The massive multi Merlin review catch up

A few months ago I made a personal promise to review every single episode of Merlin season 4. But because of moving house and the many many problems and stresses that come with it, especially having no internet, I haven’t been able to for a while.

So to keep my pledge, I decided to do a set of micro-reviews of all the episodes I’ve missed thus far. I can’t believe it’s half way through the series already. I still want so much more.

4.3 - The Wicked Day
After last week’s doom and gloom the opening to this episode might make you think that we’re in for something cheerful to lighten the mood. Do not believe it!!
Uther, who has done nothing this season except stare out of windows, finally gets his moment of awesome! Then he dies. Wait, what? That was my reaction. I guess we all new this was coming, but I don’t think anyone excpected it to happen so soon. The end result was a very surprising twist, considering the whole 3 seasons of build up to that point.
I was very happy to see Dragoon back. I bet the writers were just itching to have him return. I think it’s a good idea that Merlin has his alter ego. Why didn’t he think of that before?
I also love how deliciously evil Agravaine is. He almost makes Uther look like a kitten! Just watch the way he forces the pendant around Uther’s neck. Nathanial Parker, you are my new love!

4.4 - Aithusa
It has a baby dragon, what more could you want?! I bet that I wasn’t the only one who hoped and half expected this to happen eventually, with all of Kilgarah’s talk of being the last of his kind. And I must say, because of that this seems rather epic for a one shot episode. The homo-eroticism has also escalated into softcore pornography.
It’s a shame they only had the budget for a few shots of little Aithusa right at the end, but it was worth the wait.

4.5 - His Father’s Son
This is what I picture in my head when I’m reading an Arthurian tale. We’ve always known that as a king, Arthur will eclipse his father. But to show him starting out as a bad king making very poor decisions makes the story so much more realistic.
I kind of had the feeling that this episode and the one before should have been switched around. It’s strange that it took them a while to actually acknowledge that Arthur is king now and has to do king things.
It also continues to be frustrating how much of a pushover Arthur is when it comes to his Uncle. All the trouble he took to be with Gwen, and he breaks up with her just because Uncle Aggy says so. Come on Arthur, grow some balls man!
Biggest bonus of this episode - Merlin dressed as a knight! Now they are truly giving in to our fetishes.

4.6 - A Servant of Two Masters
It’s strange how this episode started out so mundane, the type of thing we’ve seen a million times before on Merlin, then escalate into some of the best comedy they’ve had so far. It’s scarily hard to tell how much is the spell and how much is Merlin’s actual desire to get revenge on Arthur. It’s a nice break from the incredibly dark and emo turn this season has taken, yet it still worked well with the more serious bits.
George must return!! He’s too good a character to not bring back again! Did you notice how Arthur was just a little too quick to reject him? Of course you did, you can now see his love for Merlin from space! And do I even have to mention the nudity? I think the reason for the later time slot is obvious now!
I wanted more interaction between Merlin and Morgana though. In fact, more Morgana in general. And I’m getting really really bored of them constantly using the magic falling backwards spell. It’ just a cheap excuse for whenever they need someone to be injured or momentarily distracted. I know they’re on a budget and there’s only so much they can do, even with stunt doubles. But surely they could be a little more creative with their spells?

4.6 - The Secret Sharer
The annual ‘Showing how epically awesome Gaius is’ episode. And once again, it’s proved to be one of my favourites so far. But just like the others, it focuses on how much everyone likes to pick on Gaius and get him tortured and killed. How dare they do that to the great Richard Wilson!!
The moment where Agravaine was getting undressed while Merlin was in the room was a bit weird. And Aggy must be running out of lame excuses by now. He’s at the point where he has to make one every 5 seconds. It’s a bit of a waste of Nathanial Parker’s skills.
But more importantly, it was refreshing to investigate the relationship between Gaius and Arthur, which hasn’t even been touched upon until now. I always thought that since Gaius had been around since Arthur was born, and might have even delivered him, he probably felt sort of protective over him. It was great seeing the incredible amount of love and belief he has for both Merlin and Arthur.
The twist ending was nice too. It gives a bit of a hint at the importance and status that Merlin will one day have among the magic users.

More soon!

Merlin episode 4.2: The Darkest Hour Part 2

(Note, this review will likely only make sense if you have already seen The Darkest Hour part 2. Otherwise it will be nonsensical blabbering. Read an episode synopsis here - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s53/merlin/recaps/a344256/merlin-the-darkest-hour-part-two-recap.html
Also there is a lot of slash squeeing. You have been warned.)

Payoff is a wonderful thing. After last year’s advance screening I waited weeks for a new adventure and was rewarded with Goblin’s Gold. Ok so I’ve softened to it a little over time but at the time I despised it.

But this time, a great exciting adventure that you’d expect from this show!

So it turned out that Merlin was not quite dead. The writers wrote in some adorable shivery dying just for an excuse for Colin Morgan to look cute. That and he’s the main character, so he is immune to things that would kill most people.

Arthur and Lancelot fight over who gets to take their beloved Merlin back to Camelot and Lancelot wins. The others are also clearly worried, and Percival gets the added bonus of carrying Merlin’s unconscious body in his arms in the single slashiest shot ever.

Up until now, I felt that the producers were very annoyed by their massive and unintended slash fan base. But now, after years of trying to convince us that Merlin and Arthur are straight, it seems they’ve finally thrown their hands in the air and said ‘All right slashers, you win. You can have your overblown gay subtext as long as you keep buying our DVD’s and merchandise.’

This episode was full of slash candy! I’m not even talking subtle stuff that can only been seen with slash goggles. Percival falls on top of Gwaine, just like they do in rom coms when they want a forced romantic moment. My boyfriend almost had to sedate me during that scene.

I don’t get why Merlin couldn’t ride with Lancelot on his pretty white horse. He’d be less likely to fall off, and riding in the way he did would really hurt!

See right there? A perfectly good horse!!

The appearance of the water spirits, who I like to call The Bubble Fairies, was very cool. I like stuff like that, which gives the show a nice mystical edge. It was a nice change seeing it happen to someone other than Merlin, and a secondary character to boot. Not only did Lancelot get to meet the spirits, but the Dragon as well! It was a bit mean of Kilgharrah not to at least offer them a lift though. How was he supposed to know that they already had horses?

