Blog Archives
The Cat Returns- Anime Movie Review
Today is a first here at DaHubbz! Our first Anime Movie Review (Hopefully the first of many). I’m reviewing The Cat Returns.
The Cat Returns is Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Only Yesterday) 12th film. It was directed by Hiroyuki Morita and Reiko Yoshida and was released in Japan in 2002.
We’re about jump into this but I want to add a couple disclaimers before we go.
First one:
I watched the Blu Ray English dub from Disney. The Cat Returns moved to America in 2005 and starred Anne Hathaway in the lead role of Haru.
Second One:
I watched Spirited Away in my younger years, so for review purposes, The Cat Returns is my first Studio Ghibli film.
Spoilers: Spoiler free as I can get.
Okay, here we go!
Studio Ghibli is a studio known for it’s heart warming characters, enduring animations, and timeless story telling. The Cat Returns delivers on all three fronts. After my first viewing I was torn. I knew it was a good movie, but I struggled to stick with a score. The best part of it for me the first go round were the characters. Anne Hathaway was great as Haru. Peter Boyle (Everybody Loves Raymond) as Muta and Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Frozen) as Hiromi and the other cast I think all did great jobs with their respective roles. After it was said and done I struggled to find the meaning of the film. I was getting hung up in the stuff that bothered me and did not make sense.
For starters, The Cat Bureau. It seemed like such a cool idea. Objects are given souls and come to life. Unfortunately, we only see the Cat Bureau once. I also struggled with a purpose for the film. Honestly, I think that boils down to being so caught up in everything else, the meaning just went right over my head.
Thankfully, I watched it a second time. It hit me and stuck with me. Biggest mistake I made going into it was assuming this was a movie about Baron, the kitty cat on the cover. Well it is not. This is a story about Haru. As cool as they try to make Baron out to be, he has to take a backseat to Haru. This was not something I was willing to let happen my first viewing. I wanted more of Baron and Muta and the Bureau. Big mistake on my part.
I’ll break it down by topics moving forward.
Plot: The Cat Returns is a story of Haru, a young teenage girl. She oversleeps, has secret, little crushes, and most noticeable struggles with who she is. This is very apparent through dialogue with her friend and mother. She saves prince Lune, prince of the cats, and news travels fast to the cat kingdom. The king makes it his priority to return the favor. This part is cute as the cats offer her several live mice among other gifts. The most noteworthy is Lune’s hand in marriage. She tries to run away from the cats, but these cats are willing to risk all nine of their lives to get Haru to the kingdom. Baron leaves her with more or less these words, “never forget who you are and you will be fine.” Good stuff. Needless to say, Haru gets caught up immediately in the kingdom. Haru turns away from her human side and becomes a cat. I’ll avoid major plot spoilers. Baron shows up and save hers in more words then that.
Characters: While I said the characters were the best part of this movie, and stick by it, there really is only one character to do a major analyze on. For starters I think this movie is great, but so much of it depends on Haru. Haru is a character we have been taught has issues. She begins thinking maybe the cat kingdom is where she belongs, but she does it everywhere new. First, it is the Cat Bureau, then the kingdom. It is at least consistent in that regard. Watching her evolution is a beautiful yet unfulfilling event. I think getting wrapped up in the kingdom and the other characters is why I did not realize how much of this movie hinged on Haru. This is why I’m sad it did not hit me the way I had hoped. When she has the dramatic change from cat back to human it felt rushed or unexplained, I guess. I felt the urgency from Baron to get Haru back to the human world, but not Haru’s. Maybe that is just me. Even in the end, she has to be saved from falling off the tower. I guess the one big take away is that she did choose to ultimately leave the cat kingdom, even if I’m not sold on it. This makes me doubt the Haru seen at the end, even though I do enjoy that Haru.
