Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays here! 2008 is coming to a rapid close and there's still so much of it left to enjoy. It gave us a pretty decent year in gaming, less so in anime. In terms of gifts, it gave us a lot to ponder.

Every one of my friends but myself has an Xbox360 now. I'll probably get it sooner rather than later now. With my latest friend getting an Xbox (Seth) we also got to experience Rockband 2 and create characters! It's incredibly addictive, though as the singer of the group I didn't know as many of the songs on this playlist as I did on the first one. There is an option to port over Rockband 1's playlist over to 2, so hopefully we'll get around to that. I'm pretty much going to try and hang out at Seth's as much as possible now because this game is just that fun. Also now that we're not playing on the Wii the controls work much better and character creation is too fun. Seth and I were fighting over who got to spend money on whose character while Tony and Larry rolled their eyes at us.

Prince of Persia came to a close a while ago (it's almost criminally short) with a controversial but (in my mind) brilliant ending. Also, it sets up for a sequel. I feel less good about that given Ubisoft's track record.

Tony was a doll and got me Blood + season 1 box set (with a great T-shirt in the box, though the full series would have been acceptable) so I've been watching the DVDs. I keep forgetting that Adult Swim used to edit a lot of the blood out so it's more of a gore fest than I remember, but that only adds rather than detracting from the experience. "Saya!" Never gets old.

Ouran High School Host Club 2 will be out in two or three weeks. Cannot wait. Love this series.

Death Note boxset 1 is out for a reasonable price (first half of the series for $50.00--that's around 30 episodes). One of the few Madhouse series to not have gallons of blood to spurt at high pressure in every episode (the other series is Monster if you were curious) and has lots of crazy "intellectual" twists. It's hella fun to see Light and L go at outsmarting each other and all the moral issues involved with Light's actions. Definitely worth the cash.

Can't really think of anything else noteworthy to squawk about right now. Maybe later. Happy Holidays once again!

50th Post! Also, PoP...

Yeah, so I haven't updated in forever. Sorry. Real life/work/family/Thanksgiving all got in the way.

So, on to the good stuff:

Prince of Persia landed on shelves a week ago. It is awesome. Seriously, I had been doubting how amazing it would be (so it looks pretty, big deal) but it has some incredible level design and strong characterization, which I'm a whore for.

You play as the mysterious "Prince", though he's actually a grave-robbing orphan with a rakish demeanor and a "roll-with-it" attitude. He's incredibly fond of chasing pretty faces with little thought beyond that. This is how he teams up with the equally enigmatic Elika, a pretty face with something more beneath the surface. Like magic.

The story is a bit flimsy (stop evil Ahriman and his followers by changing the corrupt fertile lands back into fertile lands) and the fighting, as always in the PoP series, can get repetative. The combat system itself, though, is much improved and fun to use. You have your sword button, your gauntlet button, your Elika button (where you throw her at the enemy) and your acrobat button (helps you roll to/from/around enemies). You can chain combos pretty endlessly until a gimmick the enemy pulls (where you can only approach with a specific attack) and the ever-annoying-quick-time-events should you fail to read your opponent correctly. Enemies do not randomly spawn and you only fight one at a time. If you're fast enough you can cut them off before they spawn! Bosses, on the other hand, you can never avoid and you will fight them numerous times with little difference between battles. Sure, sometimes you're forced to do a different gimmick (use environment, can't use magic, etc.) with the same boss in different battles, but most moves never change and you'll find the fight repetitive and sometimes irritating.

Also, you can't die. Which is sweet. In the series of old, if you died you were forced to re-do from whatever arbitrary checkpoint the game came up with, or worse, your last save point. I can't tell you how many times I was forced to re-do that stupid puzzle before the elevator in Azhad in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time because of that stupid elevator fight in which large groups on enemies re spawned three times and Farah kept dying. (I had to do that fight like 32 times or something. I had a tally at one point.) Not so in the next-gen game. With Elika you get the "Save Me" move where she pulls you from death and lands you on the last stable platform you were on in about three seconds, sometimes followed by witty (read: fun but cheesy) dialogue. No reload screen, no game over screen, no waiting. Sure, the "save me" is unstoppable, but it lasts two seconds. So while you never die, you still know that you screwed up. Quite frankly that's actually preferable. Doesn't make the game less challenging (hell, you goofed in the first place) either. In battles the penalty is more if Elika saves you, such as if you don't hit the quick-time buttons fast enough then the enemy's health is regenerated.

Elika's AI is incredible. One major plus is she won't die on you and the game doesn't end if she's knocked out (which she can be). She also never hurts you in battle or ever gets lost platforming, and can be used in battle to chain combos and deal actual damage. As much as I adored Farah (and I truly did) it got annoying that she couldn't actually keep lasting damage on enemies (except for those sand raven/bird/things). Elika helps to finish off enemies. Also, she keeps up with you on platforming and helps with the Power Plates (silly magic gimmicks) and long distances as well as providing a compass. Plus, she's a real character that reacts like an actual human being instead of your typical vapid JRPG princess or supercilious bad-ass-cold-hearted-action girl that populate a lot of action games.

Elika and the Prince (who is heavily modeled off of Harrison Ford-variety action heroes) have great chemistry, unlike most ridiculously shoe-horned love interests. While I'm sure a lot of people appreciate that the dialogue in this game is optional (except during cut scenes), I long for more of it. I swear, if I were playing the characters would spend too much time talking to each other rather than platforming. They even play "I Spy"! I love the optional dialogue as both Kari Wahlgren and Nolan North are incredibly strong actors. Their voices are just nice to listen to.

For all that praise and excitement I just heaped on Prince of Persia, I will say there are some annoyances. The game is definitely padded. After healing a ground, you have to re-explore to gather Light Seeds, which you then trade in for a Power Plate power (there are four plate powers). It's annoying. Sure, the platforming is fun, but being forced to collect these things is irritating. You don't have to collect all of them (forty-five in each area), but there are achievements for doing so. Big whoop. Also, combat is repetitive (no surprise considering Ubisoft made the game, but still) and the story itself is rather thin. Also, your boss characters are incredibly irritating as they don't really vary attack-wise and will often spout the same nonsense over and over. The level design is gorgeous, but they definitely dumbed down how to solve your path so that the platforming flows for anyone with two working hands. Not like that's awful, but most of the challenge is gone. As much as I lamented my almost-constant splatter-death in Sands of Time, I still felt awesome for achieving it when I did on the first try. Also, the puzzles are lacking in this one. They're still there, just more annoying and less charming.

Still though, it's a great game with strong characters and beautiful cell-shaded graphics to resemble a moving storybook. I'm completely enthralled and beg you to join the experience.

New Link Post

Hey all! For those of you who enjoy manga scanilations will enjoy the new link I've added on my side bar there: One Manga. I like it because the scans are large, easy to see, and nicely translated. There is an incredibly large index of manga that's been translated and scanned (and completed!) as well as some search functions and all other kinds of neat things. No chapter summaries, though. Still, this site is worth its weight in gold just for the sheer volume of manga you can choose from. Er, if things on the internet weighed stuff, at least. ^_^

Because Namco Gets My Obssessive Clothing Fetish

I forgot to mention that Tekken 6 has been announced for the Xbox as well as the PS3. So, one less PS3 exclusive there. Also, there's about as much custom creation in Tekken 6 as Soul Calibur IV, and possibly more so. Namco understands my need to play with ass kicking dolls and shiny graphics.

I swear, I'm getting an Xbox this holiday season. Possibly saving for an HDTV too. Otherwise I'll drive Tony bonkers by kicking him off the Xbox to character customize. I mean, look at the pretty!

First Season of Ouran Review

I purchased the first season of Ouran High School Host Club (henceforth known by OHSHC or simply Ouran) on Sunday. I was pleased as punch over the price ($42.00) for thirteen episodes on two discs. The box art is adorable, as are the individual thin pack dvd cases. I had to spend a good fifteen minutes staring at all the art because it was just too cute.

As I've noted before, the animation and sound quality are top knotch. The colors are bright, and fit very well with the tone of the series. The character designs are less awkward in the anime than the manga, and Bones works very well in employing their action shots or slow pans with flowers. The satire is subtle in both the art direction as well as the actual story/characters/plot. Beautifully done.

