I’ve been on an Anime kick lately, and this is the first series I’ve watched in quite some time. This is a great series where technology is used in a very different way from a classic sci-fi story.

It’s hard to describe, and it was also hard to understand at first. Basically teenagers use Dennou glasses to a virtual world super-imposed on the real world. The virtual world looks exactly like the real world, but sometimes it’s used to enhance reality. So the look of the show is not futuristic at all, on the contrary it just looks like a normal Japanese anime.

The main commercial use of the glasses are to possess a virtual pet. The pets look just like normal pets, but they only exist and can be seen with the glasses.

The stars of the series are all teenagers, and at first it feels like a teenage/high-school light-hearted comedy. But as the series goes on, it’s clear that something much more serious is at the heart of the story.

There is a commentary about using technology and having “fake” virtual pets, versus interacting with real people and family. But there is also the mystery of the world on the other side, or how souls can even interact with the virtual world.

I like the revelation of how the world on the other side was created, it connects many of the main characters of the series, and it’s also when things started to go wrong. It’s a well constructed plot and it didn’t take too long to get there. There are only 26 episodes and at the end everything is wrapped up nicely.

I appreciated both the use of the technology, the sci-fi aspect of this show, as well as the moral and emotional part of the story. The animation is very well done, it was crisp and clear as a virtual world should be. A very good series indeed.

Rating: 4 Stars

Lately I’ve been watching only comedy tv shows, and this is one more. Luckily it is short, so it shouldn’t take me too long to watch the rest.

This seems the perfect series for a comic geek like myself. This animated series has a lot of comics references, as well as other pop culture references. It starts out slowly, focusing on the “heroes” at first.

The Venture brothers are just really dumb boys, but they’re really funny. Their father is Doc Venture, the smart one. While his body guard is Brock Samson, the coolest secret agent ever. He’s my favorite character, his scene with the Russian spy was hilarious.

Then there are a ton of supervillains, all pretty funny. But this series doesn’t start to click until the last part of the season, when all the characters introduced previously start to get tied together. We also delve into the characters past, which is both good storytelling and just funny.

There are some problems that seem to be dictated by limited budget. The intro music is really annoying, I always try to skip it if I can. The title credits are also not that interesting to me, I really don’t see why the skull is so prominent.

Also there are only a few voice actors that dub multiple characters, and sometimes they’re not distinguishable, which is confusing and distracting. Some of the villains I just don’t care about, others I laugh every time they speak (I love it when Doc Orpheus speaks seriously and menacing).

I should mention that this is not a show for kids, their jokes are often of sexual nature or just mature by nature.

This first season is promising, I am looking forward to the rest.

Season Rating: 2.5 Stars

This season started with a great episode where Jamie and Paul finally confront the issue they’ve been avoiding so far: babies. First we get the possibility of a pregnancy, then they have a nice talk and decide to have kids.

That’s the thread going throughout the season, but overall this was a season of changes. Jamie starts her new job at the mayor’s office, which brings in more stress for her. Paul’s job at the network is also a bit stressing, even though it brings a lot of laughs for us.

All that while they were trying to have a baby. That’s actually not the ideal way to conceive, I’ve been through that. Which is why I thought the writing was spot on. All this stress and time away from each other culminates towards the end of the season when Paul and Jamie almost commit adultery.

I must say I felt very nervous for them, I knew they wouldn’t split up, but they still had some serious issues to discuss and resolve. Their talk in the park was heartbreaking but felt real, and their inevitable re-conciliation was such a relief. But of course I knew that they would get pregnant in the finale, it was also inevitable.

In the middle of watching this season we had our second child, so it took a long time for my wife and I to finish it, so I can’t remember much happening to the supporting cast. Ira and Lisa are always funny, Mark and Fran are back together but I knew that would happen. Was Ursula in any episode this season? I guess Lisa Kudrow was too busy on Friends.

I am excited about the baby, though I am sure we’ll see him/her only at the end of next season. Hopefully it’ll take us less time to watch it.

Season Rating: 3 Stars

I am a huge Babylon 5 fan, I’ve watched the whole series and movies, including the recent DVD. However I hadn’t read the novels or comics, with the exception of the short stories. That’s changing though, so here are the B5 comics.

During the first 2 years of the show, DC Comics published an ongoing comic series of B5, but it only lasted 11 issues. These stories are actually canon, since JMS himself oversaw them. He only wrote the first issue, but all issues fit very well into the TV series.