The World: Another great part of this movie. The Cat Bureau and Cat Kingdom are great, beautiful, and lively. The cat kingdom is bustling with heart, character, and humor. This place is filled with secret agents, explosions, mazes of death, epic falls, and a crazy ruler. I never got a sense of dread or darkness. Seriously, even during all these crazy parts, it is still fun, energetic, and up beat.
Verdict: What I’m ultimately judging this film on is this movie through Haru’s eyes. This differs from the score I’d give if I was just judging it as a whole.
Score: 7.5 out of 10.
Conclusion: This movie is awesome and well worth the watch. I dare say it could be a classic. It is charming and enduring. It bolsters amazing characters, well timed humor, and a vibrant world. Haru did not connect with me the way I wanted her to, and the grade reflects that. In the end I do not actually believe she has undergone any change, or more so, the change feels forced. Her coffee line at the end did not hit me the way I think the studio had hoped.
Manga Car Ride! Make a recommendation!
This Saturday will mark my epic two week quest down to Panama City! That nets me close to ten hours of car trip reading time. I’m bringing Dragon Ball Vol. 7-8-9, Seven Deadly Sins Vol 2, Tokyo Ghoul Vol 1, and Food Wars Vol 1. to keep me entertained.
While I am down there, I will try to stop by book stores and comic stores and pick up some new ones.
So if you stumble across this post, you should totally leave the name of a manga or comic book I should be on the look out for.
You can also recommend an anime I’ll try to get around to watching it. Ideally, something found on Crunchyroll, Netflix, or Hulu.
You can follow me on twitter @Dahubbz to see if I find anything cool!
Thanks for reading!
Life Update: BatmanVsSuperman, moving
The drought is almost over.
My moving situation is basically solved and figured out as long nothing changes between now and the first week of April. I am so excited as this change of scenery is what the doctor ordered! I plan to finally have office space(If youll allow me to call it that) I plan to renew my subscriptions and buy some mangas. It’s going to be a fresh spark that I think will add energy back to the blog and create some momentum for the youtube channel.
That wont be until roughly April 5th. In the meantime I have a “Let’s Talk” session lined up for BatmanVsSuperman, as well as trying to read a manga Ive owned for like 4 months. God willing, I will start Random Wednesday next Wednesday, But I make no promises as it seems my time flies by here currently.
Thanks for reading this and sticking by. The ambiguous uncertainty has really taken a toll on me but I can see a light. Here’s to a bright future!
Life Update: New category, Youtube, and time away.
I fell in love with blogging almost a year ago. It was place to talk about anything: Mangas, School, games, you name it.
So why is it I havent made a post in nearly a month?
Multiple reasons.
- I’ve been sick and and unmotivated.
I had this cold back in February and it was not that bad. It keep me bed for long periods of time, because more than I was sick, I was just always tired. I don’t sleep right to begin with but I was always woke up before 11am. I can’t really say I have since I got this cold. Which makes being productive hard when I sleep for half the day.
2. School work out of nowhere.
If you follow my blog any you know in January I was doing a daily blog(If you didnt check it out than I highly recommend it) and was taking five classes and trying to start working. I was completely fine than. However, somewhere along the line my classes up’d the work out of nowhere and so many test, and written assignments, and discussions were due. I had to drop 2 classes just to even be able to balance all the things I was doing. It sucked.
3. Started a Youtube Channel
I’ve stated before Youtube was my first love. I started my first channel back in ’09 and slowly fell out of it. I went out and bought my first mic and editing software and fired up the dream once more. I started blogging back last summer. This Youtube channel has been in the works since the summer of 13. While the blog was a spur-of-the-moment thing and the youtube channel has been very calculated, I wanted to give equal attention. Sadly, I have not. The blog actually takes a lot of time and money(in some instances). Somewhere along the lines my time shrunk. This also goes hand in hand with motivation. Sometimes recording a youtube video is as easy as hitting record, playing the game, and just talking along with it. The blog, however, I either have to watch an entire anime, read a volume, or what have you, and than plan it out.
