Anime Review #2: Doomed Megalopolis
I am a fan of horror more specifically psychological horror, however trying to find a horror movie or show that focuses more on actually trying to scare then make you sick to your stomach is very hard to find. However, Doomed Megalopolis actually focuses more on horror than trying to be completely disguisting like most horror movies now a days.
The setting for Doomed Megalopolis is the early 1900s Tokyo. A powerful mystic becomes obssessed with awakening the spirit of Masakado, whom is the legendary guardian of Tokyo. However to awaken Masakado, he needs a sacrifice so he drags in the sister of a wealthy architect, while trying to produce an offspring.
First, I have to say this anime is for mature audiences ONLY. It contains adult content that is only suitable for mature audiences.
Now Doomed Megalopolis is an older anime, and it was released back in 91 in Japan, however it was not released in the US until 2002, however it was rereleased in 2003 in a special edition. This special edition had both the English and Japanese audio tracks. Now why the original release not have the Japanese audio track? Who knows? So if you get a copy, I suggest getting the special edition, which is the copy that I have.
One of the hardest things to do in horror is actually creating a creepy atmosphere, while also having using horror techniques that create horror unlike the monster in the closet trick (which Doom 3 used to death). However, DM does not stoop to low levels to create horror. It does have the possessed woman with her head turn 180 while hanging from the ceiling which has been used in several other movies. But what is great about this anime is the art work really helps create a true since of horror. Since it is an older anime it has the old hand drawn s-t-y-l-e with faded color that makes it look old, which every anime used to have and it looks great and it really helps create the creepy atmosphere.
However, if this anime is not without flaws. The ending was not great at all and in between every episode there is a time skip and it really is not obvious at all how much time has passed.
So if you are looking for a good horror anime this is definitely worth checking out even if you do not like horror this anime is definitely worth checking out, however be advise that is for mature audiences only.
I would give Doomed Megalopolis a 4.5 out of 5.
Three remakes that should not be made
Remakes. Either you like them, you hate them, or you just don't care about them. However, remakes are just something that can not beavoided. They allow people to take a classic movie or game and butch them. Below arethree remakes that I think look very disappointing and are just waiting to fail.
#3 Escape from New York.
John Carpenter's Escape from New York is getting a remake. Now I don't understand why you would want to remake this movie. I loved it, and I thought it was perfect the way it is. If you haven't seen Escape from New York, I suggest checking it out along with the sequel Escape from L.A.
#2 Silen Hill: Shattered Memories
Silent Hill was a great game. However since the release of SH 3, the series has gone no where but down hill. However, Climax is remaking.... Er, scratch that. "Reimagining" of Silent Hill, and it looks terrible. The game looks boring, and it is strange that the city freezes over when you go to another world instead of turning red, dark, and rusty like previous games. Why? The developers said it will be explained in the story. Hopefully, they will actually explain it unlike their terrible first attempt called Silent Hill: Origins. Clipping seems to be a problem from the game play that was shown at E3.
So only one more left. What could this movie possibly be? First, I'll give a few hints.
It was released in 1979.
Was based upon a book.
The original poster stirred up controversy and some people tried to get it banned.
Rockstar made it into a game in 2005.
Have you figured it out yet?
#1 The Warriors
Yes, The Warriors is getting a remake. I love The Warriors. It is a great movie, and I see no reason why this movie should be remade at all. However, apparently some one else did not think this at all. Not much is really known about this remake other than it is going to take place in Los Angeles and is going to be modernised. The director is Tony Scott. Tony Scott is a great director, and I like several of his movies. But why did he have to choose The Warriors? So far the rumored release date for this movie is 2010. If you have not seen this movie, I highly suggest checking this movie out asap!
A few of my favorite martial art films #1
So it has been a while since I last wrote a blog. The main reason why is because I haven't really had any idea on what to write a blog about. Finally, I just decided to write ablog about a few of my favorite martial art movies. These are in no order at all (i.e. like greatest to worse).