Here's the real shocker: the dub is actually decent. I know, take a second to get those socks that just blew off. I'll wait. Seriously though, it's not bad. I still love the japanese better, but if I were forced to listen to the dub it would still be enjoyable. Haruhi actually sounds indistinct enough to possibly be a male, but still comes across as female when she needs to be. Caitlin Glass really nails her well. Honey is played by a girl (just like in the sub) and it still fits. Mori's dubbed voice is actually the sexiest--too bad he has almost no lines. Tamaki is the only one I have issue with--Vic Mignogna just can't pull of the sexiness needed for the pick up lines Tamaki spews so sincerely. He can do the upset/crazy/silly Tamaki, but not the sexy one.

For the extras...I haven't listened to episode commentary (haven't had time as of yet) but I did listen to the outtakes by the dub actors and they are hilarious. Fifteen minutes of non-stop fun. Especially for someone like me who's interested in breaking into that field. No good running gags like the Berserk ones, I'm afraid (and no one breaks out into song, either), but still fun/cute all the same.

These DVDs are a steal, and the series is one that everyone will enjoy (seriously, if Tony can enjoy it than only the truly depraved will hate it). Jill gives her gold inked rubber-stamp of approval on this one. ^_^

It's Almost Like An Epidemic...

Recently I've encountered three female adults who are into anime because of their children. I was astounded. My personal trainer (it feels weird saying that, or typing in this case) has a daughter who's basically a younger (14 years-old), cuter version of me when it comes to manga/anime/Japanese culture. Which is awesome. I can give tips on good series that the both of them would enjoy that's also age-appropriate, and so far they like it. ^_^

Another was a patient who spotted my desktop background (currently Saya and Haji from Blood +) and recognized them. Her children are five and seven and are into Pokémon and Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service. She became interested in the stories they were telling ("But I'm sick to death of Pokémon") and began to rent stuff, one accidentally being Blood +. I typed out a list of things I thought she'd like (with some recommendations for her kids as well) while she met with the doctor, and though the list wasn't long (I had trouble thinking of age-appropriate and shoujo titles in the twenty minutes I had) she was thrilled with it. I'll have to go through and find more titles that'd work.

The third was a woman in Subway who was reading a Wallflower manga. I saw it, shyly stepped over and recommended Ouran High School Host Club to her if she liked that one, and she was thrilled for the rec. "I'd heard about it! It's just my friend owned these and lent them to me. Thank you though--if it's funny like these are I'll have to check it out." I assured her that it was humorous (though in a different way) and she wrote it down with a happy look on her face.

It's like anime has begun to spread over the masses. Quite frankly it's about time.

Soooo...I've Apparently Been Busy...

Sorry about the monthly absence. That was rude of me. I also missed informing people of some important dates beforehand, so in case you didn't know, let's get some of this out of the way.

• Fallout 3 has already descended on the masses. Having played a bit of it myself it is by all means a fantastic game and I'll get more in-depth on it later. I have some personal issues with the game, but I'm spoiled (apparently) when it comes to RPGs.
• Fable 2 has also hit shelves. Since Peter Molyneux actually kept his mouth (more or less) shut on what happens in this one it has been delighting fans instead of disappointing them. I want to play (very badly) because I'm missing my fantasy RPGs, no thanks to Bioware delaying Jade Empire 2 indefinitely, but that's a different matter entirely...
• Ouran High School Host Club (season 1= episodes 1-13) has finally come out Stateside and so far it's bloody fantastic. I haven't bothered to listen to the dub yet because I adore the Japanese voices to pieces, so I don't know how it sounds. It's a Funimation dub...so chances are it's okay but slightly irritating. Anyway, not having to rely on my dubious Internet connection to watch one of my favorite series is a true joy, and I get to see it on a whole TV screen! The subtitles are incredibly well-translated, even funnier than what the fansubbers translated. I know, I was floored too. The colors pop, the sound editing is amazing, and the extras are fun. The animation is stellar (it is Bones, after all) and the humor is over-the-top, but in a good way. I highly recommend this series, and I personally hate shoujo. Combine that with 13 episodes crammed on two DVDs for the low price of $42.00 and you have a winner. Seriously.
• Prince of Persia by Ubisoft has been pushed back by another week or two. Gametrailers has been updating regularly with gameplay videos and trailers that are fun to goggle at. I'm excited for it. I'm hoping that it gets back to the Sands of Time aesthetic. (And yes, I played a little bit of Two Thrones but had to quit when I heard Farah with a replaced voice. WTF!?)
• Lego Batman came out and was suprisingly fun. Pure fun. Except I hated the vehicle sections. Why do games do that? No matter what genré it is games always have a vehicle section. And they're always annoying as hell and pull you right out of the game. Especially that POS in Mass Effect. That thing would be a law suit in real life with all the whiplash it could hurl out. Plus all the puke smell from passengers emptying the contents of their stomachs...

Okay, so I promised more in-depth on Fallout 3. It's a FPS RPG (though you could switch to 3rd person view, and you don't have to fight with guns) made by Bethesda (Oblivion: the Elder Scrolls). You create a hero (they can be female too!) that you will pilot for the rest of this adventure and there are literally too many frickin' choices for a face you'll almost never see. The game is incredibly deep with about a million game-play choices for literally everything you do. And not the fake choices most games give you where you have to choose between doing the good or evil thing. There is a real neutral path in this game. The choices you make are governed by a karma system in the game. Nice choices (helping others, not killing people, etc.) lead to good karma while nasty choices (blowing up a town, killing NPCs, eating corpses (yes, you can become a cannibal)) lead to bad karma. No karma is neutral, or karmic choices that balance out leads to being neutral.

The game doesn't discriminate against any of your choices. You can kill anyone you meet (except for children, that's the only line the game draws). You can destroy entire towns (not the actual town, but those in it). You can become a ninja fighter (there is a perk for it!), and fight only using stealth and your bare hands. You can wield swords, or guns, or even make a mini-nuke launcher. You can mutate yourself with enough radiation to grow back limbs...and other stuff. You can sell you companions or kill them, develop relationships with NPCs, or decapitate them using the VATS system. The dialogue options are hilarious no matter what side you play on, and entertainment is unceasing. There's literally too much to do, or you could skip it all in favor of just doing the main quest.

The world is varied and beautifully rendered, and your environments are often chilling as you survey how the nuclear blast caught people unawares. It's strange to see downtown D.C. as a virtual wasteland with roaming super-mutants and feral ghouls. The monuments are eerie reminders of a more stable time and seem to have lost all meaning in this hellish day and age.

Now for the flip side: the uncanny valley rears its ugly head here. As great as the voice acting is (and it's truly award-winning) looking at any character (including your own) will cause you to shudder as their dead eyes stare unceasingly into the camera. NPCs and enemies (as well as yourself in third person) move in a really stupid way, and the ragdoll physics will glitch about half the time. I could get over it except that I learned most character interaction is mainly for taking quests and no actual character development whatsoever. No real romance here, folks. No friends, either, unless you count Dogmeat (the dog) and he's not much for conversation. Now, those who read this know I'm all about character development and connecting with the characters in every story I play. And while I'm incredibly impressed with Fallout 3's story, aesthetic, and game play, this is a huge downer for me. If I can't find a character to connect with I tend to care a lot less what's going on around me. What sucks is that a lot of thought and about a million details went into the making of this game, and it shows. So why would adding character connection be so hard!? Bethesda hit all the right notes literally everywhere else except here. I can overlook it, but not as easily as others. I guess that's my real downfall.

I did pick up one fun perk called Black Widow for being a female that gives me 10% more damage against male enemies as well as extra dialogue options. It has proved entertaining so far.

Fallout 3

So, Fallout 3 is coming out soon and Tony won't shut-up about it. I've been doing some research on the previous two because I've never seen them. Seems like a funny RPG. Like if your intelligence was low enough in the second one you talked like an idiot! ("Yu fren? Yu give all, no ow!") So the sense of humor is great. Fallout 3 is being handled by different developers (as you've probably already heard) this time around, so I'm hoping the humor will still be intact. It probably will be because you can make a gun that shoots railroad spikes and makes a train whistle while it does so.

Tony's really excited by it. I'm hoping the love interests aren't just tacked on in this one like they seemed to be in the last one. Also, I'm hoping the story just sucks you in and doesn't let go. That always makes for the best RPGs. You can forgive a lot with fun characters and good story-lines.

Kinda Related to Comics...X-Men, Anyway....