4. Decreasing Quality
Maybe the biggest reason. Watching anime, reading manga, playing the games, is not the the hard part. It’s the planning the post. I like to be insightful, unbiased, and salt in my own brand of off beat humor. I begun waiting to the last moment and just throwing together material and it got to the point of asking myself “Would I actually read this myself”. This has slowed me down greatly. Everything stems from being unmotivated. I get basically no hours at my job, my apartment is up for inspection later this month, I’m in this weird transition period between possibly transferring colleges and moving nearly 6 hours away, and everything kind of has me in a funk. One of the few things making me happy is making videos and my voice has been gone for the better half of a month so I cant even do that.
*Next topic*
As the title suggest, I am going to talk about youtube.
I am currently doing a Pokmeon Golden Age Let’s Play. I think it is going to finish up with 8 or 9 videos. I also do unboxings every Saturday. I’ve already opened two mew collection boxes and will be opening the Celebi box sometime this week! I also will be opening the dual box for Magic the Gathering and the latest structure deck of Yugioh. My top fives will eventually migrate over to the channel as well. I’m working on putting together a let’s play of Pokemon Gray Topaz and Zelda: Minish Cap. I’m debating on doing Dragon Ball Z Legacy of Goku 2 and Super Mario 64. Anime and Manga reviews may or may not move over to the channel(They may stay a blog exclusive)
Go Subscribe to Dahubbz on Youtube.
*Last Topic*
A new category. Crunchyroll has a random feature that will assign you a random episode to watch. I want to integrate this into the blog. I will watch episode one of a random anime that crunchyroll spits out at me and give my opinions on it and call this “Random Wednesday”. It’s just a test run but I’ll try it out either this Wednesday or the next so be on the look out!
Announcement: Youtube, Daily Blog, Mew Mythical Collection
Hey, guys. It’s time for another life update.
So you guys have probably noticed post have slowed down again. Daily Blog is officially being put on hold. Here is why:
In 2009, I started my very first youtube channel. I was 14. I made some good friends. My brother and I were best friends and bonded over making videos and playing games. I had not even started high school yet, and somehow, this was what I was wanting to do with my life. I commonly remember this time period as the second best time period of my life.
My sophomore year of high school I gave YouTube a second try. Me and my friend did improv/sketch comedy. We sent them to all our friends and we had a small following in our home town. Yet again, this was one of the best periods of my life(at the beginning anyway). My senior year, my friend and I could not see eye to eye with what to do with the channel, he eventually realized we should not change our style, but it was too late. I had already lost interest.
My junior year, I returned to my roots and began let’s playing again. It had no momentum this time and suddenly, I was having editing problems. The audio and video were out of sync. At first, I tried fixing and working around it. It become too tedious and, coupled with school, just got lost in mud.
In 2013 as a freshman in college, I decided I wanted to return to YouTube. Roughly three years later, I get a chance to return to the website I love.
When I first started out, videos did not have to be 1080, the market was not super over saturated with lets players, and half the people you know and love today either were not around or were not nearly as popular. It was simply a different time.
I’ve tried. I’ve lost passwords, interest, and patience. But I’m here this time to see it to the end. So come along with me.
Right now I am let’s playing Pokemon: Golden Age for some friends. You should check it. I already have two videos out and I’m hoping to upload frequently. Just search DaHubbz in your YouTube.
For what I am doing for today, I’m going to my local Gamestop. They should have 4 of the Mew Mythical Collection tcg box. I’m strongly debating on buying all four. If I do, I might do a give away. If you want a more play-by-play and direct approach on this. Follow me on twitter to see what I decide over at Dahubbz.
Manga mondays and all that jazz are still on going so stay tuned for more reviews!
As always, thanks for reading this!
Check back later for more content!
Update- Daily Blog Challenge, Finally an announcement
So if you follow this blog in any capacity, you know I do daily posts. You also probably know I havent been doing it regularly. I’ve talked about this once, and I’m still having trouble with it.
