Book Review: The False Prince

The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen, is a fast paced YA adventure story. The story involves three orphan boys who are selected by a loyal duke to eventually take the place of a vanished prince, and bring order to a kingdom that is in disarray due to the recent deaths of the rest of the royal family.

The synopsis makes it sound simple, but there are layers of intrigue in this book that I can't give away because it would spoil the fun. Suffice it to say, a lot is not what it seems in this book.

The main protagonist, Sage, is devious, intelligent, and completely charming. You find yourself rooting for him, especially as the plot comes to a head. He makes or break the book, in my mind, as other characters are not as endearing or as strongly defined. Another weakness here is the world. This is a fantasy book, with kings and princes and dukes and the like, but there is no magic and the details of the world itself are not well-fleshed out. This is no Game of Thrones. If you don't find yourself liking Sage or the twists and turns the plot takes, there isn't much else for a discerning reader of fantasy.

That said, what does occur is entertaining, and seeing Sage's attempts to educate himself in court politics and gentlemanly ways makes for a fun ride. The major plot twist of the book becomes predictable at a certain point, but does so organicallly. I would have liked to have been more surprised, but I honestly can't say if I predicted it because it was done poorly or if I have simply read too many books like this one.

There is a sequel to this book, but at the moment I'm uncertain about starting it. This book ended completely wonderfully with all loose threads wrapped, so I'm not sure what's left. Once I give the sequel a try, though, I'll report back.

The False Prince gets a 7 out of 10. Fantastic characterization with a slightly undeveloped world.

Thoughts on anime: Cross Ange

 This fall season of anime was the strongest in a long time. As a fan of science fiction and fantasy, there were more options for me than ever. Between Mushishi, Yona of the Dawn, Garo, Parasyte, Bahamut Genesis, Fate/Stay Unlimited Blade Works, and Chaika, not to mention magical realism in the form of Yuki Yuna is a Hero and When Supernatural Battles Become Commonplace, there was more variety within the speculative genres than I could handle. I still need to catch up on a lot of those shows.

And then there’s Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon.

I like Cross Ange. But it’s not a show I feel good about liking.

The premise of Cross Ange is one that is widely seen in the fantasy genre and is one I happen to be a total sucker for—A royal gets torn from power and has to adjust to hardship, working their way up to reclaim their seat and probably overthrow an evil tyrant along the way. Boiled down, its pretty standard stuff, but it’s a story that always works for me.

But Cross Ange also falls prey to the most annoying anime trope—tons of fanservice. And not just fanservice that only the sharp-eyed will pick out. This is in-your-face, breasts on the camera, guys sucking snake venom out of a women’s leg but its framed like oral sex type stuff. Every instance that is it possible, Ange will be nude, tied up, or otherwise put on display.

And that’s not even the worst part. In the first episode, the director was very careful to frame a particular scene such that it could be interpreted in one of two ways. The first is a typical horror scene, where Ange is in prison and being abused. But it could easily be interpreted as a rape scene, where she is shackled to a table and forcibly penetrated. It’s quick, and we don’t see the penetration so the question is up in the air as to what really happened—but the camera sure does love focusing on her butt as she struggles, and we are “treated” to a shot of her lying naked on the floor with bloodied towels.

Is it meant to be horror, or meant to titillate? It’s not clear, and that disturbs me. But it does present a very high hurdle to get over to enjoy the rest of the show.

The second most troublesome scene is a scene where Ange is nearly raped by her superior officer. This scene is blatant—the officer paws at her breasts, and the viewer is shown every bit of it.

Rape and abuse are not problematic in fiction on their own. They are problematic when they are presented as titillation for the viewer. The scenes in Cross Ange are presented that way, and it makes me ashamed to watch the show. It’s sexist and tiresome to see female characters continuously reduced to objects for the viewer in a story that is interesting without those elements.

And the story has clear strengths. Ange reacts believably to her sudden change from royal to what is basically the lowest caste in her world, first with disbelief and shock and then with anger. It’s a good lesson in writing character development after a shocking event. The pacing is handled well, and mysteries are presented with expert showing, not blatant telling. The world is fleshed out as Ange experiences it.

But the fanservice turns a story that I would be happy to want to watch with friends into one I don’t even want to admit I watch. I would never recommend Cross Ange to anyone.