Even the Dragon has had a bit of character development. He used to boss Merlin around, demand this and that of him and get steaming mad when Merlin didn’t do what he said. Maybe being out free in the wild for a while has made him less cranky.

Meanwhile, the others are still heading to The Isle of the Blessed, which in this context is probably the most unsuitable name for an island ever. The writers seemed to forget that in season 1, Merlin and Gaius made it there in about a day or so (haven’t seen that episode in a while, but they couldn’t have taken as long as this to get there). Yet Arthur and his Merry Men are so lost that they have to go through the Wylderin caves! It’s no wander Gwen had to ask Lancelot to keep an eye on him…

There was an awesome moment for Sir Leon. He really has progressed from ‘sorry I can’t kill you with my lance sire’ to having a proper character and personality. I imagine that he and Arthur used to be just head knight and second in command. But Arthur has grown so much that the Knights are really his friends who he can confide in. Maybe the friendship of the group helped Leon in the same way. Well, that’s what happens in my mind anyway.

In case you didn’t guess by now, Gwaine is the comic relief. So much so that they blew the special effects budget on some Wylderin just so he could look silly. The others are very quick to laugh off his behaviour, even when he’s being attacked by a swarm of fucking bees!
“Oh that Gwaine, he’s always getting into trouble!”
“Um guys, I’m kind of in tremendous pain here…”

I was happy that we got to finally see Agravaine getting up to his evils. He’s a very different sort of villain, incredibly subtle. He knew that fighting back against Gwen’s protest would be futile, yet it doesn’t seem to stop him. The way he ever so slightly stroked Gwen’s hair - It gave me shivers! Already I strongly approve of this villain, and I think Nathanial Parker is very talented. The only potential risk is that his storyline will be a direct clone of Morgana’s - that Arthur will spend the entire season completely clueless of the enemy in his courtroom. It’s actually very frustrating that Arthur, who I usually love in every way, is so mind numbingly stupid that he doesn’t notice these things and didn’t learn his lesson last time.

Morgana has magical villain transportation powers and sneaks into Camelot to try and kill Gwen!! Another interesting turn around for this show. Morgana and Gwen used to be such great and loyal friends, and people really liked the close bond and interaction between them.

Yet in her hatred and lust for power, Morgana has instantly turned on Gwen. Once she wanted to murder Uther because he killed Gwen’s father, now she thinks nothing of murdering sweet innocent Gwen! Or does she? She didn’t exactly do a good job of killing her. She could have just as easily offed Gaius too, so was she holding back because of him, or because she subconsciously still cares for Gwen? I’m just throwing some theories out there.

The scene of Lancelot and Merlin returning to the others (magical protagonist transportation powers? Or is Arthur really just that bad at following directions?) was unnecessarily overblown, and yet it somehow that’s what made it work so well! The big group hug was so cute, and the exchange between Merlin and Arthur - Just cuddle already! You know you want to!!

Somehow it just fascinates me to see characters in places that they’re not supposed to be. Like Lancelot meeting the spirits and then the dragon, and the knights at the Isle of the Blessed. I have so far associated that place as being part of the magic world which Arthur doesn’t yet belong to.

Pretty major plot hole though - When Merlin is using his Dragonlord powers he tends to be pretty damn loud. How the flying fuck did the guys not notice him using them right in front of them?! Not that it matters though, because it didn’t seem to work that well. Just leave the less important members of the gang to deal with it while the important people go off to be all heroic. They’ll probably die horribly painful deaths, but at least we’ll save a little time.

They finally reach the rift which looks nothing at all like a Skygina. Arthur is about to do his cliché sacrificing himself for the sake of Camelot thing, but Merlin prevents him from repeating himself again by knocking him unconscious in the name of love. When you think about it, it’s actually a bit mean that he spend so bloody long getting there and didn’t even get to do anything!

And then…Wait Lancelot, what are you doing? What are…Wait…No! No you can’t do this, you’re too beautiful to die! Noooooooo!!

That’s the main strength of this episode, the twist ending totally caught me by surprise and now has me and the rest of the fans in floods of tears. Just as we had settled safely into the knowledge that all our favourite knights were going to be sticking around, this happens!

The funeral scene really confirms that Gwen is deeply in love with two different men. It’s really sweet when she and Arthur are holding hands, but the shot of her standing alone next to the pyre says a lot.

So in conclusion, a great way to start the series. Part 2 didn’t have the same spooky tone as part 1, but it doesn’t really matter since the usual setup is great too. The story was exciting and moving, we’ve got an interesting new villain and there was lots of Merlin being adorable.

The story could pretty much go anywhere from this point. The burning question is whether Lancelot is gone for good. The cast pretty much confirmed themselves that no one in Merlin is truly dead for good. Does this mean we’ll get to see our chivalrous hero once again?

Apart from a few errors and plot holes, which I’ve pretty much come to expect from this show anyway, the only thing I have a major complaint about is Gwaine being demoted to bumbling sidekick. Gwaine is awesome and yes he is supposed to be comedic, but not in a way that makes him look like a twat all the time. As I said before, the whole sacrifice storyline has been done before, but the twist ending saved it.

There was a much better balance of each character getting some screen time (with the exception of Uther, but it seems he might be doing something next week). Now that the cast has ballooned so much, it’s going to be touch for the writers to distribute the lines evenly. They also have to be careful not to get repetitive. Time will tell whether or not they succeed.

Top 5 moments
1. Lancelot's heroic sacrifice.
2. Merlin being welcomed back into the gang.
3. Percival and Gwaine's epicly slashy moment.
4. The appearence of the mystical water spirits.
5. Gwen bravely standing up to Agravaine.

Cloud verdict - 9/10.

Next time - Arthur has a fun birthday, Uther does things and Great Dragoon is back!!

Merlin Season 4, Episode 1 - The Darkest Hour Part 1

It’s baaccckkkk!! The months between new episodes of Merlin seem to long, but now we have new episodes for the next 13 weeks. That’s a whole quarter of the year!

