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Saturday, October 28, 2017

Gurren Lagann

Overview: Kamina and Simon pilot mecha called Gunman and fight other Gunmen which are piloted by Beastman. They're mechas are named Gurren and Lagann, respectively, and they combine to become the mecha Gurren Lagann!

Gurren Lagann


Recommendation: I'm currently watching this show, but I love it thus far and would recommend it to anyone who would enjoy an anime with plenty of action (about half of each episode) and a lot of positive thinking!

Recommended to me by a friend (A.M.), Netflix determined the series for me as a 97% match.


Kamina, Simon, and Yoko Littner.

20171031:
Me: I started Gurren Lagann and it's pretty awesome.
A.M.: Isn't it!? I love that anime so much. I'm excited that you're watching it!
Me: Yeah, I've only watched up to and including episode 4, but thus far it has everything: great animation, a great cast of characters, and great dialogue. It has a great balance of action and emotion. In fact, the only reason I haven't seen more episodes is that I recently turned off the "Autoplay Next" feature on Netflix.
Me: I just can't stop praising this show. For example, I just love the following line: "Listen up, Simon. Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me! Believe in the Kamina who believes in you!" When I first heard it, I was confused, but it's absolutely genius! It captures the mindset of a lot of people. A lot of people find it hard to believe in themselves, but simply externalize that belief and it suddenly becomes a force to be reckoned with.

20190427:
Today I resumed watching the series. I can't believe I let a year pass without watching an episode of this series.

Netflix determined the series for me as a 96% match. I gave the series a thumbs up.

20190503:
I was watching episode 9 today and I tried to explain the show to Ada. However, I figured it was easier to just show her some clips. I showed her part of episode 1 (Kamina stands up to the gunmen to when they surface and encounter other gunmen), part of episode 2 (Kamina takes over the gunmen to the end where he learns the identity of the skeleton he saw), part of episode 3 (Kamina and Lagann combine to their victory), and part of episode 8 (Kamina and Yoko kiss to Simon driving Dai-Gunzan towards the volcano; I watched the entire episode).

20220613:
Today I picked up from where I left off. Actually, my notes only went up to Episode 11, while Netflix said I already watched Episode 12. Taking the conservative approach, I watched Episode 12 and I recognized many parts of it - so I probably saw it already.
S1E1
1: Ha. Comments on her body.
1: Ha, her boobs squished against the walls.

Kinon, Kiyoh, and Kiyal

1, A: "Listen up, Simon. Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me! Believe in the Kamina who believes in you!"
1: "Bust through the Heavens with your drill!" That's the title of the episode, at least on Netflix.
1: Lol. Her boob jiggled from Boota.
1: "Tasty morsel hiding in more tasty morsels."
1: Ha! Yoko reacts differently than what females in other animes I've seen would do; namely, I've usually seen them scream or blush, but Yoko smiles and subsequently even embraces Simon protectively against some unknown villain.
1=20171028, A=20190503 (partial viewing)

Yoko and Leeron Littner

S1E2
1: Spirit-powered is interesting.
1: Lol. The second time the writers discussed gender.
1: Yoko breaks the fourth wall for the second time.
1: Hmm. I wonder if they ever explain how Kamina was able to take control of the Gunman. A: It seems as though he took over by sheer will (after seeing the skull).
A: I didn't remember that the skeleton's identity was revealed.
1=20171028, A=20190503 (partial viewing)

S1E3
1, A: Yoko in wonderment says, "They're gonna combine!" To which Leeron says, "Oh please, honey."
1, A: Yoko: "Gurren?" / Random guy: "Lagann?" / Ron: "Oh please."
A: Hehe. It looks funny when they're first attached and nothing happens yet.
1: Haha. There was no question she'd end up going too.
1=20171029, A=20190503 (partial viewing)

Everybody tries to cram into Lagann.

