Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 09:16 PM - ANIME Posted by Administrator
Shikabane Hime(屍
姫,
lit. Corpse Princess) is a Japanese manga
series written and illustrated by Yoshiichi Akahito. Premiering in Monthly Shōnen Gangan
on April 12, 2005, the on-going series centers around the "Corpse
Princess" Makina Hoshimura, an undead girl who is hunting
down 108undead
corpses in order to gain entry into heaven with the help of a
secret society of anti-corpse Buddhist monks.
Feel and Gainax
partnered together to adapt the series into a thirteen episode anime
series. The first season, Aka(赫),
premiered on AT-X
on October 2, 2008. A second season, Kuro(玄),
aired between January and March 2009. The anime is licensed for North
American distribution and release by Funimation
Entertainment, which has already started releasing the
episodes in subtitled form as Shikabane Hime
through various online distribution companies and through its own
website.
Shikabane
Sometimes referred to as corpses. When a person dies
with a powerful regret or obsession, they may become a Shikabane. As a
Shikabane, they are not alive in the same way a human is alive. Their
appearance may also differ greatly from that of a human. Shikabane are
given superhuman strength and a unique ability or attribute called a
curse. Shikabane have no feeling towards living and tend to kill them
by either because of there regret or obsession. A Shikabane can be
killed by destroying their brain or cutting them up into small enough
bits.
Shikabane Hime
Shikabane Hime are Shikabane that follow the Kōgon
Sect. They are partnered with a monk, who provides them with life
energy called Rune. In exchange, the Shikabane Hime act as shields for
their monk. They are used to hunt and kill Shikabane. So far, only
girls of a certain age group can become a Shikabane Hime. If their
partner monk dies, the Shikabane Hime usually dies, otherwise they
become Shikabane. Shikabane Hime keep their human form, but do have a
monster form that occasionally emerges. Unlike Shikabane, Shikabane
Hime usually do not have a curse. In order for a Shikabane Hime to go
to Heaven, they must kill 108 Shikabane. This number may be from the
number of sins in Buddhism.
Contract Monk
Contract Monks are the partner monks of the Shikabane
Hime. They usually provide their Shikabane Hime with support and linked
by via a bond. To become a Contract Monk, you must have a bond with the
Shikabane Hime.
Curse
A curse is a unique power that a Shikabane possess.
Generally, it has something to do with their obsession or regret.
Investigator
A monk who acts as support for Contract Monks. They
usually do not have a contract of their own.
Season
1: Aka
#
Title
01
"The
Dead Dance" "Shi ga Mau"(死
が舞う)
Makina Hoshimura, a deceased teenager, is given
her first mission to eliminate dead corpses on Earth. Her target is
Hagino, a criminal accused of killing women, who came back from the
dead as a vampire corpse.
02
"The
Game Continues" "Yūgi no Tsuzuki"(遊
戯のつづき)
After several children killed in a highway
accident come back to life as corpses, Makina is dispatched to kill
them. However, Ouri Kagami gets in the way when one of them pleads to
him to help her escape. Keisei and a band of anti-corpse monks assist
Makina to take down the child corpses.
03
"Voice
of Night" "Yoru no Koe"(夜
の声)
Makina is tasked to hunt down an unknown Corpse
responsible for killing off young women. Keisei learns that someone
familiar with Corpses is using a doctor to conduct illegal experiments
on dead bodies in order to turn them into monsters.
04
"Hymn
of Tragedy" "Sanbika"(惨
美歌)
Makina is dispatched to assassinate Kun Osaki, a
J-pop
singer who became a Corpse after refusing to accept her death because
of her wish to continue singing. Armed yakuzas are, however,
instrumental in fending off the first attempt when an unknown monk
warns Osaki's manager. Keisei gives Makina a hand in killing
Osaki.
05
"Traitor
Monk" "Haishinsō"(背
信僧)
A Corpse disguised as an SUV roams around the Greater
Tokyo Area, killing off anyone who dares to enter it. Keisei
tells Ouri the true nature of his job, which results in his suspension
unless he kills Ouri. A new Shikabane Hime team arrives, namely Itsuki
Yamagami and her contractor priest Takamasa Sougi, to deal with a rogue
Kougon cult priest.
