Back In Halifax!

I'm back home!

After an exhausting 13 hours drive back from that backwater place in Quebec where my parents live, I'm back in my little palace, surrounded by Bleach posters, GUNPLAs both completed and in progress, computers and you, my fellow OTAKUs.

I'm kinda excited to be back! Mark from BIGPFEIFFER told me that all the stuff I ordered is

waiting for me at the store! BAZINGA BITCHES! I GOT MY PATLABOR! The cool thing about it? Even if it's only a MG model, it's a 1/35 Scale with working LED patrol lights. That is the

most awesome thing ever! And the price was more than decent too! I can see myself spending a lot of time building that baby! The model is build in order for me to actually choose with one of the PATLABOR I want to build! Noa Izumi? Isao Ohta? Or event Shinobu Nagumo? I got the choice! Every review I found online about that kit gave it a fairly high rating

I got also more markers. My black one is pretty beat up, so a new one is more than welcome!

And I do love that picture with the WING ZERO CUSTOM Gundam. It reminds me of Peggy's Cove.

Before I forget! I'm still off for another 4 days! So you can expect me to finish Shin Musha. And the RX-93-2 Hi-Nu V2 Gundam is still waiting in his box......Damn...Should I simply quit working and build Gundam full time? If you're going to the Moncton convention this summer, you might be able to see couple of my models! Will you be able to spot them?

The Social Geek.

It's almost Xmas!

Hello, fellow geeks!

I didn't post in the last week since I was uber busy! I'm currently back in Quebec at my dad's house, chilling, cooking and having a hell of time snowboarding with a humonguous amount of powder!

This is my Xmas post. Mark from BIGPFEIFFER just emailed me last night to let me know my PATLABOR, GUNDAM markers and some action stand just arrived for me at the shop. I'm pretty stoked about it! Seriously! A FAWKING PATLABOR! That will be dope!

For those of you who will attend the Anime Con in Moncton next summer, some of my GUNPLA will be on display at the BIGPFEIFFER stand. Visit them guys!

I'll be pretty busy for the upcoming weeks, and I'll be leaving for a couple of weeks for the warmer temperatures in the southern hemisphere. I'll keep you informed! Don't worry!

So, I wish you all a merry geeky Xmas.

May The Force Be With You, Always!

Again, thank you!

Well, it's 8:52PM right now in Halifax, and I've just saw that you visited me more than 400 times since I've started the blog, a bit more than 2 months ago.

Thank you for reading me. Keep on reading, since I have some nice ideas for the upcoming posts! I'll be doing a step-by-step "GunPla For Beginners" probably in the upcoming weeks, some more in details analyst of some anime series I cherish and some surprises!

Thanks again!

The Social Geek.

My Sci-Fi "Must Read" Booklist / PART 2.

It's time for PART 2 of my AWESOME list of Sci-Fi books to read!

So let's start where I left....

Richard Matheson - I Am Legend.
-Don't get fooled by the movie, the book is like 20 times better.

Arthur C. Clarke - 2001 and the sequels.
-The movie is one of my favorite, but you can only understand how deep and how majestic the story Arthur C. Clarke wrote by reading his books for one end to the other.

Various Authors - The Horus Heresy Saga
-Inspired from the lore of Warhammer 40,000, the multiples authors being published at The Black Library have done an amazing work telling the story of the Primarchs, the rebellion of the one above the others and how twisted a man mind can be. There's more books getting published as we talk, so keep an eye for those books!

Bernard Werber - His whole work.
-I will never get enough of this guy. His writing is simply spectacular. It's hard to seclude him into the Sci-Fi category, but his books are the ones you can recommend to anybody. I still think that The Ants are his masterpiece.

Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game
-This book, can't be qualified. It explore the most dark areas of the human mind, but also how much humanity can be wrong AND right. After reading it, I had to sit for a while and think about what this guy made me discover about myself. The fact that humanity is lying to children to reveal them after the atrocity of their acts, astounded me. It could be real....

Jules Verne - 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
-My grandmother bought me this book last summer, since they were doing a reprint of the original edition with all the illustrations. She gave it to me at the beginning of my summer leave, and I ended up spending hours on the deck at my cottage reading it while suntanning and drinking Iced Tea and Coronas. The story was written way before man could build or even discovered the technical skills needed to create a submarine, but Mr. Verne explained most of the principles, and some of them still apply in today's subs! A great mind!


That should do it I think. I'll eventually come back with a part 3 to this, but I've read so much sci-fi since high school, that I might have to go back to some, to give you more titles to read. Anyway. If you're really into it, read those. It will keep you busy for, at least, a couple months!

