trophead: February 2011

Monday, February 14, 2011

Naruto Episode Guide - Naruto 3

In this episode we're introduced to the majority of the characters that will make up the base for the Naruto anime and manga series. We're also briefly introduced to the relationships that they share. For example, it becomes obvious early on that Sakura and Ino are rivals. It also becomes obvious that Naruto has a crush on Sakura, Sakura has a crush on Sasuke, and Hinata has a crush on Naruto.

At the beginning of this episode, we watch Naruto enjoy a seemingly innocent breakfast before his first meeting as a real ninja. Though it doesn't seem so at the time, this scene is important relative to the rest of the episode. Naruto arrives at the academy to be paired up in a three man squad. Shortly after entering, Sakura and Ino come into the classroom and begin arguing over who will sit next to Sasuke. Seeing Sasuke as a threat, not just romantically but in many other areas, Naruto decides to get up in his face, which leads to the classic Sasuke and Naruto kiss, one of the most memorable scenes of the anime early on.

Being paired up with Sasuke is the last thing that Naruto wanted, while being paired up with Sakura was exactly what he wanted. This begins the love hate triangle that we get to witness in the coming episodes. Sakura tries desperately to get Sasuke's attention whilst snubbing Naruto all the while despite his vying for her attention. Sasuke, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with either one of them.

Naruto breaks into Sasuke's room and ties him up, transforming into Sasuke in an attempt to get closer to Sakura. He plays it smooth getting close to her and asks what Sakura thinks of Naruto. Sakura replies that she thinks Naruto is annoying, which hurts his feelings but doesn't stop him from continuing to play as Sasuke and try for a kiss. Just before the moment of magic occurs, Naruto gets a raging case of diarrhea and must rush off to the bathroom. At this point, Sasuke has freed himself and is looking for Naruto. Sasuke passes by Sakura and she looks at him wantonly, expecting the scene to pick back up where it left off and result in a romantic kiss. The real Sasuke is not interested though and lets Sakura know that he thinks she's annoying. There is also a brief snippet in this conversation that reveals that Sasuke, like Naruto, is orphaned.

Sasuke bumps into Naruto as Naruto is leaving the bathroom, and though for a moment we get the excited thought that they might have their first rival battle, it is not to be. Naruto's stomach acts back up and he leaves Sasuke standing there dumb founded. Seconds later, Sasuke decides it's not worth his time and walks away. The cause of Naruto's tummy ache? Sour milk from his morning breakfast.

Naruto - The Animanga Series

The following is a brief outline of the Japanese animanga series, Naruto (contains Manga spoilers).

The story of Naruto follows young Uzumaki Naruto on his journey through the ninja world. Naruto grows up with quite a burden to carry as he soon learns he is the container or Jinchuuriki of one of the Tailed Beasts - the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. The reason, as I understand at least, for Naruto being the container was that when the Fox attacked the village, the village's leader, called the Hokage, who we now know was Naruto's father, had to seal the Fox in order to save the village of Konoha. It seems logical that Yondaime (the Hokage) would choose his own son to seal the Fox within for reasons which I won't go into here. Unfortunately this act of sealing the Fox cost Yondaime his life and so far we are unsure of how Naruto's mother died.

As a result of being the container of the Fox who many years ago wreaked havoc in Konoha and killed dozens of ninja, Naruto grows up being hated throughout the village and ends up being a bit of a troublemaker in an attempt to get attention from others. In the long run though, we see that this gives Naruto unbelievable mental strength and his attitude to never give up often shows up in the storyline. Had Naruto not been hated in his childhood, which his father had obviously wished against, he might not have turned out to be the exceptional individual we see in the Manga at present.

Aside from Naruto, the story closely follows the lives of other ninja, most notably Naruto's rival and friend, Uchiha Sasuke. The life of Sasuke develops in complexity as the story goes on and it brings yet another theme into Naruto as the young Uchiha is set on revenge for the massacre of his clan by his brother Itachi. An amazing twist in the plot more recently changes everything for Sasuke and it becomes very hard to tell just what Sasuke is thinking which makes this series even more exciting than it already was.

Other major characters in the series include Haruno Sakura and Hatake Kakashi, Naruto's teammate and Sensei, all of whom along with Sasuke and the main character himself make up Team Seven. Others include Jiraiya one of the legendary three ninja who is responsible for teaching Naruto his more advanced ninja techniques along with Tsunade, Iruka and many more.

The Rurouni Kenshin Anime Review

Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, also known as Samurai X in its English-dubbed version, became one of the most popular Anime series. It was derived from the Manga (a term for the Japanese comic book) that was published in 1992 by Shueisha in Japan. Although the TV series started around 10 years ago, this Anime is still a popular title up to the time this article was written, and probably will still be popular for some years to come. There are a lot of reason why this anime is so popular but the main reason is that it is somewhat different from most of the Anime series that came out. Like any other popular Anime series, it has a hero with an interesting character, has an exciting plot, a mix of comedy, drama, and awesome fighting action. But what separates this Anime from the others is that its fiction lies behind a factual history. The setting and the events in the background do exist and can be found in the records of Japanese history.

The whole story found in the 95 episodes of the TV series happened in the 19th century Japan in a period known as the Meiji Era, in its early years. The hero, a wanderer named Kenshin Himura, was once an skillful assassin for the Choshou clan (one of the oppositions to the Tokugawa government) and fought during the Bakumatsu war. After the war, he decided to change his ways and swore not to kill. During his journey, he met Kaoru Kamiya, a young girl who lived in his late father's dojo found in Tokyo, where they met their friends. That includes Sanosuke, an ex-gangster who was hired by a revenge-seeking menace to kill Kenshin. After their fight, Sanosuke also decided to join Kenshin's friendly gang.

