Entries for November, 2007
It's my cousin's really favorite phrase right now. He told me it was from this really good stand-up comedian who walked away from a $ 50-M contract. And when everyone in the table had quieted down and there's this awkward silence, my cousin would say "What the f*ck is juice?". It might have been funny to him at one point, while watching the show. But he doesn't say it to be funny, or to break the ice. I get him somewhat. He just likes saying it.
I'd been staring at my monitor for a few minutes, looking for something to do Actually there was a lot to do for my thesis but, I really didn't know where to start. I'd been clicking at my bookmarks for ages, too often that I don't find updates on any sites now. I'd minimize the browser and my paper comes to view and I'd stare at it blankly again. The words that come to my mind are "What the f*ck is juice?".
Frankly, I don't know what else to think. I used to be excited about this whole thesis thing. I used to be frustrated if I couldn't think of anything for my paper. Now it doesn't frustrate me but the fact that it doesn't is what frustrates me. Do you uh, get it?
You know the semi-regular time of your life when you start thinking why you're doing all this? I think I'm in that time of my life right now. And of all the times in the world, it had to be this time around! This time, when I can't make myself positively think of graduating! This time, when I really need to move on not just with my life but with this thesis because of a pressing deadline! I just had to experience wallowing in frustration for too many dreams that have not ended up tended and be realized, of believing to have too many talents that I cannot seem to give time to, of losing all hope. It had to be this time.
What the f*ck is juice?
I told myself before ending my sem break that there were no more excuses left. I'd left my home, the pool, the free food, my parents, my distracting family activities, my friends, the drinking , to get back to reality and finish my goddamn paper, after which I could move on with the rest of my thesis, enabling me to graduate, find a job, ensuring myself of a salary to pay for the necessary items for survival.
Then when I thought about it, I should have just studied creative literature or something. Or perhaps gotten serious with a band. Or be a competitive golfer. Those things. Dreams that I never really paid attention to, and I was now feeling that I was just forcing myself to do stuff, when there were tons of other things I'd have enjoyed doing.
You could say that this is my own version of an excuse. Actually, I thought about that. Am I just making an excuse? And you know what's sad? I'm not. I'm sincerely not happy anymore.
What the f*ck is juice?
It has been more or less ten years since one of the best-selling anime ever was aired by many television stations, inside and outside Japan. For years since it hit the tubes, it had stayed in the top spots in the viewing charts. I first got to watch Rurouni Kenshin (known to me then as Samurai X) at the prime time slot on Studio 23 nine years ago. It took my breath away. After four years a friend told my sister and I over dinner that RK was still holding the no. 2 spot at the ratings. My sister said "Well, as expected of RK."
Rurouni Kenshin might not have the same value to you as it does to me, but if it weren't for that night I happened to switch to that channel that particular time, I would not have known the world of anime at all. I will not go on with my story about my life after that. This is a review after all. You might sense some bias as this comes from someone who has revered RK since the beginning, but I assure you I deliver this review as objectively as possible.
What good will a review do this late? Let's just say it's a 13th anniversary celebration since it was first serialized, for all the forms the story had been released, and to say that it was good while it lasted. I say 13th, because although the anime was released in 1996, it's the manga I'm talking about.
For someone who was very used to the story and characters in full anime treatment, it was hard for me to take up the manga and see them on paper, black and white, and drawn not quite like what I was used to. Another thing that kept me from reading the manga was because I had seen the OVAs that consisted of the story beyond the anime. One of the primary reasons that I read manga is that the anime does not tell it all. But since they had released the OVAs, and told the story up to the very end, I was already satisfied. However, I could not truly accept I knew the story until I read the manga. For this I am thankful. Because the anime and manga bring quite different treats. Although, as I write the reviews for these different versions, I will have to keep comparing them.
Anime (1996)
OVAs:
-Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen (1999)
-Rurouni Kenshin: Seisouhen (2001)
Up to this day my favorite anime (and OVA) stands to be RK, especially the OVAs. If you really have time, and you haven't seen the OVAs yet, even if you don't watch anime, I strongly recommend that you watch Tsuiokuhen. One advantage that the anime had over the manga (and this may be true for other anime) is the story that is given more impact because of the expression from the sound track and the voice actors. Especially for the OVAs, the music by Taku Iwasaki and voice acting by the different seiyuu (voice actors) were superb.
After reading the manga, I realized that there was more drama in the animated versions that there ought to have been. Also, the characters were made much cooler than they really were. While this may be a bad effect for other anime, I do think that it took a good turn for RK. For example, Kenshin was made to be scarier and more aloof in his assassin days than he was really written. This assassin version worked better for him because it made one imagine him to be a very awkward person to be around with, which was what he really was.
Also the anime made the fight scenes easier to understand because movements were more fluid animated. They also did away with the name-calling of jutsus which I realized I appreciated very much.
There was a big difference in the drawing style used in the anime and the OVAs. The anime was a lot closer to Nobuhiro Watsuki's style, and "distinctly anime" which he stated in a letter once that animators would not find it a problem because of his drawing style. The OVAs aimed for a more realistic style, which for me was the right choice since the entire mood for the OVAs was very serious and violent. Actually, I think that the anime and OVAs should not even be compared, because they are on totally different production levels, with different target viewers.
Manga (1994)
The first thing that I noticed in the manga was the weakness in character development. This was probably because the OVAs made the characters more motivated, or more dramatic. For this I did wish that I should have read the manga before watching the OVAs. The number of words used in the exact same scene, for example, made a whole lot of difference:SCENE 1
Manga Version:
Man: Who are you?!
Kenshin: Choushuu Ishin Patriot, Himura Battousai.OVA:
Man: Who are you?!
