Friday 31 January 2014

Frustraiting.

so, just finished my second week of work and yeah... i'm a little worried. (also there will be typos for reason that will be explained shortly)

so a long time ago i sustained a shoulder injury at work, it should have been something simple but that injury forced me to take off work for 4 months and see physio 3 times a week cause i had no use of my right (dominant) arm. as the years went on the pain would come and go and after countless tests and many visits with many doctors i was always told the same thing. "well we know something is wrong, we just can't pinpoint what. try to avoid getting to the point where you can't use you arm anymore... as long as you try to maintain it it shouldn't get too much worse."
yeah that was.... 7 or 8 years ago.

so for the past year my shoulder has barely hurt, sometimes if i work on to much art and not enough breaks i'll get a little sore but a few days of rest and i'm back to normal. 

Now this job is similar to ones i've done in the past but since i'm in a different deparment theres a lot more volume then there was before. and we are in the slow portion (though thats going to change) so the first week i had to do this extremely repetitive activity around 400 times over the course of a day i was really sore cause it had been a year since i had to do that kind of stuff.
then when i had to do it again this week (and it was slightly more) i pushed my shoulder to the point where i'm about to lose the ability to use it.
So i'm on edge cause i already was anxious about doing this job but now that i'm at a point where i will not be able to process this thing in time and i'll be needing to do double or triple the amount i'm doing currently... and it hits me.
"I can't do this job"
i've been there 2 weeks.... and i'm thinking of quitting despite getting passed about a week long anxeity attack where i was a mess all day by the mear thought of accepting the job... now i have accepted it and i'm going to fail?
but i just can't see any other option, i know if i push my arm even just a little further i will not be able to use it for months... which means not only can i not work but i also can't take commissions... i will have no way of earning income for a chunk of time.
and so when i tell my family member and bosses that i do not think i can do this job what do they say?
"oh we'll work it out"
"oh you can go to the message therapyst right now and it should help"
"we don't want you to quit"
"we don't want to hire someone else we like you"

and thats really and i'm flattered that after only a few weeks they think i work hard but i know the longer we push this off the more i'm going to end up screwing them over when i break... and i do not want that.

"we'll get you to do different activities"
a) i don't want special treatment
b) even if i switch to using my left hand as dimoniant as i can get it it still hurts my right arm cause the problem stems from my neck and back.

"we'll give you more computer work"
again, if i move my upper back at all it hurts... so thank you for the thought but i can't see it helping.

"here try this medicine!"
it's cause by my spine being out of alignment and a nerve in my neck being pinched... no amount of medicine can fix that. 

the massage therapyst at least gave me some things i can do to try and help but i have 1 week to make a full recovery and i know that is impossible. when i'm to this point of pain i tend to need a good month or so of healing and physio. and if i try to do the thing that injured me while still injured i'm just going to make it worse.
i'm begging these people to replace me and they have outright said "no, not yet" and i'm just so frustrated.
I do not want to quit.
but i also don't want to break myself for a job i had doubts about taking.
and i don't want to be broken at a time where they need me at my best... there are deadlines and timeframes that need to be met or we get fined... and i was hired specifically to do this job.
i seriously hope that if this doesn't get better (which i just can't see... i've been at this point so many times and i know the long recovery i have ahead of me) that they hire someone quickly cause i don't want to saddle the person i was helping with doing that job as well.

but i'm getting so sick and tired of people saying they don't want to think about me leaving cause i fit in well... i like them all so much but i know whats best for my body... and i know what needs to be done and no one will listen. i'm flattered but i'm sorry.... i just can't do this anymore.
i'm so sick of this constant pain and now it's coming on so quickly and no one is able to fix it... the best they can do is put a little bandaid on and hope it sticks

Sunday 26 January 2014

Completed: Howl's Moving Castle (Novel/spoilers)

Story time:
Way back in.... whatever year the fi;m version of howls moving castle came out, a friend of me asked if i wanted to go check it out.
I had never heard of it but i figured why not.

and in the end i really enjoyed it, i seem to be one of a few who liked that movie... it's not perfect by any means and from the stairs scene to just before the end it gets a little stupid and the pacing grinds to a halt... but the ending is utterly adorable and i love the character arc. Also the animation and music are really well done but thats to be expected from studio Ghibli.

Now... i am going to have to spoil both the book and the film in order to talk about this cause i can't talk about what i like without spoilers.

So recently i was at a different friends house and i notice she had the novel on her bed. I thought to myself "i have nothing to read on my kindle right now... it's probably not expensive" so i asked her if it was any good and when she said it was enjoyable i ordered a copy for myself.

However when i opened the book and read the first line i was worried. i am having a hard time describing the feeling it gave me but it was almost like it was trying to be the most whimsical thing you have ever seen. now for a fairy tale that's not a terrible thing, at first it was feeling like it was trying WAY too hard. However once i got used to the "sing songy" structure of storytelling i grew to accept it and by the end i enjoyed it.

So is the book different from the film?
to a point.... no. The first chuck is pretty much exactly the same except we have two sisters instead of one.

essentially Sophie bumps into howl in town (though the books encounter is much much shorter) goes to see her sister and then when she heads back to the hat shop the witch of the waste turns her old for 'some reason'. Sophie, who doesn't want to frighten her family, runs away before they see her as a 90 year old woman.  Then she comes across the moving castle and bullies her way on board.

so yeah... pretty much identical in both however at this point there is already one massive difference. The turnip headed scarecrow does not stay with her in the moving castle at all. he does re-appear late in the story but for the most part he is not there.

now i can understand doing things in a different order because film is a much shorter and less inside someones head type of medium... but even knowing that i was perplexed for a long time why such a key character was missing from the source material.... yes i felt in the film his resolution was rushed and pretty stupid but still.... i wondered how they were going to accomplish certain things if he wasn't there.
but as i mentioned that was when i thought the stories were fairly similar.... pretty much after that point there was a drastic change.

Again, pretty major spoilers so... yeah
So in the film the second half of the film focuses on the witch who has lost her power, the war and how howl is going to have to fight it, howls true form and how to break sophies curse.
yeah..... none of that, except the curse breaking though it's more focused on howl then sophie, happens in the book.
there is a war that is spoken about but it is not a plot element. Howl is not a bird, he is from wales... we never really hear about how he gets to this land film with magic but who cares... he's from another time and place. the witch does not lose her powers... in fact the witch it the catalyst for the climax.

now... that seems like a pretty massive change... when you take the main antagonist and the cause of everyone's suffering and turn her into a weak old woman simply so you can have the main antagonist be war.... yeah this actually kind of pissed me off. I always felt the "and now howl must fight war cause of reasons" was rushed, unexplained and just silly... it threw off the pacing of the film completely... so to learn that it was never a part of the story.... yeah, not cool ghibli.

the Actual climax is, as i mentioned, the wicth has put a curse on howl as well and it's so that she can steal his heart and create the perfect man to be king and she would be his bride. Sophie, who is also a witch though only recently found out, does everything in her power to try and save howl from it even if it puts herself at risk. she goes to break calcifers contract with howl but worries it'll kill him. however her magic is special and she's probably the only one who can have them both survive.

After giving howl back his heart calcifer is free and sophies curse is broken as well (or at least partially, we are in her head most of the time so when she mentions that she seems a chunk of her auburn hair but ignores it i figure thats when the curse broke but there is no fanfare so it could have broken slightly earlier or later) Howl defeats the final form of the witch and then the rest of her curses are broken and howl goes back to the arrogant guy he was before but you can still tell he cares deeply for sophie and the feeling is returned.

Now i mention this as just kind of popping up but no... it is steadily built over time as her respecting him, her being curious, her being jealous and then finally admitting to herself that she does have feelings for him despite looking like and old lady.

oh and calcifer comes back with the proviso that he can leave at any time to go exploring since he has been tied to that fireplace for so long.

then the book does something i think was handled better in the film. Hwls hair is still unnaturally blond and sohpies hair is back to 'red gold' as she called it.
i liked that in the film her hair ended up silver and his was dark... if hers had gone back to normal nad his had gone natural as well i would have been okay with it but yeah... that was one aspect i thougth was sweeter in the film.

Spoilers end

I really enjoyed this book, i don't think i'll read the next one "castle in the air" (which has nothing to do with castle in the sky) for a while cause i have a huge backlog of fantasy novels that have been recommended to me. still i am glad i took the time to read this, it's not very long [makes sense as it is technically a childrens book] and even though it's got whimsy at every turn it never feels pretentious.
also if you haven't seen the Film by Studio Ghibli go see it, it may not be your cup of tea but i still think it's enjoyable.

