Book review: "Perdido Street Station" by China Miéville

I have finished reading China Miéville's "Perdido Street Station" almost two weeks ago, but I had so hectic last two week that I didn't have time to blog about it. I actually read this book a long time ago once, borrowing from the library. I had a notion that I remember this book quite well so I was reluctant to buy it, but I wanted to reread it before going to next two books ("The Scar" and "Iron Council"). So I decided to buy it after all - and ended quite surprised how much actually I have forgotten!

(for great fan-art, Google images for "Perdido Street Station")

"Perdido Street Station" is one of those books that are really hard to describe, especially their plot. Whatever I write, I will miss the point. But here is a try... "Perdido Street Station" tells a story set in very imaginative setting, the City of New Crobuzon, which includes magic, alchemy, science, science fiction, insect races, magical races, demons, spider-gods, cyborgs, artificial intelligence, flying people, oppression, horror, religion and education, among a bunch of other things. In the midst of it is Isaac, a underground scientist who, working on another project, happens to free a strange breed of gigantic moths that feed on people's conscience. Moths start to terrorize the whole City and Isaac becomes target to both the totalitarian regime the rules the City and by a drug-lord that was making money by moths, which forces him to try to catch the moths on his own...

I haven't read much books by Chine Miéville (only this one and "The City and The City"), but even I know that he is famous by his imaginativeness. And this is quite obvious here, especially in the first part. First part of the book especially, but also the book in whole is written in "look at my beautiful garden" form (I borrowed this from Jo Walton and her review of "Aristoi"), where Miéville plays and shows off his imagination. But this is a good thing because he builds a great setting - the list I mention in previous paragraph is only a part of it, notions I could describe in one word. He sometimes goes quite deep in details, like with descriptions of khepri's society, or with the handlingers. But here is also the problem of this book. Even to me, who like this kind of stuff, this wild and weird setting managed to become too tiresome on occasions. Imagination is good, but there has to be some boundaries. Luckily, this happened only few times while reading the book, so it can be forgiven.

It would take too much time to mention all great ides Miéville shows, but I have to note the Weaver and the daemons. I am really curious what more can he think of in the next two books with same setting to keep this level of freshness...

As with the setting, there is a bunch of characters in the book, but only two of them can be said to be main characters. Isaac is one, of course. He is an eccentric, a genius dropping out of college, hanging out with artist and working for the criminals. On the other hand, he is fat, clumsy, and not really someone you could look upon to. This is what makes him such a lovable and aspiring main characters. The other one is Yagharek. We don't get much from him, and I don't want to reveal spoilers, but those short intrusions with his POVs were really impressing. Miéville succeeded in giving him a very powerful voice, for all his tacitness. As I said, there is bunch of other characters, but with the exception of maybe Lin and Derkhan, they are not too important. But you can be sure that they are written in detail and flamboyant as the rest of this book.

His writing is very good. Although he can become tedious with the details, it can be forgiven. The book is violent, dark and graphic. And after finishing it, I realized that it is maybe a bit too depressing, with no happy end too much pain. Also, the book has a lot of morally questionable or rightly unfair decisions. A big example is with the sick old man in the end. The government, who is in the beginning described as comically evil, turns out to be the real villain.

Another thing I wanted to mention is my surprise with how much of this book I have forgot. When I started reading it, I had a misconception that I know it from the beginning to end, especially the plot. First I was surprised by the quantity of details I really had no recollection about. But the real surprise came when I finished two thirds of the book and realized that I have no idea how the book ends! The moth-hunting, I had no idea about it. I felt like I was reading a different version of the book, with the same beginning but a different ending. And to thing how much pride I put on my memory...

So, if you like weird books, a lot of details and imagination large as an ocean, "Perdido Street Station" is a book for you. You can think about China Miéville as a dark and gritty version of Terry Prachet, having fun on the tropes. Not a book I would recommend to exclusive fans of classical fantasy a la Tolkien.

Book review: "The Half-Made World" by Felix Gilman

As can be seen on this blog, I am mostly dedicated to fantasy series, the longer the better. But I've been tried to broaden my horizon, so I occasionally buy some stand-alone novel, or even SF or something borderline. I first noticed "The Half-Made World" by Felix Gilman on Tor.com, the main fantasy and SF blog that I follow. It sounded interesting, so I put it on my wishlist and bought it few months ago, but read it only last week. My idea about it was as some blend between steam-punk and western.

"The Half-Made World" is set in a very interesting setting. In history and technology level it is akin to 19th century America, but geographically is very different. The East ("the Old East", I think it is referenced somewhere) is more similar to England: a land of peaceful prosperity, colleges and law. The West, divided from East by a large mounting range, has been "discovered" few centuries ago. Before, it was "uncreated" land, a chaos. Now the line of creation is traveling further west, so land between is being settled. It is full of small towns and coalitions, except the two major forces. The Line is ruled by Engines, strong "spirits" embodied in train-like machines, that rule its vast land and people as a perfect machine or bureaucracy: every part of it is replaceable and only a number on paper. The Gun is its complete opposite. It is also ruled by spirits, but these are wild spirits than possess a body of a gun. These guns are carried by the Agents of the Gun, and they give them superhuman abilities like vision in dark, superb sense of smell, great strength, endurance, and healing abilities. But there is a catch - Gun can force Agent to do his will, and since most of the Agents are individualist (meaning criminals, gamblers and other shady men and women), inevitably there comes a conflict between the Agent and Gun that rides him. Usual Agent's activities are kidnapping  blackmail and often murdering of innocent people (not mentioning killing the Linesmen), this chafes to even hardened criminal sooner or later. Just for a record, the Line and the Gun has been in state of constant war almost since Founding of first colonies in West.

