Taking some well deserved leave in the form of three long weekends, so April is going to fly by without my noticing it.

Also the new episode of Doctor Who was actually really good, I was wrong about my first impressions of the 11th Doctor, but he is a quirky character, and, dare I say it, more like the Doctor should be than Tennant.

The score by Murray Gold was once more, emotional, a great deal more than the previous series more epic tone to it. I’m looking forward to hearing the new tracks for the next few episodes, and for the soundtrack to be released.

Overall, wacky fun, dual personalities and a weird premise all round (even the geeky lead is likeable to a certain extent), makes it for a good viewing.

We were also lucky in that we had the entire cinema to ourselves, no one watched it with us, nice and quiet!

Aside from that, last weekend Maria and I went to see The Ghost Writer (I decided to link to IMDB for films from now on, instead of Wikipedia). Although it seems to have had fairly good reviews from people, I didn’t particularly like it, too convoluted at times.

Though we knew there was a mystery in the story, and the ghost was trying to uncover it, we never really knew what it was! I know this is what the whole point of a mystery is, but surely, we must need to know whether or not the mystery was simply that important to find out? To say I was disappointed when I left the cinema would be accurate.

Other news, since I’ve gotten into the habit of writing once a week at Starbucks, around 6 hours is good enough, I’m back into my writing, and brought out another chapter of a sequel to one of my loved stories (by fans no less). After a year of waiting, chapter 2 of ‘In My Arms, In My Heart’ is out.

I’m working on my Ranma/28 Days Later crossover now, trying to get this horror story out the door before I lose the impulse.

2 hours later, the shop was closing and I had to leave.

All I can say was, after playing through David Cage’s previous game Fahrenheit, he has really got the emotional part down perfect, even more so than that game. I almost cried at certain bits.

Minor spoilers follow:

I played from moving an FBI agent into his office to the point the woman (forgot their names, sorry) met the man after he had a crazy drive. Around ten scenes in all.

What I managed to do was accidentally let a man die by not stopping an armed robbery, not killing another man when he pulled out a crucifix instead of a gun, saving a woman from commiting suicide, and changing a baby and feeding her milk.

Also, a nude shower scene and a burglary dream?

Spoilers end.

Seriously though, those few moments were enough to tug at my heart strings, the facial animations of the sadness of a lost child was just painful (in a good way) to watch.

I really hope that this makes millions, and is ported to the PC. Otherwise, this game may be the sole reason by my buying a PS3.

Even the box art gives you chills…

I wouldn’t state excellent, as there were a few problems with pacing, I would have liked to see more of Jake trying to fit in with his Avatar when learning the Na’vi techniques, as he seemed to get the hang of it fairly quickly (though it was approximately three months later, so you do get the impression that a lot is missing).

Characters are a tad clichéd, though there were some nice surprises (the scientist who got jealous at Jake actually didn’t turn face and backstab him, he became a decent fellow).

The CGI was incredible, though I still think that Pirates of the Caribbean (Davy Jones in particular) shows what it can really do, when you think that those octopus appendages are real, when in fact he had nothing on his face at all. The Na’vi people and Pandora was beautifully animated, showing how amazing the plants move and live, even the floating mountains, vertigo-inducing, and naturally, the wildlife, which is terrifying.

I would rate this as a must see, if only for the spectacle. If I ever get round to buying a Bluray player, this movie would benefit most from it, with all the visuals, and most likely by then, 3D technology for the home.

In other news, my new computer is up and running, and able to run Mirror’s Edge at maximum quality with no slowdown whatsoever. I’m loving every second of it.

Kara No Kyoukai:

Created By TYPE-MOON, famous for Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night. Even the creator, Kinoko Nasu is famous for mixing his series so much that he has created a whole new universe of characters and symbolism, commonly called the Nasuverse. Think of him as the anime/manga equivalent of Hideo Kojima (of Metal Gear Solid fame), the amount of backstory for each character defies belief.

Kara No Kyoukai was written before the first real success from Tsukihime, originally a light novel before being given an anime 10 years later. I’m only giving this background to let you know why this anime should be given a watch, due to the intricate detail behind the scenes.

The main character Ryougi Shiki, without giving too much plot detail away, is a girl who had a taste for murder, and the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, meaning that she can see lines across any object which only she can slice to kill that object, or as it was meant to be used on, people.

Suffice it to say, she uses it, and we follow a guy who gets attracted to her, Kokutou Mikiya, as they start to come across strange event as many murders happen in their town.

Shown in an anachronic fashion, much like the first season of Haruhi Suzumiya, so it starts off in the middle, giving you a confusing beginning episode, thinking you’ve missed something.

Sadly, it misses some of the details from the light novels, but overall, it maintains the feel and is a great story when you take it all in. There is a lot of exposition, so you need to be concentrating. Naturally, there is a large amount of blood, and one rape scene, not to mention fighting with bladed weapons, so not for the faint of heart or for the kids.

Animation is fluid, with a some good CG for the backgrounds. The soundtrack is one of the best I’ve ever heard, with strong strings and painfully sad piano tracks, with special choral tracks in the finale. 7 OVA only, but the episodes are long, and you will definitely want to rewatch your favourite scenes over and over again.

High marks from me if you want something deep to watch, with a decent plot that sucks you in.

K-ON:

Now, for the opposite, a happy, slice-of-life story of a group of schoolgirls who join the Light Music Club (though actually run it, since there’s no old members left), and just spend time together, mostly having tea and cakes.

Yes, a fairly brainless anime of how they begin to make music together, buy guitar for a new girl, going to beach to train, and even getting a younger student later who is  a dab hand at the guitar.

Despite all this, the characters, whilst a bit clichéd (slightly ditzy rich keyboard player, the scatterbrained but fully likeable main character who plays guitar, one serious but easily frightened bass player, tomboyish girl on drums), mesh well together, and though it doesn’t go into more detail than the superficial (i.e., no deep problems with any person), with the cast as it is, you don’t need any more.

Honestly, you probably won’t rewatch the series once you’re done, maybe just the rare episode, but it’s a good for light viewing, and the comedy is good. You’ll get closer to the characters too, and actually begin to care about how they manage to play together.

Above average, depending on your preference. Don’t expect high class plot with hours of backstory (as with Kara No Kyoukai above, they have whole encyclopaedias for the Nasuverse!), and if you’re okay with an all girl cast talking about normal school days, then you’ll just relax and enjoy it. Good dose of melancholy for the olden days of being at school too.

Lately, I’ve been getting into too much looong fanfiction (read, over 100,000 words), namely Ranma and (of all things) Harry Potter.

However, these aren’t your ordinary ones, these are the complete rewrites, when someone goes back in time to change the past. I’ve got about 5 HP stories being monitored at my ff.net profile, as well as a few Ranma stories.

Of course, this has led me to think of a HP story in the vein of The Demon’s Contract, a Ranma story where he goes back, but doesn’t try to put everyone’s life in order. It’s good to read, a refreshing change from all the perfect changes in other fics. Not that I’m against those ones, the ambition in some of the fics I’ve read surpasses anything else.

Anyways, I’m writing my Nabiki mystery still, glad to see that people are intrigued by it. I also updated my legendary Book 3 series, chapter 24, and received good reviews, encouraging me that I haven’t lost the touch to write a slow moving love/romance novel. I hope to continue this soon.