Are You Kidding Me

I needed somewhere to put this but man...

True Tears might be the best anime I've seen since Honey and Clover.

This show is so damn good, I rewind scenes multiple times before moving on. The story is so taut, so satisfyingly complex. The characters are so indulgently petty and fatalistic it's great. And the premise? Collecting tears? This is top tier shit, even if you expand it to the world of K-Drama.

Animation is gorgeous, and even though the characters are templates like they always are, there's enough intrigue in each player's backstory that I can't help but be involved with all of them. By the time you get to Ep. 3, you're either heartless or you're hooked. This show bleeds drama.

Old Cranky Geezer

So E3 has come and gone, and the consensus is that Nintendo's Wii is the clear winner in the next-gen console wars. And everyone is making a big fuss about how Nintendo is doing it without being bigger or better than its competitors, but by being more innovative and "fun." Granted, the Wii is focusing on making a splash in markets seemingly untouchable by previous video game developers: the old, the female, the tech-retarded, and the gimmick-obsessed. Nintendo's current battering ram of marketing momentum is generating shitloads of hype and getting people who wouldn't normally be interested in games to rubberneck a little bit when they see the word "Wii".

Now call me a conservative, but the Wii's highly-touted innovations don't really appeal to me. When I was a wee lad, playing video games was a very intimate experience. I was Megaman, Mario, Simon Belmont etc. Controlling my little avatar was an intuitive, automatic experience. Sticks-and-buttons are just an extension of my own self really.

So when the Wii is talking about how awesome it is going to be to swing your sword or aim your gun or whatever, it doesn't feel right. I feel like my own physical limitations are going to get in the way of my enjoying these games. I imagine losing in Zelda because you are unable to physically time the swinging of a sword will be infinitely more infuriating than timing your button presses.

What's even more unnerving is how people are acting like the old joypads were utter shit and the Wii is really the ONLY way games should be played. Coincidently, a good percentage of these people admittingly "don't really play games," aside from the occasional gimmick game at a friend's place or something.

The Wii offers a different set of experiences, utilizing a different skill set and offering games with non-traditional goals. Developers for games on the Wii are not trying to challege your existing skills, nor are they trying to impress you visually. So to call it a next-generation system is somewhat misleading. As far as the real next-gen systems go, I think I'm tossing my hat in with the PS3, despite the huge pricetag. The Wii will be fun, and will be a great party activity machine. But as far as the true gaming experience goes, I don't think it's going to deliver.

An Amazing Summary of Otaku Vernacular

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=29911

Ever since I started watching anime and learning about the world of otakus, I've run into a plethora of terms that resemble complete gibberish to both Japanese and English ears alike. I've been able to understand a few of them over time, but still a lot escapes me. I mean, this is slang that has been in development since the early 80's.

Fortunately I've been directed to this amazing link. On the animesuki.com forum, someone has taken the time to define, annotate and provide examples for some of the most notorious terms around. And the scope of knowledge and history provided is almost breathtaking. How he goes into the story behind Kyoto Animation, or the development of the ero-game as opposed to the (dirty) hentai games already available. Etymology, history, geek culture combine to be utterly fascinating.

Some amazing points:

Moe~ is an unexplainable property that is devoid of sexuality or even gender, but is easily induced.

The otaku industry is a multi-million dollar industry based on evoking the feelings of moe~.

Did moe~ exist before otaku culture? Or did otaku culture serve to create moe~ within a harmless anime watching community?

Covered are also the tsundere template, sekai-kei ("you, me, and the rest of the world" anime genre), kyun kyun (Robotech?!??!), and Yashigani.

Oh man this is so great, time for sleep.

