ONE PIECE: A Point of View after watching Its Live Action Series on Netflix

   This was my personal point of view or opinion after watching the live action series which was adapted from this famous manga/anime. However, before going there, I'd like to explain how I felt about the manga itself. A few years ago, or exactly a decade ago, the argument about which manga is the best that time was intense between some fans. Especially Naruto and One Piece fans. I personally rooted for Naruto since I already became a big fan. Therefore, it kind of annoyed me when some people underrated the series. It happened so often that the so called OP fans bragged about OP is way better than Naruto. To try to give an objective opinion, I then tried to read the manga and watched some early episodes of OP. However, I eventually dropped it since perhaps it was not to my liking. The art is awesome and the story is not ordinary, however, I found it overwhelming and imaginary to the fullest as I saw it. My friend tried to persuade me to keep on watching or reading but as to the amount of thousands of anime episodes and hundreds of chapters to read, I just give up since it is time consuming and I'm not ready for another heartbreak after Naruto and Bleach ended in a way that made me disappointed. 

   Long story short, I've seen on social medias that Netflix will make an adaptation for OP. I became so curious about it and as to learn that live action will not be as long as the anime or manga, therefore, I will give some times to watch it. However, perhaps, again my expectation was too high on it. I don't  mind about the casting although somehow I expect more from Luffy character. I didn't feel his charisma as the main character. The costume, the set and the story were OK and true to the manga. What bothered me the most was the fighting scenes. Maybe I watched it with a lot of real Japanese live action movies in mind such as Rurouni Kenshin and else with awesome action scenes. I somehow got a bit boring and playing it faster just to know what next til the end of the last episodes of this season 1. The season 2 was already confirmed to be made, but I might just skip it unless, I have more free time for it. The picture is my fan art but the poster is the official poster which is not mine but belongs to the rightful owner.  

PEGASUS: From Mythology to Modern Anime

   Pegasus (Greek: Pégasos) is a winged stallion which said to be the son of Poseidon and Medusa in Greek mythology.  One faithful day in the story, Poseidon forcefully raped virgin Medusa in Athena's temple due to his feud with Athena but instead, Athena turned her poor loyal worshiper into a monster.  Pegasus was born when Medusa got beheaded and this character is often found in works of art in both Greece, Rome and Mesopotamia.  Pegasus is a creature whose form described a relationship between gods and demons or monsters in the ancient and classical world.

   

   Pegasus helped the hero Bellerofon in his fight against the Chimaera and the Amazons as told by Gods.  However, Bellerofon became arrogant and tried to fly the Pegasus to Olympus but the gods punished him and dropped Bellerofon to his demise from Pegasus.  Since then, Pegasus has become a thunderbolt for Zeus.  The word "pegasus" is now used to refer to all kinds of winged horses in general.

   

   Pegasus (Flying Horse) is also known as constellation in the northern hemisphere, named after its mythological story.  This constellation is one of the 88 modern constellations, and also one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy back then.

   

   As quoted from Wikipedia, Pegasus Seiya (Pegasasu no Seiya), simply known as Seiya, is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the Saint Seiya manga series created by Masami Kurumada. He is the eponymous protagonist who makes his debut in the first chapter "The Saints of Athena" (Atena no Seinto), published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on January 1, 1986. Seiya is one of the eighty-eight mythical warriors known as Saints who have served the Goddess Athena throughout the ages, protecting justice and peace on Earth. As a Saint, Seiya dons a powerful armor of divine origins known as a Cloth, the one which represents the constellation of Pegasus. Seiya also possesses superhuman strength and speed, two of the many extraordinary abilities the Saints draw from their guardian constellations and an inner essence called Cosmo. Critical reception to Seiya has been mixed. While many enjoy his character design and call of justice, many reviewers feels he is overshadowed by other characters and the way he handles his fights. In short, he was far less popular compared to other characters.

   I watched saint Seiya or Pegasus Seiya when I was a child and tried to draw the characters directly as I watched it on local television since the information was quite limited and not as the current time with the internet and everything. It was once my favorite anime and I noticed that this series is inspired by Pegasus as the constellation and its relation to zodiac / astrology aspect rather than the mythology itself although it is also took some Greek gods characters such as Athena herself as one of the important character in it. Why? Because as mentioned before, Pegasus was actually the unwanted son of medusa who was once the loyal worshiper of Athena before the horrible wrongdoing by Poseidon to her. I guess that's all I can share about Pegasus and its connection from myth to Anime world.