Of course I already saw the first episode at the Merlin season 4 premier at the BFI Southbank, but the actual television broadcast is still an exciting time. I wish that I could watch every episode of Merlin on a cinema screen. My tiny tv with it’s terrible sound quality doesn’t do the series justice.

The end of series 3 left me wondering what directions the show would take next. Would Uther still be a broken shell of a man or return to his tyrannical rule and undo everything Arthur did? Would Morgana still be out for revenge, or repent and want to return to Camelot? And what of the Arthur/Gwen/Lancelot love triangle? Would that ever really go anywhere or would the writers continue to just touch upon it then forget Lancelot ever existed?

Uther’s appearance was only brief, yet it packed the necessary punch. It even makes you feel a little sorry for Uther, despite the fact he’s a complete bastard who really got what was coming to him. Anthony Head was fantastic as usual and made the most of the two puny lines he got. Did anyone else cry when Arthur kissed him?

And as for Gwen and Lancelot, it’s clear that something’s going on there! I adored the scene where Gwen asked Lancelot to protect Arthur. In pure Arthurian tradition, he did the chivalrous thing and agreed to do anything for the woman he loved, even protect the man she chose over him. I think Angel Coulby’s longer hair and blue dress are very pretty, by the way. I hope someone cosplays in that outfit.

One thing I noticed though - Has Gwen forgotten she has a brother? Elyan didn’t seem to notice when his sister was being burnt at the stake, and in return Gwen didn’t see her brother off or tell him to be careful or anything. My sister thinks it’s because Elyan survived on his own for years, while Arthur has a habit of being knocked out or almost killed very easily.

So even though right now things are going as most of us probably predicted, that doesn’t mean it will stay that way. Morgana’s vision kind of hinted at my theory that she’ll come to regret what she’s done. Pretty much everything she’s done up to this point has come from others forcing her to do things or manipulating her.

Speaking of Katie McGrath, it’s great to see how her acting skills have improved so much since the show began. She was cast only a few months after deciding to become an actress (not that I’m jealous or anything…) so in the early seasons, it’s clear that she hasn’t had the same extensive experience and training as the rest of the cast. Now she takes her rightful place as The Queen of the Evil Smirk.

But the real highlight of the season is that The Knights of the Round Table are back!! At least I hope they’ve evolved from red shirt/guest star status. They’ve been popular since the end of the last series and I’m so glad the writers have stuck with them. I like how they’re all really good buddies now too. Maybe they’ll have their own sitcom on E4. Gwaine has even turned Percival from a nice, sweet guy to a prankster. They even seem ok with the fact that Arthur and Merlin spend every journey doing their flirty name-calling routine.

The only downside with having all the knights on camera at once is that they only get a few lines each per episode, when we’re used to them getting a whole episode devoted to their character.

But at least Percival, who only got a brief intro in season 3, had his crowning moment of awesome. The scene where he saved the children got the biggest applause of the evening at the BFI screening. I also appreciate the fact that he is allowed to wear non-regulation armour to show off his arms…

It’s also particularly heart-warming to see Arthur’s character development shining through so clearly. Yes, he’s been willing to sacrifice himself for another before, but I’m talking his regular personality and the way he interacts with others. His teasing of Merlin is more in the ‘we’re best friends but not going to admit it’ way. You just want to shake these two and shout ‘admit you’re best friends already! You don’t have to hide it anymore!’ When he meets the girl from the village that was attacked, he instantly recognises that she’s distressed and talks to her kindly, even introducing himself with his first name. Bradley James even looks more grown up and mature than he did before!

We also have a new baddie, Arthur’s uncle Agravaine who has conveniently never been seen or mentioned up until this point. If you’re an obsessive fan like me then you probably already knew that he was coming. But the way he was introduced seemed like it would’ve confused casual viewers and those who avoid spoilers. Some random guy shows up at the meetings and then Arthur is giving him permission to become King. A bit of explanation please?!

At least Nathanial Parker makes a great secret bad guy (Arthur really should do background checks, shouldn’t he?). Strange thing is, in real life he’s one of the nicest people you could hope to meet. When I was watching the filming in Pierrefonds, he complimented Katie on her performance and someone else saw him helping a crew member carry in a huge cart of heavy equipment. Awh, what a nice evil uncle!!

A big improvement in this episode, in comparison to previous season premieres, is that it does a much better job of laying the foundations for the entire season. Possibly even for the next two seasons, as series 5 has already been commissioned (and the fandom did rejoice). This could potentially solve one of the main criticisms that Merlin gets - That the episodes are too repetitive. That said, a whole episode building up to Merlin sacrificing his life for Arthur’s has kinda been done before.

The overall tone for this episode is also a big change. I spent half the BFI screening clutching my boyfriend in terror, and for the TV broadcast he insisted on turning the lights off! I know that in every interview they talk about how the next season is ‘even darker’ but this time they’ve ripped open a hole to the fricking underworld!! And I think everyone who was at the BFI screening now has a fear of chickens!

The way they ‘killed’ Merlin in the climax was really brutal, even for this show! We’ve seen him hurt and come close to death before, but he was picked up, thrown across the room into a stone wall and turned to ice. What the hell, writers?!

But don’t worry, the light-hearted cheesiness we know and love hasn’t gone away completely, and neither have Colin Morgan’s cheekbones!

The producers say that they aim to make every episode like a mini movie, and it is really starting to show. Backgrounds that you’d expect to see in Lord of the Rings, jump scares straight out of a horror film and the wonderful otherworldly cinematography. And of course, Katie McGrath’s legendary dresses!! She is set to become a fashion icon among goths.

So despite a few flaws in the writing, a slightly repetitive plot line and a few characters not getting much screen time, I loved this episode. I can tell I’ll be watching it over and over again without getting bored. It was a bold move concentrating on the supernatural horror tone, but I really enjoyed it. It’s like something you already love being given an extra ingredient to make it even better. It’s been weeks since the BFI preview, so now I’m really anxious to see how Merlin will survive!

Top 5 moments:
1.Gwaine scaring the shit out of everyone by biting into an apple with a loud crunch.
2.Morgana’s forshadowing vision, with cameos from Excalibur and Old Merlin.
3.Gwaine and Percival getting up to mischief.
4.Arthur saying goodbye to his Father, possibly forever.
5.Percival’s epic saving children moment.

