バクマン (Bakuman) (2010)

Yes, I've watched an anime called "Bakuman".
It feels rather awkward to be talking about this anime when there are many people out there who have actually analyzed this anime intellectually, or the real manga for the authenticity matters...
In fact, this anime was categorized as psychology, drama and... one more I forgotten.

Anyway, after watching this anime, I got an insight into the Japanese Manga Businesses.
It's really an eye-opener...
I cannot say I'm a hardcore anime fan.
I do not follow consistently and conscientiously to animes like Naruto, One Piece, Detective Conan...like some do.
It's only bits and pieces here and there.
Therefore, I shall just do with what I have watched.

How did I got to know this anime?
Mainly from The Television...
Many of you would have done this at home... channel switching and... Ooh! What's this? I'm gonna check it out.
That was what happened to me...
Moreover, there is only 25 episodes in the movie engine that I downloaded, so I would not feel pressurized...

To the main point...
The characters in the anime are all really likeable!
Even the self-absorbed - mad - talented from young type-of-person, the manga artist, Eiji Nizuma, did not make me feel out of place.
In reality, I bet people with such characters would be admired by many!
In addition, the female characters such as Miho Azuki and her very supportive friend, Kaya Miyoshi were eye candies.
Personality-wise, it is only a far-away dream to have such friends. Physically-wise, it would be more appealing to males but for me, it just makes them more approachable (if they ever appear in my life).

The story goes like this...

Synopsis

Bakuman follows the story of high school student Moritaka Mashiro, a talented artist who does not know what he wants to do with his future. One day he draws a picture of Azuki Miho, a girl he is secretly fond of, during class and forgets the notebook at school. He comes back to find that his classmate Akito Takagi is waiting for him with his notebook. Takagi tries to convince Mashiro to become a mangaka, a manga artist, with him, only leading to Mashiro's disagreement. Mashiro goes home and thinks about his mangaka uncle, who had only one successful series before he died in obscurity. Mashiro is interrupted by a phone call from Takagi, who says that he is going to tell Azuki that Mashiro likes her. Mashiro runs down to Azuki's house to find Takagi waiting for him. Once Azuki comes out to meet them, Takagi tells her that he and Mashiro are aiming to be mangaka. Mashiro then learns that she wants to be a seiyū, a voice actor, and has shown promise in the field. Mashiro, once again thinking about his uncle, accidentally proposes to Azuki. She accepts. However, she will only marry him after they achieve their dreams. In addition, they cannot see each other until then. (Source: Wikipedia)

Apologies, I admit I am lazy to write the synopsis.
So... Bakuman also have an essence of Romance.
I do not ostracized ostracize this kind of romance because it seemed to be in sync with some female friends of mine, which I already respect.
This only made me respect them more...and a new admirer! (I'm not a Lesbian...but maybe a bisexual!).

Just joking.

Like all other animes, Bakuman portrayed Hope and Dreams.
The fighting spirit of the two high school students is indefatigable and I really salute them.
I will never BE them but I would want to.
The graphics were fabulous and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Even a thirteen/fourteen-year-old student in Japan could understand the realities of life, the uncertainties of many things and the obstacles that life may bring to us.
One thing that they all have is the unrelenting will to say no to these obstacles.

If I were an influential internet grading system, I would give this anime 5/5 or 5 Stars!

Hehe.

That is all!
Hope I did influence you to watch it!

P.S. I would appreciate if anyone, who happens to see this post, to give me some feedbacks or suggestions to any wonderful slice-of-life shows!
Many Thanks~

千于千寻 (2001)

Like what its title implies (for the chinese title): A search that is at a thousand miles away. In fact, the title meant the names of two characters.

Similar to many wonderfully crafted Japanese animations, this movie has the essence of reminiscence well-packed in this two-hours plus show.
I believe many people who are avid "Jap Anime" fans would have already experienced the deep sense of hope and satisfaction from the genius makers.

The plot fits nicely together.

And yes, it is also about love (seems like it never can be left out in many things).

It is also about the nature of human beings and the society whereby laziness is deeply abhorred. There can never be a free meal in the world and if we want, it will never turn out to be anything pleasant. Everything has to be earned by our own effort.

This movie has a slight horror element in it. A little horror for the children would do them good so that they know that some things are not good for them. Many children would developed a deep impression for this movie and be listed as on of their "Childhood Movies". Gladly, the exotic characters would definitely leave a deep impression in their memory bank.