Heroes finally came back on television! And they're doing it right, unlike last season! It's really exciting, as all the answers we're getting are actually raising more questions. And it's shot like a visual comic book again, which I always appreciated. It's the closest thing on American television that resembles anime without being anime. I'm so in love again with the series. *sigh*

Ouran High School Host Club is coming out in about a month and a half. Soooooo excited! Tamaki-silly-goodness...aaaaaahhh....

Art Post!

This is the Prince and Farah. Found it on Deviantart. It's absolutely one of my favorites mainly because they never really get to do this ever. It's bittersweet, as you can tell by the expression on the Prince's face. This is currently my desktop background. (Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, in case you can't tell for some reason.)

This is Smile for the Camera by Bri-Chan. One of my favorites. I leave it as my desktop for giggles quite often. Bri-Chan does excellent work on DeviantArt, and a lot of it is Disney (something I'm quite addicted to). She just has a wonderful use of expression and color that her artwork always pops, no matter what the subject. She also works for Disney, which is freakin' awesome.

Also check out Mimi-na if you like a twist on Disney characters or just some awesome artwork. I might post something of hers later...

That's all for now (and randomness)! A rant on why vampires are the best monsters is coming later!

True Blood - Suck It Up!

Hee! This one cracks me up!

True Blood Trailer #2

Trailer for True Blood!

The Wisdom of Saying "Bite Me" to a Vampire

I've got to make this quick as I have to wake up reeeaaallllyy early tomorrow.

So, HBO is often known for their awesome/or controversial shows. Last great show on HBO was Rome. Now it's True Blood, based off a series of books.

True Blood follows Anna Paquin as a telepathic waitress (Sookie Stackhouse) in the Deep South (made up town named Bonne Temps in Louisiana) two years after vampires "come out of the coffin" because of a synthetic drink made by the Japanese called 'TruBlood' that satisfies their needs. Vamps are trying to integrate into society in the open now, trying to get basic civil liberties. Sookie meets a really hot vampire named Bill Compton (Sookie: "'Bill the Vampire'? Are you serious?") and both parties are intrigued right away. Sookie is a very open-minded, morally up-right quirky girl that's hard not to love. She's a virgin, as reading the minds of others has led to some really funny and horrific dates. She can't read Bill's mind, which is refreshing to her.

There's a lot of allegory to racial injustice and homosexuality and all that, which is really cool. The setting works suprisingly well, as the Deep South really is kind of a fantasy land in the U.S.A. The South is definitely a world of its own, and the Gothic South displayed here is incredibly fascinating. Plus there's deviant sex, vampire making out, and really great writing and chemistry. Also, the actors are fabulous, as most of them are British (but you wouldn't know it) or Anna Paquin (who won an Oscar at age 11). There's a lot of humor and drama, and all the great stuff in between. I'll gush more when I have the chance. So far two episodes have aired. It's on Sunday nights before Entourage.

Have I mentioned that I adore Anna Paquin? I do. She's my favorite X-men (Rogue) and one of the few young actresses who's actually talented and fun to watch. She's in a lot of indie films as well as some mainstream and is really cute and quirky. I adore her.

Still playing Prince of Persia. My desktop currently consists of some adorable Prince/Farah fanart.

Prince of Persia: Next Gen

So...I've obviously been on a huge Prince of Persia kick as of late and have been eagerly playing/reading/collecting videos and fanart on my favorite characters. Which kind of led to the realization of: "Oh yeah, there's a new PoP by Ubisoft coming out soon." This was helped along by Tony, who made me watch a few trailers and gameplay movies.

It looks amazing. So far game play looks like all the fun I'm already having except now you have a constant companion and the moves are tuned to be more flowing rather than having massive splatter death every five-to-ten minutes or so. It's cell-shaded to look like a painting. The voice acting is great (Kari Wahlgren is the female lead--I don't know who does the Prince but I like his rather blasé attitude) and the lines I've heard are funny. The combat is waaaaaaaaaay improved and more epic in feeling. The story is that you're helping Elika, some mysterious magical girl, restore the world that's been corrupted by evil influences back into the pretty happy nature we all know and love.

Cell-shaded to look like artwork? Restoring the wonders and splendors of nature? Constant companionship and fun combat and puzzles? Why does this sound eerily familiar?

Most people won't know this is ripping off Okami to some extent. I guess that's all right. To be fair, it only seems to be borrowing certain elements, and not enough to be blatently stealing Okami's thunder. Still, it does make me uneasy. As does the character of Elika.

Elika's there to aid you and even keeps you from dying. That's cool, but then it kind of makes the Prince useless. She helps you in combat and is really powerful. You have...a sword. Also a gauntlet. Woo-hoo? The gauntlet helps you in platforming in some really fun and interesting ways, but part of the fun of the Prince in the Sands of Time trilogy was that he was the powerhouse behind all of the neat platforming tricks and ruled the combat. I have lovingly nicknamed him "Monkey Boy" because of it. He also had the dagger to pull off super moves. This Prince seems like he'd be flat in comparison. Again, haven't played the game or really know much about the character, so who knows? Maybe I'm totally, totally wrong. I hope so.

I'm all for powerful female sidekicks. Really. It's just Elika seems too powerful. Where's the fun in that? Farah could hold her own for quite a while and set up one-hit kills for you (sure, it'd be nice if she managed to at least finish off one of the finicky-re-spawning bastards, but whatever). She could also hit you in battle and vice versa, but still it was kinda charming. This though...Elika's more of a device than a character. So far. Again. Haven't played, can't say for sure. These are just impressions.

Apparently you can't die, either. Not sure if that's a plus or will feel like the game is babying you. Also, the story is "non-linear". What's wrong with linear game play? I need that at times to tell me what's going on! Ah well, it does create a feeling of more freedom, which is cool.

So these are my impressions/rants. Agree/Disagree? Tell me why! Feel free to comment. ^_^

Still Playing PoP: Sands of Time

I'm only 33% through the game (damn the real world/work) but I'm still enjoying it immensely. I hate the Wall-Climb move, though. It requires specific timing that I don't always hit, so it's really annoying right now as I have to do it in the one room or fall to my doom (the castle ruins level, btw). I'm still trying to figure out where to go from there, but don't tell me--I feel all superior once I figure it out.

I love, love, love the characters. The Prince and Farah are absolutely great! The Prince is a real person: prideful, easily annoyed, snarky, and truly caring. Farah is also very realistic: willful, confident, strong, easily admitting her mistakes and foibles. It's great to see the characters growing on each other--their interactions are priceless. Once I forgot to pull a lever to let Farah up (right after the birdcage/zoo level) and she yelled at me for forgetting her:

Farah: "Hey! Where are you going? I'm still down here!"
Prince: "I was...checking ahead. Making sure everything was perfectly safe."
Farah: "Making sure I'd be safe? How thoughtful of you, Prince."

As romantic ideals/interests in gaming go, Farah is incredibly original. She's not an annoying companion you have to ferry around in guarding missions who can't stand on her own two feet. She's not an emotionless Ice Queen who can't stand chivalry. She doesn't dress like a whore, either. She is a confident girl who speaks her mind and isn't afraid to admit when she needs help. She'll help you as much as she can, but she stays true to herself. She even tries to comfort The Prince (who is essentially her captor) after he has to kill the monster his father has become. She didn't have to do this, but the fact that she did speaks volumes about her character. Farah is compassionate, confident, and witty. I adore her.

The Prince is snarky, prideful, and genuinely noble. He has a true streak of rash nobility--he takes responsibility for all his actions and even admits that he cares for Farah. He forges on ahead with the power of a steamroller--he is unstoppable. He doesn't let it go to his head either. He gets annoyed with Farah and even talks to himself, adding quite a bit of humor in the game play. I adore his voice actor. He's just so cute! I can't wait to see more cutscenes...

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

So I got the game Prince of Persia: Sands of Time last night for less than eleven dollars at a GameStop. So far the game is actually really awesome. Even the graphics hold up really well, if just a smidge too geometric. The environmental textures are seriously well done, which is good because they have to be.

I've gotten pretty good at figuring out where to go next, but I still need work on the combat. Mainly, blocking. (I suck at defense, great at offense. No matter what I play. Soul Calibur, Kingdom Hearts, Okami, KOTOR, that's just how I roll.) And I love all the story-telling things. Especially when I die. "No, that's not how it happened. Shall I continue?" The Prince is a great character--humanly flawed but basically a good guy. Haven't gotten to the point where there's much interaction with Farah yet (I did just get the game and I kinda suck at it) but I'm really looking forward to it.