Howl's moving castle is written by Diana Wynn Jones and you can get it in a variety of ways but i got it as an ebook
also despite my spilers i skimmed a lot of details so yeah... go read it!

Thursday 23 January 2014

mini rant about stuff no one cares about.

So, I'm an artist... all my clothing is covered in art crap ranging from paint to clay stains to pigment... lets just so i don't own a lot of nice outfits cause i will just end ruining them and that makes me sad.

So when i got offered this job i thought. "great, it doesn't start for a while... that'll give me a week to get nice clothing and probably a haircut" cause i knew the job, while it didn't have a dress code we are expected to look nice.

then a lot of things happened... i was forced to take a course on shit i already knew... then immediately after i finished the test i was asked to come in the next day.

so again.... i have decent clothing but nothing super fancy cause more likely then not i will get india ink all over it...
so my first reaction is a long line of swearing but then i was like. "you know... she has been warned that i'm not terribly worried about fashion and she has given me less then no time to get new clothes... it's just for a few days and i can go shopping on the weekend..." i can't really go shopping after work cause... well the days are long and i only really have enough time to eat, get ready for the next day and sleep.

but dammit... i'm wearing the nicest non-paint covered outfits i own and i still feel like i'm being judged on how i'm dressed.

and this wouldn't bother but me if the clothing was like scummy crap but no... i'm dressed nicer then some other people.... but still my boss wants me to dress nicer.
and it wouldn't bug me so much if EVERYONE was heald to this standard... but (and i'm not saying it's sexist but it kinda sorta is) it is more expected of the women.
we are expected to look nice as we work... we are expected to eat healthy hippy dippy crap that has no damn flavor... and i'm sorry but thats not me... and i hate that they are forcing it on me. my normal wardrobe of babydoll shirts and dark jeans is not terrible... it's clean and 99% of the time i have a nice sweater on.... but it's not 'stylish' and it's like... news flash i am not stylish.... because stylish is bloody expensive and i can't justify that amount of money for a damn near see through shirt which i have to layer with a camisol which i will be pullign down all day cause i hate when shirts ride up. and the style i like would label me a weirdo cause... i like my puffy frilly girly girl crap.
Meanwhile - everyone else can wear t-shirt and jeans and hoodies and no one bats a damn eye.

i'm just missing my old job... it was the same as this one just in a different atmosphere and it was a lot more fun... people would smile more and there was always laughter and noise even when it was crunch time.
it's so quiet there... and everyone is so serious and just... ugh... never taking that kind of job again... i like my old style much better and hope to continue that... or maybe a different industry is in order...
the job itself is fine, it's a lot of stuff i was doing before and my supervisor gives me a lot of freedom to do things in a way i'm comfortable [and he obviously doesn't care how i dress but he doesn't get the last say]... but i am tried of the bullshit side.. as long as i'm not dressed like a slob and i'm doing a good job i fail to see what the issue is.

and who knows... i could be reading way too much into their looks... i'm a bit odd and quiet and maybe thats throwing them off... i don't know... i just don't want to change who i am for a few months simply cause they are paying me... 

Monday 20 January 2014

New Job

So, today was interesting.

Long story short i had to take a class today for work, it was all stuff i knew and had done but this was mandatory so i went in, took the class, did the test and then on my way home i get asked if i can come in tomorrow.

I still don't know for sure if i passed (i would be surprised if i failed) but yeah... i will gladly come into work tomorrow.

So what does this mean?
Well.... see you in a few months.

okay not really... but I will be limited on what i can talk about cause i'll be under an NDA... so if i answer evasively.... yeah it's cause i don't have a choice.
I will still be making art and trying to do more process work bits.... i will actually be reading more cause if i ever have to transit i may as well be doing something with my time and i'm not fond of drawing while moving and i don't wanna lug a game console around on the off chance i'll have an hour to play it.
I will still be watching all that anime but i may fall behind and give up on more titles. if there are any titles you want me to keep trying that i may have fallen behind on just let me know.

I can't see making time for games and probably not movies... the days are just too long... so yeah those will stop for a while.

So essentially more of one thing... less of other things... but i'll still be here and trying to check this daily... i may just take longer to update or reply.

so yeah... it's not going to be for long, just a few months... then back to unemployment (unless something else shows up)

Saturday 18 January 2014

Completed: Iron Man 3

I didn't really care for it.
Granted... i am currently in a lot of pain as my back for no reason decided to seize up on me so yeah... i'm a little negative.

but in my pain riddled state i just felt it was kinda dull.
Everything was brought up and resolved with such ease.
there was no plot twist you didn't see coming from a mile away.
and the ending was really dumb.
it should have been called "one liners 3"... sure they all could be called that but this felt like it was trying really really hard.

granted some moments were funny... but never engaging.

But again, i'm more then a little biased since i'm just hoping the pain killers kick in soon and i can stop crying out in pain every time i move a little.

I want to say i like the first two... and i mean... i remember the first one being really fun.... but i don't remember a damn thing from either of them EXCEPT the robot that keeps screwing up.
everything else is a bit of a haze so yeah... i guess i didn't like it that much.

but yeah... iron man three isn't bad... it's just really dull... i'm sad to hear that RDJ isn't doing the roll anymore but honestly i get it.... i'm sure he had his fun but 4 films as one character can be taxing and everyone wants to try new things. He and the rest of the cast did a wonderful job as actors... but something is lacking and i'm not sure if it's the script or the directing but it just felt like it needed something to make it more cohesive.

i could probably be more insightful then that but no... too much pain...

Friday 17 January 2014

So anipan is dead? edited

Long story short: The first thing i ever supported through crowd funding was a website for artist...  i felt it may be a good switch from DeviantArt because i'm finding the community from DeviantArt isn't giving me what i want.... so new site with the feature to support larger art pieces... sounds interesting.

I don't remember how much i gave... it wasn't a lot... but still i gave them money so i hoped it would be good.

Well... i don't know why i was thinking it would be better...

1st. they released the site to the public way before it was ready... after the campaign ended the announced that it would only take a few months which should have been a big red flag but at that point... they already had my money...
anyways the layout was okay, the front page was cluttered but hey.. it was a Alpha/Beta testing grounds.
viewing the artwork was very nice and having your account be determined by number meant you could make anything your user name... this was a feature i found very nice even if i never used it.
however, as all art sites end up, the only art that showed up on the front page was the popular stuff and there was no way to change it.

2nd. in the alpha/beta stages there was no real inbox or way to reply to people that made sense.... when they released the site to the public this was never fixed... for a community based website you NEED a way to communicate.... so yeah when this was still a problem 6 month and even a year after it 'launched' ... yeah another red flag.

3rd. Because it was made by the people who did mangabullet (another dead website though it died abotu a year after Anipan released) people thought it would be a site focusing on Anime-inspired art and when people of all art stiles started posting the entitled a-holes pretty much lost their shit... going as far as to ask that things like photography and literature be banned as it wasn't anime... despite the site never being called and anime only site.

4th. it took ages to load anything... sure it's nice to get details of large picks but 9/10 times it would time out.

5th. submitting to the site was a pain and half the time wouldn't work properly.

6th. never updated and now i think it's good to consider it dead.... everyone who gave them money was essentially ripped off and if you ever see another site being made by Eddz well just don't give them money, i'm not saying don't use the site just... yeah be careful about financing them.

Honestly, i would not be surprised if this was all a scam to start with, they had a thing where you could buy shares of the website (i don't remember if it was MB or AP but both are dead so the point stands) and the thinking being eventually it would be worth something? yeah... wouldn't be surprised if that was just an attempt to get more money before running cause it was implemented fairly late in whichever sites lifespan.

It also seems like a new site Inkr is poping up with a lot of similarities to MB and AP... yeah i hope no one gives it money, at least not until it has proven to be a stable site that wont vanish overnight... i don't know for sure if it's the same people but the locations match and more important the design aesthetics match.

but yeah this was something we could all see from a mile away and do nothing to stop it. This is why everything on crowdfunding sites is buyer beware... i would love to see some legal action against the creators but honestly i doubt a case would hold any water (the best i can hope is if they make another site that no one gives them money). they said they would make a site called anipan... and they did, it was nothing like they promised but thats tough shit.

edit: on Jan 20th they finally came out with a story on what happened, this does not mean i am okay with what happened. I am still annoyed about backing an ultimately failed project but hey...  it happens. 
long story short - unexpected stuff happened and eventually they ran out of money, the site was already such a failure there was no point it putting more money into it... i get it... still you can't blame people for considering it's a scam when not only does everyone involved go silent but another similar site starts showing signs of coming out.

oh well... eventually i'll find a different site to use instead of DA.
I don't hate DA but it does a few things that really piss me off... mostly it's stance on copyright... but also the community feels very entitled to have things their way, most of them are just too young to realize the world doesn't revolve around you.... and one word comments that honestly mean nothing and do nothing to help people grow... i just want a more creative space i guess... but i'll keep posting there till i get off my ass and code a personal website (*shudder*) but knowing me... it'll take forever so... yeah... DA is good enough for now... at least i don't feel cheated by them.

also this is not news... it apparently vanished some time in november... i just checked it today and i even remember a friend mentioning it was down a while back... but yeah... it's January now and still no news... so yeah it's dead
do not support Inkr financially until they are stable and working and a good community, it is his new site.
probably best to just avoid... too much headache

Wednesday 15 January 2014

30 questions about video games from tumblr

so i was strolling around around on tumblr and came across an "ask me" list about video games.