Movie Wrap Up

Brick

Saw it in the theaters, and it was worth every non-matinee penny. Brick is a very stylish movie, high school kids acting aloof and above the (vice-principal's) law, spouting lines that would sound natural coming out of Bogart's pursed lips. But even though it is a readily apparent noir circle-jerk, the story is riveting and the characters are charming, especially Joseph Gordon-Levitt's main proto-gumshoe. Don't try to think about it as a highschool life kind of movie. It's just a convenient way to avoid all the issues with it being set in an adult world. This movie's gonna be big on DVD, to the tune of say Donnie Darko and such. There are so many great lines in this movie.

Dead Man

Kind of like a western Straw Dogs. Johnny Depp goes from Cleveland Tweeds to Frontier Fur Coat, kills bald marshalls and cross dressing punk icons along the way. Also a fat Indian fucks in the forest. Like other Jarmusch movies, all the characters in Dead Man are aloof and cryptic in their speech and motives. But William Blake's transformation and subsequent journey is a fascinating thing to watch. And like most Jarmusch films, right when you're asking "How the fuck is this movie gonna end," he knocks you on your ass with a scene that couldn't end it any better. Spielberg should take notes on how to end a movie.

El Topo

A Western, but not (but it is). I wish I could play the trailer that was on the DVD, because it made it seem like the greatest movie ever made. In fact, that's a direct quote from the trailer. And you know what? It is. Just not in this dimension. El Topo (Jodorowsky himself) is a gunslinger in leather who does things with thin motives. Then some crazy things happen, and he becomes a golden god. Then some other things happen, and the movie ends. Here's some of the images that appear in this movie (in no particular order):

- Pile of dead rabbits on fire
- Legless midget riding armless midget
- Midget/non-Midget sex for entertainment
- Child shot in face
- Woman eating Prickly Pear in the most unnatural way
- Sandy Sex

Just go watch it.

Alice

Jan Svankmajer reimagines Alice in Wonderland as a hodgepodge of the classic phobias that haunt children's dreams. Yes the images are amazing and the ideas are fantastic, but the pacing is all wrong. Like its really shocking when all the woodland animals are really animal skeleton chimeras, but not so interesting when they extend that scene for a good 15 minutes. Jan really wants you to stare at the ugly White Rabbit, more so than you're comfortable with, and it really kills the film. 2 out of 3 of us fell asleep when we were watching it.

If it were a picture book, you could skip every two pages and still have the complete story.

Super Mario Bros. Super Show / Legend of Zelda

To this day, when I think of what Mario and Luigi should look like in real life, I think of Lou Albano and Danny Wells. My sincerest apologies to Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. The cartoon is dismal, but the live action segments are great. See!:

- the Marios deal with goth music
- the Marios learn to dance from Shabba-Doo
- the Marios get threatened by Magic Johnson
- the Marios get punked by Winnie from the Wonder Years
- Lou Albano in Drag

Pretty much fantastic, especially the shabba-doo episode.

Legend of Zelda is so great in every way. Sexual tension, convoluted plot devices, wit, its all there. And remember that catch phrase, "Well excuuuuuuuuuuse me, Princess!"? Yeah I'm gonna say that more. Sprite is the pixie hotty that Winona Ryder based an entire career emulating.

If You Are Female Please Ignore The Following Entry

At least once a week, I tell myself. At least once a week.

Spring is here, and that means a few awesome things.

Baseball is here.
Fantasy Baseball is here.
The sun is out.
Better movies are coming out.

And the new season of Anime will be starting.

This last season was pretty stale by most standards. I watched maybe 3 shows regularly, but 2 of them were guilty pleasures. Nothing universally spectacular by any standards. Yeah stuff like Mushishi was good but it was pretty much eye-candy. No show really had that epic story that made it a must watch. Everything was too slice-of-lifey. Fate/Stay comes close but there's not nearly enough tension or conflict (all characters seem relatively unscathed so far) to even care about it. Shana was pretty good, but I felt the last bits dragged on while the middle parts were a lot better. Pretty much a dreadful season.

