Archive for the 'rant' Category

Page 10 of 54

More 2013 Spring Anime

Published on August 27, 2013 in anime, Culture, rant and Review by risu. Closed

More current season anime!

Watashi ga Motenai no wa dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! “WataMote” (No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!) – this one is about a “mojou” or unpopular girl. In addition to being a fujyoshi otaku girl, she is completely socially dysfunctional, delusional, and creepy. There’s nothing remotely cute or moe about her. I can’t say I like the artwork. The backgrounds are middle-of-the-road with a lot of pentagonal/hexagonal lighting accents that look like American animation backgrounds. The character animation is fairly well executed. The whole story is just so sad and disturbing. It would seem that she actually needs some professional mental health attention, so it’s difficult to enjoy something that is making jokes at the expense of a character suffering from a psychological condition. I’m not saying that from a political correctness standpoint: I just find it unfunny. That being said, I guess this is the “train wreck” property this season, where I don’t really like it, but since I can’t obviously see where the story will wind up, I’ll keep watching to the end.  C

root – Its rather painful to watch, unfunny psychosis. I guess it’s suppose to take insecurities that everyperson experiences at some time and taken to extremes. Any chuckles that come are rather uneasy. I think the only thing I really like is that the opening theme music is angry, not that often heard in anime themes. C Continue reading ‘More 2013 Spring Anime’

Rocking, for Now

Published on August 27, 2013 in Culture, rant and SUAR by risu-mobile. Closed

Wonder how many albums it will take the producers, manager, and label to ruin Scandal like they did Aikawa Nanase and the Nakanomori Band?

(0)

My Minivan Is Faster Than Your Minivan?

Published on August 24, 2013 in car, Culture, rant and SUAR by risu. Closed

Wherever you are in the world, there is someone in an Acura MDX who is in a rush to get somewhere.  If you arrive at a red traffic light and there is an MDX alongside you, you can bet that when the light goes green, she/he will floor it to get in front of you in your lane, regardless of whether yours is the fast or slow lane.  It must be out of some feeling of inadequacy for thinking they left the dealer with a performance crossover like a Infiniti FX or BMW X5 that are built on RWD sport sedan underpinnings, but discover that they bought something built on a FWD Honda minivan platform.

(0)

Smart-ass

Published on August 24, 2013 in car, Culture, rant and SUAR by risu. Closed

I have yet to see someone driving a Smart who doesn’t drive like a pompous ass-hat.  If they have the Brabus styling package (no performance difference), or have sticker-tuned their car with AMG emblems from some other vehicle, then doubly so!

(0)

Random Garbage Headset

Published on August 20, 2013 in bike, Culture and rant by risu. 1 Comment

Really?  Is there anything correct here?  The top overlocknut is cross-threaded.  The lower of the two keyed washers is turned and jammed on the threads so the key isn’t in the groove.  The second (second?!?!) overlocknut spins and neither tightens nor loosens, since the threads have been stripped on the steerer.  The giant spacer is just a piece of random tubing and is not square on top or bottom.

…oh, and the headset is loose.

2013 Summer Anime

Published on August 20, 2013 in anime, rant and Review by risu. Closed

It’s been over several weeks since the start of the new anime season in Japan, so a lot of the shows are pretty far along.  It’s a little late, but here are some reviews of current properties if you haven’t started watching yet and need a helping hand trying to pick what to watch.  They’re not in any specific order:

Kiniro no Mosaic – when it was first announced, I was somewhat interested in this title, but after watching the first episode, the inevitable end was fairly obvious. The Japanese character being heavily Westernized and the foreign character being well-versed in Japanese culture schtick has been done numerous times before, but usually as an aside, not as a core interaction device. I’m sure we won’t see anything new this time around. The character design is cute and the character animation is above average. The backgrounds are very good. By nature of two of the characters being from England, the English language is naturally going to be encountered. They got reasonably close grammatically, though it is still a little “Speed Racer” awkward. The thing that ruins it is the accenting of words within the sentences is all off. At least it will probably be a somewhat entertaining ride.  B-

Root – I have top  say I was pretty let down, I was looking forward to this, but it fell pretty flat for me. It isn’t terrible, it looks nice and can be entertaining, but the gags and humor are a little weak. Yes, the English is bad, although correct. But that’s something I’m used to and expect, although there has been a rare case of native English voices, but the script they read from is filled with odd english. It just occurred to me, they really should be speaking the Queens English. Wonder what that would sound like! C+

Continue reading ‘2013 Summer Anime’

Crowded

Published on August 20, 2013 in bike and rant by risu. Closed

I never saw so many people out at the Ditch.

When we met at the trailhead on Sunday morning for a quick spin, the parking area was full. Chris wondered if Xterra or something was coming up, though we didn’t see anyone who really fit the flailing triathlete profile out on the trail. Almost immediately, a lady with a helmet came out through the gate. She didn’t have a bike, which confused me. Was she just a clumsy hiker? Later as we were heading in, she went in to retrieve her bike that she had left just inside the opening in the fence. Her riding companion had finally arrived at the bottom of the trail and was expousing her learned wisdom on the Maui shark attack victim from Germany. Just as we were starting the climb, a pleasant lady sand her two pleasant dogs also began the trail. Continue reading ‘Crowded’

Perseids Denied

Published on August 13, 2013 in rant and SUAR by risu. Closed

The weather last night at the peak of the Perseid meteor shower was actually nice for a change.  Went out at midnight but didn’t see anything.  It’s not exactly a low-light environment in my neighborhood: The rental across the street had all the lights going.  I woke up at three to go and look again, but it had clouded in.  I found a place where the neighbor’s lights (still going full-blast at three!  This is great during termite season as all the critters go over there) weren’t burning my retinas, but after fifteen minutes I went inside to avoid waking up in the driveway in the morning at sunrise covered in dew… and mosquito bites.

(0)

Free Rapping Service

Published on August 11, 2013 in Culture, rant and SUAR by risu. 1 Comment

Every time I hear the English-language version of the Air Buggy Japan ad in KORL, I imagine some dude popping out from the back of the store going, “Yo!  Kick it!  Break it down!” when they mention their “free wrapping service”.

(1)

The Cards Have It

Published on August 7, 2013 in anime, rant and Review by risu. Closed

As in previous years, there’s a common theme in some of the anime properties this season. This year it’s magical girls and cards. The three I’m thinking of are Fantasista Doll, Day Break Illusion, and Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya. In Fantasista Doll, the middle-school protagonist comes into possession of a smartphone that allows her to call forth five combat “dolls” that she can variously equip with a card app on said phone. In Day Break Illusion the high-school protagonist has inherited the power to transform and use the power of tarot cards to engage in battle with dark forces. In Prisma Illya, the elementary-school protagonist becomes the unexpected heroine through happenstance and has to use her newfound powers to stop the transdimentional manifestations of cards and collect them. All three have different intents, but all share high quality artwork, both in the character animation and background art. Continue reading ‘The Cards Have It’