The first issue is about what happens to Sinclair after the end of season 1. We know more or less the facts, but this is the first time we see them as they happen to Sinclair. His reaction to finding out the truth about the Battle of the Line, and his subsequent transfer to Mindar.

Issues 2-4 tell the story of an attempted assassination of the Minbari leader, which Sinclair is suspected of and is put to trial. At the same time the crew of B5 are attempting to find the real culprit, thus saving Sinclair. I was very pleased with this story, it puts Sinclair and B5 collaborating, even if remotely. We also learn of the legend of “Cypher”, a psi-corps assassin. This was really a good mystery with good tension.

Issues 5-8 tell the story of Garibaldi and Sinclair’s first encounter, which happens to be important in the Shadow’s history. There is an interesting parallel between the past and the present, in which Garibaldi and Keffer are stranded in a deserted planet and are followed by the Shadows. I also loved that we see Londo during his struggle with Morden. Here he manages to save Garibaldi and get away with it. It was also nice to see Talia on Mars, while she was being experimented on by the Shadows.

Issues 9-10 are a silly story starring G’Kar. There have been a lot of silly Narn stories, but I always preferred the dramatic ones, especially involving G’Kar and Londo. This story had a good misdirection, and some fun banter between G’Kar and Garibaldi. But ultimately it’s just a silly story.

The last issue is interesting, it is a commercial made by Psi-Corps to attract all possible telepaths to join them. It is obviously a propaganda video, that twists the truth about Psi-Corps, making it a good place to be. It also goes a little bit into the history of Psi-Corps, which I imagine is twisted. I honestly can’t remember much about those details, but I look forward to reading everything about it in the novels.

DC has also published a 3 issue mini called In Valen’s Name, where we see B4 back to the present, after its battle with the Shadows. This is interesting because it also tells more in detail what Sinclair/Valen did after he went back to the past. We see him teach the Minbari, but also another race, the Tak’Cha. They were followers of Valen, but they twisted his teachings and committed violent acts in his name, so they were banned. An important point is also Valen’s struggle to not reveal the future to anyone, otherwise the Shadow would win.

These comics are very interesting to me, but they obviously wouldn’t make much sense to someone who hasn’t watched the TV show. They managed to tell stories that are relevant to the overall B5 universe, but didn’t find space in the show. In particular, Sinclair is in most of these stories, which makes sense.

The art in these comics is servicable. There is always the problem of the actors’ likeness, so they cannot get any artist on. Looking at the art I really wasn’t attracted by it, but it reminded me of the actors and the show in general, so I guess it accomplished its goal.

Next I am eager to read the B5 novels, I am guessing they will be able to expand this universe even more. There are so many stories to be told, I wish JMS would continue writing B5 novels.

The second season of Futurama was slightly longer than the first, but it was just as enjoyable. I can’t believe they can come up with so many funny and interesting stories, while at the same time utilizing the characters and even developing them sometimes.

We’re also starting to see recurring characters that pop up every once in a while, or even sequels to previous episodes. But more importantly we delve deeper into each of the main cast, discovering something about their past as well as what makes them tick.

The professor has a lot of backstory, but we’ve only seen part of that. Every time he gets on screen he either says “Good news, everyone” or “Bad news”, and it’s always funny.

Leela’s past is the most mysterious one, since we don’t know where she’s from. There was an episode dealing with that, but it turned out to be a scam.

We learn more about Dr. Zoidberg and Hermes, especially Zoidberg’s species mating ritual. I love Hermes, he’s really grown on me, everything from his accent to his exclamation phrases are hilarious.

Fry’s origins are explored a little bit with the addition of his ex-girlfriend from the 20th century. I loved when they thought they were in the year 4000, but it turned out to be LA. Hilarious.

I don’t feel there’s been as much new development about Amy, apart from her one time affair with Fry.

A new addition to the cast is Cubert, the professor’s clone. I haven’t seen enough of him, but he’s funny.

I am really enjoying this series, I can’t wait to finish seasons 3 and 4 and start the movies.

After a disappointing 3rd season, this was supposed to be the last season of BSG, however the writer’s strike shook things up, and we ended up with only half of this final season. Luckily the quality of these 10 episodes was better than last season’s.

It’s clear now that the writers have worked out the end of this series, and are now working towards that target. That was my main problem with this series, they had no idea where to go both in terms of plot and characterization.

