Well it's nearly the end of the year once again so I thought now would be a good time for another blog. First of all, I hope everybody had a great Christmas and hopefully you are enjoying time off from school and work.

For me, Christmas was excellent, I spent it with my family as usual. My cousins and I always spend our holidays gaming. But of course the most exciting time was opening all of our presents. And now for the big news... I finally got a PSP!

Actually, it wasn't really a surprise since I had asked my mom for one this Christmas. But I was so happy to finally get it. I have been playing it nonstop!

I also got two games. The first game is Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. Since I am a huge Final Fantasy fan, Crisis Core was an absolute must for me. I have wanted to play it since it first came out, and it's a blast so far. The other game I got is Tenchu: Time of the Assassins. I am glad I got this since I am a fan of this series too. And no, it's not a crap game like everyone is saying. Sure, the camera control is a chore to deal with, but besides that the game is actually good. The mission builder is also really in-depth and fun.

I also got an 8GB MemoryStick which is awesome for me since I can load a bunch of movies on and take them on the go. I just wish Sony would give us divx/xvid codec support already... it would save me the trouble of reencoding! But after converting the format, the movies play fine.

I guess that picture is not too good, but the actual movie quality is really sharp and clear.

Well aside from that, I just wish everybody a Happy New Year and I hope you all voted in the Best of 2008 video game awards. That's all for now. See you in 2009.

Fans of Capcom's Biohazard / Resident Evil games may have had to wait many years for a faithful movie adaptation of the games series, but it has finally arrived with the release of Resident Evil: Degeneration. Produced by Capcom themselves, this is a fully CG animated film that was released this past October in Japan. It was directed by Makoto Kamiya and written by Shotaro Suga, who also co-wrote several episodes of the anime TV series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Now you may be a bit hesitant to sit through another Resident Evil movie after what Hollywood did to this series, but let me assure you, this is the movie RE fans have been waiting for. Much like what Square-Enix did for Final Fantasy fans with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, here Capcom decided to get things right and give the fans what they want. Set in the same universe as the game series, Resident Evil: Degeneration is exciting, visually stunning, and faithful to the games.

The plot of the film is an original story set after the events of Resident Evil 4. It begins at Havardville Airport where there are a number of members of the organization Terrasave protesting the arrival of Senator Davis of the WilPharma Corporation, a company all over the news for its objectionable human testing projects. Soon Claire Redfield arrives, who is now also a member of Terrasave. However, she is not taking part in the protest, and is only at the airport to meet a friend.

While she watches her friend's niece Rani, they spot Senator Davis & his bodyguards sneaking out of the airport. Subsequently, the Senator is approached by two protestors wearing zombie masks. Problem is... for one of them, it's not a mask. Immediately, mass panic erupts inside the airport as an outbreak of the T virus begins to spread once again. Unfortunately, the building is sealed off and Claire, Rani, and Senator Davis are trapped inside. Shortly after, the Special Response Team arrives and two soldiers, Angela and Greg, are joined by agent Leon S. Kennedy to go in and get the survivors out. What follows is an intense battle against the undead, a completely new virus, and one very angry mutated creature.

Fans of the games, especially Resident Evil 2, will really appreciate what this movie has to offer. Capcom took the making of this movie just as serious as the games, and it shows. The story, which may not be the most original premise out there, manages to balance out the action, suspense, and drama, and fans will particularly enjoy the many references to the games. It also far surpasses those weak live-action RE movies which changed the story too much. Like Advent Children, this film proves how a faithful video game movie should be made. An important part of that includes the voice acting and I was especially happy that Paul Mercier and Alyson Court, who provide the English game voices for Leon and Claire, returned for this movie as well. They do a great job and really add authenticity to their characters. The rest of the voice actors are decent although some do a better job than others. I think this is partly due to some rather cheesy dialog in the script. But at least the quality of the visuals doesn't disappoint.

We all know how good those high quality cinematics look in the games, now imagine a whole movie looking like that. The CG is, in a word: stunning. It's also really awesome to see Claire and Leon together again. You can especially tell a lot of detail was given to Claire, and she looks wonderful, just like in the games. Then there's Leon who also matches his appearance in the games, though as several others have pointed out, he seems to look a bit more Japanese here. But even so, the animations are top-notch despite some awkward movements here and there. Even the other characters like Angela and the WilPharma worker Fredric are developed well. Another thing I must mention are the environments, from the airport all the way to the WilPharma facility, are all very realistic and well-designed. And of course the large-scale action scenes are stylish and thrilling, just what you'd want from a film like this.