A lot of people say there’s nothing wrong with fanservice, and to a point there isn’t, but eventually it crosses a line. When every female character is constantly subjected to a leering camera, it detracts from the viewing experience. If you like that sort of thing its distracting, and if you don’t its frustrating and offensive when you just want to watch the story. And of course, time spent focusing on fanservice is time taken away from plot and characterization. The anime High School of the Dead is a fantastic example of this, where as the fanservice grows more and more pervasive as the show goes on, the story suffers to an increasing degree. 

If a show is meant to be a fanservice show, that’s one thing. But mixing fanservice with a show that’s meant to tell an actual story, the way Cross Ange does, is an issue, since people will decide that the story itself isn’t worth it when they have to deal with the pervasive, offensive, downright trashy fanservice to get to it. I would guess that directors put in fanservice to attract viewers, but I hope people will eventually realize that it turns an equal or greater number of viewers away from the work. If you have a good story, trust in the story—don’t rely on the lowest common denominator to win fans.

NaNoWriMo

I didn't win NaNoWriMo this year. A lot can happen in November. Thanksgiving, for one. I hope everyone had a happy Holiday! Traveling--and getting hit with power outages due to a storm--cut down on my writing quite a bit. But that's alright. I got plenty written, and editing is just as important as writing.


But even if you "lose" NaNo, you win. Even if all you managed was to write 500 words to begin a story, something is better than nothing, and the knowledge that you can get words down on paper is a powerful motivator. As a kid, I would write out small stories by hand, a million story beginnings that by now are faded and nigh illegible. But that rush, that excitement, that accompanies beginning a story is something I'll never forget.

Anime Reviews: Neo Angelique Abyss

Neo Angelique Abyss spans two series: Neo Angelique Abyss and Neo Angelique Abyss: Second Age. The series is based off of the Angelique games for women, none of which I have played.

The plot is fairly simple-the world is under threat by a bunch of creatures called Thanatos, which can teleport into an area and destroy it. There are people called Purifiers who are the only ones capable of destroying these Thanatos, and the main character is the only female purifier. This makes her the “Queen's Egg,” with the potential to rid the world of Thanatos forever. The anime follows her journey as she learns of her powers and finally assumes her role as protector of the world.

To start, a very important aspect of the this anime is the presence of the other members of the Thanatos slaying band, all of which are attractive men. Yes, this a reverse harem, which means the only female character of any real consequence is Angelique, and all the men in the show either want to protect her or admire her. This could be a huge turn off for some, but while the harem aspects are definitely present, it's not as big of a problem as it could be. It is believable that people would be motivated to protect someone who would eventually save the world, and thus in that sense the harem itself is believable. There are no declarations of love, only a desire to protect until she fulfills her mission. It is only at the end that the characters want to protect her for her, and not for the world.

Despite the harem qualities of the show, the characters are well developed. The members of the harem each have an episode dedicated to them, so that they aren't simple pretty faces and have actual reasons for their personality traits (although unfortunately, most of their development is through backstory, and they change very little throughout the show). Supporting characters do develop throughout the show, such as Jet, the robot who eventually develops free will, and most villains end up seeing the error of their ways.

The progression of the plot was very well done, and the side plots were interesting and fed into the main plot very well. A huge plus of this show is that no scene is wasted-every thing you see develops something.  The ending is believable in the context of the world and the way the story progressed. The pacing of this show was generally good, such that I never felt like giving up. On the flipside, I never quite felt the same need to marathon it as I sometimes do for other shows.

Unfortunately, there were some inconsistencies with the world building. I couldn't quite get a handle on what time period this was supposed to take place in. At first glance it's set in a medieval time period, and then we see the Artifact Federation, who have an understanding of technology beyond even that of the 20th century (like the aforementioned robot with free will). There is a religious order governed by a respected “Head,” but there is also a militaristic arm of an unseen government that carries out executions. This is not a huge problem for me, but for people who fixate on detail it could be.

This anime doesn't have much way in the depth, but when all is said and done, this show sets out to entertain it's audience, and in that vein it succeeds. It has a little bit of everything I like in anime-attractive males, robots (robots and cyborgs fascinate me), fantasy elements and science fiction elements, and perfect pacing. There is death and a bit of darkness, but the good guys always win in the end and very little that's bad can stand in the way of Angelique. This is not a show that redefines it's genre or it's medium, but it entertains well. For those looking for a light hearted fluff of an anime, I would recommend this.

