Anime review: "Blood Lad"

Few months ago I saw an announcement for the "Blood Lad" and got an impression of some vampire-otaku comedy, which sounded nice, so I decided to add it to my wishlist. In the meantime I saw few good review of this series and I gave it a try last week.

"Blood Lad" starts with showing Staz, the main character, loosing time. He is a boss of a province in the demon-world and a vampire. But more important for the show, at least in the beginning, he is obsessed with Japanese culture, plays eroge, collect figurines and reads manga. So when his underling brings him news that alive Japanese girl, Fuyumi, is wondering his section of demon-world, he is in frenzy to meet her. Coincidentally, during this encounter he gets challenged by some upstart and while he has no problem in defeating him, unfortunately Fuyumui loses her life and becomes a ghost. Staz, being more or less a good guy, promises to bring her back to life, which will put him in line against female space-jumpers, his estranged and sadistic brother, demon world's aristocracy, etc.

"Blood Lad" starts very shounen and slapstick, and it stays like this during whole this season. So if you don't enjoy first one or two episodes, you will not like it later. You know the recipe: powering ups, big fights, lots of falling down, crazy costumes or character's designs... But for me, it hits the spot. It stays goofy, but it does get more serious later, as more complex plot elements start, so it can be enjoyed by more mature viewers. On the other hand, if has some pretty violent scenes. There are few nice jokes referencing other anime, manga and games - like "Dragon Ball".

Plot starts very simple, with Staz's quest to restore Fuyumi to life, but it soon becomes apparent that there are deeper currents going around. Not that Staz is necessarily aware of them. Unfortunately, the season ends when it starts to get very interesting. So I join the other reviewers - give us another season! I watched the OVA - it is direct continuation of the series, but also doesn't give a satisfactory (or any) conclusion.

There is not much to say about characters. They are typical for shounen anime: shallow, one-dimensional, somewhat ridiculous. But that is exactly what you need sometimes. There are constant additions, so we will have to wait for next season to see how they hold up.

When I started watching "Blood Lad", one of my first questions was "boing?". Yes, it definitely is. But even though this show has all female characters drawn anatomically dubious and it gives occasional fan service scene, it is far from ecchi.

I really like the visual side of this anime: bright, vibrant colors, good design of characters, fast-flowing animation. But here, voice acting is also very good! I especially liked Braz, who has a great voice - like a real vampire, low, quiet and snake-like.

To summarize, if you like wacky shounen anime with some fights and fanservice, "Blood Lad" is an anime for you. Especially that it has only 10 episodes, so you can finish it in a day or two.

"Vorkosigan Saga" reread: "Cetaganda" by Lois McMaster Bujold

As I planned, I continue with my "Vorkosigan Saga" reread, inserted occasionally between other books. This time it was "Cetaganda" - as I said I was reading the books in internal chronology order, starting from "The Warrior's Apprentice".

In "Cetaganda", Miles and Ivan are sent on a diplomatic "mission" - as high nobles of Barrayar they are to attend the funeral of Cetagandan Empress. Cetaganda, as in Barrayar's greatest enemy. And they are told to behave. This changes even before they set a foot on Cetagandan territory. The two of them are victims on random assault, during which Miles come into a possession of some Cetagandan trinket. A trinket that everybody wants back and that can decide the future of Cetaganda...

"Cetaganda" is a book little off the tracks. By that, I mean that even it fits in internal chronology, it is more of a side book. You won't miss anything if you skip it (well, nothing except much fun). Events here don't affect later books, except in small details (like the medal, or as old love). So I was a bit in doubt to read it or skip it, since I remember it quite well and know that it is not very important in larger scheme. But as I also knew it was a very fun read, I decided to reread it.

Miles is here between big roles. He is not a young inexperienced leader as in past books, nor is he hyperactive professional megalomaniac as in next few following books. He continues his habit of manipulating his superiors when they (potentially) bother him. He also continues to "bully" his cousin Ivan, even though Ivan more or less lets him do it. All other characters are pretty well written, even those that only appear once or twice. Bujold can make them feel three-dimensional just in few sentences.

As for plot, it is combination between action, detective investigation and a little bit of comedy.

Bujold continues to do well with setting. It is imaginative so much it would not pass any tests, but it is written so unobtrusively that everybody just accepts it as it is.

One of my favorite parts of this book is in the end, when Miles receives his medal. And I like the scene where this same medal appears in few books later!

As I said, "Cetaganda" is not an important book in this series, but if you skip it, you will miss all the fun. A great book for all fans of the series.

Anime review: "Monogatari Series: Second Season"

I've been eagerly waiting for next season of "Monogatari" series since first seeing early announcement for it. I like a lot of anime and genre, but if I had to pick, this kind of weird-humor series would be my first choice (like "Durarara!!", "Baccano!", "Tatami Galaxy", "Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei"). So I felt unreasonable joy and expectation before watching the last season!

I first waited for all episodes to come out - I didn't want to be forced to wait. And before watching "Monogatari Series: Second Season", I did a rewatch of all previous shows, in order they came out: "Bakemonogatari", "Nisemonogatari", "Nekomonogatari (Kuro)". First, it was a good thing I did it, because I really did miss two episodes in first season, because they were released as specials. And second, it really put me in the mood for fresh season.

The new season, "Monogatari Series: Second Season" consist of five arcs. Surprisingly, all these arcs deal with previous girls, while I expected introduction of new characters. But don't take me wrong - this is a superb show and there is no feel of recycling old themes. It's hard to write a one-paragraph blurb since all arcs are very different, but if you liked old seasons (especially if you like original "Bakemonogatari") you will love this one!

First arc came as a surprise. First, there is no Araragi - he is absent and is only mentioned. This means that we see story first time from other people's eyes and it give us a different perspective, especially on Senjougahara and Hanekawa. And Senjougahara is very funny here.

I was again reminded how this show greatly uses nonlinear storytelling. We see (or they are mentioned) a bunch of new characters and previous events that we know nothing about, but everybody talks about them as they were shown. And later when they really are displayed, they came out completely different that we expected. Like constant mentions of first meeting between Araragi and Shinobi (which should be shown in announced movie "Kizumonogatari"). Also, a lots of stories remain unresolved (I hope they are saving it for later). This first arc uses another dirty trick by those missing Black Hanekawa scenes - you will know what I am talking about, believe me.

Another trait of this season is that it the show lost much of it cuteness and became more morbid, serious and violent. It always did have these elements, but they were not so evident mixed with playfulness and fanservice. This is so evident that even the faces changed - Tsukihi is much more rugged than in "Nisemonogatari".