In such world, we follow three main characters. Liv, or formally Dr. Lysvet Alverhuysen, is a professor on celebrated Koenigswald Academy in East, after recent death of her (much older) husband, embarks on a journey to West, to work in the House of Dolorous, a mental hospital for victims of war in West. John Creedmore is aged agent of the Gun, inactive for few years, spending his time with gambling and seducing young women (his specialty). Lowry, a relatively high-positioned member on army of the Line (meaning he is placed on top floor, in a small room with no windows - no distraction for his important work) is an ambitious Linesman (which he has to hide, because the system don't allow ambition), almost fanatical in his fight against the Gun. Creedmore and and Lowry are tasked with the same mission: to retrieve the supposedly death General Enver, founder of the Red Republic, the only entity that ever had some success in resisting both the Gun and the Line, who possibly has the weapon capable of destroying both the Line and the Gun. His current occupation and location: a patient in the House of Dolorous.

The book has a very interesting start and you are immediately drawn into its setting. At first, I was reminded to Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell", because of initial Liv's POV, but later I realized it is much more similar to China Miéville's New Crobuzon setting. Far from being its plagiarism, but it has the same feel. It is needless to say that I got hooked up after first three chapters.

Gilman makes his main characters also very interesting. You first feel for them, but as you read you start realizing that they are far from perfect. Lowry is conformist and fanatic, Liv is too-innocent and too above-all (pretentious even), while Creedmore is nice, but actually without conscience. Also, I was very surprised with death of one of the characters toward end of the book.

There is one part of setting that I forgot to mention in introduction: the Hillfolk. They are people of the unmade world, something like very thin Neanderthals. They are enslaved by people in West who use them for menial work. I found the part when Creedmore meets one of their shamans very interesting. For several reasons (connection with the dessert, the river, the old history), they reminded me much on Steven Erikson and his Eres'al.

The plot is interesting, but in some parts it is a bit predictable. For example, I found their first journey into unmade lands exactly as I expected. But in general, the book is interesting and I hope to learn more of its setting and character. Which I will be able, since there is sort of sequel, "The Rise of Ransom City".

All in all, "The Half-Made World" was a very interesting and exciting read. It was nice plot, very good characters and really excellent and original setting. I would recommend it to anybody, but especially to fans of China Miéville.

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.

New TV-show: "666 Park Avenue"

In last two weeks, my girlfriend and I started watching a new TV-show "666 Park Avenue" and became pretty hooked up on it. I watched first 10 minutes accidentally at my friend's place and we watched the first episode last week. And then at Saturday we watched next 5 episodes in one marathon watch till late in the night. Yesterday we watched 7th episode, which is the last one aired. And series is great.

It is a supernatural mystery, with a touch of horror. A young and perspective couple, Jane and Henry, arrive in New York city and talk themselves in getting an apartment in elite and old hotel called the Drake (on address 999 Park Avenue) - due to Jane's being an architect and skilled in restoration. The hotel is owned and run by Gavin (Terry Q'Quinn/Locke from "Lost") and his wife Olivia. In first episode, Gavin is implied as something of a Devil, giving people what they want in exchange for... something. We got Gavin, we got an old and maybe cursed building, we got a young girl-prophet, and we got main female character deeply connected to all this.

As for now, we still don't know what really is going around, or what exactly Gavin is, but it looks like in next few episodes we will find out. Anyway, the series is great, mysterious and well played. And even better, judging by ending of this last episode, the mystery behind everything is maybe not even magical, but steampunkish (judging by the dragon-mosaic) - which is not usually the case.

Now, the downside: ABC decided to cancel the series, so there will not be a second season! Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! IMDB shows 9 episodes planned, but Wikipedia says there will be thirteen - I am rooting for the second option.

Nevertheless, I strongly recommend "666 Park Avenue" to everybody.

Anime review: "Nazo no Kanojo X"

I regularly (once a month or so) browse AniDB calendar to see prospective candidates for watching and add them to my wishlist. So when I need to pick some anime, I go to my wishlist, filter it to show only finished series and then choose one that looks the best. AniDB allows choosing a priority for watching, red, yellow and green, so I usually first add them as yellow and later upgrade or downgrade them depending on rates and reviews. Such was the case with "Nazo no Kanojo X" (or "Mysterious Girlfriend X"). I first added it, and them my interest started dropping when I saw the ugly front-cover picture and bad rates. But somehow reading the short reviews on its AniDB page persuaded me to give it a chance, since there wasn't any other series I was really interested in.

"Nazo no Kanojo X" starts... Well, both usually and strange. Main character is Tsubaki Akira, a normal second-year high-school boy. He is quite ordinary, without girlfriend, although he would like to have one. At the beginning of the second year, a new transfer student is introduced, Urabe Mikoto, and is placed on seat next to Tsubaki. He initially tries to be friendly to the new girl, but she turns out to be a strange and quiet loner, ignoring Tsubaki and literally everybody else in class, spending all free time sleeping at her seat. After the first shock, Tsubaki gets used to this and she just melts to the background of class. Until one day! Returning suddenly one day to the classroom, Tsubaki finds her sleeping later, and after waking her up, she notices a pool of drool left on her table. Tsubaki, being a horny teenage boy, disturbed by noticing how pretty actually Urabe is, decides to lick her drool. He feels shocked and ashamed by his behavior, but forgets about it soon. Next day he has a strange dream about her, and few days later he gets a fever and has to stay at home. He is surprised when Urabe visits him after school, uncovers his licking of her drool, and tells him that from now on he is addicted to her drool and that they now share a bond....

Well, this is not the strangest premise of romance anime I have ever heard. Just going through my list on AniDB ("Bakuman", "Itazura na Kiss", "Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou", "NHK ni Youkoso!"... And I will not even start with those based on dating-sims) reveals Japanese fondness of bizarre reasons for coupling two persons, but "Nazo no Kanojo X" definitely has one of the more nauseating - drool. But if you are not very squeamish, don't be thwarted by this seemingly disgusting premise, because "Nazo no Kanojo X" is one of better anime I have watched this year and is definitely underrated. Although this sounds like a recipe for ecchi anime, it is not: this is a seinen romantic comedy. There is some fan-service (panties shots, boing-boing), but nothing over the top; girls are sometimes shown naked, but their bodies are without features, only silhouettes. I just realized that this anime is very similar to "Nisemonogatari": even though there is a lot (and in "Nisemonogatari", a really lot) of sexual innuendo, this is not a primary point of this anime. If you are watching either of this anime for fan-service or arousal, you are completely missing their points. There is also a noticeable supernatural streak in here, although it is taken for granted. Any yes, the show justifies its name ("Mysterious Girlfriend"), because there is a lot to reveal yet about Urabe.

