Many of us have read and are big fans of Aurthur Golden’s
Memoirs of a Geisha, which was a wonderful Cinderella story about Chiyo who was sold to life as a geisha in Gion prefecture, Kyoto. She later became a wonderful geisha known as Sayuri, as we found out while following her well-told tale of love, loss, and friendship. Those of us who read and loved this book, were also fascinated by the secret look we gained at the life of geisha.
Geisha, A Life by Mineko Iwasaki changes all of that.
Iwasaki was not born into an
okiya, or geisha house. She too was born to a normal family, though no one was sick. They simply had to deal with hard times, and so they sold their daughters one by one. However, they were able to visit as much as they wished, and their children weren’t gone forever. The only slavery felt was the debt they carried. In Japan, however, it is considered honorable to take on such a debt if it means helping your family overall because you are able to work it off where as they may be in no position to do so.
Iwasaki was the youngest of seven girls in her home, plus four older brothers; and when her older sister Tomiko went to become a geisha, or geiko as they were known in the Gion Kobu, her family had given up four of their seven girls.
Iwasaki ultimately made her own decision to go at a young age, and eventually became the
atotori, or successor to the
okiya. She stuck with this career until the age of 29, when she retired to lead her own life and to have a family. During the time she was a geiko though, she was one of the best of her time, and entertained people such as Prince Charles.
Iwasaki is not her birth name, however. She was originally known as Tanaka Masako (surname first), and at the age of ten she told the family court judge that she wished to become an Iwasaki.
Up until she finished junior high (the equivalent of our middle school) though, she could not completely pursue a career in the arts. The Japanese government made it law that a girl must at least make it that far in her education first. Iwasaki’s career didn’t take off until after this point, for that was when she could make her debut.
As anyone can see, it’s clear that there were a lot of wrong conceptions gained from
Memoirs of a Geisha by Golden.
Mizuage, or the ritual deflowering of girls, is something only practiced by actual prostitutes, for example. That was never something that Iwasaki experienced, and she does explain it all clearly in her autobiography. She was neither a slave, nor were the girls treated poorly in most cases. And they could have boyfriends if they wished, and retire into marriage, or just in general. The world that Golden created was very much twisted between the prostitutes and the geisha, and Iwasaki’s words help bring light into this matter.
Her story is not the most eloquently written, nor is it as gripping as Golden’s, but you will find yourself enjoying it nonetheless. Tucked into two sections of the book you can also find photographs of herself and her family at the
okiya, plus some very helpful diagrams regarding the hair ornaments and other pieces of the ensemble that a geisha wore.
What is most wonderful about the book though, are Iwasaki’s views on how the entire thing is run. Iwasaki has a bold way of telling things, and she was not afraid to share how out-dated she felt the system was. Which, with how the world is ever-changing, is both a wonderful and terrible thing to hear. Tradition is wonderful, but so is change, and reading this book you can see how she’s trying to strive for middle ground, and how this is what set her mind to becoming good enough to help obtain these changes.
It’s an autobiography that any fan of
Memoirs of a Geisha doesn’t want to miss, and that any person who is deeply interested in the traditions of Japan should invest in. It’s not perfect, and it’s not a thriller, but it is informative and fun. The reading is easy so that you don’t have to be a scholar to understand, and in the end you gain a good sense of satisfaction, and are left thinking. It’s definitely a book that I recommend for your bookshelves.
It is hard for people in a democratic society to think of any other way of living. Many people look at their life and believe that the entire world lives the way they do. These same people are the ones that do not look into the future at what could happen.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood takes what used to be the democratic society of America and turned it into something else: a society that focuses on the men and leaves little for the women. The men are now the driving force behind the country while the women basically look nice and birth children. Their rights have been stripped and they have been broken down to the most basic thing men could think of.
Offred is the main character of the story, detailing her stay with one of the Commanders of Gilead. She is a handmaid, which is the name they have applied to fertile women whose entire purpose is to enter a family and produce a child. She wears the typical read robes with a white head dress to pick her out from the other women in the society. Once a month she gets together with the commander and his wife for the “ceremony,” which nobody enjoys, to try and create a new life.
This is the life of the handmaid. They are allowed no extra privileges and are granted no perks in their life. Most of the time they are looked down upon by the wives, women dressed in blue who act more as a centerpiece than anything else. However, there is hope for the handmaids: a secret network has developed between them to spread news and gossip relating to the society and their commanders. This is one thing Offred has to look forward to in her repressed life.
