Review: Dead Fantasy and RWBY Volume 1

Dead Fantasy is the epitome of fantasy battles done right. RWBY is Winx Club with great fight scenes.

Fight scenes are an art form all by themselves. It marries the dual disciplines of cinematography and fight choreography, and when done well in conjunction with good writing and direction, pays off in spades (see: Justice League Unlimited, The Matrix). Even without a decent script, acting, or plot, consistently engaging battles can carry a whole movie and make it work, as seen in the shallow-yet-stellar Tom Yum Goong, as well as the more recent Man of Tai Chi. The Dead Fantasy web series, created by independent animator/artist Monty Oum, is yet another proof of the concept that you can build a sturdy house made entirely out of straw, if you're really, really good at working with straw.

Dead Fantasy is an animated series where the females from Final Fantasy fight the girls from Dead or Alive in neverending all-out melee. What DF looks like at first is a excuse for fantasy chicks to beat the shit out of each other. What it reveals itself to actually be, by Dead Fantasy 2, is an excuse to showcase Oum's ability to stage spectacular superhero-style brawls with breathtaking ingenuity; a standout sequence involves everyone fighting off bits of debris while in a swirling tornado. Though the action is often frenzied, Oum manages the proceedings with a clarity that makes the choreography easy to appreciate. DF doesn't need traditional plot or character because the characters distinguish themselves with unique styles and powers, which they happily use in a myriad of interesting ways.

There's an annoying tendency for fantasy/scifi action creators to infuse their characters and worlds with powers and ideas ripe with potential, and waste it on one-note curb stomp affairs consisting of guys hitting other guys really hard in slow motion. Dead Fantasy is just one song, but it's the song that's missing from so much mainstream anime and fantasy.

After Dead Fantasy became hugely popular, Oum joined machinima pioneers Rooster Teeth and discontinued DF in favour of a new cel-shaded anime-inspired webseries, called RWBY (pronounced "ruby"). It's about a group of cutey girls who wield oversize weapons and magic, and go to school to train how to kill monsters. So, it's just Dead Fantasy with a little additional context, right? Nope. To Oum's credit, he tries to build a proper story with proper characters this time, with combat scenes supplementing the drama instead of replacing it. However, the couple of mini-stories that RWBY Volume 1 tells in sixteen episodes are mostly clichéd and forgettable. The setting is extremely generic, recycled from Harry Potter and all the other "teens go to magic school" stories.

 Most characters that don't have a name or line or role to play are relegated to flat black silhouettes - an easy way of making the world seem more crowded than it actually is. This is one of the biggest mistakes of RWBY - contrasted against the bright, detailed visual design of the main ensemble, it makes the world feel cheap, artificial, and meaningless. Any dialogue about saving the world or civil rights is undercut by the fact that the world is populated with literal cardboard cutouts. Worse, the disappointment extends to the main characters.

Monty Oum's background in animation has ill-prepared him to write good protagonists or dialogue, a problem that also plagues other action/VFX specialists who make the foray into longform narrative (see Corridor Digital's Sync, Freddie Wong's VGHS). The main characters are visually pleasing but ultimately generic archetypes: Ruby the young, unsure leader, Weiss the stuck-up rich kid, Blake the quiet but secretly badass, and Yang the feisty one with big boobs. Until the final few episodes, character interactions sorely lack depth, authenticity, and even continuity. In some episodes Ruby is hard at work attempting to get into her role as assigned leader of the group - and yet, a few episodes later she stands idly by when Weiss and Blake have an argument that threatens to splinter the group permanently.

One problem here is that Oum does not play to his strengths often enough. The only times RWBY rises above mediocrity are when Oum throws himself into his element: combat scenes. The moment Ruby unfolds her scythe-cum-sniper rifle, or when Weiss draws her sword with 4 firing modes, the animation quality, sense of place, and imagination all improve dramatically. It is because of this that the extended, action heavy trailers are oddly a better watch than the actual show. When you're allowed to lose yourself in the fury of a girl pounding away with shotgun gauntlets that can also propel her into the air, RWBY is an inspired roller coaster ride. But almost every other time, it's a dull merry-go-round playing music that we've heard many times before.