"Nazo no Kanojo" is definitely a seinen anime. Although there is a lot of blushing, nosebleeds, and drooling, as you could expect from anime romance comedy, it is the characters that make this a real seinen anime. By this I mean that they are not one-dimensional and perfect: they are bizarre, but they are also realistic. I know that this sounds like two opposites, but if you are a fan of anime, you know what I mean. For example, Harima from "School Rumble" if unrealistic idiot (I don't mean this derisive, he is one of my favorite character ever); Tsubaki on the other hand is quite realistic idiot. He is a naive/innocent/goffy like a teenage boy that he actually is. Urabe, who is on one side completely bizarre character, on the other hand is reasonable and multifaceted character, which is able to recognize the flaws in others and her, but she is also able to accept them as part of people. Tsubaki is the main character and we see the story mostly from his POV and hear his thoughts, but there is lots of Urabe POV's and inner observations. Both of them are strangely shy. Except them, there is only few other characters in series and they are the usual one-dimensional (but funny) anime characters.

Jokes in the anime are good, and they are not of laugh-out-loud type and more focus is put one romance than comedy. And of course, all is all mixed with this strange topic of sharing drool (and not by kissing).

At the beginning, I was almost put off be "old-school" design of characters, something that I connect with older anime like "Akira" or "Golden Boy", but I soon get used to it. "Nazo no Kanojo X" actually has a pretty good animation, design of characters and vivid colors, which is especially seen in Tsubaki's dreams, which are very imaginative and impressive. The show has pretty good sounds and background music. Two other things I appreciate: people wear different clothes and even though at first it looks like Tsubaki lives alone with his sister, it is later shown that this is not true. There are 13 episodes in series and there is an additional OVA, which is actually a regular episode. Manga is still on-going and I hope that there will be a second season some time in future.

In conclusion, "Nazo no Kanojo X" is definitely an underrated anime, but I can understand this because it belongs to not the most popular category and has an off-putting element. But if you are into more serious romance comedy (like "Lovely Complex" or "Bakemonogatari") and are not particularly nauseous, I would recommend not to skip this anime.

Anime review: "The Flower We Saw That Day"

Sometime around last weekend I finished watching "The Flower We Saw That Day" (or "Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai"). I really don't know how I missed noticing this anime before, nor do I really remember how I found it - I am usually more organized about this things. Before watching, I had a vague impression of being something similar to "Hachimitsu to Clover".

So, "The Flower We Saw That Day" is a story about a formal group of friends, told mainly from the story of Yadomi Jinta (or Jintan for friends). When they were little, Jintan, Anaru, Jukiatsu, Tsuruko, Poppo and Menma were best friends, a group called "Super Peace Busters". But after an accident where Menma lost her life made the group grow apart. But life got even worse for Jintan: soon after he lost her mother due to illness, which turned him into hikikomori, not going to school and rarely leaving his house. But one hot day of summer, looking as she would look if she was alive, Menma appears in his house visible only to him, and asks him to fulfill her wish. A wish that will need him to reform the former group - which will not prove easy...


In basis, this anime is a melodramatic story about group of young people, mixed with daily life and romance categories. So yes, it is pretty much similar to "Hachimitsu to Clover", probably the top-most reference in such type of anime. I was hooked up from the first episode, which is very dynamic and strange at first. One difference is that it is a bit more focused on male audience - or maybe it would be better to say that it is less focused on women audience - making this a seinen anime. The second difference is much more important - it involves super-natural element, character of Menma. Anime plays pretty well with this concept - is it really Menma's ghost that only Jintan can see, or is it just his stress, as he tends to believe. I really like this this game, so I was very disappointed when they revealed the truth around the middle of the show. There is a lot of drama and revelations, which are mostly not easily predictable.


Anime jumps regularly between the present and the past, a time of childhood of "Super Peace Busters". All characters are pretty well developed, the main six and few supportive. I really like when they invest in making characters wear different sets of clothes!! Also, it is obvious that they have a life out of scope of plot - they have part-time jobs, hobbies...  


Animation is pretty good and detailed, and I once again compliment of design of characters, and especially their clothes. Voices were also good, but I can't say I remembered much of OP and ED songs. There are 11 episodes, which is perfect - they would probably become over-dramatic if they stretched it to more episodes. This way episodes stay very intense. Also, ending is left somewhat undecided, which makes you wish for another episode telling what happened after - but I don't think there is a room for sequel.


"The Flower We Saw That Day" is an anime for the fans of "Hachimitsu to Clover" or for those who liked "Clannad" or "Ef - a Tale of Memories" and now want something more serious. It has a nice plot, interesting and deep characters, a bit of supernatural and tragedy. It is not the best in genre, but I don't think it will disappoint anybody who is a fan of such anime - at the contrary!

Movie review: "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"

This weekend I watched "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" with my girlfriend. I liked first three movies in PotC series, and the fact that this part is based upon a very good book of the same title by Tim Powers was an additional treat. That is, until I watched the movie.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" has the weakest plot of the movies from the series so far. It features Jack Sparrow in search for the Fountain of Youth, sometimes with and sometimes against notorious captain Blackbeard. In this mess are also included long known characters as Master Gibbs and Captain Barbossa, and some new one as Angelica (ex-nun, daughter of Blackbeard and Jack's past love), Ponce de Leon, Spanish Armada, sirens... PotC movies were always flamboyant, but usually there was some sense and consistency to the plot - now there is almost none. And connection to "On Stranger Tides" by Tim Powers is almost nonexistent - there is some voodoo present, and I presume that character of Philip is loosely based on early Jack Chandagnac from the book. Characters are also worse than in previous movies, without much sparks - I especially disliked Barbossa this time.

