The End of an Era and an Animated Gift

Tomorrow, May 21, 2011 A.D., will be the end of an era.

Tomorrow, things will change forever.

Tomorrow I graduate.

...oh, and apparently it's the Rapture, too.

Anyway, since I'll be using my amazing new powers as a Bachelor of Arts to fight off the apocalypse,* I will not be writing a normal post this weekend.  So, to celebrate my graduating, here are some links for watching free and legal anime!  Sadly, I can't guarantee that these links will work outside of the U.S., but if I find any I'll do my best to post them.

Funimation: Full episodes of anime licensed by Funimation; I think most of the videos are dubbed in English, but there are also some in Japanese with English subtitles.

Viz Anime: Full episodes of anime licensed by Viz; also a mix of subtitled and dubbed videos.  I recommend Cross Game, if you don't mind something a little slower than most licensed anime.

Crunchyroll: Full episodes of a variety of shows, mostly in Japanese with English subtitles, but with some English dubbing as well.  They also have some Korean live-action dramas, if your into that.

And, because I'm feeling so generous:

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episodes 1 -19 at Marvel.com!  Yes, I know this isn't an anime, but it is a fun show about superheroes that you can watch the first nineteen episodes of legally and for free.  That just needs to be shared.

*Undergraduate degrees totally work like that.  So do apocalypses.

The Fantastic Adventures of H.G. Wells: A Warehouse 13 Spin Off in the Works

This past week marked the end of an era.  Stargate, the science fiction franchise that began as a spin-off to a movie and spawned North America's longest running science fiction television series came to an end on Monday with the last episode of Stargate Universe, the franchise' third live-action series.  While there will be no more Stargate in the foreseeable future (and the release of the Series 5 SG-1 action figures is even less likely now), there may still be some ray of joy in the the dark, Stargate-less future:

"Syfy Prepping 'Warehouse 13' Spinoff Centered on H.G. Wells Character (Exclusive)"

On Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter published an exclusive made of flowers, puppies, and steampunk Tesla guns.  While the franchise of my favorite live-action series of all time has ended, there's a chance that one of my favorite currently airing shows will get a spin off of its own and be the start of a quirky, steam-and-Tesla-powered franchise.  Not only that, but this spin-off would be centered around the amazing and complex character of H.G. Wells (portrayed by Jaime Murray), a morally ambiguous time-traveling, inventor-super-agent.  Who is a woman.

She's the one with the gun.  Note the lack of mustache.

In case you're wondering: yes, she is that H.G. Wells, but the "H" stands for Helena instead of Herbert and she leads an active life-style of inventing and crime-fighting.  No, really.  In the wonderfully wacky world of Warehouse, H.G. Wells' stories are written by her brother but based on her life and inventions.

The spin-off would follow Helena's crime-fighting adventures in the 1890's.  According to the article:

"In this incarnation, she would enlist the help of a mechanical engineer and utilize her relationship with the police commissioner to solve what appear to be unsolvable cases. Both the skills and style she employs will become the framework for the well-known stories of H.G. Wells, as written by her brother."

 I love this idea.  Last season, H.G.'s complexity, intelligence, back story, style, moral ambiguity, and jet-pack (as well as Murray's fantastic acting) made her one of my favorite characters in the series (I have twitter proof).  She was a good character, whose motivations you could never be completely sure you understood until the end.  She kept you guessing and was just fun to watch.

While this announcement about the development of a new series is more detailed than many initial press releases (Buffy, Spidey, I'm looking at you), that doesn't prevent me from speculating about it.  So, because I love bullet points, here's a list of questions about the spin-off:

WARNING: There may be spoilers about the second season of Warehouse 13, so you should go watch all of it now.  This post won't go anywhere.

Old Poll, New Poll, and May the Fourth

First off: Happy May Fourth, Day of Bad Star Wars puns!  Which is to say that StarWars.com has announced it "Star Wars Day" and is releasing information about the Star Wars Blu-ray set.  Because it's May the Fourth.  If you can't/don't want to dig through the official sight, Club Jade posted much of the info here.

