Why Are You Guys Reading These?!

Despite my lack of posts so far this year, I still keep a decent eye on what you guys read and how often. Everyone who provides some sort of entertainment has to do it every once in a while in order to see what people like. What I have found makes me chuckle, not because some of my posts were destined to get attention, but because I have no clue how some obtained so many views.

On one hand I am happy to see that more and more people all around the world are finding and reading my blog. I have no impressive following by any stretch of the imagination, but I love that my blog is not as deserted as it was when I began. Even with my lack of activity people still read my posts! Even if only one to three people ever comment, I still like that some people care.

With that nauseating optimism out of the way, let me respond to the feedback I received via some of my most viewed posts on my blog! By doing this, these popular guys will get even MORE views... I guess I should pop their egos a bit... What really makes me laugh is the huge rift between the top three with everything else. It's so weird.


1. 'The Open Door' with 2,290 views

People love my bitching about Evanescence.

I'm not completely surprised that this would get a lot of hits, given how popular and mainstream the act is at least by name. But like with nearly everything I put up here, this was something I had to get off my chest. Evanescence used to be my favorite band of all time. I still respect them because they were my gateway into the general genre of rock music.

I have outgrown them and matured... but I still have some beef with how outrageously popular they are. I have always struggled with accepting that some things are popular than others because of accessibility or money. In this case, Evanescence is just easier on the ears for casual music listeners in comparison to more enthusiastic music fans - especially of alternative rock and gothic metal.

Hopefully time will ease my rage. Or Evanescence can make better music.


2. Eat Me, Drink Me with 1,190 views

Wow, my old reviews really sucked. Not that I'm so much better NOW, but still... rereading it was not fun.

Anywho.

To this day, I still don't care for Eat Me, Drink Me as a whole but I think it has to do more with Marilyn Manson himself. I have listened to Mechanical Animals, Holy Wood, and The Golden Age of Grotesque and even those albums don't impress me much. Don't get me wrong, they have far more interesting songs, but the albums don't satisfy me enough. It seems that the man himself is far more interesting and entertaining than the music he makes. That's really a shame.

I still plan to get his new album later this year, but I doubt I'll really, really like it. Maybe there will be two or four songs that I will really love.


3. Vampire Knight with 930 views

One of my less painful old reviews, I guess.

The last time I checked up on the series, Vampire Knight was even more convoluted and terrible. If I were to review the series as a whole again, I would more than likely give it a 1 out of 5. It's sad that it was the first anime and manga series I found about vampires. Now I have Hellsing Ultimate and it's freaking a masterpiece in comparison.

But on the bright side, Vampire Knight is superior to Twilight. Zero has a better reason to be an angsty jerk than Edward or Jacob at their most melodramatic.

4. And More Impatient Fans Leave... with 400 views

Another Evanescence rant.

This was stuck in my chest for years and I'm glad I got it out. I did check Wikipedia some time before their latest album was released and I blushed in embarrassment. They went on hiatus because Amy had to set back and redefine Evanescence after the huge successes of The Open Door and Fallen. Having to step back, rest, and examine your out-of-nowhere success because you feel like you're running into an identity crisis is somewhat reasonable.

But I think my biggest issue - and many fans may agree with me - is the fact that there was a serious lack of communication from everyone. Other than firing the drummer and guitarist, no one knew what the hell was going on for several years. Even Ville Valo of HIM - who are as of this post on a "break" to find a new record deal - came out in a Kerrang! article around Valentine's Day telling everyone that he and the boys are still alive!

It just... frustrates me.

5. Shadow the Hedgehog with 390 views

Hahahaha... I'm in the process of writing a follow-up to this very brief and generalized review. I still love this game a lot, but man it has it's issues. Whether it's a good or bad game is pretty much up to anyone who can tolerate some of the stuff in this controversial mixed bag. The response to this game was one of the biggest reasons why the Sonic fanbase, especially the more psychotic fanboys, fangirls, and furries (not all of them but the worst cases), scares the living crap out of me.

To put it briefly, I can tolerate the guns, the missions, the music, and the slightly less annoying voice acting from the 4Kids crew. But I can't defend the writing, dialogue, some plot points, and "Almost Dead." Damn, Powerman 5000 might not be a horrible band - I hope - but I hate that song.