 

COLLAB DRAWINGS: Anime Crossover - Between Me and My Longtime Online Friend

 

   Me and my friend Joan, we've been online friend for more than 1.5 decade despite we lived in different side of the world. We met through our hobby about anime and manga in one website. We sometimes complimented ourselves by drawing for each other or celebrate our friendship with some sort of fan art drawing challenges. This time we agreed to do this little challenge after a long time due to our own busy life.  We would draw for each other 2 anime characters of our choice to be done by the other person. She chose Casca from manga Berserk and Hange Zoe from Attack on Titan/ Shingeki no Kyojin to be drawn by me and she would draw Yoriichi Tsugikuni from Demon Slayer/ Kimetsu no Yaiba and Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen for me. 

 

   It was fun while drawing this on my tab and took roughly a few hours to finish. Here are the results from us as you can see above. The left part is Casca and Hange done by me and on the right side is Yoriichi and Gojo done by her. 

 

Check the complete drawing process video in my YouTube: noodlemie.

DEEP SEA (Chinese Animation Movie 2023) - Imagination x Psychological Problem

 

   Deep Sea (Chinese: 深海; pinyin: Shēn Hǎi) is a 2023 Chinese 3D animated fantasy movie which is written and directed by Tian Xiaopeng, who previously directed Monkey King: Hero Is Back. The movie was released in China on 22 January 2023, exactly on Chinese New Year.

 

   The story revolved around A young girl who explores a strange underwater environment after she experienced a strange phenomenon as she lost in her thoughts amidst the heavy rain on the sea. Shenxiu, a little girl and a victim of her parent's divorce went on a sea trip with her dad and his new family. Still not being able to cope with not having her real mother around, she often hears a hum similar to a song her mother used to sing and as she followed the sound also a weird creatures who suddenly appeared, she unconsciously entered the fantastical Deep Sea Restaurant run by sea animals serving humanoid fishes and met someone who actually become her savior and she finally understood everything. Unfortunately, some questions were remained unanswered 'til the end.

 

   This movie related to mental or psychological problem caused by the trauma which being described as fantasy realm she saw in the process. The premise is deep and the animation is outstanding and kind of heavily reminded me of Van Gogh's starry night painting, Studio Ghibli's spirited away and Disney's magical creatures. However, the way the story line goes, the pace and how the director mixed it all made me super overwhelmed and confused when I watched it. If only they learned the storytelling more understandable the similar way Disney's animation movies did, perhaps it would be perfect. I rated the story as 6-7 and animation 9 out of 10.

The illustration is a random fan art I drew based on its official poster back then.

CHAINSAW MAN (Japanese Anime and Manga short review) - Not Just Another Teenage Boy/Girl Manga

   At first I was just curious why this weird looking character is often shown on my social media. Then I look further for it and watched the anime until I got hooked by it the same way as other manga/anime I've watched and read before. Chainsaw man is even far more bitter and bloody than Attack on Titan series for me.

 

   Chainsaw man Is a Japanese manga/ comic series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto with the 1st arc started from December 2018 to December 2020 and the 2nd arc began on July 2022. Its genre is action, comedy horror and dark fantasy. Its animation aired between October to December 2022 with so far only 12 episodes. The story follows the life of Denji, an impoverished young man who had been revived with  fusing his body with a doglike devil named Pochita, granting him the ability to transform parts of his body into chainsaws and work as a devil hunter after the agency found him. His life is far from perfect since he lived poorly and his dad died before him leaving amount of debt which he had to pay to the gangster his late father owed to. Due to that, he has simple dreams but troublesome kind of life until one day he was betrayed and killed and Pochita the real powerful chainsaw devil, want to see his dream through him, revived him again for it. Despite great storytelling, characters and dark humor, it needs to be highlighted on the violent scenes which were shown in it related to the context of the story which won't be appropriate for underage reader or audiences.

   

   I like the idea, but this series is not for all people who used to enjoy manga like Naruto, Bleach or even One Piece. It has this sort of dark bitter story which is similar to Attack on Titan's purpose to show its readers and viewers but closer than ever to real life aside from its fantasy devil characters. One of the manga that is just not for everyone. For me it would be 8 out of 10. 

The illustration is a random fan art I drew based on its official manga cover back then.  

