C.C.’s Weblog

I was e-mailed a really interesting article yesterday about a couple of Japanese scientists who intend to conduct a new space experiment. They intend to see if they can manage to send a paper airplane to earth from space. Even if the plane doesn’t make it, if they can track it they believe that the research could contribute much to space re-entry technology and design.

It sounds completely crazy, but after reading the article it doesn’t sound all that impossible. There are some daunting factors, but every person sounded crazy when they first started talking about people in space. This is truly something.

The final statement touched me:

“Just imagine, children around the world would be anxiously waiting for the return of our origami shuttle, perhaps looking up into the sky from time to time,” Suzuki said. “That would be great fun.”

Read the article.

I finished watching this Japanese drama with a friend last weekend. What started out as something relatively interesting slipped into boredom by the middle of the series. By far, the most interesting episode was definitely the one concerning Yamada Ryosuke as Mukodo Katsumi and his frustrations with his mother, but this was quickly “resolved” with little comment. Interpret that as you will, but in the end I can understand the low ratings.

The show lacked much climax or excitement. I felt that what little there was relied on the actors to use exaggerated expressions (Kamenashi Kazuya, the star of the show, must have been exhausted every day after filming), or long, drawn-out camera shots of people’s faces. Oh, and silly dialogue/monologue as well. There was very little plot action, and where there was, I felt it was poorly enacted. I felt like the story was never quite as serious about itself as it needed to be, and so any seriousness brought in by other means, such as acting or filming, failed to hit the mark. I really couldn’t take it all that seriously.

The best parts of the entire thing were the stories of the secondary characters who received far too little screen time. It may or may not be a good sign when you find yourself far more interested in what is happening with the people outside of the spotlight [and watch their expressions and reactions in each scene rather than the main actors] than the feature characters. I was not interested in the relationship of Hatanaka and Sister Angela in the slightest.

I will give the series it’s certain comedic moments. If it had been focused on comedy entirely and had not tried to be convincingly serious [seeing as it failed to do so in my opinion], I think it would have earned a better reputation with me. There were some great moments, particularly with Kobayashi Satomi as Mukoda Seiko. The actors themselves weren’t particularly poor either, especially with the supporting cast. I think Kamenashi is decent and convincing actor in general, especially after his performance in Nobuta wo Produce, where I had said from the beginning episode, “Wow this guy is good.”

Overall, I feel it was a plot with potential that simply failed to deliver. It had a lot going for it, and the actors themselves weren’t poor, but it an attempt to be serious it relied on devices that didn’t help at all.

I’ve discovered that every time I drink even a few sips of Minute Maid Apple Juice it makes my heart beat really quickly. I’m thinking of putting this on my Banned Food list. It’s kind of funny because I don’t remember having this problem with anything else.

In other news, I’m considering marriage in a very untraditional sense; because damn, if it was only about singing, I’d totally snatch Tegoshi Yuya for his voice. I don’t know why, because he’s no Josh Groban, but for some reason his voice is just that appealing to me. It’s the kind I’d like to hear someone singing with around the house, you know?

If his harmony from “Hoshi wo Mezashite” wasn’t enough, or that duet he did with Massuda, “Ai Nante” has me sold:

He’s not even the only singer [his voice is the first that begins singing].
I want to see a legit music video for this.

Completely detached, I think Nishikido Ryo has the most bad-ass [when said properly] sounding name I’ve heard since Gladiator‘s Maximus.

About a month ago I came across Japanese singer Anna Tsuchiya through an add on Jpop Asia. I was very surprised to discover that all her songs are sung in English [and quite well I might add] despite the fact that she is a Japanese citizen and is not fluent in the language [she also writes all her lyrics herself]. Her music is excellent, on part with just about anything in the American market, so I recommend checking her out. Her latest single is called “Cocoon”. Some people might also know her for the themes she did for the NANA anime.

