neknekenken

I used to really like watching Japanese movies/tv series but after consecutively watching several awful Japanese movies, I kind of lost my interest. I wasn't even aware there was a live action movie version of Paradise Kiss out last year. I decided to watch this one since I enjoyed reading the manga and watching the anime version before.  While watching the movie, one of my early complaints was the lack of romance between Yukari and George, but near the end of the film, I was glad they made it that way. It made the farewell scene between them all the more sad and heartbreaking. I was a bit bothered by the cheesy music used throughout the film (the anime soundtrack was really good though), as well as the weird catwalk modelling near the end. I'm not really in tune with the fashion world, but Yukari's walk didn't look very professional to me (actually, none of the other models did). Overall, I did have a bit of a good time watching.

Several pens that my sister owns. This is just the tip of the iceberg I decided to use ditch my old blog layout and go with Blogger Dynamic Views instead for something new(ish). I love my old layout but the design has several pitfalls that I can not seem to fix (thumbnails has a tendency to distort pictures, social networking buttons for easy sharing of the posts are not working properly and the script must be added to each post manually, etc). And now I decided to give it a rest. Also, I would be publishing new content within the next few days, mostly about pens. I've never been really picky with my pens. Also, my handwriting is bad (probably a result of lack of practice). But my sister loves pens, and has a bunch of them. Slowly, her interest in pens rubbed into me, and I'm starting to pay attention to a pens feel, grip, ink, etc. While it's a bit unusual to review and talk about pens in this age of computers, I think it's great subject that not too many people a...

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami I've watched the movie version of Battle Royale several years ago, but wasn't really interested in reading the novel until recently (after finishing The Hunger Games ).  The story in Battle Royale takes place in a fictional world wherein Japan is a member of a totalitarian state called the Republic of Greater East Asia. Every year, 50 third year high school classes are selected to participate in the Program. Under the guise of a school trip, the students are brought to an isolated area, where the students are forced to kill each other until only one survives. I had issues with the book, as I found some of the quips to be really cheesy. It was set in the 90's and it's virtually impossible for me to think about the 90's without cringing, so it was forgivable. Other than that I have no complaints. The plot structure and the character development in Battle Royale is amazing. The reasoning for the political setting is well define...

The Hunger Games Trilogy A dear friend of mine recommended The Hunger Games Trilogy to read, and having nothing else better to do, I did. Unfortunately, I didn't liked the books as I hoped I would. The story starts off with Katniss Everdeen, a young girl living in District 12 of Panem. Katniss volunteered to take part in the Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Prim. The Hunger Games is an annual event organized by The Capitol (rules and oversees the 12 districts of Panem) in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the districts are selected via lottery. The participants must kill each other and only one person can emerge a winner.  I've read many books that are derivative, but somehow, reading The Hunger Games bothered me a lot. The plot is eerily close to Battle Royale (and was reminded a bit of my beloved Firefly : Alliance = Panem, The Capitol = Core Planets, and Outlying Planets = 12 Districts). Another thing that bothered me was the la...