If someone came up to me and said "describe the plot of Durarara" i probably would be able to do it in a concise manner or without spoiling anything...
So all i'll say is in Durarara!! Things happen and no one talks to each other unless it's in an anonymous chatroom.
Also Hot Pot... most important meal ever.
anyways Durarara!! the show is one of my fav Non-linear stories... i would actually argue that it is one of the best uses of non-linear storytelling considering how large the cast is.
Durarara!! the novel is a tiny bit more linear then the show considering the first volume only focuses on one arc, The Dollars... HOWEVER i have a feeling that the next volume will probably focus on the Slasher arc which happens somewhat simultaneously in the show... and the yellow scarves will probably follow after that which again... happens simultaneously... so as a whole i wont be surprised if these mostly non-linear stories end up being non-linear when they are all out.
Or it may not... i don't think vol 2 releases till november so it'll be a while before i know.
I really enjoyed the book but i would actually say watch the show first since the book adds so much more to what happens in the show... the book also spoils two things for the show in my opinion, one being an episode we dont see till late in season two and another being a character trait that is hidden but extremely important.
Plus this show has amazing music and animation and it's just a lot of fun.
I will say as far as how the light novel was written this is easily one of the most enjoyable reads. Either the authors style or the style of the translator (i don't know enough about how much the translator puts into these things if anything) or both is simply perfect, it's also a very quick read as most light novels tend to be but yeah i really enjoyed it and i'm sad i have to wait so long for the next one.
My fav part of the whole book is actually the afterword, he explains the title and i don't think i've laughed that hard in a long time.
I got the kindle version and it was about 7 dollars, the physical one goes for about 10, if you like the show give the book a read,
if you are curious about the show it's all on Crunchyroll. (they even have the dub if you prefer that)
And now Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon vol 3 is out so that will probably be the next one i read... even though i have a huge pile of novels i want to get through.
Saturday, 29 August 2015
Friday, 21 August 2015
A boy and his Cat
I was going to do this when Ushio and Tora finished but i don't know if i will stick through till then end considering it's already approved for 39 episdoes (26 this season, 13 so far next season)
I meantioned this before but Ushio and Tora has the exact same plot as Natsume Yuujinchou.
A boy who can see spirits teams up with a Cat-like yokai that both Protects/wants to eat him and they deal with problems cause by other yokai.
In Natsume Yuujinchou the focus is on a book Takashi's grandmother left thats full of yokai names that he is trying to give back...
in ushio and Tora it's a spear thats designed spcifically for killing yokai.
So in theory is Natsume yuujinchou is my fav show (and i think the evidence would show that yeah... it really is my fav show) and Ushio and Tora is the exact same show with a bit more fighting... i should love Ushio and Tora just as much..... so why don't i?
And it's not just that I'm not enjoying it like i expected to... it's actually really boring.
Ushio has to save people from scary yokai every week and every week the solution is the same... lots of stabbing.
Natsume yuujinchou actually doesn;t tend to use the book much.
This means the episodes tend to fall into categories.
Episodes that deal with Reiko's shenanigans
Episodes that Focus on Takashi's past
Episodes that focus on Family or Friends
Episodes that deal with Exorcists
Episodes that deal with Yokai...
The solution isn't always "give back name, see memory, pass out"
hell by season 3 and 4 i think he only gives back like... 4 names... and of those 4 only 1 or 2 are the main plot of the episode... most of them are just "don't forget he's also still doing this"
So I guess the conclusion i'm coming to is that I don't tend to like Shonen shows because the focus is always on who is the strongest and showing how strong they are and oh no maybe they aren't strogn enough oh wait of course they are cause you know... main character.
while a show that isn't focused on fighting (and don't get me wrong... there are fights in natsume yuujinchou it's just not the point of the show) can focus on the thing i like the most... the characters.
so yeah... if you ever wonder why i just can't get into shonen.... this is a good example of why.
plus Takashi is a million times more adorable and likeable then Ushio.... just saying
I meantioned this before but Ushio and Tora has the exact same plot as Natsume Yuujinchou.
A boy who can see spirits teams up with a Cat-like yokai that both Protects/wants to eat him and they deal with problems cause by other yokai.
In Natsume Yuujinchou the focus is on a book Takashi's grandmother left thats full of yokai names that he is trying to give back...
in ushio and Tora it's a spear thats designed spcifically for killing yokai.
So in theory is Natsume yuujinchou is my fav show (and i think the evidence would show that yeah... it really is my fav show) and Ushio and Tora is the exact same show with a bit more fighting... i should love Ushio and Tora just as much..... so why don't i?
And it's not just that I'm not enjoying it like i expected to... it's actually really boring.