S1E4
The middle sister speaks like Hinata in Naruto.
Wow. What a sacrifice. Boota's tail.
1=20171030

S1E5
What a strange village.
Holy shit. He rigged it.
1=20171111

S1E6
Includes a flashback to the first episode.

Yoko's top comes undone.

Ha. Plot twist.
Why is Boota in charge of covering Kamina's private part? [Apparently this episode is censored and a special uncensored version was eventually released.]
Ha. And Simon has a big drill covering his privates.
"Good morning, sunshine."
1=20171114

S1E7
"First things first. Put some clothes on!"
Interesting. It fixed itself (via Kamina's spirit)
"Man on fire... blazing chariot kick!"
1=20171120

S1E8
1: Yoko kisses Kamina.
1: Simon gets jealous.
1: "Simon open the hatch. Let me see you grit those teeth."
1, A: Kamina changes what he says and concludes with "Have faith in the Simon that believes in you."
1=20190427, A=20190503

S1E9
There are other boxes.
1=20190503

S1E10
Huh. I think her excuse is reasonable.
1=20190503

S1E11
Haha. In unison, "Oh, the gunmen are almost upon us. Ah."
1=20190504

S1E12
A: How silly of the men to desire Yoko in a swimsuit, since her top is practically already a swimsuit.
A: Yoko ends up wearing less revealing clothing
A: Nia...
A: Nia's good at everything
1=20190504, A=20220613

S1E13
Probably her food will be bad
Interesting Yoko gives flying a try
Boota dives into Yoko's chest
Cool integration
Hehe so shooting out of Gurren Lagaan isn't a great idea
Simon pilots it by himself... so what is the use of two pilots?
Ha, somehow Boota and Simon love Nia's cooking
1=20220614

S1E14
Oh good reason for two pilots, Simon takes break
Drill to the heavens
1=20220614

S1E15
Nia in his lap, very cute
Leyte Jokin in the engine room, the bottom half of her top is missing
Hmm. How did he think to jam his spiral into the Spiral King? I suppose no different than his intuition to do so many things... but the Spiral King seemed surprised of the spiral core. Is it possible to have spiral power without one?
Seemed too easy...
What's with this cryptic warning?
1=20220614

S1E16
1a: The format of this recap episode is different from a lot of recap epsiodes I've seen in other animes
1b: Resumed the summary
1a=20220614,1b=20220616

S1E17
Credits show them older. Will there be a time skip?
Seven years
"No way"
She kept the ring... so...
Wonder what will become of Rossiu. He seems so strict
Huh. Rossiu doesn't let Simon fight...
Viral's not wrong. Forcing persons to live above ground isn't different from the Spiral King forcing them to live underground.
Hmm... well Rossiu certainly seems to be filling that evil role
Kiyoh's baby is the millionth baby!
Disposed Gunmen!?!
1=20220616

S1E18
1a: Rossiu's annoying...
1a: Whoa. Rossiu is hiding Lordgenome
1a: I suspected as much... that Rossiu surfacing persons contributes to the activation. And here Lordgenome revealed it... unfortunately I didn't write down the suspicion ahead of time :)
1a: [Fell asleep]
1b: Resume ep 18 around 14 mark but this mark is a little early so there's some repeat
1b: It's kind of explained that 1 million is some critical mass, but setting a smaller critical mass seems more effective. Why not preempt the issue?
1c: Resume around 17 min mark
1c: I determined that I already saw (during "1a") up to the 19 min mark
1c: Ugh... the people are angry...
1c: What!?! Rossiu doesn't answer to himself but instead places Simon under arrest...
1a=20220618,1b=20220619,1c=20220620 AM Hours