Miscellaneous notes:
- RWBY's animation can be clunky, most noticeable when characters physically interact with each other in ways that aren't punching or kicking.
- The cast is almost overwhelmingly female, but thankfully, there isn't a distracting amount of fanservice.
- Shotgun gauntlets are the best thing ever. Also in this series: Shotgun nunchucks.

Dead Fantasy and RWBY Volume 1 are both available on Youtube. Volume 2 comes out July 2014.

China's One-Child Policy's Ripple Effect on Singapore and Beyond?

Outrageous. On Sunday, 18 March 2012, a PRC couple attempted to kidnap a Singaporean boy in the suburbs of Ang Mo Kio. Read reports here(CNA), here(ST), or here(inSing).

It is shocking that such an attempt was carried out in a public mall, during a Sunday afternoon with an ongoing event and high human traffic. The PRC couple was so brazen to strike during the few seconds a child was unsupervised, and if it were not for the mother's immediate confrontation with the PRC woman leading her son away, who knows what would have happened to the boy.

In China, the strict One-Child Policy restricts parents to only one child, and when compounded with the traditional Chinese preference of a male heir, adoptions of baby boys are commonplace and highly sought after. In this article (China frees 24,000 abducted women, kids in 2011), the report stated that the PRC Ministry of Public Security said that Chinese police have rescued 8,660 children and 15,458 women in 2011.

These children and women are all victims of human trafficking, and more than 2,000 children were discovered to have been abducted and sold for adoption. Additionally, adoption in China is seemingly less-regulated (there is a China Center of Adoption Affairs overseen by the Ministry of Civil Affairs) where couples can adopt children from any source.

Tellingly, the article also paints a grim picture of the fates of children and women abducted by human traffickers. Abducted women are forced into prostitution, even all the way to freaking Angola (which is in Africa by the way), and in 2007, Chinese authorities discovered and freed thousands of people forced into slave labour in brickyards and mines.

Read more about Slave Labour in China here(Time World/Slave Labor in China Sparks Outrage) and here(New York Times/Child slave labor revelations sweeping China).

In short, victims of human trafficking in China end up either as adopted children, slaves, or prostitutes (for the women only, I hope). And so far, all reported cases of abduction were domestic and confined within Chinese borders and territories. And if the PRC couple are part of a global syndicate, expanding abduction operations outside of China, I shudder to consider the consequences. Will more children be led away by women misleading them into believing that she will bring them back home, or worse, forcibly kidnapped or bought from impoverished and rural families in our neighbouring nations?

3 Years and more than SGD8000 later...

I've graduated with a Diploma.

Can't say I'm too pleased with the results of my final semester released today, but at least it marks the end of a journey.

In the pursuit of a perfect score each semester, I would become a monster, flaring up over tiny imperfections or misdemeanors of my classmates and group members. In the last semester, the internship was equally challenging even without tests and projects.

But in the end, as I glance at my graduating GPA, I ask myself, was it all worth it? Sure, 3.6 is above the average, and it qualifies me for local universities, although getting into a course in a local university is another issue altogether, but then, that's just it. 3.6 is not good enough.

And yes, there are no more chances left. I've graduated. So boom, this 3.6154 (down from 3.6205, it's all in the details innit?) is set in stone.

And that's it, there is nothing I can do about it, besides bitching and cursing at the opacity of grading internships, other than looking forward to the next stage of my life. And maybe put my feet down and finally start driving lessons to get that license.

The School of Financial and Business Reality

If our past experiences define our future, then clearly my life is one not meant for business. Specifically, financial success in business.

When I was 15, I naively spent all the capital granted to us for charity, and made a huge loss.

When I was 8, I had my first taste of entrepreneurship by offering my services to help my classmates buy the "cool" stuff they wanted but were unable to buy personally due to their parents' close surveillance. I failed to deliver.

From ages 12 through 13, I got caught up in the sale of digital music online and offered to buy and then burn songs my classmates wanted for a fee. Greed got to me pretty soon after.

Age 20, foolishly got scammed in an advance fee fraud case for several IT products. Wiped out half of my savings.

