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Reviews (6)
23 December 2017
Muppets Christmas Carol
5 of 5 found this helpful I did a lot of searching to find this, since it seems there's only one DVD version out there that has the full, uncut version of this movie - the one with both full-screen and wide screen options. In the other versions, Disney cut the song "When Love is Gone", apparently because they thought that small children "wouldn't be able to handle it." (And yet they had no problems with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, which honest to God looks like a dementor...) Well, I have to say, when I was a small child "When Love is Gone" didn't upset me at all; it went right over my head. Now that I'm in my 20s, I can appreciate it as a beautiful piece of music, a pivotal moment in the movie and Scrooge's growth, and a melody that ties the plot together. So I am very happy that this version includes this wonderful song.
Personally, I think this is the best Christmas movie I own, maybe even the best Christmas movie ever. The costumes are period-accurate, the humor is generation-spanning, and the emotional message is perfectly clear without being pretentious as so many movies are these days.
The bonus short "Gonzo: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Weirdo" is also great and hilarious!
06 September 2018
The pictures made me want to read the story
The illustrations are gorgeous. I had come across several editions of Robinson Crusoe before, but I never thought "I want to read this story" until I found this one. Somehow this edition just made the story more compelling for me.
28 July 2017
Between the lines of the chessboard
Anyone who's watched the original Code Geass series knows about its prevalent chess motif: Black vs white. Terrorist vs soldier. Rebel vs loyalist. Japanese vs Britannian. Ends vs Means.
Akito the Exiled is about the grey area between black and white, the people who live in the cracks of the chessboard as it were. It takes place in the year between the failed Black Rebellion, and Lelouch's reawakening as Zero. The "Elevens" in Akito chafe under European rule as badly as their counterparts chafe under Britannia's, but they give equally short shrift to the Black Knights. To characters who have never been to Japan, Zero's rebellion has little meaning. They have their own problems closer to home, and they'll fight with their own power. They're not looking for a hero.
A good deal of subtle irony is utilized in the storytelling, especially to those who are familiar with the original anime. In some ways, it's Code Geass with a reality check.
Akito Hyuga has a rather cynical, even mocking view of the world. Unlike Lelouch or Suzaku, he has no overreaching ideal he's trying to prove; he's a soldier, only concerned with getting the job done as efficiently as possible. (And it seems he doesn't look Asian in-universe. A nice bit of Lampshade Hanging on character designs, perhaps?)
Leila Malcal, an orphaned Britannian ex-pat, is smart, with good intentions, but has to actually prove herself to the new recruits. She gains experience, and her belief in humanity's goodness winds up being her greatest strength, but it also gets her used and places the squad in a fight to the death. Unlike Euphemia, a kind heart and a strong will are not enough to protect her from the machinations of the unscrupulous, or to mollify the opponent.
The new recruits - Ryo Sayama, Yukiya Naruse, Ayano Kosaka - are the remnants of a street gang. Compared to the early efforts of the Black Knights, they're terrifyingly effective - they've grown up in the darkness of the underworld, of mafia and gangsters, fighting to stay alive. As a result, they're suspicious of any authority, blasé over violence, and familiar with treachery. Yukiya's backstory also works in a hit on the vicious bullying that can happen among Japanese youth.
Shin Hyuga Shaing is suave, classy, and coldblooded. He's also intelligent and manipulative, with a private agenda that doesn't become truly clear until the final episode. It's as if Schneizel were Zero. Shin tricks and beguiles those around him to get what he wants, deduces the truth about the Empire's new tactician, and delivers a personality assessment to Suzaku that seems to hit a little too close to home for the newly minted Knight of Seven's comfort. Seemingly unstoppable, it turns out Shin's greatest weakness is his own belief system...
Though darker and grittier than the original, Akito the Exiled is hardly bleak. Rather, it's a story about survivors. If Code Geass was "high" politics, focused on the players who command the armies and move the pieces, than Akito is about the pieces living on the battlefield, who are nevertheless people with their own lives, striving simply to live another day, for their comrades and a chance for a home. And who truly deserve that happy ending.
This set has all 5 episodes (each about an hour long), on both Blu-Ray and DVD - 2 Blu-Ray discs, 3 DVD discs - with both Japanese and English audio, and English subtitles. The special features - commentary on two of the episodes - are only on the Blu-Ray discs.