So... this show.
Where to even begin...
Okay well considering how much i'm not a fan of Sci-fi.... and this is technically a sci-fi anime... that no one has ever heard of.... why do i own it?
The answer is pretty simple.
Some years ago, can't remember when exactly but it doesn't matter, I went to a convention where they had a "name that tune"
I didn't win (cause i crack under pressure so even though i knew the songs i couldn't remember... which is sad cause one of them was Eva... while it's not my fav show ever it sure as hell has iconic music... anyways) but i did make it to the final round or something... as a 'consolation prize' they handed me a volume of Solty Rei.
I'm not gunna turn down free anime... even if it looked really dumb...
but i'm also not gunna just own one volume of something.... so since i was at the con i looked around to see how many volumes there were (this was around the time they were started to go with 6 instead of 7) and how much the rest would cost me.... if it was full price i'd decide after watching the disk... if it was a good price i'd just buy and take the gamble.
it was selling anywhere from 2 bucks each to 5.....
so i got it even though i had a feeling it was going to be terrible.
-some spoilers from here on out-
Normally around this part i talk about the plot... It's kinda hard for this show... cause the plot changes constantly. Imagine if you will ever sci-fi staple.
SO we have augmented humans do to a horrible even that hurt a lot of people and forced them to get robotic limbs making people wonder at what point do you stop being human.
we have a class system where registered people have the ability to live happy lives in the sun while unregistered are underground and have to resort to theivery.
We have a bounty hunter who used to be a cop and is looking for his daughter who may or may not be alive.
we have a mysterious girl who later is revealed to be an Android with sentient thought and extrodanry power but she just wants to be a happy normal girl.
you've got you power hungry guy who knows more then everyone around him...
you've got girls who were genetically modified by nano machines to be super human.
and just when you think they can't cram in anymore they have my two least fav sci fi things ever.
i was going to start this review off "well at least it never goes into space!"
then it tells us that not only is there an element of space but the planet they live on was originally not suited for human life which is why theres this 'aurora shield' that acts as an atmosphere.
so after that i was going to be like. "well at least there wasn't some plague that wiped all the people on the ship out!"
and then there was a plague that wiped everyone on the ship out....
Luckily it was mentioned in passing but i was just flabbergasted.... it was like they were looking at sci-fi tropes and wondered. "how many can we put in before it's too much"
thing is i'm not done...
theres a computer controlling the city that can even control those with robotic parts.
computer systems that are willing to destroy everything since they see it as being for the greater good.
a character is brought back from the dead or was only mostly dead when she was found i dn't know cause it's NEVER explained... just "oh hey didn't you die?" "actually i work for the company now"
hey lets tack that onto the list.
There is a single company that controls all aspects of life in the city and the reason for the class system.
Mech suits that for some reaso contour to ever curve of the female anatomy yet still allow for jiggle.... but the art of this show is a whole other can of worms that i plan to deal with later.
OH OH OH theres also this guy who happens to live way far out of town and is the key to everything...
a Kid that loves flying despite the fact that if you go to high you are shot down by lightning (and apparently if you even think of going too high you are preemptively shot down by this sentient lightning.
a chip that shuts down an entire system... cause... thats how i want my supercomputers to run...
there is just so much that in the end it ends up being about nothing at all... the closest thing to an over all plot is "this is the dynamic between the guy who lost his daughter and the android."
and if you ask me thats a pretty boring plot.
now again i'm pretty biased.... i dislike sci-fi....
but then again this hsow has only the barest scifi elements (which is amazing considering the amount of tropes) until the last few episodes.
so... yeah....
The good:
hm.... something good...
Okay.... as i mentioned before some characters die.... it's nice cause no one feels safe.... but even better then that the way the characters are depicted as mourning is really really well done.
also the intro song "Clover by Meg Rock" is really really good
The not so good:
complete lack of direction, lots of characters that i could care less about and plot threads that are mentioned but not cleaned up till thesetwo side episodes at the end of the show that take place somewhere near the middle.
so many problems that could have been solved just by talking about them....
The bad:
I think this is an issue with funimation but i've never had the problem before so i don't know... the sound mixing for this show is terrible.... the music is incredibly loud while all the voice actors whisper their lines... I had to turn the volume up twice as high as normal just to hear anyone... i thought it was maybe just my tv cause it's a bit new.... but no trying it on different tvs and sound set ups one things was clear... the mixing was just off... and it's annoying cause the subtitles are of the japanese dialogue so.... when your watching a dub it doesn't help at all.
The animation... wow.... it's really bad.... eyes travel all over faces.... and even though the designer obviously had a lot of fun drawing low angle shots of girls from behind.... he's obviously never actually looked at someone from that angle.... cause clothing doesn't work like that, Gluteus maximus doesn't work like that, hips down work like that, the gap between thighs REALLY doesn't work like that and no woman would wear something that tight in that area of her anatomy... also for the warriors... you are fighting but the suit allows for jiggle? NO... that makes no sense... you want those tucked away and tight as possible so you have free range of movement.
but yeah most of the show is cropped at ass level... two characters will be talking and we'll be foused in on Soltys Bum which looks like someone inflated balloons... there sould be a kind of teardrop shape to them not these perfect spheres... also when flying gets introduced we get a tone of between the legs angles... and it's just so bad... i think they did it for fanservice but it's just so horrifying to look at i doubt they accomplished their goal. Granted i'm not the target audience.
The show isn't the worst thing i've ever seen (landlock or school days wins that particular trophy) but it is a completely misguided show that has no idea what it wants to actually be able so instead it'll be about everything... and therefor nothing.
also the end is a cop out.
why is he there?
how did they get there?
how do they suddenly have this technology... i mean they say a lot of time has passed but for a world that had no inspiration to go there boy they work quick.
why is there still an atmosphere when the thing that was creating it vanished?
why she able to do 'that' when she's essentially turned off/ THERE IS NO SOUND IN SPACE so how can they ever hear her.
so yeah not terrible but also not good.... even though i only spent about 20 bucks on the whole thing i still feel kinda ripped off...
but again i don't like sci-fi so it's entirely possible that i just don't get this show. if you have the chance to see it then give it a shot and make your own opinion but in my opinion it was a waste of time.
okay time to watch some other shows i started by never finished.... which should i do next... samurai 7 or Paranoia agent... hmm...
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Saturday, 23 February 2013
List: Most Moving Anime Songs
Original article here: http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2013/02/23/most-moving-anime-songs
all the songs are there so if you want to hear them go check it out
this will just be my reaction to these songs.
1. K-on!! - Tenshi ni Fureta Yo.
I'm biased... i really didn't like K-on and didn't watch it past the the first season.... i only liked one song from that entire season(don't say lazy).... i figured i wouldn't like this song.
it was pretty sweet... most moving song? not in my opinion but still i can see why it's on the list. so yeah well done K-on...
2. AnoHana - Secret base
I love this song, next to a song that i doubt made it on the list (ano hi time machine) it is one of the most touching songs out there... the fact that it's a cover from a song done ten years prior really adds a whole other level to the song and it's meaning ion term of the show in question... I also just love how it builds... i can hear the emotion in the voices and the lyrics... oh they are so sad and so bittersweet and even a little happy...
also really fun to sing along to.