The Social Geek.

My Sci-Fi "Must Read" Booklist.

Earlier today, I was talking to my good friend Dave. I just discovered that he started reading books that I loved. I'm all about Science Fiction. I can read anything, but if I have to choose, I'll go for Science Fiction first. It gave me the idea to create a list for you. A list of what every geek should read before they die.

To me, all of those books are masterpieces. Some can be considered as classics, other only have been on the shelves for a couple year.

Enough of that.
Let's start the list!

Frank Herbert's Dune Saga.
-It's a must. The original 6 books. You can't be a real if you haven't read those!

Brian Herbert's & Kevin J. Anderson's Dune Prequels and Sequels.
-The Houses trilogy, the Genesis trilogy, the 2 sequels to Dune(SANDWORMS/HUNTERS of Dune) and the 2 books they wrote to fill the blanks in the story (PAUL/WINDS of Dune). Those book complete the universe Frank Herbert created with such brilliance, they're all a must-read!

Isaac Asimov's Foundation Saga.
-Do I really have to talk about Mr. Asimov?

David Weber's SAFEHOLD saga.
-The guy wrote the Honor Harrington novel. Never been a fan. By my own opinion, the SAFEHOLD saga (Off Armageddon Reef/By Schism Rent Asunder/By Heresies Distressed/A Mighty Fortress) is his masterpiece. I can't wait for the conclusion. I'll probably read them all again before starting the 5th book in order to get back into it!

Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (and sequels).
-DON'T PANIC! The kind of humor Douglas Adams is using in those books made me smile the whole time I was reading them. And remember, always carry a towel with you!

Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers.
-Don't ever mention the movie(s) in front of me. EVER! Heinlein's book talks about something deeper than aliens, titties and big gun. It speaks of serving the greater good, sacrifice and what's wrong in today's society. It was written in the 70's but does make a lot of sense right now.

Joe Haldeman's The Forever War.
-This book is seen by a lot of people as a direct answer to Starship Troopers. The author denies it, but I still feel like those two books are always going to be adversaries. The book is like a narration from a pacifist that got dragged into a war.

Max Brooks' World War Z
-Not really a Sci-Fi book. But it's such a great one! Great view of what the world would look if zombies would hit!

Right now, there's too many books. I'll stop here for now and make a part 2 later.

Enjoy.

The Social Geek.

Once Again, It's Monday!

Guess what! Today's Monday again. And what's happenning to me usually on Mondays?

IT'S GUNDAM PLASTIC KITS DAY!

Today again, the postman delivered not 1, not even 2, but 3 new kits!

I told you earlier this month about me waiting for a MG Shin Musha, a MG Hi-Nu Gundam and the HG 0 Gundam (Roll Out Colors w/ Wings)

Where, here they are!

Happy Monday!

The Social Geek.

Late Night Surprise!

Well, here in Halifax, the MicMac mall is having a late night sale. Since the my friends won't be done before 1:00 AM, I took the occasion to spent more time to work on the NZ-666. I'll even show you some pics!


Surprisingly, I'm either becoming too good at building GunPla or this model is too easy. Either way, right now, it's only been around 8-10 hours spent on that one. Here's a closer picture.


There's a lot of marker work to do, but I always find it easier once the model is complete, since I can put more emphasis on certain areas.

The Social Geek.

Gundam Unicorn Ep. 3 : Release Date Announced!

So it is finally announced!

Gundam UC Ep.3 will be released the 5th of March 2011. 125 days after the release of the Episode 2, the expectations I have towards the new episode are even greater!

Online rumors talk about another RX-0, but this time, it's called BANSHEE!

I just can't wait to see it!

The Social Geek.

Tales From The Workdesk : 2 Weeks Of Work.

I never really been a HG fan. But you know if you've been reading the blog for the last weeks that I received 2 HG GunPla kits last week.

I've completed the RX-0 Unicorn earlier this week and after close to 30 hours, I can present you with the EXIA AVALANCHE 1/100 with some slight details to complete. They're mostly marker work. It ain't that much of a big deal.

I know you're all craving for photos and a little review on both of them, so here they come!

Let's start with the UNICORN.