06
"At the
End of the Dangerous Run" "Yōsō no Hate"(妖
走の果て)
Makina defeats the SUV corpse after being
assisted by Keisei. The rogue priest is revealed to be Akasha, a member
of the Kougun cult who went underground due to his radical views of
using Corpses as instructed. Keisei uses a cube
filled with the blood of dead corpses as a shield to temporarily defeat
Akasha, who retreats. The entire Kougun cult is shocked to learn that
Akasha has resurfaced while contemplating plans to reinstate Keisei
back with them.
07
"The
False Power of Words" "Nisegotodama"(偽
言魂)
Ouri encounters an ex-high school student named
Mitsuyoshi, who had somehow turned into a Corpse with telekinetic
abilities after dropping out of school. Despite Makina and Minai's
intervention in trying to kill him, Mitsuyoshi's abilities and his
fighting strength somehow hampers their efforts in subduing
him.
08
"Serenity" "Yasuragi"(安
らぎ)
Minai defeats the Corpse, Mitsuyoshi, with some
help. After killing him, Ouri has his cell phone taken away for
"evidence" by Minai. After school, Minai and Ouri go buy a new one
together. Later Minai's contract priest is killed by a group of thugs
making Minai a normal Corpse. She is hunted down by other shikabane
hime, but escapes with Ouri's help. He takes her to the bar where he
works and says she will be safe there. There, she is told that if she
makes a contract with Ouri she will be able to survive as a shikabane
hime. However, it is later revealed that it is in that very bar Minai
is disposed of by the owner and his hime.
09
"Set
Your Heart Aflutter" "Sono Mune ni Tokimeki wo"(そ
の胸にトキメキを)
Makina saves a bunch of students from a Corpse,
specifically Kasuka (nicknamed Omune-sama), a girl who later becomes
infatuated with Makina's beauty of death. Later, Ouri investigates what
happened to Minai from Makina with no success. Curious about Ouri's
insensitivity towards death, Makina approaches Keisei asking why he is
so compassionate towards the Shikabane. Keisei shows us a flashback of
Ouri's first appearance at the orphanage, where we see an emotionless 3
year old Ouri. He had been detached from the world until he rescued a
kitten crying by the riverbed. In a tragic twist, that cat died shortly
after from a car accident. Ouri, affected by this incident, is aware of
death constantly. Kasuka visits Makina bad mouthing Ouri, suggesting he
would never know Makina like she does. Makina defends him by stating he
knows more about her (death) than Kasuka ever will.
10
"Stars
on the Ground" "Chi ni Hoshi"(地
に星)
Keisei learns that Minai is dead after being
killed by an auditor, which is strange to him since Ouri was hiding
her. He rushes out of the hospital to his superior, Bishop Gon to
confront him. Afterward, Ouri is called out by Kasuka to look at a
magazine featuring a cult with followers that regenerate after being
burned alive. Under the belief that it is related to the Shikabane,
Ouri visits this cult only to discover it to be a hoax instead. Upon
Ouri's departure, the cult leader is visited by Seven Corpses calling
themselves Skikusei Hokuto. He is killed by Hokuto, the leader of the
Shichisei Hokuto. The group is contacted by the Kougon traitor, Akasha
to plot the elimination of the Kougon shikabane sect, Shouhouha.
Meanwhile, Keisei tracks down the auditor to Ouri's part time job.
Forced to keep hidden, the auditors leave suddenly. Finally we see
Makina's visions of the Shichisei Hokuto, suggesting she was killed by
them.
11
"One
Night" "Aru Yoru"(あ
る夜)
The Kougan discover from surveillance videos
that Hokuto is in the area. Aragami-san gives the intel to Keisei, upon
which Makina shivers trying to keep her excitement and anger under
control. Ouri is back at the orphanage for the time being since he is
out of work. Keisei tells Ouri about how in his past, he was raised by
Makina's father, and why he made the pact to be a contracted priest.
