It's Me!

"Let him go, he always was a loner."

I'll take that. That was actually the one I predicted, too.

Actually this is the second test for BR characters that I took. The first one was a better one test-wise, but the html sucked on it, so I fudged my answers on test 2 to get the same results as the previous.

Needless to say, I just finished the book. Now I'm digging around the net to find any images from the movie, just to see how it looks. Hiroki Sigimura kicks ass, though. Nice guy, karate specialist. Spends most of the book searching for one particular character who he's madly in love with, and fights Kazuo and Mitsuko, the two biggest killers in the book, to a draw.

He's also the first (and only one of two that they mention) characters who does all this while equipped with a defensive weapon. While most of the students were given things like knives, guns, and grenades, he was given a tracking device, which he uses to great advantage.

Part of me really wants to see the movie version of this book. However, I also know that they're probably going to beef up the violence. And I also know that they changed the plot to fit with a more modern audience, making it even more Running Man by turning it into a government-sponsored reality show instead of a "military exercise".

There's also a sequel that's coming out next year that, well, sounds pretty stupid.

But this is a book I would suggest to anyone who can stomach written violence akin to, say, IT or Dark Tower. Basicallly, if you can handle Stephen King, then you can handle this. You'll get a gripping novel that treats characters with a depth that many books ignore. With the exception of a few characters, you learn the motivations and histories of most of the students, both good and evil. The only real let-down, and I don't think that this is a huge spoiler, is that the two previously-mentioned baddies, Mitsuko and Kazuo, have a pretty anti-climactic battle.

Also, a bit of a warning: if you're not too adept at Japanese names, you might have to keep checking back and forth to previous chapters. Names like Yukie, Yukiko, Yuko, and Yuka can feel a tad redundant and confusing if you're not prepared for them.

But overall, my best summary is that I'm going to buy this damn book for a re-read in the future. And this is coming from a guy who never buys his books beyond the Potter series.

The weekend and the end of the year is upon us, and my compputer decided to up and crap out on me. I'm currently writing this on my dad's computer, moving between this one and the laptop. So if anyone's looking for me on the IM's the next few days, your better shot's probably just to call me.

Oh, and for those with any interest, I've added a few new albums to my mp3 player so far:

- Evanescence: Fallen
- Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
- Alien Ant Farm: ANThology
- Failure: Fantastic Planet

I'm ripping Green Day's Dookie right now to throw on before bed, and will probably get to Mark Mallman and/or Flogging Molly tomorrow. Then I'll either throw one or two more on after that, or just start digging around for some singles (Dungen & Sufjan Stephens are looking like that).

I'm also looking for something to read. To get my Potter juices flowing again I might read OotP. Either way, I'm gonna have to sit down now that I'm done with BR and get The Calling of Seven back up (working title, most likely crap).