A Villain is More Than Just his Mustache

Good villains are highly underrated. This is my firm belief. Anyone can spot a good hero, it takes nearly no effort at all to form a good protagonist. It’s the antagonists that are hard; making a good villain takes some mad skills.

Villains are not something I really thought much about until I started writing. Even after I started at LP I didn’t pay much attention to them until my second year. You know how when you make a new friend and spend a lot of time with them some of their little quirks tend to rub off on you? Well this is one of those quirks that rubbed off on me. My friend Brelyn is a big fan of villains. She probably likes them more than most protagonists and after spending some time with her… I almost feel the same way… almost. It’s true; the villain can really make or break a story.

There are many different types of villains, you know. There are the sympathetic type; the ones with a good reason to be evil, the crazy type; those who are absolutely mad and loving it, the pure evil type; the ones who are evil because… well they’re just evil, and all sorts of others. A truly good villain can sort of balance out several types of evil in one person.

The best villains are the ones we love to hate. They’re smart, cunning, manipulative and will stop at nothing to get what they want.  These are the kids who were bullied on the play ground that grow up to invent the freeze-ray. Personally, I like the subtle villains, the ones with high charisma and elegant manners, that don’t necessarily scream ‘I’m a villain!’ These are the villains who are simply board and wanted to screw with people for fun, the ones that simply say ‘Because I’m evil’ when asked ‘Why are you doing this?’ These are the ones I love most.

Our cinematic culture is putting villains in a new light nowadays. The second class character who was once little more than a plot device to show off an awesome main character is now becoming the protagonist himself. Take movies like Despicable Me or Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog. These movies have taken the character who would normally be the antagonist and, without making them good guys, have turned them into sympathetic protagonists. It’s funny how those bent on evil and destruction are now the ones we want to care about most. The so-called ‘misunderstood.’

So, the next time you’re watching a movie or reading a book, pay close attention to the villain of the story. He’s more just a black cloak and curly mustache.

 

Number Two: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

I feel especially compelled to warn you all that this review contains spoilers. I know you know all of my reviews contain spoilers but this one especially contains them because I can’t review Gurren Lagann without spoiling it. If you haven’t watched it, go watch it now and then you can read the review.

My History: Gurren Lagann was introduced to me a year or two ago by my friend Brelyn. We spent two days in her attic watching the whole thing. This is my most recent anime and yet one of my favorites. You might be wondering why I ranked such a new discovery over some of my long time favorites. To be honest, it’s all in the epic manliness that is Gurren Lagann. Watching Gurren Lagann gets you pumped! No matter what mood you’re in when you start an episode by the end you are ready to take on the world, and win.

Overview: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a story in three parts. The first arc journey of discovery, the second is a struggle for power and the third is a quest to survive. We watch our cast of characters, especially our unlikely hero, Simon grow stronger with each encounter and learn a little more about the world around them. We somehow make our way from an underground village which knows nothing of the surface to outer space, all the while shouting “WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!”

Characters:

Kamina: I usually go with the protagonist first, but since Kamina is such an important character; I feel he should go first. It is Kamina who drives the first arc and not Simon. Kamina, even in their little underground village dreams of something bigger. He’s strong willed, proud, super manly and probably way over confident. He and Simon are both orphans, and have adopted each other as brothers. Kamina looks out for Simon, keeping him safe and encouraging him to have more confidence in himself. He went to the surface once as a child with his father but was too frightened to go with him, choosing to stay behind in the village. This is a choice Kamina has regretted ever since and the drive behind his attempts to get to the surface in episode one. Once on the surface, his fighting spirit shines through more than ever. He is the first to steal a gunman and force it to accept him as its pilot. To him, nothing is impossible. Kamina also has an incredible amount of faith in Simon, even though his little brother is scared out of his mind most of the time and he sees his inner strength. He often confesses to Yoko that without Simon he would probably have died long ago. He believes it is Simon who is always saving him and not the other way around, as Simon tends to see it. Even though Kamina only graces us with his presence for the first arc, his influence carries on throughout the entire season.

Kamina’s gunman is Gurren but he rarely ever fights with just Gurren. In about the fourth episode he learns he can combine his gunman with Simon’s to form Gurren-Lagann. This is a much more powerful form and allows him and Simon to work together more efficiently.

Simon: Arc 1: Simon the coward. Simon sees himself as a coward for most of the first arc. He’s scared of the gunmen and of the dangers of the surface and the underground as well. Simon is a digger and remains a digger at the core no matter what form he takes throughout the series. For the first arc he sees himself as little more. His drill is his soul and takes over everything he does. In the first arc Simon learns it’s okay to be afraid, but you can’t let your fear control your actions. It’s better to stand and fight than to run and hide as is his first instinct. Simon’s parents died in an earthquake when he was young, fueling his fear of death. Simon looks up to Kamina more than anything as a protector and a role-model, everything he wishes he could be.

Arc 2: Simon the leader. The second arc finds Simon devastated and desperate from Kamina’s sacrifice. He feels the need to fill his brother’s shoes even though that is clearly impossible. He tries to become Kamina and fails, naturally, causing him to sink deeper into his despair. It takes him three episodes to find his place. Once again he realizes that he is not Kamina, he is Simon the digger and that is who he must be. And, by Kamina’s last wishes, he is made leader of the Dai-Gurren Brigade. Simon as a leader is maybe even manlier than Kamina, despite his young age. He has learned to believe in his own power rather than relying on that of his brother and he uses it to his full advantage. It is his natural place for this arc. He is the one to charge ahead even when things look bleak and no matter what, he knows he can win if he uses enough fighting spirit.

Arc 3: Simon the warrior. After they defeat the Helix King and make the surface safe for humans to live on the members of the Dai-Gurren Brigade naturally form the new government with Simon as their Commander. Thing is, Simon’s not really suited for such a role and while he manages for seven years when real trouble starts, he would much rather be out fighting than sitting back giving orders. This gets him into a lot of trouble as he ends up being blamed for this new threat because of his reckless actions. He shows a lot more of Kamina’s fighting spirit in this arc as he does whatever it takes to keep his people safe, even if he’s being condemned by them. His real drive for this arc is is love for Nia and his desire to see her safe.

