Wolf Children

Hana, a young college student meets a strange young man and falls in love with him. Turns out the man is the last of his kind, he can turn into a wolf at will. The two move in together and start a family. They have two kids a little girl named Yuki, she is very wild and full of energy and a little boy named Ame, he is timid and mellow. The father dies in an accident while Ame is still a baby, leaving Hana to figure out how to raise two wolf children on her own. After a few issues arise living in the city she decides to move out to the country so the children can have plenty of room to roam without being noticed. 

 

Beautiful, that is the word that comes to mind when I think of this wonderful movie. The story is touching, the mother has to figure out how to care for her children without the help of the man she loves. Her loneliness is shown in beautiful ways, and even though she is lonely the love she has for her children shines through. The trials and tribulations of her predicament make for a story that works for all ages. It has moments of sweetness and moments of comedy all blended together beautifully. 

The animation of the characters is simply done, much like Summer Wars and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. While the character animation is simple the rest of the animation is breath taking. The scene in which Hana discovers her lover’s true form is full of stars and it’s beautiful. The mountains and the rest of the backgrounds are striking and a nice contrast with the simple character design. The world created for this movie is amazing; it is one of the best I’ve seen.  

 

Overall I highly recommend this movie; it works for kids as well as adults. I plan to add the blu-ray to my collection as soon as possible. So make sure you add this movie to your must watch list.

Attack on Titan

The story is that years ago mankind was forced to live behind huge towering walls in a fortified city, all to escape man-eating titans that now roamed the Earth. The only people who leave the city are the scout regiment and even when they venture outside of the walls many do not return. The regiment is a military force that protects the citizens. The people in the city live in relative peace until the day a huge titan appears and destroys the wall. Eren Yeager a young man witnesses it all including watching a titan eat his mother. His rage leads to him entering the academy in hopes of one day joining the scout regiment so he can kill titans. 

Attack on Titan is one of the top animes of year and for good reason. The animation is amazing, the soundtrack fits perfectly and the story is very entertaining. The animation is so well done, the soldiers flying through the air to attack the titans, the bloody massacres when the titans attack and the day to day life in the city are all exquisite. The design for the titans is very interesting, the huge beings seem to smile while they devour any human they can catch. The music adds to the enjoyment of the show and never detracts from it. The story is interesting and I enjoy the backgrounds of the characters, I can’t wait to learn more about the history of this world and see if and how humanity will win the war. 

I highly recommend this series for any anime fan, unless that fan is a child. This show is not for children, far too much gore and violence. It’s a very enjoyable show though and if you enjoy action or sci-fi you’ll love this show. So if you haven’t watched this series yet you should stop whatever you are doing and watch it!

Tekken

I remember watching the trailers for this movie about a year ago and thinking to myself that we were going to have another failed movie adaptation from a popular video game franchise. While Tekken wasn't a masterpiece by any means, it was still pretty entertaining. Having played the games and understanding the general concept of the story, I had no extensive knowledge of the relationship that there characters shared so it was difficult to determine the accuracy in the writer's plot for this film.

The plot is very simple, in that it explains how and why Tekken City was formed and the mass suffering that surrounds its outer walls. Jin Kazama is the main character, who enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament to kill Heihachi Mishima, believing that he is responsible for the death of his mother. Along the way, Jin develops relationships with various fighters who are present in the game, with the ultimate goal of avenging his mother.

From the knowledge that I do have of the game series, there were some inconsistencies between the game and the movie. The first of which being the dynamic between Heihachi and Kazuya. The second being the relationship in general of all the characters. This second area is very much the same thing that the Street Fighter movies suffered from. The reality is, how do you write an accurate story about a game where all of the characters are expected to fight each other.

Overall, this movie was entertaining. I try not to focus too much on comparing these types of films with their video game counterparts, primarily because this will almost always lead me to disappointment. Taken on it's own, this is worth checking out and should provide you with plenty of fights and action, with a little reminiscence from the games.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Movie

I've spent the last couple of days racking my brain trying to figure out what I would post on next. I have lots of anime shows and games that I could discuss, but I like to watch things close to when I bring them up on Silent Divergence so that they are relatively fresh in my mind. While flipping through the channels today and getting a little frustrated that I didn't have anything "new" that felt I could talk about, I stumbled across a classic movie that I grew up on.