Cloud verdict - 9/10.

Manga review - Kobato Volume 4

Back in November, the first thing I ever reviewed on this blog was the first three volumes of ‘Kobato.’ Even after less than a year, that review is already an old shame of mine. Although I think my theory that Kobato is Mary Poppins is still valid.

She so is.

Since I now have volume 4 of the manga in my possession, I thought that I should review that one too in order to compare and contrast it to the earlier instalments.

A quick recap of the story so far so you don’t have to read my embarrassingly bad early review:

A ditzy girl named Kobato and her stuffed animal like advisor Ioryogi have come to Earth from presumably some other world. Kobato is on a mission to heal people’s wounded hearts. Whenever she does, a physical manifestation of the mended heart, that looks like a sugar candy, appears in Kobato’s special bottle. She must fill the bottle to the brim with mended hearts in order to go to a certain place and achieve a certain wish she has.

By chance, she ends up working at a day care centre run by a kind hearted women named Sayaka and her adopted brother Fujimoto. But Kobato soon finds out that the day care is under threat from loan sharks who are threatening to tear it down unless Sayaka pays back her loan, putting her in an impossible situation. Kobato wants to help, but with her limited understanding of the human world, it seems unlikely that she can.

Of course, most of this didn’t even start until the very end of the first book. When you re-read that one, it feels like a completely different manga compared to the rest. It’s turned from a collection of random one-shot chapters and even more random Clamp cameos to a pretty gripping supernatural drama/mystery story. It seemed that it took a while for the manga to find it’s feet and get to grips with itself. This isn’t uncommon in creative works, although it usually seems to happen to less experienced writers. Clamp have been in the manga business for over 20 years and it seems out of character for them to make such a slip up. At least that’s my humble opinion.

Even this volume has a different feel to it than the others, dedicated to Ioryogi and the rest of the ‘Residents of the Other World.’ One of Clamp’s greatest strengths is how they create so many different mysteries in each of their works, tease us relentlessly then wait until the very end to resolve them.

Volume 4 provides tonnes of ‘ah-ha!’ moments as it reveals some truths about Kobato and Ioryogi’s origin. But again, for every question answered there are two more raised. We know they come from some ‘other world,’ which you probably expected already, but from their dialogue, we know this world isn’t heaven or hell. So what could it be? We still don’t know what exactly they are, what they desire or why they are in their current situation. It’s frustratingly brilliant.

Ioryogi is also given the chance to go from the standard shojo mascot (well, standard except for the fire breath) to a really great and deeply complex character in his own right. When you first see him as a cute little stuffed doggie, that’s naturally how you see him - just a sidekick to Kobato’s adventures. Now we are beginning to see just how much is really packed into that little ball of fluff. It’s a huge difference to when all he did was abuse Kobato for her constant blunders.

This also happens, to a lesser extent, to the rest of the other world critters. To be honest I always thought their scenes were just the sub-plot and didn’t find them as interesting, but now I’m really getting into them. They make me really want to try that baumkuchen stuff that they keep going on about!

Sayaka only appears in one scene in this book, and apart from one major scene and a couple of small ones, the loan shark storyline is downplayed in place of the critter’s. The two story lines are really starting to contrast nicely to each other, even if one is a fantasy and the other reads like a soap opera. Look closely and you’ll see just how similar Fujimoto and Ginsei are. In fact, Ginsei could be Fujimoto as a furry!!

Although we only see a little of Okiura, aka ‘Loan Shark-San,’ we get to see him moving around for the first time, which adds another level of fear to his character. Amazingly, when he gets into a fight his facial expression doesn’t change at all, yet just a few pages later he becomes King of the Evil Smirk! Although it was really predictable that he was a yakuza, so it wasn’t that much of a revelation.

The rest of the manga is made up of Kobato meeting Fujimoto’s college friend Takashi, who is a little bland for a Clamp character, and then a women who is essentially a human version of herself. Plus one other plot development which I will not spoil, but it is so lovely!

I do have a big issue with this book though - It’s incredibly talky which slows the pace right down. Although we get some revelations and developments, it feels like they’ve taken forever to arrive. Most of these revelations come in slightly clunky expo dumps, and most of the conversations between the critters are ‘you’re always like that, aren’t you?’ which is kind of annoying.

Maybe it’s just because the price of manga has gone up and the release date was delayed so I was waiting for it for a while, but by the end of the book it felt a little like I hadn’t gotten my money’s worth. It doesn’t help that they chapters are incredibly short.

Clamp are known for their elaborate costumes, but we only get one outfit change from Kobato. One! It’s an outrage! The only crossovers we get are from ‘Wish,’ which is almost impossible to read legally anymore since the English release of the manga is years out of date. So most of them went right over my head.

By the way, the bunny is the Harbringer of Doom.

I don’t have much to say about the art, as it’s gorgeous as usual and provides some great emotional imagery. My favourite is sad Kobato sitting on her window ledge in the rain. It’s almost heartbreaking. But I’ve only just noticed this- what is up with everyone’s eyes? It looks like they haven’t been drawn properly. Is it supposed to be some kind of symbolism that I don’t get? Or is it just normal to draw eyes that way?

Despite all the flaws, if you don’t mind forking over the extra money, this is still a great story with great characters. It contains moments which will make any shojo fan sequel with pure delight, whilst still retaining some action and paranormal themes.

Kobato has finished it’s manga run in Japan, which means there’s only two more volumes to be released in English. Hopefully this means the story won’t be so slow paced anymore, and won’t contain so much filler. But I do also worry that all the plot threads won’t be resolved properly in such a short amount of time.

Even so, when the time comes, it will be a little sad to say goodbye to these characters.

Cloud verdict - 7.5/10

Anime review - Summer Wars

Now my blog returns to it’s origins- Squeeing over stuff that I love! With that in mind- Summer Wars! Very fitting since it’s scorching hot outside as I’m writing this.

This film is sort of the spiritual successor of another Japanese anime film, The Girl who Leapt Through Time. It’s one of my favourite films ever and my review of it was the very first thing I ever got published (didn’t get paid for it, but I was only a second year student). It was such a hit that director Mamoru Hosoda was immediately asked by animation studio Madhouse to produce another gem. He worked with the same scriptwriter, Sakoto Okudera, and many of the same stuff from The Girl who Leapt Through Time. And lucky for them, they weren’t a one hit wonder.

