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Ten years on
Jun. 23rd, 2009 11:18 pmI remember when they were the kids. Seems like yesterday...
Hewitt and Dokic shine on after 10 hard years
( Full article )
Hewitt and Dokic shine on after 10 hard years
( Full article )
It's been over ten years since I first saw Eva, and it blew me away, like it did many other people. And now Gainax is retelling it - for the nth time - for a new audience.
So a couple of days back I went to see Evangelion 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone at the Japanese Film Festival, along with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
leenabeans, hopexd, kawak, Sempai and friend. It was weird to settle back in the cinema and realise that this was how I first saw Eva too - not on TV, but huge on the screen of a darkened theatre, surrounded by countless other fans.
And how was this new incarnation?
I liked it. I'd recommend it, to both old fans and new viewers. (Unless you didn't like Eva the first time around. In which case, there's nothing to change your mind.) The plot is largely the same, but effectively streamlined, with enough new material added to make it worth seeing. All the drama and comedy of the original series, and the character moments interspersed with the action sequences, and Shinji reminding us why he got a rep for being whiny ("I must not run away. I must not run away."), and the full bloody primal fury of an Eva unleashed. And the music, damn, it still gets me right there, each track triggering a memory. And the animation is all bright and shiny with the last decade of advances and a budget that hopefully ensures the last movie won't be some random photomontage again.
I couldn't help laughing at the appearance of [spoiler] at the end of the movie, because way to go Gainax, that's not opportunistic fanservice at all. But I am looking forward to the next few movies, [spoiler] or not, and to see where this path takes us.
So a couple of days back I went to see Evangelion 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone at the Japanese Film Festival, along with
leenabeans, hopexd, kawak, Sempai and friend. It was weird to settle back in the cinema and realise that this was how I first saw Eva too - not on TV, but huge on the screen of a darkened theatre, surrounded by countless other fans.And how was this new incarnation?
I liked it. I'd recommend it, to both old fans and new viewers. (Unless you didn't like Eva the first time around. In which case, there's nothing to change your mind.) The plot is largely the same, but effectively streamlined, with enough new material added to make it worth seeing. All the drama and comedy of the original series, and the character moments interspersed with the action sequences, and Shinji reminding us why he got a rep for being whiny ("I must not run away. I must not run away."), and the full bloody primal fury of an Eva unleashed. And the music, damn, it still gets me right there, each track triggering a memory. And the animation is all bright and shiny with the last decade of advances and a budget that hopefully ensures the last movie won't be some random photomontage again.
I couldn't help laughing at the appearance of [spoiler] at the end of the movie, because way to go Gainax, that's not opportunistic fanservice at all. But I am looking forward to the next few movies, [spoiler] or not, and to see where this path takes us.
We're gonna party like it's 2009...
Jul. 25th, 2008 01:29 amX was the first CLAMP manga I ever read. When I started reading it, 1999 was in the future.
I'd never even heard of CLAMP back then. But it was the cover that caught my attention. You know the one. Glossy black, with that picture of Kamui standing under Tokyo Tower in the moonlight, huge eyes and wavy hair and blood red sakura wafting past. Totally Clampesque, and completely different from all the shounen and seinen manga on the shelves in those days.
I remember being intrigued and picking it up and putting it down again, because back then I was a poor uni student and $30 AUD was a lot to go drop on a graphic novel. (Yes, they cost that much then. Insert obligatory "Kids these days!" comment.)
But in the end, I circled back for it, and although I didn't warm to the story straight away - remember back when Kamui was a cold little bastard instead of the fragile ball of angst we know so well? - it intrigued me enough to keep going. After all, there really was nothing else like it then. Viz's collection Four Shojo Stories had only come out a few months earlier, and that had been a revelation in itself. ("Japanese comics from a uniquely female perspective!" the cover said. "It's Not Just Girls' Stuff Anymore.")
So yeah, Dragons of Heaven and Dragons of Earth and mystic swords and duelling prophecies and starcrossed lovers and bucketloads of angst, and a movie and a TV series and a billion volumes of other CLAMP manga later, and wow, cats in the cradle, we're just around the corner from 2009. Which is a good time for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
x2009 fanfiction challenge, 'Ten Years Later'. Sign ups are open now, for anyone else feeling the nostalgia.
X was the first CLAMP manga I ever read. Which makes it kind of funny that I still haven't finished reading it. Here's hoping they pick it up again before 1999 falls even further into the past.
(Though I suppose they're still doing better than Minami Ozaki, whose Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989 is still crawling along. By all rights, Koji and Izumi should be pushing forty by now.)
I'd never even heard of CLAMP back then. But it was the cover that caught my attention. You know the one. Glossy black, with that picture of Kamui standing under Tokyo Tower in the moonlight, huge eyes and wavy hair and blood red sakura wafting past. Totally Clampesque, and completely different from all the shounen and seinen manga on the shelves in those days.
I remember being intrigued and picking it up and putting it down again, because back then I was a poor uni student and $30 AUD was a lot to go drop on a graphic novel. (Yes, they cost that much then. Insert obligatory "Kids these days!" comment.)
But in the end, I circled back for it, and although I didn't warm to the story straight away - remember back when Kamui was a cold little bastard instead of the fragile ball of angst we know so well? - it intrigued me enough to keep going. After all, there really was nothing else like it then. Viz's collection Four Shojo Stories had only come out a few months earlier, and that had been a revelation in itself. ("Japanese comics from a uniquely female perspective!" the cover said. "It's Not Just Girls' Stuff Anymore.")