 As I checked through the channels, YTV had a familiar classic that was just starting. It has been a while since I last watched a movie on television as oppose to popping in a DVD or BluRay. While TMNT is not an anime per se, it has had some anime spin-off renditions in some of its later incarnations.

For those who haven't seen this movie. the story outlines how the Turtles came to be...Ninja Turtles. As the crime in New York City increases due to local gang activity established by the Shredder, it is up to April, Casey Jones, and the Turtles to rescue a captured Splinter and stop the thefts caused by the Foot Clan.

I personally loved this movie growing up. Even now, almost 20 years after the release, I still enjoy watching this movie and the two sequels very much. As I look back on older films such as this one, I can't help but notice that the story lines and sequences tend to be more entertaining than some of the newer films that focus more on higher grade special effects and enhanced picture and sound quality. As a whole, this film is fun for the whole family and is certainly one that is worth checking out for  first timers and veterans of the series.

Fist of the North Star (Live Action Movie)

After having picked up Fist of the North Star Ken's Rage on PS3 last week, I've been on a bit of a Fist of the North Star kick. During one of my nights of being bored late I decided to check out Fist of the North Star on Wikipedia (don't judge, you know we all read Wikipedia when we're bored). So anyway, somehow I managed to stumble upon a link that took me to a DVD cover for a live action Fist of the North Star movie. I was immediately excited and completely let down at the exact same time.

The idea of a live action Fist of the North Star was something I thought I would enjoy for sure. I always enjoy watching live action versions of many popular anime shows and movies. The part that let me down was the cast. I'll be honest, I did judge the book by the cover so to speak. The film looks as cheesy as something could get.

After a few days of deliberation, I finally decided that tonight was the night I was going to give this movie its opportunity to impress me. I can honestly say that I was surprised. The film was not great by any standards, but it did not completely suck either. I'm still not a huge fan of the cast, but the story was interesting. Having watched the Fist of the North Star movie (anime version) 7 or 8 years ago, I was a little vague on the details of the story. This film follows the first arc in the series where Shin and Kenshiro battle.

The film tells the story of how Kenshiro received his 7 scars, and how he came to be the Fist of the North Star. The story boils down to Kenshiro and Shin battling to balance the power between the Southern Cross and the North Star. Obviously since there was an entire series that continues well after this arc, it is pretty obvious that Kenshiro wins.

I really can't say how accurate this is with the original movie and the series because it has been a while since I watched the movie and I haven't seen the series yet. As a person who has a little knowledge on this show, many elements in the story felt familiar.

The quality of the  filming was average, but considering the film was made in 1995 I don't expect much in the way of picture quality. The music was almost non-existent. As I write this not one song from the film really comes into my head. The fights were a 50/50 between good and cheesy. Every time Kenshiro did his Hokuto 100 Crack Fist technique it looked like he was dusting dirt off of his opponent. It reminded me of someone having a spaz while swatting at flies.

As a whole, the movie was entertaining. I would recommend it as something to watch if you have interest in the Fist of the North Star franchise. Speaking as a person who doesn't know the ins and outs of the story, I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore fan and it was still a decent film to watch. FYI there was also a Japanese release that came out shortly after the North American dub. The box art below shows how the Japanese can take a cheesy looking film and make it seem much cooler.

Mortal Kombat

So I have been actually under the weather for awhile and what do you when you're not feeling well? The logical and obvious answer would be rest a lot and drink a lot of fluids. However, if I was a doctor, (speaking of which, I'll be doing a post on Black Jack in the near future) I would prescribe you with the same two thing in conjunction WITH watch movies and play games.

Mortal Kombat is no stranger to those who were around in the early 90s. This was the time period that followed the success of the popular Street Fighter (the game series) and spawn many other fighting games such as Killer Instinct and King of Fighters to name two.