All in all, quite disappointment if you expected much from this movie, whether you like first three movies or the book it is allegedly based upon. On the other hand, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" is decent enough pirates-based comedy for a lazy afternoon, to watch with your family.

Anime review: "Nisemonogatari"

Huh, I just checked, it was more than two years since I have watched "Bakemonogatari". I thought I was last year... Anyway, "Bakemonogatari" - one of my favorite anime. I was, of course, thrilled when I read that a sequel, "Nisemonogatari", is coming out. But, recently, just few weeks ago, I read a discussion on AniDB where people compared BMG and NMG, and many complained that the latter was too much ecchi?!?! I didn't like this, but I hoped for the best.

Now, after finally watching "Nisemonogatari", I must say I that this is one strange anime, even stranger that "Bakemonogatari", and I am not sure I can express my opinion of it coherently. Actually, I am not really sure even what my full opinion is. But on the other hand, let it be noted that I enjoyed it very much and I gave it 9 out of 10 on AniDB.

Anyway, in topic there are no much differences between BMG and NMG. We still follow Araragi Koyomi helping different people (well, girls), overcome their problems connected to supernatural creatures from Japanese and other mythology. As before, this anime consist 95% of talking, whether in dialog or monolog. It is like BMG just took a hiatus from airing and now continued. It has two cases/stories, both involving Koyomi's sisters, Karen and Tsukihi. And this time, difference between real and fake makes a large deal. Thus the name: Bakemonogatari = Ghost Story; Nisemonogatari = Story about pretending (or something close).

As with BMG, where we were plunged into setting without much explanation who is who and what happened previously (and some things obviously did happen before), some events have happened between BMG and NBM that are often referenced but not really explained. Oshino is gone somewhere and Shinobu plays a much, much larger role (and a great one). From one side, I hate not knowing what is going on here, but on the other hand, I really like this way of delivering information - here are the references and you pick what you can. It really entices me to watch new sequels just to find more references, although I will probably end up with more questions than answers (kind of like "Malazan Book of the Fallen"). What I should have done was to watch BMG again before I started watching this sequel, although this is not guarantee that my sense of confusion would me weaker.

So, you are now probably wondering where the strange part is. Well, I am pretty much sure that "Bakemonogatari" didn't revolve around sex as much as "Nisemonogatari". And while my memory regarding this can be somewhat faulty, I am positive that it didn't include any incest. Well, this is not hentai and there is no real incest, but innuendo is quite strong. And not only incest, anime plays with other fetishes like lolicon and harem. There is also lots of fanservice. But all this doesn't feel like ecchi anime, but more like the anime mock it. I am not really sure how to explain this. Also, I presume that this all would sound strange to someone not into anime, so don't even try to tackle this anime if you are a beginner.

There are few things I would like to highlight. First, I would like to see more of Senjougahara. I found her character fascinating in first season - this time she felt much subdued. On the other hand, Shinobu, who played a marginal role in BMG, was the top character for me this time. And I especially liked the ending...

There is not really much I can say in conclusion. Even if you loved "Bakemonogatari", there is no guarantee that you will like "Nisemonogatari" (contrary is true - if you hated BMG, you will hate NMG, too). High quality is still here, just that it have taken some new, strange routes - only for those with acquired taste.

Some time later...

Well, it turns out I was wrong: there are people who hated BMG, and liked NMG. I just read the recommendations on AniDB page of "Nisemonogatari" and there are no two opinions alike. Some hate it because it's too much like BMG; others love it because of it. Some love it because it's not like BMG; others hate it because of it?! To some it's too ecchi, to other it's not enough... As I said, a strange anime.

Movie review: "The Adjustment Bureau"

So much about my plan to catch up with writing while I am on vacation: I have five unfinished posts... But let's start with the movie review. "The Adjustment Bureau" is fairly new movie. I am not sure how I stumbled on it, but all I knew about it before watching was that it is some kind of mystery thriller.

David Norris (played by Matt Damon) is a young politician with big ambitions. After loosing the elections for Senate, he meets Elise (Emily Blunt) who inspires him to his best speech ever. Even after so short meeting he can't stop thinking about her, so when he bumps into her in bus after few months, he grabs the chance and gets her number. But when he gets off the bus and arrives to work, he finds everybody in the building frozen in time and some strange people doing some high-tech tests on them. He tries to run but they catch him; they introduce themselves as some kind of guardians of fate and order him to stop trying to meet Emily because that would be disaster for whole world. And worst of all, they confiscate the paper with her number, his only contact to her. But after a year, he again sees her in bus and now has to decide: whether to listen to those guardians or to temp the fate...

This is a serious movie which requires your full attention, but it rewards you for that. It is not unique concept (fate and its guardians), but neither is too common, and the movies explores the subject on high scale. Details of those guardians are slowly revealed during the movie (it all gets explained at the end) gives the movie a nice touch of science fiction/fantasy. There are no any big flaws in the plot and settings so you can freely concentrate on the movie. The movie also has the romance aspect, but it is mostly thriller. Characters and actors who play them are all good. Except Damon and Blunt as famous names, we also have Terrence Stamp.

Only flaw of the movie is that is has several long scenes where nothing happens, which are there to emphasize the mood, which could be a bit shorter. But this is not really a serious remark.

"The Adjustment Bureau" is serious and very good thriller for everybody; a bit of playing with SF/F gives it a nice touch. Definitely a recommendation.

Anime review: "Shiki"

After more than three months of forced rest from anime, I watched a new anime, called "Shiki". It was one of the hits of last year, some mystery with vampires, so I was looking forward to watching it. In the end, I was satisfied, although with some reservations.

