The daughter of the Fire Guardian was sent by the Fire (Bokka) to another world where she grows up unknowing of her past. A sudden turn of events returns Himiko and her friend Kutani to Yamatai with the power of the sacred fire within them... Can they help the original candidates to Queen to return their world to peace?

An old anime but all the same the storyline is rather lax. Reasonably entertaining but nothing to write home about.

Rating **

Peace Maker Kurogane

15 year old Tetsunosuke Ichimura wants to be part of the Shinsengumi in order to become stronger and overcome the brutal killing of his parents by the Choshu. HIs wild unruly attempts eventually pay off and is taken on as a cadet. Now the real trial starts....

Interesting kenjutsu anime, a bit slow at times but thanks to good secondary characters and the funny side kick pig Saizo theres is always some comic relief.

Rating ***

Gankutsuou

Albert de Morcerf, son of the most famous general of Paris is trying to escape the monotony and colourless adolescent life along with his friend Franz. On a trip to Luna he fatefully encounters the Count of Monte Cristo - a hugely rich and charismatic figure who's life style and strength sweeps Albert whilst saving his life. When the Count moves to Paris he instantly becomes the centre of all the social life along, with his beautiful companion Haidee brought from distant reaches of Space. However his arrival coincides with the spreading of darkness, treacherous dealings and hidden pasts which turn the life of Albert, his close friends and families on a downwards spiral of despair and fear. Who is the Count really and what is Gankutsuou?

Animated by Gonzo (Last Exile etc.) and Directed by Mashiro Maeda (Blue Submarine N.6, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Last Exile) Gankutsuou is an amazing anime based on Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo. The use of flowing textiles for clothing and even hair creates a new visual style that is incredibly effective and donates a depth and elegance to the picture in a simple but incredibly effective manner. The simplicity of the characters design, the amazing texture of clothes etc is rendered even more prominent as background people are greyed. This simplicity, however, is only related to the characters as Gonzo, in their usual fashion, have a created again amazingly intricate and yet highly elegant vehicles (from simple motorbikes to futuristic space crafts), cities and even rooms.

This mixture of using texture and elegant detail keeps the viewer constantly in awe of the graphics, while a decent sound track and effects carry the whole atmosphere throughout the story. If this is not enough, the storyline and plot keeps you enthralled and glued to the screen. Even when the viewer knows what is about to happen the representation of the incident makes you feel like it was totally unexpected!

Gankutsuou is quite simply a stunning beautiful and exciting anime. Whatever has been said about it (best anime in 2006, etc) is quite simply the truth, it is really in a master class along with very few others and I have a feeling that its is going to take a couple of years before we see something with the same powerful impact.

Just see it, however, wherever you can.

Links:

http://www.gankutsuou.com/
http://montecristodvd.com/

GITS SAC Solid State Society - OAV

GITS - SAC - Solid State Society - OAV

Ghost in the Shell / Stand Alone Complex / Solid State Society is the latest instalment in the SAC series and is a full length (110 minute) OAV, which however left me slightly perplexed.

Now, I have followed Ghost in the Shell since its creation in 1995, and have been immensely satisfied with Innocence as a following to the original film. I also think that both Stand Alone Complex series (Laughing Man and Individual Eleven) were works of art! But - and there is a but - Solid state Society leaves me a little perplexed... I'll explain;

First of all the SSS is GOOD! Its visually very well done - not at the level of Innocence but better that SAC series, and the story line is the usual mix of creativity, hi tech and social problems. The best part of SSS is probably the direction - Kenji Kamiyama has created a little directing masterpiece on this one. So far so good, but here comes the part that perplexes me.

The story (if you don't want to spoil it don't read further!!!) revolves around Section 9 about 2 years after the Individual Eleven and the main character seems to be Togusa who has replaced the Major after her departure. His persona has undergone a considerable evolution due to his new position, as has Section 9, but this evolution has dragged the SAC to a schism with GITS films to point where his personality no-longer fits in the Togusa in GITS (which don't forget is meant to happen after the SAC series). Another iffy point are the Tachikomas with a bit of a lame comeback. Finally, the audio part is not up to GITS or SAC standard. Both have always had an amazing soundtrack and sound effects, however this time they don't fill you with that 4th dimensional feeling while watching the film. The continuous changing underlying feeling which is guided by the music and sound effects just isn't there... pity really.

To end this I have been picky really, Solid State Society is well worth a watch but as good as it is, especially in some parts, I just feel that they have not managed to convey as much feeling as they should have in feature length OAV, and some parts of the story line seem a little rushed. The main problem I see is the schism in Togusa's personality compared to the films... we will just have to wait and see how they deal with that one.

LINKS: Clappa ; Production I.G. ; Kokaku