Extreme Devoution

The fact of the matter is that I am a rather large Evangelion fan. There's no getting around that fact. I'm large enough to be one of those people who bought the platinum edition of the anniversary set as the volumes came out. Not only did Evangelion change the way I viewed anime, but it was the series that made me realize just how deep and immersive anime could be over any show I had ever seen in America.

I'm very grateful for the fact that I have been able to experience such an amazing piece of work. So naturally I was just about ecstatic when I herd that they were going to do a rebuild project of the series in the form of four movies. I patiently bided my time till I could watch the project's first quarter. After having seen the creation not only am I pleased but I'm quite amazed at how much the video has been enhanced. I wasn't quite expecting them to do a virtual retrace and colouring improvement but that's what the package contains.

As much as the improvement is evident I decided to make a direct comparison. Here I've set up two screen shots from the theatrical release of the move and it's original TV counterpart. The TV shots come from my platinum edition DVDs and the movie from a 720p video. Note that I have scaled down the Movie screens to match the TV resolution (which was an odd rez) so that there is less of a size interruption.

Right from the start you can see that there has been a lot of colour correction.
Clearly the art style has improved and doesn't look as awkward.
This shot shows how much effort has gone into the backgrounds, this one is an incredible improvement.
Shading and lighting have become a day and night difference. No longer does it look like anything was over-layed.
Additional non-essential elements have also received a visual upgrade. (wink wink nudge nudge)
Here's and example of how some scenes received a near total reconstruction to the point of being unrecognizable.
No not the background; If you know this scene than you may notice Rei has a more determined look on her face aobut what she's ready to do.
Yes this is the same scene. This is one out of handfuls of examples where the entire design and presentation was reconstructed.
The mood and total feeling of the movie is much better because of so many of the above changes that can be seen in the alterations between these two shots.
Prime example here is that the characters are drawn to a more aesthetic degree. No longer dose Ayanami look like a disproportionate child in the midst of puberty, but a proportioned adult.

Can't wait for the next instalment of the movies.

(time spent on this gallery 3:36)
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My Clan

It's taken me some time but I realize now that I have a controversial addiction to anything that Key makes (dating sims). To be more specific I seem to be drawn to anything that they do that's turned into and anime. I remember that it started with reading another blog and the author mentioned waiting for AIR to be broadcast. I decided to look into it and I still think it's one of the best shows I've watched. After that I was attracted to the art style the the 02' anime Kanon used, not to long after that (actually it was long) I was anticipating the advent of the 06' remake (totally worth it).

Now I was not to long ago drawn to the show Clannad which to my surprise upon further investigation was also originally a game by key. All the related anime adaptations seem to be done by Kyoto animation nowadays which I'm grateful for (they have great quality). Anyhow I seem to be drawn to their initial art style and I haven't really been disappointed with any story. I suppose I'm a bit of a sucker for the emotionally charged finding true love type story.

I think that last line was to much info... I'll stop here.

Clannad Opening



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Patriotic Blast

MGS4:GotP (Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) a game I've been waiting for, and one which is FAR beyond anything I expected.
Right now I'm on chapter three (no clue how many chapters there are) and enjoying almost every bit of it. There are a few things I really don't like but I cant really complain. the overall feel is more epic than any MGS they've made thus far. I'm looking forward to how everything turns out.

Theatrical Trailer
(does not depict how the game feels very well)


EDIT: 5:10 am 6/13/08

Well I've beaten the game and wow. By far one of the THE best games I have ever played. Not only did it feel epic and important but I could barely look away from the screen. The entire thing makes all the other MG installments feel like child's play in both game play and in story and grad scheme. It was amazing, there were five chapters (four being my favourite) as well as a prologue and epilogue.
Some people die, others you finally meet, and a few you thought couldn't appear showed face. In the end this game had one of the best feelings because of how it had six prior games leading up to it. It's like experiencing history (I played all the games when they came out) and seeing just how complex and big things could get. Nostalgia is the one largest feeling the game delivered but in a relevant and up-to-date sense.

I'll leave it here if I continue I'll start giving away spoilers.

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Otaku Salute!

Sunday in Akihabara there was a horrible incident where a man drove a truck into a crowd and attacked people with a knife leaving seven dead and several injured (full story).

As a tech nerd and an anime otaku it is impossible for me not to feel bad over such a thing happening in Akihabara. I hope that no such thing happens again.

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Put a spin on it

Even though this is not new I thought I'd post about it anyway.

For those of you who don't know there is a show on the Japaneses airwaves that makes fun of things in a unique sense. Without getting to deep I'll simply say that they use pictures and rewrite a song that is well associated with the media.
In this particulars case it's a Mario parody.

I suggest watching the flash Version instead since it's so much better.

Flash version

Note that the translations are the bottom line of titles.


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