3. Angel Beats - Ichiban no Takaramono
I see why it's on the list, i was always more moved by the intro song to this show... but yeah the piano adds a nice touch to the piece.... just not the most moving song i can think of (hey i just thought of another song that wont be on this list "call me later" from blue exorcist... song literally makes me want to cry from the feels)
4. Air - Tori no Uta
yeah this is a great song thats lots of fun to sing along to and has just such great emotion to it, not my fav of the visual arts/key shows but damn the music is so well done.
5. Guilty Crown- Kokuhaku
hm.... not the type of song i thing of when touchng is brought up but hey at least it was a little upbeat..
6. Clannad ~After Story~ -Chiisana te no hiira
yeah this is a really sweet slow song.... though again the intro song of thise season is way more touching.... i mean some of the lyrics are like "i just want to be with you, sing with you, just the two of us together...forever" yeah... just.... rip out all my feels... but yeah it's a good song i see why it's here...
7. Clannad ~After Story~ -Toki wo Kizamu Uta
well.... i guess this shows i'm writing this as i listen ot the songs... and i haven't looked at the entire list yet... as i said... this song just hits me right in the emotion... the power the violin the lyrics... just so much love and the piano... so good... love this song.... gunna need a little cry after all this...
8. Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai! - Kimi he
never heard this song before, it sounds really pretty and has some interesting parts and some great power.
so yeah pretty song.
9. Little Busters! Alicemagic
Again i find the intro song more touching, i just love the build a bit more but this song is a ton of fun and has an amazing singer. Yeah so far i'm a little disappointed in the show but it's got some time to win me over.
10. Fruits Basket - For Fruits basket
ugh... this... okay i get why this is here... it's just not my type of song... also i think this song was slowed down to be an intro song for another show i recently finished.... at least it sounds like this one... just... not my thing...
11. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - Kawaranai Mono
This is one of the best Anime movies i've ever seen.... so touching and just well done and yeah this song is great.
12. Madoka Magica - Connect
I'm surprised this is so low... i mean once you figure out who the singer is (i mean which character is singing it not the actual singer).... how can your heart not just completely break into tiny little pieces. next to ano hi time machien, secret base, toki wo kizamu uta and Call me Later this would definately be right up there.
13. Squid Girl - Metamerism
never watched the show... song sounds a tad bit generic in my opinion but the singer is good and it sounds sweet... not my cup of tea.
14. Squid Girl - Kimi Wo Shiru Koto
Squid girl again? is the show really that touching... it never looked like something i would like so i just didn't watch it. Still the song still sounds like generic ending song... again the singer is good just... yeah maybe i don't get it...
15. Pokemon - Soko ni sora ga aru kara
I wil l admit when i was younger i loved the first few seasons of pokemon and some of the movies.... the movies especially had great music (what they didn't change from source material... what was up with all those pop songs?) This song is really pretty, i love how it's almost got a lullaby feel to it in certain parts... just really nice.
so what did you think of Japans choices? apparnetly they had quite a large group of people to ask.
also as I probably find ano hi time machine more touching cause of the visuals.... i will admit that... still it's a great song.
Call me later is just.... short but sweet
yeah it's full of Engrish... i dont care, this song makes me want to cry every time i hear it. just so pretty...
okay time to get back to drawing!
all the songs are there so if you want to hear them go check it out
this will just be my reaction to these songs.
1. K-on!! - Tenshi ni Fureta Yo.
I'm biased... i really didn't like K-on and didn't watch it past the the first season.... i only liked one song from that entire season(don't say lazy).... i figured i wouldn't like this song.
it was pretty sweet... most moving song? not in my opinion but still i can see why it's on the list. so yeah well done K-on...
2. AnoHana - Secret base
I love this song, next to a song that i doubt made it on the list (ano hi time machine) it is one of the most touching songs out there... the fact that it's a cover from a song done ten years prior really adds a whole other level to the song and it's meaning ion term of the show in question... I also just love how it builds... i can hear the emotion in the voices and the lyrics... oh they are so sad and so bittersweet and even a little happy...
also really fun to sing along to.
3. Angel Beats - Ichiban no Takaramono
I see why it's on the list, i was always more moved by the intro song to this show... but yeah the piano adds a nice touch to the piece.... just not the most moving song i can think of (hey i just thought of another song that wont be on this list "call me later" from blue exorcist... song literally makes me want to cry from the feels)
4. Air - Tori no Uta
yeah this is a great song thats lots of fun to sing along to and has just such great emotion to it, not my fav of the visual arts/key shows but damn the music is so well done.
5. Guilty Crown- Kokuhaku
hm.... not the type of song i thing of when touchng is brought up but hey at least it was a little upbeat..
6. Clannad ~After Story~ -Chiisana te no hiira
yeah this is a really sweet slow song.... though again the intro song of thise season is way more touching.... i mean some of the lyrics are like "i just want to be with you, sing with you, just the two of us together...forever" yeah... just.... rip out all my feels... but yeah it's a good song i see why it's here...
7. Clannad ~After Story~ -Toki wo Kizamu Uta
well.... i guess this shows i'm writing this as i listen ot the songs... and i haven't looked at the entire list yet... as i said... this song just hits me right in the emotion... the power the violin the lyrics... just so much love and the piano... so good... love this song.... gunna need a little cry after all this...
8. Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai! - Kimi he
never heard this song before, it sounds really pretty and has some interesting parts and some great power.
so yeah pretty song.
9. Little Busters! Alicemagic
Again i find the intro song more touching, i just love the build a bit more but this song is a ton of fun and has an amazing singer. Yeah so far i'm a little disappointed in the show but it's got some time to win me over.
10. Fruits Basket - For Fruits basket
ugh... this... okay i get why this is here... it's just not my type of song... also i think this song was slowed down to be an intro song for another show i recently finished.... at least it sounds like this one... just... not my thing...
11. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - Kawaranai Mono
This is one of the best Anime movies i've ever seen.... so touching and just well done and yeah this song is great.
12. Madoka Magica - Connect
I'm surprised this is so low... i mean once you figure out who the singer is (i mean which character is singing it not the actual singer).... how can your heart not just completely break into tiny little pieces. next to ano hi time machien, secret base, toki wo kizamu uta and Call me Later this would definately be right up there.
13. Squid Girl - Metamerism
never watched the show... song sounds a tad bit generic in my opinion but the singer is good and it sounds sweet... not my cup of tea.
14. Squid Girl - Kimi Wo Shiru Koto
Squid girl again? is the show really that touching... it never looked like something i would like so i just didn't watch it. Still the song still sounds like generic ending song... again the singer is good just... yeah maybe i don't get it...
15. Pokemon - Soko ni sora ga aru kara
I wil l admit when i was younger i loved the first few seasons of pokemon and some of the movies.... the movies especially had great music (what they didn't change from source material... what was up with all those pop songs?) This song is really pretty, i love how it's almost got a lullaby feel to it in certain parts... just really nice.
so what did you think of Japans choices? apparnetly they had quite a large group of people to ask.
also as I probably find ano hi time machine more touching cause of the visuals.... i will admit that... still it's a great song.