The story is basically that of Offred’s last stay with a commander before she escaped. She is brought to a new house, the house of Serena Joy, a once-famous gospel singer before the war. Joy doesn’t like having a handmaid at their house, thinking she cannot do her job as a woman. However, she gives into the fact and, during Offred’s entire stay at the house, is usually bitter and short with her. Offred, however, tries to display the utmost respect for Joy, as her only job is to provide the woman with a baby.
Her job day in and day out is the same: light shopping and, once a month, performing her real duty. The handmaids go shopping in pairs of two, never more and never less. After the shopping, Offred and the other handmaid walking with her often visit the Wall, a large structure in front of the old university that now serves as a reminder to those who do not follow the ways of the new society. Often people are hanging from the wall with white bags over the heads, hanged for their crimes. Every now and again, though not as often now, women will be hanging there, usually hanged for murder.
As Offred continues her monthly routine, she realizes more and more how the ceremony doesn’t feel as impersonal as it used to. She begins to get to know the commander more and often visits him in his study after everybody is asleep. They would play Scrabble or he would allow her to read old magazines, which was forbidden for women in this time. They developed somewhat of a special relationship, one that would have been condemned had anybody told the proper authorities. During this time, Serena Joy, desperate for a child, allows Offred to perform the ceremony with Nick, the commander’s driver, but to no avail. The two of them tell each other that this act is strictly for the family and that no connection will develop between the two of them.
The story ends abruptly. The commander took Offred to a club outside of the Gilead lines where women were free to do what they want. It used to be an old hotel and all of the women here were what was once known as prostitutes. Shortly after arriving back home the black van arrives for Offred, though Atwood does an excellent job at explaining it so that the reader will not worry about the girl, she will be safe.
The main conflict in this story has to be surrounding women’s rights. The fall of the United States also saw the fall of women’s rights. As the leaders of Gilead rose, more and more rights were taken away, such as the right to own property and the right to a job. Everything told in Offred’s story surrounds this lack of rights, and because of that this can easily be identified as the main conflict. The climax of the story is a little harder to find. However, after much consideration, the climax could have come when the commander takes Offred to Jezebel’s, a prostitution center frequently visited by the commanders. Offred is reunited with Moria, her friend from college before the rise of Gilead, and learns a thing or two about the current state of the nation. Later on in the night, the commander takes Offred to a hotel room and they have sex, even though Offred is pretending to enjoy it. This is the climax for two reasons: for one, there are only two things that can happen to Offred. She can continue working to have a baby for the commander or escape back into society. Another reason is that it is one of the most important events in the story, not only being at the club, but the risks the commander had to take to get her there.
In a story such as this the strengths and weaknesses of the main character are easily identifiable. Offred is a very strong woman for taking her new role in society without complaint. Throughout her entire story she has flashbacks to a time before Gilead where she as a woman still had rights. She was married with a child, had a job, and had control over her own money. Her ability to continue living in this current society while having these flashbacks of a better time has to be her strongest trait. She remembers what the past was like and longs to return to that, but she raises from bed each and every day and continues her duty in this new society. Her weakness, however, has to be her growing feelings for the commander. It puts her into an impossible position. Handmaids are not supposed to have feelings for their commander as their duty is only to bear children. Love and compassion are thrown out the window. As the story continues, Offred risks her life more and more as she grows closer to the commander and participates in illegal activities, such as the reading in his study.
Throughout the novel Offred takes a very drastic change, though it may not be noticeable by many people. Throughout her stay with the commander, she became more and more risky. At first, she was not willing to do anything that would really get her into trouble, but near the end it doesn’t really seem to matter. She visits the commander on a regular basis and has sex with his driver, Nick, in his small apartment above the garage. The fear that once held onto her seems to have dripped away throughout the novel, causing her to change into this person who will take whatever risks necessary.
Many different people are present throughout the novel, but there are a select few that, if absent from this work, would take away from the novel as a whole. Serena Joy is one such character. Joy and Offred initially clash when she first comes to the commanders house, but throughout the novel Joy seems to grow fonder of Offred during her stay. It gets to the point where, if Serena Joy were not the wife present at this house, Offred may not have had the opportunities she had at this house. Another one that is important, even though he’s not a direct character, is Luke. Without some kind of explanation of Luke, the reader would not be able to get a proper understanding of Offred’s character. Through the flashbacks the reader learns many different aspects of Offred’s being.