A lot has happened in last season’s finale, however I don’t think everything has paid off yet. At this point I don’t much care about Kara. She was supposed to bring them to Earth, but then the final 5 are also supposed to do that. It just doesn’t all fit that well. Another character I’ve lost interest in is Baltar. He used to be my favorite character, but I am already tired of his religious turn.

I liked the way the secret 4 cylons reacted to their discovery. Most of them were incredulous, but slowly accepted the truth. Tory was first to accept her true nature, and became a super-bitch. I think that’s a great way to develop her character. Sam had less screen time, so I don’t think they did much for his character. Chief was the most tormented one, and the one to suffer the most. Cali’s episode was the emotional high point for me.

My new favorite character has to be Tigh, he seems to have lost his mind especially with Six, I can’t believe the writers went ahead and made her pregnant. But he obviously completely redeemed himself in the finale. I’ll get back to that later.

Laura’s journey is a little boring to me, but her scenes with Adama are always a pleasure to watch. I do like their relationship and I am glad they’ve finally made it open.

Another interesting development was the Cylon’s civil war. That’s probably the biggest change in the series. That lead to the alliance with the humans, the return of Diana, the final 4 are out in the open, and the finding of Earth. All this in the jam packed finale.

I was glad that the 4 were finally out in the open, and finally there is a true alliance with the Cylons. The way Adama reacted to finding out his best friend has been a Cylon all along was devastating, but it felt too rushed. They jump cut between rage, drunkenness, desperation. Way too fast, I wanted to see more.

I am a little conflicted about the final scene. They pumped us very well with hope and joy right before landing on Earth, everything they’d gone through all this time seemed to finally pay off. But then they land on a desolated planet. So what?! First of all it’s just one land in a huge planet. Have they explored the whole planet already? Second, what were they expecting? The 13th colony after all this time? Not all of them were believers at the beginning of the series, but now they all are?

I found that ending not that shocking or surprising. I didn’t believe for a second that we would get a happy ending to this mid-season finale. I don’t believe we’ll get a happy ending when the real finale comes either. This is not that kind of show.

I also hoped they would reveal the final Cylon, but they need to leave something for next year. I used to be very excited about a Cylon reveal, but they still haven’t explained how Tigh can be a Cylon. Everyone else I don’t care, but Tigh is a puzzle. I’ve read a lot of theories about the final Cylon identity: Admiral Adama, Laura, Kara etc… All these wouldn’t surprise me too much. But my favorite theory is that Galactica herself is the final Cylon. That would be cool!

Overall this was better than previous season, the writers had more focus and there were some truly amazing moments. But it’s still not as exciting as the first season, so I am glad that next season we will see the end of the series.

Season Rating: 3 Stars

After last season’s shocking finale, I must say I had high expectations for this season. Luckily they were met.

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4!!

The main story of this season was the appearance of the freighter and the reason they were on the island. Many new guests appeared, but the main new characters were Charlotte, Daniel and Miles. My favorite of these is Daniel, mainly for his appearance in Desmond’s time travel episode. That was a very well done episode.

A lot of things happened on the island in this season, it feels like they crammed a lot into each episode, unlike previous seasons where a lot of material felt like filler.

But the most interesting part of this season for me were the flash forwards about the Oceanic Six. That was a big curiosity for me, trying to figure out what happened to them, how they got there and what they were hiding. Seeing Sayd and Ben work together was a novelty, Jack and Kate together was a surprise, as well as Sun and Jin’s death. Just seeing these characters outside the island after the accident was just a novelty.

The best thing about this season, is that all those questions (or most) were answered by the end of the season. Which is why I liked this season so much. They haven’t given us all the answers, but we now know almost all about the freighter and the Oceanic Six.

The sci-fi elements in this series have taken a bigger role. First the excellent time travel episode, which was not only a great sci-fi story, but such an emotional story between Desmond and Penny. Their reconciliation in the finale was very emotional for me. Then the time difference between the Island and the freighter. Ben also somehow launched the black smoke monster against the military people. That still hasn’t been answered.

But the biggest one has to be the island moving. I was expecting it, they told us about it in advance, but I was still blown away when it happened. Watching the island disappear like that felt otherworldly. Even the moment leading up to it, when Ben walks in the tunnel and comes up in the ice, it just felt chilling. I love that this might explain the polar bears, and most importantly how the pirate ship was in the middle of the island.

There were also many deaths in this season. Jin is the saddest one, even though it was announced in an early episode (a heartbreaking one I must say). I didn’t care for too much for Michael’s return and ultimate sacrifice, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him yet. Even John is dead now, at least according to the finale.

