Blood - KDrama

Vampire stories are always a treat for me. A lover of fantasy, you can see how I am easily swayed to watch such a drama that boasts content with even the mention of a side character that happens to be a blood sucker, let alone a main. So when there were whispers on the net of a Korean drama taking on the challenge of having a vampire drama after so long I was excited to see what they had on offer.

When I finally came across it I found that they had blended not only the fantasy genre but they set it in a hospital, no doubt going for somewhat of a medical drama setting. So with a formula like that, what could possibly go wrong?

The story is set in a world where our deadly bloodsucking condition isn’t something demonic raised from the old ages but is instead a virus cooked up in a lab by a few scientists playing god. However, two of these scientists run off unwilling to spread the ‘disease’ they find themselves infected with as they realise the true horror of their condition while another embraces the condition in all its glory.

It’s an interesting take on the vampire condition, but I have to admit the show takes it a bit far in the clinical department as they follow the child that is born from the two runaway scientists, who becomes the first one born with the virus and thus someone the other scientist wants for research purposes that they never really explain thoroughly.

The main story follows the child grown into a man who has learned to barely control his ‘urges’ as he works as a doctor in a hospital where his enemy’s also reside experimenting on others as they try to create some sort of medicine from the virus.

It’s an intriguing story in that I really want to know how the virus came to be, but the tangled web behind it seems to be lacking in plot construction as it veers off in fancy fight scenes that go nowhere and send our hero in various dead end searches for no reason at times.

Another interesting thing is the love story they focuses on with another doctor in the hospital that just so happens to be connected to our main guy’s past as well. Their relationship starts off rough as they work together and slowly begin to warm to each other.

In all honesty I think the love story is more a side project as it barely has any notable development, but then again I have only watched about 8 episodes. Hopefully more character development and chemistry can be built as the series goes.

So in the end I’s say it’s a different kind of vampire story to what I was expecting, but I suppose that’s a good thing. Whether it’s a good kind of different, I guess that would have to be up to the viewer and their tastes, as for me… I don’t mind watching till the end.

Absolute Duo - Anime

I think I stumbled on the harem batch of happy I was given recently… there’s no other way to explain why I’ve been watching anime that seems to be harem-themed over and over, like a rehashed idea mixed with slightly different ingredients to twist the plot as the theme tries to change from one form of fantasy to another.

Absolute Duo starts off just like you’d expect; new guy starts off the school year and the school turns out to be your more than average school. In this case, our lead, Tooru Kokonoe - the centre of our harem – enters an interesting school that specializes in combat, training those known as ‘the Exceed’. 

These individuals are capable of manifesting their souls into actual weaponry which they use in combat, they call this Blaze. But obviously, as is the formula of shounen anime, our main deviates from the norm as his Blaze turns out to be not a weapon but instead, a shield, thus making him an irregular.

But why stop there with the twists? Enter Julie Sigtuna!

See, not only do our battling exceed learn combat while at school, but they do so in ‘duos’ for various reasons and as poor Kokonoe-kun soon learns right after struggling his way into the school and somehow landing up with the very unconventional male-female duo, it’s not just the battling that duos do together, but everything…

Admittedly it’s an interesting story as it has me hooked into trying to figure the main guy out, as well as his partner whom we get almost no information on, aside from the fact that she’s strong and has some dark past and almost no boundaries where Kokonoe-kun is concerned.

I also don’t mind the side characters that make up the harem as they bring more to the story as it all moves forward. 

I have to be honest though, my love of sharp pointy objects has some bias in this show, so that might affect my judgement just a tiny bit… oh well.

Marvel Agents of Shield - TV Show [ABC]

When it first started out there was a lot of excitement, after all it was being written by the Marvel peoples and it came around the same time as the first Avengers movie so the hype was still fresh. Needless to say Marvel Agents of Shield was put on a pretty high pedestal.

But then the first few episodes happened and you start to wonder if maybe they aren’t really taking the ‘super’ route or maybe they want to focus more on the non-supers because, you know, we all can’t be super heroes and such.

Season one found us delving into the secret organisation that dealt with the supernatural stuff while the heroes like Captain America, Iron man and Thor waltzed off and did their own thing. Introducing the ever so ready team that came in afterwards to clean up their messes and so on, we follow a branch of this organisation that is led by the lovable favourite from the movie franchise, Phil Coulson, who was supposed to have died.