# 1 Saat po long (a.k.a. Kill Zone)

Kill Zone is one of my favorite martial arts movie. This is a movie that completely blew me away. The action is fast paced and non-stop. Once the fights start, they become fast, furious, and brutal.The story telling is great, and the ending leaves a satisfying feeling. Definitely a must IMO if you like martial art movies even if you don't then I still suggest checking out this amazing film.
# 2 Jjakpae (a.k.a. City of Violence)

Are you a fan of Quentin Tarantino? Do you like violence? Do you like comedy? If you answered yes to one of these questions, you will more than likely like this movie.
This movie is similiar to a Tarantino film. Now while the story does have that sort of cliched twist, the fighting is much more better. Now while the movie contains a lot of fighting, it does have a sense of humor like one scene where two guys have been fighting all these guys, and they exhausted. Another guy appears and pulls out a sword. One of the guys holds up his hands and shakes it back-and-forth as signifying no way. Then the very next scene you see the guy with the sword go flying through a wall.
Now if you are interested in these movies, both of these movies were released in the U.S. by Dragon Dynasty, and you can find more info about them at their site. Plus you can buy them there.
Anime review: Kannazuki no Miko episode 1
I've been wanting to review this for a while now so I'm finally going too.
Located on the moon is an old shrine that not may know about. It is home to a sleeping god. The first day of October is consider the first day of the godless month. (Kannazuki means godless and miko means priestess. Hence the name means Priestess of the godless month.) It just so happens that the orochi awakens on this day.
Himeko and Chikane are friends, however Chikane is the popular student. She makes the best grades, and she plays sports and the piano. But Himeko is unpopular, and it makes the students jealous that Himeko hangs around Chikane so they bully Himeko. It turns out that Chikane's birthday is October 1, but it also turns out that its the same day as Himeko's birthday. Souma is Himeko's childhood friend, and like Chikane is a popular student.
The day starts out normal for Himeko as she heads to c-l-a-s-s. Tonight is the night of Chikane's birthday party, and she finally found a present for Chikane. Of course, no one knows that it is her birthday, however at lunch she is given a special invite by Chikane. But she is confused because she all ready gotten an invite to the party, however Chikane explains it is a private part just for her and Himeko is happy.
Later in the day, the sky turns black as the orochi is revived. Souma, Chikane's friend, turns out to be one of the eight orochis. The orochis are trying to revive their god, however then need either the lunar priestess or the solar priestess to obtain this. Himeko and her roommate are heading to safety when Himeko forgot Chikane's present in their room so she goes back to get the present. However she is attacked by a giant mech controlled by Souma. Souma is fighting to try and regain control of his body from the orochi. Another orochi by the name of Sister Miyako appears and is after Himeko, however Souma gains control over his body and fights off the orochi.
Himeko is unconscious, and Chikane is over taken by sadness as she looks at Himeko. Chikane starts to perform CPR, and that is when she notices a mark appear on Himeko's chest. This is when Chikane realizes what is going on. After hestiating, Chikane kisses Himeko as she awakes then credits roll.
The sound track for this anime is incredible. The opening and closing theme were done by Kotoko, and if you haven't heard Kotoko then I suggest checking her out. The names of the themes are Re-sublimity (opening) and Agony (closing). They are incredible songs, and the music for this anime is incredible. Each tracks fits the moment like the scenes of sorrow the track is down and sad sounding, while scenes of chaos, the music is just all over the place.
One of the things that I like about the anime (and hated about the manga) is the fighting. The fighting is so much better. Most of the fighting in the manga takes place over two or three pages. Which is one of the reasons I like the anime over the manga. The manga is poorly paced, while the anime flows smoothly.
