I seldom write about my personal life on this blog, mostly because I rarely feel that my personal life is worth writing about. That said, I did recently get back from a one-week trip to New York (accompanied by my parents and my younger sister) and so, I thought I'd write a bit about my stay there.
The first night we spent on Long Island, at the home of my dad's cousin (who immigrated to the States at a young age) and his wife. Both of them were nice people and in the off-chance that they might read this, I'd like to take an opportunity to thank them for their hospitality. The next day, we took the train to Manhattan and the hotel we had booked. For the duration of our stay, we mostly did typical tourist-stuff: We went to museums (such as the Guggenheim), took the Staten Island Ferry and saw the Statue of Liberty (though we didn't go up in it, maybe next time), ate at some really good restaurants (including a Brazilian one, my first time eating Brazilian food) and so forth. Of course, I also made time to buy a few books, some of which I will no doubt review on the blog in the future.
All in all, I definitely enjoyed my trip to New York (well, the parts of it we visited, which was mostly Manhattan) and wouldn't mind going again some other time. That said, it's nice to be home and able to sleep in one's own bed.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Inferno Cop
When it comes to anime, I'd say that 2013 was Studio Trigger's year. That year, the former Gainax employees released three great works; Kill La Kill, which almost made it onto my favorite animated shows of 2009-2014 post. The Little Witch Academia short, which was awesome and practically begs to be adapted into a full-length series and last, but not least; Inferno Cop, which I watched recently.
There are two things I'd like to make clear for those of you haven't watched this show: Do not go into Inferno Cop expecting eye-poppingly gorgeous animation, or great storytelling. The animation is extremely limited, bordering on the non-existend and although there is a plot, it mostly serves as an excuse to get the hero into various situations, one more bizarre than the other. So, if neither the animation nor the plot is anything special, why should you watch Inferno Cop? Well, for one thing, it's immensely entertaining; Landon of Mecha Guignol, put Inferno Cop at #1 on his best of 2013 list stating that "it's the anime equivalent of someone smashing action figures together, making up shit as they go" and therein lies the charm of this series: Inferno Cop operates completely under its own logic and it's hard not to get swept up by the sheer, anarchic enthusiasm of it all. The world of Inferno Cop is one were basically everything can happen and as a viewer all one can do is sit back and enjoy the ride
Another thing I liked about this show were the visual references to things that usually don't get shout-outs in anime. For example, Inferno Cop with his flaming skull is clearly based on Ghost Rider and the final villain seem to have raided The Scarlet Witch's wardrobe, just to name two examples.
All in all, if you have a few minutes over (this is a very short series, with most episodes being slightly over two minutes long), I'd recommend watching Inferno Cop, there are certainly worse ways you can spend your time.
Monday, October 13, 2014
MacBeth
I'm by no means an opera-buff, but lately I've begun to take an interest in this art-form. It all started last year, when the local cinema began broadcasting live-performances from the Metropolitan in New York. I went to see Puccini's Tosca and enjoyed it immensely. this Saturday I saw MacBeth, Verdi's Opera, based on one of my favorite Shakespeare-plays.
MacBeth is my first Verdi-Opera and having seen it, it's no wonder why Verdi is regarded as one of the greatest composers. The music and singing was excellent, from the fast-paced tunes of the witches' chorus, to the dark and intense melodies highlighting the evil deeds of MacBeth and his wife and their respective descent into their own self-created Hell.
All in all, an evening well-spent.
MacBeth is my first Verdi-Opera and having seen it, it's no wonder why Verdi is regarded as one of the greatest composers. The music and singing was excellent, from the fast-paced tunes of the witches' chorus, to the dark and intense melodies highlighting the evil deeds of MacBeth and his wife and their respective descent into their own self-created Hell.
All in all, an evening well-spent.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Comics That Should be Translated: Les Sept Vies de l'Epervier
I'm an avid reader of comics, no matter what format or genre (though obviously there are some genres I favor over others) and it just so happens that several of the comics I read happen to be in French and haven't been translated into English. As such, this will be a recurring series of post in which I will write about some of these comics that I feel deserve to be translated into English. The first such comic I've chosen to write about is Patrick Cothias' and André Juillard's masterpiece Les Sept Vies de l'Epervier.
In order to talk about this comic, we first need to talk about another one; Masquerouge (Redmask, yes it's supposed to be written as one word), which was a comic created by the team Cothias-Juillard for the children's magazine PIF Gadget back in the early 80's. Masquerouge took place in France during the reign of Louis XIII and starred a masked avenger clad in a red mask, who fought against corruption and injustice, as masked avengers tend to do. Somewhat unusual for the time was the fact that the person under the red mask was a woman, the young baroness Ariane de Troïl. Now, I haven't actually read Masquerouge so I can't vouch for it's quality, but everything I've read about it make it seem like a competently made, but fairly standard adventure-comic.
Anyway, in 1982, Cothias got the idea of making a prequel to Masquerouge, focusing on the origin of his heroine. Unlike it's mother-series, said prequel was meant to be for an older audience, with greater depth to the characters and everything that entails. This comic, which would soon come to completely eclipse Masquerouge in terms of recognition, was given the title Les Sept Vies de l'Epervier (or The Seven Lives of the Sparrowhawk).