Kenshin: My name is not important to someone about to die.
SCENE 2
Manga Version:
Man: He must have been very good. Was he skilled?
Kenshin: His skill itself was nothing. But his determination to live was incredible.OVA:
Man: He must have been very good. Did he have any skills?
Kenshin: None.
Man: Eh?
Kenshin: Determination.
Aside from the character development, I noticed a weak relationship build-up in the beginning. The first chapters the characters meet, the next they know each other like the back of the hand. Kenshin meets the girl Kaoru, stays in her dojo for a while, the next it's taken for granted they have feelings for each other. I just thought that the story was half-baked in this aspect. The development of their relationships was not shown for the reader to have empathized. This is why I also appreciated the anime more because it showed at least a little more development than how it was handled here.
The manga, written entirely as a shonen manga, was ridden with jutsus/fighting styles, and NAME CALLING that I didn't appreciate as the manga-ka might have wanted. It was just so hard to imagine all these different styles, and the name calling got me even more confused. I mean, hey, I read shonen manga. Naruto has some name calling, and Vagabond is about kenjutsu. But I appreciated their fight scenes more than in RK. This was downplayed in the anime though. I don't know if that was good or bad for some, but it definitely was good for me.
In the later chapters though, the manga improved as I did not expect it would. The relationships that lacked development had deepened just as they should, and this was shown subtly and was masterfully done. Perhaps, I lacked the anime to compare it with, since the later parts were never animated except for the OVA Seisouhen. But even up to the OVA parts, although I still think that the OVA wins, the later chapters became one of the finest points in the story as well as in the story-telling. I don't know if it's just my nostalgia, but I still cried in the end.
The main difference I noticed in these later chapters (starting with the Enishi Arc, Remembrance, or the story in the OVA Tsuiokuhen) compared to the OVAs was the little details. I cannot blame Tsuiokuhen for focusing on the past story alone. But it was in the remembering that was painful, and this was to be seen only in the manga. It was putting up with life around new people, all the while bearing a tragic past, that could not have been shown in the OVAs.
I hope I have justified myself, and I finish this review with the ratings!
Original Story and Art: Watsuki Nobuhiro
Manga Rating: 
/10
Anime Rating: /10
Tsuiokuhen Rating: /10!
Seisouhen Rating: /10
Baboysai reads Eyeshield 21
[A]ge: 20 (yeah bitches 
, I'm 20)
[B]and listening to right now: Sarah Maclachlan
[C]areer: Looks like I'll be graduating. But I don't know if I'll proceed with Culinary arts or Landscape Architecture.
[D]rink or smoke: I love drinking! It's a way of life. 
[E]asiest friends to talk to: The soro. (you go --> 
"Baboysai has a soro?" ) This is some funny truth, but... it's the truth.
[F]- there is no F.
[G]ummy bears or gummy worms: Bears!
[H]ave a boyfriend: Yes. Randell Joseph Ramirez, 25 years old, 3D artist. The dark chocolate at my afternoon tea. No other highs and lows like this dishwasher can.
[I]n love: With a lot of things.
[J]unk food you like: Piknik Original and Pringles Cheezums and Sour cream and onion.
[K]ids: I wish to have at least three. Yes, spread the good genes, baby! Gabriella Bazooka, Shaquille Kenji, and Architect Chocolate. All names are copyrighted, though I doubt anyone would take these and name their kids with them.
[L]ongest ride ever: The plane ride to the US.
[N]ames for your future kids: wtf? 
What did the previous Kids mean then?
[O]ne wish you have now: To find what it is I'm looking for.
[P]hobias: None. I do fear heights, but not enough to kill me.
[Q]uote: Know thyself, Love thyself, and me. (c. Baboysai, 2007)
[R]easons to smile: David Ty.
[S]leeping time: 3-5 am.
[T]ime to wake up: 11 am-1 pm.
[U]nknown fact about you: I unconsciously count my steps while walking, or taking the stairs.
[V]egetable you hate: OKRA! With a passion! 
[W]orst habit: Procrastinating.
[X] rays you've had: What a stoopid question. -_-
[Y]ummy foods: Spaghetti and Chicken Mcnuggets and Belgian waffles and WHO MADE THIS QUESTIONNAIRE? 
[Z]odiac sign: Aries.
This meme was taken from khonz. My primary complaint about this would be that it was very confusing to answer because I don't know when I'm being asked or made to choose or what. -_- There's no letter F to boot!
Anyway, like I said before, I don't like memes. But I just felt like I should answer this one, and I will be tagging... someone who's tagged me before, and HE knows who he is. That's right, YOU!
Baboysai reads ES 21 FTW!
Damn. I had the nastiest hangover in my entire life, I couldn't go. But my friend David Ty got me an autographed copy so yay! ^^ I really wanted to go, so I could get a survey of what's happening in the Philippine comics scene, before finally making my conclusions.
Well, this is still an underdeveloped opinion, and leaves room for improvement, but I think that Pinoy comics right now are losing their originality, compared to the old comics. They've all become so manga-ish. Even if the stories are say, "forced" Pinoy myths (like agimat stuff and involves Pinoy mythical creatures- much like saying the only Pinoy architecture is the bahay kubo and such). That's why I really appreciate Pol Medina's work (even if they're more of strips and not really graphic novels) because everything about Pugad Baboy is so original.
That's why I wanted to go and investigate further because there might have been improvements, or new komikeros out there who are doing their best to come up with an original style instead of trying to make manga. But damn. I didn't go, so I don't know.
You can change my mind, if you can. I'm really open-minded about this since I have no resources backing me up, and like I said, I have yet to investigate.
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