The story does a good job of translating the survival-horror theme on screen, and it tries to incorporate all the elements that the games are known for. However, it's not perfect. Even as a fan, I will say there are some noticeable flaws. An example are some cliched characters that grow to be a bit annoying throughout the film, like that annoying Senator Davis that Leon and everybody else are trying to escort to safety. After a while I was just wishing that guy would get attacked and killed off already! Another thing is that even though Leon's voice acting is excellent, the character himself looks a bit wooden and blank throughout the movie. This is noticeable because Claire is perfect and Angela at least goes through some emotional development. And one other thing which has been getting some criticism is the inconsistent lip-sync of the English dialog. It's not all that bad, but it may be a bit distracting to some.

Degeneration is primarily aimed at die-hard Resident Evil fans, and you know who you are. This movie doesn't exactly revolutionize the series, but then again it doesn't try to. This is just something special for the fans, and in my opinion Capcom succeeded. No, it's not perfect, but despite its flaws, it's finally a true RE movie that stays loyal to the games, and I enjoyed it. If you are a fan of the series, I don't think you need much more encouragement to check this one out.

I was thinking of resurrecting this blog. If I feel up to it, maybe I'll post reviews for some newer movies and games in the upcoming weeks. Today's review is for an older, but well-known film.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade is an animated film directed by Hiroyuki Okiura and written by Mamoru Oshii. It was released in 1999 in Japan and is set in the same universe as Mamoru Oshii's famous Kerberos manga series. When this movie was screened at film festivals, it won many awards including Best Animated Film. Jin-Roh has since received worldwide recognition and much critical acclaim.

This is a very dark movie that is set in an alternate timeline, taking place in Tokyo ten years after World War II. It is apparent that Germany occupied Japan during the war, and now the economy is in a collapse. Social issues arise, crime is breaking out, and the city has turned into slums. Furthermore, there are anti-government rebel groups known as The Sect, too powerful for the police to handle. To fight these groups and keep the city under control, Japan forms the Capital Police Organization with heavily armed Special Units to deal with the upheaval. Basically, the city is turned into a warzone.

The movie begins in the midst of an anti-government protest. The Special Unit is called in to assist with the matter, and a soldier named Kazuki Fuse, manages to track down Nanami Agawa, a young girl and member of The Sect, in the sewer system. She is known as a 'Red Riding Hood', who delivers bombs for The Sect, one of which has been just used at the protest. However, Fuse is unable to stop her from setting off a suicide bomb right in front of his eyes.

Fuse survives, traumatized by the incident. He is later suspended from the Special Unit since he failed to take the shot first, and he is sent back for training. One day, he visits the memorial house for Nanami and meets the girl's sister, Kei Amemiya. Ridden with guilt, Fuse eventually falls for her. At the same time, he has nightmares and is constantly haunted by his memories of Nanami's death. Eventually, the intentions of the Public Security Division, rival of the Police Force, come into the picture, putting both Fuse and Kei in danger.

Jin-Roh is not your typical anime. It's a very deep and complex film with a strong emotional impact. What starts out as a military thriller soon evolves into a sophisticated drama that surpasses even the quality of many live-action films. It was very interesting to see how the filmmakers incorporated the tale of Little Red Riding Hood (the original, dark version) into this movie's plotline. The result is an intelligent and unforgiving story as well as a moving love tragedy. I think it comes across as sad and depressing because it depicts the characters' struggles and emotions so realistically.

If I didn't read the credits, I probably would've guessed that Mamoru Oshii directed this movie too. It really feels like an Oshii film and is well directed with a lot of attention and detail given to the story and characters. Even though the animation may look simplistic by today's standards, it's also something I really liked about this movie. The animation, the original voice cast, and the music are first rate.

This film is very moving, although it's not for everyone. I like it, but it is not something that I'd tend to watch again and again because it's very depressing. Still though, there are not many movies out there that measure up to the caliber of this one in terms of storytelling or characterization.