Simon’s gunman is Lagann whom he discovers while digging in his village in episode one. Lagann is a mini-gunman but he packs quite a punch. Lagann is special in ways Simon couldn’t begin to imagine when he found him. He can combine with any other gunman to form an even more powerful machine. With his mighty drill attacks, Lagann is perfect for Simon.

Yoko: Yoko is a scantily dressed female sharp shooter. She is a master with a rifle which comes in handy when fighting gunmen. She has a strong will and a good head on her shoulders, though she’s more concerned with surviving than with the grace of battle. We don’t learn a whole lot about her. She’s very loyal to Kamina in the first arc and even in the second. She wants to help as much as she can and she knows what she’s doing. During the third arc she becomes a teacher for six years before all the trouble starts. It’s funny to see her dressed properly and without her boobs hanging all over the place. Yoko is known for three things: her boobs, her gun and her kiss of death. She is in love with Kamina in the first arc and kisses him before the battle in which he dies. In the third arc she and Kittan have a small interest before he kisses her and goes out to sacrifice himself. So, if you want to survive Gurren Lagann, don’t kiss Yoko.

Rossiu: Arc 1-2: Rossiu is the son of a village priest who warships a buried gunman as a ‘face-god.’ Their village is so small and poor that it can only support fifty residents at a time. So when that limit is exceeded his father picks, through the guise of straw drawing, who will be sent to the surface, which they think is heaven. Yeah, pretty messed up. Rossiu is a pretty cool kid, though. He fights for a world where everyone can live and people don’t have to be sacrificed for others to survive. After Kamina’s death Rossiu take his place in Gurren’s cockpit. Even though he helps Simon out a lot he’s not a very talented pilot and is only competent without Simon. He’s a very practical character, always trying to look at the bigger picture and best option for everyone.

Arc 3: Rossiu has taken up the position of secretary under Simon, though really, he’s totally running things. He’s on top of everything and quite honestly, he’s kind of become a prick. He’s all business with little to no room for mistakes or compromise. He likes everything in its place, including people and he scolds Simon constantly when he tries to fight for himself. When the people begin to riot over the impending danger from the moon he puts the blame solely on Simon to calm the public and puts himself up as commander. He’s very cold for the first half of the third arc, showing little to no emotion over what he does, even when he sentences Simon to death for trying to protect his people. After their first excursion is space, though, he realizes he was going about things the wrong way and repents in a way, though he feels he needs to be ‘punished for his sins’ and tries to kill himself, which is a dumb move as well, but luckily Simon’s there to punch him in the face. It’s about time too. While I enjoyed Rossiu in the first and second arcs I had a lot less love for him in the third arc, even after his switch back.

Leeron: Leeron is the team’s mechanical wiz starting out. He’s a very special character. I wouldn’t quite call him a tranny but he’s something close. He dresses as a man but wears heels and make up and flirts with all the guys. Make of it what you will.  He also likes to scare the little kids. At any rate, Leeron takes care of the team’s gunmen, repairing, upgrading and analyzing anything mechanical that comes their way. He’s wonderfully flamboyant and fantastically charming. He understands most of what goes on with the gunmen and the spiral power. He’s probably the smartest one of the bunch and I’m incredibly fond of him.

Nia: Arc 2: Nia the princess. Nia is the ‘daughter’ of the Helix King who got a little too curious about her origins and was discarded because of it. She was abandoned in a sort of grave yard for her father’s unfavorable daughters and found by Simon shortly after. She doesn’t know much about the outside world. Things like enemies, irritation, violence and the like are completely new to her and it takes some explaining to get such concepts across. She attaches herself to Simon after she’s accepted into the Dai-Gurren Brigade and has unquestionable faith in Simon. She firmly believes that he cannot lose, no matter what the odds. Nia is naive, sweet and a little ditzy at times. She’s easily delighted and a terrible cook, apparently. The only one who can stand her cooking is Simon, which is fitting I guess, since he’s totally in love with her.

Arc 3: Nia the messenger. In arc three Nia and Simon are officially a couple and even get engaged in the first episode. That’s before the one millionth human is born and the Anti-Spiral come to destroy them all. We learn that Nia is an Anti-Spiral in human form and was created to be a messenger once the Human Elimination Device was activated. She wanders around most of the third arch, telling Simon that the Anti-Spiral and complete despair from the humans and that there is no home. She also provides a warning of what’s coming and sends the whole population into a panic. However much she claims this is her true self; and unemotional, monotone figure, she continues to wear the ring Simon gave her and it’s clear that the real Nia is trapped inside somewhere. She doesn’t do much after the first threat is taken care of. She’s called back to the Anti-Spiral’s base to be analyzed and Simon goes to save her. The real Nia hasn’t changed much from the Nia of Arc 2. She still believes in Simon with all her heart and knows without a doubt that he’ll save her.

Minor Epicness

Boota: Boota is a pig-mole… or a mole-pig, I’m never sure which. For the first two arcs he’s little more than Simon’s pet, riding with him in Lagann and providing emotional support when needed. He’s adorable and is always ready for a fight. He also likes to ride around in Yoko’s cleavage. In arc three, however we find out that Boota is a little more than just a simple pig-mole. He holds an amazing amount of spiral energy that is crucial to the team’s success in their second outer space adventure against the Anti-Spiral.

Old Coco: Old Coco makes his first appearance in arc one when he leads Gurren Brigade to a hot spring gunman. He’s not evil, though, and he somehow attaches himself to the group and follows them from then on. He has a tendency to pop in and out of scenes with little to no explanation. He comes, serves some purpose, and then leaves. He also turns out to be a pretty good cook in arc two. He takes care of the mundane chores that no one else wants to do. In arc three he is little more than a butler for Nia, providing little essentials. He is a silent character for the most part, speaking only one line, to my knowledge, in the entire series.

Gimmy: Gimmy is a boy they pick up along the way in Arc one along with his twin sister Darry. He’s a very excitable little kid in the first and second acts, always enthusiastic about anything that’s going on and shouting encouragement to those doing battle. In Arc three he becomes a new gunmen pilot in a gunman modeled after Gurren Lagann. He’s head strong and tends to rush into battle without thinking, but that’s what Darry is for.