So i was all... Sounds good.
but i figure... no one is going to ask... and i wanna answer every question so....

30 questions about Video games! from Tumblr

1:Do you try to stay away from walkthroughs? 
I always try to stay away from them but there are times where i just have no idea what I'm supposed to do next and i will check walkthroughs as a way of getting a hint.  the only time i will outright consult them is if there is a game with multiple endings and theres an ending i want to get... but even then i usually play through walkthrough-less first and then i go back.

2:Company you're always loyal to? 
I think being outright loyal to a company is a dangerous mindset. Even good developers are capable of putting out a less then stellar product. and you also get people fighting about which company is better and in the end it divides the community.
That being said, when i see game with Either The Atlus or Falcom logo on them i am more willing to give them a try so i guess I'm loyal to them... however i don't think either company has produced only perfect gems descended from the heavens so i am cautious but still 'loyal'

3:Best game you've ever played? 
Hm... can anyone really answer this question? i mean i can list of some games i really like but i don't think i can pick one as being the best I've ever played... so I'll just say it's probably either Ys 3/7/4/origin, Avalon code, Disgaea, 9 hours 9 persons 9 doors, Tales or phantasia or Radiant Historia... all these games have things in them that i consider great but i can't pick a best game among them cause they all have flaws as well.

4:Worst game you've ever played? 
I try to avoid bad games.... but i still have a list for this.
Rhythm Thief - a Rhythm game that lacks a few any good songs, consistent gameplay, consistent time measures, readability and above all that is just a prof. layton ripoff without realising whats fun about layton.

Hoshigami Remix - just an outright broken and damn near unplayable game all compounded by a lacklustre story and cheating AI. I didn't get very far in the game before i tried to return it and the cashier informed me i may as well keep it cause i would only get 1 cent back from it. 
so it shits on my shelf gathering dust never to be played again. 

A Witch's Tale - when i get mad at games i tend to throw whatever I'm holding into something soft to vent my frustration... i always have a pillow handy and i never throw hard... it's more of a "get this away from me before i actually break it" kind of toss. 
this game made me throw my ds into my bed a few times but the time i remember most was during this underwater world section... this game has the dreaded 'underwater timer' which i loath in any game but in this game it's particularly insulting because the main character is really hard to control thanks to her movement being determined by the touch pad.
so after getting stuck for the millionth time i said screw it and looked up a walkthrough cause i obviously wasn't doing it right (i was it was just broken) and then when i saw two things that made me cringe.
1. How to get True end
2. 1st playthrough is just a dream and you have to replay the game to get true ending.
well that game was out of my system so fast cause i wasn't going to play something i had to play again to get the real ending.

L'Ark Rise Fantasia - one time i was in transit and someone was talking to me about games and this game came up... I hate this game... the person liked it a lot and the look on his face of "awww but i enjoy it" made me feel bad... but then i explained why i hate it.
The voice acting is the worst i've ever seen
I was going to put a vid of the opening scene there but no... this video captures the terrible voice acting so much better.
The gameplay is non existent and completely plays itself... it has a needlessly complex battle system with an auto button and yeah.... you are going to be hitting the auto button constantly.
and then they story is just okay... it's not the worst story I've ever seen but it's nothing we haven't seen before.
but yeah Ryfia's (purple haired girl in white) voice acting is probably the single worst i have ever heard in anything ever...

5:A popular series/game you just can't get into no matter how much you try? 
Dangerous question... okay.
Legend of zelda - I love the art and the story but the gameplay actually makes me really really angry... it isn't fun for me so i just can't get into the series as a whole.
Final Fantasy series - I have played a little bit of every FF game except 8, 9, the early tactics games and the online games and no matter what i just never end up beating them. I like them to a point but then one of two things happen... It becomes a grind fest in order to beat the game or goes into space.... or both. 
I hate Grinding... i think the concept of it is flawed, I think that you should be able to beat a game playing through it as normal without worrying about side quests and still be able to beat the final boss... it should be hard as hell but do-able.
Sidequesting should allow the fight to be easier... but in the end side quests should be optional. But final fantasy games seem to feel that if you don't spend hours getting your level/grids as high as possible you simply are not playing it correctly.  so in the end the game that at one point was fun become a boring grind fest as i look around trying to find crap i missed and it always ends in me putting the game down indefinitely. Or it worse it ends with me gaining a level, saving, trying the boss, failing and then repeating till i win and that just isn't fun to me.
To date i have only ever beaten the tactics games on DS and 10... and 10 is a technicality cause my game froze after i beat the final boss (guess my system though that terrible boss was a joke and decided to become the final boss)
I did get to the final boss in 7 but... well.... you know that attack he does? the one with the really long cut scene? yeah... first time i encountered that i jumped up and turned off my system to avoid panic attack... the second time i just left the room listening for the attack to finish and when i got back my party was dead cause my level wasn't high enough so i said.... screw it i can look up the ending. 
I don't think the Final fantasy games are bad and i can get into them easily enough... i didn't even hate what i played of 13 (though when our system red ringed and i wasn't about to replay that) but i just find it hits a point where the fun stops and while not every game needs to be fun i do feel games need to be enjoyable.

6:A game that's changed you the most? 
The most.... hm... I'm going to have to go with Tales of Phantasia.
it was the first game i ever did everything in... got every secret, every summon every spell and nearly maxed out every character. I loved the story i loved the use of comedy and i loved the somewhat action based game play. it also helped me feel confident enough to try other niche games i had never heard of since as i mentioned before... the most popular RPGs out there just weren't doing it for me. 

7:A game you'll never forget? 
that's tough cause from n64 onward i haven't really forgotten any of the games I've played... so i guess I'll go with what game i tend to think off from time to time despite how much time has passed... which would be avalon code. I bought the game brand new for 10 bucks on a whim and despite some buggy aspects i really really loved it... not to mention the art is stunning. but yeah fun game and now I'm good at slider puzzles.

8:Best soundtrack? 
Ha ha ha... oh boy... i can't pick a best overall so I'll just say Ys 3,4,7 and Origins and Radiant Historia... and i guess wind waker... i may not love the game but that score is simply lovely. 

9:A game you turn your volume off every time you play it? 
L'ark rise fantasia but more so for the voice acting... from what i remember the music is just kinda mediocre. 

10:A game you've completely given up on? 
See answers for #4 and #5

11:Hardest game you've played? 
I'm not a fan of 'hard' games... i just like enjoying the experience and stressing out isn't fun... so i guess Ys Origin on hard with Hugo. I am playing ys4 right now on nightmare but i doubt I'll beat it so I'm not counting it. 

12:Shortest time you've beaten a game in? 
I'm pretty sure the game is Ys 1 and according to steam i spent 5 hours on it so yeah... it's a pretty short game so that makes sense.

13:A game you were the most excited for when it wasn't released yet? 
In the past: Ys Memories of Celceta, i was so excited for this game i actually bought a vita when it came out.
Currently: Trails in the Sky SC since it's been a long time coming and hopefully with it being translated ow we will get some other games from the Kiseki line... I'm okay with DL only titles if it means i get my fix. also I'm so excited to hear that the translator from recettear is working on it cause they did a wonderful job of that game. 

14:A game you think would be cool if it had voice acting? 
Pretty much every game that doesn't have voice acting would be that much more enjoyable with voice acting... i love voice acting (excluding crappy ones like L'ark rise fantasia) and yeah... i prefer when they give the option for language of VA (though 99% i pick english) so that if the english sucks i can switch it. 

15:Which two games do you think would make an awesome crossover? 
this could go either way but A tales of and Ys series cross over would make me smile from ear to ear... by it ys characters in a tales of setting or Tales of characters playing like an Ys game... both ideas make me grin from ear to ear. 

16:Character you've hated most? From what game?
Tidus from Final Fantasy 10 and Seraphim from Disgaea. 
Tidus cause he's just so unlikeable and the story continues to try and focus on him when it is (against everything he says)  in fact not his story but in actuality yuna's story... she should be the main character... but instead we get this annoying doofus playing the main character and yeah... just annoys me. 
Seraphim cause... well.... Spoilers: thanks to him i couldn't use my best character in the final fight : End spoilers.