I will start with the reservations. "Shiki" is a vampire anime, it is clearly from the second episode or so. And it brings absolutely nothing new to the concept! Not one shred of originality (except one detail, revealed in the later parts). It follows all those naive tropes that have been know since original "Dracula", present in books and shows (yeah, I am talking about "Buffy") for century or something like that. I will abstain of revealing them to avoid spoilers. In most cases I would stop watching or reading a work so low on originality very early... Anyway, anime takes place in (big) secluded village (or combination of villages) where nothing interesting ever happens. In first episode we meet Megumi, who is not satisfied with this situation, and who daydreams about escaping to big city, preferably with Natsuno, a boy recently arrived from a big city. Things are looking brighter as they have some mysterious rich family settling in. Suddenly, Megumi is found in the woods, with amnesia and signs of anemia. But things don't stop here; next you know, anemia is spreading and local doctor Toshio don't know what to do...

Second thing that come is mind is design of characters. It looks like mix between shounen action anime (on trail of "Bleach" or "Sengoku Basara") and dating sims (e.g. "Clannad"). You can guess people's roles after few seconds of watching. For instance, main character is manly, tall, silent guy in his fifteenth year (coincidely, this description can be applied to second main character, except the difference in years). And for God's sake, that guy has wolf ears on top of his head!!! And I am not even starting with the look of that Kirishiki guy... Vampires all have bad complexion, black eyes with red pupils and long canines... I mean, a little subtlety. Also, most female characters have big breasts and there is some fanservice, just to know what to expect.

Also, after few episodes you get a complete revelation of bad guys, so the mystery part is not very subtle, also.

So why watch this anime, you ask? I can't quite explain it why, but "Shiki" really has good atmosphere, unexpectedly considering all these objections. I watched first four or five episodes in on sitting, on windy evening/night, and turning the lights off before going to sleep wasn't exactly a comfy decision. Even though characters are so clichéd, you nevertheless root for them.

And never mind that some things get explained very early; there are still many things to ponder about. Especially when the view starts to shift to the other set of characters. At the beginning I didn't expect to see any alternating POVs. Ending is quite surprising; I didn't believe they would take it to such extreme. Especially the conclusion of main character and one of main villains... What a bang!

So, all these objections from the start are just some unique quirks of this anime, nothing to really complain about.

On the other hand, there is one serious question/objection that you are able to raise after watching the whole anime: I don't get the moral of this story? I mean, it is questionable does it have any. Position of victims changes from one side of characters to their complete opposites, but without any explanations, redemption or anything similar. I like when characters are grey, but this is not the case; in here black and white just changes the places. On the other hand, it does leave you thinking about it. Why would someone deserve a punishment and why would there been need for effort before redemption? If the authors were aiming at this, they hit the bull's-eye, but I suspect that this was just a side-effect of unclear intentions...

In the end, "Shiki" is good vampire/mystery anime, although not much more than that. I did enjoy it much, and it has good grades at AniDB, so I recommend it to all who like these type of anime. On the other hand, I you never watch it, you won't miss any masterpiece.

A final note: the end is pretty inconclusive. In fact, the end practically begs for sequel, so don't be surprised if one comes out.

Movie review: "Season of the Witch"

Last weekend girlfriend and I decided to go to cinema, and between "13" and "Season of the Witch" we picked the later. I don't usually like Nicholas Cage's movies, but it turns out this wasn't so bad after all.

First scene of the movie is very realistic and violent scene of hanging and drowning of three witches. During night, one of them comes back to life and kills the priest responsible for it. Then we are switched to a completely different scenery. In this movie, Cage plays Behmen and Ron Perlman plays Felson. They are buddy-buddy pair of knights, fighting infidels in the Crusades. After a massacre of civilians, they are sickened by war, and especially by Church which preaches the war as just and holy. They dessert and start a journey to their homes, but they get caught eventually, in a town besieged by plague. In fact, whole country is plagued. They are offered freedom in exchange for transporting a young women accused of being a witch and a source of the plague, to a remote monastery. Disappointed by Church, they decline at first. But Behmen thinks girl innocent and abused by Church, so he decides to escort her, hoping she will get a fairer trail in the monastery. A company is assembled and thus the journey starts...

First part of the movie is nothing exceptional, but it is done decently good. Cage and Perlman make a funny pair (I was reminded of Gibson-Glover relationship from "Lethal Weapon" series) and they don't look stupid at it. Atrocities of the war and its consequences are shown very solid and convincing. But journey, the middle part of the movies is really good! We are shown some very confronting facts and everything is left to audience's imagination. You can't be sure what is really going on and who is good and who bad. Very mysterious! There are few especially good and intense scenes (the maze, the bridge and the wolves). Until the end you are left to wonder...

...And then comes the end which leaves nothing to imagination, which sucks. It is not a bad ending; it is very emotional and intense. But after all those psychological games that left me in guessing what's going on, they reveal it all. And final bad guy feels a bit stupid and unimaginative. I would prefer ending being left undecided and mysterious, and then this would be really great movie. The positive side would be that ending is surprising; I don't think many persons would guess it.

In the end, "Season of the Witch" is a nice movie, with somewhat spoiled ending. But definitely a nice way to spend an evening, especially if you like fantasy.

Anime review: "Ayakashi - Japanese Classic Horror"

I stumbled across this anime few times before, but first time I seriously considered watching it was after watching "Mononoke". AniDB article about it claimed it shared one of the characters. It is relatively short (11 episodes), so I watched it last week, between "Daggerspell" and "Stonewielder" (post about it will be next).

"Ayakashi - Japanese Classic Horror" is 2006 anime adapting three Japanese classic horror stories. The three are completely different in setting and style, even in animation, so I will describe each of them separately.