Second arc is good, but not as epic as other ones. I didn't expect a time-travel/zombies story - it didn't really fit in my idea of "Monogatari". But it was quite good in the end. I especially liked Oshino's letter to Araragi.

Next comes the third arc, with introduction of that ominous Oshino Ougi and with Sengoku Nadeko. I never liked her in previous shows, but I really didn't expect what happened here. It is another arc that is not told from Araragi's POV and where he is almost nonexistent.

Fourth arc is similar to second one - not so epic, but good in its own way. We learn much about Shinobu's past, which was a surprise to me. We also spent more time with two new characters. Well, Ononogi Yotsugi was introduced before, but only shortly. She was a great character in this season, especially with her strange ways of talking. The other one was Gaen Izuko - very mysterious characters who adds several layer of confusion to all that has happened. We will see more of the in the future, mark me. Also, this arc is a pretty sad one.

And then came the last arc, the masterpiece! It is told from point of view of Kaiki Deishuu! Yes, him. The one man I would never expect to told a story, especially concerning how he lies to everybody including himself. Add to that the fact that this arc is told in by-the-book noir style (including the raincoat), it is really something. I was swept with last two episodes (especially the cliffhanger in penultimate one).

It reveals some unexpected facts, about relationship between Senjougahara and Kaiki. I was surprised how Araragi was made to look like a child in last episode - let an adult resolve the situation! I later realized that this arc had not one ecchi or fanservice scene. Anyway, now they have to make a sequel, they can't be so cruel not to reveal further story.

Now, little bit about technical side. There are 26 episodes in this season, but episodes 6, 11 and 16 are just recaps, so feel free to skip them. The visual side of anime is on the standard level for this series, maybe somewhat darker and rugged. There are several OPs and EDs, of which I really liked only one. Be careful, because there is sometimes more story after ED and sometimes there isn't. Oh, and I didn't like the short haircuts.

Well, in the end, there is not much to say that I consider "Monogatari Series: Second Season" the best anime of 2013 (with "Shingeki no Kyojin" on second place). Even better than the original "Bakemonogatari"!

Book review: "The Dying Earth" omnibus by Jack Vance

I have been aware of Jack Vance, his opus and his fame for a long time, but I don't remember reading anything his before. When I saw the omnibus containing all his "Dying Earth" stories, I decided it was an opportunity to fill up my knowledge of older classics, and of course, to read something good.

"The Dying Earth" is not a novel. Even its parts are not novels, but a collection of short stories. First part, "Mazirian the Magician", is just a collection of short stories, with stories connected only barely with setting and some characters. The second two parts, "Cugel the Clever" and "The Skybreak Spatterlight", are novels (actually, fix-ups) telling stories of travels of Cugel, who travels the world trying to get home and exact revenge against a magician who sent him away. And the last part, called "Rhialto the Marvellous", is composed of three longer stories with common characters. Just to clear it up, these are mostly comic stories.

First, "The Dying Earth" is different from anything I have read so far. Maybe "Discworld" stories by Terry Pratchett are the closest thing to it. The world is full of magic, maybe even too full. It reminded me on old Conan stories. There is literally magic on every step: spells, creatures, objects... Vance doesn't even care to try to be realistic The "plots" takes place on Earth, but long in future, when the Sun is closing to its death and magic is again present on the world.

The style of the stories if definitely vintage, not something you would mistake for a modern fantasy. A bit pompous, you could say. Many concepts here looked familiar to me - and I realized that many modern fantasy writers copied Vance's ideas. I was there Chine Miéville got his idea for "The City & The City", and some other ideas used by new authors. If Vance patented his stories, every fantasy writer would have to pay him royals for using his book.

Since these are stories, you don't get to know the characters too much. This changes a bit in Cugel's stories, where we spend much time with him. But when Vance decides to focus on a character, he can do wonders (e.g. Drofo the worminger-sage). I found it unusual at first how everybody just keeps running all around the world; nobody stops to make any strategy. Women are mostly either victims or evil, or sometimes innocents in need of male guidance.

As of my impression. First part consists of six stories loosely connected. I can't say I really liked them, but they were OK and sometimes funny. Two Cugel novels were much, much better. They had a structure, a regular main character, an ultimate goal. And they were very funny! They are a bit long, but I didn't mind it at all. On the other hand, Rhialto's stories are not quite as good. Vance is obviously trying too much where he was effortless before, and I wasn't able to enjoy them. And even though you can't say that this book was planned to be consistent, these last three stories were even more inconsistent with previous...

But all in all, I had more good times than bad with this omnibus. "The Dying Earth" is definitely something that any real fantasy-fan needs to read, at least just to know where many of ideas came from. Maybe not a book to buy, but definitely a book to read.

"Vorkosigan Saga" reread: "The Warrior's Apprentice" by Lois McMaster Bujold

When I was in high-school and library was my only source of books, and very limited one, "Vorkosigan Saga" by Lois McMaster Bujold was one of the series that I would read every year or so, including also ASoIaF, "The Lord of the Rings", "Hyperion Cantos" and few others. Since I refocused myself on buying new books I haven't reread these books, which means some 10 years. But Bujold has published two new books in series recently and before reading them, I decided to reread all previous books. This is not going to be a classical reread when I read all books in one go, but instead an occasional reread, one book every few months. Also, I mean to include only the main books in sequence

• "The Warrior's Apprentice"
• "The Vor Game"
• "Cetaganda"
• "Brothers in Arms"
• "Mirror Dance"
• "Memory"
• "Komarr"
• "A Civil Campaign"
• "Diplomatic Immunity"

In "The Warrior's Apprentice" we start the story of Miles Vorkosigan, the main protagonist of the series. A victim of unsuccessful assassination attempt on his parents, Miles was left physically deformed and undeveloped, which is considered a great shame and disadvantage on his planet Barrayar. Barrayar is very strict society, based I would say partly on Soviet Russia and partly on Medieval Europe, and quite militaristic. They have a feudal system and until few dozen years they lived as in medieval times (consequence of prolonged isolation from other human cultures), but recently they again acquired means to interact with other planets. This, of course, caused many changes on their culture which is now a mix a feudal society and high technology democracy (swords and spaceships). It is understandable that as a freak and invalid Miles is feeling awkward in his surrounding, especially as heir of famous noble family, distinguished by its past victories. Additionally, Miles' father is former Regent of Barrayar Empire and current Prime-Minister. After failing to join the Imperial military academy (both his and his father's and grandfather's dream), Miles is feeling like having no reasons for life anymore. To past the time and to help his childhood friend to see some of the world (universe), they travel to Beta Colony, his mother's home-planet, where they will more or less blindly wander into an adventure including space mercenaries and civil war on another planet...