In the midst of the MST (Mid-Semester Test) preparation, this movie had done well to spice up my monotonous day immediately!

Just a moment's feeling leading to your viewing of the movie:

The big baby exercised, became fairly fit and was able to walk!

Yumeiro Pâtissière (2009)

夢色パティシエール

Yumeiro Patissiere, YumePati, Yume-Iro Pâtissière, Dream-Colored Pastry Chef

A short synopsis:14-year-old Ichigo Amano is incredibly clumsy and can't seem to do anything right besides eating cakes. When she stumbles upon a Sweets Festival, she meets Henri sensei who acknowledges her ability of taste and invites her to transfer to St. Marie Academy to become a pâtissière. Ichigo has trouble adjusting initially, but with the help of the 3 Sweets Princes and the Sweets Spirits, she gains the confidence and skill to work towards becoming a pâtissière!

~ http://myanimelist.net/anime/6586/Yumeiro_P%C3%A2tissi%C3%A8re/



'Delicious' Japanese animation!

Just like Yakitate Japan! It made me drool over the beautifully crafted food!
Unlike Yakitate Japan! I learnt different types of pastries instead.
Some I have heard but never eaten, some I have eaten but never thought it could have been made better.

Mille Crepe, Sahara Chocolate and Pudding are just a few to name!

These 3 desserts may not sound as exciting to some who have already been practising their pastry-making skills.

However, for the sake of this post, I shall just describe a little of each!

Mille Crepe is rather similar to the croissant. It has to be made layer by layer and each layer has to be heated just nice. If not, the entire thing would be equivalent to a mess of burnt flour and egg mixture (as can be seen in the animation). Before enjoying this dessert, a lot of patience have to be put into every layer!

Next is the Sahara Chocolate.
To a patisserie, any type of chocolate would have its own mix of ingredients.
I am not going to elaborate about the percentage of cocoa or whatever, instead, I am going to talk about the method for making smooth chocolate spread or chocolate liquid.
From my own 'experience', I have seen people heating up chocolate buttons using rice cooker.
In this animation, flat flippers (I really don't what the thing used is called) were used.
They looked like metal and have flat bases (unlike spoon which are curved). Very thin and can be used to scrap things. At least that is how I described it. (Anyone care to tell me what is it called?) Anyway, the chocolate was melted on a flat heated table top of some sort and using the 2 flippers, was flipped up and down until it is very smooth. I wonder if it is really a skill used in reality, (I haven't really researched on that) but any skill also require good practices and lessons.

Lastly, Pudding!
Sad to say, I have not eaten pudding from well-known dessert shops or any good pastry places.
In fact, I have only eaten those bought from NTUC FairPrice.
Those were either too sweet or too creamy with no sauce to enhance the taste.
I preferred jelly.
From this animation, I saw some made to serve puddings were drenched in brown sauce, probably brown sugar.
The typical look of a pudding was shown; yellow in appearance.
One day, I shall try one that look like that!

All in all, this is actually an animation for very young children, especially girls, to enhance their imagination and spark their dreams (not necessarily patissiere).
The theme is mostly romance, comedy and desserts.
I feel that the characters have very popular characteristics that people in general, liked.
However, the voice of some of them were tooooo cute and sounds a bit exaggerated at times.
Its Japan smarties after all!
The concept of having one's own patisserie "angel" from another world was creative.
Companionship is important, especially to young children which are the audiences.
For me, I liked all the main characters. The reason is fairly simply. Like anyone who watched this animation, and for any good shows that can leave an impression on people, the characters have unique personality; the way they talk, interact with the other characters, family background and etc. etc.

In my opinion, there are some relevance to people who open businesses in reality. In the last few episodes, Ichigo and her partners were competing against Miya.
The winner gets Makoto.
To sustain a business and win a competitor requires a long time because the earning does not just shoot up in a matter of days. Hence, the one thing that kept them going was the goal all have in common: Winning Love (of Makoto). In reality, some people help people run businesses while others run by themselves. All have something in common; they are definitely doing it because of someone (or something) they deeply love!

Enjoyment Level:
Highly entertaining and dreamy~

Puss in Boots (2011)

Greetings to all readers! (if there's any) :)

I have just completed Puss in Boots which was released this year.

This movie was really fast-paced and all I can say is... This was a wonderful animation that was highly entertaining. Its graphics were clear and the characters were a

dorable! Especially the lead character, Puss. In fact, this film was made expecially for Puss's fans, from young to old.