Call me later is just.... short but sweet
okay time to get back to drawing!
Friday, 22 February 2013
Completed: Ys II chronicles +
and therefore i effectively beat all of chronicles + (which is available on steam for 15 bucks)
before i go on to what the story is about i just want to quickly thank Xseed (even though i know you wont read this) For distributing a large number of the Falcom games...
I love these games and if it weren't for you all i would have ever known of them is the Atlus version of ys 1 and 2 and Legend of heroes a tear of vermillion cause i just happened to randomly find it in a store...
I cannot imagine the type of gamer i would be if it were for this one particular series.... i was getting so disheartened by the types of JRPGs i was playing... some were good... some were terrible and it was pretty much a coin toss because unless you find a reviewer who has similar taste to you it's impossible to find a review of a Jrpg you can trust... so maybe thats why i make my own? no... i make these cause if i don't gush about things i finish then i will explode...
ugh i'm getting off topic.
anyways had i not seen Ys 3 on a shelf and picked it up cause yeah the other two were hard but hey at least they had great music i may not have fallen in love with the JRPG genre all over again...
although maybe if i hadn't played ys 3 i wouldn't be such a falcom fangirl...
...
oh well~
Long story short - Xseed you are the best and i look forward to Celceta in the fall... like really forward to it.... i made a noise so highpitched when it was announced that i think only dogs could hear me...
...
*sighs* I obviously have a problem and need to seek help...
ok... onto the review part of the review (but be warned it's more then a little biased... also minor spoilers for Ys 1... but really minor...
This game starts off immediatly after the end of Ys 1, Adol Christian or Red haired Hero has been shot into the sky after stopping Dark Facts evil plan.
yeah thats really his name... yes it is increibly silly.... moving on.
A girl finds Adol unconcious in the feild and brings him home.
cause thats what you do when you are on a floating island and someone you have never seen falls from the sky. To be fair she had a sort of premonition so i guess that makes it more acceptable?
anyways He is apparently on the actual land of Ys... and things are not good... demons roam the land and it's up to Adol to save the day.
Thing i have learned from Ys.
Adol is the only person in the world with hair that red, some hair reddish hair but none as red as he.
in other games where blue, green, yellow, Cyan and even good old Silver those are not considered odd.... but Adols red hair is...
these are life lessons i tell you.
Anyways as i stated in my last Ys review i played the Atlus version of book 1&2 which add an attack button and doesn't balance how adol reacts to getting hit.... however in Ys 2 itdoesn't matter as much since you are given magic so you can attack enemies from afar and most are vulnerable to it. Even back when i played Ys 2 i enjoyed it way more then 1 cause i just didn't feel like i was dying as cheaply anymore.
however the atlus version was still glitchy as hell and one time an enemy bumped me in to a wall and i had to restart to get out.... was not pleased by this... but yeah thats all i can really compare about the two...
The good:
MAGIC... while I do think it's stupid that magic is the only way to kill all but 2 bosses having a ranged attack that even gets the ability to home in is really nice.
The story... it is so much more interesting in Ys 2... you learn more about the lore (and if you've played Origin you get to see lots of things you experienced in that game) you have way more character interaction and overall it's just better told... you get a reason for why you need certain weapons for the final boss and why a certain thing that happened after beating final boss happened... it makes more sense if you see it yourself. I just think overall it's better and you get to see more about adol and you get his first onscreen spoken line... i mean it mentions he talks but we never see what he says... unless you play alternative Saga and then you can't get adol to shut up.... i'm not complaining... that game is fun...
The leveling system, In 1 you reach level cap before the second boss.... in this one i reached level cap after beating the final boss... not that the final boss matters cause if you have everything you will not take a single point of damage... but still i like the fact that if i felt weak i coudl level a bit and get stronger.
The not so good
As i mentioned before most bosses can only be hurt by magic.... they also can only be hurt is a certain condition is met liek the mout being open or attacking from the proper angle....
normally this doesn't bug me but a few of these it's annoying cause no matter where you are they are always facing forward and then sometimes enjoy camping out near the bottom of the screen making them impossible to hit until you get them to move higher up... all while not touching them cause theres no recovery time and they will drain your health rather quick.
The game isn't as mean as game 1 cause it's ultimate weapons are actually the ones you need (unlike that lovely flame sword) however it still does a few mean things... all i'll say is no matter what the situation talk to everyone.... cause one of them may hand you a shield....
The bad:
So much shorter then i remember : (
Granted i put down the atlus version for about a year cause i was frustraied by how difficult Zava was... and gettign bumped into a wall in a place i was having trouble navigating in the first place...
but yeah much shorter...
also it's easy to get lost in this game... the solomon shrine is a huge maze where everything looks the same yet somehow yours supposed to know where everything is....
i mean i remembered how to do 3/4 of it cause i had played it before but most of the time was still me going "ah crap how do i get there again?"
I did love all the mentions of Toal... poor poor hugo... no love for the actual heir to the fact name.... only for his awesome older brother.
Also love that the tovah statue is female and has an Axe.... made me smile from ear to ear. i have no idea if that's how it was when the game was originally released but it's how it is now so i'll accept it.
This game, along with all Ys games, is not easy... but it's not that hard either once you figure out how to completely avoid getting hit.... this game has some amazing music... the final act song being one of my favs. in chronicles + you can choose which version of each song you want to listen to wich is always fun... you also get 2 versions of the game.
also as i mentioned in my last review it comes bundled with ys 1 for only 15 bucks on steam.... even if you've never heard of the series give this game a shot... you may not love it as much as i do (cause i will admit i'm a little tiny itty bitty bit obsessed with Falcom) but i think you'll have fun.
now i've played every version of every (discounting the psp ver cause it's pretty much this version with fewer features) Ys game released in north america.... gotta wait till fall to get my next fix of Adol Cristian.
luckily Ys 4 is on the way... gunna enjoy getting a Vita for it~
and i have the other legend of heroes games in my collection.... thye just aren't as fun as Ys... oh well
still have great music.
alright if you couldn't tell by all the rambling i'm actually running a pretty high fever so i'm gunna get some chicken soup and sleep for a week.... at least thats what i would like to do. *sighs*
before i go on to what the story is about i just want to quickly thank Xseed (even though i know you wont read this) For distributing a large number of the Falcom games...
I love these games and if it weren't for you all i would have ever known of them is the Atlus version of ys 1 and 2 and Legend of heroes a tear of vermillion cause i just happened to randomly find it in a store...
I cannot imagine the type of gamer i would be if it were for this one particular series.... i was getting so disheartened by the types of JRPGs i was playing... some were good... some were terrible and it was pretty much a coin toss because unless you find a reviewer who has similar taste to you it's impossible to find a review of a Jrpg you can trust... so maybe thats why i make my own? no... i make these cause if i don't gush about things i finish then i will explode...
ugh i'm getting off topic.
anyways had i not seen Ys 3 on a shelf and picked it up cause yeah the other two were hard but hey at least they had great music i may not have fallen in love with the JRPG genre all over again...
although maybe if i hadn't played ys 3 i wouldn't be such a falcom fangirl...