Next up is the current number one single on the Oricon charts from Aoyama Thelma, who I daresay has one of the greatest voices I’ve ever heard come out of Japan. A little while back she collaborated with Japanese rapper SOULJA and did the harmony for his song “Koko ni iru yo” ["I'm here"], and now he’s returning the favor, making a song meant to compliment his own. She’s fabulous, and I wish her all the success. She previously put out another little-known single a while back called “ONE WAY”, that should be checked out for something upbeat and fun.

So.. the end of Harry Potter. Seeing as it’s such a big book, I suppose it would do to address it. I’m going to break it down simply, because I’m really not in the mood to write long eloquent paragraphs.

As I said, overall I was satisfied, but not really happy. Certain things nagged me—mostly things that, as an author, I think I might have done differently.

I knew one of the Weasleys was going to die. I told that to people two years ago. On my hit list were Mr. Weasley, ONE of the twins, and then Ron [and, although it would have been a stretch, Percy]. Turns out it was Fred. Kind of pissed me off, but, I was willing to accept it because the death of a Weasley would have a profound impact on the other characters, and I was hoping to see where that would lead. To my complete, utter, disappointment, I feel like the only person who Fred’s death impacted was Mrs. Weasley, and furthermore George wasn’t even around. I wanted to see what it would do to George. But even in the epilogue, I got nada. Pissed me off. Pissed me off.

On the flip side, Mrs. Weasley vs. Bellatrix = best scene/battle of the entire book [and among the best of the series]. Mrs. Weasley’s one-liner killed me. Props to Rowling there, it was absolutely magnificent. I was glad to see that plump old housewife really was a kick-ass momma wizard as well.

Another thing Rowling did well was the Malfoys. I was very, very, impressed with how, in the end, Narcissa and Lucius were won by the love of their son and family, not the power of Voldemort. It was a fantastic addition to the theme that Rowling has been trying to reinforce throughout the series, that Voldemort’s greatest weakness was love. Love brought him down: Lily, Narcissa, Harry’s love for his friends, and ultimately Snape.

Speaking of Snape, his love for Lily came to me in an epiphany over the summer before the last book came out. [Jet lag is amazing]. I thought this plot line of the story was an excellent idea, especially because despite this truth Rowling still managed to make Snape look like the bad guy right up to the bitter end, particularly for those people who hadn’t seen it coming. However, once again I was pissed at the way things unfolded, and Snape’s death is only the tip of the ice burg. Actually, I didn’t think Snape was going to die, and, quite frankly, I would have been more interested in letting him live and seeing what it would do to his relationship with Harry. Because if Snape had lived, there would have had to have been some sort of confrontation between them. But he died, and I can see why his death would have been necessary in order to find out the truth, because he’s not the sort who would have given it up as long as he was alive. Still, the fact that there was no confrontation whatsoever between Snape and Harry in the end bothered me. Snape could have died saving Harry—something, anything, to provoke character relations. But nothing. That disturbed me, and it kind of made me feel like the whole ordeal was like “Oh yeah, by the way, Snape loves Lily and stuff…” and it didn’t matter all that much. The only inkling we get as to how Harry really, really felt about it was in that he named his son after Snape. But I just don’t know what that actually says. I mean, even coming out of Snape’s memories, Harry didn’t give any thought to the revelation of the Lily-Snape relationship, and even when he told Hermione and Ron about it, Rowling grazed over the conversation and didn’t make much point about what Harry was thinking.

GAH.

Meanwhile, there’s the whole Dumbledore thing. I was very, very impressed to see what she did with his character. In the end, even he was not the statue of perfection which everyone made him out to be and, in the end, even he had had his doubts and problems. This was a well done character.

There’s the gay issue. I read the last book with Rowling’s statement about his sexuality in mind, and for a while there I suspected that perhaps there would be some hints when more about his relationship with Grindelwald was uncovered. In the end, however, I saw nothing to suggest Dumbledore’s gayness at all, which makes me feel like Rowling simply made the statement to be “all inclusive” or something. Whether that’s true or not, I have no idea, but that’s how it appears to me. Frankly there was no hint of Dumbledore’s sexuality either way, and he seemed too wrapped up in his magic and defeating dear Voldy to really seem to give a damn about sex in the first place. So, yeah. Whatever.