Summer Wars opens with a voiceover from what sounds like a creepily nice saleswomen introducing us to Oz, a computer programme which drives the plot of the film. It’s kind of like a super mix between Facebook and Second Life with a bit of WoW thrown in.

No flash photography please, this is the internet!

If you’re thinking this opening sequence looks familiar, you’d be right. Back in 2000 Hosoda directed the Digimon film ‘Our War Game,’ dubbed, with varying levels of quality, in English as part of ‘The Digimon Movie.’ It also features an incredibly stylish visualised version of the internet, filled with weird but cool things floating about everywhere. It’s clear that Summer Wars is either an expansion or improvement of Our War Game, with both films even sharing very similar plot elements, and even several ‘evolution’ scenes.

It’s not a bad thing, it’s normal for artists to look back on something they did earlier in their career and say ‘that could be so much better.’ I look at stuff I wrote just 6 months ago and say ‘what was I thinking?!‘ They are still two different films with very different themes and characters. We’re just taking another journey to trippy internet world.

See this article for a more in depth comparison of the two films: http://www.animevice.com/news/summer-wars-vs-digimon-our-war-game/5100/

I recommend watching the film twice - Once to take in the storyline and a second time to look at all the things in the background that you didn’t see first time around. There is just so much to look at and make you go ‘oh, I didn’t notice that before!’

I particularly like the Panda-Dolphin.

Back in the real world (what was that again?) we meet our hero Kenji Koiso, a socially awkward math genius and the type of person who can’t spend more than 2 minutes away from a computer. He and his friend Takashi are working as part time moderators for Oz when their classmate Natsuki Shinohara ‘hires’ Kenji to go with her to a family reunion to celebrate her great grandmother’s 90th birthday. But on arriving at the impressively big home of the Jinnouchi clan, it turns out that Natsuki has roped Kenji into pretending to be her fiancée!

And then he breaks the internet.

I’m not kidding, he crashes the whole internet! He is sent a mysterious text message containing a complex code, and as a math wiz he has a compulsion to solve it. Unfortunately for him, the code he cracked was the security code for Oz and now a hacker is gradually taking control of every account in the world. And Kenji’s reaction at suddenly becoming a criminal is hilarious!

It’s at this point that I start to wander why they thought it was a good idea to base all of the world’s services, businesses and even global security systems on one single inter connected programme. That would be like the Pentagon becoming accessible from Facebook! Or the President logging onto Runescape to launch nuclear missiles. Did no one think to put their hand up and say ‘Uh actually, I think this might not be such a good idea after all. I know we have the best security system in the world, but I can potentially see it going completely tits up.’

The world is quickly going to pot, and the super hacker has sent a satellite crashing to Earth on a collision course towards a nuclear reactor. Now Kenji and his new ‘family’ must save the world from their old wooden house in the Japanese countryside. How hard can that be?

I’ve probably made it sound like a rom-com ‘save the world’ story. However, the film isn’t about either of these. Well it is, but the main theme is family, something which seems to be rather neglected in anime in place of fluffy romance and mecha battles. But as this film shows us, it is such an important part of life. The romance is very sweet and the action incredibly gripping, but it is the family storyline which ties them all together.

Summer Wars is probably one of the most accurate portrayals of family that you could hope to find - annoying bastards that you can’t help but love because they’re yours. Hosoda supposedly based Kenji’s experiences on when he met his wife’s family for the first time. It’s a strange feeling when a huge bunch of people you’ve never met before automatically become your own family.

Let the Mario Kart battle begin!!

I imagine many other viewers felt the same way I did when watching this film - It was just like when I met my boyfriend’s family for the first time. It was even worse for me since I’m British and my boyfriend is Finnish and many of his relatives didn’t even speak the same language as me! Just like Kenji, I’m incredibly shy and socially backward and like the Jinnouchi’s, Finns have two settings - Loud and louder. They also love fishing, excessively large boats and barbequing anything they can get their hands on. It was eerily similar to my own life!

Japan is still somewhat of a traditional society, from what I’ve heard, and yet it is 89 year old Grandma Sakae who takes charge of the family, and perhaps her whole local community. In a medium which is all about attractive youths, she is probably the best character in the whole film. Because of her, many of the men in the family have important, high ranking jobs and the women, even if they are just mothers and housewives, are even more strong willed than the men. Despite her highly respected position and tough exterior, Sakae also has a huge capacity for love. How many women do you know who would adopt their husband’s illegitimate son and love him like their own?

The entire film is a giant mix of the old and the new, perhaps symbolising the contrast between Kenji and the Jinnouchi’s. We get a good eyeful of both the beautiful natural surroundings and the equally beautiful world of Oz. An ancient battle plan is updated to be used against a cyber hacker. While the kids are busy using their online network to save Oz, Grandma Sakae uses her old style phone to contact her own network and prevent a potential real world crisis.

This time, I’m not going to prattle on about how wonderfully perfect this film is, because it isn’t perfect. The cyber babble is laid on very heavily and sometimes seems like it needs a PHD to understand. You may have picked up from my vague synopsis that even I have barely any idea what’s going on during the computery parts.

Just as confusing is the huge cast of the Jinnouchi clan. Good luck trying to remember all the names and connections. The director originally insisted that there should be 80 family members as main characters! I think we’re all thankful that fell through.

The plot fits together wonderfully, but like all films from an unfamiliar culture, may require repeat viewings to understand fully. I still cannot figure out what was with the boat. Why did they need to wreck part of the house for a boat? My boyfriend’s family could probably tell me. And Natsuki’s power up from the space whale things seems rather random. Probably just an excuse for more prettiness and to see her avatar naked. Speaking of Natsuki, she’s supposed to be an important character and takes centre stage in the promotional poster, yet she disappears for a large portion of the film while the boys are doing their thing.

The voice acting in the English dub is great, especially considering there are often 10 or more characters all talking at once (just like a real family)! Funimation have pulled out all of their best talent for the massive cast. Expect to hear voices from many of your favourite anime shows.

