Kemono no Souja Erin is getting really interesting. Erin's skill with animals enables her to help a young distressed Beast-Lord, but her abilities deeply frightens her teachers.
According to legend only the Queen is able to command the Beast-Lords to eat the Touda. This gives her power over the Grand Duke who commands the Touda, and so maintains the balance of power in the country. Upon hearing of the legend, Erin immediately denounces it as "rubbish. Beast-Lords eat Touda because it is natural for them to do so," which is pretty darn obvious.
Erin's ability to control the young Beast-Lord, makes her valuable to the enemies of the country. The teachers wisely decide to keep Erin's ability a secret for her safety as well as the safety of the nation. What I found touching, was that all of the students agreed to take an oath to keep the secret, even the ones who dislike Erin. This kid know how to win people over!
Even so, I doubt that Erin can avoid getting drawn into the politics that surrounds the Touda and Beast-Lords. Her skills are just too valuable.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Torchwood Children Of Earth
I finally watched Torchwood Children Of Earth, the third and possibly final season of the series. What a great story! There is an old adage which says something like, "The only thing more costly that defeat, is victory." In the same way, a good story may require that characters be sacrificed.
The losses are weighing heavily on Jack Harkness, so he in effect becomes another loss as he withdraws from Earth. With most of the recognizable characters gone, it almost seems that the future of the series itself as been sacrificed, but it looks hopeful that the series will continue.
The losses are weighing heavily on Jack Harkness, so he in effect becomes another loss as he withdraws from Earth. With most of the recognizable characters gone, it almost seems that the future of the series itself as been sacrificed, but it looks hopeful that the series will continue.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
WRC Finland
Hirvonen drove a terrific rally to get his first win at his home event. If he keeps driving like this for the rest of the season, the championship fight is going to go to last rally. Loeb was in hot pursuit until a pothole on day two damaged a wheel and he lost some time. He tried to recover, but he decided to play it safe and settled for second when it became obvious that Hirvonen was completely in control.
Finland has some spectacular jumps. On day two Novikov hit a jump way too hard which sent the car flying so high, that it started to flip backwards in the air. The in-car footage is just plain scary as the trees fall out of view until all you see is the sky! Novikov was lucky to get away that that. He wasn't so lucky later in the same stage when he hit tree, which ended his rally. Actually, that was his second encounter with a tree... He really wasn't having a good rally.
Kimi Raikkonen took a break from F1 and drove his first WRC in a Group N car. He did quite well but car trouble limited his performance. Unfortunately he lost it on stage 19 and rolled the car which ended his rally.
The rest of the season is going to be very exciting, assuming it is a straight fight to the end with nothing going wrong for either Loeb or Hirvonen. But this is rallying, so expect the unexpected.
Finland has some spectacular jumps. On day two Novikov hit a jump way too hard which sent the car flying so high, that it started to flip backwards in the air. The in-car footage is just plain scary as the trees fall out of view until all you see is the sky! Novikov was lucky to get away that that. He wasn't so lucky later in the same stage when he hit tree, which ended his rally. Actually, that was his second encounter with a tree... He really wasn't having a good rally.
Kimi Raikkonen took a break from F1 and drove his first WRC in a Group N car. He did quite well but car trouble limited his performance. Unfortunately he lost it on stage 19 and rolled the car which ended his rally.
The rest of the season is going to be very exciting, assuming it is a straight fight to the end with nothing going wrong for either Loeb or Hirvonen. But this is rallying, so expect the unexpected.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
National Icons
I read this piece on the the Sydney Opera House. I can just see we Canadians having a similar debate over the CN Tower at some point.
I think every nation needs some at least one man-made national icon. The problem is they are all getting old and things that get old, cost more to maintain. Of course, not maintaining the CN Tower might have somewhat more disastrous consequences, so there is a bit more incentive. According to the article it does seem like the plans for the Opera House are going way beyond maintenance, though.
I think every nation needs some at least one man-made national icon. The problem is they are all getting old and things that get old, cost more to maintain. Of course, not maintaining the CN Tower might have somewhat more disastrous consequences, so there is a bit more incentive. According to the article it does seem like the plans for the Opera House are going way beyond maintenance, though.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Strike Review
With the city worker strike over and normal services resuming tomorrow, just how messy did Toronto get? Torontoist.com ran a strikewatch feature for the 39 days of the strike and also made a time lapse video of two garbage cans. The good, the bad, and the ugly side of Toronto.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Enjoying Summer
It's a long weekend and the weather was fantastic. We are getting a lot or rain lately so I decided to get out and enjoy the sun shine while it lasts. I went to Edwards Gardens for a couple of hours and took a few photos.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Asura Cryin' 13
I watched the last episode of Asura Cryin' only to discover the story is to be continued in a second season. This is good and bad. It is good because the story will be told properly, rather than being squeezed into 13 episodes. It is bad because now I have to wait for the second season to get some answers!
The first season mainly introduces the mecha known as Asura Machina, and its "power source" called a Burial Doll, a person that is very near death. However, we are still not told everything such as where the Asura Machina are made, assuming they are manufactured at all. One thing that is painfully clear, is that the Asura Machine's power is not inexhaustible because the person in core of the machine so near death.
The main character, Natsume Tomoharu, is bit of a wet blanket at the beginning of the season but I actually like him by the end. One thing that is odd about him, is that he never really asks questions about the Asura Machina or anything, even though it seems everyone around him has much more information than he does. The coolest character is Kurosaki Shuri because she packs a ridiculous amount of fire power into her artificial limbs. She reminds me of a 1960's British comic book character called I Spy.
The story tends to throw information at you and explains it later. However, if you need every mystery to be explained clearly and precisely, then this series will be disappointing. I found that there is enough information to understand and enjoy the story. Even so, many big mysteries were left for the second season, so it would have really sucked if it was never produced.
These split season stories have become more common lately. I suppose it more to do with economics than anything else, since it allows the producers recoup the costs before committing to the second season.
The first season mainly introduces the mecha known as Asura Machina, and its "power source" called a Burial Doll, a person that is very near death. However, we are still not told everything such as where the Asura Machina are made, assuming they are manufactured at all. One thing that is painfully clear, is that the Asura Machine's power is not inexhaustible because the person in core of the machine so near death.
The main character, Natsume Tomoharu, is bit of a wet blanket at the beginning of the season but I actually like him by the end. One thing that is odd about him, is that he never really asks questions about the Asura Machina or anything, even though it seems everyone around him has much more information than he does. The coolest character is Kurosaki Shuri because she packs a ridiculous amount of fire power into her artificial limbs. She reminds me of a 1960's British comic book character called I Spy.
The story tends to throw information at you and explains it later. However, if you need every mystery to be explained clearly and precisely, then this series will be disappointing. I found that there is enough information to understand and enjoy the story. Even so, many big mysteries were left for the second season, so it would have really sucked if it was never produced.
These split season stories have become more common lately. I suppose it more to do with economics than anything else, since it allows the producers recoup the costs before committing to the second season.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