"Yotsuya Ghost Story" is based on "Yotsuya Kaidan", Japanese most famous ghost story (at least according to Wikipedia). It is a tragical story about Iemon and Oiwa. Iemon is a ronin who wants to marry Oiwa, despite opposition from her father. He slays him and then uses his death as a mortar for his marriage, claiming he will help Oiwa as a husband to revenge her father. Everything is well for some time, but slowly Iemon's true face starts to show. He finally abandons Oiwa for richer and younger woman, who poisons Oiwa. This is the start of tragedy where everyone connected to two of them will end dead. Iemon refuses to admit any guilt and slowly sinks into madness, seeing Oiwa everywhere. There is also a parallel tragic story, about Osuda and Yomoschichi, which is interwoven with the first plot.

Story is interesting but not especially original. Probably you even saw it or parts of it, since it was adapted and partly used numerous times. It is not really scary also. Animation is decent, although looking older than 2006. Most interesting details it the way it is represented: story is narrated by the "original" author of the story, who claims he was inspired by Oiwa's ghost to write it. He also claims that the story is cursed and everybody who takes part in screening, acting or writing it ends dead.

"The Legend of Tenshu" is completely different kind of story. It is a love story between Himekawa Zusho-no-Suke, a young falconer, and Tomi-Hime, ruler of Forgoten Gods, kind of powerful and scary demons that feed with human flesh. This a complete mini-anime and I am wondering why is haven't been expanded to full-sized anime. It even has comedy-relief characters. Story is interesting and tense; there is action, comedy, romance... Again, animation is a bit weak, and design of characters could have been more original. But story is definitely good.

Last, "Bakeneko" is a star of this collection. It features the medicine-seller from "Mononoke" in one more exorcism adventure. Or better to say, this is the original story, that was later extended to whole series. It has original animation, original characters and great story. I loved it. This was only really scary story; not in visuals, but in setting and style. For those who didn't watch "Mononoke"; don't be put off by seemingly archaic animation. Definitely a recommendation!

My next post will be about "Stonewielder" by Ian C. Esslemont.

Anime review: Box of Goblins

After giving up on "K-On!!" I switched to "Box of Goblins". It is a 2008 anime which I had in my wishlist for some time, but never gave it much thought. I decided to watch it because I wanted something serious and short. It turned out this was a big score!

It's hard to define "Box of Goblins". In first episode we are introduced to two high-school girls. One, Kanako, is a captivating and popular, while other, Yoriko, is not. But for some reason Kanako befriends Yoriko, and so Yoriko starts to practically worship her. There is a lot of talk about reincarnation, past lives and future and so on. It gave me completely different fell of the anime than I expected. Then, a crime happens and Kanako ends up almost dead. This is where the action starts.

Show is quite a mix. It starts with philosophical mussing of a teenage girl, but then changes to a detective story. Then to supernatural mystery based on Japanese mythology. And then again to science fiction action... But it does so in such a great way that all feels natural. Show is broken in different POVs and in between we have slices of history (probably imagined, but looking realistic) that gives it a feel of real-life story. It has a resemblance to "Aoi Bungaku" series, because it happens in first half of 20th century (after WWII, which is important) and has that creepy mood, dark tones and surreal scenes. But it also has something of a Frankenstein novel (you will see why if you bear till the end).

We have a moderately large cast of some dozen important characters. What is peculiar that some of the main character got introduced only after half of the show. All characters are interesting. For some we get a nice characterization, realized from one side by inner monologue and from other by psychology analyze by others. While other character are just shown from the outside and we don't know anything of their history or motives. I hope for more series revolving around these characters, because two of them (exorcist and private detective) have great potential. I just checked Wikipedia: anime is based on a novel, and there is a series of novels by same author (Kyogoku Natsuhiko) with one of them a main character.

Visually, it's quite strong and realistic. The same is true for audio. And it has to be pretty good for me to notice it.

Anyway, I'm quite surprised that this "Box of Goblins" is not more famous. Although, first episode can be something of a turn-off, but after second and third, you should be already hooked up on this great fantasy-SF mystery-history mix. Definitely an anime for all fans of seinen and mystery shows.

Anime review: "Durarara!!"

I think I already said it, but I feel very lucky this year with the choice of the anime I have watched. "Bakemonogatari"  and "Kimi ni Todoke" are among my all-time favorites, while "Akagi", "Tatami Galaxy", "Paranoia Agent", "Paradise Kiss", "Mononoke" and last season of "Nodame Cantabile" were all a great watch. After watching "Durarara!!", I am of a mind to put this anime to first group. At least, it definitely belongs to at least the second group.

I didn't expect such an anime when I started with it. Quick glance on AniDB gave me impression of... I don't know, something wacky and typically shounen. Big reason for that is the picture on its profile. That ochre helmet looked like a some kind of crocodile. Anyway, a big mistake from my side!

"Durarara!!" is made by same author as "Baccano!", Narita Ryogho, which is evident from first episodes. Difference is that this is much lighter anime than "Baccano!", in a way that it is much easier to watch and follow the plot. Because of that, I think it will be accepted by wider audience than "Baccano!". On the other hand, don't think that this anime makes some compromises to be better liked by general public.

Due to originality of anime and it dependence on plot and characters, I can't describe it in details.

"A young boy from countryside Ryugamine Mikado comes to Tokyo to enter high-school. There he meets his childhood friend Kida Masaomi and both of them fall for beautiful and innocent schoolmate Sonohara Anri. Three of them will get involved in some strange occurrences and it will be revealed that each of them have their own secrets..."

You see, it sound like a generic description of at least dozens similar anime. But, in first episode we meet some of original characters, residents of Ikebukuro (where the anime takes place). Like Celty Sturluson, headless Irish fairy who works as courier on black-bike; Heiwajima Shizuo, debt collector with super-human strength and short temper; Orihara Izaya, shady and sadistic information dealer; Simon, Russian of African descent, working as a hawker for sushi-bar... Ikebukuro is plagued with color-gangs: juvenile gangs which differ by wearing different colors. There is also one colorless gang, with base on the Internet: the Dollars... There are many other characters and each one is original on its own way.

First part of show centers on introduction of characters, each episode focusing on one or two main characters. Later we have two story arcs: one centered on Celty's head, the other about Dollars vs. Golden Bandanas (one of the color gangs) conflict. Anime is based on light novels. There are eight of them so far, and anime adapts only first three, so we can expect more season of this fantastic anime.