S1E19
Boota too
So... the people would have rather just have died? So much entitlement...
Priest Adai village? I don't remember... but I guess Simon implies Rossiu has gone bad [it is the village where Rossiu is from, as well as the twins Gimmy and Darry. I vaguely recall the chief there sacrificing lives to keep it at a limit]
Hehe they think the new types are better than the old types... guess it's kind of like the Iron Man suit
I agree. Unfair trial. It seems Rossiu made up the law to begin with.
I hope Simon makes a cool escape with his Gurren Lagann
Nia is still wearing his ring
Littner
"Rossiu, you son of a bitch" says one of Simon's allies
Kinon...
Wait his spiral core... will he be able to fight without it?
This episode is really hard to watch...
Meh, I'd rather the Anti-Spirals win against such a jerk of a population.
GIGA DRILL MAXIMUM!!!
Oh it seems Simon was temporarily given his core drill
Scrapped! That's foolish.
I thought a redeeming factor would be for Rossiu to secretly let Simon out. However, by the end of the episode that doesn't seem to be the case
1=20220620 AM Hours

S1E20
Aren't they gonna beat up Simon? (cafeteria)
Okay, here we go (locker room)
Haha. "Begin the checklist." "Activating!"
Makken
Ha! Kept them in good condition!
Rossiu ignores Lordgenome's comment about the effectiveness of the Gunmen.
Interesting that Nia reprots the situation to Simon...
Hahaha. Yoko shows up "So I don't see you for a while, and you have to go and turn into a real boring bitch... Nia."
1=20220620

S1E21
176K people. So About 824K people are still on Earth left to die (as left to Rossiu)
One year earlier!?!
Oh, I didn't notice that the teacher (Yomoko) was actually Yoko
Yoko beats up those beastman real easy.
"You are someone who ought to survive." - Rossiu in a message to Yoko. Blah
Presumably there's an extra seat in Gurren Lagann
YEAH!!!
Nice. Viral to help pilot Gurren Lagann
"Just who the hell do you think I am?"
1=20220620

S1E22
Haha. Nice. Simon and Viral head towards the Arc-Gurren to combine
Raging Wave Combining! Arc-Gurren Lagann!
So he succeeded in reaching out to Nia (as I spotted the ring)
It's weird that the moon is somehow both the Anti-Spiral's mass anihilation weapon and the Spiral King's flagship [this is explained near the start of the next episode]
And the old Nia calls out to him prior to leaving
1=20220620

S1E23
The Cathedral Terra was stolen by the Anti-Spiral and disguised as the moon
Gurren Lagaan < Arc-Gurren < Cathedral Terra
Haha, most people are bored.
Hahaha. "It means that love changes the universe"
Rossiu returned to Adai Village (and runs into Father Magin)
Hmm. It's possible it's a special book, just that he couldn't find the translation
Spiral Perceptual Teleportation system
Hehe. "Let's see you grit those teeth!"
Lol. All this story with the in-anime characters being confused is hilarious
Haha. He wants to go with.
They pull out the moon
Haha. Yoko's new outfit
He says "Bro, I'm heading out" in the dub, but the subtitles say "Bro, I'll be back."
Hehe. The one guy is still staring at Yoko's breast
Simon actually looks a little like Kamina (I assume that would be intentional?
1=20220620

S1E24
1a: Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann
1a: These different parts of the body. Why don't they combine?
1b: Resume 11 minutes
1b: Twins saving twins
1a=20220620,1b=20220621

S1E25
What a team. To stick with Simon.
Whaaa Boota emitting spiral energy? No one notices?
Lol did Boota use space teleportation
Lol. Boota powering Gurren Lagann.
Hahaha. Kind of a deus ex machina? [I suppose the whole show, and similar shows, are always surprising]
King Kittan Giga Drill Break!!! That was legit cool.
Hehe. The Spiral King continues to narrate as if he already knows, but the information would have been useful to divulge... I suppose to be fair he thought the probabilty of success was low...
Goggles on.
Transformation
Hehe his goggles transform.
1=20220623

S1E26
Lol probabilty altering missiles.
Haha wha random Schrodinger warp
Huh... what's going on? Alternate lives? Why is Lordgenome not affected [apparently because he is now just biocomputer]
Huh why wasn't Boota affected.
Smile when the hell did you get taller than me
Spiral King?
1=20220623

