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Cartoons are certainly enjoyed by all children, however as most people grow up, they inevitably become more mature and stop watching these cartoons. However, it seems like the Japanese have been able to keep teenagers and even adults drawn into seemingly childish shows in the form of animes. They've probably captured the hearts of so many people due to their simple presentation but yet deep and immersive plots and stories. One such example of a pretty good anime in my opinion would be Black Lagoon.

Despite the title of the show, it has absolutely nothing to do with an actual lagoon. It is set in the port city of Roanapur where the biggest criminals and gangsters in the world gather at. Black Lagoon is the name of a "delivery company" which often has brushes with the wrong side of the law. Their job is simple: deliver a package (or even a person at times) to a specific location, except they usually use a torpedo boat to do so. The show starts off with the crew (Revy, Dutch and Benny) hijacking another boat to steal a certain disc containing valuable information to the client and then delivering it to the client. While doing so, they kidnap one of the office workers on board and intend to collect some ransom for his safe return. However, due to a turn of events, Rock ends up joining the crew of Black Lagoon and then follows them on their various missions throughout the 25 episodes.

Probably the most stunning and striking thing about Black Lagoon is its presentation. Being a show with many violent scenes throughout, the show makes use of a lot of graphic violence in order to portray large scale gun fights. Oftentimes, characters seem to possess extraordinary strength and skills which help make the show all the more exciting. The different characters and personalities of the crew members also make for interesting scenes. For example Revy is a trigger happy girl who always uses violence and guns to solve problems and has little disregard for other people. However, Rock is almost the direct opposite as he dislikes violence and is a cool headed negotiator who is able to help the group out but hinders them at times due to his inexperience in gun fights.

Initially, the jobs they get are on a fairly small scale, however as the series progresses, we get to see a lot more action, mostly in the form of gun fights. Revy has the nickname of "Two-hands" for a good reason, she has 2 pistols (whom she names Cutlass) in holsters that are easily accessible to her at all times, and she frequently pulls them out throughout the series to take down enemies and defend Rock and the other crew members of the Black Lagoon. This becomes all the more important later in the series when the crew becomes entangled with modern day Nazis, triads and even a triad war in Japan. The stories become more and more epic and deaths aren't uncommon. The different story arcs are all very well thought out and provide plenty of opportunities for large scale gun fights which make the series all the more exciting to watch and enjoy.

Unfortunately, despite many great story arcs throughout the 25 episodes, there isn't much continuation between the different arcs. One arc just suddenly ends and the next one begins in the next episode and the viewer is left to wonder what happens in between. This means that there is no overall storyline to make the show feel complete, rather it feels like bits and pieces thrown together to form an entire series. For example there are a few twists near the end of the series (for example one of the characters turns out to be CIA operative) but nothing ever comes of them, which is really disappointing. The last episode also doesn't seem to round up the series at all, but it's still unclear as to whether there'll be a third season. However, that seems unlikely since the second one ended a year ago and there's still no news about a third season.

All in all, Black Lagoon is still a really great anime series which I would recommend to almost anyone who enjoys watching action packed gun fights as well as detailed and compelling story arcs. The only drawback is that there isn't much of an overall story to the whole season. Still, the individual story arcs as well as the great presentation all make up for it.

You can watch this anime series for free over at Anime Crunch or you can search for it at Veoh. It's in Japanese with English subtitles.

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Ever heard of myths that you never knew existed? Ever wanted to personally witness such myths being busted / confirmed? If you had such desires, this is the series for you. Mythbusters is a TV Series that shows you how true, or how fake a myth is. They don't tell the myths, they put them to the test. Whenever the Mythbusters are around, there would surely be hilarious moments, jokes of such and often, blowing up of stuff.

Hosted by special effect specialists Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, the duo would attempt to solve and prove popular beliefs, internet myths and urban legends through the use of basic science and knowledge. This ensures that all audience would be able to understand them clearly. Due to the nature of some dangerous experiments, home viewers are not advised to try them out themselves without professional assistance. Between them are 30 years of special effects experience and would try to prove to the audience once and for all, the truth behind all those myths.