What differentiates this anime from the other similar shows is that "Baccano!" feeling. There is action, there is laugh, there is anger... As I said, it is not intense as "Baccano!", but it's good enough. Connection with "Baccano!" is strengthened with cameo appearance of awesome comedy duo, Miria and Isaac.

Good as this anime is, there are some flaws. First episodes, the introduction are great. And so is the first story arc. But second story, about gang fighting is evidently weaker that the first one. Fortunately, great characters and romance aspect of the story saves it, at least for me. Next flaw, which is something I mind very much in longer seinen shows, is that characters are always in same clothes. Some people also objected the fact that unimportant people (people on streets, mostly) are drawn as gray people. For me, this was actually a plus.

From visual side, the show is looking nice, but nothing impressive. Animation slowly degrades during the show, which is mostly evident in design of characters (e.g. Horada), but that's not an important flaw for me. Opening and ending are nice enough songs, especially both openings. Voice-acting is also good, but as I mentioned, I usually don't notice it unless is pretty bad.

So, this is definitely a recommendation. Especially for "Baccano!" fans, but also for every other anime fan older than 15. For those interested, Crunchyroll offers free streaming of this show here.

Book review: "The Blood Knight"

I just keep being late with this blog... I already started a new book and still haven't written a post about this one, which I've read two weeks ago. But, here it is... The second paragraph is for those who haven't read the first part. After that, text contains spoilers about first two books.

"The Blood Knight" is the third book in high fantasy series "Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone" by author Greg Keyes. I picked this series because I wanted to read something of a "classical" fantasy: medieval knights, princesses, few myths and monsters. I was a bit fed up with original and innovating books and I wanted to read something easy, for a change.  In my opinion, this series is quite similar to Feist's original trilogy ("Magician", "Silverthorn" and "A Darkness at Sethanon") or even much more to Williams' "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" (in setting, mostly). These are very nice books and I enjoyed reading them. This is not a series to provoke flame wars or to have a large fan base, but this is not an objection. It's a nice and short series that you will enjoy reading and then forget after few days or weeks (depending about your reading rate). And after few years you will be able to reread it with them enjoyment...

For first two books, you can read my reviews here and here.

Manga review: Naruto

Wow, this took me longer that I thought it will, almost three weeks! On the other hand, it has more than 500 chapters for now (505th was the last I've read so far), most of them 16 pages or more, it's no wonder. Include with that the fact that I've read it on-line (Narutofan.com), so it takes time to load it...

I have a special attachment to "Naruto". It is the first anime I watched when I started regularly followin anime several years ago. Before that, I watched only "Dragon Ball" (original and Z), "Sailor Moon" and "Hellsing" randomly and on TV (except "Hellsing", I got that on DVD). I really got into anime after getting "flat" (unlimited monthly bandwidth) and discovering wonderful world of torrents.

I don't really remember why I picked "Naruto", but it showed as a good decision. Unlike "Bleach", which I liked for first 50 episodes and later it became repetitive and boring, I find "Naruto" still interesting and watch it regularly. After original 135 episodes of "Naruto", I actually watched some 30 episodes, before really understanding what "filler" means. And then came "Naruto Shippuuden" with its super-slow episodes; I'll  always remember the fight with Sasori, which took some 6 or 7 episodes. But now I really like this anime, and judging by manga, there will be some really interesting stuff in future.

Let's get back to the review. First, "Naruto" is shounen action manga (and anime) about ninjas. Author of the manga, Kishimoto Masashi, is a fan of Toriyama Akira, author of "Dragon Ball", so I think that those who liked "DB" will like "Naruto", also (at least, that was the case with me). Manga features an imagined world, consisting of several countries, where each (or at least the bigger ones) has a ninja village. Ninjas perform various tasks (missions), for their sovereign lords, citizens of their own country, or even for foreigners. In case of war, they serve as army. Series is not based on real ninjas; you can expect "magical" skills, talking animals, super-strength and super-speed, etc. As this is shounen manga, it doesn't encumber with "smaller" details: existence of electricity, uncommon political situation or other things like that. Instead, this series focus on interesting fights (and unique skills of characters) and passionate and emotive relationships; primary, the friendship between two main characters, Naruto and Sasuke.

Main character of this anime is Uzumaki Naruto. At the beginning of the show, he is some 12 years old student in ninja academy. His main interests are making pranks on teachers and creating troubles; also, he's poor at ninja skills and has no friends. Reason for him being alone is that at the day of his birth, his village (Konohagakure) was attacked by super-strong demon fox. To prevent destruction of the village, Naruto's parents sacrificed themselves and sealed the fox inside him. For some "reasons", this is kept as secret from Naruto and kids his age and younger. Of course, all the adults know the truth (at least partially) and they ostracize Naruto because of fear, anger or grief. Naturally, kids take after their parents, so Naruto is left friendless (except his teacher Iruka).

But Naruto is not too depressed with his fate; instead, he dreams of becoming a Hokage (leader of his village and strongest ninja there). That was, all villagers will be forced "to acknowledge" him (I stress this because this is the main theme of first part of series). In the meantime, he uses his pranks as a way of getting attention. Soon after the graduation at academy, he will be joined in team with two of his classmates: Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke is a boy from renowned ninja-family of Uchiha, best student of the year (two of them are joined because the school tries to make balanced teams - Naruto is the worst one). Sakura is a normal girl, excelling in theory of ninja skills, but unremarkable in practicing them. She is also infatuated with Sasuke (as every other girl in class); in same time, she is Naruto's love interest. Even though three of them don't have much in common, after first mission they will develop bonds that will form their later lives.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I always find hard to review a long-running manga. And "Naruto" is really long-running. With five hundred chapters it's the longest manga I ever read. In anime adaptation, it has around 250 original episodes and some 100 filler episodes, and anime has quite a lot to catch up with manga. My meaning is that it's hard to write about story because I can't write only about beginning of the story which is only an introduction (that would be meaningless because story changes after a while), but also I can't write about later stages that are important (at least, not without revealing spoilers). So, I will just say that "Naruto" actually HAS a story, as opposed to "Bleach" and "Dragon Ball". I am mentioning these two again for two reasons: I watched them; and they would be "Naruto's" direct competitors. As I understand it, there is also "One Piece", but I haven't watched or read it. "Dragon Ball" doesn't have an overall story - it just a "new opponent-new training-new fight" pattern. "Bleach" has some kind of story, but I think it's just a cover for same patter as in DB. Again: "Naruto" has a story. It is not a masterpiece of storytelling, but it is there. It is a story about friendship between Naruto and Sasuke; about picking the hard choices and not relenting. I also has many other motives and themes, but you will have to read it (or watch it) for yourself.