Above everything, I felt that the most far-flung and ridiculous thing in the book was the death of Remus and Tonks. That I did not see coming, and in fact I thought it was so poorly brought in that I wasn’t moved by it at all. I was more like, “WTF? Where did this come from?” If anything I felt that Rowling just killed them off to kill people off. She’d decided she needed more dead people, and more angst. I’m not saying that this truly was her incentive, but that’s what it felt like. The thing that especially bothered me was that they were significant people in Harry’s life, yet they received virtually nothing for it in their deaths. We never even learned how it happened, which I think is a disgrace to the characters. Even Crabbe got better than that. It was like Harry walked in and someone said, “Oh BTW Remus and Tonks died,” and Harry was like, “ORLY? That sucks.” I understand Harry couldn’t deal with it at the time, but even later, they get nothing. It just seems like, as I said, she killed them off to kill more people, and draw out angst. I feel like the only reason they were her targets, too, is because they had the baby; it would not have been as angsty if not for the baby, and they would not have died if room for such angst did not exist.

I suppose the reality is that I’m just over the kids-lose-their-parents plot device for angst. There’s Harry, loosing his parents and all other parental figures such as Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore; little Ted; and even Neville to an extent, as his parents are basically out of commission; Dumbledore lost his parents one way or another; and obviously Tom Riddle. Perhaps I wouldn’t feel like this was “careless killing” if they’d been given a little more attention, but in the end that’s how it seemed to me.

Furthermore, I felt like Remus was an important character for Harry, particularly after the death of Sirius. In fact, he was important for the story, because he remained the only real connection to the Marauders left. If it had been me, I would have felt it important that at least one of that group remain alive in order to keep past memories alive. There are things that Hagrid, Dumbledore, the Weasleys, and whatever other professor that had known them, can never tell Harry or anyone else because they just didn’t know. I feel like killing Remus is as bad as killing both the Weasley twins would have been, although in some ways worse too. George is the connection to Fred that remains, and honestly even if they had both died, they were close to their family enough for there to be more good memories than can be said [probably] of the Marauders.

I said before that I really felt the whole thing was quite rushed. Like in the end everything sped up and we didn’t get any time saying goodbye to anyone but Harry. I’m not just talking about the people who died, but the people who lived as well. We found out what happened to some of the characters, like Neville, but others? Luna? AND GEORGE? [That made me angriest, not to know about him].

I suppose it shows a difference in where Rowling’s mind is versus where the minds of the readers are. In the end, Rowling really was writing a story about Harry Potter, not his friends or the people he knew. So I have to give her some grace here. And perhaps she didn’t mean for it to seem this way, but ultimately I think my criticisms of the story stem from the difference in attitude I take towards my characters and stories. Reading this last book made me realize I would never dream of naming a story after only one of my characters, and least not in such a way that it was only to represent one of them. For instance, the story The Loonibin–“Loonibin” is the name of a family within that universe, two of whose members are very prominent characters within the main plot. But the title isn’t named for their family name; it’s the name of the ship they’ve inherited; and, in talking about the ship, it’s meant to feature all those characters who become a “family” upon it.

I can’t simply focus a story on one character alone; and even those characters who are not the most prominent have to have some sort of honor or tribute paid to their existence in a way that I feel Rowling didn’t give to her extra characters. I felt like so many of them didn’t get endings. Sure, she gave fans images of the kind of people they would be, but I feel like she didn’t do them justice—at least not in the way I think of it. To me it was like, “They battled. Time skip. Harry, Ron, and Hermione have kids. Some other people are still alive. The end.” BLAH.

All in all I guess you could say I would have done things differently, even if they all had to end up the same way. But it’s Rowling’s vision, and in the end I did like it, despite everything.

[These thoughts are backdated up to the publication of Naruto 366, but much of what is discussed here still applies.]

