Setsuled's Journal

I watched this apparently bootleg Star Trek trailer early this morning on AICN shortly before I went to sleep;



I'm amazed Paramount's not taken it down yet (at least not as of the time I'm writing this). Makes me wonder how unintentional this leak is. I'm surprised Hillary Clinton's not in it.

Let's see. First of all, I call no more noisy trailers ending with almost silent ominous title cards. It's starting to provoke a gag reflex.

Here are my thoughts; Zachary Quinto just isn't Spock. Maybe he'll be something interesting, but it won't be what made Leonard Nimoy's performance interesting. I like Simon Pegg as Scotty.

My prediction; this movie will turn a profit, but not by much. It won't revitalise the Star Trek franchise. This movie looks too mainstream homogenous for the geeks, and it looks too geeky for the mainstream homophobes.

I think I'll basically enjoy it as a fun ride, and then cringe in the moments where it gets schmaltzy for trying too hard. SETSULED HAS SPOKEN. Remember, I'm almost never wrong.

Lately I've been watching the original Tenchi Muyo OVAs from the early 1990s. I'm enjoying them a little more than I remember enjoying them in high school. More and more these days, I'm noticing how a lot more care and effort went into creating detailed worlds and characters in older anime series than is put into even the good modern ones. The cute little Ryo-Ohki is carefully animated with distinctly cat-like movements fused with puppy and a little bit of bunny. The average Ryo-Ohki type character in anime these days usually just settles for being small with exaggerated features.

But I love Tenchi's and Ryoko's mannerisms, too. You have to smile at Tenchi's understated mischievousness when he nicks his grandfather's keys. Or Ryoko pausing in her path of destruction to check herself in a mirror or casually fondling Tenchi's crotch. And I love how Ayeka's formality actually feels a bit like she is an aristocrat, as opposed to most modern anime that settles for just putting a girl in a frilly dress.

And, gods, the personality in the props. The junk in Tenchi's room, the stuff neatly arranged in Ayeka's barrels. Not many anime series take the time for shit like that anymore. Top wo Nerae 2 is the best example that comes to mind.