17:What game do you never tell people you play?
I'm not really ashamed of any games i play... but i don't think people realise how much i play games like bejewled or the pokemon version of tetris attack  (pokemon puzzle league) so yeah... those i guess...

18:A game you wish your friends knew about? 
Back in the day i would have said Tales of games but those have grown in popularity so now I'll say Ys games cause Dammit i just enjoy them so much and i want my friends to enjoy them. 

19:Which game do you think deserves a revival? 
Ys 5 but knowing falcom I'm sure it's in the works... right after they release Ys 8

20:What was the first video game you ever played? 
According to family: Super Mario Bros/duck hunt when i was 2
According to my memory: Diddy Kong racing when i was 7 or 8.... but i believe my family on this... i just do not remember anything before 7. 

21:How old were you when you first played a video game?
Again i was a toddler apparently though i do not remember it... i remember i would watch my dad play games occasionally but i didn't start playing games by myself till 7 or 8 (i wanna say 8 cause i don't see how i could play games with a broken arm when i was 7... granted 2 months between breaking the arm and christmas so.... maybe? gah that time is too fuzzy for me)

22:If you could immerse yourself in any game for one day, which game would it be? What would you do? 
Ys Memories in celceta, go to the town where ancient lore plays, go to the spot where the relic is kept and just draw and hope that the music in the game is the ambient music in the town... it would just be so wonderful. 

23:Biggest disappointment you've had in gaming? 
Finding out i don't like zelda games... i know it sounds odd but i REALLY wanted to like Link to the past and realising that not only did i not have a good time with it but I've never had a good time with a zelda game was a bit... surprising. It was like i had been lying to myself in order to conform to this idea of what a gamer is and not enjoying one of the most beloved games out there made me wonder what am i not getting... why am i not connecting to this thing? I'm over it now cause honestly if not liking a super popular series makes me less of a gamer then  that's not a community i want to be a part of... i want to be part of an inclusive community that likes and dislikes all sorts of games and still gets along.

24:Casual, Hardcore, or in the middle?
Probably in the middle, it's hard cause i play really niche games no one talks about so some people have assumed I'm this hardcore jrpg fan and I'm not...  i play games for enjoyment above all else... and the best way to find games you enjoy is to try a bunch of games that you may not have heard of.

25:Be honest; have you ever used cheats (like ActionReplay or Gameshark)? 
No, i have one for the DS but i never ended up using it. 

26:Handheld or console? 
I actually prefer handhelds... i like that i can pause at any time by just putting it to sleep and that i can go anywhere and play for 5 mins or play for an hour... playing P4 on Handheld was way more enjoyable then it was on ps2.... i think consoles have their place though but if I'm not worried about graphics i would rather play a handheld version of a game then a console one. 

27:Has there ever been a moment that has made you cry? 
name a game with a sad scene in it and i promise you it has brought me to tears. 
the worst offenders are: 
Disgaea - Normal ending (and my preferred ending)
Tales of Phantasia - Truth about Dhaos
Persona 4 - Hospital scene
Ys MoC - Knowledge
Radiant Historia - True ending
Trails in the Sky - That cliffhanger

28:Which character's clothes do you wish you owned the most? 
Even though I'm a girl... I really love Adol's outfit in celceta and with no alterations (aside from getting it to fit) i would wear it... i adore his hoodie and the points his shirt go into... I am actually contemplating cosplaying it (as a female Adol)  just so i can have the hoodie and necklace and wear it to work and have no one be the wiser cause i ALWAYS wear hoodies.... and it would be one of the more normal looking ones.... so yeah... i mean there's also Elena's guard outfit from Oath/Alternative saga but that's just cause i love the scarf and the sword is pretty awesome too... though it would be tricky to make.

29:Which is more important, gameplay or story? 
Music....
okay in all honesty i don't know... i have forgiven games that play badly that have a great story and i have forgiven games that have a crappy story but are really fun to play.... but out of the two... i guess the edge has to go to gameplay cause if the controls stop me from having a good time i wont be enjoying the story.  But my original answer still stands... if the music is worth it i will forgive a lot.

30:A game that hasn't been localized in your country that you think should be localized?
*insert any Falcom game that hasn't been localized in any form* honestly... so many.... but yeah.... falcom games for sure... and also the tales games we haven't gotten... it would be nice to get those.

so yeah... that's it... i did the thing no one asked me to do... yay~

Sunday 12 January 2014

First Impressions: Winter 2014 [edit 2]

I have heard, many times... that Winter and Summer are the two worst seasons for anime.
yeah... um... thats a load of crap.... kinda

the thinking is that the block buster big shows almost always come out in Spring or Fall... meaning that the runoff of the good shows dribble into the next season but nothing huge tends to release otherwise.
In the past i have found this to be a load of crap and have had Summer and Winter be my busiest watching seasons cause there is just so much i'm enjoying. there are a lot more short 13 epsiodes shows and a lot more 'artsy' shows but my taste for whatever reason tend to enjoy those types of shows instead of the 500 episode behemoths.

however... this season... yeah okay i see what they mean.

Some ground rules for how i do first impressions.
I only watch shows i have easy access to... so if it's on funimation or Hulu i'm kinda screwed since don't get that here... most of what i'll be talking about will be Crunchyroll but if there is something on Anime on demand i can see if it's allowed in my area.

I am going to 'try' to watch one episode of each show.... this doens't mean i will watch it all but i will mention when and why i gave up.
no second continuing season of shows i haven't seen already. 
Not webshows either (though there may be one exception)
new rule: no anime with sister in the title
just.... no... I have never seen a show i like with sister in the title... it's all incest-y creepy crap and i'm just gunna draw my stubborn line in the sand.. i've heard that one show is decent (ore-imo i think it's called) i don't care, i didn't like the 5 mins i saw of it.

So first, what am i continuing from last season?

Kuroko's Basketball 2
Just imagine a giggling mess.... that was me during this episode... first hiroshi kamiya finally shows up for more then a line and hearing him all mean and sinister... ah i love it. (i could just rewatch durarara and get this same feeling but... i'm strange)
and then kuroko names another pass... and i just couldn't stop laughing... i love this show, it was my fav from last year and i think that will continue... but seriously stop naming moves... it's silly

Yowapeda
I'm amazed i like this show as much as i do, even with the dodgy 3d models for when they are riding it's just really well done and i am happy to hear that this will continue into spring 2014... i'm sad to see no more rookie'z is punk'ed into but the new intro is REALLY good so... i forgive it. 

Nagi No Asukura
last season at first i was unsure of this show... it had an interesting world but not much else
now that the second season has started i know this show is really really good. The animation, the music, the story... it's all so well done and i seriously hope that NISA licenses this cause they would do the best job of it. but yeah this may end up being one of my fav shows ever by the end.

Samurai Flamenco
To avoid spoiling anything from the previous season all i'll say is this show rocks. if you are unsure about it watch till episode 8 and if your not intrigued then yeah... stop.(i know 8 episodes is a lot to give a show but yeah... thats how long it took me to cement that i adore this show so thats what i'm suggesting) but yeah considering how the show is going... i think it's taking some interesting turns and i can't wait to see more.... also this episode had me laughign really hard by the end... when you see it you can guess why.

Golden Time
This is the make or break episode.... i seriously think 13 is more then enough to judge if i like or dislike the show. I just find Kaga koko really creepy... and if she is the main lead then yeah... i can't support the show.
still seems like she's the main but i'm curious about how it'll all work out... but yeah... if kaga koko gets held up for how creepy her stalker actions are it wont bug me anymore... i just wonder what happened to the writer between toradora and this...

New Shows:

Recently, my sister is Unusual
that's right the first new show available to me this season is a sister show... which according to some super early reviews is extremly lewd and uncomfortable. Also about half a week after it aired my friend told me "well i just saw the worst show this season" and yeah... it was this one... not surprised. also a lot of the reviews on crunchyroll are like "omg those people who gave it 1 star are wrong" no... that is called an opinion... we are all allowed to have one and we don't all have to match up.
So yeah... pass.