But there is hope in the new season! There's like 60 different shows of varying styles and subject manners that make for a Sizzler Salad bar of entertainment. Lots of sequels, lots of crazy mecha stuff, good studios doing newer stuff, plenty of adapted manga stuff. I'm kinda stoked, but its still a long way from a new Gundam or a Samurai Champloo or something like that. Gonzo needs to raise another few billion and put it into some insane project. A few worth watching:

School Rumble 2. More love-polygon angst that never ever takes itself seriously.

Ray the Animation. Read the manga and it wasn't half bad. Like a cross between BlackJack and Speed Grapher. Girl doctor with super eyes saves lives but also tries to hunt down the black market merchants that stole her original eyes as a child.

Black Lagoon. Pirate Bounty hunters with attitude and a lot of guns. Also first fight is against a zapatista-turned-housemaid.

Ergo Proxy. Not as good as GitS but what are you going to do.

Disgaea. I hope they get through the story in 3 episodes, then have 49 episodes of item world.

xxxholic. Nominated for the "least gay CLAMP series."

Also a few guilty pleasures that I'm sure will embarass me every second that I watch them.

Oh yeah one more thing. I'm tired of all these super cute slice of life shows that everyone loves. Aria, binchou-tan and whatever the fuck is being made. Stupid shows featuring little girls living their daily fantasy fairy lives, on par with shows like BRATZ or something. And they're just getting more and more popular. What gives, Japan? It's called a story, it has a beginning, middle and end, and has conflict. Please try and keep up.

Your One and Only Chance

Spring is here, and finally the good shows are coming. Ever since I finished in December, I've made a resolution to go to more shows, simply because I enjoy going to them and because now I have nothing really holding me back from seeing music and bands I like. It also gives the illusion that I have a life outside of videogames and tv. And I like that.

As far as upcoming shows, I'm going to Art Brut on Saturday. Due to things like pitchfork and such, there's bound to be a lot of buzz around this band. I've heard the single and a couple songs, but some of my friends seem to like them so why not give them a chance for about 10 bucks. I could do far worse. And there's gonna be a lot of people there so I can just get soused and make good conversation if the show sucks.

Sunday there's gonna be a show with a lot of Japanese bands, like seven of them. And it's for 10 bucks. I've only heard of one of them, but that's because they did the Naruto theme (Stance Punks). My friend assures me that the rest are of similar fame so if anything it'll be a wonderfully foreign event. There's bound to be absolutely no one at this show, who knows though.

Constantines in May, always wanted to see them. They supposedly have an amazing live show, at least from word-of-mouth. I've really enjoyed their albums so I'm sure I'm going to like their live show. Only one show has completely ruined my like for the artist, and that's a Del show I saw a year ago. Man, I can't even listen to Deltron anymore without seeing that lazy, half-dead zombie attempting to perform.

And finally the kicker, Built to Spill playing three shows in June. I will probably go to all three shows. It'll be the first time I will a) be 21+, b) be in town and c) not have shit like finals to think about for a BtS run. And yeah I know they're going to be playing the same setlist like 3 nights in a row, but I really just enjoy them that much.

I've been a BtS fan for about 12 years and really I haven't been dissapointed by them once. Ancient Melodies was a bit campy on record, but those songs rocked so hard live. A Built to Spill show is a guaranteed good night, so why not have three of those in a row? It's gonna be great.

When a band you really like breaks up suddenly (or tragically ends), you go through that period where you listen to every song they wrote and played, every song you can get your hands on. It dominates your listening palette for a good week or so, then at the end you always say "Man, I wish I could see them one more time." And its almost like a little part of you dies. So I figure if theres a band out there that can put a smile on my face every time, that I can enjoy every minute of it (yeah even the 20 minute jams), I need to experience it every time I can.

Oh yeah the new record is pretty good, but it's definitely more jammy and roots rocky than their prime material. Can't wait to hear them live.

Robot Roll Call

I am in love with robots. Transformers are the best toys. As a job, I play with motors and drives and wires all day, and its great. I love working with robots, and I love saying that I work with robots. It's been like a dream to me for so long.