It's quite an impressive model. I wasn't expecting that much of a complex built from an MG model. It could almost be compared to a PG if it wasn't a 1/100 scale. I'm not a huge fan of the movable parts but I know that Susan from BIGPFEIFFER just love them from the bottom of her heart. I prefer the RX-0 in it's UNICORN mode rather than the DESTROY one, but it's only personal preference. I can say the whole kit was around 15-20 hours to build. I'm really meticulous with my kits since my Sinanju broke on me (I'm planning to fix it this weekend so it can join the other ones on display!).

Now, it's time for EXIA AVALANCHE

GUNDAM 00 is my favorite serie from the GUNDAM universe, and you're all supposed to know it by now if you've been reading the blog once in a while. But the AVALANCHE equipment on the EXIA isn't in the serie! It's actually featured in the Gundam ooV manga. The whole thing was created to give more speed to EXIA.


I first got aware of this kit a couple months ago, while I was reading Danny Cho blog. Someone built an amazing AVANLANCHE, repainted it and modded it. I felt in love the instant I saw that model. I knew it has to be part of my GunPla collection as soon as possible. Look at it! Seriously! How could you not love this suit?

So here it is, with some details left to complete.

What do you think? Lemme know!

The Social Geek.

From the Gundam Wiki :
The movie will be released on Blu-Ray & DVD in Japan by Dec 25, 2010 (Christmas); however it's North American release is tentatively slated for 2011.

Unfortunately for me, I was hoping being able to watch the movie before Xmas. They screened it in Japan and in NYC during anime convention, but what about the fans from all over the world? I know some of you reading this blog are from the UK, the Philippines and all over North America. What about us? Bandai should know better! Gundam 00 is one of their most prolific show from the last 6 years and there's a huuuuuge fan base in North America. More enough for 1 screening! They could, at least, push the release date for North America to be the same one! Most of us (I believe) watched, or are watching, 00 with subtitles since the Japanese voices sound way more realistic than the dubbed one. I don't mean any offense to the voice actors doing the dubbing, but Gundam should always be in Japanese with subtitles. There's a thing you can't change.

Hopefully, they'll release the movie early in 2011.....I hope.


The Social Geek.

HIGH GRADE INVASION!

More GunPla kits are on the way!

I've just received a mail from my aunt in Vancouver telling me that RX-93-2 Hi-NU Gundam, SHIN MUSHA Gundam and a valiant(and dirty cheap since he was on sale) GN-000 0 Gundam (Roll out Colors) left yesterday to slowly make their way here in Halifax.

Gundam UNICORN is almost completed and EXIA Avalanche is next on the list! I never been so excited to build a HG model...I'm expecting it to be quicker than my usual 30-40 hours for a MG model.

Oh.
And the 0 Gundam is also a HG model, but I'll show you the main reason why I bought it!

Isn't wonderful? The wing-shaped particle release from the GN Drive is included in the kit!
And for those who never saw the RX-93-2 Hi-NU....well.....here it is too!

I'll probably build a whole article on SHIN MUSHA later this week!

The Social Geek.

Macross Frontier.

Lately, I was looking for something different. I can only listen to Gundam 00 and SEED / SEED : Destiny so often (well, I almost know them by heart now!) that I've started watching MACROSS FRONTIER a week ago.

It isn't as good as Gundam. I can refer to it as my standard for Mecha-style anime. But the part girls and relations take in this anime is different that what I am used to watch.

Take a look at it. You might like it. You might not. But you'll never know before you try it!

Oh. The mechas are AWESOME also. Seeing a TOMCAT-style fighter turning into a robot is a wicked concept. I'm loving that!

The Social Geek.

Flashes From The Past / Patlabor.

When was the first time you saw Mecha-genre anime? I can recall mine from back in the 90's. The canadian cartoon channel used to air Patlabor : Mobile Police once in a while and during Xmas time play one or two of the OVAs. I kinda forget about that until last year, I started watching the serie again, from the beginning and put the OVA where they belong in the whole storyline. It was probably what help me go through a rough period I faced last year when one of my friend died.

It does sound lame. Instead of looking to my friends or family for support in time of distress, I watched anime and stayed home. But it felt great. It reminded me of all the great time we had and how awesome my childhood was with my friends watching awesome robots. I didn't understand everything back in the day from Patlabor, I was mostly looking for the action scenes. But now, with age, I see the whole story unfolding before my eyes, the more intricate facts that I couldn't grasp then.

I'm still a Gundam fan at heart, but Patlabor is so well directed, the art is simply amazing and I could compare it to a good bottle of wine. It does age pretty well. The dates are a bit out-of-phase now, but I disregard it like I would disregard the dates on a Jules Verne story.