Darry: Darry is Gimmy’s twin sister who joins the group along with him. She’s pretty much his exact opposite, very calm and seemingly apathetic of what’s going on. She’s more calculating than her brother in Arc three when she also pilots a gunman. She’s the one who looks at a situation, finds the dangers and how they can avoid them and strike a critical blow. She’s probably the only reason Gimmy hasn’t gone and gotten himself killed yet.

The Black Siblings

Kittan: Kittan is the oldest of the four siblings who join the group in arc one. He has three younger sisters, Kiyoh, Kinon and Kiyal. He’s about as stubborn and head strong as Kamina with a bit of an ego to go with it. He has that leader vibe to him, but he also knows when to step down and let someone else take charge. Still, even when he’s taking orders from Simon or Kamina he’s a leader in the ranks, always the first to say charge.

Kiyoh and Kiyal: Kiyo and Kiyal are the oldest and youngest of the black sisters and the boldest of the three. They will enter the battle at times, joining Kittan in gunmen. Kiyal does nothing worth mentioning but Kiyoh gets married by Act three and gives birth to the one millionth human on earth.

Kinon: Kinon is the middle sister and probably the most impressive. She rides in a gunman only twice in arc three but she probably does the most out of all three of them. She falls in love with Rossiu. How? Not entirely sure. But it happens and because of this she does some crazy stuff, like gets in Gurren strapped to a bomb to keep Simon from running away. She seems like the timid one at first but she’s actually pretty confident and her head’s as hard as her brother’s. She’d defend Rossiu no matter what, and does on several occasions.

Anti Heroes

Viral: Viral is a beastman who becomes Kamina’s arch rival and by inheritance, Simon’s for arcs one and two. Viral is fairly skilled with his gunman but he’s no match for Simon, no matter how hard he tries. Viral pulls on your heart strings more than most characters. He’s pissed at losing his commanders to the rebels and he wants revenge for their deaths, that’s it. But it seems like no matter who he’s under he’s always getting kicked around. He saved his second commander’s life and how does she repay him? She smacks him around with her tail calling him an idiot and he just sits there and takes it. In arc two, however he has sort of a heel-face turn. He’s captured early on supporting some anti-government group who want nothing more than to live underground as they have for centuries. He and Simon are thrown together in jail and have a sort of male bonding thing as they beat the crap out of each other and a random fight starter. When Yoko breaks them out he joins Simon as the pilot of Gurren for his own selfish reasons, of course.

During one of the last episodes the Anti-Spiral send each of the team into an alternate universe of their own making. In it they each see what they most desire, Simon is with Kamina, Yoko is famous and so on. Viral’s is probably the saddest out of all of them. Since he’s a beastman he can’t reproduce. In his universe there’s little more than him, a wife and their little girl. And he gives it up so readily once he realizes it’s nothing more than a dream.

The Helix King: I’m putting him with the anti heroes because I’m not convinced he was really a villain. They fought him in arc two as the villain but when they bring him back as a bio computer in arc three we learn that he was trying to protect humanity from the Anti-Spirals by keeping the humans underground. Because of the whole one million population limit thing. Admittedly he does seem like kind of a douche. He gives Viral eternal life just so he can tell his story over and over to future generations. He also tossed Nia out like an old doll and did the same to tons of her sisters before her. I’m still not sure exactly why he did this, but he seems to feel bad about it in arc three when he’s busy redeeming himself for past sins. He’s really useful in arc three and even gets his body back briefly to fight the Anti-Spiral with, sacrificing himself for the benefit of the group.

Gunmen: Gunmen are the mechs in Gurren Lagann. It seems like pretty much everything is a gunman from the beastmen’s base to their capital. Even the moon is really a giant gunman. These mechs are powered by Spiral Energy which every human exerts with passionate emotions. Spiral Energy isn’t limitless, however and drains a person’s physical energy as well. Gunmen won’t run if the pilot is too hungry, either. I’m not exactly sure why. A pilot enters the gunmen through its mouth which has this double set of teeth thing going on. Because the entrance is in the mouth and it leads straight to the cockpit in the center of the gunman there are a lot of mechs running around without heads and faces on their torsos… or worse, in the case of one beastman her gunman’s mouth was just about at crotch level. It was kind of awkward to watch her talk, since the gunman’s mouth moves as the pilot speaks. They’re pretty nifty that way.

Spiritual energy does a lot more than just power the gunmen. It can also transform them and regenerate lost parts. This takes a huge surge of energy, though, so it happens less often than you might think. Some gunmen, like Lagann can combine with practically any gunman to make an even more powerful gunman. Lagann usually combines only with Gurren to form Gurren Lagann and then from there the combination of the two combine with even bigger gunmen to form even bigger gunmen, each new gunman piloted by the last gunmen. So you get mechs like Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann which piloted by Arc-Gurren-Lagann which is piloted by Gurren-Lagann. So it’s a gunman piloted by a gunman piloted by a gunman. Yeah, is your mind blown yet? That’s not all, though. These gunmen tend to take on the personal characteristics of their pilots and adapt any outside equipment added to match the rest of the gunman. So when Gurren-Lagann steals’ Viral’s gunman’s helmet, or a random flying gunmen’s wings, they transform to match Gurren-Lagann and become part of the gunman as a whole. This is a little more confusing with the helmet since it only appears when Gurren and Lagann combine.

Art: I just really quickly want to touch on how fun the art style is in this anime. It’s not the traditional anime style but almost a rougher version of it. There are a lot of thick likes used and the more intense the action the thicker and sketchier the art looks which just helps add to the feel of the whole battle scene. The colors too are something to note. They primary colors tend to stand out the most, red and blue being the favorites. Anything important is either red or blue especially in relation to Gurren Lagann. This really helps to set the mood of the whole anime.

Story:

Arc One: Arc one is a journey of discovery and a struggle for power. We follow Kamina and Simon as they discover the surface world and all the dangers it holds for them. Simon learns the most in this arc, finding his inner strength and growing into a braver person, much like his brother. We learn all the essentials in this arc, what the gunmen are what the beastmen are and generally how the world works. This arc comes to a climax at the battle for the beastmen’s base.