The animation, as you’d expect, is gorgeous and amazing. You know you’re doing good when you can make bunny ears look terrifying! My particular favourite moment is when the Oz mainframe is transformed into a bunch of traditional Japanese houses. Something about it just looks so cool.

For the Alliance!

I spend a lot of time online, but certain things like Second Life make me wonder what the point is when you can just do all the same stuff for real. Warcraft I can understand, because where in the real world can you fight orcs and dragons? But why spend so much time getting money and possessions in a game when you could use the time to work, earn money and get nice things for yourself in the real world? (Wait a minute Cloud, didn’t you used to play The Sims? Ok, I’ll shut up now…).

Most films about the online or digital world seem to either glorify or shame it. Summer Wars does neither. It shows the positive sides of both tradition and modernisation, which usually split our society right down the middle. Somehow it makes me want to go outside and play World of Warcraft at the same time!!

I hear that Hosoda and his crew are working on their next project, and I for one have faith that it’ll be another good one.

So remember, the next time the world is heading towards an inescapable apocalypse, the most important thing is to make sure you are armed with plenty of squid for the victory barbeque!

Cloud verdict - 8/10

Mamotte! Lollipop review

Today’s review is for a manga I picked up out of curiosity to see what it was like, and quickly put up for sale again. The reasons will soon become clear.

From looking at the cover, it’s clear why I was drawn in. One of the positives of this manga is that the artwork is adorable! Maybe not up there with Koge Donbo levels of cuteness but still great to look at. And I like the sweet imagery throughout the manga. Hmm, why do I have a sudden unexplainable craving for a Chupa Chups?

But once you open the book you get to the not so good part - The story. It starts with a girl called Nina (who stole her hairstyle off Momoko from ‘Wedding Peach’) eating cake with her friends and talking about what her perfect man would be like. Oh good, another typical brain dead shojo heroine. We haven’t seen enough of those, have we? A strange round ball lands on Nina’s cake and she wanders if it is a candy. But all of a sudden a pair of guys in a flying car drop out of the sky and in the commotion Nina swallows the ball.

As it turns out, the boys, Zero and Ichi, are wizards and they have to find a crystal pearl to pass their exam. The same pearl which Nina has just swallowed. But there are other wizards looking for the pearl too and they start to attack, kidnap and even plot to kill Nina in order to get the pearl. And so, Zero and Ichi vow to protect Nina for the 6 months the exam will last. And wouldn’t you know it, brave handsome knights who will protect her are just the type of man that Nina has been looking for!

Although it’s not the best, I did kind of enjoy the first few chapters. I like the original take on wizards. Most wizards seem to be Harry Potter or Merlin rip-offs. My favourite part by far is the character of Sun, a goth girl competing in the wizard exam. She is so hilariously twisted, eating cake with Nina and acting like her gal pal even though she sort of plans to kill her. By far the funniest running gag is that Sun constantly manages to get her male partner Forte to cross dress, sometimes even without his knowledge. The other characters even call out that girl clothes suit him!

However, after a few chapters my interest started to plummet. The stories become lame and sometimes weird and confusing. One of the main plot points is that Ichi gives Nina a lollipop to protect her. When she’s being attacked by giant killer teddy bears (as we all are from time to time) it turns magical and protects her. The weird part is that Ichi says that the lollipop has the same image as Nina because she’s cute. Sorry but I don’t get how being compared to a lollipop is complimentary.
“Shall I compare thee to a strawberry flavoured Chupa Chups?”

What really turned me off this manga was the main character being a giant damsel in distress. ‘Mamotte’ even means ‘save me.’ Needing to be rescued all the fricking time hardly makes you a likeable main character. It would work if she had a good personality or some other kind of skills or traits that came in helpful (Look at Gwen in ‘Merlin,’ not only is she a lovely person, her blacksmithing skills have aided the plot several times.) but she doesn’t. She’s just a whiny little brat with no skills, talents or even intelligence of her own.

About half of the series is like this.


The huge panels of Zero and Ichi saying ‘we’ll protect you!’ get very annoying very fast. Even after she’s given the magic lollipop she still needs to be saved all the time. She even has to be saved from tripping over or getting a cramp in her leg. How the hell did this girl even survive before these boys showed up?!

Another thing that is really off putting - Some parts of this manga are just plain disturbing. First of all, there are continuous jokes about Nina having a flat chest. She’s twelve! Her boobs aren’t due to grow in for another two years at least! Are they trying to portray some kind of negative body image into pre-teen girls?

Even worse, in the third chapter a hot, promiscuous girl named Rokka shows up to seduce Ichi with her curves and lay on the fan service. But she’s actually a 5 year old little girl using a transformation spell. That makes it pretty sickening when she’s seen naked in the hot springs chapter.

The whole hot springs episode is like reading something from Love Hina - Nina’s towel slips off, Zero gets and eyeful so of course she whacks him and calls him a pervert. And yet Nina is underage even by Japanese laws! (The age of consent in Japan is 13). Surely I can’t be the only one who sees something wrong with this?!

Thanks to Funimation’s Youtube channel, I also watched all 13 episodes of the anime. Because I have literally nothing better to do with my time. And I must say, I did enjoy the anime more than I did the manga. The main factor was the adorable mascot Zura, a little green thing that is supposedly a seahorse yet looks more like a mini dragon. I don’t care what he’s supposed to be, he’s just so cute! Never underestimate the power of a cute mascot!

The dub voices are pretty good in my opinion. I especially like Monica Rial as Sun, she’s so cute! The anime also bothers to explain Zero and Ichi’s motivation from the very start and has a lot more good comedy, even during the Rokka episode. The ending even left me feeling cheerful, that’s always a good thing!

Yet it still has many of the same problems as the manga. The ‘protect me’ crap comes in even earlier and continues relentlessly. They do show that Nina is nice, but it isn’t mentioned until the third episode and is barely brought up again. Yet by the unexpected ‘save the world’ finale, we’re supposed to believe that Nina is just the most special and nice person in the world! She’s also stepping dangerously close to Mary Sue territory by suddenly gaining magic powers out of nowhere. In fact, I did a Mare Sue litmus test on Nina and she just scraped a pass!

