Monday, August 22, 2011

Black Cat




When I first heard a Black Cat from a friend (A-chan..Special mention..Lol), I was thinking.. uhh.. It sounds boring. At first, I truly underestimated this show but after watching more than 3 episodes, I found it quite interesting.

I was overwhelmed because I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. The action sequences were pretty impressive. Black Cat also had numerous fight scenes that were really cool. There were many different characters with different abilities. The way this show introduces its characters are quite subtle, which is good. It explains each character properly so you completely understand who they are, what they do, and a bit of their past. Honestly, I was attracted to many of the male characters (especially Train. He is an incredible gun master.. so handsome!!!). They were cool and very cute.

The storyline was impressive; the assassin to sweeper story is completely original. Well, Black Cat is about a young boy named Train, his parents were killed when he was young and was abducted by an organization named Chronos which controls 1/3 of the world's population, through eliminating syndicates that harm the flow of life. Train became the 13th member of an elite group of assassins called the Chronos Numbers which earned him the nick name Black Cat, who comes to deliver bad luck. 

He became good after meeting his very first friend, Saya. (It was kind a sad on how things turned out between them. I was hoping to learn more about her but the show didn't tell anything about her.

After Saya got killed by Creed, Train hunted Creed for revenge and he plan to destroy The Apostles of the Stars. When Creed was destroyed, some of the assassins in Chronos and The Apostles of the Stars kidnapped Eve. Train and Sven began their mission to save Eve. At the end, Eve, being a biological weapon was revealed to its limit.

My only deduction of a point from this show is how it ended. Towards the end of the series, the production seemed to get worse, like they put less effort in it. I think the last few episodes were rushed, and I wasn't satisfied with the last episode at all.  But otherwise, I really enjoyed this show. The story is great, the songs that they used are great, and all the characters are 
really good looking. All in all, watching this show is worth my time.





Main Characters

Train Heartnet (トレイン ハートネット Torein Hātonetto?), also known as "Black Cat" or "Kuro Neko", is the protagonist and a sweeper partnered with Sven. Train is a lighthearted, courageous man who is highly skilled with a gun. In the manga's "present time," he is 23 years old. Train's distinguishing features are a choker with a tiny bell attached to it and the XIII tattoo he has on the left side of his chest. He has a large amount of killing intent that he honed from his days as a Chronos member.

Sven Vollfied (スヴェン ボルフィード Suven Borufīdo?) is a sweeper, who befriends Eve, being the first person to treat her like a human, which causes the two to become very close. He becomes Train's partner after Train leaves Chronos. He follows a strict code of chivalry: he is always respectful to women and children and acts very proper. He is often tortured by Train's capricious personality and is usually dragged into trouble and even more debt because of it. Sven is skilled in inventing and making innovative weapons and other various equipment, including bombs and special bullets for Train. Sven's weapon of choice was originally a normal pistol, but after that is destroyed, he invents the Attaché Weapon Case, a suitcase equipped with hidden weaponry inside of it. It contains a built in machine gun, grenade launcher, net launcher, an electrical cable, and various other small weapons inside the case.



Eve (イヴ Ivu?) is a young girl, who is a genetically cloned engineered bio-weapon. She is able to use nanotechnology to transform her body into various offensive and defensive weapons. Initially only able to alter limited parts of her body, she is later able to transform her entire body at will, though it causes much strain on her. She generally turns her arms into blades, hammers and shields, turns her hair into fists and microblades able to cut through steel, turns her own skin into steel, sprouts wings from her back to fly and fires the feathers, and transforms into a mermaid in order to swim more efficiently.




RinsletWalker (リンスレットウォーカー Rinsuretto Uōkā?) is a world class famous thief-for-hire. She works for everyone from the government to mob bosses, and often works alongside Train and Sven. Rinslet says she can steal anything and manipulate any man, though she has trouble with Train. She provides Train and Sven with targets, so that they can act as distractions while she steals. Eve, she treats as a younger sister. Rinslet is sometimes called "Rins" by her acquaintances, and likes disguises, Tarot reading, treasure, and handsome men.
   



Saya Minatsuki (ミナツキ サヤ Minatsuki Saya?) is an accomplished sweeper and close friend of Train. Her involvement with him leads to his more human outlook on life and his departure from Chronos. In the manga, Train denies ever having any romantic feelings for her stating that they weren't there yet, but he "fell in love with her way of living", and there isn't really anything in flashbacks that proves him wrong. In the anime, however, a romantic interest between the two is strongly hinted, though Train still denies this.



Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Top Ten List

               
Most popular Anime are usually located at the top of the rankings list. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's the best. Don’t consider this as “The Top List”, it’s more like “My Top List”. I haven’t seen all the anime shows out there so expect me to be bias over those that I’ve seen and enjoyed. Now, here’s the list.

1.       Bleach/Naruto

Bleach is Naruto’s greatest rival today when it comes to popularity. Whenever you find some Naruto download site, most likely, they also have Bleach download stuff. We can’t say for sure if it’s more popular compared to its rival or less popular. This two are shounen anime based from manga.


2.   Full Metal Alchemist


Two brothers, Edward and Alphonse, broke the taboo of human transmutation trying to revive their dead mother and paid harshly. Now they travel the world in search of Philosopher's stone, in order to regain what they lost.
This anime used to be extremely popular and well liked. I did a quick search over the internet and found out that this was actually voted as the most liked anime series for 2005 and 2006, and why am I not surprised. Great story and great cast of characters too.


3.     One Piece

A boy named Luffy is a captain of a pirate ship looking for the legendary treasure, One Piece. When Luffy was a kid, he ate devil's fruit, which turned him into a rubber man.