Seitokai Yakuindomo *
A second season to a show i don't watch and after a quick search is apparently about a boy who goes to a recently gender intergrated school. 
so... it's a harem show.
oh but it's funny cause they talk about all that icky girly stuff that men don't have to deal with and it's gross. 
. . . . *sighs* yeah..... pass

Mushi-shi OVA
I have gone on record to say that despite my love of Natsume Yuujinchou i pretty much hated Mushi-shi... the difference being that in one the episode is dedicated to figuring out a solution to a problem and in the other he just knows the solution and the rest is dedicated to implementing the solution and from what i saw it never ended well and oh look at how artsy we are. 
it's just not my cup of tea... still i'll go into the ova and try to put my bias aside. 
Again, he knows the solution and it's a matter of finding it... which is fine, if you like the show you will probably really love the OVA cause it references a lot of the show.... i just can't get into it
The animation is lovely and artistic but the pacing is slow and you will be lost if you haven't watched the show. for me... it just does nothing

Tonari no Seki-kun: The master of killign time
webshow, i don't like those so yeah... seems to be about a guy who does everything at his desk instead of school work... maybe it's funny... i really hate the look of it but considering it's just a webshow i understand why the animation isn't better.

oh please give me something good or interesting... please.

Nobunaga the Fool
Before watching:
*deep heavy annoyed sigh* so... yeah... they need to stop making shows about nobunaga.... like at least it doesn't look like it's a genderswap show but seriously... there are enough of them... and it looks like there are TWO right after each other... great... okay... lets see this. 
After watching: 
So... uh... *clears throat* steam punk mech old timey japan where nobunaga and all his boys are extremely pretty while on another parallel world/star where Jeanne D'ark is summond by King arthur by having leonardo da' vinci give her the message. then they fly in a space hip to see the king... but because of reasons they go in a little ship missle thing and go to the other world and...
no... i think it finally happened.... i lost any marbles i may have had. 
ok in all seriousness... despite the off the wall idea... i think this show may end up being pretty good, the animation is lovely and so is the music... the plot is nuts but i think this may end up being pretty entertaining if nothing else.

Nobunagun
Is this yet another reincarnated genderswapped nobunaga in current day?
nope...
it's a reincarnated big names of the past potentially genderswapped (nobunaga, jack the ripped, isaac Newton... ghandi ect.) in current day fighting monster of the week things with spheres that turn into weapons.
and... um... *shrugs* i don't know what to think after one episode... i don't think it looks terribly good but i plan to give it another ep or two before i make up my mind... even though it's way less crazy then the other nobunaga show this season i think the other one looks way more interesting.
but i think i've made clear i am sick of the Nobunaga anime... it's just been done to death.

The Pilot's Love Song
Hm... one episode isn't enough to make an opinion on. It's a good show... that much i can tell. It's got an interesting world set up and i plan to give it a few more episodes before i make up my mind one way or the others. The girl named claire sounds like madoka kaname but i can't seem to confirm that.... unless *does a reverse search* ah... i am right... and now i've spoiled myself... oh well i kinda figured that was the case.  still i think i'll continue with this show... even though it feels like the main charater was named after superman. (Kall-el)

Soni-Ani Super Sonico the Animation
this is looks pretty awful fanservice bait... lets see.
from what i understand she's a mascot character for a game company
and yeah... as i expected just a crappy fanservice show.. i mean they couldn't even get her a bathing suit that fits? *has a deep hatred for the underboob trend since it's just begging for wardrobe malfunction.* also... whats with the headphones... was she born with them on? whatever... i'm obviously not the target market for this kinda of show.

Hamatora
So colourful~ I don't know why but tonally it's giving me a Durarara! vibe... i don't think it has any connect-- HIROSHI KAMIYA~
sorry sometimes i write these as i watch the episode to get my honest first impressions and... yeah... i'm 90% sure i'll enjoy this show now. am i judgeing it just cause it gives off a similar vibe to Durarara and has my fav voice actor.... yeah pretty much... but yeah just checked and i can't find a connection to Durarara... it's just the feeling it gives off.
ok now that i have actually watched the entire episode yeah... i think i'm gunna like this show. it's very colourful with dark tones and interesting 'magic' (lack of better term) system and from the first episode i am intrigued.
and yeah... having my fav voice actor does not hurt.  i can't help my bias.

Witch Craft Works
So a friend of my told me this was probably one of his favs this season but then said i probably wouldn't like it.
he's wrong... it's been a while since i laughed this much during an anime... it's funny without being a 'comedy' anime meaning no pop culture jokes... just situational ones. Despite the main female being very well endowed there isn't a single frame of Fanservice and usually the first episode is where you get the most.
The premise is fun and a nice gender swap on the damsel in distress trope and all around this show is really really funny... i mean.... just the ending song had me laughing so hard.
i have a feeling i will enjoy this show a lot.

Engaged to the Unidentified
wow that animation is pretty, wow those designs are moe... and now she's engaged to a random guy... wow this is going downhil fast... but there has to be a catch...
well nothing revealed in episode one? based on title and ending song maybe he's an alien? i don't know... if i have nothing this season i may give it another episode or two but so far it's just moe fluff and yeah... i need a bit more plot.

Strange +
*looks at the promo art* i have a sinking suspicion that this isn't gunna be something i enjoy.
It's a webseries... good... after watching about a min of the 3 min episode... yeah this is not my thing, it's supposed to be funny i think but yeah... nope.

Z/X Ignition
well that went from super dark to extremly moe in record time...
so these gates appear all over adn kill thousands  of people and then time skip and now some people use these monsters to fight mosters from different worlds via cards they use to capture them and...
uh.
i don't get it... like i'm sure it'll be explained over time but at this point i don't care enough to learn what's going on... also (and maybe this is just me) but when there is this much action with no stakes or repercussion it just feels boring... i'll probably give it another episode or 2 but right now it was just a little dull.

Hozuki no Reitstsu
When i original saw the promo art i was realy excited for the show.
then i saw the commecial for it and wasn't sure anymore... this partially why i try to go into everything blind.
*pauses around 7 minutes* hm... ok so there are lots of shows that mention things/stories/legends that can only be understood by an audience who already knows a bit of lore before hand... most of the time it just adds to the enjoyment but rarely stops you from understanding.
this on the other hand is EXTREMELY japanese... if you don;t know about how spirits, demons and orgers or shangra-la (which is chinese isn't it?) work along side legends like momotaro... yeah you are going to be really lost.
to compound all this culture show i think it's also supposed to be a comedy show but i don't know the references to get the joke so i just feel lost. So yeah it's not a bad show, as someone who has a limited knowledge of Japanese Mythology i am just way too lost to enjoy it.
the plot seems to be hell society run like a government...

Onee-cha ga Kita
A sister show AND a webseries? no thank you! granted it's probably not gross and pervy cause
a) it's an older sister
and
b) it's only 3 minutes long
but i don't care... any show called "my big sister came" is bad news in my book.

Magical Warfare
hm... i need to give this one another episode or two. It's an interesting concept of if you are exposed to magic while young you become able to weild magic yourself... but it doesn't seem terribly special yet... so yeah gunna give it a bit more, it's mad house so it looks interesting if nothing else. apparently the next episode the introduce the magical school so yeah... just gotta give it more time...

Pupa
I am both intrigued by the art style of this show but terrified that it's gunna be awful.
wow thats one hell of a censorship shadow!
oh wow i didn't expect this at all...
IT'S A WEBSHOW?
well.... that... uh... happened.
well it's not a comedy webshow... it's most definately a horror one but still.. despite interesting idea... i can't stand waiting a week for something 4 mins long. also... this hsow could have built a lot more suspense with more time... oh well...

Sakura Trick
Not the biggest fan of yuri or yaoi simply cause more often then not (like 99.9% of the time) a certain plot device is used and that leads to love... that doesn't seem to be the case here... however what does seem to be the case is that this is a fanservice show with a crap ton of moe.. it's all just a bit too sugary for my taste... so yeah if you like super duper cutesy moe shows and yuri then this show is probably going to be good..
i'm going to have to pass though... and get my teeth checked for cavities.

Wake Up, Girls! - Seven Idols
this should technically be a completed but it fits better here. this is actually a movie and is 52 mins long.
the animation is a bit odd but the mix of real life stuff and cg and animation is well done.
not sure i get the whole warring idol thing but... who knows. i've never really enjoyed the stories where the focus is on idols... even love live which was okay wasn't very great.
hm... so close, it was really cute and sweet right up until the performance.
Mild spoilers: The manager of the girl group after going through a lot of hardship is unable to get the girls costumes and they are forced to do their debut in their school uniforms.
so whats the problem? well there's a spin that will show off their panties.
now i did dance for a few years, and yeah when you spin the skirt flies up and it's no big deal cause it's a costume.
their school uniforms are not a costume.
and the members range from age 13-17 or 18.
so i just find it kinda gross that a 13 year old is spinning and showing off her underwear to grown men. it doesn't help that the camera focuses on this (not for the younger members but every spin there is a close up of a girls skirt. )
maybe it's just my prudish westerner sensibilities but yeah... it just took all the sweetness of working hard to put on a performance and tossed it out the window.
lets see what the show does....