Ushio has to save people from scary yokai every week and every week the solution is the same... lots of stabbing.
Natsume yuujinchou actually doesn;t tend to use the book much.
This means the episodes tend to fall into categories.
Episodes that deal with Reiko's shenanigans
Episodes that Focus on Takashi's past
Episodes that focus on Family or Friends
Episodes that deal with Exorcists
Episodes that deal with Yokai...
The solution isn't always "give back name, see memory, pass out"
hell by season 3 and 4 i think he only gives back like... 4 names... and of those 4 only 1 or 2 are the main plot of the episode... most of them are just "don't forget he's also still doing this"
So I guess the conclusion i'm coming to is that I don't tend to like Shonen shows because the focus is always on who is the strongest and showing how strong they are and oh no maybe they aren't strogn enough oh wait of course they are cause you know... main character.
while a show that isn't focused on fighting (and don't get me wrong... there are fights in natsume yuujinchou it's just not the point of the show) can focus on the thing i like the most... the characters.
so yeah... if you ever wonder why i just can't get into shonen.... this is a good example of why.
plus Takashi is a million times more adorable and likeable then Ushio.... just saying
Tuesday, 11 August 2015
wait.... what?
random and i'll keep it short but...
Ok so i'm on tumblr, and an artist who i respect did a post about artists she respects.
and one of them was Ikuko Itou.
from what i understand Ikuko Itou was on from very early on and went from being one of the artist with the most odd proportions to easily my fav of the artists on the show.
Side note theres an anime called Princess Tutu
and i knew the creator of that worked on Sailor moon
and i knew the creators name was Ikuko Itou
but i didn't know that the creator of princess tutu was my fav artist from sailor moon.
so why does this matter.
about 9 years ago i was asked to submit some princess tutu fanart to a tribute album that was going to be given to Ikuko Itou
I did, i actually have a pic of her looking at my terrible terrible fanart in the album...
and i'm just now, nearly a decade later... realizing one of the people that inspired to me make art.... not only looked at some of my art but possibly has it stashed away somewhere with the rest of the album.... she even gave every artist in the album a comment and ideas on how to improve.
Had young me had put all those pieces together... young me may have tried to make better fanart (granted i was a teenager... so it probably wouldn't have been too much better) Like granted i knew i was sending it to the creator of princess tutu but still
so yeah thats my random freakout for something that happened when i was much younger.
alright time to produce better art, or at least art that makes me happy.
sorry just wanted to share.
Ok so i'm on tumblr, and an artist who i respect did a post about artists she respects.
and one of them was Ikuko Itou.
from what i understand Ikuko Itou was on from very early on and went from being one of the artist with the most odd proportions to easily my fav of the artists on the show.
Side note theres an anime called Princess Tutu
and i knew the creator of that worked on Sailor moon
and i knew the creators name was Ikuko Itou
but i didn't know that the creator of princess tutu was my fav artist from sailor moon.
so why does this matter.
about 9 years ago i was asked to submit some princess tutu fanart to a tribute album that was going to be given to Ikuko Itou
I did, i actually have a pic of her looking at my terrible terrible fanart in the album...
and i'm just now, nearly a decade later... realizing one of the people that inspired to me make art.... not only looked at some of my art but possibly has it stashed away somewhere with the rest of the album.... she even gave every artist in the album a comment and ideas on how to improve.
Had young me had put all those pieces together... young me may have tried to make better fanart (granted i was a teenager... so it probably wouldn't have been too much better) Like granted i knew i was sending it to the creator of princess tutu but still
so yeah thats my random freakout for something that happened when i was much younger.
alright time to produce better art, or at least art that makes me happy.
sorry just wanted to share.
Monday, 10 August 2015
Dropped: The Heroic Legend of Arslan
Allow me to sum up with little spoilers...
every episode is as follows
Arslan is metting with someone who may or may not want something from him.
Travel time
Oh no battle/we were ambushed/we ambused someone else.
Oh no Arslan was nearly hit-- thank god someone with godlike skill was able to save him hurray.
Continue travelling, make it somewhere safe... or is it safe (Dun dun DUN!)
Contemplate the fact that Arslan's birth timeframe doesn't make sense for him being a legitimate air
See creepy guy in mask
Next Episode...
Repeat.
Now when the intro song was done by Uverworld i kinda forgave it for being so incredibly formulaic.
I wasn't kidding when i said good music will make me watch a show... if blood battlefield blockade ever decides to end i'll have a nice long ramble about that.
SO yeah now that Uverworld no longer does the intro my interest in the show has plummeted and i have ceased caring.