The story begins with the birth of the future king Louis XIII. Meanwhile, a pregnant woman is running through the woods, she's being tracked down by her husband, Baron Yvon de Troïl and her husband's brother, Gabriel, with whom she's been having an affair. She tries to cross a frozen lake, but the ice is to thin and she breaks through. The woman manages to get to dry land and mere moments later gives birth. She wraps the newborn baby in her clothes to protect it from the cold and is found later by Yvon and Gabriel, frozen to death.
Furious, Yvon blames his brother for the death of his wife and banishes him from his sight. While riding through the woods, Gabriel encounters a strange blind woman who presents him with two birds; an owl and a sparrowhawk. She tells him that his destiny will be linked to one of the two birds and urges him to choose: The philosophical owl or the bold sparrowhawk..
Meanwhile, Yvon decides to raise the infant as his own and eight years later, the child has grown up into a strong-willed young woman named Ariane. One day, a mysterious man wearing a red mask appears in the church and challenges Yvon's closest neighbor; the despicable Count Thibaud de Bruantfou to a duel. Naturally, Ariane becomes fascinated with the masked-man's heroism and strong sense of justice and decides to seek him out, much to the concern of her supposed father and brother, Guillemot.
From what at first seem to be a rather simple tale, Cothias crafts a complex, elaborate plot which spans over several years and involves a multitude of characters, some of them fictional and others taken from the pages of history. Characterization is really the strongest point of this saga, with each character from Ariane and her family, to the french king Henry IV and the mysterious Léonard Langue-Agile (basically, quick-tongued or sharp-tongued) emerging as some of the most memorable and well-crafted characters I've encountered in comics.
Anyway, in 1982, Cothias got the idea of making a prequel to Masquerouge, focusing on the origin of his heroine. Unlike it's mother-series, said prequel was meant to be for an older audience, with greater depth to the characters and everything that entails. This comic, which would soon come to completely eclipse Masquerouge in terms of recognition, was given the title Les Sept Vies de l'Epervier (or The Seven Lives of the Sparrowhawk).
The story begins with the birth of the future king Louis XIII. Meanwhile, a pregnant woman is running through the woods, she's being tracked down by her husband, Baron Yvon de Troïl and her husband's brother, Gabriel, with whom she's been having an affair. She tries to cross a frozen lake, but the ice is to thin and she breaks through. The woman manages to get to dry land and mere moments later gives birth. She wraps the newborn baby in her clothes to protect it from the cold and is found later by Yvon and Gabriel, frozen to death.
Furious, Yvon blames his brother for the death of his wife and banishes him from his sight. While riding through the woods, Gabriel encounters a strange blind woman who presents him with two birds; an owl and a sparrowhawk. She tells him that his destiny will be linked to one of the two birds and urges him to choose: The philosophical owl or the bold sparrowhawk..
Meanwhile, Yvon decides to raise the infant as his own and eight years later, the child has grown up into a strong-willed young woman named Ariane. One day, a mysterious man wearing a red mask appears in the church and challenges Yvon's closest neighbor; the despicable Count Thibaud de Bruantfou to a duel. Naturally, Ariane becomes fascinated with the masked-man's heroism and strong sense of justice and decides to seek him out, much to the concern of her supposed father and brother, Guillemot.
From what at first seem to be a rather simple tale, Cothias crafts a complex, elaborate plot which spans over several years and involves a multitude of characters, some of them fictional and others taken from the pages of history. Characterization is really the strongest point of this saga, with each character from Ariane and her family, to the french king Henry IV and the mysterious Léonard Langue-Agile (basically, quick-tongued or sharp-tongued) emerging as some of the most memorable and well-crafted characters I've encountered in comics.
I should warn any potential reader that Les Sept Vies de l'Epervier is not for the squeamish. Cothias doesn't shy away in the slightest in showing the cruelties and injustices of the age, an age where the strong ruled over the weak and local provincial lords could pretty much as they pleased. Not that all members of the aristocracy are presented as bad, both Yvon and king Henry himself are both depicted as flawed, but sympathetic characters. On the flip-side however, we have the scheming Concino Concini and the Count de Bruantfou, the latter which seem to embody the worst cruelties and excesses of the ruling class. In short, this is not a comic in which the majority of the cast, whether good or evil, gets away unscathed (or even alive).
I've talked a lot about the story, what about the art? After all, the ninth art-form is a visual medium and while I can forgive a comic whose artwork is less than stellar if the story is good enough, the ideal is of course to have both a great story and great artwork. Thankfully, Les Sept Vies de l'Epervier does not disappoint in that regard. André Juillard is one of the finest artist working in comics and he does an excellent job portraying the characters and the period they live in. Of course a picture is worth more than a thousand words and so, at the end of this post, I've included some samples of Juillard's work so that the reader can see what I mean.
To sum it up, Les Sept Vies de l'Epervier is undoubtedly a masterpiece, one of the finest works produced in the medium in my opinion and a comic that's well deserving of being translated.
Artwork:
I've talked a lot about the story, what about the art? After all, the ninth art-form is a visual medium and while I can forgive a comic whose artwork is less than stellar if the story is good enough, the ideal is of course to have both a great story and great artwork. Thankfully, Les Sept Vies de l'Epervier does not disappoint in that regard. André Juillard is one of the finest artist working in comics and he does an excellent job portraying the characters and the period they live in. Of course a picture is worth more than a thousand words and so, at the end of this post, I've included some samples of Juillard's work so that the reader can see what I mean.
To sum it up, Les Sept Vies de l'Epervier is undoubtedly a masterpiece, one of the finest works produced in the medium in my opinion and a comic that's well deserving of being translated.
Artwork:
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