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.

Drifting Cloud's Top 5 Christmas Films

Drifting Cloud’s Top 5 Christmas films
Christmas!! In the world of Drifting Cloud, Christmas time means Christmas films. It’s the time of year when the broadcasters show all the very best films, and they take up all my attention when I really should be working. (That and my parent’s new puppy who is too adorable for words.)

So since the timing has worked out right, I thought that my first favourites list should be my favourite Christmas films. The ones that fill me with that elusive holiday cheer.


5. Elf
(2003, Jon Favreau)


“The best way of spreading Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

A fairly recent film that has already gained ‘Christmas classic’ status. It’s about an elf called Buddy who discovers that he is really a human and journeys to New York to find his real family.

It sounds like it should be a really terrible film, but somehow it isn’t! It has lots of family entertainment and cheesy Christmas messages, yet it has a more adult side to it too.

As pointed out by The Nostalgia Critic, this is all thanks of the lead actor Will Farrel. He plays up the adult child character to a huge extent, and the result is hilarious. Probably the best part of the film is when he first arrives in New York and is totally clueless to how he should act. Think Borat, except funny. He sees the whole place as a big playground, like how a small child sees Disneyland.

But this innocence also has adult undertones. Like when he sees sexy lingerie for the first time in a store, and he’s aroused but doesn’t know why. Same thing happens when he lays eyes on his love interest, an elf helper for a mall Santa. Later he walks into the women’s changing room when she’s taking a shower, just because she has ‘the most beautiful singing voice in the whole wide world.’ Maybe it’s just me, but it’s simultaneously really sweet and super hot!

4. The Nightmare Before Christmas
(1993, Henry Selick)


“How horrible our Christmas will be!”
“No. How ‘Jolly’!”

Some say it’s a Christmas film. Some say it’s a Halloween film. I say it’s so good, it’s great at any time of year.

The film starts in the world of Halloween Town, and the stop motion animation techniques enhance the visuals and create a wonderfully dark and scary atmosphere. Traditional animation or CGI couldn’t possible make a landscape like this.

The story follows Jack Skellington, the much loved leader of Halloweentown who has grown bored and unfulfilled with scaring people, and wanders depressed into the woods (there’s a reason this film is popular among emos). Somehow he ends up wandering into ChristmasTown and is fascinated by all the bright shiny things he sees. Then he gets a genius idea - he and the other monsters are going to take over Christmas from ‘Sandy Claws.’ They fail miserable, of course, but their failure is hilarious and fascinating to watch. Monsters bursting out of Christmas toys, skeleton reindeer pulling the sleigh and the army shooting them down with missiles.

I love everything about this film. The visuals are amazing, the music is stirring and the message is something that really helps me - Even if you fail epically, as long as you do your best and have a good time then it doesn’t matter. Now that’s a Christmas message.

And of course, I love the ending too. ‘We’re simply meant to be.’ Awww…

3. The Snowman
(1982, Dianne Jackson & Jimmy T Murakami)


“Nobody down below believes their eyes”

This is such a fricking classic! And there’s a reason, it’s just beautiful from start to finish. It may be short but every minute is used to it’s full potential.

The story is simply about a boy who builds a hugeass snowman that comes to life and flies him off to the North Pole for a Snowman Rave. The genius of it is that there is no speech, just the combination of animation and an orchestra soundtrack.

The animation is amazing, especially considering it was made in the early 80’s and the whole thing is almost entirely white. How do they make the outline of he snowman stand out against the landscape? And it is backed up by the lovely soundtrack which carries the story much better than dialogue ever could. Especially the famous ‘Walking in the air’ song.

Everyone loves this film. No one can seem to decide whether they like the flying scene or the snowman party better. I just love the whole thing, it’s a work of art and a fairy tale. Right down to the tragic ending.

The VHS copy we had when I was young also had a very similar film about The Happy Prince fairy tale. It makes me well up and cry just as much as The Snowman.


2. Tokyo Godfathers
(2003, Satoshi Kon & Shôgo Furuya)


“This is a Christmas present from God! She's our baby!”