...
oh well~
Long story short - Xseed you are the best and i look forward to Celceta in the fall... like really forward to it.... i made a noise so highpitched when it was announced that i think only dogs could hear me...
...
*sighs* I obviously have a problem and need to seek help...
ok... onto the review part of the review (but be warned it's more then a little biased... also minor spoilers for Ys 1... but really minor...
This game starts off immediatly after the end of Ys 1, Adol Christian or Red haired Hero has been shot into the sky after stopping Dark Facts evil plan.
yeah thats really his name... yes it is increibly silly.... moving on.
A girl finds Adol unconcious in the feild and brings him home.
cause thats what you do when you are on a floating island and someone you have never seen falls from the sky. To be fair she had a sort of premonition so i guess that makes it more acceptable?
anyways He is apparently on the actual land of Ys... and things are not good... demons roam the land and it's up to Adol to save the day.
Thing i have learned from Ys.
Adol is the only person in the world with hair that red, some hair reddish hair but none as red as he.
in other games where blue, green, yellow, Cyan and even good old Silver those are not considered odd.... but Adols red hair is...
these are life lessons i tell you.
Anyways as i stated in my last Ys review i played the Atlus version of book 1&2 which add an attack button and doesn't balance how adol reacts to getting hit.... however in Ys 2 itdoesn't matter as much since you are given magic so you can attack enemies from afar and most are vulnerable to it. Even back when i played Ys 2 i enjoyed it way more then 1 cause i just didn't feel like i was dying as cheaply anymore.
however the atlus version was still glitchy as hell and one time an enemy bumped me in to a wall and i had to restart to get out.... was not pleased by this... but yeah thats all i can really compare about the two...
The good:
MAGIC... while I do think it's stupid that magic is the only way to kill all but 2 bosses having a ranged attack that even gets the ability to home in is really nice.
The story... it is so much more interesting in Ys 2... you learn more about the lore (and if you've played Origin you get to see lots of things you experienced in that game) you have way more character interaction and overall it's just better told... you get a reason for why you need certain weapons for the final boss and why a certain thing that happened after beating final boss happened... it makes more sense if you see it yourself. I just think overall it's better and you get to see more about adol and you get his first onscreen spoken line... i mean it mentions he talks but we never see what he says... unless you play alternative Saga and then you can't get adol to shut up.... i'm not complaining... that game is fun...
The leveling system, In 1 you reach level cap before the second boss.... in this one i reached level cap after beating the final boss... not that the final boss matters cause if you have everything you will not take a single point of damage... but still i like the fact that if i felt weak i coudl level a bit and get stronger.
The not so good
As i mentioned before most bosses can only be hurt by magic.... they also can only be hurt is a certain condition is met liek the mout being open or attacking from the proper angle....
normally this doesn't bug me but a few of these it's annoying cause no matter where you are they are always facing forward and then sometimes enjoy camping out near the bottom of the screen making them impossible to hit until you get them to move higher up... all while not touching them cause theres no recovery time and they will drain your health rather quick.
The game isn't as mean as game 1 cause it's ultimate weapons are actually the ones you need (unlike that lovely flame sword) however it still does a few mean things... all i'll say is no matter what the situation talk to everyone.... cause one of them may hand you a shield....
The bad:
So much shorter then i remember : (
Granted i put down the atlus version for about a year cause i was frustraied by how difficult Zava was... and gettign bumped into a wall in a place i was having trouble navigating in the first place...
but yeah much shorter...
also it's easy to get lost in this game... the solomon shrine is a huge maze where everything looks the same yet somehow yours supposed to know where everything is....
i mean i remembered how to do 3/4 of it cause i had played it before but most of the time was still me going "ah crap how do i get there again?"
I did love all the mentions of Toal... poor poor hugo... no love for the actual heir to the fact name.... only for his awesome older brother.
Also love that the tovah statue is female and has an Axe.... made me smile from ear to ear. i have no idea if that's how it was when the game was originally released but it's how it is now so i'll accept it.
This game, along with all Ys games, is not easy... but it's not that hard either once you figure out how to completely avoid getting hit.... this game has some amazing music... the final act song being one of my favs. in chronicles + you can choose which version of each song you want to listen to wich is always fun... you also get 2 versions of the game.
also as i mentioned in my last review it comes bundled with ys 1 for only 15 bucks on steam.... even if you've never heard of the series give this game a shot... you may not love it as much as i do (cause i will admit i'm a little tiny itty bitty bit obsessed with Falcom) but i think you'll have fun.
now i've played every version of every (discounting the psp ver cause it's pretty much this version with fewer features) Ys game released in north america.... gotta wait till fall to get my next fix of Adol Cristian.
luckily Ys 4 is on the way... gunna enjoy getting a Vita for it~
and i have the other legend of heroes games in my collection.... thye just aren't as fun as Ys... oh well
still have great music.
alright if you couldn't tell by all the rambling i'm actually running a pretty high fever so i'm gunna get some chicken soup and sleep for a week.... at least thats what i would like to do. *sighs*
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Figure Photoshoot - Yukio Okumura -
Yay it finally arrived. This is Rin's Twin from blue exorcist and a few things to note before i put the pics up.
Yukio does not have nearly the same variety as Rin, one pose is arm up and frowny face and the other is arms down and happy.... however i really love the movement so yeah... hope you enjoy.
this is the more badass pose in my opinion whoever cause of my love to shoot things with shallow depth of field it makes it really hard to get him in focus without the aid of a tripod.... which i have i just can use with my current terrible set up...
love getting close to these figures and the freckle details are all there.
gotta love shallow depth of field.... wait i'm the only one who does? awwwww....
Composition wise these two are my fav of this pose, just overall a really dynamic figure.
and here is the other pose....
see much of a different?
yeah i was a little disappointed cause Rin has some of the biggest variety i've ever seen in a figure and i feel like Yukio kinda got jipped. To be fair i like this pose on my shelf more then the other pose seriously the only thing that changed was the arm and the face.
i do love this over the should look he can pull off.
again this is me just having too much fun with composition.
and this is my best shot of this pose, finally managed to get the other freckle in view... yeah it's not as dynamic but i still enjoy it.
and i would have taken pics of them together but it's winter and i ran out of natural light and artifical is just too harsh.
so maybe later (the other issue is these are quite wide as far as figures go and my current backdrop isn't wide enough.)
so i hope you liked this. This is the GEM series version of Yukio
I got it from Amiami and as of now he is still currently in stock unlike his brother.... must be rough not being the main character.... poor yukio.
but yeah i hope you enjoyed my little photoshoot... i find them really fun.
Yukio does not have nearly the same variety as Rin, one pose is arm up and frowny face and the other is arms down and happy.... however i really love the movement so yeah... hope you enjoy.
Composition wise these two are my fav of this pose, just overall a really dynamic figure.
and here is the other pose....
see much of a different?
yeah i was a little disappointed cause Rin has some of the biggest variety i've ever seen in a figure and i feel like Yukio kinda got jipped. To be fair i like this pose on my shelf more then the other pose seriously the only thing that changed was the arm and the face.
and i would have taken pics of them together but it's winter and i ran out of natural light and artifical is just too harsh.
so maybe later (the other issue is these are quite wide as far as figures go and my current backdrop isn't wide enough.)
so i hope you liked this. This is the GEM series version of Yukio
I got it from Amiami and as of now he is still currently in stock unlike his brother.... must be rough not being the main character.... poor yukio.
but yeah i hope you enjoyed my little photoshoot... i find them really fun.