On the other hand, "Naruto" IS a shounen action series about ninjas. As I mentioned before, the world is nicely imagined, with no irritating flaws. There are lots of characters, but they are divided in groups (check "Cast Herd"), so it's not hard to follow who is who. Each character will have its own unique powers and skills and they are quite original. Meaning, they are not just a fifth variation of the same power - each have its place and rules. Characters are mostly well done (no one irritated me or made me lose faith in author's taste) and unique. Series has a lot of funny moments and inside-jokes; it made me laugh often. Fights are very good, dynamic and intense. They are not like second World Martial Arts Tournament in DB (which almost made me cry) or Goku vs. Freeza fight, but "Naruto" has its moments.

As I read manga after I watched anime, I noticed that I actually like anime version better. Despite the fillers, anime takes time to broaden and elaborate situations, without inserting unnecessary elements (if you ignore fillers). That was mostly evident after I passed events that are serialized in anime. Manga brings distilled events and skeleton of the story, but I think I will enjoy it in full really after watching the anime. But I will have to wait awhile for that.

And now, the final conclusion. In my opinion, if you are in search for long-running fighting shounen series and have even remote interest in ninja, I think you will like "Naruto". If you watched and liked "Dragon Ball", you will like "Naruto" (maybe even more; I did). If you are reading manga, then it's OK. But if you start watching anime and you don't become a fan (as me), I would advise you to find out which episodes are fillers, if you don't want to completely lose interest in series. For original episodes, fillers start after 135th episode. And for "Shippuuden", check this.

Also, allow me to recommend an anime that I found better that both "Naruto" and "Bleach". It's "Kekkaishi", a shounen action anime about young boy exorcising evil spirits. Unfortunately, it has only 52 episodes, but series is still ongoing, so I hope for more.

Movie review: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Well, it's been more than two weeks since my last post. Reason for that is that is spent it reading "Naruto" manga. Post about that will follow soon, in day or two... Also, I had a very busy two weeks at work (working on Sunday and during night got me really sleep-deprived), but next week I'm on vacation. So I expect at least two more posts. I plan to read "The Blood Knight", third book in "The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone" series. Also, there will definitely be some anime on the schedule, probably "Durarara!".

Now, let's get on with the movie. I saw the trailer for "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" few weeks in movie-theater, before watching "The Eclipse". Trailer looked very good: great cast (Heath Ledger, Johny Deep, Jude Law, Colin Farrell), a bit childish, but impressive CGI and epic story. After watching the movie, I can say that trailer is very misdirectioning, because this movie is quite different from what I expected. But not in a bad way; this is one of the most quality movies I watched in long time. By quality, I mean in acting, consistent and interesting plot and strong and educating images.

The story is variation of "Faust" by Goethe. I never read the original work, but I learned about it in high school, read extracts (big book of extracts of classical masterpieces for high school was one very, very useful book in high school; despite reading two-three books a week, I was never able to force myself to read school-assignments) and read or watched different adaptations ("If at Faust You Don't Succeed" by Roger Zelazny come immediately in mind), so I know the premise in general.

In this movie, Dr. Parnassus made a deal with the Devil few centuries ago: he will gain immortality in exchange for every product of his loins when he/she reaches sixteen years. Present time: Dr. Parnassus and his troupe, consisting of Anton, Valentina and Percy, are traveling Britain in road-show, trying to win the souls for the good side. Dr. Parnassus is grumpy drunkwith wild stories; Valentina is rebellious teenager with no knowledge of her destiny; Percy is "vertically-impaired person" with bad attitude; Anton is young man, the only one with passion in their troupe. They are traveling in cart led by horses, using scrapped costumes and cheap tricks, so is't given that they are not very successful. And why are they so special (except that doctor is more that thousand years old and talks with the Devil)? Because, when they succeed in getting a customer, they transfer her (by means of the "magic mirror") in doctor's mind. And there, customer's surrounding, it's world, is defined by their own psyche. Ultimately, customer is provided with the choice: good or bad. The bad is presented by Mr. Nick, the Devil, a nice, laughing older gentleman, who is ready to give you just what you want, be it a free shot of whiskey, or security of mother's skirt. The good is presented with gigantic stairs where customer must put some effort in getting over them. You can guess who has the better score. But, the troupe will get a new chance, when they save a hanged man; he has no memories of his past, but he can do the talk like he is born for it...

Characters are made as caricatures (drunkard, angry midget...), but acting is very good and you can easily believe in them. I wouldn't go too much further in describing them, because this movie is about characters.

Story is very interesting and it's never predictable. I didn't know it beforehand, but I wasn't surprised when I saw that movie is directed and partially written by Terry Gilliam, member of Monty Pythons. There is a clever trick with character played by Heath Ledger, but I don't want to spoil it. In any case, when "it" first happened, I wasn't really sure. Even more, I missed it second time.

As I mentioned, CGI and desing of the world inside the mind of Dr. Parnassus looks childish, but that is done intentionally, so don't be put off by it.

In short, one very strong movie and a fun to watch. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be much accepted because it asks for non-casual viewer. So, don't watch it before sleep or something like that...