Many symbols are present throughout the novel. One of the most striking ones is the red color of the handmaid’s belongings. Red is often used as a symbol of blood, which is present during the menstrual cycle, which is the time of the month the handmaids are used to create a child. In a nutshell, the red symbolizes everything their life stands for. The Eyes, the secret police of Gilead, are also a symbol. They symbolize God, or a being that has a watchful eye over everything. They watch everything the handmaids do in public and often pick up ones that are breaking some kind of law.
Atwood could be trying to say many different things with this novel. One of her most striking messages has to be treatment towards women. In the past, women were treated like dirt; they had no rights whatsoever and really had no place in society. In this new age, the leaders of Gilead have stripped women back to their basic being and really don’t allow them to do anything. I think Atwood might be trying to say that we as a people need to continue moving forward instead of moving back into the past and allowing women to keep all of the rights that they deserve.
For this review we look at a historical non-fiction book that I found to be a very good read. I was first introduced to this short novel as required reading for my history class, though I found it was a very enjoyable book. Farewell to Manzanar, written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston is the story of a Japanese American family during the second World War, told from the point of a young girl who was sent with her family to an internment camp.
The majority of the book is the story of inside the actual internment camp, the saddening story of how a solid family was torn apart and scarred forever by their stay in the camp, and the young girl's struggle to grow up in a world full of prejudice and hate, especially after they are freed from the camp and forced to move back to another home, surrounded by Americans who possessed a loathing for the Japanese long after the war was over.
Despite the fact that it's a historical non-fiction novel, this book was one of the best books I've read in quite a long time. There are very few things I can say negatively about this in general. It was captivating, emotional, and it really tugged at the heartstrings a few times. Part of the book is the author (the girl) growing up in the years after her years in the camp, and even her taking her own children to see the camp decades after it had been torn down.
Farewell to Manzanar is a book I'd recommend to anyone regardless of purpose. It's educational and an eye-opener, yet also a captivating read and a truthful story that anyone even remotely interested in the subject would do well to read.
Basic InformationBooks- 7
Genre- Fantasy
Rating- 5/5
Background Information and SummaryMeet Pamela, owner of the Tarot Café. She will read your past and present, and from this tell you of your future. She sees things that most others do not, is a charismatic and lively woman, and did I mention that she’s hundreds of years old?
The Tarot Café takes place in England (shock!) and follows the life of Pamela, a human who was both blessed and cursed with a gift to see things that never should have been seen. It is because of this that her life spirals mercilessly out of her control, and she finds herself another pawn in the game controlled by Belial.
This tale definitely is borderline satanic, and would probably be banned from every church out there, but it’s worth the read if you are in to fantasy. Sang-Sun Park outdid herself in the beauty of not only the artwork, but in the story. It takes classic tales of the devil, and makes them flourish into something to capture the imagination, and take it on a journey that you don’t regret. It touches on everything—from love and loss, to charismatic outings and enjoyable days. It even gives you a whole new meaning to what it truly means to live, and to die.
Just when you think you have things all figured out as well, Park doesn’t disappoint and things will happen that make you second-guess your previous conclusion. And nothing is ever quite what it seems.
What’s truly wonderful about this tale of hardships though, is that all of the little side plots do have meaning to the end, and none take so long as to bore the reader, nor to cause the reader to forget important information. All the side plots help get you thinking, and some aid the ending, and so when it does end you feel that it is neat and tidy. And yet there is also the feeling that if she so wanted, Park could write a continuation on to the tale.
I’ve read the manga twice now. Once as it was coming out, which wasn’t good because there was a year-long gap between the release of the 4th and 5th books that left me totally forgetting some important details, and so I was confused for parts of the rest of the books. I remembered the main plot, but having gone back and read it a second time all the way through, I realize now that there were a lot of things that made the story better that I wish I’d remembered the first time. And both times I read it, I have gotten teary-eyed at the end. I’m not an overly-emotional kind of person, but the end is incredibly moving, and it’s something that just brings tears to the eyes.
So definitely give this one a try if you’re into fantasy. It’s got great artwork with plenty of stunning details, and an in-depth and intense story to go along with it. It’s worth the $70 USD you’ll spend on it if you decide to purchase the whole series, and if not I’d just read it in the bookstore or borrow it from your local library if they have it. I highly doubt that you’ll regret it.