The show often make use of a dummy to conduct the experiments and they do have a long-term personal dummy known as Buster. Buster is a dummy similar to what you would see at seat belt test experiments. When it comes to dealing with high explosives and a dummy, Buster would probably be excused and in its place, a dummy made of ballistic gel. This type of gel dummy is usually used for myths testing for damage to humans, ie. is it possible to shoot through a sniper's scope and kill the sniper behind it? That would require a sniper to shoot at. Hence, the unlucky sniper would be made of ballistic gel. Since ballistic gel reacts almost the same way and is similar to human flesh, it would be a useful tool to see the extent of the damage done to human flesh. Being able to see through it, it is an added bonus to be able to see how damaging something could be to a human.

After all said and done, Mythbusters is still my favourite show currently aired. There is no myth too tough for the Mythbusters. When I first watched it, I found the title already interesting enough and indeed, the show captivated many with myself included. It could possibly be the highest rated TV reality series shown on Discovery Channel. Anyway, Discovery Channel even created a fansite for fans of Mythbusters to post myths that they are interested in and also provides a platform for fans to discuss about possible scenarios and intriguing myths. A proof of its popularity is that currently, it is already in its 6th season and newly emerged myths still find their way into the fansite through word of mouth. Soon enough, if it is widely discussed on the fansite, it is going to find itself on one of its episodes.

All in all, Mythbusters is a very interesting series which serves to prove to the general public that not all myths are true.

For more information on Mythbusters, visit the fansite here

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Doctors are a crazy bunch. The amount of stress they face daily, they must have an outrageous avenue to relieve all that tension.

Thus, I was curious enough to find out more about the lives of doctors. While there are many TV series involving life of doctors, one of the more popular ones is Nip/Tuck. They are, to be precise, plastic surgeons, which are still in the category of medical services.

I got hooked on to Nip/Tuck Season 1 and Season 2, but have yet to follow on with Season 3. In a nutshell, the theme behind this TV series is love. Love between husband and wife, love in the family, love between 2 friends and love between lovers.

The plot details the lives of 2 main characters, Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon). To be honest, I don't find the physical appearances of either of them attractive. However, the attitudes and image portrayed by each individual is indeed interesting. Sean is a family oriented family man, a man that lives by the book in season 1. I didn't like the character change towards the end of season 1 however. I admired the courage shown by Sean dealing with his problems at home, while his determination to patch up the rocky road with wife Julia (Joely Richardson) is truly compelling. Christian, on the other hand, portrays an image of guys your father tried warning you about since you hit puberty. Having watched the series, I got a first hand view into the mindset of a male player. Apparently, in the TV series, Christian is an irresistible, sexy and charming doctor. I can't help but feel really annoyed with his distasteful, low act to get women into bed. In fact, I felt Christian degraded the dignity of man in Season 1.

Towards the end of Season 1, Sean's cozy character had an 180 degree change. He killed Escobar Gallardo, a Colombian drug trafficker and had an affair with a patient named Megan O'Hara. It was peculiar to me that somehow the affair presented itself to a "rightful" one, as if all the marital problems were to be placed on Julia's shoulder. While it wasn't very nice, I continued watching to see how the mess could turn out. The story evolved further with Christian showing his emotional side when he had sex with a woman named Gina. Ironically, he met the woman from Sexaholics Anonymous and Gina was later pregnant with Christian's baby. The drama only gets more ridiculous from then on: the baby is African-American, which means Wilburt (the baby) is not Christian's. When I thought things couldn't get any more bizarre, the TV series surprised me. Julia finds out that her son is not Sean's.

So, Julia and Sean's son, Matt is actually Julia and Christian's son! This is revealed in Season 2. What a complete mess. This is really not an unethical series to watch at all. I give credit to all the beautiful women featured in the series though. To add complexity to the story line, a new character is introduced: Ava, a life coach for Sean and Julia. Ava turns out to be a pedophile and forms a sexual relationship with Matt. The punchline has yet to come. Season 2 ended by revealing that Ava is actually a transvestite.

So, do doctors have an exciting life? You tell me.

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Melinda Gordon (Grace Fulton, Melinda as a young girl) sat on the church bench. She looked right and next to her was an old man. "Melinda, come here," her grandmother (June Squibb) called her. Melinda stood up and walked to the front. At the front, was a brown, long rectangle box. It was a coffin.