Adapting from Jack and the Beanstalk, the story plot was cleverly put together.

Unlike the teaser poster above, this film was not dark and serious. Instead, it is humorous, slightly romantic and largely adventurous.

Puss's "partner" in stealing was an egg named Humpty Dumpty.

This Humpty Dumpty persona was an unbearable character.

How lucky he was to have Puss as his loyal, merciful and generous brother.

Humpty Dumpty reminded me of some unpleasant people I meet in reality.

They have a similar trait: The evil look, expression an

d a round appearance.

If that is the image that these people portray then that's quite sad to say, my judgement is right! They are not good people afterall.

Anyway, this film also inspired me to be a fillial child.

Even though Puss is an adopted cat, he loves the woman who adopted him, his mother, a lot.

He never forget about her and even after a long and wild life outside of home, he still longed to return to his mother's side.

Once again, for your benefit, I have included a more all rounded review of this movie by IMDB.

Author: MBloodT from Philippines

Puss in Boots is one of my favorite characters in the Shrek series. Giving him a stand alone film is an interesting idea. It's suppose to be cool and exciting. It get what it wants. The movie is fun and often hilarious. The cat jokes are clever. Bunch of impressive scenes. The 3D is great. The scale is large. But the plot is too small for its large scale. It gets lazy in the second half and a bit predictable in the end. Though the film is pretty enjoyable but it could have been a lot better.

Puss In Boots starts in a solid blockbuster way. And one part of the beginning, the dancing, is very impressive. It's more than funny. That scene excites me which gives me a feeling that this film will be very great. I don't know why but it's just my feeling. The first half is exciting and great to introd

uce the cat hero. But when it comes to the second half(after the flashback), it's large but the story has a very little plot. It's a big adventure but ends up a little bit unsatisfying.

The story is like what Dreamworks Animated films usually do. Flashbacks of these critters when they were babies. They grew up being themselves. The rest of the story of Puss In Boots is Jack in the Beanstalk with Puss in Boots and Humpty Dumpty. It's not faithful to the original story. It's just another fairytale collaboration but this one has Mexican culture. The problem is the laziness of the storytelling. They mixed all the fairytale stories and threw some heart. These things are collaborated and nothing else. It's close t

o Direct-to-Video type of storytelling since this film was originally planned to be that.

But the film is never meant to be in the small screen since the scale is large. The movie is in 3D, as usual. The 3D is great. Just like Megamind, the camera is flying again. Swashbuckling cats and a lot giant stuff. The humor is clever. The natural instincts of cats are used as a joke. Like drinking milk, chasing a light, and some meows. It's adorable. The "Ooooh" cat is the "Do the roar" kid of this film. Here's the thing, cats are adorable and their instincts are funny.

In the end, it's just like Monsters Vs. Aliens and Shark Tale. B

ut this has its heart but it's not well executed. It's still enjoyable to watch in the big screen and 3D. The filmmaking is good enough and everything is large. It just needs to make the story better. The film has ambitions for a sequel. Well I got to admit, it really needs a sequel because this adventure is not quite satisfying. More adventures to this kitty cat could be fun. Again, this film is fun but it won't blow your mind or touch your heart too much.

Yakitate Japan!

This is a Japanese animation called Yakitake Japan!
There are some interesting facts about the name, however I will only be talking about my reflections in this post.

Out of all the more well-known Japanese animations, I have only really liked one or two and only these few are able to be etched in my mind; be it the storyline or the characters.

In this animation, I was able to feed my mind with different kinds of knowledge on bread.
In fact, I love to eat bread, be it Gardenia or those plain coloured ones that the ice-cream men sell. Sadly, bread is rich in carbohydrate and it is nto advisable to consume too much at one go...

During the holidays, I was craving for bread at one point in time. As I was unable to purchase the bread I wanted, the animation gave me much satisfaction! :D

From the animation, I learnt of some new bread types that I have never ever heard of. For example, Pain de mie is a type of french bread that is able to contain many more different ingredients as compared to other types of bread. One of the creation of Pain de mie is the fruit cake that my father love to eat. I cannot say the fruit cake is very nutritious in anyway, but this animation gave me a brand new respect for this cake, which is not classified as a 'cake' but a bread!
Besides this, there was also the croissant. Before watching this animation, I had not known that it was made layer by layer, like that of the traditional chinese pastry, 'thousand layer cake' but it is a bread in this case. The animation exaggerated the making process by showing how thin the layers could be made which was able to enhance the taste and texture of the croissant.
There was also a bread invented from stale bread. I wonder that could really be made in reality but from that scene, many creative ways of helping the poor pop into my mind. If stale bread can be turned back into edible food, that would certainly help fight poverty to a great extent!