If I do continue doing business, will I ever taste success? Will I be able to look back one day and laugh, appreciating all the above experiences life has afforded me? Or will I just end up destitute and disillusioned?

Kids these days...

Trending news currently is about some kid named Aaron Tan who posted a video on YouTube, publicly mocking and demanding a public apology, on Facebook no less, from his 14 year old "love rival" Ryan, who has allegedly the balls to steal Aaron's girlfriend Nina.

(watch video here. viewer discretion is advised; moron ahead)

Despite sounding like a cheap drama plot, I could not help but draw certain parallels between this clown, and Nosey's old adversary, Little Roy. Indeed, at certain points in the video I thought I was watching Little Roy instead of this clown.

Which has got me thinking, what if, 3 years ago, the whole episode with Little Roy had happened on YouTube and Facebook? But seriously, kids these days.

Closure

I write this now, as a form of tribute, as a form of closure, as an archive of my memories, and as an expression of my thoughts.

This Sunday my maternal grandfather passed away, after the tuberculosis virus ravaged his health, and robbed him away from us.

I was present at the hospital ward, and witnessed the deteriorating condition firsthand, so I can say I was prepared to expect the worst.

My relationship with my maternal grandfather was never as close as would be ideal. In fact, it could be said that my relationship with my maternal relations were never as close as my relationship with my paternal ones. Perhaps it was the language barrier, perhaps it was the "culture", perhaps it was the people.

What I really regretted, was what happened earlier this year. We celebrated his 76th birthday in May, and I could tell my uncles and aunts put in a lot of effort into it. Yet, at the apex of any birthday celebration, when the cake was presented and we were all called to gather to sing the happy birthday song and take a photo, nobody made a move. My grandfather was sitting behind the cake, with my youngest cousin on his lap and my grandmother not far from him. The adults were calling and cajoling us 'kids' to go and "get in position". Nobody moved. We were just waiting for each other to make the first move.

At that point, I could sense the entire mood of the evening plummet, and my grandfather was sitting there insisting that its alright. That there is no need to go through all this trouble. Little were we to expect, a mere 2 months later, that would be the last time we would ever get to celebrate it with him.

I am filled with regret, that we, I, didn't cherish it. That we took it for granted. That that was the last time I saw him before this Sunday.

In closing, I want to pay tribute to him.

My maternal grandfather, now late, was a simple man. He ate simply, and dressed simply.

He never sought to create trouble for anybody, and avoided anything he felt would trouble anyone.

He was born in Malaysia, but settled down here, and married my grandmother.

He worked, to support my mother, and her siblings, working menial jobs all his life, until retirement in his 70s.

On normal Sunday evenings, when my family would occasionally go out to have dinner, he would always reject coming along when asked. Even to dinner functions, near or far, he chose to stay home. Always.

The extent he went to reassure everyone, to not let anyone worry about him, was noble.

It is unfortunate, from what I overheard from my relatives, that this quality in him may have indirectly lead to this state of affairs. That he refused to seek further treatment, and kept reassuring everyone he was getting better, that he was recovering.

His sacrifice for his family, his concern, his independence, and his humility and his simplicity.

These qualities I will forever remember him by.

Mister Right

Digging through a treasure trove of items, photos, playlists and memories of my secondary school days (especially the lower sec ones). Oh how things were so chaotic and yet so under control back then..

I guess things have changed over the years, I've changed. I've become much less idealistic and much more pragmatic. But I realised my ideas and philosophy have not really been shaped much by the times that heat people like clay. Instead, I've been much more dogmatic about certain things..

Now life feels different. I feel I'm less subjected to the forces around me that swirl ever so violently. Yet paradoxically, I feel more impotent now more then ever to influence my surroundings. I guess it's one of the things I appreciate on hindsight about secondary school. When things were oh so chaotic (especially in my lower sec days) but yet at the same time oh so controllable at my finger tips. But I guess I am merely just growing into my place as a member of this society I live in and a citizen in this global village.

Still pursuing my endeavours fervently, and I wonder what my book will say (on hindsight) about my days in NS.