Today, I asked Mark from BIGPFEIFFER to order me a MG kit of the Ingram from Patlabor. I would like to see one looking at my Gundams with the signature police shotgun. It would add a bit of diversity to all those beam sabers and other futuristic weapons.

And visit the guys from BIGPFEIFFER on their website. If you're in the Halifax region, they'll help you find whatever you need in anime goodies. I can say now that from now on, I'll try to buy less stuff from online retailers, Sakura Media, Amazon.ca or whatever else and order from those guys. They have a wicked service and are friendly as hell. It's not a free ad, just pure honesty.

On that?

I'll keep you posted on more later this week.

The Social Geek.

Monday. What A Great Day.

Once again, the postman stopped by my door at lunch time! Thanks again to my aunt in Vancouver that can find me whatever I'm looking for (and also to Terry at Sakura Media in Metrotown Center in Vancouver for ordering whatever funky I'm looking for!) I just received today 2 new GunPla kits!

I told you this weekend that I was waiting for some. Well....UNICORN ain't completed, SINANJU either and now......EXIA Avalanche and KSHATRIYA just showed up.

I know, those are HG models and I usually only stick to MGs....but you have the money to buy the resin KSHATRIYA? I don't. So if you do and you would like to see it in that blog, well, send me a message and I'll be glad to give you my adress so you can send me one! And Avalanche? Well....it's only made in HG and I love this model so much that I couldn't NOT order it...

Tonight? Well...I'll be busy completing UNICORN so I can start putting EXIA together and maybe, by this weekend, both are going to be completed!

Now, next problem......
Where am I gonna put even more Gundams.......

The Social (Gundam) Geek.

Forecast for the 1st-3rd July 2011 : It's gonna be raining otakus in Moncton!

I know. I'm a bit early about it. But being a geek does mean to be craving for conventions. An not a sci-fi one, we're talking about an ANIME convention! Well, if I don't go, I'll be damned!

It's just a quick post to let you know that the 3 Strange Adventures stores ( Halifax, Dartmouth and Fredericton) have pre-sale tickets for the event! And if you buy them before May 31st, it's only 25$ for the 3 days!

See you there!

The Social Geek.

Sunday Shopping!

So, once in a while, I like to go hunt down stuff in weekend markets. It's really amazing what you can find on those day. Well, today was an exception. I did find something that just........how could I say that......made me smile more than usual on a Sunday? That might be the best way to explain it.

I don't know if you remember, but couple weeks ago I was talking about BIGPFEIFFER, a retailer down in the Harbour Market in Dartmouth. Well, I stopped by their stand, and I felt in love(sigh!).

I never really was into vinyl figurines, not really, then I saw those two....

You all know that I'm a HUGE Neon Genesis Evangelion & Gundam 00 fan. If not, then now you know! I always thought that Rey was hotter than Asuka...I can already hear arguments coming down my way after you just read my last statement. But NOW! I can prove you wrong! I just bought that wicked figurine of Rey, and well......if it wasn't a figurine, I would do some pretty nasty stuff! I'm such a loser. But yeah, she's hotter than my girl, and I do think that my girl is pretty hawt. You can't say I'm wrong on that! Anyway...

I was about to buy it, leave with my loot-of-the-day and make my way home, then another figurine caught my eye!(DAMMIT!)














If you all remember, in the first season of Gundam 00, Nena Trinity looked alright, if you compare her to the DD standard of every girl in the show. When she reappear in season 2, she's back in line with some nice assets (if I can say!) Well...they also had a Nena figurine...(They still have one! Hurry up if you want to get your hands on it!!) She's making her usual "peace" sign and holding the Purple HARO in a tight post-mission outfit. Lovely....FML! Why those girls aren't real?

Geek Vs Nerds : Facts of Fictions.

This year, at HalCon, I had a great time having a little chat with one of the guys from Geeks Vs. Nerds. I never heard of the show before, but when he introduced me to the concept, I just felt like I found what was missing in my life all those years...

G vs N is a comedy show first, a podcast and a great debate too. The whole thing is about figuring out who's the best? One of the show is about Stormtroopers vs. Red Shirts : Who's the most useless? or Han Solo vs. Malcom Reynolds : Who's the most badass?

It's really sci-fi oriented. I recommend you to listen to the podcast since all the shows are free and please donate to those guys. They do an amazing show. I'm having quite a laugh everytime I heard their arguments. You do like that. Arguing about nerdy stuff. I do. You should. If not, why are you reading this? Han shot first. Got it?

http://www.geeksversusnerds.com

Listen.
Enjoy.
Listen again.
Enjoy more.