I still don't really know how to use the Dagger of Time well in combat. I'll figure it out.

In a random topic change: I seem to constantly give all my female Shepards in Mass Effect big noses. I think it makes them distinguished. Y'know, that aquiline nose. If she looks too much like a supermodel I have a hard time believing she'd choose a military career. Also it's impossible to make a good-looking male Shepard. It just is.

No good new anime to look forward too. Boo.

Games I Wish I'd Played Pt. 1

One of the games I wish I'd seen or played would have to be Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. After reading a synopsis and seeing a few videos on YouTube, I'd have to say that this particular game is a real stand-out. Sure, the combat seems punishing at times, but the characterization, gameplay and plot more than make up for it. The Prince and Farah are downright interesting (and fun) and watching the Prince do his acrobatics off of walls is really cool, not to mention inventing the whole slowing-down/rewinding time thing. Prince of Persia seems very whimsical with a great story and unique setting. This is a classic that I really wish I'd been able to play, even if it was made by Ubisoft. Maybe I should hop to a GameStop for this one.

Another game I wish I'd seen (not necessarily played) is Resident Evil 4. I've seen all the cutscenes and read the story as well, and I know a lot of the franchise's storyline. I'm just not a fan of zombies. There, I said it. I hate imminent armageddon and killer robots that have already wiped humanity off the face of the earth as well. Those are my top three on the list of Stuff Jill Can't Stand. So I refused to watch this when Tony got it. Now I'm seriously regretting it. I've just started to absolutely adore horror/action games, and this is one of the best of all time. Doubled with Capcom's punishing gameplay it would've been a rollicking good time. Plus Leon's really hot. Y'know, for pixels. So while I'm looking forward to Resident Evil 5, I still wish that I'd seen 4 from start to finish.

*Spoilers Ahead*

This is a little off-topic, but I also wish I'd played the Knights of the Old Republic series in order. Or at least not known that you're Revan in the first game. I played the second one first (and it was actually my introduction into RPGs) and am still in love with it to this day. Yes, I know it's a very broken game, but at its core it has real soul. And it's Lucasarts' fault that it was unfinished for rushing Obsidian the way they did. I love the character of the Exile. How fragmented her identity is, how ripped apart she is inside. She tries to put a good face on it at times, but she's a real mess. And Atton...boy, don't get me started. I adore Atton. He's a scoundrel-turned-decent because of his protective love for the Exile and can't help but continually crack jokes all the time in his sexy voice...*sigh* Love it. I can't tell you how sad I am that I can no longer play these games on PC. (I got Vista not too long ago.) The first one is of course excellent because Bioware made it. But the second one will always be my favorite. The idea of a broken Jedi will never stop being cool to me. I wish that someone would make a follow-up game to complete the story. Anyone. Please?

*Spoilers End*

That last paragraph reminded me of something I'd been meaning to write. One day you'll see me write about Bioware on this blog at length and going through all the games of their's I've played.

Mercenaries 2

So Tony got Mercenaries 2 yesterday (strangely it was released on a Sunday) and we all sat down to watch it. I wasn't a huge fan of the first one because I hadn't been properly introduced into the story (what little there was) and hadn't seen any of the voice talent being displayed. So I was pretty against this experience.

I was so totally, totally wrong.

Mercenaries 2 is awesome. Fantastic graphics, fun storyline, and one of my favorite voice talents of all time should you choose her character: Jennifer Hale. She's here using her Bastila voice which is hilarious considering the dialogue. It's fun to hear Bastila touting the virtues of an AK-47! (HK-47 still recieves no love from Bastila.) There's also the prolific Phil LaMarr and (my favorite merc) Peter Stormare. Very, very awesome. So far the story is about revenge after not getting paid and getting shot in the ass. And yes, I made Tony play as Jennifer Mui (Jennifer Hale's character) for about half an hour 'cause I wanted to see a female protagonist.

Nothing is more fun than ordering an air strike on someone. Except for maybe a nuclear strike. Which you can apparently do in this one. I can't wait! Definitely a cathartic release and pure destructive fun. Also, looks good in HD. Definitely five starry thumbs-up or however I rate stuff.

^_~

Mass Effect: Commander Shepard Is Such A Jerk

This was too priceless not to post. One of my favorite games, Bioware's "Mass Effect" has the typical Bioware gameplay tactic of either being good or evil. This is Male Shepard being a dick. Hilarious!

Way to Go, Adult Swim

So, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim used to be the place to go for fabulous new anime in the States. It was a good way of previewing something (and its dub) to see if you liked it. They aired them at reasonable times and people like myself and my boyfriend and our friends could make a night of it.

It seems that has been kicked in the head nowadays. If Adult Swim gets new, interesting programming they always put it behind some Shounen Jump property at the latest possible hour. For instance, take their newest property that I was excited about seeing dubbed because the sub was a little hard for me to follow: Guardian of the Sacred Spirit. It's on Saturday nights at 1:30 E/P, 12:30 central. This isn't even techincally Saturday night anymore! WTF, Adult Swim!?

I have to wonder if they enjoy shooting themselves in the foot programming-wise and then complaining that no one watches it. Of course no one is watching--at that point in the night people are either getting laid, getting high, passed out in a drunken stupor, or asleep.

And then they show abominations like Family Guy every f&#%ing night for a full hour, if not more! GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Nerdy Update...

Tony got Dune the miniseries for cheap at Blockbuster the other day. We have started watching it. (It's the SciFi channel one from 2002.) It is completely awesome. I must now begin to read the books. But I'm enjoying the miniseries an awful lot...

Yay geekdom!

Too Human

So Tony rented Too Human at Blockbuster yesterday. We took it to the Xbox and, well...we found out the reviews were actually too kind instead of too harsh. After two hours of gameplay both of us were incredibly underwhelmed with Silicone Knights latest game. The graphics are definitely made for the last generation with bloom effects. Baldur (the main character and the one you control) is ugly (even though in legend he's a looker) but beautifully voiced by Crispin Freeman.

The gameplay is unintuitive. Complete bollocks. You basically mash the right analog stick to make stuff happen or twist it around. Very annoying. Trigger buttons are for your useless guns. The camera is fond of looking at the floor instead of enemies. Your companions are useless. During prompts to jump on enemies backs it then refuses to tell you what to do next, and button-mashing results in nothing. Tony finally got frustrated enough to let me have a go, and I randomly twisted the sticks until something happened. The first boss fight against Grndl (ha ha ha...) yielded the last straw as it was ridiculously unbalanced against you. When you "die" you get an unskippable cutscene of a Valkyrie reviving you and then you continue the boss fight. After two of these we were done. Also the retarded level trees, constant upgrades (literally, more time is spent deciding what weapons and equipment is better than actually playing the game) and useless character classes were just annoying. Thanks for nothing, Silicone Knights.

The game is a resounding "meh". Tony's mad he spent the eight bucks on it at Blockbuster, much less those poor bastards who were duped into buying it for the sixty dollars required. Pretty much just wishing Silicone Knights had abandoned this project for Eternal Darkness 2: Electric Bugaloo.

This is kinda for me...

I found a link to the translated light novels for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and wanted to post the link because I wasn't at my home computer (this way I can pick it up at a later time):
http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Suzumiya_Haruhi

You can click if you want. There are a few other series here as well.

Anime Trade

So last night my favorite patient came and we traded anime. I aquired This Beautiful Yet Ugly World along with a few other titles I can't remember off the top of my head. I ended up lending out not much anime (he's already seen everything I own now) except for Gotham Knight and now the two Hellboy animated movies. Which are awesome. I also borrowed a lot of OSTs to burn. Heeheeheehee...

Apparently Too Human isn't worth buying but may be good for a rent. And the search for awesome games to bury one's self into continues. Where oh where is the next Kingdom Hearts? Shouldn't they be done with making it by now? Or would it be on an entirely new engine? Probably, now that I think about it. Oh Square Enix...quit making actual Final Fantasy games and give the public what it desperately craves: more Disney.

Other game franchises I'd like more of you say? Okami would be a great start. Barely anyone played it as it came out at the end of the last generation but by God, that was a diamond among garbage. Just the graphics alone were worth the price. It was cell-shaded to look like Japanese wood prints and whimsical coloring. Restoring the earth instead of destroying it? Being a wolf goddess? The ability to bark at people and chase your own tail and dig random holes? Drawing your powers on the screen to change your environment or do battle with wind/water/fire/cutting/etc.? This was the most fun I'd ever had with my PS2. And the game worked on so many levels. Excellent characterization and gameplay with a unique plot. Sure the ordinary battles were a little repetative, but easily excusable. Even the loading screens were a mini-game! This was impossible not to love. More please.