The Shichisei Hokuto, Ena-san makes his move and targets Ouri by
possessing him. The Buddhist Corpse of Shikusei Kowaku and the Traitor
Asaka attacks Keisei and Makina at the temple grounds. Asaka escapes
and Keisei pursues. While checking on the safety of the orphans, Keisei
is stabbed by the possessed Ouri.
12
"Dawn" "Yoake"(夜明け)
Keisei is later wounded more heavily and dies
after shifting his contract with Makina to Ouri. Makina manages to
defeat Shichisei Kowaku whilst fighting with Ouri.
13
"Funeral
Program for a Contracted Monk" "Keiyakusō Kokubetsushiki Shidai"(契
約僧告別式次第)
Keisei's funerals are celebrated and Ouri
decides to become a priest because now the only thing that his brother
has left to him is Makina. He understands that the night of the
Keisei's death has changed his life for ever...
Season 2: Kuro
#
Title
01
"Path
of Light" "Hikari no Michisuji"(光
の道筋)
A priest wants Makina to be killed. Makina is
currently imprisoned and spirits are eating her rune. Ouri undergoes
priest training but gets cut off because of an incident at Makina's
prison.
02
"My
Enemy" "Waga Teki"(我
が敵)
The shichisei make their grand entrance and a
minor fight is held but quickly cut short. Major characters assemble
and are re-introduced.
03
"Beloved
Aberration" "Itoshiki Igyō"(愛
しき異形)
Makina completed an Enkiri to get rid of the
rotten rune. Meanwhile, Ouri is continuing training but Makina
interrupts Ouri in the hot springs and demands to be released from the
contract. She is then captured and put in prison. "Genpaku" Takamasa
takes Ouri to observe one of his missions to kill a corpse.
04
"Itsuki's
Form" "Itsuki no Katachi"(異
月の貌)
A bit of history about Itsuki and "Genpaku"
Takamasa's early days as a team. Genpaku has to face a friend from four
years ago, one that he could not kill back then.
05
"Nature
and Regrets" "Saga to Miren"(性
と未練)
Itsuki fights a corpse and Ouri is shown a side
of the shikabane hime he doesn't know. Rumours are heard that Keisei's
body has turned into a corpse, and Sadahiro is sent to destroy it.
Later on, Makina meets with "Keisei's corpse" but it turns out that it
was the shichisei Ena. Ouri and Makina meet with Sadahiro and his
shikabane hime in the forest; they all face the body controlling
shichisei.
06
"Monster
Named Happiness" "Kōfuku to Iu Kaibutsu"(幸
福という怪物)
Ouri and Makina fight Ena, one of the Shichisei.
Ouri is shown to have a bit of Zadan Jutsu power, having entered the
Kougonshuu. Meanwhile, Kagusa gets controlled by Touya, the "balloon
monster" shichisei. Ouri and Makina confirm their contract but
afterwards, the controlled Kasuga goes into Ouri's apartment and pushes
him down onto the floor.
07
"Mundane
Wish" "Arifureta Nozomi"(あ
りふれた望み)
Inuhiko[?], Ouri's classmate smacks Kasuga in
hopes of getting her back to normal, but Kagusa escapes and Inuhiko
tells Ouri that Kasuga loves him. Makina hears of the incidents at
school and runs there, and meets Kasuga who manages to trap Makina with
the balloon curse and runs away. Ouri catches up with Kasuga who is
about to get eaten by her "happiness". Makina defeats a shichisei but
is knocked unconscious by another. Ouri makes an attempt to destroy the
happiness monster with a Zadan Jutsu but fails. It is revealed that
Ouri is believed to be the child of a corpse.