The Social Geek.

Building Blocks. RX-0 Unicorn 1/100 MG

Since it's Saturday, and I don't have ANYTHING planned on today, I'll be sitting at my work desk for most of the day. Sinanju is kind of frustrating right now, the pin for the waist snapped on me and I'll have to buy some small drill bits to pin it with the upper body. Anyway, since building CROSSBONE put me in such a good mood, I'll start building UNICORN today. It's a really good looking kit, the box is gorgeous and the manual is amazing.



That's what it looks like once you open the box.

I'll keep you informed on my progress!

The Social Geek.

Thank You.

Just another quick message,

I'd like to thank you all. This blog has been running for not even a month, and I have visitors from all over the world. We just passed the 200th visit about a couple minutes ago and I'm looking forward to keep you informed on what's happening in my geek world!

The Social Geek.

Apologies...and CROSSBONE GUNDAM XM-X1

Sorry folks, I haven't been really social this last week. Like I said in a previous post, I've met a cute and gorgeous girl, I've received some mangas I was waiting for (Thank you STRANGE ADVENTURES comic store!) and finally, when I was about to start writing a new article for the blog you all like, the UPS guy showed up at my place with a sweet surprise!

My GUNDAM CROSSBONE XM-X1 Ver. Ka showed up, all wrapped for me (Thank you amazon.com!). While Sinanju is still in building process, I've kinda rushed the CROSSBONE since it's one of my favorite model. Everything looks like a pirate on him! The cloak, the beam saber, even the gun looks like it's coming out straight out of the 17th Century!



So here it is, next to my beloved FREEDOM and well...yes, ZETA A1+ (I gotta find a way to fix that sucker.....jeez he looks horrible! I might just leave him in his Fighter mode....)

My opinion on the Crossbone Ver. Ka?
I loved every minute of building it and now, its looking at me from the top of my bookshelf and he looks mean. Well...it's still a GunPla, but a mean one!

Next week? I'm expecting EXIA Avalanche and the amazing NZ-666!

I swear to god, I'll keep you posted about it!

The Social Geek.

xkcd : A Geek WebComic

I haven't really posted lately. School is taking up a lot of my time and I did met someone not that long ago, so most of my attention is towards her.

But here's something I've discovered through one of my friend. It a simple WebComic called xkcd. The simplicity in its design is simply amazing, but the whole theme, but the author is bringing the creativity to another dimension by including stuff that us, nerds and geeks, understand to a deeper level. Jokes about logarithms, linux, networking, cult movies and many other subjects just make that comic so entertaining.

http://xkcd.com/

Visit them.
It's not a proposition.
Its an order!

The Social Geek.

MSN-06S Sinanju : How To Turn A Whole Kitchen Table Into A Workbench!

Last weekend, I started building one of the GunPla kits I've been looking forward for quite a while (the other one being the Crossbone Gundam Ver. Ka). Since I have some family living in Vancouver, I can order close to anything I'm looking for(they're getting really hard to find in Halifax, unfortunately!)

So, my lovely aunt keeps going to Sakura Media in MetroTown Center once or twice a month to pick up some stuff for me. I'd have to say the guys there are probably looking forward to know me eventually!

So like I was saying, I've started building Full Frontal (Char?) MSN-06S Sinanju this weekend, and I have to say I'm auite impressed!

Usually, I build all my GunPla at the same old desk I've been building Warhammer figurines for years, but with that last model, I had to switch to the kitchen table! There's so many sprues/runners that I almost cover the whole table.


I didn't liked the look of the stickers for the gold part, so I started painting every gold spot on the model using Citadel Miniature SHINING GOLD and some fine details brushes.

Right now, only the arms, the chest and the legs are build. I'll probably post more pictures this weekend when I'll complete the model!

Cheers!

The Social Geek.

DEATH NOTE.

Sorry if I haven't posted in a couple of days. I was quite busy with work, the Sinanju Ver. Ka GunPla and also I've started going throught the Death Note mangas again.

For those who don't know it yet, Death Note is, from my own respectable point of view, one of the best manga ever created. An anime AND a live-action adaptation has been created for it. The characters are more than awesome.

The biggest difference between DN and the normal manga/anime I'm reading is the fact that there's no robots or mobile suits, no sci-fi context or even major fighting. It could almost be qualified as a drama/thriller if we would look at classifying it in one of the movie brackets.