So if you haven't picked up on it yet, Kannazuki no Miko is a yuri anime. However, even if you do not like this genre, this anime is definitely worth watching. The story is incredible and the plot twists at the end of the anime were incrediblely heart warming. Not only that, but the second half of episode one is like a rollercoaster. Once it starts, it takes you through an incredible ride until the episodes end. In fact, that is one of the reasons why I even kept on watching it is because of howincredible the first episode alone was especially the second part. I've said this before a few times, but Kannazuki no Miko is one of the few animes that I've actually cried at the ending. When I watched the last few minutes of it, I was like no please don't end this way... Don't end this way... I was so glad with the way it ended.
Kannazuki no Miko is definitely an anime worth checking out. It only has twelve episodes, but it is worth it. I give Episode 1 of Kannazuki no Miko a perfect 10 out of 10.
Games to Avoid: Mega Man X6
I used to be a big Mega Man because to be honest, they used to be great games, however one game was released that was the turning point for Mega Man games. This game was the start of the downfall of Mega Man. Every thing about the game felt rushed and unfinished. That game is Mega Man X6.
The story picks up from the end of MM X5. Zero is missing, and there is no sign of Sigma either. However, humans can no longer live on the surface of the Earth because of the ending of X5. Now Gate is a Reploid, and he just so happens to stumble upon something big...
The story for this game is terrible just like every thing else about this game. It does not help that the translation is so terrible. There are translation errors every where even some of the bosses' names were translated wrong. The voice acting is atrious and is very painful to listen to.
One of the stronger points of Mega Man series is the music especially the X series, which is also one of the only good aspects about this game. The music still fantastic, however the music is much different. It is no longer just rock like previous games.
The controls in this game... are just fine. They actually work fine, however, if you play MMX Collection on the GCN, the controls are completely awkward and they are just way to hard to get used to.
Not much to say about the graphics. I mean the back grounds are great, but every thing else is pretty much forgettable.
If you have ever played a Mega Man game, the game plays just the same, however this game is horrible. It has the worst level designs ever in a Mega Man game. Not only that, but the saving reploids is just frustrating. So let's talk about that now. Mega Man X6 was the first game to introduce to the X series the saving Reploids. It is a unique idea, but it is so freakin broken. So in each level there is a certain amount of reploids to be saved (I forget the number). The problem is that some of the reploids are over bottomless pits so you have to die to save them. However, when you save a reploid, you either get health or a life. So if you gain a life, you are going to lose that life. Another problem is that if the reploids die, they are dead for good. You can not exit the level then play through the level again because they will be gone. So that means if you are going for perfection and you saved since you play through the level and you only have one save file and you are right at the end of the game then you have to start all over again. Yeah, it is very annoying especially since saving reploids also gives you enchancing abilites at the end of the level. These are essential to getting every armor pieces. So you have to save them all if you want to get all armor pieces, but finding all of them is a pain. Why? Because some levelshave alternative levels, where the reploids will also hiding. But even then finding themis still a pain. You could go through a level and find not one, however if you miss a jump and fall down a pit and find the last reploid hiding at the bottom of the hole. This just is the beginning of the frustration to come.
Also in this game, Zero and X both have an ultimate armor, however here is the twist. The only way to get it is by entering a code at the title screen, which means that you can only get either Zero or X's ultimate in each play through. Why? What is the point of having the ultimate armorif you can onlyget with a code and you can only have one for each play through? Completely stupid and completely pointless in my opinion!
One of the big reasons why this game is so bad is because of the terrible level design. MM games before had great level designs, but this game for some reason had some terrible design. So I am going to talk in depth about a few of the levels that are a real pain.
First I'm going to talk about Blaze Heatnix's stage. This level makes me wonder what in the world were they thinking? Then it makes me think how long was this game in development? Why? In all honest, this level is one terrible idea. All you do in this entire level is fight the same mini-boss over and over and over and over again. You go from room one to fight mini-boss to room two to fight mini-boss and just keeps on going. This level is so tedious and repetitive. That isit gets so boring so fast.