08
"My
Mother Is Immoral" "Waga Haha wa Kegare Tamaishi"(我
が母は穢れたまいし)
Kasuga Nozomi dies completely because she did
not fulfill the requirements needed to become a shikabane hime. Only
girls of a certain age group and under special circumstances can become
Shikabane Hime. Makina wakes up in the Shichisei Headquarters and
fights Hokuto excitedly. The shichisei reveals some plans and the
kougonshuu reveals to Ouri that they believe that he is the child of a
corpse. He loses control when he remembers his childhood, and the high
priest Gon kicks him out of kougonshuu to relieve him of his job as a
contractor priest. A small scuffle over Ouri's priest friends allows
him to escape back to the orphanage. One of the shichisei, Huzuchi, is
revealed to be killed by Ouri's "mother" and has a grudge against Ouri
for being the only one left alive.
09
"The
Value of the Living" "Shōja no Kachi"(生
者の価値)
Ouri learns of his mother being a corpse and
more of his past. The Kougon Sect regroups as the Seven Stars commence
the final action of their plan as Planes all over the city crash into
buildings creating Countless Shikabane.
10
"To the
Other Side of Hell" "Jigoku no Saki e"(地
獄の先へ)
The true agenda of the Seven Stars and the
Traitor Monks is revealed as the Catastrophe of the city creates
Numerous Shikabane and The Corpse Princesses Fight the hordes. Only to
collapse when their Contract bond is broken as Hokuto destroys a
mysterious Casket.
11
"One
Hundred and Eight Lies" "Hyakuhachi no Uso"(一
〇八の嘘)
The secret to the Shikabane Hime's power is
Revealed as it is the corpse of the first Shikabane Hime. The truth
behind The Traitor Monk is told. The Shikabane Hime who collapsed
Continue to fight. Hokuto Becomes a Shikabane Hime herself as Ouri and
Makina find New power to continue the fight.
12
"Beyond
the Dead" "Kabane no Hate"(屍
の果て)
As the battle between Hokuto and Makina
Continues it is revealed that Corpse Princess' Choose to Bond with
their Monks and all the Princess' regain their power. Another of The
Seven Stars is defeated and one gives up. The last Seven Stars escapes
with Hokuto. Makina and Ouri decide to make a final decision on their
Future.
The method of heating plasma used in VASIMR was
originally developed as a result of research into nuclear fusion. VASIMR is
intended to bridge the gap between high-thrust,
low-specific impulse
propulsion systems and low-thrust, high-specific impulse systems.
VASIMR is capable of functioning in either mode. Scientist and former
astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz
created the VASIMR concept and has been working on its development
since 1977
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket,
sometimes
referred to as Electro-thermal Plasma Thruster or Electro-thermal
Magnetoplasma Rocket, uses radio waves to ionize and to heat propellant
and magnetic fields to accelerate the resulting plasma to generate
thrust. This type of engine is electrodeless and as such belongs to the
same electric propulsion
family (while differing in the method of plasma acceleration) as the electrodeless plasma
thruster, the microwave
arcjet, or the pulsed inductive thruster
class. It can also be seen as an electrodeless version of an arcjet,
able to reach higher propellant temperature by limiting the heat flux
from the plasma to the structure. Neither type of engine has any electrodes.
The main advantage of such designs is elimination of problems with
electrode erosion that cause rival designs of ion thrusters
which use electrodes to have a short life expectancy. Furthermore,
since every part of a VASIMR engine is magnetically shielded and does
not come into direct contact with ionized plasma, the potential
durability of this engine design is greater than other ion/plasma
engine designs.
The engine design encompasses three parts: turning gas
into plasma via helicon RF antennas;
energizing plasma via further RF heating
in an ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) booster; and using
electromagnets to create a magnetic nozzle to convert the plasma's
built-up thermal energy into kinetic force. By varying the amount of
energy dedicated to RF heating and the amount of propellant delivered
for plasma generation VASIMR is capable of either generating
low-thrust, high-specific impulse exhaust or relatively high-thrust,
low-specific impulse exhaust.