My last poll asked which of this year's superhero movies you were most looking forward to, and the results were three votes for Captain America, one vote for Thor, and both Green Lantern and Green Hornet were unloved with zero votes.  I personally was most looking forward to Cap's movie, but I have to admit, I'm getting pretty excited about Thor coming out later this week.

The new poll asks your favorite "Star" franchises.  You may select more than one because, hey, I don't think I could choose between my favorite two.  Let me know which are your favorites in the comments or, if your favorites aren't listed, let me know what they are, why you love them, and why you consider them a "Star" franchise.  Just because I only listed science fiction franchises starting with "Star" doesn't there aren't others with legitimate claim to the designation.

Women, Fantasy, and the New York Times: A Response to Bellafante

You may have heard of the now-infamous New York Times review of HBO's Game of Thrones, based on the fantasy series by George R.R. Martin.  If you haven't, here's the part that has been causing most of the righteous rage at reviewer Ginia Bellafante:

The true perversion, though, is the sense you get that all of this illicitness has been tossed in as a little something for the ladies, out of a justifiable fear, perhaps, that no woman alive would watch otherwise. While I do not doubt that there are women in the world who read books like Mr. Martin’s, I can honestly say that I have never met a single woman who has stood up in indignation at her book club and refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to “The Hobbit” first. “Game of Thrones” is boy fiction patronizingly turned out to reach the population’s other half.

 I was going to add italics to emphasize the extremely offensive bits, but that would be the entire paragraph.

There's not a lot I can add to the responses of Amy Ratcliffe of Geeks With Curves, Alina Pete of Weregeek, and George R. R. Martin himself, so let me just share my personal response:

Dear Ms. Bellafante,

No.

Sincerely,
A Woman Who Adores Fantasy

Once More With Movies: Buffy Gets A Reboot

In case you didn't catch the Buzz of the Day, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been confirmed for a reboot film.  As I am typing this, thunder is booming ominously in the background.  Whether it is a portent or merely an interestingly timed result of Michigan weather pattern, only time will tell.

That's right, you read that first sentence correctly.  There will be a Buffy reboot.  If that shocked you, than brace for impact: Joss Whedon is not involved.  Buffy's new writer will be Whit Anderson, of whom I honestly don't know enough about to comment.  Joss Whedon has already reacted to the news.

I really have mixed feelings about this.  At this point, there just doesn't seem to be enough information for meaningful speculation.   In her interview with the Los Angeles Times, Anderson says that "While this is not your high-school Buffy, she’ll be just as witty, tough and sexy as we all remember her to be."  This could mean that Buffy won't be back in high school for the reboot, but in context with the rest of the article, it could also mean simply that it won't be the same Buffy you remember from when you were in high school.  Not exactly a crammed full of information, are you quote?  At least it says "just as" instead of "even more."  That's a good sign.

The popular TV show ran for seven seasons and was itself a reboot of a far less successful 1992 film, so this film will actually be a reboot of a reboot and will be joining Spider-man in his tangled web of reboots.  The TV series also spun-off a continuation in the form of the comic series Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight, so people who want more Buffy but not without Whedon ought to check that out if they haven't already.


So, because I love bullet-points so much, some things to speculate about despite my assertion that there's not enough info:

• The Setting: I guess I already covered this above, but still.  Will it be high school, college, or neither?  While the original concept was based on the motif of "high school is hell," the TV series hit on all of these times in Buffy's life.  I personally think high school would be the most logical choice, but, hey, you never know.
• The Friends: will the Scoobies (Buffy's friends/side-kicks) be in the film, with new interpretations of Willow and Xander, or will Buffy have new friends?  Over the course of the series, the Scoobies became extremely popular among fans in their own right, so will they be carried over?
• The Cast: this one's pretty obvious.  Since Whedon's not involved, we probably shouldn't expect any of the TV series' cast to return either.  There's also the fact that the series ended seven years ago and the cast has continued aging regardless.
• The Villains: will they be reinterpretations of villains from the series or all-new?
• The Love-Interest: will there be one?  Will he be undead?  Will he be all-new or Angel?  Or would they be so radical as to make it someone from the series who isn't Angel?
• The Vampires: will they return to the campy masks, or-- wait, stupid question.  Here's a better one: how will their appearances differ from their televised counter-parts?  Will their abilities, weaknesses, and lore be different?
• The Story: will it be new or from the series?  While there are plenty of interesting story arcs in the series to choose from, I rather doubt they'll go that route.  Many of them built up over a long period of time and would be difficult to introduce new viewers to, like the Dark Willow Saga.