Well, if all of the suspicious panels that Masashi Kishimoto was giving us of Itachi’s sexy face weren’t enough up until now, 366 confirms that there really is more to the declared sociopath than meets the eye. As an “author” or “character creator” myself, I suspected early on from the Sasuke’s detailed flashbacks of his brother and the fact that Itachi killed his entire clan that Kishimoto was intentionally misleading people into believing that Itachi is such a straightforward character. Good authors rarely do that. At least ones with this kind of lengthy, detailed plot.

Itachi uses a shadow clone to confront Naruto, wishing only to speak with the latter even though his objective thus far has been to capture Naruto and take the Kyuubi, thereby killing him as a side affect. The “supposed” Akatsuki leader has already made it clear that Itachi needs to get busy with his appointed mission.

But there are many things that are off about Itachi due to things he has said and illogical stories. The fact that he wishes to only “speak” with Naruto in this chapter confirms what evidence already exists.

First of all, there is the issue of him killing his entire clan. Some people have already gone so far as to say he didn’t do it, but I do not believe that this is the case. However, I am of the opinion that he wasn’t alone for several reasons.

1. How the hell did he manage to kill everybody in the clan, all in one night, without anyone finding out before he finished? It’s not like they were all sitting in the same room, and is it even possible that none of them were away on missions or in places where other ninja could have easily come to their aid. They were the friggin’ Konoha police force. If something like a family gathering had occurred at the time, why on earth would Kishimoto neglect to mention that? Furthermore, they were all Uchiha, and he had only recently acquired the powerful Mangekyou Sharingan, and being new to it, plus the fact that even now using it on one person is draining, there’s no way the Uchiha couldn’t have put up a good enough fight that somehow wouldn’t alert other people in Konoha. I don’t care if Itachi is the Uchiha genius; if he was good enough to kill an entire clan of Uchiha’s in one night, there is no reason why he couldn’t have defeated and/or killed Kakashi and everyone else he has since encountered.

2. Although the exact time of his entrance into Akatsuki is unclear, evidence suggests that it was around the time that he acquired the Mangekyou Sharingan and killed his clan. It is highly possible that killing the clan was the prerequisite to entering the organization. However, does that mean that he couldn’t be aided slightly in the process. Furthermore, the recent revelation of Tobi also being an Uchiha could suggest that perhaps he wanted the clan dead as well. If this is the case, and if Itachi had already joined Akatsuki before the massacre, then perhaps he was given aid in the task.

The next suspicious piece of information is his reason for keeping Sasuke alive.

Suppose, at the time of the massacre, he did it because he believed that Sasuke was the only person who could ever hope to be on equally footing with him. Itachi claims that he killed his clan to “test his ability” (which could, in fact, be another indication that this was the test he was require to pass before becoming Akatsuki). If he really did it for this reason, then it would make sense that he might have left Sasuke alive at the time in order to have another challenge to test himself some day in the future. Therefore, he encourages Sasuke to come after him. To him, this is all a matter of growing his power.

Either that, or he really is the Master Mindfuck.

But, okay, let’s go back to his belief that Sasuke might be the only person to stand on equal footing with him. Um, okay, if he really believed that then, there is no reason for him to continue believing that years later when he meets Sasuke again. Why? I find it hard to believe the man is cocky enough to think that there is no one in Akatsuki stronger than him. I suppose he could believe it, and he simply follows orders because he is not one to play leader or he simply agrees with the organization’s purpose and doesn’t give a damn if someone less powerful is in charge. But if he really is out to increase his power, would he not have bothered to investigate other members and decide who to next challenge? If he found someone more powerful than him, why wait for Sasuke to catch up? There are other goals. No reason to keep Sasuke around anymore.

He seems genuine in his desire for Sasuke to become strong enough some day to kill him. The way he encourages Sasuke to do this, I think, is merely a result of Itachi’s own true beliefs about life, as well as the desire for Sasuke not lose his wish for vengence. Itachi truly appears to have a death wish. Of course, here some people might say, “Well why doesn’t he just kill himself?” Two answers: one, being who he is, Itachi may see the only suitable death for himself is one by the hand of another Uchiha, and his brother most of all. Two, I think he intends to die, but not until he has executed some plan of his own.