I may do the very rare, small wishes to review a video game in the future... just if I actually plan my points a lot better. It's not as easy as taking on an album or movie...

6. Higurashi: When They Cry with 230 views

This has been getting more views recently and I can't complain. It's a series I wish was more known.

I finished the series months ago and I really need to review the second season. Now that I look back on it, Higurashi is probably one of the best horror stories I have ever experienced. After this, all horror is bland and boring. Thank you, Higurashi for making me feel jaded.

The story is far from perfect and it does not have much value in re-watching it, but I sure had a blast while the mystery was building up. Some scenes still bug me though...


7. Death Note with 220 views

I'm surprised I didn't get trolled for typing such blasphemy.

No, I never finished this series. Maybe when I'm extremely bored, I might consider it, but it's just... urgh...

But I won't go back on my point that this is a decent start for anyone who wants to get into anime. This is one of the most striking in terms of production and presentation. I may think that most of the stuff Studio Madhouse made are overrated, the company still makes great quality work. And of course the voice acting is fantastic in both English and Japanese.

I'm not surprised this got a lot of views due to it's popularity. Though my opinion on it is rather negative, I won't discourage anyone who wants to check it out. By all means, watch it! It's just not my cup of tea.


Keep enjoying what you read... even if I never completely understand why you like it...

"Suck the Blood Right of my Heart..."

The Vampire Diaries. Twilight. True Blood. Vampire Academy. Vampire Knight. Moonlight. House of Night.Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Underworld. Tales of Vladimir Todd. Dracula. Nosferatu. And many more tales that I failed to come up with in... my brain hurts...

Thankfully in the past several months the whole vampire trend in the media seemes to have calmed down to reasonable levels. However, the trend is still seen as destructive to the dignity of the entire vampire concept.

There are loads of times when being a vampire fan embarrasses me; even blogging for a whole month on nothing but vampires scares me. (Thus, I thank my viewers who still stick around when all hell broke loose.) Out of all the posts on the subject, every single piece of media portrays them as dark, attractive, mysterious, and sexual creatures of the night. Wasn't it only a few centuries ago when vampires were unfeeling, heartless, horrible servants of the devil?

Though I can't remember specifically, vampires fascinated me long before Twilight. Brief mentions of such creatures in Harry Potter? Mentions of Dracula? Sights of vampire costumes? Mini history lessons about Halloween monsters? Debates of superiority between vampires and warewolves? Playing with dolls with my friends and imagining they had supernatural powers? Whatever sparked my interest (though I'm sure the Count from Sesame Street didn't start it,) I knew the basic, semi-universally accepted characteristics of these creatures: repelling from holy water, the sun, and garlic; drinking blood from the living; roaming around at night; having pale skin, fangs, and dark hair; and dying from a stake to the heart.

Because I grew up knowing this, these tend to be the limits of my standards and

I never seemed to mind the various interpretations of these monsters. Though the vampire mythology of Buffy is far different then that of Vampire Academy, I still relish both interpretations for the sake of an enjoyable story.

But I obviously will join in the traditionalist bandwagon in the crusade against the sparkling ones. Thank you, Stephanie Meyer.

To further prove how much of a sucker (pardon the awful pun) I am for them, I have always wanted to write my own vampire story. Maybe it wouldn't bring dignity to the mortally bleeding horse, but at least it isn't beyond dead completely. But for now, I continue to research, watch movies and TV shows, read books, surf the web (who says that anymore?), and use my noggin to create something - if cliched - that won't suck to the point of people puking out their organs.

Regardless, the process is moving very slowly, but having sources and saving them never hurts.

In the meantime, I still have to dive into several books that people have asked me to read, specifically Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, and The Historian. Well, I'll get there in the next three years or so at the rate I'm moving. Hopefully I can get something, somewhere one of these days: just as long as my blood doesn't run dry.

Since I didn't update as much as I wanted to, I will wrap up this month with maybe two more posts: one on a basic summary of the origin of some vampire legends and a review of something else. Look out for them, or dance for joy that the topic will get stabbed in the heart and sealed into a hell dimension for a very loooong time.