So naturally with the success of games, you would have people turning them into movies. The Street Fighter franchise has two live-action movies to date that I can recall but someone can correct me on this if this is not true. Mortal Kombat has also come out with two but I've only watched the first one recently.

There was a lot of potential in this but some of the stuff didn't work out. The characters and the general storyline made some sense. However, there are many minor scenes logically. First example: at the very beginning, who was Shang Tsung talking to? I mean does he know there are people watching him? Another example would the dinner fest scene. Why did Shang Tsung bothered with setting up a fest when before anyone really started. Also, why didn’t anyone stop those two weirdoes fighting at dinner? If you watch it with an analytical mindset like that, you won’t get far into the movie before you have a list of those questions. Instead, you should just watch it like Rambo, The Expendables or even Hangover. That being said, there are a lot of entertainment values actually to be offered.

1) If you have never played the game, this will get you curious about it. It sort of gives you some background info. However, one may find it easier to watch the movie by playing the game first. Either way, it would get you curious about the game.
2) There are actually some good and decent fight sequences/ scenes. So if you like fighting, you would enjoy this.
3) The music. Mortal Kombat is known for its awesome 90s techno music.
4) Funny dialogues. “Fatalities!” “Flawless victory!” Yes, some of those lines from the game were actually integrated into the movie such as this clip.


I’m not going to go into the visual because it’s a movie from 1995, so taking that into consideration, it is acceptable. Overall it’s not the greatest movie but it is not a terrible movie either. So, give it a shot.

The Last Airbender

Don't you hate it when you have a huge selection of things to do for entertainment, but can't seem to find anything to do? I tend to have this issue a lot when choosing a new movie of show to watch. Always trying to find a new anime to watch can sometimes get monotonous (even for an enthusiast like me), so I decided I would dip into the realm of live action for a bit for some change. Now I know there are many out there who would argue that The Last Airbender is not a "true" live action film, but since it is based off of an anime it's fair game for discussion at Silent Divergence.

Now I won't go into the comparisons of whether the anime or the movie was better. I'm sick of hearing the constant battery of live action films in relation to their animated counterparts. I will be the first to admit that we have compared a number of live action films to the animated versions and picked a number of areas to critique. The main reason I won't be doing it this time is because this film was actually good. Naysayers can argue all they want, but the truth is I was entertained by this one.

For those who are familiar with the Avatar anime series, there are currently 3 seasons, each depicting an elemental book (Water, Earth, and Fire). The Last Airbender is based off of the story from the first season or The Book of Water.

The film did a great job of depicting all of the major events from the original story. It has been a few years since I watched the first season of Avatar, but I did recall many aspects of the story as I watched the film. Something that I did find separated this film from many other live actions that I have seen was the story. The writers did a good job creating as few holes in the plot as possible.

The Last Airbender has stunning graphics. The effects used to demonstrate the use of the elements when bending was phenomenal. It was very clear that a great deal of time and money went into the graphical production of this film.

Something that was also appealing was the diversity of the cast. I will be the first to admit that I was very hell bent that having such a diverse cast was going to have the same effect on Avatar that Dragon Ball Evolution had on the Dragon Ball series. The truth is, having watched the film, I think the cast selected lent a great deal of strength in showing how the events in the movie really were global in nature.

I have to highly recommend this film when it is released on BluRay. It really is phenomenal. Speaking from my own experience watching it, I was really hoping that a second one was in the works. From what I have read elsewhere, it looks like there is an intention to create a second film, but it hasn't been started yet. If you are a fan of the Avatar series, I don't think you will be disappointed with this movie. Just give it a fair chance and I am sure you will be very happy with it!

Street Fighter The Movie

Even though it is a far stretch to classify this movie as a live action, I figured since it is based on a great game, it has a place here on Zeta Pulse. We all know that pretty much every movie based on games and Anime series tend to have little to no accuracy when it comes to following the story line. This film is no exception. Nontheless, it is still a good movie IMO. There is a large cast of characters (considering at the time the alpha series hadn't been released) from the Street Fighter II games. The actors selected are also good physical representations of the characters in the games. I could have stood to see Ryu and Ken with a little more size, to be honest, they didn't look like the powerhouses we all grew up with in the games. But there remaining characters were well selected. The story basically follows the whole Shadowloo versus the U.N. Forces being lead by Guile.

