I now have the third Maiko Kazano DVD “A Girl In Love” (these titles… :P). it’s just as good as the first one IMO, so if you want one to check out either get this or her 1st one… Not that the 2nd is bad, it’s just not quite as good… ^_^
got access to the first four episodes of “hellsing”, a co-production betwen pioneer ldc and GONZO. it is one of those late-night anime show, and it seems very interesting (for chris: it reveals more back-story / episode than noir). it uses some very odd sayings / language, especially if you happen to live in england (e.g. people pronouncing “amen” in an american way / “may good & the queen save all of you”…)
also, it seems to have the typical GONZO-flaw that the shading of the artwork is flawless, but the key-frames themselves (i.e. the line-art) have not been paid teribly much attention to in some sequences.
altogether though, it’s dark, it’s stylish, it’s got good music and it seems to have a concept / story. nice one!
watched “almost famous”. very good and strangely positive film; looking at it i wouldn’t have thought i’d like it, but i did (very much so). thanks, nick!
the “cowboy bebop movie – knockin’ on heaven’s door” kicks ass! the quality of the animation is awesome and the story is good (but not related to the back-story of the series). the plot-line reminds me a whole of the “patlabor 2”-movie… if columbia / tristar make their dvd-release as nice as metropolis, then i’m a happy camper!
watch “hoshi no koe” (the voices from a distant star) by shinkai makoto! it’s excellent. lots of cg / mecha, but it actually is about a looooooooong distance relationship. go figure! thanks, bakaMX (although a lot of interlaced frames sneaked through the IVTC – maybe the source was partly 29.97fps?).
daniel-approved(tm). way better than episode i. kinda cheesy love-scenes, but hey – lucas is american after all ;). good film, and excellent f/x (as expected of ILM). the whole background-bit / story comes together really well (i find).
“pure heart” and “slight fever”. i must say that they are different from western soft-pr0n (which i expected, e.g. hello naked light-bulb hanging into the frame – but hey, we need light!). maiko-chan is very, very cute. i think i prefer “pure heart” for no particular reason, but both are very recommended (if you like maiko kazano that is). anyway, i still don’t really see the difference between the actual program and the “maiking of”… 😉
got them from JList, a recommended store for japanese stuff (pr0n, sweets, toys, manga, … interesting mix) w/ cheap shipping.