Normally i don't write these when i lose interest but i was pretty annoyed that every single episode was a rehash of the previous one in a different place and slightly different people... so i just needed to get that off my chest.
Maybe once it's past the "lets build an army" phase it'll be better... but yeah i just can't bring myself to care anymore.
great first intro though...
I actually prefer the TV size but yeah... i really enjoy UVER world so theres that.
also when i was looking for that i saw the Arslan Senki is a game for the Sega CD
well that clears up why these feel like levels...
so yeah not a terrible show just... kinda tedious.
every episode is as follows
Arslan is metting with someone who may or may not want something from him.
Travel time
Oh no battle/we were ambushed/we ambused someone else.
Oh no Arslan was nearly hit-- thank god someone with godlike skill was able to save him hurray.
Continue travelling, make it somewhere safe... or is it safe (Dun dun DUN!)
Contemplate the fact that Arslan's birth timeframe doesn't make sense for him being a legitimate air
See creepy guy in mask
Next Episode...
Repeat.
Now when the intro song was done by Uverworld i kinda forgave it for being so incredibly formulaic.
I wasn't kidding when i said good music will make me watch a show... if blood battlefield blockade ever decides to end i'll have a nice long ramble about that.
SO yeah now that Uverworld no longer does the intro my interest in the show has plummeted and i have ceased caring.
Normally i don't write these when i lose interest but i was pretty annoyed that every single episode was a rehash of the previous one in a different place and slightly different people... so i just needed to get that off my chest.
Maybe once it's past the "lets build an army" phase it'll be better... but yeah i just can't bring myself to care anymore.
great first intro though...
also when i was looking for that i saw the Arslan Senki is a game for the Sega CD
well that clears up why these feel like levels...
so yeah not a terrible show just... kinda tedious.
Monday, 3 August 2015
What a Ripoff
I love being an artist.
I adore drawing something and having people go "this made me feel a certain way"
I hate being an artist online.
When i'm not dealing with my stuff being stolen and having to put big ugly watermarks in the center of all my images... i'm dealing with trying to find a way to share my stuff where people will actually see it and i'm not getting screwed over in any way.
While Deviantart wasn't perfect it worked well for me for the past decade.
I was an on and off Subscriber which for the price of 35 bucks a year meant i had some small upgrades to my page... even though they had a tendency to get rid of the features i liked. Still i liked the site and wanted to support it so i didn't mind.
Yeah that all changed today.
but lets backup.
Deviantart isn't the only site i've used as a host, i've used any i can get my hands on with varying levels of success... however all those sites vanished and once again i was left with the not perfect but passable Deviantart.
Every time i felt like a found a new home it would lose all support and eventually die out and if i wanted to share stuff well i on;y really had the one option.
So i stuck with it... for 10 years.
Now i don't know if i want to post anything there anymore.
Today they updated some of their branding.
The biggest change being that "Premium Members" had been changed to "Core Members"
and with that name change they decided to nearly doubt the cost of every subscription option.
Now i am Canadian so yeah... as you can see our dollar isn't doing so well... anyways i'm going to stick to USD for this.
50 dollars....
well for 50 bucks you must get some pretty cool features... lets see.
the thanks of the community?
a ugly tacky symbol beside my name?
discount at the store that barely pays the artist and i don't think anyone uses.
oh but i can change my user name if i want... so thats worth 50 bucks right?
no?
what worries me is that there is one feature i use as a premium member.
I schedule when my stuff posts, i don't see that feature listed anymore...
I know a lot of people have custom journal skins and thats not listed either.
this could mean a few things... it could mean that you are paying more and receiving less (aka the stupid option)
Or
they are giving those features to everyone instead of locking it behind a paywall (aka the well hell freezes over option)
Or
They are just stupid and forgot to list it but it's still there (aka the why must you be so misleading option)
But whats the issue... i'm a subscriber for another 10 months no matter what.
I'm just so annoyed that they would do this, offer nothing better then what they currently have and completely screw over their community (which is known for being 'starving' as it is)
It's such a blatant Cash grab and it explains an email i got about a month ago.
The email asked why I had decided to be a commission-able artist on Deviantart without using their app.
and i told them essentially that there was no way i was going to give someone 15%-20% of my profit when currently i have a successful system that allows me to get 100%
Then they asked me "what could we do to get you to use our app"
"There is nothing you can do to make me give up 15% of my profit for no reason in a currency i can't even use off of your site"
oh did i mention their Site works on it's own currency known as points? and to order a commission you need to pay points... which then they arbitrarily take 15% of from the commissioned artist even though they got 100% of the point purchasing cost? You can exchange these points for real money Via paypal.... and a 5% fee.
anyways they said "thanks for the feedback" and left me alone.
you could feel the desperation, they wanted their hands on every penny since obviously their server fee have gone up or something.