Books in this series always have interesting plots, even though they are driven primarily by Miles' characters. Such is this one: after using his cunning and intelligence to pull himself and his followers from one trouble, Miles usually manages to entangle to another, more dangerous one. Add to this his basically chivalrous nature (especially toward women and weak) and the fact that his family is one of the crucial members of his culture, you can surmise that these plots are pretty vivid. Nevertheless, Bujold's writing makes all this feel natural and consistent. 

Point of view is third-person, but it reveals much of Miles inner working, which is probably one of the biggest appeals of the series. It relies very much on his hyperactive behavior and his byzantine plots. Other character will get more (much more) place in further books, but in this one we focus mostly on Miles and more-or-less only superficially get to know other characters. Miles presents a very interesting plot, with his physical deformities but great mind. His motivations are also very intriguing - even though his society hates or dismisses him, all his life he tried to become a part of it. This will prove even more the focal point of series in later books.

As I mentioned, setting is SF, with advanced military technology, worm-holes for space traveling and other wonders. On the other hand, we have Barrayar, which is such an antique society (it is considered almost barbaric by others). Later we will get to know other, even more quaint places. Bujold made a very successful mix, drawing both fans of SF for the setting, and fans of fantasy for the plots and characters. Because, in essence, replace technology with magic and you get a classical fantasy book. Technology never gets much background explanation and this makes it still feel fresh (even though some of the books were written 20 years ago).

I remember these books as very easy and fun read. So I was left a bit surprised how dark this first book actually is - and further books are even darker. Sure, we get a happy end (or a kind) in every book, but main characters do die or suffer irreparable damage. And they deal with it. Innocent and weak also suffer and our protagonist is not always able to save everybody. So, a pretty realistic books - not gritty but not sunny also.

So, as a start of the series, "The Warrior's Apprentice" is a very good book. Interesting, with flamboyant main character but also with a dose of realism, with solid setting, it is a book I would recommend to anybody, not just fans of specific genre. One of my favorites...

Book review: "Emperor of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence

I don't usually read sequelling books immediately one after another, but like to spread them over some time, maybe insert a reread now or then. But after reading "Prince of Thorns", I just couldn't resist reading "King of Thorns", as I also couldn't resist reading "Emperor of Thorns" immediately it was published last week. With this, I finished "The Broken Empire" trilogy by Mark Lawrence.

"Emperor of Thorns", similarly to KoT, has three plots-lines. The main one, the present, is happening two years after Jorg Ancrath's defeat of Prince of Arrow and becoming a King of seven nations, instead of just one. As the book starts, Jorg is just preparing for a journey to the Congression, a meeting of rulers that happens every four years and on which the Emperor can be chosen. Jorg is going there pretty sure he will be selected Emperor, because if he is not, he will pretty upset... Second plot continues immediately his adventures at Horse Coast, expanding them eventually to continent of Afrique. And while in KoT we had Katherine's story, here we have Chella's story, a POV by character opposite to Jorg from the first book.

If you have read first two books in "The Broken Empire" trilogy, you know what to expect: blood and violence. In my review of "King of Thorns", I said one or twice that Jorg felt softer than in "Prince of Thorns", not killing or maiming people randomly. This is also true here; as Jorg says, he has overgrown killing people on whim, but it doesn't mean that he will balk of anything necessary to protect those he cares about. And people, Jorg actually openly cares for somebody in this book. This makes him at the same time softer and harder than before. Softer, as I said, because he is not a loose cannon anymore; but harder, because he will not stop at anything defending what is his.

I really have to congratulate Mark Lawrence for making Jorg develop so much, but making it feel so natural. And also for successfully making such brutal and unique character, more evil than villains in some books, a protagonist and a person to root for. Because, it is quite impossible not to root for Jorg. And if you have any liking for anti-heroes, gray-morality or for gritty literature, you will just adore this book.

I see that I am not lonely in this sentiment, because my e-book edition had more highlights than last 10 books I read together. And consider that the book was out only few days when I have read it... This will be one of the top books of this year.

The plot is pretty interesting, especially the main one. As the book was coming to close, I kept wondering how Lawrence will be able to resolve all the started threads, but I have to admit that he did it magnificently. This book and trilogy has just a great ending - it leaves just enough questions unanswered, but gives a decent resolution of the story. Jorg keeps pulling rabbits out of his hat, but rarely it feels like something forced - Lawrence makes him pretty believable and consistent. The pace if constantly intense and there is not time for leisure. There are just so many powerful and memorable scenes in the book.

A small objection could be raised that the identity of the main villain is revealed pretty early in the book. Not openly revealed, but there are enough clues to guess it almost at the start. But this doesn't hurt the story much. Also, the plotline dealing with events in Afrique belittles the events in "King of Thorns" a bit, revealing Jorg knew about future more than enough to fix a score...

Setting was vastly expended in KoT, compared to PoT, and in "Emperor of Thorns" it gets filled decently. As I said, enough questions are with no answers to keep us waiting for more, but there are no inconsistencies. When I started reading this series, I would never be able to guess how perfect blend of SF and fantasy it would turn out to be in the end.

Again, I have to repeat my opinion that "Emperor of Thorns" will be one of the top books of this year: thrilling plot, superb main character, with unique and gritty way of presenting the story. A big recommendation for this book and the trilogy to anybody who likes dark stories!

Book review: "Colours in the Steel" by K. J. Parker

This is the first book I have read by K. J. Parker, and my reaction is: why haven't I found about him before? I can't say I was familiar with him prior to this book, but I noticed this name here and there, mostly good references and comparisons.

"Colours in the Steel" is the first book in "The Fencer Trilogy" by K. J. Parker. The story introduces as to the wondrous City of Perimadeia, a commercial and technological center of the world. Except these two things, another thing differentiates this city from the others: its unique legal systems, based on fencers (advocates) who duel to death to resolve the cases. Bardas Loredan is an advocate with quite a few years in the profession (over 10, which is very long for this kind of job), but not especially successful or known for it. A routine case of commercial law and fight with a newcomer will lead to unexpected turn of events: a deadly curse from newcomer's cousin, friendship with highest leader of magicians, and responsibility for defense of so-far-undefeated City against savage (at least until now) barbarian hordes led by young new chief Temrai...