I like that they used the original character. I’m a sucker for such consistency; it brings familiarity to the show that sort of convinces you to watch on, even though some episodes are a strain to get through as you watch Coulson’s team tackle the after effects of the Avengers and Captain America’s battle and the mystery of Coulson’s resurrection.

Personally I think the beginning had too many tangled strings for an average viewer to put together. If you weren’t a hard-core superhero fan you would have moved on to another show and if you were you would have ranted and raved, as I did, about the pace and structure of the show. Season one dragged too much in the beginning, though it improved as it went on and linked with the movies, which was a really cool aspect, again the consistency a thing to love and respect.

But then it ended with a bang and season two happened. I have to wonder if the writers didn’t listen just a tiny bit to the voices of the fans as they began adding some super and intrigue as they started pumping up the pace and revelations of awesome stuffs left, right and centre.

Of course they have the anticipation of the next movie to work with them, but the show has definitely shown some development in terms of character growth and plot structure as we follow Coulson’s team rebuilding Shield from scratch and one of his agents dealing with being put on the index while a new threat surfaces to replace Hydra and trouble in the background slowly brews.

Instead of a few loose strings you have a good network of interconnected plot points that slowly and quite brilliantly unravel into a beautiful superhero show and personally that’s what I was waiting for since the first episode!

It’s a long wait to get there, but I reckon it will be worth it in the end.

Seiken Tsukai no World Break - Anime

This one is a bit tricky to describe… At first Seiken Tsukai no World Break comes across as just another one of your average harems. You have the main guy entering a seeming average school and suddenly being surrounded by all the pretty girls. Then you slowly realise the school isn’t as average as the story goes and our main guy is introduced pretty early as something special, because why not? These days you already know he has to be so most plot lines don’t bother hiding it for long I guess.

Anyway, here we have a school that takes in a bunch of kids that have lived past lives and, because of the abilities this provides them with, they now train to be ‘saviors’ in a world ravaged by what they call ‘metaphysicals’, monsters who attack the common folk and obviously need to be dealt with.

Our hero stands apart as he is revealed to have not lived one but possibly multiple lives previously making him stronger than the average savior as he gains additional abilities learned from those past lives. It’s an interesting take on the whole reincarnation theory.

The story progresses on as our hero ‘awakens’ to the memories of his past lives and we see how his growing harem connects to each of his lives both past and present, unlocking more and more of his abilities as he grows stronger and gains the attention of some important peoples.

I have to admit though I find a bit of his general personality a bit lacking as he just goes with the flow of everything around him. Most of the show gets carried by his harem’s actions and story while he just gets plucked in the picture where convenient, it’s slightly irritating. I’d like to see a bit more character building on his side. Hopefully when more of his memories have been ‘awakened’ this will happen, who knows?

Anyhoo, it’s a good anime to watch to pass the time I guess, especially if you’re into the harem thing. Other than that, I suppose the story could use some work as well as the characters, but that’s just my opinion.

Dae Jang Kum - Korean Restaurant

So nice I tried it twice ^o^!

The taste of Korean food is an interesting experience, one I’m glad I got to repeat recently with a few friends and family at a local Korean restaurant in Rivonia.

Taking the opportunity to drag along two newcomers to the brilliance of the spicy flavours of Korean cooking I had the chance to enjoy a good Korean BBQ along with some other dishes that blew our minds and no doubt will have us going back with more people, even if I have to bribe them with the possibility of karaoke in the back which I was surprised to discover was a feature at the place we were eating!

But back to the tasty stuff! First the amazing side dishes of the staple kimchi, which I have to admit I’m glad was slightly milder than my first experience of the stuff. The spicy cabbage was delicious all on its own so you can only imagine what it was like adding it to the other stuff. Definitely wouldn’t mind some more and I’m not one to like the hot stuff.

Then there was the grated potato, some mini omelettes, bean sprouts, a different kind of polony, Chinese cabbage and a grated sweet and spicy orangey something I don’t particularly know but would like to eat again. Needless to say there were a lot of little side dishes and it’s amazing what they could do to fill you up.

Our main mission of the evening was of course the Korean BBQ, so we headed straight for some pork belly that we could cook right there in the centre of the table, a feature I really like. Our other options were seafood themed as we chowed down on some spicy tempura prawns and another BBQ option that was unfortunately grilled elsewhere as our table grill couldn’t handle all the meats at once.