And if they ever turn this into an anime, I will be the one fangirling and freaking out the loudest.
Written by Tsugumi Ohba
Art by Takeshi Obata
It was Christmas when I first laid eyes on Death note, and immediately after removing the wrapping paper and looking at the rather brilliant cover I thought ‘Hmm, I like a bit of manga, this looks good’. Then I read the blurb. ‘It sounds good too’ I thought. I was intrigued from the start, and not disappointed when I started reading it.
In volume 1, we are introduced to Ryuk the shinigami and Light Yagami, a bored straight A student bound for college. It is in the opening sequences that Light finds a book with ‘Death Note’ written on the front of it. Light is initially sceptical of the writings he finds within, the book claiming to belong to a god of death. But when confronted by the Death Note’s original owner, a shinigami named Ryuk, we see how Light put the Death Note to the test, writing in the name of a criminal he sees on the news, and moments later, he is dead. Considering the possibility of a coincidence, Light tests the power of the Death Note further by writing down the name of a hoodlum he encounters, after seeing him harassing a young woman. The thug is killed by a traffic accident, the cause of death the Light had designated only moments before.
Now that he know the true power of the Death Note, Light decides to embark on a mission to rid the world of evil using the Death Note, killing criminals all over the world. However, killing is killing no matter how righteous, and Light soon has the authorities bearing down on him. A detective who goes by the name of ‘L’ is brought in, and he has a knack for solving unsolvable cases. A game of wits ensues as Light and L face off, and L soon discovers the location of the killer to be in Japan. That’s when the NPA, the National Police Agency, are brought in to lead a manhunt to find the killer known on the internet and by the media as Kira. With the authorities on his heels, can Light stay one step ahead?
Death Note has a wonderfully unique story, and is beautifully illustrated. Hugely popular all over the world, Death Note is one manga you can’t resist. But like all manga, you do tend to read it pretty quickly as there are considerably fewer words than your standard novel. So, to maximise my experience of Death Note, I am limiting myself to reading 50 pages at a time, and at about 200 pages, it’ll take me 4 reads to finish a volume. I suppose I’m trying to savour it, and it really is something to be savoured, as it is a pleasure to read a manga as good as this. A must buy.
Basic InformationEpisodes- 49, plus one OVA
Genre- Mecha, Action, Comedy, Romance
Rating- 5/5
Background Information and SummaryFull Metal Panic takes three series to come to completion, and most fans of the anime expect another sequel.
The first part of the series totals 24 episodes, and this is the one where we meet all of the main players in the story. First and foremost is Sergeant Sousuke Sagara. He’s an excellent fighter with elite tactical skill and precision; but he can’t function in society as a civilian. So when that becomes his mission, he finds it hard to adjust, and makes things very difficult for those around him. The next main player of the story is Kaname Chidori. Kaname is who Sousuke was sent to guard because even though she is just a high school student, she is also a Whispered; and as such there are people who’d like to get their hands on her in order to extract the information she knows as one.
Backing them up you’ll meet Melissa Mao and Kruz Webber. They are Sousuke’s direct teammates, and while they might not seem like much they both have skills that are necessary to the battles fought. They’re also part of what helps Sousuke to develop as a character.
Far behind the action, but the one calling the shots is their captain, Teltha Tessarosa. She is also a Whispered, and is also commander of the submarine that is the base for Sousuke and the rest. It’s from her that most of the important information will be gotten regarding the Whispered, and what the true purpose of everything is.
Throughout part one of the series, you’ll travel with Sousuke through the battles he has to fight in order to complete his mission of keeping Kaname, and thusly the knowledge she possesses, out of enemy hands. You’ll watch him grow as a person, and you’ll see changes from Kaname as well. As intense as it will be in parts, there will be things that make you laugh as well.
The biggest thing about this section of the anime however, is the reoccurring enemy. Pay close attention to this, and question everything, because it won’t make sense until the end.
As we finish up the first series, we come to the next twelve-episode part known as Fumoffu. Fumoffu is basically a short comedy meant to show what day-to-day life is like for Sousuke and Kaname after the battles have been fought and it’s time to go back to school.
Honestly, there is hardly anything serious about Fumoffu. This section of the anime is meant to be romantic comedy, and it fulfills that quota quite nicely. You shouldn’t write it off, however, because it is crucial to the third and final part. Make sure you pay attention to the scrapes that Sousuke and Kaname manage to get into, and how they grow together as people, because it is going to play a key factor in the third and final part, The Second Raid.