Yes, I believe Itachi has a plan. I don’t know whether it is simply for himself or for Konoha or everybody, but I believe he has one. There are several reasons for this. First of all, it’s somewhat apparent that although Akatsuki is an effective team of ninja, each of the members has his or her own reason for joining, and somehow being part of Akatsuki furthers their individual goals. (Although, the flashback showing how Deidara forced to join seems an exception). I am curious as to whether or not Itachi agrees with their philosophy, but regardless it seems natural that he has his own plans as well. Perhaps they are straightfoward and he simply wishes to be part of something powerful. But other facts negate this as his main reason. The fact that he continues to leave Sasuke alive, and his disgrutled (or at least as far as Kishimoto’s panels will suggest) by the thought of Sasuke’s death.

But the things that eats away at me are his dealings with Naruto. Thus far, he has only made one attempt in the entirety of the series to capture the Kyuubi, and he quickly gave up on it in order to prevent a mess, as we remember in part 1. Then, when Kisame talks about the situation, he says that because the Kyuubi must be sealed last, why bother going after Naruto until the time is upon them? Again, he avoids taking initiative with Naruto. It feels like he is putting it off on purpose. Perhaps the whole thing simply seems logical to him, but the recent chapter 366 suggests otherwise. He has something he wishes to speak with Naruto about. Perhaps this desire to talk is only the result of recent happenings, but I’m thinking it could very well be otherwise, or that he has been hesitant to capture Naruto for some time now.

The chapter ends with him leaving Naruto alone and facing his brother. I’m questioning whether or not this really is Itachi that Sasuke is facing, and, if it is, if Itachi won’t purposely seek some means of escape. He calmly left Naruto as though they would have the chance to speak another time, which suggests that he does not intend, or he does not believe, he will die in his current encounter with Sasuke. There is also the fact that he is alone, without Kisame, or at least as near as we can tell. Beyond that, Pein has already told him to be on alert. Unless Itachi and Kisame are truly loyal companions, more so than they are loyal to the organization, which in itself seems highly unlikely, there is no reason for Kisame to leave is partner at this time or allow Itachi to get caught up in a personal quarrel.

What could he want to talk to Naruto about? It seems unlikely that it would not be something important. He doesn’t seem to the type to make an encounter with the sole purpose of talking and quelling his curiosity. Sure, perhaps he might do that, but he might do that and then kill Naruto too, once satisfied.

There are a bunch of questions we have to ask. First of all, why does he actually want Sasuke alive? Why does he want to talk to Naruto? Was his encounter in the forest with Naruto “off the books” with the other Akatsuki? Finally, and most importantly, I believe, is the question of whether or not he is aware of the existence of a third Uchiha, and if he knows that Uchiha is involved with the organization.

I mentioned in a previous entry that my suspicion is that he IS aware. 1. He says that IF Sasuke acquires the Mangekyou, there will be three people capable of using it. As I said before, this suggests he is not talking about potential, as they will only become three IF Sasuke acquires it. Even if he only suspected Sasuke’s ability, and was basing his words off of suspicion, then he would have to do the same for the third person as well. This means that he could not confirm, as his statement seems to do, that there would be THREE people. The other person would have to be a gamble as well. This means that there is someone else who can already actively use it. Which also means Kakashi is ruled out, because Kakashi did not have the ability at the time Itachi said this. Therefore, I conclude (based on translations) that Itachi MUST know there is another Uchiha/ someone with an Uchiha eye, around. To what extent he is aware of that Uchiha’s involvement with everything is questionable.

Now we have to wonder if everything he has done this far is a result of his interaction, direct or indirect, with Tobi. Indirect would mean orders were passed down from Pein. Nonetheless, regardless of who he gets his orders from, that doesn’t mean he isn’t suspicious or aware. I especially think this because of Tobi’s interest in Sasuke’s eyes, which will surpass Itachi’s. Perhaps leaving Sasuke alive with part of his orders years ago.