Wake Up, Girls
this takes place immediately after the film. it's an interesting idea to air the show immediately after the movie (at least thats how they did it on crunchyroll)... essentially a hour and a half of this one show.
and they show the song again in this episode... i guess for those who didn't watch the movie... but considering i did it feels like a bit of a time filler.
hm and the ending... probably wont continue with the show but it doesn't seem terrible... this is just a genre i don't tend to be interested in.
it is neat to see the actual voice actors at the end of the episode though.

Nisekoi
I've heard of this title but i know nothing about it so hopefully it's good.
Okay, i really enjoyed that.
Animation is lovely, characters are well designed and it's funny to boot. it looks like it'll have a nice mix of comedy and tragedy not to even mention that the way the art is used is really really clever... this will probably end up one of my favs this season unless they somehow screw it up... but yeah... really really good.
oh plot? Forced romeo and juliet to stop warring gang members.... and yeah it's a good time.

World Conquest Zvezda Plot
hm... i didn't hate it...
this one needs a few more episodes... it's a little crazy.. the costumes are a bit... *thinks* don't know how to describe it... kill la kill-ish? very revealing while also showing nothing (granted i didn't really like kill la kills look so yeah... but thats what this reminds me of.
but yeah... just overall i'm not sure... if you like crazy over the top shows... this probably qualifies.
that voice at the end...  it's familiar but i can't place it... and MAL doesn't have 'odin' up yet so i guess i gotta wait til lwe have his actual name...

oh well.. i think i only have one left (unless they announce more)

Wizard Barristers
well thats one hell of a disclaimer... i get that you have to mention that things aren't actualyl based on anythign real but still.. always surprises me to see it being said in anime... especially when magic is involved
i'm not the biggest fan of 3d animation in anime cause it almost never looks like it fits in with the world... this however looks stunning and while you can still tell whats 3d and whats not it still flows really really well.
also the main character is canadian so..... gotta give this show a bit of love~  *sees the address and chuckles* yeah... never seen anyplace in the world with names like that... let alone canada...
one guys is named hachimitsu? isn't that... honey?
hey that voice *grin* i could tell it's junichi suwabe~ i still can't hear him in other roles like aomine and andy but hey... the more i recognize him the happier i am.
okay now that i have finished the episode... it's an interesting idea... i have to give it a few more episodes but so far my only complaint is that all the characters have very round faces and it just looks a little odd. otherwise the show seems interesting enough.

am i done? they didn't announce more titles while i was writing this? okay good.
now time for the one acception... if i can find it...

Minna Atsumare! Falcom Gakuen
Yes.... i bitch and moan about webseries... i hate how you can't get any amount of story in the 2-4 minutes the shows end up being...
but being a falcom fangirl overrides that...
so this must be the alternative saga world considering they are talking about xanadu and all that stuff... oh and the fact that LoH/Trails and Ys are in the same universe...
I heard people complaining that none of the characters act the way they are supposed to... I respectfully disagree... i mean... dogi breaks through a wall... what more could you want?
if you haven't played any falcom games you will be lost but if you have and you enjoyed them then this is a really fun and funny take on these characters... now i just gotta way for Dark fact to appear... why is this only 2 minutes *cries*

so from the looks of it i have 5-6 returning shows (may or may not catch up with strike the blood... i'm about 4 or 5 episodes behind..) and about 3 new shows i think i'll stick with for sure and 5-6 i'm going to give a few more episodes before i decide.

most of this season seems to be kinda lackluster but all that could change with time... after all these are just first impressions of the first episodes.


EDIT
So i've mentioned before that i don't tend to look at funi's simulcast cause any time i have checked they use hulu as their video player which doesn't work in canada and the other times they only have the first ep up for free and their player, even though it works, hates my computer or connection... .so i'm less likely to pay for a subscription i can't use.
however i had been seeing a lot of promotional art for noragami and it seemed like the type of show that would be up my alley.

so i looked it up to see if anyone was simucasting or if i would need to wait/hope crunchy got it.
well funimation got it and i was like... if it works great but if not then i'll just check out the dvd [if it's resonably priced]

and hey, it worked, and the player worked too... no skips or studders or voice desynching.

so yeah...

Noragami
it's urban fantasy about a god who goes around helping people cause he's a pathetic god who doesn't even have a shrine and wants to make it to the big leagues.
the god is voice by hiroshi kamiya... so yeah.... i like this show... a lot.

okay voice actor bias aside i actually would like the story no matter who did the voice acting, like i said it is right up my alley. Also i've read a small chunk of the other thing this creator made... "alive" and while it wasn't really my thing i did think it was interesting and the art was really good.
but yeah, this show is interesting... interesting enough to get a subscription at funi? no, espescially if they go back to a hulu player... cause then i would be screwed. also they don't have very many titles.
but still check it out if you can.

EDIT 2
crunchy rolls added titles so yeah... *sighs*

Wonder momo
1:56
 that is the point in which i turned off cause i saw everything i needed to see.
  1. The animation is odd... it's not good or bad and at least it's colourful.... but it's just... strange. it's extemely flat and choppy looking... it doesn't seem like a cohesive vision.
  2. Oh i guess falling over yourself is supposed to be klutzy or moe? yeah no... being a klutz does not define you as a character.
  3. Lets dump all the exposiotion all at once shall we? Yes they seem to be getting it out of the way so they don't have to explain things later but you should weave your exposition into the narritive not just. "oh look that new idol is the girl in the class nextdoor who's a klutz"
  4. This is the actual reason i turned this off. The voice acting is painful to listen to for a few reasons.
    1. It seems to be the main voice actors first role, i'm sure with time and practice she'll sound better and less stiff but in the one it doesn't feel like a character saying stuff it feels like a person reading lines off a script. 
    2. the script is terrible and full of things you've seen before in better shows.
    3. none of the voices fit
    4. the foley and sound effects feel really forced
so yeah... wonder momo is probably one of the worst shows i've ever watched and dropped for reasons other then being offended or stupid fan service... it just isn't a good show. 

Robot Girls Z
This show looks like a lot of fun and even making fun of the mech and/or sentai kind of show. it's not bad but in the end it's not for me and i caan barely keep up with everything i'm watching, but yeah give it a few minutes and you'll know if it's random goofiness is what you enjoy.

Friday 10 January 2014

Completed: White Album 2

This show has been finished a while but the latter half started to really drag and i feel behind and i'm just finishing it now.

and... uh... well the last episode was unsurprisingly heavily censored... like the first few mins is pretty much just a black screen with occasional close ups on eyes.

In the past i have mentioned that if i dislike the characters it completely sours the experience so keep that in mind.
Also i will be spoiling things cause i can't talk about where the show goes horribly wrong without spoilers.

So, the story is about a boy who is learning to play the guitar in his light music club, The mysterious person in the neighboring room who plays along with him (and also she sits beside him in class but we find that out later) and a girl who starts singing with them on the roof.
they find each other and decide to work their ass off to be ready in time for the culture festival.
if the show had ended after the culture festival i would have absolutely no issues with this show.
unfortunately thats only half the story... the other half is the standard H-game plot line of they both love the main character and omg poor dude is so tormented cause he likes both of them but which one does he love?

Normally i don't mind these types of storylines, but the way this show goes about dealing with it makes most of the characters unlikeable assholes.

So spoilers now...
The singer ends up asking the main guy out and they are super lovey dovey and the Pianist (who arguably always had more chemestry with him but was very tsundere) starts distancing herself from them cause it's hard seeing someone you like all over a friend you care about.

this is proceeded by main guy being mopey cause pianist is ignoring him and avoiding him and he obvious has strong feelings about her but the singer obviously likes him so no reason to ruin that relationship cause in his eyes the pianist hates him.

but then (surprise surprise) the pianist actually loved him all along.

and then everything goes to shit.
The main guy then completely ignores his current girlfriend (who had he simply broken up with her at this point i would have been you're a jerk but it's better to cut someone off them pull their heart along on a string.) skips out on her brithday to find the pianist, kisses the pianist (who is rightfully pissed off that he is essentially cheating on her friend) and after they run off and avoid each other some more she goes for one last look before flying abroad and then they have sex.

again, he is still going out with the other girl. had he just stopped his relationship with the other girl this would not have bugged me as much (other then the obvious he's just going for what seems to be the simplest) but he is cheating at this point and thats really shitty.

then, after his girlfriend kinda sorta catches him and lets him explain everything she forgives him because in the end it was her being selfish... she didn't really like him that much she just didn't wanna be the third wheel. but surprise thats a lie and she's really hurting but as long as main guy doesn't know it it's okay.
then it ends... everyone is sad and heartbroken and i don't give a shit.

so much could have been fixed with a simple "i'm sorry i don't think this is working out" line... it wouldn't have been perfect but it would have given the character a redeeming quality.