A. I’ve been sick all this week. It’s just a running nose, sore throat, and cough. With the occasional headache. I do not take medicine for anything that wont kill me, so I’m naturally fighting it with water and sleep. Which takes time.
Also, I had a three page paper due and a test. Albeit, these are not hard, but the study and prep time take time away from the blog.
I’m happy to say I shuld get a top five out today for favorite Majora’s Mask mask. So if that interest you, stay tune!
I’ve talked about it before, but I’ll mention it again because it is relevant. I started this blog with the hopes of creating a safe and healthy environment for lovers of anime/manga/video game/etc to come together, to meet and discuss interests. I’m proud to say I took the next step today. I made a forum.
Here we have topics like “Suggest a manga to everyone” or “What anime are you currently watching” I’m open to suggestions and I really want to turn this into a hangout spot for everyone.
When I was Freshman in High School, I took part in a forum that changed my life. It was a pokemon forum and I made awesome friends. Unfortunately, those people(Myself included) all took a break from it and we failed to stay in touch. But that truly made my summer incredible. I was an introvert and did not have real good friends in school yet(that changed my junior year). But this was a big stepping stone into helping me grow out of some of those problems. I would love to give back to a community, the way a community gave to me.
Please do not hesitate to check it out, make suggestions, and tell your friends. Of course it is small now, but we can make it grow!
Here’s a link http://dahubbz.proboards.com/
Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Check back later today for a top five, and next week for more big announcement
Manga Monday(On a Tuesday!) ReLife Vol 1
I really wanted to get this up yesterday but school work was too taxing. I dont want to have to wait til next week, so I’m doing it today!
I read ReLife by So Yayoi and published by Earth Star Entertainment.
Right off the bat, I really enjoyed this and I’m happy to be reviewing it so be sure to check it out afterwards.
Okay here we go!
Spoilers- Meh. They hint at some future stuff we will discuss but nothing major.
Plot- So I checked this manga out because it seemed like a change of pace. I had just done One Punch Man(Check out my review here!) and I wanted something a little more deeper than OPM. Arata is a 27 year old loser. He does not have a job, his family has little faith in him, and he’s fallen out of the loop with friends. Honestly, this is pretty much how I felt a few weeks ago, so it was very easy to put myself in his shoes. Anyway, he is selected for the ReLife program. This program leaves him 27 but gives him the appearance of a 17 year old. I thought this program was going to put him in another body or something extreme, but alas it gives him a second chance at high school. Why is this important? Arata cannot find a job, and ReLife offers to help him once his one year trial is complete. This is his story in the life of a high school body once again.
Characters- Oh boy! Normally I can only talk about one or two characters, but there’s actually a few characters in here that we get a decent understanding of who they are.
Arata- For starters, our main character. He was denied another job and now his family is no longer going to support him. He tries really hard not to connect with any of the high school students, but due to his overwhelming compassion for others and his inability to stay low-key, he ends up having several interaction with the students. He is not very good at this being younger and adjusting to school. One of the many things he fails to recall is that he can’t smoke. Not only is he now technically 17, he’s also on school grounds. It’s quite humorous how the students and teachers interact with his hmm, “forgetfulness”.
Ryo- One of the funniest character’s to a manga I’ve ever read. He is the ReLife agent who offered Arata the pills to change him. He is also Arata’s overseer. He takes the pills with him. Ryo knows how to get inside of Arata’s head and push his buttons. He is always making jokes about how dumb Arata is, or joking about Arata falling in love with the students, and is just always making Arata feel embarrassed. This interaction between the two main character’s really makes this a special manga to me. Ryo genuinely is interested in Arata as a person and is truly captivated by Arata’s interaction with his classmates. This makes the dialogue exchange between the two so honest and so welcomed. Not to mention, it’s absolutely hilarious.