His talk with Naruto now raises several other important questions. By the way the encounter goes, it seems as though he acting independently from the Akatsuki, but it is not clear if this signifies he is a traitor, if he is simply acting on his own plans, or if he still wishes to aid Akatsuki despite his own interests. Whose side is Itachi really on, and why?

While Itachi isn’t my favorite character in the series, he is definitely the most fascinating, even with the recent revelations about Pein, the unnamed member, and Tobi.

It’s late. I’m going to bed.

So the name of the final Akatsuki member has been revealed to be Konan, and apparently she has some paper-type special abilities that can turn her into origami or something. From what I’ve seen so far in the manga, it looks pretty bad ass, and I’m excited to see what she can do.

I’m also nervous about how quickly she’ll die. I imagine that Kishimoto intends to keep her around long enough for us to at least get some history on her, but I suspect that when the time does come for her death it’ll happen rather quickly– unless, of course, she fights Sakura or some other chick. I think I worry about that the most; pairing her up with some other female simply because they’re female. Sorry, this is no longer a competition of physical strength, ESPECIALLY when you have a jutsu like THAT. I’m gonna be really peeved if that’s how it goes down.

I’m just calling for justice for her character. She’d better be one hell of an opponent or she doesn’t deserve the Akatsuki title.

This is a very informal, poorly worded rant.

You know those things that seem so out of place they make you go “WTF?” and you just can’t get over it?

I’ve noticed this sort of thing happens often in anime/manga, particularly when it comes to women. Sometimes I’m not really sure what creators are thinking when they do something as impractical as giving some sort of fighting character hair down to her ankels. I mean, really. What villain isn’t going to take advantage of that?

Okay so, some anime/manga can be excuses. Sailor Moon was all about that craziness, and in Dragon Ball Z it was just a law that one’s hair was permanently gelled and hard as rock. Those were just universal laws.

But then you get something like Naruto, where practicality, at least to some extent, has been established. Yes, this entry was inspired by Uzumaki Kushina’s below-the-ass hair, revealed in Chapter 382. My immediate thought was, WTF? How does that fit at all?

Let’s examine a few points.

Yes, I know Yamanaka Ino also sports a yellow rug, but then she’s not much of a major player anyway, and it’s basically been established that she probably cares more for her looks than being a ninja. Whatever. It’s impractical, but she’s made out to be an impractical person, so I let that fly.

Point #2, Sakura was taken advantage of because of her long hair, and even she recognized early in that it was really pointless to keep it long if she really intended to be a ninja. And her hair was shorter than Ino’s.

Are you seriously telling me that Uzumaki Kushina, who was said to be “one of the guys” growing up, would be stupider than Sakura and have hair THAT FREAKIN’ LONG? The creator has already established this is a bad idea. Okay, okay, so this design of her is when she was pregnant, and obviously not out on the battlefield. Nonetheless, I still feel like even she would find it difficult managing the length as a pregnant woman. Or did she transform so thoroughly since her youth? They say she became very beautiful when she grew up, but being beautiful does not = long hair.

She sounded like the most bad ass female in the story yet, on par with Konan and Temari [and probably TenTen if she ever got more play time]. Luckily Sakura is really shaping into something, which I’m happy about, [and I'm actually very pleased with the author's statements of intention for her character] but ugh, if Kushina just becomes some “fantasy” woman I’m going to be really annoyed.

I was essentially stoked to learn, a couple weeks ago, that Jpop artist Yuna Ito, who first made her debut back in 2005 with her single, “Endless Story“, and supporting role as Reira in the movie adaption of NANA, would be doing a collaboration with Celine Dion. According to sources, Dion was the one who proposed the duet, after hearing Yuna Ito’s cover of “My Heart Will Go On” from a Japanese tribute album made to Celine Dion that was released this past September.

A promotional video of the two of them recording “Anata Ga Iru Kagiri ~ A World to Believe In” in Las Vegas has been released:

I am very excited for Ito, because after hearing “Endless Story” two years ago I though she had one of the most beautiful voices. She showed a lot of potential, but I’ve felt that not all of that potential was realized — that is, she didn’t show people what she could really do — in most of her releases. I think part of this is due to the nature of sounds in the Japanese language; it’s harder to use a “big voice” when there are so many closed-sounds, if you will.