Monday, 18 February 2013
Completed: Ys 1 Chronicles+ (steam)
this game is a lot shorter then i remember...
actually you know what... i'm going to compair this to the other version of the game that i played.
as for why it's only book 1.... the game is stressful and i may forget some details by the time i get to book 2 so yeah... separating.
First, what the story is about.
most of what i know is thanks to the Anime but the game does a good job of telling you though some in game text and a cutscene when you start.
Adol, a young (16?) adventurer tries to get to Minea cause... well in the anime it's cause he feels it's calling to him... in the game he just kinda wants to... he doesn't talk much after all... anyways he tried to crossthe sea by boat
fun fact... um... pun not intended... Adol+boats=not a fun time
anyways he comes across this storm that seems to surround the island and ends up shipwrecked, luckily it's on the island he was heading to anyways.
soon after he finds out he's part of a prophecy, in the anime it's mentioned that his name is pretty common and even a girl could have it but that is never mentioned in the game... just that Sera has been seeing him in her dreams.
he is sent out to find the 6 books of Ys in order to bring peace to the world (or at least Esteria cause... everything is very local in these Ys games)
so yeah... long story short Adol Christian goes on an adventure.
which... is the plot of all the games but what can you do... they are fun.
Ok like i said this isn't my first time playing this game. However it is my first time playing this version.
I have a friend who gives me endless flak about the version i did play originally... see I played the DS version that Atlus put out.
...
i'm sure that has no bearings on why book 1&2 are my least fav of the series right?
okay well so one was done by atlus and one by Xseed... who cares.... they can't be that different right?
Wrong.....
The core mechanic of the game is that you just kinda bump into enemies... not head on but from the side or an angle... essentially there is no attack button.
The atlus version of the game added an attack button and got rid of the bump mechanic completely... but thats good right? beign able to attack at will is good.... right?
no.... no it effectively breaks the game... i didn't believe it at first (cause i did eventually beat the version... it was hard but not completely impossible) but having played this... yeah... see the thing is when you are hit you get pushed back a little making the lack of recovery time not a big deal... in the DS version you get hit and you don't move at all... you can have your entire health drained in a matter of second because an enemy cornered you and you do flinch after getting hit.
other changes i noticed... the level cap is 10 in the xseed version as opposed to 24 in the Atlus one...
a point in atlus' favor? NOPE... see even though the number is different the stats are exactly the same and reading my old review i hit the level cap at exactly the same time so... it's just a way to make you feel better i guess?
I seem to remember something about gettign EXP from certain events... i didn't notice this happening in the xseed version but i wasn't look for it... a point in atlus' favor?
NOPE cause like i said... you hit the level cap insanely early... both times i got there before the second boss. so extra exp really means nothing...
Also the Xseed version feels less glitchy then the Atlus version... i'm sure there are glitches but nothing that forced me to quit... unlike the atlus version where i literally got stuck in a wall.... more then once.
okay.... now that i'm done beating poor Atlus who i really do love.... they just didn't do a good port of this game...
time to say the good and the bad.
The good:
The music, this game gives you the option to have three different types of music... i personally loved the orginal system music cause it had a kind of tinnyness that i find charming but i did play most of the game with the default music.... switching just to hear each songs versions.
The gameplay.... i can't believe i'm saying this but even though i found the idea of running into enemies and hoping they don't hurt me incredibly stressful it was a lot of fun.
just overall it was fun to play this game the way it was meant to be played.
The not so good:
while i actually had fun this time.... it's got some flaws.
I got lost.... a lot... the entire game is kinda a maze of "hopefully you going to the right place"... and even more of "what am i supposed to do now?" and hile everything is explained by an NPC it's still frustraiting when you go into the shrine... get the Silver bells and go see sera only to be told that your a moron and still need to beat the actual boss and get the book of Ys.
Speakign of bosses two stick out at me.
One is this thing that transforms into bats which can't be hurt and chip away at your health which sucks cause again there is no recovery time. the bats do come together and you can attack then.... but the timing you have is like half a second and if you are at all late you get hurt when he turns back into bats .... i hate every time i come across this boss... pretty sure he's in origin as well.... or one of the other games at least.
the other is the final boss.... every time you hit him a chunk of the floor vanishes.... i got really unlucki in my playthrough and was suck in the corner.... but since he bounces on a patter he walked right into me and killed himself.... not complaining just.... it was a lot easier then i remember it being.
speaking of the final boss.... do not fight him with the best armor/weapon.... it's a trap... a really mean trap.
The bad:
this was the only 'glitch' that annoyed me and it's not that big a deal but i should mention it.... i playedi n windowed mode (my screen size made the game look kinda terrible) and if i clicked off to reply to someone on skype things would be fine..... unless i was on the save screen... even if i hadn't saved in a while clicking off when on that screen got the not responding warning every time.... it eventually went away but it was a little annoying cause even if yu left the window the game wouldn't really pause.... but honestly it's not a game breaker just something i noticed and felt i should mention.
I had a lot of fun this time around... yeah it was way more stressful then my first time but hey i didn't throw anything across the room this time... thats progress.
I really want to thank Xseed for bringing out (or at least trying to bring out) all the Falcom games, you guys are the reason i am buying a Vita in fall... i'm more then a little excited for Celceta (and more then a little hopeful for some more legend of/trails of/whatever the series is considered cause it branches so much i don't even know anymore... but i know it's unlikely cause of the psp's demise and the games are massive.... but still... full of hope)
I enjoyed this game... i will enjoy book 2 (though i've told myself no playing it till i finish some commissions.... i wasn't supposed to play this one at all till i had finished some but hey... at least i finished 1 of 4 right?
ok i better get back to work.
Ys Chronicles+ (ys 1&2) are available on steam for 14.99, it comes with two versions of each game (chronicles and complete) three choices for music (chronicles, complete and original) multiple different ways to view all the info and of course 2 games.... if you ask me thats on hell of a deal.
and yeah i'm Biased.... I love Adol Cristian and his story no matter how silly or repetitive it can get.
yeah book 1 is a little short... i beat it in 5 hours... would have been closer to 3 had i not forgotten my actual objective of if i hadn't gotten lost so much or if i hadn't completely forgotten to to the Rado's Annex part of the game... which is important.
anyways this game is also available from Xseed on psp
and Ds from atlus (though.... dont get this version... unless you wanna see the slight differences and butchered gameplay)
and like... 20 or so other times.... seriously this game has been redone a lot.
but i'd say the best version so far is the one Xseed released... give it a shot you probably wont regret it.
actually you know what... i'm going to compair this to the other version of the game that i played.
as for why it's only book 1.... the game is stressful and i may forget some details by the time i get to book 2 so yeah... separating.
First, what the story is about.
most of what i know is thanks to the Anime but the game does a good job of telling you though some in game text and a cutscene when you start.