Arc Two: Arc two is a struggle for freedom. We now know what’s going on and who is causing all the trouble so naturally, Dai-Gurren Brigade is going after them. With Kamina’s death the group is thrown into some chaos but they push through, even as they sort out how to proceed. In the Arc we learn a little more about what’s going on in the world but mostly we just watch Simon become a strong, more competent leader and beat the crap out of most opponents. This arc’s climax comes at the battle against the Helix king.

Arc Three: Arc three is a battle for survival. The earth is being threatened by the Anti-Spiral and the Spiral Nemesis who want to destroy the Spiral Beings. It gets kind of confusing who is who but the important thing is that they’re not going down without a fight. Simon shows his true strength as he fights to defend his people, even when they turn against him. They go beyond the universe to eliminate the problem at its core and make the world safe for generations to come. This arc comes to a head in the final battle against the Spiral Nemesis.

Final Battle: As is to be expected from Gurren Lagann, we have an epic final battle to close the series. The battle against the Spiral Nemesis is in several parts, every time they thing, ‘this is it, we’re almost past it’ another more dangerous opponent appears. Once they reach the true boss, they are put in a sort of dream state in which they each are sent into their own alternate universe. As usual, it’s up to Kamina to save Simon. I know, Kamina’s dead, but he’s played such a huge roll in Simon’s life and the lives of others that it doesn’t matter. He shows up anyway. So with a new will to win, the Dai-Gurren Brigade takes down their toughest opponent yet, with a lot of sacrifices.

Ending: The team returns to earth with Nia so that she and Simon can get married. However upon their wedding kiss Nia begins to disappear and to everyone’s shock, save Simon, she disappears completely. Simone tells them he they knew she would have to go since she was really just a program in human form and with the Anti-Spiral gone she couldn’t continue living. With that, he passes Lagann to Gimmy and disappears himself, saying he’s simply Simon the digger, and that’s what he always will be.

After the credits roll we see Gimmy and Darry as well as Rossiu and some others far in the future, still running the government peacefully. We watch as a small boy tries to open a coconut with a drill with some difficulty and a stranger, wearing a cloak, help him out. It’s kind of a cute, peaceful little seen to wrap up a rather violent anime series.

Wrap up: I am thoroughly in love with Gurren Lagann! Just the feel alone that super manly pumped up feeling you get from watching it would be enough even if the story was crap. Which it’s not!  The story is thrilling and the action fun to watch. It’s absurd at times but that only makes it better. It’s all about strength of heart and the power of the spirit. The art is beautiful and the colors captivating. This is why it gets my number two spot.

 

Number Three: Kuroshitsuji

My History: I was introduced to Kuroshitsuji or Black Butler as it’s known in America, through my sister first and later through my friend Brelyn. It took me a while to really get into it, to be honest. I love the idea of it and some of the cases are rather fantastic and, most importantly, the characters are wonderful. However towards the end it gets a little funny and that I’m not very fond of. Really, most of my love is for the Manga, which is up to 53 chapters, I believe online and three volumes published in America, which I’m considering collecting. At any rate I do enjoy watching Sebastian fight with silverware, and I feel that alone should earn it the number three spot.

Overview: Kuroshitsuji is the story of the young Earl Ciel Phantomhive, a twelve-thirteen-year-old boy whose family was murdered in a fire which consumed the family estate. Ciel himself was captured by a cult and branded before he called upon a demon to make a deal for his soul. Upon forming a contract with the demon known as Sebastian Michaelis Ciel gains “one hell of a butler” to do his every command until his revenge is complete. In this series we watch as Ciel, head of the Phantomhive family and the Queen’s Guard Dog, keeps order in the Underworld of London and searches for those who put him through such torment.

Characters

Ciel Phantomhive: Ciel is a very dark, serious young man, mature way beyond his years. Without hesitation, he formed a contract with a demon for the sole purpose of humiliating and torturing those who humiliated and tortured him. He comes off as a very cold, calculating person and to those who don’t know any better, something of a brat. He will do quite literally anything to accomplish his goals, whatever they happen to be. The Phantomhive family for generations have been ‘the Queen’s Guard Dogs’ keeping order in the Underworld and handling whatever the police cannot. Ciel carries out the duties of his family, even though he’s only twelve. Even though he acts more like a man than a child, we do see his weaker side every so often. In little things, like making Sebastian promise to always be by his side, or asking him to stay with him until he falls asleep. He is engaged to his cousin Elizabeth who is his exact opposite. She is the only person he ever tries to please in the anime. It’s clear that he cares for her, even if she seems to annoy him most of the time.

Sebastian Michaelis: Sebastian is one hell of a butler, in every sense of the word. He does everything around the mansion, to make up for the servants incompetence, and everything for Ciel. He is bound to Ciel through the contract which means whatever Ciel orders him to do he must do without fail. While it appears that Sebastian cares only for Ciel’s soul, which he will devour once the contract is fulfilled, there’s always a little doubt in our minds as to if that’s really the case. In some instances it appears that Sebastian might actually care for Ciel rather than just his soul. But he’s a tricky demon, so you can’t be too sure. Sebastian’s one weakness seems to be cats. He is a cat person through and through and he just can’t help himself when he’s around them. This is more prominent, I think, in the manga, but they make it quite clear here as well. Sebastian is quite cool and suave at times. He can get information out of just about anyone and can decipher even the tiniest shift in emotion. He’s also found a new way of using silverware. And as always, he’s one hell of a butler.

Servants: The servants are useless. They really can’t do what they appear to be hired to do. In reality they were each hired for their special skills which are useful for protecting the mansion.

Bard (chef): Bard was in the army before he came to live in the mansion as the Phantomhive’s cook. He believes in cooking things fast and what’s faster than dynamite… or a flame thrower? He often blows up the kitchen, which I assume Sebastian repairs regularly. As far as I can tell, he probably can’t actually cook. However, he is an excellent shot and has a good eye for battle.

Finnian: Finny is the gardener of the Phantomhive estate. His super strength is often more than he can handle. He’s not very good at gardening and often times ends up killing the plants he’s supposed to be tending. However, Finny is adorable and has a huge regard for all life. He was kept in a dark place before he came to the mansion and used for medical experiments which led to his super human strength. Despite this sad background, Finny is always smiling. He’s the youngest of the group and the most sensitive. He’s also my favorite.