Gotta get to work. More at a later date.

All in all...

All in all, while fighting games are indeed very fun, the best games are still those with fleshed out characters (and hopefully a plot to go with them). While Namco tries its best to give their fighting games a story (and as odd and confusing as they can get at times...), in the end no one is playing them for the story. The graphics and styles are a lot of fun, though. Soul Calibur IV is still the best fighting game around, though. And I do love the characters (especially couples: Hilde/Sigfried, Xianghua/Kilik, and Seong Mi-na/Yun-Seong).

I'm looking forward to Too Human. Tony's afraid he's psyched himself out and that he's not heard any early reviews. I kinda wanted to smack him for it, but he's so darn cute...

More Character Nonsense

So even Tony has discovered the joy of character creation on Soul Calibur IV. He normally hates that stuff unless it's pretty much essential to the game (like in Mass Effect). The Tower of Souls challenges get cheaper as it goes on, and regular characters just aren't getting the job done. So not only can you choose abilities for custom and pre-existing characters (once you level style) but clothes come with abilities. And so...Tony started liking dressing people up. Especially Kilik and Mitsurugi (they're his best characters).

I just have fun messing around with hair and colors. And clothes. I made Ivy wear pants! We're trying to unlock more stuff in the Tower (and with achievements) so that other characters have cool looking stuff.

In other gaming news, Too Human comes out this Tuesday. Tony's practically chomping at the bit for this one. I'm excited because of Crispin Freeman's sexy voice (and yay RPG!). And after this launches, maybe Silicone Knights will actually start on a sequel to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. If we're lucky.

Soul Calibur IV And Random Thoughts

So, I've had a chance to play Soul Calibur IV some more, and while I love it to itty-bitty pieces, I do have a problem with it. It's slight, but still annoying.

Pantie shots are rampant. I can deal with jiggly lower back problems with nipples poking through. Sometimes that is actually a plus, if only to watch the physics engine animate them as Taki is getting her tight ass kicked. That pantie shots annoy the hell out of me at times, though. Especially on characters I like.

I realize many of the female characters' costumes were re-done to make them sexier. Personally, I like my women sexy. But there's a difference between sexy and slutty, and where they toe the line with a few characters they go seriously overboard with others (Ivy, I'm looking at you). Seong Mi-Na got a particularly bad makeover with her second costume (skimpy undies with nothing to cover them), and where this costume could have shined to become bad ass, it's just ass now. Literally. Her moves are less effective now as well. She got shafted on the costume and the moveset. That's rough.

There is nothing sexy about slutty dressing. You tend to take them less seriously as characters. I mean, who goes out like that and tries to fight? Nobody. Flashing skin = sexy and seductive. Showing everything = incredibly trashy. And distracting.

This would be fine if the men had more shirtless costumes and tighter pants. Seriously. That'd make up for a lot of it. More makeovers like Yun-Seong!

And while I'm at, more romance in the story endings. Or more of an ending, really. That'd be good. Favorite one is Xianghua's. Sooooo cute. Also, I'd like a million dollars. Just sayin'. It'd really help me out.

Birthday Wish Can Come True

So my birthday came and went on the sixth and some was good and some was not. What was good was that my friend Joel was kind enough to give me something I'd been craving to see for a long time: Emma, A Victorian Romance. I couldn't find it anywhere in Best Buy for myself, and he somehow magicked a copy in the space of three days since I'd told him. He still won't tell me where he got it.

I'd just finished reading the manga a day earlier (seven volumes, same name, beautifully drawn and incredibly accurate) and eagerly popped in the first disc last night after getting tired of waiting for someone to watch with me (no one could so far--they all were working). It is wonderful. The pacing is slow (after all, there are only seven volumes--they have to make it last) but you never notice because it actually fits with the atmosphere and the times. Times were slower. Simple things meant more. The animation is wonderful (I don't remember the studio, but it's a small one I'd never heard of before) and the voice acting is great. Although I do actually find myself wondering what the dub would be like. For Emma, a dub actually makes sense. They're English. The voice talent for the sub is incredible, but I find that in my head William sounded a little more hesitant/clueless than his seiyuu portrays him as (he sounds confindent and manly which is also sexy, but doesn't match what I originally thought of the character). Emma herself is very kind and angelic, almost demure. That's pretty much how she's supposed to be, so it fits. She sounds older than I thought she should, but whatever.

Anyway, this is a great look into Victorian England in and of itself as the mangaka was obssessed with this period of history. Very lovingly rendered in both anime and manga with beautiful character designs and interesting characters this is definitely worth checking out. Especially if you like a bit of romance, you old softy you.

^_~

Six Degrees to...Star Wars. What Else?

So, in celebration of Soul Calibur IV and the retarded Star Wars characters found within I'm posting all the Darth Princess pictures I have. They make for nice backgrounds on a computer.







Really, I just felt like doing this.

A Taste of Soul Calibur IV

So, yesterday Tony got Soul Calibur IV and another Xbox controller and then we raced back to his place to pop it in. After a little confusion with the sync up of the new controller ("Why is the shiny new black one player two!? Here, you can be player two...") we sat down to immerse ourselves.

It. Was. Beautiful.

The graphics are stunning. Admittedly, nice stuff looks better on an HD tv, but *fangirl mode activated* ZOMG I WUV IT GIMME MORE *fangirl mode deactivated*. I literally almost salivated as I made Tony guinea pig story mode as Kilik (his best character). I had been obssessively looking for character pics on-line (Costume Get! was extremely helpful in aiding my fangirlism) for about six months now, but it was finally gratifying to see the character's alternates. I haven't seen all yet because we only played for two hours. So far I'm digging Tira's jester outfit (as well as her default), Talim is adorable (though her alternate is blonde for some strange reason, but hey, that's what the character editor is for...*evil cackle*), and Xianghua's costumes make up for her voice acting. And her cheapness. With which I totally owned Tony. That's okay though, he owned me when he was Kilik.

The control scheme is basically the same as on the PS2, but with the Xbox's bumper keys and triggers it makes pulling off some of the tougher moves easier. If you can remember what does what. The right-side buttons are the same (Y=A (upper attack), X=B(lower attack), A=Guard, B=Kick), the left analog stick is the 8-directions (moving in 3D, yay!). Right bumper is switch during the new tag-team mode (it's also in story-mode to save you in early stages) so that you can haul in a new character if the one you're using isn't working on your enemy. Left bumper is A+B+K+G. Right trigger seems to be a charge up, though of what I'm not sure (there's also a taunt that it does). Left trigger is A+B. Though if you're me, you basically hit A & B in any combination you can.

I'm dying to try out character creator and editing. So when I do I'll comment on that.

This game is worth the money AND the wait, so far. Of course, I'm a big fan of the series thus far, so I'm a bit biased. It's exciting, though. I almost couldn't sleep last night. I just love fighting games. Good for stress, y'know?

Darth Ariel

Felt like posting this image. Darth Belle is already on the top there.

Soul Calibur IV

Soul Calibur IV comes out today! Very much looking forward to this. ^_^ I've been watching character creation videos as well as battle ones and it looks amazing. Heard no bad reviews yet, so this should be enough to fill the gap between now and when Too Human comes out...

Ouran High School Host Club Update (...Finally)

The dub cast has been announced for Ouran High School Host Club and apparently hard at work. The only actors that are really noteworthy are Caitlin Glass as Fujioka Haruhi (she dubbed for Winry in Fullmetal Alchemist), Vic Mignogna as Suoh Tamaki (he dubbed Edward Elric in FMA among other notable roles) and Greg Ayers as one of the Hitachiin twins (Kaoru) (Greg dubbed Sousuke in Fullmetal Panic! and other noteworthy roles).

A RELEASE DATE HAS FINALLY BEEN ANNOUNCED! October 26th will see the release of a season one boxset (episodes 1-13) including a dub (duh), episode commentary, and outtakes. I'm so excited I might cry! It's finally coming stateside! I don't care about the dub, really, though I am looking forward to outtakes (nothing compares to the Berserk ones though...yet). OHSHC should take the Victorian Romance Emma approach and just nix the dub and extras. VRE season one is out on boxset now.