I am now looking forward to next season. I am thinking that the present will be 3 years after the crash, continuing from the end of the finale. Jack and Ben will try to gather everyone and bring them back to the island. Does that include Desmond? I would hate for him and Penny to be separated again. Then there will be flashbacks to what happened on the island after it moved, leading up to John leaving the island.

I haven’t been so excited about Lost since season 1, early season 2. I can see the light at the end, even though there are still 2 years. But I think the scheduling of the episodes this year was pretty good. Even with the writer’s strike, they managed to air episodes consecutively, with only a 4 weeks break in the middle. Next season there won’t be any breaks. Kudos to the producers.

Season Rating: 4 Stars

Another fun season for MAY, with plenty of humor and more digging in Paul and Jamie’s past. In this season we see more of Paul’s parents, in particular the episode about their sports store, which matured Ira’s character in subsequent episodes. We also see a crazy Thanks Giving dinner with both families, that really made me nervous.

A historical episode is the blackout episode, which was not only hilarious by itself, but it spawned other episodes in other TV series (Friends). The episode about Murray’s TV career showed us once and for all that Murray is more than he lets us think.

Notable guest stars were Eric Stolz, in the role of Alan, Jamie’s ex-boyfriend. Those episodes really showed how obsessive Jamie is. She’s not the typical charming character in TV, she can really be annoying as well as charming. But that’s why we love women… I also loved the comic reference.

Cindy Lauper also returns as Marianne, but Ira seems to be free from her influence, and have a good relationship with Suzanne.

I think the writing was very good, particularly in the episode about Paul’s birthdays. The structure of that episode was so perfect, first going back in time, then forward but picking up the previous thread.

The episode I enjoyed the most was when Paul was home alone without Jamie. I have to say I feel that way when my wife is not home. Maybe not as exaggerated as Paul (it is a TV show!), but I can understand him perfectly.

The emotional/endearing episodes were two double episodes. One was about the 3 months leading to Paul and Jamie’s wedding. Great episode, full of fun but also emotions. I loved when Jamie comes in the apartment and says: “Bite me!”.

The other double episode is the finale, which felt a little bit bittersweet. The first part was funny as usual, with Jamie and Paul not knowing what to buy for their anniversary. But the second episode is basically an alternate universe, a what if Paul and Jamie didn’t meet. I guess I liked these characters so much that seeing them separated, not even remembering their selves, made me uneasy. I probably was projecting my own marriage, thinking what would have happened if I didn’t meet my wife.

Another fun season that didn’t deliver on the baby promise. I am sure next season will be it.

Rating: 3 Stars

This season has really suffered the most due to the writer’s strike. At least for me. I still looked forward to watching new episodes when they were available, but the scheduling really diluted the fun.

I can’t even remember what happened in the first part of the season, I think Lily and Marshall tried to buy their apartment, but they failed miserably.

What’s freshest in my memory is Ted’s new love interest. She seems like a fun character, although not the typical woman Ted’s dated. Will she be “the mother”? We’ll see.

Another episode I remember is the one where Barney is “persecuted” by a mysterious woman. At the end we didn’t really know who that was, but I think they ret-conned it to be Britney Spears character. I didn’t really like her guest appearance though.

What I am more interested in is the relationship between Barney and Robin. It’s been hinted at before, but now I think it’s become a reality.

I still like this series, I’ve just become attached to these characters. But I really hate the schedule. I wonder if I should just watch the entire season at the end.

Season Rating: 3 Stars

This fourth season of House managed to shake things up and change the status quo. I am glad about this change, because I must admit it was starting to get too repetitive.

So House is without assistants at the end of last season, and in this season he hires a bunch of candidates and plays a game with them, eliminating them one by one.

At first it might seem silly, and he always makes things look silly. But it actually makes sense, he already knows they’re all qualified, but he needs to see how they work together and against him as well.

I was a bit upset that we didn’t see Cameron and Chase as much, but at least they’re still there. I’ve stopped caring about Foreman. But I can’t care about so many new characters, only 3 (or 4) of them actually stayed on.

There were a few episodes this season where they tried to change the setting, creating cases away from the hospital. I liked the one where Cuddy and House are stuck on an airplane. I also liked the episode guest starring Mira Sorvino, I must say she looks better as she ages.

The two part ending of the season was very dramatic, first with House losing his memory, than with the reveal about Amber. That ending felt more like ER than House. Not sure if I like it or not, but it sure was a shock.

Overall another enjoyable season.

Season Rating: 3 Stars