First, I knew I was going to like Parker after reading first few pages. The writing was superb, full of light humor throughout all narration, subtle instead of forceful. I like this very much in books. It is a great fun to read "Colours in the Steel", even though the theme of it is not - imagine style of Erikson's short stories about Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, expanded to a real, serious book. As I said, there is nothing evidently extraordinary, but writing is actually superb and makes you expect more and more of this book. Another thing that reminded me on Erikson is how Parker uses the same trick of introducing a totally unimportant character, focusing on in for few pages and then discarding it. The book is not grimdark, but it isn't exactly shy of grittiness.

Setting is unique. I understand that all Parker's books are set in this same setting, only different parts of it. This book focuses exclusively on City of Perimadeia, with only few mentions of neighboring countries. But you get the feel that setting is competently imagined and consistent. It is based on classical medieval setting, but a lot of focus is put on commerce, technology and society. Actually, Parker even sometimes gets too technical with descriptions of technology. It's not boring, and you can see that he understands what he is talking about, but it can be tedious to read through. Setting is also humorous - like the Holy Pirates, and so on. I will enjoy discovering other part of the setting in next books.

There is no widespread use of magic in the setting, even though already-mentioned Order and its Patriarch Alexius play a great role. Instead of magic, you have (at least for now, we'll see in next books) only the Principle, which encompasses the nature and everything, and sometimes can be used to work wonders... Like the curse over Bardas.

Plot is good, but it is secondary to this book. It is used mostly as a mean to introduce the setting and the characters. And the characters are simply great. Bardas Loredan is perfect anti-hero: not young any more, prone to wine, lazy, not really honorable, cynic. It is really a pleasure to read about him and see the world through his eyes. Other POV characters, Alexius, Temrai, others... are all also great. Especially Temrai, who constantly wonders about his choices - which are sometimes morally questionable, so it is good that he wonders. The plot is pretty simple and predictable, but this didn't damage my joy in reading this book. If you are expecting a happy end and laugh after it, don't - this is not that kind of book. I appreciate how sometimes we skip weeks or months and characters have their own life in the meantime. Also, even though the book finishes the started plot, there is lot to discover behind it - and I wonder where this will take us to.

As I said, I am somewhat disappointed in myself for not discovering Parker before. But if sequels of "Colours in the Steel" prove as half as good as this one, it means that I have a dozen good books to read in future. I recommend this book to all fans of darker and anti-heroic fantasy.

Anime review: "Bakuman", third season

Few days ago I finished watching third and last season of "Bakuman", adapted from manga about drawing manga.

This season continues "Bakuman" plot where it left in previous season. Mashiro and Takagi have finally made a manga they are satisfied with (PCP - Perfect Crime Party) and they struggle to make it better not to lose their place in Shounen Jack. They have not lost their dream of getting an anime adaptation, so Mashiro can marry his love Miho (a condition set in middle school). Takagi is supported by his wife Kaya (also met in middle school), while two of them compete against other manga-artist present in Shounen Jack, most of them familiar from previous seasons, but with some additions.

This season if a bit different from previous two (if I remember correctly) by being more episodic - there are several arcs that are almost independent between them (especially Nanaime's). But by and large, there are no much changes from first and second seasons, so if you are a fan of "Bakuman", you will be more that satisfied with it.

I cannot be sure because I haven't read manga, but it feels a bit rushed in places, like they had to squeeze too much material in it. But at least the pace is good and there is no dragging... Ending is as expected, but very solid. And I like how it is clearly showed that Mashiro and Takagi won't lose their motivation, even though they fulfilled their dreams. It is interesting how the author succeeded in having an shounen battle-anime feel when the story couldn't be less apart from such.

Characters stay the best part of "Bakuman". As I said, there are no many new additions, but we got to know older ones much more, and there are some changes in their relationships. Niizuma, who is on one hand very funny, improbable and exaggerated character, is shown to be very dedicated and consistent. I like how Hiramaru gets more serious, even though he is still hilarious - and Joshida makes him a great pairing. Also, we got a bit of romance, spread throughout the anime. Rest of the characters are also solid (Fukuda, Aoki, etc.).

It was very nice to see some modern mobile phones, and android references, too. But that can be expected since this anime was finished a year ago and is set in present.

The worst part of "Bakuman" is really bad and old-looking style of characters and drawings. Thankfully, this is character- and story-driven anime, so it doesn't matter much. Interesting how we have very poor art, but it becomes good (or at least more detailed) when it comes to manga they are drawing. Voice acting and music is solid, but nothing to praise much. There are 25 episodes in total.

In short, "Bakuman" continues with style and spirit of previous seasons, so if you liked it before, you will like it here also. I would recommend this series to everybody who likes otaku-stuff and daily-life anime, and fans of "Genshiken".

Anime review: "Minami-ke Tadaima"

Last weekend I finished watching "Minami-ke Tadaima". That is one of my favorite (well, favorite in its category) shows and I've been waiting fourth season from 2009. There has been one or two OVA's in the meantime, but this is a full 13-episodes season.

"Minami-ke" belongs to "cute girls do cute things" category, which means that you are either into this kind of anime or you probably hate it. It is not an extreme case like "Ichigo Mashimaro", but more toward "Azumanga Daioh" or "Lucky Star". This kinds of shows commonly have dominantly female cast, usually have light or slapstick humor, there is lots of talking and not much actions, and are definitely not to be confused with ecchi anime. "Minami-ke" is a typical example, depicting life of three Minami sister: Chiaki (in elementary school), Kana (in middle school) and Haruka (in high school), interacting between themselves and their numerous friends (mostly female). As is also common, they live alone, and there is not one single adult is this series. Haruka is motherly type, taking care of her younger sisters, an excelent cook, but with some secret flaws. Kana is usually the primary source of all troubles in the show; not that she is mean, but she is too curious, too impulsive and too outspoken for anybody's good. Chiaki is the youngest: phlegmatic and solemn, always at war with Kana and in awe of Haruka. It would be too much to describe the rest of the cast, which has grown quite large. Thankfully, there were no new additions in this season or it would become hard to follow who is who.

Since there is no plot here, "Minami-ke Tadaima" is just another round of the same - which doesn't mean that it is dull. Those who don't know anything about this series should try watching the first season, which is the best of the lot. Other seasons, including this one, are quite good, but as is usual, not as good as the original. On the other hand, I think that every fan of previous seasons will be very satisfied with this one.

As was in first season, each episode consists of four loosely connected stories, dealing with various subjects: vegetables, beach, Japanese folklore... And as usual, even though the show's main characters are girls, rare male characters bring the most fun: Hosaka, Fujioka, Makoto. Addition from last season, the other Minami family also has a good one, Natsuki. But Hosaka (and his unknown arch-enemy Hayami) is the king. I think that I laughed every time at him, sometimes even out loud. But Fujioka and Makoto come close, also.