Adol, a young (16?) adventurer tries to get to Minea cause... well in the anime it's cause he feels it's calling to him... in the game he just kinda wants to... he doesn't talk much after all... anyways he tried to crossthe sea by boat
fun fact... um... pun not intended... Adol+boats=not a fun time
anyways he comes across this storm that seems to surround the island and ends up shipwrecked, luckily it's on the island he was heading to anyways.
soon after he finds out he's part of a prophecy, in the anime it's mentioned that his name is pretty common and even a girl could have it but that is never mentioned in the game... just that Sera has been seeing him in her dreams.
he is sent out to find the 6 books of Ys in order to bring peace to the world (or at least Esteria cause... everything is very local in these Ys games)
so yeah... long story short Adol Christian goes on an adventure.
which... is the plot of all the games but what can you do... they are fun.
Ok like i said this isn't my first time playing this game. However it is my first time playing this version.
I have a friend who gives me endless flak about the version i did play originally... see I played the DS version that Atlus put out.
...
i'm sure that has no bearings on why book 1&2 are my least fav of the series right?
okay well so one was done by atlus and one by Xseed... who cares.... they can't be that different right?
Wrong.....
The core mechanic of the game is that you just kinda bump into enemies... not head on but from the side or an angle... essentially there is no attack button.
The atlus version of the game added an attack button and got rid of the bump mechanic completely... but thats good right? beign able to attack at will is good.... right?
no.... no it effectively breaks the game... i didn't believe it at first (cause i did eventually beat the version... it was hard but not completely impossible) but having played this... yeah... see the thing is when you are hit you get pushed back a little making the lack of recovery time not a big deal... in the DS version you get hit and you don't move at all... you can have your entire health drained in a matter of second because an enemy cornered you and you do flinch after getting hit.
other changes i noticed... the level cap is 10 in the xseed version as opposed to 24 in the Atlus one...
a point in atlus' favor? NOPE... see even though the number is different the stats are exactly the same and reading my old review i hit the level cap at exactly the same time so... it's just a way to make you feel better i guess?
I seem to remember something about gettign EXP from certain events... i didn't notice this happening in the xseed version but i wasn't look for it... a point in atlus' favor?
NOPE cause like i said... you hit the level cap insanely early... both times i got there before the second boss. so extra exp really means nothing...
Also the Xseed version feels less glitchy then the Atlus version... i'm sure there are glitches but nothing that forced me to quit... unlike the atlus version where i literally got stuck in a wall.... more then once.
okay.... now that i'm done beating poor Atlus who i really do love.... they just didn't do a good port of this game...
time to say the good and the bad.
The good:
The music, this game gives you the option to have three different types of music... i personally loved the orginal system music cause it had a kind of tinnyness that i find charming but i did play most of the game with the default music.... switching just to hear each songs versions.
The gameplay.... i can't believe i'm saying this but even though i found the idea of running into enemies and hoping they don't hurt me incredibly stressful it was a lot of fun.
just overall it was fun to play this game the way it was meant to be played.
The not so good:
while i actually had fun this time.... it's got some flaws.
I got lost.... a lot... the entire game is kinda a maze of "hopefully you going to the right place"... and even more of "what am i supposed to do now?" and hile everything is explained by an NPC it's still frustraiting when you go into the shrine... get the Silver bells and go see sera only to be told that your a moron and still need to beat the actual boss and get the book of Ys.
Speakign of bosses two stick out at me.
One is this thing that transforms into bats which can't be hurt and chip away at your health which sucks cause again there is no recovery time. the bats do come together and you can attack then.... but the timing you have is like half a second and if you are at all late you get hurt when he turns back into bats .... i hate every time i come across this boss... pretty sure he's in origin as well.... or one of the other games at least.
the other is the final boss.... every time you hit him a chunk of the floor vanishes.... i got really unlucki in my playthrough and was suck in the corner.... but since he bounces on a patter he walked right into me and killed himself.... not complaining just.... it was a lot easier then i remember it being.
speaking of the final boss.... do not fight him with the best armor/weapon.... it's a trap... a really mean trap.
The bad:
this was the only 'glitch' that annoyed me and it's not that big a deal but i should mention it.... i playedi n windowed mode (my screen size made the game look kinda terrible) and if i clicked off to reply to someone on skype things would be fine..... unless i was on the save screen... even if i hadn't saved in a while clicking off when on that screen got the not responding warning every time.... it eventually went away but it was a little annoying cause even if yu left the window the game wouldn't really pause.... but honestly it's not a game breaker just something i noticed and felt i should mention.
I had a lot of fun this time around... yeah it was way more stressful then my first time but hey i didn't throw anything across the room this time... thats progress.
I really want to thank Xseed for bringing out (or at least trying to bring out) all the Falcom games, you guys are the reason i am buying a Vita in fall... i'm more then a little excited for Celceta (and more then a little hopeful for some more legend of/trails of/whatever the series is considered cause it branches so much i don't even know anymore... but i know it's unlikely cause of the psp's demise and the games are massive.... but still... full of hope)
I enjoyed this game... i will enjoy book 2 (though i've told myself no playing it till i finish some commissions.... i wasn't supposed to play this one at all till i had finished some but hey... at least i finished 1 of 4 right?
ok i better get back to work.
Ys Chronicles+ (ys 1&2) are available on steam for 14.99, it comes with two versions of each game (chronicles and complete) three choices for music (chronicles, complete and original) multiple different ways to view all the info and of course 2 games.... if you ask me thats on hell of a deal.
and yeah i'm Biased.... I love Adol Cristian and his story no matter how silly or repetitive it can get.
yeah book 1 is a little short... i beat it in 5 hours... would have been closer to 3 had i not forgotten my actual objective of if i hadn't gotten lost so much or if i hadn't completely forgotten to to the Rado's Annex part of the game... which is important.
anyways this game is also available from Xseed on psp
and Ds from atlus (though.... dont get this version... unless you wanna see the slight differences and butchered gameplay)
and like... 20 or so other times.... seriously this game has been redone a lot.
but i'd say the best version so far is the one Xseed released... give it a shot you probably wont regret it.
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Completed: Super Dimension Fortress Macross
aka: Macross, Robotech (technically) and what i like to call it mah-KU-ross (watch the intro song and you'll understand....)
So yeah, i guess i have a little story time to go with this. When my father was a kid he used to watch this show (again it was technically robotech but it's pretty much the same thing...) and i would constantly hear him talk about it though at the time i had no idea he was talking about an anime.
Fast forward many years and my friend lends me a boxset and sais "it's good, you'll like it"
I was weary cause i have never been a fan of sci-fi.... but maybe they wouldn't go into space and i'd be fine with it...
then they went into space.... but oddly it didn't bug me.
Most of the story takes place on the bridge or in the town inside the Macross and the space battles aren't that often.... they don't supernova anything or go anywher near a black hole.... sure they technically destroy a few planets but at least in one case they do their best to fix it after.... this is probably the only sci-fi show i have ever watched that i'm completely fine with.
if i were to make a bar grading where sci-fi shows end up it would be.