Mey-Rin: Mey-Rin is the only maid in the Phantomhive household. She’s extremely farsighted and wears huge glasses which were given to her by Ciel when she first arrived. She was chosen for her skill with guns of all sorts it seems. She’s an amazing shot without her glasses since she sees better far away. Mey-Rin is extremely ditzy at times and very clumsy, often breaking dishes and falling with fragile objects and using shoe polish instead of cleaning liquid. She’s also a huge pervert and rather prone to nosebleeds. Just being near Sebastian gets her excited.

Tanaka: Tanaka is the only servant who has been there longer than Sebastian. He is a remnant from the old mansion and has served the Phantomhive household for a very long time. Tanaka is the only competent servant but he has his faults. He comes in two forms, a little almost chibi type form in which he does nothing but drink Japanese tea and can say nothing but ‘hohoho’ and the ‘real Tanaka’ form in which he is a tall old man capable of speech and usually conveys some important information. Real Tanaka only comes out every so often because of a wound he received when the mansion was burned down.

Pluto: Pluto is a demon dog found only in the anime. He’s not really much of a character. He takes human form sometimes and other times he’s a huge silver dog that breaths fire. The angel uses him to set London on fire. But before that they find him in some crazy village and take him home so he won’t terrorize the village anymore. He’s extremely loyal to Sebastian, doing anything he says. He’s kind of friends with Finny mostly because Finny’s strong enough to play with him. Other than that there’s not much to him.

Outsiders

Lady Elizabeth: Elizabeth or Lizzy is Ciel’s fiancé. She is an adorable little girl who absolutely adores anything cute. She has a very light-hearted personality and is always trying to make Ciel smile. She misses the days before the incident when the mansion was full of laughter. She often times tries too hard which leads to her being slightly annoying. She is kind of a brat, but her heart is usually in the right place, so she is tolerable.

Madame Red: Madame Red is Ciel’s aunt on his mother’s side. She’s named after her red hair and clothes. She was in love with Ciel’s father, but could not hate her sister for marrying him. This makes Ciel very special to her, since he is the child of the two people she loved most. On top of that she lost her own unborn child along with her husband in a carriage accident and is unable to have children. This is what leads her to take on the persona of Jack the Ripper in the first major case we see Ciel take on. Despite secretly being a serial killer Madame Red is not a bad person. She is a doctor, she fawns over Ciel as much as he’ll let her and she tries to smile and laugh to hide the pain she feels inside.

Grell Sutcliffe: Grell is a very special Death God. He is disguised as Madame Red’s butler when we first meet him and a very poor butler at that. He is very clearly male but seems to labor under the delusion that he is female… I think. He’s rather in love with Sebastian, which they use to their advantage whenever necessary. Grell is flamboyant in every way possible. He wears all red, like his mistress, and has a thing for blood. He is, of course, a huge pervert and will go after any handsome man he finds.

Undertaker: This is one of my favorite characters. The Undertaker is Ciel’s go-to source for information on the dead, since any corpse found in London finds its way to him. But he doesn’t work for free. The Undertaker demands a good laugh for any information he might have. He’s a very bizarre character but that’s why we love him. He’s dark and amusing at the same time. He also happens to be a legendary Death God.

Prince Soma: Prince Soma is a prince from India who came to England in search of his ‘nanny’ Mina. He’s seventeen-years-old and he really only has two friends, Mina and Agni, his loyal servant. Mina was taken away by an Englishman when he wasn’t there so naturally he assumed she was kidnapped and has come to take her back with him. He’s a brat, really, and has a tendency to angst once it looks like even Agni has left him. He has a very childish attitude towards just about everything and for whatever reason, he really likes Ciel. Given, Ciel does help him out a lot, but he’s kind of surprisingly attached to him. At any rate, he’s not so bad once Sebastian and Ciel knock some sense into him.

Agni: Agni is Prince Soma’s most loyal servant and his only friend until they come to England. Soma saved him when he had reached the absolute bottom and was about to be hanged. Because of this, Agni warships him as his god and everything he does is for the good of Prince Soma, even when it looks like he’s betraying him. Agni’s right hand is called the “Right Hand of God’ and has some supernatural powers. He’s the only human who poses any challenge for Sebastian ever.

Queen Victoria: The Queen isn’t much of a character until the ending half of the series. She remains in the shadows either off screen or behind a black vale. She orders Ciel around and much like Sebastian he is completely loyal to her. So when it turns out she wants to ‘purify the unclean’ including him, he has a tough time turning against her. She really is rather mad, driven so by the grief of losing her husband Albert.

Ash/Angela: These characters are the same person, an angel, how plays the key role in the Queens plan for purification. In fact it is them behind it all along. They are an angel who feels humans cannot be saved. Angela appears in several places, ‘purifying’ people by ‘rewriting’ their pasts. She tries to do this to Ciel and fails. Ash is the Queen’s butler and her loyal servant… until he finds her to be unclean as well. Meh, it happens.

Supernatural: This confuses me greatly. We have demons, Death Gods and angels and they’re all flying around seemingly doing their own thing. Now I understand that demons eat souls. I understand that by forming a contract with a demon you promise your soul to them and I think by granting that wish the soul becomes tastier or something like that. Or maybe it’s just revenge that does that… I don’t know, either way that’s how the demons work. Death Gods collect souls and judge their lives by using their “Cinematic Record.” They collect the soul with their Death Scythe then review the record to determine if the soul will go to heaven or hell. They generally tend to be neutral in most matters. Angels are where it gets confusing. What are they doing? Where did they come from? Why are they there? I know Ash/Angela is running around trying to ‘purify souls’ though I have a hard time believing that’s what all angels are doing. It’s really just confusing when you throw them in there and don’t explain anything about them. I may have missed some minor explanation at some point but if it was that easy to miss, I think there should have been more.

Story: As is the case with most anime, the plot is developed slowly through a series of seemingly unrelated events. We are introduced to characters and concepts and given little bits of information all while watching Ciel and Sebastian fight crime, or something like that. No matter what he’s doing, however, Ciel always seems to have a personal reason for doing what he does. Sebastian follows his orders without question, even if he does it in somewhat unconventional ways. Most of the problems Ciel faces for the queen have something to do with the occult or have some supernatural element involved. The story is developed rather well over time, but the farther in we get, the more concentrated the story becomes and sometimes it can get a little tedious with the picked up pace. However, there is enough new information being thrown in and twisted with the old to keep it interesting until the end.