VASIMR is not suitable to launch payloads from the
surface of the
Earth due to its low thrust to weight ratio and its need of a vacuum to
operate. Instead, it would function as an upper stage for cargo,
reducing the fuel requirements for in-space transportation. The engine
is expected to perform the following functions at a fraction of the
cost of chemical technologies:
drag compensation for space stations
lunar cargo delivery
satellite repositioning
satellite refueling, maintenance and repair
in space resource recovery
ultra fast deep space robotic missions
Other applications for VASIMR such as the rapid
transportation of
people to Mars would require a very high power, low mass energy source,
such as a nuclear reactor
In August 2008, Tim Glover, Ad Astra director of development, has
publicly stated that the first expected application of VASIMR engine is
"hauling things [non-human cargo] from low-Earth orbit to low-lunar
orbit" supporting NASA's return to Moon efforts
The series' protagonist is an asthmatic
12-year-old boy, Arthur
Penhaligon. The series begins on a Monday, with the main
events starting a week later on the next Monday. Each book moves onto
the next day of the week, over the course of about three weeks in Earth
time, concluding on a Sunday. Each day features beings, collectively
known as the Trustees, who each govern a portion of the House,
which is the center of the Universe. The seven demesnes of the House
are, in the order Arthur visits them: the Lower House, the Far Reaches,
the Border Sea, the Great Maze, the Middle House, the Upper House, and
the Incomparable Gardens.
In the beginning of the first book, Arthur lives a
relatively normal life as an adopted
child in a large and caring family. An asthma attack on a
Monday that should have killed him brings him into contact with Mister
Monday, who rules the Lower House. He eventually finds his way to the
Lower House himself, where he is to find the cure to a plague
brought to his world by its agents. By convenience, he is declared Heir
to the Kingdom and given the Lesser Half of the First Key, which is
shaped like the minute hand of a clock.
Because of this Key's magical properties, Arthur is relieved of his
asthma while in contact with the Key or in the House, and proceeds to a
strange and dangerous set of adventures.
As Arthur discovers, the Will of the Architect (creator of the
House and the "Secondary Realms" that surround it) was not fulfilled as
it should have been. Instead, it was broken into seven pieces by the
Architect's Trustees, the self-named Morrow Days. The Will was forced
to act on its own, and its First Part chooses Arthur to be the Heir to
the Kingdom. It thus becomes Arthur's responsibility to recover each of
the missing pieces of the Will, defeat each Trustee - each of whom has
been afflicted with one of the seven deadly sins -
claim their domains by taking each Key, and ultimately fulfill the Will.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 07:38 PM - MOVIES Posted by Administrator
Fist
of Dragon tells the story of Li, who comes to
South East Asia by
the request of his father to help out his uncle who has been facing
financial difficulties. Li, upon arriving in the town, feels out of
place due to the differences in cultures of the people here. When he
discovers that his uncle has been facing many hardships posed by the
local mobsters, Li decided to stay and to help his uncle and get rid of
them. However, Li encounter numerous resistances from the locals as
Li's action brings the wrath of the triad and drags the whole town into
turmoil.
Takers
(formerly known as Bone Deep) is
an upcoming 2010crimethriller film directed by
John Luessenhop from a screenplay written by Luessenhop, Gabriel Casseus, Peter
Allen, and Avery Duff. It features an ensemble cast that includes Chris Brown, Idris Elba, T.I.
and Zoe Saldana. The film is
scheduled to be released on August 20, 2010.
A group of bank robbers (Michael Ealy, Chris Brown,
Paul Walker, T.I.,
Idris Elba and Hayden Christensen),
who specialize in spectacular robberies, are pulled into one last job
by a recently paroled cohort, only to be pitted against a hard-boiled
detective (Matt Dillon) who interrupts
their $20 million heist.
Magno Meneses
(Manny Pacquiao) is a plumbing specialist that deals with
toilet drainage. His wife Magda (Rufa Mae Quinto) is working as a nurse
in Italy, leaving their five children behind. Magno single-handedly has
to be responsible with their everyday food cooking, bathings and
washing their clothes.
Despite regular
communication with her
children using webcam, the long distance still affects the couple's
relationship. One night Magno survives from an accident when a car
crashes into his truck. The explosion substance turns him into a new
man and he assumes a new identity of a superhero called 'Wapakman'.
courtesy of Film
Asia
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