SPIRITED AWAY (Studio Ghibli) x SUZUME (Makoto Shinkai) Awesome Japanese Animated Movies

 

   I chose these two movies (Spirited Away and Suzume) to represent two awesome Japanese animated movie makers, Studio Ghibli (Hayao Miyazaki) and Makoto Shinkai. The reason will be explained more below after short review about Spirited Away and Suzume.

 

   Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film which written and directed by the Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli. It is about a story of  Chihiro Ogino, a 10-year-old girl who is on her way moving to a new place with her parents, accidentally enters the world of Kami (Japanese Shinto spirit folklore). After her parents were turned into pigs for their greed over food, Chihiro who tries to find a way to help herself and her parents getaway from Kami world to return to human world, meet a lot of strange creatures and weird adventures.

 

 Suzume (Suzume no Tojimari/ The Lock of Suzume's Door) is a 2022 Japanese animated fantasy adventure film produced by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho.This film began production in 2020, written and directed by Makoto Shinkai. This film tells a story about an adventure of a high school girl and a mysterious young man who try to prevent a series of 'mystical' disasters from happening across Japan together after the 'pandora-like' door is opened.   

   These two movies represented the great quality of animation, rich ideas, unlimited imagination and great story telling, deep meanings also moral values which were well known to be the trademark of both legendary Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli movies and the new era brought by Makoto Shinkai movies. Spirited Away was the longest no.1 box office in Japan animation movies before it was taken by Demon Slayer Mugen Train movie and now ranked as the 2nd, meanwhile Suzume is taken the 3rd place. I have watched several movies from both of them which amazed me again and again. Therefore, I have to say their animations are on another level. You will not regret watching those movies as I personally rate it as awesome and not to be missed movies.

The illustration is a random fan art I drew based on its official poster back then.

PRINCESS MONONOKE & LAPUTA, CASTLE IN THE SKY (Studio Ghibli Animation movies)

    

   Princess Mononoke or Mononoke Hime is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film from Studio Ghibli by Hayao Miyazaki. It was set in 14th century era where humans, animals and gods live in harmony but all soon start to crumble by the plague, and greed mostly caused by none other than human. It was magical, but at the same time tragic and somehow depicted  and related to the reality of everyday life throughout time. I love how all the characters are described in it and also how beautiful backgrounds shown in the story. Also Mononoke herself as the main character in the movie as if she represented independent feminism way before the era, also the moral values just can't be ignored. I would rated 9 out of 10 for this movie. I have written the article separately before but I would like to highlight it with another movie from the same Studio/ Producer. 

   As for the 2nd film is Laputa, castle in the sky. It is a 1986 Japanese animated fantasy adventure film from Studio Ghibli again by Hayao Miyazaki too. Set in the fictional 19th century, following the adventure of a boy and a girl who try to protect a powerful crystal which hold the secret to a legendary powerful floating castle. It has been cited as the most influential original classic movie in the steampunk and diesel punk genres for numerous films, media and games as years went by. It was as truly mindblowing film to watch. Another 9 out of 10 movie for me.

 

   Actually these two film weren't the only films I've watched from Studio Ghibli. I will put more review of other Studio Ghibli's movie later on when I have more time. The picture in this article is my fan art drawing of them with Princess Mononoke on the left and Laputa, castle in the sky on the right.

DARK-HAIRED SIDE KICKS in Several Famous Anime/ Manga

   Dark haired side kicks from several famous anime/manga series. I need to point out on the title due this specific aspect of the characters which I will explain shortly below. However, first of all, I need to introduce a little bit about each character and from which anime & manga they are from.

1. Dragon Shiryū (Doragon no Shiryū) - 2nd from right in the picture - is one of the important fictional character from the SAINT SEIYA manga & anime created by Masami Kurumada as the side kick and nakama/close friend to Seiya as the main character. He is considered the most mature and wisest of the five saint. Shiryū is the Bronze Saint of the Dragon constellation which possesses legendary defensive and offensive properties on his cloth. He is also one of the ten surviving orphans trained to become Athena's Saints by Mitsumasa Kido. When Kido passed away, Shiryū and his allies become the main guardians of his adopted granddaughter, Saori, as she is Athena's reincarnation.

2. Uryū Ishida (Ishida Uryū) - 3rd from right in the picture - is a Gemischt Quincy who lives in Karakura Town in BLEACH Anime and manga. He is a doctor at Karakura Hospital as a grown up and was a close friend of Ichigo Kurosaki since they were in high school. He is a former Sternritter of the Wandenreich with the designation A: Antithesis, formerly one of Yhwach's Schutzstaffel, and had been named by Yhwach (the last main villain in the series) as his future successor. He was a shady friend turned enemy in the ending of the story who 'betray' Ichigo as the main character.