Finally: You wouldn’t think at the beginning of the series that in the end it would boil down to the classic angel and demon show off. Well it does and I have to say, it’s kind of a disappointment. Sebastian, known for his badassary and super fantastic amazing skills at everything is facing off against an unproven opponent who we don’t really know that much about. When he was facing Agni we at least get some idea of his strengths and see him use it before they face off. With his fight against the angel we see them fight a little but it’s nothing terribly impressive and we don’t really get the sense that he’s much of a challenge for Sebastian even when he’s kind of kicking his ass. And in the end, Sebastian takes him down without much trouble just by fighting in his true form, which we don’t get to see. I’m pleased that they at least left that a mystery for us.

The final stretch is actually a pretty good sum up of the entire series. They float down some river in a boat, Sebastian probably stole, and Ciel’s life moves under them. (It makes sense if you’ve seen the anime.) They talk briefly about the servants and what’s happened but in the end decide none of it really matters. Sebastian takes him to a special place, Ciel gives his final order and it’s heavily implied that Sebastian eats his soul. I’m rather pleased with this ending, even if the final battle was kind of lame. I would rather this be the end, than have it go on in Kuroshitsuji II, which I’ve already reviewed. It’s plausible but I like this ending better.

Wrap up: Kuroshitsuji is really better as a manga but the anime is pretty good as well. I do enjoy watching Sebastian kill people with silverware and the servants goof off and Grell hit on Sebastian. It’s not as well done as some of the other animes I’ve reviewed but it’s entertaining enough for me and that’s why it gets my number three spot.

 

Late Night Writing

Have you ever noticed, those of you who are writers, that at that moment when you’re just about to go to sleep, or should be going to sleep, you suddenly get struck with inspiration that’s so good you can’t wait until morning, partially for fear of forgetting it, to at least start it. So you get out the computer at 1:20 in the morning and you start writing and once you start you can’t very well stop, so by 3:00am you have several pages of something, and a twitching eye from lack of sleep.

This is just one of the reasons I do a lot of writing at night. The other thing is, I have nothing else to do. That really is an awful thing to say since I do spend a good bit of my day playing stupid flash games and watching anime, but that’s far beside the point. Once it gets to that point of ‘yeah, I should probably go to bed’ I usually have run out of ways to procrastinate, and I figure, I haven’t written anything all day… I should probably write something, just to make sure I did at least something. So I start writing. I think ‘I’ll just write a paragraph… or two… or three… and soon I’ve gone off and done something productive and it’s way later than I wanted to be up.

This is the problem with being a procrastinator; you think all day ‘I have time, I can do it in a little while’ and by the time you get around to it it’s very late. But, sometimes it can’t be helped. Sometimes you need to be in that half asleep, gotta get this done, mode before anything can come out of that bizarre little brain of yours. For example: I wrote my best story ever three nights in a row. I finished it at 4:20 in the morning. That might have also been because that was before I had a lap top and night was the only time my sister wasn’t barging in demanding, “It’s my turn!”

Another theory I have is that it’s the moons pull on a writer’s brain that allows them to be more creative at night. That’s completely ridiculous, though and only a writer would come up with it. Is it like this for other artists? Do you work better late at night?

 

Holiday Funs

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope all of you had a lovely holiday. As tends to happen when you get older, my Christmas has become routine. The lead up was filled with the cooking of Christmas cookies and decorating the tree. I managed to watch one or two Christmas specials while doing so. Christmas Eve came and we went to Church as always, a surprisingly simple service, but a good one, then it was off to a family friend’s house for the Christmas Eve party.

After opening our Christmas pajamas it was off to bed for me. I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that at nineteen years old I still have trouble sleeping on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning we opened presents at 8:30; I got several new hats, some clothes, Dragon Age Origins and a lovely purple ring. We then spent the rest of the morning and afternoon in our respective areas doing as we normally do. Actually, I spent the day watching MythBusters on Netfix. Around seven we headed off to my uncle’s house on my dad’s side for Christmas dinner.

Yesterday was spent at my aunt’s house on my mom’s side for their Christmas gathering. This was somewhat more entertaining as I had a Brittney to play with. Does that sound dirty? It should.  Anyway, we spent half the night playing Just Dance, Just Dance 2 and Just Dance for Kids. We’re just that special.

I guess I should take this time to address something that you may but probably aren’t wondering about. The top five anime reviews have been missing! Yes well, there’s a reason for that. After re-watching Gurren Lagann and starting Kuroshitsuji I decided that I only put Kuroshitsuji in the second place spot because of the manga and no the anime, which is unfair because the anime isn’t as good as the manga and I actually like Gurren Lagann better. SO I have decided to switch the two which means you have to wait until I get the Kuroshitsuji review up to see the Gurren Lagann review. And with all the festivities production has been very slow. Hopefully, though, I’ll have both up this week… hopefully.

 

Review Friday: A Muppet’s Christmas Carol

Merry Christmas! It’s Christmas Eve so naturally I have to review a Christmas movie. For today I reached deep under our entertainment center and pulled out a childhood and adulthood favor it of mine. A Muppet’s Christmas Carol.

This is probably my absolute favorite Christmas special of all time. The story of A Christmas Carol is an ancient and well known one first told by Charles Dickens. The tale of a miserly old money lender named Ebenezer Scrooge who is haunted late Christmas Eve by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future and through this experience is radically changed for the better. It’s a dark tale full of deep sorrows and frightening revelations as well as some heartwarming and touching sentiments from his faithful clerk Bob Cratchit. But you all know the story.

This is A Muppet’s Christmas Carol; a wonderful and fun spin on the classic and haunting tale. It has all the spook and emotional depth of the original with that fun Muppet’s feel to it. It’s narrated by Gonzo as Charles Dickens and Rizo the Rat as himself. We follow them as they follow Scrooge through his journey of enlightenment. The cast is filled with all our favorite Muppets, from Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy to Animal and Uncle Sam.