On the other hand, the 'melon bread' brought me much disappointment. Why do I say so? In the animation, the characters used real melon juice to make the bread. I was thinking how the melon juice would fill the bread and the mellow sweetness it would exude in one bite. Surprisingly, I spotted its appearance in one of my outing with my mother. We went to Holland Village's Provence one day and there it was, around four to five placed side by side within a tray, glistening, seemingly shouting to me, 'taste the melon!". Of course, I picked it immediately without second thoughts since it seemed to be a 'dream come true' where something we could only imagine appeared in reality. What made me disappointed was that when I started eating it, I found out that there was no fillings. In fact, no fillings does not made me disheartened, but it was also almost tasteless! The only taste was the excess sugar splattered ontop of it. Despite the Hotcross bun look-a-like (tictactoe shaped) on the top of the bun, the Provence' version bland bread scored zero as compared to their other bread.

Another thing that I especially liked about this animation is the reactions of the characters after tasting each bread. By tasting, I meant the person really drew them as taking a small little bite out of the bread and then bursting into all kinds of reactions, and sometimes no reactions at all. Each of the reactions seemed to link with their real life experiences and sometimes past events. It was rather out of the world and exaggerating at times but without these reactions, I guess the animation would not survived. However, I would not mind if the animation remove them because it distort my image of the bread which was introduced before the reaction occurred.

Due to my liking for bread, in general, I actually went to work at a shop near my house. The shop sells bread, but rather saying it sell solely bread, it was unlike Provence because there were not as many types from France but it was a little like the common humble neighbourhood bakery shop we see everywhere, selling locals' flavour.

To say the truth, my craving for the baguette or batard was still not fulfilled yet!
I am still thinking about parting my pocket money for Delifrance's baguette.
On second thought, the trouble of carrying the sword home is a hindrance and... will I be able to finish everything? Will my family member want more and I bought less?

That is all for this post.
Hope you have enjoyed reading.

P.S. If you would like to read reviews which are more animations' quality -based: check this out, from http://myanimelist.net/anime/28/Yakitate!!_Japan

Nov 25, 2007

lowell 103 of 131 people found this review helpful Other reviews by this user

Add to favorites 69 of 69 episodes seen Overall Rating: 9

It's an anime about bread-making. It's utterly ridiculous sounding. And, to be honest, in practice, it's utterly ridiculous. But I really really enjoyed it. It puts a goofy smile on my face because it is SO over the top, SO campy, SO cheesy... I just have to laugh. It's an innocent, sweet and silly sort of anime. It's not realistic, it isn't serious or dark or sarcastic... it's just simply entertaining. Which, you know, is kind of refreshing.

The story's your basis shounen plotline: rise to the challenge, succeed, face the next challenge.. but all in the confines of competitive bread making. It's a little silly and repetitive (like a lot of stories in the genre), but if you enjoy the first couple "bread battles," you'll probably like the rest (like a lot of stories in the genre). ;) (It's Pokemon, set in a bakery!)

The art is clean cut and pretty simple. So is the music. It's not nuanced or original, but it doesn't really have to be. The style suits the atmosphere of the show. The taste-reactions are elaborate and amusing, but other than that I wouldn't say there's much about the way it looks or sounds that stands out in any way.

The main characters are pretty basic once again. Again, you're probably going to be disappointed if you're looking for nuance or detail. The good guys, the bad guys... they're all kind of cardboard cut-outs of cliche shounen roles. And basically, the audience is just expected to accept them as they are without any explanation or even speculation as to why the character is the way he/she is.

Despite the lack of originality, detail or depth to the story, art, sound or characters... you should still watch this show. I gave the show a 9 overall because (1) I really do think the simplicity of the story, art, etc suits the nature of the show and (2) because my enjoyment completely outweighed whatever the series lacked in the other departments. I would have given it a 12 for enjoyment if I could.