Macross--->Voices of a distant star---> Gurren Lagaan---> Gunbester
so pretty much Macross as perfectly fine and gunbuster as having to leave the room and have panic attacks while it's playing.
but yeah it's odd cause Macross is actually pretty horrific, there are lots of dead bodies show or people getting blown up is terrible ways.... but i think i know why i'm not bothered by it.
The animation is some of the worst animation i've ever seen... people bitch about gurren lagaan's 4th episode being done at like 4 framed per second.... that is nothing.... multiple episodes of Macross are at an abysmal frame rate where people are pretty much teleporting across room.
There is re-used animation is almost every episode... you know that zentradi ship that gets blown up in the intro? you'll see it at least 5 more times... if not more.
Enjoyed Minmei's my boyfriends a pilot animation? at least three mroe times and i think another time but at least they changed the outfit.
characters stare off in different directions pretty much 85% of the time... seriously... eyes don't work like that.... also the shines they use are odd and distracting.
Some frames have bits wrongly coloured? good thing it was used during bits where characters are talking so the colours can flash with every lip movement.
it's hilarious how bad the animation is.... cause you can tell they were trying so hard and some things have the possibility of being good.... it's just not realized as often as it needed to be.
animation quirks aside what is it about?
The macross landed on an island many years ago and after all of earth unified thanks to the cleverly named Unification War the army tries to fix up the alien battleship in order to possibly go into space.
Unfortunately right when the macross is set to make it's maiden voyage another group of aliens come into earths airspace and the ship auto attacks..... essentially starting a war... way to go ship.
still the macross needs to get away from the town so they use something called the Space Fold which allow them to get away...
yeah too bad they bring the entire town with them.... luckily the shelters the civilians ran to are all super strong and they didn't die immediately being exposed to the vacuum of space...
anyways the city is essentially bought on bored and rebuild within the warship.
Meanwhile Hikaru Ichijo had been invited to the celebration by his Sempai Roy Foker and ends up in one of the military planes and soon after he bumps into Lynn Minmei (the show changes the spelling of this a few times but thats the one that i will use) and they work together to get back on the ship after they are flung into space as well... again good thing hikaru's ship is strong enough to withstand the vacuum of space... all very convenient.
after getting back to the city within the ship Hikaru is eventually convinced to join the military by his sempai because he's sucha good pilot and they need all the help they can get. He's against killing people but h wants to keep the town safe so he agrees.
some things to note before i go on.
I feel this entire show is just one giant social commentary on japanese society (at least them in the 80s). Japan is known for being fairly sexist (a different kind of sexist then north america but sexist none the less) extremely Xenophobic and extremely against Public displays of affection.
So we have a bridge that is almost completely run by women.... All top of their respective fields and in positions of power.
The bridge crew all hail from different parts of the world and none of them are stereotypes.
and main weapon they use against the enemy is, and i kinda wish i was kidding, public displays on affection. The fact that men and women are even near each other is a culture shock to the aliens...
so yeah.... just wanted to point that out before getting to the good and the bad.
The good:
The story, i really like it... it could have gone more indepth about a civilian becoming a soldier but they come back to it by the end.
The fact that it was cancelled and then brought back.
from what i understand it was supposed to end at 26 episodes... so all those plot threads were tied up.... but then something happened and it got another 10 episodes.... those ten episodes are great because it doesn't feel like "fight of the week" we learn about other characters and get perfect Pairings and a certain character gets whats coming to them. more on that later.
no character is safe, this is war and in war people die.
The not so good:
again animation is so bad it's funny.... but it's something to know going in and by the end it shouldn't bug you.
Lynn Kaifune (as far as i can tell they don't spell his so thats how i'm gunan spell it) this guy... oh he's annoying... "it's the militaries fault, don't give into them!" yeah what are you doing with your life thats making such a difference? being you cousins agent? yeah that'll really end the war.
also despite the many tries to avoid being sexist there is still a lot of "well you should get back to the kitchen" lines....
The bad:
Lynn Minmei.
when i first saw the show i hated her, she was annoying and constantly trying to manipulate those around her and the second some stops showing her attention she gets pissy.
having rewatched it.... i still dislike her... but for completely different reasons.... she wasn't trying to use Hikaru's feelings for her.... she was Naive... nothing more nothing less.... she only saw him as a friend and not a lover.... so when she does realize how she feels about anyone it's too late cause of her naivete. She lived in this world where everything has gone her way and finally real life is creeping up on her and she doesn't know how to handle it..... i dislike her now not because she's a bitch like i originally thought... i dislike her cause she's weak and pathetic and until the end unable to stand tall on her own.
however without her being like that my OTP wouldn't have been realized so... i guess she's not so bad.
but anyways i really enjoy this show.... unfortunately since ADV went under it's not the easiest series to get a hold of, the box set i spent 40 bucks for now goes for more then 100.. but still if you get a chance you should watch it cause it's really good.
So yeah, i guess i have a little story time to go with this. When my father was a kid he used to watch this show (again it was technically robotech but it's pretty much the same thing...) and i would constantly hear him talk about it though at the time i had no idea he was talking about an anime.
Fast forward many years and my friend lends me a boxset and sais "it's good, you'll like it"
I was weary cause i have never been a fan of sci-fi.... but maybe they wouldn't go into space and i'd be fine with it...
then they went into space.... but oddly it didn't bug me.
Most of the story takes place on the bridge or in the town inside the Macross and the space battles aren't that often.... they don't supernova anything or go anywher near a black hole.... sure they technically destroy a few planets but at least in one case they do their best to fix it after.... this is probably the only sci-fi show i have ever watched that i'm completely fine with.
if i were to make a bar grading where sci-fi shows end up it would be.
Macross--->Voices of a distant star---> Gurren Lagaan---> Gunbester
so pretty much Macross as perfectly fine and gunbuster as having to leave the room and have panic attacks while it's playing.
but yeah it's odd cause Macross is actually pretty horrific, there are lots of dead bodies show or people getting blown up is terrible ways.... but i think i know why i'm not bothered by it.
The animation is some of the worst animation i've ever seen... people bitch about gurren lagaan's 4th episode being done at like 4 framed per second.... that is nothing.... multiple episodes of Macross are at an abysmal frame rate where people are pretty much teleporting across room.
There is re-used animation is almost every episode... you know that zentradi ship that gets blown up in the intro? you'll see it at least 5 more times... if not more.
Enjoyed Minmei's my boyfriends a pilot animation? at least three mroe times and i think another time but at least they changed the outfit.
characters stare off in different directions pretty much 85% of the time... seriously... eyes don't work like that.... also the shines they use are odd and distracting.
Some frames have bits wrongly coloured? good thing it was used during bits where characters are talking so the colours can flash with every lip movement.
it's hilarious how bad the animation is.... cause you can tell they were trying so hard and some things have the possibility of being good.... it's just not realized as often as it needed to be.
animation quirks aside what is it about?
The macross landed on an island many years ago and after all of earth unified thanks to the cleverly named Unification War the army tries to fix up the alien battleship in order to possibly go into space.