Neo Angelique Abyss gets a 6 out of 10. It's light and it's fun, with nothing really offensive about it but nothing mind blowing either. Take away 2 points if you don't like bishonen, though.

Anime Reviews: Hetalia

Hetalia Review

News in the anime world—Hetalia is getting a new webcomic, Hetalia World Stars! To commemorate, here’s a review of the Hetalia anime.

When I first heard about Hetalia, I automatically assumed that it would be highly offensive. Hetalia is based off of a Japanese webcomic by Hidekaz Himaruya. The main characters are anthropomorphized countries of the the Axis Powers, hence the title, during WW1 and WWII. Just in case your history isn't very good, some very bad stuff happened during WWII. That was issue number one.

Issue number two was the fact that the show revolves around stereotypes. Italy is portrayed as weak, cowardly, and loves pasta. Japan is socially awkward and a loner. Germany is stuck up and follows rules all the time. When we meet the allied powers, England is a mage wannabe who can't cook, America is a fast food loving fool, France is a creepy rapist, Russia is just creepy, and China is constantly trying to sell cheap goods to other characters. With those issues, you'd think the show would be very offensive. When I first heard of it, I figured there was no way in hell it would ever get licensed here.

All of those potential issues? Not really issues if you actually watch the show. Hetalia is hilarious. Each episode is five minutes long and chronicles either historical events in a lighthearted way (such as the Russo Japanese war, or portraying England's constant annoyance at America's independence) or simply pokes fun at the behavior of the stereotyped nation (America is constantly eating burgers, England consistently torments Italy with his bad cooking). No mention of potentially controversial subjects is ever made, and that is a good thing for this show. The only historical event the show addressed in a serious way was the Revolutionary War, and even then it was simply to show how it affected the character of the nation, not the people of the nation.

That is the reason the show works so well. The anthropomorphized characters are embodiments of their respective countries, and thus are pretty innocent of anything. They aren't active characters, in a way. The viewer knows that it's the people of the country, not the country itself, who really affect events. All of the characters in the show are practically victims of their people and bosses, so what they do can never really be judged as their own actions. When you watch the show that becomes internalized, so watching the character of Germany during WWII becomes far less potentially charged. As for the stereotypes, none of them are anything that would ever be hurtful, and the show is so obviously comedic and over the top that nothing can be taken seriously, not even by someone who's looking to be offended. The characters represent their countries, yes, but they are also very far removed from the actual reality of their country.

So now that we've learned that the show needn't be dismissed just for content, how good is it?  The show has multiple high points, and the first and most important is that most of the characters themselves are portrayed as very handsome young men (known as bishonen, or beautiful boy/man). As a result, the show has a very dedicated female fanbase. Even if a joke falls flat, the appeal of the characters makes watching the show worth it. And most of the time, the jokes work, and you laugh at poor Italy as he gets captured in succession by every enemy and calls Germany for help, or as England tries to get America to stop eating hamburgers and focus on the meeting. The world is portrayed lightly and divisions between countries are minimized. Even countries who are long time enemies in real life fight as friendly rivals, not as two people who truly hate each other.

Hetalia is a wonderful escape, a show you watch to enjoy comedy both on the shallow level, watching crazy characters interact, and on another level, when you have knowledge of the history or can laugh and say “yeah, a lot of Americans do that.” The knowledge of the country in real life serves as character introduction, so it becomes much easier to care about certain characters.

Of course, Hetalia isn't perfect. There are segments of the show that are just plain boring (Liechtenstein, anyone?) and at times the jokes can get quite repetitive. Whenever an episode focuses on a character I don't particularly care about, it's suddenly not as fun. Also, a large segment of the early episodes involves Italy's early history where he was a child, called “Chibitalia,” basically Little/Mini Italy. These segments are incredibly cute, but there isn't as much humor and the over the top cuteness could be off putting for some. And of course, if you don't like watching Bishonen, Hetalia may lose quite a bit of its appeal.

Of course, a lot of the flaws are salvaged by the fact that each episode is five minutes long. Didn't like one episode? It's very likely that next week's will be better. Sometimes each episode is made up of two or three sketches, so even if one doesn't work for you, it's likely another will.