The Second Raid is thirteen episodes long, and is the final segment of Full Metal Panic. Sousuke’s duty guarding Kaname ends, but he’s not happy with the terms of how it is done. In fact, we learn just how much Sousuke has changed when this happens by the actions he takes afterwards.
With this final installment we are back to the mecha, and to the fighting. While the intelligence network decides that they can handle watching Kaname, Kaname has plans of her own because like Sousuke, she’s not happy with how he left.
You’re going to meet new enemies, and revisit some old enemies, and references to Fumoffu will be made. While it’s the final segment, it’s also the most confusing and complex part to the entire series. In the end most of your questions will be answered, but new ones will also arise, which leads to the suspicion that there will either be a fourth section to the series, or more OVAs.
At the end of The Second Raid, you are going to meet new people with no identities, and you’re going to see Sousuke beginning to act as mature as he should. However it cuts off here, with no explanation, and upon watching the OVA you get no answers there, either.
In fact, the OVA is basically comedy about Captain Tessarosa. It’s not incredibly important to the series at all, but you still shouldn’t watch it until after everything else. You need to have a good understanding of the characters before you see this OVA, but other than that it’s just for fun.
Overall it’s a very engaging three-part series. Each episode moves smoothly into the next, and you want to see where things are going to go. Actually, sometimes you don’t want to because you know things are going to end poorly, but you watch anyways.
The art in this anime is superb. It contains a lot of detail, and whoever was the art director knew how to set a mood with the way things are done. There is nothing at fault really with what you will see.
And unlike a lot of anime, where if you go to a different location you just pretend they’re speaking a foreign language, this one will actually attempt to use specific languages native to different countries. While the main language for it is Japanese, when they are in countries such as China, they speak Chinese, and just this extra little step makes it that much nicer.
Overall, I give this a full 5/5 rating. While I wasn’t thrilled with the cliffhanger ending, it still showed superb quality as an anime. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in this genre, and to anyone who loved Gundam Wing.
Naruto is a recent and popular anime that was finished in 2007, at the total of a large 220 episodes. Despite the long series, a sequel was started, and is still airing now. However, the sequel aside, the original Naruto series gives plenty of material to review. Overall I would say it is probably one of those shows with the best potential, but with the worst possible execution.
The story is centered around a young ninja Naruto Uzumaki who is going through his training to become stronger and eventually claim the title of Hokage, who is essentially the top ninja. His incredible determination is outmatched only by his brilliant yellow afro hair and his annoyingly orange jumpsuit. His voice, just as loud as the colours of his appearance, never seems to stop shouting, as though he only has one volume setting. He is accompanied by two fellow ninja friends, Sasuke and Sakura, an emo kid who wants to kill his brother, and a worthless ninja who can't do anything but faint during the worst possible moments, respectively.
As they go throughout their training they encounter a lot of obstacles, go on a lot of missions, and eventually partake in exams and battles, competing against other ninjas to see if they qualify to be 'promoted' to the next skill rank. With a very wide cast of deep and diverse characters, a sound plot and an exciting series of twists, one would think that it contains the potential to become one hell of an amazing series, and it does -- just very, very, very slowly.
For some reason the producers behind Naruto decided that it would be absolutely amazing to take ninjas, who are by nature very fast and deadly, and put them in a show that moves at a snail's pace. Every battle, no matter how much goes on, seems to take about three entire episodes on average, which contrasts to the point that if you take the amount of time they were actually fighting, it would last about two minutes tops. The basic way anything gets done in Naruto is the following.
Ninja 1: [performs a battle move or action to attack the other ninja]
Ninja 2: [looks amazed as though he's never seen another ninja before and proceeds to ask wtf just happened]
Ninja 1: [stops the entire battle for half an episode to go on a long tangent about what the move is, how it is performed, sometimes going into explicit detail about the functions of the human body]
Ninja 2: [growls determinedly and shouts about how he or she will not lose, proceeds to attack the other ninja]
Ninja 1: [looks amazed, asks what happens, repeat]
If you're wanting an anime with action, you will not get it here.