So why do I like this version so much? Why do I enjoy it far more than any other version of A Christmas Story I’ve ever seen? Well because it’s a musical of course! Okay, maybe that’s not the only reason, but it is definitely a factor. As always the music is wonderful and sets the mood so well. The song we get when Ebenezer first appears is chilling and dark and one of my favorites. They’re not all gems, of course. I was never terribly fond of “The Love is Gone” when Belle is breaking up with him, but it’s not an awful song.

I’m probably a huge sap, but I still cry when Tiny Tim is dead, even in the Muppet version. It takes some talent to take a classic story, toss the Muppets in there and still have it be just as beautifully moving as the original. I’m keeping this review short since it is Christmas Eve and I figure no one is actually going to bother checking it today. So with this I say, Merry Christmas every one! Go what A Muppet’s Christmas Carol, even if you’ve already seen it.

 

The Art of Giving

Gift giving is an art form. One in which I am not particularly talented. I love receiving gifts, and I enjoy giving them as well, but really only when I have something perfect to give. I’m not a very good gift giver.

Here’s the thing about gifts. Just as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, a gift is probably worth just as much. You can tell so much about a person and your relationship with them by the gifts you exchange. The perfect gift says not only that you put a lot of thought into the gift, but that you know the person well and you care enough about them to pay attention and learn what they like. This is the danger of giving gifts as well. A gift that misses its mark can reveal just what you think of a person and how much they truly mean to you. If this is not very much… you see the problem? Here’s the trouble for people like me who aren’t very good gift givers. We can put a lot of thought into a gift and still somehow mess it up so that the wrong message is sent. Or we fall into the trap of ‘I don’t know what to get so I won’t get anything at all.’ This is no good also.

Some people are really easy to buy for, like my friend Brelyn. Brelyn likes unicorns. If I get her something unicorn related she’ll be pleased. She also tends to state things she wants so if you pay enough attention you can catch an idea or two just by talking to her. Then there are people who are harder to buy for, like my brother. What he wants is usually electronic and expensive. I still haven’t figured out what I’m getting him. I’m thinking I might just give him whatever money I have left by Christmas and tell him to buy music with it. There are, of course, those people who are impossible to buy for, like my ex. Why are they impossible? Because they don’t want anything. Either they have nothing they really want or they just don’t want people buying them gifts so they say they don’t want anything. Either way they’re impossible.

I will never understand people like my sister who want to know what you got them as soon as you buy it, rather than waiting until Christmas to open it. For me, half the fun of presents is the reaction factor. Both my reaction when I get a surprise and the reaction of the person I’m giving a gift to. I love seeing the look on a friend’s face when I’ve gotten them the perfect gift. I love the thrill of opening a present and finding something fantastic inside. I was actually a little disappointed this past Tuesday when I was at the mall with my family. I found this adorable hat at Claire’s and my mom told me she had been looking for a hat just like it to get me for Christmas. We bought the hat and she put it with my other gifts, but even though I know now that I will get something I love, I’m a little sad. I can’t help but think what a perfectly good reaction has been wasted. Those are the best thrills, after all; opening a gift to find something totally unexpected that you absolutely adore.

I was slightly frustrated these past two weeks because one of my friends has a birthday in December. Why does this frustrate me, you might ask? Well, it’s because I have to think up two fantastic gifts in a short amount of time. I had the best idea ever a while ago to knit house scarves for my friends for Christmas. That’s not going as well as I’d hoped but that’s beside the point. I ended up giving her her Ravenclaw scarf for her birthday so I would have more time to figure out what to get her for Christmas. I was drawing a complete blank for two weeks, then my mom made a suggestion and it’s kind of cheesy, I won’t lie. But I think she might like it, so I’m going with it. Thing is right after I finally got half the present purchased I was struck with inspiration. Something rather obvious, too, that I could have gotten her and she probably would have loved… and it was too late. So she’s stuck with the cheesy gift. I hope she likes it.

 

Flash Games Ruin Lives

Yes, flash games are the root of all evil. Why, you might ask? Well I’ll tell you. Flash games are addicting. Once you start playing them, you won’t be able to stop, ever.

I’ve been in one of those moods lately. So when you happen upon this site and say, hmm, the title says Daily Rant but she hasn’t posted anything for like three days, this is why. I’ve been suffering under the influence of flash games. It starts with an urge. A vague memory of some amusing game played on the internet some time ago. Then you Google it, searching words like ‘diner flash game’ or ‘mahjong connect.’ Soon you’ve not only found the game you were looking for but a whole plethora of other games that look just as entertaining. So you figure, just this one game won’t hurt. And before you know it you’re trapped, a slave to sites like Miniclip.com where you’re forced to play game after game just for curiosities sake.

Have I convinced you yet that I’m completely mad? Good, because I am. What is it about flash games that so amuses me? I honestly have no idea. They’re incredibly simple and particularly mundane. They really are anything but special. Usually they involve a lot of clicking or button pushing in a sequence of some kind. You draw a line and the character follows, you click a customer and then click a table to seat them. You put together a sandwich, you aim a bow, you connect dots, you flip cards, you change lanes, you get the picture? These games are stupid! They’re pointless! They’re incredibly amusing!

I don’t get it, I really don’t. I’ve been playing food related flash games all day. It started with a simple search. I wanted to know who penny the penguin was since my mom likes penguins and mentions her occasionally. What do I find? Penguin Diner. So I play it… it’s one of those flash games with like fifty levels that are pretty much all the same, but you earn game money and can buy new stuff with it so you keep playing just for that. Penguin Diner kept me interested for a couple days but once it was finished I felt the urge to play more diner related games. Why do these amuse me? I haven’t the slightest idea. But naturally I have to search for more. I search ‘Diner flash games’ and I find… Penguin Diner. Over and over and over. Apparently it’s the only diner flash game in existence. So I try a different search and come up with a site that has an entire section devoted to food/restaurant related games. My day is officially ruined.

Sure in between rounds of serving angry customers and assembling food properly I got some work done, watched some anime and somehow found time to eat… but the majority of my day was spent playing games like Diner Dash and Hot Dog Bush. And Let’s Get Cooking which is impossible because the blender doesn’t have a power button. They say it does, but it doesn’t. See? It’s crazy for something like that to make me angry, but it does.

