Posted By Russ Emerson on April 11, 2014 at 3:29 pm
It’s rather hard to believe, but my big fluffball Packet turns seven years old today.
There aren’t many bright spots in my days, but one I can count on is that Packet will at some point hop up into my lap for a nose-boop and an extended chin-skritch session, his quiet purrs buzzing away like there’s no tomorrow.
He’s a delight to have here, and I hope we have many more years together.
Posted By Russ Emerson on February 11, 2014 at 3:22 pm
Shingeki no Kyojin (“Attack on Titan”) (2013)
Directed by Tetsuro Araki. 25 episodes, Japanese language, subtitled in English
Quick Review: This will either keep your eyes glued to the screen, make you want to learn Japanese, or both.
5 stars.
“Are you the food?” “No, we are the hunters.”
So begins one of the most impressive opening credits sequences I have ever seen.
One of the, if not the, most anticipated and watched anime series of 2013 is now available on Netflix (and streaming.) I cannot recommend it highly enough.
For those who have never watched an anime series, this would be a good introduction; I think the word to describe it would be “accessible.” Shingeki no Kyojin does almost everything the genre is meant to be capable of — well-developed characters, deep story-telling, complete with drama, action, horror, pathos, and more — and does it all well.
“Cartoon” though it may be, it is most emphatically not for little kids, however. Certainly not those prone to nightmares.
The story:
Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by titans. Titans are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of titans.
Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a titan in over 100 years. Teenage boy Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a colossal titan that appears out of thin air. As the smaller titans flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Eren vows that he will murder every single titan and take revenge for all of mankind.
Queue it up and watch it.