A great example of a perfect script. I wish it would become popular among more than just Japanese anime fans. It was written and directed by Satoshi Kon, who sadly passed away earlier this year, who is mostly known for surreal films like Paprika. Personally I hated that giant mindfuck of a film, yet I still admit it was perfectly crafted and superbly animated.

This film is no exception. It portrays a dark and dirty side of the city of Tokyo, but it is all about miracles and portrays every emotion perfectly with it’s animation.

It’s the story of 3 homeless people, former failed gambler Gin, mad transvestite Hana and tomboy teenage runaway Miyuki, who on Christmas eve find an abandoned baby and go on a quest across all of Tokyo to find the mother.

Even though it’s subtitled, I’ve rarely found a film which makes me laugh so much every time yet also has me in tears. The tragic back stories of all 3 main characters are explored throughout the film. It feels like they’re not only trying to find the baby’s mother but their own homes too.

It’s the type of film that shows you something different each time you watch. Like the number 1225 constantly showing up, the imagery of angels and wings and the minor characters who reappear again in surprising ways.

I recommend everyone to give this film a try. I watch it once a year at Christmas time as the perfect treat.

1. Love Actually
(2003, Richard Curtis)


“Let’s go get the shit kicked out of us by love.”

It was really hard to choose between these two films as my favourite, but I chose this one because it can have you crying in just the first 20 seconds. Because that very first bit, footage of people hugging at the arrivals gate of Heathrow Airport with a voice over by the Prime Minister, completely sums up what this film is - It’s just an exploration about love.

There is no central plot but lots and lots of loosely connected plots about a different type of love - romantic love, platonic love, first love even tragic love. And the Christmas setting makes it work, because it is the season of love, way more than Valentines day.

Just like Tokyo Godfathers, it is both funny, sad and heart-warming. It’s also one of the films I show to my boyfriend from Finland as an example of what the British are really like. That when we discover our husband is cheating on us, we don’t make a big fuss. We go upstairs and have a bit of a cry then go back downstairs and act like everything’s fine.

Again, the script is perfect. I find it’s not the big overblown moments but the small ones that make me burst into tears, even when I know they’re going to end happily.

In a way, this is a film about miracles too. It doesn’t have angels or divine intervention or anything, but the characters take action and create their own miracles. And that’s what makes it my number one Christmas film.


Merry Christmas to you all! Have a good one!

Merlin season 3 review and musings

WARNING: This review contains major spoilers. And vast amounts of epic.
In my first review I revealed that I was a Clamp-holic. Well now I will also admit that I am a Merliknight, and proud of it.


The BBC’s Merlin is just so wonderfully addictive. I love everything about it. I love the adorably cute actors. I love the fantasy epicness. I even love the overwhelming cheesiness. If it wasn’t for this show, then my only fandom obsessions would be for depressing soap operas and romance films, or for crummy sci-fi shows.

I was lucky enough to watch the first double length episode of season 3, The Tears of Uther Pendragon, at the BFI screening at the beginning of September (big shout out to my sister for bagging me a seat). As if the start of the new series wasn’t exciting enough, I was watching on a big cinema screen amidst hordes of fellow fan girls. It made the whole experience so much better. I laughed and squeed and cheered to my heart’s content.

And I got to wear a cape!

The first episode of season two was kind of ‘meh’ but in comparison, this was a much much better way to open a series. Morgana had turned into a femme fetal. Merlin’s dragon lord powers came back. Uther was completely freaking out. And best of all, dragon riding!! I left the BFI theatre overwhelmed with awesomeness and the next day I went on holiday to visit Pierrefonds, which made me all the more excited for the third season.

Me at Pierrefonds, having the time of my life.

Then came Goblin’s Gold. Oh I have never seen a show take such a fast downhill turn. The premise of this episode was actually pretty good - Merlin accidentally releases a goblin which possesses Gaius, and he has to find a way to capture it without hurting his beloved mentor.