And you know what? i'm done.
The site has been doing small stuff thats been annoyed for years now but this is actually insulting to me.
I'll still post there, i have my largest vewer base on Deviant art so i'd be stupid not to.
But i'm shifting my focus elsewhere... most likely patreon (but i probably wont be hiding anything behind a paywall since i don't feel good about that.)
maybe one day a new art site will come along and i will post all my stuff and be happy.
or maybe i'll get off my lazy butt and code a personal website.
For now i just look forward to seeing peoples reaction to the price hike and see if Deviantart backpedals at all
but i think we all know thats unlikely... because there are still some people who will pay that stupid price.
Anyways, Speaking of Patreon: here's mine
Also Here is my redbubble for fun
And my youtube page because why not... i've already been pretty brave today why not share it here
also if you know of a good art site that doesn't consistently try to screw over it's users let me know!
I adore drawing something and having people go "this made me feel a certain way"
I hate being an artist online.
When i'm not dealing with my stuff being stolen and having to put big ugly watermarks in the center of all my images... i'm dealing with trying to find a way to share my stuff where people will actually see it and i'm not getting screwed over in any way.
While Deviantart wasn't perfect it worked well for me for the past decade.
I was an on and off Subscriber which for the price of 35 bucks a year meant i had some small upgrades to my page... even though they had a tendency to get rid of the features i liked. Still i liked the site and wanted to support it so i didn't mind.
Yeah that all changed today.
but lets backup.
Deviantart isn't the only site i've used as a host, i've used any i can get my hands on with varying levels of success... however all those sites vanished and once again i was left with the not perfect but passable Deviantart.
Every time i felt like a found a new home it would lose all support and eventually die out and if i wanted to share stuff well i on;y really had the one option.
So i stuck with it... for 10 years.
Now i don't know if i want to post anything there anymore.
Today they updated some of their branding.
The biggest change being that "Premium Members" had been changed to "Core Members"
and with that name change they decided to nearly doubt the cost of every subscription option.
50 dollars....
well for 50 bucks you must get some pretty cool features... lets see.
a ugly tacky symbol beside my name?
discount at the store that barely pays the artist and i don't think anyone uses.
oh but i can change my user name if i want... so thats worth 50 bucks right?
no?
what worries me is that there is one feature i use as a premium member.
I schedule when my stuff posts, i don't see that feature listed anymore...
I know a lot of people have custom journal skins and thats not listed either.
this could mean a few things... it could mean that you are paying more and receiving less (aka the stupid option)
Or
they are giving those features to everyone instead of locking it behind a paywall (aka the well hell freezes over option)
Or
They are just stupid and forgot to list it but it's still there (aka the why must you be so misleading option)
But whats the issue... i'm a subscriber for another 10 months no matter what.
I'm just so annoyed that they would do this, offer nothing better then what they currently have and completely screw over their community (which is known for being 'starving' as it is)
It's such a blatant Cash grab and it explains an email i got about a month ago.
The email asked why I had decided to be a commission-able artist on Deviantart without using their app.
and i told them essentially that there was no way i was going to give someone 15%-20% of my profit when currently i have a successful system that allows me to get 100%
Then they asked me "what could we do to get you to use our app"
"There is nothing you can do to make me give up 15% of my profit for no reason in a currency i can't even use off of your site"
oh did i mention their Site works on it's own currency known as points? and to order a commission you need to pay points... which then they arbitrarily take 15% of from the commissioned artist even though they got 100% of the point purchasing cost? You can exchange these points for real money Via paypal.... and a 5% fee.
anyways they said "thanks for the feedback" and left me alone.
you could feel the desperation, they wanted their hands on every penny since obviously their server fee have gone up or something.
And you know what? i'm done.
The site has been doing small stuff thats been annoyed for years now but this is actually insulting to me.
I'll still post there, i have my largest vewer base on Deviant art so i'd be stupid not to.
But i'm shifting my focus elsewhere... most likely patreon (but i probably wont be hiding anything behind a paywall since i don't feel good about that.)
maybe one day a new art site will come along and i will post all my stuff and be happy.
or maybe i'll get off my lazy butt and code a personal website.
For now i just look forward to seeing peoples reaction to the price hike and see if Deviantart backpedals at all
but i think we all know thats unlikely... because there are still some people who will pay that stupid price.
Anyways, Speaking of Patreon: here's mine
Also Here is my redbubble for fun
And my youtube page because why not... i've already been pretty brave today why not share it here
also if you know of a good art site that doesn't consistently try to screw over it's users let me know!
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