MK: Season's Eatings

[Shokushu]

Tsuchirinhon

Anonymooo

Sakura originally served a purpose--she was the intellectual part of the trio, the "average" person that people could identify with if they weren't incredibly raucous or misunderstood (haw).

She was never really that, either, simply because most of her earlier scenes involved her squealing over Sasuke. Kishi tried to have her fill every type of archetype simultaneously [well, except for Hinata's]. Sakura never really felt like a character, but more like some giant amalgamation of every girl who would be reading the series.

Shokushu

Has there ever been a series that was improved by throwing in a character for the audience to relate with that doesn't otherwise serve a purpose?

...why do people keep doing that?

Because it attracts more readers, especially when the target demographic is children.

So we do it whenever we decide that the other characters around are more exotic scenery than people?

[Tsuchirinhon]

Yes.

In Kishimoto's case, it's because you can't write.

[Anonymooo]

There's a difference between "unable to write\" and "experiencing a creative lapse."

Kevin J. Anderson can't write.

This is just a surprising ******** from somebody on an upswing. Naruto hasn't fallen nearly as far as Bleach has in terms of storytelling, because it's a series that goes through ups and downs. It was actually going somewhere I liked, but in one fell swoop we're back down in the doldrums.

[Tsuchirinhon]

I can't think of a time when Naruto has been "up" aside from the very beginning arc, but even most authors can make an interesting beginning if they put all their good ideas into it.

I'm too caught up in Steel Ball Run lately, anyway.

[Anonymooo]

The first three and a half volumes were solid shounen action along the lines of Flame of Recca--nothing new, but a good speech here and there really picked things up. The Chuunin Exam was classic escalation without excessive shotgunning of characters that built to a head and delivered. After that, it rollercoastered through its next several arcs, only really picking up in my mind when Shikamaru got his own storyarc before plunging back down into Sasuke's Abyss of Bullshit.

In other news: huhh, somehow I was expecting it to be worse. Jake Gyllenhaal is a solid, dedicated actor being led by a pretty damn good director, with a strong supporting cast.

Cue all the people whining about WAAAH IT'S DISNEY THIS IS GONNA SUCK

even though we've already had a Prince of Persia movie--they just added a genie--and it was ********.

[Couture Debonair]

I am actually really interested in this Avatar movie directed by James Cameron.

[Anonymooo]

The one we've been waiting a good ten years for? James Cameron disappeared after making Pet Project #1 (Titanic), so now that it's time for Pet Project #2 I'm a little bit worried.

[Celisasu]

The next Disney project I'm waiting for is Epic Mickey.


As for Prince of Persia, it's not going to suck because it's Disney. It's going to suck because it's a videogame being turned into a movie and 99.9999% of those suck. And even the best ones are only average.

[Shokushu]

Couture Debonair

I am actually really interested in this Avatar movie directed by James Cameron.

The end of that clip made me think "it takes a white American male to show other cultures what pride is."

[Anonymooo]

Celisasu

It's going to suck because it's a videogame being turned into a movie and 99.9999% of those suck. And even the best ones are only average.

Mike Newell is leagues away from Paul Anderson or Andrzej Bartkowiak, so you can see why I'm optimistic.

I mean, it's Donnie Brasco against Event Horizon and... wow, is Exit Wounds really the best thing Bartkowiak's done? xd

But still, your trepidation in this regard is completely understandable, and Epic Mickey looks amazing.

[Kaminosai]

Tsuchirinhon

Yes.

In Kishimoto's case, it's because you can't write.

~wanders by~ Honestly, I get the feeling Kishimoto can write when he puts his mind to it. He has a lot of creative ideas and when he really wants to he can make surprising characters interesting. I mean, let's be honest, who here thought Chouji was going to be a badass when you first saw him? To say nothing of what he did with the three senin. By which I mean taking two dimensional characters from one of the less famous kabuki plays and fleshing them out into possibly the coolest people inthe series having a dynamic near soap opera behind the scenes.

The problem is more that he fell into the same trap most shounen action creators do, which is that while he could write well, he doesn't really have to. And i think that says alot more about the fans than the author.

Tsuchirinhon

I'm too caught up in Steel Ball Run lately, anyway.

Which is an interesting point, in that Araki has totally bucked trend and only made his rediculously long running series MORE awesome with every storyline.

[Celisasu]

Very very initial impression of some new videogames that Celi has.