The simplicity of it was like a breath of fresh air. It felt like a throwback out of the era of "Leave it to Beaver" or something innocent and uncomplicated like that. There are "darker" story lines later in the show, but they really weren't that dark. Meanwhile, the characters are all so over-exaggerated and silly that I found it charming, especially in the context of the world of competitive bread making. Kuroyanagi's crazy reactions were funny, but I really found the way he talked down to inferior bakers hilarious. To take something like bread-making and make it that abusive and have him take it that seriously... it just tickled me. Azuma's earnest, bleeding-heart sincerity and natural baking genius; the manager's bad-ass, macho wisdom... it was just so funny to see all these archetypes in a story about baking bread. =) (Kind of like a G-rated BeerFest.)

All in all, I think the show strikes me as child-like. Some of the characters are mean in the way that, frankly, kids are mean. It's pretty upfront, straightforward and kind of superficial. They show competition, optimism, determination and energy in the same way. It just feels like there's not very many layers to what's going on. Maybe that's what I mean by innocent?

Just to warn you though, I do feel that there was a definite decline in show quality towards the end -- most noticeable by the time they get to the third large scale competitive arena. It started feeling less sincere and more mass-manufactured, which was unfortunate. I try not to hold that sort of thing against the show too much, but... it was kind of disappointing.

On the upside, you get all this trivia about bread, bread-making and the regions of Japan from the show, which throws in a little educational frosting on top of an already entertaining show. ;)

The Incredibles (2004)

The Incredibles!

I believe many people have watched this. However, that should be a couple of years back. In fact, my memory of this movie is one which just gives us hope and the reiteration of 'everyone of us is unique' theory which is found in many areas of life. This is slowly numbing many of us. It is unrelated to what I am experiencing now in school, in life, but just an art piece in the form of an animation, and an exceptionally high quality one by Pixar animations. These days, I find that we are not really living in the present but everything and everyone becomes a source of inspiration. We are there but not present.

However, after watching this for the second time, I have developed some other thoughts.
This time, I have taken more notice of the graphics and little actions and words of each of the character, which gave it more relevance to our daily life. The Incredibles' superpowers were more real and I actually experienced an 'edge-of-the-chair' kind of thrill, during the missiles attack onto Elastic Girl's airplane. Besides the purely entertainment contents, there were also other things, of course.

The graphics were not just plain, childish, nonsensical cartoon characters, they were afterall, the wonderful invention from scratch by witty, top-notch Pixar animations crews. For example, the short hair of 'Elastic Girl', the mother, was definitely a symbol of women's independence in society today. Short hairs are becoming a norm in many capable women today and, after seeing what a capable woman 'Elastic Girl' had been when she was a young lady, and even after she had gotten married, became a dependable and up-to-it mother of three children, I have a sudden urge to get a short hair! (However, given the maintenance trouble and my face shape, it isn't quite suitable...)

One thing in particular that I think we could all reap from this movie is: Despite the Chinese sayings, Christian teachings... about 'living a peaceful life, minding your own business and doing your own part', it is also essential that all of us keep in mind that each of us definitely have something unique that (really) no one ever will have, have had or had had. With this in mind, even if we face any crisis in life, we would not lose hope despite the invading words of people who are out there just to see us fail.


That is all for this month's post.

Enjoy!

P.S. There were some adjectives that could have been used to better describe whatever I had wanted to say. If any of you kind souls out there who happened to view this post, PLEASE do not hesitate to post the more suitable words at the comments section! Many Thanks!



In case you have forgotten about the storyline of The Incredibles, here is a summary from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317705/taglines :

Storyline

Mr. Incredible (A.K.A. Bob Parr), and his wife Helen (A.K.A. Elastigirl), are the world's greatest famous crime-fighting superheroes in Metroville. Always saving lives and battling evil on a daily basis. But fifteen years later, they have been forced to adopt civilian identities and retreat to the suburbs where they have no choice but to retire of being a superhero and force to live a "normal life" with their three children Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack (who were secretly born with superpowers). Itching to get back into action, Bob gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top secret assignment. He soon discovers that it will take a super family effort to rescue the world from total destruction.

UP!

Nothing is impossible and impossible is nothing has been perfectly demonstrated in this movie!

It's a dream come true for humans to fly.

In the movie, Carl, a 78-year-old man finally fulfilled his dream to fly and visit the wilds of South America.

The little boy happened to be with the old man at that time!

From this movie, I learnt how there is no difference between an elderly old man and a young little boy. Despite the age differences, there are still means of conversation and mindsets which could click.

All of them have the same hope for a better life.

The adventures they encounter along the way were very funny at times and enriching too.