I just don't like stories where cheating is glorified... had their been some kind of repercussion... had he had to pay for his actions in any way... this all would have been okay (or at least a little better then it ended up being)... but in the end the only people who are in pain from this are the girls cause their friendship probably wont survive... and he's just like "damn she's gone now, thank goodness i have my ex grilfriend here to console my sad broken little heart"

still.. it's not all bad.

The good:
Music is well done, characters are standard dating sim looking characters but the world is animated quite well. also the first half of the story is fairly cute

The bad:
everything else i already mentions... i wish it had pulled this stunt earlier so i could have dropped it but no... it waited till the last two episodes.

i have been told the first white album is much worse, the guy is a complete slut and just sleeps with everyone.... reminds me a bit too much of school days and yeah... i'll just have to avoid anything thats an adaptation from this company....

for now though i have to go back to giving every show this season a shot... and wow is there a lot of crap this season. (granted there have been a few gems so yay)

Saturday 4 January 2014

Completed: Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention

This is the Vita port for the PS3 game.
It's been a long time since i've played a disgaea game, mostly cause i don't own the system that has 3, 4 and d2
so yeah.... yay for ports.

I'm pretty sure i've already told the story oh how i was introduced to the story so... short version

I was playing D&D for the first time at a friends place, one of the players was a bit late and his reasoning was that he had finally found a copy of Disgaea and promptly showed it off to everyone.
I, having never heard of Disgaea, asked what it was about and was promptly berated for mt lack of knowledge... then i was explained that it was a very limited released game but it's awesome and i should pick it up if i ever find it... and that i'd have an easier time finding la Pucelle Tactics since it was more widely available.

so i don't find the game for a while but eventualyl i do... problem was i didn't have enough money on me... so i rush home, get more money and get back and i nthe span of 30 mins it's gone.
fast forward a year and i find it again, this time i have enough money... the damn game is STILL full price cause it's a re-release but i didn't care...

brought it home, played it, loved it....i'm probably one of the only people who prefers the normal end to the actual canon end but hey... what can you do.

eventually disgaea 2 came out and i bought it right away.
it was okay, not as good as the first but the story was still pretty cute and funny and i love that the main character was pretty much a ninja (Ninja is my favorite class in the game cause it's broken... more so in 1 then in 2 but still... ninja's dodge everything... even healing spells) but yeah... overall it did a good job of expanding upon the lore but it wasn't what i wanted... i wanted to go on more adventures with laharl.

so that would have been around... 2006 according to wikipedia... thats a long time to go between games...

so forgive me if i misremember stuff.

SO....
Disgaea 3 is about Evil academy for demons, honor students are the worst demons imaginable and delinquents are demons who do good deeds.
Mao, the overlord/deans son, is the number 1 honor student and really only cares abotu defeating his father and becoming the overlord himself.
his Butler informs him that only hero's can defeat overlords and that he should get a hero's title soon.
Enter Almaz, a hero (?) who has come to save the princess.. too bad he gets kidnapped by moa and his title gets stolen and now he's turning into a demon.
he has a very short amount of time (666 hours) to rescue the princess and open mao's heart in order to stop the transformation.
but of course, nothing ever goes as planned and everything is more involved then it first appears.

it's been a long time (well okay not that long cause i did play persona 4) since i've played a game with english dubbing. theres a lot of voices that i got to recognize.
like Mao being played by Vic Mi... mi....uh... (if i can't pronounce something i can't spell it either.) Vic Mignogna
or saphire being played by nanako's voice actor Jessica Straus (though in a bit of a parallel world it didn't sound like her... so... maybe i'm wrong? she does have two voice actors apparently)
or Almaz being played by Mr. In everything as the main character (aka Jhonny Yong Bosch)
Or Raspberyl being played by Marta (TOS2) voice actress Laura bailey
but those where the only ones i recognized... look at a list of voice actors i should have heard Michelle Ruff as Salvatore as well but nope... didn't catch that one at all.
anyways my point is i really enjoyed the dub it was well acted with a lot of talented voice actors.

Okay.... onto... that thing i do.

The good:
Mao and Almaz... i love these two, there personality is fun and even though i felt their story could have been a lot strong it was still really nice to have these be the protagonist and see Almaz slow transformation into thinking like a demon while still keeping his humanity.
it has a lot of named characters but not so many that i felt like i couldn't use my own creations (read as my Ninja and my Scout who both were imperative to me beating the game)
the game play is still as fun as it ever was and it's quite funny... i laughed many times.

The not so good:
The story.... yeah i love the characters but the story in this was kinda.... weak.
maybe i'm unfairly compairing it but Laharls game had lots of stories in it. Etna wanted to get away from her own personal demons and was willing to do anything to accomplish it. Flonne was sent on a mission but ends up befriending her target, laharl has to deal with proving that even after his crazy nap he still is the overlord... and theres betrayal and twists and the normal end actually brought me to tears.
but this is just "go here cause the plot says so, the sophomore class is attacking, go fight them, oh look obvious twist we saw from the start.... oh noes....
i will say the normal ending (aka the one i got) made me laugh pretty hard... Mao is a pretty big troll.
so yeah.... out of the three disgaea games this one is probably the weakest story-wise BUT i stil lreally enjoyed the story.... it's just not as good as 1.

The Bad:
I kinda sorta really HATE the maps in the game.
when the game told me i could have a directly overhead view of the map i said "ha, that's silly, i will never use that"
yeah... guess how i played 90% of this damn game.
the maps in the game feel way more vertical then they have in the past and the problem with verticle maps in an isometric view means it's not easy to see whats happening.
i'm sure that attack looked super cool... too bad it was behind a stupid wall!
it was just frustrating to have to constantly go into that top down view cause you do it with the rear touch pad... which i constantly accidentally hit...  which made me turn off the feature... but as far as i could tell i needed the feature to be able to go into that view... so i'd have to turn it back on and then the camera would be constantly going in and out cause i would keep accidently touching it and ARGH.... NO
i do not like this.... nope... not one bit.
oh and the other thing i felt was this game seems really short... i got it on the 29 so... just under a week ago and i've been playing a match here and there but it's already done...
*just checked* yeah there are 14 main chapter stories in 1, 13 in 2 and 8 in 3.
granted with the parallel world stuff maybe that amount of content makes up for the less chapters... i'm not high enough level to do them just yet so i may go back to it and update this but what i did play didn't seem all that interesting since it's not really part of the main story.

SO yeah.... overall i really did enjoy this game but it is not as good as the first one... it's probably not really fair to compare the two but i don't care...

i have heard from many sources that Disgaea 4 is really good, potentially better then Disgaea 1 so when the vita port of that makes it here i will look forward to it... for now though i really need to draw something i'm happy with... and luckily i've run out of new games.... so no more excuses!

oh the winter season of anime has started.. oh... ok... so i still have some excuses not to be productive.

Friday 3 January 2014

Year end Top 10: Games

This list will only contain games i finished this year
there wont be a top ten bad games cause the worst game i played was Rhythm Theif... the other two dropped titles were dropped due to difficulty or language barriers


Honourable Mention:  Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. 
this is a very good game.... but.... it's also the game that made me finally realize i'm not a fan of playing Zelda games... i'm grateful that i learned something about myself... even if it's an unpopular opinion... still i'm happy i played it and it wasn't too long so i don't begrudge it the time it took to beat it... and i did really enjoy the story.

10. Ys 1&2 Chronicles +
the first time i had heard of or played an Ys game was the DS versions of Ys 1&2
they were pretty terrible... and left a bad taste in my mouth.... so these two games (moreso 1 then 2) have never been my favorite.
so when my friend told me i really should try the proper version of the game i knuckled under and yeah it was a lot better....
BUT.... i still am not a big fan of 1... and cause i wanna group these two together thats why they are so low on the list....
fun fact: either Ys 1 or Ys 6 are my least favs... though i change my mind on almost a daily basis.

9. Pokemon X
I really love this game but in the end it is just a slightly updated pokemon game so i can't really jutify it being higher on the list... it's good but i still think Soul Silver is my favorite.

8. Gravity Rush
This game is a great way to show the capabilities of the Vita though there were moments i felt where it was just a glorified tech demo. Still other then the combat i had a lot of fun with this game and i do look forward to the sequel... still i played a lot of games i would consider all time favs so thats why it's this low on the list.

7. Tell Tale's Walking Dead
this game would be higher if i could mess with the controls a bit... it's really good and i love the story it tells but again...  there are just too many games i played this year that i would consider my all time favs.