For some bizarre reason, the writers and producers thought that this episode should ignore the rest of the viewers and appeal only to 4 year old boys, by filling it with endless fart jokes. I really wish I was joking. The tavern thing I’ll give them, because it was actually sort of funny. But come on, most of us grow tired of fart jokes when we’re about 9 years old. Why are you trying to alienate the majority of your viewers? Why are you trying to stop people from watching your show? How is Arthur loving Gwen even if she has severe flatulence supposed to be romantic? For sanity’s sake, let’s pretend that episode never happened…

For those of us that found the will to keep watching, episode 4 thankfully picked up again and introduced us to new recurring character Gwaine. He’s a loveable rogue who constantly gets into bar fights yet has the heart of a knight. Oh and he has his shirt off for a good portion of the episode. Why did it take so long to introduce such an awesome character? I really want to see more of him, maybe even have him become a main character.

Episode 5, The Crystal Cave, opened with Arthur and Merlin being chased by random bandits, and the very first thought I had was ‘their affiair was discovered! They’re running away from the torch wielding villagers!‘

But it wasn’t until later in this episode that one of my favourite scenes of this season came. Uther is so desperate for Morgana to live that he gives Gaius permission to use magic. But the reason he does something so hypocritical is even more shocking - “Morgana is my daughter.”

Woah, Merlin the soap opera! I half expected to hear the Eastenders theme music after this line! Apparently Uther had a brief affair with his best friend’s wife while his own wife was away. I find it a bit weird that Uther was so distraught when Igraine died that he killed all the sorcerers, yet he cheated on her while she was alive. Couldn’t the writers have said that Morgana ‘happened’ after Igraine had died? Ah well, don’t argue with the plot devices.

The Eye of the Pheonix instantly became another of my all time favourite Merlin episodes. It was almost not like Merlin but something completely different. The perilous lands were shot differently to give an other worldy feel. The quest story was different than all the ones before. And the climactic scene with The Fisher King was brilliant in every way. Plus I was pleasantly surprised when Gwaine showed up again to join the team. It made me hopeful that he would have a more permanent role in the story.

The following episode gave me something I had been craving for a long time - Gaius’ back story!! And I was worried that the only ‘Gaius episode’ this season would be the gag one! For a while I had been wandering what it would be like if Gaius had a doomed romance in the past that came back to haunt him, and it actually happened! (Wait, I hope the writers aren’t stealing ideas from my brain…) An added bonus was Merlin getting all jealous that Daddy didn’t love him anymore. It was so cute! The final scene between Gaius and Alice was so moving that I cried. My only issue is that they never fully explained the manticore thing. Alice apparently thought that it would make her more powerful, but why would she go along with it when it tried to pin the blame on her one true love?

The series started with an epic two parter and ended with one too. The opening shot showed Sir Leon lying dead, and I was devastated! How could they have even thought of killing Sir Leon?! But it was ok, because he was healed by The Cup of Life, returning from way back in season one. It took me this long to realise that The Cup of Life is supposed to be The Holy Grail!!

There were several things I felt were missing from the final episode. I wanted to see more of Camelot under Queen Morgana’s reign. I wanted to see more of new character Percival. I wanted to see more of Uther after he’s fallen as low as he possibly can.

But most of all, I’m pissed that we didn’t get to see Merlin and Freya reunited! I had been looking forward to that for the whole season, but it never happened! Freya’s hand holding Excaliber appeared out the lake, but that was it! I wanted a big, romantic mythical scene of Freya, now The Lady of the Lake, handing over the sword, professing her love for Merlin and maybe even a kiss! But no! Nothing!! Come on, Freya is essentially Merlin’s true love! We got plenty of action between Arthur and Gwen, can’t any other characters have some romance?

But then again, the writers had a hell of a lot of stuff to cram into just 50 minuets. They did the right thing with having the main focus on the formation of The Round Table (or as I like to call them, The Raid Group). They managed to have every character contributing something to the heroic battle. Even Gaius using magic! Awesome!

But best of all - Sir Leon crossdressing and stripping! Who cares if it was unessential? I might almost forgive them for cutting Freya’s big scene. Oh wait, no I won’t….