Another thing that slows down Naruto is the evident belief that the entire history of every single character, no matter how insignificant, must be explained in great detail, by a combination of long-winded monologues and flashbacks that, again, take nearly an entire episode. For some reason, the monologues also take part in the middle of every battle. You'd think that they would go out for a cup of tea after the battle and get to know each other, but apparently in the midst of the battle is the best time to stand around and chat about their past lives, even if the entire town has come to the arena to see the battles. Somehow, nobody cares.
To prove my point, I went back to around episode 70 and watched until episode 80. In this segment, an evil ex-student of the current Hokage kidnaps his former sensei and proceeds to get in an epic, Hokage-style battle. Which would be great except for the fact that each person uses about five moves total, and the battle ends at the end of the second episode, where the evil guy has a sword sticking through his master, who is, by the looks of him, about three hundred years old. Great, quick end, right? Nope! From episode 74 to episode 80, the pair simply stand there and exchange angry monologue and heroic speeches, even when the old man
has a sword sticking through his chest. I kid you not. Seven episodes. Nothing happens. To further prove the point, in another battle going on at the time, flashbacks are everywhere. To test things out, I spent about five minutes each on episodes 75-78, skipping a flashback every time I saw it. There was about two minutes of action per episode, and even at the end of that, nothing had changed.
Naruto. Incredible potential, incredible fail at execution. If you're okay with watching a series get dragged out almost to the breaking point (indeed, by episode 80, enough has happened to fill about 20 episodes in a normal anime) then you'll probably love it. It has a great story with plenty of good characters and a lot of great twists. However, if you actually have a life and enjoy watching stories that finish within the current decade, I would not recommend Naruto at all.
Basic InformationStarting Year- 2007
Link-
www.thedreamercomic.com/Author- Lora Innes
Genre- Historical Fiction, Romance, Action
Update Schedule- Every Friday
Rating- 5/5
Background Information and SummaryThe Dreamer is a webcomic that’s set both in current-day America, and the war-torn days of the Revolution. It’s funny, dramatic, and full of wonderfully depicted historical scenes that keep the reader looking for more.
Meet Beatrice, more commonly known as Bea. She’s not the best in her class academically, she gets nervous around the guy she has an enormous crush on, and whenever she can she loves to hang out with her friends. When it comes to school, she’d much rather be performing on stage for the drama club than studying in some boring class. That’s just who she is. Her family seems to be well-immersed in all forms of the arts, and so she’s given a good opportunity to pursue acting.
Bea’s a good kid though, and an average high school student. She doesn’t do drugs, she’s in no gangs, and she stays out of trouble. Family life isn’t perfect, and she does get irritated by others, but that’s pretty normal. When she starts dreaming though, things are turned upside-down.
Meet Alan Warren, one of the many heroes of the Revolutionary War, and a member of Knowlton’s Rangers. He is the first one that Bea meets in her dreams, and it is ultimately her curiosity of him and the others she meets through him that leads her to look forward more to bedtime with her dreams than to the waking world with her friends.
Bea was always prone to having her head in the clouds, and she loves to fantasize. It’s more than likely what makes her such a good actress. But when these dreams start happening and then picking up one after another and following history that she had totally forgotten about, she begins to wonder just how much of a dream they really are.
Lora Innes is a wonderful writer with a true passion for the Revolutionary War. While there is a lot of fiction in the story, she is very careful to make sure that everything is based off of factual history, and that things are as accurate as you can make them in such a genre. She also studies books on plot and writing, so you enjoy the story enough to keep going and not be bored by history alone. Not to mention the fact that by knowing how to write she makes sure to leave you on a cliffhanger every update to keep you coming back for more.
Being skilled in writing isn’t her only positive aspect though—Lora Innes is also an incredibly skilled artist. She went to school for art and graduated with a BFA. Following that she worked for the Artifact Group and did illustrations for clients such as Fischer Price and Nickelodeon. She pushed herself further though, and worked even harder to increase her skills and attention to detail, and eventually decided on putting her writing, illustrating, and love for the Revolutionary War together. It was the consent between her and her husband, Mike, that she left working for others and now concentrates on
The Dreamer alone. And she wouldn’t change it for the world.
The webcomic is going to be two years old this September, and its come a long way since it began. Not only has the art steadily improved, but the readership has steadily increased, and Lora has been able to visit a few conventions. The biggest achievement though, one that all Dreamer fans have been cheering about, and congratulating Lora for; is when IDW Publishing picked up
The Dreamer and made it available in local comic book shops everywhere.