Hetalia gets an 8/10. It's not perfect, but it's definitely doing something right, as it's the only comedy anime I've ever really enjoyed. Take away two points if you don't like bishonen, though.
 
Extra info-The anime is licensed by Funimation with streaming episodes available on their website and via their channel on Youtube.Hetalia World Stars is being released once a week.

Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks Review

Two caveats to keep in mind for this review: 1) I am an unapologetic Brony, and 2) I’m reviewing a shaky theater cam version I watched on youtube, so I’m not qualified to comment on the quality of the animation. However, five stars for the guy holding the cam.

With that out of the way…

Equestria Girls had a rough start. In brief, the first movie focused on Sunset Shimmer, an ex-student of Princess Celestia, and her quest to gain power by stealing the magical crown from Twilight and escaping with it through a magical portal into the human world (or at least, the version of the human world that EQG takes place in). Twilight follows, has to get thee crown back by being elected a queen at the school dance, and ends up rescuing Canterlot High from a demon version of Sunset Shimmer. Without belaboring it, the first movie had a fair share of un-ignorable plot holes, and it was clear the writers had yet to find their footing with the human world.

Rainbow Rocks is a sequel, and thankfully a much more confident movie. As it turns out, Sunset Shimmer is not the only being from Equestria hanging out in the human world. Three girls who were once Sirens (G1 fans, think sea-ponies) in Equestria were banished to the human world ages ago, and as a result have little power since there’s so little magic on this side of the portal. They witness the Equestrian magic used in the first movie, and realize that absorbing that magic (through song, natch—they’re sirens, after all) would give them the power they need to enslave the world. And of course, they start with the school, setting up a battle of the bands.

By creating discontent and competition, they begin to power up, and only the knowledge and magic of the mane 5, plus a reformed Sunset, can put a stop to it. But they need their special friend and element of magic—Twilight!

Thus begins Rainbow Rocks. At heart, it’s a battle of the bands movie, with heavy elements of fantasy due to the influence of MLP. But thankfully, this time the magic makes sense. Also, the characters of Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and even Sunset Shimmer actually matter now. Without the onus of having to introduce them, the writers give their characters a chance to clash and grow. Fans of MLP will see Rainbow Dash’s trademark arrogance and tendency to want to be the star at the detriment of others, Fluttershy’s crippling shyness, and Pinkie Pie’s uncertainty when it comes to seriousness. Applejack and Rarity get the short shrift a little bit, but are still worthwhile presences. I also enjoyed that while the characters resemble their pony counterparts, they still had their own quirks and experiences to draw from. After all, they may have the same name and color schemes, but they are not the same characters, and they were given their own space to shine here.

Meanwhile, there’s Twilight, fresh from becoming a powerful princess. One would think she would be confident and have all the answers, but nope, she’s still adorkable Twilight. Given how much of a fish-out-of-water she is in the human world, I didn’t find it unbelievable that she had trouble solving the problem presented to her, especially considering the sudden pressure of being the one everybody looks up to.

And the star of the movie, in my mind, is the reformed Sunset Shimmer. She had a maturity far beyond the other characters, even Twilight, perhaps brought about by her unwillingness to push her opinion due to longstanding guilt over the events of the first movie. When she finally steps up, it’s a satisfying moment.

Overall, the plot of this movie, while simple, is miles above that of the first EQG. Everything that happens makes sense and ties together. The villains have clear goals and a clear method to attain them, and Twilight and Co. have a clear plan to stop them. The way the battle of the bands is structured, too, lets us see the other students in the school and gives us a glimpse of their characters. And of course, we get plenty of interaction between the main cast as they struggle to fulfill their goal, which has always been the meat of MLP. My only complaint here is that the characterization was a tad shallow in some respects, if only because of the large cast.

I must mention the music of this movie, since it’s an important aspect. The sirens have phenomenal music in all of their scenes. I’m no musician, but I thoroughly enjoyed their performances, and the soundtrack will be worth every penny. The final battle, too, is worth both a watch and a listen, as we get to see the magic of the sirens and good old Equestrian magic at work.

The best aspects of the movie, as is typical with most episodes of the MLP show, are the characters and the music. For fellow bronies, there are also numerous shoutouts and fanservice moments that will bring smiles to your faces.

