Journey to Mars (Atama-ii Books)

Buck shoots, but he hits the wall behind you.
Before you can do anything, Maki pushes off the wall toward you. She grabs you, pulls you into the next room, and closes the door.
You look through a small window and see Buck. He is smiling, and his eyes are red. Then he moves away from the door. You can't see what he is doing.
You hear the computer's voice. "This ship will self-destruct in sixty seconds," it says.

Today, I read Journey to Mars. This is Book 1 in the Atama-ii Books series, which currently consists of 10 books. The books are all interactive adventures. That means that, at certain points in the story, you have to choose what to do. In Journey to Mars, I am the navigator of a voyage to Mars. I travel with Buck, the commander, and Maki, the science officer. Our voyage is quite eventful. We meet a wormhole and an asteroid field. There are many difficult choices on the way. Our mission is only successful in a few of the eight endings.

The Ghost in the Shell, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for The Ghost in the Shell, a movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Takeshi Kitano. It is based on the animated movie directed by Mamoru Ishii in 1995 and the 1989 manga by Shiro Masamune. Actually, I've already seen the movie, and it's really good. I'd like to watch the original animated film. Scarlett Johansson and Takeshi Kitano are really good.

As we approach the end of the football season, things are getting quite exciting. Manchester United are doing really well in the Europa League, and look like they might get into the top 4 in the Premier League, which would allow them to play in the Champions League next year. Chelsea, after losing to Manchester United recently, beat Spurs in the FA Cup semifinal, and look like they will probably win the Double (Premier League and FA Cup). Their opponent in the final will be Arsenal. Arsenal look a bit doubtful for the top 4. In the semifinal, they beat Manchester City, who look very vulnerable. They are in the top 4 at the moment, but could lose their place to Manchester United. Liverpool also lost yesterday, and they too look under threat of dropping out of the top 4.

(204 words)

The Lost Cup (Atama-ii Books)

Outside the hospital, you get into a taxi.
"Who is this 'King'? you ask John.
"In Brazil, there is only one King," he says with a smile. "And he's in Rio today, at Maracana Stadium. Let's go!"
You arrive at the famous soccer stadium a few minutes later. Outside, the street is full of people. They are dancing and cheering.
"Why are we here?" you ask.

Atama-ii Books feature eight different story paths. They are like the Choose Your Own Adventure series, in that you can make decisions about what to do at various points in the story. If you make the wrong decisions, you may die or fail in your quest. The Lost Cup is about two detectives who try to find the Jules Rimet cup, the World Cup that Brazil won in 1970 but that was stolen. A man called Sergio is helping you, but it is difficult to know if he is really helping or if he wants to trap you in some way. Unfortunately, at the end of the story I was trapped in a cave, probably soon to die!

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and other matters…

Actors:
Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Jude Law, Eric Bana
Director:
Guy Ritchie

Today we watched the trailer for King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. As you can see from the title, it is the story of King Arthur, the legendary king of the Britons. He drew the sword Excalibur from the stone and became king according to the prophecy. There are many movies and books telling this story. The director this time is Guy Ritchie, who directed the Sherlock Holmes movies, so probably it will be very full of action.

Yesterday and on Saturday, the FA Cup semifinals were held. Arsenal and Chelsea will meet in the final.

[95 words]

War for the Planet of the Apes, and other matters…

I did not start this war.

Today, we watched the trailer for War for the Planet of the Apes. I have enjoyed all the Planet of the Apes movies so far, including the old ones starring Charlton Heston. The new ones are very impressive, and each one has been notable for the performance of Andy Serkis, who plays Caesar. As usual, there is a lot of violence, as the humans, led by Woody Harrelson, fight to destroy the apes,
and the apes realize they have to destroy all the humans if they are going to survive.

You may have heard that Chelsea lost yesterday's match against Manchester United. That means that the gap between Chelsea and Spurs has been reduced to 4 points. Chelsea are still favorites, but the end of the season will be exciting. Manchester United's chances of getting into the top 4 have increased, so Manchester City need to be careful not to throw away games as they have been doing.

[145 words]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and other matters…

It's time for the Jedi to end.

Today, we watched the trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It is the latest Star Wars movie, due to come out this December. I have watched all the Star Wars movies so far and I like the universe very much. But I was a bit disappointed by the most recent one, Rogue One. However, that one was one of the "anthology" films, rather than one in the "saga", so maybe we don't need to worry so much. From Rogue One, it seems that there will be a different director for every film, so we can expect the quality to fluctuate as each director works in his or her own style. The director for The Last Jedi is Rian Johnson, who directed Looper, an innovative science fiction film starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, so I think probably it will be very interesting.

Did you hear about yesterday's match between Manchester United and Chelsea. Chelsea lost, so the gap at the top is now much smaller. Can Spurs catch Chelsea?

[160 words]

Writing III: Session 2

Hi everyone, I hope you had a good week. Did you remember to write a book review on your blog? How was it? And did you manage to do the typing homework that Mr Tomei explained to you last week?

In today’s class, let’s do the following:

• your first Juppun ha Juubun
• practice the typing homework (let’s get ahead of the schedule!)
• a book review (if we have time)

Remember!

• You need to read a book and write a book review for homework every week, whether or not we did one in class! You should already have one book review on your blog by today’s class. If you don’t, write an extra one this week!
• Please continue to send the typing homework to Mr Tomei. Afterwards, please paste the homework onto your blog.

Notice!

1. Every week, we will do a Juppun ha Juubun in class.
2. Every week, you will do a book review for homework.
3. Every week, you will do a typing homework, and paste it into your blog.
4. Usually, we will do another book review or another task in class.

That means that every week you should have 4 new posts on your blog, i.e. about 16 a month. The number of monthly blog posts will be a big factor when deciding your grade. Especially, you should avoid having any months where the number is less than 10.

I will often use this blog to confirm what I say in class. Please write down the URL!