Best of Web Fiction: INSTRUCTION FOR A HELP

Cropped for spoilers. Check out the date, though.

Instruction for a Help is a series of howto guides that are written in spectacularly mangled English that suggests some sort of a translator. Take this advice in Instruction for a Fruit: "Take a bad water and make a good water. A fruit loves a water twice a day." The language, and the articles' apparently insane notions ("The eyes of a fruit close and a tear comes") are written by Zack Parsons, for comedy website Something Awful. But soon the bizarrely humourous become bizarrely disturbing, and it becomes obvious that comedy is not the main thrust of the series.

 The readers of the "instructions" mostly call for people to love and respect nature, and to report to "THE CENTER" to be "diagoloised" and assessed for what we can safely assume to be reproductive activity, or as they call it, "formulating a babie"(lol). Having trouble with your "babie"? No problem, just ring for your neighbourhood friendly red worm. He is your friend, and will protect you from the mans from below, which incidentally, if you see him, you should open up his skin and "take out ALL his fluids".

This world where man and nature live harmoniously by all accounts, is flavoured with strange distorted images, becoming fragmented and broken as the series hits its climax, when the mythical "mans from below" threaten the status quo.

It ends rather ambiguously, but is tied strongly to a companion narrative, also written by the same author, called "The View From Below", which despite spoiling the mystery surrounding Instruction for a Help, The View from Below is what I would argue is the "meat" of the the actual story. The View from Below is an arguably even better story, this time with proper English and a much more straightforward narrative with the same setting. The setting of it, political aspects and all, are well-realized and believable; the plot twists and turns past an easy ending into an epilogue that is one of the more intriguing endings I've seen in Fantasy/SciFi.

It is quite long, but segmented into convenient chunks and is unusually well-written and original for internet fiction.

>>>READ IT HERE <<<<

Understanding thyself (and new age learning pedagogies)

I am an: ENTJ (extraversion, intuition, thinking, judgment)

ENTJs have a natural tendency to marshal and direct. This may be expressed with the charm and finesse of a world leader or with the insensitivity of a cult leader. The ENTJ requires little encouragement to make a plan. One ENTJ put it this way... "I make these little plans that really don't have any importance to anyone else, and then feel compelled to carry them out." While "compelled" may not describe ENTJs as a group, nevertheless the bent to plan creatively and to make those plans reality is a common theme for NJ types.

ENTJs focus on the most efficient and organized means of performing a task. This quality, along with their goal orientation, often makes ENTJs superior leaders, both realistic and visionary in implementing a long-term plan. ENTJs tend to be fiercely independent in their decision making, having a strong will that insulates them against external influence. Generally highly competent, ENTJs analyze and structure the world around them in a logical and rational way. Due to this straightforward way of thinking, ENTJs tend to have the greatest difficulty of all the types in applying subjective considerations and emotional values into the decision-making process.

ENTJs often excel in business and other areas that require systems analysis, original thinking, and an economically savvy mind. They are dynamic and pragmatic problem solvers. They tend to have a high degree of confidence in their own abilities, making them assertive and outspoken. In their dealings with others, they are generally outgoing, charismatic, fair-minded, and unaffected by conflict or criticism. However, these qualities can make ENTJs appear arrogant, insensitive, and confrontational. They can overwhelm others with their energy, intelligence, and desire to order the world according to their own vision. As a result, they may seem intimidating, hasty, and controlling.

ENTJs tend to cultivate their personal power. They often end up taking charge of a situation that seems (to their mind, at least) to be out of control, or that can otherwise be improved upon and strengthened. They strive to learn new things, which helps them become resourceful problem-solvers. However, since ENTJs rely on provable facts, they may find subjective issues pointless. ENTJs appear to take a tough approach to emotional or personal issues, and so can be viewed as aloof and cold-hearted. In situations requiring feeling and value judgments, ENTJs are well served to seek the advice of a trusted Feeling type.

Good to know. :)
and I'm back to my obsession with personal mastery

TOFU out

cry-sis

Been having a bit of trouble with my girlfriend lately...

alla damned. Sometimes I wish I was still swinging single.