In this song, and also her cover of “My Heart Will Go On”, she sings more English, and it’s great to hear her go all out. Her voice melds well with Celine Dion’s, and vice versa. I’m very happy for her, and I hope this single will be a great success.

You can listen to her cover of “My Heart Will Go On” here:

I’ve been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender ever since it premiered on Nick in early 2005, and have come to regard it as one of the greatest animations I’ve ever seen in terms of story, animation, and all the other fabulous aspects. Still, after watching the episode The Beach and then the most recent, The Avatar and the Fire Lord, criticisms rose to the surface of my mind.

I have to admit, it’s a little exciting to know that the writers really do pay attention to what fans are saying online, and I especially love to see how they respond to and play with everyone’s theories and silly fantasies (particularly the pairing wars). I think over all they’ve done an amazing job with this while continuing to maintain their own story.

But I sort of feel like certain aspects of the show have lowered in order to appeal more the stereotypical “teenybopper” culture. I remember, a while back, hearing another fan comment (still within the run of the first season, I think) that she was starting to lose interest in the show, because she didn’t exactly like the direction it was going. Perhaps this is what she was talking about, and I simply didn’t recognize it until now.

There was a certain artistic quality that was present in the early episodes of the series that doesn’t seem to be there anymore. Well, I take that back; we still see it sometimes, as there is a general higher-level fluidity of the animation compare to other shows, and it is still sharply visible in combat scenes. (I never cease to be impressed by those, although I still maintain that the one between Prince Zuko and Admiral Zhao was probably one of the best). But animation is only one area where artistic quality pervades. There’s also story. There was something so much more serious in the story that isn’t there very much anymore.

Alright, perhaps seriousness is the wrong word. I think maturity is a better one. Because there can still be light-hearted fun and humor in a mature story.

Avatar I feel, has lost some of its maturity. The interactions between Zuko and Uncle Iroh in the present episodes still maintain it, but I feel like it has disappeared a little bit from other areas. Certain things seems just too silly for the Avatar world, such as the behavior of these old women in The Beach where previously they had maintained such a serious and subservient role to Azula. Or even Azula’s behavior in that one episode; thus far I felt they had maintained her character best from the introduction, but in here, for the sake of humor, I feel like they opened her up too much, and made her a little too ridiculous to be natural. I can understand them wanting to show that even she is not perfect, but the airy when in which her imperfections were presented–more like stereotypical teenage girl drama– sort of turned me off. If it had been presented with more maturity, I might have liked it better.

That’s not to say that I wasn’t entertained or didn’t find these antics humorous. Quite the contrary! But still, I feel like it degrades the quality of the story/show in my mind just a little bit. I suppose those early episodes gave me a certain vision of it.

Like how freakingly well-built Zuko was [exhibits A, B, and C]. What happened? Poor animators? Where did those scrawny arms and rib lines come from? I suppose all that stress could have gotten to him, as they have shown a willingness to alter appearances as appropriate. Still, I feel struck with the sense that they’re turning his appearance into something scrawnier to appeal to a teenybopper vision or something. Ugh. Where’s the quality?

Oh, and that hair of his. If that’s not an attempt to rake in the sighs of many fan girls of modern society rather than stick to world of the show and it’s traditions, I don’t know what is. That’s probably my biggest biff right there. Hey, even I’ll admit it looks quite sexy, [although that short cut he sported in Ba Sing Se beats everything except the original], but come on.

There’s also parts of the script that make me want to shoot myself. Sometimes they’re really eloquent, when it counts, but other times when they’re trying to be silly (and it’s not that they’ aren’t) things just sound a little too stupid or cliche for the sake of fan service or something.

I understand they’re trying to appeal to the original targeted audience, so I try not to hold them too much to such a standards; and the show still is quality. They’d have to destroy it for me not to watch it. I’m just a little disappointed it’s not as quality as it might have been had they gone for more mature viewers.