Noien: To Your Other Self

Hello fellow ESPV readers I thought I would start to review some new anime for a while. For those of you that were waiting for me to review Boogiepop phantom and Paranoia agent I still intend to review them but later.

Noien: To your other self is a science fiction anime that is 24 episodes long it was directed by Kazuki Akaen and Kenji Yasuda. Noien first aired on Japanese TV in October 2005 and was released in the West in September 2007. I need to point out that in the US you can buy all five volumes separately BUT in the UK you can only buy the first three separately the last two you will have to buy it as part of the series collection to you have been warned.

Noien jumps from present time to fifteen years in the future. In the future a violent battle is taking place between two dimensions: La’cryma which from the main characters perspective is the future, and Shangri’la a dimension intent on destroying all other dimensions. In La’cryma a group of warriors known as the Dragon Knights are sent through space and time to other dimensions to find the Dragon Torque; a mysterious object that will stop Shangri’la destroying La’cryma. In the present, Haruka, Ai, Isami and Miho (all friends aged 12) go out to see the “ghosts” that have been seen throughout their town. When they run into one of the Dragon Knights; scared they run away and are chased by the Knights. In an attempt to save her friends Haruka runs in a different direction from her friends. She ends up in a graveyard with Yu (also a friend in their group). When they meet Karasu a member of the Dragon Knights, he believes that Haruka is the Dragon Torque. Karasu taunts Yu about him being very weak and how he is disgusted by Yu, we then find out he is Yu only fifteen years in the future. In a strange twist Karasu decides to save Haruka at all costs and turns his back on the Dragon Knights and La’cryma.

This is a very good series and there is something for everyone if you like lots of fighting and action this has it and if you like a love story this has is as well. The animation is not the normal animation you get in most anime out these days. The character design is simple (but it really works) and in the fast action fighting scenes the animation looks hand drawn and very unfinished. This rough animation works because it gives you the feeling that things are happing very fast so everything gets blurred. The storyline is really well thought out and the writers explain multi dimensions and what is going on in both the past and future without confusing you. I would really recommend Noien to anyone that wants something different you will really enjoy this anime.

Photos via Photobucket

Insa's Whole Car

I forgot to mention earlier that we had the honour of hanging out with Insa whilst he painted the last touches to his amazing high-heeled tube train! For those of you know who aren't familiar with this famous east-end of London landmark...These are decommissioned tube trains (Jubilee Line trains for any railway connoisseurs) that sit on the top of a four storey building. They have been converted inside to act as offices for those lucky enough to have the hook-ups!




This is what the roof first looked like 9 months ago.


I'm not allowed to show you what it looks like now as "Gone" (our good friend and incredible artist) who was one of the first to move in keeps it top secret. So for now, all you can see is the potential of the place.....trust me, it's the best office I have ever smoked in....I mean...been to.


The Insa Pics are from Irieman's collection.

World's Most Shocking Car Accidents

360 backflip, old lady gets run over, Mr. Bean's car crash, death of a famous F1 driver and more are all in this collection of mayhem-filled crashes that shook the world.

The World’s Biggest Chocolate Fountain

The record holding chocolate fountain is located in Las Vegas, inside Bellagio. With the hight of 27 feet, it’s the biggest chocolate fountain in the world. The fountain is filled with 2100 pounds of dark, milk and white chocolate. If you are thinking of going to Vegas and getting your head into the fountain for some chocolate action you’re out of luck, cause the fountain is shielded by glass. Willy Wonka would be proud. For more info on this fountain click here.

PHESP Review - short comic

Funny.. but not 'ha ha' funny..
'Iran, Iran, Iran'.. is all we seem to be hearing from G.W.Bush these days.. seems he is quite obsessed with the notion that Iran is out to get the West, even when his own intelligence and UN inspectors have proven that Iran halted their nuclear weapons program about three years ago. But alas, the 'land of the free' is also widely known as 'the land of the seriously paranoid'.. although, no one can safely say for sure that Iran would never attack the West, there is little or no evidence to show that they have the capabilities to do it in the next 3-5 years.

Still, obviously it wouldn't hurt for the international community to keep an eye on Iran, but there is a fairly large difference to 'keeping an eye on' and 'promoting war'.
Either way, many have asked why Bush would be overly concerned with Iran being a problem to the West (which is not entirely proven), but not be as concerned with climate change which, could be a problem to the world (also not entirely proven)? Some argue that one is more important than the other.. bla, bla, bla.. but some would also say that considering the 3 serrious shooting incidents in the US in the last month (one which was in a shopping mall, killing a number of inocent people), .. perhaps Bush needs to focus a little less on 'possible' overseas threats and concentrate more on 'definite' domestic threats?

What ever the answer and what ever opinion you get behind.. I saw this funny comic in the December 8th Economist magazine and it made me chuckle..

Ultimate Custom Bikes

Saw this HERE and thought that all those fixed gear fans aren't even close to really customising their own bikes compared to these guys...."For decades in Japan, dekochari (deko means “decoration” and chari means “bicycle”) have been the ride of choice for hardcore dekotora fans that are too young to drive. Modeled after Japan’s celebrated art trucks, dekochari typically feature large front bumpers, ornate luggage racks, rear-mounted boxes that resemble truck trailers, colorful paint jobs, lots of chrome, and sophisticated electric light displays. This video pieces together random night scenes from Dekochari Yarou, a documentary that profiles a few dekochari enthusiasts and their custom rides."
Fixed-gearists eat your hearts out!

Riot68 Zombies Are Back!

Riot68 sent me a mail last week with the following message:

"The zombies are BACK!
Been working on these boys for a few weeks now on and off and apart from the protective topcoat they're all done and will soon be for sale, except the Mate which is off back to Das Mo, my thanks to him for hooking me up with one of these great DIY toys to have a go on. Also the 2 with the eyeballs, well they Glow in the Dark too!"




Beautiful custom job......nuff said!

XMAS Madness!

Big sorry for the lack of updates from last week but it's been a mad build-up for the XMAS period with the whole ESP crew working on and trying to finish off side-projects before the year ends.....
Dkoda has jst finished some amazing club visuals for Cafe 1001's crazy 24hour XMAS parties, I have had to sort out a new booker for the cafe and make sure he knows what he's doing (as well as customising a Teddy Troop, getting Interviewed for it on Toysrevil's blog and attending four great art shows!). PHilfy is about to go to Australia for XMAS, Irie is working hard on a new look for UKAdapta, Tai has just started a new job and the rest of the team have also informed me that they have been too busy to post as well! Pheeew!











Open Studio Pics From Here.
Alternativity Pics From Here.
Permission To Paint Pics From Here.
Evolving Styles Pics From Here.

Link Dump

Hot Links
Super Car
Huge Duck
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Sky is Falling
Horse cart Drift
Cute blonde blogger
Bad Celebrity Plastic Surgery
Huge chunks of ice fall from 1600 foot TV tower

Extreme Caterpillar Breakdance

Very Funny! Jason Bradbury does Caterpillar Breakdance on the streets of London..