The whole story is seen through the eyes of Light Yagami, an high-school student who find a notebook, a Death Note. When you write people name's in the notebook, the people you named actually die. So Light start to think about how he could use the death note to punish criminals and make the whole world a better place.

I won't go too much into the story, since I really recommend you to watch AND read it. It is translated in english and available in manga format through VIZ MEDIA. There's only 13 books, and you can probably read each of them within an hour or so.

My Favorite Gundam Opening

In 2007, Sunrise and Bandai started broadcasting what I can easily call my favorite Gundam serie ever. If you're not familiar with the Gundam Universe, you don't have a single clue of which serie I'm talking about...



Gundam 00 relate the story of a group of mobile suit pilots fighting for the eradication of all warfare with the use of the Gundams.

I don't want to get too much into the story, since I'll probably do a full article on the 2 seasons and the full movie once I get my hands on it.

The Social Geek.

R.I.P. Takeshi Shudo

On October 28th, Takeshi Shudo collapsed in the Kansai's Main Line Nara Train Station at around 6:00AM. He was rushed to the Nara Hospital but died the next day.

He was mainly known for his main creation, Pokemon, that marked most of the 90's and 2000's youngling generations.

It dosen't really matter if you liked it or not, everyone agree that Takeshi's work was a great one. His characters were friendly and easily accessible to anyone, from the 5 years old kid to any grown up. I still think that he's one of the main reason why the whole anime fashion is so strong in North America right now.

Pokemon introduced many of us to the different universes that Japanese artists created in the last 3 decades. We can all figure that the main bloom for the whole excitement about Japanese culture goes back to the first years of the Twenty first century, at the exact same time when Pokemon got released in North America in one single boom. Game Boy games, anime series, toys, collectible card games and many more products all found their way to the shopping mall shelves at the same time.

I have to say that Takeshi Shudo work greatly influenced my way of living. If it wasn't from Pokemon, I would probably never had discover Gundam, Death Note, Bleach and many more.

Thank you Mr. Takeshi.
Thank you, you may now rest.

The Social Geek.

AVGN : A Succes Story

James Rolfe is one of those internet character that you can't stop listening to. Since 2004 he release periodically one of the most adored serie of video you could find online : The Angry Video Game Nerd. I first started watching his videos while I was in the Persian Gulf in 2008 and since then, every time he release a new AVGN episode, I'm stopping everything I do and watch it religiously.

Watching him test and destroy all the games I've played when I was young on NES or discovering some of the finest pieces of bullshit ever created in the video game industry is quite hilarious.

I strongly recommend it to anyone. You have to watch the whole serie, since some of the episodes contains jokes you might not understand until you saw the first reviews.

http://www.cinemassacre.com

He also review different board game, and he's a great filmmaker, so take a minute or two and watch his short films.

Cheers!

The Social Geek.

BLEACH : Let's talk about an addiction...

I've only really got into BLEACH about over a year ago. Before that, I had seen couple OVAs, watched an episode there and there once in a while, killed an hour or so with a manga, but never really got into it as much as I am right now.

It all started when I got really sick last year, with 2 weeks of sick leave, stuck at home with a brand new LED TV with a computer hooked to it. I was wondering what could I do to kill the upcoming day, and I was really sick, so no one could come hang out with me...

BLEACH!

I remembered how great it did killed my time when I was bored, so I decided to start straight from the beginning and watch every arc until I had watched every released episode.... Thank god I had those 2 weeks to do it! I was literally glued to my TV, watching episode after episode.

From the beginning where Ichigo discover what a Shinigami is to the present arc where Aizen with his Espadas fights against the Captains and the Vizoreds, the storyline always drags you in, discovering new powers and abilities in every character, revealing their swords or other tricks. The fighting scenes are great too! I'm sure its what make BLEACH one of the most popular anime around.

The additions of anime-only story arc is another great addition, with more side-stories to the whole sage. You have to face it, BLEACH is now more than a standard serie, its a complete saga. With 2 OVAs and 3 movies, it's one of the most profitable anime franchise around. And the multitude of characters does help the viewer/reader to identify himself as one of the protagonist. From the womanizing Shunsui Kuoraky, the sick and weak but fun-loving Jushiro Ukitake, the stern Soi Fong or the strange and funny looking Kisuke Urahara, everyone can find their own favorite, making it one of the most easy anime to get into. The author, Tite Kubo, like to say that Shunsui Kuoraky is a reflection of himself. I doubt that. I'm that guy. Gotcha?

Tite Kubo is a great storyteller and a great artist too. The whole serie design is simply amazing!
I'm about to go watch the new episode since it got subbed last night (and my japanese is far from what I wish it could be!) and I simply can't wait.