6. Fire Emblem Awakening
Why did i play this on the mode where characters actually die? it was just added stress.... still the story was a lot of fun.... granted i did have to play the last chapter with only 2 or three characters (not cause i'm cool like that but because everyone else just got killed immediately) i did manage to beat the game without losign anyone but yeah... not the easiest game in the world... still a lot of fun and a great addition to the series.

5. Virtues Last Reward
this game would have been a little higher if not for a game breaking/save destroying glitch that made me very very afraid... also it was a little predictable.... other then that one plot twist they outright mention that i didn't even notice.... still i look forward to zero escape 3 whenever that happens and this is a really good game... but get the Vita version.. .cause it's not broken (and nintendo doens't care enough to patch VLR)

4. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies
it's been so long since the last localized Ace Attorney game... it made me smile from ear to ear...
the DLC chapter is a bit... odd... and expensive... but still a great game with really pretty music....
something it shares with my top two picks.

3. Persona 4 Golden
If there was ever a game that came so close to being perfect... it would probably be this one. Between the characters, the music, the style and the gameplay i can't think of a better way to spend the 60-100 hours that this game provides. It made me laugh and cry multiple times and despite it's length it even has a little replay value. (though probably not replaying it... just too much)
The only reason it's not higher is that I can't think of putting my number 2 pick any lower... and i think we all know what my number 1 is...
but seriously one of the best games ever and if you own a Vita and you like RPGs then you owe it to yourself to at least give it a try.

2. Radiant Historia. 
Great Story, Great Gameplay, Great Art and above all Great Music... not to mention the use of split timelines is probably the best i have ever seen
better then 999.... better then VLR....
if i hadn't so thoroughly beaten this game i would love to play it again... but unfortunately i kinda did everything... and there's not much replay value....
still this is a game where if you have a 3ds or DS you owe it to yourself to give a shot.

and my number 1 which will be a surprise to no one

1. Ys 4 Memories in Celceta. 
I knew this was my number 1
anyone who has read anything i've written about Ys knew this was my number one...
probably most obvious number 1 ever.
i went in not expecting much (cause i try not to expect anything so that my opinion can only go up) and i came out the other side feeling great.
it's just so much fun
the characters are all great
the story is really well done
the music is amazing
the memory system was super cute and i just wanna cuddle little Adol...
i can't think of anything i dislike about this game
okay other then in new game plus i can't skip tutorials... that's a bit annoying.
but otherwise to me this is as close to a perfect game as it gets.
i am happy that this is the reason i bought a vita.

i may do a year end wrap up just to talk about some things that didn't make it on to any lists.
but for now, i'm just lookign forward to what 2014 brings.

Thursday 2 January 2014

Year end Top 10: Music

Last year i limited myself to one song per 'thing'
yeah.... *crumples that up* screw that... my list my rules
and yes it's cause i can't pick one song from a 'certain' game... i just can't... so i won't.
I will avoid repeats from last year
Also i have very strange taste in music, so if you don't like one (or any) of the songs here... remember that i'm the strange one.


To avoid this being a purely JDK Falcom Sound Team list...
here are some honorable mentions.

Trails in the sky - From Legend of Heroes: trails in the sky (FC)
 Fun Fact: while i love most of what JDK does i do tend to prefer the music they make for Ys compaired to the music they make for the lengend of heroes and it's spinoffs.
they both are really well done... just LOH tends to sound more like a normal RPG while Ys tends to be more... epic? it's hard to describe... still i love this song but considering all the JDK i want to put up here it was one of the easier ones to cut

This is Berk - How to Train Your Dragon
There are few films where my immediate reaction is "need Soundtrack now"
How to train your dragons is one of those special few... it's just so damn pretty... and great music to draw to... it's just uplifting. But when it comes down to it... couldn't quite fit it into my top ten... still really nice.
And yes i do look forward to the sequel... though i'm not keeping my hopes up (cause going in with no expectations is the best way to end up enjoying something)

Voices - Macross Plus.
The ONLY reason this isn't in the top ten is cause it's very very old... but dammit this song is important to me, i had hummed the tune my entire life only to find out a few years ago it was from this. I adore this song, my town tune in animal crossing is the start of this song... i will belt this song as loud as i can when it randomly plays from my music player....
but yeah... it is old and... i figured i could keep the newer stuff on the list.

OK... onto the real list.

10. The Whereabouts of Light - Legend of heroes: Trails in the sky
While i mentioned before that i tend to prefer Ys music overall when it comes to JDK... the opposite is true of the songs with actual lyrics... i don't think theres a single super arrange or vocal song from Ys i will listen to on purpose... if it comes on i don't mind but i do not seek them out.
Whereabouts of light, especially considering where it's placed in the game is kinda heartbreaking and that sense of melancholy while still being hopeful really comes across.
i just love this song... and is part of the reason i took out the no duplicates thing... and yeah... theres a lot of JDK.... i'm not sorry.

9. The Red Locus - Radiant Historia
oh boy... this song reminds me that my top ten games list is gunna be difficult... oh well you may think "boy this sounds like something from kingdom hearts" well... kinda... same composer so the entire game has these moments where it feels like KH music... still i love it, another moment where i NEEDED to own the soundtrack... which was more expensive then the game (only by like... 10 bucks but still) so yeah... great sountrack.

8. kimi ga yobu namae~ mou ichido dake - Natsume's book of friends
This song, it makes me really happy and at the same time a little sad... i love it. it's just so pretty, my only complaint is i wish it were longer.  but yeah my favorite instrumental song from this show without a doubt.

7. Hollow Light of the Sealed World - Legend of Heroes: trails in the sky
so it's the final boss
and this plays
and i put down the PSP and just let it sit for a while.
this song just so perfectly encapsulates that moment of taking down an impossible foe. This was going to be up in the honourable mentions but nope... couldn't do it... i like this song too much.
also yeah... still lots of Jdk on this list.

6. Chop!! - Ys 3: Oath in Felghana
that... Piano *makes incomprehensible noises* i'm not even a big fan of pianos but this one just is so well done... it's been a while so i think this is definitely a boss theme... but maybe not the final boss? i wanna say chester but then part of me goes "what about the boy who had wings?" so yeah...  i just love this song.

5. Zeotrope - Amnesia
Yes... i absolutely abhor this show, the mere sight of it makes me want to punch a wall.
But this intro song.... it's really good... every time i hear it all i can think is why is it attached to such a terrible show?! it's so good... and the full version has this great build and... and.... WHY does it have to be for THIS show.... ugh.
makes me very angry.... but it's not the first time i've liked the intro song to a show i hate *cough Sword Art Cough*

4. Wareta Ringo - Shin Sekai Yori (from the new world)
Part of what makes this song truly lovely is the art they use in the ending itself... i couldn't find that version... so go over to crunchyroll and watch an episode to see what i mean... it's the ending so just skip ahead.
the full version is even prettier and again has this great sense of build that almost always tends to make me smile.

oh great.... now things get difficult

3. Prelude to truth - Ys Memories in Celceta
it wont let me have the little video player for this one so....Here's the song
the worst part about this song is that after a certain event the music is different for that area... and this song is one of the shorter ones... i'd love a 5 hour loop of it~ just so pretty and part of why i took out the no duplicates thing... i couldn't pick between this and another song...
and now i'm finding i can't pick between that song and another song....

2. Que Sera Sera - fhana (also seen spelled thana)
*sobs* this was going to be number 1... but NOOOOO.... i had to listen to the other song and be all "dammit i can't make that number 2" so yeah.... this song was another 'shut up and take my money' moments but finding it was not easy... i almost gave up when FINALLY i found a way to buy it... another song (in fact all the songs with lyrics on this list) that i sing loudly when other aren't around to hear my awful singing. i can't even begin to describe how happy this song makes me. I could (and have) listened to it on repeat for hours and still never get sick of it....
and the same is true for number one
I tried really hard
i know this next one is just this years equivalent of lost harmony among people... but in the end... i'm not sorry.

1. Ancient Lore - Ys Memories in Celceta
also just cause i wanna say it... i have seen the title of this song be "Ancient Legend" and "Ancient Land"... i call i Ancient Lore cause when i bought the Soundtrack thats what it called it... but all three are technicalyl correct.
so.. uh... yeah... who am i kidding
i knew this was going to be number one
i tried really hard to make sure it wasn't but i failed miserably.
but i mean... even it's old versions are pretty
and i mean
so yeah.... i bought the entire soundtrack thanks to this one song... it's just so pretty... i randomly force people to listen to it.... i adore this song. i can't think of any other way to say it... i guess once again i'm just a JDK Falcom Sound Team fangirl. *sighs*

next i think i'll do top ten games i beat this year... though i'm not sure if i even have ten titles. guess we'll see