7. June 2008 by Ria.

There’s only one word to describe this anime series, disappointing! Now I was going to do an episode by episode review on this romantic comedy, but after seeing the first DVD, I decided to pass on that. Look, I understand that high school kids develop crushes on each other, but this is a bit ridiculous!

Let’s meet Tenma Tsukamoto, a high school retard who has a crush on a guy named Oji, some weirdo that looks like Pinocchio. I’m serious, he does, just take a good look at the picture below, what girl with good eyesight would fall for a dude that looks like that?

Now this is the thing, in the first five episodes, there is no character development with either one of them. Maybe this changes in further episodes, but guess what, I’m not stickin’ around long enough to find out. So in the first DVD, all we really know about Oji, is that he’s a loner, possibly an emo, but I can’t verify that.

The plot revolves around Tenma chasing this guy all over school, and their neighborhood, which gets to be annoying after a while. Hey wait, I just remembered, we really don’t find out anything about Tenma either. All we know is that she’s a stupid girl with a one track mind who’s probably failing all of her classes, just so she can run after some dude who I’m sure is not worth the time of day.

In comes Kenji Harima, a self proclaimed bad-ass, who has the hots for Tenma, but my question is, why? Now he brings a bit of a personality to the table, which makes him fun to watch, but unfortunately he’s not the main character in the series, and we’re left to suffer with stupid Tenma, and her stale bread friends.

Now in many ways, Kenji can be a bit rediculous too, since he seems to lean towards the macho side, but doesn’t have the guts to approach Tenma, to tell her how he feels (as if she would care anyway). Why this fears exists comes out in episode 4, but trust me, it’s a dumb reason, and its’ kind of hard to believe that someone as hardcore as Kenji is stuck on a bimbo.

In order for you to see just how bad this anime is, let’s compare a good  series, like Fruits Basket, with this one. In Fruits Basket, we find out a lot about Tohru Honda in the first episode. She lost her mother in a car accident, and because of housing rennovations, she is now living in a tent on the Sohma’s property. 

We also know that she’s works hard in school, and she also has a part time job cleaning homes in order to pay her schooling. There! Now we have know a lot about this girl, and we can sit back, and watch her character evolve as she affects those around her in later episodes.  Now in the first five episodes of School Rumble, we don’t know crap about this Tenma chick, so the evolution of her character remains stagnant along with the rest of her friends. 

In episode 4, anime writers to try to shift the plot from Tenma to her sister, Yakumo, but it’s too late, I’ve already lost interest, and she’s about as lame as her sister, so I’ll just put this anime series to rest. Funeral starts at 10pm on Sunday, so make sure you’re there.

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17. May 2008 by Ria.

Every anime freak out there should know about Speed Racer, the first Japanese anime show to successfully cross over to American audiences. You can also say that Speed Racer paved the way for shows like Naruto, and Death Note to come into fruition and flourish. If you are an anime fan, you should know who Speed Racer is, and what the show is about. If not, YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!

But there is hope, now if you like anime, and you’re under the age of 18, just go to your parents and say, “Mom, Dad, forget about the birds and the bees, can you give me the 411 on Speed Racer?”

Speed Racer is an amazing guy, and extremely multi-talented. He uses cool wrestling moves on his worst enemies, a talent he acquired from his dad, Papa Racer, who designed and built the Mach 5, Speed’s kick ass ride. Now if you’re watching the series, you’ll usually see Speed pressing a lot of buttons on the Mach 5’s steering wheel, so let’s talk about them.

Button A- Releases jacks to boost the car for repairs, even though I’ve seen Speed use  that button to jump over rocks, and other rough surfaces.

Button B- Sprouts special grip tires for traction over any type of terrain.

Button C- A powerful saw that is used when Speed travels over heavily wooded terrain.

Button D-Releases a powerful deflector which seals the cockpit into an air-conditioned, and bulletproof chamber.

Button E-Special headlights that enables speed to see much further than regular headlights.

Button F- For driving underwater (cool, isn’t it) The cockpit is supplied with oxygen, and a periscope is used above the surface.

Button G-Releases a homing robot from in front the car that carrry voice messages.

Now I’ve read that there is an H button, but I don’t ever remember Speed mentioning it, so I won’t either. I’m telling you right now, this is truly an awesome car, but I wonder if its good on gas?

You know, Speed is a cute guy, and he loves to help people, but face it, he’s a race car driver, which means that he posseses a huge ego which gets on my nerves from time to time. Speed also has a girlfriend Trixie, but since she’s nothing to look at, Speed is still up for grabs as far as I’m concerned.