Hishiro- Hishiro is the silent type. Noted as not smiling too much or ever having friends, she normally keeps to herself. She has been class president every year beforehand and looks to keep that title headed into this year. She takes a liking to Arata(or so it is lead on to believe). Which is a concept I debated on how I felt for a long time. Ryo heavily suggest Arata give her a chance. Arata’s response is no because she is ten years younger than him, despite him looking like a 17 year old. Which i agree with Arata. He still has the mind of a 27 year old. But every since they begun “talking” Arata seems more happy and lively. There’s a scene where they flirt over business emails(Yeah, email). Which ends in Arata laughing so hard. This scene is really well done, because it’s two characters who do not fit in too well with their peers, but in this moment they are letting their walls done for each other.
Rena/Oga/And the rest of the bunch- She is another female student in Arata’s grade. She is eyeing the class president spot but first must dethrone Hishiro. She finds Arata as a disturbance due to him getting busted with cigarettes and not having a pencil, but she does lend him one. Oga so far as come off as a funny smooth talker. I believe he’s only had one scene, but I very much enjoyed his personality while he was there. Ms. Amatsu is here to make Arata look bad. She is a 25 year old who is already doing more with her life than Arata. She also busted him with the cigarettes and forces him to write an essay. The last character introduced was Honoka. I believe little has been revealed about her so far, but I’m sure we will see how she ties into the loop soon.
The World- This category does not so much matter with mangas like this. It’s your every day earth much like ours.
Recap-
Action-None.
Romance- I do not think it’s come right out and said anything. If I had to guess, Arata could hook up with Hishiro. Rena and Oga might be a thing. They appear to flirt a bit.
Plot- It feels like it’s been done before(reminds me of Case Closed which is never a bad thing). But I like the spin of seeing him adjust to high school life
Characters- Such a lovely batch of characters.
The World- Bland. But it doesnt have to be anything more than what it is.
Humor- One of the funniest manga’s I’ve ever read.
Verdict- Hilariously well done. It does not have action, which can be good. It does not rely on effects or being over the top like One Punch Man. The characters will have you in stitches. Easily one of the best manga’s I’ve read.
Score- 9.5 out of 10. Yeah. I love this manga. I did not know it existed two days ago, but much like how I fell for Food Wars, I’ve fallen for ReLife. You should too! Volume One ended hinting at the last subject before Arata who did not do so well, Volume 1 and 2 are available free on Crunchyroll, Volume 5 is coming out next week, and there is an anime coming out next month! What are you waiting for! You have no reason not to give it a try!
100th Post
Today were not doing Daily Post Challenge. Instead, I’m making a simple post. This will be my 100th post on DaHubbz.
This channel is not huge in any sense of the word, however, the regulars that have flocked to my post have been truly great.
Some people comment.
Some people give likes.
Some people simply read.
But regardless that means a lot to me.
I started back in June(July?) with the sole intent of meeting people to chat about Pokemon and Anime. And that’s what I’ve done. I look forward to logging in every day to chat with cool people.
January was our biggest month. Post everyday was challenging with school, but I’m glad I stuck with it.
I thought that would be the biggest thing I did on this account, but I have a project coming up that I hope you guys will enjoy.
I’m still learning to be a good blogger. I’m still developing my own personality and style. I’m still working on networking and meeting new people.(I rarely comment on stuff. I gotta change that this year).
Anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed the content so far. I’m open to reviewing any anime or manga. Follow me on here and get involved with the content. Follow me on twitter and let’s chat.
Here’s to a good year and 100 more post. Thanks to everyone who motivated me to keep blogging
As always, thanks for reading!
Check back tomorrow for more daily post!
February Update- LoZ, Mew giveaway, Oath of the Gatewatch and more!
Hey guys! It’s February. Time for an update
February will be getting a daily blog challenge starting tomorrow. The Monthly Theme: Legend of Zelda!