Those are what I'm wondering about for now.  I'd say more, but I need more time to process this and figure out whether I should be afraid, excited, or both.  At this point, I really don't know how to react, which is probably the proper reaction.

Here are the relevent links once more:

Announcement!
Interview with a Writer!
The Creator's Response!

Remember When SG-1 did that Spoof Episode: SGU Season 1 Retrospective (Also: Guess Who Won The Hugo)

First of all, the Hugo awards have come and gone and I never said anything so: congratuations on getting two "Best Graphic Story" Hugos in two years, Girl Genius!  Keep up the amazing work!  I sadly was unable to complete the Captain Britain and MI13 post before the winners were announced, and should apparently never mention what I'm planning on writing a post about in advance because it never happens.  I am still going to write the point, but don't expect it soon.

Anyway, I've been wanting to compare Stargate Universe with the Stargate SG-1 episode "200" since the series premier, so I figured I may as well do this before I catch up on season two, which just recently started.  "200" the two hundreth episode of Stargate SG-1 spoofs many different science-fiction cliches, tropes, and trends, and I shall be going through the episode looking for ones that have been used in season 1 of SGU, and some SG-1 and Atlantis as well (not all of those, though. that would make this way too long).  This will be done completely from memory, so if I miss any, feel free to post a comment.

WARNING: There will be spoilers and I shall be poking gentle fun at series that I love.  People who that everything seriously all the time be warned!

Let us begin!

SHE LIVES! or What Ryorin Has Been Up To

I seem to have fallen into The Pit Of No Posts again since returning to the U.S.  I have been catching up on wide variety of excellent books and television, as well as the whole of life as general, but I haven't forgotten the Computer Cosmos (or the wonder of bullet points) completely.  Here are a few plots to conquer the world things that I have planned for the foreseeable future:

• I have been reading the books from the Jawas Read Too! Summer of Series Reading Challenge, as mentioned here, I just haven't been doing so well on the discussion part.  I shall shortly post some thoughts on June and July's series.  There will be one post per series, hopefully going up within the next few days.
• I am still planning on rambling on about Captain Britain and MI13 as mentioned here.  It will be up before the Hugo winners are announced.  Really.  I just need to reread it a few more times... yeah...
• The two Syfy shows Warehouse 13 and Eureka are having crossover episodes this week.  This may cause me to be a bit more distracted, but hopefully I'll be able to work my way out of my happy daze and post a bit about it.

I am planning on more posts than the ones listed so far, but there is other writing that I've finally had a chance to do, so hopefully I'll be able to strike a balance where I'm doing a bit of both kinds of writing, but that may not be soon, so posts may be a bit short for a while.  While I will be doing my best to pull myself out of The Pit, I would greatly appreciate any ladders anyone feels like throwing me in the form of comments.

Hopefully my next post will be written when I'm less tired and can think of more bullet points.  Or at least have the energy to comment on Ryan Reynolds costume in the Green Lantern movie:

 ...but then again, everyone else seems to have covered it, so perhaps it's just as well I'm so out of it.

New, From Japan: Ordinary People!

It's about time I talk about being in Japan, huh? Well, If there's one thing being in Japan has helped solidify in my brain (other than the wonder, wonder flavor that is melon) it's this:

People are the same the world over.

This is something I'm reminded of more and more everyday I'm in Japan. I'm currently staying with a family with two small children: a six-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl who remind me way to much of my childhood and my younger siblings. The little boy loves Dragonball Z, a show my older brother and I grew up watching. It was my favorite show for most of my childhood. He also loves Samurai Sentai Shikenger,"the current incarnation of the super-hero franchise that spawned Power Rangers, one of my little brother's favorite shows. Today, he was wearing a T-shirt that looked like the uniform of the leader of said super-hero team and reminding me for all the world of the Ninja Turtle uniform T-shirt my older brother had when he was six and the Ninja Turtles were our favorite super-hero team; it also reminded me of the Spider-man (or Spider-girl!) uniform shirt sitting in my drawer right up the stairs.