... ... ... maybe I should really stop watching Buffy. At least the title came from a HIM lyric... *sigh* Making references with no feedback is great for my ego. I have no life... *sniff*

'Vampire Knight'

(CREDIT: created by Matsuri Hino.)

Rank: 2 out of 5 <-- average

Basic Overview:

Yuki Cross remebers her earliest memory of being attacked by a vampire and saved by another named Kaname Kuran. Ten years later, Yuki and a vampire hunter named Zero attend Cross Academy as guardians protecting the "Day Class" human students from the "Night Class" vampire students. The story follows Yuki having suspicions about Kaname, helping Zero deal with his turning into a vampire, recovering her lost memories, and dealing with vampire society.

After a while, I have come to realize that this story is Vampire Academy without traveling, controversy, sex, and any form of humor. Reading Vampire Knight is the equivilent of taking a class and realizing over time that you are unable to absorb anymore reasonable information without wanting out. The course might be interesting, but you have hit the point when the information has exhausted you.

The overall storytelling strikes as one of the biggest unavoidable flaws of Vampire Knight. I brought this up with a friend on Pandora a few months back, and he said that though he liked the artwork (he especially liked the rose design - see to the left), he found the plot to be very overdramatic and cheesy. On one hand I agree with him; however, this is not my biggest concern. Maybe it has to do with the "women liking cheesy drama and romance" stereotype box that I fit in every now and then. Hey, I'm not ashamed.

I find that this series indulges too much in being too vague and one-dimensional. Though far better than one particular "vampire" interpretation, these vampires are still lame. We get it: they are gorgeous, they sleep in the day, they crave the blood of their lovers, and they have proper manners. Some characteristics that are never brought into question are how they react to sunlight, how long do they live on average, and why the hell are they so human? Sure, I enjoy the vampires with guilty consciousnesses in other stories (*cAoNuGgEhLs* *cMoIuCgKh*), but Vampire Knight doesn't bring up the fact that most vampires... KILL HUMANS. Having cunning, evil vampires haunt and terrorize the most royal of their people doesn't quite satisfy. Even in a human world, that whole concept is esseintailly boring in its basic form.

Want vampires terrorizing society? Once again, Vampire Academy has it, and does it better.

Not to mention that chess references and symbolism are splattered all over the story. If only I knew how to play would I understand what is going on with the story 75% of the time. Damn that cursed exposition (which plagues the "plot" by the way)!

As for people... either they were major and important from day one, or they are one-dimensional and forgettable. No character stands out in a unique way, except maybe Zero, the most stubbornly unbreakable and indifferent character I have ever seen. He makes all hard-skinned bad boys look like cry babies. Yuki fits one of the several typical shojo heroine types: enthusiastic, thoughtful, curious, big-eyed, selfless, always hungry, not very school-oriented, etc. etc. But until a certain point, she was pretty enjoyable for what she was. No freaking out like Tohru (Fruits Basket) and not a crybaby like Mikan (Gakuen Alice.) And for Kaname... about that guy... He is the Edward Cullen that finally had the balls to come out and say "I have emotional issues and I express it by being possessive and treating Yuki like a child."

Until this series is done, I am still for Yuki and Zero being a pair because at least they had a real relationship as opposed to Yuki and Kaname's... I probably shouldn't spoil anything.

But one might wonder why I didn't rate this any lower: the series started off cliched, but decent. The anime had more humerous moments than the manga, but character interaction stimulated a few chuckles, especially when Akatsuki and Hanabusa are around. Yuki and Zero's growing friendship marks as a definite highlight. But once Yuki gets her memories back, the storyline gets annoying and I start to care less about everyone (except Zero. ^_^) The "plot" flows rather awkwardly because it often fails at introducing and fleshing out secondary characters. Sometimes in order to enjoy a story, the characters must be likable when they face conflict.

So overall, I give Vampire Knight a 2.0: there are might be three decent characters with interesting pasts, but a better sense of direction and less vagueness might have made it a 3.0.

I am still yet to figure out why I still keep an eye on this series. Maybe I invest too much energy and hope into certain relationships between characters...

(REEDIT: Sept. 10, 2011)