Well, Trixie can do something that I can’t, like fly helicopters, and small planes, but it seems like she only uses them to follow Speed around when he participates in one of his big races. Damn, does this chick have a job? Maybe she’s an undercover cop, ’cause whenever Speed gets into trouble, Trixie is the first one he calls, and I don’t understand why, if she doesn’t have a gun, what in the hell can she do?

Now we have Speed’s younger brother Spritle who’s really a pain in the ass. He has a pet chimp called Chim-Chim, and they actually dress alike (okay, now that’s scary). Anyway, the two of them are always getting into trouble while chasing Speed on one of his amazing adventures. Well, that’s nice, but Spritle needs to get his fat head into a schoolbook and leave Speed alone.

Speed also has an older brother Rex, who ran away from home at 18  because he wanted to keep racing, and Papa Racer said no. He went on to become a successful car racer, but won’t come home until he becomes the best racer of all time. Rex goes by the name Racer X, and wears this crazy get-up in order to conceal his identity. He pops up in several episodes, so make sure you watch the one when he and Speed race each other in a bad storm while going through the mountains, what excitement!

Speed Racer is full of drama and non-stop action. Did you know that Speed was also a stuntman? Who needs to race when he can just climb mountains, and fight enemies while on a motorcycle? This series is a must-see for all anime fans out there, so put this DVD on your list!

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27. March 2008 by Ria.

Now I said I was going to edit my review on Blood, the Last Vampire, and here it is! The movie starts off with Saya sitting on an empty train, well, I shouldn’t say empty, there’s one other guy on there. Before you know it, Saya opens up a can of whoop-ass all over that guy, and he’s history. Actually, he’s supposed to be a Chiroptera (blood sucking ghoul), and only Saya, the last original vampire can kill them.

So after this escapade, Saya runs into her boss David, and sidekick Lewis. Saya complains that her sword is dull, and she needs another one right away. I don’t see why, a dull sword to match that dull personality of hers. C’mon, you know what I’m talking about. Saya can fight, but she’s boring. She doesn’t smile, or crack one joke in this whole movie, and she can also use a little makeup if you ask me. Anyway, David tells Saya that she can’t get a new sword right away, because her next assignment is to infiltrate a high school where some chiropteras hang out, and kick their butts.

Next, we shoot over to a scene where a dead girl’s body is found in some building near the American military base, where hookers hang out, There’s 3 hookers, a dopey short dude, a woman who looks like she was body-slammed once too often, and then a very ugly man in drag. OKAY, WHO IN THE HELL WOULD SLEEP WITH ANY OF THESE PEOPLE?

No, I’m serious, what American soldier is that desperate that they’ll just sleep with any ‘ol thing? Whatever, lets switch scenes again, and follow Saya who meets the principal of the school that she’s attending. Wait, what’s that on the principal’s head? It looks more like a cream puff than hair, does anyb0dy in that school take this guy seriously? Well, it’s a good thing I wasn’t there, because I’d be laughing my head off, but Saya probably wouldn’t get the joke, and would try to split me in half.

So now, Saya is sitting in a classroom, and this chick comes up and introduces herself, and starts asking questions, and Saya pretty much gives her the hand. “You know Saya, you’re so rude, don’t you know how to fit in with everyone else, instead of acting like a witch?” Maybe I should give Saya the benefit of the doubt, after all, she’s about to do some serious spankin’ up in there, so why get chummy with anyone?

Since everything else in the movie was kind of boring, let’s just talk about fight scenes, Ok? First one, well, its not really a fight scene, since Saya strikes the first blow, and the rest is history, but you need to see it anyway, because its a pretty cool scene. Saya busts into the room, slashes chiroptera one in the bed, but she only gets chiroptera two on the shoulder, and it escapes.

Next scene, Saya gets chiroptera at the Halloween party, then her sword splits in two. Interesting how no one at this party noticed all this butt kicking that was going on. Was is that wild of a party, because if it was, I’m pissed that I wasn’t invited! Next scene, Saya is trying to fight off demon with shovel, ”That’s right girl, pick up the nearest thing, any old thing, and try to cave it’s skull in!”

Last fight scene, Saya and David chase a chiroptera while it tries to escape, but not for long, Saya catches up with it, and kills it, Bye! Well, thank goodness that’s over, and so is this movie review!

Click on this link to see preview of Blood Now!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1079069537/bclid1155224420/bctid1138037508

Blood - The Last Vampire

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