I noticed him wearing that shirt and playing with toy cars with his friends(just like I and my brother did when we were little) while I was drinking coffee and visiting with some friends of my host-mom. It came up that I like science fiction and one of the women instantly asked about Star Trek and started explaining the sequence of the series in the franchise to her friend next to her and talking about how she liked the "Picard Era" best (as in Next Generation, but with the word as in "Warring States Era" or "Showa Era." It was pretty cool.) Then we talked a bit about Stargate (another show we both appreciate) and then the movie Men in Black came up and all five of us forgot Will Smith's name at the same moment ("Isn't he that comedian guy? The one with the fat suit in that one movie?" "No, wait, that was Eddie Murphy..." "Wait, wasn't he in a movie with Jackie Cha- no, that's Eddie Murphy again..."). Five minutes later, after the conversation had switched topics a few times, I finally remembered his name and everyone exclaimed an equivalent of "Oh, yeah! Will Smith! Of course!" It was pretty much the definition of a normal conversation (in my book, anyway, which may or may not count).

The little six-year-old boy in my host family will sometimes make a bunch of random noises and ask what that meant in English, just like six-year-old boys in America will make a bunch of random noises and ask what it meant in Japanese or Chinese. The four-year-old girl here acts like any four-year-old in the U.S. would and watches cartoons that my little sister would probably enjoy. Heck, both kids here like "Sponge Bob," a cartoon that I know for a fact my little brother and sister like. I can't help but think that my little brother and sister and the tykes of this house would get along famously.

I mention these things because it's so easy to forget how similar people are when superficial differences are so plentiful. As a student of the Japanese language and as a geek interested in Japanese culture, I've been hearing about how clean and safe Japan is compared to America and how everthing's so much more expensive (this is not technically true; manga and Gundam models are significantly cheaper here, though most everything else is pretty spendy) for a long time. People always seem to want to emphasize the different, whether it be in household customs, forms of transportaion, or comic book publishing (I would like to point out that despite a very different process of comic-creation and publishing here in Japan, and stylistic differences, Japanese and Western comics have a lot in common, but I'll go into this another time).

It's very easy to get a mental image of Japan as a magical wonderland, separated from the rest of the world. It's not. Japan's part of the real world, too. I've seen people run red lights here. I've seen a guy toss garbage out his car window. I've sat on the train in the morning and heard a high school girl's shock and dismay when her friend mentioned that there was a kanji test that day (I mean, who hasn't forgotten about a kanji quiz or seven?). I've seen kids get excited while talking about their favorite super-heroes, and siblings fight over who gets the caramel-filled chocolate instead of the one with nuts, and highschoolers wait until the last minute to get on the train platform so that they can read one more chapter from the comic magazine sitting at the news stand at the train station.  Yes, customs and demographics and crime-rates are different here than America, but the people are fundamentally the same.

This I find incredibly comforting; yes, even the litter.

Warehouse 13 (and Ryorin) Strikes Back

I blame finals. It's not that I didn't have things to ramble about these past few months (that'll happen about twelve and a half years after the end of the universe), it's that I did have finals. And packing. So now I type this to you, my loyal readers (both of you), from Japan. Let's just pretend there was a time-warp and I'm posting in a timely fashion, okay?

Ahem. Moving on...

Last summer saw the premier of a new age of the Sci-Fi Channel... which is to say they changed their name to Syfy. But this summer also brought the premier of Warehouse 13 to the newly re-dubbed "Syfy," a series that gained the highest rating in the channel's history. This wonderful, wonderful show (that I just might've enjoyed a bit) has been renewed for a second, twelve-episode season starting on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. Oh, and Jewel Staite (Kaylee from Firefly and Dr. Keller Stargate Atlantis) and Sean Maher (Simon from Firefly) will both guest-star.

This fills me with joy. Especially since they'll be playing opposite each other. Joy.

So, without further ado, allow me to ramble a bit about one of my favorite shows from last year, Warehouse 13. This is going to be from memory, so work with me here...