The Social Geek.

High School Of The Dead : When Horror Meet Anime

Early this summer I discovered a great anime adapted from a great manga. High School Of The Dead first aired on July 5th and I think I watched it for the first time the week after. Hopefully for me, since only one episode couldn't give me enough of that horror thrill I was craving for at the time!




At first, I didn't really had great expectation towards an horror/ecchi anime, but quite surprisingly, H.O.T.D. proved me wrong. The whole fight for survival with the clash between the different personalities of the protagonists during the 12 episodes make you ask for more. They all have their own motivations to survive, with the whole apocalyptic plot-line unfolding in the background, sometime including some event that got no links to the storyline but does add to the whole description of how deep the world is engulfed in zombie shit.

The girls does look like what you would expect from a standard horror hentai, but the gore and the unstoppable amount of blood, limbs and even more blood sprouting from every direction makes you forget about those Triple-Ds boobies. There's also a small romance story between some of the main protagonist, nothing too serious, since I think that would ruin the whole concept of fight for survival. You can't get too attached to people in a situation like that. It's also a lot about sacrifice.

Personally, everything revolving around the ecchi style ain't really my cup of tea. It really isn't. But there's always one exception to every rule. HighSchool Of The Dead is that exception.

Enjoy it.
It's worth it!

The Social Geek.

Why Is Neon Genesis Evangelion So Awesome?

Some people hate it.
Some people love it.
Some are just crazy about it.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is an award winning Anime & Manga serie released in 1995 (26 Episodes) and is still being released as a manga. It won the Animage price 2 years in a row for its amazing quality.
Okay.
Enough...

Why do I love EVANGELION?

I always been a mecha anime fan (Gundam, Code GEASS, PatLabor...) and one morning I discovered that wicked anime. Right of the bat I got sucked into it. The story is simply amazing and goes way deeper than any other anime of the type ever been. It's not only about super robots beating the shit outta aliens and other creatures threatening Earth. It's mostly about the pilots of those robots(I will start calling them by their names from now on, EVAs) who are 14 years old teenagers with some mental issues. Shinji, the pilot of EVA-01 is sure that everybody hates him, Asuka have some bad memories about how her mom killed herself and Rei.....well.....little to nothing is really known about Rei. It is slowly revealed through the serie what she really is.

The whole mecha design also vary from what the viewer is used to also. Instead of the super-armored gun-loaded infinite-power robot, the EVA's are slim, agile, fast and rely on an umbilical cordon to supply them with power. If they get disconnected from their power supply, they only have 5 minutes until they run out of power. That does add a nice twist to the whole combat scenes!

There's also strong references towards the catholic mythology during the whole serie. The creator said that he loved the connotation it gave to the whole universe, and since Japaneses are not that familiar with that religion, it gave a mystic aspect to the whole universe. I do think its a wicked idea. I do get bored sometime when the same old theme of the devil/demons coming to destroy Earth and rape young virgins......well.....no, that's Hentai. Screw that!

So anyway. The whole character build is simply amazing. The suspense is there all serie long (its only 26 episodes....) and right now, they're rebuilding the whole thing from scratch. The first 2 OVAs are already out and received great critics, and a lot of people look forwards to see the third one. I do. Do you? You should.

I will let you judge by yourself if you really enjoy that anime as much as I do.

On that,
Good night!

The Social Geek.

For once, I can say I love Mondays!

Today, I've received what I have been waiting for quite a time! The postman just delivered to me not one or two, but THREE Gundam Plastic Kits! RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, MSN-06S Shinanju and the famous ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam with some new markers. This week is gonna be quite busy, but I don't really know with which kit I should start with....



Oh, yeah, and in the background is the Zeta+A1 Gundam I just completed this weekend. Two more kits are already on their way here.....how am I gonna build them all?

The Social Geek.

Learning Japanese.

Hadjimemashtey! Social-geek dess. Gengkideska?
(Nice to meet you. I'm the Social Geek. How are you?)

It's sometime sad. It is. Most of the great anime are taking a hell of a time to get dubbed and broadcast time over here, on this side of the ocean. The most popular anime (BLEACH, GUNDAM, HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD) get subbed by fans on the same day for the biggest majority. But what about those you might be the only one around watching? It's sad.

Well, lately, I got tired of not understanding what they were actually saying and I got the feeling that sometime, the fansubs are a bit off track. Those guys do their best to turn Japanese into english as quickly as possible, but speed is great, but accuracy is even better!