The largest difference from previous seasons (at least as I remember them, which can be wrong) is that there are some fanservice scenes. It is nothing over the top (some cleavage or provocative clothes), but in show that had zero fanservice, few scenes are noticeable.

There is one thing that bothered me: this is the fourth season and everybody is still in the same class. Even though aging would mean the end of this series, I would nevertheless appreciate some time-continuity. In other case, show risks to become repetitive and tepid.

As usual, the show has very good design of characters and every detail is taken care of. Voice-acting is at the top, and of course, Hosaka's song is great.

But as it is, "Minami-ke Tadaima" is a worthy representative of franchise and I had a lot of fun with it. And I believe that this will be the case for most fans. If you like this kind of anime, then "Minami-ke" is your first choice.

Book review: "Red Country" by Joe Abercrombie

This weekend I finished reading "Red Country" by Joe Abercrombie. It took me only three days - not that the book was short, but it was so good I just couldn't leave it. I was really into "The First Law" trilogy, but its sequels "Best Served Cold" and "The Heroes" were not as good, so I had fears that all future books will be each a bit worse than one before. Because of that, I wasn't really following the hype around "Red Country" and didn't know much about it, which turned out a great thing because there is one big surprise in here!

"Red Country" has two main characters, which has most of the POVs. Shy South, a young woman with dark past, lives at a farm with his brother Pit and sister Ro, and their stepfather Lamb, in a region called the Near Country. After Shy and Lamp come back from bartering one day, they find out that somebody burned their farm and kidnapped Pit and Ro. There is nothing left for them but to follow the trail that will ultimately lead them to the Far Country, a place with no laws and under gold-rush. Shy is at first fearful that her violent past will surface, but the somewhat fall in background as she slowly realizes that her stepfather, quiet and cowardly Lamb, has a violent and bloody past of his own, none bloodier... Unknown to them, the Near and the Far Country are soon to be visited by famous and notorious mercenary Nicomo Costa, and his even more notorious Company of the Gracious Hand. Important member of this company is Temple (the second main character), their lawyer, a man who always takes the easier path. But even he is slowly realizing that sometimes you can't take the easy path, as the Company plow through the Countries in search for gold, spoils and rebels...

I somewhere read that Abercrombie models his books to different style every time: "The First Law" trilogy was classical epic fantasy, "Best Served Cold" was film noir/thriller, "The Heroes" was (anti) war book. Following this pattern, "Red Country" is a western, but placed in Abercrombie's fantasy setting. We have the almost desolate Far Country made of far-stretching planes (Wild West), nomadic savages Ghosts (Indians), trappers, lawless city full of saloons and whorehouses... I am not really a fan of westerns (not that I dislike them, though), so I had some second-thoughts about this book, but Abercrombie colors everything with his gritty style so everything ends well (or bad, if you are a character in his book).

In my post reviewing "The Heroes", I wrote that Abercrombie is not so good with plots, but that he is great with characters. Well, here he is still great with characters, but he is also very good with the plot. I wasn't able to guess where the plot will take us next during whole book, which is a very good thing. This gets especially interesting somewhere after the middle of the book - you have a big fight that fills like a finally, but there is still another half of the book and you have no idea what you can expect.

Both new and old characters are very good. Shy and Temple are very complex, expressing doubt at their every action, never sure in anything. Abercrombie really makes you feel like you are in their heads. And occasional POV from supporting characters are very interesting. Especially that little stream of POVs before the battle with Ghosts on the plains.

But the biggest news is that this book features HIM!!! And by him I mean one of your favorite characters from "The First Law" trilogy, whose name I will not mention to avoid spoilers. I was completely unprepared for this fact, so it came as a big surprise. Even more so, Abercrombie plays with his old readers by giving hints to whether it is him or not. But when he reveals him completely, there is really no doubt about it - it is him in all his vileness and complexity.

"Red Country" is as gritty as Abercrombie's books usually are: blood, sex, violence, cursing, general evilness of the world... All is here. I was surprised though with how this book reminds me of "The Black Company" books, with its sentiment of melancholy, how things are never going be the same. There are a lot of older characters here, characters that are out of their prime, but still have to give everything because there is no one else... Also, as usual, there is a minimal use of magic - actually, except brief showing of Magi Zacharus, there is no magic even in mention.

In conclusion, I was surprised with how good "Red Country" is, if you are into darker and grittier fantasy. Wonderful characters, very interesting plot and style, and of course, one of your favorite characters. This is recommendation for both fans and non-fans (even though they should better start with previous book than here). I will expect the next book with big hopes this time.

Anime review: "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu"

I have watched "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu" last Sunday, but this was such a busy week for me that I didn't had to time to review it. Now it's finally Saturday and I have time to do it.

I've been planning to watch this movie since when it came out, early in 2010. But first there were no subs available for long time, and after that I never seemed to find time for this two and a half hour long movie. I liked the first "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu" very much, but liked the sequel "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (2009)" had some flaws ("The Endless Eight"). Nevertheless, I had good opinion of the franchise. And more, reviews of this movie were always very good - this move is currently rated first on AniDB.

"Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu" (or "The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi") starts with what is a norm for the show - few days before Christmas Kyon is dragged into another Haruhi's crazy plan, without asking whether he agrees or not. But after he wakes one morning, he finds the world not as it was yesterday - there is no Haruhi or Koizumi, and Nagato and Asahina don't seem to know him. He must find what happened and how to reverse it - but before that, he must decide does he even want to leave this, world where he finally has a normal life...

The movie asks for some knowledge of previous series - the knowledge I unfortunately lacked, because I watched them some time ago. But there is not much of such situations, and they get explained in due course, so it didn't spoil much of my enjoyment. But if you have time, rewatch the first two series before watching the movie.

The movie starts a bit slow, but it gets very interesting later. It has a very convoluted plot and it helps if you are familiar with previous series (e.g. I forgot some of the supporting characters). I really didn't expect the culprit, and I liked the ending quite much. As usual, there is a large portion of comedy: lots of embarrassing situations for viewers, e.g. whenever Kyon embarrasses himself by confessing someone that he is from another world. But at the same time this is the most serious and most dramatic part for now.

As expected, the movie is very nice from visual side - not overly impressive, but with nice colors, characters and animation. Sounds are also good, even though it lacks the great music, such as was in the first season.

In case you are a fan of the series, you will really love "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu" movie. I am, and I really couldn't find any flaw to it. And the fact of its highest rating tells that even other people liked this movie. So, this is definitely a movie to recommend to anybody.