Even though it’s now a published comic, Lora doesn’t stop posting it for free online. She’s faithful to her internet fanbase, and those that can buy the comic in print form as well. It’s a great way for her readers to support her, and Lora is equally proud to be supported as such.
Overall, whether you understand the Revolutionary War or not, and whether or not you even like history; this is a must-read webcomic. It’s in no way a sappy romance, but it’s not so much action that you have no true plot either. There’s an equal balance of everything to please the appetite for reading appropriately. And it’s not something that you’re going to want to miss out on.
Ahh the wonders of YouTube never cease to amaze me and this month was no different. Here are 5 videos that have been making waves across the internet this month.
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David After DentistA dad tapes his 7 year old son after getting out of the dentist. He’s drugged up beyond belief and the results are epic!
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Guitar: ImpossibleIn the words of the creator: “Over 1000 cuts. 6 hours of guitar tabbing. 1 hour of shooting. God knows how much editing.” He was bored and made one of those super cool songs that are put together by taking individual notes and editing them together.
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Mario vs Spartan 2One of video game’s classic heroes takes on one of today’s. Mario and friends take on the Master Chief in a showdown to the death!
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Microphone FailSome idiot doesn’t know how to use a microphone.
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Sony Releases Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work
Warning: This video contains bad language.To round up this month’s 5 videos this one comes straight from your favorite parody news station The Onion!
There are the good movies, the bad movies, and the strange movies. There are the good strange movies, and the bad ones. And then there are the ones that you enjoy while having a clearly bemused expression on your face. This review turns the spotlight to one of those movies, an animated film released on August 28th of 1992 (in the USA that is), a movie with an original plot, original characters, and a style that will have you wondering what on earth you're watching.
Prince Frederic lived with his father, who possessed magical powers, until one day the prince's aunt Messina murders his father, and turns Frederic into a frog, though he manages to escape before Messina kills him as well. Jumping ahead in time, Frederic is now a grown frog with magical powers who has taken on a human-like stance, and works for the French secret service. He is eventually hired by the British Intelligence to investigate the disappearance of many of Britain's greatest monuments, which seem to vanish into thin air. Dubbed Agent F.R.O.7, he along with his two sidekicks, Daffers and Scottie (a female martial artist and a weapons technician respectively), begin to investigate these mysterious occurrences, fighting evil henchmen and discovering the mysterious villain in quite an interesting sequence of events throughout the story. He is joined by Nessie, the mythological sea creature, a pair of quite eccentric crows, and a bumbling military general as they try to solve the case.
Needless to say this is a very strange movie with many questions left unanswered, such as the time shift between the medieval ages and modern Europe, though that's rather small compared to the magical frogs and talking crows. While the plot might deviate from whatever plot it had to begin with, it's still interesting in a way, and for those who appreciate the genre (again, whatever that might be), will stick through it and enjoy what the movie has to offer. This is one of those movies where you either like it a lot or you won't be able to finish it. I'm part of the former. This movie was one of the great classics from my childhood and I enjoyed every minute of it. I recommend anyone this movie, if not for you, then your crazy friends or perhaps your kids. Overall, a very strange but very interesting and memorable film.
Lionhead Studios have yet again made a great game. Fable 2 takes place after the first game where you follow a new hero in their quest to avenge the death of their sister. Notice I didn’t say his sister. In Fable 2 you have the choice to play as a male or a female that you didn’t have in the first game. You also have the choice to develop your abilities of strength, skill, and will which will change the way your character fights as well as looks.
One interesting addition to the game was firearms. The first Fable all you had were bows and crossbows. In Fable 2 you have a whole arsenal of firearms including the Assault Rifle from Halo 3 (must download the add on content). Of course there were also added will abilities as well as melee weapons.
One other cool addition is the time system where you actually get to see the world evolve in front of your eyes. In between chapters of the story you’ll notice towns getting bigger and more extravagant or even smaller as people move away.
The quests are your run of the mill go here, kill that person, or protect that person quests. Your overall goal is to collect the last remaining heroes in Albion. Your quest will take you to the aid of 3 other heroes in a mission to combine their power to fight the person who killed your sister and is trying to basically take over the world.