I started digging on iTunes and on Google to find something free. I don't have time and even less money to invest in Japanese lessons, so I opted for the podcast/internet lessons path. Right now, I'm listening to the Learning Japanese PodCast (Free on iTunes) and those folks are simply doying a great job! They're focusing on casual stuff, not the fancy-old-aristocratic way you might learn in school. The whole podcast is done by an English teacher in Japan with some friends.

I recommend it to you.

www.learnjapanesepod.com

Arigatoh!

The Social Geek.

Hal-Con 2010

It's been a busy weekend!

Last Friday was the opening of Hal-Con 2010, the first Fantasy/Sci-Fi convention Halifax has seen in more than 3 decades! My first stop at Hal-Con was Friday afternoon. Originally, I was only planning to go on Saturday even if I had bought the pass for the whole weekend, but I was more concerned about buying it to support the organization in order for them to match the price tag on the whole event than spending a weekend locked with a couple hundreds of fellow nerds in a not-that-well ventilated hotel...

So anyway, since I picked up my pass for the weekend on Friday, and I was already on site, I was thinking that I may well go inside and take a quick peek before the shit show crowd and preteen Naruto fans rushed the doors!

Nice layout overall, most of the aspect of the whole Fantasy/Sci-Fi universe were covered, with areas for literature and authors, the couple of stores deserving Halifax were also present (go see the links on the right hand side of the page for their websites and more info about them!), a couple of modelers and some gaming also with the new PlayStation MOVE. They also hosted a Warhammer & Warhammer 40k Tournament (I couldn't attend that one since my army wasn't completely painted.....I'm a sloooooooooooooooooooooow plainted! Sorry folks!)

But, unfortunately, there's always a couple of points where the whole thing could improve. Those are purely my own and personal opinion.

-The Lord Nelson is a great hotel, but not suited to host that kind of event. Ventilation sucked bad. I could barely stay for more than an hours inside before starting to suffocate. Too many fat geeks/nerds? Well.....there's no way we can start putting a weight limit for those event, so gotta find another solution!

-The room where most of the kiosk were located felt too cramped. Not enough room to move between the tables. I had to way like 20 000 times in order to make my way to the next kiosk. Could be fixed easily in the future.

-Too many kiosk were about the same stuff, and some were slightly useless. I know that renting the Lord Nelson Hotel for such an event is costly, but might have been a better idea to make the venue smaller, with less kiosks but more quality. I always been a Quality over Quantity guy, I rather have one really good bottle of wine (I'm French, you gotta love those things!) instead of 4 bottles of crappy 9-bucks-a-bottle wine (Cotes-Du-Rhones FTW!).

-I think not enough room was made for RPGs and Table top wargames. There's a infinite amount of wicked games out there and only Games Workshop had a small table at the entrance. That also could be easily fixed in the future



I'm all about starting with bad news and finishing with a bang. The good points now!

-Some kiosks were simply amazing! Quantum Frontier had a wicked assortment of stuff! They even had a double-bladed Darth Maul lightsaber!(PARTY ON WAYNE! PARTY ON GARTH!)
You gotta go see their website and go visit them at the store. They can order close to everything.

-The Big Pfeiffer Collectible stand was also full of great stuff! Some Gundam kits, anime figures and plushes. Great selection also! Go see their website too! ( http://www.bigpfeiffer.com )

-The Geek vs. Nerd stand was great also. Those guys are amazing! Their show is not simply amazing, it's funny as hell! Google them!

-The guests (Denise Richard and Walther Koenig) were also a great addition to the whole event. Hope they have more of those guys next year!

-Draikana....well....she does have humongous boobs. I love boobs. Enough said.

-Some of the artist there showed amazing skills! I've always been a pin-ups fans, so I took some pictures of their work.


-I'll finish with my favorite thing of the whole weekend. The model from the 2010 Russian Space Station...Simply amazing. The thing is so well built. The modeler even explained to me that he will eventually get to rotating portion to actually move. That will probably put it as my new #1 for the most awesome scratch-built model ever made.



Now, it's time to talk about the costumes!




I was thinking about wearing a CosPlay too, but the cost of the only one I was really interested in was retarded(Lockon Stratos from Gundam 00 season 2), so I ended up going without costume!

Overall?
Hal-Con 2010 was a blast! Great peoples, wicked atmosphere and great times! I do look forward to the 2011 edition! I was even able to get my hands on a Gundam Zeta+ A1 Amuro Ray's Colors!

The Social Geek.