The Warehouse 13 agents collect unusual artifacts that are dangerous in some way or another and are often connected with famous historical figures and events (Edger Allen Poe, Harry Houdini, Lewis Carroll, etc.) and bring the artifacts back to the steampunk-esque Warehouse in the middle of South Dakota. It's set in the present, with contemporary clothing and buildings and such but with tons of steampunk aesthetic in the technology used in the Warehouse and by the Warehouse agents, such as the "Farnesworth" communicator to the right.

I know; cool isn't it?

The mix of steampunk technology and modern technological capabilities make the Warehouse pretty dang cool and gives the show an interesting mix of atmosphere and adds a sci-fi/ fantasy feel to a "modern" installation... and it gives the main characters some pretty dang cool toys to play with.

On to the characters! The series starts out with a rather small main cast, focusing on getting to know and developing the characters of Secret Service agents Myka Bering (Joanna Kelly) and Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) who were recently recruited into the top-secret Warehouse of Wonder and Steampunkery. In the first few episodes, the only other character who shows up much is Artie Nielson (Saul Rubinek), who mainly stays at home base and tries to coordinate the agents activities.

This bugged me. It's not that I don't like stiff, calculating Myka and goofy, improvising Pete's banter; I just like having more main characters and inter-character dynamics. Sure, Artie's in every episode and Leena (why does she know about the Warehouse?!?) appears occasionally, but they don't really interact with other characters all that often. The diverse cast of primary and secondary characters is one of the main reasons that Stargate SG-1 is my favorite TV series. Is it too much to ask that this already fascinating steampunk/ X-files-ish/ adventure (?) series just add a few characters?

Enter Claudia, episode four.

Claudia Donovon (played by Allison Scagliott and seen on the far left of the promotional image to the left) is a young "genius wiz-kid" (mad scientist hacker) connected to Artie's past. She's an entertaining character that shakes things up and throws Artie off-balance with her rule-bending, superior knowledge of the cyber-realms, and razor wit. Oh, and there's also that whole "connection to his past" thing I mentioned; the point is, Claudia allows the viewer to learn more about Artie as a person instead of just a kind of distracted mission control.

Episode five, Claudia strikes back and joins the main cast, helping Artie at the Warehouse and befriending the other characters. And Ryorin rejoices. And then Leena (the aura-reading owner of a Bed & Breakfast, played by Genelle Williams) starts showing up more and even Mrs. Fredric (the ageless, shadowy director of the Warehouse, played by C.C.H. Pounder) starts checking in occasionally. Sometimes dreams do come true.

Warehouse 13 being the sort of series that it is and me being the sort of viewer that I am, there are several questions I think could be expanded on in this coming season (I'll leave out the ones that would spoil the phenomenal season finale):

• What is up with Mrs. Fredric? There is clearly more to her than meets the eye; how did she become involved with the Warehouse? What are her goals? How old id she, anyway, and how is it that that can be a serious question?
• MacPherson: Introduced in episode seven, James MacPherson (played by Roger Rees) is the Big Bad of the season, but what are his goals? We do learn about his past, but where do his loyalties lie? What is does he hope to accomplish, exactly? This question I really hope is answered next season, especially considering the first season finale.
• Leena: What's her connection to the Warehouse, anyway? This is the thing that really bugged me about the past season. I mean, sure she runs the Bed & Breakfast the agents live at, but is the ability to make killer waffles license to wander around the world's most top-secret installation? Does she have a last name? Is it important? And why can she read auras? There are other questions about her raised by the finale, but these are the questions I've had about her since before that.
• The Warehouse: everything. This is the most obvious mystery of Warehouse 13. What is the history of it? Who runs it? Why concentrate all of the artifacts in one place? And what is that purple goo? I could go on about this, but I'm pretty sure most of this (except the goo question) will be addressed next season.
• Claudia's brother: what's he been up to, lately? Have there been any side-effects from his earlier experiment? Has he become addicted to online games, or did he get a job? The world wants to know!
• Pete the Ferret: Does he lead a double life? Does Pete the Human ever learn why Myka's ferret is named after him? How do the events of the season finale affect him? Does he like blue jello?
• Mirror, Mirror: Can Lewis Carroll's mirror please be used again? Please?