Overall gameplay is decent with mixed melee, ranged, and magical attacks at your disposal you can mix it up, but other than that most fights will feel the same. The new job system was not done very well in my opinion. For the jobs like cutting wood, making swords, bartending, etc you sit there and try to hit A as a dot that is going across the screen enters the green section of a bar…it’s rather boring and takes a long time. Once you have a lot of money you can also buy property which will also bring in more money. The only problem with this is there is no real way to keep track of your properties other than walking up to each one of them. Again you can have a spouse and even kids, but sometimes it gets a little cumbersome as you are doing your quests.
I’m not going to give anything away, but I will say that I was VERY disappointed in the ending of the game. The boss battle was….well I’ll let you find out.
Overall the game was a fun play and kept me entertained. I beat the game, but haven’t really gone into the really deeply hidden stuff yet. I give it a healthy 4/5.
What better way to spend your time with up to 3 other friends than running through the woods, airport, hospital, or city and killing zombies? I can’t think of anything more awesome and neither could Valve when they came out with Left 4 Dead.
This game throws out all the technicalities of first person shooters and only keeps the fun and easy aspects as you roam through levels blowing off zombie’s heads before they devour your friends. The gameplay is exceptional seeing as no matter how many times you play through the game it’s a different experience. Weapons, zombies, special infected, health packs, and ammo all spawn in random places every time you start the game thus making it a complete mystery when your next cache of ammo will come…maybe it will never come…who knows? The object of the game is to run from safehouse to safehouse within a level while you’re on your way to the rescue point where you will be rescued by various vehicles. Once you reach the rescue point you must fend off wave after wave of zombie attack. It truly is a game of survival.
You have a variety of weapons at your disposal including a pistol that you can also dual wield, pump shotgun, auto shotgun, assault rifle, uzi, sniper rifle, Molotov cocktails, and pipe bombs. All of the weapons are easy to use and are pretty straight forward. The pipe bombs and the Molotov’s are thrown weapons. As you might think the Molotov will spew huge areas of fire where you throw them and the pipe bomb will attract all of the zombies in the area for about five seconds before exploding.
The multiplayer is very fun. You’ll be split up into an infected team and a survivor team and duke it out in the streets. As the infected team you’ll be working hard to take out the survivors as they try to make it into the safehouse. It’s a rather fun aspect of the game. You can also dive right in and do co-op.
The graphics aren’t the best in the world, but you don’t need a nice and shiny game to have fun. They don’t take away from the experience at all.
Overall I think Left 4 Dead was a great game and will continue to be a great game when they come out with more downloadable content. I give it a solid 4/5.
The trailer for Final Fantasy XIII was recently made available to download on the Playstation Store, and by the looks of things it will be set in a high tech world, complete with guns, airships, and the usual beast enemies. Final Fantasy XIII will also feature strategic command based battles, and the active time battle system will make a return.
With the Final Fantasy VII and X team at the helm of XIII, we should see an artistically varied world. Some of the characters revealed so far include the leaping gun wielder Lightning, blonde motorcyclist Snow Villiers, and the red haired Oerba Dia Vanille, who seems to be part of some resistance group.
The Final Fantasy series has always been among the best looking games on Playstation, and XIII should be no different. If the trailer is anything to go by, it should be a great looking game. That, along with the trademark epic story should make gaming gold.
Final Fantasy XIII is due for release in 2010, the exact date is still unannounced. It should be well worth the wait.
If you know me you know I’m one of the biggest Halo fans out there and that means I’m super psyched about this game. Halo 3: ODST is a standalone expansion of Halo 3 which will be available only for the Xbox 360.
In the game you will be playing as an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) in the timeframe leading up to Halo 3. If you played Halo 2 you might have remembered the Chief left Earth in pursuit of the Profit of Truth. This is the story of the people left behind on Earth to clean up the remnants of the Covenant invasion.
Little is known about this game other than the small snippets that Bungie has released. You will be going through the city of New Mombassa in Kenya looking for the missing members of your squad. It’s been reported that the game itself will be free roaming, but the missions will be played like flashbacks and resemble the level structure of the other Halo games. From the screenshots that were released you can gather Halo 3: ODST will have more of a stealth aspect than the other Halo games as you will not be playing as the Master Chief. You’re just a normal human special forces ODST.
Halo 3: ODST will ship with EVERY Halo 3 map included and Halo 3 multiplayer will be accessible through the ODST disc. Above is all of the information that is out in the public. Unlike most companies Bungie is very good at keeping secrets.
Kay
Um, for “inappropriate” it'd have to be 'Lollipop Luxury' by Jeffree Star. 