^_^ Happy day! Funimation finally made their move!

Animated Update

Have finished watching the first season and all OVAs of Genshiken. It's awesome, a pure love letter to fans like myself (and my boyfriend...and friends). I adore this anime, and am trying to get enough bandwidth to download the second season. Madarame and Ohno are my favorites of the group so far.

Definitely check this out if you qualify yourself as an otaku in any way, shape or form. ^_^

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC: Iron Man and Batman #4

This was too hilarious to pass up posting here...Check out the rest of ItsJustSomeRandomGuy's videos because they are GOLD.

The Dark Knight

So, unless you've been living under a rock on Mars with your eyes screwed shut and your fingers jammed into your ears going "la la la la I can't heeeaaaarrr yoooouuuu" at the top of your lungs, you've heard about Nolan's The Dark Knight and just how mind-numbingly awesome it truly is. Chances are you've seen it at least once by now as well. None of you really need me to tell you how good it was.

I'm doing it for my own piece of mind, really. Spoilers languish yonder. Ye be warned.

The Dark Knight cannot be summed up in one word or a sentence. It's just too much for that. It really is. But if I had to, the word would be transcendent. Because that's what the entire experience and film itself is. It transcends mere boundaries of genré or cliché and becomes a being of perfection. I'm honestly not exaggerating. It shatters the idea of a "super hero movie" or an "action flick" or even "summer blockbuster". It goes beyond expectation and is truly a film. It has what so many other "films" these days are lacking: character-driven story-telling at its finest.

When I first heard the Oscar buzz generating around the film I took it as the Academy trying to cash in on Heath Ledger's tragically abrupt end. To sit in the theater and see that the buzz is not only earned, but quite frankly obvious is another story all together. To really demonstrate this, I'll have to move to the acting...

The truest standby that I have discovered for myself is that if you don't care about the characters everything else will fail. It doesn't matter how cool the plot is, how amazing a chase sequence becomes, or how well the director made the film. The characters on screen are absolutely key and no one seems to understand this better than Christopher Nolan. Watch any of his other films (Memento, The Prestige) and tell me that he doesn't follow this concept. I dare you. (Great storytelling comes with this concept, something Nolan also has in spades.) Nolan has a penchant for picking great character actors, something that we don't have nearly enough of in the crap Hollywood churns out these days.

Christian Bale is a character actor. Don't believe me? Seriously? He's Welsh for starters, and beyond the ability to bury his accent he's able to do Batman's hefty growl perfectly. There's more to becoming Batman than mastering the Caped Crusader's growl, but it's a damn good start and nothing that the previous film incarnations ever used. Bruce Wayne shouldn't sound like Batman and vice versa. Bruce is the mask while Batman is who he really is. And Batman walks a very fine line as to how batshit insane he is. The only thing Batman will not do is kill. That's it. Everything else is up for grabs. Christian plays this to a tee by refusing to back down in any situation and becoming a force to be reckoned with. Mr. Bale has done this before in one of my favorite films American Psycho as Patrick Bateman. (Bateman? Batman? I realize Bateman is a reference to Norman Bates, but still, think about it...) Batman in this film truly becomes the Dark Knight as he unflinchingly tosses gangsters off of ledges, through buildings into airplanes, and takes down an eighteen wheeler truck on his lonesome all in the name of dirty justice.

Bruce takes a backseat to newcomer (and Batman victim #167) Harvey Dent, also lovingly known as Two Face. Harvey is admirably brought to life by one of my favorite actors Aaron Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking). Aaron instills in our favorite DA the desperation to turn Gotham towards the light in a legitimate and legal way. He also makes him a bit intimidating as he cold cocks a known gangster in open court. My favorite scene of his is when he's about to become Two Face, lying in the oil and trying to reassure Rachel that everything will be all right even though he knows it won't be. I was in tears. Aaron skillfully played the range of emotions that Harvey as both Harvey and Two Face go through, which is the complete gambit. Idealistic, cold, frustrated, in love, you name Aaron did it perfectly. I was almost convinced that he loved Maggie Gyllenhaal. The Two Face effect was great--real burn victim and too realistic, actually. Loved it. Hurt to look at his face, it really did.

The Joker. Wow. What can I say that hasn't already been said about Heath Ledger's performance? In a word: brilliant. The showmanship, the casual insanity, the freedom he feels...it was electric. This movie demonstrated why it is that the Joker will always be Batman's arch-rival--they feed off of each other. It was perfect. My favorite moment (one of them, there really are too many) was when the Joker leaves his card. Heath nailed the character in that instant. Charming, serious, insane, light-hearted...definitely deserves an Oscar. It's so sad he'll never be able to reprise this role. Truly tragic that Heath is dead.

I have to get back to work. More review/rant later. Like how many Chicago landmarks they crammed in there. It was fantastic.

^_^

Dark Knight...

Hopefully going to go see The Dark Knight tonight. If not tonight than definitely tomorrow. I'm almost bouncing out of my seat with excitement. I had to re-watch Batman Begins this week to remind myself of how earth-shattering this event really is. BB is a cinematic gem, and from all accounts the second one is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Toasted sliced bread? Who honestly tried to put Mamma Mia up against this release? They're ass is getting fired, I can tell you that much.

Yeah, other than that, I'm at work right now. As in, gotta get back to it. (Booooo >.>)

Personal Anime Update

Finished Ergo Proxy. It was good. Solid. Well-done. Not mind blowing, but still food-for-thought. Major themes included Division of Self, Truth of Self, Truth vs. Reality, Ignorence vs. Bliss, What Makes Us Human. Beautifully animated but with a dull "realistic" color palatte.

These are just quick observations. More detailed review to come.

The female lead Re-l (pronounced "Real") was subtly done to great effect. Me likey.

More E3 Blarg

Forgot to mention that Final Fantasy XIII is being released on the XBox360 as well as the PS3. This was Square Enix's way of effectively killing any franchise-exclusive potential the PS3 ever had going for it. Namco-Bandai might release Tekken 6 exclusively to the platform, but that's really a drop in the bucket compared to what FFXIII guarantees number-wise. Hilariously, the XBox's core demographic (re: FPS, zero-depth, frat boys) would appreciate a regular fighting game more than the PS3's core demographic (re: nerdy otakus). Apparently the XBox is becoming the new PS2, really. As you can well imagine YouTube is being barraged by angry PS3 fanboys bitching about Square-Enix's fateful backstabbing. How dare they acknowledge the Xbox's sales figures and try and earn their international money back that way!? MADNESS, I TELL YOU!

Seriously though, the Xbox360 and their core demographic is changing. While it used to be just for Halotards, it has come a long way in terms of game releases for changing the demographic. The best games are now found on the console (unless you're a die-hard Nintendo latchkey kid and can't concieve of a universe outside of Hyrule or Mario's).

While the PS3 had been selling itself on future potential, it seems that the future is always at a distance for the platform. It never comes. They do have one feather in their cap, however, before I proclaim the almost-certain death of this platform. They have joined with FUNimation and Bones to release streaming video of completed anime instead of that retarded disc-by-disc nonsense we get in actual media stores. Imagine entire seasons at once downloaded directly to your television set. It's incredibly tempting, I give them that. And they're marketing it at the right people as those who own PS3s probably have a sizable anime collection as well.

The Xbox360 is still better, though. ^_^

Forgot to mention as well that Fallout3 has a choice between genders! You can play as a male or female in this dystopic future, blowing up psuedo-zombies and other mutated beings. Let's give a gigantic cheer for kickass female leads!

