You’ve probably heard about it by now: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen isn’t exactly receiving raving reviews, as painfully punctuated by a pathetic aggregate score of 21% on Rotten Tomatoes which I suppose puts the movie well on the way to becoming the highest grossing piece of polished turd since Titanic.

But I wouldn’t go that far on the nerd rage scale for this one. After all, Transformers as envisaged by Michael Bay is a movie that cannot be judged using traditional benchmarks. Earning half a star out of five from the resident Straits Times critic may even be seen as a badge of honour. However, what really disappointed me was the fact that the movie failed to excel even within its own narrowly-defined spectrum of awesomehood.

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Read the rest of Transformers 2 — Deconstructed (723 words)

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Post tags: megan fox, michael bay, transformers

Why do I spend most of my time revisiting old titles these days? I have no idea. Maybe it’s just pure nostalgia, or maybe it’s just too much work for a lazy bum like me to get into something new. The Twelve Kingdoms is a series of novels by Fuyumi Ono first published in 1991 and subsequently adapted into an anime in 2002. All things considered, it’s almost as old as me. I think it’s probably one of the greatest stories ever told through anime. If only more people watched it.

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Read the rest of The Twelve Kingdoms — Epic Win (1,001 words)

© DarkMirage for Ramblings of DarkMirage, 2009. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: epic, fuyumi ono, juuni kokuki, twelve kingdoms

Maaya Sakamoto, the greatest singer/seiyuu in the history of the universe, held a live tour at the start of this year (2009) called “We Are Kazeyomi!” This was her first proper concert in the five years since she released her album Shounen Alice and her third since her debut as Hitomi in Visions of Escaflowne.

This is a story of what may be the greatest regret of my life. And oh yeah, the official concert DVD is out too.

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Read the rest of Maaya Sakamoto - We Are Kazeyomi! (867 words)

© DarkMirage for Ramblings of DarkMirage, 2009. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: concert, dvd, kazeyomi, maaya sakamoto

And so it begins, just as the prophecies predicted (somewhat ambiguously). The thundering cries of male ecstasy shake the ground as hordes of frenzied fanboys awake from their winter slumber and descend upon the unsuspecting intarweb. As onslaught and carnage devastate 4chan, no one notices any difference. The absolutist doctrine of the Great One sweeps across the land, engulfing it in a chaotic whirlwind of moé and unleashing upon its innocent a renewed crusade. Throughout history, it has been called many names — ragnarok, apocalypse, rapture — but they are all one and the same. The end of time is finally upon us. The Second Coming of Haruhi.

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Read the rest of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu 2 — Episode 01: Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody (1,040 words)

© DarkMirage for Ramblings of DarkMirage, 2009. | Permalink | 24 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Add new tag, first episode, haruhi suzumiya, haruhiism, relativity, suzumiya haruhi no yuuu

Tytania is a show that gives high expectations and fails to live up to them. It has so much potential for greatness but ends up squandering them faster than a glue-sniffing MIT grad. If Yoshiki Tanaka, the author of the original novels, were dead, he’d be spinning in his grave right now. But he isn’t, so he has to pretend on his blog that he likes the anime. It’s tough to earn a living.

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Read the rest of Tytania — Space Opera Lite (889 words)

© DarkMirage for Ramblings of DarkMirage, 2009. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: artland, review, tytania

Here’s another ancient artefact unearthed during my idle excavation of anime past. RahXephon is an original anime series from the long-gone era of 2002, back when George W Bush ruled the free world with an iron fist and people thought Witch Hunter Robin was actually enjoyable. Those were simpler times. *switches on flame shield*

I enjoyed RahXephon the first time I watched it, so naturally when I recently had the chance to revisit the series, I assumed that like most good things from my (relative) childhood it would turn out to be a piece of turd. Fortunately I was proven wrong.

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Read the rest of RahXephon (799 words)

© DarkMirage for Ramblings of DarkMirage, 2009. | Permalink | 30 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bones, rahxephon, review

I have not read a single anime-related RSS feed in months, but judging by a casual sampling of my Windows Live Messenger contact list, K-On! appears to be the hottest thing in town since the last Kyo-ani series, which really isn’t all that long ago.

This week, I take a look into the latest moé craze that is wrecking havoc on Amazon’s suggestion algorithm in a way only a otaku-led buying spree can.

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Read the rest of K-On! (484 words)

© DarkMirage for Ramblings of DarkMirage, 2009. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: k-on!, kyoto animation, mio akiyama

And so I continue my way. Life is once again settling into a comforting rhythm, though deep in my heart I sometimes wish for a beautiful girl to descend from heaven and take me to her world with her giant mecha. Maybe that is why I recently brushed the digital dust off this ancient relic from the classical era of 2005 and gave it a second spin after its premature deposition almost exactly four dozen months ago. (I think I watched the first episode then.) Whatever the reason, I’m glad I did it.

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Read the rest of Eureka Seven (1,511 words)

© DarkMirage for Ramblings of DarkMirage, 2009. | Permalink | 29 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bones, eureka seven, review

It’s been so long since my last post. It’s not that my schedule is too full for my to blog — it isn’t — but rather I feel my writing inspirations gradually drained from my soul in this mindless meat grinder that is involuntary national service.

It will be a journey of rediscovery as I slowly relocate my lost ethos. Full recovery will take a while. For now, I’d like to start off with a book review — I believe the first ever on this blog if you don’t count manga and light novels.

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.

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Read the rest of Norwegian Wood (596 words)

© DarkMirage for Ramblings of DarkMirage, 2009. | Permalink | 30 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: haruki murakami, norwegian wood, novel, review

It’s me. I’m still alive. This is not a Beowulf cluster of Linux PS3s that accidentally gained sentience in a freak thunderstorm and subsequently infiltrated the server that hosts this blog. In any case, this is (or has been) my first weekend out from boot camp and, as promised, here’s my article for the week.

I’m finally writing my Comiket article, two and a half months post incident. It’s an internet miracle.

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Read the rest of Comiket: War Zone (960 words)

© DarkMirage for Ramblings of DarkMirage, 2009. | Permalink | 31 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: c75, comiket, stalingrad