The writers did a good job of taking the epic levels up even higher this season. Even some of the silly filler episodes were of a higher standard than usual. All except for the one we will pretend never happened…

The levels of character development throughout this season are also very impressive. There are so many sci-fi and fantasy shows that forget about character development (I’m looking at you, Star Trek), but in Merlin it is the very heart of the series.

Even Gaius got some character development. In season one, he would comically smack Merlin round the head just for moving a book with magic. But now, he steps in to save Merlin with magic without a second thought. Complete with glowy gold eyes! Way to go Gaius, we love you!

But of course the biggest change is evil Morgana. Before she was all ‘help the poor little children!’ but now, she orders her guards to fire upon the civilians! Woah, you do not want to piss her off!

Oh happy dagger...

She has always been my favourite character, and that hasn’t changed. Even if she is evil, she is still just as cool, beautiful and elegant as she always was, but now she has magic too! Katie McGrath remains my idol in how to be utterly glamorous all the time.

Gwen was perhaps a bit underused in some episodes, but I now fully support the romance between her and Arthur. In the last series, I thought the kiss scenes between them were nice, but sort of came out of nowhere. Now that their relationship has developed a little more, I can really see how they are great together and I think they’re really cute! Poor old Lancelot though, maybe he should get together with his mate Percival…

As well as the filler, there were still some things which I’m unhappy with. The downfall of Uther could have used a little more screen time because it was very interesting and dramatic. We never got to feel any real sympathy for Uther or see things from his point of view. Anthony Head certainly has the talent to pull it off.

The Great Dragon also only appeared in a handful of episodes. I know it’s more difficult now that he’s been released from the cave, but come on writers! You have John Hurt as a giant talking dragon and you don’t even use him?! I wanted to know what he’s been up to now that he’s free, other than being Merlin’s bitch. Is he cruising the dragon bars trying to find a mate? Has he found a nice cave somewhere to settle down and work on his pottery? What?!

On top of that, where was Mordred? Was the actor Asa Butterfield not available or busy with school? I hope that’s the reason, because I love that creepy yet adorably cute kid!

More Arthur and Merlin scenes would always be nice. But I would say that, being a slasher. I know Arthur was busy with Gwen, and Merlin was busy taking down evil Morgana, but what ever happened to bros before hoes?

Perhaps the best thing about this season was the build up to the Round Table scene. The show started with a fantastical kingdom with an arrogant prince. Now the kingdom is being rebuilt from the ground up, and everyone has to stand together to make that happen. And that means lots of yummy male actors all on screen together!!

Looking back at the beginning, it’s clear how far Arthur’s character has developed. Someone complained that he’s been blatantly throwing things at Merlin’s head to hurt him. But rather than just being mean, I think they’re actually comfortable enough around each other now that they can do things like that and know they don’t really mean it. Just look at the yaoi-riffic scene at the end of episode 4 where Arthur chases Merlin. No way he would’ve done that before, he would’ve just sent him straight to the stocks.

When I watched the scene of the two of them sitting on the steps, it reminded me of when I did the same a few months before. Just sitting calmly staring out at the courtyard and the beautiful castle, a massive contrast to the big fight scene we had just seen. Hanging out like best friends do and giving each other a playful shove shows that their friendship runs deep and strong. Brilliant, brilliant scene. However much they try to hide it, they aren’t a prince and a servant anymore. They are Merlin and Arthur. Oh it fills me with big squishy happiness!!

Horray! Now they can raid Icecrown Citidal!!

I have heard that season 4 will only have 10 episodes due to budget cuts, which sucks. I just hope they will be 10 really good episodes, none of this trolls and goblins rubbish. The set up for season 4 - the new knights, the unity of the round table and Excalibur being placed in the stone, was just too good. I don’t know how I’ll be able to wait so long for the next season.

My verdict - 8/10 (would have been 9 if not for Goblin’s Gold).

I shall end this review with the words of Monty Python:

When your life seems to drift
When we all need a lift
Tell yourself you won’t fail
Find your grail
Find your grail