A Boy and His Blob(Wii): This is probably the most promising of the five. The graphics are indeed cute, it is puzzle based, and your death can be hillarious. I jumped too high after turning blob into a trampoline and fell to my horrible but amusing death. I'm still early on so I haven't reached the Nintendhard point of the game yet.

Magna Carta 2(X-Box 360): Very pretty RPG. Don't know how I feel about the combat system yet. Has your typical girly boy lead character but looking somewhat different than other girly boys. I'm guessing this is due to it being a Korean rather than Japanese RPG. I also notice that the females while still well endowed, aren't as heavily so as in Magna Carta 1.

Atelier Annie(DS): You are on an epic quest to......help build a resort. xd Very early on in it so far, but it feels like an Atelier game to me but without some epic quest. You're just a lazy girl who's been forced into actually working as an alchemist. It's very light hearted so far and I've been told it stays this way throughout. So far the most promising of the DS games I got.

A Witches Tale(DS): You're a selfish witch in training. You accidently release the most evil witch of all time when the vampire who was supposed to keep her sealed was taking a nap. Time to fix your error. I've played the least of this game so far. It's completely controlled by the stylus. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but we'll see. I do like the graphical style they've done for it though.

Nostalgia(DS): Old school RPG. Very old school. Story sucks. Graphics are subpar. You do get an airship almost right away though and the steampunk Victorian Age look of things so far appeals to me.

[Couture Debonair]

Anonymooo

The one we've been waiting a good ten years for? James Cameron disappeared after making Pet Project #1 (Titanic), so now that it's time for Pet Project #2 I'm a little bit worried.

Would you believe me when I say I still have not actually sat down and watched Titanic. I just have no interest in looking at that Leo person for 400 hours. I do not know what the women see in him, but it isn't attractive to me when a young lad... and an older gal start smoozin' in the back of a car- on a boat- in the middle of no-where land ocean. That or it was a love story and I am not into those, so if this Avatar movie turns into a love story- which it might... then I won't be interested in it any longer as well.

Shokushu

The end of that clip made me think "it takes a white American male to show other cultures what pride is."

That it does, I mainly want to see it though because it just looks neat.

[Tsuchirinhon]

Kaminosai

~wanders by~ Honestly, I get the feeling Kishimoto can write when he puts his mind to it. He has a lot of creative ideas and when he really wants to he can make surprising characters interesting. I mean, let's be honest, who here thought Chouji was going to be a badass when you first saw him? To say nothing of what he did with the three senin. By which I mean taking two dimensional characters from one of the less famous kabuki plays and fleshing them out into possibly the coolest people inthe series having a dynamic near soap opera behind the scenes.

The problem is more that he fell into the same trap most shounen action creators do, which is that while he could write well, he doesn't really have to.

I'm not convinced that he can. Naruto fans often bring up how much "potential" the series has, but being unable to properly apply potential means that you can't write well [I don't believe that said potential exists, but yeah].

I liked Chouji because I like fat, ugly characters, and while I agree that I didn't expect him to be "badass", it's for a different reason: I assumed that Kishi, like most authors, would use him for WATCH ME EAT OM NOM NOM I'M SO FAT I HAVE LOTS OF FAT gags [which is what happened].

Kishimoto has a few decent characters, but said characters are almost never seen. ********, Tenten has never had a single shown fight.

Kaminosai

Which is an interesting point, in that Araki has totally bucked trend and only made his rediculously long running series MORE awesome with every storyline.

Steel Ball Run is easily the best arc in the series, what with having the balanced Stand abilities, more reliance on personal skill, the best JoJo thus far [Johnny is easily my favorite], as well as an amazing protagonist with a creative ability.

[Mad Migy 9]

Couture Debonair

Anonymooo

The one we've been waiting a good ten years for? James Cameron disappeared after making Pet Project #1 (Titanic), so now that it's time for Pet Project #2 I'm a little bit worried.

Would you believe me when I say I still have not actually sat down and watched Titanic. I just have no interest in looking at that Leo person for 400 hours. I do not know what the women see in him, but it isn't attractive to me when a young lad... and an older gal start smoozin' in the back of a car- on a boat- in the middle of no-where land ocean. That or it was a love story and I am not into those, so if this Avatar movie turns into a love story- which it might... then I won't be interested in it any longer as well.
.

I've not seen it either. Something about waiting three hours for a boat to sink doesn't seem appealing.