This movie is not without its weaknesses, of course. The writers don’t seem to want to go the whole hog with the romance between Twilight and Flash Sentry, so we get tiny scenes that don’t really do anything for the movie and are better off cut. There are dangling questions—if the sirens have been banished for so long, why are they still in school? Do they not age? Speaking of school, where does Sunset Shimmer live, as she has no parents in the human world? These are questions that don’t actually affect the movie as a whole, but cast doubts about the Equestria Girls premise in general.

Of course, one of the biggest questions there is—is there an EQG Twilight?—gets answered with a teaser at the end of the credits. There will be EQG3, everyone!

Overall, Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks gets 8/10. Good characters, good music, good plot and pacing with the exception of Flash Sentry scenes. Add one point if you’re a brony. Take away a point if you dislike the EQG concept, and take away another if you despise high school drama.

Book Review: Uglies

Book review: Uglies

This series starts out with the book Uglies, which introduces us to the character of Tally Youngblood, and moves through the books Pretties and concludes with Specials. Tally starts out as a girl who desperately wants to be "pretty" which in this world, a post apocalyptic society, we learn involves an operation performed on every person who turns 16. The operation literally turns them pretty, and as a result those who are not yet pretty are referred to as "uglies." There are no uglies in this world that Tally knows of above the age of 16. Everyone becomes pretty.

This changes when Tally's new friend Shay introduces her to the idea of a group outside the city, who live like the rusties (that's us) of old, called smokies. The smokies live off of the land and eat meat, and remain ugly all their lives, free of the pressures of the city. Shay flees to join them, but Tally refuses. As a result she ends up getting captured by Special Circumstances, a group of people designed to take care of the smokies and any other threats to the city. Tally is turned into a spy, and promised that if she helps to capture the smokies she will be turned pretty.

I'm not going to keep explaining the plot of every book, but know that one of this series strong points is it's well developed, intriguing world, which is unraveled believably and in such a way that is interesting to the reader. There are no "As you know, Bob" moments. The setting also allows the work to raise questions about perceptions of beauty, as well as questions about the permanence of human psyche when we realize later just what exactly becoming "pretty" entails. It raises questions about conformity as well as humans treatment of the environment, and these issues are not taken lightly. There is no easy answer.

These issues are not explored to the expense of the plot, however, which moves at a fast clip throughout all three books. The titles reflect Tally's progression, from an Ugly, to a Pretty, and finally to a Special, an enhanced pretty who excels in combat and tracking down troublemakers. The book is filled with action sequences, the lens fixed exclusively on Tally as she goes through these stages.

Unfortunately, the books would be better were it focused on someone else. The first book is acceptable, and you get a sense of who Tally is-someone who is a bit cowardly and easily influenced, but learning to be stronger. Her decision at the end of the first book to voluntarily become pretty in order to find the cure to the brain lesions given to new Pretties is admirable, and you feel like she has grown as a character.

Then in books two and three, it's all reversed. She becomes pretty and acts banally stupid, and then becomes special and acts just as stupid, to the point where you wish she would just give up. After book one she does nothing for herself, acting only because of Zane's persuasion in book two and on Shay's orders in book three. She improves at the end, but it comes too late to salvage the lost enjoyment. The problem here is that due to personality changes that come with turning pretty and special, Tally's personality changes, and it becomes hard to care about her because of it. It's the same problem that the show Dollhouse faced. Couple with Tally's weak characterization in book one, it's a major one.

On top of that, her story just isn't that interesting. In book one her actions were tied to the plot, but in books two and three the really interesting parts of the plot (the smokies resistance and integration into another city) all happen on the sidelines, while we are treated to long scenes of Tally figuring out how to escape from the city in book two and blowing up weapons caches in book three, which just so happens to trigger a war. If the books focused on David or Maddy, or even Zane, who actually overcomes something of consequence before his disappointing death, they would be far more interesting. Instead they read like an action movie at times, especially near the end, with focus on explosions and action instead of events that actually change the world the characters live in. We are told repeatedly that her actions are important, but there is no evidence to back up the claims.

I would have enjoyed the books more had I cared more about Tally. It is very much the story of a girl, one that tries to be the story of a world, but it does a poor job mixing the two. I give points for the interesting setting and plot-I just wish I had been able to actually experience more of the latter.

The Uglies series gets a 6/10. Great setting, great plot, great writing, poor characterization, poor execution. There is a fourth book that takes place after the trilogy called Extras, but I find myself uninterested in picking it up.