Magazine Recommendation - International Artist

While browsing through the magazine section of a local bookstore during lunch time a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled onto this magazine. The artwork on the cover caught my attention, and I picked it up and flip through the pages.

The quality of the art featured in the magazine was astounding, and best of all, it offered a step-by-step look at an evolution of a painting from various artists. It also features artists and their works, explaining their inspiration and style. It was a bit difficult to follow as they assumed the reader has some level of proficency in the arts. But nevertheless, the art works featured in the magazine itself is good enough to pick it up.

Bi-monthly, at a cover price of S$14.50. I bought my copy at Times the Bookshop.

Haul of the Day - 18 Dec 2006

Finally, Kinokuniya Singapore announced its public 20% storewide discount on Sunday, but only for a limited 2 day period. I was scanning through the Sunday papers, and did not notice until I saw it in the Chinese edition. It was then already too late for me to go on Sunday, so I had to make another trip on Monday (which is the last day) to the Orchard branch to get the books I had been holding out for so long.



From the top left, HyperHobby December 2006 edition, Graphic Novel The Fountain and trade paperback Essential X-men Volume 1.

I bought HH for a coupon for a magazine exclusive mailaway Medicom RAH DX Kamen Rider No.2 (old version), which TFH will help process for its members.

The Fountain is a movie adaptation of the same name, starring Huge Jackman (this guy is everywhere), about the fountain of youth. It is illustrated by Kent Williams, one of my favourite comic artists (reason why I picked it up).

Essential X-men vol.1 collects some Uncanny X-men story which I read in some UK comic magazines I bought ages ago. The story arc was illustrated by John Bryne, and I was simply amazed by the black and white artwork then. So I had to pick it up for the complete story. But I think John Bryne's artwork now is not as good as what he had done during those days.

I was also contemplating to get Frank Cho's Women, Halo GN (hardcover which I did not really fancy), IDW's Popbot Vol2 or Popbot Collection (a tpb of Vol1 and 2), but my wallet said "Woah, buddy. That's enough for today. Any more and I'll self combust."

DVD - The Batman Complete Third Season

The box art has been released by Warner Bros, and the DVD will hit the streets on April 10, 2007. The collection consists of 2 discs and all 13 epsiodes.

Anime Review - Naruto Movie 2

The show starts off with a battle between the Village of Sand and a mysterious band of warriors from a unique looking ship. As the battle reaches its climax, we move on to see Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru on a mission to retrieve a ferrat. In the mist, they come into contact with the mysterious warriors and a boy in armour with special skills.

During the battle, Naruto and the armoured boy, Temujin, falls off a cliff and is saved by a caravan.

Shikamaru and Sakura, on the other hand, find themselves standing in front of a huge moving fortress. Shikamaru decides to embark on an inflitration mission to find out more.

As the story advances, it will be revealed that all the elements of Temujin, the fortress, the caravan people, and the man behind the whole scheme of things are all related, and the story cumulates in a secret ruins, and the power it kept.

The animation, compared to the first movie, is much better, and the action sequences are great as usual. The background is more detailed, and adds depth to the movie.
The animation sequence involving Sakura's battle in the ruins seemed to be animated differently.

The introduction of Garaa and Kankurou is a nice touch, and it was great to see them in action. Not much was revealed about the powers of the 3 ladies, but it has some resemblance to Dracula and the 3 witches. And surprsingly, none of the senior Shinobi from Konoha were featured, even for a brief moment.

The story was nothing much to get excited about. It still revolved around the theme of blind faith and ambition, exploitation and redemption, much like in the anime.

Overall, it was an enjoyable movie. Personally, I would rank it as a B-.

Anime - Blocker Gundan (Corps) IV Machine Blasters

I remember when I was a kid, I used to catch this anime religiously, over the Malaysia channel. It was dubbed in Malay, so I did not understand anything. But I still liked the show due to the mecha. They were so cool then, and till todate, I still think they are cool.

I used to draw the robots, and I still have a pencil sketch of Bosuparuda that my uncle did.

By the way, I was able to sing the opening and ending themes, in Japanese, then, even though I had no idea what I was singing.

With the advances in technology, I am able to relive my childhood memories, courtesy of youtube. :)

Opening theme


Closing theme


Now my only wish is to have toys of these mecha remade, along the lines of Bandai's Soul of Chogokin. (And hopefully Japan would release this show on DVD, like that it is currently doing for some of the more popular anime from the 70s and 80s.)