Geek Corner:
By JAMES COUCHE
STAFF WRITER
JTCSIOI@,F'SU.EDU
No series has helped define
anime in the U.S. like Dragonball.
Akira Toriyama's long-running
series has become synonymous
with the genre. It has spawned
toys, video games, popular spin
offs and even a live action Hong
Kong film. Now, years after the
end of "Dragonball GT" (the final
spin-off in the series), Hollywood
has set its sights on turning it into
a big budget live action film. As
expected, anime fans everywhere
are calling for blood.
The Dragonball series follows
the exploits of Goku, a young
alien warrior, who must fight evil
while searching for the seven
dragon balls. When gathered
together, they summon the great
dragon, which can grant one wish.
The series (and Goku) continued
to grow with "Dragonball Z,"
which focused more heavily on
epic battles while the dragon
`Rant' an infectious read for Halloween
BY JADRIAN KLINGER
STAFF WRITER
JJKSOB9®PSU.EDU
Chuck Palahniuk never
disappoints. All the Palahniuk
fans that call themselves a
member of "The Cult" already
know the truth of that statement.
For those unfamiliar with him,
reading a Palahniuk novel often
feels like walking blind through
a minefield. A Palahniuk reader
never quite knows when the
plot twist will detonate and
his 10th book, "Rant: An Oral
Biography of Buster Casey," is
no exception.
Written in the style of an oral
history, "Rant" chronicles the life
and times ofßuster Casey through
the transcripts of interviews
from people who knew him.
Oftentimes reading like a more
coherent and less drug-addled
William S. Burroughs novel,
"Rant" speeds the reader through
a variety of bizarre characters,
infectious diseases, automobile
carnage, social segregation, peak
boosting, liminal transitions,
immortality and time itself.
"Rant" is not for the casual reader
who enjoys a limited-thinking
ball search was pushed into the
background. The final series,
"Dragonball GT," was not
embraced by fans and died an
early death.
From the looks of an early
trailer, the American Dragonball
movie takes inspiration from both
"Dragonball" and "Dragonball
Z." The characters are portrayed
as teenagers instead of children
but the focus seems to be squarely
on finding the dragon balls. Many
of the characters are also present:
Master Roshi (the pervert),
Yamcha (the rival), Bulma
(strong-headed girl) and Lord
Piccolo (the villain) though most
of them are less than accurate
recreations. Most anime fans have
been sharpening their knives and
blogging furiously since the day
this film went into production;
boycotts were organized, hate
mail was sent and geek tears were
shed.
Longtime fans will also recognize
that this is not the first time a
live action Dragonball has been
and soon-to-be-forgotten type of
story. "Rant" is for the hardcore
reader who demands originality
and meaning. Fans of Burgess,
Clevenger, Welsh and Ellis will
feel right at home with "Rant."
lIHT 7 M
Defending a travesty
produced. In 1989, "Dragonball:
The Magic Begins" was
unleashed upon the world leaving
nothing but tragedy in its wake.
To call this movie bad would be
an insult to the word bad: the
acting was aweful, the fighting
was beyond stupid and the "plot"
made little to no sense. Many
of the characters were present
(though they were misnamed
in the dubbing) but they all
worked better as anime. On
top of that, the special effects
were a complete eyesore;
they would have been better
off using plastic models on
strings.
One thing the new film has
in its favor is money and
lots of it. Everything about
the movie looks impressive,
from the fighting to the sets
the movie comes across as a
slick piece of work. Not that
any ofthis matters to hardcore
otaku (see: anime snobs)
who have already written the
movie off over six months
From the author at ROW Mtlo
years without
symptoms. It spreads from host
to victim through the saliva of the
infected, and Rant smooches a lot
of ladies in his town. Eventually,
the rabies virus spreads and an
epidemic follows. Like Typhoid
before it is due to be released.
This film will probably appeal
more to the uninitiated, those
who do not know Dragonball
from Naruto. Dragonball seems
to be more of an American re
imagining of the franchise much
like "The Forbidden Kingdom"
The novel
begins with the
youth of Buster
Casey who
is nicknamed
Rant. Young
Rant has the
odd habit of
sticking his
aims and legs
holes
Mary, Rant is what is known in
the disease control community as
a super-spreader.
Aside from recreational rabies
contraction, Rant lives in a
world of peak boosting and party
crashing. Peak boosting is a
futuristic form of entertainment
similar to watching a movie but
rather than a sight and sound
experience, it stimulates all five
senses via direct injection into the
brain. Party crashing translates
into holding a get-together inside
a car while playing demolition
derby on the streets of any highly
populated city.
Another interesting fact about
rabies: it causes delirium, mania,
paranoia, terror, hallucinations
and overall cerebral dysfunction.
The mixture of peak boosting,
party crashing and cerebral
dysfunction creates a liminal
transition through time for Rant. I
won't spoil the ending, but ideas
of altered lineage and immortality
become essential to the oral
history of Buster Rant Casey.
If the plot sounds complicated
and a bit confusing at times, that's
because it is complicated and a
bit confusing at times. But trust
me, its well worth the energy it
where skunks,
snakes, spiders,
raccoons and
bats live for
the sheer thrill
of getting
bitten. Not
surprisingly, he
soon becomes
infected with
rabies. The
funny thing
about rabies:
it can hide in
your system
for up to two
Oct. 22 2008
was an Americanized version
of the Chinese story Journey to
the West. Anyone who does not
take anime too seriously might
want to keep an eye on this one.
"Dragonball" may turn out to be
a very entertaining fantasy action
flick.
takes to figure it all out. I highly
recommend Palahniuk's 10th
novel, "Rant: An Oral History of
Buster Casey."
Even if you end up not liking
the book, at least you will gain
the wealth of rabies knowledge
it offers, and just in time for
Halloween because rabies and
Halloween have more in common
than you might think.
Before all the fun, think of the
dangers that Halloween brings.
Not the imaginary dangers like
ghosts, ghouls, goblins, gremlins,
vampires, werewolves, swamp
things, Oprah Winfrey and that
freaky doll from the "Saw"
movies, but the real perils like
razorblade filled fruit, LSD laced
candy, that creepy old guy who
gets a little too excited about
trick-or-treaters and bobbing for
apples.
That's right, bobbing for apples.
Think hard about bobbing
for apples. Think about how
everyone puts their face in that
water while trying to capture an
apple between their teeth. Think
about how that water looks after
everyone's stuck their saliva
filled mouths in it. Then think
about rabies.