Anime review: "Beck"

Although "Beck" is an older anime (2005.) that I would have usually watched without any second thoughts (daily life, great rates, classic, compared to "Nana", etc.) for some reason I long resisted it. I am happy that I have rectified this mistake now.

"Beck" is anime telling a story of members of the band with a same name, during several (two or three) years of life of Yukio Tanaka, nicknamed Koyuki. At the start of anime, Koyukio is 14 and still in his middle-school, without any goals or talents in life. After accidental encounter with Minami Ryuusuke, a few years older guitarist who spent childhood in USA, Koyuki enters the world of music and rock, and we follow them and their personal life as they try to establish themselves...

I have always liked anime that depict daily-life of characters, shounen seined and josei. "Beck" is such combination that plays on the line between shounen and seinen. In this respect it is similar to "Bakuman" (or vice versa), and I think that fans of "Bakuman" will also like "Beck". By this, I mean that even though they are focused on shounen audience, the anime doesn't follows a typical maxim "if you just want something really hard, you can do it" that is, for me, the most distinctive trait of shounen anime. On the other hand, "Beck" has some ridiculous premises, which are strongest evident in later stages: their decision to stick with Chiba is totally illogical and impractical; also, wouldn't a band need to have more than three songs. One more thing I liked about this show is that it doesn't idealize teens - they are spiteful, promiscuous, drinkers, they swear (there is a lot of English curses)... There are some usual shounen characters like a bully or spoiled rich kid that compete with main characters, but there's more than that, also.

"Beck" has a very slow start - for first two episodes you have no idea what is happening. Plot goes very slowly, but the show has a really great build-up of characters. Most focus is put on Koyuki, and his relationships with other characters, but Ryussuke also gets his almost individual sub-plot. I noticed that plot sometimes get a bit rough - maybe they had to skip some elements from manga to fit it into 26-episodes anime. Curiously, anime incorporates lots of characters from out of Japan, but not in a way of the usual transfer-student. There is a lot of humor here, including some slapstick, but most of it is light and intelligent.

What I don't understand is how a music-manga can be successful. It surely can: "Beck", "Nana", "Nodame Cantabile" are all great anime, and they wouldn't get an anime adaptation without being a popular manga first. I will really have to try to read one such manga. I am not really into music, and I don't stick with any particular genres or band/performers, and I can't discuss the musical side of the anime, but I found music fine and catchy. There is a lot references and influence by real-life rock bands and famous performers.

My favorite part of anime was the stop-and-go romance between Koyuki and Maho, Ryussuke's younger sisters. I am glad that anime didn't put too much focus on it and left it on us to imagine the result. Best part of anime for me was at the end when Koyuki enters the stage alone. This is a typical shounen ending - a miracle. But that is the reason why we watch shounen anime... After that, the last two episodes almost ruined this anime for me with degrading resolution, and I started wishing it ended immediately after festival, but the actual ending wrapped things very fine.

From visual side, "Beck" is not very inspiring. Especially after watching "Nekomonogatari", animation and colors are pretty drab. Characters mostly look ugly, even when they should be good-looking. On the other side, there is a lot of attention put to details, like clothes, posters, instruments... As I said, music is very good, and so was voice-acting.

I am very glad that I finally watched "Beck" and would recommend it to anybody who like real-life anime and don't require action in it (except in case they don't like music). Even though it is not perfect, "Beck" definitely deserves it high grades with its interesting story and great characters.

Anime review: "Nekomonogatari (Kuro)"

As I mention, I plan to watch few anime shows in next weeks. I wanted to watch "Nekomonogatari" since I've seen it on AniDB in December, and planned to watch it in between "Towers of Midnight" and "A Memory of Light". But when aMoL arrived, I was still at "The Gathering Storm", so it got delayed. But watched the anime this weekend, and its only flaw is that it has only 4 episodes.

"Nekomonogatari" follows the same principles as "Bakemonogatari" and "Nisemonogatari", a mix of fantasy, romance, Japanese mythology, ecchi and comedy. For those who didn't like "Nisemonogatari", but liked the original "Bakemonogatari", you will be happy, because NKMG (short for "Nekomonogatari") is much close to BMG that to NMG. So, after this hard sentence, let us continue with the review. NKMG was a New Year's special, and it has only 4 episodes - one arc.

It actually takes place immediately before NMG, but after the "Kizumonogatari", which will describe the actual beginning of series. The arc here deals with bakeneko (Monster-Cat) Oddity, and the female obsessed by it Hanekawa Tsubasa, best friend of main character Araragi Koyomi.

As you can surmise for last paragraph, this whole series is pretty non-linear. The particular "seasons" are linear, but they are pretty much mixed up. This may presents some difficulties to occasional viewer, but I find it very appealing.

The story itself is very interesting. Even though it deals with a topic usual for Japan mythology-based anime (bakeneko - I think this is third anime dealing with it), it is in no way dull or familiar. Especially when it is placed in "Bakemonogatari" setting. As usual, this means a lot of talking scenes and lots of flashbacks with no explanation. Ecchi element is much less expressed than in "Nisemonogatari", but it is present. I didn't expect such action scene at the end - but I liked it. There is a very dark streak in background, dealing with domestic violence, but this has always been a part of this series.

One of strongest points of "Nekomonogatari" (and other from this series) is beautiful art. Backgrounds are CGI, very nicely done, and characters are drawn, even better. I just love such bright and vibrant colors. The show also has very good sound effects.

"Nekomonogatari" is a great treat for fans of "Bakemonogatari" and a tease until we wait for "Bakemonogatari: Second Season", sometime later in this year. I really enjoyed there four episodes.

Book review: "A Memory of Light" by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

Well, we have come to this. This book signifies end of several periods: four months of my reread, nine years of my personal acquaintance to "The Wheel of Time" series, and twenty three years since publishing of first book, "The Eye of The World". I first one to say, that even though I am sad for the end, this last book, "A Memory of Light", give a wonderful closing to the whole series.

I have a special connection to this series: it was my first series after I have started buying books. Before that I've read some fantasy (there was very restricted selection at my local library, but I have read it and reread it more than few times), including "The Lord of the Rings" and first few books of "A Song of Ice and Fire", but this was a first big ("Knife of Dreams" was the first book I had to wait for to come out) epic series. Since that time I've read it a lot (ASoIaF, "Malazan Book of the Fallen", "Midkemia" sagas, "The Belgariad" and "The Malloreon", R. Scott Bakker, etc.), but WoT has stayed my favorite series. Not best; I think that ASoIaF and MBotF (even more so) are better series. But WoT is my favorite, period.