Random Stuff Update

Random thoughts and stuff include the following:

• Started to watch a series called Ergo Proxy. It's cyber-punk and is a bit like Ghost in the Shell which is cool. It also asks a lot of the same questions as GitS but with somewhat less stylish ass-kicking and head-scratching philosophy. The tones are different, though. In Ergo Proxy people are stuck in a dystopic future and are run by a friendly totalitarian government with robots to replace computers and security cameras. Friend or foe is a question that is often brought to mind. The robots are becoming infected with the Cogito virus that makes them, well, human. Scary. There's more to it than that, but if it sounds good so far I wholeheartedly recommend you check it out.
• E3 is releasing a bunch of new game trailers. Fallout 3 looks amazing. You can switch between a first person shooter, a third person shooter, or target specific areas on the body and have a dice roll to see if you can eliminate it in a flashy way. Heads explode! It honestly doesn't get any better.
• Resident Evil 5 looks fantastic. The dialogue is just as silly as ever, but spoken very well. Yay for competent (if silly) dubs! Also, racism! Yay for Japan and racism!
• Final Fantasy XIII looks an awful lot like Final Fantasy XII. Except the main character that looks like a girl really is a girl this time. I know, I'm shocked too. The story doesn't seem all that inspired, but there was no dialogue in the trailer (meaning it hasn't been dubbed yet). The graphics are beyond pretty, though. Hopefully the battle system is more interesting this time around. More KOTOResque?
• I miss playing Knights of the Old Republic. Is the third one ever getting made? BioWare, give up the Sonic games and make the damn game already! I want my Exile back! (Revan too, but really...)
• Anyone know Valve's progress on Half Life 2 Episode 3? Any trailers yet? Or mentions? I know that 4 Alive is almost done. It looks interesting, but to jaded misanthropes like myself it's not worth getting because I hate playing with others. Seriously, multiplayer has never, ever appealed to me. I play videogames to get away from "normal" freaks. This is why WoW would be my own personal hell.

Tony got the fourth season of the animated Batman series (when the Japanese studio took over). We've been watching it ever since. It's frickin' awesome. Gotham Knight feels like a natural step after watching season four.

Uh-oh...

There's another anime film I knew nothing about because I don't care for the series and therefore never bothered keeping up on any information pertaining to it. It seems that Hollywood has made a Dragonball movie. I'm pretty much flabbergasted. Of all the things they could invest time and money into they chose this uninspired piece of unending drivel...*sigh*

I pretty much refuse to give information on it.

Gotham Knight was fantastic, by the way. The best segment was Production I.G.'s Working Through the Pain. Also, bish Bruce Wayne is surreal and hilarious. More on this when I have the time to type it.

Almost forgot to mention...

...That Gotham Knight is now on shelves. Batmanimatrix for everyone! Seriously though, this looks to be something that will fill humanity with sublime light and cure cancer. Or more like scare the cancer out of you.

Anyway, you're officially a complete moron if you don't get it. Officially. There's a rubber stamp and everything.

Rumor Updates for Live Action Adaptations...

There are two anime-to-live-action adaptations that I know about: Otoumo's prolific Akira and the soul-sucking fiasco known as Neon Genesis Evangelion. Right now, some news on the two...

Akira has an attached director (I'm assuming he's doing both films--the manga is being split into two films) by the name of Ruairi Robinson. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his short animated film Fifty Percent Gray. Screenplay is written/adapted by Gary Whitta. Leonardi DiCaprio is producing this film (along with Andrew Lazar and Jennifer Davisson) as well as possibly starring. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is also rumored to star. The setting is in New New York (Neo-New York?) that has been rebuilt by Japanese money. I'm hoping the leads don't have name changes. Without all the "Kaneda!" "Testuooooooooo!" back and forth it'd be a very different film. As stated before, the film is broken into two films to adapt Katsuhiro Otoumo's manga in its entirety, something even the animated feature didn't achieve. Personally, I'd love if Gordon-Levitt were in it. He's a powerhouse in both Brick and The Lookout. Serious indie cred. If Christina Ricci could play the Kei part, I think I'd die happy. She already was in an anime adaptation! Or maybe I shouldn't mention that...They're eyeballing at a 2009 release for the first film.

Neon Genesis Evangelion, on the other hand, is perpetually stranded in development hell. I'm not sure if I'm elated or bummed about this. Since its announcement of inception in 2003 ADV bought the non-Asia/Australia rights to the property and has contacted Weta Digital for help. Weta went to town with concept art, and then it just kinda...stopped. Maybe because Hideaki Anno gave it his blessing. It did make him go for a six month stay in a mental facility, people. EVA just has that effect, I guess. Rumors of A-list stars and directors approaching ADV for the chance to be involved (my guess is that mega-fan Robin Williams is one of them, if there really are any), but ADV is adamant on making sure that the Eva pilots will be played by children. Issues of race are also a constant debate topic: make them Asian or Caucasian? Keep the names? Should sub and dub actors have cameos? Apparently there is a script by Matt Greenfield that can be tweaked to whatever mind-trip the chosen director decides to subject us on. And in keeping with Akira's status, the EVA project is going to be split into at least two movies. Supposedly. Everything's very fluid because, hey, development hell. No ball really rolling here.

Maybe ADV should concentrate on releasing anime to us at a faster rate. That might give them inspiration for the "Unnammed EVA Project".

Yay!

Yay! Funimation has decided to pick up some of Geneon's titles. Geneon, as we all know, was an anime distributor that went under in the middle of giving us some great titles. That means Black Lagoon season two will be released. (Spoiler alert: season two may rock but definitely ends on a downer. So I don't really know if it's for better or for worse that it's being released. We'll go with better.)

One of my favorites that I've been looking forward to for forever is the release of Ouran High School Host Club. Now, I pretty much don't like shoujo manga or anime (it's way too silly, overdramatic, cutesy, and generally insulting) or anything done by CLAMP, but Ouran is a true stand out title. It's a reverse harem anime (bunch of boys, one girl, most/all boys are attracted to girl, girl doesn't seem to notice) that pokes fun at all shoujo genre cliches. Throw in the fact that it's animated by Studio Bones and some of the best seiyuus in the business and it's a gold-star series. And it has been shamelessly delayed once more. By the time this series comes out, it shouldn't be the usual disc-by-disc release. If it is, I'm marching to Funimation's HQ and staging a protest. A protest with rotten fruit.

Honestly, what is the idea with releasing anime volume by volume? Why not realease it season by season like a normal television show? At least then it'll be worth the money, and I won't have to wait x number of months in between to know what happens next to whatever characters I'm currently invested in. And once the entire series is actually printed on separate DVDs why does it take another year for it to come out in boxset form? What the hell is going on there!?

In other news...

• Alone in the Dark's grasp apparently exceeded it's reach. Too bad. IGN didn't look too favorably on it. Silly French people. You can't make good games! Except for Rayman. And maybe Assasin's Creed. Maybe.
• Soul Calibur IV is almost out. Unless they feel like cramming more useless/anachronistic Star Wars characters in it again.
• Too Human still looks awesome. I can't wait!
• There is officially no good new anime coming out. Nothing to look forward too. With Death Note ending on Cartoon Network this last Saturday the only shows worth noting on Adult Swim are The Venture Brothers and Robot Chicken.
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya graphic novels are coming Stateside!
• Victorian Romance Emma boxset will soon be available.
• In case you've missed the commercial (which would be difficult because it's played every break on every channel) the release of Gotham Knight (or as I like to call it "The Batmanimatrix") is happening on Tuesday. If you liked The Animatrix you'll love this. Especially if you're a fan of the Batman animated series from 1992. Same voice cast! Mark Hamil as the Joker! What's not to love!? Bones, Madhouse, Production I.G. and other great anime studios animated the shorts, including the original studio that animated the 1992 series (as well as The Big O. Which is why Roger looked like Bruce Wayne...). *fangirl squeal*

When is season two of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya coming out!? It feels like it's taking forever....

When East Meets West...

I love when anime does western literature adaptations. It's just so cool. It's neat to see how things get interpreted or re-imagined and I just freakin' adore it.



Series such as Gankutsuo and Romeo x Juliet are just too damn fun for me to watch because I'm such a literary nut and adore the original works. Romeo and Juliet is my second favorite Shakespearre play (Cymbeline is the first...that'd make a fantastic anime, actually...hmmm...) and seeing them in anime form...the color scheme is classic (Montagues blue, Capulets red), the character designs are simple yet effective, and the setting takes on a life and character of its own. Studio Gonzo created both series, though I think they did more justice to Gankutsuo (remake of The Count of Monte Cristo, the title is the Japanese translation meaning "King of Caves"). Oh well. I'm always hoping for more. Imagine Tartuffe in anime form! Japanese concepts of Christianity are already hilarious enough...*sigh* It'd be damn cool.



It'd be fun to see the reverse as well. When I'd heard about the live-action Hollywood adaptation of Neon Genesis Evangelion I was suitably frightened. Evangelion isn't really one of my favorite series, or even one that I really like since Shinji is pretty hard to sympathize with, but it'd be pure entertainment to see them even try and market this film or even make it. Wow, that was a bad run-on...



Apparently a live-action Akira is actually in the works, being spearheaded by none other than Leonardo DiCaprio. Random, huh? Don't believe me? Check it out: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1134795/

World gets smaller every day, huh?