Later today I talk about my thoughts on the Mew give-away and do a Magic Monday about my thoughts of Oath of the Gatewatch
Next week I am going to reveal my newest project I’m working on. Codename: Calling all Manga and Anime lovers. I am super excited about it.
If any of this interest you make sure you follow this blog for updates! You can also follow me on twitter @dahubbz!
Check back tomorrow for the Daily Post- My First Experience With LoZ
Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Manga Monday: One Punch Man Volume 1 Review
One Punch Man is written by One and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. It is published through Shonen Jump and distributed through Viz Media. It originally was a web based manga before the team brought it to paperback in 2012. It is famous for the anime that grew very popular last season(Which I managed to stay spoiler free from so far.
Spoilers: Meh, not really any huge ones.
Plot: Saitama was a man who had lost the will to live three years before the very first panel. In the first chapter he fights a piccolo looking character who is a manifest of earth sent to kill all humans for polluting. Yeah, manga takes a very “Defend Earth” stance early and does not really let it go through out the volume. Chapter two gives us back story about Saitama when he was a dead beat who killed a mutated crab(Yet again from pollution like some Fallout stuff). This is when we learn it’s been three years since he decided to train to carry on the Baldy Balds tradition(I love you if you get this reference). Early on this feels very western world comic style. By that I mean no apparent cohesive plot like tradition mangas. Most of the early chapters just feel like days-in-the-life kinda things where he goes around easily defeating villains. Combine that with almost a deconstruction of Shonen manga’s main characters and you have an entertainingly funny, but boring action comic. The volume does end on a high note as they introduce what I presume to be the bad guy organization.
Characters: Saitama and Genos seem to be our two main characters so i’ll focus on them
Saitama- Saitama could not get a job to save his life. He even commented he failed 3 or 4 interviews that day alone. When a mutated crab tries to kill a little boy, Saitama rushes to the rescue and discovers he wants to be a hero. For fun and all. Saitama is pretty much how you would expect Goku or Luffy to to fight. Saitama is so overpowered it’s crazy. Goku is crazy stronger than anybody in Dragon Ball but still struggles against folks he should not. Saitama, on the other hand, obliterates the opposition. Logically, this how I imagine most fights going. One Punch Man shows how, while very funny, just how dull these worlds would be. The cool part about him though is that he seeks a rival as strong as him and how he feels empty without the competition. The sad part, I do not think he will find that rival anytime soon.
Genos- Genos is a pretty cool character. He is an cyborg but is fully capable of emotions. He is seeking revenge and hoping Saitama can help train him(Sandy would be disappointed to learn this). He once was a young boy in a small town. A cyborg went crazy and killed everyone in the town except him(Like a synth. Man, I have Fallout on the brain). Anyway, a doctor for justice preformed a procedure on him to turn Genos into a cyborg that seeks justice.
The World: One of the first mangas I really get to talk about the world. The world is overrun by monsters and villains. Saitama hopes that by donning his cap(For fun) he would cut down on the monstrous behavior. He’s wrong. Most of the villains seem to be manifestations of science or the earth herself. Pretty cool world, scary to live in though.
Recap:
Action: One punch worth
Romance: None at the moment.
Plot: It’s there.
Characters: We’ve really only done surface level scratching
The World: I feel this is going to be explored a little more. Cool for the time being though
Humor: The series does this right. It’s pretty funny.
Verdict: Seems the chapters are more western style than tradition mangas for now. It’s a funny read but it’s very fast pace.
Score: 6.5 out 10. One Punch Man is hard to buy into after just one volume. It’s a satire and deconstruction of a genre I’m just not sure how well it translates into manga form. The best part from the mangas One Punch Man seems to be inspired by is the rivalry between main characters and villains, think Naruto and Sasuke. One Punch Man does not have that, but it does have potential. A solid start, a good enough middle, and cliff hanger ending makes me at least want to give volume 2 a try(which I will when I can).
Da_Hubbz 