Trailer: Dexter Season 7

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I have to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of the previous season of Dexter. Colin Hanks made for a boring villain, the secret behind the character played by Edward James Olmos was obvious from his second appearance, and, for the first time, Michael C. Hall seemed to bored with the title role. Yes, the sixth season of Dexter was a huge disappointment but it did end on a good note, with Deb discovering that her brother is a murderer.

(Of course, in the Dexter novels, Deb discovered the truth about her brother a long time ago. Plus, Rita’s still alive…)

The question is how will the show handle this change in Dexter and Deb’s relationship. (And will the show continue to explore the idea of Deb being in love with Dexter or will that be one of those plot points that will be quickly forgotten before it can do permanent damage?) Season 6 did not leave me with much hope for the future of Dexter but I’m still going to gife the new season of Dexter a chance and hope for the best.

This just-released trailer for the seventh season of Dexter gives us a hint of how the show’s new season might play out.

AMV of the Day: The Way You Are

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Arleigh

The latest AMV of the Day is actually one I just stumbled onto on youtube while looking for something that wasn’t even related to AMV’s. I know I would take a hit by admitting that I like the song this video ended up using but dagnabbit it’s a catchy and sweet song.

“The Way You Are” is the title of the AMV by editor xwiz89 who takes scenes from two anime series, Bakemonogatari and Nyan Koi!, and ends up with an anime music video that does a great job highlighting the two relationships which occur in both series. While the video makes the coupling sweeter than how they really appear in the series the way xwi89 edits the video makes that sweetness feel natural.

The title itself was taken from the title of the song by Bruno Mars, “Just The Way You Are”, and while it’s a song that has had it’s legion of detractors it’s still one that I ended up liking when first hearing and I’m going to assume that the AMV’s editor felt the same way. The song just fits the video and, if any, it helps sell both anime series to those who might not have heard about it and still not sure whether to give it a look see.

Anime: Bakemonogatari, Nyan Koi!

Song: “Just The Way You Are” by Bruno Mars

Creator: xwiz89

Past AMVs of the Day

VGM Entry 18: Takahito Abe

Posted on August 16, 2012 by necromoonyeti

VGM Entry 18: Takahito Abe
(Thanks to Tish at FFShrine for the banner)

I would like to throw one more comparison piece out there before I pick up the pace again. But before I get to that, let’s take a short break. Yuzo Koshiro is frequently listed among the greatest video game composers of all time. While I find his work in the Streets of Rage series a little bland, that may just be a matter of taste. He is certainly an outstanding composer of great historical significance. His first work should make that obvious.

Xanadu Scenario II: The Resurrection of Dragon, released in 1986, was an expansion for Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu. (I featured a video from the original 1984 Dragon Slayer earlier.) Supposedly the 18 year old Yuzo Koshiro submitted a music sample to Nihon Falcom, and it ended up accompanying Takahito Abe’s work into the game’s final cut.

Of Yuzo you will be hearing plenty more. Takahito Abe, the composer of the bulk of Xanadu Scenario II, remains a bit more anonymous. His major compositions appear to be Asteka 2 – Templo del Sol, Xanadu Scenario 2, and Romancia 1 through Falcom, followed by Susano O Densetsu and Hagane through Hudson Soft. He does not appear to have composed video game scores since the mid-90s, but he does maintain a personal website with an English translation, if anyone’s interested.

This video, from the PC-8801 release, is an hour long, but the soundtrack is actually about 30 minutes. The second half appears to be some peculiar broken version of the first, and you’d best skip it. But do listen to the first half. It’s your loss if you don’t.

Xanadu Scenario II: The Resurrection of Dragon. I’d never heard of it. I suspect you hadn’t either. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsBcY8xrYkU