So yeah, Dragons of Heaven and Dragons of Earth and mystic swords and duelling prophecies and starcrossed lovers and bucketloads of angst, and a movie and a TV series and a billion volumes of other CLAMP manga later, and wow, cats in the cradle, we're just around the corner from 2009. Which is a good time for the
x2009 fanfiction challenge, 'Ten Years Later'. Sign ups are open now, for anyone else feeling the nostalgia.X was the first CLAMP manga I ever read. Which makes it kind of funny that I still haven't finished reading it. Here's hoping they pick it up again before 1999 falls even further into the past.
(Though I suppose they're still doing better than Minami Ozaki, whose Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989 is still crawling along. By all rights, Koji and Izumi should be pushing forty by now.)
Strolling down memory lane
Dec. 6th, 2007 11:25 pmSo the other day, I go in to edit my journal settings so I don't get all these hideous "WARNING! WARNING!" cut-tags everywhere. While I'm in there, I finally upgrade my journal layout from S1 to S2, which gives me the nifty sidebar with all the tags. So I decide to take the opportunity to go back through all my old entries and tag them.
It takes a lot longer than you might expect.
Some discoveries:
1. It might seem like I've been posting a lot about Supernatural and Heroes lately, but neither of them has anything on Ragnarok Online.
2. I've covered a fair few fandoms over the years. But what's interesting is how many of my fandoms *aren't* covered here - all the stuff that predates this journal, stuff from the era of lists and forums. My huge X-Files obsession, for example, or the *years* I spent with anime.
3. Man, some of these shows have been boxed away in the attic for years. Witchblade! Hornblower! Roswell! But it makes me smile to think back on them.
4. There are a surprising number of entries that call for the damn you channel nine tag. And I expected to need tags for the other stations, but you know what? I didn't. It's just you, Channel Nine! *waves fist*
5. It looks like I used to post more about what I got up to in real life. I wonder if I'm less comfortable with it now because so many more people of my acquaintance - workmates, relatives, friends who aren't fannish - are online these days. Some of them even have blogs. And I get nervous about them stumbling on this and joining the dots. I mean, I do know quite a few of you in real life, but mostly that's from the anime club, and you guys know I'm weird already. Though it does make me think twice before, say, reccing the latest hot threesome slash fic.
It takes a lot longer than you might expect.
Some discoveries:
1. It might seem like I've been posting a lot about Supernatural and Heroes lately, but neither of them has anything on Ragnarok Online.
2. I've covered a fair few fandoms over the years. But what's interesting is how many of my fandoms *aren't* covered here - all the stuff that predates this journal, stuff from the era of lists and forums. My huge X-Files obsession, for example, or the *years* I spent with anime.
3. Man, some of these shows have been boxed away in the attic for years. Witchblade! Hornblower! Roswell! But it makes me smile to think back on them.
4. There are a surprising number of entries that call for the damn you channel nine tag. And I expected to need tags for the other stations, but you know what? I didn't. It's just you, Channel Nine! *waves fist*
5. It looks like I used to post more about what I got up to in real life. I wonder if I'm less comfortable with it now because so many more people of my acquaintance - workmates, relatives, friends who aren't fannish - are online these days. Some of them even have blogs. And I get nervous about them stumbling on this and joining the dots. I mean, I do know quite a few of you in real life, but mostly that's from the anime club, and you guys know I'm weird already. Though it does make me think twice before, say, reccing the latest hot threesome slash fic.
I remember that day, ten years ago, in that packed out classroom in the Quadrangle Building, when these three guys stood up in front of us and proposed to start an anime club. In years to come, they would be known as the Founders, and the club as AnimeUNSW.
( Memories )
( Memories )
Those were the days
Aug. 10th, 2007 11:27 pmOne month from today, it will be the 10th anniversary of the founding of AnimeUNSW.
Its official name is the Anime and Manga Society of the University of New South Wales, but nobody calls it that. To me personally, it will always be 'the club'. It was a big part of my life for a long time - through it, I made some wonderful friends, and had some amazing experiences, and of course watched lots of anime, which I was hugely passionate about.
Back then, the only other anime clubs in Sydney were JAUWS and SAS - the one based out west, and the other a small group of friends. The next closest club was down in Wollongong. SUAnime, Anime@UTS, AnimeMQ - none of these clubs yet existed. So AnimeUNSW became the main social hub for anime fans in metropolitan Sydney, its Friday night screenings regularly drawing not only uni students but high schoolers and fulltime workers - all come together to share their love of Japanese animation.
( Kids these days! aka Uphill! Both ways! In the snow! )
Its official name is the Anime and Manga Society of the University of New South Wales, but nobody calls it that. To me personally, it will always be 'the club'. It was a big part of my life for a long time - through it, I made some wonderful friends, and had some amazing experiences, and of course watched lots of anime, which I was hugely passionate about.
Back then, the only other anime clubs in Sydney were JAUWS and SAS - the one based out west, and the other a small group of friends. The next closest club was down in Wollongong. SUAnime, Anime@UTS, AnimeMQ - none of these clubs yet existed. So AnimeUNSW became the main social hub for anime fans in metropolitan Sydney, its Friday night screenings regularly drawing not only uni students but high schoolers and fulltime workers - all come together to share their love of Japanese animation.
( Kids these days! aka Uphill! Both ways! In the snow! )