Also there's Yahiko, a young thief adopted by Kaoru, and other interesting characters. Most of their villains were also warriors who can't let go of the old ways. Some of them are Aoshi Shinomori, who was once the leader of Oniwa Banshu (an elite group of ninjas back in the Edo Period), and Shishio Makoto, who was also an assassin during the war. The series can be divided into three parts. First is the Tokyo Arc, which is the sum of Kenshin's adventures that happened in Tokyo. Next is the Kyoto Arc, the one I consider (and I believe most Rurouni Kenshin fans would agree) as the main part of the whole series. Here, Kenshin and his friends travels to Kyoto to stop a terrorist group, lead by a former assassin, Shishio Makoto, from its evil plans to destroy the government. Following the Kyoto Arc are the final episodes where Kenshin and his friends continues their adventure. This TV series was aired on Cartoon Network and Animax.

On December of 1997, A Rurouni Kenshin Movie was released in Japan. It was entitled "Ishin Shishi no Requiem" (entitled Samurai X: The Motion Picture in the English-dubbed version). Here, Kenshin and his friends travels to Yokohama where they are caught between an attempt for a civil war against the Meiji Government. Two years after it's release, the first Rurouni Kenshin OAV (Original Animated Video) was released, entitled Tsuioku Hen (Samurai X: Remembrance). This OAV is an awesome 4-episode special for Rurouni Kenshin that shows the life of Kenshin as Hitokiri Battousai, or the assassin that he used to be. In several aspects, this OAV is very different from the TV series and the movie.

The graphics and animation is higher in quality and more life-like, the fight scenes are truly spectacular, and the story, dialogs, and everything is a lot more emotional. Most of the characters that appeared in the TV series weren't present and in the story, Kenshin had a wife named Tomoe Yukishiro. While this OAV supposedly happened before the TV series, the second OAV, entitled Seisou Hen (Samura X: Reflection) is set after the story in the TV series. This time, Kenshin was already married to Kaoru and they had a son named Kenji who is also learning his father's technique from the master, Seijuro Hiko. The main villain in the story (who also appeared in the first OAV) is Enishi Yukishiro, Tomoe's little brother. Seisou Hen was released in Japan on December, 2001.

Rurouni Kenshin is truly a work of art. No wonder why a lot of people considered this Anime as their favorite. For the past years that Rurouni Kenshin reached the peak of its popularity, a lot of websites that are dedicated to this Anime series had emerged. Some of them features episode guides, character profiles, and other information about the Rurouni Kenshin Anime and Manga.

Animated Soccer - Animated Soccer Training Drills

Animated soccer drills are an effective alternative in teaching soccer. Indeed, coaching is a challenging role and takes a lot of dedication. As a soccer coach, you are responsible in teaching the sport to your players.

It is more difficult to train younger players compared to adult players. Young players can not easily understand information being taught. If the traditional methods of training do not work with them, you should find another method of teaching. Since most children love to play computer games, then why not use their interest on this to take advantage in teaching them.

Software called the 3D coaching is one of the latest developments in teaching soccer drills. It was designed by Grass Roots Coaching. This software is a simulation of the sport which features easy control methods. With this tool, it can be easier to teach the younger children on specific training drills which they can follow and practice. Because it uses 3D graphics, young children will become more interested and attentive in learning. While learning, they can also enjoy at the same time.

The training drill comes with text information which goes along with the animation. The text contains through explanation on specific drills which can be easily understood. This program allows you to control the animated drills. You control the camera angle as well as you can zoom in and out.

This training method is a great technological advancement which helps coaches and trainers in teaching the sport to the young children. Animated soccer drill provides the easiest method easily understandable by kids.

Hawkman Anime

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All About Anime, Manga, And Western Animation

The word anime is almost synonymous with Japanese culture, where it is as much a part of society as the newspaper or magazine. Most anime are actually derived from their manga (comic) counterparts, and the word is basically an abbreviation of animation, but specifically cartoon or comic animation. In fact, manga is a very popular form of literature in Asian countries, and a lof of manga titles are actually have a historical or contemporary flavour to it.

However, it might surprise many to know that there is not a lot of differences between Western and Eastern animation. Both share many common techniques and approaches, but perhaps Western animations have been trending towards using more sophisticated technology. Many of the most famous creators of anime still prefer to do things using the traditional methods, and are less reliant on computers and technology.

The biggest difference between the two styles of anime are probably the types of genres explored in the animation, and some of the peculiar features that are only found in Eastern animation.

Since anime and manga is such a big part of Eastern culture (you can find manga book shops everywhere in countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan), it tends to be more broad in the topics covered. Themes such as sports, relationships, history, military, political, humour and medicine or science have all been the subject of anime. In fact, there is probably an anime or manga for just about anything that you can think of. However, Western culture seem to be very specific with its animations, and tend to focus on heroes and villians, actions and consequences.

Some of the most interesting features of Asian anime is the use of dialogues within the dialogues. That is, as a particular scene is unfolding, there will be commentary from the characters within the animation providing a third person perspective from people involved in the plot. Also, the interplay between imaginary and real-life is often strong, with characters able to take words out of their speech bubble, or pull out various instruments from empty space.

To give you a taste of Japanese anime, and understand soem of the things we've been talking about, have a look at some of the most popular Japanese: Naruto, Blackjac, Eyeshield 21, Slam Dunk. If there is something you are interested in, you will almost certainly find an anime or manga that covers the topic. So why not take a look in your favourite bookstore today, you never know just what you'll discover.