KOZMIKKAT’s Top 10 Highlights of 2010

Seriously? 2011 came in like a ninja!! 2010 was actually an exciting year for games, music, films, etc. Here are my favorite moments (in no particular order):

Dexter: Season 5 Although I’m fairly new to this T.V. drama series, while watching it I was still able to figure out who did what, where, when, how and why. What I love about Dexter is how it blends superhero-esque vigilante, sci-fi and horror themes all together in an hour long show. This season became very interesting after Dexter gained a lover/partner in crime.

Tales from Earthsea Goro Miyazaki, son of world re-known Hayao Miyazaki, debuts as a director and screenplay writer in this fantastic film based on the Earthsea book series by Ursula K. Le Guin. The story follows a young prince who has just spontaneously killed his father for no apparent reason . The prince then flees from his homeland, only to run into a wizard who will forever change his life. Thus, the story begins…..

Tales is Studio Ghibli’s most darkest action-packed film since Princess Mononoke. The questions and themes pertaining to life such“what is the meaning of life?” or “what does one live for?” are addressed. This film is your modern RPG-esque theme-adapted-to-film-done the right way. My only complaint is the length of movie. There are very slow parts throughout the film.

Haunt From the minds of Robert Kirkman (creator of The Walking Dead) and Todd McFarlane (creator of Spawn) comes a new superhero: Haunt. The tale of Haunt begins when a secret government agent is killed during a mission to recover a scientist’s brief case that contains secret documents revolving around his twisted, inhumane experiments. The ghost of the agent begins to haunt his brother, an priest who hasn’t been a saint. Through a series of events, the brothers become a symbiotic entity known as HAUNT.

This is the best superhero comic to come out in a long time. So many plot twists, themes of espionage, romance, and morals mixed with the sense of drama and pathos of old school Marvel comics. THIS IS THE NEW SUPERHERO COMIC FANS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!

Star Wars: Celebration V The ULTIMATE Star Wars convention!!! Each celebration corresponds to the title of each film in the Star Wars saga. This celebration was in honor of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Unfortunately, this convention was held in Florida, so I didn’t get the chance to go. I’ve never been to any of the Celebration events.

May the 4th Be With You Speaking of Star Wars, this is the unofficial Star Wars day. Fans participate in various Star Wars related activities. Some fans cosplay; others host viewing parties. I spent the day talking with other fans and watching the original trilogy.

Music of Final Fantasy One of the most beloved aspects of the Final Fantasy series is the music. This year both veteran and new-comer composers have musical projects that are FF related. Nobuo Uematsu has a new band called Earthbound Papas. The band plays original material as well as various tracks throughout the FF series. The difference between the EP and The Black Mages (Uematsu’s old band) is that EP experiments with different genres of music. TBM only played rock, progressive metal, and orchestral. One newcomer project that caught my attention was Final Fantastic Violin. An amateur violin player by the name of TAM and his doujin (means”amateur”or “pure, original work”) band, TAMUSIC play selective tracks from the series using only violins.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies This game literally took up ALL of my summer and parts of the fall. There’s so any quests and extra side quests to accomplish; accolades (awards for completing tasks. Think of it as Achievement points in XBOX 360 games) to earn; alchemy recipes to unlock and perform; the list goes on.

Sadly, this will be the last Dragon Quest game I will venture. I realized that the DQ seriously is too lighthearted and if it were to ever change, (as far as darker themes/scenarios, grittier characters,etc) it would not work. That is what I both love and hate about the series. Farewell, Dragon Quest. Thank you for the blissful memories.

Nintendo 3DS The official announcement made by Nintendo at E3 earlier this year was, to me, the highlight of the entire event. The technical aspect of turning the 3D effects of a game on and off by just sliding a button blew my mind. I’m not excited about the launch titles that were announced. However, its the future titles and possibilities that keeps my anticipation level high.

I want to dedicate my last two highlights: one to Stan “the Man” Lee, who turned 88 on last Tuesday. Happy Birthday, Stan. You’re one of my heroes. The other goes out to some of the musical artists that passed away in 2010: Buddy Collete, Nujabes (Samurai Champloo music composer/arranger), MC Guru, Teena Marie, and Eyedea.

Thank you all for reading. Happy 2011!!