I haven't read a book in such short time for a while now. I started reading "A Memory of Light" at Saturday afternoon (without reading at evening), read whole Sunday (except for two or three hours) till midnight, continued at Monday late afternoon after work, and finished at after midnight of the same day. I planned to write this review yesterday, but I was too exhausted yesterday and had to recover some of my energy.

"A Memory of Light" is a final book of fourteen book longer series, so things are pretty much all set for the final clash between Light and Shadow. Rand, who started as young shepherd, has become almost King of the world. His announcement that he will break the Seals that keep the Dark One imprisoned has successfully gathered almost all armies of humanity at one place. Mat has done great things in the past, but he now has one more thing to accomplish - to persuade Fortuona, Empress of Seanchan to join Rand's battle. Perrin has also become a leader of men. Even though his part is not so visible, he is one of three ta'veren that have to support Rand. Egwene, now a  secure Amyrlin Seat, and as such viewed as one of most superior authorities, doesn't agree with Rand's decisions - but is Amyrling Seat's authority above that of the Dragon? Elayne is one of the strongest Aes Sedai, now ruler of both Andor and Cairhien, and also lover of the Dragon Reborn - she will have to balance a lot of roles in this book.

This covers five main characters of WoT (I used to include Nyneve, but she was a bit neglected in last books), but even though they got most coverage, they represent only a fraction of POVs from this book. I think that most of the characters from previous books got at least a short POV part. The book has 900 pages, so it is not the longest book in series, but it feels quite long nevertheless.

So you can expect this to be a very complex book. I think I will have to do a reread eventually to grasp it all (as I have to with MBotF), but not this year I think. I don't even have to mention multiple changes of POVs in chapters - diagram showing characters vs. chapters structure will definitely be even more complex that the one in "The Gathering Storm" (link). Maybe it would have been better if last two books were split in three. This would gave them more clarity, but than they would lose much of their intensity, especially this one. And "A Memory of Light" is intense!

I first had an awkward feel, but I was able to recognize it. It is strange to have so many POV characters at the same place without knowing the thoughts of every one of them. Lot of characters get ignored for a long times (e.g. Taim, rulers), but there is simply no help to that. Also, even though all plotlines in this book happen in same time-frame, Sanderson used a trick that time doesn't flow at the same speed for everyone. He justified it quite soundly in book, and reaped much of benefits from it, but you will have to decide for yourself whether you are OK with it (as I am) or you think it as cheap trick.

When I started with this book, I also started with keeping notes of my impressions (I started doing this during this reread, to help me organize my thoughts), like

• Wow! It is rare to see the inner workings of Shadow like with the Town, and
• Plotline in the Black Tower is simply great! Especially the dual bond.

But soon I had to abandon it because really too much happens in here. Also, I want to avoid spoilers in this review. Nevertheless, here are some of my biggest impressions:

• I kept trying to guess who Demandred is hiding as. This particular point was stressed during series, and even at the beginning of this book, so it was only normal to wonder. The answer is here, don't worry. On the other hand, maybe you should worry, because he proves himself as one of most capable and deadly of Shadow's proponents.
• I was very surprised when Rand entered the Pit of Doom before the end of book. Even though this sounds as expected course of events, Jordan (I don't think that this was Sanderson's call, but maybe I am wrong) take an unconventional turn.
• This book is one big battle! Well, six battles actually, but most of this book is made of battle and fighting scenes. Also, it has the longest chapter in WoT history: 189 pages.
• There is some great humor in this book, but one line was really LOL moment: Androl's and Pevara's "You look good in black". Also, even though Mat is a touch too expressive (outspoken), he has a bunch of funny scenes. I especially like his bragging fight with Rand! And also, Knotai!!!
• Well, I can't believe I missed the thing with the Horn of Valere!!!

One more thing I want to mention is Padan Fain's disappointment. His part was very promising, in this book and in series also. He had a potential to become the unknown element, Joker, hidden ace... But then he was cut short. There are some good lines here, but it is only a part of what it should have been.

I saw some comments describing this book as emotionally draining - it is! I spent last couple of hours with tears in my eyes - whether from sadness, happiness, laughter or anger. It really provides a full scale of emotions. There are some really unexpected things here, even deaths of characters you would never expect to be gone.

A good new element this book introduces is inserting the gray morale with the Seanchan. Is rooting for Tuon a good thing or not? I wonder was this Jordan's or Sanderson's decision.

You are probably wondering about the ending. Don't worry: it is a wonderful ending, one of best ever. It doesn't provide too many answers. I think this is better than it would be explaining and elaborating everything (like, these two lived there for years, got two child...). Also, it feels more natural, without any forced celebrations or gathering of main characters. You are really left wondering about many things, but not frustrated for it. I wonder was the ending written by Jordan? I think it is - I don't belittle Sanderson, but Jordan was the master of "The Wheel of Time".

So, with bitter-sweet feelings, I can say that "A Memory of Light" provided a wonderful ending for "The Wheel of Time". Not perfect, but even better for that!

Manga review: "School Rumble"

After some two weeks of reading, I have finished with "School Rumble" manga. I have watched the anime adaptation several years ago - it was one of the first anime I watched, and I still consider it as one of my favorite anime. This actually applies for the first two seasons - third one was composed of two episodes and left a bad aftertaste. So I had some great expectations from this manga, but at the same time I was dreading it would leave prove my memories false and diminish my experience of "School Rumble".

I can't say that "School Rumble" has any real plot. It is a love-polygon slapstick comedy following member of one class during their second high-school year. Two main characters are Tsukamoto Tenma and Harima Kenji: Tenma is a childish, clueless and not so good looking girl, while Harima is notorious and one of the toughest delinquents around - and he is hopelessly in love in Tenma. But Tenma herself is in love with Karasuma, a strange and expressionless boy from their class. He lead us to the second level of main-characters, which include him, Suou (one of three Tenma's best friend, beautiful and popular), Sawachika (another of Tenma's best friends, half-Japanese, blonde and also beautiful), Takano (yet another of Tenma's best friends, capable and elegant), Hanai (class leader, all proper and strict, but altogether a good guy) and Yakumo (Tenma's younger sister, one of the most popular girls in school, shy and capable). I won't list more characters because I would need several pages to mention all few dozen of recurring characters...