Melinda looked inside the coffin and saw the same old man, who sat next to her earlier. She gasped for her breath. She's puzzled. She turned around and the old man walked to her.

Old Man: You and your grandmother are the only ones who can see me. Will you help me? That's my wife there. We've been together for 26 years and I had to go. I had to go so fast, I didn't have time to say goodbye to her. Will you give her a message for me?

Melinda: How would she know it's from you?

Old Man: Tell her I want her to keep on having a glass of champagne every Friday night. I want her to light the fire like we always did and make her secret toast to the moon, like we always did...

A snapshot of the Pilot of Ghost Whisperer. If you want a scary tv series, this is not for you. Starring Jenniffer Love Hewitt as the adult Melinda, who grows up listening to the dead. A very similar context of "I see dead people" from "The Sixth Sense". The difference? Jennifer Love Hewitt is much hotter than "The Sixth Sense" young boy.

Basically there are 3 types of ghosts in the series; incomplete souls, lost souls and spiteful spirits. Incomplete souls are those who seek fulfillment in undone tasks. These wandering spirits are the harmless ones who merely ask Melinda for help to find lost belongings or to pass a message to their loved ones. Lost souls are the funniest as these ghosts themselves do not realise that they are dead. Melinda helps them realise the ugly fact that they no longer walk the face of earth as living beings. Some of the journeys and experience in accepting death can be very touching. Spiteful ones are the ones who come back with a vengence. They literally mess around, throw things everywhere, play with lights and doors to gather attention.

I believe in ghosts and wandering souls. Every person, dead or alive has a personal wish to fulfill. If you're lucky, you complete your wish before you head six feet under, else you bug someone else to fulfill it for you. In this case, Melinda is the lucky one, though one may call her unlucky, to be pestered by restless souls. Melinda lives a very challenging life, trying to balance her marriage, work and helping the floating ones cross to the other side.

A cozy tv series to watch I would say. It makes you ponder for a while after each episode why the dead asks for help. What I enjoy most from the series is the message behind each episode. A good Sunday passing time TV series to watch. Nothing too intense or mind probbing. You will surely be thankful the next morning, that you need no one to fulfill your wish. I know, I do.

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Imagine this. A guide book in understanding women's thoughts. I bet many men would flock to the bookstore to get a copy. If you are a male and often struggle in keeping a cool head with women, I would recommend watching "Sex and the City" the series. Why? Well, it is basically all you need to know about women in a nutshell. To be precise, the nutshell spans of 6 seasons, with each season average out to 12 episodes. Season 1 sets the background for the 4 main casts being Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), a journalist who writes for a sex column. Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) who has a strong opinion of her own sexual desires. A too good to be true womanly figure, Charlotte York (Kristin Davis). Evidently her only cons is her compulsive buying for shoes. Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), a successful lawyer who fails to find a competent partner in life.

With four casts in the series, the focus span on each character is fairly minimal and their life story progresses like a snail. You really need to build the patience to gather fully how each character unfolds their life in each episode. First lesson in understanding women - patience. Men need patience to comprehend a woman.

Personally, by the 3rd season, I could hardly recall how and when the characters became who they were. Thus, following the series faithfully isn't really critical if your intention is to discover the facts, the gossips, the troubles, the mindful thoughts of a woman. In this case, 4 women. While doing that, you can probably mindfully compare the characteristic of the characters with your own female partner, companion, spouse or friend. Just make sure she doesn't find out, or you'll be toasted alive !

Allow me to recap some interesting titles that stay fresh in my mind. In random order, the list is as below:

1. Why women compare oneself with others, particularly with someone with better physical appearance?
2. Why sometimes women don't introduce their boyfriends to their friends?
3. How women handle break ups?
4. Do you have to play games to make a relationship work? Some women actually believe in that.
5. Not all women need to be rescued, however it's nice to receive offers. When to offer and when to sit back ?

If any of the titles strikes an interest to you or rather feeds your curiosity about women's behavior, it's about time to hit the store and get yourself some Sex. Oops .. I mean "Sex and the City" DVDs. Be warned though, only strong men can handle the truth.

Alternatively, you can wait for "Sex and the City", the movie next year.

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