Overlooked Medium

Animation is almost always an overlooked medium for story-telling, at least in the United States. In the U.S., animation is reserved for children and the adults that either accompany them or those who purchase a ticket for nostalgia's sake.

What drew me (and others like me) to anime was in fact our love of the medium itself. The simulacrum, art imitating life, character designs, the coloring, the fluidity, how everything animated was done with a specific purpose in mind, etc. The stories you can tell with animation are completely limitless. Japanese animators really took that and ran with it, animating movies and series exclusively to an older audience. Complex stories with difficult effects are almost child's play when animated. The animation itself becomes a part of the story as well as the "camera" because the camera can be placed anywhere. Characters will always have the reactions the directors want to convey, and absolutely nothing about the story is left to chance.

The beauty of the medium often makes me want to discuss it for hours. And the one studio here in the United States that can rival any anime studio is Disney, who notoriously shut down their 2-D studio. Why!? It was beautiful! I know it's coming back, but wouldn't it be great if someone with Disney's animation could tell a story like Cowboy Bebop? Or something as whacky as Serial Experiments Lain? Or hell, a great horror/action story like Blood + would be beyond awesome.

If only...

I don't know where this rant was going. I was reading an essay on the themes in Lain and got caught up in my own thoughts. I'll try again at some other point.

Updated just 'cause...

So I'm in the middle of Boogiepop Phantom...and I guess this is for the people who thought Serial Experiments Lain's pacing was juuuuuust right but the story was way too linear. I'm not saying that BP is a bad anime--it's definitely got a good story with some great metaphors and interesting characters. But it definitely has it's flaws.

Boogiepop Phantom hails from the era of "more realistic anime is better". Instead of interesting character designs, I feel like I'm watching the same three people do creepy things even though they died in the last episode or something. It really is that difficult to tell who's whom. I still don't know who any of the "main" characters are except for Karima. She's the brunette with the longest hair. Also, she doesn't wear a school uniform. That's the only way I know her. For all that he's the titular character of the novel (and in particular this anime) series , Boogiepop doesn't show up that often. It's kind of an event if Boogipop's even mentioned, much less shows up. It's seriously a let down. Who is Boogiepop? What does he/she have to do with these kids? And what was up with that column of light? What exactly happened five years ago? WHO'S THE DAMN SERIAL KILLER!?

The pacing is almost non-existent, and the timeline jumps around so much that we're often told before each scene when it's supposed to take place. Each episode revolves around a different character with stories that do overlap with other characters, so we're often treated to the same scene that takes on new life with a different viewpoint. (Though the animation will often cheat by just re-using the same scene again and again.) The animation itself is dark and oppressive, which really fills out the atmosphere. Unfortunately, it hasn't held up especially well over the years. Watching it now often leaves me with the feeling that a lot of scenes are dark so that they didn't have to design a background for their characters to live in. But I'm just nitpicking now.

I still have to watch the second half of the series. I'm hoping some of my questions will get answered. Here's hoping that I've completely jumped the gun on some of this...

Alone in the Dark comes out tomorrow. It's Tony's birthday present (Tony is the boyfriend). I'm hoping that I won't get nightmares or bored of the gameplay. It looks seriously awesome, so I'm praying that the gamemakers didn't overreach in their goals. Also, I hope there's some girl in there to keep my interest. I'm a sucker for damsels and hopes for a romance budding under dire circumstances. Or something. Okay, pipe down. I know it's not gonna happen, but a girl can dream, right? Or kill zombies. Or zombie-esque things. Whatever. We get to light stuff on fire. That is pretty awesome right there.

Anime Trade

So, I work at a medical office and one of our patients is also a rabid anime fan. Every time he's in ('cause heaven forbid that there should be a female interested in these things, old or young) we trade "Have you seen x, y, or zed?" and then trade DVDs we think the other will like. This is kinda new, but I love it. He's just lent me Mermaid Forrest, a somewhat unknown Takahashi series that's not comedic in any way and is in fact rather creepy. I've heard of it, just not seen it. I also borrowed Boogie Pop Phantom, both the series and a live action version, so this'll be fun. I'll comment on them when I've watched.





I'll be lending him The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and probably Gankutsuo later on. The latter is an adaptation of Dumas' famous tale of revenge: The Count of Monte Cristo. What's great about the anime is that it's an experiment in visual artforms as well as telling a fantastic story full of great characters. The anime employs the use of textures that don't move. Let's see if I can find a good picture...
You can at least see the textures I'm talking about. Now, the character moves, but the patterns in their hair and clothes don't. It's disconcerting at first, but it becomes very lovely and really adds to the atmosphere of the story.

And yes, that girl wears a dress that makes her almost naked. So there's a smidge of fan-pandering.

^_^

Anyone else fed up with females doing voice acting for adult male characters? I have to listen to Rurouni Kenshin on the dub due to this. I know we're not supposed to take Kenshin seriously, but it makes the romantic tension with him and Kaoru unbearable. There is only one exception to this rule and that's Fullmetal Alchemist. I had to check Anime News Network to find out that Ed's seiyuu was a woman. She's scary-deep. But in a good way.

I figured out why I like create-a-character options so much. It's the grown-up way to play with dolls. Dolls that kill things. It's the epitome of awesome.

Enough babbling. I'll think of relevent stuff later.

First Post!

My name is Jill, and this idea came to me as I was trying to start a blog for my Dad's bariatric practice. I own a PS2, but I bought my boyfriend an XBox 360 with the idea that I would play it as well. Our friends have a Wii, and I'm trying to convince somebody else to buy a PS3 so I won't have to, and then that way we'll have our nextgen bases covered. I'm turining 23 in August, and trying to start a real adult life with middling success.



Ever know what it's like to be the minority of even your own social group? I'm a self-proclaimed nerd/geek/dork/what-have-you, interested in comics/manga, videogames, and animation (Japanese animation as well as American). One thing that makes me different from the majority is that I'm female. Though I have nothing but major amounts of love for comics, videogames and anime, it seems like they do nothing but pander to the stereotypical geek male. Even in fantastic games like Bioware's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic where you can choose the sex of your player character, the female storyline is still the weaker of the two. And while, yes, the title of the blog says I'm the only woman, nothing could be farther from the truth. But that's what it feels like most days.



I'm not going to start preaching about the "manocentric ideals" or whatever. I enjoy staring at big breasted characters in games, comics, and anime. Honestly, most of these things don't hold my interest without at least one curvy beauty thrown in the mix. I'm not gay, I just enjoy seeing beautiful women. And having one in there normally leads some sort of romantic tension, which I'm always a sucker for, so really...but it would be nice to see lead characters being kick ass females. Females comfortable enough with their sexuality so that any remarks can be met with teasing or flirting, and then back to the ass kicking where appropriate.



Anyway, semi-rambling rants aside, I'm going to update latest obssessions:

1. Grand Theft Auto IV. I've never been a big fan of the series, but this one is too much fun to put down. The physics engine makes sandboxing around waaaaay too much fun. My favorite is jumping out from a helicopter onto building ledges, sniping targets, and then falling to my doom. Watching Niko uselessly shield himself from a 300 ft. drop is sadistically hysterical.

2. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. This is an older obssession, but I still love everything I can find on it. Season two is currently being animated and I'm still stupidly trying to hold my breath waiting for it to come out. This series is brilliant on too many levels, and Aya Hirano's voice acting deserves some kind of Oscar equivalent. The animation is goregeous, from one of my favorite aspiring studios Kyoto Animation.

3. Darker Than Black. A rather riveting tale about human nature complete with dystopian future and explosions. It honestly doesn't get any better. Beautifully animated by Bones the simplistic character designs are brought to life as we explore the life of BK201 and all the questions he poses on the nature of the beast.

4. Soul Calibur 4. I'm still obsessively playing through #3 to get all the character creation parts. I seriously can't wait for #4 and the beautiful graphics.

5. Too Human. From the people who brought us Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem with a new twist on Viking mythology. Futuristic Viking mythos and sexy Crispin Freeman voicing Baldur (main character player) in an intensive western RPG--where the hell do I sign up!? Seriously, major props to Silicone Knights for hiring Crispin. He's one of my favorite actors of all time. The man has an extensive knowledge on many European mythologies. He fits this project like a glove. Also, pretty pretty graphics!



That's it for now because I have to go back to work. More later. ^_^