I blame Capcom for my infatuation. The Mega Man series is probably my favorite classic game franchise. Mega Man 3 was the first great game I played for my NES way back in '89. I mean Zelda and SMB were fun games, but what am I going to play, the game where I'm an elf, an Italian dude, or a robot? I think that's an easy choice. Played it so much I could beat it with my feet. In 40 minutes.

I just got both collections (Mega Man and Mega Man X) and have been steadily playing through them. I actually played through the first collection like a year ago, but I just wanted to own it for my own sake. So much platforming hotness, even the supposedly horrid games (mega man 6, mega man x4 and beyond) are still great and playable and innately fun. But for shits and giggles, I'm going to rank my top 5.

1. Mega Man 3
2. Mega Man 2

Hard choice between 3 and 2 for best Mega Man. Nostalgia is the tie breaker, also for the fact that if you really look closely, going from 2 to 3 is a bigger leap than going from 1 to 2. What 2 does have going for it is definitely challenge (I am amazed when my friend gets through quick man's level without flash stopping), music (best in the entire series, but arguably not by much), and robot design (Gemini Man is the first sign of the horrible things to come).

But 3 had the Doc Robot series, where you fight through the ruins of 4 stages to beat 2 MM2 bosses in each level. That doubles the game. And personally I like the stage designs of MM3 better than 2. Heat Man's stage is kind of a drag, unless you like disappearing blocks for 80% of a level. Also Crash man's stage is a fun stage, but I don't know what it has to do with Crash Man at all (or even what its supposed to be).

Spark man's level, music, and design are probably my favorite memories of playing these games. Spike traps, crushing blocks, long drop into second part, ledge guarding shocking traps, boss with a couple tricks up his sleeve. Love it love it love it. Hard Man's stage is a bit of a lapse, and Gemini Man's stage is just Flash man redux. But designs of Magnet Man, Snake Man and Shadow Man all make up for that.

Plus, the inclusions of Proto Man and Rush create a real story that can be continued from game to game. Also, sliding is added. All useful tools that can make level design more fun.

3. Mega Man

Definitely the most challenging of the NES megaman games. Don't use that pause-unpause bullshit, be a man. Ridiculously challenging stages, sometimes due to controls, sometimes due to the Wily's castle being possibly the most infuriating sequence in mega man history. Character designs for the ages. Would be further refined come MM2 and 3.

4. Mega Man X

Mega man makes his debut as a super soldier in the future, given a whole new set of skills that made the game easier, but more interesting. Capcom is really on its game with this one, fantastic music, great level design, beautiful character designs. So great that MMX2 and MMX3 both barely improve on the formula established in X.

It's really awesome how beating a stage can affect another stage severely (storm eagle -> spark mandrill).

Its an easy game though, so we can't give it too much credit.

5. Mega Man 6

Now here is my incendiary pick. I reallllly like this one, and am pretty much unable to justify this. I love the robot designs in this one, it was like a world war of robots. Tomahawk man looked like a native american. Flame man looked like an Indian. Yamato man. Knight Man. It really kind of gave each robot power AND identity. Blizzard man and Centaur man deviate from the normal 2 legged robot.

The music in this game is fantastic too. Both Tomahawk man and Flame man's themes rock so hard. Especially Flame man. I love that stage.

Though the rush adaptor gimmick was a clever way of reinventing the series, it made the game a little too easy. Power Pack was also a dumb thing to include as its own power.

Kind of meh on the whole fake boss gimmicks. More impressed with the competent level designs that actually fit each robot master. A solid, fun game that is often overlooked by the casual megaman fan.

4 was alright, but felt a little half assed, like they quit after adding a mega buster. 5 is polished but stale. Beat is stupid, and the bosses were a bit dumbed down. 7 was a good attempt but kind of a calamity in level design and art direction. 8 just irks me somehow, I'd rather play Megaman and Bass. X2 is my least favorite X game, X3 is very innovative and fun, but just not memorable enough on the art side.

Ok back to work.