S1E27
Who are the main characters in this scene?
Tengen Koppa Gurren Lagann
Boota returned to his animal form
What exactly does equal terms mean?
Uh... what? (Locked away and halted evolution)
Hahaha "I got the best wife on the universe swing"
How does the Antispiral have so much power to be afraid of Spiral power?
Lazengann Overload
"Simon, take it" lol
Hahahaha. Each mini piece coming out until finally Simon ejects from (Lagann). Epic
Ben says "theyre holding hands" (he watched this episode and the last)
Oh no. [They knew?]
Huh... he handed the drill to Gimmy. Not sure that makes sense. But okay.
Prologue in the credits
1=20220623

Gurren Lagann
a.k.a. Tengen toppa gurren lagann (Japanese Title)


Relevant Links:
Tengen toppa gurren lagann (IMDb.com)
Gurren Lagann (Wikipedia.org)
List of Gurren Lagann episodes (Wikipedia.org)

Friday, October 13, 2017

Baywatch (2017)

20171013:
It's been a month now since I've seen this film and I don't remember my first impressions of it. With that being said, I'd summarize the movie as follows: Baywatch was a mix of muscle, bouncing boobs, and ridiculousness.

[20171110][20190103 Edit]

Instant Comments:
"Original unedited format" | "Since scenes not objectionable have been taken out, viewer discretion advised." | "Formatted to fit."
Lol. Overdramatized rescue.
"Are you Batman?"
"Big dick."
Ha. Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff.
Priyanka Chopra.
Lol. Mumbles.
Ha. "Not a single fuck was given."
Lol. Dialogue is ridiculous and nonstop.
Ha. That camera angle during the Heimlich Maneuver.
And then with the boner.
Lol. Katy Perry's Roar.
Lol. All the "technically."
Haha. Coed shower.
Ha! "Sounds like a farfetched tv show."
Nice green dress.
Lol. That distraction.
Hebrew school.
"Check his taint."
Lol. He almost covered his track, but her phone... Lol.
High-pitched balls. Ha.
References Breaking Bad.
His tone sounds like he's from... I don't know. Zoolander?
Yeah that's not fair. He was blackmailed with his probation.
Haha. David Hasselhoff on the other side.
Lol. The Baywatch theme.
"Ronnie, I need your help. Because as much as I know about laptops, I don't know shit about computers."
Ha. Ronnie finishes and Brody says "Heck yeah!" Ronnie says under his breath, "Thank God, you're pretty."
Haha. Die. "Is anyone going to die? I don't know. Maybe Ronnie."
Ha! "...and that he needs to meet us at the marina at 0900." "0900 is 9:00 a.m., so 9:00 p.m. would be 2100." "That system is so stupid and flawed."
References Jason Bourne.
Lol, that kiss.
Lol, that twist. (Mitch was actually the one who rescues Brody)

Watched 20171013 (in-flight entertainment)
Baywatch (2017) Seth Gordon. 116 min

Relevant Links:
Baywatch (IMDb.com)
Baywatch (RottenTomatoes.com)
Baywatch (film) (Wikipedia.org)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

20171013:
I was planning to watch this movie in theaters but didn't get around to it. So when I saw it was one of the movies I could watch during my flight, I jumped on the opportunity.

With all the action, I wish I had seen it on the big screen. Regardless, I'm glad I saw the film and I would add that the movie was definitely more than just the action. More explicitly, Spider-Man: Homecoming had a great story which masterfully defined the struggles of and foundation for this new Peter Parker starring actor Tom Holland.

While I couldn't help but occasionally feel like Tony Stark and/or Happy was taking an extremely hands-off approach to superhero parenting, I suppose in the end it all worked out and it made for a great film.

In regards to the cast, it was great to see more of Tom Holland after his appearance in Captain America: Civil War (2016). I would also put my hands together for Michael Keaton's performance as the antagonist Adrian Toomes / Vulture: a real sense of dark and self-righteousness.