The story again ends with the whole good guys win as usual, however, the character development and the attempt to explain the relationships between the characters was interesting. When you think about it, how to you really write a script based on a game where each character kicks the others ass. I can see the challenge in trying to incorporate a decent sized roster in the movie and still have them develop relationships to determine which sides they are one. It was also good to see that the moves given tot he charcters like Ryu's Hadouken and Bison's Psycho Crusher were incorporated into the film.

As cheesy as this movie has been called by so many, I still recommend it to anyone who likes a good action movie and has had the chance to enjoy any of the street fighter games. It really was one of the few that didn't completely butcher the game franchise after its production. And really, who wouldn't want to see Jean-Claude Van Guile kick Bisons ass with a spin kick.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li

I have spent a lot of time priding myself on the fact that I have seen pretty much every Street Fighter game, movie, and comic that's out there. To be honest, I had really low expectations of this movie when I saw it and as a result have been putting it on the bottom of my long list of things to do when I get there. I finally decided to sit down and take the hour and half of my life and have a gamble. To tell you the truth, having little to no expectations of this movie made it pretty bearable. For the most part, the story isn't completely awful, granted it is a pretty far stretch from the story that we all grew up with in the original games. The cast of character from the game was sparse, basically making up only Chun Li (duh), Bison, Nash, Gen, Balrog, and Vega. The selection o factors for the characters could have been better, primarily for Bison. I just wasn't feeling the actor in this role. For the most part, He wasn't scary but kinda looked more like a stressed out businessman.

I mean, look at the comparison between the version selected for this movie on the left and the Bison used for the original Street Fighter Movie. The guy they chose here just didn't have the look and demeanor for the M. Bison we all knew and grew up to fear. I won't draw any further comparisons to this movie in relation to the original or slam it any harder. There were some noteworthy points that give this Street Fighter movie some highlights. For example, how could you not love the fact that they got Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat to play Gen. When you think about it, Gen was always a character in the series who didn't get a lot of hype. I'll be the first to admit that I'd even consider using him in the games now because of the turn around on his character in the movie.

The story was nothing to jump out of your seat over. It was the basic good guys versus bad guys, good guys win. There wasn't a great deal of story development for the whole good versus bad, however, there was some great development in Chun Li's character, even if it does deviate from the story we received in the games.

For the most part, I would recommend checking this movie out if you are a fan of movies based on games, but don't expect a miracle. Its a tolerable watch and for the most part a nice way to kill some time. But nothing ground breaking.

DragonBall Evolution

I have been spending a lot more time watching some of the Live Action movies over the last little bit. I needed a bit of a change but still wanted something that I could write about so I thought I would give some of these films a chance. I have not been a huge fan of Live Action until recently. I think up until now there hasn't been a lot that has caught my interest.

I heard some really bad things about DragonBall Evolution but being the fair person that I am I thought it would only be right to give this film its day to try and impress me. While I don't think the movie was  a complete piece of crap, it came pretty close. There were some elements that I thoroughly enjoyed and others I wish they would have forgone altogether. I think for the most part that the hand to hand combat was not too bad. The battle Ki and "special moves" were a little over the top with the CG but battles were not too bad for the most part. You have to love that they made Chow Yun Fat as Master Roshi, that left for some entertainment as well.

I was a little disappointed with the selection for Goku's character. I have not idea who this kid is that they chose, but he was not convincing. In some scenes, it almost seemed as though it was a spoof on a comedy show. I get that they were trying to set the whole scene in this modern style city like what we would experience day to day, but the reality is that Goku was Japanese in the show. Goku also didn't have this split personality in the TV series where sometimes he was humble then extremely arrogant.

The character for Yamcha was actually a pretty goof match for the most part. He had the personality and voice down pretty good.

Overall, I didn't completely hate the movie, but it won't be getting a second view for me. As for my recommendation, I can only suggest not going into this one with any expectations. Pretend that the series doesn't exist and it won't be so bad.