Unfortunately right when the macross is set to make it's maiden voyage another group of aliens come into earths airspace and the ship auto attacks..... essentially starting a war... way to go ship.
still the macross needs to get away from the town so they use something called the Space Fold which allow them to get away...
yeah too bad they bring the entire town with them.... luckily the shelters the civilians ran to are all super strong and they didn't die immediately being exposed to the vacuum of space...
anyways the city is essentially bought on bored and rebuild within the warship.
Meanwhile Hikaru Ichijo had been invited to the celebration by his Sempai Roy Foker and ends up in one of the military planes and soon after he bumps into Lynn Minmei (the show changes the spelling of this a few times but thats the one that i will use) and they work together to get back on the ship after they are flung into space as well... again good thing hikaru's ship is strong enough to withstand the vacuum of space... all very convenient.
after getting back to the city within the ship Hikaru is eventually convinced to join the military by his sempai because he's sucha good pilot and they need all the help they can get. He's against killing people but h wants to keep the town safe so he agrees.
some things to note before i go on.
I feel this entire show is just one giant social commentary on japanese society (at least them in the 80s). Japan is known for being fairly sexist (a different kind of sexist then north america but sexist none the less) extremely Xenophobic and extremely against Public displays of affection.
So we have a bridge that is almost completely run by women.... All top of their respective fields and in positions of power.
The bridge crew all hail from different parts of the world and none of them are stereotypes.
and main weapon they use against the enemy is, and i kinda wish i was kidding, public displays on affection. The fact that men and women are even near each other is a culture shock to the aliens...
so yeah.... just wanted to point that out before getting to the good and the bad.
The good:
The story, i really like it... it could have gone more indepth about a civilian becoming a soldier but they come back to it by the end.
The fact that it was cancelled and then brought back.
from what i understand it was supposed to end at 26 episodes... so all those plot threads were tied up.... but then something happened and it got another 10 episodes.... those ten episodes are great because it doesn't feel like "fight of the week" we learn about other characters and get perfect Pairings and a certain character gets whats coming to them. more on that later.
no character is safe, this is war and in war people die.
The not so good:
again animation is so bad it's funny.... but it's something to know going in and by the end it shouldn't bug you.
Lynn Kaifune (as far as i can tell they don't spell his so thats how i'm gunan spell it) this guy... oh he's annoying... "it's the militaries fault, don't give into them!" yeah what are you doing with your life thats making such a difference? being you cousins agent? yeah that'll really end the war.
also despite the many tries to avoid being sexist there is still a lot of "well you should get back to the kitchen" lines....
The bad:
Lynn Minmei.
when i first saw the show i hated her, she was annoying and constantly trying to manipulate those around her and the second some stops showing her attention she gets pissy.
having rewatched it.... i still dislike her... but for completely different reasons.... she wasn't trying to use Hikaru's feelings for her.... she was Naive... nothing more nothing less.... she only saw him as a friend and not a lover.... so when she does realize how she feels about anyone it's too late cause of her naivete. She lived in this world where everything has gone her way and finally real life is creeping up on her and she doesn't know how to handle it..... i dislike her now not because she's a bitch like i originally thought... i dislike her cause she's weak and pathetic and until the end unable to stand tall on her own.
however without her being like that my OTP wouldn't have been realized so... i guess she's not so bad.
but anyways i really enjoy this show.... unfortunately since ADV went under it's not the easiest series to get a hold of, the box set i spent 40 bucks for now goes for more then 100.. but still if you get a chance you should watch it cause it's really good.
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Nothingness - From Start to FInish -
i had been i na bit of a slump recently... nothing really creative was coming to mind so i did a lot of studies and eventually i managed to make this picture.
ugh... just... so much wrong....
but i knew that most of the proportion issues were because i ran out of room on the page and
i was just sketchign in such a way to get the idea on paper.... i knew i could fix it up later in photoshop.
so.... i did.... i still couldn't get the hands to a size thats was right but hey at least it was better...
because i was wantign more flow in the piece i tried to figure out how to plant her feet , i went through around 6 or 7 different ways before finally picking one i was happy with. now i had doubled the size of the sketch to be able to have lots of room to work.... and that nearly killed this piece in the end...
this was after i figured out how i wanted the card like bg and the pieces coming off the edge to look and got some quick flat colouring done so i could go to town with the folds... everything was still moving smoothly at this point
but then i had the bright idea to add just a tiny bit of texture to the background...
while running a few other ram heavy programs...
after what sounded like my machine trying to run a marathon i quickly shut everything down and just focused on finishing the piece (which was littlerally cropping, adding a little link to my DA account on the bottom and saving in different sizes.... which took about 20 minutes.... thats how mad my comp was with me...
but hey in the end i'm pretty happy with the final piece.
i was terrified that i was going to get blue screened or that my comp would just start to smoke but nope in the end everything was good.
This is Niut, i have drawn her a few other times but this is the oldest she has looked.
Also Niut is a real name and it's not a typo of Nuit....
In Egyptian the meaning of the name Niut is: Mythical goddess of nothingness.
She is one the only characters i have that started as a name and then was flushed out further.
I used to use her for roleplaying where she was the complete opposite of my friends character Slavas(it was short/nickname for Mstislav)
He had the power to bring life to anything and she had the power to bring death, both were feared as monsters and kept away from each other in order to keep balance in the world however all they wanted was to be normal, happy and together.
but i'm evil and cruel to characters so yeah... not gunna happen... especially since if they do get near each other they have adverse affects on each others health and control of power.
but yeah i wanted to go with a simple outfit as opposed to the normal stuff i draw and i wanted to make it look lik the dress i had her wear in To Safety since it's the same character.
but yeah note to self... if i am dealign with a huge file no texture... or at least close everything else down before doing it.
i hope you like it.
but i knew that most of the proportion issues were because i ran out of room on the page and
i was just sketchign in such a way to get the idea on paper.... i knew i could fix it up later in photoshop.
so.... i did.... i still couldn't get the hands to a size thats was right but hey at least it was better...
but then i had the bright idea to add just a tiny bit of texture to the background...
while running a few other ram heavy programs...
after what sounded like my machine trying to run a marathon i quickly shut everything down and just focused on finishing the piece (which was littlerally cropping, adding a little link to my DA account on the bottom and saving in different sizes.... which took about 20 minutes.... thats how mad my comp was with me...
but hey in the end i'm pretty happy with the final piece.
This is Niut, i have drawn her a few other times but this is the oldest she has looked.
Also Niut is a real name and it's not a typo of Nuit....
In Egyptian the meaning of the name Niut is: Mythical goddess of nothingness.
She is one the only characters i have that started as a name and then was flushed out further.
I used to use her for roleplaying where she was the complete opposite of my friends character Slavas(it was short/nickname for Mstislav)
He had the power to bring life to anything and she had the power to bring death, both were feared as monsters and kept away from each other in order to keep balance in the world however all they wanted was to be normal, happy and together.
but i'm evil and cruel to characters so yeah... not gunna happen... especially since if they do get near each other they have adverse affects on each others health and control of power.
but yeah i wanted to go with a simple outfit as opposed to the normal stuff i draw and i wanted to make it look lik the dress i had her wear in To Safety since it's the same character.
but yeah note to self... if i am dealign with a huge file no texture... or at least close everything else down before doing it.
i hope you like it.
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