The next level is Ground Scaravich's level. To be completely honest, I hate this level (and every other level), but this one I can not stand the most along with MSP and BW's levels. This is the most random level in the entire game. The actually level itself is pretty short, however at the end of each hall is a statue. To activate it you have to go through a teleporter to go through a hall. The reason I can not stand this level is because this level does something that no other MM game did before and that is that there is one section that you can only beat with a certain character. Yes, every MM game before you could beat the game as any character. However this game you can't. There are certain parts were X can not beat by himself. It is so stupid and annoying. The reason why is because the sections are random so you never know if you are going to have to go through that area or not. Plus taking into consideration that you don't have Zero at the beginning of the game and you need Zero or one of X's armors to get past this level it just makes the level unbearable.
So let's try another level, so I'm going to choose Rainy Turtloid. Now what have I gotten myself into. This level is a freakin mess. It turns out that in certain parts it starts raining, well guess what? The rain drains your health so you have to rush to the generator and destroy. It is actually not that hard when there is one generator, however when there are three or four it gets annoying. It does not help that... No, I'll save that for later.
Now I'm at Metal Shark Player's level. What a stupid name? I mean seriously. Anyway this level is a freaken mess and a huge headache. In this level there is this huge press that lowers and raises. It instantly kills you if it crushes you, which is where most of the frustration for this level comes from. You have to pass through such long conveyer belts without a checkpoint and it just takes one screw up and you are dead. The worst part is getting the armor part, and to be honest, I can't get this armor part because you need some specific parts to get it. Well, guess what? Some of the reploids died during my play through so I could have lost the parts all ready. I just do not know. Any way, the whole level is passing through the conveyer belt and it is completely boring and long. So next level...
Ah, Blizzard Wolfgang's level! This level is great! Totally great. I love how the beginning of the level is a battle up a hill, where ice balls will come pouring down the hill. Total genius. And to top it all off there ladders that you can use to avoid damage. But it great because you can still get hit on them. Just great. Also I love how you slide all over the ice just great, just great. To top it all off is this really awesome section near the end of the level where ice falls from the ceilling, and if you get trapped then you died. Just great. It is also great how the ice moves so quickly that you have to react so fast that if you lost your concentration then you die, but that is okay because this is a great game. .... Okay. I can't do that any more. This level is a steaming pile of pixelated garbage. It is frustrating and broken. The level design is so awkward and bizarre that is just frustrating to play.
Now let's talk about replaying the levels like I mentioned in Rainy Turtloid's level. For some stupid reason, certains level are affected after beating a certain boss. Now there is one battle, which I have no idea whom it is, but when you beat them then certain areas in certain level's go dark and are only lit by a small V shapped light that rotates back-and-forth. It is so annoying because the light barely lights up the section so you can spent most of the time in complete dark and you can have no idea where to go. One of most annoying ones is the grey blocks of doom. They are a huge pain especially when trying to get the armor upgrade in Blaze Heatnik's level.
I just want to talk about one more level before I end this review. The level that I am going to talk about is the first Gate level. To be honest, I have never beaten this level. Honestly, not once. Now there is a reason why, and I'm about to tell you why I have never beaten this huge headache of a level.
The beginning of the level is not long. You walk forward fall down a hole then run across a bridge and then you hit a wall with spikes. Now let's stop here. If you are playing as X, guess what? You have to waste you lives. Now if you are playing as Zero, you can make it however, it is very tough to do. So how do you do it? Well, you need X's shadow armor, which allows you to touch spikes without dying. But guess how you get it? Remember Metal Shark Player's level? Well, you need to get the parts from saving reploids so that you can get through the end of Metal Shark Player's level to reach the armor piece for the Shado armor. However, that means you have to save every reploid to get the pieces so you can be sure that you did get the enchantments that you needed. WHY? I ask why in the world would they do something so STUPID? I mean seriously, this is the first MM game to ever use this formula and it is easily the worst MM game to be made. So why would they do something as stupid as this? This game is terrible. Even some die hard Mega Man fans hated this game. And if the die hard fans can even get into the game, you know you got a giant stinken pile of pixelated garbage.
Every thing about this game is completely forgetable. This is a game definitely worth avoiding at all costs.