When Nina finally does something for herself instead of relying on others, it just happens suddenly instead of developing throughout the series. If she had been that way all along or we got to see her character developing properly, then maybe I would have actually enjoyed watching.

There are a few moments in the anime when Nina has actual character depth, but most of the time I just want to throw hot tea in her face. The parts of the series that I really enjoyed were stories that didn’t feature Nina at all. The manga has a bonus story called ‘Medical Magical’ about a young witch training in healing magic. Not only does this story have better fan service (within the first 2 pages!) but it has a main female character who actually does something and goes through a dilemma that doesn’t involve cute boys. The backstory of Sun and Forte was 22 minuets of perfection!! It made me cry and want to buy figures of them. Going back to the same old shojo clichés in the next episode was almost painful to watch. Why couldn’t the creator have made a series about the magical world and the interesting characters and stories within it? It would’ve been tonnes better and more successful.

If you’re a fan of Bella Swan, Hollyoaks and cute artwork, this series is for you. Otherwise, watch episode 5 of the anime and give the rest a wide berth.
Cloud verdict - 4/10. Zura zura zura!

Anyone want to take the manga off my hands? Anyone?

Manga Review - Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales

Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales. Volume 1: Sanctuary


After my first read through of this manga, my initial thought was ‘what the hell?’ After a second read through, my thought was ‘Uhhh….’

‘Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales: Sactuary’ (so good they named it three times!) is a sort of manga add on to the novel ‘Wicked Lovely’ by Melissa Marr. I haven’t read the book nor have any intention to, but it’s gotten very positive reviews and a dedicated fanbase, so I’ll assume it’s pretty good. That said, this is the age that gave us the Twilight fangirl…


This manga apparently focuses on characters that were only mentioned in the novel and the script was written by the same original author. Apparently, each of the novels is about a different character, which I’m not sure I’m a fan of. There’s nothing worse than getting really attached to a great character then opening the next book in the series and finding out that you’re not following them anymore.

The story of ‘Desert Tales,’ from what I can tell, is this - A girl named Rika is watching a sensitive artist guy called Jayce who she is in love with, but he can’t see her because she’s a faerie. Don’t bother asking me what that is because the manga never explains.

Despite the confusion, the opening is rather sweet, but unfortunately it spirals very quickly into just plain weird. Some other kind of faerie called Keenan arrives for what is supposed to be an exposition scene yet explains nothing. I hate clunky expo dumps but exposition should at least explain something! Also Rika’s emotions make her seem almost bi-polar in this scene. One moment she’s all sad and mopey, the next she’s angry and then she starts this weird laugh for no adequately explained reason. But Keenan can make chairs out of sand, that’s really cool!


All I can gather from the backstory is that Rika was once human and she and Keenan were lovers. She screwed up some kind of ceremony which made her carry ice in her body and now she has to live in the desert because iron and steel are poisonous to her.

Or something.

That’s the first major problem with this manga - Nothing is explained properly! Maybe people who have read the original book will understand it, but those who haven’t are left completely stumped. I’ve read plenty of other ‘tie in’ mangas that made sense to those who haven’t seen the original material and may even inspire them to check it out. This one just alienates a huge chunk of potential readership. It’s almost no wander Tokyopop has gone out of business.

But anyway, back to the story. After her uber emo moment, Rika spots Jayce and his friends climbing up a cliff. After a storm. With no harnesses or protection.

And their stupidity is rewarded. Some creatures called the desert fey appear and again no explanation of who they are or what they’re doing there. I’ll just assume they’re the evil!faeries. They cause Jayce to fall but Rika catches and saves him. Somehow this means that Jayce can now see her.

Wait, what? How does that work? Why didn’t she explain that before? Why didn’t she make herself visible before now? And why did the desert fey try to kill Jayce anyway? You can see the frustration I get from reading this.

After that it picks up a bit because there’s a scene where Jayce is shirtless. Then again, if I wanted hot shirtless men then I could just read yaoi instead. In fact, why aren’t I reading yaoi right now?

By this point, the manga is just coming up to the halfway mark. That’s the second major problem with this manga - The story takes for-fricking-ever to tell anything. So many of the panels seem unnecessary and others just make no sense to me.

The only other option would be to admire the artwork, but it’s not exactly spectacular. There’s some nice panels of the desert and the shirtless scene I mentioned. But other than that, there’s nothing particularly interesting to look at. The dyed parts of Jayce’s dreadlocks make him look like he has branches coming out of his head!

The rest of the book shows Rika trying to protect Jayce from the desert fey without revealing her identity or being poisoned by the icky nasty metal. The first half was confusing but in the second half the story runs all over the place and I can barely tell what the hell is happening. The romance scenes between Rika and Jayce are very sweet and tender. Yet in a surprising change from the rest of the story, the romance progresses awfully quickly which just feels unnatural.

There are a few nice moments and you do feel a lot of sympathy for Rika, but otherwise the art is average, the characters are underdeveloped and the storytelling is downright terrible. The worst offender is a double page spread with word bubbles that just repeat the dialogue that has just taken place.

The manga does contains an extract from another of Marr’s faerie novels and although it’s not the best prose ever or the type of thing I would read, it’s much better than the manga. It shows that the author is very inventive and her storytelling style does work in novel form.

The only people I would recommend this book to are those who have read the original novel and have never read a manga before. I don’t condone Melissa Marr for trying her hand at manga, admittedly I’d like to do it myself someday, but I think she should stick to a medium that she is good at.

Cloud verdict - 3 out of 10

Film review - Island

Been a long time since I’ve posted anything here. As usual, real life gets in the way!

In the latest of my fannish adventures, on Monday April 25th I was lucky enough to see a screening of Island, an indie film directed by Elizabeth Mitchell and Brek Taylor. But I didn’t go to support independent British cinema, I went because I have a huge fan crush on actor Colin Morgan. Even so, I found there was a lot for me to like in this film other than just Morgan’s pretty face.