With respect to some of the actors in the role of smaller characters, I look forward to seeing Zendaya (who played Michelle) and Jacob Batalon (who played Ned) in the film's sequel.

Overall, Spider-Man: Homecoming was a welcomed fresh take on Spider-Man and I can't wait for more.

[20171111]

Instant Comments:
Modified from original version.
Is he gonna be the bad guy? (prior to him punching guy) Also cause he's famous. (Michael Keaton)
lol. He's so hyped about his new suit.
This vlog... hahaha
"When's our next retreat?"
Oh weird, this movie takes place two months later...
hehe. Making web in science class... a little suspension of disbelief. How discrete can one actually pull off mixing chemicals during class?
Cool suit (tightens to his form)
Seems silly that he changes in the open.
"Don't make me come down there you punk." (Stan Lee cameo)
lol. That girl.
The pressure of being a teenager.
lol. The lack of tall objects
Cool wireless suit
"Can't you be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?"
hmm, but he did call Happy.
Shocker.
lol. Not anti-gravity gun.
hehe. Publicity for USAD.
Well-played on training mode for suit.
haha. Zero.
lol. 98%
Interesting that Adrian found out during the drive and not before the drive.
hehe. Peter crashes the car on purpose
lol. Headlights. Shouldn't they have already been on?
hahahaha. "I'm... looking... at porn."
nice. "My friends call me MJ"
lol May. "What the f*&#"
My interpretation is he's honoring that Spider-Man saved his life. Just like he honored that Spider-Man saved his daughter's life.
lol. How many more of these.

Watched 20171013 (in-flight entertainment)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) Jon Watts. 133 min

Relevant Links:
Spider-Man: Homecoming (IMDb.com)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (RottenTomatoes.com)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (Wikipedia.org)

Monday, October 9, 2017

The Mummy (2017)

20171009:
This reboot of The Mummy franchise took the action-adventure film in a darker direction, albeit with some touches of the original. While I enjoyed the ending, the plot of the reboot was neither as enjoyable nor humorous as that of The Mummy (1999).

Upon writing this blog post, I learned that Universal is creating a "Dark Universe" for their monsters and this new film is the first installment. Unfortunately, this feels contrived and explains the needless addition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to the film.

I'd like to point out, however, that the rights for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen belong to 20th Century Fox, which would have been a reasonable direction for Universal to move towards with respect to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Cinematic Universe. It should also be noted that the Marvel Cinematic Universe started much more organically with Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America each getting their own individual stories (technically The Hulk, but that movie is the black sheep in MCU) before we were given The Avengers.

All things considered, I would recommend watching the original over watching the reboot, and only consider watching the reboot if it got a sequel or the Dark Universe actually manages to develop itself in a meaningful way.

[20171111]

Instant Comments:
Lol. She's not that hot. I was expecting someone who looked more like Milla Jovovich. [Ahmanet]
LOL the repetition. Death cannot remain buried forever.
Nick from New Girl [Jake Johnson]
How old is Tom Cruise? [He was born in 1962. He was almost 55 during the movie's release.]
This other girl isn't attractive either. Plus slightly annoying. [Jenny Halsey]
This film lacks the charm of the original.
It feels more like a Mission: Impossible movie than a Mummy movie.
Tom Cruise might pull off delivering funny dialogue, but he doesn't act funny like Brendan Fraser.
Ahmanet looks cool and attractive without the heavy eyeshadow (i.e., beginning with the scene when she first speaks English)
The book from the first Mummy
Strange tactics... not clear on motives. Why didn't Ahmanet just stab him under water? Why kill the girl?
Jenny was tolerable at the end.
The movie was a good horror
Good ending.

Watched 20171009 (in-flight entertainment)
The Mummy (2017) Alex Kurtzman. 110 min

Relevant Links:
The Mummy (IMDb.com)
The Mummy (RottenTomatoes.com)
The Mummy (2017 film) (Wikipedia.org)