Though the octopus was not grilled to deliciousness before my eyes I still enjoyed its squishy meat to its full extent as did my companions who even went searching the empty plant for more long after the last squid had been consumed. That’s how good it was.

And then the Omurice~! I have waited a long time to try this and I blame all the Kdramas I have ever watched for this anticipation. The look was on point, which is a stupid thing to note, but there you go. Then there was the taste… omo* I finally understand why it’s in almost every Kdrama and why every human should try it at least once. It’s not the best, most world smashing dish you’ll ever find, but it’s homey and warm and worth a nibble or two.

Then there was the spicy ddukbokki, the Korean spicy rice cake. Now I have to emphasize how much I don’t like spicy foods, but for some reason I couldn’t stop taking a bite out of this. I think years of my dad’s [who is not Asian I might add] cooking has killed my taste buds or it was just simply that good, I don’t know. But whatever it is, the answer is that my tongue and whatever taste buds I have left now hate me. Either way, it was all totally worth it.

Dae Jang Kum, I will see you again [and again...] and hopefully I will be singing in that room where I heard some people enjoying themselves with the karaoke!


Note: I realised only after I wrote this that I already made a review on this place a while back, but it never hurts to have more than one, especially since this time round I got to enjoy more stuffs on the menu ^o^! If you want to read my first thoughts on this place, you can go here.

Location: Corner 9th Avenue & Rivonia Boulevard, Rivonia, Sandton


*omo – expression of surprise*

Assassin Classroom - Anime

Being random is okay. Japan has proven this, over and over again. As I watched this anime I was hit with many realizations of how random Japan can sometimes be and that’s okay.

Assassin classroom is one random anime that I’m glad I stumbled upon in the batch of happiness that I was given recently. It strays out the box of normal story telling as it follows a strange string of events that have you watch a bunch of supposedly below average students try to assassinate their teacher while still passing midterms. 

The catch of course becomes interesting as their teacher turns out to be a strange entity that has just recently destroyed a large portion of the moon and has promised to do the same to the earth in a year’s time.

So it becomes pretty obvious why the assassination needs to happen as governments and the like rush to find ways to stop the unknown entity from doing any more damage than it already has whereas the story seems to lie in the fact that our strange entity delays any immediate action as he becomes the teacher to the unsuspecting outcast students of Kunugigaoka Junior High School.

I like the seemingly randomness of the show as it slowly all comes together in the background. It has a unique plot and quite an interesting set of characters that each teaches some or other lesson. I especially love the ending song ‘Hello, shooting star’ by Moumoon. (translation: courtesy of Vanilla Milk)

P.S. I just discovered there’s a live action coming out! Definitely excited to see that!

Shinmai Maou no Testament - Anime

This anime is straight up dodge. I have to say it. I went into watching this blindly, just an escape after doing some work. But five minutes into watching the first episode I was beginning to question my decision to watch this at work as a few questionable scenes, though subtle and censored, wasn’t the kind of content I wanted my colleagues, let alone my boss seeing on my screen. But I guess it was a good thing it was late in the afternoon and most of my colleagues who regularly pass by my screen are desensitized from the stuff on my screen.

not within 5 minutes but a good indicator... >.<

Shinmai Maou no Testament is an interesting anime story-wise as it follows the male protagonist who gains two little sisters, one of whom happens to be the sole daughter of a demon lord and has inherited his immense power thus making her a target by others who want the throne.

unexpectedly cool oni-chan

It’s an action anime filled with your usual dazzle of magic and demon lore as it creates this world where a race demons, angels and heroes exist in hidden villages and we find that our male protagonist belongs to one of them, though he lives with his father in exile due to some reasons that slowly get revealed as the story progresses.

Despite the good story, there exists a large amount of ‘fan service’ in this anime that tends to take preference in some scenes, which irritates me sometimes. A majority of this service is initiated by Maria, the companion of our young demon lord heir. It doesn’t help that Maria happens to be a succubus. Though some of the scenes are entertaining, they can become a bit tedious as the joke gets repeated within the first few minutes of an episode.

not so innocent little sister O.O

Is it me or does it seems that most anime these days submit to vast amounts of fan service? Or am I imagining things? Anyway, despite the excessive bits of fan service, I still think the story is worth taking note of. I mean, any story that focuses on an exiled hero’s journey should be interesting.