So what does this say about me? I’m easily amused for one thing. I’m also utterly hopeless. Maybe I should get some help? Meh, I’ll add it to my ‘List of Things I Need to go into Rehab for.’

 

Christmas Past

You all know what time it is, I’m sure. That’s right; Christmas is just around the bend. And with Christmas comes Christmas traditions that we all have. When I was a kid it seemed almost as if the build up to Christmas was more exciting that the actual day. And usually it was a lot more entertaining as well.

When I was a kid Christmas time started as soon as Thanksgiving was over. So on the way home from my aunt’s house was the official start of Christmas. After that started the countdown and the race to figure out what to get the family. Dad took us shopping for mom, mom took us shopping for dad and dad gave us money to spend at the school store for whoever else we might want to buy for. Usually these gifts were dumb cheap stuff like fake jewel earrings or necklaces or some other form of meaningless trinket. In those days we weren’t so interested in giving each other presents as we were in shopping for our parents. We wanted to pick out something big, have mom or dad pay for it, then proudly proclaim that we had picked it out when they opened it Christmas morning.

But aside from our selfish Christmas fantasies there were far more fantastic traditions to be followed. My favorite to this day is the making of cookies. The whole house smells of the baking and it’s absolutely wonderful. When we were little we would sit on the kitchen floor as Dad made the cookies and watch them bake in the oven. Some we got to help with even. Sugar cookies were always looked forward to most because we got to cut them out and decorate them later. What could be better? But my favorite cookie will always be the candy canes, to both make and eat.

For those of you who don’t know what a candy cane cookie is, I’ll tell you. It’s a cookie in the shape of a candy cane. Not a cookie made out of candy canes, that’d be just silly. They’re made from red and white shortbread dough, which happens to be my favorite. But the making is always the fun part. It’s not something just anyone can do, oh no. It takes talent and many years of practice to perfect the candy cane cookie making technique. First you have to roll each color in your hands to make it soft and malleable. The dough is naturally crumbly to start out with so you have to make sure it’s really warm and soft before you start or else it will fall apart. Once you have one roll of each color you put the side by side and roll them up one side and down the other so they twist together. Once it’s of the proper length you chop of a little bit on each end and put it on the sheet to be curved into the candy cane shape and baked. This doesn’t sound so hard, you might say. But trust me, it takes talent.

Let’s not forget about the tree. It used to be a huge family affair. We’d pile in the car, going find the perfect tree, sometimes we’d even cut it down ourselves, then back home we’d go to force it through the front door and into our living room. We would then drag out all the lights, us kids watching fascinated by the process and once the star was on and it was all lit up it was time for the ornaments. The ornaments are naturally the best part. Typically we tended to split the three up into three parts. Brother on one side, Erin on the other and me in the middle. Birth order has a funny way of determining family status for the entirety of one’s childhood. At any rate each of us had a theme for our ornaments. Brother always got reindeer, why, I’m not sure. I always got angels because I was my mother’s little angel. And Erin always got lambs because it had sentimental value for my mom. That is until little sister decided she didn’t want sheep anymore and started getting Tweety instead.

And who could forget the Christmas specials? My family had a habit of taping them whenever they were on TV, which then resulted in five or six tapes, at least, full of Christmas specials. And every year we would pull these tapes out practically the day after Thanksgiving and sit and watch them from beginning to end. Garfield’s Christmas was always a favorite of mine along with the Grinch and Nick and Noel, the story of a cat and dog who get lost together right before Christmas. How many people watch A Nightmare before Christmas? I didn’t actually see this movie until I was in junior high, but it’s one of my favorites as well. My parents are in love with Opus: A Wish for Wings That Work. This is probably because my mother has a rather intense love for penguins.

Nowadays it seems that the Christmas preparation season is far more dull and mundane than it used to be. Sure, I can actually buy/make acceptable gifts for both my friends and my family. And by some miracle I actually have friends who want to spend a little of their holiday season with me. I can actually appreciate the gifts I receive and put some real thought into the ones I give. The whole season has become more meaningful and yet less charming at the same time. I find myself more concerned with the finals I just finished and the classes I’ll be starting in January than the tree we have yet to get or the cookies being baked in the kitchen. I miss the Christmas feeling, the smell of the season, the excitement of just sitting and watching the tree lights sparkle or pulling out every single tape packed full of Christmas specials recorded off TV probably before I was born.  Perhaps I’ll pull them out again and try to recapture the feeling.

 

My Head Hurts

My head hurts. I thought you should be informed of this as I practice masochism for your sake. And of course by your sake I mean the sake of the random internet wanderer who happens upon this site and pauses long enough to read this before moving on to bigger and better things. Now where was I?

Did you ever have one of those days where you just don’t want to think? I’ve just had one of those days and it kind of sucks, just a wee bit. The head ache didn’t start until later in the evening but I’ve had that zoned out feeling all day. I finished my last History test of the semester and from here it’s all excess sleep and lounging in bed, for the most part. Unfortunately I’m not quite there yet. I still have a little bit of IT left that I really don’t want to do, but it’s due tomorrow so I don’t have a choice. It’s one of those big tests too, the kind you look at and decide it’s just not worth it. Well, I don’t get to do that. But I put it off because right now as I’m writing this, I really don’t feel like it.

I don’t want to think. I really would love to just shut down my brain completely and let it cool down for a while. I realize by the time you all will read this my head will feel much better and I may even have some energy, but as of now, I’m not feeling it. It’s kind of weird, really. I tend to get my best thoughts when I don’t want to think. The less I think, the better the ideas that come. I got two new story ideas while staring out the window this morning. Funny, no? I was also supposed to by studying at that point, but meh.

This is the hard thing about not thinking though. So many things require thought. I have to use my poor little brain to watch anime because I have to read the subtitles while keeping up with the visuals. A little more than my aching head can handle right now. I also can’t really play video games because they require decision making and I don’t want to deal with that right now either. I can’t read web comics, I can’t read period. Reading is the main thing, I think. I suppose I could knit if I really wanted to… but I don’t. I should be asleep but since I’m not going to school tomorrow I thought maybe I would stay up late, just for kicks and giggles. It was a stupid idea. I took a nap and everything and still I just want to curl up and sleep. So that’s what I’ll be doing if you need me. No thinking, just sleep.