4.      Inuyasha

This story is about a time-traveling middle school student, a half-demon, a lecherous monk, a fox demon, a demon slayer, and a nekomata who seek to find all the fragments of the Jewel of Four Souls and to keep them out of the hands of evil doers.

5.      Code Geass

 Lelouch of the Rebellion (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ Kōdo Giasu: Hangyaku no Rurūshu), often referred to as simply Code Geass, is a Japanese anime series created by Sunrise, directed by Gorō Taniguchi, and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character designs by Clamp.The series is set after Japan's conquest by the Holy Britannian Empire on August 10, 2010 a.t.b., with their powerful new robot weapons, the Knightmare Frames, stripping Japan and its citizens of all rights and freedoms and renaming the country Area 11. The titular Lelouch vi Britannia is an intellectual Britannian prince who was sent as hostage, along with his sister Nunnally, by his father, Emperor Charles zi Britannia, after his mother was murdered, and has vowed to destroy Britannia. He gains ability through the mysterious power of the Geass, becoming the leader of the resistance movement to fulfill his two wishes: to seek revenge for his mother and to construct a world in which his beloved sister Nunnally can live happily.

6.     Death Note

A genius student named Light finds a notebook with mysterious powers: it kills anyone whose name is written on it. Light starts a campaign to change the world by destroying all crime.

7.   Vampire Knight

Yuki Cross, the adopted daughter of the headmaster of Cross Academy, has grown up and become a "prefect" (also known as a guardian) for the school with two purposes: to protect the Day class students (humans) from the Night class students (vampires) and to protect the true identity of the Night class students from being discovered by the Day class students.

8.   Hunter x Hunter

A young boy named Gon searches for his father; during his journey, he becomes a strong fighter and a Hunter. This is a legendary anime and manga, one of most popular on Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump.

9.      Detective Conan

Shinichi Kudo is a smart high school student who frequently works with the police. One day he witnesses a murder and is given an untested poison to silence him. However, the poison turns him into a child, and he sets out to track the killers as a boy detective Conan.

10.  Pokemon

Multiple series were created in Pokemon universe, with 496 total episodes. They usually involve Pokemon Masters doing battle with their pokemons (pocket monsters).

Cosplay


Cosplaying is an extremely popular activity for anime fans. For those who are not familiar for costplay, it is the short term for “costume play”. It is basically originated in Japan, in 1978.


Participants (known as “Cosplayer”) usually portray characters that are often drawn from Japan fictions. It is typically a type of acting where participants dress up in anime costumes and act on their chosen roles. This is an absolute delight for an Anime fan because you can express your passion in anime by portraying your favourite anime character.

Cosplayers usually rank their selves as otaku (fans of Japanese comic books, known as manga). They typically gather public events such as comic-book and video game trade shows, as well as at dedicated cosplay parties at nightclubs or amusement parks. A cosplayer can portray an opposite sex character, known as "crossplay" and a character who dresses as the opposite sex, known as "crossdress". Example, a male cosplayer portraying a female character who wears girly attire is both cross-dressing and cross-playing. A male cosplayer who dresses as a female character who wears unisex clothing is crossplaying but not cross-dressing. It is also extremely flexible because it is not uncommon to see guys playing the roles of girls and girls playing the roles given to guys.

Through this kind of activity (which is the cosplaying), anime fan can meet likeminded enthusiasts who share their passion for these amazing Japanese Comic Books. Though anime fans are strangers to one another, a common familiarity exists. That sense of familiarity gives them the sense of friendship, and even more, the feeling as if they are family. This is a great place to meet people and exchange their opinions about their favourite anime episodes and characters. 

Anime as My Passion!!!


What is your passion? Do you feel inspired to draw or write when you see someone’s sketches? Do you desire to work in a field of animators and story writers? I’m sure you won’t find it too hard, well, my friend, why not indulge in your passion and make anime a part of your life?


PASSION, I got inspired in this word after I watched the movie Three Idiots. Actually that was my first time to watch Indian film. The story focused on dreams, passion in life. Though Indian Film is not my type I really enjoy the story. It makes sense. It helps me realize what I want in my life.

My passion involves in sketching (anime). I got a passion for anime art when I first saw Lantis and Eagle (I’m not sure if it is Eagle) of Magic Knight Ray earth. A typical style of Japanese animation, big and round eyes, and plastic faces of characters, beautiful background scenarios, like in Grave of the Fireflies, almost look watercolours! At that point, I got hooked to anime.

I highly enjoy looking at others' work and seeing if I can make something that looks similar. (A-chan’s work is a good example. She’s a good animator and manga writer. She’s the reason why I ended up in this title. I’m glad she helps me! Thanks A-chan you’re the best!!!) I also love to make my own characters that have their own personalities in the pictures, and hopefully get across their persona from that one still picture. I like to produce my emotions into my work (anime characters) that soon grow to have their own emotions. Our "Anime" art should be something we love to do because we enjoy it.

People all over the world, irrespective of their age are hooked to Anime and why not? The slickly designed Japanese cartoons are fascinating and their superhuman powers are pretty much limitless. Japanese art works are more realistic than any American version. Their action scenes and adventures will make your jaw drop!

Japanese animators inspired me a lot. They tend to have a unique and incredible imagination. They take their silliness much more seriously than the Americans do. Japanese are more willing to combine the best features of both animated media and live-action. They can create world’s that are nearly impossible to achieve in live-action films.  And also, they are expert in providing action scenes and groundbreaking plot twists that will take your breath away!