Main topic of the first several volumes are Harima's efforts while he try to express his love to Tenmna, while Tenma tries the same to Karasuma. Later focus changes more to the Tenma's misunderstanding (and she is full of those) where she belives Harima in love with Suou, Sawachika, Yakumo, Itoko (their teacher but at the same time Harima's cousin), Tae (a girl Harima meet during one of his frequent giving ups of life). All, all this is crisscrossed with love-problems of other girls (which may or may not include Harima) and other characters, and with short gags. Structure of the manga is such that every now and then there is a longer arc which describe a typical event like trip to beach (where Sawachika will see Harima naked), school sport festival (where Sawachika and Harima will save the reputation of their class), school culture festival (where Harima will be found in bed with Yakumo) and so on....

As for characters, there is really bunch of them. Since this is a shounen slapstick comedy, one cannot expect any real depth and complexity of them, but you can expect much hilarity. They usually have few distinctive characteristics that are used to draw laughter: Imadori like breast and Dojibiron (something like Power Rangers); Hanai is proper but can be challenged to extreme actions; Tougo is all extreme, Sawachika is a typical rich Princess, but has a surprising gentle side, and so on.

Appeal of "School Rumble" is coming from play between rooting that a guy finally gets a girl and rooting against him because you know that it's funny and if he ever catches it, then everything is over. The trick is in doing this but keep the originality and not irritating the reader - and it can't be said that "School Rumble" always succeeds in this. There are irritating parts (for me, most of the Tenma-Karasuma thing was irritating), but I liked most of it. I didn't like "trip to England" arc and found it really not funny. Also, I kept hoping for a different ending - I would be more satisfied if mange ended one or few chapters earlier. There are lots of slapstick jokes, misunderstandings, puns - I would usually snort at least once during the better chapters. And Harima can always cause an outright laugh ("Miko-chan...").

The art in manga is not really impressive, and the color covers were especially poor. But for such manga where its strength is in gags and dialog this is not so important. Dialog is often nonsensical and plot inconsistent, but they are hilarious. I had few occasions that I really couldn't follow the plot, like there were pages missing, but they are not often. Also, I noticed few differences from anime: like missing the explanation why Harima is in love with Tenma, although there is one in anime.

I really liked "School Rumble" mange and had a very good time with it. But all in all, I wouldn't recommend it - I would recommend the anime adaptation, and only first two seasons ("School Rumble" and "School Rumble: Nii Gakki"). Anime perfectly filters only the best parts of mange (the most it), it has a better art and it gives characters voices. But if you have watched anime and now are wondering what mange is like - it is good.

Movie review: "Snow White and the Huntsman"

This weekend my girlfriend and I went to movies to watch "Snow White and the Huntsman". We were talking about it or "Prometheus", but this one was playing at better time. We first saw the trailer for it few months ago and decided we will definitely go watch it because it was great. But as movie came out, I found few reviews proclaiming it as a disappointment, and telling that trailer was misleading. Now, after watching it, I think they are half-way right: trailer is misleading, but the movie is not as bad as they said.

"Snow White and the Huntsman" is an movie-adaptation of the classical fairy-tail, but with additional elements and a bit darker and more violent. After Snow White's mother dies, her father the King is in great mourning. One day he rides out to defeat a strange, black-glass army that appeared at his boarders. The army is defeated fairly easy, and in their mist they found a prisoner, young and beautiful Ravenna, who immediately catches the King's eye and heart. But on the night of the wedding, it turns out that she is actually a witch and a Trojan horse - after killing the King, she lets in the real army lead by her brother Finn, imprisons Snow White, and starts her long-year tyranny. But now, after several years and her beauty is starting to fade (despite the countless lives of innocent girl she had spent saving it), her only option is to takes Snow White's youth...

After this point, new elements starts creeping in, but mixed it classical fantasy (and Snow White's) tropes: the Dark Wood, huntsman, dwarves, fairies, poison apple... Don't expect miracles, this is not LotR, but story is OK. There is only one scene that was too much (with that elk, you will recognize it), and there is a bit of pathetic drama toward end, but all-in-all, it was a satisfying movie.

I was positively surprised with the character of Ravenna. In the fairy-tail, she would be an evil-stepmother - no reasons, not history, just evil... But in the movie, there is a revelation how and why she became what she is now - also revealing her weak side.

The dwarves were pretty funny, as it was intended. Beith kept reminding me on Ian McShane - and I was pretty surprised after I later read that this was Ian McShane... I don't usually comment on the physical looks (either good or bad), but they could have found someone prettier to play the role of Snow White - Kristen Stewart is not the one to be "the only one looking fairer in the whole land" than Charlize Theron.... Chris Hemsworth had a pretty decent part, as had Sam Claflin.

A big NO for the "rumored sequel"!

All in all, not as good as it could be, but better than I expected. A "Snow White and The Huntsman" is a nice action-adventure movie based on a darker version of Snow White fairy-tail.

TV show review: "Game of Thrones", second season

I didn't mention it before, at least I think, but I have been watching the second season of "Game of Thrones" as episodes were coming out, so I wanted to make a few short notes about it.

This season was adapted from "A Clash of Kings", a second book in "A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R. R. Martin. But contrary to the first season, which followed "A Game of Thrones" book quite faithfully (with reduction necessary to transform 800+ pages book to 10 hours show), this wasn't true for the new season. Yes, in general it is the same content, but plot, structure and characters have been changed - the degree is of this change is negotiable. To me, who have read aCoK half a dozen times and consider myself a fan of ASoIaF, this change was too large. I presume for a causal read, someone that read it once and had no big interest in the series, this was not so important. But I spent most of my time bitching how they changed this thing or that...

On the other hand, although I can't be a real objective observer, for a TV show, it is a good stuff. A large cast backed up with good acting, interesting and complex plot, unique setting (for a TV)... I think that everyone how doesn't have anything particular against fantasy can enjoy this show. Most of the people who I talked to about "Game of Thrones" liked it, except for those few who didn't like it because it was fantasy. But these same people didn't like "Lord of the Rings" or "Star Wars"...

I didn't like how Tyrion was softened, but they made it up for him with last episodes - and that explosion was really something! On the other hand, they made a success with making Joffrey look as the ultimate prick. Arya's plot was OK, but it was a bit over-the-top mixing it with Tywin's. Daenery's parts were a complete disaster, in my opinion. Jon's part was good, although it lacked complexity it has in book. They destroyed Bran's part, but I think they did it OK with Theon's. Although I am not sure what to think about him, after "A Dance with Dragons".

I am curious what will they do with the third book, which is quite longer that first two - split it into two season, rise the number of episodes or reduce the book content...

For conclusion, although I can't say I really liked this show, I think that second season of "Game of Thrones" is a good and enjoyable show. I am planning on watching the third season - and probably complaining all the way..