 

3. Uchiha Sasuke (Sasuke Uchiha) - 1st from right in the picture - One of the famous grey character in NARUTO anime and manga. He famously known as somewhat did not know to be categorized into. A friend or a foe? and since I did not and will not follow or read or watch Boruto, in my mind about him would be the opportunist who should be watched out for. 

4. Aki Hayakawa (Hayakawa Aki) - 2nd from left in the picture - was the deuteragonist character of the Public Safety Saga in CHAINSAW MAN Anime and manga. He was a Public Safety Devil Hunter working under Makima (control devil)'s special squad who had made contracts with the Curse Devil and Future Devil, and a former contract with the Fox Devil and pretty close to Denji as the main character who also joined the same squad. However, During the Gun Devil arc, he was killed and possessed by 20% of the Gun Devil, thus becoming the host of the Gun Fiend (Jū no Majin) and has a tragic end in Denji's hand. Their friendship was interesting since the beginning but they were used by makima for her personal purpose.He was a good guy with a sad ending.

5. Megumi Fushiguro (Fushiguro Megumi) - the 3rd from left in the picture - is the deuteragonist character of JUJUTSU KAISEN anime and manga series. He is a grade 2 jujutsu sorcerer and first-year student at Tokyo Jujutsu High alongside Yuji Itadori (main character) and Nobara Kugisaki. Megumi is also a descendant of the Zenin Clan. Megumi was born outside the clan and was eventually found by Satoru Gojo (the most famous character), who mentored him and enrolled him at Jujutsu High as his student. His fate nearly came to an end when Sukuna, the main villain, possessed his body and mind to then killed many people. However, Yuji managed to beat him and help Megumi back to his senses. 

 

6. Inosuke Hashibira (Hashibira Inosuke) - 1st from left in the picture - is one of the main characters companion of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and along with Zenitsu Agatsuma, a traveling companion of Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko Kamado (the center characters in the story). He is also a Demon Slayer in the Demon Slayer Corps. He was raised in the forest since he was a baby, therefore he has the wild and rough attitude towards others but nonetheless, kind and helpful. He is probably the kindest, most naive and easy going also funny side kick among all six characters I've mentioned here. I kind of like him the most.

The thing is, as I noticed closely on to these Japanese anime or manga series and also others too, mostly the side kick to the main characters has always been or mostly has dark hair (black). I don;t know maybe it is referred to the original hair of Asian or Japanese people or it is just a coincidence. But it is like as if it's a must to have at least one aside the main character to have them. Be it a good turn bad guy, a loyal friend or a shady envious character, they somehow represent people in real life to us. After all, some of these stories might be or highly inspired from life itself anyway.  I always wonder about this for so long after watching so many anime and read manga for years. 

The illustration is a random fan art I drew based on its official character drawings back then.

JUJUTSU KAISEN -Japanese Manga and Anime Short Review

 

   I watched Jujutsu Kaisen anime last year as it is recommended by one of my online friend, Mike. Its Japanese original manga is written and illustrated by Gege Akutami and published in 2018 up until now.

It was a good story and premise about the Jujutsu sorcerers and their battle against the gruesome monsters derived from curse which were actually born from human's uncontrollable negative thought and energies. Hence, the only purpose of these spiritual beings is to bring harm upon people themselves, talk about karma, right? What goes around comes around - from human back to human. The problem is, the harm they bring not necessarily on point and that's where the Jujutsu sorcerers part is. OK, I just spoiled the general idea of this manga or anime is all about but I can guarantee that it won't spoil the enjoyment once you follow it. Itadori Yuuji as the complicated easy going main character with mysterious past is also an interesting. Albeit my curiosity won't stop until the next chapter and episodes to come.

 

   To be honest, I did not read the manga attentively as watching the anime episodes, but I do see some spoilers of what to come and learned that many fans glorified Gojo over Yuuji as the main character and Sukuna as the most powerful villain in the series had become the main powerful exaggerated bad guy who seemed to be unbeatable. In the end, I think the Mangaka himself knew better since it was his work to begin with and it is his privilege to do what he wants with it. I would continue watching the rest of the anime episodes later when it was completely done being animated since I don't have much time to read the manga although the manga has ended a while ago. I would say, so far it is 8 out of 10.  

  The picture is my fan art drawing that I made /drew as soon as I started watching it back then.