Well, that about covers it. Oh, except for my need to mention how awesome it was that Joe Flanigan (Jack Shepard in Stargate Atlantis) guest-starred in episode five and Myka's actress played Bianca in The Dresden Files TV series (which was... weird...). Oh, science-fiction actors! I love how I can actually recognize them!

Needless to say, the second season is something I'm very much looking forward to this summer. After the shocking finale of the first season, I await July 13 with high hopes and many questions for season two.

[edit: I stand corrected. Myka and Pete are current Secret Service agents, not former. As I said, I was just working from memory. The error has been fixed. Thank you, Anonymous Tipper!]

Sanctuary, Season Two: Thoughts, Feelings, and Jello

Now that the second season of Sanctuary aired last Friday, allow me to ramble a bit about my thoughts and questions for the season.

The season premier "End of Nights, Part 1" takes place a few months after the events of last season's finale, "Revelations, Part 2," which ended with quite the cliffhanger. I rather enjoyed the episode, which involved quite a bit of action, many different settings, the introduction of a new character, and more. Viewers new to the series may find themselves lost and wondering who all these people are, why they can do so many weird things, and did they seriously call that guy Jack the Ripper? so I would recommend watching some of the last season (Hulu's still got the last four episodes up) and/ or reading up on the characters before diving into this season.

And now comes the section with SPOILERS:

First Thoughts on Stargate Universe

Hello, internet! In honor of the premier of the latest series in one of my favorite sci-fi franchises, I shall start my ramblings with Stargate Universe. I'm sorry this is so long, but I've had a week to think about the pilot.

I have to admit, I approached it with extreme skepticism. All I had read and seen about it previously had made it look like Star Trek: Voyager with Battlestar Galactica flavor and a Stargate setting. I have nothing against BSG, but I love the light-heartedness of Stargate and the sneak peaks of SGU made it look ever so grim and unwilling to laugh at itself and the press releases declared the attempt to be darker and more gritty than the previous shows.

I approached the two-hour pilot with caution, and noticed some interesting things they did to make the show "darker":

1. The Stargate's event horizon is grey in SGU instead of the cheerier shade of blue it's been in the previous series. Whether this is supposed to be a special property of the Destiny gate or not, it definitely adds visually to the darker tone of the series. (side thought: Would Sam eat grey jello in SGU? What flavor would that be?)
2. The Ancient technology on board the Destiny is rougher and alien-seeming or streamlined than the other examples of Ancient tech we've seen. It feels far more like a Daedalus-class Earth ship than like the Ancient city of Atlantis, except in scale. This is probably because the ship is older than Atlantis, but it still adds to the gritty feel of the show.
3. The characters lack the optimistic attitude the characters of previous shows had in even the most dire of situations. I mean, they're in pretty much the same situation as the crew from Atlantis was at first, minus the threat of Wraith attack, but where Atlantis characters would tackle puzzles and crack jokes, the Destiny's passengers freak-out and argue.
4. The lighting is done at such angles as to increase the sharpness and to make everything feel darker. The quarters in Icarus base are decorated pretty much the same way as quarters in Stargate Command if you pay attention, but the way they use lighting makes them feel darker and more oppressive.
5. There is already signs of intrigue and power struggle. Usually, it takes a few episodes (or seasons) for that to come along.
6. They are definitely willing to use content the previous series wouldn't touch (except for SG-1's original pilot, but we don't like to talk about that...). Call it daring if you want, I did not need to see that scene...
   

So those are the major differences I've noticed from SG-1 and Atlantis. The show comes to a dark, serious start. SGU has not completely departed the beloved (by me, at least) grounds of it's predecessors. The character Eli is definitely showing more of the lighter attitude of the Stargate-verse. Even his back story for why he joined the program is light-hearted (and strangely reminiscent of The Last Starfighter). Also refreshing: the end of the pilot has them start exploring through the gate. That made me feel warm and fuzzy...

All in all, I found the pilot intriguing, though different. There was already evident character growth and I found myself wanting to know more about (some of) the characters. While I still feel that it can never take the place of light-hearted and never too serious SG-1, and it still seems like Voyager with a BSG color scheme, I look forward to the next episode and I plan on watching at least the first season to see how it develops.

Now, if only Hulu had the next episode up! Curse my lack of the SyFy channel!