The film opens with 29 year old Nikki Black (Natalie Press) travelling to a very remote Scottish island, supposedly for a geography project. Yet she seems more interested in doodling in her Arabian Nights book rather than working. On her arrival, she spots a notice for a room for rent and heads up to an old house nestled in the middle of nowhere. There she ends up staying with the witchy Phyllis Lovage (Janet McTeer) and her son Callum (Morgan.) Phyllis seems to have an incredibly tight hold on her son, never having let him leave the island in all 24 years of his life. Just as you’d expect, this has made Callum more than a bit weird. He collects strange things like bottles and shoes, calling them his ‘treasures’, and believes that the fairy stories his father told him are true.

It soon becomes clear that Nikki is not on the island for a geography project and her arrival has caused a lot of tension in the house. There is a sense that blood is going to be spilled, and a twist ending that is almost too shocking to believe.


The first thing you’ll notice when watching this film is that it was obviously made with a very limited budget but they made the very best out of what they had. With no special effects or tricky camera moves (save for some severe cases of shakey cam), it gives the film a very naturalistic look. And this really gives the film it’s power. The story is told very visualy, with the titular island providing a feeling of isolation and terror, a lot like the old house in The Woman in Black. The island the filmmakers chose as their location somehow manages to be both bleak and beautiful, kind of like a Scottish Brokeback Mountain. Shots of scenery or wildlife set the scene without dragging on too long. All except for one shot of a huge spider, which lasted far too long for my liking!

I went to the film to see Colin Morgan, who was just as adorable and brilliant as expected. He seems to be one of those people who literally everything he does is awesome. He portrays Callum as socially awkward, psychologically troubled and permanently stuck in his childhood, switching suddenly from sweet and innocent to murderously violent.

So even with the scary moments and massive spider, I loved this film. Scary at times, sad at others, incredibly gripping and with just a hint of a fairy tale feeling.


All three actors are almost too good for words and every single shot works beautifully. It also makes me incredibly happy to see successful female directors, and this film has two! We’ll get gender equality in the film industry yet!

Also, this film taught me a valuable lesson in how to get a stingy pub landlord to let you use the toilet - Tell him you’re on your period!

My verdict - 8/10

Be sure to check out the film’s official website - www.islandthemovie.com It’s very cool!!

TV musings - A Skins story

I've been ignoring this blog for a while. First there was Christmas, then visiting my boyfriend abroad and now looking for a job, which has led to me getting insomnia. But I feel like talking about something I've been watching lately - Skins.

This teen drama has been airing for 5 years now and won oodles of awards and praise. Yet I always seem to avoid popular and 'normal' things like the plague. I did watch the first episode of season 1 years ago, probably just to see what it was all about.

I was in Sixth Form myself at the time, so I should have fitted right in the target audience. Except I didn't. I sat through the whole of the first episode and then decided that I never wanted to watch it ever again. It seemed like the show represented everything that I hated. The main character, I can't remember his name, was the caricature of the boys at school who I loathed and despised. He was big headed, overconfident, rebellious and stuck so far up his own arse I don't know how he was able to breathe. He believed that he was a sex god and that the rules of the world didn't apply to him. Plus he convinced his so called friend that being a virgin after the age of 16 was 'embarassing'. It was far too close to the people at school who made my life a near misery so I developed a personal grudge against the show.

I'm not sure if this was the right move or not. Some people may say I'm wrong for not watching beyond the first episode as it's not enough for me to make a solid judgement. But my personal rule is that if something fails to grab me by the first episode, then it has failed in it's writing and isn't worth my time.

Even so, the show was hugely popular but I secretly mocked the people who liked it. In my mind, they were just like the sexed up morons I had seen in that episode who believed that I was a loser because I was still a virgin.

Years later, I got addicted to 'The Writer's Tale' by Russel T Davis, the former head writer of Doctor Who. In the book, he goes on and on about his love for the show and how brilliant the writing is. A man in his 40's is a fan of a show about teenagers! But he's a writer, and one of the best in the country, so obviously he appreciates good writing when he sees it.

As I read the book, I began to wander if I had been too quick to judge the first series of Skins. What I never found out was the character who I hated fell from grace and according to Uncle Rusty, it was great to watch.

A few weeks ago the fifth series of Skins started with a new 'generation' of characters. The teaser trailer freaked me out a little (Naked people falling from the sky. Wha?!) but I decided to give it a try.

And this time, I was glad I did. This time, the pretty, popular, big headed people were portrayed as the bad guys instead of being celebrated for these qualities. The focus was on Frankie, a weird and socially awkward girl who was a fish out of water in her new school. She had been forced to leave her old school due to viscious bullying (this is why I hate Facebook, but I've already ranted about that elsewhere) and it seemed like the same thing was happening just a few days after changing schools. It seemed like she was struggling between wanting to fit in and wanting to be herself.

Oh if only I had seen this episode back when I was at school! This episode totally appealed to me because I could see so much of myself in Frankie. While I wasn't actually bullied in sixth form and I did have a close group of friends who I had lots of fun with, I was still the weird quiet girl who couldn't seem to fit in with the normal crowd. While some people just wanted to have a laugh, I wanted to learn and pass my exams so I could go to university. Somehow, people just didn't seem to understand or respect that. If I had been able to watch this episode, I might have felt a whole lot better about myself.

I loved the second episode too, but for a very different reason. I'm a huge romantic and incredibly mushy when it comes to love stories, especially if they're different or unusual ones. So the metalhead and the ballet dancer - How much more of an epic romance can you get!!

Once again, there was so much in this episode that appealed to me personally. Although I don't like really heavy metal, the only music I like is stuff like Iron Maiden, Lordi and Nightwish. And recently I've gotten really into ballet and classical music too. I know that's incredibly weird, how can you like both of those things?! I don't know how it works either. But a tv show with both metal and ballet in it, often at the same time, just made me go 'Yeeeeah!!' As Russel T Davies observed long before me, the writing is spectacular too. I guess it took three years of studying writing for me to appreciate it.

Episode three is on tonight and I'm already excited. Part of me feels like I should go back and watch the first season again, but I don't really want to. I feel that it will remind me too much of a really bad time in my life.

But I guess if I've learnt anything, it's not to hold a grudge against a show or say that it's 'bad' just because of my personal feelings about it. There are a lot of things that I don't like for various personal reasons, but I can still recognise if something has good writing or appeals to a certain demographic that I'm not a part of.

Many thanks, Uncle Rusty.